Ode to Life

The Gospel as a free gift, or putting on a pair of shoes.

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 02:57:03 GMT

David Pegg, Britany Tindell, Katherine Faist and I walked into a Waffle House restaurant today. Katherine and I walked in with no shoes on. Back up. We didn't have shoes on because it rained all day and our shoes and socks were soaking wet. We had just gotten back from Immokalee, FL. By the way, I firmly believe that the people of Immokalee walked away knowing they are loved by God. Because of this, I believe the trip was successful.

The waitress kindly told me that Katherine and I would have to put shoes on in order to enter the Waffle House. Incredulous and defeated, we walked out. Katherine asked if I still wanted to eat there. I said: "Are you kidding me? It's not worth missing Waffle House just because you have no shoes." I told her that I was going to drive 5 mins to the apartment to get some shoes. We left.

As I was driving there I kept thinking to myself: "It isn't right! They should just let us into the Waffle House even though we don't have shoes! That was so rude for them to turn us away like that! God always accepts us no matter what; they should be more like him." Then I thought to myself "Okay, well God doesn't always accept everybody into his house because he has standards. He's said that nothing unholy can live with him and to be with God where he lives, you have to be righteous like he is. You have to do what is right. So God has standards like the waffle house. I guess it's good that the Waffle House has standards. They are for our benefit so we don't step on broken glass or something. They are for the benefit of the other people at Waffle House, so they don't have to sit next to someone with no shirt or shoes on (which would be pretty awkward).

Then I thought: "This waitress turned us away because we didn't meet the standards. That's normal. The gospel would be this: She says: "Sorry, you can't be in here with no shoes." As we are leaving, defeated, she stops us and says: "Wait a miniute." She takes off her shoes, and says: "Here, take mine." We receive the shoes and enter the waffle house wearing shoes that were given to us. We are free to enjoy the restaurant not because of anything we did, but only because of the kindness of this stranger. The requirement of the Waffle House rule is met, and we get to enjoy the Waffle House even though we didn't meet the rule at first.

The gospel is this: We come to God's gates and he has this standard: You must be holy to enter. (1Peter 1:16) Holiness means "To be set apart [from what is evil]. Clean pure. Spotless. Without sin.". We do not meet this standard because we are not righteous. (Romans 3:23) Righteousness is doing what is right. Making the right decision. Choosing to do the right thing. God always does what is right. God has compassion on us (Matthew 9:36) and gives us righteousness that we did not have. (Jeremiah 33:16) We accept this gift and become righteous in his sight. (Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 3:22) We are free to enjoy eternity with him starting now (John 3:16)

Guys! This is so simple! Just believe the gospel!

Here's what will inevitably happen if you don't believe the Gospel. You will become self-righteous and religious. Yes this will even happen to atheists. You will be unholy, and unclean and keep trying to justify to yourself that you actually are a good person. After your conscious points out something wrong in your life, you'll say things like, "yeah, but I do good things too, like the other day I did this..." When you do this you are seeking to establish righteousness on your own, apart from God, and are therefore becoming self-righteous. You are in fact, seeking to create your own religion whereby you justify yourself by making rules for yourself. Like: "Yeah I drink till I'm wasted and I know it's wrong BUT I will never drink on Sunday." This is a load of garbage and it smells like sulfur. If it's wrong, then it's wrong. Quit trying to justify yourself and submit to God. He loves you and he wants to give you that which you are feebly trying to make for yourself.

Religion is this: We come to God's gates and he has this standard: You must be holy to enter. We did not meet this standard. God has compassion on us, and offers to give us righteousness that we did not have. We refuse his righteousness and seek to create our own. Romans 10:2 "Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness."

You must submit to God's righteousness. Quit sinning and follow Jesus now. Call somebody and tell them that you're tired of our old life and you want the new one that God has for you. Then tell me or somebody from Chi Alpha, so we can have a party, because the angels in heaven already are. (Luke 15:7)

Making business of charity

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 14:01:19 GMT

dictionary.com defines charity as follows:

1. generous actions or donations to aid the poor, ill, or helpless: to devote one's life to charity.
2. something given to a person or persons in need; alms: She asked for work, not charity.
3. a charitable act or work.
4. a charitable fund, foundation, or institution: He left his estate to a charity.
5. benevolent feeling, esp. toward those in need or in disfavor: She looked so poor that we fed her out of charity.
6. leniency in judging others; forbearance: She was inclined to view our selfish behavior with charity.
7. Christian love; agape.

I define charity as follows:

1. Christian love; agape.
2. leniency in judging others; forbearance: She was inclined to view our selfish behavior with charity.
3. benevolent feeling, esp. toward those in need or in disfavor: She looked so poor that we fed her out of charity.
4. a charitable fund, foundation, or institution: He left his estate to a charity.
5. a charitable act or work.
6. something given to a person or persons in need; alms: She asked for work, not charity.
7. generous actions or donations to aid the poor, ill, or helpless: to devote one's life to charity.

The dictionary organizes a definition based on the most common meaning meant by the word towards the rarest meaning. I want to emphasize that the rare meaning should be the common meaning and the common meaning should naturally follow from the rare meaning.

I believe that the backward-ness of our culture has led to this backward definition. For how can you have "generous actions or donations to aid the poor" if you have no agapae love for them?

Oh, brothers! We are clanging cymbals all day long and nobody is hearing! Have you not heard? "If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing."

This backwardness is currently on display in your local social security office. The people line up "harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepard." They recieve a check from the government to change their physical poverty but they recieve no love to change them. Look how we've gone astray!

Hospitals make a business of hospitality and helping the sick. Insurance companies make business of giving to the needy. Churches make business of leading people spiritually.

Our backward view on charity has brought acts of kindness to bear as acts of selfishness because normally, you would do these things because of a love, care, and concern for a person; Now many have given in to the temptation to do them only for paycheck or because self-focused feeling of obligation.

Faith without works is dead. Works without love are powerless. Business without charity is evil.

The Gospel as Emancipation

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 04:03:13 GMT

Slavery was abolished in 1863 with the Emancipation Proclamation right?

Wrong.

"In the most extreme conditions, farmworkers [of Immokalee, FL] are held against their will and forced to work for little or no pay, facing conditions that meet the stringent legal standards for prosecution under modern-day slavery statutes. Federal Civil Rights officials have prosecuted seven slavery operations involving over 1,000 workers in Florida’s fields since 1997. One federal prosecutor called Florida “ground zero for modern-day slavery.”" Quote from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers website

Read more here.

What is being done? Congress passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000.
"The Coalition directly challenges the climate of fear by enabling workers to speak out and testify against their abusers, if they so choose. However, while the new trafficking law provides support services and temporary US residency to those who testify, some workers decline to talk with authorities because of fear of retaliation against their families by traffickers, therefore hindering some investigations."

