Where Can I go?

In a section of the book of John, Jesus had just been teaching the crowds and it says that many deserted him because it was "a hard teaching." Jesus turned to Peter and said "are you going to leave me too?" Peter's response here is "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."

I often feel like many of the people who were listening to Jesus' teachings. I have a hard time accepting them to be willing to follow. My first thought many times is "what are my other options?" but then Peter's words come to me as well, "where can I go..." I've got nothing else to go to, I'm desparate, so I stick with Jesus. I made a decision a few years ago while sitting in a dorm room that I was going to stick with him and follow him no matter what if he would just save me from the mess I had made of myself. I cannot go back and forth on Him, and I cannot choose what following him looks like, He has to choose for me!

His words are constantly coming back to me:
"if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up
his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will
lose it but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will
save it." Mark 8:34,35

Why am I always trying to take back my own life and choose what is best for me? Jesus was asking the disciples the same "Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand?" My answer is: I guess not Jesus, cuz I find that I am stil chasing after bread. Help me to see, help me to understand, so I can stop talking about bread.

By turning over our desire for self preservation we must realize that we are not being irrational or irresponsible, we are simply making it someone else's(JESUS) problem. As Jesus was with the crowds he said: "I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothingl to eat. If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way.." He cared, he acted on their behalf even though they were "irresponsible" and traveled long distances without food to be with Him.

Safe and Warm

After months of preparation, failed attempts, prayer we now have a overnight shelter for the next 2 months of winter. Feed My Sheep's winter overnight shelter began in Mid November and we have been open for 2 weeks now. A local church, Sonlight Foursquare, offered us their building free of charge, save a little bit of money for utilities. After much prayer and concern that the homeless would be sleeping outside in the snow I got to watch as God once again provided for his children. If that were not enough blessings, North Fork Baptist Church in Paonia donated a 15 passenger van to Feed My Sheep for the winter to bus people back and forth.

Another church has offered their building for the second 2 months of winter but that is pending approval from the city. We are so thankful to serve a God who not only knows our needs but cares enough to listen to answer our prayers. I can rest a little easier knowing that no one in the roaring fork valley has to spend a winter night outside. Thank you all for your prayers!

Christmas for Karamoja

Christmas is coming to Karamoja, and you can be a part of it! We are looking for homes to host fundraiser dinners for Shalom Home. All you have to provide is the food and the friends, we do the rest! We will send you an information packet about Karamoja and the work going on there with Shalom Reconciliation Ministry. You share the information with your friends and encourage them to put Karamoja on their Christmas list. Show them how they can be involved in helping these kids by donating to Shalom Home. We desperately want to be able to finish this orphanage, but we can't do it without you! Please consider hosting a dinner on December 11th and join homes all over the world in raising money for the orphans of Karamoja! you can comment on this blog or email me at k1nneth@yahoo.com if you want to be involved.

Thanks guys. Let's keep working to make a life for these orphans who otherwise have no hope.

Uganda

2 Worlds

I have spent the first of 3 days in a meeting. Most of the time I just sit there wondering "what am I doing here?" It's a religious meeting where people listen to speakers tell them how to resurrect their church, or something of the sort. I have a little booth, which is why I'm there, to advertise and share about Feed My Sheep.

I spend most of my days with guys and girls who are homeless and I really enjoy it. These are people who are currently struggling for a host of different reasons. One of my struggles right now is that I don't have enough money and cannot find a building for a shelter this winter. I need another $25,000 to make this thing happen. When we don't have a shelter, people FREEZE TO DEATH! So .... here I am sitting in these meetings with Christians who are there to get energized and learn how to follow God better. The irony of this all is... according to my calculations the money that was spent for a 3 day seminar will easily be more than we need to house and protect the homeless from an uncertain winter. The more I read the Bible the more I feel like this isn't right. I sent out a letter to 30 churches in my area asking to use one of their buildings in the evenings to house our folks. Not a single reply. One pastor went so far as to tell me that he would be happy to let to homeless sleep there but he has stuff for the youth in the evenings. Let me re-phrase this a little. The homeless cannot sleep here, understanding they might die, because we need this to have meetings. I feel like at times I'm beginning to feel the heart of God and this makes me very sad to know what he often feels. My heart simply breaks. How can we show the world the love of Christ and simply ignore the hurting, the needy, the homeless. Is this the God of unconditional love we are proclaiming to follow? I now understand God's heart of Isaiah 58. I now understand the downfall of Sodom - Ezek. 16:48-49. We throw a little bit of money at different ministries and let someone else deal with the people. Does Isaiah 58 not scream "IF SOMEONE IS HOMELESS, TAKE THEM INTO YOUR HOMES?"

