The Moment.

[Nathanial] Yesterday I walked around the streets of downtown St. Paul with a fairly simple objective. I had a backpack full of assembled Christmas Treat Bags and the goal was to empty the bag by handing these bags to individuals I passed on the streets. As I sit here and analyze the moments of that morning, I think the thing that stuck out to me the most was something I am going to refer to as “The Moment”. When you acknowledge someone passing by you and extend a small gift to them, there is always a split second where you see or hear how they choose to react. This “moment” of reaction is absolutely fascinating!

Yesterday I witnessed a couple of stern, cold faces break into a stream of light with gorgeous smiles. A friend I was with asked a lady, “Would you like a Christmas present?” the lady responded through a huge grin: “Whyyy yesssssss.”

A couple of people asked for the motive behind the action. Everyone was very surprised when I told them it was simply because everyone deserves a Christmas present.

More often than not “the moment” I witnessed yesterday was one of complete shock. It was almost as if people were telling me nonverbally: “What the heck are you doing?” My partner on the street pointed out how many of the individuals outside were very much in a “hussle & bussle” mode. People of the city have a tendency to get very much into a rhythm (thanks for that one, Stash). When you break that stride [physically and mentally] people seemed so thrown off that you are actually acknowledging their existence. I walked up to a bus driver sitting stationary today and I said “Merry Christmas, brother” and extended a bag to him. The grimace on his face was one that will stay with me for awhile. But he sheepishly said “thank you” as I wished him a wonderful day and continued on my walk. Why is our society so shocked at a simple hello and a smile?!?!?!?

Try smiling at somebody today. Try saying a simple “hello” to a complete stranger and watch quietly for “the moment”……it is truly captivating! Ειρήνη

Thank You!!

New Hugs Announcement

Hey All!

I have a bit of new information about the Hugs event coming in December. Hugs is now a collaboration between Peach, Ekklesiah, and the Gallery Covenant Church (www.gallerycovenant.org). Here's how: On Saturday, December 12th, as part of their "Love St. Paul" initiative, the Gallery is meeting in Rice Park (around 9:00 a.m. for anyone whose interested) to tag-team with Matt Atkinson and Praxis to hand out decorated Christmas gift bags, coffee, hot chocolate, bag lunches, and socks, underwear, coats, hats, and mittens to the homeless community in Downtown. Part of the donations received at the worship concert will go to this event and will be distributed by Gallery volunteers the next morning. This new development makes everything even more exciting and makes the need for donations even greater! So, a quick recap: worship and prayer experience on Dec. 11th at 8:00 p.m. at Peach (price of admission is donation items, so bring your winter apparel!), then the next morning, Dec. 12th, part of your overall donation will br brought downtown to supply the needs of the homeless.

Another quick note: The rest of the donations that do not go downtown with the Gallery that Saturday will be distributed to Academia de Caesar Chavez (an elementary school in East St. Paul) and to the Center for Victims of Torture (a non-profit meeting the needs of displaced victims of political torture from around the world). So, overall donations will be distributed according to the needs of each of these three places.

Remember, if you cannot make the worship/prayer event on the 11th, we will be accepting donations at Ekklesiah through Dec. 18th, but preferably we would like to have everything by the 11th. You can swing by and see if someone is home to drop off donations at 243 Bates Ave. St. paul, Mn 55106 and knock on the big double doors on the corner of the building closest to the corner of Bates Ave. and Euclid Ave.

Thank you everyone for your support in this. We have great faith that God is going to move in profound ways in the midst of all of this. Everyone deserves to be warm this Christmas. Lets make sure it happens!

Blessings,
Tony tonyduppong@yahoo.com or 651-442-7328

Unexpected Blessings

[Tony] God and I had a tough week last week. So, really, I had a tough week, and I decided to take it out on God. Anybody else have weeks like this? Where things aren't going quite like you wanted them to and you think you are justified in making the case to God that you are being wronged, or that you deserve better... The guys in the house like to joke about our “spiritual boxing matches” with God after we have come to realize that these, most often, are about the equivalent of us kicking and screaming and throwing a winey temper tantrum at our Father's feet because he isn't going to buy us our favorite candy bar at the checkout line at the grocery store. So, yeah- I had one of those weeks where on numerous occasions over the course of a couple days I laid down my gripes before God- set all my dirty mess on the table and said “this is what I've got and I don't know what to do with it.”

I love God because after everything He has done for us, after everything that Jesus took upon himself and bore for our sake, He still listens intently and compassionately to our little complaints and problems and personal issues.

I must admit, after saying all this, that the way God responded to my prayers and petitions was completely unexpected. Some of you may be familiar with a story of mine from last fall about a guy named Carl. It was a Saturday night and I was working late. I had just gotten home (probably around midnight) and continued talking on my phone to a friend after I parked in front of Ekklesiah. I had only a little battery left on my phone, so it wasn't long before my phone died, at which point I climbed out of my car, locked my doors, walked up to the front door and reached in my pocket for my keys only to find that, yes, I locked them in my car. So now, I'm locked out of car and house, nobody is home, and I am still pretty new to the whole East Side scene. So, I decide to start walking, hoping to come across a gas station with a pay phone. So, on this particular Saturday night, or possibly by now Monday morning, I ended up walking all over Dayton's Bluff until I managed to follow 7th street towards downtown. Across 94 and officially in “downtown” I finally found an open SA, found a pay phone and called my dad to bring me the spare keys I had forgotten at home when I moved. In the mean time, there was a man outside of the gas station. He seemed nice enough, wasn't really bothering anyone, and would politely ask people using the gas station if they had any spare change. So, I worked up my courage, used the fact that I noticed he was a smoker and struck up a conversation. He said his name was Carl. So, I sat and chatted with my new homeless friend Carl until my dad picked me up. If only then I would have had any idea how much Carl would impact the next year of my life...
This was well into fall of last year. It wasn't long before it started getting cold. And then it started getting really cold. And on those cold nights, I would constantly have to push the thought of Carl sleeping outside somewhere out of my head. I was almost haunted by that image of Carl, a man whom I had met, had a conversation with, and learned his name, sleeping in the frigid winter cold while I lied in my warm bed in my warm house. Why does it have to work this way? Does it have to work this way? Whose fault is it that it is working this way? Who am I to have a warm place to sleep and he doesn't? Is there any reason why I deserve a bed before him? Is he okay? Did he find a shelter for the night? What if something bad happens? These were just some of the questions that flew through my head on those nights all winter long. I thought about him so often. I knew his name. That was enough. We weren't completely disconnected anymore.
So, with that precursor, last Wednesday evening, I was coming home and stopped at a gas station close to where Carl and I had met. On my way to the door a man stopped me and asked if I would bring him out some change when I came out. I told him I wouldn't have any change but I would be happy to buy him some food if he was hungry. He said “I wont ever turn down some good grub.” So I asked him was he was itching for and he said “I would really love a 2 liter bottle of Mt. Dew.” “Done,” I said and went inside. Then as I was walking around inside it hit me. So on my way out, I handed him the bottle and asked what his name was. “Carl,” he said. It was Carl! He was okay! I shook his hand and told him that we had met before a year ago to which he mumbled something, as I doubt he remembered me. I was ecstatic on the inside, just smiling at him on the outside as I got back in my truck. And thats when God started speaking softly to me; “I wanted you to see that I take care of Carl, too” He said. Following that was a flow of thoughts and feelings, reassuring me and affirming me, saying “you have grown so much in the last year.” Yet, there was also a sense of re-established mission. God also said “Carl is still here. He is still homeless. He still has great need. He still needs to be cared about and cared for. Your work is not done.”
The next day, as I am still reeling in the events that occurred the night before, I awoke from a nap in the afternoon and Ryan tells me that Rick and Cookie had stopped by earlier and that they left something for me on the counter downstairs. Rick and Cookie live down the street and have probably been the neighbors we have interacted with the most in the last year. I usually see Rick at least once a day, as he usually stops by to say “hi” or to ask me or the other guys for a favor. Rick and Cookie are loving people, however, they also both battle with long histories of drug abuse and incarceration to some degree. But, they like us. They call us the “Christians” and their “church friends down the street.” So I walked downstairs to find a decorative framed mirror with words inscribed across the front. It was beautiful. Not that it was something that would have caught my attention in a store or because it would make a wall in our living room look more complete. It was beautiful because of what it was. I was a thank-you gift. Rick and Cookie live on government assistance. They scratch by on food stamps and a very small living stipend. They live in a very small house with some of their kids. They ask us for food, for diapers, for trips to the store all the time. They don't have extra money. But this was how they knew they could express their appreciation to us in the house. I got almost teary eyed thinking about what Rick and Cookie might have given up that week so that they could afford the $10 wall decoration. Rick and Cookie knew that I would have been overjoyed at just a thank-you and a hug in person, but they wanted to do more than what was comfortable, so they made themselves financially uncomfortable for us.
I am still unpacking how much these two events mean in regards to how far we have all come together as a community. There are times when we get very intraverted and those of you from church, and friends and family might not here about a lot of things happening outside of the house (like house concerts and free yard sales) but that has no measurement bearing on how much we have learned in the environment God has placed us in. Over the last year, I have learned more about God's heart for the poor, his hatred for injustice, about patience, about humbleness, about selflessness, about grace and unconditional love than I could have ever known I had to learn last September. The other guys haven't been in the house as long as I have, but they learn, and teach, and contribute, and have grown in even more and dramatic and beautiful ways than I have. Sometimes its easy to forget how far you've come, especially when you're like me and you like to pay most of your attention to how much further you get to go...

