The other night Mo Leverett, the founder of Desire Street Ministries in New Orleans spoke at our church. He sang and spoke. He sings songs that are poems and he speaks with no notes. He sang about his southern heritage and about how he loves New Orleans and the people there. His message was inspiring. It was a call to “outward piety.” The church in America has forgotten one of the main instructions found in Scripture, spoken by Christ himself. In Galatians 2:10 Paul says, “They(the disciples)only asked us to remember the poor-the very thing I also was eager to do.” The one thing the disciples made sure to ask Paul and Barnabas to do as they began their ministry was to remember the poor. It was not secondary.

Matthew 25:40 “To the extent that you did it (clothed the naked, fed the poor) to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to me.” Mo pointed out that in Micah 6:8, God tells us what to do. “He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you, But to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” The command is twofold, inward piety and outward. Walking humbly with God is our inward piety. Doing justice and loving mercy is outward piety. Our focus is usually the former. Christian bookstores are full of devotionals and books focusing on our relationship with God. I've never seen a section on mercy ministry. Mo lives in the heart of New Orleans' Desire Street district, one of the poorest, most crime ridden neighborhoods in the US. He ministers to the needs of the people. His call was for us in Mobile to do the same. I think I've fallen into the trap that Mo exposed. Focusing so much on evangelism and discipleship that we've forgotten the poor and needy. The physicality of helping the poor. The fact that it is a command, that it is clothing, sheltering, feeding Christ himself. It is so obvious, so primary throughout Scripture. I want to do more in my community. I want to make my outward piety an extension of my inward piety. “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” (James 1:27)


(shifting gears)
Saturday we celebrated our daughter's first birthday. It was a fun time with family and friends, and Ruthie got some wonderful gifts, along with her first cake and ice cream (which she wasn't too fond of). It is hard to believe that I have a one year old. That only a year ago she was a tiny little infant who cried all the time unless she was asleep or eating. She is now so much a little girl, that I can hardly remember how tiny she was. We love her so much, it hurts!