cb web site

July 2011

CB Southern California

conservative baptist association of southern california

Attitude Adjustment
backpackI forgot my backpack. I usually put my important stuff while traveling in my backpack, like my camera, books, reading glasses, umbrellas, travel documents, iphone charge cord, toiletries and a few extra clothes. Lose my suitcase, I'm ok with my backpack. My wife, Vicki, and I were celebrating our 33rd wedding anniversary. We had always wanted to go on an Alaskan Cruise and we were finally going to get to see Alaska. My old camera quit working so I spent a few weeks looking for the perfect camera to take pictures while in Alaska. It was in my backpack. I remembered that I forgot it at the airport. I was not happy. Nothing Vicki said was comforting. Fortunately, I had my passport in my pocket. I needed an attitude adjustment. Philippians 2:5 kept flashing through my mind, "You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had." I could have been miserable the whole trip and made it bad for both of us. I didn't. Although angry, I settled down and I assessed what I could do. At Seatac airport, we had some time. I walked a little in the rain to get on a city bus and went to a store to buy a charge cord for my iphone (which I would use to take pictures), reading glasses, and two umbrellas. At the ariport, I bought a great autobiography of Louis Amperini called, "Devil at my Heels." While checking in, although we didn't have any cruise docments, I had my cruise emails on my iphone. It was a great vacation, even without my backpack. 
  
alaska
  
Make those attitude changes, it's worth it.
  
Jim Smith
Executive Director
CB Southern California

Japan Relief Team Needed

japanWe are excited to announce that CB Southern California will be taking a relief team to Japan to assist our CB Japan churches in the overwhelming cleanup needed following the earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011. Over the last several months, thousands of dollars have been sent to our CB churches in Japan. Now we are opening this trip to people from many churches to join our team and have the opportunity to assist first hand. No special skills are required except the ability to do manual labor and sleep on a floor mat. We can take a team of 5-15, but no more. The team will be going between October 21/ 22 - November 1. We will be led by a member of Delta Ministries who will coordinate our efforts with CRASH (Christian Relief Assistance Support and Hope) in Japan, CB Japan and WorldVenture. Each member of the team must raise $2,500. Applications are available along with further information on our website.  Each application must be received with a non-refundable $100 deposit. Please let us know that you are interested by calling our office at 909.944.5900 before August 1.

Spanish Leadership Luncheon

spanishAll Spanish-speaking leaders of our CB Southern California churches are encouraged to attend our summer gathering of leaders. Pastor Josue Duran will bring a devotional; Felix Valdelamar, Oralia Cuellar and the Spanish Committee will share updates and information about the men and women's fall retreats; and Jim and Vicki Smith will bring a short greeting. This lunch is free, but you must register with the CB office to receive your free lunch. Please call our office at 909. 944.5900 or email us at [email protected].

 

Primera Iglesia Bautista

136 South 7th St., Montebello, CA 90640

Saturday, July 23
11:00 - 1:00 pm

CB Fall Men's Retreat

retreaat 2011

Men's Retreat

Spanish and English, same place, same location, different retreats:
October 14-16
 

Come up to the beautiful San Bernardino Mountains in Big Bear, CA and enjoy a time of spiritual refreshment. This year our speaker for the English retreat is Dr. Robert Bishop, Lead Pastor of Whittier Hills Baptist Church. Dr. Hugo Garcia is the speaker for the Spanish retreat. Enjoy the great outdoors, inspiring messages, great music, good food and more.

 

CB Fall Women's Retreats

womens

Women's Retreats

English Sept 23-25

English Sept 30-Oct 1

Spanish Oct 7-9  

 

Many have already signed up for this once-a-year getaway to Pine Summit in the beautiful San Bernardino Mountains in Big Bear, CA. This year our speakers are: Lucy Olalde, for the Spanish Retreat;  and Vicki Smith,  CB Southern California Women's Ministries Director and wife of Jim Smith, for the English retreats. We have great music planned for both. Ruth Hooper, with her worship and dance team, will be at the English retreats and will also lead a great workshop! Sign up online by clicking here or email [email protected] to make reservations. Your full deposit of $50 per woman was due July 1st, so get it in quickly so you don't lose your place!!   
 

 

 

Tranforming Churches Conference

October 21-22

Main Speaker

RAY JOHNSTON

is the founding Pastor of Bayside Church in Granite Bay, one of the most influential churches in northern California, and home to the Thrive Conference. He is in demand as a speaker at conferences, camps and training events, and the author of four books. His passion is to help pastors and churches thrive.

