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NEWSLETTER
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April 2010 |
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 Easter and New Birth
I hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend. I experienced my home church's services at Sunrise Church in Rialto and also joined our daughter, Amy, at her home church at Anaheim Stadium where Saddleback Church celebrated 30 years of ministry. This Easter, many have become new members of the family of God. They have experienced their new birth in Christ. Hundreds made commitments  across our region, and we would like to hear your stories. Please write to us about your Easter experiences at cbministries@cbasc.com.
I also have some great news about another new birth. I have entered the world of grandparenting! On St Patrick's Day, March 17, my daughter Emily Greenwood, gave birth to a 9 lb 2 oz, 21-inch little boy named Jackson Nicholas Greenwood. Mommy had to have an emergency C-section and Jackson had to stay in the hospital for 10 days before he went home, but now he is home with mom, and dad Nick, and doing well. We had a great time watching him enjoy his first Easter and also his first Earthquake all on the same day.
Have a great week and enjoy reading our newsletter.
Jim Smith
Executive Director
CB Southern California |
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We've Moved
Laura Harder, CBSC's Administrative Assistant, and SAHCC Student Ministries Pastor Matt School work at getting the internet up and running at the new offices. During the last few days of March, we had our own March Madness as we moved from our rented offices in Rancho Cucamonga to San Antonio Heights Community Church near Upland. We were looking for ways to save money, and our sincere thanks go to Pastor Chuck McCament for offering space for us to moved into his  church facilities. Jim packed up his library and moved part of it to his home. Neva, Ed, Laura and Jim appreciated the extra help from Ed and "Bill" from Hope Again, and personal friends Nate Trujillo and Bill Golsch, who moved tons of files, cabinets, books and desks. We took most of the week before Easter to move in and will probably take part of the first week of April to get set up. Part of our computer network is in Upland and part will be at Pine Summit.
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New CBSC Contact Information
We have moved our CB Southern California office to San Antonio Heights Community Church in Upland. Our new contact information is as follows:
 Phone Number remains the same: 909.944.5900
New Fax: (909) 982-2814. We are sharing the fax with the church - so please note: Call prior to sending confidential faxes. Thanks!
New Mailing Address :
CB Southern California
PO Box 1652
Upland, CA 91785-1652
New Physical Address for your GPS:
2520 North Euclid Avenue, Upland, CA 91784
Web Site & Email remain the same:
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Successful Annual Meeting
 Pastor Dave Metzger, from Lakehills Community Church in Lake Elsinore, said this was the best annual meeting he's been to in years. Filled with practical seminars and informative stories from Pastors Rick Klug, Chris Gillespie and Gene Wood, many benefited from their time at Grace on March 7. About 200 enjoyed the seminars, meals, fellowship, and time together. Rick Miller from Missions Door gave us an update on the work in Haiti, Ross Lokken shared about the great work of Hope Again in Hollywood and we voted on three new board members: Rolman Mazariegos from Calvary Baptist in Santa Barbara, Sam Petitfils from Sunrise Church in Rialto, and Pol Pili from Fil-Am Church in Long Beach.
Farewell to Tony
 We also said farewell to Dr. Tony Pezzotta and his wife, Zita, who will retire after this summer and move with their son and daughter-in-law to the Denver area. We will miss them. Tony has been a crucial part of our CB ministries as our Ethnic Director. His mastery of seven different languages and history as a former Catholic priest, among many other qualifications, will make his departure greatly felt. We appreciate all Tony has meant to so many people and churches around Southern California. The standing ovation at the Annual Meeting spoke volumes to Tony and Zita. Thank you!
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Mission Hills Calls New Pastor
 Mission Hills Church called Brian Anderson to be their new Senior Pastor. Their search process, which began in August of 2009, concluded this past month. They received over 320 applicants and yet it was from a personal reference that they found Brian. He has a history degree from UCLA, mentored under John Stott at The London Institute of Contemporary Christianity, graduated from the Talbot School of Theology, and served in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he met his wife of 17 years, Geraldine. They have four children, Cami (13), Tomas (9), Nicolas (7), and Delfina (4). Brian served previously as Senior Pastor at Lake Hills Community Church in Laguna Hills and Assistant Pastor at The Crossing Church in Costa Mesa, prior to coming to Mission Hills. Congratulations to MHC and to Brian and his family.
