Living LA vida loca

I had a conference call by the poolside (3PM Cali time, 6PM NYC time)

I ate ribs and eggs before hopping in the water

Time to head to the airport, flight at 9PM gets me to NYC at 5AM, with just enough time to head home, drop off my bags, shower and hop on the train for work.

WCC-LA (World Changers Church Los Angeles)

Church is held at the Proud Bird Restaurant located at 11022 Aviation Blvd, LA

 There are many things that I love about my church, right now I am loving the fact that I am in LA and two minutes from my hotel, I can worship with my own church! There are satellite churches all over and we are starting more.

Here is what I learned today:


Message: Having faith in forgiveness – now that I know that forgiveness is a finished work, should I still confess to God every time I sin in order to gain forgiveness?

- It is NOT wrong to confess your sins to God but it is wrong for us to confess our sins to God with the purpose of seeking forgiveness


- When we received salvation, we were forgiven of our past, present and future sins


- We confess our faults to God because we are in a relationship with Him and have fellowship; we are simply being honest about our failures and humanity. We should not try to get God to do something that He has already done. We simply confess it out of transparency


- I am simply accepting my responsibility so that I can be restored to my original place of fellowship, I am not disqualified. I regain my right standing with God (James 5:16)


- We need to have more faith in what Jesus has already done (forgiven our sins) than in what we do (requesting forgiveness daily)

Romans 8:1 states that there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus


- We should pay attenton to grace and God will pay attention to our faith

The reason satan tried to get Jesus to turn stone into bread is because the laws were written on stones, so symbolically Jesus would nourish Himself with the law. We are no longer under law, but in grace.


Read the entire chapter of 1 John 1:7 and you will be able to dispel myths religion has fed us

1 John 1:7 states that the blood cleanses us from all sins (also Hebrews 8:12; 9::11,12: 10:14, 17,18) – we have been perfected forever; stop walking around in sin, guilt and shame that is no longer associated with you!


God is not in debt to any man, He does not owe anyone forgiveness. The debt has been paid in full since the day Jesus died on the cross and exclaimed “It is finished”


Do not try to work for your forgiveness, rest in the fact that you are already forgiven. Traditions have made the Word of God of no effect


What if one day I forgt to confess one sin? Will I now go to hell on a technicality? Sin is simply knowing what is right and not doing it. We are not classifying sin into the top ten or the big five. If I speed 1 mile over the speed limit, I am guilty of sin, will I know go to hell for this unconfessed sin? Do you see how ridiculous this sounds? Stop being so sin conscious and focus on the righteousness you have inherited.

NY Red Bulls v LA Galaxy Game (Cinco de Mayo)

After securing my ticket, I changed into my swimsuit ready to lounge by the pool until it was time for the game. I met a woman named Pat and our conversation confirmed that my trip to LA was not a mistake. God, I love you! After a brief nap, I got dressed for the game and headed back to the original rental car…SOLD OUT! I went back to my hotel and I guess I wore the conversation on my face because one of the staff members asked what happened and I explained. I sat down and minutes later, he ushered me over, pulled up his ipad and allowed me to book a car through Hertz. He then arranged for the driver to take me to get my rental car! Getting the rental was a breeze and minutes later I was on highway 405S heading to Carson’s Home Depot Stadium!

1   I didn’t realize how good my seats were until I got there -saw the sweat on the players faces and noticed how many tattoos David Beckham has. The vibe was electrifying, it was Cinco de Mayo, people were thrilled, there were fireworks, Alfonso Ribeiro, more affectionately known as Carlton from Fresh Prince of Bel-Aire wowed the fans as he sang the national anthem. A group of young girls sat in front of me desperately trying to get the attention of the media camera and the players; they succeeded in both.

Even after we had an obvious win, there was an additional 5 minutes which did not prove very useful.

