Rain, Rain, Go Away

The rains have come and dumped a lot of water, but we needed it.  We are about 6 inches below annual rainfall for the year.  But, I don't like it when it comes down in buckets!  Oh, well.

Last week, I just wanted to get out of the house.  I had felt so cooped up, as I didn't get outside when I was sick and not feeling well.  So, we went to several movies.  On Monday we saw two movies, back to back, in the early afternoon matinee time period.  First we saw "Safe House" with Denzel Washington, and we thoroughly enjoyed the action and suspense.  Well, because of time, Sondra said, "Let's see 'Act of Valor' while we are here."  We then walked in the next theater door and watched "Act of Valor," a movie about the mission and exploits of our Navy Seals.  It was action-packed, but the movie was not as well-crafted as "Safe House."  We still enjoyed it, however.

Because we "sneaked" in to the second movie, immediately after the film I walked over to the manager's desk at the front of the theater to pay.  I told the young lady that my wife had wanted to see the second movie, but because the movie was just getting ready to start we went in without paying first.  I said, "I want to come and pay for that second movie now."  She responded, "Well, that is so very nice and honest of you.  Not many people do that."  She went over to the cash register, getting ready to ring up the sale, and I followed her.  Then, she stopped, looked at me and said, "You know what?  I appreciate your honesty and I am not going to charge you.  Have a great day!"  That was so nice of her, and I thanked her profusely.  Honesty does pay!

I had a birthday coupon for Famous Dave's BBQ that I had not used yet.  So, we ate and went home.  It was a fun outing.

The next day (Tuesday), Sharon and Lorn Harrison (our longtime friends here in Rialto) wanted to go to the movies, and we went with them.  We watched "The Descendants" with George Clooney.  It is a movie about life and death and relationships.  It was very thought-provoking and well-done.  Sharon and Lorn then took us out to dinner, to Lucille's BBQ.  I love barbecue, so I didn't mind at all.  They said they were "treating" because of our recent birthdays!

On Wednesday, we took little Bailey to a place called "Pretend City" down in Irvine (Orange County).  It is a fun place for kids up to ten years old.  It has everything in miniature -- bank, doctor's office, grocery store, farm, gas station, etc.  Bailey had a wonderful time, and we loved watching her play and enjoy the experience.

Sondra made homemade chocolate chip cookies that evening, and Crystal and Shawn enjoyed them with us!

Thursday morning, I spoke at the 8 am devotional time at the Coronado Stone manufacturing plant in nearby Fontana.  The topic I was given was "The Many Trials of Jesus."  As we approach the Easter season, different speakers are given the topics that lead up to the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.

On Friday I had several meetings at Coronado to discuss the Sober Living Program for parolees that I am involved with there.  One of our guys, a man named Dave, had just been released from jail after getting busted for a minor drug charge while driving a Coronado vehicle.  I argued to bring him back into the program and give him another chance.  He has been working for Coronado for some time and has proven himself valuable in the workplace.

Yesterday, Sunday, this man Dave came up to me after the worship service and said, "Pastor, I want to get baptized today."  I told him that I needed to sit down and talk to him about commitment and the meaning of baptism.  He said, "I know about that.  I want to get baptized in a stream!"  We agreed to talk today after he gets off work!  What a joy!

After church, we went out to lunch at Sundowner's Restaurant with our Praise and Worship leader Dan and his fiance Pam.  He and Pam are planning their wedding soon, and we talked at length about that.  It was a great day.

Birthday Week

It was bound to happen!  Everyone had been sick -- my wife, my grand-daughters, folks at church.  So, yes, I finally caught whatever it was that was going around.  Last Monday I began to sneeze, cough and have a runny nose.  All that with a slight fever as well.  I was hoping it would go away quickly, so I could feel better by my birthday (last Wednesday, March 7).

Well, it didn't happen!  I was tired, sick and dragging all week.  But I tried to get several things accomplished anyway.

Last Monday, I had an appointment here at the house with Torie Anderson, a friend from my early college days.  She and her husband have been close friends for over 44 years.  Torie helped Sondra get her first teaching job here in Rialto in 1997 as well.  Torie is retired and has been working with an organization that helps train teachers in China, specifically in the region that was ravaged by a huge earthquake a couple of years ago.  She goes with the hope that her faith in Christ will shine forth and be a witness to those who are living in sadness and hopelessness.

