FROM THE PASTOR
“Thirty Eight Years”
In a rural Methodist church on the west side of Maui, a small seed was planted. Every Sunday the church bell would ring calling the people to worship. A young boy’s heart was stirred.
That village was named Puukolii after a flower.
Yes, it was mine. My mother reminded me that at one point she was ill and couldn’t iron my Sunday clothes. I told her, “I’ll iron my own clothes.” I did. That began a journey.
Never in my wildest dream had I thought I would be a pastor. I walked through many thresholds—carpentry, baseball, 4-H, FFA,agricultural training, student teaching, national park ministry, youth work in three different states, Peace Corps, inner city teaching, —which laid many foundations.
In the sum of these experiences, there was an unseen hand guiding me along without my full awareness. I realized in time, God was calling me into the ministry. Along the way, I met people whose faith and knowledge stirred this call. Add to this a dream-encounter with Christ as a child. A personal conversion was another stamp toward this direction.
This call became clear in a collection of experiences, a deep hunger to learn more about the inner spirit and life, the love for serving people, and theological reflection and clarity.
One summer when I was visiting at the Lahaina Methodist Church potluck, Dr. Frank Butterworth had brought a church tour to Maui. He heard there was a young seminarian from Indiana. I met him. He said me, “Dennis, Irene and I want to have lunch with you.” I said, “I can’t, I work at the Maui Hilton.” He said, “We’ll meet you there for lunch. One door opened and another. By February the next year, I had a job at the Palolo United Methodist Church in Honolulu in education and youth and a ministry to low income families.
This provided a laboratory to complete my master’s project from the Earlham School of Religion; the University of Hawaii Research Center provided staff ressource. Pastoral call is a journey of stepping stones. This was another.
Rev. Dale Smith invited me to be on staff at the First United Methodist Church in Honolulu where I served for another two years and here, Sylvia and I were married. I was now a certified Lay Pastor.
The School of Theology at Claremont brought me to California to receive my advanced Doctor of Ministry degree.
Calexico. It’s summer heat was awful, the warmth of the people memorable. I cried when we left. Jeremy’s first birthday was a church affair. I was ordained an elder.
Santee. As a young pastor, I so enjoyed working and helping build a new sanctuary and offices. For two years, almost every Saturday was work party. Santee became a city and I was privileged to give the invocation at the inaugural council meeting. It was a wonderful home for Sylvia, Jeremy and Aaron, and me. Our final departure was riding in a red Cadillac convertible in the Santee Parade as Citizen of the Year. Oh, the memories.
Reseda. A well established church in San Fernando Valley. It had a wonderful choir, great leaders, many teachers and professors willing to serve, and a loving people. We had a good softball team.
Chula Vista. A church in process of building a new complex, it had its challenges. It was short stay.
Fallbrook. What can I say. Fifteen years—you know the story. Many lives touched, a church with expanding mission, a warm hospitable people, a place we have called home. We survived three major fire storms, 2001, 2003, and 2007. Thank you all for your kindness, generosity, and expressions of love.
Retirement awaits me. What does it mean? How do I know? I got some ideas and I am getting more.
I will encounter further the true teachings of Christ. There are still more stepping stones ahead of me.
—Dennis Ginoza
Monday, May 25, 2009
Insights, Learnings, Tidbits, and More
SERMON: “Insights, Learnings, Tidbits, and More”
Ephesians 1:15-23
May 24, 2009 Dr. Dennis Ginoza
Today I have asked Steve LeFevre to share some of his
thoughts and insights. He is a businessman and a good one.
He is a Christian and a good one. He reads good
Books, he drives fast cars (his wife Ellen keeps him straight),
and he is a Notre Dame fan and that’s okay. He is a graduate
of the University of South Dakota and majored in Jewish
engineering—actually it was business. At age 30 he was
the youngest Dodge dealer in the US. He was a member of
the Dodge Dealer’s Council representing 5 states. His dad
was a dealer of the early cars, DeSoto, Nash, Plymounth,
Studebaker, etc.; lots of them which no longer exist.
Steve LeFevre Presentation
723-5516, 723-4727, 723-0116, 451-8668, 451-0663, 451-1928
728-1472, 728-4038, 728-4248, 728-1191, 728-1689, 728-3979
728-3976, 728-1123, 728-4311, 728-7433…and so on.
A few years ago, Betty Jackson had volunteered to
make calls to people who came to the church
for the first time. So every Sunday after church,
I would call Betty. At first, every time I called
Betty, I had to look up her phone number. So I
decided I just need to remember her number. So
I started, Fallbrook has four prefixes, 723, 728, 731, and 451.
Betty’s number is 728-5210. All right…I repeated
728, 728… not 723 or 731 but 728. 52 that’s
a highway down south. 10 that’s another highway
up north. 728-5210 …that how I started to remember
Betty’s phone number. From that day on, I started
Put people’s phone number in my head.
When Plato was asked by one of his students, how do you
remember all your ideas? He said, “I just walk down
the street and visit my friends.” When Plato visited
one friend, he could recall all his ideas in the Republic.
When he saw another friend, it made him think about
his essay on Timaeus. And so it goes.
2
The mind is a wonderful gift.
The mind is the window to the world.
Not too long ago, there was a story on television about
the oldest working man in the world. At the age of 104 he still goes to work. He drives his car to
his office, sits at his desk, and mails out his
orders. He is a bee keeper. The interviewer said to him,
I understand you have a philosophy of life. He said,
“Yes, I do.” …”What is it?” …..He thinks and thinks
and he says, “I forget.” So the interviewer went on.
“Now do you remember?” He said, “Yes. …Use it or lose it.”
Did you see in the article inSan Diego Union entitled, “Dementia-free
Past 90: Secret May be Bridge.” The point is: use you
mind, keep active, and play bridge. Georgia Scott who
is 99 says, “It’s where our closest friends are.” How
many of you play bridge? How many of you do crossword
puzzles? How many of you speak a second language?
The apostle Paul says, “Put on the mind of Christ.” In Ephesians
He says, “Pray that God of our Lord Jesus Christ will give
you wisdom and revelation.”
Wisdom will tell you what’s important.
Wisdom will tell you, you never stop learning.
Wisdom will tell you, some people you can trust only
sometimes. Some people you cannot
not at all. Some people you can trust most of the time.
When I was a freshman in college, I spent my first summer in Defiance,
Ohio. I was the guest of my good friend, Duane Pickering. I
learned that his parents, Bob and Naomi Pickering, were so
inspired by Elton Trueblood, they left their home in Dayton,
bought a farm, took an old barn and converted that into a retreat
center. It is called the Tri-State Yokefellow house serving Ohio,
Indiana, and Michigan.
