Consequently...

Ephesians 2:19-22

"Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, 20built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit."

Here are some comments on this passage from Pastor Thabiti Anyabwile at Modern Reformation Magazine that I read on the plane ride home tonight. It is right in line with Steve's teachings on Revelation, dealing with The New Creation and our New Dwelling in Christ:

"What is consequent to new life in Christ individually, and new reconciliation and unity with others and God through faith in Christ? Three things: citizenship; membership; and dwelling.

Our citizenship has been changed, which is what Paul's been reflecting on all along in Ephesians. But Paul concludes with another reminder of that fact here in verse 19: "No longer foreigners and aliens (sojourners), but fellow citizens."

"No longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow... members of the household of God." The imagery grows more intimate. It's not just that we've made it inside the borders of a new kingdom or territory, but by God's grace we have been brought into the King's household-and not just as mere servants, but as members of that household. We have been adopted into the family as heirs together of this kingdom with Christ (Rom. 8:15-17). All who are in Christ are made a part of one family-God's family, God's household. Far from being at war, hostile and threatening, we sleep securely under the roof of God our King as his children. This is the future of all who love and follow Jesus as their Savior.

This household is "being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit." Notice how the imagery grows yet more intimate still. It's not just that we're now citizens, and it's not just that we're members of God's household; we are the house or dwelling of God (vv. 19-20). We are a "household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets..."

Notice too that this dwelling, this household, is founded "with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone." Christ is the Chief Apostle, sent by God the Father to die for the sins of his people and to preach the good news of peace. Christ is the Chief Prophet foretold by Moses in Deuteronomy 18. He is the fulfillment of Israel's hope and the One who brings the Gentiles near to God. He, then, is the cornerstone. He anchors the entire building, and he keeps it level and sturdy. As the cornerstone, he is the foundational element that joins together the walls of Gentile and Jew. It is upon Jesus that the entire edifice is raised (vv. 21-22).

Here is the glorious end of it all! All of history is about God building for himself a holy temple, a dwelling place. That dwelling is not made by hands, does not suffer construction delays or need weather treatment, or require bricks and mortar. The temple of God is built on the cornerstone of his Son, Jesus. It is laid on the foundation of his sent messengers, apostles and prophets; but it is raised with the "living stones" of the once dead now living, once alien now citizen, once hostile now reconciled followers of Jesus Christ! The one people of God-Jew and Gentile; black and white; male and female; young and old-all of God's people of all time through faith in Jesus Christ have become the temple of God indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God.

This is the destiny of all who repent of their sins and turn toward God through faith in Jesus Christ. We are destined to be his dwelling place, until we hear that final proclamation from the throne of heaven (Rev. 21:3)-

"Behold, now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God."

(source: Modern Reformation Jan/Feb 2008)

For The Glory of It All

going home but new orleans we will return

today is a great day but also a sad day because we have to fly home but we dont want to leave because there is still so much work to be done here in new orleans as rebuilding and touching lives and souls for christ,there are so many memories i will never forget like going to bethel colony,to helping gloryland baptist church and changing pastor dunbars life that he can very soon get his churcha and congregation back to start to worship God but alot still needs to be done to get the church back,helping st.roch community church and knowing pastor jb watkins will be ok because soon he will reopen his church to the community that wants its church and neighborhoods back and they arent letting hurricane katrina stop them from the vision they have after such a devesating storm but God and the church have gotten new orleans back on there feet.
i have been touched and so humbled by the outporing of love from the communities and neighborhoods that everyone has a story to tell and they just want someone to listen and love them and let them know everything will be ok and that were here to help and God will be so honored by us helping others when they need it.
"LEAN NOT ON YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING BUT THE UNDERSTANDING OF GOD"
steve ledden

Feed the Multitudes

"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me" (Matthew 25:35-36).

