When Theory Becomes Reality

In the wake of such a glorious summer of God moving students into becoming good news to the poor by the power of the Spirit, this morning I'm feeling the reality of the spiritual battle in which we are engaged.

Yesterday one of the neighborhood youth was hanging out with me as I was working from home. Things proceeded as they normally do, talking about music, future plans, and life in the hood. Then, as we talked, we drifted into discussing his life on the streets:

"What would you do when folks come at you?" I asked.

"I'd pull a gun on 'em," he shared, directly.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I'm strapped...I'm carrying right now."

"Show me."

And he reached into his pocket and pulled out the gun you see here...loaded...with a bullet in the chamber...in my basement office.

This is a wonderful kid, a kid we love deeply, a kid we're invested in...yet he's caught up in a system that's far bigger than him, and it's changing him.

Jenny and I have been thrust into a more real counting of the cost than we have before. Clearly there's a deep component of spiritual attack involved...but with our kids in the mix, and the unpredictability of our environment, our current course of action is a temporary retreat. We spent last night with friends in Culver City and are seeking temporary housing in a place that feels safe and allows us to make space for prayer and discernment about God's will for our future.

We would love your prayers about God's desire for where we would live. I also invite you to pray with me for this youth who it setting himself on a course that has prison or death in its future. And I urge you to pray and consider--in your own heart--how are we, as the people of God in Los Angeles, supposed to respond to these realities in our city?

Alone, Jenny and I have no chance of fighting the entrenched powers of violence in the city. But as I have experience the hospitality of friends, the generosity of churches offering housing, the initiative of friends praying on our behalf...I am seeing anew the power that we have in our partnerships as the community of faith.

Right now that power is working to help us retreat and reassess, which feels needful, welcome, and appropriate. But in the bigger picture, how is God inviting us to use that power we have as his people to advance his kingdom, and to bring the peace, hope, safety, and love of Jesus to the inner city of Los Angeles?