2000? Why is this still happening in 2009? From my limited understanding, people just don't know.

So who will tell them? Who will tell the slaves that they can actually be free? Well, from my understanding, some people from First Assembly of God in Gainesville are going down in early December to tell them.

Okay now that this has been established, here's what makes me super excited. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is perhaps best understood as a message of emancipation. The bible describes the gospel so clearly in these terms.

John 8:34 Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin."

Romans 6:6 "Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?"

John 8:35 "Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."

Romans 10:14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"

Romans 6:17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. 18You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

This is so cool! I could talk about this for hours! I could write a book on this one simple thing.

The message to the people of Immokalee is simple. 1) Recognize that you are a slave. 2)Believe the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 3) Act on that belief by testifying against your captors. 4) Live a life as a free person.

This is the message of the gospel! 1) Recognize that you are a slave of sin. 2) Believe the Gospel. 3) Act on that believe by testifying against your captor, Satan. 4) Live a life as a person who's been set free from sin.

1Corinthians 15:1 Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.

Luke 4:4 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. 15He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.
16He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. 17The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
18"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
19to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."[Isaiah 61:1,2]

20Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, 21and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."

I know this message is real because this message has effected change in people's lives for thousands of years. Millions of people have been set free from sin. With a track record like that it would be foolish and arrogant for me not to believe it. Furthermore, this message has effected change in my own life. I used to be enslaved to porn, masturbation, my ego, my grades, my romantic relationships, my feelings, my own way, etc. etc. And I'm free! I'm free!!!!!!!! what!>1?! AMAZING!

Come ON guys, please believe this. It's real. I'm not making it up.

Love people in Jesus Name. Bring a blanket to Home Group on Wednesday.

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 03:02:26 GMT

This is an email I just wrote to my home group and it has some good wisdom in it for anybody seeking to love people in Jesus name but wondering how to do it. This is why I want to share it in a more public medium.

As a home group we are going to learn how to love people in Jesus name.

Loving people in Jesus' name is one of my favorite things to do. When people ask me: "Hey, what do you want to do in life?" I usually respond "to go to west palm beach and love people in Jesus' name!"

Loving people in Jesus' name seems like a no-brainer. It's obviously the right thing to do. Indeed it's the second commandment "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." The problem arises in thinking about just how should you love people? What does it look like?

Many have tried and failed. I don't want any of you to fail after we've all learned this together. How can you fail to love people in Jesus name?

1) Love people not in Jesus name.

1John 4 something says that God is love. If you try to love someone but you aren't doing it because God loves them, then why are you doing it? Do you really care about that homeless guy or do you just like to think you do? Would you love him so much that you would give up going to UF in order to dedicate your life to helping him? Would you die for him? The answer is probably no. The answer is Jesus. In him it is always yes. Jesus left heaven to help humanity and he gave up his life so that you could live. We must introduce people to this Love. Even if you actually love him, you have nothing to offer him unless you can introduce him to Jesus.

2) Love people without loving God first.

The second commandment is to love people. It is impossible to do without the first: "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength." There's a phrase that describes loving people wihtout loving God first. It's called people-pleasing. It means that you look to people to approve what you're doing or who you are rather than to God. So instead of asking God what he thinks about that movie you wanted to watch, that sin you wanted to do, or that place you wanted to go you ask your not-so-God-fearing friend who you figured would answer differently. This is idolatry because it is not honoring God as Lord, the one who has the ultimate authority in your life. I struggle with this being in leadership. I love you guys, I want to please you; but sometimes what is best for you will not be pleasing to you. Going up to homeless people won't please many of you. In fact, most of you are getting uncomfortable just thinking about it because you know its the right thing to do but you're afraid. Afraid of what? People. God says fear Him alone, and he'll take care of the rest. 1Thesselonians 2:4 says but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts."

3) Seek to meet physical needs while ignoring the Gospel.

People who make a mission out of loving people in Jesus name often forget that our pearl, the Gospel, meets the deepest need any person has. That is the need for a relationship with the God who created them. Jesus said that streams of living water will flow out of those who believe in Him. From that relationship with God or lack thereof comes every problem you could face. Some people have problems because they've sinned and are reaping the consequences. Other people have problems because they're saved and are suffering persecution. Please be in the latter category. The most clear admonishment to avoid #3 is found in 1Corinthians 13, which says: "If I sell everything I have and give to the poor, but have not love, I am nothing" It doesn't matter if you do a good work. If the love of Jesus is not there, nobody will care, you will effect nothing, and you will be wasting your time while obscuring the Gospel. We must be able to say with Paul that the love of Christ compels us.

Those are just three quick points that are essential when seeking to love people in Jesus name. In order to do demonstrate this fundamental life lesson, we will put it into action on a cold day near you. We will collect blankets at Home Group and go out and distribute them to homeless people as the Lord leads us to a day. I want you to obey God's command to love [even people who are very different from you] and come with us to the Downtown Plaza on that day, whenever it is, we'll let you know. Please come, if not to participate, then to observe and learn. We will go out in pairs, perhaps some time in the daytime. We will seek to serve people by asking their needs, praying for them, listening to them, relating to them, encouraging and admonishing them. We praise God for all that he's doing and we welcome his presence.

A Gospel that Resonates with our Experience.

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 20:37:26 GMT

Third Eye Blind's song "Darkness" just came on my iPod as I was doing my stats practice exam. I was amazed at the lyrics I heard.

"I want someone to know me
Maybe tell me who I am"

It was startling because of how exactly God is the fulfillment of the stated desire. God does know me. He does tell me who I am. Somehow the songwriter even knows that it must be 'god' who must fill this desire because the next line says

"Cause I've faced down my demons
And cried out to a god
A god I've never seen "

After crying out, he still feels alone. Perhaps believing that god has failed him, he says "the world darkens around me." Next, you can see he searches for satisfaction to try and fill this void in three things--drugs, love, and academics.

His pursuit for satisfaction in drugs leaves him saying that the people that surround him are "strange" and that his life is "semi-charmed". He "believes in the sand between [his] toes" despite his growing numbness and incapacity to feel anything. He searches for love that doesn't give up even after it gets to know the flaws in a person. He says "I want you to love me like you did before you knew me" The statement implies that has left him empty as well because it implies that she no longer loves him. He even looks to academic pursuit to try and fill this void but he "dropped out of schools cause of things [he] never learned."

He describes his life as full of sensuality, yet darkness, separation, and numbness. He is searching for satisfaction, love, and fulfillment in everything but God Himself. His description exactly matches God's description of him and those like him. His word has said:

"They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more (ephesians 4:18-19)."

after diagnosing the problem just as the song has, it offers a solution the song doesn't

"You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus (verses 20-21)."

