Have you had a refreshing car ride with a friend before?  I have a friend named Steve who my son and I were able to travel with just recently, this weekend in fact, and we had a really nice time together.  We were on an errand to pick up a trailer in Northern Cali that was gifted to me.  It’s use for the foreseeable future will be both this blog’s continuance and growth as well as another non-profit, findable at http://www.allnationsdm.org.  Having this RV, by the way, will be a huge blessing for the development of this blog to not just be encouragements in general for believers but much more of a place for stories about God’s people enjoying God, making Him known in Christ to the world, and demonstrating His love through reckless displays of His grace.  Huge thanks goes to my friend Matt Y.  I can’t imagine what this trailer will open in the way of living among people who are living out God’s call to go and make disciples.  My hope is to go and live for days on end among those I learn of who are recklessly following after Jesus here in California in particular.  My friend, Steve, plans to go to junior college campuses and teach local churches how to make disciples on junior college campuses, so some of my family’s and my trips could be to go and join him periodically.

Because of my business being a sole proprietorship, I can equip my team more and more every year to care for my clients more and more excellently while cutting back by maybe 1/3 of the time investment I currently have to free up time for GroundedGospel.com.  My hope would be to more and more spend my time documenting closer up glimpses into works of God’s Holy Spirit among and through His people in small to very large communities particularly around California.

Anyone who would like to point me to communities and works of God’s Spirit among and through His people, feel free to begin sending me initial stories and the contact info for point people.  I’d like this blog to more and more be a true story telling venue for the encouragement of both believers and non-believers to read challenging as well as edifying stories of God at work in one of the craziest and most exciting states in the United States and one of the most intense places to explore in the world.

Where was I this weekend?  Bolinas, CA believe it or not.  Been there?  It is a really special town with really cool people.  All around cool people, very interesting and definitely diving into life wherever they believe it should be attempted with full force.  There are a lot of artistic folks as well as very hang loose people, making their way in creative ways, wanting to know life with their bare toes and open eyes, feeling the sand and sea and cool North Coast breeze hitting them full-on.  Breathe it in and sing it out, Bolinas nearly kisses Stinson Beach, and yet she is a totally different town, far more special in my mind, and far more personal and local.  It’s peaceful and variant, the variety coming from all angles both of personalities and mystique.

This RV comes originally from a man who professes Jesus as His Savior and Lord.  He was a very generous man who showed compassion at various turns.  When we picked up the trailer, one of the neighbors told us about this man and how kind he had been to her.  The reason my wife and I were given the trailer was because of the kindness of this man and the kindness of one of this man’s friends, who is my friend.  My friend Matt Y showed this RV’s original owner real kindness and this man’s family decided to show Matt kindness by granting his request that this RV be given to me.  I’ve told everyone involved in making this available for my use, including Steve and his wife who are allowing my wife’s and my use of their truck in exchange for their use of our trailer… “This trailer’s purpose is for the display of God’s kindness but also to encounter those who are showing God’s kindness to others.”  My hope is to start out with a few key heroes I have in mind and work out from there.  One of the main things I’d like to do in the coming year is to go into the RV park in San Francisco and spend a week in the city.  I’d like to interview various church planters who are experiencing wild blessing from God.  Some churches one wouldn’t expect to explode are doing very well from what I understand.  I also want to dig for and interview folks carrying out Francis Chan’s hope in the Lord to plant churches in apartment buildings in the Tenderloin in the middle of San Francisco.  I’d love to record these interviews and make a personal mission to spread the impact of these church plants back here to Merced and around California.  It’s my personal belief in my prayer life before the Lord that He is going to use this vision to really impact California in the next four years – church plants in apartment complexes in poorer regions of the major cities of California.

Enjoy your evening, friends!

I’ve written enough for this evening.

Time to get my son fed and get to bed before it’s too late!

TMoe