HUGS INITIATIVE!!!!

Video announcement for a collaborative effort in December between Ekklesiah and Peach. Please watch!

new territory for this mind

[Nathanial] I have recently finished reading Shane Claiborne’s JESUS FOR PRESIDENT. To Claiborne’s credit, he certainly brings a unique persective. The thing I have been wrestling most with since concluding this read, partnered with other current scenarios in my life, is basically how Jesus would have reacted to the “Support our Troops” approach of today.
I think it is obvious that the ideal world without war and conflict is preferred, but that is not the reality we live in. There is infact war and conflict going on in our world. As a result there are people fighting, and even defending, in these conflicts. So how would Jesus approach today’s reality if He walked this planet today?
I guess the reason this has flared up in my life is due to the fact that I have a close friend departing for basic training in one of the military branches. I find myself in conflict with some of Claiborne’s approaches because I feel like I am abandoning my friend and his family. Now comes the age old question of; is it possible to support a person, but not the action?
Perhaps i am being a bit too fantasy-like, but i feel that military personnel deserve respect and honor. The act of sacrificing one's life for a cause is quite admirable. And yet, I continue to wrestle with aligning myself in a Jesus like fashion to this issue.
As i continue to search, please join me in praying for those in conflict around the world. Regardless of where one stands on the spectrum of this issue, prayer is one form of love we can all express. שלום.

YouTube

Hey everyone,
Quick note- Just created an Ekklesiah YouTube channel! We will most likely post videos on both sites, and if we post only on YouTube, we will at least put a note on the blog.

Check it out! Channel name is: Ekklesiahhouse

P.S. keep a heads up for more videos coming soonly

Shalom,
Tony

House Tour Video

Hey all-- trying out a new media style. Hope it works and I hope you love it!

Be careful what you pray for :)

[Nathanial] Time for a bit of reflection. I begin by thanking all of the members that have been praying Ekklesiah through its latest transition. Personally, I have felt a tiny bit of discomfort around the house the past few weeks. Discomfort is something we prayed for. We have previously prayed against becoming complacent and satisfied within the walls of this condo. So maybe this slight discomfort and uneasiness is a positive thing. Be careful what you pray for........ ;)
I realize that part of this discomfort stems from the decisions I make for my own life. Life has become much more busy with the school year in full swing and other opportunities for social or service events. I find myself searching for discernment with activities and concluding that I need to say “No” to more things. What I find humor in is how quickly I begin to feel disconnected from Ekklesiah. After only a couple of nights of long school days followed by evening commitments, I long to spend quality time with the immediate community of my brothers. I guess this shows how important the relationships I have with my brothers here at Ekklesiah truly are. It also reiterates how much of a blessing [and sanctuary] this building/living space is. One also becomes very conscience of any tensions that arise in the community and this makes immediate reconciliation vital. Another positive thing about these stretches of emotion is that it makes things like our Thursday night house meals that much more valuable.
I am thankful that prayer knows no boundaries and that one can constantly be in prayer while his brothers go about their busy schedules too. Ekklesiah finds itself on the threshold of something else that may create another marvelous journey for the ministry of our home. For now, keep praying for God’s fulfillment and radiance in this place. We will disclose more details when we officially dive into this new adventure. Paz.

Doing Life: The Busy Community

Hey all-

First off, thanks again to everyone who has been following our blog. Your thoughts and prayers lift us up in ways that we will never know.

Life at Ekklesiah has been hectic to say the least. The last month or so can really be described in one word: transition. Every one of us has experienced some sort of transitional change in the last month, whether that is the taking on of a new challenge, laying something down that was at one point part of a normal routine, or simply taking on a new perception of an old thing. Ultimately, change is good. It keeps us aware and alert to how we are living and how God is moving in our lives.
Ryan has recently accepted a new job at Vertical Endeavors (woot woot)and has been working to orient his life in order to fit in this new commitment.
Kaleb has recently started school again, is finally finding stability in his job, and has taken on some new ministry challenges as he and Ryan have been working to join James with 180 ministry.
Nathanial has been finding stability in his position at Acadamia De Caesar Chavez. Aside from work, Nathanial has also been involved with worship ministry at the Gallery, as that begins to take shape and find identity.
Stash has been in the process of re-inventing himself and his own work with his non-profit community art gallery in lowertown St. Paul. This gallery, once called PivotArts has been renamed "Peach" with a new logo, website, and now internal facelift to boot. In preparation for the St. Paul art festival this weekend, Stash has been diligently re-modeling his gallery showroom.
I think the most immediate change that has effected the community as a whole has been the recent departure of James Racine from the house. After extensive prayer, it was decided that living in the house was not condusive to what James needed most in order to balance his life, his relationships, and remain healthy and steadfast in his own ministry of 180. It is hard to see James go as he played an integral role in creating Ekklesiah and nurturing the community over the last year so that it was able to grow into the identity we have now. James will continue to spend time in community investment and ministry here at Ekklesiah, however, in a more indirect way.
As for me- I have been in the process of, as John the Baptist says: decreasing "so that he may increase." I have officially started classes at Bethel Seminary and have already fallen in love with it. Unfortunately, this is a huge time commitment for me, causing me to separate myself from other areas of investment.
It has been interesting to watch the ways in which Ekklesiah has grown in the midst of our transitions. There seems to be a common question floating around: How do we intentionally pursue our purpose as a Christian community in the midst of such business and change? We have learned to pay very close attention to each other. We have also learned to not only learn from each other, but to learn about each other. Saying that, I can also say that a lesson we have learned again and again is that we all have specific needs and specific ways in which we need to be loved by others. In Christian community, you learn to depend on those around you to fill those needs for love. We have learned that some of us depend on times of solitude and reflection. Others depend on times of fellowship and conversation. We all handle stress differently. We all express our needs differently... these are just a few lessons being learned as we work together to find ways to pay very close attention to one another. In doing this, we are also slowly realizing that, to observe the needs of others, one must often times disregard the needs of the self. The community environment is one in which it is easier to abandon your own personal needs to serve the needs of another simply because you live in the mindset that while you are serving someone else, another brother or sister is going to serve the needs that you have. We are dependent on each other for that. We are vulnerable to each other and we ask one another to be vulnerable to us.
May we continue to find the unity that is shared by the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. May we see that we are connected through a shared bond, as we all have the same Holy Spirit dwelling within us and that Holy Spirit is what will keep us in perpetual communion with each other, God the Father, and Jesus Christ.

Shalom!

Tony

BUILDING OTHERS UP

[Nathanial] The Ekklesiah house will soon send off one of its founding fathers, James Racine. James has been an integral part of the birth of this place and vital in its growth and nurturing throughout its first year of existence. The brothers here at Ekklesiah pray that God would continue to lead James to be fruitful in his individual ministries.
With James departing from the inner walls here, we will each be taking on more responsibility for the unit. We realize that this is opening ways that Satan can place footholds for division. Satan is already trying to use little quirks or individual comments to create fractions among us. We ask for our larger community to pray that we would be strong enough to not allow Satan to divide us as we continue to listen for God's direction for this place. A positive verse that has been mentioned by numerous brothers here over the past few days is
Ephesians 4:29 – “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”
It is our prayer that each our lives would model this verse.

VISION STATEMENT!! a snapshot of what we've been working on

Here is a snapshot of the main points of the vision of Ekklesiah. Like I have stated in earlier blogs; our vision has three facets that are separate from each other, yet work intricately within one another to form the breadth of this ministry. The original vision statement contained a lot of scripture that I wont write out, I'll simply end each section with scripture that corresponds to the main points.

