We had a full weekend here at the house. Thanksgiving was packed; it was an official ISI event, which meant we got to invite all sorts of international UCSC students to the house. We had 20+ people, BBQ’d two birds, chose from 7 different pies, & showed the international students how to get their gorge on. It was fun. Before we prayed we all got in a circle & said what we were thankful for (Thanks Linda!). It was cool to hear how many of us are genuinely thankful for Jesus & his church. Too, we are eager to let our light shine for all to see, with pumpkin pie of course. Here are some pics:













































Larry's body shut down so he could digest his food!


The next day we had Randy Knutson here & got down with our house specialty: Pork Ribs & leftover pie. Randy is the overseer for church planting in the west for the Vineyard Association. The Vineyard church in San Mateo invited him because God is stirring their heart to become more than a “sit & listen” church; they want to become God’s body to their neighbors. Randy shared some great stuff & gave practical ways of “doing the stuff” in the locals we find ourselves in. He’s very passionate about those who don’t know Jesus & he continually went back to “going out,” “taking Jesus to the world,” & “the harvest is ripe.” It was encouraging & challenging. I came away with many questions: How are we reaching out to our culture? Do we think we aren’t a “sit & listen” church because we have ministry time, or I have a Q & A session at the end of the sermon? How are we discipling those who are a part of our church & are they truly making Jesus Lord of their entire being?

There’s a Christmas tree farm 2 miles from our house, so for our leadership meeting I suggested we go get a tree. We walked through hundreds of trees talking about what God is doing & what we were stirred about through our weekend. We found one, the girls cut it down, Jeff & I supervised, & the owners wrapped it up for us! I’ve never seen so many perfect trees; our is a Douglas Fir.




























We are about to have our first weekend intensive as a church. This Sunday we are going to meet up at the house for an all day “retreat.” We are going to discuss: What it means to follow Jesus (Sermon), Our Values (Love God, Love People, Make Disciples, Equipping them for ministry…) What it means to spend time with God daily & how to do it (Exercise), & What it means to be in a discipleship relationship with someone from church (Exercise). Please pray for us. Many of the people attending our church here us talk about these things, but this is where we’re really going to define what we’re all about; it’s going to be a “please bolt-on or bolt-off” time.” Relationships have gathered several people & this is a call to go to the next level as a mature disciple. We want to be a church filled with people who say, “whatever Jesus asks of me; wherever he asks me to go.” We exist for Jesus alone; we’re not a Christian club & never will be.



Jonathan's B-day 1yr!