The Giving Tree

Here I am!

2010-11-26T17:42:00.000-08:00

If you come across this blog, please visit my new blog on Wordpress - www.ragamuffinLife.wordpress.com.

I update it a bit more often and chose to use it because it is more search engine friendly and is a more powerful blogging tool.

Thanks!
- Josh

Father Time Steal Our Days Like A Thief

2010-05-09T15:50:00.000-07:00

It takes a long time to kill a man
Fifty-five years at least
Until he breaks down
Starts to look underground
To go off, and get him some peace
I want to die a lot quicker then that

If that's my only way out
I've been counting up the cost
Getting up on that cross
I want to know what this is all about

Father Time steals our days like a thief
There's no price that I wouldn't pay to get some relief
I've become the empty shell of a man I don't like so well
I am a living, breathing hell
Come on and resurrect me

I tried to drown the pain with a friend of mine
It didn't seem to help
She's got a pretty face with her wedding lace
But I'm still waking up with myself

I know what it means to choke it down
Down until your legs get weak
I know what it's like on a Saturday night
To be alone in a crowded street

Come on and resurrect me

-JF

The American Mindset - Help!!!

2010-04-26T08:39:00.000-07:00

The Monkey and the Fish

A typhoon stranded a monkey on an island. In a protected place on the shore, while waiting for the raging waters to recede, he spotted a fish swimming against the current. It seemed to the monkey that the fish was struggling and needed assistance. Being of kind heart, the monkey resolved to help the fish.

A tree leaned precariously over the spot where the fish seemed to be struggling. At considerable risk to himself, the monkey moved far out on a limb, reached down, and snatched the fish from the waters. Scurrying back to the safety of his shelter, he carefully laid the fish on dry ground. For a few moments, the fish showed excitement but soon settled into a peaceful rest.

- An Eastern parable

I know lots of monkeys.

It's A Wonderful Homeless Life

2010-03-11T18:49:00.000-08:00

Every year, my family gets together to watch "It's A Wonderful Life" on Christmas Eve and when I met Clarence outside of the Nashville Rescue Mission (Nashville, TN), this was the first image that popped into my mind, Clarence: The angel-in-training who saves the main character in the story, George Bailey, from killing himself and convinces him that life is worth living.

...In a way, Clarence from Nashville played the same role for me, but this story is not about me.

Clarence approached me before the food was served on the streets outside of the Nashville Rescue Mission. He got straight to the point - "Hey man will you pray with me". I said sure and we walked over to the corner of the parking lot and he poured out his heart to me. I'm not going to get into the details, but I want to share the basic story that he told me so that some of you can understand just how close to homelessness you really are.

Clarence grew up living an "average" life in a small town outside of Nashville. He got married young and had a family. He worked an honest job and raised his 2 kids. Then one day, Clarence was hanging out with "the wrong crowd" and got into some trouble. Normally, this would not be a problem, except that Clarence couldn't afford a lawyer or the fines, so he decided to "sit the time out" in jail. He served an 18 month sentence in order to pay off the debts. While serving this sentence he had been in contact with his wife and family occassionally, but not often. Once he got out of jail, he went to the home where he had been raising his family... To his surprise, the house was empty. It appeared to have been vacant for quite some time.

He looked everywhere for his wife and kids. All over town. Couldn't find them.

His wife had stopped paying the mortgage on the home - So the bank foreclosed.
She had stopped paying the bills - So they all went on his credit.
She had taken the kids and all of the furniture, so he had nothing left.

With no money in the bank, and tens of thousands of dollars in debt, Clarence stepped back into life.

The only place that he could go? The Nashville Rescue Mission.

And that is where Clarence is today. That is where he has been for the past several years. That is where he will remain for the next several years. But he still sees Hope. He still has Faith. Clarence told me, "Man, the day that I got out of jail and realized what had happened was the day I knew that I wasn't in control of my life - God is - every day since then I have trusted Him with everything, please don't forget to pray for me because I know He is listening."

The amazing thing.. Clarence still thinks It's A Wonderful Life

Let's pray for Clarence this week.

