The Salvation Army strives to help individuals where they are at and gets them to a better place.  That’s what the Lodi Culinary Arts Training Program does.  It helps individuals who are struggling with drug and alcohol addiction and it gives them a way out. It’s a place to learn the trade and skill to work in a kitchen and helps them get a job in a restaurant so that they can have a job that they can be proud of.  Not too many recovery programs have this kind of capability.  The Salvation Army Lodi program is a great way to help individuals in its area.

 

 

The Salvation Army responds to the disaster in the Philippines.  Typhoon Haiyan was the worse storm ever recorded to touch ground up to this point in history and it caused massive destruction to the Philippines.  We urge you to support The Salvation Army as we send required support teams, food, and aid to the islands.  It is only though you that we are able to help the people of the Philippines.  The Salvation Army has an amazing emergency disaster response team and the our presence can be seen in any natural disaster that occurs around the world.  Will you help us at this time as we respond?  Thank you for your generous support.

 

 

This is a short video asking some of the toughest questions that Christians face in the midst of tragedy.  “If there is a God, where was he when . . . ” Fill the blank in with any tragedy or natural disaster that has killed innocent people.  Often I find myself questioning my faith in the midst of tragedy and I wonder what “good” can possibly come from the bad that has happened.  At the end of the day we have to have faith.  We need faith that there is a God above that knows what is happening has complete control of the situation. However, I believe these tragedies are not caused by God because God is good and no evil comes from Him.  These can be very confusing things to non-Christians or people that are questioning the faith, but as a Christian, I urge you to have faith.  What are your thoughts on this matter?  How have you handled this type of questioning from others before?  We would love to hear from you.

 

This video covers UFC fighter, “Smooth” Benson Henderson.  He talks about how he “wears his faith on his sleeve” and that his faith is a driving force that gets him out of bed and to training.  I thought that this video was great because I’m a big proponent of hard work, and with hard work comes a pay out.  “Smooth” is able to see this first hand when his hard training converts into a victory in the Octagon.  We wish “Smooth” continued success in UFC and as a warrior of God.  Few are able to compete at that intensity and even fewer come away with their faith intact.  God speed “Smooth”.

 

 

Can we understand the complexity of the Creator of the universe?  That’s the question that is proposed by the young girl in this video.  While there’re a lot of ideas out there that says that we came from an initial impact, Christians believe that everything was created by a specific designer.  In my opinion, I believe in a sole creator.  The evidence is everywhere from the earth we live on, to the skies that are filled with millions of stars.  There are a lot of things we can not explain and as much as science continues to discover more and more about how things work, I believe we can be confident that a creator is responsible for where we came from.  What are your thoughts on this matter?  Did we have a creator that placed us here on this planet?  Feel free to comment.

 

This is a short video featuring a young boy talking about his experience with Christians.  This is a common theme among teenagers and finding faith is as hard as ever during this time in life.  Sometimes being “cool” means that you’re not Christian.  Does that relate to your walk at all?

 

The Open Air video follows a group of individuals into the heart of Los Angeles.  It follows Captain Bridgeo and Ray Comfort of Living Waters Ministries through LA to popular locations including Hollywood Blvd and Santa Monica’s 3rd Street Promenade.  Ray shows Captain Bridgeo how to lead Open Air Ministries and how to get comfortable while speaking to a crowd.  There is always an opportunity to witness and one way that we can witness is by having an open air type service.  It’s not just the ordained that can do this, each one of us has special gifts and talents and some may have the ability to speak.  Those with these talents should being sharing the Gospel and speaking of God’s power.  As Ray tells us, one service on the street can sometimes be more effective than a year in a church.  What is your response to The Open Air?  How can you help in the ministry of the Lord today?

 

This short video features a beautiful girl who is asked about going to church.  She explains a situation from her past where was shunned from her church community and labeled a harlot.  The one thing that we can not take out of the church are humans and humans make mistakes.  Unfortunately, there are many people with similar experiences.  Of course, this would dissuade anyone from having good feelings about attending a church and  I personally think that’s the biggest problem of church.  It becomes more about the people that fill it than about the Holy Spirit.  People are ostracized from church and are not given a chance because they are “different” and I personally think that needs to change.

After you watch this video what kind of response do you have in regards to hypocrites in the church.  Please feel free to respond as we would love to hear your feedback.

 

Here is a hysterical video that causes you to think about how you can take certain scripture readings or teachings too literal.  The story begins with a Christian listening to a sermon in church.  The sermon is mulling over in his mind as he leaves the service. However, he takes the sermon too literal and when he sees a group selling baked goods to sell in the courtyard of the church, he springs to action, causing a scene and tearing down all that is being sold.  The video ends with Jesus and a Senior soldier looking onto the scene.  The Senior soldier tells Jesus “Well you did do that.”  And Jesus replies with, “Slightly different context.”

This is important when we as believers are growing in our faith.  It is good for us to have faith and a proactive attitude in regards to our beliefs, but we need to be sure to keep things in perspective when we are doing things for the Lord.  Sometimes we can misinterpret what is said in the Bible and do more harm than good.  Take a look back into history and you can find that there were a lot of terrible things that have been done to humanity “In the Name of Lord”.  Unless we are cognizant of what we are doing then we can cause more harm than good.

This video takes giving to a whole another level.  That was the goal with the Rube Goldberg concept that was thought of, realized, and conceptualized by Brandon, Loren, and Chris Toy.  With the help of others, they were able to get a successful shot after 50 takes.   It was created using random objects that you could find under any Christmas tree during the holidays and placed in an intricate design.  A Rube Goldberg machine, contraption, invention, device, or apparatus (taken from wikipedia) is a deliberately over-engineered or overdone machine that performs a very simple task in a very complex fashion, usually including a chain reaction. The expression is named after American cartoonist and inventor Rube Goldberg (1883–1970).

By using the Rube Goldberg Machine we were are able to see how the simple “bell ringing” leads to the coin going into the ubiquitous Red Kettle.  Merry Christmas to all.  Isaiah 9:6 “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;  And the government will rest on His shoulders; And his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.”