Keith Bower

My Dream

"A Multi-ethnic, multi-denominational movement driven by young adults creating communities of spiritual and social transformation across urban Houston."

"The Gift of Gifts"

O SOURCE OF ALL GOOD,

What shall I render to Thee for the gift of gifts,

      Thine own dear Son, begotten, not created,

      my redeemer, proxy, surety, substitute,

      His self-emptying incomprehensible,

      His infinity of love beyond the heart's grasp?

Herein is wonder of wonder;

      He came below to raise me above,

      was born like me that I might become like Him.

Herein is love;

      when I cannot rise to Him, He draws near on wings of grace,

            to raise me to Himself.

Herein is power;

      when Deity and humanity were infinitely apart,

      He united them in indissoluble unity, the uncreated and the created.

Herein is wisdom;

      when I was undone, with no will to return to Him,

            and no intellect to devise recovery,

      He came, God-incarnate, to save me to the uttermost,

            as man to die my death,

                  to shed satisfying blood on my behalf,

                  to work out a perfect righteousness for me.

O God, take me in spirit to the watchful shepherds,

            and enlarge my mind;

      let me hear good tidings of great joy,

            and hearing, believe, rejoice, praise, adore,

            my conscience bathed in an ocean of repose,

            my eyes uplifted to a reconciled Father;

      place me with ox, ass, camel, goat,

            to look with them upon my redeemer's face,

            and in Him account myself delivered from sin;

      let me with Simeon clasp the new-born child to my heart,

            embrace Him with undying faith,

            exulting that He is mine and I am His.

In Him Thou hast given me so much that heaven can give no more.

 

From Valley of Vision, edited by Arthur Bennett

A Unique New Devotional that I contributed to...

 Zondervan has just released a unique devotional that I contributed to … 

 

A Faith and Culture Devotional: Daily Readings in Art, Science, and Life,
Co-authored and edited by Kelly Monroe Kullberg and Lael Arrington

 

View a sample or purchase a copy at www.culturedevo.com. Also available on Amazon. Proceeds benefit Compassion International and The Veritas Forum;

 

Adapted from the back cover: Renew Your Sense of Wonder - Refresh Your Education. Explore significant ideas, people, and events in a format that fits your busy life. Short, daily readings in 7 subjects — Theology, History, Philosophy, Science, Literature, Arts, Contemporary Culture — one for each day of the week. Includes sections for reflection and discussion.

Learn and Grow with Christian thought leaders including: Dallas Willard, John Eldredge, Michael Behe, Francis Collins, William Lane Craig, R. C. Sproul, John Stott, Phillip Johnson, Os Guiness, Erwin McManus, and many others. Samples include:

• The Resurrection by Gary Habermas
• The Impressionists by Hans Rookmaaker
• Rousseau by Nancy Pearcey   
• Essays on The Big Bang, Ancient Empires, Bach, Paradise Lost, Rembrandt, Plato, The Periodic Table,
• ...and my essay entitled, The French Revolution: Lessons in Spiritual Influence.

A Faith and Culture Devotional is a daily guided tour through many of the paintings, laboratories, rock arenas, great books, mass movements and private lives that have shaped the ways in which we think and live…that inspires us to go beyond critique to creativity.

Who will enjoy this devotional? Anyone who is curious, readers (even those who never read devotionals), small groups, families with older kids, teachers looking for vivid resources, book groups.

Kelly Monroe Kullberg is founder and director of project development of The Veritas Forum and author of Finding God at Harvard,  www.veritas.org.

Lael Arrington has authored three books and co-hosts The Things That Matter Most talk radio. www.thethingsthatmattermost.org

PBS Program on Multi-Racial Churches Featuring City of Refuge

When God called us out of suburban ministry into multi-racial urban ministry, He had a very special place picked out for us -- a place that would serve as a "base of operations," but much more importantly as our church home and family. That very special place is the City of Refuge Church pastored by my dear friend and pastor, Rufus Smith. It has been a tremendous blessing to be part of this extraordinary church family.

City of Refuge is one of two Houston churches featured in a recent PBS Program on interracial churches -- a program that has already aired once and is scheduled to air again on (I believe) Saturday morning, December 27, at 6:30 am.

If you would like to view a 10 minute excerpt from that program online, just click here.

I'm Back!

After a week of hiking in the Colorado wilderness, a week speaking at Pine Cove, and two weeks on my new job, I've finally rediscovered my blog. I'm sorry for being out of touch.

The picture is one I took from the summit of Mt. Windom -- elevation over 14,000ft.

