Gayla's Magazine

We were just here!!

Look at the road behind us...

Chunk of Calif. coastal highway falls into Pacific

Associated Press - Mar 17, 6:56 pm ET

CARMEL, Calif. – Engineers on Thursday were working to figure out when they'll be able to reopen a stretch of California coastal highway that collapsed into the ocean, blocking traffic to the scenic Big Sur region.

A 40-foot section of Highway 1 crumbled just after 5 p.m. Wednesday following several days of rainy weather. The entire southbound lane is gone, and the soil under the northbound lane also was giving way.

No one was injured in the slide, the California Highway Patrol said. Authorities have closed the two-lane road to traffic indefinitely.

The collapse occurred south of Carmel near Rocky Creek Bridge, one of the iconic arch bridges that make the stretch of roadway, also known as the Pacific Coast Highway, one of the country's best known scenic drives.

California Department of Transportation officials told The Monterey Herald they would know closer to the end of Thursday when the road would be reopened.

The closure comes as spring tourist season is about to get under way.

"There is too much going down here to allow an extended closure," Alan Perlmutter told the newspaper. Perlmutter is a partner in the Big Sur River Inn, one of the many inns and lodges that depend on the dollars of tourists drawn to dramatic coastal vistas, where forested mountainsides plunge into blue seas.

Other inns and restaurants reported a mix of no-shows and guests who were forced to stay longer because of the blocked road.

Give Out the Blessing

"He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his inner being shall flow rivers of living water" (John 7:38).

Some of us are shivering and wondering why the Holy Spirit does not fill us. We have plenty coming in, but we do not give it out. Give out the blessing that you have, start larger plans for service and blessing, and you will soon find that the Holy Ghost is before you, and He will present you with blessings for service, and give you all that He can trust you to give away to others.

There is a beautiful fact in nature which has its spiritual parallels. There is no music so heavenly as an Aeolian harp, and the Aeolian harp is nothing but a set of musical chords arranged in harmony, and then left to be touched by the unseen fingers of the wandering winds. And as the breath of heaven floats over the chords, it is said that notes almost Divine float out upon the air, as if a choir of angels were wandering around and touching the strings.

And so it is possible to keep our hearts so open to the touch of the Holy Spirit that He can play upon them at will, as we quietly wait in the pathway of His service.--Days of Heaven upon Earth

When the apostles received the baptism with the Holy Ghost they did not rent the upper room and stay there to hold holiness meetings, but went everywhere preaching the gospel. --Will Huff

"If I have eaten my morsel alone,"
The patriarch spoke with scorn;
What would he think of the Church were he shown
Heathendom-huge, forlorn,
Godless, Christless, with soul unfed,
While the Church's ailment is fullness of bread,
Eating her morsel alone?
"Freely ye have received, so give,"
He bade, who hath given us all.
How shall the soul in us longer live
Deaf to their starving call,
For whom the blood of the Lord was shed,
And His body broken to give them. bread,
If we eat our morsel alone!"
--Archbishop Alexander  

Dave and Bonita Peterson

Dave and Bonita Peterson still sing so wonderfully. We had a good time remembering the past and looking forward to the future. 

How the years pass, yet remain the same for those who know God.  They still travel across America singing for the Lord. If you have been wanting to see them, or hear their music - here's how to get in touch with them. Dave was the golden voice in the Lanny Wolfe trio for many years...

[email protected] 

Along life's travels...

Bishop Delbert and Eloise Herrin are two of our life long friends!  Recently we took a long trip together and had such a good time - as the miles passed 2200+ we enjoyed conversation without rushing -such a luxury to for us all!  We are headed for Shelbyville Indiana....

Meeting up with other Pastors along the way was a added blessing... Here is Pastor Dave Dolan from Sullivan Il that joined us for breakfast one day.  We all had lot's of love, prayer, laughter, good food and fun traveling..... Bishop Herrin 'tweets'  many wise statements, you might want to connect with him...

Carry Your Cross

"Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me" (Mark 8:34).

The cross which my Lord bids me take up and carry may assume different shapes. I may have to content myself with a lowly and narrow sphere, when I feel that I have capacities for much higher work. I may have to go on cultivating year after year, a field which seems to yield me no harvests whatsoever. I may be bidden to cherish kind and loving thoughts about someone who has wronged me--be bidden speak to him tenderly, and take his part against all who oppose him, and crown him with sympathy and succor. I may have to confess my Master amongst those who do not wish to be reminded of Him and His claims. I may be called to "move among my race, and show a glorious morning face," when my heart is breaking.

There are many crosses, and every one of them is sore and heavy. None of them is likely to be sought out by me of my own accord. But never is Jesus so near me as when I lift my cross, and lay it submissively on my shoulder, and give it the welcome of a patient and unmurmuring spirit.

