3.17.2004

3.18.04

Well, today I turn 32. Hard to believe that 16 years ago, I was 16. Each grouping of 16 years has such great memories, great victories, great challenges, and a whole bunch of life in bewteen. Here's to the next 16 years. Hope it's better than the previous 32 combined.

3.10.2004

3.10.04

Social Action:

Tonight I speak @ Goucher in Towson @ InterVarsity's weekly meeting on campus. Their focus this semester is dual pronged: racial relations and social justice. So, tonight, I am speaking on Amos 5:21-24:

“I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! "

I love this passage... but it's a convicting one. Here, God is clearly not pleased with the worship of the people that called Him by name. The words are emphatic:

(v21) (1) Religious Feasts: This was meant to be a time of remembrance and celebration of God’s faithfulness. Yet this became a stench before God. Lit. “I will not smell.” He hated their feasts.
(2) Assemblies: Their cooperate worship was also displeasing to God -- lit. “I do not inhale with delight.”
(vs22) (3) Burnt Offerings, Grain Offerings, & Fellowship Offerings: “I will not except” is emphatic. Their confession of sins was hollow.
(v23) (4) Music and harps: Their praise was hollow and empty. The people were spiritually out of tune.

In other words... God's displeasure was such that He was not present in their worship. Sounds familiar...

Wonder what the issue was?

TRUE WORSHIP HAPPENS BETWEEN THE MEETINGS: or more specifically, church is God at work between the meetings.

(vs24) Justice Flowing Like A Strong River: Lit. a powerful flow of waters. Not your average or ordinary creek. This is a torrential flow of justice.
Righteousness, Like an ever Flowing Stream: Not inconsistent in flow, but steady.

Interestingly enough, during this time Israel was in a huge time of prosperity, of which no Israelite had ever known. And no longer was the nation a classless society; it had become a nation of the rich and the poor, with very little in between, a true situation of the have's and have not's. Amos, a sheepherder by trade and reluctant prophet of God, boldly spoke against the ways of the people of Yahweh. The worship of Yahweh had become cultural and devoid of God's presence. There was great lip service, but little faith in action. Yahweh's promises were all the people cared about... not His law. His blessing, not His discipline. His outsourcing of "stuff," not his outsourcing of "hesed" -- Love. God's love always comes through relationship, and that was something they did not seek.

I wonder for the American church in these things... Does Justice flow? Does Righteousness? Do we rightly treat our brother? Do we despise him? Use him? Do we know who our neighbor is? And if we DO know our neighbor, what precipitated that relationship? Most likely it's because they have something we want/need.

Though Israel's culture seemed to be flowing with milk and honey during this time, it flowed with stench that reached God and disgusted Him. Yeah, I wonder about the American Church in 2004. I wonder...

3.08.2004

Manhattan Trip: Life-changing Experience...

Hello world... LOTS to share about my recent journey to Manhattan (48 hours ago). This perhaps the first time I went on a trip and did not take my computer and so badly wished I had... simply for journaling purposes. I experienced so much and wished to get them down while the moment was fresh. Already, some of it is fading, but I want to get it down as best as I can now...

My mom called last week asking me what I was doing on March 5th. As it was, I had no real plans. So, she asked me if I wanted to travel with her to Manhattan and go to a black tie dinner. I said "sure!"

A friend of mom's, Erstine Belton, invited her to come to this $1,200 a plate dinner (of which Erstine paid for two spots) that was a fund raiser for the "The Balm in Gilead," an a non-profit organization for the purpose of mobilizing churches into action concerning the Aids/HIV pandemic.

That alone is worth mentioning... I have felt for some time now, that I need to connect with people with HIV/AIDS and be a resource, a friend, a help. This organization is primarily in place to connect church leaders to do JUST THAT, yet... in an African American context.

Staggering stats... 1 in 50 African American men have HIV... 1 in 160 African American women have HIV. Regardless of ethnicity, 1 in 250 Americans have HIV, but only 1 in 500 know that they do. Crazy... And what has the church done about this?


*crickets*

I met people from all over the world and primarily African American pastors. It was an interesting evening, to say the least. I had my picture taken with Charles Rangel, the US Congressman... snaps shots of Star Jones and her husband to be, as well as Nancy Wilson (who sang "Goldfinger" among other things), and many... many... other people.

The absolute coolest part of the evening was 2 conversations...

One was with a gentleman from Indianapolis. He was just standing there, like the other 400-450 people, and I felt compelled to speak with him. To make a long story short, @ the end of our conversation he mentioned that before he left his hotel room, he prayed that God would connect him with whomever he needed to speak with... and he mentioned that our conversation confirmed God being at work (my mom and I lived in Indiana for over six years, so we had many common friendships, and other things to talk about). When he said that... my mom asked if he was a pastor. He said no; he was a lay leader. But, then I said, "Then I guess you should know, I am a pastor." He became very excited at this, and began to share with me a vision God had given him in helping provide community centers all over the world, that sort of thing... Instantly, I thought of Horizon and our hopes to do something very similar to that... This man is independently wealthy, owner and founder of a large company... perhaps he has funds to help us? Needless to say... we shared contact info... And what's cool is that he comes to Washington D.C. fairly regularly. In fact, he had just meet with the President in recent weeks. Yeah... God at work.

Second, and in my mind, the most AWESOME conversation was at the dinner itself:

Two young ladies sat to my left at the table... being that this event was primarily for African Americans, these two stood out because like my mom and I, they were not. At the dinner, small talk ensued and people found out I was a pastor... Instantly, the lady to my immediate left asked me direct and deep spiritual questions... In fact, she basically asked me to share the gospel with her and tell her the story of Jesus. I was thinking... "this is why I am here @ this $20,000 a table dinner... to talk with these two." The biggest reason for this spiritual conversation? "The Passion." I dunno... it was the most amazing experience. So much more to share... Maybe later, after I process all of this...

3.02.2004

Well, I am at where? Starbucks, of course! Stopped in all the way from a MMBA meeting in Sykesville... I HAD to get over here to Towson to connect with people. For whatever reason, it would seem that my denominational time requirements have increased of late, as well as my need to connect and begin new relationships in Towson. In other words, the two are in conflict and it's been hard to juggle the schedules well...

We just began running spots on the TV with the "Passion Commercial." I hope that many people can connect with our Horizon locations through this medium. I am excited about the possibilities. Wonder what the future holds!?

This last Sunday was awesome. In fact, the last 2 Sundays in Towson have been some of the best, ever, in my Horizon experience. Worship has been phenominal in many respects. 2 Sundays back we had Beth Ann from Liberty in, a friend of Josh Smith. She came with her sister and led our worship that morning. Words cannot describe how good it was. Wow... both the passion and the skill is wrapped up in Beth Ann. What a talented servant of God!

Likewise, Josh Denning came in to speak with us Sunday and did a GREAT job. His love for Jesus and passion for trusting/obeying the Spirit's call is a wonderful example to me... he lives what he spoke about. Sometimes, that's rare these days.