Conversations that Matter - Racial Justice and Asian American Christians
As we continue to lean into the Racial Justice conversation, we recognize that the Asian American Church has a unique and powerful perspective to contribute. Join 4 Influential voices as they share their experiences and ways forward.
Conversations that Matter - Racial Justice Through the Church
As the Bay Area Church moves more and more towards unity, let's collectively lean in and learn what we can do towards racial justice. Join 4 Influential voices as they share their experiences and ways forward.
TAKE ACTIONABLE STEPS AND LEND SUPPORT TO ENCOURAGE REFORM
Bring the Heat - Help build a public safety system that everyone can trust
Join Campaign Zero - Hold your representatives accountable for taking meaningful action to end police violence
Support those that are doing the work of anti-racism education:
Support Oakland Black Owned Businesses - The Oakland black business community is already suffering financially as a result of COVID-19 closures and now, after the protests they run the risk of long-term hardships or permanent closure
“We instinctively tend to limit for whom we exert ourselves. We do it for people like us, and for people whom we like. Jesus will have none of that. By depicting a Samaritan helping a Jew, Jesus could not have found a more forceful way to say that anyone at all in need - regardless of race, politics, class, and religion - is your neighbor.” - Generous Justice
Prayer Evangelism
By Kevin G. Harney, Lead Pastor, Shoreline Community Church
May I Pray For You?
By Kevin G. Harney, Lead Pastor, Shoreline Community Church
Prayer resides in the very center of effective evangelism…always. Jesus himself said, “Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest field.” Interestingly, our Savior emphasized the need for us to pray for ourselves, and other believers. One of the most important focal points of our prayers should be, “Lord send me and other Christians into the world with fresh grace and boldness as we share the message of Jesus.”
With this in mind, every follower of Jesus should learn to ask this question with frequency and sensitivity, “May I pray for you?” In particular, we should be asking this question of people who are not yet followers of Jesus. Many Christians are nervous to ask if they can pray for (or with) people who do not name Jesus as the Savior and leader of their life.
I have discovered, over and over, that almost every human being is open to being prayed for. If they are going through a time of great joy or deep sorrow, most people would love to have someone come alongside and support them in prayer.
My mother was an intellectual who resisted faith and claimed no relationship with Jesus. We sat on the couch in her living room talking about my dad. They were in their fifth decade of marriage and she was going through some fairly normal relational challenges, but she was concerned. After listening to the struggles they were facing, I looked in my mom’s eyes and asked, “Mom, can I take a moment right now and have a prayer for you and dad?” I did not know how she would respond. She paused, pondered, and finally said, “I think that would be nice.” I finished the prayer and closed by asking, in the name of Jesus, for God’s hand and leading on my parents’ marriage. I looked at my mother and was surprised that she had tears in her eyes. I was sure that she felt the presence of God’s Holy Spirit, even if she did not know how to name or explain it. This was one of dozens of times I prayed with my mom through the years.
Esther was one of three adult daughters who works at a family-owned Italian Restaurant near my office. She was always kind and very curious about my faith. She had family history with church, but was not practicing her family faith in any serious way. As I sat for lunch, Esther took my order and seemed unrushed so I said what I often do, “When my food comes I will be saying a prayer and I would be honored to include you if you have any needs or joys. No pressure, but I would love to pray for you if you are comfortable with that.” Esther quickly told me about her pregnancy and asked me to pray for her unborn son. She even told me his name. To put things in context, Esther was about nine and a half months pregnant, so there was no mystery about her upcoming delivery. When she brought the food to my table she lingered, waiting to be part of the prayer. As a matter of fact, she stood very near the table and slid her belly (and baby) onto the table right in front of me. I wondered if she was looking for me to place a hand on her stomach, but I refrained. I lifted up a prayer for my meal, for her family’s business, and for Esther’s baby boy. In the coming months, whenever I dined at that same Italian restaurant, Esther would show me pictures of her boy and would let me pray for her family. This also opened the door for many spiritual conversations.
Gretchen sat next to me on an international flight to London and began talking right away. I was tired, but she was up for a chat and seemed to have a lot of energy and passion about her work and life mission. Gretchen was an atheistic, humanistic, communalist who ran a camp in Berlin Germany. The focus of this camp was gathering high school age young people together for a week in an effort to help them resist the dangers and lures of Christianity. Over the next hour and a half I asked many questions and listened with great interest. I had never met anyone quite like this twenty-five year old woman. When she finally asked me what I do for a living, and I shared my story, she was shocked and amazed. We ended up having a wonderful conversation and before we landed I asked her the simple question, “Gretchen, would it be OK if I said a prayer for you right now?” She was curious and very open. I don’t think anyone had ever asked her this before. I prayed for God’s love and presence to shine in her life and for Jesus to show her his presence. I also gave her a couple of books and we exchanged contact information. She even offered her home to me, my wife, and our sons if we were ever in Berlin.