Our vision begins with three general statements that encompass our identity and purpose as a whole:

-To be and incarnational community of Jesus Christ
-To celebrate life, death and resurrection together
-To bear our crosses individually as well as shoulder a cross together as a community

The first facet of our vision deals with how we live, as a community, within the house. This is our “community fellowship”

-To dedicate ourselves to building, living and sustaining intimate brotherhood and fellowship with one another which is founded in the Word and given to us by the grace of God
-To worship God through our relationships and love of others; to show and express our love for God in the way we love one another
-To be a community of disciples who together become a unified body of greater capacity than the single abilities of it's parts
-To embrace covenant: covenant as individuals with God, covenant with one another, and covenant between the community and God
-To be unified in our dedication to God's will for us as a collective body
-To study the Word of God together, to learn from and teach one another and to support one another in our individual growth and understanding of how to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ
-To practice those truths revealed to us through scripture and prayer actively and intentionally with every part of our lives
-To commit ourselves individually and communally to a foundation of disciplined prayer and meditation
-To live together in the world but not of it; to truly be holy and set apart from the value systems, authorities and idols of this world. To live together so that we become an incarnational community of the Kingdom of Heaven
-Scripture: Acts 2:42, Col. 3:12, John 1:1, John 13:34, John 4:9, 1Cor. 12:12, 1Cor, 12:7, James 1:22, James 1:25, Col. 4:2, Matt. 7:7, Rev. 18:4, John 15:18, 2Pet. 1:5

The second facet of our vision is called “community in our world and on our streets” and is an outline of our intentional and incarnational community ministry within our own neighborhood:

-To practice evangelism by opening our community to our neighbors, inviting them to experience our community and our relationships with each other and God, and above all, showing them a way of life that is set apart from that which they walk in
-To invest time, energy and resources into Christ-centered relationships with our neighbors
-To stand against injustice. To learn the root causes of injustice so that we may align ourselves in opposition to them. To grow in our presence and voice against injustice.
-To be a voice and source of social, economic, spiritual and cultural reconciliation
-To serve the least of these, our brothers and sisters
-To be selfless in our generosity, giving of ourselves and what we have because what we have is a gift in itself
-To learn about the people, cultures and ways of life around us so that we may more effectively identify needs and address them in whatever way God would use us
-To consistently cover our surrounding community it prayer
-To be agents of transformation in our community by investing in the transformation of its individuals. To seek transformation that moves from the inside out, first in ourselves, then in our neighbors and finally in our community
-To invite others to take part in the ways the Holy Spirit moves in and through us
-To share and teach the scriptures to those in our surrounding community
-To invest, to our capacity, efforts of community resurrection
-To align ourselves with already existing efforts of community and social service
-To be prayerfully open and obedient to opportunities for expansion of our vision
-To free ourselves so that we may be used by God to plant seeds and bear fruit
-To promote, invest in and raise up other leaders within the community
-To be a place of safety, a sanctuary of righteous living. To free ourselves and our home for efforts of community organization, support, teaching and community networking
-To offer our influence of faith and spiritual formation to those secular humanity and social services in the area
-To promote efforts of wealth and resource re-distribution, inviting and leading those who have wealth to give generously to efforts against poverty or to the support of those in poverty, by providing a faith-based channel through which to do so
-To promote non-violence by investing in local youth and educating both youth and adults about the message of Jesus and loving others
-Scripture: Mat. 5:3, Eph. 2:19, Mat. 22:37, Isaiah 61:1, Isaiah 61:8, Isaiah 25:4, Deut. 15:1, Gal. 3:26, Col. 1:20, 2Cor. 5:18, Mat. 25:34, Isaiah 58:10, Isaiah 58:6, Deut. 15:10, 2Cor. 8:3, Rom. 8:11, Rom. 12:2, John 15:4, Titus 2:6, Ex. 16:17, Mat. 5:44, Mat. 5:39

The final facet of our vision is that which outlines our relationship to the Church, home churches, and local faith-based organizations. Church Community:

-To invest in and align efforts and support with local churches and ministries
-To be used as a means through which ministries can promote community based initiatives by providing opportunities for volunteer participation
-To be voices and teachers to the larger church community
-To offer our resources to other local ministries
-To be a channel through which church members are able to dive deeper into their faith and the life application of that faith
-To be an outlet through which local ministries can channel their own resources
-To network with other area intentional communities and serve their community initiatives
-To bridge churches and their members across socio-economic, racial and cultural divisions so that the community itself becomes less divided, more diverse and desiring of justice throughout class, race and cultural lines
-Scripture: 2Cor. 9:1, Gal 3:26

These are the points we are wrestling with as of right now. If you have any input, please offer your opinions by leaving a comment, sending an email or contacting one of us directly. This vision is far from set in stone, it is still malleable as we continue to grow in our understanding of our collective purpose, identity and structure.

Thank you to everyone of you who have been along with us on this journey over the last year, either through reading this blog, through prayer, through volunteer time, or through your relationships with us. Those of us who live in Ekklesiah are products of God and of those whom we are surrounded by- and we are greatful to both!

Community Fund (Please read!)

[Tony] I was recently compelled in my spirit to share one of our latest house endeavors with you.

Last week all of us at Ekklesiah sat down together at a close-by Wells Fargo, and with the help of our friendly Wells Fargo personal banker, Victoria, we officially set up a Community Fund. Because we are not officially a recognized non-profit organization (at least not yet), we set up what is basically a joint personal checking account. Each one of us has our name listed on the account as well as our own personal check cards with equal access to both deposit and/or withdraw money. This is a huge step for us in that it directly challenges our conceptions of what is “mine” and what is “not mine.”
Here are some of the most general reasons for our decision to move forward as a community into this new place of trust in each other and in God:
In the last year here at Ekklesiah, one of the most profound truths and challenges we have faced personally as well as in community is the profound implications of the act of abandoning possessions. From our start last September, together, we have made considerable progress in the practice of that world view. We are constantly identifying those things in our lives that we lord over, that we don't want to share, that we were convinced we had a “right” to have as our own, and laying them down to God and to the community to be shared and enjoyed by all, as God sees best fit. This was an adventure that began with hats, as we realized that if we all put together the hats that each of us owned, we would still have those hats, and we would have all of the other hats to choose from as well. Sharing is a concept most children are exposed to via Mr. Rogers and Sesame Street throughout childhood, however, I don't know if any of us had any idea of what that simple concept actually looked like in practice until this last year. We now share hats, clothes, neck-ties, scarves, books, instruments, food, personal space, computers, shoes, jackets, etc. as we grow into an ever growing understanding of what those early Christians meant when they said “abandoned possessions.” It is time for us now to share our money:
By having a joint personal bank account together, we are able to start small. Right now, the general idea is that we all continue doing our own finances separately. So, if I get a paycheck, it still goes into my own personal bank account, and this is where I will still pay my bills from, manage expenses from and maintain savings from. The joint bank account is then an additional account to which each of us will be able to contribute as we feel led. Basically, this is an account to which each of us will “tithe” to as our own personal responsibility to the “church” community that is Ekklesiah. This money will then be used to bless others around us with.
Because none of us are really rollin' in da Benjaminz, there is definitely a collective constraint to our ability to give financially to serve the needs of those around us. At least, on our own, we have very little financial freedom to allow for consistent financial giving. Together, however, a joint bank account will allow each of us to contribute what we can afford, leaving a collective sum of money that is much more than we are able to give on an individual basis and a channel through which we can give more, yet do so in a much healthier and more responsible way.
This joint account will also teach us, first hand, the value of Christian money management. We have called each other to budget a set amount of money (which each will determine on their own) and budget for that donation on either a weekly or monthly basis. There will be profound accountability values through a shared account, as each of us will have full access to online banking statements. Every one of us now carries a responsibility to use the money in this account in whatever way is in the best interest of the others in the house as well as in our local community. This is a dramatically different and challenging approach to how our culture teaches us to manage our money. In a free market capital system, the value of money is meant to serve one's own self-interest. We work to receive income, we receive income so that we may use it as we see best fit for our own interests. In contrast, in sharing our income, we declare to ourselves and to those around us that we do not truly “possess” that money on an individual basis. In other words, in community, we recognize that God provides for us not so that we have the ability to serve our own interests but so that we have the ability to serve the will of God as well as the needs of those around us before our own.
Furthermore (and worthy of its own bullet point), we learn not only to trust in one another, but also to trust God in much deeper and directly applicable ways. Over the last year we have seen in tangible ways a direct correlation between our ability to trust and our ability to abandon possession. The more we learn to trust in one another, to do as Christ did and become vulnerable to the love and grace of those around us, the easier it is to let go of those things we are called to let go of so they can be shared and used as gifts God has given to all of us. We must learn to trust each other in those things that have the potential to impact us in direct ways. It is also in this way that we come to a deeper understanding of our God who provides. In order to come into that understanding, we must first be able to trust that He is that, to lean on Him, knowing that He gives what we need, but not always what we want.
There are three distinct places in the bible in which the text implies that in a community of people, there was not one person who did not have their needs met by God. In these three instances, we see glimpses of a world that is functioning without the immediate reality of poverty, homelessness, starvation, malnutrition, or struggle for basic needs. The first place we find this is in the Garden of Eden. Here, before the fall, we see that, in the unity they shared with each other and with God, they lived in complete dependence on the provision of their Creator. In the Garden, every need was provided for. The next book of scripture, Exodus, then gives us an interesting parallel. Like the Garden, after the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, a new community of people is formed. God takes the Israelites from their oppressors and, for 40 years, isolates them together in the wilderness. Here God begins to deconstruct and reconstruct the way in which they see themselves, God and their relationship to each other. During this time, the Israelites, like Adam and Eve, were completely dependent on God. There is a particular instance, early in their 40 year adventure together, in which God pours down manna from the sky to provide His people with food. After doing this, God gives specific orders to His people: take what you need, and only what you need. The Israelites obeyed this command, and because they did, scripture tells us that everyone in the community had what they needed. Everyone had enough. Finally, in the book of Acts, we find another new community. After the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, these Christ followers devoted themselves to living according to the way Jesus had taught them not long before. Like in Exodus, the followers of Jesus are led to share their possessions, leading them into a fellowship together in which “there were no needy people among them.” The implications throughout these three parallel passages give us a lens through which God continually calls His people to see the world through. The God that provided to Adam and Eve is the same God that provided to the Israelites is the same God that provided to the earlier Christians and He is the same God who is providing now. There are enough resources in the world: enough food, enough clean water, enough energy, etc. to provide for the needs of every person on the planet. Yet, some have excess and many have almost nothing. Some of us have taken more manna than we need without considering that by doing this, we will leave another person with less manna than they need. My point:
In sharing our things and our money, the fellowship and community that God forms between us is one in which there will be no needy people. We become a reflection of what God desires to do through us: to deliver justice, to bring salvation, to set the oppressed free. We put our faith not in the false assurance of what we can provide on our own, but in the trust and faith that we are to rely on the provision of a God who loves us dearly and the God who dwells within those Christians around us.
Our community fund is a small venture now. It is simply a place where we can collectively put resources towards a vision that we agree on, have discerned together and desire to move towards. Perhaps, one day, in the near or far future, we will be ready to take this idea on in greater capacities, but for now, its a donation/collection fund.
Like I implied earlier, we have discussed and decided that the way in which we feel God is calling us to use this money is for those in our surrounding community whom we are ministering to. This will be money used to buy food for families we know who struggle to put food on their tables. We will use this money to buy hats and mittens this winter for kids who go to school across the street whose parents simply can't afford them. We will also use this money as a resource for when we host community events. For example, this money would have been used to buy poster-board for signs, coffee and doughnuts for our free yard-sale earlier this summer. In many ways, we see ourselves as a church, and through our prayer and discussion together, this is how we have decided that God would have us use this money as a church.
I wish I could keep writing about this, as it is ideas like these that will keep me forever captivated and fascinated by the way in which God calls us to live alongside one another. There are two reasons why I have posted all of this for you to read: first, we love to teach, we love new ideas that are actually old ideas, we love to be in dialogue about what God is doing here at Ekklesiah, and we desire to share that with many. Second, over the last couple of weeks we have been working through and discussing a formal vision outline for the house to continue to move towards. We have agreed that our ministry is three-fold here. First, is our internal community. Basically, building fellowship together, as brothers, that is founded in, for and because of Jesus Christ. This is the ministry that we provide for each other, as we walk together towards God. Second, is our ministry to the neighborhood around us: to invest in relationships, to meet needs when we can and to provide other resources to connect those with greater needs with places that can meet them, and to allow the fellowship and way of life we have within the house to be an outward expression towards our neighbors. Last, we will invest in a ministry to the Church. Here, we will align ourselves, contributing resources to the initiatives of other local churches as well as being a channel through which faith-based initiatives can support missions such as our own. The act of sharing our money, collectively and openly in the magnitude in which we are doing so serves all three areas of our ministry to some degree. We grow, we serve our neighbors, we invite others in. Given that context, this joint bank account will also allow for outside contributions to be made to Ekklesiah as a community instead of just one person with it. I am not going to ask for money. I simply am writing now to make it known that the possibility is there, it is organized and it is open to accountability. We have had a handful of people ask if there is a way to donate to Ekklesiah as a faith-based organization. Now, we can honestly say that, yes, if that is a call God has put on your heart, we have the means in which to do that- and we are very very greatful for your obedience and compassion.

