TogetherLA Website Celebrates 2nd Year With 'TLA Stories of the Week' LIVE

TogetherLA.net is introducing, “TLA Stories of the Week,” a conversation about the articles most recently published as shared by its editor via video, including on Facebook LIVE (see below) and IGTV.

The TLA website is well into its second year of publication and aims to continue the conversation that began at the TogetherLA Conference in 2015. TogetherLA is a movement of pastors, church leaders and people of faith who love LA. Those who intimately know our city know the depth of this dynamic city, its challenges, as well as its possibilities. They know that Los Angeles is a gateway to a kaleidoscopic world of cultures — cultures full of promise.

TLA wants to share what God is already doing to transform people and communities in LA. We believe that a behind-the-scenes force focused on following God’s work could further catalyze the impact of ministry workers and church leaders all over the city.

Below is a replay of our first Facebook LIVE of TLA Stories of the Week with host Alex Murashko. If you’d like to subscribe to our newsletter, find the SUBSCRIBE button on the right-hand side of our homepage.

Sharing How a Life Sentence Became a Man’s Saving Grace

I don’t think my heart ever became evil until I engaged in more evil. If I continued the way I was, it would’ve been near impossible to get back to being a loving, caring, decent human being again. — Jojo Godinez

Together LA had the opportunity to interview Amanda Warner, who is the co-author of Reformed: How a Life Sentence Became My Saving Grace, which tells the story of Jojo Godinez through his eyes. The book released this week and a book release celebration is scheduled for Saturday (6/30).

FULL STORY AND VIDEO TRAILER

Stadia: Every Child To Experience Love of Jesus Through a Local Church

Stadia, a national church planting organization that places children as a priority, is working on its tenth collaborative church plant in the Los Angeles area, said executive Nathan Hawkins.

WATCH TLA FACEBOOK LIVE STREAM REPLAY

California Can’t Force Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers to Promote Abortion

Pro-life pregnancy centers offering women alternatives to abortion won a major free speech victory on Tuesday, Christianity Today reported. The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to block a California law requiring pregnancy centers post referrals to state-funded abortion providers and birth control resources, forcing them to promote services that violate their beliefs.

READ REACTION FROM LEADERS

WORLD IMPACT: A Tapestry of Cultures

In an attempt to promote racial harmony and unity my brother Kyle and I got this crazy idea to merge our churches. You see, I come from a Baptist faith tradition and Kyle is ordained in the Christian Reformed Church. There are a lot of differences between the two faith traditions, but to succeed we were willing to work through them together. Not to mention his church was predominately White and mine a Black church.

READ FULL STORY

‘Dangerous Good’ Challenges Men to Aggressively Live Out Their Faith

Kenny Luck throws down the gauntlet to a generation of men who have become comfortable with a culturally safe Christian faith in his new book, Dangerous Good: The Coming Revolution of Men Who Care (July 3, 2018, NavPress, $15.99, ISBN 978-1-63146-890-2).

“Too often men suffer from a malaise that leads them to settle for mediocrity, play it safe and blend into our broken culture,” Luck, founder of Every Man Ministries, said. “But deep inside every man is the impulse to confront the evil around him, to embrace the ‘dangerous good’ that comes with being a committed follower of Christ. I want this book to awaken the sleeping giant within the community of men that will be an aggressive force for good.”