Where do you find God?

Is it spring yet!? Here it is February, temperatures in the 80's, flowers and trees are blooming, the birds are singing, squirrels are making nests, can it be spring? Thank you God for this day, for this time, for this life!

Another busy Saturday got our week started. We visited our friends living outside. As Shawn and Scott mentioned as our morning concluded, God is needed! Robert, who has been living inside for several months now, is having medical problems. His past is catching up to him. He loves the Lord, is not worried about the end of his life, but also, when you face your mortality, life becomes precious. As Robert spoke of his problems, his tears of concern began to flow. He said, he knew he had a mission for the rest of his life. That mission was to share with others to not live a life style he once did. To turn the lives over to Christ. The next camp, more of the drama we have been seeing the last several weeks. Alcohol was prevalent again, with many unable to stand or barely able to be coherent. One of our long time friends, finally able to get up, comes over to me, with big tears in his eyes, saying mr brian please forgive me for my short comings. We need prayers for our friends. Satan is busy in their part of the world.

We only had our children Wednesday afternoon this week. Monday was a holiday, so we missed out on our fun times with them. It was good to be back with the children and all their excitement and enthusiasm.

Tuesday evening, Brother George led our men's Bible fellowship reading from Luke 13: 1-8 titled repent or perish. Have we asked God for forgiveness for our sins? If not, how can we forgive others?

Also on Tuesday, our Cedar Grove Chargers were winning another game!  Their last game of the spring season will be Tuesday February 28 at 7:15 at Bill Cockrell Park.

Thursday evening, was full of blessings as Ms Abbie and Bryce shared their gifts of music as the community choir led us in praise. Brother Chester shared the Word, focusing on lvoe, God's lvoe, not the world's love! We had many friends helping us serve and clean up in the dining hall, helping as our personal shoppers in the Market and bagging clothes from the clothing room. A busy, blessed night.

Prayers for our long time friend William. Prayers for the leaders of Common Ground. Prayers for God's direction in our journeys of faith.

The past several weeks, as I was working in and around the center, I have had two different groups of people come up to me and say, this is amazing what you are doing around here. They have been on a tour of our center with Abbey or Bryce and they were in awe of what they saw. I thank them and say thank you, but it is not me but this is of God.

Last night as I was setting up our sound system for chapel, waiting on our computer to update for an hour or so, I sat and listened to the community as they began to come in. Two different community members came over to me and were excited to introduce me to some visitors they had brought with them. Others were sitting together talking about life. One member had just lost a family member and was struggling with the lost. Others were offering their support and kindness to help their friend through their struggle. Tears were shed at some point, but also laughter replaced those tears before we left chapel. Another friend's phone rang, with them saying we are already at "church", are you coming, there's still time?

I listened to a preacher this week say, where do you go to find God? Some people go to a building on Sunday. Some go to a classroom. Hopefully they will discover God there, but what if they don't? Will they come back? For us who were raised up in church, it was my understanding, you found God on Sunday mornings in church, dressed in a suit, on my best behavior, for an hour or two. After church was over, I could be myself again!

Our community finds God when they find you! We are not about church but about God. For those of our community who will never set foot in a church building, their only to see God will be through you. The work you do, the time you spend, the sacrifice you make for our community is what God is expecting us to do. It is our opportunity to show God's lvoe,  to minister through our actions, what God is all about. When we show God' lvoe to others, we are blessed, we all are blessed!

I know when the kids are running around the center, the adults are arguing, the young people are cussing, it doesn't feel like church at that moment. But take a moment and think about where they are. They are with you, because they know you lvoe them, that God lvoes them, something they do not get another place in their lives!

Allowing God to work in and through your lives, you have created a sacred place. A place where our friends are proud to bring their friends and family. A place where your hearts are open for support and to give hope. A place, which is really not a place, but a person, who lvoes God enough to allow His Holy Spirit to work in and through you in amazing ways, blessing us all! Amen!

Enjoy this spring weather. Enjoy God's blessings. Enjoy being the hands and feet of God.

God's people

Life is good! God is good! What more could we want!?

We have talked about for the last several years, the ministry of visiting our friends living outside, to dissolve as our friends slowly find places to live inside. God must have other plans? Scott shared last week, do you realize we are visiting 12 friends now! Wow, don' t know it that is a good thing or not, but we are there, showing the lvoe of Christ to those who don't have a chance to see His light during their week.

Monday we continued our tutoring activities. Wednesday afternoon, we had a group of ladies sharing with the children, how to eat right. There were lots of fun activities all the children got to experience.

Tuesday evening, Brother Rickie shared the Word as the men of the community read from Genesis 4: 1 - 9, the story of Cain and Abel. Cain was mad at God and took his anger out on his brother Abel. Are we guilty of doing the same with our love ones?

Chapel time was rocking Thursday evening, with the community choir singing their hearts out as Ms Abbie played the piano. One of our own friends from the community, wanted to share the Word, so he preached and preached and preached. Brother George, had to get a hook out and pull him off the stage as he continued to share the Word! It was great! Our community was treated to a banquet created by Z and Ms Abbie, while members of one of the local crewes marched around the dining hall throwing beads and cups! The Market and clothing room were also rocking with people everywhere! A fun night of God's blessings.

