Shalom for Everyone

Greetings for the New Year 2011!

I've been reading Robert Linthicum's book Building a People of Power. He does a great job at talking about the biblical concept of shalom as what a God vision for the whole world is to look like.

We talk a lot about shalom when we talk about Kingdom Causes to churches and people of faith. After all we use Jeremiah 29:7 a lot in our conversations: "Seek the welfare (shalom) of the city." But what I didn't think about is that shalom is for the "haves and have nots," and Linthicum does a good job at showing these two are intertwined for shalom to be whole (and biblically speaking, the two themes are brought together in the book of Deuteronomy).

Shalom for the "have nots" is a message of liberation, salvation, of setting free. Shalom for the "haves" is of celebration for security and of wise management of all God has given. As Linthicum says,

The biblical message on shalom is that it is for both the haves and have nots. It is both for those who lack power and are in need of liberation and for those who hold power and seek to appropriately manage the resources God has placed at their disposal...One of the essential tasks of the church is to bring together through Christ those searching for liberation or salvation and those who are the managers of society and seek security, so that they might work together to build shalom that is truly just and equitable for all, that brings people in to an ever-deepening relationship with God and each other, and consequently contributes to the formation of society as God intended it to be lived.

Couldn't have said it better myself! Here's to seeking shalom and bridges between the haves and have nots in Alhambra & Monterey Park for the New Year!

On a Mission from God?

Last week I had a telling interaction with one of my co-teachers at Upward Bound Study Center in Monterey Park, where we teach recent immigrant Chinese students ESL and other subjects.

We were talking about something and she said something along the idea that she'll "be on mission" next week. Meaning she was going overseas. I thought about it for a second and said, "Aren't you already on mission?"
She said, "Well, you can take it up with God." I responded, "I don't have a comeback for that."

Notwithstanding my inability to give an adequate comeback, there's something about our in-house Christian language that has "mission" still placed in foreign, extraordinary, special terms. In some ways, it seems to be a positive elevation of this aspect of what it means to be the Church. But in many ways, it creates the kind of hierarchy that makes it only for those spiritually mature and sacrificial enough to be part of this elite circle--and everyone else either a spectator or financial supporter.

Mission flows from the heart of the Triune God. If that is a fundamental part of God's nature, then mission is not something we simply "do" as one thing amongst many in The Church. It is central to her being.

You all are "on a mission from God"!

Block Parties Galore

One of the best ideas to come out from our strategic planning meeting last month was the neighborhood block party. We planned on having four for the year, and we already had two last weekend and one planned for July 4th weekend. And now our local churches want to do the same, and some asking KCAMP to help them reach their neighbors.

I had a conversation with one of the host neighbors last week about how counter cultural it is to much of our LA culture to have neighbors hanging out with each other, knowing, trusting, and helping one another. I know it's a larger symptom of the shadow side of our independent American spirit, where loneliness and isolation is the norm. But the irony is deeper in a dense city like our own.

And as I experienced our own block party, I got a vision of a pretty good end result for these block parties: my block which is usually empty of residents being outside had people walking back and forth in their front yards, laughing with one another, talking out on the street, and making plans together for future interactions.

The Kingdom is like, as Tony Campolo famously said, "a party." An apt metaphor. I think our parties are a foretaste of that Kingdom life.

Transition Plan

If you don't know by now, my family and I are taking a step of faith for me to quit my stable 30 hour job so I could focus more on going "full-time" with Kingdom Causes Alhambra - Monterey Park (stable in work, not necessarily in pay :P) . There's been a rush of feelings, lots of fitful sleep, and wondering prayers. It can be hard living in that "in-between" space, wondering how it's all going to play out.

But this week as I started my transition plan (down from 30 to 16 hours with the goal of training my successor), I found so much life-giving work, meetings, and conversations that helped confirm this sense of calling even more with the additional time in Kingdom Causes work.

Monday--Meeting with local pastors about opportunities to serve the community. Also connected with the SGV branch of Habitat for Humanity.

Wednesday--Met with my coach to talk about our strategic plan for KCAMP for the next few years. Our team is already moving forward with all our listed goals.

Thursday--Monterey Park Ministerial group. Continued to dream and plan on how we can work together as well as for the city.

Friday--Did some extra mentoring time and replanted a garden with summer veggies.

Praise God for all these opportunities and connections. Sometimes I feel like what I'm doing with KCAMP "out there" is making up for all the pretty much in-house work I did as a pastor of a church.

