Does God Care About Brownsville?

We have lived in Brownsville for over a decade, in that time we've witnessed Brownsville’s 40 year slide, deep cynicism, the little hope or false hopes of the community, the poverty, the addiction, the oppression, depression and apathy and all of their scorching effects.

Does God Care About Brownsville?

And in that decade we have seen homes burn, buildings collapse, police departments close, friends come and friends go, we’ve been robbed, vandalized and sued, we’ve witnessed tragedy and… worst of all…we’ve witnessed the erosion of hope.

Does God Care About Brownsville?

To answer this question, I ask you to consider “Biblical Proportions”.

There are three Old Testament geographies to think about: the cities of Sodom and Gomorra, the land of Egypt and the entire Earth. These were bad times and circumstances, this is what the bible has to say about each of them.

Sodom and Gomorra
The cities were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy (Ezekiel 16:49)
The Land of Egypt
The Egyptians held the Hebrew people in slavery for 400 years of which God said.. I have seen their misery…I have heard the cries of my people… and I am concerned about their suffering (Exodus 3:7)
The Entire Earth
The thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The Lord was grieved that he had made man and his heart was filled with pain. (Genesis 6: 4-6)

In the end, S&G was destroyed by fire, ten plagues were brought upon the land and people of Egypt, and a flood was brought upon all the earth.

Before we discuss what God has brought upon Brownsville and what he will destroy… let me assure you that the fire, the plagues and the flood are images of a God who cares.

S&G demonstrates that God is merciful and just. The plagues illustrate that God liberates his people and redeems his creation while the flood teaches us that God rescues the righteous and covenants with all living creatures.

Let us pray that God is merciful and just with Brownsville, that he will liberate Brownsville and redeem his creation and rescue the righteous while remembering His covenant. Amen.

You could say that God smote S&G, the land of Egypt and the entire earth. The OT talks a lot about smiting. Smiting enemies, armies, etc. Smiting – to completely and utterly destroy. In the OT, he brought catastrophe of biblical proportion… now he has brought love of biblical proportion.

The fullness of His compassion and love become manifested in the giving of his son Jesus to a lost and dying world…

Does God care about Brownsville? The answer is … yes.

God brought his love upon Brownsville.

For God so loves the world, that he gave us his only begotten son, so that whoever shall believe in him will not perish but have everlasting life.

While we are still sinners, Christ died for us…

God does want to completely and utterly destroy you… with his Love. He will free you from the penalty of sin, set you free from the power of sin and one day he will free you from the very presence of sin.

This is the picture of a New Creation in Christ. God is the Great Liberator and Redeemer. He cares so much for Brownsville that he was willing to die for Brownsville.

For God so loved Brownsville, that he gave his only begotten Son…

But Yet… There is darkness in Brownsville; physics tells us, and more importantly, the bible tells us that darkness cannot overcome light… and speaking to his people, God tells us that you are the light of the world

The Erosion of Hope and False Hope needs to be placed with the Hope of the Resurrection.

I encourage you to read and meditate on the following passages.

Job 19: 23-27
2 Peter 3: 8-14
Matthew 9: 35-38

You, are the workers in his harvest. You are the light of the world.

William Wilberforce, who led the fight to bring the abolition of the slave trade in the English Parliament , proclaimed “the national difficulties we face result from the decline of religion and morality among us. I must confess equally boldly that my own solid hopes for the well-being of my country depend, not so much on her navies and armies as on the persuasion that she still contains many who love and obey the Gospel of Christ. I believe that their prayers may yet prevail."

I know that God cares about Brownsville. May those who love and obey the Gospel of Christ in Brownsville prevail.

If you want to see and know a God who cares about Brownsville. Try four things this week…

(1) Forgive a friend or relative who has harmed you
(2) Reach out to a neighbor with some great or small kindness
(3) Pray for a friend in need
(4) Live in the hope of resurrection

God cares about Brownsville. Do you?

Roach Clip

Tuesday night (after returning from the criminal trial) I get a call from a tenant. In a quiet whisper, he says “Mark there is something you should know.” Any call after dark from a tenant can’t be good, this one seemed ominous. Oh Lord, I thought, here we go.

“There are five guys walking around the building.”

They could only be there for two reasons: to steal something (either copper or my contractor’s equipment) or to find a place to smoke some dope. I thanked him, hung up and immediately dialed 911. Unfortunately, the borough police were not on duty. Of course they weren’t. The Chief of Police (our only fulltime officer) just spent the last two days (unpaid) with me as the arresting officer in the criminal hearing.

So I was transferred to the state police barracks. They took my information… five male juveniles, possible theft, drugs, location, etc…. but I learned that it would likely be 30 minutes before they would show up. Someone could do a lot of damage and take a lot of stuff in 30 minutes. So, on with the coat, I grabbed the mag flashlight, my cell phone, asked my wife to notify the Neighborhood Watch and ran out the door with the final words of the state police officer ringing in my mind… “don’t approach the suspects.”

That proved to be impossible. I walked up the back steps to the complex and as I hit the top step, five guys were staring right at me - separated by about 20 feet. Turn around or confront were my only options.

