Hunger in America?

I don't know how you can possibly keep up with all the media there is around you here in the 21st Century. I suppose you just don't - the more time I spend in the 21st Century, the more I just stay inside some limited range of what I'm comfortable with, and/or I get into a rut and just watch the same kinds of things from the same 'channels'.

When I listen to a new 'channel' once in a while, I get an interesting and often much needed jolt.  I just watched two things almost back to back.  Wow, the differences were made even more stark when watched so closely together. Movie whiplash...

I watched "A Place At The Table" (currently on Netflix).  It is a movie about hunger in America and it is very well done.  I suspect that, if it challenges your belief system, you'll be able to find fault in some area or another but, overall, it looks to be pretty accurate.  How is it that, in a country with more than enough to eat and more than enough resources (as the movie points out, this country still makes the claim of being "number 1", of "best"), we have so many hungry people?

The other movie I watched was "Margin Call" (also on Netflix) about the 2008 financial melt down through the eyes of one specific large financial company, and specifically through the eyes of a very small group of their top leaders.  I watched this one first, and then, as I was watching "A Place at the Table", I was struck how the leaders at the top of the financial company in "Margin Call" had such a 'hard night and following day' when they were 'struggling' with what they would do when they learned that their bad decisions had left them extremely 'vulnerable'.  Their answer? Pass the buck. Sell off all the junk to unsuspecting buyers.  And in the end, none of the really high up 'leaders' ended up hurt (those would be the people from the movie "A Place at the Table"). In response to a question from a colleague about what their severance package was going to be like, someone (who was going to be 'sacrificed' by being fired for their part in the bad decisions) said: "It better be very good". And it probably was. And, in the end, no one was held accountable for the mistakes they made.

It isn't "very good" for about 50,000,000 people in this country.  And while faith based response has skyrocketed, it is not keeping up.

"A Place at the Table" reveals the surprising connection between hunger and obesity, and on who it is that is hungry (spoiler alert: many of them have full time jobs).

Now what? If you want to get your church involved in the many and various faith based responses, Wheat Ridge can help. And this Grants Directory gives you a look at what else is going on through our  current grant recipients. (If you look under the heading "Topical Areas" you can search based on a specific interest.)

Is your faith in a cast?

I've enjoyed posts from this blogger/Early Childhood Educator and so here is one of her recent posts on Faith in a Cast.

You can get lots of other great posts here  on accidents, Alzheimer's, lepers and more - and always with good faith connections. Thanks Kim!

Sobering thoughts...

Some sobering thoughts post Thanksgiving. From Sightings and Martin Marty's regular email comes this short article - a quick window into how some young lives are shattered.
"I thought about “want” the other day in the lockup at the courthouse where I work.  I am a public defender in Chicago, and I start each workday in the place behind the courtroom where prisoners are held. On this morning, the small, stuffy cell was crammed with people."

Wheat Ridge has given grants to congregations focused on at-risk young people in a variety of places... perhaps there is an opportunity for ministry in your area?

WRP

Here is a great devotion on the Wheat Ridge web site... part of their weekly devotions.

Check it out. Are you a WRP? I hope so!

Persistence or raw intelligence?

I've posted about this before but here is another shot. Some very helpful information from Search Institute on persistence and intelligence and how each of those affect success in children.  Check out this short post on the topic and then join them for a free webinar on the subject on Tuesday, Nov 19/13.

Search Institute was a recipient of a Wheat Ridge grant back in their early years. Good stuff continues to happen! Take a Wheat Ridge minitour! (smartphone friendly)

Screen time... Help!!

I just received an email from Dr David Walsh at Mind Positive Parenting and he has posted about what Pediatricians are saying these days about screen time for kids.

Very helpful info.  And while the info is helpful, putting it into practice is not so easy.  The stats indicate most families are way past the suggested limits.

First step - do parents know about the suggested limits? And this info comes from people who know something about the affects of media on kid's brains.

Second step - most parents need help to 'move the needle' in a healthy direction.  If 'everyone is doing it' making a change is much harder. 

