Doing the Lord's Work in So-Cal: My final days...

Hey everyone, this is me in my church office at the Norco church of Christ.

Today's date is Friday, July 29th, 2011.  Here I am sitting in the office at the Norco church of Christ.  This will be my last blog entry for the summer regarding this work as I head back to Denver on Monday August 1st, 2011 to begin my second and final year at the Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver.

So what can I say?  This has been one of the most eventful summers of my life. The last two weeks have been pretty routine as far as what has been accomplished.  Me and Andrew have had a couple of Bible studies and we did our normal visiting.

Last Saturday we had a beach trip but due to unforeseen circumstances, that event did not go as planned.

Sunday I had the privilege of preaching God's Word to the brethren at the Newland Street church of Christ after which I spent the afternoon with their preacher and his family.  We all went to lunch with some of the brethren including Jazmin and her three kids Jesse, Jeanna, and Jacob whom I got a chance to get acquainted with earlier this month at the Ignite 2011 camp.  It was really great to see them. Below is a picture with me, Jesse, Jeanna and another friend of ours Victoria.

I am at the top and the three girls from left to right are: Victoria, Jeanna, and Jesse. 

This week has been spent mostly preparing for the last two sermons I am preaching for the summer this coming Sunday, July 31st.  I will be preaching in the morning at the Mira Loma church of Christ and then Sunday night here at Norco.  Even though this is my last blog entry, my duties end this coming Sunday as tomorrow we have a morning of visiting and then as I mentioned, I have my preaching engagements on Sunday.   I have also spent a lot of time with the Chino church of Christ this week by attending their Vacation Bible School which ended last night.

I have really enjoyed having the opportunity to spend some time with the brethren at Chino.  Earlier this week I had lunch with their preacher, Steve Lloyd.  A mutual friend (my best friend) of mine and Steve described Steve as being a student of the word.  My best friend and I also described Steve as a very humble man.  Steve has been the preacher at Chino for 30 years.  If I came back to Southern California for work, I would not mind working under a seasoned preacher such as Steve.  

I also had the privilege of spending time with each of the individual elders at Chino: Gene Rupel, Corey Schissler, and Ruben Lacuata along with his wife Roma. These three individuals are also very humble men and students of God's Word who are constantly seeking to do God's will leaving no room for compromise. 

Another highlight of my summer here has been being able to explore the Spanish ministries that exist here in Southern California.  In addition to that, I had the opportunity this last Sunday night to put my Spanish to use by delivering God's Word to the Hawthorne Iglesia de Cristo (Hawthorne church of Christ) in Spanish!!! It is a skill I am still sharpening as it has only been recently that I realized my ability to speak Spanish is a talent I know God is expecting me to use to further His kingdom.  While I am honestly not thrilled with the idea of returning to Southern California full time, if the Lord wills for me to return here, I know my Spanish will come in very handy in this neck of the woods.

Chino's VBS and the Ignite Teen/Young Adult Camp where I was a counselor have been among the most exciting things I have been a part of this summer.  At Chino's VBS, it is always a joy to see the children excited about learning about many of the accounts we find in God's Word. In short, the VBS Chino hosted was a Ripley's Believe it or not theme in which the lessons were taken from some of the most amazing accounts in the Scriptures.  The lessons were of Ezekiel and the Valley of Dry Bones, David and his mighty men, Elijah and the account of the two altars on Mt. Carmel, and Balaam with his talking donkey. The adult class at the VBS was led by Steve Lloyd and each night ended with a  short puppet show that was organized by Corby, one of the members there at Chino.  Corby is very much a servant with a very humble heart. She did an awesome job working with the puppet team.  Also, before the events got started each night, dinner was served at the building.  It was mostly the ladies of the congregation that organized the dinner portion. I really don't know what we men in the Lord's church would do without our wonderful ladies who work behind the scenes to serve the Lord's people. I want to give a big shout out to them.  I contributed a little bit by showing up early to help carry the heavier items such as the water coolers and setting up tables.      

As far as my work here with Norco, it has come with its challenges but I am happy to have had the experiences that I have had.  We have accomplished a lot this summer but even after I leave here, there is still a lot more work to do.  I have had the opportunity to participate in some of the regularly scheduled events here at Norco such as men's business meetings and most recently the men's prayer meeting and breakfast with their wives at a local restaurant.  Furthermore, while here I have been able to reconnect with some of my old friends and encourage some of those who have wandered or have been wandering from the flock of the Lord's people.  Additionally, I have had the privilege of serving and encouraging some of those who are still babes in Christ who are still living on the milk of the word.  My prayer is that they will soon be able to know the meat of God's word. 