I shined the flashlight directly in their faces and found myself asking “Who are you?” “Jeff” replied a slight voice. Another voice jumps in, “Who are you?”

“Wrong question”, I respond, “What are you doing here?”

“We’re just trying to get out of the wind.” Likely true as it was cold and spitting snow and they were taking hits from a joint.

“Well, it’s a bad place to do that. You guys need to move along.” This was going to be easy or not and the police were still likely 15 minutes away. I was about to find out.

“Sorry, sir” was the response.

Three of the guys immediately left and two seemed to have lost something they were intent on finding. But they moved on in short order.

The state police did show up about 15-20 minutes later and found a roach clip and some butts, they took my information and that was that.

It reminded me of my first encounter with a young person in Brownsville. That one, unfortunately, didn’t go quite as well and involved a flying priest. But that’s another story.

Wheels of Justice, Part I

It’s pretty surreal. I’m sitting at the county court house waiting for a case to be called for which I am the victim. The noon o’clock hour marks three hours of sitting in a beautiful turn-of-the-century “hallway” in 1970’s office furniture with quite an eclectic group of people. Today’s date marks 1 year and 13 days of becoming victim of this crime.

The crime? Appliance Theft. In the scheme of things, this falls higher on the travesty scale than the tragedy scale. But still, I’m out $1000 and quite a bit of time in the eviction process, civil suits and now criminal hearings. Not to mention the concern over personal property, personal safety and everything else any landlord suffers through when their tenant turns on them.

Here’s the first lesson: never be a landlord. We are landlords for a higher calling and purpose; some folks must make money on this kind of thing. We don’t. I’ll have to explain that higher calling and purpose at some other time. This is the story of “Holly”.

Holly was in a tough spot. She and her three kids were living with her folks and “between jobs”. She wanted to get her feet back on the ground and focus on raising her children. She secured gainful employment and, in a serious streak of compassion, we thought we would be able to help her out. Here’s the second lesson: there is a line somewhere between being compassionate and being a doormat. You can get burned, but I’ll still err on the side of compassion. Jesus did.

I love giving folks a second chance, an opportunity to improve their situation and their lives. Certainly, you have to enter into such endeavors with both wisdom and prayer. You don’t just invite anyone into your house (have you ever seen The Lost Boys?). Holly had all of the makings of someone who was ready to turn her life around, she could have been and still could be a New Creation.

And she did quite well… for the first eight or nine months. Then, her boyfriend got out of jail. His existence and situation never came up in conversation. Holly immediately assumed her role as victim. It was sad to watch how someone could suffer such abuse. And even harder to see them call this love.

The situation became increasingly difficult and the environment became downright scary. The physical property suffered (damaged walls, broken doors, busted windows) but so did my reputation through their obnoxious, loud, illegal and illicit activities. This all started around the April timeframe but really hit stride in June when some 5-7 adults and 3 children were living in a two bedroom townhouse. At that point, I thought “she only has 6 weeks left on the lease, she’ll have to move out and I won’t need to go through a difficult eviction process.” All the while, trying to balance the safety of the property, my neighbors and my family.

Lesson Three: tenant’s have more rights than landlords…. “they ain’t gotta move out”. So began an arduous three-month eviction process that ended with over $4000 in damages including the theft of all the appliances in the townhouse. The only criminal activity in the whole lot of it that I had a chance of proving was the theft of the appliances. We decided to purse all of the civil and criminal action we could. I’ll post the outcomes at a later date.

The Fall

Several years ago we started renovating eight turn-of-the-century townhouses. Our vision is to use the homes to provide housing for missionaries who will commit to serving Brownsville. It’s been a slow road and quite a lesson in running a small business, property ownership, the justice system, perseverance and grace. There is much more to tell about the vision and mission and many stores to relay about this adventure. This is just one of those stories.

I was working from home and was just finishing a conference call when a great commotion broke out upstairs. Out of the commotion, I heard a voice in panic, “Someone fell from the roof”.

We had just engaged with a contractor to renovate three of the townhouses; over the past week, they had been replacing the old slate roof. I ran up the steps reacting to the commotion and panic, not fully grasping the words I just heard. I could see from the window the figure of a body on the ground and someone standing over him.

I ran to the scene expecting to see a dead man and grieving friends. Miraculously, the man was moving and even alert. He was obviously in great pain and you could immediately see his arm, legs and hip were not aligned. In fact, his arm bones appeared to be separated from his hand. The man just fell 24 feet from the scaffolding and it wasn’t until his friend said “Steve, stay with me” that I even recognized the man as the owner of the construction business.

911 had already been called. The work crews were busy cleaning up and making a path for the ambulance. One guy was waiting at the front street for the ambulance and the neighbors started to gather to see what was going. Steve’s friend stayed with him.

It seemed like an eternity for the ambulance to arrive. By the time they did, the Life Flight was also on their way. After the medical crew arrived and began to evaluate Steve, we began to search for his cell phone to call his wife. It was a difficult call…

“… no, this is Mark. Steve is doing the job for me over in Brownsville. Jane, Steve is hurt pretty bad. He’s moving and alert but he fell from the scaffolding...”

