The Complicated Issue that is Homelessness.

If you remember back to 2009, the nation was in a housing market crash. The church I was pastoring lost substantial support from attendees, and we had to take a huge pay cut to keep the church open. In reality, the Sr. Pastor and I had made the same amount of money needed to pay rent in the strip mall that housed the church. 

Before going full-time at the church, I had worked at a hospital, and the church. At that time, I worked two jobs to pay the bill. I left the hospital to go full-time at the church, so after the lost of pay, I went back to the hospital, making only one income, where there had been two.  

I was proactive and called the mortgage company. I was told "call us when you are a couple of months behind" so I did. I was told then that we could make a payment on the mortgage that didn't fit our actual budget. I am not kidding when I say the bank person said: "you are responsible to pay your house payment first, then you can pay utilities and eat!" Crazy right!!

God came through, and I was called to a church in PA who provided a parsonage (pastor's home). When we left the Reno, Nevada area, our home was in a deed-in-lieu-of-foreclosure status, which means we turned over the keys to the house to the bank. I should add that when we left at the end of 2009, there were over 650,000 homes in Nevada in foreclosure status. 

The reality of this story is that our family of five were on the verge of being homeless. While we were lucky, so many others were not.

I have had the blessing to work in ministry that served the poor for a number of decades. In fact, the church I went to start in Nevada was to help the working poor. I worked at City Union Mission here in KC, which provided me a wealth of hands-on experience working with people who are "Unsheltered." I have seen first hand the complicated issue that is homelessness.  

For years, I have heard people say, "we should fix up the abandoned homes in KC and give them to the homeless..." Or people say "the answer to being unsheltered is to provide housing," which social services call "housing first." However, if you watched the city of KC spend millions of tax dollars to provide housing in hotels post covid and then watch the plan fail, only to have them back on the streets, you might come to understand this is more complex than housing. 

Homelessness is a multifaceted issue that extends far beyond the lack of housing. While many assume that simply providing shelter resolves the problem, the reality is far more complex, involving economic, social, and systemic factors. In this series of blogs, we will explore the underlying causes and challenges of homelessness, with particular focus on Kansas City, MO, to offer a deeper understanding of this pressing social concern.

YES, for many people, like my family, housing was the need. There are many people who become homeless because of tragic circumstances and situation beyond their control. But, in reality, these people are hard workers, resilient, and find housing fairly quickly. They do not stay homeless for long. 

In this series, I will take you on a journey to explore the various complexities of homelessness, especially as it relates to KC. I hope you will learn and come to understand not just the issues, but some ways to work as a community to resolve many of these issues. 

One final word as we start down this road, apart from putting people in prison to house them, homelessness cannot be 100% resolved. Shocked? Good, then read on... 

Isolation in Ministry, Part 2

Last time, I talked about Elijah isolating himself because he was disconnected from God. He was busy being zealous for God but was not personally connected to the life-giving source of the Spirit. So, he ran off and is now hiding in the mountain of God, Horeb.

Here is what 1 Kings 19 told us:

And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

Amid Elijah’s emotional state, he believes he is the only one who serves God. He believes that his life is meaningless. He is tired of doing ministry.

What does God do in this situation?

The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”

Elijah is about to have an encounter with the living God.

The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”

Wow, don’t you wish the Lord would say to you, go out, and the presence of the Lord will pass over you?

I love what happens next, there are three events that most of us would expect to be signs from God.

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind.

After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.

After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire.

A Windstorm, an earthquake and a fire, but God was not in them… Listen to what happened next.

And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

God spoke in a gentle whisper, not in a loud demonstration of His power, but in a quiet voice. Psalm 46:10a says, “Be still, and know that I am God.”

What did the voice say? God asked the same question as before. Do not mistake the three events; they had a purpose, and they were to remind Elijah of who God is and His power. I think God had hoped the demonstration would serve as a way for Elijah to grow in his confidence and faith in who God is.

Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

In other words, Elijah, have you now found hope and purpose once again?

Elijah, unfazed, replies with the same answer as before, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

Sometimes, when our mental health pushes us into isolation, we lose sight of who God is and His power. Sometimes, everyone around us will remind us of how great God is, and deep down, we know that truth. But that knowledge does not remove the dark shadow of gloom.

Elijah heard God’s voice and felt the earth move, yet he was unmoved from his mental state of depression and feeling lost.

The Lord responds to Elijah’s heartfelt answer with a few action steps to restore the prophet and reassure him that God is still in charge. He tells Elijah to go and appoint two new kings over the divided Israel. He told him to go and anoint Elisha as his successor (future replacement).

