Just Checking In.

For those who've been reading my blog regularly, you've noticed I stopped for 5 or so weeks, perhaps beset by writer's block, or maybe abducted by mad fur traders wending their way north . . . something like that. 

Nope.

Truth be told, I've feeling a little blank and could think of nothing to write about which might be interesting to explore or had my mind captivated.  I've been a tad blah. You know, when the mental "whatever's" overrun you and they slowly snuff inspiration or insight. The words for writing stay put and the screen blank.

So rather than writing, I've been reading about musicianship, thinking about drumming and, well, drumming. I'm playing in this eclectic jazz trio with guitarist Jon Hill and bassist Jim LaMontagne. They're both imagineers (sometimes I also call imagine/Northampton people imaginistas, imaginarians or imaginati). We've been after the music since before Christmas and we're beginning to find our own voice. Soon, (when we have the cash), we'll go in the studio to record a demo, and use it book some gigs. Booking gigs will enable us to add our artistic voices to the Northampton's arts conversation. We've always wanted to connect with, and support this arts culture here. I still have to say that drumming since 15 years of age remains one of the prime ways I feel most alive on this planet.

Rather than writing, I've also been working at doing a job search. I'm lousy at it, always have been. But because these days are seriously lean financially for us, i.e., my work as a counselor has substantially dried up, I need to find other work, at least part-time. Given the missional mindset I've embraced, it makes a great deal of sense to get a job in the community and connect with folks who don't follow Jesus. So I plod forward with resume building, familiarizing myself with the work environment around these parts, and exploring where I might fit. To be embarrassingly honest,  my heart is not very much in it, but I know I must to get out there.

Rather than writing, I've been exercising and prayerwalking. I'm in a middling spiritual malaise, perhaps even mildly depressed with all the financial stress we've been under. Getting the blood flowing, taxing my body some, and clearing my head with prayer and supplication in the early morning has been a refreshing spiritual wellspring. My prayer has been fervent for us, imagine and Northampton, particularly a handful of people I know who do not follow Jesus . . . yet. Added blessing is the fact I'm losing some weight and strengthening, which lightens my mood. Prayer and push ups work to clear the fog.

Rather than writing, I'm still working into the missional way of life, continuing to read/study the best practitioners in the world on the subject. Such a way of life has become a passion for me. In turn, I've been pondering imagine's missional future and examining how we fit as it develops. There's bit of restlessness percolating in me as if the horizon hints something new, or another trail. I'm not sure, but it has that feel. I've been familiar with it all my life being a pioneer and a cultural explorer. Perhaps it will be a further development of our imagine/Northampton mission, or an extension of the mission elsewhere, a new way of being imagine, or something completely out of view now. Maybe it just means going strategically deeper into what we are doing in town. Time will tell as the Holy Spirit enables.

Don't read we want to leave or are losing interest. We would never just abandon imagine merely because we felt dissatisfied or wanted a change. We are committed true believers in what God has called us to do here.

All in all, it's been a weird summer with a curious mix of emotional undercurrents and tugs. There've been places of life and laughter intermingling with places of anxiety and fatiguing struggles in these weeks. I know I'll pass through it all intact and on my way to imagine's fall and winter. Hope tracks me down eventually and passion returns ready to roll forward. I've always liked that.

And, I might be writing about the Missio Dei, the Kingdom of God, communitas and incarnating the way of Jesus in our communities pretty soon. I think I still have words waiting to join the parade.

Putting Fresh Meat on imagine/Northampton's Byline.

A few years back when imagine was still a hope and a dream, we settled on the following byline to capture the spirit of our vision and mission:

Helping People Discover the God Who Is Far More Than They Imagine. 

As with any byline, it can tend to get threadbare and lose meaning with overuse, so I thought I'd do some refreshing. I think our statement of desire is filled with rich meaning and wonderful implications if you look at it closely.

