Our first Ride & $5 for all

So the past couple of weeks have been really tough for me, with school starting, and jobs picking up. It is just an odd time of transition and trust in Christ for His provision in my needs of life. There are many amazing and great opportunities to share the love of and hope in Christ.

I am not sure if i talked about this yet, but I got a new car a couple of weeks ago. It is has been a blessing, and a very interesting thing to interact with. I know that this maybe a big red flag to many of you because, I always talk about tight finances, and here I now have a new car. It has totally been Christ lining things up for me so that things can happen in the neighborhood. When I first started to look at purchasing my house, I got accepted into a special savings program with the United Way in which they matched me $4 to every $1 dollar. I could save up to $1,000 and it had to stay in for 6 months and had to go toward a certified used or new car purchase. The time had run out on me saving in the program, and I decided that I should use it sooner than later because funding could or would run out. So I purchased a new Mazda 3. It has been an interesting time in venturing into learning the car buying and ownership world. The car puts a new burden/implication on my income needs, but it creates a great opportunity in serving my neighbors, and the kids in the neighborhood. When I first got the car, my kids in the neighborhood talked really loud about it, almost in a boasting fashion. I pulled them aside to talk about the car, and what it is for and it was an amazing discussion. We talked about how now we can all goto places together, and take trips to go, camping, swimming and all sorts of other places. They come up with some other awesome places to go as well. They also understood the concept behind not talking about it boastfully, or flashing around the car, so that we can make sure that it stays in decent shape and that I wont have to waste money on un-neccessary things. The car was just as much for them as it is for me. It was a beautiful time...

Our first ride together was for a lunch gathering at Middendorfs with Sojourn-Lakeview Church. Middendorfs is about an hour away from New Orleans, but is a great place for fried catfish. I picked up Stephen, Roger, and Anthony from around the neighborhood, and we obviously ran late. Then we convened with the church folks and headed out. The lunch experience was great, I only wish I could have not felt the squeeze of my budget. Things like this though are great, because I get to dialogue with them about getting soda, dessert, and money requirements. It hurts me that I can’t give them those things sometimes, but I think they understand why and still hang out with me regardless which is awesome.

I killed my budget for the month, because I paid for insurance all at once, and also had to pay for tuition this semester. It will be fun trying to recuperate over the next few months, in the midst of trying to find a way to now work my regular job for income, so that I can actually do ministry well, and not freak out all the time.

God’s Providence is good though, I received some dry food from friends last week, and today I received some meat. This month just seems to be a big test on me being faithful in giving and receiving. I had purchased a bus ticket from one of my students the other day, and now he is crashing on my couch. I made dinner with donated food last night: pasta with spaghetti sauce and red beans. My friend could only stomach a hand full of bites, and desired some meat. Today I was given some meat! So thats amazing, and so it will be awesome to share with him about God’s provision.

I also received a $5 check the other day in the mail. I am pretty excited to see what the kids in the neighborhood can dream up to spend it on. Maybe themselves, or food for dinner, or to get something for someone else. We’ll see what they want to do.

Dinner for 2 please

Sometimes I just get tired of what I am doing and want to just settle for a comfy life working the standard american dream. My brain and my heart is hurting at the moment for just an ounce of support other than just mere words. It has recently been really tough trying to do ministry in the neighborhood because I have to work like crazy, and study, and make ends meet. I know that I probably make close to the average income for my neighborhood, which is not a whole lot.

The other day when I went and worked out at the school I weighed in at 135 lbs. Which isn’t a whole lot for being 5ft 10in. I was quite stunned, because I have weighed 145lbs since 8th grade. This peaked my interest, and made me think about what I eat, how often, and what I want to eat. I usually eat at home, because its the cheapest thing to do. I try to eat a variety, but the cheapest things are usually forms of starches and fiber.

This month I am starting to have to be ridiculously tight on my budget, and cannot spend a whole lot of money at all, because of car payment, car insurance, taxes, health insurance, tuition. My budget has been destroyed for the month. So it looks like every meal will have to come out of my cupboard of mysterious foods I have left in there.

