Welcome back to The Stoop Sessions where we have casual conversations about ministry on the Baltimore stoop. In each episode, Joel, Stephanie, and Eric talk through different topics and occasionally bring on a friend.

In this episode, Matt Martens join us on the stoop. Matt is trial lawyer and partner at an international law firm in Washington, DC. Over the past 25 years, he has practiced criminal law both as a federal prosecutor and as a defense attorney. Matt served as a law clerk to Chief Justice Rehnquist at the U.S. Supreme Court and also served as a political appointee in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Justice Department under Attorney General Ashcroft.

In many neighborhoods, such as the communities we seek to plant churches, incarceration rates are double or triple the community next door. Join us as Matt shares why he wrote the forthcoming book, Reforming Criminal Justice: A Christian Proposal. Matt believes reform within our criminal justice system is necessary, and he presents a solution. The Christian is called to love one’s neighbor as himself. Listen as Matt explains how this changes our approach to criminal justice.

Matt and his wife are members at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC, and have two sons and a daughter. 

Learn more about Matt Martens: Twitter @martensmatt1 Website: https://matthew-martens.com

Learn more about ONE HOPE: www.onehope.gives

Support the show: www.onehope.gives/donate

Welcome back to The Stoop Sessions where we have casual conversations about ministry on the Baltimore stoop. In each episode, Joel, Stephanie, and Eric talk through different topics and occasionally bring on a friend.

In this episode, we bring on a friend! Stephanie and Eric invite Lisa LeGeorge to the stoop for a chat on evangelism. Lisa has traveled the globe and has a passion for unreached areas. Currently working at Children’s Hunger Fund, she wants to see suffering children served through Gospel-centered local churches. The conversation begins with addressing the question of "overseas missions” versus “local evangelism.” Lisa argues that it’s not an either/or but a both/and. She speaks on the benefits and limitations of para-church ministry and the need for the local church. Lisa gives tips from her own personal evangelism experience and shares how she turns random Sunday mornings at church into a new evangelistic opportunity. As both an academic and a practitioner, this episode hits on all things evangelism: from the para-church to the church; from the nations to the block; from the church’s corporate witness to personal evangelism.

Lisa LaGeorge serves as the senior director of CHF Academy at Children’s Hunger Fund. She has previously served as a professor at The Master’s University, where she met Stephanie. Stephanie Greer is a Gospel Worker funded through ONE HOPE serving with The Garden Church. Eric Hill serves as an elder at The Garden Church and is a Physical Therapist Assistant by day.

Learn more about Lisa LaGeorge at www.lisalageorge.com

Learn more about ONE HOPE: www.onehope.gives

Support the show: www.onehope.gives/donate

Welcome back to The Stoop Sessions where we have casual conversations about ministry on the Baltimore stoop. In each episode, Joel, Stephanie, and Eric talk through different topics and occasionally bring on a friend.

As the Stoop crew continues their focus on personal evangelism, we offer Eric’s testimony as an example of how the Lord uses people, sometimes without their knowing, to lead another to Christ.

In today’s episode, Stephanie interviews Eric on how his cousin, CJ, shared the Gospel with him. Eric began attending a church after his daughter was born. Around the same time, CJ was coming to an understanding of the Gospel, reading, and talking about Jesus. CJ and Eric met weekly to read and talk. God used these meetings to bring clarity and faith. Listen and be encouraged to take the Gospel to your own friend’s and family, leading them to know Jesus.

Stephanie Greer is a Gospel Worker funded through ONE HOPE serving with The Garden Church. Eric Hill is an elder at The Garden Church and a Physical Therapy Assistant by day.

Welcome back to The Stoop Sessions where we have casual conversations about ministry on the Baltimore stoop. In each episode, Joel, Stephanie, and Eric talk through different topics and occasionally bring on a friend.

This episode begins a conversation on evangelism. We get it—life is busy, you have tried to share Jesus with those you know, it hasn't seemed to “work,” and you don’t have time to develop new relationships. How can we possibly become better at personal evangelism when we’re just trying to get through life? Additionally, many are discouraged because they feel they’ve never effectively shared the Gospel or seen someone become a believer.

In today’s episode, the team discusses their own challenges as they seek simple solutions. Not all hope is lost. We can become better evangelists as we develop new eyes to see, strengthen our own understanding of the Gospel, and learn to help individuals from one step to another as they explore the faith. Join us as we consider the topic of personal evangelism: how to build strategic relationships, see opportunities we often miss, take the next step with an unbeliever, and share the Gospel with the lost.

Joel Kurz serves as the pastor of The Garden Church and director of ONE HOPE. Stephanie Greer is a Gospel Worker funded through ONE HOPE serving with The Garden Church. Eric Hill is an elder at The Garden Church and a Physical Therapy Assistant by day.

Learn more about ONE HOPE: www.onehope.gives

Support the show: www.onehope.gives/donate

Welcome back to The Stoop Sessions where we have casual conversations about ministry on the Baltimore stoop. In each episode, Joel, Stephanie, and Eric talk through different topics and occasionally bring on a friend.

This episode rounds out a 3-part conversation on the topic of wealth. As the crew has discussed, the topic of wealth is one that affects everyone, whether rich or poor. Money is needed for physical survival. So it matters. And, at the same time, greed isn’t limited to the wealthy. While wealth can certainly be a blessing from God, the Bible doesn’t emphasize the goodness of wealth but rather the dangers of wealth. While it’s good to pursue money to meet our needs, Biblically we should not good to set our eyes on money. In this third part, we call Christians to something greater than acquiring material things and building barns. Whether poor, middle class, or wealth, our goal must be living for the glory of God.

