Here is somethng out of "Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger"

that Dave Workman at the Vineyard says we must all read instead of watching ER or Gray's Anatomy, this week. (okay, dave didn't say that)

if you don't read it, your punishment is watching "Medium" and "Invasion".

see you at the Simpson's and The King of the Hill...



Question your lifestyle, not your neighbors

Reduce your food budget by:

Gardening: try hoeing instead of mowing

Substituting vegetable protein for animal protein

Join a food co-op

fast regularly (see bible verse below)

opposing (by speech and example) the flagrant misuse of grain for making beer and other alcoholic beverages (the U.S.
annually uses enough grain - 5.2 million tons - in the production of alcoholic beverages - enough to feed 26 million people)

setting a monthly budget and sticking to it <--this idea scares me perhaps i should not mention it

Lower energy consumption by
keeping thermostat at 68 degrees

supporting public transportation with feet and vote

using bikes, carpools, and feet

making dishwashing a family time instead of buying a dishwasher

buying a fan instead of an air conditioner

Resist consumerism by:
laughing regularly at TV commercials
developing family slogans like: "Who are you kidding?" and "You Can't Take It With You!"

Making a list of dishonest ads and boycotting those products

using postage-paid envelopes of direct-mail advertisers to object to their unscrupulous advertising

Buy and renovate and old house in the inner city. (persuade a few friends to do the same and start a christian community - reclaim the abandoned places of the Empire of Global Consumerism)

Reduce you consumption of nonrenewable natural resources by
resisting obsolescence (buying quality products when you must buy)

sharing appliances, tools, lawnmowers, sports equipment, books, even cars (this is easier if you live close to other Christian committed to simple living)

organizing a 'things closet' at your church for items used only occasionally - edger, clippers, cots for unexpected guests, lawn mowers, camping equipment, ladder

Have one or two 'homemade' babies and then adopt

See how much of what you spend is for status and eliminate it

Refuse to keep up with clothing fashions (virtually no reader of this list needs to buy clothes - except maybe shoes - once every few years)

Enjoy what is free

Live on a welfare budget for a month [practice the incarnation: 'gave up riches for poverty'] (Ron Jones's Finding Community tells us how)

Give your children more of your love and time rather than more things

Find alternative ways to celebrate our culture's "holidays" (could be as simple as - celebrate the liturgical calendar)


Sider says, "I am convinced that simpler living is a biblical imperative for contemporary Christians in affluent lands. But we must remain clear about our reasons. We are not committed to a simple lifestyle. We have only one absolute loyalty and that is to Jesus and His Kingdom. But the head of this kingdom is the God of the poor! And hundreds of millions of his poor are starving to death."

Lew Preached yesterday at North Pres

brother Erwin put his reputation on the line, asking Lew to come and preach, yesterday.
Needless to say, it was "stimulating". Some folks got up to leave while I was singing Derek Webb's "I Repent". They were on their way to a basketball game or something, but it made me think that I had "crossed the line". I love all of you so much. thank you for welcoming me, and the gospel.

Then last night we laughed together that there's a front page article on Derek Webb and how his songs make people walk out... We pray that Erwin's reputation would be sterling...AMONG THE ANGELS.

Thanks to all the saints at North Pres who have made home for us in their hearts. Sharing the Gospel there was joyful, and I felt the draw of their humility and love for Jesus pulling me onward... May we all strive to enter that Shabbat Shalom...

Jeremiah, gimme a call sometime.

Hi Jenny from Rohs Street Cafe!!

Thanks for the comment! I'll ask Klinefelter what the nickname was!

Hey Klinefelter! What was your nickname when Jenny was in youth group?

