Restoring At Risk Communities By John M. Perkins

In the introductory chapters, she draws upon her own experiences overseas and comments on the mistakes she has made and how they can be prevented through best practice. Next, Butrin outlines methods for assessing communities through identifying the resources individuals possess, the needs of the community, and strategies for meeting those needs through meaningful partnerships with the local people. She asserts that our view of poverty directly relates to how we act in compassion and if we view it only as material deficit than our work will never truly alleviate poverty. The church should play a large role in this entire process because proclamation of the Gospel is a vital component of holistic ministry. Only God can bring true transformations to communities and people. If the message of salvation is absent from efforts towards justice than we have barely scratched the service and are responding to the external as opposed to addressing the root causes. The text concludes with decisive commentary on applying the principles of best practice to all

The core message of the Parable of the Sheep and Goats is that God’s people will love others (“Matthew, Chapter 25). The message is called to help those in need. Men and women cannot ignore the plight of human beings suffering from homelessness. People must work together in order to meet our own needs and also work in order to have something to give to those in need. The good works will result from our relationship to the shepherd (Harrington). The grace stucture, Coalition of Homelessness, is an example of this passage. It has developed and implemented effective solutions to New York’s homelessness crisis. Coalition for Homelessness has provided stable housing through shelter, moving them into permanent housing, and implementing assistance programs to keep them in their housing. The Coalition is following the message of the Last Judgment passage by helping those in need and working together in the community to give basic needs to other

Galindo analyzes that the fundamental “mission” of a congregation is the same as any other congregation that exists in any part of the world. He argues that though every congregation has a mission and a vision, at the same time, it shares a basic common mission. (43) This reminds me of my home church The First Church of Evanston and my Field Site, The Evanston Vineyard Church. Both churches have a common mission of welcoming people to the church, irrespective of their ethnic, cultural, racial, and economic and, gender backgrounds. The mission is to help people be received in the house of God with due and deserved Christian love so that they feel loved and welcomed. Both these churches encourage church attendees to attend the service and receive the Eucharist.

The mine has also had some surprising economically driven consequences on the people of West Papua. The economic strain the mine has placed on the members of this community by taking away their land and jobs has forced some to extreme measures to support their families. After the mine was constructed, a string of bars and brothels appeared in the surrounding area, and with it a booming sex work industry and sexually transmitted diseases of an “epidemic” proportion. In West Papua, HIV rates are 15 times higher than the rest of Indonesia (Schulman 2016). Rather than intervening, the government is said to lend fuel to this public health disaster, with the Indonesian military allegedly helping supply alcohol and sex workers (Schulman 2016). Indigenous

These are the issue that the modern African American pastor must address currently. His/Her preaching must speak true, authentic words for the oppressed, the down-trodden, the deprived, the captives, the poor, the rich, the illiterate, as well as to the intellect. Presently, the hostile moment of worldliness is a belief that life is to be realized at any cost to self. Thus, here lies the Christian paradox: through the Gospel we have to see Jesus as a truth relevant to humanity’s need to rise higher. The Gospel is to be preached to all. It is a Gospel to save the humanity of African American people but the gospel is beneficial for all. Therefore, the African American preacher’s message must have within its content something more than that which causes the people to enter in a foot-patting, hand-clapping, highly emotional, ecstatic worldly experience, but also a content which serves to balance the life of God’s people on earth.

Evangelism is described as a three-way cord; building relationships, sharing the gospel, and introducing people to community. The authors encourage the Gospel and the Word to stay central, as well as community involvement and helping the needy in the name of Christ. There is a great emphasis on home groups (the authors are themselves home-group leaders), and how this practice makes church planting easier. The togetherness of this practice aids in ones spiritual growth because one cannot become holy on his

“I have carefully and thoroughly read the entire book as assigned.” Throughout David Platt’s book, “Radical : Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream”, he encourages the reader to take a look at their life and see whether or not Christ is all they need to impact their life for Jesus in a radical way. He asks the reader to carefully examine their life, and see if there are areas that perhaps the Lord would desire for change to take place. Platt challenges the Church to step up and see the urgency in missions realizing that this is the way God designed the lost and dying world to hear the Good News of the Risen and Glorified Savior Jesus Christ.