Finally, although the majority of my time here has been spent doing the Lord's work, I am thankful for the little bit of time I have had to spend with my own family. My stepmother was gracious enough to let me stay in the home where I used to live which provided me a place to sleep at night after a hard day's work in the Lord's kingdom.  

Even though my work here with the Norco church of Christ and with the Lord's church in the greater Southern California area is coming to a close, my work in His kingdom as a whole is far from over.  I am anxious to get back to Denver to continue what the Lord would have me do out there as I begin the next step of my journey.  And this is the case for all of us who are members of His church from those who have been recently born into Christ to those who have been Christians for years, our work is not over and we can't rest from our work until we reach heaven's gates.  So as I close my blog on "Doing the Lord's Work in Southern California" I leave you with the following Scripture from Hebrews 4:9-11 "So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.  For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.  Therefore, let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience."  

This is David Malley, signing off from a church office in Norco, California. Thanks for following me this summer and keeping me in your prayers.  Please pray for my safe travels back to Denver on Monday. KEEP UP THE GOD WORK! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS! Oh yeah and THINK SOULS! 

   

The unexpected...

The title of this blog really fits the way this last week went.  Almost everything that happened was unexpected.

Sunday.  On the last day of our camp, Andrew and I agreed to swap preaching positions at the last minute which is part of the  unexpected.  I preached a sermon about being persistent in prayer based on Luke 11:5-13.

Monday.  Monday, me and Andrew took it relatively easy simply because we were recovering from our camping trip.

Tuesday.  This is when the week really started to tail spin for two reasons, one good and one bad.  My day here started running some personal errands including getting a haircut.  It was while I was at the haircut place, that me any the person cutting my hair started to talk about what I did for a living so I told her.  The discussion led to her desire to get back into church "especially now" as she put it.  I asked her why "especially now" and she said because of all that is going on in the world, she wants to be sure she goes to heaven. This was an opportunity staring me right in the face so I told her the Bible tells us we can know we are going to heaven and I asked her if she would be interested in studying more about the subject and she said yes so we have a Bible study set for the end of this week.  I am super excited.  Now I said this week tail spinned for a bad reason also.  I found out on this day that someone who was supposed to move in with me could not apply for a lease at my apartment and now I am in a jam that I am working to resolve to put it concisely.

Wednesday.  This day was mostly spent on the phone trying to get my living situation figured out but it was at dinner time when something else unexpected happened. I went to Del Taco for dinner before evening Bible study and when I did I took my Bible in with me to look at a text I have been studying while I ate. Of course before I ate, I also prayed for my food.  In the middle of all this though, there was a family sitting elsewhere in the restaurant and the father/husband of the family called out to me because he saw what I was doing.  This man's name was Tim.  He attends another church and we talked about each other's salvation and agreed to study sometime about salvation and the gospel message so we exchanged phone numbers and I would call him the next day.

Thursday.  Thursday morning I called Tim and me and Andrew ended up studying with Tim about the gospel message over lunch that day.  It went relatively well and Tim is interested in continuing to study.

Friday.  Friday was a day off but on short notice, I managed to catch up with one of my old friends Friday night for coffee where we discussed some things concerning the Scriptures and happenings in the Lord's church.

Saturday.  Saturday was spent following up on some contacts we had met door knocking in earlier months and I was excited that many people were receptive and open to possibly studying the Bible as well as attending services here at the Norco church of Christ.

These are the highlights of some of the unexpected things that happened over this last week doing the Lord's work in Southern California.  If there is anything I have learned over this last week, it is to EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED!

THANKS FOR READING! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!  

Ignite 2011

 

Ignite 2011 campers, staff, and counselors. I am sixth from the left and Andrew is fourth from the right.  

With only 3 weeks left for me here in Southern California, last week was probably the highlight of my whole summer spent here doing the Lord's work in Southern California. Me and Andrew spent last week serving as counselors at the Ignite Your Faith Teen/Young Adult camp.  We served as counselors of six middle schoolers and also enjoyed time with some old friends while making several new ones.  The theme was "Texting" in which Joe Wells, known for his Kaio magazine from Focus Press, spoke about the messages we send and receive  We were there for four days.  The following is a breakdown of all the happenings from the messages delivered by Joe to the activities and highlights of the week.

