Testing

Boo! Did I scare you! Hope your week was full of blessings as God worked in your life!

A full day of activities got us going as the rain came this past Saturday. Our visits were wet, finding shelter wherever we could. We have started asking our friends for their empty plastic jugs, so we can fill them up and bring them back the next week. Every camp has been sharing their empty jugs with us, what a blessing. We walked down to Turner's camp to get his jugs and he had each one wrapped in a plastic bag to try and keep them clean! There was an abundance of bread, which kept everybody busy wrapping for the morning. We had a big church group show up to help KC fill her Geaux Bags and reorganize her room. A fun morning.

Monday and Wednesday we are busy with our little friends. What a joy to see everybody coming together as we learn from each other what it means to be a community. You need to come and experience the joy of God's little children!

Tuesday evening, Brother George led the men's Bible fellowship 1 John 4: 1 - 8, talking about false prophets. Momma T and Ms Abbie were deep in discussions in the ladies Bible fellowship in the Friendship Room. Ardis and Vicki were busy baking cakes in the kitchen getting ready for Thursday.

Thursday was filled with candy, games, face painting, hot dogs and music. With the leadership of Vicki and Abbey, our Fall Fest was a huge hit with the community. There were games of all kinds all around the center for young and old to play. The cake walk was busy all night long giving away the delicious cakes cooked during the week. Hot dogs and sausage was cooked by new friends from Eagle Distributing. For the first time we had Spencer come with some of his band members to play while we ate. A great time to meet new friends. Thanks to all for making the Fest such a huge success.

For those of you in town, today Common Ground will be highlighted by a restaurant called Pita Pit located on Shreveport Barksdale Hwy today. A percentage of all their sales today will go to Common Ground. They are open from 10 to 9 today, go by and support them as well as Common Ground.

Prayers continue for Matt and his family as they comfort their mom. The family is hoping she will take a turn for the better as the family gathers for a family Thanksgiving celebration. Prayers for Ginellen as she continues to go through her healing process. Prayers for William and others as they deal with the loss of their friend, Ms V.

Dear friends, the first verse in 1 John chapter 4 starts off, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God . . . Growing up I assumed everything our pastor said was Gospel. Why not, he wore a robe, preached behind the big pulpit, stood up before us on a high stage. I was told to believe him. We are taught to believe our pastors.

When the verse says, test the spirits, how do we do that? Does what our pastor say match up to what the Bible says? In order to do that, that means we have to open our Bibles and read! Ouch, mine sat on the coffee table collecting dust for many a year, thinking I went to church for an hour and I did my "church thing", I was good to go for a week. Not having a relationship with Jesus, did not require me to read His words.

Do you want to know what Jesus wants for your life? Read the Word. Do you want to know if your preacher is speaking the truth? Read the Bible. Do you want to have a relationship with Jesus? Learn the Good News.

We live in a world full of corruption and lies. We live in a world where the truth is sometimes hard to find. Not all pastors are called by God to share His word. The only way to know what is right and of God, is the reading of His word and through prayer. No one else can do that for us, we have to dust off our Bibles and open the pages to discover what God's plan is for our lives! Guaranteed to be a blessing to you if you do! Amen.

Don't forget to set your clocks back Saturday night, don't want to be late for church Sunday!

Hope you will find a verse or a word in your Bible that will bring comfort or peace in your journey this week. Enjoy the many blessing God has for you and our community through His word and through prayer. 

Peace of God

Good morning to all! Hope you all had a great week with blessings and surprises filling the week with joy.

Saturday was busy as usual. Visits with our friends living outside were happening. Robert was asking about a tent for the winter. Turner was quiet as usual. A big group of old friends at our stop at Ogilive. Everybody enjoying the cooler temperatures. Bread was being wrapped by new friends from Northwestern nursing school being shown by Ardis, Momma T and Ms Abbie. Vickie and her crew coming in later in the morning to fix lunch for the basketball team. A good morning of fun, fellowship and relationships.

No children on Monday due to their fall break, but they came Wednesday afternoon. Great to see so many people coming to help us tutor. We are able to break up into smaller groups, which allows us to have more one on one conversations creating relationships that will last a life time. We have around 15 - 20 children, couldn't we have 15 - 20 tutors! Come, enjoy and meet God's children we are blessed to be a part of their lives.

Tuesday, the men and women of the community gathered for some time of Bible fellowship. Momma T and Ms Abbie began their study. Rickie led the men's discussions reading from Philippians 4: 6-7 and verse 19.

