Pastor Paul Lippi
Every person is a story. As I look back on all the strange twists and turns, my personal story resembles the story that informs all Christians: the story of God and Israel. I grew up within the Seventh-day Adventist community in Berrien Springs, MI. It was a community brimming with certitude, yet confining. As a young person I itched for the outside.
I next lived in Israel for twenty-three years. Despite the best efforts of Israeli friends and colleagues to integrate me, I felt like an outsider. On returning to the US, I discovered what the children of Israel discovered when they returned from Babylon – I'm back on home ground but not really at home, because I'm carrying the exile around with me. In order to really end the exile, God needs to set the world right!
In God's plan however, my experience of operating in two alien worlds has been preparation for the mission of bringing God's estranged Jewish and Christian children together. I've ministered to Adventist/Jewish congregations in Jerusalem, Altamonte Springs FL, Hollywood FL, and Manhasset NY.
I'm looking forward to the beautiful new community Jesus is going to build in Thousand Oaks. We wish to draw on the traditions of the Church and of Israel, but to go beyond the traditional barriers of both. I've learned that no project is too big for God, no question too impertinent, no sin unforgivable, and no community irredeemable.
Elena, my wife, is from Romania. We met in Israel.
