who needs J.C. Watts?

"May I have a food basket please. I know that it is close to the holiday and I am sorry to be in the position to be like a nuisance or in yall's or the way. (Then he puts his social security number and birthday)."

"Luke, Brother Luke I tried to give you some kind of donation or to give some kind of tithing, but it just wont happen. Sorry please keep helping me, if you need washing powder let me know."

"Dear God, Thank you, Cross and Crown for the food that we eat. In the name of Jesus. Amen."

"Merry XMAS and a Happy New Year"

"Luke, See how beat up this card is!? Please Bless me with a deck!!"

"Luke, Is there anyone who will starch my clothes for me. I like the clothes that was given to me, and I want them to last me, long as possible"

"K.O.M.A. Prep player of the Week 1975...Jet Player of the Week by Jet Magazine 1977... MVP at Taft Stadium OKC Preview 1975"

"Luke, May I have the same on hot dogs and the peppered beef. I talk to brother Paul last week. And I am to get with you and him about the amount and the fixin of my food baskets"

"To: Luke, May I have a food basket with a can of ham, and a can of sardines (for sho)"

"May I have a food basket please. I know that it is close to the holiday and I am sorry to be in the position to be like a nuisance or in yall's or the way. (Then he puts his social security number and birthday)."

The following messages on each of these note cards have been collected over the last year and a half or so from one of my favorite friends downtown. His name is Michael and until recently he was homeless. Michael was an all-state football player (an alternate to Oklahoma's own J.C. Watts) at Star Spencer high school and briefly attended college at Arkansas Pine Bluff.Michael now lives in a home where he pays rent to a few others in exchange for a room. Michael is an interesting man.

I won't say much else about Michael's personal life but I don't think he would mind if I shared some of his cards with you. The first several months, close to a year, that I knew Michael he wouldn't speak but two words to me but would hand me a envelope full of note cards. Usually his requests were simple but had to be met to perfection or he became upset. Over time, I guess once a level of trust was built, Michael began to speak more and be a little more flexible with his requests.

He is a very thankful person but is often easily aggravated. Michael openly admits he is bi-polar and from time to time deals with other struggles. Michael is a funny man and has a pretty comical personality when he is in a good mood. We see Michael pretty much every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, as well as, most Sundays.

Michael keeps a pretty tight schedule. Honestly, he probably has a more structured plan on a week to week basis than I do. In fact, I know he does. The messages above are some of my favorite messages Michael has given me over the course of time. My favorite is the one that he ends with, "fo show". Ha ha. But, I also enjoy the Christmas card he made this past year. I wasn't the only one to receive one. Every staff member and several volunteers also received Christmas index cards from Michael.

Enjoy.

Sunday night happenings

Starting this Sunday evening Cross and Crown will be starting up with our Sunday night meal and worship for anyone interested. There will be people that walk in from the neighborhood and others who drive in from Edmond and other parts of Okc. All are welcome. It is a great time to meet, eat, worship and build relationship.

Also, anyone interested in helping out with some of the youth have an opportunity to do so before the meal and worship. Starting at 4:00pm Rock Island will be open and full of kids from the neighborhood who need some homework help or just want to chat. We have been broadcasting to the youth, elementary and jr. high kids in particular, that there will be individuals on Sunday nights who will help out with homework. There were also several kids who explained they generally had their homework done by Sunday evening but still wanted to be able to participate. We told these kids they could come and chat or help out with the younger kids.

Ron and I intentionally scheduled this time on a weekend so that individuals who aren't able to help out during the work week are given an opportunity to be apart of the action.























Ideally, an individual or couple would come down to Rock Island, meet a young man or young women, help them with their homework on a consistent basis, invite them to the meal and worship at Cross and Crown and then build from there. You know, a relationship.



So, there you have it. This Sunday...

4:00-6:00 - Tutoring/Mentoring Opportunity
6:00-6:30 - Meal
6:30-7:15ish - Worship

See you there.

wake up, get swole, go to school

Today marked the first day of the 2009-2010 after school program at Rock Island. Scratch that, before school and after school program.

This year Ron and I have decided to switch things up a lil bit and offer a hour and a half or so of youth activities before school starts. Because our junior high'ers don't have to be to school until 9:30 we decided we would see what would happen if we offered a opportunity to workout, shower, be feed and get a ride to school. Today was the first day this opportunity was available.

At 8:00 this morning we had 4 takers.

Here's what the workout looked like...

