I Should End In Prayer...

"Jesus told them another parable: 'The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. The owner's servants came to him and said, 'Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?' 'An enemy did this,' he replied. The servants asked him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up?' 'No,' he answered, 'because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.'" Matthew 13:24-30

Lord, we realize that there are those among the Church who are there for various motives. We pray that your Spirit would convict and convert these souls that are either deceptive or themselves deceived about their position with you. Make it clear and distinct in their hearts, which only You can do.

And God, protect your sheep! Keep them aware. Don't let them be harmed. Give them your wisdom and let their eyes be open. Surround them with godly counsel, men and women who have walked with you and watched their lives.

Most of all, for all of us who love your name, Jesus, we ask that you would come quickly! We know that these things must be, and that as the time comes for your return, that they will happen with greater frequency. Lord, come; make us long for your righteousness and ultimate vindication where you will separate the righteous unto yourself, where we will never be threatened or deceived again. Lord, let those who have been hurt and betrayed, look forward with greater anticipation to your final vindication of their cases and give them patience today to wait for you to bring that to pass.

It's in Jesus name that I ask these things,

Amen.

Blessings...To Our Friends,
Frank Sanchez

This Is Going To Be Long!

Hello All,

I warn you now that this post has been roughly 3 years in the making. If you want to take this post off and come back in a few days for the usual Frank & Lela fare, I would not blame you one bit. I have been mulling and musing over a verse for a few weeks now that has really stuck with me and has been a culmination of a lot of events that had just not made sense to me. I admit that what I am about to write will likely be disputed and I am comfortable enough to say that there may be exceptions, but what I am thinking about is more likely the rule.

I'll begin with the verse in question. Matthew 24, the Olivet Discourse and Jesus answering three eschatological questions. Somewhere after He has talked about wars, earthquakes, etc., He makes an interesting comment.

"And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold." Matthew 24:12, KJV

For whatever reason this verse has come up into my spirit quite often over the last 6 months as I watch believer after believer walk away from life long commitments to follow after their flesh. It began around Christmas time 06', when someone we believed would never fall from grace, decided that she did not want to be married any longer. Then just a few weeks later, another situation and set of people, but the same result: He did not want to be married any longer. Add to this 4 or 5 other situations just like it and you see where I am going. In most cases, the one left behind remains a solid believer, looking to do anything to right the situation.

Let me go further with you. What implications does this verse have when applied to the love that we are to have for God? Look over at Revelation 2 and the letter from Christ to the Ephesian church. Jesus notes all of these external attributes, like perseverance, good works, etc., but then says in some of the most almighty words ever spoken:

"Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love." Revelation 2:4

The note there is that church had become all about the external appearance and doing instead of being. Outwardly all appeared normal and worthy of applause. The world would look and recognize that this was a distinctive church, yet Jesus, the one whose opinion actually matters, says that He sees a busy church lacking the one thing that He desires: Love!

Going back to the original thought. Because of sin, the love of many will wax (grow) cold. It would seem then, that these people had the love to begin with, but began toying with sin, thus choking out the love for Christ and His people. This is certainly valid.

Yet, something still strikes me as odd. People can call themselves Christians all day long and NOT BE! Going back to Matthew, chapter 25 in our Bibles, but the same address, Jesus talks about separating sheep and goats, both of whom are allowed to live side by side, yet the goats are removed and set apart for judgment.

What is my point? Is there a falling away? Yes, it's happening right now. Believers are turning away from Christ, people who you never thought would. On the other hand, let's remember that there are goats around us as we speak. We can not discern who they are, so it's not our business to make any final judgement calls, but the fruits are quite evident.

• A definitive lack of repentance toward sin.

• A lack of desire for the Word of God to be applied and obeyed.

• A feelings based (sensual), subjective approach to their own circumstance.

These are but a few. Why do I write this? I admit that the people who have walked away from people that they covenanted with, make me angry, with a righteous anger that I might have toward the likes of Judas Iscariot! How dare they betray trust and sacrifice precious people on the basis of their fleeting feelings and sin obsessions! Having heard another story like this this very evening adds fuel to this fire.

But my other reason is to call true believers to look for more than our pithy cultural standards for Christian behavior. Look for true marks of one who believes. A person who is faithful to God's Word, at all times, despite what he or she feels would be one worth inviting in. Someone who is genuinely disgusted by their sin, no matter how "big" or "little" it is, would be a good friend. Someone who wants nothing more than to know God's Word and live it, fully obedient, would be a person that I would admire.

