Not so safe anymore...

For those who wonder how prevalence violence is in our society, our neighborhood...

• About 3 weeks ago our 15-year-old neighbor was jumped twice

• Last week two of our brothers in the church were jumped for a cell phone...praise God neither was seriously injured and the Lord healed one of a near-certain surgery

• The day after another young man and friend of ours was jumped

• Today Aaron Ross was mugged for $1.50 from some local teenagers

Around here it's all about power and subjugation...gangs are starting up among young teenagers...mimicking the older teenagers and dealers...

This place isn't safe. Not by any means. Neither are we. We talk about revolution...here's our chance.

"Non-violence is not inaction. It is not discussion. It is not for the timid or weak... Non-violence is hard work. It is the willingness to sacrifice. It is the patience to win." Cesar Chavez

That's all nonviolence is - organized love." Joan Baez

"Nonviolence is not a garment to be put on and off at will. Its seat is in the heart, and it must be an inseparable part of our being." Mahatma Gandhi

REDEEM

So there are dozens upon dozens of ideas, values, questions, comments, fears, joys, concerns, praises, and just plain things circulating around what has occurred in our neighborhood and community this past week. We've just begun to discuss them here, and I'm really excited to see where we end up...

One thing that's really stood out in my mind, specifically one word, is REDEEM. This is by far the most tempting time to pull away, become discouraged, or lose hope. And i would honestly say, I can understand and empathize. these days are hard!!...and dangerous. but....we are not of those who lose hope, but those who believe. Believe in an all-powerful Father who DOES have the right to judge, discern, administer, and withhold whatever he chooses. And we trust him.

So what about our neighborhood? If we were at all sane, at all logical or normal this would be the single most opportune time for us to pull out, give up, and run away. But we believe this is not the time to run away, but rather the time to REDEEM. Redeem the days, redeem the neighborhood. Isn't that what the gospel is all about, redemption...saving the lost? To some degree we all have our story of redemption...and we know that because God redeemed us, we are empowered to redeem this place.

So when they beat up two of us, we will send four...When they jump the four we will send eight. And we will join the saints of old as we become known as those odd people who give up their things, even their own bodies, to be a living letter, a presence of God in a broken, lost, and REDEEMABLE place. We will be the ones with black eyes and scarred cheeks who stand on the corners giving out burgers and hot cocoa, preaching the good news of ANOTHER WAY, the way of SACRIFICIAL ALL-CONQUERING LOVE, the way of JESUS!

As I wrote this entry, our neighbor came in...he said his friend just got jumped today, too. Came home with a busted eye and cheek. Are we catching a theme here? this place is rough...and we Christians BELONG here...

A Post From AmyBee's blog...Click here

Everyone, check out Amybee's take of what happened last night... She is a missionary to Springfield, OH. She works with the Church up there... She has seen that the greatest need in the world is for the churchpeople to repent, unbless the status quo, and bravely live the gospel... Click the title of this blog entry to see what she writes...

I have to join in and tell you. I'm unapologetic for the message of the Cross. There is resistance to it: that we are to lose our lives in this world and sell our stuff and join the downward (not upward) climb...the race to the bottom...
that life is found in losing, not gaining
that love is shown in giving, not preserving...

...that much of what is sold as Christ is really just the Matrix...

chris deering assaulted

chris deering and aaron smith got assaulted tonight after a basketball game with some brothas down the street... they beat chris and aaron down and pistol whipped them...
aaron ran 7 blocks to Chase House to get me...
i drove him down chase to where chris lay fallen.
on the way to help chris, as some of us were running down there they heard one of the neighborhood people say, "...going to see your friend?"

the cops were already there...
they had chris in a bedroom with paramedics patching him up
chris was really beat up. his face swollen, blood all over his shirt, his hand cut open...
aaron had blood from a headwound on his hands and collar
he and aaron went to Good Samaritan Hospital

chris challis' house dedication on the corner of chase and williamson was last night.

we've come to the attention of the hood...

chris challis has constant knocks on his door, and threatening looks from neighbors...

your prayers will make a difference, here...
we'll keep you posted...

last month, Michael, a young christian, got punched right in the face as he went down Chase Ave...
do you get it? this is a little taste of what it means to follow Christ.

John and Prari

We're planning a wedding in April!
Everyone knows that John (JP) and Prari are gettin' hitched, right?

Well, here they are!

i think the date is April 8th.
Pray for them and all of us here in Church together in Northside.

Total Domination

One word for last night on Chase Ave. "Total Domination"

There was snowball madness with us and Maurice, Montez, and Davante...

And I've still got it... Still got it...

Around Halloween Time, Amy Bee came here for the first time. She had never visited us before, but she had heard about GK from a friend, and decided to visit us on a Sunday Night. She had never come before, but she heard that we "start" somewhere between 5 and 6, and that we "end" somewhere around 9.

The thing is, the 5pm thing is "prep time" for the hospitality of the meeting. We (are supposed to) come around and clean, cook and prepare the first floor for the deluge of humanity that comes with greater and greater magnitude each Sunday night... That way, Judy doesn't feel like she's overwhelmed every Sunday...

So, Aimee has "the disaster" of showing up early and not knowing what to expect, and this is what she got.

Wave USA Report from their site

this is from the Wave guys' website. Go there from Smitty's blog, or look at the entry like five down from this one for a link...

November 20, 2005 - Ohio Rocks

For me, Ohio became the observation state. All the ministries we were involved in I just sat back and observed. Watching GOD move. It was a restful time. In Cincinnati I got to hang out with the awesome Ross family and friends. GOD has placed them in a huge crime and pride area. We froze together, praised together, did service work together, hung out and talked with one another, and even celebrated a birthday together!

Then we went up with the rest of the group to Columbus a few days later. We celebrated Waitangi’s birthday that night, watched movies, and fellowshipped together. It was our Sabbath day. I ate cake for like 4 straight days! Sunday was Vineyard Tuttle Crossing Church. The church took us out to Golden Corral afterwards. Yum! Ohio, rocks. Ohio, rocks!

-Elphie
North Carolina

Hey Russell, there's a horse-butt infront of yer church... hehe..hehehehehe

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Originally uploaded by grubbykupp.

Wavers in Garfield Park

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Originally uploaded by grubbykupp.

Cold that day!

Russel, this is your church behind us. This was a cool part of our tour. We loaded up Chris Challis and took him and his wheelchair down to the "Just us" center to visit Nicole in Jail. That's Chris with No legs visiting Nicole who's in Jail... welcome to our family. i'm lew who has problems unmentionables in front of children...

anyway, we had a great little walking tour while Chris attempted a visit. On the way back to our car, a fight almost broke out, right on the street! Joseph starts taking pictures and this brotha with gold teeth starts comin' up to him, all gettin up in his grill, ya know? Knaaameean?

So it diffuses and we're on our way... great tour.

Wave USA In Garfield Park

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Originally uploaded by grubbykupp.

Entering Garfield Park Wave Usa

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Originally uploaded by grubbykupp.

JP Schoolin' the Wave on life in the hood

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Originally uploaded by grubbykupp.

My beard is indicating that JP is the man for schoolin' the Wavers on life in the hood. We started the tour here, in Northside, across from McPerry's sarisari store, where there's a brisk corner trade in inhalants.

We loved hosting this group and we hope we see them all again.

come live here with us and let's pray down kingdom come!

WAVE USA visit

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Originally uploaded by grubbykupp.

you got yer basic:
Smitty
Jennifer
Youhee
JP
o geez what's your name? you forgot a bag of stuff. Seth loved you so much. You left a big chunk of your heart here with him... we all love you and i'll remember your name later...
Ian
Aaron
Elphie

in this picture, at a park, getting a "tour".

7 Wavers from YWAM, in Cinci

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Originally uploaded by grubbykupp.

November 21, 2005 - 6 Wavers hit the ghettos of Cincinatti

I had no idea where we were going into when I raised my hand to go to Cincinnati. I didn’t know that I will have to continue to share the bathroom with not only 8 guys (when we were in Indiana) but with 10 guys when we go there. I didn’t know we were going from long sleeve shirt to a coat, muffler, mitten, two layers of pants and shirts which I didn’t have.

