Running another drill

Kurt Warner and Tom Moffett

I really enjoyed the few minutes that I had with the band this morning. In addition to their amazing talent and obvious passion for Jesus, they are quick witted, self-deprecating, and all around fun loving guys!

The Third Day concert tonight is going to be off the chain! We are expecting several thousand people to show up for the two thousand+ seats that we have available at City of Grace, Mesa. So, do the math and come early!

John and Sherry Rivers interviewing Mac Powell of Third Day in our auditorium.

Third Day and Terry Crist (guess who's who?!)

All of that and more is taking place right in the middle of another scorching Arizona summer! I can't even imagine what we are going to experience in another month when everyone returns and settles into the Fall routine.

My devotional reading this morning took to me to a passage that reflects what I am feeling... "All of this is for your benefit. And as God's grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory. That is why we never give up.... (2 Corinthians 4:15-16 (NLT)

I want to encourage you to take time to thank God for all He is doing in our lives and all that He has promised to perform. We have so much to be thankful for!

Here are a few images from the tenth floor of the Hard Rock Hotel last night...

On days like this my thoughts and prayers turn toward the heavy price paid for freedom in our nation and how grateful I am to those who were willing to pay it.

Dwight D. Eisenhower once said, "Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men and so it must be daily earned and refreshed - else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die."

Over several generations my own family has shouldered the responsibility to contribute to the preservation of and continuation of freedom in our nation.

My grandfather fought in World War II.

My uncle served in Vietnam.

And my younger brother has served our nation in distinguished service for over twenty years earning six purple hearts and five bronze stars in the process! He stands proud and tall in the company of less than a dozen men in military history to have earned that unique status.

I love America.

I love freedom.

And I appreciate the sacrifice of our Armed Forces.

While they serve our nation we can enjoy the benefits of knowing that freedom is being earned and refreshed.

Our graphic arts department has done a great job at designing the theme for this series. Check out the sermon intro below...

If you missed this past weekend, be sure to take some time to watch/listen to the teaching posted under the "Media" section of this website. It will frame where we are going this summer in terms of our spiritual development.

Finally, I want to challenge every City of Grace family member to do four important things during this "Red Letter Summer:"

 1) Read the Gospels aloud with your friends or family. 

2) Attend the weekend services and bring someone with you. 

3) Engage in small group life and study the weekend messages. 

4) Represent Jesus by witnessing and serving.

My prayer is that through doing these four things our lives would be forever changed.

It all began this past Monday when Dr. Gary Kinnaman, former pastor of Word of Grace, and twenty-two other local ministers held a press conference sharing their "deep concern over the broken immigration system facing our state and our nation." (Click for the full statement.)  In the media frenzy that followed, the ministers who publicly expressed their concerns were labeled and castigated and our church was drawn into the immigration debate in ways that were unanticipated.

In meeting with Gary this past week it became clear that he was not advocating an open border policy, nor was he suggesting that we turn a blind eye to the issue of undocumented workers living unlawfully in our community. He was attempting to call our community to find a balance between honoring and exercising the rule of law while also following the teachings of Jesus to "'Love your neighbor as yourself."

Conspicuously absent in the public statement was the solution to the challenge of illegal immigration because that was not the purpose of the statement. In fact, Gary and the other pastors call "on our public servants to work constructively to address the challenges and complexities of immigration." As leaders in the faith community their primary responsibility is to serve as the conscience of our community and to prophetically call us to embrace and incorporate the principles of Scripture into the way we live.

You may have noticed that my name was not present on the press statement. And many of you have even written or called asking about my personal position on this issue.

I wasn't asked to sign the statement and I don't know that I would have, even if asked. Not because I'm afraid of the controversy surrounding the issue. And not because I believe that a pastor should not speak to political issues which contradict the teachings of Scripture. But simply because my role is best served as a pastor committed to building unity in a politically charged time.

Each week when I stand before our congregation I am acutely aware that I am called to share Biblical values with thousands of people representing many political viewpoints. City of Grace is a kaleidoscope of people who come from different backgrounds, religious or non-religious experiences, socio-economic realities, and political ideologies. And it's not easy to build unity in the midst of such diversity.

