Thursday at the LA Dream Center

The first day of our November 2011 trip to the LA Dream Center was long but good. After not getting much sleep (the time change is tough) we went to breakfast in the DC cafeteria which is a great experience because of the people you meet. From there Brett and I attended the discipleship ministry morning worship where one of the DC board members shared a message about the prodigal son.

The ministry day began with serving in the "gifts in kind" ministry wrapping Christmas presents. Yes, I wrapped some gifts even though I'm not good at this. The afternoon was spent with "under the bridge" ministry feeding homeless people on Los Angeles' skid row (see the picture on the previous post of Brett, Milette and our friend who is a pastor's wife from New Jersey).

The evening was spent at the Thursday night worship service where Steven Furtick from Elevation Church in Charlotte spoke from Matthew 11. Worship at the Dream Center's Angeles Temple is always great. The message was one I needed.

Closing out the day I drove back to LAX to pick up our last team member who flew in. I like driving in LA, but LAX is awful. We made it. No scratches. But maybe a few scares along the way.

This day was sprinkled with blessings. People are God's most precious resource. Here are some of the blessings who helped make this day awesome:

Kenny and Crystal who lead children's ministry at Angeles Temple
Joel Freebrain who is with the DC foundation
Pierre who is serving as a volunteer construction worker
Joe McDerment who has been with the DC medical ministry as a pharmacy Tech
Dallas whose middle name is cowboy who is an intern at the DC
Amelia Jones is an intern from Alabama passionate about serving hurting people
Matthew Hendry and Michael Hickey who feed the homeless 4 days each week
New pastor friend from New Life Church about 45 minutes from LA
Rich from Milwaukee who is sharing our dorm room
Pastor Joe from Jersey in our room
Joy who is pastor Joe's 15 yr old daughter
Michael and Vilma Conner from DCD
Pastor Matthew Barnett
Clarence Ollson
Jonas Asberg a local actor and friend
Bernice from "short term missions" ministry
Amanda from C3 Church in Clayton, NC
Emilio Cervantes who is a giant in my book
And many more

I can't wait to see what God does and hear what avid says tomorrow. Pray for us and for those we will serve.

Francis Chan's "Forgotten God" (brand new book)

One of the most powerful preachers, writers and leaders of our time, in my opinion, is Francis Chan. His first book, Crazy Love , revolutionized my thoughts about God's love as well as my interacting with God. Now it is time for a brand new book from Chan being released tomorrow, September 1st. The book is Forgotten God . This is a phenomenal book about the power that Christians and the church can and must tap into. All of it is within the Holy Spirit. Francis talks about the power that was seen in the book of Acts when the Holy Spirit began to move among people. It is true that many have avoided or maybe forgotten what the Holy Spirit is all about. And like the Savior who poured out His life and blood so we have reason to rejoice, we were made to lay down our lives and give until it hurts. We are most alive when we are loving and actively giving of ourselves because we were made to do these things. It is when we live like this that the Spirit of God moves and ac...

inspiration from C.S. Lewis

There are many people, past and present, who get our attention by what they write or say or share. For me C.S. Lewis is one of those. He was a prolific writer who continues to grab the attention of thinkers from many different points of view. Lewis first grabbed my attention when I was in 5 th grader, and our teacher, Mrs. Foy, shared The Chronicles of Narnia with our class. It was a powerful time that this dreamer opened doors to thinking like I had never lived before. He wrote of faith, of far off places and of strong figures who found their character rooted deep in God. C.S. Lewis was born in 1898 and died in 1963, 7 years before I was born. It wasn’t until his 30’s that under the influence of his friend Tolkien that he came to be a Christian. He was raised in a traditional church going home, turned away from God as an Atheist in his teen years and through trying to stay away from God and faith returned to God with...

Catalyst ticket arrived

My ticket to the Catalyst Conference, in Atlanta Oct 8-10, just arrived. I'm excited!

Michael Harrison's e-devotion

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