Not a respecter of persons.

I am so glad that Jesus doesn't require you to be a mega-church in-order to show up. Tonight we had a handful of people and studied a genealogical record, but our time of worship and communion was sweet. 

I am looking forward to what the new year has in-store for Connie and I. I must admit that it is kind of scary, but we believe that God is in this move. Please pray that God will bring us to the perfect location for a ministry center. We have some ideas for a center, but we want to make sure that God is in it before we move forward with the idea. Actually, it will have to be God, since we have no money. 

For those of you who read this and pray for us thank you. It means a whole lot to us. 

Merry Christmas

Just thought I would take some time to wish everyone a Merry CHRISTmas. 

Hey look, keys.

Well this week we didn't forget the keys. I think everyone was relieved. Actually most people have expressed that last week's trial was more like a blessing. We actually laughed at it.

As for our bible study, we seem to be working out the kinks pretty quickly and Connie is excited with how well our kids are doing during the worship time. It has been really nice to have all of us together working on this church plant.

I am getting excited for the near future. More specifically, having office hours in Angels Camp. Please pray that I will have wisdom in scheduling my life during the next few months. This time will be critical in regards to the church plant. I want God to guide me to the people that he is pursuing. It is going to be wierd not doing youth ministry anymore, since I have done it for so long but I feel like God has definitly closed those doors.

Locked in

I can honestly say that tonight was a first. Things started well tonight as we held our second Bible Study. It wasn't until the end that I realized that I forgot something very important. The keys. Not the keys to the passage but the keys to the building. The reason this is so significant is because the employees lock the facility when they leave, locking us in the building and the keys are needed to unlock the building to let us out. So you guessed it, we were locked in. After a couple attempts to get ahold of Dan Rule who has the other key we called Brit. Brit is Mark's daughter who rents our apartment. She graciously came back to Sonora to get the keys and then brought them to us in the locked in building. Now at first this seemed like a huge burden on everyone, but once we realized that there was nothing to do but wait it out we had a great time of fellowship. So as usual God had his hand in it. That or he just redeemed my stupidity. I guess both are true. Tonight was a good night. I am excited to see the fruit that comes from God's redemption.

Prayer and Planning

 As the new year approaches there seems to be a new challenge in front of Connie and I. Naturally, sense something new is ahead, something old is being left behind. Change is inevitable and it is something that we should all be prepared for. We can not totally be prepared for what we don't expect but, we can pray. I believe that prayer is one of the ways God prepares us for change. 

At the end of the month, I will no longer be the youth pastor at Calvary Chapel Sonora. Actually my last Wednesday (December 17th) will mark the 15 year anniversary of doing youth ministry at Calvary Chapel. The only other thing I have done for that long is being married to Connie.

Because you are at this blog site, you know, that I am a part of a church plant to Angels Camp, so this isn't the change I speak of.  The change I am thinking of is leaving 15 years of youth ministry and the relationships that go along with it. I know that I am not walking away, never to see them again but the fact is, what I've done for so long is ceasing. 

Now that I've caught you up to speed, here are my thoughts. As I began preparing for Sunday it became apparent to me that God knows what he is doing (this is not something new to me). I began reading Nehemiah 2:1-8 and realized that when this man, Nehemiah stood before the King he was prepared. He knew what he wanted and wasn't afraid to ask. What got him to this point was his prayer life, Nehemiah was a man of prayer.  This is what I am asking of you, pray for us. Don't stop. Pray that God will give us boldness to take on the tasks He has set before us. In my travels to Angels Camp I have found a lot of oppression and spiritual bondage. I have no desire to stand toe to toe with Satan and yet I know that in order to be obedient to the call Jesus has placed on my life, engaging in the spiritual battle is necessary. The full armor is going to be required and the playing field isn't going to be fair, but Jesus has the victory.  So please pray for us as we seek to bring glory to God as we follow Jesus.

We have lift off.

Waking up this morning, I was in awe at how God works through the most unlikely characters. Last night we had our first Bible study in Angels Camp and it was amazing. There were about 20 adults and 8 kids. We defiantly have some kinks to work out in logistics but that is minor and to be expected. We are so excited to be apart of what God is doing in Angels Camp, who would have ever thought that he would pick us to be apart of this work. What this shows me is, if we are obedient to God, He will use whoever is available.