I am not sure if I have any problem with this, well yes I do. It’s makes me sad because I have neighborhood kids that come and hang out and have dinner and I can’t feed them well. It’s also tough because I want to take them places that they haven’t experienced, like to the mountains, museums, and parks. Anthony asked me the other day when we were going to get Chinese food again, and I can’t tell him when. After our first time out, he learned how to use chopsticks. He now eats with them almost every time he eats at the house, its beautiful.

It also gets tough when I hear of people talking about different restaurants and their greatness. I just get sad, because I can’t relate. It’s tough for me to justify feeding myself for one meal, when I can feed 2 more kids if I cooked.

Unexpected Surprises

Well today has been quite an interesting and surprising day. The day started off normal and as expected with painting a mural for school. There’s always the big scramble to get the job done. It was finished and it turned out great.

When I got home, I was washing my truck and a neighbor that I had met 2 months prior stopped by and asked me to teach him more about the bible! That is not something that happens too often.

I started to make my simple dinner, cheese, eggs and some toast. I busted the first egg open, and there were 2 yolks in it! I was quite shocked and amazed. Yes, I questioned if it was something I should eat. As I was elated over the double up on yolks, I hear loud footsteps up to my door. A few hard knocks on the glass, and i scurry to the door as i knew it was going to be one of my neighbors. I opened the door, and hear a loud grunt of “here mike!” in a loud raspy voice. A deep pot roast pan was shoved into my hands. In the pan laid a fresh out of the water Sheephead fish. I told Turk, thanks, and he scurried back across the street.

I packaged up the fish and put it in the freezer and then proceeded to make my egg and toast dinner.

Heart issues

In Matthew 15 Jesus is asked questions about traditions, and what makes a person bad. Jesus makes a statement that “What comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, witness, slander. These are what defile a person.”

It is interesting to really take this passage in the context of Jesus’s time. Jewish tradition is pretty strong, and I imagine that back in those days not many would break rank from the standards set. This is much like American Culture today. That we often want to fit in, who doesnt? We set up traditions, that help us unify, and establish a normal standard. Churches do this too. Tradition is often a place of identity for many of us, but it isn’t always a place that relates well to the messiness of life.

We all know that life is a bit crazy, and that we all have pretty jacked up parts of who we are. These parts of our lives are not friendly to traditions. What is friendly to traditions, is buying into accepting thoughts that are not necessarily from your own internal development, but just accepted thoughts because we want to buy into the system and have a little comfort and credibility.

All I can think about now is the bar scene, and how awkwardly, and ridiculously many guys try to pick up girls or get their phone numbers. This odd social phenomenon to me is a classic case of people buying into the wrong set of tradition. The culture that this practice is derived from breeds from within mostly packs of males conjuring up what they think women want. I don’t know about you but why would I try to learn about women from a middle man, and not the source? The sad thing is though that some of you ladies give in, and settle for something less than what you actually deserve.

So back to the text. I have mostly talked about traditions, and things that we buy into without really questioning. Sometimes we accept a tradition and have actions or lingo that may contradict what we actually can articulate a belief. Some of us say that we have no fear. What about the times when you are afraid to talk to the gay or lesbian person that is sitting next to you staring at you? What about that man that looks grungy, and possibly homeless? What about that person that you’re not interested in, but they may be interested in you? What are your adjectives that you use to describe them? Do you make sounds of disgust? These are all notions of the heart that speak about your true character.

I catch myself all the time, getting disgruntled or frustrated with the rich, with authority, and even with some of my neighbors. I miss out on the opportunity to see the beauty that God has actually placed in everyone. I fail miserably throughout the day in the way words come out of my mouth. May I recognize, and be mindful of the expressions I use and the condition of my heart toward all of God’s creation that Christ has called us to love and bring hope to. May I break through traditions and established norms, and follow The Way of Christ in Loving His People.

Heartbreak Road.