*What I learned from that experience is,
if you have just one idea, it can change your life.
Bob Pickering had served as a county
commissioner and he got Duane and me a job with
the Toledo Construction Company and later the La Choy
Food Factory, in Archbold, Ohio.
*What I learned again is that, it’s not
what you know, it is as much, who you know.
*In his book, “A Place to Stand,” Elton 3
writes about Archimedes the Greek mathematician who
invented the lever. He said, “Give me a place to stand and
I will move the world.” Elton Trueblood says, ”The place
to stand is on Jesus Christ our Lord.”
*What I have learned is that first, I must put
my life into the hands of God,
in Jesus’ name.
*When I graduated from college, I decided I wanted
to change the world so I joined the Peace Corps.
I was trained in Texas and in Puerto Rico.
Yes, I did change some lives. I found a leader
to start a Boy Scout troop started. Iworked with
a health inspector eight families to give 50 colognes
(about $7.00 each) and we got a Care Pump over the
open well. Our Peace Corps group got the Vice President of Costa Rica to come out and speak at two of our leadership training seminars. I worked with the teachers of a school, visited the Department of Education and got
got three new classrooms built. We got a lot of volunteers in the construction project. I worked with leaders of several beach communities got help from the government to build a landing strip. That’s another story.
*What I have learned is that, first, I must change myself. That’s why God put me here. Until I change, I cannot change the world.
When I was pastor of the Santee United Methdist Church, there was
a woman named Marty Marshall. She had MS, multiple sclerosis.
Every Sunday her dad would bring her to church. She was cared for at the
County Facility called Edgemoor. I used to take Jeremy and Aaron
with me to visit her. Marty was sharp, witty, and funny. I used to
tell Marty, one day you will understand “why” things happen as
they do. When Jeremy was applying for medical school, he
mentioned that one of the experiences that helped him was his visits
with Marty Marshall. Today, Jeremy is a medical doctor.
*I believe today that in a little boy named Jeremy, a seed was
planted when he visited Marty Marshall.”
Jesus said, the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. It is the
smallest of seeds and it will grow into a tree.
*Thank you Steve LeFevre for planting new seeds of ministry.
*Thank you all for the seeds you are planting today.
Ephesians 1:15-23
May 24, 2009 Dr. Dennis Ginoza
Today I have asked Steve LeFevre to share some of his
thoughts and insights. He is a businessman and a good one.
He is a Christian and a good one. He reads good
Books, he drives fast cars (his wife Ellen keeps him straight),
and he is a Notre Dame fan and that’s okay. He is a graduate
of the University of South Dakota and majored in Jewish
engineering—actually it was business. At age 30 he was
the youngest Dodge dealer in the US. He was a member of
the Dodge Dealer’s Council representing 5 states. His dad
was a dealer of the early cars, DeSoto, Nash, Plymounth,
Studebaker, etc.; lots of them which no longer exist.
Steve LeFevre Presentation
723-5516, 723-4727, 723-0116, 451-8668, 451-0663, 451-1928
728-1472, 728-4038, 728-4248, 728-1191, 728-1689, 728-3979
728-3976, 728-1123, 728-4311, 728-7433…and so on.
A few years ago, Betty Jackson had volunteered to
make calls to people who came to the church
for the first time. So every Sunday after church,
I would call Betty. At first, every time I called
Betty, I had to look up her phone number. So I
decided I just need to remember her number. So
I started, Fallbrook has four prefixes, 723, 728, 731, and 451.
Betty’s number is 728-5210. All right…I repeated
728, 728… not 723 or 731 but 728. 52 that’s
a highway down south. 10 that’s another highway
up north. 728-5210 …that how I started to remember
Betty’s phone number. From that day on, I started
Put people’s phone number in my head.
When Plato was asked by one of his students, how do you
remember all your ideas? He said, “I just walk down
the street and visit my friends.” When Plato visited
one friend, he could recall all his ideas in the Republic.
When he saw another friend, it made him think about
his essay on Timaeus. And so it goes.
2
The mind is a wonderful gift.
The mind is the window to the world.
Not too long ago, there was a story on television about
the oldest working man in the world. At the age of 104 he still goes to work. He drives his car to
his office, sits at his desk, and mails out his
orders. He is a bee keeper. The interviewer said to him,
I understand you have a philosophy of life. He said,
“Yes, I do.” …”What is it?” …..He thinks and thinks
and he says, “I forget.” So the interviewer went on.
“Now do you remember?” He said, “Yes. …Use it or lose it.”
Did you see in the article inSan Diego Union entitled, “Dementia-free
Past 90: Secret May be Bridge.” The point is: use you
mind, keep active, and play bridge. Georgia Scott who
is 99 says, “It’s where our closest friends are.” How
many of you play bridge? How many of you do crossword
puzzles? How many of you speak a second language?
The apostle Paul says, “Put on the mind of Christ.” In Ephesians
He says, “Pray that God of our Lord Jesus Christ will give
you wisdom and revelation.”
Wisdom will tell you what’s important.
Wisdom will tell you, you never stop learning.
Wisdom will tell you, some people you can trust only
sometimes. Some people you cannot
not at all. Some people you can trust most of the time.
When I was a freshman in college, I spent my first summer in Defiance,
Ohio. I was the guest of my good friend, Duane Pickering. I
learned that his parents, Bob and Naomi Pickering, were so
inspired by Elton Trueblood, they left their home in Dayton,
bought a farm, took an old barn and converted that into a retreat
center. It is called the Tri-State Yokefellow house serving Ohio,
Indiana, and Michigan.
*What I learned from that experience is,
if you have just one idea, it can change your life.
Bob Pickering had served as a county
commissioner and he got Duane and me a job with
the Toledo Construction Company and later the La Choy
Food Factory, in Archbold, Ohio.
*What I learned again is that, it’s not
what you know, it is as much, who you know.
*In his book, “A Place to Stand,” Elton 3
writes about Archimedes the Greek mathematician who
invented the lever. He said, “Give me a place to stand and
I will move the world.” Elton Trueblood says, ”The place
to stand is on Jesus Christ our Lord.”
*What I have learned is that first, I must put
my life into the hands of God,
in Jesus’ name.
*When I graduated from college, I decided I wanted
to change the world so I joined the Peace Corps.
I was trained in Texas and in Puerto Rico.
