5.16.2020 - week 55
on who to help
so then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
galations 6:10
i don’t know about you, but in a normal season (let alone this crazy time in our world), there is seemingly endless need everywhere i look. people in pain, people trying people down and out, homeless people everywhere we go … so so many needs. it can become overwhelming and produce ‘compassion fatigue’ which is described as an increasing indifference to needs because over an overabundance of awareness of such needs.
so we must develop a bit of a plan for how we will decide who/what we will help. the verse quoted above is one clue. my best application of the many biblical texts on money and giving is that our first responsibility is to our church, the second to our christian brothers and sisters, third to our community at large, and then to the world around us.
i have an opportunity i’m hoping you will help me with. i have never used the newsletter for this before and have no plans to do it again, but i feel a passion about this that is larger than my insecurity in asking.
this past saturday, i spent the day w my friend adam serving pastors in ensenada, mexico. we are collaborating to try and help their congregations practically during this difficult time. there is very little work and many hungry people in these 10 small neighborhood churches of 50-100 people. these pastors (whom adam has longstanding relationships with) have developed some ingenius strategies for buying directly from overstocked restaurant suppliers. they are feeding families for $25 dollars a week. many of these are folks who have never been in need before, but got kicked in the teeth by the economic realities of the COVID-19 shutdowns.
you can help. we re-purposed some really nice t-shirts we had made for an outreach project that wasn’t been able to yet this spring. every t-shirt bought, a family is able to eat for a week. if you want to skip that and donate directly, you can send to me on venmo (@Luke-Macdonald) or cashapp ($iamlukemacdonald ) or paypal/zelle (lmacdonald56@gmail.com).
you + i can’t do much about most of what we see wrong in the world out there,
but we can do something about this. only heaven knows, how encouraged i and they would be by your support.
KG Korner
(a few wise words from lady kristen macdonald)
This week marks a year since we moved out of our home in Illinois. It was a great family house that we used to entertain a lot and we had great neighbors. It was a place where our boys could be boys, space to run and play. We spent six years trying to improve it and make it our own even though in most ways it was a “cookie cutter” house in a suburban neighborhood, but it was home to us. We sold that home not knowing exactly where we were headed, #leapoffaith. We had two job opportunities the day we moved but until we gained full clarity we stayed with family.
Within two weeks of the sale, we had accepted our assignment at our new church here in California and began looking for a home. It was a hard decision but we prayed A LOT and looked at over thirty homes in many different areas to try to find the best fit. By the time we got here and moved in we were so thrilled to call this new place home. So many details had to all fall into place for it to come together and let’s just say God came through!! There’s a lot about our home here that’s great but I think through this quarantine we can all relate that no matter where you live you can list the pros and cons. On my not so great days I have forgotten that this “answer to prayer of a home” could be a list of frustrations rather than lead me to an attitude of gratitude.
This last week I came across this verse in Luke 16:10, it says, “One who is faithful in very little is also faithful in much,” and after reading it came a great dose of conviction. The conviction of sin in my heart that knew yuckiness was growing there but it was under the surface. The full blown prickly weed hadn’t made its appearance yet. You see my frustrations with the once ‘answered prayer house’ have turned to ungratefulness that snowballs quickly. Some days it has quickly lead to laziness, that little voice saying, “Don’t clean up, no one will ever see it… we are in quarantine after all!” Or the other little voice that says, “Why bother cleaning the floor if these crazy boys are just going to get it dirty again?” Or the other one that says, “Even if you don’t get all the laundry done, it doesn’t matter because the pile has already started for next week!”
Guess where these little voices lead me … not toward faithfulness but away from it.
And yet as this verse pinched my heart this week I recognized that my faithfulness in the home matters to God. Yes, it probably is accurate to say no one is going to come over and see it but God does. And more importantly He sees my heart in regard to the cleaning, the laundry and the meals. He doesn’t expect perfection out of me, he knows that I am going to miss the mark but I believe that my day in and day out faithfulness leads to either more faithfulness or less.
I share that story of a year ago as I have reflected this week because it reminds me of one of my favorite character traits of God: his faithfulness. And when I feel doubtful or unsure I can point to so many specific situations that reveal his consistency in that trait leading me to trust him. And I think so many of us want to be known as faithful but if we miss the mark consistently in the little things, I think we ultimately are missing the big thing.
Last thing on my heart, what the enemy wants you and I to believe is that if we have failed in faithfulness this quarantine in _________ that we will never take ground again. And the truth is with God we can start today, we can repent and move in a much better direction. I believe the littlest steps of faithfulness that you take today will bless who you want to be in the future. Join me, I’m marching forward because I know even what only He sees matters.
cup of leadership
it’s a sad truth ... but this old lyric rings true. we are at better at memorializing than reconciling. more likely to eulogize than empathize. prone to grab the easy social credit when there is no longer any risk of social stigma.
sadly, we christians have lots of room to grow ... we so aggressively moralize our rightness that we often have no choice but to signal our virtue by pretending the person that’s ‘sick’ (whether fairly or unfairly, whether circumstance or sin) doesn’t exist anymore. if you would be sad they are gone, probably worth sorting things out this side of heaven.
(also because i’m me, i tripped and spilled the coffee that was in this cup and simultaneously pinched my pinky finger in the tripod i was holding. that somehow got blood on the cup. too metaphorically rich not to use :) #thisisgoodnews#cupofleadership
book review
a high-minded combination of historical biography + spiritual memoir, smith effectively brings augustine’s timeless theology to the 21st century reader. he draws insight from all across popular culture and philosophy. this is a great book for someone intellectually restless or frustrated with the simplicity of most christian content. it’s beautifully written and unfolds christian doctrine that will help you.
content this week
if you need some encouragement, my wednesday night sermon (along w worship + prayer) are on youtube. the message was titled, ‘everyday is a waiting day’
the mac pack wack world of sports (my 3 elementary school sons sports show) is BACK with episode 6: a ranking of the top 10 kids sports shows of all-time + chicago bears draft opinions.
(they really want to get 100 views on this one, so click away)
verse of the week
the lord is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul who seeks him.
it is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the lord.
lamentations 3:25
pieces of good news I saw this week
1. tauren wells has a MONSTER song on the new elevation worship album .. this video (and the little bit of associated teaching) has been on repeat in our house this wee
2. this church via zoom video from saturday night live REALLY made me laugh.