1. Helping: Properly translated in imaginese helping really refers to drawing alongside of someone to build an authentic, mutually meaningful relationship where opportunity for heart-to-heart conversation gradually can become part of the fabric. Through earnest loving and serving a person, a person might give you the chance to explain the "hope that is in" you because of what Jesus has done, and who he really is. Thus, helping in this way is more than merely evangelizing, winning souls, or "sharing our testimony." It's rather more like "because I genuinely love you, and have shown it in a way you've come to trust, may I open you to what has brought such life, healing, or (you fill in the blank) to me? Telling your Jesus story (1Peter 3:15) then becomes giving your greatest treasure to someone who really matters to you. If they choose to explore, then it is also our privileged responsibility to lovingly help them through whatever wrestling may take place for however long it takes.

BTW: I hope it goes without saying that even if they say "thanks, but no thanks," you stay being their friend.

2. People: That means everyone regardless of prior belief, age, race/ethnicity, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, political affiliation, culture, or even where they fall on the dreaded Yankee/Red Sox divide. Every person bears the image of God and is more than worthy of we loving and serving them, even if they function as an enemy or irritant to us. People are the focus of our helping, especially those God has put in our midst, and in whom he is already at work. Being gracious to all should be the "way we roll." This gets interesting when God wants us to start relating to folks far different from us. We can feel uncomfortable even anxious, but God wants us to learn how to love and serve them in spite of initial awkwardness or substantial unfamiliarity. They may never respond, but not for lack of our being willing.

3. Discover: (def: bringing to light something previously unknown.) If we do the work God has given imagine we will help people become aware of the God we've come to know and follow. While it is his work and his alone to change a heart or regenerate a person, it's our task to do everything we can in helping someone apprehend the possibility of him, to perhaps perceive who he is intuitively, or grasp intellectually the ontological reality of such a God. To do that we must listen well, both to the Holy Spirit and the person. We must be gracious, humble and patient, always looking for creative ways to help people make a connection with Jesus without being ham-fisted or argumentative. We need to prove nothing. He will make his case in their hearts. We merely make the effort to help them see him through our story, and how try to we live. We ultimately desire discovery to be "come and see," but it must never be forced, scripted or manipulated. 

I'm also assuming we should spend substantial time praying for the person(s) God has led us to. We will be entreating the Father to draw this person to the Son (John 6:44) Prayer opens the way. It is a mysterious and powerful interaction with God which brings the life of the Kingdom into our present reality.

4. The God Who Is: At imagine, we understand this God as the singularly Most High God of the Old and New Testaments. In the OT, he is known as Yahweh Elohim, the all-powerful "I Am That I Am, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In the NT, he is known as the Trinitarian Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is seen as the Messiah, King of Kings and Lord of Lords who "in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men." (John 1:1-4) Our God who is, according to John, is "the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son  from the Father, full of grace and truth. It is him we follow, serve and work to help others discover with the guidance of the Holy Spirit in us. It is through this Most High God Who became flesh and dwelt among the first believers, by his Most High God Who became flesh and dwells by His Spirit among us, and for this Most High God in Whom we live and move and have our being such that imagine/Northampton exists at all.

He is our beginning and our end, our sine qua non and highest aspiration.

5. Far More Than: This Creator and Redeemer God cannot be contained in our conception of him. The only reason anyone in this world comes to know him whatsoever is because he reveals it to them. Our minds cannot fully apprehend his glory, majesty, beauty, or power. And yet, because Jesus became one of us, through the Holy Spirit we can come to know him, and thus receiving his love and forgiveness. Nonetheless, he cannot be contained in a book or a painting or a theology or a mystical experience. Nothing we can experience or apprehend through our mind or senses can move past scratching the surface of who he is on this side of heaven. We have nothing to compare him to beyond the glimpses he has gives through his Spirit. At imagine, we want people who follow gods of this world or no god at all to journey toward this God with us, and experience being loved by him who fashioned them and put his image on them.

6. They Imagine: [from Latin imāginārī to fancy, picture mentally, from imāgō likeness] In our mission to help people discover him we want them to freshly imagine and wonder toward, dream about, create, and enflesh the Kingdom of this God who frees, heals and restores people to life. His Kingdom contains the way of true life and liberty because it's animated by unexpected grace and love. It upholds values like humility, goodness, gentleness, kindness and compassion. This Kingdom teaches a way of life counter-intuitive to what most people have come to accept as "the way it is" in our culture.

