Good job!

Another week has come and gone! Wow, hope your week was full of blessings and surprises! 

Saturdays continues to be a busy place around the center. Scott and Dawn visited our friends. Robert is still a no show, wonder where he is? Tried his phone but no reply? They went by and visited with Brad. The other camps are doing well. The basketball court was quiet with a rainy morning. Practice was held else where. The rain didn't stop the bread from being wrapped! Later in the morning, some garden work was done by Momma T, Tim and one of the community, Kirk. A new friend and a master carpenter, Brian has joined us in helping with the work in the Bright House. A great morning.

We continue with our Monday and Wednesday afternoon classes. Lots of little ones eager to learn. Great to see the little minds working at trying to learn new words. The weather was good for some spirited games of kick ball!

Tuesday evening, Noel led the men's Bible fellowship, reading from Genesis 1, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Then the men talked about God for an hour! Amazing to hear how God is working in the men's lives.

Thursday evening was full of excitement! We had our friends from St Luke's Medical van with us. An old friend, Pastor Eddie, shared the Word and Ms Abbie led us in songs. A chapel full of the Holy Spirit was shared by a large group of the community. Brother George's church served up the meal. Our market continues to be a hit with the community. Clothes were given away. What a blessed time.

Don't forget, Grace's Make a Difference Saturday, is this Saturday starting at 8am with breakfast. A full day of projects, food and fellowship will be happening. John Sauls has done a great job in getting it all put together. John said, he has about 40 people signed up, with more expected to come. In chapel Thursday, we encouraged our community to come, to be a part of the day. Not sure, but we may have some special guests join us?!

Continued prayers for our friends living outside. With all the rain we continue to have, the mosquito population is huge and making life hard. 

Good job. Isn't that what you can say about Jesus? When Jesus' started his ministry, he knew what he was put on earth to do. He had ample opportunity to stray from his objective but he never did. From time to time, he retreated to a quiet place and went to His father in prayer for a renewed spirit. Returning time and time again to his path. Max Lucado this morning, titled his reflection, On Target. Jesus could have been anything He wanted to be, but Jesus chose to be a Savior and save souls as Max puts it.

As we go through our journeys together in our community, many opportunities will come to us. All may be good. All may help. All may sound awesome. But are they what we are called together for? We need to discern, is this where God is leading us?

In the beginning of Common Ground we have always asked does what you are asking, does it answer, 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. The children were an important part of Jesus' ministry, so should ours be. In Luke18 verse 16, Jesus says, Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. In Genesis  chapter 1 verse 11, then God said, Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit and seed in it.

Common Ground is becoming know throughout our city, our town, our state and beyond. People, corporations, foundations will approach us will all sorts of good sounding opportunities. As Jesus did, we must stay focused on our tasks. As Max put it, Jesus was so focused that his final words were, It is finished!. Wouldn't you love to look back on your life and know you had done what you were called to do?! Let's pray together, we can same the same about our community. And Jesus will say to us all, Good Job! Amen.

Hope to see you Saturday around the center. For those of you out of town, please pray for us that God will lead those who come to see what God is doing in our community and will find a way to be a part of it! Many blessings for the coming week! God is good

Seeking

Hope your week has been a good one. Hope God's blessings has filled your heart with joy!

Saturdays continue to be busy around the neighborhood. Everybody was doing well in the camps. Robert was a no show? Hopefully he will be around this week. Basketball continues to stay strong. More young men continue to show up and want to join in on the fun. Bread - bread - bread was everywhere! Garden work continues, beautiful day to be in the neighborhood! Work continued at the Bright House.

Saturday afternoon, some of us enjoyed our time at Daren's celebration of his life at Grace. The church was full of friends and family as we all came together to listen, sing and praise God for Daren's life. As Pastor Juan said at the close of the service, with his cane in his hand. Just look at this cane, Daren will no longer this! Amen.

Monday and Wednesday continues to be very full of life as we get together with our children. Testing will be coming up quickly and we are interested in seeing how our children will do. Several of them have really become great readers through the help of our servants. We are already making plans for our next fall classes.

