Whom will we serve?

It's Friday! Another week is in the books, let's celebrate God's amazing grace!

Last Friday as you have seen on our Facebook page was eventful! We had a table set up to welcome visitors from LSUS. We were blessed to receive many cans of food and to start new relationships. Later in the evening, Chuck, shared his story with others from First Methodist.

Saturday was a great way to start our week. Many were in the second story arranging, throwing away, sorting all sorts of stuff we have accumulated. Garden work was being done. Bright House II crew was hard at work. The basketball team and their support staff were having fun. Our visits to our friends living outside was lively! A good day, full of God's riches!

Monday and Wednesday we celebrated our time with our children in the afternoons, learning all sorts of stuff. New learning games were planned for Monday. All having a great time.

Tuesday evening, Rickie led our men's Bible fellowship time. We read from Joshua 24, talking about serving our Lord instead of worshipping other idols. Who do you serve?

Thursday evening was full of Christ moments. As we were beginning to start chapel our friends from First Methodist came through the doors to lead worship. As Derek and Heather walked in, the community gave them a warm welcoming round of applause! Vickie, Allison and Tim worked hard all afternoon preparing our meal, as more of our youth from First Methodist help serve. Others joined into help in the Market. Our community was blessed with a huge shipment of bread, taking several loaves with them to share with their neighbors. A busy evening of fun and fellowship.

Prayers for all in our community as we move along the paths God has chosen for us. May our paths, our conversations, our relationships glorify God in everything we do.

Reading from Joshua, a military leader who brought the Israelites into the Promised Land. He brought Israel together one last time, to remind them all God had done for them and asked the people, in the middle of verse 15 . . . then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve . . . The same can be said today, whom will we serve?

In our journeys, we sometimes get off our paths. We take a turn, not of God but of our own and obstacles begin to form. We butt our heads against the doors that don't open, we argue with others to justify our actions, we wake up at nights wondering where we are going. Why? We begin to follow the gods of our desires, the gods of riches, the gods of our possessions, the gods of our pride, the gods of our busyness. We worship these gods everyday, all day, where does that leave room for our Lord?

Joshua asks the people, you choose. You choose the gods, where life is not worth living or the God where His grace blesses us all. You choose. We must choose. Jesus is there for us, but we must choose to follow Him. 

Then Joshua, in the last part of verse 15, says proudly, But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. A bold statement at that time, the same can be said today. No better way to demonstrate it, than to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, welcome a stranger and visit those that are lost. Common Ground has always been based on this and through you all today. We continue to be bold in this world, serving the Lord! Amen!

Have a great week, enjoying God's Riches At Christ's Expense!

Psalm 151?

Good morning to all! Walked outside early this morning before daybreak and thought someone had left their car lights on! The full moon was spectacular, enjoy it tonight. God at His best!

Out of town last weekend, so please forgive my lack of information. I did see pictures posted on Facebook of the two groups who showed up to help around the center. Great to see all that is happening. Our servants at Church at Red River continued their work on the Bright House II. They are getting close. Finally trim work and paint is going on. Kitchen cabinets are to be installed next weekend. Won't be long now!

Monday and Wednesdays we shared our time with our children learning to read and have fun with each other. It gets noisy at times, but the lvoe of Christ is felt by all.

Tuesday evening, Noel led the men's Bible fellowship in the reading from Matthew as Peter attempted to walk on the water to Jesus. He did as long as his focus was on Jesus, but when he lost that focus, he began to sink. The same can be said about us today!

Thursday evening, Ms Abbie and Noel got us started off in chapel singing praises and hearing the Word. Our friends from Clearview church brought our meal and helped with all our activities. The Market was busy as usual as well as the clothing room. Great to see everybody helping out.