So perhaps the church can step up to 1) educate and 2) encourage... provide the info and provide a way for parents to help each other take healthy steps in media use. Get creative and if financial help is needed, check out Wheat Ridge grants as an option. And see what others are up to with their grants as well.

The article above give good reasons for making strong efforts on this.  There are some definite negatives that happen with overuse - AND some great things that happen with appropriate use.

Momentum...

I was introduced to the PBS Frontline presentation "League of Denial" about concussions in the NFL.  The subtitle - "The NFL's Concussion Crisis" tells you where they are headed with the coverage.  If you are invested in the NFL (you  make lots of money off it, or you really enjoy it as a fan) then this is hard to hear - and for many, easy to dismiss. If you are not invested in the NFL you probably wonder how anyone can miss the implications, and continue to support the NFL on its current direction (and lots of other sports that damage the fragile brain - I recently talked with a tearful mother about her daughter's concussion from soccer and the damage it has done still two years later).

Momentum.  The bigger the organization or the more you are invested, the harder it is to make a change.

How important is health?  What are we willing to give up to keep it? How high does the incidence of brain damage have to be in a sport to warrant a change?  How can we help people work against the momentum, when the momentum is on an unhealthy path?

Healthy children...

I saw a great post from Tim Elmore on raising healthy, well rounded kids who are ready to be strong contributors.  Check out a post on 'soft skills' that are critical to healthy, whole person living and giving God our best.

Wheat Ridge supports many creative projects that focus on supporting young people. Here's one in Chicagoland.

What's different?

I visit in lots of churches over the course of a year.  Some are growing and lively, and others... not so much.  What's the difference?  I've often wondered about that.  I don't think it has anything to do with age of the members or size of the congregation (and all the churches I visit have Christ at the center).  There are many possible factors, my observations are not scientific and I don't want to over simplify, but here are some thoughts about what I see:

For one thing, I think it has to do with orientation - is the orientation internal or external; is the congregation caring for itself or is it caring for others? The congregations that focus out and care for others seem to be healthier.  They don't wait for people to come to them, they go out and work among the people in their neighborhood; they know their neighbors and their neighbors' needs.

And is the focus on the past or on the present and future?  When the focus is on the past, it is easy to think that the good days seem to be gone. It is important to live in the present and to have a strong hope for the future.

I spoke with one Pastor of a growing church, and one that is engaged in their community in many ways, and he said "we didn't invent any of these things we are doing... the opportunities came to us - and God provided all we needed in order to do them." I'm guessing every community has needs, and opportunities to meet those needs. Some see them and others don't.  Perhaps it is as simple as: the ones who saw the opportunities were looking for them.

Wheat Ridge can be one of the ways that God provides what is needed, and can provide help when congregations want to focus out and get active in the present. Check out their grants and other resources.  And check out how you can help us with our granting ministry.

Parenting resources...

Three excellent resources for negotiating parenting in the 21st Century. (It was tough enough 2000 years ago!)

First, Dr David Walsh has some excellent posts on parenting - this one is on negotiating with teens.

Second, Search Institute (they received a grant from Wheat Ridge back in their start up days) has great resources, one of which is called Parent Further. The recent post on 'grit' is worth the time to read. It helps us get a handle on what we as parents want our kids to excel at for success in the future... academics is not at the top of the list.

Third, Dr Tim Elmore on Three Mistakes We Make With Kids - and how to correct them... 

Check them all out...

The Conversation...

More from Alban Institute, this time from Jim Wind, President.  It is a column about 'conversations we fail to have' from their Congregations magazine.

Dying is often different today than it was 2000 years ago... Still final, still hard to face - but today there is often so much medical intervention just prior to death that the end (that is, the last few weeks, or days or hours) is often not what people want because it robs them of the chance for closure.  Medical machinery can sustain 'life' for a long time, but is the extension worth it?  Jim contends that the church can help people have 'the conversation' about these things.

And there are certainly more people facing those end times at an older age when, without some advanced preparation and planning, medical intervention is more likely.

