Oscar Leiva Mar 25, 2011
God's Flashlight
We feel so blessed and honored to take God's Word to the people here. God's Word is a "lamp", right? A more modern term would be a flashlight. Matt and I have talked many times about the church being a "light on a hill" and that we sometimes feel like we are God's "flashlights" going into the trenches and the caves looking for those who need light. That is exactly what our ministry is. We go every week to two different towns and share God's Word with some very needy people. We never know what we are going to run into. They are inundated with dark problems such as abuse, suicide, prostitution, hate and drugs. This last week, we went to do our study at Emi's house just to find out that two of the people had had a huge fight. They were yelling at each other and the atmosphere was full of insults. Neither wanted to take the first step at reconciling. After talking with them for about an ...
Arthur Jackson Mar 07, 2011
In the spring of 1987 I received a phone call that changed the course of my life. On the other end of the phone was an energetic African-American church-planting pastor talking about a church that had been planted (and was growing!) on Chicago’s west side. At that time the Rock Church was 70% black and 30% white; furthermore, this mixed group of believers was “on the ground” preaching and practicing the gospel. By the time the conversation ended I was intrigued enough to want to see firsthand what was going on in the Austin community of Chicago.
Now, after nearly 23 years of ministry in Chicago I find myself in my third multi-ethnic church. As with the other two congregations, not everyone looks like me. At Holy Trinity Church, my wife and I are among the minority. At times we are challenged; that goes with the territory but we are committed because we share our lives with likeminded believers who are dedicated to multi-ethnic ministry in this city.
Why ...
