I ate a hot dog with Jesus!

Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, whatever you DID for the least of these brothers of mine, you did FOR ME," and "I tell you the truth, whatever you DID NOT DO for one of the least of these , you did not do FOR ME," (Mt. 25:40, 45).

This comes from the story about the sheep and goats where Jesus talks about the final judgment and how he will determine who is with him in "eternal life" and who is going to "eternal punishment". We usually interpret this to say Christians should feed the hungry, be hospitable to strangers, look after the sick, etc., and those things are right on. But I think if you look at the text it's saying a lot more! Jesus doesn't say, "whatever you did to the least of these, you did good for them", rather he says, "you did FOR ME." So I think what Jesus is driving at is not that we should just serve the needy in any old way, but that we should invite people in, feed them, and clothe them as if they were, in a very real sense, Jesus himself!

Shane Clairborne says in his book, The Irresistible Revolution, "Layers of insulation separate the rich and the poor from truly encountering one another. There are the obvious layers like picket fences and SUVs, and there are the more subtle ones like charity. Tithes, tax-exempt donations, and short-term mission trips, while they accomplish some good, can also function as outlets that allow us to appease our consciences and still remain a safe distance from the poor."

I have had the opportunity to be on both sides of the table in ministry. I've done short term mission trips, given money to the poor, food to the hungry, etc. And I have also been served, from simple things like someone inviting me to stay at their house, to the more recent times when churches fed me when I needed it to subside my hunger. In my observation I have seen some things that just don't jive!

I know, because I've been there, that people are often sincere when they give or serve, but if you take what Jesus said and compare it to a lot of ministries out there, you might think Christians are just stupid!

I mean, if Jesus was to come through town, I think it would be a BIG deal! And if you knew Jesus was coming over for dinner, I don't think you'd serve him crummy old peanut butter sandwiches! Of course you wouldn't, and if by chance Jesus and a bunch of his friends came over, you wouldn't run them through a cafeteria line and slop some muck on his plate and let him walk by without looking him in the eye or smiling or saying hello, or bursting out with an, "I love you man!"

But sadly, this has been my experience too many times! There are some people who get this and are giving their best in service, but there are a lot who, I think, have become too used to Jesus walking through the door that he becomes just one of the many homeless men on the street. And there are a lot who seem like they think the greatness of their service or gift is determined by the degree of separation between what one has and what they're receiving. Example: if someone is eating dirt everyday, then a $.99 cheeseburger is like a million bucks! And to the person who ate dirt, it might be, but that's not the approach Jesus calls us to! He says that when we give, we should give like we were actually giving to Him!

I understand limitations to service, such as feeding a large group of homeless people every day - most churches couldn't afford to serve steak and lobster all the time. But I can't recall any stories about churches running out of resources because of giving too much to the poor! (hopefully someday I might!) In the book of Acts we read of people who were together and sold their possessions so that those who had needs became people with needs met. This is just my speculation, but it seems that a community who shares with each other like that would probably not have too many homeless people or people living in extreme poverty. Can you imagine this happening today?! But, as one homeless woman once said, "Managing poverty is big business. Ending poverty is revolutionary."

Probably the worst and most saddening thing I've seen hasn't been in the giving of material things. Truly, there is plenty of food and plenty of clothing to feed and clothe the entire world! While it's pretty hard to starve from lack of food (at least in America) there are so many people starving from lack of love. And I mean the love Jesus had when he didn't just heal a leper but reached out and touched him! The kind of love that didn't tell Zacheus to stop being a thief, but went to him and ate a meal with him!

Last night I went to a free dinner at a church, and it was one of the better experiences because one of the guys, who was actually visiting from a church in Houston, sat and talked with me for a while. But I noticed he wasn't eating, he told me later that he and the kids he was with were going out to eat at a restaurant. I think if he saw Jesus there eating a hot dog, he probably would not have missed out on such a meal!

And it seems most people have the Martha-syndrome (Lk. 10)! We need to learn from Mary, while service is good, when Jesus is around you cannot help but sit and listen to him; talk with him and look him in the eye!