Here's where I make no apologies for preaching the truth. Living a lifestyle of sensuality apart from God is not how you get to know God. You get to know him because you first heard of him. Then you were taught that he isn't just a "new idea" that "burns in [your] head". He isn't just an idea. He is the truth. He is the way to the change you seek. He's the life you need. He's the only way. Turn from your sin and follow him. When God breathes new life into your lungs, then you will sing with the others:

With his breath in my lungs I am coming undone.
And I cannot hold it in
Remain composed.
Love's taken over me
So I propose the letting myself go.
I am letting myself go.

You are my joy.
You are my joy.
You are my joy.
You are my joy!

If those who write songs of despair are just speaking the truth they know from their experience; what makes you think that those who write songs of joy are any different?

Some history of science, the blinding tyranny of our time

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 01:47:28 GMT

Did you know that people used to think it was okay to infringe upon the human rights of genetically "unfit" people in order to speed up natural selection for the sake of a better race? This is one logical outworking of a belief in the theory of evolution. Why did nobody tell me about the widespread belief in Eugenics before the end of World War II ? (After what the Nazis were doing went public, people thought twice about "racial sterilization") It seems eugenics is a bloody stain on the history of science.

Granted, Christianity has it's own bloody stains in history (see: The Crusades). But I was shocked to hear about this history of eugenics. I had heard the argument against Christianity because of the crusades before; but an argument against science because of eugenics? Never until today.

What baffles me is how widespread this belief was, and how it was touted by "scientific experts" for decades. Entire Journals were devoted to the study of eugenics, and it seemed very few questioned it until Hitler took the theories of evolution, natural selection, and eugenics to the extreme. He killed millions of people, exterminated two-thirds of an entire race of people, and suddenly the entire discipline (and whatever benefit it also may have possibly had.) was abandoned and became unpopular.

How can we trust something so transient? How can we be so short sighted and not see the history of science or religion? We can gain so much from this history, and free ourselves from the tyrant of our own time.

15 As for man, his days are like grass,
he flourishes like a flower of the field;

16 the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.

17 But from everlasting to everlasting
the LORD's love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children's children-

18 with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.

Psalm 103:15-18

We don't need eugenics to give good future to our children's children. We need look no further than God Himself.

Some Summer Happenings.

Sun, 02 Aug 2009 00:32:51 GMT

Yesterday Jimmy and I took some kids fishing. It was great! We caught about ten fish, took them home and ate them! They were the best fish I’ve ever eaten. Especially the Yellow Tail. The kids were very well behaved. There are some pictures of the trip here.

I buy, sell, and fix used, refurbished and broken electronics. There’s a guy named Josh who lives on the next street. This summer I lived in the “Impact House.” This is a house owned by Urban Youth Impact. God basically gave them the house and it has been purposed to be a place of his Spirit, love, and discipleship. There’s about six kids that usually come over to the Impact House to hang out. Jesse, Roger, Josh, Mervin, Tristian, and Brandon. They play games, shoot pool, play on the computer, play cards, etc. Towards the end of the summer we made a schedule of things we could do. Mondays were reading/writing, Tuesdays is drawing/board games, Wednesday is Bible Study, Thursday is Music/prayer and Friday is Street Witnessing (yes, with the guys). We only did 2 weeks of this schedule and missed a couple days cause kids just didn’t show up. The kids said they were ready for street witnessing but chickened out on one count, and we canceled it on another count because God had something greater planned. Here’s the greater thing that He purposed.

Josh came to me a few days ago with his mom’s digital camera. He said that she doesn’t use it that much, and she could use the money. I told him that I could give him $100 for it after I went to the bank. A couple days later, Jesse comes up to me with the camera and says that Josh is grounded, and acts as if he’s selling it on his behalf. I give him the $100 cash to give to Josh. I assumed that just as he ran to Josh (one street over) he would run back and hand him the money. An hour goes by after Jesse returns. I ask him about the money and he says Josh wasn’t home, so he put the money in the mail box. I said: “Are you serious? That’s not a good idea.” Jesse said: “Nobody’s really on that street and nobody just comes up to his porch like that.” I said: “Well, you know best.” A couple hours later Josh knocks on my door looking distressed and tells me that his camera is missing, and that somebody must have stole it just like somebody stole his PS2 months ago. I told him to relax, that Jesse sold it on his behalf, and then whispered: “The money’s in your mailbox.” He looked distressed and said: “It’s not going to be there if I look!” He runs home and looks and it’s not there. Josh is sure that Jesse has taken the money for himself, just as he took the camera for himself. What would you do?

I told my roommate Jimmy about the situation and pointed out that now is a good time to pray and remind ourselves that God is in control and that he works everything together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose. That $100 doesn’t matter as much as the heart of whoever was greedy, stealing, and lying in this situation. We prayed for mercy on the perpetrator in the situation, recognizing that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We know that God always does what is right and only those who do right will enter his kingdom. We know that his day of judgment and wrath is coming for all those who refuse to repent and believe. We ask him to give repentance to those involved, caught in sin, so that they may be saved from that day of justice. We pray that God would bring justice and make everything right. We trust him to provide our every need. He then gave us grace to praise him for this situation and thank him for this trial, since we know it will turn out good in the end. And it did.

Josh knocks on the door. I explain these things to him. A couple days ago, the Gospel came to him with great power and conviction, and he wasn’t sure. He still isn’t sure. I asked him if he’s doing life God’s way or his way, and was met with silence. Later he got up and left without saying a word. I called Jesse’s mother and briefly explained the situation. She asked Josh and I to come over and work it out.

Jesse’s house smells of smoke and is dark. We walk in and greet his mother Bridget who is lying on her bed in pain. She’s just had surgery. We explain the situation and she yells at her son, and later lament that she’s too tired to yell at him louder. I quietly say to Jesse, “Listen to your mother. Honor your mother.” It’s clear that she doesn’t believe that he’ll ever change his ways of stealing and lying. Later I tell Jesse that he must know that he can change and he is changing through the power of God. He was baptized two years ago, and that’s when he put his old ways behind him. He explains that it was just a big mistake and it was foolish to take the camera just to mess with Josh, and it was foolish to put the money in the mailbox. I said “Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child. When I was a child I thought like a child, acted like a child, spoke like a child; but when I became a man I put childish things behind me.” It cut to his heart and he received it. I said that a man takes responsibility for his actions, even his mistakes. I told him that it’s not right for his mother to pay for his mistake, especially because she already works so hard and pays all the bills and barely has enough to put food on the table. I told him that I’ll pay Josh the $100. I told him that a man takes responsibility and he said that he wants to take responsibility too. I told him that we can split it 50/50. He agreed. I told him to honor his mother and help her around the house; it’s time to be a man and grow up had. After our agreement, I asked if there was anything that either of them had to work out with God or with each other. They said no. I got up to leave but they were both still sitting down on the couch in thought. I spoke with them longer, gave them hugs, and went back home. Jesse is 16 and he’s just one of many kids in the same kinds of situations. Pray that God would send out more laborers into this harvest field because His light does indeed cast out all darkness. His truth does indeed bring freedom, peace, and reconciliation. I praise God because he does provide our every need. We live on $16 per person per week and we give food to our neighbors everyday. Even then it is hard because not many of us in the house have work. I work. Let me tell you just one instance of how God has provided.

