Sick and Tired

Man...

Been one heck of a week. Sam started off with the croup. Then Amy got sick...real sick. Then I started getting sick. Then Sam got better. Amy stayed sick. I stayed sick. Sam got sick again. Sam starting to feel a bit better with mom and dad still struggling in their old age.

If it weren't for the help of grandparents I'm not sure what we would have done over the last two weeks. I feel blessed to have them. When they die life will totally suck...for a number of reasons :).

Had an opportunity to preach at Penn Avenue this morning. Fighting through the snot was not too much fun...but we made it work. Preached on Luke 1:26-38. Even sang a bit. Kind of fun...don't get to do that enough these days. Have a great Christmas week. I'll be back.

It's been a while....

It's been a while. Over three months counts for more than a while, I guess. But, I'm back. We're back. And glad to be back. Lot's going on.

Yes, we're expecting. June 6th is the date. We think it's a girl. Sam does too. If so, we're probably going with "Ellie." If not, Sam will be very confused!

We've had much going on and so much to be thankful for in these days. We've recently gotten through a very busy, but productive season at OKC Compassion. We just celebrated the ten year anniversary at OKC Compassion, had a huge banquet, raised awareness and some money at the same time.

Amy and I are currently overloaded with the weight and responsibility of running the residential recovery program. This just recently became our responsibility, within the week. We are excited and completely overwhelmed all at the same time. But, we've been there before. Our goal is to find people to help who have a whole lot more knowledge than we do and hand off ministry as God allows.

We hope you are doing well. I'll be in touch a bit sooner! Love from the Hall's!

Sam's First Day of School

Yes...Sam goes to his first day of "Mother's Day Out" tomorrow. He'll spend a pretty large amount of the day there and then his mimi will pick him up and rescue him. I say that half jokingly...but we're not used to taking him to a large, established school like this. He's not even two yet! His mommy is having some trouble with this.

He's been hilarious the last several days. When I went to Amy's parents house tonight for dinner, I pulled up and saw my son in their front yard pushing a little plastic mower around. I got out and he was saying..."mowing hard, Sammy mowing hard." He often says "daddy mowing hard" when he sees me at the house. I think its his favorite thing to say. He was so cute. He just starting saying "I don't like that" today. He decided that he didn't like a few things today. He decided tonight at 8:30pm that he didn't like his bed but liked "mama's bed." It's hilarious! He's so stinking smart for his age and we are so proud of him...even if he is currently hitting unsuspecting children for no reason and we can't figure out how to stop him :).

Waterloo Nazarene

We had a great Sunday morning service at Waterloo Nazarene Church in Edmond, Oklahoma this past weekend. This is Amy's home church and we spent many years there together in our early relationship. It's a great church with a large number of family. We raised some money as we continue to find ways to support ourselves and we do believe God will continue to provide for us as he already has...in amazing ways.

5K

Hi!

I know, I know...it's been too long. Maybe that's because Amy and I have been trying to get ourselves in shape to run. We are running in a 5k race on October 4 in Oklahoma City. This will be the first race either one of us have run in. We plan to win it and set all kinds of records...not really. We hope to finish. Amy has been running consistently now for about six weeks and I've done pretty good for the last three. Last night we ran and Amy made it 25 minutes straight without stopping. She's never done that before and I'm so proud of her. Hopefully this is just the beginning of a great new hobby for the both of us.

Got Em' Moved!

I am happy to report that we were successful in our attempt to get my grandparents moved from Okmulgee, Oklahoma to Edmond, Oklahoma this weekend. It took a lot of work and a lot time...but I'm happy to report that it is done. There's still lots to do...but it's basically over. Now, we'll just have to see how much stuff they'll have to give away as they have moved into a much smaller house! I am thankful for them, though. They are good people and I think they are looking forward to being closer to family for the first time in about 33 years! They had a lot of crap. A lot.

First Funeral

I had the privilege today of officiating my first funeral. People were shocked by that as I shared that fact. I guess they assumed that all pastor do funerals at least once a year...but when you serve most of your years on a staff the size of a football team its not normally the associate that gets the call. So, I was privileged to be able to spend good time with the family of a man named Richard Gaiski. Not knowing him, it was an interesting experience to have to rely on the family to help me get a taste of what kind of man he was. He seemed like a great family man and a great dad. He loved sports and cared about people. It was a good day and it will be one I'll never forget. I thank God he entrusts simple minded ministers like me with the huge responsibility of honoring the lives of people and ultimately pointing people to Christ. This man was the father of one of the guys in our recovery program at OKC Compassion. It was cool to come full circle with this guy to the extent that he would ask me to do that funeral for his family. Pretty neat stuff!

Your Money

Ok, it's really not yours. You know that and I know that. It's God's money that He's blessed us with. But he asks us to be faithful stewards with it. I'm curious to know how you determine who you give your donations to and why you give particular donations to that person or group. We're trying to get some things squared away at OKC Compassion and I would love to hear your thoughts on this subject. Do you give because you trust people? "People give to people justified by the cause." Is this true for you? Would you rather give to a specific project with your money designated...or are you comfortable giving to an organization to let them choose to spend your (God's) money how they want? Just some questions...and your answers will help us! Thanks!

God at Work!

Well, I last blogged about our current situation with the formation of a Celebrate Recovery ministry at Penn Avenue. I'm happy to report that at our last board meeting we came to a conclusion that we would start the program on Wednesday nights. We'd been focused on Sunday nights but came to a place where we decided that Wednesday nights would work out best. Everyone seems to feel really good about this and I think it will go very well. We start Wednesday, October 22nd. Now, we just need some volunteers to come forward to help us. I will be leading the worship piece of the ministry and look forward to it.