Thursday evening was full of activities. St Luke's Medical van pulled up to a waiting line of community wanting to get in. Chapel was led by Brother Chester and Ms Abbie. Fried chicken and all the fixins was served in the fellowship hall, a record number of bags were filled in the Market, the clothing racks began to get empty, a big night, people everywhere enjoying the blessings of God in and around our campus. 

Also Thursday afternoon, Abbey spoke to a group of folks at the Cedar Grove library accompanied by Sonatra and Miley.

Prayers for Matt and Vickie as they comfort Matt's mom. Her health has been poor for some time now but now they are dealing with the trials of a broken hip from a fall she had. They travel back and forth to Alexandria several times a week to be with her. Prayers for Noel. Noel, long time friend, leader in chapel and the men's Bible fellowship, just lost his long time friend, Little Bit, now has been told he has cancer. He is being diagnosed this week to determine what type of cancer and the severity of it. Prayers for Ginellen as she goes through surgery this morning. Pryers for a quick recovery and an end to her ordeal of almost two years.

A reminder, next Thursday will be our Fall Fest. Lots of games, prizes and surprises will be offered to the community. We will have small bags of groceries to hand out. We will need everybody's help to make it all happen. Set up will be around 4 and tear down around 6. Come and help us out, enjoy what God is doing in our community.

Momma T wanted everybody to know, this Sunday at the 11 am worship time at Grace, Sonatra will be  baptized! Praise God! What a blessing to see this happening to a young man who has been a part of our community for a long time. I am reminded of the phrase, in the end, God wins out! Sonatra has faced many trials and obstacles in his young life, a life living in poverty and despair. But through the light of all of you and your perseverance God has won and defeated Satan. God is good!

In Philippians 4, verse 6 starts off, Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation . . . present your requests to God! Wow, what a comfort. How appropriate during this time. We often go to God on the operating table, when we face a disease, when things don't go our way, when we have messed things up so bad, there is no where else to turn, but Paul is reminding us, don't be anxious about anything. I find myself going to God when I can't get a screw to turn, when a piece of wood won't fit the way I want it to, when I go to a house where there is a barking dog, asking God to let the dog not bite me! Seeing the changing colors of a tree. The everyday events of our lives.

God is there for our "burning bushes" events, but He wants a closer relationship with us. He wants us to call on him when we have a hang nail, a headache, see a beautiful tree or a colorful flower, see a sweet babies smile, a warm hug from a friend, God is there too!

When I go to God, there seems to be a peace, like in verse 7 says, "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Amen!

Hope you all have a great week. Enjoy the peace of God in your daily lives this week. See you around the campus.

Sharing our light

Rain, rain go away!! I wish we could be saying that around our part of the world. Hopefully you are not experiencing our drought in your city. Hope your week was a good one full of laughter and joy.

Being out of town over the weekend, can't report on our Saturday activities, others will have to share their experiences.

Mondays and Wednesdays continue to be a blessing to us all. There was a nice article in our local newspaper about our afternoon activities, hopefully you all got to read it. If not, go to our Facebook page and you can find the link there.

Tuesday evening, the men of the community gathered for a time of reflection and conversations about how God is moving in their lives. Brother George led the evening continuing our conversations about darkness and light. We were challenged to spread the light of Jesus to all we come in contact with.

Thursday evening, was full of fun and families. A smaller than normal crowd got together in the chapel to hear Spencer lead the music and listened to Brother George share the Word. Brother George's church provided the meal. The Market and clothing room were steady with our community shopping all evening long.

Next Tuesday evening, Momma T and Ms Abbie will begin a new community women's Bible study based on the movie War Room. Come and join them at 6:30 in the Friendship room.

Our Fall Fest will be October 29th. Lots of games, food and music will be happening and we need your help to make it all happen. Set up will be around 4 and we need to clean up after wards.

Prayers for Ginellen. She had her doctor's visit Tuesday and unfortunately another surgery will take place. The doctor was encourage at her progress. He wants to get her completely healed, so he needs to do some more work on her to make it happen. Surgery will be next Friday the 23rd. 

Sharing the light. What is that, how do we do it, what does it look like? I clicked on search for references of light in the Bible, 9000 references came up! That's exaggeration of course, but obviously light is important to God!

I read starting in Genesis 1:3, God said let there be light and there was light. Then in verse 4, God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God likes light, doesn't like darkness!

When we choose to turn over our lives to Christ, the light in our souls begins to glow. As we become more in tune in God's ways, His Word, the light will grow stronger. As our light becomes brighter, we are commanded to shine our light so others can see it. In Matthew 5: 15, Luke 8: 16, Luke 11:33, all basically say the same thing, no one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden. Instead they put it on its stand so that those who come in may see the light.