Sometime, that’s what it’s like to live a life of Jesus. We met Luke and his bunch at the worst ghetto area that I have ever been to. They looked so out of place, no wonder the many churches and Christians does not fully understand what they are trying to do there. What they are trying to do is to live ‘Jesus’ and live ‘love’. In this 100% non-white neighborhood, they just looked out of place, just like Jesus who looked so out of place in many places he went to. He went to the land of Samaritan to talk to this Samaritan woman, and went to the tax payers’ house to hang out with them. I could easily picture Luke and his friends in places like a youth group, bible study, mission committee, but they were here, truly following His commandment to love one another as we love ourselves.

I have to confess that my definition of ‘loving one another haven’t stretch that far yet. My prayer is that He will stretch our minds and worlds to see what His love really looks like in real life. I hope it is yours too.

-Youhee Lee
Bayside, New York

YWAM WAVE REPORT ABOUT THEIR VISIT HERE

Youhee from the YWAM Wave usa team wrote up this little article. you can find it by going on "Smitty's Blogspot" and clickign the WAVE USA link, or by pasting in:
http://www.thewaveusa.com/whhas/oh/112105.php

it is interesting to be called Luke. I get that a lot. Lew is a funny name. Thanks, though, Mom.

Anyway, I put in the article just below here with a photo of the team. I'llnow proceed to blog in the rest of the photos of the team...

Instrument of Peace

"Make me an instrument of your peace;
where there is hatred...
where there is injury...
where there is doubt...
where there is despair...
where there is darkness...
and where there is sadness...

Look! Look at WHERE! Yet do we gravitate, as Christians to such places? Such circumstances?

after writing that last post, i think of all of you out there who yearn to serve, and who would Love to just chuck it all and live an adventure with Jesus, sinking your life fully into Mercy and grace.

go for it. Jesus talked about selling all and giving to the poor and becoming His disciple. I'd like to see you do it.

go for it.

don't let the seeming harshness of what i write gouge you deeply. let it spur you on.

step out of the boat. you just might float. take a chance...

i know that the devil is always ready to give us another chance on down the line to get rich and die fat and happy, so don't worry, you'll be able to get plenty of stuff accumulated later, if you decide that living 100% is too much for you...

...but something tells me that you're the lean and hungry type.

go for it... find community among like minded radicals and get loving the poor and lowly. get close to the dirt and get farming the word into communities that don't know love, yet. be an instrument of peace

Downer Posts

I just gave the address of this blog to my aunt. I love you, aunt Pat. I don't know if you'll like this blog, but we are who we are and I love you from right here...

but you know, lately i've heard that our blog is kind of a downer. I mean that there is a lot of... criticism, here.

Well, you're right. There is. Yes, we're getting a little critical. But is that such a bad thing? I mean, if we weren't to mention that, in this city the individual poor people we meet tell us that the institutional solutions to poverty aren't worth a dime, wouldn't that be...neglectful of our duty to inform?

If we were to neglect reminding the Chruch that, while it's impressive on some level that we've built the $10million facility/$12/$14million facility... did you know that the churches that i know of (just 3 or four) in the Cinci area (Faith E-Free in Milford, Hope church in Mason, Crossroads in Oakley) among them have sunk somewhere in the ballpark of 12, 13, 14... 39million dollars into building projects?

and chris froze to the ground... FROZE TO THE GROUND... last christmas season. A christian brother who went to one of these churches... As they put it, "he fell through the cracks".

now, before we blame some individual church, let's look at our own lives. Do we have houses? Money? Time? Would we if we changed our lifestyles to fit our beliefs? yes. You see, the institutional approach has done its best. It is not enough. The Church has to be more than an institution. It has to be US. Cassi, Zach, Lew, Judy, Christine, Danielmatt, Chris, Chris, Arsenne, Adam, Aimee--US. And we need to be about the basics of hospitality and love.

our fathers in the church have not taught us how to do this. We haven't been given how to obey the simple commandment of Jesus about sharing our lives and our stuff with the poor and the prisoner from the generations of american churchgoers before us. But we still have the full responsibility fo rthiis!

So, well, if it's a downer, I'm not sorry at all. I hope you decide to join into the joy of the Lord and serve Him at the expense of this world.

Zach responds to Cassi

Cassi, I never mentioned crossroads on my xanga...when i mentioned 'rich churches' i meant many churches...probably including crossroads. i dont question the motives of the people at Crossroads...I optimistically think...that the people at Crossroads are just dying to be challenged to follow Christ..but the most they are challenged to is the 'risk' of new building campaign...or give turkeys away. you mentioned the risk taking at crossroads...i dont see much risk in building campaigns...whether its an expansion or a building in Africa. just b/c the new building is big...doesnt mean that it was more risky. what is risky is sellin what we have..and joining the despised and rejected, the poor. i pray that Citylink doesnt get built. first, b/c Brian T. didnt work with any local church or other leaders in the West End...this was evident by how the meeting went with that community a couple Mondays ago.more importantly b/c if..homeless people get helped...it will justify many of the crossroad peeps continued seperation from the poor. and we will again miss the point...WE are supposed to be changed by our interaction with the poor! i dont want to see another place get built that helps the poor but keeps the rich and poor apart. thats charity, not christianity.We need to build a center in Blue Ash or Kenwood...to help solve this wealth problem...for rich people to come and hear the Gospel. that says...'no the poor will enter AHEAD of you into the Kingdom, you are the ones who need help, a center built. AND your wealth can very well keep you out of the KIngdom! your money and wealth is dangerous! sell what you have, give it to the poor, and join this revolution.'thats all i have to say about that...much love cassi

Add bodies, stir, and chill

We're piling into the two houses of the Northside Church/grubbykupp community, here... last night, a young man from the Ivory Coast, stayed in the Big Living Room with Chris Challis. He is a wonderfully faithful young believer, an olympic hopeful, and a dutiful man. His name is Arsenne.

The house across the street, where Matt and Christine, JP, Zach, Smitty, Chris, and Aaron live is COLD! I mean, like in the thirties up in the sleeping quarters!

Several have already gotten bad colds, and people have been stunned by lack of sleep due to cold, here. Imagine... wow.

Something from Cassi

Posted as a comment to Lewminator.
Thank you, Cassi. We need to hear this.
Keep us in prayer as we repent of pride.

Thanks for speaking from the heart and giving us a lot to think about.


FROM CASSI
Lew,

i apologize in advance for the length.

I've recently started reading several blogs from people within the house church and it has given me plenty of thinking to do over the last few weeks. Needless to say, I live in a very different part of Cincinnati with a very different daily experience of life and of God. It is always encouraging and exciting to me to see the people being affected in Northside as a result of the presence of everyone there. It encourages me often to think about other ways I can be a blessing to the people around me and the people who have less than me. It is encouraging to me to see the whole crew united and truly taking risks as y'all believe in the power of prayer. Again, I am reminded of my own lack of faith at times and am encouraged to trust God and do things for him that I am often afraid to do.

I think that my respect for the lifestyle and ministry of the people of your house church is why I am disappointed when I read so many criticisms and blames on an often unnamed "rich church."

Note: I am posting here on your blog specifically not to respond to any person's comment - I do not want to start an argument or attack people. I know that you will respectfully read my response and consider my words.

There are certainly churches out there who abuse their resources and their power. THere are certainly downsides and difficulties that come with larger churches. As has been mentioned, people can slip through the cracks. It is easy for people to live independent Christian lives. It is easy to remain anonymous. It can be hard to reach some isolated needs. It can be hard to show individual attention to people that need it. It can be easy to turn it into a "look-at-us" show. But may I speak for this "unnamed church" AS A FORMER CYNIC myself. I didn't like it the first time I went, it was too big. How would I ever get involved? But as I went back and listened to the heart of those in leadership, I realized that this is a place full of people who are serious about being a blessing to the city Cincinnati - no excuses. I have seen this church take some incredible risks financially and otherwise to do just that. It is absolutely possible for people to fall through the cracks, but no church proper can attend to every need in the city. The vision is to have the church - each person and each relationship live in daily sacrifice to the people around them, only then will the church be the church. If that happens (and I've seen it in action), then groups of friends, Christians, members of THE church work together to make a difference in the lives of the people around them. They aren't dependent upon the church to provide them with all the answers on how to meet needs, which has its own positives and negatives. They creatively and actively involve themselves in the lives of others. Their sacrifices may not look as extreme as many in the house church, but there are hundreds of stories of people, families who have made sacrifices financially and with their time to support what this church is doing. It's normal people making sacrifices, putting off buying cars, houses, going on vacations, buying clothes, or literally skipping meals so they can be a part of what is going on here.

