Toxicity
I see the hurt in real life. Some of these kids have legitimately abusive home lives. Others are not definitely getting enough to eat or the right things to eat. Again, extremely few of them have a relationship with their fathers. We know twin girls who are responsible for an infant and toddler who were left with them by members of their extended family. And these teens all come to church without or, in some cases, in spite of their parents. This seems almost too ridiculous to be true for life minutes from eutopic suburbia, but this is real life.
My heart is especially broken after seeing Alfonzo on West 65th Monday morning. Word on the street is that his step dad is beating his mom and the nine kids of the house... But there is nowhere for them to go. I believe that God and His ways are substantial, not therapeutic.
Pray for Ja'juan, Ashley, and Mike, new believers in toxic environments. This is why we do Man Time every Thursday in the basement of West Bethel. The Biblical literacy is low across the board. Christian camaraderie is non-existent in the secular setting. It is not an especially easy thing to follow Jesus in these contexts. Jesus never said it would be. Though simple, never easy. Though it is the best decision you could ever make, it may the hardest road you could ever take. Pray for the many others standing around and looking on from the periphery. God is on the move. This week I sternly challenged Christian and Tyler to count the cost of following Jesus.
God, may you provide true comfort for the hurting and true direction for the seeking. Wake the rest who are too bound up in the comfort of earth to experience the comfort of heaven.
My heart is especially broken after seeing Alfonzo on West 65th Monday morning. Word on the street is that his step dad is beating his mom and the nine kids of the house... But there is nowhere for them to go. I believe that God and His ways are substantial, not therapeutic.
Pray for Ja'juan, Ashley, and Mike, new believers in toxic environments. This is why we do Man Time every Thursday in the basement of West Bethel. The Biblical literacy is low across the board. Christian camaraderie is non-existent in the secular setting. It is not an especially easy thing to follow Jesus in these contexts. Jesus never said it would be. Though simple, never easy. Though it is the best decision you could ever make, it may the hardest road you could ever take. Pray for the many others standing around and looking on from the periphery. God is on the move. This week I sternly challenged Christian and Tyler to count the cost of following Jesus.
God, may you provide true comfort for the hurting and true direction for the seeking. Wake the rest who are too bound up in the comfort of earth to experience the comfort of heaven.
2 Corinthians 1:3-5
"Praise the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all
comfort. He
comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who
are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from
God. For
as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so through Christ our comfort also overflows."
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