The Good News in Cleveland

You can't be Martha to Jesus and expect to raise up Mary's before Him. I went to different Cleveland basketball courts and did evangelism every single day last week. Looking back, I was telling people about how great Jesus is without spending time with Him myself. The best kind of evangelism is when I get to tell the truth about Jesus; He's alive and well and His resurrection Spirit lives in me. This is what the Arab kid who plays frisbee with me every week has got to see. It's what young men unable to get past self worship are missing. They need to see me/us/leaders seeing Jesus and different because of it, not the self-centered pursuit of ministry excellence. This week I'm with some of our Cleveland kids at Camp Patmos and leading worship there. Thinking about all that could be in the future - possibly working working on my doctorate this fall, taking back the West Bethel building for ministry, my hopes and dreams for God's work in the lives of many Clevel

Two steps forward, one step back. One of my boys threatened another with a knife. "I'm going to cut your head off so that it's rolling in the street." One drops off the radar, another cusses me out, and one from months ago walks back into church. It seems like I pour all of my time into individuals with little avail. However, it's God's time that I am pouring and His timing in these young lives. God was not born in the microwave generation, and I am neither effective nor qualified to measure the impact He is making in hearts and lives. Looking back over the last few years in Cleveland, going "Jesus-centered" was the formational step (and work in progress). He is at the center of all of my teaching, all of my discipling, all of my hopes and dreams, why I step back out on the streets. For this reason (Jesus), even when the guys I love like Jamar, Christian, JP, and Ronald take one step back, Jesus hasn't moved a bit from the center; He's go