THE RIOT AND THE DANCE Adds Eric Metaxas, Propaganda and Ken Ham to Post Show Event

Moscow, Idaho – A celebration of creation and the Creator, “The Riot and the Dance” is a nature and science documentary showcasing the vast and beautifully intricate planet on which we live. In a one-night, cinematic event, moviegoers will dive deep into nature, appreciate the wonders of the animal kingdom and discover the world around us in a bold, new way. “The Riot and the Dance” will be in theaters tonight, March 19th, only.Editor's Note: This film event is taking place in at least a dozen Los Angeles area theaters. See link in story for exact locations.

BY COLLIDE MEDIAFILM BY GORILLA POET

To add to this special event screening, the filmmakers have created an exclusive after-show discussion featuring several of the leading voices in the marketplace, including Author and Radio Host Eric Metaxas, Hip-hop Artist Propaganda, and President and Founder of Answers in Genesis, Ken Ham.This aftershow event will be shown after the credits at all 750 screenings of The Riot and the Dance across the US.“We are honored that Eric, Ken and Prop wanted to be a part of our film,” shares N.D. Wilson, the Writer and Director of the project. “They share our belief that to understand God we need to study and explore his creation as well as his words. It’s been an incredible experience to add their insight to the film.”The Riot and the Dance is a glorious uproar of creation that follows acclaimed biologist Dr. Gordon Wilson as he traverses our planet, sharing nature’s masterpieces everywhere from the jungle, to the desert, to his own backyard. Through inspiring narration and a powerful visual experience, audiences of all ages will develop a greater understanding of, and appreciation for, the Creator’s workmanship and personality.Critics are raving about “The Riot and The Dance”:“The Riot and the Dance celebrates God, the great Designer, and it will thrill the entire family, earning the Dove All Ages Award.” - Dove.org“Fun for all ages and scripturally based, this is Creation as you’ve never seen it before.”- Christian Cinema.“THE RIOT AND THE DANCE is beautifully produced with stunning footage and intelligent, interesting narration. Dr. Wilson’s hands on approach and wide variety of scenery and animals is sure to be a treat for the whole family.” - Movieguide“Whatever your view on the origins of the universe, it’s an experience you shouldn’t miss.”- Patheos / Mere Chrisianity“Breathtaking documentary makes it impossible not to marvel at the Creator” - Life Site News“A stunning, gripping and thrilled glimpse of God’s creation that leaves us in awe but also wit insight of this world in which we live. Do not miss this film.” – Christian Film Review.“This film takes things otherwise seen as boring or overlooked and reminds us of the intentionality God gives to every details of his creation. This documentary reminds viewers to focus on the ways that we can see God in nature. Don’t miss your chance to see this film!”– Hollywood JesusDistributed through Fathom Events, fans throughout the U.S. will be able to enjoy the event TONIGHT (March 19) in more than 750 select movie theaters through Fathom’s Digital Broadcast Network (DBN). “The Riot and the Dance” will be shown in each market at 7:00 pm local time, and tickets available for purchase online at www.FathomEvents.com or directly from participating theater box offices.For a complete list of theater locations, and for more information, please visit “The Riot and the Dance” website.About Gorilla Poet ProductionsFor the past decade, Idaho-based Gorilla Poet Productions has been focused on crafting cinematic offerings that inspire, entertain, and educate. Since their first documentary, “Collision,” in 2008, Gorilla Poet has been involved in everything from commercial production to experimental shorts. In 2016, their first feature film, “The River Thief,” was released by Freestyle. They are currently in production on two documentaries, an animated TV series for Netflix, and are in development on their next feature film with Lionsgate. For more information, visit www.GorillaPoet.net.

5 Warning Signs That Your Church Might Be Unhealthy

We want churches to succeed. As Christians who may serve in a church we hope that church is all that God wants it to be. However, that is not the case with a lot of churches these days or even during the last 2,000 years.The New Testament is filled with examples of problems within the local church, some more serious than others. Though we all agree that there are no perfect churches on earth, we don't seem to all understand what characterizes a terminally sick church in God's eyes. What looks bad to one person might not seem so bad to another.How can we tell what is right and what is wrong?The answer is to test all things according to Scripture. If we believe that the Bible is God's inspired word and is clear on all major matters, then we should take the Bible's blessings and warnings seriously. This is especially important for new churches that are starting up.Many church plants begin with much zeal and good intentions, but it is in these new projects that Satan tries to destroy. Churches can get so infected with spiritual poison that if left unchecked, it can cause the church to die over time. This happens in one of two ways: Either it will shut down completely or it will apostatize from the faith and live on as a heretical, Spirit-less institution.The Apostle John's letter to the seven churches of Asia Minor in the book of Revelation is an excellent guideline that shows us what God values and despises in a church. Christ calls out both the good and the bad, and He warns us not to ignore the warnings of what constitutes the bad.As Revelation 2:7 commands, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."Here are five signs of an unhealthy church:1. Lack of love. This is the Ephesian church of Revelation 2:1-7. Jesus commends the church for its impeccable doctrine, perseverance in the faith, and intolerance of false teachers. But this church had a dangerous flaw: It was loveless. As unfathomable as it might seem, it is possible for a church to have the most zeal for the truth, yet be a church that is condemned by the Lord. The lack of love is demonstrated practically in multiple ways: It is legalistic. It is self-righteous. It is cold and uncaring. The church members' spiritual identity revolves more around the church than it does on Jesus Himself. These practices are found in many hyper-fundamentalist churches. Christ warns that such churches risk having their lamp stand removed from its place (v. 6), meaning that God will no longer bless the church, and might possibly dismantle it in due time.Bottom Line: The example of the Ephesian church teaches us that right attitudes are important to a healthy church. Churches should operate on love and grace, and keep Jesus as the head of the church.2. Doctrinal compromise. This is the Pergamum church of Revelation 2:12-17. Jesus commends the church for its perseverance in the gospel. But this church also had a problem: It compromised with some false teaching. According to verse 14 and 15, some key members within that local assembly held to the "teachings of Balaam" and the "teachings of the Nicolaitans," that caused congregants to stumble into sin. Churches these days can be firm in the gospel and persevere in the faith, but once it starts tolerating false teaching, the church can quickly go downhill. That is why it is problematic when church leaders affirm or incorporate philosophies that are clearly antithetical to God's Word. Examples include evolution, pop psychology, pluralism, and ideas adopted from liberal theology. When a church no longer affirms the inerrancy and sufficiency of Scripture, it is only a matter of time until that church falls into complete heresy. These practices are found in many mainstream and neo-orthodox churches.Bottom Line: If there is anything that the Pergamum church teaches us, it is that truth matters. Along with being a gospel driven church it must also maintain doctrinal purity since the church is called to worship the Lord both in spirit and in truth (John 4:24).IGNITE LA MEN'S CONFERENCE MARCH 9-10REGISTER NOW!3. Moral corruption. This is the Thyatiran church of Revelation 2:18-28. Jesus commends the church for its love, works, faith, and perseverance. But this church had a cancer: A Jezebel teacher who misled the church into immoral living. Unchecked sin is never good for the church, especially when loose living is promoted by the church leaders. It is not uncommon to hear of churches that do nothing about sinful practices within the life of the church. They fail to church discipline the unrepentant leaders or lay people. People in this church hold to the gospel, but at the same time, practice such things as cohabitation, idolatry, adultery, homosexuality, abortion, drunkenness, orgies, and various forms of worldly conduct discouraged by Paul in Romans 12:1-2. Jesus warns congregants not to be partakers with such licentious teachers, lest they incur the same discipline from the Lord.Bottom Line: The Thyatiran church teaches us that holiness matters. That is why leaders must be held to the above reproach standard outlined in 1 Timothy 3:1-13, and laity must strive to excel in all godly conduct as an act of worship to God and an example to others.4. Spiritual Deadness. This is the Sardis church of Revelation 3:1-6. Jesus has not much to commend this church for other than its name of appearing "alive." In reality, this church is dead. The Holy Spirit does not dwell within that church. This is another way of saying that the local assembly was full of unregenerate, unsaved people. This happens when churches do not preach the gospel. As a result, no one gets saved. The church ends up appearing more like a weekly social club, devoted to community bonding activities and maybe some social work on the side. But other than that, this kind of church does not really teach the Bible and serves no kingdom purpose. This condition is found in many Mainline Protestant denominations today.Bottom Line: From the example of the Sardis church we learn that the gospel matters. A strong church must be committed to preaching the gospel within its walls and being grounded in the word of God.5. Half-Hearted. This is the Laodicean church of Revelation 3:14-22. Jesus has not much to commend about this church either. Because the church is lukewarm, Christ vows to spit the church out of his mouth (v. 16). These churches are overly comfortable - and maybe even proud - because of their financial resources and size of attendees. People here do not reject Christ, but they are not sold out for Him either. They are half-hearted when it comes to serving Christ. The teaching in the church is not heretical. It is orthodox, but not very strong in execution. It is seeker friendly, watered-down, and non-offensive to the point where it does not have much power to motivate any believer to fulfill the Great Commission and live a zealous, radical life for Christ. This condition is found in many mainstream Christian churches that teach more about self-fulfillment and personal improvement than self-denial and service.Bottom Line: If there is anything from the Laodicean church to learn, it is the importance of spiritual zeal. It is necessary to have that kind of passion to do the Lord's work. When churches teach in such a manner that addresses both the easy and the hard sayings of the Bible, especially when it comes to salvation, discipleship, and outreach, then that zeal can come.Even in the worst of these church examples there is always an opportunity for the church to repent and to get back on the right track. It is never too late. Church leaders and attendees should take note of these warnings so that when they see these symptoms developing they can address them before they become worse. The last thing we want is for our healthy, vibrant church to one day turn into a dead or apostate organization ripe only for judgment — especially in our day and age, the church cannot afford to lose its blessings and power from God.Steve Cha is the teaching pastor of Grace City LA.

Actor Stephen Baldwin Counters America’s Divide With ‘Journal-tainment’

NASHVILLE — America has not been this divided since the Vietnam War and the presidential election fallout has included a rift with his own brothers, said Christian actor Stephen Baldwin recently at Proclaim 18, the National Religious Broadcasters Convention.Baldwin told Together LA during an interview inside his promotional RV parked on the exposition floor (complete with Ironman pinball machine) that he was at NRB to talk about his latest three projects.“I’m just telling the Lord, tell me where to go,” he said. “Right now it’s the Thief on the Cross movie, Church People [movie], and Great American Pilgrimage (The GAP) [TV road show].”

NEW WORD

When the actor was asked about whether he could be tagged as a journalist, considering he’s done quite a bit of radio in the past and the first season of the GAP, he explained:“So, what I’ve done with the Great American Pilgrimage is I’ve come up with a new word. It’s called ‘journal-tainment.’ It’s basically journalism that is a little entertaining and it seems to be working.“Let me clarify. I don’t want to try to pretend like all of a sudden I’m taking myself seriously as a journalist. I’m a communicator. My calling is to communicate the gospel. My additional calling is to do that in the way that God has called me to do. So, if you’re an actor that’s been in movies like the double-Academy award-winning The Usual Suspects, you would assume that if God’s going to use you in Christian media that you’ll use that knowledge, that wisdom, that experience, etc., etc.”In the GAP show (16 episodes on the RT news network and YouTube), Baldwin and financial guru Max Keiser journey across the United States in a RV to “learn and examine what people believe, perceive and how they define living in America in the wake of its most controversial presidential election. They visit everyday Americans in search of finding a grassroots commonality that can bring even the most divided together.”

