On April 15 Grace Lutheran Church will ordain and install their new Pastor John Bombaro. We welcome you to the neighborhood.
3993 Park Blvd. San Diego, CA 92103
Phone: (619) 299-2890
FAX: (619) 295-4472
Friday, March 30, 2007
A New Pastor Moves in to the Neighborhood
Thursday, March 29, 2007
First Church of the Brethren, San Diego
VIETNAM VETERAN at the First Church of the Brethren, San Diego, 3850 Westgate Place, (619) 262-1988. At 7 p.m. Monday, April 2, the Vietnam Veteran and peace activist, Brian Willson, will speak about his life
and his never-ending commitment to peace.House2House Magazine Issue 10
click on picture above to enlarge for readingclick below for a link to Church Multiplication Associates (CMA)
Polls Show 20-Year Changes on Social Issues
Twenty years of polling data from the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press shows shifts in Americans' views on social issues - including increasing acceptance of homosexuality among evangelicals. For example, in 1987, 73% of white evangelical Protestants agreed that school boards should have the right to fire homosexual teachers; in 2007 only 42% agree.Section 4 of the full survey report covers public opinion about religion and social issues.
Download the full report (PDF)
Read a summary of the report
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Catfish Club on Friday at Noon
“Failing America
Kathleen Kennedy Townsend
Catfish Club
Friday, March 30th – 12 noon
San Diego Hall of Champions
Kathleen Kennedy Townsend asserts that many of
Kathleen Kennedy Townsend was Lt. Governor of
Seating for the Event is Limited
RSVP@CatfishClub.
$15 Non-Member Luncheon
Street Angels
Be a part of helping homeless teens in San Diego.Assemble and hand out backpacks full of essential items to kids living on the streets in Ocean Beach or downtown. If you are interested in coming be sure to email Elizabeth (elizabeth@missiongathering.com ) for the details. Also please consider committing to support Street Angels with backpacks and supplies on a monthly basis. These backpacks get handed out fast so we always appreciate whatever you can give to help this ministry continue.
Next Street Angels outing is: Saturday, March 31th.
If you’re interested in assembling backpacks be at the Missiongathering office at 3:30pm. We’ll head to OB at 4:00pm to hand out the backpacks.
UPDATE: MORE DETAILS EMERGE ON DEATH OF NIGERIAN TEACHER
Source: Compass Direct News
Christianah Oluwatoyin Oluwasesin, a Christian female Nigerian schoolteacher at the Government Secondary School of Gandu in northern
Aluke Musa Yila, a fellow teacher at the school, reported that Oluwasesin had collected papers, books and bags before an exam in accordance with school procedures to prevent cheating. “Soon after the bags collected by 
Oluwasesin were dropped in front of the class, one of the girls in the class began to cry,” Musa said. “She told her colleagues that she had a copy of the Koran in her bag, that Oluwasesin touched the bag, and that by doing so she had desecrated the Koran since she was a Christian.”
Despite Musa and the school principal’s best efforts to protect Oluwasesin in inner offices, a growing group of rioters broke in and dragged her outside. Repeated efforts by a teacher known only as Kabiru and the school principal to protect her were overcome by the attackers’ efforts.
“The principal succeeded in getting Oluwasesin up to the school gate,” Musa said. “There was a house near the gate, and he dragged her into the house, but the rioting Muslims went into the house and dragged her out again. This time, they clubbed her to death, brought old mats and placed dirt on her corpse, and then burned the body.”
Oluwasesin was the mother of two children. The day of her death would have been her last day on the job as she was slated to join her husband in another town where he had taken a new job.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Knowing Christ today—but He’s not like what you think
Confessions of a Greater Jesus
Knowing Christ today—
but He’s not like what you think
· To get to know someone, anyone, it’s important we learn about their past—what they were like and what they did. But what is more important is what they are like and doing today. Why? Because people change. Something similar is true if we really want to know Jesus as He is today. (The immutability of his Personhood, notwithstanding—Hebrews 13:8).
· The fact is, no longer is Jesus the earth-bound, historical Jesus we have learned to know and love. No longer is He the sleeping baby in the manger we celebrate every Christmas, or the boy who played in Galilee, or the man they hung at Calvary, or even the lamb who died for you and me. No, He’s not like that anymore.