Wheat Ridge is supporting a wide variety of projects focused on older adults (search for 'older adults' under the 'Topical Areas' tab).

Being the Church Today...

Here is another Organization/publication I have come to enjoy.  There are a wide variety of authors who speak to a wide variety of church 'issues'...

This one speaks about being the church today.  Here are a few sentences to give you a taste:
"As mainline Protestants, we are still working through our fixation with numerical decline. We used to be the popular kid in class, but now—not so much. One response to this changing circumstance has been the creation of an unrealis­tic mental picture: once we were a great and glorious church, but now we are doomed to the dustbin of history. This fanci­ful delusion keeps us from seeing the ministry right in front of us. This Camelot-like dream diverts us from both the joys and the challenges of being the church today. We have roman­ticized our triumphs. We have confused our former popular­ity and status in the culture with being the church of Jesus Christ. We pine for the glories of our misremembered past."

The author, Steve Willis, speaks about the small congregation but I think what he says applies to churches of any size.  The church in any century needs to be careful about what we use to measure 'success'.  

More from Steve: 
"The small-church lament is that things are not as they should be. And that lament has a long, important tradition in the life of covenant people. Angry protestations about declining mem­bership rolls and budgets do not offer a prophetic word to the church. But paying closer attention to people and places and speaking out about who people are and what they are created for carry the potential for genuine transformation."
  
Hopefully that is the lament of all churches.  And "paying closer attention to people" often gets us to what Wheat Ridge wants to help congregations do: engage their community with health and human care ministries in the name of Jesus. Check out how we can help and what others are doing.

Food, Faith and Community...

I have always appreciated the Church Health Reader out of the Church Health Center in Memphis.

Check out their Summer Issue on Food, Faith and Community - it explores:
- What is healthy eating?
- Mindful eating
- Serving one another with Grace before meals.
- Entering the fry-free zone...
and more.

Stability and Creativity - you need them both

I came across an interesting article from a helpful organization - Alban Institute.  The article is titled: "The Pastor and the Healthy Church".  What I found most interesting was the tension between the need for stability in a congregation - 'we've been here before and we can handle this situation' - that needs to be balanced with creativity - 'a willingness to risk failure in order to move forward'.

Those two can seem to be at cross purposes but both are necessary. Stability allows for creativity and creativity keeps the stable from becoming stagnant.

Wheat Ridge Ministries works with congregations who are stable risk-takers!  Check out some of the grants we've given to see the creative work happening around the country and the world. And then check out the grants that might help you fund the new venture your congregation is thinking about.

Sloppy Kisses!

I love this devotion from Wheat Ridge Ministries - dogs haven't changed much in 2000+ years.  Great story and great message about the faith.

Wheat Ridge has supported a project involving dogs in the past - and you may have seen them in the news recently.

Check out other info about grants from Wheat Ridge.

Different every time...

I came across this video from OK GO - a testament to creativity.  Each video this band does is different than their last one and different from everything else out there. 

Current technology provides them a wide variety of possibilities for expression.  Not so many back in the 1st Century. That is one of the many things I'm enjoying here.

Inside people's hearts

I came across this video about seeing what other people are experiencing - seeing life from their perspective.  Very interesting and moving.  Reminds me a bit of the scene in the Bruce Almighty movie I saw with all the voices he hears in his head that are the prayers of the people.

A very daunting task - really seeing what others are experiencing. Overwhelming to be sure.  Good news is we don't have to be God - God is God and we are not.  God deals with everyone - we just need to do our best with the people around us in our sphere of influence. In this global economy that sphere of influence may include people far away from us - but the decisions are carried out locally as we use our gifts and talents on God's behalf.

Empathy to action... led by the Spirit; Christ at work in us - Colossians 1:28-29.

That's what the Wheat Ridge grants support in many congregations around this country and the world.  People see a need and respond.

There's an app for that...

 David Ellingson and Mark Jackson, both from Trinity College in Everett, WA, have developed an excellent experiential learning process called SALLT - and now an app to go along with it. 

