The Parent Project

Are you a parent of a troubled teen, or would you like insight on raising your teen from Simi Valley’s own, Sergeant Thompson? The Simi Valley Police Department is teaching a class called The Parent Project. The class will be held at Cornerstone in Rooms 11 and 12. Parents will learn tools to deal with tough kids. Class runs for 10 weeks. The cost for registration is free and materials run $20. If you need financial assistance, please contact the Simi Valley Police Foundation. Pre-register by calling 805.583.6290.

OUR NEIGHBOR

Yesterday our sweet neighbor, Mr. Truman, died. He was the
man who donated the organ to the church. Through some well orchestrated (by God) circumstances, we were able to be there
when he died.

As he was reclining in his chair, he told us that he wasn’t afraid to die…that he didn’t really know what came next. The Holy Spirit was totally working through Lance and he explained a few key points with Mr. Truman. Mr. Truman said “I don’t know what you know.” Lance and I continued to share a few more things, and Mr. Truman said he wanted Christ, too. So we prayed with him and he told Lance, “I’m in” and gave a thumbs up. A little over an hour later, he died.

I don’t know how much he understood, but he seemed very willing to
listen and seemed to want to receive. I truly hope we will see him
in heaven.

I don’t quite know how to explain it, but it was such a privelege to be there when that happened, and when he took his last breath. A huge part of what allowed us to be part of that, was that we had developed a relationship with him in which he trusted us and knew we were there to care for him. He did ask, again, why we were taking care of him, which opened the door.

I know it may seem that to reach our neighbors we have to sacrifice our own free time and resources, but the blessing of being there with him and helping him to accept Jesus before he died was an experience that far outweighed any sacrifice of time that we have given to him in the past. I feel so honored and blessed and priveledged to have been able to be there.

I saw another neighbor late that evening and told her he had
died, and she said to me, “Your family is such a blessing to this neighborhood”. She is not a Christian, but she sees that we are trying to help. And that is part of the hope, that they may see our good deeds and praise the father in heaven!!

Seeking God’s Will

Do we have room for Gods plan in our lives or is our plan so big in the picture that we do not let God in? Is God just along for the ride? Is he just a passenger? “Because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me” (John 5:30).

My wife and I started truly seeking God for His path to be fulfilled in our lives about 5 years ago. It seemed at first as though we were getting nothing from Him.  But we did what was in front of us, children’s ministry, youth ministry, serving wherever we could, but never getting the sense that God was calling us to these specific ministries. I think we were looking for this grandiose plan with all the details of our lives.  Unbeknownst to us as we served he was preparing us for our path. Slowly God had been revealing to us where he is taking us, little by little, bit by bit and I finally realized that I will not know the fulfillment of his path until he returns or I leave this temporal life.

“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord,’ plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV)

One Sunday, actually Mother’s Day, I felt strongly that God was calling us to go to Mexico and open an orphanage. I told my wife that we were moving to Mexico. We needed to sell the house and go. Well, there was a lot more involved with that. But I kept pushing forward to move, tried selling the house but was not able to, and that was when the market was good. I realized that God had really changed my heart. The house we lived in was my dream house. I had said many times that it was where we would retire. God was asking us if we were willing to give it all up. Leaving family, friends, security, God wanted us to know if we were all in or not, He knew the answer, but we didn’t until then. Matthew 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

So in the mean time we started making monthly trips down to Ensenada to a church and community that God had really put on our hearts. After sometime and wondering why things were not working out, we realized that maybe for now God was not calling us to move but to make regular trips and still live in Simi. We took the house off the market. Well, the house just across the street sells for the same price we were asking just shortly after that. As we got to know the new neighbors they told us they would have much rather have bought our house, but did not know we were selling it. Isn’t that crazy! So for now we are supporting and developing relationships with our new family in Ensenada and seeing where God will take it. People have often questioned us about going there and our safety and how it must be such a burden. Quite honestly it is a joy for us to go, because God is doing it through us.

Hebrews 13:5-6: Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”] So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”

As we look to God for our plans and directions, instead of ourselves it allows us to be the vessels. Rather than us picking up the vessel, we let God pick us up and use us. The plan that God has called us to becomes so much easier,

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

I have never been one that truly loves people. I love those I like and my family but beyond that not so much. I have actually questioned if I was saved or not because I did not have compassion for others.  I would try so hard to love them out of my own willpower. God has been changing that. I decided to come clean with God, like he didn’t already know. But I just told Him that I don’t love people with the love that He has for us. I started seeking God and fervently asking that the Holy Spirit would give me that compassion.  God has been changing my heart. I see people differently now, well most of the time. I am reminded daily that it is God doing it and not my own selfish love. But as I live in the spirit, (communion with God), he softens my heart and when I don’t, I see my heart getting hard again.

