Category: Ministry

Bought With A Price

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Dear Pastor Susan,
My girlfriend and I live together and when we asked to serve at our church, we were told that we couldn’t until we got married. With the economy the way that it is we can’t really afford to do that. What is the policy at your church and why do churches say they need help then turn it down when it’s offered?

Thank God for bible believing churches! We believe the same as your church. You got to get this part of your life settled, then you move into position. Since you’re a believer, I won’t throw scripture at you but here is the best way I can explain it.

You see, Jesus came and bought you with a price. He laid his life on the line for you. He still gave you the choice to follow him or not but you chose to follow him. That carries with it a certain responsibility. It means that when God says if you love me keep my commandments you agreed to those terms. So since you know his commandments and you took the deal you can’t then say that you receive the gift of salvation but refuse to follow the lead of the Father. The two conflict, as well they should. I know that you said it’s not doable right now to get married due to the economy but I’m unclear why. Marriage is a license at city hall and your Pastor conducting a covenant ceremony.

You don’t get to rent a woman and she doesn’t get to rent you. You don’t get to rent Jesus for just a part of your life. In all cases it’s all or nothing. Don’t be deceived by the message that says it’s all good and you can repent for it later. God put these boundaries in place to save you from heartache and the pain it causes. 2 Corinthians 6 (okay, maybe just a scripture!) says we should not take the grace of God in vain. Yes, you are right the church always needs help but it’s working through a process of perfection (meaning maturity).

I’m really glad to respond to this right now. We are learning all about this in our bible study and I’ll write more about that in a future post. In the meantime, we are praying for you and all of those who find themselves in your shoes. I hope you will do the right thing!

People Are Watching

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2 Corinthians 6:1. Companions as we are in this work with you, we beg you, please don’t squander one bit of this marvelous life God has given us.
2. God reminds us, I heard your call in the nick of time; The day you needed me, I was there to help.
3. Don’t put it off; don’t frustrate God’s work by showing up late, throwing a question mark over everything we’re doing.
4. Our work as God’s servants gets validated – or not – in the details. People are watching us as we stay at our post, alertly, unswervingly . . . in hard times, tough times, bad times;
5. when we’re beaten up, jailed, and mobbed; working hard, working late, working without eating;
6. with pure heart, clear head, steady hand; in gentleness, holiness, and honest love;
7. when we’re telling the truth, and when God’s showing his power; when we’re doing our best setting things right;
8. when we’re praised, and when we’re blamed; slandered, and honored; true to our word, though distrusted;
9. ignored by the world, but recognized by God; terrifically alive, though rumored to be dead; beaten within an inch of our lives, but refusing to die;
10. immersed in tears, yet always filled with deep joy; living on handouts, yet enriching many; having nothing, having it all.
11. Dear, dear Corinthians, I can’t tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life.
12. We didn’t fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren’t small, but you’re living them in a small way.
13. I’m speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!
14. Don’t become partners with those who reject God. How can you make a partnership out of right and wrong? That’s not partnership; that’s war. Is light best friends with dark?
15. Does Christ go strolling with the Devil? Do trust and mistrust hold hands?
16. Who would think of setting up pagan idols in God’s holy Temple? But that is exactly what we are, each of us a temple in whom God lives. God himself put it this way: “I’ll live in them, move into them; I’ll be their God and they’ll be my people.
17. So leave the corruption and compromise; leave it for good,” says God. “Don’t link up with those who will pollute you. I want you all for myself.
18. I’ll be a Father to you; you’ll be sons and daughters to me.”

Baby Food Giveaway A Big Success

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I was so busy during the Baby Food Giveaway that I didn’t get pictures with my camera so the pictures shown are of the volunteers posing. We had lots of volunteers and that made the giveaway go smoothly. It really was a privilege to be able to give food away to families who could really use it! I’m sure more pics are to come. We have video as well. Here’s a tiny glimpse at the crew.

Noah’s Ark

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Pastor Dave Morse is the most amazing Sunday School teacher on the planet. Last week our Kingdom Kidz began learning about Noah building the ark. This week they were they were learning about being secure in the flood.

Pastor Dave brought them a modern day Noah’s ark. A Land Yacht. They loaded up on the ark to be secure from the flood. Ana Valencia came along during the lesson and began to knock, “Please, please let me in!” “No”, was the answer as she had missed her opportunity. I believe this was a lesson our children will never forget.

The kingdom moves forward when teachers like Pastor Dave take such a love for the children and their spiritual foundation. When I spoke to the children they told stories about how Noah was safe and secure in the ark when the flood came because he listened to God! Praise God for Pastor Dave!

Special thanks to Toscano RV for the use of the Airstream Land Yacht! We appreciate you!

Baby Food Giveaway!

