Love your enemies

It's Friday!! Yeaa! How was your week? Was God good? Of course He was, but did we listen?

I was out of town Saturday, but the work of God never stops, so things were going on as usual. Basketball practice, bread wrapping, garden work, construction work, youth activities, visits to our friends homes, all continue through the hearts and dreams of all of you.

We continue to work in and around the center to get it back in shape. Things are looking better but still a long way to go. If you are looking for something to do, we could always use your help. Come by in the afternoons and find Joey to see what work needs to be done.

Tuesday evening, Rickie led our men's Bible fellowship reading from Luke 6 starting in verse 27, love your enemies. Ouch, sounds good but hard to do. How can we love someone who does us wrong?! Not natural, not possible? Only through the Holy Spirit working in us, will things happen.

Also on Tuesday evenings, you will find Vickie, Matt and Chuck surrounded by a group of young boys learning what it is to feel lvoed. What a great sight to see the boys engaged in conversations, learning team work and having a good time. They can always use your help, come by and see what you could do to help out.

Thursday evening got started off by a standing room crowd of chapel folks, singing with Ms Abbie and listening to the Word shared by Brother Chester. We were treated at the end of chapel by one of the community standing up, singing and praising God for bringing her back to life! What a special time. Pastor George's church helped with the meal and the serving. The clothing room and the Market were busy all night long.

Common Ground was one of 3 non profits chosen to participate in a Non Profit Board training program. The sessions are happening on Thursday evenings, so some of our leaders will be gone. We can always use your help, please come.

Prayers for Cari Bolinger fighting an infection and hospitalized at the moment. Continued prayers for Lisa's mom. She underwent a heart stint procedure this past week and still not feeling as good as everybody would like.

We talked about loving your enemies on Tuesday evening, Brother Chester led off his talk Thursday by saying we need love those who do us wrong, so I guess God is trying to tell us, lvoe, lvoe, lvoe is important.

It is easy to love someone who does you no wrong, looks like you, dresses like you, goes to the same church as you. In verse 32, Jesus says, "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them." But God, don't ask us to love someone who cusses us out, talks behind our backs, does not do what we want, asks for more than we can offer, is disagreeable, hard headed, takes advantage of us. God, we can't do it! It's too hard! Won't make a difference! Please God don't ask!

In verse 35, Jesus says, " But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great and you will be children of the most High . . " Some of us in our journeys got started late in life. We did things then we are not proud of now. But when everybody else turned against us, who welcomed us with open arms?! If God can lvoe us, why can't we lvoe others the same way? If we do, then our reward will be to get to play with Jesus in heaven! Won't that be fun!

No better place to emphasize the spelling of "lvoe" we use in our community. We can not love our enemies, turn the other cheek, give them our shirt, expecting something in return on our own. Only through the Holy Spirit working in and through us will God's "lvoe" shine and allow us to do good to those who hate us. It is not us loving but God lvoing others through us. That is why God put the Holy Spirit in us to do the impossible! The world needs to see how this remarkable lvoe can change hearts and change the world. Amen!

Let's pray to God this week in a mighty way, to help us lvoe those who do not like us and let's see how God can change their life through us! What a testament to God's unfailing grace it will be! Have a great week. See you around the center.

God provides

Hope your week was a good one! God is full of blessings and grace for us all to enjoy!

We visited our friends who live outside Saturday. Hard to imagine living in surroundings where you never cool off or never stop swatting the mosquitos. The ice water is a welcome addition to their gathering of items. It helps defer some of the tough conditions of living outside. Joey put out a plea in chapel for help with our bread wrapping activities and one of our community members came. It is a start, a welcomed addition to our group. Momma T and Tim were busy early in the morning in the garden trying to beat the heat. Then Momma T moved inside and worked with the girls making t shirts, a fun morning. Lunch for the basketball team was being prepared as we were leaving the center. Lots going on Saturdays, won't you come and join in.

During the week, in the afternoons, you will find Dawn, Joey and Alan working in and around the center. The center needs lots of attention, so they have begun helping out all around the building. You should notice a nice change in it's appearance, let them know what a great job they are doing. If something needs to be dropped off, you can just about find someone there from 1 - 5, Monday through Thursday.

