your church can be relevant in your community

People want to make a difference, corporations often want to be known for being philanthropic as much as for their product, and churches, while continuing to preach Jesus, want to be relevant. Relevant to the people they are trying to reach for Jesus, relevant in their local community, known for loving the least of these. 

Probably anyone, any corporation, or any church, if asked how they were doing in that regard would speak highly of themselves. But others might not have the same impression. So, Stephen Viars’ book Loving Your Community: Proven Practices for Community-Based Outreach Ministry (Baker Books, 2020) seems especially useful and relevant for those churches wanting to be seen as relevant.  Don’t hear what I’m not saying: just because some of these programs worked for Faith Church in Lafayette doesn’t mean that they will work for your church of Anytown, USA.

But there are some great examples here of what can be done when there is a true heart for believers into your church to listen to a praise band, a sermon, and an altar call, oh, and let’s not forget 0hte offering. No, Faith Church invites the community to tell them what is needed, and then looks for a way to meet those needs. While meeting the needs, they look for other ways to share Jesus.

And it seems to be working for them. Viars documents some of the methods that have worked for them, simple things like opening the facility for use by groups and organizations that meet when there is no church activity happening  or offering classes that help people rise above the level where they seem to be stuck, and making sure that others are included in everything that the church does. Or how about a residential treatment program that happens to be Christ based.

There are lots of needs in every community and this book does a great job of sharing how you can discover some of those needs, and then perhaps find a way to color outside the lines, to think outside the box, and find a way to meet one of those needs in a way that also gives hope to the hopeless and provides opportunities to share the love of Jesus.

I participate in the publisher’s bloggers program, and received a copy of this book for that purpose. I was asked to provide an honest review.

5/5

sharing these DACA facts

This was written by Joy Mullins,  and shared to @theimmigrationproject, a page managed by Rondell Treviño.  More people need to understand DACA--- maybe then they wouldn't get their knickers all knotted up. 

15 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About DACA

1. DACA recipients are not eligible to vote (and they never will be). DACA is not a path to citizenship or amnesty. It simply shields them temporarily from being deported because as children, they were brought to the US illegally by their parents by no fault of their own. It is not a liberal conspiracy for capturing future Democratic votes. They will never be citizens.

2. DACA recipients do not receive free healthcare, welfare, or food stamps. They are not even eligible for Obamacare or Medicaid.

3. DACA recipients are required to pay income taxes. It’s estimated that ending DACA would decrease state and local revenue by $800 million a year.

4. DACA recipients are not just "too lazy" or "too busy" to take the proper steps to legal citizenship. Once they are approved for the DACA program, they will never be eligible for any other legal status in the US other then "DACA," even if they are married to US citizens. As the law stands now, the option to become a US citizen will simply never be made available to them. The program is only meant to be temporary protection from the deportation and a chance to live, work and obtain a driver’s license legally in the US. Nothing more. It's not just a matter of walking up to a desk somewhere at City Hall, filling out an application and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

5. The United States is the only home they have ever known. If they were to be deported, they will be sent to a country they have never seen. Most often, their parents fled a country suffering from severe poverty, war, and oppression. Bringing their children to the US, even with the serious risks of doing it illegally, may have been their parent's only hope. Everyone wants the best for their children.

6. DACA recipients speak English and are very often bilingual. For the most part, they are completely assimilated in American culture. Some don’t even realize that they are not in the country legally until they are old enough to need a driver’s license and a job. It is often devastating and embarrassing for them to suddenly find out they are “illegal.”

7. DACA Recipients cannot have a criminal record and will be deported if they don’t adhere to some very strict rules. Saying they are “mostly violent criminals and gang members” is unequivocally false. If they screw up, they have to leave the country.

8. To be granted DACA status, they must pass a background check, have a clean criminal record and a high school diploma or GED. They lose their eligibility if they commit a felony or a significant misdemeanor. Even a regular misdemeanor, juvenile adjudication, or expunged conviction can put them at severe risk for eligibility. (And for the record, the incarceration rate of native born American citizens is 14% higher than DACA recipients as a whole.)

9. DACA recipients are not stealing your jobs. Over 6 million jobs remain unfilled in the United States, a record high, despite 90% of DACA recipients being employed.

10. The DACA program has been overwhelmingly successful for the US economy. It is estimated that the US would lose $460 billion dollars in GDP over the next 10 years without DACA. The majority of recipients buy cars, houses, and other large purchases that contribute to strong economic growth. We need them.

11. DACA recipients live in fear and uncertainty. They must reapply for DACA status every 2 years for the rest of their lives. It costs at least $500 every time they apply. It's a stressful, uncertain life considering they are penalized for something they had no control over.

12. Over 72% either have advanced degrees or are enrolled in higher education. Contrary to popular belief, they are not instantly rewarded a free college tuition. It is true that many opportunities are made available to them, such as scholarships, in-state tuition, and in some cases financial aid, to encourage them to further their education. A better education means they are better contributors to their communities.

13. DACA stands for the "Deferred Action Childhood Arrivals" program. They are also affectionately called "Dreamers" after the "Dream Act" which stands for "Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors." Recipients must be under the age of 31 as of June 15, 2012, and must have come to the US before reaching 16.

14. More than 1800 Governors, attorneys general, mayors, state representatives, police chiefs, and judges have signed onto a letter supporting DACA.