Tuesday evening, Rickie led the men's Bible fellowship reading from Psalm 27: 1 - 6. The Lord is my light and my salvation -  whom shall I fear? No greater comfort in knowing God is on our side. Is He on yours?

Late Tuesday evening, Mr Scott called saying his reporter had located our long lost friend, Brad. Scott gave me the name of the rehab center Brad was suppose to be in. As it turned out Wednesday morning, I was in the neighborhood, so I went by the place to see if he was really there? He was! I woke him up from his nap and we talked for a few minutes. Brad looked great! He was glad to see me and we talked about his ordeal. With a wheelchair sitting next to the bed, I asked, Brad can you walk? He said, sure and got up out of bed and walked a few steps to show me! Praise God! He has a long way to go, but he has come a long way! Amazing to see him in such good condition remembering how he looked in the hospital a few months ago.

Thursday evening was filled with lots of praising, singing and good times. Ms Abbie again shared her gift of song and playing as she led us in singing and Brother George led us in the hearing of God's Word. Brother George has agreed to be our pastor for the third week of each month in chapel. If you haven't heard him before, come by and listen. He has an amazing story to tell, praising God for his life. Friends from Clearview church brought our meal, helping us in the fellowship hall and our market. We still are tinkering with the way we do things and each week seems to get a little bit better. God is good, bringing us helpers to be with our community.

Next Saturday, April 25th, John Sauls is arranging an event for Grace Community to join us, Making a Difference Saturday. Lots of projects will be going on, from breakfast, working, lunch and chapel, all day long! We will need everybody on hand to direct and help out. Please join us if you can. We asked our community in chapel to join us also. Should be lots of fun.

We have a lady who has been with us for several months. She will now be coming on a regular basis to the center. We are being blessed to have her time with us being paid by someone else. Heidi, will be working in the afternoons, to answer the phones, check on items being done in and around the center and closing up when events happen. Come by and meet her, give her a common ground hug!

Continued prayers for Ginellen's mom, Ms Joyner, as she continues to have health issues. Prayers for those who are traveling. Prayers for Joey as he concludes his time in the Philippines and his travel back to us. Prayers for our community. Life is hard especially for the poor. Challenges present themselves all the time and change seems to be a constant way to fight those challenges. We miss our friends, when they move, or leave for awhile, worrying if they are alright. God please keep our friends safe.

The Lord is the stronghold of my life - of whom shall I be afraid? says in the last part of Psalm 27 verse 1. Over the years, the one constant that seems to be constant in our community is change. You can't pay the rent, so you move. You have a leaking pipe, it doesn't get fixed, so you move. Abusive situations happen, you need to hide, so you move. Bill chasing people show up at your door, so you move. Someone offers you a better place, so you think, so you move.

Life in our community is hard. The little money you do make, does not cover all your expenses, so things don't get done, bills go unpaid, children fend for themselves, a lvoing home is practically nonexistent. That is why, common ground exist, to provide hope, to provide lvoe, to provide God's lvoe to others.

The one constant in all our lives is the lvoe of God for us. In verse 4, David says, One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. God has a place for us in His heart, we just have to seek after it. He wants only the best for us, if we go after it. Verse 5, for in the day of trouble, he will keep me safe . . . We can not find our refuge in addictions, in our possessions, in others. Only the peace that defines words, will be given to us if we seek after God's lvoe. Only He will keep us from harm, if we dwell in His house and in His Word. Amen!

Hope everybody has a great week. Looking forward to seeing what God has in store for us this week! God is good!!

Keep on keeping on

Spring has sprung this week in Shreveport. Dogwoods are blooming, azaleas are beginning to show their colors, trees are full of life, beautiful time of the year. God is pretty good at creating a masterpiece! Hope everybody is experiencing God's canvas in your neighborhood!

We continue our Saturday activities. The camps are doing ok. Turner is fine. Robert is still in his camp, waiting for the paperwork to go through for an apartment. He called his mom while we were there and we got to speak with her. She lives in Pennsylvania. She thanked us for looking after Robert and all we do for him. Big crowd at our Ogilvey camp. Basketball players were on the court practicing and having fun. Bread was being wrapped. The garden was taking shape as weeds and ground clutter was being pulled out. Bright House continues to come together. It was a beautiful day!

