Children of the Most High

Hope everybody had a great week. Spring has sprung in our part of the world, with God creating new and exciting things to see. 

Scott had an old friend join them on their visits to the camps. Gus brought some friends of his to join us. For those of you who have not heard Gus will be leaving us for awhile, making his way to Paraguay to spread the Gospel according to Gus! He will be teaching English to the children in the country and creating new adventures, hopefully we will get to read about them in the future! Robert says he is finally getting a place to move inside. Exciting news, hope it happens. Everybody else is doing ok, enjoying the warmer temperatures.

All the other activities continue on Saturday, basketball, feeding the boys, Bible study, bread wrapping, gardening beginning to start again, remodeling, all happening, we just need you to make it even better!

Our afternoon reading times continue with the children. Each leader has their own children everyday, which makes for great relationships. Next week, Centenary and LSUS are on Spring Break, so we will be short handed. If any of you can be with us on Monday and/or Wednesday, we could use the help. The children arrive around 3.

Tuesday evening, Rickie led the men's Bible fellowship, reading from Luke 6: 27-36, love your enemies. The first verse says, but to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do to those who hate you. Rickie said, lot's of time we are not listening! We don't want to hear from God when it isn't what we want to do! Isn't it easier to hate than to lvoe?

Not sure how to describe Thursday evening? One of calm, nervousness, peace, joy, contentment, fulfilling. Ms Abbie played her heart out along with our choir who sang to the Lord, Brother Chester preached what God was putting on his heart, not wanting to end as the congregation agreed. Children's church was started again, exciting the little ones to have their own place to go. We had, what looked like the entire congregation of a new church, setting up the food, serving, cleaning, helping out to get everybody fed. Then we moved into our new Community Market, with more of their members, helping as shoppers as our community made their way around the store picking and choosing what they wanted to take home. Their bags were weighed, bag up and off they went. I heard nothing but compliments from the community as the whole evening was special. Shannon, Lisa, Abbey, Alan and a whole host of others made the shopping experience special. 

Dr Phil had a big smile on his face Thursday evening, as he had the opportunity to introduce one of his children to the community. Philip was in town for a few days, as he and his wife are transitioning to a new career move for them.

Prayers for one of our men who is part of our Monday Bible study at Grace and on Tuesday evening. I have not met a more braver man, than Daren, who has lost both legs to diabetes, never complaining. Late Thursday evening he was taken to the emergency room with heart problems. Have not heard this morning of his condition. Another friend has his trial next week. Like Paul said, I know I shouldn't do certain things but I do them anyway. He made bad choices and paying the price for them now. Matt's mom and her continued struggle with her health. Phil in his travels to Colorado. He will be gone from us for awhile helping out his community there.

Don't forget to collect Easter eggs for our neighborhood walk Easter Sunday. We will hide as many as we can get!

We are at the beginning of Holy week, a time to reflect on what God has done for us in our lives. He allowed His son to be tortured on Friday for our sins and lvoed us enough to allow His son to be resurrected on Sunday so that we may have eternal life with Him. Isn't that amazing!

Thinking back on our scripture, lvoe our enemies, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you, do good to those who hate you, isn't that what Jesus did for us on the cross on Friday? If Jesus did that for us, can't we do the same to others? There is too much hate in the world. The world needs lvoe, Jesus' kind of lvoe. It is not us who are called to lvoe, bless, pray or do good, it is the Holy Spirit within us doing the work. God is within all of us, if we just let go!

Verse 35, sums it up this way, 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 . . Don't we all want to be children of the Most High! Amen.

No better way to celebrate Holy Week, than to do in community. Hope you all are able to spend time with your family and friends. God is good!

Godly life

Sorry for the late note. We are being forced to play with our grand children and time has gotten away!

I was told John Sauls and Alan have just about completed our "common ground" arc! Beyond wet in our part of the world! Hopefully it is not as bad in your world! Ya'll have the right to tell me to be quiet in July and August when I will say, sure wish it would rain!

One of our camps has been washed away, the other camps are doing ok. Too much rain in a short amount of time. I apologize for the confusion last week about us finding Brad. He is still missing. We need to make some phone calls. Our basketball team has finished their city league play and now are in a church league. Matt has picked up some new boys to be on the team. More opportunities to share the Good News! There was a big haul of bread brought by Ardis. All the freezers and refrigerators are full!