Yes, I did change some lives. I found a leader
to start a Boy Scout troop started. Iworked with
a health inspector eight families to give 50 colognes
(about $7.00 each) and we got a Care Pump over the
open well. Our Peace Corps group got the Vice President of Costa Rica to come out and speak at two of our leadership training seminars. I worked with the teachers of a school, visited the Department of Education and got
got three new classrooms built. We got a lot of volunteers in the construction project. I worked with leaders of several beach communities got help from the government to build a landing strip. That’s another story.
*What I have learned is that, first, I must change myself. That’s why God put me here. Until I change, I cannot change the world.
When I was pastor of the Santee United Methdist Church, there was
a woman named Marty Marshall. She had MS, multiple sclerosis.
Every Sunday her dad would bring her to church. She was cared for at the
County Facility called Edgemoor. I used to take Jeremy and Aaron
with me to visit her. Marty was sharp, witty, and funny. I used to
tell Marty, one day you will understand “why” things happen as
they do. When Jeremy was applying for medical school, he
mentioned that one of the experiences that helped him was his visits
with Marty Marshall. Today, Jeremy is a medical doctor.
*I believe today that in a little boy named Jeremy, a seed was
planted when he visited Marty Marshall.”
Jesus said, the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. It is the
smallest of seeds and it will grow into a tree.
*Thank you Steve LeFevre for planting new seeds of ministry.
*Thank you all for the seeds you are planting today.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
With Fondest Aloha
SERMON “With Fondest Aloha”
I Corinthians 13
May 17, 2009 Dr. Dennis Ginoza
One day I was driving my ‘68 Mustang on Nimitiz
Highway and I came to a red light so I
stopped. I noticed in my rear view mirror
a guy who comes out of his car, runs toward
me and says, “Indiana?” I said, “Yes!” He
said, “What part?” I said, “Richmond.” He
said, “All right1” He shakes my hand and
runs back to his car. He saw the license plate
on my car which I got in Indiana and he was
happy to see someone from Indiana.
A stranger welcomes a stranger, two people sharing
a good feeling, when you say my space is your
space – that’s the aloha spirit.
There is a saying in Hawaii that goes, Lucky come Hawaii.
There is no place in the world like Hawaii.
When I think of Hawaii, I think of the sound of
breaking waves, the cooling trade winds, and
the rainbows especially on the west side of Maui.
When I think of Hawaii, I think of going barefoot,
I did for 14 years, and swimming in the irrigation ditches.
When I think of Hawaii, I think of kalua pork and poi,
malasadas, sushi, papayas, mangoes, and pineapple.
When I think of Hawaii, I think of plumerias, orchids,
anthuriums, birds of paradise, and hula dancers.
They say Hawaii is the land of aloha, but do you know what
it means” Puna Dawson explains the meaning of aloha.
Aloha, A – L – O – H – A. A comes from the word
akahi which means to be kind. L comes from lokahi which
means to be inclusive. O comes olu’olu which means
to be agreeable. H comes from Ha’aha’a which means
to be humble. And last, A comes from ahonui which
means to be patient.
(Song: This is Aloha)
The book of Ecclesiastes says,
There is a time to be born and
a time to die. It also says, everything that
God made, God made for its suitable time.
2
So today, I want to say to you Thank You.
Thank you for your generosity,
Thank you for your friendship,
Thank you for all your support.
Thank you for all the potlucks, all the visits,
And all pastor appreciation Sundays—the
Surprise lunch at Marlin & Yvonne Clarks,
The Padre tickets and the night at the Omni Hotel,
The Luau at the Live Oak Park, the Pageant of the
Masters, the trip to Catalina Island, the Lawrence
Welk theater. All the other churches threw a party
when we were leaving.
When I first came here—the church had a deficit of $27,000,
we almost closed the Preschool. The Preschool
became one of the finest in town. Ten years ago, we
didn’t support one missionary, today we support three
and last year we raised $17,000 for missions. That’s
a Miracle. When I first came here, someone thought
I was a Korean, and today some of you aren’t sure what
I am. Just call me Pastor! I can say some words in
Hawaiian like humunukunukuapua and lauwilinukunukuoeoe.
I can also say—bendice, Senor, esta iglesia, God bless
this Church.
So I want to say, Thank You and Aloha…..
but I’m not leaving yet. I’m not done.
I hope that you will all continue with the Aloha spirit—
be kind, welcome people with love and hospitality,
be humble, and when someone asks you to help or
take a responsibility, just say “yes.”
Can you say “Yes?”
Noah said Yes! Joseph said Yes! Jonah tried to runaway, but
he got swalled up so he didn’t have a chance. Jonah said, Yes!
Paul said Yes! Jesus said Yes! He knew he was going to
suffer, he knew he was going to die, but he said Yes!
When we say Yes! To God – everything is going to work out okay.
Jesus teaches us today to be good stewards of our families and
our children. I have learned in Hawaii the importance
of family. When you call on family, they can’t say no.
3
Family is bound by love, duty, and blood. Family is
and will always be the cornerstone of every civilization
on this earth. Lose the family and civilization will begin
to crumble.
As a father, I have learned that love means sacrifice,
long-suffering, and the investment of time. Money is
never, never, the substitute of time. When I was the youth
director at the Quaker church in Richmond, Indiana, Susie
said to me, my parents don’t know how to love us. They
give us money for getting good grades, but that is not love.
This morning let me share with you some things about our two boys.
One night when I was putting our boys to bed, Aaron said to me,
“Dad, I don’t like you being a minister.” I said, “Aaron,
why do you say that?” He said, “Because you go to too
many meetings.” In that time, for two years, I was involved
with a building project of a new sanctuary. I decided I needed
to spend more time with our boys.
When Aaron was a sophomore, he took an electricity class. He
was good at it and he got his ham radio license. When
Aaron was a senior he was a top physics student. When he got the
top scholarship at Whittier College, as we were driving
home, I said, “Aaron, I know where you’re going to college.”
He said, “You don’t understand. I want to go to Pomona
College. It’s a better school.” Guess where he went?
Pomona College. I want to wish Aaron well as he was just
accepted at John Hopkins University for a master’s degree
in Communications. Aaron is also good at martial arts, so
don’t mess with him and he is a good dancer.
Jesus taught us, what have you gained if you gain the whole world
but lose your soul. When God entrust to us a family, our
children, and a Church, let us heed the call. As Frederick
Buechner writes, this is a Sacred Journey. Paul says we are
in a process of being adopted as sons and daughters of God.
Today, after our fellowship hour, we are going to have cake to
celebrate our Jeremy’s graduation from Western University
of Health Sciences. He is now, Dr. Jeremy Akeo Ginoza,
a doctor of osteopathic medicine. Congratulations Jeremy!