Tuesday evening, Noel led the community Men's Bible fellowship. Always a good evening of laughter, surprises and conversation on how God is working in the lives of our men.

Thursday activities got started off by Willie and Wes sharing their gifts of song and word. It is great to see Willie walk over to Wes and say, the Holy Spirit wants me to sing this song instead of what we have prepared. Wes, says ok, Willie goes to singing and Wes goes to playing. Always magical in seeing the Holy Spirit working in these men. We had a couple of new churches provide us with our meal. The Market was busy as usual. An added bonus this week, was the giving out of back packs to our children. Great to see them walking around the center with their brand new backpacks on their backs, big smiles were everywhere! It was a great evening.

Prayers for Lisa and her mom. Her mom fell and surgery will be needed, happening this morning. Prayers for those who are traveling. Prayers for my sister's family in California. My sister has been battling cancer for two years and late Wednesday evening, she lost the battle. She was the leader of her family and her children will be struggling for awhile to cope with loosing their mom. Prayers for Ginellen's mom, she fell and hit her head, ending up with 19 stitches across her forehead. Prayers for Willie as he in going in this morning to have a stint placed in his arm for possible dialysis in the near future. Prayers for our community. Prayers for the direction God is leading us.

God provides. How many times have we said that expression? God provides.

We go through life trying to make ends meet and in the end, God provides. Just when you think there is nothing left, all hope is lost, God provides. How many times, does it look like there is no light at the end of the tunnel, God provides. We are faced with all sorts of storms, so many obstacles we wonder if we will ever survive, but we do because God provides.

Several stories this week, I have been blessed to see and hear, reminds me of God providing for us. Momma T takes her granddaughter to a new school. Lots of emotion and anxieties going to meet the granddaughter's teacher. She walks in and sees Terry Strain in the same classroom? Momma T's first thought, does Terry have a granddaughter attending the same class. Then she realizes, her granddaughter's teacher is Terry's daughter Hanna. Momma T was a big part of Hanna's life growing up at Grace. Now Hanna will be a big part of Momma T's life as she takes care of her granddaughter! God provides!

Several of us have been receiving calls from other organizations about school supplies and backpacks. We have been blessed in the past of Grace supplying us with back packs and supplies. This year we were blessed to receive some backpacks but very little supplies. Lisa was wanting around 90 backpacks to meet our needs for the community children. The numbers of back packs we received we not nearly enough to meet our obligation of giving away the backpacks this past Thursday, our anxieties began to increase. Then Lisa started getting phone calls from people, saying I have back packs, do you want them? Lisa goes back to Grace Wednesday afternoon and finds a bunch of backpacks that were in a different place adding to our total. Folks we had not heard from in awhile, calls and says, I have school supplies can I bring them by. We were able to pack the bags with pencils, pens, notebook paper, folders, glue and more! After we gave away the bags to all the children Thursday, we still had a few bags left! God provides!

We had air conditioning problems a couple of weeks ago at the center. We were able to get the units running before Thursday, God providing again. But this Thursday, one of our main units in the dining hall was not performing up to it's capacity. It gets hot in the room when you have 125 people in there! Ardis comes to me beside herself with frustration of the room not getting any cooler. I say to her, I guess we need to call our electrician to see if he can come by to see what the problem is. I walk into the dining hall and guess who was sitting down at the table visiting with the community?! John and our new Jim had just walked in. They finished their meal and immediately went to find our problem. They did and are working on getting our unit working back at full strength! God provides!

These are just the stories from this week. Stories like this happen everyday to everybody. We need to share our stories with others to let them know there is a God who lvoes us, cares for us and watches out over us. The world is full of negativity, hurt and confusion. Willie shared in chapel, people of faith need to share our stories of lvoe, compassion and faith with others. As Willie pointed out in Philippians 2 verse 2, Paul says, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. As Christians, we don't need to let the world bring us down. We need to have joy in our hearts knowing there is a God providing for our every needs! Amen.

Wonder what God providing stories will happen this week for you? Be able to share with others, share it with us. Have a great week. God will provide because God is good!