Sometimes I get it right.

And sometimes I don't.

But I am committed to bringing us together instead of driving us apart.

Regardless of your spiritual background, there are two types of people that you will have to learn to make peace with in a growing church family: those who are more tolerant than you, and those who are more conservative than you. That's why we introduce this little mantra in our Discovery Class 1, "In the essentials we have unity, in the non-essentials we have diversity, and in all things we have charity."

As the political rhetoric intensifies and the nation is further divided, let us love one another even more. And in doing so, may we show the world around us that we are the people of God bound together by something much stronger than a common political viewpoint.

I was there just to greet the students and open with prayer, but the environment was so compelling that I hung out at the rear of the auditorium with George Chadwick (Scottsdale, Worship Pastor who was also too old to be there!) and his wife, Kris, and I got my dance on!

Thanks to City of Grace Youth Pastors Jason and Erica Parrish (Scottsdale Campus) and Adam and Gretchen Smith (Mesa Campus) for making it a great night of passionate praise, crazy games, heartfelt preaching, and tons of affection for the students.

Also, much love to my middle son, Josh, who is becoming the master of creating relevant environments.

By the way, if you haven't registered your student for youth camp, click here for more information, or call the church office today. We have almost 500 teenagers planning to come and the final spaces will fill before you know it! And don't tell anyone, but Judith and I will be there, somewhere out in the mosh pit, dancing our hearts out to the glory of the King!

Virtual Jesus

If you can't have the real thing, go Hollywood

By Clay McNear

We dodge religion like vampires shrink from garlic toast, and it'd take a Supreme Being-size miracle to lure us back.

Jesus Christ, here's one now!

The Son of God Himself is scheduled to appear at 8 and 11:30 a.m. Sunday, May 25, at Scottsdale's City of Grace, 9610 East Cactus Road. (He'll be at the church's Mesa campus, 655 East University Drive, at 10 a.m.) Okay, it's not really the Big Dude, but someone with more than a passing resemblance: Jim Caviezel, who portrayed the bloodied and battered Jesus in Mel Gibson's harrowing film The Passion of the Christ.

The unapologetically Christian actor - nor should he apologize - will give ministry, or what the church terms "sharing with Pastor Terry Crist." Personally, we'll brave being preached at, 'cause we're a fan of Caviezel, whose filmography also includes Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line, Lawrence Kasdan's Wyatt Earp, and Ang Lee's Ride With the Devil.

Admission is free, but you know they're gonna pass the basket.

We had a stellar weekend with Jim Caveziel and his family. In spite of the fact that it was Memorial Day and scores of our City of Grace'rs were out of town enjoying the weather, we had five thousand people attend our services with sixty people coming to faith in Christ! And that makes everything worth it. Thank you for praying and serving!

In addition, Jim thoroughly enjoyed his time with us and was touched deeply in the 11:30 service in Scottsdale. In fact, at one point in that final interview we were both overwhelmed as he narrated certain portions of The Passion of the Christ and the distinct presence of the Holy Spirit flooded the auditorium. Regardless of the number of times I've reflected on the sufferings of Christ I still can't help but feel an overwhelming sense of wonder and gratitude.

Somewhere in the course of the weekend ,as I meditated on the powerful work of the Cross of Christ, I thought of the words of John Stott...

"All inadequate doctrines of the atonement are due to inadequate doctrines of God and man.  If we bring God down to our level and raise ourselves to his, then of course we see no need for a radical salvation, let alone for a radical atonement to secure it.  When, on the other hand, we have glimpsed the blinding glory of the holiness of God, and have been so convicted of our sin by the Holy Spirit that we tremble before God and acknowledge what we are, namely ‘hell-deserving sinners', then and only then does the necessity of the cross appear so obvious that we are astonished we never saw it before."  

In addition to being a bestselling author (Jesus, CEO; Jesus, Life Coach; The Path; Jesus in Blue Jeans; Teach your Team to Fish, and The Four Elements of Success), a coach to some of the most successful organizations in the world, and a remarkable person in general... Laurie Beth is also a part of our City of Grace family! Yesterday, she graciously donated her time to coach twenty of our campus pastors on how to serve together as an effective team.

