Christmas 2008 on a Flip Video
Christmas Eve 2008 from Call On Jesus on Vimeo.
U.S. Open or a Divine Appointment
Over a year ago, I was scheduled to be in San Diego during the weekend of June 14 & 15. I was able to secure some tickets to the U.S. Open that was held at the beautiful Torrey Pines Golf Course. It was a tad exciting to walk the course and to see the best golfers in the world. The only problems were that the tickets cost $100 each, parking was a hassle, there was A LOT of walking involved, and it was hot… but the most difficult thing was the fact that you had to dodge the other 42,000+ people who were all there for the same experience.
Now, you need to know that I enjoy the game of golf. For the most part, it is one of life’s simple pleasures that allows me to get a little exercise in, and, of course, I love to compete. So when you wrap all of this information together, then you might realize to what degree I was hyped up about attending the 2008 U.S. Open (which, by the way, Tiger Woods won).
Little did I know that the reason for my trip was that the Lord had SEVERAL divine appointments for me. See, I had all these great plans, but the Lord had other plans. Can all God’s people say????? Amen!!!
The first divine appointment came at dinner one night. There were three of us having dinner at a Mexican restaurant, and in the middle of the dinner, a waitress walks up to our table out of the blue and asks us if we believed in the Bible. That’s the equivalent of God lobbing a softball in my direction saying, “Dudley, see if you can hit this out of the ballpark.” “Of course!!!” we said, and we proceeded to discover that our waitress had been eavesdropping and had heard us talking about the Bible. She just wanted to learn more. She was from Mazatlan, where she explained that $4.00 was a day’s wage in her hometown, so she is waitressing here in the United States to earn money to send back home to her family. She did NOT have a nice Bible, so this week I know the Lord would have me send her a Bible for her continued growth and interest in the Lord.
Secondly, we had to shuttle (catch a ride) to Torrey Pines because of the crowded parking situation and the woman who drove us began to ask some questions about our church. I’m not sure she heard anything I said, but I know that the Lord used me to plant some seeds into her heart. I was able to tell the person who drove us to the golf course that God revealed Himself to us through His son, Jesus, and that’s why we study the Gospels to learn more about Jesus.
Finally, once inside the ropes of the tournament, I was one of 42,000 people spread out over a rather large golf course, and had only been inside the gates a few minutes when I heard my name called out. It was a lady who attends the Westside campus (mywestsidechurch.com). She, too, was attending the U.S. Open with a friend of hers. We talked for a few minutes, she introduced me to her friend, and–praise the Lord–I was able to walk a hole or two with her friend just to meet him and plant a few seeds within his heart as well.
While I was leaving, it dawned on me that I thought I was there for my own enjoyment, but the Lord had me there for these three divine appointments. For me, it was a vivid reminder of Luke 19:1-1o, where Jesus, in the midst of a vast crowd, looks up and sees Zacchaeus, the Tax Collector, and right there on the spot, the Lord has an encounter with a man who desperately needed salvation.
So remember, whenever you have a plan, the Lord might have another plan. Remember that wherever you go, the Lord might be sending you there for a divine appointment. Remember that even in a crowd, God may have a divine appointment for you, and that appointment will be a MILLION times more significant that seeing someone hit a little ball into a little cup.
Baptism at the Beach 07
Joe the Pizza Man being baptized
Dudley and Joshua Merrill baptizing in the big Waves…
Worship by the Shepherd Team
Yesterday was a day of all days. We had close to 250 people baptized into the name of Jesus. The waves were big…. the crowds were big…. and the Lord showed up in a BIG way.
Words are difficult to come by as I think about the first day of the Church in Acts 2 where some 3,000 people were baptized at one time… I actually felt like it was the day of Pentecost yesterday as I saw so many tears and so many decisions for Jesus Christ. People were stepping out to proclaim their faith and to walk in obedience. We were there to testify that we believe in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
We had people from both the Porter Ranch Campus as well as the West L.A. campus be baptized. We even had someone who walked up and started asking questions and one of our staff members led this individual into making a decision for Jesus Christ and was baptized that very moment.
I shared the story of a woman who had been a Jehovah’s Witness for 35 years and was there to be baptized, knowing that her family was going to disown her for becoming a Christian, and yet she was soooooooooooo blessed to see so many other people giving their lives to Jesus, too.
You see, God is at work in our lives and in our church. Check back to the blog soon, and we hope to post a video from this day. For now I will post a few pictures…..
Thank you JESUSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!
for loving us
for saving us
for forgiving us
for redeeming us
for freeing us
for blessing us……
we love you…!!!!!!!
Toto, Kansas, and Tornadoes
Whenever I am asked where I’m from, I usually tell people, “Me and Toto are from Kansas.” You remember Toto, don’t you?? The cute little dog that belongs to Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. You have to understand that if you grew up in Kansas, it’s part of the fiber of that state to watch that movie. I always liked the Tin Man for various reasons, and I recall watching that movie as a young boy on television. When I saw that tornado for the very first time, I can still remember my realization of the fear and destruction that they can cause.
