NorCalUrban

OK - so I'm a little miffed. Last weekend we supported a youth event called Battle Cry. Check it out here. Many have heard about it. Well, A few weeks ago I heard someone say regarding projects and initiatives in the Kingdom, "I try not to be against anything, but know what I'm for". That comment spoke volumes to me. I guess, In the end, having 25k young folks come together and talk about their commitment to Christ is a good thing. But, when they decided to stir up the political pot by going into attack mode toward the gay community I began to wonder if it was all a publicity stunt, especially when I saw Ron Luce on the Bill O'Reilly show touting his efforts. I mean really - isn't the Homosexual community an easy scapegoat? Isn't the fact that we in the evangelical church are getting divorces as the same rate as the rest of America more disturbing to anyone else but me than the fact that gay folks want to get married? Isn't the current immigration ...

Samuel and I just returned from New York. We had a great time. Most of the week was reserved for appointments and connections - mainly on behalf of BCM - but we also had some time to hang in the city and have some fun. We spent a ton of time with Dr. Louis Carlo at Nyack College in Manhattan. I was very impressed with what they have going on there. It's one of the only Christian colleges I've been to that has an overwhelming majority of students of color. I really sensed that God is reserving something special for that college. I appreciate Dr. Carlo's hospitality and opening the doors for us. He is the director of the grad school - it's very impressive. I hope to make a connection between he and David Moore at Patten. Dr. Carlo is an amazing, warm and open leader. The students love him and it shows! Additionally I had a great meeting at NYU with Curtis Wright at the multicultural life department. We got to connect with Jason Lewis - a former BCM intern and amazing art...

Plane is delayed - takin' the red-eye to NYC. This should be my last large recruiting trip for BCM. I'm speaking at Nyack College in Manhattan - thanks to Dr. Louis Carlo. The fun part is that Samuel is traveling with me. He's excited to be in New York again. He's 10 now - I'm sure this is a trip he'll remember all his life. We have a couple of fun things planned - a Knicks game and a tour of Yankee Stadium. We're flying on Jet Blue - direct tv all the way! My friend Katie called it a boondoggle, hmmmm. I had the strangest stomach flu over the last few days. Sorry to whine - but, man - I felt acute pain like I never had before. Right now I'm feeling ok... hope it lasts. We land around 6:45 am...

Here is a ongoing conversation I'm having with a friend about gentrification and economic development. Thoughts??? M WROTE: Hi John. I don't have any good leads for you in NY. But I'm very interested if you learn anything. I think that a critical step next for (our organization) is both the challenge of Gentrification and Economic Development and I think they are both linked.Right now if a young leader comes to our association and says that their CDC is ready to start doing economic development in their community what do they do, I think that to a certain degree (our organization) is a bit clueless. I don't think we could tell them a clear message as to what they should be doing. What economic development activity should our CDC undertake to help our community? Is there one strategy that we should do first? (Jobs, small businesses, training, asset building, micro lending, credit unions, recruiting manufacturers, employment assistance, etc.) Or is there a process w...

Just got back home from my trip. After leaving Hampton University on Friday I flew down to Florida to I spend the weekend with family and friend. I had the chance to hook up with one of my oldest friends, Tony. Tony is now a dentist in the town I grew up in. I've known him since kindergarten. It's a trip to see the two of us, late 30's, having coffee, talking 'grown up' talk. I remember alll the times on the playground at St. Peters School with him... TIme flies. Also had the blessing to spend a ton of time with my nephew Noah and niece Lilli. I pasted some of the pics of the kids. It was good to be with the family. It was hard to leave but I was anxious to return home to Melissa and Samuel. Oh yea, I also found a great pic of Melissa and Samuel taken on Christmas Eve. Next Monday I head to NYC to recruit for BCM. Samuel is going with me... Hope to hook up with family and friends when I'm there. On Friday we're taking a tour of Yankee Stadium and going to a...

Transcript: Bono remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast Remarks — as prepared for delivery and courtesy of DATA — by Bono to the National Prayer Breakfast; Feb. 2, 2006. BONO: Thank you. Mr. President, First Lady, King Abdullah, Other heads of State, Members of Congress, distinguished guests … Please join me in praying that I don't say something we'll all regret. That was for the FCC. If you're wondering what I'm doing here, at a prayer breakfast, well, so am I. I'm certainly not here as a man of the cloth, unless that cloth is leather. It's certainly not because I'm a rock star. Which leaves one possible explanation: I'm here because I've got a messianic complex. Yes, it's true. And for anyone who knows me, it's hardly a revelation. Well, I'm the first to admit that there's something unnatural… something unseemly… about rock stars mounting the pulpit and preaching at presidents, and then disappearing to their villas in...

Been on the east coast all this week - Atlanta (Spelman, Morehouse and Georgia State) and Hampton University in Virginia. It was good to be with students. Our turnout in Atlanta was somewhat poor, because of the King funeral (I think). Hampton was great - I'm thrilled about our relationship with Minster Ray at the school. Now I'm in Florida, hanging out with family for the weekend. Right now I'm having an intense discussion with my brother in law about the emergent church. Good times!

