Pastor Buddy (November Family Talk )

Hello Family,

I wonder if you could guess which holiday is the favorite
of all three of your pastors? I think that it is awesome that
we all agreed upon the same day.

When we where children, nothing could hold a candle to Christmas and when we turned 16, we changed a birthday into a Holiday.
(I know a person who will be 80 on Christmas and still calls
his birthday a holiday!) I wonder if  you can guess who?
I think turning 80 on Christmas is a very godly accomplishment!!

O.K., let’s guess our favorite holiday.

Harry…. Thanksgiving. Buddy… Thanksgiving. Matt… Thanksgiving
(and His wedding anniversary!)

I think I know why Thanksgiving wins the prize. On this one holiday,
we just thank God for everything and ask Him for very little!
We thank God for our families, our friends, for Him, for Jesus,
for forgiveness, for the miracles He does on and on.
I love the song, “I can sing of his love forever.”

Yes, we live in a free country, free worship, free expression of dance and music, free to serve God the way He wants us to. And as for me and
my house, we thank God for the most awesome, supportive church family that there could ever be! One quick verse,

“Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is,
the fruit of our lips, giving thanks
to His Name”

Hebrews 13:15

I love you Saints,
Pastor Buddy

Pastor Buddy (October Family Talk )

Hello Family,

I was asking the Lord about what to write about this month.
And just as His grace would have it, I opened my mail.

I won’t tell you who it is from, but I do want you to see
how encouragment is powerful.

“As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people, both now and forevermore.”

Psalm 125:2

Now that is a great promise! Jesus at our side, Jesus covering our backs, and Jesus ever leading us into His future.

I love the way this church keeps each other before the Lord,
but I also love the way the Lord keeps us in His hands always.
Thanks for being saints.

 

Love,
Pastor Buddy

Pastor Buddy (September Family Talk )

Hello Family,

I have been amazed lately by the Lord.  He always amazes me, but lately He seems to be personally taking care of everything that we put in His hands.
I know that all of us could not be here last Sunday for our Summer Gospel Fest,
so please let me share with you what we experienced.  No we didn’t see pink angels or glow in the dark, but we did see that God has a unique peace and joy for those who worship and surrender to Him.  To say that night was great would be to under-speak the truth.  The truth is that the church came together before the Lord in such a fashion that you could only experience it by being there!

The Singers worked very hard and it showed.  But, the greatest part was that when they the singer and we the audience became us the worshipers of God together.  Only God could fill a place with such peace and joy.
And once you taste of God’s peace,  you’re ever on a quest to enjoy it again.
I love the direction this church is heading.  “More of Him and less of me.”
That is our heart’s cry.

Thank You, Jesus!

Love,
Pastor Buddy

Pastor Buddy (August Family Talk )

Hello Family,

I want to share with you what some would see
as more than a coincidence.  In the words of Tim Coop
(20+ years pastoring in corona), “The more I pray, the more
coincidence seems to happen. ” You can see with me, he really knew that God is continually answering prayer.  What a great gift to us all!

O.K., here’s the thing: Five of our Bible Studies and Sunday School Classes are studying a bible book that is totally focused on the end times and the coming of the Lord.  I see this as more than a coincidence,
but actually an answer to our prayers asking God to lead us
as a church family.

This is so important regarding how we need to be living. We need to
be living each day as if it  could be our last and planning as if we have
a fresh purpose for tomorrow.

God is every present and Jesus will never leave us or forsake us.
Keep looking up.  Our redemption draws near.  Yet, keep looking out.  There may be one more person we can tell about Jesus!

I love you Saints
Pastor Buddy

Pastor Buddy (July Family Talk )

Hello Family,

Happy Fourth of July! By the time you get this, our parade, fireworks and celebration will have passed. But for this year, I want to invite you to experience the clear call of two past Presidents.

“And whereas it is the duty of nations, as well as of men,
to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God,
to confess their sins and transgressions, in humble sorrow,
yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to
mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth,
announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history,
that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord!”

Abraham Lincoln

May I give you one more?

“without God, there is no virtue because there’s No Prompting of the conscience. Without God, we’re mired in the material, that flat world that tells us only what the senses perceive. Without God, there is a coarsening of the society. And , without God, Democracy will not and cannot long endure. If we every forget that we’re one nation under God, Then we will be a nation ‘gone under’.”