We have two events happening this afternoon and evening. LSUS is hosting a party call Pilot Palooza, welcoming new students onto their campus. Common Ground will be part of their program with a booth set up in the University Center. These next few sentences are what LSUS has put on their web site: "In addition to Pilot Palooza, LSUS will be bringing attention and support to the Common Ground Community in Shreveport's efforts to provide food and clothing for the less fortunate. The theme is "Bring Food to Be Fed." All donations will be given to Common Ground Community. Citizens of Shreveport and Bossier City are invited to bring food and/or clothing to this event to assist the Common Ground staff in their awesome task of helping those in need, and to enjoy all of the LSUS Family fun on campus."

The second event is happening at First Methodist downtown this evening. The church is hosting a mission fair. Our very own John "Chuck" Taylor will be one of the speakers. John Williams a while back asked me to tell him about John's story. I said to John Williams, I don't know John? John W said, the young man who coaches basketball, I said, you mean Coach Chuck! Funny story, about how Chuck got his nickname, ask Chuck the next time you see him!

Prayers for our brother George who was in the hospital this week due to a severe case of the flu. He is home now but still weak.

We have been reading Psalms in our men's Bible group on Monday night. We are through the first 40 plus Psalms so far. One of the guys said Monday night, David sure poured out his soul to God. He sure seemed to have a strong relationship with God. 

Most of the early Psalms, seem to be written by King David. Psalm 4 Answer me when I call to you, my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; have mercy on me and hear my prayer. Psalm 5 verse 2: Hear my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray. Psalm 6 verse 2: Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am faint; heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony. Psalm 9: I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds. It goes on and on.

Reading the Psalms, you can feel David's pain and heartache. David gives it all over to God. A question came to mind for us all. What if we were asked to write a Psalm what would it say? Would our relationship with God be strong enough to let it all out? Could we bare our souls? Do we hold back, not wanting to embarrass ourselves? David knew he messed up. David knew who was his King. David knew where his power came from. Can we humble ourselves enough to write Psalm number 151? Let's hear some of them in the coming weeks! Amen.

Hope your week will be a great one. Let's all begin writing our Psalm to the One who makes it all possible!

Go out

What a gorgeous time of year! Flowers everywhere, cool crisp mornings, beautiful warm afternoons, bright blue skies, life is good, God is good!

We got our week started off Saturday by visiting our friends living outside. We had some friends from Centenary join us on our visits while other students worked in the gardens with Momma T, Joey and Bryce. Some worked inside the center with Abbey and Vicki. We had a special treat with Georgette joining us. Basketball was played, work was continuing at the Bright House II, a busy fun filled morning.

Monday and Wednesday afternoons we gathered to spend time with our children. Lots of good one on one time was happening.

Tuesday evening, Brother George shared the Word with the men of the community, reading from Matthew 28: 16 - 20, talking about the Great Commission. Jesus wanted his disciples to go out and spread the Word. The same can be said today, it is our commission as well.

Wednesday evening Lisa gathered the Board together to talk about where we are going and meet the challenges ahead of us. Plans are underway for our summer camp. Youth groups from around the state are beginning to check in with us for visits this summer. Lots of exciting events are coming our way. God is good.

Thursday evening was filled with people everywhere! Joey and Bryce got the evening started off in chapel. Allison and Ms Abbie warmed up a meal brought from a local church and served homemade desserts made by a member of the Simple Church. We had a big group of honor students from Caddo parish, their parents, mentors, teachers joined us helping serve, clean up, work in the Market and clothing room. Abbey introduced another visitor from LSUS checking out what God is doing in our little community.

The Great Commission. Jesus thought it was so important, it was one of the first things he shared with his disciples when he defeated death. We sometimes get complacent, thinking how good things are going, we forget it is all about going out. We want our buildings to be nice, our homes to be clean, our clothes all picked up, but we forget it is not about us but those who do not come. Jesus is asking us, to go out! Not to think about it, form committees, do studies on it, simply to go out. Get up out of your comfort zone and go out!

Jesus is not asking us to step out in faith without help, Jesus tells the disciples, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples because I am with you. No greater partner to have on our side than Jesus! 