Those verses, printed on the back of the tshirts from Feed the Multitudes, captures not only yesterday, but even the spirit of our time here in New Orleans. Feed the Multitudes was an amazing event as thousands of the poorest people in the city came to or were bussed into City Park for the event. Our task was to hand out bags of groceries for people to take home with them so that not only did they get a meal, haircut and more at the event, they also went home with 2 bags of groceries. However, as the prayer tent was understaffed, several of our team had the privilege of sitting in the tent praying for people who came asking for prayer.

After the hard work of drywalling, insulating, mowing and more that we have done all week, our week culminated with the chance to feed and pray for the people of the city. What an incredible blessing. One member of our team commented it seems like at some point, we should get to be more of a blessing than we receive in return. And yet that is the very power of radical obedience and love of people is that as we do so, God is forming his character, heart and passion into us.

As we near the end of our week, thank you to all who have followed us, prayed for us and supported us. We have been the hands and feet of Christ to a city in need and have encountered the living Christ transforming us as well. Thank you.

God of This City

Each day we've had the incredible privilege of worshipping with one another. On a few occasions we've worshipped with local believers, and daily as a team we've been led by our incredibly gifted worship leader, Bruce Jeffers. 

Of all the amazing songs of worship and supplication that we've sung, everyone here agrees that "God of This City" is by far our team favorite. In fact, it has become our theme.  

Below is a video of Chris Tomlin's version put together by another group of folks who we don't know, but were helping out somewhere in another city. As we prepare to serve tomorrow for the July 4th festival here in NOLA, we are reminded that our true freedom is found in Christ alone, who truly is the God of this city!

Feed the Multitudes for the 4th of July

Tomorrow is the 4th of July and our whole team will be serving along side Victory Fellowship, a local church here in New Orleans. The event is called "Feed the Multitudes" and takes place annually at City Park. 

Please pray that it doesn't rain all day long and that all of those in need will be able to make their way to the park.

Our team will be serving specifically by passing out groceries. And there is so much more going on. So watch this video to see what it is all about it:

Pictures, Pictures and More Pictures

We've been trying to share some of the pictures that we've been taking throughout the week, but there are more (hundreds more!). This slideshow will move scroll through them. To see the whole library, click on the slideshow.

How many missionaries does it take to open a can of corn?

Answer: One, the one with a tetanus shot.

Last night (Wednesday) Mrs. Jeantet went to the store to buy a can opener. But, no one could figure out how to use it. It took over 3 men and 3 women to open one can. We had to come up with some creative ways to open the can. Finally, Mr. Umberger (the one that had to get a Tetanus shot because he cut himself) got elected to open the can.

"I finally got the can open!" he said. Just five more cans to go...

-Elaina Long

St. Roch: A new start and a new chapter will begin

Today we worked side by side with Laurie, a volunteer from Maine. She has been been working at St. Roch for a year now, so it was awesome to learn from her. The jobs we did were: shoveling mud, dirt, and sand alongside the church and curbside, then we used a pressure washer. In the words of "Tim the Toolman," (Taylor from The Home Depot) he would say this is a real man's kind of tool, RRRRRRRRRRRRRR. After completing the jobs that were priority to the church, I went with a group of people (Ben Springer, Bob Umberger, and Deb Welch) to hand out fliers to the community inviting them to an event called "Feed the Multitudes," which will take place this Friday. (July 4th) For this event, we are going to volunteer at City Park to help hand out groceries for "Feed the Multitudes." It's going to be a great day of worship and fellowship, passing out groceries, and helping with everything that will be taking place. Also on July 4th, since it's Indepence Day, we will go and see Fireworks on the riverfront that night at 9 PM and probably go to the French Quarter for dinner at a restaurant. That will be a fun night.

There is someone back home whom I miss very much, my adopted little brother, Matt Bragg. I miss and love you. I can't wait to spend quality time with you when I get home and share all the experiences I have encountered on this trip. P.S: You better behave, OR ELSE!!!
To my brother in-laws, Matt and Mark. Also to my other family members: Amie and Christa, Emilie, Lizzy, Nate, John John, Abigail and Madison, I love and miss you guys, I can't wait to come home and share with you this awesome experience that God is doing and what he is going to do in the next 10 years to bring hope, stability, and most importantly bring God back to the communities of New Orleans. There is a song called "God of this City," (which we have sung on this trip) and it talks about there is so much more to take care of and with God EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE!