METAXAS MANO A MANO

Baldwin’s visit to NRB appeared to unveil even more journal-tainment possibilities. Popular Christian author, speaker, and talk show host Eric Metaxas teamed with him for a hilarious Facebook LIVE interview that had nearly 30,000 views in less than a week. More evidence that journal-tainment is a reality.“I don’t even mean to sound nice or sound humble, but as a believer my wife says I have to be humble,” Baldwin said. “I’m just a guy that loves the Lord because he’s real and now I just want to have the right humility and the right servant’s heart to hear the Holy Spirit correctly to move in the direction God wants me to move.“So, if I’m going to call myself anything, first, it’s either an evangelist or communicator of the gospel. So, what does that mean? Now, I’m trying to look at society and culture from perspectives” of knowing how he can really talk about the power of the gospel in ways that are relevant today, “but not in ways that we are seeing other Christians doing it. They’re missing it.”He adds, “Hey listen, when sex trafficking is in the top five industries on the planet — satan is winning. We’re winning souls and all that other stuff, in the warfare, we’re advancing.“I’m somebody that believes that part of my calling is to engage and empower and motivate believers to do more for the Kingdom — to aspire to a greater level of excellence.”Baldwin said that the Great American Pilgrimage is an experiment that asks and perhaps answers, “‘Can Stephen Baldwin as the host, regardless of what opinions there are out there about him, can he go out to people who share his opinion and/or not and do a whole lot more listening?”

NOT SINCE VIETNAM

When asked by TLA about whether the show was really more about politics, he said, “No. It has political conversations, but the show itself is not pointed politically. Great American Pilgrimage is an experiment where after this past presidential election the division and the angst and the anger and the hatred and the protesting, which in my opinion we haven’t seen this since Vietnam. It’s that crazy in America again. It’s made me feel like how did we get here? What happened?“In my observation it’s that if you’re a Republican or a conservative or a liberal and a progressive, whatever, everyone is so focused at yelling at the other side about how they’re wrong, nobody is willing to listen and learn about the other person before they [immediately] have whatever opinion or judgemental attitude or whatever it is.”

ELECTION SPLITS BALDWINS

The reality of a divided nation has hit close to home for Baldwin, specifically his brothers Alec and Billy.“My brother Alec hasn’t talked to me since the election. Isn’t that silly? That over politics, two brothers will not communicate. I don’t know his wife. I don’t see their kids. Nothing. Because of politics. That’s silly to me, but that’s his choice. He has made that choice,” he said. He said he also recognizes that the battle between the brothers is spiritual. “I’m praying for him.”

THE CONVERSATION

When asked about his takeaway from the first season of the GAP he said that in the media “more and more people on both sides of this equation, whether you are a progressive or a conservative, both sides of that perception are actually agreeing that the divide is so wide and great now that if we don’t sit down and start to find ways to agree and come together, and help and be a blessing to one another, it’s going to get worse before it gets better. And maybe that’s what needs to happen.

NRB VIDEO

“But the thing that I was most blown away with was the number of liberal Democrat media people that are coming up to me and saying, ‘I watched the show. I love the show and I think it’s actually cool because the conversation you’re trying to invoke really does need to happen.“My instinct was correct. I wasn’t sure if people would like this but the sensitivity of it and the issue of it is so on point that it’s working,” he said.He shared that the idea for Great American Pilgrimage was to create a piece of content that’s family friendly, entertaining and fun, that has serious conversations about serious topics but presented in a very light-hearted way.[bctt tweet="You can see that I’m doing things outside of the box. I believe the Lord has called me to do that. - Stephen Baldwin" via="no"]“In all of that, try to present this kind of foundational tone of do unto others or treat others as you would hope or wish to have them treat you,” he said. “You can see that I’m doing things outside of the box. I believe the Lord has called me to do that.”Photos by Justin Dean.

Jesus Has Suffered Enough Says Ignite LA Men’s Conference Speaker

LOS ANGELES — Jesus has suffered enough said Every Man Ministries founder Kenny Luck, who will be speaking at Ignite LA, a two-day men’s conference at Desert Reign Church in Downey beginning this Friday (March 9) at 5 pm.Luck's words come from the perspective of witnessing to a broken male culture.“Jesus has suffered enough,” he said recently at a men’s study (VIDEO BELOW) held at Crossline Community Church in Laguna Hills where he is also a pastor. “Don’t grieve the spirit of Christ through personal choices to sin by giving yourself self-rationalized permission to put the pause button on your relationship with God.”His admonition comes at a time when the subject of “broken men” has surfaced more frequently in mainstream media as the root of serious problems in the U.S., including mass shootings.In a recent New York Times op-ed piece, The Boys Are Not All Right, Michael Ian Black writes that “...the man who feels lost but wishes to preserve his fully masculine self has only two choices: withdrawal or rage. We’ve seen what withdrawal and rage have the potential to do. School shootings are only the most public of tragedies. Others, on a smaller scale, take place across the country daily; another commonality among shooters is a history of abuse toward women.”KEEPING THE MAIN THING THE MAIN THINGLuck, who has authored and co-authored more than 20 books for men, has been addressing “broken male culture” for the past three decades. “My prayer for all that live in LA and Orange counties and wherever you live is that people would recognize large communities of men for one thing: they recognize them for having been with Jesus. That they become sources of life and it’s a noteworthy miracle, and that would be a witness for God that would create so much salvation in a city and so much life,” Luck said.“Knowing the Lord is the main thing of life. The only thing left for us to do is to declare surrender,” Luck adds. “I’m not surrendering to anybody, but I’ll surrender to Christ.”On Friday, the conference opens for check-in and coffee at 5 pm, and Session 1 from 7-9 pm. Saturday’s schedule includes a 7 am check-in, Session 2 at 9-11 am, lunch, and Session 3 from 12 to 2 pm.For registration and more information go to the conference website: ignitela.net.IGNITE LA MEN'S CONFERENCE MARCH 9-10REGISTER NOW!

What Evangelism is Not; A Closer Look at Today's Practices

Christians seek to be an influence to others. Church plants pray for revival in the city. Parachurch organizations plan movements that seek to advance the cause of the kingdom in the city. The action begins, and everyone now seems to be doing "evangelism." It might not come as a surprise that everyone does evangelism differently and even have different opinions on what constitutes evangelism.In our day and age, evangelism has become a lost art inside some Christian circles.So what is evangelism? Thankfully, it is not terribly complicated. Theologian Wayne Grudem provides an accurate and simple definition: It is “the proclamation of the gospel to unbelievers (from the Greek word euangelizo, “to announce good news”). In other words, it is the announcing, teaching, or communicating of the good news of the gospel to the unsaved with the hopes that they might come to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. This is the essence of evangelism. Nothing more and nothing less.We find this definition in two key passages, both defined by Jesus Himself. The first is Luke 24:47, which says that “repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” The second key passage is Mark 16:15, which reads, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”Understanding what evangelism is according to Scripture also helps us to discern what evangelism is not. In understanding the difference, we have a clearer focus on our mission as Christians. It also should give us soberness to not pass up good opportunities to speak the gospel to people, especially when we are tempted to replace evangelism with another program or method that we think constitutes true evangelism.Here are ten common practices that can tempt us to believe we have evangelized (especially when these activities are used as a replacement for verbal gospel proclamation):1. Inviting non-Christians to church: This is one of the common practices of Christians today. Christians think that they have done their evangelism job once they have brought the unbelievers into the church gathering. It’s not bad to invite a friend to church, since the assembly of the saints is a good place for unbelievers to see the living testimony of Christ lived out before his eyes. But when using this as a crutch or a substitute for your obedience to evangelism, then it becomes a problem. And is there really any guarantee that your pastor or any church leader will personally evangelize your unbelieving friend on that Sunday?2. Conversions: Another term for this is “the results of evangelism.” This is when you have both proclaimed the gospel to the unbeliever and converted them. Nowhere in Scripture, even in passages like Romans 1:15 and Galatians 4:13 when evangelism is used as a verb, does the word imply that evangelism is successful when we procure conversion. Failure to grasp this concept has lead to unnecessary pressure on evangelists, which in turn leads them to try to get conversions at nearly all costs. When this happens, Christians experiment with unbiblical, pragmatic methods of evangelism that produce manipulated “decisions,” and ultimately spurious conversions.3. Apologetics: This is the art of defending the Christian faith with answers to objections. The problem is that some Christians use apologetics, rather than the gospel, to try to win over unbelievers, thinking that clever arguments, such as kalam cosmological argument, the Dead Sea Scrolls discovery, the DNA structure, and biblical prophecies, will win the day. Other than the fact that commonplace experience shows us that unbelievers are not generally converted by hard data, Scripture even tells us that God does not use solely empirical evidence to draw a sinner to belief in Christ. Instead, the Lord uses the gospel. God has chosen to use the “foolish message” of the cross to be the power of God onto salvation (1 Cor 1:18).4. Praying with unbelievers: This is when you pray with unbelievers. Some people believe this to be evangelism, and have actually replaced evangelizing unbelievers with praying with them. This is a case of the fear-of-persecution syndrome. Let’s face it; it is a lot more “loving” to pray for them than to be “confrontational” by being open with them about the issues of sin, judgment, and the need to repent before a holy God. The problem with this approach is that it clearly does not square with the biblical definition of what evangelism is. Another roadblock is that nowhere in Scripture are Christians exhorted to pray together with unbelievers, as if they have a common saving faith or a common god. Instead, Christians are commanded to pray and intercede for an unbeliever’s salvation (Rom 10:1; 1 Tim 2:1).5. “God loves you” or “Jesus loves you:" You’ve probably been a part of evangelism teams, or have seen groups, that said or held up signs that read, “Jesus loves you!” Yet these evangelists rarely mention sin, heaven, hell, the atonement, the resurrection, or any information that a sinner needs to know in order to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. It’s not a bad thing to say “God loves you” to an unbeliever, because it is true. But when proclaimed without any context, it can be misleading. When unbelievers hear this statement, they think that God will accept them eternally, no matter what kind of lifestyle they are living or what they believe.6. “Accept Jesus:” This is very close to evangelism, but not quite. This is when you take a gospel presentation, chop out all the content, and simply call the unbeliever to “accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.” In other words, you don’t actually explain the gospel message to them. There is a problem with this approach. The unbeliever will obviously not desire to believe in Christ because he does not see why he needs to come to Christ, and does not understand why Jesus is the only way for him to be saved from hell. Gospel proclamation, although not an encyclopedia of data, is certainly more than just telling someone to “accept Jesus Christ.”7. Lifestyle evangelism: This is when you live a certain way before your unbelieving friends, relatives, and co-workers, thinking that your actions will impress them, illicit curiosity to your faith, and eventually draw them to salvation in Christ. It is somewhat based on the salt-and-light principle from Matthew 5:13-16. Although this Sermon on the Mount passage does teach us to be living witnesses to unbelievers, it is not identical to evangelism. Evangelism, once again, is the proclamation of the gospel to the person, and “lifestyle evangelism” does not fit that bill. Unbelievers will not understand the gospel just by observing your lifestyle. They can very well see a respectful lifestyle in a moral Buddhist and an atheist. As Romans 10:14 declares, “…How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?”8. Personal Testimony: This is when you share your life story with an unbeliever about how you came to Jesus Christ or what he did or is currently doing in your life , with the hopes that this “bait” will attract your prospect to the faith. The problem with personal testimonies is that many of them are devoid of the gospel message. Once again, we must remember that it is not apologetics, clever stories, or arguments that win people to salvation, but the gospel (Rom 1:16). A downfall with personal testimonies is that unbelievers will approach such stories with an attitude of, “That’s good for you. But I have my own path and happiness.” However, the gospel is not relative or optional. It sets one path of salvation, and calls for a response from the sinner.9. Humanitarian or social action: A popular trend among many evangelicals, especially in urban settings, is to spread the Christian influence by doing good deeds for the city, such as feeding the poor, serving in soup kitchens, cleaning up the streets, and tutoring underprivileged children. They call this “servanthood evangelism.” In this pursuit, the gospel is sometimes preached, but other times, it is not. In the latter case, the church becomes no different than the Angelina Jolies of the world who do humanitarian work in the name of “love.” Giving a sandwich to a homeless guy on the street is noble, but what does it profit him if we feed him physically, yet he dies spiritually?10. “Revival” events: These are special events designed to rally Christians up in “worship” of God. They are usually centered on high-tech music designed to stir up the feelings of the attendees so that they can get an emotional high for God. The problem with this approach is that this type of event does not place the preaching of the gospel as its centerpiece. Therefore, it cannot qualify as a “revival” in any way, because the historical outworking of revival is the mass salvation of unbelievers as a result of gospel proclamation, such as the case with the Great Awakening. Emotional feelings for God do not save people; only the gospel can do this, as the Bible teaches.These ten practices should always be kept in perspective. This is not to say that these practices are evil or counterproductive. Most of them can actually be of great benefit to supplement or open opportunities for the preaching of the gospel to non-Christians. This is why if they are done, they should be done to the glory of God and in some sort of partnership with evangelism opportunities. Creative approaches should always serve the cause of biblical evangelism, and not be replacements of it.As defined earlier, evangelism is the proclamation of the good news of Christ to unbelievers with the hope that they might turn to Christ in faith and be reconciled to Him eternally. And the content of that faith should center on God's authority, man's sinfulness, eternal punishment, and the good news of Christ's incarnation, atonement, resurrection, and our need to respond in repentance and faith in order to be saved. That is the successful communication of the gospel. And that message alone has tremendous power, as Paul states, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek" (Romans 1:16).Steve Cha is the teaching pastor of Grace City LA.

