Tag Archives: marginalized

CHRISTMAS AND GOD’S HEART FOR THE POOR

God calls us to serve the poor and marginalized, the people the world discards. We do so because we need them for our own spiritual lives as much as they need us. The prisoner, the mentally ill, the elderly, the “illegal” immigrant, the oppressed, the orphan, the homeless, the severely disabled, etc. – keep us grounded and honest, reminding us of what is important in life. I recorded this 4 minute video for the Nines Conference sponsored by Leadership Network around this topic. At EHS we felt it was particularly appropriate to share this at Christmas. So take a look. And remember, the roots of gift giving at Christmas is St. Nicholas, the former bishop of Myra, who took the churches gold and gave it to poor families. He did so in hope that they would not sell their daughters into slavery in order to put food on the table!

The Four Planted Seeds of 26 Years at NLF

I have spent 26 years planting New Life Fellowship Church in Queens, NYC. That is over a quarter of a century ago. That was my assigned task from God (1 Cor. 3:5-11). It has been a great journey. On Sunday I will hand over the “watering of these seeds” to Rich Villodas, my 34 year-old successor. (I will then take my new role as Teaching Pastor/Pastor-at-Large in NLF). For months I pondered the final sermon I would offer to the NLF family. What is the essence of the seeds I have planted? What are the seeds I pray they cherish, water, and grasp more deeply in the years to come? I distilled the answer to four seeds:1. Being precedes doing2. God is hidden in the marginalized3. Race matters4. God’s ways are little and slow. Take a look. You can also download the mp3 also from the NLF website. 26 Years of Lessons at NLF from New Life Fellowship on Vimeo.

Rule of Life NLF Part 4 (with commentary)

In this final and fourth section of the Rule of Life we are piloting at our local church, you will notice that I have intentionally kept this section short (It contains only 3 of the Rule’s 16 points!) I will conclude with a little example of how this is working out in my own life. Work/Activity • Savor the sacred in all I do — at work, rest or play. Psalm 104; Eph. 6:5-8; I Tim. 4:3-4. All of life is a gift from God. The word savor carries the notion of pausing to taste the deliciousness of our work, rest and play. It is the God-like celebration of delighting over His creation, exclaiming that it is “very good” (Gen. 1:31). • Remember the poor and marginalized. Exodus 2:23-25; Matthew 25:31-46; James 1:27.This is about a heart that carries the poor and marginalized, that remembers them like God. We are referring to a passion, not so. Read more.

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Tag Archives: marginalized

CHRISTMAS AND GOD’S HEART FOR THE POOR

The Four Planted Seeds of 26 Years at NLF

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