Wow, where does time go? Here we are, already into the third month of the year 2009 and it seems just like yesterday we were getting ready for Christmas. Zoom and time passes you by. If you are not careful today is here and gone without you realizing it.
I noticed that it had been a few weeks since I have been able to write a blog. So many things have happened and changed in that time since the last blog. Job changes have taken place for both Melinda and I. Both of our mothers have been ill, needing more of our attention. Some life changing decisions have been made by all of us. A good friend became ill and then passed from this life. Time changed, messing me up a lot. Some of these things happened one at a time and others piled on top of each other.
As I thought of these “events” I realized these are just part of life. Life sometimes comes at us so fast, but it is just life. Life has its good times and it also has its not so good times. There are those moments of tranquility and then those moments pandemonium. Times when we feel like we are in control and it is all going our way. Then there are those times when we would grab life by the tail if we could only find the tail. That is life!
I have come to notice, in fact a friend brought it to my attention, that when life becomes chaotic it is often the enemy trying to cause us to lose our focus. In the past weeks we have been so blessed to witness God moving in special ways in every service we have been in. Lives are being changed! Broken hearts are being healed! Bruised lives are being liberated! Eyes that have been blinded by the lies of the enemy are being opened to what God is doing! Lives that have been held captive by the past with its disappointments and failures are being set free! God is filling people with the Holy Ghost! He is refreshing and renewing! The enemy would like nothing better than to distract us and get us worried about the things of life rather than the things of God.
A passage has been running through my mind
“So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.” Is 59:19
How many times have you felt like life was overwhelming you? I remember a few years back hearing a gurgle and realized the basement of the Church was flooding. It rained ten inches in less than twenty-four hours and we ended up with a flooded basement. We just happened to be living in the basement at the time. We struggled for seventeen hours before we became so exhausted we had to stop. The water just kept coming and coming and then it kept coming. Life sometimes comes at us that way.
This passage tells us that when we feel about to be overwhelmed, God will bring it to a stop. One writer said He will blow on it and make it disappear.
“But remember that the temptations that come into your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can't stand up against it. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you will not give in to it.” 1 Cor 10:13
I guess when life gets chaotic we need to remember to rely on Jesus! When life is changing on us at an accelerated pace we need to remember that Jesus Christ is always the same, He never changes. We can always depend upon His constancy.
Just a Thought! God Bless
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
In Memory of Sis, Jean Daniel.
I first met Jean and Will Daniel in December of 1970. They had been studying Search for Truth with Mike and Margie Power for several months and that Sunday they came to Church for the first time. A few weeks later, in a Watchnight Service, they were baptized in Jesus Name and God miraculously filled them with the baptism of the Holy Ghost in March of 1971.
So many things changed in our lives and in the Church from that time on. There was a new energy that came to the Church. Never one to do anything half way Sis. Jean was involved in everything. She started off as a soul winner, recruiting others to join her and Will in their home Bible Study, Slim and Rose Daniel, Peggy King, David Daniel all joined in at different times and all were baptized and received the Holy Ghost during the same week as Sis Jean.
Tragedy struck her life, as well as the Church, with a tragic boating accident that took the lives of Will and Maureen Power in August, just five months after they had received the Holy Ghost. Our concern was would this new spiritual baby survive such a blow? Although it was hard and there were many questions and lonely hours, she immersed herself into the Word of God and prayer. She gave herself to the Work of God and fought her way through the battle.
We were just talking about what a giver she was. Some of you might remember the 1971 yellow and black Datsun that she drove the wheels off of for Jesus. Miles were put on it selling Peanut Brittle in Rio Dell, Fortuna, Ferndale, Crescent City, Ukiah, Fort Bragg, Garberville and points in between. Driving to fellowship meetings in Oroville, Chico, Redding, Yuba City. Driving to Dinsmore, Bridgeville and Carlotta to teach home Bible Studies. Loading it up with 7 and 8 kids to carry them to Sunday School week after week. When she finally retired it with over 300,000 miles on it she bought another car and ran the wheels off of it for Jesus.
I remember my dad asking her to teach the Jr. High class. She had only been in the Church a short time and felt inadequate but she never said no when asked to do something, so she taught the class. Her students were David Doran and Mike Power, Jr. They should have never been allowed to be in the same class anywhere and here was a new teacher with these two "star" students. Every Sunday after Sunday School the teacher and the students had a meeting with the Pastor, but she stuck it out. Both students are living for God today and active in ministry.
She worked as a Sunday School teacher, Sunday School Supt. Outreach Director, Home Bible Study Director, Choir Leader. She played the piano, taught several to play the guitar. She made candy, sold candy, made crafts and sold them. She baked and sat at bake sales. The list goes on.
However there are two things about Jean Daniel that stand out in my mind when I thought about her life. One was Jean Daniel was a pastor's best friend. Not only was she a hard worker in the Church, but she went out of her way to take care of her pastor in any way possible. Many years ago several came to my dad and asked if he would go full time for the church. They pledged to pay 20% tithes to help him do this, they felt it was that important. Many years later, after Dad had retired and I was pastor, Sis. Jean was still paying 20% tithes to help her pastor and the work of God. I don't know how many times I had called her and said I need you to pray about this or just with me. I would hang up the phone and know that she was already on her knees praying. Dinners, after church refreshments were all taken care of by Sis Jean. I was 13 years old when we met. She watched me grow up, learn to preach. She saw the mistakes and failures I made as a young man. When I was asked to become pastor my reservation was the people I would be pastoring were people who had known me "when." Yet, I can honestly say there was never one time when I felt Sis. Jean did not honor and respect us as her pastor, although I am sure it must have been difficult at times.
Sis. Jean was a nourisher, but naturally and spiritually. Although she never had any natural children of her own, she adopted every little stray that came by and made them her children, even to the discomfort of some. It was just natural for her. When she taught some one a home Bible Study, she adopted them spiritually. She prayed for them. She visited them. She called them on the phone. She drove miles to bring them to church. She talked to her pastor about them. Anything she could do to help them to live for God, she did it. They were her children.
Just before he died, Sis. Jean's father, Bro. Burl Horn asked her to promise him she would take a Bible Study. She promised and kept that promise. When the news came of her promotion I couldn't help but think of what must be taking place in heaven this weekend. There are some warriors of the Cross who are welcoming home another warrior, saying Well done. There is a heavenly jubilee taking place as Burl Horn, Will Daniel, Maureen Power, Mike Power, Ronnell Tyler, Dora Estes, David Doran and others welcome home another one.
We will all miss Sis. Jean... but will never forget her, she has left too many fingerprints on too many lives to be forgotten...
Just a Thought...
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