Phil Cooke, 'The Way Back,' and 'The Approaching Cultural Storm' at Proclaim 18

LOS ANGELES — Gale-force winds may already be here, but a discussion about “The Approaching Cultural Storm” led by top Christian media consultant and producer Phil Cooke is scheduled for a super session on Wednesday at the National Religious Broadcasters 75th Annual Convention in Nashville, Tennessee.“There’s such a disconnect between how Christians see themselves and how the world sees them,” Cooke, who is co-founder of the LA-based Cooke Pictures, told Together LA on Friday. He said that he’ll be doing a lot of talking about his new book, "The Way Back: How Christians Blew Their Credibility and How We Get It Back?" at Proclaim 18 (Feb. 27 to March 2) and using it as a background for hosting the session.“What we discovered while researching and writing the book will be shocking to many Christians in America,” said Cooke, whose book was co-written by Jonathan Bock. “If you’re interested in why Christianity continues to disappear from the culture, and how to turn it around, this is the book for you.”Heading into NRB’s Proclaim 18, which kicks off on Tuesday, we asked Cooke some questions about Christians and media, and the convention where hundreds of media professionals are expected to attend.Together LA: What are you doing at NRB and what are your goals with Proclaim 18?Phil Cooke: The NRB Convention is the one place where we can meet churches, ministries, and nonprofit clients and potential clients who produce media programming, all in a single week. It’s the international meeting place for Christians involved in media, so it’s a very productive week for our team at Cooke Pictures. This year, I’m also hosting three different “super-sessions” - two with the filmmaker’s track, and another that covers a very important topic: “The Approaching Cultural Storm."TLA: What will you talk about in regards to your new book, "The Way Back: How Christians Blew Their Credibility and How We Get It Back?"Cooke: My new book has really taken off, and I’ll be doing quite a few media interviews at the convention. But I’ll also be using the new book as background for hosting “The Approaching Cultural Storm” session. My co-writer, Jonathan Bock and I look at why there’s such a disconnect between how Christians see themselves and how the world sees them. What we discovered while researching and writing the book will be shocking to many Christians in America. If you’re interested in why Christianity continues to disappear from the culture, and how to turn it around, this is the book for you.TLA: What is the importance of NRB in general? How about to you personally?Cooke: The NRB began as an organization to promote Christian broadcasting. It began with radio stations, then expanded to TV, and now includes film and online, digital media. It’s primary focus is assuring that there will always be a place for Christian broadcasting in America, and that our rights to proclaim the Christian message will not be hindered or restricted. We’ve also expanded into a massive teaching event, and have educational tracks for radio, TV, film, the Internet, and one for college students who study broadcasting, filmmaking, and digital media.TLA: Is media part of the solution for Christians to get our credibility back? How so?Cooke: No question. We live in a media-driven culture. One British study indicates that the average person today is bombarded with up to 5,000 media messages every single day. We check our iPhones 110 times a day. We live in the most distracted and disrupted culture in the history of the world. As a result, sharing our message on multiple media platforms is absolutely essential. In the gospels, Jesus spent His life where the people were. In those days it was the temple square, the marketplace, or social gatherings like weddings. Today, the people are online, watching TV, listening to radio, or in movie theaters. We need to be there. In fact, keep in mind that today, by population, Facebook is now the largest country in the world. Who’s sending missionaries to that country? Who’s planting churches in that country? We shouldn’t just think of “missions” in terms of geographical boundaries, but also think in terms of digital boundaries.TLA: Can you tell a favorite story about how you observed God working through a specific media project you did?Cooke: Billy Graham passed away recently, and I’ve been remembering that 22 years ago, the ministry asked me to “produce a Billy Graham TV special that someone who would never watch a Billy Graham program would watch.” As a result we produced a prime Time TV event called “Starting Over.” It was broadcast globally and because it was television, it was the first time Billy had preached to 50 different countries at the same time. The Los Angeles Times reported that more than 2.5 billion people viewed the program globally and insiders at the Graham ministry told me that it generated 1 million phone calls for salvation. I can’t think of a better way to show the impact of sharing the gospel through media.TLA: What do you look forward to most about this year's NRB convention?Cooke: Helping inspire and motivate a new generation of Christian media professionals. We can’t keep doing what we’ve always done. We need new ideas, new creativity, and new energy. The Bible says God never changes, but trust me, everything else does. People change, trends change, styles change - we need to make sure we’re proclaiming an unchanging gospel to a world that’s constantly changing. We need to learn to speak that language, and I love teaching young filmmakers and media producers and challenging them to change the world.

My Heart is Breaking, My Blood is Boiling

My heart is breaking for the families of those murdered yesterday (2/14/18) by Nikolas Cruz in Parkland, Florida. Inner character was expressed in murderous conduct.A person — not policy or politics — committed this atrocity.In our pain, sadness and anger we lash out over events like this we can't control by grabbing the nearest source to blame. We react. We go through a ritual of talking about gun control after any deadly event and we do it to make ourselves feel better about the fact that no amount of gun control can stop people who are determined to murder innocent civilians from doing so. And once again, our reactions never produce true solutions. That makes my blood boil.The biggest lesson all of us have to learn is this: the problem (school shootings) never exists at the level at which we finally (and horrifically) see it. Families form people but the common responses by the most vocal and visible among us miss that. We miss the reality that social breakdown, the disintegration of the family, fatherlessness, and allowing culture to raise and inform our children are the root causes that make children vulnerable to evil influences.The public response pretends to have a debate on gun control, safety protocols, and better preparedness, when what we are really having a debate on is the nature of evil and whether government intervention can contain it. It cannot. These are massive moral and spiritual issues foolishly being dealt with political squirt guns. The blowback of political talk you see right now to the events of today is exactly what the word "blowback" sounds like - gas. It smells bad, dissolves into the air, and no one is helped.My grief is same as everyone else's right now but my anger over the true sources and solutions being glossed over is rising above my grief.I, for one, am going after this generation and the coming generation of fathers because it is here where the real impact and solution lies. I will be focused on helping them own a spiritual commitment and accountability to their Maker and, by doing so, foster an identity and concern for mothers and children that make both less vulnerable and more secure in every physical and emotional dimension.I am one of those who believe that families play the largest part in forming people and their identities that eventually command powerful energies capable of great evil or good. By our absence (fellow dads) we can contribute to the rise of dangerous young men who bring pain and suffering. But if we decide to be present, own a spiritual life that possesses eternally good values, live them out, and mentor our boys in them, we can raise the next generation of sons who are dangerous with goodness. These are the men who are in high demand and low supply today. These are the men who bring life not death and blessing not pain to others. These are the men who must now assemble, associate, and focus with me on the true solutions versus the reactions.[bctt tweet="My prayers are for those families right now but my energy tomorrow, this week, and for the years I have left on this planet is toward creating ever growing communities of men who are known for being dangerous with goodness not just dangerous." username="Kenny_Luck"]My prayers are for those families right now but my energy tomorrow, this week, and for the years I have left on this planet is toward creating ever growing communities of men who are known for being dangerous with goodness not just dangerous. For me, one less Nikolas Cruz will require one more fully committed and caring father who decides that if “he” doesn't do relationships with son right he will not have done life right. Good men, young and old, are made not born. It's time we started acting on it.Share and Like if you want to see change in our communities.

Ignite LA Men's Conference from Every Man Ministries on Vimeo.

Pastor, New City Church Offer #MeToo Lament From Sunday Service

Over the past few months, our sexual culture has experienced a bit of a reckoning. A spotlight has been shined into some of the uncomfortable, ugly, violent corners of our behavior as a society, and inventory is still being taken.So today we need to lament.

BY HANNAH SIMSNEW CITY CHURCH LOS ANGELES

Editor's Note: Pastor Kevin Haah, lead pastor of New City Church Los Angles wanted to share a Lament that his church did regarding sexual abuse against women, particularly the #metoo conversation. Haah shared with TogetherLA that New City pastor Hannah Sims put together a powerful lament on the subject to do during worship service on Feb. 4, 2018. "We did it last Sunday and it was a powerful Holy Spirit moment for our church. Hannah agreed to give away this lament so that other churches might do it as well," Haah said. Before we do, I want to acknowledge the heteronormative limitation of this lament. I also want to acknowledge that men also experience sexual harassment and violence, frequently perpetrated by other men, and sometimes by women. But today we lament the deplorable prevalence and normalization of sexual violence perpetrated by men against women.I think we all knew that there were dark secrets hiding in the silence and shame that surrounds the topic of sex. Maybe we didn't want to see the full extent of the damage for fear of facing our own complicity. Starting with the #metoo movement back in October, millions of women declared on social media that they have been sexually harassed or assaulted. That led to a string of high-profile exposés of powerful men engaging in unquestionably reprehensible sexual misconduct, which led to consideration of more ambiguous but common-place sexual encounters where women were violated and men didn't notice.All the buzz in the news got me reflecting on my own experiences of sexual harassment and assault. That got me asking other women about their experiences, and the shocking, heartbreaking realization that hit me was exactly what the #metoo movement said in the first place: millions of women have been sexually harassed and assaulted.Being sexually harassed and assaulted is our twisted normal, but that doesn't make it acceptable. Conversations with my friends, women in this room, reveal that the vast majority of us have been sexually assaulted. Not just women on Facebook and Twitter. The women sitting in this room right now.Being sexually harassed and assaulted is our twisted normal. Part of what makes this cultural reckoning so resonant is that it asked us to voice a truth that we'd rather forget. Women don't want to be violated so we laugh it off and pretend it didn't happen. But the painful truth is slowly coming out.The news and the conversations I've had in the past months make it clear: As a culture, we have failed to create a world where women can live without reasonable fear of sexual assault.This is not ok. Men, we need you to know that this very reasonable fear follows us everywhere we go. It will follow us on to Spring Street in about an hour. On the street, in the grocery store, at work, at the gym, we will be aware of the eyes scanning our bodies, aware of the very real threat of violence. And as soon as we forget to be vigilant, we will get leered at, whistled at, groped, or worse. And if we show discomfort, if we aren't grateful or flattered by the unwanted attention, the danger escalates.Brothers, please listen to us and believe us. I know this is hard to hear. We need your help because we're hurting and this is not ok. The current state of affairs is bad news for women and for men.