Mondays and Wednesdays continue to bring us opportunities for relationships to develop. A great group of children come each week. Carl and Mary are developing a new schedule for the children to start in the coming weeks.

Tuesday evening the men's Bible fellowship met in the fellowship hall. Joey had prepared a feast, too much to bring to the chapel. Matt read from 2 Peter 1: 1 - 12. God has given  us everything we need to live a godly life. It is up to us to follow!

Thursday evening during the down pour, we sang a few songs and listened to Noel share his testimony about his trip to California. A delicious meal was prepared by Joey and Jerry, served by helpers, clothes were given away and grocery bags were handed out. More of our community showed than we thought due to all the rain. A testimony to how much we are appreciated.

We all have been invited to Ms Abbie's 31st Anniversary at her church this Sunday. She has been playing the piano for all those years! The name of her church is St Elmo Baptist church, 14070 Adger Rd Gilliam, LA 71029. Her appreciation celebration starts at 2:30. If you want to caravan up there, we will be living the center at 2pm.

God has given us His very great and precious promises. Isn't that amazing! There is no guess work, no wondering what is required of us, no mystery in what God has promised us. It is stated in the 5th verse, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and mutual affection, love.

And in the middle of verse 10, God says, for if you do these things, you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Wow, what a blessing! Amen.

Let's pray for the rain to slow up a bit and may we all continue to be in the presence of our Lord and Savior!

Change

Yes Dorothy there is a sun! Approximately, 2:45 on Tuesday afternoon, we saw the sun, didn't last for long but we got to see it! Then Wednesday we got above 40 degrees for the first time in two months! Wednesday afternoon, we had a temperature of 79 degrees, woke up to sleet and snow Thursday morning with the temperature at 29 degrees! Hopefully the weather in your part of the world is a little more stable!

Baby it was cold, really cold Saturday morning, but Scott and the family of servants led the way around to the camps. Some folks went indoors at some friends house, others braved the weather. Robert stood up in his tent, to think either I am growing or my tent is shrinking! All the snow was pushing down on his roof! Not sure how Hat does it, but she found our missing Brad. He is at the same place William is at. Jerry had another episode Sunday evening. Joey called Alan and Alan being the kind hearted soul he is, braved the cold and rain to pick him up and took Jerry to the emergency room. Jerry stayed over night and is back at the camp.

I shared some stories about Common Ground, Willie preached about the grace of God to the men's breakfast group at Brookwood Baptist Saturday morning. Always good to tell others what ya'll are doing.

Sunday evening, we hosted our first and hopefully more to come, class of Grace members learning about discipleship. Our long time friend Pete and our new friend, Pastor Juan came up with the idea of a way of bridging the gap between to the neighborhoods. They met for an hour and half and then was given a tour of the center. This is only the beginning of new relationships being formed.

Again, I want to apologize for missing this week's activities. Not sure who I made mad, but I was again summoned to federal court as a potential juror. I was summoned in January and here I was back again! Don't mind being summoned but sure messes up your schedule. This case was going to last two weeks, so I held up my hand and cried like a baby to get out! Must have worked, by 5:30 they finally made their jury selections and I was not one of the them!

Tuesday evening, I missed our men's Bible fellowship to attend a committee I have been asked to be a part of. Messed up my whole week missing our men's fellowship! The committee will not only effect Grace Community but also Common Ground. Exciting to talk about a new relationship between the two.

Monday and Wednesday we continue to meet with our children. Our loyal servants continue to be present for our children as they learn to read. They are changing lives.

Our first Thursday chapel group of Heather and Derek was not able to be with us due to the baby being sick, so Brother George and Brother Spencer filled in at the last moment. God is so good at providing men of God for us to use their gifts. A delicious meal was served, clothes were given away, bags of groceries were handed out. A good evening.

Our longtime friend, John Williams brought a friend with him to help work on the Bright House electrical issues Thursday evening. They stopped their work, long enough to enjoy the meal. John's friend Jim liked it so much, he wants his life group to come and help out! God is good.

