Resurrection: Personal and Shared

Psalm 103:15 Our days on earth are like grass...

2011-09-14T15:12:00.000-07:00

This Sunday September 11 I had in my reminders a note to call my cousin Jeannine in Fresno. Jeannine has been struggling with chronic pain and an inability to cope with the vicissitudes of life.

Unfortunately, by Saturday September 10 she had already passed away. The cause of death was a gunshot wound, and the Fresno County Coroner has ruled it a suicide. She has no children and no surviving parents, so I and my siblings are the closest kin.

Although she had made arrangements for the care of her small dog Carly, all her other affairs are in disarray. I am in contact with the coroner's office.

For He knows how weak we are; he remembers that we are only dust. Our days on earth are like grass; like wildflowers, we bloom and die. The wind blows, and we are gone--as though we had never been here. But the love of the Lord remains forever with those who fear him.

MINISTRY UPDATES; HIKING AND CAMPING

2011-09-14T15:07:00.000-07:00

Hi folks. The irregular updates for my ministry to the Least, the Last, and the Lepers has moved to my West Coast Blog (formerly my Gulf Coast Blog): http://resurrectiongulfcoast.blogspot.com/

Much has been happening, although I am way behind on my posting. Check it out!

Summer Update: Life and Ministry in Pasadena

2011-07-16T13:14:00.000-07:00

Howdy, folks,
Spring sprang right past me, so here's my latest doin's now that it's summer.

MEDICAL STUFF:

While I was caring for my mom, she fell again twice and had other medical problems, so it became clear that it was no longer safe for her to be living alone. We found an excellent nursing care home just a few miles from my sister's house and she seems to have adapted well to it.

In the meantime, I went in for my Total Hip Replacement (left hip) on March 15, and from there to a rehab facility. The photo to the right is in the rehab place after I had graduated from the wheelchair to the walker, and again from the walker to the crutches.

The lovely folk at Saint James Anglican in Newport Beach kept me in prayer during surgery and recovery, and made a prayer blanket for me (shown at left) in which every knot that held it together represented a prayer for my effective operation and safe recovery. I was deeply touched.

MOVING STUFF: After a few days at my sister's house, I hit the road to Southern California via the scenic route.

This is a rare sight--the spillway at the Oroville Dam with water actually flowing from it.

For all the time that my sis has lived in nearby Paradise, the level of Lake Oroville has been so low that there was more shoreline than there was lake. The end of the boat ramp at Lime Saddle, for instance, was a hundred yards from the water. So seeing the lake full again was a memorable local sighting.

We've been going to visit Mom in the care facility regularly.

My sister visits more than once a week, and has many details to watch over for her overall care.

My brother drove down from Oregon twice to visit, which was well appreciated.

Even my daughter drove up from Southern California to see Mom. From that visit, here's my sister Lucy, my daughter Amber, and my brother-in-law Garrett.

I've made the trip back to northern California once, and I'll be back again next month to visit Mom and make it to an appointment with my surgeon for the aftercare of my hip replacement.

MINISTRY STUFF: In Pasadena, besides trying to find a place to live, I've been working with Father Charles Myers, who's launching an urban church ministry. "Saint Michael's in the City" has started up weekly services on sort of a shake-down cruise preparing for a grand opening, we trust, in the fall.

I have been preparing to teach the 12-step class, "Common Solution Recovery," which was developed by Church Army at Branson, Missouri, and which I taught for almost a year in Mississippi to homeless Hurricane Katrina survivors who were struggling with addictions. The same scourge afflicts Pasadena, and some in the addicted and recovering communities here are desperately looking for the Way Out. The class will get a big boost from the new book We Have Recovered written by Stephen Baughan, the new director of Church Army USA.

I travelled with Fr. Charles to the Anglican Men's Weekend held in the San Bernardino Mountains. This event was sponsored for years by Saint James Anglican, but this year it became hosted by the Western Diocese of the Anglican Church in North America. Our speaker was Archbishop Greg Venables, who flew up from Argentina to deliver a powerful message to almost 200 men from all across the state and country.

Here's a sampling of the men that attended. Fr. Charles is always easy to spot in a crowd, and this photo is no different: he's the one kneeling in front.

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MORE MOVING STUFF: At the men's weekend I had a lovely bed to sleep in, but in Pasadena I had not yet found affordable housing. I learned that Pasadena has the second highest rental rates in Los Angeles County, surpassed only by Santa Monica on the beach.

Here's my interim housing: the campground in Millard Canyon. This is situated right along the rushing creek, about a hundred yards from the parking lot.

I was not ready yet at this stage for prime time backpacking, so it took quite a few trips back and forth to bring in my tent, food, and cooking gear, etc.

After one false start, I found a room to rent. I'm now ensconced in student housing at William Carey International University, which rents about a third of its dorm rooms to non-students.

My room was designed for two students, but they rented it to me as a single. It's roomy enough to divide in half, using my bookshelf as a room divider.

This is my "office" area, which has a nice window I can look out of if I face to the left. I found some flowers to put on the windowsill to spruce it up a bit.

And here's my bookshelf and Biblical Reference Library with my "bedroom" behind it.

This is the payoff for lugging 500 pounds of books across the continent, and for disassembling then reassembling the lovely bookcase that was made for me in Mississippi by one of the men in our recovery program.

Included in my library is the complete Inter-Varsity Press commentary on the Bible, which I put on the bookshelf over my office desk. On the bookshelf Above my bed you can just barely see my grandfather's violin, which I someday hope to learn to play.

HIKING STUFF: But I'm still on the road to recovery from my surgery. (I'm told that full recovery will take a whole year)

My first backpacking excursion was to Sierra Saddle, a picnic spot on the trail above Millard Campground.

This photo shows some of the trees burned in the devastating Station Fire of 2009, in which 525 square miles of forest were destroyed. Millard Canyon is in the background.

But the vegetation is bouncing back.

Here are the robust plants along the side of the fire road leading up the mountain.

They are shown here at the height of the blooming season.

This was also the peak blooming season for many of the annual flowers,

I called this place "The Best Spot On The Trail."

On this first backpack outing, I camped here beside Sierra Saddle a few hundred feet above Pasadena.
I pitched my tent between the two pines on this ridge at center photo, with Millard Canyon on the right and Pasadena on the left.
I didn't fully deploy the rainfly on my tent because no rain was predicted and I wanted to be able to see the views from inside.
But at 4am I was awakened by heavy raindrops on the tent, and scurried to pull the rainfly into place. It continued to rain on my tent the rest of the morning. However, when I got up in the morning, all of the ground was dry except for immediately around my tent! I thought, "What is this, Gideon's fleece?"
What had happened was that the coastal fog had been rolling across the ridge all morning. The needles on the pine trees sucked the moisture out of the fog, and each needle then dripped its collected water down onto my tent as raindrops.

Below is a view of Pasadena as the evening fades into night and the city lights begin to appear.

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A couple weeks later I did make it farther up the trail, all the way, in fact to Mount Lowe Trail Camp (alas, no photos). It's a 3,000 foot climb and a 6-mile hike, and it took me SIX HOURS in my not-yet-recovered condition. I'm going to have to do that again and better my time.

On a later day trip I hiked up the trail that hugs the hillsides near the bottom of Millard Canyon and leads to Dawn Mine.

This is Millard Falls, a popular site which is closed because the creekside trail was destroyed by the heavy floods after the Station Fire.

It's a 40-foot waterfall, and when you can reach the bottom of it, you can stand in the pool directly under the falling water.

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Another sight along the way to Dawn Mine is this double waterfall, high up a side canyon above the trail.

This is also visible from the upper trail which leads to Mount Lowe campground.

I have seen this spot many times, but this is the first time I've seen water in it.

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My most recent hike (last week) was up the Arroyo Seco along the Gabrielino Trail.

This is Gould Mesa Trail Camp, just an hour-and-a-half (at my pace) up the trail.

This week I'm hoping to base camp here and try to get farther up the Gabrielino trail, perhaps all the way to Switzer Falls.

There are a number of bridges on the trail for autos, but many of them, along with the roads around them, have been destroyed by the recurring floods.

This is a more recently-constructed bridge, built to accomodate the equestrian traffic on the Gabrielino Trail.

"Arroyo Seco" is Spanish for "Dry Gulch," an appropriate name only for the lower reaches of the canyon after the City of Pasadena has sucked all the water out of it for its thirsty citizens.

The lower portion of the arroyo is the pathway for the nation's first freeway, now numbered Interstate 110. With its tight curves and abrupt on- and off-ramps, it is a challenging drive during rush hour.

Once above the intake point for Pasadena's water plant, the creek crossing shown at right is more typical of what will confront a hiker on the Gabrielino trail.

Some of the crossings are quite a bit more challenging than this one, especially for me as I work with strength and balance limitations on my surgery recuperation trail.

At the Gould Mesa camp, there is a road that leads off the side, climbing to meet the Angeles Crest Highway (California 2) just above the city limits of La Cañada Flintridge.

There I found this sign with a map to the local trails. (However, there was no place to park for anyone who wanted to read the sign, much less hike the trails.) Yet the sign reminded me of driving and coming across the place where the Gabrielino Trail reaches the crest of the Angeles Forest and wishing I had time to hike the trail.

So I think that's exactly what I'll do. Little by little, I'm going to see if I can reach each section of this 28.5 mile trail. Watch this space(click here) for the photos!