A large part of the money raised went to build an aids hospice in south africa through a partnership. It wasn't just given so as to make the group dependent upon the church here, but it was a partnership, to aid in the success of their building. It is the largest hospice in the entire country. The significance being that it would be equivalent of people in over-the-rhine or northside building the largest, most resourced hospital in cincinnati. People gave generously and sacrificially here because they believed in making a difference there.

A partnership of about 5 churches and 5 other organizations in Cincinnati has formed to build what will be called the CityLink center. Not just a homeless shelter or a food kitchen, but a place where people can go to get life skills and education and support and walk alongside people, Christians so that they may walk again and rise up out of poverty. Hundreds of volunteers will be giving their time here. It is a place I hope to get involved in, perhaps even with counseling. People gave generously and sacrificially because they want to be a part of making a difference in the lives of those in Cincinnati.

Because of the risks and the responsibility with which this church has acted in the city, the architect of the new building is now a follower of Christ. The construction crew bent over backward to get the construction done in time for a dedication service because the church was ethical and generous with their money and respect.

I understand some may challenge the motives of the church and the people here. To those, I would give the challenge: attend the church regularly for 3 months and get involved somewhere. Listen to the vision. Talk to the volunteers and see why they do it. Think about the hundreds of people who have started a relationship with Christ, not because of the church, but because of the lives that people have lived in their communities and who have been willing to introduce their friends and neighbors to Christ. Think about the hundreds of people who had given up on God or given up on Christ or never would have taken the next step in their relationship with Christ if they hadn't had a non-threatening place to go and be challenged. Now there are many more people who were perhaps raised in the church but never understood what it meant to live a sacrificial life to God.

Then consider the leadership. How often do you see large churches taking risks and not just playing it safe on what they are sure they can accomplish merely because of their size. See if you don't get the impression that this is a place that does not want to be a church, but a place that wants to rely on the power and the vision of God.

I will never say that this is the only way to "do church." There are things that this church can do, impacts that this church can have because of its great number of resources - the largest of those being volunteers. Never have they hosted an event or volunteer opportunity and come up short. There are always more volunteers than needed. There have been choices made to make sure the place is run by volunteers so that they don't have to hire and pay as many staff members as other churchs the same size. It's large. It has its negatives. But I ask people to consider that money and resources are not indicators of pride and selfishness. The attitude of the heart of so many of the people here is gratitude and generosity.


Often God gives generously to those who give generously first. Often God gives generously of other non-financial things to those who give generously of their lives. I admire the choices many of you have made and the experiences in northside, the opportunity to change lives of people in poverty to whom maybe noone has shown respect. There are relationships built there and experiences had that most people will not experience. Those are invaluable. The sacrifices made by many of you are recognized and praise is given to God for your obedience. I and others are encouraged by your service.

But I ask for the same respect and in the spirit of unity, I ask for the same consideration - to recognize that there are people even in a large church who live and give sacrificially of themselves, their time, and their money. And that there are downsides to all churches - large and small.

I do hope this has not come across as argumentative or attacking. I have tried to be fair and not to put either "church" above the other. I think it is exciting to consider the reactions of the people in cincinnati when they see both churches large and small responding with love and mutual respect. So many different groups of people will be reached and people will see so many manifestations of the love of Christ.


cassi

i'll remove this when they come after me about the copyrights, but you gotta read it

Antonio Reed – “There is an Assassin Living on the Inside of Me”
There is living deep-down inside of me.
Ready to kill, steal, destroy and put me in chains for the rest of my life so that I can never run free.
This assassin doesn’t care about me, you, it, God or the next man.
If he could have his way with my life I would be standing over a dead body when the police arrives,
with the murder weapon in my right hand.
He talks to my brain late at night when I’m asleep and he shows me dreams about the wrongs I did.
How I disrespected my family, broke the hearts of some real good women and neglected all my five kids.
I still be searching for happiness, mind corrupted, who’s the blame.
Deep, down inside my soul, I still feel a lot of hurt, pain, guilt and shame.
I grew up in a home with dogs, cats, nasty roaches and filthy rats, With spiders in every corner,
I sometimes was punished with stitching cords and plastic bats.
I was always talked down to and it hurt,
Stepped and spit on like dirt
Never invited no company over cause of how filthy the house was.
I took to the street life cause, unlike my family, the street life showed me Love.
Never was I taught how to deal with my feelings properly so I would stuff them all deep down inside.
I used drugs for my hurtful feelings.
I was raised I shouldn’t cry.
So now I ask what in the hell is wrong with me.
I’ll tell ya, There is something in my self-destructive personalities that cries for failure.
Now I ask who is the evil one that leads me wrong, took control over my family and disrupted my home.
Gee, it’s that assassin deep down inside and if I let him, he will kill me.
I have to tell the truth and nothing but the truth so help me God and hope that you hear me clearly.
This assassin wants my mind, body and soul because he lives in me.
There is an assassin living on the inside of me.

LEW WRITES:

you know, there are a lot of christians who would read this and say,
"hey, we'll cast that demon out of you!
that's what we ought to do."

but that thing's gotta get loosened up by the spilled blood of risky love
of christians sharing their stuff, their lives
like their minds're on
the things above.

otherwise, when it comes out
it's gonna take half of you with it...
and after it's wandering days, all it's gotta do
is hold that other half
and offer it to you...

and over turns the knob
and out swings the door
and in comes that assassin
and seven nasty more...

Story by JP

The following post is something JP pumped out in response/reaction to a situation on our street the other night. There were like 5 patrol cars and 12 police officers involved. They were rude and harsh in their demeanor, and unprofessionally disrespectful of the family that lives next door to Zach and JP's house...

The police arrived in response to a complaint about people crashing in the basement of the house (a duplex). The basement is shared space, and the other tenants in the bldg are... kinda wild. So when people started living downstairs, and whatnot with all that goin' on and all... they called the cops.

The arrival of police was a good thing at first, but then they "ran" everyone in the house. this means tha tthey took the opportunity to police check everyone's record, right then. this takes a long time, and usually someone has some outstanding ticket or something, so they haul them off to jail and there are court costs and time lost and if they're trying to get their life together and have a job, now, they lose it, and like that. So "running" everyone in response to a complaint of squatters in the basement is kindof intense...

Just prior to the arrival of the police, Maurice got in a fight on the street. He's a 15-year old kid. He's 6'3". He mouthed off and got jumped for the second day in a row... So the cops are there, he's complaining, and Zach walks right up and enters the house, checking on M.

M. has blood on his shirt, is talking about getting jumped and jacked, and Zach is wondering what's up, and the cops threaten to arrest him and all this is going on, and Zach has issues with disrespectful authority and whatnot, and the police aren't being professional or wise...

and I'm outside, now. I have heard that there's a situation at M's house, specifically that he's been jumped. Zach is inside (getting threatened) and I'm walking up. I stop at the perimeter of the scene, where I see the first officers. I stand in view, waiting to be looked at, but they are ignoring me right now.
an officer finally looks at me, but looks away. I have trouble reading these guys, but it seems like they're hoping I'll just move on. I won't. I'm waiting to talk to you, officer.

The officer turns to me as he sees four more of us converging on the perimeter.

I step forward and offer my hand, stating my name and my profession (pastor), indicating my residence, next to the church, there.
Officer looks annoyed, speaks sharply, gestures rudely and dismisses me.

I offer to him that I'll be right over there if I can be of any assistance, since the family is in the care of our church, and the young man in there who was assaulted is one of our regulars... He assures me that I'm not necessary and gestures rudely again, obviously exasperated by my presence and interest.

I wait on the perimeter, and when things calm down, I leave...

There is good conversation among us about how the police have lost/never had a professional attitude toward the people of this area...

An Urban Fairy Tale

Once upon a time, our good friend and neighbor, Maurice, was just trying to get by as a fifteen-year-old in the ‘hood without getting any more counts on his record. To his (and our) dismay, he was jumped (for those story-readers unaware, this is when one or a gang of guys “jump” out, beat a guy up, and try to steal his stuff)….not just once, but twice….in three days. And the second time was much worse than the first. Sad, isn’t it? Our hearts really go out to this dear brother in need. Really. But that’s not the end of the story for little bro ‘Reese…

Now, the best person to take care of a fifteen-year-old would be his mom, right? Ah, but that wouldn’t work, for young Maurice’s mom was busy toiling away at her minimum wage job at the local grocery store. There just aren’t many breaks for people who can’t afford an advanced education and, unfortunately for a substantial portion of the population of Cincinnati, just happen to be a member of an often neglected, often profiled and mistreated minority. She couldn’t leave work or she would lose her job.

