Help for the homeless

The plight of the homelesss in our cities, states and our countries is truly shameful. The problem is getting worse and the only solution is for everyone to join hands and help out. I have a vision to build temporary shelters that would have simple soup kitchens, showers, restrooms, resources for health care, job assistance and other personal needs people can’t get living on our streets. All we need is love
https://www.gofundme.com/dekbss-love-for-the-homeless?pc=ot_co_dashboard_a&rcid=b752c9f5d2bb4abc9a437b86506535b3

Travel advice

I have heard it said that there are only two kinds of people in the world those that like Neil Diamond and those that don’t. So wherever side you fall into I hope you will take to heart the following traveling tips when bound for Jerusalem. 

Slightly confused, Daniel stared intently into the ATM machine’s screen which was full of Hebrew letters. He knew there was an English button somewhere among the beautiful swaying characters but because of his age he ended up with only a blank look on his face. Mr. Levi sensed his dilemma and offered to help get him past several screens as the page displaying the differing amounts of shekels appeared.

Daniel had just met his tour guide only several hours before and noticed him watching as he entered his pin numbers. As he was weighing what to pay his guide, a blurry shadow swooped in and pushed the 600 shekel button. Daniel watched as the machine spit out one, two, three, four, five, six hundred shekel bills into the ATM’s tray.

It is really funny sometimes how the universe works. With all of its predisposed functions that run without oversight or help from us; night leads to day, red skies in the morning is a sailor’s warning of an approaching storm and fees from Israeli tour guides need to be first chiseled into a stone tablet. 

(Earlier that same day…) Daniel and Jerome walked toward the Jaffa Gate on the northwest corner of Jerusalem’s Old City. They had planned to take an early walk through the Christian Quarter whereby avoiding much of the tourist traffic that tends to swell like ocean waves building up against a coastal shoreline. However, the universe had other plans as Mr. Levi approached them with a smile and some important travel tips.

Saying that David Levi was a great salesman would be a gross understatement. He singled out Daniel and Jerome from a crowed street filled with people who were busy pouring out of tour buses with the enthusiasm of young school boys. Daniel smelt something rotten in Denmark as Mr. Levi blocked them from entering the Old City’s Jaffa gate.

“Where are you going? It’s Shabbat, nothings open. Besides, it is better to enter down this side road here and take a back door into the city.” said the man with the authority of an Israeli officer.

“We’re just walking around, we’re not really planning anything special.” replied David sternly. 

“Well, you don’t want to go by yourself. You will get lost and some Palestinians will grab you.” David replied with an air of sleekness while trying to bridle a slight grin. “Besides, I’m a very good tour guide. I even once showed Neil Diamond around the Old City when he was here on a concert tour. I know my way around the city and you will see places you never knew existed.”

As I started walking away towards the Jaffa gate I realized Jerome and David were already walking away, down the service road together, as if they had been good friends for years. I’m betting they are both Neil Diamond fans.

The fact is David took us swiftly through the crowded narrow streets with the precision of a fighter pilot. I didn’t realize what he was doing because I was too busy trying to keep up with his long strides and fast pace. Then it dawned on me that at each point of interest we entered by the exit, bypassing extremely long lines of angry, frustrated tourists. 

Our dynamic trio even got thrown out of a couple places for taking pictures or talking too loud. Nobody really seemed to notice our dastardly plan, no in fact, it was almost as if we were invisible. You know, I was even beginning to enjoy his rendition of “Crackling Rosie” as we bobbed, dodged and pushed our way through ethnic throng that filled the Holy City.

(Present time…) So all in all, David completed his task and now it was time to pay him at the ATM machine located on Nablus Road near the Damascus Gate. This is where things get a bit wobbly as his original quote of 380 shekels for the both of us almost doubled. 

“Money comes and goes; it is not important. Family, friends and the relationships we forge in life is what matters.” Was the phrase David had repeated over and over in-between his barrage of facts and figures a Jerusalem tour guide needs to know. 

So as my shekels evaporated, I reflected on how the universe will continue to function; the sun, moon and stars will continue in their circuit and there will always be only two kinds of people in this world, those that like Neil Diamond and those that don’t.

