Churches Gather to Fight Human Trafficking in LA

Los Angeles has one of the highest rates of human trafficking of any city in the US, said leaders from the Faith Initiative to Abolish Trafficking (FIAT), and churches across LA plan to come together to do something about it.FIAT is a gathering of individuals and churches who have been called to fight human trafficking in LA. Meetings equip and connect existing ministries, provide mentoring and support for those looking to start, and network the entire faith community to be able to stand up to the tragedy of slavery in our midst, according to organizersMembers of the Southern California faith community meet quarterly to share what others are doing in their respective churches to fight trafficking. FIAT hosts powerful workshops where participants can be trained to be outreach advocates, learn how to raise awareness within their local context, help survivors, and more.FIAT strives to be an inclusive movement without sacrificing orthodox theology. "To this end, our statement of faith is based upon the Apostle’s Creed," organizers said. We also agree with the missional commitment and theology expressed in the 1974 version of the Lausanne Covenant.The next gathering is planned for Saturday (April 22nd) at Harbor Christian Center in Wilmington. Join FIAT in the fight to end trafficking in our city.

Human Trafficking - It's in Our Backyard, the Scope, Efforts

CARE 18, another organization aimed at stopping human trafficking, states that California is a hot spot for domestic human trafficking because of its large population, international borders, large economy, extensive ports, and metropolitan regions. The group also said that gangs and other criminal enterprises have learned that the sex trade and prostitution provide higher profits—an estimated $32 billion per year worldwide—with a lower penal and detection risk than drug or weapons trafficking.Experts estimate that less than one percent of victims in Los Angeles have been identified. Only 8.5 offenders are convicted for every 100 victims identified, CARE 18 states.

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For more info and registration: Faith Initiative to Abolish Trafficking

If We're More American Than Christian We're Compromised, Says 'Jesus Untangled' Author

As the Church has become increasingly entangled in the pursuit of politics, the Gospel has become tarnished and often abandoned as the primary focus of the Body of Christ. — From Jesus Untangled — Crucifying Our Politics to Pledge Allegiance to the Lamb back coverJesus Untangled author Keith Giles recently shared with Together LA that unity in the Church in Los Angeles is more critical than even other big cities simply because of "the breadth of diversity and the collision of cultures that are represented." He makes the case that his book is a "prophetic call for the Church to awaken from the 'American Dream' and to return to Her first love."Our interview (transcript below) with Giles drew some rather pointed answers from him about the state of affairs for Christians and their politics today.Together LA: What parts of your book address unity?Keith Giles: The entire theme of the book is about the dangers of putting politics at the center of our faith; whether as individuals or as the church. Unity itself isn’t the goal. It’s the byproduct of placing Jesus at the center and following Him. The book certainly does examine how divisive politics can be to the Body of Christ, so as we untangle our faith and crucify our politics, we begin to see our brothers and sisters as they truly are, without seeing them through a political filter.One reason we need to untangle our faith from politics is that if we are more “American” than “Christian” then we’ve become compromised by our nationality. AS I point out in the book: You can’t convert a culture if that culture has already converted you. We need to abandon our politics and seek first the Kingdom of God.TLA: A lot of people place much of their focus on political solutions to issues of social injustice. I know your book addresses this head-on. What would you say to these people in a nutshell?Giles: First of all, there’s big difference between politics and justice. In the book I point out that people like MLK and William Wilberforce weren’t practicing the same sort of politics we’re being pulled into today. MLK and Wilberforce both fought for the rights of the oppressed. They weren’t looking to pass laws that gave their party a political advantage over others. They were both willing to lay their own lives on the line to see justice done. Wilberforce even wrote a book where he urged Christians not to become entangled with politics but to transform the culture with the Gospel, which is really what Jesus told us to do in the first place. In fact, it’s really the only way to bring transformation into our world. Politics can’t change hearts, only Jesus can do that.TLA: How is Jesus Untangled pertinent to people living in Los Angeles or any other metropolis?Giles: I think unity is more critical in a place like LA, just because the breadth of diversity and the collision of cultures that are represented. More than, say any another large city like Houston or Nashville for example.For Christians, unity is extremely important – or at least it should be. Because, Jesus said our unity would be a sign that everyone would know that He was the Messiah who was sent by the Father. If we are divided politically (or any other way) we’re denying that Jesus is who He says He is.TLA: What needs to be done as Christians and as a Christian community to advance this idea of unity in the Church (with a capital "C")?Giles: We have to find what unites us and focus on that as much as possible. According to the New Testament, our unity is only found in Christ.Paul says, “For we all are one in Christ Jesus our Lord” [Gal. 3:28]. Notice he doesn’t say “we are all one in our doctrines”, or “our opinions” or “our political views”. In those things all we have is division. But if we remain in Christ, then we experience unity.So, whenever Christians argue about politics or divide over political views, it’s because they’ve allowed something else to eclipse Jesus in their heart.As I point out in my book, “What do you get when you mix religion and politics? You get politics.”People in first century Corinth had a similar problem. They were dividing over which Apostle was their favorite and Paul rebuked them for that. Yet today Christians feel it’s ok to divide over their favorite political candidate or party. That’s in violation of what Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians.TLA: What do pastors and churches (small "c") need to do for unity in the city?Giles: Whenever we make anything other than Jesus our center, we have division in the church, and between churches. So, if within a local church our center is an issue or a doctrine, then we will experience division. If between churches the focus is anything other than Jesus, then we will experience division.TLA: What obstacles are there to unity?Giles: I think what many fail to realize is that politics is another form of tribalism. This creates an “us vs them” mentality where we spend our time and energy searching for everything that is wrong about “them” and right about “us”. We lump everyone who is not in our tribe into a single amorphous collective where “all Liberals are stupid” or “all Conservatives are racist”, when this is certainly not the case. But the more we demonize “them” the more we can justify almost anything we say or do because, hey, look how evil they are! Soon, we start to believe that they are beyond redemption. Which, of course, is exactly the opposite of what the Gospel teaches us. 

