Does Anyone Care?

On Sunday night at 10:30pm a young man was murdered by gun shots on the street next to my house. He was killed right in front of his girlfriend, who was driving the car, and two children that were in the back seat. He was shot in the back while they were driving, and in one instant all of their lives were changed forever. The next day, some predictable things happened. The TV news trucks showed up to bring other people's pain into the comfortable living rooms of 2.5 million people living in the Pittsburgh region. The TV cameras are gone now. A newspaper reporter got the scoop from the victim's mother, and the next day an article about the pain of gun violence from a mother's perspective hit the news shelves around the city. The newspaper reporters are gone now. The local government and police officials pledged their support for the community while speaking out against this type of behavior. The politicians and police are gone now.

The powerful people are gone. Who remains? The victim's girlfriend and her children remain, living with the pain of their tragic loss and also living with the knowledge that in my neighborhood violence could break out at any time and in any place. Does anyone care? The residents of Homewood who have chosen to stay even though the neighborhood has broken down remain, hoping against hope that things will somehow improve some day. Does anyone care? The children in the neighborhood remain, doing their best to fill the gaps in their lives with whatever resources they can manage. Does anyone care? The gangs remain, ready to unleash violence on one another at a moment's notice. Does anyone care? The drug dealers remain on the corners, symbols of the underground economy that has settled into my neighborhood to fill the void left by the departure over the years of legitimate businesses and jobs. The drug addicts remain, focused in on their next high and what story they will have to come up with this time to make that happen. The prostitutes remain, moving discreatly out onto their corners each night to make enough money to feed their kids or feed their habit or fill a hole that may have been ripped open in their hearts a long time ago. The homeless remain. The widows remain. The orphans remain. The poor remain. The hurting remain. Does anyone care?

God remains. God cares. God has not abandoned Homewood, even though most Christians in Pittsburgh have. There are some Christians who have not abandoned Homewood. LAMP mentors can be found navigating the streets of Homewood every day of the week, day and night, in order to be an extension of Christ's love for those in need in this world. There are some local Christians who are committed to staying here. I am one of them. I am committed to reaching the young men in Homewood before they reach the point where they join gangs or deal drugs or drop out of school or get caught up in the streets. Julie is one of them. She is committed to reaching the young women in Homewood before they make short term choices at a young age that they will carry with them for the rest of their lives. She loves to sit out on our front porch and chat with our neighbors and the people who walk by. She has ministered to prostitutes. She has ministered to single moms. My wife is an amazing woman. My seven year-old daughter, Kyra, is one of them. She builds incredible relationships with the kids in our neighborhood. They stop by our house to spend time with her all the time. God has given her an amazing heart for reaching others. My five year-old daughter, Sierra, is one of them. She's a little comedian who makes all of the kids from our neighborhood laugh. She loves to draw pictures of those kids with street chalk on the sidewalk in front of our house. Last week, she asked one of the five year-old boys from our neighborhood to marry her. God gave Sierra an abundance of affection for other people, especially for her friends in Homewood.

Still, there are many needs in Homewood and not enough Christians engaging to fill them. There are hundreds of thousands of Christians in the Pittsburgh region. What will they do about the stories of violence in Homewood that they hear on the evening news, or read about in the newspaper, or the calls from the politicians and police for everyone in Pittsburgh to get involved? Will they choose to seek out the least and the lost in their own city, or will they harden their hearts and turn their backs? People are dying. People are suffering. The time to act is now.

Four Years of Mentoring

Today I am going to a celebration for the occasion of four full years of mentoring with my one-to-one mentee Catrell. LAMP holds these celebrations at the end of each year of mentoring, and during that time both the mentor and mentee get to decide if they want to make a commitment to continue to meet for another year. Catrell and I have both agreed to another year. A lot has happened over the past four years. We have had many ups and downs in our relationships. He has said things to me that he regrets, and I have forgiven him. I have said things to him that I regret, and he has forgiven me. We've been to just about every place in Pittsburgh that a kid could possibly want to go. I may be running out of places to take him, but that's OK because his favorite place to hang out is at my house anyways. This year he is going to be a freshman in high school, so we are going to get to navigate through that part of his journey together. I am looking forward to the challenge! One thing Catrell knows is that I am NEVER going to give up on him, no matter what happens.

A lot of words come to mind after four years together: commitment, patience, forgiveness, fun, adventure, grace, joy, pain, anxiety, breakthroughs, ups, downs, food, bowling, football, baseball, laser tag, pool, hiking, running, swimming, boating, tubing, relaxing, driving, music, video games, shopping, movies, my living room, his living room, my dining room table, his dining room table, school, science experiments, pizza, cell phones, convenience stores, go karts, Sandcastle, Kennywood, LAMP Post, Science Center, History Museum, corporate visits, arcades, fishing, bow and arrow, rocket launches, texting, building volcanos, tennis, golf, sledding, ice skating, snowball fights, races, tattoos, piercings, family, parties, dart tag, checkers, chess, cards, mixing beats, rapping, homework, church, coversations about God, conversations about girls, Pitt games, Penguin games, Pirate games, football practice, ice cream, nature walks, the O, college visits, community clean ups, biking, roller blading, the zoo, scavenger hunts, playing zombie, searching for hook's road, climbing fences, climbing trees, rock climbing walls, festivals, and much, much more. I wonder what's in store for us this year? I can't wait to find out!

