Intuition?

We are looking for a car for Kristen and intuition tells me Honda Accords and Civics in her price range have a reselling ring happening in the valley.
I went to check the mail across the street and 2 guys in their early 20's asked if my son wanted to sell his Honda Accord that was parked on the street. Then they said they were going to leave a note for my neighbor who's car is dusty from lack of use, to see if he wanted to sell. Their phone number was from the bay area.

Just calling the ads for cars for sale make me suspicious in so many ways. We may start looking at Toyotas, and at car lots.  Not that reselling vehicles is illegal, but I think there's something not quite right about people making a living this way.  Posing as car owners, but really being just dealers without a license. 

Anyone know an honest person wanting to sell a reliable car?  Let me know.

How Would You Introduce Christ?

Bad Kitty!

Kira must now be in the toddler stage.  She's almost a year old.  Kristen found her in some precarious places in our kitchen.  She wanted to be in the china hutch so she made room for herself by getting rid of the napkin holder and napkins.

Mark found her in some other interesting places.

Just thought I would share.

The Coburns!

The long awaited picture is here!  Dan and Audra and kids joined us to develop our Worship team.  Here they are.  Joe 14, Gabriella 5, Audra, Levi 1, Mikayla 9, and Dan.  Welcome!!!!

Lovin' It!

If you read my last blog, you know I'm probably thinking of McDonalds right now.  I understand why people don't have TVs.

Anyway, what I'm lovin' is the weather.  After 4 months of praying for cold wind while I work, today I have it!  Speaking of work, Greg and I are thinking I need to find another job.  Landscaping is just way too hard on my body.  So, if you know of a job where you work, let me know.  I'd like something with a large organization, like TID, Foster Farms, Safeway, etc.  You can read my employment history on facebook.  Though I don't look forward to not seeing Greg all day, or the possiblity of working 5 days a week instead of 3, it's probably a necessity.  We'll probably hire some burly guy to take my place in the business.  I don't want Greg to have to handle the whole route all week by himself.  He needs time to prepare sermons.

Time to hit the mower.  It's a short day for me, yeah!  Greg gave me a long list of church stuff to do.  Blessings on this cloudy, breezy, cool day!!!!

All Fours

As I was sitting at my blog dashboard, I saw that it said I had 444 blog posts.  The saying popped into my head, "Dial all 4's for legal help."  I had heard that commercial so many times that their little reminder line stuck, so that when I saw all 4's, I thought of their legal firm.

God tells us to do something like that.  He says to hide His Word in our hearts.  That means to read it, study it, memorize it, and meditate on it.  The purpose is so that when we need strength to fight a battle or just to stand firm, God's scripture will encourage us.  When we need wisdom to make a decision or mentor someone, His scripture guides us.  And when we need to share our faith, His Word reminds us how.

I don't know about you, but memorizing scripture gets more difficult as the years go by.  How I wish I had memorized more 20 years ago!  Please encourage your children to continue to memorize scripture into their teens, 20's and 30's when their brains are still operating at peak performance.  It will give them a strong foundation as they enter the later years.

Have a blessed very warm, Lord's day.

One Body, Many Parts

Greg, working the nursery during worship this last Sunday morning.  If he wasn't the Pastor, this would be where he would probably love to serve. 

One Body, Many Parts

1 Cor. 12
12.The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.  13.For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.  14.Now the body is not made up of one part but of many.  15.If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.  16.And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.  17.If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?  18.But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.  19.If they were all one part, where would the body be?  20.As it is, there are many parts, but one body.  21.The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!"  22.On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,  23.and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty,  24.while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it,  25.so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.  26.If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
27.Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.  28.And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues.  29.Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?  30.Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues ? Do all interpret?

Tooooo Goooood

One of these days I'll write my own material, I promise!  I have 2 blogs I want to get up, but I have to share this too.  Perry Noble blog for today.

You've Got to Read This

Another great post by Perry Noble.

As Promised

Or at least I'm 1 for 2. I had announced that the Hicks had joined our church and now I have a picture!

Video of EQUIP Church

Josh created and uploaded this video of our church to YouTube. You can watch it here. He did a great job!

Too Good to Pass Up!

