The Plentiful Harvest in the City

Being in Los Angeles has already taught me so much in just 3 weeks of ministry. I was encouraged (one might even say "threatened") by my good friend Jordan Bolte (jbolte.blogspot.com) earlier today to share and blog some of my thoughts that I was talking to him about. I'm learning so much and God is speaking to me about my future that I will try to slowly talk about on here.



Los Angeles is a big city. I know this may be news to nobody, but it is huge. It takes a navigating genius to get around here. There are also millions of people that live here. With that amount of people there comes a huge opportunity for the Gospel. I am reading a book called Cities: Missions' New Frontier. The authors attest to this very idea; that is, some big cities have more people than the rest of the state it rests in and there is a huge need for the light of Jesus Christ. Naturally we'd expect that there'd be a good ratio of ministries/churches to the number of people, but this is not the case at all. There is a huge need for good Bible-centered, Jesus-centered churches in the city.

In Luke 10:2, Jesus says, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few." This one sentence could not better describe the situation here. There is a giant harvest field, but we simply do not have enough people to reach them all. Los Angeles defines so much of our culture through Hollywood. Can you imagine the potential to influence the nation for Jesus Christ in a city like this? We just need committed disciples of Christ who have a desire to reach the cities for God.

I had this same feeling when I was in Chicago during the school year working for Emmaus Ministries. There was so much need on the street, but there was hardly a Christlike influence. I'll never forget one of the questions the Emmaus staff asked us as we debriefed our experience: "While you were out on the streets, where was the church?" I have not been able to shake that question since I saw what I saw that night... hurting, broken people... some starving because they can't afford a single meal or because all of their money goes to their alcohol and drug addictions. It's the same here every single day I go out. We see new people every single outreach we do who have never heard the gospel or heard the news that Jesus loves them just as they are. It breaks my heart.

Yesterday I met a 17-year-old homeless girl who had nothing to her name and is sleeping on the streets at night. Oh, and did I mention that she's pregnant, 5 months along? She is about to have a baby and she doesn't even have a bed for herself. She looked exhausted, beaten down from the stress of the streets. My heart especially broke for her as I saw her walk across the street with the little energy she still has. How can this be happening?? Where is the church?

That's exactly why I love working here at the Dream Center. This is a church that's not waiting for people to come to us; we're going out to them and finding them. With the huge missions field of Los Angeles, we'll continue to minister to the homeless, the broken, those in need. But the workers are still few.

Jesus called us the "light of the world." We are inherently different from the darkness in the world. When a lightbulb is turned on in a room, the darkness is completely changed to light. Everything is affected. Usually one lightbulb can light an entire room. A second might help uncover some of the darkness. But at some point you stop putting light bulbs in the room because the light has reached every crevice and corner. Instead you'll put those lightbulbs in other dark rooms that need them.

I think in Christianity today we are surrounding ourselves too much with other lightbulbs - Christians, if you will. Please don't misunderstand me. We need each other. We are designed for fellowship and to be together with other Christians. I am not condoning lone-ranger-ministry. However, there is a point where we need to branch out and find where there is darkness, and plant our lighted-selves in that area to bring the light of Christ to that area. If we surround ourselves entirely with other light, how will we make a difference?

I love being in Los Angeles because of the potential for the greatness of God to be revealed. There is a lot of darkness here that needs the light of Jesus. There are other places like this all over the world. We need to be stepping out and going head on into the darkness with the full strength we have in Christ. I am excited about what God is teaching me in this area. I am excited to work in a city where the harvest is plentiful.

After Jesus said, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few," he continued on to say, "Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." What an encouragement; it is HIS harvest field! And we get the chance to be a part of it! But this is also my prayer. Please continue to pray for more workers and churches in this harvest field.

Living in faith...

First Impressions and a little C.S. Lewis

I don’t think it’s truly sunk in that I’m in Los Angeles right now. But I have been here for a full 24 hours, incident-free! I am really enjoying meeting so many new people (and trying to remember a thousand names). There is a genuine sincerity about the people here that you can feel. I love to hear about their love and passion for God. They are truly consumed with a fire for Him in every conversation. I think much of this is due to the fact that many of the people who volunteer here have been saved off the streets themselves and know what it’s like to be in desperation and without hope. Now that they have that hope that comes only through Jesus Christ, they won’t ever let it go and they want to talk about it all the time! It’s been a huge encouragement to me.

On another un-related note, I’m reading through several books right now, one of which is the first book of the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. I wanted to re-read them now that I can catch the analogy and metaphor behind the story. There is an interesting correlation I noticed in Peter and Susan’s conversation with the professor at the mansion they’re staying at. They are asking the professor’s advice about how to deal with Lucy, their sister who keeps talking about a “magical” wardrobe she found that leads to another world of fauns and evil witches. Her brother Edmund keeps calling her a liar and makes fun of her even though he saw exactly what she saw.

