I was about to preach at an evening service in a small church in a remote village in rural Honduras. I could barely see my notes, because the church was lit by only a few candles – all the congregation could afford, after their village was devastated by Hurricane Mitch a year earlier. Without wishing to be too graphic, the truth is that I was also fighting the worst case of diarrhea of my life! To top it off, I had just finished a bitter argument with one of my students, who refused to eat the food offered to us – because (very understandably) he didn’t want to end up getting sick like me.

In short, I was miserable! So I said to my friend and translator, “Miguel, I’m not sure I have a good message for these people tonight. So if I’m preaching badly, you just go ahead and say whatever you want to say.” Without missing a beat, Miguel responded, “Jeff, that’s what I always do when you preach.”

What power a translator has! The Italians have a saying, “traduttore traditore” – “the translator is a traitor.” I don’t know about that, but I do know that a translator has the potential to dramatically alter the meaning of the words she is using.

With that in mind, translating the words of the Bible must be a dangerous undertaking! I was thinking about the danger of translating today, after reading a comment about the book of Matthew, in David Bosch’s masterful book, “Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission.” Bosch focuses our attention on one of Matthew’s favorite Greek words “dikaiosyne,” which shows up in some of Jesus’ most famous sayings. For example, “…seek first the kingdom of God and his dikaiosyne, and all these things will be added to you.” (6:33)

According to Bosch, dikaiosyne can be translated as righteousness (a distinctly religious concept, suggesting a spiritual/moral quality to which we can aspire and receive from God), justification (God’s merciful act of declaring us just), or justice (our right conduct toward others, and especially those who are oppressed). All three concepts are contained in the one word, dikaiosyne. What a rich word it is!

Continue reading "Righteousness or Justice?" »

I've caught myself not wanting to update because I haven't had anything profound to say. I've also been procrastinating because it seems like there is so much to tell. So I decided to just share some of the stories I'm picking up on as I learn to love these gutter punks, oogles, and "disposable" members of Denver.

The names and images in these stories have been changed to protect the anonimity of the people in this post.

Continue reading "Their Stories" »

Why do I serve God so radically?

Over the course of my life, many people have asked me this question. I honestly cannot understand what they see as being so radical. It seems to me that what I do is very simple, and really the only way I know how to live for God. Thinking about the why however leads me to my parents. I guess it was when my mom and dad came up with this crazy family idea where we would prepare a meal, then all go downtown and serve it to the homeless young people on the streets.

Continue reading "Radically Serving?" »

I am constantly asking myself the question…Am I a servant, or a friend? Earlier this evening a resident from Joshua Station, the residential transitional housing facility for homeless families, called my wife in an excited state and said, “I’m moving close to you!” As my wife talked to her and shared in the excitement of a new friend moving into our neighborhood, I thought about the environment we work in where the question of servanthood and friendship lie in delicate balance for us.

On the one hand, we serve a population of impoverished adults in transition from homelessness to housing while on the other hand the line between professional and clientele are often blurred due to our love for their families, but more due to our shared need for love and support in this life.

Continue reading "Servants or Friends?" »

I do not think there has ever been a prayer over a chicken nugget dinner like the one I heard today.

Ever so often I am able to spend extended periods of time with just one of our many street kids. We will usually walk a lot while we talk. The setting is the same most times where we circle the two mile Sixteenth Street Mall route. As I think about it now, I will never cease to be amazed at how the hundreds of other people seem to disappear all around us as we walk and talk.

During one such time my friend and I talked at length about how God had created all things, including relationships. I told the story of Adam’s first look at Eve and how he went crazy over the perfection he saw in her. Our conversation might have been quite humorous on the street so I am glad that all the other people disappeared.

Continue reading "An Odd Prayer" »