Things are happening

Technology is amazing! I’m at JFK airport in New York waiting for our flight home. Pop open my laptop with my wireless card and, voila, I’m online!

Yesterday’s breakfast with Pete Scazzero was wonderful. We had a great time of getting to know each other and talking about the Emotionally Healthy Church principles and history. It was exciting to hear about how the Lord birthed this stuff in Pastor Pete’s heart, and how open-handed his leadership and congregation are to giving him away as the Lord opens the doors of ministry across the country.

He is definitely open to coming to Southern California with the seminar. It was exciting to talk about how this could happen. Later that morning, I received a call from my friend, Steve Pope, Pastor of Royal Avenue Baptist Church and one of the primary driving forces behind our local Pastor’s Prayer Group.

He spoke with his Association Director (similar to our District Supervisor) about The Emotionally Healthy Church. Steve said his response was that he wants his whole Association (Ventura County Southern Baptist Churches) to be a part of the Seminar when it happens. Please pray that the Lord opens the hearts of pastors and leaders across the entire Southwest region of our nation to come and partake.

I believe that what the Lord has birthed in Pastor Pete’s heart is desperately needed for Pastors and in churches today. So many Pastors I talk to that have everything going for them (some are pastors of very large churches) and seem to have all the signs of "success" are still wondering what’s missing and why they’re dying inside. You would probably be surprised at how many Pastors find themselves in, or on the verge of, burnout ... same place I found myself four years ago.

After our breakfast, we did our last stint of time in Manhattan with a visit to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Just awesome. From there, we rode to the UN Headquarters and then walked over to the Empire State Building, walking through Grand Central Station on the way. What an amazing place! The view from the Empire State Building was absolutely incredible.

The rest of the evening may have been the most fun. We were consistently told that the place for pizza in New York City is Grimaldi’s. It’s a hole in the wall (actually a small building tucked under the Brooklyn Bridge) that was authentic as it gets.

It’s the only coal-fired oven pizza left in New York. A pizza literally cooks in 90 seconds! And the taste was just incredible – fresh everything. All the way down to the red and white checkered table covers and a tiny room PACKED with customers. I felt like we were at dinner with the couple next to us, we were that close.

The open hotel room window allowed for the true sounds of New York experience through the night – horns, sirens, screeching brakes. But we’re ready for the quiet night of Simi Valley. See you when we get home.