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Staff Christmas Party

Written by admin on . Posted in Christmas, Staff, thank you. 1 Comment on Staff Christmas Party

WOW…. Yesterday the Judge gave us 15 extra minutes for lunch so I was able to run over to our staff Christmas Party. The last several years we have taken the staff to Outback Steak House for lunch. We are always delighted because usually this particular restaurant is closed during the lunch hour.

We currently have more than 100 people on our church staff, so we feed them lunch and get them a small gift as a token of our appreciation. This year we gave them sweatshirts with “PROPERTY of SHEPHERD” written across the front. Looking back we should have written “PROPERTY of THE SHEPHERD” across the front.

If you had been at our staff luncheon yesterday you would have realized, like me, that these are some of the hardest working people on the face of the planet. They work and serve behind the scenes, many of them you wouldn’t even know. Yet, they serve so faithfully and diligently. They don’t get a lot of applause, and most of them could make a lot more money if they were out in the business world, but they would rather work for the KING and store up heavenly rewards for a future payout.

Would you take a moment to pray and thank God for the many men and women who loyally serve here at Shepherd? I hope you’ll take a moment and just thank the Lord for the team he has gathered to lead us here at church.

STAFF, I LOVE YOU AND AM SO THANKFUL FOR EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU.

In love,

Pastor Dudley

Baptism at Westside

Written by admin on . Posted in baptism, favorite videos, westside campus. 1 Comment on Baptism at Westside

We have about a dozen people from our Westside campus lined up to be baptized at the Westside campus this Sunday, December 10, at the Westwood Hills Christian Church (10808 Leconte). I’m so excited because this would NOT have happened if we had not started this new campus! I hope you will join us from from 1 to 3 p.m. if you’d like to be baptized or come support someone who will be! For more information, please contact the Westside church office at 310.551.0100 or [email protected].

In the meantime, I thought I’d share the following video with you, which kind of conveys the joy of getting baptized…but don’t get any ideas ;o)

Isaiah 61

Written by admin on . Posted in devotions, Isaiah, scripture. No Comments on Isaiah 61

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion, to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.

They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.

I love this passage of scripture on becoming “Oaks of Righteousness”.

This entire chapter is so powerful, especially this morning before I start my day, by thinking of being all that God would have me to be…to be so rooted in Jesus and to understand that I need to be that “Oil of Gladness” and that I too need to preach the “Good News to the Poor”.

May the “Spirit of the Sovereign Lord” rest upon you and me this glorious day.

Week Two of Jury Duty

Written by admin on . Posted in jury duty. 2 Comments on Week Two of Jury Duty

I actually had a weekend off from preaching and it’s been quite a while since I had a weekend where I wasn’t preaching somewhere. I know that Todd Clark preached a powerful sermon on our Porter Ranch campus and that George Taggart hit a home run at our Westside campus. It is a joy to have these men in our preaching rotation. The Word of God never comes back void and I know that the WORD was mightily preached at Shepherd this weekend.

Tomorrow I start my second week of Jury Duty. It has been very enlightening seeing how our judicial system works. The strangest thing is NOT being able to talk about the evidence of the case with any of the other jurist. I keep wondering if they are thinking the same thing that I’m thinking. But we are not allowed to discuss ANY of the details until the lawyers are through presenting their case.

I’ve enjoyed getting to know the other jurist and even though they come from all different walks of life they are all united in doing their very best with this case.
They are such good, honest people that I’m convinced that collectively we will come to the correct decision at the conclusion of the trial.

Praying that each of YOU have a blessed week and thank you for your continued prayers. Lord willing, I will be preaching this coming weekend and I hope to see you there. We need people to switch to the Saturday 6:30 pm service. 🙂 Just thought I would put that little bug in your ear again….

In love,

Dudley

UCLA STUNS USC

Written by admin on . Posted in bruins, football, sports, usc. 6 Comments on UCLA STUNS USC



What can I say??????????????????

HOW ABOUT THOSE BRUINS…………

13-9

I know alot of you may not believe this… but I was going to post a picture of the Trojans if they had won the National Championship. But.. oh well…..

But the BRUINS RULE USC

Happy days are here again…

GOOOOOOOOOOO BRUINS…
Congratulations Coach Dorrell..
I saw you pointing heavenward!

A Challenge for Dallas

Written by admin on . Posted in basketball, children, Dallas, parenting, prayer. 4 Comments on A Challenge for Dallas


My son, “Sir Dallas James Rutherford,” had a tough day today. He is a junior at Campbell Hall High School in Studio City, and he’s been having some problems with his left knee. After getting some x-rays and an MRI, the doctor informed us that he has a fractured patella. He will be out of basketball for six to eight weeks.

Now for a young man who loves to play basketball, this was NOT good news. He will basically be missing most of his junior year, but hopefully he’ll be able to make it back towards the end of the season. I checked my phone during a break in the middle of my jury trial and it was heart wrenching listening to my son give me this news. Dallas is a fish out of water if he’s not on the court playing a little basketball.

We are doing our best to let him know that God has a plan and that there are a lot of good things that could come of this.

Please keep Dallas in your prayers. He is struggling to discern what God wants for his life. He has been trying his best to honor the Lord recently. God often shapes us through some difficult times and I’m praying that God would do just that. I’ve watched Dallas play basketball many, many times and you can see the joy in him as he runs and competes. I sometimes think of the OLD movie, Chariots of Fire, where God used Eric Liddell to compete in the 1924 Olympic games to honor God. There is such a memorable quote in that movie from Eric. He said, “I believe that God made me for a purpose, but He also made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure.” I’m not sure Dallas has ever totally figured this out, but I do believe he’s at least thinking about it. So hopefully, this will be a time where he can reflect on how to honor God with his life.

I want to thank, in advance, those of you who will keep him in your prayers. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.