The Journey

Washed By The Water

I'm loving NeedToBreath's song 'Washed By The Water'. That's what's playing in my truck these days. Check it out!

What?

Looking For A Green Light, originally uploaded by CalPastor.

Amazing day!

There are lots of questions that run through our minds each and every day. Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?

Today the question was "What?". What is God doing? What does He have planned? What is He thinking? What does He want from me?

Tonight, as I sat at my journal, the only answer I can come up with is Isaiah 55:8-9

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

It doesn't have to make sense to us to be right!

Lala and Maddie

Lala and Maddie, originally uploaded by CalPastor.

Congratulations to Bob and Patricia Bradley! Maddison arrived Sunday evening at 5:20 and everyone is doing well. I got to hold her today and she is just so beautiful!

Please Be Gentle

It's Not About The Coffee, originally uploaded by CalPastor.

"So correct me, Lord, but please be gentle. Do not correct me in anger, for I would die." Jeremiah 10:24

I started out to preach a message this morning on Jeremiah 10:23-25 and made it through one verse. Services were great. We have started a 9:30 a.m. prayer time in our coffee room to pray for the lost and for the worship services. I know that God is honoring our prayers. We were blessed to have a young woman visit today and give her life to Christ. Awesome! Awesome! Awesome!

The second verse in this passage is just amazing to me. Jeremiah prays and says, "Correct me, Lord, but please be gentle". I love that! We all need God to reach down and correct us from time to time. We also need Him to be gentle. We must never forget just how powerful God is!

The praise team was terrific today! Last week we started a Bible Study and Prayer time for our praise team on Thursday nights at 5:30 p.m. I shared with the team that just as they pick up their guitars, drumsticks, and other instruments, God needs to be able to pick them up on Sunday mornings and play through them. He did that today!

We had an great turn out for our VBS Workers Luncheon. American Canyon Baptist Church is working with us this year and I'm very excited about this. We are praying for 150 children to participate in this weeks VBS. We're also asking God for 10 children to receive Christ this week. Pray with us!

I'm off to our evening service in Vacaville. We had 32 attend last week. That may not sound like a lot, but it's our second best attendance to date. We'll just keep moving forward!

Have a great week!

Fourth Of July Parade

Harvest decided to show up at this year's Fourth of July Parade in American Canyon to promote our Vacation Bible School that starts this Monday night. Everyone thought we had dressed up like pirates so we just went with it. Just kidding! We really did dress up like pirates. :)

Thanks to Virginia Johnson, our Children's Ministry Team leader, and Bob Bradley our e-Teens Pastor, for all their work on this year's parade we captured 2nd Place. There were a ton of helpers that made this work. Thank you all! We passed out over 1000 invitations to church along the parade route.

I'll post a slide show on the Harvest Web Page later today for you to enjoy! Meanwhile, pray for our VBS, The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything, that kicks off Monday night. We had 100 children in last year's VBS and we're praying for 150+ this year. I'm praying that we will reach this children with the love of Jesus during the week and that we will see families added to the church in the month's to come.

Little City ~ Big Lights

Little City ~ Big Lights, originally uploaded by CalPastor.

This has been a very busy couple of days. Yesterday, I ran across these huge lamps in Napa and so a return trip was in order to photograph them in action. There are four of these bad boys in front of the Post Office in downtown Napa.

While in Napa, I stopped for a quick lunch and ran into a former student from Cornerstone Christian Academy. I usually feel young until moments like this remind me how long I've been around.

This student now lives in Napa with her daughter and is wanting to get back into church. Isn't it amazing how the Holy Spirit puts us in the right places at the right times?

"The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives." Psalm 37:23

Where has God placed you today? Who does He want you to influence? What is He trying to accomplish through your life?

OR

Who has God placed in your path? Is He trying to get your attention? Is God finding ways to get into every detail of your life?

I'm thanking God today for directing my steps and taking an interest in every detail of my life. Have a great Independence Day! See you Sunday!

If You Ever Lose Your Way

If You Ever Lose Your Way, originally uploaded by CalPastor.

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." Psalm 119:105

Kayla and I headed over to Suisun tonight around 10:30 p.m. to capture this image. I accepted a challenge from several other photographers to shoot a light fixture a day for the month of July. I have the feeling that you'll be seeing a lot of light fixtures on The Journey for a while. :)

I have been blessed with three wonderful daughters. Each of them is interesting, talented, and special in their own way. They are each alike and each different. I'm very proud of all three! They all have a relationship with Christ that will serve to be a guiding light for them throughout their lives.

Choosing The Upper Room

"Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers." Acts 1:12-14

Maybe it's part of being a Free Will Baptist, but I always think of things in terms of choices. We always have a choice to make regardless of the situation, even if our choice is simply how to respond to what is happening in our lives at the moment. I may not be able to choose what happens or doesn't happen in my life but I can always choose my response. The right choice makes all the difference.

The disciples had been devastated when Christ was crucified. They were encouraged at his resurrection. Now, at his ascension they make the right choice. They choose to obey him and wait for the promise of the Holy Spirit. They chose the upper room! They chose to to remain together and to concentrate on praying for one another. They chose to pray for God's will for their lives. They chose to pray for the fulfillment of Christ's promise of a Comforter. Thank God they made the right choice!

Whatever tomorrow brings our way we must determine to make the right choices in response. We must choose the upper room. If we choose to stay together and pray for God's will we will be alright. The disciples did not scatter after the ascension, they came together in the upper room. Adversity will threaten to separate us from each other and God. How we choose to handle adversity is very important. Choose the upper room! It will make all the difference.

The Golden Gate

I Don't See It Quite That Way, originally uploaded by CalPastor.

I Walked To The Place Where Colors Are Exchanged

I Walked To The Place Where Colors Are Exchanged, originally uploaded by CalPastor.

Ok, last one of my Sonoma sunset photos! I promise.