Another comment I overheard that night, ”I just knew they’d come!” came from a smiling middle-aged man to his friend as we stopped at his street, making our announcement about the free blankets and hot drinks. More highlights: The woman who we gave a baby’s blanket to because a kind young mom from my work had donated it; the man who special-requested a sleeping bag that we were able to provide for after one was generously donated by Matt’s coworker; the enthusiastic responses from three ladies I work with who want to come along next time we go. One lady down the hall mentioned checking if the local Starbuck’s stores would consider each donating one of the large catering containers for us to give out on a cold night. It gets me fired up to see other people coming on board to a beneficial cause. Beneficial not only to the recipients of the gifts, but sometimes much more to the giver. Interesting how that works.

A lot of amazing things happen when you put together something like this and invite people to participate. I’m not one to force my beliefs on others, and I know that can certainly turn into a prideful excuse for not speaking up about an issue when I know I should, but when I exercise the God-given ability and motivation to do something out of the ordinary, I suddenly find that people have genuine questions, to which I have the opportunity and obligation to respond. One of the simplest responses I’ve been able to use in this case is just to explain that the homeless guy on the street, even the drug addict or the prostitute, is a picture of who I am in front of a holy God, who would still be perfectly justified if he had never reached out to help me.

And my response to those who have questions can all go back to the joy and hope that is within me, that no one can take away. One of the exciting points about 1 Peter 3:15, when talking about honoring Jesus Christ by “always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you,” is the assumption that people are actually going to ask questions. The most likely way you’re going to have people ask questions is if you’re different, and that had better be in a good way, not some obnoxious, personal preference issue, but I’d rather not go into those specifics here. A quick side note about the Apostle Peter’s charge in 3:15 is to notice that he cautions the believer to “do it with gentleness and respect,” which far too many Christians completely miss. I think it was Tim Chaddick of Reality LA in Hollywood that was suggesting how one of the biggest ways people come to Christianity is by what they saw and wanted in the life of a Christian they knew; ironically that happens to also be the biggest reason people reject Christianity, after observing hypocrisy in the life of someone claiming to be a Christian. And yet of course there is no formula for convincing people to become a Christian, because the Bible repeatedly nails down the truth that God does the work in someone’s heart, even though the believer may have the honor of verbally explaining it as they live out Christianity with their actions. I could say or do all I want, or give the strongest possible intellectual defense for Christianity, and that is beneficial in the right context, but it’s certainly not enough to change someone’s heart. Christians are to go do the Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-20, but success for the believer, thankfully, does not depend on the audience’s response to the message.  A Christian does what the Bible calls them to do, faithfully living it out as a way of life, then the end result, whatever it may be, is left up to God, who has his reasons in all that he does and allows. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.” (Isaiah 55:8).

Here are a few things to check out and get involved with. Instead of a separate write-up for the following book, album, movie, blog, and events, I decided to just toss everything into a quick list. Enjoy!

Book to Read

“Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters” by Timothy Keller. I’ve been challenged by Keller in his writings lately (including “The Reason For God” dealing with skepticism, and I’m looking forward to picking up “The Prodigal God”), but I’m just surprised by how clearly someone can explain the simple truth behind things we’re seeing in our American culture. Pick up the book and give it a chance to change you. If I could suggest reading one new book this year, this would be the one. Last year it was “Crazy Love” from Francis Chan, and I ended up buying a bunch of them as gifts for different friends (Chan actually gave me his classic “No way!” laugh with the eye brows up when I had a chance to thank him and mention the one given to solo artist Andrea Hamilton was passed on to a radio DJ in Japan!). Anyway here’s the one from Tim Keller:  Counterfeit Gods, on Amazon.

Music Album to Hear

“Hello Hurricane,” the new one from Switchfoot, has a fresh sound that is big enough to blow your roof off… or at least unashamedly test the full capacity of your car stereo. The quality of musicianship is apparent, the creativity is intriguing, and the lyrics are solid. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen these guys in concert (actually was on a plane flight with them to Cornerstone Festival), but they’ve come a long way since my high school days (opening for The Supertones on the Loud and Clear Tour with Relient K), and I believe they’ve really matured in ways that challenge their listeners to do the same. One of the recurring themes you may pick up in the album is what I’d call a confession that life’s most serious dilemma is that the problem is inside me, rather than around me. It’s a convicting commentary on man’s state before God using the biblical idea of man’s depravity (Mark 7:21-23, John 3:19, 1 Corinthians 2:14, Titus 3:3, etc) with lyrics like: “I am my own affliction / I am my own disease / There ain´t no drug that they could sell… The sickness is myself” on Mess of Me. Directly relating to the Christian faith, it’s not until you realize how serious the bad news is that you come to seriously appreciate the good news of salvation. And Switchfoot’s album, rightly so, has such a beautiful hope contained within the lyrics: “Come set me free / Down on my knees / I still believe you can / Save me from me” (Free). This is coming from a band that has gathered a considerable following, with their new album currently debuting at #13 on the Billboard Top 200.  Hello Hurricane, from Amazon.

