Incredible Weekend

2 Youth Groups- 2 nights. Simultaneously...
2:00am bedtimes.

3rd Youth Group in between For a little tour of our neighborhood...

Shawn and Ginger Bansen, with Eli (3) during the whole thing. Shawn Finished wiring the 1st floor Bathroom, the kitchen counters, and the laundry room!
That's like 45 to 60 people trafficking... .

Thanks to:
Jesus
John L.- Youth Minister @ IHM Anderson
John C.- Youth Minister @ Grace Church Loveland
Leo and Mona
All the folks from Mary Queen Lexington, KY...
Zach Cornelius--breakfast, neighborhood trash patrol... great sharing...
Aaron Johnson--all kinds of help and encouragement...

MY WONDErful WIFE JUDY!!

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BHAG

hey everybody, I have a big Hairy Audacious goal that I need to share.

I'm doing a lot of music and worship with youth groups... have for years now. and now my old Ovation guitar is cracked and won't tune up right anymore.

I'd really like to get this new Legend guitar from a shop nearby with a brother working there who will discount for me as a ministry thing.

but first i have 2,350 dollars to pay to the Gas and Electric Co.

we had our windows and doors open during the floor project, and we're behind on the cost... that was the only time we had the help. It was a judgment call. maybe the wrong one.

Finger Paints

JP and Aaron are finger painting at the table next to me, right now... This is JP's last week of classes at UC. I think that's his final project for his degree in communications...

or maybe somethign for aaron's homeschooling...

great week this week. met lots of parents of our kids on the block, here... getting to know the local guys in ministry, too...

There's a baptism tomorrow night, too. Tom's. It looks like he's gonna head to the Big House on Wednesday. We don't know for sure, but the weather looks like he'll start serving time this week. It's a plea thing.

My drug dealers..

How many professing Christians actually associate with those who are...

Like the corner people... Like the porch people... Like the crazy people... Like the street people... Like "them". Not like "us". Criminals. The "darker" element. Prostitutes. Junkies. Street kds...

There 's this huge movement in our neighborhood to overcome the "deviant elements", like drug dealers, street people, corner people, the store that used to sell liquor on the corner, and folks like that. The movement is very powerful and has been building over the last decade. It's peopled with church-folk, upwardly mobile homosexual people, business owners, and like that...

"they" have grammas, mommas, and some have daddies out there somewhere... They are the lowly, sheep without shepherd... "We" are the ones with commands about love. "we" are the ones with teachings from our Shepherd that should polarize us to be attracted to these broken people...

I'm interested in building on the movement of Jesus, that gathered the "deviants" together around the good news. Grace. Power. Jesus didn't scatter them for the "improvement" of the neighborhood. He gathered them for the establishment of his Kingdom... Not in our streets, in our hearts!

Jesus is not a champion of clean streets. He's the champion for our hearts! The Champion of "Them".

We are in wonder that Jesus is calling us to Himself, among "them".