Shepherds

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all! Hope your holiday season continues to be full of blessings and joy!

No better way to start off this week's note, than to talk about the Christmas Market. Lisa, Tania and their crew, got things started off Friday around noon, bringing all the gifts from our secret hiding place to the fellowship hall. Lots of help from our friends at Grace were on hand helping sort, price and hang. By 5 or so, Santa's helpers were finishing up!

Saturday morning, by 8am, there was a line of folks waiting to get their tickets. We had rearranged the chapel for a gathering area, full of hot coffee, pastries and Christmas movies playing on the big screen! When 9 am rolled around, everybody was in place to open the doors. Pastor Juan and all our friends from Grace showed up to help with the shopping, wrapping, and taking the gifts out to their cars, keeping the food warm and the coffee hot. As Lisa has already posted on our Facebook page, lives were changed on both sides of the aisle! We almost doubled the number of folks from last year who shopped! What a blessing for everyone involved.

Scott visited the camps to find everybody doing fine. Our Christmas gifts for our friends got lost in the mail, so Scott took time out of his busy schedule to go shopping for them and then on Christmas morning, he delivered the gifts. What a huge blessing!

Tuesday evening, we gathered in the fellowship hall for a meal prepared by Vicky and her elves. A big crowd of boys and men enjoyed it all. We then moved into the chapel and Brother Rickie led the study reading from Exodus chapter 3, talking about Moses and the burning bush.

Thursday we had small meal and a small crowd. Glad there was a small crowd, because that meant, folks were with their families. The highlight of the evening was we got to talk with Joey on the computer! We had worked it out to Skype him and we got to visit for a long while. I don't understand all of it, but it was Friday morning around 7:30 in the Philippines. He is doing fine, missing all of you. He wanted us to tell you how much he appreciates all your prayers for him, he can feel them. He will try to call us again on another Thursday.

Continued prayers for our friend Jerry. He had a heart attack Saturday morning at the center. Our friend, Mary, had a baby aspirin to help with the attack. As the paramedics told us, because of the aspirin, they were able to get him to the hospital in time. So Ardis wanted to tell everybody, she bought a jar of baby aspirin and it is in the medical kit, which is in a front cabinet in the kitchen. 

Prayers for our outdoor friend Brad. We finally got to see him Wednesday. He was still not awake but holding his own. While we were there, we called his mother. She was very appreciative of our call. We held the phone to Brad's ear and his mom told him she loved him and to get better. While she was talking to him Brad twitched! The only movement he made while we were there. She thanked us for looking out for him and asked us to please continue visiting him.

Your prayers are working, Ginellen was feeling well enough to make it to Grace's Christmas Eve service. She still has a long road in front of her, but each day gets a little better. Please continue your healing prayers. 

One of our long time friends, John Sauls will have a birthday this coming week, December 31st. Happy Birthday John!

It has become a tradition for our Monday Grace men's Bible group, to read the birth of Jesus. We read from Luke and Matthew, reading from Isaiah this year. Tuesday evening we read from Exodus. A thought came to me as we were reading Tuesday evening about Moses. Evidently Pastor Juan had the same thought, shepherds.

We all know, God choose shepherds to announce to the world. He could have chosen kings or priests or rulers, but He chose the least of them to show them what had happen, shepherds. In Exodus chapter 3, the passage starts off by Moses tending the flock of his father-in-law. Not only was he tending sheep, Moses decided to take the flock as far away from people as he could get!

Well we know the rest of the story, God found Moses and convinced Moses, he was going to lead God's people out of slavery. God did not chose a king, or a priest, or a ruler to lead His people, He chose a shepherd.

God is good about finding just the right person to do His task. God wants folks with lvoing hearts, that can humble themselves and allow His Spirit to flow through them. Just like you!

Moses tried to get out of his job, like we do. He was not a very good talker, he did have the education, he did not have the courage, all good excuses, but nothing God can't take on. In verse 11, Moses said to God, who am I to do this task? verse 12, God said to Moses, I will be with you.

As we come into a new year, we will be faced with challenges, but also many glorious opportunities God will put before us. How will we respond? We can make all sorts of excuses, deny it happened, don't listen, but we won't receive the blessings of God if we do. Yes, it will be uncomfortable at first. It will seem overwhelming at times, but remember as God told Moses, I will be with you! Amen!

As celebrate the end of another year and the coming of a new year, may we all follow the path Moses took, allowing God to lead as we follow! Peace and Joy to all!

Ask, Seek, Knock

Happy Friday to all and to all a good night! Ooops, I stole Santa's speech. Hope your week was filled with joy and peace. What a special time of year it is!

Our Saturdays continue to be colorful as we go about God's work! Our visits to the camps brings us comfort and joy, our work with our basketball team brings us peace and compassion, our work in the kitchen with bread, gingerbread houses, and lunch brings about blessings and smiles.

We have come to a close of our first semester of our learning to read program. Our children received goody bags on Wednesday. Such sweet children, such caring leaders, brings us laughter and excitement.

Tuesday evening, the men and boys of the community gathered for the reading of the Word. Matt read from Matthew 7 verses 7-12. Ask, Seek, Knock. All action words, requiring us to get out of our comfort zones to find Jesus. Are we willing to do so? What will you find if you do?

Santa and Ms Abbie led our chapel with songs of the season. Brother Chester led our worship with words from God's book. Our Christmas banquet was enjoyed by lots of our neighbors and friends. Santa joined in on the fun, handing out smiles and candy to the children. Pictures of the evening are posted on our Face book page. Seeing old friends, meeting new family brings us blessings and peace.

Continue to lift up Karl as he continues to heal from his pacemaker procedure. It was a good week for Ginellen with no pain, so please continue your healing prayers for her. Prayers for one of our longtime friends, Amanda. She had knee replacement surgery and is home recovering. She is in lots of pain and discomfort.

This Friday starting at 1 until?, we will be at the center getting our Christmas Market ready for Saturday. You are welcomed to come and enjoy the afternoon. Then Saturday morning starting at 9, the Market will open for business. All sorts of jobs will be avaiable for you to come and have fun.

Next Thursday, Christmas Day, we will have a meal starting at 5. 

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. Do you want to know Jesus? Do you want to have a relationship with Jesus? Do you want to experience the blessings of Jesus? Ask, seek, knock! Pretty simple, straight forward, no gimmicks, just do it!

It hit me Tuesday afternoon, we can seek Jesus in many different ways. We can seek Him through scripture. We can seek Him through relationships. We can seek Him by being obedient. We can seek Him by being faithful.

Tuesday afternoon, I took my wife shopping for the first time in six months. It was the first time she has felt like getting out. As we parked the car and walk towards the store, she grabs hold of my hand and we walk hand and hand! During her trials this year, we have prayed for healing but also, I think God is healing us in ways we did not expect!

Tuesday evening, we had a room full of young boys in the circle for Bible study. Many months ago, Matt, Byron and others were clearing a vacant over grown lot, full of weeds and trash, preparing a place where basketball could talk place. We were hoping the neighborhood children would come, but we had no idea God wanted more. Now we have a group of boys, not only learning to work together as a team, but learning about Jesus! Our boys now have a league in which to compete in!

