NorCalUrban

Great service yesterday at St. Samuel. Here's some pics. Look at the lovely lady on the front row!

Yankees trade for Bobby Abreu! Read it about it here. Outfield help and a great hitter! Where is the blockbuster SF Giants trade? That's why I have primary allegiance to my childhood team.

Yesterday we had a booth for NCUD at the annual collard greens festival in EPA. It was a great time - reminded me of why I love our community. Pastor Bains showed up in a whirlwind and promptly walked on stage, giving me the mic and had me announce about NCUD and the credit union project. I appreciate his continuing support and endorsement. We really have great community support for this project. Many people came up to our booth, filled out a survey and expressed the need for a local credit union. Please keep praying for us! The photo is of Emily who came out to volunteer and Larry Moody who stopped by for a visit. Larry is a outstanding community leader. He's been a great supporter of this project. I thought I took more pictures, but technology won this battle;)

Guy Kawasaki speaking about a great public speaker he recently heard. Read about it here. On his blog he breaks down what he thinks is great about the speech. When Guy says something is exceptional - I take notice. He's the 'guru' for venture capitalists in the silicon valley. You can also hear the speech at this website. The presenter is Majora Carter. She is speaking about redevelopment in with justice in the south Bronx. It's very worth the time to listen. So - following the link on Guy's website he led me to something called the TED Conference (Tech, Entertainment, Design). This year folks as varied as Majora, Al Gore and Rick Warren (yes, the one from the Purpose Driven Life). Interesting mix - interesting people. Each year 1000 people are invited to attend. It's intended to foster a free flow of ideas and discussion. I filled out an app for next year - maybe they'll invite me.

Below is a copy of the recent NCUD newsletter I just sent out. Some of you might have gotten it via snail mail... Dear Friends... “You've all heard it said that if you give a man a fish you feed him for a day. That if you teach a man to fish you feed him for a lifetime. But I say that if we are to be truly successful in making this a viable community...we must own the pond the fish live in." “He who owns the pond decides who gets to fish.” - Dr. John Perkins NCUD Advisory Board Member I pray that this letter finds you well and blessed in our Savior. For us, it's been an exciting season of change and growth as we continue to pursue the vision that God has given us for the communities of East Palo Alto and eastern Menlo Park. To get current updates on my life and ministry - please check out my blog at http://norcalurban.blogspot.com. When I read the classic Biblical texts on poverty and justice I continue to be deeply challenged. Can the cycle of poverty be broken in peopl...

We had an incident in church this week where one of our young couples ended up pregnant out of wedlock. The young man has been involved in leadership over the years. As we talked as a leadership team about how to deal with the situation - we decided that two things were necessary - to acknowledge the sin and to offer grace. I've found that there are two normal reactions to issues like this in churches. Either the couple is completely rejected and are ostracized from the church or it is swept under the rug and never really addressed. I believe both extremes are damaging. This couple had very high integrity and hearts that want to please God. So they started the process by coming to us long before the issue became apparent. How we ended up handling the situation was that the couple was brought before the congregation, with Pastor Paul and I standing with them. They publicly acknowledged their sin. We admonished them as a leadership team to 'Go and sin no more." using the Joh...

Late last week the Prince and Princess of Tonga were killed in a highway accident near our house in eastern Menlo Park. Many folks don't realize that EPA has a large and active Pacific Islander population. This is a HUGE loss since the Prince was leading a push for governmental reform in the island nation of Tonga. Read about the accident here. I was truly amazed at the graciousness of the Tongan people. Last Friday night there was a six month memorial service for Richard May, the officer who was murdered in our city earlier this year. A Tongan dance group was previously scheduled to participate. In spite of the phenomenal tragedy (imagine a national figure dying here - along the lines of JFK of MLK) the Tongan group and community Elders showed up and participated in the officer's memorial service. What a show of humility and concern for EPA. After the memorial service for Officer May Pastor Bains, Andy W. and I went to the memorial for the Tongan Prince and Princess. I was bl...

I picked up this book at the UYWI conference last May. "God in the Flesh" is by an IV guy, Don Everts. I've been impacted by it's call to focus on Jesus again in our Christian life. Sometimes the 'work' of religion so eclipses Jesus... Here's a great quote, " We should grab a copy of the Gospel, sit under a tree and read. Spend and afternoon breathing in the foreign air of Jesus. We should let ourselves roam through Jesus' little parables and let them shock us. We should allow ourselves to so study the life of Jesus that we become captivated and entrenched in the subtle details and intense themes we find there. We should hold church services and relentlessly pull our eyes back to Him, the center of our faith. We should lift up his name often and speak to each other about how his life and manner have been affecting us lately." pp 47-48 I remember growing up how focused on Jesus I was. It was simple - an almost 'fundamental' faith. Bu...

So - i was rather (yawn) nonchalant about the World Cup. I confess that I don't know a whole heck of a lot about soccer - other than having the feeling that everyone's at a party and I didn't even know why I wasn't invited. But - because I have friends who are crazy about soccer and Sportscenter relentlessly plays World Cup clips. I know that the US was shamefully booted early and that Brazil imploded. So imagine my surprise today when I woke up and realized that Italy was alive and doing well! My Italian blood surged and I felt a tinge of pride in my pasta filled 'spare tire'! Go Italy! Viva la World Cup!