The Twin Pillars of Grace and Mercy

Today's services at ILC were incredible!!!!! This morning we were blessed to have Bro. Carl Brown teach the Adult Sunday School class. He PREACHED!!! Man, did he preach!!! He talked about worship and how we need to move beyond the HIGHS of our physical worship into the POWER of being a servant in our worship of God. Bro. Brown talked about being sure to find time to humbly approach our God and to worship at His feet. That is where we find the strength to stay on course in this race towards Heaven. The high we feel when we dance and shout for God is really about us PRAISING Him, not us getting a deep anointing and making a strong commitment to make it through our trials. By the time Bro. Brown was finished and we started into song service, many were ready to spend time at Jesus' feet. Several people who haven't really touched God in a looooooonnnnngggg while were weeping and praising God. We also had several receive renewals of the Holy Ghost. One couple was back for the first time in months after thinking that they might find a better "fit" in another church. The gentleman told me Saturday that they had found that there was something missing at all those other churches and were ready to come home!!!!
Tonight, great worship service and then some of the best preaching around. I know that I probably shouldn't admit this, but our church is blessed with some of THE best preachers in Pentecost!!! Of course I feel that Rev. Larry Booker, my pastor, is THE CREAM OF THE CROP!!!!! However, we have a tremendous pastoral staff and lay minister's who ably fill the pulpit when Bro. Booker has to be gone. Tonight, even though I shouldn't admit it, we had our second (tied with one other minister) best preacher deliver God's Word to us. Rev. Adam Pierce (or as Natalya Booker says Amad Pierce) PREACHED a MESSAGE straight from the throne of God!!!! He spoke about Samson and his vow as a Nazarite and how he slowly toyed with the "world" and broke his vows. How that even as Samson "flirted" with things he shouldn't, he still felt God's anointing. How that Samson believed because he still felt the anointing he was doing okay in God's site. How that we can't play with the world, run to the altar for safety but go right back into sin, over and over again. How that as we do that, we run the risk of hardening our hearts to God's leading and His will. But that just like Samson, after he finally gave in to Delilah and broke the final vow, had his hair cut, couldn't feel God's anointing, and was made a slave of the Philistine's, he still found grace and mercy. Bro. Adam said that just like Samson's hair started to grow back, God's mercy and grace are growing in our lives even after we have sinned. We just have to be like Samson, humble ourselves, be led to the altar or in Samson's case, the twin pillars of Grace and Truth. Samson found that when he put his hands to the pillars of Grace and Truth and humbled himself, God was still with him and anointed him again. Several young people heard what Bro. Adam said and realized that even though they had sinned, God still had grace and mercy waiting for them if they just would humble themselves and pray. One young man broke for the first time in probably close to a year! I was sooooo excited to see him weeping and praying for God's mercy and grace!!! The altars were FULL of people who, new or old, wanted to avail themselves of the twin pillars of Grace and Mercy!!!

I am sure many of you have heard the song "I Need Your Mercy" by Clint Brown but it was perfect for the altar call tonight. I wanted to leave you with the words of that song and hope that you too avail yourself of the twin pillars of Mercy and Grace!!

"I need Your mercy. I need Your grace. I need Your hand leading the way. Can't make it without You, not for one day. I need Your mercy. I need Your grace."

Fourth of July Joy

Fourth of July has come and gone....again. I am thankful for a day that has been set aside to remember the cost of the freedoms we enjoy. This year we stayed home....again and were blessed to have Mark off for 4 days. We got to enjoy having our hubby and Daddy with us from Friday before til the Thursday after the holiday. It was WONDERFUL!!!

We had a pitiful little car wash to raise money for the kids, Nathaniel and Ian to be able to attend Jr. Camp. They each made a whole $10!!! They washed their parents' cars and then four other cars of church members. The poor little guys so on the corner for hours, yelling for people to come and get a car wash, but alas, noone ventured our way. Thankfully, the kids were completely relying on the car wash for their funds. They are all going and looking forward to the week away at camp! Justin has been sooooo jazzed that he has been packed for 2 weeks!! He has to keep wearing the same clothes every few days because everything else is ready for camp! LOL

Back to the Fourth. We slept in and then Mark went to work in the fireworks booth that Lighthouse Christian Academy runs every year. The girls and I made salads, fruit, and a flag cake then got ready for the celebration at the church. After Mark came back, showered and took a short nap, we headed to the church at 4:30. I immediately went to work making sure the instruments were set up for our Jazz ensemble and groups that were going to sing.

The celebration started at 5. The church provided the tri-tip sandwiches and members brought the sides and desserts. There were quite a few people who attended and we had a huge tent set up on the parking lot with gigantic "air conditioners" set up to keep us cooled down. It was a HOT day!! The music entertainment started at 6 and we had the Rialto Youth Chorale, Lighthouse Voices, a trio, a duet and the Jazz ensemble who played and sang. Everyone did a great job and I personally had a wonderful time playing the jazzy renditions of classic church songs like Amazing Grace, The Blood, I Feel Jesus, Dance Like David, and other songs. We also had patriotic songs like I Still Do, God Bless America, America, and others.

At dusk, we started the fireworks display. There was a cordoned off section of the parking lot and everyone brought their chairs over to watch as some of the men set off a $500 box of fireworks purchased by the church. After all those were set off, the area was opened to parents and their children to set off their own small fireworks. Justin got to set off around $15 worth and LOVED every second!!

Then, it was over and everyone quickly helped to clean up and put away the tables and chairs, instruments. etc. It was a wonderful day spent with family and friends. By the way, while the celebration was going on, the customers from the fireworks booth were invited to join us. We had several families sit down with us and enjoy the food and fellowship. I hope that they come back and decide to make ILC their church home!!!

Thank God for the men who fought and are still fighting for our freedom. God Bless America, land of the free and the brave!

Justin's and Jessica's EXCELlent Joys

Well, I said I would come back and brag on my kiddos, so, here goes.

Towards the end of school, Justin went to an assembly. They were handing out awards and Justin heard his name called. His award was for being THE highest level reader in his entire elementary school. He had tested at 12.9+ on his STAR reading. That number indicates that my 9 year old is reading at college level and beyond and comprehends what he is reading!!! Needless to say, we were jazzed that he was honored and that he is doing SO well. Just goes to prove that NO TV makes a little guy love reading all the more and helps him to EXCEL!!!!

On the day that Jessica graduated, *sniff*, from 5th grade, she also was a recipient of a great honor. For academic EXCELlence, she received a letter and certificate from President Bush. It was the President's Gold Seal Certificate for Academic Excellence in her overall education! She was the only one in her class to receive this award!

Isn't that just AWESOME??? I love my babies and am SOO proud of them and their achievements.

P.S. Marissa was homeschooled, so, she didn't get any awards but we are looking forward to seeing what she will do now that she will be in 8th grade and in public school. Go Rissa!!!