randalevan's blog

jesus makes us bigger

a friend and fellow pastor, liz milner, recently completed an internship at a local jail and the experience stretched her faith a lot. as i read her personal evaluation, i felt encouraged to see people in a different way, to believe that jesus is present even when our world feels like it is falling apart, and to face my fears with more courage. i have copied her evaluation below.

¿whatever happened to the american dream?

I was shocked to read in yesterday's Mercury-News that there are over 13% of Americans who are living in poverty.  How can that be?  Whatever happened to the American Dream?  Sounds more like a nightmare to me!

The problem is so large and complex that there is certainly nothing I can do about it.  (*I used to think this way, but somehow, I don't feel like I have a "free pass" to ignore this awful truth about our country anymore.)

I wonder what the church I go to can do about it. If the Lord's Prayer were to be answered, especially the part that says, "Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven", what that would look like?  I don't think there are going to be any people living in poverty when God's will is always done on the earth!  Lord, what would You have each one of us do?

  (*To read the article, please go to: http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_13307046?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com&nclick_check=1

Back from Spain

Just got back from Spain late Monday night.  It was a great trip overall, spending time in the Boston area on the way to Europe followed by visits to both Barcelona and Valencia.

While I hope to be able to post some photos soon (*my friends took pictures and I am looking to "borrow" some of them), let me give you a quick summary of my time in Spain.  It began in Barcelona, where I spent the weekend with my good friends, Marc & Christine.  They pastor one of the Vineyard churches in "la ciudad condal".  We enjoyed several meals together, one of them a fantastic feast of "dorada" (*a white fish that I am not sure how to translate...those of you who have a Spanish/English dictionary can check it out and tell me!) with their children, Marc's mom and his sister.  Their eldest daughter, Anais, together with her husband Jose Luis, was also there.  They have a 3-year old son, and are now the proud parents of twin baby girls.

After an enjoyable weekend with the Perez family, I took the train to Valencia - which is about a 3-hour trip.

Opiate or Smelling Salts?

I would like to share a quote with you from Tim Keller's book, The Prodigal God.  "Jesus hates suffering, injustice, evil, and death so much, he came and experienced it to defeat it and, someday, to wipe the world clean of it.  Knowing all this, Christians cannot be passive about hunger, sickness, and injustice.  Karl Marx and others have charged that religion is "the opiate of the masses."  That is, it is a sedative that makes people passive toward injustice, because there will be "pie in the sky bye and bye."  That may be true of some religions that teach people that this material world is unimportant or ilusory.  Christianity, however, teaches that God hates the suffering and oppression of this material world so much, he was willing to get involved in it and to fight against it.  Properly understood, Christianity is by no means the opiate of the people.  It's more like the smelling salts."  (Pages 112 & 113, emphasis added.)

What Jesus can do with a little boy's lunch

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to teach at the Peninsula Vineyard.  When my turn came around we were beginning chapter 6 of the Gospel of John.  (*If you want to listen to the teaching, go to www.vcfp.org, click on "Sermons", then go to February 1st and click-on "download".) 

The biblical text tells the story of Jesus teaching thousands and thousands of men, women and children, hungry to hear what He had to say.  When He finished teaching, they were also hungry for lunch. 

Jesus and His closest disciples looked around for food, but all they could find was a boy's lunch...5 small, barley loaves and 2 small, fish.  Perfect for a small boy, but what about the hungry crowd?  Jesus tells His disciples to have the people sit down.  He gives thanks to His Father for the food, then has His disciples begin to distribute it.  Everyone gets their fill (*including the boy) and when they are finished eating, they pick-up 12 baskets of left-over bread.
I realize that not everyone who reads my blog believes in miracles.  I happen to believe in them.  I also believe in sharing with others the good things that we have been given.  Sometimes the miracle that occurs is that God gives us the ability to look beyond our own wants and needs to see the needs of others and to do something about it.  Sometimes we share our lunch.  Sometimes we give some money.  Other times we give some of our time.  Everybody, even little boys who have only their lunch to share, can participate...if they want to.
I give some examples in my teaching on what it feels like to trust God with our lives, and, one of the ways we have seen people come together to meet the needs of some dear friends who currently have immeasurable needs.  But here, in my blog, I want to share a story with you about what it feels like to be on the receiving end of someone else's generosity.

Glen Eyrie, Part II

I promised more info on our trip to Glen Eyrie, CO...so here goes.  The photo in this post is of Jacquie and me in the Garden of the Gods...which was in walking distance of the conference center.  Let me just share a few hi-lites...

The Dark Knight

Before I went to church this morning I ripped through the Sunday morning Mercury-News, San Jose's local paper. This news piece caught my eye (*especially given the fact that our daughters can't wait to go and see "The Dark Knight"): "Batman's joust with the Joker has set another box office record. Stoked by fan fever over the manic performance of the late Heath Ledger as the Joker, "The Dark Knight" set a one-day box office record with $66.4 million on opening day..."

is christianity culturally rigid

I enjoyed church today. We're in the middle of a teaching series on Justice & Compassion and a member of our community, Susan Van Riesen, taught this morning. (*If you would like to either learn more about our church or listen to Susan's teaching, go to www.vcfp.org.) One of the stories that she shared that stood out to me was from her high school years.

Growing in Justice & Compassion

The church I participate in, the Peninsula Vineyard, has been working on extending the transforming love of Jesus to the people outside the walls of our church facility. Recently, a new member of our jail ministry team, shared with us her experience...and I would like to share it with you. Here goes:

Katie is a Rock Star

She would probably hate me for saying this, and she may even kill me (*or at least tell me to shut-up!), but Katie Fantin did a great job teaching this morning at the Peninsula Vineyard. (*Check it out, www.vcfp.org, and click-on Latest Sermons. Then choose the teaching from June 1st, 2008.)