-Steve Ledden-

What a difference a year makes

While there is a lot left to be done in New Orleans, one thing that has been a huge encouragement to Kim and I is seeing the progress that has been made since we left last August to come to GRPC. Sheila served as an assistant cook last summer for the ministry with which we were serving down here. Sheila's house was destroyed in the storm and we had the privilege of working on her house last summer, starting all the way from hanging insulation and drywall. Now, three years since the storm, her house is almost finished, with just a few more small tasks before she will finally be able to move back in. On Monday, members of our team painted her bathroom and trim around the house. Look at the progress that has been made...

Pic 1 - Outside last year
Pic 2 - Outside today


Pic 3 - Inside last year
Pic 4 - Inside today

Working at St. Roch

Enjoy this short video of us at work today at St. Roch Community Church, a PCA church plant sponsored by Desire Street Ministries. Today we scraped paint, shoveled dirt, built planting boxes around trees up and down one street and more with St. Roch. We will be back with them tomorrow. This video is some of our team shoveling dirt into a wheelbarrow and moving it out of the way so that we could come back through with a pressure washer and clean their sidewalks.

Spoons

Tonight (Wednesday) we are about to play another competitive game of spoons. This has been one of our favorite games over the past week on this trip. Members include: Elaina, Tucker, Anna, Boots, Alexis, Chris, Ryan, and Tom.

The Tuckn8r VS Boots: Who will go down at the end of the week?

GRPC members vote!
Tuckn8r VS Boots!
Vote either yes for Boots or Tuckn8r!
Vote by commenting for this blog.

revival at the bethel colony

well are day started at 5:30am,getting a quick breakfast,then leaving for a worship service at bethel colony a church that all guys live and stay there and love the lord so much in everything they do and say but sometimes they get out of line and the pastor says attitude check and all the guys yell "PRAISE THE LORD"so we got to see and hear that today and so many stories from some of the guys and it just humbled me so much to hear there stories of struggle but now there life is nothing but for jesus christ there lord and savior,and when we were at the worship service it felt like a promise keepers event for guys and sons but this was like the whole body of christ singing praises all day long to our savior and lord.
then after the worship service we drove to another missions field to help another pastor to help him clean and cut grass and weedwacked and took trash to a dumpster from 9:30am till 3pm and when we got done cleaning all around the property it looked brand new and the pastor came back and was totally stunned by the work we had gotten accomplished a job well done good and faithful servant ,and we will never give up or forget about new orleans because it is about the families that we care about and to touch every persone we come in contact with.
then we came back for some well deserved heavenly showers and let me tell you i was singing worship songs in there after my experience today,then we left again to go back to bethel colony to serve dinner to the guys at the church and that was a blessing in its self because to get the chance to minister to all the guys that came to you and talked and told you stoies of how they were struggling without god in there lives and when they came to bethel that all changed for them in such a powerful way.
truly i saw jesus in every shape and form with the whole experience today and i will never forget it and our journey is not done until every country and the whole world will hear the gospel of jesus christ there lord and savior,sometimes we forget that we try and do things on our own and we cant so we need jesus everyday and night to get us through another day.


"NOTHING BUT THE BLOOD OF JESUS WILL WASH YOUR SINS WHITE AS SNOW"!



