Family Vacation.

In school I was very fortunate to be introduced to a man named Jean Vanier. Jean is the founder of L’Arche, a Catholic community of mentally handicapped people. In 1964 he invited two men with Down’s syndrome to leave the institution & live with him. This community has grown to over 100 residential homes throughout the world. He is a practitioner & a prophet. His words carry a great deal of authority because he is simply describing his life; he describes a lifestyle he is committed. In our culture, where we create social juveniles & as a church we are more often a group of strangers who meet once a week than a fellowship; Jean’s life is like a sunbeam shining through stormy clouds.
Here are some quotes from his book: From Brokenness to Community (Two lectures given at Harvard.)

“If they choose to follow Jesus, they receive a gift of love & communion, but at the same time they must say “no” to the ways of the world & accept loss; they must own their choice.”

“Community is a wonderful place, it is life-giving; but it is also a place of pain because it is a place of truth & of growth—the revelation of our pride, our fear, & our brokenness.”

“I have discovered that even though a person may have severe brain damage, that is not the source of his greatest pain. The greatest pain is rejection, the feeling that nobody really wants you “like that.”

“But this communion is not fusion. Fusion leads to confusion. In a relationship of communion, you are you & I am I; I have my identity & you have yours. I must be myself & you must be yourself. We are called to grow together, each one becoming more fully himself or herself.”

“That I think, was what caused me the most pain: to discover who I really am, & to realize that maybe I did not want to know who I really was! I did not want to admit all the garbage inside me. And then I had to decide whether I would just continue to pretend that I was okay & throw myself into hyperactivity, projects where I could forget all the garbage & prove to others how good I was. Elitism is the sickness of us all.”

“(Volunteers find…) God is not just present in their capacity to heal but rather in their need to be healed.”

“This healing power in us will not come from our capacities & our riches, but in & through our poverty. We are called to discover that God can bring peace, compassion & love through our wounds.”

“Community is the place where are revealed all the darkness & anger, jealousies & rivalry hidden in our hearts.”

“In struggling to ‘win’ at any price, members of the family lose a sense of community. More & more people are seeking the individual prize. In richer countries, this desire to win is instilled in children from an early age. I remember visiting a school in Canada where there was a big poster: ‘It is a crime not to excel.’”

“In community we are called to love people just as they are with their wounds & their gifts, not as we would want them to be.”

“Growth will come as we come closer to people who are different from us & as we learn to welcome & listen even to those who trigger off our pain.”

“People will come to L’Arche attracted by the community; they like our community. They like it, & it’s great—for a few days! When somebody says to me, ‘I find it very painful to live in this community, but I’m here because God has called me here,’ then I know that person has made a passage from dream to reality.”

“We must learn to celebrate.”

“TV can be a kind of death.”

“But the community only keeps its meaning if it remains open to mission.”

“Trusting people are vulnerable & can be easily crushed, as Jesus was crushed. A community which trusts in God rather than in the righteousness of its ‘cause’ can always be crushed, but from that crushing will come resurrection.”

Our men's retreat was a blast.
8 men from our church went to Henry Coe State Park & had a great time with God. Although we could have had more guys participate I intentionally chose to make the distance long enough so that whoever did go would have to commit to the whole weekend & not just a part of it. This is important for a couple of reasons. First, Saturday is the prime day, all day. Friday night was kinda' like a detox from all the business we pile on ourselves. I commented a couple of times, "Wow, it's quite;" when in fact, it's just that my life is filled with noise (by my own design!). So, to go to part of the retreat was to miss a large part of the retreat. Retreat! Too, by making it a bit too far for the "if it's convienent for me" crowd, we effectively brought those who desire to grow. I'm always amazed that many people walked away from Jesus because he qualified discipleship as something centered upon God & not the individual. Too, I'm often amazed that so many today cater to this very group of people in the church. "Let's go to the nicest retreat center possible. Therefore, the most people will go." This isn't bad, but it's not great. The cult of customer service has wreaked havoc on our culture! So, it was a short drive & there were no showers, but there was a whole lot of God!
Simple Times:

On Sat. we had two hours of solitude & silence where each man was sent of into the wilderness armed with a journal. We came back & each man had a wonderful story about how God has spoken to them: "Return to me." "I'm consistent." "Get this tattoo." "Play with me!" Laben then climbed a tree with God!! "Love your wife." This was a powerful experience.