We also want to "see" what could be because of Jesus and his Kingdom. We want redemptive "what-if''s" to spill from hearts full of courage (enheartenment) to see good things come to be: enlivening and healing things, refreshing and soul-liberating things for so many bent over by the tremendous weight of their lives. We want God to stretch our imaginations so we can "come and see" well-past where we could imagine when we first came to Northampton.

A byline which animates the spirit and heart of a people carries within it the seeds of new life which can multiply way beyond their small beginnings because it has the potential to manifest remarkably what God wants from his summoning them in the first place.

May the same be said of ours...

A Simple Obedience at Steve's "Kiosk."

This morning I was up early descending the 3 flights of stairs from our apartment and heading out onto the street for an early morning walk. As I came out the front door, I looked to my left and saw Steve setting up what he slyly with a wink and smile calls his "kiosk," his normal spot to spend the day waiting for the financial kindness of strangers to fill his can.

He didn't see me, but I thought I'd catch him on the way back. For some curious reason, as I was walking to deposit garbage where we do, I remembered a conversation I'd had yesterday with Sherry, a homeless woman we've known for a year. She was standing in for Steve at his "kiosk" so he could attend to the bathroom or get something to eat. Almost immediately, as I recalled talking to her, I heard God say I should offer to "stand in" so Steve can take a break if he needed to. It seemed like a wonderful way to bless him - one I'd not thought of. He would not expect it.

Well wouldn't you know it, just as I headed up Pleasant Street retuning from my garbage run, there was Steve lighting up a used smoke 15 yards ahead of me. I greeted him and asked how he was doing. He told me he was in search of a can. Voila! That was my cue, so I asked him if he needed anyone to watch his stuff while he searched. His face lit up with a smile and asked "Really?" I said, "Yup!" He was delighted. Off he went and off I went.

I walked up to his spot in front of CVS on Main Street and immediately felt self-conscious, a sort of "What do I think I'm doing here?" I don't look homeless. Will people who are used to seeing Steve there - he's kind of a fixture- wonder what the heck I'm doing? So, I just stood sheepishly next to his stuff. God said, "Step right into where he usually stands." I hesitated liked a nimnul, inched half way in (seriously), and then the rest. Even though there was hardly anyone out and about, I still felt self-conscious. A few people were going into Brueggher's and CVS. They didn't seemed too concerned.  

Really??? I don't stand out like a sore thumb?

The thing is, in this simple way I was breaking new ground personally. So much of what God has been up to  in my life with him since moving up here has been about pushing me past my comfort. When I was living in CT, I never could've imagined me doing even such a simple gesture of kindness as watching a homeless man's gear for a few moments, but there I was. He's not thrown me into the deep end of the missional pool yet, but he might on of these days if I'm faithful in little things like what I did this morning, the hesitating and sheepishness notwithstanding.

Steve returned shortly and thanked me profusely. He's a kindhearted and humble man as I mentioned last month. He's one of the men I've been praying John 6:44 over. I went and got him a coffee, said goodbye, and headed out for my walk.

I was really tickled God had spoken to me and then provided immediately the opportunity to respond. I know it's a very small gesture of grace, but for me it represents progress in the direction I want to keep heading and never look back. I want to get better at obeying when God says to act in the moment, especially when it has something to do with showing forth the love of Jesus to his broken or forgotten ones.

My spirits were buoyant as I left him. I had a prayerwalk the likes of which I've not had in a while. My heart entreated the Father to open the Kingdom to Northampton. I prayed hard for everyone of imagine's people, all my family members, and the three men I'm asking the Father to draw to the Son. I was more focused and fervent than I've been in weeks. I don't know exactly, but obeying seemed to loosen something in me.

Perhaps a simple, unexpected obedience cracked open the door.

Are You Still Fascinated With Jesus and His Kingdom Way?

Over the last few months, through a number of ministry activities where God has challenged me to raise the bar in talking about (and trying to live) what it means to follow Jesus in light of what he actually said was the way, a persisting thought occurred to me:

"The people I've read about in the Scriptures and in books written by or about Jesus-followers who had a substantial, faithful Kingdom influence on their world, were all utterly fascinated by Jesus and his Gospel of the Kingdom."