Came to seek

Baby it's hot outside! I think every day this week the temperatures have been at 100 degrees or hotter!  Hopefully in your part of the world it has not  been as bad. How did God bless you this week?!

Being out of town this past Saturday, have not heard what went on. We are gearing up for the start of school and the fall basketball season. Always lots of activities going in and around the center, come by one Saturday and check it out.

With summer camp coming to an end, it is time to give our center a much needed face lift. Kathyrn, our cleaning expert, has done a great job in getting the floors looking brand new again. Still lots to be done, we could use your help.

Tuesday evening, Rickie led our men's community Bible fellowship reading from Luke 19: 1-10. Reading about Zacchaeus the tax collector, wanting to see this man called Jesus so he climbs up a tree to do so. What do we do to see Jesus?

With school starting next week, we will begin preparing for our afternoon reading activities. Allison will be taking over the leadership role for us this year. We had a great year last year. Looking forward to meeting our new group of children. As dates and times become available, we will let you know how to get involved.

Joey will be hosting prayer time in the chapel every day this week starting at 9am. No better way to get through the day, than spending time with Jesus.

As the temperatures hovered around 100, we got our Thursday activities started by listening to Ms Abbie and Joey in chapel. We had a large crowd, being the first of the month. All our ministries were busy, clothing room, market and the dining hall. It was great to see old friends and meet new ones.

Prayers for a police officer's family in Shreveport who was killed in the line of duty Wednesday night. We need to develop a better relationship between our police staff and the community. Prayers for our friends living outside. This oppressive heat wave is making for short tempers. Prayers for our community children as they return to school.

Verse 10 as stuck with me this week, For the Son of Man came to seek, and to save the lost. Jesus walks to the streets, meeting folks and going into their homes. Jesus is doing what the church needs to be doing.

Zacchaeus, the tax collector, one of the most hated men of his time, stops what he is doing and climbs a tree to see Jesus. Jesus, who is always watching out for us, spots this man, recognizes him and says, I must stay at your house today. Jesus is wanting a relationship with us, we don't have to climb a tree, just open our hearts up to Him.

When the people on the streets hear Jesus saying, I must go to the tax collector house, they start to grumble. How can a man like Jesus go to a sinner's house?! The church opens the doors and hopes people will come. We welcome those who come who look like us, but do we do the same for someone who does not?

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. We need to constantly be going out. It is very easy for us to drive to the center, walk inside, get comfortable in our surroundings and leave. We need to get out of our comfort zones and go out and seek. We need to build relationships with our community in their homes. We need to go to their schools. We need to go to their churches. Jesus walked the streets most of His time on earth, spending very little time in the synagogues.  We need to do the same. As Joey, said in chapel, we are stronger together than we are separate. We have found Jesus, we need to go out and do the same for others. Amen.

Hope your coming week will be a good one. Let us, say a prayer, put one foot in front of another, and go out and seek. Amazing things will happen when we follow Jesus!

Where are we going?

Dog days of summer! Not sure why they don't call them the "cat" days or the"bird" days of summer? But for whatever reason we are in them! Hot humid days and nights are happening in our part of the world. Hopefully you are able to escape them where you are?! How did God bless you this week?

Our Saturday was busy in and around the center. Work was done at the Bright House II, wrapping bread was happening, office work got done and visits were made. The frozen water was a big hit last week, so don't forget to bring your empty milk jugs. Anything cool is always appreciated this time of year. The camps seem to be ok or as well as they can be in the heat!

Another good week of summer camp came to a close. Hard to believe, but next week will be our final week! For the field trip this week, the children got to go to Sci-port and experience science projects going on in their lives everyday. Lots of smiling faces were prevelant Thursday afternoon as they returned home.

Tuesday evening, Rickie led the community men's fellowship, talking about the tongue. What a powerful instrument we have been given to use. As it says in James 3: 10, "out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be". Let's use our tongues for lifting others up, not tearing them down.

Wednesday evening, Lisa held a Board meeting. Lots going on is an understatement! Many blessings and many challenges are before us. With God's blessings, it will all work out to His glory!

