Jesus Knows Best

April, 2008

by: Chriss Barksdale

• Hollywood Church

Recently I was reading through the book of Job. As I came to the end of the book I saw an amazing display of the glory of God on written paper. God explained to Job that He alone was all sovereign and all wise. The fundamental problem with Job was that he had a knowledge and power problem. His knowledge was limited while God’s was limitless. His power was weak while God’s power was strong. God never told Job why, He just called Job to trust Him. I thought about how this applies to my own life and the process of planting the Hollywood Church, particularly when it comes to location.

Finding a place to rent in Hollywood for a church is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. You find a good location but you have to sell your soul to afford it. Then you find another place but you have to walk the distance of the L.A. Marathon after you park your car to reach it. Finally you find another place but the powers that be in Hollywood don’t want you to have it. This has been our journey so far in six months.

We currently meet at another church that was kind enough to rent out an extra room until we found something more permanent. We are very thankful for the location though we did have to host church in the bayou the other Sunday … literally (you don’t want to know). We looked into some schools but LAUSD was not very cooperative and the local schools didn’t want us because they didn’t benefit from the money. Then we found a theater at a local park that was going to be perfect or so we thought. The ladies who showed us around thought it would be a great idea and we were in the process of signing papers. Then we got “the call.” Someone in upper management decided that they didn’t want a church so they cancelled our application. This is, of course, not legal but what were we going to do, sue? It was clear that Jesus didn’t want us here. I was a little discouraged but decided to keep praying and stay on the trail.

Then we found a local college that was actually offering their rooms for free because we were a non-profit. We were praising God for this amazing discovery. The lady showed us around, gave us different room options, and was very encouraging. Once again we were in the process of signing papers when we got “the call”. Someone in upper management decided that they didn’t want a church so they cancelled our application. This time I was a little more discouraged but decided to keep praying and stay on the trail.

I decided to blog about the experience (nothing like putting your discouragements online for the whole world to see). The next day I got a call from another church planter in the city (I was amazed there was actually someone else here). He said they had the same experiences and actually were needing to move from their current location. He told me about it and I immediately drove over that afternoon. It was Gardner Elementary and unlike the other LAUSD schools this one actually gets to use the funds so they were literally begging us to come! After the other church left they had to stop some school programs for kids because of the lack of funds. With our presence they would be able to start them again!

For the same price we pay now we get the auditorium which can sit up to 300 (it is called the “Michael Jackson Auditorium” which I think is pretty funny), the cafeteria so we can start a children’s program, the teacher’s lounge for babies, 120 parking spots and more if needed on campus, and a storage room for all our stuff so we don’t need to haul it around every Sunday!!!

We talked to the head honcho and they approved the deal and asked if we wanted to start that Sunday! I walked out and was just beside myself. We had never been received like this in Hollywood. This was the product of much prayer from you and others and of course, the grace and sovereignty of Jesus! I was limited in my knowledge and power. Jesus had a greater plan and a greater location. We just need to learn to wait and trust that He is good, sovereign, and wise! We start our new services on April 6th so please pray as we begin to reach the new neighborhood here in Hollywood!