But, then, God addressed one primary concern or feeling in Elijah’s answer - I am the only one left. Elijah felt alone and had no hope because everyone had turned to worshiping false idols.

Look at what the Lord says in verse 18, “Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.”

This is a critical theological point: regardless of how we feel and how things might seem, we never know what God is doing in other people’s lives. God had reserved or kept 7,000 who had never worshiped a false Idol. Elijah, you are not alone!

Isolation can make us feel all alone but look to Christ, and you will see Him and His church with arms wide open. Trust Him; He has you and thousands of others just like you. You are Not Alone!

TTFN

The Importance of Citizenship

        Today, in Kansas City, citizens will go to the polls. Across the city, people will vote for those who sit on their local school boards and directly impact the future generation. There is also a vote regarding KC Sports (Royals and Chiefs), with many opponents foaming at the mouth. The question is really more about the good of the city over the individual desires of a few.

        Long ago, when I studied Christian Education, I learned about the various educational theories. Education started at a very young age throughout all of the Greek city-states. The Greeks were well known for teaching children art, music, reading, and all aspects of a good education.

        Athenians (people who lived in Athens) were recognized as the Greeks most enthusiastic about education. Athenian love of learning manifested itself in many significant accomplishments not only in the liberal arts – where the contributions to tragedy, comedy, philosophy, history, and poetry, but in the areas of medicine and engineering.

        One of the things that stuck out for me was that the people of Sparta, who were also Greek, rejected this fashion of learning. The Spartan child, too, began at the young age of 7, joining other children for communal meals, physical education, and the study of law.

       However, the focus on Spartan education was much different than that in, say, Athens. Where the Athenians were concerned with classical education, the Spartans focused on training their children to be fearsome, disciplined citizen-soldiers who were the foundation of a powerful city-state.

        Spartan culture and education were essentially synonymous, as all aspects of Spartan life were in harmony with its educational ideals and practices. The single goal of their education was to incorporate citizenship into the life of every boy and girl to the degree that the needs of the city were the greatest need of all. Individualism was considered selfish and demonstrated a lack of self-control.

        The Athenian obsession with learning undermines their resolve and makes them “easy victims of newfangled arguments, unwilling to follow received conclusions; slaves to every new paradox, despises of the commonplace.[1] This meant they questioned everything and followed every new idea without any loyalty to the past, the culture, or the community. 

        Decades later, Paul would address this mindset in Christians in his letter to Ephesus. In Ephesians 4:12-14 he writes "to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming."

        In her article “Sparta, Athens, and the Surprising Roots of Common Schooling,” Avi Mintz makes the following observation. “Thus, for the Spartans, schooling on the Athenian model leads to questioning law and authority, the precise things that good soldiers must avoid devoting their lives to a common cause, their polis (City), and their fellow citizens.”[2]

        She notes that “many are working to return to schools a concern about civic, intellectual, and moral virtues.” Can you imagine the political upheaval to change the goal of education to be moral, smart, and civic minded?

        In closing, I truly believe that we have lost the concept of being a good citizen as individualism and personal agendas become the focus of local politics and residents. Maybe anytime we vote, we should ask ourselves, “What is best for the community and my fellow citizens.” This question should be examined through the lens of a Christian worldview of what the Bible supports.  If we use the Bible as our guide and think about the best of all citizens, then perhaps we can restore hope for America in our time.

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[1] Thucydides, 3.38.5. During the period of democratic and oligarchic revolutions during the Peloponnesian war, Thucydides describes how boldness was prized above prudent investigation and planning. Thucydides writes: “ability to see all sides of a question, incapacity to act on any.”

[2] Mintz, Avi, Sparta, Athens, and the Surprising Roots of Common Schooling, (Philosophy of Education Society, Urbana, Il. 2019) 111-112.

Shout It Out

Goal: Hope Through You
Theme: Social
Difficulty: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (6/10)

Hey, Fellow Followers of Christ,

Imagine this - you win an award, walk up on stage to accept the award, and have the opportunity to give an acceptance speech. In that speech, who do you thank? Who helped you become who you are today?

That leads me to today’s challenge - giving someone a social shout-out!

Jump on social media and create a quick post, answering one of these questions:

• Where would you be without God in your life?
• Why do we call it Good Friday when it is the day Jesus died on the cross?
• What has Jesus done in your life?
• Who is a church leader/volunteer who made an impact in your life?
• Why do you love your church?
• Why are you so excited to celebrate Easter this year?

Your post doesn’t need to be long or fancy, just a quick post saying thank you. Here’s what that might look like:

Shout-out to my church, Summit Point Church! They offer awesome kids classes every week so I know my kids are learning great things while I enjoy the worship and sermons. So thankful for all the volunteers who love my kids so much!

