The Word was preached!

We visited the church where Bev's son, Tim, is the pastor. He has been gone the last two weeks so we were especially anxious to hear him. He preached from Psalm 37 about the justice of God. We were challenged to consider how we respond to the situiations of injustice around us and pointed us to Jesus' example in giving up His life for us when He was unjustly accused.

It was a great sermon and it was a special treat to sit in church and hear the Word of God preached clearly.

And it was great to know it was my stepson I was listening to...makes a stepfather proud!

the beach

I can't afford to live at the beach: I have checked prices in every beach town along the California coast and even a bungalo is out of my reach! But I can enjoy the beach...and that I have done as we have spent about eight weeks of our sabbatical located within a short driving distance from the ocean.

We have visited Pismo Beach, Avila Beach, Montana de Oro Beach, Shell Beach, Los Osos Flacos Beach (bet you never heard of that one), Grover Beach, Oceano Beach, Morro Bay and Guadalupe Beach whle here on the Central Coast. What they have in common is the Pacific Ocean and there is something about its beauty, sound and fury that draw me to it.

This morning we walked along a Coastal Walk with the Pacific Ocean on the bluffs below us and fibe million dollar homes above us in the Shell Beach area. It was a bit foggy and overcast with the sun peaking through the last part of our walk. It was exhilarating! As beautiful as the mansions on one side were, God's creative genius as reflected in the ocean views easily surpassed them.

We will be back in Sutter Creek in about two weeks; the beach will be miles away but the memories of our weeks here will remain for a long time.

grandchildren

Tim and Chad, Bev's two sons, have seven children between them and Chad and Julie are expecting their fourth in February. Jeff, my son, has one child and Jennifer, my daughter, has two children, so there are ten grandchildren...or 10.5 right now.

One of the bonuses of our sabbatical in the Nipom area is spending time with the seven grandchildren we have nearby. Sage, Eden, Seke, Haaken, Kyle, Julianne and Nate--these are the kids we are enjoying when we are able to make connection these five weeks. We had three over to swim, babysat for four last week for two days, and then had six over to swim on Saturday. We are discovering that we are older now, and that being grandparents is, gratefully, different than being parents. Our grandkids are delightful--well-behaved and very loving--but they are filled with bottomless energy and ravenous appetites so keeping them busy and fed is a fulltime challenge...but worth every minute of it.

I am missing my grandchildren in Texas, but enjoying our grandchidlren here. We are thankful for this additional benefit of our sabbatical.

nipomo

A recent quesiton on Jeopardy revealed that Nipomo, California has the best micro-climate in the United States. That is where we are for these last five weeks! The picture above shows an area just a few miles west of Nipomo, the end of a 1.5 mile hike that brings you through beautiful terrain to the ocean.

The weather has been foggy but this evening it was beautiful. We enjoyed being in Bev's son's church in San Luis Obispo (Grace Church) but it made us homesick for Grace Fellowship. It is healthy for me to sit back and to listen to someone else share the Word and to be challenged in my personal spiritual life. I have been studying Philippians and am enjoying the things God is showing me that I hope to share with ym church family on my return.

final phase

 

Final Phase

We are home for a few days after a terrific time at Santa Cruz and Felton. We enjoyed the ocean, cool weather and several visits from friends. We worhipped three or four times at Mt. Hermon Conference grounds, situated just a few miles from us.

We leave Wednesday for Nipomo and will be near Bev's family for the next five weeks (they live in San Luis Obispo, about twenty minutes away). Many of you have e-mailed, written--asking if I am writing. I have done most of my preparation work and will begin the task of writing, hopefully, in this next phase, although I have no lofty goals for completion. Thanks for all the notes of interest and support.


One thing we know for certain--we miss our church family. We look forward to the day we will be worshipping together with you and serving with you again...soon!

checking in

We are at Mt. Herman tonight checking our mail and listening in on a service. What a neat resource for us, just five minutes from our camping spot.

We enjoyed Santa Cruz Bible Church for the second Sunday and were impressed with the clarity of the presentation of the truth of God's Word--a welcome voice here in Santa Cruz County.

Beverly and I are enjoying our alone time together and with God. We are asking God to reveal Himself to us in a way that will rejuvenate our spirit and hearts for ministry...it is working! We are already anxious for September and our return to our church family.

In the meantime, we are thankful for our faithful staff and church family. God is working at Grace Fellowship and we sensed His presence when we sneaked in last Sunday. The Word of God was preached well, and we felt challenged and encouraged by the Word we heard.

Out of sight...but not out of mind...

We paused from our sabbatical for a moment to join a young couple in holy matrimony yesterday. And what a holy day it was!

