New Blog Address

Hi there! If you happen to follow my blog, I am changing my blog address. I will no longer be posting from this site.

Please go to www.jayminor.com to follow me there. Thanks for even being interested!

sixteen years

November 22nd, 1993, around 11:00pm on a beach in Santa Monica, I committed my life to follow Jesus wherever he led me. I was baptized as a Christian and began this incredible journey that I have been on ever since. I am in awe of the love and patience that God has shown me over the years. I have no words for the excitement I feel right now about where he is taking me in the years to come.

I have a marriage now that I don't deserve and would never have been able to pull off without him. We recently celebrated our 19th anniversary. We've almost been married longer than we weren't. And we still like each other.

I have a teenage daughter who loves me and likes to be silly with me. And, she loves her mother like nothing I have ever seen.

I have a son who loves to create, who can't go to sleep at night unless I have tickled him, and who's favorite activity is to give me a "jump hug." That means he takes a running start from the other side of the house and jumps onto me at high velocity. I don't know how much longer my body can withstand the impact, but I'll do it as long as I can just to have that moment with him.

I have a great relationship with my parents that keeps getting better as the years go by.

Every day, in my job, I get to watch people's lives change as they fight for their relationship with God. I get to see miracles. I see marriages saved, families reunited, addictions overcome, inaccurate views of God made more clear, forgiveness granted and received, and the peace that transcends understanding. I get to see teenagers make real decisions to follow God and reject the lies that the world is feeding them. I get to see people learn to worship God with all of their heart and soul, and not just their mind.

Thank you to all of you have been my friends over the years, for the encouragement, the love that you have shown me, and the many times you have forgiven me for the ways I mess up.

Thank you, Father, for this gift of forgiveness, for a real sense of purpose, for this life that I could never have imagined for myself. I can't wait to see where we go next...

"...plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future..." Jeremiah 29:11

things are moving

I love it when God moves.

There is nothing quite like being witness to the Creator of the Universe when he is busy doing his thing. I have been amazed at the different stories I keep hearing about people who are excited about growing and changing. I'm really excited about Sunday when I get to share more about our trip and preach about where we see the church going.

We made some short videos of a few different story lines from our trip. I will use a few of them on Sunday. You can check them out at www.youtube.com/turningpointla.

I keep thinking of the lyrics from the bridge of "Hosanna" by Hillsong.

Heal my heart and make it clean
Open up my eyes to the things unseen
Show my how to love like you have loved me

Break my heart for what breaks yours
Everything I am for your kingdom's cause
As I go from earth into eternity

My heart says of you, "Seek his face!" Your face, LORD, I will seek. Psalms 27:8 (NIV)

Batman Begins

What a great weekend. We had such a great time at the marriage retreat. Our philosophy has always been that the strength of the retreat needs to come from the reminder of the gift of marriage,and the time away with our spouses, and not so much from the speakers or their message (although we love all the speakers we have had!). We proved that this weekend! It was a great time with everyone, and the spirit of the people who were there was so encouraging and healthy.

I love our church, and the people here. It is great to have been in the battle together for so many years, and to see the miracles that God has done. We always spend time in our Sunday worship service sharing about what God has taught us, and things we are grateful for about our spouse. Then we spend about an hour singing, praying and anyone who wants to can get up and share their favorite scripture. It is always amazing to hear how God directs the scriptures in a way that moves all of our hearts. It's great to be together. Plus, I just love the Mission Inn. What a great place.

I just got an email from Josue in El Salvador. We were praying for their special contribution yesterday that they would collect $9000. The church responded in such a great way to the call, and gave $10,200! I am so excited about what God is doing there.

Also, he told me that Armando (Batman) and his wife are coming over to the Ortega's house on Friday night to study the Bible. Also, Sandra is continuing to study with the singles ministry. Please keep praying for them.

Traci and I stayed an extra night at the Mission Inn, and had the best time talking about our family and different decisions that we are making about the changes we want to make in our lives. I can't wait.

And, my mom and dad get here this Saturday! They come every Thanksgiving, and it is one of my favorite times of year. Can't wait!

get into the flow

I am having the best week. I'm always aware that mountain-top experiences are often followed by a desert low. I'm not expecting them, I'm just aware of my patterns and I know that it is a possibility. So, I have been aware that the challenges could come at any time. Any time now...

In the meantime, I'm having such a blast. We had a great staff meeting today and talked about plans for how we can help our brothers and sisters in El Salvador. We also spent time dreaming about other mission plans we have for next year, and the years to come. Our new website is almost live, our live worship double album is set to be released in the next month or so, and our new book for young Christians is going to the publisher this week for final edits. Plus, 45 people have made the decision to follow Jesus in the Turning Point this year so far, with more to come before the end of the year.

It's a little humbling. I'm reminded of David's prayer in 2 Samuel 7:18-21 (NLT)...

"Who am I, O Sovereign LORD, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?...Do you deal with everyone this way, O Sovereigh LORD? What more can I say? You know what I am really like, Sovereign LORD. For the sake of your promise and according to your will, you have done all these great things and have shown them to me."