Torie came over last Monday to have me help her rework her written presentation and PowerPoint presentation.  She has been asked to lead teacher-training seminars in several places this year in China.  In April, she is to lead a seminar that will have materials (that she is developing) that will be used to train teachers in all of China!  There is so much to tell, but there is not enough time or space to go into all the details.  Torie just wants to be used by God in this opportunity.  I was humbled to be asked to assist in putting it together.  I worked with Torie on Monday and Thursday on these materials.  I spent much of Saturday putting it together and sending it to her by email.

Tuesday I stayed in and was more miserable with the cold/flu symptoms.

Wednesday was my birthday, and I didn't feel much better.  The only time I went outside was to have dinner at Dickey's BBQ with Evan/Callie and Shawn/Crystal/Bailey/Brynnlee.  Evan and Callie gave me cards and gifts after dinner.  It was fun, but I didn't feel up to par.

I felt so blessed throughout the day, though.  I got phone calls from Jason and his family.  I got to have some Skype calls on separate occasions with Noel, Marti and Mom in Shawnee.  I had a fun talk on Skype with David and Meche in Chiapas.  On Facebook and in emails, I received a ton of birthday wishes.  I was amazed at the Facebook entries and notes from friends -- from old friends, from new friends, from 29 Palms, from San Diego, from Rialto, from Riverside, and on and on.  I tried to keep count, and I came up with over 75 messages.  It was rather exciting.

On Thursday, I did not venture out of the house until that evening again.  Evan and Callie took me (with Sondra, of course) to the local Philly's Best sandwich shop in Ontario.  I do love Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches and it was a good choice.  Afterwards, we went over to Callie's house in Corona to show Evan (and Callie) the DVD that I just had made of our kids when they were young (Evan was 2 years old in the little home movie).

Friday came and went, and I was beginning to feel better.  The only thing I did that day was go to dinner with Shawn and Crystal and the grand-daughters to the nearby Outback restaurant.  They gave me cards and gifts that night.

On Saturday morning, I woke up from a good night's sleep, but by 9 am I was feeling just worn out with no energy.  I called a man I had met a couple of weeks earlier at the Evangelism Conference and asked him to come and preach Sunday (yesterday).  I did not know how I was going to feel, and I had not done as much as I usually do for sermon preparation during the week.

Sunday was eventful.  The man I had asked to come and preach has a nickname, "Hitchhiker."  His name is James McCollogh, a former Marine and retired government worker who felt a "calling" to be a hitchhiker for the Lord since 1978 when he was saved.  He has hitchhiked all across the U.S. many times to arrive at appointed destinations.  He has hitchhiked in Iraq, Haiti and many other foreign countries.  He loves the Lord and uses every opportunity to share the gospel with those who pick him up.

Well, here's why yesterday was so eventful.  He was hitchhiking to our church in Riverside from the east L.A. county area, about 30 miles away.  I called him at 9 am (our church starts at 10 am) to remind him that he was free to call me to pick him up when he was close.  Well, he called at 9:55 and said he needed a ride.  I told my assistant pastor and Praise & Worship leader to take over the service until I returned!  I picked up the "Hitchhiker" preacher, brought him to the church, arriving around 10:55 am (almost an hour into the worship time).  The assistant pastor was leading a Praise & Testimony Time ("happy dollar" praises in the offering plate), and I came up to the platform area.

After a brief introduction, "Hitchhiker" preached and we were blessed by his message and testimony.  In over 37 years of hitchhiking to churches and preaching engagements, he had NEVER had trouble getting to his assigned place.  He told me I was his first church that this happened to, so the Devil was working overtime to keep him from being with us!  I told him this was the first time I had EVER left a church service to go pick up the preacher!  We laughed after it was all over, but I sure didn't know what to think when I was on the freeway going back and forth during my worship hour!

All in all, it is a treasured memory for what God does in spite of our plans!  It ended up being a truly blessed day at church.

After lunch, we went home and relaxed.  At the end of the day, Sondra made me a German chocolate cake for my birthday (late) at my request.  It sounded good and I enjoy it so much.

She did it, we ate it, we got full!  A perfect end to a great day and a wonderful week (in spite of being sick).

Fun Watching Old Home Movies

When we cleaned out a storage unit some weeks ago, I came across my box of old home movies that I made with a Super 8mm camera (with sound) I had back in the early 1970s.  This was before VHS movie cameras, and way before digital cameras!

