Delighting in Weakness

Been a while...

Came across this great sentence in Gospel Transformation Bible Notes section commenting on Paul's ministry in 1 Corinthians 4.

"Rather than viewing leaders like him through a lens of human accomplishment and boasting, believers are to imitate their "ways in Christ (4:17), which include: (1) delighting not when others recognize our wealth and power (v.8), but when our foolishness, weakness, dishonor and desperate need are put on display for all to see (vv.9-12); and (2) enduring hardship with Christlike compassion, even praying for those who treat us like "scum" and "refuse" (vv.12-13)."

GTB, pg 1534 Notes section

That's tough to swallow, but I'm sure it brings us to treasure Jesus more.

The Life of Holiness

"The life of holiness is the life of faith in which the believer, with a deepening knowledge of his own sin and helplessness apart from Christ, increasingly casts himself upon The Lord, and seeks the power of the Holy Spirit and the wisdom and comfort of the Bible to battle against the world, the flesh, and the devil."

Edmond Clowney, The Church, pg. 89.

Encountering Jesus: The Only Authority Over Evil

Here is a post from the ministry I work with, Rebirth: East St. Louis. This is a recap of the latest Bible study we had this past Wednesday night. Mark 1:21-28 is an amazing passage with much to teach us. 

“And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered into the synagogue and was teaching. And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the religious teachers. And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an evil spirit. And he cried out, ‘What do you have to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are-the Holy One of God.’ But Jesus rebuked him, saying, ‘Be Silent, and come out of him!’ And the evil spirit, convulsing him and screaming, came out of him. And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, ‘What is this? A new teaching with real authority! He commands even the evil spirits and they obey him.’ And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.”

Mark 1:21-28

One of my favorite things about teaching Bible studies with our guys is the opportunity to be personally amazed by the passage of Scripture we are going through. This week, we continued our“Encounters with Jesus: How God Changes Everything“ series by going through Mark 1: 21-28. Even now, as I reflect on this passage, I am amazed at the Bible’s inexhaustible nature. There is so much great stuff jam packed into these 8 short verses. When considering the length of the entire Bible, Mark 1: 21-28 can seem quite miniscule. Yet, this passage tells us so much about who Jesus was, what He came to do, and how encountering Jesus is the only hope for the world.

After going through the story, I asked our guys, “why were the people so astonished and amazed at Jesus’ teaching and actions?” One of our students hit the nail on the head, “Because they had never seen anything like that before.” And that is exactly right. This story is much more than a vivid look at spiritual warfare or a story that proves that demons exist. Much more than that, this passage tells us that Jesus is the eternal, long awaited solution to the evil that exists in the world.

This scene would have astonished people not because they hadn’t seen or experienced evil face to face. No, that is something we all see and experience every single day. Jesus’ actions were astonishing because He is the only one in the history of mankind that had exercised such authority and power over evil.

Further, this authority over evil is something we all inherently long for. We all desire a day when we don’t have to live in fear of disease and death. We all long for the day when we don’t have to fear abuse and pain. When I asked our students about the evils they see and experience everyday, they had no problem identifying some. They are surrounded by death and poverty. And just like the rest of the world, they desire a day when evil no longer has the final say. Together, we long for someone or something to save the day.

In Mark 1:21-28, the people who were watching Jesus would have had the same hope and desire. They were astonished at Jesus because they had never seen someone who could actually fulfill that hope. Since evil entered the world, humans have tried again and again to find a solution. Whether it be trusting in political powers to bring peace, or a personal zeal to overcome evil, all man made attempts to defeat evil have come up short. Jesus is the only solution to our problem of evil and sin. He is the only authority over evil. Whether it was 2000 years ago in Capernaum, or present day East St. Louis, Jesus invites us to trust in him as the Holy One of God who has defeated all the powers of evil.