Please help! I need your support!

Please purchase my book in one format from Amazon.com rate it and leave a review. The e-book is only a few dollars.

Thanks to a good friend I have just published a book “The Well with the Holy Name" (Reflections on Messiah) and it is available for sale on Amazon.

If you could purchase the publication and leave a review it would bolster my position on their list of new books.The book is available as a Kindle e-book, in paperback and hardbound formats on Amazon, Westbow Press and other on line book stores.

You can search the title "The Well with the Holy Name" by Daniel Thomas or use the link below to find the book. Daniel Thomas is my pen name. 

 The Well with the Holy Name

The book's contents is a anthology of six years of writing a weekly published faith column called "Carpenter's Corner" It is published through Westbow Press, a Thomas Nelson - Zondervan Company.

I could definitely use your help and prayers for the book's success! By purchasing my book, rating it and leaving a review it will help other readers see its value!

Thank you!
Dean Kellio
senior pastor
Oakzanita Springs Fellowship
Descanso, CA 91901

Desperate

Jason pealed back the roofing inspecting the plywood sheathing for signs of dry rot. He was having another bad day at work because his home life was in the toilet. Jason had worked for the Iron County School’s maintenance department for the last seven years. He married his wife at the local temple in Cedar City.

As Jason ripped back the roofing he thought about how his own life was being torn apart by his wife’s love for another man. Becka was on the quiet side, wore plain, drab cotton dresses that fell loosely from her neck down past her ankles and went to temple twice a week.  Each day she slipped on the same pair of black flats, put her hair up in a bun and never let makeup touch her pristine white skin. They had been separated for several months.

Jason missed his five children and had not seen them since Becka left. She had disappeared with another man into a commune compound located somewhere in the Arizona Sonora desert. As the sun continued to beat down on him he soon reached a boiling point. You see, Jason had been contemplating killing himself and had a loaded nine millimeter semi automatic pistol in his work overalls. 

As the sun’s heat burned so did his anger and in a moment of desperation Jason called out to God for forgiveness and reached for the pistol that was in his pocket. From the school’s flat roof area nobody would be able to see what was going to happen next.

Jason prayed quickly “God I’m sorry…so sorry, but I can’t go on. Please watch over my children and forgive Becka. Show me what I need now, send me the answer, send me peace”.

Only the loud echo of the pistol’s chamber firing a single lead bullet into the soft tissue of Jason’s skull would be the next sound heard. There would be no mess to clean up, no tragic scene for the Junior High kids to witness just a momentary sound like a crack of thunder and the silence of a man’s life evaporating into thin air.

Directly below the roof where Jason was working, a man from the Gideon Bible Society was busy handing out bibles to any girl or boy who would take one. A young man from the local temple named Kyle approached the Gideon representative and grabbing a bible out of his hand threw it as hard as he could up and out of sight up and onto the roof.

“We don’t need your shallow theology here mister, I belong to the only true church!” spouted Kyle as his arm followed through and the blue leather bound NKJV bible cleared the corner of the school’s ten foot high flat roof. 

Meanwhile, on the roof, Jason closed his eyes as his sweaty finger squeezed slowly on the pistol’s trigger. Suddenly, there was a loud sound as the blue, leather projectile found its mark hitting Jason squarely on the jaw knocking the pistol out of his hand. Jason blacked out as he fell limply to the tar roof. He awoke several hours later with an extreme headache and the blurry text from the open book his face was lying on.

“Yes, the Lord hears the good man when he calls to him for help, and saves him out of all his troubles.” Psalm 34:17 Living Bible.

Jason sat upright but was still a bit wobbly. “Thanks Lord, How did you ever manage that?” Jason mumbled as he looked around and continued to rub his chin.

Later that week Jason saw the man from the Gideon Bible Society. “I wanted to thank you sir, God used you to save my life and knock some sense in me.” Spoke Jason humbly as he vigorously shook the Gideon’s hand. 

The Gideon opened up his bible to the book of Romans and read “We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28 NKJV.

