Yesterday, I had a great time filling the God-given role as a 'pastor' in
our local Baptist church.
A new couple came in for their
First Annual
Check-Up with the pastor at
BellRoad (me). We established early
on that they will enroll in our
membership class and join us for the
new adventure ahead.
They gave me a packet of "Ten
Commandment" bookmarks. I passed
them out at prayer meeting and we
prayed the Word. Our midweek prayer
meeting was very enriching last
night. There were eleven of us in
attendance.
Of course, there's a 'Power of a
Praying Woman' goin' on down the
hall...and kids in TeamKID, and
youth in their torn-up remodel, and
babies in the nursery, Curt
preparing for Choir, and Clean up in
the Kitchen after the weekly
supper...
(yeah, its good to see the House of
God open on a Wednesday night)
Now, us old-timers in the circle of
prayer chose to pray through the Ten
Commandments and it was powerful for
us.
By the way, we kinda feel especially
involved in anything good that
happens or is gonna happen at
BellRoad. Why? We are praying. We
are acknowledging God and asking Him
to direct our steps. We are
confessing our sins and asking Him
for correction and direction. It's
that simple.
Oh, I also spent the evening hours
watching Rick Warren's Sunday
morning message at the National
Cathedral and at the Sunday Forum
beforehand.
My friend,
John, had sent me some
links to negative criticism (and
sarcasm) from a couple of 'church
watchdogs' (or 'blogdogs' ...I guess
they're called). He asked what my
current opinion of brother Rick
was/is...
I was rather blunt with him in a few
notes about my opinions of these
people. I'm not a disciple of Rick
Warren...but um...yeah, I think
we're serving the same Jesus.
Here was the forum (click
here). This is basically the
same material that Rick delivered to
the gathering of 200 pastors when I
went to Saddleback last December.
Rick's jokes don't get many chuckles
from this crowd.
And...here was his morning sermon at
the National Cathedral (click
here). Rick Warren in a suit and
a tie, see it for yourself...
I'm not going to link the critics
because I don't respect them very
much at this point. If you wanna
find them, you can google it for
yourselves.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
The mother of 3 siblings adopted
from Liberia wrote to me at 1:00
a.m. this morning. I had mentioned
this family in yesterday's blog but
hadn't thought that any of the email
addresses I could find for them were
current. Here is an excerpt from
Jen's
letter:
You are not
going to believe this, but I am
pretty sure that my father-in-law
was a member of Bell Road for about
4 years until he recently retired
(he was in the blue grass group
there)! What a small world we live
in!
Anyways, we are pretty close - we
are just up north on I-5. I
would love to go into more details
and we would be happy to talk with
you and would LOVE to come and share
about Liberia, Greater Love
Children's Home, Pastor Wesley, and
adoption sometime (and I'm sure Dad
would like to come along too!).
I was thrilled that the rest
of the letter was so warm and
trusting. How pleased I am that God
has given us the gift of 'close
proximity'.
I also heard back from Pakistan this
morning. The meetings did happen so
I'll have more to say on that
someday soon. I don't have freedom
to write whatever I'd like because
it jeopardizes ministry potential in
this situation.
Cathy and I are off and running now.
It is 6:20 a.m. Hey, listen to
Sunday's Message if you missed it.
Caution:
This isn't a 'feel good' message
(not that sermons are supposed to
feel good...)
May I share with you what the Lord has been
doing during 2007?
As you can see from the attached photos, we have
2 medical clinics, an FM Radio Station
still being constructed located between church
and clinic, a guest house still under
construction near our house where visitors will
stay on short missions' trip, latest family
photo of the Wesleys and 5 couples who got
married on December 16, 2007 at our church.
Praise God for His excellent greatness!
Pastor Wesley
The Lord hid some direction for me in last
Sunday's text until 4:00 a.m. that very morning.
I was prompted to make mention of issues facing
us again at election time. My primary issue
(abortion) seems to be connected with another
(definition of marriage). Through the local Body
of Christ, I see that the prompting was due to
in-depth inquiry into the histories of my
co-laborers at Bell Road.
