Just a quick post to say thanks for reading westcoastwitness.com. In early September this blog recorded it’s 20,000th hit after a little over a year in existence.
Today, two months later, it’s 30,000th hit was recorded.
Daily readership continues to increase, and for that I say ‘thank you.’
You make posting here worth it. 
Another month has come and gone in a flash.
Work with the Lake Merced Church in San Francisco continues to move forward. When I first arrived here in January we were lucky if Sunday morning attendance reached the mid-thirties, and several times there were less than that. Since moving into our new fellowship hall, attendance is hovering around 60, and 80 attended services at the end of October when we held our Fall Festival.
We’re all very happy with this and anticipate the growth to continue.
As I mentioned here and here, Airiel and I have had a difficult time getting into classes at San Francisco State University for a while now. Neither of us will be eligible to take classes there in Fall 2010 like we’d hoped. It turns out that SFSU is not accepting applications from anyone interested in a second baccalaureate degree, and is also not accepting applications from any transfer students who have less than 60 credit hours on their transcript.
That means I can’t get in to their undergraduate program (because I already have a degree), and Airiel can’t get in (because she has less than 60 credit hours on her transcript).
The only way Airiel will be able to get on SFSU’s campus is to take a few more courses at City College of San Francisco – a local community college with tens of thousands of students enrolled. She put in her application yesterday, and is planning to begin taking courses in January.
The only way I’ll be able to get on SFSU’s campus is to enroll in one of their graduate programs – something I really hadn’t planned on doing in coming out here, but that’s my only option. After reviewing all the programs and spending plenty of time in prayer, I narrowed down my choice to three programs: 1) Radio & Television, 2) Philosophy, and 3) Cinema.
I did a bit more research only to learn that the Radio/TV and Philosophy programs have been suspended because of the California state budget cuts. I’m not positive, but I think the professors in charge of those programs may have lost their jobs.
With entering those two programs outside of the realm of possibility, a graduate degree in Cinema is the only other option on the table. If I’m going to get on campus at SFSU, I’m going to have to enroll in that program. In order to do so I have to take several courses at the community college in cinema in addition to quite a bit more work in putting an application package together.
From SFSU’s catalog:
“Prior to admission, all candidates must have completed two courses in cinema studies beyond the introductory level. One of these courses must be in film theory, stressing critical approach or methodology; the other must be in cinema history. One introductory course in 16mm film production and a basic course in Final Cut Pro digital editing, or equivalent experience is required.”
Of course, I’ll have to take a few introductory courses before I can take any “beyond the introductory level.” Sounds like fun.
From what I hear, the cinema program at SFSU is the school’s bread and butter, and is fairly difficult to get in to. We’ll see what happens. Whether I’m accepted or not, I’ll be meeting students who need Jesus in the classes I have to take at City College, and am confident God will open doors for me to plant seeds of faith in those around me. 
What say you - can someone in film school find a way to bring glory to Jesus through that endeavor? I certainly think so, and have all sorts of ideas floating around in my head. This is going to be fun …
The little army of people making up our college group here is awesome! They’re the ones that really influenced me to pursue film. One of our college group regulars is actually a film professional already, and is very passionate about sharing Jesus using that medium.
The past two Sundays our group has had exciting meetings as it pertains to reaching out to our community. I’m very encouraged to see them so excited and passionate about reaching out – it lights a fire in me. I’ll give you a glimpse into our brainstorming sessions in a future post. Either you’ll think we’re crazy or very creative (or both). Regardless, I believe Jesus is going to do awesome things with this church and this college group. I’m very, very excited about the future, and I hope you are too!
I have so much more to share, but this post is long enough.
Naomi and Conrad are great! They decorated my couch with a permanent marker the other day.
Thanks for reading, praying for us, and supporting us in this work!
We love you!
Wes, Airiel, Conrad, & Naomi Woodell
Yep, you read that right. Check it out:
Four hundred years after it locked up Galileo for challenging the view that the Earth was the center of the universe, the Vatican has called in experts to study the possibility of extraterrestrial alien life and its implication for the Catholic Church.
“The questions of life’s origins and of whether life exists elsewhere in the universe are very suitable and deserve serious consideration,” said the Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, an astronomer and director of the Vatican Observatory.
Funes, a Jesuit priest, presented the results Tuesday of a five-day conference that gathered astronomers, physicists, biologists and other experts to discuss the budding field of astrobiology — the study of the origin of life and its existence elsewhere in the cosmos.
Funes said the possibility of alien life raises “many philosophical and theological implications” but added that the gathering was mainly focused on the scientific perspective and how different disciplines can be used to explore the issue.