Last Thursday, Lisa tells the Board about all the unexpected funding we have received this month. Allowing us to receive a new air conditioner and heater for the chapel, to complete the renovation of the Bright House I, and meet our financial obligations for the year. We have been asking for God's direction and asking us to follow His will not ours all year long.

Did everybody see Ardis' post in Facebook about her and Vicky's experience at Wal Mart this week? They are in line, with baskets full of toys, hoping not to break the budget. A gentleman asks what is all the toys for, his heart takes over and takes half of the toys and pays for them himself!

We have been experiencing God's grace and blessings in our community for years. Over and over, He comes through, just when it seems all is lost. God is always there for us. He wants a relationship with us. He will provide for us. All we have to do is Ask, Seek and Knock!

As we come to the fourth week of Advent, as we celebrate the birth of our Savior, let's pause for a minute or two or three and know for everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; the one who knocks, the door will be opened! Not maybe, not sometimes, but the door "will" be opened! Opened to a world of blessings we have no comprehension of what God can do! Amen!

Enjoy this week with your family and love ones. A special time, a joyous time, a time to experience what Jesus can do for us all!

Light and darkness

And you said prayer doesn't work?! I know you are all wondering if we found our lost dancing elves? Well we did! Our flock is whole again, thank you Lord. Hope your week was a special as ours was!

This past Saturday is another example of you just never know what is going to happen when we visit the camps, we had joy, tragedy and then peace. Turner was fine, more quiet than normal, then we get the news from Robert about Brad, but ended on a positive note as we were treated to a hot bowl of chili prepared by Smokey! I have been copying Joey's newsletters for Smokey. He has them taped to his wall so he can pray for Joey every day, isn't that amazing! Smokey has become the resident chef for his neighbors, so each weekend, he cooks up a pot of various meals for the guys. When we were there, "Dennis the Menace" was bringing a pot of rice to Smokey to go with his chili!

Our Monday and Wednesday learning to read activities continued. This coming week will be our last with the children for this semester. We can always use a smiling face or a lvoing heart to play with the children. Join us from 3-5.

Tuesday evening, Matt led our men's Bible fellowship by reading from 2 Corinthians chapter 7. We sometimes need to share with our brother or sisters, things that they are doing, that may not be of God. It is out of lvoe we do so. As it says in verse 10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret.

Thursday evening was started off by our friend Wes, as he played Christmas carols as Willie sang and shared the Word. Willie talked about Acts chapter 20 verse 24, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me. . . We need to stay true to God's plan for us. Peaches cooked up a delicious meal for us all, bags of groceries were handed out, clothes given away. A great evening.

Lisa updated the Board on several things following the meal. Lots of huge donations have come our way. Enough to get our new Air conditioning and Heating unit installed in the chapel. More funds have been given for us to remodel the Bright House I. And still there is more funds available. What a huge blessing from God and from the people of God! Chris Broadwell was there to help us, who are Facebook challenged, to learn the system to help improve our page. Watch out for upcoming "likes" "followings" "posts" whatever those may mean?!

Continued prayers for Brad. We had Brother Elbert make a visit to see Brad on Wednesday. Brad is still heavily sedated, but Brother Elbert felt Brad was fighting for his life. Prayers for Karl. His pace maker procedure went well, not in the recovery mode. He will be home bound for a month, the hardest part of his recovery! Prayers for Matt and Vicky. Matt's mom is not doing well. Always hard as we deal with the aging of our parents. For so many years they have taken care of us, now we have to deal with their health problems as our roles are reversed and we become the care givers. William needs our prayers. He was at Bible fellowship Tuesday evening. Good to see him, but he is struggling. 

Blessings for a safe return home for Beth and Charley's son Wes. Wes has been in China for several years teaching English but he is back home. What a great Christmas for the Ackermans!

We will have our Christmas meal this coming Thursday. Hopefully the guy in the red suit will make it, to visit with the children young and old!

Our setting up of the Christmas Market is fast approaching. Some will be at the center this Sunday evening working with the Grace youth. Next Friday, December 19th starting at noon, we will be setting up the fellowship hall and turning it into our Christmas Market. Saturday, Dec. 20th will be the market starting at 9. All sorts of help will be needed. Please let Lisa know if there are certain jobs you would like to do and just come and help out where needed. Guaranteed to be fun and joyful!

We had challenges this week. I was reminded again where we are and what God has us doing. Over the past 20 years, we have experienced great joy but also great challenges. In our community, we will always have challenges. Our task is to turn our challenges over to God and move forward. Over the years, it would have been easy to say, we are out of here, we don't need this. It would have been easy to give up and walk away. Satan would have liked that! 

We have been asked to follow a path laid out by God, into uncharted territories, knowing there will be pitfalls, but also knowing there will be blessings. The blessings far out weigh the obstacles!

I am reminded again, we are part of a community where darkness is more prevalent than the Light. At times, it seems like the darkness is winning, but we all know who is in charge! God will not let the darkness win. I was thinking about our community and seeing pockets of light in our community. One of our tasks in the coming year is to see if we can connect those lights in our community, like a string of Christmas lights and see how bright God's light can shine!

I am also reminded, God is watching how we react to our challenges. If we turn and run, God will not bless us. It we stay and fight, God will honor us with more blessings. It's up to us to decide which way we go.

Jesus chose to stay and fight the battles. He chose to come to this earth for us, knowing what would happen to him. He chose to be born in a place where the common man would be, not the rich and famous. Our obstacles are His. Our cries are heard by Him. Our heartaches are felt by our God. We are not on this journey alone, God is right there with us. His light will never go out! Amen.

Have a great week as we celebrate the third week of Advent and the coming of our Lord and Savior!

Lost on rocky ground

The first week of the last month of the year is over, wow! So much to be thankful for! God sent His son to walk among us to learn from him, to learn to love like him, to learn to bring peace and joy to others. Time to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior!

Our camp visits were very nice. Not sure I have mentioned it before, but wanted those of you in Shreveport to be on the look out for billboards for a new mayoral candidate! Robert said, when his disability checks begin to come in, he wants to run for mayor! He wants to start his campaign by first putting his pictures on billboards! Not sure that is what you are suppose to use your checks for?! But I guess it could be worse!

With school back in session, our reading classes continued this week. We some new faces join in on the fun helping our children with their reading. We can always use more help, so please drop by for a visit between 3 - 5 Monday and Wednesdays.

Tuesday evening, Brother Elbert led the men's Bible fellowship reading from Mark 4: 1-20. The farmer sowing seeds on various types of ground. The men shared, at different points in their lives, their ground was not made of good soil. Thankfully the farmer never gave up and one year our ground was good and produce bountiful crops!

Thursday was started off by our friend from our men's Bible fellowship, Rickie West. As he put it, he offered words of encouragement, not there to preach! Spencer got our month of chapel started off right by the singing of some Christmas hymns. Brother George's church provided the food and fellowship for our meal. A big crowd for the first of the month made their way from the meal to the food pantry.

Hopefully everybody saw our article in the local paper concerning the Christmas Market. The link is on our Facebook page. I brought Byron the article and he promptly put it in his pocket so he could take it home and show his family his picture in the article. First time that has happened to him.

