ChrisMoncus.com

I feel funny about blatantly posting another’s writings on my blog but I want to ensure it will stay around even if the site I got this from goes away. That said, here’s as many creds as I can think of… RELEVANT Magazine sent an article out in 850 Words of Relevant from an author named Jason Boyett that is adapted from a section of his book called “Cheap Ways To…“.

Now on to the post.

I can’t say it better than Jason on this matter, but let me reiterate the fact that Jesus called us to minister beyond the walls of our church and beyond the people we already know. In fact, James tells us in verse 1:27, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world”. Looking out for those who can’t look out for themselves DEFINES our religion.

He calls the title “Christmas In Action”. Let’s break that down. “Christmas” means “Christ Coming”.

Let’s be the hands and feet of Christ so that through us, He can come in action again.

That said, here are a few ways to make our religion effective, pure, and faultless this Christmas season.

Christmas in Action

Serving Your Community This Holiday Season

‚ÄúGive a man a fish and he‚Äôll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he‚Äôll eat for a lifetime.‚Äù No doubt you‚Äôve heard the axiom before. It‚Äôs often used to condemn no-strings-attached giving to the poor. Clich?© or not, it paints a nice picture. Unfortunately, the saying only pains half the picture‚Äîit‚Äôs great to teach a man to fish, but if the man has no fishing gear and no water nearby, how do you expect the knowledge of how to fish to do anything for him?

That’s the plight of the poor. As it is for millions of people across the planet, poverty is a problem in the United States as well. And while dealing with the problem of poverty involves “helping the poor to help themselves,” we need to remember that such a solution is long-term. What are we to do in the short-term? You can’t alleviate the problem by yourself; no one can. But what you can do is distribute some grace to your corner of the world. The thing to remember is that helping the poor isn’t just about donating money. It’s about meeting needs.

The holidays are always stressful, and it’s easy to get consumed with buying presents, traveling and spending lots of money on Christmas-related activities. But December doesn’t have to be a time that we forget about those in need. Here are several ways you can reach out to the needy this Christmas season:

HOMELESS SHELTERS
If you live in a city of any size, there is probably at least one homeless shelter that helps people with meals, beds, hygiene and other services. Most shelters welcome volunteers for a number of activities, from preparing and distributing meals to working in the business office.

FOOD BANKS
Surveys indicate up to 40 percent of people serviced by community food banks at one time or another, had to decide between eating and paying rent. If that’s a decision you’ve never had to make, why not find a way to help out? Community food banks are instrumental in assisting the poor in your community, particularly around the holidays. They employ volunteers to sort and collect salvaged food (much of which comes from area supermarkets), distribute bread, manage inventory and perform office tasks. You can help by doing the above or by organizing and giving to inventory builders like canned food drives.

HABITAT FOR HUMANITY
Since 1976, Habitat has built in excess of 100,000 simple houses across the world for families lacking adequate shelter. A non-denominational, non-profit organization, Habitat sells its houses via interest-free mortgages. The homes are built by the homeowners themselves and a team of volunteers. If you have any sort of construction, electrical or plumbing skills, you’re exactly the kind of volunteer help Habitat needs. For those who don’t know a Philips from a flathead, Habitat projects provide a fun, unintimidating environment to learn—all the while helping a very appreciative family. Contact your local chapter, or visit www.habitat.org.

CLOTHING & NECESSITIES
Most of us have far too many clothes—in our closet, stuff we haven’t worn in years. When you run out of space, resist the urge to sell your old clothing on consignment or in garage sales. Instead, donate it to a charity like the Salvation Army or its equivalent. My wife and I worked one weekend a few years ago with a downtown women’s center, the kind of place where battered women stay until they get their lives back together. We discovered the center was always in need of decent women’s clothing, in addition to baby supplies and kids’ clothes. After that weekend, Aimee cleaned out her closet immediately. If you have a full closet or baby clothes you’ll never use again, why not give them to someone who’ll treasure them?

BE THOUGHTFUL
I know many kind people who just don’t feel right about giving money to the homeless, worrying that they may be paying for an alcohol addiction or their next drug fix. But the truly compassionate still find a way to give. I know of one elderly lady who has begun collecting coupons or gift certificates for free meals at local restaurants. She keeps them in the ashtray of her car, and is happy to pass them along to the hungry. Once, my sister, who was 16 at the time, was moved to tears by the sight of a small family on the street corner with a sign that read, simply, “hungry.” She had no cash on her, but told the family to wait five minutes. She sped home and made peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches out of an entire loaf of bread, shoved the sandwiches back in the bread sack, and returned to the family. Tears were shed on their end, too.