Fake Sugar, Real Life

2010-02-11T18:09:00.000-08:00

Last saturday at the homeless kitchen we were running out of sugar. This is a big deal. The homeless love the sugar. They pour obscene amounts of it in their coffee to get a sugar buzz. So @DanielJayBryant directed a couple of us to the closest store (not the best part of town).

We got in the truck and headed around the corner from the feeding kitchen at around 10 a.m. As we turned the corner we saw a man laying on the side of the road, near the bus stop. I noticed his face. A face I will never forget. A face of death.

He appeared to be a homeless man by the way he was dressed. As we passed by, I could tell that he had been dead probably all night. What was going through his mind when he died? Was he waiting until the feeding kitchen opened the following morning? Was he waiting near the bus stop to go see his family? Was he sick without someone to take care of him?

I will never forget the empty shell of a person that I saw that day on the side of the road.

The story does not end there. We drove around the block to the shopping mart/liquor store/bathroom (evidentally). We went in to get some Sweet n' Low. This was not an ordinary shopping area. It was falling apart. Outdated food on the shelves. Disgusting floors and walls... I remember telling the person that was with me, "Man, I have been to 3rd world countries and not seen places this disgusting".

As we were waiting to check out I heard our cashier yell across the store, "hey so-and-so, get a mop, someone peed on the floor up here". Wow. Right by the register. A woman, probably not in her right mind, decided to urinate on the floor while in line to check out.

Why did I tell you these stories? So that you know that these places and these things are happening right down the street from where you live. Not in other countries. Not in hidden dark alleys. Not in the middle of a forgotten place. Right down your street. We went to get Fake Sugar, and saw a bit of Real Life.

Get involved with "this area" of town. We are here to help these people. To give them a voice. To bring a bit of our abundance and love to "this area" of town. Come enjoy the crazies, the dirty, the lazy, the prostitutes, the drug addicts. Come see through these things and see that they are broken people. Just as broken as the suit-and-tie who sits comfortably in the pew infront of you.

The Road From Monster To Grandpa

2010-01-30T20:37:00.000-08:00

This is a story about Calvin. He is a father. He is a new grandfather. He is a crack-addict. He is homeless.

I met Calvin last saturday at Cornerstone's ex-liquor store-turned-feeding-kitchen. The leader of the kitchen came up to me and said, "I need you to start calling around town and try to find this guy a detox/rehab facility". As I started making some phone calls, Calvin came up to me. A complete broken mess.

I called about 8 rehab facilities that morning, each referring me to another. No one wanted to deal with Calvin's issues on a saturday morning. In the end, there was no place for him to go... I know, ridiculous isn't it? So we went to plan B and decided to take care of him ourselves. After making a few phone calls, the church down the street told us they would take Calvin to the emergency room and he would receive help for his withdrawls.

As Calvin, Judy, and I headed up to the church, Calvin began to tell us his story. Through a sopping wet face and a screechy voice, he told us about how he had smoked crack all night and drank for 2 days straight and was ready to be finished with this life. He told us about how his first two granddaughters had been born on Christmas day and he hadn't even met them yet because his daughter wouldn't allow him in her house. "I just want to be Grandpa, not a monster", He said. For the next 2 hours, he cried, he laughed, he urinated on himself, he vomitted, and he got on his knees for help. I'm glad Ms. Judy was there with us, she helped to comfort him, and told him about her past life of brokeness and alcoholism. She shared encouraging stories, hugs, and advice. The Conerstone kitchen coordinator, Dan Bryant (@danieljaybryant), finally ended up taking Calvin over to the hospital and staying with him until he received treatment. On this day, Calvin made a decision to change. Crack is a monster and I hope he can escape its grip and get his life back. Thank you, Dan. Thank you, Ms. Judy.

I wonder if Calvin has seen his granddaughters yet or if he relapsed.. I didn't see him at the kitchen this week. This could be a good or bad sign.

Calvin needs some prayer and support. If you have a story of encouragement please send it in via email message on our website www.ragamuffinLife.org and I will make sure it gets to him.

Shoes for the Soul

2010-01-21T08:06:00.000-08:00

Last week a generous donor decided to respond and "made it personal" by donating a pair of work boots to a homeless friend of mine. This person heard about a need and responded. I'm writing this to tell you the impact this small donation had on Ed's life.