Film to See

No Greater Love. Filmed here in Santa Clarita and being released directly to DVD on January 19th, 2010 from Coram Deo Studios, Lionsgate Studios, Thomas Nelson Publishing, and Carmel Entertainment. I have a friend working with these guys, and the film has received good reviews. Also, I recognized the pastor in the movie, Chris Johnson of Grace Chapel in Lancaster, after hearing him speak at The Master’s College. I’m always skeptical of films that are made by and marketed to Christians for a couple big reasons, but I think as with the music industry, a higher standard of talent is finally starting to come out. Check out the movie trailer online:  www.nogreaterlovethemovie.com

Blog to Bookmark

I met Robby in college. He left the States and moved to India. http://afacelikeflint.blogspot.com

Music Tour to Experience

My buddy Chris is a great guy, an excellent drummer that has inspired me over the years, and been kind enough to show me a few things on the drum kit when we hung out. He was invited to play for the San Diego band Future of Forestry on their Advent Christmas Tour, and I’d say if you can make it to a show near you, you won’t regret it. The guys from FOF are creative and experienced musicians, plus they’ve actually done justice to some old Christmas songs that will sound amazing live. Also as an added bonus, Josiah James will be opening for them on the tour; a nice guy I had the privilege of meeting here in Santa Clarita for a small show at Antioch. I’m planning to catch the tour at Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley on December 5th, otherwise the Bakersfield show on the 4th is not far away. More info here with shows in Oregon, Washington, Arizona, and Nevada: www.myspace.com/futureofforestry

Video Clip to Watch

John Piper on twitter mentioned this clip of the Vietnamese police raiding a house church. And if you have a minute to browse around the Persecution.com website, you’ll find a very different picture of the global church than what we see in comfortable America. But I think that in locations where resistance to true Christianity is normal, we generally find more faithful followers who “count the cost” (Luke 14:25-35). Or as Charles Spurgeon pointed out, “That religion which costs a man nothing is usually worth nothing.” Here’s the video from Persecution.com.

Photograph to Remember

This is a sad one from Three Angels Relief, along with an excerpt from an Amnesty International press release.  http://www.threeangelsrelief.org/child-slavery-in-haiti/

Quote to Dwell On

“Prostitutes are in no danger of finding their present life so satisfactory that they cannot turn to God: the proud, the avaricious, the self-righteous, are in that danger.” – CS Lewis, The Problem of Pain, pg. 200.

Cause to Donate To

Last winter some friends and I took up a collection of blankets, and delivered them to the homeless on Skid Row (downtown Los Angeles). We’re doing it again on December 6th, so if you live nearby and want to contribute, we’ll accept your used or new blankets. I’ll probably pick up a couple cases of water bottles to hand out as well, and maybe even hot chocolate to serve as we did before. Clothes are a little complicated for us to hand out, unless its a warm hat or scarf. One of my coworkers mentioned that she wanted to join us in handing these out, and she actually has an organization called Solemate Collective, which accepts your donated single socks from the sock drawer, pairs them with a mate, and gives them out to someone in need. So if you want to help with the blankets talk to me in person, or contact me through the blog.

Event to Help With

The Children’s Hunger Fund is having a “Holiday Pak Day” on December 5th, where we’re packing and wrapping presents for children in need. If you live near Chatsworth CA, Homewood IL, or San Antonio TX, then they’d love to have you join (sign up required). Link to CHF.

Hope you were able to get SOMETHING out of that list. That’s all for now…

Do you see, do you see
All the people sinking down
Don’t you care, don’t you care
Are you gonna let them drown
How can you be so numb
Not to care if they come
You close your eyes
And pretend the job’s done

“Oh bless me Lord, bless me Lord”
You know it’s all I ever hear
No one aches, no one hurts
No one even sheds one tear

But He cries, He weeps, He bleeds
And He cares for your needs
And you just lay back
And keep soaking it in
Oh, can’t you see it’s such a sin?

Cause He brings people to you door
And you turn them away
As you smile and say
“God bless you, be at peace”
And all heaven just weeps
Cause Jesus came to your door
You’ve left him out on the streets

Open up open up
And give yourself away
You see the need, you hear the cries
So how can you delay

God’s calling and you’re the one
But like Jonah you run
He’s told you to speak
But you keep holding it in
Oh can’t you see it’s such a sin?

The world is sleeping in the dark
That the church just can’t fight
Cause it’s asleep in the light
How can you be so dead
When you’ve been so well fed
Jesus rose from the grave
And you, you can’t even get out of bed

Oh, Jesus rose from the dead
Come on, get out of your bed

How can you be so numb
Not to care if they come
You close your eyes
And pretend the job’s done

Don’t close your eyes
Don’t pretend the job’s done
Come away, come away, come away with Me my love
Come away, from this mess, come away with Me, my love

One of the other homeless guys last night was one of those people that honestly looks you in the eye (maybe that came along with his past experience serving in the military), and I took something he said as his way of saying thanks to us… His words were, “You guys have better stuff to do,” in reference to us stopping to serve people in need.

I guess my question is… do I?

