The Homeless Equation

Last Sunday I teamed up with a local ministry here called Joppa (named after the city in the Bible) and went out with 2 car-loads of people to distribute meals to homeless people in our city.  I'm not sure what prompted me to do this.  I simply saw it in our church bulletin, and decided to sign up for a session.  We met at 1:00 pm at the Joppa warehouse and split up into four different groups that were responsible for four unique routes around the city.  Since I was the "new guy" I remained silent, but I noticed immediately who the old veterans were.  There were two people in particular who help organize these distributions almost every weekend.  Personally, I was grateful to have a guide, and I even hitched a ride in someone else's vehicle for the day.  We finished around 5:00 pm.  What I experienced is not easy to summarize.  In fact I'm not so sure this blog post will be a very focused piece of writing, but I feel the need to write about it nonetheless.  It was easier to feel my way through this experience than it was to quantify it.  I have listed the things I noticed during this outting below. 

Puzzlement for their Plight
I found myself at the beginning of the experience wondering if anyone was doing more than just delivering food and clothing to these unfortunate people.  After all, shouldn't we also be helping them get on their feet?  Soon I found out that Joppa does indeed help many of them clean up and get into housing.  Often times finding them a job as well.  One gentlemen named Al told me that after he had been placed into a job and an apartment, he was back on the street within months.  He told me he could not beat the "demon of alcoholism." 

I was told that some of the people we delivered to actually preferred to live by themselves without the responsibility of a full-time job or a mortgage.  Others asked us to pray for them, so that they could bet back on their feet.  I found myself feeling sad, and at the same time puzzled: they needed help, but only so much help was appropriate.  Some of them (I think) have chosen this as their life.  And whether by way of addiction or personal choice, are destined to end up back on the street at some point.  I'm not sure how to feel about this yet, at this point I'm just recounting what I saw.

God is Still Good
I wondered if these people were being helped spiritually also, in addition to just physically.  That question was answered as soon as I met a man named Dwight.  He lives in a small tent community in the woods behind a bank (insert your own metaphor here).  Dwight told me that he and some others in the tents attend a large church on the West side each Sunday.  He was happy to tell me that they were all Christians in that camp.  He also told me that with God's help, he was able to repair some damage to his tent in only half a day.  Every other sentence out of his mouth was "God is good."  I shook his hand twice and spoke with him maybe a total of 10 minutes.  I will most likely remember him the rest of my life.  No home, no heat, little food ... but God is still good.  I cannot add anything else to this.  His attitude was nothing less than amazing.

Stray Cats and D-Batteries
On one of our last stops we drove over a bridge and into an abandoned parking lot.  Just over the bank in the woods stood two or three tents.  There were only two people living there, they appeared to be a couple.  It had snowed earlier in the week and the man began telling us that the snow was so heavy it weighed down the trees to the point where one of them tore a hole through his canvas.  He was able to repair it quickly, but he wondered if we had any D-batteries so they could keep some electricity going after it got dark.  How I truly wished I had stopped at the store on my way to the Joppa warehouse and picked up some D- batteries.  We had none to offer them. 

A stray cat passing over the embankment caught my eye.  "That is our pet cat," he said.  "The campers who were here before us left him behind, so we took him in."  This struck me for a moment.  There was compassion in the way he said it.  What is it about animals that unites us?  My wife and I took in a stray cat about 5 years ago.  One of the best pets we have ever had.  This man was no different than me.  I live in a house, he doesn't - that was about it.  How many paychecks could I stand to miss before ending up in the same situation?

I hope this article strikes a chord with some of you.  It doesn't have much to do with a logical faith, or how we can know that God exists through reason or philosophy.  We are not discussing atheism or agnosticism today.  No, last Sunday was about meeting people and helping them.  No arguing about religion or denominations - just delivering food.  Jesus says we will always have the poor with us, and surely this is true.  But I don't like it.  I didn't like that this experience produced feelings in me that I couldn't articulate.  The homeless people we met that day don't need our pity, they just need some help.  I am grateful for what Joppa and similar ministries do.  I heard that Joppa was started by only two people.  Now it has its own warehouse downtown.  I asked myself questions like "what did these homeless people do prior to Joppa in this city?"  ... or "why did no one else form such a ministry sooner?"  But then why did it take me until I was 38 years old to volunteer?  Bad enough to admit that I didn't spend much time thinking about this problem until now.  Worse to admit that over time, a certain degree of apathy may sneak back into my attitude.  But only if I let it.  It is a problem that has no simple equation or solution.  It just exists, and we must help when we can.

