I’m Thankful Four – Day 2

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The Bible – I am so thankful for God’s Holy Word, the Bible. There is no other book like it! I can’t begin to tell you how many times I have received strength, encouragement and direction through the teaching, preaching and reading of the Word of God. This book is inexhaustible. It’s so amazing to read a passage you have read before and have God show you something that you didn’t see the last time you read. It is our road map to Heaven, and without it, we would be lost. Thank you, Lord, for you divinely inspired, infallible, holy,  powerful,  unchangeable Word!

2. My church – When I say the church, I don’t mean the building, although I am thankful to be in our present location. I am talking about the people, my brothers and sister in Christ. I’m thankful for the way my life has been blessed through rubbing shoulders with all these fine folks, and it is a joy when you can see your brothers and sister growing in God.

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Our house – We came close to losing our home several times this year, but somehow God has seen fit to keep us in it, and I’m very thankful. We’ve made some great memories here, and it would be hard to leave this place, so I’m thankful that God is helping us to work things out with our loan situation. Thank you to all of you who have been praying for us too.

4. My job – I really had no desire to go back to work after being at home for the last 13 years. I had no idea what I would do either. I thank God for answering prayer and blessing me with a good part time job. The pay is better than I expected, and it is rewarding to be able to work with these children and their families.  I’m believing God to use me to reach out to these with whom I have contact.

The Week Since My Last Post

I haven’t posted since the 11th, but I surely have had a wonderful week. My family and I were blessed to be able to attend West Coast Conference in Fresno, California. This is by far our favorite church conference to attend. The thing I love about this conference is that it is so “retro”. It is Pentecost the way it used to be 25 years ago when I first got in church. The worship is very Spirit filled, and I’ve never seen any of the musician’s display a “look at all the talent I’ve got” attitude. The preaching has been phenomenal in the past, and this year was no exception. I’m not going to go into detail about the messages, but here are some of the titles of them.

The Evolution Of Iniquity And The Power Of The Blood

The Danger Of Divided Loyalties

The Valley Of Achor For A Door Of Hope

What To Do When You’ve Been Cheated

Another great thing about this conference is to be able to fellowship with likeminded people. It’s very easy to stay up until the wee hours of the morning eating, laughing and talking.

Super Sunday!

On Sunday, we were blessed to have Brother Joel Pace from Dallas, Texas come and preach for us. The power of God was so strong in the service and Brothe Pace preached a message that really stirred our hearts and had us earnestly seeking and crying out to draw closer to God. Sunday evening, we traveled down to Madera(about 2 and 1/2 hours away)to hear Brother Pace preach at the church of some friends of ours in the ministry. He preached on The Death of Pride, and the Holy Ghost moved in a mighty way. That was one message where almost everybody had something over which they needed to repent. Elder Pace was very specific in naming areas of pride that we can have in our lives, and God was definitely speaking to hearts about getting rid of that pride. Afterwards, we had pizza with some of the ministering brethren and didn’t get home until almost 3:30 a.m.!

Three Strikes, You’re Not Out!

When we arrived home from West Coast Conference, we received news that we had been denied for the third time on our request to receive a loan modification on our home.  I thought, “Well God, it doesn’t seem like there is too much more that can be done. I sure would like to stay in this home, but thy will be done.”  Today when I came home from my morning shift of work, my husband informed me that he had been on a conference call with our bank and another organization that has been trying to help us. We have been pre-approved for a loan modification! I don’t really know all the details, but this is the first ray of hope we’ve had in this area. Praise the Lord!

Surprise Review

Today in my afternoon session of work one of the behavioral analysts was also there with me. To my surprise, I found out she was doing an evaluation on me. Being observed like that always makes me really nervous, but she went over her review with me when she was done, and I did pretty good. It looks like I still have a job.  Thank you, Jesus! Okay, that’s all for now. It’s time for some one on one with my son.

No, Don’t Let Him Out!!

Wait a minute, what are you doing? You can’t go out there. Stay inside the church, right where you are supposed to worship God. If you go out there, people are going to see you, and worse yet, they’re going to hear you. Aren’t you embarrassed? What are the folks driving by going to think of you? You know, you might get in trouble with the city. If you’re too loud out here, somebody could file a complaint against you.  People are going to think you are really weird when they see you lifting your hands and clapping your hands. This just isn’t normal Sunday behavior, you know.

