here at Christian City Church we are blessed with some of the coolest people on the planet! every few weeks on this blog we'll be highlighting some awesomely amazing people that rock our world!!! in this first installment, meet ERIN JORDAN: super mom, super Christian, super AWESOME!!!

* were you born so totally awesome or did you develop your awesomeness over the years? "Wonderfully and perfectly made", that's what God says about me and everyone else I know, so I won't argue with that! Awesome comes somewhere close to wonderfully - but not quite as good as perfectly, what do you think? At least I know I'll be perfect one day, way better than awesome! Ask Benny, he'll say I'm like a good red wine - maybe with some MORE aging I could be classified as 'mature' and maybe even palatable!! * judging by your accent, you sound australian, how/why/when did you end up here? It just depends who you talk to on what they think I sound like. I have a New Zealand/Australian/bit of American accent thrown in for good measure. Born and raised in NZ then moved to Sydney Australia in my mid twenties. God plucked us out of Oxford Falls Christian City Church to come here to San Diego to continue His work here 3 yrs ago (Pastor Jurgen would have asked us had he known us!!! LOL). Oh, yeah, Ben got a job transfer here at the perfect timing when the church was brand new too! We love being here in San Diego - we love God's plantings even if uprooting comes first!!! * every quarter you're always one of the top CCC members bringing along people to church. you're a full time mom, how do you find the time to meet and impact so many people's lives by bringing them to church? I guess it helps to have a husband and 2 kids coming along every week!. Others that I may have some influence in co-ercing along are anyone and everyone I meet on any given day, from my hairdresser, to other mom's I meet at the park, trainer at the gym, neighbours - absolutely anyone! I'd say focusing on wanting others to know Christ, and remembering how imperitive it is to be saved - is a big element. So I pray to meet others and to have an opportunity to share with them about Him. We have the greatest free gift to tell about, so I believe I have God to sell - even if only in a 'soft sell' manner most of the time. I do my best at encouraging people verbally and making them feel valued. When possible, I'll follow up as best I can, maybe setting up time for a coffe, playdate, maybe dinner etc. Giving them a call every now and then to see how they are and stay relevant in their lives helps.. When 'situations' come up is an ideal time to ask if they'd like to pray together, and come along to church. I can also invite people along to any events our church is having. Being part of our empowering and amazing church is always a topic of discussion that's pretty easy for me to 'bring up' in conversation anytime! I also keep a stash of invite cards in my bag, car, so I can always pass one on. * you've opened up your home to new and old christians alike and are now leading the ALPHA christians course, what made you decide to lead a course focussing on "back to the basics"? W e were very excited when we were asked to lead the New Christians Course - Alpha. It just seemed to be the right fit for us. We have a heart for sharing our love for God with our love for people, and being involved in Alpha means a commitment to helping others in their walk with Jesus, whether that is a brand new Christian, or someone further along in their walk. Ben and I know ourselves, having been christians virtually all our lives, that we are all 'in progress' with what God is doing in our lives. It's a wonderful journey with difficulties and joys along the way. We feel honored to have new christians, or at least ones who know they don't have all the answers coming along to Alpha and be open to learning. Living out the 'fundamental' issues of Christianity is the essence of our faith. We are truly excited about leading people through the Alpha course. The basics of our faith are so important. Processing these in a smaller group setting where trust and respect is built within the group over the 8 weeks is a powerful dynamic where growth and discovery can thrive. There is also a great privilege in 'doing life' with fellow believers. Getting to know others in our group is also a wonderful benefit in building relationship and support for each other. * you have two insanely beautiful children, how has having kids affected your faith and your view of God the father? A couple of days after our eldest Delta was born I had an incredible revelation about what it really meant - that God the Father sent His ONLY SON Jesus to suffer and die for each and every one of us. I knew it all well in my head, but now that I was a mother of my own child, I remember feeling the immensity of our Father's love for each of us. Having children also inspires me to be more. I'm inspired to stay focused on what is important, for the benefit of our whole family. * what is your revelation on prioritizing ministry in your life? My priorities are just: 1. God 2. My family - Husband first then my kids 3. Everyone else (this includes church). This is always something to work towards!! Practically this is achieved in a few ways, but the main thing is keeping things as simple as possible. I'm careful about commiting to activities or 'extra curricular activities' mainly because I get too tired and grumpy - then I can be scary! I try not to be a superwoman! I just do what I can. Making TIME for what it takes to be prioritising God, Family and Everyone else is my constant focus! You can see I strive for peace and harmony...........and SLEEP, blissful SLEEP.

