"I am not a religious person...

...and I've come to say that neither is Jesus."

Man, I got past the first line but it didn't seem to come any easier. I was up in the lunchroom, surrounded at this point, by folks starring, laughing, some still talking, some listening. So I continued...

Religion is a set of beliefs and actions, usually containing some moral code that governs the conduct of human affairs. It's dead. It's the same 2,000 years ago as it is today, and will be 2,000 years from now.

Followers of Christ are about a relationship with the Creator of the whole universe. We are developing a friendship and unlike a set of ideas or code of conduct, it's new everyday. It's you, a living thing, relating to another living thing and as a result a relationship grows, changes and is new every day.

In the same way that y'all are relating to the folks sitting across the table, so too does Jesus want to relate to us. He's not gone you know. He died and was resurected. He's still here. He didn't go anywhere. And his Spirit is in the room right now. He's sitting at that table, standing right there. The Holy Spirit is here and Kingdom of God is near.

I went on to describe how the world's a mess and what the Kingdom of God looks like. I must say it was rough. While I speaking this big guy stands up and walks over near me. He just stands there starring me down while I kept going. When I finished he approached us as we took a breather.

"Hey, that took real guts what y'all did. God Bless." I didn't quite know what to say, but thanks and we later spoke for a few minutes. Nick got his email. A high schooler who had been in ear shot came up and thanked us, and a campus minister had been in one of the offices and came out to listen. Both appreciated what we said and gave us encouragement. It was a great blessing, while in the midst some folks had laughed, but no one got up and opposed us. Afterwards a few folks had clapped. Others said, "What?! Are they clapping because they liked it or because he's done." It was probably a little of both.

The Lord is moving here at IUPUI, and our conversations are really fruitful. The topic of this talk had been 'I'm not religious' because we had been hearing a whole ton of folks use that. It would kill conversation and often became an excuse. Keep praying for Indy, and for all the folks on the front lines, as God continues to reveal his purpose to us all and calls us on to build His Kingdom.

For the Revolution,
Rus

Cafeteria Preaching

When I think of open-air preaching, or modern-day wandering preachers images of Brother Jed trying to scandalize students into repentance race through my mind. This last week we cafeteria-preached, or rather Nick preached and Jon and I were there, but this is something we all plan on doing more of in the future.

"Hey! Everyone, excuse me. Yes, just a second...What would it look like for the Kingdom of God to break out on campus..." 150 students fell silent, momentarily jarred, "Could it look like folks healing each other, setting each other free of the things that hold us back; depression, loneliness, sickness? Could it look like folks getting together to change society, here at IUPUI, Indy, the world? Could it look like folks having so much fun that at the end of the day no one wants to leave campus?" We continued only for a brief 5 minutes.

This wasn't street preaching or at least not the stuff folks had heard in public-preaching before. Most folks said, "that took guts" and one guy said he was interested and that he knew a lot folks who would be too, we also met with a lot of opposition. Most folks have said that faith is not something people talk about. It makes people uncomfortable to talk about. So, we're proclaiming it into the public world by preaching to crowds, small groups and individuals and starting conversations in small groups or individuals, like "do you think God talks to us today like He did in the days of Israel?" to get a public dialogue started and maintain it.

This will look different than any public-preaching I've ever seen/heard of. We want to not only do crowd preaching, but also sit down at tables and just start conversations, which a lot of folks have been really open to. Then it's not just some guy who clearly has no idea what I'm about, trying to tell me what to do, but "oh, that's Jon. I spoke with him the other day. We talked about what it's like to be at IUPUI and had that thought-provoking conversation about..." Meanwhile, folks start to trust us as they get to know us and see us on campus more and more. And as we've seen, not everyone is going to agree with us but there will be a greater amount of trust, respect and in this, chance to build a people.

Please pray for IUPUI, the students we talk with, that God's Kingdom break out and that His Will be done.

Missionary Work

So, this is Nick John and I, we're missionaries with the People of Praise to the Mississippi River Valley. We live for what God is doing in the Valley, and are working to establish cities up and down the river where real community happens in Christ.

Much of our work consists of talking, spreading the Good News and fellowshipping. Here we take a quick lunch break on the trunk of our dependable little car between that morning's talking and the afternoon talking. We were knocking on doors all that day looking for where and to whom God was calling us in Indianapolis.

This has been a great deal of fun, as a lot of our conversations are just getting to know folks, and preaching the Word. This is honestly like nothing I've ever done. In college I was a political organizer working on a variety of different issues that required a lot of street canvassing, you know the folks with clipboards that try to get you sign a petition or register you to vote. However, it's entirely different, because in that setting everyone becomes a number. You can only spend a few minutes with folks because you need to get a lot of numbers. And while informing folks about their society is good, this also happens in preaching and sharing God's Word plus you are looking to build lasting friendships.

As missionaries with the People of Praise we want build Christ-centered communities. That requires a whole ton of relating, and growing in friendship both with folks and the Lord. Way different than numbers and politicking.

Walking to arborietum

February Vine & Branches

Sean Connelly recently posted this to a missionary forum some of us are using to discuss work in the newly formed Missionary Company of the People of Praise. He has put together an electronic copy so y'all can check it from where ever.

Vine & Branches

How the Lord Spared My Life By: Mary Carolyn Gaffney

I got this in an email the other day and Mary gave me permission to share it with all of you. Mary Gaffney is a member of the Dinkytown women's house at the University of Minnesota.

Letter from Mary Gaffney

The Triangle

Welcome to Indianapolis. This is Monument Circle in the very center of downtown Indy. The city was planned out, rather than additions being made where ever as the city grew. It's laid out in a bicycle wheel pattern with this roundabout in the middle and a north, south, east and west street that radiate from it.

We're currently staying in Fishers, a town to the NE of Indy where a good chunck of the branch lives, with the Porters as mentioned earlier. The Porters of have exceedingly hospitable feeding us, putting us up, and making us a part of their life. We start each morning with the family at the breakfast table, after our PT, with morning prayer before folks are off to work, or school or citybuilding.

Paul Kane, a real estate broker from Northern Virginia branch, has been in town recently helping us get a clearer picture of the housing market. Not a half hour after Paul got off the plane, we were in our target neighborhood doing some scouting when Paul says, "I wonder what their doing with that land," refering to a large patch of cleared land. He whips out his phone and dials a number. Mind you Paul has never been in Indy before, but in about 20 minutes we've got a meeting with one of the brokers who worked on the sale of the cleared lots. It was amazing.

God has been moving here in Indy. We've been rejected and welcomed, in different parts of the city, but in all of it He has been showing us what He is doing. Praise God.