I bought seven broken phones on eBay for $31. I had intention to buy parts, fix them, and re sell them. When the phones arrived, I plugged them in and they didn’t work. I wrote down all the money I would have to pay to fix them. A couple days later I plug one in and to my surprise it works. And then I plug in another one, and it works. I’m pressing all the buttons and everything works! Another one, and another. All seven work! I sold just one for $50 and instantly made back what I paid for all seven with $20 to spare. I threw up my hands in praise, laughter, and joy and thanked God for this blessing, this miracle. Later I recalled how Jesus gave the disciples a miraculous catch of fish. He helped them in their business, and he helped me in mine. I know that You are God and you can do all things and that nothing is impossible for you. Therefore my lips will praise you and my soul will sing for joy. Amen.

He’s showed me that I must walk daily with him. I must trust him to provide my daily needs. As of now, he doesn’t want me to sit comfortably with $5000 in my bank account, because then I wouldn’t have to trust him, I could just trust the money that’s there. I wouldn’t have to pray “give us our daily bread” because I knew that I had enough money to buy bread for a year! When God took Israel through the desert, he provided for them miraculously. However, he commanded to take only enough for that day, and trust that there would be some the next day. If the people took too much (were greedy) the manna would be rotten by the next day. Once they were in the promised land, flowing with milk and honey, they were blessed by God and praised him for this new season of abundance. Had they continued to praise him and trust him even in abundance, they would have continued to prosper. However, they forgot God, began to trust in wealth, were deceived, and ended up in captivity to a foreign nation. Indeed, it is easier for a camel to enter the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom, because the temptation in wealth is to think: “I amassed this; I did this; It is mine; I don’t need God.” Oh, Lord, you place them on a slippery slope, and the end of that way is death. But praise be to your Son, who was raised from the dead. To him be honor, glory, and power, forever and ever! Amen.

I'm leaving for Gainesville on Monday morning!

Some people never change. Some people do.

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 15:31:07 GMT

I read much of David Wilkerson's book The Cross and the Switchblade yesterday. I can relate with him in so many ways. In the book he writes how he sold his TV and devoted the 2 hours he would have spent watching TV to prayer. He writes about an article he read in Life magazine about 7 teens who brutally murdered a 15 year old polio victim. As he read the article, he heard God say: "Go to New Your City and help those boys."

I laughed out loud. "Me? Go to New York? A country preacher barge into a situation he knows less than nothing about?" Go to New York City and help those boys. The thought was still there, vivid as ever, apparently completely independent of my own feelings and ideas. "I'd be a fool. I know nothing about kids like that. I don't want to know anything. It was no use. The idea would not go away: I was to go to New York, and furthermore I was to go at once, while the trial was still in progress.

Now doesn't that sound a lot like what happened to me?

As you may know, I graduated from Suncoast High School in Riviera Beach in 2006. That summer, a thought would not leave my head for two months straight. I didn’t like the thought and I didn’t want to believe that it was from God. The thought was God’s call on my life—to live and minister with black communities, like those in Rivera and West Palm Beach.

The book was very encouraging to read. One of the many results of God's ministry has been the radical transformation of a former leader of one of the most feared gangs in New York named Nicky Cruz who stabbed over 10 people in the time before he came to know Christ. Nicky is very well known because he's one of very few people to escape the gang lifestyle in which many teens are trapped in the ghettos of New York. Now he himself is a preacher and a group called Convolo Productions is making a movie about him called Run, Baby, Run set for release in 2010.

Life is not about "not sinning"

Sat, 30 May 2009 03:36:22 GMT

Life is about living! Life is about doing good!

Jesus said "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full (John 10:10)."

I think that for the last two years I had been prone to make "not sinning" my focus. "Oh, if I could just avoid sin, and not fall into it, then I'll be okay." I would focus on the cross of Christ where "my old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with..." This is only half-gospel.

The full gospel is this: "Christ lived, Christ died, Christ lives again!" The full Gospel includes not only the cross of Christ, but the tomb, where the stone had been rolled away and the angel said "He is not here, He is Risen!" Matthew 28:6

The full gospel is not just that we are free from sin, but that we set free entirely. We are now free to live a life full of good works. This is why God saved us "8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:8-10)."

We are "created in Christ Jesus to do good works". God didn't set you free from sin so he could put you in a museum so people could marvel how perfect you are; he set you free so you could finally "Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow, " so you could "seek peace and pursue it" so you could "love one another".

The Gospel is about living a new life.

Answered prayer, prophecy, church planting, jobs, business.

Thu, 28 May 2009 02:20:15 GMT

For the last couple months I've been praying to learn gentleness.

Well a couple weeks ago I moved in with the most gentle, joyful, and meek person I've ever met. His name is Jimmy. He's so loving and gentle with everybody he meets. He doesn't have much money, but he is generous. He's kind of a wanderer. Last time I was here (last year) I thought it was odd that he would go for seemingly random rides in his car and he'd get back at some seemingly random time. I've since learned that those random times were actually prompted by the Spirit of God leading Jimmy to the right place at the right time to minister to people's needs. I'm learning so much from living with him. Jimmy says he wasn't raised with much structure, so being organized and making plans and following through with them is kind of foreign to him. What's cooler than the answer to my prayer to learn gentleness? Well, a few weeks ago someone prophesied to Jimmy that he'd meet someone who wasn't raised like him; someone who is organized and makes plans, and that he would learn from them. Jimmy thought it would be some world-famous guy who's very organized; turns out it's me! I'm glad we can help each other. The prophet also said that he would be a street evangelist, which is totally true.

Speaking of prophecy, Jimmy and I and some people from Urban Youth Impact went to a prayer meeting last Thursday night. It was indescribable how amazing it was. It was like I was living 1Corinthians 14. We started at 8 but didn't end until 2am because God was so powerfully in our midst and we enjoyed his love and the love of each other too much to leave. During that meeting, God taught me many wonderful things. For example, he showed me that I have a tendency to be anxious. I couldn't believe that this word described how I was feeling at the time, but I looked it up. It means "to be troubled with cares, to take thought for [something]" He showed me Phil 4:6 "do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." Faced with this reality, I said with gladness "I'm wrong! Forgive me! I repent!" He showed me that "his yoke is easy, and his burden is light" (Matthew 11:30). I must not be anxious to do his work. I must rest in Him. There are many wonderful things we spoke about, which I shall not share here.

