Serving our Community

On Saturday our church mobilized about 120 people into the neighborhoods of fire-scored Rancho Bernardo. Check out this 3 minute video (Sometimes you have to hit PLAY twice).

See more about GVC's Fire Relief efforts here.

A comment form one of the dozens of homes we helped:

Thank you one and all! What an amazing outpouring of love and compassion by GVC relief team! Your kindness is appreciated by our entire family, from San Diego to Rocklin, to the Galilee in Israel! What a testimony of love in action. My mom Katy is in awe of God's provision for her through your efforts and hard work.... Blessings and Shalom to you all

More than we ask

God always does more than we ask.

Last week, as the ash was still settling form the firestorm, I gathered some leaders together to pray and respond. As we met, President Bush flew overhead in a helicopter to view the devastation in the neighborhood next to the church. He was there to see, understand, and offer help.

As we began to pray one of the leaders said, “God, the president just flew over our heads. But we are seeking help from a higher source.”

Whether it is the fires we have recently experienced, or any new struggle we face, what a comfort to know that the One we talk to in prayer controls the wind, waves, sea and air. He knows our needs better than we do. And His plans are much greater than we can even ask or imagine.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask… Eph 3.20

GVC Fire Relief Task Force

A Fire Relief Task Force is now in place at our church. find out more or get involved at http://gvcfamily.blogspot.com/

Rancho Bernardo fires

We just got back to our home after being evacuated for a couple days. Thankfully our home and church are fine. I just set up a blog for our church family to stay connected specifically about the fire. Check it out at http://gvcfamily.blogspot.com/

Stay nearby

What is the most important thing you can do for the people you care about.... those you hope to influence? One day a believer named Philip was trying to reach out to a guy on the fringe of faith, and I love God’s instructions to him. The Spirit of God simply whispered this advice: "Go to that chariot and stay near it." Acts 8:29. In other words, stay nearby.

Philip’s obedience led to an amazing God directed conversation, and each aspect of the discussion that followed dripped with God’s perfect timing and provision. (Read Acts 8:26-40).

Ninety percent of success is showing up.... simply being there and available. We don’t have to have all the answers. We just have to get close enough to listen to the questions.

So then, how will you know when the time is right to speak up? How will you decide when to proceed or what to say? God may be showing you various ways to influence those around you, but this advice may be the most basic: Stay nearby.

Lost my bus this week

It was a sad week for Cindy and me. Alongside the freeway, we watched as my bus went up in flames. It was a total loss. We all cried a little.

I am so grateful no one was hurt. But anyone who follows this blog knows how much I loved that vehicle. It was truly a gift from God. So I thank Him for the seasons He gave us and trust Him for the future.

We have it backwards

This is the video I showed Sunday Sept 30. It has a powerful surprise twist. Lots of people have asked me to post it so here it is:

(Hit the PLAY button - sometimes you have to hit it twice)

Best BBQ in Georgia

So I'm still trying to digest all I'm getting out of this conference but I did have lunch at an amazing BBQ place. In addition to the pulled pork sandwich I had Brunswick Stew which is like a BBQ chili with beef, chicken, pork, potatoes, corn and tomatoes - Wow! Part of what is incredible about this place is that they smoke the meat in the shed behind the restaurant (see photo below) - the real deal. If I'm ever in Georgia again, I'm eating here.

Rainy Night in Georgia

I am posting this from the Catalyst Reverb Leadership Conference in Atlanta where it is pouring rain and 10,000 church leaders have gathered. It has been awesome. Today Rick Warren said that we as believers should not try to change culture, instead we should create culture. That reminds me of something Mark Batterson said at a conference a year ago:

We have 4 choices when it comes to culture.

• Ignore it
• Accept it
• Change it
• Create it

I am excited to be a part if God's church where He can create culture through us.

Brown bananas under glass

My wife makes incredible desserts. And, as if the taste alone wasn’t enough to make you a raving fan, she also has a trick which makes her desserts even appealing. She puts her desserts under glass – one of these decorative glass cake stands. That’s not fair. When you do that, even Oreos look irresistible.

Our kids love her banana bread. They know that their mom has the ability to take bananas that are clearly past their prime, just days away from the dumpster, and turn them into awesome breakfast banana bread.

This past week we stepped into the kitchen and laughed. One of our kids had taken a bunch of brown bananas and placed them into that glass covered cake stand – a not so subtle hint for what they hoped would be a baking transformation.

But talk about seeing potential! Some people just see rotten bananas. Our kids see tomorrow’s breakfast. :)

One of the things I want to cultivate is the ability to see potential. Like Barnabas did with Paul. The Bible says that when Paul “came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple." (Acts 9:26).

Everyone was skeptical of Paul’s supposed conversion. No one believed that this guy, who once was bent on killing Christians, had now become one. No one, that is, except Barnabas.

"But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how [Paul] on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus." (Acts 9:27).

To most of the disciples, Paul was a liability - a disaster waiting to happen. They saw problems, but Barnabas saw potential.

The world might label you all kinds of things…

· Bruised
· Rotten
· Past your prime
· Headed for the dumpster
· Un-useable

But God sees what you could become. May we learn God’s way of seeing.

Happy Day

Today my older son and I baptized my younger son in the Pacific Ocean. Oh happy day!

Beautiful Beggar

Do you remember the story where Peter and John met the disabled beggar at the Beautiful Gate? (see Acts 3). It was a choice place to beg. High traffic. Lots of people hoping to look good before God. A choice place indeed.

But something else happened at the Beautiful Gate. Most scholars believe, that this is the place where parents brought their children to be dedicated. Can you imagine the contrast between these beautiful babies with so much life potential and the beggars whose lives had been reduced to begging for a few coins? I sometimes look at a lost soul roaming the downtown streets and think, “They were somebody’s baby once.” Did the beggars at the gate ever looked at the those infants and wonder how things could have gone so terribly wrong for them?

But then God did a miracle. All he had hoped for was a coin or two, but suddenly, through his encounter with Peter and John, the disabled man was, "walking, and jumping, and praising God." And then he was in the courts! And finally clinging the apostles!

All the potential that God had intended for his life was finally starting to materialize. He went from begging to praising; from sitting to jumping, from hoping for spare change, to living for God’s glory.

Come to think of it, his story is ours. In Christ, we are all beautiful beggars.

15 minutes

Do you know what can happen in 15 minutes?

· Light can travel 167 million miles
· A monarch butterfly can travel one mile
· Spammers can send 419 million emails
· The record holder in jalapeño eating once ate 167 pickled jalapeños
· You can save 15% or more on auto insurance …

OR…


YOU can spend 15 minutes at the feet of Jesus, before his Word – moments that can set the tone for your thoughts and emotions for the rest of the day.

Emotional health is a soul postured at the feet of Jesus.

Why is it taking so long for Jesus' Return?

At least part of the answer is that God measures time differently than we do. He stands above it, and to Him, there’s little difference between a thousand years and a single day. So far, it’s been 2000 years, which for God, is like a weekend.

But there’s another reason why Jesus deliberately waits. Each day He waits is another day for us to get ready.

Even in the first century, as time went on, the apostles were challenged about the apparent delay in Jesus’ return. Peter explained it this way: But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:8-9

And the word repentance means change. Jesus’ patience means another day that He can work in me and through me.

His delay is deliberate.

Sweet bus

A little tribute I put together to the groovy life in the bus.