It occurred to me recently how thankful I am for my job. Well, first, I am thankful for a job, any job. That alone is a blessing and I know I am fortunate. I know several people who aren't able to say the same and it's a tough thing. But I am thankful for my job. I am thankful for the people I work with and around and for the people who come in daily. Is it my dream job. Not really. But it's a great place for me right now and a great step along the way.

And it's a good thing I have a job because a couple weeks back I had some stuff stolen. And by some stuff I mean my bag. Being a bike commuter makes my bag a very important thing. I keep everything I need in my bag. Some people have things spread out between home, office, car. Nope. I am not peddling somewhere to get something I could have just had on me all along. So that makes said stealing of bag a little more than frustrating. Top words I would use to describe bag loss...frustrating, unbelievable, ridiculous, unfortunate-especially in timing (seeing as how my new computer was in it. Two weeks earlier they wouldn't have gotten a nice new computer with my bag). It's interesting though. I was on the phone with a friend right after it happened and I was laughing about it and saying that an injustice had happened to me. But the words didn't really seem to ring true. Because yes, my stuff was stolen, and yes I would say having something stolen from you is a form of injustice, but I can't say that without realizing how blessed I am in the first place to even have had those things. It's ridiculous really. There are so many people in the world that experience true injustice daily be it under oppresive military regimes or enslaved by people looking to profit off them, that the loss of a few luxuries hardly seems to be an injustice at all. Granted there is a lot I could do with the money I will now need to spend on some of those things that I actually needed (like a bag that keeps the rain out), but at least I have a job I can work at and earn that money at. And that is something to be thankful for.

What have I been doing that keeps me from blogging?

I often just blog about the things I come across.  What I am reading about, what I am doing, what I am thinking about, or a combination of all three.  In the past few weeks I have come across quite a bit that I would deem worthy of a post, but I have been a little busy and maybe more accurately-not all that disciplined to do what it takes to develop said posts.  But what have I been up to...

Following these guys, who are doing decent.  As well as these guys, who haven't really helped themselves in any way that will make a difference.  But all that really isn't that important.

I have been reading this book a bit and have enjoyed the little I have read thus far.

I helped this girl move across the country.   And subsequently I get to spend lots of quality time with her which I really enjoy.  

Just started working through 1 Timothy with Josh and Graf (they are too cool to have a website for me to link them to).

Officially becoming a member here.  They had a few baptisms on Sunday, one of which was a friend and coworker of mine.  Just a very cool thing, for so many different reasons, to be a part of.  

Lots of work here.  (Come to the film screening of Crossing next Monday, 5/4, if you are in Seattle).

So I guess that's a little bit of what has been happening.  Hopefully a little more in depth posting action to come.  

Blessings.

jake

A little potpourri of human rights issues...

Oh. Hello. It's been awhile. I suppose life just kinda happens sometimes and the blog gets neglected. Here's an article that made my mind reel and emotions flare a bit. It's a long one.

The dark side of Dubai

Upcoming

Call + Response. 4.3.09 7:00 pm $5 Quest Church. Advocacy Fair at Q afterward. Human Trafficking is one of the biggest human rights issues facing our generation and you can do something about it, come find out more.

Holy Week. Events nearly every evening at Quest Church. 4.6-4.10, 4.12.09. Attempt to grasp the glory of it all.

Register or get more information at Quest's website.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

It's St. Patrick's Day. This evokes several different thoughts, emotions, and memories in me, none too strong, but the one that I wish to note here is what I was doing last St. Patrick's Day. Last year I decided to dedicate a whole class to teaching about the western holiday that is St. Patrick's Day. Now when I say a whole class I mean the whole class for every class I taught, thus a total of 11 St. Patty's Day lectures. Slightly painful the 11th time? Yes. As painful as coming up with a new lesson plan? Definitely not that painful. So yeah. It was great though. I am not sure if more than 5 of my 600 students understood what was happening, but, hey, that's ok. And it was really the first time I had really learned in depth the reason why we celebrate this Saint Patrick anyway. Saint Patrick was the real deal when it came to reconciling. A native of Wales he was kidnapped and enslaved for six years, but after escaping and then becoming a follower of Christ he chose to return to Ireland, to the people who had enslaved him, and bring Christ's message of love and reconciliation. Brilliant. I guess that's why they made him a saint. The guy lived a while ago (in the 300s) so some of the other details are disputed, but that act is enough for me. That's a transformative Gospel. And I will drink to that (ok, I won't drink to that because I am at work. Green lattes, maybe?).

