Poverty is Curable

Matthew 26:11, “For you always have the poor with you; but you do not always have Me.”

I used to read this scripture in the light of pie economics. Pie economics being the world is a pie, and if someone has, then by necessity someone cannot. In other words, my slice of pie keeps you from having any. But once I realized that the world’s resources are not a pie, and nothing is ever used up, it is only moved I turned to inflation to argue that the poverty is incurable.

Inflation in its simplest form is too many dollars chasing after too many goods. So if we took a room full of people ½ poor, and ½ rich and after 12 hours with no food gave all the poor people $100, what would happened when someone brought a pizza in for sale? The richest man would buy the pizza for thousands, and sell off small bites for $100 each. And thus the rich get richer and the poor are once again poor, as inflation eats up what the poor man has. And so logically, in a finite world Jesus’ statement of always having poor stands correct.

Problem is that Jesus did not say that Poverty was incurable.

Reality is that no resource is exhaustible. It simply moves from one place to another, and the value of resource is nothing more than its recovery and transportation costs. I.e. water. We drink water, then we excrete water which goes to a treatment plant, to a stream, evaporating, making clouds and raining somewhere. Or the aluminum can… the aluminum is dug out of the ground, made into a can, that eventually ends up in a landfill… where one day it can be dug out of the ground again when the cost to recover raw aluminum is too great. Or oil even… pulled from the ground, refined, and ultimately burned where it is broken down into carbon and other elements that enter the atmosphere, and except for the extreme costs could be recollected and reconstituted into oil once again. And it is in this cycle that we see what wealth, and its antithesis poverty are about. Wealth is having resource move through your local, your hands at great velocity, versus poverty which is resources moving very slowly. We don’t get to keep anything… it just flows through us.

Velocity is the difference between wealth and poverty. And in such it is possible to increase the velocity so that anyone could become wealthy, and if not wealthy certainly with less lack.

And so Jesus was not saying poverty is incurable, but that we would “always have the poor with” us. He was saying that we will always have people in the condition of poverty. There will always be people on the earth are in positions of resource scarcity.

So how in a modern area where any person can be anywhere in a matter of hours, and at most days are there places, even in modern America can there be places where resources do not move with any velocity? How can people in the middle of metropolitan areas find themselves in a desert? Or how can people in the middle of a desert find themselves well satisfied?

The answer I believe is spiritual. Spiritual not in the since of blessing versus curse, but spiritual in the sense of where God chooses us to be. Because in an instant God can open up resources. In an instant He can change the velocity of resources (including money) that flows through your hands. What is important is not wealth or poverty, but in Christ there are wealthy and poor. What only matters is Him. We must have Christ whether poverty is cured or not. We must have Him whether we have resources or not.

Paul wrote, “To me, to live is Christ.”

And of this scripture T. Austin-Sparks wrote, “In the wilderness the whole of our natural life is brought out, and we come to know our weakness and emptiness; that we have nothing. Thus it is that we now find everything in Christ and so can go over and possess. What is the secret of possession, of coming into our inheritance? It is that we have come to the place where all things are "in Christ" and He is everything – our very Life and being. Our flesh is cut off and we know as the deepest thing in our being, that unless God does everything in us by His Spirit, all is of no value. We must come to an end of our own working in order to come into His fullness. It is so easy to sit down in our weakness and nurse ourselves, but the Lord says at that point, "Arise and possess." Your inheritance is not here on earth, it is in Christ in the heavenlies; not in yourselves, your fullness is in Him. It is ever His Fullness over against your emptiness; His Strength over against your weakness; your inheritance is all He is, as typified to Israel by the land flowing with milk and honey.”

Poverty is cured in Christ. But if in poverty, understand its blessing. To be emptied is to be given the opportunity to discover that we are nothing, and that Christ is everything. To cross through the wilderness is to be prepared in your soul, in your character for the inheritance.

Every Detail is Orchestrated

Matthew 10: 29-30, "Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs of your head are numbered."

I begin everyday with some prayer and reading. In addition to my bible I will read Jim Spivey's blog, something from T Austin-Sparks, Henri Nouwen Society's daily post, and Oswald Chambers daily post.