I just had to link to this blog from Perry Noble. I find him to be very on-track and love his straight-forward way of equipping his readers and church. Check out 18 Signs That A Staff Has Lost It's Mind.

Here's another of his that is equally dead on track. 15 Ways To Destroy Your Marriage.

Good News/Bad News

It's baaaacccckkkk! Let's start with the bad news. I have frozen shoulder syndrome (adhesive capsulitis) again, this time in my left shoulder! 60% of all frozen shoulder patients get it in the other shoulder withing 2-3 years. I went to the physical therapist and it was 2 years and 2 days since my last diagnosis and beginning of therapy.

Now for the good news. You can never get it in the same shoulder twice, and since I only have 2 shoulders, I won't have to face this again! I also know that by New Years I was good as new, so 3 months of exercises, 1 hour 3 times a day, and I'll be done! After the physical therapy stretching and doing exercises yesterday it already feels better. We're also catching it a little sooner this time in the process since I recognized what it was and didn't have to go through an x-ray, MRI, and injection like last time.

My prayer is that it doesn't interfere with work. Already there are things I'm having trouble doing, like starting equipment and lifting in certain positions. Thankfully winter is coming, which means our customers will be on a 10-day rotation, instead of 7-day, which eases up our work load a little.

You can learn more about it here.

What a Weekend!

We met with the Hicks Friday night to start catching them up on the Leadership Training we did with the team over 22 weeks. We had a great time of sharing the last hour as well. Saturday was preparing for Sunday, then after service on Sunday, Greg had a men's BBQ while I watched my 49ers beat his Cardinals. Then we hosted a membership class for a couple hours Sunday night. Needless to say, Greg is more tired than I am and he opted to switch our work schedule around a little. We'll be home today resting and doing all the things we didn't get done last week or over the weekend and will do today's work on Wednesday, which was going to be a day off. It also allows us to pick up Kristen from school at noon. Mark couldn't do it because he's in school all day. It's a blessing to be self-employed and have this kind of freedom as we plant a church.

So, today we recuperate and catch-up, enjoying the cloudy start to the day. Blessings on this cool Monday.

Practice, Practice, Practice!

I ingrained that in our son as he was taking piano lessons from ages 8-18 and it paid off! He's played at 2 weddings, plays at 2 churches, and was asked to lead at a 3rd church. If he hadn't practiced, I doubt any of those would have happened.

Our daughter is a slightly different case. She never practices her drums, has played in a church worship band and at school in their worship band, and seems to pick up new techniques without blinking an eye. She's an exception, because she's gifted at it.

For most of us, our Christian walk lies somewhere in between. We are taught things week after week, in small group, on Sunday morning, and in our own times alone with God. The question is, how much do we practice what we've learned? Sure, some of us are gifted in certain areas and that makes it much easier to practice in that particular area, such as evangelism, hospitality, or generosity. But what happens if we never practice what we're learning? How effective would we be? The Bible talks about readying ourselves, or equipping ourselves, for the work before us. If a runner never runs, how fast would he be? Would he ever win a race without being specially gifted at it?

The first step in practicing is putting ourselves in situations where we can actually do what we've been taught. I've never had the gift of hospitality, but this last year, as we've had to host over 20 leadership meetings in our home, host prayer meetings and counseling and discipleship meetings, I've had lots of opportunities to practice hospitality. Now it doesn't bother me at all. I like cleaning the house and cooking and having people over. If I never placed myself in that position, however, I never would have overcome my fear and learned that I enjoy it.

As you learn new aspects of your Christian walk, I challenge you to ask yourself how you can put yourself in new environments to foster what you're learning, then practice, practice, practice! Whether it's evangelism, compassion, forgiveness, service, or something else, continually put into practice what you're learning.

Blessings on this odd-weather day!

A New Book

Well, I finished The Shack by William P. Young, recommended by friends who own A Lovely Place, the place we go for our anniversary and to recharge our batteries when needed. They warned me correctly. It is a great fictional story, but theologically inaccurate. Knowing this going in, I read it with the intent of just enjoying the story. With that in mind, I didn't catch all the inaccuracies, as I wasn't looking for them, or it may have made me frustrated. Once I read it, I looked for reliable reviews to point out the inaccuracies, and found this one on Chuck Swindoll's website. I agree with most of the review. Anyway, bottom line, it's a great story if you read it as a story. If you're looking for truth, you will be disappointed.