You learn best by experience.  But you learn best of all when you are intentional about the learning experience.  This process and the app are useful for all kinds of situations of experiential learning.  Check it out!



Wheat Ridge is involved with Dave and Trinity College in a project called "Rooftop Garden". Very cool.

Community Garden project...

The good people of Prince of Peace Lutheran in Portland, OR are on the first year of their community garden project.  Parish Nurse, Karina Wehrspann, initiated the idea and applied for and received a Congregational Health Ministry grant from Wheat Ridge to help make it happen.  They have 22 single layer 4X8 garden plots and 3 handicapped (raised) 4X8 plots available for use by the community.  It was a welcomed addition to the neighborhood for the folks living right across the fence in a condo unit - with no room for growing anything.
Goals for the project:
- outreach project so the church property would be a place for the community to gather;
- a place to grow produce / healthy food;
- 10% of produce of each plot (plus all the produce from unclaimed plots) goes to Care to Share Food Boxes program for Washington County.

Garden plots are well on their way.  15 plots are claimed by individuals (half from the congregation and half from the community) and the other plots will be planted by volunteers so all of that produce can be shared with the community.

Banana keyboard...

This is what blows the mind of a 1st Century Doctor.  I can hardly believe what your scientists and many creative minds are able to come up with.

A tiny glimpse into the Creator's mind to see all these people come up with cool spin-offs... "Let there be..."

International Connections...

I spent the morning yesterday with the good people at Lutheran Church of the Holy Spirit in San Francisco.  Well named - certainly Christ's Spirit is at work in the people of that place.  I was priviledged to deliver the message that day. First worship service was to a very young crowd of English speakers (more than 80 of them would be leaders for the coming Summer Day Camp program at the church).  Second service was to a packed house and the worship was completely in  Cantonese.  I needed an interpreter (both directions) but it was a great experience.

This Church had received a Burst Project grant from Wheat Ridge for a Special Needs ministry.  I spoke on a theme of "God Muliplies" and walked them through my sermon outline online (they followed on their smartphones and video screens) and then we did a quick mini tour of Wheat Ridge Ministries as well.

This church isn't the only international Wheat Ridge project connection.  They also have a project in Hong Kong as well, and have had many others over the years.

Nutritional Choices... How to decide?

I still can't get over how much choice you have here in the 21st Century in your food stores (although, to be accurate, the variety of choices is not world wide... the 'western' world has many choices; some of the people in the world do not have any. That is the subject for perhaps another post).

It is mind boggling to think about having to decide between all the choices.  What criteria should you use?  What criteria do you use?  Taste, price, ease of preparation, how healthy is it?

Here is an interesting concept.  I wonder why this was not invented sooner.  NuVal - a simple number, decided with algorithms (Google searches work pretty well using those, don't they?) that can tell you, basically without bias, which food item from the same food category is the most healthy - the higher the number, the more healthy it is.  You can even compare across food types... the higher the number, the better it is for you.

Check out your local grocer to see if they have it. If not, ask them to get involved...  Much of what makes us healthy - or not - is decided when things get put into the shopping cart.

Mapping the Brain in the next ten years...

As 21st Century scientists did with the human genome, the plan is for a ten year project to map the human brain.  Exciting stuff... can't believe how much human knowledge has grown since the 1st Century - and much of that has really happened in the last 100 years!

Ten years to map the brain.  What about Pastors taking a year of their Circuit Conferences and Educators taking a significant portion of their in-service time for a year and focus on some of the best books out there on current knowledge of the brain. This emphasis on brain research will present an even bigger seismic shift in our ability to understand the brain and how it works, and how that applies to the way we do things... some practices will be reinforced, others will need to change.

And, as with the new genetic information, the scientific world needs to hear the theological voice on ethical issues as well.

Forgiveness...

I have come to respect Kim's expertise in the area of Early Childhood - but also her gift as a thoughtful, grace-filled writer.  Check out a recent post about her mother-in-law and forgiveness.  Starts with a cat but ends with a wonderful story about her mother-in-law's move to a new facility.