Instead what the church has been guilty of is looking at whether a person is nice, has a good family name, and doesn't cuss or listen to secular music! Our criteria is way off and we avoid it to our peril. Christians, there are WOLVES ALL AROUND YOU! DISCERN!

I, in no way, want to alienate those who have entered into a covenant relationship, only later to be deceived and betrayed. There is no condemnation here, nor do I hold you responsible for the person who might have blindsided you with their deception. Instead, because you exist, my heart goes out to anyone who might be in for the same heart ache, I beg Christians to BENEFIT from your terrible experience, and be as wise and discerning as possible, so as to MINIMIZE the risk involved in any relationship. INVESTIGATE, BE PATIENT, TEST, and WAIT FOR GOD to confirm and ONLY MOVE FORWARD WHEN THERE IS PEACE ON EVERY SIDE!

Please forgive me for this rant. I think of all the wonderful people that I know and love, who I saw marry or enter into a relationship with, only to be betrayed and cast aside like a worn out possession that gave no further pleasure. I think of them and wish that something could have been seen or done before damage was done. On the other hand, there are those that I love right now, who are on the verge of the same precipice, who perhaps are entering in without a discerning spirit. It's also for them that I take this space and beg for thoughtfulness in this area.

Christian Culture is not enough to sustain a godly life; Only conversion of the soul and being can make that a reality! Listening to the right music does not make you a Christian. Avoiding certain behaviors does not make you a Christian. ONLY CHRIST CAN MAKE YOU (DECLARE YOU) A CHRISTIAN!

In these last days, deception will be the order of the day. False prophets, false believers, false doctrines will abound. Let us who belong to Christ, who are manifesting the daily proofs of genuine conversion, cling closely to Jesus, keeping our eyes fixed upon Him, the Author and Finisher of our faith.

There...now I can get back to our usual fare!

Blessings...To Our Friends,
Frank Sanchez

Hymns, iPods & Car Washes!

Hello All,

I was cleaning out the car, readying myself for the early morning commute. On my iPod was the newest album from Fernando Ortega, "The Shadow Of Your Wings, Hymns and Sacred Songs." At the end of the vacuuming, the song Crown Him With Many Crowns came on. As is usual, Fernando's rich symphonic arrangement caught my ear, but then the words just filled my spirit with praise to the Lord. I wanted to share the words with you at least.

Crown Him with many crowns, the Lamb upon His throne.
Hark! How the heavenly anthem drowns all music but its own.
Awake, my soul, and sing of Him who died for thee,
And hail Him as thy matchless King through all eternity.

Crown Him the Lord of love, behold His hands and side,
Those wounds, yet visible above, in beauty glorified.
No angel in the sky can fully bear that sight,
But downward bends his burning eye at mysteries so bright.

Crown Him the Lord of life, who triumphed over the grave,
And rose victorious in the strife for those He came to save.
His glories now we sing, Who died, and rose on high,
Who died eternal life to bring, and lives that death may die.

Crown Him the Lord of years, the Potentate of time,
Creator of the rolling spheres, ineffably sublime.
All hail, Redeemer, hail! For Thou has died for me;
Thy praise and glory shall not fail throughout eternity.

These hymns blow your mind spiritually when you read them alone. The theology is brilliant across the board and it's rare to find GOOD arrangements that can be put into a contemporary setting, so it's my highest endorsement to recommend Fernando's albums, because he always does an excellent job of fusing the two together. The other hyms album that Fernando produced, "Hymns and Meditations" is also worth the investment.

One day, I want to do a night of hymns with my favorite musicians and invite a whole group of people to come out and sing these wonderful professions of faith, perhaps in a living room near you.

These songs are our heritage and teach us the wonder of God. I hope that you will be able to come to an appreciation of them as I have. Some of you may even want to buy a hymnal and just read it. I have 3 or 4 that I have collected and I love reading through them.

For now though, check out Fernando's efforts to bring attention to these magnificent songs of faith. I can't imagine you would be sorry.

Blessings...To Our Friends,
Frank Sanchez

We Got The Pirate Thing Right This Time!

Congratulations Woods!

Hello All,

I am proud to have gone to my sister Leah's graduation today from the University of Redlands. She is awesome and we are proud of her and thankful for the opportunity that she will have to add significance to value, by now serving the Lord wherever He deems fit to place her.

