Checks and Balances or Just Gridlock?

I don't know how you're feeling about last night's election results, but it's definitely a change.   Just as it was two years ago.  Let's pray that the next two years aren't like the last two.  Let's hope that the division of power in Congress next year will force both sides to work together for positive change.  That certainly seems to have been the intent of the founders of our Constitution.  Checks and balance among the three branches of government that would provoke vigorous debate and eventual compromises for the greater good of the country.

Perhaps one of the saving graces is that all three groups - Republicans, Democrats and the members of the Tea Party experienced some losses that, hopefully, will produce a certain measure of humility and a deeper sense of purpose.  That all of them will realize just how tenuous our future is if we continue believing that the enemy is each other.  As the apostle Paul reminds us, our struggle is not against flesh and blood (each other), but against powers and principalities and the spiritual forces of evil.  Powers and principalities of our own construction and control and spiritual forces of evil that can reside in any human institution, even an American one.

A large portion of the populace can't afford the luxuries of political theater.  They can't afford to travel cross-country to rallies.  They can hardly afford to drive across town to work.  They don't have the disposable income to make large campaign contributions. They struggle to contribute to their own survival.  One of the strengths of any democracy is empowering those that have no power or voice.  Now that the results are in, it's time for all of us to come together and work through our differences.  The challenges of the future are great and the potential for gridlock is even greater.  Finding common ground and working for the greater good will be the greatest challenges of all. God help us all.

Stand Up and Be Counted

It's tough to take the time to vote today (unless you were disciplined enough to vote early).  Whether you are a Republican or Democrat, it's tough to make the effort to vote when the media is constantly telling us the result is already determined.  If you're like me, you're ready for all the political mania to end so our leaders can stop slinging mud and start working together to address a crisis that's not going away any time soon. Pundits have talked about "voter fatigue," or the discouragement that will keep people from exercising their constitutional right to vote.  That may be so.  VOTE ANYWAY.

Vote because, despite all the weariness from this volatile political season, your vote counts.  In a culture often driven by the other "golden rule" - those that have the gold make the rules, voting is one of the few places where the field is anywhere close to being level.  And in low-income neighborhoods, it is one of the very few political options.  I learned long ago in Chicago, that when you called a politician's office the likelihood that your call would be returned or your voice heard was based on the voting record in your district.  That's why we need to do a better job of registering voters and getting out the vote in those neighborhoods.  I'm certainly committed to doing that in the years to come.

Meanwhile, don't let the fatigue from all the nonsense deter you from exercising your right to vote.  Stand up and be counted...VOTE.

Living for the City

For almost three years now I've been working as the founder and Executive Director of Urban Connection Austin.  After 33 years in professional church ministry, my career was abruptly ended and I began looking for a new and more effective way to serve in Austin. And I found it, with the support of a good friend and mentor, Larry James, CEO of Central Dallas Ministries (now City Square). Together with his staff, we embarked on a journey to replicate the values, service, and success of CDM in Austin, just as they had done with Urban Connection - San Antonio ten years earlier.

You might think that launching this blog after only two years in this job seems a bit presumptuous, but the reality is that I've worked in some form of community development for several decades, beginning in Detroit (where I was born and raised), then for 12 years in Chicago, 8 years in San Antonio, and over 10 years in Austin. (As you can see, I'm clearly a "city kid.") During that time I served as the Chair of the Illinois Guardianship and Advocacy Commission of South Cook County, Vice President of the board of the Family Services and Mental Health Center of the South Suburbs (Chicago), Vice President of the board of San Antonio Metropolitan Ministries, and one of the founding pastors of Micah 6 in Austin.  During that time I've had the privilege of serving with and for some pretty amazing people, but especially these last two years in Austin.

I've called this blog, "Living for the City" after a popular song Stevie Wonder (a fellow Detroit native) wrote about those that struggle to live "just enough for the city." It is as relevant today as it was then.  I have another blog that I started over two years ago ago called Urban Connection Austin which we will continue, posting events and activities on at least a weekly basis.  However, this blog will be more personal, reflecting on the lessons I've learned and continue to learn "living for the city."  Along the way, I hope to share stories of people, created in the image of God, that are struggling, sometimes succeeding and often not, to survive in an economic system that punishes the poor.  And I will share the changes in my own perspective that are often the result of unearthing my prejudices and presumptions about my new neighbors.  Please join me on this journey, learning from my mistakes and, hopefully, being inspired to make a connection with those that are often forgotten or purposely ignored in our society.  I would certainly enjoy your company and appreciate your comments.

Pray for the City

"Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I've carried you into exile.  Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, so will you."  

(Jeremiah 29:7)

This has always impressed me as a rather amazing request of God's people.  To ask those that have been forcibly removed from their surroundings and culture and dropped into a completely foreign, and often hostile, culture to pray for the peace and prosperity of that culture without changing or controlling it seems counter intuitive. But that's precisely God's request.  And the prayer is unconditional.  God asked them to pray for the city's prosperity and peace because they would share in it.  In other words, they were to desire for their neighbors what they desired for themselves.  


It makes me wonder what it would be like if more Christians prayed for others as people rather than as prospects.  What if we shared God's love with people the way the sower in Jesus' story indiscriminately cast his seed (Matthew 13)?  It seems to me that conversion as the goal has a way of short-circuiting relationships to move directly to the "return on investment" - conversion.  Which may explain why most organizations that serve people in need have such strict prohibitions against proselytizing (conversion).  It may also explain why the New Testament, although it talks a lot about conversions doesn't make it our primary responsibility (we are witnesses - Acts 1:8).  When conversion is the only goal, motivation can too easily become manipulation and, as a result, relationships (people) suffer.  People soon figure out that they are just prospects and feel cheated. Sincere Christians often discover the same thing and feel cheap.


God's love is most effective when it is shared indiscriminately and lavishly.  God is teaching us to love people, not to conquer them.  And if we believe that God offers us the best way to live, that should be obvious to all that seek a better way of life without deploying a clever strategy to convert them.  Jesus' strategy was his way of life and it was quite simple - love everyone and speak the truth, or as the apostle Paul once said, "speak the truth in love" (Eph. 4:15).  That all begins when we pray for the peace and prosperity of others.  And when we get specific (naming names), we will learn to genuinely care for those around us.  Before you know it, we will find ourselves loving them and acting for their good.  That's when you know it's truly God's kingdom (agenda) and power (Holy Spirit) and glory. As someone wisely observed, "Before you can speak about God to others, you need to speak to God about them."  Try it this week and let me know what you discover.