Ed and Gary (See previous blog post) are good friends. They usually spend most of their time together every day at the Dallas Public Library job hunting online or riding around Dallas on DART to pass the time.

Every saturday I see Ed, and every saturday he tells me the same story:

"Man, this week I'm going to get me a job at a barber shop, I used to be a real good barber." To the average person, this seems like an effortless task, but to Ed the harsh reality is that he has to survive on a day to day basis. Therefore, he collects soda cans from people's garbage from about 7am-5pm about 5 days per week and makes roughly $20 per day. But each week, he has the same goal ahead of him "I'm going to get my barber shop job back".

I hope that he never gives up on his goal. Right now it's all he has left.

He has tried to get a decent job, but tells me, "It's hard to get a good, steady job... people don't want to hire a homeless guy and it is obvious to them when I only have 2 pairs of old nasty clothes, worn out rain boots I found in the dumpster, no phone or contact number, and no home address". Ed is stuck in the homeless rutt.

On this particular day, we (ragamuffinLife) worked together to take a step forward to help Ed get on track and then I saw that something much more powerful had occurred.

A pair of nice, new work boots were donated. When I gave these to Ed on saturday, his eyes lit up. After finding out they were a gift for him, he snatched them out of my hands and immediately dropped to the ground, ripping off his ragged, dirty rain boots to try on the new work boots. A perfect fit. I wish I could have taken a picture of the look on his face; it reminded me of what I expect our reaction to be when we meet our Father in Heaven some day. -A smile from ear to ear, similar to the look on a proud, new father's face-

And then he said something that really tugged at my heart strings, "Man, somebody took real good care of these boots ::implying that they were hand-me-downs::" I told him, "Ed, these boots are brand new!" and he lit up like a 6 year old on Christmas morning. He said that since he had been homeless he had not received ANYTHING that was new. He took the food he was storing out of his backpack, quickly ate it, and put his new boots in it. "I'm only gunna wear these to get me a good job.. I'm not gunna get them dirty diggin for cans", Ed said.

He carried around the biggest smile for the rest of the afternoon, showing his new boots to anyone he came in contact with. You see, the boots were more than just new shoes to Ed, they were Shoes for his Soul.

Ed still needs some things to help him get "his barber shop job back". He needs a virgin mobile pre-paid cellphone, virgin mobile minutes for the phone, assistance with a resume, life counseling, and a job. He is not a drug addict and he doesn't drink alcohol. You will be able to donate on the ragamuffinLife.org website soon (currently under construction) or you can contact me directly to help Ed out.

Waking up in a Graveyard

2010-01-18T11:29:00.000-08:00

Every week I have the pleasure of spending some time with Gary. Gary is a friend of mine who I see once a week at the homeless food/clothing shelter. He's a brilliant guy and before the recession, he was the manager for a parts supply company. Since I have known him we have only had a surface relationship. Usually we just swap stories about how our week went and catch up, but this particular day was going to be different:

You see, this week I saw that Gary was wearing a Dallas Cowboys hat.

I thought I would ask him to come over to watch the game with me. He seemed a bit uncomfortable with the idea and told me, "I don't think that is a good idea, your family doesn't want a bum like me hangin around".

Gary, like most homeless people, has lost most of his self-confidence. After losing your marriage, job, home, car and everything else you once called your own, you might lose confidence in yourself as well... I bugged him until we finally settled on the idea that I would pick him up at the Dallas Public Library and we would just go to a restaurant to hang out and watch the game.

I met him at the library and we walked downtown to Campisi's. The place was pretty empty and we got a table right infront of the tv. We ordered a couple of drinks and as the first quarter of the game started, so did our conversations. Gary told me about his life and how he had given up on everything once he lost his job. He said his family was dead, except for his sister, but she lived too far away and was too poor to help him out all the time. Gary doesn't smoke, he doesn't drink, he doesn't do drugs, he is not mentally ill, and he doesn't enjoy being around the majority of this population at the shelters either. So he stays outside... by himself. For three years he has lived this way. He is stuck in the homeless rutt.

