Spunk, in Jesus' name ..

in a town in the south
there's a vision
a project-in-the-making to bring a semblance of dignity to the undignified
and i'm impressed with what little i know so far
   forwhateverthat'sworth ..

it currently consists of a church and a clothing/meal ministry in the depths of the downtown
where people live bare-ly

i don't know a whole lot about the LOT Project
but i've talked with the visioanary
and his heart is in the midst of raising people
   up
   out
   higher
further to what's already there is a desire to see people have access to tools and equipment and technology they can't afford to allow them to produce something to sell in a visioned downtown market in an antiquated building

this is good stuff
..

yesterday i opportuned at the clothing/food event - my second time
i witnessed 60+ people browse for something to wear and eat a meal
   seconds came after everyone had eaten, and some took
   the invite to get a togo box for later
      when maybe they had nothing in the cupboard
         or the backpack
..

as i pondered the situation here on that ground
i remembered a chat i had with the in-charge dude at the clothing/feed-me place for the needy
and was reminded of the gracious move of God in the lives of people in the direction of the gracious kingdom of God on Earth
   and was blessed in that remembering ..
.. reminded me of my not-so-long-ago self in a place far far away ..

the youngster barely strikes 22 on the world clock ..
imagine ..
in his tenure studying theology-in-whatever-specific-form, he decided to get off his theological arse and move tangibly in the direction of kingdom
and ended-up in this place
.. family and friends said he was fool-ish and delusional
making a mistake
but God was winking in his direction
so the crazy kid diss'ed the 'advisement' and headed out towards God's wink ..

22

when i think of who i was at 22, i slip into my private sinkhole, ashamed at the naivete and o-so-foolish worldish dreams i was chasing
   career, money, stability and whateverthehellelse this world offers
   to persons of privilege like moi
i had a tug in my gutsoul that wanted Godstuff for my life-endeavour
   but the pressure from outside was always in the direction of success
   and i didn't have the guts to turn my back on the society
   to walk in a transverse direction that would step all over privileged me
      and allow for Jesus to liveout life through me
   i wanted to make people proud
   i forgot the part where Jesus says "unless you die to who you think you are,
      who you want to impress, who you think you need to be
         you cannot be my disciple"
..

 Spunk (my name for 22) ia a firey excitable guy that just wants to give his life for Jesus' sake
and right now that consists in doing this
.. i hope he never ever changes the passion of that want
for i've seen far too many people begin in this vein
   and then, when 'success' and accolade and growth in their ministry occurs
   they change - their success ends-up dispassioning their Jesus-sakedness
      and they fall prey to standard evangelical fare
      lose their footing in their calling and exchange it for a few lights, a sound system
         and ye good ole offering plate
   .. the only people that lose-out then is the very people they set-out to serve
   and life reverts to 'normal'
      and Jesus weeps ..
Jesus weeps at that crap
believe it
..

i pray for Spunk
   that Jesus maintains the hold on
   his heart, tight-gripped
that the passion in his gut pains him for ever
   like the persistent hunger those 'least' people experience daily
that his eyes get bigger and his periphery widens in the faces of those he serves
   those the least of these
and he sees Jesus' face in their face
and in the mirror
.. and that the nagging comments and advice that will no-doubt continue to float his way
and no-doubt pull at his humanity through doubt and questioning himself and ..
will never deter him from finding his face dirt-deep at the foot of the cross
   cause only Jesus knows
      only Jesus gets to make that call
..


i am blessed by this man-kid ..
may he live a firey passion for a long long time
and others be blessed
and Jesus be blessed
..

i wish i had my life to live again
   maybe from 22
'cause this dude inspires me

we need a whole bunch of Spunks
this world would be a hellofalot better place

..   how about you
..

blessings to you
and peace
and love