This morning I was hit with this first. It is from Henri Nouwen. On Meeting God in the Poor he says, "When we are not afraid to confess our own poverty, we will be able to be with other people in theirs.  The Christ who lives in our own poverty recognizes the Christ who lives in other people's.   Just as we are inclined to ignore our own poverty, we are inclined to ignore others'.  We prefer not to see people who are destitute, we do not like to look at people who are deformed or disabled, we avoid talking about people's pains and sorrows, we stay away from brokenness, helplessness, and neediness."

I immediately followed it up with a random selection from T Austin-Sparks and this is what I read. "What then is our ministry? We did not set out with this as a full-orbed vision at the first. The Lord just wrought in us a deep and terrible sense of spiritual need and dissatisfaction, and created an intense longing for something altogether fuller than we could find. Then He led us by way of such exercise, and its resultant quest in prayer through deep experiences, which made possible and fruitful the unfolding of His fuller thoughts, intents, and ways for us, and for all who would ''go on'' to His full end. This has gone on through many years, and every bit of new living light has come out of a deepening suffering and cost. So that nothing is just theory; it is experimental. Thus there has steadily grown this sense of Divine purpose and concern that the people of God should come to ''the fullness of Christ.'' ''Each several part'' in its ''due measure,'' and the whole ''Body'' to the ''stature of the fullness. '' Every practical issue has to be a personal matter between those concerned and the Lord."

I enjoyed the reading, but that is all it was... enjoyment. It was not fodder for my prayers, however upon looking back and seeing in the mirror dimly; it was foretelling of just exactly God had in mind.

I was expecting a normal day with two appointments to run for my new job. The first appointment was a bust, and between appointments I needed to get to back to my first client from the day before, and have him initial the contract in a couple of places that I missed. I arrived at his front gate and called. He was not there, but down the street a ways at a cell phone store. I agreed to meet him there where he signed the papers. Nothing special so far.

Leaving I headed to my second appointment. As I was approaching an intersection there was a man holding a sign that said, "Unemployed - 2 kids - PLEASE Help - God Bless." Immediately I knew what I had to do. I gave the man my lunch money and told him God bless. That may not sound like much, but please understand. I have no money in my bank account, I have no credit available to me. And those few dollars had been provided to me by God for lunch. So I literally gave this man my last dollar. No sooner had I done this and my stomach started rumbling. No sooner do I give away my lunch money, and I can't help but notice that Houston has more Mexican restaurants than gas stations.

My next appointment was a no show, but from here I was headed to a very good friend's mother's funeral. She was a lovely, godly woman who survived and thrived. Fifty some odd years of marriage alone will be a great crown of glory for her in heaven. Arriving and hugging my friend I shared his sorrow and loss. His tears were my tears. His mom was truly his best friend, and she will be missed up until the day they reunite in heaven.

So my mind went many different places as the eulogy was given. But mainly it went to the 35 + years I have know my friend and his family. And in those 35 years I was reminded of my life in the same period. Once again began to think of my losses, and what could have been done different. How could I have retained my wealth like the many millionaires attending this funeral?

As the service ended I stopped to talk to a friend of my Dad's who asked me what I was doing. I explained and he shared some more hardships of the economy, but said he would keep his eyes peeled for me for a better job. I didn't ask for that, but thought it was nice.

Now this is where God put the whole day together. As I got in my truck the Holy Spirit asked, "Would you do it again?" The "it" that He was referring to was me riding my business to the bottom of the ocean. You see up until today I have always criticized myself for not shutting the business down a year earlier. I considered myself so stupid for thinking I had any responsibility to the employees. I believed an ex-father-in-law who was openly critical and a perfect arm chair quarterback. I thought that perhaps had I closed it a year earlier I could have preserved the last million or two of equity that seventeen years worth of work produced. Instead I rode it to the very end and complete and total personal bankruptcy.

So in the car the Holy Spirit asked, "Would I do it again?" He was asking, Would I obey God again? Would I put someone else above myself? With tears then, and with tears now I say, "I am proud that I obeyed to the best of my ability. I am glad that I felt responsibility for the employees. Yes, I would do it again." For the first time in 10 years I can once again agree with God on the matter. I would do it again.

I understand that I do have responsibility. I have responsibility to obey, because someone is depending on it. That man on the street needed me to obey and give him a few dollars. My 125 employees needed me to stay with the sinking ship until their rescue arrived. Some left early, some stayed until the very end. But my obedience to keep going, to try to save the ship was needed by so many. In my obedience some might see Christ.