The article continues:
The Roman Catholic Church’s relationship with science has come a long way since Galileo was tried as a heretic in 1633 and forced to recant his finding that the Earth revolves around the sun. Church teaching at the time placed Earth at the center of the universe.
Today top clergy, including Funes, openly endorse scientific ideas like the Big Bang theory as a reasonable explanation for the creation of the universe. The theory says the universe began billions of years ago in the explosion of a single, super-dense point that contained all matter.
Earlier this year, the Vatican also sponsored a conference on evolution to mark the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s “The Origin of Species.”
The event snubbed proponents of alternative theories, like creationism and intelligent design, which see a higher being rather than the undirected process of natural selection behind the evolution of species.
Read the full story here.
Few things surprise me these days, but this … well, it does. Sounds like someone’s watched a few too many episodes of The X-Files.
I don’t buy the Theory of Evolution or the Big Bang (too many glaring holes in both), so I suppose I’m a bit skeptical when it comes to any other theories branching out of it.
Private prayer should be practiced by every Christian. Long periods of Bible meditation will purify our gaze and direct it; church attendance will enlarge our outlook and increase our love for others. Service and work and activity – all are good and should be engaged in by every Christian. But at the bottom of all these things, giving meaning to them, will be the inward habit of beholding God. A new set of eyes (so to speak) will develop within us enabling us to be looking at God while our outward eyes are seeing the scenes of this passing world.
Someone may fear that we are magnifying private religion out of all proportion, that the “us” of the New Testament is being displaced by a selfish “I.” Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which one must individually bow. So one hundred worshipers meeting together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be were they to become “unity” conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship. Social religion is perfected when private religion is purified. The body becomes stronger as its members become healthier. The whole church of God gains when the members that compose it begin to seek a better and higher life.
~ A.W. Tozer
The Pursuit of God, pgs. 89-90
A simple question - what do you say?
I’m curious what sentiment is like after yet another major incident involving a Muslim member of our military killing fellow soldiers.
I personally believe Muslims should be allowed in the military, but also believe special checks and balances should be in place when dealing with them. What these special checks and balances should look like, I don’t know, but more needs to be done.
Some would call this discrimination – I call it protecting our soldiers from potential threats.
What say you?
Matt Dabbs ranked the top Church of Christ blogs for November 2009 today. Check out the full list here.
Rankings are determined by daily traffic, and westcoastwitness.com made the top twenty coming in at #18.
Thank you for reading and referring others. I hope what you find here will be a blessing to you, if only in some small way.
Now go check out Matt’s post and find some other blogs to add to your reading. Plenty of great stuff there!
Our thanks to Christian Chronicle managing editor Bobby Ross Jr. who visited us in San Francisco a few short weeks ago (check out the pictures here).
Bobby wrote two stories westcoastwitness.com readers may be interested in:
1) Modern Day Prodigal Son Looks to Reach Lost Souls in San Francisco by Bobby Ross Jr. (Nov. ‘09 Print edition, pgs. 19-21 – access a .pdf copy here) – where I used to be, and God’s work in my life.
2) Domestic Missionaries Share Passion for San Francisco by Bobby Ross Jr. (online exclusive) – interviews with my fellow Lake Merced staff members Paul Fletcher & Paul Crites.
I honestly didn’t know story #1 would turn out the way it did (I thought it was going to be a story on campus ministry in general), and after reading it I told Bobby via email I wasn’t expecting his writeup to be all about me.
He responded by saying, “I didn’t intend for the article to be so much about you either. But really I don’t think it is. Jesus is the star.”
After thinking about it, I can’t argue with that.
There are so many parents out there struggling with sons and daughters that seem to care nothing for Jesus and place little to no value on faith.
My wife and I just lost a baby, and that hurts, but I don’t think the pain of that loss would compare to the pain we’d experience if one of our children willingly turned their back on God. That’s the pain that I put my Christian parents through, but they kept on loving me.
I used to be completely evil by choice, and am convinced that my life changed because people were praying specifically for me. More than once, old friends and even a few strangers have come up to me and told me they’d prayed for me for many months.
During those rough years, my parents put the word out. They contacted friends, family, churches, and small groups requesting specific prayers for their son to turn to God, and, as a result, God moved powerfully and supernaturally in my life leading me to repentance.
I hope the story Bobby wrote encourages parents to pray for their children, and I hope lost souls turn from sin and death as a result.
Praise Jesus – it’s all about Him!
Many of you already know, but after Airiel’s trip to the doctor yesterday we found out we lost what would have been our third child. She had been 2 1/2 months pregnant.
It hurts, but we know God is good, trust Him, and appreciate the outpouring of love we’ve experienced from friends and family.
Thank you.