It was brilliant!

And I've become her biggest fan.

If you haven’t read one of her books, buy one before sundown, and get with the program. Better yet, sign up for her next seminar on The Path. I’m presently immersed in The Four Elements of Success it and it’s changing my outlook on leadership and life.

(Laurie Beth leading our team through an exercise.)

Yeah. I know. The funny has left this joke long before I've tired of using it. But there's just enough of a little boy in me to keep trying to get the classroom to laugh.

With that said, I am very excited about Jim Caviezel's visit to City of Grace this weekend. We're going to talk about faith, family, and his experiences in the filming The Passion of the Christ. But more importantly, he's going to give us a glimpse into what God is currently doing in his life.

Jim will be with us "live" in Mesa on Saturday at 6:00 PM and Sunday at 10:00. In addition, he will be "live" in Scottsdale on Sunday at 8:30 and 11:30. (The Scottsdale 10:00 "video" service will also feature his message.)

 This may be the best opportunity you will have this year to bring someone to church! So don't miss the moment!

Devote some special time to prayer this week.

Bring a friend to one of our weekend worship services.

And let's believe for God to touch hearts and transform lives!

Gotcha! ;-)

Judith and I had a wonderful time eating dinner with former White House Press Secretary and FOX News Broadcaster, Tony Snow. Of all the unique qualities that make him the remarkable person that he is, I was most impressed with his sense of unbridled optimism. And that optimism has been tested in the worst of ways over the past few years as he has stared down the Whitehouse Press Corp during President Bush's falling approval rating...a million questions surrounding an unpopular war in Iraq...and a devastating battle with colon cancer. But through it all, he hasn't lost his sense of humor, his belief in our nation, nor his faith in God.

A wise man once said, challenges don't make us who we are, they reveal who we are. And with each new challenge Tony is proving who he is.

The dinner was hosted by Cathi Herrod, president of The Center for Arizona Policy, who arranged for Tony to come to Phoenix to speak at her organization's annual spring dinner. Cathi is leading our statewide charge to protect the definition of marriage in Arizona. (I'll write more about my support of the upcoming marriage amendment in the months to come.)

It was an amazing thing to be reminded of how God has His people strategically positioned in every area of influence. And it's exciting to see how He is positioning City of Grace to be a part of advancing the Kingdom of God in our generation!

I've spent a lot of time thinking about the importance of "unity" lately.

Maybe it's because we're in an election year and the reports of our national divisions are being capitalized upon for political gain.

Maybe it's because I'm in this amazing process of working to unite two distinct congregations, composed of several thousand members, into one church meeting on two campuses.

Maybe it's because my wife and I are acutely aware of the importance of keeping our family connected at a time when our children are old enough to go in separate directions.

But, more than any of those reasons, I'd like to think that it's really because unity is near and dear to the heart of God. And the closer I draw to Him, the more I feel His longing to heal our divisions.

I've carried a deep passion for reconciliation for the past two decades, which stands in striking contrast to my spiritual upbringing. Although I was born into a pastor's home and nurtured by Godly parents, I spent my childhood spiritually segregated from most of the church world. Because of our legalistic views on personal holiness, the denomination we were members of was largely separated from the greater body of Christ. Anything that smacked of "ecumenicalism" was seen as straight out of the latter chapters of the book of Revelation.

Following in the tradition of my spiritual forebears, I spent the first few years of ministry building fences: fences between the church and the world, fences between our church and other churches, fences between the sacred and the secular and fences between clergy and laity. I built my fences rock solid, with Scriptures taken out of context and principles that were no longer culturally relevant. And over time, my fences became walls of division.

And then one day I saw the absurdity of it all.

The year was 1983 and I was sitting in a James Robison meeting in the Tarrant County Convention Center in Ft. Worth Texas.  I was just getting started in ministry and I reluctantly attended the service at the insistence of my new bride. As I listened to James share his experience in moving out from the confines of his own denomination, I saw myself in his story and my world shifted.

