A little yeast and sixty pounds of dough

We have moved on to the next parable Jesus introduces which is the parable of the yeast. It was very interesting that in my boy Jason's bible it says that the yeast was mixed into sixty pounds of dough. That is alot of dough. You could make alot of tortillas or some kind of cake! Sock it to me! Chocolate! Pound cake anyone? Whatever kind of cake it is for more than just a nuclear family of four. This is for the relatives. Ya mama'n'em. The neighbors. Ya cousin earl with the lazy eye and green suit circa 1972. This is all about abundance and that is what the kingdom is about abundance. That being said I will leave you with this thought:


The kingdom of God is a hidden force in the world that will in time affect everything. Everything. Everything. Say it again "Everything."

Size doesn't matter

Matthew 13:31,32

The size of the kingdom doesn't matter. It is not about the big grandiose whiz-bang- flash things, It starts of small. I think this flies in the face of our American super size culture. We are always waiting for the next BIG THING! The next BIG THING actually has a small beginning. I think we are impatient with small beginnings. The kingdom of God isn't necessarily about big crusades or mass evangelism or huge powerpoint projector screens. It is about the small and subtle. It is a smile. An embrace. A good tip to your server at a restaurant. That is the seed of the kingdom and soon it will grow into a tree where the birds of the air nest in its branches (Daniel 4:19-22)

Eternal Sunshine in my Spotless mind

I just got a chance to see Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind and I think it is wonderful. Jim Carrey did an awesome job and he finally got my respect as a dramatic actor. Kate Winslet did great as well. You could never guess that wasn't her real accent.

The movie really made me think about all the past relationships I've had and my marriage to Yvette. I think it is truly better to go ahead and experience love with all of it's hurts and joys than to be a blank slate. I think this is the heart of God when he made humanity. He foresaw the pain that he would endure in creating us with the capacity to choose him or something else in the place of him. Seeing all the sin he chose to love. I am awestruck by the reality of that kind of love.

The title is from an Alexander Pope poem. Here is the stanza and it is beautiful:

How happy is the blameless vestal's lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd;
Labour and rest, that equal periods keep;
"Obedient slumbers that can wake and weep;"
Desires compos'd, affections ever ev'n,
Tears that delight, and sighs that waft to Heav'n.
Grace shines around her with serenest beams,
And whisp'ring angels prompt her golden dreams.
For her th' unfading rose of Eden blooms,
And wings of seraphs shed divine perfumes,
For her the Spouse prepares the bridal ring,
For her white virgins hymeneals sing,
To sounds of heav'nly harps she dies away,
And melts in visions of eternal day.

The Story of my Stuff Pt 2

Well here is an inventory of the things I purchased in Ethiopia:

1. A jebena (ethiopian coffeepot)
2. two coffee mugs with the story of Solomon and Sheba painted on them
3. bag of unroasted coffee beans (for Mimi an ethiopian lady in our church)
4. bag of roasted coffee
5. white scarf with ethiopian flag colors on the edges

This was pretty good. I say I did ok in managing my consumerism. It can creep up on you.

Soul food is the gospel!

Last night me and Yvette went out to the Soul Food Kitchen in Inglewood. Short ribs, catfish, greens, red beans and rice were all on deck. That was some real deal soul food although there are some better places around LA. Just ask the chowhound. It's funny because it got us to start talking about how good here Mom's neckbones were and led me to strange yet true discovery: Neckbones are gross. Who wants to eat the neck of an animal? We realized too that there isn't much meat on a neckbone but it is considered a delicacy. Soul food is an amazing example of redemption. Taking what was discarded and turning it into treasure. That's what the gospel is. A despised, rejected man from an obscure town in an oppressed nationkilled as a criminal who rose from the dead as King and Savior of the world. This makes me want to eat catfish and red beans and rice before every communion!

growing a beard...

they say having a beard is a symbol of wisdom. Many biblical figures wore beards. John Wimber wore a beard. Santa Claus. Gandalf. I don't know. It makes my chin itch. Maybe I will try to keep it if I can manage it.

trying to make money blogging

I have been online for 2 hours trying to figure out paypal and google adsense. You guessed it: I'm trying to make some money blogging. Two things about that come to mind:

1. I need to post more frequently (6-12x's a day)

2. I need to create multiple blogs for multiple streams of income.

3. I need some better technology to post fast and efficiently

Can I do it? It's possible. Just ask the Problogger

The world of the 1st century church

It is amazing to me how similar in worldview and cultural terrain Ethiopia is to the mediterranean world of the 1st century:

1. Word of mouth advertising is used for good purposes or bad. This means that word of mouth can help to plant a church as well as persecute a church.