Catalyst West Speaker at 'Uncommon Fellowship:' We Need To 'Humanize Each Other'

The first step in getting past much of the division in society today is to recognize that fear of each other is a factor and being propagated, said Mike Foster, author of People of the Second Chance and leader of a ministry by the same name.“Part of what I’m seeing in our culture is this absolute division, this ‘side taking,’ this polarization that’s happening,” Foster told Together LA backstage at Catalyst West on Thursday. “The underpinning of all that is just fear. I think one of the things that we actually need to be aware of is that we don’t have to be afraid of each other.”He added, “The way that we become less afraid of each other is to actually be together, to sit in the same room, to humanize each other and to say [things to ourselves such as] ‘Oh, he likes Starbucks grande lattes, me too,’ or ‘He has kids that are adolescents that he is trying to raise. That’s just like me, too.’”Foster said that there is much to benefit from “the sense of being together and understanding that fear is the engine for most of the dysfunction that we are seeing in our world.”He said he believes that fueling the fear is the large amounts of time many of us spend consuming news and television which “teaches us to be afraid.”“Our brain is taking in millions and millions of data points and cues all the time and I think we don’t realize how that’s impacting us in a really negative way,” he said.“I’m telling people to step back from that system and say, hey, listen, you are swimming in a system that is teaching you to hate people, to see people as your enemy,” Foster explained. “If we can step out of that and say, ‘Why don’t I shut up for a second and just listen.’ Instead of throwing a virtual stone from a million miles away, ‘Why don’t I just sit at a table and have a coffee with somebody?’”People should be able to sit down and have a conversation, he said. “I don’t have to agree with everything you say. You don’t have to agree with everything I say. The fact that is not happening in our society is very destructive thing that’s going to lead us on a journey that’s going to yield things that we ultimately do not want as a church, as a country, as a society as a whole.“The way that we heal our cities is unity, is coming together, is giving people the benefit of the doubt, is holding our tongue and actually spending some time listening, and asking a question versus giving an answer.”Foster was one of several speakers on Thursday, the first day of the two-day Catalyst West conference held at Mariners Church in Irvine.