God bless you all,

Rolin

A Long Winter Update

2011-02-12T16:05:00.000-08:00

Hello again, Dear Friends,

It's been quite a while since I've updated you all on events in my life and ministry. But I have found a few quick minutes I can relax in while watching over my dear 95-year-old mother here in Paradise, California.
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When last I left you I had promised some photos from my travels to date. This post will make good on that promise, and bring you up to date on my travels since then, and on the exciting ministry opening up for me ahead.
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After I had driven to Georgia and back to drop off Alex with his mom, I returned to Pennsylvania to pick up my 500-pound Biblical research library (in the tubs at right) and my office furniture and kitchen goods.
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Including the weight of the trailer, I was towing about a ton of stuff behind my little Chevy Cobalt. I had not realized that the vagaries of the highway system would have me crossing the continental divide three times. But the little Cobalt never complained, and in spite of the Rocky Mountains, i averaged about 30 miles per gallon for the whole trip.
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I drove through to Minnesota, where I slept the first night after passing through fifty dollars worth of toll gates on the Interstate Highway System. Sometime that next morning I crossed over the upper Mississippi River, and took this photo. Dams and spillways such as this one, with the boating lock at the right, have made the upper Mississippi into a navigable commercial waterway.
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Many more long miles brought me onto the great High Plains prairie land, with expansive vistas such as this view promising many more long miles ahead.
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The next stop was Mount Rushmore National Monument, which is approached from the east via a steep up-and-down route. The Cobalt had all the gears it needed to haul my load up the hill, but I was not comfortable with the extra strain on the little car's brakes when coming down the other side. I used the back way (to the west) to get out of the Monument, and my brakes were much happier for it.
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Next on my itinerary was the Little Big Horn, and its National Monument commemorating the epic battle between George Armstrong Custer's soldiers and the Lakota, Arapaho and Northern Cheyenne people who had been inspired by the spiritual leader Sitting Bull. Sitting Bull had heard a message that said, "Because they will not listen, I give them to you."
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After camping overnight in a marvelous, pristine campground in the Bighorn Mountains (alas, no photos), it was time to move on to Yellowstone. After all the news about the bears and the bison of Yellowstone, who knew that the park was centered around a 136 square mile lake?
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I camped at Big Thumb campground at the lake's edge and cooked a leisurely breakfast before setting out to watch Old Faithful spout off. There was a walking tour available to the half-dozen other geysers in the same basin, but my bum hip was acting up and i elected to stick nearby and read the literature at the exhibits.
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It turns out that Old "Faithful" is not quite so faithful as advertised in the post-pioneer days. Each time there is a significant earthquake, it rearranges the eruption frequencies of the nearby geysers. Rather than once an hour, Old Faithful erupts about every hour-and-a-half, with a variable wait time inbetween. The rangers post the expected time of the next eruption, but they don't know when that will happen until after they have observed certain characteristics of the most recent eruption. A ranger watches the early part of the eruption with fieldglasses from their post before calculating the time of the next one.
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But it is a sight to see when it arrives, and the watching crowd joins in by erupting in cheers.
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From Yosemite it was an endless car-trek across the vast wasteland of northern Nevada to Paradise, California, where I put my stuff in storage and ditched the trailer. Then on to southern California, where my spiritual advisors had apprised me of a new ministry opportunity (see more on this below).
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On the way back I drove through Yosemite, that kraal-space where inquiring four-legged residents of California can come to marvel at the teeming hordes of humanity congesting the canyon floor. The view, however, is stunning.
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Back in Paradise, I had time to visit Lime Saddle Campground overlooking the western branch of the Feather River and Lake Oroville, only some seven miles away from my sister's house. Here the morning alarm clock is the wild turkeys gobbling as they pass through the campsites. The deer, of course are much quieter, This doe, however, spent some time snorting and huffing at me to warn me not to mess with her two babies.
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Access to Paradise from nearby Chico is via "The Skyway," which begins as a four-lane divided highway, then travels north some 45 miles, ending up as a dirt fire road reaching the hamlet of Butte Meadows. There I found Cherry Hill campground, where I hung out and rested amongst the tall timber for a few days.
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This tall timber adorns the foothills and peaks of the Sierra Nevada and associated mountain ranges which separate the Sacramento Valley from the deserts to the east.
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Cherry Hill camp rests alongside the headwaters of Butte Creek, spawning ground for the largest spring run of salmon in California--and well treasured and protected by the California folk. I enjoyed the music of the rushing waters for each day and night of my stay there.
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On the western boundary of the Sacramento Valley lies the tall timber of the Mendocino National Forest, astride the coastal mountains that separate the valley from the Pacific Ocean. This is the little-known Whitlock Campground, a free campsite at 4,300 feet elevation. From here I had a clear view of Mount Shasta to the northeast.
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If you travel west a bit deeper into the Mendocino National Forest, you can find a peak or a ridgeline from which you can watch the sun set over the Pacific Ocean. However, this is the only national forest which does not have a single paved road that traverses it from one side to the other.
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Meanwhile, Alex's mother in Georgia was running into major problems with her trucking business. Alex was flown to live with his older sister in California, who had cared for him when he was a toddler. Alex has settled in to his new life, and has been meeting California relatives that he had not known before.

Here are Alex and Sis when I joined them on a tour of one of the Channel Islands off California's coast.
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Back to Southern California to confirm my call to ministry there. This is Monte Cristo Campground, the only one that has been reopened after the devastating Station wildfire of three years ago. The firefighters must have defended this creekside stand of ancient white oak, which I am eager to see once it is back in leaf this spring. It lies just a few miles from Pasadena, which is near the foothills of the Angeles National Forest.

MINISTRY UPDATE:

Through the good graces of two of my spiritual advisers, I have been put in contact with the Rev. Charles Myers in the western diocese of ACNA. He has been given a vision for Saint Michael's, a proposed church plant in the Pasadena area. An essential part of this vision is outreach and support for the addicted and recovering communities. Fr. Chuck sees an associated AA post as an essential partner in this mission--and I just happen to have experience in planting and establishing an AA post.

I can also foresee the startup of Church Army classes in the 12-Step solution, and Steve Baughan, the National Director, is seeing to it that I get the materials that we will need. In addition, I am in contact with the Rev. Mark Hall in Bakersfield who knows these classes well. He and I can see ourselves in collaboration with one another to advance ministry to addicts and alcoholics in Bakersfield and Pasadena.

The long and the short of it is: I see myself moving to Pasadena as soon as possible to get started--or conversely, to catch up to where Fr. Chuck is. I know the terrain there well, because I was the director of a Men's Home for recovered addicts for a year there.

But I'm not ready to move yet. First I need to receive Total Hip Replacement surgery to alleviate the debilitating pain that has been really slowing me down. I now have a date for that: the surgery is scheduled for March 15 in Paradise, and I'm guessing a month's recovery before I'm ready to hit the road to Pasadena.

So I guess I'll close this overly long post with a request for your help: Please pray for the new ministry of Saint Michael's, pray for the addicts and alcoholics of the Pasadena area, and pray for me as I go into surgery.

Thank you so much for listening,
I love you all
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Celebration of a Ministry

2010-09-29T13:52:00.000-07:00

What hath God wrought?

As this stage of my ministry has drawn to a close, I have been reflecting on what God has been doing with me. It has turned out quite different from what I had been expecting. First, of course, came the biggest surprise—almost three years ago—that I was going to be the caretaker for an 8-year-old boy, whe we'll call Alex.

Alex, who was on the verge of being homeless, came to live with me while his mom struggled to establish a solid income and a home for him. I enrolled him in school in Ambridge, PA and helped him with his interest in martial arts. (Photo: Alex receiving his Orange Belt.)

Next came a gradual transformation in which I found myself ministering to not just Alex, but his closest friends. Out of the three "best buds" in this photo, two were relatively homeless. The second (after Alex) was staying at a friend's house after he and his mom were evicted from their apartment. T-Bone (we'll call him) got out of school each day at 3 pm while his mother did not arrive from work until 6 pm.

Alex also participated in activities offered at no cost by Ambridge Youth Ignite under Eric Geisbert. This included a new program offering the lacrosse sport, and a summer Arts Camp and Sports Camp. At the end of Arts Camp that first year, I volunteered to help supervise a trip by the kids to see a Pittsburgh Pirates baseball game, and snapped this group picture. (The Pirates lost, as usual.)

I also brought Alex and watched him participate in Little Bridgers Basketball for two years, as he increased his circle of friends. The first year his team won the championship, and the second year they were runners-up in the championship game. Some of these youth also participated in the summer Camp programs.
One of the high points for Alex was his participation with his friend T-Bone in the formation of Ambridge's very first lacrosse team. Although the new team (in blue) was soundly trounced by the more experienced and established teams in the area, they did manage to score a few goals and even to win one game. While I was attending these games, I became familiar to more kids with whom I would later develop deeper relationships.
Then came the initiative by Church of the Savior (COTS) in Ambridge to offer the Alpha program that teaches the basics of Christianity. By this time the Spirit had made me well aware of the needs of the pre-teen kids roaming the streets of Ambridge, and I strongly urged that the Youth Alpha program be offered also. Eric Geisbert also felt that need, and he volunteered to lead Youth Alpha alongside COTS.

My plan was to help supervise the Youth Alpha activities, and to teach a couple of the classes. I did teach the classes titled "Why Read the Bible?" and "Does God Still Heal?" both of which held the interest of all the youth attending. After the Bible class, I was able to hand out some really cool youth Bibles which were well received by the kids. During the Healing class, I was able to present a strong anti-drug message. (Alas, I have no photos of Youth Alpha, but from the same time period, here is the baptism of Eric's son at COTS.)However, God's plan included a bit more. I was bringing more and more of Alex's acquaintances from the street to the Youth Alpha meetings, and I found myself prowling the streets looking for kids to pick up and bring to the meeting. Sometimes the kids would come because Alex was going to be there, and other times Alex would come because most of his friends were going to be there. While each of the meetings began with a meal and some games, the presence of the street kids engendered some lively discussions and some challenges for the teachers to answer.

With summer came the Camps again, and I was fully involved with the morning Sports Camp registering kids, taking attendance, and helping to supervise their snack breaks. Here is a remarkable scene: Late in the Camp season, this unwieldy horde of kids, up to 40 at a time, became quite self-organized for a moment. While waiting for the supervised sports to begin, the kids formed themselves into teams and started up a well-disciplined game of kickball on their own. On Thursday evenings I would find myself prowling the streets again, encouraging the kids to join us for Pizza in the park. There they would hear Christian testimony (pictured) then chow down on Pizza and sometimes watermelon.

This would be after many of them had attended the five-day-a-week morning Sports Camp and/or the accompanying 5-day-a-week afternoon Arts Camp, with lunch inbetween, all free.

Arts Camp this summer centered around the production of a movie, produced, directed, acted in, and largely written by the kids themselves. The movie was titled The Youth Center, and portrayed kids who were attempting to prevent the closing down of their youth center by profit-hungry adults.

The ironic backdrop to the plot of the movie is that Ambridge does not have a youth center and desperately needs one. There is often no place to go other than on the streets for kids and youth at loose ends in Ambridge. A youth center for Ambridge has been sitting on the sidelines as only a dream, imagined by Eric and others at Rock the World headquarters, the parent group for Ambridge Youth Ignite.

Such was my experience in Ambridge. I came as a street evangelist trained in outreach to the homeless and the addicted, went through a new season as a single parent-substitute, and ended as a street evangelist to kids and youth.

But all things come to an end. In the second week of September I drove Alex—now 11 years old—to Georgia to be reunited with his mom in their new apartment. Then I drove back to Pennsylvania alone.

So now that this ministry phase is over, what's next? One possibility is a renewed interest developing in establishing the missing youth center in Ambridge. Long before the kids created their movie, I told Eric that what Ambridge needed was a youth center, and that if he was able to start that up, I would gladly participate in staffing it while it got established.

I'm also looking into other possible ministry tasks in California and Nevada, and was recently apprised of an Anglican priest with an evangelical background interested in planting a church in the less wealthy sections of Pasadena, where I spent several years putting down roots.

In the meantime, I'm alternating between being on vacation and taking care of my dear 95-year-old mother, assisted by my brother and sister. It is from her house that I write this overly long missive.

Keep watch here on my web log, where I hope to soon be posting the photos of my travels through Mount Rushmore, Little Big Horn, Yellowstone, and Yosemite, and any more places I have a chance to visit while i'm on vacation.

Thanks for all the love you've poured out on me, and may God bless you.

Rolin

Update: Sports Camp and Testimony

2010-07-16T10:22:00.000-07:00

Children's Ministry, Ages 6 through 13:

I've been helping out this summer with the children's Sports Camp. A key event running alongside the Ambridge Youth Ignite summer camps is their "Pizza in the Park," a weekly afternoon gathering where the kids can hear Christian testimony from their leaders and coaches before chowing down on pizza and perhaps watermelon.

.This June 24 may have set an all time record for attendance at the event, but more importantly, most all the kids not only listened to the testimony, but had questions for God afterward and remained behind to be individually prayed for before making the mad dash to the pizza.

This week's gathering was also notable, for it attracted some former Sports Camp participants, including 14-year-old Chris (upper right, with the Mohawk haircut) who stayed long after the pizza and watermelon was gone, asking questions about Life, the Universe and Everything.

Please pray with me for Chris and the other street kids at risk. Chris claims that he prefers juvenile hall over his own home because at Juvie at least they have a television. He has become curious about all the illicit drugs that are talked about on the street. May the Spirit draw him into a relationship with Jesus and protect him from harm.

Sports Camp is over at the end of July, and by the end of August I'll be headed to California to take care of my mother (who turns 95 this month) while my sister celebrates her 30th wedding anniversary in Hawaii. As I make my way west, I'll do some camping in Yellowstone and other scenic spots in the Great North-West. Alex will be headed the other direction (south) very soon to spend time with his mother and to start his next school term under her care.

On a less positive note, I went to the bone doc last month and he looked at my hip xray and said, "It looks pretty bad." He's recommending a hip replacement if the pain I'm having walking (with a cane) gets any worse. That might be something I need to schedule early next year, and it will definitely put me out of commission for a few months. Perhaps it's time to start putting into print some of that book I've been assembling in my head.

I seldom make a plea for donations to my ministry, but if the Spirit has moved you of late, now would be a really good time to send something along to help with my relocation back to the West Coast. The Lord has not yet revealed to me how He plans to handle all my relocation expenses, and the time is getting short.

