I LOVE CROSSROADS!!!



i went there like two weeks ago... i've been visiting there sometimes. it's a very expensive presentation church, y'know? major digits go into everything they do. Sometimes (always) that's really hard for me to stomach, y'know? So much poverty and difficulty in so many christian communities, and such potential kingdom witness if we just got that down and forsook the good ideas for God's giving love idea...



But i went there, like i usually do sunday mornings, with my kids... to put them in some safe class or group type thingy so they can play and have fun with kids... to put my rump in a chair with free coffee and sit with others and talk about jesus and the kingdom (i love the modern day synagogues--so much space to get high on caffeine and sit and talk--crossroads has a GREAT open atrium/cafe style thingy...)...



bit of grammar bind here...



anyway, I've been on a high horse before about how the american church blah blah... and we all know it... but lately, as i have sat in crossroads' atrium talking with others about Jesus (there isn't a time when god doesn't send someone to have a time with me), or when i sit in the big show and watch the professional sound and lights, movie clips perfectly timed, and good physiques and grooming, I've been hearing something...



Lub dub, lub dub...



As I'm dropping my kids into their little classes with the kids and all these volunteers are scurrying around, loving it!



Lub dub, lub dub...



I'm freaking out, because it's Gods heart!



There's love in the house!



Now i know that when Jesus returns, he'll be sorting out the stuff on how we loved Him and each other, and how the shepherds acted on their beat. And i know that's a part of my ministry, to warn and help us all to that end...

And...

And...

not but...

And...



Our father is not entirely displeased, more, He is overjoyed, by the love of his kids who simply put it out there for him, loving kids and playing music...

Shepherds, teachers, leaders, will all be judged for how they acted about these days,



but the kids who love god, be they shepherds, sheep or pete, will Rock On!



Yeah!



So, that's what I got outta that...



No anonymous comments.

Good Morning Everybody! Each Sunday for the last few months, I've loaded up the kids and gone to one of our many local churches. These are pics of our Weekday drive to school, but this is such a beautiful day that I wanted to share it with you today...

Vineyard Community Church/Tri-County Vineyard



I love the Vineyard church here... There's such a passion in the worship music, and an intensity to share the love of Jesus with our area through servanthood and simplicity...



This morning I took the girls and Seth to VCC (I visit a lot of churches, since we meet in our minstry at night). Aaron was over at a friend's house. There was a great articulation of the simple truth that God really loves us...



Brother Dave (Workman) also shared how, in Isaiah 53, it's clear that you and I aren't the ones that killed Jesus, but rather it's God who did it. Yep, it's become really popular to say, "I killed Jesus (with my sins)", but the scriptures never say it like that. The Bible says that the Father was pleased to strike Jesus, and put him to death, to ransom us...



God loves you so much that He struck Jesus (himself? or even harder than himself, his own son?) so He could win your heart...



This seems like utter foolishness. But my life is devastated and rebuilt by it. My heart is broken and healed by it... I was dead and now I'm alive.



I've been burned by big church before, but brother dave and Robbie and all the folks that make VCC happen (it's one of the two Cincinnati churches where my 3-yr. old loves to visit) have BLESSED us.



Thank you, Jesus for them. Thank you for using them to strengthen me and set me straight to the task of reaching Northside for Jesus... And who knows what lies on the horizon? Surely if we look straight at Jesus, we'll die well...



The week before, I took the kids to a seeker-sensitive church: Crossroads Community Church. I'll write an article on our experience there, soon.

Sometimes a little host brother and a host sister from Thailand can really get a Turkmen girl mad!

Zara and Pia at Chuck E. Cheese's for JP's B-day. What a change from Turkmenistan and Thailand--an adult B-day at CEC.

This was the first time Zara and Pia got to make Thanksgiving cookies! Aaron was there to help...

much grub... Bobby with a good hat on... JP chillin... Tom's Back...

Some of the Thanksgiving Crew. The rest were in other rooms/at other tables...

Where do you think we had JP (my total brother and ministry partner)'s birthday party? Where else!

Congratulations! Mazel Tov! DanielMatt and Christine Shryock! November 19, 2004!!!

We had JP's birthday, Danielmatt and Christine's wedding, and kitchen installation time, all in one week! Thanks to Justin for wiring the stove! Thanks to Danielmatt and Christine's families for their grace, and thanks to Jesus for making JP the brother who'd rather have chuck e. cheese than anywhere else!

Here's another angle on that new stove... Can't wait to hit those floors!

Hey! We Need your Help!



This is gonna be a great season of HELP!!! This december/January, JP is taking his whole winter break to work on the Mission House. Here, that means that Lew will be pretty much full time helper to him... That means:



SANDING THE FLOORS of all the rooms on the first floor, except Mr. Weiss's quarters.



This is a huge task that will take help from all of us. We need folks to watch Seth and Aaron.

We need money for the Sanding, Cleaning, Staining, and varnishing supplies...



Then... since JP has a whole Month! WE'll...



Paint the meeting room and lobby area!



This means that some of you guys from indianapolis might come in handy!



all of this equals untold quantities of money and manpower. How bout it? who's in?

This is gonna run during the holiday season, so it won't be so easy, but this is the when we have, so we're gonna run with it. It's possible that we might have Christmas all together in a beautiful new meeting area and common kitchen!



Lew

There's the stove with new cabinets and a range next to it... Thanks to those who donate appliances and furniture to make this place run!

This has been a great last week or two since I wrote the request for help on the stove... We're well on our way to a great community kitchen in the Chase House... The stove was in and wired for Thanksgiving Day, and what a day that was! We saw a TON of people at the house, eating and sharing in the Joy of the Lord!



thanks to the guys who helped wire in the new stove, and get all the stuff home from home depot, and accompanied the whole "where to put things" stage of it all...



