|
FightClubMinistry
|
read my profile
sign my guestbook
Country: United States
State: Minnesota
Metro: St. Paul
Interests: Changing the World through
Sacrificial Service
Radical Loving
Abandoned Living
Expertise: Whatever you put into it...
Message: message me
Member Since:
11/9/2005
|
|
SubscriptionsSites I Read
|
|
|
|
| I know it has been a while since I have posted.
It seens with the holidays, the movement seems to sputter and crawl. It is not dead, merely reflecting and resting. I have to say God has been doing such wonderful things in my heart, affirming and growing. I have seen my limitations and my weaknesses. I recognize how much I need to listen to the Spirit and rely on God's strength in all this. I would direct you to my personal site where I have reflected on where God is bringing me through all this. It seems that the movement is carrying on with my Aunt Tiff and Uncle Cam as a sort of parallel. Tiff was going to reflect on the last post regarding safety, that she and Cam go with their whole family to serve to the homeless. I think she may get on here soon.
I did go back to the same homeless folks last week. We brought them more socks and a blanket. My friend Nate went and got their laundry a few days later. One thing that one guy down there, Lone Wolf is his name, says he needs is a propane two burner cookstove. Then he could cook. It would be neat to round up one of these for him. I have been reevaluating my strategy, as it seems that some of these homeless want to be homeless. They are okay with their situation, as hard as it is. It doesn't do them any good for me to go in and assume that I should bring them out of their situation so they can be like me. More than anything else, they need to be shown that there are those who regard them as human and valuable.
| | |
| We did a mission tonight. You can read about the personal details here.
The Need -
No one really cares that Homeless guys exist. In fact, to most people
they are all drunks or lazy and should really just get a job. The
homeless know people think this because they are ignored all the time.
Meeting that Need -
We showed them that we wanted to care about them right where they are
at. I knew from a friend where they hang out, so we parked the car and
brought a ton of Christmas cookies, hot chocolate, and dry socks. We
just listened to them. We did not judge on their situation, but merely
got a feel for where they were at. I held one guys sign for a while.
How do you start teams? What is a natural place to start? I say it all
starts with noticing. It all starts with saying, "There is someone over
their who needs something," and then crossing that line to do it.
Always, always, always, urge people to notice. See, observe, listen.
Seeing is the first step. Once you start acting, people will catch on.
Once they start acting without you there, you know they have started a
team. The worlds crash together.
| | |
| I have been thinking carefully about what kinds of roles are to be played in this ministry. One person can't do it all.
In the case of Twin Cities, MN, I have become the communicator.
Spreading the vision, applying it to church ministry, doing the
writing.
Another involved is the planner. He is so organized it puts me to
shame. He lets us know what needs to be done and gets us there. He and
I pool ideas and share the passion. Amongst the two of us, there are so
many connections.
What other roles need to happen and take form to make a Radical and strategic movement take shape around
Sacrificial Service
Radical Loving
Abandoned Living
| | |
| The dialogue is so good, and I sense that we are clarifying what this
new movement that we are all embarking on might look like.
I have begun to feel clearly about a number of things:
1. I am not willing to abandon the original Fight Club model of groups getting together and
radically and strategically meeting needs in the community.
2. We must stand by the three values of a) Sacrifical Service, b) Radical Loving, and
c)Abandoned Living.
3. It is going to look different based on the different contexts in which we live.
4. It is about partnering together and sharing resources and talents
5. There is something that is holding Christians, encluding myself back, and that is that we
are not fully sold out on Christ's message and on the Kingdom. I wrote more about this
on my personal site
6. We must become aggressively sold out on these things, no matter how radical, upside
down, or countercultural they seem. This is who Christ was and this is who we are made
to be!
7. This is not so much about starting a new ministry, a new church, or a
new organization. It is more about creating a movement that happens
beneath and within all those other things. I have a very strong passion
for the church. But I do not think we should tolerate mediocrity within the
"Christian" community. This movement can begin to crack people out of
that, but we need people within that can make that change.
8. Ultimately we must die to ourselves and overcome
the self-serving ideas and attitudes that we tend to stray towards.
What else have we settled on? What is universal here? Do we need to clarify some of these ideas?
I expanded on some of these things in a paper I just wrote for class. Email me and I will send you a copy.
| | |
| Clarifying Question:
In your listening to the Spirit and and reflection on what this wind carries,
What exactly are we fighting anyway?
Should we be fighting?
Let's dialogue on this one a bit here.
| | |
|
|
