Turn Around Churches

Over the last few weeks I've got to participate in a couple of great and encouraging experiences. First, our family attended a Family Camp at Oak Glen Christian Conference center in Yucaipa. It was a conference for the whole family put on by the Free Methodist Church. Susan's family has friends who invited us to join them even though we aren't a part of their denomination. We had fun swimming, climbing the ropes course, and worshipping together.

At family camp we also met a great couple from Murrieta. John and Ann Hansen minister at a church in Murrieta called "Lamb's Fellowship." John became the pastor of the church five years ago when it was about to shut it's doors. The church had declined from about 500 to 50 people when John and Ann first came to the church. In the past five years though the church has experienced a complete turn around. They were able to build their first permanent building and had over 1000 people in attendance for the first time in May. Meeting John and Ann was a big encouragement to Susan and I. We thought of it as a God thing because their church is about 1/2 mile from my sister's home in Murrieta. I'll be staying in Murrieta all next week for some solitude time so I'll be connecting with John and his church again soon.

Susan and I also visited Crossroads Church in Corona for their Sunday night service on Sunday, 6/28. Chuck Booher, the senior pastor, is an old friend of mine (When I was in Junior High School I delivered his newspaper every morning. Yes, I was once a "paper boy"). Crossroads is also the church were I became a Christian, so it was great to be there to worship and hear Chuck speak. Crossroads is also going through a turn around. Chuck came to Crossroads in 2007 when the church was going through a huge financial collapse. At the time, the church had huge financial problems and they were unable to meet their debt obligations. Chuck shared with Susan and I that when he first became the pastor of the church, they were less than three weeks away from going bankrupt and having to close the doors. In the last two years, they have seen an amazing turn around. God took their huge problem and turned it into a huge miracle. They are seeing many people come to Christ and grow in their faith. Since January 1st of this year they have already baptized over 1,000 people into Christ. Susan and I were once again amazed by what God is doing.

This last Sunday, 7/5, I heard from many that Bryce Jessup delivered an incredible message. If you missed it, make sure to check it out on the media page of our church web site. I visited Bayside Church in Granite Bay and heard a great message on the life of Abraham and discipleship by Neil Josephson. Neil shared three stages of discipleship in our relationship with God. I'll be describing them in detail on Sunday, August 3rd, when we start our next series "Disciple (No Christians Allowed)."

This week I am back in Folsom until Thursday when I am headed to Huntington Beach for a conference called, "Boundaries Bootcamp" with Henry Cloud. I am looking forward to it. To prep for the conference I have been reading "Boundaries" by Henry Cloud and John Townsend. It's a classic book that I believe all Christians should read for two reasons: 1) It addresses emotional and spiritual maturity in a way that breaks us free from sinful patterns many of us learned from our families growing up. Whether you grew up in a Christian home or not you may have picked up some immature ways of relating to people that aren't compatible with following Jesus. Boundaries addresses some of these deeper issues and has given me a lot to think about. 2) It's a great book on parenting. I think every parent should read the chapter in this book called, "Parenting and Boundaries." Trust me, if you apply 10% of what they describe in the book as a parent you'll save yourself a lot of headache and heartache. If you've never read Boundaries I'd really recommend it!

FYI - Photos are 1) Our family photo at Family Camp; 2) Liam on the ropes course at Family Camp; 3) Meg at Seal Beach where we played for a day.