It makes me think about how much God wants to do with my life if I will just make myself available to him. Nichole Nordeman sings a great song called River God, about letting the flow of God's love smooth down our rough edges so we can become more useful for him. I want to be in that flow, letting God constantly refine me and grow me.

Getting in the flow, though, is a choice I have to make. You've heard the phrase "go with the flow." I'm not sure that's how it works with God. His flow is always flowing, always moving, but our choice is not about "going" with it. Our choice is more about "getting into" it. Many times, I find myself resisting what God wants to do in my life by not actively seeking him, or by allowing small, seemingly harmless sins to remain in my life. Then, I'm standing on the bank, watching the river go by, and wondering why life doesn't feel fulfilling. I have to make the choice to get into the flow so that I can be a part of what God is doing in the world and in my life.

So, now, I'm just trying to stay in the flow...

I'm also so excited about our fall marriage retreat. We have two retreats every year, one in April and one in November. The one in November is always in Riverside at the Mission Inn, which is one of my favorite places in the whole world. Unfortunately, John Mannel, who along with his wife Nancy, was supposed to be our guest speaker, lost his mother this week. So, the Mannels will not be able to be with us this time. So, Traci and I are preparing a last minute lesson for tomorrow. I'm actually really excited about it.

Please say a prayer for John & Nancy this weekend.

Also, please pray for the El Salvador church as they collect their special contribution on Sunday.

catching up

I think the adrenaline is finally wearing off. I spent the day catching up with people, emails and voice mails. It is good to get back into my every day ministry. I really started to feel fatigue setting in around the middle of the afternoon, though. I am mentally and spiritually excited, but physically I need to catch up.

I wrote a lot today in my journal about ideas and dreams I have for the church here. The needs around us every day are staggering. I got some emails from a sister in the church today about teenage prostitution and sex trafficking in the US. She had read my post about the prostitute that I encountered a couple of weeks ago. I was so saddened to feel the depth of hopelessness that people feel every day, and the traps that Satan has them in.

Then, there are the very real, intense issues facing the Christians in my ministry every day - the hurt, the disappointment, the brokenness that keeps people from experiencing God in the way he has intended.

It can all be quite overwhelming. I kept coming back to Luke 12. What a great chapter. I love vs 32-34 where he tells them to not be afraid, but to store up a treasure in heaven that will never fail. This whole week, I have been asking myself before any activity: will this time spent help to advance the Gospel? And if so, is it the most important one for me to do right now?

I am praying every day for wisdom. I am so grateful that God is expanding my heart and mind. I need to grow so much. There is an old hymn that says "There is much to do, there is work on every hand." I feel that way, and it could overwhelm me, but I know that God only expects me to do my part, and not his.

On another note, please pray for John and Nancy Mannell, elder in the East Region of the LA Church. His mother passed away today. She was 102, but loss like that is always difficult. They were supposed to speak at our marriage retreat this weekend, so we will have them come back either next April or next November. I know they would appreciate your prayers.

phase two

It seems strange to let a day go by now without blogging, so I felt compelled to write something tonight. I am so excited and moved. Tonight was our midweek service with the Turning Point, and I was so blown away by the hearts of our people. It is amazing to see God work, and I am so honored to serve this group full time.

Tonight, we had everyone from the El Salvador team get up and share about one of their favorite or most impacting moments, and what God had taught them. It was so moving to hear everyone's perspective. But the great thing was what God did among the church. I felt like I could feel their heart breaking, just like ours did while we were there. Afterwards, so many people approached me about wanting to go on the next trip, or wanting to donate money, or with a great idea about how to help.

A few people put money in my hand and said "send this." One sister was so moved by the story of the bathrooms at the school in Suchitoto that she donated $2000 right on the spot to go towards that project. Everyone was excited about Robyn Foyle's idea of "Lattes for El Salvador."

I can't wait to share more with the whole church on the 22nd and come up with some great ideas of how we can help. My goal is to come up with things that are sustainable and long lasting, rather than short bursts of emotion

It's moments like this that I really, really love what I do. I love seeing God open up my eyes, and other people's eyes, to things that seem so obvious. I love that he is so patient with me and doesn't get irritated with me because I don't see things quickly. I love being able to see the process, when I look back over the last few years. I love the thought of where this is going to go.

This sounds like such a cliche, but everything feels different these last few days. My gym, my neighborhood, my house - everything feels different. Ministry situations that have already come up since I have been home - I have such a calmer, more patient spirit about them, because my perspective is so different. I am excited about leading this church to be more aggressive about making money so they can help more people. I am excited about calling them to a new level of sacrifice. I am excited about making changes in my own life to maximize my efforts so that I can be more productive for God.

I have a deep desire to be a better steward of everything I have - my money, my car, my house, my office, my desk, my computer, my clothes, my health. I don't want to become ungrateful, and I am begging for God to help me keep my heart soft.

Now, though, I am going to go to bed and get some rest.