Liberating you from bad ideas about God
The kind of person who wants to leave this world a better place lives very differently than the kind of person who wants to leave this world for a better place.
Which are you?
(Though I tweaked it a bit, this quote came from Brian MaClaren, Finding our Way Again, p. 69.)
Keith Giles at his Subversive1 blog concludes his posts on HOW TO START A MINISTRY TO THE POOR IN YOUR COMMUNITY – Part 5 of 5 with some information about ministry to prostitutes. Here is what he wrote:
To learn more about Human Trafficking and sex slavery, check out some of these posts:MINISTRY TO PROSTITUTES – INTO THE REAL DARKNESS
I’ve only been out about four times to the streets here in Orange County to minister to women caught in prostitution. Most of what I’ve learned is based on research and several crushing episodes of utter, empty defeat and failure.
This ministry is easily the most challenging and ‘outside my comfort zone’. It means entering a dark, dangerous world where you are an outsider and the level of commitment required is off the charts.
First, a little bit of background about the issue.
HARD TO QUIT
Most girls who are on the streets will either get off and back into a normal life in the first three months or it will be another ten years before they can escape this lifestyle. Why? Because the work is so repugnant and degrading, at first, that if they’re ever going to escape it has to be in those first few months. Otherwise, they get trapped into this lifestyle through fear of their pimp and/or through dependence on the drugs their pimp supplies them with.HOOKED BY FEAR AND ADDICTION
What keeps most girls on the streets is the fear of being abused or killed by their pimp, and/or their need to keep an expensive drug habit going. Their pimps usually get them hooked on drugs as quickly as they can in order to control them. They know that no other lifestyle would afford their girls the kind of money they need to keep the drugs flowing, so the girls are essentially trapped into this life of prostitution.HUMAN SLAVERY
Another difficult and impossible situation is where you have forced prostitution through organized crime syndicates. Many girls are here from Russia, the Ukraine, Romania, Thailand, Cambodia, and other impoverished nations. Many were tricked into coming here and are kept here by the threat of harm to their families back in their home country. They cannot leave, even if they desperately want to escape, because to leave would mean the murder of their mother, father, siblings, etc.It’s very shocking to realize that human slavery is alive and well in the United States of America. Just about a year ago the Orange County Police Department broke up the largest human trafficking/forced prostitution ring in the history of this region. I remember it because it was just weeks before the Freedom Day on March 25th at Vanguard where hundreds gathered to protest slavery and bring attention to this very real problem.
America is the number one market for human sexual slavery. Anaheim, the home of Disneyland, is one of the largest markets for human trafficking in the Nation.
You can find out more information about this online at STOPTHETRAFFIK.ORG
DIFFERENT TYPES
You’ll encounter one of four different kinds of girls who work on the streets.1) Street level- Normally these are homeless girls who have no pimp and work prostitution for the food and for drugs. It’s purely survival and quick cash.
2) Weekenders- These girls come and work to support their children or save money for college or other reasons. They are healthy and generally wear clean, attractive clothing.
3) Circuit Girls- These girls work a circuit throughout California, Nevada, Florida, etc. They wear exaggerated clothing (very Hollywood-esque). These look the most like obvious prostitutes and are the easiest to spot.
4) Transvestite- A man who dresses like a woman to turn tricks. Some have had surgery and take hormones to round off the illusion. You think it would be easy to tell the difference. You would be wrong.MINISTRY IDEAS
*Stay Up Late
Due to the nature of this ministry, to find the girls you need to be where they are, and that means on the streets between 12am and 4am. You’re guaranteed to loose sleep over this ministry.*Mixed Teams
If you go out you need to always stay in mixed teams of guys and girls. It’s a bad idea for guys to go out alone, since they might be arrested for soliciting, and it’s not safe for girls to go out alone either. Mixed groups of at least four people work best.*Pray, Pray, Pray
Prayer is crucial since you are entering into the Enemy’s camp. This is where the Kingdom of Darkness clashes with the Kingdom of God. Expect a lot of spiritual attack at home and during the ministry time.*Bless Them
You mainly want to get to know these girls. As with other ministries weve discussed thus far, consistency is the key. Build a relationship. Buy them breakfast if they’ll let you. Listen to their stories. Ask them what they need and try to meet practical needs.*Gift Bags
One local ministry to prostitutes brings gift bags to the girls with make-up supplies, gift cards to shops and food stores, clothing stores, etc. It brings down their guard and allows you a chance to smile, bless them, find out their names and ask if you can pray for them.*The Pimps
Believe it or not, getting to know these guys can be a significant part of the process. One ministry I know of actually spends a lot of time trying to help these guys change their lives and turn to Christ. If they do, the girls usually follow and the operation is shut down because the girls, and their pimp, have surrendered to Christ and are seeking to live a new life.*Statistics
Sadly, 98% of the girls who are on the streets now will stay there, and die there. This means that out of every 100 girls you reach out to, only 2 of them will get off the streets and stay off.For those who do get off the streets, the process means getting off the streets and then relapsing over and over again for a few years before finally, eventually, getting off the streets for life.