An uncommon passion and remarkable devotion characterized their following him. They were gripped and they persevered in it even if their lives were consistently hard, or they suffered mightily for their devotion. They were captivated, enthralled and so taken by him and his message that they surrendered their hearts and followed hard after him until death. They were broken men and women for sure, but they lived from a single-minded fire in their bellies.

Conversely, I thought how throngs of us in churches all over America, if we honestly and courageously reflected, would realize we live from accommodated, divided, tepid hearts in matters of authentic discipleship. We're deeply embedded in the American Dream (or our cherished version of it) which defines the good life as one of pursuing our preference for comfort, security and fulfilled aspirations. As Americans, we instinctively place a high value on the freedom to pursue what promises to make us fulfilled and content - what gives us personal meaning. In that sense, we are substantially-devoted followers of the American Promise of individual "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

But over the last few months, I've talked with a number Christian people completely enmeshed in lives becoming increasingly unmanageable. As a result, they've sunk into a spiritual malaise much like sleep-walking. The demands of actually following Jesus as he speaks of it in the Gospels appear impossible given the frazzled lifestyles most of us accept without "counting the cost" of so doing. Truth be told, many of us are enslaved to debt, fracturing busyness, and the strain to maintain our particular status quo, i.e., "It is what it is."

I also realize that the lukewarm followership many live is not what Jesus modeled and summoned them to, perhaps not even what they "signed up for." The problem remains they're so entangled in the spiritually unexamined way of life they accommodate and its overwhelming consequences, they've come to a kind of  spiritual stasis, and have gradually sunk into the religious duty of mostly just showing up at church on Sunday. I know that's not what initially pulled them to Jesus, but it's now what they've settled for and worse, come to expect.

So I've done a little thinking about what is this fascination with Jesus, and subsequently adopting his way. Here's what I've come up with so far:

1. Jesus fascination is a work of God offered to all his people, but we need to persistently desire and long for it.
2. It grows from the accumulated benefits of pursuing intimacy with Jesus through the spiritual disciplines, especially listening prayer, study of the Scriptures (particularly the Gospels), and reflective examination of how a person is actually living.
3. Jesus fascination is best modeled and passed on by individuals in a consistent "life on life" relationship.
4. It is also nurtured in a community of believers who are jointly habitually working on following Jesus, and living his way of life guided by his subversively redemptive values.
5. A person fascinated with Jesus will "be in the world, but not of the world"; his or her fascination gradually will not be surrendered to the prevailing worldly or surrounding cultural fascinations and loyalties.
6. Jesus fascination will result in a man or woman willingly embracing what matters most to him, and obediently conforming all to his values and way of life, whether it be through career, raising a family, recreation, use of money, time or talent, etc.
7. Jesus fascination ultimately will lead to a habit of joy, a transcending humility, a freeing life of love, stubborn peace, and surprising Kingdom transformations.

I realize fascination with Jesus is not a feeling or a project or the domain of the spiritually elite. It's a gift of grace to a heart which longs for authenticity, depth and making a difference through service in the Kingdom. Fascination is not just admiring Jesus from the pew, focusing mostly on sin management as the best we can do, helping the pastor if he asks every once in a while. Nor is it listening your favorite Christian music and reading your favorite Christian authors. It's not even taking that once-in-a lifetime mission's trip or singing in the choir.

It's more a matter of the transformed, rejuvenated heart and will. Paul summed it well in 12:1-2 of his letter to the Church in Rome when he said because of the extraordinary mercies of God, our reasonable (intelligent) response is to present ourselves to God as "living sacrifices" utterly surrendered to his purposes and glory. Paul also warns us, therefore, not to be conformed outwardly to what the world (in rebellion from God) continually tries to entice us to prize, submit to, and live. Because we are literally new creations in Christ we should not submit. Rather, Paul says we are to change our thinking so that what is presented to us by the world, is put it to the test of God's standards, and thus we can apprehend what is valuable and pleasing to him. Therefore, fascination is a 24/7 response of worship, i.e., surrendering all as a fascinated living sacrifice, fully engaged and fully devoted.