Prayers for Brad and William as they go through their recoveries. Prayers for our friends living outside who are struggling through this cold weather. Prayers for Liam, young son of Heather and Derek. Prayers for those of our community who are traveling. Prayers for God's direction in our communities, that we may follow as the doors become open. Prayers for Joey and his community. Won't be long Joey will be back with us!!

I am going to whine! Forgive me, but it has been on my mind for several weeks now. We talk about our trials at our men's Bible study on Monday night. The one common place where we all seem to struggle, to be the men of God we are suppose to be, is when we are driving! I have been asking God, why? What are you trying to show me? I have attended more meetings, read more books, listened to more speakers, than I have in many years, why?

At dusk, just before you turn on your headlights to see, is a time that frustrates me. The headlights of your car should be on, not for you but for others. When you are waiting to come onto the road, your turn signal should be on, not for you but for others. When the traffic light turns yellow, it is not meant to speed up but to stop so that others can come across. As we have seen in last few years, texting can be dangerous, to you as well as others. Both Juan and I experienced drivers, videoing the snow while driving! I will say, I was not very Christ like as I trying to stay on the road following them!

What is God up to? What is He trying to share with us? One conclusion I have come to, is our society has become very selfish. What's in it for me, not being concerned for others. When we ask for help, I hear, what's in it for me? 

The church, our community, our society is at a crossroads. We can go about our business like we have for the last century, caring for ourselves avoiding dealing with others, doing business as usual, give up and shut the doors. Or we have the exciting possibility of changing lives. I hear God telling us, it won't be easy. We will meet lots of opposition along the way. We will be chastised for making changes.

But I hear God saying, If you hang in there, if you lvoe Me, if you are obedient, if you are faithful, it will all be worth it! We will have the opportunity to experience God's Kingdom in ways we have not thought of! Our lives, the lives of others will be changed, so others will experience the lvoe of Jesus. How exciting to be a part of a community where that change is beginning to take place. Won't you join us? Amen.

Help me to be a better driver this week! Hope your week is full of joy and blessings! God is good . . . all the time!

Serving is not an option?!

For those of you who live up north and love the cold weather, please keep it! We don't want it! or some of us don't! 3 snow days this week for the kiddos, not much getting out for a lot of us. Spring is when?!

I can't imagine living in this cold, brutal weather but some of our friends are. Most of our friends, adapt and survive not willing to go to shelters. Scott led our group out last week to find them dealing with the elements, no fun! The weather has messed up our practice times for our basketball team. Our bread ministry continues to wrap and save our donations on Saturday.

Our afternoon reading sessions took the week off due to no school. As well as our men's Bible fellowship.

Thursday was tolerable. Ms Abbie and Brother Chester led the way in chapel. Our meal was enjoyed by all. Groceries were handed out. Our friends from LSUS continue to come every week and help out in the dining hall. Our kids were a little noisy, thankful to get out of their houses!

Willie and Brian will be speaking to the men's breakfast group at Brookwood Baptist Saturday morning.

Alan and Joey have been busy this week building a new room for our outdoor friends items.

Shannon, Abbey an Lisa continue to rearrange the food pantry in preparation of our grocery store opening up. Can't wait for that to happen.

Our longtime friend and electrician, John Williams, spent Thursday evening changing and moving electrical plugs for us at the Bright House.

This Sunday, we will host our first Grace study group. Pete, Juan and Chris will be hosting a Discipleship class and asked if they could have it at our community center! This will be the beginning of a new and unique relationship. Wonder what God is up to?

Prayers for Phil as he travels to Colorado for his continuing education class. Continued prayers for Ginellen. She got home from the hospital Monday afternoon and continues the recovery process. She is exhausted from her hospital stay and working on trying to get her strength back. Prayers for our grant proposal being sent off today. Lisa and her group have worked tirelessly on it. If this grant is awarded, it will have a lasting effect on our children of the community.

I was reading a book in preparation of a committee I have been asked to be a part of, written by a pastor to other clergy on various aspects of leading a congregation. One part of the book that resonated with me was titled, serving is not an option. I was reading a newsletter of the Jewish synagogue in town and the rabbi was talking about being Jewish. The rabbi said, I do not understand the concept of not having enough time to do Jewish things. The rabbi goes on to say, that being Jewish is a lifestyle, not something to schedule into a calendar.

