Daily struggles of inner city ministry, plus Godly affirmation being better than false pride

    I'll start by saying that we had a small flare-up in our Thursday night activity because of a few different things, including one of our inner city pickups using the n-word, which among other things he had done to provoke and bully kids of all races has led the troublemaker to be removed from the program. Thanks to Bomani Jones of ESPN radio for some of the race stuff as he's mentioned a few similar things over the time I've heard him, as I didn't really understand this either, at least not to a great extent.

     However, this isn't just about race; it's also about an Alpha male attitude that transcends race - while we are all one blood (see a longer video here, too), the fact there are different cultures has been used by some to try to put others down, and this is wrong. It is made worse by the injustice which exists in our culture - although aspects of this injustice only deal with worldly things; as I taught in our Youth Leaders Training Institute (YLTI) class just before this flareup, society makes you think, for instance, that you're not somebody unless you have the best shoes (yes, one kid mentioned shoes as an idol before this). However, this is where self-esteem is a major problem.

     Godly affirmation, on the other hand, says you are special to God no matter who you are, that it doesn't matter if you have the same shoes or whatever as someone else. Godly affirmation says that you are so special that if you were the only person ever, He still would have come to die for your sins and risen fromt he dead. he took the punishment we each deserve for our sins, and all you have to do is call on Him with a single, sincere prayer of repentance, admitting you fall short of His perfection, believing He died to take your punishment for your sins and rose again, and calling on Him to save you and make you new inside. You can do that right now, in fact.

          When there is extreme poverty, it makes the idea of being an Alpha male, of trying to prove you're the boss, more prominent, it seems. This Alpha male idea that they have to be challenging others and winning to be accepted is not Godly, but rather, if they let go and let God affirm them as special in His eyes and humble themselves, then they will be truly successful.

     This is more difficult, as I say, since the poverty that exists in the Northeastpart of Canton - and, indeed, in any poverty-stricken situation - makes that task more daunting, and means that spiritual warfare can erupt which we need much prayer to combat. Because people don't have material wealth they decide, "Oh, I know how I can feel better about myself, by being the top dog over someone else." This is a part of their culture that we need to help them see is not Biblical.

     That poverty has also caused problems among classes and cultures. We have had several very good black teens who have been leaders and able to help get kids out to the van and other things, and can help defuse thigns before they escalate.

Part of this is cultural because of the neighborhood and other things. There are been excellent leaders, for instance, who have taught nonviolence and worked for racial justice without fighting back. Leaving aside the fact that God's justice is better than any man's justice - it's easy for middle class blacks, or those who are very heavily into following the Lord (which many of these families aren't) to look at those like Jackie Robinson or Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and think, "Yeah, nonviolence works, standing tall and ignoring the taunts allows you to succeed." (I haveheard some say Robinson was so agressive on the field becasue he took his frustration out on the baseball, but the point is, he showed excellent self-control.) It's harder for others, since people in poorer communities haven't tasted the increase that others have. To them, looking only at their circumstances, it appears like not much has changed since 1917. They think, "What did turning the other cheek really accomplish for us?"

     Because of this, there is a tendency taught by their lives in the inner city to think that it's not worth it to be leaders, to be those who say, "Hey, be orderly and respectful and all that." Oh, they might *want* to lead, but often there are certain youth who don't know how to command respect without demanding it, and there is a clear difference. These young people see so many only looking at circumstances that they're used to just trying to force things.

    This is one reason I've tried in YLTI to teach on the fruit of the Spirit and how to avoid the lusts of the flesh to show how there is a difference which should come when we trust in God. Galatians 5:16-26 is a great passage which helps us to avoid the lusts of the flesh like revellings, seditions, etc. by being peaceful, using faith, longsuffering, etc., and listening to authority. Some of the kids did seem to be listening, but it still requires baby steps when the environment has surrounded them with other ideas. One might well say that the churched kid of whatever race is still our Judea, whereas the unchurched is our Samaria. Both are vitala nd Jesus wants us to reach them all, but the way we approach them is different. The Gospel was the same, after all, to the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11) as it was to Paul, but the Lord sure had to go about reaching them differently.