Then the Holy Spirit led us to a time of prophecy. I found out that there are three gifted prophets among us. A girl that I didn't know named Jillian said that she can see that I am one who leads through serving and that in the future I will speak with authority. She said that I have the heart of a pastor and that in the future, I will leave the "river" of Psalm 46:4 in order to get a lost sheep. She said that in my role as a pastor, it's like I won't even have to fight the wolves [false teachers]; just my presence will make them flee. The prophecy about my future as a pastor served to confirm a prophecy I received from another stranger last year which said the same thing. This is so encouraging! God has already decided my future and he'll make it happen; why should I be anxious? :-)

I'm here at the "Impact House" where many of the guy volunteers live. I live next door to a pretty inspirational local pastor named Chris. He's with Urban Youth Impact and God is using us to plant a church in this area called Bow Down. Here's a slideshow which describes some facts about where I live.

I'm excited about the church plant. The church will seek to emphasize two things we see that Jesus emphasized: the kingdom of God and discipleship. We have sound reason to believe that discipleship is a fundamental mandate of Christ and the kingdom is the fundamental proclamation of Christ. To the end of discipleship, we will have weekly "workout groups" of three people who make a "work out" plan to be more like Christ, and hold each other accountable to that plan. Some of the more serious groups could be doing things like going homeless for a few days with nothing but a bible; ministering to the drug addicts, prostitutes and thugs of the community and loving them as Jesus would. Sound crazy? It's exactly what Jesus' disciples did. Jesus calls us to follow him and "go and do likewise". To the end of proclaiming the kingdom, we will share the love of God in the face of Jesus Christ to people on the street, monthly outreach events. There's much more I could say and some of it is still being discussed; In any case, I'm excited about the variety of pastors from all different backgrounds and denominations that support this endeavor.

In other news, God led Jimmy and I to apply for jobs at the Wendy's today. We are excited about the opportunity to love those around us in the workplace. I started an electronics repair business a couple weeks ago, so tell me if you've got anything that needs fixing. How that got started is a story for another day.

In short: Praise God. Good night.

A New Summer - Refilled with God's Spirit.

Fri, 15 May 2009 05:14:27 GMT

The last few days have been difficult. Let's put them in perspective. A couple weeks ago I finished my third year in college, made fantastic grades and had a lot of success leading Home Group. My life was very, very busy. I would sit down on Friday and plan out the subsequent week on Google calendar and then live by it.

To be done way of living with that was relaxing. I left for North Carolina with some friends and we had a grand time, as you've probably already seen from the pictures. I finally arrived in my home town on Tuesday. I celebrated my twenty-first birthday with my parents the next day. What are my summer plans?

To gain perspective for them, you should read this. At the end of last summer, pastor Chris from Urban Youth Impact asked me to intern this sumer. I'm still not sure what this will mean but I know it will involve being a counselor at their summer day camp, and church planting. My friend Kendra from my church in Gainesville will join with me on the summer-mission. UYI exists to love, equip, and empower inner city youth to fulfill their God-given purpose.

Kendra Holmes and I have been pal-ing around because we're both waiting to move down south to West Palm to be closer to UYI. Lord willing, we'll be moving down there on Monday. Come visit us!

That should provide enough background to help understand why the last few days have been difficult. I've gone from being really busy, and constantly living in God, doing is will; to having virtually nothing good or bad to do. What bothers me is that I know that if only I could get over my own laziness, pride, and lack of faith, I could be out in the world doing radical things in Christ. What's been bothering me is the paralyzation I've faced in the midst of a seemingly infinite number of options set before me ( I could literally do anything tomorrow ) and whatever mediocre decision I ended up picking (like going shopping at the store). Why shop when God's kingdom is at hand?!

I need to learn patience. Kendra is helping me to realize this. She especially makes me impatient at times. Today I read her story and it inspired me to write in this journal. I'm glad she chronicled a brief picture of her life story for people to read for God's glory. It reminded me of God's great power to redeem people. Kendra has been through so much, and yet God met her where she was at and completely transformed her life and built her up for a good purpose despite all the people saying she couldn't. That's inspiring to me. It reminds me why I do what I do--so that others may know the love of God in Christ Jesus, and also be transformed by that same divine encounter.

Ephesians 1:
3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5he[c] predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace 8that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9And he[d] made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.

Waiting, my Dear, to drink

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 15:56:42 GMT

I kept my money in a cup
waiting, Dear, to drink
I waited, waited all day long
My heart began to sink.

Then on an autumn walk
I met a thirsty creep
He told me to pout it out
Into the ground it seeped.

[Inspired by Psalm 97]

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 13:58:21 GMT

Come you who say there is no God
Come adventure with me.
Come you who walk away,
Come and you will see.

Come to the top of the mountain
Come look down with fear
Come run down with me
when river comes quickly near.

Come ride on the waves with me
And dash into the night
Fall on the sand and gaze upon
The many stars so bright.

Come read with me the Song of Songs
Come gaze upon the moon.
Explain to me what love is
and what it is that lovers do.

Come get lost in the sea
until you can breathe no more.
And look upon the orange sunset
And tell me life's a bore.

Come you who are weary, tired and sick
Come you who are hurt and in despair
I'll tell you of a lover
who is always, always there.

Come you who are in pain, anguish and alone
Come you who are lost in time
Come humbly to his royal throne
Fearing the Love you'll find.

What shall we do, then?

Sun, 19 Oct 2008 01:22:18 GMT

In response to my last post, Christopher Matthews asked "What shall we do then? Chruches in America that are comfortable that is. What are some ways churches can leave there comfort zones and welcome persecution?"

It wouldn't fit in a comment, so I post my reply here.

That is a very, very good question. The question is so good that I don't have a good enough answer for it. You've moved me to think and pray about this in the upcoming weeks. Here's what I'm thinking about so far:

Revelation 3:14-22.
Here is the good description of the Comfortable Church:
15I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.17You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.'

Then Jesus diagnoses our condition saying:
But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.

He gives us five things to do:
1) buy from Him gold that is refined in the fire, so we can become rich.
2) buy from Him white clothes to wear, so we can cover our shameful nakedness
3) buy from Him salve for our eyes so that we can see.
4) be earnest and repent.
5) Open the door and let Him in so that we may eat together.

A few verses that will help interpretation of Revelation 3:18-20 (point by point)
1) Mt 19: 21Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
2) " Job 29:14 I put on righteousness as my clothing;
justice was my robe and my turban. "
3) 2Corinthians 4:4The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
4) Psalm 51:17 The sacrifices of God are [a] a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise.
5) John 6:53Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you."

