Setting Prisoners Free

sitting happily complacent my stability so content and stagnant Jesus declares "oh what a tragedy! I will never leave you where you are receive My firm but gentle push" humbly i submit humbly i bow humbly i pray humbly I need.... forward movement despite reluctance cleansing when I think nothing's wrong renewal despite self righteous pride Grace transforming my stubborn self and moving me beyond my fragile dreams Hope must empower us; to pray, take risks and for action. If it doesn't; the Kingdom of God within us becomes a meaningless, sterile contemplation.

As Phillip was talking, I started visualizing a scene similar to "Taxi Driver". A transient hotel. Tight stairways. A trail of blood. A very angry man and two extremely scared men trying to get away, and just LIVE..... Janice invites these two homeless men into her apartment. She knows them well. She has a case of beer and wants some drinking partners. Being alcoholics and homeless, they oblige. They're drinking, laughing, singing and telling stories. After a few hours, the alcohol is gone, so Janice steps out to go to the liquor store. JD has been out all day, steps into his apartment and finds Phillip and Drew chilling in HIS apartment. They were laughing, yelling and intoxicated in HIS house. He knows them, but he does not want them in HIS house. It doesn't matter that his girlfriend invited them in, he simply does not want them there; they were drinking up HIS money, the money he received being a respected Vietnam vet and a prisoner of war. JD wa...

Danny: I remember the day you stepped into my life I remember how you gave me attitude! I remember when you fled in disgust I remember your humble return! I remember how you learned the evils of an unjust society I remember how your dreams would shatter yet I remembered how you continued to dream simple dreams ... and we became friends My friend: you were imprisoned for a crime you did not commit that unjust felony scarred your short fragile life you were the victim of people's greed you were the victim of people's pain you were the victim of a system corrupted you were the victim of people's rejection yet you stood ever strong in the face of too much adversity! ... and we became brothers My brother: I remember when you shared your life story I remember trying to process the unspeakable horrors you endured I sat before you absolutely stunned I tried to fill my heart with empathy yet we grieved together we wept together w...

When I came to Chicago, I noticed that our call for compassion cannot be lived as an idealistic dream. One night, I gazed at all the sleeping homeless men and realized I was standing in the midst of a sea of orphans; a hundred guys without families, ostracized and seeking someone to listen to their endless stories. I was encountering anger, grief, hopelessness, mental illness and incarceration, not a cute little orphan boy begging for another plate of food. We unconsciously commit acts of neglect and favoritism when we conform or are stained by this cruel world. The weak get weaker, the poor get poorer and the defenseless continue to be enslaved by dominating forces. Our challenge is to wash away that dreadful stain, by not conforming to the pattern of this world! As the world teaches us to prioritize money, power and popularity, we lose the capability to truly love and experience the biblical vision of “pure religion”. James was calling his listeners to live stain-free, by taking ...

The raised revolutionary fist will remain but a fleeting illusion if it is unable to open its clenched fingers and lovingly lift up our sick, dying and brokenhearted neighbors; even our enemies. The raised revolutionary fist is nothing without Revolutionary Love! The raised revolutionary fist must be a voice for the voiceless, a voice with the voiceless and a voice that lives and abides with the voiceless. The raised revolutionary fist is nothing without Revolutionary Love! The raised revolutionary fist will lead the revolutionary down a very narrow path. The narrow path will get narrower. The narrow path is governed by Love in the form of the crucified and risen Messiah. The raised revolutionary fist is nothing without Revolutionary Love! The raised revolutionary fist will fight the “powers that be” by becoming powerless before the Ultimate Power; strength and courage will come through love, humility, peacemaking and prayer. The raised revolutionary fist is noth...

Thanksgiving and Christmas is such a confusing season. It is supposed to be the season of joy, celebration and happiness, yet many are struggling to see even a glimmer of hope. To those who are homeless, precariously housed, isolated in a SRO or institutionalized, this time of the year is often a season riddled with guilt, regret and grief. • Guilt over not being able to provide meals or gifts for their families. Guilt over having to rely on organizations and churches. Guilt over the mystery of estranged children and the whereabouts of family members. • Regret over relationships that have been destroyed and need to be repaired. Regret over the decisions that were once made and now having to suffer the consequences. Regret over not having a home to call their own. • Grief over what could have been, but isn’t. Grieving over their reality of alienation and rejection. Grieving the lost of those loving family members that once invited them in. Grief over the reality of isolation. At Corners...

As a shelter we spilled forth controlled chaos. We housed women with children, single ladies and invited our homeless and poor neighbors in for a hot meal and food bags four days a week. But then the year 2001 arrived, and announced itself as being a time of new beginnings. I married my beautiful bride. Cornerstone purchased the Sylvia Center and we started housing families. As the year neared its end, we found out the local Harper House was closing, and to our utter surprise, we were asked if we could meet the need and start managing our own Men’s shelter. By faith, a hint of nervous courage and not knowing what to do, we walked through the open door and began housing about a hundred homeless men. Macon ’s Overnight Ministries reached capacity and then exceeded it within a week. The need and desperation was enormous. Nightly, we had to turn away many men into Chicago ’s dangerous and cold hard streets! It quickly consumed ample time and energy as we developed the program....