Well I rarely ever write twice in a day. The past few days have been odd because I have just been asked a lot of questions about what people think, or what they are doing. It is a blessing that people trust me and can confide in me. Tonight outside of a bar a man came up to me and told me his name and shook my hand. He told me,“ You just have a good aura, you can tell there’s just something there.” This was quite intriguing. I just wonder now what made me stand out, or what that was about. I made sure that I analyzed the way he was looking at me. I questioned internally whether he was gay, and came to the conclusion that he was not hitting on me, and that he truly just saw something in me. Maybe the love of Jesus just exudes.


I was also asked about what I thought of Shane Claiborne, and a lot of the issues within Irresistible Revolution. A lot of people get pissed off reading that book because it definitely goes against american consumerism to the Nth degree and challenges many people to give up things that they are not willing to part with. I think there is a balance between it all, that the poor and the wealthy are both needed, and I think that Shane would really like for us to just be mindful of the poor and oppressed since we are the wealthiest nation in the world. Who are we really if we do not attempt to share the wealth, most of the time we dont even think about that.
While I was driving, i thought of that question, and thought about what the heart of the matter is really about. I came to a conclusion that ultimately we need to truly be willing to sacrifice anything and everything for the cause of Christ if we really believe that He is our ultimate provider. I believe that I trust and know God at a higher level, because of my abandonment of comfortable things while Cycling across the state, and being willing to move to a scary neighborhood, that is not surrounded by much of what I naturally loved which are still Mountains, Snow, Cold Weather, and Rocks to Climb. So if you were to write down your favorite thing in the world, would you be willing to give that up? are you a true giver of life to the point of where it actually hurts?

Will you exchange your car for a hurting heart? My heart just thrives to see others awakened to finding life with purpose and meaning that is holistic. I believe it is only through Christ that this can happen. It has been a joy to see friends really begin to understand and come alive over the years. It is also really hard at times when people are hurting and are doing really bad, in turn I hurt and my brain gets disheveled and hurts as well. I also almost just hurt all the time because I see a great sleeper in everyone, and it often takes something terrible to wake them up. I see big dreams in people, and then they fail in a little way, and retreat back to something comfortable. They go back to sleep in accepting the standards of American Culture. Its funny how people dream of being someone like Martin Luther King, or Ghandi, or some other big figure, but many do not act anything like these people and expect to get there. The people that leave a mark on the world are not rule followers, but rule breakers, they challenge the traditional norm.
Some of you reading this, may think you are the Bomb Dot Com, because you think you are a rule breaker. You may actually be a Zero because you follow the crowd of normal individuals within your own sphere.
Preppies buying into The North Face clothing which actually isn’t that great of gear. High Schoolers, and College Kids think that alcohol is necessary to have fun. That is all a LIE! Those are normal things and it doesnt make you special!
Girls, you should never settle for having sex, making out, or having to dress skimpy to meet the man of your dreams. Guys you should not think that you have to have the nicest of everything to win a girls heart.

People that are often the greatest leaders often are outliers with unique abilities

ok i am done ranting, now i need to try and sleeep

The power of NO

Well today and yesterday, friday, have been interesting. I’ve had my doorbell rung about 5 times, and had multiple kids walk up to my door and knock about 10 times. Each time I was a neighborhood child asking “can I come in and hang out?”
        “NO, you can’t I am sorry. When did I tell you that you can begin coming back to the house?”
        “Ummmmm.....”
        “Sunday. Do you remember why?”
        “Yeah, it’s just me though not everyone else.”
        “Well remember all of you need to start working together as a team, and help each other so that you can hang out here. You can’t come over today, but you can try again tomorrow afternoon if I am home.”
        “Okay... See ya mister Mike.
        “See ya, have a good day, try again tomorrow.”

On Thursday, I cooked dinner for some of my neighborhood kids. It was rice, and a chinese broccoli, guylan. They actually liked it and ate most of it. I was greatly impressed and was super excited about eating dinner with them. When we were almost done, things started to fall apart. Some more neighborhood kids came over to the house, and they started running around and hiding. This made me uncomfortable, and the kids know they shouldn’t act this way around the house. This kind of activity results in everyone going home for the day. They continued to play around a little bit, resulting in them not being allowed back until Sunday.

