Priceless Moment

Sorry, Jeff, I just have to share this. Jeff came up with a great "priceless" moment this past Saturday.

10 biscuits and 2 large coffees = $14.50
Fill-up vehicle with gas = $30.00
Find a homeless friend standing in a dumpster
& offer him breakfast = Priceless

"Wheels"

What a joy it was to find him in the dumpster! Okay, not so much that he was in a dumpster, just the fact that we found him. "Wheels", as I call him, but not to his face, is one of the homeless guys we have found downtown. The first time I saw him was about a month ago. We were going up the street behind the Shreveport Courthouse, and out of the corner of my eye, I see a man in a wheel chair, digging in a trashcan. He had no legs below the knees. I literally was nearly sick about it. I just knew he must be starving. It made me sad, and I wanted to find him, and attempt to be Jesus to him. I believe it was later that morning we found him going around a corner. We stopped him, asked if he wanted coffee, and found out his name is Richard. We have run across him another time or two since then, and found out he gets in the trash cans looking for coke and beer cans. He sells them to get money. Lorie and Jeff are saving cans for him now. How cool is that! The fact that he was not looking for food made my heart feel better. This past Saturday we took several tours of downtown until we found him. Yep, there he was standing in a dumpster. How he got in there; I don't know. It was so cool to find him though, and offer him a cup of coffee and some breakfast while he was literally standing in the dumpster. What a Kodak moment! Now that gave me the joy of the Lord. It is such a priveledge and honor to ride along with my friends (who have been providing the goodies) and bless these homies. Thank you Jesus for blessing my heart! You are so good to me.

Our Trail of Crumbs

"What does our trail of crumbs look like? If someone asks if we are Christ-followers can we say, "Tell me what you see"? Is there enough evidence to prove that we are taking after the slaughtered Lamb? What if they ask the poor around us? What if they ask our enemies? Would they say that we love them? Christians haven't always looked like Jesus. Perhaps the greatest barrier to Christ has been Christians who pronounce Jesus so loudly with their lips and deny him so loudly with their lives." - Shaine Claiborne and Chris Haw, Jesus for President

Put on Jesus

"Clothe yourselves with Christ." (Col. 3:12-17)

"It is worth reiterating that the basis for living out the ethics of Jesus in this world is not that it works but that this is the way God is. We are not promised that everything is going to turn out perfect. Look at the cross. Look at how the story ends for the apostles. It is ugly. If there is anything we can learn from our history, as writer C. K. Chesterton says, it's that we are to be "completely fearless, absurdly happy, and in constant trouble." And in the end, love wins." - Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw, Jesus for President

Truth from an atheist

A self proclaimed atheist had the following to say when asked, “What do you think Jesus really taught?”  He said:  “I think Jesus taught us that we have a Father who loves us more than we know and if we could sort that out, we would know how to treat each other.”  WOW!!  Close to the mark, if not dead on!  A follow on question of why he was a self proclaimed atheist begged to be asked.  His response:  “Because I’ve never seen it lived out or followed.”  How then, shall we live…
(From “Sharing in the Father’s Affection” by Wayne Jacobsen)

Living Life

The following is from a book Jim loaned me -- Becoming the Answer to Our Prayers (Thanks, Jim. It's great!):

We are the masters of keeping people breathing, but we know very little about really being alive. No matter how well we live, life as we know it is a nonrenewable resource. But life as God knows it is renewable. God's life is eternal. It has no beginning. Which also means it has no end -- no future when it will be different than it always has been. So God's life is always here, always now, always with us , always complete. "Living Christ means a living cross. Everything else is a living death." (Ghandi)... To live the glory of God with Jesus is to give ourselves to one another, even as Jesus gave himself for those who betrayed him on the cross. It is a life that, admittedly, looks like dying.... To cling to the gift of life we've been given and scramble to protect our own interests is to cooperate in a culture of death that threatens to destroy us all. John 17 begins with a plea for eternal life that will save the world from such death. This is the eternal life that we do not have to die to find. It begins now with a new way of living -- and to it there is no end.

Relationship

The last thing this world needs is more people talking about relationship with God or better relationships among believers. What the world and believers alike are waiting for is people who will truly live it. My greatest prayer is that God will grace all who are willing to demonstrate what it is to love and trust him every day and to walk in relationships with other believers that demonstrate what an awesome family he is creating. - From the Lifestream website

Fasting for Father

I love this passage out of Isaiah 58. Father is looking at our hearts. He knows when we are just going through the motions. He wants us to put on Christ, and walk like Him, and do what He did. Give this kind of fast a try.

6-9"This is the kind of fast day I'm after: to break the chains of injustice, get rid of exploitation in the workplace, free the oppressed, cancel debts.What I'm interested in seeing you do is: sharing your food with the hungry, inviting the homeless poor into your homes, putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad, being available to your own families.Do this and the lights will turn on, and your lives will turn around at once.Your righteousness will pave your way. The God of glory will secure your passage.Then when you pray, God will answer. You'll call out for help and I'll say, 'Here I am.'

Seen God Today?

I was doing a Bible study on the Road to Emmaus in Luke using Prof. Hendricks book "Living by the Book". It was very enlightening and made me want to take something about Emmaus for the Tuesday night study at the prison, something other than the basic Easter message. As I was searching the web I came across a sermon by Rev. Keenan Kelsey and he related the following story. "Some of you have heard me tell the story of the young lad who decided to go look for God. He packed a lunch and got as far as the park before he got hungry. He sat on a bench next to an old woman. They sat together for an hour. He offered her a Twinkie. She offered him a huge smile. When the boy got home he announced to his mother, I met God today, and she has the most wonderful smile! When the elderly lady got home, she said to her son, I met God today, and he is much younger than I’d imagine!" This brought to mind our lifegroup and how our desire is to meet God in others and have them see God in us.

Brent

I was very encouraged this week by my nephew, who asked if he could bring a friend along this Saturday morning as we go to visit, share, and be a blessin' to the homeless. He said his friend wanted to "give back" to the community, and he thought this would be a good way to do it. He also has some things he wants to donate to them.

I must confess I was not at that point when I was 23 years old. I am so blessed, and am grateful God has let me experience this.

My prayer is that they will grab a huge armful of Jesus and never let go.