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One night a year or so ago, I was at my church, getting things out of the kitchen for street outreach, and half-listening to the mostly incoherent mutterings of my friend, Al — a homeless schizophrenic. His face this night was wrinkled and troubled, his thoughts jumbled, his eyes unfocused. I finished up what I was doing, told Al I’d see him later, and then headed for the door.  I wasn’t even sure he knew I was there. But then, his voice stopped me:

Read more on Down by the riverside…

I wrote about the guys on the block (and more) for the News & Record: “When there’s nowhere to go,” by Michele Forrest; published Sunday, Nov. 1, 2009.  It’s online here, and reposted below:

On the block. Image credit: Michele Forrest / ChosenFast.com

My ministry partner, Audrie Keen, and I provide a street outreach to the homeless in Greensboro, and we’ve made a lot of friends along the way. We eat together, go to church together and have cookouts. Sometimes our homeless friends stay with us. We visit formerly homeless friends in their homes.

When we say “homeless friends,” we really mean friends.

Two Friday mornings ago, we visited “The Block” at Lee and South Eugene streets. It had been 11 days since my last visit, when we’d talked about the artistic bench installed, then removed, from along the new stretch of the Downtown Greenway in that area. Neighbors said the bench attracted drug addicts and prostitutes.

The guys on The Block dismissed that notion. One said: “The problem is not as serious as they say it is on the news. And the bench has nothing to do with it.”

Read more on When there’s nowhere to go…

I’ve been studying what the Bible has to say about caring for the poor, the hungry, the homeless, and the hurting. I came across a really thought-provoking article on the internet:

Read more on Pearls and Pigs…

From Jon Acuff:

Booty, God, Booty.

The archives don’t go back far enough, but I think that this is exactly the kind of idea that Billy Graham launched his ministry with when he was coming up. It makes sense too because Christians really like “Booty, God, Booty.”

Read more on Booty, God, Booty…

image credit: Bettina

According to tradition, this is how an Eskimo hunter kills a wolf.

First, the Eskimo coats his knife blade with animal blood and allows it to freeze. He then adds layer after layer of blood until the blade is completely concealed by the frozen blood.

Read more on Licking the knife…

24-7 Greensboro: A week of non-stop creative prayer in and for the city of Greensboro.

November 1st-8th, 2009  at 853 S. Elm Street (Spring Garden Community Church).

» Much more at the 24-7 Greensboro blog.

Read more on 24-7 Greensboro…

I’m not into politics and campaigning, but…

About a month ago, I went to a fish fry at Ben Holder’s house. Ben is running for Greensboro City Council in District 1. I didn’t go for the politics, or for the fish. I mostly just wanted to see Cameron and Graham — Ben’s kids. I love them and I hadn’t seen them in a while. But when I got there, I got a surprise: Ben had met a homeless guy I know, David, who was flying a sign in Glenwood, and Ben had invited him to come and eat.

Read more on Ben Holder gives homeless man the shirt off his back (almost)…

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Lord, Save Us From Your Followers

Why is the Gospel of Love Dividing America?

If you were to meet ten average Americans on the street, nine of them would say they believe in God. So why is the Gospel of Love dividing America?

Read more on Lord Save Us From Your Followers…

Who told you that you were naked? (Gen. 3:11)

You are not. (Isa. 61:10)

Must read: #512. Thinking you’re naked at Stuff Christians Like

Seven months of the year have 31 days — January, March, May, July, August, October, and December.  The book of Proverbs has 31 chapters.  Read a chapter a day and see how your life changes.  Why read Proverbs?

Read more on One a day can change your life…

A local blogger who likes to send me links to often unflattering articles about homeless or poor people emailed me this today:

Recently Michelle Obama went to serve food to the homeless at a government funded soup kitchen .

Read more on Making assumptions: Michelle Obama, a soup kitchen and a guy with a BlackBerry…

Federal marshals will protect abortion providers in the wake of the shooting death of an abortion doc Sunday. 8 abortion providers have been killed in the U.S. since 1977. 45 million babies have been killed in abortions in the U.S. since 1977.

Read more on Abortion & Justice: Murder is Murder…