Celebrate Recovery vs. Regular Programming

Well, we have had somewhat of a dilemma the past few months trying to figure out how in the world to do what we feel we need to do with a lack of people to accomplish it all. For those of you unfamiliar, Celebrate Recovery is a Christianized 12 step program that makes no apologies for naming Jesus the Higher Power and the steps are focused on the Beatitudes. We've seen number of our people go through this program at CR's in our area. Transportation is always difficult as most of our folks don't have transportation, so it became necessary to begin to think about having a Celebrate Recovery run out of Penn Avenue Church of the Nazarene. We began to have conversations about the night we should do it. It's best to find a night that is open throughout the rest of the city so people could come if they can't come on another night. We were leaning toward Sunday night, for a number of reasons. #1--This is a regularly scheduled night when our people are already at church. As usual, Sunday nights tend to be the least attended service of the week as people generally stay home and rest. Penn Ave has two groups of people. We have "the street people" (as they are so affectionately called and I mean this) and we have the regulars who have stayed throughout the years. Initially the argument was made that the best night was Saturday as it would fill a desperate need for something positive in our community. This made sense to me but I began to wonder how we were going to get everything accomplished remotely successfully if we asked our people to be at church, Saturday night (really starting about three in the afternoon and going until ten) Sunday morning and Sunday night. #2--This is a good night in the community to do this. In our community, it would be a good night every night.

We've run into a bit of a stalemate, but not because anybody has a divisive spirit. Some very legitimate questions have come up. I ask that you pray for us as we begin to nail down some decisions tonight at board meeting.

A New Board!

I confess, it's been a while since I've posted anything and that's really, really bad. I'm sorry. The main culprit is the enemy known as Facebook. It's really addicting...do they have support groups for that?

I'm excited to tell you about the development and organization of the new OKC Compassion, Inc. board. At our first meeting with the new candidates we elected officers and things are moving forward quickly. I can't wait to see how God moves over the next few years. It will be an awesome experience...and probably frustrating at times. Have a great week!

Blessings!

Facebook

Well, I've taken the plunge along with my wife into the wonderful world of facebook. I'm going to do my best not to become addicted like most of my friends appear to be! It's been a good week, but not without its challenges. We continue to chip away at things and are so thankful for a supportive OKC First that spurs us on. God has been good to us over the last six months as we've lived on essentially the proceeds of the sale of our home. We will be sending out a letter to many of you explaining more about what we do and asking for your monthly support. This is how most missionaries are funded through the church and we are excited to watch and see how God provides. Have a great weekend!

Joe, Amy and Sam

What a group!

I am amazed and thankful for what I saw this past week. I suppose I'm amazed because its been so long since I've been around a group of teenagers that was so unselfish, had good attitudes and were growing spiritually. A group of 28 folks (20 students and eight sponsors) showed up on Sunday night and we started working on Monday painting the inside of our sanctuary. The painting didn't go all that smoothly but what do you expect with a bunch of high school kids. I quickly decided to change the direction of the trip and I honestly think and believe that God was in all of this. We began on Tuesday with a shift in our philosophy. But I'll get to that in a minute. Each morning we would gather in the sanctuary and go on some kind of a tour to a local ministry. We toured the Jesus House, Love Links, The City Rescue Mission, and Reaching Our City. Each of these functions as some kind of a compassionate ministry. We were intentional in sending a group of our students to these places in the afternoon to serve. This proved to be a great plan as we made in-roads with new ministries in our community and began the process of pulling together the Nazarene CMC's. After these tours, we would come back to the church and I encouraged the students and sponsors to simply spend time hanging out with people and wanted them to get to know our folks. They did a great job of this! After lunch was served and eaten, we broke into three different groups each day and spread out in the community doing some kind of community service. One group painted a recovery house and did some major landscaping for a neighbor and also painted a shed in someone's backyard. A rusty fence was torn down to create a better look. One group spent one afternoon painting the outside of a local convenient store to cover up the graffiti that was all over it. The store owner couldn't believe that we would be doing this for free. "What's the catch," he said. We told him that we just wanted to show him God's love in a practical way. He was amazed! We also spent one afternoon cleaning up the backyard of an elderly woman in our community. She apparently collected refrigerators because we moved pieces from about twenty different ones out to the front yard along with a mountain of limbs and tree trimmings. It was a great day.

Each morning during our devotions the group was able to hear a testimony from one of our folks who had experienced God's power in their lives. This proved to be a highlight of the week as the kids were amazed at what God could do in someone's life. I was privileged to spend one night with the group as they debriefed at SNU (where they were staying). It was awesome to see how this group trusted each other as they shared the ways that they had experienced brokenness in their own lives. It's amazing how God can use the chiefest of sinners to help "good" kids realize that God is calling them to more. We took communion on Friday morning and then took the group to Cattlemen's Steak House to experience an Oklahoma meal! Oh yeah, we almost finished our showers. All we lack is putting the linoleum down, trimming out the room and tying in the final water line.

God is so good. It is humbling to be used a vessel to help others experience the grace of God.

Shawnee, Kansas

We've got a group of 27 that will be arriving tomorrow from Shawnee, KS. I continue to be amazed at the way the Kansas connection is prospering us right now. We are so excited about this group and yet, I find myself always wanting it to be the "perfect" experience for whoever comes to our place. It's almost funny, really. I want so bad to organize it so well that there could almost be no room for God to actually work in the process. Shame on me. I was privileged to go to a regional prayer summit this week sponsored by Nazarene Headquarters that was actually really good. It took a little time for me to get used to it, but I really did enjoy the many facets of spiritual formation that were involved. I was proud of my denomination this last week. That's exciting! One of the main things that I will remember is to do more "being" than "doing." I think that same idea applies to this group from Kansas. Why I am so conditioned to productivity as opposed to quality and following God's leading and letting him work. I pray that I have the courage this week to allow this reality to become real with this group from Shawnee. Pray for us...we will be painting our church sanctuary! Yeah!

Beautiful Maryland and Delaware!

Well, we are getting ready to wrap up our summer vacation this year. We spent some time in Maryland and Delaware with some really good friends (actually, family in our minds) who live up there. We spent four days on the beach in Delaware and stayed at a great condo that overlooked the Atlantic Ocean. This being Sam's first trip to the beach we were pretty sure he would love it. He gets so extremely excited about the sand box at home that we knew he would be overwhelmed with all the sand on the beach. We were not disappointed. He spent most of his time digging and finding new things but also spent quite a bit of time standing with his daddy on the shore letting the waves crash into him. He would scream with joy when the waves crashed into his legs. He had a blast and we did too. Anna and Emily, our God-daughters, were a blessing as well. I have never seen two more well-behaved girls in my life. I honestly think you could leave them in a house by themselves for an entire week and they would be just fine. Beautiful, precious gifts from God. Anyone who would think otherwise clearly isn't thinking much. We will get up and go to church tomorrow, and head back to OKC late Sunday night. Big work week ahead as we get ready for several things coming. A mission trip from Shawnee, Kansas, trying to plan for Celebrate Recovery, and more boot camp! Peace!

