lessons for the "homefull"

as I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, one of United Life's very own (along with a friend named James) forsook his home on September 7th of this year in order to follow through with a conviction and calling he had to live on the streets of Seattle for a set period of time. While many have both applauded and questioned Brian and James decision, one thing I can vouch for: they're not primarily motivated by guilt, but because they feel that God has called them to do this. 

One of the most amazing parts of all of this for me has been seeing how much thought, discussion, and prayer their decision has given birth to. Just speaking for myself, I can't be in a store for too long before I consider what a blessing it is to have the means to be able to choose whether to buy something or not. I can't adjust the heat or humidity in our bedroom before being thankful that I have not only a room to sleep in, but also a bathroom, kitchen, and even a living room. And I can't drive by someone at a street corner asking for "anything that will help, God bless" without wondering if I'm treating them as well as I hope everyone is treating Brian and James (I find myself not necessarily giving more often, but making a lot more eye contact than I used to). 

I write this first of all to praise God for what He is doing through Brian, James, their decision, and among all those who know them or are about to meet them. 

I also write this to remind those who care about these two brothers to continue to cover them in prayer. 

Finally, I write this to encourage all of us to do two things: 

1. Change how we see and think about the homeless around us. Just picture Brian or James in their shoes, and treat them accordingly. 
2. Be obedient to God. Amazingly, God wants to be connected to you and me. And while he doesn't always speak with words or visions, he is definitely making his purpose for us clear. Just read the Bible and pray, and you'll know what I'm talking about. And when you start to get a feel for what he wants from you, I encourage your follow through by bringing your attention to all of the awesome stuff that's coming out of Brian and James' obedience. They are touching many lives with their obedience, surely God will do the same with yours. 

As I've been mentioning, Brian and James are keeping us updated at bjarbjar.blogspot.com. I've put a link on the right side of this page. 

a church for introverts?

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I was reading 2 Corinthians 11:1-6 today and I was struck by what Paul says in verse 6: "But even if I am (L)unskilled in speech, yet I am not so in (M)knowledge; in fact, in every way we have (N)made this evident to you in all things." (NASB) 

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Unskilled in speech...in other words, an introvert? The Greek there is "idiōtēs". (My Greek professor in seminary warned us not to throw Greek vocab and grammar around, but you can make the connection yourself). 

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Paul, basically, didn't feel as comfortable speaking as he did writing to the Corinthians, which I think is something that resonates with many today. Many of us just can express ourselves more comfortably and honestly when we're writing it out. In person there's just...well...it's hard to explain, but all you need to do is visit Facebook to know what I'm talking about. 

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So if Paul is like many of us (one who has varying degrees of confidence and boldness, one who may sometimes stutter or pause for too long as they are making a point, in other words...a real person!), then I think that there is both a hope and a challenge for all of us. 

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The hope: we can have great impact, even if we're not "super-apostles" (see verse 5). The key isn't our skill or our level of extroversion, but our obedience to God. Just say yes to Him, and leave the results up to Him. There is a place in Christ's body even for the quietest of introverts. 

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The challenge: don't wait to get "up to speed" before you say "yes" to God. We must always be careful not to try to lead others when we ourselves don't know what we're doing. But at the same time God does not call by accident. He called Moses to lead even though Moses did not feel ready. He called Samuel even though he was just a young boy. And He called Paul to plant churches and preach the good news of Christ even though many, many obstacles were in his way and he was "unskilled in speech." 

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The key here is saying "yes" to God, which is something we either do or don't do every minute of every day. It's not something that comes just at a retreat or on a Sunday at church (though hopefully it's happening then too!), it's something that comes with every decision we make. Love that car that just cut me off, don't love that car. Pray about that thing, don't pray about that thing. Trust God, don't trust God. See what I'm talking about...? 

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UPDATE: BRIAN AND JAMES

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 If you're keeping up with their street blog (which I've linked on the sidebar here), that's great, but they're only able to update whenever they get to a computer. I'll try to update some here as well. 

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Specifically, when I spoke to Brian last night he had two prayer requests for him and James: 

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1) Long johns - they're pretty well layered for their upper body, but their legs are freezing. 

2) Mental/spiritual focus - I think the best way to put this is that they're kind of in survival mode right now for obvious reasons, which makes it hard for them to stretch themselves and see and act on the bigger things God might be putting before them. 

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Also, he asked if we had any prayer requests for him! Please message me if you'd like Brian and James to be praying for you and I'll pass along your request.