Barack Obama, 1990
Found this fascinating article from the LA Times, written in March 1990, on the then-28 year-old Barack Obama, newly elected president of the Harvard Law Review. Twenty-one years ago, he was my age. Now there's a sobering look and a fascinating comparison ...
Snip:
After graduation next year, Obama says he probably will spend two years at a corporate law firm, then look for community work. Down the road, he plans to run for public office.
Looks like he knew what he wanted. 
Easter Sunday, CNN, kids getting shot
Time sure flies, doesn’t it? Next week, I’ll have been serving as the Leadership Resident at The District Church for SIX MONTHS. If you’ve been following/reading along, you’ll know it’s definitely been an adventure—getting to be a part of all the amazing things God has been doing in our neighborhood, in our city, and especially in our church.
April has been a particularly good month. ONE’s Lazarus Sunday campaign worked out extremely well, with churches all over the country, including The District Church, joining in to raise awareness about the issue of AIDS in Africa and the life-saving anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) that are making a phenomenal impact. I even got to be interviewed by CNN! (Full article and video here.)
I got the opportunity to preach on Palm Sunday last week, and then somewhat unexpectedly, this morning. Aaron and Amy had been going through the process of adopting a second kid, and everything came through between Thursday and Saturday morning. So they are now parents of a beautiful baby girl—Natalie Rose; and I was drafted to pinch-preach on Easter Sunday! This morning was a fantastic celebration—we had the most people we’ve ever had at a TDC service, and everything came together nicely!
And here, for your listening pleasure, are my first five messages from the last six months:
- Wanted: Some Joy and Peace, Please (December 12, 2010)
- Getting in Trouble with Jesus (January 30, 2011)
- What Mary Did (March 20, 2011)
- What Are You Expecting? (April 17, 2011 – Palm Sunday)
- It’s Sunday … (April 24, 2011 – Easter Sunday)
Finally, I also spoke at Young Life in the middle of the month, and while it’s hard to know how much ever goes in or sticks with these kids, I was able to say what I wanted to say—what I felt like God wanted me to say—and I guess I’m just leaving the rest to God! Things have been going well with building relationships, but recently, a couple of the boys were involved in a shooting incident and one was hit in the leg. He’s going to be okay, but it was a reminder that there’s still much work to be done. Your prayers would be greatly appreciated!
Wishing you life and peace in the name of the risen Christ,
Jus.
Easter messages
If you're wanting to listen to one sermon series this Easter ...
... go listen to The District Church podcast. I preached this past (Palm) Sunday, on expectations and reality--"What are you expecting?" And Aaron will be preaching this coming Sunday. (We'll have a Good Friday service tomorrow evening, but won't have recording capacity.)
But I also highly recommend this short series from John Ortberg and Menlo Park Presbyterian Church--"Friday, Saturday, Sunday." John's a pastor and author I respect greatly, and the first two messages of this series have really hit home for me. Go listen to 1) Friday and 2) Saturday.
Save children’s lives – why bother?
Pneumonia and diarrhea are two of the biggest killers of kids under 5 in developing countries, more than HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria COMBINED.
TDC + ONE = TWO
In case you haven’t heard via phone/email/Facebook/Twitter, I got the job at ONE! I’ve been working there for a week and a half now, and I absolutely love it. It’s a challenge—and it’s pretty exhausting, too—to work two jobs (30 hours a week at ONE and 20-25 hours at The District Church), but I love both; and am grateful for your prayers last week for the interview.
As a quick summary, the campaign that I’ve been hired for is coordinating a nationwide event on April 10, called “Lazarus Sunday” (so-called because one of the passages in the lectionary for that day is the raising of Lazarus in John 11). We want to use this occasion, in conjunction with the (RED)/HBO documentary “The Lazarus Effect”—which looks at the positive impact of anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) on people living with HIV/AIDS, and which you can watch here—to raise awareness and push for advocacy asks through churches, and thus build relationships with churches to engage in the rest of ONE’s work on fighting extreme poverty and preventable diseases.
I’m excited to be working on such a worthwhile project; I love the people I get to work with; and I’m looking forward to seeing more churches engaged in fighting HIV/AIDS. I’ll include more updates on how this goes in future emails, too.
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Getting this job definitely helps with raising support, as it’ll take me up to about $23,000 of the $30,000 that I forecasted I’d need for this year; but it means I still have a few grand of support left to raise for this year. If you know anyone you think would be interested in supporting a certain musician-activist-pastor, let me know!
Prayers please …
- For the family and friends of Lucki Pannell. She was a senior at Cardozo High School, where several from our church—including myself—volunteer with Young Life; in fact, she also attended Young Life. This past Saturday, she was killed in a shooting two streets away from where I live. Please pray also for the peace of our neighborhood and the life of our community.
- For the boys I’ve been getting to know at Young Life, whose lives are so different from mine, and yet whom I know God has called me to invest in.
- For The District Church, as we continue to grow, build relationships within the church and in our neighborhood, seek opportunities to serve and love the people around us, and seek the transformation of our city.
- For myself, as I try to be disciplined with my time, balancing a couple of jobs, trying to give my best to both, and also to take some rest and not burn out! Prayers for the success of the ONE campaign I’m working on would also be appreciated!
Grace and peace to you and your loved ones,
Jus.
Previously on “Justin @The District Church”
- Washington, DC: Chapter 2(October 11, 2010)
- Beginning November (and the Leadership Residency)(November 1, 2010)
- Why The District Church?(November 18, 2010)
- My First Sermon(December 15, 2010)
- What a difference a year makes(December 29, 2010)
- If I Keep Going At This Rate(January 18, 2011)
- A Message and a Job Interview (January 31, 2011)
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