Can you guess WHO is WHO??? Thee Original Michael North. Dudley South. Casey May, Pee Wee, Steve Syatt, Danny Furukawa and Marty Collins… Our worship Pastor, Michael North, is getting married in just a few days… 🙂 Recently, a few of his friends surprised him with a night out for dinner. We had all arrived early, and Michael’s fiance brought him to Black Angus for some alone time, yet Michael didn’t know what awaited him. Marty Collins had made some Michael North masks, and when he came around the corner, he saw a group of people in the corner booth all singing, “Set the Stage for a Miracle.”
I was laughing so hard that it was hard to sing….. ahahahahahahahaahah
But then we all lowered our masks and had a wonderful evening sharing stories and advice with Michael on marriage and life.
I want to thank Michael for his gift of leading our church in corporate worship. My prayer for him and his future bride is that God would bless him beyond his wildest imaginations. Michael, YOU are a dear friend, and I consider it an honor to work with you side by side in ministry here at Shepherd of the Hills Church.
Many of you have asked about our good friend, Joshua Weaver. Joshua is a dear man of God, who at one time was our lead worship pastor here at Shepherd of the Hills Church. He has battled cancer and other health issues, and continues to fight on. I recently went over to his home and watched one of the Laker playoff games. I’m not sure, but Joshua might be the number one Laker fan in LosAngeles. It was an honor to spend some time with Joshua because of his sweet spirit and his love for the Lord.
Those of you who are new to our church have missed the incredible gift of worship leading that Joshua brings to the table. He came to our church during a critical time and carried the mantle of leadership with class and dignity. His mark remains in our church because the standard to lead and sing carries with it a high responsibility, and he instilled this standard into our worship teams. Joshua continues to be a man of God, and although he is not currently leading any of our worship services, we are praying that one day in the future, God will restore his health fully and completely.
I want you to know that Joshua has completely conquered the cancer that once had its grip on him, and because of that, we REJOICE. He does, however, continue to have other health issues, and I hope you will join me in praying for him. Joshua has the most positive spirit, and we are convinced that God has great plans for him during the next years of his life. Even though there are a few hurdles, Joshua KNOWS that all things work for the GOOD for those who love the Lord.
Please continue to lift up this MAN of GOD in your prayers, and if you’ve never heard him lead worship, you can pick up his C.D. entitled, “We Come to Praise Him,” at the Praises bookstore. You will then understand the incredible gift of music that God has placed within him, and you will understand my statement when I tell you… you don’t know what you’re missing… by not knowing this dear brother in the Lord.
The picture above is of one of my two life groups. These men are the Pastors of the church although several of them were absent when this picture was taken. I want to tell you and the entire church that I could NOT do my job without these Godly men. Together they set the foundation for a wonderful church staff.
These men are extremely supportive and loyal and I am blessed to serve and lead such a tight knit group of men. I want to express to each of them my love and appreciation and I will never adequately be able to fully explain how much they mean to me.
Being a Pastor of a large church it is critical that I have a team of committed Christlike men gathered around me. And God has certainly brought such a group to help serve Shepherd of the Hills Church. Please take a moment to thank the Lord for these godly men.
I recently received the following email concerning these men:
Hi Pastor Dudley! I’ve been involved here at SOTH for about five years… and I just want to tell you how much I love the Shepherd Pastors (yourself included). Let me tell you why: 1. They love, love, love. 2. I’ve never heard a cross word from their lips. 3. They laugh at themselves. 4. They work together in unity even when there are glitches in the plans. 5. They show respect to everybody without exception or favorites. 6. They are full of humble grace and truth. 7. They stop to talk to us, even if they are in a hurry and going somewhere. 8. They make us grow. 9. They encourage without pushing. 10. They keep the Big Picture as the Big Picture. 11. They love, love, love. 12. They let us fail sometimes and don’t beat us up, but give us a hand back up. 13. They see the beauty in us when on a bad day or when no one else does. 14. They let us ask questions. 15. They listen before they give answers. 16. They bring life and joy to our lives. 17. They don’t act like they are working hard or stressed out, even when they are. 18. They don’t ask for attention or kudos. 19. They honor the Lord first. 20. They stand together and honor each other. 21. They smile a lot :-). 22. They are intense & caring in their love for the lost. 23. They encourage us step-by-step without rigid performance expectations. 24. They teach from the Word, not from their opinions. 25. They are openly human and solicit feedback/improvement. 26. They may sometimes be forgetful like all of us, but they don’t forget the important things like love, love, love! 27. They don’t give up when it’s tough. 28. They absolutely shine with hope and faith & redemption.
I could go on and on, Pastor. The relationships I have with the pastors at SOTH are changing my life. I’ve been a Christian since 1975 and have never been so blessed with such wonderful models to follow.
Thank you, Pastor Dudley, and please pass the word to the other SOTH staff that you guys really are Jesus incarnate and encouraging us to be the same!
Many of you may or may not know Peter and Jocelyn White. They were married about a year ago and have been very active in our church. I wanted to share a little about Jocelyn with you because she is the main staff person organizing the campus on the Westside. For the past several years, she helped to coordinate the Vine, which is our Sunday night service at the Porter Ranch campus.
When we started our Westside campus, that meets at the Wadsworth theatre in Brentwood, Peter and Jocelyn were the obvious choice to help us get started because they live just a few blocks away from the theatre.
On Sunday mornings, the Westside campus runs like a well oiled machine, and it’s primarily due to the organizational skills of Jocelyn and her team. She has a HOST of volunteers and staff who work together week in and week out. I literally show up on Sundays, and everything is ready to go… This team of people have organized ushers, greeters, counselors, musicians, set up crews, child care services, connection table helpers and the best table of refreshments on the Westside.
Her husband, Peter, is a constantsource of encouragement, as well as a sounding board and a man of Godly insight.
I know I’ve told you many times how successful we’ve been on our Westside Campus, but I wanted you to know who is mostly responsible for this success. Thank you, Jocelyn, for helping our church reach the Westside for Jesus!!!
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.
One year ago today, Pastor Tim’s Dad went on to Glory. The picture up above is a picture of Tim and I and his mother Judy the day of his daddy’s funeral which was organized by Chevrah Lomdei Mishnah. I remember flying back to a little town back in Illinois for his funeral and I watched as Tim spoke to a room full of people that had known his dad. In front of family, friends, Christians and non-Christians I watched as God gave Pastor Tim the strength and words to address that audience. Every one of you would have been proud of Tim as he fought back tears and stood as a messenger of hope and preached a message of salvation to those who had come to pay their respects to his father. It is a moment I will never forget.
Yes.. the picture of the old house that I posted on my blog a few days ago was the house that Pastor Tim grew up in. Tim gave me a tour of the home and the area that he had grown up in. It was waaaaaaaaaaaaaay out in the country.
But we were there for Bill Winters funeral. Tim’s dad was a great man. A gentle man with a gentle spirit, a farmer, a teacher, a father, a friend. I rarely ever look at Pastor Tim, that I can’t help but think of his father Bill. The apple didn’t fall far from the tree. For Pastor Tim is also a very caring, loving, gentle man. A father, teacher and friend.
Will you do me a favor today? Will you pray for Pastor Tim today? And just ask God to strengthen and comfort him. It’s never an easy thing to come to a day like today and not struggle to some degree. Timbo… I love you and I thank God that you are the friend of all friends. May you continue to bless us the way your father blessed others.
