Permanent Marker
5/2/12 It was really simple today. She came in yesterday asking for a dry erase marker for a project she was working on at one of the shelters. She came out today having received a permanent mark in...
View ArticleI'll Sit Still With You
5/10/12 Took a fall yesterday, Lord. I was running ... well ... really ... just jogging a little faster than a quick paced walk ... with my good friend and coworker in urban ministry, Keith. We were...
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Married to Christ
2/28/12 Married, Lord. To each other, for quite some time. Ten years together. Devoted. Loving. Blessed, and blessing each other. They moved from Connecticut here to be close to her brother going...
View ArticleIs God Still There For Me?
6/7/12 Lord, she's come into my office off and on for over a year. Lily wants her life to change, to give her soul to You. She usually in tears with a heart that is broken. "I'll be back tomorrow. I...
View ArticleHe's here, He's there, He's everywhere
6/14/12 It's been awhile, Lord. Baptizing someone in a place other than a church house baptistry. He asked. We said, "Sure!" That's what we did. Thom came into my office back around the first of the...
View ArticleHappy Father's Day, Lord!
6/17/12 Lord, just wanted to say, "Happy Father's Day" to You this morning. I'm having a good one myself, enjoying the kind words from my children whom I love dearly, getting gifts from a wife who...
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Busted but Convicted
7/16/12 This is a new one, Lord. Fred walked in, graciously said, “I wasn’t buying no drugs, bro. Anthony the other day. I was just making change.” It was a drug deal. I’ve seen too many. He hung his...
View ArticleDo You Know Her Name?
9/20/12 There wasn’t an obituary in the newspaper. No flowers or program with her picture. No guest sign-in book. No viewing of the remains. No funeral service. No special moments to remember. No...
View ArticleUnlikely Harvester
10/4/12 He came to RCM with barely any knowledge or understanding of the culture of poverty. He brought his sweet wife and small child. He came to give himself first to You, and second, to answer Your...
View ArticleTraveling Witness
10/8/12 Lord, he said, "I thought about you brother Anthony while I was locked up. I thought about you a lot, and what we talked about last time I was in this chair." His eyes teared. I think I spoke...
View ArticleWhat's in a Name?
10/15/12 He came into my office with a grin, “Long time, no see, brother Anthony!” I hadn’t seen him for nearly two years. He had given his life to You back then. I was glad to see Indio. He’s gone...
View ArticleA Good Plan Coming Together
It was a great moment, Lord, when Davis said, “Chase, I can’t remember a time in my life when I gave my life to the Lord. And Chase, that worries me. I was never baptized …” It’s been said by many,...
View ArticleConfession, and then, Confession
10/29/12 I sat down beside her yesterday at River City Church. She sipped hot coffee, sat alone in a nice white "church" dress. She was early for worship, so we had time to visit. She's been around RCM...
View ArticleThanks
11/29/12 He came into RCM. He didn’t want anything. He didn’t need a thing. That’s rare, at a place of care and giving like RCM. Debbie, our front desk leader came back to where the staff were...
View ArticleWhen They Don't Want Help
12/5/12 Lord, she needed help. She didn’t want help. She wanted to be left alone, at least according to her. I was running an errand when I found Linda, on the ground, motionless, in a driveway by...
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Goodbye to the Old Self
12/12/12 Lord, when it’s time to say good bye, sometimes it’s forever. I know it’s right, good, and true, that when we have loved ones pass away who have walked in Your presence, it’s appropriate to...
View ArticleGreat, Great....Grandchildren
12/19/12 So, Lord, what do we call You, when it comes to being a grandparent? I know, we are all Your children, but You did start with Adam and Eve, and along came Cain, Abel, and then Seth, and then...
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Close to God, Close to People
1/24/13 Five hundred. 500. It's not just a number. It could be a nice tidy sum of money, a flock of snow geese in a field, or the number miles on a trip to the beach. But, at RCM Lord, the number 500...
View ArticleGodly Sorrow
2/6/13 I was standing by the kitchen at River City Ministry early this morning chatting with the guys when Rick stepped over to show me the Bible verse of the day on his phone. He said, "Yeah, I was...
View ArticleOneness
2/14/13 Father, Son, Holy Spirit. What an idea! How far above my head it is. How incomprehensible it seems. How disturbing it has been to Christians at times. How divided we have been in trying to...
View ArticleYou Wouldn't Be You
Lord, Dave needed help getting his stuff from a shelter that houses men trying to get off the streets. That program really didn't work for him, but he left thankful and on good terms with the staff....
View ArticleThree Days. Third Day.
2/25/13 - Three days. Third day. Three days sober. An eternity for an addict. The third day of suffering with the shakes. Three days of self–surrender to claim the victory. On the third day, Wendell...
View ArticleI'm Doing Fine
3/4/13 - Ronald came in looking for bus tokens, but You really wanted Him to connect with You. I've spoken with him before, but he says that he was only playing the Christian thing out of shame and to...
View ArticleAbsolutely
Amos came in, hat in hand, saying, "I can't do this anymore. I'm so tired of drugs. I wish I could go on home to be with the Lord. I'm old, I've struggled with the drugs since 1983, and if the Lord...
View ArticleOpening Doors to God by Serving the Poor
River City Ministry is a faith-based, nonprofit focused on "Opening Doors to God by Serving the Poor". River City Ministry seeks to: FEED the hungry by serving a hot lunch and operating a food pantry,...
