New Babe in Christ . . . . Old Friend passing away

Ministry is a lot like a rodeo. The bull comes out of the gate and you do not know which way its going to jump twist or turn. My good friend Kirk Lindsey is in his final hours of life as we write this. He has lived a full life, but is still quite young by many standards,but cancer has defeated yet another strong person. He and his family have bravely fought the fight, now it it a time to celebrate and remember the blessings he passed out along the way. More on Kirk in a later post.
Last night I had the blessing of baptising Barbara E. what a blessing she will be to our congregation. I was blessed talking with her and discussing her life and teaching her about her new life in Christ.

Rejoice! and again I say rejoice!

Buddy

Texas Fuenral

Just beginning to get over a three day jaunt to TX. A friend from high school mother passed away and she asked me to fly in and do the funeral. It was great to be allowed to work with the family for a few days and reaquaint with Karole Kieth. Krole was a part of our infamous championship swim team at Brazoswood High School in the 1970's. Karole did a great job of honoring her mother with the service we were a part of. My hope is that Jesus was seen in the midst of the grief.

Wildfires in Santa Barbara.

Pray for the folks in SB. There are many lives turning upside down as we speak. DRT is working on a response as we speak.

Swine Flu Post # 2

So far the swine flu is creating a large buzz but not having a lot of bite. It appears according to many sources that it is a mild viral diease. We will wait and see. Our local popualtion is about 40% hispanic many of which travel to from Mexico frequently. We will have to wait and see what happens as the virus hits the general population as to what kinda of emergency develops and what kind of response is needed. Pray for God to mitigate this outbreak and let it not be much of a problem.

The threat level for the swine flu phenom seems to be ratcheting up. We will stay updated and take action as necessary. Our role is cooking for medical staff.

Spirituality . . .

I went on a chaplain call for a local agency this week. Taking calls is not all that unusual, however each one has their own unique signature. This one included a lot of spiritual people. Not the kind of spirituality that I am used to, mind you but spiritual none the less. A middleaged woman had succumb to heart issues and we were waiting for the coroner to come and do their work at the scene. Many of the indviduals on scene were from a 12 step program which emphasizes the spiritual nature of healing that you need to over come addictions. Expression of grief is always unique in every group of people you come upon. We had native american spiritualits, spiritual coaches and all kind of other spirtualists mixed in. I felt surrounded by the non-Christian spirits of all kinds. There was one Christian in the mix of people and him and I took time out to prau that God would create peace in that chaotic environment and that God would let His presence be felt.

For Such A Time As This . . .

Today it was my turn to preach. It is always a blessing to spend several days reading and contemplating the message of scripture. The message today came from The book of Esther. Esther's uncle tells her to take advantage of the moment because God has placed her in the right place at the right time to do the right thing. Esther steps up and does the the right thing and saves her people(God's people) from certain destruction. This scripture speaks to us in the middle of one of the worst finacial crises that has come along in years. It is our time to stand up, it is our time to speak up and proclaim Jesus as our savior. This week rejoice that you belong to Christ. If you do not know the Christ story contact me in the comments section and we can discuss what it means to have Christ in your life.

God is in control . . .

It has been a wild week. Most of the things that I have watched God do this week I can only keep within. I have seen God working in lives of people who were in despair about their life situation last week and now hope is in their lives. I have witnessed lives turned upside down this week because their workplace has cut their job. Several of these folks are still waiting to see what God is going to do for them in the future. I can only tell them that God cares and that he knows the pain they are in.
I get to preach this week. Mike is in Tacoma,WA. Sermon Title: For such a time as this! Esther steps up to the plate for her people and saves many lives from the destruction of Haman. How many of us need to step up to the plate and take a swing, to saves some souls? I pray to speak Gods word this week. Pray for me.

Veggietales . . .

The latest Veggietales movie has been released and we will have a viewing of this new movie tomorrow at the building. Free popcorn, free drinks all are invited, no admission. Abe and the Promise 4pm - 6 pm.

D Street Feeding

One of our small groups did the nightly dinner at the "D" street mission tonite. I was not able to attend, Because DR V. placed me on the sidelines with pneumonia. This outreach event is an eye opener to say the least. 120 men and women whose only Hot Meal on this winter day is here at the Salvation Army run, City of Modesto facility. People of all shapes,sizes, ethnicity and many types of cultural backgrounds. This shelter differs from the Mission in that it is less restricted on who can stay or not stay. If you are among the first 100 men and 20 woman you have a meal and a place to stay. No time limit and not to many personal question. Meals at this facility are all brought in by a different Faith Based Group every night of the week while the facility is open amd all the meals are free. Tonight the food was Chilli, Cornbread, Salad and Lemonade. One of the volunteers commented, 2000 years ago the masses were feed by Jesus with loaves and fish, tonight Jesus used chilli and cornbred. I wish I could have been there to see the Chilli and Cornbred stretch to fit the hungry stomachs on hand. I wish I could have seen Jesus meet their needs, while our Christian Soldiers were His hands. Next Year we will reach out and feed at this shelter again.

Outreach Update . . .

We have just finished another succesful week ministering to the homeless. The two families were ministered to by seven different families as obvernight hosts and by dozens of folks during supper and the evening each night. Both families are about to secure housing and move on with life. The young man in the program had several great questions concerning God. Planting seeds and working the garden are what God expects from us and that is what this program is all about.

My friend Jacob from a local store is still struggling with life issues. Please pray for Satan to release him from the bondage and hold he has on him.