Prayers go up for Karl this morning, as he is receiving a pace maker. He said, when he goes to sleep at night so does his heart! The doctors want to be sure they can keep his heart beating at a steady pace during the night. Prayers for Charley Ackerman. He had a stroke several weeks ago. They are working with the VA hospital to determine the course of treatment. Prayers for Ginellen. She continues to adjust to life with an "appliance" strapped to her stomach. The one blessing, is her bottom area has not hurt since this last procedure. She goes to the doctor on Tuesday to determine what is next. Prayers for Joey. So nice to see his posts on Facebook and to hear his voice on the phone. His challenges in a foreign land are big. Help Joey continue to be strong in his faith and obedience.

In our Monday night Bible study we read from Luke Chapter 15, talking about the lost sheep. Not sure God had this parable in mind when we put up our Christmas decorations!? 

Unfortunately, putting up our holiday decorations has fallen on me these past two years. I enjoy all the lights and pretty stuff once it is out, but putting the stuff out, is a pain! I spent last weekend, decorating the tree, putting out the nativity scene, lined our mantel with nutcrackers, put out reindeer and flashing lights on the hearth. All very nice and colorful, until Ginellen asked where are the dancing elves?

I had worked tirelessly for two days, everything was just right, lights a flashing, baby Jesus sleeping in the hay, garland was hung, but we were missing dancing elves!  I will admit, I wanted to sit back and admire a job well done. I said to Ginellen, all the decorations are nice, we don't need dancing elves. But she would not have any of that! The elves were lost and we need to find them. Our kingdom of decorations are not complete until we find them!

Aren't we glad Jesus does not sit back on his throne and say, most of my flock is doing what they are suppose to be doing, but there is this one person, lost, does not have my heart, they need me. Most of us would say, look at the 99, a job well done, but not Jesus! Jesus goes out of his way to find us and bring us back into His Kingdom. Aren't we glad He did not give up on us!

When our ground was like rock, or full of thorns and the Word was given to us or shown to us, but we did not hear it or take it to heart, Jesus did not stop throwing out His blessings on us. Don't give up! Jesus didn't!

A life full of Jesus will present challenges. People will react both negatively and positively to us. It is easy to receive a compliment, but hard to live with a complaint. People will let us down at some point. but Jesus never will. Don't give up, Jesus didn't!

We all have been lost from time to time. We all have strayed. We all have been on rocky ground. But don't give up, Jesus is always watching out for us, always doing what He can to bring us back into His Kingdom! Amen.

Hope you all have a great second week of our Advent season. God is good! All the time! Amen! Oh yeah, pray we find our lost dancing elves!

Born again

Happy Thanksgiving week to you all. Hope your turkey and dressing was good.

I was driving out in the country this week and was overwhelmed with the beauty of God's majesty! Not sure I have ever seen such pretty colors. Drove across one of our lakes and witnessed formations of ducks and geese flying in the brightest blue skies. Thank you God for creating this world and all your creatures. God is so good!

I should know by now, you never say something to our friends who live outdoors and don't deliver. Scott felt the raff of Turner as I let him down by not delivering one of our Thanksgiving meals last Thursday. Our friends don't have a lot of contact with the outside world and we have become their source of enjoyment and anguish! Being the kind of person Scott is, his big heart, he went to a local cafeteria this week and picked up a dinner for Turner and delivered it to his camp! Thank you Scott!

No afternoon reading and school work this week with schools out for the holiday.

Tuesday evening, the men gathered in the chapel for fellowship. A packed house of young boys and men sharing the lvoe of Jesus with each other. Matt read from John 3: 1- 16. Being born again was discussed and what that looks like.

Thanksgiving Day as I pulled up to the center around 4, we had a crowd already gathered! I was again reminded, hunger, loneliness, despair does not take a day off. Sorry Abbey, the black bean soup didn't look appealing to me, so we came up with a menu of biscuits, potatoes, ham, pork and beans from Tom and a pan of brownies. We need to remember, we have become an important part of our community. They look to us for a place where they can come out of the cold. A place where they can feel a sense of family. A place where hope can be found. A place where lvoe is shown. The community helped serve. Watched a little football. Life was good for an hour or so.

Was checking my calendar and forgot to wish Beth Ackerman a happy birthday last Thursday. Sorry Beth, hope your day was a good one. This week, one of our first young leaders from Centenary will be celebrating her birthday, Macy. Macy lives in New York at the moment. Macy's birthday is Friday, Dec. 5th.

Christmas Market is quickly coming up, Dec. 20th. Spread the word to your family and friends, help will be needed Friday to set up and Saturday to shop.

In verse 3 of the third Chapter of John, Jesus says, Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again. My Bible app, says the Greek translation for again also means from above.

Never thought about that before, to be born again, we have all heard that, but sometimes I think we go through the motions not really understanding what Jesus is asking of us?

We say we are born again, but does our actions show that? We are a changed person, but do we still do the same thing? We hear a good talk by a pastor and say Amen, but do we take it to heart? Do we start following the pastor, the man, rather than the Word?

The question was asked to the men on Tuesday night, why should these young men, in their teens, want to be born again? What's in it for them? They will become persecuted in their circles at school, in their neighborhoods, in their homes, so why suffer the abuse?

Like the Greek translation suggests, we are to be reborn into God's lvoe. The Holy Spirit that resides in all of us, will control our lives as we allow it to. When we face a test, a challenge, an angry mob, God is there by our sides. When it is late at night, by ourselves and we need someone to help us through, God is there. His strength will get us through it. He will never leave us.

In our community, we have many young people coming. We see them coming to play basketball, to prepare a meal, to do some homework, to eat a meal, to learn about life. They see, they are curious, they hear, they wonder what God is all about. Their best example of God's lvoe is you!

They will see your actions and begin to understand who God is. They will begin to ask questions and we can lead to them to their own relationships with Christ. What an amazing time we have before us. Allowing young people to be born again into the Father, allowing them to know Jesus in their own special way, will empower them to have the greatest companion for the rest of their lives! Amen.

Have a great first week of December, as we begin to focus on the birth of Lord and savior Jesus Christ!

community

Hope your week was filled with God's blessings and joy.

Not being around the center much this week, don't have much to report. Others will have to let us know how things went. The one thing I do know, life goes on, whether you are there are not, amazing God we have!

Scott visited the guys Saturday morning. All the camps had a fire going trying to stay a little warm. It was cold. When we got back to the center, Vicky and her girls were busy fixing grilled cheese and ham sandwiches for lunch. Yummy! The basketball team was coming in as we were leaving around noon. Ardis had just finished wrapping the bread.

I did get to experience a little of our family Thursday evening. Pastor Juan shared his thoughts on community. Our friend Spencer, shared his gifts of song. Then we walked into the center with the smell of our Thanksgiving meal all around. Reports of over 200 being served a delicious meal of turkey, dressing, beans, corn, pies of all shapes and flavors. After the meal, we had the Centenary Lacrosse team, help the community grocery shop in the friendship room. Community being able to get things they want or need is a good thing, one we will try to do more often in the coming months.

Please pray for our John Sauls and his group of Missionaries. They left this morning at 4am. Below is what they will be doing and where they will be.

A group will be traveling to Lo de Reina, Comayagua, Honduras, November 21-28, 2014. This team will be working with El Ayudante (The Helper) missionaries and local leaders and village residents on the following projects:  installation of water tanks, water filters, and outdoor latrines, VBS, Medical Clinic, light construction, and a local school project such as painting a room.  They will also administer fluoride treatments and anti-parasite medication to all the children in the school.