The victory dance – New York Red Bulls honored my sacrifice to fly 6 hours to see them play a game J Score 1:0

 As the players exit the field, the girls in my section start screaming at them to come over and one of the players gives her his soaking wet sweaty shirt that he just played in. She was beyond thrilled.

Us Red Bulls fans were outnumbered, but we were loud and proud

Then after we won, I took a picture with one of the girls supporting the rival team

I have an idea, I should go to Cali

What's the most resilient parasite? An Idea

The power of words…Random conversations here and there, thoughts dropped and popped in and out of my mind and by Friday, I was convinced that it would be a great idea to go to Los Angeles for the weekend. Despite the fact that it is a six hour flight each way in one measly weekend, I don’t know anyone there and since I hadn’t even purchased tickets, I’d be traveling on standby which meant that I could get left back in LA, that parasite continued to grow in my mind.


A coworker and fellow football (soccer) lover handed me the MLS Red Bulls Soccer schedule. I highlighted a few games I wanted to attend including the May 5th game against LA Galaxy. I took that information as a sign I was supposed to go to LA. Around 3PM, I booked round-trip tickets to LA.


Getting to the airport


At 5PM, I left work, raced home to catch the 8:51PM last flight of the day! I threw some items in a suitcase and got to the bus stop two minutes before the bus arrived. While on the airport bus, I called for hotel and car reservations. I rushed off the bus after 8PM and ran up the escalators to the AirTran to get to the next terminal. As soon as I reached the top of the stairs, the train came with barely enough time to figure out what direction I needed to go. I guess I had a “damsel in distress” look on my face because a gentleman offered assistance and leaded me to the right direction.


Terminal


I headed to JetBlue’s counter and there was no one inline! Thank you Jesus!

I checked my bag and rushed over to the security gate. There were about 15 people ahead of me. I watched the time elapse and at this point I have 20 minutes to get to my plane and I still don’t have a seat assignment. A gentleman approached me and asked me to follow him; he walked me over to the VIP/crewmember line so now I am number 3 on line. Favor! The lady in front of me is taking way too long to take her shoes off so I waited patiently (I was actually quite proud of myself). Eventually the airport security agent, told me to go ahead of her. For the first time in a long time I was not “randomly selected” or have a random hair pin or metal on my bra strap! As I exit the security area, JetBlue’s final boarding call announcements start to echo. Out of breath, I get to the departure gate and there are no passengers lingering around; the gate agent proceeded to ask me “are you willing and able to help in the case of an emer…” and I responded “absolutely” – thinking emergency exit row means more leg room and I just need a seat since I arrived at the departure gate with ten minutes to spare!

At 12:30am on Saturday, I arrived LAX airport

The Saga continues

My neighbor was actually on the same flight with me, we chatted as we waited at the carousel for our luggage and he offered me a ride to my hotel. I told him that I needed to pick up my rental car, seconds later, the rental car shuttle arrived which I realized was a huge blessing because the couple beside me were waiting for 40 minutes! Ten minutes later, I walk up to the rental car counter and produce my driver’s license, bank card and confirmation number. After confirming all the details, I am told that my card declined! I called my bank and they advised me that there were no blocks and it should be fine for the amount I was trying to use. I asked if I could pay cash but the policy was that the company had to hold enough money on my card. As if it weren’t enough drama just getting to the airport, it’s 1am, I am in LA with no car to get to my hotel and I find this quite laughable. (You see I have been having issues with HSBC bank, what should be considered excellent fraud protection has become the greatest nuisance to me. The week before HSBC declined my Groupon purchase of $10 for a Central Park voucher! ) But I digress. I walked across the street and checked into a really nice garden hotel, HSBC declined my card as well BUT I was allowed to pay cash so sweet sleep awaited me on a King sized bed.

 

This turned out to be a blessing in disguise because the hotel happened to be 15 minutes away from the Home Depot Stadium, 2 minutes away from my satellite church and a mere 10 minutes back to the airport! Additionally, the shuttle bus took me everywhere I needed to go and there were local buses one block away.