This is either an update or an introduction to the ministry of Tim Lovegrove for you. Its also a reminder to pray for the millions of people in our own country that have never heard the gospel. Pray for Tim Lovegrove, pray that God will send you into such a ripe harvest.

COME OVER AND HELP US!

I recently climbed around in an abandoned mine shaft in Southern California's Mojave Desert. Tens of thousands of abandoned mines are scattered throughout California, remnants of the gold rush of 1849 and the mining frenzy that followed. The state of California even has an "Office of Mine Reclamation" to try to deal with hazards from these forsaken shafts.

Like these mines, many of Southern California's cities have been nearly abandoned by conservative, Christ-centered churches. Like the dark shafts of the abandoned mines, these cities present a serious spiritual hazard for the tens of thousands of people that are pouring in each month. Twenty million people already live here in a metropolitan area that is nearly as large as Massachusetts. Los Angeles County itself (one of 5 counties in metro Southern California) has a population greater than that of 42 states. Only eleven nations in the world have economies larger than that of L.A. County. You can find nearly any mission field here – from Arab-Americans and Mexicans to Germans and Chinese. For example, look at these numbers from L.A. County alone: 60,000 Asian Indians; 78,000 Vietnamese; 100,000 Guatemalans; 111,000 Japanese; 186,000 Koreans; 187,000 El Salvadorians; 260,000 Filipinos; 294,000 Chinese; and over three million Mexicans.

Southern California also has an impact around the world. Mexico lies right next door, a gateway to Latin America. Because of its location on the Pacific Rim, Los Angeles has close connections with the major Asian nations. Hollywood influences the world with television programming and movies. Southern California truly is a gateway to the world – a strategic place for ministry. The book of Acts shows that the early church prioritized just this kind of opportunity: strategic cities with broad impact.

Why then does Southern California lie abandoned by conservative, Christ-centered churches? Some may fear the city, California itself, or the rapidly changing ethnic mix. But surely Christ would call us to "lift up our eyes and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest." There is spiritual "mining" to be done! The gospel needs proclaimed; churches need to be planted; believers need to be discipled; men need to be trained for leadership; churches need to plant more churches. We've put together this brochure to challenge you to consider the needs and opportunities in Southern California and say to the Lord: "Here am I! Send me!"

The Lord brought Tim and Kristalyn Lovegrove to Southern California in October of 2003 to plant Grace Bible Church in Menifee. Menifee is a rapidly growing area in the eastern suburbs of metro Southern California. This church chartered in October of 2004 with 6 families as the first members.

God recently directed Bryan and Rebecca Brock to the "High Desert" area of Southern California, generally considered to be the outer growth ring of the Los Angeles area. The population of the Victor Valley is well over 300,000 and is growing rapidly. They are planting Life Point Baptist Church in Apple Valley, one of the key cities in the region. This will be the first Fundamental church in this city of over 60,000.

Both of these ministries are in the Inland Empire area of Southern California, which is expected to grow by 6 million people in the next decades. Our goal is to disciple faithful followers of Christ and build strong local churches. As God builds these two churches, our desire is to see many other churches planted across Southern California, from the beach towns to the high desert, from downtown Los Angeles to the sprawling suburbs of the Inland Empire.

Our two little churches are just a small part of what God is doing, and a small start toward the goal of church planting throughout the area. Other church planters are already preparing to come, and they will need team members too. Come to Southern California and help us! Do you know another language? Do you have a special desire to work with children; teens; college students; the military; senior citizens; abused women and children; recovering drug addicts or alcoholics; or homeless people? Do you enjoy music, art, reading, personal finance, sports, or a language? All of these provide wonderful opportunities for ministry in the city. Do you have experience in business, finance, law, or construction? You could be a great help to a young church. Whatever your gifts and interests, Southern California gives you endless opportunities to use them in reaching people for Christ and building the church. We would love to see a dynamic, Christ-centered church planting movement in Southern California. Will you ask God if he wants you to "come over and help us?"

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She was a prostitute. She sold her body to men for a living, and she was touching Jesus. Luke 7 paints a much-needed picture of forgiveness. The Pharisee thought Jesus was too dignified to get close to sin. The guests thought Jesus was too impotent to take it away. They didn't know that Jesus was about to smash the power of sin by carrying it on His shoulders. Sweet, simple forgiveness eluded them, this prostitute found it.

First, forgiveness changed her. Apparently, she had heard Jesus somewhere else and her sins were forgiven. She went out of her way to find Jesus, and brought something to give Him. She did not come to worship for what she could get. She came to give Jesus what she had--even if it was small. Her sin didn't stop her from coming either; Jesus accepts all kinds of horrible, wicked sinners.

Second, forgiveness affected her emotions. When she got close to Jesus, all she could do was cry. What a fascinating thing--truth driven emotion! It appears so often in Scripture and so rarely in churches. She didn't need throbbing rock music, 8 slow verses of "Just As I Am" or gory illustrations. She understood forgiveness. She was flooded with a river of grace. Every arrogant thought, every pride stained motive, every self-dependent day, every longing for the world--washed away with tsunami of mercy. Assumed forgiveness makes worship so dry. Forgiveness is not a mathematical formula that God punches into His divine calculator. Forgiveness is a person sitting in front of you whose flesh quivered underneath the nails. The blood gushing from His side is the river of mercy. Can the river flow through you without a tear drop of emotion?