Please continue to pray for Phil. He came by Thursday evening on crutches. He is doing good. It just take time for his knee cap to heal completely. Please pray for a new friend of ours, Sherry. Sherry works behind the scenes for us, doing a lot of our graphic design stuff. Her mother passed away Thursday. You can call or text her at 349-5553. or email her at sheflin@centenary.edu, Your continued prayers for my wife will be appreciated. She came through surgery on Tuesday fine. The doctors 

were able to attach her ileostomy bag easily. Now we are in the process of learning how to use it. She is in the hospital allowing her body 

to adjust to her bag.

The thought that comes to mind this morning, is community. Community takes various forms. Community prays for each other. Community is there for each other. Community steps in to help out. Community cares for each other. I got a text this week, saying we are praying for you and your wife. We are not there in person, but know you are being prayed for. Isn't that amazing. What a comfort.

When you are faced with trials in life, you often think, the world is against you. You begin to have a pity party and think, you are going through life on your own, no one cares. But being a part of this community, everybody cares, you are not going through life by yourself. Thank you all for being such special servants of the Lord. Amen.

Hope everybody has a great week. Enjoy your Thanksgiving Day with family and friends, knowing you are being prayed for by your community.

Do you have a fiery furnace burning?

Baby. it's cold outside! Really cold! Just ask our friends living outside! Hope everybody had a blessed week!

Our friends living outside were full of life Saturday morning. Scott and I were greeted with cheers and hugs. Hot coffee was a treat. Joey and Jerry need firewood for their campfire. Donations of some jackets given out last week will be surely used this week. The basketball team continues their practices, while the girls turned our kitchen into a pizza baking shop. With donated dough, cheese and pepperoni, the girls made pizzas for everybody, they were delicious.

Our afternoon reading times continued on Monday and Wednesday, while Lauren and her group continues helping the children with their homework on Tuesdays.

Tuesday evening, Rickie led our men's Bible fellowship, sharing from Daniel chapter 3, talking about the blazing furnace. Rickie asked us, are we going to be consumed by our fiery furnace or let God handle our problems?

Abbey hosted our students from Centenary on Wednesday and Thursday. The kitchen, 2nd story, children's area all looked cleaner from their efforts.

Thursday got started off by our friend Willie and Ms Abbie sharing their gifts of songs and words. We kind of rocked the boat by starting chapel at 4:45, due to the cold, in order to get us warmer with some praising and singing, it worked! Arriving in the fellowship hall for supper, we thought we had arrived in Little Italy! Our homemade pizzas were being made and served for supper. Our young friends from Cypress Baptist joined in on the fun and helped cook, serve and clean up. Always a treat to have them with us.

Prayers for Dr Phil. Lisa said he had a mishap with his bicycle and the bicycle won! He was having knee cap surgery Thursday evening. Momma T was going to see him, how was he doing Momma T? Did everybody receive Joey's 4th newsletter? Continue your prayers for our brave Christian warrior as he continues his journey in the Philippines. It was not a good week for my wife. We met with her doctor and it was decided, she needs to have a temporary pouch attached. That procedure will be done this coming Tuesday. She will be in the hospital for several days. Once that is done, allowing her older surgery area to heal, the doctors will decide if more surgery will be needed. She has a long road ahead of her, your prayers will be greatly appreciated.

Our Thanksgiving meal will be this coming Thursday. Lots going on, all your help will be needed. We will have the pastor from Grace, Juan sharing the Word. We will open up the pantry so the community can pick out items they will need for their Thanksgiving meals. We will give out frozen turkeys.

I was again amazed in our Tuesday night Bible fellowship by the reading of the Word. You always hear, the Bible is a living book. I don't care how many times you read a passage, it is always different. Maybe you are in a different point in your life. Maybe a new person in your group has a different perspective. You just never know what God is up to! I remember hearing about this story when I was the sound man for a children's play at Grace many years ago. I was amazed about hearing the 3 young men defying the king and being thrown into the fiery furnace and not dying. 

There were several of our young basketball team players listening to this story told by Rickie. These young Jews, would rather die than bow down to something they felt was wrong. Their faith was strong enough to be bold in their decisions to say no! The timing couldn't have been better, our young basketball team needs to hear from men of God. Matt and Rickie are good role models for our boys. Coming to Bible study the boys will be ridiculed at school and in their neighborhoods, but Rickie told them, it is ok, because you boys serve a God who will take care of you the rest of your lives.

Rickie pointed out when the 3 young men were thrown into the furnace, there was a fourth person already there. In verse 25, the king said, Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods. Rickie said, you guys, have someone who goes before you in your struggles. You have someone who has been through all the trials you will face in your life. You have a man, who has tasted evil and defeated it.

The end of verse 28, the young Jews, trusted in God and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. Rickie said, we need to let go of our hatred, our jealousy, our pride and turn it all over to God. God is bigger than anything we can throw at Him. He will make a way where there seems to be no way to go! Amen.

Hope you all have a great week. See you around the center. 

The lvoe of Jesus

The month of October has come and gone. The year has come and gone! Wow, hope you all had a great week!

Sunday evening, Momma T and I had the privilege to meet with some folks at Grace, sharing our stories with them. Hopefully this will only be the beginning of something new.

Saturday was another day of activities in and around the center. Scott visited the camps. It was chilly, hot coffee was good. Turner told Scott to not buy him anymore new National Geographic magazines! Scott asked why, because Turner didn't want him paying that much for a magazine! Brad was shaking pretty bad. Not sure if it was the cold or other problems. Michael and Donny met us down town, not sure what is going on there? Michael says he still has his apartment, but they meet us downtown?

Matt, Chuck and Byron continue to work with the boys and teaching how team work is important in playing basketball. Vicky and Tim led the girls in cleaning up the Friendship room. Ardis and Momma T led their group in wrapping up the bread. Always a busy place, with God working in all areas of our community.

Tuesday evenings has become a bee hive of activity. Our basketball team plays a little then gathers together for Bible fellowship. This week, they joined the men as we discussed Acts 3: 1-10. A lame beggar was healed by Peter. Can we be healed of our inflictions by allowing Christ to come into our lives?

Monday and Wednesday afternoons continues with the reading skills of our children. We are getting to know the children and learning from them as well. We meet from 3 - 5, come and join us.

Lauren and Chanel continue to meet with the young ladies on Monday afternoons teaching life skills to them.

Thursday evening got started off with a packed chapel. Our friend Noel shared a few words and our other friend, Clayton played his guitar and sang. Another friend TJ, spent all afternoon cooking up our meal of chili and bread pudding. We noticed lots of seconds and thirds being handed out! The grocery and our clothing rooms were busy all night long. For the first Thursday in the month, we had record crowds.

Following our meal and clean up, Lisa had a Board meeting. Finances were doing ok. Discussions about making changes to Thursday evenings. Lisa is in the process of making invitations to our "No-show" Ball. A new youth director's job description was talked about. Our Thanksgiving meal will be November 20th. The new pastor at Grace, Juan will be speaking in chapel that night. Lots of folks will be coming, help will be needed. On Thanksgiving Day, we will be open for a meal at our regular time. December 20th will be our second Christmas Market happening. Lots of exciting times ahead for us and our community.