After the game, I told him I would get him a place to stay for the night because it was around 25 degrees. He wouldn't have any part of that conversation. He simply said, "It is degrading enough that you took me out to eat, there is no way I can let you do anything else". I responded, "Gary, I was just hanging out and watching the game with a good friend.. nothing shameful in that!" He told me that it was one of the only times he has sat down and eaten a meal in a restaurant since becoming homeless and he couldn't even remember the last time he was able to watch the Cowboys game on a tv, he usually just reads about the game in the paper the following day.

I gave Gary a ride "home" and I will never forget this moment of my life:

As we drove to the other side of Dallas (around the Fair Park area) Gary told me that he hears gunshots on a daily basis. "I am the only white person in this area and I used to get messed with, but they don't mess with me anymore because they figured out I don't ever have any money or drugs", He said. We finally pulled over where his "spot" was... in a graveyard. This is where he sleeps every night and this is where he wakes up every morning. Day after day. He told me that this was the most dangerous area of Dallas, so he usually rides the bus around until about 1 a.m. then comes to this area to sleep and wakes up about 4 a.m. so that he avoids any contact with dangerous people.

Gary needs help getting an ID card, assistance with a resume, minutes for his Virgin Mobile phone, a job and some good friends. Contact me if you would like to get involved.

Happy Feet: INDIA

2010-01-16T02:41:00.000-08:00

read the email from Thomas at the bottom!

Well I should be getting up in just a few hours but I woke up and can't go back to sleep. This story is on my heart so I figured I would share-

Every saturday morning for the past 4 months or so, I have been at Cornerstone's ex-liquor store spending time with my homeless friends and making sure they have a full belly... But I have not been alone.

A group of us, dubbed "Saturday Servants", have decided to completely dedicate our saturdays to serving "the least of these". We start out with a group prayer meeting at Starbucks, then head to downtown Dallas to visit with our homeless friends (about 200), and drive to an apartment complex a few miles away to an area where newly arrived Bhutanese refugees live (about 600) to teach ESL and cultural training classes. Our day is typically from about 9:30 am - 6 pm and we LOVE it. Each week we have requests for new team members who want to get involved!

For the past couple of weeks we have been missing one of our Servants. His name is Thomas. Thomas is one of a kind. We have absolutely nothing in common on this earth besides the fact that we both l-o-v-e people.

So, where is Thomas?

Well one day about 6 weeks ago he met a young pastor who had a passion for India. Thomas has been to several countries in Africa, works for an organization called "Village Medicine" and has personally raised over $60k for orphanages in Uganda, but he had never been to India. This young pastor said that they needed Thomas to join the team and, despite my doubts, he raised the money for the trip in less than 3 weeks! ::wow::

He is anything but a "doubting thomas". In fact, sometimes I think that he is overzealous simply to prove that the 'mustard seed-sized faith' theory is true and I won't be surprised if he literally sees a mountain move before his eyes while he is in India.

Here is an email I received yesterday from Thomas via Facebook, it is the middle of the afternoon right now in India.. I wonder what he is up to..

Thomas Woodall January 15 at 10:47am

Omg! Today we went to the red light area to work with the "eunuchs," some actually are and some I would label transsexual. God gave me so much peace, I was more nervious going into the childrens home than the red light area. The people they are working with, no one loves. It's such a taboo, not matter what country your in. I love that they are there and present to share God with them! I have so many thoughts, Its hard not being able to express them I words.

The childrens home is, of course, amazing! Beautiful kids, 10 have HIV/AIDS. I also have so many thoughts on this as well. There is one named songi, he is HIV positive and was found in the streets with his insides hanging out. They brought him back and nursed Jim back to "health" or the closest thing to it. He is so small and skinny, with a hard sad face. But he is so amazing, he would sit in my lap all day, but I also have to be with the other kids. He loves to just be with us, and it's so emotional on many levels.

Thanks for all your prayers!

Tell everyone I said hi!