steve ledden

Restoring glory to Gloryland

Monday- The first work day began on Monday, & much has been acomplished! We divided the gteam into 3 smaller groups to work on each task. Half of them went to a neighborhood, where they took turns handing out flyers for the Feed the Multidudes free food event on July 4th and painting a bathroom. The other group which I was a part of visited Gloryland Baptist Church. A few bought several sheets of drywall & tools to make repairs in their storage & restroom section. All of us except Bruce, who had volunteered to help fix the microphones & sound equipment, set to work assembling the ceiling. The older men held up the drywall while I drilled in the screws. After a brief lunch break, when we enjoyed Pastor Dunbar's praises to the Lord through the microphone which Bruce had fixed & Hampton's passionate organ playing, we continued with the walls. Their was a skinny horizontal shelf that spanned the length of 1 wall which we had to work around. I cut a small peice of dywall for the right side of the shelf which fit rather well. Then I trimmed another peice which was close to the size I needed but which I ended up having to measure & cut 4 times until it finally squeezed between the gap. We were so thrilled that it fit that we immediately drilled it in place before packing up for the day. We definitely accomplished most of the work that we had started, but there were other jobs remaining which we hadn't even touched. Although their church may not be suitable for use before our departure, I am confident that we have made tremendous progress toward the reunion of Gloryland Baptist Church. We pray that this will happen soon & hope that you will as well. We praise the Good Lord for providing this work & using us as his vessels to be a blessing to those in need!
In Christ,
Ben Springer

All in the Family

When God first laid it on our hearts to take families on a missions trip, I have to admit that I was a little hesitant about what that would look like, but after today, I am convinced that this is the way that God intended for us to experience loving His people...with the ones that He has given us to live life with. It has been such a blessing to stand back and watch parents serving alongside their children and teaching them how to love others. And it has been amazing to watch as these amazing young people have served tirelessly and loved the people of New Orleans unconditionally.
--Kim Jeantet


P.S. Baby Jeantet is definitely enjoying his first missions trip! :)

Great Expectations

Sunday- Today was the quickest trip to church ever... walking downstairs! With its passionate gospel jam music, flag twirling, dancing, & tamborines, Firehouse Family Ministries' church service was truly unique. The pastor preached on Mark 5, the account of a sick woman who touched Jesus' cloak & was healed. He explained the difference between ''pressing issues" & "pressing the issue". It was evident that the congregation & leadership in this strong body of believers were not letting Katrina deter them from singing praises to our God! It was such a blessing to be a part of them! We are so grateful that they have offered their facilities to us so that we can accomplish so much here in New Orleans in the holy name of Jesus!

After the service, we enjoyed speaking with some of the members, particularly Sam, the deacon in charge of the building. Subsequently, Tom, Jonathan, the Steves, & I strolled a few blocks to a local food market to pick up lunch. We picked up some po-boys, which are sub sandwiches on french bread, & a bag of crawlfish. Those who tried the crawlfish shortly realized that their was quite a deal of effort to remove the tiny peice of meat from its tail. Their spicy flavor was certainly delicious, though.

After lunch, Steve Jeantet took us on a driving tour in the rural area of the city. We saw concrete stairs without a house attached, a house with part of its roof leaning due to a lack of supporting pillars, with its front entrance cut out so we could observe the debris of cluttered couches & chairs & the remains of a completely gutted brick home with only four shabby brick walls, shattered windows, & the front door's frame still standing. The most sobering feature of these houses, however, was the number written on the right side of a spray-painted X indicating the number of dead bodies found there.

After familiarizing ourselves with the town, we spent a few moments wrestling in prayer for these casualties' loved ones who are mourning their losses. We asked the Lord for blessing upon the work we would be starting the following day. Then we explored the infamous French Quarter, where we shopped for souvenirs & viewed the Mississippi River while trying to stay dry from the rainshower.

On Sunday we were able to see 2 sides of New Orleans: the destruction of the residential areas & the bustling city area. It is evident that God's work needs to be done in both places & that there are many seeds to be planted & harvested. I have high hopes of being a remarkable blessing to the people of these areas by showing them the incrdible love of Christ! Toon in to Monday's entree to find out how we are meeting this goal!
In Christ,
Ben Springer

Showers of Blessing

After a full day of blood, sweat and toil in Louisiana heat we found a new meaning for the phrase, "Showers of Blessing" (which I mentioned earlier this week). One great victory for us today was when we were reunited with Lever 2000 and Secret.

