God, What are you up to??

By Lynne Cole

Every Saturday at 6pm a group of people descend upon Joe and Melody Bennett and family. It’s been over a year now since God told Joe and Melody to move to Oakland, FL. I for one can say I am very thankful God told them to come. At first Bob and I wanted nothing to do with anyone wanting to start a new church. But God told Joe and William Castro to come visit Bob and I. We love and respect William so we politely listened as Joe explained what God had said to him. (I need Joe’s permission to put his article in the blog.)

Bob and I were looking for a church but didn’t have any idea where God wanted us to worship. We decided to visit the group in Oakland and see if that is what God wanted us to get involved in.

Surprise!!

1. My first surprise was how small the group was. Just 6 people.

2. Next surprise all the children in the house. LOL

3. The peace and presence of God in our midst!!

4. How relaxed and unplanned the meeting was.

5. No one was “dressed” for church.

6. How powerful Joe’s messages are.

7. The Prophetic being natural and a part of the service.

8. God runs the service and often changes “the plans” of Joe and Curtis Sutterfield.

9. They love it when He does!

10. How late the gathering lasted!! (Our first week we left at 9:30 thinking it strange that no one was leaving but us. Next week we learned what “Normal” is for this group.)

11. How excited I became to be at every service.

12. To sit at the feet of Jesus and soak in everything He was saying to me and doing in me.

13. Seeing my very quiet husband, Bob, become more open and being used by God to speak out loud what He was saying!

14. I’m STILL being fed!

15. The peace I now experience nearly all the time.

16. What God is saying to me.

17. The boldness He is giving me!

Do you get the picture? It’s been life changing for me.

The group has grown by 3 since then. Bob and I bring it up to 8 and our good friend Jeanette Taylor, makes 9. We have become family. We arrive around 6pm and leave around 11 to 11:30pm. We leave by then only because some of us have a long drive home. At times they threaten to spend the night. lol

Lately we’ve been asking each other and God:

1. Why are we here meeting in Oakland?

2. What is Your purpose?

3. Where are You going with this group?

God must have had the ear of Joe because Joe started speaking on just that. He gave us an assignment to pray and ask God:

1. What’s His Vision, Purpose and Strategy for us?

2. How do we fit into this group?

3. Where is this group going?

4. What is God saying?

5. What is His vision?

6. What is His purpose and how do I fit into it?

7. What is His strategy, how do we get there?

Well, I was so excited. I prayed for a few days and listened to what God was saying. I sat down one day and wrote 3 medium size pages on my Vision and objective and where I was going. About ½ way thru my writing I wrote: “Why is this not happening now?” When I finished writing this section God said. “DIE TO SELF”

Huh, I’m so wordy. He gets His point across in 3 words. So I did what I do, I did a study on scriptures that have Die to self in them. But not until I finished the assignment with the next one, Purpose, How do I fit. Which caused more questions than answers. Then I tackled Strategy and started out with a lot of questions. Then I wrote another page of things I felt God was telling me.

I’m planning to do a more in-depth look at what God wants me to get out of His “Die to Self” – I know it is something I have to do continually. I also know He uses a few words so we will study His word and pray and learn from Him. It’s not a few moments of study. He feeds us in doses that we are able to handle. He’s not through teaching / feeding me on dying to self.

A Trucker's Prayer by Ned Barr

The following is a post a friend of mine, Ned Barr, painter and Geocacher made on his Facebook "notes" section. He originally wrote it on a geocache (www.geocaching.com). It is of an experience he had on a busy highway where he lives in Colorado. He asked me to read it as he thought I might find something in it for my self. You probably will for yourself, also.

The cache is called, "A Trucker's Prayer" You can find it on the above link. A truck driver wrote it and people who stop and sign the log at this cache, as I did, will have read the prayer on line under the cache title. Okay?

Beginning of the article written by Ned Barr.

So I stopped, as many others had done, to sign the log at the cache. Here is what I wrote.

"I also am a trucker (not driving big rigs now), so I love this prayer. I have stopped on cold, miserable nights, right at this spot, more than once, waiting for a snow plow to follow over Monarch Pass headed west for Gunnison, Delta, Grand Junction or some place in a more-western state. Many lives have been lost and many have been seriously injured on this very dangerous hill over the years. People in trucks and cars and on motorcycles and what-have-you.

"While retrieving this little cache with its log, I very nearly witnessed what would have been a fatal head-on between a large propane tanker and an RV. The RV was simply (for whatever reason) in the wrong lane (over the yellow line) going up hill. The tanker coming down, These two vehicles and several following the RV would have all crashed and burned just a few feet away from where I stood, holding my breath. Would I have survived?

"So what did the tanker-driver do? The right thing! He locked his brakes and skidded right, onto the break-down lane on the down-hill side. Very dangerous. While the truck tires screeched and smoked, the RV somehow managed to regain part of its proper lane and all went quiet within a few seconds as the up-hill vehicles went on as if nothing had happened. A close call, to say the least! The RV and cars were gone, the truck was stopped on the side in its tracks. The driver got out to check his tires and take a deep breath, no doubt. Rubber on the pavement still smoked.

"I walked quickly across the road and offered my hand in congratulations to this (fellow) truck driver for avoiding this awful catastrophe. He saved the day, by the grace of God. I tried to think of something encouraging to say, but he was grinning in relief! We exchanged a few brotherly, truck-driver, words. His truck was empty, which is why it skidded easily, but full of explosive fumes, from the propane. No jack-knife this time. No carnage on the highway just then. Whew! Thank You, Lord.

"Everyone should know that when a citation is issued following a big truck vs. car accident, the driver of the car gets the ticket 75 per cent of the time. What does that tell you? No one is perfect, but this truck driver deserves a medal. A hero.

"God bless ALL the people who survived this one, on this day.

"Again thanks for the trucker's prayer, thanks for the cache. I signed the log with a grateful heart and was on my way up the hill to find another one (cache). Hallelujah."

Final note on FB: If you know a truck driver you might want to thank him personally for getting that food on your table delivered.... or that propane you burn in your furnace or stove. Thanks for reading!

Ned Barr

Changed Name Already!

When trying to find my blog I kept getting all kinds of LJC blogs and decided to narrow down the search by adding my name and a longer name at that.

I'm learning as I go.

I'm sitting on Ron's porch again with a nice strong fan blowing on me. Marley is fine as long as I'm out here with her.

I'm going to try and figure out Labels for this post. Well I put down, Life, Experiences, Change, and God so far. Ah yes, add thoughts. Maybe someone will want to read it now. lol

Why am I not in church you ask? I go to a Home Church on Saturday nights!

We're having a gathering of all home church groups we are a part of in the Central Florida area and around the country, the last weekend in August. The meeting will be in Lithia, Florida - it is located down in the Tampa area. Meetings are Friday at 7 pm, Saturday and 6 pm and Sunday at 6 pm. I've heard people are coming from several parts of the country. There will be 3 or 4 prophets at the meeting. Two each night along with Joseph Bennett who will moderate the meetings. Also speaking will be Eugene May, Mark Van Deman and Robbie Mayfield. For more information email me at ljc444@yahoo.com. If you would like to subscribe to the email newsletter I put together email me at the email address I just mentioned and ask to be put on the email list.

Will be doing some serious posting Tue and/or Wed.

Until then.....

God bless and keep you!

Lynne