 

I’m sure the devil would have liked to interject these thoughts or similar ones into our minds, but he did not prevail. I can’t explain everything that happened in church today, but God definitely wanted us to break outside of our building and worship Him out in the open.  It was exhilirating and liberating.  Thinking about it later, I wish the Oakley Press had driven by and taken some pictures.  However, being on the main drag of town, there were plenty of cars that drove by, and I can’t help but think that there was someone out there that needed to see people who were not ashamed to worship God.  Perhaps there will be some whose curiosity was so piqued by what they saw that they will feel compelled to come and  find out more.

The early church didn’t limit God to a churchhouse. They met in homes, by the river, on the streets and just about anywhere.  This is what the Bible has to say about Jesus’ disciples after He had resurrected and appeared to them.

MarK 16:19,20

So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.

I do believe in having a place of worship where we can meet on a consistent and regular basis, but I don’t want to be guilty of confining God to 4 walls. Neither do I want to keep Jesus locked in my heart, where nobody else can see Him, but I want to open my mouth more and tell others just how good He has been to me. Lord, we heard you loud and clear today, and we are letting you out!

You Might Be In A Lively Apostolic Church If

 

 

 

 

 

 

there are scuff marks on the baseboards in the sanctuary. Apostolic worship is exuberant. Sometimes it’s so exuberant that people run around the aisles in worship to the Lord. If you really get going and the momentum is building, you may take a corner a little too fast, and thus, leave a scuff mark.

Having been raised Catholic, when I first visited a Pentecostal church, I was scared to death. I was taught that worship was a quiet silent thing, but when I began studying the Bible, I found that that was not the case. Meditation is a quiet, silent time, but praise and worship is active.

Psalm 47:1

 <To the chief Musician, A Psalm for the sons of Korah.> O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph.

Psalm 134:2

 Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the LORD.

   Psa 149:3Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp.

 1Timothy 2:8 I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.

 

I’ve known people before who thought it was silly and ridiculous to get all excited about God. Sometimes you see people at sporting events go absolutely ballistic when their team scores a touchdown or homerun or goal. Folks can jump out of their seats and send popcorn or soda flying everywhere, and people think nothing of it. Why should I get excited about God? He only shed His blood on the cross for my sins, forgave me, gave me a hope of going to Heaven, has given me righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, etc. etc. etc.  Jesus is worthy to be praised!

The Bible says to praise Him according to His excellent greatness. (Psalm 150:2) I don’t think I can really do that while I’m here on this earth. That’s something that is going to take all of eternity to do, but while I’m here on this terra firma, I certainly want to try to do that, and as long as I’m physically able, I’m going to enjoy the practice!

Craigslist Conundrum, Craigslist Celebration!

Craigslist is something else. You just never know what you might find on Craigslist. Early Saturday evening, we returned home from an absolutely fabulous church conference. I went to check our answering machine and noticed we had 45 messages. We were only gone 3 days, so that is a significant amount for our household. I listened to the first message which was a call for Pete concerning the 2 bedroom apartment in San Francisco for rent. “Huh?’ I wondered. The next 3 or 4 messages were basically the same thing of people inquiring about the 2 bedroom apartment for $1100 a month(a great deal in San Fran). My husband who was exhausted from our trip, had fallen asleep on the couch. I woke him up and told him about the messages we were getting on the answering machine. He hopped up and got on the computer, and sure enough, he found the ad on Craigslist. The ad has been removed, but we still do not know who placed it. We think it might be one of my husband’s preacher friends playing a joke. 

Now for the rest of the story. That same evening, my husband came across a notice on Craigslist from a church that wanted to give away some pews. My husband was able to contact the person who only lives about an hour from here. Today, he went to see the pews. He called me all excited a little while ago. The pews are in excellent condition and look brand new. They are ours for the taking, and we’ll be taking them tomorrow morning. With these pews, we will be able to double our seating capacity. If we were to buy these pews, they would cost at least 10 grand, but we are getting them for free. Hallelujah! Once they are in our possession, I hope to be able to post some pics, but for right now, I just wanted to share this miracle.