The big news is that I absolutely LOVE my new job as a project management consultant in the oil and gas industry. Just two weeks in, I've already participated at one level or another in projects involving a multi-state pipeline, deep water fiber optics, secondary oil recovery off of Africa, and am now looking forward to several trips overseas including to Kazakhstan. Not only is the work interesting, even exciting, but the people and especially my co-workers are wonderful. I didn't understand what God was doing when He opened this door, but it has all been an amazing blessing.

I'll be getting back in action soon on the urban ministry front. There is a lot to report, so stay tuned. Thanks for hanging with me.

Update on Our Foolswork Project in Houston's Historic "Heights"

This is getting exciting! On Thursday afternoon, Foolswork Pastor Richard Hunt and I met with Pastor Larry Young of First Baptist Heights and Mark DeYmaz, Pastor of Mosaic Church of Cental Arkansas and Author of Building a Healthy Multi-Ethnic Church. The Topic: A New Kind of Church for Houston's Historic "Heights." For those of you who don't know Houston very well, the Heights is one of Houston's oldest and most wonderful neighborhoods, one that has gone through numerous ethnic and socio-economic transitions over the past 80 years, with one of its biggest transitions happening right now. It is not only one of the more ethnically diverse areas of Houston, it is one of the most economically diverse as well. As such, the Heights presents an exciting opportunity to build God's Kingdom in an unusual and distinctively biblical way -- a church for all people. After the meeting, Richard and Mark and I enjoyed some time with the entire Foolswork leadership team over a long dinner. This incredible group of young adults are an inspiration! I can't wait to see what God does! One Idea: A ministry of interest-free micro-enterprise loans offered to minority and low-income business men and women who participate in entreprenurial training. God is doing some amazing things! Thank you again for your prayers.

Update on the After School Program at Sterling Middle School, Humble ISD

Things are moving forward! On Wednesday, Pastor Bryant Lee and I hosted a lunch meeting with representatives of Humble ISD and Prepared 4 Life to get acquainted, discuss the project, and explore next steps. Major next steps include connecting with the college-based service learning program and overall project execution planning, which begins today. I will give you more details as the plan develops, but I have to say that the program and the people are absolutely wonderful, and I am thrilled to be part of it! Thank you for your prayers and support.

GREAT NEWS! I've Got a New Job!

I knew from the beginning of my journey into urban ministry that I would be doing something else full time to make a living. Well, on Tuesday, June 17, that "something" became a reality when I was offered and accepted a position with Advanced Project Solutions as a project management consultant. APS provides front-end loaded planning on capital projects for clients in the oil and gas industry. APS facilitators lead client project teams in workshops in project execution planning, risk mitigation, value improving practices, project controls and more. I will be working as a workshop facilitator. Unexpected? Yeah, I know! But right in line with my crazy mix of talents! I start on July 21. I am very excited! Thank you so much for praying.

A VERY Cool Partner in the Humble ISD Project

Our proposed mentoring program for Sterling Middle School has taken a big step forward!

On Friday, May 30, Pastor Bryant Lee and I met with the team at Prepared 4 Life, including Julie Eberly (Vice President of Development), Misha Lesley (Program Director), and Michael Holthouse (Founder and Board Chairperson). What amazing people! Prepared 4 Life is a unique and exciting program that empowers middle school students "to become contributing members of society through asset-based, experiential after-school programs" (quoting the "About Us" page of their website; check it out).

One of the team members at Prepared 4 Life has wonderful connections both to Humble ISD and the possible service learning partner that we've mentioned. God is answering our prayers! We are only at the beginning stages of this new project, yet it is easy to see that something exciting is developing. Thank you for being part of it!

Sterling Middle School: Our Humble ISD Partner

We can now announce that our Humble ISD Partner School is Ross Sterling Middle School.

Sterling Middle School Principal Penne Liefer (pictured) met with Pastor Bryant Lee who explained our concept of an after-school mentoring program. Ms. Liefer loved it! Highlighting the need, we learned that we would be the only outside group working with Sterling Middle School -- a wonderful opportunity!

Thank you Sterling Middle School Principal Penne Liefer for your enthusiatic welcome. We look forward to working with you.

By the way, for those of you who may not be up on local and state history, Ross Sterling was the founder of Humble Oil and Refining and later Governor of the State of Texas. (Of course, an Humble High School graduate like me would know that....)

Our Proposed Mentoring Program in Humble I.S.D.

The Latest: On Friday morning, May 23, Pastor Bryant Lee and I met with Dr. Karen Perkins, Executive Director of Community Development at Humble I.S.D. Pastor Bryant and I presented to Dr. Perkins our vision for an after school mentoring program at an Humble I.S.D. middle school. Dr. Perkins could not have been more enthusiastic and encouraging!