Rebirth Assists Churches in Corpus Christi to Unite for Spiritual and Urban Renewal

I was invited to speak at South Side Community Church of Corpus Christi, TX this past weekend, (a church associated with the Presbyterian Church in America). It was scheduled, from a human perspective, rather spontaneously, but there was no doubt that it was God Who had planned and ordained the rendezvous - from the beginning. I’m not sure that I’ve seen God move so dramatically in the hearts of people in so short a period of time.
Corpus Christi is a gulf coast Texas town with many challenges and stimulating opportunities for the Gospel of Christ.
It is clear that God has been preparing this church over the course of much long suffering to now give leadership to a significant work in the city. I was so impressed with the pastor and elders in this small but ambitious church. I am notorious for delivering hard to hear theological content. But it seemed that this church and its leadership were ready for a theological and missional awakening and stirring.
The church hosted many talks and meetings, as well as one concert, and invited other sister churches throughout the city. Episcopalians, Methodists, Baptists and others gathered to consider ways in which One Church could begin to address the unique challenges faced by those communities most at-risk. A distinct spirit of unity and mission could be felt throughout the weekend. Churches who exist next door to each other are now partnering for the sake of the Gospel in their beloved city.
Please pray for South Side Community Church, its leadership, membership and its new partners in the word and work of the Gospel. They are planning new campus ministries, downtown district initiatives, and much more. Pray for the Holy Spirit to guide and go before them. And give thanks to the Lord for the victories He is accomplishing in Corpus Christi!
Here is a portion of their Pastor’s (Kyle Livingston) testimony of our time together:
I continue to rejoice at the rare package of giftedness the Lord has assembled in Mo’s musical and teaching skills, his passion for not just the poor in New Orleans, but for the kingdom (he was as genuinely enthused about the ministry opportunity he saw - both present and prospective - in Corpus Christi as when he spoke of New Orleans), as well as his ease and authentic intention of engaging one-on-one with people for extended amounts of time.
As he loved us, and allowed us to see how the Lord has loved him, particularly after the devastation of Katrina and in the midst of his own real struggles, we- a bunch of South Texans learned to love with him, New Orleans and Louisiana as God does. We wept for them, now hope for them, and yearn to serve them. And, we learned to see our own city with lenses of renewal, as well.

Celebrating 21 Years of Marriage and Ministry Together

While it may not sound romantic, trust me, it was her idea. Ellen and I celebrated our 21st anniversary today by enjoying a midday 2 game bowling tournament, followed up by a meal at Steak and Ale - rib eye and baked potato! Every guy should have a wife like this!
I forget who I was speaking to, but when she heard that Ellen and I had been married for 21 years, she said, “Wow! These days, that’s quite an accomplishment!” And it really is - especially on her side of the equation. I am so thankful for her and for my four amazing children who are beautiful and mostly well-adjusted due to the steady, tender and motherly hand of Ellen. Few have better instincts in the whole motherhood department than Ellen Leverett. And very few people would likely endure what I’ve put her through and still, even to this day, be willing to endure more. What a champion she is - and I’m the luckiest guy on the planet!
Now the day is winding down. The kids are in bed. Ellen has drifted off to sleep. I’m at my computer soliciting your prayers as I have mostly packed my bags for a fund-raising trip to Dallas and later a consultation visit and concert in Corpus Christi. I will arise again at 5:15 am and enter another day of building a new ministry. I will be in Houston the following weekend and in Georgia the weekend after that. In between all of this I’m coaching at Clark High School, meeting with pastors, educators and other city leaders. I’m making support calls. I’m trying to stay on top of all the administrative affairs. I am working hard, but as the Good Book says, “unless the Lord builds the house…those who labor, labor in vain.” I hope you will pray for me this week, that the Lord go before me. Pray that He provide all the resources necessary to launch this ministry. Pray for the appropriate administrative assistance to under gird my efforts and compliment my weaknesses in this endeavor. Pray that God would raise up the spiritual leadership to go into the harvest fields. Mostly, pray that I would remain ever diligent in remaining ever reliant and that I not resist the hands of the potter in His ongoing work in me.
As you know, I have been in faith-based ministry for over 17 years now as a domestic urban missionary. Remarkably during this time period, Ellen and I have never missed a paycheck until, that is, August of ‘07. Were this the case 6 months ago, I might would be checking into jobs at the local Winn-Dixie. However, Ellen and I have a strange peace about all of this. With a busy Fall and early Spring, we are confident that the resources will come in to keep us going in the execution of this important vision. Also with the release of our new CD project in the Fall, we trust that we will begin to realize a return on that particular investment. If the Lord lays it on your heart to continue to support the Leverett family in the work of advancing urban ministry initiatives, we will strive to see that your investment have eternal significance.
But right now, rejoice with us that we are enduring in love, progressing in service to our Savior and continuing to push against the darkness with the light of the Gospel!

