Category: MY MISSION

When I survived a divorce, a broken neck (with titanium rods, plates, and screws to prove it), and a bone marrow transplant for cancer all in the same year; I pretty much figured the Lord, who I knew still loved me, had no further use for me in his service. I expected either to go be with him soon or be “on the shelf” while waiting to go. It shocked me when I began to gradually feel an inkling toward returning to a life of service. That inkling increased, and incrementally morphed into a burden and passion to live that simple life of service in San Francisco. (That, by the way, is one of my mantras, “… to live a simple single life of service.”) So in May 2011 I moved to an apartment in the city on the edge of the Mission District in the midst of three primary cultures: Latino, Gay, and Hipster. I love them all and seek friends among them. Speaking of making “friends,” another of my mantras is that I’m here “making friends with God.” You get the double connotation I’m sure – I’m pursuing an intimate friendship with God, and then along with him, I proceed to make other friends for me and for him (for us)!

My collaborative friendship mission takes place in several neighborhoods in the city. Down the street from my apartment are a few places I go from time to time with my guitar to sing worship songs – Dolores Park (where hundreds of hipster types gather on sunny days), the BART station on Mission Street (a hang out for addicts and their dealers), and at a nearby church-run food distribution ministry. There are two other neighborhoods where I love doing practical service and making friends – the Tenderloin and Haight-Ashbury. I’ve been associated with a ministry in the “TL” for many years. We worship, preach, and distribute lunch and clothes in an urban “park” where lots of users and abusers hang out. We have lots of friends and acquaintances there, many of whom are getting to know Jesus in a better way. I also help in a couple of “show and tell” ministries (where we show God’s love and tell them how to access it) in the Haight-Ashbury. The “Haight” is still – after almost half a century – a gathering place for “travellers” (who hop trains, hitchhike, and camp all over the country). There are literally hundreds of users and sellers and people who just can’t live indoors, camping in Golden Gate Park. There’s a small group of us who bring pizza and coffee, and share Jesus there. There’s another group of young dreadlocked passionate Jesus people, who came to SF to serve the Lord, with whom I go to “Hippie Hill” in GG Park, make pancakes on a camp stove every Monday morning, and sit on the ground and eat with the friends we make there. I love it!

I speak in churches in the area and in recovery ministries like Teen Challenge and City Team, have opportunities for playing a mentoring role in the lives of some young Jesus followers and also a few pastors. What I do is not so much a “ministry” as it is a life of service. I played the church-planting and pastoring role (for 30 years), but now I get to simply serve people, share Jesus’ love with them, and make friends with God.

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Saving Starfish

You’ve probably heard the story by Loren Eiseley about the guy who saw a young man picking up starfish and throwing them into the ocean. "Good morning!” he said to him, “May I ask what it is that you are doing?" The young man paused, looked up, and replied "Throwing starfish into the ocean." When …

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Friendship at the Margins

I heartily recommend a book by Christopher Heuertz and Christine D. Pohl called, Friendship at the Margins: Discovering Mutuality in Service and Mission (Resources for Reconciliation)  One of my least resistible inclinations these days is to befriend people on the margins. It’s something I get to spend more of my time doing than ever before …

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Jesus Saves!

I have told precious few stories about the people in the street ministries I’m involved with or asked my readers to pray for individuals. It’s not that there haven’t been lots of needs out there – LOTS! – I just haven’t taken the time to share them. I’ll share one here, a particularly extraordinary one, with …

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