Grace in Grey Areas

There are times where God’s work is black and white.  Sometimes it isn’t difficult to say, “This is good” or “this is evil.” Cut and dry.

I don’t get to deal with very many of those.

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There is a passage in the Bible that talks about God and the gifts that he gives us.  He says that good parents aren’t mean. That, if their kids come to them and ask them for breakfast good parents don’t hand them poisonous snakes.

Sometimes the Bible is extreme.

I heard a sermon once that talked about that passage.  The guy giving the talk said something like, “So, remember sometimes we don’t get what we want because good parents don’t give their kids snakes.  Maybe the thing you’re asking God for is a snake.”

That lesson has really stuck with me.  Sometimes we pray for things that we only see as good, but might actually be harmful to us– money, power, lovers, comfort.  So, when we aren’t handed those things, we are upset with God about that, but in actuality he might be protecting us.

This is what I am talking about when I say that sometimes Grace and gifts from God can often fall into a grey area.  I’ll share some stories.

 

Thoughts on Seedlings

Our garden projects are well underway here at Micah 6.  Our friends at Rochester Church of Christ took seed packets home with them in April, planted them and have brought them back to us in recent weeks.  This means a few things for us 1) We’ve been putting a lot of plants in the ground, 2) We have lots of plants sitting in window sills, tables, desks and anywhere else that gets a fair amount of sunlight in a day.

I was out watering some of these window-dwellers yesterday when I noticed something odd.  As I came to every set of plants, each of them was leaning either to the right or to the left, along some imaginary line.  The plants on the porch did this, the plants in the kitchen did this, the plants on the coffee table did this.  They leaned one way or the other, often times there was a line down the middle of their egg-carton planters– one side leaning one direction, the other side  to the opposite direction.

I thought that was odd so I really started trying to figure it out.

Finally, I realized what it was.  Sitting inside the window, the plants can fall into the shadow of the divider between our double-hung windows.  This means, in order to get sunlight all day, the plants had to lean out from behind this divider to catch the sun.

For a plant, sitting in the darkness isn’t an option–it would mean certain death.  The plant will maneuver it’s entire physiology to move toward the light in order to be fed and fulfilled.

But sometimes we’re stuck.  Sometimes we are firmly rooted in a place that is darkness. What then?

Well, oddly enough, when a plant can’t move, guess what can?  The sun.  That’s right.  Sometimes a plant can’t move, but when the earth rocks on its axis, the sun ends up in a different place in the sky.  Often, this results in light shining into places that were once dark.

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If you’re an Armenian you’d say, “Even nature says you move toward the light.”  If you’re a Calvinist you’d say, “Humans are the only creation to choose to dwell in darkness.”

But no matter which side you’re on in that debate, it is still amazing that darkness or light, God is working to bring us into light.  Sometimes when the plant (or the person) doesn’t (or cannot) move from darkness, God brings the light to you.

And that is an encouraging thought.

 

Symptom-Centered Treatments

I was in CVS with my girlfriend the other day.  She has been fighting a cough lately that has been getting worse.  We were standing in line to buy the obligatory off-brand of Vicks and Dayquil.  While waiting, she began having another coughing fit.  The sound that she produces sounds a lot like a person who just had the wind knocked out of them. Her face goes red, her eyes tear up, her tongue sticks out–it is awful and there is nothing anyone can do about it.

People looked  uncomfortable, it was loud and unpleasant to hear and more than anything just made me sad to watch.

Once it was over I took the medicines from her and told her she could go wait in the car, and I would buy the medicine for her.  She walked out and I looked down at the two items in my hand, both of which made similar claims: relieve coughing and last long.  The BudgetQuil had the bonus claim that it would relieve drowsiness.

Looking at both products I began to realize: these are for symptoms only.

There is nothing in either of these products for healing or addressing underlying health issues that might be causing the cough.  They are only for symptoms: coughing and tiredness.

 

Gangs in the City and What We Can Learn From Them

One of the cool parts of my job is that sometimes I get invited to interesting things.  For instance, a couple of weeks ago, Transform Pontiac Now hosted an event where the leader of the gang task-force in Pontiac came to talk about the gang issue in the city.  He had some interesting facts, good stories and interesting insights.

