tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11928317.post5845087164024060470..comments2024-01-29T14:24:46.852-05:00Comments on Wes Ellis: Story of Lovewellis68http://www.blogger.com/profile/06087588494600746854noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11928317.post-43307066236197567472010-09-17T14:24:14.836-04:002010-09-17T14:24:14.836-04:00Steve,
Thanks for the stories!
And thanks for on...Steve, <br />Thanks for the stories! <br />And thanks for one-upping me on Pagitt's book... I'm still reading it... I like it!wellis68https://www.blogger.com/profile/06087588494600746854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11928317.post-22568196355979232102010-09-17T10:54:04.799-04:002010-09-17T10:54:04.799-04:00Two stories - you know how I like stories, Wes!
T...Two stories - you know how I like stories, Wes!<br /><br />The rabbi Zusya was on his deathbed, and his servant asked him, "are you afraid of coming face to face with God?"<br /><br />The rabbi almost said yes, but then he thought for a moment and answered, "when I come before the Almighty, he will not ask me 'why were you not Moses?' but 'why were you not Zusya?'"<br /><br />And I read once of a church delegation that visited a downtown homeless ministry with all kinds of questions about their "success" ratio in terms of employment, further education, permanent housing, etc.<br /><br />The priest running the ministry said, we are not often privileged to see the end result of our work in these persons' lives. But while they are here, we show them Christ.<br /><br />Good stuff, Wes. And thanks for the post, weeks ago, about Pagitt's "Church in the Inventive Age." Finally got it, read it, enjoyed it.swope.steven@yahoo.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01723126408024300817noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11928317.post-15755870684521442452010-09-16T21:41:10.340-04:002010-09-16T21:41:10.340-04:00Great point Danny! I have been in teaching for 20...Great point Danny! I have been in teaching for 20 years, the past 7 in inner city. To say like Bart "he had a good night" comes off sounding apathetic to some, but I have really found myself taking that attitude... If my students feel safe, accepted, etc, then I am happy... the other stuff is icing on the cake, but reality is a bit more immediate.Andrewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12494823779999456396noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11928317.post-16638737306640396482010-09-16T21:36:34.498-04:002010-09-16T21:36:34.498-04:00Excellent!
Let us know if any of the audio become...Excellent!<br /><br />Let us know if any of the audio becomes available.Andrewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12494823779999456396noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11928317.post-13519736577152498472010-09-16T13:21:50.537-04:002010-09-16T13:21:50.537-04:00Danny,
You would really like Andrew Root's boo...Danny,<br />You would really like Andrew Root's book Relationships Unfiltered... I'm only two chapters into it but it's amazing! <br /><br />"In true relationships, the only point is to be together. Once there is another point, the relationship withers under the heat of expectations and obligations." - Andrew Root<br /><br />Great thoughts Danny! You'd have liked Bart... when his talks are available online I'll get you the link.wellis68https://www.blogger.com/profile/06087588494600746854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11928317.post-78391838201908543462010-09-16T13:06:40.440-04:002010-09-16T13:06:40.440-04:00This story is especially true for teachers, and I ...This story is especially true for teachers, and I think youth pastors are in the same boat. It is really interesting for me to be in a teaching program for a second time, and to hear the newer student teachers talking in terms or "changing the system" of "closing the achievement gap" or something similar. I am not saying that we shouldn't be doing this or that we shouldn't be about helping students, but that if this is a teacher's primary goal, they will be sorely disappointed when they find that there are so many things out of their control.<br /><br />We spent a lot of time in one of our classes talking about how most of the choices a student's make our outside of our control. Their biggest influence is their families, their friends, and the resources their community has to offer them. This is not a reason for apathy, but just something we have to realize. <br /><br />I also think that change itself can be a bit of a problem because we tend to want to fashion people in our own image or in the image of a "culturally successful person," which may or may not be the kind of life Jesus may want for his people. <br /><br />I really like what Bart had to say about ministry, too. I felt like that a few times in Camden. We spent so much time and we were so dependent on middle-class churches in the Pennsylvania area because the students there didn't have the funds that we thought were needed for "change." I am not saying that they were wrong to fundraise because we do all need money, but their budget was over a million dollars a year. When did ministry get so expensive? <br /><br />Like you have said on my blog many times, I don't have a lot of answers, but I have a lot of observations. I would love to see people change, but as someone like Ryan might tell us who works with kids with problems, they don't often get "fixed" in the way we want them to.<br /><br />I wish I had a six-step solution for us, but I guess there just isn't one or else Jesus would have revealed it in his first-century best seller, "Going Rogue: A Rabbi's Life."Dannyhttp://dkam136.comnoreply@blogger.com