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Today, March 13, 2010, over 19,000 pounds of baby food will be given away by our church. Thanks to the help of donors across the United States and abroad, Moms Against Hunger and Role Models Of America, organizations that we are proud to be involved with, we have received a truckload of baby and toddler food.

With the increasing unemployment and recession that has hit California’s Central Valley so hard, we want to be a little light that comes and eases the burden of families with infants. The response has been tremendous so far and we look forward to being a blessing! This is what ministry is. I’ll post some pictures of the results tomorrow! In the meantime, pray for us that we are able to touch the lives of many.

Spiritual Pornography

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There is an addiction going on in the church. It’s not talked about much because up until now we were trying to keep it on the down low. We didn’t want people to know about this dirty little secret. Yet, Christians are being lured into it at alarming rates. It spreads quickly and before you know it, you’ve caught this insidious addiction. It’s called spiritual pornography or SP.

If you answer yes to two or more of these questions then you may have SP.

I attend church pretty much every Sunday.

The church is well staffed and so I don’t participate in any ministry per se.

I don’t belong to any of the small group studies.

I don’t attend special services.

I don’t know the names of at least 10 people at my church.

I believe volunteers at church are just trying to kiss up to the Pastor.

I don’t have any more time to offer other than attending Sunday service.

I attend to see what everyone is wearing.

The symptoms of SP mimic that of its worldly counterpart, Internet Pornography or more widely known as IP. Like IP just watching other people stimulates those with SP. Like IP people with SP have a problem with intimacy and it’s just easier to watch others participate rather than do the work to develop intimacy. SP makes you become apathetic to the body of Christ and you prefer to sit in the pew. People with SP never speak about their faith and are closet churchgoers. SP causes insomnia as the only place people with SP can sleep is at church while the Pastor is preaching.

Now researchers have developed a cure. It’s called Get Off Derriere. In proven studies GOD has been shown to stop all symptoms of SP making you once again experience the full life you were called to lead. In a recent clinical study, when taken daily, GOD was able to remove all symptoms of SP leaving people in a more peaceful state.

Side effects may vary; check with your Pastor if you should experience any of the following symptoms as a change in dosage may be required:
Butt is permanently glued to the pew

Your apathy causes you to forget to take your daily dose of God daily

Laziness makes movement impossible

Don’t suffer any longer with SP. There is a cure!

GOD

*Brought to you by the Trinity Lab Corporation. TLC – it’s not just for Sunday’s anymore.

You’re Not A Mistake

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Psalm 139:13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, 16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

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From time to time, I hear the phrase “I was a mistake”. I just want to tell you today that you were not a mistake. You are God’s creation and he formed you, wrote your story, gave you your parents, knew the year you’d be born and gave you a mission to be fulfilled before the foundation of the earth. So before Genesis 1:1 you were created. The word says you were in God. Just as a thought is in our mind or a baby is in a mother’s womb, God has implanted in your DNA a memory of a future. God planned you. He breathed his plan into you as he was shaping you.

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Maybe your mom has always said she got pregnant accidentally or maybe your dad made hurtful statements about how he had to marry your mom but you were not for one moment a mistake. God knew your father would have sex with your mother, even if it were one time. That one time was your opportunity to make your entrance into the world. It’s true. There are no accidents and no coincidences in the your design and birth.

There is only one you. You were put here with a mission on your heart to fulfill. There is only one person in this whole world that has your fingerprints, your DNA, your personality, your talents, your attributes. No one else can fulfill your mission in this moment. You are the only one. If you don’t fulfill your mission then it goes unfinished in this time.

The reason why so many people cry out for Jesus’ return and the reason why he doesn’t answer that call is that the mission that we were sent to do has yet to come to pass. So it isn’t time yet. What has God given you to do? If you can’t remember you need only to sit down and ask him. Prayer, for those of you who don’t know how, is simply dialogue. So a simple, “God, I don’t know what my purpose is, can you begin to reveal it to me so that I can begin to walk it out?” Just with that prayer God will begin to let you know what you are called to do.

What happened to your dreams? Well remember when you were a child and you felt that there was nothing you couldn’t do? How many times did you tie a towel around your neck and pretend you were Wonder Woman, or maybe that was just me!

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How many times did you play school, house, store? How many times did you grab the hair brush and sing?

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Well those dreams are still in your heart. They have however, been squashed by words spoken against you. “Quit being silly.” “Quit showing off.” “Wonder Woman is not real.” “Girls can’t be doctors.” “Would you please quit singing? You’re driving us nuts!” “You’re not pretty enough to be a model.” Those words spoken carelessly over your life were not from God and so they aren’t valid.