So enough ranting, here are some practical things I think we can do, not just when serving the homeless, but anyone:

1. Treat the person, no matter how much material wealth they have, how attractive in appearance, how educated, what color, or country their from, like you would Jesus! Seriously, ask God to help show us how to see people, as if they were Jesus! Mother Teresa said, "In the poor we see Jesus is his most distressing disguises," - she got it!

2. Don't serve anyone food that you wouldn't eat, or more, something you wouldn't serve Jesus.

3. Realize that one of the most important things people need is acknowledgment! Don't just send a check into some charity, go visit the people! Don't just serve a meal like a bored cafeteria lady, serve people and then follow them to the table and eat with them when you can!

4. Short term mission trips can be good for things like education, expanding world view, and helping with physical needs, but what people really need is community! And community requires consistency! If Jesus slept on the sidewalk by the Library you wouldn't come visit him once a week, you'd go see him everyday, in fact it'd be hard to leave! Or maybe you'd get really radical and actually invite him into your home! (there's an idea...)

5. Lastly, one the Christians in America, including myself, are failing at miserably - stop hoarding things up for ourselves! As Basil the Great said in the 4th Cent., "When someone strips a man of his clothes, we call him a thief. And one who might clothe the naked and does not - should not he be given the same name? The bread in your cupboard belongs to the hungry; the coat in your wardrobe belongs to the naked; the shoes you let rot belong to the barefoot; the money in your vaults belongs to the destitute." When we, literally, store up treasures on earth, we are stealing from the rest of the world who dies of hunger and in poverty, aka the needy, and according to Mt.25 - we're stealing from JESUS!

Christians need to take a serious look at how they are interacting with people (if they are interacting at all!) Especially people of a "lower social status"!

God, give us the courage to love Jesus in the poor! Give us the boldness to love Jesus in people from other countries and people of different beliefs! Help us see Jesus in the arrogant jerk at work! Open our eyes to see YOU in the homeless, the sick, the needy, the lonely, the lost!

Whoops! I forgot, this takes something courageous, radical, crazy, even abnormal... following Jesus.

Junkie Prayers

Well, it's my second day in Denver and it has been eventful. If you read the last post and didn't freak out, then I need to explain!

I almost died, man! I'm serious! It's funny (in an "I escaped death" kind of way), but it really shook me up! I wasn't on the street five minutes and I was crossing a pedestrian crosswalk when a bus (and it was the buses fault!) sped around a corner and totally smacked me hard! It was probably going like 25-30mph without even having hit the brakes yet! I didn't even see it coming, as it came over a hill and around a corner, and scared the mess out of me! It was like that scene out of the movie Final Destination where that girl steps out in the street and WHAM! Dead.

Luckily I bounced out and up instead of being drug underneath to a certain death, and landed on my feet and hit the ground running and didn't get hit again! The bus driver called a bunch of people and they came down and took pictures and stuff. Adrenaline was pumping out by the gallon so I didn't feel much pain at first, but I got a pretty bad scrape on my arm and a bruise on my calf. I didn't feel like I needed to go to the hospital, but I sure would have liked some free bus passes (Denver's bus fare is SO expensive!) Thankfully, I walked away with only minor injuries, and a developing phobia of buses!

After that the day went pretty well. As on the first day in Austin, I spent most of the day just walking around and checking things out.

That evening I went to the Denver Rescue Mission (the same place Mike Yankowski, the author of 'Under the Overpass', stayed his first month on the street) and sat through a sermon for 2 hours just to find out the guy in front of me in line was the last to receive a bed. So they were going to send me across town to another shelter, but while standing outside waiting for the bus I had the urge to just bail. So I started walking back down town.

Shortly after, I met a guy I had ran into earlier in the day, his name is Nick, and he's a really funny guy, in his mid-20's. People later referred to Nick as a junkie and I could immediately see that years of drug use had messed with his mind. Since he knew I was new in town, he offered to let me hang with him for the night.