Thursday evening, got started off with our Brother Chester and Ms Abbie leading us in chapel. A packed house of community, hearing the Word and singing His praises! Abbey hosted a big youth group from a Baptist church from Haughton for the evening. They brought clothing, groceries, served, cleaned and shopped their way through the evening. Our folks in the clothing room have not opened up a baby room! In a room across the hall, you will find all sorts of items for a baby! On a sad - happy note, we said goodbye to a long time family member. Dr Phil is leaving us, moving to Colorado to continue his studies and help organize a school he is involved with. Dr Phil has been a long time supporter of our community in many ways. He will be missed terribly, but it is a comfort knowing he is following the path God has laid before him.

Prayers for our country. Opening up the newspaper this morning to read more killings happening in another movie theater. This time it is getting closer to home, in Lafayette. I am reminded, God is in charge and greater than anything Satan can throw at us. Continued prayers for Ginellen as she continues to heal from her last procedure. Prayers for those who are traveling.

As it was said at the Board meeting, not sure Ms Lisa how you do your "day" job, by all she does for our community. In one of her hand outs was a list of everything going on and what it takes to run our campus. I still can't believe the word "campus" being used, but it is true. From starting out, handing out groceries and clothes from the trunks of our cars or the back of our trucks, we now have a campus! We had a heart for meeting the needs of our community then and still do to this day.

Unlike most other groups, we continue to have very little paid staff to meet those needs. All the work is done by those who have fallen in lvoe with our community. Some times it can be overwhelming. Some times it can be painful. Many times it does not go the way we want it to go. But it happens. It gets done. God is glorified.

We are learning as we go. We don't have all the answers, really we don't have any answers! We continue to put one foot before the other, having faith God will provide and lead us along the way. He has done it so far, no reason not expect it to continue.

God continues to bring people before us. He continues to challenge us with dreams too big to comprehend. He is always pushing us to new levels of relationships, deeper than we could have ever imagine. We are part of a community were lvoe is not only felt but experienced in ways we did not dream of.

God is preparing us. God is laying a path before us that will be beyond our imaginations. God is providing a way for us to make a difference in the lives of our children and our community. God is asking us to have faith in Him. Not to seek answers to our questions or have doubts but to be obedient and have faith.

Will you join us? Tell those you meet, fellowship with, your family, your friends, your church. God needs you and your friends to help our community grow closer to Him. Tell your family, if you want to see God working in a world where there is so much pain, join us on Thursday evening. Explain to your church, miracles are happening in today's time, just come on Saturday mornings or Tuesday evenings and watch the children. Share with others, get out of your comfort zone, pray, be open to new ways and come during the week for camp or after school reading times. It will take us all, being obedient, praying, listening and lvoing as we move along the path God has laid before us! Amen.

Hope you all have a great week. May God's blessings abound in the coming days as you get to share in what God is doing in our community.

I will set out

We are in the middle of our summer heat! Hopefully it is not as hot where you are?! Hope your week was full of many God surprises!

Saturday got the week started off in the right direction. I was honored to have two of my high school friends join in on the fun around the center. One of the guys, who was a high school all state basketball player, stayed around the center and worked with the basketball team, while the other friend joined us visiting our friends. The heat and mosquitos were the main topic of the morning. Don't forget to bring your empty milk jugs, so we can fill them up with water, to provide cooler water. Ms Abbie and Jada got the bread wrapping started off in good fashion. Tim did work in the garden. John continues his work in the Bright House II. A busy morning.

Camp concluded this week by a visit to Gator and Friends. The children got to feed all sorts of animals and watched the alligators get their daily feeding. Fun and games were going on during the week. Great to see our young leaders lead our children in learning how to work with each other and have fun at the same time.

Hopefully most of you saw Abbey's email about a visit from First Methodist's youth on Monday. Always great to see how God works in the hearts and minds of the little ones.

Tuesday evening the men gathered for Bible fellowship as Rickie led the study reading from Luke 15, starting at verse 11, reading about the lost son coming home. As we talked about the passage, it was agreed, we all have had a part of the prodigal son in us at some point in our lives! Thank goodness our God has compassion for us when we decided, it was time to come home!

