Echoes and Moments

This week the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson has grabbed my attention. Aside from hashtags, news reports of looting and violence, and a flurry of media attention, the death of 18 year old Michael Brown is a tragedy that should have been avoided, and reminds us of our country's deeply troubling racial and ethnic divides. On Sunday, I gathered with a group of concerned representatives from Fresno's local church to stand in solidarity with Ferguson, holding our hands up in honor of Brown's final stand as he was gunned down in the street. I stood with black, brown, and Asian sisters and brothers because it is not okay that these things happen in this country. I stood with them to remind our city that we face the same challenges as Ferguson and much of the rest of the country. Our racial wounds are ripped open afresh. I would rather draw attention to the voices of other people of color rather than continue with my own thoughts of the tragedy. One of my favorites is a challe...

There's nothing like some ancient theology to anchor your latest music project. With the help of Kickstarter, singer-songwriter Audrey Assad has put together a collection of eleven songs that deal with the wounded soul of humanity's grasping for the divine, grappling with redemption, death, and resurrection alike. Her fundraising campaign lasted a mere fifty hours and ended well beyond the target goal, allowing Assad to release the album free of the creative interference of a major record label, CCM or not. Although independent projects can be hit or miss, her effort has delivered on Assad's formidable songwriting chops and ear for melody. The album begins with the meditative droning of an organ filtered through a Leslie speaker, that classic tone captured surprisingly well where other Lo-Fi recordings would render the sound mawkish. The title track speaks of that paradoxical joy that comes from the redemption we experience as the result of Adam's original sin. Th...

Fresno's Fulton Mall, at the heart of its downtown core's revitalization efforts This upcoming year I'll be stepping into a new role in ministry I've been preparing for for several months. I'll be the Assistant Director of FIFUL's Pink House , an intentional  community that prepares young men and women to empower their communities in urban ministry, engaging the inner city through the lens of leadership development. My only experience in inner city ministry thus far has been through the Fresno Urban Internship, better known in shorthand as FUI , a six-week intensive inner city immersion where community, service, and leadership development combine in a unique and powerful way. As I write this, I reflect on the last six weeks, which I spent as a staff for the project in the heart of Fresno, a city of half a million with some of the nation's highest concentrations of poverty. There are some distinctions between the two programs. FUI is six weeks during ...