Why do you serve?

Why do we serve?

I mean really, what is the reason or motivator that keeps us serving... doing those things and tasks that are essentially no fun. For the sake of what?

Why do we serve?

Well some might say they serve because it makes them feel good inside. That serving others gives them a glimpse of inward joy, because they know at that moment they are making the world a better place...

But perhaps anyone who would have such a selfish reason to serve has probably not experienced "service" to any great length.

Because anyone who has served for a significant period of time will tell you, it gets old.

You see, when serving, we still get tired, worn out, dirty, emotionally stretched... and so on.

So in the end, can we really be people who live lives of service without some selfish motivator in the end, either it be trying to find that temporary moment of inward joy, or serving for some sort of pay check. - Because really, we are just too selfish beings to be able to do it for other reasons on our own...

Unless you follow Christ.

As Christ lives in us, and we believe in and follow Him. We are filled with a supernatural love that is beyond our own, the Love of God. - That is how we serve. We serve others and the world out of a love that is not our own, but yet fills us up and overflows out of our hearts into our minds and through our hands... and this love never runs dry. This love is beyond you.

Are you open to experiencing the love of God?

Why do you serve?

"'Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?'

'We can,' they answered.

Jesus said to them, 'You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.'

When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers.

Jesus called them together and said,'You know that the rulers of their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave- just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.'"

-Matthew 20:22-28

Community Cookout!

Come out and join us Saturday August 28th at 6:00pm for a Community Cookout!

This is simply a time to come relax, hang out, eat and get to know some others who live around you. We have a great South Nashville community and we as Kaleo Nashville hope to continue finding ways to foster good relationships amidst neighbors here.

So, if you enjoy eating some good food and meeting some great people come join us on Saturday the 28th for a Community Cookout at 2015 Hutton Dr.!

Also, at the cookout there will be information about a local community garden in our neighborhood that you can be a part of as-well!

Impact at ENCM - New Time!

Impact at the East Nashville Cooperative Ministry is now on Sundays at 10am!

At ENCM we are able to serve in a way that is simple but yet very needed for the ministry there. That is keeping their facility maintained. A lot of what we do at ENCM involves cleaning, bagging bread, painting, or other special projects.

Our Impact at ENCM is not a glorified one, but it is a place where we have the opportunity to serve those who give their lives in serving others every day.

Please feel free to join us in this ministry on Sunday mid-mornings at 10am at the East Nashville Cooperative Ministry!

East Nashville Cooperative Ministry is located at 807 Main St. Nashville, TN 37206


About ENCM:

Mission -
The East Nashville Cooperative Ministry is a Christian, ecumenical organization created and maintained for the purpose of improving the East Nashville community.

Vision -
ENCM envisions an East Nashville where citizen’s needs—spiritual, educational, economic, mental, physical, and emotional—are holistically met and neighborhoods are enabled to thrive. We contribute to this vision with food and clothing.

For more info on the "Co-op" visit http://www.encm.org/

Solomon's Saga

I was reading last night about Solomon and the queen of Sheba. Solomon was wise, so wise that the queen of Sheba came to test his wisdom. She didn't believe any of the rumours she had heard about his power through wisdom. When she arrived and saw that he did not lack an answer for any question, she gave him extravagant gifts. For his wisdom was unparalleled; worth more than gold.

We are currently talking about the parable of the Shrewd Manager in our Life Groups. This parable is quite strange and it has had me thinking about the relationship of wisdom to shrewdness. In the parable, the shrewd manager (who is also a dishonest manager) is commended by his master for acting shrewdly (not dishonestly). Then Jesus tells to his disciples to be shrewd and win friends for themselves with their resources so that when this world passes away they will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

Solomon seemed to do this well. He used his wisdom to create a legacy for the Kingdom of God, as he was God's representative to the people. He was able to win the queen of Sheba as a friend by his wisdom. However, the end of this passage is a sobering one. After the story tells of Solomons wealth and wisdom, and how much he did for his country, and how good of a life he had, it finally ends with..."Solomon rested with his fathers".