To donate to this ministry, you may mail your tax-deductible check to Church Army USA, Post Office Box 178, Leetsdale, PA 15056. On the memo line of the check, write Rolin Bruno Ministry.

Thank you all for your interest and your prayers.

Rev. Deacon Rolin Bruno

Captain, Church Army USA

Spring into Summer: SPORTS CAMP!

2010-06-12T11:40:00.000-07:00

Youth Alpha was a great success! The final session was well-attended, and left many (especially the leaders) wondering what we could do for an encore.

For my part, I was able to take Alex and two of his friends from the neighborhood (Prince and Blueboy) to the school "picnic" held at Kennywood Amusement park south of Pittsburgh.

That turned into a quite contemplative day for me, while the kids rode every ride--several times. Day's end was a bit tougher, as they closed the park down early in the face of severe thunderstorm warnings, and I had to negotiate my way home in fierce weather with three active kids in the car. The bonus was the free tickets they gave everyone on the way out to come back for an evening session of the park.

But--about summertime: The Lord has called me to assist Ambridge Youth Ignite (AYI) in producing their annual Sports Camp and Arts Camp, a free event for ages 6-13 that begins June 21 and ends July 30. Sports Camp in the morning lasts 3 hours, and will focus on one sport per week: Soccer, Basketball, Baseball and Lacrosse; with the final week bringing in one-day rounds of football, volleyball, ultimate frisbee, and a "water day." After a free lunch, two hours of Arts Camp will explore various craft and performance arts while the kids produce a movie of the whole season to be presented to the parents at the end.

On Thursday evenings, AYI invites the kids to "Pizza in the Park," where they will hear testimony from a Christian youth before digging into pizza and watermelon.

All this activity has required a change of plans on my part. I had thought that I would be leaving Ambridge for the West Coast near the end of July, but now I will need to delay my departure until the end of August. Alex will be returning to his mother, and I will (finally) be going on a well-deserved vacation before spending a few months with my mother in California.

In the meantime, I'll keep picking my strawberries.....

Please pray for me as I discern God's will for the future of my ministry in the west.

In Christ,
Rolin

Street Kids at Risk

2010-04-27T07:23:00.000-07:00

Straight F's!

Baxter had just got off the bus. His bus arrives later than all the other ones, because it comes from the elementary school way out of town, where they send the kids who have been having trouble in school.

"I got straight F's on my report card!" he exclaimed, while showing it to T-Bone, Monty, Blueboy and Alex. "I'm proud of it. I'm going to try and do the same thing next time." Word soon spread to the other kids on the street. "Did you hear about Baxter's report card? He got straight F's and he's proud! I wish I could do that!"

"Me too," said another kid, "but my mom would kill me when she got home." Mickey and Midget weren't impressed. "I could do that, no problem. My mom wouldn't care." "Yeah," said Prince, "but watch out if my dad finds out about it. He and I have the same dad."

These are some of the kids that have been coming with me and Alex to Youth Alpha. We picked up Prince, Baxter and Blueboy one Thursday and stopped by Baxter's house to get permission for them to come. Prince came back out and said, "It's all right. My mom and my other mom weren't there, so I just told the next person in charge of the house."

We're using the "active" stream from the Youth Alpha manual, which is a bit rough-and-tumble with an emphasis on games and getting-acquainted exercises. Eric and I are most always there (though I'm always late from picking up kids), and we're usually helped out by Stewart and Cyndi when they are available. We've been joined by seminarian John, who has taken up the task of cooking for us so that all the kids can eat together.

Most of the burden falls on Eric, who has a lot of street "cred." I heard one boy, Wilson, on his cell phone begging his mom for permission to go to Alpha: "But Mom! Coach Eric is there!" A couple weeks later, Wilson was able to come and he brought his lacrosse team-mates Joey and Michell. That was the week that most of the boys asked to be prayed for to receive the Holy Spirit. The girls were in the other room with Cyndi doing the same thing. The prior Saturday, Eric had led the entire group in the Sinner's Prayer.

On March 25 I did the Alpha "talk" on "Why and How I Should Read the Bible." I showed them what the original Hebrew and Greek looked like, and told them about the 'lost verse' in Psalm 145 that was rediscovered in the Dead Sea Scrolls. All 14 kids and youth actually paid attention, and many were delighted when I distributed some cool youth Bibles at the end. This coming sixth of May I'll be doing another Alpha "talk" on "Does God heal today?" I'll be including a strong anti-drug message in the talk.
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Eric's ministry, Ambridge Youth Ignite (under the umbrella of Rock the World), played their first lacrosse game ever a week ago. It was the first time most of the kids had seen just how large a lacrosse playing field really is. It was touch-and-go for a bit, but ten kids showed up by game time, just enough for a team. The last of the remaining four straggled in during the third and fourth quarters, barely in time to get out on the field and play. The Google directions to get there were more or less correct, but without street signs (typical for Pennsylvania) the GPS was the only thing that got me, T-bone and Alex there on time. I would have been out there wandering around with the other lost parents.

The game began as a blowout, seven to zero. The other team was experienced and could field 30 or 40 players (they had two games that day). But after the first quarter, the Ambridge Warriors had hit their stride, and gained two of their own goals to the opponent's three goals in the next three quarters.

Eric's been working on lining up another game for us, and the team has been practicing--in the rain. Eric has cobbled together enough equipment for the boys so far, but word has been spreading on the street about the neat stuff that you get to bring home when you play lacrosse. If all the kids show up that said they would, it will be a scramble. But at least by the next game the team will have its own jerseys, and won't have to borrow them from the other team.

Please continue to pray for our Youth Alpha ministry team; for new games to play and for new moves of the Holy Spirit. It is a surprise every Thursday to see who the Spirit is going to bring that day. And pray especially for the at-risk street kids, that they will latch onto the right kind of role models and graduate not only from the street but also from their schools.

In Christ,
Deacon Rolin

Youth Alpha: Prayer Request

2010-02-23T08:12:00.000-08:00

UPDATE: You may keep up with the progress ot our Youth Alpha class by clicking on the 'comments' link below/

Dear Friends,

I usually post here to tell how I have been doing and what the Lord has been doing with me. Today I post for another reason: I and my friends here in Ambridge are taking on a major challenge over the next four months, and I need your help.

The Lord has moved me to help lead a Youth Alpha program which will run this spring in Ambridge. For an overview of the program, see here: http://www.alphana.org/Group/Group.aspx?ID=1000042013

I covet your prayers.

The program, along with adult Alpha, will be hosted by Church of the Savior (Anglican), a congregation of four to five dozen folk taking on a historic challenge to reach out into their community. You may see their website at http://www.cotsambridge.org/
Please pray for this faithful church.

The Youth Alpha segment is being directed by Eric Geisbert of Ambridge Youth Ignite (AYI), whose website is at http://ambridgesportscamp.blogspot.com/
They have just returned from a successful short mission trip to Peru, where they presented their Sports and Arts Camp to the children there.

My young charge Alex has attended the AYI Sports Camp for the last two summers here in Ambridge, and I have been thoroughly impressed by Eric and his organization. I invite you especially to watch the short video of their summer camp experience, located here:

http://ambridgesportscamp.blogspot.com/2010/01/ayi-video.html

Our Youth Alpha team is small: Eric, myself, Cyndi, Stewart, and Joe and his wife, plus John, a high school age boy who has accepted the challenge to lead worship. Please pray for all of us. We are praying for more young people to come forward to do one or more of the 'Talks.' We are inviting children from grades 5 through nine: please pray for young folk to come and to be blessed by the Alpha program.

I will be doing two of the talks: the one on Reading the Bible (my specialty) and the one titled "Does God Still Heal Today?". I trust that my experience taking the Alpha course at Saint James Anglican in Newport Beach will prove valuable to me, but I am relying primarily on the Holy Spirit to carry me through.

Recruiting people to come to the programs has been tough here, as we've had one of the worst storms in many years. Church of the Savior was forced to cancel Sunday services that week, along with their Saturday walkabout to invite participants. But our hope is in the Lord.

The photo above is of Alex measuring the snowfall from the "big one", when I had 16 inches of snow stacked up on my porch railing. In the last week we've had a few days of balmy weather (clear up into the low 40's!) and some rain that has tamped down a lot of the snow.

We kick off in earnest this Thursday February 25, and continuing most Thursdays through May 20. I look forward to what the Lord is going to do for youth here in Ambridge. I will keep this post updated in the comment section below; come back to check up on us!

Thank you for your prayers.

Rolin

Winter Update: Two Years on the Job

2010-01-27T10:38:00.000-08:00

Ah, Pittsburgh: the museums, the shopper's 'Strip', the Cultural Center, the sports arenas—so much to see.

#1
Actually, I've seen little of it, although I did take young Alex to the National Aviary and a Pirates game.

When my Bishop invited me up here to western Pennsylvania, I thought to take about 6 months helping him develop some ministry documents and perhaps help out at Church Army headquarters. I've done a bit of both, but I'm still here two-plus years later.
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#2
I arrived in Ambridge on Christmas Eve 2007. Three days prior I had met a friend who was working as a long-haul trucker and living in the truck with her 8-year-old son Alex. Then on January 4, she called to ask if Alex could move in with me until the end of the school term.
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#3
By January 25, Alex had arrived in Ambridge as a small and insecure bundle. Before long I discovered that the "end of the school term" was not to be June 2008 but 2009.

Then the recession hit—and it did not spare the trucking business. I volunteered to keep Alex until the end of school 2010, which was a prescient move, because his mother ended up spending some three months in the fall of 2009 not only homeless but also unemployed.
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#4
So here I am, a substitute "single mom" at age 65-plus. I've been on the job 24/7 for two years, with four days off to make it to my daughter's wedding. I feel a need for vacation coming on.

Although some days seem to drag on while Xavier is at school, at other times I have to move the camera in my brain so fast to keep Alex in focus that the rest of the world seems like a blur.

Besides extra-curricular basketball (where his team won the championship last year), Alex has participated in football, martial arts, chorus, band (saxophone), and the summer programs of Ambridge Youth Ignite.
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#5
He's a head taller now than when he arrived, and headed for an eleventh birthday in March. He's also showing early signs of thirteen-year-old syndrome, wherein a boy begins to believe he can do a better job running his life than his adult supervisors.

Like control of the ball in basketball, he'd like to have more control over his own life.
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#6
Alex has adapted well to the winter weather, and has to be watched lest he go out in the cold under-dressed.

He lacks no friends to play with, and counts some 5o numbers of friends on his cell phone. His phone is our safety connection and my leash to draw him back in for dinner.
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#7
Alex's mom does not celebrate the Christmas season, and I take a dim view of its shopping binges and pagan accoutrements. Alex was having none of that attitude.

He came home from a friend's house with a fully decorated Christmas tree in tow, and set it up in his room. He was highly doubtful that he would see any presents under it come Christmas morning, and had convinced himself of this so securely that he had been up for an hour that day before he discovered them.
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#8
One of our pastimes during Christmas vacation was watching the Disney movie UP!. I think we saw it eighteen times.
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#9
The movie is about a crotchety old home-bound dude who dreams of going out adventuring in the high country. He achieves his dream, but it comes along with a young boy who he must reluctantly care for.
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#10
So here's the goal of the Old Dude in the animated flick: "Paradise Falls" in South America. But what he won through his friendship with the boy surpassed what he achieved by finding his wilderness dream spot.
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#11
I sent my last post in early fall, before the autumn colors reached their peak, so I'll share some photos showing the march of the seasons here in frigid Pennsylvania.

This red-orange tree is on a street in Ambridge. There was another tree that was even more brilliantly florescent red, but when I got back to it a week later with the camera, all the leaves had fallen.
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#12
These yellow-orange trees were blazing in all their glory on the hillside a block from my house in Ambridge.
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#13
Looking north from my porch in October, all I can see are maple leaves.
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#14
Looking north from my porch in December provides an unobstructed view of the neighbor's back yard.
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#15
Although we did have a nasty bout of freezing rain, the ice curtain hanging from my back fender continued to grow daily whether it snowed or not.

