Prayer for our soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines

As we celebrate independence day, let us pray for those serving in the military. They risk their lives for us every single day. No matter what happens in any part of the world, they risk their lives. They deserve our prayers and our love.

An email that I got a long time ago pointed out that: Only two forces have ever laid down their lives for you. The American soldiers who died to make you free and Jesus who died so that you might have eternal life in heaven with God.

Father, we pray in the holy name of Jesus for safety of our military forces as well as for peace. We know that the Prince of Peace is the only one who will ever bring this about, so we seek Him in all things. Amen.

Shepherd of the Hills - Antelope Valley

Todd Clark (Pastor of Discovery church in Simi Valley) came up to visit last night to see our possible church locations and share his thoughts. He planted Discovery church out of Shepherd of the Hills - Porter Ranch several years ago. I want to thank him for his time and wisdom!

Our next step is to work out details with the realtor, the city and raise the money for this step of faith.

I am so excited about this step to the next level! It's fundraising time (which I don't like) for an incredibly great cause (which I love)! Please pray about this. God is doing something really, really, really big in our church and our hearts!
I'l share more details and pictures as we get closer to an agreement with one of the two buildings.

Thanks for your time and your insights Todd!

God of Security and Peace

And now for my experiences at Round Lake. I believe I had learned before the lesson that everything is in Christ, and that apart from Him I have absolutely nothing. But I had not yet found out what there is in Him. Like a person who knows that all their treasures are stored up in the different chambers of a beautiful temple, but has not yet opened some of the chambers, and consequently is in ignorance of the full extent of his possessions, so I had never apprehended one part of my riches in Christ, and that a very important part. I think my theological notions had stood somewhat in my way. I had never believed that the carnal nature could be utterly cast out of a soul. I knew it could be kept under and conquered; but I supposed its presence was an unavoidable necessity while on this earth. I learned at Round Lake that it might be cast out!Let me illustrate. Here is a man in his castle with strong walls and massive gates. An enemy from without is seeking to gain an entrance. The castle however is impregnable and the enemy would be forever baffled, but for the presence of a traitor inside the castle, who, no matter how closely he is watched, will find means every now and then to steal down and open the gates and admit the enmemy. What is needed to make security invariably safe is to have this inside enemy cast out of the castle, and the gates barred against him. The justified soul is in this castle, and his inside enemy is the carnal nature, or the “body of sin.” While that remains inside he never can get a complete or continuous victory.But can this inside enemy be got rid of? Is he not an inevitable companion of our life in the body? I have always thought he was. I see now that he is not. I see that Jesus died to rid us of this very enemy, and that those who trust Him for this wonderful deliverance, do really experience it. They are made “pure in heart,” through the cleansing power of the blood of Christ.I do not think I ever taught this, and I know I never trusted Jesus for it before, because I was ignorant of its being a part of the purchased salvation. But I thank God that now I do trust my mighty Saviour for even this great deliverance, and that it has brought me “perfect peace”.
—To Anna, September 6, 1871
Smith, Hannah Whitall ; Dieter, Melvin Easterday: The Christian's Secret of a Holy Life : The Unpublished Personal Writings of Hannah Whitall Smith. Oak Harbor : Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997, S. June 18

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Hannah Whitall Smith wrote the above devotional in 1871.

Ecclesiastes 1:9 - "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun."

In 1871 (and in all the years before and after) people have struggled with sin...the same way we struggle with sin today. I love the way Hannah writes about this traitor that is living inside the fortress.

The question that each one of us needs to answer for ourselves (and before God), is:
How bad do you want to get rid of that traitor?
How hard will you work to get rid of that traitor?
I pray that my desire to get rid of that traitor increases.

David

Prayer requests!

Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right. Abraham Lincoln

Our current prayer requests:

1) New Building! I believe with all my heart that this is the time for us to move to our own building. This would permit us to have additional midweek services, events, Bible Studies etc!
I have prayed about this and am continuing to pray. Please join me! Pray for wisdom as we choose this location. James 1:5
We will likely have to lease a building until we can raise the money to buy land and build. Prices are extremely low right now. Please pray for God's blessing upon our church and our future ministry!

2) Summer Growth! I know that many people travel during the summer. It's vacation time and some people will be out of town for weeks at a time. That is no reason for a church not to grow! Our friends and neighbors need Jesus! We need to take the time to invite them to church! There are so many exciting things happening here! Invite people!

3) Youth ministry. I am so excited about all of the adult leaders that are getting connected with our young people! They are amazing! This is one of our greatest opportunities to show the love of Christ to a generation that needs God's love more than ever! Pray for us to connect with more and more young people! They need Jesus! They need His love! They need our love!

