Update on the Trues

Eric & Alicia had their first ‘deputation’ service on Sunday at Cornerstone Baptist in Greenville. It was an exciting and tiring day for them. I think Eric really enjoys being able to share the model and long term vision. It’s thrilling that the Lord is providing these opportunities to share these things with so many people.
We had three visiting families at church Sunday morning. The Lord was very gracious to hold off the rain for unloading and reloading the trailer.

What a Place!

As if it wasn’t enough to have two small planes run into each other and fall onto a car dealership in Corona … or to have a helicopter crash into the middle of one of Southern California’s busiest freeways … or to have tornadoes that touched ground … we even had avalanches this week! Fires, droughts, floods, earthquakes, mudslides, tornadoes, avalanches, helicopters and planes falling out of the sky – what a place!

Amazing home prices

It’s hard to believe I’m seeing things like this in Menifee:

http://www.realtor.com/realestate/menifee-ca-92584-1092954461/

And there are 4 bedroom, 1,700 sq. ft. homes for the same price.

Poor Southern Californians

It’s obviously a rough time economically, and especially here where so much of the economic vitality has come from the housing market. But Southern California is known for its materialism, and so “rough times” may be a little bit relative. Exhibit A: Our local paper had an article about a man who is in financial trouble because his adjustable rate mortgage has gone up. It noted that he had to turn in the BMW he was leasing, and he is having to borrow his Mom’s Mercedes Benz. Poor guy.
By the way, if you want to come buy a home in Southern California, this is a wonderful time for it! There are lots of single family homes in our area for around 250k – the lowest they’ve been in several years. There is a 5 bedroom house down the street from us for $319k – it would have been $475k just 15 months ago.

The Whole Body Causes the Growth of the Body

We praise the Lord for his blessings on our special Sunday January 13. We had a great group of people: those who’ve been around for a long time, some who’ve come in the last 6 months, and two families who’ve come in just the last few weeks. We talked some about our ‘vision’ and direction as a church, and then spent a long time talking about particular areas where we need people to be involved. The attitude of the people seemed great, and I think it was a good step forward in their sense of ownership in the church. The other elders also seem excited, and they both had good attendance at their fellowship groups Sunday night.

Starting Three Fellowship Groups

We were excited to have 47 people at our three fellowship groups on Sunday night. We had three families that have never been to a Sunday night group before! Though we may not be able to sustain that number, I think people understand the importance of it and want to make an effort to be there.

Praying for January 13

Will you pray with us about a special ‘church family meeting’ on January 13? It’s an exciting and important time for our church, and we need to grow and mature so that the whole body causes the growth of the body. There are many things to pray for, but maybe the simplest prayer would be that of Nehemiah (1:11), that God would grant us success and favor with our church family as we present to them more of our burden, vision, and how they can be involved.