Praising God

Another week has come and gone!  Wow! Hope your week was a good one. 

Saturday gets started off by Tim and Scott visiting our friends. Everybody seems to be doing ok. With the warmer temperatures and all our rain, mosquitos are becoming a nuisance. Things have been quiet around the center for the most part. Ricky continues his work in the garden. Work continues in the prayer section. Brick pads are being put down for our benches. A pad for a bird bath is going on. More exciting ideas are being talked about. 

Tuesday evenings continues to be full of activities. The mens and womens Bible fellowships are bringing in new members of our community each week. Benny led the men's conversations reading from Psalm 150. Praising God!  Don't we owe everything to God. He is worthy of our praise.

A note from Ardis: I was to remind you to mention the lovely thing Beth Ackerman is doing by picking up the Panera bread on Thursdays.  This has allowed us to have plenty of dessert  treats for both the men's and women's Bible Study, lots of bread to give out and serve for Thursday Community Meal, extra bread to share with people in need that Jan Core knows about, and even more extra bread that I share with a 3/4 House for recovering men that is in my neighborhood.  Beth just informed me tonight that Paneras is closing at 10 pm, an hour later, now that school is out, but she is such a trooper that she's going to continue to pick it up on Thursday and I wouldn't stop doing it no matter how late they stay open!   Blessings come in so many different forms but Panera Bread and Beth are a true blessing for me!!!

Thursday was another magical night. Chapel was led by our friend Noel and his friend Chester, playing his guitar and singing. After our benediction,  Ms Abbie comes up front and starts playing the piano and Chester plays his guitar while we all sing Because He Lives. Then all of Ms Abbies grands come in and they all start singing! Nobody wanted to stop! Magical! 

Our meal was hosted by our long time friends,  the Koinonia Sunday school class from Grace. Great evening with them all pitching in to help. 

Prayers continue for William. Prayers for Lisa's son Michael, having surgery today. For those who are traveling. Prayers for new changes in our lives.

Next Thursday we will be hosting a youth group from Lake Charles.  They will be with us through Saturday. This is their third year visiting with us. Please come by and say hi,  give them a hug. Very nice of them to come and spend time with us.

Praising God. Been thinking about that. We go to God with our  "big" problems do we go to him with our everyday events? All too often, we are waiting for the "burning bush" experience, but more often God seems to come in a quiet soft voice. We need to be able to hear that voice and turn out the noise of the world.

A lot of how we praise God depends on our relationship with Him. If our relationship is one of a friend, most likely we go to God every day, every hour. If we only seek His time when we have run out of options, then we won't praise Him for the little things of life.

I mentioned to the men Tuesday evening, I have seen my relationship with Jesus change. I now go to Him when I walk into a house and ask Him not to let the dog bite me! Or praise Him when I get a screw to loosen, or when I hit a good golf shot. It is not me, but Christ working through me that accomplishes these things.

Praising God should be a joy, not a chore. Everything we do, everything we are, everything we hope to achieve comes from God. Praising Him should be a natural order for us all! Amen.

Hope everybody has a great weekend. Enjoy your time with your family and friends. Hope to see you around the center next week meeting our friends from Lake Charles.

The Body

Can't believe it is Friday already! Hope everybody had a great week. Weather around these parts of the world is beginning to feel like summer.

This will be a short note this week, yeaaa! is what I am hearing!! I was out of town over the weekend and sick for most of the week. If you had something special happen to you last week, please share with us.

Wednesday evening, Joey, Lomax and Ricky hosted our family time. Did you catch the middle name Lomax!! was there. Great to see our boy back with us and hear some of his stories about his trip. At our next gathering at Ardis' home, Lomax will show us pictures and continue with his stories about his adventures. Joey led our Bible study time, in the form of pictures. We read about God creating  the world and each one of us took turns drawing what we heard. Very interesting to see and talk about our impressions of what we drew.

Thursday got started off by moving things around a little bit. Our chapel air is nonexistent, so we decided to move our chapel into the center in one of the empty rooms. Ms Abbie played a song from our keyboard and Pastor Chester led us in the Word. It was great hearing the singing of one of God's hymns threw the walls of the center. Kind of just felt right, you know!

A long time friend of ours, Tom, prepared our meal to a smaller than normal crowd. As always, his meals are a hit with the community. We had our friends from St Luke's Medical van hosting their talents to our community. Met some new friends. A good evening.

Continue to lift up William. He had another minor stroke and recuperating in the hospital. Joey is in contact with him. Momma T as she travels to see Georgette. Ginellen as she prepares for another surgery June 13th. Our community. Our children in the community.