Then we played Risk for 4hrs, which, as any one of the guys would tell you, a wonderful time with God! As I mentioned to one of the guys: "When did play stop being worship?"

One of the most powerful things God has been showing me through our church is this: We don't fit together. Without Jesus none of us would normally connect as friends. Hippies, Ph.D, Homeless, Preppy, Cuban, Gay, Pentecostal, Drunk; these are the words I would use to describe some of the folks in our community. As my wife mentioned the other day: "We aren't a Christian clique." & we aren't. Our group is diverse. As Dietrich would say: "Community is a gift, not a given."

Laben is holding the gallon of milk the raccoons stole from us. Too, Matt looks pretty happy even though we put half a cooked fish & dog food next to his bed in hopes that the raccoons would battle next to him during the night! Sadly only the Blue Jays descended upon him in the morning.

I often say: "We're a small, but active church." And that is true; always doing cool stuff with & for Jesus! He invented fun.

This upcoming weekend we're having our first Men's Retreat. Of course we're going camping, which is what Jesus dreams about when he dreams of retreats. We did a Men's Camping trip last year & it was cool, although it rained on us. This year should be way better & we have quite a few new men coming along. I couldn't be more stoked. God has gathered together at our church world changing men of God. I'm constantly humbled to see who I get to spend my time with & eat Pork Ribs with on Sat. night; of course with our new BBQ!

Men’s Retreat Agenda.
Friday Night:
Dinner @ 7pm
Worship, Teaching, & Ministry @ 8-9
Sugar Consumption & Extended presence of The Holy Spirit @ 9-3:27am.

Saturday Morning:
Breakfast @ 8-9am
Worship, Teaching @ 9-10
Solitude Exercise @ 10-12pm
Lunch @ 12-1pm
Free-Time-1-6pm

Saturday Night:
Dinner @ 6pm
Worship, Teaching, & Ministry @ 7-8
Sugar Consumption & Extended presence of The Holy Spirit @ 8-3:29am.

Sunday Morning:
Breakfast @ 7-8am
Packing @ 8-8:40
Leaving @ 8:45am
The most incredible encounter with God Jesus follower gathering in Santa Cruz @ 11am
The rest of your life @ 1pm-forever.

Who are you? It's a simple question, but I don't think many people really know how to answer it. I've been going through the book: Victory over the Darkness, with a friend of mine who has recently decided to follow Jesus. Who are you? is Dr. Anderson's question. Most people don't know who they are. Too, most Christians don't know who they are & because of that, asserts Dr. Anderson, we are confused, powerless, weak, defeated, live in fear, & ineffective. It reminds me of a quote I heard Bill Johnson say, "The greatest fear the Devil has is the church realizing who she really is." Who are you?

I am the salt of the earth. Matthew 5:13

I am the light of the world. Matthew 5:14

I am a child of God. John 1:12

I am part of the true vine, a channel of Christ's life. John 15:1,5

I am Christ's friend. John 15:15

I am chosen and appointed by Christ to bear His fruit. John 15:16

I am a slave of righteousness. Romans 6:18

I am enslaved to God. Romans 6:22

I am a son of God; God is spiritually my Father. Romans 8:14,15; Galatians 3:26; 4:6

I am a joint heir with Christ, sharing His inheritance with Him. Romans 8:17

I am a temple--a dwelling place--of God. His Spirit and His life dwell in me. 1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19

I am united to the Lord and am one spirit with Him. 1 Corinthians 6:17

I am a member of Christ's Body. 1 Corinthians 12:27; Ephesians 5:30

I am a new creation. 2 Corinthians 5:17

I am reconciled to God and am a minister of reconciliation. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19

I am a son of God and one in Christ. Galatians 3:26,28

I am an heir of God since I am a son of God. Galatians 4:6,7

I am a saint. Ephesians 1:1; 1 Corinthians1:2; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:2

I am God's workmanship--His handiwork--born anew in Christ to do His work. Ephesians 2:10

