tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7934722593145519386.post140054796497405369..comments2023-05-03T01:40:40.011-06:00Comments on City Grace: Urban Ministry? Expect Problems.Joel Hamernickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01400640434055859385noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7934722593145519386.post-78945271014584184932008-07-22T09:03:00.000-06:002008-07-22T09:03:00.000-06:00Brad, What a great concept -- so true. It is good...Brad, <BR/><BR/>What a great concept -- so true. It is good to know that we are not somehow just agents of change but subjects of the kingdom upon whom God is working. You are a great encouragement to me and I am glad that God has you here. Thanks for the openness of your note here. I'll be praying for you today and hope we can connect soon. <BR/><BR/>Joel.Joel Hamernickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01400640434055859385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7934722593145519386.post-14698170135955393742008-07-22T00:39:00.000-06:002008-07-22T00:39:00.000-06:00Hey Joel,I check out your blog about once a month ...Hey Joel,<BR/><BR/>I check out your blog about once a month (3rd time now I think).<BR/>I've enjoyed browsing it. Keep telling myself to start one, but still trying to catch up/finish up my garage.<BR/> <BR/>On the topic of urban challenges/problems: yesterday Shannon and I went back and forth during several conversations with thoughts and words of "can we do this?" "how much longer" but throughout, we kept having these "hope moments"<BR/><BR/>I preached a sermon a month or so ago on Eph 2:10, being God's workmanship created for good works.<BR/>It encourages me that I'm not just called to be a gardener, planting and tending to this broken place which is being reshaped and destined for Edenic (and beyond) proportions, but I am the garden (rather, we are, corporate church), I/we are the planting of God's hand. I'm not just to build the new city now/coming, but I/we are the City, the New Jerusalem, as the Bride. So what I'm doing and what I am are inseparable. I'm compeled to do the work of ministry, tending, building, because I am God's work of ministry, tending, and building. I do what I am. See you soon, <BR/><BR/>Brad BBradBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17793094841262693176noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7934722593145519386.post-5704784156596750372008-06-07T21:06:00.000-06:002008-06-07T21:06:00.000-06:00Hey, JoelYou could go on and on. Pastor Lyons alwa...Hey, Joel<BR/><BR/>You could go on and on. Pastor Lyons always likes to say that everything in the city is Magnified, Multiplied and Intensified. <BR/><BR/>Our church has been cookin' for years - lots of growth, people saved, bridges built, leaders equipped... then we hit this desert that has lasted for three years or more that we can't quite seem to get out of. <BR/><BR/>I have come closer to quitting in the last three years than I ever have. And I grew up here.<BR/><BR/>Ah, but there are always the signs of life, and of God's faithfulness. <BR/><BR/>The devil doesn't want the church here, bro. Not here in the city - his stronghold... his turf. <BR/><BR/>So grace keeps me going. If "success" kept me going I'd be in trouble. At least as it is often defined.<BR/><BR/>I have seen a lot of fruit over the years, and God's faithfulness. And miracles. But at the end of the day it's really the grace of God that has to keep us going. Think of 2 Cor. 12:9 - His strength made perfect in our weakness.<BR/><BR/>I think that's a good place to be.Stevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15872089652770490896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7934722593145519386.post-71245229006716612602008-06-06T17:00:00.000-06:002008-06-06T17:00:00.000-06:00thanks Judy~ you are so right about educational pr...thanks Judy~<BR/><BR/> you are so right about educational preparation being similar to ministry preparation. . . the system is simply not set up to prepare one for the racial, social, physical or economic context. <BR/><BR/>I have a friend who was raised in this community, became a teacher here, and even he could not deal with remaining as a public school teacher. <BR/><BR/>He has actually started a small Christian school. 6 students the first year, 12 the second. Not sure if there will be a 3rd. He'd rather deal with the insanity of raising money, managing staff and all the other things necessary than navigate the Chicago Public School system. . . craziness! you can check out his school at www.mastersacademy.us.Joel Hamernickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01400640434055859385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7934722593145519386.post-8739605515908804102008-06-04T21:49:00.000-06:002008-06-04T21:49:00.000-06:00Joel,Love your blog.I agree wholeheartedly that th...Joel,<BR/><BR/>Love your blog.<BR/><BR/>I agree wholeheartedly that the way we train ministers (and teachers in my case) is way off. We need a much more hands on, practical approach to compliment the theological training. I was very young and naive when I had my student teaching experience in an inner city high school. I was totally overwhelmed by it and promptly quit school after I completed it. I wanted to help, to minister, and still do, but was thrown into the lions den totally unprepared.<BR/><BR/>I think your other points are right on too. I struggle with what to do out here in suburbia, yet very close to the "city."JudyBrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04319484965281283580noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7934722593145519386.post-44098230453242686222008-06-01T14:46:00.000-06:002008-06-01T14:46:00.000-06:00KG, thanks for your comments. I agree that at the ...KG, thanks for your comments. I agree that at the end of the day we must recognize that God is in control. After sleeping on my original post I decided to edit it a bit. I think I'd drifted too much into cynicism. We've got to be able to look carefully at the challenges of urban ministry with a sort of full frontal "nudity" on our part and confidence in God to clothe us with ability, resource and grace. <BR/><BR/>I think we also need to work with and for one another to face these obstacles with God-given creativity and an inter-working of the Body. We've got to teach one another how to approach things, overcome them, and move ahead. . . fellow weaklings for Christ. . .Joel Hamernickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01400640434055859385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7934722593145519386.post-52492160759914816542008-06-01T06:43:00.000-06:002008-06-01T06:43:00.000-06:00Good collection of thoughts/feelings Joel. I thin...Good collection of thoughts/feelings Joel. <BR/><BR/>I think that your point that God is looking for super people, but those who realize and admit they are weak is a key. <BR/><BR/>I often feel weak, tired, overwhelmed, desiring to move on, but "when I am weak, then I am strong". One of the great paradoxes. God best works through the broken. God wants us feeling helpless so that we stop trying to do it all and let Him work.<BR/><BR/>God is in control. I'm sure you could tell countless stories of the amazing work that God is doing in peoples lives in the hood. Those stories are so amazing because they reflect the power of God to work in less than ideal circumstances. <BR/><BR/>Be encouraged, God is at work. Slowly, but consistently.KGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11282358447700779685noreply@blogger.com