why 'the jeremiah 29 chronicles'

it seems right to begin this adventure with a story. so, here's the story...

i'm not originally from austin (but then again, who is?). i came here on a limb back in august '08, with nothing more than a sense that this is where God wanted me. as i walked with Jesus, prayed for guidance, and realized i had nothing to lose by journeying down south, i decided to leave my home state of ohio, hop in my '98 lumina, and come down.

funny, i never knew life would change like it has.

my original plan was to pursue filmmaking (screenwriting, specifically). austin is a great place for that. people are rad down here. austin is weird, and there's a huge push to keep it that way. no beef against ohio, i'm thankful for the times and friends and lessons and love that God showed me up there (and, yes, i miss you guys), but austin is my kinda of place. i guess some parts of ohio are as well, especially short north (?) in columbus, but i was born in texas, so i guess this is God bringing me home.

so i moved here, and realized that the whole filmmaking idea may have just been something to get me here. i love how Jesus leads us, knowing what will get us to move. i love how He doesn't reveal everything to us, so we need to constantly chase after Him. i love how He has the world in HIs hands, so we really have nothing to fear.

as i settled in, i heard a sermon from jeremiah 29.4-7, which says:

"Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon,

Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there and do not decrease.

Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare.'

in the original text, the word for welfare is 'shalom'. it means so much more than peace (as in, no fighting). it's more like the all-encompassing, holistic well-being and flourishing of a person, family, city, community, culture. the crazy thing is, verse four says that the LORD, the God of Israel, sent them into exile. they just didn't end up there; God sent them.

now, it would be so easy to think that this is mean, as in 'how could a loving God do that?'. but the more i understand how God works (which is still little, being that He is God), i see that God sent them into exile so that they could be a blessing and a witness to the city. it was up to them to seek the redemption, renewing, and restoring of that city. it was up to them to be Jesus to the city, to love the city, and to work for it's universal flourishing.

and so, that's why i'm in austin.

i'm currently helping out with an organization called mobile loaves and fishes, which aims to provide opportunities for the less privileged and homeless to get into permanent housing and fair wage jobs. we're working to establish community gardens all over the city, which will afford job creation, fresh produce, and sustainable development (not to mention, gardens are a beautiful picture of restoration, turning old crack lots and garbage dumps into places beaming with produce and flowers). i'm really excited about that.

i'm also involved in the austin stone community church, helping with the children's ministry. if you are looking for a church home, you're totally welcome. if you have a church home, that's not the austin stone, that's awesome. get involved, serve the church and the city. if you are running after Jesus, and you're part of the body of Christ, then we're on the same team, and i don't care which 'church' you attend.

i'm planning to focus my energies with the poor and children. i work at the melting pot downtown (stop in and ask for frank, i'll make you some cheese and chocolate), which i love. my coworkers are some of my favorite people in the world, and it's a joy to work there. you can let them serve you as well, they're ok folks haha.

so that's the basis of the story. that's where we begin. i hope you join me as i seek the shalom of austin. i'll try my best to keep you entertained along the way.