The Forgotten Poor

Ministry to the poverty stricken be they homeless or simply below the poverty line is very challenging. These are people with hopes and dreams, passion and love but we find it hard to treat them as humans. Over the last few years I have become more and more exposed to this reality through relationships with brothers and sisters on the streets and the local community. While praying this morning I realized that we as a compassionate community see the need to help those in homelessness as a no brainer. You see someone without shoes, find them shoes! But we then find it harder to give time and resources to those on the fringe of homelessness. The people I am thinking of are the single mothers working three jobs trying to make ends meet so that she does not get herself evicted. I know that we have a large portion of the poverty stricken community in Atlanta that is on the brink of homelessness and need hope just as much as those already on the streets. This thought will propel me into seeking out groups that are coming alongside those in the depths of poverty that are being overlooked. These people maybe forgotten about because we lose compassion for their life circumstances. It is easy to talk to a man who lost everything when his house burned and now he is living on the streets just to survive. We lose compassion when a story of someone's struggle is rife with poor decisions and bad circumstances. Everyone from the rich to the poor need support and love that inspires dreaming and a true hope for the future. From my point of view this is hope is fueled by the love of Christ that forces me to stop being selfish! Teaching over time what true family looks like and are transformed by the love of our Good Good Father. I cling to a hope that the future will be sweeter, more joy filled, and overflowing with the love of a family! This is the first time in a while that I rambled on this blog so enjoy the scatters of my mind.

All is great in the Joy of life!

Paul Shackelford

Rise Again - Needtobreathe

I have been reading a book about the arts and Christians role in creating culture. Steve Turner, the author, asserts a major critique that modern Christian art does not speak about real life. The art created does not sound genuine or have any ties to real life that people outside the faith can connect with. While reading the book I listened through this album and I think that this song does a great job of breaking the mold. The members of Needtobreathe are all outspoken followers of Jesus but very little of the art that they produce mentions Jesus or Christianity at all. Instead they craft creative music, written from places of pain and joy. "Rise Again" steps through pain that occurs in life as we see relationships stretched and torn. The bitterness of broken hearts and friendships is then contrasted with the truth that we will get up from this pain and rise again. "I can see us moving on, I can feel that coming on strong", the joy that comes after the

Twenty-Four - Jess Ray

Lately I have been listening to lots of music and podcasts while working and biking to work. I was feeling a need for some new music so I turned to NoiseTrade to check out some new artists. My favorite thus far is Jess Ray because of the honest lyrics, tastefully simple musicality and overall enjoyable listening environment. While on my flight back to Atlanta I was struck by this song at first because of the drums that propel this song behind the walking guitar. If I were to add drums to a track like this it would have been done in a very similar manner. Once I got past the drums I was awe struck by the simple power of these lyrics, take a read below and follow the link to her blog to listen. To me it was not written for an outward expression of hope or encouragement but rather as a inward proclamation to the soul. As the psalmist often choose to sing, this song speaks inward in a call to stand up and be reminded of truth all to often forgotten. As I gear up for the star

You Will Be My Ain True Love - Alison Kraus

This song has so much power, even if you remove the lyrics. I just decided to take in the full potential of the song by turning the stereo all the way up and playing the song a few times. Before even looking for a video of this song I knew it was related to the Civil War and the separation that occurred between loved ones. This song starts out explaining the battle field and how the soldier has survived the terrors of war. As the song continues to build you can tell that the soldier wants to be with his love. They have been separated by this war and now he wants to be back with her. The last few lines portray his death and how he has been reunited with his "True Love". I believe that this song describes his "True Love" as God, our eternal True Love. He has returned to his maker after being killed in Battle and this song paints that picture so well. This song has tons of power in the music behind the lyrics, it adds so much to the meaning of this song!

Letters from Lilongwe

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