That's the sermon. Not much of a 'feel good'
message but it is what God delivered through me
(in spite of my congestion and tongue-tied
moments which have been mostly edited out).
Amazing: Sunday's Message also made
mention of this word (amazing). Although it was
just spontaneous, illustrative material, it is
not a throwaway thought. Today I've chosen to
meditate upon the mystery of the words we put
together. We sing songs (old and new) that
utilizes this modern-sounding word as adjectival
preface to both of these BibleStudy words:
Grace:
charis Love:
agape
Grace is used as a noun but, like the word
'Love', I sometimes consider it to be action
verb. The Spirit 'graces' me by going
beyond my thoughts and imagination in response
to the earnest prayers I've heard voiced in
prayer meetings.
On Sunday night, in our
Experiencing God small group, I
referenced one God-sized assignment (Liberia)
given to listening Christians over the several
years' time.
In December of 2002, our initial contact with
Pastor Wesley could not at first be
substantiated through web searches. Today, there
are a number of adoptive families who have
brought some of the Greater Love children to
America to grow up among us. Although I haven't
met them, I know we have a mutual interest in
Pastor Richard and Laura Wesley (and all the
kids who have been fed, housed, or educated
through the ministries of Greater Love).
I discovered a homeschooler's blog (click
here) about one humble ministry family who
had adopted three siblings from Pastor Wesley's
home. Cathy and I remember this very children. I
read in the blog that this family had moved to
California. I wonder if they are anywhere near
us?
Another blog graces me with a sweet story about
these same three kids (click
here).
In 2004, Cathy and I worked with photos and
prayed for your little guys we see pictured.
Then, in 2005, my dear friends, Mike and Robin
McCall spent a month there--living right at the
Children's Home. In 2006, our son Joe lived with
the Wesley family for 80 days.
It is a great blessing for me to read of
families who have decided to publicly share what
some might have chosen to keep completely
private.
Before coming to America, Macdonald Wreh visited
Pastor Wesley to take the photos of the children
on our behalf. At that time, Pastor Wesley told
him that some of the children would not have
survived had they not gotten to the Children's
Home when they did.
God has brought several other people into the
Big Picture since we started. For that, I give
Him thanks for loving me and gracing me in such
amazing ways.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Yesterday, after church,
Pastor Matt
handed me a clean, digital recording of the
SundayMessage. Cathy worked in the Nursery so
she and I listened to the recording during an
afternoon drive.
Cathy and I are up early and heading to the Gym
together before starting going to our respective
job sites. I also have an email from one of our
recently-baptized members awaiting further
thought and action. This correspondence extends
a request made at the altar.
Over the next 2 days, I will be watching for
emails from Pakistan. I have contacts there who
are supposed to meet up with each other. I hope
all goes well.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
May His House be a House of Prayer.
Something like 'centripetal force'
seems to be happening in the prayer
clusters I've recently experienced:
Monday Night at the
Leadership
Council, Sunday
afternoons at
Bautista
Iglesia de Bell Road,
Tuesday's
pastors' prayer group,
Friday mornings with
the Deacons.
Last night,
Jimmie,
Chet, Wolf,
Joe,
Karla and I had the
privilege of welcoming
Larry
to pray alongside us. We had
a sweet hour of prayer. Larry had a
special testimony for us. A man who
Larry knew through work had been
'visited' by a knock on the door
recently. He apparently spoke of a
young lady from Bell Road Baptist
Church because, from his descrption,
Larry figured it must have been
Karla.
Karla
thought about it with wonder and
asked,
"What country was he from?"
"El Salvador, I think,"
Larry
responded.
Karla
nodded and said she
remembered that they had shown great
interest (Karla is from Honduras).
Larry
said, "He said he was
going to go there when it gets
started!"
Well, it has started. Jesse
and Elba should be returning from
Southern California soon. They were
planning to visit my friend,
Pastor
Francisco Camerana, while
they were there.