Our jobs are to teach others in the ways of the Lord. How do we do that? We live it out! We live in lvoe! We share our stories of how God has rescued us from the darkness we were in. We show them they count in God's Kingdom. We give them hope. We give them peace. We give them a smile. We give them a hug.

Jesus tells his disciples, I am with you always to the very end of the age. Jesus will never ever give up. When things are not going the way we think they should be going, when they are not happening as fast as we would like, I am reminded Jesus will be with always to the very end of the age. This is a journey not a race. God will allow the things of His Kingdom to happen in His time, when it is right. Amen!

Have a great week, enjoy the beauty of God's Kingdom this week, remembering Jesus is with us every step of the way.

I'll do it my way!

Here it is Friday again, wow! Is the time flying by for you?! How did God bless you this week?

We got the week started off right by attending our monthly breakfast. Joey and Momma T cooked up a feast and lots of friends joined us. It seems like every time we have our breakfast Lomax and Stephannie join us. It was great to see them. We had our friends from The Church at Red River join us as they continued their labors of lvoe at the Bright House II. They are getting close to turning over the keys to Lisa as they complete their first task for God in our community.

Later in the day, Joey hosted our first Silent Saturday Service in the chapel. It was awesome. A video presentation was put together to reflect on events of the Easter weekend and how it all comes together the way God had it planned. Can't wait until our next Silent Saturday!

It was good to visit our friends living outside and one inside! Our camps were fine, with no major problems. The weather has cooperated to make living outside tolerable. I must confess, my cup runneth over Saturday as we toured Robert's new mansion! He took us around, giving us the grand tour, like a proud parent showing off his child, Robert was giddy with excitement living inside for the first time in 14 years! Thank you God!

This week, with spring break happening, the center was quiet. We will start back up this week.

The men gathered on Tuesday evening, as Joey led our discussions reading from Jeremiah 42 and 43. A small group of people were asking Jeremiah to ask God whether they should leave their land for another place. God said, don't go or you will die, but they left anyway! Why do we think we know better than God? 

We had a new group of friends from a long time relationship with the organization join us Thursday. The Wesley Foundation of McNeese in Lake Charles came up to cook, serve, clean up, shop and visit with us. Over 5 years ago, our first group of young people joined us from the Wesley Foundation and are still a major part of our family. Wonder what God will do with our new friends?! Brother George and Ms Abbie shared their gifts of song and word in chapel. Lots of good food and lots of good fellowship for the evening.

We have a big group from Centenary joining us Saturday, for their Big Event day. We have been a part of the Big Event for many years and are excited to be a part of their happening this year. Abbey needs all the help she can get, come and join in on the fun.

We talked about it at breakfast during Momma T's devotional, we listened to it at our Silent Service, it was brought up again on Tuesday night, you can't have the resurrection without the cross. We have to suffer sometimes to enjoy the joy.

How many Easter's have come and gone in my life time, too many to count! I don't ever remember talking about what the disciples must have been going through on that Friday. The loss of their leader. The loss of their way. No hope. Despair. They had been told by Jesus, he must die to live again, but they didn't understand it. They ran away. They hid. They denied. They had no hope for the future. They did not know what was about to happen three days later.

We on the other hand can call Friday Good, because we know what happened three days later. We know what Jesus did for us on Sunday. We know Jesus gives us hope. We know we will see Jesus again. And yet we forget sometimes, seeking other gods for our solutions of life. We ask God, what should I do? Where should I go? Who should I bring? 

Like the community in Chapter 42, they asked Jeremiah to go to God for their instructions. They waited. They listened. They heard God's instructions but decided they knew best. Don't we do the same today? Jesus died on Friday and defeated death on Sunday all for us. Don't you think He wants the best for us? His way is the best way, not ours. His timing is the best not ours. Let's all come together and pray for God's direction in our lives and the life of our community, listen to what He is saying and follow His paths. Our kingdom will become His Kingdom here on earth! Amen!

Have a great week. Pray, listen, and follow, good instructions for our journeys this week.