He spent some time talking about how gangs go about recruiting their members– mostly guys from 11-14 years old which usually goes something like this:

• Designate a house a “recruiting house”
• Set up game consoles, have good food available.
• Invite neighborhood kids over and let them know the door is always open
• Keep it constantly “staffed” with fun older people who will build friendships
• Tell the kids that this never has to end, they can always live like this.
• From there, slowly introduce the kids into the greater enterprise.

Really, this is genius and their missiology (and that’s really what it is) is outpacing the churches.  We can either reject what they do off hand without giving much thought or credibility, or we can look at their methods and decide if there is something that we’re missing.

Lesson One: Alternatives for Guys

In a city where a tight budget means fewer and fewer activities for teens, kids are looking for something to do.  After a certain age they get bored sitting in front of a televisIon at home.  They start making friends, walking the neighborhood, or rolling with older kids. Urban boredom can be a dangerous thing.  We need to be creating ways to keep teens engaged during the after-school hours, on weekends and especially during the summer.

Lesson Two: Their Door is Always Open

Unless we are willing to be as hospitable as a gang, we’re going to get beat in the battle for the hearts and minds of kids.  It’s just a fact.  If we’re not willing to offer kids a safe place where they can let their guard down and relax, but a gang is, we lose.

Lesson Three: Staffed with Folks Kids Enjoy

Sometimes in churches, community groups, or ministries we don’t see “because you’re weird” as a legitimate reason to keep someone from a position of leadership, but I believe it is.  It is obviously acceptable in every other profession.  There are no ugly models, no blind art curators, no illiterate speech writers.  However, we seem reluctant in church and ministry to disqualify someone who is socially uncomfortable from positions that interface with the public. Gangs put recruiters in these houses who are fun, personable, conversational and easy going– not the socially awkward cross-eyed kid.  He has a role somewhere else, but it is not as the face of the organization.

Lesson Four: Relationship.

These aren’t blind sign-ups.  You don’t join a gang because a stranger came up to you on the street and said, “If you were to die tomorrow, do you know which gang would claim you?”  Willingness to give your life to the cause of such an organization comes from days, weeks, months of seeing how they live, hearing them talk up their life-style and watching how important these relationships are to them.  You see the community that comes with joining and you crave that.

Authentic joining of a faith community is similar.  It is by living among and observing Christians that you see the hope that they have, the community that they have with each other and the world-view that comes with that.  But that only happens if we are willing to let someone live life with us, in our homes, where the door is always open.  If we aren’t willing to do that.  If we won’t give kids the opportunity to experience the community of Christ, then there is a recruiting house nearby that is willing to give them a an opportunity to give them a different experience.

I believe that an aversion to drugs and violence is hard-wired into our souls.  But sometimes we ignore those aversions in exchange for community, which is also wired into our souls.  That decision, to embrace gang culture for a greater sense of community, can only be blamed on common people not being willing to be as present and caring as the gang community.  We cannot expect to compete for a city’s young people if we only see them on Sundays.

 

 

A Short Case for Pontiac

 

I talk to people everyday from all around the country who are struggling in the new post-recession economy that is emerging.

“I have thousands of dollars in college debt…”

“I have a college degree, but can only find grocery-store jobs.”

“I can’t afford to live anywhere but my parents house.”

“I feel like what I am doing isn’t making a difference.”

“I want to start a business but can’t afford it.”

These are common mantras I hear from people my age everywhere.  But, it has not been my experience here in Pontiac.  I’ll tell you why.

 

The Economics of Homeownership

I left college with a degree that I loved, but which was functionally useless to the world.  I was paralized by the amount of debt I took on to accomplish this and wasn’t willing to take on even more for a master’s degree.  That being the case, my poor employment prospects and negative net-worth really discouraged me when it came to the possibility of owning a home.

