Inside Sojourn is a podcast hosted by Bobby Gilles that explores everything Sojourn from the wisdom in Easter egg hunts to baby dedications to what leadership at Sojourn looks like.  This week on the podcast, Bobby interviews Steve Leach, an active member of Sojourn who has recently moved into Shelby Park and is mobilizing the community groups in the area to love their neighbors.  I encourage you to listen to the podcast, where you will hear Steve talk about how you can get more involved in the Seed ministry at Sojourn, as well as some concrete ways to get to know your neighbors better.

This Saturday, April 3, at noon Steve will be leading volunteers into Shelby Park for a prayer walk and a street clean-up, an initiative of the Shelby Park Makeover (You can read more about this initiative here).  The clean-up will meet at 615 Camp St. (Steve’s home), head out into the neighborhood, and meet back after the clean-up for pizza.  Members of Sojourn and Immanuel Baptist Church who live in Shelby Park (or who just want to love on that neighborhood) will join together and display their love for their community.  Anyone who happens to be on the streets that day will be invited to join the group and help in the clean-up.  The street clean-up is a beautiful way for the body of Christ to visibly display Christ’s desire for renewal, and to invite those in the community to join in.

This event is for you:

• If you have wanted to get involved in Shelby Park but don’t know how
• If you live in Shelby Park and want to meet some other Sojourners and Immanuel members in the neghborhood
• If you want to see renewal in the city of Louisville

To sign up for the clean-up, go to the City.  If you have any questions about the street clean-up or want to find out more information about how you can get involved in Shelby Park, email steveleach729@gmail.com.

This week’s giveaway comes all the way from the UK (the one surrounded by water with a queen, not the one with a wildcat as a mascot).  Tim Chester is co-founder of a church-planting organization in Sheffield, UK, called The Crowded House and has authored several books, including The Busy Christian’s Guide to Busyness and Total Church (co-authored with Steve Timmis).  Tim’s website is always a helpful reference to Christian change and growth and offers advice from a man with over fifteen years’ experience in church planting and preaching.

This week’s book, You Can Change, came out in the UK in 2008, but has just now found its way to American audiences with Crossway publishers.  You Can Change is the fruit of Chester’s own desire to grow in his Christ-likeness.  The book is the methodology he has used in his ministry and in his own life for change, and he encourages his readers to find an area of their lives they wish to change and to make this their “change project” throughout the book.  The book is divided into ten questions:

1. What Would You Like to Change?
2. Why Would You Like to Change?
3. How Are You Going to Change?
4. When Do You Struggle?
5. What Truths Do You Need to Turn To?
6. What Desires Do You Need to Turn From?
7. What Stops You From Changing?
8. What Strategies Will Reinforce Your Faith and Repentance?
9. How Can We Support One Another in Changing?
10. Are You Ready for a Lifetime of Daily Change?

Each chapter ends with questions and encouragements to guide the Christian along his or her way for their change project.  One of the most beautiful aspects of You Can Change is that the change project is from the beginning encouraged in a group context.  Change, says Chester, cannot be done in isolation because sin grows in isolation but when it is exposed to the light of other Christians, we can truly begin to change.

For those of you who find this book helpful (which I believe will be anyone who reads it!), you should really check out Chester’s new book, Captured By a Better Vision, which is coming soon to the US, but for now is hard to find, even on amazon.com.  In Captured By a Better Vision, Chester applies the methodology of You Can Change to the specific area of pornography so that his readers can see how the change process works in a specific context.

To win a free copy of You Can Change, just fill out the form below (one entry per person, please!).  If you are selected as this week’s winner, we will notify you by email and give you instructions for picking up the book.

(Guest Post by Jeremy Tschida, Sojourner)

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”  James 1:27

What do you think about when you think of an orphan? Do you think about the orphanages in Africa, caring for children with HIV/AIDS who have suffered great tragedy in war torn countries? Do you think of the orphanages founded by the Catholic Church where children are cared for by women wearing habits and black gowns? Do you think of a room full of cribs in some far away land? Are you moved when you see commercials and presentations for the parentless child overseas?  You might be so inspired as to even sponsor a child overseas for $30 a month. These are all good things and should not be downplayed in anyway; those children need you and me, but what about the American Orphan? Do you know what the American Orphan looks like today?

The American Orphan is a child who has found his or her way into custody of the State via some type of Child Protection Service. They have experienced abuse, neglect, and hardships that could make the strongest of stomachs queasy. This child has been removed from a home for a variety of horrendous reasons and placed into some type of state funded foster care program. As of September 30, 2006, 510,000 children were in the foster care system in the US (AFCARS, 2006)—Half a million! They have often seen atrocities that we could not even imagine, been bounced from one home to another, many times seeing the inside of several institutions, and in the process they have lost hope.