Sorry this was so long (even though, if you know me well, you know I had a blast writing it)
God bless

An Update

[Tony] Hey everyone! Thought I would give everyone an update on whats going on and been going on at Ekklesiah. We are in another season of transition here as of late. Our brother Dan Kennedy and his new wife Sarah have started their life together, which means, unfortunately, that Dan has moved out of Ekklesiah. But, when God closes one door, He opens another. Ryan Nyquist and Kaleb Greene are finished with their summer gigs as camp counselors at Big Sandy Camp and have officially moved into Dan's old room. Ryan had lived with us for a few months over the winter and early spring, and Kaleb had spent a lot of time with us before camp as well, so the house is nothing too new for them. Now, among job searching, preparing for classes coming up, and re-uniting with friends, Kaleb and Ryan have simply been spending time acclamating to the life of ministry here.
We have had a series of house meetings over the last couple of weeks to discuss this transition of new brothers coming in and going out. We spent a good deal of time talking through, discussing and finally writing the beginning of what will become a written and semi-formal vision for Ekklesiah. We agreed that our ministry here is threefold. The first area of concentration is in the development of a Christ-like community of brothers who are trying to live and love like Jesus. The second area of concentration is then to take that fellowship we have formed with each other to our outside community. To work for justice. To serve our neighbors. To build up our neighborhood. And to be leaders and raise up others to leadership. Finally, our third area of concentration will be our service and commitment to the Church body and its ministries. This is exciting for everyone in the house as we are taking those huge steps towards true intentional community, as we become more united in our understanding of our purpose and direction.
James has been busy with his work with 180, the Crossroads High School Ministry. In July he took 30+ students to CHIC (Covenant High In Christ), an evangelical covenant high school youth conference in Tennessee. Earlier this month, James also spent a week as a speaker at Covenant Pines. On top of those things, James has been preparing for another school year of 180 that will be amping up here very quickly. Also, he will be continuing his own schooling at Bethel Seminary.
Nathanial has been a blessing to Ekklesiah over the past few summer months, as he remains steadfast in his ministry here in Dayton's Bluff. Nathanial also is preparing for the upcoming school year with great anticipation and excitement to dive into his work with Academia De Ceasar Chavez in St. Paul.
Stash continues to be a blessing to all of us in the house. His heart is compassionate and deep and we are constantly reminded of how much we truly have to learn from him. Stash has become a familiar face at the Gallery (and it seems he is loved there just as much if not more than he is here)and remains a integral part of the mission we share at Ekklesiah.
As for me, the majority of my time out of work is spent here at Ekklesiah. This is the place that I feel is the place I have been called to ministry and it brings me great joy to be here. On top of the house, I have been spending time working with the Justice Team at the Gallery. Also, I am preparing, with great excitement, for the upcoming school year as I will also be starting at Bethel in pursuit of the same master's program as James. For the next three years my Monday nights will be spent at Bethel Seminary pursuing a degree in Community Ministry Leadership.
Together, all of us here at Ekklesiah have been simply spending time together. We celebrate often. Worship with music and prayer and service often. Teach each other. Learn from each other. And we try always to be open to those who wish to share in how God moves in our fellowship each day. This fall will bring a barrage of exciting events that are already in planning, but for now, we are simply celebrating the life, death and resurrections that are part of our lives every day.

BRIEF PRAYER REQUESTS

The residents of Ekklesiah are asking our larger community to join us in lifting our brother Dan Kennedy up in prayer as he marries Sarah Skogstad on August 8th. We pray that God would shower this glorious union and their journey together with abundant blessings! The Ekklesiah house will also soon celebrate the return of RyNy and welcome Kaleb Greene into our living quarters. Please pray that each heart living here would grow to look more and more like the heart of Jesus Christ through this transition period. It remains because of the support and prayers of our greater community that this home is able to be used as God’s instrument. Pax.

National Night Out- Aug. 4th

Tuesday, Aug. 4th, is National Night Out- A collabrative effort by communities across the nation to raise awareness of drug and crime prevention, strengthen community involvement and organization and to encourage neighbors to get out and meet the people with whom they share their neighborhood with. www.nationalnightout.org
So, on Tuesday night, we are going to pull the couches out on the lawn and have a good ole' fashion get together. We'll spend the evening getting to know each other and those in the community. Bring a chair, kick back and enjoy the company of those around you. We'll do some worship outside, possibly have a couple prayer walk groups for those who are interested, and above all, we'll be looking for ways to meet and love those around us.
Please join us as we celebrate the gift of fellowship God has given to us. Please bring your own bevies (bevies means beverages=-). We wont be grilling out at all, however, there is a house down the street that is hosting a big pot-luck if that is something that interests you.

