Trading Plays for Praise on Sundays

This is a piece I wrote for our church newsletter about the Los Angeles Times article that I wrote about in last week’s blog.

On Monday, September 11, 2017, I received a text message (yes, I do know how to text and even have a smart phone) from one of our church members. He informed me that the anticipated article about Rocky Seto becoming the next Senior Pastor of Evergreen SGV was on the front page of the Los Angeles Times.

I eagerly went to our neighborhood 7-Eleven convenience store and bought three issues of the morning paper for $9.75 (I remember a time when newspapers were a dime). I then drove to our staff meeting and eventually read the fairly long article.

I thought it was an excellent article about what transpired over the past three years regarding God’s providential hand moving Rocky from the Seattle Seahawks to Evergreen SGV. I was very blessed to read it.

The genesis of the article started months ago, right after Rocky made the decision to accept the call of God to become our next Senior Pastor. Rocky approached me about a reporter, named David Wharton, wanting to do a story about what was transpiring at our church.

One of my first questions to Rocky was, “Is he trustworthy?” Rocky said that he knew David from his days at the University of Southern California and that he was indeed a trustworthy man. Normally, I refrain from interviews because it is so easy to be misquoted or misrepresented. However, because Rocky trusted David, I decided to consent to the interview.

I first met David when he and his photographer came to our joint worship service on March 12th. He worshiped with us, hearing the story of how Rocky came to be our next Senior Pastor and got a feel for who we are as a church family.

He asked if he could attend a staff meeting and see what happens on a normal day at the office. My first impression of David was that he was a very nice man, humble in spirit so I consented. He said, he would like to interview me when he visited.

After sitting in our staff meeting, he and I got together in my office. One of the first things, I said to David was that I normally record interviews, but because Rocky trusted him so did I and I would refrain from using my phone to record the interview. He said not to worry; he was recording it for the sake of accuracy.

He asked questions and I answered them. It was a very pleasant interview. I enjoyed his company. However, I wasn’t sure how the article would eventually read.

Fast forward to Monday, September 11, I thought that the article represented what transpired really well. There was only one thing that probably could have been clarified, but overall, David captured the essence of what actually transpired. Rocky’s call was a God thing and not a human thing.

I wanted to give kudos to David for being a warm, friendly and a very professional reporter.

Please read the article. It is now an historical piece in the life and times of Evergreen SGV.

By the way, David Wharton has written two book about the University of Southern California’s football program, entitled, “Conquest: Pete Carroll and the Trojans' Climb to the Top of the College Football Mountain” and “USC Football: Yesterday & Today”

This article and other happenings causes me to believe that God has a will and a way for what is going on at our church regarding the transition from me to Pastor Rocky and we can trust Him for it.

Something to think about…