Life on Planet Earth on Neighborhoods

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What is God up to in our neighborhoods and communities? How do we join with what God is doing in these places? Church questions are a subset of these far more important questions.”

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Louise Beal

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Love thy neighbor as thyself, but choose your neighborhood. *for contrast

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Jane Jacobs

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Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.

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God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—our

God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—our Loving Creator, Redeemer and Guide: We praise and thank You for being with us wherever we are on the journey of faith; whether we feel You or not—You are here wit...

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God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: You

Author

Richard Herman

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Psalm 139:7-10, Romans 8:38-39, Matthew 11:28-30, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Isaiah 40:31, Luke 10:25-37, John 11:32-35

God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: You are always and forever for us: We can’t run away from Your presence; nor out-sin Your amazing grace and forgiveness. We can’t exhaust Your unconditional love nor ...

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God of grace and truth, holy and

Author

Richard Herman

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Scripture

Philippians 4:6-7, 1 Peter 5:7, Romans 8:38-39, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, Matthew 11:28-30, Isaiah 41:10

God of grace and truth, holy and compassionate—Father, Son and Holy Spirit: You hold the universe in Your hands and earth’s oceans hardly moisten Your palm; yet—You number the hairs of our heads and k...

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Lord: In our times of weakness and our

Author

Richard Herman

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Matthew 11:28-30, Colossians 3:12, Matthew 5:14-16, Romans 12:18, Matthew 5:9, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Lord: In our times of weakness and our hours of need, Yours is the strength that enables us to carry on, Yours the shoulder we rest our heads upon. When our load is heavy and too much to bear, Yours a...

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Precious Lord, take our hand, Lead us

Author

Richard Herman

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James 1:5, John 14:27, Psalm 34:18, Philippians 3:6-7, Matthew 6:31-33

Precious Lord, take our hand, Lead us on, help us stand; We’re tired, we’re weak, we’re worn; Thru the storm, thru the night, Lead us on to the light, Take our hand, precious Lord, Lead us home. The o...

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Rising GNP and Lowering GNH

Author

Don Everts

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There has been a paradigm shift going on in neighborhoods in the United States since the end of WWII. For decades before the 1940s, neighborhoods were places where people were known and were active. W...

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The Bar and the Church

Author

Keith Miller and Bruce Larson

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Scripture

Matthew 9:10-13, Luke 15:11-32, Romans 3:23-24, 1 John 1:8-9

The neighborhood bar is possible the best counterfeit there is to the fellowship Christ wants to give his church. It’s an imitation, dispensing liquor instead of grace, escape rather than reality, but...

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What Trees Can Teach us About Good Neighborhoods

Author

Don Everts

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Scripture

Genesis 1:null

There is a paradigm shift going on in the realm of forestry. For years there had been a consensus among ecologists that all trees were independent operators, each tree an island unto itself, the fores...

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Life Would Be Perfect If I Lived in That House

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Ashley Hales

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Perhaps there is no object more desired than a house in America. Meghan Daum writes in her hilarious and poignant book Life Would Be Perfect If I Lived in That House, “There is no object of desire qui...

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The Causes (& Solutions) of Poverty are Complex

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Timothy Keller

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Poverty

The poverty of an inner-city neighborhood like Sandtown was not initially the product of individual irresponsible behavior or family breakdown. A complex range of structural factors led to the exclusi...

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The Devastation of Residential Segregation

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George Yancey

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More people of color than whites live in the city of Dallas and in the city of Fort Worth. But they are more likely to live in poorer inner-city areas while whites live in the more affluent suburbs. D...

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Becoming Locals

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Alan Briggs

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“I got here as fast as I could.” This is my answer when people ask if I’m a Colorado native. This is a state where being born here gives you bragging rights. Drive around and you’ll see bumper sticker...

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Abusing a Very Small Amount of Power

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

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Matthew 23:13, Matthew 23:3, Proverbs 16:18, Luke 14:11, Romans 12:3, Mark 10:42-45, 1 Peter 5:2-3, Ecclesiastes 10:1

My wife is a big fan of an advice column called “Ask a Manager.” The articles offer a variety of subjects, many of which are serious, but some are downright hilarious. They often capture the absurditi...

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Reassessing Habits & Routines: Thoughts from the Founder's Desk

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Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

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For the past two weeks, the Strachan family has been living, working, and playing in Southern California, primarily at the beach, thanks to a close friend (yes, I know how ridiculously blessed we are)...

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Our Real Enemies

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Tony Reinke

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Enemies

Our enemies are not our circumstances or our neighborhoods or our bosses. Our focus on the theater of Christ’s glory complements our earthly callings; it does not distract us from them. Christ’s glory...

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Teaching Us What it Means to Be Human

Author

Jen Pollock Michel

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Scripture

Matthew 6:9-13, Luke 11:2-4

In her engaging work, Teach us to Want , Jen Pollock Michel describes the nature of The Lord’s Prayer: To borrow from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the Lord’s Prayer is our “yes to God’s earth.” The Lor...

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Life with the Dull Bits

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Tish Harrison Warren

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Alfred Hitchcock said movies are “life with the dull bits cut out.” Car chases and first kisses, interesting plot lines and good conversations. We don’t want to watch our lead character going on a wal...

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Daniel Hill

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Culture plays a direct and significant role in how we learn to see both our neighbors and ourselves. Culture shapes how and what we see, and how and what we see..

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G. K. Chesterton

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We make our friends; we make our enemies; but God makes our next door neighbor.

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Location, Location, Location

Author

William W. Klein

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Luke 10:25-37, Matthew 13:34-35, Acts 13:15, Mark 12:28-31, John 10:22-23

As in buying real estate, three principles are crucial to understanding a person’s words: location, location, and location. We cannot make sense of what someone says unless we understand the context i...

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Author

Erin M. Straza

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Most people I know who establish new patterns of healthy living do so in community.

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The Mayor in the Projects

Author

Melinda Joy Mingo

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Revelation 21:3, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Romans 8:3, Isaiah 53:5, Hebrews 2:14-15, Matthew 1:23

During spring 1981, one of my favorite persons at the time, Chicago mayor Jane Byrne, made the announcement that she and her husband were going to move into my old neighborhood: the Cabrini-Green hous...

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Getting Sorted

Author

Bill Bishop

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As people seek out the social settings they prefer—as they choose the group that makes them feel the most comfortable—the nation grows more politically segregated—and the benefit that ought to come wi...

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Author

Brian D. McLaren

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To be truly good means more than not robbing people . . . To be truly good means more than being righteously religious . . . To be truly good means being a good neighbor. . . . And to be a good neighb...

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Author

Rodney Stark

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Homelessness

To cities filled with the homeless and impoverished, Christianity offered charity as well as hope. To cities filled with newcomers and strangers, Christianity offered an immediate basis for attachment...

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Author

J. Hooker

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Place

Entering a place that is new to us, or seeing a familiar place anew, we move from part to part, simultaneously perceiving individual persons and things and discovering their relationships, so that, wi...

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Author

Michael Wear

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We do not love our neighbor for affirmation, but because we have been loved first. Now is not the time to withdraw, but to refine our intentions and pursue public faithfulness.

life on planet earth on Neighborhoods

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