Showers...Oh So Close!

We had a great time with the group from Central Church of the Nazarene. For those of you who read this and don't know who I'm talking about, this is the church that we served in while I was in seminary in KC. Altogether, we spent about five years there. We had a great group and they got so much done in such a short amount of time. I'll post some pictures of the group and their work. Ryan Forshee, Jerry Brockhaus, Jason Classen, David Green, and Terry and Liz Blake made up the group. Each one sacrificed in their own way to come and I'll never forget the impact they made. We are very close to finished and I hope to have the project completely finished by the first week in July. We have a group coming from Shawnee to do some significant work--Shawnee Church of the Nazarene...the Kansas Connection continues! God is so good. He brings what we need at just the right time.

Development and Fundraising

We have been so blessed to be working with a lady from OKC First that is basically an expert when it comes to fundraising and development for non-profit organizations. She used to do this for a huge evangelical organization and has raised tons of money to help people. She started helping us about two months ago and little by little has begun to make her presence felt in very powerful ways. She's been helping us put together a ten year celebration event and we've seen amazing things happen already with that. She took a day off from her "other job" today and came and did a workshop with our leadership group on development and fundraising and just did a phenomenal job. God continues to bring people our way in really cool ways!

Tomorrow, we've got a group coming from our former church in Kansas City (Central Nazarene) to remodel a room we have and install showers, a washer and dryer and mop sink. It's been amazing to watch God provide literally everything we need and more for this project. We have seen God answer our prayers almost immediately with regard to this project. We'll have 7 people coming down to help with this project and I can't wait to see them. I know many of them well and each one has impacted our lives in a special way. It will be fun to see them. I hope this is just the first of many trips down to OKC from our friends at Central Church in Lenexa. Love you guys!

God's Busy!

Wow. So much has been happening the last several days and its been hard to find time to do anything but eat, sleep and work. But it's good...really good! We had a guy in our recovery house go to treatment. He called me tonight to let me know how thankful he was and that he was doing good and wanted to move into an Oxford House for a more accountable atmosphere. I thought that was great and it made me happy to know that the time spent was worth it. I almost gave up on him. My boot camp instructor asked me on Friday what I did. I told him and he called me later in the afternoon wanting to know how he could help. Knowing that he was in the car business, I told him that we really needed a new van for our church and compassionate ministry center. Would you believe it? He called me on Saturday afternoon and had a van that he had been able to get for us and wanted to donate it. I picked it up on Monday afternoon. It drives really good and will hold 15 kiddos! I found out today that a lady at OKC First wants to take care of our newsletter for us. We found out tonight that a couple from OKC First wants to pick up a large part of our salary which is unbelievable. We found out yesterday that we are getting closer to covering our entire shower project that will be completed by a wonderful group of people coming from KC Central Church in just a couple of weeks. God is good. He's been busy. We are thankful!

New Website!

Happy Sunday morning to you!

I wanted you all to know about our new website that has recently been built. It's still a work in progress in many ways, but it will help tell more of the story! I hope you'll check it out! www.okccompassion.net

Celebrate Compassion

One of the most exciting things of the past two to three weeks has been the coming together of a group of people to help plan and organize a ten year celebration event for OKC Compassion. We're calling it "Celebrate Compassion." It's hard to believe that Pastor Bond has been here for ten years plugging away. At times, he's been about it and he's continued to faithfully serve people and model for the rest of us what it looks like to extend the hand of Jesus to others. I'm excited about this for a number of reasons. First off, we want to celebrate Pastor Bond. A very humble person, he has worked behind the scenes for so long and really is never recognized for the work he has done. It's truly amazing. If he was in one of our denomination's "big" churches, he would be well-known and acclaimed and people would know his name. But he's more interested in helping people and making a difference in the world and that's cool. Another reason I'm excited is because of the group of people that are helping. Debbie Repka, a friend from OKC First Church has come on board to help guide and lead this process. I'm not sure I've met a more talented individual when it comes to fund raising and helping non-profits think about development. Most events you see or go to are "flash in the pan" kinds of events. The whole purpose is to raise X number of dollars on a given night. We'll do some of that, but the main goal of this event is to get people connected on a number of different levels. With this kind of vision comes the need to be prepared on our end as things will begin to change. This is good as we need to shore up some of our organizational issues and move on to the next level. Skip Cannon, a local businessman and brother in Christ has also joined us. He has made a new website for us. Insert shameless plug here--www.okccompassion.net I would encourage you to check it out! God is moving in incredible ways. I'll write more soon to keep you updated. Have a great day!

Hooya!

Well, I am into my last week of boot camp for this session. I've already decided to re-up for the next one, however. It's been one of the most challenging, yet inspiring things I have ever been a part of. Yesterday, we pushed a truck almost two miles up and down hills for our workout. That was crazy! Everyone in the group is getting stronger and faster and in better shape and that includes me. Not really sure how much weight I've lost, but my clothes are fitting much loser and I'm down to last belt loop! Hopefully by the end of the next one I will be ready to enter the Mr. Olympia contest. He, he.

Other Ideas...

We are looking forward to going to a couple of new places over the next several weeks to see how people do things. I am speaking here about the recovery program that we now have at OKC Compassion. It's such a great ministry, but we need to make some changes/additions and I think that getting some new perspectives will help. We plan to visit the Pershing Center, in Oklahoma City as well as a place in Tulsa that sounds in incredible. I think we actually have some of the pieces in place in our houses right now to make a big difference. I think we have a potential live-in supervisor right now! Praise God!

Collaboration and Pride

Pride is a funny thing. Even those of us who pride, did I just say that?, ourselves on being fairly mature in our Christian journey can fall prey at any moment to this insidious vice. I have seen it in my own life and I have seen it work its way into the life of the church on many occasions. It usually presents itself in moments when people are talking about a certain plan, and one exerts his/her opinion over the other. Sometimes this can be done in healthy ways, especially when one person is better qualified and has reasoned out their thoughts in a more structured way.