That's what I was thinking the entire time during the ceremony, that the true value of the degree she now holds, is in the fact of the platform that it will provide her to represent Christ on the Earth. Otherwise, it's a piece of paper and just another super hot day in the sun!

I am proud of my sister and what she has acheived to this moment. We call her Woods because of one conversation on a Saturday morning, where she and I joked about replacing her limbs with cheap wood limbs. It stuck!

Congratulations Leah! Well done.

On the other hand, someone needs to talk to the U of R about their interminably long commencement ceremonies! Leah, maybe that will be your first significant platform as an Alumni: Get it done in 30 minutes...Maybe we should stick to the principle of Kingdom significance!

Blessings...To Our Friends,
Frank Sanchez

Prayer Request...

Hello All,

Just wanted to throw out a quick request to everyone who reads this. Our church is having it's first Steak And Study of the season. Steve Arteburn, author of Every Man's Battle will be speaking. We have made all the noise, and we believe that God wants to use this event. We pray that it would be a poignant night for the men who come. We pray that the Lord would draw men in and that He would do a great work of healing and restoration. Would you join me in that prayer?

Thanks!

Blessings...To Our Friends,
Frank Sanchez

UPDATE: It was AWESOME! It was a blessing to have about 130 men from over 15 churches from various places on the SoCal map. Steve Arteburn was witty and SO relevant! The men were challenged and several made commitments to the Lord! Thanks for praying! Oh, and the STEAKS!!!! BRILLIANT! Bobby Flay has nothing on us!

Wise Words From Pastor Jack

Hello All,

Growing Thru Grace, Pastor Jack Abeeleen and the 91 freeway. Here's what I heard AND LOVED!

"A lot of people pay greater attention to what they were, rather than what they could become. They will tell you about [the past] but very rarely talk about where God is taking them and what they hope to see. It's so much easier to look to the past and smile at yesterday's accomplishments than to look forward to tommorow by faith and wonder what God is going to do. And yet that's what revival requires....If your really going to see God work your gonna have to put things in order and stick with it. Your life is kind of like a coin: you can spend it anyway you want, but you only get to spend it once!...The two hardest things to help people to do in the church is to think and to act in order of priorities spiritually."
Setting Biblical Goals, 2/7/07

These words just blew my mind, and the truth hurts, especially for those who hope for pre-packaged, pre-fabricated Christianity. Nobody wants to WORK at it, it seems. I am continually amazed at the struggles that we have with the most simple concepts, and it's no wonder we are a paralyzed and relatively speaking, a spiritually illiterate people.

It's my desire that each of our friends are living in the reality of a present, spiritual gut check, in the throes of a pending revival. I pray that you and I would do what was necessary, cut out what is unnecessary, and double our efforts to finish well.

Thank you Pastor Jack for the wise words. Thank you Lord for the reminder and the challenge.

Blessings...To Our Friends,
Frank Sanchez

"They Told Me I Was Dressed Like A Pirate!"

Hello All,

What you are about to see is disturbing. I just received these photos from one of our favorite babysitters, Kristin. These were taken during our last Spain Team meeting. Two things before I write more: Pictures are few and far between because our camera has permanently malfunctioned and second, Caleb is often at the very least, double teamed by girls, having two sisters.

Now, onto what happened. It was a wonderful night of fellowship and story telling. We were wrapping things up when Kristin brought the children downstairs from the Usher home. Our meeting was complete but we were sitting there chatting away (CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT!?) and lo and behold, Caleb appears before the entire group looking like this:Notice that Cameron is not "dressed like a pirate!" And truly, Caleb follows in his Daddy's footsteps, IN THAT, Daddy was also influenced by girls in his early life. For example, my cousin Julie once told me to throw a dead chicken over the fence and into her yard. So I did! Very quickly after, an adult came up to me and asked why I had thrown a DEAD CHICKEN into his yard, to which I replied, "Because Julie asked me to!"

So I guess I can excuse my son for this, though just to be sure, the next day we played with trucks, threw a football and watched the "Jack Bauer Be-A-Man" marathon! Things have gotten better for my now 4 year old son, who is learning that he should check with his Dad when it comes to appropriate Pirate garb! Hey, at least it wasn't a chicken!

Blessings...To Our Friends,
Frank Sanchez

Happy Birthday Caleb!!!

