All posts by Richard Harrell

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About Richard Harrell

Connecting life, art, and the power of story in ways that change my world. I am a disciple-maker and lover of Jesus living in a small town in Georgia. I am also on a spiritual journey, looking for points in life that point me to new and full life in Christ Jesus.

Hoods down; masks off

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For the first time since the Sixties (when I was a teen) race conflicts are consistently above the fold and lead stories nearly everyday. I understand that the battle for racial equity is just that – a fight. Ongoing, understandable. Uphill, yes, since as a white guy, I don’t always understand the nuances in interactions that can be triggers for racial offense.

I get the obvious, since I grew up in the South and heard the racial jokes, felt the attitudes of superiority, and saw businesses close shop when a black family wanted to take advantage of the goods or services offered. And I was abhorred by it all. It was wrong and I felt the hurt all this caused – at least, from the white side of the exchange.

But this is more than just about being offended, or not getting one’s way. People offend people. And none of us are entitled to getting our way.  It is about values and respect. And above all, principles. No one person is less because of color, cultural origin, creed, or choice of lifestyle. They should each be valued as they are by God…period. More unpacking about this another time.

If this Ferguson, and now Baltimore, conflict is about principle, then stand for you principle.Don’t hide in the darkness. Say what you need to say in the public square, not with bricks tossed from behind a burned out car or with your own hurtful slurs; but with honest, from-the-heart dialogue. And build a coalition of people who want to help bring equity to the community.

I hurt for the parents of Michael Brown, and for Darren Wilson who has the weight of shooting him hanging over him for a lifetime. I hurt for Freddy Gray’s family. And I hurt for our cities and nation.

Don’t settle for hiding hoodies and masks or behind the pundits who claim to speak for us. Live out the principles of fairness and compassion and mercy we each, black or white or latino or wealthy or poor or Left or Right, are called to extend.

And above all, take down the hoods and take off the masks. If you want your voice to be heard, let your face be seen.

Believing the Best,

Rick

Price of slavery, Cost of freedom

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Slavery has never been more profitable. But, human trafficking, as heinous as it is, isn’t the only end that the means justifies. Sell outs to subjugation go on all the time – bondage and entrapment are gussied up as the next experience to be had –  no matter how many shades of grey cloak it (btw, how can we rail against causing women pain and embrace the same in the name of pleasure? Using others for gratification or anger still leads to subjection.)

Judas gave up freedom for 30 silver coins. Whether he was disillusioned with the progress of the social takeover he’d hope would come with Jesus’ reign, or disappointed at being caught at embezzlement, he sold his freedom. Matthew and others give the details. Try Judas for your next character study. Or maybe not… it may be too familiar.

The cash he accepted equaled the cost of a slave (see Exodus 21) – 30 silver coins. Judas took his final step into slavery with the bribe, then surrendered it under remorse as the exact cost of a graveyard, the perfect final home for slaves.

Jesus planned for a better home for slaves.

For Jesus, these same thirty coins bought our slavery to sin. He cashed it in at the Cross. I am the direct beneficiary to this investment, a thirty coin bribe sought to capture and kill a King became the price to free a slave. Me.

Two simple applications: To the enslaved (yes, I know who I am – you do, too), your purchase has been proffered and accepted. The document is filed waiting to be claimed. To the set-free-ones, tell someone where freedom waits.

Rick the Purchased

Extravagant for good reason

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We don’t have to read deeply into the news of the week to find at least one article criticizing a Christian leader extravagant living, for spending too much on (fill in the blank.) Too much house. Too expensive a building. Too beautiful a lobby. Too expansive the property.

It’s not the journalists’ fault. We can make some unwise choices. No doubt. And when it come to money, we live in the land of skepticism.

But, extravagant for the right reasons, pays off.

In Matthew 26, a woman shows up during dinner. This woman cracks open an alabaster container of anointing perfume and pours it on Jesus’ feet. Those around, including the disciples, are appalled at the waste: “this decision should have gone through the right channels.” But, context can really help here. She literally poured out her dowry. She, essentially, relegated herself to serving Jesus as a single woman the rest of her life. The price of alone-ness, no children, no heritage, no safety net – an act of worship before the Cross and the Grave. The payoff, linked to the preaching of the Good News around the world for all time.

Three things to note in this story to help us judge wisely when tempted to judge others:
1) It was her call. She was the one who brought the gift. Broke the jar. Poured out the anointing oil. When we are tempted to judge Franklin Graham, Steve Furtick, or whoever next lands in the sites of a whistle-blower, our first thought should be “her call” or “his call.” Err on the side of grace and trust that things are right instead of suspicious. There may be a “bigger picture” issue. (i.e. Furtick invested royalties from his book sales on a home, Graham received long overdue retirement investments.) The investment: all that she had. The payoff: Jesus is anointed for his burial.

2) It was on Jesus. Being extravagant for a good purpose is a good thing. Some things we don’t skimp on. Cool toys in the nursery (what’s with the cardboard fake bricks!) New strings on the guitars. New batteries in the mic. One more word: double-ply.  I want the best we can afford to do the best work. It’s for Jesus. But, it’s also “on Jesus.” We’re going to make bad calls. Miss the mark. Choose unwisely in the heat of the action. And in retrospect, we will need grace. His grace and the grace of others. No excuses. Plenty of mercy. The cost: humility. The payoff: God’s grace is seen.

