GracePoint June Update

Dear Friends,

June has been a busy and eventful month and so we thank you so much more for your prayers and support. June gloom has come and gone and now it feels like the sunny (and hot!) Southern California that we are used to. Here's a short recap of the month of June:

1. Movin' on Up! Literally, we moved way on up North of Los Angeles. On June 12th we officially received the keys to our new rental home in Santa Clarita and on June 19th, we finally moved in! God is so good in blessing us w/ a great home in a great neighborhood. There is enough space to host meetings and fellowships of many kinds.

2. Preview Service #3 @ Parks Home. Our 3rd Preview service and our first one at the new home was a great success! Partly because our home was still barely furnished so there was plenty of space for everyone. From Matthew 5:13-16 we learned about being salt & light and how to be missional, just as Jesus was.

3. Open House Dinner. On Sunday, June 28th, we had our regular meeting followed by an Open House dinner for all our members. We were blessed as well with some special St. Louis visitors too!

Prayer Needs:
1. Pray for relational connections and outreach in our community.
2. Pray that GracePoint survives the summer. Summers are typically slow times for churches as people go on vacations and such. So please pray that we can get through the summer well and be ready for the Fall!
3. People. For those of you near here or know anyone who lives in the Santa Clarita Valley, we would love to connect with them and share the Gospel with them.
4. Fund Raising. As we are on the field and ministry gets to be more "hands on" we will be in need for more funds. Please pray for a) more and new supporters and b) our pledge givers to fulfill their pledges sooner than later.

For those of you who want to fulfill your pledge or be a first time giver to the work of God, you can go here:
https://processor.pcanet.org/mna/donationsII/donation.cfm

A few instructions:
1. Under the Donation Heading, choose Church Planter/Staff (not Ministry Type)
2. Scroll down to "Park, James- Santa ClaritaValley, Ca"
3. Fill in Amount
4. Fill in the Rest (Your personal info & your CC info).

We get so excited every time we meet another person or a church who is committed to coming along side with us in the mission to the SCV. Through this, we know we are not alone and that we have a great team behind us in prayer and support from all parts of this world. Thank You and God Bless You

James v. the Allergies Update

So, woke up at 6:30am on a Sat morning, left the house w/ my brother in law at 7:10am. Drove 45 mins to Hacienda Heights and got to the Acupuncture "Office." My bro in law & I had no idea what to expect.

The "Dr." came in asked me what I had, told him I had allergies... so he proceeded to stick needles in my head, arms, and legs w/o any warning or description of what he was going to do. We waited for 10 mins. He came in again, and again w/o warning, took out he needles and told me to turn over. Then he "drilled" in a few more needles on my neck back and legs. We waited another 10 mins. He came in took everything off and said, "Done."

The Result: It's Tuesday today, so after 4 days my allergies are..... gone! I can't believe it! No pills for the past 3 days. No runny nose. Only sneezed 3 times in 4 days. Amazing. Don't know how long it will last, but I'm enjoying it while it lasts.

Allergies be Gone!

Man, I thought when I moved from St. Louis that I moved away from allergies. When I lived in LA for 14 years, I never even heard of allergies, except for pet allergies & food allergies. After a few years in STL, the allergy bug hit me there and my life was not the same. Too much foliage, too much humidity, etc. So, when I moved back here to LA, one thing I was looking forward to was an allergy free life! But no such luck. After a few months of fighting it (losing the battle), we have found a potentially devastating blow to the Allergy bug: Acupuncture.

This Saturday morning, my brother in law and I are going to drive 45 mins away to see a Chinese acupuncturist. We hope to come back allergy free! Here we go....

Buy Into Pizza

Working here at the Master's Seminary in Ca, there is a big spread for lunch for all the students. 3 guesses as to what is for lunch? Pizza, pizza, and pizza! If I were a businessman, I'd open a pizza shop. I don't think pizza will ever (EVER) go away. As long as there are sports events, schools, offices, and the need for mass quantities of food for cheap, pizza will always be profitable!

On another note. It was just confirmed that the Master's Seminary in fact, HAS a dress code. They are to wear a shirt & tie, not jeans and no t-shirts. So, here I am sitting in the Library and eating lunch in their student lounge wearing jeans, a button down shirt (un-tucked!), and a bright yellow Lakers cap. I think they are going to call Security soon.

Dress code? Seriously? Now, I really hope I don't see J-Mac...

Human Nature

Reading: Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands by Paul D. Tripp. This book has been very insightful to read. Tripp has great insight into the reality of human nature. Here is one such instance:
"Sin not only causes me to respond sinfully to suffering, it causes me to respond sinfully to blessing."
What a great insight to our condition.