Warm up:
25 jumping jacks
50 jump ropes
20 lunges with arms straight out

Workout:
3X15 - Military Press on BosuBall
3X15 - Roman Chair crunches
1X15 - Bench Press
1X15 - Bench Press on BosuBall instead of bench
1X15 - Pushups
3X15 - Medicine Ball Throws While Balancing on a Inflatable Frisbee
6X - Back and Forth on the Running Ladder

Cool Down:
25 Jumping Jacks or 50 Jump Ropes
20 Lunges

Next, the girls got the shower at Cross and Crown and the boys headed over to Rock Island to clean up. Followed by some delectable smoothies prepared by Ron and myself. I went with banana and Ron went with peach. The kids ended up mixing them. Who would have guessed?

After cleanup and smoothie time Ron was took the young'ins to school and then we got back to our normal grind (that's a good thing).

I tell you this for two reasons. Primarily, just to keep you informed. I like to assume you have some interest if you're reading this blog. But, I also want to extend an invitation. Anyone looking for a free gym membership/looking for some time to disciple kids/looking to workout with a couple youngsters or have 1v1 time with a kid in the morning this is your opportunity. We work out Monday and Wednesday mornings at 8:00 am, finish at 8:35-8:40 or so and then then kids clean up. So, for those of you who work downtown and don't have to be there until 9:00 or maybe don't work on a Monday or Wednesday, here is your chance. We also have showers!

If you are wanting to shed a few lb's here is some extra motivation...Following the completion of today's workout of the girls got on the scale and yelled, "I lost 4 lb's!!!"

The active, living God

Two weeks ago, following the conclusion of the school store, I witnessed a fulfilled dream...

It wasn't my dream. I was just blessed to be one of the people in the dream.

One of Cross and Crown's regular volunteers pulled me aside a few weeks ago and informed me that he had experienced a dream the night before that involved myself, Ron and a couple of the youth from Rock Island. In his dream he explained that he knew how many of the young people from the neighborhood came to Rock Island, the youth center, with the mindset of receiving something. In other words, to get something we had to offer. Whether they came for food, games, entertainment or something else, he understood that, like most other youth centers/youth groups, the kids came to receive something we had to offer them. As a side note, this isn't a bad thing. Kids that come to play games, eat our food or be entertained are really just falling into our trap! We really want them to find out about Jesus, but don't tell anyone.

Next, he talked about how he understood that Ron and I did a fair amount of pouring into the kids and how that can be draining, which I gave a strong, "Amen", to. He told us that there would be two of the youth that wouldn't just come to get, get, get....but that would bless both Ron and I and be a blessing to us. Two that would bless us. He went on to name one of the boys from our group, specifically, who was in the dream and was to play a key role. He also informed us that there was another young man in the dream who was also to play a prominent role. He said he was unable to identify who the other young man was and said it may not be any of the kids that currently were involved with us at Rock Island.

As he went on to describe the dream he told us that Ron and I would be praying with the kids in a group. He said that during the prayer the young man, whom he named, would be by my side or next to me. During the prayer both the young men he told us of were to bless us, to lift us up.

So, here we go.

A couple weeks back following the conclusion of Cross and Crown's school store, after being physically and mentally drained mostly because of youth overload, Ron and I decided to rally up the youth that were helping for the day. We told them that we would finish up the day by cleaning up, getting some snacks, praying and heading home. As we started to clean up a couple boys from a youth group in Edmond showed up to help out. They have been coming off and on over the course of the summer and have been a pleasure to be around. So, we cleaned, got snacks and the kids grabbed a seat so we could debrief and pray. After a couple minutes of talking about the weeks experiences we figured it was time to wrap up and ask God's blessing over the rest of the week and the upcoming school year.

I started the prayer and asked for God's covering for the upcoming school year and for blessings over each of the kids. Then before Ron finished up the prayer he left a gap for any of the youth to pray that felt led. Now, let me clarify something before I carry on with the story. 90% of the youth that come to Cross and Crown or Rock Island haven't been to "church". They haven't grown up in Christian homes, been instructed how to pray or been around people that pray on a regular basis like most of us have. What this means is they haven't developed ideas or "common prayer topics", I'll call them, to pray about....like traditional prayers, such as, "God, thank you for this day", "God, thank you for your blessings over...", "God, please bless this family with a sick relative...", or, "God, please be with me during this situation...". Which makes what I am about to say even more incredible.