To Fear Man is to Forget God

Another golden quote from John Bunyan:

"If this God be our God; or if our God be such a God...we should never be afraid of anything we shall meet with, or that shall assault us in this world. The great God, the former of all things, taketh part with them that fear him, and that engage themselves to walk in his ways of love and respect, they unto him; so that such may say boldly, 'The Lord is my helper and I will not fear what man can do to me (Hebrews 13:6). To fear man is to forget God."

John Bunyan, All Loves Excelling (1998), pg. 39. 

Reading this excerpt, the question that come to my mind is: Who (or what) do you fear? You see, the resulting action of fear is concession. If you are afraid or fear the power of something or someone, you will concede to their demands. If you fear something, you will necessarily bend your knee to that something. In other words, you  obey what you fear.

When Bunyan talks about fearing man, or being afraid of something, I don't think he is so much referring to walking home in a dark alley and being fearful a man may jump out and mug you. No, he is talking about a much deeper issue. The deeper issue is, what does your soul fear? What does your soul concede to? What do you bend your knee and give your life to? What or who do you obey? 

What Bunyan describes in this passage is the basic decision each human has in this life. The decision is what will you primarily obey? Will your primary obedience be to man or things of this world? Or, on the contrary, will your primary obedience be to God and His Kingdom? As Bunyan states, to fear man is to forget God. To ultimately fear what man can do is to forget that God is the one who is ultimately powerful. The establishments of man are but specs of dust compared to the eternal Creator. All things on heaven and earth are held together by God's hand. Their is not one molecule in the entire cosmos that is known and upheld by our Creator. God is the one who gives life and takes it away. Not man. 

When we stop the fathom the eternal power, sovereignty, and majesty of God, it makes perfect sense to live a life that is dependent and obedient to him. Why would we fear man or circumstances on this earth when the all powerful Creator of the universe offers us Himself?

Consider the Works of Our God

This is another excerpt from John Bunyan's 'All Loves Excelling'. Here, Bunyan is writing on Ephesians 3:17-19 and encouraging us to think the degree to which God has loved us.

"This calls therefore upon Christians, wisely to consider the doings of their God. How many opposite breadths, and lengths, and depths, and heights did Israel meet with in their journey from Egypt to Canaan, and all to convince them of their own weakness, and also of the power of their God. And they that did wisely consider of his doings there, did reap the advantage thereof. Come, behold the works of the Lord towards me, may every Christian say:

He hath set a Savior against sin; a heaven against a hell; light against darkness; good against evil; and the breadth, and length, and depth, and height of the grace that is in himself, for my good, against all the power, and strength, and force, and subtlety, of every enemy."

John Bunyan, All Loves Excelling (1998), pg. 25.

You Are Not The Next Anyone!

Great words from Matt Chandler. I need to hear this.

You Are Not the Next Anyone! from The Gospel Coalition on Vimeo.

Our Greatest Hope

Last post I shared a excerpt from John Bunyan's All Loves Excelling in which he expounded on God's infinite greatness in all of his attributes, especially that of His love. He is a breadth beyond all breadth, a length beyond all lengths, a depth beyond all depths, and a height beyond all heights. Here, Bunyan offers an application to believers.

"And I will say, there is nothing more helpful, succoring, or comfortable to a Christian while in a state of trial and temptation, than to know that there is a breadth to answer a breadth, a length to answer a length, a depth to answer a depth, and a height to answer a height"

In other words, we all face trials and temptations in this life. We all experience fear, doubt, confusion, insecurity, injustice, feelings of ineptitude, etc....Frankly, the struggles and brokenness we face in this world are overwhelming. In light of these overwhelming struggles, it is terribly exhausting and eventually ineffective to combat these struggles by relying on the breadth, length, depth and height of our own strength and power. We forget that we are finite beings who are not only limited in our abilities, but who are also prone to dig ourselves into a deeper hole.

