You may have already heard that there has been a loss to our church family and a gain to Heaven.  MSGT Robb Needham, who was serving in his second tour of duty in Iraq, was killed early Wednesday morning in hostile enemy fire.  The location is undisclosed, and it isn't clear, but it appears he was killed by a sniper. 

Robb was an amazing person.  He and his wife Cait have been part of our church family for over a year.  In addition he and Cait have been part of Cascade Park Baptist Church family for over 15 years.  The link below will take you to the Columbian to understand more about his life.  He was supposed to retire but WANTED to serve his country.  Robb and I had e-mailed each other often during the last eight months.  I am grateful to have known such a God fearing, selfless, courageous person. 

Robb couldn't help but affect lives.  He just always took care of people.  He was in a word selfless.

One example of Robb's selfless life was during the time I had been diagnosed with cancer.  He e-mailed me to comfort me and to say he was praying, yet he was in the middle of war, on the front lines, in harms way each and every day. 

This weekend we are going to honor the life of a HERO.   I was interviewed by the Columbian, Oregonian, and channel six and channel eight.  Interestingly, in talking about Robb's life it made me ask the question, "Have I lived a life worth being honored, and what is inside someone that makes them a hero? "

PLEASE DON'T MISS THE WEEKEND SERVICES AT LIVING HOPE.  All campuses will be the same message this weekend to honor Robb, pray for his family and learn lessons from his life and sacrifice.   In addition, Cascade Park will honor him during their two Sunday morning services.  Try to make it to one of our services.  If at all possible, please avoid the 11:00 AM service.  Last weekend we had a couple hundred people without seats.   

Pray for his family.  Pray for Cait his wife and his two children, Robi and Dylan.  Pray for God's peace, protection and provision.

Think about this verse.  These are the last words from the Apostle Paul:

"Yes, the Lord will deliver me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly Kingdom.  To God be the glory forever and ever.  Amen."  2 Timothy 4:18

Robb told me in one of the e-mails a few months back that only God knew when they would be coming home.  Rest in the fact he is home now.  He heard the words from Jesus, "Well done, my good and faithful servant." 

Thank you Master Sergeant Robb Needham.  You are our hero!  Your sacrifices will forever be imprinted upon our hearts.

John

http://www.livinghopechurch.com/rob_needham.php

There have been moments in the life of Living Hope where we didn't plan and couldn't possibly anticipate what God would do during the weekend services.  This was defintely one of those weekends.  I am speechless how much God loves and accepts me.  The God that knows me the best loves me the most.   That is a pretty cool thought.  The one statement that was birthed during the weekend was radical acceptance leads to radical life change...always.  I am a product of that statement as are hundreds of people at Living Hope.  We are a collective story of grace. 

Thank you to each person willing to be vulnerable to get up on the stage, walk out and sit for thousands to see and drop a rock at your feet.  Thank you and God bless each of you.  The healing that happened as a result of your transparency was indescribable.

If you missed this last weekend, please go to one of the campuses this Sunday to be part of that experience. 

This weekend at the Brush Prairie campus I want to spend some time talking about the reality that God really believes in YOU more than you believe in yourself.  It is only after these first two steps that we can accept God's unique dream for our lives.  So it is time to wake up to God's dream.

I hope you have a great week.

Never give up!

John

I usually never make coffee at our house before I go to work.  I made a pot of coffee and probably should have checked the Starbucks stainless steel (you can't see in it) pot.  It is the best to empty the 12 cups of old coffee before you add 12 cups of new coffee.  The old coffee had to die in order for the new coffee to live.  Well, Hannah comes in and says Dad why is there coffee all over the counter and all over the floor.   I quickly rushed to clean up the mess to hide the mistake.   

Beyond my random coffee story I wanted to thank everyone.  We had so many people at the 11:00 am service (over 900 at just that one service, where by the way there are not quite 600 seats), we are thinking creatively how to accomodate the people during the next almost three years while a building is built.  Our campuses are now a week behind the Brush Prairie campus, which is going to be a great thing.  The other 5 services are full, but not like 11:00 am.  If you feel led to change services, it would only help us.  Maybe another service, maybe another campus or maybe you will like the idea I will share this weekend that I think is a plausible way to accomodate growth for the next 12 months.  In any case, all the glory goes to God. 

Living Hope.  Thank you for your encouragement in the midst of some criticism.  Thank you for serving in a place where it would be easy to get frustrated.  Thank you for being real in a world that wears masks.  Thank you for bringing friends to this church called Living Hope, navigating through the crowds, parking on the grass all to experience the reality of a God that is so madly, deeply and totally in love with you.  Only in eternity will you understand how much you mean to me, promise.

You are fearfully and wonderfully made.  Imago dei.  You are created in the image of God.  Created.  Loved.  Accepted.  Complete in Christ.  Forgiven.  You are made for a purpose. 

Ephesians 2:10 "You are God's Workmanship..."  Remember that word for workmanship is POIEMA,which means masterpiece. 

May we never ever forget how valuable we are and how the God that knows us the best loves us the most.  Remember we worship the image we stare at.  I hope we can worship God and God alone.  He is the One that matters. 

See ya this weekend

John

I just hugged Danny Joe, and said goodbye.  The team is leaving from our parking lot as I type these words.  I said I wouldn't cry, I lied.  Life is made up of so many things, but to me relationships are everything.  We will miss them all so much.   Thank you Danny for your friendship, for using your gifts to further and strengthen God's Kingdom and for listening to God's dream for your life.  I love you.

Pray for the initial team.  Dustin, Robbie and Danny are going ahead to do some discovery.  It will be fun to keep up with their journey.  Remember to check out their website, along with our other campuses.  Pastors Rick, Jon A., and Duane have officially entered the world of blogging. 

I am excited for all that God is doing.  Been studying and thinking alot about our new series called High School Years.  Think about the memories of High School.  It seems for all of us, it is never a neutral thing.  Either amazing or devastating.  Either happy or sad.  For me, I loved high school.  I missed it so much when I graduated.  What about you?  Did you love it or hate it?  For so many people High School defines you for the rest of your life.  The little tag line for the series is "STILL LOOKING" because I think we are still looking for who we are, for where we fit in and for what our purpose is.  I think the series will be good for all of us. 

Also, the campuses will be a week behind the Brush Prairie campus, which means they will start the series next week (9/17)    THIS weekend, the campus pastors will be speaking.  You won't want to miss the opportunity to hear the heart of Jon Anderson at Hockinson, or Richard Brosius at Orchards or Rick Bosch at Cascade 16.  In fact the African Gospel Choir will be sharing at Cascade 16.

High School years.  Can we begin to change what we see differently.  Can we learn to accept ourselves?  Can we ever learn to stop judging each other?  I hope this series will help all of us journey to the center of our worth and the worth of those around us.

THE SET ONCE AGAIN IS AMAZING, thanks to Randy Turner and his team.  Teresa even has a mascot for the series.  You won't believe it, promise.

John