No better way to start Thursday's activities than to have Brother George and Spencer led us in song and scripture in chapel. A delicious meal was prepared by Peaches. Our Market was busy as well as the clothing room. Lisa and I had the opportunity to visit with the new president of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation, Michael Tipton. He was touring the state visiting with recent Angel award recipients and seeing how they can continue to support our efforts. A good evening.

Prayers for those who are traveling this weekend and next week. Prayers for healing. Prayers for our friends living outside.

"I will set out", a phrase that stuck with me this week. In verse 18, the lost son, after he had spent everything his father had given him, came to his "senses", facing starvation, decided, I will set out and go back to my father.

How many times have we strayed from the path we should be on? How many times have to tried to do things our own way? How many times have we taken things into our own hands and tried to fix it? How many times have we messed up and decided to set out and go back to our father?

It is hard, really hard to admit I have messed up. I marvel at the lost son, who had wealth and power growing up, loose it all. Then humble himself enough to acknowledge I must go home in order to survive. We all need to do the same.

As it says in the last part of verse 20, the father of the lost son sees his lost son still along way off, the father was filled with compassion, he runs to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. We have the same father! We have a father, that does not judge us, but lvoes us. We have a father, who wants the best for us, not the worse. We have a father, who will care for us, who will comfort us, who will lead us down the path of righteousness. All we have to do is make the decision to "set out" in his direction. Amen

Hope the coming week will find us all setting out in the right direction! Hope to see you around the center! Our Father is good!

left behind

How was your week? In this part of the world, we have begun to experience the joys of summer!

Saturday was kind of strange around the center, very quiet! Matt and Vikki took the weekend off to go visit his mom and relax a bit, so no basketball practice. Ardis was on vacation. Momma T and Ms Abbie picked up the slack, wrapping bread, working with the girls, and spending time in the garden. We visited our friends, living outside, trying to convey cool thoughts! It is hot and humid, mosquitos are everywhere, making life miserable. Don't forget to bring your empty milk jugs, so we can fill them up with water, freeze them, providing cooler drinking water during the week.

We finished another week of camp. It was a good week. Thursday afternoon, walking up to chapel, there were a sea of children sitting on the steps eating watermelon! What a treat to see the little ones enjoying their slices of heaven! I won't be surprised, next year to see watermelon plants growing around the chapel, there were seeds everywhere!

Tuesday evening, we read from Luke 17 starting in verse 20, talking about The coming of the Kingdom of God. Are we ready? Is it coming? When will it get here? The world was doing what it wanted and God said, it is time, so the floods came. Have we strayed away from God's Word?

Thursday evening, chapel was led by Willie and Wes. There is a connection between those two, Wes starts playing, Willie starts singing, the Holy Spirit moves in ways that can not be explained! A good meal was served, the Market was busy, clothes were given away, a blessed evening.

Prayers for those on the road this weekend. Momma T headed to College Station. Dr Phil, who's birthday is Wednesday, Ms Sarah and her youth group will be heading back from a week long visit in Haiti. Continued prayers for healing for Ginellen. Her doctor was pleased on her progress. Willie having kidney issues. Prayers for our community and the hot, summer days.

This week in different settings, conversations have developed, asking where is our society going? Have we gotten so far away from God's Word, that we are living in a world with no morals? What is right - what is wrong, sometimes is hard to determine?

In Luke 17, verse 27 Jesus tells the folks, people were eating, drinking, marrying . . .  then the flood came and destroyed them all. Verse 28 talks about the people were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building . . . fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. Is God's Word relevant today as it was back 2000 years ago?

When the Son of Man returns, there will be some of us left behind and others will experience the glories of Heaven. We talked about a book series called Left Behind. I think the first book, when the first group of believers was taken, there was a character in the book left behind, a pastor. I have always identified with the pastor. He thought he was doing what Christ wanted him to do. He was sharing the Gospel with others. He thought he was a man of God, but he was left behind?

Jesus could have easily strayed from His duties while He was here on earth, but he didn't. He knew what his ministry was and stayed focus on that vision. We need to do the same. When the world around us seems to be going another direction, Common Ground needs to stay on the path that we have been following all these years. We will be persecuted. We will be ostracized. We will be look at strangely. We will be looked down on.

