me: having a good day yet?
Brandon: to early to tell....Yours?
me: yup
woke up at 3:30
wrote a letter to a guy that needs prayer
then went back to sleep until 7:00
Brandon: I like the ordination certificate [Bob's]
me: just waiting now for Joe; need to take him to work, then I'll head in to the office
that screen is gonna get hung finally!
Brandon: yeah I saw they were there yesterday
me: We were gonna hang it over the pulpit area but decided it would be too much of a neck stretch in most applications. Lord willing, we're hanging it right in front of the baptistry up in the ceiling. It will look slick
Brandon: cool
me: We'll still have a projector on either side of it...just smaller frames than we have had but that will allow for the choir to still be up in the Choir Loft too. When there's no choir up there we'll be able to have all three projectors going...with different images if we want.
Brandon: Will it be similar to where the screen is projected now?
me: yeah...The middle screen is 13 feet long
and we'll just have to make the side screens maybe 3/4 the size we have them currently
Brandon: okay
me: but we can play with it some after the middle screen is up and we see what we've got...
but I envision some cool stuff happening
for instance
Brandon: just in time for vbs
me: during a celebration and reflective worship medley
have the words on both sides...and have a silent DVD of footage that has been shot during the week that involves what has been happening out in the mission field around us.
Also, its been a long time in the vision-cast...
but I also want to see/hear one video testimony each week
involving stewardship not just tithing testimonies...
but also, the testimonies of those who made a commitment to do something and how it turned out
so that new people, young people, or lukewarm folks might be spurred on to love and good deeds whenever we gather together.
Brandon: yep
me: It will encourage us as a body to get a glimpse into what's happening in other parts of the Body
Brandon: to see God at work
me: ...and all the more as we see the Day approaching
yeah. This page will become greater and more complete as we collect the testimonies of God's People:
http://www.bellroad.org/newsite/media.html
Brandon: I like it
me: Hey, is it alright to share this chat for my journal.
Brandon: yeah sure
me: I don't have much time to write and its what I'm happy about this morning anyway
alrightee
Brandon: alright
me: Have a great day on the Mission Field...
Brandon: yep I will
me: where is your workplace?
Brandon: Sunset and 65
me: hmm OK, brother. cu l8r
Brandon: bye. have a great day
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Yesterday, I arrived at the Office
around 7:30am. and worked until my
8:50 appt. with a local
chiropractor. It had been one week
since Dr. Harding had adjusted my
Atlas bone. He asked how I was doing
and I told him that my lower back
was only slightly hurting still. Yet
the hot-spot at the base of my neck
was pretty tight on Saturday. I
said, "It was just stress...nothing
serious. Just deadlines."
Dr. Dennis Harding (himself, the
k
of a baptist
p)
jokingly advised me to "...remove
ALL the stress from your life."
Later, he asked me if I regularly
take a day off.
I replied, "mmm, not really...
but I never feel guilty when I do!"
Then he said, "That's how my Dad
was.
His ministry was 24/7"
I went back to the office, worked
until noon, then decided to take the
rest of the day off. After a trip to
the bank, Cathy and I split a salad
at Downtown Auburn's Organic Cafe.
Sitting outside the cafe in the
courtyard, we recognized
Kalyani
and Tap (some Indian
friends we have met in our
door-to-door visitation).
It was Tap's 16th birthday that very
day. Good ol' pastorob reached
down before reaching out
and brought a sweet smile making the
teen's face even prettier. The heart
rules over the head in the ENFP (the
lunchtime discussion Cathy and I
were having).
Then, we walked to a Japanese Sushi
restaurant and split a combo
luncheon. Our waitress was Sang (a
Korean student at Sierra). Sang's
aunt owns the restaurant. Had to
give that young lady a good tip as
well.
This talk about 'tips and teens'
has everything to do with the final
point of Message No. 45
GROWing
as a Giving Christian
and in the mention of Hannah in the
yet-unpublished Ordination Message
from last Sunday afternoon.
to be uploaded: Pastor and People (2 charges)
From there we went to the post
office and I decided upon our next
destination: Grass Valley's
Biblical
Gardens. We started
listening to a CD of Bob Knapp's
Ordination Service on the way.
There's some good stuff in Pastor
Dave's charge to Bob and more good
stuff in my charge to the churches
at Dunsmuir
and
BellRoad.