John Wallis

Dude, I don't have your phone number anymore. My phone got stolen, then the replacement broke. My laptop broke, and my stuff is all jumbled... i have the same number, so ring me asap, bro. i look forward bigtime...

the apoclypsis in my head

there's a sadness that I get when I think of how Jesus has called us to be a "Wind People", and my Bible Prof. is telling us that the Jordan didn't stand up in a heap, and that the ground was surely not dry, and that the Red Sea was only ankle deep there, anyway, and the miracles of Jesus are simply accelerations of the natural laws of healing... on and on it went at Asbury...

why believe that?

i have a silly way of believing. I'm such a fool...
my worldview is like something out of a Frank Peretti novel.

I actually see myself as a player in a cosmic drama--a warrior in a celestial battle. I see the world as a battlefield, where angels, demons, men, spirits, are in ebb and flow in soterio-theatrical battle, showcasing the Glory of the Love of the Father for his fallen, redeemed children...

i believe in the fire of the Holy Spirit over the heads of the apostles.
I believe in the fires of persecution that they endured as common consequence of the True Faith.
I believe in a worm that does not die, and a fire that is not quenched.

I am dumbfounded that my brethren, better men than I, choose to moderate belief in the very things that sparked the Great Awakening, the Second Great Awakening... moderate it with a wisdom I've never had the money to attend.

I'm amazed that men like Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, John Wesley, William Booth... they are seen by some as simplistic, wooden-headed men whose hearts were in the right place, but lacked the sophistication of mind to refine their theology of hell and the end times out of literal, apocalyptic terms... Their missionary zeal was seen as a keeper, but not the very fuel that drove it...

I am grieved that so many are so easily and so thoroughly relinquishing the fear and passion for souls that the scriptures engender in the childlike hearer.
O church! Repent and believe the words of Jesus. Refresh the joy of your salvation with fear of the fires of hell, again...

believe in seraphim...in many horned beasts...in thrones of crystal and gates of pearl...
believe in wisdom born of fear...of mourning...of humility...of groaning against the flesh...
believe that the wisdom of this age is a filthy rag, promising , but not delivering...

believe in desperation. holy desperation--poverty of Spirit...pouring itself out in holy fear and a life of trembling reverent love for one another, and passion to win the souls of the lost for the Glory of the King of Heaven...

believe in the curse of the lukewarm--that the risen christ who ate fish and walked through walls--who cooked breakfast--that He himself will VOMIT those who are lukewarm in their devotion to him--the undesperate...

pickers and choosers
who reinterpret, reinvent
soften truth with worldly wisdoms
and bed down on the word of god
atop gilt ivory towers
until the Return overtakes them
like a thief in the night
Left Behind, they simply
start bedding down afresh...
they will feed believers to lions
and crucify jesus again...

doom comes upon the sons of the earth
and the prophets and priests
turn in sleep
on temple steps
through pulpit pages
the black wave approaches
christ has bled
the fields are white
awake! awake!
to the joy set before us!
to plunder the mighty
evil king
for the kingdom of hell cannot stand
against us...

the sword of praise
of love
of sacrifice
held aloft
as we despise this world
and give our lives to Christ
in reverent fear
and joyous relief
to us, Grace is worth
the loss of all things
reputation
position
influence
income
security
affluence
health
our lives, crushed petals
seeds planted
seemingly dead
breaking open in life
overcoming the grave
and the powers that once boasted over God.

the call of Jesus, "come and die" makes a poet out of every soul. Systematic words erode in the flow of wind and water that is the Life, the Way, the Truth... Jesus is awakening us again. Everywhere, humble hearts are groping for the faith once handed down. The renunciation of all for Christ, from the heart, bleeding from there into our lives, is coming upon the Church in all her communities.

Love
Love
Love

Believe with the simplicty of children who love the smell of their father and always bury their faces in his garments when he comes home...
In this faith, Grace is amazing.

Behold what manner of love the Father has given unto us!
That this mighty God,
of truth and wrath
calls me his child
and bids me come
bury myself in his embrace...

what sweet relief
for the one sick of sin
for the humble and broken
for the lost sheep found

may the older and younger brothers dance in celebration

Luke 15:28"The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him.
But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.
But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!'

31" 'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.
But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' "