One Day, and Twenty Ways to Make a Difference

My day went as follows: I woke up this morning in my house in Homewood (1). I spent some time working on a project for my doctorate program (2). I went to a ribbon cutting ceremony for a brand new building in East Liberty, the neighborhood right next to Homewood (3). On hand at the ceremony were the mayor (4), community development groups (5), community residents (6), real estate developers (7), bankers and investors who had financed and supported the project (8), and the news media (9). I then drove back to Homewood to check in on some kids at their home (10). Then I drove to Wexford in the suburbs north of Pittsburgh (11) to North Way for a couple meetings with staff at the church (12) about how to mobilize our congregation outside the walls of the church (13) in order to build relationships with nonbelievers (14). I had a conversation with a staff person who read my blog and she was challenged to help out somehow. She decided to take responsibility for tracking down food and supplies for our Monday Night Madness group in Homewood (15). I had another conversation with a different staff person who's heart is breaking for the young people in Pittsburgh, but she doesn't know what to do about it yet (16). Then, I used the freeways to drive back to Homewood (17). A guy from a men's group at North Way Oakland stopped over to our house to take some measurements in our basement. His group is going to donate a lot of time and supplies to building out a space in our basement for kids in Homewood (18). As he was leaving, six kids stopped over to hang out at our house for a little while (19). They left, and now I'm blogging about my day (20).

Why are there numbers in the paragraph about how my day went today? Because, in just one day, I noticed 20 different ways that people can make a difference in the issues facing inner city neighborhoods. Here they are:

1. Move your family to a marginalized, inner city neighborhood. If you are a Christian, you will be doing yourself a huge favor. You will be doing your children a huge favor. You'll be blessing your new neighborhood by doing it. This is one of the best ways to enact change in the city.

2. Be a life long learner. Read books. Educate yourself on issues impacting the poor in the world instead of watching so much TV or numbing yourself with the latest distractions that the world has to offer. Christians, especially, should be on the innovative, cutting edge of society. That can only be done by keeping up with what's going on in the world. What's more imporant? Christians helping to transform people and places, or the latest episode of American Idol?

3. Celebrate breakthroughs! When something good happens in an inner city neighborhood, we should find great joy in the transformation. God wants us all to experience joy in this life. Let's celebrate when things go well.

4. Powerful people, in today's case the mayor of Pittsburgh, are significant players in the process of transformation. Government plays an important role in a healthy community. I believe that God created "the state" as a divine institution, just as he created the family and church as divine institutions. Transformational leaders engage both the powerful and the powerless.

5. Community members in inner city neighborhoods should work together to form groups that speak into issues that impact the community. People are more powerful when they work together. I know that goes against the lone ranger model which is held in high esteem in America, but it's still true.

6. Any work that is done to develop inner city communities should not be accomplished without the support and consensus of the residents in the communities being impacted. Period. Residents need to be empowered from a bottom-up approach, not ignored by a top-down approach.

7. Real estate purchasers and developers have the power to do great good or great harm in communities in the inner city. Did you know that most of the slum lords in Homewood live in the northern suburbs of Pittsburgh? I wonder if they tithe off of that income at their churches? I wonder if that thought even crossed their minds when they went to a wealth builders seminar on how to buy up cheap properties in poor urban neighborhoods? Today, I saw real estate developers use their gifts for good.

8. Bankers and investors have the opportunity to do great good or great harm in communities in the inner city. Many cases have been documented where banks stopped lending money for home improvements to people in certain neighborhoods where either minorities or poor people started moving into the area. Today, I saw an example of how bank financers can make a positive difference in a community.

9. The news media have the opportunity to do great good or great harm in communities in the inner city. People must love to watch all of the stories of violence on the evening news, because the evening news is big business for local TV stations. Today, I saw an example of how the media shared a positive story about how things are turning around in a complex, urban neighborhood.

10. Go to where the kids are, and spend time with them on their turf. If you are a Christian, don't wait for people to come to you. Go to where people are and spend time with them in their environment. Christians are called to go into the world, not wait for the world to come to us on Sunday morning.

11. Urban and suburban partnerships are important. Both urban and suburban Christians should come together to resolve difficult issues facing the metropolitan area.

12. Use your influence to get people involved in your cause. Communicate however you can. Advocate however you can. Sometimes people may not agree with you or even push back against you, but that's just fine because Christianity should come with a certain measure of suffering for the sake of Christ.

13. Lead your church to involvement in your city. Many modern evangelical Christians have a rural bias. We think God is found in waterfalls and nature. I believe that God is in cities, too. Christians should be engaging cities, not running away from them.

14. Build relationships with people who do not know Christ. Also build relationships with people who are different than you racially and socioeconomically.

15. If you can't be directly involved with the people who are working in complex urban environments, then get involved in resourcing those people who are doing the work.

16. Let your heart break for people who are hurting. That should not just happen for people in far off countries, but for hurting people right there in your city. Your heart should break first... then you can do something about it.

17. Freeways are set up so that most commuters do not have to experience a drive through troubled urban neighborhoods. Next time you drive to work in a city or go to an event, take the "scenic" route through neighborhoods that you would not ordinarily drive through. And... don't lock your car doors when you get there.

18. Donate your skills to a worthy cause. The guys from this men's group have taken it upon themselves to build this basement at our house for the kids in Homewood. Use your skills for the Kingdom.