So we walked and met three other people, Ersik and Gwenn, two hippie hitchhikers who had recently come to Denver by way of the Rainbow Gathering (that crazy festival in CO I described in my former post, the one Frederick told me about where the naked Christian girls dance around smoking weed) and another guy who works for the Denver Coalition for the Homeless (DCH). We started talking and I told them I was new to town and the guy from DCH offered to give us a paper with all the info about free food, shelter, medical care, etc. So we followed him to his truck and he hooked us up and gave me a new pair of socks as well (he was a cool guy, we need more people like him working with the homeless).

Then, out of nowhere, Nick said, "Hey, let's pray."

At first the others were hesitant, but Nick really persisted and had everyone hold hands. He then began to pray for all of us by name and sincerely thanked God for everything that he provides for us.

While we were praying an older homeless man, named Tye, who had been sleeping next to a building by us came over and joined in the circle. I couldn't believe it, here in the middle of downtown Denver at 10:30pm, standing on the sidewalk were six strangers praying to God! Two self-proclaiming pagan hippies, a social worker, a homeless man, an ignorant college student and a junkie!

It was the prayers of the two guys, Nick and Tye, that really moved me the most. They were so real, so honest, and so unbelievably unashamed! I could feel Paul's words in my bones, when he talks about not being "ashamed of the gospel"! These men, while their lives are hurting and sometimes filled with darkness, really understand the good news to be something undeniably GOOD! And they don't care who you are or what you think, they are going to pray all out to God regardless!

Nick expressed to God how much he missed the things he used to have in life like family, friends, and a home.

Tye asked God for "integrity, dignity, humility and knowledge"

Sometimes, here and in other places, I have tried not to be too up front about my life with Jesus, I feel like if I just talk about it, like Nick or Tye did, people might be scared away. Think I'm "just another Christian" or some religious fanatic. But Nick and Tye taught me something: there comes a point when you just have to be who you are and let people deal with it!

They aren't so worried that someone might not believe in God, even to the point that it made some feel uncomfortable! They just acted the way they felt. And I think God loves that!

God needs people on the street to show people His love and goodness!

Sometimes it comes from those you might not expect.

Sometimes it's even found in junkie prayers.

The Cost of Discipleship...

First five minutes in Denver and I get blindsided by an enormous speeding bus! The trouble you can get in while walking with Jesus :)

more to come soon...

p.s. (mom) other than a few bumps, bruises, and scrapes, I'm alive.

a new kind of Christian

I don't know what you think a Christian looks like - one who follows Jesus? one who looks like Jesus? a righteous one? a holy one? I don't know.

But I want to tell you about two friends of mine - Frederick and Andy.

Yesterday Frederick, Andy and I took the bus down to this church that was serving free breakfast Sunday morning. We arrived an hour early and so sat around and talked. Frederick is a really funny guy, maybe one of the nicest guys I've met down here! He loves to talk and laugh! So he starts telling me about this big festival up in Colorado where people from all over the world come, yes "Christian people", and spend the weekend banging drums and celebrating World Independence on the 4th of July. These "hot hippie Christian women" dance around naked and everybody has an awesome time! "It'll change your life", he tells me. He tells me I should go and I just laugh!

So then later at the church we're sitting there and Frederick and another guy go over behind the church and smoke a joint for a minute then come back and continue our conversations. Immediately Frederick takes out his very well used Bible and begins to read aloud from the Psalms. He is very serious about it telling me, "This one is really powerful"; he reads Psalm 110 and 93 and a few others - everyone listens with a seriousness.

Andy and I start talking, he's kinda balding so I read from 2 Kings 2 where Elisha calls down 2 bears on those kids who called him a "bald head" - he taught it was hilarious. Then he started talking about how God doesn't seem to be acting in the same ways today. And how he was thankful, and we both are, that God doesn't always unleash his wrath in similar ways today. Then we looked at Romans where Paul talks about God "giving people over to their sinful desires" and how that's an equally painful form of God's wrath.

Andy is a great friend and a good man. He's had a hard life. After worship that morning we went out with some friends and someone asked him to tell about his story. He seemed a little hesitant about it and started by saying, "Well, it's not like yalls..." he continued- "...well, there's really no other way to say it... my whole life I've pretty much been drinking and doing drugs." At this one asked, "you are a Christian though, right?" and he replied, "yes... but not a very good one."

