Domestic Poverty

In light of all that is 2020 – racial tension, a pandemic, police brutality, economic collapse [insert your own] – a well-organized tent city was established in Edmonton. It was both a place of protest and a camp of prayer for those experiencing homelessness. On my visit to the camp, one of the leaders said something that I will never forget: he claimed the prayer camp was a true community. There was harmony and joy, as well as, conflict and general craziness. I was able to experience some of this during my visit.

Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. Psalm 119:105

"[God] never mocks your weaknesses or throws your sin in your face. He never gets tired of you or gives up on his relationship with you. He doesn’t ask you to earn what you can never deserve, and he never makes you feel guilty for needing his good gifts. His love isn’t conditional and his grace is never temporary.” ― Paul David Tripp

Your faith will not fail while God sustains it; you are not strong enough to fall away while God is resolved to hold you.”  ― J.I. Packer

"Arise, for it is your task, and we are with you; be strong and do it." - Ezra 10:4 

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. - Psalm 23

Elderly women from a near-by senior low-income housing building sat at the back of our church foyer, bending over boxes overflowing with apples, carrots, and onions. They unrolled plastic produce bags, rubbed the top edges to open them, and filled them with fresh produce. They talked and laughed as they worked. “Come on over,” one of them called, “You need to meet someone we invited to join us today.” The ladies were getting ready for the monthly food pantry at our church and had asked someone new to help. 

Surely the righteous will never be shaken; they will be remembered forever.  They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord.  - Psalm 112:6

"He put another parable before them, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.'” Matthew 13:31-32

There is a man I know. More than a man – a friend and a prophet. He is Indigenous, tall, with small piercing eyes that bore into you with gentle kindness. He is a stranger longing for a heavenly country. His home on his back, he wanders deserts and back alleys. He lives in caves and parkades. Did I mention that he also has an amazing mullet?