All aspects of the Gospel

I went to a membership class at my Church today. It was good. It's kind of weird to think I am in a place in life where I am stepping into membership at a church, but that is a whole other post, which probably won't get written-I am getting older, meh. Anyway. I love my church. It by no means is perfect, but it knows that and it works hard to respond to conviction and live the Gospel out. And that's what it is all about. Living out the Gospel. And I think they get that right. I was reminded as I was listening to Eugene talk about Quest's vision how important it is to take in all parts of the Gospel. Quest breaks it down into four areas: soul, community, social justice, and global presence.

In thinking about my faith journey it is interesting to look back and see how I have come to think more fully in each of these four areas. Being raised in an evangelical protestant Church that was down with Wesley I got a whole lot of the "soul" aspect of the Gospel from ages 0-18. Lots of salvation. A little fire insurance. Not all a bad thing, but incomplete to say the least.

I got to SPU and I started got a good dose of the Gospel in terms of community. I loved it. It was new and fresh and true. It was an expanded, fuller view of something I was already quite sold on. But it was incomplete.

I continued to have this desire to learn more about this Gospel and what it was all about and when I learned that Christ didn't just come to save our souls and have us exist in nice little communities that care for each other, but to also fight injustice to stand up for the oppressed to go out and serve those who have less than us. This Gospel, it is good news for everyone. We are called to be a good gift to all. We are called to take what we have been blessed with and to bless others. To look out and care for others. To work to bring a little equity to the table. To stand up and say the disparity of wealth in our world today is ridiculous. To step out of the collective system that exploits the exploitable and to take a step against it. To do this locally, to do this globally. It's part of the gospel. Christ spends a whole lot of time talking about it. So all that said...

I was reminded today how all of that stuff is the Gospel. It's all part of the Good News that Christ brought when he came as God incarnate. And all four need to be recognized equally so.

But being from an evangelical background and feeling like I have had more of that then the other stuff, I feel like there is a lot more to learn and catch up on. Here is a quote by Douglas Meeks and David Lowes Watson that I read today that deals with all this a bit...

"Only a fraction of our sins are personal. By far the greater part are sins of neglect, sins of default, our social sin, our systemic sin, our economic sin. For these sins Christ died, and continues to die. For these sins Christ atoned, and continues to atone....As long as evangelism presents a gospel centered on the need for personal salvation, individuals will acquire a faith that focuses on maximum benefits with minimal obligations, and we will change the costly work of Christ's atonement into the pragmatic transaction of a salvific contract....The sanctifying grace of God in Jesus Christ is meant not for the sinner but also for a society best by structural sin."

Valued Perspective

I am a big Dietrich Bonhoeffer fan. I love his book Life Together. Letters and Papers is one I have discussed a lot with friends and have every intent of reading myself sometime soon. Here is a quote from Letters and Papers that was featured over on the God's Politics Blog today.

There remains an experience of incomparable value … to see the great events of world history from below; from the perspective of the outcast, the suspects, the maltreated, the powerless, the oppressed, the reviled — in short, from the perspective of those who suffer … to look with new eyes on matters great and small.

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer,
Letters and Papers from Prison

response to overcoming

my friend travis left a comment in response to my past last week entitled overcoming. i post it here because it articulated a lot of things i know, but don't always feel and continues to keep me thinking about our role in doing kingdom work.

here is his response in full...

I was struck by the beginning of this post as I often have those same overwhelmeing feelings. I cam across this quote not too long ago that made the burden a little lighter: “What did Jesus actually bring, if not world peace, universal prosperity, and a better world? What has he brought? … The answer is very simple: God. He has brought God! He has brought the God who formerly unveiled his countenance gradually first to Abraham, then to Moses and the Prophets, and then in the Wisdom Literature–the God who revealed his face only in Israel, even though he was also honored among the pagans in various shadowy guises. It is this God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the true God, whom he has brought to the peoples of the earth. He has brought God, and now we know his face, now we can call upon him. Now we know the path that we human beings have to take in this world. Jesus has brought God and with God the truth about where we are going and where we come from: faith, hope, and love…. It is only because of our hardness of hearts that we think this is too little.”(the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI). If Jesus did not come to eradacate disease, end poverty, and establish world peace, then why do we think we can or must? Our calling is is to make known the living God who has, in Christ, conquered death, and the powers and principalities that often seem so overwhelming. What a humbling call we have.

grasping for it

great lent post be eugene. gets at a bit of what i am thinking. still working on exactly what this means for me in the Lenten season, but have also been thinking a bit about this passage in Matthew. i hope to share more here from my journal though in the coming weeks. i think it will be good for me to bring my thoughts to a point in which they are more clearly articulated than the jumbled mess that is my journal. blessings as you travel through the Lenten season.