We were content to be the only
people in the Garden. Thoroughly
enjoyed our quiet, reflective walk
on the pathway through the hallowed
grounds, we lost track of time for
awhile. Afterwards, we drove to
downtown Grass Valley and went to a
movie at the Del Oro theater
followed by a long walk. Finally, we
shared a combo meal in the courtyard
of a fancy restaurant.
The mosquitoes showed up so we moved
inside to finish our coffee and
generously tipped our waitress,
Cabrina.
Later that evening I spoke with my
son,
Jeremiah, about his job
waiting tables at Wine & Roses in
Lodi. He is quite happy about that
job and states that he hasn't
received less than 18% tips since he
started.
I shared that we have been focusing
on tipping well so we'll reap what
we've sown (even for Jerry's sake).
I then affirmed his long-held
conviction to tithe his income.
A low-stress day it was.
update: in 23 hours, there were
an additional 358 hits on our Auburn
Journal story:
Elvis Presley's Little Brother
at 8:24pm Monday night: 1967 views
Monday, April 28, 2008
I added some of my archival video
clips in the right column this
morning. You might wanna take a trip
down memory lane (or look into the
future).
Since Yoko decided to sue the
producers of 'Expelled', I decided
to remove my clip entitled "Whose
Working Class Hero Was He?" from
public access.
Although I wrote the lyrics of
'Unconditional Love' to the tune of
'All You Need is Love' as social
commentary as a tribute to Lennon's
influence upon me, I wanted to
protect the innocent.
I was planning on quoting Lennon if
ever brought before the Magistrates:
"Music is everybody's possession;
it's onlt publishers who think that people own it."
-- John Lennon (source)
psss...if you wanna see the clip and
hear the song
featuring
Jerry
Patterson (drums),
Greg
Brayton,
Jamie
Bailey, Josh Wilson
(guitars)
...shhh...email me
and I'll send you a 'private' link
to the
'unpublished' video.
Oh yeah, if anybody wants to see the
1.5 hour video of "Christmas in
Mayberry"...same thing applies:
email me.
As of 8:59 pm. last night, the Auburn Journal's
Elvis Presley's Little Brother
announcement had been visited 1609 times
Do me a favor, if you have time,
dear reader, click on that site,
register with the Auburn Journal
with some cool name and leave a
comment.
If you have a personal-Elvis story,
that would make a nice comment. If
you have ever seen Rick Stanley on
TV or read one of his books, that
would also be worth mentioning.
If you are overseas, I'd like our
little town of Auburn to see that
you checked in with us.
If you have never even heard of
Elvis before, that's OK, say so. If
nobody comments on the article, I'll
be kinda sad, so make my Monday a
bit brighter, OK?
THANKS.
Here it is:
Elvis Presley's Little Brother is
coming to Auburn
I wrote this entry on my way home
from Experiencing God on Sunday
night. I may add a bit more when I
come to open the doors for BSF
in the morning.
Sunday update:
post-morningService....
DeeDee and Alice visited after
having been to the website, googled
and watched a bit of last year's
picket against 'me?' and 'the
church'.
Several other visitors this
morning. Lotsa fun on the BellRoad
Express! Mary Price took over the
narrative for the third parable.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Yesterday morning, Cathy and I
arrived on the BellRoad campus at
7:00am. It was a busy morning of
making 'HUGE SALE' posters, Rick
Stanley promos, resourcing our sales
workers with brochures, and burning
CDs for visitors. Meanwhile, we also
hosted the Foothill's Association's
annual Teachers' Training event.
I ran to my bank branch in downtown
Auburn. With a smile, Jennifer,
thanked me for the CD that I had
given her the week before. She
reported that she has been listening
to it in her car. She said that one
song, in particular, was especially
meaningful to her:
Trust in the Lord
I told Jennifer that my blind buddy,
Greg Brayton, plays the acoustic
guitars on that song.
TimeTravelers may wish to note the
verb-tense of that last sentence:
Greg 'plays'...--not Greg played...
Last I knew, in the present day,
treatment for Cancer had made Greg's
fingers too sore to play his guitar.
I'm reminded of Pastor Wesley's
great desire to 'work while it is
yet day for night cometh when no man
can work.'
My <unfinished> doctoral work has
been on the transmission of one's
testimony. With that in mind, I
sometimes take refuge that this
column and its network of hyperlinks
works while I sleep.
Although this web stat couldn't
track every visitor, I enjoy seeing
which nations were represented thus
far during the month of April.