Hello All,

Today is my son Caleb's 4th birthday! It's hard to believe that just 4 years ago we brought the BWUDDA home from Redlands Community Hospital. Who could have known how much laughter he would bring to us in his life so far. He is easily the most often quoted among the Sanchez kids among the Grandparents and Aunts and Uncles. He just has a knack for saying the most wacky stuff. He is also the only Sanchez kid with his own song! We wrote the "Bwudda Bwudda" song in Spain, on our way to a cafe. It has a James Brown flavor to it and it goes like this:

He loves his burritos

He'll eat em top to bottom

He'll always love his MUDDA

His name is "Bwudda Bwudda!"

- Second verse -
He' ll dance in the rain

He loves to live in Spain

He'll wrestle with his FADDA

But He'll always hate that WADDA

Insert great sax solo...Gee, I wonder if there are any great sax players that we know...

Anyway, you get the idea. There's two more verses that are a bit obscure, ie., I forgot how they go, but like the first two, they celebrate the life of our son, who brings joy to everyone he meets.

Happy Birthday Caleb!

Blessings...To Our Friends,
Frank Sanchez

The Sweet Taste Of Victory

Hello All,

Friday night was a great night of fellowship for Lela, the kids and myself, as we drove down to Orange County for a Calvary Laguna Staff hang. It was held at Ted and Fayanna's house (Thank you guys!) and it featured good eats, a lot of laughs and the rare competitive foray, provided by the official staff game, "Catchphrase."

It began with tri-tip. Ah, if only everything began this way! Aside from being a fine teacher and an excellent leader, Chris Norman is great on the grill! He's 2 for 2 at the grill, providing some excellent meat. Then we all sat down and enjoyed some conversation together. I always think that the marks of a great staff are seen when they can sit down and talk about everything, not just work, and be totally comfortable. That has proved to be the case each time. Of course, it's always a little embarrassing, as somehow discussion of my famous mullet from the 80's and early 90's inevitably comes into play.

After dinner, we discussed some more and really got the chance to find out things about each other that would otherwise go unnoticed. I was amazed to hear the stories of family histories and the stories of how we all got married. Each of these things seem trite, but when you serve together, these things tend to really bond you with one another.

And speaking of bonding, nothing does it like catchphrase. We played our first round and the ladies took it 7-6. The especially galling part about this last round was the fact that it ended with me trying to get the guys to say "Rock Of Gibraltar." My clues were not so helpful, as I said, "mountain...large...southern Spain...MONKEYS!" I thought to myself: MONKEYS! Ridiculous! Time ran out and there was a large celebration from the female contingent, led by Tatum Norman who was especially vindicated. It was decided at that point that, however, that due to some controversy over the last round, that another round would be necessary, and then a lightning round to make sure of the victory.

The second round was contentious, with near fights breaking out! But the men prevailed. The tide really started to turn, and I dare say that I believe that God was on our side when the men guessed "Ottoman Empire!"

Finally, the lightning round saw the men win 2 to 1 and the real celebration began! High fives were rolling everywhere, the Super Bowl had been won...the ladies, well, they played with great spirit!

It was a late night, but it was a good night and a blessing for all that were there. We went home talking about what a good night it was, thankful for the team that the Lord has put together at Calvary Laguna.

Blessings...To Our Friends,
Frank Sanchez

Some Food For Christian Thought

Hello All,

I have never been much of an activist. I admit to being a bit skeptical at times, even absolutely apathetic at others when it comes to federal government issues. "CamPAIN" season is always the worst, as I generally believe that I have to believe at least one liar! Sorry...I digress...

This last week I was made aware, thanks to Focus On The Family, of a few measures before the Senate that are intended to limit professional lobbying. It's the belief of Focus that there will be language introduced into this measure that will apply to our freedoms.

Additionally, Focus has had a great week of broad/podcasts regarding the very real threat of Radical Islamo-Fascism that is worth your time to get up to speed about.

Check out this website and this blog. May the Lord lead us all to prayer, most to some civic action and some to missions in countries where the name of Jesus Christ is not known!

Blessings...To Our Friends,
Frank Sanchez

The Latest Reaction

Hello All,

Happy Belated Mothers Day to each of you! I hope that you had a wonderful celebration with your families and your mothers. Pastor Chris rightly said on Sunday that mother's day has become this atoning day where we as Americans make up for a year of neglect! As the kids get older, I am especially more thankful for our mothers, who are so gracious to spell us when we need it. Thanks Moms!