We had two weeks of weather when the temperature was never above freezing, even in the midst of sunny days. We're headed into another bout of the same right now.
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#16
I have a gym membership that comes with my health insurance, and I've been visiting the treadmill two or three times a week.

The view out these second-story windows overlooks the Ohio River.
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#17
And here is that Ohio River in December (behind the trees), clogged with ice floes. For a while there was even an ice jam downriver that was causing concerns for flooding.
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*18
While I walk the treadmill watching ice floes move down the river, folks in Australia are stretched out on the beach for a mid-summer tan.
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Watch for another posting soon: Kid's Alpha is coming up and we're going to need prayer support.

PHOTO NOTES:
1: Pittsburgh sits at the juncture of three rivers. This photo shows the point where the Allegheny river on the left joins the Monongahela on the right to become the Ohio river headed for the Mississippi.
2: Freddy is an adult male chimp in Africa that has taken over the care of baby Victor, who is motherless.
3: Alex already had computer skills when he arrived. Now that he has his own Playstation 2 and DVD player, we spend less time tussling over who gets control of the computer.
4: I was trying to follow Alex with the camera as he dribbled down the court during a fast-paced game and ended up with this.
5: The baskeball season is short: they practice during December, break for Christmas, and have their games during January and the playoffs for the championship in February.
6: We got about 4 inches of snow that night. It's been a long and bitter winter so far.
7: The tree came with lights and ornaments.
8: This is Angel falls, which served as the model for the falls in the movie UP!.
9: This is wilderness scenery in China, which may have inspired backdrops in the movie Avatar.
10: Combining #8 and #9 gets us Paradise Falls, the adventure goal of the old dude in UP!.
11: An Ambridge street in autumn.
12: A street near my house this autumn.
13: Looking north from my porch in October.
14: Looking north from my porch in November.
15: The snow melted off but the ice curtain stayed.
16: This is a rehab gym that also has programs for the elderly.
17: The view from the gym.
18: Sidney, Australia, January 25.

The Lion shall lay down with the Lamb

2009-12-29T18:08:00.000-08:00

That day has not arrived. Yet.

Nevertheless, the Animal Planet channel brought these amazing scenes to light:
a young lioness that adopted a baby oryx antelope.

Unfortunately, they were both starving because the oryx was not getting its mothers milk and the lion was not hunting for its food,

Eventually the oryx was killed and eaten by another lion

Hat-tip: Roger Bruno

Fall Update

2009-09-30T09:53:00.000-07:00

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Summer came and went with no update, so here's an early start on the Fall:

The strawberry plants continued to send out runners apace, and did a good job on covering up the mudpatch beside my walk.

Alex and I did get some fresh strawberries to eat, but the neighbors keep assuring me, "It takes a year to get a strawberry patch up and running."

It turned out that competition with the birds was not my problem, but rather the crawly bugs that found the strawberries to be a sumptuous breakfast (and lunch, and dinner).

I found that if I could keep the berries from touching the ground, I would have to share fewer of them with the creepy-crawlies.

Summer was quite eventful for Alex, thanks to Ambridge Youth Ignite, which ran a daily sports camp and arts camp through the end of July. Alex played soccer, lacrosse, baseball, flag football, and "ultimate frisbee." They capped off the season with a free trip to Pittsburgh to watch the Pirates play major league baseball. Eric Geisbert and the crew of young folk at AYI deserve high praise for the dedication and love they poured into the children of Ambridge.

After spending the month of August playing with his friends in the neighborhood, Alex was really ready for school to start again. He is excited about being in the fifth grade, and has joined the choir and the band.

His face really beamed the first day he brought home his saxophone. He said, "I'm going to practice every day! This is while I'm thinking, "How can I make that fun for him?'

He's looking forward to a visit from his mother this weekend. In part due to the recession, she had some significant business reversals this summer, and was unable to take Alex with her for a while as she had promised.

As a result, I had to cancel my own plans for a short vacation. I've been on the job for almost two years now, and could really use a break. But God is faithful, and He knows what He's doing. We remain targetted toward Alex re-joining his mother full time for his next school year.

Please put in a prayer for Alex and I, and for his mother's success in her new job search.

And may God richly bless you all.

Rolin
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Postscripts: The marigolds that Alex planted for his mother;
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The tomatoes that grew up through the deck;
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And the red berries among the fall colors on the tree in our front yard.
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Michael Melendrez II

2009-09-15T17:03:00.000-07:00

YOUR PRAYERS REQUESTED

In February 2007 I received a letter from my sister Lucy about her grandson Michael, who had received the Lord in prison after years of substance abuse. Michael had been a carrier of HIV for 10 years and had infected his wife with the virus, and had been near death many times from his use of drugs. However, after his conversion he experienced a miraculous recovery: The doctors, in repeated tests, were unable to find any trace of HIV in his system.

Lucy wrote: "He ended up doing study courses on the Bible, and sent us the certificates he completed. He accepted Jesus as his Savior, and his Mother Sally could not believe the change in every aspect of his self. He has been given supervised work duty outside the prison, a big privilege."

Here is Michael's testimony at the time: "It began in 2005 when I turned my life over to the care of God, and no longer live for me, myself and I, only for our Father in heaven" He also gave credit to the Church, family and his personal prayers. Michael said "I have received the ultimate blessing of a lifetime. The power of God's healing hand is resting upon my soul."

By December of the same year Michael had been released from prison. As I travelled from Mississippi to Pennsylvania I was able to meet him in Cartersville, Georgia, where I attended Sunday church services with Michael, his mother Sally and two of his children. He had moved in with his mother, was looking for a job, and was participating fully in the life of Liberty Square Church. On that day he was invited onto the podium to give his testimony before the 1000-strong congregation of the church.

In this photo are Michael and myself along with his son Garret and daughter Ashley, now aged 10 and 6. He also has a son by different mother: Gevin, age 13. All are living with grandparents.

The tragedies in this family began a generation earlier, with the drug involvement of Michael Melendrez I, which ended in his father's death while Michael was still a toddler. Those tragedies have now returned.

Some time after I met Michael II, he won a disability benefits appeal and was awarded a substantial cash settlement. Those of you who know recovering drug addicts recognize the dangers such an award poses.

Michael's life again jumped the tracks, leading to his re-imprisonment for parole violations after spending most of the money. After months in prison without medical attention, he became too weak to walk. He was suffering from Hepatitus C, and is now in the final stages of liver failure. He is due to be transferred from the prison hospital to a hospice, and that may already have happened.

I invite your prayers for Michael and his family: his children and their two mothers, and his grandmother. I invite your prayers also for all those still in addiction to these tools of the Enemy, ravaging the families and youth of our nation. Michael is 35 years old.

My Lord, I thank you that Michael has accepted your saving grace and that you will call him to you at the time that you choose. Grant us the strength to serve those that suffer and to help those who fight against this scourge.

In Jesus name I pray,

Rolin

Urban Gardening

2009-07-28T10:14:00.000-07:00

It has been said that time spent gardening is not deducted from one's alloted span on this earth.

Whether that's true or not, I one of my chief joys is gardening. In Mississippi on the grounds of God's Katrina Kitchen I had no opportunity. Here in Ambridge, my young charge brought home a cherry tomato seedling last year, and I planted it under the deck, where it thrived rather tnan died, to my delight.

This year I bought an Early Girl tomato plant and put it in the same spot.

It has taken off, growing up through the floor of the deck!

Nights have been cool here-- we've all been wondering when summer will actually start. One side effect is that everyone has plenty of green tomatoes but very few are turning red.

Fried green tomatoes, anyone?

Between the walk and the side of the house was a bare, muddy spot that I had been grumbling about, while I had been buying luscious strawberries in the store.

Idea flash-- plant strawberries. But there was a run on plants this year, and I had to hit four stores to get enought plants. So now I have four different varieties of everbearing strawberries in my 3 by 12 foot "garden."

(In California, there was a time when I had a garden that was 50 feet by 150 feet. I had to rent a tractor once a year to turn over the soil in the Spring.)

The plants are mostly sending out runners, which is good. I have been counting on using it as groundcover for an otherwise muddy mess. A few are setting some small fruit, but it lingers on the plant for a long time before turning pink. I wonder if the cool rainy weather is responsible for that also.

The final hurdle will be battling the birds, who spot the faintly pink berries long before they turn red. I'll have to look for some netting if I actually want to eat some of them.

Nevertheless, I'm enjoying tending to my plants and watching them grow.

Thank you, Lord.

I know that you are tending to me even more lovingly than I tend to my plants.

A Little Child Shall Lead Them

2009-05-19T08:59:00.000-07:00

... Spring Update
After they arrived at Capernaum and settled in a house, Jesus asked his disciples, “What were you discussing out on the road?” But they didn’t answer, because they had been arguing about which of them was the greatest.

Jesus sat down, called the twelve disciples over to him, and said, “Whoever wants to be first must take last place and be the servant of everyone else.”

Then he put a little child among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, “Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes not only me but also my Father who sent me.” (Mark 9:33-36, NLT)

I write to you from western Pennsylvania, home of Church Army USA. I moved here in late December, 2007, and soon found myself in charge of a school-age boy on the verge of homelessness. He came to live with me to finish his third and fourth school grades, while his mother worked toward financial recovery and re-establishment of a permanent home for the two of them.

Then along came the recession with its layoffs and scarcity of jobs. Present circumstances are indicating that this young man will remain with me another year, finishing out the fifth grade.

This young man, who I'll call Alex, says that he has Jesus in his heart, and looks up to me to support him in his belief. While I think I am teaching him, though, I suspect he is also teaching me.

From the start, his nature was to contradict everything that I say and imitate everything that I do. That abruptly taught me which was more important: words or actions. As he grows older and begins to test the limits of his behavior, choosing the right actions has become more challenging.

My core ministry has been caring for the homeless. What I'm learning from this small homeless person is what God wants me to do for any of the homeless. He wants me to welcome them as Jesus welcomed the little child. He wants me to be Jesus for them.

I don't think I'm up to that, of course. But that must be my goal. So until God moves me on to my next assignment, I need to learn that lesson so that I can take it with me.

Pray for me, friends, as I continue down the path that God has set out for me.
And thank you for your caring concern.

In that day the wolf and the lamb will live together;
the leopard will lie down with the baby goat.
The calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion,
and a little child will lead them all.
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Core Ministry: the Homeless

2009-05-16T10:23:00.000-07:00

. Spring Update

From the time I rededicated my life to Jesus out in the desert, I have always assumed that ministering to the homeless would be a part of my life. Here is a short summary of those times, as best as I can reconstruct them at the moment.

1995: My first ministry began right there in the desert. For three months I led a ragtag group of homeless in Morning Prayer on Sundays at Saline Valley Hot Springs, California. I used my experience as a licensed Lay Reader and my copy of the Book of Common Prayer to lead services. Three to six of us (or often just myself) met atop a lonely bluff overlooking our remote desert campground.

1996: Six months with the Mens Home at Victory Outreach Riverside gave me opportunity to interact with the homeless when we went on evangelizing trips into the roughest parts of town, looking for heroin and cocain addicts who needed Jesus. As Office Manager, I was on the front line of contact with men who called in looking for conseling and help. Most of these men were already homeless by the time they began reaching out for release from their addictions.

1997: A year in Springfield, Missouri put me in frequent contact with the homeless. As an outreach of Solid Rock Assembly of God, I went to the Town Square each Saturday evening to pass out leaflets that I had prepared at the church. Later, with another street evangelist, I planted a church just off Springfield's 'Skid Row' where more than one homeless man or woman turned their lives over to God. But when the town fathers found out we were ministering to the homeless—with up to a dozen people sleeping on the pews overnight—they promptly shut off our heat and electricity in the midst of a bitter, icy winter.