Hope to see you there-

All of us at Ekklesiah

Little Yard Sales, Big Ideas

[Tony] On July 10th, as many of you probably know, there was a “Free Yard Sale” in our front yard. It was a beautiful day. It was a beautiful day because the sun was shining, the rain stayed away and we had a chance to work on our suntans (or sunburns). It was a beautiful day because, in little ways, many people were helped, many people got a chance to help someone else, and many people had a chance to see and be a part of something that they may have never seen before.
All of us here are so very grateful to those of you who helped with the yard sale. Some of you brought things from home to donate to the cause (the amount of “stuff” we received to give away was breathtaking). Some of you came early in the morning to help set up tables, organize clothes and toys and furniture and anything and everything else that was brought to us. Some of you came early, stayed late, built relationships, grilled hot dogs, lifted heavy things, folded and re-folded piles of clothes and above all, dealt with all of those things we couldn’t have seen coming with grace, compassion and wisdom. Some of you came and lifted not only our house and the yard sale, but the neighborhood, our neighbors, our visions and our relationships up in prayer. Some of you prayed for us from your homes because you couldn’t make it out that day. All of you reflected the love of Jesus Christ by giving of yourself for the glory of God and His Kingdom.
The yard sale, in and of itself, was a small thing. It was not a cause that was going to send tremors through economic barriers. It was not a great step in eliminating poverty. For those who may have had small needs met through some new clothes or a ceiling fan, their deepest needs were still largely unmet. The yard sale was simple. It was a small act of generosity, love and kindness, and it is those things, among an armful of material things that were spread in abundance. However, in doing these small things, it gives dreamers, like myself, to dream big things. The yard sale was a very small scale picture of what God’s Kingdom might be like. Let me show you what I mean…
We live in a world in which the distribution of resources, of property, wealth, food, water, education, etc. is devastating to masses while favorable to only a select few. For example, today, globally, 40% of the world’s resources are owned by 1% of the world’s population. In simplest terms, it is extremely difficult for someone of that 99% to accumulate resources because they have no way through which to obtain them. In other words, in order to survive, one out of four children throughout the world must choose to work instead of go to school. Without education, or funding for an education, this child already is entering into an almost irreversible cycle of poverty.
The more I study statistics like these in regards to larger socioeconomic issues at hand, the more I am drawn to scripture in the Book of Exodus. After escaping the hand of Pharaoh in Egypt, the Israelites had followed Moses and Aaron into the wilderness. There they were without food and began to complain to Moses. To this the Lord says “Look, I’m going to rain down food from heaven for you. Each day the people can go out and pick up as much food as they need for that day” (Ex. 16:4, NLT). God desires the dependence of the Israelites on Him, for He is a God who provides. God then proceeded to shower the traveling Israelites with manna and quail from heaven, giving them just enough to eat for that day, yet warning them not to store any away for the next, as this would show a lack of faith in God’s promise to provide. This idea of worshipping a “God who provides” is interesting given that 800 million people will not eat today. Does this mean that God is no longer interested in “providing” for our basic necessities? To answer this, we must look at the resources that we already have. It is estimated that the total cost to provide every person on the planet with basic health care, clean water and sufficient nutrition would be roughly $120 billion. Keep that $120 billion in mind. The U.S. government spends $12.5 million every hour on the war in Iraq alone. Every year, the White House and Congress allocate over $500 billion on the national defense budget. Americans spend close to $120 on ice cream every year. Americans spend over $9 billion on Black Friday alone every year.
With this bigger picture in mind, the idea of a “free yard sale” implies that we believe in a God who does provide. Our God has provided for us. However, many of us enjoy the bounty of what the Israelites found in the promised land of milk and honey. What are we to do with the bounty that God provides? Later in the same chapter in Exodus, Moses writes: “So the people of Israel did as they were told. Some gathered a lot, some only a little. But, when they measured it out, everyone had just enough. Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over, and those who gathered only a little had enough. Each family had just what it needed” (Ex. 16:17, NLT). What if everyone only took what they need? What if every family had just what it needed? There is enough. There will always be enough. They question then, is how are we handling what we have been given?
May we be a people who realize what we have. May we see that what we have is a gift from God, given out of love and grace, based not on merit but on need. May we reflect that selflessness so that we may one day know that we have what we need and our neighbors have what they need. Thank you God for giving us a small glimpse of how it is that you are still a God Who Provides.

I see Jesus in you...

This past day we threw a free yard sale for the neighborhood and surrounding communities. It proved to be an incredible success! And by success, I do not mean that we reversed decades upon decades of generational poverty and injustice by transferring some of our used stuff to other families to store... I mean that the Kingdom of God was, in small but profound ways, making it's way to Dayton's Bluff. We were able to meet more of our neighbors, build relationships with children and parents alike, feed many stomachs, bring smile to plenty of faces and hopefully bless some people with the small gesture of getting something for free... (the key, by the way, to all of life's answers.)

Today, I saw Jesus in Nathanial, the way that he woke up early, and was the first to work in setting up and sorting; the way that he was beaming with God's love all day as he was serving the visitors today. The way that he worked hard to help promote the event, hung fliers and took inventory the night before. Jesus is hard at work... (wait no) hard at PLAY, in that man!

Today I saw the Father's heart more clearly demonstrated in Tony than ever before at this house... as Nasir lay across Tony's chest, with his chin on Tony's side. Nasir began to ask questions, child-filled questions about growing facial hair, permanent retainers in our mouths, birthdays and parties. And for a moment it was THE image of the Father fully loving His Son. It was an orphaned boy, who, being surrounded by violent and detached men all day long, came to Tony and in doing so found peace, rest, comfort, security, laughter and affirmation. I saw the heart of the Father, bleeding the most beautiful colors of red all over our front porch today.

God was most certainly well pleased today. Hope entered the world in a greater capacity today because of what a few simple and surrendered people were willing to do for God; nothing extraordinary... just good.

The Listener Project

Pictures from our house concert!!!

http://picasaweb.google.com/dan.listener/ByJonnyHoffner?feat=embedwebsite#slideshow/5345744640427929778

A need for CONSTANT compassion

[Nathanial]
I would like to echo some of RyNy’s message from a few weeks ago. God is literally answering our prayers. People [mostly young, short ones] are showing up on our doorstep. We are also establishing relationships with our neighbors and people in our immediate community. In the past week we have had supper with 2 out of the other 6 condos in the Ekklesiah building!
As these opportunities continue to be placed in front of our paths, I feel a big conviction. It’s almost as if God is staying, “you asked for it, now back it up.” While many of our answered prayers and relational opportunities at Ekklesiah are encouraging, many also are extremely challenging. Some of the children we are meeting come from very different homes or styles of parental upbringing. Encounters have come with children who have become accustomed to fighting or having yelling be socially acceptable to their interaction with others. It can be emotionally draining for us to drop whatever we are doing around the house to be constantly available to meet the needs of the kids.
The perspective needs to be constantly shifted away from human frustration and focus instead on compassion and a broken heart for these boys and girls. I have had a young girl yell at my face, and while my patience is quite tested, the challenge becomes to find strategies to break those walls of anger and find individual ways to love that one child. It is also interesting that the same girl can come over the next day and have a totally different attitude. Two days, two moods, same person. It is important to acknowledge how this is similar to my own roller coaster of emotions life. We are all human creations that each have our good days and bad days.
Pray for our balance and guidelines with these new relationships. Is losing our entire bowl of fruit to children in one afternoon really that big of a deal? How can we teach these kids that knocking on someone’s door is more considerate than opening their font door and walking straight in? It is a prayer to use these difficult situations as “educational opportunities” to give a Christ -like example for these children. We need to be praying that the hearts of the inhabitants here would constantly be filled with compassion and prepared to love whenever these neighbor children visit. It is a praise to meet some of our neighbors. Allowing those relationships to continue to grow can only assist the mission of our house. Pray that we “step up” individually [and together] with God’s spirit at our side and take our opportunities head on!

God is so Good!

[Ry]
Just a quick note about how great our God is. Of course you don't need me to tell you this, but just sitting here talking with Nathanial about some recent experiences we have had, I feel the need to share. Recently we have been praying more and more that God uses this house as HIS instrument and that He would bring different people from many different paths into this place. From little kids across the street wanting to play baseball to broken people, they have come. God DOES answer prayer and without Him, this would all be for nothing. It's now our responsibility to have patience and compassion and the wisdom to do something kingdom-like with these opportunities. Keep praying for the men of this residence. Praise Jesus!

I don't deserve this...

[Tony] Over the course of this last winter and into the spring, I have faced a challenge that has been humbling and healthy, yet frustrating. The concept of grace was something that I haven't really spent much time on in the course of my own development as a follower of Jesus. The concept itself, surface level, was within the reach of my understanding. Okay- so, in the garden, God and man lived in unity with each other, then Adam and Eve messed up and things between God and his people didn't really look the same anymore. In this disconnection, and because we worship a God who IS love, God longed for the reparation of what was broken in the garden. So, in order to restore what was broken, God put on flesh and lived among the people who He loved. Then Jesus was crucified- a perfect and spotless sacrifice for our sins- for the brokenness that took place way back in the garden. Now, because of what Jesus has done, my sins are forgiven, I can have right relationship with the God, and in the eyes of my maker, I am as spotless as the One who died for me. Got it. Its nice. I win because I was forgiven and can now have eternal life. Apparently God wins because He gets to be in love with me. Everybody is happy. End of story, right?
I am learning that there is a difference between understanding a concept and internalizing a gift. I have understood the concept. The gift of the love of God has not fully internalized itself in my heart. I have made a start though. Last night we tried something as a house. We decided to try to venture into the lives of those first Christians. We started by asking ourselves: What would it look like to do church Acts style? We invited people over, shared food, had a time of teaching, lots of time of fellowship, some worship, and just a little (ha!) help from the Holy Spirit. The night was amazing. I was filled. Others were filled. Barriers were broken. Boxes were stepped out of. I didn't want it to end.
Towards the end of the night, a friend said to me: "Tony, you get to live here" with an expression of joy on her face. Grace sank in at that moment. The night kind of went by in a blur, after cooking and connecting with friends, worship, prayer, communion, and the constant and beautiful chaos of children playing everywhere. I didn't get a chance to really watch and reflect until then. I get to live here. I got to experience, first hand, the movement of the Holy Spirit in the place I live (I can't bring myself to call it 'my home' because none of this would happen if this place did not belong to God). I thought to myself, I do not deserve this. There is nothing that I have done or could have done to warrant this. The joy that comes in standing in the presence of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the same God who created the universe, is not deserved by anyone on earth. Yet, I have known that joy. I have felt that love. Grace is so much bigger than myself. I am not deep enough to hold in what has been poured onto me. I see how badly I need that grace when I realize that I cannot give God what He deserves, yet He continues to pour out.

