Monthly Archives: June 2007
Hope Is Rampant
My heart has always been with the oppressed, the rejected, the easily dismissed. I believe it is where God is and I truly believe we could all see Him more clearly if we were able to get our hands dirty.
At the latter part of last year I read an article on my friend Darla’s blog about a guy who mends peoples tattered garments once a month using an old ice cream cart. Call me stupid but it was in that moment (I was 32 years old) when a radical thought occurred to me. I do not have to wait for a group to be Christ to others. This may be an everyday thought for you but I am slower than the average earthling and this struck me as a truly profound thought.
A month later I decided to embark on my own project. I decided to try to put myself in the shoes of those who do not have “modern day” transportation. I rode my bike everywhere I went for a full 7 days and I collected funds to give to a small handful of organizations. Generous people sponsored me by the mile or for the whole ride and the money was given to these groups who utilized the funds for good. I called this project HopeisRampant.
The strange thing was a few people were reading my blog and when I posted my daily video’s about my two wheeled adventure those same awesome people began reposting them, I mean I asked them to but I never thought anyone would actually do it! Then a few people wrote me and explained that my bike ride inspired them to do this or that and I was floored!
The math equation went like this: A guy from far away + a converted ice cream cart = a chubby polish guy riding his bike for a week + a video camera = other people giving back and doing good and loving people.
I hate math but I love that kind of equation!
The more and more I prayed about my next project (I wanted HiR to be a quarterly personal project) the more and more I found out about awesome people doing awesome things all over the world and I began to want to share that with everyone I came in contact with. So more prayer and many moons later I began to think of HiR as something altogether different. What if it could be a spotlight for those who are doing something to make this planet a better place? What if we could get a megaphone and stand on top of some building somewhere and shout to the world what these amazing, selfless people were out there doing, everyday in every city in the world?
And so hopeisrampant.com was born.
Please join me in this journey. Be our myspace or virb friend and pray for what we are doing. We are currently just a small band of broken wind up toys but I believe God will bring others along side us who have the same vision for good news.
We also are asking people to send us emails if they know of a person or organization who are doing wonderful things both on a small basis and world wide.
Also read (and subscribe) to our online magazine, it is absolutely FREE and without ads or political pressures.
Join the movement for our currency is love!
Gimme’ Grace, Baby!
So…I had lunch with my friend James today. He happens to function as a pastor as well. He serves the Calvary Chapel that meets in Fort Walton. Anyway…we had a great convo over lunch. It was mostly about grace.
I love talking about God’s grace. Nothing gets me more stoked than telling and re-telling how much God loves us broken human beings. Having brushed against the abyss of that love, I’ve never been the same. It’s like a trigger that releases gladness in my heart. I never get tired of saying, over and over again, it’s all about His love for us…that’s what makes Him so wonderful.
James has been pretty stoked about grace lately. He came to lunch bringing me presents (note to self…start bringing presents to lunch meetings, it really is nice). He brought me a book that has meant a lot to him by Steve Brown called “A Scandalous Freedom“…and so far I’m LOVING it. I’ll give a full report when I’m finished. As I said…James is pretty stoked about grace. He’s had sort of a “grace awakening”. Needless to say, we have a lot in common.
James has been talking about grace in his teachings. That’s reasonable, isn’t it? I mean, it’s only the most important thing to grasp ahold of when trying to understand the Gospel. But you know what? When he started preaching about God’s relentless love…people started leaving his church.
I know….”wha???” It doesn’t make any sense to me either…at least it didn’t until I was reading his blog, and there was a comment left by some anonymous Pharisee, who obviously represents those who were offended by the gospel, and left looking for a relgion they could control.
All that got me thinking about grace….and Eastgate….and what a wonderful island of misfit toys God lets me hang out with. Jesus is just way too good to me…I will never get over it. I hang with a church who, when I say “it’s not rules, it’s relationship”, and they say “no duh.” I love it. I love you.
Thanks for being my friends.
—
Wednesday Night – Worship and Prayer
Well…as the Solidarity Fast comes to a conclusion (whew), we’re going to have a special meeting in lieu of our normal Bible study tonight (6-13-07). We will spend time worshiping Jesus and thanking Him for being our supplier of all that we have need of…and we will pray some community prayers for the poor.
Dustin has been putting a few posts about his experience with the fast on his blog….you should go check it out if you don’t already.
I’ve been offline for the most part…so I’ve been jotting things in my moleskine (thanks Dusty). There is so much to absorb…so much to process. There are moments that stick in my brain…the humiliation one feels when peddling a bike barefoot during a sudden rain-squall…the joy that a small packet of “chicken like flavoring” filled me with when I finally gave in and had some Ra-men…..just how much broken glass is on our streets, and how many sand-spurs actually live in my yard. Odd things…but poignant as I consider my fellow human beings who know so much worse on a daily basis. My heart is bending toward the right direction….and that’s a good thing.
See ya’ tonight, hopefully!
Rob
When They Bleed…He bleeds
”He opens a place in his heart for the down-and-out,
he restores the wretched of the earth.
He frees them from tyranny and torture—
when they bleed, he bleeds;
when they die, he dies.”
Meditations have been added to the Solidarity Fast page. Two days before we start. Please go to the Screaming Urge page and share your thoughts.
Solidarity Fast Site Updated
Just a heads up…the Solidarity Fast is coming up this Monday! The Prayer’s page has been updated on the Solidarity Fast site! Go check it out…some have already been sharing thier thoughts in preperation for the fast! I don’t know if it’s right to be stoked about a fast…but I am.