Disrupting the Division: Christians Must Tack To the Wind

Americans today are divided along the lines of race, class, and culture as well as religion and politics. But Christians, too, are often at odds with one another over these very same things. This is the time, then, for Christ-centered peacemakers to step up and stand out so that Christians will no longer be seen as disturbing the peace but disrupting, in a positive sense, by diffusing division at every turn. To do so, we must tack to the wind.As you might imagine, I am not a sailor. But I do know this: ocean sailing requires wind. “Granted, wind isn’t normally in short supply on the open ocean—until you hit the doldrums. For centuries mariners have feared this equatorial region [the doldrums] for its tendency toward sailor-stopping calms.”[11] In other words, even the biggest and best of boats can stall for lack of wind.More specific to (the) discussion is a maneuver in sailing known as tacking. Tacking is used when the winds have shifted and a ship is unable to make forward progress because the wind is blowing toward the bow, that is, when the boat is heading upwind.“Tacking allows the boat to travel forward with a wind at right angles to the boat. The boat travels for a time at an angle toward its desired course, to the right for instance, then the captain swings the boom of the sail and tacks back across the desired course at an angle to the left in a zigzag fashion.”[12] In this way, tacking allows a ship to make forward progress in spite of prevailing frontal winds.Similarly, cultural winds have shifted in our lifetime, and for all intent and purposes, our boat, our collective witness, is dead in the water. Where Americans once embraced the church and Christian values, if not our message, a significant percentage of the country today rejects those values. Why? In large part because so many Christians in general, as well as pastors and churches alike, continue to think, talk, and act as if it is 1980 and not almost 2020. As with the analogy, our sails are fixed for past winds, hoping they will pick up again. But they won’t. Those days are gone. Indeed, we are no longer sailing with the wind, but against it. Thus, in order to advance the gospel, the church, and the kingdom of God in this day and age, we must swing the boom. We must learn to tack in prevailing winds.For example, both in private conversations and on social media, far too many of us are quick to speak, slow to listen, and slow to advance peace, in direct violation of James 1:19. Far too many of us want to impose theocratic rule and ways on an otherwise constitutionally limited, representative democratic republic. Beyond that, we are far too easily “tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine” (Eph. 4:14), at times acting more like those without understanding, “in the futility of their mind,” with ignorance, callousness, or hardness of heart (4:17–19). We are often seen or portrayed as purveyors of fear, not faith. None of this is helpful for winning hearts and minds in what has been described as a post-Christian society.The fact is, the apostle Paul expected much more of mature believers. In Ephesians 4:29 he wrote, “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.” Notice Paul did not say we should not speak about or act on what we believe. Rather, we should do so in a way that is winsome and that plays to more than our affective base. But this is not what most people do, particularly on social media. More typically, they speak or write as if to those who already believe as they do. By doing so, their posts will receive many likes, hearts, and shares, but only from those holding similar views, while people who do not agree are only further alienated by a strong statement or opinion.We must learn then to speak to those beyond our affective base in language, tone, and tenor so as to be heard and received. We must learn to ask good questions, shape the narrative, and influence conversations that move people toward one another, toward the church, and ultimately toward Christ, not drive them further away. At any given moment, we must be more interested in winning people to the faith than we are in winning an argument.In short, we should remember that the mission of the church is best fulfilled not through political reform but spiritual reform, not through legislation but transformation, not through coercion but through conversion in seeing others come to know Him as we do.[13]________________11 Mark Shrope, “The Doldrums: Sailing’s Dead Zone,” National Geographic (2001), www.nationalgeographic.com/volvooceanrace/geofiles/01/.12 Stephen Portz, “How Does a Sailboat Move Upwind?” Physlink (2016), www.physlink.com/education/askexperts/ae438.cfm.13 Mark DeYmaz, “Evangelicals and Politics: Championing Political Positions as if Written in Biblical Stone Hurting Church’s Purpose,” Christian Post (11 July 2014), www.christianpost.com/news/evangelicals-and-politics-championing-political-positions-as-if-written-in-biblical-stone-hurting-churchs-purpose-123162/#2cA6G0A4Y7SVhtzH.99.Editor's Note: The above (Tack To the Wind) is an excerpt (permission from Mark DeYmaz) from Disruption: Repurposing the Church to Redeem the Community by Mark DeYmaz (Thomas Nelson and Leadership Network; March 2017, pp. 167-170).Learn more at www.mosaix.info/disruption.

Mark DeYmaz

A thought-leading author, pastor, and recognized champion of the Multiethnic Church Movement, Mark planted the Mosaic Church of Central Arkansas in 2001 where he continues to serve as Directional Leader. In 2004, he co-founded the Mosaix Global Network with Dr. George Yancey and today serves as its president, and convener of the triennial National Multi-ethnic Church Conference. In 2008, he launched Vine and Village and remains active on the board of this 501(c)(3) non-profit focused on the spiritual, social, and financial transformation of Little Rock's University District and the 72204 ZIP Code.Mark has written six books including his latest, Disruption: Repurposing the Church to Redeem the Community (Thomas Nelson, March 2017); and Multiethnic Conversations: an Eight Week Guide to Unity in Your Church (Wesleyan Publishing House, October 2016), the first daily devotional, small group curriculum on the subject for people in the pews. His book, Building a Healthy Multi-Ethnic Church (Jossey-Bass, 2007), was a finalist for a Christianity Today Book of the Year Award (2008) and for a Resource of the Year Award (2008) sponsored by Outreach magazine. His other books include, re:MIX: Transitioning Your Church to Living Color (Abingdon, June 2016); Leading a Healthy Multi-Ethnic Church (formerly Ethnic Blends; Zondervan, 2010, 2013), and the e-Book, Should Pastors Accept or Reject the Homogeneous Unit Principle? (Mosaix Global Network, 2011). In addition to books, he is a contributing editor for Outreach magazine where his column, "Mosaic" appears in each issue.He and his wife, Linda, have been married for thirty years and reside in Little Rock, AR. Linda is the author of the certified best-seller, Mommy, Please Don't Cry: There Are No Tears in Heaven (Multnomah, 1996), an anointed resource providing hope and comfort for those who grieve the loss of a child. Mark and Linda have four adult children and two grandchildren.Mark is an Adjunct Professor at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and teaches D.Min. courses at seminaries across the country including TEDS, Western, and Phoenix, where he earned his own D.Min. in 2006. — Amazon, Author Pages

