Reality Check

     I met with a well respected Christian media professional last week. I have attended some of his talks from time to time and I like the way he thinks "out-of-the-box". I think I even share his perspective on conventional Christian media. I was a little nervous though. I wanted to run past him some of my ideas for using new media to reach the up-and-coming generations. I have had this dream for a couple of years now and as I began to share it with others through our presentations, etc, I have begun to wonder if this is just a crazy dream or if this is really something that could work. I was beginning to have my doubts... 

     L.A. is a great place to network with Christian media professionals. Many of them work in the secular media, and I am sure they have some great ideas of how Christians should or could use the media to more effectively tell others about Jesus. I was not sure if my ideas would fit into this environment though or if I would be shot down immediately because I really didn't understand the media world. So I had to get a reading. I needed a reality check...

     It was a short meeting...only about half an hour. I had driven longer than that one-way just to get to the meeting. But I got my answer. Total excitement and support! In fact, he kept asking me what he and his company could do to help us. "Whew! So I'm not crazy..." But then it hit me.... "If I'm not crazy, then there has be a way to make this work..."

     That has become my new motto.... I don't know how we are going to realize this dream. Just the thought of it is daunting as I think about the many obstacles that we will have to climb and overcome. But we must be headed in the right direction. So where do I begin? Networking.... Sharing my ideas with other like-minded media professionals and finding ways that we can work together. I left that meeting with a couple of introductions to other media people who might be interested in just this kind of ministry.

     Will you pray for us as I begin talking to people, gleaning ideas from experts in the field, and putting some shape and form to this "not so crazy" idea? We will certainly need all the wisdom and knowledge that we can get, and the best source of that is from our Lord Himself....

Doug

Waiting for the Shoots...

     When I was young I remember my parents had a garden. In the spring, we would all go out and cultivate the earth, make nice little rows in the ground and plant seeds in those rows. Then we would wait.... and we would wait.... and we would wait... It seemed like we waited forever to me as a child. Every day I would go out and look for the first signs of growth... those first shoots of green that would break through the top crust of earth and tell me that our labor was not in vain.

Half-Time Devotions

     The Apostle Paul uses the example of gardening in his first letter to the Corinthians when we talked about spiritual growth too. He said "I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth". Well, Steve and I, and many others have been planting seeds and watering those seeds all year long during our indoor soccer games. Several of the players seem interested in spiritual things. We have shared the good news of salvation with them and we have invited them to church on several occasions. Now it is time to let God do the growing.

     We are taking a break from our games for a couple of months. We know that God is not taking a break though. He is growing those seeds even though the shoots are still below the surface and unseen. We watch for those first signs of sprouts every Sunday morning... maybe someone will come to church today.... maybe we need to wait another week.

     Please be praying for the men and women who played with us. We are confident that God is causing those seeds to grow. ... not that we want any glory from it. Paul goes on to say in First Corinthians "... So then neither the one who plants, nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth." Here are some names to help you pray... Luis, Ramon, Sandra, Victor, Irineo, Jose, Eric...

Thanks,

Doug