Lisa will be conducting a Common Ground tour Saturday. It was suggested, we offer tours of our campus, our dreams and our story to new folks who are looking to plug in. We are looking for "tour" directors for future times.

Prayers for Mary Dark, Tom's wife. Tom has been one of long time helper in the kitchen. Mary is suffering from complications from a back surgery. She is home now, but will be going to rehab for weeks to come. Continued prayers for my wife as she recovers. Still in lots of pain. Back to the doctor next week.

A lame beggar or it could be a disinterested man today, does the same thing every day of his life. He gets up, goes to work, comes home, goes to bed, back to the same routine each and every day. Day after day, month after month, year after year, nothing changes, his rut gets deeper and deeper.Then one day, two men, Peter and John, see this beggar and say, we don't have alms, but we have something better.

Peter and John shared the lvoe of Jesus with the lame beggar and his life was never the same after that. Through the lvoe of Jesus, hope was offered where there was none. A new beginning was granted when all looked lost. All things are possible through the lvoe of Jesus. Nothing is too great or too small when Christ is involved. Peter and John recognized it was not about them, but about Jesus Christ of Nazareth working in and through them.

 Someone shared the lvoe of Christ with us and changed our lives. We need to do the same with others. Amen.

Hope your week is full of blessings and joy. Can you share the lvoe of Christ with someone this week and help them get out of their rut!

Be strong and courageous!

How was your week? God is good! What beautiful weather we have experienced in our part of the world.

We had a great Saturday as we got our week started. Scott and Phil visited our friends living outside. Everything went well, no major drama. Momma T and Alan worked in the garden. Ardis and her crew wrapped the breads. 

Some of us had the opportunity to go with our boy's basketball team to Centenary for a visit with the men's basketball team. The boys watched the team practice, then had the opportunity to shoot some hoops with the team. Then coach Adam took them on a tour of the Gold Dome. Coach Adam talked to the them about what it takes to be a good team player, starting with education and a good attitude. Then the boys made their way into the locker room asking the team questions about what is expected of them in the classroom and as a player on the team. Thanks to Abbey for setting it up. Lots of pictures about the trip on our Facebook page.

Afternoon activities continued with our reading programs and homework assistance. Wonderful to see the children each day.

Tuesday evening, Rickie led the men's Bible fellowship reading from Joshua 1: 1-9 and Hebrews 13:8. Joshua took over for Moses, leading the Israelites into the promised land. Do we lead when God tells us to or do we ignore His signs?

Thursday was our fun night of the year. Abbey and Vicky did a great job of organizing the party for our Fall festival. Lisa has already posted pictures of the evening. Great to see so many of our community come out and enjoy all the fun and food. Great to see our friends from Centenary share their love with our children of the community. This year, we had our parking lot full of cars as the community got to treat in the trunks of our Centenary students' cars. A great evening.

Prayers continue for my wife. Wednesday was her first day in 7 weeks with no pain. Thursday she had pain, but at least she had one day, hopefully more to come. Pray for God's direction for us as we begin to move forward.

Thinking about our discussions about Joshua, a man who allowed God to work in and through him as he led his people into uncharted waters. Joshua did not hesitate, because he knew God was with him. In verse 5, God says to Joshua, . . . As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you or forsake you.

Common Ground is at the beginning of a new chapter in our journey. We have been presented with several unique opportunities, wondering which way to go. All of our dreams are unique, special, and deserving of considerations, but what do we do?

Changing the way we do things on Thursday night? Working on the 2 story in preparation of new ministries? Become more structured about the education of our children? All good dreams, all good for our community, all needed to help stop the cycle of poverty. So what do we do? 

God told Joshua, be strong and very courageous. Not once but 3 times in next few verses! Be strong and courageous, keep the Law on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. No better instructions for us. We need to stay centered in God's Word. We need to be focused on God's Word. We need to prayerfully consider God's Word in our journey.

And in verse 9 . . . be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord you God will be with you wherever you go. With the Lord on our side, we will not fail. Nothing is too big for our God. The One who created the universe, can show us the way He wants us to go and find ways to make it happen.

As we move forward, we will not have all the answers. God does not work that way! We need to move forward, knowing God is in charge. He will make things happen the way and timing He wants them to happen. Our tasks will be to be faithful, obedient, patient and to be strong and courageous! Amen!

Hope your weekend and the coming week will be filled with joy and many blessings. God is good. May we be strong and courageous in our walk with the Lord!

Where are we going?

What great weather we have had this week! Cool mornings, mild afternoons, no humidity, I could get use to this! Thank you God for such an amazing season!

This note will be brief! as many of you say yeaaa!

A very big thank you goes out to Matt,Vicky and Tim as they took a huge group of children to family day with Sonatra. Vicky and Tim said their time with Sonatra was outstanding. Tim made the comment, when you have a picture of a person on how they use to look and then see them a few months later all clean, dressed different, you almost don't recognize them, that is what he felt with Sonatra. Vicky talked about how well he is doing in his classes, taking college courses, getting his driving license, becoming a young man who anybody would be proud to know. As a community we need to continue to be there for Sonatra when his time ends at his school and he comes home. Thank you, thank you, thank you Matt, Vicky and Tim.

Scott brought Jerry and Joey to the center to wash clothes, so his visits were short Saturday morning. Turner got his first box of MRE's to become our official taste tester! 

Monday and Wednesday our afternoon reading program continues. One of the children was suppose to stay at school Wednesday, but he has so much fun with us, he did not stay behind. His dad had to come to us to pick him up! Speaks volumes to the lvoe these young people are receiving from all of you.

Tuesday evening, Rickie led the community men's Bible fellowship reading from Psalm 127: 4. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one's youth. The question was asked, How do we dwell in His house or feel His daily presence? We must be like a baby, crying for attention, helpless, humbling ourselves before the Lord.

Alan and Peaches spent several days cleaning out the Bright House. Momma T and I walked through Tuesday afternoon and the place doesn't look the same. Great job. There is a water leak in the bathroom we will need to take care of and we will do some modifications to that room when we do. 

Thursday brought lots of folks and lots of fun. We had our medical van there from St Luke's. Brother Chester brought the Word. Ms Abbie and Pops shared their gifts of song. A good meal and lots of groceries were handed out. Our clothing room has been rearranged by some new friends and they were there to help our community walk through. Thank you all for being so faithful.

Took my wife to her 6 week check up Thursday. She described to the doctor her struggles, he then examined her and said, wow everything looks good, maybe some miracle is happening! When Ginellen walked into the waiting room, I could see a new look on her face! Couldn't wait to get to chapel and tell everybody about that statement. I did and they all clapped! Please continue your prayers, she has a long way to go. God is good.

Most of our week was taken up by our travels to Baton Rouge to accept the Angel Award. Lisa, her husband Mark, Ms Abbie, Momma T, my brother and sister from Lake Charles, Krysten, Lomax and Stephannie joined us for the festivities. Many of you have already gone to our Facebook page to see Lisa's pictures, We will have more to put up in the coming days. Please check back.

The Blue Cross Blue Shield folks have been honoring non profits for 20 years now and know how to put on a banquet! All the media, the atmosphere, the decorations were all there for the recipients and their organizations.

Tuesday morning, we visited with Juan's past church in Baton Rouge, St John's Methodist. They run a food pantry on a larger scale than we do. We spent an hour there, talking, listening, dreaming.