Responsive Lament

Let us respond with lament. I will read a statement, and if you believe or want to believe that Christ's love can transform our broken world, respond with “Christ have mercy on us.”For every woman who has been unkindly touched, shouted at, spoken of, abused, imagined or treated as a sexual object for the power and pleasure of a man, we lament. Christ have mercy on us.For every woman whose power has been undermined, who has been told that the Image of God in her is silence and subservience, who has been taught that her experience is secondary to the actions of men around her, we lament. Christ have mercy on us.For every woman who has striven to be whole, only to be told that she's “too much,” “not enough,” “too sensitive,” “an abomination,” “an embarrassment,” we lament. Christ have mercy on us.For every time we have turned a blind eye to the wounded, hoping they would heal themselves; for every time we looked outside in anger for a savior when the heart of Christ broke within us; and when we have craved quick solutions that don't require us to face the pain of the truth, we lament. Christ have mercy on us.For the men who have been told that they must be predators, conquerors, tearless, fearless, and cruel to truly be men; who despair that their past behaviors make them fundamentally, irredeemably monstrous; who long to be free from the bondage of lust and selfishness, we lament. Christ have mercy on us.PrayerMay we be people who love one another well, not shying away from hard truth, but telling one another when we hurt, listening to one another and trusting that Christ is coming, day by day, in the restoration of His good creation, in His Church. May we be men and women who have eyes to see and ears to hear the Spirit breathing healing among us.Amen.

READ: The Casting Couch, Harvey Weinstein, and How to Navigate Inside Hollywood

Los Angeles Church Hosts 'Sushi Outreach Night'

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES - The story goes that Los Angeles was the first city in America to successfully embrace sushi, a cuisine phenomena that skyrocketed when the first sushi bar outside of Little Tokyo opened in 1970 in Hollywood and catered to celebrities.Sushi was never considered a “poor man’s meal” — until now. Pastor Steve Cha of Grace City LA told TogetherLA that the recently held “Sushi Outreach Night” was never part of the new church’s strategy or planning meetings for 2018.“This idea wasn’t originally part of our plan,” Cha said. He explained that a restaurant owner, who had been to the church at the time of its opening in September, “one day just out of the blue” approached him and said, “Hey, I want to donate a whole bunch of sushi to you guys. Why don’t I come to make stuff and cook’” and suggested the church “just invite all the neighbors, all the poor people, anybody that wants to come to the church to come eat with you guys.”Cha told the chef, Chiva Neo, from Ramen Senya in Sherman Oaks, that he’d never heard of anything so “fancy” done for a whole neighborhood before.“We are always looking for ways that we can use events like this for evangelism and outreach because last year, when we were planning for our 2018 goals, one of the things we were thinking about was possibly doing barbecues or some sort of dinners,” Cha said. When this opportunity came up the pastor and its leaders asked themselves, “Who don’t we do this as an outreach?”“We looked at it as a way to get Grace City known as well as use it as an opportunity to proclaim the gospel as well, and possibly get them plugged into a church or a home church,” he said. “It was one of those unexpected things for us, but we said this was one of those once-in-a-blue-moon opportunities so that’s why we decided to take him up on it and just roll with it and see how everything was going to go. It turned out pretty well actually.”Cha said that before guests filled their plates from the sushi buffet-style table, he gave a brief introduction to what his church was about and prayed a blessing.Guests for the dinner appeared to be of various socioeconomic backgrounds and not necessarily poor, according to Cha. It was an evening enjoyed by everyone, amazed that the free dinner was not standard fare.To end the evening Cha said he spent a short time giving his testimony about how he “came to a saving faith in Christ” and hoped people would reflect upon it and “challenge them in a small way to think about the message of everlasting life.”“We were able to use the food event as a way to point to the food as physical sustenance but use that as a way to point to the spiritual food that is in Christ,” he said. “Like the verse, ‘I am the bread of life that he who believes in me shall never hunger,’ (John 6:35) that Jesus used to show that we care about them physically — to feed them physically but most importantly we want to feed them spiritually.”Plans for another food outreach night hosted by Grace City LA may or may not include sushi.

Metro Cafe Highlights Santa Monica Church's Unique Bottom Line

Outside, on the corner of 6th and Arizona, a sidewalk chalkboard sign with an arrow pointing toward a building’s entrance simply states that there’s “Fast Wi-fi,” and on the other side of the board a quote about coffee being the “lifeblood that fuels the dreams of champions.”

UPDATE (1/31/18): Metro Cafe in the News - Leveling the paying field: LA cafe lets patrons choose prices – and hasn't lost cash [The Guardian]

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 14, 2017At first glance, it’s hard to imagine that this retro, two-story building freshly painted gray and white, and dubbed “METROPOLIS” is home to a church. Once inside, a coffee shop ( Metro Cafe ) with great laptop spaces and a co-lab work floor for entrepreneurs on the second level don't reveal the structure's true purpose.However, as one becomes part of the conversation inside Metropolis, it becomes clear that emanating from this downtown Santa Monica corner just six blocks from the ocean is in fact a good dose of Jesus.“From the very beginning, we just realized that it’s poor stewardship that ‘the church’ is empty so much of the week,” said Metro Church (Metro Calvary Chapel) pastor Steve Snook in a interview with Together LA. “Growing up, seeing the church empty and not being used 24/7 I just thought, 'This is not good, so we will never do this.'”Snook, whose father was a pastor, grew up spiritually and as a young pastor in the Calvary Chapel (Chuck Smith founder) system of doing church. In 1987, before “small groups” became mainstream, and before Starbucks even surfaced, he said had a vision of gatherings “almost like fires” for discipleship and mutual entrepreneurial growth in coffee shop-style settings in the Los Angeles basin, including Downtown L.A., Malibu, and the hills of Hollywood.He said it’s difficult for churches and many Christians to grasp the concept of going beyond Sunday worship services in the form he’s talking about. “They love the idea, but it’s hard for them. I think there’s an intimidation or something,” he said.When asked about how a co-lab workspace used for businesses such as start-ups and creatives inside the church walls fits in biblically, Snook explains, “A number of years ago, I began asking this question, ‘What is the church, really?’ Not just what’s just been handed down but what is the church and how does it operate practically.“When I was a young guy, I was somewhat idealistic and I looked at [Apostle] Paul’s picture of the church like a body or like a temple that had a foundation that was already laid, Jesus Christ being the cornerstone… that it’s being built not on only the Apostles and Prophets, but we, as in second Peter, are like living stones built into the spiritual house that God dwells.”He said he would read other parts of the Bible that would illustrate the church as the body of Christ and that the different parts would work together.“There’s an element of collaboration that has to come about,” Snook continued. “There’s a picture of Christ being manifest through His body. He has a unified body and every part has to function. The Holy Spirit is the administrator. So, in the same way, we asked what would that look like practically. We started looking at how is the church operating in the marketplace? That’s when we started finding out that someone was like hands, someone was like feet, some were more like the voices, and some were like the ears.“For us it was realizing that like in Nehemiah's time everyone was building the wall, and everyone had this place, and we had to learn to work together.”Snook said that once the vision of collaboration started catching on at his church, people started coming together to use each other’s talents. Instead of first going outside the church for help in the workplace, he said that members first started looking inside the church “with people we already have a relationship with.”His vision of the coffee houses in the Los Angeles area came in a series of dreams over seven to ten days in 1987, he said.

Before Metro Cafe

“I saw these gathering places up close [in my dreams] and I realized that this was the church. This is what we’ve been praying for,” he described. “I knew there was coffee there, and I saw these espresso machines.”He said he didn’t quite understand all of the dreams, but there were panel discussions and forums. “I saw [these gatherings] in key places that were more of the hubs of the region. For me, I had a vision to walk out (move forward slowly). It was confirmed to me. We started with small groups, kind of a new picture of what the church was supposed to be. At the time, there were mostly community groups. We just started walking it out.”Snook said that he and his wife started a coffee shop within a vintage boutique in Santa Monica shortly after his dreams with the idea that this would be a way to “show Jesus up close.” The space included comedy nights, “Philosopher's Cafe” evenings, and events for children alongside their parents.“We had the cool coffee house going with all these events, including an alpha course (introduction to Christianity),” he said. Snook’s ministry and church have had several different locations, looks, and style of operation over the years. Metropolis appears to be the culmination of “walking out” what God has planned for Snook and this group of believers.“The work we are doing right now at Metropolis we believe is a business model, it’s a ministry model, it’s whatever model you want to talk about that other church planters could follow,” he said. “This is a city of dreamers, and a lot of people within the church want to do great things for God, but to walk it out means that you are going to have to pay the price… means that you may have to put ‘everything I am’ into this.”Rodrigo Robles, who is on the church staff, said that one way to describe what’s happening at Metropolis is like this: “We have a space, which we are very fortunate to have, that is more than a building. It’s an organism and it has life,” he said, adding that it’s not a dormant facility.“Metropolis for me, and what I hope it becomes for our community is a kind of park-like setting that’s accessible throughout the whole week,” Robles said. “I hope it becomes a place where there’s life seven days a week. I hope it becomes a place where people feel free to come inside and read a book, to go outside and get some sun, grab a coffee and a bag of chips with their friends.“I hope it becomes a house of hospitality, and through that, people can begin to question ‘How is this so?’ and ‘Why are people so nice here?’ and then we can share why, which [the answer] is Jesus. It’s an opportunity to breathe life into a corner of this awesome city every single day in some way, shape or form every single day in Christ.”[gallery type="slideshow" link="none" size="large" ids="1890,1854,1898,1921,1922,1894"]Photos by John Fredericks/Together LA.--------------------------------------

Ignite LA Men's Conference from Every Man Ministries on Vimeo.

The Church: How Have We Advanced the Dream?

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. made a profound statement some 50 plus years ago about Sunday morning at 11am being the most segregated time of the week. That statement was the launching site of the gathering that took place last Saturday (1/20) at Chosen Generation Fellowship Church in Long Beach.We asked the question: How have we advanced the dream since the Civil Rights movement?A very diverse panel of pastors, ministry leaders, and academia met at the intersection of the church, the gospel, and culture. Our guests invited to talk about the subject included, Irene Cho—Program Administrator for the Fuller Youth Institute (FYI); Peter Watts—Pastor of The R.O.C.K. Church of Los Angeles, Regional Vice President of World Impact; Joyce Del Rosario—currently a PhD candidate at Fuller Theological Seminary’s School of Intercultural Studies; Mary Glenn—an affiliate professor with Fuller Theological Seminary (School of Intercultural Studies/Fuller Youth Institute) and an adjunct professor with Azusa Pacific University (MA Transformational Urban Leadership).

