Tuesday, July 05, 2005

Taking a trip down memory lane

I have been thinking a lot lately about the poor and my involvement with them. I live in the inner city and have not done too much yet. I remember when I moved into my community, I went to God with my master plan of ministry stuff and in my heart I felt he closed the door. He wants me to "be" a minister, not build a ministry". I have been involved extensively with working with the poor in the past. In fact in my previous church I was the person in charge of evangelism. I remember starting a donut and coffee drop in center on Saturday mornings. Man was that fun. People would come in and eat and drink and share thier struggles or just visit. We always went out into the community in groups as well. I remember one of my best friends and I would walk over to the Albany and Barry hotel and we would serve the "intoxicated" people donuts right in the bar. The real cool thing is that I still see people that came in and they comment on the memories there. I was a fun time. I remember getting kicked out an antique mall as they had a cafeteria (or so they said). But I was on fire then. God would put something on my heart and I would step out in obedience and BOOM things would happen. I remember having a vision of a long row of people sitting down and being served real food (not shelter style). I shared this with the ministry group that I was a part of and they took it and ran with it. I still believe that the picture I had in my head will still come to happen. I want to have some family fun days in my back yard yet. I remember we used to do that, boy was that a blessing. Cook up some hot dogs, serve some pop, have games for the kids. Wow we need to get into the groove of ministering to the poor. Jesus tells us that the poor will always be with us, but I still feel strongly that we need to be loving them and bringing them into the kingdom and showing them the love of the father. Oh to have the passion I had then. You see then I had passion that lacked wisdom, now I have more wisdom but seem to lack the passion...go figure. Well God moved me into the heart of the neglected inner city so he will show me where or what I am to do. (I call it the neglected inner city because no one wants to live here. I remember when I moved into the area most people were cautious and saying oh I hope you aren't in Riversdale)
I remember when I moved to Saskatoon in 1995 I would drive down to Riversdale and I would walk up and down the avenues praying for them and asking God to touch them. Ironic that 8 years later he would move me there. Anyway I am rambling now.

2 comments:

Benjamin said...

I see that you like Keith Greene, so I thought you might have the song "My Eyes are Dry". In it he cries out to God for a renewal of faith, love, and passion in his life. Likewise, we all must have this renewal, a stoking of the fire it could be called, or we'll die out. If God makes His servants "flames of fire" (Heb. 1:7), then He must have a way to keep that flame going. In Eph. 5:18, we are told to "Be filled with the Spirit." In the Greek it denotes a continual process. So, Christ is saying that He'll place that passion and drive in your life. If you're not already doing it, how about taking some time to set yourself apart with Him, pushing everything else out and focusing just on seeking Him. See, Christianity's heritage is from the Semites, and they would sit and meditate over a principle (e.g. "Love the LORD with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.") for hours. It is amazing how much the Lord will reveal unto us if we'll just take His Word and ponder over it in the presence of His Spirit. May the Lord reveal Himself unto you. God bless, Brother.

Jeffrey said...

Keep it up and someday you wil understand me. Pretty much 100% controlled passion