The men smiled at each other, gave a quick hug and turned to go back to the lives that they both were living. This story, while being recreated, actually happened. While names and places have been changed, God is in the miracle business and showed up just at the right time in Jason’s life.  God hears the prayers of desperate men and women and will often intervene at the appropriate time. Nothing is impossible for God.

If you are desperate, thinking that it is time to check out, then think again. God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life, you just cannot see it at the moment but all things are working out for good so stick around and watch.

The Well with the Holy Name

Thanks to a good friend I have just published a book “The Well with the Holy Name" (Reflections on Messiah) and it is available for sale on Amazon.

If you could purchase the publication and leave a review it would bolster my position on their list of new books.The book is available as a Kindle e-book, in paperback and hardbound formats on Amazon, Westbow Press and other on line book stores.

Daniel Thomas is my pen name. You can search the title "The Well with the Holy Name" by Daniel Thomas or use the link below to find the book.   The Well with the Holy Name

The book's contents is a anthology of six years of writing a weekly published faith column called "Carpenter's Corner" It is published through Westbow Press, a Thomas Nelson - Zondervan Company.

I could definitely use your help and prayers for the book's success! If you could purchase the e-book on Amazon, rate it and leave a review!

Thank you!
Dean Kellio
senior pastor
Oakzanita Springs Fellowship
Descanso, CA 91901

The Well with the Holy Name

The Well with the Holy Name

WestBow Press Book store: then search title "The Well with the Holy Name" Daniel Thomas

https://www.westbowpress.com/Bookstore/BookHome.aspx  

An empty pen

What is the measure of a man’s life? What is the sum total of all his labor? For me the last eight years have been consumed with writing an eight hundred word faith column every week which was published in news papers and posted on the internet at http://newwineoldwineskins.blogspot.com

 

I have never received so much as one copper penny for all my labor and if I do the math to see what I have accomplished it calculates out to four hundred and sixteen separate eight-hundred word essays or 332,800 words. It makes me wonder how many of you would go to work knowing you would not be getting a paycheck. 

In addition to writing, I also prepare weekly sermons for a 10:00 a.m. Sunday morning service at Oakzanita Springs Fellowship located at the old Thousand Trails Campground off highway 79, a few miles past the sleepy town of Descanso which eventually winds up to Lake Cuyamaca. The campground is a lovely setting to teach the truths of God and everyone who works there is very nice.

As my week progresses I travel to Calvary Chapel La Mesa to teach the “Tuesday Night Live” thru-the-bible study that is recorded and can be found on Calvary Chapel La Mesa’s Face-Book page . The ninety miles of driving to get there and back from my home consumes most of a small stipend that has only recently been provided by the senior pastor. I started there in 1987.

My week continues on Wednesday night with worship and praise which begins promptly at 7:00 p.m. After worship I teach thirty minutes on the life of Christ. The fellowship meets at the Youth Center next to the Alpine Post Office. I started five years ago with two people which have grown slowly to fifteen faithful people. One woman who regularly attends wrote books for Ruth Graham. Another man spent his entire life flying Trans Atlantic flights in 767’s air bussing people to and from Europe. 

However for all of my ministry and labor of love there has not been any food put on my table or power bills paid to keep my lights on. So I really do know what it means to labor for love.

Recently, however, a friend of mine offered to publish an anthology of my writing. He graciously labored with the publisher’s demands, paid for their service and tried to keep me encouraged along the way!

What will be the end result of all our labor? Could it be a box of one hundred paperback books collecting dust in a dark garage somewhere? Where maybe a random book gets pulled out once every other year to be presented to reluctant friend or family member?

So what is the measure of a man’s life? Is it how many friends he has or how many cars are parked in his garage? Could it be the amount of time he spends each day at the office or maybe it is a list of laws he has managed to pass in congress?  

Could it be the size of his family or the love of his life that sums up the total worth of a man? Is it daily kindness or his service to others in need that gets recorded somewhere for eternity?  Will he enjoy heavenly rewards for all his labor here or shall his rewards be stored in heaven?

Every once in a while I will get a letter or a call from a someone who has read my column and has expressed their appreciation that the words on the written page has in some way encouraged them or filled them with hope. I always hold onto your encouragement and ask a blessing on those who take the time to write or call.

