Last year, Renee had a wonderful idea: What if we celebrated the Fourth of July in Moore Square with our friends?

We put out the cry for help and  we ended up feeding over 300 folks, had lives changed, had rich bankers playing football with people who sleep under bridges and had a blast in the process.Some of us were convinced we saw a foretaste of the Kingdom of God.

On the Fourth of July at 2:00PM, we are going to do it again. In Moore Square (click here for a map) in downtown, Raleigh, there will be hot dogs, baked beans, watermelon, lemonade and much more (we hope, anyway). If somebody could bring some guitars and such, that would be pretty cool too.

Why are we doing this, you ask? Because who you eat with, matters. Jesus believed that with every fiber of his being. When he ate with prostitutes and tax collectors, he was making a statement about who God is. And when we ignore the homeless and poor to eat with folks like us, we make a statement about who we think God is.

Other reasons:

• Because while no doubt you have friends and loved ones to spend the Fourth with, many of the homeless and poor do not. Bring your friends and loved ones with you.

• Because on holidays the soup kitchens are closed, so any free meals usually consist of bag lunches with peanut butter and honey sandwiches. Surely we can do better than that?

• Because when the poor go hungry, it ticks Jesus off.

• Because you need more friends who have less than you do.

• Because you will get to eat with some really cool people.

• Because things like friendship, community, dignity and happiness are important in the Kingdom of God.

• Because while everyone else is celebrating their allegiance to the American Empire (the same Empire that often says your worth is related to your net worth), we can show our ultimate allegiance to the Kingdom of God, which says these people are priceless and worth fighting for.

NOTE: The purpose of this event is not to win souls, to pass out tracts or to break out with the street preaching. Instead, we want to have fun, to meet new people and to show the love of God in the way of Jesus.

If you want in on this, go to this page, where you will find an updated list of things we need and a form to enter the things you can bring. Please alert your friends, small groups, etc.

Cross-posted from Hugh’s personal blog

Many of my recent conversations, with both friends and new acquaintances alike, have turned to spiritual topics. Several of those conversations have ended with the other person thanking me, and then they say something like “There was nowhere I felt safe talking about this stuff.”

I know just what you mean. I can relate to not having a safe place to question things without fear of being bulldozed over for having doubts or asking honest questions. In most places we can talk about faith, tolerance for other views is a lot like sex in high school: It gets talked about much more than it actually happens.

After querying several friends, I decided to try to create such a place. A place where you can ask hard questions, a place where we can disagree and still be friends, where we can learn from each other, a place where we can put aside labels like Catholic and Pagan and Liberal and Conservative and… well, you get the point.  A safe place.

On Tuesday, March 3rd at 7pm, that place will be The Royal Bean at 3801 Hillsborough St in Raleigh, across from the entrance to Meredith College.

That night we will have about 2 hours of Coffee & Conversation. Safe conversation. This is not a “Christian” thing – this is a human thing. I don’t care if you are a skeptic, a pagan, a hellfire preacher or a Presbyterian, all views are welcome. Just come with an open mind and a willingness to listen to each other.

The topic that night will be ‘What is God (as you understand God) Like?’. It will be open conversation and discussion… this is not, God forbid, a lecture or a sermon or a Bible study. There is NO agenda other than a conversation. I hope you can make it.

If it looks like you will drop by, please shoot me an email at hughlh at gmail dot com and let me know, so I can save you a seat.

Update: Several folks have asked if this is going to be a regular thing. The short answer is, I don’t know. It sorta depends on who shows up, on how it goes and if anybody thinks it was a good thing. In other words, we will play it by ear.

Most Sunday mornings find me in Moore Square in downtown Raleigh. Moore Square is located near two homeless shelters and the city bus station, so it tends to be a magnet for the homeless population of Raleigh. I jokingly refer to it as my office.

On Sunday mornings, myself and somewhere around seven or eight others bring biscuits, coffee and fruit down to the Square and share breakfast with our friends in the park.  No goals. No agenda. No preaching, no tracts, no loud ‘praise’ music, no four spiritual laws, no… well, you get the point.

Instead, we hug folks. We laugh. We give Danny* a hard time as he tries to ‘pick up’ a new girl he just met by the coffee pot. I joke with Dave* because he is jealous of my new boots someone gave me. Suzanne talks with transgendered people and helps everyone find clothes. Donna passes out biscuits. Greg does whatever Donna tells him to do. Chad is taking orders for work boots, so people can get back to work. I agree to go to court with Irene*, so she can get a divorce from her alcoholic, abusive husband. And somewhere along the way, we get lots of hugs, and listen to sad tales of how ‘this’ happened to them, and we learn that we are not much different than they are.

In fact, after you do this a while, you learn that there is no us and them. There is just us.

Note: It costs us about $75 to throw breakfast in Moore Square each week. If you would like to underwrite breakfast one week, you can donate $75 via PayPal (you don’t have to have a PayPal account) by clicking here. If you would like to donate a different amount, go to our donate page. Thanks!

*As always, I change the names of our friends in order to protect their dignity and privacy.

I first became aware of Jan Cartledge and her band of folks via the internet when I was ranting last fall over a local church and how they chose to spend almost two million dollars. Since then we have kept up a correspondance, she and her husband Tony helped serve drinks at our bash on the Fourth of July and her faith community helped fund a hunk of the celebration. A few weeks ago we sat for coffee and she extended an invitation for me to speak to her community, and I joyfully accepted.