We had some meetings here this weekend that were really important. One had to do with a big event we are planning and one had to do with the Celebrate Recovery programs that the two churches in significant partnership are starting...Penn Ave and OKC First. We had some of the regular Penn Ave folks who are always here plugging away at things and we had some folks from OKC First there as well. All in all, it went pretty well. We had some good discussion about different ideas and eventually came to a place where we had to make a decision, determining that one idea better fit our DNA than another. During the course of the conversation, I found myself wanting to be right, wanting to promote my thoughts over the others, wanting to in some ways just be a jerk. Because I was right. Wasn't I? I mean, my ideas were in line with Scripture and the concept of Jubilee and I didn't want to be something we weren't. I went home that day thankful for the collaboration that occurred (maybe this is more important than whatever the outcome is) but I found that I was aware of my "voice" at the table. I pride :) myself on being quiet and a good listener and a good decision maker. I pride myself on being sensitive to the thoughts and concerns of others. I also pride myself on being right. At the end of the day, I do feel like I handled things OK. I was passionate about it. I wanted to do it a certain way because I felt like the way we chose would best represent the King we serve. Can I be prideful and confident in serving him? Would love to hear your thoughts on this tough dilemma.

"A New Heaven and A New Earth"

I'm kind of excited. I get to preach this morning. And I get to preach on Revelation 21:1-7. Not my fault. It's the lectionary's fault. Someone else decided it would be a good text to preach on the fifth Sunday of Easter so I decided I would go with it. What a beautiful text! You should read it...when you have time. Our community needs to hear it today. We have had a one heck of a week. But, Sunday's a comin'! It is such a hopeful passage and is so powerful when you think of the context of preaching in an inner city church that often feels forgotten. To realize that Heaven comes down to us in the form of a city is an awesome thing. Have a great Sunday!

Struggle Today

Good evening...today was "one of those days." From the beginning it had the thickness of disfunction all over it. We had been in our weekly staff meeting maybe 30 minutes when a guy who has created problems for six years showed up, expected us to pay his cab bill and then began making threats toward the pastor and his family and cursing at the top of his lungs. We called the cops...twice. They came...twice. He is quite possibly one of the most difficult people I have ever seen...when he is on crack. When clean, he is as meek as a lamb. Then I got to deal with two people who have consumed much of our time in the past two months. Quite possibly the most disfunctional relationship I have ever witnessed. Both are good people, both are crack addicts and professional liars. I then went to speak with a guy I like a whole lot who lives in our recovery house...he is a wonderful guy but struggles with an addiction that is getting the better of him right now. He is smart, funny and capable of so much more. I tried to talk with him about going to treatment. We'll see where it goes. Hopefully he will let me know something on Thursday. I drove home thinking about boundaries...still struggling with boundaries. I have always worked in contexts where guidelines and rules were followed and everyone could follow them and if not, there were consequences. I am now working in a context where all the folks who couldn't follow them come! And we are supposed to provide structure and a model of living for these folks. The problem is confounding and troubling to me. I want it to be so easy. I want it to be black and white. It would be so much easier. Am I wrong for feeling this way?

Going...Home?

It's been a busy few days. Traveled to Kansas City to sing in a wedding for a family we know and used it as a really good excuse to visit with some friends while there. We had hoped to spend a lot of time at the reception but Sam had other plans and decided to poop his pants! So...we left. We had a great time at Central Church of the Nazarene on Sunday morning and were able to connect up with many, many people that we love very much. It was really cool. We've been gone since December and in some respects it felt like we had never left. I think that's the way it is supposed to feel when you go "home." I never thought I would think of Kansas City as home but I guess I kind of do now. SO many wonderful people helped make up a great part of our lives there and loved us and our boy so much. We had a great time. Sam slept for three hours on the way home!

I started my first day of "Boot Camp" this morning at 6am. I heard about this through a friend and it was as tough as I thought it would be. It felt like football two-a-days all over again! I'll probably throw up tomorrow, but that's ok. I'll feel better when these 30 days are over...and then I may do it all over again. To this point in the day, I have consumed 80 ounces of water...which is not common for me. How do people do this all day? I've been in the bathroom for a quarter of my day! But I do feel pretty good though. I won't in the morning. I hate "core" work. I wish they would just let me do what I'm good at...bench presses, squats, deadlifts...anything but situps!

An Awesome Day!

It was a special day at OKC First. It was a commissioning service for Amy and I...and for the people of OKC First as they, in a sense, committed just like we did to serving at Penn Avenue. It was amazing. I've never been a part of a service like that. I suppose that's because this situation is so unique. A church in OKC sending missionaries to another church 10 minutes away. It was special. But it really wasn't about us. It was about Penn Avenue and OKC First. Our goal is to provide a conduit between the two churches, and I think we accomplished that today. My friend, Jeremy Lamb, started things off great singing his song (scroll down on the blog and you can hear and see it!) "The Least of These." From there, Debbi McCullock shared about Celebrate Recovery and the way that things were beginning to set up to eventually start this program at Penn Avenue, with the help of OKC First people. Then, Jon spoke a bit about Amy and I and introduced us as the newest staff members at OKC First. It was a surreal moment as we walked up on to the stage. It truly is a dream come true to be able to serve as a pastor in the church that I really came to know Christ in. Amy and I shared our story and all the elements involved in getting us back to OKC. We tried to share a few stories of the lives changed at Penn Ave. Then, the best part of the service began. Our friend, Anngee, shared her testimony. She spoke for fifteen minutes about how God had changed her...about how he saved her from death and destruction. As soon as she finished, the crowd stood up as though they had rehearsed it and gave her a standing ovation. From the stage view, it was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. Truly a special moment. After that Amy and I sang "The Prayer" as the offering was taken. After the service it became clear that we were able to connect well as people were coming in waves to talk to us and to the folks from Penn Ave about the ministry opportunities there. My heart was jumping inside me. I think God was pleased about what had taken place the hour and a half before. I think he will be even more pleased with what takes place in the future between these two great churches.

