Pastor Chuck and simple thoughts

Some have wondered, after hearing of Pastor Chuck's recent illness, about his condition. Pastor Chuck suffered a minor stroke, and after receiving a medical examination, is now resting. From what I understand, his doctor has stated that Chuck will make a full recovery, and for this I am truly thankful. We should keep him in prayer, as well as Kay and his family, not to mention the beloved congregation at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. I love my pastor dearly, and am praying that he will have a full recovery. Just yesterday, Dec 27, I celebrated my anniversary of coming to faith in Jesus. Over these last 39 years, my pastor has made the most significant mark in my ministry life, and I for one am very grateful for him, on both a ministry and personal level. When my dad went to be with Jesus, Chuck became even more dear to me than he was before, and in many ways I have come to see him as a "father" to one who is now "fatherless". As I look back over 39 years, I am amazed at what the Lord has done with this young, wanna be hippie kid. Truly, from the lowest I could be, God has faithfully done works in my life that only He could do, and for that I am eternally grateful. May the Lord continue working in us all, and may He touch Pastor Chuck and bring him to complete healing.

Is God Able

As I consider the state of our nation, not to mention California, I can't help but notice how unprepared we all seem to have been for what we are enduring now. Some seem to think that the downturn we have experienced was something that almost came suddenly, without any warning. Obviously, this is not the case as there were rumblings about "recession" going on for some time before the house came tumbling down.

What is telling is how the church, the body of Christ, seems to have been taken in the same way that the nation was taken, and that is they were taken by surprise. I guess many didn't learn the lesson that God gave us in Proverbs, when He said "Go to the ant you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise, which having no captain, overseer or ruler, provides her supplies in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest" (Pr 6:6-8), and "The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their food in the summer" (Pr 30:25) Sadly, it seems sometimes that our priorities are not what they can be, and it takes "tough times" to awaken us out of our sleep and energizes us to re-prioritize our spending habits.

When God was speaking through Haggai to the people of Israel, He said to them "You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? says the LORD of Hosts. "Because of My house that is in ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house" (Haggai 1:9) The fact is, we still have money to spend, and we do spend it but we spend it on ourselves. I was mentioning on Sunday that people (Christians) spend more money on Halloween costumes, Starbucks, and Michael Jackson movies then they give to the Lord.

Of course, this is not every person.

There are many who place God first in their giving, but the overwhelming majority of people do not give to the Lord in an entire year what they gave to In-and Out, IMax, or Nordstrom's, bottom line.

Our church has been blessed by the Lord, and I am thankful for all that He has done through so few people. We have a very large church, yet with the amount of people we have we have less than 1/7 supporting the other 6/7 of the church. If people who never give anything would give to the Lord the cost of even one of the cups of coffee they drank this week, our offering would go up over 30 thousand dollars in a week. Think of that for a moment, and ask yourself what you could do for the kingdom of God if you had that amount.

This can sound like I am asking people to stop drinking coffee, or even asking for their money. Of course, there are many who think that way and are suspicious whenever money is mentioned. These are the same ones who think that Disneyland ought to be free, or the government should give everybody free stuff. The fact is, the church is designed to care for itself, and it does so through the loving giving that comes from God's children. What I am concerned about is that the people of God are not exercising faith, and they do not really believe that God will care for them. Jesus said that His Father cares for the birds of the air, and even said we are much more important than mere animals. If His Father cares for them, will He not care for us? Well, the overwhelming amount of people saying that they love God are denying that He loves them, because they do not believe what Jesus said, period. In reality, many are confessing Christians and practical atheists. They just don't believe God really will care for them.

With this in mind, it is my prayer that we actually begin to do even as He said to do. He said Put me to the test, and the only time I remember Him ever saying "Test Me" is when it came to trusting Him with our finances. We need to learn that He is able to do more, abundantly more, than we can ask or think. God is greater than any recession, but if we don't learn the lesson from the ant (which is budgeting/preparing for the future) then we will be no different than the rest of the world, looking to man to care for our needs and forgetting that our Father said He would.

Israel '10

Hey guys...if any of you who read this blog are between 18-35 and were wanting to go with us to Israel, you're going to have to get your deposits in pronto. We only have 10 who have done so, and if we don't have quite a few more, I will have to cancel the trip. If you are planning on going, please let us know and get your deposits in as soon as you can. I will be canceling the trip in November if we don't get deposits, so if you're planning on going, now's the time to let us know...