In a "coincidence" as Momma T would not say!  Momma T, Ms Abbie and I visited one of the Angel Award recipients. This lady has started a school for her children she use to tutor in the afternoons. Her story about her journey sounded very similar to ours!

As we drove home Tuesday afternoon, we talked about what God is up to for our community?! My head is spinning with ideas, dreams and anticipation of what is about to happen to us. Receiving an award and receiving the grant was nice, but more importantly, Common Ground is now known across the state. I can't tell you how many folks came up to us and said, what a great job ya'll are doing. With exposure like this, God will use it to build His Kingdom.

Early next year we have the opportunity to again be a part of something special. Blue Cross Blue Shield is offering $1 million dollars to just the Angel Award recipients. We will be in the pool with 160 other groups with the possibility of receiving $50000. Wonder what God can do with that?!

Lisa will hate me for saying this, please bombard her with your thoughts and dreams of how God can use us to help our children of the community in the coming months and years.

God is bringing together, churches, organizations, people, contacts, for what?! Something amazing, something we can be proud of, something that will glorify God, something we have no clue about, something that will blow our minds, how exciting is that!

Please pray, please listen to that small, quiet voice, please share. Amen and Amen!

Have a great weekend and a great week.

Where is Jesus?

What's uuup! How was your week? It's the weekend, enjoy!

For the first time in a long time, the heavens opened up on a Saturday and it was wet, really wet! One of the camps called us to tell Scott we will meet you at a concrete parking lot! Scott said, at least they knew we were coming! We made a decision Saturday morning to hire Turner to be our test tester for our MRE's! We asked Turner, if we bring you a case, would you take it and tell us which ones are good and those that are really good! He said yes, he would do it. Our basketball time was rained out, but fun and games were happening inside the center. Matt, Vicky, Ardis were busy wrapping bread, playing games, putting on a play with the children. Looked like everybody was having a good time.

Our reading afternoons continued with our new children and our homework sessions on Tuesday was happening as well. Good times.

Wednesday afternoon, I had the opportunity to visit with our intern's leader at Centenary's Christian Leadership Center. She tries to place young people who want to go into ministry into churches and organizations. One of her favorite places to put her young leaders is Common Ground!

Tuesday evening, another big group of men gathered to listen to the hearts of others. Matt read from John 14: 1-14. The title of this chapter, Jesus comforts his disciples. We can say the same, read it, Jesus will comfort you!

Thursday was another full afternoon. With our fall weather still with us, we gathered in the chapel. One of my favorite places at the center, just feels right to be in there worshiping God through song and words. Spencer and Abbie shared their gifts of music, Brother George shared the Word. Brother George's church brought dinner, served and helped clean up to a big crowd. People were everywhere, having a good time. Thanks to all for sharing your gifts of servant hood.

Continue to lift up Ginellen. She continues with her very slow recovery from her surgery. Still in lots of pain. Doctor visit next week, hoping to find out what's next for her. Prayers for Matt's mom. She took ill Thursday. Let us know Matt how she is doing. 

Don't forget, this Saturday is Sonatra's Family Day. Matt will be leaving the center around 9 am. If you can't go that early, the festivities go on until 4, so please try to make it if at all possible. Matt and Vicky will be grilling hot dogs around noon. The address is: Youth Challenge Program at Camp Minden (9649 HWY 80, Minden, LA).

Did everybody get Joey's second newsletter? If not please send your email address to Joey: Joeyutley@hotmail.com, He is doing good. Sure like to see his picture. I asked him, when he can, to send us more pictures. 

Some of us will be heading down to Baton Rouge for the Angel Award Banquet Monday. Please keep us in your prayers for safe travel.

Reflecting back on our discussions Tuesday night, you want to know Jesus, then let go. Let go of your pride, your egos, your stubbornness, your thoughts, allowing Jesus to come into your heart, into your soul.

One of Jesus' disciples asked, Lord, show us the Father? They had been with Jesus for almost 3 years, seen His miracles, ate with Him, walked with Him, heard His teachings, and still they asked, show us the Father.

We go to church on the weekends, we take Bible classes during the week, we listen to sermons, we read books about Jesus, and we still ask, where do I find Jesus?

Jesus tells His disciples, don't you believe that I am the Father and the Father is in me. Rather it is the Father living in me, who is doing his work. Jesus knew where His strength came from. It was not about Him but about His Father.

Jesus allowed His Father to enter His heart. We need to do the same. We can't know Jesus until we do. We can know about Jesus, we can read about Jesus, we can study about Jesus, but we won't "know" Jesus until we let Him into our hearts.

Verse 12, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these. When we allow Jesus to come into our hearts, we will do the works of Jesus. Our works will be about Jesus not about us. Our works will be even greater than what Jesus did! Can you imagine, maybe we can't, but as we move forward in our journeys, as we continue to align our ways with God's ways, the endless possibilities we will experience. 

Common Ground continues to be a place where people come to serve and be served. We are finding out that those who come to serve are being served in ways they did not imagine. Common Ground continues to be a place where others who are looking for Jesus, seem to find Him. Not through what we do, but through the people they come in contact with. Exciting times are a head of us. More challenges, more blessings, more lvoe, more Jesus than we can ever know. Join us. Don' t let this opportunity to "know" Jesus pass you by! Amen

Have a great week. This week, allow the Father that was in Jesus, to come into your soul and into your heart!

Our mission

Another week has come to a close. What a week. Hope you had a great one. Life is good!

Saturday was full of fun. Scott led the way to our camps. Turner comes prepared for battle! or goods I should say. Like Scott has said before, with Turner taking all he can carry, there must not be anybody else visiting him. No way can we stay away! Being the first of the month, some of our camps were empty!

Matt, Vicky and Tim keep busy with the basketball games and cooking. Tim took some of the girls around the neighborhood picking up trash and handing out flyers. Momma T worked in the garden. Ardis wrapped her bread. Joey cleaned house. Lots going on.

Monday and Wednesdays keeps us busy helping our new children learn to read. Four rooms are used to divide the children into different groups to get the most out of our time with them. We have lots of good help, but always can use more. Come and join us, 3-5.

Tuesday afternoons, Lauren and her crew help our neighborhood children with their homework. This Tuesday, with the nicer temperatures, found them in the garden, using the tables to get their work done.

Tuesday evening, the men's Bible fellowship group hosted National Night Out. There was a good crowd on hand to enjoy the hot dogs, chips, mac and cheesei, beans, cake and cookies. Good to meet new neighbors.

As we were sitting down for our night out meal, Lomax arrived, with his grandmother as they loaded up her car to take Joey to Dallas to leave on his mission trip.It won't be the same without his smiling face, his big laugh and warm hugs. I miss him already. Joey has created a newsletter for us to keep track of his travels. His first newsletter is the attachment with this note. If you want to get a copy of the newsletter as Joey gets them done, please send your email to: joeyutley@hotmail.com.

Rickie led the Bible discussions as he read from Proverbs 18 verse 21, death and life are in the power of the tongue; and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. Putting in "tongue" in the search section of my Bible app, over 40 verses came up! The tongue is a powerful tool. It can be used both for good and evil. Evil produces fruit you don't want to pick from. Let our tongues be for good, building up our brothers and sisters.