1998-99: While attending the School of Ministry at Victory Outreach in La Puente, I had occasion to join groups that visited Skid Row Los Angeles to evangelize.

2000: For a year I was director of the Mens Home for Victory Outreach Pasadena. We not only evangelized but also brought homeless men in from the cold to turn their lives over to Jesus, defeat their addictions, and learn the spiritual disciplines of prayer and bible study.

2001-2002: For two years I was assistant pastor at Harvest of Hope Assembly of God in Skid Row Los Angeles. This storefront church was established to minister to the thousands of homeless in central Los Angeles. Besides preaching and counseling the homeless—and living among them—I spent many hours patrolling the streets of Skid Row, seeking out homeless men and women in distress.

2003-2006: While attending graduate school at Vanguard University I joined Saint James Anglican, finding there an Episcopal church that was also orthodox, evangelical, and charismatic. I had several opportunities to join with members of Saint James in ministering to the homeless and preaching at the homeless shelter. After I graduated, Saint James helped start my ministry by founding the Rolin Bruno Benevolence Fund for the Homeless, and they have continued supporting me to this day.

2006-2007: With the Rev. James Giles of Church Army we launched Church Army Gulf Coast to minister to the homeless that were frequenting the food lines of God's Katrina Kitchen in Mississippi. The kitchen was feeding thousands of hurricane-struck residents and relief workers as they tackled the rebuilding of the Mississippi coastline. For over a year we ministered to the homeless who showed up at the food line in the kitchen, helping with referrals or just a shoulder to lean on. More intense care was provided to others, especially 14 men who we invited into my bunkhouse to work in Katrina relief, practice spiritual disciplines, and learn the 12-step addiction recovery program as taught by Church Army. All of them were touched by their experience there, and one of them—Samuel—we baptised in the Gulf of Mexico.

2008-2009: Moving to Pennsylvania, home of Church Army, I found myself in charge of a school-age boy on the verge of homelessness. He came to live with me to finish out the third grade and attend fourth grade while his mother did some financial recovery and attempted to re-establish a permanent home for the two of them. Then along came the recession with its layoffs and scarcity of jobs. Present circumstances are indicating that this young man will remain with me another year, finishing out the fifth grade.

Dear Friends, I'm late again getting back to you: I posted a dreary Winter Update on my web log, but didn't have the heart to send it out via email. The long and short of it is, after a disastrous year trying to find and maintain a reliable vehicle, God led me to a late-model car with a favorable and entirely unexpected loan approval.

God will provide. He always does. Thank you for your prayers.

Why the Homeless? (a selective autobiography)

2009-05-11T16:00:00.001-07:00

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I've added Discipling the Homeless to the title of this web log, after recent reflection on where God has been taking my ministry. So, how did a 20-year aerospace engineer end up with a call to serve the homeless? A short, selective autobiography may be in order.

The 1990's collapse of the aerospace industry left me jobless in a market where 20,000 middle management engineers like myself were out on the street. 18,000 of these had college degrees—a crucial qualification that I lacked. After sending out 740 resumés, I finally landed an interview—and a top job—in the exact place where I had sworn I'd never work: central Los Angeles, which I had looked on as the belly of the beast.

My new job as Director of Information Systems for a department of the County of Los Angeles often required working late. This gave me a view of the ebb and flow of contact between the cultures in L.A.'s Korea-town: The 'Suits' (which included me) would arrive at 9am from the suburbs, and abandon the city promptly at 6pm. In my building, they were replaced by the marginalized Hispanic workforce, who came in to vacuum floors, clean bathrooms, and haul trash outside to fill up the dumpsters. By 8pm, the Hispanics had returned to neighborhoods such as East L.A., and were replaced around our building by the homeless, whose job it was to rifle through our dumpsters in search of food, saleable goods, and overnight housing materials. The Koreans, by and large, were the other witnesses of these migrations, as they tended the stores that served all four populations: Koreans, 'Suits,' Hispanics, and the Homeless.

Many of these homeless were mentally unstable, and some were downright dangerous. Others were just lost. A few were quite charming. I remember one small, frail, and elderly Hispanic lady. At night she would pick out small glass vials from the dumpsters behind medical facilities and scraps of flowers from behind florist shops. Then she would fashion these discards into miniature floral bouquets and sell them from her pushcart the next day for a dollar each. Somewhere along the way, and without my knowing it, God gave me a heart for these discarded homeless people.

Little did I know that I would soon be homeless myself. At the time, I had drifted away from religious life, and I was not serving God. In fact, although I was at the peak of my technical career, my personal life was in the toilet. I lost my home, my family, and my job, and ended up running away into the desert for a year. But there Jesus reached out to me and Called Me His Friend, and I rededicated my life to God. Leaving the desert, I was sure that God would be sending me to help the homeless on Skid Row Los Angeles, but that was not to happen right away.

Instead, God led me into Victory Outreach International, a church that was on fire for God. I saw the faith that they had, and wanted a piece of it for myself. I spent 6 months in the Riverside, California men's home learning spiritual disciplines and street ministry while reaching out to heroin addicts. I became the home's office manager; the first contact point for men who were often homeless because of their addictions, and were contemplating turning their lives over to God.

Leaving the men's home behind led me to more personal homelessness, but not for long. In Springfield, Missouri, I joined an Assembly of God church (while also attending three others) and began reaching out to the homeless who frequented the town square. With another street evangelist, I planted a church just off Commercial Street (Springfield's own 'Skid Row') where more than one homeless young man and young woman turned their lives over to God. That was a tough winter, with ice storms coating the streets and bringing tree branches crashing through the roof of the church. But when the town fathers found out we were ministering to the homeless—with a dozen people sleeping on the pews overnight—they promptly shut off our heat and electricity.

That church came to a crushing end, which I attributed to three deficiencies on the part of myself and the other evangelist: lack of training, lack of credentials, and lack of organizational covering. But mostly, the failure could be chalked up to a lack paying attention to the leading of the Holy Spirit, who had been encouraging us to bring more townspeople into church leadership. Nevertheless, I determined that I would not strike out on my own like that again, at least until I had the training, the credentials, and the covering.

When I returned to California, I sought out the mother church of Victory Outreach where its School of Ministry was headquartered. Discipleship and street evangelism to the addicted were the focus there, although there was also some outreach to the homeless. For the first ten weeks I lived under a bush, while attending classes, volunteering at the School, and working a full time job. I gathered every credential they then were offering: Christian Worker's Certificate, Christian Ministry Diploma, and Regional Leadership Training. I moved to Pasadena, where I served for a year as the Director of the Pasadena men's home, teaching Bible lessons and spiritual disciplines to former addicts.

But it was time for more. In fact, it was finally time for Skid Row. I moved into one of the Skid Row hotels (700 rooms, one maid), and within weeks found myself assigned as assistant pastor at Harvest of Hope, a storefront church of the Assemblies of God. Here I was in direct contact with street homeless, running Sunday services and preaching while still holding down that full time job. I attended Latin American Bible Institute to prepare myself for upper division studies before transferring to Vanguard University to get a Bachelor's degree in Religion.

After two years immersed in that once-feared belly of the beast, I moved to Orange County to pursue a Master's degree in Bible Studies. Taking time off from active ministry was painful, but I was gratified some years later when I found some of the formerly homeless that had been a part of Harvest of Hope participating in ministry to others at Saint David's Anglican Church in North Hollywood.

Orange County led me back to my historical roots in the Anglican tradition: I had heard that there was a charismatic Episcopal church in Newport Beach, but I had no idea that there was an Episcopal church that was also evangelical and orthodox. I found all three at Saint James Anglican, a church now aligning with the new Anglican Church in North America, although somewhat distracted by its property fight with The Episcopal Church.

With the completion of my schooling, I was ready to move back into full time ministry. Newport Beach, despite its $2.5 million-plus median home price, had its share of the homeless, but ministry to them was spotty and not well understood. Once-a-month or once-a-week ministry opportunities were just not what I was looking for. Father Richard Menees, who had been trying to recruit me as a missionary from day one at Saint James, suggested that I check out Church Army. "They take in misfits," he said. So off to Church Army headquarters in Pennsylvania I drove.

What I did not expect to find there was a little-noticed branch of the Anglican tradition, the Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches and its non-geographical fledgling Missionary Diocese of Saint Aiden Lindisfarne. Its bishop-in-waiting, Alan Morris, was preaching radical discipleship to a pair of house churches and had attracted a following of Trinity Seminary graduates with big ideas. I found in Alan a kindred spirit; combining the fire one might find at Victory Outreach with the respect for tradition known to the Anglican tradition. By the following year, I had been ordained a Deacon in the CEEC as one of 17 ordinands at a CEEC church in Florida.

A month in Pennsylvania and a month in Branson gave me a view of what Church Army was doing, especially with the addicted, but a month in Mississippi captured my heart. Homes, businesses, and whole towns had been wiped off the map (down to the slabs) and most of the help was coming from Church-based organizations, including James and Mary Giles of Church Army. They were making great strides at relief work alongside God's Katrina Kitchen, but had been flummoxed by the traditional homeless, who had always been there, but were now in worse shape than ever before, since their supporting services had been mostly wiped out by Katrina.

In a year-and-a-half in Mississippi, we ministered to the homeless who showed up at the food line in the kitchen, helping with referrals or just a shoulder to lean on. More intense care was provided to others, namely 14 men who we invited into my bunkhouse to work in Katrina relief, practice spiritual disciplines, and learn the 12-step addiction recovery program as taught at Church Army Branson. Of the 14 men, 12 had a history of substance addiction, while the remaining two were simply chronically homeless. All of them were touched by their experience there, but the majority relapsed into their addictions. One of them—Samuel—I baptised in the Gulf of Mexico, assisted by James Giles.

When the Mississippi mission came to an end, I was at a loss as to where to go next. Now I had the training (Men's recovery homes, Skid Row, 12-Step recovery); the credentials (Ministry School, B.A in Religion, M.A. in Bible); and the Covering (Deacon in the CEEC, Captain in Church Army). All I thought I needed was the next task from the Lord . How wrong I was. At my Bishop's invitation, I moved back to Pennsylvania to help the diocese.

It wasn't long before the Lord sent me my next task: caring for a grade-school child on the edge of homelessness. My detailed ministry budget got knocked into a cocked hat while I redirected resources into school lunches, allowance, basketball team fees, and most of all, disastrous automobiles. Yet I'm still being true to my core ministry—as Saint James termed it—the Rolin Bruno Benevolence Fund for the Homeless.

Thank you, Lord, for your promise that you would always be there for me.
.

Winter 08/09 Update. Plus, Car Chronicles #4

2009-03-19T12:05:00.000-07:00

.
It's Still Winter?

Well, just barely.

Today is the last full day of the official winter season, and tomorrow we'll see the spring equinox, the first day of spring.

Here's a photo from January, but today the snow is gone, the robins have returned, and we are starting to have whole days when the temperature stays above freezing.

However, no leaves yet have appeared on the trees, and the wind chill still calls for a jacket if you're going to be outside.

But worse, it still feels a lot like winter to me: sort of a winter season in my ministry; in my life, so to speak.

But first, the good news.

One side effect of having a nine-year-old living with me is that I get to invite his friends in the neighborhood to church. About a dozen children have come with us to Church of the Savior (COTS), a church here in the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh.

Many of these children had hardly darkened a church door. But they enjoyed the small children's ministry classes, and some of them asked if they could come with us again--which of course, I gladly encouraged,

One child's reaction has stuck with me. When this young lad returned from Sunday School, I was instructing him in what would happen at Holy Communion. COTS accepts all baptised persons to the communion (pita bread & non-alcoholic wine), and gives a blessing to those who do not partake. I asked the boy if he had been baptised, and he asked me,

"What does 'baptize' mean?"