With spring break going on, no afternoon children activities were happening.

Tuesday evening, Tim led the reading of Phillippians 2: 12 - 18. Do everything without grumbling or arguing . . , the verse starts. How good are we at following this advise? Hard to do, when we are thinking about ourselves and not Jesus?!

Wednesday evening, Momma T and mr brian were servants for the evening for the Board of Common Ground. An evening where we shared a meal. Where we got to know each other a little bit better. We shared pictures of the past. We walked the halls talking about where we are now. And concluded our evening by looking at the future. A reminder it is not about us but about Jesus and where He is leading us.

Thursday evening was different? With school out, the children started arriving by 2:30. Their excitement level was high, full of energy and life! Chapel time was packed with community as Willie and Wes led the singing and sharing. The noise level didn't subside! Our meal was prepared by Joey and everybody was busy eating, running and playing! The market took a little longer, with more of the community showing up and folks shopping a little longer. Definitely high energy was happening all night long!

As far as we know, funeral services for Daren, a friend of Grace and the men's Bible fellowship, will be at Grace Saturday at noon. Prayers for his family as they deal with this man of God leaving their family. I was thinking about him this week as I drove up to Grace, missed seeing his black truck parked in the handicap parking spot. Then was reminded, he is now able to get around, no wheelchair needed, able to meet and greet His father in heaven he so lvoed. Prayers for Ms Joyner, Ginellen's mother. She is having health issues.

The thing that comes to mind this week is, God saying keep on keeping on, I have it! Reflecting back on where we have come from, where we started, it has been just a few short years. We were with a church family, asked to take a break from the church family and it's building. Turn two crack houses into places  where God will be able to shine His light into the community. Watch a building deteriorate and by God's grace able to own that building and bring it back to life.

We have built relationships with the community that still remain after all these years. We see our children grow up in poverty and all the challenges that presents. We have been there for their births, their achievements and their disappointments. Our hearts go out to the children when we see them hurting. When they hurt we hurt.

When your children are hurting you want to do more, you want the hurting to stop. When you see adults fighting, drinking, loosing hope, your heart breaks, you want your friends to not loose hope, you want to do more. When you are part of a community, your heart is there, when they hurt you hurt. We see the quality of education lacking for the poor. We see the lack of substantial housing available for our neighbors. We see the lack of quality jobs offered to our community. Health care is lacking. The lack of transportation is prevelant. Drug and alcohol use is out of control. Child care is almost none existent. So what are we doing?

God says, keep on keeping on, I have it! Our world has spiraled out of control for many generations. God has put us in a community where, the best is yet to come. We have accomplished so much in so very little time. It is not about all the doing but it is about us just being there. When you live in a community like ours, you see very little hope. With God working in and through us, that hope appears and our community sees it. At times we will struggle. At times we will become frustrated. At times it will seem overwhelming. But remember, God says, keep on keeping on, I have it!

This past Christmas, I took my wife to Walmart to buy something for our grandchildren. As we were standing in line to check out, a young man came up to me, from his check register. He said mr brian do you remember me? I said, I am sorry I don't, I'm old and don't remember a lot. This young man, who was working, had a big responsibility, said, I use to come to your "church" every week and hang out. He said, I sure enjoyed those times, thanks for doing that!

While we are waiting on God to show us His next steps to His Kingdom, it is important for us to remember, to be there in community. The buildings are not important but you are! God's light can not shine through the walls or the doors, only you can. The community will see God's light through you not the tables and chairs. Remember we are on God's timing and not ours. Lvoe, lvoe, lvoe!!! Amen.

Hope your week is special. Remember, God lvoes you - God haves it under control!

He is risen!s

Very late with this week news! My apologies to all. Hope everybody is enjoying the spring weather in your part of the country.