Things didn't change overnight. Old habits die hard and the sounds of sacred cows mortally wounded can often be terrifying. But the process had begun and there was no turning back for me. And twenty-five years later I can say without reservation, along with the Psalmist David, "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" Psalm 133:1

Our prayers and condolences go out to Andy Whitwell and our dear friends, Pastors Ed and Lisa Young, on the passing of a remarkable life fully lived to the glory of God. Vanessa touched us all in so many ways and will deeply missed.

For more information on Vanessa's life and legacy, click here.

Please watch this post for further information of the re-scheduling of the C3 Regional Conference with Ed Young Jr. and team.

If you haven't guessed by now the weekend was amazing!

The journey began for us on Good Friday when Dr. Bobby Brewer, our "Vertigo" pastor (Scottsdale), led the charge in transforming our Scottsdale campus into an amazing expression of ancient-future faith consisting of several stations of the cross devoted to adoration, confession, and appreciation. Joani Castillo (Mesa EXALT pastor) and Tim Miller (Mesa Vertigo pastor) took the lead in creating a similar environment on the Mesa campus.

For seven hours both of our campuses experienced a steady stream of passionate Christ-followers walking through our auditoriums in a self-guided tour as they repented, worshipped, and fellowshipped with our beloved Savior. And all of this in a candlelit setting, with monks chanting, and The Passion of the Christ playing on the large screens.

That was Friday.

Then came Sunday.

Early reports indicate that over 5700 people worshipped the risen Christ with us this weekend in addition to the hundreds who attended our Friday evening communion services!

The Scottsdale campus will never be the same. The 11:30 service was so large that we had to ask the teenagers to sit on the floors and we still couldn't fit the crowd in the auditorium!

Our volunteer teams served our guests as if it they were attending a State dinner.

Our devoted teachers ministered to our children with creativity and enthusiasm.

The worship team touched the heavens.

The multi-media was thought provoking.

And I presented my best case for the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And all over the auditorium defenses melted, arguments subsided, hearts were opened, and God came in for the first time claiming people as His own.

(Check back later and I'll post some more pictures of the weekend!)

It was horrifying.

It was unimaginable.

It was inexplicable.

And then time offered them the gift of perspective.

The full realization of exactly what had happened that fateful Friday on the hill called Golgotha didn't even dawn on most of them Sunday morning as we have often heard in sermons about the glory of the resurrection.  For most of them it came slowly, gradually, like a heavy fog being burnt off a lake by the rising of the sun.

It began with rumors whispered behind closed doors by trusted friends, "He's alive. He really is. He's alive!" And it ended with Jesus standing before them, days later, inviting them to touch His wounded hands and side.

Perspective has a remarkable way of healing our pain, restoring our faith, and renewing our passion.

Knowing our tendency towards misperception, the Apostle Paul prayed for God to grant us the gift of perspective.

"Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places..." Ephesians 1:15-20

This weekend thousands of precious people will walk onto our City of Grace campuses and into our auditoriums desperately in need of an eternal perspective on what matters most in life. And my prayer is that as we consider the mystery and the wonder that is Easter that God will open our eyes to all He has provided for us through the sacrifice of His only begotten Son, the Savior of the world.

Because of what we now know, we can call this Good Friday.

Actually, it was all in a day’s work.

We’re preparing a new sermon series entitled “Go Big or Go Home” and the skydive was about me staring down my fears in my quest to live a passionate life.

Take a look at some of the raw footage…

Since I’m writing this blog the following morning, it’s safe to surmise that I made it through the experience, but you’ll have to attend the weekend worship experience following Easter to see just how it all turns out!

First, the past few months have involved 70+ hour work weeks with very little time for personal musing. In fact, it's been a bit of a struggle just to maintain my devotional life. The good news is that we have conquered some of the early challenges associated with the transition and life has taken on some degree of normalcy. Our church family seems stable. (Qualifier intended!) Our ministry team is working well together. And the river of God's presence in rising in the House! And best of all, over the past two months we have seen a constant stream of brand new people coming to faith in Christ in our weekend worship experiences on both campuses.

Second, we have been working feverishly to launch the new website that you are reading this blog on. I hope you like it. In the coming months we plan to add a number of dynamic features including a video tour and a "virtual campus" for those who want to connect with City of Grace, but live too far away to attend one of our campuses.