19. Practice the art of presence. Be available to people... on their turf, and on their timetable. Ministry is not always convenient. God calls us to many different types of places, at many different times of the day.

20. When I share publicly about my experiences in Homewood or with the things I learn through my doctorate program, I am doing so because I am being intentional about influencing others. I am doing my best to share stories with others in order to encourage people and help them to get involved. All Christians should use their influence to lead others, especially when it comes with a cost.

Violence... and What Christians Can Do About It

This has been a violent week on the east end of the city of Pittsburgh where I live and work. A 14 year old girl was tragically raped and murdered by a convicted sexual predator who had recently been released from prison on parole. The young girl had a troubled past (she often ran away from home and she had been in and out of foster care), and she had put herself in a dangerous position when the evil crime was committed against her. Still, she was a victim and my heart breaks every time I read any new details in the news about her death. Also last week, a 24 year old mother of two in East Hills was killed when three young men tried to break into her apartment to steal drugs. All three of the young men have been arrested and face the possibility of life in prison on homicide charges. Over the weekend a woman was shot in the ankle during a drive by shooting involving the Sin City motorcycle gang in Homewood. On Saturday night police arrested three men who opened fire during a large street fight on Susquehanna Street (the same street that I live on). On Sunday, a 30 year old man was gunned down in Garfield. He had been the intended target of a shooting in January where a jitney driver was killed instead. Early on Monday morning, two 17 year old boys were killed while they were attempting a robbery in East Liberty.

In response to the violence, the Pittsburgh Police have pledged to increase their work in the east end until there is a slow down in the criminal activity. The city recently rolled out a broad initiative called the Pittsburgh Initiative to Reduce Crime, which is aimed at reducing violence in places like my neighborhood. I hope it works. An initiative like that is needed. I believe that the government and police should be working toward reducing crime in troubled neighborhoods, but the police response to the recent increase in violence in Pittsburgh is a reactive move. The police intervene when the peace has already broken down. The PIRC begins to act when crimes have already been committed. What role should the church play in responding to violence in troubled neighborhoods? What can we possibly to do the stem the tide of inner city shootings?

Christians can get involved after violence has been committed by caring for victims' families and visiting offenders in prison. That is an important role of the church, but I think we often neglect our responsibilities to get involved proactively before crimes are committed. How can Christians get involved proactively? Here are some suggestions:

1. Mentor a child! While violence soars on the east end of the city, I have kids between the ages of 9 and 15 on the east end who are begging me for a mentor. I just tell them, "Sorry, I don't have a mentor for you." Some of the kids have been waiting for a couple years for a mentor and they are about to age out of the LAMP program (meaning that starting at about age 16 they are too old to be matched with a new LAMP mentor). Maybe I should just tell them, "Sorry about all of the violence in your neighborhood recently. Good luck not getting caught up in it, though. I know over 3,000 people go to my church, but I just couldn't find anyone for you in four years of trying. Sorry." Meanwhile, 88% of kids who have a mentor go on to college. Kids who have a mentor are 33% less likely to hit someone, 53% less likely to skip school, and 46% less likely to use illegal drugs. Christians in Pittsburgh would make a HUGE dent in the amount of youth violence in this city if we would do one simple thing: just provide a mentor for the kids who need mentors.

2. Get involved! If you have enough time to watch the violence unfold on the TV news or read about violence in the newspapers or on the internet, then you have enough time to go do something about it. Pull yourself away from your television. Pull yourself away from the internet and your social networking sites. Pull yourself away from your smart phone. Pull yourself away from the many distractions that this world has to offer, and go to where the people in need are hurting and do something about it! You can't lead from your places of comfort. You can't make a difference from your couch. Many conservative Christians I know complain that the government is making poor people dependent on the state by offering so many social programs, and they complain that the government programs do not work to do things like prevent violence in inner city neighborhoods. However, I run into people all of the time who are working social services in Homewood. Do you know who I don't see in my neighborhood? Conservative Christians, except for some amazing LAMP mentors from North Way who have navigated through the mirky waters of social activism in order to make a difference in the life of a child. My point is that many conservative Christians that I know like to point out the many problems in neighborhoods like Homewood. They may send me articles about everything that is wrong with government programs. They may call into conservative talk radio stations to express their opinions about everything that's wrong with liberalism and poor people in America. But then they don't show up in the places they complain about, and they don't build relationships with the people they complain about. I'll sit and listen to conservative mumbo jumbo all day from a person who actually rolls up their sleeves and gets involved. If they don't get involved in my community, then I'm not really interested in their solutions to the problems that are plaguing the poor in our society. They have a big credibility problem.

3. Seek transformation! Now that I have challenged my conservative Christian friends, I can challenge my liberal Christian friends. Many people have been trying to "help" on the east end of Pittsburgh for a long time, but often things either stay the same or get worse. Often, programs are in the business of sustaining programs. I think that programs should exist to generate transformation in people and places. Everyone who leads a program, especially including myself, should be trying to work themselves out of a job. We should arrive at a point one day in the east end of Pittsburgh where we all celebrate and say, "It worked! Transformation has occurred. Lives have been changed forever. Neighborhoods have been changed forever. The east end of Pittsburgh has been transformed because violence is so low, businesses are healthy, housing is stable, children are being educated well, and the government has assumed an effective function in the area." ANY work that is done on the east end of Pittsburgh should be done in the interest of empowering people, not in the interest of bandaging them so that programs can be perpetuated. I'll sit and listen to liberal mumbo jumbo all day long from a person who leads people and places to transformation. If they're just in it to keep a program going, then I'm not really interested in hearing thier solutions to the problems that are plaguing the poor in our society. They have a big credibility problem.

