For those on the street this December
French Fry Failure (*last time?)
French Fry Failure No, Lars and I aren’t smoking a bag of weed. It’s Five Guys fries. A couple weeks after Lars’ birthday, I decide that if I don’t get called into work I’m gonna go to Five Guys and order two large fries for lunch. The girl shovelling fries into the paper bag asks …
What Change Time Yields
I first sat on the curb with Lars a few years ago. He wouldn't look at me, or talk to me, or accept anything from me. The most I got out of him was, "No thanks." I quickly learned to not hand him money or food, but to simply leave it on the sidewalk for …
Broke Down
You know when you go grocery shopping and you get that cart with the bad wheel in the front? The one that sticks, or lumps along, or pulls your cart to one side? Sucks, right? Imagine pushing that cart down the road as you leave town with everything you could find while scrounging through dumpsters. …
The Square in which I “Live”
I drew this while covering a study hall. I needed to express what I felt when being with Lars, what he must feel, and I wanted to engage the students in conversation. This is actually my third attempt at this drawing, all in the same class. The first two were too disproportionate. I wanted the …
Is that Jesus?
My son saw me loading this sketch and asked, "Is that Jesus?" A Jack and Lars Update I haven't seen Jack since some time in October. I was in Tim Horton's, frustrated that I needed to get a job and couldn't just make it happen, angry that any job would take away time from me …
There was an old lady… a sex-change, homeless old lady…
There Was An Old Lady... A Sex-Change, Homeless Old Lady Just as I'm walking out of Rona, pieces in hand to fix my kitchen sink, she enters. She who had been a he. I recognize her from when I was sitting on the sidewalk with my buddy Aaron and Lars. Today she's wearing a long …
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Faces of Jesus: Lars & Christmas
Faces of Jesus: Lars & Christmas Today Lars has survived our first serious frost. I asked him today how he spent the night. "Right here." Under the awning of the building where one can go inside and choose carpet and flooring. I handed him my typical Nature Valley granola bars and a five dollar bill, …
Winter’s First Blast: Homeless Survive?
Jesus, I want to look at this guy and see You, but that's hard anymore. You, at least occasionally, I can understand.
We Would Help–and WE’RE “Church People”
Aaron and I are sitting on the sidewalk, talking to Lars, and apparently this old woman feels like we have sympathetic ears because she begins to unloaded her story. "The market is squeezing the seniors out onto the streets!"
The Devil, My Daughter, and the Town That Almost Cares
My daughter is teary-eyed as she gets in the car. The only religion off the table for the kids to choose from was Satanism. Witchcraft, okayed. Voodoo, okayed. "I had to switch groups and I broke down crying in front of the whole class."
Making Jesus Proud
My daughter and I share a dream. (Technically, it's a family dream, but this daughter talks about it the most, prays with me the most about it.) We call it: The Breakfast House. What is the Breakfast House? The BH is a place where missionaries who have no home, or for whatever reason can't go …
Homeless Jack needs prayer. Now.
Jack needs prayer. Now. I had planned on taking my time with this story and do my best to relate my experiences with Jack so that you’d feel like you knew him as well as I do. But now there’s no time for that. You’ll just have to fill in the blanks on what you’d …
Sometimes Life Stops You So You Can Live
Sometimes life stops you from doing simple things, like waking up at 4 a.m. so you can write. Not that waking up at 4 a.m. is simple anymore. I have to keep changing the sound my alarm plays so that I don't go through the hypnotic routine of sleepwalking across the room to shut off …
Street Drugs and Jesus
Faces of Jesus: Jack and ... Jack doesn’t see me coming so he’s off guard at first, wondering if I’ve noticed that he has signaled this other guy to put some stuff away. The way Jack talks, the way his mind seems so clear, his thoughts so logical, plus the I’m-above-them attitude he has about …
When the Sun Goes Dark in the Supermarket
T-Shirt Conversation #2 I try to listen. Sometimes. Even for the simple things like, I made this shirt. When do I wear it? Today I walk into the grocery store wearing this U Turn, U Live shirt. I have a conversation with a lady, but it has nothing to do with the shirt. She comments …
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and the Mariachi said, “Is Jesus staying in this hospital…?”
