Hope is....no strings attached.

Sometimes unpleasant things sneak into my heart and take up residence without me knowing.

I don't know why I'm surprised when I turn the corner and find them there but I am. They are kinda like cockroaches. You don't always see them but if you live in the south you know they aren't ever that far away. You turn on the light in the middle of the night or you open the garage door and suddenly one is scurrying past your foot.

It's always gross and if it happens in front of a guest it is always embarrassing.

Recently I was startled to discover an attitude of pride and expectation had moved in temporarily. Not cool temporary visitors like backpackers in a European hostile. More like cockroaches that need to be stepped on before they breed.

It was bound to happen. By nature what we do in our ministry is complicated. Tangled. Messy. When you spend your days in urban ministry you find yourself in a position to 'do for' people which can be a dangerous place to be.

Dangerous because you can slip into a role of a provider instead of a facilitator. Shift from being a fellow traveler to a tour guide. When that happens it's a short trip to pride and unwarranted expectation. False ownership.

False ownership? I liken it to the opposite of entitlement (when the other person feels they have a right to my help). Or perhaps a near cousin. It's when I believe I have rights and control over what belongs to someone else. It happens when I have helped a person out and they don't do what I think they should with that help. At that moment a pseudo-righteous indignation rises up in me and says, 'Hey! I did that for you and now you aren't holding up your end of the bargain! You're supposed to make better choices  because I did this for you.'

Perhaps that sounds reasonable to you and it is definitely a natural feeling. But at the heart of it resides a lie. The lie says 'I did this for you.' That's where I mess up and it's also when I leave the door open for those disgusting cockroaches to sneak in to my heart.

Jesus said when you do this for the least of these you do it for me. When I make the mistake of 'doing for' someone instead of serving Jesus first then I'm already going down the wrong path. 

I don't help people because they need help.
I don't help people because I can fix them.
I don't help people because I have something they need.

No. What I do is I love Jesus.

I love Jesus when I feed someone.
I love Jesus when I clothe someone.
I love Jesus when I give someone a ride to a job interview.
I love Jesus when I share a meal with someone no one wants to eat with.
I love Jesus when I listen to someone no one wants to listen to.
I love Jesus when I teach someone to read or help someone with their homework.

I love Jesus. Period.

What happens after that is between Jesus and whomever I have loved in His name.

I don't own that. He does.
 

I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.’

^37-40 “Then those ‘sheep’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.’

Matthew 25:36-40




Brian and Heather Flood are full time missionaries in downtown Savannah. They are the founders and directors of Hope Academy in Savannah, GA. Hope exists to partner with adults in their adult education needs and to help them discover and achieve their life purpose.To learn more about Hope Academy or how you can impact downtown Savannah one life at a time contact Brian Flood at bflood56@outlook.com.

Visit them on Facebook or at www.hopeacademysavannah.com or to donate and Share Hope with a Student go to their Go Fund Me page, www.gofundme.com/hopeacademysav .

 

•  

Not Enough

Yesterday was a "not enough" sort of day.

A day when I kept thinking I am not enough. Do you know that feeling? When you feel small or powerless to cross the mountain in front of you?

It's when I hear words like, "Who am I to think I can make a difference?" or "What makes you think you're qualified?"

There are several variations but in the end the message is the same- not enough.

By the end of the day God had rewritten that phrase and opened my eyes to how I was looking in the wrong place.

My perspective was like a camera zoomed in so close to the subject of the picture that everything is blurry.  That's when God loaned me his wide angle lens and I saw something remarkable.

Making a difference in this world. Bringing light into dark places. Sharing hope with the hopeless. Overcoming evil with good. All of these things only require one thing of me. Just one thing.

There is one thing about me that makes me enough. Makes me qualified to make a difference. Transforms me into a light bearer, hope sharer, deliverer of good news.

It is a simple 'yes'.
My 'yes' is enough because He is enough.

Last night God gave me a glimpse into how He uses a simple yes to transform dark into light, despair into hope and overcome evil with good.

I met a man from Pakistan who told me the story of his father and how a simple 'yes' changed his life and the lives of hundreds, thousands of people.

Zoom in with your camera to a time about 30 years ago.

It starts with an American who says, "Yes, I will go to Pakistan and be your hope sharer God." He and a friend share God's hope with a man there who then says "Yes Jesus, you are the Way , the Truth, the Light." The Pakistani returns to his family to share the love he has found but is beaten by his father with an iron rod. No matter what his father does the young man responds in love and truth. Eventually his entire family receives the same hope he found in Jesus. Eventually his father who beat him receives the same truth. The whole family shares the love of Jesus where they are despite opposition. Their children do the same. They each grow up and continue to share the love of Jesus with the people in front of them in the face of persecution. They become evangelists, open bible colleges, skill training centers for women, programs to help children. Just one of the Pakistani man's children (the man I met) starts over 350 house churches in his land and a television station sharing the truth about Isa* with the people of his land. Lives are transformed by light bearers, hope sharers, deliverers of good news. Ordinary people whose only qualification is they say "yes" every day. *Isa is the name for Jesus in their language.

Picture from http://bluechipbulldog.blogspot.com

Zoom out and see what is happening outside of Pakistan 30 or 40 years ago. There's someone, perhaps a Sunday school teacher or a neighbor or a friend, who is sharing the love of Christ with an American boy. The American grows up and says, "Yes, I will go to Pakistan." Zoom out some more and you'll see a group of people praying for him, more believers who send him money so he can go, others who write to him to encourage him in the field. Ordinary people who say ,"Yes, I'll help you go. I'll help you remain. I'll help you when you return." They all say "yes" to the person in front of them. They say yes and their yes makes all the difference. Their yes is why the man I met last night is sharing the transforming love of Christ in a land none of them were able to go to themselves.