4. Partner! Transformation in the east end will not happen with a bunch of heroic solo missions. If we all work together, conservatives and liberals, residents of the east end and nonresidents, caucasians and African-Americans, churches and schools, police and community members, and small businesses and corporations, then we have a significant chance of reducing violence in Pittsburgh. If we sit on the sidelines, or distance ourselves from others because of mission statements or demoninational beliefs or any other types of barriers, then I do not believe that transformation will occur in Pittsburgh. We must partner with one another.

Am I upset? Yes! Am I using strong words to push Christians to care and get involved in doing something about the violence in my neighborhood? Yes! Christians should not be able to read a news article about a young person being killed, and then throw their hands up and say, "Well, that's tragic. It's just too bad. But there's nothing I can do about it." I believe that I can speak on behalf of the young people who I know who are impacted by the violence, and say that you can do something about it. You must do something about it! Christians should be leading the way to transformation. God wants people and places to be transformed. We should model for the world how humans are supposed to interact with one another. Christians should be showing the world how to reduce violence in troubled neighborhoods. Will we mentor a child? Will we get involved? Will we seek transformation? Will we partner with one another? In the east end of the city of Pittsburgh right now, those questions remain unanswered. I hope the Christians in Pittsburgh will provide answers.

Join the Movement... Move to Homewood

Julie and I got some great news this evening! A few months ago we invited a young couple who were interested in moving to Homewood over to our house for dinner. We really enjoyed our time with them, and we tried our best to answer their questions about living in Homewood without trying to influence them in one way or another. They have some incredible ideas on how to impact the community by living here, though. We have been praying and hoping that they would move here. Tonight, they stopped by our house to let us know that they have decided to move to Homewood within the next couple of weeks!

For us, this is a huge answer to prayer. My goal is to see many families move to Homewood to raise families, buy homes, start businesses, open bank accounts, volunteer in their kids' schools, advocate for government accountability, and demonstrate the love of Christ to their neighbors on a daily basis. I had been hoping that our move to Homewood might inspire other people to want to move here, but to be honest there has actually been very little interest. Almost an awkward amount of disinterest. I sometimes think people don't like to talk to me about our life in Homewood because it makes them feel uncomfortable. From one perspective, that's fine with us because we are doing something countercultural that many people have a hard time understanding. From another perspective, it's disheartening because I have much to share with people about how God is moving in this neighborhood. I have written much on this blog about how God continues to work through us to impact Homewood in unique ways. It is an amazing feeling to be in the center of God's will.

If you are reading this and you live in a large metropolitan area like Pittsburgh, I would strongly encourage you to move to a marginalized neighborhood like Homewood. If you have questions about it... just ask me! People all over America and in cities around the world are moving back into cities because of the many benefits that urban centers have to offer. Yes, there are risks involved in living in the city. But there are also risks involved in living in the suburbs or rural areas. God is moving in cities at a tremendous rate in cities all over the world... I think you should join his work there. If you're in Pittsburgh, I'd love to talk to you about living in Homewood. One final note: There were roughly 11,000 residents living in Homewood before my family moved here, many of whom are amazing people who care deeply about their community. Many organizations and churches have been working in Homewood for years, long before LAMP or North Way got here. My family, and the LAMP mentors from North Way, are simply seeking to join the Holy Spirit in the work that is going on in Homewood. Another couple just jumped in. I'd love to see hundreds of new families move into Homewood. Care to join us?

God Has His Reasons

What a day! This morning I had the opportunity to provide mentor training for eleven new mentors at North Way Oakland. It was a dynamic and fun group of people, and I had a blast sharing stories about things I've done wrong (and occasionally right) over the the past five years as a mentor to many young people in Homewood. I think my mentoring glory stories become more and more embellished over time (just like my high school football stories), but I do have a good time sharing the stories. I think all leaders should develop the ability to tell good stories in order to bring interest and value to the message that they carry. If you are a leader... be a good story teller! God has placed you in a leadership position for a reason!

After the training I had the chance to meet with a young man from my church who gives me great hope for the people in his generation (he's 22 years old). He had some great ideas about how to teach kids to be entrepreneurial and develop innovative and valuable skill sets which would be useful in today's marketplace. He is a young businessman who is developing a healthy theology of work, and I hopefully helped him navigate through his calling from God to make the world a better place by using his business sense. If you are a person who loves business... you do not need to work at a church or a nonprofit, parachurch organization to make a valuable difference for the Kingdom of God with your life. God has you in your job for a reason!

This evening I took a couple LAMP kids to the Pirate game and fireworks at PNC Park. It was an exciting Pirate victory, and the sold out crowd loved the post-game display. I love Pittsburgh! The buildings downtown looked so amazing with all of the fireworks explosions reflecting off of the windows. Pittsburgh has been blessed with a strong urban center, beautiful rivers, and great people. If you live in a city... then love your city! God has you in your city for a reason!

