Category LA Story

Water brings life. Three-fourths of the earth’s surface is water. Ninety-eight percent of our bodies is water. No wonder God uses so many metaphors, parables and direct teachings about water.

Our theme for this issue of L.A. Story comes from the movie about the early years of the American space program. It was a tribute to those who risked their lives to “push the outside of the envelope.” The Kingdom needs men and women who are eager to set the pace in whatever they attempt to do. Jesus is our model. The people marveled about him: “He has done everything well,” (Mark 7: 37).

The score is tied with seven seconds left on the clock. The crowd goes wild as I steal the ball, drive the length of the court, pull up at the free throw line, shoot over the defender’s outstretched arms. The ball arches toward the basket and . . . . Whether you are a twenty-five-year-old hot shot ex-collegiate star from a Big Ten school now playing in the Open League or a fifty-four-year-old, like me, whose glory days of athletic prowess are many years past, playing in the Master’s League, we all dream of scoring the winning basket in an exciting game. Such are the HOOP DREAMS of players in the L.A. Church of Christ Basketball League.

In 1986 twelve People met with Lisa and me in our 96th Street apartment in Manhattan to begin what for years was known as the “Daytime Ministry.” Our idea was to create an alternative church schedule that would enable us to minister better to artists of all kinds in New York. Years ago, talented singers, dancers, actors and others in the performing arts would count the cost of following Jesus and wash their stage ambitions away in the waters of baptism.

As much as I enjoy getting a good night’s sleep, about the only positive thing that comes from it is the energy and alertness to have a productive day after I wake up. While we understand the need to get enough sleep, it is only when we are awake that our goals are accomplished. Spiritually speaking though, sleep is acceptable to God only in physical death; those who have physically died are said to be asleep (1 Corinthians 15:51).

Otherwise, one is in a very dangerous spiritual condition if he is described as being asleep (1 Thessalonians 5:6). Jesus’ very sobering call to the entire church in Sardis (Revelation3:2) was to wake up! They had fallen asleep.

God is full of surprises. Joseph the slave saved a nation. David the shepherd boy killed Goliath and became king. Gideon the coward annihilated the Midianite army. Paul the destroyer of the church became the greatest church builder. Jesus, born in a manger and crucified as a criminal, is the only way to God. The innocence and simplicity of a child becomes the standard of Christianity.

Six thousands women shared in the glory of God! Rain clouds blanketed “sunny” Los Angeles on Saturday, March 4, but God’s light was “shining through.” In what was probably the largest gathering of women in God’s modern-day movement, lives were forever transformed into the likeness of Jesus. Women of every race, color, age and background imaginable were there, gathered in ten locations to participate in the Los Angeles Church of Christ’s fifth annual Women’s Day. Over 3,600 friends, relatives and neighbors were guests of the nearly 2,400 women disciples in the church! Last year 1,700 women in the church hosted about 2,500 visitors. This year, visitor attendance increased by 45%.

Our theme for this issue "Enter The Dragon” comes from the movie that catapulted the late Bruce Lee to international stardom. Of course, we use the title as a call to take the good news of Jesus Christ to the 1.2 billion people of China. This largest, most populous nation of all times has nearly five times as many citizens as the United States. Next to the Middle East countries, China remains the nation “officially” the most closed to Christianity.

What chance would thirty “would-be disciples,” who first met together in Boston in 1979, have to turn the world upside down? About the same chance that the teenage shepherd boy David had to kill a nine foot Goliath and rout his army of thousands. But David won, against all odds, and God is using the small Boston beginning in just as amazing a way. This issue of L.A. Story is a report of the tremendous growth in God’s kingdom.

Gloria and I just returned from a very difficult trip – her mother’s funeral. It was even more difficult because Gloria’s father is now relocating to live with her brother and his wife. She was not only coping with the loss of hermom but also with the closing down of a household built on sixty years of a great marriage and happy memories.