Plans

There is this great Bible verse, “In his heart a man plans his course, but  the Lord directs his course.” The Lord’s direction has been solid so far. A beautiful wife, three children, one on the way.

Due to a number of factors- job, another boy on the way, inability to sell our house- we are putting out Acts 29 application and the church plant on hold.

Thus, the nature of this blog will change; I’ll be highlighting other guys and activity in Baltimore. And rambling.

-jeff

Herbal tea for comfort?

If you’re like me, abortion is kind of nebulous. The fact that Maryland has one of the highest abortion rates in the country is hard to comprehend. I need to ground these things in reality.

The next time I’m at the movies, I want to drive a few feet more and just look at this place. It’s the first return on Google for “abortion+Maryland.”

If you’re considering how to serve the city, maybe you could consider what kind of care Jesus would want to give. Here’s an excerpt from the site. Listen to their care:

“Private abortion care also includes healing herbal tea in your own Whole Woman’s Health mug, and a personal follow up call several days          later from the nurse.”

Does Jesus offer more than herbal tea and a free coffee mug? What would that look like?

-jeff

Fun in the bathroom

Turn off the cartoons, pick up a paint brush, some lunch, and join me and nine 4th graders. Acts 4 Youth is painting the bathrooms at Guilford Elementary School for their monthly service project.

No experience necessary.

Saturday, February 28, 2009. 9:00 to Lunchtime.

Shoot me an email if you’re coming.

-Jeff

Potent and prepared

The authors of Made to Stick cite how Ronald Regan didn’t campaign with charts and graphs, but with a short challenge. “Ask  yourself if you are better off today than you were four years ago, then vote.” He won.

I wonder if I can’t do that with abortion. When the topic comes up, could I say, “It’s interesting that in some states a minor can’t be given tylenol for a headache at school, but she can get an abortion without parental consent. What do you think about that?”

Or, sometimes a picture crystallizes a thought.

I wonder how I ought to respond to Maryland having some of the most liberal abortion laws in the U.S.

-Jeff

If you were a missionary

In their book, Total Church, Timmis and Chester recommend the following activity: (I’ve adapted it some.)

If you were a missionary in a foreign county:

• What criteria would you use to decide where to live?
• How would you approach employment?
• What standard of living would you expect?
• What would your prayers be like?
• What kind of people would you want around you?
• What opportunities would you look for?
• What would you do with your free time?

Now, compare those answers to how you live currently. If mission is central, should there be a difference?

-Jeff

The Village

I took the family to see Rob Steinbach, an A29 planter in Baltimore, preach at another new church,  The Village. Great sermon; funky old building; kids liked the donut holes. What I really appreciated though, was someone greeted my wife quickly and genuinely.

If you know anyone in the Hampden area, they might want to check it out.

-Jeff

What does God think about 22%?

Baltimore’s poverty rate is 22%; the national average is 9.6%. I wonder what you think of that? It might be helpful to think about what God thinks about it. How should his church respond? Or should it respond? Should only individual followers of Christ do something?

The recent issue of Themelios (an online theological journal put out by the Gospel Coalition) contains an article by Tim Keller answering many of these questions.

A quote: “The argument seems to be that if you grasp substitutionary atonement in both your head and your heart, you will be profoundly generous to the poor. Think it out!”

Wrestling with this, too,

-Jeff

A good story; a good God

Jesus like to teach with stories. They usually punched people right in the- and still do 2000 years later. You may want to check out this short video adaptation of one of his stories, the Prodigal Sons. My wife and I enjoyed it. At one point the uptight, always-right big brother asks the camera, the mirror, God, “Where’s my party?”

After chewing on that, might want to wash it down with a sermon by Tim Keller on the Prodigal Sons.

Always good to attack the pernicious, persistent thought that I’m better. And trust in the prodigal God.

-Jeff

Free college for all?

Interesting opinion piece in the Sun last Wednesday.

“The Abell Foundation, long a champion of innovative education reform, wants Baltimore to… establish a similar scholarship for its public school students. The program would provide free tuition to any state public college or university for every student who graduates from a city public high school, maintains a C average and meets college entrance requirements.”

You might like to read the whole thing.

My wife and I prayed for it the other night. How proud I would be of my city if something like that happened.

I wonder if Jesus thinks that his followers should be the most hopeful for programs like these? Should they be the most hopeful for the city? Are you hopeful for the city. If something like this happened, would you move? Something to think about.

-Jeff

Baltimore for a Dollar

Real quick:

This weekend is Dollar Days;  most museums are $1.

See you there. If you’re interested in meeting up, shoot me an email.

Anxious to see the fishies,

-jeff