15. Sadly, DACA has been put on the chopping block by the Trump administration and its future looks bleak. Donald Trump, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, as well as Fox News, Brietbart, and other Right Wing "media" outlets are successfully leading the way on stoking serious fear about DACA to the American public. Not only are they trying to end DACA, they're trying to end several other LEGAL immigration programs and laws. They want to hand pick what nationalities will be considered for immigration to the US. Call your representatives today and let them know you insist on the DACA program to be continued.

Please feel free to share widely!

Sources:
Pew Research "Key Facts About Unauthorized Immigrants Enrolled in DACA" September, 2017 Cato Institute. Immigration, Research and Policy Brief, August 2017 Center for American Progress October, 2016 Newsweek “DACA by the Numbers” August, 2017
CNN "DACA Myths Debunked" October, 2017 CNBC "DACA Deportations Could Cost US Economy More Than $400 Billion" September, 2017 CNN "DACA Dreamers Immigration Program Explained" October, 2017

What's your BHAG?

It's good to have BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals), but sometimes they seem overwhelming to the extreme.  So you break them down into manageable pieces. Smaller pieces that quickly add up and get you to that place you were aiming for.
     I thought that a bunch of people (some I know,  and some don't) must be nuts to think that they,  or anyone else for that matter,  could possibly do 10,000 pull ups in only one year.   Can't be done says I. 
         How about a little over 800 a month. No way!
          200+ a week? Yeah,  not happening.
      That's about 35 a day, and let's you take a rest day.  That still seems like an awful lot.   I can't do 35 pull ups.
       But maybe I could do 4 sets of 10, or maybe 8 sets of 5.   Somehow that seemed doable!
   On Jan 6, I did 3 sets of 10 and 4 sets of 5.   Kept at it every day.  50 pull ups or chin ups daily,  Monday through Saturday.  Starting the 13th I did 55 a day with however many reps I could do in a set.
   This past Monday I set the goal of 60 total a day.  After today's 60, I had a total of 990 --- so of course I did the extra 10.  In 3 weeks I have done 1,000 chin - or pull - ups.   A lot more than I thought I could do in an entire year.
     So set those BHAGs, and go after them. Sometimes looking at the finish line instead of the next step motivates you -- but sometimes it might paralyze you. 
       Have a goal? Good,  now break it down into the small pieces that you can manage each day,  and then don't be afraid to get started.  Before you know it,  you'll have meet your goal -- and can move on to the next one.
       What's your BHAG?   (Fitness or otherwise?)

Margins of Islam

Like probably a lot of people, I assumed that most Muslims had pretty much the same religious culture—even though at some level I knew that couldn’t be true. After all there are Shiites and Sunis, and there are obviously some differences or there wouldn’t be two different groups. 

                I’m familiar with different denominations in Christianity, so I think I must have at least suspected that within Islam there were probably  the same types of different interpretations. I have long been interested in missions, and have actually worked with Muslim converts in the past, so the title Margins of Islam: Ministry in Diverse Muslim Contexts (Gene Daniels and Warrick Farah, editors, William Carey Publishers, 2018) was especially intriguing.

                The reader is asked to ponder who it is that represents Islam, and how Muslims shape and use Islam. And then a number of different writers and missiologists describe Islam in various parts of the world, and how the different cultures influence how Islam is practiced in that particular part of the world.

                The final chapters talk about what we can learn from the ‘Margins’ as discussed in the preceding chapters, and how we can apply it in the context of contemporary missions.  

This book was a real eye-opener for me, and I highly recommend it for anyone who dares go beyond the stereotype of Islam—that is anyone interested in a more comprehensive view of the people who practice the religion

5/5

Woman seen through God's Eyes

I almost didn’t ask for a review copy of this book because I’ve seen so many ‘devotionals’ lately and most of them are pretty much the same. They serve their purpose, each one for a different audience, but the pattern is the same, pick a verse or short passage, a little bit about a lesson from the passage and how it applies to YOUR life, perhaps a question or two to help you think, and a sentence prayer to close it out. A good way to start the day, with a particular focus, is through reading a short devotional. Those few minutes help us to start the day by turning to God, and that might be what sets the tone for the day, and all that happens to us.

But I’m so glad I ordered Women of Courage: a Forty-day Devotional (From the (in)courage Community, edited by Mary Carver, B&H Publishing, 2019) This book notches it up at least a few steps. First of all the devotions are grouped by categories; categories that allow women of the bible to be seen in the roles that God intended for them, rather than just a group of women who were present in biblical times, but whose purpose was often downplayed. Women are LEADERS, FRIENDS, and BRAVE. They overcome their BROKENNESS, and they are full of HOPE, GRACE, and GRATITUDE. They often teach us how to WORK TOGETHER, OFFER HOSPITALITY, and DISPLAY GRATITUDE.

Another positive is the fact that instead of just a verse or two, we get an entire passage. While some people can take a single verse and preach for close to an hour, the longer passages give the reader an opportunity to hear the entirety of the account, which means that what they read next is in the context of what God is saying through the lives of these remarkable women.

And just as the passage is longer, the devotional content is also longer. There is more opportunity to flesh out the meaning of the passage and more opportunity to apply it to what’s going on in our lives today…a reminder that God’s truths are timeless, not just something that happened thousands of years ago.

The variety of prayers is also refreshing. Many people have problems praying, because they have never been taught how to pray. While these prayers are focused on the respective passages, they could also be used as a teaching too.

As a member of the publisher’s blogger’s program, I received a copy of this book. I was not required to write a positive review.

4.5/5