He had never heard the word. This made me realize just how secular our society has become, and how many children are growing up without access to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. This boy took away the impression that baptism was something special, and something to be desired. May the Lord nuture that seed and pique his interest in Jesus.

And now for the darker news.

Last Spring (see below), I was bubbling over about my new '92 Honda Accord, in "the prime of its life." I thought that the buffeting of the ice floes of life (like these on the Ohio River) was melting away, and I could float smoothly down to wherever the river of my ministry should take me.

I wish. The Honda needed brakes, then a radiator replacement. More recently, I spun out the car after hitting an ice floe of sorts on Pennsylvania Hwy. 65. The repairs stemming from that event involved replacing the radiator again.

Then came the torrential oil leak. The mechanic pulled the front plate off the engine, and found major problems with the oil pump and seal, with prohibitive costs for parts, not to mention labor. End result? A one-way trip to the junk yard for a bitterly meager price.

If the Lord truly still wanted me to have a car as part of my ministry, it would seem I would need something that promised more reliability than a 15-year-old car.

I tried (actually, I was forced) to cope with caring for my young charge (just turned 10 years old) using my resources as a pedestrian and a bicylist. That had not been going well. The old injuries to my left leg (broken knee and broken hip) did not respond kindly to the increased stress that the cold and the rain and the forced exercise placed on me.

Not all was bad news, however. The local Chevy dealer was advertising 2008 Chevy Cobalts at an attractive price, and as I was passing by on my bike I went in to enquire. To my profound suprise, they approved me for a car loan, an approval that included an attractive payment and interest rate. The down side was the jump in insurance costs to include comp & collision, which would push me to the limits of my pension-based income.

What to do? I wept before the Lord. Then I chose faith over despair.

In sum, I have a shiny black subcompact car parked outside, still covered by most of the miles of the manufacturer's warranty. And I look forward to seeing how my Lord is going to help me pay for it.

Pray for me, brothers and sisters.
Pray for my flagging spirit, and pray for my health.
And thank you, for taking the interest and concern to read this web log.
May the Lord bless you and keep you.

Rolin

Fall 2008 Update

2008-11-24T08:37:00.000-08:00

Let me start by telling you a story:

Some 40 years ago, at an elementary school in Indonesia, a third grade teacher asked each of her students to stand up and tell the class what it was that they hoped to do with their lives; that is, "What would you like to be when you grow up? When it came to his turn, one young lad stood up to say, "I want to become President of the United States."

That 8-year-old lad's name was Barack Obama.

This story hit home for me, as the somewhat surprised full-time caretaker for another young lad, who we'll call Alex. The years between 8 and 10 years of age are crucially formative for the self-identity of young men and help to set them on their life-long course.

Alex is attending to the challenges of the fourth grade, has signed up for basketball competition, and is progressing very well in his martial arts class, where he has joined the junior drill team. Truth to tell, assisting a fourth-grader has been challenging to me also, as Alex brings home what seems (to him, at least) to be a mountain of homework on nine different subjects assigned by a team of three home room teachers—not to mention music, library, and gym. At home, he prefers to exercise his expertise on tracking down internet-provided hints for playing computer games, but with firm guidance will set to his homework with a will and is determined to do well in school. He followed the presidential election closely, and has pictures of President-elect Obama and his family posted on his bedroom wall.

Someone once said that your ministry assignment is the people that God puts in front of you. I have wondered why God gave me all that training in street evangelism and street ministry before giving me the assignment to be a full-time foster parent. But my friends here continue to encourage me to stick with my assignment. And on the other hand, God seldom consults with me about what kind of training I think I need.

The street ministry tasks given to me last year on the hurricane-ravaged coast of Mississippi gave me the opportunity to provide firm guidance to a dozen troubled men, pointing them toward what God was choosing for them in place of the snares of the Enemy. Each man was touched in some way, but no success story is greater than that of Church Army Gulf Coast graduate Van. When Van came to us he was broke, homeless, living under the Gulfport pier, and addicted to crack cocaine.

But now he is doing wonderfully in his role as chief cook for the rebuilding efforts of the Free Church of the Annunciaton in New Orleans. He has been welcomed enthusiastically by the community and is relishing the role of being one of a beloved member of the extended church family, while he cooks for dozens—and even hundreds—of volunteers who come to help New Orleans rebuild from the devastation left behind by Hurricane Katrina. Fr. Jerry Kramer posted his photo in their latest newsletter, which I'm sharing with you here.

Continuing with Church Army work, my proximity to the world headquarters here is allowing me to help the National Director prepare and edit a major envisioning document for the training of candidates who will plant "Bases of Evangelism," most notably exemplified by the Church Army base in Branson, Missouri. A Base of Evangelism is defined as a self-replicating community of faith where the least are reached for Jesus and drawn into the life and mission of the church.

I will also be helping to edit an envisioning document for a new province within the Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches being prepared by my Bishop, Alan Morris. It will be led by three bishops and will provide strategic support for the rapid multiplication of churches in Pakistan and China. With over 2,000 churches and growing, there is a critical need for leadership training, and for new indigenous priests and bishops.

Despite the title of this post, Autumn as a weather phenomenon here in Pennsylvania is long gone, flashing by in the blink of an eye. The banks of the Ohio River are no longer spashed with color but draped in drab winter browns, and we have already had our first inch of snow here, with night temperatures down into the teens.

Thank you all for your prayers, and for your contributions.

I will try to keep you all posted with my activities in this space, with an update at least quarterly.

Anglican Men's Weekend

2008-06-08T13:03:00.000-07:00

Last month I had the good fortune to be able to drop in on the Anglican Men's Weekend in the mountains of Southern California. Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi and a host of other Anglican bishops led a powerful retreat to recharge the batteries of the faithful, and give their views of the road ahead.

Kevin Kallsen of Anglican TV, who I had not seen since the Episcopal house of bishops meeting in New Orleans, was there to tape the proceedings.

After each of the teachings, I joined with the men who gathered into small groups in the forested retreat center to work through the issues being raised, both personal and corporate. It was a real chance to get our feet firmly replanted on solid ground.

.

.

Better yet, I had the pleasure of re-connecting and consulting with a great many of the closest friends from my three-year sojourn with St. James Anglican of Newport Beach including Fr. Richard Menees (far right, bottom picture). They helped me ponder the future of my ministry and what God was doing in my life. I came away lightened and refreshed.

Wedding Bells

2008-06-07T15:58:00.000-07:00

Yup, it's true! My youngest progeny and only daughter got married!

I had a chance to visit them at their wedding reception in the high desert of Southern California. Not only that, I had the honor to make a fool of myself dancing 70's disco style (the only dance I know) with the new bride. I was also happy to have the chance to connect with my two older sons who I have not seen for way too long.

All this left me with a yearning to move back to California; to be closer to my family and familiar surroundings. But God has plunked me down in Western Pennsylvania for the present, and I'll just have to be patient to see what he has in store for me here.

God is Good.
All the Time.

Car Chronicles #3

2008-05-15T07:52:00.001-07:00

Springtime, and the trees are in bloom!

Time for a breath of fresh air and a new car.
The '91 Dodge Dynasaur needed brakes and a transmission cleansing, not to mention the inspection stickers on the window required by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Oh, and since it wouldn't shift out of low gear, I was getting 12 miles per gallon at $3.69 each gallon.
So the Lord provided this for me: A '93 Honda Accord LX with only 170,000 miles on it--right in the prime of life for a Honda!
And with the inspection stickers in the window, I'm no longer a Pennsylvania scofflaw. Doncha think I'll get better than 12 MPG?

Thank you, Jesus.

Tomorrow I fly to California to drop in on the Anglican Men's Weekend, and touch base with all my friends and supporters from Southern California. From there I'll drive to the wedding reception for my daughter, Amber. There I hope to see my two sons, Raymond and Walter, for the first time in some ten years. Please Pray for me.

Still hangin' in there with the Lord,
The Deacon.

Ezekiel's Call

2008-04-21T06:47:00.000-07:00

Ezekiel's Call

Words and Music by Rolin Bruno

In my thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the month, I sat with the captives by the river.

When out of the north, the heavens burst forth, an a whirlwind and fire made me shiver.

From the midst of the fire, four creatures sped by, on wheels that rose in the sky,

With thunder in their wings, like a waterfall sings, or the voice of my God, El Shaddai.

refrain

El Shaddai, come visit your people;

El Shaddai, we long for your call.

El Shaddai, come near to us, open our ears,

For without you we surely will fall.

Each of the four had the face of a man, and an eagle, an ox, and a lion.

When they ended their flight, there above them a light, as a man on a sapphire throne,

High in the sky, with a light in his eye, like a rainbow that shines in a cloud;

And I fell to my face, for I knew in this place, I had looked on the glory of God.

refrain

As I lay on the ground, I was hearing the sound, of the one who is faithful and true.

He said, "Son of man, stand up on your feet, and hear what I would say to you:

"My people are wild, they revolt like a child they're obstinate, stubborn and proud;

"And I send you to speak, though the prospects are bleak, but speak to them often and loud."

refrain

Then the four creatures roared, and the Spirit of the Lord sent me back on the way to my people.

But a voice in my ears spoke loud to my tears, with direction for what I must do:

"I set you in the land as a watchman to stand, to sound the alarm loud and clear;

"With a forehead like flint, never waiver or hint, speak my words for my people to hear."

refrain

close

O Watchman, watch over your people;

Watchman, we're counting on you.

O Watchman, stay right here and open our ears,

To the words of the Faithful and True.

The Chord progressions were inspired by the artistry of Gabriel Martinez:

Am, Dm, F, E, Am

Dm, Am, F, E, Am

Dm, Am, F, F, E

Am, Dm, F, E, Am

refrain/close

Dm, Am

Dm, F

F, E

You Call Me Your Friend

2008-03-03T06:26:00.000-08:00

January 6, 1996:

It’s a cold January day. I’ve been hiking for ten hours or so, but I’m still excited about the path ahead. The trail is clear, a cruel slash across the remote wilderness slope, outlined under the snow. But as I gain altitude the snow is deepening—I don’t think I can reach the ridgeline above me as long as winter’s frigid grip conceals the rocky terrain.

These are the Inyo Mountains, rising to 10,000 feet. They say there are a few ancient bristlecone pines near the top, trees 2,000 years old and more. If I could just reach one today… Maybe I’ll feel better if I touch a creature that was alive when Jesus walked this planet. Oh, so long ago…

It’s sheer folly for me to be up here, according to the campers in the desert below. Less than two dozen people hike here each year, along these 150-year-old trails carved during a long-forgotten gold rush. If something happens to me they’ll find my body here in May, during the hiking season. So be it.

If I could find food up here I’d have little reason to go back down. My life out there lies in hopeless ruin. I’ve lost my family, my home, my job. The world has set me out at the curb with the trashcans, but the trash man has refused to pick me up. Strife and violence have been following me, and I’m not going back there.

I’ve gone back to reading my Bible. It’s been helping a little. I remember that it used to be my friend. I think there was a time when I felt closer to God, but I can’t seem to bring back that feeling. It’s been a long, long time since I’ve had anyone I could call a friend.

The snow is now reaching two feet in depth—it’s tiring to slog through it. I won’t be able to go much farther. And I need to set up camp before the light fades. I look up the trail; maybe I’ll go a few hundred more yards.

A tree stands beside the trail a hundred yards ahead. It is ramrod straight, with branches reaching out on each side like the father welcoming the prodigal son. Or like the cross. As I draw closer I see that the tree is ancient, weatherworn and hardened. It stands downslope by the trail like a lone sentry, guarding, watching, checking passersby.

An aura seems to envelop the tree—almost a glow. What might this tree have seen as it stood here over the centuries? If it could speak, what stories could it tell? Could this be one of those trees that were living 2,000 years ago?

For some reason I reach out for the tree’s outstretched limb. I just want to shake hands with something that has seen so much, endured so much, and still lives.