The first quarter of the
Pastor's
Annual Check-Up (free,
Spirit-led consultations) will be an
ongoing process through March, 2008.
Cathy came up with this idea and we
are having a really fun time with
it. I think the Lord will use this
idea to establish 'His Health
Program' among us.
I received news yesterday that
Matt Klein™
had put his creative genius at work online. I
look >>forward>>
to seeing what our youthful leader comes up with
in the days ahead.
Please send all accolades
(and complaints...about anything, really) to:
Alas, the old wineskin is bursting. Upon my
request, Pastor Matt composed an initial theme
to be used as our bridge from Proclamation to
Movement. Symptomatic of the burst is that you
will not hear his commissioned theme on our
recording. Attempting to mix in the music
during post-production would an interesting idea
except that I broke into a brief melody
that coincided with the theme.
Does our Minister of Media have enough George
Martin in him to make it work? Yeah, he could do
it but I will not commission for that. As you'll
see below, my own area-of-focus must be
different in this season. I can hardly wait to
see what Matt's been sittin' on!
Contentment about the soon-realization of the
vision for our own 'local media' allows me to
rewind and pause during the following
paragraphs:
Yesterday our pastors' prayer meeting went on
awhile...(2.25 hours--mostly listening). Of
course, we don't share the topics discussed
among ourselves and before the Lord. I write
about it so I won't forget the timbre of that
intimate gathering.
Zooming Out
(from the intimate circle), the question asked
of each other has given me a milestone to be
remembered for the Big Picture. This particular
prayer group is one of the reasons God brought
me to Auburn.
Likewise, Monday night's Leadership Council
(which is 'not' confidential) was an important
gathering. Most precious was the encircled,
hand-in-hand intercession with which we closed
our time together. That gathering had also
allowed the Big Hand®
to transcend the allotted time (6:30 to
8:20--before our little hands grasped each
other's hearts).
Before leaving for Mexico I purposed to adjust
my lens (to the 30-60-100-fold setting). The
final half of my 50th year should be more
reflective than proactive. Plenty of seed from
our sack of beans has already been sown during
the pre-matt months. Now, we will watch and see
how that first season of preparation brings
forth the first year's harvest.
Recently someone asked me if I thought we would
get picketed again this Easter. Nope...well, not
by Luke anyway. I never mentioned that Luke and
I had a 'chance' meeting at Sierra College a
couple weeks back.
For over three
years I've written here nearly every single day
so to see that I haven't posted since Thursday
is a surprise! I'm about to start editing
yesterday's sermon so that will be available in
a couple hours.
Someday, maybe I'll write a bit about these
topics. Pastor Matt teaches that there are eight
bits in a byte. I'll probably write more than
that.
Deacons' PrayerTime.
Photos.
A GPS walk around our backyard pond.
Jerry's Window.
Saturday Drive with Joe.
Saturday Night Drive with Mary.
Sunday Headsets.
Spanish Service Ripples.
Today, Cathy will work from 10:00-6:00.
I'm asking Anna Gabbert for prayer support.
At 1:00 I will meet with Kurt about finances.
I told Madeline that I will visit this
afternoon.
Tonight is our Leadership Council Meeting.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
The reason I haven't been writing much is due to
software and hardware issues. Due to Mayberry
video storage needs, I had moved my website
software onto an external harddrive must be
connected to AC. That means any bedside writing
(which seems to work well for me) is difficult
to do since I also desire adequate lighting (a
third outlet). Nothing that an extension cord
couldn't solve!
I just had a long talk on the phone with our
Associate Pastor Matt Klein. Again, I am so
happy that God has called him to serve alongside
me (among us). We are planning for a powerful
ministry yielded to the leadership of the Holy
Spirit.
Today, I spoke with
Rev. Tim Lane from the Union Gospel
Mission (Sacramento). He has asked me to speak
at Spirit Week (a time of encouragement for all
those who are enrolled in their
6 month Drug and Alcohol program). I am
honored to have been asked.