So a local pastor was called. “Is Maurice saved? Well, uh, I don’t know…..Um, I don’t think he’s been baptized…if so I’m pretty sure he was a baby….sir, to be perfectly honest I don’t think he’s in much a mood right now to pray a prayer or listen to why he’s going to hell…” So the pastor, sadly, was unable to offer much assistance.

Well, help was definitely needed. Maurice was bleeding, and his nineteen-year-old sister and two-year-old nephew were pretty shaken up. So they tried an elder. That’s his job, right? Take care of the church needs, and Maurice would stumble in every once in a while, especially when they were giving away free food and he hadn’t eaten for a day or two. “Yes sir, he’s pretty badly hurt…well, yes sir, he does live down in the city…yes, that part of the city…I realize it’s not the best neighborhood, but…sir, really I don’t see what that has to do with anything….I’m sorry, too.” Apparently, the elder didn’t want to bring his character into question. Maurice lived in a pretty rough side of town and he did have a bit of a criminal record, and the elder just didn’t know what the congregation would think if they heard he was down there. Honestly, it makes sense….I mean, prostitutes, drug dealers, gang-bangers, and homeless folk run around down there. Just think of the scandal…he may not be reelected for the church board of directors next year.

And then a college student walks by the house. Well, not exactly a college student…more like a college dropout. A white college dropout with tight clothes, tattoos, a nose piercing, and fairly sketchy body odor…Definitely not from this side of town.

Apparently he was visiting an old friend of his, a youth pastor he knew back in high school before his college days of binge drinking, parties, and several rather shady relationships…with both genders. He had been rolling through the stations on the radio in the car one day, stumbled across a very traditional Christian gospel station, and long story short, gave his life to Jesus. It was time to catch up with some old friends.

Anyways, he sees this family on the porch, shuffles up the cracked concrete steps, and asks if he can help (he was a Boy Scout back in the day). Why not, eh? Amidst some very skeptical looks, he receives a nod from Maurice’s sister and proceeds over to the lad. He takes some half-stained napkins from the table, as well as some band-aids and begins to patch up his cuts. Really, the physician’s work being performed wasn’t that impressive at all. But what he did next was. One person at a time, starting with Maurice, the college student begins to hug each member of the family… but not the quick, awkward acquaintance kind of hug. Rather, he embraces each person, holding them for three, four, five full minutes. Maurice opens his eyes and smiles…his nephew giggles and squirms…his sister begins to softly cry. The college kid then slips the sister twenty dollars as the police barge through the door and not-so-politely escort him to the sidewalk. He just smiles and waves…the nephew giggles and waves back, silhouetted by the flashing blues and reds.

So you tell me, who was the neighbor here?
(Some parts of this story are fictitious…many are not)

Our View of God's Sovereignty

If God is Sovereign, then who resists His will?
If God makes one man rich, by His sovereign will, and another poor... who are we to criticize? or to act?

I mean, surely one can't take the position that it is WE who are responsible for the stewardship of justice and love down here, for that would be an affront to our belief in God's sovereignty...

unless we thought that maybe God is a tester of men's motives--that He delegates "trial portions" of His concerns, to... US.

but i don't know if we really think that. Seriously now... I really don't find that at the operative center of our decisions to leave suburbia behind, risk assault and worse on our streets, raise our kids in a warzone... no, it's not because of a belief about God's Sovereignty. In fact, if what we have done is in sin against the Sovereignty of God, we'll suffer the consequences for sure, okay...

but what we're about over here is actually about... well, just the plain, written commands of Jesus. We've (some of us) been praying for YEars that He would lead and change us into greater obediences to the plain commands of JEsus...into greater conformities to the descriptions of that Kingdom--that Community...

It is obscene to apply roundy arguments about sovereignty to the things that Jesus own words were so clear about, the whole time...
Whether or not we have all decided that God is a tester, we are all hoping to please him. its a basic desire to love him. John 14:15 and 21.
I mean, come on. You were in the room when we talked about this, weren't you? You spent like, years, listening to this without any word of outrage or comment of dissent. We sat at the table so many times, and you even said that this was right. Now you're gone and there's another whole in me.

Deal with this

A Just Minimum Wage

By Holly Sklar and Dr. Paul H. Sherry
Forword by Dr. James A. Forbes Jr.
Copyright: Fall 2005


“Speak out, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and the needy.” – Prov. 31:19

-Wages are a bedrock moral issue. Wages reflect our personal values and our nations values.

-The minimum wage is where society draws the line: The low and no lower. Our bottom line is this: A job should keep you out of poverty, not keep you in it. The federal minimum wage was enacted through the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which also set standards for overtime pay and restrictions on child labor.

-The federal minimum wage has been stuck at $5.15 an hour since September 1997. That’s more than eight years at $5.15 as the cost of living rises.

-The $5.15 minimum wage is lower in value than the minimum wage of 1950-which would be worth more than $6 now, adjusting for inflation.

-The 1963 minimum wage is worth more than $8 in today’s dollars.

-The real minimum wage-the wage adjusted for inflation-reached its highest point in 1968. It would take more than $9 to match the minimum wage peak of 1968, adjusting for inflation.
-College tuition (public or private) costs more than twice what it did in 1968.

-The cost of health insurance has risen so much that family coverage now costs more than the entire annual income of a full-time worker at minimum wage.

-The typical worker paid minimum wage is an adult, not a teenager living with parents. Most have high school degrees or more.

-No one should be trapped in poverty by low wages.

-$5.15 minimum wage = $10,712 a year

-It takes more than three jobs at minimum wage to support a family of four.

-We need a wage ethic to go with our work ethic.

Deeeeeeeeds!!!!!!

i recently read over a post that I left last week, and I re-read a comment left anonymously by someone that counterpointed some of my assertions/statements...

part of that exchange was a discussion of motives and deeds.

this person asserted that motives, not deeds, were the main focus of the sermon on the mount. that Jesus is much more concerned with WHY we do what we do that WHAT we actually do.

I think this is true. I affirm this. Amen.

But what must Jesus think of all that we do NOT do? All the things we knew to do and did'nt? The one who knows the good he ought to do and does it not, sins. No?
And what is up with the New Testament constantly asserting that we will be judged on the basis of our deeds?

Look it up. look up the word "deeds" and see what happens to the idea that it's WHY that matters.

THAT IS AN INCOMPLETE-NESS THAT WILL RESULT IN SIN. We must ADD to a constant confession of motive, a passionate activity of OBEDIENCE.

Bottom Line. No flesh gets out. We're all bound to it.

Vision Poem

What I'm seeing:

Homes.
Christian Homes.
Radical Hospitality
Christianity
Missionality

Neighborhoods with Christian Community
Christian Communities made up of saints
who are equipped
by leaders who increase people's
dependence on the Spirit
by their teaching.

Neighborhoods, City-Wide.
City-wide community
Community in Christ
the Church.

FROM WHICH
From which proceed
arise
emerge
Servanthood to Christ

in the form of...
the manifestation of the Spirit's gifting in the People
Servanthood to Christ
in the form of the Church
the gifts of the people
equipped
released
empowered
matured and sure

I see households living
INTERDEPENDENTLY
I see wealth set free
I see poverties destroyed
poverty of debt
loneliness
incapability of income
deficits removed
by sheer SHARING

Interdependence in SHARING
sharing wealth
food
sorrow
joy
posessions (think of the savings on lawnmowers, alone!)

Organization
administration
creativity in developing
new ways to share!
maximizing JUBILEE!

leaving stewardship in the dust, as we
embrace the
endless possibility of
Jubilee!
JUBILEE.

Christians loaning each other
Large sums of money
shifting debt from the
world's banks to the
father's family.

Christians banding together,
forming neighborhood
care
groups.
ministering to the poor,
the shut ins
the elderly...

It's hard for someone to kill you
when you love their grandma
so much
so well
so often...

a daily life that includes
neighbors
each other
the poor..

A Ring of Fire!

Christians leaving the false comforts of the suburbs
for a life of SHARING.
mission
life
love
service

our gifts being poured out
in our sphere of influence
daily...

our family life salting the earth
our city shining brightly
our community salting the earth
our love warming the world...

goodnesses will abound.

I see the warehouse... the warehouse I have feared
for the drain it's been.

finally born, again
of a new seed!
the Spirit.