This young man and young woman are special to me. The young lady has overcome some horrible obstacles in her life and is now emerging as the woman God intended for her to be. Her husband of one day--with an equally challenging past--is growing up as well, and working regularly at learning a new trade and assuming responsibility for the family to which he has committed himself.

There was a tearful moment for all of us when I paused during the ceremony to say a personal word about my special friends--and it was bathed in the awareness of the miracle that God alone can perform in redeeming our lives.

This couple I suggest, is all of us, emerging from our pasts of failure and immaturity, and grabbing hold of the hope we have in Christ that truly tranforms us.

This was a meaningful pause to celebrate the joy of serving Jesus!

a break from sabbatical...

We are home for a few days, gearing up for a camping trip to Lake Tahoe...except a ravaging fire has brought huge damage and loss to that area, and as I am writing, the fire is still not contained. Sadly, we will not be going to Camp Richardson at Tahoe as planned.

We just returned from a wedding at which I officiated in Southern California, a cruise to the Mexican Riviera (courtesy of Bev's mother) and a week in Palm Springs. All of these were good experiences and we capped it all off with a day with some of the grandchildren in San Luis Obispo and a night at Carmel.

We are three weeks into our thirteen week sabbatical, with lots of fun and exciting things yet to comne. But it is good to be home in our own beds. I sneaked over to my office last night to check my mail and to gaze whimsically at our church facilitiesw. Having not preached the last two weeks I was literally homesick for the pulpit (only a preacher would understand that!)

And we don't have a pulpit...but you get the idea.

So it's off with the trailer for three weeks at Smithwoods RV Park in Felton; a true adventure awaits us since we had never heard of it until we went on line today!

In the meantime, we are grateful for this time God has provided and we are enjoying this mini-break from sabbatical as we get ready for the beautiful outdoors and the nearby Pacific Ocean.

We'll be in touch!

baptism

Sunday following our morning worship service we went outside to baptize three young people. We don't have a baptismal in our sanctuary--hopefully, we will add a portable one to our "wish list"--but we have a large metal container that we have fashioned into a baptismal tank.

Our candidates for baptism included a young teenage girl, a younger teenage boy and a young lady who recently came to Christ. It was meaningful for me to baptize these three young believers who seem serious about their ongoing relationship with Christ and followed in this step of obedience.

The setting was unusual--underneath an outdoor covered extension of our new facilities, surrounded by picnic tables and a congregation anticipating the potluck to follow. About 300-400 were shoulder-to-shoulder trying to get a glimpse of the baptism, some visiting, but others with their eyes and hearts trained on the moment. Baptism is a special moment. It is a moment of celebration for those who have come to know Christ and are making public testimony of that commitment.

Every member of the body of Christ rejoices...and on a day when people joined our church, leadership was prayed for and a picnic fellowship was enjoyed by everyone, the greatest moment of the day for me was the celebration of three young believers moving ahead in their spiritual life as we baptized them.

That, indeed, should be the focus of the church.

sabbatical is here!

A funeral today, a weddng tomorrow, worship on Sunday...and, then, sabbatical!

Today we had a beatiful memorials ervice for Claire, our senior pastor's wife and tomorrow I wil perform a wedding for a recent convert from our church. Although these are very diverse events, the joy about both is that these are Christian--one older, one younger--who are a testimony to Christ because of their love and obedience.

Claire served the Lord for over sixty years; Mark has been a Chistian for a few short years. Claire gave her life in service to the Lord and Mark is beginning to do the same. Both inspire me to be a faithful minister.

As I leave for sabbatical--thirteen weeks worth--I leave with a desire to come back refreshed and renewed for continued ministry for the Lord. People like Claire and Mark make me want to keep going!

NOTE: I will be making entries on my blog page throughout the summer; if you are reading check in with me and let me know!

family first

We just concluded a four week series about the family at Grace. I entitled the series, "The Family...According to the Bible" and challenged our church families to commit to the principles of God's Word as they define husband-wife relationships and parent-child responsibilities. Because so many of those principles are counter-cultural, and dismissed as "archaic" and "old-fashioned", it was encouraging to see our young families verbally respond to the counsel of the Word.

We have been evaluating the overall ministry of our local church and asking, "What are we doing to build strong families?" That question seems especially relevant when there are aggressive steps to redefine the family, to substitute alternative forms of family, and, generally, to relegate the family to secondary status in terms of importance and viability.

What is tragic is that the rate of divorce is as high within the church community as it is outside of it. Incidences of immorality and moral failure are not foreign to the body of Christ. This should not be so if we are affirming in word and deed the clear teaching of God's Word about commitment, unconditional love, sacrificial service and purity.