The part I found most helpful was De Pree’s precept that relationships are more important than policy and procedure. In chapter three, De Pree advocates the notion that people and relationships are foundational to the proper administration of leadership. As a pastor, I have to remind myself the basis for my ministry is a love for people that flows from my love of Christ. The love for people must take precedent over structure, policies, and procedures. Chapter three served as a gentle reminder that building relationships is paramount to my leadership.

Memphis, the largest city in the Mid-south, is home to one of the nations worst poverty and homeless statistics. Memphis over the last ten years has seen a steady increase in poverty due to the lack of job opportunities in the city. Due to the poverty here, there are seniors and families who have no support that rely on the help on non-profit organizations such as MIFA. The Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association or MIFA was founded in 1968, by Rabbi James Wax to support the independence of vulnerable seniors and families in crisis through high-impact programs with the support of the community (“About Us”). “Today, they serve over 50,000 people annually. MIFA partners with 200 congregations in West Tennessee, and thousands of volunteers and donors help keep our high-impact programs alive.”(“About Us”).

This past summer, I traveled to New Mexico on a mission trip. For the first time in my life, I witnessed our spiritual battles, as Christians, against the darkness of this world. I could see and feel the darkness and that surrounded the vibrant and beautiful city of Taos, New Mexico, and my heart ached for it. Despite the many obstacles we faced as we shared our through sports camps, I felt God’s presence through it all. Knowing that God never left my side, gave me a rare peace that cannot be found anywhere else. It’s safe to say that New Mexico, not only changed my life, but saved my heart as well.

There are many challenges to ministry in today’s world and having a vital and relevant ministry is even harder. Churches across all denominations face drastic declines in both attendees and financial giving. With this as the background, it is imperative that vital ministries seek out opportunities to grow and engage groups and communities that have previously been overlooked, missed or not involved for other reasons including some theological reasons. With this idea and goal in mind, this essay sets out to examine and design a process by which the Churches of Cherokee, Oklahoma can successfully connect with and minster to the new Hispanic community in Cherokee. Using the pastoral cycle method, a process will be designed in this essay to

The federal and local community resources dedicated to the treatment and prevention of substance use, has become a valuable tool in the process of recovery. Chemically dependent individuals often have a variety of psychosocial problems in addiction to addiction, such as financial, housing, criminal, and poor social support that often leads to poor treatment retention and higher risk of relapse according to Krupski, et. al. (2009). Therefor the need for community resources is critical to the success of the original treatment. When investigating into the federal resources available, there becomes a view into a larger problem with chemical dependency as government agencies compile statistical data of therapeutic approaches, cultural diversity,

Chapters Ten, Eleven, and Twelve are about Nominal Christians. Chapter Ten introduces what a Nominal Christian is, which is basically a Christian who bores the name of Jesus, but is not a follower of Him. Chapter Eleven is about the difficulties Nominal Christians have with Christian doctrine. The difficulties are partial understanding, emotional resistance, intellectual difficulties, personal consequences. Chapter Twelve is like the last chapter of each section, there’s a list on how to interact with the people, in this case it’s the nominal Christian. Like the others there is a mini practice, and a meso practice. The mini practice is reading the Gospel with a friend, and the practices are being unafraid, agree on the schedule, pick passages

Over the years, many models have been developed and implemented to endeavor to make disciples. Some of the models have been effective and others have not. Among some of the most biblical and efficient models are the ones that involve small groups. Within the small groups models, they can be broken down into further detail, such as pastoral involvement, the church’s goal, missions mindedness, etc. In this paper, I will explain my philosophy of small groups in a church and the importance of the relational group in authentic disciple making. I will also explain how missional groups can help the body of Christ move out into the community. Finally, I will summarize my status in regards to living in community with other believers and being missional with that community.

It is dangerous that “we lose our bearings as we struggle at and with margins and marginalized people,” and they are often forgotten in our lives (EG #54). They are addicts, victims of the –ism, the “throwaways of the modern world (refugees, migrants, and survivors of war),” handicapped, and challenged disabilities. They form “a community of nobodies” and Jesus is among them. As authentic disciples, we should question ourselves that where their places are in our ministry. What are locking our sight and our mind to see and reach them?