this week the amazing yvette bellamy and erica schroeder got a bunch of friends and fellow CCC-ers together for a movie night to build awareness about the global tragedy of sex trafficking and raise money to support our friends at the A21 campaign. we all saw call and response which is a mindblowing, world rocking documentary that left everyone in the theater stunned in silence long after the credits rolled. over thirty people attended and raised over $1000 for the the A21 campaign!!! high fives to yvette and erica for reminding us we can all make a difference!

Call & Response Trailer from Mike Paschal on Vimeo

check out the trailer above for call and response...if you want to help or get involved, hop on over to the call and response action page and fight for the voiceless.

cherish events are always fun and STAND cherish conference took it to another level! we had our very own ps leanne as well as john and helen burns from vancouver. the ministry was AMAZING...the food was great...the music was rocking...and how can you not have fun when there are 150 girls in a room???

the infamous leonard skynard cameo...ACHY BREAKY HEART!

john and the boys rocked 'simply irresistible'

thanks to all the volunteers who made cherish happen and a special thanks to julie cannon for the photo love!

we had the pleasure of having a lovely lady named candy at our 10.30 service and new friends lunch on sunday. she was nice enough to drop us a note... First time at my daughter Elle's church, CCC, and it was just as warm and wonderfulllll and full of personality beyond being of course a rock of scripture-based messages sprinkled with humor and really good voice impersonations btw: Lion King at the Pantages has nothin on this pastor lol. Seriously, when you see staff that eminate from the inside out that quality of spirit, holy spirit, in great numbers, you know they have something to offer big time at this church!!!...add to that the worship and the service and the Friends Luncheon and of course, the people, C3 really has something to offer, something this world most definitely needs and will be drawn to:))) It was a pleasure meeting all of you and I hope to see you sooooon :) thanks candy! we liked you too!!!

augusts' “extra mile” volunteer award goes to the super duper sean! he serves on the logistic team week in, week out! they are the spartans of the sunday volunteers, starting before the sun rises and working well after everyone has gone. so if you have a seat to sit in, a speaker to hear from, and a stage to look at, thank sean and the amazing logistics team! if I came to your home and looked in the fridge, what would I find? cold pizza, apple sauce, ceasar salad, whole milk, filtered water, extra sharp cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, orange juice, squirt soda, sour cream, extra large eggs, and the normal condiments. what was the last book you read? "keys to financial excellence" by phil pringle (pick one at the resource table) - read it if you want to know about financial stewardship, especially tithing and giving. what is your craziest high school memory? i lived too far from school to walk, but too close to ride the bus, so I would ride my 15-speed bicycle to school. every morning i'd swing by my friend's house for us to ride to school together. he'd rarely be ready, and instead still be asleep. the only way to wake him required me to climb through one of the windows in his house and physically wake him up. we ended up almost always being late to school, but that year I was the electronics teacher's assistant for first period, so I wouldn't get in trouble. what is one thing about you that not a lot of people know? i grew up in Silicon Valley in the early 80s, and in 1983 I got my first home computer when I was 12. my computer setup was an atari 600XL (1.79Mhz with 16KB of ram), with a tape drive, a star micronics dot matrix 120cps printer, and a small B&W TV for the monitor. in junior high i became a SYSOP (system operator) of my own BBS (bulletin board system,) which were the pre-Internet days.