As I try to drift off to sleep tonight, their are noises of laughing and video games coming from downstairs where the LAMP kids have crashed in our living room. Julie and I love to open our home to the people in our neighborhood. I'm sure I'll have to go down there a couple times to get them to settle down, but I know they're just having a great time at our place. If you live in a house or apartment... open it up to other people! Your house is meant to be shared, in authentic community, with many people (even people who are different than you). God has placed you in your home for a reason!

Maybe God has you reading this blog post for a reason! Today you have the opportunity to choose to lead with purpose, work with purpose, love your city with purpose, and share your home with purpose. God has his reasons...

Steps to Serving Others

I've had some people tell me recently that my blog is challenging them, but they are not sure what to do about it. God calls every Christian to make a difference in this world, so failure to act is not an option. Here are some suggestions I have for anyone who has been challenged by God's call to reach the lost and serve the poor:

Examine Your Lifestyle: Are there things in your life that are holding you back from serving others or giving yourself away to people in need? Sometimes a comfortable lifestyle can hold us back. If your finances (debt, house payments, cars, credit cars, college funds, or retirement) are keeping you from serving others, then it is time for you to do some radical things to get out of that bondage. If your job has you working too much to have the time to spend with people who are hurting in this world, then I would suggest to you that it is time to change jobs. Work is not a cursed condition. Work is a gift from God. Work should not be hindering you from serving others. Don't get stuck on this step! You do not need to get your life perfectly in order before you can start to help others. Right now is the time to get involved.

Take the First Step: I know that many people cannot make the jump from not being involved at all to mentoring an inner city kid once a week for three or four hours. I suggest that people start serving the poor by simply taking some first steps such as serving meals at a homeless shelter or taking a short term missions trip. Sure, the experience will not be very transformational in the big picture of things for the people that you are helping in that short amount of time, but this part of the process is more about you overcoming fears and beginning to discover the joy that God gives us when we help other people. Don't get stuck on this step! Many Christians show up to help poor people once or twice just to make themselves feel better, and then they bail on the people who they are trying to help when things get tough. Keep going!

It's All About Relationships: Many Christians want to help others, but they don't want to risk getting involved relationally. Ask yourself some of these tough questions: "Do I know any poor and/or hurting people (not all poor people are hurting or in pain... many don't feel the need to elevate themeselves to the lofty heights of middle class norms in America!)? In where I live, work, and play, do I come into contact with people who are different than me racially or socioeconomically? Are people who are hungry dining at my table?" If you do not know, and I mean deeply, relationally, know, any people who are marginalized by mainstream society, then that is a major problem for you if you are a Christian. God has a special place in his heart for people who are poor or suffering or outcast by society, and he has a special call for Christians to do something about it in our world. If you are not deeply involved relationally with people who are different from you racially or socioeconomically, then that is a major problem for you as a Christian. Christians should be leaders, on the cutting edge in society, in the areas of racial and socioecomic reconciliation. Instead, people in America often say that Sunday morning is the most segregated time of the week because Christians are so bad at worshipping with people who are different than us. If you are not sharing your home and your food with people who are desperately hungry in your own city, then that is a major problem. It's easy for us to give monthly support to starving kids in Africa that we see on TV, and then turn our backs on hungry children in our own city. My point is that all Christians should be involved in meaningful, consistent, long term relationships with people who are marginalized by society and with people who are different than us. I think every Christian in America ought to mentor a young person. But, don't get stuck there! Keep moving!

Compassion and Justice: Christians are called to act both compassionately and justly. Compassion means that we do something nice for somebody just because we want to help them. There are no expectations for anything in return. We just give. Compassion is not bad. It is a part of what Christians are supposed to be doing in the world. However, most Christians get stuck at compassion and they fail to live out their other role which is to act justly. We should be empowering the poor by removing systemic evil from our society which oppresses the poor. We should be equipping others by acting powerfully to seek out all types of injustices. All Christians can, and should, act powerfully in order to serve others. Justice often comes with a great cost, but it is what we as Christians are called to do. This means making sure all children get a good education. It means that businesses thrive in hurting communities and that people have access to good jobs. It means that dysfunctional laws are changed. You could move your family into an under-resourced neighborhood. Justice means many different types of things, but we cannot sit back and watch people being hurt by injustices without acting.

I have lots more that I could write, but I'll stop there. Get involved in your city! Start building relationships with people in need! Your actions will change the lives of others, but I know that your life will be changed forever as well. God is pleased when we are obedient to his call to reach marginalized people in the world.

Questions Without Answers

A young person in Homewood has been asking a lot of questions lately. He is entering his sophomore year in high school, and he is having a hard time finding a positive direction to take with his life. He has reached a point where many of his peers from Homewood have started to give in to the temptations in their neighborhood and drop out of school. He lives on a block in Homewood that is full of drug addicts, drug dealers, prostitutes, bars, and gunfire. His house is probably only two or three hundred yards from my house (an easy walk), but his home really sits in an area with constant shady traffic and illegal activity. I was driving him home the other day and an addict walked right up to our car. My mentee turned and asked me, "Ugh... why do there have to be so many crackheads right in front of my house?" I didn't have a good answer to his question. I've seen him almost every week for the past four or five years. Nothing ever changes in front of his house. I know that drugs are all around him. He knows that drugs are all around him. I don't know why the police don't do something to intervene. I don't know why more people don't care about his predicament. Well, maybe I do know, but it's too hard for me to explain it to him. The powerful people, including many Christians in Pittsburgh, don't care at all about his predicament. They're busy trying to advance themeselves. They want to advance their lifestyles. They want to advance themselves in their jobs. They want to advance their housing situations. They clearly don't have time for a fifteen year old boy living in poverty on a tough street in a neighborhood like Homewood. People generally don't want to buy a home on his street. People generally don't want to start a business in his neighborhood. Most Christians generally want to avoid his neighborhood, and specifically his street, at all costs.