When I first began to follow the ways of Christ, I was always scared to share my faith with others. Then I realized, my actions sometimes speak louder than words! I did not have to preach to someone about God, I could show. You can do the same. Some of us have the gift of words and can use them to share their light, but others do not, so show them! Giving out hugs increases the light, a smile will brighten the day, a word of encouragement with bring about hope. The simple things in life often make the greatest impact. One light, combined with other lights will drown out the darkness.

What good is it for us to hide our lights of Christ so no one else can see it? It does the Kingdom of God no good. We must continue to go out, get out of our comfort zones, go beyond what is expected of us, be bold in our faith and do the unthinkable and lvoe others as Christ has lvoed us! Guaranteed blessings will flow both for us and for those who get to experience our lights of Christ! Amen.

Hope you all have a great week. Let's get out and share the light of Christ with others to brighten their day and ours!

Ok to say No!

God is good . . .  all the time! He was good in our part of the world what about yours?

Leaving early on Saturday, I did not get see all of what God was up to. I did get to share with Momma T and her friend about some exciting plans for our prayer garden. The basketball team was busy practicing, our visits with our outdoor friends were happening, a good morning.

Mondays and Wednesdays continue to bring joy to us all. A great group of children gather to become part of our community. Snacks, exercises, reading, more snacks, games all happen every day. We could always use your help. Come and join us.

Tuesday evening, we celebrated National Night Out around our center. Thanks to Joey, Ardis, Vickie and Ms Abbie, we had a great time. There was good food, lively conversations, Bible study, basketball, music all happening in and around the center. A good evening of getting to know some of our neighbors.

A large turnout of community gathered for our Thursday activities. Willie and Ms Abbie got chapel started off by singing and praising God for 45 minutes! There were no words to see, but there were songs in our hearts. We sang and played until it was past time to go! George's church provided a yummy meal. We had friends from Centenary's lacrosse team and a fraternity helping us serve and clean up. We had Pastor Juan calling out the numbers for our Market as Joey checked them off the list. The clothing room stayed busy all night long. It was exhausting but a blessing to be a part of the evening.

Praises for Chuck and his wife Corrianne on the birth of their baby early Thursday morning! John Henry Taylor III weighed in at 7 pounds and 12 ounces!

Prayers for Lisa and her family as they gather for the celebration of the life of her mom this weekend. Prayers for safe travel as the Hunters travel to Dallas this weekend for their grandson's 4th birthday party.

Are we too busy to do God's work? I hear that all the time from folks involved in church. I sing in the choir, teach Sunday School, lead Bible study, have my small group, joined the men's or women's group, mentor the youth, go to work, take the kids to soccer practice, go to football games, attend dance recitals, where does it end? I hear, I don't have time to sit still and listen to God's quiet voice!

All those activities are good, don't get me wrong, but where does it end? Do we become exhausted, or burned out in trying to do God's work? Or is it of God?

When I first turned my life over to Christ, I did everything. I never said no to any request from the church. How could I? Someone from church, your pastor or a Bible teacher or a church friend, how can you say no? Doing church "stuff" is what we are suppose to be doing isn't it? I am not involved in activities I shouldn't be doing, but I was being a good little boy by doing all my church "stuff".

But at some point, you realize you can't do it all. We are part of a body, the hands, the ears, the toes, something but we are not whole part. We have to go to God and say, God what do you want me to do to build your Kingdom? What part do you want me to play? We often play the part we think we ought to be doing and ask God to help us. It should be the other way around. If we try to do it all, we do an injustice to someone else who is trying to be a part of the body.

It is hard to say no to your pastor or your church friend, but it is ok, they won't think less of you. It's ok not be on every committee at the church, people will still respect you just the same. We need to go to God first, not last, and ask where do you need me God? We need to be still and listen to that quiet voice and hear our answers. Then we need to perform our tasks. Amazing things will happen. Blessings will abound for you and God's Kingdom. Amen.

Let us take time this week to pray, listen and respond. Guaranteed the light of Christ will be the brightest it every has been in you! Have a blessed week.

What does your darkness look like?

Hope your week was full of joy and blessings. God is so good to us all!

A full Saturday of activities got our week started off right. Scott had a large group of nursing students join him on our outdoor friends visits. The group was led by none other than our long time friend, Icee Joe! I guess now we will have to begin to call him Nurse Joe or Dr Joe! Great to see Joe. Robert has lost hope in moving inside and is asking for a larger tent to combat the rain and cold weather coming. If you hear of someone having a 2 or 3 person tent, please let Scott or Brian know. Bread was wrapped, basketball team was fed, John and his group of servants worked on the Bright House II, a good morning to serve the Lord!