Side-note on point (1)
I just read an article by Dr. Wess Stafford (president of Compassion International). He said "I have often half-joked that my job, traveling back and forth between the world's poor and the well-off, is a balancing act: On one hand I comfort the afflicted, an don the other I afflict the comfortable! It broke my heart to see Compassion growing so slowly when I knew how greatly would benefit both groups."

Please pray with me.

God Bless America, Indeed.

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 21:44:50 GMT

I wrote this on 6/21/08 while memorizing the Sermon on the Mount and reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer's book, The Cost of Discipleship.

How did we ever get off saying that we are blessed to live in a nation where the church can meet freely and without persecution? This goes contrary to what Jesus taught on the Sermon on the Mount: "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness." He didn't say: "Blessed are those who can meet together comfortably." In fact, he said: "Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted." He did not say: "Blessed are the comfortable." he said "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness." Hunger and thirst are uncomfortable states in which to be. Pain of loss that leads to mourning is not comfortable. Persecution is not comfortable. All of the above who are empty, needy and poor in spirit are blessed because they will be filled, comforted, and theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Jesus didn't say: "You are blessed because you have everything you need." He said you are blessed because you are needy. Those who have attained comfort for comfort's sake have already received their meager reward in full; They have no reward in heaven. So I say: "Blessed is the persecuted church, because the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church; and theirs is the kingdom of heaven. I say: Cursed is the comfortable church. They chose comfort over Christ's call to come and die.

Midnight Swim

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 03:48:46 GMT

The night was clear. The stars floated in the sky and the moon hung on a hangar. The ocean roared against the rocks and there was no more beach left; but it didn't matter. We still wanted to go and swim in that black, black water.

After climbing down the rocks, we felt freedom. The water was warm and the night was cool. We played like fearless children in the face of some great dark monster. It was a wonder to look out over the ocean and find it incomprehensible. We couldn't see the horizon, let alone the waves about to crash into us.

It was a thrill! We were even more surprised to find tiny glowing creatures washing up onto our skin. They were unlike anything I had ever seen before. They would come up onto your chest, glow for a moment and sparkle, and then disappear. Later, Ashley noticed that if you kicked or moved your hand quickly under the water, you would create a glowing cloud right there under the water.

This night, nothing seemed too impossible; the water was full of electricity.

Becoming a Christian in Iran may soon be punishable by death.

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 17:30:23 GMT

http://www.compassdirect.org/en/display.php?page=news&lang=en&length=long&idelement=5599&backpage=archives&critere=iran&countryname=&rowcur=0

The Medium is the Message

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 16:38:31 GMT

Many times we have a message to communicate and we choose a medium through which to communicate that message.

I wanted to ask Daniel a quick question, so I sent him a text message. It was quick, short, and to-the-point. I didn't want to call him because then I would have to deal with formalities of "Hi, How are you? What else is new?" Short, quick, to-the-point questions often leave the person you called in a confused state of mind. They wonder, "Is that all?" Aside from that hindrance, there's also the audible noise and the signal noise that interrupt your connection. You could have called your friend when they happened to be in a crowd. You could have called them when they get no signal. This is why I used a text message.

We realize this relationship between what we want to communicate and how we choose to communicate it. But I think we seldom realize that the relationship goes both ways. Do you realize that how you communicate also determines what you communicate?

Consider a classroom. There's five minutes left in class and the teacher has to communicate a concept that should take ten minutes to explain. She was going to explain the details and intricacies of the concept, but she doesn't have time for that. Now she tailors what she says to the time-limit. She purposefully omits certain details, and only chooses one or two main points to emphasize. She simplifies the subject matter because time is short. She has let the "how much time?" consideration determine the "what do I communicate?" consideration. She has let the "how" determine the "what". Perhaps another example would illustrate this more clearly.

In the last example, the "how" was face-to-face, with limited time. In this example the "how" is instant-messaging, with unlimited time. You may be aware that mis-understanding is more likely to occur when using IM than speaking face to face. Why is this? It is because face-to-face communication is much more than just words. It also includes is tone, facial expression, and body language. IM takes away all these things in favor of using just the words. Thus, by rough estimate, %75 of the communication has been removed. So, we see, certain mediums (IM, or face-to-face) favor certain things being more easily communicable than others. Text is more suitable for answering the question: "Where are you?" and face-to-face is more suitable for answering the question: "How are you?". Text easily communicates facts, and faces easily communicate feelings. Text, as a medium favors the communication of facts, and faces as a medium favor communication of feelings. So each medium favors certain communications. Each medium favors certain messages.

And now I hope you arrive at my point. What message does the television favor?

Inspiried by a True Story

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 12:30:22 GMT

As I looked upon my body and the skinny soap,
Getting clean today seemed such a distant hope.
But I rubbed that soap while it cracked and smeared,
I rubbed it hard, 'till it disappeared.

Final Update Letter

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 18:00:14 GMT

Hello!

Thank you for supporting UrbanPromise Ministries! This is my second and final update letter. You probably remember reading about Nathan in my last letter. He was the little guy who just needed some encouragement. I hoped to teach him a few things about life. But for how much I've taught the kids, they have taught me much more. Through spending seven weeks in Camden, God has taught me to be less proud, arrogant, and judgmental. He has taught me to be more humble, loving and forgiving. Let me tell you four stories to illustrate this main idea. First is the story about a fight that broke out in my Bible class that I kind of caused, then it’s a story about Christians selling drugs, then the Catholic Church across the street from a dangerous park and finally, me on jury duty almost throwing up while reviewing evidence for a serious court case. All these stories should show God humbling me.

The kids played a game in my Bible class. At the end of the game there were many small scraps of paper on the floor. All I wanted was for somebody to pick them up and throw them away so we could move on with class. I also wanted to reward that somebody with candy. But the way I asked was wrong. I said "Whoever can pick up all these scraps of paper will get candy." Before I had even finished my sentence, every kid in the class was on the floor scrambling to pick up as many scraps as they could. Kids were stealing scraps of paper from each another in an effort to collect all of the paper. Then someone took one of Nathan’s scraps so he threw a punch and the street leaders had to break up a fight. I corrected myself: "Whoa! Stop! I need ONE volunteer!" I had made an honest mistake because the way I asked the question turned the helpful act of one person cleaning into a hurtful competition. It was humbling to learn that maybe I wasn’t as capable of handling fifth graders as I had thought. Upon reflection, passing judgment on these kids for their cut-throat paper-scrap competition that day will not change who they are in their hearts. However, forgiving them for “they know not what they do” and loving them despite their bad behavior opens the door for Christ to shine and change them from the inside out.