And the Lord Jesus Christ reaches back to me… And shakes my hand… And says to me…

“Hello, Rolin. I’m so glad to see you. I’ve been waiting for you…
for 2,000 years.”

My body tingles, as if my skin were sparkling. No speech is possible.
The Creator of the Universe has just taken time out to speak to me.
I stand awestruck.

Jesus has been waiting for me?

That was twelve years ago. That spring I gave my whole life to Jesus. I gave up all claim to my life and gave it to my Lord, to do with however he pleased. Now I will always know what it is like to have a friend, for Jesus calls me his friend. .....(John 15:12-15)

Jesus is waiting for you too, my friend. He is stretching out his hand to you, beckoning with open arms. He gave up his life for you, so that you could come to him and be his friend.

Won’t you reach out to him today?

General Rule and Principles of the Community

2008-02-23T04:32:00.000-08:00

The General Rule and Gospel Principles
of the
Community of Servant Disciples in Christ
(CSDC)

As Proposed
10 February, 2008

Prelude

We are called to be the Community of Servant Disciples in Christ.

We are called into Community, embracing the promise that we are created to live as children in the family of God our Father.[1] We are called to be Servants, learning from our Lord who came to serve rather than to be served, and who teaches us to do the same.[2] We are called to be Disciples who make disciples, longing to be transformed so that we may love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.[3] We are called to be In Christ, representing this era of the already even as we struggle with the not yet of the fullness of the Kingdom.[4]

And finally, we are called. We are called to the Father because God loves us so much that he gave his only son to reconcile us to Him.[5] We are called to receive, nurture, heal, equip and release; and thereby serve the devoted disciples of Jesus Christ in the hope that the kingdom of God may in fact one day be on earth as it is in heaven. We are called to follow and love Christ by observance and practice of His commands and teachings[6] as recorded in Holy Scripture and as modeled for us by His faithful people throughout the ages. We are called to promote unity among all the peoples of the mystical body of Christ, [7] as one among many spiritual families raised up by the Holy Spirit in the Church. We are called to make devoted disciples of the way of Christ for the purpose of transforming cultures and bringing reformation to the people of God.

Christ calls us to “be transformed by the renewing of our minds”[8] to follow this Way, so that he may send us, as He has done the saints who have gone before, to offer all that we have and all that we are[9] to the mission of God as fully and completely described in the Old and New Testaments[10]. We shall strive to be living witnesses among all nations to the great truth that in Christ there are no barriers to relationship with God because of gender, social status, race or nations in God's family. "For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus[11]. And if you are Christ’s then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”[12] We shall strive to live understanding that our hope …indeed the only hope of all humans…for peace and wholeness in this world is in God the Father who is able to transform the affections of the human heart and will, through Jesus Christ His Son, who with the Holy Spirit is living and reigning with Him now and forever. It is by His grace, His good will towards us, that we have been saved and are by that same grace being converted day by day[13]. For that reason our relationship with Him must be the very purpose for and happy end of our lives.

The Community consists of men and women, married or single, from any Christian denomination. These men and women, though following the ordinary professions of life, have responded to the drawing of the Holy Spirit to become a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ[14] in community with us. We seek this through our commitment to being transformed in Christ into His likeness[15] by the power and work of the Holy Spirit. To that end we joyfully and without reservation covenant together and do vow to observe and practice the teaching of Jesus fulfilling the measure of God’s grace received by each of us.We identify with the character, intent, passion and vision of the ancient monastic traditions and of their founders St. Benedict and later St. Francis. We are not called as they were to serve God in the literal practice of the traditional monastic values of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience. Nor do we attribute to their literal practice any salvific quality. We do, however, affirm the teaching of the spiritual truths contained in them as well as the Benedictine vows of Stability and Fidelity and we affirm the observance of these spiritual truths in the ordinary professions of life.

Gospel Principles

1. We covenant together to observe and practice the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ especially as it informs us as to our responsibility as servants to those whom God sends us.[16] We follow the example of the many remarkable Saints who went before us, who made Christ the inspiration and the center of their lives in their relationship with Him and with their neighbors.[17] We devote ourselves especially to careful reading of the gospel, including all that the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms say about Jesus.[18] We affirm the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the word of God written and to contain all things necessary to salvation.[19]

2. We expect and do seek to encounter the living and active person of Christ in our brothers and sisters in Christ and in our neighbors,[20] in Sacred Scripture,[21] in our worship,[22] in all the works of God’s hands and in the ‘Church’, the mystical body of Christ.[23]

3. We shall go forth as witnesses and instruments of God's mission among all people, proclaiming Christ by our life and words. As St Francis said, “Preach the gospel always and when necessary, use words.” We affirm the one holy catholic and apostolic church as the people of God gathered to Christ throughout time in the world. Called like Saint Francis to rebuild the Church and inspired by his example, we devote ourselves energetically to bring by our teaching and witness reform and conversion to the people of God, in spiritual fellowship with Christians everywhere.[24]

4. Motivated by our hope in the dynamic power of the gospel to change our lives, we will conform ourselves to the four step process of the cross; suffering, death, burial and resurrection. We do this so that by the power of the Holy Spirit working in us, our thoughts and deeds will be transformed to those of Christ by means of that radical interior change[25] which the gospel calls "Conversion".[26] Our sincere recognition of our sinful human condition[27] insists that we honestly seek and embrace this conversion daily. We submit ourselves to the biblical principles of confessing our sins to one another and of intentional repentance from the works of the flesh that lead to spiritual death.

5. Following the example of Jesus, let prayer…that pleasing continual conversation that is nurtured by an intimate relationship with God…along with contemplation[28] and “the practice of the presence of God,” be the soul of all we are and all we do. We will participate in the sacramental life of the mystical body of Christ, above all the Eucharist.[29] We will regularly join in common prayer in one of the forms in use by the body of Christ.

6. The Order shall follow the historic example of the Saints of God by our imitation of their complete self-giving and by our perseverance and faithfulness to the one who has surely called us to follow Him.[30]

7. We shall faithfully fulfill the duties proper to our various circumstances of life. We shall follow the Christ who suffered, died, was buried and was raised from the dead by picking up our own cross daily as He himself instructed us[31] and we will witness to Him even in difficulties and persecutions.[32]

8. Christ chose for himself a poor and humble life.[33] In so doing He demonstrated that He valued God’s creation attentively and lovingly. We will seek a proper detachment from temporal goods[34] by consciously simplifying our own material needs.[35] We will be mindful that according to the gospel we are to be stewards and not owners of money and possessions[36] and as such they are not to be used by us according to our own whim but for God’s purposes, for the benefit of all God's children. We understand that the scriptural blessings of God are intended for the whole people of God, not only for the strong and the most capable. We shall strive to purify our hearts from every tendency and yearning for control, possession and power.

9. With a gentle and courteous spirit, we accept all people as a gift of the Lord and an image of Christ.[37] A sense of community will make us joyful and ready to place ourselves on an equal basis with all people, especially with the lowly, for whom we shall strive to create conditions of life worthy of people redeemed by Christ.

10. Giving thanks for the Community of Servant Disciples in Christ, wherever they may be found, we will endeavor to show them such sacrificial love that the world will see in us the image of Christ,[38] who sacrificed himself out of his love for us. We will intentionally seek out relationship with our brother and sister disciples, offering comfort and companionship, rejoicing with them when they rejoice, and weeping with them when they weep.[39] If we are wronged in any way, we will always be ready to forgive and to forgive again.[40]

11. We shall individually and collectively be in the forefront of promoting justice by testimony of our human lives and by courageous initiatives. Especially in our public life, we will make definite choices in harmony with our faith.

12.We shall esteem work both as a gift from God and as a sharing with Him and with one another in the creation, redemption and service of the human community. We shall affirm all work that can appropriately be done in the presence of God as God given and we shall not further distinguish between ‘spiritual’ and ‘ordinary’ work. We shall thoroughly resist the temptation to separate our life into spiritual and ordinary activities and shall endeavor to bring every moment of our lives to integration and sanctification truly “in Christ”.

13. In our families, we shall cultivate the Gospel truths of peace, fidelity, and respect for life, striving to make of them a sign of a world already renewed in Christ. We shall endeavor to live our lives fully submitted to one another’s wholeness and fullness eagerly anticipating the revelation of God’s best in one another.

14. We shall respect and enjoy all creatures, animate and inanimate, which bear the imprint of the Most High.[41] We shall strive to move from the temptation to exploit Creation for our own gain toward Biblical concepts, living as those who have been given the responsibility to “guard, tend, protect and keep”[42] all of the works of God’s hands so that God’s creation may fulfill the purposes for which God intended.

15. In obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ, we are ambassadors of peace and reconciliation.[43] We are compelled to seek out ways of resolving conflict through non-violent means, trusting that all humans are created in the image of God their creator and in the transforming power of love and pardon.

16. Since we are immersed in the resurrection of Christ, which gives the death of our physical bodies its true meaning, let us accept death serenely as an encounter with our God. We shall live joyfully in eager expectation of that day when we shall finally see Him no longer as in a mirror dimly but, face to face. We receive the words of our Lord Jesus to pick up our cross daily and to follow after Him[44] as His call to us toward resurrection freedom and we embrace our own cross as the sure means by which we shall be formed into the likeness of our Lord.[45]

17. We each covenant to draw up and live by a Personal Rule of Life based on the Rule of this Community and falling into these disciplines: Worship, Prayer, Relationship, Work, Lifestyle, Mission, Obedience, Community and Service. We understand the value of living a submitted life. We shall always be in relationship with a spiritual director whose purpose is to walk with us as we are discerning the will of God and in particular as their words inform our obedience to the will of God.

Admission into the Community of Servant Disciples in Christ is progressively attained through a time of orientation as a seeker of truth, followed by a period of formation of at least two years during which time the follower of Christ grows into living the fullness of the rule and Gospel principles of the Community, and finally a full profession of the Rule as a Servant. The entire community is engaged in this process of growth and formation. Profession by its nature is a permanent commitment. Disciples or, those who desire to be a disciple of Jesus, from any Christian denomination who are in good conscience able to affirm the Rule and Gospel principles are encouraged to belong to this Community.This Order is a Covenantal Christian Community whose members meet annually, and is governed by its Bishop, whose charge regarding the community is to “guard the faith once delivered to the Saints”,[46] and an Abbott who, in addition to interpreting the charge of the Bishop to the community shall maintain the spirit of the order and by the unanimous decision of an appointed board of Elders[47] selected from the community. These Elders shall make rules as they are informed by the Holy Spirit, in accordance with this General Rule and Gospel Principles and in harmony with the gospel of Jesus Christ as it is revealed by the Canon of the old and new testaments.[48]

A Benediction

Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

+Alan Morris
Deacon Rolin Bruno

End Notes:

[1] John 1:12-13, Romans 8:12-17, 1 Thessalonians 2:6b-8, 1 John 3:1-3.[2] John 13:1-17 (washing of feet), Matthew 25:31-46 (sheep and goats). There are few of the teachings of Jesus that are as clear and therefore for the disciple, unavoidable as are these two commands to serve our fellow humans.[3] Matthew 28:19. We fully affirm that humans were created to be able to fully live only in the continual presence of God who is our source of life. The Disciples of Jesus are humans who according to the grace given them, practice the presence of God for the sake of the Love of Him only and for no other reason than that He is truly lovely and worthy of our love.[4] Romans 12:4-5, 2 Corinthians 5:16-21, Galatians 3:26-29, Ephesians 2:11-13, We affirm that we are as redeemed disciples in Christ, and yet we recognize our reality—revealed by our brokenness as humans—that we must at once answer the Word of God who calls us to submit to the transforming power of the Holy Spirit in order that we may be in Christ..[5] John 3:16.[6] John 14:15.[7] John 17:20-23, 2 Cor. 5:18-20.[8] Romans 12:2.[9] Mark 12:28-31.[10] 2 Timothy 3:15-17.[11] Paul is not attempting to say in these passages that there is no difference between the people groups that he contrasts in this passage. There are clearly genetic, gender, cultural and political differences that are obvious between each of the noted people groups. This is clearly a statement that in Christ despite these distinct differences we are equal heirs to the kingdom of God and to relationship with Him. There are no second class citizens or aristocracies in the Kingdom of God.[12] Galatians 3:26-29.[13] 2 Corinthians 3:18, Matthew 18:3.[14]We acknowledge three biblically recognizable progressions of the faithful disciple. While these in fact represent real stages in the growth of the servant they are understandably not quantifiable. The Seeker, John 1:39-the follower, Mark 1:16-18 and Matthew 4:18-20-the Abiding or the Remaining, John 15:1-11. We shall resist the temptation to foster opportunity at any time for the honest disciple to fall into spiritual pride through the practice of assigning titles in recognition of spiritual growth. We understand that the titles of “Bishop”, “Abbot”, “Elder” and “Spiritual Director” are descriptive of specific responsibilities within the community. While necessary and helpful these titles are potentially a snare and a temptation to sin for those who bear them and to those who may wrongfully revere them. Let us pray for one another.[15] Ephesians 4:13-15.[16] Luke 10:1-24.[17] Mark 12:28-31, Luke 10:25-27. The First and Second greatest commandments.[18] Luke 24:27, 44-48.[19] 2 Timothy 3:16.[20] Matthew 25.[21] John 1:1-17.[22] Psalm 22:3, Matthew 18:20.[23] 1 Cor. 12:12-27.[24] While we recognize that our salvation is in fact personal and we have been invited into a personal relationship with God ; we understand further that our salvation is not individual but, corporate. God’s purposes from the beginning of time has been to create for Himself a unified people. We affirm the Family of God and we reject the popular cultural affirmations and the exaltation of individualism.[25] Romans 12:2.[26] Matthew 18:3, Acts 15:3.[27] Romans 3:10.[28] 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. Recommended reading, “The Practice of the Presence of God”, Brother Lawrence.[29]Luke 22:19-20, Matthew 26:26-28, Mark 14:22-24, 1 Corinthians 11:23-30.[30] Matthew 10: 37-39, Mark 1:16-18.[31] Matthew 10:38, 39.[32] Mark 10:30, 2 Corinthians 12:10, 2 Timothy 3:10-12.[33] Matthew 4:8-10, Luke 4:5-8, Philippians 2:5-8.[34] John 14:30.[35] We affirm "An Evangelical Commitment to Simple Lifestyle", written and endorsed by the International Consultation on Simple Lifestyle, held at Hoddesdon, England on March 17-21, 1980. The Consultation was sponsored by the World Evangelical Fellowship Theological Commission’s Unit on Ethics and Society (Dr. Ronald Sider, chairman) and the Lausanne Committee on World Evangelization's Lausanne Theology and Education Group (Rev. John Stott, chairman) as a reasonable beginning to a complete understanding of our call to live Godly lives as humble stewards of all of the gifts God has given us for the purpose of fulfilling His will in the earth.[36] Acts 4:32-37. “ no one said that anything they had was their own…nor was there anyone among them who lacked”[37] Matthew 25:40.[38] John 13:1-17 and 34–35; 1 John 3:16–18.[39] Romans 12:14.[40] Matthew 18:21–22; Luke 17:3–4[41] Romans 1:18-20.[42] Genesis 1:26-28, 2:15.[43] 2 Corinthians 5:18-21.[44]Matthew 10:37-39.[45] Galatians 2:20. With the Apostle Paul it is our humble hope to confess one day that it is no longer we who live but Christ who lives in us.[46] Jude 3. We affirm decision-making based on Scripture, tradition, and Godly wisdom. The Holy Scriptures are self-attesting and the essence of Truth which require our unreserved submission in all areas of our lives. The trustworthy written Word of God is a complete and unified witness to God's redemptive acts which culminated in the incarnation of the Living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Bible, uniquely inspired by the Holy Spirit, is the supreme and final authority in matters of faith and life. The Word of God, Incarnate and written, provides the foundation we affirm along with Apostles' and Nicene Creeds.[47] Acts 14:23, Titus 1:5-9, 1 Peter 5:1-4.[48] We understand that the titles of “Abbot”, “Bishop”, “Elder” and “Spiritual Director” are descriptive of specific responsibilities within the community. While necessary and helpful these titles are potentially a snare and a temptation for those who bear them and to those who may wrongfully revere them to sin the sin of Spiritual Pride. Let us pray for one another.

+Alan Morris
Deacon Rolin Bruno

Car Chronicles #2

2008-02-22T22:00:00.000-08:00

The Saga of the Dodge Dynasour

When the Ol' Faithful Mazda gave up the ghost (see Car Chronicles #1), I figured I'd just walk for a while. After all, I need the exercise.

Then I found out that I would be caring for a grade-school child. I needed a car, not the least to take him to school and pick him up. The purchase was rather hurried. I came up with the above dinosaur, a '91 Dynasty. Seemed to run ok. The dealer put a new radiator and water pump in it. And (the prime factor) it fit with the amount of money I had on hand.

But it needed a state inspection. That was attempted yesterday, and the outcome was not good. The car needs rear brakes rather badly, and along with an engine tune-up and the safety/smog inspection the fix-up costs would outpace the original purchase cost of the car.

Being a man of little faith, I was depressed.
Moan. Worry. Moan. What to do? What to do?

God, however, is faithful. Before long, help was showing up from unexpected quarters. I still don't know how the funds will appear to pay for a worthwhile vehicle (or whether, like the last two times, God will simply give me a car free and clear), but nevertheless, next month I will begin the search in earnest for a dependable vehicle.

God is Good.
All the Time.
When will I ever learn?

The Death of Christianity

2008-02-21T10:53:00.000-08:00

Christianity is dying.

No, it is not dying everywhere.
It is dying on the North American Continent.

It is dying because we have not become disciples to Christ.
It is dying because we preferred to keep our own selves alive;
...that is, we have not put our own selves to death.
Christ cannot live in our hearts until we do so.
In The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer said,
"When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die."*

We don't want to die.
We want to preserve our own lives.
Leave everything and follow Jesus?
You've got to be kidding.
I've got a life, after all.
I can't leave that!

We don't want our institutions to die.
We want to preserve our own institutions:
—those institutions we call "churches."
If those institutions become moribund,
...we want to restart them with a few quick fixes.
A few quick fixes:
—some good Bible-based preaching, more small group ministries, etc.

Bill Hybels had a few quick fixes. He founded a megachurch.
But Bill Hybels failed. He failed to make disciples to Christ.
A few quick fixes are not going to cure Bill Hybels' church.

The Anglican Church in Canada has failed.
The Episcopal Church in the States has failed,
...and it is exporting its failure southward.
These failed because they did not make disciples to Christ.
"Ah," you say,
"But we Anglicans have a few quick fixes to get re-started!"

Good Bible-based preaching. Lambeth Quadrilateral. The 39 Articles. Etc.
The Lambeth Quadrilateral does not make disciples.
The Thirty-Nine Articles do not make disciples.
Pulpit ministry, however good and Bible-based, does not make disciples.
Only Disciples make Disciples.

And lastly, we don't want Christendom to die.
We want to preserve our "Christian" nation.
We want to serve our fellow-"Christians" living in our "Christian" nation.
We are doomed to failure.
"Ah," you say, "But we Bible-Believing Christians have a few quick fixes!"
A few quick fixes:
Vote for the right president. Oppose abortion and same-sex marriage.
But Christendom is our kingdom, inherited from Emperor Constantine.
It was never Christ's kingdom.

Educate! Educate!
If only we believe the right things, then we'll be Christians!
Wrong.
All the education in the world cannot make a disciple.
When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.
After we become disciples, then is the time for education.
First, we must die to ourselves.

A few quick fixes will accomplish nothing, except to fool ourselves.
We must go back to the very basics.
We must go back to the beginning.
We must start over.

What are the basics?
It is so simple.
Jesus told us.
Love God.
Love God so much that there is no room for anything else in your life.
Everything else will follow.

Alan Morris and I are trying to start over.
In this space I will soon (perhaps today) publish a general Rule of Life.
A Rule of Life, taken by itself is just a quick fix.
But if we have died to our selves...
Then only, perhaps a Rule of Life will lead us into deeper discipleship.

"Follow me!" says Jesus. "Leave everything!"

Am I ready to be a disciple?
Are you?

Home Life in Ambridge

2008-02-19T06:34:00.000-08:00

Home Life: Alan and April graciously helped me pick out a lovely ground-floor apartment. However, after I moved in, I had no idea what to do with the spare room.
"I'll just block it off," I said, "the living room and kitchen are plenty of room for me!"

Then I found out that a grade school child was coming to live with me, at least for the current school term. More help was needed from Trinity seminary here, where they had a barn with furniture that I could borrow.

"But what will he do in a house with no television?"

No problem. He just logs into the internet, tracks down some online games, or watches a movie on the cartoon channel.

He was online before I knew it, and showed me a new way to access the internet. (Parental controls activation was my next task.)

Rolin's Study

"A wall to hang my diplomas! I've never had a chance to hang up my diplomas before," I exclaimed.

These are the fruit of the last 10 years, including Victory Outreach School of Ministry, Vanguard University (BA in Religion and MA in Bible) and ordination to the ancient order of Deacons.

This is part of my "Theological Library," collected over the last 10 years.

They no longer fit in the lovely bookshelf (above) that Ronnie built for me in Mississippi.

However, the apartment comes with a lovely glass-doored case with ample room for the overflow.

Snow Day

God is Good. All the Time.

At Home in Ambridge

2008-02-17T09:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my personal web log. I'll be using this site to record what God is doing in my life, and perhaps offer some reflections on what is going on in Christendom and the World.

Christendom. Ah, there's the rub. Christendom as a concept has failed. It had great promise, starting with Emperor Constantine, and renewed in the Reformation. The Reformers, contary to popular belief, were great believers in Christendom, supporting a "Church for All" in each country, supported by the Prince of that country. Mainline Christianity is built on those same assumptions: The job of the Church was to occupy the land in Christendom, and it assumed that each country was a Christian country.

Christendom failed. It failed because it did not make disciples for Christ. In the end, it failed to maintain even a nominally "Christian country." Here on the North American Continent, we live in a post-Christian society. Even the mainline churches are becoming post-Christian: their leaders no longer believe that Jesus is the only hope of the world, and maintain that all faiths lead to the deity.

It is time to return to the concepts of the pre-Constantine Church. We are strangers in a foreign land. We are missionaries in a pagan land. Our message is the only hope of a fallen and lost society. New approaches are needed. Old approaches are needed, that is, pre-Constantine approaches. Turning back the clock is neither desirable nor possible, yet we can learn much from the early church.

Alan Morris and I are approaching a final draft of a General Rule of life for Christian disciples. The ideas are all there. Next will be finding those who are ready to approach radical discipleship; such as that suggested by Dietrich Bonhoeffer in The Cost of Discipleship. I have waded about one-fourth of the way into his book, and I'm asking my Lord to help me finish and digest it before Lent has passed us by.

If you have landed on this web log by chance, and you are curious, you may find out what I've been doing for the last two years by checking out http://resurrectiongulfcoast.blogspot.com/, where I was living in cramped quarters with a select few men who wanted to escape from the world of alcohol and drug addiction. That ministry came to an end in December, and I'm finding myself called to be here in Ambridge, Pennsylvania, being asked to edit a Rule of Life for a bishop, being asked to teach an over-the-road trucker how to read the Bible, and being asked to watch over a 9-year-old boy who needed a home and is interested in being baptised.

I find it a bit bewildering. What keeps me going is the solid history I have experienced over the last 12 years: Ever since I gave my whole life to God, it seems that He knows what I need better than I do. I'm no longer the God of my own life; not even Master of my own life. Yet He is faithful, He knows the plans he has for me, to give me hope and a future.

Thank you, Lord. I love you.