ODB - Are we selling out?

Have we “sold out” the way Esau did? (Heb. 12:16). Has the lure of wealth, power, prestige, position, security, style, or the approval and praise of others led us to barter away God’s riches for a single meal?

Esau sought to change his father’s mind and gain the inheritance he had forfeited by his duplicity, but he could not set right the damage he had done. He had to live with his decision. Neither can we turn back the clock and undo the wrong we have done to ourselves and to others.

Although the past is irrevocable, there can be a new day before us, filled with new chances, new opportunities, and new expectations. God will not redo the past, but when we repent He can and will forgive us and set us on a new path.

The Lord can give us opportunities to show how we have truly repented of the decisions of the past and how much we long to serve Him in the decisions to come. He will never mention the deeds by which we’ve shamed others and ourselves; they are forgiven and forgotten forever.
God will give us a place to begin again—to love, to serve, to touch others profoundly and eternally for His sake. This demonstrates the greatness of our heavenly Father’s forgiving love to us. —David H. Roper

God’s forgiveness is the door to a new beginning.

Source: http://www.rbc.org/odb/odb.shtml

Moses is Dead

From our newly ordained pastor in the Fellowship group.

Joshua 1:9
"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."

Fear can paralyze and detract us from a more deeper, trusting relationship with the Lord. In some circumstances in can keep us from receiving His full intended blessing or from entering into His promise. Joshua experienced this type of fear as he was instructed of the Lord to lead the Israelites into the "promised land". Gripped with self-doubt and unable to see beyond his circumstance, Joshua froze and could not move forward. Fear had overtaken him! The task at hand grew greater than the God he served, this in spite of witnessing first hand His power when Moses was at the helm.

The situation in the natural seemed hopeless, crossing the Jordan was insurmountable. Yet the Lord met him and spoke the vision clearly to His heart. "Moses My servant is dead", were the first words from the Lord's mouth to Joshua, returning him back to the reality of Who was in charge.
Once the Lord had his attention, He reminded Joshua of past victories and revealed the formula for success and prosperity in the super natural.
Joshua's shortcomings, fears, doubts and others contradictory opinions of him did not deter the Lord from seeing his full potential. With the Lord before him and His word rooted firmly in his heart, the Jordan was subdued and the Lord glorified through an ordinary man performing an extraordinary feat.

Joshua's realization of God's full potential in him ushered in His purpose for his life. Have you realized God's full potential in yours or do you not know that, "Moses My servant is dead"?

Lost luggage - a blessing in disguise?

If you would have asked me 10 months ago, while Melvin and I wandered the streets of Spain without clean clothes (we even had to air our stinky socks on the balcony of Hotel Europa) or toiletries because U.S. Airways lost our luggage, I think I would have disagreed with you if you told me that it was a blessing in disguise. 10 months later and I tell you that it was - God knows best and I have to say, His sense of humor amazes me. Anyway, U.S. Airways losing our luggage earned me a FREE flight, which I used to visit my sister for her 21st birthday!

Les' room By the "bear" paw Professor Only lellow! Cranium night Christmas tree and vineyard Last dry cookies Crocodile Research Study Wierdo Mr. Snyder NOT from Hanover Creamery! Nittany Lion statue

Haro!

Me and my sister in all our weirdness. More to come.....

The Compass

I received this warning and wanted to share.

THE GOLDEN COMPASS - A very bad movie!
 
There will be a new Children's movie out in December called "The Golden Compass." It is written by Phillip Pullman, a proud athiest who belongs to secular humanist societies.  He hates C.S. Lewis's Chronicle's of Narnia and has written a trilogy to show the other side. 
 
The movie has been "dumbed down" to fool kids and their parents in the hope that they will buy his trilogy where, in the end, the children kill God and everyone can do as they please. Nicole Kidman stars in the movie so it will probably be advertised a lot. This is just a friendly warning that you surely won't hear on regular T.V.
 