This summer I met people who used to sell and use drugs, even while they were Christians! They knew it was wrong, but didn’t think that they could stop. Would I judge them? Am I better than them because my sin is socially acceptable? No, I would instead forgive them. I learned that Christians aren't perfect; but what makes them Christians is that Christ lives inside of them and is slowly changing Christians to be more like Christ. Indeed: “No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God (1John 3:9).” These men could not keep on sinning because of the spirit of God lives inside of them and convicts them of their wrongdoings. I have found that this leads to transformation from the inside out.

Last Sunday I went to Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Many Evangelical Christians have something against the Catholic Church because of some of their practices and beliefs. I personally didn't like that they call the ministers in the Catholic Church "father" when Jesus clearly said "do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven (Matthew 23:9)." But the people in this church were so full of the Spirit, as evidenced by their love, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. This church was active in their community and it was for their congregation, a stream of life. They run their own school and some of the best kids in the program come from Sacred Heart. Some people call the period after World War II "the fall of Camden" because many industries left the city. But Sacred Heart Catholic Church stayed in Camden during "the fall of Camden" when most white people and Evangelical churches left the city to its poverty. Let me describe a park across the street from Sacred Heart Catholic Church. In the park stands an iron cross with a sign below that reads "Waterfront South Park." Spray-painted over the sign are words that read: "6nF Muslims Allah Akbar for life." There is a fountainhead in this park that reads: "The fear of the LORD is a fountain of wisdom. Proverbs 14:27," but the fountain is dried up. The prostitutes, the crippled and the homeless stay in this park. Late in the night we can hear people arguing in this park and once we saw a street fight erupt in this park. But one Saturday morning, Sacred Heart was in this park. They were playing upbeat music and grilling burgers. Kids were playing without fear. The church had transformed the park that day. They believe in the power of the love of Christ to heal Camden. Surely in light of all this good, I can forgive this church for calling their ministers "father" instead of judging them.

God is even teaching me after I've left Camden. I had jury duty on Tuesday and one of the women on the Jury was claustrophobic. I told my mom over dinner about a book which says something to the effect of: The spiritually mature are “prepared for and capable of responding to the situations of life in ways that are good and right.” I used this to judge the claustrophobic women and imply she just wasn't as spiritually mature as me because I could handle the elevator with no problem. Well, the next day we were asked to review the first bit of evidence in the case. The evidence was a video testimony from a doctor who explained a pain management procedure where she would insert a needle into the discs of the spine. The video was not graphic, but I began to feel nauseous and felt like I was going to vomit. I had to ask to be excused because I couldn't handle it! It was the same nausea that I experienced when I had blood work done. Maybe I have an irrational fear of needles. I was so quick to judge the claustrophobic lady and paid no attention to my own problem with needles! For me, the words of Jesus are crystal clear: "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you (Matthew 7:1-2).”

God is showing me my faults; there are many. He is showing me that I have spiritual needs that I can't fill. I can't become more humble and less judgmental just by trying hard. It requires a supernatural change of heart. God needs to change my heart to be more like his. He has a couple promises for those people who recognize their spiritual neediness.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:3)."

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. (Matthew 5:6).”

With all my heart,

Chris Woolfe

If I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 18:52:44 GMT

I started doing "youth ministry" when I was a junior in high school. I helped to lead a small group of guys in middle school. I remember the first day they weren't very receptive to anything I had to say. I don't even remember what I said and they probably don't either.

In fact, they weren't very receptive until one certain night. I was chatting on AIM with Robert (or was it Dan?) very late, and told him I was eating chocolate chocolate cake. He asked me to come over and give him and Dan some cake. It was after midnight. With some hesitation I crept into the kitchen, put the cake into a container, crept out of the house, got into my car, and drove to Dan's house. Robert was there with Dan and they were so happy to eat some chocolate cake. We all were because it was good cake. After that night we became friends and the rest of the group became more receptive.

Let that story affirm the truth in the statement: "Kids don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." Paul said it like this:

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres (1Corinthians 13:1-7)."

I'm in love with truth.

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 03:38:31 GMT

I have chosen the way of truth;
I have set my heart on your laws.

I hold fast to your statutes, O LORD;
do not let me be put to shame.

I run in the path of your commands,
for you have set my heart free (Psalm 119:30-33).

How beautiful and liberating is the truth! There is power in truth. If you know a fact to be true, then it is like a solid brick on which to build the structure of an idea. Uncertain facts are like mud; It is questionable whether you can build on them or not. If you try to build on them, you will soon find your entire idea collapses on itself in a mess of contradictions.

I enjoy the act of thinking, which is taking these facts and constructing a larger idea to connect one brick to another. In Computer Engineering, one simple bit of truth is the foundation for the entire system.

How beautiful and liberating is the truth! Here is one bit of truth: 1+1 = 2. With this premise, an entire system of mathematics can be built and used to solve all kinds of problems. Integrated circuits can be built, programmed and interfaced and then you've got an iPhone. The iPhone doesn't work without logic. It's logic is predicated on the certainty and reliability of truth. Once 1+1=3, literally, the entire system will cease to function. If even one bit in the system is illogical, it will crash and cease to function.

How beautiful and liberating is the truth! Here's another bit of truth: Lust (understood as the objectification of women) is adultery (Matthew 5:28). Adultery is sin (Deuteronomy 5:18). Sin is death (Romans 6:23). Ergo, even lust is death. Before I met Christ, this truth was a death knell for me, so I suppressed it (Romans 1:18). But now that I've met Jesus this truth is liberating (1John 5:3, Galatians 5:1). It is liberating because it is not I that must try and try and try to stop lusting; it is me resting in Christ while he works through me and enthralls me with the much more glorious pleasure of knowing him. (Matthew 11:30, 2Corinthians 4:6) It is liberating because this is a truth on which I can act (Philippians 2:12). Since lust is death, I have all the reason to avoid it. This action is building a strong foundation for any future marriage (Galatians 6:8).

The thunder rolls, the lightening strikes, and the rain falls, but I feel safe watching the storm from the window with a roof over my head. I am safe because I am not outside. I further love the truth because I see the consequences of being outside of God, of disobedience. I see broken marriages and broken families everywhere, and I think many of them are broken because of the root issue of lust, or sin of another kind (Romans 1:24-25). A man who sees a woman as an object is not thinking about starting a family and fathering children; he's only got sex on his mind, with his own pleasure at the center of the entire encounter. Like the iPhone example, if this fact and falsehood of lust is present, the institution of marriage and family will crash and cease to function as God had intended.

But don't miss the good news! The good news is that God redeems the broken! The Good News is that he can fix even what we have made so wrong (psalm 18:2) and "make all things new (Revelation 21:5)." With him, nothing is impossible (Matthew 19:26).

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash (Matthew 7:24-27)."

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6)."

