I just came across a quote by A.W. Tozer written in 1948, more than 60 years ago.  Sounds to me though, like it could have been written today.

“Every age has its own characteristics. Right now we are in an age of religious complexity. The simplicity which is in Christ is rarely found among us. In its stead are programs, methods, organizations and a world of nervous activities which occupy time and attention but can never satisfy the longing of the heart. The shallowness of our inner experience, the hollowness of our worship, and that servile imitation of the world which marks our promotional methods all testify that we in this day, know God only imperfectly, and the peace of God scarcely at all.”

May the Lord bring us back to the simplicity of the gospel and the sufficiency of Christ.  Satan will provide every distraction to keep our focus away from Christ.  The most common distraction today seems to be busyness.  Perhaps today is a good day to ask the Lord what we should eliminate from our lives in order to focus more on what he wants to do in and through us.

Every week we upload the previous Sunday’s message on our church website.  We now have over 2 years worth of sermons that can be listened to or downloaded.  You can also subscribe to the podcast on itunes.  Below is a list of the 10 most listened to sermon in order.

• At the feet of Jesus
• Breaking free from addictions
• It’s still the cross
• How to resist temptation
• Your life is the evidence of your life
• Take up your cross
• My marriage
• Why pray?
• Desperate for the Spirit of God
• How to worship

Unfortunately, our sermon player doesn’t allow for us to link to a specific sermon, but you can go to the site, click on media and you will see the sermon player.  In the search box type the name of the message and it will appear.  You can also scroll through all the sermons.  Thank you for listening!

One of the things I love about serving as the pastor of our church is the diversity.  Being in Los Angeles, I live in one of the most diverse communities in the world and our church has embraced this diversity.  There are now 35 nationalities that attend our church.  This morning I took a quick look at our church website statistics.  It is truly amazing that we now have a global opportunity to minister via the web.  Recently we have been contacted by people in Singapore and South Korea who are listening to our sermon podcast.  The web stats revealed that since the beginning of 2010 people from these countries have visited our church website:

• Austrailia
• Belgium
• Brazil
• Canada
• Germany
• Ghana
• Hungary
• Japan
• Russia
• Seychelles
• Singapore
• South Africa
• The Netherlands
• The Philippines
• The United Kingdom
• Tuvalu

I’m very thankful for all the hard work my wife is doing as the church webmaster.  She’s doing an outstanding job!

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, here is a little backstory on Saint Patrick himself.

At the age of 16, Saint Patrick was captured by Irish raiders and taken to Ireland where he became a slave to the chieftain of Ulster. One night, after six years of slavery, Saint Patrick heard a voice, “Behold, thy ship is ready.” He traveled two hundred miles on foot to a place where he knew no one and had never been. He wrote in his autobiographical account, “After this I took flight, and left the man with whom I had been six years; and I came in the strength of the Lord, who directed my way for good; and I feared nothing till I arrived at the ship. And on that same day on which I arrived, the ship moved out of its place.”

Patrick made his way back to Britain, found his family, and could have lived out the rest of his life in relative comfort in the land of freedom. But in 432 AD, he had another vision. He saw a man coming to him from Ireland carrying innumerable letters. “And I read the beginning of the letter containing ‘The voice of the Irish.’ And while I was reading aloud the beginning of the letters, I myself thought indeed in my mind that I heard the voice of those who were near the wood of Foclut, which is close by the Western Sea. And they cried out thus as if with one voice, “We entreat thee, holy youth, that thou come, and henceforth walk among us.” And I was deeply moved in my heart, and could read no further; and so I woke.”

Saint Patrick went back to Ireland as a missionary. No outside religion had penetrated Ireland in a thousand years. Saint Patrick founded more than 300 churches and baptized more than 120,000 people. His ministry was so influential that he came to be known as the one who “found Ireland all heathen and left it all Christian.”  Source – evotional

It’s quite amazing how God used Patrick to bring the gospel to Ireland.  So sad the world sees it as a day to get drunk.

Congratulations to Karla Rose and Greg Agustin who followed Christ in the obedience of water baptism on Sunday.  It was my join to participate in the ceremony.  Baptism is the outward testimony of the inner work of Christ in our lives.  Karla and Greg, all of heaven rejoices over your faith in Christ!

I have to admit something.  I’ve been struggling with the whole idea of healing.  I was raised to believe that God heals the sick.  I know that he is able and I know that physical healing is biblical.  Yet, I pray that God would heal people and I don’t often see an answer.  I guess that I’ve been perplexed because I have family members who are struggling physically, as well as a dear friend who is battling cancer.

