Healing Conference this weekend

I am going to get to go to Disneyland for a couple hours on Thursday morning - to get a couple people into the Park to enjoy the day before the Healing Conference begins on Friday morning at Cerritos Baptist Church.

So, who is going to Disneyland, you ask? Well, it's the conference speaker, Dean Fujishma. God is working through him and his ministry, to bring healing to those in need and to bring the Good News to people who need soul healing.

As I hear (since I wasn't there), one of the members of Catalyst Christian Community was healed during their Retreat, late last year. She had a hearing issue since birth and could not ever hear before in one ear. God healed her and now she has to get used to hearing in full stereophonic sound instead of mono. She is a musician, too, and for a musician to play well without hearing well is no easy thing - so with full hearing, I'm sure that will make her an even better musician.

Prayer heals! Come out to the Healing Conference. Here is the schedule:

April 16-17, 2010, Cerritos Baptist Church
Friday 9-4, with lunch from 12 - 1:30 (on your own)
Saturday, 9-4 with lunch again from 12 - 1:30 (on your own) and 7-10 Healing Service.

Cerritos Baptist Church is on Del Amo, between Pioneer and Norwalk in Cerritos, CA:

11947 Del Amo Blvd.
Cerritos, CA 90703
562-860-1720

This event is sponsored by Catalyst Christian Community
Pastor Barry Deguchi: 562-405-1241
Bob Aisawa: 714-403-1637
Pastor Ron Miyake: miyake@evergreensgv.org

Did you ever think why?

Why are we put on this earth? We are here to praise God and to bring others to know Him, through Jesus Christ. We praise Him because He is worthy. In fact, He is the only one who is worth of worship and praise.

Oh, yes, we feel we need to praise others for their good works, or we want praise from others because we did something better that we did before or better than someone else has done. BUT is that really something worthy? It is relative to scale - what are we talking about?

It's like the difference of being a small child and beating Grandpa in a game of checkers. We think we are doing something great, something worthy of praise. But is it, really? God has made the universe. He figured out DNA without much thought and voila, we are astounded. He sent Jesus, the divine human extension of Himself, to heal the sick and raise the dead, but only doing these things to bring Heaven to Earth. There is no sickness in heaven. There is no death - in fact there is only life. We humans think it's great to invent something, like a piece of material that will hold 20 times it's weight in liquid, or a machine that will stitch two pieces of cloth together and therefore make it easier to build a wardrobe. But God made life! Think about it. We struggle to keep a plant alive. But who made the plant? Who made the animals? What makes something alive?

God breathed life into the first man, Adam. It says so, right in the Bible, Genesis 2:7. Think about that - can you breathe into a doll and make it suddenly alive? What makes life? What makes the heart beat, the brain think, the soul live? I don't know if we will ever figure it out. But God has done this great and awesome thing, and He is doing more and more. How, you say? Is revival around the corner, and will many turn to Jesus in our lifetime? I think yes, but we as conduits are way behind. There are so many distractions to turn our heads away from God and focusing on the wrong things. I am more guilty that I want to admit. In fact, I spent 3 hours tonight in the kitchen. But during those hours, I watched several TV episodes of the same series, hemmed two pairs of jeans, cooked dinner, ate dinner, washed some clothes, and looked at my computer. Do you think I spent any of that time listening to God? No, I did not. I am guilty of not letting God stay in control. I have a long way to go to live a kingdom life.

Reading today in Bill Johnson's "The Supernatural Power of a Transformed Mind," I felt convicted. I too would like to have miracles happen around me as everyday experiences. I would like to be able to clean up/heal a broken arm as easily as washing a dish. But letting life's distractions get in the way is really disheartening at the end of the day. Looking back over the events of the day is not amusing. The day should have started by asking, "What will God do through me today?" and instead it was full of total distractions, makeing it hard to feel that anything will move forward - in fact, I'm no more pushed forward with any goals than I was yesterday. If this keeps up it will be the same next month and next year. This is not what I want and yet, I can see it happen because the days and months go by so fast. It's already tax time and to where has the first quarter of the year gone?

I'm starting to ramble, due to the unfinished state of my house, my thoughts, and my sleep. I need to call it a night. I will remember to worship God first thing, through prayer and getting to church in the morning (it's Saturday night, now). But my mission in life should and will be to focus on bringing people into the Kingdom and showing them how God is bringing Heaven on earth right now!

Wish list

Here are things that I would like to either happen or like to have happened already - that haven't - and perhaps never will. This wish list is self-deprecating.

1. I would like to have been a great pianist who could sight read the most difficult piece of music with ease, even in a key with 7 sharps, and make it sound like I made it up as I played. I would have like to play with feeling and emotion that made it sound like I was bearing my soul and that the music and I were one.

2. I would also like to have been a naturally gifted singer with a 4 octave range, who could sing in any style (sans opera- don't care to be an opera singer) and move people to joy and tears in the same song.

