Postcard Day

Well, our big push for getting out our invitations for our Easter Service will be tomorrow morning. A group will be meeting at the church at 9 AM for Donuts & Coffee & Prayer. Then we'll be placing our postcards on doors all over this area. If you'd like to join us, you are more than welcome!!

It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

Sometimes it seems that this world is becoming more angry by the minute. For an example of that -just spend a few minutes driving the freeways. A lot of angry drivers out there. This week I took a walk and heard a couple yelling at each other in the street. I offered up a little prayer for them. I've been on the receiving end of a look of hatred and it's incredibly painful.
I'm so glad to know that we have a heavenly Father who loves us. He desires to heal those broken places in our heart. Hopefully we can be channels of healing rather than passing that pain off on someone else. This is from The Way Of The Wild Heart by John Eldredge...
"The Father's healing comes to us in many ways - sometimes quite immediately, through healing prayer, other times over the course of many months as he speaks to our hearts, brings us gifts, opens our awareness of our heart and reawakens memories. Our part is to remain open to the fact that there is often a boy inside that needs a Father's love, to cultivate an awareness of the yearning in our hearts to be prized, and watch for the ways our Father is bringing his love to the young places in our hearts."
You are His beloved child.

Can You Hear Me Now?

Well, I finally did it. I got a cell phone. I've been resisting it for years but saw my need for it when I got a flat in the middle of nowhere on a dark and stormy night and my jack wouldn't work. It was quite a hike to find a payphone -for which I had no change -and which was pretty gross.
So, this is quite an adjustment. Saturday I was walking down the street and suddenly my pocket started ringing. It had never done that before. It had quite a funky little tune going and I was hoping that people wouldn't notice the confused look on my face as I was trying to open the wrong end of the phone.
It is my sincere hope that I won't turn into one of those people who answers it in the coffee shop and proceeds to carry on a conversation at bull-horn volume. It reminds me of when our Great Aunt Lucille would call. You'd always know when it was her because Mom would suddenly be yelling sweet greetings at the top of her voice to compensate for her aunt's hearing loss. When the call ended, Mom would stay at the same volume for a few sentences. It felt a bit like being in a wind tunnel. I believe she inspired the "Can you hear me now?" ad campaign.
I think I'll just use the cell for emergencies. So I'm only giving the number out to family and Pizza Hut Delivery.

Now Appearing On Seal Beach Blvd.

Much thanks to Clarence Fuqua and Ben Berg who risked their lives to hang our banner. :) (They were pretty high on those ladders. I'm just glad they didn't take flight.) Also, much thanks to Pastor Sheri for getting the banner created and delivered. We're really hoping it will catch some attention as people drive by on Seal Beach Blvd. And we're also hoping they'll read it while staying in their own lanes.

Sowing Seeds In Seal Beach

A while back there was a silly radio commercial that was promoting a gas station by announcing that they had new nozzles. Then you'd hear kids yelling, "New nozzles! New nozzles!" They sounded about as excited as if they'd just pulled the car into Disneyland.

Well, we had a similar moment in the office today. Except we were shouting, "The postcards are here! The postcards are here!" We've just received the 10,000 postcards that we'll be handing out to promote our Easter services. That may sound like a lot but the percentage of return on those is about 1%. Regardless of that statistic, we're still called to put the invitation out there. And we'll be giving every one of them with a prayer. We'll be doing this over the next 2 weeks -but we'll be going out as a group at 9AM on Saturday, March 31st. We'll meet at the church and then go from there. We welcome anyone who could help us -for any amount of time!

Pre-Ministerial Class

Last year we had the Pre-Ministerial Class -which was attended by people who had an interest in going into the ministry. It was incredible. It was filled with so many vital things- from knowing the call of God on your life -to ministerial vision -to public speaking...and so much more. Bible Colleges tend to forget to cover some of the most basic and practical things needed for ministry. The class was so well received, we are now expanding it into the School Of Ministry. The first session for this will be April 21st...and will continue into May and June. We'll also have one later in the year. It's so cool to see people with a passion for God's work!

In The Works

We need musicians for the 8:30 am contemporary service that is presently under construction. I'm especially looking for guitarists, bass players and drummers. If you know of someone who might be able to join us in this capacity and is willing to navigate a variety of music styles, please e-mail me at fcasealbeach@yahoo.com.
For this Sunday's 10:30 am service, my message is titled, "Have You Lost Your Mind?" The subtitle is "Taking Every Thought Captive". It's amazing how many scriptures there are that deal with the mind. Paul covers this in a transparent and refreshing way in Romans 7. Rather than being a prisoner to your thoughts, why not take them captive? Join us!

Be Like A Tree

Talk about larger than life, these

trees are the Mariposas, located near

Yosemite. I'd hoped to take one home but it wouldn't fit in my car.

One you could actually drive a car thru. I guess it's a drive-thru for squirrels. And another just seemed to reach for the sky. These are the largest and oldest living things in the world....and they're reaching for their Maker.