Why have they lost hope? Because they are simply not being exposed to the only One that can give hope—Christ Jesus. We are called to be relational people, the hands and feet of Christ, messengers of the Gospel, messengers of HOPE! How well do we do this? Less than 5% of the American Orphans in Louisville have a mentor, someone other than the “System” with whom to share life. American Christians have allowed the government to take over our responsibility of caring for the orphan. Are we not His disciples (Mt. 10:42)?

Consider this:  If state funded programs can help orphans to overcome psychological issues and teach them how to live a productive life, but they suffer eternally because they are not taught the glory of Christ who is held responsible?

So what can we do as a church for the American Orphan? First and foremost commit to praying for these young people. Real change can only happen in the heart (Mt. 15:19), and the heart is only made anew by the Gospel (Ezekiel 36:26). Second, be a part of their lives. What about reaching out to these young people? Mentors are needed or even just spending an hour a month with them in variety of fun ways. Why not throw block parties for the American Orphan where they are? Watch a movie with them, send them a card, the sky is the limit! If you are interested in being a part of something great feel free to contact me.

Jeremy Tschida

jertsc@hotmail.com

References:

US Department of Health and Human Services. (2006). The AFCARS Report: Final Estimate for FY 1998 Through FY 2002 (12). Retrieved March 19, 2009 from http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/factsheets/foster.cfm

(This is a guest post by Steve Leach.  Steve has been serving with Sojourn’s mercy and benevolence ministry for about a year.)

When it comes to public education, do you feel that you have no voice, that your concerns are not heard?  Christian, be encouraged that “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us” (1 John 5:14).  The Lord, who has clearly shown his compassion towards our little ones (see Luke 18), has provided a means, not only for your voice to be heard, but for your decisions to have power.  These opportunities have been identified through the Smoketown/Shelby Park Makeover, a community-wide, multi-partner movement aimed at improving our neighborhoods (See previous SEED Blog here).

The Education Sub-committee of the Shelby Park/Smoketown Makeover will be holding an open meeting at the Presbyterian Community Center, 701 Hancock Street, at 5:30pm on April 12^th.  Representatives from Jefferson County Public Schools, Kentucky Youth Advocates, Louisville Urban League and the Louisville Branch of the NAACP will be on hand to discuss strategies for reducing class sizes and increasing student services.  These groups lobby in Frankfort on behalf of our children and they are seeking your input.  Meyzeek principal Chris Burba will also be in attendance.  The subcommittee greatly needs resident involvement, even if your kids attend schools outside of the neighborhood.  Two of the six needs recognized for improving the quality of education our children receive are 1) schools and families working together, and 2) church and community involvement.  What better way to demonstrate our love for our neighbors than to flood this meeting with Sojourners?

If you are a parent of a Meyzeek student, you qualify for Site Based Decision Making (SBDM).  This is the governing body for Meyzeek Middle, where your decisions will not only be heard, but will directly affect school policies.  Principal Burba lamented that Meyzeek could not find a parent to fill this important position.  This is a perfect opportunity to bring Gospel wisdom to an area that will have lasting effects in generation after generation.  Do not overlook the fact that a non-Christian organization is begging for church involvement in the lives of their children. This is a manifestation of Christ’s words in Matthew 5.  Whether they realize it or not, these folks are seeing the good works of the church and praising God’s name.

Please prayerfully consider attending the April 12^th meeting (refreshments provided!).  If you are able to join the sub-committee, the next meeting is April 1^st at 5:30pm at the Presbyterian Community Center.  A copy of the minutes from the March 15^th meeting is available here.  Questions about any of the sub-committees, SBDM and/or the Smoketown/Shelby Park Makeover can be directed to Steve Leach at steveleach729@gmail.com.

CORRECTION:  The April 1 Meeting has been cancelled.  Also, the meeting on April 12 will meet at Myzeek Middle School instead of the Presbyterian Community Center.

This week we are giving away a copy of Edward T. Welch’s Running Scared.  Ed has been counseling for over thirty years and has written extensively on the topics of depression, fear and addictions.  Ed is also a counselor and faculty member at the Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation (CCEF), a ministry founded in 1968 whose stated mission is to “restore Christ to counseling and counseling to the Church.”

In Running Scared Welch divides the book into two parts.  The first part explores the nature and psychology of fear by itself, apart from the light of the gospel.  Part two explores how God speaks into our fears.  In the second part of the book (which takes up 80% of the 315 pages) Welsh specifically looks at how God speaks into our fears concerning:

1. Money and Possessions
2. People and Their Judgments
3. Death, Pain, and Punishment

The final section of the second part of the book shows how God speaks peace into the life of believers, even in the midst of affliction and seemingly unbeatable odds.