There were MANY times growing up in Wichita, Kansas that we would hear the sirens and head for shelter. Oftentimes the sirens were only precautionary, and we felt like we were hiding in the basement for no good reason.
This week in Greensburg, Kansas, a small community in the southwest corner of the state, the sirens were for real. One of the largest tornadoes ever recorded completely destroyed this city, and after looking at the picture above, the amazing thing is that only eight people were killed. I do not take lightly any of the deaths of the eight, but when one looks at the photograph above, it seems to me that thousands could have died.
The explanation for this is that MANY people who had heard these sirens MANY times before, perhaps a thousand times before, still decided to go to their shelters, basements, and underground bunkers JUST IN CASE a tornado actually did hit, and SURPRISE…. IT ACTUALLY DID HIT, with such force and power that the devastation was overwhelming.
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, please pray for the people who lost everything. Pray for those whose family members died. Pray for those unsaved, that perhaps they will turn to God during these trying times, and pray for all who will have to rebuild and start over again. Unlike Toto and the Tin Man, this is NOT a make believe story. This is reality.
And for us???? We need to realize that even though we’ve heard the warning a thousand times before, one day the Lord Jesus Christ will, indeed, return, and the only ones that are going to be saved are those that are hiding in the shelter of His love. Will you not heed the warnings that we read about over and over again in the Word of God that Jesus is the Lord of Lords, and that one day EVERY knee will bow and EVERY tongue will confess that Jesus is, indeed, Lord of All?
Who is Standing at the Door??
My father sent this to me, and I thought I would post it…. It is powerful….
I stand by the door. I neither go too far in, nor stay too far out. The door is the most important door in the world – it is the door through which people walk when they find God. There’s no use for me to go way inside and stay there when so many are still outside, and they, as much as I, crave to know where the door is. And all that so many ever find is only the wall where a door ought to be. They creep along the wall like blind people, with outstretched, groping hands, feeling for a door, knowing there must be a door, yet they never find it … So I stand by the door.
The most tremendous thing in the world is for people to find that door – the door to God. The most important thing any person can do is to take hold of one of those blind, groping hands, and put it on the latch – the latch that only clicks and opens with the person’s own touch. People die outside that door, as starving beggars die on cold nights in cruel cities in the dead of winter – die for want of what is within their grasp. They live, on the other side of it – live because they have not found it. Nothing else matters compared to helping them find it, and open it, and walk in, and find Him … So I stand by the door.
Go in, great saints, go all the way in. Go way down into the cavernous cellars and way up into the spacious attics. It is a vast, roomy house, this house where God is. Go into the deepest of hidden casements, of withdrawal, of silence, of sainthood. Some must inhabit those inner rooms, and know the depths and heights of God, and call outside to the rest of us how wonderful it is. Sometimes I take a deeper look in, sometimes venture in a little farther; but my place seems closer to the opening … So I stand by the door.
There is another reason why I stand there. Some people get part way in and become afraid, lest God and the zeal of His house devour them, for God is so very great, and asks all of us. And these people feel a cosmic claustrophobia and want to get out. “Let me out!” they cry, and the people way inside only terrify them more. Somebody must be by the door to tell them that they are spoiled for the old life, they have seen too much: once taste God, and nothing but God will do any more. Somebody must be watching for the frightened, who seek to sneak out just where they came in, to tell them how much better it is inside. The people too far in do not see how near these are to leaving – preoccupied with the wonder of it all. Somebody must watch for those who have entered the door, but would like to run away. So for them, too, I stand by the door.
I admire the people who go way in, but I wish they would not forget how it was before they got in. Then they would be able to help the people who have not yet even found the door or the people who want to run away again from God. You can go in too deeply and stay in too long, and forget the people outside the door. As for me, I shall take my old accustomed place, near enough to God to hear Him, and know He is there, but not so far from people as not to hear them, and remember they are there, too. Where? Outside the door – thousands of them, millions of them. But, more important for me, one of them, two of them, ten of them, whose hands I am intended to put on the latch. So I shall stand by the door and wait for those who seek it. “I had rather be a door-keeper …” So I stand by the door.
13 Baptisms on the Westside Campus
My joy is overflowing at our services this past weekend. There was such a great spirit on both campuses and we held a baptism service in Westwood where 13 people gave their lives to Jesus Christ and were baptized into Jesus’ name. So many of you have sacrificed in order for this to take place.
Pictured above is David Chan and Diane Hsu. David grew up in our church but recently started dating Diane and she’s been attending the Shepherd Westside in Brentwood. We purchased Diane a Bible and she began reading God’s Word and she eventually stepped forward to accept Jesus Christ as her Lord and Saviour and she was one of the 13 that was baptized this past weekend.
I pray that each of you understands why we have the video service at 11:30 and why we started this campus on the Westside. It’s because of people like Diane who otherwise would NOT have had the opportunity to be saved. I want to thank each of you again for being people who truly care about reaching lost people. And more importantly David and Diane thank you. 🙂
Just think how thankful Jesus must be!
Shepherd continues to set the mark for committed people being obedient to the great commission. Matthew 28:18-20.