It's been awhile

Well, the month of Sept is almost over, and the Sunday night services emphasizing reaching the lost have had a wonderful impact. We saw quite a number of people respond to the invitations, and I am so blessed that our wonderful friends came and ministered to all who showed up. Mike MacIntosh, David Trujillo, and Pancho Juarez took time out of their very busy schedules to come and minister to us, and I thank God for them and their friendship, but especially for the love they have for the Lord and the lost. For those who showed up for those services, I am sure you were just as blessed as I was to see what God was doing.

I realize that special services draw people on a one time basis. Some like certain speakers, and so they make an effort to be there to hear them. My encouragement would be, now that so many have taken the time and made the effort to come, those of you who have done so can be encouraged to continue doing so. It is so important to be fed, and if you are able to make it out to a Sunday night service, then please continue doing so. It is such a blessing to see so many getting fed, and so many lives being changed for the good. Keep it up!

I am not sure yet what we will do on Sunday nights, but I am already making efforts to invite friends to bring messages. Still, God's word, worship, and withness is available to any who desire it, and hopefully Sunday night will once again be a blessing for many.

On another note, the yearly Woman's conference we have here is coming up soon. I encourage every woman to come if possible, and prayerfully many will bring friends whom we can introduce to Jesus Christ. The conference is for teaching as well as winning people to Jesus, so mark your calendars and be with us. It is October 17th, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The yearly men's conference in Anaheim is scheduled for the next Saturday, Oct 24th and should be a blessing. Men, it is always a blessing having you there with us, so please come and be encouraged.

Finally, I am looking closely at the 1835 trip to Israel that is scheduled for April. If we don't have more sign ups, we will be canceling the tour. If you are considering going, you will need to put your deposit down real soon, or we will have to cancel. No pressure, if you can't do it, hey maybe some other time. But if you want to go, and it can be worked out, please get your deposit in ASAP so we can secure the flights! Love you guys, and hope to see you tonight or Sunday!

go and preach

We have been given the commission to go and share the love of God with the world. Of course, we have opportunity of doing this wherever we are, whether it be in a church service or whether it be when we are getting a cup of coffee. The obvious fact is we have opportunities of speaking of the wonderful works of God wherever and whenever it is possible to do so. Recently i have been thinking that i need to do this more often, and because of this we decided to have a month dedicated to simply encouraging people to get right with God. It is my desire to see many come to faith in Jesus, especially those who are members of this church who are not saved. Funny, you can call a church your home church, and still be unsaved and there are many here in that condition. I pray that the Lord touches them tonight, and that they come to faith in Jesus.

On the 13th, Mike MacIntosh will be sharing the Word. Mike is somebody that I have respected for many years, and is a tremendous example of faith and a heart for the lost. He has seen many churches planted from Horizon San Diego, and has had a school of evangelism for longer than I can remember. He speaks in Mexico often, bring the Festival de Vida outreaches and has seen thousands come to faith in Jesus through this ministry. Raul will be with us also, and we will close the month off by having Pancho share. It will be great and I am looking forward to seeing God move as only He moves. Plan on being with us for all four nights: hey, you might want to make Sunday nights a priority again!

Hold On

Well, the Lord is moving wonderfully and I am enjoying seeing the work that He is doing. We have seen quite a number of people answering invitations in church, and I can't help but believe that the Lord is doing something that He has desired to do for some time now, but I have simply not responded. I believe He desires all people to be saved, so giving invitations is simply another opportunity to give people the chance to respond, right there and then, to the opportunity given to them to know Jesus. We have seen quite a number come forward, and believe this will continue for some time to come. I pray God keeps touching lives!

On Sunday night, I will open up a series that is simply designed to give people another opportunity of getting right with God. We will begin the series by meeting in the Chapel. I don't know what to expect numbers wise, so I will just start the series out there. If too many show up for the chapel, we can quickly move it to the sanctuary, but I haven't any sense of what is going to happen, so I will start out there! We will have our own worship team start out the night, then will have a guest band that truly is anointed (Joseph Barkley, formerly of Plumbline)and then will have Moriah share a song, as well as a young girl in our fellowship named Talisa...then, on to the Word and prayerfully, people will get saved and others will re-commit their lives to Jesus.

We are in the last minutes of the last hours of the last days, and it is my hope that God will touch and deliver many people over the next month. Mike MacIntosh, who happens to be one of my good friends and a powerful role model in my life, who is also a great evangelist will be with us on the 13th, and on the 20th we will have Raul, and will close up the series with Pancho. Pray that God moves, and if you can make it, please do and bring an unsaved friend!

Another Year Older and...