But, then, tonight he walked over to our house to hang out on Monday Night Madness and he asked Julie and I another question. "Why are you guys doing this?" He had looked around our house, which was full of about fifteen or twenty kids from our neighborhood between the ages of 5 and 16. Some kids were in the back yard playing a ball toss game. Some kids were playing the Wii in our living room. Some kids were mixing beats on our keyboard. Some kids were playing Nerf basketball in the other room on our main floor. Some kids were playing dart tag in our basement. Some kids were playing frisbee and football in the parking lot of the elementary school next door. Some kids were eating in the kitchen, the same kitchen where one kid was standing there bleeding because he had gotten a little bit too involved in the dart tag game downstairs and the basement pole didn't agree with him. It was all a lot to take in. Chaos surrounded us, but the kids were having a great time and they were off of the streets for a few hours. I tried to have a meaningful discussion at one point or another with each of the kids who came over. We do this because we care. We do all of this because we have listened to God's heart for people who are hurting and ignored by society. Our particular call is to Homewood.

The majority of Christians in Pittsburgh tonight are distancing themselves from my mentee's problems. As nightfall comes in "nice" and "safe" neighborhoods in the city of Pittsburgh and suburbia, many kids in marginalized neighborhoods like Homewood try to go to sleep asking themselves questions. "Does anyone care about me?" "Why are there gunshots in my neighborhood?" "Why are there so many drug addicts, drug dealers, prostitutes, or bars by my house?" "Why is my street so run down?" But... maybe somewhere in Pittsburgh tonight, there is a Christian who is restless because of their struggle to answer the questions associated with God's call on their heart. Maybe they are considering mentoring a child. Maybe they are considering building other types of relationships with people in neighborhoods like Homewood. Maybe they would be willing to sacrifice their own comforts in order to impact those who are hurting or struggling right here, in their own city, on this very night. Maybe, just maybe, the Christians in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area will step into their roles as the body of Christ, as people who represent Christ to those who are hurting, to those who popular society ignores. Or, maybe, they'll turn their heads to the other side of the pillow and try to sleep thinking about all of the comforts that the world has to offer them tomorrow. There are jobs to be done. There are retirement accounts to be filled. There are $300,000 mortgages to be paid off. There are private Christian school tuitions to be paid for. There are vacations to be taken this summer. Who wants those pesky suffering people in our own city to ruin any plans for advancement?

Risk

Life will not make sense to us until we embrace risk as a central theme of our lives. For the most part, I think Americans like to play it safe. We love formulas that can help us to scientifically break down the difficulties of life into the simplest of possibilities. This is why infomercials are such a huge success. We want someone to give us the forumula to the easy way out. We want to avoid as much pain or discomfort as we can along our journeys through life. We want to apply time-tested principles to our lives that will help us to "be a better me." We'll even pay lots of money to people who are willing to help us get to those lofty levels of success. Everyone can be a millionaire if they would only work hard at applying the right formulas and principles.

The sad part of playing it safe is that life will not make sense until we decide to risk. Love requires risk. Most of the great joys that can be found in life require taking risks. Of course, risk sometimes leads to failure. That's OK. People will ridicule you when you fail. "See, they should have played it safe." But, the people who play it safe never get to experience the joy in life that comes with taking a risk and watching how God comes through for us. When we play it safe, we communicate to God that we do not really need him. When we embrace risk, we communicate to God that we desperately need him to come through for us. God is a rescuer. Things may not turn out exactly as we had planned in our minds, but God is always in control. We can trust him to come through for us.

Julie and I have been talking a lot lately about the joys we have experienced over our married lives together because we have embraced risk. Yes, there have been times when we've fallen flat on our faces by the world's standards. But, we've also experienced amazing things that most people do not get to experience. There is great joy to be found in serving others, and in living life on the edge. I know that our lifestyle does not look like most of our peers. We do not have a McMansion in the suburbs. We are not upwardly mobile, trying to advance ourselves so that we can lead a more comfortable life. We receive uninvited guests on a daily basis. Sinners dine at our table on a regular basis. I think that Jesus modeled for us that we should all embrace risk as a central theme of our lives. He did not play it safe, and the world has been forever transformed because of the risks he took. That's enough inspiration to keep Julie and I going.

My Take on LeBron James

Professional sports are a unique phenomenon in American culture. It seems that the entire nation hung on the words of a young basketball star, LeBron James, yesterday as he announced his plans to take his talents to Miami. Cleveland fans were left heartbroken again. Media outlets across the country have chimed in their opinions on this subject. Sports talk radio ratings have gone through the roof as middle-aged, bald, fat men discuss random sports-related topics with one another and with other middle-aged, bald, fat men who call into their shows to discuss the issues. Thousands of fans fill up arenas, ballparks, and stadiums each year to show allegiance (or in some cases disgust) to "their" teams. Athletes are paid millions of dollars in contracts and endorsements. When an athlete makes questionable moral decisions in their personal lives, the fans will obsess over the circumstances and how it all could possibly relate to the performance of the team.

