The Good News in Cleveland

We did it up big for Thanksgiving. Just about everything was made from scratch ingredients bought at Aldi's. And with (more than) a little help from the grown-ups, the teen guys served the ladies in the basement of West Bethel a grandiose meal with about twelve courses. We made that old, decrepit basement look as fancy as possible, stringing up white Christmas lights, lighting candles, and using table decorations. I wanted something about servanthood to be learned; we can tie that into to Thanksgiving easily by remembering Jesus who became the ultimate Man and the ultimate Servant in the gospel. In a way, the night was an allegory of the church. Some of the guys resented the idea of servanthood enough to stay out of play. Others came into Man Time and avoided work until they could benefit from the servanthood of others. Still others served for a time with mixed motivations. Finally, it was Sam and Tyler that went all the way with bow ties, vests, and a rag on their arm, Tyler spit...

Wednesday brought with it the leadership meeting on prayer and vision. There is an energy about having hardcore Jesus-followers on the same page with God; that is a legitimate starting place. It put things in perspective before the next day which featured another installment of Man Time. Theo and Boogey stormed in Thursday afternoon, Theo in tears. On his way to man time, an adult man had apparently punched him and stolen his bike just outside the church. Jesse and I were dreaming of street justice for just a moment, but level heads prevailed. We called the police, and then we went downstairs and talked about prayer. Too often do we speak highly of prayer yet exercise this privilege too little (even with the need screaming in our faces). I was surprised at how the guys responded because they generally fail to maintain their chaos during serious moments. For the first time ever during Man Time, you could hear a pin drop. Sam and Ja'juan stepped up to lead us in prayer even th...

There were sixty-two people at the west side service yesterday evening. God is forming a new congregation in the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood. This has been a long time coming, culmination in part of dreams that preceded my time in the ministry. And I still remember many late nights on the back porch with Jesse when we dreamed big. Still, we could not have imagined up ourselves the things that God has made happen, and only He knows where this is going long-term. Ephesians 3:20-21 “Now to Him who is able   to do above and beyond all that we ask or think   according to the power   that works in us - to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” Jesse and I separately came to the same conclusions this week, and they are strongly connected. We need to be praying more, as individuals, as leaders, and as a ministry team. And forged in prayer, we need to inscribe a vision for the west side ministry. I look around and see ...

The rabbit hole runs so deep in the lives of this family who disappeared. They came back on the grid this week. After their mom reached out to us, Julia, Cardin, and I have been helping them move into a new apartment. It was so precious how they ran to meet us when we picked them up at school. Things are hard though. The new place has no light bulbs, no furniture, and no food, but it may feature bed bugs. To makes things worse, the dangerous man they had moved to get away from lives only a few streets away, and it sounds like he is already trying to work his way back into the situation. Furthermore, these six kids are now a 2.1 mile walk from their school, the place where all of their friends and "ex-step-siblings" are interrogating them on where they've been and where they're going. Their mom has sworn them to strict secrecy. And for as much time and attention as we have invested in the aforementioned situation, there are a seeming infinity of houses filled with pr...