Archive for the Church Category

The Beach

The Beach
The Bonfire
The Blues
and Bon Voyage
to those flying over
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Theology & Work, Part 1: Melinda Rice

So You Are In Hollywood… Now What?

You are either very brave or just plain crazy. What possessed you to come to Hollywood anyway? What was your journey like that brought you here? And how did you distinguish God’s calling for you? So you are here and now what? How? Why? Why now? Why the people that you are now meeting? Is there something significant about all these questions?

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Putting Faith Into Action!

What an exciting journey it has been. Some have heard me say it often… I’m SO EXCITED to experience how I feel God is leading and teaching me to engage in the ministry of love - the work of restoration He is already doing in the world. Several members from the Hollywood Seventh-day Adventist Church and I have been involved in learning to live like Jesus in a way that is very different than either of us has experienced before (I think I can say that). What does that look like in our city and in our time? I’m still trying to figure that out. In the mean time I continue to participate in my city and community and step out in faith! LA Voice afforded me the opportunity to participate in my city in a different way. Read the rest of this entry »

SonScreen, SPF 2008



IMG_3770, originally uploaded by alburn.binkley.

Those of you at Church this past Sabbath might have noticed that many regular attenders didn’t show up. Most of us were at the SonScreen film festival in Simi Valley. Personally, I saw a lot of talent and faces that will probably make their way to Hollywood. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

This week (or whenever) give a shout out to Melody George who had a huge role in this event, and send up your prayers for her for next year, when she’s taking on even more responsibility.

LA Voice Video

Thai New Year Festival this Sunday

This Sunday, April 18, on Hollywood Boulevard between Western and Normandie, the city will be celebrating the Thai New Year. The festival is known as Songkran. I’ve attended the past two years and our Thai Group has a booth about health every year. They take blood pressures and other screenings and talk to people about their health.

A new addition this year - and something I’ve really looking forward to is the First LA International Curry Festival. This is your chance to test your tolerance for heat!

I’ve written more about it and posted a bunch of links at my blog, intersections. Hope to see you all out there!

LA Voice Meeting Postponed and more

Hope you are doing well! There is SO much going on in our church and in our community (esp. with our mural project taking off!) and the events coming up this weekend that we will POSTPONE our Peace & Justice/LA Voice committee meeting this Thursday, April 10th at 7 pm.

* * * Please continue reading for updates * * *

MURAL PROJECT:

Thank you to all who were able to attend this past Sunday’s mural concept presentation! I heard it was great.

A couple of us are taking a field trip if you’d like to join us. Part of our church’s community organizing will be around the future of murals in Los Angeles. So we want to make sure we are educated about the process and to ensure our voice is heard. Man One our muralist will be a presenter at the Getty Center:

The Arts in Los Angeles, 1997–2007 (panel discussion)
Date: Thursday, April 17, 2008
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Getty Center, Harold M. Williams Auditorium
Admission: Free; reservations required. Call (310) 440-7300 or go online

NEW TIMES FOR PEACE & JUSTICE/LA VOICE MEETINGS:

We would like to have our meetings on a day that you can actually attend! We appreciate your dedication and time so much and we don’t want to miss out on your talents for God’s service, so please bear with us as we figure this out. We really need your presence as we continue to work in the community, so… someone will be calling you or talking to you some more about this as will Joe Hari, our church’s organizer.

LA vs War

There is another cool exhibit - which you may want to invite others to attend. Man One is an a collaborative group exhibit starting Thursday thru Sunday this week.

Its LA vs War. Its a peace protest against the war in iraq.
LA vs. WAR
April 10-13 2008 - Downtown LA

LA vs WAR highlights the travesty of a senseless war now going into its 6th year, giving LA artists a platform to exercise their freedom of speech. Hundreds of artists representing our diverse communities unite in delivering a universal message of peace and understanding, and offering resistance and opposition to the US government’s war policies.

Helpful Posting Tips Page Added

I’ve heard of a few frustrated posters, so I’m hoping to help you out. Up above is a link to a new page with some tips on getting your blog posts to look like how you want them to look. Check it out, and if you have any questions drop me a comment.

NT Wright on getting the story right

Here is a quote I’m reading in my sermon this morning. It’s from the second to last chapter of N.T. Wright’s book, The Challenge of Jesus. The chapter is entitled, “Walking to Emmaus in a Postmodern World.” This chapter and the last chapter together are worth the price of the whole book!

But now, with the right story in their heads and hearts, a new possibility, huge, astonishing and breathtaking, started to emerge before them. Suppose the reason the key would not fit the lock was because they were trying to wrong door. Suppose Jesus’ execution was not the clear disproof of his messianic vocation but its confirmation and climax. Suppose the cross was not one more example of the triumph of paganism over God’s people but was actually God’s means of defeating evil once and for all. Suppose this was, after all, how the exile was designed to end, how sins were to be forgiven, how the kingdom was to come. Suppose this was what God’s light and truth looked like, coming unexpectedly to lead his people back into his presence (162).