Monday and Wednesdays continue to be a blessing to us all. A big group of children join us each day wanting to eat, learn, play and be lvoed! A great time. Please join us between 3 - 5 and experience what God has given us to treasure and lvoe.

Tuesday evening, Brother George led our men's Bible fellowship by talking about light and darkness. The discussion was awesome, reading from Acts 26:18. Brother George asked us, what is your darkness? Never thought about that before? 

Thursday evening was a treat as usual. Chapel time was led by our own Tim and Ms Abbie. Tim talked about serving God. If we are not serving God than we are serving something else. Allison prepared the meal of lasagna, salad and watermelon, delicious. The clothing room and Market were busy all night long. We had lots of new faces from the community joining us for the evening. A great evening of laughter, joy and blessings.

Following our meal, Lisa held a short, yea, Board meeting! Lots going on. Our Board is busy attending classes, speaking to groups, involving other organizations with us, all very exciting. Our new newsletter will be going out shortly. A new servant booklet is going to print. Groups coming in. Classes starting up for our community, something for everybody! If you have a unique fundraising idea, let Lisa know. 

Prayers for the families who lost their love ones at the community college in Oregon. Don't understand why things like this happen? Prayers for Lisa and her family as they celebrate the life of her mother, next weekend, October 10th. If you want to do something for Lisa, please let Ardis or Momma T know.

This coming Tuesday evening, October 6th, the men's fellowship will again host National Night Out starting at 6. Hot dogs and all the fixins will be provided. Come and join us, hopefully meet some of our neighbors. Let Joey know if you have any questions.

Brother George, said his darkness and my darkness may not look the same?  I have been thinking about that statement all week long.  Each man was asked, what does darkness look like to you? Some said, not a place where I want to be or go. Others said, not of God. As I thought about that statement, I blurted out, I have been living in darkness and never knew it! That was scary.

I was raised in Lake Charles, attended First Methodist Church growing up. We went to the 8:30 service, sat in the balcony. Not sure why we sat there, maybe so I wouldn't disturb the others? Always enjoyed communion Sundays because the preacher didn't talk so long! Went to Sunday School after the service. Went by and picked up Aunt Merdie and Uncle Ed, no relations to us, just friends of my parents, that's what we called them. My younger sister and I would ride in the very back of the station wagon and we all went for a ride. Stopped for lunch somewhere, drove around some more and back home. We went to Wednesday night suppers at the church. I rode my bicycle to church during the week to see what the youth pastor was up to. Joined the Boy Scout troop at the church. My daddy sold some stock he got from his daddy and bought the church their first set of hand bells. I guess since my daddy bought the bells I was required to play them! We went around the state playing at different churches, once staying at Centenary. When I share my story, I say, when I graduated from high school and when away to college, I also graduated from religion.

Not until one Saturday, over 20 years ago, around noon, in the parking lot outside of the Grace offices on Bert Kouns, after attending a discovering your spiritual gifts class given by Pete, right before I got into my truck, I said to God, ok God I am yours, do what you want with me, did the scales begin to be removed from eyes and I began to see the light. I was living in darkness and didn't even know it.

It is easy to see some who are living in darkness by their actions, like the person in Oregon, a drug addict, an alcoholic, those living in prisons, darkness is their lives. But what about the person sitting next to you in church, teaching Sunday School, singing in the choir, serving the poor, working with the youth, are they living in darkness? Do they know they are living in darkness? I didn't.

I thought from experiences growing up in church, if I didn't kill anybody, didn't need a drink to get through the day, didn't use drugs, didn't fight, if I went to church, I was a good person and that was all I needed to do.

In the verse in Acts 26:18, it says, "to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God . . " I think the great deceiver is doing a great job. Satan is happy for us to go to church and then go home. What good is that? When does the hungry get fed?

Common Ground was founded on servants, shinning not their lights but the light of Christ. Common Ground continues to become a vital part of God's Kingdom because of those of you who now come, leading the way with Christ's light shinning through you. Common Ground is not about us but about God. This is God's Kingdom not ours. 

Over the past 20 years I have seen pastors come and go. !00% of the pastors love what we do and what we are about. All say, this is church. And all struggle with getting folks to join in to building God's Kingdom. When something is presented to their congregations to get them involved, the majority of the response, oh no, here is something else to add to my list of to dos!

For me, when I began to see the light inside of me get brighter and brighter, I couldn't do enough for Christ! We need to help others realize, the light of Christ that is them needs to be their center point and lead them in their journeys, not the other way around.Amen.

Have a great week. Hope you can make it by the center and experience God's blessings. If you are far away, please continue to pray for us. Thank you all for being the light of Christ in your part of the world!