Archives December 2011

As long as I can remember I have always been a reader. I call it feeding my soul and I have a voracious appetite. I find great encouragement and strength from walking with giants through their books. I find it sad that many miss out on this great opportunity for one reason or another. I think often of this quote and pray that it does not become true of me,

“One thing I’ve noticed about Evangelicals is that they do not read. They do not read the Bible, they do not read the great Christian thinkers, they have never heard of Aquinas. If they’re Presbyterian, they’ve never read the founders of Presbyterianism. I do not understand that. As a Jew, that’s confusing to me. The commandment of study is so deep in Judaism that we immerse ourselves in study. God gave us a brain, aren’t we to use it in His service? When I walk into a Evangelical Christian’s home and see a total of 30 books, most of them best-sellers, I do not understand. I have bookcases of Christian books, and I am a Jew. Why do I have more Christian books than 98 percent of the Christians in America? That is so bizarre to me.” ~ Dennis Prager, Jewish radio talk show host, in an interview in The Door. Quoted in Disciplines of a Godly Man, Pg. 78.

I love and have imitated Erasmus comment,

“When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes.”

~ Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536)

Elizabeth Hardwick said and I agree,

“The greatest gift is a passion for reading.”

~ Elizabeth Hardwick

I read many journals, blogs, theological articles, etc. daily to keep my soul feeding on and pursuing Christ and I try to always have a book or two going as well. Here are some favorites (in random order) that I was blessed to read in 2011 and that have greatly benefitted my life. Click on the book cover to order the book for yourself. Many Blessings!

Radical by David Platt

Crazy Love by Francis Chan

The Cause Within You by Matthew Barnett

Costly Grace by Jon Walker

Spiritual Warfare And Missions by Jerry Rankin and Ed Stetzer

Out Live Your Life by Max Lucado

In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day by Mark Batterson

Primal by Mark Batterson

Wild Goose Chase by Mark Batterson

The Dangerous Duty Of Delight by John Piper

Hudson Taylor, The Man Who Believed God by Marshall Broomhall

Experiencing The Spirit by Blackaby

The Heavenly Man by Brother Yun

The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer

How To Be Filled With The Holy Spirit by A.W. Tozer

Currently Reading

Forgotten God by Francis Chan

Revolution in World Missions by K.P. Yohannan

Reckless Abandon by David Sitton

I’m compiling my wish list for 2012… Tell me, what was your favorite book from 2011?

Last December I wrote a post entitled No Room At The Inn about how God often sends people (Jesus in disguise as Mother Teresa would say) to our door who have nowhere else to go or who need a family. Last Christmas it was a homeless girl just out of prison and then three Colombians, (two orphans and a government official.) This Christmas is no different.

Our daughter Mercy came home for Christmas yesterday and brought another girl, Angelica, who is without a family or place to go for the holidays. It made my heart swell with joy that once again the Bullen Inn has room for Jesus. Having girls sleeping on bunk beds, the floor, and the couches makes it feel more like Christmas around here. Another blessing this year has been the people coming to our door with groceries and gifts. That’s something new and wonderful for us. Usually we are the ones giving but this year it is the other way around and it has really made it feel like Christmas as well. It warms my heart to think that those dropping by with food, and presents, and those who collected clothes and gift cards and food for our family this year were also giving to Angelica without even knowing and according to Matthew 25:45 they were giving to Jesus.

Michael Wells, a preacher now in heaven, used to say, “When you become a safe person for God to use, you won’t have to go searching for people to minister to, He will send them to you.” I often pray for God to make me that person. I ask Him to send me and to send His children that need help to me. And the most intriguing thing is that no matter how hard you try to give God always gives you more in return. The fun and happiness that has permeated our home over the years as we took in whomever God sent us and the memories that we share and are making every day are treasures that silver and gold cannot buy. The Christ child is all around us if we are ready to receive Him. May there always be room in our inn for Jesus. Merry Christmas.

 

My sweet girl, Rebekah, came home for Christmas yesterday. She has been serving a one-year internship at the Dream Center in Los Angeles, California. We are so happy to have Rebekah home for the next two weeks. She has been so busy there and I have been so busy with Orphan Hope that we haven’t had much time to talk while she has been gone so I made her sit down last night and catch me up on all of the details.