In addition, I plan to use this blog for a couple of important purposes. First, I want to share my heart in "real time" rather than waiting for the weekend to roll around. Second, I want to keep you updated on important behind-the-scenes happenings here at City of Grace. And third, I want to keep the vision before our growing congregation so that we all speak and live the same thing.

It's good to be back and I'm looking forward to the days ahead. The best is yet to come!

Grace church will merge January 1, 2008 to become City of Grace with multiple locations. “We wanted to come up with a name that honors the history of both congregations” said Terry Crist, founder of CitiChurch and senior pastor of the newly formed City of Grace in the new year. “City of Grace became the perfect name for our new congregation, honoring the history of each church and projecting a bigger vision as a multi-site church.”

Early this year, Word of Grace Senior Pastor Dr. Gary Kinnaman decided to pursue God’s call on his life to become “Pastor-at-Large” to mentor and network pastors in the Phoenix Metro Area. This began Word of Grace’s search for a new senior pastor. While in the midst of a national search, CitiChurch’s Senior Pastor Terry Crist approached Kinnaman to be considered as a candidate. After months of interviews, prayer and the unique long term, multi site goal of both churches, the board of directors of each church voted unanimously to install Terry Crist as senior pastor of this brand new church family with campuses in Scottsdale and Mesa, Arizona. 

Even though steps have been made to begin using the new name right away, both campuses will not fully adopt the new name until the beginning of 2008.

Terry Crist will be installed as the new senior pastor in a special service Wednesday January 9, 2008 with Kinnaman installed as pastor-at-large.

City of Grace will be a non denominational, spirit empowered, multi ethnic, multi generational, multi site church serving the greater east valley, Phoenix and beyond.

(ADDED ROLE: Pastor Terry Crist, who founded CitiChurch in Scottsdale 7 1/2 years ago and has seen it grow to 1400 members, has taken on a second assignment: the pastorate of the 5,000 member Word of Grace Church in Mesa.)

Two prominent area churches - Word of Grace in Mesa and CitiChurch in Scottsdale - have merged in what's being called "two streams coming together to form a rushing river that will transform the landscape of the Valley for good."

Pastor Gary Kinnaman, 58, who has shepherded Word of Grace for 25 of its 27 years and has seen it grow to about 5,000 members, has taken a "pastor-at-large" role and turned over the leadership to Pastor Terry Crist, 42, who founded CitiChurch in mid 2000 and who will be installed in January as senior pastor of both churches. The new official name for the "one church in two locations" will be announced at that time.

Kinnaman told his congregation last January that he was looking for a co-pastor who could succeed him at Word of Grace. Over coffee about a year ago, Kinnaman told Crist of his transition plans and asked him for names of potential candidates.

"I said, 'I can do you one better than this - I may be interested,' " Crist told Kinnaman, one of the first pastors he consulted when he came to Arizona. Crist told Kinnaman he would not be willing to leave CitiChurch, which has 1,400 members, but that he had envisioned multiple campuses for his own church. If Word of Grace would "entertain a merger with us in which we combined as one church on two campuses, then it would work for us," Crist said.

"We spent time in prayer, we continued the conversation, and we had a search committee working," Crist said. Proposals for a merger were developed over about nine months, and the boards of each church approved it. "I can see the fingerprints of God all over this," Crist said in a letter to CitiChurch after the plan was approved.

On Sept. 1, Crist took over. He and Kinnaman are sharing weekend services for the two campuses, with a new schedule to be adopted Jan. 5, with the formal installation of Crist as senior pastor.

The pastors call it a good fit. "The spiritual DNA of the two congregations compels the church to extend itself whenever and wherever God provides opportunity," says a brochure laying out the changes. "I have a heart and a dream for the Phoenix area, for the faith community to become a stronger and more prominent player in social change," said Kinnaman, author or co-author of 10 books, a leader in pastoral peer support development and the father of David Kinnaman, president of the influential Barna Research Group, a leading observer of the American religion scene.