4
One day, Aaron told us, “Do you know that Jeremy is really good
In Calculus?” Aaron said, “He is really smart.” No, we
didn’t know. Jeremy doesn’t tell us everything. When Jeremy
was in the first grade, he was doing his spelling words on the
computer. When he was in the eighth grade he won the best
essay award in Los Angeles on Martin Luther King. He was
honored at the awards program at USC.
When our boys were young, every Sunday, Sylvia
and the boys sat in the pew listening to Dad. Our boys sang in the
choir, they played baseball. They were both good runners.
(Here in the slide Jeremy takes third in a the relay)
Aaron became our karate kid,
Jeremy became our cyclist.
When Jeremy was receiving his degree last Friday, I thought about
his eighth grade year. He almost dropped out of school. He
lost 30 days of school. He refused to take the bus so every
day, I drove him to school. The teachers told me, if he is
late, just write a note: Please excuse Jeremy, he is late today.
Today, I want to say, Jeremy, good going.
Be the best doctor you can ever be. We wish
you and Melanie our best as you complete your
residence in Yakima, Washington.
Isaiah 40:31 They who wait Slides: The Nettleton Family
upon the Lord, they shall renew Jeremy & Aaron
their strength. They shall mount up Jeremy & Melanie
with wings like eagles. They shall run
and not be weary. They shall walk and
not faint.
I am convinced, without a doubt,
a course has been set for all of us. Written
in every soul, stamped on every personality,
is a path and a task to do. Every night, a voice whispers,
listen to the still small voice of God.
Jesus holds a light and calls, “Come, follow me.” Jesus says
to the followers: Stay the course! Stay the course!
Faith, hope, love abide, but the greatest of these is love.
I Corinthians 13
May 17, 2009 Dr. Dennis Ginoza
One day I was driving my ‘68 Mustang on Nimitiz
Highway and I came to a red light so I
stopped. I noticed in my rear view mirror
a guy who comes out of his car, runs toward
me and says, “Indiana?” I said, “Yes!” He
said, “What part?” I said, “Richmond.” He
said, “All right1” He shakes my hand and
runs back to his car. He saw the license plate
on my car which I got in Indiana and he was
happy to see someone from Indiana.
A stranger welcomes a stranger, two people sharing
a good feeling, when you say my space is your
space – that’s the aloha spirit.
There is a saying in Hawaii that goes, Lucky come Hawaii.
There is no place in the world like Hawaii.
When I think of Hawaii, I think of the sound of
breaking waves, the cooling trade winds, and
the rainbows especially on the west side of Maui.
When I think of Hawaii, I think of going barefoot,
I did for 14 years, and swimming in the irrigation ditches.
When I think of Hawaii, I think of kalua pork and poi,
malasadas, sushi, papayas, mangoes, and pineapple.
When I think of Hawaii, I think of plumerias, orchids,
anthuriums, birds of paradise, and hula dancers.
They say Hawaii is the land of aloha, but do you know what
it means” Puna Dawson explains the meaning of aloha.
Aloha, A – L – O – H – A. A comes from the word
akahi which means to be kind. L comes from lokahi which
means to be inclusive. O comes olu’olu which means
to be agreeable. H comes from Ha’aha’a which means
to be humble. And last, A comes from ahonui which
means to be patient.
(Song: This is Aloha)
The book of Ecclesiastes says,
There is a time to be born and
a time to die. It also says, everything that
God made, God made for its suitable time.
2
So today, I want to say to you Thank You.
Thank you for your generosity,
Thank you for your friendship,
Thank you for all your support.
Thank you for all the potlucks, all the visits,
And all pastor appreciation Sundays—the
Surprise lunch at Marlin & Yvonne Clarks,
The Padre tickets and the night at the Omni Hotel,
The Luau at the Live Oak Park, the Pageant of the
Masters, the trip to Catalina Island, the Lawrence
Welk theater. All the other churches threw a party
when we were leaving.
When I first came here—the church had a deficit of $27,000,
we almost closed the Preschool. The Preschool
became one of the finest in town. Ten years ago, we
didn’t support one missionary, today we support three
and last year we raised $17,000 for missions. That’s
a Miracle. When I first came here, someone thought
I was a Korean, and today some of you aren’t sure what
I am. Just call me Pastor! I can say some words in
Hawaiian like humunukunukuapua and lauwilinukunukuoeoe.
I can also say—bendice, Senor, esta iglesia, God bless
this Church.
So I want to say, Thank You and Aloha…..
but I’m not leaving yet. I’m not done.
I hope that you will all continue with the Aloha spirit—
be kind, welcome people with love and hospitality,
be humble, and when someone asks you to help or
take a responsibility, just say “yes.”
Can you say “Yes?”
Noah said Yes! Joseph said Yes! Jonah tried to runaway, but
he got swalled up so he didn’t have a chance. Jonah said, Yes!
Paul said Yes! Jesus said Yes! He knew he was going to
suffer, he knew he was going to die, but he said Yes!
When we say Yes! To God – everything is going to work out okay.
Jesus teaches us today to be good stewards of our families and
our children. I have learned in Hawaii the importance
of family. When you call on family, they can’t say no.
3
Family is bound by love, duty, and blood. Family is
and will always be the cornerstone of every civilization
on this earth. Lose the family and civilization will begin
to crumble.
As a father, I have learned that love means sacrifice,
long-suffering, and the investment of time. Money is
never, never, the substitute of time. When I was the youth
director at the Quaker church in Richmond, Indiana, Susie
said to me, my parents don’t know how to love us. They
give us money for getting good grades, but that is not love.
This morning let me share with you some things about our two boys.
One night when I was putting our boys to bed, Aaron said to me,
“Dad, I don’t like you being a minister.” I said, “Aaron,
why do you say that?” He said, “Because you go to too
many meetings.” In that time, for two years, I was involved
with a building project of a new sanctuary. I decided I needed
to spend more time with our boys.
When Aaron was a sophomore, he took an electricity class. He
was good at it and he got his ham radio license. When
Aaron was a senior he was a top physics student. When he got the
top scholarship at Whittier College, as we were driving
home, I said, “Aaron, I know where you’re going to college.”
He said, “You don’t understand. I want to go to Pomona
College. It’s a better school.” Guess where he went?
Pomona College. I want to wish Aaron well as he was just
accepted at John Hopkins University for a master’s degree
in Communications. Aaron is also good at martial arts, so
don’t mess with him and he is a good dancer.
Jesus taught us, what have you gained if you gain the whole world
but lose your soul. When God entrust to us a family, our
children, and a Church, let us heed the call. As Frederick
Buechner writes, this is a Sacred Journey. Paul says we are
in a process of being adopted as sons and daughters of God.