On A Screen Bigger Than IMAX

Last night Pastor Dad had an awesome study on Acts 21. At one point he said, "Sometimes life seems to hand us more than we can handle - but God is writing a story."
That just excites me. It reminds me that we're really getting caught up in a much bigger story than we all realize. It's an adventure story that will keep us riveted 'till the end. It thrills me that He didn't write the Bible like a text book. Often I think people try to turn it into one and they just shouldn't. It is living and active and will see us through to the incredible ending that will be witnessed by...everyone!
Rev. 7: 9-12 After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb." All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying: "Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!"

The Big Dipper

Psalm 19: 10 (The Message)
"God's Word is better than a diamond, better than a diamond set between emeralds. You'll like it better than strawberries in spring, better than red, ripe strawberries."
This makes me want to dip my Bible in chocolate. I won't do it though. When I was in high school, I worked at Dairy Queen and lost many vanilla cones to dipping. Turns out I was making them too big and they'd just fall right into the chocolate. Everyone seemed to be entertained by that -except for my boss. He just didn't find it all that funny.
I suppose that's why that career just didn't pan out. But I'm so glad to be serving God's Word now. Our Boss is quite happy when we give out generous portions of it.

Ripped Off

It got dark outside. I thought with the time change it was going to be light all the time now. I want my hour back.

Are You Pooped?

When it comes to ministry, there is the potential to think that you need to work 24/7. For some that might mean 24 hours a week for 7 months a year. For others it means non-stop. I was beginning to feel a bit overwhelmed with all that we're doing and still needing to do when Matthew 11:28-30 just kind of drifted into my mind. Check out how the Message translates it:
"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."
It's amazing that Jesus never seemed to be in a rush during his 3-year ministry span. He didn't have to run here and there trying to solve every problem in the world. (He did take a short cut by walking across the lake once rather than around it.) Everything He did was deliberate. Even when it came to waiting until His friend Lazarus died before going to see him. How wonderful it is to see His restfulness in simple obedience to His Father. He was called to nothing more or less than that -and so are we.

And We're Back

We're back from the Pastor's Retreat! It was really cool and I hope to post a pic when I get them developed. I think I still have 9 pictures left on my fancy disposable camera. Maybe I'll just take a bunch of pictures of the Target where I get my film developed.
It was wonderful to connect with old and new friends in the CEA. And it was a refreshing time for our pastoral staff just to be together. We really feel like family.
Today we went to Gary's father's funeral. It was a beautiful service and I'm going to miss him and his sense of humor. When we'd visit Colonial Tabernacle as I was growing up, I'd always see him sitting with my grandfather in the usher's chairs at the back. Sometimes they would sneak over to my grandfather's house after taking the offering to have a piece of carrot cake. We will miss you, Dad Garry.

Out Of Town

Well, the pastoral staff is all off to San Francisco this week for a Pastor's Retreat with our organization. Should be pretty cool! It will be good to see old friends and meet a lot of the new pastors. And, of course, it will be good to eat at Fisherman's Wharf. Hope to bring you a picture in the near future.

Think About It

A guy on the radio today was talking about how the Internet can answer just about any question we might have. Instead of trying to figure something out or remember something, we can now simply go online. He wasn't so sure if that was a good thing or not -and he's a computer tech guy. What does the future hold for a lazy or inactive brain?
We may grow so accustomed to making life easier for our bodies and our minds that it begins to affect our spiritual life.
There are days when I wish everything that happens to me would bring me joy. But it doesn't work that way. I'm finding that real joy takes effort. We're going to have to work at it. We have to plant things in our thoughts and heart that will grow into something beautiful.
Phil. 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.

God Has A Cell Phone

If you've ever been tempted to pray, "Where are you, God?" You might want to check this out...
Psalm 145:18 "The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth." The Message translation puts that: "God's there, listening for all who pray, for all who pray and mean it." At times I've prayed as if I'm leaving a message on God's answering service. Just leaving Him with all the things that I need to say. But He's never once said, "I'm sorry, I'm not in right now. Please leave a message after the Hallelujah Chorus." He is always home! He's there listening to you when you mean it. I don't think He's into mindless repetition. But if you really want to talk, give Him a call on His cell. Then you'll find out that He's nearer than you think...'live' and in person.

Think Blue

Last year I became a baseball fan all over again attending several games with Gary. The Dodgers had a great year and I think they might even have a better one this year. Their pitching suffered a bit so I guess they've brought on about 347 great pitchers. Today they start the exhibition season with the Braves. Maybe this year I'll get an autographed baseball card of the lady who plays the organ. She's great.

Just had to mention this. Today I found out that Dottie, a lady in our church, her father played baseball with Babe Ruth. His name was Red Adams and he pitched for the Chicago Cubs in 1946 and later became a pitching coach for the Dodgers. How cool is that?!