Talking to people about normal daily things is something I do all the time. I met a man recently at the car wash and began chatting. Nothing terribly outstanding. California weather these days, the economy, just general talk. When the man asked, “So what do you do for a living?” I said, “I’m a pastor at Oasis here in town.”
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“You’re a pastor? Really? Like at a Christian church?” “Yup.” “Man, you don’t seem like a pastor.” “Really? (me: smiling) What makes me not seem like one?” “I don’t know, I mean, you’re normal. You’re not all makeup and hair and you don’t act like you’re above it all.” “Well, I’ll take that as a compliment.” “Oh, it is. So, where is your church? I’ve lived here six months, maybe I’ll come check it out.” “That would be nice, you’d be more than welcome.”
Often, I don’t know what people think of us followers of Christ. I chatted with a brand new mom and her sister recently, about her newborn 3 week old son who was, A DOR A BLE! At the end of my conversation I said, “You ladies have a blessed day!” They smiled and thanked me and as I walked away I heard one of them say, “She’s nice and said God bless you. That’s sweet.” Seeds people. Leave seeds everywhere you go. You just never know what will bloom.
Categories: Bible · Daily Living · Friendship · God · Jesus · Love · Ministry · My Life
The respect that leadership must have requires that one’s ethics be without question. A leader not only stays above the line between right and wrong, he stays well clear of the gray areas.
Author Unknown
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With all the news circulating about these two men one thing is clear. They have both died leaving their families with a lot of questions. It has given me the resolve to live my life openly. I don’t want to die amidst confusion of who I was in the dark. I want my family to know who I am both good and bad.
I want the things people say about me after I am gone to be true statements of my character.
Her windows were only cleaned halfway up because the gal that cleans her house is short and she never made her use a step stool.
Her baseboards needed desperate help.
She had expired lipstick in her makeup drawer because she always meant to go buy that color again.
She was headstrong and stubborn and she didn’t always handle things properly.
She had a stupid fear of choking on pills.
My life may not be perfect but at least it is what it is. I don’t want to die and then have my children wonder who I really was. I don’t want people to think they never knew me. How about you? Do you live your life in secret or do you try your best to live your life honestly?
Categories: Daily Living · In The News
I am a complete sap for seeing people baptized. What do you do when your church’s building catches fire and you are holding service in a store front and all these new followers want to be baptized? We had a list of 10 people. What do we do?
We called friends with a pool and they gladly accepted. It was new, it was fresh and instead of a baptistry it was a swimming pool on a day when the temperature was 96 degrees. What a sweet spirit was there. Steve showed up with his guitar.
Pastor Doug gets in the water. He loves, loves, loves this and considers this his highest honor.
“Who wants to go first?”, Pastor Doug asks. Isabel raises her hands quickly, “I will!”
She gets buried! Her life starts again today!
We all rejoice!
Next is Mariana and then goes Steven
Then there’s Jeronima. She is really new to our church. She is so excited, she got her haircut the day before because she said if she were starting a new life, she wanted a new hairdo!
Steve plays and the onlookers rejoice with the angels in heaven!
Life is good, as the great commission goes on and people lives are transformed. Hallelujah! We praise you the King of kings and Lord of lords. You are GOOD!
Categories: Bible · God · Jesus · Love · Ministry
Tagged: baptism
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Bishop Tudor Bismark was preaching at Pastor Dick Bernal’s church, Jubilee Christian Center in San Jose. I wanted to go to hear him as he is an intelligent orator who understand the word of God. He always brings about some powerful thought processes. That brings about, for me at least, further knowledge and wisdom of the word of God. He is a kingdom teacher and that excites me as I am a kingdom citizen.
Last night was no exception. He preached on prophesy and the difference between prayer and prophesy, something I strongly believe in. I bought a copy of the DVD because I will chew it up and eat every last drop until I understand it completely. If that was all that happened last night it was an excellent powerful night of divine appointment.
Only it wasn’t. It never is with God is it? When you raise your level of expectancy, God always rises to blow your mind further than you dreamed possible. He does this, I believe, to make sure you continue to raise your level of expectancy even more so.
I have a prayer that I have lifted to the Lord. It’s such a deeply personal thing that I have not shared it with a living soul. Yet, it has consumed my prayer life in the last several weeks. I prayed this prayer every which way I could, rewording, re-petitioning and thinking that if I came at it with a different angle God would bring me peace and an answer. Yet both alluded me. Peace and an answer were far from me. Instead of giving up, I got more resolved. I got to where even the thought of the prayer would bring me to tears. I was desperate for an answer. Have you ever been so desperate for an answer that you feel yourself anxiously awaiting some sort of sign or word? Nothing happened.
I was excited to go see Bishop Tudor. I was going as a student to learn about more bible truths. I wasn’t not even thinking about my prayer or an answer. Not a single thought. So as God always does, He took this night to blow my mind again. Bishop Tudor came down off the platform and touched several people bringing them a word. He touched my hand and gave me the answer to my prayer. In a crowd of 1000’s God chose this moment to show me that He loves me and cares about what I care about. I closed my eyes and thanked him. I didn’t dare breathe deeply until we got to the car when I lost it and began to cry.
Who am I Lord that you are mindful of me? God never ceases to amaze me. No matter how long I follow Him, I am always amazed when he gives me an answer. I expect it, I anticipate it and then when it comes, I am completely awestruck. God you are so good to me. Better than I deserve and I love you with all of my heart!
What are you expecting? What are you praying for? Don’t give up. Your answer may be delayed but it’s coming!
Categories: Bible · God · Jesus · Ministry · My Life
Tagged: Bishop Tudor Bismark, prophesy
In every species!
Categories: Friendship · In The News · Love · Stepparenting
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to yourself is a talent that many women have.
I’ll start my diet tomorrow
I’ll do something for myself on Monday
I’ll learn to say No
I’ll learn to have boundaries
I won’t allow him to abuse me anymore
I will be a better wife
I will not nag
I will give up my right to be right
I will stop overspending
And on and on, you get the point! These self-talks are all so easy to say and oh, so hard to do. We’ve come to the point in our lives where lying to ourselves has become an art. For some, it’s the only creative talent they put any effort into. We don’t even consider it lying. We consider it procrastination or better yet justificaton. The way to transform your life though is just to be honest. It’s the hardest thing in the world to do but when you finally round that corner it is so freeing!
I recently spent some time with a friend who decided to take charge of her health. After years of health problems she just determined to get healthy this year. It was really cool to see her dedication. She read up on what she needed to change, and she determined that there were some major changes to be made but she was going for it! It motivated me. I love her enthusiasm and how she approached it and it made me want to support her in her change. We women know how to undergird one another’s cause. An undergird is a foundation, like the pillars that hold up the bridge. We were designed for that and so we excel at it. I find that I am glad to undergird causes I believe in. I am not so enthusiastic about those causes which, seem to be futile at best including my own.
In contrast to the friend who rounded the corner to a healthy life, I have another friend who has some really important decisions to make in her life. Her home life is not so great and some decisions need to be made there, her health is not so great and some decisions have to be made there, her world is unstable right now, her kids don’t have respect for her and yet she is scared to move in one direction or another, so she puts off doing anything except complaining, that’s the only constant in her life. So instead she develops the art of lying to herself about her choices and continues moving sideways never making headway. It’s hard to undergird this, but it’s in our nature to nurture. Fill in the blanks on your life and see if there are areas that have been overtaken by the art of lying. How good have you become at the art of lying? Has that become your creative ability? If so, how is working for you?
Categories: Daily Living · Women