All that to say that I started a new book, Just Walk Across the Room by Bill Hybels. I'm about 30% into it and like it very much. It is stirring ideas in me for reaching out the the westside and others who don't yet know God. It's kind of a personal evangelism book, but not a 'these are the steps' kind of book. It's more of a 'these are the experiences I've had when I made the effort to share the greatest gift I've ever been given' kind of book. The stories are very encouraging, whether they ended with Bill leading the person to Christ or not.

Sometimes we're just to play the role of the seed planter. Sometimes the waterer. And sometimes, we get to harvest. I think often we have a belief that the whole harvesting process is just harvesting and it's all up to us. If we don't lead someone to Christ we feel like a failure as a Christ follower and that's just not the case. We're called to do our part, to share the gospel, not seal every deal. Once we get that cemented in our brains, the pressure is off and we can just love people by sharing our own experiences. SO MUCH EASIER!

I'll blog more on that as I go through the book. I probably won't finish the Old Testament Survey lessons I was doing unless I get comments that someone is wanting them. It's a lot of work!

We have to work a few hours in Modesto this morning after Greg meets with one of our worship team members. Then it's off to his mom's in Escalon to do some pruning. Then we'll be home to prepare for a 3-hour leadership catch-up session with the Hicks, since they joined us post-launch. We're looking forward to spending more time with them, they're a very fun couple.

Have a blessed, joyful hot Friday!

How to Fight

All around me I see the enemy stirring things up, like a Tazmanian Devil swirling dirt in a dust devil. I've thought back over the last 2 years since God called us to plant a church and I am more convinced he has been at work to thwart our efforts since the beginning, or even sooner. It doesn't really concern us, though, as we know God will win the war. It is bothersome though, at times being knocked off balance until we get our footing again, realizing the cause, and then having peace that our God is so much bigger. Here are some of the things our church family and those we have been reaching out to have had to endure and some of the things we are still in the process of seeing what God will do.
1. Ministry Loss
2. Job loss
3. Rumor/Gossip/False Witness
4. Bypass surgery
5. Death
6. Illnesses/Siezures
7. Arrest
8. Doubt/Confusion/Fear
9. Suicide Attempts
10.Depression
11. Drug & Alcohol abuse

I'm sure there are more. God spoke to Greg some years ago and told him to fight spiritual battles on a spiritual plane. That means fighting in the environment which the battle resides. We are to fight from a position of prayer. As I continue to read through the Old Testament, I continually find great fighters and kings pray to God and ask if they should fight a particular battle. God answers them, and the outcome is in alignment with what God says. Even BEFORE the battle, these Godly men like David are praying about the battle. Shouldn't we do the same? Rather than wait until we've received the first blow, unsuspectedly, shouldn't we be bathing the possiblity in prayer? Be ahead of the curve. Even if you don't expect anything right now, that's the sweetest spot for the enemy to attack, when we least expect it. Many of the battles in the Old Testament show armies being attacked when they least expected it and they lost many men that way.

When Jesus instructed his disciples in prayer, he told them to say, "and lead us not into temptation." Even BEFORE they were being tempted by the enemy, Jesus told them to pray against it. So many times our prayers are during an emergency. It's better to avoid it altogether if we can.

Pray now, even when you're in a season of coasting. If your church has a prayer meeting, attend it. It will make a difference. We meet at Josh and Monica's on Tuesday nights from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and you don't have to be part of our church to attend, it's open to everyone.

Have a blessed opening night of the football season!

Another Blessing!

I've been anxious to announce another great family that has joined us at EQUIP and the time has finally arrived. Jason and Autumn Hicks and their children, Jordan, Austin, and Stormi have decided to come on board. You can read about it on Jason's blog here and a few of his previous blogs. Jason has been a Crown Ministries Area Leader and Budget Coach, an Administrator and Elder for Grace Community Church and currently works at TID as a fleet manager. Autumn is a homemaker and homeschooling mom and is gifted in the area of hospitality. Jason is currently tasked with looking for a church building for us on the westside and Autumn will soon be taking over our refreshments ministry. We are thrilled to have such a dynamic family join our team. Check back for a picture.

Blessings on this beautiful, clear Friday.