 

Some Seminars include:
"Preaching for Life Change"

-Glenn Gunderson

The preaching of God's Word has the power to changes lives: Exploring practical steps that bring the text to life  

"One Church-Multiple Sites"
-Tom Mercer and Jack Hamilton
Churches of all sizes are reaching new people by opening new sites: Exploring the "why" and "how" of developing multiple sites.

"Inside-Out Leadership"  - Mark Lambert

Effective pastoral leaders attend to their inner life: A practical look at what it takes to be emotionally healthy and stay spiritually passionate over the long course of ministry ups and downs. 

Cost:

Unlimited people may attend for free if your church pays the one-time church contribution:
$175 churches of 100 or less
$375 churches 101-200
$475 churches 201-500

$675 churches 501+
$129 individual fee
**$$ food and lodging extra 
 

 

more information and registration

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas Banquet
christmasEven though it is the middle of summer, mark this event on your calendars and plan to come hear the fantastic testimony of Naeem Fazal at our Christmas Banquet, Monday night, November 28, right after Thanksgiving. Naeem Fazal was born and raised as a Muslim in Kuwait. He came to the United States shortly after the Gulf war of 1990. In 1992, he had a supernatural experience with Christ that changed the course of his life. He was ordained in 2001 at Seacoast Church. In 2006, with the help of Seacoast Church, the ARC and Mosaic LA, he planted and pastors Mosaic Church in Charlotte, NC.
John Dix voted as Lead Pastor in Glendora 

john dixOn Sunday, June 26, members of Grace Church of Glendora voted overwhelmingly (95%) in favor of John Dix as their next Senior Pastor. John had been the Assistant Pastor at Grace for 11 years and was appointed the interim pastor last fall when Gene Wood left. John is married to Carolee--his most favorite person in all the world. He has three children: Claire, Luke, and Audrey. John says, "I work alongside some amazing people who love Christ. Together we attempt to play our role in making a difference for eternity."  We are excited to see what God does as this next chapter unfolds at Grace Church.

Surgery Recovery Doing Well
 

chuck Chuck McCamment, Pastor of San Antonio Heights Community Church, successfully went through his open heart surgery in June. In fact, he was jogging down the hospital hallway with his walker a few days after surgery, for which he was promptly reprimanded. He wants to thank all those who prayed for the success of his operation. He is home recovering hoping to be back preaching by the end of July. Jim Smith is preaching three weeks in July in his absence. 

 john

John Redman, former CB Executive Director of CB Southern California, successfully underwent prostrate surgery and is now recovering at home. His wife, Anne, would like to thank all those who prayed for him, sent emails and cards, and called. She also mentioned that, "John is sitting on the sofa giving me orders....pity me."

Mountain View's Pastor Moving to Massachusetts
 
ericEric Motl, Pastor of Mountain View Bible Church in Alpine, CA, has accepted a call to Pastor Grace Community Church across the country in Seekonk, Mass. He will leave at the end of August. Ever since he attended seminary, Eric and his wife, April, have wanted to pastor a church in the New England area. They have led Mountain View from its start a few years ago, and the church has grown steadily, moving three times to a larger location. Mountain View is healthy and growing, and though they will miss Eric and April, they anticipate great things for their future as they follow God's leading.
West LA Merge Complete
 
West LA

Jim Smith, Scott, Brian, Kevin, Steve Campbell and Jim Leonard

 

First Baptist of West LA and Shoreline Church recently merged and re-named themselves  Cornerstone Baptist Church of West LA, commonly called

Cornerstone West LA . On Easter 2011, they held their first service together. They are currently led by Pastor/Elders Jim Leonard (overseeing internal ministries and administration), Scott Mehl (overseeing leadership development, global ministries, and counseling/discipleship) Kevin Elwell (overseeing youth and children's ministries) and Brian Colmery (overseeing preaching and Sunday morning services). They hope that God is glorified and the gospel spread even more than before as they work in the West LA area. More Elders will be voted on this summer as Pastor Kevin Elwell will be moving 6,000 miles to become the Associate Pastor of Bayview Church, our CB church in Guam. Kevin and his wife have lived on Guam before and are excited about this big transition in their lives. 

