New life

We had our baptism service last Sunday, and it was quite a blessing as it coincided with our 28th church anniversary. I must confess that it was a blessing for me to be there on Sunday night, as I have not regularly done Sunday night services for quite some time now; it will be two years in September. We had a great turn-out for the study, had a time of joy with our guests 2 or More (actually, several come here to church) and all in all, it was just a blessed time.
When I was walking to the pool to conduct the baptism, somebody spoke to me as I was passing by, and I joked with him and went to the pool. On my way back, he was still standing there and spoke to me again. I looked at him, and to my surprise it was a friend of mine named Bill, a guy I have known since I was five years old. I could not believe my eyes, as it has been years since I last saw him. Bill was the one who first introduced me to Calvary Chapel, and is the one who drove me to the Hollywood Palladium, the location I met Jesus as my Savior. I have to tell you, it was a joyful surprise to see my old friend. We visited for awhile, and the following Thursday met for lunch and some catching up. I do hope we will be able to make a regular habit of this! He is encouraging the study to budget and come with us to Israel in April of '10...I sure hope many can come, as Israel has proven to be a tremendous blessing to Marie and me when it comes to re-kindling our faith. I wish every person in our church could one day go with us, it is such a blessing.
We started our new bible study for 18-35 year olds last Monday. It is called Committed and is now being led by Michael Callahan, a young man who literally has grown up in our church. We have a burden for that age group, and Mike shares this burden so it is my hope and prayer that he will be able to handle this ministry. It is his first adult bible study, so I pray he is given a chance to succeed by all who show up, and if they hang on, I think it can be a very good group and good bible study.
At the moment I we are looking to start a Spanish language Sunday morning service, but are waiting on the Lord to give us somebody who can lead the worship. We need somebody who is anointed and mature in the faith who also can sing in Spanish! If you know of anyone, please let me know!
Well, I just wanted to pen a few words, so I will close now. We'll see how tomorrow goes! I pray the Lord meets us in a special way! See you in church!

anniversaries

All of us like to mark our calendars in remembrance of events that really have impacted us, especially when those events were special. This Sunday is one of those events, as we as a church will recognize our 28th year of ministry. We began holding Sunday morning services on July 26, 1981. I was one month short of my 31st birthday, and Marie was 29 years old. We had three kids at that time: Carin, who had just turned 4, David, who was 2 years and 8 months old, and Joseph who was just short of 3 mos. of age. Three babies and a new ministry, what a memory.

Our first Sunday morning was held in a house on Palmetto, in Ontario. It was being rented by my sister in law, Patty and her a couple of her friends. Eventually, my mom and dad bought that home, and when my dad went home to be with Jesus, Patty and her husband Matt ended up buying it, and live there to this day. On our first Sunday, we had around 25 adults, and about 10-15 kids. Marie was the Sunday school teacher, and I believe one other young lady volunteered to help. I taught out of Isaiah, and we enjoyed our first Sunday morning service a great deal. We didn't receive an offering (a tradition we held for many years) and just let people give as the Lord led, which obviously we still do. God moved, and we all were blessed. I asked the people if they wanted to return next week, they wanted to, and off we went for the next 28 years. What a great memory.

So much has happened over the years, both joyful and sad. We have seen many come to our church, and many more leave. I believe that if every person who ever called this church "home" would show up for church at one time, we would need a stadium to hold them all. Thousands have come over the years, and many more have left. Some left with tears, some left with anger, some just left, and others went to heaven. Still, we have seen God do wonderful things and will be forever (literally) blessed for what He has chosen to do here.

What makes it even more special is that we will have a baptism as well as an anniversary celebration, taking place Sunday night. I wanted a single baptism service this year, and it is great that it falls on our 28th anniversary, as it is always special to have a baptism and having it coincide with our anniversary is wonderful. Talk about new beginnings! We will have a time of worship, a short video that we originally showed at our 25th anniversary, and the baptism (with cake after the service!) It will be fun and fulfilling, all at the same time.

It is interesting, but three of the most important dates of my life will be celebrated on a Sunday. Our church anniversary, which is 7/26, my birthday, which is Sunday 8/23, and my spiritual birthday 12/27 all fall on Sunday's this year...it blesses me to be able to be with my church family on all of those special days.

On another note, we will continue our 1835 study this Monday, with Michael Callahan doing the teaching. We have special music with a group called LoveLite, and it should be a great evening. I do hope those of you who are in that age group will show up, and be blessed!

We are looking forward to the Israel trip with them, and I actually think it will be able to happen. We actually can't go if we don't have enough to fill a bus, so being aware of the economy and all, we have to be careful not to over commit, still we have had a good amount of interest, and it looks like it is going to happen. I sure hope it does, but then again, it all is in the hands of the Lord and the desire of the group!