::All with the faith of a mustard seed to get him there. Happy Feet.::

Invisible People

2009-09-14T15:42:00.000-07:00

China

2009-09-13T21:14:00.000-07:00

China has been on my heart lately. I returned from a "vision trip" in June and have not thought much about a return trip. About a week ago I started having dreams about China. I thought nothing of it. Two nights ago, I was driving home at 11pm and an overwhelming feeling came over me to call the President of our missions organization and tell him "China is going to happen". Even though we do not have plans for a return trip, funding, or team members, I truly felt for no other reason besides the Spirit showing me, "China WILL happen". Today I attended church. After the service I was having casual conversation with a friend about how I have felt about China. He told me he had been feeling the same way. He said he knew of several people who would like to join a mission team to China. Since that time, I have had several people contact me about this trip. Some have previously travelled to China up to 7 times, others have never been.

I am not positive on where the Spirit is leading this, but for only the second time in my short life as a Christian, I feel overwhelmed that the Spirit of God is doing something that I had absolutely no part in accomplishing on my own.

China is a very sad land of oppression and mind-control. These people are desperate for hope and understand a happiness beyond the glory this world has to offer. The area of China which has been on my heart is a remote area high in the Himalayan mountains in Tibet. This is one of the most beautiful places on earth and filled with beautiful, peaceful Tibetan people. The only problem is they have not heard the name of Jesus.

If you would like to participate in this trip you can do so by contacting me through this blog, or contacting a "To Every Nation" team member at www.toeverynation.net

Go, Send or Disobey

2009-08-24T17:25:00.000-07:00

Hillsong United

2009-08-19T12:20:00.000-07:00

A little while ago I found this quote but as I read it, I realized it was something that I could not walk away from unchanged. This quote demanded action. It changed my way of thinking. It transformed the way I choose to both see and treat people. It pushed me out of life as I know it and encouraged me to live bigger.

It was written by an advisor to the Roman emperor in 137AD. The man whom wrote these word was not a Christian himself but was clearly changed by the way of life Christians choose to live by.

This is what he said...

"It is the Christians, oh Emperor, Who have sought and found the truth, for they acknowledge God. They do not keep for themselves the goods entrusted to them. They do not covet what belongs to others. They show love to their neighbours. They do not do to another what they would not wish to have done to themselves. They speak gently to those who oppress them, and in this way they make them their friends. It has become their passion to do good to their enemies. They live in the awareness of their smallness. Anyone of them who has anything gives ungrudgingly to the one who has nothing. If they see a travelling stranger, they bring him under their roof. They rejoice over him as a real brother, for they do not call one another brothers out of the flesh, but they know that they are brothers in the spirit and in God. If they hear that one of them is imprisoned or oppressed for the sake of Christ, they take care of all his needs. If possible, they set him free. If anyone among them is poor or comes into want while they themselves have nothing to spare, they fast two or three days for him. In this way they can supply any poor man with the food he needs. This O Emperor, is the rule of life of the Christians, and this is their manner of life." (Aristides - 137AD)

As I read this, it made me think as to what our giving looks like today... If you were to define this generation of Christians, would that be said about our giving?

In our society it is so easy to draw back, to hold on to what we have, or even just to give a little but make sure it doesn't hurt. But that was never our mandate! We have been called to give out of a grace that first loved us. Not out of compulsion but inspired by the greatest giver of all, to do so with love and a compelling generosity.

We can so easily get caught up in the conveniences of society and forget that by living in them we are often neglecting the world at the same time. We need to grab hold of this teaching once again and run with it, allow it to become our passion and mandate.

Oh how He loves US

2009-08-19T12:12:00.001-07:00

We are the World

2009-07-26T14:29:00.000-07:00

We judge them as the drug addict, the alcoholic, the adulturer, the wicked, the godless. We are no better.

Chinese Pastor Yun (Western Church 'U.S.A.')

2009-07-24T20:21:00.000-07:00

In his book "The Heavenly Man" Brother Yun tells his incredible story of the work God has done through his life. He has suffered more years of torture in Chinese prisons than he has had years of freedom. He has had friends brutally murdered before his eyes. He went 74 days without ONE drop of water or ONE grain of rice while fasting in prison. He was beaten to the point of being crippled while in prison to keep him from escaping, yet one day stood up in his cell and walked past over 40 prison guards and out the open prison gate at China's most maximum security prison. How can these things be? How could he physically heal so many people he came in contact with?... Through his FAITH in trusting his every breath to the Creator. Through the uncomfortable life of sacrifice he chose to live for Christ.