I was reminded again this week, our community has become larger than anyone person. If one of us does not show up, God's blessings continue to happen through others. Common Ground is not about us, but about God. We are not in charge of Common Ground, God is. Mr Brian, Ms Lisa, Momma T, Mr Matt, Ms Vicky, Ms Ardis, Ms Abbie, Ms Abbey does not run Common Ground, God does. Not one of us is greater than the other. Our leader is God, not a person. We are facilitators of God's lvoe to others.

As we have read in 1 Corinthinans chapter 12, talking about the Body of Christ, there are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

We are a group of believers, knowing what Jesus has done in our lives, wanting to share that special unique lvoe with others. It can take many forms. Serving a meal, playing a piano, helping with legal matters, praying for our community, shopping for groceries, washing dishes, working in the garden, leading Bible studies, mowing the grass, finding funding, playing with the children and many, many more.

In verse 18, it says, God has placed the parts of the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. Your job, your gift, your talent, your part of the body is ordained by God, not by man. Your are just as important as anybody else, no one is greater than anyone else.

When we remember who is in charge, the Body functions as it should. Sometimes when we take our focus off of God and focus on ourselves, the Body can not work as God had intended. 

Common Ground is not perfect, will never be because we humans are part of it, but that is ok. We will from time to time experience trials and struggles but that is because we are growing in grace and learning the ways of Christ. But in the end Common Ground will survive as long as we focus on Christ and not on ourselves.

I so admire all of ya'lls determination to do the best you can for our community. Our community continues to be blessed because you want to show the lvoe of Jesus to others. Thank you for being the community God created it to be. Amen.

Don't forget to pray for our military over this weekend. The sacrifices they and their families have made for our freedom. 

Hope you all have a great weekend and blessed week. 

Where is Jesus?

We have made it to another weekend! Yeaaa! Hope your week was a good one. We had rain, sunshine, cold nights and beautiful days this week. 

Last Friday, we had the opportunity to meet with some of our friends in South Louisiana. Tim and I drove to Crowley to discuss with our friends about opening up a community center. Pretty cool.

Saturday was another fun filled day. With Mother's Day the next day, Momma T had the children busy making all sorts of goodies for their moms. Vickey and Jan helped out. Ardis led the bread wrapping crew as well as making their famous cinnamon toast for everybody. Matt and Benny had the boys busy cleaning off the parking lot. Smokey joined us for the morning, supervising us all. Tim and Scott made their visits to the camps, checking up on the guys. All seem to be doing ok. As always, a Bible lesson about life was shared.

It was quiet around the center this week. With our afternoon activities shut down, not much activity going on. Summer camp will be starting the middle of June, so it will be noisy shortly!

Tuesday evening, our men and ladies Bible fellowship was happening. Matt led the men in reading from Mark Chapter 2 verses 13 - 17. We talked about Jesus having dinner with the sinners and tax collectors. Jesus saying to the folks,  "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick, I have not come for the righteous, but sinners." You want to meet Jesus, look at your self in the mirror a sinner.

Thursday evening, got started off with Spencer sharing his gifts of music and then one of our own community wanted to give his testimony about what God has done in his life. George, shared from his heart,taking a broken man and making him whole, amazing story. Good food, lots of grocery bags, clothes were all handed out to our community. Lots of new helpers were there to clean up. A memorable evening.

Nice to see Ricky Thursday evening. Ricky went to visit his sister in Dallas this week. He was worried about all the plants not getting enough water while he was gone, leaving us instructions on how to do it all! Guess who is in charge?! It started to rain Tuesday, didn't stop until Thursday morning, watering the flowers and plants better than we could have ever done! Thank you God!

Prayers for us all. Prayers for William. Prayers for Lomax as he makes his back to us. Prayers for our community. Prayers for our children.

Been thinking about our trip to Crowley. The last several years as we have been blessed to have youth groups come for a visit, we have always said, take what you see here and start something in your community. We didn't start off thinking we were doing anything special in our community, just following what God was telling us to do. Each year we continue to have the same groups of youth come and join us, as well as having new groups come. Amazing to think, Common Ground has become a mission destination.

Why? Has the "church" become to righteous? At this meeting in Crowley, there were three pastors listening intently to our stories. Many times, I apologize for my bluntness to the committee, but saying, if you want to see Jesus, the "church" needs to get out these four walls and move into the streets. Then feeling bold, saying, you, the pastors, the leaders of your congregations, you need to go to the streets. Thinking back on our time in Crowley, there was a former homeless man and a common man speaking to the leaders of the church about finding Jesus!