I am a fellow citizen with the rest of God's family. Ephesians 2:19

I am a prisoner of Christ. Ephesians 3:1; 4:1

I am righteous and holy. Ephesians 4:24

I am a citizen of heaven, seated in heaven right now. Philippians 3:20; Ephesians 2:6

I am hidden with Christ in God. Colossians 3:3

I am an expression of the life of Christ because He is my life. Colossians 3:4

I am chosen of God, holy and dearly loved. Colossians 3:12; 1 Thessalonians 1:4

I am a son of light and not of darkness. 1 Thessalonians 5:5

I am a holy partaker of a heavenly calling. Hebrews 3:1

I am a partaker of Christ; I share in His life. Hebrews 3:14

I am one of God's living stones, being built up in Christ as a spiritual house. 1 Peter 2:5

I am a member of a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession. 1 Peter 2:9-10

I am an alien and stranger to this world in which I temporarily live. 1 Peter 2:11

I am an enemy of the devil. 1 Peter 5:8

I am a child of God and will resemble Christ when He returns. 1 John 3:1-2

I am born of God, and the evil one--the devil--cannot touch me. 1 John 5:18

I am not the great "I AM" (Exodus 3:14; John 8:24,28,58), but by the grace of God I am what I am. 1 Corinthians 15:10

What would happen if you really believed this?

I just got back from Redding yesterday & had a great trip. I was invited by The Stirring to come & participate in their conference: When God Dreams. I had a great time! I didn’t know what to expect from it all, & I don’t think they did either, but it really turned out great. It was really wonderful to be in the presence of the Lord with a bunch of my old & new friends. I’m always encouraged to see some of those people who started this journey with me still following Jesus.

What did God say to me at the conference? I loved that there were different speakers & workshop people who had very similar messages. One theme stood out above the others: Be secure in God’s love alone; that’s how you realize God’s dream. The other major theme was encouragement. Using the text of Jonathan & the armor bearer we learned a bit more about this gift. Encouragement isn’t just complimenting, but when one person literally gives courage to another person. What an amazing gift; I can actually give courage to people in their journey with God. Likewise, I can also discourage people; I can take courage from someone. That is a powerful Kingdom reality. Another thing stood out to me: Redding is kinda’ the Bible belt of California! There are some outstanding churches in Redding &, for the most part, they like each other. There were many different churches represented at this conference, which is awesome, & there was really a spirit of teamwork. Here is Santa Cruz it’s really not like that; however, I do need to go to the Evangelical Prayer Meeting, etc. I was really blessed to sit with two other guys on a panel who didn’t agree on many theologies, but were good friends. Too, one of the speakers started out by saying, “& I’ll try not to offend anybodies theology!”

There’s other stuff, but that’s the main & plain of it. I love what the Stirring is doing. Yaks opened it’s 4th location. We’re gonna’ have our 1st men’s retreat at Henry Coe State Park.

What's up party people!?

Church is really a weird thing. I think the only thing consistent with our church at this point in time is: God's consistency. Often times, from my perspective, it all seems very jumbled. I was talking to Jeff the other day & mentioned, "starting a church is kinda' like a riding a bike with wheels that don't have all the spokes in them." Bumpy. Funny. Painful. However, as time goes on more spokes are added (I'm not talking about more people.) & things will start to smooth out, although, if the Mystery is leading, it will never feel totally smooth; once again from our perspective. This all requires: Faith, Hope, Trust, Crying(?), & Celebration; Not to mention a wonderful family to explore & live out God's purposes with.

We're seeing awesome things happening within our fellowship. We threw a B-Day party for one of the people in our church & invited all sorts of people & all sorts of people showed up! Those who knew Jesus & those who didn't had wonderful fellowship celebrating someone's birth; that was cool. It was really cool to hear the many different conversations happening around several different dinner tables. Some were talking about spirituality, some were talking about the Bulls winning, some were talking about surfing. However, coolest of all was: Everyone was invited by a friend. I don't take this for granted. Having an outward mission statement & living an outward life can be two totally different things; & believe me we've had to work on this by asking wonderful questions to each other!