I see the Warehouse emerging,
fully supported
well focused
from the communities of the city.

I see the ministries to youth and young adults
I see the community coming together there
I see the skatepark
the basketball courts

and Isee a higher way
a better course

instead of buying and
building the warehouse,

infusing our society and community even more thoroughly!

infusing all the civic spaces
with our presents
our presence...

instead of clubbing up
enclaving
forming ghetto
protecting ourselves
insulating
isolating
elevating ourselves

instead of forming up
by mammon and money,
being formed as the invisible church
the peculiar people...

why would we own something?
where is the need?
there is NONE.

there are 5 skateparks!
there are 100 basketball courts out there,
not including
our own, in the backyard.
(some boys came to the backyard
and asked if Chris
would form up ANOTHER 3-on-3 tournament)

There is no need.

There must be another level of renunciation.
We must leave behind the idea of ministering from our wealth!
We must learn to
serve as Jesus did
as jesus died
in a poverty
born of humility
never forgetting that we
are fundamentally
divine,
the judges of
angels.

and we are called
to lay down
our potentials
our divininty!
the power of the kingdom

to bear
sorrow
lack
need
infirmity

to sow
the word
in the soils
rocky
thin
choked
and fertile
of the world

we are not called
to a kingdom
that is of
this earth.

made of the things of the world
made of mammon
made of owning
controlling
running
setting up

but a kingdom that is of the
SALT.
the kingdom that changes
everything
by disappearing...
that brings joy
through
sorrow...

If His kingdom is not of this world
why do we try to further it
through buying up this world

today, no, last night, I realized that I DON't want to obtain the church building next door. you see, Joseph from YWAM asked me why I don't ask for it and use it to start something of our next steps.

But I see our next steps as people COMING. Moving into the city to LIVE. Renting, not owning stuff... Living as aliens and strangers in the world...
I mean, maybe owning a house, but not a bunch of facilities.
Focusing on being a community of love
becoming vulnerable,
healing one another...

Giving the world a glimpse
of the ministry of Jesus among the sick, again.

Coming
Living
Being
Becoming

Opening
Healing
Receiving
Giving

Showing the world.

I am hearing this.
I am seeing this...

I'm seeing the FARM.
I see a farm
within an hour's drive of the city.

I see a farm
with lots of acres
and cabins
and work
and people living there...

I see retreat
i see healing
i see silence coming
i see rest
i see green
i see space.
i see recovery of sanity
I see what was stolen given back...
i see recharging
refillling with life.

i see a family
of people
who live there
a year at a time, some.
fully, some others.

I see a family
of families
on a farm
that isn't an escape,
but is an embrace.

i see the poor at their table.
always enough
i see people working
i see weeklong retreats
i see weekend retreats
i see workshops

week-long
weekend
workshops

i see kids breathing free
summer camps...

camping
bonfires
big tables

I see a retreat...

Mornig Prayer Nov. 22

writing this morning...

we met for prayer at the table
two candles lit...
a lantern/lamp burning
JP
Zach
Me

some tea for me and JP...

and as we prayed, as has been the case with greater intensity, i sensed a hypocrisy in our prayers of thanksgiving... as we prayed thanksgivings and praises, I could hear the pretenses of men afraid to grieve... afraid to lay hold of that high-current conduit of Gods grief--that utterness of sadness over the lost sheep and the shepherds with no plan for its rescue.

Shepherds who feed themselves...

and I saw us all, there. we have been afraid to grieve...

to grieve the reality that we aren't yet that community that we yearn to be...

that the kingdom HAS NOT come
that his will HAS NOT BEEN DONE.
that the love isn't present
that we're still ripping each other to shreds
that there arestill so many idols...

that the religious leaders and teachers
strip the land bare of fruit.
that the false church spends billions
while the poor die, daily.

that the sheep are misled,
into pits where they die.
twice the sons of hell as their leaders, they are doomed forever...

for where there is a corpse,
there the vultures will gather.


to mourn...

that we are living in the darkness. that there is so much sin, AMONG US! That we, each other, sitting here, are still partners with the darkness in our flesh. That we far too often look to the flesh for comfort, strength, and help.

When all the while we have pushed Jesus to the outside...

We read Isaiah 30-33

and Isaiah 49-51, too...

we're living in a time when the Lord is calling us to war like the men of old, trusting in, relying on, listening to, HIM.

He told them to do ridiculous things! Gideon, David, Saul...

and when they were too conventional, relying on their own thoughts and ways, or going down to Egypt for strength, or going to Damascus or assyria or wherever for help, He cursed them and punished that generation...

We are being called to radical focus of dependence on Him, alone.
We are being called to radical redirection of repentance.

5GOD, the Master, The Holy of Israel,
has this solemn counsel:

"Your salvation requires you to turn back to me

and stop your silly efforts to save yourselves.

Your strength will come from settling down

in complete dependence on me--

The very thing

you've been unwilling to do.

16You've said, "Nothing doing! We'll rush off on horseback!'

"Because you scorn this Message,

Preferring to live by injustice

and shape your lives on lies,

13This perverse way of life

will be like a towering, badly built wall

That slowly, slowly tilts and shifts,

and then one day, without warning, collapses--

this is a rebel generation,

a people who lie,

A people unwilling to listen

to anything GOD tells them.

10They tell their spiritual leaders,

"Don't bother us with irrelevancies."

They tell their preachers,

"Don't waste our time on impracticalities.

Tell us what makes us feel better.

11Don't bore us with obsolete religion.

That stuff means nothing to us.

Quit hounding us with The Holy of Israel."

1"Doom, rebel children!"

    GOD's Decree.

    "You make plans, but not mine.

    You make deals, but not in my Spirit.

    You pile sin on sin,

    one sin on top of another,

    2Going off to Egypt

    without so much as asking me,

    Running off to Pharaoh for protection,

    expecting to hide out in Egypt.

Assaulted on the Street

Last night, after dinner and time with the team from YWAM, two of our young men from our group were walking down the street to retrieve a car from the parking lot of a nearby church. As they passed the corner of Chase and Fergus, two young men ran out, asked them if they were from here, and one of them punched Michael in the face...

Michael is a new member of our community here. He is the son of a very praying mother, over on the West Side, in Cheviot.

he has been a professionally sponsored Biker (like bikes on halfpipes and obstacle courses with tricks and all, like backflips) for a while, traveling the world and whatnot. He is very experienced in the things of this world, but some months back he became a follower of Jesus, a Christian, and now he is in "training".

When Michael got home, his nose had stopped bleeding, and there was almost no swelling of the cheek that had been struck. He was angry. he was contemplating what was done in his "old world". In his "old world", he and all his friends would come out and beat up whoever did it, adn all their friends, too. So this was a really different world he was in, last night, as we all bowed and prayed for his attacker, our neighborhood, and all...

YWAM Visitors

I'll try to put in a picture of our guests from Youth With a Mission today, but I want to tell you about their visit while I still have the time to type.
It's about 6am.
It's wicked cold, like 20 degrees.
Last night, a team from the YWAM base in Chico CA arrived at our home. Seven of them, to be exact. They're part of a 50-week tour of the Church in America. They spend one week visiting the Church in each state of the union. This tour includes Alaska and Hawaii.


Presently, our good (like, bestest) friends, the Bansens, are at that very YWAM base in Chico! You can check out their adventures on their blog, listed in the LINKS to the right.

This team includes members from Australia, North Carolina, New York, Northern California and stuff. 4 ladies and 3 guys. Joseph, I-Ka, Yu-Hi, Jennifer, Shelley, Elfie, Ian... Thank you guys for sharing your lives with us, here.

JP grilled delicious burgers, outside, in the cold, for us to have for dinner.

We spent the night in conversation, with a little time in song. It was pretty wonderful, okay? Today, we'll meet at the house here, fix breakfast, pray and sing, talk and teach, Lunch, go out into the 'hood and pray, come home and serve a bit around the house, and sing and pray and have dinner, and sing and pray and talk and teach and go to bed. Tomorrow we'll make the morning meal, sing and pray, and they're gonna have to go... and we'll miss 'em.

Faith without Works

I'm gonna write a thing. Check out Lewminator.

Zach's Xanga post

Here's Zach's most recent post. it caused a firestorm of criticism.


Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Trying to put action into words in Northside:

its been a week since Chris came to live with us...and we have had a blast...we worshipped on Sunday together...and again last night...i have seen the community gather around him and provide rides, time to talk to him. its beautiful...