Anyway, just a few rambling thoughts put down for whomever might read them!

what is in our future

Well, tomorrow Marie and I will finish our time with the 1835 group, but I must say it has been fun and quite a blessing for us. We love that particular age group for several reasons: our own children are within that group, many decisions await people at that age, and the fact is, Marie and I won't be around that much longer so I want to do what I can to keep the fire going in these young hearts. We have a burden for people in general, but have a special love and concern for this age group in particular. Out of that age group (I would assume), the next Calvary Chapel Chino Valley senior pastor will come. Now, before any of you begin hoping it is soon, no, I don't think that it is that close to happening! Still, the reality is that we are getting on in age and it won't be that long until I hand over the church to someone with vision and energy (not to mention maturity, faith, love, etc) who will take the people further in to the things of God. With that in mind, I do what I do with the hope of reaching some who will be used mightily of the Lord.

We will continue a Monday night study, and I will be handing the teaching over to Michael Callahan, Mike Callahan's youngest son. Michael is a thoughtful young man, and it is my hope and prayer that he will be able to connect with the group. We will divide the age group in to 18-25 and will begin a 26-35 group in the near future. I am also looking to start a Spanish language Sunday morning study, but am looking for people who can lead worship in Spanish, not an easy thing to do!

Oh well, time to finish this post! Hope to see some of you tomorrow!

God loves us

I am thoroughly enjoying the Monday night study with the 18-35 group. Song of Solomon is a book that contains so much practical information, and it seems that the people showing up seem to be enjoying the study. This is an age group that is dear to Marie and me, so being with them and answering their questions has been refreshing and enjoyable.

As we have been doing the study, some have asked how long it will continue. It is probably going to last for a few more weeks. I am looking at the moment to break the group into two separate groups, 18-25 and 26-35...they will meet on different nights of the week...I really don't know how the people are feeling about doing something like that, so I will ask next week. They may not want to do this, so I will have to hear from them to see. To be honest, I am tempted to keep the study going as I really enjoy being there. That might be something to consider. Still, it may be the subject matter that is drawing this group, and if I were to just do a regular bible study, they would probably not be interested because they can come on a Wednesday night, or a Sunday morning and have a regular bible study. I don't really know if any would actually want to keep coming on Monday nights and will have to see if they would like to.

I have been asked about a Spanish language bible study, and am considering starting one, possibly in September. We have so many in our church with parents who speak Spanish and desire studies in Spanish, so I may start a Sunday morning study in Spanish. Of course, I can't teach that study, but I do have some in this church who feel a true burden to teach in Spanish and who care for those whose first language is Spanish, so it is worth looking at closely. We shall see! At any rate, I see the need and hope to be able to do something to meet it.

Tonight we are looking at Ezekiel 16, and man is it a tough chapter to teach. God is hurt and angry at Judah/Jerusalem and pretty much lambasts them throughout the entire chapter. He calls them some pretty terrible names, even referring to them as a harlot! Man, if this doesn't reveal the holiness of God and His hatred for sin, I don't know what does. He said that Israel was worse than Sodom...think about that one for a moment! That is sooo heavy! He says that they are worse than prostitutes, because prostitutes charge for their services, but they actually pay people to be with them! Man, is the Lord angry over their sin. One of my commentators said that this is like the church today: it does not care about God's Word, and it does not care about holiness. This in many ways is true, as you can see that many "churches" just invite people to show up, but don't give the word. One church invited men for Sunday services by offering them free beer if they showed up on Father's Day. I think God weeps over this. Let's get serious with God, and let's serve Him with all of our hearts.

Finally, we are looking to take the 18-35 age group to Israel in '10, from April 11-22nd. The cost will be between 35-3600 dollars (closer to 3500) and will be a joy and a blessing. I have been asked by someone 36 if they can go, and I said yes but I am not taking people much older than that...I really want to spend time with the younger group this time. Think about saving your nickels and dimes, and go with us!

just a thought or two

It is so hard to believe that we have already entered in to June....I am not kidding when I say that this year is flying by! We did so much last month, so many church functions and events. I can honestly say that I am so personally blessed to be part of a church that is so alive. So many volunteers helping to produce great ministry. We had a men's breakfast, men's retreat, men's conference, a single mom's banquet, a family day, National Day of prayer service, Jr High Lockup, Moment's with the Master....so many things in one month. We could do nothing without so many dedicated people serving the Lord.
I spoke at the national pastor's conference last week, and we as a team taught through 2 Timothy. I taught on being Vessels For Honor, and though I did not say this for fear of sounding prideful, I could not help but think of how many vessels we have here who are truly gold and silver. God and silver represent members of the church that are sold out and highly prized in the Hand of God. They have a value and worth that is immense, because they desire to be used by Him. They are faithful soldiers, dedicated and disciplined athletes, and hard working farmers to use Paul's metaphors from 2 Ti 2. We have many such dedicated people here, and I rejoice to be with them. All of our dreams and visions would come to nothing if we did not have people sold out and desiring to see the same things that we see. We have Jonathan's here, and we have armorbearers working alongside and I have to tell you, I remain so blessed when I see this. Thank you all for such service to the Lord, your work of faith is not going unnoticed.