Brother Yun is a pastor who has amazing insight into how to live a life for Christ and not for yourself. He is known as someone who always has a smile on his face. I wanted to share a bit about some of Pastor Yun's observations:

Living Under the Umbrella of God not living FOR God:

"Ministry had become an idol. Working for God had taken the place of loving God. I hid my condition from those who prayed for me and carried on in my own strength, until God decided to intervene in his mercy and love. I was still getting up every morning at five o'clock and praying with other church leaders, and I was still reading my Bible every day, but I was doing these things out of obligation and habit, and not from a willing heart flowing from my relationship with Jesus."
-Pastor Yun

-Here Brother Yun is sharing of a time when he grew away from God. In a way we in the states would not even consider wrong. How many times have you heard, "Just spend 15 minutes a day with God (reading His word)"? I think that literally makes God sick. That we have made time with Him such an obligation. Just a small part of our day. Just to ease our thoughts about how 'active' our Christian life is. Sickening.

"When China's borders started to open up in the early 1980's, many foreign Christians wanted to know how they could help the church in China. They first thing they did was smuggle Bibles to us from Hong Kong. These gifts were greatly appreciated and so desperately needed! ..However, after a few years these same mission organizations started putting other books at the top of the bags of Bibles. These were books about one particular denomination's theology, or teaching that focused on certain aspects of God's Word. This, I believe, was the start of disunity among many of China's house churches. These booklets told us we must worship in a certain way, or we must speak in tongues to be a true believer, or that only if we were baptized in Jesus' name could we be saved. Other teachings focused on extreme faith, still others argued for or against the role of women in the church. .. Instead of only speaking for Jesus, we also started speaking against other believers who didn't conform to our views."
-Pastor Yun

- This is someone (brother Yun) who, just recently, has seen how denominationalism can tear God's people apart. Who are we to say what is wrong or right? Denominationalism is nothing less than a group of judgemental believers against another group of judgemental believers. It tears the body of Christ apart. How often do you say, "Well he is [fill in a religion], they are crazy because they do/don't allow [fill in activity] at the church". Who cares? I can promise you God is concerned with children starving, homeless freezing, women raped, and villiages dying without hearing His name.. Not whether or not a woman is leading a prayer.

The following might hit a bit too close to home for some people. Pastor Yun, just as most of the world, had an image of American Church in His mind; "The most Godly place on earth". A place where everyone is a God loving Christian and is only concerned with the things of Heaven and not the things of this world. This might make you feel a bit uncomfortable-

"When I'm in the West I see all the mighty church buildings and all the expensive equipment. I can assure the Western church with absolute certainty that you don't need any more church buildings. Church buildings will never bring the revival you seek. The pursuit of more possessions will never bring revival. The first thing needed for revival to return to your churches is the Word of the Lord. God's Word is missing. Sure, there are many preachers and thousands of tapes and videos of Bible teaching, but so little contains the sharp truth of God's Word. Not only is knowledge of God's Word missing, but obedience to that Word. There's not much action taking place. I've seen people in Western churches worshipping as if they're already in heaven. Then someone invariably brings a comforting message like, 'My children, I love you. Don't be afraid, I'm with you', but why is it that nobody seems to hear a Word from the Lord like, 'My child, I want to send you to the slums of Asia or the darkness of Africa to be my messenger to people dying in their sin'?"

But not us, right? Not our church.

But miracles are OLD TESTAMENT stuff... Doesn't happen anymore. God doesn't NEED to prove anything anymore.

"Many Christians have also asked me why miracles and signs and wonders are so prevalent in China, but not so evident in the West.
In the West you have so much. You have insurance for everything. In a way, you don't need God. When my father was dying of stomach cancer, we sold everything we had to try to cure him. When everyhting was gone we had no hope but God. We turned to him in desperation and saw him mercifully answer our prayers and heal my father. We reasoned that if God could do that then he could do anything, so our faith grew and we've seen many miracles."
-Brother Yun

So does Pastor Yun just not believe God is in the U.S.? Does he seem to think God has left us because of our materialistic lifestyles?