Today, after our fellowship hour, we are going to have cake to
celebrate our Jeremy’s graduation from Western University
of Health Sciences. He is now, Dr. Jeremy Akeo Ginoza,
a doctor of osteopathic medicine. Congratulations Jeremy!
4
One day, Aaron told us, “Do you know that Jeremy is really good
In Calculus?” Aaron said, “He is really smart.” No, we
didn’t know. Jeremy doesn’t tell us everything. When Jeremy
was in the first grade, he was doing his spelling words on the
computer. When he was in the eighth grade he won the best
essay award in Los Angeles on Martin Luther King. He was
honored at the awards program at USC.
When our boys were young, every Sunday, Sylvia
and the boys sat in the pew listening to Dad. Our boys sang in the
choir, they played baseball. They were both good runners.
(Here in the slide Jeremy takes third in a the relay)
Aaron became our karate kid,
Jeremy became our cyclist.
When Jeremy was receiving his degree last Friday, I thought about
his eighth grade year. He almost dropped out of school. He
lost 30 days of school. He refused to take the bus so every
day, I drove him to school. The teachers told me, if he is
late, just write a note: Please excuse Jeremy, he is late today.
Today, I want to say, Jeremy, good going.
Be the best doctor you can ever be. We wish
you and Melanie our best as you complete your
residence in Yakima, Washington.
Isaiah 40:31 They who wait Slides: The Nettleton Family
upon the Lord, they shall renew Jeremy & Aaron
their strength. They shall mount up Jeremy & Melanie
with wings like eagles. They shall run
and not be weary. They shall walk and
not faint.
I am convinced, without a doubt,
a course has been set for all of us. Written
in every soul, stamped on every personality,
is a path and a task to do. Every night, a voice whispers,
listen to the still small voice of God.
Jesus holds a light and calls, “Come, follow me.” Jesus says
to the followers: Stay the course! Stay the course!
Faith, hope, love abide, but the greatest of these is love.
Where It All Begins
SERMON “Where It All Begins”
I John 4:7-21
May 10, 2009 Mother’s Day
Dr. Dennis Ginoza
To you all: Happy Mother’s Day!
One day a woman boarded a bus with 11 children. The
bus driver said to her, “Lady, are they all yours,
or are you on a picnic?” “They are all mine,”
said the lady, and believe me, it’s no picnic.”
When our boys were still young, I thought to myself:
what if one of us was gone, what would life be
for them? …..It brought tears in my eyes.
Today, let us give thanks to God for all our mothers for
The first touch,
The first expression of love,
The first bonding with mother.
I didn’t know this when I was growing up, but my older
brothers told me that after my mom had six children,
three boys and three girls, they thought that she
would go before my dad. She was still in her forties.
My dad was 30 when he married my mom; she was 17.
My dad died at age 68; my mother is 94 today
When we were growing up, life was not easy. Clothes
were washed by hand. Remember the old wash
boards. I remember my dad going around the
house saying, “Who left the lights on? Turn off the
lights.” Once I wanted to go to the movies and my
mom said, “You can’t.” I asked “Why?” She said,
“We don’t have any money.” Movies cost 50 cents
then. We didn’t get our first telephone till I was a
freshman in high school. My dad never learned to
drive until he was 65 years old. When he retired he
got a job at the Kaanapali Hotel nursery, he needed
to learn to drive. One thing about being poor in those
days—everybody else was poor.
You heard the adage: “There is no free lunch.” When we
had no telephone, no cars, no television, what we
had were lot of good friends and we learned right
away, the importance of family.
2
My sermon topic today is; “Where It All Begins.”
The Bible teaches us—In the beginning it was
God who created this world. From Genesis to
to Revelation, it starts with God and it ends
with God. Tell me: can someone tell me—
what is the first word in the Bible and what is
the last word? …….Anyone? ……… You
got it. In… and …..amen. In the beginning
God created the heavens and the earth. In
Revelation, it says, The Lord said, “I am coming
soon.” Amen.
In the Bible, in I John, it says that God is love. Those who
abide in love, abide in God. There is no fear
in love and love casts out fear. Then I John says,
“Those who say, “I love God but hate their brothers
and sisters, are liars.”
There is a Jewish proverb that says, “God couldn’t be
everywhere so he made mothers.”
God took the fragrance of the flower,
The majesty of a tree,
The gentleness of morning dew,
The calm of a quiet sea,
The beauty of the twilight hour,
The soul of a starry night,
The laughter of a rippling brook,
The grace of a bird in flight,
The tender care of an angel,
The faith of a mustard seed,
The patience of …whole eternity,
The very depth of a family’s need,
Then! … God fashioned all, all of
these splendid creation of no other.
When God’s great masterpiece was
through, He just simply called it,
MOTHER!
A mother has to deal with boys and with girls,
and the telephone and the child’s
teacher and the broken down car, and
the dog and the cat and the dad and
and everything else under the sun. We say Yeah!
to our mothers!
3
Thelma Sprowls’ mother, Frances Adam was
a poet. She wrote a poem entitled Fifteen.
When a boy is fifteen, he isn’t a man.
But he isn’t a little boy either.
To be both, he tries as hard as he can.
The result is, he is usually neither.
The little boy goes with the kids to play ball,
Or rides on his bike in the street.
Then all of a sudden the young man calls,
And he tries, oh so hard, to be neat.
The young man combs his hair and shines his shoes,
And insists that his pants have a crease.
Then little boy whispers, “Aw, what’s the use.”
And the efforts at neatness soon cease.
Neither boy nor man holds sway all the time.
First one, then the other is seen.
A boy’s life has no reason or thyme
When he reaches the age of fifteen.
She also wrote poem entitled Food, Patty’s Pig, Those
Measly Measles, Anti-Gossip, War Mother’s Plea,
and to her daughter Thelma, she wrote: “You’ll
never know the happiness that you have given me.”
Frances Adams, she lost her mother when she was
eleven and her husband when he was forty-four.
When I first met my wife Sylvia, I learned that she
got a teaching degree from Iowa State Teacher’s
College at Cedar Falls and her master’s degree from
the University of Kentucky in Lexington. I also
learned that she was the valedictorian of her high
school graduating class: so I knew she was smart.
I also learned from her sister Bonnie that when Bonnie
was outside mowing the lawn, Sylvia was inside
reading her book. As a little girl, she had the makings
of a librarian, and that’s what she is.
When Aaron was a little boy, he didn’t like scrabbled eggs,
but he liked Dr. Seuss, Green Eggs and Ham. So one
4
day, Sylvia put green coloring on the scrabbled eggs, and
Aaron, Aaron liked it! When Jeremy was born, Dr.