When I began looking for a house in Pontiac, I was shocked to find that my preconceptions weren’t accurate at all.  With high vacancy and a crumbled  housing market, the city is ripe for young people to buy houses at low cost, move friends in, and really revitalize neighborhoods.

 

To illustrate my point, the house that we purchased was a six bedroom, two bath, with two functioning kitchens for $11,000.  We purchased it outright and never had a mortgage to take out.  However, this was in a neighborhood with a lower income than other parts of the city, but our house in the wealthiest part of town will still only run about $40,000– a far cry from the $110,000 it would cost you in any neighboring suburbs.

 

The Economics of Starting a Business

Starting a business is always tricky, no matter where you go. But, if you’re going to start one, Pontiac is a great place to do it.  The city has already proven it can handle and support businesses in the food-service industry whether those be inexpensive Coney Islands or middle level more swakny restaraunts like Downtown Grille.

Or, perhaps you aren’t looking to start anything in the service sector, but just need office space.  Ottowa Towers, located just downtown, has many openings, is affordable, and easily accessible from the loop.

The basic fact and economics of it is that in business you have to keep revenues ahead of your expenses and with high vacancies and a needful market, renting or purchasing a place is much more affordable in Pontiac than it is in other cities.

 

But isn’t crime a problem?

The concern for anyone coming to Pontiac seems to always be crime.  But I am going to drop some facts on you.  They are sad, but I think are effective in relieving some fears.

1. Most of the crime in Pontiac is black-on-black and drug related.  Just as with any city hit hard by economic downturns, drugs are a problem in a few of our neighborhoods which leads to gang activity and its related crime.
2. Since switching to Oakland County Police, crime in the downtown area of the city is down 35%, city wide it is down 30%, response time now is five-minutes and Pontiac has more cops per capita than the national recommendation.

These two facts: crime is largely drug related and the city is becoming safer, means that  if you’re an upstanding citizen starting a business in downtown, you will probably never be touched by crime in the city.

 

You Will Never Be More Appreciated Anywhere Else

Businesses come and go in places like Troy, Rochester, Waterford, Orion.  They live and they die without much notice sometimes.  That is not the case here. Any business that comes in, any positive action is seen by the city as part of their comeback.

For so long all people here have heard is that no one wants to be here, no one comes here, no one thinks this city is worth anything.  But starting a business here and/or moving into the neighborhoods is recognized as over-throwing those stereotypes and changing those attitudes.

Even if people aren’t able to patron your store, they will still drop in and say “hello” and “thank you.” While that doesn’t keep a business afloat, good will is important for anyone.  You’ll get it here.

 

Giving

Pontiac, in many ways, is in rough shape.

In twenty years it has lost half of its population and the leak continues.  Many people have never been to a place like that.  Where I come from we are continually seeing new developments, new subdivisions, new restaurants, new shopping places and new construction.

That is not this place.  Our skyline is instead noted for its emptiness, not its activity.  Industrial buildings are empty, commercial buildings are at 1/5 their capacity, and with half of its population gone, every other house is vacant.

But where some see despair, we see opportunity.  High vacancy means that prices are low.  That is the only way we were able to buy a 3,000 square-foot house for $10,000.  That is the only way that a vacant lot is $100.

The city is also not very good at cooperation.  Churches, government, nonprofits, businesses –all of them are pretty bad at working together toward common goals.

In this way, we literally live in a place where a little light goes a long way.  $100 will buy a vacant lot which we can use to beautify a dilapidated neighborhood with the help of other groups and people we’ve made friends with in the city.

When I was in college I’d always say, “How much can my spare ten dollars do?”  The answer, in our case, is a lot.  Here is what we can do with ten dollars:

• $10 is 1/10th of a vacant lot we can turn into a garden.
• $10 is 1/2 of a fruit tree that will feed a neighbor.
• $10 is 3 packages of hot dogs that we can cook for our neighbors in a barbecue.
• $10 is a yard of dirt to grow vegetables in.
• $10 is 20 packs of seeds.
• $10 is our website for a year.