For more information on Joppa and the things they do in the Des Moines area, click this link: http://www.joppaoutreach.org/


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"I just want to lobby for God ..."

                                     - Billy Graham




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The Grand Design: Something out of Nothing?

I have recently finished reading Stephen Hawking's new book The Grand Design.  With the help of author Leonard Mlodinow, Hawking has crafted an impressive book outlining his theory of everything (called M-Theory).  He claims this theory - once developed - will be the answer to Einstein's search for a unified scientific theory to explain everything.  A theory that will explain how everything is scientifically determined, right down to the last living single-celled organism.  I knew Hawking would have some interesting points, though I have to admit I didn't find the text very compelling.  In chapter one he states that "philosophy is dead."  From there he proceeds to lay out his personal philosophy on how our universe can exist without God.  A fascinating circular reasoning mistake from one of the brightest minds of our time.  But ignore that for now, let's talk about the book's denouement for a minute.  That is where things get interesting.

In the last chapter, Hawking says, "Because gravity shapes space and time, it allows space-time to be locally stable but globally unstable.  On the scale of the entire universe, the positive energy of the matter can be balanced by the creation of whole universes.  Because there is a law like gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing in the manner described in Chapter 6 [Choosing our Universe].  Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist.  It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the universe going."

That laws like gravity exist and might govern something the size of a universe is interesting, but it doesn't answer the question of who or what ordered that law in the first place.  Hawking addresses this earlier in the same chapter by employing one of atheist Richard Dawkins' favorite counter-arguments for God.  In essence, if there is a God, then who created Him?  This counter-argument has always seemed too simple to me.  We know from the Bible that God is described as having always existed, with no end and no beginning.  Since we have things that exist as complicated as entire universes or black holes (where we cannot see an end or beginning), is this concept of eternality really so hard to imagine for people like Dawkins and Hawking? 

At any rate, I cannot mask my disappointment after reading the conclusion of the book.  I believe he is basically telling us that because there are laws that exist which use positive and negative energy as a balance, everything can just "spring up" from nothing - and we are supposed to call it "M-Theory."  Have I oversimplified this concept?  Perhaps.  I am not a scientist or an expert in quantum physics.  This book however WAS written for the common and ordinary person.  The problem is that the reason we are given as to why anything exists is a little too common and ordinary.  Anyone can choose not to believe in God, but it is something entirely different to disprove Him.



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Spiritual Homework: A Return to Joy

"Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart." Psalm 119:111


I remember what it was like to be a new Christian.  Not a new member of a church, not the first time I watched the Passion of the Christ movie ... but what it felt like to trust Jesus.  I was around 30 years old when I knelt on the bottom stair of my split foyer home and admitted to God that I needed Him in my life.  This changed a number of things for me.  I remember doing "crazy" things like withdrawing twenty-dollar bills from the ATM and shoving them in the coat pockets of my unsuspecting co-workers.  When they turned off their computers and put on their jackets to head home for the night, the surprised look on their face and stunned silence was it's own reward.  I would just keep quiet and giggle from my cubicle across the hall.  I was joyful toward God and life, and ready to save the world!
 
Since then a number of years have gone by (without telling you my age!).  Why had I done those types of things?  Because I was happy to be alive.  Happy to be under God's grace.  Happy to be forgiven and free, all at the same time.  I have been thinking about this alot lately.  Why don't I do those things anymore?  After all, God is still faithful - and I am still His, right?  
 
I think many of us forget what it is like to have freedom in Christ.  We get caught up in the throes of raising a family and going to work, paying bills, etc.  Even experienced Christians can lose track of the joy that God provides.  In Revelation 2:17 Jesus tells  the church in Ephesus that they had "forsaken the love they had at first."  I think that many of us (myself included) have done this very same thing.
 
I want to extend an offer to you today.  This is your "spiritual homework" for the week, if you choose to accept it.  Do the following 2 things after reading this post:
 
1.) Pray that God would show you someone that needs your help
2.) When God shows you this person, DO something to help them
 
If it entails watching their child while they run to the grocery store for a gallon of milk, then do it.  If it means sharing the Gospel message, then give it a shot.  I believe that if we pray this prayer sincerely, God will respond.  After all, what would it be like to put on your jacket at the end of the day and find an extra twenty-dollars?
 