That is why in the midst of such struggle, temptation, injustice, and fear, we need a love that is infinite. We need a strength that is stronger than ours. We need a hope that is deeper and more beautiful than self-centered hope. This is the hope that Bunyan talks about. For the Christian, our hope and comfort is in God. Regardless of how deep your pain is, God's love is deeper still. No matter how broad your affliction be, God's comfort has more breadth. Your struggle may be long, but Christ's love is infinitely longer.

God is our Rock and a Refuge for us. The love and comfort God offers to us in Christ is infinitely better than any other comfort we could look to. 

He is Beyond All Measure

"that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 

may have the strength to comprehend with all the saints

what is the breadth and length and height and depth,

 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge"

Ephesians 3: 17b-19a

One of my favorite things about Ally and my's honeymoon was that for the first time in several months, I was able to read for the sheer purpose of enjoyment. It was greatly tremendously refreshing to be able to read and not have it be for the purpose of school or work. One of the books I was able to read during our week long was John Bunyan's 'All Loves Excelling'. In it, Bunyan spends all 120 pages expounding on the above verse from Ephesians 3. His purpose in writing is to encourage believers with the simply unfathomable and infinitely wonderful love that Christ has for his people. Speaking of Ephesians 3:17-19, Bunyan writes this in the opening pages:

"They are here to be taken...to suggest unto us the unsearchable and infinite greatness of God; who is a breadth beyond all breadths; a length beyond all lengths; a depth beyond all depths; and a height beyond all heights, and that in all his attributes: He is an eternal being, an everlasting being, and in that respect he is beyond all measures, whether they be of breadth, or length, or depth, or height. In all his attributes he is beyond all measure: whether you measure by words, by thoughts, or by the most enlarged and exquisite apprehension; His greatness is unsearchable; His judgments are unsearchable (Job 5:9). He is infinite in wisdom. 'O! the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of our God! (Romans 11:33). 'If I speak of strength, behold, He is stronger' (Job 9:19). Yes, 'the thunder of his power, who can understand?' (Job 26:14) 'There is none holy as the Lord.' (1 Samuel 2:2), 'and his mercy is from everlasting to everlasting, upon those that fear him.' (Psalm 103:17) 

The greatness of God, of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is that, if rightly considered, will support the spirits of those of his people that are frighted by their adversaries. For here is a greatness against a greatness. Pharaoh was great, God was greater, more great in power, more great in wisdom, more great in every way for the help of his people. These words therefore, take in. The great God who in his immensity and infinite greatness is beyond all things."

John Bunyan, All Loves Excelling (1998), pg. 4-5. 

The main encouragements I gather from this passage are this:

1. God is infinitely great. In all his attributes, he is beyond measure. 
2. This infinitely great God who is beyond all measure, acts FOR his people. Meaning, if we have been reconciled to God, this infinite greatness is now on our behalf. No matter the adversary or circumstance we face, God is greater. What we have in God, is better and greater than anything the world can throw at us or offer us.  

If the infinitely great God of the universe has drawn close to me and now calls me his son, why would I trust in the strength of anything else. Why would I trust in my own strength when the strength of God is infinitely stronger? Why would I try to find my comfort in my bank account when I know the comfort God offers is infinitely better? Why would I look to find joy in professional success when I know the joy God gives is beyond all other joys? I am challenged by this passage to remember the infinite greatness of God, and how I must apply this everyday. This is the 'daily bread' that I truly need. 

Back in the Saddle

If you are someone who reads this blog, you can probably tell that over the last 5 months, our (Josh and mine) activity has been lacking relative to previous months. This has been partly intentional, partly circumstantial, and partly due to forgetfulness.

It was intentional in that I (Mike) was beginning to notice that posting on here subtly became a burden, and my resulting posts became increasingly sloppy and thoughtless. I came to realize that I had forgotten Josh's and I's original intention in starting this blog; to be a place where we could center our thoughts on the glorious gospel of God's unfathomable love for those who had gone astray. This blog was created to be a place of refreshment. It was meant to be a place where sinners could plunge deep into the depths of God's mercy and once again be reminded of the story in which they live; the story of our Heavenly Father unceasingly pursuing our adoption and redemption. When my posts lacked this foundational motivation, I decided that it would be good to take a break.