I believe in "family first", even though I sometimes skewed the lines between work and home priorities as a younger pastor, husband and father. As I grew older, and gained some perspective about what really mattered, God changed my focus. Still today I battle the workaholic nature within me that would pull me away from my wife and my home. It is a daily discipline to determine what comes first.

Are you winning the battle of priorities? Have you embraced the fact that your family is your immediate sphere of influence and responsibility? I have often though how tragic it would be to "win the world" and lose my family.

With six children grown and ten grandchildren growing, I want to be sure that I herald the scriptural importance of preserving and protecting our families..."familiy first"!

CLAIRE

At 8:15 a.m. this morning Claire Willoughby was ushered into heaven and I am guessing all the angels smiled when she arrived. Claire always made people smile when they were in her presence.

Pastor Ward and Claire came to Grace aout nine years ago, following over fifty years of ministry Ward had shared as a pastor in various locations within the Assembly of God denomination. Both had been widowed and renewed a friendship that led to their marriage almost ten years ago. I had the privilge of performing their wedding ceremony and all of us were convinced this was "a marriage made in heaven".

Watd has been on staff and Claire has been an invaluable asset to him. Caring for our senior citizens has been their primary responsibility and Claire's smiles and sweet cards punctuated the ministry of love and wisdom Ward extended to our church family.

Claire's life in recent years had been marked by a struggle with pain, particularly in her back. She also had open heart surgery and ongoing battles with a weakened heart condition and recently was diagnosed with a lung disease which contributed to her rapid deterioration physically.

Still, there was never a time that I visited with Claire that she failed to make me smile. My last visit with her, about six days ago, she was in and out of a state of awareness. I held her face in my hands to get her attention to tell her I loved her and I was leaving and would be back. She awakened, opened her eyes, and smiled at me as she said "You better!"

It seems trite to say "We will miss her", but these words take on an aura of truth and meaning for those of us who knew her well. Her smile that lifted our spirits will no longer grace the corridors of our church, or the fellowship opportunities where she always sparkled.

We are sad for us...but glad for her. And we are confident that she has plenty to smile about now with a refurbished back and a new heart and clear lungs. What certainly remains the same is her infectious smile.

two weeks and counting...

The promise of a sabbatical break draws closer; in fact, two weeks from today we will be en route to a wedding I will be performing in Southern California. Three days after that we will be on a cruise ship to the Mexican Riviera!

We are in the middle of several crises in church families--one of our staff member's wife is dying, one of our young men just had major brain surgery, and there are a number of other significant challenges in process.

Not exactly the right time to take a sabbatical...

Except I know that this is what every week in the ministry looks like...and I am not indispensable.

I am reminded these days of the wonderful group of devoted people with whom I serve at Grace Fellowship Church and how privileged I am to receive this generous gift of time away.

As a result, in the midst of crisis, I can say with a smile...I am glad God doesn't take a sabbatical!

My mom

Sunday was Mother's Day, and following our morning services, we drove about fifty miles to a setting with a beautiful back yard in the middle of a peaceful country setting. I jumped into the icy cold pool, assisted my twin brother in barbecuing an assortment of meats, and sat down to a potluck dinner prepared by our family--mom, sister, brother and sister-ib-law, nephew and niece (and her five year old) and my sweet wife.

Mom, of course, was the guest of honor. She read the note Bev and I wrote on a special card and cried, and the made a big deal out of some fine candy and a potted plant for her home. She received a bundle of cards and, deservedly so, was the center of my attention.

I watched her as she watched us--her family--visit together, laugh with one another, play Catch Phrase, and enjoy each other's company (as we always do) even though our sister, Joy was missing with her family in Arkansas. I sensed she was proud, as she surveyed the "fruit of her labors". My brother and I are ministers, our sister, Diane (shown above in the picture with mom), is a Christian school teacher, and Joy is married to a minister. No wonder, she--a minister's wife for over forty years--smiles.

My mother will eighty-three in July and I am expecting to spend lots more Mother's Days with her. But this last week I was glad for this year's edition--a special time of celebrating our terrific mom!

Divine appointment

In the early days of my return pastoring in Amador County I ran a painting business on the side, to supplement my earnings. I ultimately handed off the painting to a recovering alcoholic who worked hard for several years. However, the complete ruination of a large painting job as a result of his return to drinking resulted in my momentary brush with a total breakdown. I was scheduled to speak at Silver Lake Chapel, a rustic retreat in the mountains in a chapel overlooking a scenic lake, and I decided I needed to cancel. I was too emotionally-drained, I felt, to even preach.