Ecclesiastes says that it is good to be wise, but even a wise man who saves a city by his wisdom is forgotten. That this too does not last. In our attempts to gain wisdom and act shrewdly for the Kingdom of God, we must keep one reminder at the forefront. We too are like grass that withers. Our fame is not the end. It is God who weighs the mountains like dust on scales.

If we are commended because we act shrewdly to win favor for God's Kingdom, it is because it is God's Kingdom that is awesome. The favor that shrewdness achieves may very well be from the people who are being brought into the Kingdom's awesomeness. People like Sheba, who, through you, have found a wisdom worth more than gold.

Messy Christianity

It would seem that the more we venture farther down the rabbit hole of Christian spirituality, of ministry, we end up seeing just how messy this whole thing is.
The world, your work place, the church, the book club you belong to, and even places like the White House are fully of... well... humans.

Shocking I know.
Truth is though sometimes we act like that these places are full of people who are other than human. People who have it all together, who never mess up, who are always doing "good."

And then when something goes wrong we are all flabbergasted because we thought that _______ had this whole thing together.

The Church has been one of those places in many cases, hasn't it?
The place where we are supposed to be able to go to no matter how we look, no matter what our issues are, no matter what our hang-ups are...
Sadly over time many decided that spirituality wasn't messy anymore, that if you wanted to follow Jesus you had to have it all together. At least that's how it felt anyway right.

Perhaps though the most exciting part about our Gospel is that it is messy!
That we are all on this journey together and the moment we think we've got it all figured out or that we can do it all alone... that's when we should be pitied the most.

As Kaleo Nashville we are humbled and yet joyous at the fact that we are a messy community, a community with a common kingdom purpose, walking together with with a message that constantly brings us back to the broken, the hurting, the hungry, the lonely, and the lost.

Come be messy with us
KaleoNashville.com

It's a grass-roots Kingdom... Or perhaps a veggie-root

Unfortunately for too long, perhaps many local churches have believed that they must do things on a grandeur scale to see a piece of heaven come into their community. There have been everything from large magnificent sanctuaries to over the top Vacation Bible Schools with hundreds of children... which definitely these things are good...

But perhaps more times than not the Kingdom of Heaven comes in the places and ways that we don't always catch at first glance, in the situations that don't get the news recognition, in the conversations that happen on your neighbors front porch.

One of those things that we believe, as the local church of Kaleo, brings a piece of heaven into our neighbors' lives is fresh and good food.

In all reality, what is more needed to experience life the way we were meant to live except by having food right? Sure it's one of those simple things that often times, especially for those in middle-class America, you just may not think about... or not realize that people in your actual neighborhood don't have access to.

So, we decided as Kaleo Nashville to hold a benefit concert for the Woodbine Farmer's Market that just began. The benefit was on July 10th and it was a blast! Artists, Adam Foster, Matt Lovell, and Action! played for the benefit and we were able to raise some funds that will hopefully help this Market to hang around in the community of South Nashville.

Two weeks into the Market and its great to see how people in the community will rally over something so awesome as having our own Farmer's Market... and yet also over something so basic as having good and local resources. Things that give to us and back into our community as-well.

That's where we've seen Heaven break into our community recently.

Modern Parables

This week in our Life Groups we will begin discussing a series of Modern Parables...

We will be watching short film, modern interpretations of parables that Jesus told to us thousands of years ago... and then spending two weeks on each parable to digest and understand what it is that we can learn from these parables and the truths within them, and then how we can live out these truths in our lives.

Beginning this week is the parable of the Good Samaritan...

It'll be a great time, come join us on Wednesday night at 7pm at Ryan and Deirdre Arnett's
or Thursday night at 7pm at Mike and Tera Kurtz'

Wednesday Life Group - 7pm

2015 Hutton Dr.Nashville, TN 37210

(615-566-1429)

Thursday Life Group - 7pm

Trevecca Terrace Apartments
93 Nance Lane, Apt A12 Nashville, TN 37210

(615-720-1922)

For more information on Modern Parables go to: http://modernparable.com/