How 'LOV' Came to Coachella Valley
Tuesday, April 13, 2010 By Dan Wooding INDIAN WELLS, CA (ANS) -- Dr. Paul Cedar, a tall, willowy man, is one of the unsung gems of the Evangelical church and his vision was one of the reasons the Festival of Life Coachella Valley that brought thousands of people to commit their lives to Jesus Christ. This quietly-spoken man is the Chair/CEO of the Mission America Coalition and, before that, served as the President of the Evangelical Free Church of America for two three-year terms, and prior to that was the Senior Pastor of Lake Avenue Church in Pasadena, California for ten years. He was also Executive Pastor and Pastor of Evangelism at Hollywood Presbyterian Church and as Pastor of several Evangelical Free Churches. If that wasn’t enough, Cedar was a Crusade Associate with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and a Crusade Director with evangelist Leighton Ford. Deeply committed to the ministry of evangelism in the United States and around the world, Paul served as Chairman of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization, and currently serves as a member of the National Prayer Committee and the Board of the U.S. Center for World Missions. In addition, he is on the Advisory Boards of a number of strategic ministries. Dr. Cedar is the author of eight books with the most current volume entitled A Life of Prayer. He has served as adjunct professor or visiting professor at five theological seminaries in the United States and has lectured at a number of colleges and theological seminaries in other parts of the world. After spending some years in Minneapolis, Minnesota, he moved with his wife Jeanne to a completely new environment -- Palm Desert in the Coachella Valley. (They have three children and four grandchildren.)
Always a networker, in December of 2004, Cedar hosted local pastors, Bob Beaver, Mike Coppersmith and Steve Sloat for lunch. All three of the pastors were involved in the Mission America Lighthouse Movement. “The purpose of the luncheon was to introduce the pastors to each other and to exchange ideas on how their churches could become most effective in mobilizing their people to become lighthouses for Jesus Christ in their neighborhoods, work places, schools, etc.,” he told me. “It turned out to be an exciting time of sharing and praying together. At the close of the luncheon, one of the pastors expressed an interest in inviting some additional pastor friends to explore the Lighthouse Movement. They all agreed. “A few weeks later, 12 pastors gathered for lunch to learn more about the ministry of Lighthouses. Again, God was present with that little group in a powerful way. One of the pastors, who had been in the Coachella Valley for over 20 years, wept for joy because he had never been with that many pastors in the Valley at one time. The Lord was beginning to unite the hearts of those pastors together. “Pastor Kevin Springer offered to host a luncheon for that group and other pastors they would like to invite. Much to the surprise and delight of everyone involved, 33 pastors responded and attended a wonderful meeting.”
Paul Cedar said that this was the beginning of an “unprecedented spiritual movement in the Coachella Valley that the Lord has initiated and blessed.” He went on to say, “The group decided to call themselves the ‘Lighthouses of the Valley’ or the LOV Movement and it continued to grow as they met monthly. In May of 2005, some 55 pastors from the Coachella Valley traveled on the tram to the top of Mount San Jacinto to spend a day in praying over the valley, sharing and planning together. The Lord moved in a remarkable way as pastors of 38 churches committed to become involved in the LOV Movement. “In the fall of 2005, LOV hosted its first Coachella Valley prayer gathering. On the weekend of November 14-15, thirty churches held a ‘Go to the Wall’ service where they invited their congregants to write the first names of persons they would pray for regularly to come to personal faith in Christ. Their basic commitment was to a prayer-care-share lifestyle. “Over the years, the movement has continued to grow and to partner together in a number of ways including prayer gatherings, a Contagious Evangelism seminar, A wonderful Christmas Store, several prayer summits, and a significant partnership gathering with the Spanish Speaking Pastors Alliance. “There are now an average of 100 to 110 pastors, ministry and market place leaders meeting monthly to fellowship, pray, and strategize together to seek to share the good news of Jesus Christ with every possible person in the Coachella Valley.” He added, “In the past year, the LOV Movement participants have sensed the guidance of the Holy Spirit to invite Pastor Mike MacIntosh and his team to partner with us in a Festival of Life that took April 9-11, 2010, with many smaller outreach and compassion events taking place both prior and following the three major public Festival of Life meetings.” I asked Mike MacIntosh, who is also the senior pastor of Horizon Christian Fellowship in San Diego, to give his comments on Paul Cedar. MacIntosh said, Ever the Ambassador for Jesus Christ, Paul brought the pastors together. He is a delegating leader that puts the reins into the hands of other leaders and then becomes a mentor to them and also trains them. “If you listen to his way of welcoming people, he is such a gentle giant and he grains credibility the moment you are in his presence.” And now, the wonderful Festival of Life Coachella Valley has taken place, with thousands of new converts, sick people treated free, food handed out to the poor, and lots of fun for the kids with the clowns and also a new spirit of cooperation between the many pastors in this unique and rather beautiful valley. |
Fair Use Notice
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work herein is archived under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in reviewing the included information for personal use, non-profit research and educational purposes only.
Jesus is Coming Very Soon.
“CLASSIC CHRISTIAN POSTS WILL NO LONGER BE POSTED WITH LAST CALL.”
They can still be found Mon-Fri here at The Classic Christian and Michael James Stone
CLASSIC CHRISTIAN LINEUP
“My Prayer”
Daily Light
One Year Bible Blog
A.W.Tozer
Streams in the Desert
My Utmost for His Highest
God Calling
Spurgeon
Tomorrow we will post the Last Call Lineup
Recommended for Scriptural Accuracy and Integrity
The Old Time Gospel Sermon Index One Year Bible Blog
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner.
The material is being made available in an effort to understand scripture, news, technology and society especially as it relates to God and Jesus. It is specifically for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. This is a completely non-commercial site for private personal use. No fee is charged, and no money is made off of the operation of this site. Nor is any implied reciprocal gratuities implied or construed.
