How the Holy Spirit Turned Believers into Doers of God's Word, in Acts 4: 31-35

 

I gave this reflection today at a gathering of 30 pastors and religious leaders who  wanted to have affordable housing built on their church property, with guidance from our MHCH Congregational Land Committee. Our team of experts gave them aerial view maps of their property with specific information about height, density, number of units allowed, etc. Architects helped them envision different possibilities. One pastor said, "My eyes were opened!" And this sentiment was shared by many others as they envision potentials they hadn't imagined for their church property. 

Religious leaders from four states (Washington, Colorado, Texas, and Northern California) were also participating in an Apprenticeship Program to learn how to provide similar advisement for interested churches in their states. In addition to technical advisement, we provided a biblical perspective that many of the pastors seemed to appreciate. This is what I shared: 

We’re in the post-Easter time of the church calendar, with Pentecost only eight days from now. Pentecost is sometimes described as the birthday of the church, and it was a wild moment with people speaking in tongues with such exuberance some thought they were pixilated. After receiving the Holy Spirit, many signs and wonders were performed by the apostles, such as miraculous healings. What I’d like to talk about is how the coming of the Holy Spirit transformed believers into doers of the Word, as described in Acts 4, verses 31-35.

³¹ When [the believers] had prayed, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness. ³² All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had. ³³ The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all. ³⁴ There were no needy people among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them ³⁵ and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need.

It is clear from this passage that early Christians took seriously Jesus’ mission statement: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me….I have come to proclaim  good news to the poor, comfort to the oppressed…..” Jesus ends by proclaiming the “acceptable year of the Lord,” the year of Jubilee when prisoners and captives were set free, all slaves were released, all debts were forgiven, and all property was returned to its original owners.

Think about what our nation, and our world, would be like if we practiced Jubilee economics!

Early Christians were willing to do something that most Americans would find unthinkable: sell their homes to help the poor.  Sad to say, many who profess to be Christians place property values above human values. They not only don’t want to sell their homes to help the poor. They don’t want any poor person to live near them because it might decrease their property values. This is a myth, but this doesn’t stop people from protesting, In San Dimas, four thousand people recently gathered to protest an affordable housing project for seniors experiencing homelessness. They didn’t want the poor to be housed anywhere near their community. Blessed are the poor as long as they don’t live near my back yard!

That’s why what we are doing is so important and so deeply biblical. Jesus didn’t care much about temples built by human hands; he was interested in creating a compassionate community. He probably would be too excited about the magnificent church buildings we see in many urban centers, where fewer and fewer people are worshipping each year. What probably would excite him was seeing his followers convert underutilized parking into affordable housing for the poor. That’s what it means to be good stewards, and that’s why we are here: to learn how we can make affordable housing happen on religious land.  

Are Homeless People a Threat to Children or Vice Versa?

 

Jim Wolf, before and after makeover

By Anthony Manousos

This article is from the May 19 MHCH Newsletter. To read the entire newsletter, click here.

One of the most common myths we hear about unhoused people is that they are a threat to children and our schools. Disheveled, mentally ill people acting out on the street may seem threatening, like the man pictured above on the left. Shawn Morrisey, who lived on the streets for many years and now works for Union Station Homeless Services in Pasadena, often says, “If you had seen me when I was homeless, you would thought I was a scary person.” This above picture went viral and shows Jim Wolf, a vet from Grand Rapids, MI, before and after a makeover that changed his life.

In San Dimas thousands of people showed up to protest permanent supportive housing for seniors (elderly folks over 55 years old) who were living on the streets, claiming that their proximity to a school would endanger children. But are these fears justified?

I did a google search and found very few cases where unhoused people attacked or harmed children, and in no cases were they living in supportive housing. In 2015 in Los Angeles a homeless man grabbed a child near Disney Hall and the headline said that the child was stabbed. The article goes on to state that the boy was only scratched.[1]  There have been attacks on children and teens by homeless men on subways, none of which were fatal.  In one incident a homeless man was accused of killing a child, but the charges were dropped.[2]

All of these incidents are disturbing and shouldn’t be dismissed, but we need to also keep in mind that children are much more likely to be sexually abused by relatives or by teachers than by the unhoused. One of the biggest threats to students is being killed by fellow students toting a gun.

What is also disturbing is the number of unhoused people who are assaulted by teens and even ten-year-old boys.

Egged on by a 17-year-old, two 10-year-old boys joined in the attack of a Florida homeless man, leaving him bruised and bloody, police said. The incident highlights an upswing in violent crime across the U.S. against the homeless. In 2006, there were 142 attacks and 20 murders, several involving teenagers seeking a vicious thrill, according to the Washington, D.C.-based National Coalition for the Homeless.[4]

In January 2023, seven teenage girls in Toronto allegedly “swarmed” and murdered a 59-year-old unhoused man.[5] Such incidents have become so common they have even received a name: “sport killings.” Horrific though this seems, it is not surprising since many parents harbor such negative stereotypes that children see nothing wrong in attacking or even killing unhoused people. This is happening everywhere, even in Pasadena, where teens sometimes throw rocks at the unhoused residents of our city.