BE KIND
If you have a chance to interact with the needy, make a point to talk to them like you would any individual—your neighbor, a business associate, a family member. Often, there’s no better gift than the feeling of worth and civilization they feel when someone treats them like a real person. I once read a newspaper feature on the homeless, in which one of the individuals profiled said something I’ll always remember: “You don’t think I feel like crap when a generous person takes me into a restaurant and feeds me? Here I am in the clothes I wore yesterday and smelling like trash. But you can take my mind off that by speaking nicely to me and not looking down on me.”

The poor aren’t just looking for money. They’re looking for understanding, significance, a human connection—gifts to which no dollar amount applies.

To see more about ways to get involved in service projects this Christmas check out this article from Cameron.

This story was adapted from Cheap Ways To… (RELEVANT Books).

The title is pretty much the way it happened. Jesus told us in several ways in several places that He didn’t want us sitting on our complacent rears in out of our comfort zones. He told us to “GO”. For your reading pleasure, He said it in these places - Acts 1:8, Mark 16:15, and Matthew 28:19-20 - among many other references to getting out of your own town and being a witness and a missionary.

That said, I felt that call recently. Not just in a general sense but in a “Chris, I have plans for you. Listen closely” way.

“He’s gonna get my home church to hire me as Technical and Art Director”, I thought. “Maybe there’s something at Calvary Temple opening up.” “Maybe I will FINALLY get to do some overseas mission work with FaithWorks Ministries.”

“Chris? Hey man. It’s Adam. A position just went public here. Please email me your resume soon.” No big deal. I’ll never go out to Las Vegas. I’ll just humor my best friend so he won’t feel hurt by me telling him that I didn’t really see myself there. Besides, I was doing so much up at FBC that I knew they were gonna hire me for the new position that would be created soon.

Not the case. I was one of two applicants. From what I gathered the other applicant’s resume was pushed aside rather quickly. I was the sole applicant who was qualified for that position. Crap. Now things get tricky. I learn more about the job and quickly get excited. New building! New A/V/L systems! God moving in the church! Spiritual growth like no other I had seen! Now I wanted to be a part of it no matter what. I interviewed over the phone and was told I did well.

We arranged a face-to-face interview for March 8-14 where I would basically join them for a week of work and see what it was like. It went great. We started off the week with phrases like “the person who will be in this position will…”. Eventually those phrases were morphed into “when you get here you will…”. I knew upon leaving that God wanted me there. I knew that they wanted me there. I knew that Amanda wanted to be there.

“Why me?” Because for some reason God has gifted me in things that Canyon Ridge Christian Church needs. Yeah, there are probably many other people that could do that job well, but for some reason I felt that He wanted me there. What a humbling honor.

Near Lone Mountain, high above Las Vegas, Adam Ogden told me, “for every street light you see, there are 200 people that need a personal relationship with God.” It looked like a bird’s nest of Christmas lights. The lights were all I saw. 1.5 Million people in desperate need of the love and grace of God. Reese Roper once wrote, “The very spark that burns the stars drew near to me today. The God of everything that is whispered in my ear that His love is boundless.” Yes, His love is boundless. No amount of sin can diffuse His love. It’s a love that He wants to be spread. His love needs to be shown to the people of Las Vegas and for some reason, God has chosen me to a part of that. What a humbling honor. What a huge task. What a wonderful Savior.

I formally accepted the job on March 23, 2006. My job title is A/V Manager. I will be managing the website and getting it up to speed with today’s needs and trends for ministry websites. I will also be the manager of most all sound systems that aren’t in the main auditorium. That means I’m training and scheduling volunteers, keeping the systems working, and being there in case of an issue. Fun stuff.

My start date is April 10th. Exactly one week from tomorrow. It’s also exactly two months from my wedding. Praise God, he has worked out all of the details and everything is working out great to go out to Las Vegas for 7 weeks, fly back, get married, go on our honeymoon, pack up a UHaul, and drive 3 days across the US to Nevada - while forfeiting very little pay in the process. There’s no way to describe it. God has worked it all out better than I could ever have expected.

Pray for me, please. Pray for Amanda as she is left in Brunswick for seven weeks to plan the wedding without me being here. Pray for our parents to get all this wedding stuff worked out and to handle their first-borns leaving the nest… finally.

One thing I know is that Amanda and I will grow in this church. The teaching is powerful and full of applicable truth. The music is some of the best and most well-chosen I’ve heard in the church. Their attention to detail makes it all fit together to craft a worship experience one can’t easily forget. The church’s goal is spiritual growth for the congregation.

The church holds 5 regular services, 3 youth services, and a traditional service each weekend across Saturday night and Sunday morning. The Wednesday night service is the best mid-week service I’ve ever been to. With around 5,000 a weekend in attendance, this church, along with its planted and assisted churches, is providing an excellent ministry in the area and is reaching thousands of people. Amanda and I want to be a part of this.

