Inside Out People

Well, it’s about that time again: time to pick a new president. Love it, hate it, couldn’t care less about it, it’s here.

If you’ve turned on your television at all during the past two weeks it’s likely you’ve seen representatives of each of the two political parties bad-mouthing each other’s candidates: he’s too old, he’s too young, he doesn’t get it, he doesn’t have what it takes, and on and on it goes, back and forth.

Of course, it has been a wild ride,

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Nearly a year and a half ago I started my job as a caseworker with refugees from Cuba. Today is my last day.

I knew this day, August 22, was coming for quite a while, and at times it seemed like it couldn’t get here soon enough. But here it is, and yes, it has snuck up on me.

This afternoon after hauling a desk/cabinet/shelf/monstrosity from one house to another, and after dropping off a couple of food baskets for recently arrived clients, I’ll come back to the office(…)

This week I had a small epiphany. Amidst the craziness of trying to keep dozens of refugees alive and happy and under control (with my two coworkers temporarily in Africa and South America, respectively), something set in that I normally don’t experience a whole lot of: stress. Bona fide stress. I’d been coming into work early, leaving work late, and waking up in the middle of the night wondering if so-and-so’s rent had been paid. Increasingly, the thought of my upcoming trip to Costa Rica and then, this fall, returning to school and leaving my job behind began to seem(…)

So I was at the clothing bank this morning, waiting in the fluorescent-lit, plywood-walled hallway as some of our newly arrived refugees filled trash bags with a hodge-podge of hand-me-downs. I had taken along a book to read, as is my custom - this time the brand new miscellany by Frederick Buechner. I found it hard to focus on the book, however - as engaging as Buechner’s writing always is - because down the hallway was a single mother with two children, both of them vying for her attention, both of them picking fights with each other.

“Mommy, he poked me in the(…)

“I stood there holding my gun and felt special because I was part of something that took me seriously and I was not running from anyone anymore.”These are the words of Ishmael Beah from his book A Long Way Gone, in which he tells his story from his days as a child soldier in the army of Sierra Leone, which he was(…)

I get to have conversations about God a lot in my life.  When I meet people, they usually find out that I am a pastor, and they either totally avoid the subject of God or they pour out their questions they have always wanted to ask.  Many times I am as deeply affected by the conversations as the other person is, and some of those conversations stick in my mind.  There is one of those conversations from at least 3 years ago that hangs out in my memory and won’t go away.  As I was reading John 17.6-8 my mind(…)

I’m currently reading three books. First, Being White, which explores ethnicity and the implications for those of us who, for better or worse (but not by chance), are white North Americans. Second, The Heart of Racial Justice, which as the subtitle suggests, is about “how soul change leads to social change”. Finally, I’m also reading Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee, the heart-breaking account of unspeakable brutality against the Native American peoples at the hands of our European forefathers upon arrival in the New World.

Even as a white guy who has spent a great deal of time in multi-ethnic(…)

I sit here in Costa Rica this morning, sent by Calvary Church to check out and make preparations for a summer mission project that we will be leading in August. It is very beautiful and the birds singing out their worship to their creator is inspiring. This is only a short trip, for on Wednesday I return to Calvary.

I want to focus our attention on a little bit longer journey that each of us are on. To do this I turn to one of the most intimate passages in Scripture. (…)

This Saturday a bunch of us are going to be heading downtown to the Water Street Rescue Mission for FLOWING, a morning of community service - both in the sense that we will be serving the community of Lancaster and in the sense that we will be serving in community with each other. We’re really excited about it.

We plan to spend a few hours serving breakfast to residents at the mission, sorting donations in their warehouse, and spreading out around the mission grounds and into the surrounding neighborhood, picking up trash. If you’re in town Saturday morning, look for(…)

One of the exciting features of Inside Out People will be the ongoing guest blogger posts, from various men and women who will encourage and challenge us as we seek to live out the change within. These generous individuals will come in all shapes and sizes and will lovingly push us beyond our natural comfort zones.

Our first guest blogger will be Margaret Feinberg, a nationally known speaker and author. She has spoken at many churches throughout the nation, as well as conferences such as Fusion, Catalyst, and LeadNow.

Recently named by Charisma magazine one of(…)