Commissioning Service

Well, it's about 1:45 a.m. on Sunday morning, April 13th. I confess I'm still up. I haven't even tried to go to sleep yet. I suppose that's because I'm excited. God is up to something. We get to go to church in a few hours at OKC First Nazarene. The place where I really started to grow in my faith. It's the place that has shaped me more than any other. I've been to OKC First a number of times over the past several years. But today is different. We are going, Amy, Sam and I...to be commissioned as missionaries from OKC First to Penn Avenue Nazarene. Amazing. Who new back in October what God would have in store for us as we took a leap of faith to come back to OKC to follow God's call. Who would have thought that I would have the opportunity to work alongside my childhood youth pastor who now serves as the senior pastor? Who would have thought that Amy and I would finally get a chance to work together doing what we REALLY wanted to do all along? Oh that we can say what God wants us to in a couple of hours. Thank God that he is faithful.

The Least of These

This is a friend of mine from Penn Avenue who wrote an incredible song. He's a talented guy, but the words of this song are directly from the heart of a man who gets it because of Christ's work in his life.

A New Video!

This is our newest video from OKC Compassion. A special Thank You! to Carl Zoch for putting this together for us. It's just the first of many more to come! Thanks so much Carl. I hope it begins to help tell the story for more of you. These are our people and we love them.

Been Too Long!

Hi everyone,

First off, let me apologize for my lack of posts over the last several weeks. I really don't have a good excuse for it, as I feel that it is one of my jobs to communicate to the world what is taking place at Penn Ave./OKC Compassion. So much has happened since I posted last, so I'll try and pick up where I left off. Amy, Sam and I just returned from a week of vacation in Estes Park, Colorado. It was our first vacation with Sam...and nobody warned us that it would be different than ever before! We had a great time with Cory, Vanessa and Ava Stipp...some friends from KC. But, it wasn't what you would call a restful vacation. But that's OK. We had some funny and expensive moments while on the trip. First off, we got a foot of snow in Estes the night that the Stipps made the trip. Did I mention that our condo was halfway up a mountain? They drive a van. The van didn't do so well. It got stuck about 1oo yards from the condo at 1:30 a.m. on Monday morning. Cory then decided to carry their luggage up the side of the mountain to the condo and he was wearing a headlamp. A true mountain man...it was hilarious! It wasn't all on Cory, though. I decided that it would be a good idea to run directly into a curb at about 20 miles an hour. Blew it out and found out when I returned home that I needed to replace both hubs because my bearings on both sides were damaged. Not good. That cost about 700 dollars. Keep those donations coming! Hopefully I won't have to use them on tire and car repair too often! Amy was kind of enough to let me attempt skiing for the very first time. Now that was fun! But very tiring. I could easily see how a person could die on the side of a mountain. Cory is much better than me! We had a good time and got to be with some good friends. It really was a lot of fun. We are thankful for the folks who allowed us to go and stay in the condo at a very reduced rate :). Thanks for vacation God! I'll post again soon!

Welcome to the Hood'!

It's been a while since I posted, I do apologize for that. Things have been a bit busy these days. We are busy trying to get things lined up for the partnership between OKC First Nazarene and Penn Avenue Nazarene and its been fun, but busy. Thought I would share an event that happened the other day in our lives:

Amy took a lady home to her apartment from the church. Her place is probably three or four blocks away from our church. Right down the street. Amy was stopped at an intersection getting ready to turn right down the street where the apartment complex was and heard what sounded like gun shots. She said they went off real fast, like a semi-auto or something. She looked to her right and saw to guys, probably 16-18 years old, shooting at a truck with two guys inside that was only about 20 feet away from her. They shot six or eight times, the truck peeled out and drove off. The boys ran down into the alley. It all happened so fast. She handled herself well, but the lady with her did not. Apparently she freaked out, began screaming and they came back to the church where I was and relayed the story. Needless to say, we were all a bit shaken up. Pastor said he had never seen anything like this in the eleven years he has been at Penn Ave. He has heard shots before, but never seen the actually shooting take place. Please remember us in your prayers as we serve in a mission field. It's complete with everything!

What Do You Want to Know?

I've spent a lot of time writing about our experiences so far at OKC Compassion. Hopefully you've enjoyed some of that experience. I got to thinking tonight that you might have some questions about what we're doing that I haven't answered yet. We would LOVE to know your questions, and we'll do our best to answer them. Thanks!

Crack House!

Wow. Just had an interesting night! Had a chance to take a mattress and little space heater to a family I met a couple of weeks ago when they came to have lunch at the church. I found out earlier this morning they were without heat and were sleeping on the floor of their apartment. My parents and my uncle Bob came over tonight for dinner and we had a blast together. So, I thought it might be a smart idea to ask my dad and my uncle to go with me since it was night. I am learning more and more that crazy things happen with our people at night. I guess that's a universal thing. We hopped in the truck and headed to an apartment complex about 3 blocks away from the church. When we pulled up to the front I saw several men standing outside just kind of "hanging out." I had heard rumors about this kind of thing but had never really experienced it first hand. One rather large individual was standing in front of the main entrance like he was guarding it from something or someone! I got out of the truck, told my dad and uncle to stay put and made my way up to the door. The guy asked me, "What are you looking for?" I quickly realized he was trying to see if I wanted to buy some drugs. That was quite an experience. I told him I was looking for my friend and he said, "Are you sure?" I told him I was sure and he directed me to the back. Scary place, scary situation. But, people live in it everyday. I can't imagine what that must be like on a daily basis.

Disfigured Face and a Good Lunch!

Sounds kind of strange for a title, but it kind of highlights our day together at Penn Ave. Amy was at home with Sam this morning and I went in to try and take care of a few things and walked through the fellowship hall where several of our community folks had already begun to gather for lunch. Then a woman named Lily came up to me and said that her husband had been beaten up and was in the ER in south OKC. She hadn't seen him in a few days as he was out drinking. She asked if I would take her to see him. I couldn't say no as she was terrified. So, we made our way to Integris Hospital. On the way I found out that she and her husband had been homeless for over a year and both had struggled with several addictions, the main two being huffing paint and alcohol. This last addiction appeared to play a part in Tony's altercation. When we got to the hospital we made our way to the ER and walked into the room. It's hard to describe what I saw. He didn't look like the same person I knew. Apparently he was drunk and walking late last night and was ganged up on by two guys and they robbed him for six dollars. Six dollars. For a few minutes they weren't sure if they would be able to save his left eye. His orbital bone was shattered and both of his eyes were swollen shut. Remarkably, he was in really good spirits. It's hard to know how to help in that kind of situation. "Stop drinking, Tony." That's too obvious. Tony already knows that. He just has to choose to do it. So, I just decided to be a non-anxious presence. My friend Ed Robinson talked a lot about that in seminary. He's really good at that and I'm trying to get better at. Just to be present. I prayed with Tony and Lily and made my way to a lunch appointment with the senior pastor of Bethany First Church. He and his wife met me and Amy for lunch. I'm not sure I've ever been around a couple with so much Godly wisdom. They helped us tremendously and gave us great insight into how we might be able to help bring about some new hope and movement at Penn Avenue and OKC Compassion. It was good to be with them again. They are special people. We head to Waco, TX tomorrow to visit our family. Birthday parties are fun. Be back soon!

