Cleveland Urban Plunge

Spring Break!!! One whole week of no classes for students. Many went to spend much needed time with family, while others adventured to other parts of the state for a nice vacation. A small band of students decided to make this week of no classes a time to minister and be ministered to. I am talking of the group of 13 students and staff who spent last week in Cleveland, OH for the Cleveland Urban Plunge.

(Sara Beth-front, and Mikaela-back, washing walls at 2100, the largest mens' shelter in Cleveland)

I was fortunate enough to be a part of this group and was able to cultivate new relationships and expand the old ones. There is so much to talk about from this trip, but I will just give baby snapshots of each area of ministry to give you a taste, and if you want to know more...you know where to find me ^_^

What is the Cleveland Urban Plunge??? Well simply put it is a service/learning trip. It is geared toward immersing students into the city life, learning of its culture, seeing what it offers, and to serve those in need. It also reserves space of great Bible study (last week we studied in Isaiah), intense article discussions, and couch time to relax and enjoy each other.

(This is our team. The mosaic was made by us making ceramic art pieces (each had a small square) and then Annie smashed them to symbolize brokenness. Her cousin made this mosaic out of our pieces showing how healing in brokenness comes from Christ)

Last week we served at a couple of homeless organizations, cleaning walls, serving food, and talking to those who came. We also visited a couple of
churches, heard incredible life stories, and helped to serve them as well by organizing closets, painting pews and the such. We also were given opportunities to go out into the city and experience it's culture through a city scavenger hunt and a day to go where ever we wanted. Many went to the science center, while others decided to hop the rail system and go downtown.

One of the things I enjoyed was our article discussions we had every night. We would pull couches and chairs into a circle and discuss assigned writings. A few examples are "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" by MLK jr., and what does it mean to be an Urban Christian. One article that really hit me was "Abandoning an Incomplete Gospel". As fate would have it (not that I believe in fate), I was to lead this one, but it was a great discussion. The basic principle of the article was how there is more to Christian faith than fire insurance. Much of the time when we try to do evangelism we tend to want to make the receiver feel like a bad guy (recognize they are a sinner and need jesus to be savesd from Hell). It's like we need to make bad news, before the good news can sound good. Shouldn't good news be good news to anyone who hears it??? That question from the article really struck me. "Why yes. Yes it should!" The article then goes on to redefing very common words we use such as lost, saved, believe, and everlasting life. Just for fun, why don't you write out what you know as the definitions to these words...no really...I think you will find this interesting...just don't look below until you write them all...ok GO!

writing....


thinking.....


writing some more....


contemplating....


looking up to the ceiling thinking......


defining.....


wondering what in the world???.....


writing......

and done........


Ok so how are your definitions looking. In all honesty when I read the article these are the definitions I gave (which were also the authors first definitions), which may or may not be similar to yours...

Lost – Someone who is going to hell because he has not believed in Jesus for the payment of his sins.
Saved – Someone who has eternal life because she has believed in Jesus and asked him to forgive her sins.
Believe – To agree with the proposition that Jesus, God’s Son, paid for our sins, thereby giving us eternal life,
Eternal life – Life in heaven with Jesus when I die. As millions of evangelicals have been taught to ask: “If you were to die tonight, are you sure you would go to heaven?”

Notice how these definitions focus on 2 things...past sin, and death (eternal life). There's nothing really there about right now. Life and living.

Here are the new definitions the writer came up with, which I find more appealing, and I think would be more appealing to non-christians too...

Lost – To be out of place, as Jesus makes clear in his series of stories in Luke 15. The sheep is not in the fold with the shepherd. The coin has rolled under the couch. The Jewish son is living with pigs rather than at home with his father.

Saved – If a person is lost, then being saved means being found, brought back to a place of belonging. This happened to the sheep, the coin, and the son. In each parable that which was out of place (lost) was brought back into the right place (found) – a return worth celebrating. So “being saved” isn’t about some eternal disposition – it’s about accepting an invitation to return to the right place, as a subject of the kingdom of God.

Believe – To trust or depend on someone or something. This is different than professing to believe something. I can say I believe the chair will hold me up when I sit in it, but that is merely professing to believe something. To place myself in the chair, to put my full weight on the seat, is to believe.

Eternal life – Jesus himself defined this one. “Now this is eternal life: that they [my disciples] may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3). Eternal life, a life in intimacy with God, starts now and continues as we move from this life to the next. Eternal life is not a prediction about our future, it is news about what God is offering us in the present.

Very different definitions than the 1st ones right? That is just one way that God opened our eyes last week. There are so many other ways he had done so, but that would be waaaaay too much to take in right now, so I will leave it at this. But do chew on that brief little definition exercise for a while. When you share Jesus with people, what do you normally focus on? I honestly would try to convince people of sin 1st (which there does need to be a recognition of sin to understand they need to be saved, but I think you catch what I'm getting at). I know have a new perspective and feel more confident in the message that God has given all of us to share. It is so much easier to talk about Good News, when it really sounds like good news!

(article reference - "The Word of Life: Abandoning an Incomplete Gospel" by: Dieter Zander)