The lack of posts was also circumstantial. It is true that as you grow older, life gets busier. Josh is currently entering his 4th year of medical school at the University of Illinois. If  you don't know much about med school, just know that there are frequent periods where you are hostage to a very demanding schedule, sometimes 70-80 hours in a week. Thus, writing on behalf of Josh, I know he is busy. For me (Mike), there are a couple updates. First and foremost, I got married! On August 11th, I married the love of my life and best friend, Ally (now Berttucci......check out here blog HERE). All this to say, with a wedding comes a lot of planning and craziness. On top of the wedding, I'm still full time with Rebirth: East St. Louis, as well as taking part time classes at Covenant Seminary. I'm hoping now that Ally and I are finally getting settled in our new apartment and getting more into a routine, I will have more opportunities to write.

Over the past several weeks, I have realized how much I have missed writing on All of Grace. I realized that writing on here was not just about posting  something so that others could read. Rather, it is an opportunity for me to stop, to reflect, and to center myself upon the gospel. I realized that I needed it for my refreshment. Of course, life is busy, which means that circumstantially I may not be able to write as much. Yet, I know that it takes intentionality and discipline to consistently ground myself in the reality of the gospel. I also know that this is something I deeply desire and need. To that end, it is my hope to re-enter the blogging world by aiming to write at least a couple times a week on here. As always, I love when people comment, encourage, or interact with anything myself or Josh writes.

Looking forward to being back in the saddle. 

Joy in Poverty of Spirit, not Performance

This can't get old.

Down with "Have-it-togetherness"

From Andrew Peterson:

Jesus is making us into something. C. S. Lewis wrote that God is making us into “little Christs.” We all ache for the day when we’ll be free of our sins, our bad habits, our bitterness, the things about us that we think ugly or undesirable. But perhaps the road of sanctification will be an easier one when we recognize in ourselves the sin of self-consciousness, the sin of reputation management, the sin of lying to ourselves. To live our lives with a pretense of self-sufficiency, strength, and have-it-togetherness is to diminish the visible work of God’s grace. One of your greatest blessings to the community around you may be your utter brokenness, it may be something about yourself that you loathe, but which Christ will use for his glory. When Jesus is Lord of our brokenness we are free to rejoice in the mighty work he has yet to do in us. We are free to enter the stage in the face of the devil’s accusation, “You’re not good enough.”

Self-Indulging Work Will Too Pass, Soon

"And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after the wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun."

Ecclesiastes 2: 10-11

Recalibrating Wisdom

"May I never dally with the world and its allurements,
but walk by thy side,
listen to thy voice,
be clothed with thy graces,
and adorned with thy righteousness."

-VOV pg. 33

6 Ways You Can Support Missionaires

From The Gospel Coalition:

"What can we do to help? Can we send you a short-term team?"

As a missionary on furlough, I have often been asked these questions by supporters, home churches, and missions committees. Understandably, some supporters want to be as hands-on as possible in helping their missionaries. Sending a short-term team may look like an attractive option. But even when these offers stem from sincere motives, sending a short-term team may not always be the most helpful way to support missionaries. In fact, sometimes missionaries feel pressure to accept short-term teams even if they do not actually need them—especially if the request comes from a major supporting church. Furthermore, some missionaries are drained by hosting short-term teams. The planning often requires them to deflect significant amounts of time and attention away from ministering to locals. This is especially true if short-term team members have not been properly trained or informed prior to the trip, are not culturally adaptable, lack overall maturity, or do not speak the local dialect.

1. Pray for your missionaries regularly. Then tell the missionary you're praying for specific prayer requests.That said, overseas missions would be impossible without the committed, consistent support of well-informed people and churches back at home. Here are six alternative ways to support missionaries and take part in God's mission to the world.