· The only place to find out about what Jesus is really like today is to the greatly misunderstood and abused book of Revelation. Here, in the Bible’s last book, Jesus is unveiled in his present, exalted, glorified, and transfigured reality. And we can discover some amazing things about Him, such as: He looks differently than we picture Him; He’s not just sitting up in Heaven waiting to come back; He’s in our midst all around the globe in the realm of the spirit; And He comes and goes in and out of the spirit realm in many, different, and wondrous ways; He rides a horse; He fights against people in the world and in the church; He conquers some awesome creatures; He hosts a banquet; He judges people and nations; He lives in a new earthly city; and He wants you and me to enter and reign with Him on earth, here and now. This is the living, active, and contemporary Christ—a greater Jesus—Who is in the world today and functioning in a much greater and broader capacity than we have been led to believe.
· Unfortunately, the book of Revelation confuses most readers. Yet its first five words make it clear that the book’s purpose is to reveal Jesus Christ, and not to satisfy our intellectual curiosity about distant, future events. It’s “the revelation of Jesus Christ.” The Greek word translated “revelation” is apokalypsis, which simply means an “unveiling” or “uncovering.” Hence, the Bible’s last book unveils Jesus in his present, resurrected, ascended, glorified, and transfigured form. It further details his past, present, and future activities—i.e., his involvement and interactions with humankind and spirit-realm beings around the world.
· Mistakenly, most current teachings on the Revelation focus on Satan and his cohorts and what they are supposedly going to be doing to our world at some future date. No wonder people are frightened by this book and have missed its stated purpose. They also miss out on its seven promised blessings in this life. No more. In John Noē’s new breakthrough book, readers will discover that the Jesus we thought we knew is a much greater Jesus than most have been led to believe, as we come to know and more greatly appreciate the present reality of the contemporary Christ and his many countless comings.
Contact the author John Noe at jnoe@prophecyrefi.org
San Diego goes to Kazakhstan
prayer request:
Kazakhstan Teaching Trip 2007
Thank you for your prayers!
It has been sometime since I traveled 24 hours to get somewhere. The travel is difficult, especially when you fly coach, but that is part of the calling to take the whole word to the whole world. Arriving to find Dr. Tim Dailey waiting, and seeing Dr. Kim Sam-Seong and Dr. Joshua Reichard (that’s right, he just completed his doctorate) later in the week made the trip sweet.
Arriving on Sunday morning, I had a bit of time to rest, and then enjoyed the Sunday evening service where Dr. Tim preached from Genesis 22, on the sacrifice it takes to walk in obedience to Christ. It was excellent, and the response to the message was wonderful, and several renewed their commitment to Christ and others made first time decisions for Christ.
Many things have changed in strategy since my last time of teaching here. For example, the graduate program for missionaries has moved to Turkey, due to greater accessibility for the students. Further, we are beginning this year to have 1-3 year programs in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and other surrounding nations, for the ease of travel and to lower cost. Many of the teachers for these programs have been raised up in the seminar program here in Kazakhstan, and are now being released to disciples others in their lands...and so it goes, with a focus on church extension and planting all along the Silk Road.
This semester the teaching team consisted of just the three of us. This gave all of us a much harder load, but God was gracious. I had the privilege of teaching leadership from my book Visionary Leadership (which is in final edit for the new edition) and Environmental Analysis, based upon Dr. Patricia Hulsey’s wonderful book by the same name. Dr. Dailey taught on Spiritual Warfare, and Dr. Reichard taught on the Book of John. The students were and are so very receptive, and thanks to the leadership of Dr. Kim Sam-Seong and his team, the two weeks of intensive teaching has been exciting and productive. A final highlight to the week was the pledge made by Dr. Kim on behalf of his ministry to help us with a substantial donation to help us with our accreditation, which will help our international partners when achieved. Praise the Lord!
Your’s in Christ; Dr. Stan DeKoven
Monday, March 26, 2007
Do you believe the world will come to an end? If so, where, when and what will it look like?
FROM THE PANEL
Second Coming or Third?
In Augustine's view, the Second Coming had already occurred at the first Pentecost.
Paula Fredriksen, Author and Aurelio Professor of Scripture, Boston University |
5 COMMENTSMar 26, 2007 at 1:36 PM
The Question Is Not If the World Will End, But How?
The Jewish Sages have taught that humanity has a choice.
Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, Founder, The Israel Institute for Talmudic Publications | 18 COMMENTSMar 26, 2007 at 9:57 AM
End of the World or End of Time?
Belief in the Earth's end and a divine reckoning with humanity don't necessarily cancel each other out.
Gustav Niebuhr, Director of the Religion & Society Program, Syracuse University | 4 COMMENTSMar 26, 2007 at 8:05 AM
Apocalyse Now
The idea that human beings can predict when, where and how the world will end is arrogant and unfaithful.
Rev. Dr. Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite, President, Chicago Theological Seminary | 157 COMMENTSMar 25, 2007 at 10:20 AM
Who's Afraid of the End of the World?