We told Chris, being that he is a Christian, early on that we reject the American Dream - or its Way of Life...we told him our goal is not to make him independent - that is living by himself with a car and a nice job...self sufficient. We told him its our desire that he would become family - if not to our Christian Community then to another...which means interdependence.

He moved in with the idea that it was only going to be a few days.... its been a week...and we are loving it - especially when he cooks for us. Chris, Lew, and I went pretty in depth on Christianity last night...talking about some serious bible stuff...shook Chris up alittle...but he is freakin tough...we told him our community is a place where he can ask tough questions of the faith...and have the freedom to work them out with the Spirit...we told him not to just accept our answers...but to wrestle with them.

I smile everytime i hear Chris talking about being with us during the holidays...i.e. "Hey Lew you think on Thanksgiving we can give away some turkeys to the poor?" it seems we maybe working with a local Church to help shelter the poor when it gets really cold this winter...Chris loves the idea...he said the Lord is leading and affirming Him to helping (indeed leading us) with this.

i am emotional...sorry....but last night...was beautiful...i was talkin on the phone last night outside and looked thru the window and saw Chris setting at the table with my roommate Chris Deering (who is not white, and i mention this for a reason) and he was teaching him something...then i saw Michael...a wealthy 17 yr old from the burbs sit at the table and join the convo. its beautiful seeing what an alternative community looks like...what the Church is supposed to be.

before we went to bed Chris (our homeless friend - fyi is doesnt have any legs below his knees, so he is in a wheelchair) and i smoked out on the porch...and talked...he asked me about fasting...i read him Isaiah 58 - the fast the Lord desires...we laughed...he told me his perspective on Job, he can relate to him. Mclaren said 'if you want to know what the bible means have someone who is oppressed or poor explain it to you b/c it was written by the poor, oppressed, and enslaved to the poor, persecuted, and oppressed'. (perhaps this is why its difficult to read as wealthy rich Christians - if you are reading this from a computor screen you are most likely wealthy) Chris is my teacher...and elder...and is teaching me a great deal...the Spirit is leading us both.

The Scriptures, in Hebrews 13, and Matthew 25, put a real standard up to us that Jesus is the Stranger and the homeless poor among us...

I don't care what anybody's motives are! I don't care what theological tweaking we may need or what hypocrisies we may still be enslaved to, right now. I care that Christians realize that there is a claim placed on them by the God who inspired Scripture.

The claims of Scripture about the role of the homeless and the stranger and the sick and the prisoner and the hungry and the thirsty are so RADICAL...

YOUR DINING ROOM
YOUR EXTRA BEDROOM
YOUR EXTRA THIRTY THOUSAND DOLLARS

these are claimed by God for PHYSICALLY HELPING PEOPLE.

1 John 3 says that we are to love with deeds. I don't care about hypocrisy. The Apostle Paul says in Romans 7 that evil is with him when he's doing good! I don't care about motives so much anymore! I see that CHRISTIAN BEHAVIOR INCLUDES ACTIVE INTEREST IN AND RELIEF OF TEMPORAL SUFFERING.

I'm SCARED that we may miss the point with how snarled up things are getting.

One of the big problems is how rare this kind of behavior is.
We all ought to be employing our resources more and more constantly to relieve the suffering of those in need, especially believers who are in need, but not limited to them. I mean, isn't that the POINT of what Zach is trying to communicate?
It's just far too rare.

We should be kinda "ho-hum" about these things by reason of our experience with them. Rather, we are all knee-jerking about the implications of theological nuances and issues about motivation...

Would to God we all got less sophisticated, more childlike, and busied our lives intently with the activity of redemption that is born out of intimacy with Love, himself.

Mornings

Lately, there's been a good bit of morning prayer going on.
We get up and meet at about 6am every day, here, except on weekends...

On mondays and wednesdays, it's with folks down at North Pres. We had been meeting at the Sidewinder, but Kim over there changed to later hours and now we're at NP. It was neat meeting in a "neutral" Location where we were tucked into the back room, praying over Northside and cinci and our people... Now we're in a church prayer chapel. Nice, too. But I notice that the tone of our times has a different feel to it now... I'll ponder that and see what it is...

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we meet at 6am at the Chase House to pray. We started this off using the liturgy of Morning Prayer from the Book of common prayer, of the American Episcopal church (Anglican--Catholic Lite).
We were meeting in the Big Living Room, at first, but lately we're at the 12-man table because Brother Chris sleeps in the Big Living Room.
So there we are, precious souls at table with Jesus in the earlies, thanking and beseeching away... dark but for candle and lamp, praying from the Scriptures. We left off the daily lectionary, as the Spirit is moving so strongly in directing our Scripture reading by our journey together... The liturgy was in the way of the Word, a little.

On Fridays, we have Study, at the 12-Man Table. We're in the book of jeremiah. Third week, third chapter... The good and the bad are both ugly in Jeremiah...

I'll comment on our reading this morning on Lewminator...

Quick News/Next Steps

I'm working on turning orthopraxy into childsplay.

Zach is out of the military, finishing up his degree... Out soon...

JP is teaching at an orphanage school. He gets a lot of flack for being so creative and neat. (from admin)

Prari Moved into our third floor. She's contemplating nursing school and Africa.

Smitty is finishing up his degree this year, then looking into living missionally in our neighborhood... He's looking for a local job.

Danielmatt and Christine are gentle and kind, serving humbly at Chase House, loving everyone. She is a nanny and DM is a lab-tech at UC, working on becoming a cancer-researcher...

Judy is excelling at her job with CIEE (exchange students). She is internationally known for being really awesome!

Aaron is learning kickbutt BMX skills from Michael (pro rider with S&M) who just became a Xian... this is so good for aaron. He's 11, and last night Zach spotted him and Michael talking to the local drug dealers, showing them tricks on their bikes... My son is so cool! So unafraid! I'm so proud.

Seth is the cutest, orneriest little 4 year old. We just had his 4th at Chuck E. Cheese

Chris Deering is teaching at Life Skills Institute. I think he's assisting, rather. He's really into Hip-Hop.

Lauren is living on our third floor, too.

Ryan, her boyfriend is now myfriend, too. So great to have him all the time around here. I saw a pack of cigs in his pocket last night and wondered if he knows how much I love him, or if he thinks i look down on him... I really love this guy! and i smoke a pipe! you should switch to a pipe, Ryan!

Aaron, Chris Deering's nephew who came to stay here and finish up school at LFI, is excelling and is awesome with our neighbors...

Maurice got baptised. So did Monty. So did carlos...
These guys got baptised by the Baptist Chapel. They barely know anything. It's time to show and tell...

There is a lot more happening, pics to post, and stories to tell, but I find that i don't spend much time on the 'puter here lately...

no title

in the last three weeks i have:

...dealt with the health department about lead poisoning...
scraped
painted
hefted
hauled.
worked with adam's church at the Chase House on Saturday
struggled to keep focus as the need for greater organization impinges on the need to stay relationally healthy
had full table fellowship with people across racial, social, economic lines... regularly
Put plastic sheeting on some first floor windows with Greg
painted the 2nd floor bathroom ceiling with Adam...
picked Zach's brain
watched JP and Prari get to work on getting married
had Seth's 4th birthday...
Lent out the lawnmower a million times! yeah.
Yelled at kids, upbraiding them for "actin' the fool"
hugged kids
rubbed nappy heads
fed kids yummy snax
driven kids to school

it's been really busy here. So busy that there is only time to sit down and compose an entry about once every 4 days. Only now have i been able to use this opp...

We're experiencing some powerful stuff. read Zach Cornelius' blog to get a view on it. It's over there in the links.

Chris

Hey all,

we met a guy named Chris about a month ago. He has no legs and he was sitting by the highway panhandling, reading a bible and holding a cardboard sign. we came around to the spot later and found him at a bus stop nearby. After talking to him for a little while, we were sure that we should be family to this brother. He's one of us!

he doesn't ask for a lot. He's just falling through the cracks in the system. I'd like to eventually be able to have him close enough to us for us to be family to him on a daily basis. We'll be meeting with the church leaders of the church he used to attend. that is one very wealthy church (14 million dollar building under construction, now). We're hopeful that if we will "family" this brother that they will help with moving him out of the welfare hotel he's in, now.