Getting lenten

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday. Aka the start of Lent. Been thinking a bit about that. Started by asking myself, oh, what do I want to fast? Then moving too, wait, why am I fasting again? And I guess that put everything in a bit of perspective for me. I stumbled across this blog post- http://www.emergentvillage.com/weblog/are-you-giving-up-chocolate-for-lent and thus had ask myself what is going to be an actual sacrifice? What is going to free up time so that I can truly get deeper into prayer and reading the word? I am still trying to figure it out exactly, but I am moving in the right direction. It is probably going to have a lot to do with how much time I spend on the internet. Probably something associated with espn.com (something hard to mess with during March Madness-the NCAA should have really considered the church calendar before scheduling that tournament), but I still have a hard time cutting out reading up on sports a "sacrifice." I mean it's not necessary in the first place, so to give up a unneccesity isn't really a sacrifice is it? But then again I don't think it would be good to give up anything that already works to serve. Hmmm...maybe developing a spiritual discipline. A kind of reverse fast? I know some people who are giving up blogging and internet. But maybe if I develop blogging as a daily spiritual discipline? Hmmm. I suppose we will find out tomorrow if this is what I feel lead to do.

overcoming

been feeling kinda small lately. feeling like i am too small and the world's problems are too big. feeling a bit overwhelmed in regards to how i am supposed to fight poverty, eradicate disease, and end war. feeling a bit confused on how God would have me use my gifts to love others the best i can. feeling like i can do so much more, but not really sure how to do it and what is keeping me from finding out. it's easy for me to let these types of thoughts and feelings work on me and break me down. i am ok with that. i don't want to lose sight of how much work there is to be done, i don't want to become numb and callused to the pain others are experiencing. but i also don't want to despair. and i feel like it's easy to reach that point when you feel the weight of it all. i am reading a mclaren book right now and after he finishes talking about some of these issues, war and inequity in particular, in a chapter of it, he ends with this paragraph.

But despair is boring and uncreative, and to succumb to it is to empower it. So I turn from it and turn to Jesus, to believe his narrative and to join his peace insurgency, to stop figuring out how to get him on our side, and instead to try to cross over to his side.

despair is so boring and uncreative. i know God is calling me to be creative, to be imaginative, to pray, and think, and act. it's good, it's a process. i was encouraged this week to have stumbled across some organizations and people that are creatively seeking to love and embrace Christ's narrative and message...

http://www.micahchallenge.org/english/
http://www.msainfo.org/
http://www.notforsalecampaign.org/
http://onedayswages.wordpress.com/ (this one isn't new to me. be praying for it)
http://www.mochaclub.org/

...and many personal blogs and other things i have been reading.

good looking out.

i've been encouraged of late. not sure what it is, but i was getting worn down a bit. i think mostly just from work and such. just the day to day wear stuff, but i am feeling refreshed of late. well, actually i have been a little sick so the body hasn't felt refreshed, but the soul, ya know? and as i pause to think about it, it has been because of my community. old friends, new friends, brothers and sisters in Christ, straight up community have blessed and encouraged me. it's good. it's a real good thing.

how are you blessing those in your community? i know it's one of a few good questions i need to be asking myself more often.

uh oh...

i have been working full time at Q for less than three weeks now and i am already sipping on straight espresso like its no big thing (quite a change from a few years back when i didn't even drink drip). no caffeine headaches yet though, so i am not really worried. i will keep you posted on that though.

new drink fascination...espresso con panna.

recognizing the cycle and stepping out

i own one movie. ok, i take that back. i own three. two of which were gifts. actually, i withdrawal the last statement as well. i did purchase a number of "red" market dvds in china. i may or may not continue to have some in storage at home in michigan. and by in storage i mean i put them somewhere and i didn't find them last time i was home. all that said the one movie i have ever like enough to buy was gladiator.