Third, forgiveness forgets fear. As this woman found Jesus, she lost herself. A prostitute had the audacity to show Jesus public affection. She was weeping in front of a room full of people. She didn't care what they thought when she bent down and dried his feet. Dinner never even gets mentioned. It's hard to watch your sins flow away and care what other people think about you at the same time. Grace erodes our self-conscience. Tear-filled eyes only want to see Him. Worshiping and being aware of what people around you might be thinking are two different things.

Forgiveness overflows into worship. Nothing kills worship like self-righteousness. Loose your personal goodness and find Jesus. Stand at His feet until forgiveness is real. Allow the truth based tears flow onto His scarred feet. Let your intensity in worship match the immensity of forgiveness. This woman was forgiven. Angels, sinners, and prostitutes rejoice to this day. Pharisees have been offended ever since.

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Evangelicalism and fundamentalism as movements are gasping their last breath. For the most part, they've left their historic moorings, been sidetracked into foolishness and lost theological clarity. Phil Johnson described both movements succinctly and eloquently in his two workshops at Shepherd's Conference (if you haven't read them yet you can read them here) In my circles especially, his comments about fundamentalism have been all the buzz. But in all the hot-discussion, I think we're losing sight of the big picture. In my opinion, something bigger than the fundamentalist movement is going on here. The failure of fundamentalism and evangelicalism in our day has some important lessons for us.

First, movements aren't very helpful in making choices in theology and practice. Maybe there was a time when young guys could buy their movement's theology and practice hook, line and sinker without a problem. But we are definitely not living in those days. No movement, no circle has the corner on truth. It would be nice if the fundamentalist movement was wrong enough to reject completely or right enough to accept unquestioningly. So we're left to going back to Scripture to see what it says about each issue and wrestling through each question we have (Acts 17:11).

Second, movements fail because people fail. Movements are made up of imperfect people, which is why every movement ultimately fails. It seems like in this discussion about movements that we always assume that we will never make the same mistakes. The failures of fundamentalism/evangelicalism should sober us. We should be humbled that greater men with good hearts ended up obscuring the gospel with high-flying fads and secondary issues. It's insidiously dangerous to automatically assume that we won't do the same. (I Cor. 10:12)

Third, it's good to remember that it's not about movements. God never promised to preserve any movement. He did promise to guard, grow and guide His Church to the end of the age. Sometimes, (especially in the blogging world) it seems like we're more passionate about a movement and about topics, than we are for the Church that Christ gave His life for. (Eph. 5:26-7)

If all of this discussion doesn't give us more of a hunger to know God, a greater desire to study theology and more of a thirst for time spent on our knees--then we're missing the point of the whole controversy. Without Him, we will make the wrong decisions, lead people into error, and forget what really matters. I'm not saying that the discussions about movements is wrong or completely unnecessary. I'm also not arguing for some pious, pansy "Biblicist" middle ground on any of the issues involved. I'm simply asking that we remember and evaluate our priorities. In times like this, we desperately need the help of the Holy Spirit, wisdom, graciousness and biblical clarity. We need the courage to speak up and ask the hard questions. We need the guts to do what is best for our local churches regardless of what people think. This is why we need to redouble our efforts to know God and His Word. Martin Luther didn't find his rock solid convictions talking to his friends, he found them in the lifelong study and enjoyment of the Word.

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I was close to naming this entry "GloatFest 2005." I decided not to so my friends would still talk to me when I get back. For all of you already green with envy, don't read any further. This conference is awesome.
Gift: The conference gift this year is a Bulova watch with a genuine leather strap, retails for around 80-100 dollars from what I hear.
Food: There are little stations set up all over campus with food all day. Breakfast is bagels, donuts, fruit etc. etc. In between sessions there's other really good snack food to eat. Lunchs have been catered by local vendors--a buger joint and a chicken joint.
Coffee: There's a local coffee roaster that providing the coffee. I'm not much of a coffee snob, but it tastes like Starbucks. They also have the flavor shots if you want to change things up a little. There's also a little coffee shop truck that can make you a latte, or cappuccino if you want one.
Books: 17. Including, Stop Dating the Church, When I Don't Desire God, a couple of commentaries and really sweet real leather greek reader's lexicon.
Weather: It's been cold and rainy. (Doesn't that make you guys feel better? See, not everything's perfect.)

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It was a typical monday morning for me. I was worshiping God with about three thousand some, mostly white brothers in a large 1970's style auditorium. A large group of guys preparing for ministry in black suits sang the hymn "The Church's One Foundation," accompanied by the organ. We sang three hymns, with the organ of course. Then a guy with an opera voice sang the special music. Next, was one of the best sermons on seperation that I'd ever heard. Men like Robert Schuller, Billy Grahm and Rick Warren were called "wimps." The speaker spent fifteen minutes explaining how these men were the equivalent to "spiritual al Qaeda." Embedded terrorists blasting people into hell with themselves. The sermon was based on the text in Jude, "earnestly contend for the faith." When we walked outside, it was cold and rainy. No, I'm not Greenville. I'm in LA, at Sheperd's Conference, looking for differences.

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