New Life's Father Daughter Dance in Berwyn

                                                                                      Blurry Highlights

I had the best of my childhood at age seven. My dad was all mine for two whole years.  I honestly don’t remember a more innocent time in my life when things were so full of joy.  It’s starting to become a blur now, and it’s sad to think that I don’t remember the details of those pleasant moments I had with him. I remember his big hands and how they reminded me of ape hands. When I was little I used to hold his pinky finger all the time with my tiny hands. I thought that if I held his pinky he would have to make an unspoken promise to never let go.  It was comforting to me. I felt like his hands could covet me from any danger, and I could hide behind them and be safe.

          It was just the two of us but it was never lonely.  My dad quit school so that he could spend more time being my dad and it was him that made my childhood. Every morning he used to play jazz music and teach me dance moves and we would dance through the entire track.  He was really silly and he always made me smile. He would even play tea party with me. As unmanly as it sounds, it was heroic to me. My dad bought us our first pet: a bird he named Pepsi. He let me paint on my bedroom walls. I loved art so much back then. He even bought me fancy paint and a canvas. The house was always a mess but we were always happy. He used to try to style my hair and claimed that he knew what I was doing until one day on picture day. My dad made my hair into this crazy mess and I ended up looking like Medusa. After that he just took me to my Lita to do my hair in the morning before school.

         He was very strict about school.  He made me study out loud and practice in front of him. He even had me do extra homework. He read medical books to me because he wanted me to be a successful doctor.  He made me study bones and muscle and he even had me memorize the metric system. I could tell you which instruments were used for surgical procedures, but I couldn’t read or solve basic math problems.  I had a hard time learning and it was very frustrating for him to teach me anything school related. He pushed me and he never really gave up on me. He was the kind of man that showed love when it most needed. He was endearing but he was also my greatest source of strength. He refused to believe I had a learning disability because I was smart even though the teachers said I was dumb.  I was held back a year and my dad cried about it. I think he took it the hardest.

           My dad used to take me out to “Steak N Eggers” on Cermak and Halsted. We would eat lunch there and I would always order the same thing as my dad: “Country Fried Steak, with a side of biscuits and a vanilla milkshake. Please.”

          We used to go out to the movies. Sometimes he used take all of my cousins and we would race to the theatre after we got out of my dad’s truck. We had our theories that this movie theater was so fancy that they used crushed diamonds as cement. Afterward, we would go to this old arcade called “Chilies’”. We would share a big bowl scoop of turtle sundae and play glow in the dark miniature golf.  It was so much fun, but don’t bother looking for it because it’s long gone now.   

          I used to push down my seat in the truck so that I could lie down and relax. I remember one thing vividly, and that was the feel of the breeze rushing through my hair. I also remember that I would my stick my hand out of the car window and arm wrestle with the strong wind. I pretended it was God’s hand. There was something comforting about being in the car next to my dad that it made me feel at ease and sleepy. My dad loved rock music. He would blast the volume and roll down the windows. It was loud but it wasn’t the kind of loud that separated us. It was the kind of loud that made silent exchanges more valuable. We looked at another father to daughter, and we would just smile. I remember the last time I felt that way, when the sun would hit us on those sunny days. For me it seemed like a beaming moment that God highlighted as if he knew how important these little car rides were for a little girl. I would always fall asleep first on the car ride back home. Every time I woke up I found myself in my bed. He would carry me to my room and tuck me under the covers. It was always those little things I remember the most. It was spring before my ninth birthday, and it was the last time I would ever be a kid. It was a blur but I will never forget the beauty in those highlighted moments.

- Celebrate the importance of fathers with New Life Community Church in Berwyn on June 14th at 6pm. Admission is $5 per person.

Not Another Church, Please!

The official grand opening of New Life Community Church in Rogers Park just days away.  Countless hours and thousands of prayers have been poured into the launch of our 15th location.  We have invested financially by inviting the community.  We have also invested in more practical ways through purchasing the sound equipment, chairs, children's ministry materials, signage, projectors, and much more- everything is almost ready!  

I was talking to someone a couple of days ago who is planning and praying towards the launch of a church in another Chicago neighborhood.  The community where he is planning on planting a church is weary from the number of churches that already exist.  They have basically told him, "not another church, PLEASE!"

The conversation helped me remember why we are planting another location of New Life in Chicago with the goal of planting a total of 40 new locations by 2020.  Here are the top 7 reasons that quickly come to mind:

1)  The population has grown incredibly over the last 100 years, but there are less churches in the city.  The reality is that there are over 45,000 households within a 1.5 mile radius of where we are starting New Life Rogers Park.  Within a 5 minute drive there are over 300,000 people. The amount of churches people have to choose from are very few.  And if even a tenth of the people decided to go to church that shares the good news of Jesus every Sunday, there would be no where for them to sit.

2) Some estimate that only 5% of the area goes to church on any given Sunday.   There are several churches doing a great job of reaching out, but we need more people reaching out in this NE corner of the city. 

3) Different churches reach different kinds of people.  Our desire and vision is to be a multicultural church.  Music styles and communication methods differ based on our cultural background.  Our desire is to reach out to youth and seniors, the rich and the poor, the educated and the uneducated, those who are dark skinned and those who are light skinned, those who were born in other countries and those who were born here.  We know we won't be able to reach everybody, but we do we believe there are people we can impact that others might not be reaching.

4) We need to make more room because God is answering our prayers!  We fast and pray for our family members, friends, co-workers, and neighbors to come closer to God.  We have seen hundreds of lives changed.  If we believe God is going to answer our prayers we need make more room for those who are going to come.  Instead of spending millions and millions on building a huge arena, we prefer to reach out to communities across the city and multiply our existing locations. 

5) We have a unique philosophy of ministry that allows us to make an equally unique impact.   When I was a youth pastor on the southside, our youth were greatly touched by the generosity of a northsider who helped us build a gym for children and youth.  We are not 15 separate churches independently trying to survive.  We are one church in 15 locations that cooperates with God and each other in seeking to make a difference citywide.  As we are starting New Life Community Church in Rogers Park, we know that we are not on our own and are thankful that 14 other locations and thousands of people are praying for the Rogers Park area!

6) God has led us to start a new location in the Rogers Park area.  He first put it on our hearts to pray for this area over the last two years.  Without any marketing or any strategic effort other than prayer, we have had over 50 people from this area start coming to one of New Life's locations.  Through a clear open door from God, we have been able to rent from the YMCA.  Through many different reasons, we are confident God has led us to this neighborhood and we are simply just following His lead.

7) We love the Rogers Park community and surrounding areas!  We live here.  We love the diversity.  We love the urban feel.  We love the lakefront and we love the restaurants.  We can choose to live anywhere, but this is our home community.  We have people coming that live in Evanston, Skokie, and other surrounding neighborhoods that are less than a 5-10 minute drive away.  We look forward, not to sucking up the community’s resources, but giving back to the community and serving here.  Some of the people who drive from other neighborhoods come because this is where they grew up.  Others who come are here because they love the nations represented in the neighborhood and want to serve this community.  We look forward to discovering how we will be able to best serve the area and be a light here for God! 

Our dream is to be a group of people who live out their faith and make a practical impact on this area of the city for God.  We don't want to be served, we want to serve.  We are just getting started and can't do everything at once, but our hope is that we would be able to make a positive difference in the name of Jesus Christ.  

Our prayer to God is that we would not be just another church, Please God!