Encouragement for Kingdom Workers

The following is an excerpt from Howard Thurman's The Inward Journey. It is a reflection on the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30. To me, it's an encouragement to those of us who feel like we're laboring without any sort of results, and thus losing heart. It's also a great corrective for us who perhaps trust too much in our ability (or at least try to project the image) to "make things happen." Please excuse his old school non-inclusive language :)


The unfortunate servant was not 'cast off' because he did not realize any profit for the nobleman. No. He was cast off because he did not 'work at it'...

We are never under obligation to achieve results. Of course, results are important and it may be that that is the reason effort is put forth. But results are not mandatory. Much of the energy and effort and many anxious hours are spent over the probable failure or success of our ventures. No man likes to fail. But it is important that under certain circumstances, failure is its own success...

There are many forces over which the individual can exercise no control whatsoever. A man plants a seed in the ground and the seed sprouts and grows. The weather, the winds, the elements, cannot be controlled by the farmer. The result is never a sure thing. So what does the farmer do? He plants. Always he plants. Again and again he works at it--the ultimate confidence and assurance that even though his seed does not grow to fruition, seeds do grow and do come to fruition.

The task of men who work for the Kingdom of God, is to Work for the Kingdom of God. The result beyond this demand is not in their hands. He who keeps his eyes on results cannot give himself wholeheartedly to his task, however simple or complex that task may be.

Reflection on "Missional Living"

Guest Blogger Intro: Eunice is an intern for Kingdom Causes this year. She is living and worshiping missionally in Monterey Park. Below she shares about her experience teaching a Sunday School Class at her church on “Missional Living.”

Although I knew that mission work did not have to involve getting on a plane and going to another country, there was still a part of me that believed that it was not fully mission work unless I traveled elsewhere. But since taking classes at Regent College and learning to read the Bible better, I know otherwise. True mission work is wherever I am. This is not because I can do so much. It is because God is a missional God. And since He has a desire for all humanity to know and love Him, mission exists everywhere, including the hodgepodge suburban city of Monterey Park.

As an intern for Kingdom Causes, my basic job description involves helping my own church in Monterey Park to be more missional in our own community. But the general mentality of the people who attend my church is still very much like mine was before learning more about missional living.

In the class, we basically covered four big concepts with Bible learning, application discussion and field trips. Here is a short and imperfect summary of each concept:

• Incarnational Hospitality: Jesus was hospitable (welcoming) everywhere he went—in others’ homes and in public areas. How can we be hospitable everywhere we go—in our residential neighborhoods, in our churches’ surrounding community, at the grocery store, in restaurants, while eating with our friends/family, while driving, etc.?
• Shalom: Because of sin, we are no longer fully in shalom. In other words, we are not wholly the creations that God wants us to be. How do we seek shalom (wholeness) for ourselves and in others?
• Kingdom of God: God’s kingdom is not a place; it is His realm over all things. It is here and not yet. This is the concept that God is in control, and not us. When we do mission work (as all ministry should be), we are not doing things for God, but we are participating in what God is already doing for His people.
• Church of the City: In the past, there used to only be one church in each community. That church was then responsible for the spiritual growth of the entire city. But in the present, there are often several churches in one city. In Monterey Park alone, there are over 25 churches. How can all these churches (despite different denominations, cultures and buildings) work together as the Church of the City?

Now that the official class has ended, here are a few personal reflections.

Highlights:

• Most of the students were regularly consistent. I hope this means they were interested and learning.
• A few of the students told me that they were seeing their lives differently—seeing how being hospitable to those around them was part of being missional.
• Our McDonald’s field trip showed us that people in the city are in need and how we can be hospitable in a public setting.
• Our church-visiting field trip opened our eyes to what other churches are doing in Monterey Park and how we can maybe join forces in being the Church of the City.

Challenges:

• One quarter Sunday school is not sufficient. In fact, two years of seminary are not sufficient for fully learning about our missional God and how we can participate. But in being and doing, I hope we will all keep learning.
• There are over 700 regular weekly attenders at my church. Only 10-15 students were in the Sunday school class. We wanted more. But the hope is that these few will spread the word. After all, the entire Christian church spread from 11 totally inadequate guys who learned to follow Jesus closely.
• We are so big and have so many resources that we think we can handle many things on our own. But so much more could be done when the Church of the City works together.

Regarding this Sunday school Jesse asked me, “Would you do this again?” My answer is “Yes!!”