City Hall

As we gear up for this internship and look for ways in which multiple groups are interested in blessing their city, it seems that God is at work all over the place (including outside the church). It has always been a wonder to me that in the bible when things happen it seems to cross the lines of all different sectors. Whether politics, religion, social or familial, God crosses all these barriers constantly. Why would it be a surprise that God is working all over in our world and not just inside the church building? He is interested in every single sphere of human life and in every single human life.

Sitting in a meeting at city hall there were multiple different faith groups at the table with the mayor. One major topic in this meeting was gang violence. In the city of Omaha they are realizing that we all need each other. Faith groups can do things that city groups cannot. But faith groups also rely on the same services as everyone else--police, fire dept. etc. As a whole we are much stronger. We can all agree that gang violence is something that ruins our communities.

We don't hide out in our churches we get involved in living. If as the church we simply would come to the table we could go much further with our witness. We realize that there is more to the great commision than making disciples. But it also includes what makes up our discipleship. It includes what we are teaching those coming into the Body of Christ. If we actually lived by the great commandment we would have a stronger witness. Matthew 28 says, "Go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you." The greatest commandment is that we love God with all that we have in us, and that we love our neighbor as ourselves. By coming to the table over tough issues our neighbors see that we actually care about them. If we live in neighborhoods plagued with gang violence and we get involved in keeping our neighborhoods safe we show our love. As we pray to God that "His kingdom come" we must be willing to point to that kingdom that has taken root inside of us.

Things fall together

As we went about our work of planning and seeking a new place to live, we spent weeks narrowing down the options. We have really developed a desire to become part of a neighborhood that has God's kingdom work in mind. While we lived in Sioux Falls we were part of a neighborhood in which there was all kinds of great work happening. We were hoping that in a couple years, after doing the proper planning and networking that we would become part of neighborhood in Omaha that had a similar goal. So we settled on a nice apartment. It was sort of close to downtown and it was a decent place but we just were not aware of any kind of work being done in this neighborhood.

Sometimes things just fall together. I am not sure why we doubt that they will. Granted there are times in our life when no matter how we feel about our relationship with God, things never seem to work. One of the basics of The Way, as it was referred to in early Christian life, is that we walk based on faith in God. Faith is a part of everyday life. We live by faith in all sorts of things we just don't realize it. We live taking for granted that the sun will be there everyday. We rely on people and organizations to make our world work. We rely on plumbing and electricity and live by faith believing that we will always have those things. Becky and I have stepped out in faith that God has called us to a new city, to start a new family, and to live in a new neighborhood. One of these prayers was answered in an unexplainable way and we have been amazed by it. I want to share this story about God showing up in the small details of our life.

We had decided that we were done looking at apartments. We found a place in our budget, close to downtown and they would take our dog Jake. It was settled. That is until Sunday night when Becky found another place that she liked. Instead of turning in our lease agreement for the 1st apartment I held off until looking at the new one. Little did I know that God had other plans.

It was Tuesday morning. As we sat at a local diner I was really intrigued by what I was hearing. The man we met with very plainly laid out what it was that he was up to. He was buying property and hiring out of work people in the neighborhood to help him. He also was part of a group of Christians that met in the neighborhood to have church together. There was a sense that there were many that joined together in partnership. As we talked further he said that he wanted to show us around to some of the 14 properties that he had restored. We drove around the neighborhood in an old blue volvo. We saw some of the different groups devoted to this neighborhood and ministry to neighbors. The last stop we made was at an apartment. It had all wooden floors, and all the character of an old apartment. There were two large bedrooms and a nice dining and kitchen area. He mentioned what he charged for rent. He said that the people had just moved out and it was available to rent today. This was huge.

Becky and I have really been working through this. We have a baby on the way and needed to be out of our place soon. We were not sure what we were going to do. A friend of the family decided that she needed a house sitter at exactly this same time so that solved the problem of where Becky would stay during the transition, but we could not find a place open until August 1st. Where were we going to move so fast? Well, I called on this apartment and it was perfect. It was in a good neighborhood with a strong community, it was a good price and close to some new friends interested in living the life Jesus has modeled. This tells me a lot about our God. When many feel that our God is distant we have a God that is so close with us. We hope that we can find ways to be good neighbors to those around us and that we can have an impact on our city that lasts forever.