One person's "truth claim" is another's page in a textbook of clinical psychological disorders, and belief in the Rapture end-of-the-world scenario offers an excellent example of the latter.
Susan Jacoby, Author and reporter | 273 COMMENTSMar 25, 2007 at 9:52 AM
Before and After
The world is a beautiful and wondrous place. To think of the ultimateness of its end requires a fearsome act of imagination.
James Anderson, Co-founder, Alban Institute | 16 COMMENTSMar 23, 2007 at 10:51 AM
"The World" Means What?
The idea that “the end of the world” is the consummation of a divine plan for the earth is due to a bad translation in the King James Version of the Bible.
John Dominic Crossan, Lecturer and professor emeritus, DePaul University | 40 COMMENTSMar 23, 2007 at 9:37 AM
At World's End, Restoration and Judgment
Not to believe that there will be a time for the reckoning of all accounts, for the consummation of history as we know it, is not to believe in a just God.
Charles "Chuck" Colson, Founder, Prison Fellowship ministry | 64 COMMENTSMar 23, 2007 at 8:40 AM
Not Even "The Angels" Know
The idea that we are living in the latter period of the world’s history is a repeated theme in Mormon doctrine.
Michael Otterson, Media relations director, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints | 145 COMMENTSMar 23, 2007 at 7:16 AM
We've Got the Whole World In Our Hands
I’ve wondered if the phenomenon of global warming will bring on the kind of apocalypticism described in the book of Revelation.
Randall Balmer, Columbia University professor, author | 28 COMMENTSMar 22, 2007 at 10:36 AM
Not With a Bang but a Whimper
Which position I favor varies from day to day depending on my own psyche and what I read in the morning newspaper.
Thomas J. Reese, S.J., Rev. Thomas J. Reese, senior fellow Woodstock Theological Center, Jesuit priest | 28 COMMENTSMar 22, 2007 at 9:53 AM
World Without End, Amen
The "world" will not end. It will be transformed, even re-created.
Cal Thomas, Syndicated political columnist | 91 COMMENTSMar 22, 2007 at 8:09 AM
Entropy, Apocalypse and All That Jazz
I see no harm in adding a touch of religious imagery to science.
Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo, Director, Research Center for Religion in Society and Culture | 11 COMMENTSMar 22, 2007 at 7:37 AM
Focus on the Here, Not the Hereafter
We had better do as well as we can, and behave as morally and ethically as we can, and not worry about the end of the world.
Julia Neuberger, Chair, Commission on the Future of Volunteering in England | 13 COMMENTSMar 21, 2007 at 8:43 AM
Read the Book; You'll Know How it Ends
The idea that to get salvation you need to go to heaven -- rather than that salvation is a gift which comes from heaven to embrace earth -- results in misreadings of key texts.
Nicholas T. Wright, Anglican Bishop of Durham, England | 48 COMMENTSMar 21, 2007 at 7:39 AM
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Book: Desperate Pastors' Wives
Metropolitan Editor Writes The Book On Lives Of ‘Desperate Pastors’ Wives
A compelling story of desperate housewives may be a novel innovation for television, but it’s always been a good story for a novel. The novelty in publishing is to defy genre, and a new specimen is “Desperate Pastors’ Wives” by Ginger Kolbaba and Christy Scannell, associate editor of San Diego Metropolitan and North Park News.
With a title like that, is it Christian literature or chicklit? “Our book falls into the genre they call sassy lit,” says Scannell. “But it’s women’s fiction. It’s about four women dealing with losing faith, feeling like their husbands don’t love them anymore, being torn between caring for a family and their profession and feeling like they have too much going on in their lives.”
Scannell says the book will appeal to anyone who goes to church, and Christians are big book buyers. “That’s why all the big publishing houses have either bought or started Christian book publishers,” she says.
Simon & Schuster bought the book’s publisher, Howard Books, last year. But Kolbaba and Scannell have no desperate stories of having to wait. While both are editors (collaborating by e-mail while living in different states), “Desperate Pastors’ Wives” was their first tome and they made their first sale on their first pitch to their first publisher.
“We marched in, never having written fiction in our lives, but we knew the editors and heard they were looking for fiction,” says Scannell. “It’s very unusual — it’s almost embarrassing.” More embarrassment may follow; 3,000 copies have been presold in a niche where 15,000 would be a huge success. And the book is the first in a three-book deal already inked with Howard.
Neither Kolbaba nor Scannell is a pastor’s wife. But Scannell guarantees pastors’ wives will be entertained. “Desperate Pastors’ Wives” ($12.95, 320pp.) ships March 20.