The HomeStar Fellowship describes itself as “a community of Christ followers, seeking to love God and our neighbors. ” In short, my sort of people. It was an awesome time of conversation and questions, with me telling what I do and how I got here and them asking questions about what they can do and how they can work to bring the love of God, as seen through Jesus, to some folks who have had a rough go of it.

Thanks to Jan and all the other Jesus followers at HomeStar for inviting me and for exploring with me ways we can work to make it on earth as it is in Heaven.

By the way, you may have noticed I am speaking a lot more lately. I am very excited to be able to work with curious folks who want to know ways they can work to bring God’s kingdom closer to fruition.  I will speak to pretty much anybody, anywhere. I don’t care if it is two people over lunch or 2000 in an auditorium, I would be delighted to be a part of it. If you are part of a group of Jesus followers who think you might want to hear what I have to say, shoot me an email.

Yesterday morning, I was interviewed by Jeff Ramsey, pastor of Visio Dei. He basically took me through my upbringing, through my walk with Christ and how my understanding of being a follower of Jesus has moved from a consumer model to a discipleship model. It was really good, although I was VERY nervous, much more so than normal. A general rule for me is, the more I make the audience laugh, the more nervous I am. Yesterday, they laughed a LOT.

Overall, it was a blast. Visio Dei has been awesome to me, coming alongside and helping out with our work, in both financial and practical ways. It was great to be able to talk in front of this group of Jesus followers who have worked so hard to love me, even when it sometimes pushes them beyond their comfort zones.

After the service, several individuals came up to me and we spoke about ways they could help with our ministry. Even nicer was that several people asked if I could speak to their small group. The answer is Yes!

Guys, I will speak to pretty much anybody, anywhere. I don’t care if it is two people over lunch or 2000 in an auditorium, I would be delighted to be a part of it. If you are part of a group of Jesus followers who think you might want to hear what I have to say, shoot me an email.

I will be “interviewed” by Jeff Ramsey at Visio Dei church on August 24th at 10am. It is part of a series they are doing, involving interviews with people whose faith has affected their life.  Most of the people interviewed have been through horrible experiences… the loss of a brother, a cancer diagnosis, etc. I think I am the happy story in the bunch.  On the 24th, my interview will be the whole sermon, so if you want to hear more about me and how I got here, this would be a good place to do it.

Also on the 24th, I will be speaking at HomeStar Fellowship at 5pm. HomeStar is a small group of spiritual seekers that meets in downtown Raleigh and is moderated by my friend Jan Cartledge. Jan graciously invited me to talk to the group that day, so I am now booked both morning and afternoon on the 24th.

You are more than welcome to come hear me at either location. Directions to each place are on their respective websites. If you do come, please make sure you say hi and introduce yourself afterward. I love meeting you guys!

If your church, Sunday School class or small group would like to have me come and speak, please shoot me an email and we can work out the details.

Gina and her husband took some pictures of the Picnic in the Park on the Fourth of July. Here are a few samples, all of the pictures she sent are loaded on our flickr account, where you can look at them, comment on them and share them with your friends.

By the way, Gina earlier this week wrote an account of her experiences at the picnic on her blog.

Yesterday we fed about 250 people, cooked more than 550 hotdogs, cut up a slew of watermelon, got soaked in the rain, laughed, played football, heard some sad stories, met some really cool people and experienced the merest hint of what is possible in the Kingdom of God.

I promise I will do a full writeup on the whole event shortly, but right now, suffice it to say it was an unqualified success. We could not have done it without the help of everyone who showed up, brought food, kicked in cash and those who came and helped us eat it all.

Thank you to all of the above.

A lot of people have wanted to know some practical ways they could help in our mission of loving the poor, homeless and destitute of Raleigh, North Carolina. Here is your chance.

At 4pm on the Fourth of July, 2008 we are going to have a cookout in Moore Square (click here for a map) in downtown, Raleigh. There will be hot dogs, baked beans, watermelon, soft drinks and much more (we hope, anyway). If somebody could bring some guitars and such, that would be pretty cool too.

Why are we doing this, you ask? Several reasons:

• Because while no doubt you have friends and loved ones to spend the Fourth with, many of the homeless and poor do not. Bring your friends and loved ones with you.

• Because on holidays the soup kitchens are closed, so any free meals usually consist of bag lunches with peanut butter and honey sandwiches. Surely we can do better than that?

• Because when the poor go hungry, it ticks Jesus off.

• Because you need more friends who have less than you do.

• Because you will get to eat with some really cool people.

• Because things like friendship, community, dignity and happiness are important in the Kingdom of God.

• Because while everyone else is celebrating their allegiance to the American Empire (the same Empire that often says your worth is related to your net worth), we can show our ultimate allegiance to the Kingdom of God, which says these people are priceless and worth fighting for.

NOTE: The purpose of this event is not to win souls, to pass out tracts or to break out with the street preaching. Instead, we want to have fun, to meet new people and to show the love of God in the way of Jesus.

If this sounds like something you would like to be a part of, we need lots of food and help to pull this off. Leave a comment below or send me an email and I will send you a list of things we need.

Last week I visited the nice folks at Connections Church in Raleigh/Cary. (They are right on the border). They were very interested in the work I am doing and the future plans I am working on, and want to know ways they can help in the work.

If you have been trying to track me down and want to know more about the work I am doing, you can find me tomorrow at 10:30am (and probably each Sunday in February) at Connections.

Hope to see you there.