Today, a fascinating conversation took place about our collective and personal experiences when it comes to relationships with different people groups inside the church. Thank you, @ceddy40 for leading the discussion that needs to continue! Stay tuned! #mlkgathering #advancethedream #losangeles #longbeach #carson #pasadena #downey @worldimpact @onetenpictures @allinsmallgroups

A post shared by TogetherLA (@together_la) on Jan 20, 2018 at 7:10pm PST

The panelists engaged in discussions around two major questions: 1. Has the church moved the needle since the Civil Rights movement in advancing the dream? 2. Is diversity in church real or is it more about uniformity?Women with diverse cultural perspectives were a majority, leading to a discussion thread about how women in ministry are often subjected to certain levels of “positional” sexism in the church.Joyce Del Rosario talked about how being a Filipino American in the Christian community presented an attitude to conform to “doing” church through the lens of the dominant culture’s narrative, which is typically a white perspective.Pastor Peter Watts stated during the dialogue that “real transformation inside the church doesn’t happen until the church repents.”Mary Glenn spoke about the impact of labels, the lens by which we see each other and interpret our world. We are God's beloved and image bearers, made in the image of God. Irene Cho highlighted that there is a difference between diversity and uniformity. Irene discussed how the dominant narrative in most of our churches are to become uniform to the dominant culture instead of getting involved in the messy mosaic of diversity.Pastor Dwight Radcliff, of The Message Center in Gardena and current PhD. candidate at Fuller Seminary joined the panel to discuss diversity on the level of academia, especially regarding our seminary institutions. Pastor Radcliff echoed the sentiments previously shared regarding a lack of diversity in some of our seminaries, especially around professorship. Even at the seminary level there is a case for the dominant narrative to be singular along cultural lines.The morning wrapped up with questions from the audience with various responses from the panelist. The idea and premise of this event was to begin a conversation about where we are as a church (the Body of Christ) since Dr. King made that statement some 50 or more years ago.Dr. King may have struggled putting into action what he was questioning at the local church level, panelists highlighted during the discussion.We are still working to advance the dream in our communities, churches, seminaries, by having discussions where we can surrender our “isms” at the intersection of the gospel, the church, and culture.

READ: Dignity Answer To Racially Charged Times; Civil Rights Leader at Saddleback

38 Minutes In Hawaii: My Family and The False Missile Alarm

I woke up abruptly. Overzealous JROTC Cadets ran and yelled on the high school track across the street. I rolled over and grabbed my reading glasses. Time to return to the book which I’d fallen asleep reading. It’s Leo Strauss and the Politics of Exile by Eugene Sheppard. Thirty minutes later, I faced a tough choice.

BY JASON SCOTT JONES, THE STREAM

Should I go down and check on my children? Or watch an old Lomachenko fight on Youtube? Then my wife called up, “Babe, it’s garbage day. Take out the trash!” So I rushed downstairs. My typical Saturday ritual. As I dragged the trash out a bizarre sound boomed from my phone. I read the message:“Ballistic missile threat inbound. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill.”“So it’s today,” I thought. I’m a student of the bloody twentieth century, a hundred years of genocide, democide, and total war. I’ve lived on Oahu for almost 30 years, in sight of Pearl Harbor. It’s still a key target for surprise attack today. I’ve long thought that Oahu could be the spot where the next great tragic war begins — though not where it ends. Decades of thinking on this inspired me to write a book on the subject with John Zmirak, The Race to Save Our Century. I also recently co-authored a white paper outlining a path to abolish city-busting, strategic nuclear weapons.

I’m Just Trying to Save My Children

Whenever someone suggests that I’m some do-gooding humanitarian, I correct them: “No, I’m just trying to save my children.” Oahu is a small island. But it’s one of the most important strategic locations for the projection of U.S. power to the East, confronting both North Korea and China. Knowing that, you come to accept a grim reality: Oahu is one of the most likely flashpoints for the start of World War III.So when I saw the alert on my iPhone, I faced it with the same realism that wise Midwesterners greet tornado warnings. And like them I had a plan.I rushed into the house. “Kids, get in the car. Babe, grab the case of water bottles.” They knew the drill, and soon the minivan was fully loaded. I filled water jugs, two mugs of coffee and grabbed my 9mm.Heading for the Cave Behind the MountainI was rushing to shelter my family behind the Waianae mountain range. That might shield us from whatever was about to hit Pearl Harbor. We had 10 minutes, I calculated, to get there, and hide in the Makua Cave.Ignoring signs, police and the rules of the road, I gunned the minivan. We raced for the shade of the mountain.My thoughts were far away, with my daughter and my wife’s mother. They both live in Waikiki. Surely I should call them. But tell them … what? I knew there was no place for them to go. Was that worth calling to tell them? Then the phone rang. Which amazed me. Why were they working? They hadn’t in Washington, D.C. on September 11, 2001. I knew because I’d been there.It was my mother-in-law. She wanted to know what to do. She lives five minutes from Diamondhead Crater. So I told her to drive down into it and hide in its abandoned fallout shelter. Then my daughter called on my son’s phone and asked the same question. I gave the same inadequate answer. As I talked to her, I knew that this might be the last time I heard my daughter’s voice. My wife marked the tears in my eyes.

This Can’t Be a Hack or a Hoax

As we made the turn into the shadow of the mountain, I felt we’d won a small victory. The first missile must have been intercepted. Or else the inept North Koreans had dropped a rocket in the middle of the Pacific. Before the next wave of missiles hit, we would make it to Makua Cave.My hopes that this was a false alarm were fading. “If this were a hack or a hoax, the government would have texted us already.” This thought pressed my foot even heavier on the gas pedal. I turned into the empty oncoming lane and passed some 20 cars. A man in a pickup gunned his truck and started to follow me. He was honking his horn, and trying to get my attention.My first instinct was anger. “This dude wants to fight me for driving like an idiot. He must have his phone off,” I thought. He was a big Hawaiian dude, waving at me with animated gestures. So I slowed down and let him pull up next to me. I rolled down the windows.But he wasn’t trying to rebuke my crazy driving. He wanted help. “Bro, what should I do? You seem like you have a plan. Where should I go?”I took a deep breath, then shouted, “Get to Makua Cave! Put as much mountain as you can between yourself and Pearl Harbor.”The man held up his phone, despair on his face. “I can’t reach my wife! What should I do?”Oh, man. My wife was right next to me. And most of my kids. I shook my head, and told this poor guy: “There is no time, bro. Drive to Makua Cave!”He looked at me, then looked at his phone. I watched as he did a U-turn and drove his truck back toward what would probably be Ground Zero. Back toward his wife.

Nothing But Hope

Just as we pulled up to Makua Cave, my cell phone rang and the State of Hawaii finally let us know that this had all been a big mistake.In 38 minutes I’d gone from rolling out my trash can to loading five of my seven children into our minivan in a desperate attempt to outrun a nuclear missile. I’d heard my oldest daughter’s voice for what I thought was the last time. I’d given her and my mother-in-law a destination I knew offered nothing but hope. And I’d watched a total stranger turn away from safety to go try to save his wife.So there we were at this … cave. There was only one thing left to do. Unload the kids and take a photo on Instagram. As we entered, a tourist was there with a walking stick and backpack. “I guess we won’t die today,” I said. He gave me a look of fear and confusion. He hadn’t gotten the alert. And he saw a 9 mm gun stuck in my waist. So I told him what had just happened to the whole state of Hawaii. He looked … relieved.

My Son on Nuking Pyongyang

On the drive home, my ten-year-old son asked me this question: “Dad, why don’t we just nuke North Korea off the face of the earth, so we don’t have to worry about this anymore.”I breathed deep and posed him another question. “Are there children in North Korea?”“Yes.”“Are they as precious as you?”“I don’t know”“Of course they are. Are there fathers in North Korea?”“Yes.”“Are their lives as precious as your father’s?” He didn’t answer. So I concluded, “It is better to suffer injustice than to inflict it.”It will be hard for people outside of Hawaii to understand the profound impact of this false alarm. A neighbor child told us how her family hid in the closest and her mother cried for an hour. Another family prayed the rosary and “waited to meet Jesus.” Another friend told me, “I watched TV and hoped it was a mistake.”As a filmmaker, writer, and activist I have reflected on democide and total war for almost three decades. I’ve travelled the world from Sudan to Iraq. A year ago this week, I was in eyeshot of ISIS, as I traveled with Yazidi and Kurdish soldiers who fought to defend their families. Those families often fled for safety to … caves.And today, I had walked in their shoes.The above story which originally appeared at The Stream was published with permission by it's author Jason Scott Jones. Jason Scott Jones is a film producer, author, activist and human rights worker. For the past 20+ years, he has worked to defend the most vulnerable — from the homeless on the streets of Los Angeles to persecuted Christians in Africa, from women in crisis pregnancies to victims of “honor killing” in Iran. READ MORE ABOUT JONES

The Sacred Ordinary

In getting a string of CFWLA (Center for Faith + Work Los Angeles) activities lined up for the year I’ve found myself recently buried in a long string of emails, phone calls, lists of details to follow up on, and scheduling coordination. On any given day I might finish a few of these or spend several hours doing tedious editing on a section of curriculum for one of our programs. The sense of God’s favor and concern over the “administrivia” of my daily grind so easily escapes me even as the main theme of CFWLA is the restoration of all of our work for God’s glory and purposes. A book I read over the holiday had a chapter that caught my eye and was a welcome return to the goodness of even our daily tasks of minutiae.The Sacred OrdinaryTish Harrison Warren’s recent The Liturgy of the Ordinary does a wonderful job capturing how the regular rhythms of our lives are rich with opportunity to experience God’s presence. Related to the more mundane chores of our vocational tasking she writes,

At times, this big vision of the missio Dei [mission of God] can make its way, very obviously, into our mission and purpose statement, our life goals and vision, but it can easily get lost in the daily grind. For me, being a “blessed and sent” one on God’s mission seems distant and inscrutable in the annoying task of email.1

I remember my life of management in aerospace, facing dozens of new email each day and if I went on vacation and resisted staying connected to the office, sometimes hundreds would be waiting for my arrival. I could feel the dread of return build towards the close of these times away from work. But I knew this was not the whole truth of these tasks as Warren continues,

Yet each message in my inbox, in some way, touches on my vocation, or rather, vocations. Each email has to do with my professional, family, and civic life.

We know as believers that instinctively, every act should be integral to serving and loving God or Scripture quickly loses its coherency.

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him… Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men. - Col 3:17, 23

Holy Email?But how do we begin to see the perfunctory details of our lives as significant with a kingdom vision? Warren recounted a friend’s reply regarding his work.

He’s doing good work and making an impact through his career. But when you ask him what he does for a living, he answers, “If you ask my kids, they’d tell you that I check emails and go to meetings.” This kingdom vision— our identity as those blessed and sent— must work itself out in the small routines of our daily work and vocation, as we go to meetings, check our email, make our children dinner, or mow the lawn.