Efrem Smith: A Vision For Urban Leaders

Editor's Note: Together LA had the opportunity to attend the Los Angeles Mayor's Prayer Breakfast last Saturday where Efrem Smith cast a vision through a powerful prayer for the city. After reading his recent blog post (below) about attending the World Impact’s annual TUMI (The Urban Ministry Institute) Leaders’ Summit earlier in the month, it seems likely that some of the inspiration for the prayer came from his time there.When Christ walked the earth he had the ability to look at people and see something beyond the labels of society. Christ was able to see the under-resourced, unqualified, outcast, and marginalized as potential participants in the work of transformation. He was able to look at the corrupt, the incarcerated, the diseased, the poor, and left for dead and see something that even the religious leaders of the day had the lack of vision to grasp. Through the declarations and demonstrations of God’s love, truth, and new life those deemed unworthy find their identity as made in the image of God and from there, begin to see their potential to work alongside Christ and transform lives and communities.This month I attended World Impact’s annual TUMI (The Urban Ministry Institute) Leaders’ Summit in Wichita, Kansas. I was so moved by the hundreds of ministry leaders that have a revolutionary vision for the poor and the incarcerated. I participated in worship, shared meals with, and listened to the stories of Brothers and Sisters from around the country and around the world who are aligned with God’s vision for “the least of these.” But they don’t merely have sympathy and mercy for the poor and incarcerated. They are involved in training and equipping them to serve as church planters, pastors, community leaders, and missionaries. These Summit attendees are chaplains, church pastors, denominational leaders, and volunteers who see that the harvest field is not only plentiful, but contains gifted and talented folks who, if empowered and resourced, can take responsibility for transformation right where they are.This issue of seeing all people through the eyes of God, is not just a ministry model for me, it’s personal... READ FULL POST AT WORLD IMPACT, INC.Photo at top: John Fredericks for Together LA

Human Dignity According to the Gospel

The most important aspect of our mission, as it relates to human dignity, isn’t our social action or our responsibilities as citizens or as culture-makers. The most important aspect of our mission for human dignity is the Gospel itself.When we recognize that human dignity is contested by spiritual warfare, we understand that politics is indeed downstream from culture, and that culture is downstream from conscience, and that conscience is downstream from the Kingdom of God. We cannot combat a culture of death merely with appeals to abstract human dignity based on natural law (not that there’s anything wrong with that). In every assault on human life, there’s not only a life left for dead but also a conscience left for hell. The Gospel addresses both.On the abortion question, for instance, the sheer numbers of children aborted each year ought to prompt us to realize that perhaps as many as one out of every three women in our congregations has aborted. With her is typically a man who approved of or paid for or pressured her to this act. Many women sit silently, in the fear that God can forgive any sin but this one. They try to forget it, and secretly wonder if they are included in the “whosoever will” of our Gospel invitations. When we preach both of justice and of justification, God breaks the power of condemnation. He uncovers sin and judgment. The cries of the oppressed, the orphaned, the murdered, are heard, and their Redeemer is strong.  The Gospel doesn’t wave away such judgment.The Gospel says that those found in Christ are joined to the judgment he endured on the cross, and they stand with him in the new creation of an empty tomb. The repentant woman who had an abortion, the repentant man who empowered an abortion, and indeed the repentant abortionist who committed the abortion, are not beyond the grace of God. Every accusation against them, and against you and me, is true. But in Christ, we have been through the scrutiny of the tribunal of God. We have already been through the justice of hell. And in Christ, God declares what he thinks of us, “You are my beloved child, and in you I am well-pleased.” We warn of justice, but we always, this side of the grave, offer mercy....READ FULL STORY http://pastors.com/human-dignity-according-to-the-gospel/