Tonight I'll be in Downtown Denver, hanging out with some new kingdom friends: the people who run Dry Bones: rescuing homeless teens one person at a time. Go here for their blog and here for their website. For a story out of this work that will keep you up tonight, go here.
They rely on Christians from all over the country to support their work, consider it. Here's a recent blog entry.
"God with us"
I was asked the other day to write a few stories from the streets of times when I knew that "God was with us". My response was that "God is with us" always. When I think about "God with us", I keep thinking about telling the story of the time I had a sandwich with a street kid, or the time I rode the Free Mall Ride, or when I hung out at Civic Center Park (all of which happen almost every day). In other words, I see God every day on the streets - He's always "with us". In fact, Dry Bones' goal is to join God on the streets wherever we find Him at work - which turns out, is ALL over the place. It's a good place to be. God blesses everyone as He shows up - street kids and myself alike.So here's three stories or instances that I can put my finger on and say, "God is with us".
1. Last week, the Bedford Home Church was feeding our weekly Thursday night meal. A street kid that I've known for 5 years came walking up. He was visibly upset. He started talking to one of the other street kids. Their voices started getting louder and louder. The next thing I knew, he ran off into the park. About 20 minutes later, he came walking back up to the meal. He grabbed some food and began to eat. I walked over to him and said, "Are you ok?" Tears began to well up in his eyes and he said, "Sorry I ran off. I had to get away for a minute. I ran to the top of the hill in the park. I sat up on top and decided to pray. I asked God, 'Where are you?!!!' I'm so sick of the streets. I'm so sick of this street life - the drugs, the lying, the stealing, all of it! Matt, I just wish that God was here with me." We talked for a good while longer. He talked about how he's tired of making excuses for the bad choices that he keeps making over and over again. "I'm ready to own up to my mistakes," he said. "More than anything. I miss God. I feel like He used to be a part of my life, and now He's left me! I used to pray all the time. Tonight's the first time I've prayed in over a year. Why doesn't God show up? Where is He? I asked God to let me feel Him again - I want to know that He's with me?! Why doesn't He show up right now!?" I reached over and put my arm on his shoulder and pulled him close. My friend slowly looked up at me and his tear-filled eyes and mine connected. "I think He is here right now," I said. He smiled. We talked for a good while longer and then he left. Of course, I'm not God, but I can join God. God continues to connect us to people that need Him. God is pursuing hearts all across this city, mine included . . . In that pursuit, He often uses His people to express, "God with us". We're now connecting this kid with a professional Christian counselor - on his request. We'll keep walking with him as far as the road goes.
2. This week, Nikki and I sat at Starbucks with a street kid named, "Joe". We hadn't seen him in about 2 months. When we saw him on the streets, he ran toward us and jumped on me - almost knocking me over. He gave me the biggest hug ever and was genuinely excited to be reunited with us. We were standing there in the middle of a huge group of street kids - all buying, selling, and smoking pot. Suddenly, Joe didn't care about any of that stuff any more. He pulled Nikki and me to the side and said, "Can we go get some coffee and talk?" And so we did. We talked for over an hour. He poured his heart out over a cup of coffee. We talked about his week, the past two months, and his life - how his father had sexually abused him when he was a little kid. When it was time for us to leave, he walked us over to the the Free Mall Ride and we told him that we loved him. After that, we simply said, "See ya later." That was it - "God with us". We showed up at the park at a time when Joe was really hurting and looking for comfort. Instead of drugs, in that moment, God's presence in the park connected us with him.
