small towns have the same size souls

Brownsville, VT was a major destination "back in the day" when Ascutney Ski Resort was up and running. The mountain closed and in 2010, the owners sold off  the remaining equipment.

All that is left of it are scars on the mountain and memories of great turns. Thankfully, the town purchased the land and has plans to put back a small lift for the town residents. This, is beautiful but I don't want to talk about the resort,  I want to talk about the souls that live there.

There are still some great shops left there, but Brownsville was, and always be, a small rural town. My friend pastors the church across the street from the mountain. It is small, like the town itself yet both (the town and the church) are of bo little importance to God.

It will never be a mega-church, but the souls that attend are of equal value to God as those who worship in the Great Cathedrals.

This does not mean that a small church is bad, or that a large church is good, or vice-versa. It simply means that the world is full of small towns and large cities and both are full of souls of equal value to God.

God is in the large church and in the small church
in the same measure,
in the same power,
and for the same purpose.

The pastor of this church is a friend of mine and his dedication to the souls in the area and to the God who loves them humbles me.

He works as a music teacher in a local christian school while he pastors the Brownsville Community School and another small gathering of Anglicans. He raises chickens, cows, and pigs to help feed his family and bring in extra income. He taps 150 sugar maples for syrup, reconditions wood stoves, and whatever else comes his way to help support his family.

The local game warden knows his freezer is full when a family in town is hungry,  and the emergency workers know his face when he shows up for pastoral care.

He will never toot his own horn, except pulling out of his driveway at times.
He is by no means a perfect saint, just ask his wife who is as equally amazing, or his three young children who help out with all of the above.

But all those who know this family will be quick to tell you why they work so hard where they are;
Jesus Christ died for the souls in the city and the farmer and the tourist who looks at the leaves.

Small towns are full of souls that matter. Small churches care for them. Small town pastors shepard them sacrificially.



"And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”
                                                     Jonah 4:11

a friend to the homeless

I have been taken, and this is how I know;
Years ago I was in Cripple Creek, CO on a road trip and found myself in a music shop talking with the proprietor. I was on an extended cross-country road trip and was making an effort to not be a tourist and get caught up in the facade.
She looked at me and said "your type, you're not a tourist, your a friend". Whether she meant it in her heart or it was a sales pitch it worked and it stuck.
Yesterday I found I had crossed the line and became a friend to the homeless.

Yesterday, I stopped being a tourist in my own city.

I didn't think I was a tourist, honest. I had spent the winter handing out soup, socks, and underwear to the homeless in Downtown Hartford each Saturday with a variety of friends through my work with Church Army.  We have been there consistently in all kinds of weather but yesterday was different. I had been contacted my the church I attend which was expecting over 500 visitors on Easter and asked if I knew anyone who they could donate their leftover coffee-hour food to. I replied "me". I had asked a few of the folks I see every Saturday to meet me in the park and tell others to be there.

As I approached the park I passed a few guys I knew and said hey out the window and told them what we were up too. There were no "regulars" there. It was a rainy day and folks were all holding up in places all across the city. I learned where they hold up in bad weather while waiting for the shelters to open for the night. I was given tip-after-tip by my friends on how to reach the other guys. So-and-so was here, so-and-so was there...

So we loaded up all the food in my hand cart and set off to be "Robin Hoods for Jesus". What we didn't know was that we were there so God could work in us more than through us, which is funny, because that is what I always tell people what my ministry is about.

We did not intend to set out on our own little "manifest destiny". Our hearts were in the right place, but today it was as if God accepted our sacrifice of time and discomfort and took us deeper into his fold.

The homeless took us into their family.

All those months they were honestly grateful for what we were doing. I know because I asked them, but today, they were taken by our efforts to get to them.

As we pulled our cart for 2 1/2 hours through the city it was like a scavenger hunt, getting clues where to find the next crowd of people  and more beautiful, learning more about our friends.

We stopped being a mobile food truck.
We came into their homes.

We shared five full trays of Dunkin Donuts bagels and muffins so we have many stories to share, but this is the one that will not leave me. So I give it to you.

There is a woman and her daughter (I'm keeping the name to myself) who I have watched pull their suitcases through the street all winter. I nicknamed mom "Mrs. Grumpy" because she started out by yelling at me and complaining so we did out best to love her. Two weeks ago I actually saw a huge grin come on her face when I had oranges and strawberries to share so when I saw her Saturday at our regular time giving out hot drinks and socks I told her to meet me in the park on Easter because my church had promised me the leftover muffins and fruit.

"You going to have the oranges?" she said to me.
I smiled and said "yes".

When I picked up the food there were no oranges, but thankfully I just "happened" to have one in my truck I had forgotten about from a couple of days before! God is so good! Secondly, she was not there! I asked my friends as we went along on our march through the city and finally heard that someone had seen her in the photo booth with her daughter at the bus station.

I have only been to the bus station once in my life and had no idea where the photo booth was. This place is really small, but I still had a hard time until I recognized their suitcases in a little hallway that leads to the bathrooms. I huge grin came across my face as I walked up to find them, both of them, in a tiny little photo booth watching a movie together on Easter Sunday, crammed into a three-by-three foot phone booth.

"Hey, there you are! I've been all over the city looking for you! Happy Easter!"
She smiled, "you got my orange?"
"Yeah, and some other stuff too."
She came outside with me while her daughter watched her stuff.

This is the Easter Message my friends. God came into the neighborhood to bring gifts. His people where scattered and hiding, so he came to seek after and find those who were lost. He became a friend to the outcast, the sinner, and the lonely. Slowly, one, by one, he spread the message as we did yesterday. God loves you and has not forgotten you.

"Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing."
                       Ephesians 2:7-9

I need bras for the weekend!