Many months ago, I was having lunch with a pastor and he asked me, how do we get folks interested in doing things outside the church. How do we convey, that serving others, is just as important as going to soccer games. Over the years, we can get folks to write a check, buy food, make a donation, but when you ask for their time, we get blasted with all sorts of excuses. Everybody's calendars are full, no time to do God stuff!

The author of this book, put it this way, if we have chosen Jesus as our Lord and savior, then serving others is not something we put on a calendar or work it into our schedules, it is who we are. Jesus was the best example of what a servant looks like, we should do the same. Once we accept Jesus, then our old selves are gone and a new creation is formed. We move from the mindset of what's in it for me, to what can I do for God.

In this coming year, as more and more people begin to be aware of Common Ground and what is happening in our community, we need to convey, this is not something we put on our calendars. This is not something we rearrange our schedules to do, this is who we are. Our participation of being a part of God's Kingdom is not about us looking good, but about how we can further God's Kingdom into the world.

God needs you to be a part of this. Common Ground needs you to be a part of this. Our community needs you to be a part of this. Want you come! Amen.

Hope your week will be blessed beyond your imagination! Joy, peace and lvoe to all!scos

communities

I guess you all are wondering where is mr brian's weekly note has gone!? Or most of you are wondering, thank you Lord, no note today! Hope everybody had a good week.

We continue to stay busy with all sorts of God's blessings. Our visits to the camps continue with not much excitement, which is good! I guess you could say there was excitement or maybe a better way to put it, consternation! We have lost Brad again. Robert told our folks, Brad has regain consciousness and was doing better. Robert went to see him last week and Brad was gone? The nursing staff was unable to share with Robert, where Brad is. We are going to call Brad's mom Saturday morning, to see if she knows anything.

Our Cedar Grove Chargers basketball team continue to do well, with another victory Saturday morning. You can see the young men becoming a team on the court but more importantly off the court. With the guidance of Matt and Vicky, they are continuing to lead these young men into lives of servant hood.

Monday and Wednesday we continued to meet with our children and work with them in their reading skills. We can see an improvement of the children each week. Come and join us.

Tuesday evening, Pastor Brown led our men's Bible fellowship. Reading from John 14, talking about patience, perseverance, positive attitude. The basketball team joined the men for the first 15 minutes, what a treat. Along with patience, we persevere, allowing us to have a positive attitude, don't think you can have one without the other?

Thursday evening Wes and Willie got chapel started with some foot stomping songs and inspiring words. We continue to have good help, good food and lots of groceries for our community. We got to meet some new friends, get some good hugs, and learn new things. A fun evening!

I know this note is very late, but if you read it in time, we will have a breakfast in the morning. We have been blessed with a lot of frozen dinners. We need to make room in our freezers, so Abbey said, cook up all the breakfast items you can find. So Momma T will be busy in the kitchen and should have things ready by 8:45 or so. Not sure what is on the menu, but guaranteed to be good. Don't miss the feast!

Continued prayers for Matt's mom and her health struggles. Prayers for our young ladies, who are working their way back into our community. Please keep my sister in your thoughts and prayers. Ginellen talked to her this week. Terri is struggling with the loss of her 27 year old daughter. Joey is doing well, keep him in your prayers.

Some of us have been asked to be on a committee with Grace and Common Ground, concerning the future of our relationship together. Others today, were invited to visit with Elaine Heath, an author, ordained Methodist minister, speaker, lecturer, teacher. She wrote the book, Longing for Spring. While others had the opportunity to meet Jonathan Wilson Hargrove last week.

All three happenings were independent of each other, but all related. All generated good conversations and thought provoking ideas. All three meetings will have an affect on our community and the church. What is God up to? As Momma T would not say, what a coincidence!

As we move into this new year, we need to be sure of the direction God is leading us. We need to stay true to His way and not ours. There will be opportunities, there will be obstacles, there will be blessings. Satan will attack us. We must stay strong through prayer and the Word.