Ekklesiah is nothing without God. Pray that we remain steadfast in our pursuit of His will and that songs of praise of His name never cease to fill our home and our hearts.

Imported Peanut Butter and other things that are hard to share.

[James] If you haven't tasted natural peanut butter before, I recommend that you do. The pure taste of peanuts without the guilt of hydrogenated oils beats out the candy tasting skippy of our youth. I discovered Adams along with a number of other healthy foods during my years in Montana. Ryan and I would buy Adams 36 oz. at a time. In order to stir this vat of sandwich spreading, banana topping, carrot dipping goodness, we would take a power drill, attach a wooden spatula to it, and mix the ingredients to perfection. After returning from Montana, I have yet to find a distributor of Adams. Recently a great friend of ours, Sarah, was in Montana visiting and as a gift to Ryan and I, she bought a jar for us and mailed it back to us in St Paul. The box arrived along with a picture she took of us mixing a jar with the power drill.

Over the course of the next few weeks the peanut butter began to be enjoyed, not only by Ryan and I, but by the community. I will never know if the roommates thoroughly savor every taste of the peanut butter goodness or not, but it was eaten. This morning, I finished off the jar and I thought about how it seemed to have disappeared before my eyes, like the years of a child growing in the midst of their parents (; And it was HARD! What were my other options? Could I have put Ryan's and my name on it?... yes. Could I have asked the roommates to buy some other peanut butters?... yes. But I, like my brothers have been challenged to let go of the things that we consider so sacred and so important to us. In the process of doing so, it hurts! But we believe that the benefits thereof are far surpassing to the personal possessions of selfish and hording mentalities. There is still a line at which we draw "mine-yours", but I feel that this line is shifting all the time towards "ours" and it is beautiful... and hard.

Another "thing" of mine that is maybe most difficult to share is my personal space, especially that of my room. I have no walls separating my room from the community space which makes for exposure to a lot of commotion. I am able to adapt quite well, I would say, to the circumstances, but there are those few times that my sleep and my need for alone time is severely jeopardized. I always try and keep an open-bed policy for my brothers. Often times when I am away my roommates and friends will sleep in my bed which I am more than happy to share the comforts of; and it is comfy, but at times it gets to be too much... crawling into an unmade bed, with sheets everywhere, pillow cases soaked in other peoples B/O, and sharing a bed with people who are "loud sleepers" is not always EASY!

I am trying to find the balance between being a humble and gracious giver with still allowing myself to be honest and true to the things that are important to me. As the line moves from "mine-yours" it will be important that I treat everyone's gifts as gifts and attempt to be a good steward of those gifts. How many times have I left my things lying in other peoples space, taken of their food without contributing whole-heartedly, and how many times have I expected that someone else would do the dishes, sweep the floor or clean the bathroom.

What would be hardest for you to share with others?
What things of others do you enjoy the use of and maybe take for granted?

Prayer for a "Homeless" Man

[Ryan Ny]
Let me start with how this whole idea came about. A few weeks ago while sitting in on the 180 service at Crossroads, Pastor James was speaking about an event coming up called 30 Hour Famine. 30 Hour Famine, as described on their website, "is an international youth movement to fight hunger. It will bring your group closer together and to God, feed hungry children, and change our world forever. Students fast for thirty hours and raise funds to help feed and care for children around the world. By sacrificing and serving others, they are learning to think outside themselves and see the world as Christ sees it"(www.30hourfamine.org).

Over the next few days my mind kept slipping back to 30 Hour Famine and I felt the LORD calling me to do something more. I felt that God wanted me to know and feel not only was it was to be hungry but also to be homeless.

So starting this week on Thursday afternoon (April 23) I will set out on this adventure and return Saturday evening. While I am homeless I will be fasting, wandering and sleeping the streets of St. Paul, playing guitar and singing to raise money to donate to 30 Hour Famine and doing whatever else I feel the LORD calling me to do while I am there.

I am writing this blog for one reason: I need prayer. Prayer for a few things. First of all that God will keep me focused on why I am there, that I will allow God to use me as the hands and feet of Jesus, for safety and perseverance and that through all this that I will not leave that same man that I started as and will be able to see the world a little more like Jesus does.

I will be keeping a journal as I embark on this adventure and I hope to possibly take pictures and video and will do my best to post it as soon as I return.

God Bless

Community Alive (the rest of my week)

[Tony]It didn’t feel right to comment only on what happened on Friday when the rest of my few days off have been equally satisfying to so much that my heart was thirsty for.
On Friday evening I had a chance to go golfing with my little brother and then have dinner with him at Champp’s in Woodbury where we both worked not long ago. It was so refreshing to be able to spend time with him without feeling that I had to rush my time with him because I had other things I had to get to. We spent hours together talking and joking and catching up on brother stuff.
I left my brother and Champp’s feeling full in my tummy and deeply happy at the day that was unfolding. When I pulled up to Ekklesiah in my car I saw a number of people outside on the sidewalk and on the porch. Then I saw a guitar. Then I saw a dgembe (I know I butchered the spelling). I parked and quickly proceeded to make myself comfortable on the porch. The next few hours was filled with worship that was loud, deep, genuine, and filled so much with the Holy Spirit it was palpable. There was prayer between brothers and sisters for one another, for the city and for our neighbors, and it was all done outside, for everyone to hear and anyone to listen and join. Our little community at Ekklesiah has grown so much! The depth of fellowship that was displayed that night could have only come as a gift from God. It is so satisfying seeing that we are growing so closely together and so closely together in God. We are learning, it seems everyday, that Christianity is meant to be done in compassionate community with others. I am so happy that we are becoming a community together that can show others what that looks like and how much joy it can bring.
On Saturday I was able to go with Ryan and Kelly Lindstedt to get a couch for their new home. This was the first time I have been to their new place (which is literally blocks from Ekklesiah. I love how God continues to infiltrate this neighborhood with his followers!). Seeing them there, together in their new home, while they worked together to unpack their things and move in, gave me a sense of awe. Their relationship together just seems so right and so God drenched. I am so happy for them (even though we miss Ryan at Ekklesiah).
Saturday afternoon Nathanial, his brother Isaac, his dad Greg, James, myself and a couple of bored kids from across the street went to the park to hit baseballs. Oh, how good that felt. There is something about running around like a little kid at the park that fills me with love of God and friends.
Nathanial, Sarah Malloy (a friend of James’ and Ryan’s from Montana) and myself went to Cossetta’s on Saturday night for a late night dinner. Enough said.
Sunday was such a day for God. The day started with 180 in the morning, learning about God and worshiping him with our joyful high school Jesus people. Then, Christi and I went out for lunch with my whole family. That was chaotic… and really wonderful. From there, Christi and I met with the Compassion, Mercy, Justice team for The Gallery and dreamed big about the outreach of The Gallery when it launches next January. After the meeting came Sanctuary and after Sanctuary came more time at Ekklesiah. This time, like many Sunday evenings, many people came from Sanctuary to the house to spend more time with each other in a place that is centered on living for God. God brings people into our home because He knows that we will see Him when we are all together there. When our community gathers like that in the home God has given to us, the Holy Spirit is heavy and alive. Nobody wanted to leave. Literally. Last night, nine people ended up sleeping at Ekklesiah. I cannot stop thanking God for the depth of love that comes out of the community He makes here. If you haven’t experienced this at our house yet, please come. We want you to know God in this way.
Today, after sleeping in for too long, I have spent most of my day here at Café Latte on Grand Ave. I spent most of my time completing my application for Bethel Seminary (finally, I am done!). Now, I look forward to another relaxed night of fellowship and God and two more days off. How wonderful God’s blessings are.
I’ m glad I had time today to write to all of our fellow Ekklesiah blog readers! May God bless you and guide you in everything you do.

Free Hugs!!

