Shocked by lack of fear

My husband and I have been living in a infamous part of Minneapolis for about a year now.....it's reputation is so well known that people get an expression on their faces like "why would you move there?" pretty much every time we tell them where we live.
I have perfected the speech that follows their expression, and have sometimes thought about what it would be like to say I live in a more rural part of town, surely the stigmas that go along with Coon Rapids (the town that I grew up in) can not furrow the eyebrow like saying "we live in North Minneapolis" can.

The truth is, though I didn't necessarily feel "called" to minister or evangelize in the neighborhood where we decided to buy a home, the smallest little jabs of temptation to fret from Satan haven't really taken root in my heart and bore fruit. Perhaps it is the Lord's kindness in having me worship at Bethlehem Baptist for 4 years that trained my heart to think about bullets the right way...that God controls everything, the demons OBEY him. (Jesus cast out demons, and they had no choice where they went and they knew it, so they begged Jesus to let them go into pigs....which ran off a cliff and drowned.) Demons obey, the wind and waves obey, and bullets obey the living Christ.

I've heard gunshots only 2 times over the last year, which is way better than I anticipated.
Then, last night, at 3:30am I was awakened to the sound of a heated confrontation that sounded like it was right in front of my bedroom window. I woke Brent up and we called the police, then, looked around to see where it was coming from...

Right in front of our home, in the middle of the street.
4 men, who seemed to know each other well, because the one who was yelling at the top of his lungs and shoving another guy didn't assault him much more than the violent shoving. But he was so incredibly angry at the guy he was pushing & shouting obscenities at. He threatened to 'burn him' (slang for shooting him) and the brother of the guy being assulted was pleading "please, just leave my brother alone man, just leave him alone, please"

After about 5 minutes, the one being pushed got on his knees in front of the guy with the gun, and made a posture as if praying, and said, "JUST DO IT, BURN ME MAN!"
My heart was in my throat, praying the entire time for the lives of these men......that they wouldn't kill each other before they had had a chance to hear the Gospel just one more time, that they would repent....both the victim and the suspects.

The police came around the corner shortly after that (but it SEEMED like hours) flashed their lights and drove down to meet the guys. I don't know what happened after that, but Brent and I just got into bed and thanked the Lord for sparing their lives this morning......prayed that God would send one of his children to bear witness about His Son to them before they leave this world and face the judgement.
I can't think about it too much this morning, because I just keep weeping for them.....I thought that blogging about it would help the grief....I'm grieving for walking dead people. They are alive in the flesh but dead men walking without Christ....I don't want them to go to hell. I am not afraid for my life, and this may sound horrible, but I do not fear for Brent or our baby either.....

I fear for those whose sins are not covered, whose sin is not forgiven....
THAT is my fear of North Minneapolis....my fear FOR North Minneapolis.

God please be merciful, send your light and your truth. Give us boldness, fearlessness to speak the words our neighbors need to hear....and to love them with nothing held back as you loved us. In Jesus Name, AMEN

Being AMAZED by the God of the Bible.......

Pastor Piper one time was speaking about how it is a sin to preach a sermon about the God of the bible in a boring way....I couldn't agree more. :)
He spoke about the amazement of little children and how they NEVER tire of hearing the same stories OVER AND OVER AND OVER again.......being altogether caught up in the situation that their imagination creates. He talked about how Adam and Eve must have been just blown away by the day to day faithfulness of the God they walked with....suggesting a picture of Eve rising early in the morning and shoving Adam with excitement in her voice saying "Get up Adam, get up!!! Look, the sun is here - HE DID IT AGAIN!!!" :)

Who God is -IS what He does. He is kind to the just and the unjust in the common graces of life....how else does a sinful unbeliever profess Atheism and yet finds that they can walk and talk and kiss a baby's face and enjoy a sunset and have health and food to eat that doesn't poison them???? selah.

Yet, He judges some with justice and gives others mercy, Moses AND Pharaoh had both committed murder. One was brought through the water to safety, the other was destroyed by the wrath of God for his sin.
Psalm 115:3
"Our God is in the heavens;
he does all that he pleases"

With all of life's ups and downs - joys and trials.....the Lord has been faithful - always. Going into the new phase of being a parent, with all of the unknowns.....with jobs, finances, locations, etc.....could make the average person, who knows nothing about the God of the universe tremble. But rich or poor, eating bread or eating steak.....we must struggle to see the kindness of the Lord- and with thankful hearts praise Him for WHO he is.

"I will sing of your mercy that leads me through valleys of sorrow to rivers of joy."
~ jars of clay