rebulding of the gloryland baptist church

today is monday june 30th 2008 and out team was truly blessed when we arrived at gloryland baptist church with the love of the pastor for us coming to help rebuild his church to bring back the congregation that once was there but left after hurricane katrina so we were there to help in such a great way with the love of jesus christ and to bring hope back to this congregation.
so there was 8 guys leading the charge in the drywall job and some helping with the church pews and bruce helping with the sound system with the microphones and when he fixed them pastor dunbar and the organist started to play music and sing the awesome southern gospel music when i heard that i said yeah this is where God wants us to be to bring back to life this pastor and his congregation.
so we got a plan to get drywall at the home depot but one problem 30 pieces of drywall was not going to fit in the minivan we had so luckily a guy named mike drove three of us in his pickup truck to go get the material we needed so that was awesome and we got 3/4 done but alot of it still needs to be done so hopefully we can go back and finish the drywall that we started.
God worked in such a way today it felt like he was right there with the pastor being joyful singing praises to God after the devestation that happened a couple of years ago because of hurricane katrina and that is the hope that will bring back new orleans in such a powerful way with the church and volunteers and community leading the way but with God and believe me what he has planned for new orleans will be so special.
finally when we leave to go back home the community will know the body of christ will never leave the side of new orleans because God is moving in such a way the next chapter will be wrote and a new chapter will begin and HOPE!!!!!! once again to new orleans and one last thought GOD IS AN AWESOME GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
steve ledden

Another use for utensils!

The Lord has been so good to us these first 3 days! He has blessed us with so much more money than we had expected, which has been put to the practical use of purchasing a cordless drill for drywall as well as other tools. We all arrived here safely & healthy on Saturday, including Bruce, our worship leader. Here is the scoop from Saturday:

Sppppooooonnnnnssss!!!!!! After familiarizing ourselves with our new abode for the week, thegroup was divided into grocery shoppers & gamers. I was in the latter group. We started with Apples to Apples. Then I taught Ryan & Tucker how to play "There's a Moose in the House", a less-known card game but one which I highly recommend. In regards to fun & laughs, these games warmed us up for Spoons. Spoons is perhaps the greatest game for large groups around! The object is to grab a spoon from the center of the table after someone has obtained a 4 card match. If you fail to do this, you recieve 1 of the letters in the acronym "G.R.P.C.", which represent your chances before elimination. You can call me a Spoons veteran because of my experience playing it at Middletown House Church. However, others in the group were playing it for the first time, so I decided to take advantage of their ignorance. While everyone passed along the cards expediently, waiting to make a 4-card match, I sneakily stretched for a spoon without making contact. After I had carefully withdrew my hand, the others decided to echo the motion. Soon all of them except for my dad, who had glanced at my cards & discovered my sceme, grabbed a spoon as I quietly snickered. I held up my hand of 4 random cards & declared, "I fooled all of you! You all get a letter!" All the "spooners" were in an uproar! Needless to say, I have not witnessed a single soul who fell for that trick again! Ryan's hysterical giggling & the excitement in our hearts were the fuel that kept us going during our first evening in New Orleans.
All righty y'all, I'm exhausted. I'm going to bed. I have not even scratched the surface of the wonder of what this week of fellowship beholds! I'll keep you posted. May the Lord of the Force be with you!
In Christ,
Ben Springer

first day of hope begins in new orleans

well sunday night i slept really good,and woke up at 7am and with alot of energy ready to get started to help bring hope and stability back to the community of new orleans.
my teams job will be is to put up drywall at newgloryland baptist church in new orleans it feels like you know tim the tool man taylor from home improvement and ty pennington from extreme home makeover to make a difference in peoples lives and to show the love of jesus christ in us to this community the clock is ticking and we need a plan to get this done so we will bring the emotions and care and love of my team to make a difference so there is one question "can we do this people,yes we can so lets do it"!
we will be working from 9am to 5pm today then we will return back to firehouse church for a well deserved shower then dinner ,then our worship service with brian and steve with the message ,then maybe a game of spoons for those who know how to play we had an exciting game with scott gunner springer bob and anna bendler alexis princess springer and brian it got loud but alot of fun so we had alot of fun and bonding time with team members.
in the bible it talks about God's mercies everyday and God's blessing will be shown the next 5 days as we show our love for these families that we dont even know and hopefully we will bring God to the community of new orleans.

matthew 5:3-12
blessed are the poor in spirit for theres is the kingdom of heaven
blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted
blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth
blessed are those who are hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled
blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy
blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God!
may these verses toch you in such a way that God will shine upon you everyday and let his love bring joy and happiness in your life.