[Tony]As a result of a change in my scheduled work hours at the airport, I am now on day four of six days in a row off. For those of you who know me, you probably can imagine how badly I needed this break. Since last Thursday evening, my time off has been a blessing of God as I have been able to find deep restoration of my body and my heart.
On Thursday, while at work, my friend Nick and I watched a video on youtube.com about a guy who walked around a city holding a sign that read “Free Hugs”. The images in the video were beautiful. The implications were deep and breathed hope and love. With two words, actions were able to speak volumes of healing and love that our world thirsts desperately for from each other. Nick and I decided that this was something we needed to try. We were already advocates of free hugs there on the ramp with our co-workers (which is an interesting endeavor when you consider that there are two female rampers and thirty-some mostly homophobic manly men rampers). On Friday afternoon, Andrew Holmquist, Ryan Nyquist and myself were sitting in the living room at Ekklesiah, hanging out and enjoying our day off when the idea popped into my head. After surprisingly little deliberation, the three of us were on our way to Target for posterboard and markers. Not long after, we were walking up the steps of the capital holding “Free Hugs” signs above our heads. Ryan ran up the hill before us while Andrew and I walked up just in time to see a mass of people running down the steps to Ryan. A group of German exchange students were at the capital for a tour and as they came outside, Ryan was in prime position for an ambush an of hugs. Throughout the afternoon, the three of us walked around downtown St. Paul, loving people openly and without agenda or cost. Some people looked down and walked directly away from us. Many others hugged us as if we were close friends. Some hugged us quietly, some ran across streets and intersection screaming “I want a hug!!” The three of us split up for most of the afternoon and then reconvened at certain times to talk about what had happened. The stories were beautiful and many. It seemed like each hug was a story. We told and heard stories of words of a deep need to be loved: “so many hugs today come with a price” (how true!). We told each other about how there were certain people who you could tell just needed, I mean really needed, a hug from anybody. People wanted to take pictures everywhere. Over and over again we found that we were being asked “why are you doing this?” Our responses kind of surprised both them and us: “because you needed a hug,” “because love wins,” “because everyone needs to be loved,” “because god has loved us so that we can love each other,” “its all about Jesus,” “to do something beautiful for someone else.”
Above all, I have stories from this that I will tell for a long time. I know I will do this again. I learned that even the smallest gesture of love can be received with profound implications. I learned that so many people long to be embraced for who they are. So many people need to be loved by anybody, or maybe by everybody.

“YEARS IN THE MAKING”

[Nathanial] I would like to share about one of the largest blessings in my life right now: My job.
My title is an “Educational Partner” in the Special Ed department of Academia de Cesar Chavez. ACC is a small charter school located on the east side of St. Paul [less than 10 minutes from my residence at Ekklesiah!] It is true; I do not have a teaching license. Even more ironic; me bachelor’s degree was in music management. My job is a true sign that God has a sense of humor. He has been paving my way and preparing me for this job for YEARS through my various life experiences. Here is just a small list of the “Godincidences” [not to be mixed up with coincidences]

• I am blessed to have 18 years of experience living with a [phenomenal] brother with Asberger’s
• My first job in high school was being a Personal Care Assistant for a local boy with high-functioning Autism
• I spent three summers with elementary-aged children employed by a Park and Recreation program.
• Summer 2007 I became a PCA for adopted boys of Latino descent.
• My senior year I enrolled in a class entitled “environmental education” because it was a science course without a lab!
• I took Spanish 101 my senior year at Luther out of curiosity.
• The highlight of my internship in the corporate music world last fall was an educational program entitled “Kinder Konzerts.” This included leading a program all by myself in December!
• Finally, I never truly applied for this job position. It sort of just fell into my lap. I have Jessica Print and Bridget Bursaw to thank for the “word of mouth” hearing about this job position.

I started on January 5th of this year and haven’t looked back. I get to spend all day with kids!!! I hear laughter and see smiles that need to shine to the corners of this dark world. I am discovering amazing concepts like “paid time off” and am blessed to be provided with health insurance. I also have a deeper level of appreciation for snow days and field trips ;) I believe this job is a true testament that although I may have tried my own path for the past numerous years, God knew where my path was supposed to lead all along. All the glory is due to Him and Him alone.

But why did you lead me here God?

[James] This past fall a woman from my church community approached me with, what she felt was, a word from God. She told me that she felt that God wanted me to go to Seminary this past fall. I told her that I am hoping to eventually go but that as a youth pastor carrying large undergraduate student loan debt, there was little possibility of that being a reality. She told me that she wanted to help me in anyway possible to go. So she signed me up for the informational session in August. I attended the session, found out about the amazing Community Ministry Leadership program and so I applied and was accepted in a matter of weeks. She has been contributing every month in order for me to make my payments. Since January she had been sporadic with her assistance. When I sat down to talk with her about life and seminary, I discovered that she is being laid off and that she will no longer be able to support my endeavor at Bethel at this time...

I have not been able to pay off my last quarters bill and therefore have not yet been registered for classes yet. I attended last week, but unless I am able to register I will not be able to continue in attendance. And once I drop from the cohort I know it is not as easy as picking up next semester or in the fall, because I lose pace with my track and I lose my grant for the CML program.

I have been so busy with life these past two weeks that I have not had a chance to face the facts. If I am not able to catch up with my payments by monday... I am done. After praying with Tony last night he suggested that this might be an opportunity for our community to support me for a period of time. It is my last option to ask people for financial support, but I also feel that I need to do my part in order to stay where I feel God has called me before I throw in the towel all together...

In these times of economic stress for so many families, do you feel this is unrealistic?

"You're making me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry"

So I got angry today...but it wasn't like the turn green, rip off my shirt and smash everyone in town, but it was more just the type that you get in your head. It was the type of anger I'm sure we all have felt that ruins a great day and you get this sweet vision in your head where you "accidentally" bump someone off a cliff or something like that. Which got me thinking. When does anger turn into a sin?

Most know the passage where Jesus clears out the temple. In Matthew it says, "Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves"(Matthew 21:12). This same story is told in Mark 11:12-19 and. Luke 19:45-48. Jesus then goes on to say, "It is written, My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers"(vs 13).

Jesus got angry! But what comes next is NOT where Jesus goes off with his disciples live in their anger, but right in the next verse it says, "The blind and the lame came to Him at the temple and He healed them"(vs 14). Since Jesus, the perfect man who we are called to be like, got angry then when is it okay for us to be angry?

In Proverbs 29:11 it says, "A fool gives full vent to His anger, but a wise man keels himself under control." When does control turn to full vent? Some help could come from Ephesians 4:26-27 where Paul writes, "In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold." When, then, can I be angry without sinning?


PS- As I write this I am currently not angry, so this is not a rant.

Another incomplete thought...

[Tony]

Oh,

How my soul

Is so

Broken.

On the edge of the end of a season of death, of cold, of shadowy colors, I sit, and I wait, anxiously, for the air to warm, for the earth to thaw, for the rebirth of life and vitality. It is interesting that Jesus was born in the midst of a season of desolation and died in a season of rebirth. It seems that God performs a new creation every spring, bringing light to darkness, life to barren land, division between water and shore. Yet, I know that this cannot be true. The winter is part of creation too. Spring can only come if it is preceded by the cold winter. Creation is still alive. It builds and forms and changes because of what is happening now. I know that life can only be born out of the dead of this winter. 

I am still here.

I think of the word rebirth and immediately other words come to my mind: renovation, renewal, restoration-

Resurrection.

It seems so much easier, in the winter, to see the brokenness in the world. Maybe its because certain types of suffering and pain may become more tangible at times. Our hands get cold while we walk to our cars. No matter how hard we try,  its hard to keep our shoes clean when we walk through the streets. We know that there are people close to us who are suffering so much more than we are. We feel the cold. We can imagine what it would be like without gloves. We could feel it if we wanted to. We feel uncomfortable when brokenness looks us in the face and we recognize it in ourselves. 

God says to the animals, to the fish, to the birds, to Adam, to Eve: “Be fruitful and multiply.” 

Grow!

And so, God begins something. God creates a world that will grow, and change, and form, that can be built up, that can be torn down. I look like creation. The world was a child. I am a child. I grow. I learn. I change. And like the world, I am so broken. I am broken, and I know that my brokenness cannot fix brokenness. The brokenness in the world is my own brokenness. On my own, only winter will follow winter. The story from the fall seems to follow a pattern like this- brokenness leading to more brokenness. Then something happens. 

The Creator puts himself in the story.

In the death and desolation of the winter- in a barn, on the margins of the city, restoration is born. God becomes both author and character in the story. Jesus travels from town to town, preaching about a way of life that will transform the world. But, we are still broken- until the cross. On the cross, every brokenness, for every person, is washed away. Something else dies with Jesus. Out of death comes the possibility for life- renovation, renewal, restoration, resurrection. We are able to live a life of transformation because we have been transformed. We are creation and we have Good News. We are no longer broken. Our winter is over. Let us resurrect the world.

God, let us be your Good News to each other.