If you can't say this about yourself, don't settle for "Oh, well." Complacency stinks. Go talk to someone you admire and ask for help. In fact, ask God to begin clearing the jam-packed decks of your life so you can find a mentor and become trained to follow Jesus with all you've got. When everything's said and done, it doesn't matter nearly as much as you think about how important you are to the business right now, or what your neighbors will say if the lawn isn't mowed every Saturday, or your kids need to be on every sports team known to man because, for sure, they'll be complete failures in life if they aren't. (You know I'm poking a little fun, right?)

The point is Jesus is summoning you to pick up your cross and get on with it. Did I mention He's the Lord of all and he picked you to follow him from a fascinated and courageous heart?

At the same time, some of you, I know, are tired and discouraged. You are living under great stress and pressure. The problems you face seem infinitely more than there are solutions. Maybe sin has got you ground down and your life is hidden or out of control. Perhaps you've been hurt by people in the church and question if any of this is real at all. Maybe church and Christianity just seem boring and pointless. Even so, the reality is, because it's the living God we're referring to, whatever has dulled your heart can be revived by him. So earnestly pray for fascination, and go find someone who is fascinated by and following hard after him. A simple conversation can open God's fascinating future for you. Try it.

My Third Spiritual Paradigm Shift.

 

def:"paradigm shift": a change from one way of thinking to another. It's a revolution, a transformation, a sort of metamorphosis. It just does not happen, but rather it is driven by agents of change.

 Another use of the word paradigm is in the sense of Weltanschauung (German for world view). For example, in social science, the term is used to describe the set of experiences, beliefs and values that affect the way an individual perceives reality and responds to that perception. Social scientists have adopted the Kuhnian phrase "paradigm shift" to denote a change in how a given society goes about organizing and understanding reality.

Recently, I experienced a spiritual epiphany. Based on noticing I was spending more and more time studying what it means to be missional in following Jesus, including how to help others at imagine do the same (the inward/OUTWARD Spiritual Formation Workshop, for instance), I realized I was experiencing a paradigm shift similar to two previous shifts which revolutionized my Christian worldview. Each shift has deepened my understanding of walking in the way of Jesus. They've altered my reality to the degree I could not return to what how I'd lived before.

Paradigm Shift #1: Becoming a Christian.

When Christ opened me to the reality "he is," my life took a turn. A true metamorphosis had occurred. I was a truly born a second time, a "new creation in Christ," full of wonder in the new world the eyes of my heart saw for the first time. While I was still a jazz musician living in Boston with friends I'd come with from Albuquerque, I'd found something which remained very foreign to them (ultimately separating us), and utterly new to me. My life's trajectory was now altered in ways, at the time, I couldn't even imagine. I had no idea what lie ahead, but I knew an encompassing new reality was opened to me, a strange and magnificent new way of being tugging me inexorably into the enticing unknown. Many years later in my second spiritual paradigm shift, I'd recognize whispers of this new way were near very me, but I couldn't make them out.

Paradigm Shift #2: Inner Healing, Learning Listening Prayer, the Spiritual Gifts, and Retreat Ministry.

At about age 35, the Holy Spirit deemed it the appointed time to jostle my world. I was not in on that conference call. Nevertheless, change was foisted upon me. First, it came in the form of entering into a year-long journey of substantial inner healing. I had father issues mucking up my emotional works and putting severe limits on my confidence as a man. I went kicking and screaming, but I went and Jesus painstakingly unbound me. I experienced what it was like to not have emasculating fear and self-hatred.

Soon after my year of unbuckling, my brother-in-law, Steve, called to rave about a book he'd read concerning prayer. I've always known him to be a man of prayer, so when a man of prayer tells you a book has revolutionized his prayer life, not to mention his painting (he's a world-class artist), you pay attention. I bought the book, Dialoguing With God by Mark & Patti Virkler, read it and began to get up in the wee hours to listen to God with my journal in hand. What happened to me was as monumental as my conversion. I heard God's "still, small voice," and he told me things about himself and me that opened to me intimacy with him. Another deepening happened and I've never been the same. In fact to me, listening prayer is part of the "normal Christian life."