So, if you’ve been reading about our work, if you’ve been out to see our work, or if you think that what we are doing is worth-while and would like to support us, know that it does go such a long way to loving on our neighborhood.  If you’re moved to give, here is how…

Currently our funds are housed at:
Rochester Church of Christ 250 West Avon Road Rochester Hills, Michigan 48307

Checks can be made payable to Rochester Church with Micah 6 in the memo line
All donations are tax deductible and delivered to us in full.

If this is something you decide to do we would be very grateful.  Our calling couldn’t have been answered without much love and support from friends and family who are literally all over the world.

Thank you,

Cole Yoakum

 

How We Did Thanksgiving

This past week being Thanksgiving, everyone is giving away food.  Groups have different ways of doing that.  Elevate Detroit has a barbecue where volunteers bring food to cook on a grill hauled in a trailer.  Transform Pontiac Now cooks donated turkeys, sets tables and invites anyone to stop in.  We met folks who had pre-made meals who were driving them around and handing them out to strangers.  Everyone has a technique.

So, when we were given twelve boxes of food by the Rochester Food Bank, we had to decide what our technique was going to be.  As is always going to be the case, we decided that we’d be very intentional and very personal with the folks in our neighborhood.

 

My grandmother

Alzheimer’s is something that has been coming up a lot lately. This post is a lot of little stories and thoughts about the disease…

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Black friday will mark a year since my grandmother passed away. She had alzheimer’s and, by the time she passed away, had lost all ability to talk, adequately used the restroom, and feed herself.

Alzheimer’s is a bitch.

 

Doing Your Part

I love Nehemiah.

One of my favorite parts of the book of Nehemiah is when he comes to Jerusalem, lays out the plan for the wall and everyone jumps in and as the Bible says, “fixes the section in front of their house.”

This is Bible speak for, “everyone did their part.”

 

Lessons from the Road

As many of you know I did a tour of the south a week ago, telling people about Micah 6 Community and all of the great things happening in Pontiac right now. It was largely a fundraising trip, visiting churches I attended for long periods of time and meeting new friends along the way.

While driving I gleaned some shards that may turn out to be nothing, or turn out to be wisdom, or may turn out to be wrong completely, but I thought I would share them with you.

1. Extrovert, Introvert
I love people. Conversation is my energy source, chatting is my pass-time, small talk is my gift.  However, that isn’t the case for a lot of people. My girlfriend is one of those people. Jenny came to Arkansas with me and spent a lot of time with my friends and family and strangers hearing me talk about Micah 6 Community over and over and over.  By day four, she had had enough.

“You go to your meetings,” she said. “I am going to spend at least four hours here watching Downton Abbey and I don’t want to see anyone or get out of my pajamas.”

It is a blessing to have someone who is such a trooper about faking it, and at the same time will let me know what she needs when she has had enough.

2. Every Life-style is Interesting to Someone Else
When I was a kid, growing up in the middle of nowhere –in a trailer on five acres located twelve miles from town– I couldn’t wait to go live in a big city somewhere.  All I wanted was to be somewhere else, where I didn’t know everyone and there were things to do and the tallest thing around wasn’t a tree.

Well, on this trip I watched my girlfriend step into my world and think that it was amazing.  We went to visit our friend Bud, who works on a farm near Judsonia, Arkansas. Jenny was thrilled to be able to ride a tractor, drive a Mule and pick blackberries; all things that I grew up doing and couldn’t wait to leave.

3. Not Everyone Cares About Your Calling
It is easy for me to feel strong, passionate and excited about my calling because it is my calling.  You can’t be upset when someone else doesn’t see it, doesn’t get it, doesn’t thing it is legitimate. Ultimatley it comes down to it being a matter of your calling, not theirs.

You can’t take it personally when the call that God has given you isn’t the call he’s given others.  That is what it means to be different parts of the body. The eye isn’t called to do the same thing as the foot and even if you explain what the foot does, the eye probably don’t get too excited about that.

4. It is never too late to make new friends
This week I was lucky enough to meet some new friends at a church back in Searcy, my hometown. We spent a lot of time together for the ladder part of the week just sharing the love and passions and visions and callings that God had put in front of us and that was an awesome thing.