It really is an exciting year in an exciting church!

One Year Anniversary of SOTH-AV

Our church will be one year old as of this Sunday! It's exciting (although today I am a bit worn out). I'll write more after Sunday is over and post pictures.

The year has been so much harder than I could have imagined. The year has been so much better than I could have imagined. The year has been the best year of my life!

When I was preparing for the opening of the church, I read a lot about starting churches. One of the articles had a long list of quotes from church planters about their first year experiences. Some were excited while many others were discouraged. Some were optimistic, while many others were pessimistic. I couldn't understand then how these experiences could be so different from one another. Today? Well today, I just agree....with ALL of them!

It's been awful and it's been great. Most of all, it's been worth every ounce of sweat and every ounce of emotional and spiritual energy that I could muster. Thank you Lord for our new church!

earthly discontent: eternal decisions

Revelation 20:11 11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. 14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

Jeff Lilley at Hume Lake mentioned this passage at a retreat years ago. He spoke about what a “sobering” thought it was that the earth and the heaven fled from the very face of God, but that we will all be there…and we will not be able to leave. I think about what it will be like on that day and I wonder about people that I know that would be cast into the lake of fire (especially those that I failed to share the gospel with). I think about this passage just about every single weekend, every single service. I think about this passage…during altar call. I look into the eyes of people and I wonder: do you know Jesus? Do you really know Him? I see the look on someone’s face as they contemplate the most important decision they could ever make. I pray that I did my best preaching. I pray for the Holy Spirit to move their heart. I pray for them to make a wise decision…and I pray that I will be more effective preaching next week.

Following Christ is a Daily decision!

Following Christ is a Daily decision!

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile."

I believe with all of my heart that this is going to be the most exciting year in the history of Shepherd of the Hills! We need to call out to God and listen to Him to hear His plans for this amazing year!
Dave

Peter, Tozer and I

From Failure to Radical Transformation For all his faults, or perhaps because of them, Peter could do one thing superbly: he could shed tears of grief when he had offended his Savior. The ability to repent is a sweet treasure, and one that is rare among us these days. If we had Peter's penitent heart, we might go on to have his purity and his power. Should the contemplation of Peter's faults give aid and comfort to an impenitent heart, then that heart has only itself to blame. God never intended that we should hide our unconfessed sins behind the confessed faults of a saint. Peter's contrary nature drove him to God. Unless ours does the same, Peter will have lived in vain for us. Anyway, we are glad Peter lived, and we are glad Christ found him. He is so much like so many of us, at least in his weaknesses. It only remains for us to learn also the secret of his strength.
A.W. Tozer

What a great word about Peter. I am one that sees myself in Peter. Speak before you think. Act very quickly (sometimes for good and sometimes for bad). I see the Lord's mercy in how he dealt with Peter and I am encouraged that He also deals with me with the same love and mercy.

Our Life is in Christ
Certainly not all of the mystery of the Godhead can be known by man-but just as certainly, all that men can know of God in this life is revealed in Jesus Christ! When the Apostle Paul said with yearning, "That I may know Him," he was not speaking of intellectual knowledge. Paul was speaking of the reality of an experience of knowing God personally and consciously, spirit touching spirit and heart touching heart. We know that people spend a lot of time talking about a deeper Christian life-but few seem to want to know and love God for Himself. The precious fact is that God is the deeper life! Jesus Christ Himself is the deeper life, and as I plunge on into the knowledge of the triune God, my heart moves on into the blessedness of His fellowship. This means that there is less of me and more of God-thus my spiritual life deepens and I am strengthened in the knowledge of His will!
— By A. W. Tozer

End of the year: Don't give up!

When I was young, I was an idealist. I like to think that I am so much wiser and more pragmatic now...but sometimes, I am not so sure. Maybe a return to idealism would do us some good?

We approach the end of the year.
We approach the beginning of a new year.
I think that the very first sermon I ever preached in a church was on New Years Eve a number of years ago...and I loved the timing of it. So much to talk about. So much to challenge people with. So much to challenge myself with.

A couple of years ago, I overheard a conversation in an office. A young lady said something like: "I don't make new years resolutions anymore. I've seen how most people don't keep them anyways, so I just don't make them anymore".

Hmmfff!