It appears that God cares about what I often refuse to care about in my small and seemingly insignificant but faithful efforts. Martin Luther, the Reformation giant, once said that “God himself will milk the cows through him whose vocation it is.” Warren reflects,

But could God himself check email through me? Could he balance the family budget and fold the laundry through me? Could he fill out bureaucratic work forms through me? Does he care about any of this?

Connecting the DotsShe answers her and my question in realizing that what makes us and our work holy is not the abstract concept of some distant impact or significance we assign it but rather the intimate involvement with our Creator in the act of work itself.

My identity as one who is “blessed and sent” must be embraced and enfleshed, even in these hours of email as I seek to form better habits of responsibility and discipline. These are the small tasks in which we live out God’s blessing and into which we are sent; we are blessed and sent into the real ways that we spend our hours.

We must resist the temptation to make certain types of work or career paths more noble or holy as this pushes God away from our present moment.This new year, let’s invite our Lord into the small things and remember his promise to those who invest care in the small stuff of life.

“Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.” (Matt. 25:21)

-------1 Warren, Tish Harrison. Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life (pp. 92-93). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.Steve Lindsey's post above was originally published on the Center for Faith + Work Los Angeles Blog.

6 Week Faith & Work Course by Center for Faith + Work Los Angeles - REGISTER

Dignity Answer To Racially Charged Times; Civil Rights Leader at Saddleback

LOS ANGELES — Pastor Rick Warren countered the nation’s racially charged times that led to troubling events in 2017 by opening up the first church services of the new year at Saddleback with author and civil rights activist John Perkins center stage talking about dignity.“Mankind was created to bare the image of God. Dignity reflects the soul; that dignity that God gave you. You don’t give dignity, you affirm it,” said Perkins while being interviewed by Warren during his message, “Loving Like Jesus in a Fractured World.”In his announcement about Perkins’ visit earlier in the week, Warren stated that he asked him to join him at Saddleback in response to “so many sad flashpoints in 2017” and to help him talk “about the Christ-like response to violence, injustice, racism, and poverty.”Introducing Perkins during the first of four weekend services at Saddleback in Lake Forest on Saturday, Warren said, “You may have never heard of his name, but in Christianity he’s a giant. He’s right up there with Martin Luther King Jr. and a couple of others who talked about dignity and unity and love and forgiveness and reconciliation.”Perkins, 87, is an American Christian minister, civil rights activist, Bible teacher, author, philosopher and community developer, according to Wikipedia. Despite being a 3rd grade dropout, Perkins is recognized for his work with 14 honorary doctorate degrees from schools including Belhaven University, Lynchburg University, Wheaton College, Gordon College, Taylor University, and Northern Seminary. He has served on the Boards of Directors of World Vision and Prison Fellowship.“If you don’t affirm people’s dignity you are going to have these uprisings all the time because dignity cries out,” said Perkins at Saddleback. “We’ve wrapped ourselves around our own political social idea and we’ve become that and [the attitude that] ‘if you don’t believe in that like I do we got trouble.’ It used to be that people wouldn’t love you, but they would get along with you. We called that tolerance, but now if I don’t fit into your socio-economic political deal you don’t like me. It’s hard to speak through that. We have to affirm that dignity.”He added, “What we are doing is demonizing each other instead of embracing each other. Justice is a stewardship issue. Justice is how we steward God’s creation. We have to deal with the whole idea of the dignity of humanity.”

COMING EVENT: Dr. Martin Luther King Gathering – How Have We Advanced the Dream?

Perkins shared that churches in America have a troubled history.“The church accommodating racism was a huge mistake,” he said. Perkins believes that the current social unrest is really “an opportune moment” for Christians. “I think we should be looking at this as an opportunity,” he said.“There should be one place in the world where people actually get along together. It’s called the Church,” said Warren in agreement with Perkin’s sentiments. “If we are not helping people reconcile, we’re not the church. If we’re not helping people reconcile between each other, we’re not children of God.”Perkins, who implied that the Black Lives Matter movement has led to further division in the country, said there is “only one race, the human race.”“Reconciliation is not just an event, it’s alive. Reconciliation is ongoing, it's a never ending ministry,” he said.

Saddleback Church Service 'Loving Jesus in a Fractured World;' Warren/Perkins [FACEBOOK VIDEO]

The Best Leaders Are Broken Leaders

I am broken. I lead a community of broken people called a church. And we often say, unapologetically, that we are a community of the broken who have good news for the broken.

PASTOR'S PERSPECTIVE

Don’t misunderstand. I don’t mean that we’re “broken” in the sense that we’re rendered useless by our imperfections. The opposite is actually true. We’re made more useful, and we discover our greatest purpose through our pain and suffering.A. W. Tozer is often credited with a quote I’ve shared a few times myself,

It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply.

And without fail, every time I share it, I get pushback and it usually revolves around the idea that God would never hurt us, right? Isn’t his plan for our lives more along the lines of health, wealth, and prosperity?But consider the context in which Tozer wrote his statement…

We tend to think of Christianity as a painless system by which we can escape the penalty of past sins and attain to heaven at last. The flaming desire to be rid of every unholy thing and to put on the likeness of Christ at any cost is not often found among us. We expect to enter the everlasting kingdom of our Father and to sit down around the table with sages, saints and martyrs; and through the grace of God, maybe we shall; yes, maybe we shall. But for the most of us it could prove at first an embarrassing experience. Ours might be the silence of the untried soldier in the presence of the battle-hardened heroes who have fought the fight and won the victory and who have scars to prove that they were present when the battle was joined.The devil, things and people being what they are, it is necessary for God to use the hammer, the file and the furnace in His holy work of preparing a saint for true sainthood. It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply.~ A. W. Tozer, The Root of the Righteous (p. 165).

So it isn’t that God causes evil to come into our lives for no purpose. Rather, it is that he uses the suffering we endure for our good, to prepare and shape our character so that we’re up to the task of leadership.I happen to be a pastor who struggles with depression. And I’m not alone.I’ve spent nearly a decade networking with pastors and church leaders all over the world and I never cease to be surprised at the number who, in private conversation, will divulge their own battles with depression and loneliness.We’re supposed to be strong, right? We have to be the bold leader, the model of victory and spiritual triumph!!But I’ve learned, after two decades in pastoral ministry, that the best leaders are the broken leaders.They’ve been hurt and will be hurt more, and they experience God’s healing.They suffer weakness, and they experience God’s strength.We often have a certain picture of what depression looks like, but many who struggle do so in between all of the working and parenting and the rest of the busyness of life. Charles Spurgeon struggled with periodic depression while growing one of the greatest churches in Europe.He led a school for aspiring ministry leaders and compiled the manuscripts of talks he had given to those students called Lectures to My Students, which includes a chapter entitled “The Minister’s Fainting Fits.”He opens the chapter acknowledging that “Fits of depression overcome the most of us.” So again, you’re never alone in your brokenness – it’s more common than you will ever realize.He continues…

Even under the economy of redemption it is most clear that we are to endure infirmities, otherwise there were no need of the promised Spirit to help us in them. It is of need be that we are sometimes in heaviness…We have the treasure of the gospel in earthen vessels, and if there be a flaw in the vessel here and there, let none wonder. Our work, when earnestly undertaken, lays us open to attacks in the direction of depression…All mental work tends to weary and to depress, for much study is a weariness of the flesh; but ours is more than mental work–it is heart work, the labor of our inmost soul.

And in our common naivety, we often assume that depression is merely the result of sin, or of satanic attack. But Spurgeon points out something very important…

When at last a long-cherished desire is fulfilled, when God has been glorified greatly by our means, and a great triumph achieved, then we are apt to faint. It might be imagined that amid special favors our soul would soar to heights of ecstasy, and rejoice with joy unspeakable, but it is generally the reverse. The; Lord seldom exposes his warriors to the perils of exultation over victory; he knows that few of them can endure such a test, and therefore dashes their cup with bitterness.

In other words, depression often catches us off guard because it follows victory as much as it follows defeat.That tendency to withdraw, to isolate, to allow the negative thoughts to override truth, can be the result of quite natural causes such as a backlash to the adrenaline rush of passionately preaching to a welcoming crowd or a natural imbalance in the chemicals in our brains.When I hear a fellow Christian speak about depression as an issue of spiritual warfare that merely requires more faith and prayer, I always say Yes!!! AND… you should also talk to your doctor about possible physical causes and a counselor about the role of past traumatic experiences. Let’s approach the issue holistically.In other words, sometimes depression can be the result of unconfessed sin. It can also be the result of our circumstances. It may sometimes be satanic oppression. It can simply be the natural low we experience after the emotional high of a victorious moment. And it can also be a physical issue on the same level as diabetes or chronic anemia.Regardless of the cause, here are three huge lessons I’ve had to learn over the last few years.

Lesson #1: Denying our brokenness doesn’t work for long.

I spent at least a dozen years trying to be the best pastor I could be. I wanted to fit the role, lead well, and if I’m being honest, impress the church and keep everybody happy.So I wore my suit and my smile and tried to do all the pastor things people expect the pastor to do.And when criticism came or when conflict arose, I bottled it away so that I could later use it as an excuse to check out mentally and emotionally from real engagement with people.When Angie and I moved to southern California where I joined the staff as a pastor at Saddleback Church, I was badly broken and I didn’t even know it.Within the first couple of months of life in our new surroundings, various pressures brought my pain to the surface. Our marriage struggled under the weight of it until a couple of breaking points occurred.We joined a small group that embraced us, helped us to finally open up about our issues, and encouraged us in our walk.I also saw our staff counselor, who would provide counseling to any staff member in absolute confidence. Pastor Rick Warren encourages his staff members to seek out counseling without fear or shame, and for the first time, I told a fellow pastor about all of my deepest issues.I’m convinced God moved us to southern California not simply to help Saddleback minister to leaders in the global church, but also because he wanted us to plant a church but knew I wasn’t ready on a spiritual and emotional level.When we started Grace Hills Church, we weren’t perfect or completely healed from all of our hurts, but we were absolutely committed to not faking it anymore.We would start a church as broken leaders, for broken people. It would be a safe place for people to come with their brokenness and find healing and restoration in the good news of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection!Denying your brokenness can help you succeed… for a season. But if you want to thrive and become all that God has purposed for you to become, you’ll have to be broken.

Lesson #2: There is healing in the cross of Christ.

Is it possible for God to instantly and miraculously take away all of your brokenness?Sure. Anything is possible with God. But it isn’t normative. And if you require complete and miraculous healing from God in order to be satisfied with him, you’ll miss out on the joy of coming to know his long, slow process of developing you into Christlike maturity.Remember that Paul received something greater than a miraculous deliverance from his thorn in the flesh. He was privileged to learn through suffering that God’s grace is enough.God works patiently with us, like a master artisan, re-shaping us into the masterpiece he knows we can be so that we can show to others the beauty of what his grace can accomplish.

Lesson #3: I lead best when I own my brokenness.

The world’s greatest influencers aren’t merely rich and famous. Those who have the most impact on any generation are leaders acquainted with suffering, who own their brokenness.Spurgeon continued writing about how God uses our dark nights of the soul to develop us into the effective leaders he desires for us to be…

The scouring of the vessel has fitted it for the Master’s use. Immersion in suffering has preceded the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Fasting gives an appetite for the banquet. The Lord is revealed in the backside of the desert, while his servant keepeth the sheep and waits in solitary awe. The wilderness is the way to Canaan. The low valley leads to the towering mountain. Defeat prepares for victory. The raven is sent forth before the dove. The darkest hour of the night precedes the day-dawn…Such mature men as some elderly preachers are, could scarcely have been produced if they had not been emptied from vessel to vessel, and made to see their own emptiness and the vanity of all things round about them.

