Author: Jonathan Dodson

Responding to Haiti

Posted on January 14, 2010

As the statistics roll in, pictures cross our screens, and shivers go down our spines regarding the plight of the Haitians, we need somewhere to go with this immense suffering. I want to suggest three places:

1. Go to God in prayer for the Haitians to encounter true, whole gospel relief and attention–spiritually, emotionally, psychologically, socially, and physically. Pray, “Lord have Mercy on the Haitians!”

2. Before putting God in the dock, remember that although we all deserve death, God has graciously given some of us life. How are you using your life? Will you use it to bring blessing and hope to hurting Haitians? How will you live in response to Haiti? We will all suffer and die, perhaps not en masse or in great tragedy, but we will suffer and die.  How will you suffer? How will you die?

3. Respond intelligently and deliberately to the plight of the poor.

  • BUY needed items for Red Cross Relief and/or donate to Red Cross and the ADRN here.
  • JOIN Austinites from across the city on Monday night Music for the City Hope for Haiti benefit concert at The Parish. (More details coming soon!)

This is a great opportunity for you make good culture, redeem social ill, and share a whole gospel. Don’t waste it.

**More info on Hope for Haiti Concert

The Mission of Work

Posted on January 11, 2010

We can’t plant a missional churches that don’t address Work. Most people spend the lion’s share of their time in their field of work. That field of work is not only a mission field, but it is a city field. It is an urban domain.

Cities are comprised of anywhere from 5-10 city domains: Government, Arts, Education, Social Services, Health Services, Technology, Family, etc. Missional Churches must do the hard work of helping their people see their vocation in urban domains in terms of missional calling, not merely for evangelism but for whole gospel living.

Although I’ve thought, worked, and taught on Work as Mission for a few years, this is only the third message on work in the past 20 months as Austin City Life. We need to continue to resource, inspire, equip, and release people into the Mission of Work. Over at Creation Project I’ve listed some practical ways to do this. Feel free to share yours!