Why LA Matters!

Los Angeles is the most influential city in the world.  There, I said it. Let the discussion begin!  

When my family lived in the Washington DC area I was often asked,  “ How does it feel to live in the most powerful city in the world?”  On the surface it seem to be a logical question.  Yes, Washington DC is in fact the most powerful city in the world!  The center of government for the most powerful economy and military in the world naturally would be considered the most influential.   But is it?  Something inside me said, "I don't believe that this is true."  

Curiosity started me on a journey to discover where in the world is the most influence created.  What cities in the world have the most influence?   Of course, when we think of power or government we think of Washington DC, Moscow, or more recently Beijing.  When we think of finance or money we think of New York, London, or Singapore.  When we think of arts and culture we think of New York, San Francisco, Tokyo, Vienna, Rio, Moscow, and Hong Kong to name a few, and to not intentionally leave any of your favorites out.   

But it leads to a question of; what city influences all these other cities? What city actually plant seeds of culture throughout the world with film, music, and all sorts of media?   This city is arguably Los Angeles.  LA, The City of Angels.     When I first had this discussion with a close friend of mine a few years ago while living in DC he said, "Well of course with Washington DC because that's where all the laws are made.  That is where all the lobbyists are. That is where foreign leaders come to do business for their governments and all kinds of diplomatic relations."  But when we peel the onion back even further and asked who puts our lawmakers in power? Who are the very people that vote to send these elected officials to Washington?  What drives the lobbyist to lobby for certain companies that we as American consumers consume products from? The answer once again is the influence that comes out of Los Angeles.  

You see ,the films we watch, the TV shows, the music we listen to, the clothes we wear are all impacted by the products that come out of the film, TV, and music industry. The way we view family; “The Modern Family”  The way we view marriage, relationships between a man and a woman, and even how we view hope and fear are greatly influenced by the media we consume.  How kids respond to their parents and how parents respond to their kids.  Have you noticed how the Disney channel and others tends to typecast the family?  In many cases the father is a bumbling man with little influence in the home, the mothers want to be younger, and the kids run the house.   Nielsen Research estimates that the average American consumes an average of 5 hours per day of TV.  5 hours!  This means the average 40 year old American has spent about 8 years of their life consuming influence from media.  We have heard it said, "We are what we eat."  What if we become what we consume in the media?  Whether we like it or not we are being transformed every day by some form of influence. 

We don't only see the influence of Los Angeles in our country.  Think of the continuing popularity of David Hasselhoff in Europe , Michael Jackson in Japan and many other examples.  Even long after they seem popular in America.   

So why is this important?  It is so important because I believe that the most important mission field for the advancement of God’s Kingdom in the world today is in cities like Los Angeles.  With Los Angles being the most important.  In fact, for much of the last hundred years of North American missions, the cities of the greatest influence have been among the most ignored areas.  While we have concentrated our time, talent, and money sending missionaries to foreign fields in areas of great need, physical need like Africa, the areas of the greatest influence have been, for the most part, neglected.  This is in no way meant to discount the amazing churches that are in Los Angeles, and in other cities of influence.  My desire is to draw attention to the reality that if we truly want to change the world for Jesus and show the world the love of Jesus, the cities that have the most influence must get more of our missional focus.

There is no doubt that the need is huge everywhere and many of those with great need live in other countries.  So it may be easy to dismiss Los Angeles as a mission field because of the material wealth and high standard of living compared to most of the world.  We should be very cautious of this line of reasoning as even Paul went to the most influential cities and risked his life to get to Rome, which was the most influential city of his time.  

So I encourage all of you today to stir up your own personal curiosity as to how you can use your time, talent, and financial resources to make the most impact. 

To be continued……….

Written by Rod, Dallas, Texas

Follow his journey here 

Calling All Dreamers

Chris and I have always been dreamers; as individuals before we met and now as a couple. On New Years Eve a few years back, we sat down, poured some Cab, and laid our dreams out on the table. We talked about going into business for ourselves full time and what that might look like. We etched out a plan and toasted to the future. Now the business we hashed out that night has been running full swing for almost 3 years.