We're Feeling Good

For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Peter, The Apostle of Jesus
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! John, The Apostle of Jesus

I’ve been pulling early mornings and so I was nodding off at nine. My wife gently awakened me to inform me that Manning, my nine year old son, has a surprise for me and wants to tell me something. My wife noticing my preference for sleep and reluctance to be disturbed assured me that I would not be disappointed. Collecting myself, I struggled up the stairs and found Manning under the covers with nothing showing but his glowing and compressed grin. I snuggle next to him, place my arm under his head and say, “Hey buddy, what’s going on?” He paused. Then he said, “I’m ready to accept Jesus into my heart.”

I’ve had some encouraging moments in the past year. But as I reflect back, there are none quite so sweet as this one. My pride in that boy is one of the most cherished parts of my life. To impart myself to him is the world’s greatest privilege. For him to believe that I’m the world’s greatest dad is affirmation at its finest. So after leading him in prayer and exchanging some words of affection, I asked him, “How do you feel Manny Man?” He paused. “I’m feeling really good about myself,” he said.

It’s hard to believe that God’s love for me and Manning is greater, far greater than what we feel for one another. But that is the good news. While I love Manning, it is no trouble at all for me and it is my distinct joy to introduce him to His real Dad - Abba Father. While I am a staunch believer in the theological motif of original sin - and I give evidence to it daily - I believe also that because of the Father’s love, we can truly feel good about ourselves.

It was also my joy to introduce some young men at Clark High School recently to my Father as well. It is even greater encouragement for me to know that Richard Johnson, who I had the privilege of introducing to the Father in the early days of my ministry in Desire, is becoming for these young men a real father figure. It also gladdened me to facilitate the generosity of Greg Jacobs, another one of our students and disciples from Desire who now is a young and successful entrepreneur, who almost single handedly funded the camp these boys attended!

While much of the past couple of years have been difficult, I will testify with much assuredness that I would not trade my life for another man’s life or for anything that you could offer me in this world. You could say that I’m feeling really good about myself.

I have a packed Fall and early Spring traveling, speaking, singing and teaching. We are advancing the principles and theological framework that gives rise to kingdom building among the poor. This is resulting in many new works around the country and world. Thank you for supporting me in this endeavor. My new CD project Of Orphans and Kings will be released this Fall. Pray with me that this CD will help widen the impact that we can have in the promotion of incarnational ministry among the poor stateside and worldwide.

Our vision for the city of New Orleans is crystallizing around the concept of replicating the original ministry package of youth bible studies, leadership development, tutoring and camping in every one of the at-risk public schools in the city. We also intend to plant a church into which those young people can be enfolded, nurtured, instructed and commissioned in the Gospel of Christ.

Never before has the public schools of New Orleans been more open to the help that we can provide. We’re excited about these opportunities for the Gospel’s advancement in the city. We’re feeling good. Real Good.

New Review of Orphans and Kings

Of Orphans and Kings
Review by Pastor Dave Hutchinson
Pastor of Christ the Shepherd Church, Danbury CT There is one thing I have come to expect from any new recording by Mo Leverett: it will be both honest and authentic, filtered through current life experience. It will be grounded in reality which means that there will be more grit than just a tip-of-the-cap to the ugliness of life. There will also be heavy doses of hope in a Mo Leverett recording, because Mo’s Reality is grounded in the God for whom “hope” is a household word.