"I have a conviction that a large church needs what George Barna refers to as a direct leader - someone who is a visionary," Kinnaman said.

"Terry has wonderful communications skills, he is a good preacher, he has A+ leadership skills, he has asked all the right questions and he is very passionate about the church and about pastoral work," Kinnaman said.

Crist, who has 20 years of pastoral work in Tulsa, Okla., Kansas City, Mo., and Scottsdale and is the author of several books, is a fifth-generation pastor, as is his wife, Judith. He has traveled to 62 countries, preaching and doing seminars in such places as Turkey, South Africa and Egypt.

Certain ministries of the two churches will merge, while others, such as children and youth programs, will remain with each campus. "Life groups" will form and may include three couples from each church to meet.

"Our missions program will be one, our singles program will be one, our small groups program will be one," Crist said.

"We have a goal for seven campuses over the next 15 years," he said.

"There are 2,000 multisite churches in America right now," said Crist, father of three grown sons. He pointed to Leadership Network statistics that 30 percent of American megachurches (defined as those with a minimum of 2,000 members) have established at least one other campus. "Another 30 percent are in the process of preparing the launch of their next campus, and another 30 percent are considering it."

"It's about taking ministry to where people are doing life," he said. People seem less willing to go long distances to church. "People may drive to work, but on weekends, they want to stay close to home." Even where some churchgoers are willing to drive across town, "their evangelistic impact suffers because their neighbors aren't willing to make the drive," Crist said. "So by taking church to a place closer to home, it raises the evangelistic impetus."

Crist believes the metropolitan area has room for a dozen 20,000-member churches.

"I think we have a lot of opportunity here because, even though there are some large, healthy, vibrant, reproducing megachurches, we are still, in large part, an unchurched culture." Compared with other metropolitan areas, the Valley is "on the low end of the spectrum" in the ratio of churchgoers to population.

When he learned more about Word of Grace, Crist said he was surprised at the extent of its outreach ministries, including serving the elderly, painting houses, feeding the hungry, Habitat for Humanity house-building and opening the church gym in the heat of summer to the homeless. Word of Grace provided $998,000 last year in such ministries.

Founded as Gospel Echoes East Side Bible Church in 1980, the congregation first met in the Mesa Theater (current site of Spencers Appliance on First Avenue) and later at a former Mormon ward building (site of New Life Assembly of God on University Drive). In 1985, it moved to 655 E. University Drive in Mesa when Central Christian Church built its current campus on Lindsay Road. Over time, it bought 37 neighborhood houses to expand parking and campus buildings, including its sanctuary in 1997. As many as 9,000 attend Word of Grace on Easter, Kinnaman said.

"I felt like the church had reached a point where we needed new leadership, and I needed to do some other things in this season of my life," he said. The decision was "a long time coming in some ways," Kinnaman said, adding that he wished he had made it sooner.

"I am feeling a lot of personal freedom to fulfill the calling of God in my life, to serve the larger Christian community," Kinnaman said. "I feel a lot of hope and joy for Word of Grace."

Crist started CitiChurch in a Scottsdale community center 7 1/2 years ago, and it moved to a library, theater and school before its campus was built and opened in 2004 on 6 1/2 acres at 9610 E. Cactus Road in Scottsdale. In January, CitiChurch began holding Sunday services at Theater 4301 in downtown Scottsdale, as a second site seven miles south of its campus. "I closed it down because I couldn't maintain that and also seize this opportunity," he said.

"Both our churches are nondenominational," Crist said. "We call them 'Spirit empowered' churches - biblically literate, culturally relevant, spiritually sensitive. All of those things are an exact match.

There's something I'd always wanted to do...take an entire month to travel through South America.

In August God provided me and Damon Crim with that opportunity. Here's a brief account of what happened.

Cold: In Paraguay, I was cold. It was the kind of cold that gets into your bones where you feel you can't ever get warm. One night I just stayed in the shower with the water as hot as I could take it hoping to get warm. The poverty there was unlike anything I had ever seen before and there were a lot of stories of brokenness. Perhaps this is why you can't find books on Paraguay in the travel section at Barnes & Noble. Yet, they were rich in Spirit. I can still see the glow radiating from a woman, living in a small 4 room house, who'd contracted AIDS from the unfaithfulness of her husband. Her love for God warmed my soul.

