So we have had an exciting last few weeks! Last week we were blessed to be able to visit Chicago for the Gospel Coalition 2009 National Conference , which was an absolutely amazing and encouraging time. It was so nice to see our church fam again and get to know some of  the new additions to the staff of LA. 

It was also so awesome to see the diversity of denominational backgrounds and styles represented at the conference in the unity of the Word and Spirit. There's nothing more refreshing then to see the body of Christ unite under the banner of the Gospel of Jesus. We all like to talk about it, but it is a whole other thing to witness it. And man, the messages we heard rocked us, convicted us, and stirred us up with excitement for the ministry in London! Words about identifying and destroying idols in culture, facing and defeating fear in life and ministry by God's power, and Preaching the gospel to culture in word & deed, all which were so applicable to us in London. We are so thankful for the amazing opportunity to go. May the Lord use it to impact our lives and community for His glory. 

We also got to walk around the streets of Chicago and actually see a game at Wrigley Field! The Cubs lost, as they do often, but it was incredible to see and experience such a historic park, and of course eat all the ballpark junk-food we possibly can.

Now that we're back though, its all about continuing upon the foundation of prayer and engaging in preparation for the prayer tour in Aug. For those of you that don't know, we are planning to host a prayer tour of London Aug. 19-24 with our church family from LA and Carpinteria along with those in our London crew. The Plan is to gather together over the span of several days in different areas of the city for worship and prayer. We believe the Bible, and there we find the single most important work when stepping out in ministry is the work of prayer. We know thats because when we pray we are entrusting the work to God, and it is His work! When Jesus looked upon the lost multitudes, He had compassion on them as a shepherd has for faint and scattered sheep, and He commanded His disciples, not to get right to work, but to first PRAY to the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into His harvest (Matt. 9:36). So we are praying for GOD to work in our city to reach the lost, to use us in His mission, and send more laborers into the harvest. Also, when Jesus looked over the city of Jerusalem He cried "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, [thou] that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under [her] wings, and ye would not!" The heart of God Breaks over the lost cities of the world, and we want our heart to break with His. So we are also going to pray and seek to receive the heart of Jesus for this city as He longs for all to be saved in this great city! 

We also want to catch God's vision for this city and grab hold of it through prayer, and for those that are visiting, we want them to be stirred up for the work in London so they can return home and continue praying and interceding for this great city with a fervent heart.

Furthermore, we know that God breaks down strongholds and sends the hosts of hell running when His people pray, and we want the name of Jesus to be proclaimed and glorified in the streets of London, Amen!

We will also be, Lord willing, launching our official church services during the prayer tour as well!  

So, to say the least, we are more then stoked about this upcoming summer! With that, there is a lot of prayer needed in all this preparation, as our plans will come to nothing unless the Lord goes before us, and provides for us. May His will be done in all of this for His glory.

Thank you all for your continued love & support in the Lord! 

All for Jesus, 

M&L  

"...But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

     - Acts 1:8 

Simply put, The sole purpose of the church is to glorify God through the witness of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth. This purpose is fulfilled only by God, the Holy Spirit, through His redeemed people, the church. 

It's God's glory, God's revelation, God's witness, and God's work through the agency of God's people. 

And so we must remind ourselves that as the church, we are God's instrument, God's vehicle for the accomplishment of God's mission to the nations. 

What we need then is not more self-generated power of plans, programs, or personalities; we need the power of God through the person of the Holy Spirit. We need more of God, the Holy Spirit in us, to drive us, to use us as His instrument; like a microphone in His hands to amplify His message to the world. 

" Unless the LORD builds the house,

They labor in vain who build it;

Unless the LORD guards the city..."

- Psalm 127:1

We need the power of God in us, driving us, and using us to achieve His mission!! 

We must, therefore, with all we have, seek God to permeate every part of our lives. knowing simply that the more we surrender to God, the more He will be able to use us as His vehicles of blessing. 

This is our prayer. We want God to use us for His glory, as we were created for that purpose. We must wait expectantly, in faith, knowing that it is God's will to fill us and use us. We must wait persistently, knowing that God has spoken, that His promises will not be broken, that He is at work in this world, and that He will answer us when we call. Finally, we must wait actively, in worship, responding to God in active surrender and repentance as God reveals Himself to us, stepping out with faith in every opportunity presented to us expecting God to work. 

God is on mission. His mission is salvation to every tribe, tongue, and nation for His glory. His means of accomplishing His mission is the church. In every testimony of salvation in the New Testament there was a human instrument used by (God) the Holy Spirit to bring life to the dead. 

We are desperate for God. Pray with us.       

    "The coming together of the saints is the first part of Pentecost, and the gathering of sinners is the second. It began with 'only a prayer meeting' but ended with a grand baptism of thousands of converts."   - C.H. Spurgeon  

As 'Church-planters' our first plan of action really a reaction. We don't initiate anything in this whole process, which is a truth we gladly embrace. Jesus is the beginning and end, and Jesus spoke loud and clear that HE would build HIS Church. 

