LAC Staff Blogs
Some books entertain. Others educate. And then there are those books that mess with you.
I’m talking about the books that by design or default show up on your bookshelf (or get downloaded on your Kindle) that knock you off stride. Bust up your mental models. Remind you that you have some learning to do.
Or perhaps some unlearning.
Van, once a city of 700,000 is barely 200,000 people today following a 7.1 and a 6.4 earthquake in October. An LAC member, trained in mountain and earthquake rescue calls another part of Turkey home, but soon after the dust settled he was on sight to lend his skills. Thousands have been left homeless and hundreds killed. Tom has been 'commuting' to and from Van since late October and I spoke with him via Skype last week for an update. That conversation needed to be relayed to the Lake Family so I present a summary of our conversation here:
My month of November was spent overseas visting LAC families primarily in Africa. This is a written snapshot taken from a day spent at the ministry site where LAC missionaries, Jill and Ray Davis teach.
I heard someone say once that “God doesn’t have the Church in the world that is to carry out his Mission…but that God has a Mission in the world and therefore he has the Church.” It is a little bit of clever, syntactic two-step I grant you. However, in this two-step we can discover a bias toward priority in the mouth of the speaker. So which is it? I don’t know, but a Church in the world without a mission sounds like a club and a mission without the Church, well that sounds subject to fanatism and individual manipulation. So lets just call it "a tie" and say, as is true with airplanes, I prefer having both wings when I travel and preferable mounted in the same direction.
I heard someone say once that “God doesn’t have the Church in the world that is to carry out his Mission…but that God has a Mission in the world and therefore he has the Church.” It is a little bit of clever, syntactic two-step I grant you. However, in this two-step we can discover a bias toward priority in the mouth of the speaker. So which is it? I don’t know, but a Church in the world without a mission sounds like a club and a mission without the Church, well that sounds subject to fanatism and individual manipulation. So lets just call it "a tie" and say, as is true with airplanes, I prefer having both wings when I travel and preferable mounted in the same direction.
My month of November was spent overseas visting LAC families primarily in Africa. This is a written snapshot taken the day my companions (LAC Congrgational Leaders Jim Howe and Peter Gazanian) and I were headed to Western Central Kenya to spend four days with LAC missionaries, Jill and Ray Davis.
This is Africa - abbreviated as T.I.A.
This is a common statement here, from both African and Ex-Pat alike. It is like a blanket statement that is kept easily accessible like a handkerchief in a shirt pocket. It is just something you need on continuous standby to explain why things happen in the way they do; why things happen later than expected or for the way things end up not happening at all. It is a very useful expression.
This is Africa - abbreviated as T.I.A.
This is a common statement here, from both African and Ex-Pat alike. It is like a blanket statement that is kept easily accessible like a handkerchief in a shirt pocket. It is just something you need on continuous standby to explain why things happen in the way they do; why things happen later than expected or for the way things end up not happening at all. It is a very useful expression.
My month of November was spent overseas visting LAC families primarily in Africa. It began with a family that lives in the U.K. This is a written snapshot taken the last day we were together of my three day visit. It might be best titled "Taking Sunday From Familiar to Surprised..."
(The family is unnamed to protect their anonymity due to the nature of the places they work as cross-cultural workers for the gospel. They were sent out by Lake in the late 80s and England is now the site from which they do their work.)
(The family is unnamed to protect their anonymity due to the nature of the places they work as cross-cultural workers for the gospel. They were sent out by Lake in the late 80s and England is now the site from which they do their work.)
Years later I can still see in my mind’s eye the shattered cabinets strewn like a yard-sale on a windy day atop the unforgiving concrete floor of the loading dock…
For half a year, between college and grad school, I worked for my father in a family- owned business that designed, fabricated, delivered, and installed high-end, custom-made wood products. I was part of the delivery phase of the business food chain, wheeling around southern California in a white 29-foot split-axel cab-over Ford flatbed truck delivering newly manufactured goods to countless construction sites chomping at the bit for the the day when they would morph into hotels and schools and office complexes.
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9 
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Nothing makes this college pastor happier than seeing students on a mission to live faithfully in their schools and workplaces. I don't think anyone is born with this kind of know how. Instead, we all go through a learning process. This week, a reflection on this learning process is brought to you by one of our very own local students. We've chosen to keep him anonymous so he can maximize his impact in sensitive places. Join me in praying for light to shine through our college students.
)Nothing makes this college pastor happier than seeing students on a mission to live faithfully in their schools and workplaces. I don't think anyone is born with this kind of know how. Instead, we all go through a learning process. This week, a reflection on this learning process is brought to you by one of our very own local students. We've chosen to keep him anonymous so he can maximize his impact in sensitive places. Join me in praying for light to shine through our college students.
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College - Pastor Jeff Liou
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I love toolboxes! I’ve got several of them.
I’ve got one that sits in the garage atop a makeshift workbench that is always propped open, ready when I need to snatch a pair of needle-nose pliers or a Phillips-head screwdriver.
I’ve got one that is stashed away in a cabinet that is filled with the tools I have stockpiled through the years from various family members who, either by trade or hobby, loved to use their hands to craft and create.
"Pasadena is a city that is hurting, and Lake Avenue church is in the center of that hurt. For us to not be completely inviting, and pushing for the Pasadena community to BE the Lake Ave community, then we are being blatantly blind."
Once again, it's my privilege to work alongside college students who intentionally choose life experiences that will bring them closer to the Way of Jesus. Our very own Rafik Wahbi went to the Christian Community Development Association national conference (with Eliza from last week's post and Mayra Nolan, too). These are some of his reflections.
- Jeff Liou, Pastor of College Ministries
Once again, it's my privilege to work alongside college students who intentionally choose life experiences that will bring them closer to the Way of Jesus. Our very own Rafik Wahbi went to the Christian Community Development Association national conference (with Eliza from last week's post and Mayra Nolan, too). These are some of his reflections.
- Jeff Liou, Pastor of College Ministries
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College - Pastor Jeff Liou
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“’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ And the second [commandment] is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:29-31 )
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“God commands us to love Him supremely and others sacrificially, and to live out our faith with care for one another, compassion toward the poor, and justice for the oppressed.” (LAC Statement of Faith)
As college pastor, I'm so pleased to know thoughtful college students who grew up here and are doing great things for Jesus. Eliza Haney (UC Davis, '12) recently attended the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) national conference along with Mayra Nolan (LACF Community Outreach Director), who sits on the board of CCDA. These are some of Eliza's reflections...
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College - Pastor Jeff Liou
6 months ago, the NE of Japan was devastated by Earthquake and Tsunami. The generous family at Lake responded personally and through a corporate gift which we collected two weeks after the event. The monies were split between World Vision and Asian Access which allowed us to participate both in relief and the early stages of redevelopment. Recently I received this letter from the President of Asian Access, Joe Handley who wanted to give us an update and again express his thanks on behalf of so many Japanese in the devastation zone and under the shadow of the ongoing Nuclear powerplant crisis...
(One other note: Asian Access, formerly Life Ministries, was founded by LACers Ken and Jan Wendling and former Lake Senior Pastor Ray Ortlund was a member of the founding Board of Directors.)
(One other note: Asian Access, formerly Life Ministries, was founded by LACers Ken and Jan Wendling and former Lake Senior Pastor Ray Ortlund was a member of the founding Board of Directors.)