Joel Kurz serves as the pastor of The Garden Church and director of ONE HOPE. Stephanie Greer is a Gospel Worker funded through ONE HOPE serving with The Garden Church. Eric Hill is an elder at The Garden Church and a Physical Therapy Assistant by day.

Learn more about ONE HOPE: www.onehope.gives

Support the show: www.onehope.gives/donate

Welcome back to The Stoop Sessions, a ONE HOPE podcast bringing you conversations about urban ministry from the stoops of Baltimore. Today, our hosts, Eric, Stephanie, and Joel, continue a discussion on the topic of wealth. Talking about wealth should not only the topic of the wealthy. In our own context, money comes up. Those who come from little, at times, fall prey to the love of money. Wealth can become a god. At the same time, it’s sometimes assumed that ministries which are concerned about the poor despise the rich. This is not true of us. Money and wealth presents traps on all sides. Join us on the stoop and we discuss it.

While our last episode asked: “Can Christians have wealth?” This episode asks, “Should wealth be pursued?” Listen as the team pursues a Biblical vision of wealth. Is wealth inherently good or dangerous? Should wealth be viewed as the goal or a byproduct? As the episode concludes, we’re challenged to not seek our satisfaction in wealth but to view all things as a matter of stewardship.

Learn more about ONE HOPE: www.onehope.gives

Support the Show: www.onehope.gives/donate

The love of money is not just a problem of the rich, it can also grip the poor and working class. Many who grew up with little desire much. And we get it. Poverty hurts. It’s not what we want for our kids. But how should we think of having and pursuing wealth?.

The stoop crew first defines wealth. On one hand, wealth is defined as having more than you need. In this sense, most every American is “wealthy” in comparison to other cultures. But a more popular definition is to have enough money so that “I don’t have to think about money.” People don’t like budgets because they don’t like restraints. The desire for wealth is to pursue enough in order to spend without constraint.

Can Christians have this kind of wealth? We usual, Joel, Stephane, and Eric take it to the Word. What does the Bible teach on having money? Listen as they read plenty of Scripture and discuss God’s view of wealth and the Christian.

This episode is part one of three as The Stoop Sessions considers the topic of wealth.

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“Discover your destiny.”

“Find your purpose."

We live in a world which has turned “purpose” into some mysterious secret you need to figure out. It grips many in our context. And it, strangely enough, gets tied up with our pride and the flesh. In a culture so obsessed with being seen as exceptional, driven to discover your purpose, the pressure to fulfill some yet unknown destiny becomes paralyzing. This week’s episode delves into the difference between purpose and calling, and whether the world’s wisdom aligns with the wisdom given in scripture. Are we left to forge our own path? What reasons does God have for choosing us at all? Do we contribute to His kingdom by having the right job which showcases our gifts? Listen as Stephanie, Eric, and Joel discuss our freedom as we move toward a destiny determined by God, and with the assurance that Christ’s success will overrule our insufficient record.

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How did Joel, who is white, end up pastoring in a predominantly black neighborhood in Baltimore? Is that a good idea? Should church planters be looking to put roots down in a neighborhood within, or apart from, their own ethnic culture? In this episode, Eric asks the question, “Can we talk about the fact that Joel is white?” From that point, the stoop discussion takes place on this question, asking Joel why he planted in the first place, and what landmines may be present. Topics of discussion include impure motives why anyone would desire cross-cultural work; how having black members can be twisted into a mere a marker of “success” in some evangelical circles; whether it is necessary for churches to be cross-cultural in order to be Biblical; and how partiality for our own culture can subtly sabotage table fellowship. The crew also shares wisdom and encouragement, on the importance of authenticity and humility for potential pastors and church members navigating the tides of racial discourse within the body.

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Private school? Christian school? Homeschool? We continue our discussion on schooling in the inner city. In our last episode, Joel and Eric made a case for why they have chosen to send their kids to Baltimore City Public Schools. In this episode, the Stoop crew calls a few friends who have taken a different approach. First, we chat with T.C. Taylor who also sends his kids to public school. Then we call up John Erickson and talk about Hope Academy, an affordable Christian school in inner city Minneapolis; Joe and Duncan Maye who started their own Christian school for neighborhood children in Winston-Salem, North Carolina; and Creston Thomas who, along with his wife Alina, homeschool their children in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. (Listen to part one for our chat on public school)

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Public school? We’re there. Eric and Joel have always sent their kids to the Baltimore City Public Schools. One of the most common questions we receive from outsiders is: “What do you do about schooling for your kids?” We’re surprised that people are so often…surprised…when we answer, “Public schools.” While we’ve learned to navigate the school system, we’re open-handed on this issue. Should educational choices divide believers? We don’t think so. In a city like Baltimore, this debate is further fueled by the reality of an underfunded and broken school system. However, too often we presume that children will be raised to walk with the Lord if they are simply enrolled in the right school or taught the right curriculum. While scripture never endorses a specific school system, this episode examines how Christian parents can educate their children in ways which align with our faith. Listen as Joel, Stephanie, and Eric talk through our experiences with public schools in the city. (Stay tuned for part two as we call up some friends who have taken Christian school and homeschool approaches).

Support the Show: www.onehope.gives/donate

Can we ever be content? From childhood to adulthood, nothing is ever enough. We believe that we will be content if we receive. And then we receive, only to discover continued discontentment. Christians are not exempt from this problem. Pastors and ministry leaders can be driven by a lust for more. Church members are often discontent with the state of their church and the maturity of other members. Is there hope for contentment? In this episode, Eric, Joel, and Stephanie chat on the stoop, seeking contentment. Listen as the crew explores how to be content.