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”   Isaiah 6:8

Our first Bible Study

As I look back over the past two months, I am very encouraged to see how God is bringing to fruition the vision that He has placed in my heart. It is strange to think that we have been praying for this for the past two months and to think that our first official Bibles study is only one week away.

I would request that you pray with us as we begin this new endeavor. We are going to be studying the book of Nehemiah. It is our desire to have God use this church plant to restore the walls and gates (Salvation and Praise) to Angels Camp. Over the past two months we have been regularly going to Angels Camp and have met many people. God has burdened us to see Jesus restore people to their Creator and Savior Jesus Christ.

If you are in the area next Sunday please stop by and join us as we study Gods word and seek to be apart of what Jesus does in Angels Camp. We will begin our meeting at 4:30 PM at the Golden State Cellular Building in Angels Camp. Hope to see you there.

Happy Thanksgiving

I just wanted to take a moment to wish everybody a HAPPY THANKSGIVING. 

On a side note, we will be meeting this Sunday at Golden State Cellular in Angels Camp. We are going to use this time to get to know one another and pray for Refuge. We will meet from 4:30 to 6:00 PM. Hope to see you all there.

Here we come.

Tonight we are going to begin meeting regularly in 

Angels Camp. We will be meeting at 4:30 PM at the Golden State Cellular facility. We hope you will be able to join us. If you can't make this meeting we will be there next week.

Prayer at Starbucks!

Tonight, Mark and I traveled to Angels Camp. After driving around for awhile and talking about things like leadership styles and how to disciple men, we met Joy Barns at Starbucks. It was apparent that Joy has a burden for the people of Angels Camp. We talked about many things such as teaching style, the importance of small groups and discipleship, to name a few. We ended our meeting with a time of prayer for the community and God's direction for this church plant.

We left our meeting with Joy and went to Subway, where that we met one of the Sheriff's deputies. He shared with us that the biggest need in Angels Camp, is things for the kids to do. He expressed that his department spends most of their time dealing with teenagers who are getting in trouble because they don't have anything else to do.

It was an encouraging time. We sensed that God is putting the pieces together for this new work in Angels Camp. Please keep us in your prayers. Thanks.

A Sunday morning thought.

but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, 

so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. 

1 Thessalonians 2:4

As I was reflecting on the word this morning, God brought me to this passage. I thought that it was a good reminder of a couple of things. 

The first thing is that we are approved by God. I know sometimes I think I am required to earn my approval. That couldn't be any farther from the truth. So let us reflect on Jesus today so that we might remember our position in Christ.

The second is that with our position comes responsibility. We were entrusted with the gospel. (The good news) So let us share that with others today. That God might recieve glory from us today.

Sunday PM here we come

Yesterday, during our weekly prayer meeting for Angels Camp, I updated the group with the latest conversation I had with the church board. During our last board meeting, I requested to switch my schedule so that I would be able to start a Bible study in Angels Camp on Sunday evenings. The board agreed to my schedule change as long as it was what Jesus was leading me to do. The more time I spend seeking the Lord the more He confirms that Angels Camp is where we are supposed to be. This is both encouraging and frightening at the same time. 

After the update, we read Nehemiah 3, one of those chapters with so many names that it took us twice as long to read it due to our fumbling over the correct pronunciation, which we probably didn't get right anyway. I was encouraged because Isaak has decided that he wants to pray with us and he even took a shot at reading the scripture. It is amazing to have my son seeking God with me.

 We talked about how the work that lies ahead isn't supposed to be done by just one man. We recognized that it does take one man who is willing to go before the King on behalf of the people to get the ball rolling. 

We agreed that the most important part of this church plant is

 that God would get the glory due His name while we stick to His word as we seek God's direction for the people of Angels Camp. We ended our time with a sweat time of prayer.

I will update you as to when we will begin our first Bible study. Thanks for checking in with us and please continue to pray for us as we seek to glorify our savior Jesus Christ.