And keep an eye on her blog over time.  Well worth the read.

Wheat Ridge has some projects that focus their efforts on care for older adults.  Check here and find the "Topical Areas" tab and click on "Older Adult".  Perhaps your church is thinking about new health and human care ministries.  Consider a grant from Wheat Ridge.

The Human Condition

A thoughtful article by a grieving father.

I have come to know many people here in the 21st Century who take medication and it stabilizes them.  They can live a normal life when on their meds.  And yet... the numbers on various drugs are staggering, as is the age drugs are prescribed for children.

Ours is an age in which the airwaves and media are one large drug emporium that claims to fix everything from sleep to sex. I fear that being human is itself fast becoming a condition. It’s as if we are trying to contain grief, and the absolute pain of a loss like mine. We have become increasingly disassociated and estranged from the patterns of life and death, uncomfortable with the messiness of our own humanity, aging and, ultimately, mortality. (Check out the whole article.)

 Part of the human condition since the time sin entered the world has been pain and suffering.  And yet... we are still in the season of Easter that celebrates a God who entered that human condition as Jesus, the Christ.  He redeemed it, bought it back, makes us whole. We'll live in this world of pain - and joy - until we die and then we'll go home and leave the pain behind.  And while we are here he calls us to a ministry of reconciliation. A call to stand with those who bear tremendous burdens.

I am working my way through a book by Scott Morris, the founder of the Church Health Center in Memphis, called God, Health and Happiness. He has great stories that illustrate well a life lived whole and balanced.  One of the images is of 'finding joy in the parade'. He sees lots of people in lots of pain and can still speak of the joy that only comes from God.

LandFillHarmonic

What a great story!  People left to the trash make beautiful music.  God sees past the trash in all our lives - he turns our trash into beautiful music too.

Many of Wheat Ridge Ministries' grants go to congregations who see with the eyes of Jesus - they see past the trash and find the person.  And then they work for whole person health in many different circumstances.

Congregations in Crisis?

I read and hear a lot these days about congregations in crisis.  Attendance is declining, influence is declining, and budgets are stretched beyond the limit.  I see signs of that as I travel.  I just read an interesting article on Resilient Congregations from Alban Institute (looks like a good resource).  They spoke of congregations adjusting to the reality around them. 

As I travel I see many congregations and where I see signs of life two things are happening: the good news of Jesus is proclaimed boldly and the people have rolled up their collective sleeves and they are facing out towards their community in a service mode. That sounds a lot like the church I left behind in the 1st Century.  The early church spoke boldly about Jesus and they served the needs of the people around them.  That's what the Apostle Paul did.  It is what the church does as the 'body of Christ'.

Not much new here today compared to what I left behind 2000+ years ago: 
1. Many competing voices for who is a savior; we know there is only one Lord - Jesus Christ.  And
2. Many people with compelling human need.  No church has to look too far to find that.  The joy of working with Wheat Ridge is that they help congregations hit that bulls eye.  Check out a very brief Mini Tour of Wheat Ridge. It includes a couple short videos that show lives changed in the name of Jesus.

Easter over time...

I was blessed this past Easter season to worship in a variety of places.  Palm Sunday was at Luther Memorial in Chicago with a palm procession that began in the cold Spring air outside the church.  Maundy Thursday and Good Friday were at Our Savior Lutheran in Gladwin, MI and Easter Sunrise was at Christ the King Lutheran in Gladwin, MI.

It was wonderful to join Christians in various parts of the country - and to think of those Christians through time, even way back to the very early Christians who witnessed all those events first hand.

Christ makes us new through his death and resurrection.  Good news - today and two thousand years ago too.  These times here in the 21st Century are so different than I'm used to back in the 1st Century.  But one thing remains the same - the love of God in Christ for repentant sinners.  That love makes us bold in our service to the King.  And that service to the King ends up touching the people around us, any in need.

Another blessing is seeing all the various ways people serve.  Luther Memorial in Chicago is getting involved in their local neighborhood helping feed the hungry people there.  That sounds like the kind of new ministry Wheat Ridge Ministries supports with grants in a wide variety of places around the country.

