I find myself becoming slightly more nostalgic these days, probably because watching Eric & Alicia prepare for the big move brings back a lot of memories. I just saw these two pictures on my computer, taken early on the morning of Monday, October 20 2003. I had been ordained the night before, and we took off early Monday morning to head for California:
Of course you all know that many areas of Southern California have gotten hammered in the housing downturn. But Southern California usually seems to rise again. Why? I’m certainly not an economist or historian, but this much seems clear: Southern California is an extremely popular place to be. Exhibit A? A four bedroom house on the beach in Malibu is for rent for only $150,000 a month. If you want something cheaper, you can head down the coast toward Newport Beach or Laguna Beach and find rentals for $50,000 a month. Or, if you’re embarrassingly poor, apartments in Malibu can be had for a mere $10,000-$30,000 a month. When we say we love church planting in a strategic place, this is partly what we mean: Southern California is a ridiculously popular place to be. It seems like that would make it an especially important place for gospel ministry. See the LA Times article here.
Please note the link to the Grace Church of Alexandria, VA website that has been added to our list of “church planting friends” (on the right of this page).
Lots going on related to the plans for a future church plant. We were in South Carolina for Eric True’s ordination service, and on that trip we also had more contact with three other couples that are seriously considering coming to Southern California. We also had good contacts with Heritage Bible Church and Mt. Calvary Baptist Church. Now Eric & Alicia are here in SoCal hunting for a house. They go back on Wednesday, and their moving date is tentatively April 25. The GBC church family gave them a gracious welcome this Sunday, and it seems obvious that our church family is eager for them to come. Praise the Lord for all of these things!
Now I’m digging out of the pile of work that accumulated while I was gone for 8 days…
Post titles are like email subject lines: they expose my utter lack of creativity. We had a great Sunday. With most of our people healthy, we had record-setting attendance (94, though that included a handful of out-of-towners). In Adult Bible Study we worked through the very controversial verses in John 6, and the Lord seemed to really bless the time so that a normally contentious topic was not contentious at all. Yesterday was also a day of great blessing because someone offered to fly Kristalyn, Katie, and Abby back to South Carolina so that they can be there when I am next weekend. Kristalyn is thrilled, and they will be leaving this Wednesday to go to South Carolina. I’ll still be here in SoCal through Friday, because someone in our church paid for me to attend this year’s Shepherd’s Conference. I’ll take a red-eye to Charlotte Friday night, and spend some time visiting with Jerry & Johanna Dierking. Then Sunday I’ll head down to Greenville for Eric True’s ordination service. On Wednesday I’ll fly back, Kristalyn and the the girls will fly back (separately), and Eric and Alicia will also fly (separately) from Charlotte to Southern California. Eric & Alicia will be here March 12-19 house hunting. All of that should be prefaced by “if the Lord wills”! So things are a zoo around here while we try to wrap up the details for all of us to be gone for 8 days.