Of course, these statistics don’t tell the whole story. Some girls get off and stay off in one shot, some leave after several years, others after only a few months. But you should know what you’re getting into before you commit to such a challenging ministry.
GETTING THEM REAL HELP
If you encounter girls who are under 18 you should refer them to ‘Children of the Night’ (if you have one in your area) or even the local police department. These are minors who need to be rescued from this lifestyle.The challenge I’ve run into is the lack of resources for girls who are under 18, don’t have a Driver’s License, or a SS card. These are usually girls who are here illegally or runaways.
If the girl is over 18 you can send them to Teen Challenge and/or another drug and alcohol treatment center where their addictions can be addressed and they can receive spiritual guidance and emotional healing. Sadly, most non-profit groups will not accept a girl who is under 18. Go figure.
What is really needed to minister to these girls is a long list of resources:
*Trained counselors
*Free shelter
*Addiction treatment
*Job Training
*Free Child Care
*Healthcare access (for health checkups, STD’s, etc.)As I said before, the most challenging and overwhelming ministry I’ve ever known is ministry to prostitutes. Not for the faint of heart.
I did not want to read Finding our Way Again by Brian McLaren. It is part of “The Ancient Practices Series” of which, I have previously read two other books (the volumes on Pilgrimage and Sabbath). Neither one captivated me. So I didn’t expect much out of Brian McLaren’s introductory volume either. Besides, I have read numerous other books about spiritual disciples, spiritual formation, and ancient practices of mystics and monks, and found little that was helpful.
I was surprised, then, when I had trouble putting the book down. I tried to figure out why as I went along. It could be the short chapters. The book has twenty chapters, and most are only eight pages or so. Short chapters give me the feeling of progression and accomplishment, as well as offer information in bite-size pieces that I can grasp and grapple within the limited amount of reading time I have.
But the book was more than just short chapters. McLaren is a winsome writer. His style is readable, his ideas colorful, and his ability to explain difficult and dry subjects in imaginative ways is almost unmatched in modern Christian literature. He also writes with gentleness and respect, which is refreshing. Whenever he wants to say something challenging or controversial, he does not state it as fact, but asks questions about it. For example, on page 73, after writing some challenging ideas about heaven, hell, and life here on earth, he raises questions about the kingdom of God and the afterlife:
What if we realize that God cares about both this life and the afterlife, that for God, who is not a dualist, they are both just different facets of one reality called life? What if we realize that a phrase like kingdom of God can be understood to encompass both?
When he writes this way, it is hard to disagree with him, because he is not stating anything as fact. He is only asking questions to make the reader think. This method sounds quite similar to another famous teacher I know…
So am I going to start engaging in any ancient practices as a result of this book? Not exactly. I am not a big fan of the ancient practices because for me, they reek of religion. I am not about to start a fixed hour of prayer, a weekly fast, a regimented Sabbath, a sacred meal, or go on a pilgrimage. Yet, as I read how McLaren explained these various practices, I frequently experienced an “Ah-ha!” moment where I felt like I was looking myself in the mirror. I recognized something he was writing about as a practice I already perform in my own life to help me stay connected to God and to other people. His chapter on interpreting the practices in a missional way was among the best (Chapter 12).
The book encouraged me to see that the path I am on as I pursue a relationship with God and others although it often seems lonely and desolate has been walked by millions of Christians before. It may do the same for you.
How do you feel about abortion? Sex slavery? Child sex slavery? Prostitution?
Have you seen how your tax dollars go to support some of these things?