The Church God Moves:
"Of course not all Western churches are asleep! Of all the strong churches I have visisted in the West I've noticed one thing they all have in common: A strong and sacrificial commitment to missions among unreached nations. I'm not talking just about local outreach, or even attempts to start churches in other cities in your nation. I'm talking about a heart to establish God's kingdom in the most gospel-starved and spiritually dark areas of the world, where nobody has ever heard the name of Jesus. When you start putting your time, prayers and finances there you will soon experience God's blessing on the work of your hands. .. Until the Western Church obeys the Great Commission and takes the gospel to the ends of the earth, people are just playing with God and are not really serious about the truth. Many churches look beautiful on the outside, but are dead where it counts, on the inside. If you truly want to see God move, the two main things you must do is learn the Word of God and have the obedience to do what God tells you to do."
-Pastor Yun

Please take these words to heart. Get upset. Don't 'change the channel'. These words have come from a very faithful, true life servant of Christ who is concerned for God's people and loves every man who has ever beaten, spit on, or tortured him for the sake of spreading the Word.

ragamuffin Life

2009-07-19T22:04:00.001-07:00

So what is this life about anyways? To see how many blessings the Lord will give to us? To spend 95% of the day taking care of things that 'must be done' and 5% focusing on the One who gave His life for our sake?

Recently, I spoke to someone who does not know Christ. We talked about Christianity. To my amazement he knew the story. He said that he knew a lot about the Bible. He knew who Jesus Christ was and what He came here to do for us. He said he simply didn't believe in Him. I said, "Why"?! He replied, "Because of the Christians, if this was really God, they would be living what they say". Wow right? Convicting? This is literally the force which drives people away from Christianity more than anything: The "Christians". The people who want to live their comfortable life style ignoring the verses in THE Book which might make us feel as if we have to actually do something which involves our entire life rather than a few pat-on-the-back moments of our week which convince us is being "truly Christlike".

After all, God doesn't actually mean what He says when He is speaking to the church in Revelation 3:15-17 saying, "I know your works, that you are neither hot nor cold; I would rather you either be hot or cold. So then because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spit you out of my mouth. Because you say, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and know not that your are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked."

I pray that beyond every self-righteous, judgemental Christian that walks around as if they are better than the drug addict on the street, that the lost will be able to once again, in the land that I live, seek Christ BECAUSE of the Christians rather than turn away from Him due to our lack of faith.

Watch This

2009-07-19T12:50:00.000-07:00

Money, Blessings, Prayer, Giving

2009-07-18T11:36:00.001-07:00

What does the Gospel of Matthew say about Blessings and a Blessed life?

Matthew Ch 5
Jesus spoke from the mountain to His disciples;

5:3 Blessed are the poor in Spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
5:4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
5:5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
5:6 Blessed are they which hunger and thirst for righteousness: for they shall be filled.
5:7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
5:10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
5:11 Blessed are you, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
5:12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
11:6 Blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.

These are some of Jesus' first teachings on a blessed life lived for the Kingdom of Heaven. He speaks throughout the gospels of the sadness which comes from earthly riches. Sound like the comfortable 'blessed' life full of faith we have here in the States?

However despite Joel Osteen's message of an overly abundant "blessed life" through Christianity, most of the New Testament's teachings are warnings to people of the church about how they worship or how they lead their lives calling themselves "Christians".

NIV version:

Matthew 6:1-4
How do we give?
"Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in Heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues, and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. So then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."

Matthew 6:5-8
How do we pray?
"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love praying standing in synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go in your room, close the door, and pray to your Father who is unseen. Then your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep babbling on like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

Does this sound a bit different from the way we handle prayer in our churches or meetings? What about how we give? Don't we all enjoy taking the family to do work with the homeless with all of our church friends? Doesn't it feel righteous? After all Jesus commanded us to help the poor, didn't He?

Jesus tells us all about a rich life worth living. He speaks throughout the gospels of just how rich with blessings our lives can be. Let's see if it matches up to what we might think.

Matthew 6:19-21
"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust corrupts, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust corrupts, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

We have all heard this verse and brushed it off with the thought of "well I'm not rich, Bob down the street is much more wealthy than I am and he is a Christian". Maybe you should think of it this way; The money which you make in one day at the average job for a 30 yr old male could provide healthcare for an entire village for one year in Ghana, Africa. Just the pay from one of your important days.