I mean, to put it in simple terms, should my entire life be scheduled around the things that I get some sort of reward from, be it personal enjoyment, money, whatever? Hey, right now I could even turn this little incident into a boost for my oh-so-delicate personal reputation, because isn’t it wonderful how I helped someone? (actually, I do it very rarely). So yes, anything can be done for the wrong reasons. But would it not be equally sad to sit around (or fill up all my own free time!), ignoring a world in need? I guess the next logical step in peeling back the layers of this conversation is to ask what kind of motivation actually has the power to convince me to live for something other than myself. Certainly not exclusively the enjoyment I personally receive from serving others, because am I not back to square one–the motivation being for my own reward? …more to come, comments are welcomed.

I can point out plenty of different reasons how someone ended up living on the streets, and I can easily think of reasons why I wouldn’t take the time to go down there and help out in some small way, but it’s often a bunch of excuses I have when I really think about it. Because if I’m sitting here on my couch judging how that homeless lady or man ended up stuck on the streets after the choices they made in their past (which is a stereotype in itself and often not so simple as you expect), and I refuse to go in and help, doesn’t that say I’m just better than them? I’m too important to do something that low? As a Christian… so much for Jesus’ words, “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink…”

Something that I found really amusing and so true because of the irony was what Francis Chan said one week at Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley. He was talking about the responses we have when we hear about needs of the poor, and saying that some people are waiting for this call from God that they should go care for the needy. And you have to ask those people (including myself), did God call you to watch TV today? Then… what were you doing? In other words, it’s silly that we think some Christians have this special light from Heaven come down and pick them to go serve. To actually do what Jesus said. And the other Christians don’t have to because they didn’t get this calling from God. What are we thinking? And I’ll let this be a challenge to myself for the countless times I ignore the poor, saying I don’t have time (more accurately: I don’t make time. It’s all in my priorities). Yeah, putting it in writing brings out the truth of how weak that argument is. I don’t know about you but that’s convicting. Now I didn’t say “Go move to another country,” or “Sell your house tomorrow,” although that might be what some should seriously do. And neither would I tell you to go do this specific activity in this specific location; just look around you. Secondly, I’m addressing those who wear the name “Christian,” because I wouldn’t expect others to care for the poor when they don’t have a real reason to do it. Actually quite the opposite with Darwin’s concept of natural selection, from Herbert Spencer’s “survival of the fittest,” and the whole idea of  human life coming about by chance, therefore why waste time and effort trying to prevent the natural dying out of those who are weak? A very sad and prideful way of thinking. Instead, I’m talking about the basic Christian response to what Jesus constantly talked about and lived out in regards to the hurting and needy people around him.

(based on: Matthew 25:31-46)

   More recently, I’ve been surprised at how busy I can still be after the test studying, assignment due-dates, and late nights of college life have past… shouldn’t I have free time now? So the part that hit me lately was simple of course, and I’ve heard it before, but you know how some lessons don’t stick in your mind the first few times? Yeah. Well it’s a little sad, but at the same time helpful to understand where the problem is coming from. The problem here being my frustration with not having enough time.

   Here it is: It’s not really my time. It’s not really my day, as if I somehow own that? I don’t think you’ll necessarily understand this unless you’re a Christian, because when you’re a Christian, you’re not really living for yourself (And yes, I do know plenty of people wearing the name Christian who are by all appearances living for their own self). So in that context, for me to be frustrated–that I didn’t get MY to do list accomplished for MY own personal goals of keeping MY schedule–is just a little set of planets orbiting around my head. But if you’re reading this and not a Christian, then it must seem a little strange, because it’s just easier to plan the day and the year and the rest of your life around what you feel like doing. Or better yet no need to plan because no other people are really involved, unless they conveniently fit into your plan.

   Weird side note–some close friends and I were talking tonight about giving, and one guy was saying that it’s really the Christian’s duty to go out and look for opportunities to help people, rather than sit back and decide what to do when an opportunity gets put right in front of us. Anyway my realization was that I give or help people only when it’s really convenient, and not even then sometimes. Sad. It’s called sacrifice, basically what I’m willing to give up–is that really loving of me to just help people when all the planets have aligned and a voice from Heaven comes down? I think it’s kind of pathetic. Maybe it’s part of why Christians have such a bad reputation with everyone. It’s like we’re just this annoying bunch of close-minded protestors that usually dress a certain way and have these weird anti-science views because we’re idiots. (That was me shareing how outsiders often really do view Christians). So the part about me realizing I only do something when it’s convenient–why don’t I specifically look around for a homeless guy that wants to eat each time I go to the gas station? Or watch for people by the side of the road that need a ride? Yeah there’s safety concerns, but honestly I think we use that as a blanket excuse.

   Back to the idea of time… here’s the implication. If time isn’t mine, and I didn’t get everything done that I wanted to… why is that such a problem? Yes of course I’m responsible commitments I’ve made and making every effort to do my best (1 Corinthians 10:31), but the tangible result I see right in front of me shouldn’t be how I measure success. It’s about coming to the end of the day and being content with the time I was given, then looking forward to the next day for a fresh new start.

(related: psalm 24:1)