Onion & Mustard Sandwich

There was a time in Montreal where if you were talking about poor people, you were referring to a few specific neighborhoods. St. Henri, Little Burgandy, Pointe St. Charles, Verdun. The reality we live with today is that the lines have been blurred. There is poverty in every area of our city. Even The West Island.

One of our volunteers came in a while ago and shared with us that at a kid at one of the local elementary schools had brought an onion and mustard sandwich to school for lunch. He did not bring this for lunch because of preference, but rather because that is all his mother had to give him.

Close your eyes for a minute and picture biting into a sandwich of onion slices and mustard. I wonder what the mother felt like that day as she made her child his lunch. She is struggling to take care of her loved one and all she can offer is an onion and mustard sandwich. This is why we must be about the business of helping the poor. To nourish kids who need food and help poor parents maintain some dignity as they strive to love their families.

It is the heart of God.

Peace,

K

It is hard to believe

I have mentioned that we are feeding kids at a local elementary school. 25 kids a day. Last week in a conversation with the principal, Don found out that for approximately 12 of these kids, the lunch we provide is the only meal they get on any given day. That is messed up.

I had another conversation last week with a guy about church and missions. We were talking about how immoral we can be, when we pat ourselves on the back for sending cash to foreign missions, while the guy next door, or down the street is starving. Somehow, foreign hungry people seem to be more appealing, I guess.

Maybe its because a hungry kid in my neighborhood look just like my kid,.... only hungry. Maybe they need to network more. I have found that all it takes to really see what is going on around us, is to get out in the community and start rubbing elbows with people. Real people. I have also found that in many cases meeting the need is very simple.... Can you make a sandwich?

Peace,

K

Sunday School lessons?......

So, the other day we were sitting around and someone discovered this book that Syl's parents used to read to her. The book is called, Stories for the Children's Hour, by Kenneth Taylor. WOW! It is amazing and shocking at the same time how we have been socialized into the kind of Christianity we have come to know,.... and run from.

Here is the final paragraph to one of the stories called, When Mitzi Didn't Obey Her Mother, "Boys and girls, when we disobey our mothers and fathers it does not mean that we will always get sick. But it does always mean that the Lord Jesus is sorry, and that He will have to take away from us some good thing when we get to Heaven, something that we might have had if we had been obedient. Always remember that Jesus wants obedient children."

The author omitted his Bible reference for this moral, but I am sure he had one,..... where is that verse about conditional forgiveness?

I think heaven is going to be pretty barren for me.

Peace,

K

Church Culture

Many in the "emergent" or "postmodern" church genre have a problem. It is this, that they are constantly looking back for approval and affirmation from those they left. You can read it in the many blogs and message boards that populate the canvas of postmodernity. I have grown tired of people posting links about what the modernist church is up to and being angry or unsettled because they do what they do. The other dead horse that gets flogged is the "anti-emergent" blogs, etc. Who cares. The reason we left that genre is that they didn't connect with us. Why would you expect them to change? Who even says they should? They are still reaching people I am not reaching. How does it change what I do?

I think people who genuinely seek to do church differently should just focus on what God has called them to do. Live optimistically, in the call that God has given you. Stop looking, to see who's watching or what they think.

The disciples once approached Jesus about some people who were preaching about Him, but doing it differently than the disciples were doing it,.... Jesus told them to let it go. He said that even if they were doing it with false motives, at least His name was being preached. An interesting response don't you agree?

If we are to make an impact in the world it will be through loving others and God with all that we are, not by pointing out the flaws of others.

The only approval you need in the end, is that of the Father. Worry about what He thinks.

peace,

K

Reaching the World

"We need to reach the world". Yes this is true. But, so often this statement comes from people or groups that are doing nothing but talking about the need. I think many of us enjoy the discussion more than the "reaching". If we keep talking is such broad terms, we will sound passionate and,... almost like we are doing something.

I think we need to dial down the rhetoric and really take a look at how "we" reach the world with the love of Christ. Let's not talk about "the world", or even "the community". What about your life? Who are you loving in your little circle of people you touch every day? Who are you sharing your life with? Who are you praying for, doing coffee with, playing with, eating with, etc.?

You see, that is the real question. That is the problem or issue we need to be talking about. It is so much easier to talk about "world" problems than to get dirty in the muck of relationship. If we all did a little bit, the world would be reached.... You tell two friends, and they'll tell two friends, and...... Vidal understood.

Peace,

K