We only have one basketball game this week, Tuesday evening at 8:15 at Bill Cockrell Park. Our Chargers lost last week for the first time. Did everybody see the great picture on Facebook of the team praying before their game?! Awesome!

Prayers? How are we doing? What can we pray for you this week?

Talking about Cain and Abel Tuesday night, reminded me of how awesome God is and how sinful we are. Listening to a sermon series this week about an over view of the Bible, I am reminded of how much God lvoes us and how much we mess it up. God created beauty for us as Adam and Eve enjoyed the blessings, but at some point, we messed it up. Nothing has changed over all these years. God wants nothing but the best for us, but our prides and egos, get in the way and we miss out on the blessings God.

I heard a statement this week, that I can't get out of my mind. When we are born again, sin no longer rules our lives, but still remains in us. We want to do God's will, we know what is right and wrong, we know if we go down that path of ours, the consequences will not be good, but we still do it! We tell our children don't do that, don't go there. We say to our children, I have, it didn't work out, but our children do it anyway. We did when our parents told us not to. God talks to Cain in verse 7, "If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you don't do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it." The very next verse, Cain takes Abel out into the field and kills him. Sin is powerful. Sin is silent. Sin is always present. 

That is why God created us for community. We need each other to help us through our trials. We need each other to hold us accountable for our actions. We need each other to listen. We need each other to pray for us. I wonder if Cain had someone to talk to, a community of believers, of followers, would the fate of Abel been different?

Common Ground is exploding with new ideas, new directions, new paths, new people. Which way should we go? They all do good. They are all important. As a community we need to sit down together, discern, pray, talk and listen to each other to decide which of our paths are of God. It might be hard to say no, or not at this time, or maybe later, but it will be important to remember, we are God's people, doing God's will, in God's time. Amen.

Have a great week. Enjoy all the blessings God has for you. He is good beyond our imaginations!

How long will it last?

What a gorgeous morning God had planned for us this morning! Hopefully your morning was just as pretty!

We visited our friends living outside Saturday. Everybody was doing good. Our friend, who was not doing well last week, assured us he did not mean to be that way and said he was ok.  Our 14 year old and under Cedar Grove Chargers were winning their 6th game of the season Saturday afternoon. They are now 6 - 0! Work continued in the garden. Our girl scout troop was meeting at the Bright House II Saturday morning. Lots going on in our part of the world.

We continue with our afternoon activities of fun, games and learning on Monday and Wednesday. Lots of help to go with lots of children!

Tuesday evening, we had some new faces at our community men's Bible fellowship. Joey led our discussions, reading from Lamentations 1: 1 - 22. How deserted lies the city, once so full of people! Our center was once deserted, now full of life, what will tomorrow bring?

Thursday evening, chapel was full of music, praise and worship. Our piano man, Wes, played for us, as Ms Abbie led our community choir. Brother James shared the Word, talking about the compassion and the lvoe God has for us no matter what we do. Z and Ms Abbie prepared a feast, as new friends helped serve and clean up. The clothing room and Market were busy with community enjoying their time with us. A blessed evening.

Our undefeated Chargers have two games this week! Tuesday February 14th at 8:15 pm at Bill Cockrell Park. Then on Thursday February 16th at 7:15 pm at A B Palmer.

I want to wish all our ladies out there a Happy Valentine's Day. You are the key to our community, often not getting any recognition for everything you do. Please know you are lvoed and appreciated by us all.

This Thursday at our meal, we will have our annual Mardi Gras parade. The Gemini Crewe will be joining us, dancing and throwing beads to our community, always lots of fun.

We now have a new family member joining our community, Sarah Shoup. You will see Sarah around the campus helping coordinate all our activities making sure everything runs smoothly. She has a heart for community and will be a valuable asset to our community. When you see her, please welcome her into our community.

How deserted lies the city, once so full of people! Part of the first verse of Lamentations 1. I was thinking about that Tuesday morning working on the yard at the new building across the street from the center. Weeds and trash was covering the entrance into the bank building. As we removed the weeds and trash, I discovered beautiful granite steps into the building. It got me to thinking about all the lives, the families, the homes this building must have been a part of when it was built. Now, for whatever reason, it was vacant, deserted!

I don't what to think about it, but this could happen to our community? Those that built the bank building had a passion for our neighborhood. Don't you know, the people of our community were grateful for the presence of the bank and it's employees. Now, many years later, the building is empty, neglected and deserted.

We see this happen all too often. Those who have a passion for something, get together, start living their passion. For awhile, everything is great, a blessing to all, then as time goes on, sometimes that passion subsides. Sometimes those that start the group move on to other projects, or life gets in the way, changes occur and gradually their presence subsides.

Common Ground was started from a passion of several. Some have left, others are still around. Will the passion live on? We need to ask ourselves, where does our passion come from. Is it our passion or the passion of Christ's? We are about God, God's plan, not ours. God's plan will never die. 