"Not a very good one"... wow! and people don't think they have very much in common with homeless drug addicts! hah! yeah right! I feel just the same, Andy, exactly the same!

I think somewhere along the journey someone forgot to tell Andy, as someone needed to tell me - several, no, many, many times - the words of Jesus, "there is only One who is good" - no Christian is "good" based on his/her performance in either resisting sin or showing humility in repentance! One is defined as "good" when and only when they have received their name, their mark as a son or daughter of the King by the Spirit of God!

I understand what Andy was saying, that when it comes to "obeying God's commandments" his track record is not too hot. Neither is mine, but are we defined by our track record or does the blood of Jesus not redefine us as holy, clean, set apart, blameless?!

I know I cannot judge anyone's heart, but I can recognize when a voice other than the Lord's is calling judgment, and it is happening all the time. The voice wants to rob Christians of their joy in Christ and deceive us into thinking God's power and grace doesn't reign in us when we do not perform very well.

And I do hear the Lord speaking through his word calling all those who have put their trust in his faithfulness - "GOOD!"

"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.
For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men, but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.
When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross." Colossians 2:6-15

And, Andy, these are the ways God has defined you and the rest of us:

Adopted Son and Daughter, the Light of the World, A Chosen People, Royal Priesthood, Holy Nation, a People belonging to God, Living Stones, Children of God, the Living, The Aroma of Christ, His Sheep, Believers, Holy and blameless, purified, set apart from sinners, spotless, the blessed, a temple, the body of Christ, the born again, the branches, the Bride, the chosen, the called, the changed, citizens with God's people and members of God's household, the clay, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, more than conquerors, born of God, a new creation, saints, the Redeemed, the Freed, the justified, the glorified, the grace saved, the healed, the invited, the liberated, the loved, made perfect, the reconciled, the renewed, the Righteous, the sanctified, the good soil, the transformed, God's workmanship, Christians, his Beloved, friends, children of the promise, the purchased, the enrolled, in God, in Christ... GOOD!
(all taken from Scripture)

What does a good Christian look like? Maybe we should let God answer that.

Rhythm

"In order to have rhythm there must be space between the sounds." -Todd

A guy named Todd spoke at this camp I went to in Austin and he talked about how our lives are full of so much stuff - that we rarely, if ever, take time to be silent, to just sit, and create space between the stuff of life. His words were right on!

On my journey in life, I am learning that life is about music, life is about poetry, it's a beautiful dance! And in the words of Todd, it is rhythm - life is a beat! but to make a quality beat, an enjoyable rhythm, there must be -- "space between the sounds".

May we all find a little more space, a little more silence, a little more rest... may our lives create a sweet rhythm to the Lord.

Learning...

Well, I've been in Austin, tx for a week now and it has been quite an experience so far! Far more than I expected... actually, I had no idea what to expect, so yea... more.

I arrived in Austin on Sunday, June 11th with $15 and a backpack carrying two shirts, one pair of pants, one pair of shorts, 3 pairs of socks, two pairs of underwear, one pair of shoes, one pair of flip flops, toothbrush, comb, deodorant, bible, journal, the book 'Through Painted Deserts' by Donald Miller, and my life-long savings of ignorance!

The first day I went to "Church Under the Bridge", a worship service put on for the street community and held under a bridge on I-35 downtown, my time there was discouraging and very impersonal... it really upset me to see Christians putting on a show for people, when conversation and relationship is what is needed most! More on that later.

For the rest of that day I must have walked 10miles all around downtown checking out where things were and trying to figure where I was going to stay and eat and stuff. I found this place called the ARCH (Austin Resource Center for the Homeless) and didn't really get much info at the time because I didn't see anyone there who looked like they knew what was going on... except for other homeless people who obviously know everything about everything, but honestly I felt like I had stumbled onto another planet and was trying to "fit in" without letting everyone know I didn't speak the language! There was an elephant in the room and I knew it was me! But really it was all in my head, as I have since learned!

During the day I found an abandoned building that had a fire escape that had been cut and was hanging pretty high, but I figured I could make it up and sleep there... you know what happened until that time from my previous post "BEER"... so I Jackie-Chan-ed it up on the roof and slept on some cardboard God provided and everything went well except for being a little cold.