Planting Churches isn't our mission, it's God's mission, and we are simply partnering in that. God is the true 'pioneer' missionary as He came into this world to bring the Gospel and is calling us to take part in His mission today. We are only responding to what Jesus has already begun in this world and more specifically in our city.  

God works, we respond. 

That said, as man's response to God always begins (and continues) with prayer, we are engaging in a prayer meeting corporately on a weekly basis. Prayer is the lifeline of the church and we will live and die together in prayer if nothing else. If reality London is forever known as 'only a prayer meeting' than we would be one of the most notable and effective churches in the world as far as God is concerned. So, we will pray. 

As a church there are two foundational points, or pillars, that we are endeavoring to lay through all this. These foundational truths are our very heart and lungs, are of equal value, and must never be neglected lest we die a slow death, Which are:

I. JESUS holds the POSITION of Preeminence in His Church PERSONALLY.   

I. PRAYER holds the PLACE of Preeminence in the Church ACTIVELY. 

I. Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church Positionally (Col.1:18) and personally. Therefore, the supreme purpose for our gathering together is to seek Jesus and Jesus alone. Jesus holds all the authority, and deserves all the glory. Jesus is the source of our life and salvation (personally & corporately); therefore we will seek him and wait upon Him alone. Our faith is founded on and sustained upon our relationship with Jesus. Ultimately, If you could sum up the purpose of the Church in one word, its Jesus. The position of Jesus Christ in His Church is the position of Preeminence. 

I. Our relationship with God begins with prayer for,"Whoever calls upon the name of the LORD shall be saved" The church, as revealed in the Book of Acts, was born through a prayer meeting, making prayer both the lifeline of the church and the primary call of the church. Jesus, echoing the voice of the father declared, "My house shall be a House of Prayer." Over and over, the scriptures declare the first and primary activity of the Church is prayer. The place of prayer is the place of preeminence. 

And so we are beginning as a church by responding to God in prayer with our eyes upon Jesus alone, and will continue in this fashion until He returns. We believe it will be upon this foundation that God will build His church in this city as we partner with Him in His mission to the world. 

A New Season

The Last three years of our lives have been one of the most incredible testimonies of God's grace, love, and faithfulness. We couldn't have even dreamed this up! 2008 was truly a year of new beginnings for us as we left Los Angeles in transition to London in February of '08, at which point we really started to get that sense of independence that can be both liberating and terrifying all at once. It seems that God has had us on some kind of "one year step plan" up till now. Let me explain: 

Lizzie and I started working full-time in Los Angeles during the summer of '06 and got married :) It was then that we started praying about church-planting in Europe, but primarily the U.K.. Now, it was during the Summer of '07 (one year later) that we got to scope out the land during Creation Fest  in Devon and spent some time in London where we heard the call to move over. Naturally, we started taking steps towards making the move landing us here a year later in July '08. That leads us to the current time, as we find ourselves at last in central London at Notting Hill Gate. It was exactly a year from when we left L.A. to when we landed our place in the middle of London. And now we are praying about starting church services in Aug. Lord willing, which would make it around a year since we made the move over. HA! Whatever the case, we can say for sure that it gets better and better every year.

So, here we are in a new year entering into an exciting new season of ministry without loosing any time. Since Christmas we have been floored with ministry and moving. During the month of January to kick of the new year we filled in at C.C. Twickenham while the Dingman family made their U.S. visit. That meant four Sunday morning services, where we studied the Epistle to the Philippians , followed  up with a weekly prayer meeting and Bible study. We had a great time with the church and learned a ton. We were also looking for flats in London during that time as well, which took us to a level bordering Chaos,  but exciting none-the-less. We will spare you the details of our flat hunt, but in summary just about when we were ready to give it up for awhile, God led us to the perfect place. 

It was just a week after we found a place and finished filling in at Twickenham that Britt and Tim (our pastors from California) came for a visit. That was an awesome time of hanging out and sharing in what the Lord is doing here. We spent one whole Sunday visiting four different churches from morning till evening, which was both extremely encouraging and extremely concerning. It was  encouraging to see that God IS moving in England and that there is a faithful remnant here serving Jesus and preaching His Word and that there is also a MASSIVE need for more of that in every way. However, it was also terribly concerning to see and hear some of things that are being declared as the Word of God and done in His name. For this reason we are praying and trusting that God will use us in any way to help fill the need here and bring some Biblical correction with truth and in love. 

We had an awesome time visiting with those guys. It was so nice to connect with them and share about how the Lord is leading us. They are some of the coolest, most encouraging, and hilarious people we have ever known, and we are so blessed to have them as brothers and to be partnered with them in ministry. 

And so here we are in our new place looking forward to a new season of life and ministry with Jesus. We had our first official reality london prayer meeting last week, which has left us so excited and encouraged about what the Lord has in store, but we will save that for the next update! 