I just want to give a social shout-out to the church's leadership team! Because of there influence on my life I have the confidence to follow God’s plan for my life.  I really appreciate them!

Just want to give a shout-out to Jesus right now, He’s totally changed my life! I used to walk around without purpose and now I know what I’m living for. And I’m thankful Summit Point Church helped me find Jesus!

See? Super simple. Just a few sentences thanking someone for helping you be the person you are today. Ready? Go!

 

If Adam and Eve Had Only Known...

        Genesis 4 opens with the birth of two sons and the first family. Verse 2 tells us, " Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil." We know that Cain's offering to the Lord was not well received, and God told him, "And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” Sin is already in his heart, looking to devour him, and his goal, according to God, is mastery of sin, not the other way around. 

    Yet, later in Verse 8, " Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him."

         I want you to ask a few questions about the above story. After the incident, do we see a call for "Rock Control?" Is the issue that the object used by Cain is the real problem here? Could there be a parenting issue? Is this the fault of Adam and Eve? Perhaps if they had done a better job of instructing their sons and hidden all the weapons, Able would still be alive!

I say this in just, but I see people again up in arms after the "mass shooting" at Union Station after the Chiefs rally. Guns are the issue! If Adam and Even could tell us one thing about Genesis 4, it would not be that guns led to Abel's death; it was a heart condition called sin.

        Please know that I am not talking about gun control in today's blog; that would be silly. I want to talk about the bigger picture and perhaps give my two cents about alternatives to gun control. As I mentioned above, the real issue is sin and the heart, which our culture has attempted to cancel. Allow me to make three observations related to the recent event in KC and the nation at large.

1) We need empathy before we can talk about the fix. Too often, people will blame everything: the kids, the guns, etc., making the situation political and dehumanizing the people involved. Let me remind you that the shooters were two teenagers; what was going on, why did they have guns, and what was going on in their lives?

        I am not sure too many people care about the two young men more than the pastor's like me in KC. They are criminals in most people's minds and need to pay for their crimes... I am glad to hear that Youth for Christ was invited to visit with the two teens at the detention center. Just like Cain, their sinful actions affected everyone, including their futures. 

2) Too often, the wrong questions are being asked. The correct question is, why did they resort to violence? Are these two and other teens who have been an ongoing issue in KC the product of the school-to-prison pipeline? Is this a parenting issue? We need to look below the water at the iceberg and resource a solution for that, and not focus on the behavior we see above the waterline. 

3) Politics and Agendas have produced prophetic results. Although this was not the intended result, it is the result of decades of political design. Here are a few examples:

• Take religion, morals, prayer, and the Bible out of schools and the public sector - replace it with evolution that devalues human life, and philosophy that says if it makes you happy, it is okay,
• Sex and gender distortion that demeans what male and female roles are.
• Tough on Crime policies that are Punitive instead of Restorative.
• Taking away the rights of parents in the name of progressive politics, where the state and schools have more rights than the parents. Worse, parents are afraid to correct behavior and are not given real resources to help.

We live in a time when the message to parents, especially by the state, is "Don't Spank a child; talk to them." Missouri Trust Fund is running a campaign called "Something we Agree On," which, as you can see from the website, tells parents, "94% of Missouri adults agree there are better ways to disciple a child than to use physical punishment."

I don't know about you, but no one asked me, but I know how statistics can be skewed for your purpose, which in this case is to guilt parents into a certain model of parenting. To reinforce this ideology, they place the abuse hotline info at the top, to say passive-aggressively, if you are one of the 6% who spanks, you are a child abuser and a bad parent!

Please do not get me wrong; I totally support positive reinforcement. I have written a handbook for parents on the subject, but there still have to be physical consequences for wrong behavior. Think about it: those same people who are promoting the aforementioned model are all for punishment now for two teens. You don't hear them saying we need to sit down and have "Teachable Moments" at times like this.

How do we actually move forward in this mess? Let me give a few suggestions, and maybe a few elected officials will take this to heart.

1. As nicely as I can say this, "pull your head out of your political ass." This is not about your re-election, it is about teens, parents, and our society.

2. We need more right-minded people running for office to replace the bobbleheads.

3. We need to focus on helping parents be better parents.

4. Realize that many parents are not parenting. They need to be held accountable for their actions. Remember when going to school was required, or the parent was fined?

5. Implement Restorative Justice over Punitive justice.

6. Invest in real role models, not drag queens!

7. Think about old community models over new stuff that is not working (i.e., Block Captains).

I have more and would love to discuss them with local, state, or national leaders if they care to listen. I am just a pastor who has studied criminal justice, human nature, and history, but it never hurts to think outside of the box.

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TTFN

Pastor Tigger