Jesus tells us in Chapter 17, don't stray from what I have taught you, or things will not go well for you. As Noah did, he followed the path God led out for him and he and his family was sparred. We can be the Noahs or our time! People will need a place where they need comfort, peace, harmony, and especially lvoe, we can provide that through the Holy Spirit working in and through us! Amen

Hope your coming week is filled with joy and blessings of God's mercy and grace! How exciting to be a part of a community where lvoe is shown to others in ways God had intended!

Our busyness

Hope your week was filled with God's blessings and joy!

Sunday morning, we had the opportunity to hear one of our own share the Word at Grace. Alison Sauls, or I should say, Pastor Alison led worship with her talk about stepping out and doing what is not natural, following God's Word in our lives.

Saturday was filled with excitement everywhere. Bread was being wrapped, the basketball team was busy with games, visits were happening, Bright House II work going on. A big group from The Church at Red River worked most of the day laying down flooring, repairing ceilings, moving doors, adding electrical boxes and more. Our friends were doing ok. Mosquitos are a problem. Robert is still waiting for his voucher for inside housing. The hot humid weather is making life harder. A request from Scott for frozen water would help. Each year at this time, we bring frozen jugs of water to each camp. It helps supply the guys with cooler water longer during the week. Please bring your milk jugs and we can fill them up with water and put them in one of our freezers.

Another week of camp is in the books. Each year we have challenges with temperment, feelings, anxieties, and life. Our children's environments are not ones that create harmony and they bring their anxieties with them to camp. It is a challenge every year to get past those feelings and help them to choose lvoe instead of hate. Please pray for our young adults as they deal with those challenges.

Thursday was hot and lively around the center. Joey and Ms Abbie got us into a rhythm of harmony by singing some songs and hearing the Word. Being the first of the month, our numbers were small. Hot dogs and mac and cheese was a hit with all. Our market continues to provide opportunities for relationships and bonding. Our clothing room helps provide much needed clothes to our community. New friends showed up, new opportunities to lvoe one another were provided.

Continued prayers for healing for Ginellen. She is doing ok, still sore, but hanging in there. Prayers for others who are in need of healing. Prayers for our community and dealing with the challenges of living in poverty.

We had the priviledge of having our 3 year old grandson with us this week until Wednesday evening. I took off a few days and we all played together. Wednesday evening as we met our son in Tyler to return our grandson back to his dad, our grandson ran from his dad's car because he did not want to leave his pawpaw and nelly! Tears of joy and sadness filled all our eyes as we said goodbye to our grandson.

I was thinking, about our experiences over the week and hear Jesus saying, it is not about the doing, it is about the relationships. I am not sure I have ever taken a few days off, stayed home and played?! I have a mentality of, if I am doing something constructive I am being lazy.

We find ourselves busy all the time, everyday, every hour for what? I understand we have our day jobs to maintain our life styles but we need to remember it is not about the stuff but about relationships. Our grandson does not care about my day job, he cares about us, his grandparents being there for him. He starts soccer practice this weekend, he asked, pawpaw are you going to be there?!

Our community provides a place for our children to come and be safe for a few hours everyday during the summer. At the end of camp, the children will remember the relationships they have formed with our young adults not about all the stuff they did. We work with the children after school during the year. Yes the children get help with their reading and enjoying their snacks, but they run up to us and give us a hug. It is about the relationships they form during the year that they will remember. The basketball players enjoy being able to play and practice, go different places, but they enjoy the relationships that are being formed with Matt, Vikki and Chuck more. We see our young community children grow up into young adults. They come around and visit with us every year. The relationships that are formed will last a lifetime.

Our relationships begin with Jesus. As Joey shared in chapel, then that lvoe of Jesus we receive, we are able to share with others. Then as we talked about from 1st Corinthians 13: 4, we are able to share the lvoe that is patient, that is kind, that does not envy, does not boast and is not proud! Amen

Hope the coming week will be rich in God's blessings to you and all you meet. May we all remember it is not about being busy but about our lvoe for one another.