Summary
There are all kinds of ways Christians should pray as we engage in outreach. I believe one of the most important and powerful ways to pray actually praying with non-believers. As we do this, God shows up, the Spirit moves, and hearts become tender. The next time you are with someone who does not have a relationship with Jesus, they could be a friend, family member, or someone you just met, don’t be shy to ask them, “May I pray with you right now?” If they say yes, lift up a prayer with grace and passion.
Kevin Harney (KevinGHarney.com) is the lead pastor of Shoreline Community Church in Monterey, California, the Founder and Visionary Leader of Organic Outreach Ministries International (OrganicOutreach.com), and the author of the Organic Outreach trilogy and many other books, studies, and articles. He is also a regular contributor to Outreach Magazine.
Saving Your Ministry Before You Lose It
By Kevin G. Harney, Lead Pastor, Shoreline Community Church
By Kevin G. Harney, Lead Pastor, Shoreline Community Church
He spoke only a few words and I knew something was wrong…desperately wrong. When my phone rang and I saw who it was, I was happy. Ken (not his real name) was a faithful friend and pastor of a local church in our community. I had known him for about a decade and I respected him greatly.
“Can I come over to your office and talk?” I let him know my schedule was pretty full, but maybe we could set up a lunch the next week. With a stern voice he said, “I have to come over and talk to you right now.”
My heart sank and I could feel a knot forming in my stomach. I cleared my schedule and awaited his arrival. When he walked into my office he was without his normal smile and energy. He walked to a chair in the corner and sat down. He never made eye contact.
“I made a mistake…a big one. It could cost me my ministry, my marriage, and maybe my family.” Over the next hour we talked, prayed, and cried together. The specifics of his crash are not relevant for this blog, but he was absolutely right. The series of decisions he had made and the actions he had taken cost him his ministry. By God’s grace, his marriage did not end. But for five years he invested a great deal of time and energy in rebuilding trust and restoring love.
What struck me as I watched my friend and his family journey through almost five years of hellish pain and struggle was that he could have avoided it all with a few simple decisions. I am not saying these decisions would have been easy, but they are quite simple. Here are some ways a Christian leader can make a decision to save their ministry before they lose it.
Have at least one faithful mentor who will keep you accountable.
In James 5:16 we read, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed…” A wise leader has at least one mentor who will listen to gut-wrenching confession and call them to repentance. This person needs to exhibit grace and also bold strength. This mentor should listen, pray, speak truth, and even exercise leverage to call you to holiness and godly living. If you don’t have a person in your life who will do this, pray for one and make work of nurturing this kind of relationship. If you do have a mentor, thank God and commit to be painfully honest with them.
Do consistent soul-self-examinations.
King David, who knew a fair deal about temptations and struggle, wrote, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24). A leader who wants to stand strong for a lifetime, will learn to invite the Holy Spirit to search their heart and soul. You will look at your choices, habits, motives, secret struggles, and face them honestly. When you see your soul shriveling under the weight of sin, you will learn to run to the arms of God and turn from patterns and actions that dishonor Him.
Address compromise when it is small!
A wise leader repents and battles sin when it is still small. Better to cut off a “harmless” flirtation with a volunteer at your church than to deal with the repercussion of an affair. Better to repent of using the church credit card for a personal lunch than to be caught having embezzled thousands of dollars from the offerings of God’s people. Identify small areas of compromise and crush them before they grow into a massive monster.
Learn to run away.
The apostle Paul instructs his protégée, Timothy to “Flee the evil desires of youth…” (2 Timothy 2:22). Sometimes the best way to deal with mounting temptation is to run away. This is not an act of cowardice, but courage! Early in my ministry I found myself inappropriately attracted to a woman who volunteered in one of our ministries. When I recognized this was growing in my heart, I told my wife and I made sure I never lingered around this woman. In a short time, the attraction melted away in the light of truth and accountability.
Blow the whistle on yourself.
If you can’t develop habits of discipline that overcome a growing area of temptation, blow the whistle! Tell your spouse, a pastor friend, even a trusted leader on your church board. It is always better to admit your struggle than to get caught as you are seeking to cover it up. King David spent a lot of time and energy seeking to cover up his affair with Bathsheba. In his efforts to hide his sin, he heaped up more damage and mayhem. In the end, God knew and sent the prophet Nathan to call David to repentance (2 Samuel 11-12). A wise leader does not wait for God to send a messenger to uncover their sin.
SUMMARY
No one who travels the road of ministry leadership will journey far without facing temptation. Our Lord Jesus, God in human flesh, was the target of Satan’s enticements (Luke 4, Matthew 4). Who are we to think that we won’t face the same kind of battles? What we need to do is stay alert, identify the tactics of the enemy, admit our own human weaknesses, and decide to fight back. Don’t wait until you are caught to face your sins and admit your weaknesses. Make a decision to save your ministry before you lose it!