Anyway, I put 10 small reels in a packet at our local Costco store to be made into a DVD.  It is some footage that dates from 1979 to 1981.  It shows Crystal as a baby in the hospital, Evan's second birthday and Jason's fifth birthday, with a lot of other Christmas get-togethers and adventures at the park in between.  It was so much fun to watch and experience the memories in vivid movie detail.  We sat with Crystal and Shawn to watch together the other night.  We are trying to figure out a time to have Evan and Callie together to watch now.

I have a lot more reels to convert but it is a little expensive, so it will take some time for the other movies to be made into DVDs.

Evan and Jason got their picture in the latest How-Ni-Kan newsletter, our monthly tribal publication.  The Potawatomis held a regional meeting in Rancho Mirage (Palm Springs area) late last year and Evan went to pick up Jason to bring him here for a couple of days.  Shawn's college graduation was the same day as the Potawatomi event, so naturally we were at the graduation ceremony.

Jason just posted a photo they had made of the family, so here it is.

Crystal and Shawn just moved into their Fontana house several weeks ago.  It has more room, so Bailey and Brynnlee have their own bedrooms now.  They also got a new Toyota pickup truck (well, a used truck that is new to them).

I got a picture from Noel yesterday that showed Mom receiving a certificate from her pastor.  The certificate is in recognition of her 75 years of teaching Sunday School.  Mom just recently resigned from being lead teacher in her Sunday School class to where she will now be the substitute/assistant teacher for the class.  In yesterday's worship hour, the pastor made this presentation as part of his sermon, walking down to where Mom was sitting to present the certificate during his meesage!  Noel was there and got the picture.

Mom will turn 89 years old this August.  For those of you from Southern Baptist background who know the Sunday School class designations from the old days, Mom taught the Beginner and Primary classes back when she was a young teenager.  She was a youth teacher and adult teacher for many years.  In these later years, she has been teaching the Adult Women Senior class at her Tecumseh church.

We are so proud of her.  She was instrumental in the lives of so many people along these years, but especially to us as her children as she taught us in both word and action!

Last Saturday we held a Goodwill Drive to collect items for a fundraiser.  We had two semi-truck trailers that we attempted to fill with good discards from church members, friends and neighbors.  It was a full day of fellowship for a host of people who showed up to help, as well as some assistance for our financial needs as a church.

Yesterday, we were excited to have a Baby Dedication.  A lady who just recently began attending church is moving to Iowa this week, but she wanted her little 5-month old baby body dedicated before they moved.  It is always fun to share in a Baby Dedication during our worship hour.

I preached a sermon on "being a missionary without leaving town." I told the congregation I was a recruiter -- one recruiting missionaries from our midst. I reminded them that a missionary is "one who is on mission, one who has a task to accomplish." We are all called to be missionaries wherever we are, whenever the opportunity arise!
Last night, I had my Praise and Worship leader over to the house with his fiance.  We had a wonderful time of fellowship and prayer about the future.

Lastly, I have taken some time in the past month to do some recreational reading.  I love John Grisham books, so over Christmas I got three new books.  "The Litigators" is a great read.  The other two books are from his new Theodore Boone series, one that has a young teenager getting involved in legal situations as his parents are lawyers.  I read "Theodore Boone, Kid Lawyer" and "Theodore Boone, The Abduction."  It was entertaining to read these books.

Birthdays and Sundays

Evan and Crystal got together and planned a Saturday evening dinner for Sondra's birthday last night.  We went to a little steak place called the Cucamonga Brewing Co.  The location used to be the home of Omaha Jack's Steak House, but it's gone now.  Anyway, it was a fun time of all of us being together -- Evan and Callie, Shawn and Crystal and Bailey and Brynnlee!

After eating at the restaurant, we went over to Shawn and Crystal's house for birthday cake and the opening of gifts.  In addition to wathcing Sondra opening her birthday presents, Evan then showed some pictures from his trip to Hawaii, on the island of Maui.

Evan just returned from Hawaii this past Wednesday night (actually Thursday morning early by the time they drove back in from LAX).  Callie's family (dad and mom, grandmother and grandmother's sister, Callie's brother and wife, Callie's sister and friend) celebrated a week in Maui at a rented house on the beach.  Evan was invited to go as well.  It was Callie's dad's birthday that week.  Evan came back with a tan and good memories.  There are some more pictures from the week, but here are a couple of photos that Evan took with his cell phone camera.