So friday and today have been interesting in dealing with the kids. I am glad that they still so want to come over and hang out. I am trying to instill an idea of discipline and self control to their lives. It is tough to turn them away when they look so lonely coming over by themselves. I know that if I just gave in, it would almost be like everyone else in their lives that are pushovers, and may never develop self control. It is almost like when I had my first dog and was learning about how to train dogs. I know that many of my friends fall prey to my dogs cute little face and allow her to jump up on them, or let her out of the cage when she whines. It takes everyone to play their part to help train my dog, I almost think its the same way for kids. I hope that I represent good parenting skills for the neighborhood, but I don’t believe that the community as a whole does. That makes it even tougher to help the children of the hood learn well.

How do you begin a holistic approach to helping the children in the neighborhood?
Community Development- which is way too much to describe, and hard to figure out.

Adopt the Hood

        So, I have never been one to love fundraising, nor one to ask for help unless necessary. It is quite odd for me to have recently really come to grips with the fact that I really need help now, and that ministry here has grown into something that needs more of my time. It has been tough lately working then teaching art or going to school, and finally to arrive at home with atleast one neighborhood kid that wants to hang out.
        I find myself not spending as much time outside my house, and in the neighborhood as much. This is probably due to the intense nature of my line of work, as well as just needing quiet, and decompression time to myself. I love the 6 kids that often come to hang out at the house, and wish I had the energy to spend time with them. We often cook a crazy meal that I have schemed up, and I make them eat their veggies. It is awesome to get to expose them to new foods, and to take them to different places. I need and want to begin to really engage their families as well, but I don’t currently have the energy or time to do that properly. So I am attempting to reach out to the church, friends, and family, to help me tell the stories of my neighborhood and how Christ is creating positive social change.
        I am going to start sending out stories, newsletters, and tidbits of what is happening in the neighborhood so that you know what is going on, and that I can be your connection to the most dangerous neighborhood in the nation. You can be apart of the story of God’s sovereignty and restoration in this neighborhood by being engaged through prayer, experience, finances and conversation. I am on a mission to think innovatively about how the church can truly help us as the neighborhood, and reestablish opportunity for jubilee with the residents in Central City. Will you help? More info on the neighborhood at www.Refugenola.org

Peace outside, and don’t break your New Years resolutions..... just trying to hold you accountable
~michael

                

This is a New Year

Well, today is the first of the year. It was pretty amazing to have the day off and get projects done around the house. I figured I should take a moment to reflect upon this year and notate what has happened this year. In 2008, I bought my amazing house in Central City. I was featured in Sundance Channel’s: Architecture School, and Ordinary Radicals. I also spoke at a meet and greet with Eddie Izzard after one of his shows. I started Seminary at NOBTS. And I turned 25.

This year has been interesting, God has blessed me with creating some ridiculous events this year, even in the midst of my failures and frailties. I thank Jesus for the grace given to me when I think I can do things on my own. There is no way i could have orchestrated the events that allowed me to purchase my house, and to be able to tell the stories of my life with my great neighbors.

Final Remarks for 2009 : Have peace, do not be afraid!

In John 14:27 Jesus says, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

I believe we are often afraid of what lies ahead, or that we may be afraid of parts of our past. We may be afraid of people, our sins, our neighbors, sinners. We are to not be afraid, but to rest in the peace of Christ. To rest in His arm in the messiness of the crazy world that we live in. We should not be afraid of people that drink, smoke, dance, do drugs, deal drugs, cussing people, black people, white people, cops, terrorists, or the overly happy neighbor. We should have peace in Christ that we do not fear death, awkwardness, or hatred. The love of Christ can overpower death and destruction, that though my body may die, my thoughts, ideas, and soul will carry on through the minds of others.

It has been profound this year living in my neighborhood, because I came to grips with accepting death. When my life was threatened I felt pure joy, in being ok with dying for the sake of my neighborhood. It was so joyful because I knew that if i happened to die, that it would cause quite a big uproar locally, as well as nationally. That my life and ideas that Christ gave me would not die alongside my physical death. That was a momentous realization.

May peace be with you before death.

Do not wait another year to begin living the life where your passion meets God’s calling!