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 Pine Summit
Jim Smith and Ed Reingrover are now making their way up to Big Bear Lake once a week to lead and assist the staff at Pine Summit. They are a great staff and doing well in spite of the increased workload due to our budget cuts. Many groups come to enjoy our camp and the summer months are booked solid. Finances are still very tight, but by the Lord's grace, we are making it. We are still looking for interested buyers for the camp and have been in conversation with a few interested parties.
Voluteer Work Days
Saturday, May 22
 We need your help. Free lodging and food! All we need are volunteers to come up for a day, Saturday May 22, and help us get ready for the summer months. We are booked solid throughout the summer and the winter storms have left much to clean up and repair around camp--like downed trees and brush removal, pine needle and trash clean up, painting, and special projects. Soon the snow will disappear (there are still places that are two feet deep in snow) and we need your help. Free meals and Friday night A-frame dorm accomodations are available.
Also during April and May, if you would like to volunteer during the weekdays sometime this spring, call Pine Summit to plan a special day to come on up to the mountains to work. Please call to let us know that you are planning to come so we can have enough food for your group: 909.866.5801.
Summer Jobs at Pine Summit
 This summer we are hiring college students to work at camp from May 24 - August 18, or whatever time they must leave to get back to school. Applications may be found on our Pine Summit website. If you can help us get the word out about this opportunity, please print this poster and put it in a visible spot in your school, church or other appropriate location.
 Men's Retreat
May 14-16
Sign up now. You can get more information on our website at www.cbasc.com, or call or email Vickie Alderson at Pine Summit: 909.866.5801 - vicki.alderson@pinesummit.com, or call Laura at our office in Upland at 909.944.5900. You won't want to miss it. Our guest speaker will be Jay Pankratz, Senior pastor of Sunrise Church in Rialto. Jay has been at Sunrise for over 20 years and has seen God bless the church as it has grown from 400 to over 5,000, not including the multiple sites and church plants. Gregory Hooper and his band will again lead our music. Come hear Jay share from his heart on the importance of being a godly man. Enjoy additional seminars, good food, good clean competition, the mountain beauty and some rest. Cost is $99 for the dorms and $155 for deluxe housing. Online payment is also available (additional $5 service charge). We will also have a fall men's retreat, October 15-17, featuring Dr. Brent Garrison, President of Southwestern College in Phoenix, AZ.
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 To Save A Life
Congratulations to Youth Pastor and writer Jim Britts; Assistant Pastor and Producer Steve Foster; Senior Pastor and encourager, Hal Seed; and other staff members for making this movie idea become a reality. Produced by New Song Pictures, part of New Song Church in Oceanside, this indepedent movie made $2,496,508 with limited screenings.
Movie Event Package 10% Discount
Now that To Save A Life is out of theaters in most areas, you can show it to your church before it's even out on DVD with a Movie Event Package! Outreach is the exclusive provider of public licenses for To Save A Life (it will not be covered by CVLI), so even when To Save A Life comes out on DVD you'll need to get a title-specific license. As a CB church, New Song would like to help get the word out and are able to offer a 10% discount using this code: TSAL1CB. For most churches, the cost is $299 before the discount. Contact Outreach for more information at Outreach.com.
Church Friendly Version
 Some felt that some families may be concerned with seeing certain content in To Save A Life at a church. With a desire to keep the reality of the film without sacrificing the story, they have developed a version of the movie with a decreased amount of bad language, a shortened bedroom scene and removal of more than half of the cutting scene.
The party scenes have been left as is and some bad language remains, but only where it was absolutely necessary for the story line or where editing it out would have created a noticeable gap in the flow of the movie.
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Walk of Hope
 Hope Again is having their annual Walk of Hope fundraiser on Saturday, April 24, 2010. The event starts at 9:00 a.m. at Hope International Church: 4903 Fountain Avenue (corner of Fountain and Edgemont), Los Angeles, CA 90029. Parking is on the streets and one small lot close by. You may gather sponsors on a sponsor sheet that is available on Hope Again's website. Come walk in Hollywood. Bring a bag of groceries for our food closet. Be sure to bring your total sponsor money. Be on time - don't miss the fun! Questions? Call 323-661-4004. If you can't walk, you may make a donation through Jim Smith, who is a member of Hope Again's Board and will be walking on April 24. You may send a check to CBSC made out to Hope Again and Jim will make sure it gets to them or donate online.