The fact is parents say some stupid things to their children. We all do and we all feel bad afterwards but the fact of the matter is we’re human and we all fall short of the goal sometimes. You though, you beautiful creation of God, you are masterpiece. You are more valuable than the most expensive thing on earth. God took his time with you. He made you perfectly, even though you look in the mirror and hate the shape of your ears, you have to just smile and think, ‘God made those’. You are not a mistake. You were fearfully and wonderfully made. So in this moment take a moment to hear those words that wounded you from your childhood and made you feel worthless for the last time. Hear them clearly and then ask God to make you forget them forever. They no longer define you. They no longer hold any meaning to you. You are supposed to be here. You are designed for this moment in time and there is none like you. There is an old song that we used to sing in church and we sing it to God. However, you are formed in his image so it also could apply to you. Today listen to God’s voice sing it to you. It goes,

There is none like you. No one else can touch my heart like you do. I could search for all eternity long and find there is none like you.

You are not a mistake. You are a masterpiece!

Fruit

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Gal 5:22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23. gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. NIV

Gal 5:22. But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard – things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments,23. not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely. Legalism is helpless in bringing this about; it only gets in the way. “The Message”

Gal 5:22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23. gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. NKJ

Gal 5:22. But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23. gentleness, and self-control. Here there is no conflict with the law. NLT

I looked up this passage in various versions to see if I had it right. In all the versions there is no reference to “fruits of the spirit”. Yet, time after time we as followers of Christ are taught to think that the Holy Spirit brings fruits (plural) and he doesn’t, he brings FRUIT-ONE FRUIT.

You see, it would be strange if God compares us to trees which bear multiple fruit since other living trees He created don’t bear a variety of things. An apple tree bears apples. To go even further with this thought process an apple tree doesn’t even bear a variety of apples. A Gala apple comes from a specific tree.

So we are to bear a fruit. When you bite into this fruit, or when a person sees our life it should have aspects of all the flavors, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. To be missing an ingredient throws the flavor off. We’ve all met and have been that follower that is just not right. It neither taste complete or looks complete. To be filled with the Holy Spirit is to be well-rounded in the flavors. If I’m impatient then it throws off my gentleness and possibly my faithfulness. If my love of something is excessive then it throws off my peace and self-control and what happens to my joy?

Better yet, let’s examine ourselves to make sure we are bearing Holy Spirit fruit. If kindness is lacking then it means that in that area of my life I have not allowed the Holy Spirit to really do his job in that area of my life. It means that in that department I have released my life to God. If I can’t be faithful then it means I still think I know best. So no matter how many of the other flavors I have going on, my fruit is still not mature, ripe for the picking or tasting as it should.

I live in orange country. If an orange is ripe and ready, farmers pick it and send it to market to be bought by consumers who love the taste of a sweet citrus fruit. If an orange on that same tree mind you, is a little smallish, greener or never quite got to where it was supposed to be, it is picked and sent to a factory to be made into orange juice. Each fruit on that tree got the same shot at growth. Some matured and some didn’t. So what fruit are you bearing? Are there any ingredients that aren’t being added in the correct measure?

Abnormal

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adjective; not normal, average, typical, or usual; deviating from a standard

1 Peter 2:9. But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Nothing about you is normal. You weren’t called to be normal. So why do we work so hard to fit into a world that is completely and totally temporary? It’s not about the clothes you wear, but the fruit you bear that sets you apart. If your fruit looks exactly like the world then of what benefit was it to others? How did it help humanity?

If it didn’t help humanity then of what purpose did my life serve? As a follower of the Way then love is my mandate and if love is my mandate and I play it out ordinarily then I’ve missed the whole point.

My prayer for you is that your life is never normal. That your life takes twists and turns and ups and downs that form such a powerful love for others that nothing else matters. Not money, not fame, not our own way or opinion or judgment but simply that our love for God outweighs our love for anything else. My prayer is that you find your place in a church where your gifts are used, not as you think they should, because most people want platform promise, but where your love and talent can shine through.

My prayer continues that you will never take for granted a single day of your life. It’s easy for us to go about our day but it’s a different thing to notice the extraordinary. We’ve had fabulous sunny warm days here in California these days. Do we take the time to notice it? Do we take the time to show God the gratitude for it? Do we look at it in terms of how it works for us or for others? No one is promised tomorrow so we have o make the most of today!

I’ll Take A Side Of God Please!

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Nowhere in Scripture do I see a “balanced life with a little bit of God added in”  as an ideal for us to emulate. Yet when I look at our churches, this is exactly what I see: a lot of people who have added Jesus to their lives. People who have, in a sense, asked Him to join them on their life journey, to follow them  wherever they feel they should go, rather than following Him as we are commanded. The God of the universe is not something we can just add to our lives and keep on as we did before. The Spirit who raised Christ from the dead is not someone we can just call on when we want a little extra power in our lives. Jesus Christ did not die in order to follow us.  He died and rose again so that we could forget everything else and follow Him to the cross, to true Life. –Francis Chan author of Forgotten God Reversing Our Tragic Neglect Of The Holy Spirit.