Hi Jan

Hi Jan. Hope you like the book...it's good stuff!

Great Book

Wow, my friend Joe Hoffman turned me onto a great book this weekend. Once I got it home from Barnes and Noble I couldn't put it down. Read the thing from cover to cover. If you are wondering where Amy and I are at with regard to our dreams, the kinds of people we work with and some of the issues involved, read this book. Written by Ron Hall and its called "Same Kind of Different Than Me." It's about a wealthy couple that begins to serve down at the City Union Mission in Fort Worth, Texas and their interaction with a homeless man named Denver. They both change each others' lives and it's quite possibly the best book I've ever read to help explain to people "why" we are doing what we are doing. I highly recommend it. Be back soon!

People and Issues

Well, it's been a few days since I posted. Things are really beginning to come together. A group of guys has been working on a new office for the two of us. It is huge! We're excited about that as it is so incredibly important to have a place where we can provide some counseling in a private atmosphere. Closed doors are important at times.
Tried to help a guy yesterday whose house burned down. Actually, his girlfriend of 30 years decided it would be a good idea. She has her share of problems and unfortunately locked away for quite awhile with a first-degree arson charge. Her boyfriend and I went down to the red cross to try and get a voucher for his living expenses for this month. It always takes a long time, longer than it should. However, I have been impressed with the Red Cross and their work with us on this.
I was able to get individual letters typed out to each guy living in our Recovery House. 12 of them, to be exact. It felt good to at least get somewhat of a handle on communication and setting up consistent meetings times with these guys. I think several of them are well on their way to getting out of the cycle they have lived in for so long. That's exciting.
I met with Carl Zoch from OKC First this morning and discussed the upcoming Senior High mission trip to Penn Ave. in March. He is a great guy and I can tell he shares the same vision for the Kingdom of God that Jon does there. That's an exciting thing and I look forward to watching how it all works out. Ministry has been fun so far this week!

Still Learning

Had an interesting day today. Had a chance to listen to a philosophy of helping people that is so rare and so hard to understand. Yet, part of me really likes it and believes it to be what Jesus would hold if he were here (is he still here through us?) and it is something that in my heart I really want to embrace. BUT, in my head it is much different. It all boils down to a philosophy of finances. What does it mean to be fiscally responsible? I have experienced both "philosophies" in my short ministry experience thus far. At my last church I saw a philosophy that embraced helping people but only to a certain extent, at least that was the case until about the last six months I was there and some new leadership was brought in that said, "If we have the money we need to help." So, there wasn't a $2000.00 cushion like there was in the past. The logic went this way: "We can't save this for a rainy day because it is someone's rainy day today." I wholeheartedly believe in that. It's funny that at our new place of ministry that same prevailing thought exists. "If we have the money, we need to help those in need." I have so much to learn and am still so uncomfortable with some of the ways that things are done around the ministry. Yet, there is this part of me that says "Shut up Joe. You are an arrogant jerk and you don't have it all figured out." I hate being patient.

First Haircut for Sam

My son is no longer a little baby. He had his first haircut today and treated it like he does most things. He was extremely laid back and just kind of checked things out. Sherry did a great job cutting his hair as his mom and dad and both sets of grandparents (and everyone else in the salon) gawked like we had never seen someone get a haircut! It was a good day, but in some ways it was a sad day. I keep reminding myself to enjoy every moment but I keep wishing that I could have my tiny little boy back! I know that is useless though, as he grows more and more every day. I'll try and put some video of the big day up tomorrow or the next day.

Fireman

It seems that work in this context could be compared to that of a fireman. No, we don't carry around hoses and ride around with sirens. But, we do put out fires...lots of fires. And because of those fires, other things just don't get done. And they are important things. But, are they more important than getting a person to work for the first time in two years? Are they more important than going to court for a person being accused of grand larceny? Are they more important than actually looking into the eyes of a hurting person that hasn't experienced a true listening ear in years? What is more important? Raising awareness about a really important church and ministry or actually participating in that ministry? I'm not sure I can pick between the two, but what I do know is that this fireman mentality is real and it causes great stress at times because as a "productive" North American I want to be able to look back at my day and see all of the things crossed off of my list. God help me. God help all of us who forget the things that really matter in life. To love people above all else.

What is Social Justice?

Had a chance tonight to go to something called "The Forum" at OKC First Church of the Nazarene. Every month or two they have a gathering of folks around a particular topic and they bring in "experts" from the community to talk about all things related to social justice. Tonight they actually answered the question, "What is social justice?" It was really good and I found it to be incredibly stimulating. I wish more churches would do this from time to time. Not everyone agrees with everyone, but the cool thing is that at the end people are encouraged to take The Eucharist together.

What is it, though? I'm still not sure I got a good concrete answer but we went a long way in trying. What I do know is that we are beginning to partner with a church in OKC First that is trying to do whatever it can to make a difference in the world. And, they are willing to make sacrifices and give their people expectations to help this become a reality. And guess what...the people are responding and getting excited about it. This is how the "not yet" becomes "the already." God's Kingdom is coming and is here and we're thrilled to be a part of it. Write more later this week.

Some Sammy video!

Food!