The future of our community is exciting. Many new people are coming to us with great passion and desires for our community. As long as we follow the plan God has laid before us, our passion for lvoe and understanding will last for years to come. Amen

Have a blessed week, God is good, isn't He!

Do we have to pray!

Good morning to all! God is good and so are ya'll!

Busy Saturday morning as usual around the center. We made our visits to the camps. Always a joy to see our friends living outside, but also a reminder of how life is hard. A new friend of ours, Shawn, has started going with us on our visits. The past two weeks as Turner finishes his shopping, Shawn whips out his Bible, reads a couple of verses and prays with Turner. We don't hold hands yet, but this is a start with Turner. Turners stands there, listens and then walks off to his home. Wonder what he is thinking?! Our next camp finds our new group waiting for us, sitting on the railroad tracks in the sun, trying to stay warm. Their camp dog, Bo, comes up to mr brian and gets his usual dog treats. I ask Bo where his daddy is? The group says over there on the tracks. We look over and there is Donny, passed out on the tracks. 10:30 in the morning passed out! Sad, sad. Shawn and Dawn walk over to be sure he is breathing, wake him up and he stumbles over to the truck. We have prayed this week, for the taste of alcohol in Donny to not be tolerated. No way to live. Lunch was being prepared for the basketball team as we returned from our visits.

Monday and Wednesdays we continued meeting with our children in the afternoons, having fun playing games, learning and lvoing on them. You can be sure it goes both ways!

Tuesday evening the men of the community gathered for their Bible fellowship. Brother George shared the Word reading from Hebrews 6: 1-12. Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity , . . is how the first verse starts. Are we moving or standing still?

Wednesday morning, the garden was busy with activity! Bryce had a tiller going or I should say Ms Abbie had a tiller going, tilling up the old garden making way for the planting of potatoes. The new beds look great!

Thursday, our chapel time got started off with our new community choir praising God with their hearts and voices, while Ms Abbie played the piano. A new pastor joined us in chapel, asking us, what type of bags we are carrying? Bags filled with garbage of the past, bags filled with today's struggles or bags filled with God's Word?! It was Mexican night in the dining hall. Z and Ms Abbie created all the fixins you would find at a mexican restaurant. The clothing room was busy as well as the Market. A fun night!

The Cedar Grove Chargers have a basketball game this Saturday, February 4th at noon at Bill Cockrell Park. No games next week. Come if you can.

Prayer keeps coming to me this week. I will ask Joey for something or an idea I might have and the first thing out of Joey's mouth, let's pray about it. I don't want to hear that, I want to do it! Many years ago, I had an idea of feeding the community at Faith church. I was so excited about "my" idea, couldn't wait to get to Pastor Jackson's office to tell him. The first thing out of his mouth, he said, brian we need to pray about it. My frustration level got higher. I like to do things now, not pray about it! Well after several months of painstakingly prayer, for me! God shared a story in the Upper Room with me early one Tuesday morning, telling about a church who provides a meal to their community. God even gave us a name, Kitchen Angels! And we are still doing it!

When the church moved out of the church building which is now our center, sitting there vacant for months, I told everybody we need to move into it now! There was no budget, no money, no idea of how to get it renovated, no help, our small group prayed about it. Several months later, as we worked across the street at the Bright House, wishing we were in the building, Lisa shows up to tutor. We find out she is a lawyer with a passion for our community, likes to get things done and well we see what has happened!

One of my favorite prayer stories is our lack of rain! As we became homeless, the church asked us to leave the building, we started serving our meals at the Bright House. We first tried to eat inside but it was too crowded, so we moved to the driveway area. For two years, our small group prayer was each week was, for it not to rain on Wednesday evenings for our meal. Well, in spite of two hurricanes, multiple thunderstorms, we were never ever forced to not have our meals outside. Some Wednesdays, we had to eat in a hurry, but we ate! God will provide.

In chapel last week, really every chapel begins with asking the community if they have prayer requests. You can see and hear the community getting more comfortable speaking out, with their prayer requests. One couple spoke up last week, needing prayers to find a home or a place to stay. When Brother George asked for prayer requests this week, the lady spoke up and said, they found a place to stay! Everybody clapped!

Several weeks ago, Brother George shared his heart of wanting the young men, who come for the meal on Tuesday night, to also stay for the men's Bible fellowship. You can tell they are hunger, maybe getting the only good meal for the day at the chapel, but he also wanted them to be filled with the Holy Spirit. So we prayed for them as we opened up our fellowship. This past Tuesday the young men were there and guess what, they stayed the entire night! 

We all have prayer stories. Things God has done for us. The one common theme I am reminded of when it comes to prayer, if God thinks it needs to happen, it will in His time, not mr brian's time. There is a method to His madness. It is all about Him and His Kingdom building. Over the years, I have learned patience when it comes to prayer.  He has taught me obedience when we go to God in prayer. And my faithfulness has increased because I know if the prayers are of God's will, then God will provide. He provides in ways that I had no idea or expectations of it happening the way it did. God has a plan for the building of His Kingdom. We don't know the plan, that is not our job to know the plan. Our jobs are to pray, to be obedient, to be patient, and  to have faith God will provide. He will because He is God, because He is Good! Amen!