Often times I want to run from all of this, but I know this is where God has me. I'm scared of seeing all of this fail; & I'm equally scared of seeing all of this succeed, which is weird. However, I trust Him; I know Him; I want to offer Him the fruits of His salvation in my life; I don't want to shrink from the call He has for me: Failure or success.

Well our 4:20 outreach was amazing. Janine Jones & our wonderful little church did an outstanding job visionearing, packing, & passing out 1,000 bags filled with water, chocolate, candy, & a note saying, “Jesus thinks you’re awesome & so do we;” & “Come to our free BBQ Wed. night.

So we get to our UCSC on campus housing drop off place. It takes us about 15min to unload our stuff, & set up our table & tent right next to the main trail heading to the field where 2,500 students are going to get high at 4:20. Well, no more than 5min goes by & a police officer approaches us & says, “Do you have a permit to hand these out?” We don’t so we say, “No.” He then lets us know, “If we see anyone handing these out on campus without a permit we will give them a ticket.” What?!!? Uh…officer, there are 2,500 students 100 yards away from you who are about to smoke an illegal substance!! Anyways, we figured we would get the officer back & do the worst thing possible to him: We didn’t give him a bag or tell him about Jesus!! (Just joking). So, we pack all our stuff & head off campus before they close the campus to all traffic (this is literally a huge deal in SC—I met people from Davis, Fresno, Stockton, etc…). We then set up stations along the sidewalks heading up to UCSC & were able to pass out all 1,000 bags within an hour & a half. Wow. Everyone’s response to our gifts was amazing (as usual—Linda & I used to hand out Hot Chocolate at Shasta College 10yrs ago & we’ve yet to have a bad experience). There were actually people who took our bags & then started shouting to everyone else around us that we were giving away free water & candy (remember it was really hot, so water was a huge deal). We had a great time & what was most amazing to me was the group who helped pass out the water with us from our church. Not everyone who passed stuff out with us is totally convinced Jesus thinks they’re awesome. This was so cool to me. When we gathered at the end for prayer I was amazed to see who joined us & I could tell they had all just experienced God; you could see it on their faces.

There will be more, but I wanted to write something. Please pray for our BBQ tomorrow night. We have no idea how many people are going to show up. Obviously by putting “Jesus” on our invitations not everyone will show up to hang out with His people, but we believe many desire to come & see what it’s all about. Please pray.

Lastly, we weren’t the only Christians out there. This is an incredible photo. If you look hard enough you can see a student blowing smoke into this dude's face! Now if stoners go to Hell this guy might be hosed 'cuz you know he's gonna' get high!!



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(Add on) Laben had a classmate say something to him. "Thanks for the free stuff yesterday. What you guys were doing was totally awesome, thank you so much for the munchies." Where this goes somebody knows.
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For more, check this out: http://cruzjones.blogspot.com/

It's been a while; sorry. There has been a lot going on lately, all good stuff, but it seems as if not working has made me busier! Just joking; although one of my dysfunctions is busyness.

Things are going well & our Easter was funny. The first words out of my mouth at our service were: "I think we're the only church in town who lost more people on Easter Sunday than we gained!" It was a funny moment. We even set out another row of chairs, but this only served to give our back row dwellers more space between them & I. All in all we had a good new group of visitors & all but 1 didn't believe in Jesus! This is great: The church is supposed to be a place where believers worship alongside the non-believers they brought. We had a BBQ after our service & I must say, our BBQ's are filled with the Spirit of Christ. We have genuine fellowship: Period. If we knock the ball out of the field in one area for sure, it is genuine relationships. This is great because, in the NT a new community was one of the biggest proofs of the validity of Jesus. We are an inclusive group of friends who follow God; we are not a group of Christians who worship together, but have no real desire to know or be known. This is a chapter to a book of it's own & a major reason why the church is shrinking; say no to nepotism; say yes to genuine friendship with as many people as possible.