After dealing with my shortage of faith for a couple of days, I am reminded of how faithful God is.  I remember the times my family and I have been healed.  I think of those I’ve prayed for at church who have been healed.  I also have to acknowledge that if I never personally see another healing, it doesn’t mean that God is not able or willing to heal the sick.

And then God does what he does best, he reveals himself to us.  After my short crisis of faith, all of the sudden I start to see him at work.  In recent days I have rejoiced at the praise reports of three friends who have been healed: Mercy of a physical ailment,  Doris healed of stomach cancer, and Jackie miraculously healed of carpal tunnel during our worship service.

Our God will reveal himself to us as we reach out to him.  All of us go through times when our faith is week.  Today is a good day to ask God to help you grow in your faith.  Remember, “he is the same yesterday, today, and forever!”

I was thinking today about how God’s Word impacts our minds and our thinking.  Before we became Christians (and sometimes afterwards) our minds were filled with thoughts of the world.  Take a minute to think about this.  What is carnal thinking?  Negative thoughts?  Discouraging thoughts?  Selfish thoughts?  Impure thoughts?  Out of control thoughts?  All of the above and more.

I came across this powerful verse the other day.  ”He sent forth his word and healed them.” (Psalm 107:20 NIV).

As a Christian, our thought process is so critically important.  Our thoughts lead to our actions.  ”For as a man thinks in his heart, so is he.”  (Proverbs 23:7 NKJV).  Here’s what’s important to know – “God’s word doesn’t just help us to change – it heals us!” Continue Reading »

1. Pray that rescue workers will be able to reach any trapped victims who are still alive.

2. Pray for those who have been left homeless by this disaster, that they will find provision and safety.

3. Pray that emergency aid, such as food and water, will arrive swiftly and move smoothly to affected areas. Pray as well that any disruption to transportation, such as fuel shortages, will be minimized.

4. Pray that communication will be restored and cell phone service will become dependable so families and emergency workers can make the contacts they need.

5. Pray for God’s protection and strength for emergency workers. Ask God to give responders wisdom as to how they can most effectively confront this disaster.

6. Pray that the people of Haiti be protected from the spread of disease in coming days and weeks, and that clean water and food will remain available.

7. Pray for Assemblies of God missionaries and missions personnel in Haiti. Ask God to protect them as well as provide wisdom and strength in coming days and weeks, as they engage in relief efforts.

8. Pray for provision among the people of Haiti in coming weeks and months, as a large part of the population will be unemployed.

9. Pray that security and order will be maintained in affected areas.

10. Pray for the 273 Assemblies of God churches in Haiti, as well as the 66,000 believers in those congregations. Ask God’s protection upon them and provision for them, as well as His guidance in leading them in ministry to the needy and hurting in coming days and months.

11. Pray that Christians around the world will be moved to action, both through heartfelt prayer and tangible giving, in response to this crisis.

12. Pray that in the midst of this terrible crisis, Haitians will turn their hearts toward God and receive His gift of salvation as they experience His love through the caring hands of Christians extended toward them.

When we get to this time of the year, I go into reflection mode.  A new year brings a sense of excitement and opportunity, but before the new year begins I want to reexamine what happened this year.  Here are some of the things that I am looking back on.

• Have I grown spiritually this year?  Do I need to change or add to my spiritual disciplines?
• Am I taking care of my health?
• How have I spent money this year?  How much I have I given and how much have I saved?
• How is my marriage?  Are my wife and I growing in our relationship?
• Have I spent enough time with my children?  What areas do I need to strengthen or reinforce with them?
• What sermons have I preached this year?
• What are the successes and failures of this year’s ministry?
• As a church are we on mission?  What areas need to be “tightened up?”  What needs to be dropped?
• How is our leadership team?  Any changes need to be made?
• What areas do I need to grow in?

Just a few of the areas I want to pray and think about?  You can’t begin the new year with fresh vision without reflecting on where you “really” are.  I’m asking God to speak to my heart and to give me a clear picture of where I am in these area.  How about you?  What areas of your life are reflecting on?

During this Christmas season movies and video games are extremely popular.  Whether its watching movies together at home, heading out to see the next blockbuster, or purchasing these items as gifts,  most of us will participate in some form of media this season.

But the Christian life is about making choices.  I want to know what my kids are watching.  And for that matter, I want to know what I am watching before I do.  Several times we have walked out of a theater in the middle of a movie, frustrated at ourselves for not getting more info before the movie.  I’m not being overprotective.  I’m making sure the media that my family watches lines up with our values and beliefs.  So, we have adopted the “check it out first” policy.

I would recommend to you a great website by Focus on the Family called “Plugged In.”  Here you get reviews from a Christian perspective.  Check it out to review movies, videos, music, and video games.  Be sure to bookmark the site, you are going to want to come back to it often.