The Journey

Kirk Franklin and Toby Mac (wow)

I Am God Lyrics I love music! Just about all music. Kirk Franklin is one of my favorite artists. Toby Mac is also a favorite for me. Putting the two of them together is simply amazing! Any song that starts out, "Toby Mac! Turn it up! Kirk gonna get his white boy on!" is headed somewhere good as far as I'm concerned.

Kirk Franklin's newest album, 'The Fight of My Life', is phenomenal from start to finish. Every song on this album speaks to the heart! 'Little Boy' delivers a powerful message to families too busy for their children, 'He Will Supply' reminds us that God will provide all of our needs, 'I Am God' tells of surrender to a relentless God, 'A Whole Nation' breaks your heart for the fatherless, and then 'Still' just makes me wanna shout!

There you have it...two thumbs up from me!

My Quiet Place (Kinda)

I'm enjoying a relatively quiet time at Panera Bread this Saturday morning. Laptop, Bible, latte, and bagel are my main focus at the moment. Panera Bread offers free WiFi and plenty of entertainment for a people-watcher like myself. It's amazing how the Lord can speak to your heart when you open your Bible and your eyes.

I'm speaking in Concord tonight at a Church Growth conference and so I'm trying to finalize my message. I feel honored to have been asked to speak and yet so inadequate for the task. I suppose though, that when you start felling adequate you're in trouble.

Tonight, I'll speak about Jesus feeding the multitudes with just a few loaves of bread and some fish. Sometimes the mission given to the church seems so overwhelming, especially to a small church, but God is able to take what we have and do great things with it. Small churches, have great potential when they take inventory of what they have and then offer everything up to the Master.

Peace Out!

Small Groups For Everyone

A great challenge for everyone as we've entered a new year is to get involved in a small group at Harvest.

Our Financial Peace University (FPU) leader called me last night to share with me that our Friday night class cut up 8 credit cards! Every week at the close of Dave Ramsey's video this pop-up appears in the top right corner of the video and simply says, "Credit Cards Wreak". By the time you finish the FPU you'll agree. It's never too late to get plugged in to this great small group opportunity.

Thursday nights I'm teaching through Dr. Randy Sawyer's book, '91 Days To Regaining Balance'. We're only two weeks into this study and I'm loving it. If you open your Bible and your heart daily to God he will speak to you. The goal of this small group is to get believers back into the habits that will draw them into a deeper relationship with the Lord.

New Beginnings is our drug and alcohol recovery group that meets on Thursday nights. Our church has been blessed by this very important small group over the years. It's so encouraging to look around on any given Sunday and see lives that have been pulled from the pit of drugs and alcohol and placed on solid ground with a new direction.

We changed the emphasis of our men's Bible study this month and renamed it Mobile Men. We're meeting very quickly at the church one night a week and then going mobile, spending an hour visiting and encouraging men.

See You Sunday! (10:00 a.m.)

Presidential Stuff

My favorites so far...Huckabee, Thompson, and Romney. Thompson has dropped out...Back to "Law and Order"?

Drugs and Alcohol At The Zoo

I guess we can add visiting the zoo to a long list of things that you are probably safer doing when you are not drunk or high on drugs. According to THIS FOX NEWS STORY, the young men who were attacked by Tatiana the tiger at the San Francisco Zoo had been drinking Vodka and smoking weed before deciding it would be fun to stand on the ledge of the tiger exhibit and taunt the 350 pound cat.

Yes, I think it's sad that this young man died such a senseless death. I don't mean to sound heartless, but I also think it's sad that a beautiful Siberian Tiger was shot dead as a result of a few people abusing drugs and alcohol. I think it's sad that others who happened to be at the zoo, either working or visiting were placed in danger by these young men's irresponsible behavior. I think it's sad that families who were on the road traveling that day were put at risk by these young men who were apparently driving or planning to drive while still intoxicated. It makes me wonder if Tatiana the tiger may have saved some lives that day by keeping these young men from driving home while under the influence.

I probably shouldn't be sharing my thoughts at 3:00 a.m. but I happened to wake up (part of getting old I suppose) and decided to read some news to help myself go back to sleep. I'll let you know if my opinion on the above referenced news story changes during normal daytime hours.

Journey To Health

Journey To Health.jpg, originally uploaded by CalPastor.

The journey to a healthier lifestyle is much easier and certainly more enjoyable when traveled with friends. We have an excellent small group at church called Healthy Harvest. We meet together on Sunday mornings after our worship service for accountability, encouragement, education, and prayer.

The Golf Ball Church

Neighborhood Church, originally uploaded by CalPastor.

It's hard for me to believe that I've been pastoring for 21 years. I ran across a photo of the Neighborhood Free Will Baptist Church in Goshen, California. I started pastoring there when I was almost 20 years old. People around town called us 'The Golf Ball Church".

Weight Watchers Week One (-9.6)

Journey To Health, originally uploaded by CalPastor.

Celebrating a great week with a Grande Non Fat Latte!

I'm back on my journey to living healthy. I'm cycling and counting those Weight Watchers points. There are so many fringe benefits to a healthy lifestyle. Exercise is helpful in dealing with stress. It's amazing how much better life is when you sweat a little. Sleep is much easier and much deeper on days when you work out a little.

This Could Be Me (Most Sunday Evenings)

Getting Toasty Redux, originally uploaded by CalPastor.