This new year has started with a bang for our church. God answered a long standing prayer request for one of our sisters . It was so exciting! I’m not going to tell you the story myself, but you can read it here.
I am looking forward to seeing more people born of the water and the spirit in 2012!!
On Monday evening, October 24th, we met at my elder sister’s house to discuss funeral arrangements. While we were there, my sister and I were talking about a particular aunt with whom my brother corresponded on a regular basis. She mentioned how that 2 weeks earlier, that aunt had received a letter from Tom in which he had said that this was the last time he was going to write to her about God. Did he somehow know that his time left on this earth was short? I was blown away.
My brother John who lives in Wisconsin is married and has 3 wonderful children. He told his kids that it was likely that only him and his wife could fly out for the funeral, because they probably would not be able to afford airfare for the whole family. His 10 year old daughter told him that she was going to pray that God would make a way that they could come. My other brother Bob was checking into airfares. A few days later, he found an incredible deal through Southwest Airlines. The deal was so good that John was going to be able to fly out his whole family. God had answered Natalie’s prayer, and I was blown away.
The funeral home that handled the arrangements posted Tom’s obituary online along with a tribute wall where people could post about their memories of Tom. Quite a few people shared stories about how Tom had touched their lives. Some of the stories I knew, and some I did not know or had forgotten. While reading the various submissions, I realized afresh that the little things that my brother did made a big difference, and I was blown away.
The most pleasant surprises were experienced at the funeral. I saw many people whom I hadn’t seen in years that came to pay tribute to Tom and/or support the family. Beth and Rachel had traveled several hours to be there. As I was on the platform taking my turn to give a eulogy, I saw a blond haired lady standing in the back that looked like someone I knew. “Is that Carmen?” I wondered. Indeed, I found out later that it was her. She had flown out from Chicago. I was blown away.
The biggest “blow away” for me was yet to come. It was something that my sister Karen revealed when she stood up to give her eulogy.
to be continued…………………………….
For the past 3 or 4 weeks the power steering in my car has not been working. At times, this made driving a real challenge, especially when it came to navigating those tight turns. When doing on street parking, I needed to park in a spot where no other cars could park in front of me, because I might not be able to get out without hitting another vehicle. In short, I just couldn’t always get to where I wanted or needed to go, because I didn’t have enough strength on my own to turn that wheel. One day while I was driving to work, I started thinking about what my life was before I knew God. Even though I had some sense of right and wrong, I often found myself in situations where it seemed I couldn’t go the right direction, even though I was trying and had a desire. I can remember particular instances where my conscience told me that what I was doing was wrong, and yet, I persisted in the thing I was doing. My problem was that I had no power.
I’m thankful that all of that struggle started to change when I received the baptism of the Holy Ghost as a teenager! Jesus tells us in Acts 1:8
“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
I found that after I received the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues, not only did I have power to be a witness for the Lord, but He gave me power over the sin with which I struggled. Almost immediately I stopped using foul language which was something I really tried to do on my own, but I found that curse words would slip out of my mouth without me even thinking about it. God just took that away! He also helped me to break off a relationship which I knew was taking me in the wrong direction. It is amazing what the power of the Holy Ghost can do in a person’s life! When my daughter was just a toddler, I remember a young man who came and visited our church one day. This guy had a shaved head, goatee beard and just looked like a trouble maker. You could tell he had lived a rough life. I learned later that he had been invovled in gangs and drive by shootings. To make a long story short, he ended up repenting of his sins, being baptized in Jesus’ name and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. If you were to see him today, you would never know that he was a former gang member. He is completely different – changed by the power of the Holy Ghost!
Since the time I received the baptism of the Holy Ghost, there have been times when I started to veer off course. Perhaps I wasn’t praying like I needed to or I had slacked off in reading the Word or I wasn’t faithful to the house of God. I would start to mess up, and I could definitely tell that the “powering steering fluid” in me was low. Thank God He gives us the opportunity to repent and get back on track when we start to go in the wrong direction! We can get a refilling and a renewing in the Holy Ghost so that we can have power to continue living in a way that is pleasing to Him.
I am happy to report that the power steering problem in my car was fixed yesterday. No more trying to crank that wheel with just my own strength!
We are so thankful that Sonia received the baptism of the Holy Ghost at Pacific Coast Camp 2011!
Pacific Coast Camp 2011 is still in progress at the time I am making this post. It has been absolutely wonderful, and I just wanted to share a few things about the camp for which I am thankful.