     It's important to reach the parents, too, in spots like this, and help them understand that we need them to work with us, at least in part, to help their kids see that it's not about not fighting back, it's about reaching out and showing them that as the skies are higher than the seas, so are God's ways higher than man's ways and His thoughts higher than our thoughts.(Isa. 55:8-9) Backing down when being called names and provoked with looks and such (I presume that also happens, I know it's possible but don't really get such nonverbal things) isn't being weak. It is saying, "Your taunts don't impact me." It is letting God's strength and power be what leads them. And, this can even be done in worldly ways. You could say that, "By ignoring your taunts I am actually diminishing you because I am saying you don't matter." Each of us does matter to God, of course, but sometimes when you can show that God's ways make sense even in the world, it will help people to see that we have logic on our side and that can cause them to look further into what else we have to say.

     We are, after all, wanting to help these young people to grow to follow the Lord, to not be acting out their frustrations at life - poverty and all that goes with it - but to accept that they don't have to have all the things of this world in order to be satisfied. (Just as the example I used last night about not needing the best Air Jordans to be someone special to God, because those are things that will all pass away.)

     They may come from a different background than we do, but if we have conversations where we listen and see where they are not just spiritually but also in their mentality, we can help them (kids *and* parents) to realize it's not our word but God's Word that is going to help them. To paraphrase Lincoln said of Gettysburg, we should use this as a new birth and let it be somewhere where we can share with the families the freedom that God provides and try to understand why there are these problems so we can help guide everyone to realize the love that God has for them and how they can overcome this.

     This is likely all stuff some inner city ministries have known for years, but because we have had so many different roles in filling in the gaps, one might say, some of this is stuff we are learning on the fly as we work in this particular neighborhood. So, please continue to pray for us, and by all means, e-mail us with your own ideas for helping, knowing that we only have the one night a week and some Saturdays. And, also, go to our website and give so we can send some of these kids to a great church camp. Thanks.

God did it all - on Good Friday, rthe Resurrection, and how you can help

As we celebrate the weekend of the Resurrection, it's wonderful to focus on the fact that what we needed done, God did it all.

I'll be posting more about our need for camp sponsorships in the coming days and weeks with a followup post, but for now, a little note about what I taught in one of our YLTI classes thsi past Thursday and how it relates to the Resurrection. Because it'll help you, the reader, to see how our Thursday activities are growing and the amount of help still needed.

We couldn't save ourselves, and because of that, we can fully trust in God and not have to rely on our own works. That, in itself, is an important thing. he hs different ways of using us sometimes - we no longer have a radio show but are trying very hard to help a dozen or so young people on our roster to grow spiritually. But, it's really God who is doing it, with our help and yours.

I did a teaching on the dry bones of Ezekiel 37 in ourYLTI (Youth Leaders Training Institute) class the other day. I wanted to talk about how this is a passage that is about Israel but how passages that might not have been about us at first can still have spiritual application. I think the kids understood, especially one 15-year-old, Hunter, who had some very good replies (such as that it was written so the Jewish people would know God would revive their nation) and comments (like about how he was frustrated because he kept sinning; he's been saved about 6 months now and is still learning how to walk in the Lord. Please pray for him and all the poor kids in our ministry to grow in the Lord and to get to the church camp we send them to; also for a few unspoken requests.)

I then shared how this is like when we are born again of the Spirit, and how God makes us alive and is the head of all of us, with us as different members of the body (going to 1 Corinthians) and how we need to work together for Him, etc.. (Something else important for these young people to realize.)

It reminds me of how the very fact of having life breathed into us, and being quickened by the Lord(Eph.2: 1-10), is so wonderful. We can trust Him to work in us to make us more like Him, and to guide us in everything.

And, it's all because 2000 years ago, Jesus Christ was willing to give everything up, to take our punishment for our sins, to take all the sins of humanity upon Himself. And then, thankfully, he did not stay dead but rose triumphantly from the grave!

God asked the prophet Ezekiel in chapter 37, "Can these dry bones live?" Just as He told the prophet they could when He, God, Himself put life into them, so too today many struggle witht he problems of life, and ask if tere is something that can make them alive. And, we can tell them with certainty that yes, Jesus Christ can make them new, fill the holes in their heart, and so on when they turn from their sin.

It is something we can't do ourselves, any more than those dry bones could be alive by themselves. But, God has given us eternal life, and while we struggle with the problems of this world - and I face my own spiritual battles just like everyone - each believer can go to God whenever they need and let Him give that grace we need to get through each day.