a real "guys film" i was all about gladiator the first time i saw it. somewhere along the line a store had it on sale and i bought it. obviously i don't buy many dvds (i am pretty cheap and i really don't like watching movies i have seen before), but i decided to go for it with gladiator. now it's been a while since i have actually watched it, but i had the opportunity a couple weeks ago (this shows how on top of blogging i am). this time as i watched the movie it had a real different tone. no maybe it was my mood, maybe the books i have been reading, or the discussions i've been having with friends, but i had some major issues with it (and as it turns out, a lot of movies that come out of hollywood). one of the books i am reading right now is jesus for president by shane claiborne and he talks a bit about violence and peoples response to that, particularly the response that society is conditioned to have. the premise of gladiator is betrayal, ruthless murders, senseless killing, and revenge. a major injustice is done in the killing of his wife and son and he is set to have his revenge. now i am all about strong responses to injustice, but the movie rests on the fact that the only response that will satisfy the viewer is the death of the new caeser who ordered the killing of his family. its the predictable typical response. we see it in life and in hollywood all the time. but the question claiborne talks about and that i have is it the only response? in the gospels so many of christ's parables and teachings stand on the idea of a different kind of response. not a response of violence and revenge, but one of love, mercy, and compassion. turn the other cheek-which doesn't necessarily speak to getting hit again, but looking your oppressor in the eye so they recognize your humanness before they go to strike you. or give your cloak AND your shirt, not because you are "generous" but to show how ridiculous greed can be. these responses can stop injustice in its track and that is what we are called to do. its no surprise to anyone that violence really does exist as a vicious circle. can we truly fight injustice with violence?

ok, so i know its entertainment and we can't always take it too seriously, but i guess i feel we too often don't take it seriously enough. christ calls us to be creative in our responses to injustices to hear the cry of the oppressed and come to answer it. he calls us to love and act justly and mercifully. but how will this ever be natural if we just flood ourselves with uncreative responses like that seen in gladiator and so many other films and societal influences out there. how do we foster creativity to fight real injustice. injustices like internally displaced peoples (such as the karen people in burma or the people of eastern congo), women caught up in the sex trade, children dying because of lack of food or clean water, people in our city being denied housing, or people losing their lives as casualties of war. christ calls us to love these people and so many others who are marginalized and oppressed, but we so often lack the creativity to do that. i know i for one just get angry and frustrated. this creativity though, it has to be fostered. if you don't use it, express it, discuss it then it doesn't grow, it atrophies, and it certainly isn't useful.

so abandon hollywood? nah, not completely, but do i see a need to broaden my perspective on exactly how "entertainment" affects me and what i may constitute as a good movie? yeah, i think so. i know good, loving, creative responses aren't always easy to come up with and easy to make it happen, it's probably best i do what i can to advance that rather than exposing myself to the same methods and staying stuck in the same cycle of thought.

"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." -Einstein

word

Making a point to spend some time in the Word this week. It's (unfortunately) often one of the first things to go when I get busy and it is missed, and it's always gone for too long before I realize how much I need it and enjoy reading it. A couple passages stuck out and I was going to journal about them, but figured, why not put them on the blog.

"As we pray to our God and Father about you, we think of your faithful work, your loving deeds, and the enduring hope you have because of our Lord Jesus Christ" 1 Thes. 1:3 My understanding is always deepened by working the verses out in a different way (while keeping the meaning of course)...because of Christ we are faithful in our work, our deeds are loving, and we have enduring hope.

"We pleaded with you, encouraged you, and urged you to live your lives in a way that God would consider worthy. For he called you to share in his Kingdom and glory" 1 Thes. 2:12 This makes me think of a Francis Chan quote that Abby posted the other day..."Our greatest fear as individuals and as a church should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter."

The theme that is sticking out to me about 1 Thessalonians is that of faithfulness. We serve a faithful God and he desires us to be faithful, righteous, and holy. It is interesting Paul throws out a lot of different things about living this holy life, but none seem all too complicated. Just that same true message of loving others, so thus calling us to be responsible with our lives and the way we interact with others so that people may see how Christ works through us and is present in us. It's always funny (a tactful adjective among many others that could have been chosen) how easily other things are added on to that message.

The New Year

It's 2009. A new year. 2008 was a year of firsts in a lot of ways. I experienced many new things and learned more than I even realize. But I am excited for 2009. Two things in particular are worth noting at the present time...

First off. I live in Seattle. I have an apartment here, my own room, a space. Maybe not a huge thing, but I spent over half of 2008 living out of a bag. It is nice to go back to my "home" at night (even though I loved the assortment of places I stayed the last year). And it's exciting to be in Seattle, investing in a community, living life and...

Secondly, having a new job. I am the new cafe manager at Q Cafe, a small non-profit cafe in Seattle. I am working behind the bar about 30 hours a week and then spend the rest of my time doing financial/inventory/scheduling/MARKETING stuff. I have been at a week now (officially). Thus far, it's been great and it's been busy. I am excited to be a part of such a great thing and looking to learn a lot in my time working.

There is more going on, but I need to get in the groove a bit more before I can start posting like I ideally would prefer to. It will happen, I am confident. Hope the new year is treating you well.