For our celebration, we went to Sylvan Park and had some kebobs with the Finfrock family. I was in charge of the kebobs, being the amateur barbecuer that I am. Lela marinated them and I "got my grill on." Someday, I hope to be good enough to have Bobby Flay come and throwdown with me! I think I might be able to take him in the BBQ Chicken department! Anyway, Sylvan Park was a good place to hang out, especially for the kids who always love the great big playground there. One scary moment occurred when Caleb let go of the swing and did a 360 degree face plant into the dirt! It was scary at first, but when we found that he was ok, we thought it was pretty cool!

Inevitably, after a while of playing with the kids, some great theological discussion occurs between several of the family members. Yesterday, we had a missionary friend of the family who has been working with ICM for many years. He is a national citizen from another country, who is supported by Americans who has noticed a disturbing trend among American Christian churches. He has noted that over the years, his support from Americans has dwindled and he was discussing and wondering out loud, why that might be.

At first I just listened, but then as I surveyed the churches that I had recently become acquainted with and their missions programs, I felt like I began to get a handle on why this is.

I believe that many of the younger churches which are just now coming into their own are reacting against this idea of foreign missions, especially in light of how much needs to be done on the home front. As a result, I have seen a large move to keep missions local, within the given county. I believe that this reaction comes from an American outlook that wants to have ownership over the mission that they are giving to, as well as more immediate results.

(Before I go on, I must reiterate that I am not talking about churches that I am affiliated with, nor the supporters of our ministry to Spain, both of which are incredible exceptions to this reactive group of others.)

It bummed me out to consider this to be the case. Have we lost our vision for foreign missions as a church universal? Every church needs to have a local outreach, but there must be an investment in the foreign mission field as well, because God's heart beat is for the nations to be reached with the gospel of Jesus Christ! When we as believers or we as the church body, give to foreign missions, we are giving money, support, resource to the area that God Himself has invested in from the beginning of time. A mature and balanced body will have their hands in both local missions and foreign missions.

It has never been easier to be involved with missions worldwide. Short-term trips, care packages, emails, phone calls are all easier to participate in than ever before.

I pray that you will not give up the fight to give the gospel to the nations. I pray that you will redeem the time and give toward Spain, where we still believe the gospel will eventually succeed. Carlos Casco, Ivan and Eunice, Brian and Andrea Jackson, are all serving the Lord there and their webpages are right there on the right side of our main page. Jason and Kris Baurenfied are serving in Australia. We have missionaries, including the one who I was talking to yesterday who are serving in countries where their freedoms may be soon revoked. This is why I do not mention their name. If you find out who and how, give what you can! The doors to some of these countries may not stay open forever.

Blessings...To Our Friends,
Frank Sanchez

Apologetics & National Media Outlets

Hello All,

Before I say anything else, let me say first that I am thankful for the brothers and sisters who are gifted and excited to enter the public arena and defend our holy and precious faith. I am thankful for ministries like The Way Of The Master, who are taking the battle to the public and have championed the cause of aggressive street evangelism. They are truly a great ministry with wonderful resources for such things.

The reason though that I write is the program that I stumbled upon last night. I was waiting to watch the 11PM sports and commercial came on advertising that "Nightline," a program that I believe employs the oldest living heart donors in the world, and constantly seems to champion an Anti-Christian agenda, was hosting a debate between some noted athiests and TWOTM's Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron. For those who missed it, here is the link to the online version. As always, I was tempted to just go to bed and avoid the carnage, but I was too intrigued, so I stayed up. Boy do I wish I went to bed!!

As usual, the Christians were fed to the lions in our modern day version of the Coliseum, and were never quite given the opportunity to prove or present anything.

The question before the world was, "Is There Proof For The Existence Of God?" It went downhill from there!

I don't write to condemn TWOTM or even ABC. Both are fulfilling their dreams and agendas. But I walked away with some observations that I wanted to get off my chest, talk about, share, etc.

First, the national media will never give a fair and balanced presentation for this explosive question. To believe that they can or desire to is naive. Does that mean that we stop trying? Certainly not! However, if we are not to be discouraged, we must anticipate an onslaught of intense dislike for the Christian Worldview.

Second, we must be clear in our gospel presentation at all times! If the name "Jesus Christ" is not named everytime we share the gospel, we are missing the opportunity. Let me explain: ABC likely edited out every mention of Jesus Christ that was in rightful context. But they did have Kirk Cameron saying that if you accepted "God into your heart..." The word "God" is not an offense to the world. And let me say that God is not who we accept into our hearts, though Jesus Christ is God! We DO accept Jesus Christ as Savior, God, Redeemer. Any gospel presentation without Jesus Christ is less than complete and not truly the powerful, life-changing message of salvation. Therefore, I would hope that if I were ever interviewed by somebody from the media, that I would have the name of Jesus Christ on my lips in every statement!