It's awesome to see people give so much. I got to go down to a local business to pick up a car load full of gourmet food yesterday. The business was...a horse auction? Yep, that's right. Apparently this giant place has like 5 auctions a year and they must have given us 400 pounds of food. Salmon, chicken, ribs, bbq beef, pasta, rice, vegetables. It was a sight to behold for the guys as I pulled up late last night in front of the fellowship hall door. Normally they aren't there at night but because of the cold temps we were letting folks stay inside the fellowship hall. They couldn't believe all of the food and the kind of food we got. This was all cooked food that could be frozen and heated up whenever we needed it. Normally, we get food from folks that is almost expired. Don't get me wrong, we're happy to receive it, but when we get this kind of food it is a special thing. I found out when I went to pick it up from the auction that one of the ladies working in the kitchen had been ministered to by OKC Compassion and wanted to give back! That's a pretty amazing thing and it is one of the great things to see in ministry. It's awesome to watch the guys in the kitchen. They decided that they were going to feed people three times a day over the next several days to make sure that the folks get the good stuff! Tomorrow's Sunday...better get to bed.

Snail's Pace

I had the privilege of helping a family today I hadn't met yet before. It was quite an experience, to say the least. They were really kind. Never have I been so amazed at the situations that people live in on a daily basis. The young man (23 years old) went to bed one night feeling fine and woke up the next morning paralyzed from the neck down. Unbelievable. He has a disorder called Transverse Myelitis. For more on this, check out this link: http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/transversemyelitis/detail_transversemyelitis.htm
I showed up at the house and realized that the family of four lived in an apartment above a garage. The steps up to the apartment were really old and weak. I thought I might fall through them. I walked in, met the family and we began the task of carrying Larry down the rickety, old stairs. His brother grabbed him under the arms and I got his legs. We went to a very interesting doctor's office where Larry was being treated for a UTI. The office was in the upstairs of the mall which meant we had to take the elevator...that was out of order. This meant carrying Larry up the steps again. Thankfully, the world's largest policeman worked security for the mall and pretty much carried Larry up the stairs by himself! He was huge! The doctor, and I hesitate to call him that, was not very helpful and really didn't do too much to alleviate the issues. It seems that folks in these situations have a hard time getting good, quality help. He is on Medicaid. We then made our way back to their home. Dad has emphysema and was given three months to live two months ago. Mom spends all her time taking care of the two men. Brother does what he can to support the family and helps in many ways. They are supposed to be moving to another house soon...but that was what they were told six months ago. Nothing happens fast, it seems, for folks who don't have the resources. I prayed with the family and asked God to intervene. Sometimes there's just nothing else to pray! I'm hoping to try and help as much as I can. We'll see how it goes. If you haven't caught things so far, let me stress again that this is a mission field in every sense possible. All for now.

Where Is the Line?

Had some very interesting moments today at the church. We are continually amazed at the way compassion is understood at Penn Avenue. It is like nothing we have ever seen before. It is almost insulting to us at first, but it isn't long before we begin to see Jesus in the process. I say this because it seems like there should be some sort of "line" or "balance" between enabling someone on one had and truly helping them on the other. Pastor is amazing at helping people and for giving them chance after chance after chance. This isn't to say he doesn't put a few boundaries in place for those he knows are taking advantage of him...it just means he never gives up on anyone...ever. This is truly refreshing to me and scary at the same time. I kind of felt today like I was having an out of body experience looking at myself from the other side of the room and shaking my head in disappointment at the "guy" who was trying to think too much like he already knew everything there was to know about compassion. The truth is, I know nothing. I have much to learn. I still think there is a balance somewhere but I'm not convinced I know where it is or even how to find out how to strike it. I suppose that will become clearer the longer we are involved. I am thankful for the examples in front of me on a daily basis.

We had a great meeting tonight with OKC First and really sensed God's presence among us as we met. We continue to be affirmed on a daily basis as we work, meet with people and discuss what we sense God has directed us to do. The church seems really on board and wants to help in significant ways. Unprecedented was the right word to use.

Mission Fields, Difficulty and Grace

We have decided that the only things different about the mission field at 10th and Penn from other places we have been to around the world is that we know the language (most of the time), the culture is fairly similar to ours and there is some familiarity with stores and the kinds of food we eat each day. (So far we have been to Mazzio's and the Hungry Frog Restaurant!) Other than that, this place is foreign. We don't always know how to relate to folks who can't imagine life without some sort of chemical in their bodies. Things are just difficult sometimes, too. It took an act of Congress yesterday to get something faxed. We went to get some keys made for various doors in and around the church and about half of them didn't work. Internet issues...that's a whole new post! All that to say, it feels very similar to some of the experiences we have had in places on the other side of the world.

Probably the best part of the day was getting to pray with "Tina." Tina is a lady that has been a fixture at Penn Ave. for many years. She has manipulated the leadership there for years and taken advantage of good and Godly hearts in order to continue her addiction to crack cocaine. Within the past six weeks, she has been "clean." She has been working at the church in a number of ways and you can truly see the transformation that is taking place. Jesus is alive in her life. One of the things I love about these folks is their brutal honesty. She entered the room today where we were meeting and asked for prayer. She told us of how she dreamed of crack the night before and woke up tasting it and wanting it so bad. In her earlier days she would prostitute herself just to make money for crack. To say she was addicted doesn't do her situation justice. We prayed for her and asked that God would give her strength to continue the battle another day. It was truly a holy moment and I'm better because of it.

Unprecedented

We have spent many hours the last two days discussing a partnership between two churches: Penn Avenue and OKC First Church of the Nazarene. In years of ministry I have heard of churches helping each other and that is always a good thing. What we have been talking about is somewhat unprecedented, I think. This partnership involves at least 10 items that can hopefully be shared in the future. Most of them involve OKC (and some other churches) giving significant attention to our children's ministry and allowing finding ways for each church to see the other as "their" people. How does that occur with two churches that find themselves in radically different settings, with radically different people, radically different incomes and radically different worldviews? Time. Lots of time. Good leadership and a vision that embraces the Kingdom of God in the world. Can it happen? I think so...if we allow God to lead and we put our own agendas off to the side. It's going to be a fun experience, I can tell you that!

Celebrate Recovery

It is becoming increasingly clear to us that we are to be involved in a ministry called "Celebrate Recovery." It's not a new ministry...in fact it was started back in 1996 at Saddleback Church in California. It's a huge church with a huge name with huge influence...and surprisingly a lot of that influence is really good. Rick Warren is the senior pastor. Maybe you've heard of him :).