Laura would love to hear this, she became a stay home mom.
Ever since that day, Sylvia never worked full-time. How nice!
So today, I want to thank Sylvia for being mom to Jeremy and
to Aaron. I took the boys to the ballpark, she took the
boys to the library. I taught the boys to drive a stick shift
car, she brought home the books. Every Sunday, I would
be at the pulpit preaching, she was there in the pew with
the boys. I must also tell you this, Sylvia never
had a lack of job. She was hired part-time at the Calexico
Library, the Quaker Church in La Jolla, the California Home
Stay program with students from Japan and Brazil; that was
in Santee. That gave her a free trip to Japan, I had to pay my
own way. She worked at a dentist office in Woodland Hills.
She worked full-time in Pomona, and part-time in the libraries
at Chula Vista, Carlsbad and Fallbrook.
I want to say, Sylvia, thank you for being Mom to Jeremy and
Aaron. Today, Aaron is in Washington, D.C. and the
pastor of the United Methodist Church had asked him to
give a talk on his belief in the Resurrection. ….Jeremy.
I asked Jeremy to share a few thoughts.
JEREMY’S THOUGHTS ABOUT MOM
Before we are born in this world, there is a lot of preparation
that goes on in that other world—the Pre-Birth World.
There must be. We must be told that this is an imperfect
world and we are sent here to make it better. We must
be told, “And don’t mess up!” Noah, Moses, and Elijah
got the message. And Jesus came to transform the world.
Jesus teaches us, there is a binding force that holds
everything together. Love is patient, love is kind,
love is never jealous or envious. Love gives and gives
and gives. Just before Jesus died, he entrusted his
mother Mary into the hands of the beloved disciple. To
John he said, “Here is your mother.” To Mary he said,
“Here is your son.”
God is good, All the time.
All the time, God is good.
I John 4:7-21
May 10, 2009 Mother’s Day
Dr. Dennis Ginoza
To you all: Happy Mother’s Day!
One day a woman boarded a bus with 11 children. The
bus driver said to her, “Lady, are they all yours,
or are you on a picnic?” “They are all mine,”
said the lady, and believe me, it’s no picnic.”
When our boys were still young, I thought to myself:
what if one of us was gone, what would life be
for them? …..It brought tears in my eyes.
Today, let us give thanks to God for all our mothers for
The first touch,
The first expression of love,
The first bonding with mother.
I didn’t know this when I was growing up, but my older
brothers told me that after my mom had six children,
three boys and three girls, they thought that she
would go before my dad. She was still in her forties.
My dad was 30 when he married my mom; she was 17.
My dad died at age 68; my mother is 94 today
When we were growing up, life was not easy. Clothes
were washed by hand. Remember the old wash
boards. I remember my dad going around the
house saying, “Who left the lights on? Turn off the
lights.” Once I wanted to go to the movies and my
mom said, “You can’t.” I asked “Why?” She said,
“We don’t have any money.” Movies cost 50 cents
then. We didn’t get our first telephone till I was a
freshman in high school. My dad never learned to
drive until he was 65 years old. When he retired he
got a job at the Kaanapali Hotel nursery, he needed
to learn to drive. One thing about being poor in those
days—everybody else was poor.
You heard the adage: “There is no free lunch.” When we
had no telephone, no cars, no television, what we
had were lot of good friends and we learned right
away, the importance of family.
2
My sermon topic today is; “Where It All Begins.”
The Bible teaches us—In the beginning it was
God who created this world. From Genesis to
to Revelation, it starts with God and it ends
with God. Tell me: can someone tell me—
what is the first word in the Bible and what is
the last word? …….Anyone? ……… You
got it. In… and …..amen. In the beginning
God created the heavens and the earth. In
Revelation, it says, The Lord said, “I am coming
soon.” Amen.
In the Bible, in I John, it says that God is love. Those who
abide in love, abide in God. There is no fear
in love and love casts out fear. Then I John says,
“Those who say, “I love God but hate their brothers
and sisters, are liars.”
There is a Jewish proverb that says, “God couldn’t be
everywhere so he made mothers.”
God took the fragrance of the flower,
The majesty of a tree,
The gentleness of morning dew,
The calm of a quiet sea,
The beauty of the twilight hour,
The soul of a starry night,
The laughter of a rippling brook,
The grace of a bird in flight,
The tender care of an angel,
The faith of a mustard seed,
The patience of …whole eternity,
The very depth of a family’s need,
Then! … God fashioned all, all of
these splendid creation of no other.
When God’s great masterpiece was
through, He just simply called it,
MOTHER!
A mother has to deal with boys and with girls,
and the telephone and the child’s
teacher and the broken down car, and
the dog and the cat and the dad and
and everything else under the sun. We say Yeah!
to our mothers!
3
Thelma Sprowls’ mother, Frances Adam was
a poet. She wrote a poem entitled Fifteen.
When a boy is fifteen, he isn’t a man.
But he isn’t a little boy either.
To be both, he tries as hard as he can.
The result is, he is usually neither.
The little boy goes with the kids to play ball,
Or rides on his bike in the street.
Then all of a sudden the young man calls,
And he tries, oh so hard, to be neat.
The young man combs his hair and shines his shoes,
And insists that his pants have a crease.
Then little boy whispers, “Aw, what’s the use.”
And the efforts at neatness soon cease.
Neither boy nor man holds sway all the time.
First one, then the other is seen.
A boy’s life has no reason or thyme
When he reaches the age of fifteen.
She also wrote poem entitled Food, Patty’s Pig, Those
Measly Measles, Anti-Gossip, War Mother’s Plea,
and to her daughter Thelma, she wrote: “You’ll
never know the happiness that you have given me.”
Frances Adams, she lost her mother when she was
eleven and her husband when he was forty-four.
When I first met my wife Sylvia, I learned that she
got a teaching degree from Iowa State Teacher’s
College at Cedar Falls and her master’s degree from
the University of Kentucky in Lexington. I also
learned that she was the valedictorian of her high
school graduating class: so I knew she was smart.
I also learned from her sister Bonnie that when Bonnie
was outside mowing the lawn, Sylvia was inside
reading her book. As a little girl, she had the makings
of a librarian, and that’s what she is.
When Aaron was a little boy, he didn’t like scrabbled eggs,
but he liked Dr. Seuss, Green Eggs and Ham. So one
4
day, Sylvia put green coloring on the scrabbled eggs, and
Aaron, Aaron liked it! When Jeremy was born, Dr.
Laura would love to hear this, she became a stay home mom.
Ever since that day, Sylvia never worked full-time. How nice!