Saturday, Scott and Dawn were late returning from their visits. I asked why and they said, everybody wanted to talk, even Turner! Everybody is doing well. I helped Alan a little with the work at the Bright House. The bathroom is ready to paint and then the flooring can go down. Flooring in Joey's old room is repaired. Kitchen walls and floor is patched. Trim work is being done. Getting close. Ardis and her helpers wrapped and wrapped all the bread. Vicky and Matt continue to keep the boys busy with play, Bible study and chores. Momma T and others continue their mentoring of the "girls". Relationships are being formed, showing the girls God's lvoe.

With a small crew of helpers for our after school activities, mr brian arrived at 3. I will confess, Lisa had everybody doing exercises for the first few minutes. Jumping Jacks were a hit. Stretching for the sky was ok, but then Lisa made us touch our toes! I haven't done that in years, so I had to fake it! Lots of good things happening with the children. Homework help, computer skills formed, craft work, relay races, kick ball all adds up to an educational and fun time each Monday and Wednesday.

Tuesday, the men gathered in the chapel for Bible fellowship with Pastor Brown leading in the reading from Psalms 119: 1 - 17. You can tell David lvoes the Lord. "I will praise you with an upright heart as I Iearn your righteous laws." "I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands." All good thoughts for our journeys!

Our regular team for chapel were unable to be with us, so as usual God sent His servants to us. Over and over again, God continues to show us who is in charge by sending us Brother George and Ms Abbie. With a change in our food pantry system, the chapel was packed, the Spirit was flowing, Amens, Hands being raised, Songs being sung, praising going on, like nothing I have ever seen or felt before! Followed by our yummy meal, with lots of help, the excitement continued. Our community lvoes our new pantry system, having the option to select foods they want and inspiring new folks wanting to be involved.  We had lots of help for our annual Easter egg hunt. Only thing missing was Lomax dressed up in his Easter bunny outfit! Next year Lomax! Lots of new visitors, checking us out, learning what is going on, and how they can become a part of our community, a great night.

Prayers for Lisa, Mark and their family. Mark's 91 year old mother passed away this week. Prayers for safe travel to Virginia to celebrate her long, fruitful life. Prayers for Dr Phil as he has arrived in Colorado, having to suffer through the beautiful days in the mountains! Prayers to Daren and his family, as Hat wrote, he has lost his struggle with his illnesses. No greater child of God than Daren. He had every right to have a pity party, but choose to lvoe His Lord with all his heart, mind and soul. We will miss him and his smile. Safe travels for all of our community who are traveling during spring break this week. Prayers for the Board of Common Ground as they will be gathering Wednesday evening for a time of reflection.

Don't forget, more Easter egg hunting will continue Sunday morning! We will meet at the center at 6:30 am. Gather the eggs, bless them and walk the neighborhood until they are all gone! A great time to see our neighborhood and see the challenges before us. We can always use more eggs, so bring some along. Everybody is welcome to join us. We walk for about an hour, so we can make it to church.

I still struggle with today being called Good Friday. I understand, why we call it Good Friday, because of the sacrifice of Jesus, but I still don't like what Jesus had to go through. I understand Jesus had to suffer, be beaten, nailed to a cross, buried, but couldn't God come up with a different plan? I understand the prophets of the Old Testament saying a Messiah was to come, walk with us, then die for our sins and rise on the third day. I just hate Jesus had to go through all of it.

I guess it is good God is God and mr brian is mr brian! God's plan was to save us from ourselves, knowing we couldn't do it our selves, so He sent His son do it for us. Brother George, talked about the lvoe chapter in 1 Corinthians 13. Never heard this chapter talked about this time of year, but George said, Lvoe is patient, kind, does not envy, does not boast, is not proud, does not dishonor others, not self seeking, not easily angered, keeps no record of wrongs, rejoices in truth, always protects, always trust, always hopes and always perseveres. Lvoe never fails.

Isn't that a description of Jesus? Jesus had to suffer today, because that is what lvoe does. We would suffer for our children, if in the end it would help our children. Jesus went through it all today because He lvoes us that much!  And as He was suffering, He knew in a matter of a few days, it would be all over and He would get to be with His Father. Thank you Jeus for your lvoe and sacrifice, so one day we will have to opportunity to be with you forever! Amen.

He has risen!! He has risen indeed!