Update – 8/25/09 p.m. – All 21 pews are stacked up in the church right now. We will need to get the anchoring hardware and contact a professional to get them installed correctly. I went down to the church and took a few pictures. I’m so excited and thankful for this wonderful blessing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fear Not Little Flock

Last Thursday as my daughter and I were in the front of the church leading in praise and worship, I opened my eyes and looked out on the small group of people in attendance. Generally, I keep my eyes closed quite a bit when leading in songs for a couple of reasons. First of all, it helps me to focus my thoughts more on the Lord, who is the One I am supposed to have my mind on in the first place. Second of all, there is less of a chance for distraction or discouragement with my eyes closed. When we first started the church here a little over 6 years ago, I often felt very conspicuous leading in worship. Starting a church from scratch, we had people coming that had not received teaching on praise and worship, so it was kind of unsettling when I did open my eyes to see folks looking at me with blank stares. Thankfully, that kind of response is not the norm anymore. This past Thursday as I opened my eyes and looked out on the congregation, I saw almost everybody participating in worship. I was blessed to see that their eyes were closed and their hands were uplifted as they focused their full attention on giving God praise and glory. As I watched my brothers and sisters in Christ, I thought about the various trials that they are presently facing. Some are going through difficult financial situations, others are facing serious marriage problems and some are dealing with discouraging health issues. I felt blessed though to see that in the midst of their struggles, these good folks are still lavishing praise upon the Lord. As I mused upon these things, a Scripture came to my mind.

 

Luke 12:32 Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

 

I wasn’t sure at the time why this Scripture came to mind, but later I started looking up more Scriptures that have to do with the kingdom.

 

The book of Romans states in chapter 14 and verse 17,

 

For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

 

Here at our church, we still believe and teach as the apostles did in the book of Acts in receiving the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues. If you have ever received this wondrous gift, you know that it is a gift that keeps on giving. As we worship God, He is gracious to impart more of that righteousness, peace and joy that come with being filled with His Spirit and having a relationship with Him.

 

Will God save us from all of our financial difficulties, health problems and trials that come our way? He certainly is able to, but sparing us from all adversity may not accomplish His purpose in our lives. Sometimes God would have us to walk through a valley for a season in order to teach us something we could not learn otherwise.

 

No, God will not save us from all of our troubles, but as a wise elder preacher I know once said, “ He will save us in our troubles.” I believe He does this by allowing us to partake of that spiritual kingdom that is mentioned in Romans. There’s just something about the Holy Ghost that gives us power to go on, even when circumstances in our lives are not the greatest. No matter how dark things may get, we don’t have to be afraid if we’ll just keeping giving God the praise and allow the Holy Ghost to produce that joy, peace and rest that we need so much. Thank you, Jesus!

Real Relevance

I am posting this article that my husband wrote which is on our church website. This is good food for thought.

 

Real Relevance

 

On Thursday evenings I’ve been teaching on a biblical subject that does not get a whole lot of pulpit time, by-and-large, in churches across America.  It’s a series on the subject of Holiness, Modesty and Separation from the World.  I’ve had visitors to our church remark just how difficult it is to find someone who walks the walk, rather than just talks the talk.  Frankly, it should not be that way in the Church.  I trust that they got a different impression from the good people at Cornerstone Pentecostal.

 

Somehow the doctrines of Holiness, Modesty and Separation from the World—which were once prominent in many church movements—have fallen away over time to the point where congregations of a mere 40 years ago would not recognize that they had any ties to their modern-day counterparts.  Some of the older folks in these congregations grieve inwardly, but have acquiesced to the onslaught of “progressives” and the latest quest for “relevance.”

 

There is a new “emerging church” (let’s leave that lower-cased, shall we), that wishes to go to great pains to try to appear “relevant” to our post-modern society.  They tell us that doctrine is not relevant. Yet Paul wrote to the young minister, Timothy to continue in the doctrine, and in doing this he would save both himself, and those who hear him (I Timothy 4:16).  Peter, Paul, John and Jude all made doctrine out to be vital—how then could it not be relevant? This emerging church tells us that holiness is quaint, and that modesty is so very, very yesterday—yet these things are dealt with repeatedly by the Apostles as essential.  “Follow…holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord,” the writer of Hebrews said (Hebrews 12:14). This emerging church is bent on replacing old meaningful songs and hymns with shallow pablum that teaches nothing.  My Bible still encourages us to be “teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.”  Yet many of these new 7-11 songs (seven words repeated eleven times ) instruct no one and have little meaning. Many of them are downright unbiblical—not just shallow.