How many vehicles do you own? How expensive is your home? Do the kids share rooms? Is it comfortable enough for your standards?

Matthew 6:25
"Therefore I say to you, take no thought for your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor yet for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than clothing?"

Matthew 6:31-32
"Therefore take no thought, saying, what shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek for your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things."

Matthew 10:39
"He that finds his life shall lose it: and he that loses his life for my sake shall find it."

Matthew 19: 21-24
"Jesus said to him, if you want to be perfect, go and sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. Then said Jesus to his disciples, surely I say to you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God."

But "rich" in our society is only having more than most of those around us. In several other countries, "rich" would be considered having enough food to not hunger. So what is "rich". I would consider rich as having more than what is necessary for survival.

How America Worships (non-denominational view)

2009-07-17T18:14:00.000-07:00

For those of you who have spent time with Believers in other countries (especially countries of oppression or starvation) you might be able to understand this on a different level:

Our Church:
We go to Church on sunday, maybe a Bible study or two during the week, and sometimes on a saturday night if we are offered that convenience. We try our best to be "good Christians" and do something for the community occasionally whether it be volunteering at a homeless shelter for a day, keeping a smile on our face, praying for blessings and safety throughout our day, and maybe helping out with a VBS if that is what God "calls" us to do. This is the life of the average Christian American. A happy-go-lucky, 'blessed life' full of plenty of money, decently nice cars, Jesus t-shirts, fun church camps, and a pat on the back for our tithe of 10%; after all that is what is taught in the Bible, correct? How many times have you heard the "We MUST go to church weekly to re-charge our spiritual batteries" illistration or some version of it. We go to Church services and are convicted by a pastor trying his best to reach a very quiet group of people. We go to the alter or kneel at our chairs after the pastor tells us we need to look into our hearts to find our faults. We ask God to forgive us. We feel refreshed. We say goodbye to all of our "Godly" friends and leave. The Church door shuts behind us and now our week begins, fresh and sinless. We drive to work, park our vehicles, and turn our head away from three homeless people we walk past on our way to the office, after all we don't have time to get them food and they are just going to buy drugs with our precious money, aren't they? We wrap our minds around our work (or daily activity) during the day, we come home thinking about our dinner or how Timmy's basketball practice went, sit down with our beloved spouse and watch the news to catch up on all of the crazy events going on in our world so we might not be out of the loop when an event is topic of conversation, we lay our heads down in our comfortable beds and say a few quick words to God thanking Him for all of our blessings before we fall asleep.

Does this sound like a life living the greatest commands of Christ, to "Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul AND mind" or His second commandment, "Love your neighbor as yourself"?

I have been in places of worship in other parts of the world where it is so hot you can barely breath, where Christians meet on a city dump where they live in an open area with no roof or building. I have worshipped in places where if the name of "Jesus" is heard too loudly, the people could risk imprisonment. I have been witness to areas where people literally pull at your arms and clothes to tell them more about Christ. Places where even the children are full of joyful tears as they sing songs about Jesus Christ, because they know that without Him, they would have starved to death on the streets. These people all have one thing in common; they sing praises with joyful hearts pouring out to their Lord who has saved them from damnation after this short time here on earth and shown them Grace (A word we love to overuse in our American church) giving them Life to Love their Father. These people have HUGE smiles, jump around dancing and laughing, and cry with tears of Love for their King.

We have twisted the meaning of having "faith" in God as being able to believe He exists even though we cannot physically see Him. Wow. I have met with a woman who started an orphanage for small street children in Peru. She has no money, she has no job, she has no help or support from a church, yet she survives and all of the children are fed and clothed. I asked her, "How do you get money?" She replied, "By Faith". I asked her, "Aren't you afraid the children will starve?" She replied with a smile on her face, "No, no, no! I have Faith in Jesus, what do I need to fear?" We have created a religion that doesn't really need Him, but society has told us that He is our path to Heaven, and we all want to go there when we die, right? But do we miss the point? How can this be called Faith?? Was God created for us, or were we created for God?