As of right now I am desperately trying to address two areas in the life of our church: What is Discipleship? What are LifeGroups & how do we train people to lead them? Basically, without proper direction & structure you'll get other people's ideas lived out in key areas within your church. Now, with when a person is mature in Christ, you want this. However, when you're worshiping with a bunch of new believers or people who have never done this before you can easily end up in a ditch. So, say hello to my new friend, "Let's do this together." We're not doing bad, but we're not doing great in these two areas & these are KEY areas within our church. For example: Hae-Jung (A Ph.D student we baptized last year) is leading one of our LifeGroups. He's gonna' leave in 2yrs & when he does we think it is crucial that when he leaves he can answer these two questions: What is Discipleship? What is a LifeGroup & how do we train someone to lead it? Why? Because that's how churches are started!

Our 4:20 outreach is this Monday. 1000 confused kids will be confused even more by a bunch of Jesus people handing them bags with water, candy, & a card that says, "Jesus thinks you're awesome & so do we." & an invitation to a free BBQ that next Wed. Uh...please ask God how he's gonna' pay for this one!!

This is pretty cool.

Dear Sean.

I’m Thomas Araki, The pastor of VCF Tokorozawa, I got e-mail from Karl.

I can reach those Japanese students in Saitama.

Please introduce them to us.

Saitama is a large prefecture, so that they may not be able to commute to our church.

But Tokorozawa is a one of big city in Saitama, there are big universities in Tokorozawa.



And please introduce yourself to me, Sean.



I expect your touch.



Blessing.



Thomas Araki 　荒木稔久

Well last week I got laid off from Fleet Feet. We didn't expect this to happen & it was a bit of a surprise to me (although not to my wife). However, for the first time since living in SC God has given me peace about finances. Although, it has never really been one of my pet vices, living in the 7th most expensive city in America presents some unique circumstances. So, my wife & I are convinced God wants us to press into working with the church, & SC, as a full-time gig. I will not be looking for work anytime soon; yet at the same time, I will be spending my time doing discipleship & evangelism non-stop (I did this before, but also helped people find why shoe inserts could benefit them.) The church is growing & the timing seems right. Although the church cannot fully support us, we are approaching our finances like missionaries & raising support, which, thankfully through a host of wonderful friends & family, is allowing all of this to happen. Too, just having this last week off has made a huge difference in my wife. Being bi-vocational & one of those responsibilities being the church stretches us & having 3 kids under the age of 5 & a crazy husband who is highly distractionable is tough on little Linda! So, all that to say; God is still God & we are still his beautiful people!

Last night we baptized our friends from Japan. It was incredible & we are overjoyed at what God is doing through our church. One of the groups of people we wanted to reach out to in SC was the International Students & the fruit of that has been outstanding. It's been such a blessing to meet our new friends & it is our hope that they take the seed of the Gospel back to their countries & "make disciples." Sadly, our Japanese friends are leaving, but we're in contact with other churches in Japan that they can grow with.

Mari went to church with her parents, but never believed. She was afraid God would take away her dreams & we let her wrestle with that reality. She is now a follower of Jesus.



Teru didn't know anything about Jesus, but as he spent time with us he met Him through our church & now desires to be like Jesus whom he respects very much. He mentioned more than once how he was inspired by Jesus' ability to love those who hated him.



We have LifeGroup leadership meeting during the 4th week of every month & last month Jeff, Hae-Jung, & I went out to dinner. Afterwards Hae-Jung (whom we baptized last spring) mentioned he was taking Yuseke out to coffee to share his testimony with him & it had a lasting effect on Yuseke. This is an awesome picture of God creating community in people who would otherwise be separated (Yuseke: Japan--Hae-Jung: Korea).

Yuseke really experienced God at our Sunday Service. I was blown away when I saw him hold out his hands in worship & then before I started preaching I asked if anyone sensed God telling them anything. He shared he felt God's presence. Hae-Jung baptized Yuseke.


The Baptismal!

Preacher doin' his thing in style. Actually, I'm showing people how I had to carry Linda back to the couch after she ate too much ice cream.

This is Yuseke's friend Alona. At dinner she started asking Janine some questions & Janine learned that she had never heard of Jesus! Unreached people groups in SC?! Wow. Oddly she had attended some local church, but had never heard the gospel/Jesus? We don't know how it all works, but Janine gave her a Bible, showed her how to read it (Good job Janine! You're fast!), & then before the night was over she prayed for her, while Alona's hands were on her lap face up & open. Janine is going to meet with her to see if she wants to start following Jesus. Awesome.