One missionary shared recently that he ran some statistics on his outgoing prayer emails. He discovered that a large portion of his prayer emails—possibly more than half—weren't even opened by the recipients, the people he was counting on as his prayer warriors. This is disconcerting. Writing quick emails to your missionary to tell them you're praying for specific requests assures them that, no matter how isolated they might be, their ministry is being covered in prayer. Being specific about your prayers will help them know you are looking over their requests carefully. If your address or contact information changes, be sure to let your missionaries know; this applies to missions committees as well as individual supporters. Nothing is more discouraging to a missionary than returned prayer letters and unanswered phone calls to supporting churches.

In the busyness of life, it can be difficult to pray diligently and regularly for missions work. The task can be aided by organizing a prayer group for your missionary; if you do this, be sure to let your missionaries know so they can be encouraged and maybe even Skype in during one of the prayer meetings.

2. Commit to regular financial support.

One-time donations are welcome, but regular support shows missionaries that you are committed to their ministry in the long haul. It also provides missionaries with a more consistent source of income, so they do not have to be overly concerned about whether they will be able to maintain their support level year to year. Most missionaries dread the prospect of being sent home to raise funds if their supporting churches or individual supporters drop them or forget to give.

Missionaries have a lot to worry about already—cultural and linguistic adaptation, running ministries with limited resources, resistance, persecution, harsh living environments, and more. Though support-raising might be a necessary reality, you can make the process easier for overseas Christian laborers by being consistent in your support. It's a shame that many people avoid going to the missions field, as the Great Commission mandates, because they fear support raising.

In Philippians 4:15-19, Paul commends a church that supported him financially when he was overseas:

When I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need. Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account. I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

Financially supporting missionaries not only blesses them—it also blesses you.

3. Help combat homesickness.

A simple care package can communicate a great deal. Ask your missionaries if there is anything they particularly miss from home—books, worship or sermon CDs, foods, spices, toys, games, or TV shows. If receiving mail is not possible for them but using the internet is, offer online goods like downloadable music credit, magazine subscriptions, or e-books.

4. Help missionaries during their "furloughs."

The term furlough can be deceiving because it suggests the missionary is taking time off or enjoying a long holiday. For this reason, some mission agencies such as ours dub this time as a "home assignment." Don't assume that "furloughs" are entirely restful for the missionary. In fact, many missionaries return home with a dose of reluctance, not because they don't love their home churches, but because of the cultural transitions and logistical hassles that "furloughs" entail.

We know that war-torn soldiers who return from tours of duty need special support. Recent statistics about the high suicide rate among U.S. troops remind us of this reality. Like returning soldiers, missionaries on "furlough" often return home similarly confused. Some might detect a widening emotional gap with friends back at home because they've traversed entire seasons of life apart. Some have suffered the death of relatives while they were overseas, resulting in a loss of intimacy in their family networks. Some have endured trauma overseas and might need counseling but cannot afford it at regular rates.

You can assist your missionaries during their "furloughs" in many tangible ways. You can help them acclimate by greeting them at the airport or by asking them intelligent questions about their life and ministry. You can volunteer to help them with housing or setting up a mobile phone. You can let them borrow vehicles or furniture. Since visiting home churches often requires a fair amount of travel, you can offer to help with childcare or donate your frequent flier miles. If you are a counselor or physician, consider offering your services free of charge. Finally, you can help spread the word of their return to others and keep up with what they might need throughout their "furlough." Befriend them; encourage your children to get to know theirs.

5. If you do want to visit the missionary overseas, be mindful of their point of view.

Sometimes, short-term missions trips are not as helpful to missionaries as vision trips, where people go overseas to acquaint themselves with an area they are committed to pray for and otherwise support long-term. People who visit the field with this mindset can then spread their passion for missions with churches at home and serve as long-term advocates for missionaries. 