I definitely don't want to bash anyone or anything, please respond if I'm doling out unfair words here. Come on church, let's bring the kingdom of heaven here among us. Let's begin to make the things that breaks God's heart, break ours. Let's get passionate about the things he's passionate about. Let' stop being about ourselves, our churches, our denominations, and live a message of love to the whole world! Why do we hold people like Dorothy Day, Mother Theresa, Karolyn Spencer, Lottie Moon up on a pedastal? That is not where they belong, they are there because we have lost our way.

Why Can't We Pray?

The last 2 weeks I've sat in meetings with pastors and listened to their plans and thoughts for church growth, bringing America back to God, taking over their city, etc... (you probably have heard this all before and know the drill). For years I have heard the talk and seen plans and programs put into effect. I've seen big christian concerts put on, banquets of a hundred different varieties, 70 days of purpose (or something like that), and so on and so forth. I've been around some of the most talented preachers, musicians, event planners and have yet to see any of these things make a real, reproducible, lasting difference in the transformation of lives. Is it because "we" are not doing it well enough? Or maybe we didn't bring the right bands in, or market it the right way. When we look around the world and see God moving in certain areas to the tune of 30,000 new believers in one area in a month! And behold, these are places with little resources to market to the masses!
Even after seeing this we still pursue, diligently and forcefully I might add! We overlook clues found in our precious Bible like I Corinthians 1 or Luke 18. I Corinthians 1 says that God uses the foolish things to confound the wise. Maybe it's not by our smarts or skills that the movements of God happen. Maybe the answer does not lie in our capable praise teams, excellent lighting, our fabulous marketing and packaging. Luke 18 tells the story of a woman who went before a judge and presented a request over and over and over until the judge got so tired of hearing her, he just granted her request. Even a little more directly, Paul shares that he planted, Apollos watered, but (lo and behold) it was GOD who made it grow.
Sooo..... my suggestion is that if we want to see God move let us devote ourselves to praying, serious intercession for our family, friend, community, and beyond. I'm not talking about Wednesday night prayer meetings where we say our requests for an hour, and someone prays for 5 min. "Lord, bless these requests you've heard tonight..." How about we devote ourselves to prayer around the clock. We come together as believers, and organize ourselves to pray around the clock. If it is really "God who makes it grow" then lets stop trying to make it grow and start asking him 24/7 to do it.
If anyone out there wants to pray, lemme know. I'll be going into the prayer room and praying. Let's pray together! In person, on the phone, through emails, comments on blogs ,etc. Let's pray! What is God saying to you? How do you sense him moving in your life? What is he calling you to leave behind? or maybe to pick up? Father, hear our prayers.

We lift up our hearts to you. Hallowed be your name. We ask that you bring your kingdom among us. Father provide for our needs, but put it on our hearts to share everything beyond what we need. If we don't, get our attention using your means! Forgive us our sins Lord, our tresspasses, our debts. The offenses we commit against you daily. Lord, as you do this we will, through you, forgive those who have done us wrong. We know that unless we forgive we will not be forgiven. God keep us running from the things that tempt us and deliver us from the attacks of Satan. Begin to move... We humbly cry.

II Chronicles 7:13,14

Karamoja Video

This is a video that Kristi has put together from our time in Karamoja. A few of the pics are from someon else's trip there. Be careful - watching it might be catastrophic to your current lifestyle! The kids just call out to me from this video. Blessings,

Threads

I've been hanging on by a thread for so long that it seems my existance is fragile. The past four years have been full of pain, discomfort, and hope. Painful due to illness. Discomfort in my pursuit of truth and genuine love for others. Hope in a God who walks with me through great pain and discomfort. The thread may be stronger then I realize or it may be cut off today. I'm not sure anymore, I just know the fragility of life is not up to me. Not even sure if fragility is a word, but thought I would throw it out there. This place I am at today runs against all that I was raised to become. I was taught to be strong, independent, full of pride, perfectionist, and to lead with my intellect and gifting. This thread like life has taught me to be humble, insignifcant, and dependent on others/God. I realize that a single thread can only last so long. How long will my thread last? Only God knows and I am learning to connect this single thread to Him alone.
- Lee -

