Jason Locke's Blog

Have you ever wished for a do-over? Ever wished you could restart something from scratch? Have you wished you could hit the "rewind" button and back up a few years? I wish I could restart my mission work in Prague. I was young, naive and inexperienced when we went to start a church in that world-class city. I was breaking away from my sectarian past, but I was still trapped in the narrow thinking that has doomed most of our European church works. I would love a do-over on that one. There are others as well. I could name relationships that need a restart. There are projects that I would love to rewind. The list goes on and on. Have you ever stopped to consider what it means that God is the Creator? As the One who created heaven and earth, He has amazing power to create and put things in order. He can make worlds from nothing. As a God who creates, has it dawned on you that he still has power to create. And not just create. He is able to recreate. He can make things new. He is ...

It's hard to believe that we are just 3 weeks & change away from the Renew conference. Good thing we've got so many capable people on the job! I can't imagine trying to run this thing on my own. Registration numbers are very strong so far. It's especially gratifying to see how many of our own people are supporting the conference. Worship is the primary response to God's powerful acts. Awe and reverence hit us when we recognize an encounter with the Holy One. When we see God's hand at work, we tend to fall to our knees in gratitude and humility. God doesn't leave us on our knees. Worship is an appropriate response, but He doesn't leave us at worship. God's M.O. throughout scripture is to follow that up with a calling to do something on His behalf. He moves us from worship to mission. Remember Moses & the burning bush? Moses is dumbstruck that he is in God's presence. But God has a job for him to do. Remember Mary? A messenger from the Lord...

In times of crisis like this, tons of money flows to relief organizations. Most donations that come in are earmarked for the region in question. After the great tsunami in Indonesia, billions of dollars in aid was given to help rebuild. In a similar vein, current donations are almost all earmarked for relief efforts in Haiti. While it's understandable that people feel compassion for Haiti, we would do well to remember that there are many other worthwhile projects going on around the globe. Many organizations are working with AIDS orphans in Africa. Others are drilling wells or teaching sustainable agriculture in Saharan Africa. Still others make micro-loans to women in Southeast Asia to grant those women more empowerment and freedom. Some agencies lament that giving for these vital, ongoing projects tends to dry up when a major catastrophe like the Haitian earthquake occurs. Many relief agencies have global works and they could use money for other worthwhile projects, but they are ...

Here is the latest on relief efforts led by Churches of Christ. During your day you may come across many news feeds with info from all kinds of Christian & humanitarian organizations. If you want news on our church-sponsored efforts, check out the news at the Christian Chronicle. http://www.christianchronicle.org/article2158986~Churches_send_doctors%2C_medicine_and_food_to_Haiti Have a great day!

RENEW 2010 is just 4 1/2 weeks away. When Zoe pulled the plug on their West Coast conference back in the fall, all of us felt a bit of initial disappointment. As we pondered our situation, however, we felt a surge of excitement when we realized the potential of doing our own similar conference. This really is going to be a great weekend! Randy Harris and John York headline the conference. We are fortunate to have some great regional teachers present material as well. Andy Wall and Tim Spivey are two of the best Church of Christ preachers in California. Bobby Bligh, Les Bennett and David Berry are excellent preachers right here in the San Joaquin Valley. See our website to register: http://collegecofc.com/renew/index.htm The cost is just $25! It's a great bargain & even includes a dinner on Saturday night. Hope to see you here in Fresno!

The Christian Chronicle website is back online. For info about churches and organizations that are accepting donations, click on the following link: http://www.christianchronicle.org/article2158985~

The Christian Chronicle website seems to be down. I haven't been able to pull up their website for about 24 hours now. Not sure what's happening. I do know, however, that they have an expanded and updated list of churches and agencies that are trying to get aid into Haiti. Since my last blog post, they have added about 5 new avenues for giving. The advantage of working with small, church-run agencies is that your dollars will likely go to concrete projects that you can actually get updates on. Major relief agencies like the Red Cross certainly need money, but it is much more difficult to track the impact of your donation. You also know that a big chunk of your gift will go toward administration and additional fundraising rather than directly to Haiti. So if you want additional information, keep checking http://www.christianchronicle.org/ for updates on agencies and churches who are receiving donations for Haiti.