If you would like to go overseas to visit a missionary or lead a short-term team, be sure to dialogue with the missionary beforehand and try not to bring to the table any preconceived notions about what you think would be helpful. Ask for the missionary's honest opinion about what would be best for them. Go with a clear mindset of serving and learning. Missionaries who have worked to build up a ministry over a period of years may not want advice from short-term visitors who are only in the country for a couple of days or weeks. Similarly, if a Chinese Christian visiting the United States for the first time immediately confronted a pastor about how the entire American church should be run, that person—no matter how well-meaning—would probably be disregarded.

Even so, visits from supporters and church representatives can be helpful. Once, when we were on the field, a pastor from our home church came to visit us. We wanted to show him our different ministries, but due to typhoons, we had to cancel most of our events. Still, the pastor remained flexible and even volunteered to help my husband mop up an area of our new gospel center that had flooded because of the torrential rain. One night, a local woman came to our house to chat, and it became evident that we would soon enjoy significant gospel conversation. My husband and the visiting pastor went upstairs and started to pray for us. The woman received Christ that night and became our first convert.

The pastor's visit encouraged us because he came with the goal to pray, watch, and learn. Throughout his stay he expressed compassion and concern for us, and he did not jump to making rash conclusions about anything he observed. The whole experience helped him better understand what our lives were like overseas.

6. Send a "medium-term" missionary to help be part of a long-term vision.

People willing to commit one to two years to the missions field usually have enough time to learn the local language and contribute to the ministry in a significant way. "Medium-term" missionaries can build meaningful relationships with locals and support long-term missionaries in a way that can help sustain a ministry in the long run.

For instance, one young woman came to Taiwan specifically to help a long-term missionary couple with the education of their special-needs son. Perhaps many people in the church have the ability to teach missionary kids, which could free up more missionaries to minister in completely unreached areas of the world that lack missionary schools. Other people might have the capacity to teach English overseas. Still others work well with children, are gifted in evangelism, or have professional skills that can be employed in a particular project.

If you know someone interested in "medium-term" missions, ask the missionaries you support about what kinds of opportunities might be available.

Little Act, Big Effect

I remember one point in the early stages of our ministry when we wanted to let local children play with American board games during our outreach events. After sending out a quick email to our supporters, many of them immediately offered to send us games. Having these supporter gifts on hand eventually helped us launch several children's ministries that led families to seek Christ.

"How did you get these games over here?" one curious local asked while watching her children play with the games.

"They're from Christians around the world who believe in the Good News so much that they sent us here to share it," I replied.

She smiled. "That's really moving."

Sometimes, little acts of support and commitment can go a long way.

A Story of Rescue

Skip & Barbara Ryan Story of Rescue from PCPC Video on Vimeo.

Misconceptions About Marriage

"I once read a book that alluded to the idea that marriage is the fire of life—that somehow it’s designed to refine all our dysfunction and spur us into progressive wholeness. In this light, contrary to popular opinion, the goal of marriage is not happiness. And although happiness is often a very real byproduct of a healthy relationship, marriage has a far more significant purpose in sight. It is designed to pull dysfunction to the surface of our lives, set it on fire and help us grow."--Tyler Ward

Freedom in the Rat Race

Check out this post from the Mockingbird Blog. Great Stuff.

Freedom From the Rate Race: An Excerpt from 'Grace upon Grace'

Why I Love Lecrae

This guy's got passion and he practices what he preaches. I love it. Check out this song "Sacrifice" from his mix tape Church Clothes:

Reclaiming a Pool Hall to Renew a Neighborhood

Beautiful story about what God is doing in Chicago. I love this guy and what he is doing. Truly inspirational. 

HT: By Faith

In a smoky pool hall in an undisclosed urban ghetto, Tom Cruise, playing a young billiards protégé in director Martin Scorsese’s 1986 film “The Color of Money,” bends over his cue and shoots impeccably, not only winning the admiration of his challengers but provoking their jealousy. Almost 20 years later, a young pastor takes a hammer to the walls of that same pool hall; blood, sweat, and prayers now at work transforming the once notorious pool hall at the corner of 64th and Cottage streets into a common ground — a haven for the downtrodden, the once-forgotten street kid, and the weary intellectual.