So today, I want to thank Sylvia for being mom to Jeremy and
to Aaron. I took the boys to the ballpark, she took the
boys to the library. I taught the boys to drive a stick shift
car, she brought home the books. Every Sunday, I would
be at the pulpit preaching, she was there in the pew with
the boys. I must also tell you this, Sylvia never
had a lack of job. She was hired part-time at the Calexico
Library, the Quaker Church in La Jolla, the California Home
Stay program with students from Japan and Brazil; that was
in Santee. That gave her a free trip to Japan, I had to pay my
own way. She worked at a dentist office in Woodland Hills.
She worked full-time in Pomona, and part-time in the libraries
at Chula Vista, Carlsbad and Fallbrook.
I want to say, Sylvia, thank you for being Mom to Jeremy and
Aaron. Today, Aaron is in Washington, D.C. and the
pastor of the United Methodist Church had asked him to
give a talk on his belief in the Resurrection. ….Jeremy.
I asked Jeremy to share a few thoughts.
JEREMY’S THOUGHTS ABOUT MOM
Before we are born in this world, there is a lot of preparation
that goes on in that other world—the Pre-Birth World.
There must be. We must be told that this is an imperfect
world and we are sent here to make it better. We must
be told, “And don’t mess up!” Noah, Moses, and Elijah
got the message. And Jesus came to transform the world.
Jesus teaches us, there is a binding force that holds
everything together. Love is patient, love is kind,
love is never jealous or envious. Love gives and gives
and gives. Just before Jesus died, he entrusted his
mother Mary into the hands of the beloved disciple. To
John he said, “Here is your mother.” To Mary he said,
“Here is your son.”
God is good, All the time.
All the time, God is good.
Action!
MEDITATION: “Action!”
I John 3:16-24
May 3, 2009 Dr. Dennis Ginoza
Words are funny. They can make you laugh, they
can make you cry, they can motivate you,
they can cut you down, and they can build you up.
Here are some good words: Next! Nice going! Thanks
a million! You’re so right! Wow!
“If you really want to know who
your friends are, just make a mistake.”
Mr. Kresge of the Kresge chain stores gave one of the
shortest speeches at a college commencement. At Yale
University, he got up and said: “I never made money
Talking,” and he sat down.
Dag Hammarskjold give us these words of wisdom:
“It’s more noble to give yourself completely to one
individual than to labor diligently for the salvation
of the masses.”
Stephen Covey cites that most problems of organizations
stem from the difficulties of individuals at the very top—
between two partners in a professional firm; between the
president and owner. So he says, it is more noble to give
yourself to an individual.
Stephen Covey is right. Most of our problems come from
individuals. Remember the Hatfields and the McCoys.
This was a civil war between two families in Kentucky
and West Virginia. This feud kept going over a $l.75
fiddle and a stray razorback hog. By 1882, this feud got
worse. Three McCoy brothers killed Ellison Hatfield,
because he had insulted them. (Remember what I said
about words). “Devil Anse,” the head of the Hatfields
rounded up the three boys, tied them to the bushes, got his
rifle and put 50 bullets through them. After that, it became
life after life. The women also got into the act. This didn’t
end until the second decade of the 20th century. Almost
30 lives had been taken.
In I John chapter 3, verse 18 it is written, “Little children, let us love, not
in word or speech, but in truth and action.”
2
Jesus is teaching us here that words can be empty.
If you say one thing and do another, then your words
mean nothing. Your words need action.
When Jesus saw the crowds, 5,000 of them, and he
had compassion for them. He fed them with five loaves
and two fish. When Jesus saw Bartimaeus, the blind man,
he had compassion so he placed his hands on Bartmaeus
eyes and he was healed. And Jesus took the ultimate
action, he gave his life for us, for you and for me.
Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but
in truth and action. Last week Beth Bulger told me
a neat story. Her husband Randy Bulger, at his baseball
+practice, gets all the players together and he offers a prayer.
Last weekend Randy couldn’t be at the practice. At the
Baseball practice, his son Colton jumped in and offered the
prayer. The two other coaches are not religious so Colton
took the lead. Now, Randy has the kids offering the prayer.
In all of our lives, little seeds are planted. Those seeds will someday
will bear fruit. When I was in college, whenever I went to town
to shop, I would walk by the Methodist Church. The parsonage
was right next to the church. If the pastor, Rev. Gerald LaMotte
would see me, he would say, “Hey, Dennis, how’re you doing?”
So we’d talk. Then he would say, “Let’s go inside and pray.”
One Sunday, at the Central Methodist Church, I was baptized. I was
a junior in college. What I have learned is that, little acts of kindness
will go a long ways. Rev. LaMotte died last year. I got a letter from
one of my college friends in Iowa who attended his funeral and it was
mentioned that Rev. LaMotte had touched three persons that entered
the ministry. One of them was her husband, Jim Stiles, who is a
pastor in Mason City and, yours truly, Dennis Ginoza.
James Dobson says, “Values are not taught, they are caught.” One
day our son Jeremy said to me, “Dad, remember when you
used stop and pick up trash, it used to embarrass me. Guess
what?” He says, “I’m doing it now.” When Jeremy was at
Pacific University, he organized a recycling project for the
school. He was proud and he said, “Dad, that was big!”
All our lives, we are influenced by people. Like little drops of rain,
a small push here, one small sacrifices, a prayer on your
knees – they all become one large act of love. When I first
3
came to this church, I went to visit Frank Cardiff and I’ll
never forget what he served me. A shrimp cocktail and cheese.
When I went to seminary, I studied basic courses in Old
Testament and New Testament, systematic theology,
the psychology of Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud,
the history of Christianity, exegetical study of the Bible,
Quakerism and Methodism, Shintoism and other
world religions. I studied Joseph Fletcher’s
Situation Ethics and Harvey Cox’s Secular City. I studied
church management, preaching, counseling and Greek.
I took a course on monastic communities with a Roman
Catholic priest. I did eleven weeks of Clinical Pastoral Education:
at the Long Beach General Hospital working with women
alcoholics and at Pacific State Hospital with the mentally
challenged. Then I wrote a doctoral dissertation on Christian
Agape as the Basis for an Ethical Norm.
In all that I have studied and all that I had done, it comes down to Jesus’ commandment: “Love one another as I have loved you.” John says,
“No greater love has a man than this, that he lay down his life for his
friends.” (John 15:13) Without love, we are nothing.
Once a reporter was covering the conflict in Sarajevo (what was
then Yugoslavia. He saw a little girl shot by a sniper. The
reporter threw down his pad and pen and stopped being
a reporter. He rushed to the man who was hold the child.