Today was a great day at church.  We had three baptisms, all three being men with an addiction history now working at Coronado Stone and attending our church.   It was a time of spontaneous eruption of clapping, shouting and joy when the last of the three came up out of the baptismal waters!  I had a man who works at Coronado Stone (Michael Geiger) lead the Praise & Worship time, as I wanted to use all Coronado individuals in the worship hour.  Our guest speaker for the day was Pastor Michael Dotson, a man who came out of our church to start a new Vision Plus Church in Bakersfield.  Michael Dotson was previously a Coronado employee and part of the Sober Living Program there, who has now gone on to get his life on track serving the Lord.

This afternoon, I sat with two individuals (Gail Anderson and Jack Shelton) at lunch to talk about their upcoming wedding in our church on Sunday, March 25, immediately following the morning worship hour.  It will be a special day, indeed!

Sondra's Birthday

Much has happened since my last blog.

Yesterday was Sondra's birthday (February 22).  She worked until noon at her Intervention Teaching job here in the Rialto school district.  She enjoys the children and their responsiveness to her teaching.  We then drove down to Oceanside (30 miles north of San Diego).  Bill and Marti were there at a Wyndham timeshare apartment/condo, one overlooking the Pacific Ocean.  Kirk, Tamra and little Ezekiel were there for a few days as well.

We wanted to hear about Bill and Marti's trip to Tahiti and cruise to Hawaii, so that was fun to sit around and catch up on their journeys, as they had just flown in late this past Monday night.  And, of course, Ezekiel is such a cute baby who loves to smile.  Kirk and Tamra are wonderful parents.

Sondra talked them into coming to dinner with us.  She thought it would be special to have some "family time" as we ate and celebrated the evening of her birthday.  It was so enjoyable.  We went to Anthony's Seafood Grotto restaurant and got a table by the window so we could see all the boats and the sunset and then the shimmering lights off the water as it got dark outside.

This last week and a half has been fun.  In fact, last week I went through some old movie films I had taken with our old Super 8mm camera in the 1970s.  I found 10 small reels that were of Jason, Evan and Crystal in 1979 and 1980.  Jason was five, Evan three and Crystal about one year old.  I took those to Costco and am having them spliced together to make a DVD.  My 8mm films also had sound (new for that time, just before VHS movie cameras).  Anyway, we are excited to see them in about four weeks when they come back.  I have many more reels to go through, but not enough money to get them all made into DVDs yet.....ha ha.

Last week I bought some flowers for Sondra on Valentine's Day and we went to dinner that night.  We enjoy those special times.  That morning, I spoke at Coronado Stone's morning devotional time.

I had planned on attending the Disaster Relief Training for pastors last Thursday through Saturday, but it didn't work out.  I had an appointment at VA early Friday morning, and we went over to California Baptist University for homecoming Saturday.  A friend I have known for 46 years (Ron Bryant) was there, and we got together with him and his fiance Nicole.  We ended up going out to eat at the Yardhouse there in Riverside.  It was a wonderful time of conversation, being with a long-time friend!  Ron and Nicole are planning to get married on 02-14-2014 (Valentine's Day in 2014).  I have been asked to officiate, so I am looking forward to that.

On Sunday morning, I preached on evangelism and the joy of sharing our faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  On Monday morning, George Nelson and I drove over to Torrance (near Long Beach and Los Angeles) for a two-day Evangelism Conference.  It was an inspiring couple of days, listening to various preachers and pastors from around the nation.  Pastor Roy Flint, a volunteer staff member at our Vision Plus Church, drove over and joined us for both days also.  It was cute to see Kirk at the conference with his son, Ezekiel, in tow.

One of the special moments for me was spending some time with Pastor Abel Galvan.  Abel served with me as a Youth Director in 29 Palms, when he was still a student at Cal Baptist.  When I was called to pastor in San Diego, Abel came there also and worked with the youth.  When I left San Diego, Abel was called as Interim Pastor and followed God's call into the ministry full-time.  Abel "blames" me for his call to ministry, as I helped him grow and learn what it meant to follow in vocational ministry to the Lord's call.  His pastor from childhood, Ken Reed, was at this conference.  Pastor Reed baptized him as a 13-year old.  He got us together for a picture, as he wanted a photo of himself with the two men who had influenced him the most for the Kingdom's sake.  It was very humbling and a time of great joy.

Well, I must go as I have blood lab tests at the VA this morning.  Tomorrow, I see my primary doctor for my 6-month checkup.