Fire: Argentina is on fire for God and it's contagious. What makes this place special is the spirit of David that is evident in the lives of the people there (Jorge, Becky, Vane, Aby). Like David, they worship God without reservation and simply cannot seem to get enough of Him. It shows. We all know that God is omnipresent but His presence is very evident there. As I once heard Phil Yancey say, "God goes where He's wanted". They really want God there and He makes Himself known.

Dreams: Desires of our heart...we all have them. It was about a year ago that a friend of mine, Vanesa, expressed a dream in creating a faith based school of the arts for children on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. On August 8, I was there to see the grand opening. About 3 years ago it was a dream for Jorge and the worship team, iadoracion, to have their own CD. I held that CD in my hand.

Color: That's what comes to mind when i think of Brazil. The people, fruits, foods, clothing, toucans, and even their flag is bright and colorful. As it turned out I was in the very front of a canoe going up the Amazon and I remember looking straight ahead into the jungle and for a moment I stopped rowing because I was in absolute awe of all the different shades of green that I'd never seen before.

Surprise: is the word I use to describe Ecuador. It was more beautiful than I'd imagined. I was surprised that you could actually balance an egg on a nail on the equator. And surprised to see what God is doing through a couple who accepted God's call, somewhat late in life, to, like Abraham, pick up and move from the comforts of home to do ministry to children in Quito, Ecuador.

There's the...

Ministry: preaching/teaching, visiting the sick in hospitals, explaining the authenticity of the Bible (through Damon) to a girl in Rio de Janeiro, putting a new pair of shoes on the feet of children in Ecuador.

Light-hearted: seeing the scariest clown ever in Brazil - he had dreadlocks, telling a British soccer fan from Liverpool "we've got Beckham now", cheezy magic tricks for the elderly (they thought I was Cris Angel).

Touristy stuff: walking the streets of downtown Buenos Aires, drinking out of a coconut at the beach on Rio de Janerio, seeing the famous statue of Jesus overlooking the Rio de Janerio, and getting your photo made on the equator standing w/one foot in the Northern hemisphere and one foot in the Southern. (pictured above.)

Firsts: for the first time ever seeing "flight delayed" made me smile. there had been a wreck and 2, yes 2, broken down trucks on a 2 lane road to the airport. By all accounts we should've missed our flight. But, for the very first time ever in my whole entire life I was happy to see those wonderful words, "Flight Delayed". First time I'd ever been in a taxi that got a flat. Other firsts: holding an alligator, eating Carolina style BBQ in Ecuador, and preaching with only 12 minutes of sermon prep time.

Quotes: "This says row three! We must be in first class!" (not, there were only 12 rows in total for the whole plane), "Hey, have you seen my passport?!" "Have you seen my tickets laying around anywhere?" "was I dreaming or were chickens trying to get inside our room this morning?" "guarani, pesos, reals, dollars, we don't have any of the above." "dude, are you going to eat some guinea pig?" "Bobby, are you ready to preach again? You're up after this next song."

But really it's about the...

People

Nelson, a guy in Paraguay I'd only known for a few hours who offered me his sweater because he was concerned that I was too cold.

Los Szczeckos, a family where the fruits of the Spirit are like an orchard.

The CitiChurch team: In many cases I knew of the struggles they were facing in coming up with the $, getting the time off of work/school, etc.

Kristen: The original plan was for her to join me in Argentina but it simply didn't work out but on Sept 1 I think I felt a little like Adam at seeing her again after a month, "At last..." Gen. 2:23.

A trip like this should change you...does change you. It's really indescribable in how we saw the hand of the Lord in so many conversations, situations. Fortunately, Damon and the team from CitiChurch can back me up on the fact that it exceeded our expectations.

I want to say thanks to all of you for your prayers. I could feel them and we experienced. God's favor on more than one occasion. We were able to see the fruits of our ministry. New friends, deeper relationships with old ones, all glory to God.

"I have much to write to you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink. I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face. Peace to you." 3 John 13-14