I was able to relay to her that Steve would be flown to Pittsburgh as a precaution to internal injuries. He was answering the paramedic’s questions and was coherent even through the excruciating pain.

We learned the next day that there were no brain, neck or spinal injuries. But it really wasn’t for days until the extent of his injuries were known. He suffered through shattered bones, countless surgeries and a nasty infection that split his leg open.

This all started October 5th. As I began to write this on November 2nd, I received a call from his wife that he would be coming home. It was nearly a month in the hospital. He will walk again but the long road to recovery is just beginning. Pray for Steve and his family.

Sneaksie Balotses

Yessss, my precious... those sneaksie balotses will take away every American Right.

I don't normally write out of the political arena, but hey, it's part of the Brownsville Experience too. This morning, I was walking home and finding myself habitually picking up the litter along the sidewalk and BEHOLD, I find a letter from the Mayor of Brownsville.

Whether or not the claims are true is another issue. I can't help but observe the following... Brownsville is chalked full of criminal activity, dilapidated homes, a declining population, poverty and various social ills (see July 3 post). In the past year; I’ve been robbed, reported criminal activity, requested assistance but have never heard from the mayor’s office… until today.

Slap the judge and jury and threat of executioner on official borough letterhead? I can only conclude that the most important issue on this administration’s mind is that sneaky ballot. The government is here to administer justice and restrain evil. What are we about?

With apologies to Gollum.

Alumni

Bible Released Time has seen hundreds of students through the classroom over the last decade. We have seen great hope for the future and at least as much fear and despair. We have consistently heard the desire to escape Brownsville and all that it represents. Among our alumni are military, Ph.Ds, professional athletes and ministers. We also have seen our share of convicts, unwed mothers and irresponsible fathers; many before or even if they graduate.

This is a story about “John”.

John had an infectious smile and a big personality. He was a natural leader that oscillated between arrogance and insecurity. One of his strengths, the desire to please, was also one of his greatest weaknesses. He could easily shift from leading a discussion and asking smart or provocative questions to degenerating the conversation and becoming the class clown. It was this latter, disruptive behavior that ultimately got him kicked out of the class. And yet, I counted John as a friend.

John always had the opportunity to return. But he never asked and he never apologized. It’s possible that it was his pride that kept him away. It’s also possible that it never even struck him that he could return, that he could be redeemed. That is a place of hopelessness and great despair. I heard several months later that he was kicked out of school.

A year went by before I saw John again. It was at the funeral of a young girl and her father who tragically died in a fire. This young girl was overcome by smoke and flames and died trying to save her handicapped dad. The contrast between the sacrifice of this young girl and John’s life was harsh.

It was after the funeral when I asked him what happened at school. He blamed me… “since I couldn’t go to Bible Released Time anymore, I didn’t have any reason to go to school”.

I could only respond “John, that was on you.” It was his behavior, his decision and his refusal to repent that led to his expulsion. Some have told me this was a tragedy; I disagree. It’s a tragedy that a middle school girl and her father died in a fire. John’s life was a matter of decision. I walked away from that conversation disappointed in his decisions but not mine.

I would guess another year passed before I heard John’s name again. He was living or spending time at one of the local housing projects. Apparently, he was dealing drugs and, one summer day, became upset with a woman who was visiting. She was in the driver seat of her car when he reached in and struck her.

Some time later, the woman came back with her boyfriend. John was still hanging around when they drove by, pointed a gun at him and killed him on the spot.

We don’t have many “things” we can really call our own. Our decisions are one of those things. I am grateful for that. In fact, is it because we are created in the image of God that we have choice and we have free will.

John’s life was marked by a series of choices that day he left our class. Choices and decisions that carried him through his life. Choices that ultimately led to his death. And a choice, that was never made, to take him out of that spiral, to return to life… to return to God.

Today, you will make many decisions. And today, you will make a choice. Today, you will choose life or death. There is one day that decision will be too late. I pray you choose life. (Deuteronomy 30:10-20)

Today I Called 911

So we bought another property on our block... the real estate ad might of read something like "cozy turn of the century victorian-style home with modern updates and pleasant back yard with spectacular views of the river valley". Just as likely could have read "drug haven and home of dangerous criminals, pens for killer dogs with established rat infestation and enough garbage to fill a 40-yard". Such as life in Brownsville and, oddly enough, the reason we purchased the property.

More specifcally, it's a defensive move to clean-up the neighborhood but also an offensive move as we are convinced God has a plan.

Today's event was interesting enough. I went to the property to mend a fence and found that the back door was damaged and the front door was open. There is absolutely nothing in the house to take. Someone was likely looking for a place to crash or get high. The folks who were living there (renting) were quite unsavory so I called the police to clear the house. The officer pulled his Taser gun with laser sites; I was backup. Only a window was broken and the house was clear.

I finished putting the fence together, cleaned the backyard, found a major break in the waterline, likely got poison ivy and just got home before the storms. But all is well.