Thank you all for your love and support! 

Much Love, 

M&L 

As we look back in reflection upon the last year of life we are thankful for so many things the Lord has done. Just thinking last year at this time we didn't even have our visa status for the U.K. yet! God has provided for us in every way and has truly leveled mountains for us to move to London. It is truly nothing short of a miracle. Yet, without the miracle of God becoming a man, dwelling among us, and dying in our place its all worthless. We find that it's so easy to forget the enormity in the reality that the almighty God humbled Himself and became poor, that we through His poverty might become rich... Thank you Jesus for the greatest Gift of all..

     "Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord..." Luke 2:8-11

We are so thankful to all of you that have been there through this last year and are so blessed by all of your encouragements, prayers, and support. We pray that this Christmas and New Year will be one filled with blessing and joy! 

Much Love & Blessings, 

Mark & Lizzie 

Lord, Teach Us To Pray...

I will never forget how the Lord brought us to R.L.A. in ’05. God was at work in such a wonderful way and I was completely clueless, which is no surprise. From meeting Tim C. during ministry school and seeing God connect him with Nick T., while I was having to move to L.A. and finish school in Costa Mesa, meeting my lovely, beautiful, wonderful wife to-be Lizzie, to seeing a small group of 10 to 15 people gather in Nick’s house to pray that Jesus would build His church in Hollywood. A word God gave me during one of these meetings was Isaiah 55:6-13. Specifically, verses 10-11 :

                  “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please,                                 And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it."

When remembering that, I think, how awesome is the Word of God coupled with prayer in the power of the Holy Spirit! These are the greatest resources given to man for the work of God!

Now, our heart and vision is for church planting, or better yet church birthing, and is founded upon and rooted in the word of God and prayer in the power of the Holy Spirit alone.

When Jesus spoke to His disciples just before the ascension He told His disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father, and said, “you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 

Up until then the disciples had the Word of God and Prayer, but Jesus said they needed to wait for the Holy Spirit to come bring life and power and the church would be born as a result. We see this over and over again in the book of Acts. The word of God comes to the people, the people pray and receive it, and the Holy Sprit follows and brings life. A new church is born... 

Now, we know that the day of Pentecost has passed and the Holy Spirit has come and is active in this world today, but we are using this as a template for us as we have seen it effectively accomplished in church planting. That is, we are going to labor in the word of God and prayer and wait on the Holy Spirit to bring life.

That being said, the next step for us here in London is starting a prayer meeting. Jesus said that He would build His Church, and He also told His disciples that the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray to the Lord of the harvest to send laborers. So, we are counting on God to do the work He said He is going to do and we are going to pray until He brings life and direction by the Holy Spirit. AMEN!?

So please pray for us as we go into the city to find a place to pray. Right now we are considering a place in North Central London called “ The Upper Room”. Now how appropriate would that be, right!!!?

Also, pray that God would bring laborers to join in His harvest. Right now there is a couple named Christian and Michelle with their son Trent that are praying aboutr taking steps to move to London after visiting us recently. During their visit we had an awesome time of fellowship, bonding and prayer time. This is prayer being answered before our eyes. God is moving in people’s hearts to go into the harvest!

God has been so merciful to us here and we thank you for all your prayers, support and love. Blessings! M&L

“Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased,that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray…”

Duel Purposes

Hey Everyone, Hope you are all doing well and are being blessed.. 

Things are beginning to settle more and more here everyday. Its funny, we are both so amazed at how comfortable we are living here. It feels like such a natural transition, almost like we've been here for years.. I remember us both feeling that way when we started seeing each-other. We both felt like we had known each-other all of our lives, like we grew up on the playground together, yet we were just getting to know one another. Guess that explains the reason why we got engaged within pretty much a months time, totally skipping the "dating" period, and was married four months later..

When the Lord's in it, it's right in every way, which makes it feel so natural and effortless. That's of course because it's what God has prepared beforehand (Eph.2:8-10), Amen!? So, all that's to say, we are very excited about the new season of life and ministry God is bringing us into. 

Now, the reason for this update is to tell you about something new we want to use the blog for.. Obviously, we want to keep you updated as to what Jesus is doing in our lives and ministry, but its been impressed on our hearts to use this blog to also communicate to ya'll what the Lord is speaking to us in His Word and any other Jesus related stuff... hopefully to have some dialogue with you for the purpose of fellowship. 

...Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another,And the LORD listened and heard them; So a book of remembrance was written before Him For those who fear the LORD And who meditate on His name. “They shall be Mine,” says the LORD of hosts, “On the day that I make them My jewels. And I will spare them As a man spares his own son who serves him.” 

Mal. 3:16-17

We love Jesus, and want to talk about Him as much as we possibly can! So lets be Biblical and talk about the Lord! 

Blessings!  

M&L