On Easter Sunday, April 21st I began the assignment of leading the Highland Ave Community Church of the Nazarene in Rancho Cucamonga, CA.  The journey to get to this place has been interesting to say the least.  First, it required a faith I did not know I possessed.  I resigned my pastoral assignment of 18 years in order to move to California, because Rebecca had been offered the position of Executive Director for Ascend Hospice in Riverside, CA.  In 32 years of marriage our moves were always orchestrated around BOTH of us having secured employment.  The Lord led us this time to do something different.  He led us to say “yes” without knowing what that meant for me.

In some ways I felt like Abraham being called to a land I did not know.  I had to be satisfied with Christ telling me when I had finally arrived.  WE had to learn to trust at a level we thought impossible.  We learned quickly with God all things are possible.  In all the places God chose to assign me I find myself in a church on the Anaheim district just 17 miles from Rebecca’s office.  Her commutes are against rush hour traffic.  If you know anything about Los Angeles traffic, that is a gift.  Our home is a beautiful place, and as soon as the boxes are unpacked and things are in order, we want to show you pictures of the gift of God’s grace in this new place.

Highland Ave Community Church of the Nazarene is an incredible place.  It is filled with people at various levels of the spiritual journey.  We have a preschool that is rated tops in Rancho Cucamonga.  The school is at capacity with a waiting list.  The teachers are a loving group of educators committed first to Christ and then to their students.  The church and its personality are nothing like the church I left.  That is a really good thing for me.  It has taught me the necessity of contextualization of ministry.  I am grateful for all the churches I have pastored.  Each one of them were filled with good and loving people.  Today, I am falling in love with a new group of wonderful Californians, who have taught me just how casual you can be when you come to church!

Eighteen years was a wonderful journey for my family at Overland Park, KS.  I am grateful to have raised our son in one place.  I am grateful to have learned from my own teachers, and to return the gift in ministry to them and their families.  I am delighted to have been shown grace upon grace by people of many cultures.  I am especially grateful for the opportunity to participate in the vision for reaching lost and broken people from Asian cultures.  I consider it all joy.

I learned that not everything appears as it seems to be.  At the end of my ministry at OP I found myself embroiled in challenges that were more painful than any I have faced in 30 years of ministry.  It seemed that some relished in causing the pain.  I choose to believe they imagined they were doing the right things for the right reasons.  I can only say from my side it was anything but that.  False accusations, misperceptions, and patent untruths led to what seem like irreparable breaches.

I also remember that St. Paul said, “Christ who knew no sin became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God.”  My healing journey is greatly aided by a loving congregation who takes me at my word; who considers me NOT with judgment and bitterness; but who love me as I am.  I believe God brought us together for just such a moment.

Someday, Christ will heal all the memories, the feelings, and the relationships.  Until then, I lean into the arms of a Savior who knows me better than I know myself.  I have much to learn about grace, faith, and holiness.  I have come this far by the same.  I rejoice the end of the story has not been written.  In fact, I read even now, “Behold, I am making all things new.”

One last thing:  The Lord’s Prayer has become more important than ever.  In the words of Cyprian, Bishop and Martyr of Carthage (AD 258) once said about this great prayer:  “Let us pray, then, as God our Master has taught us.  Affectionate and familiar is the prayer with which we implore God in the words of God and reach his ear through the words of his Son.  Let the Father recognize his Son’s words when we offer up our prayer; and let him who dwells in our heart be also on our lips.  And since we have him as an advocate with the Father for our sins, let us make the words of our advocate be heard when we as sinners beg pardon for our offenses.  Since he has said that the Father will give us whatever we ask in his name, how much more surely will we obtain what we ask in Christ’s name if we ask with his prayer as well!”