Live goldfish, piranha tank and my "bedroom"

Ryan (pup)
So you may be asking yourself, "How does a fifth guy move in to a house where there are already more guys than there are bedrooms?" The answer is that I don't really have a bedroom. Well I kind of do. It's behind a couch...on the floor. I call it more of an area than a bedroom.
Since I have moved in, I have been feeling the Lord doing a great deal of work in me; not that he wasn't before I moved in, but I have been able to focus more on Him and have been spending so much more time digging through the Word since I have been here (probably due to the lack of television). For those of you who know me, you know that karate is a big part of my life. I have been training in karate for years and for the past 2 years I have been the head instructor of a karate school in Hugo, but over the past few months the thought has been in the back of my head that the Lord has something for me that is much bigger and much more glorifying to Him than karate. I just kept shoving those thought back down and kept karate on that stand above God in my life. I had big plans for my life and I was planning on going places and wasn't about to change them.
But it was shortly after I moved in when I finally heard God say, "Time to live for Me!"
So as of April 1, I will no longer be head instructor of USA Karate Hugo and I am okay with that. When people ask what I'm going to do with my life, well I guess I don't know yet. I am constantly reminded though of Jeremiah 29:11 which states, "For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Now about the piranhas. I recently acquired a fish tank and some piranhas..three of them to be exact. Their names are Manfred, Yancey and Trevor (after Trevor Johnson). They live happily in our living room/kitchen area and I believe that they all love life. They enjoy eating (sometimes each other) and swimming and hiding in the treasure chest that they have. About the live goldfish...I'll let you figure that out :)

God Bless

The most beautiful people...

[James] ...the most beautiful people in the world are those who simply realize, and I mean deeply internalize and persistently strive to actualize, the depth of the Grace that has been bestowed upon them.

You will meet people in life, each one carries a different air about them. There are those who are bitter, those who are sour, those who are superficially happy and those who are mean. But once in a while, and study them if you do, you will meet a person, who is so consumed with the sheer revelation that they deserve absolutely nothing and yet have been given everything. These people will change the world.

A Mess and a Savior

[Tony]
Ryan Lindstedt, James, and myself spent this last weekend at Silver Birch Ranch in Wisconsin for the notorious annual high school retreat, Winter White Out. The focus of the weekend was on surrender, and in order to illustrate the idea of surrender to the high schoolers, we asked them to consider their own stories- their life stories, their pasts, their presents, their accomplishments, their defeats, and so-on. Then we provided a few stories of characters from the bible as examples of “surrender stories.” Anyway, with so much attention to the power of a story, I’d like to share one with you from this weekend. It isn’t a life story, it isn’t even really a surrender story, its kind of, well… a story.
Before our large group service on Saturday night, one of the tenth graders, who was staying in the same cabin I was in, pulled me to the side with a rather stressed look on his face. I asked him what was up- turns out, at some point in the afternoon, someone had clogged the toilet in the cabin. A few students apparently tried very hard to fix the problem themselves (probably so they wouldn’t have to tell me), however, in their attempts to make everything better, everything kept getting worse, until they stopped trying once the toilet flooded over onto the floor of the bathroom.
So, later that night, I went back to the cabin to find that the mess wasn’t actually as bad as I had pictured it, even though there was a little overflow in the floor and the toilet was still plugged. I tried for about fifteen minutes to unplug the toilet before another student came in. On the night we arrived, we were told that if there was any problems late at night, there would be a walkie-talkie available in the dining hall which we could just turn on and start talking into (and a staff person would answer back and come to our aid). So, I sucked up a little bit of pride and asked some of the guys in my cabin to go call for back-up on the walkie-talkie.
I was alone again for about ten minutes, trying to unplug our toilet, when Dave showed up. Dave was apparently the camp handyman. He was short and wiry- the kind of wiry that suggested a certain kind of raw strength that can only be built through the survival of life and its experiences. He had messy grey hair under a winter hat, and a scraggly beard that accented a face that was weathered and windblown, with deep lines around his eyes that spoke of age and hard work, but also suggested, in some way, a depth of wisdom. He wore a one-piece snow suit with a belt full of odd gadgets for fixing whatever random things high schoolers could possibly break (or clog), as they come and go in waves every weekend. His snow suit, his face, his belt, and the plunger in his hand when he walked by me made him look like a simple janitor- even though I knew that he was relied on for the maintenance of so much more every night at the camp.
He greeted me with a genuine apology, which surprised me, even before I could offer an apology of my own. “I’m sorry that the toilet is acting up on you” he said as he passed me by, on a mission for the bathroom. He walked right in with his plunger, assessed the situation and, without second thought or hesitation of the smell, or the other rather undesirable circumstances, started going to town on the toilet. After a while of working diligently on his momentary project, I noticed that he had some interesting little quirks. There was something about his personality that was comforting. He seemed to walk into our cabin screaming “Here I am. I am going to be absolutely nothing but myself. I’ll leave it up to you to decide who you are going to be.” The elements of that moment (and by elements, I also mean the elements on the floor and plugged in the toilet) didn’t seem to exist to him. It seemed to me that the only thing that mattered was that I had a mess that I couldn’t clean up by myself. All he wanted was to make things right- how they were before the mess. He breathed deeply and heavily. He walked rather quickly and deliberately, as if always pursuing something. He mumbled to himself while he worked. At one point, his nose started running, and instead of trying to hide it before I could notice, he wiped it on his sleeve and muttered “boogers, boogers, boogers…” I wasn’t quite sure if it was okay to laugh.
I realized, as I watched him work, that there was something about him that suggested a joy that was deeper than anything I have ever known in my own life. He was trying to unplug a toilet that was plugged by someone he had never met- at 11:30 at night. Yet, everything that I could perceive of him said that he was happier then than I may have ever been in my life. The only thing that could have made him happier would have been the knowledge that he was able to take this mess away so that I would not be burdened any longer with trying to fix it on my own. There was something that he had that I wanted very badly.
After about ten minutes of work, the toilet was finally unplugged. We cleaned up the floor and then, after another set of apologies (as this whole endeavor was apparently more of an inconvenience for me as it was for him…) he left again. Not a minute after he walked out, one of my resident sophomores came in.
“Did you get the toilet fixed?”
“Yeah.”
“By yourself?”
“No.”
“Oh, did Dave already come by?”
“Yeah. He just left. I’m surprised you didn’t see him.”
Then a thought came. My awareness of what might have just happened flooded my mind. I replayed the last ten minutes over and over, each time becoming more disappointed in my obliviousness to who this ‘custodian’ resembled, almost ashamed at the fact that I didn’t see it when he was right in front of me. I smiled at the student who was still standing close to me and said, “Sometimes I ask God to come into my life and I wait- I wait for some extravagant thundercloud with a booming voice like the wind, I wait for a burning pillar of fire, I wait for a burning bush, I wait for a shining, majestic, blue-eyed, fair skinned Jesus to come riding in on the clouds on a valiant white warrior horse. Then, while I’m waiting, Jesus comes into my life. He comes into my cabin, weathered, worn and determined, with a plunger in his hand. He talks to me, while he cleans up the mess I made because I tried to fix it on my own. When I come to these retreats, my desire is that every high schooler finds Jesus. Then, sometimes, I tell them, in indirect ways, how to look for burning bushes and riders on white horses coming through the clouds. I’m sorry that I haven’t been as productive in introducing you to the Jesus that I first fell in love with- the quiet, dirty, wind beaten shepherd who died so that his sheep don’t have to worry about their messes anymore. Sometimes God shows up as a voice on a mountain. Other times, God shows up as a janitor and asks you where your mess is.”

No sleep... time to blog.

[James] It has been far too long since I have last posted. And being that the number one rule to blogging is the importance of consistency, I have yet to master this art...

This morning I awoke at about 3:30am... wide awake and desperately parched. I chugged a bit of water, only to realize that my stomach wasn't feeling that hot. Maybe it was the spirit prompting me to spend some time in prayer. Maybe it was my stomach trying to digest the braut and the left over hamburger that I had around 11 before I went to bed. Either way, I am still awake and I decided to make use of the time.

Life in the house has been really good this past season. From Christmas on through the new year I have felt a great deal of joy in the house. And what might be most adding to that joy is the addition of a 5th roommate, Ryan Nyquist who was a former student of mine. As Tony calls him, "The Pup" has quickly adapted to life here in the community. He is getting his fair share of exposure to Christian living, including prayer, visiting prophets, sharing of resources and worship. He has added to our collection of gutiars and music, which is never a bad thing.

Some challenges or, I should say limitations, to living here have been consistency on my part. My life is and always seems to be full of its fair share of randomness, inconsistencies and scattered events of great value and of a horribly unplanned nature. However this makes it difficult for not only my own life as it makes it harder to create a healthy routine, but it also makes it difficult for living in community in which we would like to be doing things like community meals, times of prayer and intentional living in the community surrounding.

Today our house was filled with the incredible collection of small group leaders for the Senior High ministry. The 20+ of us filled our main floor with food, smiles and great discussion. I was reminded of how blessed we are to live in the place we do. I hope to continue being able to have gatherings such as these here in this place. And as I was leaving the gathering, I stepped out into the sun which absolutely has been lifting my soul over the past two days! As I was driving I was doing so with the window down and my face out the window trying to soak up every single second of the suns rays! So beautiful...

Well, I might try to get some more shut eye. Maybe it won't be so long before the next post.