PS: If you have accepted this assignment and want to share with me (and the readers of this blog) how God allowed you to help someone, please email me your story at sjklaus@msn.com.  I look forward to seeing what can happen when we ask God for someone to bless.
 
 

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Interesting Quote

“We thought that we had the answers, it was the questions we had wrong.”


- Bono





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How Are We Using Our Time Here on Earth?

Pastor and best-selling author Francis Chan summarizes his thoughts in the video below.  I am currently reading his book Crazy Love, about what it means to love God in the 21st century.  I found the link below both humorous and compelling.  Enjoy!

Interesting Quote

"It surprises me how disinterested we are today about things like physics, space, the universe and philosophy of our existence, our purpose, our final destination. Its a crazy world out there. Be curious."

- Stephen Hawking

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Heaven is for Real: Colton Burpo's Story

I recently finished the book Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo.  This book is only about 150 pages, so it is a relatively quick read.  But I have to be honest - it was quite engaging.  In the pages of this book Todd lays out the true story of his son Colton's trip to Heaven.  When Colton was close to 4 years old, he suffered from a mis-diagnosed appendicitis.  5 days later, by the time the Burpos took Colton to a hospital to find out that his appendix had ruptured, it was almost too late.  In fact at one point the author relates that the nurses in the hospital were instructed not to give the Burpo family any encouragement, because Colton would most likely be dead from organ poisoning in a matter of days. 

Can you imagine this?  One day your 4-year-old is healthy and active.  The next day he is on death's doorstep.  Unfortunately many people can imagine this and have experienced something similar.  In this case, however, things took a turn for the better.  After the Burpos invited around 80 people to gather and pray for recovery, Colton rebounded quickly.  Todd writes that those same nurses would stream constantly after he had recovered just to witness what they knew was a miracle. 

Then things get interesting.  Throughout the course of the next year, Colton begins relating details to his parents about what he had witnessed when he was close to death.  He talked about sitting in Jesus' lap.  He discussed seeing people in white robes with red and blue sashes across their chest.  Colton met Todd's father "Pop", who had died before Colton was even born.  Apparently in Heaven everyone is young and beautiful.  There are fantastic color palettes there, thousands more colors than exist on earth.  And then there was what would become Colton's catch-phrase during those post-hospital months: "Jesus loves the children."  Todd even writes of one instance where they were attending a funeral for an acquaintance, and Colton happened to see the casket.  He exclaimed, "Daddy, did that man have Jesus in his heart?  You can't get into Heaven if you don't have Jesus in your heart!"  Not your typical topics of conversation for a 4-year-old.

The Burpos have been a beacon of hope to many people, and also subject to criticism by others.  This is normal of course.  You cannot write a book about Jesus and please everyone.  But the strange thing is that some of the criticism is from other Christian groups.  One group argues that you ought not mistake the truth of Scripture for a supernatural "experience."  Now this is a strange argument really.  After all, if the Bible is true - shouldn't we see some experiential evidence?   At any rate, I applaud the Burpos' courage.  If your 4-year-old started talking about meeting Jesus, would you tell anyone?  As Todd wrote several times in the book: it was a gift from God.  The more time that passed, the more wrapping paper would come off. 

Nothing in Heaven is for Real appeared to contradict anything Biblical, at least in my eyes.  The author was careful to research everything his son was telling him, and he provides chapter and verse for Biblical verification throughout the book.  I am recommending this book.  I think it will enhance what we already think we know about Heaven.  It also makes me wonder how many of us are holding on to incredible stories about God that we may choose not to talk about in mixed company.  Do you and I have "gifts from God that need to be unwrapped?"  I have included a link below to a video detailing the Burpos' experience.  Take a look and see for yourself!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhT36Dizo2s


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"God had one son on earth without sin, but never one without suffering."



            - St. Augustine (354 - 430)
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Consternation and Faith

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Progress on The God Circle Book

Just an update on the progress of my book.  I was able to procure the help of a local editor and I am happy to announce that the second draft of The God Circle: the Search for the Logical Christian Faith is complete!  I think I may have underestimated how much of a process something like this can be.  Nevertheless, I hope to be nearly complete (and maybe even published) in 6 months. 

I wanted also to extend a big THANK YOU to all who have supported this project.  From the people who have screened the original manuscript and given me feedback, to my wife who has had to stomach listening to me talk about it constantly.  Keep an eye out for this book soon.  I intend on having a dedicated website set up so people can order it easily, as well as an internet "advertising" campaign.  But most of all, I think this book will succeed through word of mouth.

Thanks again for reading!

- Jon


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