The next day I wandered around again and walked down to Barton Springs Park and went for a swim... I have to say, "I'm a moron!", I don't know why I thought I had to walk everywhere when there is great public transportation in Austin, but I guess bus passes cost money and I was trying to eat:) That night I snuck into UT's student center and crashed on the floor in an open room... it was scarier than sleeping on the street because I thought someone was going to walk in on me in the middle of the night, but they didn't and it was nice...

So the next day... now completely out of money! (there a few times in my life when I can look back over only a weeks time and see how significantly stupid I am, and this is one of them) I decided I needed to do something about it.

So I went up to the ARCH building and this time found someone who told me when and where to get in line to stay the night. The ARCH is open every night and houses about 200 men, and at 6pm they have a raffle. Everyone gets a number and only the first 65-70 numbers get a meal and a bunk on the top floor - the rest get to sleep on mats on the floor, but everyone gets a shower, thankfully! My first night I drew number 54 and so got to go in and eat and sleep in a bed, it was so great! God is AMAZING! and blessed me so much to find one of my friends from Carpenters church in Lubbock, Andy. Just when I was really feeling down and like a fool, God brought in such a good friend to help me! Andy introduced me to several of the other guys and they are all really cool! Hearing that I had just come to town, the guys began to tell me all about Austin and all about what to do and what not to do, where to go and where not to go, and stuff like that... after that night I felt like I had finally arrived.

The next day I tried to go to a place called "Labor Ready" where people get hooked up with day labor. I was seriously broke that morning (with about 13cents left!) and so I had no money for the bus fare! Thankfully a guy named Scott, who I met that night at ARCH, helped me out by buying me a bus ticket. But when I got to Labor Ready I found that I had to have two forms of identification in order to get work, but I only had my D.L. and had left my S.S.card back in Georgetown with my car, but I had my friends in Georgetown bring it down that afternoon so I was off to work the next day.

For the next 3 days, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, I worked my butt off, working almost 30hrs for a tile warehouse where I got to run a forklift - it was awesome! I wasn't really planning on working that much - I did want to find out how hard it is for someone to find work while living on the street and how much someone could make - but I really felt God calling me to stay working because of some of the guys I met at work.

I worked everyday with a guy named Emmit. He's lived in Austin his whole life, he's 20, has 2 kids, and lives at home with his most recent babymomma. He's a really nice guy and we had fun getting to work together.

One thing that has been hard for me down here, and maybe you can join me in prayer about this - I've been struggling with how to be. I don't know if that makes sense, but here's the thing. People are treating me just like anyone else... at Carpenters church back in Lubbock, there are people who live and have lived on the street, but sometimes I feel like they see me and treat me like I'm a "church person" - The conversations are just not the same as what's going on here.

Here people ask me to smoke weed with them in such a a genuine way (like last night), in normal conversation guys talk to me about "the fucking cops" and "pussy" and stuff, and I don't respond by telling them they shouldn't. I've really been trying to just let people be. I want to know the people I'm with here as they really are. While I don't smoke weed all the time... just kidding... and I don't join in these conversations, I do listen and I have not been responding with typical Christian responses... I haven't told anyone, "Hey, please don't say, 'God damn' around me"... I haven't told people who offer me drugs that Jesus doesn't want them to do that. I just listen... and when the opportunity is right I do offer my opinion and hopefully a word of truth or wisdom, saying stuff like, "drugs'll screw you up man", and I have talked about God and Jesus with a few people, especially Andy, but with others like Emmit I really just want to know him, without making him feel like he has to hold himself back, change his words, or whatever.

And I don't know if this is right... I mean I know I am, for the most part, talking, walking, and appearing like everyone else, and I like the acceptance that comes from that... but I don't know if I am appearing like Christ. It's a hard thing right now and I've been thinking a lot about it... I want to be like Jesus and meet people where they are and try to understand people where they are... but I still want to be like Jesus...

