The Coming of Living Water

Advent is here and as we wait, with birth-pains, the coming of our baby-king, there are people in the world who are painfully waiting for their redemption too. This advent Kaleo is taking part in the Advent Conspiracy to give a true Christmas gift to those who are painfully waiting for just a simple glass of water.

The leading cause of death in under resourced countries is from water born illnesses, including the deaths of a staggering 3,900 children a day.

Living Water International works to alleviate those in crisis by drilling wells to provide fresh, clean, unpolluted water for those in need.

So in this season of Advent, as you find yourself coming back to your need for a messiah, consider giving out of the hope you have, so that the kingdom of heaven can break into our world.

Go ahead be a Baby

This week is the second week of Advent. Advent is actually the beginning of the Christian year. Basically as a Christian, when the season of Advent comes around it is our New Years! This is when our life begins.

Why?

Because this is when the life of Jesus began two thousand years ago…. And so year after year we as Christians orient our life around a different calendar than the rest of the world.
We say that our lives aren’t defined even by the world and culture we are born into, but by the real Life we are born into, with Jesus.

So, as we enter this time of Advent, remember that our God is continually bringing you into His story. The story you were meant for. And as you continue to follow Christ and seek His face... Ask yourself, How is it, in this season of the year, that I am following a Jesus who came to us as a Child?

Join Kaleo Nashville as we celebrate Advent, our New Years, as we are Born withChrist.

Community Freesale 2010

I love the concept of a Free-sale. It makes no sense.

But that is exactly what the kingdom of God is about... things that make no sense to us.. out of the context of love.

Way back in the Old Testament, God once told His people, "When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the Lord your God." (Lev. 19:9-10)

Fact is, us Americans have a pretty bountiful harvest compared to the rest of the world. This Saturday, for the second time we as Kaleo are hosting a community free-sale. We do this in hope to see a little more of heaven coming to earth as we open a place for everyone to share their "fields" with their neighbors! In love the boundary lines between your things and mine become blurred and at some point, some day, we hope to have "everything in common."

So, all are invited this Saturday at 8:00am on for the 2nd annual Community Freesale!

Beside the Woodycrest Community Garden (around 2015 Hutton dr. 37210)

Feel free to bring some things or leave some things, or just come and hang out...

we'll have some grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup, drinks and smores...

Love your neighbor.

Kaleo Nashville

A Season of Refuge

It seems unbelievable that its November... It's amazing to look back over the seasons and see how God has been at work in the lives of those around us and also in our own. To see how the rhythms and seasons of our lives have ebbed and flowed with time.

And so as the darkness sets in and our daylight becomes shorter and shorter we enter into that season in which some would say requires a lot of "hanging-in-there." The question for us as the church is, What does it mean, as the coldness begins to set in, to serve a God whose love is so warm? What does it mean for us as the church, when the darkness comes rushing in, to be a child of the God whom (as the Psalmist once said) "night shines like the day and darkness and light are alike to You"?

This past weekend was the retreat for our Kaleo Nashville "Team." We spent a weekend at a Monastery in Trappist, KY. It was an all out and well needed refreshing. There is just something about a place of silence and solitude that acts as a "city of refuge"

for us these days. Being there in this place of rest and refocus also is a reminder of this season we are entering into...When the world gets cold, and the skies fade to dark, we as the world's inhabitants are meant to find some peace, rest, and refuge in the midst nor

mally chaotic, bright, and noisy places.

Be encouraged as this Season of Life falls into place, to find yourself seeking a place of refuge and rejuvenation as we give God thanks this November and on.

Sabbath

I am resting; it is sabbath, but I haven't been in a good habit of sabbath-ing lately. Caleb and I will plan stuff for the day and call it sabbath, but it really is not. Today is a real rest.

It is hard to stop the mind from working. Problems still exist on sabbath; yet mind-work is the worst kind. Anything that is urgent, that is accomplished on sabbath is a failure to keep it. We must remember that our purpose is not to work or play, but only to be. To be is the hardest thing of all. Silence in action is uncomfortable for the person who is not grounded in a belief that God is really the one who creates, redeems and brings to completion. When we do not work, we testify that we can not do it; that God is saving the world while we do not; that we were created for something different than God.

We are metaphysically different. We find our true life in the sabbath. It is not a break from life, but a participation in the hope we claim we have for the world the rest of the week. In a sabbath we remember the future. The stress, sickness, pain, long-suffering have been fulfilled by grace, freedom, peace, rest, relationship, holiday and everlasting life. It is the sabbath-rest we reach for. It is what we hope happens in our actions for the world the rest of the week. We work for the rest. Then we rest to show our belief in our work.

Rest is the point. It is the Kingdom breaking in. It is a sacrament in a way. It is participation in God's action in the world. Without rest we can only be hypocrites; pointing the world to freedom that does not exist. Testifying to a peace we have never known.

May you find sabbath; a freedom to point to a rest that is both real and the hope of the world.

The Mosaic Experiment

Next Week!: For all who would like to be a part...

We are beginning a new series in our Life Groups called The Mosaic Experiment.


The Mosaic Experiment takes some Old Testament practices, some more familiar than others, and asks how we can continue to live out these elements of our faith today.

We'll deal with questions like, What does it mean to actually, take care of the earth?
Is it possible for us to be a Prophet? ... What does a modern-day City of Refuge look like?

All are invited to jump in a group and dialogue with us as we seek how to bring these Old Testment practices out of retirement.




Life Groups happen:

Wednesday evenings at the Arnett's
7:00pm
2015 Hutton Dr. (37210)
(615-566-1429)

Thursday evenings at the Kurtz'
7:00pm
93 Nance Ln., Apt. A12
Trevecca Terrace (37210)
(615-720-1922)


(Books provided for group :)

See you there!

Current World Impact: Seeds, Tools, and Training for Orphans

Kaleo's current World Impact will go to helping children in Africa, learn the necessary skills, and have the necessary tools and supplies to garden their food.

Throughout Africa, the deadly effects of HIV and AIDS have devastated millions of families. Many young children have lost one or both parents to the disease, and they need help to ensure they have food for today and can grow food for the future. Government grants multiply the impact, providing seeds, tools, training, and food to orphans and vulnerable children so they can reach their God-given potential.

Thousands of African farmers suffer from life-threatening illnesses such as HIV and AIDS. When they get sick, their crops often fail because they don't have the strength to cultivate them. Furthermore, the cost of simple medications depletes their meager finances, so they can’t afford to buy seeds, fertilizer, and other supplies. The death of the head of a household can mean malnutrition and hunger for orphaned children.

Across the continent of Africa nearly 30 million people are HIV-positive. In many of these countries, World Vision is actively helping to counter the deadly impact of disease and food shortages by distributing food and providing seeds, tools, and training so families — many of whom care for orphans — can keep their farms going and a steady supply of food on the table.

Through this Impact we will help save lives of orphaned and vulnerable children by providing:

- Hardy vegetable, cereal, and grain seeds

- Tools such as watering cans, hoes, and machetes

- Training to help them grow a good harvest

World Vision: Seeds, Tools, and Training for Orphans

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