I have a long way to go and a lot to learn. I’m in process, but I’m making progress by the grace of God as I come to understand that it isn’t my strength that brings success or influence. It is actually God’s strength, made perfect in my weaknesses that can profoundly affect the world around me.To any leader reading this, my greatest encouragement would be to embrace your pain. Own your brokenness. And reach out – to your spouse, a mentor, a counselor, or a close friend.Victory comes after our momentary defeats, and though grief lasts through the night, joy comes in the morning!The above post was originally published at BrandonACox.com.

READ: Why I Planted a Church in My Former Hood

Top 7 Most Popular Stories at TogetherLA in 2017

TogetherLA.net — our love letter to Los Angeles delivered for the first time in 2017 — has a focus on following God’s work.It has been a wild ride ever since the website officially launched this past Valentine’s Day.From exclusive interviews with pastors and Christian leaders to stories of church plants and ministry opportunities, we see God moving in L.A. and beyond.

A Year of Sharing Good News With All People

Sometimes it was a national issue that became a story for everyone. Other times, the issues and movement were all L.A.Yes, we’ve had conversations about injustice, homelessness, and the Church, and we plan to have more. TogetherLA.net is about sharing good news with all people. However, it is the good news of the gospel as lived and breathed by followers of Christ, not sugar coated.The most popular stories in 2017 included the words of two well-known pastors reacting to two tragedies that dug deep into the souls of most of us — violence in the streets of Charlottesville during a Unite the Right rally and the 2017 Las Vegas Shooting during a music festival.Interestingly, TLA’s third most popular story touches on the subject of racism in a movie review piece from the editor.We hope to bring you more stories in 2018 that follow God’s work and, prayerfully, further catalyze the impact of ministry workers and church leaders all over the city.

Top 7 Most Popular Stories at TogetherLA.net in 2017

1. ‘There Is No Neutral Ground Here,’ Erwin McManus Says to The Church [Interview]“It is inescapable that the Evangelical church is seen as married to the present administration in Washington. Silence in this moment would be perceived as agreement and adherence to white supremacist ideologies,” best-selling author and Mosaic Church pastor Erwin McManus told TLA shortly after violence in the streets of Charlottesville erupted during a Unite the Right rally.“There is no neutral ground here. You either speak against racism or you add credence to their views. I am convinced the Church is the greatest hope for humanity and for creating a new world where everyone is valued and embraced regardless of differences,” he said. “This is a critical moment in history and I want the church on record and on the right side of history.” >> READ FULL STORY2. Why Did God Allow This To Happen?Pastor Greg Laurie wrote this post shortly after the 2017 Las Vegas Shooting. He writes: A 64-year-old man armed with more than 12 rifles shot and killed 58 people in what is being called the largest mass shooting U.S. history. Hundreds more were wounded.The question that comes to mind at a time like this is. . . Why?Why did God allow such a horrible thing to happen? >> READ FULL STORY3. ‘Same Kind Of Different As Me’ Rises Above Protests, Slogans on RacismWhile most of the buzz about the movie Same Kind Of Different As Me released by Paramount Pictures and Pure Flix in the fall revolved around issues of homelessness, there is also an aspect of this true story that can’t be missed — racism.The film vividly captures Denver Moore’s (played by Djimon Hounsou) deep pain as the result of living through racism manifested in all ways. However, the movie goes even farther than exposing the pain. It offers a solution to the problem and is presented in such a way that it goes beyond slogans and protests. >> READ FULL STORY4. Steve McQueen’s Missing Bullitt Car: The Big Reveal [EXCLUSIVE VIDEO]The huge success of Steve McQueen: American Icon as a one-night movie event in the fall led to two more special screenings and now a special edition DVD available at Harvest.org that is having phenomenal success as well.The documentary helps to reveal McQueen’s journey to a faith in Jesus, not common knowledge about the actor described as Hollywood’s “King of Cool.”In the process of working on the biography and documentary about McQueen (with Marshall Terrill), Harvest pastor Greg Laurie took a special interest in the discovery of the long-lost stunt car used in the film Bullitt.Watch the video that’s included as a bonus feature on the DVD of Pastor Steve Wilburn and car restoration expert Ralph Garcia, Jr. telling the story of how the official validation of the car found in Mexico went down. >> READ FULL STORY/WATCH VIDEO5. Greg Laurie’s Sunday Message From SoCal Harvest 2017: Ghost BikeSoCal Harvest on the weekend of Aug. 18-20 featured musical performances by Crowder, Lecrae, Jeremy Camp, Jordin Sparks, Andy Mineo, Danny Gokey, Brennley Brown, worship by Phil Wickham, and a gospel message by Greg Laurie at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California.Harvest events are designed to be opportunities for Christians to invite family members, coworkers, friends, and acquaintances to hear the life-changing message of the gospel in an environment that is entertaining and nonthreatening.Earlier in the year, Laurie announced a Year of Good News campaign that urged American Christians to make 2017 the year they “share the message of Jesus with everyone they can at every opportunity they can.”WATCH Greg Laurie’s Sunday Message From SoCal Harvest: Ghost Bike6. Church Planting Legend Don Overstreet 'Loved Everyone No Matter What'“He loved everyone no matter what and believed in the ones most didn’t — Jesus style,” Kirk Overstreet said of his father, Don Overstreet, whose more than 50 years experience in church planting helped him share with countless church leaders in person and through his writing.Don, who is a church planting legend had a hand in launching more than 500 churches worldwide, many of which were in the Los Angeles area, went to be with Jesus in early December. >> READ FULL STORY7. Harvey Relief Efforts By Samaritan’s Purse and Salvation Army IntensifyThe relief efforts by Samaritan’s Purse and Salvation Army during and after the Harvey storm flooding and hurricane wind damage in Texas was and is monumental. Both organizations put out the call for volunteers and their call was answered big time.TogetherLA.net was able to echo their relief effort announcements with this post. >> READ FULL STORY

TOP VIDEOS

Solution For Proactive, Unified Church in LA is Already in Place, Says Rapper PropagandaThe solution for a proactive, unified Church in Los Angeles and beyond is already in place, rap artist Propaganda (Jason Petty) told Together LA off stage at the Catalyst West 2017 conference at Mariners Church in Irvine.“The beauty of Los Angeles is how many amazing things various churches are already doing,” Propaganda said. “Often times we have this idea that we have to invent the solution for the city, but there is a lot of people already in the trenches somewhere.”The practical approach or “practical unity,” as he puts it, for Christian leaders is to look for programs such as social services, outreaches, and serving the community that are already ongoing rather than to set-up new programs. >> FULL STORYUrban Ministry, Church Planting Leaders Answer the ‘What Can I Do?’ QuestionSimply discussing the problems and issues facing America today, even from a Christian perspective, is not enough, said the leaders of two national organizations that announced earlier in 2017 a partnership to plant churches in Los Angeles, New York, and everywhere in between.“We really don’t have to look much farther than social media and news outlets [to see] everything going on in our culture — the racism, the injustice…,” said Jeff Bennett, who is a Stadia executive for its U.S. Church Planting and South Region divisions. “We can talk about the injustices, we can talk about the discouragement we feel, or we could do something.”Stadia, a church planting resource that has helped “hundreds of great leaders start new churches,” and World Impact, a ministry that “empowers the urban poor and incarcerated” held a “vision trip” in Los Angeles where Bennett along with World Impact National Director Bob Engel spoke to TogetherLA.net about the partnership. >> FULL STORYClayton Kershaw: Find a Way To Put Jesus Into Every Part of Your LifeDodger ace Clayton Kershaw shared during the team's Christian Faith Day held during the 2017 season that baseball isn't everything in his life and Jesus should not simply be part of your personal "pie chart" to be sectioned off."You just have to find a way to put Jesus into every part of your life," Kershaw said during an interview with TogetherLA and K-WAVE. >> FULL STORY

Most Watched Event in US History?

This story has nothing to do with TogetherLA.net other than we chose the photo to use in our headline header for this piece. However, just so you know, Sky & Telescope reported that according to a study, a total of 154 million American adults — 62.8% of all adults age 18 or older — viewed the eclipse directly on Aug. 21, 2017. An additional 61 million adults who did not see the eclipse directly watched it electronically on a television, computer, tablet or phone screen. Up to 20 million Americans traveled to other locations to view the eclipse."The 2017 solar eclipse could easily be the most watched event in US history with 215 million observers," Sky & Telescope stated.

Filming Frantic in New York City; Journaling Behind the Scenes

We just finished shooting in New York!!! It was snowy and magical in Manhattan. It reminded me of the most beautiful backdrop ever seen in Central Park…. And then it melted. Apparently, God cares about film continuity too…:0)

‘The Farmer and The Belle’Behind the Scenes Journal No. 4Filming Frantic in New York City

Jenn Gotzon Chandler, ProducerOur editor, Christopher Ridder made a list of Christmas iconic shots needed in New York City. He was a kid in a candy store when he got off the plane, as he never visited the Big Apple before. What a fun gift. Our second unit director and camera owner Reuben Evans flew in late night Saturday after the snow. Our skeleton crew of volunteers Christopher, Reuben, Jim and myself piled camp style in our humble abode for a winter night’s sleep. We filmed four days of pickup shots including Belle’s Manager Conrad (Rich Swingle) getting kicked out of the cab, hilarious moments of The Farmer (Jim’s character) getting lost in NYC, plates for green screen during cab ride scenes and a needed shot to complete last year’s chase scene.Did you see our first Facebook LIVE of the mounting mayhem (below)?For driving sequences in the film, we used a cloud mount suction-cupped to the hood of our car with Reuben as the technician and me, Jenn, as the driver…. Eeeek! No pedestrians or animals were hurt in the making of this movie. Yes. It was I who was behind the helm of the wheel with feet barely able to touch the pedals. With one eye closed… to pray… God literally moved and arranged the traffic that day. 5th Avenue traffic lights would turn green and the proper amount of taxi cabs would pull in front, filling the camera frame for a glorious image. One time we needed Belle’s Cab, the exact style Belle and her manager (Rich Swingle) get into in the beginning the movie... As soon as we prayed, “Jesus, this is your movie, please provide what is needed for this scene,” the cab appeared out of nowhere. This was one example of the many miracles of answered prayers from filming in Manhattan that week. Including having Rich, a local native help with production in Rockefeller Center, The Plaza Hotel, Central Park and Brooklyn Bridge.

Blessed by volunteers

Many of our production team have believed so much in the story of “The Farmer and The Belle,” they have worked for backend pay or volunteered, like Ginger Beggs, writing the exclusive journals for TogetherLA.net. Christopher Ridder created our pitch trailer, which God used to bring success at AFM American Film Market, ie. potential talks with Hallmark. Our writing team, James M. De Vince, Reuben Evans and Billy Falcon, spent months crafting “The Farmer and The Belle” script, professionals are deeming it an “A” studio worthy script. Our costume designers Lisa Murphy from England making the Matching Adult, Kid and Animal Real Love Pink Onesies, Caroline Lauvetz from Savannah, GA making Belle’s Green Supermodel Coat and KC, jeweler from NYC making our movie’s hero Mojo Bracelet, a scripture inscribed charm bracelet sold with the DVD for girls to know what their worth is based on.Would you like to give a Christmas Gift to help compensate our production team? Jim and Jenn explain how in this video. We are praying for fishes and loaves to raise $35,000 to pay for development, trusting God to bring in the $500,000 for our production.