One word comes to mind when I look at the world of professional sports in America: worship. In my opinion, in many parts of America we have replaced the worship of God with the worship of professional sports franchises and star athletes. I understand it, I guess. America is obsessed with many different types of idolatry, whether it comes in the form of sports or in celebrities, TV, pop stars, or any number of other things. I would bet that even though we do not usually worship golden statues, we worship many more idols than any other civilization in the history of the world. We have made idolatry into a science. The worship of LeBron James is just the latest example of what I'm describing.

I have a little bit of a unique perspective on this topic. I used to be a professional athlete. For the arena football team I was on, it was all about entertaining fans, making money, and basically putting up a big fake front to the world so that the people in my city could escape their own personal realities for a few hours. This is what American people do when they attend a sporting event, or watch TV and movies, or play video games. They escape their own lives in order to enter into worship of idols in a fake environment which has been carefully crafted for them by entertainers. I remember that as athletes we would act one way in public for reporters and fans, and then privately we would make fun of the reporters and fans and how absurd everything was. People who are sports fans, the ones who obsess over their teams and listen to sports talk radio or watch ESPN or post comments about their teams on the internet don't realize that the athletes are not worshipping their teams like the fans or media do. They are just doing a job, just like the rest of us who work in any number of places.

I think that American Christians really need to examine ourselves on the issue of idolatry. We need to ask ourselves what we are worshipping. Are we worshipping God, the Creator of the universe and the One who will have nothing to do with idolatry? Or, are we worshipping TV, movies, celebrities, music, and LeBron James? Is LeBron James "the king" and "the chosen one" who we all need to "witness," or are we going to worship Jesus Christ as the King and Chosen One? The next time you sit down to watch an episode of your favorite TV show (maybe American Idol?) or raise your hands to the sky at a sporting event or a rock concert, keep in mind that your worship of men may be replacing worship of the Risen Christ. Imagine if the Christians in Cleveland decided to turn their attention away from the LeBron James saga and focus their time and energy on living out their functions as the body of Christ in a city just like every other city in America that has people living in poverty, brokenness and pain all over the place, and needs that can only be filled by people who are on mission with God as the centerpoint of their worship. Many Christians in Cleveland are crying out in pain about the injustice of the removal of their biggest idol. Where are the Christians in Cleveland who are crying out in pain about the poor in their city who are being oppressed, or the children in Cleveland who are going to bed hungry, or the sex trafficking going on in seedy parts of their town, or the violence on the streets of their communities? Christians can not have God work through them to transform people and places if their worship is focused on the idols surrounding them. We cannot have two allegiances... one to Christ and one to the idols being offered up by the world.

"Oh... We're VIP!"

A couple weeks ago a friend from Dick's Sporting Goods offered me several passes to a practice round at the US Women's Open (golf) to be used for LAMP. The Open is being held here in Pittsburgh, and the passes included entrance into Dick's VIP lounge at the event. I tried for a while to offer the tickets to any other LAMP mentors who might be interested, but as time went on it appeared that I would be taking matters into my own hands. I didn't want the passes to go to waste, so today I picked up four LAMP boys from Homewood and off we went on what I had described to them as "a new adventure." I kept the destination a secret until we got there because I didn't think "boys, we're going to a ladies golf tournament" would go over very well.

I broke the news to them when we arrived at the golf course, and their first (and very important) question was, "will there be any hot girls here?" Well, I thought, I guess that's all relative. Other comments included, "it's too hot (it was 95 degrees and humid today), I'm thirsty, it's too far to walk," and so on and so on. My reply was, "just wait... I have a special surprise for you guys. You are VIP guests of this golf course today." It turns out that the VIP lounge was on the exact opposite end of the golf course. On the way there we paused at the practice range to watch Jerome "the Bus" Bettis hit a few golf balls with local legend Arnold Palmer. The boys weren't really impressed. "It's so hot out here!" And then... all of us weary desert wanderers stumbled upon the mysterious oasis that was the Dick's Sporting Goods VIP lounge. The doors swung open and cold air blasted our sweaty faces. The hostesses greeted us and offered us anything that we could have possibly wanted to eat or drink. Unlimited ice cream. Free collectibles were all around us. Flat screen TVs adorned the walls in all directions. Computers with internet access were available. We could choose any number of air conditioned seats from which to watch golfers play past along the seventeenth hole. I'm pretty sure angels were singing in the background of the lounge. Phrases like "I'm staying here forever" and "best day of my life" were thrown around.

We were the last ones to leave the tent (we closed the place down following a last call for ice cream). The long walk back to the shuttle bus which took us back to my car was not so bad. One lady on the shuttle bus said, rather enviously, to one of the boys, "Where'd you get all that stuff?" He replied confidently, "Oh... we're VIP!" I guess she didn't recognize greatness when she saw it...

This ended up being such a special day for the LAMP kids, and I mention that because I was surprised by a comment that my friend who had given me the passes told me shortly after we arrived in the VIP room. She mentioned that she was so happy to see our LAMP kids, because none of the other kids' charities who had been given tickets had actually brought any kids. The adult leaders of those organizations used the tickets for themselves and their families or friends. How sad is that? Nobody brought any actual kids? Just think about what those kids missed out on? I'm so glad I was able to take the LAMP kids. It was an amazing day!