When Brad Beier Came to Town

On Sunday morning, July 15, 2012, the windows are flung open to let some breeze into a muggy library room at the University of Chicago’s Ida Noyes Hall. Ivy creeps along the building’s exterior and sneaks through the windows, as a roomful of congregants cluster for prayer during a church meeting. A group of young people — two African-American men, an African-American woman, and a Caucasian man — share prayer requests. One, an incoming chemistry graduate student, asks for prayer for her studies. Twenty-year-old Pierre Carr, wearing braids down his neck, tells the others he is going to school in the fall to become a chef, a future he couldn’t have imagined five years prior.

Growing up without a father in Woodlawn, one of South Side Chicago’s roughest neighborhoods, Carr didn’t have a lot of direction. His mother feared that her adolescent son was destined for a life of gang activity, jail, even premature death — paths that many of his friends would take in years to come.

Beginning in the 1950s, Woodlawn — like many urban American neighborhoods at the time — began to decline economically as the white middle class fled to the suburbs. With them went many businesses, although through the 1960s, Woodlawn’s 63rd Street was known for its jazz clubs, many just down the road from a certain well-frequented pool establishment. The deterioration continued through the ’70s,’80s, ’90s, and early 2000s, with the average household income hovering at just over $23,000.

In 2003 Brad Beier, a skinny, young, white pastor from Louisiana, showed up in Woodlawn with a basketball and words that offered hope to a few floundering teenage boys.

“At first, I thought he was a cop,” admits Tee Nimely, one of Carr’s close friends. But something about Beier eventually secured the boys’ trust. Maybe it was because he called them throughout the week to see how they were doing. Or because he didn’t give up on them. Or because he was the father figure they didn’t know they needed.

Louisiana-born Beier attended Louisiana Tech with the intention of becoming a doctor. But early in his college experience, he began serving as a youth minister at his college church, and by the time he graduated he was headed to Reformed Theological Seminary (Jackson, Miss.) to prepare to go abroad as a missionary. His wife, Shannon, on the other hand, had a passion for working with the poor a bit closer to home.

“We put our heads together,” Brad recalled, “and eventually God gave us this unified desire to stay in a city in America and [to] make sure we were in a very big city where there was lots of diversity and lots of opportunities to reach unreached people.”

After an apprenticeship with an urban church in Baltimore, the Beiers moved to Bethel Christian Church (PCA), a multiethnic church in Chicago, with the mandate to plant a church among students at nearby University of Chicago. Not the type to plant a church by the book, Beier also began working part time as the chaplain at a county jail and facilitating an aftercare ministry to men being released from prison. While developing relationships with undergraduate and Ph.D. students in Hyde Park, Brad was also getting to know the families of the men he had met in county jail; many lived in Woodlawn, just five blocks south of the university.

In the world of academia, he found skeptics, atheists, and some genuine believers. Some of each began trickling into the Sunday morning worship at the new church — dubbed Living Hope Church — that met in a university library room. In the culture of gangs and poverty, he met fatherless children, confused young men, and single moms just trying to make it. Some of them came, too.

Crossing 61st Street

It took Carr and Nimely a year or two before they came to church, but in the meantime they were hearing the gospel as part of a basketball ministry — a team that Beier had put together as a way to meet youth in the neighborhood. Here was a white guy from a privileged background who willingly moved his wife and four young daughters to a majority African-American area that most middle-class folks had fled long ago.

“In my life, he’s an example of what a man looks like — not just a man, a godly man who knows how to take care of his family,” says Nimely.

As the young men went through high school, some of their friends from the basketball team started falling off, joining gangs, using guns. One ended up in jail. Another ended up dead.

“When I lost one of my friends, that’s when my whole view changed,” Nimely reveals. “Everybody’s thinking that when you die you just go to heaven and everything’s OK.”