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Late for the bus, but right on time
4/1/13 Lord, Mike gave his life to You, quite a long time ago. He was restored a short time ago, and his evangelism gift has been rekindled. He's on fire, Lord, and he's loves to tell people about You....
View ArticleStereotypes
4/1/13 Stereotypes, Lord, You know all about them, I'm sure, and very well. I stood at the Redbox machine at a fast food restaurant, trying to find a decent movie to watch, and not being very...
View ArticleHer Story, Your Story, Our Story
4/9/13 - She couldn't hold back, Lord. She'd never really told her story before. Yet, on Sunday, she told it all. It was a horrific tale, but a cleansing, purging story that set us all free in Bible...
View ArticleKnow God and Make Him Known
4/29/13 Lord, I want to represent You well. I want to be known as a man who bears Your image in ways that glorify only You, and never me. But, I do want You to be seen in me, and I know that takes...
View ArticleOne Spirit, One Work
5/13/13 Lord, You speak of our being coworkers with You in ministry to expand the kingdom. I gladly accept being just a messenger boy for You, King Jesus. And, I'm glad that I’m not alone. Sure, I'm...
View ArticleI'd Rather Preach
5/14/13 I call him preacher. He's spoken once or twice for us at our Lunch Lessons before the noon meal at RCM. He's always done a good job, and occasionally will sing a good old spiritual. Yesterday,...
View ArticleA Jump Start 40 years
5/15/13 "I picked up a Bible when I was twenty-three, and now at sixty three, I'm finally getting' baptized." Drew asked Chase about getting a shower and food pantry. He said he'd lost his house in...
View ArticleThe Best Thing
6/6/13 - "It was the best thing that could've ever happened to me," Allen smiled. Prison. Wow, the best thing that could've happened to a person. How could that be, Lord? Who would think that? What an...
View ArticleHealing Becoming Reality
6/15/13 Mariana loves You, Lord, but it wasn't always that way. I know, because I've been there myself. A number of times. The last time Mariana visited RCM was two years ago, and like our social...
View ArticleMission Messages
Mission Messages are little conversations Anthony has with God about his and others ministry to the poor and homeless, hurting and marginalized. If you or others would like to receive these occasional...
View ArticleTwo Ladies, Two Choices
6/17/13 Two ladies came into my office today, Lord. Both claiming You as Lord of their lives, but the truth of that was revealed their choices. I took the first lady to court early this morning. She's...
View ArticleChildlike Innocence
6/20/13 "Do ya'll give out condoms? I need some condoms." It was the first thing she asked when I stopped by where she was sitting in the RCM big room just to say hello. So, I asked Tamara if she'd...
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Messy Newborns
7/9/13 Newborns are so beautiful when they come into the world, so lively, and now being a papaw, I just can't wait to see my granddaughter when I get to visit her. To watch a baby grow in mom's...
View ArticleTwo Choruses
7/7/13 -Lord, it was magnificent, resounding, rhythmic, encouraging. It was praise to You. It was two choruses. Today, my wife Lisa and visited our daughter Emily, a counselor for the girls cabins at...
View ArticleYou Make My Job Easy
7/30/13 - Lord, Jamal came in for one kind of food, but left satisfied by another. That's because Your surrendered people showed up walking like Jesus at RCM. It was the people You assembled today at...
View ArticleAnd I Thought I Was...
Steven, our new apprentice, comes with a lot of talent and giftedness and several years of ministry experience. He's got a compassionate heart for the poor, and our people to know You, Lord. But, as...
View ArticleI've Never Been...
"I've never been to church. I do believe Jesus Christ is the son of the Living God, but I've just never been to church." It was the first time I'd ever seen Annie, but she was hanging out with a great...
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Get Up and Walk? Absolutely!
Get up and walk? Absolutely! Today? Sure! How? God's power, of course! But didn't miracles end with Jesus and the Apostles? Not the best ones! That's not possible, a lame person getting their legs...
View ArticleIt Kept Calling My Name
I just got inside the door at RCM from helping our apprentice Steven baptize a lady at River City Church with whom we all have been sharing Jesus since before I came to RCM in 2007, when I heard a...
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Everywhere Else, But Here
"I picked everywhere else, but here, to do my dental training. I was very afraid of coming to RCM. It just wasn't where I wanted to be. But when I got here, I felt God's presence in this place." Agnes...
View ArticleI Don't Know What to Do...
11/5/13 -It's a common statement. We hear it often. Way too often. "I don't know what to do ..." Amy sat down, covering her arms, shying away from any direct question, and we are gentle in our...
View ArticleI Had One Thing in Mind, You Had Another
RCM is doing a bit of construction within our building, making room for growth in our efforts to more effectively serve the poor and homeless. So, I was moving a filing cabinet for Jennifer to her new...
View ArticleIt's Too Much
11/17/13 -Sometimes, Lord, there's just too much good work to do. We were supposed to be at the HopeWorks graduation luncheon at 11:00am. At 10:20, when Don asked if my apprentice Steven and I would...
View ArticleHere in the Moment, Gone in the Next
11/20/13 - Because You are always working, Lord, Your way of getting things done so often escapes me. But, I am trying to pay attention. One of the things to which I had to adapt in coming to RCM from...
View ArticleO Lord, What Has He Done?
O Lord, what has Ronnie done? I know, he's done this before, and tried to do the same thing to the same lady, at least once before. Ronnie stabbed Tamika. Multiple times. Tamika is gone. Dead. Ronnie...
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