Camp Banner

Day 1. Wednesday.  Wednesday was everyone's arrival day.  Upon arrival, one of the first people I saw was Exavious Farley a.k.a Za.  I was really excited to see him simply because he had worked at my former congregation while I was there and he became one of my mentors and taught me a lot of what I know about spiritual leadership. Za was there with his wife Krishon and their almost two year old daughter.  Got to give credit where credit is due.  Other than that, me and Andrew received our cabin assignment.  We were to be counselors in cabin 10 and little did we know that the boys of cabin 10 would make life fun but interesting for me and Andrew.  Our boys' names were Derrick, Jaimir, Jairo, Caleb, Morgan and we had two boys named Michael.   That first day was simply spent unpacking followed by dinner.  After dinner, we had the first of four PM lessons dealing with cultivating the soil as described in the Parable of the Sower found in Luke 8:4-15.   Following the lesson, we had an ice breaker which allowed the campers to interact for a little bit and then at the end of the night we had the first of our nightly campfires. There were a few skits performed at the campfire but the highlight of them all was when the daughter of one of the guys' there came forward and wanted to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.  It was awesome because this little girl is only a few years old. Following the campfire we all went back to our cabins and had a brief devotional before lights out.  After lights out, this is when me and Andrew discovered our boys were full of energy and they talked to each other until about 1:30 or 2 in the morning.  But this was the case with most of the cabins and their counselors, if not all.

Day 2.  Thursday.  This is when the camp really got kick started.  We got up and had our first camp breakfast which for a camp, the food altogether was pretty decent. After breakfast, we had our cabin cleanup followed by Joe Wells' first of four AM lessons dealing with the messages we send and receive.  The first lesson dealt with being a good medium.  For those who don't know a medium is that which you use to send a message.  For example, your cell phone is the medium by which you send a text message.  God uses people as His medium to get His message out to the world.  This lesson also involved getting rid of all the other messages that fill and corrupt our mind so that we can be good messengers for God.  To illustrate his point, Joe used Mark 7:1-8.  Following the morning lesson, all the counselors spent some time with their respective cabins having a discussion time with some questions that were provided regarding the lesson Joe delivered that morning.  After the discussion time, we had lunch followed by some free time where several of us went canoeing at a nearby lake.  It was here that I got caught up with an old friend, Andrea and discussed what was going on at my former congregation.  Following the free time, we had dinner followed by Joe's second lesson dealing with examining the sower of the seed and a brief part of it was spent on identifying those who are lost according to the Scriptures.  Joe also talked about how Jesus responded to these people.  At campfire that night, we were told the results of the cabin inspections in which the different cabins would compete for the most points to receive ice cream at the end of the week.  The top boys and girls' cabin would receive the ice cream. We started off with only 3 points.  Andrew led the devotional time at campfire on this night and gave his testimony about how he was converted via the internet emphasizing how we can use technology to spread the gospel message.  After campfire, we returned to our cabin where Jairo read us a ghost story from his book that he brought with him.  Also, another highlight of the night was that the "Ignite Patrol" composed of our camp director Kevin Bearly, his son Eric, Adam Kimber (the guy whose daughter sang) and Za came to our cabin to make sure we were ok and said a prayer for us.  Also, somehow that night, I was given the nickname "Super Dave." This was once again another late night with the boys of cabin 10. :-)

Day 3. Friday.  Friday began as usual with breakfast followed by Joe's second lesson on Texting dealing with the senders in our lives and he talked about who all is trying to send us messages such as advertisers and the various influences we have in this world today. During our breakout session, Andrew had  Morgan lead the study which was an effort to teach our boys how to teach.  Another thing we woke up to on Friday was the attack of the "Green Phantom."  The Green Phantom was organized by some of the girls from the various girls' cabins.  The Green Phantom was a mass pranking scheme in which different items from the various boys' cabins were stolen.  All that was stolen from cabin 10 was a towel.  This was brought to a stop by one of the female counselors because she did not find it amusing. Following all this we had some free time in which the staff competed in a basketball game against the campers and counselors.  I played for a little bit but not long.  This was followed by dinner and Joe's lesson on the seed we sow.  A highlight about that night was that Joe read various notes that had been anonymously written by people who described why they were or were not a Christian.  Joe had asked us all to do this the night before and Joe read some of the ones that really stood out to him.  That night at campfire, cabin 10 performed a skit based on one of the ghost stories Jairo read us the night before. This skit involved Jairo simply reading the story and when he got to the scary part, the rest of the guys would sit behind the girls and scare them.  We pulled it off quite successfully.  One of the girls I scared turned around and hit me after I did this. It was pretty funny. Another skit was performed this night by the girls who were "The Green Phantom" as a pun on what had happened and bringing closure to the Green Phantom prank scheme.  Andrew also performed in this skit because prior to it being stopped, the girls had asked him to steal one of our boys' towels again.  At the end of campfire, I lead a devotional based on 1 Timothy 4:12 dealing with how we should not let people look down on us simply because we are young.  After this, Ellen, Kevin Bearly's wife gave cabin 10 some supplies so that we could add some spiritual touches to our cabin in an effort to gain some more cabin points.  We decorated late into the night going to bed around 1:30 or so as usual.