Check out the following video:
To see more news about this video, and follow-up news items, add Live Action Blog to your Google Reader.
Edit: The full-length video is at the link below, along with three other videos which show this was not an isolated incident.
To learn more about Human Trafficking and sex slavery, check out some of these posts:
I’ve been reading a series by Keith Giles at his blog “Subversive1” called HOW TO START A MINISTRY TO THE POOR IN YOUR COMMUNITY. His post today is excellent (as they all are) and is really challenging me to get involved in Orange County…Orange County, New York, that is.
Here is some of what he wrote today:
*Don’t Use This Ministry As A Way To Market Your Church – File this under “Things that make me very angry”. I’ve noticed a disturbing trend among some churches lately where ministry to the poor is seen as being trendy and hip. They treat compassion ministry as a selling point for their church because it makes them look cool and it looks great on their website and in their bulletin each week. However, caring for people in need is typically not what they have foremost in mind. It’s marketing their church. This really ticks me off. So, when we first started our Compassion Ministry I told our team members that, although I wasn’t forbidding anyone else, I would never wear one of our church t-shirts to our ministry events. “Why not?” someone would always ask me. Because I don’t want them to ever see that t-shirt and say “Oh…that’s why they’re being so nice to us.” In fact, recently we’ve been joined by another large mega-church at the motel. Although we’ve been there for five years now, this mega-church has been serving breakfast every other Sunday and setting up tents and chairs and tables and having an on-site Church service. Beause their presence is quite large, many of those we minister to often assume that we’re from this mega-church. They will even end their prayers by saying, “And God bless the good people of **** Church” to which I always say, “Amen!” I love it that our specific church is able to bring Glory to Jesus and even favor to another local Church by serving these people. It’s a great reminder that our service to these people isn’t about making our church famous or competing with other churches. It’s simply about modelling the love of Jesus for people.
*Don’t think of it as “Outreach” but as Loving People – After awhile the word Outreach becomes a dirty word. To me, the word carries the connotation of keeping people at arms length. I prefer to refer to what we do as Compassion Ministry or Service or simply “Being with our friends”. Even to call them “The Poor” in some ways puts them into a classification that is demeaning and de-humanizing. Whenever possible think of them as your friends. They are people. They have the same needs as you and I. Love them as Jesus loves you.
Go to his post to read the rest.
As you watch the Big Game this Sunday, please remember the other game going on in the streets and hotels of the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, and think about what you can do to stop it.
Start by watching this video:
A few points from the video:
Want a good idea for a Movie Date Night with your significant other? Well, get the popcorn out, I have a suggestion!
If you have BibleWorks or are thinking about getting it, don’t miss the two-hour training session by Jim Barr (of BibleWorks) at Luther Seminary. It probably won’t win an Oscar, but it is packed with helpful information about using BibleWorks.
If you watch this with your spouse, you can thank me later.
I often hear pastors and seminary professors bemoaning the widespread biblical illiteracy within the church today. I don’t think it’s the problem.
Is it true? Are people more ignorant of the Bible than they were 10, 20, 50, 100 years ago? Of course. There’s no denying it. Studies, surveys, and tests have proven it. For example, when I entered Seminary, they gave us an entrance exam on our knowledge of biblical and theological ideas, and then, as we neared graduation, they gave it to us again to see if we learned anything. Most of us did improve, of course, but the professor who proctored our exam said that over the years, the test has not changed, but the scores have steadily decreased. Both incoming and graduating seminary students know less than similar students from previous generations.
And this isn’t just a problem with seminary students. It’s true in almost all churches.
So why do I believe it’s not a problem? Here’s why:
What has ever-increasing Biblical knowledge ever done for the church? The main thing isn’t how much you know, it’s what you do with what you know. And I think that we live in a generation that looks at the scholars of our own day and the past and says, “Well, that’s great that they could recite the Bible backwards, but what did they do with that knowledge except for write a bunch of books and preach a bunch of sermons? Nothing? Well, then I guess I don’t need that knowledge.”
The problem facing modern Christianity is not biblical illiteracy, but biblical apathy. People don’t care what they don’t know unless they can see a direct link between learning something and using what they learn to love and serve others.
Just take a look at how many companies today are using “community service” benefits to attract young employees. That’s right. Companies used to offer health benefits, 401(k)s, and career advancement opportunities. But new and upcoming employees are asking, “Are you going to give me time to take what I am learning in this business and use it to help people in Africa? If not, I’ll look elsewhere.”