Third, and perhaps a little controversial, apologetics is an interesting practice. The word means "defense" am I right? We are to have answer for the hope that is in within us, a defense for what we believe. Should we ever be on the offense? Certainly there are occasions in conversation that will turn this way. Should we seek the opportunity to be offensive? I am not sure. Let the world be offended at Christ, she already is by the way, but let her not be offended at my method of presentation.

Let me explain further. When a sinner comes to the end of their rope, and I have seen this at funerals or just after a drunken binge or a pending jail sentence. At that point, the pride of the person lost in their sin is broken to the point of reception to the gospel. When a person, full of pride and arrogantly, radically opposed to Christ's claim upon their life, is confronted with the gospel, offering it to such a one is like throwing pearls to swine! It is damaging to the one offering it.

What is God calling us to do? Reach, disciple, and testify to the World. How has He told us to do this? To preach, verbally, the whole content of the Word of God and His salvation by faith in Jesus Christ alone, by His grace alone. When does He call us to do that? Well, I guess that is the question that I pose in this entry.

Again, I applaud Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron for their efforts. I wish I did not have to see them so utterly abused. I love their ministry and the resources they offer and I wish them well.

To the rest of us who are not in their position, we should pray for their wisdom and protection as they go out into the world and evangelize. For our part, we should seek to be involved in as committed a fashion, to the power of God unto salvation, namely the Gospel of Jesus Christ, redeeming every opportunity to share the hope that lies within us with a dying world around us.

Blessings...To Our Friends,
Frank Sanchez

Busy As Usual

Hello All,

Sorry that it has been a little quiet here this past few days. As usual, things are rather busy around the office and the house. On the office front, we are busy getting both our Steak And Study Men's Summer Series and our first Inductive Bible Study Seminar off the ground. Planning has turned to driving around the O.C. to let churches know that the Steak and Study will be especially open to the public, seeing that Steve Arterburn, author of "Every Man's Battle" will be our first speaker! This has taken a good deal of time to get going and I am excited to see it come together, here at the end of May. The IBS seminar will be taking place the first weekend of June and again, we are praying that the Lord will bless. Seeing that the Bible is CENTRAL to the vision that the Lord has given us as a Church, we put particular importance on learning to study it! I pray that we will see a great turnout for each event.

On the home front, we have been watching grass grow in the backyard and Lela has been busy keeping the house clean in case we have any potential buyers! Over this last weekend, Lela attended our ladies retreat and had a wonderful time listening to Cora Alley, who spoke to Calvary Laguna, Sanctuary Church and Calvary Chapel Carlsbad at the Murrieta conference center. Unfortunately, Renae and I both got sick and Lela needed to come home late Saturday night so that I could get to church on Sunday. I am told by other women that Lela actually got up and exhorted the ladies during the afterglow and that it was a really powerful time in the Lord Saturday night. I was so glad that she got the chance to go.

Sunday I again got to play the drums for Chris Reinhardt and even managed to play competently while heavily relying on "Contact" to keep my running nose at bay.

All in all, I was reminded during all this activity just how important it is to keep Jesus and pleasing Him, the motivation for why I do what I do. I admit that I LOVE what I am doing! I have not enjoyed myself like this for quite some time. It is very reminiscent of my time in Spain, except without the language issues! Now, that being the case, I want to do what I do for the love of Jesus, not for the love of the work for Jesus! I drive flyers around Orange County, promoting a series of events that will free men to love Jesus. I promote hard the IBS because I love to have the ability to study God's Word, SO THAT I MIGHT KNOW HIM! I love watching my wife get involved and useful to the hands of the Lord, because it pleases Him. I love playing drums, knowing that I am serving a need in His church, creating an environment whereby He is loved and honored! I am busy doing, but I never want to lose the sight of being in love with Jesus.

After all, Heaven will not be about what I did for Him, but how much I enjoyed Him in what I did! I won't find my fulfillment in service, but in perfect, uninterupted communion with Jesus, my Savior and Lord. Heaven is Jesus and even streets of gold and mansions would be empty, vain things without Him.

I pray that you would feel the same.

Blessings...To Our Friends,
Frank Sanchez