At this point in my life I would have to agree with King Solomon when he once penned that “all is vanity.” We are all so frail, so easily swayed and so quick to fall away from God. As I look down the sea shore of my life and see where once two pairs of footprints traveled side by side in the sand there is now a single set. Where I once walked beside my Savior, I now hang lifeless in his arms as He carries me the rest of the way.

We were not created to live forever in this fallen world. Our eternal covering of light, which once protected us, vanished as Adam and Eve rebelled in the Garden of Eden.  However, God in His everlasting mercy and grace provided death so that we wouldn’t be sentenced to live eternally in sin.

The Great Day of our Lord is fast approaching and His redemption draws near! Eternal life with all its blessings in right around this carpenter’s corner!

My final choice

 I have made my final freewill choice. I have decided I no longer desire to have freewill.   It has caused so much pain and suffering in the world that I no longer desire to have a choice, so I have willingly given my freedom back to my Creator.  

I can almost hear  you crying out in unison “No, you can’t do that!” 

Sorry, I cannot hear you but I have already made my last choice and given my freewill back to my Maker. What a burden has been lifted from my shoulders as I no longer have to worry about committing the only unforgiveable sin; unbelief in Jesus Christ. 

I am so glad to become a bond servant of my Master, now living forever, in the household of my Heavenly Father. I am sad for all of you who insist on living your old life, which is filled with wrong turns, heartbreak and confusion.

 “Lord, put a ring through my ear and make me your bondservant. Dear God, I am tired of living a life of self-centeredness. I want to live a life where goodness and mercy follow me all the days of my life. Oh, how there is safety in your courts and blessing in your presence. My spirit longs to join you forever!”

Rich Mullins, Christian songwriter, once wrote “Let mercy lead, let love be the strength in your life, with every footstep that you take there’ll be a drop of grace.” When we surrender to God’s will, surrendering to the Holy Spirit then are we abiding in the True Vine. Rich would write another prophetic line before entering heaven himself “If I stand, let me stand on the promise that You will pull me through; And if I fall, let me fall on the grace that first brought me to You!”

Jesus has washed me. He has washed me in his own blood and now there is no longer any condemnation for my eternal spirit. So raise a banner, blow the shofar and shout to God for our salvation has finally arrived. No longer will I fight this spiritual battle in the flesh or give the devil an audience. I have decided to follow Jesus by becoming His bondservant. 

Personal freedom is not worth the price of possible damnation, separation from the King. For we are here on earth for only a moment but one day we will arrive safe on heaven’s shore and see God face to face. 

 I gained everything when I returned my “freewill” back to God. I no longer have to worry about my salvation being buried in dead rituals or following other gospels of works and repentance. No, for I have discovered, as a branch, if I stay connected to the True Vine that repentance is a fruit that is produced as the Holy Spirit is allowed to flow into my life.

There is only one church and Jesus Christ is the head of it! He called us out of the world to put His Spirit into us then sends  us back into the world to communicate the gospel, and use words if absolutely necessary. 

For we are his workmanship, created for good works that He created ahead of time that we should walk in them. Open a door for someone, lend a hand to help someone up off the ground, be kind and don’t let the enemy cause division or strife in our congregations. We can agree to disagree on non-essential theology and doctrines; however, we cannot diminish or modify the fact that Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. 

The blood of Jesus Christ is the most powerful substance in the entire universe. Jesus’ blood was pure, separated by Mary’s placenta while in her womb, so that the Son of God’s blood never mixed with a daughter of Adam. Although he had a belly button Christ was the only One who could reverse the original curse that was levied in the Garden of Eden. 

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” Genesis 3:15 NKJV.  This verse is considered the “First gospel” where the text hints at the virgin birth of the Messiah, Christ’s passion on the cross and the destruction of Satan. First, enmity refers to the strife through an ongoing spiritual battle in the heaven for man’s souls. Second, the Messiah would bruise or crush the head of Satan as he is one day be cast into the lake which burns with fire. Finally, Satan would bruise the Messiah’s heel as Jesus Christ was mocked, beaten and crucified.

However, death and the grave couldn’t hold Him! He is risen!