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (I Peter 1:13).
The 2005 offering, Blades of Love, (Mo’s seventh album) was accurately described as “Mo’s most optimistic record yet.” It mirrored the life and ministry of a man who was basking in the Lord’s blessing. Nearly two decades of risk-taking, heartache, faithfulness, goal-setting, goal-achieving, people-investing, and hard work was paying off. Mo Leverett’s life’s work, the ministry to the poor of New Orleans, was successful by all accounts – new facilities, new school, new athletic fields. Ministry convergence! The pieces falling into place! Most importantly, lives were being transformed. A lost generation had been found! Not only that, but God was using the work in New Orleans to inspire others to step out and take their own risks in their own cities among those formerly forgotten people in pockets of poverty. Mo was an Influencer, an Inspiration.

Then came Hurricane Katrina.

The city was flooded, the people were scattered – and Mo seemingly dropped off the face of the earth.

What had happened? People who had prayed for the Leverett family wondered what they would look like (if and) when they resurfaced. Many imagined we could relate to what Mo was going through – the grief of losing loved-ones, of the devastation of ministry buildings that had been painstakingly constructed, of losing a home, of losing every single possession in that home (a line in one of the ministry updates about the loss of Ellen’s collection of earrings that had commemorated every anniversary was poignant). We imagined that we felt the same pain that Mo was experiencing. It turns out we were wrong. The only person feeling that level of desperation and hopelessness was the one actually walking through it at the time – and the One walking through it with him.

In Of Orphans and Kings we get an album to tell us Mo’s story of the past two years. It doesn’t tell us every detail of Mo’s life but it tells us what we need to know and it gives us a point of reference for our own struggles. Of Orphans and Kings was nearly named Like Hell Inside. A little time spent with the album reveals why it was such a tough decision between these two potential titles. (I’m glad that Of Orphans and Kings won out – the worst is behind and God is moving Mo forward.)

Musically, this is what one would expect from a Mo Leverett album. Like other craftsmen, from The Innocence Mission, to James Taylor, to John Hiatt, to the late Rich Mullins, you know what you’re getting – a few but not a lot of musical surprises, because with Mo’s music there’s something better. A conversation with an old friend who has a new tale to tell. Mo is not going to musically “weird out” on his long-time listeners. What we get is a well-organized, with great musicianship (including backing vocals from the great Ashley Cleveland), collection of songs – a body of work – that demands to be heard several times for the themes to work their way into the listener’s soul. This is not a made-for-iTunes album where one can lift a favorite song or two out of their context and throw them into some randomly generated “music mix.” It’s an album that tells a story. What sets this album apart from its predecessors is not the music, which is reliably good and listenable. Rather, the most jarring thing about this album is that the lyrical content is even more personal and disturbing than the pictures of the Desire Street neighborhood that Mo painted on prior albums.

Picture yourself by a comforting fireplace, sitting down to have a conversation with an old friend whom you haven’t seen for awhile, looking forward to a familiar conversation. You’re expecting to enjoy the conversation, to be challenged theologically and practically, to listen and to be heard…. And you’re eager for the hours ahead because you know what’s in store; it’s the kind of conversation that you don’t get to have often enough.

It starts on that familiar note – “Thank You Lord.” And you nod your head and you think, “Yes, there’s a lot for which to be thankful. Thank you, Mo, for reminding me to be thankful to the Lord for being my shelter. Yes, I’m thankful that the Lord saved my life. Yes, I’m thankful for the family the Lord gave me. Etc. Etc. Etc.”