Elaine said today, there is a movement in the church unlike anything that has happened in the past. There is a longing for relationships to be developed between communities. Our community and Grace are at the forefront of this movement and will be looked upon by others to see how it can be done. We have more questions than we have answers, but that is ok because we know God is in control and will allow things to happen in His time.

Won't you join us? Each one of you is an important part of our community. You make it what it is. If you don't participate, share your story, lvoe others like Jesus lvoes us, you will be missing out of something beyond our comprehension. God longs for us all to be a part of His Kingdom. Amen.

See you for breakfast in the morning and at the center this coming week! God is good! Most of the time? Some of the time? ALL the time!

sco

Prayer, Listen, Humble, Faith, Obedient, Patience

The first week of our second month of the year has come to a close! Can't be possible, can it? Hope your week was full of surprises and blessings! This note will be full of missing news, due to my absence, so please others contribute to our many blessings of the week.

Saturday was full of blessings for our community. Our camps are holding their own, trying to survive the elements of the weather. Robert told Dawn, Brad has woken up. Brad knew who Robert was when he walked into his hospital room. Jerry has good days and bad as his heart is trying to recover from his procedures. The basketball team continues to learn what it is to become a team and came away with a victory. Following the game, many of the parents of the boys joined Matt and Vicky and others for lunch at the center! What a treat.

Our learning to read training continued on Monday and Wednesday. New relationships are being formed between our children and our servants! 

Tuesday evening our men gathered for Bible fellowship. With some of us gone, others stepped up and life goes on. Scripture is read, lives are changed, hearts are healed.

With the help of many, the basketball team was treated Tuesday evening, to attend a Harlem Globetrotter game. Also, the team was privileged to meet a former member of the Centenary basketball team, who is now a Globetrotter.

Thursday evening activities continued with our long time friends rejoining us for chapel. Heather, Derek and dad Richard had taken some time off to have a new baby. It was great to have them join us again and share their gifts of song and Word. Our meal was served by our new friends from the BCM. I will admit it was strange not having Joey around introducing us to all the young adults! Pastor Juan was there helping out and meeting our community.

Following our meal, Lisa had her monthly Board meeting. Some of the topics talked about were, we now have a small van! Someone donated a van to us and Lisa is in the process of setting up the insurance. Long time in coming and definitely needed. We have a new person joining our family. Pastor Juan's wife Shannon will be joining us to help in various aspects of our ministry. Very exciting. We have approached Willis Knighton about the possibility of taking over the building across the street from the center. The hospital Board is in discussion about that possibility. Lisa and Carl met many young professionals at an event last week. One of the most sought out young professional of the evening has selected us as their place to become involved with. She will bring lots of energy and new ideas for us to explore. With the help of some grant money, Lisa has purchased new shelving units for our food pantry. This will be the first step in transforming our food pantry into a food store. We are in the final stages of submitting our grant application to the Angel Foundation for some exciting new happenings. Carl met with a Learning Center to discuss the possibility of working together with them. Carl and David formed a neighborhood committee along with a questionnaire and has begun meeting and talking with the community.

Pastor Juan shared with the Board, his desire for the coming year. A new, fresh relationship with the congregation of Grace and our community. He put a number to his dreams with the potential of having lots of new servants in the coming year!

Alan and Byron continue to work on the Bright House I and make tremendous strides. Work is being done during the week and also on Saturday mornings, drop by and help out where you can.

Prayers for Momma T as she travels to College Station. Continued prayers for our family as we deal with the death of our niece. Prayers for the young father, who now has to raise their children by himself. Prayers for Matt's moms health.

Prayer continuously. Listen quietly. Humble ourselves. Be faithful. Be obedient. Have patience. All phrases I have heard these past few weeks. All applies when working for our God. Often our prayers are asking God to help us in our decisions, the ways we want things to work out. But often God's ways are not ours. God may answer our prayer but they don't look like the way we have asked for and we don't recognize them when they come. Or, the answers seem to far out there, it requires us to have faith beyond what we have and we don't move forward.

I also have heard lately, be careful what you pray for, you may not like what you see! All too often, we want to put God in our own little box, where everything is safe, comfortable and predictable. When we pray to our God for help, when He sends our way His help, how do we react to that help, will determine our faith and obedience. God's ways are unique, special to Him because He sees the big picture. He wants it done His way, which is always the best, for the glory of His Kingdom. Our visions are usually much smaller, only what we can see and expect.