Partners in Health?

Pretty confusing to make sense of the health care discussions these days.  First of all the concept is strange to a 1st Century mind.  Great if you can get it! Not so great if you can't.  And the new CVS Pharmacy requirements are making the news now too. Seems some people don't like the form this 'encouragement' takes. 

Doesn't everyone win when prevention is the norm?  I can see how not feeling the pinch of the high cost of health care could make a person less interested in prevention.  And not fair if companies would lay off sick workers to lower their costs.  Seems like a partnership in health would make the most sense - everyone work for the good of the neighbor so no one is left out.

An interesting ministry in Memphis aims for exactly that - The Church Health Center and the Memphis Plan - started by a Pastor/Doctor.  Wheat Ridge connected with them for a grant on their publication, The Church Health Reader, a while back; worth putting that magazine on your regular reading list.

Exercise and executive function in the brain...

Want to help your children, your students and yourself have stronger "executive function" (that is the set of higher-order mental skills that allow us to plan and organize, make considered decisions, manage our time and focus our attention)?

Exercise!  You can check out an blog article by Annie Murphy Paul, along with some supporting documents.

A big gain for the brain, and a big gain for overall health.  A great design!

Read the comments...

OK, I'm new to this 21st Century way of doing things - especially when it comes to the electronic world - so forgive me if I state the obvious for everyone else:
READ THE COMMENTS!
Here is an example... Health and human care issues are my primary concern as I travel for Wheat Ridge Ministies, and in that arena I'm focused on applying current brain research to church, school and home.  But as I read in that arena (and Twitter has become an invaluable research tool) I've been interested in what gets said about education.  Hacking  at Education was a particularly interesting post, with so much more information available in the comments... good discussion, additional links, etc. 

Sometimes the comments can be a little hard to take with a wide variety of "it takes one to know one" silliness, and worse, that doesn't really help anyone.  But, generally, for thoughtful posts there are lots of thoughtful and helpful comments.  Now to just find the time to read it all!

Who you gona call? How about Dr David Katz?

One of the challenges these days is hearing too many voices.  If you are trying to work on your own personal health and perhaps help those around you that you love, there are decisions to be made about what to do, and how to do it.

And there are way too many voices competing for your and my attention - in general - and also concerning health and wellness.


I'd suggest one person to pay attention to.  I have others I'll post about at other times.

Dr David Katz is a helpful voice.  You may not like some of his politics, but doesn't affect his stable and reasoned voice regarding health. And the thing I like is that he is a strong voice for prevention (he is the director of the Yale University Prevention Research Center and more) - and for lifestyle health. 

One very interesting thing he has helped develop and champion is NuVal - a simple way to know which foods are really healthier when you are in the aisles at the local grocery story.

He also has a great resource for schools to help with exercise and movement in the classroom called ABC for Fitness.

Check him out...

Suck it up, Dr Luke!

OK, it's time to get back on board this social media whirlwind.  I've struggled a bit, sometimes quite a bit, trying to stay on top of this but I'm convinced it is one of the best ways to stay connected with lots of people. And I am pretty sure if the Apostle Paul were here with me, he'd have a blog along with a Twitter and Facebook accounts and be up to his eyeballs in interaction.  As he said in 1 Corinthians 9:22 "... I have become all things to all people so that, by all possible means, I might save some..."

I'll have some things to say about my life here in the 21st Century.  I'll share resources I come across that I think might be helpful.  The focus will generally be about health and human care, about giving God our best - heart, soul, mind and strength.... stewardship of our whole selves.

OK, Doc... Wheat Ridge has chosen not to send you back to the 1st Century yet... take a deep breath and dive back in!

It is obvious that Dr Luke has trouble keeping up to the 21st Century pace of life - especially the electronic side. If you want current Wheat Ridge info you can find it two places that update regularly:

 Facebook and Twitter as "Tweetridge".

The good Dr may return on once in a while - when his head stops spinning! :)