3. Although I can play many instruments, I can't play any of them well. I would like to have the ability to play them all, in all genres and styles, with ease and feeling, and play in front of pros without feeling inferior.

4. I want to write an exciting adventure/mystery/inspirational novel.

5. I want to afford a live-in housekeeper who will keep my house clean and neat. I also want someone to organize my house and decorate seasonally.

6. Even though I believe that God heals and that He doesn't wish suffering of His people, I want to see miraculous healing as everyday occurences. I want healings to be so common that they aren't considered extraordinary anymore.

7. I used to write songs. I want to write songs - 35 years later, and have them be relevant, contemporary, and interesting. I don't want to write bubblegum songs or one note/3 chord boring songs.

8. I want to produce a Musical or a Play - is it too much to ask to Produce on Broadway? The only thing in my way is my lack of wanting to give everything else up to dedicate my time and energy to do this. Sure show business is just that - business. I am exposed to that end of the business every day. What I am talking about is the creative energy that producing a show would churn in me.

9. Yes, it's true. I want to read without reading. I want to touch a book and know what is in it. I want to experience the pleasure and emotion of reading without having to actually read. No, I don't mean I want to see a movie. I must have ADD because I start reading and just want to get it over with - but also know what was in the book, what the characters went through, and how it ends.

10. I want to know God. Can we ever really know God? I am not trying hard enough.

Nov. 15 - Fires in the OC

This is really devastating! I'm watching KNBC and have been most of the the afternoon. Most of the sky is full of dust, debris, and smoke, and I'm at least 15 miles from any fire. It smells of burned wood and is very smokey, outside.

Homes along the 91 freeway east of the 55 have been destroyed by fire. These aren't even brush fires - they are homes on fire! I watched an entire apartment complex of 250 units go up in flames over the last 1.5 hours. It was along the 91 freeway! They first called it the Corona Fire, and then the Yorba Linda Fire. It then spread to Brea and then to Anaheim Hills. It's all the same fire, sparked by burning embers.

When my family moved to a new home (new to us) in Gardena, in July, 1958, the Signal Hill fire was burning. I remember that the sky way off in the distance was black. It smelled like it does today, burning wood. Today, in Signal Hill, many don't remember that there was a fire there, and there are many homes up there today. That would be devastating but it could happen again! The fires today are fast-moving and are unpredictable.

But when we see fire in residential communities along a freeway, it really hits close to home. What's to stop it ? The news just said that a home 3 miles away from the closest fire just went up in a blaze. It's windy outside and those burning embers travel far. My car is full of ash.

The news reporter just said that someone opened their garage door, got into their car and started it up and the car went up in a blaze.

Last night, there was a fire that started in Sylmar and the San Fernando Valley. It went through a whole mobile home complex, with hundreds of homes going up in flames.

I am praying for the safety of the firefighters, for the people who live in those fire-torn areas, and all those who have lost their homes. It is just a horrid picture of devastation.

PWPs Unite!

We PWPs are getting ready to face the monster. The monster is the unknown, the dark behind the door, the noise in the other room in the middle of the night, the crashing glass and the wind blowing outside the window.

BUT yes, we have no fear of the unknown - we only have anticipation, because we know that the Lord is lighting our way and will go before us with a mighty sword.

Our group is going to Japan next year, and we are preparing. One could say that the unknown is how our ministry will be received in Japan. The Lord, though, is making it clear that we are needed, to bring hope and inspiration to the Christian women who are being prepared for our arrival. Even though at this moment they don't even know we are coming, the Lord is softening their hearts as he is giving us hearts for them. It will be a divine appointment and we will be ready.

When we look back, we realize that God has been preparing us for this trip for several years. Our little group of 6 women have been fishing buddies for a while, and we have set out to catch the big one each year, forging our way onto Crowley Lake, near Mammoth in the Eastern Sierras, each May. It has been a time of bonding, of fun, and of faith. We each bring something different to the mix and the blend is just right. Little did we know that God had something larger and more important in mind.

Our leader, Ruth, got a direct vision from God - that our group should take what we have and minister to the Christian women in Japan. She then set out to ask each of us if we were interested in this. Immediately, each of us committed to the vision that came as a result of Ruth's attending the Leadership Summit this past Fall, held by the Willow Creek Association. It could not have been clearer to her, and when we each individually said YES to the call, it was a confirmation to her. The wheels started turning and went from first gear to third gear very quickly. Pretty soon we will be in overdrive and heading out across that ocean.
God has plans for us. We don't know what they are, and there are a few hurdles to jump, but this is a God thing and we aren't in control - He is. So we will just hang on for the ride and hope to glorify God as he blesses our ministry.

Who knows, this could lead to other groups heading out on missions from our Church - Cerritos Baptist Church in Cerritos, California. We expect miracles, as God's Kingdom reigns here over all the earth.