Do you see what God did? The day before He allowed me to miss those initials so that I would have to come back the following day. He arranged for the client to be in the path of the unemployed man. He made sure this all happened at the very end of the $70 I had to last me the entire week, so that when I went to the funeral I would be hungry. Only to be reminded of a past I loved, and a decision I hated, so that I could find a place of forgiving myself. And to find the place to ask God to forgive me for doubting Him.

I cannot write the power, and love, and joy this presence of God is creating in me. For Henri Nouwen, today I confessed my poverty, allowing me to see the poverty in others. Like T Austin-Sparks... "this is not theory." This is me experiencing God Almighty.

The Forge

Proverbs 22:6, "Train up a child in the way the should go, Even when he is old he will not depart.

I love this scripture for so many reasons. Largely because it says "even when he is old." It gives hope to the parents with wayward children and prodigal sons; that at some point, even if it takes until they grow old, they will not depart from the path.

But today I saw something for the very first time that I never noticed.

In searching for something from God between appointments I was compelled to call a friend of mine by the name of Prince Couisnard. I have not been to his house in 5 or 6 years and I just wanted to find out what is going on in his ministry to inner city kids. He invited me to his house, and on the surface nothing had changed. Walking in to the smell of pancakes and syrup I was introduced to 7 young men. Only 1 was Prince's. You see Prince has been reaching out to the underprivileged inner city kids of Houston's Third Ward for more than the 10 years I have know him. He and his wife have always had a house full of hungry children, and they have always feed as many as were hungry. Prince has a supernatural love and compassion for these kids. He welcomes them in, gets to know them, disciples them in Christ, teaches them to pray and know God's voice, all with the hopes that they will one day join him in his mission to see as many as he can saved.

So here I am... same ole same ole, Prince is still a prince. It's then that he invites me for the tour. Now mind you I knew the ministry had grown. Prince started out with $600 per month in support. We drove around the corner to the current home of his ministry efforts. A $6 million dollar facility in the heart of poverty. Standing as a capital for Christ in the middle of a gang war zone is The Forge Family Center.

It is there we transferred to a facility van. I asked him why not go in my truck if we going to cruise the neighborhood. He said, "It's not safe for a white dude to ride around where we are going."

Frankly I laughed. At one point in my career I owned rental properties in the area. I'm not afraid.

And so we drove and I saw the original building he ministered out of when I met him 10 years ago. I saw projects where he explained that he has 40 kids from there. I heard stories of how children he has ministered too have been killed on the streets, of the drugs, the gangs... the usual stuff associated with these neighborhoods. And then as we made our way we turned down a street that truly brought fear to me. And Prince is right, I would not drive down it. At a four way stop there are power lines going over all four lanes and dozens of pairs of shoes hang from them. It was the ultimate mark of this is Satan's territory. In the streets were men that you would see on the most violent of TV programs. And these are the men Prince competes with daily for the souls of the youngsters in the neighborhood. I am not afraid to tell you, I actually feared for my life. I did not know these streets existed in Houston, Texas. And that is no bull.

70% of the young men and women The Forge reaches out to do not have a father participating in their life. Many, without the program would drop out of high school. From what I saw The Forge not only gives these children activities like sports. Over 400 participate in their basketball program alone. But they have classes to help re-mediate them. Classes for young adults and parents. Most importantly Prince and the staff get eyeball deep into these people lives so that some might be saved and discipled.

As we drove around I couldn't help but think, "Aren't Prince and his wife doing what the parents should be doing?" It was then the Holy Spirit showed me that the scripture of above does not say "parents" train a child. It just says train them. It is an open invitation to anyone and everyone. An invitation Prince fully embraces to the fullest of possibilities. 

The work that Prince and The Forge are doing is worthwhile and regardless of what happens from accountability to old age, it is certain that when they are old, these children touched by this ministry will know the path to be on. They may be coming back to it, but God's word promises that in old age they will not depart.

That said, the ministry takes a lot of money to operate and reach the thousands of poverty stricken people they do. The facilities are paid for, but operating is always an issue. If you would like to support their ministry please go to www.forgeforfamilies.org and allow God to bless them through you.