Faces of Jesus: Mikey I wake up early Saturday morning and it feels like God is saying, Take your guitar, go to the hospital and play ‘Because He Lives.’ I pick up my hymnal and flip open to page 213. ‘Because He Lives’? God, I don’t even like this song. Growing up, we always sang …
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Jesus Wears Johnny Cash Black: “I was naked and…”
Faces of Jesus: Lars I’ve learned. The next time I see Lars I don’t hand him anything. I say, “Hi,” and sit on the sidewalk next to him for a long and intentionally silent conversation, keeping five bucks hidden under my hand on the curb. It’s almost nice. I mean, twenty-five minutes of being still, …
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Jesus, Hiding In Plain Sight
Faces of Jesus: Lars God’s not subtle. I’ve just dropped my son off at youth group, and with two hours to kill I’m about to try grocery shopping at night. I’m hoping the store’s near to empty. No crowds. No lines. Quick and easy. But as I’m driving down the four lane street, the sun …
Faces of Jesus: God Comes to Jack
Tuesday After I play my trumpet, Jack and I sit in the cool of the shade and listen to the cars hum overhead. I’ve never been great at shooting the breeze. The breeze always moves, and I always miss. So I end up answering Jack’s questions. “What are you doing here?” “Playing my trumpet, talking …
Faces of Jesus: Jack
The Next Day “Ha!” Jack laughs in his chair. “You came back!” I smile as I step out from the morning sun and into the shade of the overpass. This time, I’ve parked my van in the McDonald’s parking lot that’s planted right next to this huge mass of concrete gray, the golden arches emblem …
Faces of Jesus: Under the Overpass
Two Days After Lying To Jesse I'm on my way to Grandma's, and I get to the turn where I can choose to take the highway or meander through town. Wanting to be open to God's leading, I ask, "Which way?" Feels like God says, Through town. And then as I start to go through …
Faces of Jesus: Lying
Spring 2016 I've just spent $100 on books. Books about missionaries. And I'm sitting in my car outside the Christian bookstore, trying to read this particular book about a guy from Pakistan who takes a stand for Christ and gets stabbed for it, trying to distance myself as I feel the Holy Spirit stirring around …
T-shirt Conversation #1: Ready, Set, No Go, Go, No Thanks, Please
You know, you get ready to witness, and God won't waste any time. I just made these shirts! Today's a bit rushed. Last day of school. A billion things to do. Award ceremony to attend. Bills to pay. Blah, blah, blah. Jeans on, I pause to consider my shirt for the day. Something says, Go …
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Heart-pricked
It happened and I wasn't ready. I never am. Sigh. I prepare for it, I even aim toward it knowingly. And then one day, BAM! It's happening and I can't stop it. My kid is starting to read. Last night it pricked my heart. Again. I've gone through this with all four of my kids …
“150,000 people”: Street Preaching (notebook)
NYC Pastor Al Today one hundred and fifty thousand people will die. The Bible says it's appointed unto man once to die, and after this, the judgment. If you died today, do you think you would go to heaven? Let me ask you this question: Do you think you're a good person? The Bible says …
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“What will be your answer?” : Street Preaching (notebook)
Washington Monument, D.C. Paul What will you trust in? Will you trust in your money? Will you trust in your family? The only thing you can trust in is Jesus—He is eternal! He has not changed, He will not change. What will be your answer for your account? Will you pay with your own life? …
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Voluntary Love: Street Preaching (notebook)
Washington Square Park, NYC Aaron ...He came to make people who were dead—alive! It was out of the cross that Jesus spilled His blood and said, “I love them.” All He asks is that you turn to Him. Come to Him now, come to Him as you are. Come broken and bloodied and no matter …
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God Is Not Superman: Street Preaching (notebook)
God is not Superman! Superman, although fast, cannot be everywhere at once. God is everywhere, all the time. Superman, though strong, has weaknesses. God is all powerful and therefore has no weakness. Superman loves one human more than all the others. God is no respecter of persons. He loves us all equally. The Bible says …
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We Need a Book that Doesn’t Teach Christians to Fear Muslims!
Pentecostal Dave Delgado discusses his missionary story and street preaching with Mennonite Church Leaders Betty and Marg Betty: First let me say thank you for sharing your story with us. Marg: Yes, thank you. I’m still amazed that you took your children to such a hostile country. Dave: Well… when God says, “Go,” you don’t …
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