But Nimely wasn’t so sure. This uncertainty led him to accept Christ and to start hanging around the Living Hope community more often. At first, he was skeptical that he would have anything in common with Ph.D. students, but he soon got over that.

“You come to church with people who have degrees and resources. … [And you think] ‘OK, I don’t got that stuff; I don’t got that background. Will they think of me as just some street kid?’ But at Living Hope it don’t seem like that. You see people trying to build their relationship with Christ. You see their love for other people.”

Ph.D. biochemistry student Kathryn Scherpelz likes Nimely. She likes the hard questions he asks about faith. Before coming to Living Hope, the only place Scherpelz could have imagined meeting someone like him would have been at the hospital where she worked during medical school.

“In medical school, you come to regard Woodlawn as patients, like they’re an ‘other,’ and you treat them, and they get sick and get in gun fights,” she explains. Now they’ve become people and not just patients.

Both Kathryn and her husband, Peter, a graduate student in physics, have felt challenged and changed by the perspective they’ve discovered at Living Hope. Peter recently overheard someone at the university tell a newcomer never to go south of 61st Street — the line that separates Hyde Park from Woodlawn. He felt compelled to intervene. “I told [the man] it wasn’t that dangerous,” Scherpelz said. “There are a lot of worthwhile things and worthwhile people to get to know.”

And for that matter, the Scherpelzes have discovered there are just as many needs — albeit of a different sort — in the university culture. Spiritual apathy is primary among them. With dozens of traditional church buildings scattered across the historic campus, faith would appear to be booming. But, as Kathryn explains, many of these buildings house a smorgasbord of spiritual offerings — New Age religion and Christianity sprinkled together. “At its best [the university] is very open [to all spiritual things]. At its worst, it considers traditional Christianity as passé,” says Kathryn.

But every year a few atheists and agnostics join the Living Hope community, soon finding life truth and new life.

The Future of an Old Pool Hall

Several years ago, Beier began to feel the drain of not having a permanent building for the growing church. A tutoring and discipleship program Living Hope had built for children in Woodlawn was at the mercy of whatever local church would rent it space. A few times, they even got locked out of the library before church on Sunday mornings.

So Beier began poking around, looking for a place that Living Hope could call its own. He first noticed the empty storefront at 64th and Cottage in 2010. A big “Cash Loans” sign was painted along the side of the building, which had stood empty for several years. Beier didn’t know why the property was selling for $570,000. It seemed steep for a place that had once been “Chicago’s Finest Billiards,” a notorious local hangout that offered gambling on the first floor and prostitutes on the second. Maybe it was because “The Color of Money” had given it a reputation. Beier didn’t know. He just knew that it was the spot he wanted.

Through a providential turn of real estate fortune, the price plummeted, and in February 2011, Living Hope was able to purchase the property for just under $100,000.

During the past year, volunteers from churches and RUF campus ministries have poured in from across the country, donating time and effort to transform the pool hall into a church with a sanctuary, office space, plenty of room to run the children’s ministry, and four second-floor apartments that Living Hope plans to rent out for additional income.

Just nine years into Living Hope’s story, Beier is hopeful. He likes that when he looks out at his small congregation every Sunday, he sees black and white, young and old, seekers and growers. He sometimes grows weary of the transience that comes with college-student and low-income populations, but he’s seen a few folks stick around for the long haul and hopes more will follow suit.

Sometimes people advise him to find an easier calling in a safer neighborhood with a less transitory group. But for Beier, you don’t argue with a calling.

“We don’t disparage anybody who says they’d rather be a part of a more homogenous group, ’cause that’s fine. We do try to challenge people and say this is really the vision of God’s kingdom. … We’re all gonna be one family in heaven, so let’s get a taste of it!”

Zack Eswine: A Message For Ordinary Pastors

An amazing message for ordinary pastors. God doesn't think any more or less of you based on if we measure up to our perceptions of success.