Day 4. Saturday.  This day got off to a rough start as me and Andrew had to sit down and talk to the boys with the assistance of another counselor, Tyrell, to resolve some issues that were going on among them that needed to stop.  Tyrell is one that I gained a lot of respect for because he has a way of talking to the boys and always seems to have an encouraging word on his tongue.  Joe's lesson that morning dealt with making sure the messages we send and receive are accurate and truthful due to the fact that much of the information we send and receive in this day and age can be false. Saturday was nice because the college age campers led the breakout sessions with the younger teens while the counselors took a much needed break.  Following lunch we headed over to the challenge course (pictured below) that we couldn't do the day before due to weather.  This was an activity that tested our strength and our will.  My upper body strength failed me halfway up the rock wall as I raced Andrew so I hate to admit I didn't make it up and Andrew won the race.  We also did a zipline in which Joe Wells' little girl Mikayla and another camper Tawny boldly overcame their fear and did the zipline.  A few tears were shed because of their fear but I was proud of them at the end of it all.  Joe Wells' son, Colton also did the zipline.

Camper Jesse making the climb.  Zipline over to the right. 

Following all this, we still had some free time.  We then had dinner and went to Joe's fourth PM lesson dealing with the fact that it is now time to plant the seed because the soil is ready.  Following that we had our last campfire where cabin 10 performed "Bully Goliath" which was a modern day version of the David and Goliath story.  The point of it all was repaying evil with good and how God and His love can conquer even the greatest of our enemies.  Also, one of the female counselors, Kim performed a "Christian rap" with help of another counselor, Tyrell doing the beat boxing. Another camper and a close personal friend, Raymond also told a very personal and touching story about his struggle with doubt and how he overcame that struggle.  After campfire, I saw him encouraging another camper.  Based on what I saw, something tells me Raymond will one day make a phenomenal preacher and I told him so.  Another camper, Brandon, also built on the thoughts I delivered earlier in the week based on 1 Timothy 4:12.  The night closed out with Kevin Bearly delivering our final campfire devotional which was a powerful message about what it means to be a disciple of Christ.  The night ended with the staff ordering pizza for all the cabins and me and Andrew had a prayer with the boys of cabin 10 after which I took the following picture.

The boys of Cabin 10

Day 5. Sunday. This was our final day at Ignite in which we began our morning with breakfast followed by a Bible lesson by Joe Wells dealing with the receiver of the message and how we would respond to the gospel message as well as others' response.  We then had a worship service where Eric delivered a short sermon.  Also, some of the campers delivered their reflections on the week and others led the Lord's Supper.  Before going home, the whole camp would have lunch together.  Me and Andrew unfortunately had to miss the meal because me and Andrew had to get back for a men's business meeting here at Norco. 

Ignite 2011 Final thoughts.  While at Ignite, I reconnected with several of my old friends but also made a lot of new ones.  Among the ones that will hold a special place in my heart are the following:

The boys of cabin 10. These boys being middle schoolers were definitely a handful but they were a joy and I will miss each one of them.  I hope to see them again next year even if I am not their counselor. 

Jairo, one of the cabin 10 boys I will miss especially because he is very mature for his age and he has a quiet spirit, a rare and admirable quality in the Lord's church today.  He was an encouragement to both me and Andrew as more often than not Jairo would follow closely behind us and listen in on our conversations. I anticipate the Lord working mightily in his life. 

Jazmin (Pictured playing a game with her daughter Jesse below) and her kids.  Jazmin was one of the female counselors and had a very joyful spirit.  I had the privilege of canoeing with her while she took some pictures of the others while out on the lake.  Her two daughters Jesse and Jeanna were great as well as they were always willing to chat.  Jesse would also go out of her way to say hi to me and Andrew if we were near her.  Jacob was also great to hang out with.  I had met him last year at the beach but hadn't seen or spoken to him since so it was good to see him.