Ronald Reagan

God Bless America, America Bless God,

Pastor Buddy

Pastor Buddy (June Family Talk )

Hello Family,

Sometimes, we need to tell God how big our storms are…      Sometimes,
we need to be reminded in the storm of life just how big our God is!

This thought was shared with me by an amazing woman
in our church family. I’m sure that you all remember Jesus sleeping
in the boat during a violent storm (Mark 4:35-41). His disciples saw how great the storm was but failed to see how much greater Jesus is.
They asked, “don’t you care that we are perishing?”   Wow!
what a way to be treated just as He was waking up. A violent storm, frantic followers and Jesus at total peace.

Sure , He calmed the storm with-out but He also gave them the cure
for the storm with-in.

Him!    !     Yes, Jesus is our peace. No storm is too big for Him
and He loves us. Now that’s my kind of Messiah, my kind of friend and my kind of Lord! let’s never forget that He is the King over all things.

In Him, I love you Saints,

Pastor Buddy

Pastor Buddy (May Family Talk )

Hello Family,

I would like to share a Bible verse with you.

“If we walk in the light as He is light,
we have fellowship with one another and the
blood of Jesus Christ, His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

I John 1:7

I like to call this verse, “walking in the light, a very bright idea.”
OK, it’s not one of my own original sayings, but the bright idea is actually very wise. Let me explain. When we walk with Jesus,
He becomes a light unto our paths. The lamps in Jesus’ day
only lit the path a very small distance, sometimes, only one step
at a time. This is one reason that we have live with God
“in the moment.”  All we really need is to obey Him, trust Him and
not require Him to give us all the answers immediately.

He will always be faithful and we get to walk with him
full of trust in Him. He said this would casue us to have fellowship with each other and a reminder that His blood has made us worthy
to walk with Him. He really has a very bright idea.
Let’s keep walking, one step at a time. His plan is perfect.

I love you Saints,
Pastor Buddy

Pastor Buddy (April Family Talk )

Hello Family,

Happy Easter! He is Risen! Miracles on Main Street!
Just a few of the praises of our Lord, Jesus that we are hearing daily.
I am so pleased to see the level of praying faith soar to such a fragrance before our God. Truly God’s greatest work is in and through the human heart.

Please remember with me that there are no victories without
the battles. But please don’t forget Jesus brings
victory over sin (at the cross), over death (at the resurrection)  and
over eternity (at His return).

We, as a church, must walk humbly, prayerfully and
full of thanksgiving. And as one visitor from Orange County said to me,

“Thanks for pastoring such a great church!”

If you have a testimony of God’s amazing answers to our prayers,
would you please be willing to share them with our staff
and the whole congregation? We would love it and you would be of great encouragement.Please stay seeking Jesus.

I love you more than words can say,
Pastor Buddy

PS: I’m one of the miracles. My doctor says so!

Pastor Buddy (March Family Talk )

Hello Family,

And may I add to my hello:
What a great Christian family to be a part of !!
I truly love the Spirit of God’s work in our midst. It has been an amazing journey for Sherlynn and me. We come with great friends to join up with the First Baptist Church of Corona and we would never have dreamed how richly God has put us together with this church…

I’m sure that you know that God’s ways are higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9).   He has greater plans for us than than we do.

When we let Him build His church (people), Hes does a remarkable job. People keep asking, “What can I do to help?” Here’s what I think:
Keep doing what you are doing. Keep seeking Jesus with all your heart. Let God love you and keep loving the people. Remember, it pleases God
for us to believe God. Thanks for your love and prayers (I need them)

I love you Saints,

Buddy

Pastor Buddy (January Family Talk )

Hello Family,

Happy 2010. Every January, we set out a new year’s journey.
What really excites me is that this year we are starting out
on a very firm foundation and a very healthy church family.

We have had so many people say that they love the friendly and lively attitude of the people here at First Baptist Church.

It really is very attractive to new people to experience
the warmth and kindness of Jesus through His church.

I won’t give you the numbers of people who have joined up with us.
But I will tell you that the one thing we seem to have in common
is a desire to see God restore His people to Himself. First Baptist Church
is a great place for God to do His Work. Let’s stay on course.

I Love You Saints,

Pastor Buddy