I am thankful……………………
-to be able to come to this camp(Things are really tight for us financially, but God made a way for us to come!)
-that we have 4 other young people from our church with us in addition to our 2 kids this year
-that Sonia received the Holy Ghost Tuesday night! (Years ago when I was a kid, and we had a television, I remember a commercial for Hershey’s chocolate bars. The slogan was, “There’s nothing like the face of a kid eating a Hershey bar.” The commercial went on to show the faces of various children happily eating this sweet confection. I would like to say, “There’s nothing like the face of a kid getting the Holy Ghost!” I hope to post a picture of Sonia up at the altar receiving this glorious gift when I return home. It was awesome!
-for the preaching of the Word of God! It has been tremendous, and it is beautiful to see many young people responding to the preaching and pouring themselves out to God in praise, worship and deeper consecrations at the altar. This will be a life changing camp for many. Thank you Brother Frazier and Brother Lambeth for being sensitive to God and preaching the Word to us!
-that Sis. Joslyn received a healing touch on Wednesday morning! She took off her back brace and told me she had no more pain. To God be the glory!
More later……………………………………….. 
It was 32 years ago today that I repented of my sins, was baptized in Jesus’ name and filled with the Holy Ghost! When June 16 comes along each year, I always like to take time to remember and reflect on the day that truly changed my life. I am so thankful for God’s great salvation!! It’s hard to imagine what my life would be like without the Lord. I shudder to even think of it. The thought crossed my mind that now I have been living for God for exactly 2/3 of my life. I won’t go into all the details of my testimony here, but if you want to read my story, click on the words “my testimony” above.
I apologize also for the lack of posting. We had interrupted Internet service and were on dial up for 3 weeks. Dial up is SO SLOW that I was only on the computer when it was absolutely necessary.(like to fill in my time sheet and check work e-mail) Hopefully, I will soon be back to posting a little more regularly. 
It’s been almost a month since it happened, and I am still in awe and wonder ever time I think about it. I won’t reveal her name for security reasons, but she touched my hand. She reached up from underneath the pew and put her hand on top of mine. I knew it was something major when it happened, but I didn’t really realize the true significance of it until yesterday. An autistic teenage girl did something that was totally out of character for her when she reached up, touched my hand and let me pray with her. I knew she had an aversion to touch. I don’t completely understand it, but there is something about touch that causes her to feel physical pain. I found that out the first time she visited our church. It was on New Year’s Eve. Our service had ended. She was sitting on the back pew with her body turned away from everyone. I was going to ask her if she wanted to come in the back and have some refreshments. I lightly touched her on the shoulder, and she about jumped a mile.
The last time she came to church was the weekend of our 8 year anniversary. She was there for our anniversary service that Saturday, and she was in both services on Sunday. The miracle happened on Sunday night. The visting minister was up to preach, and he was talking about Joseph of Arimathae and how he came before Pilate and beggted to have the body of Jesus. The Bible tells us that Joseph was a rich man. No doubt, he had fine clothes, nice living quarters and probably fared sumptuously. Rich people are not accustomed to begging for anything. Some rich people can become downright arrogant because of their wealth. For Joseph to beg for the body of Jesus would have been out of character for him, but something about his appeal moved Pilate, and he released Jesus’ dead body to him. The preacher went on to mention how the word that was used in the Greek for “beg” is also the same word that is used for ask in a lot of verses that deal with prayer. Sometimes we need to get out of our comfort zone and maybe do some uncharacteristic “begging” in our prayers if we really want something from God. This was not the preacher’s entire message, but this was the basic thrust of it.
After the preaching was over there was an invitation given to come to the altar and pray. Many were at the altar, but not all. I want toward the back to pray with a young mother. While I was praying with her, out of the corner of my eye I could see Anna(not her true name)looking up at me from underneath the pew. Anna can only sit still for so long, then she will lay under the pews for a bit. When I was done praying with the young mother, I went and sat down on the pew behind her. Anna was underneath the pew where I sat. As I was sitting there still praying, I felt Anna’s hand touch mine. I knew something special was happening. I didn’t want to move for fear that I might scare her, so I just prayed earnestly……………for her. After a few minutes, I opened my eyes and peeked down at her. Her eyes were closed, her lips were moving, and I could see tears on her cheeks. I took my other hand and put it on top of hers. She did not move, did not try to pull away. I am guessing we prayed for about 10 minutes. Later I found out what she said to her mother over the phone about the incident. She told her, “Church lady pray for me. I grab her hand. It hurt, but then I feel better inside.” I truly have no other explanation for her touching my hand than God. It was a God thing!