All of a sudden, however, the conversation takes an unexpected turn and you sit up and listen. You lose track of time and your coffee gets cold as your mind is forced to process phrases like these:

…walls collapsing in….
…men with masks and rubber gloves were claiming all I’d lost…..
…the commotion and rage inside of me….
…when a hole up in that levee blows a hole up in your heart….
…Do you know how it feels to wound those you love, to wound them and then to wipe up their blood?
…Do you know how it feels to give up your power for vapors and mists that fade in an hour?
…never thought friends would abandon him there and leave without words or even a prayer….
…poisonous tears from an embittered face….
…I’ve lost everything I worked to keep….
And you keep listening even though a part of you would rather not hear what you’re being told. You’d like to give advice or interrupt the flow of pain by giving consolation. You’d like to lambaste those who left your friend in the ditch. You’d like to protest that you wouldn’t have done that if only you’d known he was in the ditch (at least, you don’t think you would have done that; not intentionally, anyway). But you just keep those thoughts inside your head and you simply listen. You silently pray and you try to learn something about God and pain and suffering and redemption and life. You think, “This could be me someday. No, it will be me. Listen up!”

This album is painful for those who want to dive in and explore it. I could only think of Ecclesiastes, especially 7:2-5:

It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise than to hear the song of fools.

In the midst of the pain, however, there is Hope. The theme of prayer runs throughout the album. Mo’s plea in “Pray for My Home”, in which he asks us to pray for his child, his wife, his friends, and the poor is convicting. While I want people to pray for me, how willing am I to return the favor? The song, “Watch and Pray” picks up where the title track left off: So I turn now to higher things and seek my solace there. The storm has made of orphans kings when they return to prayer.
My current favorite song is “The Ditch,” mostly for its abrupt ending of grace. The man in the story is surprised to find himself in the ditch. He’s abandoned by his friends, he’s helpless to get up even though he tries, and he is bleeding internally though continuing to feed his dark (and hidden) sin. The man has descended into hell.

The picture gets worse and then God intervenes:

Poisonous tears from an embittered face Darker the fears from a darkening place But startled by light that broke from above Startled within by a vision of love
So what’s next for Mo Leverett? Phase One, the Desire Street Ministries phase, is behind him. At least, it is as behind him as it will ever be. God did great things in and through Mo and Ellen and then God shut the door. Phase Two, the Rebirth International era of Mo Leverett’s life is beginning.

God used Mo to teach and inspire many of us who serve as pastors and teachers, even as Mo was God’s tool to reach into a pocket of poverty and draw people to Himself. I can only hope, pray, imagine, expect, celebrate, and anticipate that God will take this version of Mo Leverett – the one who is older, more tired, mature, wizened, and more dependent on God than ever – to do even greater things. And it will be all the more glorifying to God because Mo will always have the identifying limp of a man who has wrestled with God and has won and lost at the same time.

When will the next album be released? How will it sound? What lessons will be embedded in great-sounding music? That’s up to the Lord. Right now, I’m going to be impacted by this one, and I know you will be, also.

For those who entrusted their trust unto me
May they turn around now and trust only Thee
And help me to learn how to patiently wait
And see the return of reward and estate

God Changes Lives at Clark Football Camp

I had the privilege to work alongside the coaches at Clark High School this past week to put on an excellent camp for the Clark High School football team. In addition to 3 full practices a day in over 100 degree heat, the boys endured and enjoyed Bible Studies in the evening which resulted in many conversions and commitments to Christian discipleship.
While football is important in the lives of these young men, they learned so much more than x’s and o’s during this week. They learned that God’s love for them knows no bounds, that He made a way for their salvation through the sacrafice of Jesus, that life is sweeter when seeking out what is pleasing to God and that He has a plan to prosper them in every way. Thanks to those who helped support this cause!
While we were able to hustle a few generous contributions for the camp, the most interesting and exciting gift came from a former student and staffmate of mine. As you may know, Greg Jacobs, who we had the privilege of discipling and hiring at Desire Street, is now a succesful entrepreneur and restauranteur. We are grateful for his signficant contribution of $1,200 toward the summer camp! It is especially gratifying that Greg is leveraging our ministry in his life to be a source of blessing in the next-generational lives of others.
Bible Studies will continue into the Fall with these boys and we would greatly appreciate your ongoing support as we replicate core ministry programs in this school and its surrounding neighborhood.
You may also pray for the provision of a ministry van as we are carting the young people around town at present in our personal vehicles.
Again thank you for your prayers and support. Many of these young men will now have the opportunity and privilege to spend eternity expressing gratitude for your generosity.