Loud & Clear

Fresno- your mayor is the real deal

This morning I attended the annual Fresno/Clovis Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast. And WOW, it blew me away. The passion, the prayers of church leaders in our community and engagement of public officials was amazing. God is seriously doing something in our community. But…

Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearingin was the real deal. She spoke with such genuine passion and honestly. She spoke unbashedly of her faith as a follower of Jesus Christ. She was moved to tears several times as she spoke about her dream for Fresno and what God wants for the people of Fresno.

Here’s a couple of my favorite quotes:

“God is calling us to be the church of the hungry, not the church of the satisfied.”

She said that what sets us apart is our hungry for God’s love, our need to have God engage in our lives and to make a real difference in our community.

“God wants to overcome your objections to his love for you.”

She talked about God’s passion to pursue us. How we often think of God as a gentleman who easily steps aside for us as we assert our own will. But in reality is his forceful in his love for us and his zeal to break down our objections to his love for us.

It was this passion and zeal that moved Mayor Swearingin to tears as she pleaded with us and God to be the people of Jesus in our communities. To show our state and nation that a city who people would count as last become first simply out of what God can do through people who follow him.

WOW!!! You should have been there. It was unexpected but fully welcomed by the entire crowd.

Dr. Fermin Whitaker brought the final message and was outstanding. But Mayor Ashley Swearingin was the standout of the morning. Agree with her politics or not, Fresno, you’ve got a mayor who not only cares but is a committed follower of Jesus.

And when God is on your side, who can stand against you?

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