The young man, who was identified by name and said to be sitting next to me or by my side, was doing just that. He was sitting directly next to me while all the other kids were spread out sporadically throughout the sanctuary. He then went on to say the following, "God thank you for the school store and the bookbags we were all able to get for school...Thank you for Luke and Ron and all their hard work and I ask for your blessings upon them and their families. I ask that your face shine upon then and bless them".............

I ask for your face to shine upon them? I ask you to bless them and their families? Wow. Quite possibly one of the biggest, largest blessings of a prayer, that I am aware of, that has ever been prayed for me. But, that's not the end. Next, after he had finished praying, one of the young men from the youth group in Edmond began to pray. He prayed a very similar prayer. He prayed for Ron and I and the work we were apart of at Rock Island with the kids. What a blessing.

Initially I didn't connect this event with the dream that had been described to me. Hello!!! The reason the man who had the dream couldn't identify the other young man who was going to pray for us is because he has never met or seen him. In his dream he just saw that there were going to be two young men. One he knew, the other he didn't.

I'm not sure when I finally realized that the dream that was to happen...just unravelled right in front of me. But, regardless of when it was that I finally figured it out, I definitely felt the power and presence of God.

I don't tell this story to make it sound like I am anything special, because I am not. I tell this story to be an encouragement to you who read this. Know that our God is the living and active God. He still does those "edgy", "old-testament", "why doesn't God still work like he used to" in the old days, things. God doesn't just want to be apart of our Sunday services and church get-togethers. He wants to be apart of every aspect of our lives. Be encouraged and know that if you desire to feel God's presence, He's ready. Ask.

Authentic Worship

"Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker"
Psalms 95:6

This is a picture I was able to take of our friend, "Oakland", at Cross and Crown Wednesday. I wrote a blog about him several posts back. He calls us his "kinfolk" and swears that my dad is his brother, that I am Danny Ainge and that my brother is Chauncy Billups. We love him and he loves us. He knows the streets better than most, but more importantly, He knows Christ.

School Store Complete

It's the first of August which means for those of us at Cross and Crown the annual school store was back in session. Every August, generally about 2 weeks before school starts, Cross and Crown distributes backpacks, pencils, rulers, paper, highlighters and everything else a student might need for the school year. We, as well as the families that came to receive backpacks, were pleasantly surprised to be blessed with some unexpected items to go along with the backpacks this year. A couple days before families came to get their backpacks, we were also given of hundreds of canned drinks, potato chips, cleaning wipes, stuffed animals and crocs.

School store is one of the most enjoyable weeks of the year at Cross and Crown. We, along with many volunteers, take a break from the more traditional setup that happens throughout most weeks and focus solely on the school store.

Check out some of the action...

J-O-B-S

As of late there has been a growing desire for jobs amongst the youth of Rock Island. I know, huge surprise. During one of the toughest times in history for grown adults with developed educations to get jobs, now the 16 and 17 year old kids want them! With that being said, I understand that most managers/business owners might not be super amped to hire a high school student to work for them. I also know there are alot of jobs that many grown adults and educated people consider themselves "over-certified" to work or not suitable for their needs.

So, my proposal, my need, my question to you is...do you own a business, a company or some type of establishment that is in need of workers? The summer is over halfway gone and school will start back up in less then a month. Do you have a need for workers after 3, 4 or 5 o'clock once school is over?

Maybe you do. Maybe you don't. Or maybe you kinda do or could have a position but you're not interested in hiring a kid from the neighborhood we're in because he or she is too big of a risk... There are alot of people I know, and even more I am sure that I don't know, that say they wish we were open different hours or different days because with the hours we have now they can never come because it's during the work week. They want to come help at the mission and be apart of the ministry that is already planned and going, which is great. But...

What if... what if you could use your current business or workplace as your own ministry.......You could hire on younger people and/or adults, even risky ones, just for the sake of ministry! You could secretly try to mentor or teach kids work skills that they could use in their current job and maybe even in the future. No, maybe not. You might have to spend extra time with them or give them a bigger learning curve or walk them through things more than you would like. Plus, you don't want to mix work and ministry, that's just asking for a loss in sales or more of a hassle for you because it takes up your time. And, time is money, so, hiring a "risky" kid or some guy off the streets that seems shady is basically a loss of money...and it's just ministry and you can do ministry at church or maybe even a Saturday.

Ok, really bad idea by me. But, maybe if you think it is a bad idea too and want to consider it because you like bad ideas like me, let me know... lwhitmire@hotmail.com