Grant Money for Pastoral Study
 

artHere is a great opportunity for pastors who are in need of time off and funding to conduct research relevant to their ministries. Art Lucero, of Sunrise Church in Rialto, was blessed with a $15,000 grant from the Lousiville Institute that allowed him to take eight weeks off to conduct research on Building Healthy Relationships in a Multiethnic Church with No Ethnic Majority: A case study of Sunrise Church, which was was recently published in the Great Commission Journal. If interested, go to http://www.louisville-institute.org/.

Pastor John Hill Comedy Night
john HillSunrise Church's Associate Pastor and currently Interim Pastor at their Wrightwood campus, John Hill, was asked to perform his comedy act during the Faith Night event at the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes Minor League Baseball game. His comedy talent showed during his very good act, which captured the attention of a crowd that had just sat through a 12-inning victory by the home team. Sunrise Church's praise team also gave an inspirational concert following the game. It was a great opportunity to praise the Lord at a public event.
School of Ministry Starts this Fall
moody

Want to obtain a four-year Bachelor of Science degree at an affordable price?  Seeking to sharpen your biblical and ministry skills?  Sunrise Church in partnership with Moody Bible Institute is establishing a learning center that combines the best of online instruction with face-to-face interaction.

 

For more information on how to get started click here

Free Pastors Resource Call

 

cornerstoneCB Southern California is working with Cornerstone Church Network on a mentor group project. Cornerstone also has a Pastor Resource Call which is a free once-a-month, one hour, interactive conference call. Each of these calls feature a proven ministry leader who provides practical insights on a single subject of ministry or leadership. On this month's call, John Pearson will deal with the Management Bucket called the "Culture Bucket." He'll focus on the importance of identifying and living out your church's core values and how to get them off the wall plaques and into your church's DNA-so God is honored and your people thrive! They only have room for 25 on each month's call, so register now.

 

Is Church Membership Biblical?

Matt ChandlerMatt Chandler serves as Pastor of the fast growing Village Church (Formerly known as the Highland Village First Baptist Church) in the suburbs of Dallas. He writes, "We started growing quickly with young and oftentimes disenchanted 20-somethings who usually had no church background, or bad church backgrounds. They liked The Village because we were "different." This always struck me as strange because we weren't doing anything but preaching and singing. In conversations with these men and women I began to hear things like "The church is corrupt; it's just about money and a pastor's ego," or "I love Jesus, it's the church I have a problem with." My favorite one was, "When you organize the church it loses its power." He found that there is a strong case for church membership. Read the article

Kung Fu and Demons

kung fuKevin and Leilani Humble are WorldVenture missionaries in Indonesia. Our CB church in Huntington Beach, Calvary Baptist, has partnered with the Humbles and has planted 20 churches in Indonesia. This is an amazing testimoney of a new believer in Indonesia named Kris......

 

"If I hadnʼt studied Kung Fu, I wouldnʼt have gone to seminary," Kris began. "I got involved in the martial arts as a kid, and advanced quickly, until I became a Kung Fu master. At that point, I was searching to follow Someone higher, so I began to look for the most powerful being."When my students opposed each other, I called spirits of the dead to possess them and give them supernatural powers. If they fought without being possessed, they would just have a physical fight, but if I called the spirits, my studentsʼ fighting would become artistic and powerful and they would be able to do such things as climb on walls and leap very high. After the Kung Fu fights were finished and I saw which spirit was the most powerful, I would exorcise my students and they would return to normal." "I searched for greater and greater spirits such as Bruce Lee, until one day I decided to call on the spirits of the Walisongo. The Walisongo are nine revered saints and guardians of Islam that helped spread the Muslim religion throughout Indonesia. One time, when I tried to exorcise the spirits from my students, I was unable to do it, and in my desperation, I called on the name of Jesus Christ. It worked! The spirits of the dead obeyed when I used His name." "Then I got the idea to try to empower my students with the Spirit of Jesus Christ, but when I called the Spirit, He would not come. I was amazed that this was one Spirit and Being that I could not command, so I ended up going to seminary to learn more about Jesus Christ."

 

kevin

Kris and Kevin.


KEVIN & LEILANI HUMBLE
INDONESIA 

P.O. Box 3/YKAP

Yogyakarta 55282 Indonesia

Phone: +62-298-313-444

Email:[email protected]   

 

One More Thing...

Tony PezzottaThanks for reading our newsletter. One more thing, we would appreciate your prayers for Tony Pezzotta and his wife, Zita. Tony's disease is slowly paralyzing his arms and legs. Pray for strength, grace, and emotional health during this time. Tony was our Ethnic Ministries Director at CB Southern California and a missionary with WorldVenture in the Philippines prior to his time with CBSC. He now lives in the Denver area.