Celebrating One Year in Homewood

Julie and I recently celebrated the one year anniversary of our move to Homewood. We've had a fun time sharing stories about all of the adventures. I have written about some of the more dramatic things in this blog, but most of the experiences we remember are the subtle stories of new friendships or the overcoming of our own stereotypes. On our first night of sleeping in Homewood, I thought that I had moved my family into a war zone. There were 'gun shots' breaking out all over town. It turns out that those were just the fireworks associated with people celebrating their independence just like millions of other people all over the country. There have been countless other presuppositions that we've worked through along the path of our journey here. I am so thankful for those learning opportunities.

What stands out the most following our first year is the relationships. We have built relationships with many children and neighborhood residents. We know addicts. We know prostitutes. We know social workers. We know hard working people. We know mothers, and fathers, and grandmothers who are doing their best to make Homewood a better place. We know some teenagers who are trying to make Homewood a better place, and we know some teenagers who are contrubuting to the destructive forces in the community. We love both of those types of kids. They've all spent time in our living room, whether they've decided to make good choices in their young lives or not.

Hundreds of thousands of Christians in Pittsburgh intentionally drove right past Homewood last year in order to avoid having to face the harsh reality that poverty exists in their own city. To take that even further, many of those same Christians have made lifestyle and business decisions that have actually contributed to the pain of the people living in my community. These types of 'Christians' elevate themselves at the expense of the poor. In my opinion, they are missing out on much of the richness that life has to offer by insulating themselves from the poor. Our family has had the pleasure of receiving many uninvited visitors and dining with many different kinds of people over the past year, so I'll end this reflection with the words of one of my heroes, Bartolome de las Casas. We've done our best this past year to live out his challenging words to all Christians: "Can you consider Christian those whose bread has not fed one single hungry person? whose drink has not satiated anyone's thirst? or whose table is not known by any poor person? Christian are the ones who are merciful to all; who are moved by those who are injured; who do not allow the poor to be oppressed in their presence; those who help the needy; who frequently aid the indigent; those who suffer with those who suffer; who feel the other's pain as their own... Anyone, therefore, who wants to be a friend of the world, becomes the enemy of God (James 4:4)."

Last Night in Pittsburgh

Late last night I completed a DMin project that I have been working hard on for five months. After submitting it to my professor, I collapsed on the couch with my wife and we started into a nice conversation about how nice it will be to have my schedule freed up from the demands of this latest class. All I wanted to do was relax. But... sometimes God chooses to work through us in the moments when we least expect it. In my particular case last night, that moment came with the ring of our doorbell while I was relaxing on my couch.

"I wonder who that could be?" We ask ourselves that question a lot because our doorbell gets used a lot by people in our neighborhood. We have a pretty steady stream of visitors on any given day. But it is still unusual for us to have visitors late at night. I could see a face peaking in the window beside our front door, and I opened the door to find a fourteen year old LAMP boy who was distraught and hurt. He had just been jumped and robbed by a group of about ten other boys, and for some reason he decided to come to our house for help. He was badly bruised and his clothes were all torn, so we got him cleaned up, gave him some clothes to wear, offered him something to eat and drink, and then started the process of asking him to open up about what had just happened to him. It turns out that I know the leader of the group who jumped him... ironically, also one of our LAMP kids from a different part of Homewood. Once the situation was stabilized, I decided to drive him home. He lives on one of the most dangerous streets in Pittsburgh, so I wanted to make sure he made it home safely. As I walked him to his front door, his mother and brothers were on the front porch and we all had a chance to discuss the situation. I got to stay for a while to minister to the family.

This story is an example of the importance of incarnational leadership. Ministry does not always happen at convenient times or in sterile environments. Many Christians want to help people who are hurting, but they are not willing to risk going into messy environments at inconvenient hours. This is not surprising. We have been taught to think that real ministry happens in clean environments (the church building) at convenient times (Sunday mornings). Many people on staff at churches or parachurch organizations believe that ministry happens on weekdays between the hours of 9am and 5pm. My philosophy is that a broken down row home on one of the most dangerous streets in Pittsburgh during the middle of the night in the aftermath of a street fight is holy ground. That is the type of situation where Jesus wants to work through us to enter into the pain of the world. It's where the best ministry happens... with hurting people in their territory and on their time table. The Holy Spirit was at work in my neighborhood before my family and I got here, and the Spirit will be at work here long after we are gone. But for right now my calling is to find out where the Spirit is working and minister to people in that context.

A lot happened last night in Pittsburgh. Last night, hundreds of thousands of people who are "just too busy to mentor a kid right now" sat down in front of their TV screens to watch the local news stations describe in vivid, dramatic details the violence being committed by inner city youths. Penguin fans anxiously awaited the start of the free agency signing period to begin at midnight. Discouraged Pirate fans celebrated a rare victory over the Chicago Cubs. Maybe somebody went out to a movie, or took in a play, or went to a concert, or went out to eat, or surfed the internet, or played video games for hours, or balanced their budgets to make sure enough money is going into their retirement accounts. A college student got drunk at a bar. A lonely businessman got high in his hotel room after buying drugs in my neighborhood. A kid went to bed hungry. A homeless man looked for a place to sleep. A prostitute found her spot on the corner, settling anxiously into her own personal hell. Last night, a boy who is slipping through the cracks in society got beat up in a neighborhood that most people ignore or intentionally stay away from. I know exactly where Jesus wanted me to be last night. How about you?