Celebrate the Birth of Christ

Christmas, a time to celebrate the birth of Christ and all that we receive because of He came.

Because Jesus came as a babe and lived as a human and died for us we do not have to struggle with our "old man".

Our struggle is not with our old man. It died when you accepted Jesus. God didn't "fix us", He killed us. The enemy wants to convince us the problem is us. But we wrestle against spirits, not flesh and blood.

"Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places." Eph. 6:10-12 (NLT)

Evil spirits have NO power over us. Satan tries to convince us that we are the problem. He wants to dis-empower us keeping us from knowing our identity (in Christ).

In Nehemiah Chapters 2-6 Saballat attacked their

Person hood....."What are these feeble Jews doing? Are they going to restore it for themselves?
Motives....."What is this thing you are doing? Are you rebelling against the King?"
Relationship with God.....Tried to make him sin and then intimidate and discredit him.
Ability to accomplish their mission....."Do they think they can make something of stones from a rubbish heap - and charred ones at that?"
Quality of their ability....."That stone wall would collapse even if a fox walked along the top of it!

Don't let Satan rob you of your person hood, motives, relationship with God or the quality of your ability to accomplish what God has planned for you.

Galatians 4:4 -"When the right time came, God sent His son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent Him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that He could adopt us as His very own children. And because we are His children, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, "Abba, Father." Now you are no longer a slave but God's own child. And since you are His child, God has made you His heir."

WE ARE CHILDREN OF GOD!! Being a child of God means we don't have to doubt our person hood. We don't need to accept the lies Satan gives us, trying to rob us and steal our joy, peace and righteousness that was bought for us! Give thanks to God that He gave us His identity through Jesus' sacrifice!

Christmas (cow) Party

Everyone has their own holiday traditions. Ours is getting together with friends and exchanging inexpensive gifts in a random fashion commonly called a "White Elephant" gift exchange. We draw numbers to see who goes first, second etc. and then the person choosing can open a wrapped gift or take one that is already opened from a previous player. If your gift has been taken you can unwrap another gift or steal another and on it goes until the last gift is opened. Gifts can be funny or serious.A few years ago someone brought a small cow pin and everyone thought it was the funnest gift ever. Now every year we try to add more "cow themed" gifts to the mix until our party has become known as a "Christmas party with a cow gift exchange." It is a lot of fun and we look forward to it every year. Here are a couple of pictures showing how some of the cow theme was played out this year!


Patty and I want to wish everyone a very merry Christmas. Along with the fun lets take time to remember the reason for the season! Our Lord and Savior Jesus was born this day to save us all! That is great news! Spread it around!!

It's Not What You Know, But Who You Know

I've always thought that who you know was more important that what you know when you are looking for a job. I did not realize that the way I have been living my life as a Christian has been with this same attitude.

I approached Bible reading with the thought that if I learned enough, I would become closer to God. I felt that if I spent enough time in prayer and quiet time with the Lord that I would know Him better. Certainly these things are true. If we read the Word and spend time with God in prayer and quiet times, we will become closer to Him. But, I have been missing the whole point of having a relationship with Him. I was trying to 'know' God by doing.

Relationship: A state of connectedness between people (especially an emotional connection) . Spending time with someone is essential to establish a relationship. However connecting on an emotional level is a MUST.

My father always said that our church was an "emotional" church and I agreed with that. I 'knew' in my head that an emotional connection was essential in my relationship with the Lord, but it had not clicked in my heart. I thought that if I 'did' enough that emotions would follow.

In truth, spending time on an emotional level first increases my knowledge of who HE is. Not doing anything except desiring to know him first and foremost.

In an earlier blog on Romance, I put the definition: an intense emotional attachment or involvement between people; love. God desires a romantic relationship. Intense and emotional connection. He is a jealous God wanting ALL of our affection.

God has provided everything we need to become emotionally connected. After His ascension into heaven he sent the Holy Spirit. I am coming to learn more of the person hood of the Spirit. I have relegated Him to a lesser position than Jesus or God the Father, when He is an equal. He also wants to commune with us on the emotional and personal level to enable us to connect to the Father. In Galatians 4:6 it says that we are sons of God and He has given us the Spirit of His Son into our hearts crying "Abba! Father!".