Family Promise: February 2009 Day 1

The folks we have in Family Promise are among some of the nicest people we have ever had in the program. Last night we had 5 in the program, tonight we will have 7. Our over night hossts cooked breakafast this morning and it was delicious. Thanks to Susan and Michael Brown for the food. Lee and Sheila Walls provided some incredible Chilli Mac for the Sunday evening meal, great food, great fellowship.

Krista, my wife, invited a homeless man named Ryan and his friend Mark to breakfast and to come in out of the rain at the church building. They filled up on pancakes and sausage, and put away alot of hot coffee. Each of them normally stay at the "D" street shelter but the lines were long at the shelter last night and they stayed outside. We were able to give them some new socks and a pair of new shoes to make life a little easier for them.

What a great start to week of serving . . .

Family Promise is coming this weekend

Family Promise is coming to our building in just a few days. We will be hosting approximately 3 families and as many as 10 individuals ffrom Sunday to Sunday. What a great way to be Jesus to the community. People without jobs and homes, coming to our building to find the things that they are in need of. It is always exciting to see what god has in store for us during that fast moving week.

Comedy Night with Bob Smiley was a great success. . .

Great! Fantastic! Amazing!

Bob Smiley is one of the most gifted performers that I have ever seen. He had all the audience captivated for over one hour with his off the wall humor. His Christian message was easily understood by people of all ages. We had 609 in attendance which is the largest crowd at the building since I have been in Modesto. God brought people of all flavors and stripes to hear the message of Jesus.

Our members are to be applauded for their effort to invite people to this event. Over 200 nonmember/ non-christian visitors.

Christian Comedy Night . . . Saturday Night 7:00 pm.

Bob Smiley is coming to town tomorrow night. We are gearing up for a packed house. He is hilarious and family oriented. He performs throughout the United States and maintains a very busy schedule. Tickets are available at the church office and will be available at the door. To see his humor style you can go to Bob Smiley.com

Apartment Fire 2200 Coffee RD. . .

The Red Cross was called to the scene of an apartment complex fire last Thursday morning that involved 16 units. In matter of minutes 40 individauls were displaced from their residences. I was called to the scene to help those who were unsettled with the events of the day. Emotions were high to say the least. Many of the residents had lived in the complex for more than a decade, many had their earthly treasures inside their apartments. All of the residents were told on Friday that the buidling was beyond repair and even though half of the apartments were untouched by the fire.

3 of the individuals have no family in town and no means to move to other apartments, physically by themselves. All three disabled in their own unique way. The property management company and the City of Modesto required them to have their belongings moved by Tuesday, morning Feb.3.

The Red Cross asked if our congregation could help with the moves. Aaron Scott and the youth group volunteered to help these people move. 20 of our teens and their parents packed boxes and moved them. Tears of joy flowed from one of the residents eyes as the last box was placed in his apartment. Aaron commented that it was amazing to see Jesus working at the apartment complex.

I was amazed at he power of the Gospel displayed by our youth. The apartments were dark and smelly from the smoke of the fire, the folks we were serving were frazzled by their life situation, yet they served with smiles on their faces.

Hot Dogs In Panama . . . A message from Wayne Smith

Well tonight we had a party for all who wanted to come. Sheila had Jack & I cook hot dogs. Little did we know that in Panama hot dogs not only come in a sealed 10 pack as they do in the US but they also are individually wrapped in plastic so thin you can’t see it. Well they cook up ok but don’t taste to good. And you know you have to let your guests go first. (cuz after all it may not taste good). Well we removed what we could and then cooked up a bunch of new ones.

See ya later

Wayne

Panama Video from Sunday Morning's Worship

More Pics from Kaiser/MLK Day -- Habitat Build

A few more pics of the great work that happened locally earlier this week. Thanks to Susan Brown for these photos.

A Message From Sheila Smith . . .

My Life in Panama

Our adventure in Panama began the first night with an unplanned tour of Panama. Apparantely, Walter had never been to one of the host homes and after driving for what seemed like days and three phone calls to the host family we arrived at our first drop off point. Walter, Wayne & I then proceeded to our host family but first made a much needed food run at 12:30am for Wayne & Walter. The trip continued with Walter driving down a one way street, into oncoming traffic all the while thinking the other fellow was on the wrong side as Wayne and I protested, "Walter, this is a one way street and you're on the wrong side." I thought I was going home to Jesus and I had not even seen Panama yet.

The work here is amazing...bible studies, English lessons, construction, cooking, eating, laughing. Rut is my driver and personal shopper and each day we do our grocery shopping...Rut can stretch a dollar a mile. Gertrue, having recovered from a very bad couple of days is a great asset for me in the my kitchen...yes, it's my kitchen...it's off limits to Dolores. My new friend is the large electric skillet that Mike found for me. We have had fried potatoes and fried spaghetti. Ernie is working a tight ship with the work crew. A few nights ago, after Wayne sat down with a plate of food, Ernie let the crew know the work was not done for the evening...it's so pathetic to see my husband walk away from a plate of food...he's wasting away to nothing. Lynn has been a hoot. He is a work mule like Ernie and Wayne and loves to slop wet cement on anyone within a 10 foot radious.

And right now, as I type this message, I hold a beautiful 2 month sleeping baby...is God good or what!? I praise Him for this opportunity, for the beauty of this country, for the cooler than normal weather, for the people so kind you feel like you've known them forever and for this team of family and my DP family back home.