Thursdays chapel was not as planned but as always God works it out. Spencer was there to support Willie as he was to sing and preach. Unfortunately, his wife got sick and could not come, so we all became the choir and Noel shared a few words! God is good. We had some good help from the nurses from Northwestern to help serve and clean up. Groceries were handed out. Clothes were distributed. A good evening, not as planned but always good.

Continued prayers for my wife Ginellen. She is in her 4th week of recovery and still not much relief from the pain. Continued prayer for healing and for sanity as she endures this ordeal. Ms Abbie was back with us Thursday. Good to see her recovering from her surgery. William was with us Tuesday evening. He is in a wheel chair. Continue to lift him up. Pete Bollinger was visiting Thursday evening. He is a long time friend, being away from us for the last several years, due to the illness of his wife Cari. Lift up Cari as she continues her fight against cancer.

For those of you in the Shreveport area, please make plans to visit Grace during one of their services. Lisa is being interviewed by Pastor Juan, as Grace begins to build upon the relationship between Grace and Common Ground. She could use your smiling face to calm her nerves!

A note from Matt follows concerning next Saturday's visit with Sonatra. Please make every effort to be there, it will mean the world to Sonatra.

"Family Day for the Youth Challenge Program at Camp Minden (9649 HWY 80, Minden, LA) will be Saturday Oct 18th. The event is scheduled from 10 am to 4:30 pm., so anyone can come and visit between those hours. Everyone is encouraged to bring lawn chairs and if you want to have lunch with us, bring a picnic lunch.

 

I received a call from Sonatra's counselor yesterday. She felt compelled to call, out of concern that Sonatra was seemingly the only cadet on the base that did not have family and that no one would show up for him on Family Day. I assured her that he has plenty of family and that he will feel loved and valued on family day. She continued to tell me that Sonatra has done an amazing job while at camp and that he is one of only a couple of African American cadets on base taking college prep classes.

 

If you want to see the Cadets march, you might want to arrive by 10:30 am, but I know that Sonatra would love to see anyone at anytime during the day. Just drop Sonatra's name at the gate and you will be allowed to enter the base. They will give you instructions on where to park. The activities will be around the open air pavilion which is easy to pick out when you drive in. You don't need to bring anything for Sonatra because cadets aren't allowed to keep anything that comes in from the outside.

 

If you do plan to come early and can take passengers with you, please let me know (Matt Whitehead 318 510 7995) as there might be some who wish to go but have no means of transportation. We can meet at Common Ground at 9 am and 'caravan' from there.

 

 

So pencil in this date and let's show our cadet support and encourage him on Family Day! See you there!"

There was a letter in the newspaper this week from a former employee of a non profit, who was discouraged in the direction the Board was taking. The Board voted to close it's original mission ministry after 44 years of service to the community. A ministry that the non profit was founded on, now shut down, going in a different way.

Scott, Phil and I have witnessed the same with our outdoor friends. Churches, just 2 or 3 years ago, visiting our friends, bringing love, food and clothing, no longer come. For whatever reason, their mission has changed or maybe lost it's way.

Almost 20 years ago, when we first started coming to our Cedar Grove community, we began to see and hear about living in poverty. Some of us had never been or knew a part of our society could exist like this. We began to experience the hunger, so we fed. We saw the tattered clothing, so we gave what we had. We saw the deplorable living conditions, so we fixed up homes. We experienced the poor health, so we tried to get them to the doctors. We went to the prisons and visited our neighbors. For those who had no place to go, we took them into our homes.

We had no mission statement. We had no vision. We had no Board. We just reacted to what we saw everyday. We have always tried to stay true to Matthew 25 , 35 - 36: For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.

Like a lot of family businesses, when the owner dies or leaves the business, the company closes it's doors. Why, because there is no one to take over or the vision is lost. The same is true with non profits. When those who started the non profit leaves, or others come in, sometimes the vision is lost and the non profit begins to flounder.

As Common Ground begins to move forward with new ideas, new servants, new energy, let's not loose our reason for being apart of the community. We have been blessed all these years, because we continue to stay in the will of God. We need to be able to explain why we do what we do. We need to listen to others, but always stay true to Jesus. We need welcome others in with open arms but maintain a foundation of lvoing others as God lvoes us.

Exciting times are ahead for our community. There will be challenges and obstacles but nothing God can't handle. We are in for a wild ride, one you don't want to miss! Amen!

Have a great week. Spend lot's of time with your friends and family. Tell them you lvoe them, give them a hug. Amen.

Have faith in God

Our summer weather just won't give in. This weekend is suppose to be nice in our part of the country. Hopefully you all have experienced the fall weather and temperatures.

With most of us at our Board retreat Saturday, not much else was going on. Scott made the visits as usual. I got a call from one of the guys who has just moved inside. They called to ask us if we would meet them back at their old camp. I thought the worse and asked why? He said, some friends were passing through and they wanted to be with them while they were in town. Isn't that nice?! Each camp always ask about my wife and how she is doing. When we pray, they always say a prayer for my wife. I am humbled by their hearts. People who have no material possessions, are treated with very little respect by society, prays for my wife!

Monday and Wednesdays are becoming a special time as we get to know our new children. We have a big yellow school bus that drops them off at 3 and picks them back up at 5. Monday as we were standing outside watching the bus pull away, the children waved to us all! We have lots of help, but could always use more. Join us for some great learning experiences.

Lauren and Chanel met with the young ladies Monday afternoon as they begin their journeys together into life and community. They are about to begin a journey that will change the way our young ladies look at their lives and what will be expected of them as they grow up. Please pray for this group as the Spirit of God will need to present to help in this journey.

Tuesday evening men's Bible fellowship was led by Pastor Albert. He read from Mark chapter 11: 22-25. We need our chapel back, the room is getting too small for the group! We talked about forgiveness, faith, and prayers. All important in our walks.

Unfortunately I was unable to be at our meal Thursday, so others will have to let us know what happened. Our young friends from First Methodist will be playing for the last time for awhile. Heather is about to give birth to their first child. In fact, next month the first Thursday of November, their time with us, is their due date. I asked Heather, to bring her over night bag, sing for us and then go to the hospital! I don't think they liked that idea!

Prayers for my wife, Ginellen. We knew her surgery was complicated but had no idea what all was involved. She was experiencing some unusual pain and discomfort so she called her doctor Thursday afternoon. The doctor said to bear with the healing process and things would get better! He might have to do another smaller procedure down the road, but nothing can be done at this point. Prayers for Joey as he will be leaving us next week. What a leap of faith Joey is taking as he feels the calling of God to go back to the Philippines and share God's lvoe with others. Prayers for God's direction in our community. We have lots of challenges and blessings ahead, may we be worthy of them all as we follow the will of God.

Next Tuesday evening, the Community Men's Bible Fellowship will be hosting National Night Out. One of our men of the community wanted to do it, which is awesome. His wife will walk the neighborhood and hand out flyers on Saturday.Very cool. Neighbors taking pride in the neighborhood!

The Board met last Saturday and talked, laughed, cried, and dreamed about the future of Common Ground. Lisa had a hand out of everything God has done through us this past year. 7500 meals, handed out 4000 grocery bags, touching over 1200 people's lives! Folks, that is amazing! With just a handful of servants, God is busy in our community! Lisa will supply us with the meat and potatoes of our time together, vision, mission statement, core beliefs.