About that same time, my brother, Stacy (who is a pastor in Albuquerque with my sister-in-law, KayKay), called me out of the blue saying that God wanted me to be baptized in the Spirit. Such baptism had never been a burning issue with me. Tricia spoke in tongues, but it was always a quiet and intimate, personal prayer language. No big deal to me really. So, he visited. We talked for a day or two. On the day he was to leave, he and Tricia prayed over me. Nothing happened, so I went out to the backyard by myself and told God if this was something he wanted me to have, I wanted it. Voila! All this stuff bubbled up from somewhere, and I was hearing sounds coming from my mouth new, exotic and wonderful. Not only that, just after I was prayed for in church for the gift to teach, and in one way or another I've been doing so for 25+ years. I now experienced an intimacy with, and trust of the Holy Spirit beyond what had been a part of my life. A new reality opened to me, changing my spiritual awareness.

In 1988, Tricia and I, through another God-breathed set of circumstances, were invited to take the Elders from our church (The Barn) on a retreat. We'd never led a retreat. We knew how to listen to God, so we listened and put together a 3-day retreat from what we knew, and God blew their socks off. We were invited to take residence at the Center For Renewal, and gradually lead the church through Listening in Christ Retreats. In that same time, our counseling and spiritual direction ministries were birthed with no initiating from us, and we witnessed God use us to help people heal and experience the intimate love of Jesus for them.

My entire world would focus on such work through the late 80's and up to 2008. It was how I experienced the Presence of God most clearly, and what I saw as the way Christians were to live. Before my own healing and introduction to the contemplative spiritual disciplines, none of what I spent those 20 years doing was on the radar screen.

Paradigm Shift #3: Taking on the missional way of following Jesus and being church.

In the late fall of 2007, I came down with shingles and for almost two months was flat on my back. While the pain was very unpleasant, the fatigue was numbing, except . . .

As is my wont sometimes, I will purchase books which seem to leap to my attention, even if I have no express interest at first. In each spiritual paradigm shift, God has enticed me to books which would turn out to be pivotal with what he was doing in me or would do through me. So on the nightstand I already had Frost and Hirsch's The Shaping of Things to Come, Erwin McManus's An Unstoppable Force, and Greg Cole's Organic Church. I don't know why I had them. Keep in mind, church planting had never been an aspiration of mine. So I opened the books because I needed something to occupy my mind, and I felt unmistakably nudged to do so. The idea of living a missional way of life exploded in my head from there. I was hooked.

Within months, I and others became convinced we were supposed to plant a church in Northampton and take up the missional way of being church. None of us had ever done that before. It was compelling and 3 families voted with their feet to head north.

It has not ended with getting to Northampton. My paradigmatic shift has gone has gone further. Now, I can't imagine returning to my former way of walking with Jesus, or being part of a church ministry. Neither were pointless or unfruitful. I had rich times with dedicated lovers of Jesus. It's just that my eyes have been opened as profoundly as I when knew Christ was real at my conversion, or as I heard him speak to me the first time in listening prayer. My spiritual world morphed and became both unfamiliar and as if I'd been made for this new iteration.

I understand so much more about Jesus and his lion-hearted, revolutionary, subversive, counter-cultural, redemptive mission, what the Kingdom is and how it actually works, what the Church is supposed to be in the world, and how all believers are missionaries by definition whether they embrace it or not. I see church structure and culture differently, how leadership is supposed to work, and how we are to break through walls that stigmatize, neglect, oppress and divide peoples. Justice and love and freedom fill my thoughts in a way they never did. Love is the means by which people open to Jesus and choose to give themselves away in life-giving service.

While I still counsel and do spiritual direction, I view my role as a Spiritual Formation Catalyst in a more pastoral, mentoring, discipling way. I want to equip people who cross over imagine/Northampton's threshold and stick, to be fully engaged and devoted followers of Jesus their Lord and King. I now spend time getting to know and helping folks I'd shy away from a few years ago. I see their humanity, not their societal tag. I never did that before. I want to influence the community for the Kingdom.

Each paradigm shift has been God's work. Each links together providing a spiritual foundation for what he summoned me to next. Without each, I'd not have found any of what he called me to.
In reality, I don't know if the third is my last shift this side of heaven. I know seeing Jesus and his glory will pretty much be the zenith. What a curious and remarkable (for someone like me), journey it has all been. I foresaw none of it.

Perhaps my most fervent hope is that what these shifts were set to accomplish in and through me will do just that and more, so as the books are closed on my life, I fulfilled what I was made to do in spite of myself. 

