Before we leave San Diego....
I first want to share with each of you who I have met in San Diego how much I appreciate your love and friendship for Linda and I, along with our family, over the past 8 years. I really want each of you to know how much we love all of the extended family we have met during this season of ministry in the Southern California area.
Linda and I have been sensing God's direction in moving our whole immediate family up to Northern Idaho and have seen His confirmation one step at a time over the last 9 to 12 months. In the same way that God uprooted us from Arizona and moved us here, He seems to be moving us to North Idaho for a new season of ministry, perhaps the first official church plant of San Diego Bible Church, but only after I finish this last year of my doctorate and complete my dissertation. J
Linda and I truly have mixed feelings...sad knowing how much we will miss each of you...and excited about what God has in store for us in Idaho. We are also aware that many of you have questions about our departure. And, while we don't have all the answers as to what God is doing in our lives or how this will all play out, we do have clarity on some things we can share with you.
- The pastors and I will be putting together a search team from the congregation to help find the man God has already chosen to be the next senior pastor of SDBC. I am personally excited about the future of the church and the role you all get to play in shaping it's future. This is a time when God could really grow the church as you all have the opportunity to join together and discover for yourself, who will take SDBC to the next level. If you have suggestions on who should be on the search committee, please let any of our pastors know. If you have any suggestions on someone you may know or have heard of who might be considered as a candidate for my position, please get ready to let the committee know. We will be keeping you updated regularly on the process and how it will work. YOU will determine who the next senior pastor will be, by vote of no less than 90%, after the committee has done it's job of discovery. This process should take approximately 9-12 months, Lord willing, and only in HIS perfect timing. Our pastors will keep all of you informed on any new information as we walk down this road together!
- Linda and I expect to be here for a month and perhaps much longer as our home is under contract and when it is sold, we should be leaving soon thereafter, however only God knows if it will actually close on time or if at all, with our current buyer. At the end of the day our final timeline and all future plans will always remain in God's hand, just as it should! James 4:13-16 Look here, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit." How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog-it's here a little while, then it's gone. What you ought to say is, "If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that." Otherwise you are boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil.
- With that said, I would encourage any of you to invite ANY past family of SDBC to come and join us for worship on any weekend while we are here, as we would love to see any of our brothers and sisters in Christ, especially those we may have not seen in a while. Linda and I plan on being a part of SDBC for the rest of our lives, even though it looks like God is moving us to another state.
- Please join us in prayer for this process. Please pray for the growth of the church during this exciting time of new beginnings. Please pray for our pastors and their families to persevere and for God to protect and bless each of them. Please pray for the pastor who is to take my place and for his family... and for God to reveal him to our committee in His perfect timing. Please pray for Linda and I, along with our family who are following God's leading to Idaho, especially, that He would use us in a great way to further His Kingdom there.
- I encourage you to come join us any weekend as we continue to work our way through the Book of James. There are so many lessons for all of us to learn or re-learn from this great book of Scripture and I must say, I have never loved preaching as much as I do, with this text that is so relevant today.
I send each of you my agape in Christ Jesus...
Pastor Steve
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