Well, tomorrow is my birthday, and to be honest this is one of those birthday's that can come and go and it won't make much difference to me. I haven't ever really been someone who cares much about my birthdays, but for some reason this one can go by and I won't pay much attention to it. I think it is because things are pretty hectic in my life at this time, and because there is much going on, this day doesn't hold any meaning to me other than it marks another year of inhabiting this literally old body! Oh well! The thing that is more impacting is that the next birthday I celebrate will mark 60 years of life. At that point, I think I will take notice. Part of the reason is, it won't be that long until I am 70!!!!! Now that makes me feel old, let me tell you. I have several friends who have entered their sixties successfully: Mike MacIntosh, Bob Grenier, Raul Ries, Don McClure, John Milhouse, and Jim Orate have all entered in to their Senile Sixties and all seem to still be able to tie their shoes and to chew their food without it dropping out of their mouths (except for Raul)! Still, that is one year away so let's see what happens when it gets here!
On another note, September will be a good month for ministry. We will have four Sunday nights set apart for special services with an emphasis on evangelism. Please think of friends and family who need Jesus, and invite them to come with you to the services. They will take place every Sunday night of September, and we will have some seasoned guys sharing the word with us: Mike MacIntosh, Raul Ries, and Pancho Juarez will all be joining us, and we also will have special musical guests, so the evening should be a real blessing and I pray that many people come to faith in Jesus. God knows that this nation really needs Him, and I pray we can do our part in this area to bring Him to people.
I was asked to be a guest on TBN in September, on the 14th but was unable to commit to being on the show. Arthur Blessit asked if I could join him as he hosts that night because he knows that I got saved under his ministry, and wanted me to come on and share about what the Lord did that day back in 1970. I would ordinarily have joined him, but I will be in Santa Cruz participating in a pastor's conference and so won't be here in the area at that time. TBN said that the next time he hosts, perhaps I can come on the program and I would definitely do so if I could bring a witness for Jesus.
On Sept 13 we will have a special guest for our Sunday morning service, as we will have Lt. Gen. Boykin with us. He spoke at our Men's Conference in June, and was quite a hit with the guys, so I believe he will touch quite a number of people when he comes. It is the week-end anniversary of 9/11, so I think many people will have an opportunity to get a good reminder of what we as a country have gone through, and I pray the Lord uses it to touch many lives.
Personally, as I observe this nation I cannot help but weep for it, it is so very lost. ABC is going to begin airing a program that is supposed to be a comedy about families, and guess what? Two homosexuals will be part of the "families" that make America laugh. The creators of such sit-coms know that Americans can view people differently if they get to know them in situational comedies, and the progressives who are trying to redefine family use TV programs to do so. Look at the popularity of Ellen, and remember the sit-com Will and Grace and you will see how people are softened up to believe things that are not lined up with Scripture through the brainwashing of TV programs like these. This is in line with the desire to get homosexual marriages legalized in California, and there is no doubt that this is part of a larger strategy to bring that about. No, I am not suggesting that ABC specifically sets out to spend millions of dollars to re-create America, but at the same time believe there to be a spiritual impetus behind all the evil that is presented as good. All one has to do is spend ten minutes reading Ephesians 4 to see this. There, Paul speaks of unbelievers who live in the futility of their mind, whose understanding is darkened, who are alienated from the life of God, have degenerated pasted feeling and have given themselves over to lewdness, etc. Paul is simply saying that people reject God's light and as a result, walk in habitual darkness, living in a world of make believe because they will not walk in truth. As Pr 21:2 says, Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the hearts. These people creating a new society are walking according to their own wisdom, but in doing so are rejecting the clear word of God on the matter. You see the same thing with the "Evangelical" Lutheran denomination that just gave permission for their ministers to live openly homosexual lives and to still pastor churches. I am telling you, we are definitely fighting for the life of the souls of America and we need to wake up to this. Because of this we do need to reach out, so I pray that people will actually show up on Sunday nights with unsaved friends. To be honest, I pray they will show up all the time!
Finally, a friend of mine was telling me how people will see a retreat is coming up, and if they are parents will send their kids to the retreat but because they do, they themselves don't go to the Marriage retreat because they can't afford it. He said that he tells his friends that if there is only one retreat they can go to, it should be the Couple's retreat because the kids need solid parents, and by going to the Couple's retreat, they as parents get closer to God and become better moms and dads. I can't help but agree with this. It starts with the parents, and trickles down into the family. For my married couples reading this, save up for things that build up your marriages and get involved!