Today Laben & I went surfing with a Mormon guy who's asking a lot of questions & would join us at our service this week except he has to work; he says he's gonna' show up the week after. It's awesome to see what God is doing.

Well I just ran the Cool 50K yesterday & had a great time. This is one of the most popular 50k's in the nation & it was a hoot. Many people warned me about two hills on the course: Ball Bearing & Goat Hill. (If a hill has a name, it's a tough hill!) Both proved to be humbling! Ball Bearing has to be one of the steepest climbs I have ever come across. I literally thought I was going to black out on it! This has never happened to me & I was kinda' freaked out about seeing my vision get a little fuzzy. Sadly I started cramping up near mile 21, which seems to be something I do on longer runs. I think I need more salt. Goat Hill comes at a wonderful place, mile 26, & it worked me. My goal was to run the course in 4:30, but I finished in 5:21; sad. What a blessing to have two healthy legs!

Too, I'm not at church today. Our leadership team agreed that after each sermon series we would preach on our vision & values. Jeff Jones is guiding our church today. It brings joy to my heart that Jeff has really risen to the task of being excellent in many areas & being an outstanding communicator is one of them. It is truly a sign of health when the pastor isn't the only one who can bring vision to the church. Our value for discipleship is being demonstrated today & I'm (we're) am blessed.

This is one of the things in life that never grows old. Our friend Hae-Jung is bringing his lab mates to LifeGroup & his friend, another Ph.D student came for the second time. His friend is not a believer, but during worship as we were experiencing the presence of God I looked up & watched as he was singing the songs with us.

I have seen this happen so many times & it never grows old!

We're baptizing 3 Japanese students next week (wow!). We had intentioned to reach out to the international students here, but we didn't really expect we would see more of them come to Christ than the locals. God's got his agenda to fulfill through us.

Too, please pray for our Easter Service. We're believing God for 60 people. Please pray with us.

The first full weekend of each month is our worship weekend when we dedicate ourselves to God through fasting & prayer. This is something we've been doing for 3yrs now & it just keeps getting better & bigger.

Here's the list for the 24hrs of prayer.

FRIDAY March 6th
6pm – 7pm Janine
7pm – 8pm Janine
8pm – 9pm Alana
9pm – 10pm Linda
10pm – 11pm Rachel
11pm – 12midnight Rachel
SATURDAY March 7th
12am – 1am Jeff & Matt
1am – 2am Karol
2am – 3am Sarah
3am – 4am Sarah
4am – 5am Mari
5am – 6am Emelia
6am – 7am Sean
7am – 8am Sean
8am – 9am Illona
9am – 10am HaeJong
10am – 11am Julee
11am – 12noon Laben
12pm – 1pm Laben
1pm – 2pm Jeff
2pm – 3pm Daniel
3pm – 4pm Daniel
4pm – 5pm Ryan
5pm – 6pm Gabriel

Viva Japan! Both these guys (front row your right) are getting baptized in March. I'm meeting with them weekly before they go back to Japan teaching them how to spend time with God each & every day. Too, it's my desire to teach them how to start a reproducing small group back in Japan. I only have 3 weeks, but if Paul could start churches in less time, why not me with these guys?!?

Just some random, but important thoughts. As I was running the other day I was listening to N.T. Wright's "New Perspective on Paul," & he mentioned something like this: "Nietzsche defined Paul as the most tormented man to have ever walked the face of the earth." I didn't think too much about it, other than: The Enlightenment's perspective on life, especially spirituality, is dumb(?). There are more educated words, but they escape me right now. Anyways, I tucked it away. At our service this Sunday we were talking about giving everything to Jesus (seems like we talk about that a lot) & our friend Carol, who is pretty heavenly minded said this: "Paul, was a man totally enraptured by Jesus. He never really thought about the cost of following him because someone who is absolutely captivated doesn't regard losing one thing for love's sake as sacrifice." So, when I put these two statements together things mesh for me. Nietzsche, who is looking from the outside at Paul's actions can refer to him as tormented, & he was; he was tormented by a love that is undefinable outside of actually submitting to it. Carol knows that love & is therefore smarter than Nietzsche.