Through communication with her mother(mostly through texting) I have found out that Anna has always had an aversion to touch. She can tolerate a firm hug but not a touch. it has something to do with her nerves. Her mother told me that Anna has never one time reached out and held her hand. She thinks maybe I have a special bond with Anna. I believe Anna in her own way, probably without even fully understanding it, was reaching out for God, and reached out to somebody who was praying so that she could connect with Him.
Anyway, I shared all of that to really ask for prayer. Anna is going to be out here again this weekend to visit her friends who go to our church. I have agreed to do a therapy session(ABA) with her on Saturday. I really need God’s wisdom and direction to know how to help her. I know I cannot do it on my own. Also, please pray that when she is in church that she will be able to “connect” with God, and that she will truly know that there is a God who loves her and understands her. I truly appreciate your prayers.
Psalm 107:8
Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and forhis wonderful works to the children of men!
I praise the Lord because He brought me out of a dark world of sin and revealed Himself to me through the light of His Word! When I obeyed His salvation plan, I truly became a new creature.
Psalm 107:15
Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
I praise God today, because I have seen Him do miracles. I have seen a lame man walk and know people who have been healed of cancer, brain anyeurisms and other diseases, but the greatest miracles of all have been the countless number of lives I have seen transformed by the power of God and His great salvation!
Psalm 107:21
Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
I praise and thank the Lord for the privilege to have a relationship with Him. What a blessing it is to be able to have an audience with the King of Kings 24/7! He is there if I need to call on Him in the wee hours of the morning, and He’s still there when the noon day sun is shining.
Psalm 107:31
Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
I praise my God for the work I see him doing in our congregation. In the past few months we have seen backsliders come back to church, new souls being born into the kingdom of God, an influx of first time visitors and Bible studies being taught. God is using His church to pray and reach for souls, and I’m so grateful to be a part of it!
So what about you? Do you have something for which you can praise the Lord? I think it’s interesting that this same verse is repeated 4 times in Psalm 107. Can you think of at least 4 things for which you can give God praise? He certainly is worthy!
We had a wonderful Easter service yesterday. The Spirit of God was with us in a very special way. I am so thankful for the great things that God is doing among us. My daugher took some time to write about it on her blog. Reading what she wrote and recounting the things that happened yesterday and in the past few weeks brought tears to my eyes.
You can read what Jennifer(my daughter) wrote here.
May God help you to see His goodness in your life today.
As I was driving home after running an errand, I saw a sign out in front of a local chiropractor’s office. It said, “Give more praise and watch the miracles happen.”
I began thinking about this saying, and I believe it rings of truth. I have seen the benefits that come first of all from a person either praising, complimenting or encouraging someone. I know in working with autistic children that praise can be motivating, and when I see one of my kids make even the smallest amount of improvement or progress, I try to sincerely praise them. Saying things such as “Great job! Good work! or You did it!” can have a positive effect. There are plenty of people in the world that can criticize, discourage or point out faults. (I’m not talking about constructive criticism. That’s totally different.) I want to be an encourager and sincerely offer a word of praise and encouragement at the right time, because it can go a long way.
The 2nd kind of praise that is really important is the praise that we offer to God. The Bible tells me that God inhabits the praise of His people.(Psalm 22:3)There is something about praise that gets God’s attention. We can read in the Scripture of how God unlocked the prison doors for Paul and Silas after they praised Him.
Act 16:25
And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.
Act 16:26
And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.
Their praise led to the miracle of the prison doors being opened and everyone’s chains being loosened and later to the miracle of the Philippian jailer and his household hearing the gospel and receiving salvation. I’m sure it was not easy for Paul and Silas to praise God. They no doubt were in pain after having their backs beaten and thrown into prison, but they still praised God in spite of their circumstances. Most of us have probably never been incarcerated, but there may be times when we are “imprisoned” by depression, anxiety, fear, etc. If we will begin to praise God and focus our attention on Him, He can deliver us out of our personal prison. The neat thing about the story of Paul and Silas was that their praise not only affected them but everyone else who was imprisoned. Everyone in that jail had their chains loosed. When we praise God in the sanctuary, it can cause others to want to praise Him too and get the deliverance that they need. I think God just wanted to remind me today to keep on praising Him, no matter what. Thanks for the reminder, Lord.
of Israel. hepraises