At Penn Ave. so many of the people are living in the oppression of chemical addiction. The drugs of choice are crack cocaine and methamphetamine. Celebrate Recovery is an awesome tool that helps these folks get out from the oppressive cycle they are living in. Currently, many of our leaders are involved in step studies at Western Oaks Church of the Nazarene. We have had some discussions with OKC First about helping us partner to start one on-site at Penn Ave. It seems that this would make the most sense as we have an enormous number of people battling everyday. Amy and I are hoping to start a step study next Tuesday night. We're really looking forward to it and believe that God will use the ministry to reach people. If you have friends or family that are addicted to drugs I highly suggest this program. It's not a quick fix thing...it can take up to a year to complete the program, but obviously it's well worth it.

Blog Title?

All but the theology nerds are probably wondering what in the world this blog title means--"The Already But Not Yet"? I'll admit it even types out funny! But, it points to something that gives foundation and meaning to everything that our family is about in these days. It's the reason we left some really good friends, a great job and a great church and a lot of comfort. The reason...we believe that the Kingdom of God is already here because God has come in Jesus Christ and is still here through the power of the Spirit. This radically affects everything. It gives incredible hope to all those hurting and living in oppression...they can be free in Christ. We can be free in Christ. The world can be redeemed in Christ. What about the but not yet part? Well, we must confess that the Kingdom isn't fully realized until Christ returns. When he does, the Kingdom will have full expression. Until that time, the Church as the Body of Christ does its work in the world to point people to the God that loves all of His creation with a transforming love. This is why we have chosen to do what we have done. It's why we believe that every day makes a difference. Every day we have a chance to participate in helping to bring about the redemption of the world...what a vocation! Guess what!? You do, too. And you don't have to leave your job and move away from friends...you can point people to Christ wherever you are right now. You can bring help bring "heaven to earth" by the way you love people today. But, if God calls you to move we could sure use you down in Oklahoma City! I'll try not to spend too much time on this blog theologizing, but from time to time I won't be able to resist.

"Welcome to Reality"

Hi everyone...sorry I missed writing yesterday. It was quite the day as I spent the day experiencing some "firsts." I witnessed my first live high speed chase. I confess I am a closet "COPS" fan (insert cheesy TV music here) and enjoy when the news channels break into regularly scheduled programming to show the crazy guy driving the wrong way down a one way street and running into trash cans with 15 police cars giving chase. I don't enjoy it when I have a front row seat and am sitting in the intersection when a cop car flies out in front of me and throws stop sticks down and points his gun at the oncoming car with 15 cops behind him. He was headed right for me and if the cop would have shot him he would have run straight into me! Needless to say, I thank God I didn't die yesterday!

I also had the chance to work with a guy named "Bill." I decided that I would never use the real names of the people we work with in order to protect them. Frequently, their names and the clothes on their backs are all they really have. Bill has been homeless for six years. He had been telling some of the workers that he had social security checks going somewhere but he didn't know where. We thought that if we could track down where those checks were landing we might actually be able to help him. What you don't know about Bill is that he is very nervous and literally locks up when he gets stressed. He couldn't even tell the social security worker his last name over the telephone. Luckily, it was my friend at the social security office and she was able to do some research. Come to find out, Bill had never even applied for social security, hasn't worked in at least twenty years and needs to apply. We set an appointment for February 1st--that was the earliest we could do it. Bill was thankful for our efforts...we'll see if he still wants to follow through.

Extra furniture...Dad and I loaded up our three year old refrigerator today along with a loveseat that Amy and I have owned since we got married. We took them down to the "Faith House" this afternoon and met several of the men who live in the house. They were so grateful and kind and genuinely seemed to appreciate what we had brought. The house is in bad shape and there is much to be done. That might be a place where I spend a lot of time in the future.

Where Do We Start?

Well, it's fair to say that there's plenty to do. We participated in our first staff meeting today and began the process of throwing ourselves into the work of OKC Compassion, the non-profit partnered with Penn Avenue Church of the Nazarene at 10th and Penn. It was quite an experience to sit around the table with three pastors, one social worker, and three four folks who have much to teach the rest of us. Patrick, Pam, Patti and Angie have all experienced the perils of drug addiction and are currently in recovery and serving God through many different efforts at Penn Avenue. Humbled is really the only way to feel after an experience like that. I think its fair to say that we feel privileged to work alongside these wonderful people. We have so much to learn.

The needs are as long as there are lines on the page(s). We need to put in a shower or two, repair a gas leak, replace some copper that was stolen off of the church air conditioners, raise some money for a salary, help people with social security issues, start literacy classes, ESL classes, coordinate volunteer groups, start a Celebrate Recovery group, and on, and on, and on. In the midst of all of that, it seems very clear to us that God has brought us to Penn Avenue for such a time as this.

I met Rick today. He's been in and out of jobs for the last several years. Just returned on a bus from Dallas. He seems like he might be hard to help. Not sure he really wants to be transformed, just helped from day to day. Jesus would help him, but I think He would also desire that Rick want to be transformed. I think he would desire that I would continue to be transformed as well. God is good. Peace.

Here we go!

Well, we have made the move to the great state of Oklahoma. Been in Edmond, OK for about two weeks now and it looks like we are finally beginning to get settled. Amy has been feverishly decorating the house and I have been checking things off of the lists she makes me daily. I just finished putting together an elliptical machine...we'll see if we use it. We've painted a good portion of the house and it's beginning to feel like our home. Sam is doing great and loves his new house. He's growing up and doing great and loves to be near his grandparents. They have already done a great job spoiling him.

Tomorrow is a big day for our family. We head for the very first time to Penn Avenue Church of the Nazarene to begin what we believe is the next step in our ministry journey. We will have an opportunity to work with the poorest of the poor in OKC and make a huge difference in the life of this faith community. There are certainly some reservations, however. For example...how will we put food on the table? Currently, there is no salary package. This we know--God will provide. He has already provided a great home to live in and neighbors that we have already begun talking to. I realized today that a guy I used to work with at A Chance to Change Foundation lives just a couple of houses down the street! It's a small world, but a world that desperately needs people to live out faith. God help us. Be back soon.