It started with a simple yes.

God asks me, "Will you go, Heather?" Will you bring My light, My hope, My goodness to the person standing in front of you? Will you be my partner to transform the world?"

I realize it's not about my qualifications, ability, or talent. It's not about my situation, my job, my family, my friends. It's not about what I can do. It's about Him. His light. His hope. His goodness. His love.

The question is, will I say 'yes' to love and let Him do the rest?

Praying for our city with women from the Thomasville Square
neighborhood in downtown Savannah.
 Photo Credit: Rebecca Flood

18 He said therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? 19 It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.”

20 And again he said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? 21 It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.” Luke 13: 18-21

 

Brian and Heather said yes to loving people the way Jesus does
and seek to bring Hope to those standing in front of them.
 

Brian and Heather Flood are the directors of Hope Academy, a non-profit ministry in downtown Savannah.
 
Hope is a place for anyone 18 and older to find a path to something more. We help low income adults who did not complete their high school diploma with academic assessments, a high school diploma or a GED path, tutoring, career assessments and mentoring.

To learn how you can help as a volunteer or financial supporter contact Brian at bflood56@outlook.com

 

I Hate Poetry! (Or why do I need to study this stuff?): The Importance of Humanities

Question: Why should we read poetry or study literature, history or religion?

The short answer: To help us understand the world & the people who live in it.

Studying the humanities helps us to understand people and their experience. We encounter people we might never meet in other circumstances when we read literature, study history or examine religion.  We witness things we have not or might never live ourselves. Reading literature and studying humanities  helps expose students to the human experience and prepares them for the many different people and situations they will encounter when they head out into the world outside of their comfortable bubble.

 "When you read all of a sudden the world is bigger
 and nothing makes sense." ~Nathan Flood
(Something my son said and this is my first meme.)

Students  tend to live life with people they already understand or who have similar or identical world views as they do. While this can be a comfort and a source of strength it can also be a disadvantage.  When we live life in our comfortable bubble we assume everyone thinks like we do or makes decisions based on the same beliefs we have. This can lead to conflict and misunderstanding.



http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/originals/
8b/c1/ee/8bc1eeaa9cfd72e8325d56efc9dd5856.jpg

How many conflicts both locally and globally have had tragic results because people didn't try to understand what other people believed, why they acted in a certain way or lacked the ability to cross communication boundaries? Whether it's a personal conflict with a friend or boss or a broader conflict  within communities or between nations the understanding, or lack there of, regarding values and beliefs can result in life altering consequences.

By examining the people we encounter in humanities and trying to understand their perspective (why they do what they do) we are preparing ourselves for the people we will encounter and the decisions we will need to make on an individual, business, community and global level. By exposing students to literature, history and religion in a way that causes them to examine these subjects with the goal of understanding people we are helping them to see beyond themselves, engage in empathy and hopefully help them become more compassionate and thoughtful of the people and circumstances around them.

Kid President reads poetry.

I can thank my humanities teachers in all of my literature, history and religious studies who helped equip me for the strange new world that awaited me outside the doors of my home and school and prepared me for the many people I would encounter.

When I was in high school I had not yet met as self centered a person as Oscar Wilde's Dorian Gray but I gained insight into how selfishness can lead to destruction of self and others. In college I encountered men who viewed women as Hemingway's heroes did but I wasn't completely surprised by their actions and knew to look for a different type of hero in my life. Observing the dysfunction of  the families in Tennessee William's plays prompted me to examine my own family's story. 

As I witnessed religious and moral hypocrisy I was reminded of Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Scarlet Letter" and then examined my own heart as I related to others. As I faced my own crossroads and needed courage I was reminded of Frost's diverging roads and Christ's reference to the narrow gate.

When community or world leaders made decisions about limiting free speech,  free press or the exercise of religion I remembered how leaders from the past used that to their advantage to control the populace.  I took my lessons from ordinary citizens I had read about in history who stood up to injustice in the past which impacted my decisions in the voting booth as a young adult and to take action as a citizen.

When I encountered broken or angry people I was more compassionate and able to interact with them in a positive way because I had 'met' people like them in my studies of literature, history and religion and could empathize with their situation instead of turning my back on them.

The world is getting smaller in this technological age. Our students will be working with and living alongside people from diverse walks of life, cultures and world views. They will need to be able to understand, empathize and communicate with people from all over the world. A strong foundation in the humanities can help equip them for just that task.

Authentic advancement and achievement mean understanding what it is to be a true citizen and not a repeater of unexamined platitudes, a compassionate and self-reliant human being, a good parent, a caring member of the community, and somebody who can be trusted to teach the next generation something other than greed, territoriality, anger, outrage, bitterness and a blinkered vision of the unmapped parts of the world — and the mind.~ Gina Barreca

Further perspectives on the importance of humanities:
Op-Ed: "Humanities at the Heart of Real Education" by Gina Barreca
YouTube Video: "How & Why We Read: Crash Course English Literature #1"

Heather Flood is the developer of the history curriculum at Jill Dixon's Eclectic Academy of Learning. For the last 10 years she has been teaching humanities courses to homeschoolers whom she hopes have gone on to become empathetic, compassionate future world changers who have learned how to learn, yearn to understand, and continue to ask the question "Why?" wherever they find themselves.