Update Letter

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 01:04:49 GMT

Hello!
Thank you so much for supporting UrbanPromise Ministries! I hope you are as excited to read this letter as I am to write it. You may be wondering what is happening here in Camden, New Jersey. In order to provide context for the rest of this letter, let me tell you about what we do on a daily basis.

I live in the Fellowship House with the other five interns on the Camp Freedom team. I wake around 6:30 and grab some food and head out to another room to spend some time in God’s Word and prayer. I'll finish around 8:00 and get ready to leave for camp at 8:10.

A day at camp looks like this: 9:00-9:30 is breakfast. Our kids are all in middle school and they rotate between four classes: Art, Recreation, Bible, and Hodge-Podge. Hodge-Podge could be any activity that promotes life-skills or fun. I teach Bible. We break for closing program from 11:30-12:00 which is a very high-energy, goofy time to entertain the kids. You can see a little of what this looks like by going to http://tinyurl.com/6zradg. Then we give the kids’ lunch and shortly thereafter they leave. We go to the pool every week on Fridays. Afternoon activities include basketball-practice and Bible buddies. We have a summer basketball league, and the kids have a game versus other camps each week. The interns pick a few kids with whom to spend more time and disciple for Bible Buddies. On weekends, the staff will be visiting a church the supports Urban Promise, and having fun at various beaches, pools and gatherings.

I'd like to tell you about one of our kids named Nathan. Nathan is in the fifth grade and he's small for his age. The other kids are always picking on him, so he feels that he always has to fight for his dignity, identity and security. I saw this and I thought: "All he needs is some encouragement." So I made this my mission.

During kickball, I'm yelling "Go Nate!" and during Foosball, I'm yelling "Nice shot!" In the pool I'd give him a boost so he could do a back flip out of my hand. I yelled “Yeah Nathan! That was awesome!" In class I'm saying "Good job, Nathan!" At the park I’m yelling "Good throw! Good catch!" He used to be too shy to throw the Frisbee because he thought he couldn't do it, but now he thinks he's the best Frisbee thrower at camp. I told Nate: "Being a leader means that when you play, everyone around you plays better because you're telling them that they can do it." I told him that the best thing to do when kids pick on him is to ignore it.

Still, when people pick on Nathan after camp, he'll drop the F-bomb a few times; and I'll say sharply: "Nathan!" He will apologize for cursing, but he will smile and giggle while he's apologizing. And I can't even be mad at him because I love him too much, and I've seen too much of his potential to give up on him because he swears.

Each week a work group will come from out of town to help at camp and do manual labor. This morning I could see a little bit of myself, in a visiting work group member. He was upset when Nate and Kevin started cursing at each other, play-fighting and making threats. He was shocked and I could tell he knew this kind of behavior was wrong. But it's different when you know the kids, you spend every day with them, and you know they aren't serious. It's different when you've seen their good side and their bad side; when you choose to focus on the good, and to forgive and forget the bad.

I'm still trying to figure out what it means to be in this world but not of it; To hear and see so many things that are absolutely wrong, and yet refrain from passing my human judgment. I think the answer lies in what Jesus said: "You are the salt of the earth." We are salt. We are here to bring out the best flavor in people. If we are too overbearing, our salt will overpower each person's unique, God-shaped character.

On the other hand, "if salt loses its saltiness, it is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled by men." If we simply assimilate into this culture we have failed to keep God's command to be holy--separate from sinful practices of those around us. I still don't know how to be separate, and love those around me at the same time. But I know that I must love those around me because they are people made in the image of God. They are people with an eternal destiny.

The last day of camp is August 8th. Please continue to pray for us! We need strength for today and hope for tomorrow. We need an unshakable hope and faith that God will change these kids’ lives using this summer-- even if we never see it.
"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen (Ephesians 3:20)."

Sincerely,

Chris Woolfe

Pictures!

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 17:26:32 GMT

Update on camp

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 17:14:16 GMT

Today we were supposed to go to the pool, but we hit some major traffic on the way. We moved twenty feet in forty minutes. The kids took it really well though. All wasn't lost, because regardless of the circumstances, we got to just spend time taking and playing with the kids.

Our kids are pretty normal. They like to play games and sports. They like to eat snacks and candy. They like to win and they like to blame everybody else when they lose! They like to have fun and get into impromptu fights with words or fists, or water guns. Sometimes they're intentions are malicious, but mostly they're not.

I was kind of shocked when I got into a conversation with a couple kids about scars. We all traded stories about scars we have on our bodies. One of the kids has this scar from when he got stabbed with a knife, and the other wears a tracking device on his ankle because he's on probation for dealing drugs.

Timeout..What?! These kids are fourteen! Considering their scars, they are are very well behaved. Writing on the bus seat, or yelling at somebody outside the bus suddenly seems like a much more minor issue. When one yelled derogatory remarks to a woman on the side of the road, I asked him if that was loving his neighbor. He said that she wasn't his neighbor. I told him the parable of the Good Samaritan and he received it in thought.

I told my kids in Bible class that sex before marriage was sin, and it was such a foreign concept to them! They were shocked. But I can tell that many are pondering it because they keep asking me questions about it. I keep telling them about Ephesians 5:3, and Matthew 5:28. I'll even emphasize the word "sexual immorality" used in 5:3 is porneia in the Greek, which is defined "adultery, fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism, intercourse with animals etc." Fornication is defined as "voluntary sexual intercourse between persons not married to each other."

I know the sword of the spirit and it's power to divide even bone from marrow

God been teaching me to be super patient, kind, and merciful with these kids, rather than yelling at them for everything that they do wrong. When they act up, I must love them even more. I must be gentle and encouraging in any rebuke. "4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. " It is the most excellent way.

Speaking of methods, I heard a super-challenging message today by Voddie Baucham. He makes a thought-provoking argument that our current approach to youth ministry is unbiblical because the bible says:

"Ephesians 5:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2"Honor your father and mother"—which is the first commandment with a promise— 3"that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth."[a] 4Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord."

and

"Deuteronomy 11:18 Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 19 Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."

Teaching, discipleship, and training of children is their parents responsibility! For thirty years the church has said in effect, "Don't try this at home, we are trained professionals." The responsibility training the next generation of Christ-followers has fell onto this new role we made up: the youth pastor. He's usually a cool twenty-something with spikey hair who has no experience raising any children of his own!

Baucham calls for a paradigm shift. He says that if your adult congregation isn't tithing, you don't start a tithing ministry to tithe for them. You teach them what the bible says and you expect them to obey God. Instead of starting a youth ministry to teach the kids, we should be teaching parents what the bible says about their responsibility to raise their kids and expect them to obey God!

And speaking of challenging messages, here's another by Francis Chan.

Both of these messages are lucid, and I'm thankful for His life-giving Word.