A year and a half prior to that, we decided we wanted to attend G42 Leadership Academy in Spain. We put ourselves on a budget and saved up. We had to make some sacrifices in order to make it happen, but we did it! We finished our lease, quit our jobs, then moved to Spain. For six months, we ate delicious warm olives, drank local wines, and grew in maturity, both spiritually and mentally.

Even before Spain, we talked about moving to California. We started dreaming about living by the ocean almost 6 years ago! What if we moved by the beach? Could we afford it? Is it unwise? Would it be a mistake? Or would we love it and never look back? Those were real questions to consider. It was no longer just Chris and I – now we had two babies and another on the way. We owned a house in a safe neighborhood. Our mortgage was low. Our neighbors were kind. Our friends were close. But, no matter how we tried, we couldn’t keep from hearing the ocean when we closed our eyes at night. At the end of the day, we always knew we had to try. “It’s an itch we’re just going to have to scratch,” we’d say.

We wanted to pull the trigger and move last year, but the timing just wasn’t right. You see, Chris and I have a gift.  It’s called “doing-the-craziest-thing-at-the-craziest-time-possible.”  Maybe we secretly like the squeeze of doing things under pressure.  Or perhaps we’re adrenaline junkies with some major mental issues.  Either way, we seem to wait until life’s a little crazy and then intentionally add more crazy to it.

So, three weeks after Kai was born, we put our house up for sale. Getting our house ready for showings was stressful! Imagine trying to make your house look perfect when you have a crazy three year old, a wild two year old, and a newborn! By the grace of God, our house went under contract in five days.

Once we had our closing date set, we started the long distance search for a place to rent in California. We scoured Zillow, Craigslist, and local FB pages for a house we could all squeeze into. Thankfully, we have awesome local friends who’d run over and check places out for us since we couldn’t be there in person. After a couple dead ends, the third place we found was the charm. The landlord chose us out of a hungry group of would-be renters (the rental market in SoCal during the summer is, um, competitive.) So, without ever seeing the place firsthand, we mailed in our deposit and put a moving-in date on the calendar.

The next couple of weeks were filled with purging, packing, and saying goodbye to our first house.  Once the moving truck was filled (and I mean FILLED), Chris pointed it West and drove until he saw that beautiful Pacific Ocean. 

Now, here we are. I’m currently sitting in the bedroom of our cute little rental in Southern California, and I’m so grateful we did it. I’m relieved we did it. I can’t imagine not doing it. Getting here wasn’t easy. We saved, we purged, and we planned. We worked for it. And as much as we knew Colorado was only a temporary home, we had still put down some roots. Pulling them up wasn’t easy and we felt the weight of it. In fact, we still do. We’ve found ourselves in an unfamiliar place. We’re meeting new people, making new friends, and learning to move to a new rhythm. Things are uncomfortable. The future is uncertain. But dammit, it’s so good. The hard was worth it. We LOVE it here. 

I could easily sit here and tell you a bunch of romantic things about following dreams, but I’d be doing you a disservice. Dreaming alone is easy. But making those dreams happen takes sacrifice. Leaving behind comfort and security to step out  Faith is scary. Who knows what’s out there? Who knows what will happen? I sure don’t, but we can’t let those thoughts keep us from trying, from living. 

Doing the thing we’d been dreaming of, even in the face of so much scrutiny and doubt, woke me up again. It’s almost as if a part of me had started succumbing to a comfortable life, even when it wasn’t what I really wanted. I’m relieved, because I see that I almost settled for just “good”.  Taking a leap of faith was just the jolt I needed!  

May we never retire from moving, growing, changing, learning, seeking, and adventuring. May the sun never go down on our thirst for life! May we be 84 years old and still seeking, still pursuing, and still pressing in. His kingdom is a bottomless ocean. There’s no limit to how deep we can go…

“Few people attain great lives, in large part because it is just so easy to settle for a good life.” –James C. Collins

Written by Jenny, Carlsbad, CA

Follow her journey here and here.