Wouldn't that be marvelous. Make it so, Lord.

A Little Window Into a Bigger Picture: Northampton Street Life.

As it often happens on the street, the incident unfolded quickly and ended almost as quickly - a wisp of life amidst the homeless and the addicted.

Steve is an alcoholic veteran with a serious back problem and a gentle soul. He mans his position just a few paces up from us on Main Street. There, he often stands all day long and into the night with his walking stick, cardboard sign, and assorted milk cartons waiting for kind strangers to drop a few dollars (more often coins), into his coffee can.  He is neither aggressive nor belligerent. He merely asks and waits. Every few days he will use his "earnings" to get lit up. Other times, he'll get something to eat or use it for some other need.

I've been talking to Steve for a year or so and have a soft spot in my heart for him. He's not a bad man. He'll call himself a "screw-up" hanging low his head when he does. I see the face of Jesus.

So Matt, Karen, Tricia and I were heading home from a lovely evening of catching up over dinner together last Tuesday night. We were standing in front of our building saying good-byes when a commotion caught our attention. I turned to my left and saw Steve chasing (in his back-injury, hobbling sort of way), and yelling at three guys walking toward us. At first, I couldn't tell what the issue was, but Steve was yelling, and it was obvious from his agitation, they had done something to him.

I'd seen these guys before. Two of them are serious alcoholics and often cause trouble when they're lit up. One of them has been here for a while, the other for a few days. The third guy hangs with them, but is a more quiet drunk.

As they got closer to us, Steve confronted them and watrying to recover what one of them was holding. I saw it was the American flag he puts in a milk crate to signify he's a Vet. Steve caught up to them, yelling to beat the band (filling the air with obscenities) and demanding his property. He was able to snatch it back while his outrage smoldered. He wasn't going to let this guy take from him a piece of his identity. As the trio walked past us with Steve trailing behind, the thief was smirking. They rounded the corner and Steve, stopped just to our right and screamed something about they were messing with the wrong guy. He was still livid.

As he turned back and saw us. He recognized our faces softened, and apologized for his language. I asked him what had happened and he told me one of the guys took the flag and wouldn't give it back unless he coughed up five dollars. He wasn't going to have any of it and the brief altercation ensued.

We told him his response was understandable given the attempted  theft and bullying. We affirmed his right to protect his property and defend himself. A few minutes later as Matt and Karen were walking home, we stopped by his "spot" to make sure he was OK. He'd calmed down, verbally rattled his sabre a bit, and seemed genuinely grateful for our concern and affirmation.

I point out the incident because it's a pericope (lit. a piece cut out from) of what people living on the streets in Northampton experience regularly. The streets are mean, and when you mix drugs or alcohol with the human lust for dominance, it can be viciously ugly and sometimes tragic. These guys push each other around. They are always probing for weakness, and looking to steal from one another. The strong exploit the weak with relish.

On the other hand, the incident we witnessed reminded me of the winsome beauty Christ-following community can reflect to a world riddled with meanness and inhumanity. Our response to Steve's personhood calmed him down. We affirmed his value by supporting his right to defend himself and protect the little he has. We gently spoke life into the senseless chaos that erupted around him.

Granted no one died or even was hurt (at least physically), but the pain and outrage in him was palpable. It threatened to remind him once again that he doesn't matter, no one cares and he doesn't really exist.

Jesus had us there at that moment to tell him just the opposite. I'm grateful for that.

My Huzzahs for imagine/Northampton's FEAST, April 24, 2011.

It's been 5 days since the FEAST. We are still enjoying reflecting and talking about what God pulled off on Easter Sunday. So, I need to begin my post with a simple, exuberant "HUZZAH!" For those of you not born as early as the 16th century, you've probably not used this shout of exclamation. "HUZZAH" expresses joy, applause, or appreciation. It's similar to "Yay," or "Hurray." I love the word and feel it appropriate to what happened at FEAST.
HUZZAH Number One:

I must celebrate God who answered our prayer that his guests would feel special; despite their circumstances, they mattered and he delighted in blessing them on this Day of days. Everyone I spoke with, including guys who referred to their address as "in the woods," was blown away by how they were treated and served. The beauty of the room and how the table was set elegantly, the lavish menu, including desserts you'd find at a 4-star restaurant, and the kindness shown them by the team and volunteers sent a clear message. People were overwhelmed saying things such as: "I've never eaten a meal like this," or "I feel I was treated like a king," or "This is amazing!" He honored our desire to create a good memory for people.

