Jesus Was Homeless

Indeed he was. He said it in Matthew 8:20 "Foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the son of man has no place to lay his head." So it's not too surprising that Jesus calls the homeless, the sick, the hungry, the broken, the "least of these" his brothers in Matthew 25:40. Maybe I've just been reading too much Shane Claiborne but I am very excited about opportunities to serve the homeless, and figuring out if we can help it/stop it/make it gone forever. A great opportunity coming up November 16-17 is called Homeless for the Homeless. The last official count of homeless people in Columbia alone is 1,753 so that is the number that Homeless for the Homeless is trying to get to sleep out in Finlay Park to raise the awareness, then the next day will be spent serving all over the city and Tony Campolo will be coming to speak about Homelessness and what it's about and how people get in that situation and what Jesus has to say about it.

I am excited!

Really excited!

I've been trying to find ways to serve, I went to a pot luck lunch yesterday called "Food not Bombs" with some cool people. I took about 20 PB&J's to show off my cooking skills and Megan Venters made some delicious mashed potatoes. It reminded me how simple and how much sense it makes to do little random things like that. They are hungry, I have a few extra dollars to make some food and time, so why not go do it? But what really gets me excited is that by continuing to serve I will build relationships with some of the people and hopefully be able to help them beyond that one meal.

Sorry I know a lot of this is repetitive from my last blog, but that's just kind of where I am at this point in time. So if you will be in Columbia November 16-17 go register right now I made a link up there for Homeless for the Homeless and it's only 15$.

crazy week

this week has been crazy busy, it's one of those weird busy feelings after a long day and you feel really tired and you know you did a lot but you can't even process because you haven't had time. It's a very satisfying feel at the same time though now that I do have time to think, I have gotten to talk to people I haven't seen in literally years, start to fix a bad relationship with an adult who I have always just been weird with, I'm almost finished with Irresistible Revolution which is still amazing and challenging, applied to volunteer at the Oliver Gospel Mission, started a life group with the guys in my house and a few other awesome dudes and I'm very excited, and I'm spent some incredible time with Jesus.

I've truly realized how much it affects me when I don't read about, pray to, and walk with Jesus. Last week I started getting back on track after going several days and it was ridiculous to see how much temptation was in my life to be lazy and sin, and how far I can feel from God if I'm not spending time with him. I love my quiet times though. I admit I can be very random during them. Lately I've started to make to-do lists which are very very helpful. If I'm praying and feel like there is someone I need to talk to, something I should do, or just forgot some random chore I have a list handy to just write it down and continue. I also admit that it makes life way more difficult. I'm constantly struggling with having deeper relationships, being challenged more by Jesus, and to love even when I don't want to at all. It's scary too, to know what God is asking you to do when it's the last thing you want to do. Or even scarier when you don't know the next step and you have to figure it out yourself.

I do love it though and I'm very excited about what is in store. I finally am stepping out and getting involved with homeless ministry, I feel like Jesus talks a lot about especially here in terms of going and loving on "the least of these" and I am trying to take him very literally. Sunday at Finlay park there is a ministry called "Food Not Bombs" which is a pot luck lunch at 1pm for the homeless, you just show up with a dish (i will be cooking peanut butter and jelly sandwiches) and people come and eat. The most exciting part to me though is the people I will meet. I just pray that somehow I can show that these people are cared for and that God loves them more than they could ever understand instead of seeing "Homo Sex is A Threat to National Security" signs or "Jews Blacks Gays and Sinners will burn in Hell" t-shirts on our street corners by people who aren't spending their time to charge the gates of hell themselves.

Saturday football

Well today is another Saturday in the world of college football. This means an all day affair, of waking up watching pregame football where analysts breakdown all the games and make predictions, then watching all the games, tailgaiting and seeing tons of people (some that you didn't know would be at the game, and some that you wish you maybe didn't see), and then if you want a good seat going in the stadium about an hour early and anxiously anticipate kick-off. Some games are glorious, last week for example when the Gamecocks triumphed over the Georgia Bulldogs and even Rachel Olshine rounded up a Texas crew to cheer on the victory, and some are not so awesome, like the 0-11 season that was experienced in Lou Holtz first year. But I persevere, and tonight at 7 PM we play the South Carolina State Bulldogs, and if we lose then I think it's time to give up caring about football. Probably my favorite part of being at the game though is not really the game itself... it's the atmosphere. I love being right beside my fellas who I can readily joke with and have a good time just talking about the game, and it's good to know that we are probably thinking the same way. For those few hours we can be ridiculous and have a great time and then get tired as crap and come back to the house and eat and watch more football until we are tired. So today I am very thankful for my "mantourage" if you will, and now have to get ready for a long and exciting day.