Why did the committee call us to talk about Common Ground? Our friends in Crowley have experienced something different in our community that they have not felt anywhere else. It is because of all of you, who do what you do, allowing Jesus to use you in special ways, showing a lvoe that is unique to the world we live in.

I say all of this because, you may not feel like you are making a difference, but you are. The Crowley group has been coming for the past 3 years, with each time they visit, something special touches their hearts. 

God's work takes time, changing hearts, takes time. Don't be discouraged, persevere, be obedient, have patience, be faithful. God's Kingdom is special, unique, different and we will all be blessed beyond our imaginations as we humble ourselves before the Lord. God is Good! Amen!

Have a great weekend. Continue to pray for us, if you live out of town. Your prayers are important to us. For those who are in town, come by Saturday morning and join in on the fun. Have a blessed week. 

what a community

Another week has come and gone. Beautiful weather for most of the week, keeps things rolling. Hope your week was a good one.

Saturday's weather couldn't have been any better. Great for visiting our outdoor friends, spending time in the garden, walking in the neighborhood, wrapping bread and learning what Jesus is telling us through Bible studies. The next few sentences are what Ardis shared about her Saturday. "I was on a high all day yesterday after Roy and Chris came into the kitchen Saturday looking for cinnamon toast and wearing their NEW, SHINY McDonalds uniforms!!!

They were fresh off their shift and so proud.  I've never heard Roy utter a word until I asked him what job he was doing and he was positively chatty about cooking and it being fun!  We need to keep prayers going for them to maintain their interest and develop a work ethic.  I credit a huge part of this success to the Tuesday night Bible study and the men that have been mentoring them!  

Then Byron comes in and tells me that he has just applied for a job at Brookshires and would I pray for him.  I told him we'd get started right then and those of us close by gathered around and said a prayer for his success.

There are times when I wonder what we are accomplishing.  These 2 instances gave me my answer."  Thanks Ardis for sharing.

Monday and Wednesday our children were missing in action. We had 3 on Monday and none on Wednesday. It was decided with most of our college students gone and the children not coming, we would suspend our afternoon activities until our summer camp begins in mid June.

Tuesday evening is full of adventure with both the women and men's Bible fellowship going on. We had an old friend join the women's fellowship. Rickie led our discussions from  Mark Chapter 5. We talked about the lady who persevered through the crowd to touch the robe of Jesus to end her bleeding. Her faith made her well with the power of the Holy Spirit. We all need the same obedience to ask Jesus for help knowing, His power is sufficient.

Our community continues to be blessed by others. Through the connections of one of our Board members, we were able to get a air conditioner for our kitchen sink area donated. Then our long time friend and electrician worked  3 hours to get the unit wired to run. In the near future, our cleaning room will remain cool! Many thanks go out to our friends for all your help.

Ardis hosted our family time Wednesday evening. Good food and good conversations.

Thursday afternoon we hosted two groups of realtors and students helping the community of Cedar Grove. They worked in the garden and helped in the center filling our grocery bags and helping prepare our meal. 

Our evening got started off by the falling of rain in the area. Willie and Wes lead our chapel time. Shelly and Ms Abbie lead our groups in our meal, clothing and groceries areas, a good evening of fellowship.

mr brian and Tim are headed down to Crowley Friday. The Pastor of Crowley United Methodist church called to see if we could meet with a group discussing plans for opening up a community center.

Thursday we had to say goodbye to one of our young people, Gabrielle. Our community continues to be blessed by special young people. Gabrielle has been working with our children on Thursday evenings hosting our children's church. She also was leading our afternoon activities. Gabrielle has a huge heart for our children and she will be missed by us and our community. Good luck Gabrielle to you and always know, your are part of our family forever!

Continued prayers for William. William has moved into a nursing home, hoping others will help him with his medications. Prayers for my wife, Ginellen. Doctors told her Wednesday she needs another operation. The operation will be June 13th. Prayers for our children as they finish their school work and prepare for end of year testing.

Wednesday evening, we had a nice surprise, a visit from one of our former interns Gus. It was good to see Gus and catch up with all his goings on. Willie wanted to see what we are doing in the 2 story and the sanctuary. Roy and Chris continue to make progress. Byron is showing signs of changing his life and honoring Jesus. 

It has always amazed me, we continue to have people come back to our community when they are town. Christ has created a community that has played an important part in their journeys.