It was a terriffic thanksgiving day!

Help! Stove/Oven Installation!!!!



is there anyone out there that wants to come and help us get our stove and oven in before Thanksgiving? It includes the installation of a 220v line, some light carpentry, and the like... This will kick-off our first complete kitchen in the Chase House. Until now, we've combined the 2/3rd oven on the third floor, the working range on the 2nd floor, and the sink and dishwasher on the first floor (all floors have fridges).



I know that a group has been trying to get here from GCF in Wilmore, KY. Thanks for loving us!

Seth drank bleach...





We had the paramedics here on Sunday night. Seth accidentally drank some diluted bleachwater in a sippy cup. Just a sip and he hurled and coughed and threw up some more... It must have hurt. I don't know.



but it's hard to describe the powerlessness you feel in those moments, while poison control has you on hold, before paramedics arrive, while your little buddy's retching and you're afraid he has terrible burns in his mouth... i curled up on the floor for just a moment and told jesus i can't wait for him to come again...



as we realized that Seth was not injured badly, and that this wasn't serious, i began to feel that feeling about all the little kids tonight who are injured badly, for whom "it" is serious... the little ones in the Sudan, and other places like that, and here, where there is so much resource and so little sharing...



i know that a lot of people who read this are people who pray for us. thanks. let's pray that there'll be some serious love to those little ones... this is gonna hurt, to see them and love them in their pain.



We had a great sunday night. the church joined the tail end of our chaos, and Seth was up and running. We ate delicious soup and desserts. it was great. And Mr. Weiss is leaving for China this morning, so we prayed for him and the church there. He's going to preach in an illegal house church for 10 days. surely he'll be encouraging and equipping more than just that one group, too...



and matt and christine are getting married this week. I'll do the wedding with a bro named Wes, on Friday.

Indianapolis and Washington DC



Went to Indy the other day for three days with Aaron (10) and Seth (3), to help out on Micah and Marla's house... They are church planting pastor couple there... They are the real deal in people who go beyond the brink to live out the church dream... that we love one another... They're in an experiment that includes sunday mornings, house church, much love and reaching out in love daily to everyone they meet... they're shockingly devoid of pretense and draw tons of unlikelies to an experience of the Grace of God... Their church community has lots of questions and are willing to follow Jesus where he leads... a great time...



Went to Wash. DC with our exchange org. the other day too... brought the whole family and the girls got to hang with other students and see the sights... loved our time, because I had the kids and all their travel to myself. we got it right and didn't have any big problems in the high security environment of the airports...



As for the ministry stuff... it's really a wierd zone for me now... these are the days before an explosion of grace in Cincinnati... There'll be so much happening not far from now, that we'll be swamped and I'll miss the days when we didn't know what we were doing.



I would love for some mission minded christians to visit us as friends this winter, after the holidays, when things calm down for you, and share a bit of life and we'll pray and share... There are cool developments of vision and insight about the big house...



There's a wedding in our community this week. Friday night (thursday rehearsal). I need to get a suit and shoes... had two loaners, but they won't do. totally not right for a wedding, the one, and the other is too small... funny stuff... wearing suits and all that... mercy. Lord, help all those people who are thinking that one thing and getting Jesus in a whole different way...



Thanks to all the people who are willing to help us turn the big house into a community center... We'll be working this winter and spring to get the floors out from under the carpet, and get the kitchen and dining room up and running on the main floor... It's gonna be great to fill this place with love...



Rockin' on.

you know what's hard? when someone leaves an anonymous comment on a blog entry that has a corrective, or confrontational tone. gives a brother writers block... I'm going to keep trying to share my heart and life online here. If you want to talk about something you think is wrong, be a family member and drop a comment that you want to talk and we'll email...



thanks

I met a guy the other day at KFC: his name's will. He was surprised that I was talking to him. Here, if a white guy is just talking to a black guy, it's wierd. there's a lot of racism here.



Anyway, I'm talking to Will about voting and all. It was a great conversation to me, because I got to connect with the guy and smile and just enjoy him. I like these neighbors of mine. Each one is so beautiful to me. sounds syrupy, sorry... but it's where I'm at on this. Jesus loved and died for each of them that day, and here we are today, me and Him and we're carrying the torch.



Pray for will to know Jesus' love and break to it...

Here in Cincinnati the weather is changing... There are warm/cool days... a mild fall with some rain, but mostly it's beautiful... The election is over and we're glad...



That served to connect us a bit more with our neighborhood as we attempted to make connections with a local grassroots organization to help get out the Afr.Am. (read "afram" for convenience) vote...



Northside, Cincinnati...Cinci...Cinti...Cin...da'nati... our neighborhood. da 'hood.



it's full of folks and they're struggling... we're struggling... i see pain on the faces of women who work three jobs and have two house payments and something in litigation going on... there is a high transience level here... folks move in and get evicted, and move on... most people around the Chase House don't stay long...





Please pray, God's Children, for all the souls in our neighborhood. There is a storefront church like every block, but there's not a lot of warmth around. The drug dealers are "there for you, kid", but the churches require proper conformity and good attendance, and many of them are really cultic...



i mean that. there are a lot of very "splinter" groups that have put out the shingle in Northside. Radical stuff that mixes up all kinds of religions and bulldogs on obscure doctrines to define itself...



God told me that if we wait on Him and follow His instructions, He'll make us a "mass mailing of living letters" to the world.



It's good to begin to connect with my neighborhood. Pray for it to go step by step.