Who do we know? The Most High, Holy God. Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. I give praise to God for His gift of Jesus Christ to cover our sins and the Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us here on earth, so that we may be partakers of bringing heaven to earth. It's all because of Who we know.

Passionate Worship

Last Friday evening there was a special speaker/worship leader, Georgian Banov. He led an intense time of worship and praise. Here is a short video clip. If it seems to have trouble playing (you probably have a slow internet connection) just pause it and wait a few minutes for it to load.




Steve says that this is what worship time is like at the school!

God's Healing Touch

During worship at Steve's class today the Holy Spirit came and touched one of the students with physical healing. His name is Benny. He had a back injury that required him to wear a back brace. He felt that the Lord told him to take it off and that he did not need it any more. He felt fine after taking it off! Give praise to the Lord.





Another testimony was from a student that had been in a car accident and broke his neck, jaw and three ribs. He had been in a halo for four months. He decided to come to the school at the last minute and was accepted. He was praying with his friends and he felt his neck pop. At first he was worried because in the past that was not good. This time he had no pain in his neck!

The King of Romance

Romance: an intense emotional attachment or involvement between people; love.

This is God's love for us. He is intensely and emotionally involved with us. The King of the Universe, the maker of all things. What an amazing thing, God's love for us.

During a speaker's testimony at church, he shared how the Lord came to him in a vision and whispered in his ear, "Tell me something romantic."

At first I really struggled with this. In today's society romance is so frequently tied to sexual thoughts. I'm having to take some time to consider, what do I say to the King of Romance. He is waiting and desiring to hear from us.

How can we reciprocate the intense love He has for us? What would you say to the King of Romance? Something to consider.....

Sacrifice?

We are staying with Jeremy and Amy, a wonderful couple living near Shasta Dam. We are still finding spaces and places for all of our stuff. It is not easy to downsize from a 4 bedroom house that we have lived in for 20+ years to a 10 x 11 room, but we are determined and our host family has been very helpful.
Patty and I have been able to take in some of the local sites. The Sundial bridge is quite an amazing piece of art+engineering. We recommend it. Today we went to Burney Falls. The falls are up in the mountains. Lots of trees! Very pretty! We took the trail down to the base of the falls and enjoyed the cool air that the falls provide.



Here is a picture of local wild life. We found this guy sunning himself so we made it a photo-op! Unfortunately another
hiker came along and startled him...poof! Snake gone! Patty and I were wondering if we did the same thing to our financial future...POOF! GONE! Two middle aged people quiting our jobs and moving a few hundred miles away to attend a school which is run by a church that is non-accredited, does not use professional teachers and has a constantly shifting curriculum!! Na, it's all good! We haven't given up very much at all! Missionaries in the old days would sell everything and use their last bit of money to ship themselves overseas with no way back! Now that is commitment! In many parts of the world, just converting to Christianity would mean you were disowned by your family and in danger of losing your life! Think about Jesus. He gave everything up He had in heaven to come down to earth! He put on human skin, humbled Himself to the point of limiting Himself to what a mortal man could do! Then He suffered unspeakable pain and shame to save the very people who turned against Him! Now THAT is sacrifice! That is selling it all for the cause! This small inconvenience we are going through is not very big or noble compared with what Jesus did for us!!

And We Are Off

We are leaving Monday morning, Sept. 10 and driving to Redding. There is much anticipation as we will get to meet our host family: Amy, Jeremy and their two children.

I, Patty, will continue to work for Hallmark and begin at 7 am on Tuesday. The Hallmark job has been such a blessing for me and my desire is to personally lead at least one person to the Lord through this job.

I, Steve, and really looking forward to school and what the Lord is going to to through me, and to me.

Continued thanks to all who have blessed us in so many ways as we have prepared to embark upon this journey that we have felt called to do.

A New Beginning

I am about to embark on a new beginning. Steve and I are leaving for Redding on September 10 where Steve is going to attend Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry. I am going to immerse myself in Bethel church. More to come.....I'm in the learning process of blogging.......