Numbers have gone down since I was
working alongside other writers but
that in no way troubles me. During
the last week, I've been contacted
by a friend I had run with from 8th
grade into college (as well as a
friend Cathy and I had known in the
eighties). So, in case you're
reading this...
"Hi, Ann"
"Hey, Patty"
This morning I have asked Pastor Bob
Knapp to preach for us at BellRoad.
On April 13th, Pastor Bob was called
to serve as the pastor of First
Baptist Church in Dunsmuir,
California. With today's message, we
will continue the process of truly
being the 'sending' church for Bob
and Diana.
At the request of the 'calling
church', an Ordination Council will
also assist in 'testing' Bob's call
from the Lord. Should all go well,
there will be a public ordination
today at 4:00pm.
Bob's message is entitled "Unless
they are Sent" from the
tenth chapter of Romans.
While BellRoad Bob preaches to the
adults, I will go into Children's
Church (on the BellRoad Express). I
plan to have the children reenact
three stories told by Jesus
(pantomime with subtext). How's that
for kinesthetic style, Patrice?
Someone on wikipedia doesn't go for
the efficacy of teaching toward
the kinesthetic learner. Perhaps
God should have simply lectured
Jeremiah about the Potter's Wheel?
Last night, Cathy and I went to the
Union Gospel Mission for BellRoad's
monthly outreach. Bob Knapp also
brought the evening's message. I
observed that Bob is 'riding high';
he testified/preached with a
confident smile and passionate
demeanor.
Right after the 'altar call' a man
named Alex came up to Cathy and me
for prayer. He had been in the
program before but has had confusing
circumstances arise since he's been
back out on in own. Both Cathy and I
prayed what was on our hearts and
minds for this precious soul.
The BellRoad Crew went to
Brookfield's afterwards.
Friday, April 25, 2008
I just returned from Friday Morning with the Deacons. A full car this morning. The windows were getting foggy by the time we were finished. We prayed...and it was good.
The issue of triangulation has
surfaced several times in recent
months. Cathy and I were taught
years ago as growing parents that we
needed to be careful to present a united front as 'the parents'.
Four children were entering the teen
years and we needed to have a
strategic plan to survive and
thrive.
It wasn't at all easy. Our children
(each one) have tested that unity of
purpose.
For better, for worse; in sickness
and in health.
We had committed our marriage to
such lofty ideals.
When the kids would come to me in an
attempt to recruit me for whatever
cause (usually against their
'unreasonable' mother), it wasn't
always easy to see what was
happening until after the smoke
cleared.
I came to a point of adopting this
stance:
"Look, <insert name>, I have worked
long and hard on my relationship
with <insert name>. YOU need to do
your work on 'your relationship'
with <insert name>."
In the church, we're supposed to
follow Matthew 18 and Galatians
6...but that ain't always easy to
do.
...and, I've learned that it doesn't
always 'work'....
Triangulation? What exactly
is it?
I found a blog by a guy named Dan
Oestreich. I don't know his
politics or anything other than that
he teaches 'leadership'. Yet, a
time-sensitive google
search-and-forward for a staff
member caused me to choose this
piece--mostly because of his mention
of '...like Junior High School'. I
hope that this will be helpful for
everyone who happens by it.
Here is an excerpt. I recommend that
you take the time to read the entire
article.
"Broadly
speaking, [triangulation]
refers to all those times when a
person is inconsistent in his or her
statements, saying one thing to
another individual directly, and
something else at the water cooler
or over the phone, or otherwise "in
private."
The reputation of the person
discussed is often defined by the
water cooler discussion.
"So-and-so is fundamentally
insecure, that's why she has to
dominate every discussion."
"So-and-so is manipulating the
situation for his own gain."
"So-and-so has no back-bone why
doesn't he stand up for himself
he's always getting walked on!"
Sometimes these are framed as
questions such as, "Don't you think
so-and-so is
?
This allows the listener to chime in
and build on the premise. The
inevitable conclusion of these
discussions is that somehow it will
be us who have to pay for the
problems of others. These can be
more or less serious diagnostic
discussions or they can pretty much
look like Junior High School."
read the entire article:
The Devil's Triangle by
Dan Oestreich
Earlier this week Eli Tavarez (from
FBC Galt) came to Auburn to visit
me. He brought a friend named Art
with him. Cathy and I joined them at
Wings (the airport grill) for lunch.