Two days ago Chris called us for the first time since we met him. He asked if we might help him out. When we arrived, he was gaunt, malnourished, and at the end of himself. He doesn't get enough to eat, and the food he gets is mostly bad nutrition. If he had legs, he'd be working and fine, but he had to lose those to find Jesus, some years back.

Please pray with us and get in touch if you can help us. There's lead poisoning, monty got locked up last night, and Chris... we're beginning to really want to touch these lives... we're getting messed up by this... in a god way.

Mower incidents

We're trying to engage the kids around here in a cool way... We let them use our stuff to make money, mowing, cleaning yards, shoveling snow (soon), etc...

the idea is that they can earn the use of our tools by learning the proper care and by helping us out at the houses... This puts us together and makes them a lot of money, or at least a good opportunity to...

but right now we're still in the testing phase. Not that we're evaluating whether or not it's a good idea, but THEY are testing US to see of we're really for real...

So, they break every rule.

Yesterday they purposefully used the wrong fuel, instead of using their earnings to buy some... They're supposed to supply their own fuel out of their earnings... they used 2-cycle in the lawnmower... that means a new sparkplug and a cleaning are in order, soon, i bet...

but really, who cares? This is a once a day opportunity to engage these guys and get them going...

check out lewminator to see a pic from the "stolen mower" fiasco!

Little Jay on porch

Little Jay on porch
Originally uploaded by grubbykupp.

Little Jay, get off that poisonous porch!

Little Jay, get off that poisonous porch!
Originally uploaded by grubbykupp.

i caught Little Jay out on the Poison Porch, the other night... actually, i came to the door, looking for my stolen lawnmower, and he bolted out...

Repaint this Poisonous Porch

Poison Porch
Originally uploaded by grubbykupp.

Here are pics of the porch with the lead problem in Northside, just next door to the guys...

Poison Porch
Originally uploaded by grubbykupp.

Little Jay/Lead Poisoning

The porch and food pantry in Little Jay's (see photos below) house are poisonous. The water'll be tested for lead from the plumbing, this week. He can't go out on the porch, but that's impossible. Look at the pics that'll follow and you'll see how his porch is the only way out of the house, and the safest place to be, since the road is so near...

Our confidence that the landlord will take care of this in a timely fashion is low. Is there anybody out there who wants to help us buy paint (high quality seal) and get into the task of carefully scraping, cleaning up (shop vac) (dust mask), and painting the thing for them? Pantry too...

This little guy needs you in at least two ways, right now. So do we. Would you help, and join us, and him?

elbow to elbow

October thru December Help Needed

I have become aware that a lot of folks would like to come to the house to help out our life here. Thank you all for your interest in our efforts and the mission we're seeing develop as the Holy Spirit guides the Church here, in Northside.

A lot of you have time constraints, though. I'd like to offer you an invitation to come share your skills and willing hands, any time you want. Let me know when you're coming, and we'll have hands here to work alongside...

yesterday, a brother came to give 2 hours to the Lord in service... He cut the hedges and cleaned around the house, outside... That stuff hadn't been touched for nearly two years...

We have a leaking third-floor gutter
a damaged outside sill.
the need to do a little plumbing and build a small wall in a bathroom
a tub that needs reglazing
a basement floor to repaint
a room down there to finish and furnish as a food/clothing pantry
we need a dehumidifier

There are a lot of things that, if completed by winter, will enable us to better serve our surrounding area... Drop me a comment on this blog and let me know what you want to do. I'll email you and we'll set it up...

Lead Poisoning

Stephanie and Little Jay
Originally uploaded by grubbykupp.

Today it was confirmed to me that Little Jay is suffering from Lead Poisoning. His porch, his plumbing, the dirt around his house...

Zach and the boys can't plant there... Cincinnati is covered with ground lead from all sorts of sources... UC profs are writing a book on it...

there's a theory that lead is behind the low scores in our schools in the city.

what we know is that you can make a difference by praying, by selling all, by going in, among, and serving with Christ in the abandoned places, with the abandoned people... it is there we find ourselves, abandoned and retrieved...

Little Jay on the Move

Little Jay Block Party
Originally uploaded by grubbykupp.

Meet Little Jay

Little Jay With Bike
Originally uploaded by grubbykupp.

I want you all to meet Little Jay. we love this guy around here... has a single mom, Shannon, expecting again... house hot in summer, cold in winter... life is closing in on him all the time... his days are an endless string of getting yelled at and being loved on... the traumatic juxtaposition of love and hate all around us on the street, here... in life, here, for all of us...

bbq boyz

bbq boyz
Originally uploaded by grubbykupp.

to us, this is so easy! Instant youth group, and most of these kids already have more christian background than most! just add encouragement, sell all you own, give it away...

JP grillin

JP grillin
Originally uploaded by grubbykupp.

you know, it's hilarious when people ask about our "ministry", I tell them this guy is our "associate minister". priceless...

Freestyle

Freestyle
Originally uploaded by grubbykupp.

We got a noise ordinance citation from the city on our last "freestyle contest". the funny thing is that it was issued in response to a COMPLAINT FROM A NEIGHBOR.

now, if you lived here, you'd see the irony in that. I'm talkin' major noise issues, all the time... so funny that in a 'hood where people are constantly thumpin' away with the bass, screaming, playing loud music in their houses... that during the daytime there'd be a fuss over this... seriously funny...

it was a great way to introduce ourselves and our mission to the police...

All things done for building up the body of Christ

Recently a question arose among us about the removal and addition of links to other blogs, here on the Chase House/Northside Church/Grubbykupp blog. The bottom line here is edification. We want to connect you with web logs and sites that embody the principles of Ephesians 4:29.

"29Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."

Anytime I see contentious, argumentative name-calling, or other such speech in a blog linked to this one, I'll simply remove the link.

Seth on the horse

Seth on the horse
Originally uploaded by grubbykupp.

Seth with the horse

Seth with the horse
Originally uploaded by grubbykupp.

Sugarcreek group minus prari and Cheryl

Sugarcreek group minus prari and Cheryl
Originally uploaded by grubbykupp.

Sugarcreek Hike

Sugarcreek Hike
Originally uploaded by grubbykupp.

Hiking

Hiking
Originally uploaded by grubbykupp.

JP and Prari

JP and Prari
Originally uploaded by grubbykupp.

Danielmatt's noo Tatoo

Danielmatt's noo Tatoo
Originally uploaded by grubbykupp.

that's one skinny bicep, dm. love the new tat!

Prari and the Ross Boys

Prari and the Ross Boys
Originally uploaded by grubbykupp.

JP and the boys

JP and the boys
Originally uploaded by grubbykupp.

John and Prari

John and Prari
Originally uploaded by grubbykupp.

John and Prari are getting Married! next April! JP proposed to her on a starry full-moon night, on a hilltop overlooking Amish Country in Sugar Creek, OH.

We all stayed up extra late that night, singing around a campfire.

Sept 2005 Football

Sept 2005 Football
Originally uploaded by grubbykupp.

So, you've got a Sunday night comin' on and you've got the burgers all cooked, and you're ready to have church night with the family of God, and this heathen football game comes up... church night postponed! Sweet! We put off church for over an hour to have this stuff! Lovin' it!

Sept 2005 Football Seth and Aaron

Sept 2005 Football Seth and Aaron
Originally uploaded by grubbykupp.

Sept 2005 Football Little D

Sept 2005 Football Little D
Originally uploaded by grubbykupp.

Sept 2005 Football JP tat

Sept 2005 Football JP tat
Originally uploaded by grubbykupp.

Sept 2005 Football Tim smile

Sept 2005 Football Tim smile
Originally uploaded by grubbykupp.

Prophecy for the Body of Christ

This prophecy was shared this Sunday evening by Johannes Weiss:




Behold my children: Be much aware that you are living in the last days. And remember the man warnings that deception will be rampant during that time.

If I do not cut the days short, even some of my very elect will be deceived.

The main problem is that you always are looking for comfort. However it is in the days of your great discomfort that I can work my best changes in you.

My desire is to change you into the likeness of Jesus Christ more and more, every day. And therefore I am bringing suffering and discomfort on you.

Be not discouraged, but endure until the end.

Thus says the Lord.

How We Bible Study

Take a 6am time slot, once a week, at a caffeine house: the Sidewinder in Northside...

Add a 52 Chapter book of the Bible: Jeremiah

...and there you have your 1-Chapter-a-week deep study... Jeremiah at the Sidewinder!


