Sorry for my absence, but that's just how it is. Anyways we evacuated from our house 'cuz there's a huge fire right below it! Needless to say it was a party getting everything out & wondering if the house is going to burn down. What was cool is that in the middle of our packing up my friend Prakash calls & says, "Come & spend the night at our house." I teared up because I wasn't sure where we were going & my friend, outside of our church, called me. Likewise, everyone had a place to spend the night & was contacted by our friends. This is a sign of health within our little community.

Here's a snapshot & some questions I've been wrestling with:
1st BBQ @ UCSC? 70 people!
2nd BBQ @ UCSC (invite only)? 30 people. These seem to be a hit. We would have had one tonight, but our friends at ISI are having a BBQ so Antioch is representing.

Mexico Fundraising has put us in great places. We intentionally, even if we had all the money we needed, put ourselves into the city to allow people outside of our church to participate with us in building a house for a poor family. Car washes, a booth at a local market, a booth outside Trader Joe's, radio announcements (go Rachel), 3 local restaraunts giving us portions of their income on certain nights, more car washes, work days at peoples houses, etc. All of this has allowed us to meet new & wonderful people.

Planting a church takes time. We are not trying to rally disgruntled Christians to a new church. We are not doing something "new" come & check us out. We are trying to give an expression of Christ's love through our community to those who otherwise don't know the love of Jesus. The church is going out into the city. This takes time. Imagine a person on a spiritual journey toward God as numbers 1-10 (1 nothing; 10 A.W. Tozer or something). Most people who attend "church" as a seeker are already at level 6-8(?) & have come to some conlclusion that "Jesus is the answer to my questions." We have found ourselves surrounded by people who would be numbers 1-5; from "what the hell do we need another church for," to "these could be signs of the end of the world," to "who are you guys & what are you doing." Therefore, seeing certain people from whom we find ourselves amongst being baptized is a couple of days away. Frustration is all a part of it, but it's a good thing to fret about. Alan Hirsch makes a good point in one of his books by saying something like this: "A majority of churches at this point in time are reaching the same group of people & then see those people move from building to building." 3% of our county's population attends church. One can also then speculate the percentage of that 3% that actually follow Jesus. I'm writing this from my friend's house whose dad is Hindu, wife is Buddhist, & he's agnostic/atheist. Too, before I believed I would have just as well told you to "something" even though I considered myself spiritual. ITT-It takes time.

"Saved" is a fabulous movie.

For anyone believing we need no new churches in Santa Cruz: I've lived here for a year & a half & have yet to have ANYONE reach out to me in an effort to help me know the love of God through Jesus. Where's the 3%!? Either I haven't met any of them or they...? Actually at Starbucks I met one of them, in fact I meet many. I asked this person repeatedly about the church they attended & never once did this person ask me anything about my sprituality! They attend a very well known church in town & actually have a position of authority within it. It was again sobering & sad.

I find it interesting that Jesus never said "Go...start churches," or "Go...gather people." Never, ever, never, ever, never, ever, did he say something like this. What did he say & why did he say it?

I asked Laben what at the end of his life he wants to look back & see. He said, "I'd like to see about 10 guys who I raised up & who went & planted churches around the world." Now whether or not this happens is, well, a life long journey that I think is glorious (imagine that!). "Hey Timmy, what would that new pastor you hired say to this question...?" How you answer this question will answer the what & how questions of what you devote your life to.

Answer the question, your life already is.