--Steve Ledden

Time to work...

"It looks like it just happened." Yesterday morning, before worship at Firehouse, a couple of us from GRPC were speaking with a member of the church. That was her comment when we mentioned would would be going to see the Ninth Ward that afternoon. She was right. As we drove over the canal, I looked over the Ninth Ward and saw a barren wasteland, the place that time seemed to forget. The height of the weeds was the only indication of passion time.

It is into that barren wasteland, not only physically but spiritually also, that we go as we start to work today. Please pray for our team as we will be working in three areas today.

• One team will be painting the home of a woman still living in a FEMA trailer as she is, at long last, close to moving back into her house.
  
• One team will be passing out fliers and inviting people to Feed the Multitudes, an annual "feeding of the 5000" here in NOLA.
• One team will be drywalling a church that was destroyed by the storm.
  

God's awesome power

today is june29th 2008 and i started the day by waking up at 7am this morning and helping to set up for breakfast with bob and anna bendler so that was awesome to help with that,then had quiet time with god and reading scripture from genesis 1 which we studied the night before and learned so much about what god made in seven days and said it was good!
then after breakfast the day began with a worship service with the firehouse family church and there congregation and the love that they gave us was so heart felt that we came to help rebuild because we are people of compassion that love people that we dont even know and that was so awesome to see and they came up and hugged us and that left me with that yeah kind of feeling that were here to help but were not hereos were people that care about this comunity who needs so much love and the love of jesus christ.
after the worship service with firehouse family church,we had lunch then went on our prayer walk in the ninth ward and saw the devestation that happened a couple years ago from hurricane katrina and when i was walking down the street and saw the loss and devestaion was one verse and that was god can giveth and taketh away and what happened here was total loss of life and families homes and so we are for a reason and that is to rebuild to bring hope back to new orleans.
after the prayer walk we drove to the bad part but sin in downtown new orleans and walked up and down french street and market so that question still lingers in my heart and ask god why but wont know that till i go face to face with god my lord and savior but god knows the plans of everyone because he loves you so much thats why he formed you in the image of christ.
then after the walk through the french street and market we drove back to firehouse church and got ready for dinner then steve jeantet and i went to lowes store to buy tools for the week ahead and bought a drywall electric power nail gun i feel like tim the tool man taylor on home improvement and like ty pennington of the home extreme home makeover to help bring hope and stability back to new orleans .
then we came home and had a big taco dinner with everyone and that was so good and felt like i was in mexico again in merida mexico for another missions trip i was on with faith prebyterian church in 1989 and that was another trip that was so awesome because of gods love and power he has over us because our god is an awesome god !
steve ledden

NOLA Trip Images

Photos by Deb

Worship with our hosts at Firehouse

This Sunday morning our team had the privilege of worshiping alongside the members of Firehouse Family Ministries. It was a tremendous blessing. I have a note in my Bible, given by a lady whose name I don't know. She passed it to me during the service this morning. It says, "If you get cold and need a wrap, please let me know." I am humbled by the kindness and compassion of this community. Their acceptance of our team and love for their Savior was poured out during the worship service. It makes me think of what Shane Claiborne said in his book, "The Irresistible Revolution." He said, "I've grown to admire the humor of a God who uses foolish things to shame the wisdom of this world, and weaklings to remind the strong that they are not as mighty as they think they are (1 Cor. 1:27). This church may appear economically poor, but it is rich in spirit. Our team went to church expecting "showers of blessing," not anticipating a New Orleans-style flood. Pray for us and for these people this week as we go out to give back to this community.

Dawn Long