NorCalUrban

This recently happened on my street. I'm thankful that the police made this arrest, but I also have great concern for the families that live on our street. Please pray for those of us who live on Saratoga Ave! We're prayng for the Kingdom of God to impact and change our neighborhood. The police team also arrested two Pacific-Islander men, whose names were not available, for having two guns, including a loaded Uzi machine gun with 300 rounds of ammunition. The two also had scales for weighing drugs and night-vision goggles. Packaged narcotics for sale were also seized in the arrest, which occurred in the 1100 block of Saratoga Avenue in East Palo Alto. You can see the whole article at Palo Alto Online. This is in response to the recent shootings and violence that I blogged about here. Update: Here is another version of the story.

Dr. Carson from the Silicon Valley Community Foundation says: - Non profits must be aggressive in telling your story. Get in front of more people. Connect. - Know that the rules have changed. Know the times we live in and make adjustments. Engage the systems.

Indie band My Morning Jacket's recent record "Evil Urges" has an outstanding song called, "Look At You" Here are the lyrics: Look at you: Such a fine citizen! Look at you: Such a glowing example of peace and glory. Glory. Glory. Of peace and Glory. Glory. Glory. Let me follow you. We believe in your power to lead without fear. Not about, in some tower, but here-right down here-... with us in this world. Look at you: everywhere at once. Look at you: such a glowing example of peace and glory. Glory. Glory. Of peace and glory. Glory. Glory. Let me... let me follow... let me... let me follow you Great sentiments during the Christmas season as we reflect on the Incarnation.

Tim Keller answers the question, "How does our commitment to the primacy of the gospel tie into our obligation to do good to all, especially those of the household of faith, to serve as salt and light in the world, to do good to the city?" I will divide this question into two parts: (1) If we are committed to the primacy of the gospel, does the gospel itself serve as the basis and motivation for ministry to the poor? (2) If so, how then does that ministry relate to the proclamation of the gospel?" Read his comments here. This is an important theological reflection - especially for those of us who come from an evangelical perspective but are called to minister to the poor. We often are criticized for not proclaiming the Gospel.

Here's a couple of picures from our recent visit to Florida. Picutres with my parents are all the grandkids, as well as all our family together...

“SPECIAL COMMUNITY MEETING” - WITH MAYOR ABRICA & POLICE CHIEF DAVIS COMMUNITY MEMBERS ARE INVITED TO ATTEND A “SPECIAL MEETING” HOSTED BY MAYOR REUBEN ABRICA AND POLICE CHIEF RONALD DAVIS TO DISCUSS THE RECENT SPATE OF VIOLENCE AND THE CITY’S RESPONSE TO IT. THE SPECIAL MEETING WILL BE HELD ON: DATE: WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2008 TIME: 6:00PM – 8:00PM LOCATION: COMMUNITY ROOM AT CITY HALL, 2415 UNIVERSITY AVENUE, EAST PALO ALTO Light Refreshments will be provided. For more information, please contact Patty Del Castillo, Executive Assistant to Chief Davis at 650-853-3155

Five shootings in 5 days with nine hurt, one overdose and another homicide over a week ago. It's been an especially violent couple of weeks in EPA. What's been particularly shocking is that some of the victims have been children and women. This is revealing the insidious nature of the shootings. There is a meeting today with some faith leaders and the police department as well as other prayer events stirring. Here is the official press release from yesterday's shootings:  At approximately 08:44 P.M., East Palo Alto Police Officers were summoned to the 2800 block of Illinois Street for a Shot Spotter Activation. While police officers responded to the 2800 block of Illinois Street, police officers learned that a possible shooting victim arrived at a home on the 1600 block of Michigan Avenue. In a divided response, police officers responded to the 1600 block of Michigan Avenue and the 2800 block of Illinois Street. When police officers arrived on the 2800 block of Illinois ...

Dear friends, Merry Christmas from all of us here at Northern California Urban Development (NCUD)! As 2008 comes to a close there is much to be thankful for and reflect upon. Lately I've been thinking about an analogy that describes NCUD's work in the community. We are painfully aware of the current economic conditions in our country and world. East Palo Alto and east Menlo Park certainly aren't immune from the problems, which are indicated by the well over 400 distressed properties in our community that are either in or near foreclosure. Truly, a fire is raging and lives are being forever changed. In a fire there is always a short-term and long-term response. The short-term response saves lives and property. The longer term involves two activities: replanting and future fire prevention. As I've meditated on the correlations between a fire and NCUD, I'm thankful that God has placed our organization in the middle of the crisis at the right time. Who would have k...

My friend Andrew Marin from  the Marin Foundation is doing some amazing work building bridges between the church and the LBGT community. Andy has been blogging here pleas take a moment and check out what he's doing and saying.

I've been preparing for this weekend's CCDA Institute in the Twin Cities that Juanita and I will be teaching. The topic is the CCDA core value redistribution. It's amusing how that word has fallen out of grace during the election. For CCDA, the definition of redistribution is a 'just distribution of resources' or 'giving people the tools and resources to work their way out of poverty' - not a socialistic or communistic interpretation. Another way to look at it - it's changing the economic forces to reflect God's kingdom and His values. I recently read a great article by Jeremy Del Rio called "Worship and Justice". In the article Jeremy quotes a well known text from the prophet Amos, but read in The Message version. It states: “I can’t stand your religious meetings. I’m fed up with your conferences and conventions. I want nothing to do with your religion projects, your pretentious slogans and goals. I’m sick of your fund-raising schemes, ...