— Terence J. Burke
The Neil Good Day Center, a homeless-services facility in East Village
Imposing conditions
Has city obligated itself to fund $100,000 study of an East Village homeless center?
by Kelly Davis
As program manager of the Neil Good Day Center, a homeless-services facility in East Village, it’s Brad Simmons’ job to make sure the center’s reputation is clean—that means no loitering outside the gates, no drugs or alcohol on the premises and at least three times a day, a small crew of volunteers from the center don fluorescent-yellow vests and walk the three blocks north to south and two blocks west to east around the center. There’s a dumpster overfilled with trash bags in the day center’s small parking lot to prove the crew’s industry.
“I don’t know of any other social-service agencies that have to put people in yellow vests and send them down the block,” Simmons says. “I don’t agree with it, but we do it.”
The Neil Good Day Center, which opened in 1991, is a city operation, a place where homeless individuals can go to take a shower, pick up their mail, get help finding a job, housing or drug-treatment or take a GED class—or just get off the street for awhile. The city contracts with the Alpha Project, the nonprofit that operates the city’s winter homeless shelter, to run the center. Federal grant money, $400,000 a year, funds the operation. Simmons estimates that since January 2005, roughly 9,000 individuals have come there for services.
Read the whole storyEscape from Nigeria
A story of love, war, faith
March 25, 2007
I'd heard about Jim's passing, then saw it on the obit page of the Northbrook Star.
The facts were there: World War II veteran ... financial adviser ... Northbrook resident for 47 years. ... But the obit didn't begin to capture who James H. Wolter was to this African immigrant. I believe I am alive today because Jim and a handful of folks believed they as individuals could change the lives of one refugee family.
It was summer 1968, and my father, a young Igbo (Ee-bo) Nigerian who had left his wife and six children at home for a chance at a better life through a college education in the United States, was studying business administration at Northwestern University.
Friday, March 23, 2007
City Heights Feature Ministry
World Impact began its ministry in San Diego in 1973 with a small staff of volunteers. Our full-time staff was established in 1975 when the first staff home was purchased. Today there are ten full-time staff living in southeast San Diego and City Heights. Our ministry center is in southeast San Diego, located at 4092 Newton Ave. This building is used for our local offices, our San Diego satellite for The Urban Ministry Institute (TUMI), as well as for church services for one of our established church-plants, Inner-City Christian Fellowship.
Having worked in several areas of San Diego, including San Ysidro, East San Diego, and Linda Vista, we are currently focusing our efforts in City Heights. City Heights is located east of Interstate 15 between University Ave. and El Cajon Blvd. In this highly multi-cultural community the world has literally come to our doorstep. According to the 2000 census, 44% of City Heights’ population is foreign-born, with residents immigrating from more than 60 countries, speaking more than 40 different languages and dialects. Because of such diversity, there are numerous social service agencies assisting immigrants in assimilating to American culture. Our focus is in helping to meet the spiritual needs of the community through church-planting. Along with the cultural diversity of City Heights comes great religious diversity, as well. Islam, Buddhism, Mormonism, and Jehovah’s Witness, each have a strong presence in the community.
With City Heights being such a large community, we have concentrated our efforts in an area that is 11x3 blocks between Euclid Ave. and 54th St. Our prayer is that through a clear communication of the Gospel of Jesus Christ a church will be established in City Heights that is dedicated to building a body of believers that consists of true worshipers, who own the vision to plant other churches and is shepherded by godly men and women. Our ministry in the community takes many different forms, some of which include door-to-door evangelism, teaching English as a Second Language, small group bible studies, kids/teen clubs, as well as a regular Celebration in the Park, where we gather to worship, teach God’s word, and fellowship together.
Want to learn more? Volunteer opportunities are available. Maybe you’re not sure what you have to offer. We welcome inquiries and would love to share with you what God is doing in City Heights and explore where He may be leading you to get involved.
Jerry Zeller - Director
1047 S. 39th Street
San Diego, CA 92113
tel: (619) 263-3563
National Day of Prayer is Thursday, May 3, 2007
North Park - Evening Concert of Prayer - 7:00 - 8:30 PM
Host - Covenant Presbyterian Church (with Good Shepherd Sudanese Church, Maranatha Ethiopian Church, Missiongathering, North Park Baptist Church, North Park Christian Fellowship, North Park Community Church, St. Luke's Episcopal Church, and The F.O.L.D.)
Location - North Park Recreation Center Gymnasium, 4044 Idaho St., SD 92104 - Map
For more information on how you and your assembly might participate please contact - call 619-563-0560 or email Pastor Dave Fenska
The Rebirth of Venus
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