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Day of Prayer
Thursday, May 6, is the National Day of Prayer.  Shirley Dobson, the Chairman of the NDP Task Force, says of the day, "I believe it is imperative that God's people come together to pray for our nation. The critical challenges facing America and the culture at large call for faithful, persevering intercession - not only on the National Day of Prayer, but throughout the year. . . . As Martin Luther once said, 'Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance, but laying hold of His willingness.'"
To learn about the National Day of Prayer, check out the website at www.ndptf.org. And let's together make our hearts and hopes heard in the presence of the Lord on May 6 and throughout 2010. It may be the most important thing we do for our country and her people this year.
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A great story from our CB Chaplaincy
 Al Russell is our CB Chaplaincy Director. Recently, he spent time with a chaplain who had just returned from Afghanistan.
Gordon was one of our chaplains at the Forward Operating Base (FOB) near the city of Mosul in Northern Iraq (old Nineveh ). He had a lot of dealings with the local merchants while getting supplies for their ministry. He began to build a relationship with a very large, important business man in that city and their friendship grew. One day, this man invited Gordon to tea. After all the opening formalities were finished, the man looked at Gordon and asked him "tell me the story." Gordon wasn't sure what the man meant and replied, "I know a lot of stories. Which one do you want to hear?" The reply caught Gordon off guard. He wanted to hear the story of the man who bled.
Gordon thought for a bit, then told the story of Jesus, starting from his praying in the Garden where Jesus' sweat fell as great drops of blood. He told of the whipping, the beating with sticks and the crown of thorns. He described the nails being driven into Jesus' hands and feet and then the final act of the centurion piercing the side of Jesus with his spear. He then shared the verse from 1 John 1:7, "But if we are living in the light of God's presence, just as Christ is, then we have fellowship with each other, and the
blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from every sin." The businessman said he  loved this story and that he was a follower of Jesus. He said in that region of Iraq, many are Christians, but are severely persecuted for their faith. They are afraid to openly share their faith so they have devised a way to let others know they are followers of Jesus. He pulled a red glass stone from his pocket and said when they buy things and take coins from their pocket, they include the red stone for others to see. That lets others know they are believers. How do you share your faith with others?
If your church would like to send care packages to any of the chaplains, contact Al Russell by phone at 218-776-2813 or e-mail him at chapruss@earthlink.net. Please remember to pray for the CBAmerica chaplains and their families.
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Easter 2011
April 24
Q. Why isn't Easter on the same date every year - like Christmas, for instance?
A. The short answer is that in the 4th century it was decided that Easter would fall after the first full moon following the vernal or spring equinox.
A more detailed answer would be this: We know from the New Testament that Jesus' death and resurrection happened around the time of the Jewish feast of Passover. According to Matthew, Mark and Luke's Gospels, the last meal Jesus shared with his disciples was a Passover meal, while John's Gospel says that Jesus died on the feast of Passover itself. In those days, the Jews celebrated Passover on the "14th day of the first month" in accordance with the Bible's commands (see Lev. 23:5, Num. 28:16, Josh. 5:11). The months of the Jewish calendar each began at new moon, so the 14th day would be the day of the full moon. The first month, Nisan, was the month that began from the spring new moon. In other words, the Passover was celebrated on the first full moon following the vernal equinox and was therefore a movable feast.
Early sources tell us that this very soon led to Christians in different parts of the world celebrating Easter on different dates. As early as the end of the 2nd century, some churches were celebrating Easter on the day of Passover itself, whether it was a Sunday or not, while others would celebrate it on the Sunday that followed it. By the end of the 4th century there were four different methods of calculating the date of Easter. In the year 325, the Council of Nicaea attempted to bring in a unified solution that would retain the link with the date of Passover as celebrated in Jesus' time. Eventually, therefore, Easter's date was established as movable.
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Thanks for your support of CB Southern California. |
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