Communion

Friday night we, the Crums and the McCameys, started the evening off with an enchilada dinner.  After the dinner table was cleared we sat back down to remember Jesus by taking communion.  This was a special time of reflection and we agreed that it was a foundational practice for us as families to share together on a regular basis. After communion, the evening was full of distractions but we still managed to pray. We prayed for God's direction for us and for his provision for the people we have met so far in Angels Camp. 

This Sunday I will be preaching at Calvary Chapel Stockton. Please pray for me to be sensitive to God's leading.

Game Planning

Yesterday was our prayer meeting for Angels Camp. It was a great time of prayer. But tonight had a different flavor to it. Tonight started out with discussions about Spiritual warfare, in regards to church planting, outreach ideas, leadership styles and timing, in relation to a start date. It was a real exciting night. It seems more and more like God has his hand in this. 

After our time of discussion and before we prayed we read Nehemiah 2. I pointed out that the very things we had been talking about were confirmed in this passage. We saw how Nehemiah had a broken heart for the people of Israel. Because of his broken heart for Israel, he risk his life to restore salvation and worship. I reminded everyone that if we are in to this church plant for any other reason than glorifying God and with a broken heart for people that are lost  we shouldn't do it. Just as Nehemiah faced opposition, We should expect much of the same. As long as we are assured of our calling from God, it will be alright!

Keep praying for us it is greatly appreciated. 

One of the hardest things I've ever had to do.

Last night I shared with the youth group about the church plant in Angels Camp. It was hard to look those kids in the eyes, realizing that what I was telling them was that I would no longer be with them. I guess what made it so hard was the fact that I love each of them so much. I have know most of these kids since they were my kids age. I know that God has all things in his hands, even the youth group. So I need to trust God that he will take better care of these kids than I can. But please pray for the transition.

Just a reminder that we will be praying tomorrow at my house. Hope to see you there.

Lunch with the family

Today we took a drive over to Angels Camp for lunch at Mike's Pizza. The food was good but our conversation with Becky was better. Becky works at the pizza parlor and has just returned to Angels Camp, she has some good insights on the needs of the town. She expressed the need for the kids. Her experience is that they have nothing to do and therefore get in trouble. It seems like this is a common theme no mater where you go. When I asked her what she thought of a church plant she shared that in her opinion it was needed. She then went on to express how church has been a big part of her sisters life. After lunch we took the kids Picture by the frog. As you can see, some liked the idea better than others. 

When we left we drove around to see if we could find the youth soccer field, to look at houses and to check out the meeting room at Golden State Cellular. On our journey we came upon a very strange tree. Now the reason I say it was strange was because of the amount of vultures that were sitting in it. I was kind of creepy. But they weren't just sitting there some of them had their wings spread. 

All in all it was a good day. We are getting very excited about what God is doing in our family. 

2nd prayer meeting.

Well we met and prayed for a second week in a row. This week it was Marc, Jenny, Connie and I. We started it off with Marc sharing what God has been showing him this week. Marc shared on the importance of perseverance. It was a sweet time of reflection. Thanks Marc. Then we read Nehemiah chapter one. We looked at how the man (Nehemiah) saw the state of a nation (Israel) and was moved to repentance. We were reminded that we need to take this heart in our lives. After our time in the word we moved into a time of prayer. Those times so far have been so sweet. Keep praying.

Connie and I will be going to Mike's Pizza in Angels Camp for lunch today to seek Gods heart for this endeavor.

Well we will be doing this all over again next Friday. Feel free to stop by. 

Check back soon. I am going to post some gleanings from Nehemiah.

An encouraging day.

Today Miles, Joe and i met with Pastor George Stathos and Peter from CC Amador. We met in regards to the church plant in Angels Camp. George was very encouraging and had some good insights. We talked about methods, trials and timing to name a few.

After leaving miles and I had a really good talk in the truck. It seems like God has his hand in this. I am beginning to get really excited.

Please keep praying for us and remember, we will be praying tomorrow night at 8 p.m.. Please join us wherever you might be.

1st Prayer meeting

We held our first prayer meeting yesterday for Angels Camp. Marc and Jenny Crum, Britton, Connie and I were here. We spent about 45 minutes seeking God's heart for this endeavor.

We will be praying next Friday at 8 p.m.. Anyone is welcome. If you can't make it please join with us at this time from wherever you are.