 

So—what is so relevant about churches that teach no doctrine, sing shallow songs, exhibit no holiness and are, in almost every respect, indistinguishable from the non-Christian world around them.  My answer?  Nothing.  There is nothing relevant about them.  Without doctrine—there is no gospel (I Peter 1:25).  Without doctrine people are lost in their sins—and sins have consequences (Romans 6:23).  Of course, they downplay all sin as well.  Here is the venue: shallow “expressions of worship,” changing “Pastor Jones” to “Pastor Bob,” replacing the pulpit with a stool and a spotlight, replacing dressing up in your “Sunday best” with the rumpled look and a scruffy four-day old beard, talking instead of preaching the Word, lattes instead of altar calls and weeping in the altar—and it all leaves people with a sense that they’ve “done something good,” yet with the uncomfortable feeling that there’s something more to it than this.  I fail to see the relevance.

 

To me preaching about sin is real relevance because “all have sinned” (Romans 3:23; 5:12).  Preaching the gospel (the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ) is real relevance, because we all are in need of a Savior!  Preaching repentance from sins is relevant because Jesus said, “except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:5).  Preaching baptism in Jesus’ name (Acts 2:38; 8:16; 10:48; 19:5 and 22:16) is real relevance because “there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).  Preaching about the blood of Jesus Christ is relevant because “without the shedding of blood, there is no remission [of sins]” (Hebrews 9:22).  Preaching holiness is relevant because without holiness “no man shall see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14).

 

There is nothing so relevant as meeting people at their greatest need with this unchangeable, unalterable message!   Not everyone is aware of their need of a Savior; and not everyone desires to be saved from their sin and its’ consequence—yet their need remains. Cornerstone Pentecostal Church intends to continue preaching this old-fashioned message—because it’s the only thing that works. That, my friend, is real relevance.

Easter Outreach Day

I’m excited about what God is going to do in church this Sunday. The past two weeks we have taken some time to seek God through prayer and fasting, and I believe He will bless the sacrifice. We had a good time doing outreach today. It’s fun, because you never know what is going to happen. A lot of our outreach involves reaching out to families through our children’s church, so we have a fellow that dresses up as a clown each week. Last week, the clown knocked on the door of a family that was having a birthday party for their son. They invited all of us to come in for the party, which was in their beautiful backyard.  Mr. Clown and his helpers made balloon animals for the kids at the party. The mom was really nice and was even offering us food and drinks before we left. Who knows, maybe this family will come out and visit us one Sunday.

I had an opportunity today also to meet a new neighbor. I knew someone was moving in, and I try to make it a practice to bake something whenever someone new moves in on our block. Anyway, I had a real nice conversation with my new neighbor, Alice and got to invite her and her friend to church tomorrow. They had been talking too about going to church for Easter, but weren’t sure where to go, so she was happy to be invited.  My husband went and visited some people that have been out to our church in the past. He went to visit a couple that we haven’t seen in quite some time and gave them the other loaf of bread that I had made. When he came home, he had a beautiful china set that this lady wanted to give to us. This is a complete set(enough to serve 16 people) with dinner plates, dessert plates, bowls,cups, saucers, salt and pepper shakers, creamer and sugar bowl, gravy boat, 2 big platters and a soup terrine(at least, I think that’s what it is). I was blown away by their kindness! Perhaps God will have me do more entertaining in the near future. Anyhow, I’m thankful for the privilege of knowing God, serving Him and all the blessings He so graciously bestows upon us. I’m anticipating great things for tomorrow.

 

Close up of the china pattern. I love the nice, springy look.

Faith Brethren and Invisible Choirs

Acts 16:25 

 

And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.

