Setting Prisoners Free

This evening, I'm going to start by sharing a little about myself.... I was brought up in a good Christian family, with parents who loved The Lord, while also loving us 3 kids with an undeniable love. As long as I can remember, my parents were always heavily involved in our local church. My mum and dad both played integral parts in the leadership, dad frequently preached, was the church secretary and then became an elder! My mum taught Sunday School, led worship, was the Church organist and they were both involved in numerous other activities. We went to Church twice every Sunday and our home was continually filled with people from our church coming to meetings and small groups. We were entrenched with a solid Church life. Our parents also lived good honest lives; they didn't swear, didn't lie, didn't drink alcohol, didn't smoke, didn't do drugs, didn't cheat on each other and didn't even argue with each other. They made sure we didn't miss th...

When the  "polar vortex" hit Chicago this past winter, I had wished it was my time to relax and sit around a nice warm fire with a good book! Unfortunately, that was just not the case! As wave after wave of this "polar vortex" slammed good old Chiberia (the new nickname Chicago received this winter), things became a lot more serious for me! This was not because icy piles of snow, record-breaking freezing temperatures and face-burning wind chills can be extremely aggravating and painful, but rather, it's the realization that these insanely low temperatures and the endless plummeting of snow meant that life and death rested in my feeble hands.  This last comment may sound like an exaggeration, but it's not; the chronically homeless population is one of our modern day society's most vulnerable, as they don't have as many options to escape our winter's harsh and brutal elements! As I look back over the years, I regret to say: even though we ...

Rest In Peace my friend.  Humberto you will be missed.  Thank you for always smiling, dancing and staying positive through the toughest of times! These 6 photos are a brief remembrance of an elderly homeless man who stepped into my life in 2009. Humberto arrived at Cornerstone for the first time in his early 80's. Even though he was unable to speak English, and I unfortunately can't speak Spanish, we became friends! He immediately livened up our place with his infectious sense of humor, positive attitude and energy; everyone called him "Papi", he was loved, respected and adored by all.  During his final year, his health started rapidly declining, yet he kept smiling, dancing and staying positive. He spent much of this past winter rotating in and out of ambulances and hospitals for his ongoing lung and heart problems.  He also kept going to various appointments around the city, he desperately wanted to have surgery on his massive, (painless, but aggravating...

This morning, I want to draw our attention to a group of people who've been constantly subjected to judgment, harassment and hatred by a powerful select few, simply because of who they are and what they do. It may be their disability, their mental illness, their addiction, where they sleep, sit or stand or simply because they beg for a little loose change. This morning, I also want to draw our attention to another group of people who are also subjected to similar judgment, harassment and hatred. These are people who lovingly show compassion to the first group. This was the very environment Jesus was in, He had went into Jerusalem to attend the Festival of Booths and was teaching in the Temple. He was having quite an impact, causing people to either love or hate him, He was causing people to question who He was! There were no lukewarm responses! People either wanted to follow Him or kill Him! The Chief Priests and Pharisees were there also, they were big bullies who strutt...

WOW..... What a week!  Occasionally, (too frequently), I have one of those weeks where everything seems to hit me at once. The first week of February was one of those times, I was surrounded by never ending reports, conflicts, needs, tensions, emergencies, frigid weather and a whole lot of snow!  The purpose of this post is not to dwell on all that; instead, I'm going to turn my attention to something else that also seems to happen frequently; something I have to remember (and remind myself) when those highly stressful times seem daunting and overwhelming..... Good things are happening in Cornerstone Community Outreach; I can testify that God continues to actively work among our people, He is loving them and not forgetting the "least of these". I can testify that miracles continually rise out of all the cloudy mayhem!  When we become so focused on all the constant chaos, we often end up being blinded by the drama, which unfortunately results in n...

I think it's safe to say; we all want to be closer to God in one way or another. We wish God would reach down and touch us, pat us on the back and say "well done my friend, I'm proud of you, you've been doing great!" We want God to have our backs, we want God to make our lives easier and stress free, we want God to give us direction. We want to feel His presence. We want Him to be visible to us. We want Him to be on our side! We want Him to carry us through our difficult times. But, it doesn't always work out that way, does it? I think it's also safe to say; there are also times we don't desire that closeness! We want to run away. There are also times when a "close" and Personal God seems to be a terrifying thought! How about when we know we've been doing wrong, making bad choices or we feel God is calling us to do something difficult? These are times we don't want God getting into our space, because we don't want to be r...

I'm going to be honest with you all; this is the time of year when it's harder for me to control my desire for things, my lustful feelings and my envy! Let me explain why.... As you know, with what's been labeled as a "polar vortex", it's been extremely cold here in Chicago, which means my workload and the intensity of my job has greatly increased; there's a heavy weight placed upon my shoulders, knowing homeless folk, especially those sleeping "rough", could literally freeze to death tonight! I was born and raised in New Zealand, so right now, they're all enjoying a beautifully warm summer. This is the time where I see photos posted on Facebook and the internet of my family and friends cruising to beaches, relaxing, enjoying their holidays and spending precious time with their loved ones. When I see and hear all this, it's easy to compare, to easy feel sorry for myself, desire what they have and look across the ocean with envy. ...