3. Yesterday, Nikki and Rebekah talked to a young girl, "Samantha", who had recently found out that she was pregnant. She told Nikki and Rebekah that she wouldn't abort the baby because she didn't believe that abortion was right. She did, however, tell them that she had been drinking and drugging extra hard that week. She had even gotten in a couple of fights. "Perhaps, with any luck, I'll mis-carry," she said with tears rolling down her cheeks. Nikki and Rebekah didn't yell at her. They didn't start hitting her over the head with a Bible. They simply listened, loved, and then said the words that God would want her to hear. "You will be ok. Your baby is precious. Give this baby a chance. We will help you put your baby into the care of an awesome adoptive family if that's what's best. God cares for you and He cares for this baby. This will be ok." Samantha calmed down and listened. She realized in her own heart that self-abortion was just as wrong as going to an abortion clinic. Nikki and Rebekah will see her again tonight and again tomorrow and again next week . . . "God be with us" - We beg you!Eight kids that had left the streets have showed BACK up downtown just this week. We'll keep showing up to join God on the streets as we believe that He is definitely "with us".
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2 comments:
i am proud of you and the heart you have for the homeless....it is a blessing to be your wife :)
Where is God?
I followed God humbly, submitting to his will, seeking his face. Church, baptism, prayer, worship, study, self discipline - and so on.
And I prayed and thought God opened a new path for me.
I followed him down the blessed path... But the path lead to bitter disappointment.
No matter; No problem; No stress - I had God.
"He has a divine plan and purpose for my life. He WILL show up. He MUST show up. He HAS to."
..but months passed.. and nothing.
Ever had a growing feeling that you'd been forgotten? Or left behind? Or betrayed?
When I was about 7 or 8, my Mother forgot to pick me up from school. She had collected my brother, but had completely forgotten about me.
I couldn't believe it.
How could she remember one son, but not the other?
Eventually she did turn up... ..before it got dark.
But God didn't.
It was like I was standing at the school gate again, waiting for a sign that I hadn't been forgotten about (headlights, the sound of an engine - ANYTHING!) - but this time darkness had fallen.
Was it presumptuous to think that God would turn up in my life?
No - He is a God of His word. He needs only speak something, and it becomes truth in-and-of-itself.
To an extent, this was true of my Mother - she was always truthful to me.
The difference between God and my Mother is that I knew my Mother. I had very clear evidence that she existed. I saw her every day of my life - and every day she would show me that she loved and cared for me - and the fruits of that love were clearly visible in my life - from the food I ate, to the clothes I wore, to the discipline she would dispense.
A Christian will tell you that this is true of God too - that his love manifests itself physically in the world around us, and the provision we receive. But my mother felt no need to hide her face from me, she would willingly speak with me, and (apart from that one time when I was 8 years old) she never left me out in the cold.
I've stopped thinking "Where is God?", "Is he turning up?".
Had I done something wrong?
If God was a relational-father-type-god, surely He would tell me I had done something wrong (in much the same way as my earthly Father and Mother would)
Had I followed his rules wrong?
Was I being punished?
Was this a test?
Is "God's Schedule" going to see me waking up in ten years time with God sitting at the end of my bed saying "Surprise! That little test prepared you for...."
And how can I hold on to the promise of God for that long - how can I have faith in something (or Someone) whose word says "Come near to God and he will come near to you."
After all, it doesn't say "Come near to God and he will come near to you... EVENTUALLY"
What can I pin my faith on, if not on my own humble experience of God?
"GOD! WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE YOUR SILENCE?"
Now he's been gone for too long, and the evidence he was around in the first place is so scant that it's hardly worth hanging on to.
A Christian friend, when discussing witnessing and testimony, said to me "Witness like you were a witness to a crime. Give testimony as if you were infront of a judge. What do you do when you are a witness? You simply recount what you saw, and what you heard."
My testimony is this - I thought God was there, but it seems I was chasing shadows.
I thought there was a relational god, a father, who wanted to be a part of my life - and I'm certain I did the things he requested of me in order to attain that relationship...
But in the end, there was no presence - not even a feeling.
...There was no voice - not even a whisper.
And the "proof" that had been there quickly eroded when the thing it was based upon ("There is a God") eroded too.
This is my testimony, and it has left me with nothing but disappointment. In God and in myself.
I think the worst part is facing other unbelievers who I had told I believed.
I still hope He'll turn up - at least then I won't have to face having been "deluded" and "thinking I had an imaginary friend".
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