Proximity - Noun

Webster definition - the quality or state of being next in time, place, causation, influence, etc.; immediate nearness, either in place, blood, or alliance.WordNet definition - the property of being close together, the region close around a person or thing, a Gestalt principle of organization holding that (other things being equal) objects or events that are near to one another (in space or time) are perceived as belonging together as a unit.Last year my wife created the blog Define Something http://definesomething.wordpress.com/ Her purpose in creating this blog was to throw out a word and get different perspectives on it. This helps all of us to grow in our understanding of it and learn to see things from others world view. This is what I would like to do with the word proximity. Please share any of your thoughts on the word and how it relates to your culture or life.Distant, remote, isolate, alone, independent, & self reliant are what we have become as a white middle & upper class society in America. This is definately a generalization and simply what I have witnessed in my own family experience and Christian church culture. Living in close proximity with family members and friends was once a key value in our society, but has become less and less over the last sixty years. It has been replaced with physical stuff & busyness which in the long run produces stress, loneliness, & unfulfillment. Proximity was one of the keys to following Christ in the early church (Acts 2-5). Living daily together was crucial to survival and sustainability of being a disciple of Christ. This is only a launching point on the proximity discussion and hopefully we will begin to rediscover the lost value of proximity in our lives.
- Lee -

Reputations

We are either placing ourselves in a position to serve the hurting and needy or we are not. I do believe in random acts of kindness ,but even these require being intentional. I want to talk about a deeper level of positioning our lives to meet needs in our communities. Is it possible for our faith communities to become the go to folks when disaster hits? Is your simple church the one who people call when they are being evicted or need a helping hand? Do you have a repetation for meeting real needs consistently in your community?How do we develop reputations for taking care of the poor, healing for the sick, answers for spirituality, & helping our neighbor with their next project?Jesus had a reputation and people sought him out to meet their needs. He had something to offer. Just think about when people were hungry ,Jesus fed them. When they were sick, He healed them. When they needed to know How to have Everlasting Life, He told them. Even when he showed up in a nearby village, people had heard about Him and his reputation for meeting their needs.Are we being sought out? Do we have a reputation as the go to folks in town when needs arise?
- Lee -

Shalom Home

Although I sit comfortably here in my kitchen in New Castle, Colorado, my thoughts travel to the distant land of Karamoja, a remote region in the northeastern corner of Uganda. I think back a few months and find myself sitting again in an unfinished building under the starlight worshipping God with people around me singing in several different languages. People took turns playing the guitar, sharing songs they'd written and singing familiar songs of worship together. Before we realized what was going on two and a half hours had passed. Verses were shared from the book of Isaiah, from the heart of God for his people in Karamoja. Many of these verses were a call to repentance while some were an encouragement to the faithfulness of the Jesus followers.

What brought us all together that day was a shared heart for the children on the streets with no place to call home, no one to call dad, and no one to be called by. Sitting under the stars that night, I knew that God had created a special place in my heart to care for these kids. What I didn't know was that he was creating a place in the hearts of many back in the states. I needed to come back and share their story. I believe with all my heart that God is doing something AMAZING! in Karamoja currently and he is asking us if we want to be a part of His work. Yes, I do, dont leave me out father! Include me in the work you're doing!

The Beginning

I made a little spot here, a tree stump if you will, in the great big world of cyberspace to sit and share my thoughts, available to everyone and possibly read by no one. My mind has been dwelling on the "yawthome" and my relation to these people for the last year and a few of my friends have come alongside and wrestled with me. Yawthome is a Hebrew word that literally means "the lonely." In the Bible this word is used to refer to the poor, orphan, widow, foreigner, homeless, oppressed, hungry, etc. The yawthome is generally the people found on the fringes of society, the people that nothing great is expected of. The yawthome are also the people that occupy the heart of God. They so much occupy the heart of God that he requires the first of our income go to them; (Deut 14:28,29) Our worship is to give to/help them (Is. 58:6-10); Our identity is found in them (Deut 24:17-18). We are to be concerned with the yawthome because its is how we remember who we are. My friends and I are seeking and learning daily what it means to journey alongside the yawthome as family, to share our possessions, our blessings, our homes and yes, our families. I am coming to believe that the people of God can never know the heart of God until they walk among the yawthome.