Coffee for a Cause

Here's a creative way that a West Valley charity helps inner-city youth.  They opened a coffee shop so they could employ and mentor underprivileged teens, enabling them to earn money, build confidence, and learn valuable job skills. 

 

Java Grounds is located at 8385 W. Deer Valley Road in Peoria.  

 

 

Welcome Home, White Bus

Are you ready for some adventures, White Bus?  Let me tell you about two that you're sure to experience...

 

 

Kids Club.  For some kids who come and sit on your seats, it might be the first time someone has ever taken them to church.  And you'll have the privilege of safely, comfortably getting them there!

 

 

Teen Camp.  Have you ever been to Colorado, White Bus?  Well, get ready, because you're going to leave the blazing heat of Phoenix and pass mountains and desert and mountains and desert until you reach the coolness of Southwestern Colorado.  Then you'll get a week of mostly resting while your passengers dig deep into Scripture, float down a frigid river, and sleep in bunk beds. 

 

 

Welcome home, White Bus.

 

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God recently provided a buyer for our 1997 little blue Blue Bird bus, and we purchased a newer, nicer, more dependable 2007 International bus.  I think one of the best "bus stories" I've ever read is one I posted on the blog in 2009.  It's titled Finding Wisdom Behind the Wheel of the Vacation Bible School Bus and is written by a medical doctor who found himself driving the bus to pick up unchurched children and take them to VBS.  His writing style is delightful and witty, his observations spot-on.



Teens Learning Truth

Teens learned about trust and the life of Judas during Caleb's message on Friday evening.

 

Eileen has been leading the Bible study for teen girls on Monday.  A special education teacher by occupation, Eileen is gifted in teaching and sharing her heart and God's truth with the girls.

 

This question led to much discussion; is Jesus just a "life jacket" to get you out of tough spots and problems, or is He the central part of your everyday life?

Kids Club--and How You Change the World

You'll have to look for subtle differences here, but this is Edition Normal:

 

Then Edition Mad-Grumpy-DO NOT Smile:

 

Then Edition Crazy:

 

Then Edition Peace-Out, Man:

 





 

Brother and sister:

Yesterday was perfect weather for playing outdoors.

 

It seems that when class time comes, I forget to take photos.  We have started a new series about the armor of God.  I am thankful for the many volunteers that show up week after week to help with Kids Club.  Most of them work a day job and then come and spend their dinner hour teaching kids who might not smell too great and are full of words when you really want them to be full of quiet.

 

In a blog post I read this week was a good dose of Scripture-rich encouragement to keep on keepin' on -- whether it's in children's or youth outreach or anything God has set before you.  Here are some excerpts from the excellent article You Will Change the World by Jon Bloom (bold emphasis is mine):

 

Our purposeful or incidental interactions and intersections with other people affect the timing of events or ideas or decisions that direct the future trajectory of their lives, eventually affecting millions.

 

...if you knew how much your life actually impacts others, how far that impact extends, and some of the unforeseen massively important things that result, it might frighten you into near paralysis, fearing you might cause a calamity.

 

There is no such thing as an unimportant, meaningless life. Life would only be meaningless if atheism were true. Then all of reality would be meaningless.

 

The life you have been given is an assignment from the Lord (1 Corinthians 7:17). You don’t need to be someone else and you don’t need to be somewhere else. You need to be who and where God wants you to be. Because your assigned life is not just about you. It’s also about hundreds of others around you and hundreds of thousands of others who will come after you.
And since you are not wise or foreseeing enough to chart your own course for the sake of your present and future fruitfulness, you must follow Jesus by faith.

What is truth?

It was awhile ago that I received this series of text messages from a teenager:

How can I understand God?

May I ask, what made you believe in God?

Talk about "loaded" questions!  How would you answer them? 

Pastor Tim Keller speaks and writes about the need for Christians today to be apologists, especially when ministering in an urban context.  He says: 

"Just giving the what (for example, a vivid gospel presentation) worked in the days when the cultural institutions created an environment in which Christianity just felt true or at least honorable. But in a post-Christendom society, in the marketplace of ideas, you have to explain why this is true, or people will just dismiss it."  (bold and underline emphasis is mine)

There is a generation for whom "Jesus loves you," doesn't seem to cut it.  There is a marketplace of ideas of Ikea-sized proportions.

Yesterday evening during Aim Right's Bible study for teen girls, the girls had a lot of questions, ranging from gender identity to the sovereignty of God to creation.  For most topics, the teens had a perception of what was true based on what culture has led them to believe.  When we staff responded with a counter-cultural answer, we needed to be prepared to tackle why we believe that way.

Joseph Goebbels served as Adolf Hitler's Propaganda Minister (yes, that was actually his title!), and this quote is attributed to Goebbels:
“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic, and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”

We are living in a culture of big lies, and the World Wide Web has made it quite convenient to repeat them as often as someone chooses.

Aim Right North: Girls Club

Aim Right North is trying something new and has begun a weekly Girls Club and a weekly Boys Club.  These replace the usual Wednesday Kids Club.

 

For this week's Girls Club, Jewel divided the girls into two teams.  One team received strips of paper, and the other team an empty box.  "Create something!" was the instruction to each team.  Then the girls learned about how our amazing God created the world -- out of nothing.  A final activity was decorating journal covers; there, the girls will record questions and answers each week.

Two Things







Firstly:

A big thank you to the mighty team of 29 who generously and collectively gave $11,520 towards the Matching Grant (30/30) Campaign.  The goal:  100% met!  There were individuals who stood in the gap to close the gap on March 31 to help us cross the finish line, and we are so grateful for God's provision through them and many others.

Secondly:

I nearly did a double take when I spotted this on a billboard when I was driving recently.  What?!?



 

CCV is the largest church in Arizona.  And they are known for doing things in big ways.  For instance, they reserve Chase Field  (the baseball stadium) for their father/son camp out. 

 

However, I'm fairly sure that this, "Let's have Easter where the Super Bowl was played," is something new.  And obviously, something done in a big way.  The stadium holds 75,000.  They're prepared for 55,000-60,000 attendees.

 

Will local, smaller churches not be as robust in attendance at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday morning?  Perhaps.  But let's give CCV credit for making Easter a big deal.  It's not about an $85 gourmet brunch at a Scottsdale resort or the Easter bunny or Cadbury eggs (as tasty as they are), but the resurrection that anchors our faith.  J.B. Phillips' paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 15:14 says, "if Christ was not raised then neither our preaching nor your faith has any meaning at all."

 

No Resurrection = No Meaning.

 

The Resurrection = Meaning.  Life.  Purpose.  Hope.  Salvation.  Peace.  Reconciliation. 

 

Believers in Jesus have much to celebrate this weekend!

 

A Good Day to Try Some Chudder

I have somewhat of a personal connection to the farmer in the video since my dad knew him well.

 

 Enjoy!