The highlight of the day for me, was hearing  from everybody "why" do we do what we do? Some of the comments were, blessings we receive, teaches obedience, building relationships, family, giving back, asked by others, reconciliation, encouraging, providing opportunities, a different place. All meaningful and uplifting to see and hear from the hearts of our leaders.

In Mark 11 chapter 11, verse 22, Jesus tells his disciples, Have faith in God. Then Jesus talks about talking to the mountain to move into the sea or to ask God in prayer and believe you have received it and go to God in prayer to forgive.

Don't know what mountains you have before you, but have faith God will move them for you. How many times do we go to God asking for help and then go about our business, not waiting for God to help us out. Have faith. Faith doesn't happen over night, it takes time. Our mountain before us, didn't happen over night, usually it took us time to get in the predicament we are in. Have faith God will deliver us.

Verse 25 God will help us to forgive those who have wronged us. It is not in our nature to forgive and forget. It is in God's. It is our job to go to God and ask Him to give us the strength to forgive. The greatest release of anger I have ever experienced, was to go to God in prayer and start praying for my enemy. When we hold on to that anger, lvoe has a hard time finding a spot in our hearts.

Jesus saying, Have faith in God. Jesus knew where his strength came from do we? Jesus went to God when he needed to feed 5000, when he needed to heal, when he needed to teach, when he needed to die. Have faith in God. Have faith God will bring us through our storms. He will if we let Him.

As we begin to talk about our directions for Common Ground, we need to have faith in God. It is all about God, not about us. This is God's Kingdom, not ours. It is not about us asking God for directions we want to go, it is about us following God's directions, leading us to places we have never dreamed of! May we have that kind of faith that will believe our mountains will move into to the sea! Amen!

Get ready for the cooler weather, the fall colors and the many blessings God has for you. What a special week ahead!

Who is in control?

Can you help me start a petition to have 4 day work weeks every week! Of course I have been a day off all week long, but I can get over that! Hope everybody had a great Labor Day weekend and a better week!

Saturday around the center was back to "normal"! Basketball, bread wrapping, teaching, fun, food, visits, gardening were all going on. Great to see all the excitement and blessings being spread through out our community. Scott continues to spread treasures around the camps with no budget. It is great to completely rely on God for everything! All the camps were doing ok, just trying to survive the brutal heat and mosquitoes.

Ricky led our men's Bible fellowship, reading from Luke 19 verses 1 - 10. Talking about a sinner, a man of wealth, humbling himself to go above and beyond to see Jesus. Are we doing the same? If we do, blessings will abound!

Wednesday afternoon, some of us had the opportunity to meet the new pastor at Grace Methodist. Juan Huertas is a young pastor full of energy, wanting to reach out to the community. Lisa showed him around our campus and dreams were shared on God's directions for both communities.

Thursday afternoon was again full of exciting opportunities for the community. Our long time friends Heather, Derek and their dad Richard got us started off in chapel. Then we had a group of ladies from our friend George's church in Allendale prepare the meal, serve and clean up after. Dr Phil checked our lists for handing out our grocery bags, made up by Alan. A good evening.

Several things I wanted to remind everybody coming up:

1. Don't forget to go to our new web site at:www.commongroundshreveport.com. Be sure to go there everyday! Every click helps!

2. Upcoming book fair. Everybody across the country can be a part of our community during this event. Help us out, more importantly help out our children.  The following is what Lisa shared with us: 

On Tuesday, September 23, 2014, Common Ground Community, Inc. will be holding a book fair at Barnes and Noble, 6646 Youree Drive, Shreveport, LA. Common Ground will receive a percentage of all sales made that day when its name is mentioned at checkout.  The proceeds will be used to buy books and supplies for Common Ground's children's programs, including its new reading program where Common Ground is partnering with Atkins Technology Elementary School to help first and second graders from the Cedar Grove neighborhood improve their reading skills.

The book fair is being held in connection with the Barnes and Noble book launching party of Judy Christie's 8^th novel, "Magnolia Market  Plan to stop by  from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. that Tuesday and join the fun.   There will be refreshments, door prizes and a chance to visit with a great group of folks from Grace and Common Ground.

The Book Fair Number is 11433869.  The voucher is attached.  (We will also have vouchers there.) If you can't make it Tuesday night, you can still help Common Ground by making purchases online at BN.COM/boo fairs from 9/23/2014 to 9/28/2014 and entering Bookfair ID 11433869 at checkout.

3. From Matt talking about Sonatra. Sonatra has been a part of our community for years. This young man has no one to guide and mentor him other than us. We have all tried to help him along the way, but the darkness of the community continues to be a stumbling block. Sonatra is now trying to make a go of it and trying to take a new direction in his life. A note, a card or letter of encouragement to him will go a long way in this process. Please take a moment right now or this weekend, to send a word of encouragement to Sonatra. Sonatra's address: 

Cadet Sonatra Kenon c/o LAARNG Youth Challenge Program

201 Louisiana Blvd.

Minden, LA 71055  

It would be great for as many of us who could make it to this event. Family Day is Saturday October 18th. Anyone can come and bring food and visit Sonatra between the hours of 10:00 am to 4 pm. 

We need to have a going away party for Lomax?! He is leaving next Saturday the 13th. What about next Wednesday, have it at the Bright House or the center. 6 pm. I can grill some hamburgers, get some chips. We need a cake, ice cream. He and Joey have been a part of our family for many years, hate to see him go, but that is what children do.

Continued prayers for God's direction in the life of our community. Help us to stay focused on God's direction not our own. Prayers for the Hunters as they travel to Dallas to visit the grand children, oh yeah our son and daughter-in-law too! Ginellen's surgery, next Friday morning. 

I was reminded during chapel, who is in control. With every crazy thing going on in the world, it is hard to stay sane. Juan told us a story of arriving at his new church in Baton Rouge and being told a ministry the church had sponsored for 41 years was being forced to shut down. You hear stories of people who have lost everything, coming back. Tuesday evening, you see young men sitting in a circle where months ago they were selling drugs. You see, these same young men go to jail but when they get out, come back to the circle. Seeing our community children grow up, dropping out of school, having babies. Now they come to the center with their babies. Men living under bridges, being persecuted at every corner, just trying to survive, waiting for a hug, a prayer on Saturday mornings.

Over whelming, if we were trying to do it all ourselves. Who is in control, God of course. Nothing is too big or too small for Him to handle. We just need to let Him do it. It will all happen to the glory of His Kingdom in a time He wants it done. There will be no answers to our questions of what is expected of us. Our jobs are to be obedient, faithful and humble. We need to show up when we can. We need to pray all the time. We need to let our faith take action. Not worry about the stuff going around us, just focus on the things God has put before us. In God's time it will all come together. And when it does, oh what a blessing it will be!

I think God is teasing us, showing us some of those blessings along the way! He is saying, if you are faithful, this is what I can do. How awesome is that! Can you imagine, maybe we can't!, the magnificence of what is yet to come! Don't you want to be a part of that?! It will take all of us, and those who will come, to make it happen. God working through us, will create a Lvoe Kingdom, like something we have never expeienced before! Amen and amen!

Have a great weekend. Hope to see you around the center, If not, pray, pray, pray!!