Two weeks ago we gave away a copy of Welch’s book, Addictions: A Banquet in the Grave.  Where that book excels in speaking to our addictions and habits this book excels in speaking to our fears.  Welch brings his vast experience in counseling to the table and gives us a glimpse into the depth and breadth of our fears, and he calls us back to the truth of the Gospel that only in Christ can our fears be overcome.

All you have to do to enter the drawing for this book is enter your name and email address in the boxes below (one entry per person, please!).  We will take entries through Monday at noon since we were late in getting this week’s Freebie out.  If you are the winner, we will contact you by email and let you know how to get the book.

Bonhoeffer opens his chapter on ministry by suggesting that “a Christian community should know that somewhere in it there will certainly be ‘a reasoning among them, which of them should be the greatest.’”  In other words, every Christian community will be faced with those in the community who want to lord over others in the group.  The way of Christ, however, is different.  Bonhoeffer lays out two preparatory ministries that are to be found in Christians individually as they enter communtiy:

1. The Ministry of Holding One’s Tongue – Bonhoeffer argues that “it must be a decisive rule of every Christian fellowship that each individual is prohibited from saying much that occurs to him.”  In this way backbiting and speaking foolishly is held in check.
2. The Ministry of Meekness – In order to truly love those in the community, we must be willing to humble ourselves.  “He who would serve his brother in the fellowship must sink all the way down to the depths of humility.”

Bonhoeffer moves from preparatory ministries to the ministries that take place within the community for the community:

1. The Ministry of Listening – Bonhoeffer says that “it is God’s love for us that He not only gives us His Word but also lends us His ear.”  He goes on to argue that when the Christian is not able to listen but only wants to offer advice and share his ‘wisdom’ this is “the beginning of the death of the spiritual life, and in the end there is nothing left but spiritual chatter and clerical condescension arrayed in pious words.”
2. The Ministry of Helpfulness – Here Bonhoeffer argues for what we might today call acts of mercy.  He says that “it is a strange fact that Christians and even ministers frequently consider their work so important and urgent that they will allow nothing to disturb them.”  He connects this idea with the Good Smaritan in Luke 10, arguing that it is easy to bury ourselves in a Bible and walk past people in need.  He concludes: “Only where hands are not too good for deeds of love and mercy in everyday helpfulness can the mouth joyfully and convincingly proclaim the message of God’s love and mercy.”
3. The Ministry of Bearing – Bonhoeffer highlights the beauty and joy that comes with bearing one another’s burdens.  “As Christ bore and received us as sinners so we in his fellowship may bear and receive sinners into the fellowship of Jesus Christ through the forgiving of sins.”
4. The Ministry of Proclaiming – The ministry here is not the formal act of preaching before a congregation, but of speaking truth to one another in smaller groups, which Bonhoeffer calls “the ultimate and highest service.”  This ministry, argues Bonhoeffer, is “beset with infinite perils.”  We fear our responsibility to speak as well as the person we must speak truth to.  But the reason we can speak truth to one another is “that each knows the other as a sinner, who, with all his human dignity, is lonely and lost if he his not given help.”  This ministry is integral to the Christian community.  “Nothing can be more cruel than the tenderness that consigns another to his sin.  Nothing can be more compassionate than the severe rebuke that calls a brother back from the path of sin.”
5. The Ministry of Authority – This ministry is dependent upon brotherly service.  Bonhoeffer says that “genuine authority realizes that it can exist only in the service of Him who alone has authority…The Church does not need brilliant personalities but faithful servants of Jesus and the brethren.”

In this chapter, Bonhoeffer challenges the Christian community to truly minister to one another and shows us the way that this ministering takes place.  He ends the chapter by arguing that “pastoral authority can be attained only by the servant of Jesus who seeks no power of his own, who himself is a brother among brothers submitted to the authority of the Word.”

So where does our hope lay?  In personalities who are visible in the Church?  In the ministries of the Church?  Or is it found in ministering to one another and pointing one another to the cross?

Author and pastor Tim Chester has written several books that explore Christians in the light of community.  A few that are particularly noteworthy include*:

• Total Church — This book, reprinted by Re:Lit for American audiences, argues that the gospel is word-centered and mission-centered and is placed in the context of community.  Very helpful for unwrapping mission and church.
• The Busy Christian’s Guide to Busyness — In this book Chester looks beneath the surface of our reasons for our busyness to see what really drives us at the end of the day.
• You Can Change (coming soon to U.S.) — Here Chester seeks how we can overcome sinful behaviour and negative emotions through the liberating grace of God.

Today we would like to point you to Chester’s blog, Reformed Spirituality and Missional Church, which has been of immense help to us in the past weeks.  His latest post, Making Community Work: Taking the initiative to resolve conflict, is the first in a four-part series that looks at how a Christ-centered community should look and act.  So hop on over and see what he has to say!