Please warn everyone you know.
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Simple things r some of the best things

Possessions

With the Orange County fire inching towards our home, I have to admit that it's been on our minds quite a bit these days. Last night, Melvin and I briefly listed the items that we'd like to take with us in case of an evacuation.
1. Laptop (for our personal documents and photos)
2. Loose photos and albums
3. For me, pink rabbit piggy bank. For Melvin, Oba's dress and the fish surfboard.
4. Grandma's artwork
Our study bibles are typically in our cars, so that's a non-issue. But in the event they are not, definitely our study bibles!

Our meager list made me think of all the high dollar items that we have in our home that didn't even come close to making our list. And how insignificant these items are to us relative to the items on our list. Even more, how insignificant the items on our list are compared to the gift of God - eternal life.

Matthew 6:19-21.
"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

* * * * * * * * * *

Here are some pictures that we took - first image was taken on Sunday evening on 5S by the Jamboree exit and the second image was taken on Monday evening on the corner of Portola and Bake.

Mom and me at Golden Screams :)

Judging others

I heard this on the radio ministry this evening, "Compare others best to your worst rather than others worst to your best."

God's yogurt?

After brunch today, we decided to try the new yogurt place by our house, Cherry On Top. I was pleasantly surprised to find that they were giving out free American Apparel-made t-shirts today and to add a "cherry on top" of it all, we noted scripture on the sleeve!

Ephesians 1:11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.

Praise Report #2

Although this is only my second praise report, that does not mean that there aren't many things in my life which I praise the Lord for :) but this is one that I particularly wanted to share in my blog.

I have been praying for months for a new home church in which we may begin building relationships with the congregation particularly as we begin to have a family. After trying out a few churches in the area, both big and small, we found Calvary Chapel Mission Viejo. It was perfect because it's affiliated with Calvary Chapel - a true Christian church that teaches scripture including prophecy - and it's in our home city. Not to mention the leadership team welcomed us with open arms. Literally!

Since we became official members a few months ago, we have gotten involved in the Nursery Ministry. A good first step for any couple that is planning on having a baby! We also have made friends with the Welcoming committee (Carol, Dave, and RJ) who paid us a surprise visit that has changed my life in ways that I can't explain right now. And last week, we joined the fall class for Evangelism Explosion with Pastor Rob. The funny thing is, is that I have been praying for an opportunity like this for awhile but never knew where to start and God prepared the opportunity right here in our new home church. This Wednesday will be week #2 (the first week was orientation) and we'll be going out into the field for our first evanglist experience! Praise the Lord!

Here are 2 questions I'll leave you with and if you care to, comment on it or give me a call. I'd love to chat with you about these 2 questions.
1. Do you know for sure that you are going to be with God in Heaven?
2. If God were to ask you, "Why should I let you into My Heaven?" what would you say?

Hallelujah!

Be of good cheer - Deutr 31

On my way to work today, I heard the last 7 minutes or so of Pastor John Courson's (the Pastor who baptized me) study on Deuteronomy 31. It was so powerful and prepared my heart for a commitment that I was going to make later this afternoon, unbeknownst to me. Isn't God amazing?

You can find the study at http://www.joncourson.com/teaching/teachings.asp?book=deuteronomy. Go to the Verse-by-Verse section and click play next to Deuteronomy 31. If you don't have time to listen to the entire hour, scroll to the right to listen to the last 7 minutes.

He speaks of fueling the work of the devil by giving place to fears and dismay. Trust in the Lord and be of good cheer and see how the Lord honors that.

"Remember me"

Those who know me know that I have many "favorite" songs. However, there is a significant difference between those that are my "favorite" and those that are my "favorite-favorite" with the latter lasting more than just a few months.

One of my "favorite-favorite" songs - that to this day will cause me to choke up EVERY time I hear it - is "Remember Me" by Mark Shultz. I don't know how long this song has been around for, but I remember first hearing it during the time that I was born-again. To me, it's like one of those powerful Bible verses that immediately brings me to my knees and every time, God meets me in this song. It's so special to me and I want to share it with you. I encourage you to purchase the song to experience its impact.

