Fresh perspective
I'm so happy we changed formats.
I'll be honest, I thought that not serving dinner would be the death of Church in the Park. Instead, when I went last night, there was more life there than I've seen in a long time. This is a good example of why trusting God is better than trusting your instincts, as well as an amazing ressurection story (because I thought Citp was dead). Granted, we had to go looking for folks, but compared to transporting food and maintaining order, heck, that's no sacrifice at all. I also had a realization about the things I've been thinking about. People loved to ask me about the "justice" aspect of Church in the Park, which seems kind of a silly question to me. Who cares about the "justice" aspect if people are hungry? What's so "unjust" about dinner. However, last night cleared things up in my head.
I ran into Tom, and he was drunk. I have never in my life seen Tom drunk, and this was a little disconcerting. He asked if we could talk and I told him sure, and we talked about 20 feet from everyone (rules are rules). At first he thought I was angry, which of course couldn't have been further from the truth, and after I convinced him that wasn't the case and that Jesus saves him on belief, not works, he felt better. He told me quite a few things, about how he loves us, and how he thinks of us as his best friends. But then he told me something I didn't believe: that we were the first persons to "care" what his name was. Now, granted he wasn't in top form, but that hit me. What is the big deal with learning a name? Then I remembered:
Earlier that week, my boss and his boss took myself and my fellow service guys out to lunch. Driving back, there was a man asking for change at the corner. My boss' boss explained to us "youngin's" about the racket the man was doing, about how he was picked up and planted there by a guy in an SUV every morning. I asked what's the big deal, Charlie needed to get to work, too, and the intersection was a long way from anywhere good to sleep. Conversation went dead, and my boss turned to me and said, "Wait, you know that guy personally?"
And that's the justice of citp. What crime is so awful that you don't deserve to have your name known by anyone? What crime is so awful that you don't deserve to be known at all? God calls us all by name, and this is the great equalizer of humanity: that no one in God's Kingdom is so low that they do not deserve to have their name known by God. Isa 45:3 says "3 I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name. 4 For the sake of Jacob my servant, of Israel my chosen, I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honor, though you do not acknowledge me. " Jesus continuously told us about His name, and the power of it. To deny someone a name is to deny them the ability to become a son or daughter of God.
Cool, huh?
Tuesday was amazing, and I want to give props to Jason, I love watching him speak because he loves what he's speaking about so much that he lost in it. Good job guys, God has remade Church in the Park and you sat through the rebirth, and it is wonderful.
-Ziggy
I'll be honest, I thought that not serving dinner would be the death of Church in the Park. Instead, when I went last night, there was more life there than I've seen in a long time. This is a good example of why trusting God is better than trusting your instincts, as well as an amazing ressurection story (because I thought Citp was dead). Granted, we had to go looking for folks, but compared to transporting food and maintaining order, heck, that's no sacrifice at all. I also had a realization about the things I've been thinking about. People loved to ask me about the "justice" aspect of Church in the Park, which seems kind of a silly question to me. Who cares about the "justice" aspect if people are hungry? What's so "unjust" about dinner. However, last night cleared things up in my head.
I ran into Tom, and he was drunk. I have never in my life seen Tom drunk, and this was a little disconcerting. He asked if we could talk and I told him sure, and we talked about 20 feet from everyone (rules are rules). At first he thought I was angry, which of course couldn't have been further from the truth, and after I convinced him that wasn't the case and that Jesus saves him on belief, not works, he felt better. He told me quite a few things, about how he loves us, and how he thinks of us as his best friends. But then he told me something I didn't believe: that we were the first persons to "care" what his name was. Now, granted he wasn't in top form, but that hit me. What is the big deal with learning a name? Then I remembered:
Earlier that week, my boss and his boss took myself and my fellow service guys out to lunch. Driving back, there was a man asking for change at the corner. My boss' boss explained to us "youngin's" about the racket the man was doing, about how he was picked up and planted there by a guy in an SUV every morning. I asked what's the big deal, Charlie needed to get to work, too, and the intersection was a long way from anywhere good to sleep. Conversation went dead, and my boss turned to me and said, "Wait, you know that guy personally?"
And that's the justice of citp. What crime is so awful that you don't deserve to have your name known by anyone? What crime is so awful that you don't deserve to be known at all? God calls us all by name, and this is the great equalizer of humanity: that no one in God's Kingdom is so low that they do not deserve to have their name known by God. Isa 45:3 says "3 I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name. 4 For the sake of Jacob my servant, of Israel my chosen, I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honor, though you do not acknowledge me. " Jesus continuously told us about His name, and the power of it. To deny someone a name is to deny them the ability to become a son or daughter of God.
Cool, huh?
Tuesday was amazing, and I want to give props to Jason, I love watching him speak because he loves what he's speaking about so much that he lost in it. Good job guys, God has remade Church in the Park and you sat through the rebirth, and it is wonderful.
-Ziggy
posted by Ziggy at 2:23 PM
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