Nine Years Ago

A new year had dawned. It was the winter of 1996. We sat by the phone. We waited with anticipation for the mail to arrive each day. The phone never rang. The calls never came. The letters never arrived.

Back in the spring of 1995 Amy and I believed that God was calling us to leave our home church in National City, California. God was calling us to leave our quiet, middle-class neighborhood with the perfect little elementary school. God was calling us, like Abraham, to a place that we had never seen and knew nothing about. "I will show you the land," God was saying. We believed that the call was clear, however we went through a process (which I will show you on Sunday) to verify that what we were understanding was coming from God. So I stood before that congregation in suburban San Diego and I told those good people that God was calling us to move after almost nine years of ministry there.

In the fall of 1995 I sent my resume to over 400 churches across America that were looking for a pastor with no regard for geography, because we did not know anything about the land that God was calling us to. By the dawn of 1996 we had not received one call, one response by mail, not even one sniff from those 400 resumes.

Then one evening a guy named Bob Tripp called our house. He began to tell me about working at Dreyer's Ice Cream and about a buddy there who was a believer. Bob happened to ask his buddy one day, "Do you think your pastor knows anybody who is looking for a church to pastor?" His friend said, "I'll ask." He asked his pastor, Mike Kalapp of Calvary Baptist Church in Bellflower. Mike said, "I know a guy down in San Diego named Craig Henson who is looking." Bob said, "Mike Kalapp suggested I call to see if you would entertain the thought of coming to Venice Baptist Church." I thought, "Where in the world is Venice?" I knew about Venice. I should say I knew about the Boardwalk at Venice Beach. I was thrilled for the opportunity. It had been a long time since God had informed us that He had something new for us. The courtship began. I put on my best face. Venice Church put on her best face. We drove up to look around. The search team came down and heard me preach. There was an interview and more visits and then the good people of Venice invited us to come and we said, "Yes. We will come."

That was nine years ago this month. In some ways it seems like just yesterday. In other ways it seems like an eternity ago. The land (LA LA Land) that God showed us has been a land that has been rich and flowing with many blessings for us. Our family has changed dramatically. Richie and Paul have grown from frightened little boys, who were not sure about the land that God had called us to, into young men who love God and His church and L.A. Amy loves L.A. and is the most wonderful wife and help in ministry that any man could imagine. We have seen many lives changed and our church made over. I know that there are many more blessings to come. I know that God has big plans for our church. I know that God wants to redeem our neighborhood and He wants to use you and me to do it. The only thing that I can think of that will be better than living in L.A. and serving Christ with you is when He appears in the air to call His children to a land that we have never seen, but that we know is fairer than day. Even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly. In the mean time I am thankful for our church and the awesome responsibility that God has given me here. I look forward to every day with Jesus and you.