We are in the season of Lent, a season that is for the Christian a time of contemplation on Christ’s death and resurrection.  As we draw closer to Black Friday, it is apt that we should give away a copy of John Stott’s classic, The Cross of Christ.  The book is neatly divided into four major sections:

1. Approaching the Cross
2. The Heart of the Cross
3. The Achievement of the Cross
4. Living Under the Cross

The Cross of Christ gives us a breathtaking view of the horror of crucifixion and the glory of the Lamb slain.  As I have been reading it this past week, I have been floored by the goodness of God toward sinners and the magnitude of Christ’s agony on the cross.  I encourage everyone to read this book.  One of my favorite sections is Section IV, “Living Under the Cross.”  Here Stott addresses at length the outflowing of Christ’s work for the church and how his death and resurrection allow His people to live out the gospel.

In an interview with Dr. Art Lindsley,* John Stott was asked questions about the church and the books that had most influenced him.  But when Dr. Lindsley asked Stott what he believed to be the most important book he has ever written, Stott answers:

I think the answer must be The Cross of Christ. The first reason is that the cross lies at the center of both the Christian faith and the Christian life. If pressed about my favorite verse in Scripture, I would have to say Galatians 6:14: ‘God forbid that I should boast in anything except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified unto me, and I have been crucified unto the world.’ The reason why the cross was central to the mind of Paul is that it was central to the mind of Christ before him.

Secondly, I have been concerned to write a book which is not just about the Atonement but about all aspects of the death of Christ as unfolded in the New Testament. For instance, Christ calls us to take up our cross and follow him. ‘When Christ calls a man,’ wrote Dietrich Bonhoeffer, ‘he bids him come and die.’ We are always in danger of trivializing the meaning of conversion as if it involved only the adoption of a veneer of piety in an otherwise secular life. Then scratch the surface and there is the same old pagan underneath. But no, conversion is much more radical than this. No imagery can do it justice but death and resurrection—death to the old life of self-centeredness and sin, and resurrection to a new life of self-sacrifice and love.

Thirdly, more of my heart and mind went into the writing of The Cross of Christ than into any other book. It is my ‘apology,’ my personal statement of faith.

This week you can win a copy of The Cross of Christ simply by entering your name and email address below.  You will be able to enter the drawing pool from now until Saturday, March 13, at noon.  We will randomly select a winner and notify that winner by email.

*If you click on the link to find the interview with John Stott, it can be found under Summer 2001 at the bottom of the page the link takes you to.

This week Bonhoeffer moves from the Christian life in community to the Christian’s individual walk.  He hones in on the fact that “the Christian community is not a spiritual sanatorium.”  In other words, the Christian community is not where a Christian goes to fix the soul and then move on.  Bonhoeffer has a double warning for both those who would tend toward solitude and those who tend toward community: “Let him who cannot be alone beware of community.  Let him who is not in community beware of being alone.”

After this warning, Bonhoeffer goes on to argue that “the day together will be unfruitful without the day alone, both for the fellowship and for the individual.”  The mark of true solitude is silence, and “silence is the simple stillness of the individual under the word of God.”  Bonhoeffer argues convincingly that without this solitude–not a solitude that cuts us off from men altogether, but a solitude that happens in our daily Christian lives as we go to work, school, etc. and are parted from the community of believers–the Christian’s spiritual life will be stunted.  But when we truly stand before God throughout the day, allowing his word to soak in, “we meet others in a different and fresh way” and the community of believers will thrive.

Bonhoeffer argues that the Christian needs to have at least some time throughout the day in which he can be alone for three purposes:

1. Scripture Meditation–The Christian takes a short passage of Scripture and is “alone with the Word,” perhaps taking a single passage and “sitting” with that passage for upward of a week.  Whereas in group study you cover the breadth of Scripture, here you dwell in the depths of the Word and ask God how it applies to you personally.
2. Prayer–Reading the Scripture necessarily leads us to prayer.  We take things to God in personal prayer that we may not offer up in the fellowship.  This time of prayer is personal and deep.
3. Intercession–We are to take our brothers and sisters before God in intercession.  ”I can no longer condemn or hate a brother for whom I pray, no matter how much trouble he causes me.”

For Bonhoeffer, the test of meditation (and prayer and intercession) is the way one conducts himself in the “real world,” in everyday life.  Does he leave the fellowship and feel lost in the world?  Then something is amiss.  Does he leave his time of meditation and fall into despair when he meets a trial?  The Word is not dwelling deeply enough.  How we live throughout the day tells us whether our fellowship and our individual time before God is strengthening us or making us dependent.

So how is your meditation time?  Do you have a method of meditating on the Word that has been particularly helpful for you?  How does your reaction to others in the secular world reflect your time in the Word?