3) She prepared for the Ultimate Scandal to be told. Her choice. Her gift. But, his sacrifice. The scandal of the Cross, that God would leave the place of glory for a gory death. So the sinful, badly managed, neglected, mishandled life you and I hold onto so fretfully, could be forgiven, the books reconciled, the life changed, and linked up to the Good News. The investment: identifying our lives with the death of the Savior. The dividend: our lives take the back seat, the Gospel moves to the front because of the grace God has given us in Christ.

So, be extravagant. Make choices that take into account your free will, His generous hand, and the grace to forgive. And spend your life foolishly for the Good News.
Foolishly His,
Rick

Locating God

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I grew up learning that God is “up” and you-know-who is “down.” The psalmist says the Lord rides on the clouds; he chooses to dwell in the mountains. The ancients in the Old Testament looked to the mountains to where God lived. In fact, ancient cultures looked to the mountains as the place of the gods. Mountains were awesome, insurmountable, and only God could reign over something so spectacularly frightful. Or God dwells in the highest heavens, the clouds, or the sky; again, insurmountable, unapproachable, and no one but God can be up there.

Social theorist Joseph Campbell asserts that all people and cultures develop myths to handle the unexplainable, especially the nature and location of God. The mountains, the highest hills, the clouds were all completely off limits to humans. No one dare go there! But now, the myths are debunked (we’ve climbed mountains, surpassed the clouds, entered space, seen the galaxies) and, therefore, the “myth of God” is finally put to rest.

The writers of the Old Testament got it right. Yes, God lives beyond where I would dare go without a guide — he resides inside me where contradictions often rule, every turn may reveal treachery, and each cave or corner, darkness. God chooses to live within those who trust, love, and serve Him, even though the mistiness of wrong choices and the faint odor of damaged goods lingers. The grandest expression of the location of God? “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” The God of the clouds compressed to the locality of my inner self. He chooses to live here, inside me.

To the heights and depths,

Rick

Outreach Ideas that Energize Church: English Cafe’

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Who thought an International English Cafe would be such a hit! There are a lot of models and plans for church-based Outreach floating around cyberspace. Some sap energy and use up people-hours; others pour energy into the people.

Here’s what we imagined: a cafe set up with free wireless, music, movies, free good, stress good, coffee, cappuccino, and espresso, and opened in the evenings for internationals to come and meet and talk with English speakers. Since we’re in a very cosmopolitan location (Myrtle Beach SC has approximately 8000 international students who move here for the summer to work) we dreamed it out, promoted it well, and here’s the most recent story to come out of the outreach. Plans are being written as we go, so look for a model plan for starting your own soon!

Wednesday night we had cooked up about 36 hot dogs in anticipation for the students coming to the cookout at the cafe. It was 6:30 (we open at 5) and there were no students. There was a group of about 5 or 6 of us sitting outside, including Richard A. and Vera G., talking about how to love on the kids in Myrtle Beach this summer. At the same time there was a group of 4 faithful prayer team members in the auditorium. We had sought God, we felt it was the time, and we were waiting. Actually, I think a few of us (yes, me included) were doubting we had made a good choice having the cafe open this summer.

Then they came: 4 Ecuadorians. They were hungry and lived on 29th Ave. They went back and got 3 more friends and brought them to the cafe. Then in walked 3 life guards: 2 from Czech Republic and 1 from Poland. We turned around and there was a family from the ESL classes at the Myrtle Beach Family Learning Center. Nelson M. came in ready to teach the SELF DEFENSE CLASS and introduced himself to the Ecuadorians. Honestly, after that, I lost count of how many students and volunteers were there. My best estimate is 30 students and about 20-something volunteers. Praise God! We all feel this is just the beginning!

The volunteers were from our Seacoast as well as Impact Ministries at the cafe. We had been waiting. We were prepared. We were ready to see God work. They drove in on their bikes. Many had Seacoast bags and all had the cards we had distributed at the Orientation Meetings weeks before. I’m not much of a believer in “if we build it they will come” as much as a “Is God up to something here? let’s get in on it” kind of person. God is definitely up to something.

Please continue to pray for the students in our area. We had great “God conversations” with them. Almost all asked us “Why do you do this?”. We simply got to say “To share the love of Jesus in a practical way.”

If you have not joined us on a Tuesday or Wednesday and still would like to, please pop in. We’re open from 5-10pm through August. (Oh, by the way I think we went through 80 something hotdogs, slaw, potato salad and a killer bowl of banana pudding!)

This snapshot at Week Four of a Twelve-Week outreach project captures only part of the energy in the room. The most heard questions? Why would you do this for me? The most popular answer? This is the best way we could think to show you God’s compassion in practical ways.

Much prayer. Hard work. Occasional disappointments. A good plan to get the word out. AND DID I SAY MUCH PRAYER?

Here’s to reaching the nations … in our own back yards!

RH