As Amanda and I follow the Lord and “go”, please pray for us. We would love to keep in contact with you, so please don’t forget to write. We will keep our cell phone numbers for a little while so we will still be reachable that way, just remember we will be 3 hours behind you. Your 8am = our 5am. DO NOT CALL THEN.

I would love to see you guys before I leave so let’s have lunch or something or I will see you at church. If I don’t, see you at the wedding.

As a final thought, go. Go share the Gospel of hope and love with the lost. Whether it’s around a break room table at your office or a remote jungle in Asia or Sin City itself. Take the Gospel to them. God has called us to BRING others to His banquet table. I pray for those reading this. That you would all spread His love to a lost and lonely world and that many would come to know Christ through this.

Doit4Jesus.

I just realized that I haven’t posted here in literally 3 months. Can I get any more slack? Yes I can. I am most slack because I didn’t write about the most important thing to happen to me since I got saved.

On January 23, 2006 on Saint Simons Island, GA, I asked Amanda Beth Crosby to be my wife! Strange thing is that she actually said “yes”! Who would have thought I’d have lucked out (uh, or rather, be so blessed) to get the most wonderfullest girl in the world. I am sad to say that all other single guys must settle for less than the best. I am sorry to all who hoped for a girl like Amanda, but alas, God only made one of her. Her sister is single though…

And all the girls are wondering, “How’d you do it?”. You can read the full story on our wedding site, http://www.chrismoncus.com/thewedding/, if you want, but I’ll give the quick summary for those of us with ADD.

On January 20, 2002, I met Amanda at First Baptist Church in Brunswick. We were introduced, went bowling with the youth group, IM’ed and phoned each other, became friends, started dating a few months later, became a couple in September of that year, got really serious and eventually expressed interest in marriage. This went on for over three years and then there we were in January of 2006.

With our four-year friendship anniversary approaching, I saw it as good cover for the proposal. Only then could we get dressed up, go out to a nice restaurant, and take a walk in Neptune Park without much suspicion arising. I was previously scheduled as a leader at a retreat that weekend, so we had to postpone this date until the 23rd. I set aside the 18th to talk to her dad and get his blessing. That’s a story in itself. Read that here. Short version… I was nervous as I could be, asked his blessing, he said that he’d be honored… “PHEW!”.

So we went out that Monday night, January 23rd, to J Mac’s on SSI. Afterward we went on a walk in Neptune park toward the lighthouse and its gazebo (the only place with light out there!). With my guitar in hand I sang a song I wrote for her. Toward the end I dropped my pick in my guitar. With a dumb look on my face I asked her to help me get it out. I needed her to hold her hands out and catch it if it falls so that I won’t lose it.

I flipped my guitar over and shook it. Nothing came out. I shook it again and reached inside, telling her I almost had it. A little fumbling around inside and the ring fell out of the guitar into her hands. It was duck taped to the inside lip of my guitar. I set my guitar down and grabbed her hands. I got down on one knee, leaned in, and asked her to marry me. She said yes! Woohoo!

So here we are. We’re finishing up wedding plans and also getting ready for another BIG event in our lives. Read the next post to find out whats up.

Hey guys. Quick update and prayer request….

This week, from Thursday to Sunday, I will be serving on a retreat called Chrysalis. It is an amazing time of growth and encouragement for high-schoolers age 15-19. You can read more about Chrysalis here.

This weekend in particular is a big deal, not only for the kids, but for myself also. It will be my first time out of the kitchen, which is where I served the past few times. Somehow God has given me the opportunity to both speak and help direct this weekend.

That is where the prayer comes in. Please pray:
(1) for the kids on the flight. They need prayer in many areas, but please focus on them opening their hearts to God and allowing Him to work in their lives.
(2) for the message God has given me to give. I need to speak clearly, concisely, and with excitement. My talk is at about 11:00 am on Friday, so please remember to pray the most in the hour before then and during the talk which is about 15 minutes.
(3) for our other leaders, speakers, and helpers. There are many people that help get things done and we all need prayer. Also lift up Michael Browning and Mike Korekis in your prayers, as they he will be speaking also.

Thanks guys. I know I can depend on you for prayers. De Colores!

UPDATE: Mike Korekis wasn’t a speaker, but a director. But we all appreciate your prayers anyway.

I get a slight reminder of the Blues Brothers when I think of Charles Ryan. I could picture him telling his friends and family back in May “I’m on a mission from God” and seeing the reactions. Yeah it’s crazy, but anyone who decides to walk until God says “stop” gets cool points in my book.

So here I am to announce FlippingBlind.com v1.5. I just finished adding new features to his site like a Google map that shows many of the places he has been and the posts associated with them, a new layout, and some minor tweaks and additions that make the experience better.

Head over there and read about what’s going on and maybe drop him a few comments or sign his guestbook. Take me to FlippingBlind.com!