There, we met a local character
named Rosemary Peters; she joined us
at our table.
That re-connect with Eli and a
subsequent letter from dear Virginia
(at fbcgalt) spurred me on to look
at their church website and see how
things are going there. My former
secretary, Jennifer, had uploaded
our Liberia timeline at a different
host and I was impressed at the
higher resolution so here it is:
Today, I'm gonna take my guitar and
m'lady and do a home-visit with a
Christian who has started hospice
care. The extended family is
gathering around this patriarch and
I've been invited to come and
interact with the strumming of an
earthly harp and the voicing of some
comforting songs. I am humbled to
accept such an important role in the
process of family bonding.
At noon, we will meet with Christy
and our newly-forming Rick Stanley
advance-team.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
I watched the film 'Expelled' last Saturday night.
see the trailer:
click here
I
recognized the familiar strains of Lennon's song 'Imagine'
immediately and noted an example of
'fair use'. I'm surprised to learn
that Yoko has filed a lawsuit asking
the court "to stop the filmmakers
from distributing, selling and
promoting the movie".
Yoko and Expelled
She shouldn't be able to win that
suit. In my humble opinion, the
small slice of Lennon's song in no
way violates the spirit of copyright
law (but maybe it does since it was
for commercial use)..
Meanwhile, the news item simply
draws more attention to the movie
that challenges Darwinian theories
of Evolution (and as a side-issue
connects Margaret Sanger-Planned
Parenthood with the Eugenics
movement).
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
I spoke with Rick Stanley yesterday.
We clarified his plans for coming to
Auburn to be with us on Sunday, May
18th through Wednesday, May 21st.
To learn more about Rick's story about growing up as the brother of Elvis Presley (and how he came to know Jesus as his Lord and Savior), you can read this story I posted at the Auburn Journal:
Monday, April 21, 2008
My back was 'killing me' yesterday
morning but I expected that I would
still step up to the plate and
preach. At the altar, I called upon
Deacon Dave and Rita to pray for my
healing. The prayer was heartfelt
and received with tender love for
these two precious souls.
Almost immediately after, the pain
was excruciating. I haven't ever
used that word before in reference
to my own pain level. It got worse
as the night went on.
I've received counsel in the Body of
Christ so I am acting accordingly.
Unfortunately, I had to run a parent
mission today (unnecessary and
irritating--that's life--'a parently').
Here's yesterday's message:
'Growing
as a Giving Christian'
The sermon outline should be
available as a pdf file if you
downlload it from the sermonplayer:
www.bellroadradio.com
Aunt Bee
at the Auburn Pharmacy
Sunday, April 20, 2008
This morning I will preach a message
entitled "Giving as Growing
Christians". It has been a restful
weekend for Cathy and me. Daniel,
Cerissa, and Mary went along with
family friends for a vacation at the
oceanside.
Last night, Joe, Cathy, Kyla and I
went to Grass Valley to see Ben
Stein's documentary: Expelled. This
was a good opportunity to spend some
time with college age students.
Here is the movie site for Expelled:
click here
Friday night's audio has now been
uploaded on
www.bellroadradio.com
If you missed the event I hope you
will take time to listen when you
get a chance. Remember, you can
always download the mp3 file and
burn it to a CD. Listening to
messages and music during drive-time
is a good way to grow in
understanding. Others regularly
download these files for their iPods
and listen while they run or work
out at the Gym.
Escape from 4 Generations of
Polygamy
Irene Spencer at BellRoad:
click here
I was googling around and followed a
link to another local website where
I had started a profile for our
church. I was surprised to see that
two of our members had 'rated' our
little local church. They were both
on the same day so I probably had
provided the link in a journal
entry.
Here's a scary thought: If you have
attended our church, and have a bit
o' time to spare, consider leaving a
comment at the Auburn Buzz. I think
you will need to sign your name.
Remember...you're rating the
church...not Jesus himself.
Auburn Buzz
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Currently, there is an online way to
share stories and events at our
local paper's website:
www.auburnjournal.com
This media tool will be helpful
to serve and support our church's
ministry and testimony. Look at my
profile there and acquaint yourself
with how it works. If you wanna
leave a comment on anything you will
need to register.
pastorob
at Placeropolis
I tried to upload a bit of video but
couldn't get it to work for me, so I
went ahead and uploaded this Auburn
Outtake on googlevideo. Here's the
link:
Aunt Bee at the Auburn Pharmacy