You all continue to create a community where people can come and find Jesus. A community where lvoe is felt and is real. A community where hope is shown and hugs are given. A community that will pray for our youth or those who are lost. A community where you fill in to help out, without asking for recognition. A community where others come first. A community where God is glorified. A community that prays for all. A community that supports each other. A community that perseveres. A community that is obedient and faithful. A community that is willing to share your stories of trials and willing to share the stories of triumphs. A community where one of our outdoor friends who has moved inside continues to financially support us each month through their donations.

Thank you all for all you do for the glory of God. What a blessing each one of you are and a blessing to be a part of this community. Amen.

I was reminded of our outdoor friend who makes a donation to us each month, in their note, they asked to please wish all the ladies of Common Ground a Happy Mother's Day. I too want to add, how special each one of our ladies are to our community. Have a great Mother's Day Sunday with your family knowing, you are being prayed for by people who you have touched over the years.

Hope each one of you have a great week, full of God's blessings to you and your families.

Being strong

It's Friday, yeaaa! We get to play in and around the center tomorrow! Hope your week was full of surprises and blessings!

Our week got started off Saturday by playing in the garden, wrapping bread, walking the neighborhood, visiting our friends living outside. All done in beautiful weather. Lots going on. Surely you can find a place to play with us too!

Monday and Wednesdays are continuing with our studies. Monday was a day for kick ball, Wednesday we studied. We are loosing our Centenary students as they finish their studies and attend their modules. Help will be needed to  finish our semester with the children. Join us from 4:30 - 5:30 for fun and excitement.

Tuesday evenings continue to be a blessing to our community. Shelly and Abbie continue the ladies Bible fellowship, while Matt leads the mens fellowship. We talked about the armor of God from Ephesians. Staying strong in the Lord as we meet our trials in life.

Thursday chapel time was hosted by our friends from First Methodist, Heather and Derek. They brought along one of the pastors Derek to share the Word. A small gathering enjoyed the meal of steak, potatoes and salad. I am liking the first of the month, giving us time to sit down with our community and visit.

Lomax is back in the states! He has not made it to us yet, but on his way. Check out his latest blog: http://amorlinguaomni.wordpress.com/

Prayers for William as he continues to struggle in his quest to get back to Shreveport. He is talking about leaving the facility where he is and going back outside. Not good. Prayers for our preparation of our summer camp. Lots of things going on, lots of new friends coming in, lots of decisions to be made. Pray for the Board of Common Ground that their decisions are of God and that they are led by the Holy Spirit.

The community center now has office hours! Benny and Shelly have regular times to provide access to the center. They have set up a small office in the Friendship room. Office hours are MWF 9 - 1. Tuesday and Thursday, they arrive around 2 until. So we can tell folks who have items to drop off they are there at these times.

Ricky and Momma T started working on a mediation area in the garden Saturday. There are already plants and a bench in place. Lots more to come. Come and see what they are doing and experience God's blessings.

Next Thursday, we are planning a hot dog eating, green area sitting, music filled time. Spencer and some of the folks from the Simple Way church band will be leading our time. Spencer, said the chapel would not be large enough to hold all the folks, so we are moving outside!  Drums, keyboards, guitars, wow it will be fun! Pastor Willie will be there to share a few words and I bet we can get him to sing a few songs!

How many times have we read about the Armor of God in Ephesians? Verse 10, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand. . . Where does your strength come from? Who do you call upon when you are facing obstacles? Like many of us, do you try to handle it ourselves. Do we try to solve life's mystery's on our own.

When we are tempted, do we fall or do we call? Life has it's challenges every day, every hour. How do we respond? Do we try to muddle through life dodging the bullet hoping not to get hit. Do we hide in our closets, hoping nothing comes our way? What fun is that!

We are in this world, facing obstacles every day, God is there for us, all we have to do is stand in His prescience. Nothing is greater than God, nothing. If we put our faith in Him, He will fight our battles for us. Go to God with everything, a hang nail, a tummy ache. Nothing is too small or too big for God to handle. Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Isn't that powerful enough for us it to put to work!

At the end of this section, Paul talks about praying. Pray in the Spirit, not in our wants or desires, but God's. Keep on praying for all the Lord's people. We need to pray for each other. Every day, every hour. Knowing we are being prayed for will help us get through the days.

Then Paul ask for prayer so that he may fearlessly make known the gospel. That is our challenge today. We are in the streets, in the neighborhoods, in the community where there is darkness and despair. We need Christ working in and through us to be able to boldly go out and let others see the light of Christ, so that they may be able to know that lvoe. All things are possible through Christ. He will make the change, we just need to lead others to Him. Amen.

Hope to see you at the center this week. If you can't come, please continue to pray for us. The most powerful thing you can do for His Kingdom!