Resurrected Life?

Easter reminded me to ask this question: Am I living a Resurrected Life? Jesus died and rose again and made everything new and different for us. Our lives were changed to the very core of our nature. So, am I living like it?

Am I living like a man who was given a second chance at life?
Am I living like a man who was freed from slavery?
Am I living like a man who was saved from the very pit of hell?

What would our lives look like if we really lived Resurrected Lives? John 5:24, "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life." Am I living like someone who has crossed over from death to life?

Traffic!

Since moving back to LA, I've been doing a lot of driving, sitting in the car, and yelling in the car. Quiz: If it takes Driver-J leaves home at 8:30am and it takes him 65 mins to get to get to Destination-P, which is 22.2 miles away... How long will it takes Driver-J to get to Destination-P when he leaves at 11:20am? Answer: 65 mins!! Reason: The stinkin' 405 fwy.

On this site you'll see the evidence.
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0931285.html

God Create God?

Timothy asked the other day, "Who created God?" I said that no one created him, he was always there. Then he asks, "Did God create God?" Hmmm.....tough one.

Today he asked, "Did George Washington live before God?" Looks like we are going to have to work on this one...

Preaching the Gospel to Myself

Preaching the Gospel to myself everyday. Someone said that this involves getting to the cross everyday. As I was thinking about this it was... Because...
At the cross everything changes.
At the cross, there is nothing we can give or do.
At the cross, there is only Jesus and his sacrifice for my sins.
At the cross, there is the only assurance we have & need: “It is Finished.”
At the cross, there is only me, looking up to, trusting, and depending on Jesus for everything. Everyday, we wake a Pharisee and live the day, getting to the cross, nearer to Jesus, nearer to Grace.
Some days we get there quicker than others. Some days we don’t get there at all. But the cross is always there, Jesus is always there for us. He will never leave me nor forsake me. When we run to the cross, He waits to embrace us. Many times, when we crawl to the cross, he stoops down to embrace us.

My Exodus

Our home in STL is finally sold! After around 6 months on the market. So much has happened since we moved back to LA from STL. It's been quite the journey. This whole thing has led me back to the book of Exodus and the Israelites being saved from Egypt and their wandering in the desert for 40 years.

I am realizing that life for us is that wandering the desert for 40 years. And the biggest lesson is trusting in God daily for all things, big and small. The Israelites were saved, yet they complained and even wished to live back in slavery. God gave them all they needed and yet they complained & were ungrateful. I have seen so much that in my life as well. How Good God is, and yet how ungrateful I am. It's amazing how much God did for the Israelites:
1. Saved them from Slavery
2. Saved them with amazing miraculous signs through Moses & Aaron.
3. Saved them through the splitting of the Red Sea!
4. Saved them throug the giving of food and water everyday.
5. This food & water came via miraculous means, ie, water from a ROCK!?
6. Sunlight by day and Fire by night. Daily God giving them all they needed for life and safety.
And YET, through this, they complained.

I find that in my life, God does amazing things for me everyday, miraculous things. And yet, they are not enough. Selling our home wasn't enough, we wanted a profit! Selling a home today in itself should be considered a miracle!

Life is a wandering through the desert, but it's a desert with all that we need... and more. A desert where we are being led by the very hand & grace of God, saved from slavery. It's also a journey that leads to the Promised Land. Yes, we wish that the journey didn't have to be this long and this hard, but we are pilgrims, living in a strangeland, on our way to Canaan. And it's only while we journey in this life that we are able to show the world how Good our God is, and how amazing life in a desert can be, bc of Jesus Christ.

Here we go again...

Ok, a good friend of mine sent me a link to encourage me that pastors should blog. So, here goes. I've blogged before, but as usual, the thrill runs out soon. Though being a church planter has given me many more reasons to blog and journal.

The blog is called "Where Life Happens" bc that's the motto of our church plant, GracePoint, here in the Santa Clarita Valley. I got it from the NBA slogan: where ____ happens... etc.

So, I want GracePoint to be a place where life happens, not just doctrine, fellowship, & worship, but LIFE in general. It's the best common thread in all of us and for those non-church goers: Life. Christian or non-Christian, we all live life together in the same world. With many of the same struggles, pains, and joys in life. So, let's do it together.

But as believers, we have Jesus Christ to lead us in life and to show the way, to give comfort, to assure us with his amazing promises, and to show us grace and mercy every step of the way. More to come on that later... to my friend who encouraged me... you better subscribe and read this everyday :)