2. Persecution is very real as many of our Ethiopian friends have experienced being beaten or thrown in jail

3. Agriculture is the main business of the day. The words of the Bible come alive as pictures of threshing wheat, harvesting, oxen plowing etc. are lived out before your very eyes

4. Belief in the supernatural is prevalent. People will turn to witchcraft in a heartbeat to cure their problems. This creates opportunities for power encounters with God.

5. Family bonds are strong. When the head of a family comes to Christ the whole family comes to Christ.

You can see why the gospel spread rapidly in the 1st century and also why it is on the move in countries south of the equator. The question is how can we see more churches planted and the gospel spread rapidly in the Northern Hemisphere? Are there opportunities in our culture which we haven't tapped into?

Derrick and his verbal paintings

My friend Derrick is coming out with his poetry book Verbal Paintings. He is a very creative guy who loves God. His book signing will be in April at Awakenings coffeehouse (more info to come) He has been a faithful supporter of our church's coffeehouse Awakenings so I have to give him his props. Check out his webpage Derrick Engoy

Afromatics

I have just taken up a fascinating study of a new subject: Afromatics. In the realm of Afromatics meeting someone at 4:00pm means that you will meet them 2 hours later at 6:00pm. It means that a 90$ room becomes a 120$ room because you are a foreigner.

It also means that 7 churches plus 1 more equals 20 because the gospel is spreading like wildfire in africa. Right now at this very moment there are 20 vineyard churches in Ethiopia and it happened in a matter of 1 year. That is some amazing growth. I'm just praying that God gives us the strength and the resources to keep up with the Afromatics.

Peeing on walls

This guy says that real men pee on walls. I guess Ethiopia is full of real men and this time I joined them. When you gotta go you gotta go. Sorry no pictures.

The story of Stuff and my way of packing

I am all about less is more. Except when it comes to books. If it wasn't for my generous heart we would probably need a separate storage facility for books. Althought they do cause problems when it comes to packing for trips. Other than books I am a pretty simple guy. So I packed light for my trip to Ethiopia but I forgot about needing extra room for when I buy stuff. Although there is a conviction now when I buy stuff.Probably because of the ideas being propogated through this movie The Story of Stuff

So I will take a tally of the things I buy in the Mercato and you can be the judge of whether I need all this stuff. Talk to you when I get back.

African leaders converge in Addis!

Kibaki will be in Addis Ababa for an AU meeting? Will I get a chance to meet him? Probably not butthe rest of the African union will and they do not want his autograph. They will be discussing this past election and how the ODM his opposition insists it was stolen from them. Read more about it here

On another note I will be in Addis in on Monday to visit churches and do a one day workshop on equipping the saints to hear from God. We will be visiting the rural churches started by the Vineyard in Ethiopia so it should be fun. We have a SAT phone, landcruisers, and we will be drinking plenty of coffee!

Check out my 2007 Ethiopia pics

300,000 displaced and a member of parliament shot dead

Now they are sending in Koffi Annan to resolve the tension in Kenya Read more about it here Over 300,000 displaced persons and a member of parliament shot dead outside his home all because of bad politics and ethnic tension. The youth are not going to take it and they have taken matter into their own hands. I think this is a warning to america and what we could become....

On another note there are some Vineyard believers in Kenya who could use our support right now. If you want to give money to this cause email me or leave your info in my comments.



