View the latest on our Fire Relief Efforts here

Christmas Baskets!

Our church put together a bunch a Christmas baskets for those who are displaced this Christmas. Many of them lost all of their decorations in the fires. In addition to some very nice ornaments and a gift card to Home depot, there were Christmas mugs and homemade ornaments from our Sundat School kids. Awesome event!

See more photos here

Ordinary People

Somewhere in the “be-all-that-you-can-be” culture I’ve grown up in I’ve embraced the notion that God only uses super-saints. Somewhere along the way, I bought into the idea that God ordinarily uses extraordinary people.

The truth is just the opposite. Consider Acts 4:13.

When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.

We forget that those superstars of Sunday School – the Apostles - were once ordinary, unlikely, people. But God used them in amazing ways because they spent time with Jesus.

The only credential that matters, the only diploma that counts, the defining bullet point on your resume, is time spent with Jesus.

God extraordinarily uses ordinary people. That's the truth.

Create Culture

It seems to me that as believer we often fall into two errors when it comes to our culture. We either copy it … or condemn it. Both in the extreme are unhealthy.

Instead I appreciate what Paul did in Athens. Addressing a city that was very spiritually confused he said, For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, `We are his offspring.' Acts 17:28 First he engaged their culture by quoting their poets. Then he used that as a bridge to share the gospel (see Acts 17:22-34).

Rather than simply mirroring the culture or throwing rocks at it, why not be about the work of creating a new culture? In Athens Paul left behind believers who would plant the church in this secular place. Michelangelo said, “Criticize by creating.” I love that.

When it comes to culture, why not take the lead?

A Block Party for Fire Threatened Neighbors

Yesterday our church hosted a block party in the Westwood area next to our church. One of the great stories that came out of it was the way it touched the life of a fire fighter in our church. He was one of the speakers at the event. Along the way he connected with several neighbors whose homes he had helped save (see the photo of him embraced by grateful neighbors at the end of the video below). The healing was as much for him as for the community.

Sorry about the low quality on this video. Check out the high resolution version this Sunday at church.

Serving our community continues...

We continue to have a great response to our community service opportunities. Here's the latest:

There will be another community clean-up/work day this Saturday, november 10. Meet at the church at 9 AM in the LOBBY. Be prepared to handle both inside and outside opportunities. Specific job sites listed at gvcfamily.blogspot.com

An Experiment ... because my family doesn’t read my blog

OK, my family does read my blog sometimes. But they don’t need to because they already know about my life. So here’s a little experiment to test the scope and impact of this blog.

I bought some See’s Candy for my wife because she loves it and it’s fun to get it even when it’s not Christmas. I’ve hid it under the piano bench lid. If you know my wife well enough, call her and tell her to look in the piano bench for a little gift from me.

I am posting this on Nov 7, at 7:03 pm. Let’s see how long it takes for someone to call. 1 hour? 1 day? 1 week? If no one calls, I’ll eat the candy myself and post an early list of all my kids’ Christmas presents here too.

FINE PRINT: Courtesy rule: Do not call after 9 pm or before 8 am PST. But you can email her anytime. The experiment officially ends when I hear that she found candy.

Check back and I’ll let you know what happens.

_______________________

Update: Well, I woke up the very next morning and there was a box of See's candy on the kitchen table. Kudos go to Cindy Sutherland for sending my wife an email (In the middle of the night -- what was she doing up?). Way to go Cindy Sutherland! Honorable Mention goes to Janine Sellers who called all the way from Florida to tell Cindy to look under the piano bench lid. So it took about 12 hours for the message to get to my wife. And we all learned a valuable lesson about the 24/7, global reach of the web.

The church at your address

Check out this entry from Luke’s journal (He is writing about how God work in and through an ordinary woman named Lydia).

The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message. When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. "If you consider me a believer in the Lord," she said, "come and stay at my house." And she persuaded us. Acts 16:14-15

What impresses me about Lydia is how she immediately connected being a believer with acts of service. As soon as God opened her heart, she opened her home.

I love the practical faith of Lydia. As far as we know she never led a Bible study, went on a mission trip, or sang in the choir. She didn't go on the road with Paul, or debate about theology in the marketplace. All she did was open her heart to God and open her home to God’s family. All she did was put her faith into action. All she did was have the audacity to believe that God would show up where she lived.

Turns out, the church of Philippi was born in Lydia’s house. And one of the best loved books in the Bible, Philippians, was written. All because an ordinary woman had the audacity to believe that God would show up where she lived.