The professor, Peter, and Susan determine that Lucy is not known for lying. The professor’s response: “Why don’t they teach logic at these schools? There are only three possibilities. Either your sister is telling lies, or she is mad, or she is telling the truth. You know she doesn’t tell lies and it is obvious that she is not mad. For the moment then and unless any further evidence turns up, we must assume she is telling the truth” (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, 45).

When I read this, I thought, “Hmmm… this sounds so familiar…” In C.S. Lewis’ well-known book Mere Christianity, he proposes this same logic for determining the validity of Jesus’ claims to be the Messiah. This is commonly known as the lord, liar, or lunatic logic:

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.” That is one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to” (Mere Christianity, 52).

And So It Begins

It’s finally here. I am officially in Los Angeles, California, for my summer internship with Hope for Homeless Youth at the Dream Center. I had a road-trip experience that could have come straight out of a movie, but that'll have to come a different time.

I am really excited for this opportunity. It’s kind of surreal right now, but within a matter of hours I’ll be doing ministry on the streets in L.A. It was fun to connect with some people in Colorado in the past couple days with whom I went to L.A. in high school on a short-term missions trip to work with the Dream Center. I had a great team with that team, and now I’m off to do it by myself. Sure, it’s a little intimidating, but I want to be stretched this summer.

When I started to think about why I am going to Los Angeles (besides the academic requirements for Taylor), I simply want to love God and love people. It’s so easy to over-complicate things, but I am intentionally simplifying things this summer. I want to learn simplicity, and so all I want to do this summer is love God completely and love people genuinely.

I’d like to ask you to pray for the ministry this summer. Many people have expressed concern for my safety in Los Angeles. Prayers for safety are very appreciated, but to be completely honest, I have faith that God will protect me. I’d rather you pray that people’s hearts would be opened and that they would come to know the incredible love and salvation that only comes through Jesus Christ.

I have been re-reading the book of Acts this month and I have been inspired by his courage. At one point Paul is dragged out of Lystra, stoned and left for dead (Acts 14). And what does he do? He gets up and walks right back into the city. The first time I remember thinking, are you serious?! It is only by the power of the Holy Spirit that one can go out and have this kind of drive and passion for ministry that puts one’s own life in danger for the sake of Jesus Christ. I want to have the kind of passion that Paul had! “For God did not give us a spirit of fear and timidity, but a spirit of power, love, and self-discipline” (2 Tim 1:7).

I really just want to serve this summer. I want God to break me of my pride and break my heart for these people. I have a lot of growing to do, so I’m looking forward to being a little uncomfortable to push me.

So, with this attitude and many prayers, I go to L.A. In the words of Isaiah, “Here am I. Send me.”

Hibernation

Apparently it's not easy to blog while taking on a full load of college classes. Go figure.

I enjoy writing, and I love blogging. But for some reason I simply do not find the time to get on here and continue posting my thoughts, incomplete as they might be. This is but one reason why I am excited for this semester to end and for summer to come. The onslaught of free time will inevitably lead to more blogging and word-vomiting, leading you few readers to evaluate whether it's better for me to be consumed with classes or with free time. The jury's still out on this one...

One significant thing I have done this semester is a spring break missions trip to Dearborn, Michigan, where thousands of Arab Muslims have immigrated. It was a one-week intensive experience where our team learned about Islam and we had the opportunity to work hands-on with Muslims in the community. This trip taught me a lot and helped me come to a deeper appreciation of the cross and its unique part in the Christian faith. Excerpts from my conversations with the Muslims to come in future posts.

Another big topic I've been studying and thinking about this semester is the Holy Spirit and his daily role in the life of a believer. How does the Holy Spirit work and speak today? How does God still work miracles today? I recently finished a book entitled Surprised by the Power of the Spirit by Jack Deere for my Historic Christian Belief class. Deere is a former cessationist (one who believes the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit ceased to exist after the death of the last apostle) who changed his view completely after a thorough study of Scripture and several key experiences. It encouraged me and challenged me in several ways, and I am planning on reading Deere's second book called Surprised by the Voice of God this summer.

I am also preparing for my summer in inner city Los Angeles working as an intern with the Dream Center and its Hope for Homeless Youth ministry. I will be helping with outreaches to the homeless in the city and across the wider region of L.A. I am excited and somewhat nervous, and I know that God is going to work a lot in my heart. Much of my blogging this summer will most likely come as a result of this ministry.

Anyway, this is my report from hibernation. I look forward to blogging more often as summer draws nearer. I leave you with a verse - really think about its implications. What is this verse suggesting and implying? More to come later...

John 14:12 - "Very truly I tell you, all who have faith in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father."