He draws close, to ripen my wisdom, to deepen my peace, to increase my courage, to augment my power to be of use to others, through the very experience which is so grievous and distressing, and then--as I read on the seal of one of those Scottish Covenanters whom Claverhouse imprisoned on the lonely Bass, with the sea surging and sobbing round--I grow under the load.
--Alexander Smellie.

***

"Use your cross as a crutch to help you on, and not as a stumblingblock to cast you down."

The Ministry in the eveningtime....

While traveling across America and connecting with Pastors, Evangelists, Prophets and Apostles, we have many hours spent talking.....always late into the night.  Everybody is passionate about their callings, all want to fulfill their mission.  Sincere people of God searching for answers...

Across this nation... all have the same heart.  "How can I accomplish more in the short hours that remain".

The Bishop's clear focus and practical support are often requested. It's getting darker in this world, but the ministry shines bright in the love of God.  His encouragement is invaluable to men and women on the front lines fighting in this spiritual war till the end! 

 

A Single Set of Prints

LIfe is fragile and must be lived in moments.  What seems like it is permanent and will stand for centuries, can be wiped out in a moment.  The goals we strive to plant and mold our lives around, become as simple footprints in the sand.  Here today..... but washed out by the tides of life.... and gone tomorrow.

You really only live in the single set of footprints you now stand within.  Make THIS moment of your life count. Serve God in this breath you breathe, in this set of footprints you are standing in..... 

Man really can only build sandcastles...after all.   

Deeper Lord

"Not much earth" (Matt. 13:5).

Shallow! It would seem from the teaching of this parable that we have something to do with the soil. The fruitful seed fell into "good and honest hearts." I suppose the shallow people are the soil without much earth--those who have no real purpose, are moved by a tender appeal, a good sermon, a pathetic melody, and at first it looks as if they would amount to something; but not much earth--no depth, no deep, honest purpose, no earnest desire to know duty in order to do it. Let us look after the soil of our hearts.

When a Roman soldier was told by his guide that if he insisted on taking a certain journey it would probably be fatal, he answered, "It is necessary for me to go; it is not necessary for me to live."

This was depth. When we are convicted something like that we shall come to something. The shallow nature lives in its impulses, its impressions, its intuitions, its instincts, and very largely its surroundings. The profound character looks beyond all these, and moves steadily on, sailing past all storms and clouds into the clear sunshine which is always on the other side, and waiting for the afterwards which always brings the reversion of sorrow, seeming defeat and failure.

When God has deepened us, then He can give us His deeper truths, His profoundest secrets, and His mightier trusts. Lord, lead me into the depths of Thy life and save me from a shallow experience!

On to broader fields of holy vision; On to loftier heights of faith and love; Onward, upward, apprehending wholly, All for which He calls thee from above.
--A. B. Simpson 

The Mighty Pacific Ocean

The power of the Pacific Ocean is thunderous as it's waves rush the shore.  It's colors, tides, seasons and strength can be glorious to watch.  No one can tame this wild liquid beast and the best mankind can do is try to float above it, or stay out of it's path when called upon. We spent a lovely day here  driving the famous Highway 1 of California.  The beauty of God's creation always makes me compliment Him on his designs.  The great and all knowing God of the Universe is firmly in charge of all things... just look at the ocean and see .....who among men can control it. We are all just frail mortals in it's path.

 

Dismissal and Cynicism

Something awful has happened, something terrible. Something worse, even, than the fall of man. For in that greatest of all tragedies, we merely lost Paradise-and with it, everything that made life worth living. What has happened since is unthinkable: we've gotten used to it. We're broken in to the idea that this is just the way things are. The people who walk in great darkness have adjusted their eyes. Regardless of our religious or philosophical beliefs, most of us live as though this life is pretty much the way things are supposed to be. We dismiss the whispers of joy with a cynical "Been there, done that." That way we won't have to deal with the Haunting.

I was just talking with some friends about summer vacations, and I recommended that they visit the Tetons. "Oh, yeah, we've been there. Nice place." Dismissal. And we deaden our sorrows with cynicism as well, sporting a bumper sticker that says, "Life sucks. Then you die." Then we try to get on with life. We feed the cat, pay the bills, watch the news, and head off to bed, so we can do it all again tomorrow.

Standing before the open fridge, I'm struck by what I've just watched. Famine in Africa. Genocide . . . where? Someplace I can't even pronounce. Corruption in Washington. Life as usual. It always ends with the anchor folding his notes and offering a pleasant "Good night." Good night? That's it? You have nothing else to say? You've just regaled us with the horrors of the world we live in, and all you can say is "Good night"? Just once I wish he would pause at the close of his report, take a long, deep breath, and then say, "How far we are from home," or "If only we had listened," or "Thank God, our sojourn here is drawing to an end." It never happens. I doubt it ever will. And not one of us gives it a second thought. It's just the way things are.
Ransomed Heart