Veggie tales...

Are you eating them? 

 Are you growing them?

Life in society must be considered first and foremost as a spiritual reality.

Let's TEACH the teachings of Christ & LIVE them.

Shalom.

The Lord your God is one; so love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.' And here is the second: 'Love others as well as you love yourself.' There is no other commandment that ranks with these."

It isn't rocket science...

Will you, in your own life, seek to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, love your neighbours, and work for the reconciliation of the world?

Participation in the KINGDOM OF GOD means...

ParticipACTION in your neighbourhood!

Look around -

Just help when you see a need.

What might seem small to you can be HUGE to someone else.

Become a good neighbour.

Jesus parting words to his followers ignited a missionary movement that has now spanned millennia.

In his teaching, he left no doubt that every commandment and every undertaking should derive from—and point to—love for God and neighbor. But undergirding everything Jesus said and did is God’s love for each person, most clearly evident in the love and sacrifice of Jesus himself. (Chris Heuertz & Christine Pohl)

Hospitality to needy strangers distinguished the early church from its surrounding environment. Noted as exceptional by Christians and non-Christians alike, offering care to strangers became one of the distinguishing marks of the authenticity of the Christian gospel and of the church. (C. Pohl)

Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything. Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless—cheerfully. Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it: if words, let it be God's words; if help, let it be God's hearty help. That way, God's bright presence will be evident in everything through Jesus, and he'll get all the credit as the One mighty in everything—encores to the end of time. Oh, yes! (1 Peter 4)

Give your everything

Give your drive
Give your strength
Give your passion
Give your sweat
Give your focus
Give your highs
Give your lows
Give your heart
Give your dreams
Give your intensity
Give until there's nothing left
And then give more

Give everything to your neighbours/hood.

Not just your leftovers...

Try listening...

If we would only listen with the same passion that we feel about wanting to be heard.

I've been trying to practice passionate listening for the past couple of weeks and it's been a challenge. When I really listen rather than thinking and formulating my response as people are talking, the entire conversation takes on a new cadence. It's slower and there's more white space between exchanges. It's a little weird at first, but it's also very powerful. (B. Brown & H. Lerner)

Love is real...

The kingdom is tangible...

Go ahead, throw your neighbourhood a real bone!

Show up in the flesh.

John 1:14

The Word became flesh and blood, 
      and moved into the neighborhood. 
   We saw the glory with our own eyes, 
      the one-of-a-kind glory, 
      like Father, like Son, 
   Generous inside and out, 
      true from start to finish.

Last I checked

Jesus didn't say,

'Go forth & bid caesar to do my will.'

Love YOUR neighbour.

Get up off your seat & walk across the street...

Wondering where to start?

Jesus says, 

"Don't begin by traveling to some far-off place to convert unbelievers. And don't try to be dramatic by tackling some public enemy. Go to the lost, confused people right here in the neighbourhood. Tell them that the kingdom is here. Bring health to the sick. Raise the dead. Touch the untouchables. Kick out the demons. You have been treated generously, so live generously." (Matthew 10)

A Place More Kind Than Home

Allowing your neighbours to move from strangers to acquaintances and ultimately to friends is what revitalizes communities.

There is no place where God is not.

Live that reality in your neighbourhood...

The Declaration of Interdependence...

That's what neighbourhood life is really all about.

Go ahead, find some others & verbalize it with each other.

Shalom.

Where you do what you do matters a lot. (d. miller)

Love Your Neighbour for God's Sake.

I used to think being loved was the greatest thing to think about, but now I know love is never satisfied just thinking about it. (Bob Goff)

I don't validate my faith with a church attendance scorecard.

I think of church as a vibrant community of people consisting of two or more of varied backgrounds gathering around Jesus. Sometimes they are at a place that might have a steeple or auditorium seating. But its just as likely that church happens elsewhere, like coffee shops or the edge of a glacier or in the bush of Uganda. All of these places work just fine, I suppose. When it's a matter of the heart the place doesn't matter. For me its Jesus plus nothing-not even a building. (Bob Goff)

Make your neighbours (& neighbourhood) a matter of the heart!