Are you seen as an odd duck? 
I am. 
God commanded me to be.
Am I?  Here was my conversation at the school bus stop today. You be the judge:

"Good morning ladies! I've got something going on this weekend and need your help!

 Can you get me some sport bras please?  

They didn't give a second look but simply asked how they could get them to me.

 No, I do not wear woman's clothing. 

My neighbors simply know me, and in so doing, they know my faith in Jesus, and my desire to serve the broken in the world by any means I can find. They know my family collects underwear for the homeless because most don't have more that two pairs. They know most folks in shelters don't have the extra money to was their clothes, so they do so in the sink at the shelter or wherever they can and their underwear runs out. My truck always has underwear around some wear. I would even venture to say that most rooms in our house has a random package. Honestly, we can't really go anywhere without a friend handing me a package they had bought. 

We are called to be odd ducks as followers of Christ. We are to stick out like a two people on the street kissing during a protest, like the fresh air rushing through the first open window of spring, like a lit match in a deep cave. 

This is what God has to say about it:

"But you are the ones chosen by God, 

chosen for the high calling of priestly work, 

chosen to be a holy people, 

God’s instruments to do his work and speak out for him,

 to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—

                                   from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted."
                                                                                                           1 Peter 2:9 (Message Translation)

Here is a simple test, try it, not to "prove" anything, but to check HOW you are living; 

• Do the people who live in the houses around you know what you are doing for the glory of God and to eliminate the suffering of the people? 
• Do the neighbors around your church know what you are doing for the glory of God and to eliminate the suffering of the people? 
• If either you, or your church disappeared over night, would the vacuum left in your place be felt and cause people to weep? 

I think the church got this verse a little bit wrong. Folks aren't supposed to look at us as Jesus freaks because we speak in tongues (which is fine), or dance with abandon (which is fun) or shout with praise (which is biblical) or even swing incense (which is lovely) or use stained glass (which is art). We are peculiar not because of the things we don't do, but what we do do. Yes, we abstain from things God doesn't like such are murder, and stealing, and robbing the poor, but we will be seen as Godly Odd Ducks when me love enemies, bless those who persecute us, and live our lives for folks who can never get us ahead in life simply because this is what Jesus did for us.
 
Now settle down folks, I'm not getting upitty and holier-than-thou on you. I'm just trying to live out the life of the suffering servant like my King Jesus did for me. 
...Oh, and if you want to give me your underwear, leave me a comment with your contact info

Following Jesus is like running a marathon? Have you run one?

"I can do that".
These are the words behind God's call that most folks see as the Great Commission and the Great Commandment. We can break it down like this:

Be intentional
Be sacrificial
Be sustainable 

Once we are called to God, we are given choices. We can love or not, we can obey his words or not, we can forgive or not. We will be forced to make hard choices. We must love those who not only love us, but those who hate us. It goes to reason then that we must not only know of, but be involved in the lives of those who hate us. Do you? Be intentional.

We are called to live lives of selfless compassion and mercy, emulating the life of Jesus. This will force us to write down acts of mercy into our planners and if need use two alarms on our smart phones. Do you have "visit the prison" next to "so-and-so's playdate on your dry erase calender? When you shop, do you pick up the extra items on your list for the food bank? Do you not do something you enjoy so that you can care for another? Be sacrificial.

We are called to this life for the long-haul. I am a distance runner and have heard the cliche over and over that the life of following Jesus is a marathon, not a sprint. But here is a tip from a guy who actually has run 8 of them; we train hard for months before the race, logging in literally hundreds of miles. We run in the rain because the race day may rain. We run at night if we have kids and a job. We wake up at 6am on weekends so that we can get in a three hour run before it gets too hot.

Our families give up time so that we can compete.

During the race we may puke, pass-out, or get injured. You will use products so that you will not chafe parts of your bodies but you will bleed. You will want to quit when you hit a "wall" and your mind and body says stop. You will have to stay hydrated and fed so you try and balance and keep ahead of the game. If not you will cramp, HARD.

The next day, if you ran hard, you will experience Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness. It will be hard to walk and most will have to walk down stairs backwards. It will take days to recover but you will not die.

Now most of you are saying "why do it?" The apostle Paul was quick to point out that we are just wired to do things like run and complete. We all do (see here).

Being a distance runner is a lifestyle. We make choices about what to eat, how long to sleep, and how to train. Following Jesus is the same. We think we can just do enough like read and pray and go to church sometimes and then jump in and run the marathon it is.

We must make this a sustainable life.
We must see that it is like a marathon, but marathons are "NOT long easy runs". They are  painful and costly.
Take these tips to run sustainably:
1. Be intentional and focus
2. Be sacrificial and put in the hard work
3. Be sustainable and rest when you need to, run hard when you have to. Remember, resting is NOT passive, it is actively choosing to trust. 

When we have completed the race, we will gain the prize and you will have new bodies. We will be with Jesus. We do NOT run hard so that we will be rewarded for our hard running. We simply run hard because the run IS hard. Jesus finished the race and gave us his medal. Do not kid yourself.
Run in such a way so that you will have nothing left when you cross the line. Why?
This is how Jesus ran and how he asks us to

Love the one you're with

Do you love where you live because of the great opportunities it provides you?
That is loving yourself.

Jesus calls us be the light of the world.
Light goes where it is absent, and disappears when it it reaches itself.

I fear far to many followers of Christ have become Black Holes while our call is to birth little Sons.
If indeed the Light that came into the World was not overcome by the darkness it only stands to reason that He was want to reside there.

He lived with the physically, spiritually, and emotionally sick, the lightless, so that they would have been made light too.

It was not because he hated what they did.
It was because He loved them.

So I ask us all today, stealing a line from George Thorogood and the Delaware Destroyers;
Who do you love?


We love because he first loved us.
1John 4:19