That’s the way the church needs to use biblical knowledge. We must show the direct link between learning something from the Bible and using what we learn to help others in need. If no such direct link can be made, then we should not complain when people don’t want to learn it.
So do you want to increase Biblical literacy? Then show how knowing the Bible will help transform lives, our communities, and the world. And this doesn’t mean more time given to application in the sermon. It means actually taking people out into the world to put the Word into practice.
Agree? Disagree? Let me know!
In a previous post about cancelling your church service, one person commented that there were six other days for serving the community, and we should leave the Sunday church service alone.
I understand this concern, but the sad reality is that Christians do not use those six other days to love and serve their community. And another sermon series is not going to change this. Church leaders need to proactively show their members how to serve and who to love in the community, not just preach and teach about it.
Could this be done on Tuesday night instead of Sunday morning? Sure. But as we all know from decades of experience, less than 10% of the church will show up for a Tuesday night community service project. So once again, to get people out of the pews and into the community, the best time to do this may be on Sunday morning. Doing so is not really cancelling the church service; it’s putting service back in the “church service.”
Let’s look at this from the spiritual perspective. I’m fairly convinced that Satan doesn’t care too much if Christians have faithful church attendance. The more services we have, and the longer they are, the more delighted he is. Of course, he is just as happy if Christians don t get together with other believers at all, and just sit at home watching television.
And if that is the way Satan feels, God feels just about the opposite.
Just as God did not call us out of the world so we could sit at home watching television, He also did not call us out of the world so we could sit in a pew at church watching a sermon. The one thing God wants is the one thing Satan doesn’t: followers of Jesus who actually follow Jesus into the world.
So the reason for cancelling church services is not to just give people a break from church. It is to get followers of Jesus off the warm, padded pews in church, and out onto the cold, hard, concrete of the world where the people are.
How? Well, there is no one right way to do this. We have the freedom to be as creative and flexible as we want.
Maybe a good way to begin this is to have a regularly scheduled Sunday service where a service event is planned and announced in advance. Churches are notorious for having special Sunday events to get people to come to church. We have special speakers, choirs, and concerts. We schedule “Friend Day” and “Back to Church Sunday.” I recently saw one church in my area inviting people to attend “Orphan Sunday.”
I’m not fond of such special Sundays, but maybe if we can avoid the gimmicks one or two Sundays a month could be planned where the church does not try to get people into the pews, but out of them. You could call it “Back to Work Sunday.” This might show people that the point of church is not to come to church, but for the church to go to the world.
If Christians are really concerned about orphans, rather than have a Sunday where we talk about orphans, we could have a Sunday where we go play with children in an actual orphanage, go participate in a fundraiser for adoptions, or host a family-fun day in the park for foster parents and their children.
If the leadership of a church was serious about reaching the people who don t come to church on Sunday, maybe a good strategy would be to find the places where these people already are on Sunday morning, and go join them rather than ask them to join us. Yes, you might end up tailgating at the football coliseum, fishing at the bass lake, or hiking mountain trails.
One church I am talking with, Mercer Island Covenant Church, cancelled their church service last March to either run or volunteer in the annual Rotary Club’s Half Marathon Run. They got a lot of positive feedback from the church members and the community, and met several community leaders in the process. They plan on doing the same thing again this year. That’s what I’m talking about!
I believe that if we genuinely participated in some of these things during the hours we were usually in church, more relationship building would take place in one month than often happens in an entire year of church services.
Do you know of any other churches that participate in community service or activities on Sunday morning? I would love to hear about them in the comment section below.
Women today are inundated with images of beauty that they are expected to live up to. I have three daughters, and I wonder every day what pressures they will face as they grow up to look a certain way, have certain hair, or be a certain weight. I try to tell them that they are perfect and loved just as they are, but sometimes I feel like it’s my voice against the world. And it doesn’t help that most of what is shown on television and in magazines is doctored, not just surgically and with hours of make-up, but with Photoshop and other image editing programs.
To see what I mean, check out these links:
A post from over three years ago about the Dove Evolution Commercials.
Finally, here’s a video which Jonathan Brink posted last week by P!nk called “Perfect” about the message we need to be telling all our girls.