Sooooooooooooo...that is the conclusion that you came to?
In all your years of wisdom?
This young lady came to a conclusion that it would be better to never strive for a better life, than to strive in many areas , but fail in some parts? It seems to me that she neglected a rather huge point (or two). What about the people that do keep their resolutions? If you are correct that most people don't keep their resolutions, then some people do!
And perhaps more importantly, even the people that fail to keep their resolutions are better off than the one who has given up in life. If I try to get on an exercize program and give up after 2 months...at least the two months were better than they otherwise would have been!

More importanlty, it concerns me so much when people give up. People are cynicle now about so many things. The direction of the country? Awful? Sure. No doubt. Yet, Christ told us this is how it would be before He came back. His return is closer than it's ever been. Don't give up.
Don't sit on the sidelines and get lethargic. We need players to engage the culture. We need you. Christ will win with or without you. But, He gave each one of us the privilage of joining the winning team. I am so excited about the possibilities of this coming year. We have a great church that is making a difference. I think we are at 25 baptisms with more scheduled!

The end of the year?
It's time to dream.
It's time to dream big.
It's time to dream God kind of dreams!

Carol Bertone

------------------------Carol at a recent Mission Trip in Mexico

Our dear friend and sister in the Lord, Carol Bertone has gone on ahead of us to be with our Lord Jesus. Carol, we miss you and we love you! We thank God for the friendship that we shared with you and for the kindness that you showed us all each day. We look forward to the day when we will be reunited with you.

May God bless and comfort your family and especially your son Justin. We know how much you loved him and we trust that God will care for him in your absence.

You served faithfully in church ministries and on mission trips. You ministered to each of us more than you probably know and we will not forget you. You fought cancer courageously and you have been given the ultimate reward. We will see you in heaven...and we will again rejoice with you.

We will have a Memorial Service for Carol on Monday June 23rd at 1pm in the sanctuary at Shepherd of the Hills Porter Ranch.

Reading the Bible in a Year

Today is the day that we begin (as a congregation) reading the Bible through in a year. To access the scheduled readings for the day, just go to our web site: www.shepherd-av.com, click on Growing in Christ, then click on Bible Reading Plan from the drop down menu.

This will do so much to strengthen our church and our lives! It is going to be an exciting year!
Blessings,
Dave

Shepherd - AV's first baptism!

I just had to takea moment to celebrate the first baptism of our brand new church! Glenda Gonzalez - we are so happy for you! May God bless you abrundantly as you grow in Christ!
Dave

Happy Easter! Grand Opening

Jesus is Risen!

Shepherd of the Hills - Antelope Valley opened on March 23, Easter Sunday!

I am overwhelmed with God's goodness! Nothing is more important of course than celebrating the love of God in Jesus' death and resurrection. (As I mentioned in my message on Easter, I believe the greatest acts of love are the Father's willingness to send Jesus to die for us and Jesus' willingness to go to the cross)! The fact that Jesus rose from the dead? Well, I think that in all of God's power, raising someone from the dead is just a day in the life of God! He IS that powerful! That doesn't surprise me at all. What surprises me and overwhelms me is the fact that He would go to the cross for me! I have never gotten over His incredible love!

The fact that God has brought this extraordinary group of people together to open this new church is also something that overwhelms me! It just stuns me! People from different races, backgrounds etc...all coming together to work for the good of the church... For the good of the body of Christ... In obedience to what scripture commands us... With great attitudes... Without bickering... In love, just looking for ways for each one to serve and contribute...

I have lived in different cities and attended different churches, but I have never seen the body of Christ come together to love and to serve like this! To all of our precious servants of God, I can't tell you how much I love you and appreciate you! You are the best!

More pictures to be posted later! (Sorry...it was pretty busy that day and I didn't get a chance to take some of the pictures that I would have wanted...) Thank you so much to those that sent pictures to us - especially Ron Columbo!

Dr. Martin Luther King

On August 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King gave what I think is the greatest speech of our time. I would like to encourage you to click on the link below and listen to the speech today in honor of Dr. King.

While you listen to his profound words, I would also ask that you read the words (transcribed on the web site page.

Please pay attention to the whole of the speech. In our fast food, drive through, microwave, rushed world, it is too easy to reduce his whole life to one speech and then to reduce that one speech to one sound bite. Pay particular attention to his words of wisdom about the destiny of people interlinked with others. (Hint: there will be more about that phrase in the near future!)
Praise God for what He is doing in our lives and our church! Thank you Dr. King for dedicating your life to others.

http://www.mlkonline.net/video-i-have-a-dream-speech.html

The loss of a truly great man of God

It is with great sadness that we receive the news of the passing of Joshua Weaver. Joshua had been our Worship Pastor at Shepherd of the Hills church in Porter Ranch for a number of years. In recent years, he had courageously fought battles with cancer as well as some other health issues.