It's Raining Today

Yes, it is raining hard today.  That may not sound like a big deal, but we are well below our annual rainfall total for the year.  I like the rain and its soothing patter on the house.  It is a little colder than usual also.

Last week, our church took a trip to Hollywood for the taping of "The Price Is Right" show at the CBS studios.  There were 14 of us that went.  It was an all-day affair, as we left the church parking lot about 9:30 am and got home around 11 pm.  We stood in line, we waited patiently to get in the queue for the show, we were interviewed as possible contestants, we enjoyed the show and stopped to eat at Chili's restaurant on the way home.  It was an awesome day of friendship and fellowship.  None of were chosen as contestants, but it was a great day to spend together.

Last Wednesday, I led a Bible study on Elijah from the book of 1st Kings.  It shows Elijah in a state of sadness and dejection and near depression.  Even people of God struggle with emotions and feelings and moods at times.  Elijah felt this even at a time of great victory over the prophets of Baal.  When Queen Jezebel called for his life, he felt somewhat hopeless.  He had excessive fear.  He felt overwhelmed by problems and tried to run and escape.  He was tired and weary.  He called for God to take his life, where some even feel he had suicidal thoughts.  He held feelings of total rejection.

God's call to Elijah brought healing to his spirit.  In 1st Kings 19, God called Elijah to:
     (1)  Rest.  Our bodies need physical rest.
     (2)  Nourishment.  Our bodies require proper nutrition.
     (3)  Worship.  We need personal and intimate time with God.
     (4)  Search within.  We must examine ourselves and say, "What is the real problem?"
     (5)  Trust God.  We must address the faith issue within and obey God's instructions.
     (6)  Repent.  We must turn from wrong thinking, allowing God to correct our thoughts.
     (7)  Be courageous.  We must fight the spiritual battles with boldness, convinced of God's victory!

On Sunday, my message was about "True Love," as we are approaching Valentine's Day and the topic of love.  When we cannot adequately define love or even describe love, we must demonstrate love.

Love is demonstrated...
     1.  ...through unwavering commitment.
     2.  ...through undying patience.
     3.  ...through unfailing sacrifice.

Today is a holiday of sorts (Lincoln's Birthday), where banks and schools and government agencies are closed.  So, Sondra does not work today.  She has been quite sick these last few days with a deep cold - congestion and cough.  We will just take it easy today and rest.

As I looked at the calendar this past week, I was reminded of an "anniversary" of sorts.  On February 8, 2009, I suffered a heart attack and then had triple-bypass heart surgery.  Wow, three years have gone by quickly.  I am doing well these days.

Busy With Life

Last week was full of trying to get things sorted out -- old photos, scrapbooks, pictures albums, writings and such.  It is a never-ending process.

Shawn and Crystal began the move from their house in Ontario to another house in Fontana over the weekend.  The Fontana house is a little bigger, as it has three bedrooms.  The trouble was, Shawn hurt his right elbow after a freak accident climbing down onto a ladder in the garage.  Wednesday evening, Crystal took him to ER for stitches (actually staples) to fix a bleeding wound from the fall.  They took X-rays and there were no broken bones.

However, Friday night Shawn was back at the hospital as some infection had set in.  They gave him antibiotics and he will be fine.  It just made it a little more painful as they rented a truck to move all day Saturday, with help from a few friends.  Sondra and I took care of Bailey and Brynnlee overnight Friday, so that Crystal and Shawn could finish packing and get everything set for the move on Saturday.

Since yesterday was Super Bowl Sunday, I preached on what it takes to be a fanatic, which is a person who shows excessive enthusiasm and undying devotion to a team.  I used this as a basis and framework for being a "fan," a fanatic, for Jesus.  The seven principles for being a fanatic are:

1.  Pick a team.  We choose to be on the Lord's side.  To not choose Jesus is to choose the opposition!
2.  Be verbal in your support at every opportunity.  Have a ready testimony.  Be not embarrassed to be a Christian!
3.  Attend and cheer.  Be at church to worship, study the Bible, have fellowship and praise God!
4.  Show support financially.  We give to those things in our life that have highest priority.  Let's give to the Lord!
5.  Get involved where needed.  Anywhere - church cleaning/repairs, lawn maintenance, nursery care, visitation!
6.  Be passionate.  You will find passion when the things of the Lord consume you!
7.  Stay loyal.  Be faithful every day, be faithful in  the face of opposition, be faithful to the end!