Have patience is something I have real trouble with because I want it done in mr brian's timing. The older I get, the faster I want things to happen! God sees things we do not. Our patience is something He sees and wants us to learn from. Through patience we develop that closer relationship with Christ, that He desires from us. As our patience grows, so does our relationship.

As Lisa shared at the Board meeting, we have become overwhelmed with new people, exciting ideas, unique ministry possibilities. God may be sending all of this to us in answers to our prayers for all these years. So how do we handle it? Do we humble ourselves to listen to others, to be obedient in our ways and have faith God knows what He is doing?! Time will tell! Amen and amen!

God is busy and we need you. Don't miss out on something that is happening and is unique in the world we are living in. Come and experience the lvoe of Christ like you have never experienced it before!

Have a great week! God is good!

Life is challenging!

Another week has come and gone. God is busy. All sorts of things happening in and around our community. Hope your world was busy with God's many blessings this week.

Scott had a full crew with him as they made their rounds visiting our friends living outside. The city has moved Robert from under the bridge. They have been talking about doing it for a year, it finally happened this week. After the visits, Scott went back and loaded up his truck with Robert's stuff and moved to his old place down the road. An old friend, Donny was back at his camp, hopefully not for good!

Others of us on Saturday morning were walking with the firemen of the area, installing smoke alarms in houses. It felt good to get out and meet and greet with our community and introduce our neighbors to the firemen. Our basketball team continued to practice preparing for their next game.

Later on in the morning, more of us attended the graduation of Sonatra. Sonatra is a product of our community, no supervision leading to undesirable actions in his young life. With his mentor, Matt, who encouraged him to stay the course, enabling him to accomplish this milestone. He has his GED, has 15 hours of college hours and looking forward to what life has in store for him. This is a start for our young men, hopefully others will see the example Sonatra has accomplished and will do the same.

Our learning to read afternoons continue with new and energetic helpers. We could always use more servants, so please join us.

Tuesday evening, Rickie led our men's Bible fellowship, reading from Psalm 121. Reading about how the creator of the heavens and earth, is concerned for each one of us, watching over us morning, noon and night! What good news is that!

Some of us had the opportunity to visit with the young people of the Yellow House Wednesday night as they hosted the author Jonathan Wilson Hargrove. Jonathan, friends with Shane, lives in a community with Phil's son Matt in North Carolina. He then came by our community on Thursday morning for a short visit. Good thoughts and ideas shared by Jonathan.

I was gone for Thursday's activities, so others will have to let us know how things went.

Lisa spent most of her week, showing young leaders of the community, our community. New people are inquiring about our community, churches wanting to do more with us, all exciting prospects challenging us! God is good!

Many new opportunities will be happening this coming week! Can't wait to share the good news!

Continued prayers for my sister's family as they go through the death of their daughter. It was good to see family from all over the country, coming down and supporting the family. You begin to ask God, why, but no answers are adequate. Life is precious folks, don't put off things until tomorrow, because tomorrow may not come. Prayers for Matt and his family for his mother and her declining health.

God will only put before you what you can handle. I have heard that for many years. Sometimes, especially this past few weeks, I wonder? We try to comfort love ones. Try to stay strong when others are weak. Try to offer support to our family members who are hurting. I am realizing, I can't do this by myself, God has to be my rock.

Hugs are given, not by me, but the Spirit within me. Tears are shared with others, not by me, but Christ within me. God wants us to come him, when we are hurting, He is there for us. He will be our comforter during these times of struggle. Something I am realizing, my relationship seems to be getting stronger, the more I ask Him for support. Isn't that what He desires of us, a closer relationship!

When we are pulled 14 different ways, stop and ask God to be our director. When death occurs, stop and ask God to wrap His lvoing arms around us. When life doesn't go as we would like, stop and ask the Holy Spirit to be our comforter. Christ is there for us, He yearns for us to be our supporter. He wants nothing more than to have a personal relationship with us. It is up to us to make the first move! Amen!

Hope your coming week is fruitful, full of God's blessings! Life is good, God is better!