ASSOCIATION OF VINEYARD IN KENYA
A description of needs and responses

Overall
The situation in Kenya remains tense and skirmishes are ongoing principally in the rift valley, but also in the poorer slums in urban areas of Nairobi. The estimates are currently that due to the clashes they are over 300,000 displaced person in various parts of the country. The Government has mandate the Red cross to be the central co-ordinating agency for relief efforts and has stated that they intend to close refugee camps in a month. We as the Vineyard have needs amongst our congregation for short term survival needs and even bigger challenges of resettlement, reconciliation and healing.

While we cannot fill all the needs, we ask our friends brother and sisters in the movement to join hands in assisting us in at least trying to help.

Specific Needs
We have numerous request for assistance across our churches with some places having dozens of displaced families squatting on already very meager resources of our pastoral staff and other where conflict has forced dramatic loss of livelihood and households. The saddest and most violent event was happened to a leader of one of our Vineyard churches who lost 3 member of his family in a single horrific evening. The leader received call that violence had erupted in a very calm part of the country, his two brothers rushed to try and rescue their father and mother and in the process were killed. The pain and needs are beyond comprehension, this request is for us all to play a small part in trying to get us past this.

Response
We have described in part a very small effort to reach out to some families in displaced areas in Nairobi, Nakuru, Eldoret, Kakamega, Kitale, Kisumu, Kisii and Mombasa. Our estimate is that we can realistically help a maximum of 500 families, which as a percentage of the 300,000 families is minute. It is our knowledge that this token help is a way for us all to demonstrate be involved and a part of the process. It is our assessment that we will need to supply beddings (mattresses & blankets), clothes, food stuffs (rice,maize flour, cooking oil, vegetables, sugar, maize, beans, potatoes).

In addition in limited cases there will be some medicine requirments, money for transport back to their homes or relocation altogether.

We do not have a plan or a budget for the long term issues of resettlement and community reconciliation. It is our wish to make a world wide vineyard appeal for ideas, strategies and most importantly prayers on Gods leading and wisdom on how we can make a contribution to this most central and vital aspect of the emergency in Kenya.

Yours Faithfully,

Noah Gitau
For: AVC Kenya



Short Term Response Budget:

The following is the required amount to be able to meet the above needs:

Food Stuffs Kshs. 545,000.00
Clothes Kshs. 75,000.00
Beddings Kshs. 510,000.00
Medicine (Hop. exp.) Kshs. 105,000.00
Transport exp. Kshs. 66,000.00
Logistics/ Misc. Kshs. 40,000.00
-------------------------------
Total expences Kshs. 1,341,000.00 (Usd 19,720)
---------------------------------


The above budget is enough to provide for the basic necessities for between two to four months for the above families.

As a matter of urgency we need Kshs. 210,000.00 (Usd 3,088) to buy food in a weeks time.

We ask for your prayers on this and if you and your congregation to be a part of this short term response. We ask for your wisdom and ideas of how we could promote peace, harmony and reconciliation in communities by sharing God’s word.

Yours


Noah Gitao
For and On Behalf of Vineyard

The big d's art attack

Hey check out my friend Debbie's art on the web

listen

I think God has a funny sense of humor. I was looking at Talib Kweli's video for "Listen" In the midst of all the busyness coming up I think he wants me to slow down and listen to Him.

I'm going to be a Dad

Yvette is six weeks pregnant. This is an exciting and scary time. Pray for us. Our lives are about to change completely!

Microloans

A big trend in the developing world is microloan entrepeneurship. I just found out about a group called kiva which connects 2/3 world entrepeneurs with 1/3 world lenders. It sounds like a great program and could be great for the people in our churches in Ethiopia. Here is their website Kiva loans

Change the cup

"Luther did reform the content of the gospel but did not change the basic structure of the worship service. This Roman-Reformed-Catholic meeting pattern was baptized by the Baptists, anointed by Pentecostals, misused by Cults, renewed by Charismatic Christians, put into uniform by the Salvation Army, drycleaned by Quakers but never really radically changed"-Wolfgang Simson Houses that Change the World
For some years now I have been living with a growing disattisfaction with the modern church machine. It is not the content but the structure. It is not the water but the cup.

Expecting

Just went to the doctor and confirmed that Yvette is pregnant. This is such a scary time for me. I'm going to be a Dad. Responsible for another human life. My friend Lena told me "That's crazy" I think so but that's the way God does things