A New Day

We had our men's retreat last week, and it was one of those retreats that significant things happened in a "low key" kind of way...it wasn't real emotional, moving, or "earth shaking", just slowly progressing to a closing that was appropriate....when we began Calvary Chino Valley, it was my original desire to see men draw closer to the Lord, so I spent my early years building up men's ministry....today, our men have many things to be involved in, and it blesses me to know that some have taken advantage of such ministry opportunities...our women also have great opportunities, and it is great to know that the Lord has moved with them too, in wonderful ways...I am looking forward to Friday's night of worship with the Katina's, which is open to the entire body and anybody who wants to come, and then the next day, we have our 13th annual men's conference...that will be good, too....I pray that men show up!
I really am enjoying our young adult's study...it has been a blessing to me to have it and Marie and I enjoy answering the questions that are being posed by the group. A young man told me that his favorite part of the night is the question/answer period, as it gives him opportunity to hear his own questions answered, posed by someone else! This is practical, and I truly enjoy it...Finally, with the California Supreme Court upholding Prop 8, the battle goes into second gear...homosexual activists didn't get their way, so be ready for some real angry whining! Rally's and protests will be the norm, and for me this is actually something that can turn out good, as voters will have the opportunity of seeing first hand what this really is all about. I was intereviewed by the Daily Bulletin yesterday concerning my thoughts on this, and I told the reporter that I knew this was just the beginning of more protests...the will of the people has been heard, but sin has a way of progressing, and this is not going away....today the letters to the editor in the Orange Co. Register were solidly anti Prop 8, so we know that this battle is on...one person said that it is the battle for the mind of our youth, in that younger people have less concern about marriage and its definition then the older generation...God help us all to raise up a generation of people who solidly stand on foundations that are solid...Ps 11:3 asks the question If the foundations are destrotyed, what can the righteous do? Of course, this is right and we need to remember that the war is on God, and His word, and His institution of marriage....this is not cultural or social, it is spiritual so let's keep close to the Lord and His word in this conflict...

What a joy

We started the young adult's study a couple of weeks ago, and I have truly enjoyed it. There is something about that age group that Marie and I have a special love for, and for the life of me I can't really say what it is! Perhaps it is because those are some very important years for most people, as they were for me. Graduating high school, getting saved, going into the service, going to college, getting married, having kids, buying first homes, all of that took place for us during those "in between" years. So many decisions that are of critical importance are made during those short years, so for Marie and me, it is a joy to be able to spend time with people at that critical juncture of their lives.

We have a good attendance, filling up the banquet hall, and I am slow in wanting it to grow any further, because if it does we will have to leave the hall for the chapel, and I fear some of the personal feel that I have in the banquet hall will be lost in the larger space. Still, I don't want anybody who wants to be there to not be able to because of space limitations, so we shall see. 

One of the things I am enjoying is the time we are taking to answer questions. This is new for us, as most of the studies are simply closed with prayer, so we are getting used to the new format. Because of time constraints, I am not answering all of the questions that are being asked, but am going to shorten my answers so Marie and I can answer more questions. The questions are good, and I think it is something that needs to be done, so we will do what we can to accommodate more questions!

We will be leaving tomorrow for northern California, Mt. Shasta to be exact. A Calvary pastor friend of mine has asked us to teach at their annual couple's retreat, so we leave tomorrow out of LA. I am at the point of life that I really don't like leaving, and to be honest, we are so busy at this time that it is something that is a bit difficult. We return on Sunday night, and I will teach on Monday, then Wednesday, then we will go to the men's retreat, and then return to teach on Sunday, then Monday, and then will teach again at the Men's conference the following Saturday, then will be going to the Pastor's conference and will teach there. So you can see, we are pretty busy. Still, I would rather burn out then rust out (though I don't plan on doing either one!)

Anyway, tonight we have our study in Ezekiel, and it is a tough portion of scripture. I pray that it makes sense, and that we can leave these studies loving God more completely. I hope you are able to join us, and please make an effort to be with us this upcoming Sunday, as we resume our Truth Project studies Sunday night!