But, thankfully (providentially), my wife persuaded me that the trip away for two days would be just what I needed...and she made me promise to shut down my painting business.

It was a typically beautiful summer weekend and the little chapel's setting, idyllic in every way, brought me much-needed rest and rejuvenation. The little chapel was packed, with campers seated out to the porch area in front. I am uncertain what I shared but after the service a man, a little older than me, obviously moved by the service, , approached me to tell me he had not been in church since the death of his mother as a teenager. He asked me where our church was located and said he would come and visit me sometime.

Well, that promise resulted in five families driving 45 minutes every Sunday to our services in Amador County. Two of those families have become a vital part of Grace Fellowship even to this day.

Yesterday I ate lunch with the man who approached me after that Silver Lake service. We have become good friends and he is moving out of the area to a retirement setting--out of driving distance. I felt sadness as we shared together and reminisced about the circumstances that brought us together. But I felt joy at the strengthening of his faith.

Just across the restaurant from us was a familiar face, though marked with signs of dissipation and ruin. It was the man I had hired to paint years ago who informed me he was on his way to serve nine months in the county jail for a variety of offenses. He thanked me for how I had helped him in the past. I hugged him and told him I would be praying for him...and I will undoubtedly visit him in jail.

Coincidences...or divine appointments> I know what my choice would be!

And by the way, I have never hired out for painting since I made that promise to my wife!

Velma Church

I am a twin so I have a natural affinity for twins. Velma, and her twin sister, Thelma, are two special ladies in their mid-eighties. They attend Grace Fellowship Church when they can and my hsitory with them goes back over thirty years.

When I moved to Pine Grove in 1976 Velma, and her husband, Henry, had been pastoring the church I cam to lead as they retired. The house our family moved in to, was owned ny Thelma. I recently participated in Henry and Velma's 60th wedding anniversary and just a year ago Henry went to be with the Lord and I had the honor of participating in his memoiral service.

I recently had visited with Velma in church and more recently at the funeral for a mutual friend. She and Thelma were inseparable and they would always greet me with contagious smiles and the spirit of gentleness that was characteristic of them both.

On Sunday morning I was greeted with the mews that Velma had died in her sleep and gone to be with the Lord. it was a busyt Sunday--our Dedication--but my thoughts immediately turned to sadness, even though just for a moment. I called Thelma and she shared with me some of the details of Velma's death but then our conversation turned to the affirmation of her certain reunion with Jesus in heaven.

People like Velma are irreplacable. Velma's smile was unforgettable. Although Iw ill miss her funeral due to a family wedding in nashville, my thoughts will be of Velma and the indelible imprint she made upon my life. Welcome home to your reward in heaven, Velma, faithful servant of God.

I know she's smiling!

dedication

It hardly seems possible that after thirty months of construction, and six months in our new facilities...we are finally having a dedication service (the one planned for October, 2006).

Sunday, April 22nd at 10:00 a.m. we will gather for a special worship service and at 3:00 p.m. the community will join us in a service of dedication. Why bother?

It is important for me that we affirm to our congregation that this dedication is not about a building; it is about the ministry we envisioned that prompted our construction.

It ie equally significant that we have an opportunity to say to our community, "This building is for you. Come, and bring your families and worship Christ with us. Come and meet Christ here!"

It truly is NOT about the building, and, yes, you can meet Christ anywhere.

But He will be here, too.

So will we, seeking to do the ministry to which He has called here...and there.

Home at last!

Eighteen months ago Valerie was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer. Since then she has battled ferociously the ravages of cancer and a short-circuited life that threatened to take her prematurely from her husband, three small boys and extended family.

She died this evening at 9:30 p.m.

This morning I read her blog, updated almost daily by a family member or friend--most often her father--chronicling her journey. As I read today I sensed it might be the day God called her home and so I chose to read from her father's recent comments in my sermon today.He referred to II Corinthians 4:18, "...so we fix our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal." I spoke from John 20:19-31 and Thomas' battle with doubt but his confession of faith upon confronting the risen Christ, "My Lord and my God!"

I have personally grieved Valerie's difficult journey. She is my wife's daughter-in-law's sister, and she lived with her for a period of time twelve years ago. I met her several times--just short vignettes--but observed someone beautiful and vibrant with life. I have two daughters of my own and I have experienced deep empathy with Valerie's father as he openly shared his emotions on the blog site that posted information about Valerie's journey.

He wrote tonight about the certainty that she was at home with the Lord.

Home at last! What a glorious comfort!

Please pray for this family this week. They will be grieving the loss of a daughter, a mother, and a wife, and for many others, a special friend.