For more information on this topic, see the book: Leadership from the Inside Out, Examining the Inner Life of a Healthy Church Leader.
Kevin Harney (KevinGHarney.com) is the lead pastor of Shoreline Community Church in Monterey, California, the Founder and Visionary Leader of Organic Outreach Ministries International (OrganicOutreach.com), and the author of the Organic Outreach trilogy and many other books, studies, and articles. He is also a regular contributor to Outreach Magazine.
How Being a Cultural Alien is a Gift to the Church
Fred Mok is a 2nd generation Chinese American who was spiritually formed at Chinese Church in Christ - South Valley in San Jose where he was the English Pastor. Prior to vocational ministry, he spend nine years as a project manager and a business analyst at IBM and Hitachi.
Whether you're in an ethnic or multi-ethnic context, what would it be like to re-purpose your pain as a cultural outsider to be a redemptive gift for the kingdom? Any sense of lack of belonging that we may have is a gift both for the church and for yourself.
Fred Mok, Associate Pastor at Garden City Church in Santa Clara, walks through his personal journey of discovering what it means to be Asian American and draws some parallels that experience with Moses' journey.
Beautiful Day
Beautiful Day 2019 was a huge success!
Over 2300 volunteer slots were filled.
Close to 10k Volunteer hours.
22 Projects covered 7 Districts in the City of San Jose.
104 cubic yards of Mulch (enough to cover an NFL football field in 15 inches of mulch)
9952 linear feet of lumber (equal to 1.88 miles in length!)
233 gallons of paint (enough to paint over 2 acres of land!)
Citizens SF - Still being Sent
Four years ago, Citizens began when five people hosted a dozen neighbors for a barbecue.
Some lived in the house next door. Others lived in the urban forest down the street. A few already believed in Jesus, but most did not.
Over the coming years, everyone in attendance at that first cookout would hear the gospel many times. They would learn that we love them because God loves them. A few would believe. (And some will yet believe!)
Today, Citizens Church looks much the same, only bigger.
A Church Parking Lot can be a Home to Some
Saratoga’s interfaith program, started in the spring by seven local congregations and a community college, has begun one of a growing number of “safe park” programs across the San Francisco Bay Area, where the high cost of living has forced many onto the streets.
The homelessness problem seems to be getting worse. Affordable housing is lacking, housing costs have skyrocketed, and recent wildfires have left tens of thousands of Northern California residents homeless.
Saratoga congregations have stepped up to help some of those people. Drugs and weapons are not allowed at these sites and most provide a security guard. Most of the congregations open their buildings for a couple of hours to provide bathrooms, recharging stations, and, often, a kitchen. They rotate monthly to comply with local parking laws.
This is what collaborative compassion effort looks like. We’re so proud of the churches who have come together to help those in their neighborhoods.
Read the full Washington Post article on this program here.
Westgate Church's Parking Lot. (Nick Otto)
Rocket Scientists at Andrew Hill High School
Kids who grow up in Silicon Valley’s Latino neighborhoods, the children of groundskeepers, janitors, cooks and construction workers, rarely get a shot at high-paying, high-tech jobs. Just 4.7 percent of the Valley’s tech professionals are Latino and 2.2 percent are African-American, according to 2015 data from the American Community Survey. By contrast, 57 percent are foreign-born, with many coming from India and China, a local industry group estimates.
Programs like Quest for Space are trying to change that. Read about how internships are connecting first generation college bound student to STEM careers here.
Quest for Space teammates at Andrew Hill High School (East San Jose) launch a rocket to the International Space Station.
The Father's House - It all Started with a Conversation
Tim and Robyn married in 2004 and have two daughters (Ellie and Livvy). They have a heart to see San Francisco and the greater Bay Area reached with the life changing message of Jesus. After serving as associate pastors at The Fathers House for 10 years, they started TFH SF with the hope of bringing all that God is doing through the church to San Francisco. They are passionate about community, family, and raising up the next generation of leaders. Watch their story below.
Rise Prep - An Independent Bayview School
The Rise Prep Vision
After more than a decade in the Bayview, in 2015, several members of Redeemer Community Church felt called to unify their extensive experience in education to help form an excellent neighborhood-based middle and high school. Like many of their neighbors, they had long lamented over the inequalities in their city, and were excited about working together with God's love and strength towards His vision for the Bayview/ Hunters Point community. With a vision for a neighborhood school, a group of veteran educators from Redeemer Community Church founded Rise University Preparatory
Rise Prep is an independent Christian middle and high school making top quality education accessible to the Bayview/Hunters Point community and beyond. They follow a 9-to-5 school day model as a way to provide an immersive educational experience, close-knit community, and enrichment activities. Their partnerships with local businesses allow them to offer unique opportunities in project-based, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) learning.
Their hope is that the school can be an important neighborhood center, one that can help retain the gift of racial and socioeconomic diversity of the neighborhood and that can give back to their community.
Learn more about Rise Prep by visiting their website!