Valerie
Harris (Auburn's Police Chief) and
Bayside's
Ray Johnson are among others who have
also been invited to bring an encouraging
message during Spirit Week. Thank you Tim and
Union Gospel Mission for the open door you have
extended to us throughout the years.
Today, it is still thawing and I'm preheating
the oven. Gonna butter up this turkey, pat her
down with some real butter, and get ready.
It's THURSDAY...but SUNDAY'S COMIN'....
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
I had a terrible sinus headache that started at
5:00 a.m. It has really been bothersome
throughout the whole day. Jack and I went out on
a visitation and the med I had taken for the
headache was making me embarrassingly tired.
An old friend
from Michigan called tonight. We prayed together
and I hope to stay mindful of my brother's need
for God's Direction. I suggested that he may
wanna listen to one of these recent sermons.
When the Word is preached, the message goes out
for 'somebody.' Maybe the Lord would speak to
him through it.
On Monday night, I called
Alexander Plair (son of Pastor
Ezell Plair). We had a good conversation. He
told me that his Dad (my preaching-style mentor)
is now 80 years old. The last time I spoke with
Pastor Plair he told me that he isn't preaching
much anymore.
Monday, January 14, 2008
I began this morning at 6:15 a.m. My reply to
one of our members was sent at 1:58 and I
dropped off to sleep within minutes I'm sure.
So, today I'll run on a bit less-than-normal
sleep but as our Latino friends have said that
is what siesta is for. Si, we'll see if there's
a siesta along the way.
Somehow (with holiday-shifting of church
furniture), our senior-friendly, church clock has
been hidden from my view. That fact, along with
zeal for the preaching hour (and perhaps the
lack of the request for a tinkling music cue)
has resulted in two full-length messages (H.O.M.E.
and One More for Jesus). Last night, I
discovered the close to the H.O.M.E. message on
side 2 of Micah's tape. I also digitized the
analog of yesterday's tape, so I gave it an
initial review and will upload these 'preachable
moments' later today.
In the H.O.M.E. message, I mentioned going to
Bear Creek's website and seeing something that
stirred me up over significant uses of new
technology.
Here is a copy of what it was I saw there.
DID YOU KNOW?
The first ever vocal radio broadcast on
December 24, 1906 consisted of a reading
from Luke chapter two?
During yesterday's message I alluded to a bit of
Baptist History but paraphrased the 'famous'
quote and didn't cite the proper names involved.
So, I thought I'd share this:
In 1785, William Carey
was appointed the schoolmaster for the village
of Moulton. He was also invited to pastor the
local Baptist church. During this time he read
Jonathan Edwards'
Account of the Life of the Late
David Brainerd
and the journals of the explorer James Cook,
and became deeply concerned with propagating the
Christian Gospel throughout the world.
His friend Andrew Fuller had previously
written an influential pamphlet in 1781 titled
The Gospel Worthy of
All Acceptation, answering the
hyper-Calvinist belief then prevalent in the
Baptist churches, that all men were not
responsible to believe the Gospel.
At a ministers' meeting in 1786, Carey raised
the question of whether it was the duty of all
Christians to spread the Gospel throughout the
world.
J. R. Ryland, the father of John
Ryland, is said to have retorted:
(and here's the attributed quote...)
"Young man, sit down;
when God pleases to convert the heathen,
he will do it without your aid and mine."
my flawed
paraphrase usually goes like this:
"Young man, sit down;
if God wants to save the heathen,
he'll do it without your help!"
Upon citing this quote in my early morning
letter I read this disclaimer:
"Ryland's son, John Ryland Jr., disputes that
his father made this statement." (wikipedia)
Yesterday, a church Grandma wrote to me from
sunny Arizona and says she reads this blog to
keep up on stuff (at least from my perspective).
After yesterday morning's message and our time
at the altar, we waited until noon for our own
local church's Quarterly Business Meeting.
Although only 40-some corporate members were in
attendance, we had the quorum and we 'did our
business'...
(that sounds funny, huh Grandma?)
