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2012 CCDA National Conference

Written by nate

The Ripple Effect of Love and Entrepreneurship

Written by nate

This is a clip from Alfa Demmellash’s talk entitled “The Ripple Effect of Love and Entrepreneurship” given at the 2010 Entrepreneurship Initiative (Ei) Forum. The Ei Forum is the foremost gathering of investors and entrepreneurs committed to building a movement of innovative, gospel-centered, culture-renewing institutions and ventures. For more information about the Ei Forum, visit: faithandwork.org/eiforum

Kingdom of Risk

Written by nate

I wrestle daily with what it means to fully give myself to the way of Jesus, and what that looks like as a family. God has called us to learn beside our neighbors, and that seems to require some risk of relationships. I remember the day we packed up to move to inner city Atlanta from Grand Rapids, Michigan. The reality of that moment was both joyful and painful as we left neighbors and extended family who were close to our hearts. Our community risked their love on us, and the chance they took marked the way we hope to love others. When we arrived to “the united states of Atlanta,” we joined into a beautiful community of homegrown neighbors who have lived here for decades. Our neighborhood was founded in the late 1800s for freed slaves in Georgia, and this place we love is now home.

We moved into a great family home that had gone into foreclosure, and began to set down our roots. The Spirit led us to a tough street that allowed us to step into a movement of God already in motion. Here we met neighbors like Miss Annie, who passed away this summer. She endeared us through her willingness to reach out and risk her love on us-like the time she sent over baby gifts when our son was born. In remembrance of Miss Annie, neighbors recently gathered in a circle during a community prayer walk to honor her life. She loved our children, and we loved her.

Now is the moment to really go for it-I’m convinced that risking love is critical in today’s global climate, and that risk is linked to establishing the new diverse family Jesus came to establish. It is time to dream new dreams, and step up to the risk, now. History precedes us and tomorrow is upon us, and risk, especially Kingdom risk, will shape the future.

Jesus came to us, became flesh and blood like us, as a child growing up among us, befriending us, risking with us and for us, joining us in our poverty. Jesus embodies risk. Risk is a good thing when measured in prayerful discernment, and risk triumphs over folly when wisdom guides our action. Risk may mean danger, and danger can be safer than never risking at all, especially when discerned and lived in community.

We serve a boundless God who has always called people to make high-risk decisions under seemingly daunting circumstances. The author of Hebrews wrote, “Abraham obeyed and went, even though he did not know where we was going.” For thousands of years, followers of YAHWEH remained a remnant of risk takers, and the practice continues today.

Even when rest and Sabbath is a priority, stress is a normal part of following Jesus. Who told me that God is safe and balanced? Could faith equal risk? No doubt. And it seems that walking humbly with our God is a process of risking love for others. To love my neighbor, I must share my life with vulnerability. And as I learn to enter my neighbor’s story, I receive an open exchange of risk and learning, my narrative with his. We love out of risk and we risk out of love-for each other.

In today’s economy, the cost of love is Kingdom collateral with a high return on investment. Becoming a diverse community of faith is a dangerous yet joy-filled life never to be traded once experienced. Risk isn’t unique or heroic, but it does require intentionality. Risk extends a hand, evaluates value and explores the future potential of a community. Risk leads to an unexpected creative process, where we develop new friendships and discover new dreams. Risk jumps into the mix, launching a vision planned for and prayed about. Healthy risk cares first about the other, putting the neighborhood interests above its own, in the tradition of Jesus.

In God’s Kingdom, risk and vocation work together, searching for places where God-given talents find expression in the love of neighbor. Exploring the frontiers of new relationships, especially across the chasms of class and culture, is an essential priority if the great Command is to be realized. In this era of history the neighborhood with its diversity is becoming a central place for life and faith. It is the intersection where the Western church can join our global brothers and sisters as a community of risk takers.

“Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus’ sake, which makes Jesus’ life all the more evident in us.” II Cor 4:11 (The Message)

It’s a beautiful thing.

Written by nate

“From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth.” -Psalm 50:2

Colin Powell recently said on CNN, “We must stop the bleeding in Haiti and bring immediate relief to the region, but who is going to invest into and develop Haiti over the course of our lifetime?” But whether suburban, rural or city, U.S. or Haiti, the urgent need for Christian community development is core to being the church in a desperate world over a long haul.

Here in Atlanta, carte blanche zoning permissions have allowed many industrial businesses to congregate in our inner-city neighborhood over the years. As we steward our homes and lives, somehow the collective side effect of our personal recycling still means that citywide recyclables and trash end up in our little neighborhood of 531 homes. Among many businesses, we have two recycling plants. And, in an adjacent community just beyond a U.S Penitentiary, is a giant city landfill. The largest impound towing yards are here, too. (Just catch a taxi to my house if your car gets towed in Atlanta. We’ll grab a Coke and I’ll walk you to your car!) For many complicated reasons, some people seem to think that our beautiful, historic neighborhood is a dumping ground as the marginalized carry the brunt of our waste. As trucks zoom past bus stops and children walk the streets, human health and quality of life remain at stake, affecting our environmental and spiritual sustainability.

However, in the midst of global crises and the pain of broken systems, there is a joy-filled, more hopeful picture that the Spirit is painting. Sometimes those who visit our neighborhood, or even those of us who live here, have a similar muddled perspective about our community. We speak about all of the broken pieces we see—the crime, the trash, the neglect. The temptation is to view our community only through a lens of challenge. To be real, we speak the truth about the hard knocks our community endures. But to keep it real, we must speak the truth about the beauty and wonder of our community. God’s beautiful plan is still in process. Student leaders are rising up, the church is alive, foreclosed homes are being restored, seniors are sharing their wisdom, artists are creating and new visions are in the pipeline.

In the likeness of Jesus–Immanuel, God with us–we are called to join with those who are at the fringe of society. I am learning that Christ is inviting us into a way of life, saying, “Follow Me.” The convenient, optional buffets of our 21st century volunteerism are dangerous grounds. Church is a movement of relationships, where carrying the name of Jesus means living and working with a tenacious hope in the face of strife and struggle.

And in our brokenness, as God changes us, we’re learning that beauty stands out when we honor the dignity of all people. We experience the beauty of God in the context of mutual relationships, and by celebrating the image of God we find in each other. Beauty is external in things we can see with our physical eyes, but it is also found where we can only see through the eyes of our hearts, where we can see that God is still on the move in our streets, around our dinner tables and front porches.

Somehow the struggle is a catalyst to reveal and refine the beauty that already surrounds us. Some of my mistreated, dismissed neighbors are the friends teaching me most about life and generosity, faith and forgiveness. In this way, whether in South Atlanta or Haiti, Detroit or Chile, the Spirit is regenerating life in small places, in hidden, devastated corners of our global cities. And so we press on.

It’s a beautiful thing.

“…to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair…. They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.” Isaiah 61

Questions for Dialogue

Where does beauty come from? Where do you find beauty? How do you define beauty? How does God define beauty? What challenges are you facing that might call for a lens of beauty in the struggle? What am I learning from those facing struggles different than my own? What is the relationship between beauty and the dignity of all people?

©2008 Christy Norwood Photography