HUZZAH Number Two:

God's faithfulness has also been remarkable. In a very quiet, consistent manner he provided all we needed to do FEAST. For such a tiny church as we are, doing the event was a humongous step of faith. We asked for more money than we ever had for a single event. We'd never asked before for the number of volunteers we'd need to augment our team. Also, we really had no idea how many guests would show up for the event. Even though we printed over 200 invitations (to get a handle on numbers), and organizations such as the Northampton Survival Center, the GAP Program, and the Interfaith Shelter faithfully handed out all we gave them, there was no guarantee anyone would come through the doors on Easter.

What if we raised all this money, had all these volunteers, and hardly anyone showed? We didn't want to waste people's generosity. But neither could we predict or control any of the seeming essentials. God kept us in the place of utter dependence right through the event. This would be his deal and his alone.

Well, what a deal it was. We had more than we needed financially, and both the Northampton Center for the Arts, and the Northampton Rental Center gave us a break either with price or time. We also had 31 volunteers from 5 Churches in MA and CT. College Church in Northampton provided some of those volunteers and also let us use their kitchen facilities for 2 days. The BARN in Simsbury, CT, the church we came from, generously gave us kitchen equipment and table cloths we would've needed to rent otherwise.

God provided all we needed and then some.

HUZZAH Number Three:

You'd expect a ton of work needed to be done in order to prepare and pull off and such an event. It was complex, but the imagine team and all the volunteers rose to the occasion with aplomb. All the logistics needed to be planned such as procuring the place, designing invitations and fliers, creating task instruction sheets for the volunteers, getting musicians and rehearsing the music (in Hartford), alerting social service agencies in Northampton, buying and preparing all the food, setting up the event space the day before, instructing and coordinating volunteers, serving the meal, and cleaning up. All our helpers (old and new friends) rose marvelously to the occasion, and worked as a good-natured team. They each added to the atmosphere and tone of the event.

I'm especially proud of our imagine team who with gracious skill tackled what needed to be done, and served our guests with heart and spirit.

Hospitality abounded.

Special kudos to:

• Tricia McDermott for her unflappable ability to create an atmosphere of beauty, see the big picture from beginning to end, take care of critical details in the preparation phases, and orchestrate on the fly a myriad of details to keep FEAST moving forward.
• Ashley Oldham for asking great questions in the planning, connecting and building relationships with local Social Service agencies to get the word out, and instructing and coordinating volunteers on the day of the event.
• Jenn Swick for her can-do attitude and ability to tackle any task asked of her with skill; being able to cover multiple bases during the FEAST event itself.
• Sara Loomis for her work at continously keeping a smooth flow of food moving from the kitchen to the serving tables, and back.
• Vicki Oldham's skill with taking on the major task of preparing the banquet table and coffee station, to ensure everything needed was ready, then breaking it all down efficiently.
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The grandest HUZZAH for me was witnessing the germ of an idea from Luke 14:12-24 gradually unfold under the generous guiding hand of God. Experiencing him do that so our faith was strengthened and deepened in the process has been extremely gratifying. He lead us as a church beyond ourselves, taking us past our own resources and abilities, and giving everything necessary to create a FEAST. We can testify to his unparalleled ability to fulfill what he desires through smallness. He pulled believers together from different churches to work in unity. He gave money and help from people in Northampton, MA, CT and beyond. He brought 75 guests, most of them strangers to us, and knocked their socks off.

In the end, by what he did, he said, "You can do this, because I will do it, and want you to walk with me as I do. See my glory manifested in your littleness."

I AM El Shaddai: "The All-Sufficient God"
I AM El-Channun: "The Gracious God"
I AM El-Hanne'eman: "The Faithful God"
I AM El Elyon: "The Most High God"

HUZZAH Indeed!

Team member Nate Oldham took all these lovely pictures and many more. Check him out: http://oldhamn.wordpress.com/