Toward the very end of our our Quarterly BM
(again, that sounds funny) the issue of
separation of church and state arose. Again I
let a loose recollection of 'facts' roll off my
tongue. Here is something I found in a quick
google to substantiate my recollection.
The Danbury Baptist
Association of Danbury, Connecticut sent a
letter, dated October 7, 1801,
to the newly elected President Thomas Jefferson,
expressing concern over the lack in their state
constitution of explicit protection of religious
liberty, and against a government establishment
of religion.
In their letter to the
President, the Danbury Baptists affirmed
that "Our Sentiments are uniformly on the side
of Religious Liberty — That Religion is at all
times and places a matter between God and
individuals — That no man ought to suffer in
name, person, or effects on account of his
religious Opinions - That the legitimate Power
of civil government extends no further than to
punish the man who works ill to his neighbor..."
As a religious minority in Connecticut, the
Danbury Baptists were concerned that a
religious majority might "reproach their chief
Magistrate... because he will not, dare not
assume the prerogatives of Jehovah and make Laws
to govern the Kingdom of Christ," thus
establishing a state religion at the cost of the
liberties of religious minorities.
Thomas Jefferson's response, dated
January 1, 1802, concurs with the Danbury
Baptists' views on religious liberty, and the
accompanying separation of civil government from
concerns of religious doctrine and practice.
Jefferson writes: "...I contemplate with
sovereign reverence that act of the whole
American people which declared that their
legislature should 'make no law respecting an
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the
free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of
separation between Church & State."
Sunday, January 13, 2008
After watching an interesting set of interviews
with Composer Earle Hagen, I decided to withdraw
the public view of the video clips from our
Mayberry project until I have had the chance to
speak personally with Earle (Lord willing).
I will leave certain scenes on my video page but
feel it is best to see if I can get Earle's
permission to use his whistling theme song on
our tribute video.
I found a phone number for him in Palm Springs,
California but it answers with a fax tone.
So....I'm gonna try to send him a fax. The video
interview with Earle spans 10 clips over four
hours. I watched a few of them today. I think it
will be helpful to listen to the entire
collection.
I did listen to Going
Deeper and am still praying about tomorrow's message.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Yesterday morning,
Wolf, Mike,
and I met for early
morning prayer. Then, Mike and I sat
and talked and prayed over a few
important issues facing our precious
church family. I shared with Mike
how pleased I am to have Pastor Matt
on-board. We should be able to move
ahead with effective ministry in
2008.
Before I forget, I wanna acknowledge
that Alisha sent me a card from
Mexico. She thanked me for coming
there with her family and for being
her pastor. Her note came as a great
blessing to me so here I am saying,
'Thanks for the note, Alisha.' By
the way, Alisha's brother, Zack, has
gone back to his mission field
(though we are not as free to
discuss what it is he does).
Yesterday,
Mary went back to Galt to
stay the night with Victoria, and to
babysit today for one of her little
flocks. Daniel
and Cerissa came to
Auburn. We showed them the property
over which we are praying.
Joe
drove to Rocklin, then to Galt
(and back) dealing with paperwork
for college and for Sharon's
Immigration.
One More for Jesus
(In today's preparation toward Message # 35,
I plan to listen to Going
Deeper again since this is where we will pick up in Luke
5 tomorrow).
Before I give it a listen, I will share some
of today's ideas connected with these same
verses.
Jesus had stepped into Peter's circumstances
and offered practical direction.
Luke 5:5Simon answered,
"Master, we've worked hard all night and
haven't caught anything. But because you say
so, I will let down the nets."
Livin' the Lyrics
of our favorite songs:
Trust and Obey
led to a major change in the circumstance.
Even so, one who draws near to holiness will
taste of a 6th sense (the Sense of
Condemnation: Isaiah 6)
"Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!"
Then, the Spirit convicts us of His
Righteousness.
"Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch
men."
So they pulled their boats up on shore,
left everything and followed him:
Peter,
James,
and
John
that LifeLesson
looks ...as easy as 1, 2, 3
