from death to life, from old to new

Colossians 2:9-15

"For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross."

Michelle, a friend whom I've written about several times before on this blog, was baptized today at Harvest Vineyard. What a great celebration of this Scripture above!

Spring Break: Rushville, MO

Kris Hoskinson, Orchard Hill's high school director, wrote this post about their Spring Break trip to God's Mountain, Rushville, Missouri:

About God's Mtn Camp (from the website):
In 1994, Johnny Williams (a Midland Ministries staff member) heard of an old boys camp located in the bluffs south of St. Joseph. This camp had been abandoned and was in a terrible state of disrepair. Yet, after much prayer Johnny and his wife Pam, started the process of fixing it up again. After much hard work and volunteer help , they were able to hold a week of guys camp in 1995. Since then , God has provided the means to do amazing things at God’s Mountain. Although there is still much to do , God definitely has his hands in the work and ministry of God’s Mountain.
This was the first time we have taken a high school group there but this trip has been happening for 10+ years within college ministry.
We took twenty-seven 9-12th grade students, eight leaders, two cooks, and five babies/kids. This trip is great because it is very family friendly!
http://www.godsmountain.net/

We had an amazing week. We spent the week working at the camp to help with repairs, building, and other various projects as the God's Mountain Staff has been preparing to have the camp ready for when summer campers will arrive. We worked hard throughout the week and really saw a great deal of work accomplished. We spent the week focusing on different ways we can "experience God" with short teachings about surrender, studying God's word, experiencing Him through various pathways, our need for relationships, being thankful, sharing Christ with others, and more. We had an hour of quiet time each day to go off on our own and be with God and the weather was beautiful so it really allowed for us to be outside and enjoy God's creation.
One student I spoke with shared with me that although he doesn't always get excited to do work projects, he really wanted to work hard at the camp to make it ready for summer campers, as he realized the influence that our work could have on the lives of students that will be there this summer.
I love the idea that a mission trip is not just about the work that is done for a week at a certain place. It is also about the work done in the hearts and lives of people that continues after the week is over!

giving blood saves lives

I'm trying to keep record of ways our church is acting outwardly and impacting the community we live in. Ed Baker, on the left in the photo above, is one of our pastors, and he has been good about organizing blood drives at our church from time to time. Today was such a day. Right outside of my office door several people were waiting to climb up on a bed and donate blood. I've heard that giving blood helps to actually save 3 people's lives. That's a very wonderful thing. I've learned that 43 donors gave blood today in order to bless 129 lives. Way to go, Ed and donors!

Love In the Name of Christ

We have several churches in our Cedar Valley that have gathered together and will soon become an affiliate of Love INC. (check out www.loveinc.org) In this way, the Church can begin to partner together to more effectively serve the needs of our community. Love INC coordinates and collaborates with existing agencies to help walk with a person to take steps forward in their life and faith. God is using Love INCs around our country in some pretty awesome ways to point people to Him and to help people walk out of hard places and into a beautiful network of relationships within the Church.

Whose job is it?

I don't have his book in front of me, but somewhere in Missional Renaissance, Reggie McNeal explains how after WW II, our society began to structure in such a way that people began to farm out things to specialists...families even began to assign spiritual growth as the job of the church. (He explains this much more intelligently).

The Church is guilty of this as well. We've assigned the role of caring for the poor to the government system, and we 've assigned the judicial system the role of determining justice and reforming prisoners. This is insane, really. Who could think that such systems and programs alone will really make the difference in people's lives?

I sat in a court room the other day with a judge, a county attorney, a defense lawyer, and the defendant, a friend of mine. I watched the three employed in the judicial system look through their files, make notes, argue a few points, and determine a sentence for my friend. This, before they moved on to their next case to do more of the same. All I could do as I watched this proceeding is think, "Come on, Church, where are you?" I considered the ratio of all the churches and followers of Jesus in town to how many are engaged and walking with the poor or the prisoners in town. There's some room for engagement. And a better path for reform.

With Justice for All ch. 9

"Our response to the poor is a crucial test of our faithfulness to the gospel.

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me," Jesus read, "because He anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, and to set free those who are downtrodden, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord. " (Luke 4:18-19)

The Church, as Christ' Body on Earth, is charged with carrying out Christ's mission. Jesus' example is our model, our biblical mandate, to proclaim the Good News to the poor."

These are John Perkin's words as he begins chapter 9 talking about God's special concern with the poor. He goes on to say,

"As God's agents on Earth, we are responsible to live out this special concern for the poor. You cannot be and you ought not be in the president's administration unless you are committed to the president's philosophy. Otherwise his program will not be carried out smoothly. In the same way, you cannot effectively carry out God's program unless you have the mind of Christ. To have the mind of Christ is to be especially concerned with the poor. It is to have a special compassion for the disenfranchised, for the aching in our society. And it is to act on that concern.

Whether we take the gospel to the poor, then, is not an incidental side issue; it is a revealing test of the church's faithfulness to Christ's mission.

How then shall we proclaim the Good News to the poor? Once again Jesus is our model: "The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14) . Jesus relocated. He didn't commute to Earth one day a week and shoot back up to heaven. He left His throne and became one of us so that we might see the life of God revealed in Him."

Perkins spends the rest of this chapter talking about the challenging idea of relocation. He speaks passionately about how we must live among the poor. We must be one with them. Their needs must become our needs. Do you have thoughts about the challenging principle of relocation?

Spring Break: Denver, CO

Jeff Mickey is Orchard Hill's college director and wrote this post. He and Karla Chestnut, who also works in college ministry, along with their families, led college students to Denver, CO, this Spring Break.

My family went on the Denver Spring Break trip with the Chestnuts and 27 college students. We partnered with Denver Urban Ministries and had the opportunity to learn a lot about the city and homelessness, and serve in a number of different capacities with a variety of compassionate organizations and ministries. We painted houses with Brothers Redevelopment (an organization that provides affordable housing and home repair/maintenance to people in need), visited with adults with neurological disorders at the King Adult Daycare facility, packed food and reclaimed salvaged items at the Food Bank of the Rockies, prepared medical supplies for shipment to third world countries at another cool mission, served meals with the Denver Rescue Mission and Catholic Worker Soup Kitchen, packed books for distribution at ARCO Thrift Store which serves the needs of the poor, toured the city and were educated on the needs and different organizations providing for those needs in LODO (lower downtown Denver), heard a powerful story from Andrew - a former drug addict and homeless man now serving the poor and homeless through Urban Peak Mission, and discussed the role of the church in advocacy with our local, state and federal government as a means to promote justice.
We also enjoyed a Denver Nuggets game, skiing at Loveland, and some fun time to play, worship, and build community in small groups. I think the web address for DenUm is www.denum.org.
Our students and families were deeply moved by the stories of the people who live on the margins and are mostly forgotten. We were impressed and found hope in the number of people who are trying like crazy to reach out in love and provide mercy, and also do something to try to fix the causes of poverty and homelessness. We were challenged to consider how our faith compels us to go to hard places and to consider the values of justice and mercy in our own communities back home. I think mostly, when I looked into the faces of the 800 homeless people who came for a meal at the St. Francis Center on Friday afternoon, I was struck by the difference in attitude and spirit among the people. Surely external factors influence this. But some people were totally defeated, resigned to giving up. They were just there for a meal so they could survive another day. Others still had a spark in their eyes, a smile on their faces, hope in their hearts. And it just really hit me that while the food is really important and critical, we have something even more important to offer these people. We have the hope of Jesus. We need to bring both the physical and spiritual bread of life to these hurting people.