Do you think, maybe Jesus was around some guys one time, non-religious guys, you know like the outcasts, dirty, uncouth people, and they were talking about pussy and maybe calling their brothers "Raka" or something... how did he respond?! ... I think sometimes I have thought that Jesus was some kinda saint walking around, like the early paintings of Jesus with a halo around his head, that somehow people just knew he was this perfect guy and so whenever he was around everyone stopped talking about pussy and started talking about God and deep theological things.

But I don't know. Maybe when he was around these people, he listened to them, and didn't necessarily come right out and condemn them. Sure Jesus was God, and, contrary to the idea that Jesus cannot be a part of something or someone unclean, he was a part of a lot of relationships with some very dirty people.

Just when I sit and talk with people who don't know Jesus, I just don't feel the same kind of great conversational direction as Jesus had with the woman at the well. You can say "WWJD" all day long, but on this, in some situations, I really just don't know what to do!

I feel like if I come out and reveal I'm a Jesus freak, people will pull away, because so many people have been hurt and condemned by Christians... I feel like some people, those who really need Jesus, but are running hard and fast away from him, will hold themselves back in a place where I can't go.

All I want to do is really know people... I mean know them when they're drunk and high and blowing their weeks pay on whatever... when they're talking about women as if they were only an outlet for their sexual pleasure... when they're cursing God and the world... I want to know them then, and at that moment be able to be there as a friend to say, "there is something better"... and maybe everso gently be there to say "it's Jesus"...

Not the Jesus who called you names and laughed at you because you were poor and dirty, not the Jesus who looked so hypocritical at church, not the Jesus who stands on a soapbox and condemns you with shouts... but the Jesus who wants to know you, and even when he sees you in your worst moment... can still love you.

pray for wisdom.

BEER!

my first night in Austin was an uneventful evening... except for sleeping on top of a building on cardboard after exhausting myself by walking all over town... it was interesting...

But briefly I want to drop some thoughts that hit around 9pm... it was still kinda light outside so I was walking around, without any agenda, when I walked past an open air bar that had the music going and lights and people everywhere and of course... the Mavs game on with everyone waiting in anticipation.

So I stopped in and sat down at a table and watched the game for a good while - it was such a nice place to be! I felt more relaxed in the bar than I did even at "church under the bridge" that morning! And so I was sitting there, I think at half time, just thinking - you know at night there isn't a whole lot to do... really the only places open that were inviting were bars and liquor stores,and when its late and you've been walking around in the heat all day an ice cold beer and a fun atmosphere looks really good! I didn't know anyone there, but sitting there I had a feeling of camaraderie with these people. We were together, all together for the same reasons - to have a good time, relax and, of course, to laugh at Shaqs free throws.

Now a lot of people from every walk of life find bars inviting and so we can learn something across the board from this. But when I was there I think I really understood deep down why so many people on the street work all day to try and get enough money and then blow it at the bar...
it's because they are craving JOY(a reason to laugh), they really need some PEACE(a beer to calm the nerves), they need COMFORTand FRIENDSHIP and ACCEPTANCE(found in the community)... and they CAN find these things at the bar...

the only thing I'm saying is that Jesus was in that bar... maybe he wasn't coming through the TV or the Beer ads on the wall... but he was definitely coming through loud and clear through the people, the laughter and, yes, the BEER.

He was there reminding us all that our hearts truly need those things we were getting....

I think he was there just hoping, maybe sometimes weeping loudly, wanting only for us to realize what we were wanting was really him! He wants so badly to give us the comfort and acceptance we get from his friendship, he wants us to laugh with him and be full of excitement from watching him perform, he wishes we could only find his bar, with the best brew on the tap, on the house, all night, every night!

maybe we need some late night bars where people can come in and laugh and talk with some good friends who really accept them, no questions asked, and share a round of refreshing, ice cold Jesus...

what would that look like?

----------------------------------

Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got.
Taking a break from all your worries, sure would help a lot.
Wouldn't you like to get away?

Sometimes you want to go
Where everybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came. You wanna be where you can see, our troubles are all the same
You wanna be where everybody knows Your name.
You wanna go where people know, people are all the same,
You wanna go where everybody knows your name.

-from the TVshow, Cheers
("Where Everybody Knows Your Name" by Gary Portnoy and Judy Hart Angelo)