Some schools don’t see affordable/supportive housing as threatening to their students, however. In East Whittier, the conversion of a motel to supportive housing received a lot of community support even though it was next to a school. Monica Oviedo, Whittier Union High School District superintendent, said that the location had fewer issues as a place for unhoused individuals than when it was a motel. She affirms:

“Whittier Union High School District is committed to ensuring our students have access to the resources they need to succeed in not only academics but their personal endeavors as well. This includes having access to affordable housing. Whittier Union is supportive of Supervisor Janice Hahn’s efforts in making this a reality. She has always been a strong advocate for our District community, and we are tremendously grateful.”[6]

As people of faith, we need to remind our friends and neighbors that our unhoused neighbors are children of God, just like us, and we should be grateful when they are safely housed.  If they are given the supportive services they need, they will thrive, and our communities will be better off and safer. This is putting the command to love thy neighbor into action. And as the Gospel says, “Perfect love drives out fear” (1 John 4:18).

[1] https://abc7.com/homeless-man-stabs-child-disney-concert-hall-stabbed-downtown-los-angeles/1118120/

[2] https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/neighborhood/neighborhood-outraged-after-child-killed-walking-home-from-school/285-202040703

[3] https://www.troyrecord.com/2023/03/26/homeless-man-charged-with-sexual-abuse-of-a-child-in-north-greenbush/

[4] www.cnn.com/2007/US/03/29/homeless.attack/index.html

[5] https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ken-lee-identified-as-victim-of-alleged-stabbing-attack-by-8-teen-girls-in-toronto-1.6224355

[6]https://www.whittierdailynews.com/2023/04/06/la-county-nonprofit-celebrate-a-re-imagined-former-motel-6-in-west-whittier-los-nietos/

How the peace movement thwarted Nixon's desire to use nuclear weapons in Vietnam: "The Movement and the Madman" this Friday at ICUJP

 I am thrilled that the next speaker at ICUJP will be my friend Robert Levering, who made this documentary about how the peace movement thwarted Nixon's desire to use nuclear weapons in Vietnam.

Please join us online ICUJP Friday Forum May 19th, 7:30-9:30 am Pacific The Power of Protest: The Movement and the "Madman" Join video conference here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88296070829 Call in by phone: +1 669 900 6833*  Meeting ID: 882 9607 0829 PASSCODE: 109155 *Meeting controls for call-in attendees: To mute/unmute yourself: *6 To raise hand: *9 Event Description:  The Movement and the "Madman" tells how two antiwar demonstrations in the fall of 1969 helped prevent a massive escalation of the Vietnam war, including the possible use of nuclear weapons. At the time, the protesters had no idea of the impact of their actions. Join the conversation with our speaker: Robert Levering is the executive producer of the film The Movement and the "Madman" which premiered on PBS's American Experience on March 28th when it was watched by more than a half-million people. He was a fulltime antiwar organizer from 1967 to 1973. After the war, he worked as a journalist, wrote 8 books about the corporate workplace, and for 20 years coauthored Fortune magazine's popular annual feature "The 100 Best Companies to Work For." He was a producer of The Boys Who Said No!, a 2021 film about the draft resistance movement. Learn More/Here's how YOU can help: Website: The Movement and the "Madman" 7:30 - 7:35  Log in and socialize 7:35 - 7:45  Welcome and introductions  7:45 - 7:50  Reflection (5 min. maximum) 7:50 - 9:15  Program and Q&A 9:15 - 9:20  Announcements 9:20 - 9:30  Closing circle and prayer Start your morning with us! Facilitator: Steve Rohde Reflector: Jasmine Hailey ** Meetings begin promptly at 7:30 am Pacific. ** ----- Here's how to join the online meeting: To join by video conference, you'll need to download the Zoom app on your computer or mobile device. Click on the link to join the meeting and then enter the Meeting ID number and passcode. You'll be able to see slides and video, as well as speakers and other attendees. If you prefer to join by phone, you'll be prompted to enter the Meeting ID number and passcode. You won't be able to see the visuals or attendees, but you can view them on the meeting video recording afterward.  If you're new to Zoom and would like to use the video option, we recommend you download the app well ahead of time. ICUJP Friday Forum 05/19/23 Time: 07:30 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada) Option 1: Join video conference  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88296070829 Meeting ID: 882 9607 0829 PASSCODE: 109155 Option 2: Dial in by phone only: +1 669 900 6833 US (California) Meeting ID: 882 9607 0829 PASSCODE: 109155 (To find a dial-in number closer to you, go here.) ----- Please note: Our Friday Forums and other events are open to the public. By attending, you consent to having your voice and likeness recorded, photographed, posted on ICUJP's website and social media, and included in ICUJP materials and publications for noncommercial purposes. If you don't want to be photographed or recorded, please let the facilitator know. ICUJP t-shirts and accessories now available for purchase online! GET YOUR T-SHIRT