There have been some cool things going on in SC. This last Saturday, Valentine’s Day, we did an outreach with another church in town, Faith Community Church, & handed out 485 (some got broken!) carnations around town. On each flower was a tag that said: “Jesus thinks you’re awesome & so do we.” We have been doing this for years before moving to SC & think it’s a great idea still. I was really blessed to see how many people from our church actually turned out for this (about 45%--15/17 peeps). This was great & shows me we aren’t creating a culture of spectators, but people who really desire to know Him & make Him known. We broke up into 3 groups & went: Downtown, UCSC, & around the Rio Theatre (“Mid-Town” to the locals). Everyone had a great time & they were genuinely surprised at: (a) how easy it is to share your faith in a very practical way; & (b) how receptive people were to what we were doing. As I was talking to Laben the other morning I told him that, although 480 people got to hear a portion of the gospel, everyone who was involved became more emboldened to share the gospel , which will have wonderful results.


Our next outreach will be April 20th aka. 4:20. Stoners around the world smoke pot each day at 4:20pm & on April 20th they all get together & light up at the same time. In SC a huge group of students gets together on campus to light up at the same time. What a great opportunity to tell them about Jesus. We want to pass out, what I’m calling right now: “Stoner survival packets,” which will include: water, candy, snack, & a card that says, “Jesus thinks you’re awesome & so do we.” It’s my hope we can pass out 1000 of these.


If you want to be involved, please come down; we will need all the help we can get.


Later that night Jeff, Janine, Linda, & I all went out for dinner. Randy K (who is an incredible coach) gave my wife & I some money for Valentines, so we all went to sushi. Our waiter, Jeff, is the owner’s son & when we got our food we told him we were about to pray & asked if he needed prayer for anything. Not really sure what to do (I don’t think many Christians offer to pray for their waiters) he said, “Pray for better business.” We did, had a great time, & left him a $100 tip. We’ll go back & see him again. When we got into the car I called Randy & told him what we did with his money. I’m not sure if he’s gonna’ send more or less after hearing about that.
On Sundays we continue to see more homeless people in our service. This is great, but many of them leave after realizing we aren’t going to feed them physically. However, some stay. Lori is a wonderful Asian woman who “dropped out” after her 14 month old girl was kidnapped. This was her second time joining us, so after praying for her (she’s huge into Asian medicine & not prayer) my wife invited her to come over the next day to eat & clean up. So, the next day she arrived at our house & took an Asian herbal bath (milk, sage, & rosemary) & ate some of our Turkey soup. It was great to have her over & my kids were playing with her the whole time. Before leaving she mentioned that after living in SC for 7yrs, no one had ever invited her to their house. This is interesting to me; is it interesting to you?

About a year ago we passed out flyers at UCSC for a free BBQ. We had close to 100 students show up & we played games & ate food. At the BBQ two Japanese students came & have been hanging out ever since. Often they walk into our mtgs late, which is really funny, but they show up on a regular basis. Last night the guys invited one of the two guys, Tader, to hang out & watch the Jesus video in Japanese (what a resource that is). Tader confessed Jesus & we will baptize him in March.

This last Sunday a new girl came to our service. She is philosophy major at UCSC & we had a chance to speak afterwards. I’m always blown away at how ignorant (not stupid, but unknowing) people are concerning Jesus. Now much of this is perpetrated by the church, but pop-culture does its work too. She mentioned many subjects to me including: imperialism; ethics, values, etc. (Basically Christianity sucks--& in many cases I agree) One thing she said was Jesus’ primary focus was ethics; I told her Jesus wasn’t concerned with ethics (at least not what she meant, i.e. a list of external do’s & don’ts) & she was kinda’ stunned by this statement saying, “Jesus didn’t teach ethics?!” I said, “Jesus was not a teacher of ethics; however, when a person is transformed by God they become much more ethical. Jesus was, & is, concerned with people being transformed by His love, not conformed to a set of rules.” How many people’s view of God would be totally rearranged if they really understood this one truth?

That's a lot of pictures!
Blessings,

My friend Juan is helping us with logo stuff. What do you think of these ideas?