Remember me in a Bible cracked and faded by the years
Remember me in a sanctuary filled with silent prayers

And age to age and heart to heart
Bound by grace and peace
Child of wonder, Child of God
I'll remember you, Remember me

Remember me when the color of the sunset fills the sky
Remember me when you pray and the tears of joy fall from your eyes

And age to age and heart to heart
Bound by grace and peace
Child of wonder, Child of God
I'll remember you, Remember me

Remember me when the children leave their Sunday school with smiles
Remember me when they're old enough to teach, old enough to preach, old enough to leave

Age to age and heart to heart
Child of wonder, Child of God
Remember me

(SOURCE: www.christianlyricsonline.com)

San Francisco, evidently a Godless city

I've felt safer sleeping in a tent amongst the wild than I do in SF amongst humans.
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Lunch in SF

Day 1-Crab and corn chowder in bread bowl at Boudin

Day 2-Ghiradelli Square at Lori's with view

Golden Gate Bridge

Our garden - Week 1

A vs MIN 5 to 1

Family Trip to Sequoia

Our first family trip in 3 years (since we moved Les out to Penn State in 2004) was last weekend in the Sequoias and in my opinion, was one of my favorites.

Although I missed the decency of showering without a timer and flip flops, I loved the absence of technology. No TV, no disruptive phone calls, no computers, and no privacy. All meals were enjoyed together either around the campfire or the picnic table, and if we weren't spending time together talking, cooking or playing some random game we made up, we were quietly and individually enjoying and admiring God's glorious nature - the stars, the forest, the fresh air.

We learned a lot about eachother on this trip and probably a lot about ourselves, too, with the help of The Book of Questions. We hiked, played paddle ball, ate, hiked some more, ate some more, entertained ourselves with our masterful puppetshow, and all the weird things that we usually come up together as a family.

Day 1. We started our trip at 4:30 a.m. and entered Sequoia National Park sometime around 10 a.m. We hiked down to Cystal Cave to explore its immense darkness and mysterious soda straws. After a quick lunch around the car, we stopped to see the General Herman and General Sherman Tree. There, we learned that you can actually take a shuttle from the parking lot to the tree to avoid the 0.4 mile hike! We also witnessed a 40-something year old woman carving her name into a beautifully crafted seqioua bench. Horrified. After the choo choo train up to the car, we finally arrived at Lodgepole where we set up camp and gorged on fajitas, roasted marshmallows, and s'mores.

Day 2. We started the day with percolated coffee, breakfast sandwiches, and leftovers. A chief Indian, err maybe it was Totoro, made a surprise visit to our camp. Around noon we headed out to hike the Tokopah Falls Trail and made it back 4 hours later thanks to our dependable hiking sticks. There were some points on the trail where I didn't think we'd make it to the top, but we did with lots of trail mix, water, a gazillion stops including those to watch the yellow-shirted rock climbers, and singing Father Abraham. Because of the lack of rainfall this year, the waterfall was nothing more than a dripping faucet, so there isn't much to comment on that waterfall. The best part was definitely the spot we picked for lunch. The "slippy" rocks, tiny fish, and log o' fun are definitely must-sees. After our hike, we took a quick drive to see the Wuksachi Lodge and ended our day with hot dogs, jiffy popcorn, s'more s'mores, shooting stars (yes, we waited until Mom saw one), and the famous puppet show.

Day 3. Our surprise visitor this morning was Bambi! After a few cups of coffee and toasted bagels, we packed up the site and headed for the showers. We did a drive-by of Moro Rock to scope out the stairs and after Mom saw a grandmother hiking up the steps with a small child, we were practically running after Mom who was determined to make it to the top. And she did! On our way back down the mountain, we stopped off at Crescent Meadows for lunch. After an hour or so of looking for black bears, and finding none, we headed for home stopping by Happy Wok (thanks Les!). Melvin's perfect ending to any trip.

The best souvenir: Mom saying that she feels like she can do anything after what she accomplished that weekend. Priceless.

Trials

A faith that cannot be tested is a faith that cannot be trusted.
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Onigiri - a must for any trip!

image/jpeg
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Popcorn!