I've been reading this book. It's by a local Bay Area guy who was a key play in Apple a few years ago. Practical, clear and honest. If you're looking to start something or are looking for funding... this is worth the price. Get it here.

There are a couple of artists that have influenced my thinking and passion. Bruce Springsteen taught me about the pain of the blue collar worker. Bob Dylan taught me the power of song (ever hear "Hurricane"?). Larry Norman told me that you could be a Christian and care about politics (song - The Great American Novel). Bono changed me - he IS a Christian and a social activist. Bono used the scripture to define my theology about the poor. I do what I do today in part because of artists like these. Last week Bono spoke at the national prayer breakfast. Listen here. . This is a prophetic message to the church and those of us who care about God's heart for the poor.

*This went out to our CU partners... Hopefully it'll give you an update on our progression...* I wanted to take a moment and give you an update on our work over the past few weeks. Charlene returned from Guam on 1/18, which has provided us the opportunity to move ahead on our tasks and projects. Her father thankfully is doing well and recovering. We are working on a number of fronts to see this project established. Here is the list of things that are on the “front burner”. - CDFI Fund grant. The CDFI fund grant is due on 2/13. We are applying for federal money to provide us capital for EPAFCU. The grant application is arduous. We expect to get the grant complete, but the deadline is tight. We’re asking for 100k for technical assistance. If approved, it will fund in the fall. - Business plan. We’re working diligently on the business plan for EPAFCU. We recently spent a day together working on this. Our goal is to have a draft plan by no later than 4/1. There will be additional piec...

A couple of friends of mine started this new music online community. It's a neat idea. Check them out here. If you do a band search for Bob Dylan or Ryan Adams you can find me. Interesting idea... Still waiting for my free tee shirt.

Yesterday we participated in the Reload conference for the Bay. Reload is a urban youthworkers training event hosted by the Urban Youthworkers Institute. Check them out here. The Bay Area represented! We had over 400 leaders in attendance - the largest in the country! Dimas Salabarrios from the Bronx was the main speaker - he was awesome. I was able to plug in some of our local partners - Andy Hartwell, Katie Fantin, Doug Fort. All of them did workships. Pastor Bains somehow landed Dimas to speak at St. Samuel COGIC this morning. This event was a ton of work - but worth it. When I was standing in the back I thought about the other similar events that we've tried to do over the years. Marvin Jacobo and I attempted to do a training event in Modesto in the late 90's, Angel Ruiz tried one in 2000. Both were fine - but never took root. What a blessing to have this event in our region. We're praying for unity and revival in the Bay. I'm off to Grand Rapids for BCM tomorrow...

Emily and I came to Fresno today to speak at / learn from the folks at One By One Leadership. Check them out. I've know about H. Spees and the folks here for a while. They have amazing vision and heart for the city. Real inspiring!

Updated article about the slain EPA police officer here. The memorial service is scheduled for Thursday at noon at HP Pavillion in San Jose. The picture is the slain officers wife and another family member.

Interesting night last night. Around 6:00 pm I called Pastor Bains. He was in Monterey at a church conference and was hastily preparing to return. Pastor Bains is head of the EPA police chaplaincy. Shortly thereafter the news reported that the officer that was involved in the shooting was killed. A 14 year old police explorer who was doing a ride along with the slain officer witnessed the homicide and called the report in. Last night there was a tremendous amount of police activity in the area as a manhunt ensued for the killer. Police helicopters were in the air until the wee hours of the morning with spotlights searching for the individual. This morning the TV news reported that the gunman was captured. Read the article here. The Merc seems to have the best article about the incident. The officer is survived by a wife and three children. Please pray for the officer's family. Also Pastor Bains and all the chaplains will have an intense week ministering to and counseling the poli...

Breaking news... an EPA officer shot. We don't have many details yet. Things are a little different feeling for me now, since we've been interacting with the PD on the violence summit. Please pray for our city and the officer's family.

Read the article here.

This bill just passed the house. It would make it illegal for anyone to provide assistance to illegal immigrants. This is scary stuff. Priests or clergy, nurses, social workers and others could face 5 years in prison for helping immigrants. Not sure if this will pass, but it is an indication of the climate in America. Maybe these folks should read the inscription on the Statue of Liberty! Read the article here.

Read the article here.

Christmas Eve morning.... Finally. I'm glad to have a week of somewhat down time. What a week it was last week - what a year it was! Calvin came back last week from Hampton university - James from Tuskegee. What a joy to see them! Both came through BCM's programs and now are studying in university. I love both of those guys. The are awesome examples of emerging leaders. Now if we can just keep them in school! Most of the BCM staff is headed out of town: Amy in Washington, Andy H. in Texas, Emily in NY... Our staff work so hard, when the down time comes they scatter. We had a great strategic planning meeting for the Credit Union project last Thursday for most of the day. The good folks from Stanford CU hosted. Michael Hilliar from their staff facilitated. The goal is to have an operational CU by the end of '06. It's an ambitious goal to say the least, but with the quality of folks that are behind this project, I think it's do-able. I've been really impressed by...