 

 

It was pretty unconventional for Paul and Silas to be praying and singing praises to God in prison. After all, they had just received a beating prior to be thrown in the slammer, and physically, they were probably in a lot of pain. Perhaps they wondered why God would allow them to be thrown into prison for doing something good; casting a demon out of a young lady. Nevertheless, although they weren’t in a nice church building with comfortable pews and talented musicians, they began through their discomfort to praise God. God responded to their worship in a marvelous way. An earthquake came, and all the prison doors flew open. The jailer, seeing that all the prisoners could get away, and knowing that he would lose his job and be dead meat himself, took out his sword and was ready to take his life. Paul, seeing what was about to happen shouted out to the man not to harm himself, assuring him that none of the prisoners had fled. The jailer, in fear and trembling, then falls down and asks what he must do to be saved. Paul and Silas share the Word of God with this man, and we see him and his whole family getting baptized! You just never know what God will do when you begin to praise Him. Marvelous things can happen to you, and others will be affected also.

This past weekend, we were able to go up to Oregon to be with Pastor Joe Savala and his family. Brother Savala is straight as an arrow when it comes to preaching and teaching Biblical doctrine, yet I have seen him on occasion approach some things in a way that most would consider “unconventional.”  How many people do you know that will go up to empty chairs in their churches, stick out their hand and say, “Well praise the Lord, brother/sister! It’s so good to see you today.” Silly you might say, but perhaps someone will be inspired to pray and invite others to the house of God so that those seats will be filled. 

Sunday evening we had an awesome move of God. The pastor announced that the choir was going to sing. This church is smaller and does not have enough people for a choir.(at least, not yet) The “choir” was actually a CD of a very good, lively, worshipful choir. People began to worship, and the spirit of God began to minister in that service. Here are a few pictures from Sunday night.

Cassie and Alex with his mom, praying at the altar.

Two good men of this church praying with young Alex.

Pastor Savala with his daughter – praying, weeping and worshipping together. This is priceless to me!

The best part of all – Alex received the baptism of the Holy Ghost, speaking in other tongues!

 

I’m thankful for the wonderful things God did this weekend. While we were away, there was also a young girl named Jocelyn that received the Holy Ghost in our Thursday night service. Praise God!

Potpourri Post

This is going to be a pretty random post. I just wanted to share some things that have happened over the past few days.

Our church website has been updated. If you click here,you should be able to view some pictures of the renovation done on the building and what it looks like now. I feel so thankful when I see these photos. God blessed us with a lot of good help, and the building (I’m referring to the physical structure and the people) has come a long way in a short time. Thank you Jesus!

My brother-in-law Dean flew in for a visit on Wednesday. We are really enjoying having him out here. On Friday, we were able to spend some time in San Francisco. We went to Fort Funston in hopes that we would get to see some hang gliding. It didn’t look like that was going to happen, but as we were getting ready to leave, the wind started picking up a little, and my husband talked this man named Eric into doing a flight so we could take some pictures. It was really neat to watch him, and it looks like a lot of fun, but I still don’t think I could bring myself to do it. Do you?

Of course, no trip to San Francisco is quite complete without a visit to Pier 39 and Fisherman’s Wharf. We always enjoy seeing the well known “Bush Man”.

If you’re not familiar with the “Bush Man” , he is a busker who makes his living by hiding behind some eucalyptus branches and scaring unsuspecting passers by. He’s selective about whom he chooses to scare and avoids elderly folks .  Many people who know where he hangs out will stand across the street and watch as he looks for victims to startle. It’s really quite amusing to watch. We did a little online research later and found out that in a good year, the Bush Man makes about $60,000.  Have I missed my calling? LOL

Below are some more pics from our San Francisco trip. Dean will be with us until Thursday, and while he heads to Phoenix, we’ll be traveling up to Ontario, Oregon where my husband will be preaching for our friends, the Savalas. I may not post again until we get back.

The Kidz having fun at Funston

Some poochies having fun at Funston

Alcatraz Island – We’ve been here almost 20 years, and I’ve never gone there.

Uncle Dean and Jen looking for fun at Funston.

Why do I make a big deal over Fort Funston? We didn’t even know the place existed until Martin Luther King  Jr. Day this year. We have some friends that live in the Bay Area, and they thought it might be fun to go to Fort Funston and see some hang gliding. Well, we picked a terrible day to go. We had a real late start that day, and by the time we got there, it was almost sunset. It was extremely windy, and us ladies at least, we’re freezing. There were only a few other people there and not a single hang glider. We stayed a few minutes and left. We made a joke about it and started calling it “Fort Funless.” I’m glad we gave it a second chance, because it was fun this time.