 

Sincerely,

 
Jim Smith
CB Southern California
909-944-5900

[email protected]

www.cbasc.com

 

In This Issue
Japan Relief Team Needed
Spanish Leadership Luncheon
CB Fall Men's Retreats
CB Fall Women's Retreats
Transforming Churches Conference
Christmas Banquet
John Dix voted Lead Pastor in Glendora
Chuck McCamment Recovering Well
Mountain View's Pastor Moving
West LA Merge Complete
Grant Money for Pastoral Study
Free Pastors Resource Call
Is Church Membership Biblical
Independence Day
Money Needs?
Financial Seminar
Outreach Event
Women's Outreach in Upland
CB Chaplaincy - Ryfo
LA Traffic Note
Quick Links
  

Independence Day

school kid 

Fewer than a quarter of American 12th-graders knew China was North Korea's ally during the Korean War, and only 35% of fourth-graders knew the purpose of the Declaration of Independence read more ...
fireworks 

Here is the history some don't know.

On July 2, 1776, Congress voted to approve a complete separation from Great Britain. Two days afterwards - July 4th - the early draft of the Declaration of Independence was signed, albeit by only two individuals at that time: John Hancock, President of Congress, and Charles Thompson, Secretary of Congress. Four days later, on July 8, members of Congress took that document and read it aloud from the steps of Independence Hall, proclaiming it to the city of Philadelphia, after which the Liberty Bell was rung. The inscription around the top of that bell, Leviticus 25:10, was most appropriate for the occasion: "Proclaim liberty throughout the land and to all the inhabitants thereof."

 

To see the turmoil in other nations, their struggles and multiple revolutions, and yet to see the stability and blessings that we have here in America, we may ask how has this been achieved? john adams
 

What was the basis of American Independence? John Adams said "The general principles on which the Fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity."

read the rest of David Barton's 2000 article

 

Money Needs?

steve

This may be a good resource for some of you. Many churches feel they can't host a capital stewardship campaign in this economic climate, but the need to make repairs, renovations and improvements are still there. Steve Roblee, an MPM consultant, is willing to meet with you to see how they can help raise some income so the ministry can grow. In addition, helping members to grow in their faith to trust God to care for them, meet their needs, and help them to become faithful stewards is part of the Gospel and faith-journey we all share in spite of economic circumstances. Give Steve a call at 909.437.8061 or email him.

Financial Seminar
dave
The largest, most exciting event on personal finance is coming to Los Angeles on Saturday, September 24, 2011 and you don't want to miss it! Join Dave as he proves that, no matter what those "other guys" say, finances don't have to be complex and complicated. Come, laugh, learn, and prosper.
Outreach Event
September 18

back to church

Back to Church Sunday is sponsored by Outreach.com, which is promoting a national movement of churches to encourage formerly churched people to reDiscover church and try it again. According to LifeWay Research, 38 percent of people are receptive or highly receptive to attending church. 82 percent say they would be open to attending church if a friend invited them. But, unfortunately, only 21 percent of active church-going Christians invited someone to church last year!  For more information go to

http://backtochurch.com/

Women's Outreach
July 8-9
San Antonio Heights Community Church in Upland
Contact Nita
909.982.5907

CB Chaplaincy

ryfo 

Ryfo is a Christian organization that has been established by CB's only chaplain to the music industry, to holistically care for the uniquie physical, emotional and spiritual needs of touring musicians.  A recent band member wrote...

"I've met up with RYFO people on the last two nights of this run, and they were both phenomenal. Seriously, they represented exactly what RYFO stands to do in it's ministry by providing care and hospitality and a "safe haven" - if you will - for me to be able to rest. I feel so freakin blessed to be part of the RYFO Network. My pastor...read more"

 

Always needing support--to give, visit ryfo.org.

LA Traffic Note
July 16-17
405 CLOSED

405

For those driving through West LA on the weekend of July 16-17, don't do it. The entire San Diego (405) Freeway will be shut down between the San Fernando Valley (405/101 intersection) and the Westside 405/10 intersection) beginning just after midnight on a Friday night-Saturday morning, the night starting July 15. It will not reopen until 5 a.m. the following Monday, July 18, officials said. A half million cars will be affected. Free and discounted metro fares are being offered.
read more...