The Dream Center (www.dreamcenter.org) is an inner-city ministry in downtown Los Angeles that ministers to  more than 35,000 people each week in the Center’s 40 services and 273 ministries and outreaches. The Dream Center is an amazing example of how the church should be impacting the world. In the first four years of the Dream Center’s establishment, prostitution and gang violence dropped 73%, the homicide rate dropped 28% and rape dropped 53%. The Mayor of Los Angeles and the City Council have publicly acknowledged the dramatic impact of the Dream Center and praised its efforts. In 2000, President Bush, then Governor of Texas, visited the Dream Center and deemed it “a model for faith-based organizations.”

I was so amazed and blessed to hear about what God is doing for and through our little girl in L.A. I really enjoyed her regaling us with her weekly schedule. On Mondays Rebekah helps count the offering from the church and then does an after school program with elementary, middle, and high school kids from the Echo Park area around the Dream Center. On Tuesdays she and her team deliver furniture and other things to needy families and then she helps in youth church on Tuesday nights. On Wednesdays she does office work for the Adopt A Block program and deliveries to needy families in the afternoon and then her after school program. On Thursdays she works in the office and then takes the bus out to her Adopt A Block site to pick up people for church. On Friday mornings they separate all of the donations that have come in during the week and bag them up for their site visits the next day. She does her after school program again and then on Friday nights they go to Skid Row and minister to the homeless there. She sometimes go with the prostitute ministry on Friday nights after Skid Row and witnesses to and prays for the working girls in South Central.

Saturday is a big day for Rebekah. Her main job at the Dream Center is in the Adopt A Block ministry. As I said above, the Dream Center has over 200 outreach programs and Adopt A Block is their signature program. There are 15 neighborhoods (sites) where they go on Saturdays and minister to the people there. Rebekah is the site leader for Nickerson Gardens in Watts. Nickerson Gardens is a 1,050 unit apartment project and is the largest public housing project west of the Mississippi River. It was the birthplace of the Bounty Hunter Bloods gang and one of the sites of the famous Watts riots in the 60’s. I was pretty amazed that my little girl is the leader of the team for this housing project. Every Saturday she and her team of 30 deliver donations to needy families, go door to door and pray with people, meet needs of various kinds and share the love of Christ. They have been known to help children with homework, take out trash, wash dishes, and all kinds of things to build relationships and thereby share Christ.

On Sundays Rebekah and her team take a 60 passenger bus out to Nickerson Gardens and pick up people for church. The church, pastored by Matthew Barnett, founder of the Dream Center, is Angelus Temple and is a few blocks from the 8 story Dream Center building. Rebekah and her 50-60 people that she brings from her “site” join with thousands of others at the church on Sundays to worship the Lord. Sunday afternoons she usually joins up with a group that loves to hike in the nearby mountains around Los Angeles. Monday her schedule starts all over again. She loves every minute of it and is blessed to be there and we are so proud and grateful for this opportunity that God has graciously given her.

So blessed to know this young man and to get to have a part in his story.

Well we jumped back in the grove of work this week. I have really missed our outreaches. Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon we canvassed for the joy of Christmas we are having at the church. The Joy of Christmas is a Broadway style musical and after every show we are giving free toys away to all the kids that come. I am very exited about this show! I watched so of the practices today and they looked very good! Thursday we spent in the office getting ready for Adopt a Block. I had a lot of work to do because for two weeks we weren’t in the office. We had so many messages to listen to and call back! Friday we canvassed again for Joy of Christmas with about ten people from the Movement. We literal walked around for about three hours canvassing one street after the next street. But we gave out about one thousand fliers on Friday. We also canvassed six different school this week. Friday night we finally were able to have our Skid Row outreach. It was awesome! We had about thirty new people go with us and they brought about ten bags of cloths with them to give away. Saturday we jumped right back into Adopt a Block. I was so happy to see my families again. We had a lot of fun playing basketball and tag. Sunday we had a guest speaker John Bevere. He preached a great sermon on never giving up when you have trials or struggles because God designs those trials for your growth and to mature you. Sunday night I went to the mall and the Grove with some friends. We had fun shopping and walking around the mall seeing all the decorations. I can’t wait to go home for Christmas! Twelve days!