One great reason why we do what we do at Pedestrian Outreach Center

We met a man named David yesterday (Wednesday), who came into POC briefly. According to David he's 59 yrs.old, half hispanic/half native American. Originally from Vermont, he and his wife had moved to Texas 25yrs ago. his wife of 37 years had recently died of cancer and he had gone back to Vermont to visit his parents and two of his four children. While there he had a chance to meet some of his grandchildren for the very first time.

Now he was somewhat stranded in Troy, NY. Having made the mistake of stopping at a bar for a few drinks and then getting on the wrong CDTA bus, he found himself in our neighborhood. Lost and and a bit confused, he came in wondering "what is this place?" After introducing ourselves and telling him a little bit about Pedestrian Outreach Center, he opened right up and shared his life with us, along with his search for "spirituality" in his life. My POC co-laborer, Art, told him about his own experience with recovery and what set him free. After about 40 minutes David said he had to catch a bus to Albany for his return bus trip back to Texas. With a fresh cup of coffee and a bus schedule in hand (two of the things we provide free of charge at POC), he went back outside and got on a bus, and away he went.We may never see or hear from David again. But hopefully our brief encounter with him will impact his life for the better.

This is why we are here...to help pedestrians move forward in life.

Leave a comment! We'd love to hear from you

Peace in Him,

Dave

My take on the book of Acts: Origin of a new species

At the CORE Church of Troy we have embarked on a study and sermon series through the book of Acts. I have challenged myself to read through Acts anew, praying for fresh insight. I've read this book many times, in several Bible translations, yet there is so much more to be explored and known. As I was thinking of what to title this series, here are some of the ideas that came to mind

1. Church 101
2. The Church: a new beginning
3. Genesis of the Church
4. Birth of the Church
5. The Christian movement begins
6. The seed of the gospel spreads
7. Apostolic Adventures
8. Origins of a new species

It is entry #8 in my list above that resonates with me the most. The Church, aka the body of Christ, fits the definition of "species" (a class of individuals having common attributes and designated by a common name) whose origin is in Christ's finished work on the cross; through His death and resurrection a new species had been born; therefore, the book of Acts can rightly be called "Origin of a new species."

That's the title I've chosen to go with.

What do you think?

Whatever, wherever, however...I'm Yours, O Lord!

Earlier today I was chatting w/Phil, a Facebook friend and brother in ministry. We were discussing how God closes doors and our tendency to still look for opportunities when those doors are closing, aka, lack of faith and trust

Chalk it up to insecurity/lack of faith on my part. My prayer, more recently, has been more like, "Lord whatever, wherever, however, etc, I'm yours." Many times during the past 3 yrs I've wanted to give up and go and do something else. I even find myself searching for ministry positions on Pastorfinder.com every now and then. God has been instilling in me a deeper level of trusting in Him and His sovereignty. When Jesus said, "deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me," I truly believe He meant to give up everything...including all of my hopes, dreams and ambitions...so that I can truly be empty of myself, so that He can live His life (Zoe) through me. He doesn't just want to use my dreams and thoughts, He wants to fill me with a whole new level of hopes and dreams...wrought by Him...things I can't even begin to imagine. I am learning that my small dreams, limited by my human imagination, cannot begin to compare with the dream God has for me. This is why I believe God tells us, in so many places in His word, to let go(Prov.3:5-6 for instance) and let Him be God.
For me, it is as Paul declared in Philippians 3 about what he used to put confidence in...human achievement and ambition, the flesh, etc...yet he had come to a point (later in his life and ministry) of abandoning it all, counting it as rubbish, for the sake of knowing Christ personally and walking in the power of His resurrection. Paul saw himself as a bondservant...a slave for Christ. Whatever it takes, let me die daily to myself, becomong like Christ in His death, so that I may, somehow, attain to the resurrection from the dead (Phil.3:10-11)

living my life between the drama and the trauma

Sometimes it seems as if life is full of drama and trauma, with shots of God's mercy and grace in between. It is those times that I begin to realize how deep His love is for me.

At times I feel overwhelmed with life and the issues that rise up unannounced. The problems of life do not go away when we come to Christ and embark on this journey of faith. God simply gives us His grace to deal with them His way. I am still learning, after 25 years of walking w/the Lord, what that looks like on a daily basis. It means falling upon Him, learning to trust in His arm and His hand to pull me out of life's messes and to hold me up by His strength. That is why, I believe, David prayed so earnestly and frequently, "To God alone, who is my Rock, my Strength, my fortress, my deliverer, the lifter of my head, " etc. David was a leader and a man after the heart of God. He was able, by the grace of God, to see and confess his weaknesses before God.

All too often I find myself thinking, "I've got to get my act together," when what I need to do is bring all of my junk; my messy, chaotic, train wreck of a life to God, so that He can continue the good work He began in me and desires to bring to completion. That is a life-long process that is sometimes painful, but always within His good purpose for my life.

Philippians 1:6

being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

Romans 8:28

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

What happened to May?

Notice the abscence of posts for the month of May. "Lord for give me, it's been one month since my last blog post." May was an incredibly busy month for me, and we were having PC issues for two of those weeks. But, lo and behold, I'm back on the blogging trail, ready to get into it once again!

wherever and whatever of God's will

I have found myself questioning God these past few months. I have gone through a period of transition, a bit reluctantly at first, until I turn to God in prayer, in His word, and seek His voice. I find strength and comfort in knowing that God is in control of me and my destiny.

Prov. 16:9 says that
"a man plans his way in his own heart,
but the Lord directs his steps."

My prayer, then, becomes, "Lord, help me to be in step with your will." I can come up with a dozen brilliant ideas every day, but its the wherever and whatever of God's will that I am interested in. God will never lead me astray, and as long as I am prayed up and filled up with His Spirit, then I will know in my heart that I am where God wants me to be; physically, spiritually, mentally, emotionally, etc. If Christ is truly the King of kings in my heart, then He will lead me and guide me, and wherever He guides He always provides