Joshua had such a kind and gentle heart for people. You could not be around him for long without being completely impressed with his Christ-like heart and spirit. His incredible voice and giftedness as a worship leader was only part of what we will remember him for. There is so much more to tell you about him and the life he lived, but my words would never be adequate.

.

Joshua...we love you and we miss you greatly.

.

We know that because of his faith in Jesus Christ as Lord, Joshua has gone onto heaven where he is in the eternal presence of God...and we rejoice in that. As we now miss him, I ask you to please pray for his family and friends in this time of sorrow.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: 2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, 3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, 5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, 6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, 7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, 8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. 9 What does the worker gain from his toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on men.
11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

Prayerfully,

David

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you

Wow...I am so amazed at the kindness of so many people! I've been working on our new church plant in the Antelope Valley and have had to cut back teaching our Saturday night Bible study to once per month. After our Bible study this month, the class gave me the most awesome "going away" I could have imagined. There were cards and a plaque and even a money tree. I can't thank you all enough! The last seven years have been such a blessing to me. I know that I have to leave (or at least cut way back) at this point to plant this new church and it has been hard to face not being here for this ministry.

The kindness of everyone involved is greatly appreciated. I knew something was up when I kept seeing more and more people that I had not seen in a long time...but I had no idea as to what everyone was up to! Again, I can't thank you enough! You all have blessed me in such a meaningful way...
Praise God for each one of you!
Dave

The article that I first mentioned has been removed because I have not found confirmation of it's validity. Even the author of the article could not provide sufficient details (his reponse is mentioned in the comments section below...) I've researched it as much as I know how and cannot confirm it so it's been deleted...

Here is the rest of this post...


I'm not going to repeat the whole Bible Study now, but I pray that those of you that were there will take tonight's Bible study to heart. We really do need to stop being so lazy as Christians. In this country, we have it so easy that we take our relationship with God for granted.

Threre are 3,000 languages that do not have a Bible at all. We have it and we don't read it? That's crazy! The creator of the universe wrote an awesome life changing book to us and we are too lazy to read it? That's appalling.

These last few weeks, we have talked extensively about faith and completely trusting God. How can we really trust Him when we don't really know Him? We can get to know God much more intimately be reading His Word and spending time with Him on a regular basis. Yet, most of us are too busy to spend time with God. How can that be possible? Yet, I know it is possible because I am guilty of it all the time. I need the strengthening that can only come from Him. May we have the discipline to develop better habits and grow closer to God! May God bless you.

Our new church plants

Ok...it's been a long time since I posted anything. There is so much going on and so much information that needs to be shared with so many people...so I hope to begin posting frequently now.

God has continued to bless Shepherd of the Hills and the newest church plants. Shepherd of the Hills in Pasadena opened up on September 23rd with over 100 people attending! Shepherd of the Hills in Woodland Hills opened up on September 23rd with over 500 people attending! I am so excited about these newest churches and all that God is doing! May God continue to bless the ministries of our friends William Lee and Caleb Kaltenbach, the Pastors of these two churches and their staffs. I know how hard they are working and I would ask that you would please keep them in your prayers.

So, some of you may be wondering when we are going to open our church plant in Antelope Valley? Well, so am I! The one thing that we are waiting on is the hiring of the Lead Pastor for our church plant in South Central LA, since both churches are going to open on the same day. I do hear that we are close to hiring someone for that position, so we may have a time-line very soon. In the meantime, we having Life Groups that are off to a great start....and we will have several events to get us geared up for our grand opening. In fact, we will likely have some Sunday services on a smaller scale leading up to the grand opening.

Please keep us in your prayers as this is certainly an undertaking that is beyond anything that I could have ever dreamed of. Iam in awe of God and completely humbled by God's call.

Shepherd of the Hills - Antelope Valley

Dear Friends,

I have accepted a call to plant a new church in Lancaster/Palmdale, California. It is so exciting to see what God has done and continues to do at Shepherd of the Hills. We now have church plants and campuses at: Real Life church in Valencia, Discovery church in Simi Valley, Shepherd of the Hills Agua Dulce, As You Are church in Reseda, Shepherd of the Hills Westside in Brentwood and we are about to plant four more churches in the next 12 months.

The new campuses will be in Woodland Hills, Pasadena, South Central LA and Lancaster/Palmdale.

By the way, I will still be teaching the Saturday Night Adult Singles Bible Study at the Porter Ranch campus for quite a while (I would guess through early 2008).

I will chat more about this later, but I wanted to at least post the announcement for anyone who was not able to attend the Bible Study last night.