We have been having gatherings at our house for 7 months or so now. At first we would be ready for people to come to our home but not really knowing if anyone would show up or not. People did eventually start showing up. We started to get to know the story of their lives. They became another family to us, being open and honest with each other and our struggles, truly getting to know each other. Now it was not an immediate thing. As we took the step of just inviting people into our home and opened our lives as they did with us, God has put each one of them in our hearts and have made them truly part of our family. We weep with each other and experience joy with each other, eat together, we celebrate new births, support each other through difficult times, deaths, sickness and surgeries, people helping each other with their yards, moving and helping out financially. God has allowed us to have those that care for us and those that we care for.

Acts 2:42-47: They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

I say all of this to remind us that we need to stop doing things on our own strength and wisdom and start seeking after God, asking for the Holy Spirit to fill us with God’s direction for our lives. That he would give us the power, His Love and His wisdom to go and do. “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:” (Philippians 1:6)

by: Michael Cook

Being Ordinarily Equipped To Reach Our Neighbors

Throughout the Bible, we see time and time again God using the most unlikely individuals as messengers to reach His people. We sometimes fail to realize that the primary way God has chosen to reach people is through ordinary people. 1 Corinthians 1:27–29 tells us why He does this: “But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.” God chooses to use people, because in doing so, He receives the maximum glory as He works in our lives in spite of our weaknesses. This concept is correct in us today as well as in the very apostles that Jesus chose over 2000 years ago. Some people get uncomfortable when it is mentioned that these men were not perfect. We have a tendency to lift up these men and think that they were perfect, holy, and without blame. An honest look in the pages of scripture would reveal a different idea. These men were not scholars, they were not religious leaders, and as a matter of fact they were quite ordinary, and far from what would be characterized as leaders by most. The way these men are portrayed in the bible demonstrated their humanness. The Bible does not hide the characteristics of these men. It presents God as perfect, and it presents the apostles in their true human character, problems and all. Jesus did not call them because of how great they were, He chose them because of how insignificant they were. He did not seek out men that were proud, rich, or those that had a formal education. He wanted men that He could teach and mold to His image. Jesus took a personal role in their lives and this is what made the difference in the apostles. All the apostles had to do was make sure they were available and obedient to their master’s call.

Jesus selected these twelve men to change the world. Many today would ask, “What was He thinking when He chose those men?”
Let’s be serious, a zealot who was a sworn enemy of Rome, a tax collector who worked for Rome, and a few fishermen. What could these men possibly contribute? They were not highly educated men, they were not theologians, they were common men asked to team up and work together for a common purpose–God’s purpose. It would be these men that would impact the world by the power of the Holy Spirit and their difficulties and triumphs are recorded in history for us to learn from.

In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus gives a command to “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.” Then, He gives the apostles a few words of encouragement knowing fully the task that was before them. “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” What else do we need if we have the Holy Spirit with us?

As community is rolled out in our neighborhoods, you can bet that there will be some difficulties and challenges. But at the same time, we can expect that the Lord will be right there with us. You just need to make yourself available and be obedient to His call and right now you are called to be a light in your neighborhood. The command that Jesus gives in Matthew 28 is one that tells us to go out and engage our neighbors and bring them the good news. You’re already equipped to do that.

by Mike Steinwender

Sacrifice?

My wife and I were intimidated when our new neighbors moved into the apartment below us about four months ago. The new tenants, who were between 25-35 years old, were drinkers and smokers with tattoos of skulls all over their bodies (very opposite of us Mayberry types). The thing that was key about this is that my wife and I know that God doesn’t look at the outside but the heart, and we know how much God saved us from, so what we learned is that it was going to take a lot of dying to ourselves in order to want to care for these guys and spend time with them.
 
Nearly everyday I have been able to spend time with these guys, whether it is for an hour or just a couple of minutes. We continue to get to know each other and just hang out and through our time spent together we have become pretty good friends. The time we have gotten with them, however, has not come without a cost. We have several friends that we love, but at times we have had to sacrifice our time with them to be a part of the lives in our apartment.
 
What is awesome is that last night God allowed me to see the fruit from spending time and caring for these guys for the last four months. He had no clue why my wife and I loved him, but I was able to explain the Gospel, and to put my arm around a broken and crying man, and share about why we care for him and how we were first loved and cared for by God. 
 
I am so thankful for this experience! From my time with these guys, it has become easy to ask, is caring for the lost really sacrifice? Is giving up time with good friends really a bad thing? How can our compassion for Jesus ever truly result in true sacrifice when the reward of simply loving Him is so great?
 
Anonymous – East Side