Jazmin with daughter Jesse playing Mancala.

I can't forget Za. As I mentioned before, Za was one of my old mentors and I will miss him bunches.  I hope to see him again next year.  It was great seeing him and his family and I felt like I was under his mentorship once again as he gave me a tip on sermon preparation.  A tip all preachers need to remember. The bulk of our sermon preparation is not spent studying the text or doing the outline but it needs to be spent in prayer. 

Tawny and her brother Brandon were also among the ones that stood out.  Tawny had a very joyful spirit and like Jesse, was always willing to say hello in her own way if she saw you.  Brandon desires to become a preacher so I found myself giving him some information on how great my preaching school, the Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver really is. I hope to see him go there one day. 

Barry and his sister Kassie.  Barry was one of the college counselors was the source of a lot of laughs as he has a God given talent to do puppets and various voices.  He was in a lot of the campfire skits.  He has a love for the Lord and desires to use his talents for the furthering of His kingdom.  His sister Kassie was one of the female counselors and she too has a very joyful spirit and has a talent for entertainment.  She was encouraging to be around.  

Tyrell, mentioned earlier I will also miss.  As I said before, he is a very loving individual and seems to always have an encouraging word on his tongue.  

What I have described in this blog is only a small glimpse into the good times and the spiritual encouragement that was received at this year's Ignite Teen/Young Adult camp.  There are so many others who made this last week special in their own way.  It was a great experience and I will miss all the brethren I have fellowshipped with and shared good times with.  I will miss Ignite as it was hard to leave. My prayer is that I might be able to return next year.  The boys of cabin 10 and I related well as I leave Ignite with the nickname "Super Dave." :-).  Finally, my prayer is that everyone has left Ignite encouraged and that everyone seeks to glorify God and do His will.  Finally, I pray that everyone, like me, has left Ignite with their faith IGNITED!

     

       

Joys and frustrations...

I have titled this blog they way I did because this last week was a roller coaster to say the least.

On Sunday night, I preached at my former home congregation and while I thought I was prepared, the distractions that presented themselves right before I preached rattled me a little bit.  The auditorium was hot, my audience was small due to meetings that had been going on between services earlier in the day and to add insult to injury, one of the members pulled me aside and while he never directly criticized my sermon, it was implied, though never stated that I came off as legalistic which according to another audience member, I did not.

Monday was also frustrating because due to logistical issues, me and Andrew were unable to do the work we had intended to do at the local community college here in Norco.  By lunch time on this day, the day became somewhat bittersweet because I got to see two old friends of mine for lunch. While it was good to see them, my reason for getting together with them was because they have been wandering from the flock for a while and these two young men have become one of my primary ministries this summer due to my relationship with them.

Tuesday was our usual door knocking/visiting.  We visited with a couple who had been to our congregation some time in the past but had not been back to the Norco congregation for some time.  Me and Andrew left them with some info about the congregation and hope to see them again.  We also saw Kim who was interesting to talk to because she recognized the family environment that exists here at Norco whereas another church she had visited does not present that same atmosphere, as Kim put it, at the other church she felt like she "was nobody" whereas here at Norco, everyone is acknowledged.  We hope to see Kim back at Norco soon.  Tuesday ended with a mini counseling session with me and one of the young men I had lunch with on Monday followed by our usual Tuesday young adult Bible Study where we looked at the concept of jealousy as well as our god being a jealous God.

Wednesday was a bit slower as time was spent in the office, Wednesday was pretty uneventful.

Thursday morning was spent helping our preacher here at Norco with some yard work at his house. I tell you I did this because as Christians we are called to serve so I took advantage of this opportunity to serve. Thursday afternoon was taken off to visit some friends of mine that were visiting from Denver, Brian, Deann, Joe, and Anna Wilkie.  They are great people and I enjoyed the time I had with them.  Joe is also one of my classmates at the Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver.  He is great friend, brother in Christ and not to mention a great roller hockey player.  With them, I enjoyed the ever famous In N Out Burger (pictured below) and then I went with them to watch Joe play one of his roller hockey games which is part of a local tournament he is in.

Friday and Saturday were both taken off as we had some family come in for the July 4th weekend who are staying until Friday of this week.  

So again, between seeing family and dealing with the ups and downs of ministry, this last week was a combination of joys and frustrations but at this point in my time working with Andrew and the Norco church of Christ, it has been worth every minute and truth be told I am loving it! 

THANKS FOR READING EVERYONE! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS AND HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY JULY 4TH!