Starts in just a week or so, so get yourselves ready and committed. We're finishing up Ephesians, and we'll spend the next year in Jeremiah.

Add to that Yearlong study a daily chapter of Proverbs (there are 31, so that works with monthly), a daily Psalm (there are 150, so that's a little off. Feel free to always read more), and you got yourself a great, simple, workable plan to get us all "on the same page".

The great thing is how, all this time, we've found ourselves echoing each others' scripture readings, just by the leading of the Spirit. I hope this is something that will INTENSIFY that.

So, Each Friday Morning at 6, we mosey down to the Sidewinder.
We read that day's Psalm
We read that day's Proverb
We read that week's Jeremiah Chapter
We drink coffee and discuss/share around the readings
We go to our days' work...

No kidding. We've had the 6am's running really smooth, now, for about a month and a half.
And there are also 6am's on monday and wednesday for prayer at the Sidewinder... Folks in mission in Northside come together to pray. Gary from City Cure and Joann from North Church come regularly...

I know that these early morning times seem hard, but it's great. You really grow with this, and it regulates life a bit with a discipline that honors the Lord!

HOPE FOR TOM

HEY ALL: WRITE A LETTER ON TOM'S BEHALF! GET IT TO ME ASAP! THESE LETTERS COULD GET HIM SPRUNG AND BACK TO US QUICK! email Lew or Zach

Mail Tom a Letter: Address

Hey all, here's Tom's Address in Prison! Write him and pack it in a metered envelope (no stamps). Keep contents simple, and if you send pics, make them printouts on copy paper. That way they won't just trash your letter.

Thomas Jewell Jr.
Fulton county Detention Center
2010 South 7th Street
Hickman, KY 42050

pray for Tom daily... pray for him to accomplish God's work there as God accomplishes His work in Tom, there.

Prayer Language: Response to a comment

In 1 Cor. 14, i do find the apostle saying, "I wish you all spoke in tongues..." in that chapter. This is surely because it builds up the person who does it. Let's all be hungry for that kind of thing!

I'm not so sure about the part where you say, "paul says everyone is definitely NOT supposed to have it."
I see that not everyone has it.
I read that not all do it.
I hear Paul desiring it for all.
I recognize that there are greater gifts.

But there doesn't seem to be a major problem with everyone having it.

Now, everyone going BERZERK with ecstatic stuff in a meeting of the church, that's not okay by the Scriptures. Definitely not.

but what about the use of this spiritual blessing in song, during the worship time of the church? I understand that people aren't to clash with each other in the use of this gift. I understand that we're not to crowd out the clear, upbuilding delivery of the prophetic word with ostentatious glossalalia... but what about the "Spirit Songs" of Col. 3:16 and 1 Cor. 14?

I'm not afraid of disagreement, division, or trouble in these things. Let's let down our guards and really talk about it. I'll be bold to say that it would do all our hearts a lot of good to have prayer languages. This is clear in scriptures! It'd also bless the socks off men and angels alike for us to really throw down intimacy with the Lord in our worship times...

These are things that aren't FORCED on you by hype, but must be taught and encouraged. Honestly, they're good things... there's so much good news here for all. God has blessings in store...

Focus on the cross. Jesus died for you. Live for him. This stuff comes in His perfect timing, as we lay our lives down in submission to Him...

Know this: we're a long way from disorder in our meetings. we're safe here to experiment in spiritual giftings. Here, we can seek the Lord together, and learn how to pray for one another, use tongues, listen for words of prophecy, heal, all the stuff of the Bible...

So be bold to lay hold of Jesus today. He has loved you so much. Don't let go of Him. He'll never let go of you. He loves you. He really does!

JP's Comment to last post

HEY EVERYBODY, JP'S COMMENT IS WORTH BRINGING TO THE TOP OF THE PILE. I HOPE YOU ALL REPLY AND COMMENT AND THINK ON ALL THIS STUFF A LOT...


John said...
totally. here's the thing with praying in tongues: i simply CANNOT find any place in the bible that describes EVERYONE as having it! in fact, i find quite the opposite: paul says everyone is definitely NOT supposed to have it, or else we would be puffed up with pride, not depend on anyone (let alone JESUS!), and on top of it all look really goofy to the world. this past week it was argued that when paul gives his little set of rhetorical questions about spiritual gifts, what he MEANS is that tongues shouldn't be used by everyone in the public sphere...right...so then why didn't paul just SAY that? he very specifically describes public worship in other places; if that's what he meant, don't you think he would have SAID that?

gifts are meant to build up, to love, to serve. they are used to help those in need (ironically that's ALL of us!) and often unconsciously they help the individual. how? they show us that no one person has ALL the gifts, no one really can do it on his/her own. i've seen this really clearly in my life lately. it's neither healthy to pretend like we've got every spiritual gift, nor to pretend like we don't have any. God simply doesn't judge the way we do...(there's hope for me yet!!) we judge in terms of the result, the bottom line; he judges the heart. that's how thieves, whores, and swindlers always seemed to catch the eye of Jesus...and the self-righteous always caught the sharp edge of his tongue.

yeah man, let's use ALL our gifts, small or great, flashy or modest, to build up the body. let's encourage one another to lay down our pride or fear and let God use the individual HE made; not the one we think we're supposed to be or the one the world says we should be. embrace diversity...rejoice in the wide spectrum of color, talent, and creativity the Lord has used in his creation, especially his children. keep in mind...lew mentioned (paul did first) only using our gifts to BUILD UP. who? the body. not our own egos (that's hittin me now) or our own pride. my gifts aren't meant for me. they're meant for you. and it goes full circle. i go last, you go in front of me, and Jesus is at the head. let's go there.

10:01 AM

more on prayer language

the comments on the last post were really helpful in framing some thoughts of agreement and response... Yes, we all have different parts in the Body, and different communities may frame up application of different gifts in different ways, depending on the gifts of administration, helps, teaching, etc, among them... That's wonderful.

In our meetings, there has been ample opportunity for the use of supernatual gifts. We have a format, a context, a history that lends itself easily to the use of spiritual gifts WITHIN the boundaries of Love...

When someone has a word of prophecy, it is in order for them to share it, for us to look at scripture around it, and for the community's leaders/elders to test it and implement actions around the message...

You see, as far as our meeting style is concerned, we've taken 1 Cor. 14:26 as a cornerstone for our philosophy of ministry... "So, my dear brothers, what conclusion is to be drawn? At all your meetings let everyone be ready with a psalm or a sermon or a revelation, or ready ot use his gift of tongues or to give an interpretation; but it must always be for the common good." The Common Good is the bottom line. We are christians who prepare ourselves to share in the meeting, together... Our meetings are simple: prepare a meal, eat it, clean up, sing, pray, share in the Word and the gifts...

Around such meetings is rising a culture of proximity: people moving into the neighborhood to be near each other.

From such love rises a sense of mission: people moving toward the lowly/poor in their sphere of influence, as they see themselves in such people... as they recognize Jesus in such people...

from such life rise the behaviors of love, otherwise known as holiness... (Gal. 3:15) "...be careful, or this liberty will provide an opening for self-indulgence. Serve one another, rather, in WORKS OF LOVE, since the whole of the Law is summarised in a single command: Love your neighbour as yourself."

So, "the common good", in avoidance of "self-indulgence", will keep us safe from hurting each other with our gifts. Isn't that the danger when the Lord grants power to us? We can end up using our powers to subjugate each other, to elevate ourselves! This is poisonous and violent in nature. But we were intended to use our powers for good (or for awesome)! That is realized when our hearts intend "the common good", and to "serve one another".

Let's guard against the desire to stake our claim in the meetings of the faithful! Be afraid! Don't let yourself glory in God using you! Whether it's one thing, or another, always set apart christ as Lord in your heart. Never take assurance or self-stock in whether or not God uses you! There are many who are used of God who will never see the kingdom.

Look at mat 7: there're those who prophesy, do miracles, cast out demons--people who set people free! Who will never enter into rest!

Look at luke 10:17-20: the real reason to rejoice in this world is because it's not our home and none of it holds any power over us, since we're HIS!!!

So, as we exercise spiritual gifts, let's remember Jesus in mat.6, where he warns us to avoid making a show, or playing to a crowd. Let's "eschew" (push away from us) all "ostentation" (showiness) in the use of any of the gifts the Lord gives us.

Don't forget to encourage each other daily to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, clinging to Jesus in our hearts, leaning on Him in each other! There are too many who live like the Church is a club.