• Impact culture with a Hilarious Christmas Movie with Biblical values about finding Real Love (Jesus).
• Autographed Limited Edition Photograph from THE FARMER AND THE BELLE with Biblical Message.
• Your Family Name in the Credit Scroll of the Movie.
• CHRISTMAS GIFT via PayPal

Christmas Sketch Video

The actors and creators of The Farmer and The Belle, newlyweds Jim E. Chandler (Stranger Things) and Jenn Gotzon Chandler (God’s Country) wish you and your family the merriest Christmas. They created this silly Christmas video exclusively for Together LA to share with you:Silly Christmas Sketch Videohttps://youtu.be/5RTAqQ7RELwOur movie is about helping girls know their value does not come from their beauty, fame or social following, but by treating and loving one another with grace, forgiveness, respect, honor and love exemplified through God's present to us through the Nativity, Jesus, the Real Love of Christmas.Pray for Jim, me and our team to be used by God making this Family, Christmas Comedy Movie THE FARMER AND THE BELLE into a classic wholesome Christmas tradition for families to enjoy for generations to come. We have filmed 15% of the movie (view trailer) including Christmas in NYC and our wedding. The remaining needs to be filmed at Jim's family's farm in GA. We are praying to premiere on Hallmark for Thanksgiving / Christmas 2018.[gallery type="slideshow" link="none" size="large" ids="3663,3664,3665" orderby="rand"]

PRESS RELEASE: All I Want For Christmas

Together LA Exclusive Journal: Making a Movie

Behind the Scenes: Journal Entry No. 1

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Hot Button: Has ‘Evangelical’ Become a Dirty Word?

We can’t really blame Donald Trump and Roy Moore for pushing Evangelical Christians off the cliff, or can we?The question is part of the discussion that’s trending (and I don’t mean in a Santa video kind of way) right now. In an opinion piece posted at The Washington Post last week, Eugene Scott wrote that after Roy Moore lost Alabama's special Senate election, “despite running a campaign on what he called Christian values, some evangelical voters seem to be considering that their label has been co-opted.”“There's a growing concern that aligning with people such as Moore and President Trump has hurt evangelicalism in the public eye. But others connected to the movement say evangelicals, particularly white evangelicals, had a perception problem long before Trump and Moore became the faces of the community’s politics,” Scott reports.The question has been so much in the forefront of the Christian community and even the community at large that The New Yorker gave Timothy Keller its platform yesterday to answer the question put this way: Can Evangelicalism Survive Donald Trump and Roy Moore?In typical brilliant Tim-speak, Keller writes:

In the nineteen-forties and fifties, Billy Graham and others promoted the word to describe themselves and the religious space they were seeking to create between the cultural withdrawal espoused by the fundamentalist movement, on the one hand, and mainline Protestantism’s departures from historic Christian doctrine, on the other. In each of these phases, the term has had a somewhat different meaning, and yet it keeps surfacing because it has described a set of basic historic beliefs and impulses.

He continues:

When I became a Christian in college, in the early nineteen-seventies, the word “evangelical” still meant an alternative to the fortress mentality of fundamentalism. Shortly thereafter, I went to Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, to prepare for the Presbyterian ministry. It was one of the many institutions that Graham, Harold Ockenga, and J. Howard Pew, and other neo-evangelicals, as they were sometimes called, established. In those years, there was such great energy in the movement that, by the mid-nineteen-nineties, it had eclipsed mainline Protestantism as the dominant branch of the Christian church in the U.S. When I moved to Manhattan to start a new church, in 1989, most people I met found the church and its ministry to be a curiosity in secular New York but not a threat. And, if they heard the word “evangelical” around the congregation, a name we seldom used, they usually asked what it meant.Today, while the name is no longer unfamiliar in my city, its meaning has changed drastically. The conservative leaders who have come to be most identified with the movement have largely driven this redefinition. But political pollsters have also helped, as they have sought to highlight a crucial voting bloc. When they survey people, there is no discussion of any theological beliefs, or other criteria. The great majority of them simply ask people, “Would you describe yourself as a born-again or evangelical Christian?”

Keller concludes that evangelicalism as a movement may or may not abandon or demote the prominence of the name, “yet be more committed to its theology and historic impulses than ever.”Should followers of Jesus simply trust Keller on his positive outlook on the Church’s direction?Perhaps it’s equally important to be aware that there is a fissure that appears to be widening.In the article, Young U.S. Christians Fear Trump Is Turning 'Evangelical' Into a Dirty Word - and Israel Is Paying the Price, published at Haaretz, the writer makes the claim that “a new generation has emerged that questions the literal beliefs of the Bible and rejects the politicization of their religion by some on the right.”Brandan Robertson, 25, who is the lead pastor of “a progressive Christian community” in San Diego, California, and has made a substantial impression in both the political and faith communities as a gay advocate, told Haaretz that he thinks “evangelicalism is in a real crisis right now.”Shachar Peled, reporter for the piece, writes: “Despite growing up learning about the Chosen People in what he calls ‘the hotbed of Christian Zionism,’ modern technology and globalization led Robertson and his peers to question those teachings.”“Because we live in such an interconnected globalized world, as students we were able to go on Facebook or to easily travel to a different part of the world and see that the things we were being told – based on, in my opinion, antiquated theology – didn’t live up and match up to the reality of what was happening to the world.”Before throwing out the “antiquated theology” with the baby and the bathwater, perhaps those who are so eager to oust “evangelical” from their vocabulary (or reasoning) should consider, as studies from Pew Research Center and others show and as Keller points out, “evangelical churches that resist dilution in their theological beliefs and practices are holding their own or growing.”Keller adds, “And if evangelicals—or whatever they will call themselves­—continue to become more multiethnic in leadership and confound the left-right political categories, they may continue to do so.”Getting into solution is so much better than obsession with the blame game.READ: How American Evangelicals Are Taking the ‘Christ’ Out Of Christianity

Mission Trips of a Different Kind: Diving Into the World’s Financial Districts

Thinking about mission trips to impoverished countries as about only reaching the poor is a thing of the past, says Resource Global visionary and leader Tommy Lee.Editor's Note: Tommy Lee played a key role in the Together LA 2015 conference, facilitating and hosting an amazing list of speakers and organizations.The reality is that many of these same countries where Christians went out in multitudes to share the gospel in distant villages and outposts, now have economically thriving financial districts inside cosmopolitan cities.“The whole idea behind Resource Global is that the world is different. We used to think that missions was just about sending missionaries to all these islands, the bush, and third-world countries where they don’t know anything about Christ,” Tommy said. “Now, the cities are booming, the economies are booming, and their young people are well-educated, college grads, wealthier than you and I, and have dreams to really make a difference in the city.”The question now becomes: “How do you equip young Christian marketplace leaders to not only grow their existing enterprises for their city but to understand the greater world of global missions and supporting initiatives around the world?”Because of this shifting paradigm, an important focus for Resource Global is to identify young marketplace leaders, who are post-college to early 30’s living and working in different global cities. “We come alongside them to help them really understand their journey and what their presence in their city means,” Tommy said.Resource Global was started in 2010 after the Lausanne Global Congress in South Africa. After the Congress was over, the question was asked - How do we invest in these leaders who are making a difference for the Kingdom in their respective countries, cities, and also communities?

READ: Stepping Away From High-Level British Petroleum Job Included Unusual Prayer

In the first five years of the organization, the staff and volunteers of Resource Global worked primarily with ministry and non profit leaders to engage their cities. Resource Global worked on projects in a number of global cities and also in various parts of the US. Countries included Ghana, South Africa, Egypt, Peru, China, and more.Tommy said that the idea of establishing cohorts, such as in Jakarta, came when he felt the need to shift away from focusing on ministries and invest in these young marketplace leaders in key urban cities around the world. Many of these young leaders had studied in the West, Oxford, or other cities outside of their own and now were returning home to work. “Globalization was creating a different type of person, one that is unlike anyone we have seen before.” They are seeing things different, with a different set of lenses. “What does it mean if these people continue to renew their city as we continue to invest in them?”Cohorts are started when a decision is made to “journey together for eight months to really be able to learn some practical, theological ideas, and also reflect and understand God’s journey and story for their lives.” The long term vision is to build a global network where like minded leaders from different cities are learning from one another. Technology has allowed us to do this easily now.Tommy adds, “So, we will spend some time looking at Scripture, but a lot of it is looking at what their story is and how God is moving and shaping them. We also look at the topics of faith and work as well as their strengths and passions while tackling what it looks like to address the problems in their city.“The key then becomes for us to connect them with the other cohorts. So, we have a cohort in Chicago, we will have one in Nairobi, and Singapore. Now, with the world being smaller, how can a person in Jakarta connect with a person in Nairobi and learn from each other?”Resource Global focuses on developing local leaders and teachers.“These cohorts are a pipeline for developing local leaders and teachers,” Tommy said. “Now, this first cohort (Jakarta) is helping us to oversee a conference, they are now going to be some of our future breakout teachers and We’re teaching them how to break down scripture and speak according to scripture and develop talks around scripture.”First in a series.

Steve McQueen American Icon DVD Includes Bonus Content By TogetherLA

The story of how the missing stunt car from the classic film “Bullitt” as captured by TogetherLA is part of the fantastic bonus content included in the Special Limited Edition DVD of “Steve McQueen: American Icon - The Untold True Story of the Spiritual Quest of a Hollywood Legend” available now.The bonus video produced by TogetherLA and One Ten Pictures includes an interview of car renovator Ralph Garcia, Jr., with Pastor Steve Wilburn discussing the car’s discovery and authentication process in Mexico. The interview was done in the production room of So Cal Harvest with Greg Laurie at Angel Stadium this summer."The story of the found Bullitt car is of immense interest to those in the classic car community,” said Gary Zelasko, Producer at Harvest Fellowship. “I personally find it amazing that 37 years after Steve McQueen's death, even his ordinary, worldly personal possessions routinely sell for large sums at auction. The fact that Ralph Garcia wants to use this car, lost for nearly fifty years to glorify the Lord and bring lost people to Him is truly Providential."

READ: Evangelical Pastors, Leaders Come Together to Call Christians to Make 2017 ‘The Year of Good News’

In the bonus video, Pastor Steve Wilburn of Core Church LA, who was part of the team sent to Mexicali during the authentication trip, enthusiastically leads Garcia in the telling of the story.“When Pastor Steve told me the story the day before we filmed at Harvest, I knew he was the guy to drive the interview before the cameras,” TogetherLA Editor Alex Murashko said. “His enthusiasm and incredibly detailed story telling about the Bullitt car is fascinating.”For the film, Greg Laurie partnered with the Erwin Brothers (Woodlawn and Moms’ Night Out) to tell McQueen’s amazing faith journey. An avid fan of the actor (and the owner of a replica of Steve McQueen’s car in the classic film Bullitt), Laurie and his mint Mustang hit the road in search of the true, untold story of McQueen's redemption-filled final chapters.TogetherLA in association with One Ten Pictures helps facilitate the conversation about what’s good in L.A. Through articles on TogetherLA.net and videos produced by One Ten Pictures, the hope is that a behind-the-scenes force focused on following God’s work, not leading it, could further catalyze the impact of ministry workers and church leaders all over the city.Steve McQueen: American Icon can be purchased on the Harvest website and other locations.