He helped them both in his car. As he stepped on the
Accelerator, the man said, “Hurry, my friend, my child is
still alive. A moment later, “Hurry, my friend, my child
is still breathing.” Minutes went by, “Hurry, my friend,
my child is still warm.” Finally, “O God, my child is
getting cold.” When they got to the hospital, the child had
died. As the two men were washing theirs hands and
clothes in the lavatory, the man said, “This is a terrible task
for me. I must go and tell her father that this child is dead.
He will be heart broken.” The reporter was surprised. He
looked at the man and said, “I thought she was your child.”
The man said, “Yes, they are all our children. They are
also God’s children as well, and he entrusted us with their
care in Sarajevo, in Somalia, in New York City, in Los
Angeles, in Perry Georgia, and in Washington, D.C. (I add: Fallbrook).
Action! Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is like a mustard
seed, the smallest of seeds that will grow into a tree.”
I John 3:16-24
May 3, 2009 Dr. Dennis Ginoza
Words are funny. They can make you laugh, they
can make you cry, they can motivate you,
they can cut you down, and they can build you up.
Here are some good words: Next! Nice going! Thanks
a million! You’re so right! Wow!
“If you really want to know who
your friends are, just make a mistake.”
Mr. Kresge of the Kresge chain stores gave one of the
shortest speeches at a college commencement. At Yale
University, he got up and said: “I never made money
Talking,” and he sat down.
Dag Hammarskjold give us these words of wisdom:
“It’s more noble to give yourself completely to one
individual than to labor diligently for the salvation
of the masses.”
Stephen Covey cites that most problems of organizations
stem from the difficulties of individuals at the very top—
between two partners in a professional firm; between the
president and owner. So he says, it is more noble to give
yourself to an individual.
Stephen Covey is right. Most of our problems come from
individuals. Remember the Hatfields and the McCoys.
This was a civil war between two families in Kentucky
and West Virginia. This feud kept going over a $l.75
fiddle and a stray razorback hog. By 1882, this feud got
worse. Three McCoy brothers killed Ellison Hatfield,
because he had insulted them. (Remember what I said
about words). “Devil Anse,” the head of the Hatfields
rounded up the three boys, tied them to the bushes, got his
rifle and put 50 bullets through them. After that, it became
life after life. The women also got into the act. This didn’t
end until the second decade of the 20th century. Almost
30 lives had been taken.
In I John chapter 3, verse 18 it is written, “Little children, let us love, not
in word or speech, but in truth and action.”
2
Jesus is teaching us here that words can be empty.
If you say one thing and do another, then your words
mean nothing. Your words need action.
When Jesus saw the crowds, 5,000 of them, and he
had compassion for them. He fed them with five loaves
and two fish. When Jesus saw Bartimaeus, the blind man,
he had compassion so he placed his hands on Bartmaeus
eyes and he was healed. And Jesus took the ultimate
action, he gave his life for us, for you and for me.
Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but
in truth and action. Last week Beth Bulger told me
a neat story. Her husband Randy Bulger, at his baseball
+practice, gets all the players together and he offers a prayer.
Last weekend Randy couldn’t be at the practice. At the
Baseball practice, his son Colton jumped in and offered the
prayer. The two other coaches are not religious so Colton
took the lead. Now, Randy has the kids offering the prayer.
In all of our lives, little seeds are planted. Those seeds will someday
will bear fruit. When I was in college, whenever I went to town
to shop, I would walk by the Methodist Church. The parsonage
was right next to the church. If the pastor, Rev. Gerald LaMotte
would see me, he would say, “Hey, Dennis, how’re you doing?”
So we’d talk. Then he would say, “Let’s go inside and pray.”
One Sunday, at the Central Methodist Church, I was baptized. I was
a junior in college. What I have learned is that, little acts of kindness
will go a long ways. Rev. LaMotte died last year. I got a letter from
one of my college friends in Iowa who attended his funeral and it was
mentioned that Rev. LaMotte had touched three persons that entered
the ministry. One of them was her husband, Jim Stiles, who is a
pastor in Mason City and, yours truly, Dennis Ginoza.
James Dobson says, “Values are not taught, they are caught.” One
day our son Jeremy said to me, “Dad, remember when you
used stop and pick up trash, it used to embarrass me. Guess
what?” He says, “I’m doing it now.” When Jeremy was at
Pacific University, he organized a recycling project for the
school. He was proud and he said, “Dad, that was big!”
All our lives, we are influenced by people. Like little drops of rain,
a small push here, one small sacrifices, a prayer on your
knees – they all become one large act of love. When I first
3
came to this church, I went to visit Frank Cardiff and I’ll
never forget what he served me. A shrimp cocktail and cheese.
When I went to seminary, I studied basic courses in Old
Testament and New Testament, systematic theology,
the psychology of Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud,
the history of Christianity, exegetical study of the Bible,
Quakerism and Methodism, Shintoism and other
world religions. I studied Joseph Fletcher’s
Situation Ethics and Harvey Cox’s Secular City. I studied
church management, preaching, counseling and Greek.
I took a course on monastic communities with a Roman
Catholic priest. I did eleven weeks of Clinical Pastoral Education:
at the Long Beach General Hospital working with women
alcoholics and at Pacific State Hospital with the mentally
challenged. Then I wrote a doctoral dissertation on Christian
Agape as the Basis for an Ethical Norm.
In all that I have studied and all that I had done, it comes down to Jesus’ commandment: “Love one another as I have loved you.” John says,
“No greater love has a man than this, that he lay down his life for his
friends.” (John 15:13) Without love, we are nothing.
Once a reporter was covering the conflict in Sarajevo (what was
then Yugoslavia. He saw a little girl shot by a sniper. The
reporter threw down his pad and pen and stopped being
a reporter. He rushed to the man who was hold the child.
He helped them both in his car. As he stepped on the
Accelerator, the man said, “Hurry, my friend, my child is
still alive. A moment later, “Hurry, my friend, my child
is still breathing.” Minutes went by, “Hurry, my friend,
my child is still warm.” Finally, “O God, my child is
getting cold.” When they got to the hospital, the child had
died. As the two men were washing theirs hands and
clothes in the lavatory, the man said, “This is a terrible task
for me. I must go and tell her father that this child is dead.
He will be heart broken.” The reporter was surprised. He
looked at the man and said, “I thought she was your child.”
The man said, “Yes, they are all our children. They are
also God’s children as well, and he entrusted us with their
care in Sarajevo, in Somalia, in New York City, in Los
Angeles, in Perry Georgia, and in Washington, D.C. (I add: Fallbrook).
Action! Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is like a mustard
seed, the smallest of seeds that will grow into a tree.”
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