Jim C. McDaniel, Sr.

Jim C. McDaniel, Sr.

Sept. 7, 1950 - Oct. 15, 2008

What does it mean to have a "blessed life?" I know the popular opinion is that one has a lot of material possessions and a large bank account. But the Bible says in Proverbs 10:22 "The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it." I have known many rich people that lived lives of sorrow. Their wealth simply could not fill the voids in their hearts. I must then appeal that the blessings are the things in our lives that are not temporal, but foundational. They are the things that do not fade in a moment, but are deeply impressed into one's being.

I thank God that he did not give me superficial things, but gave me true blessings such as a father and a mother that instilled in me a love for Truth. My father was a apostolic minister for 42 years. He made sure that the foundation of my faith was the Oneness of God, Jesus name water baptism, and the infilling of the Holy Ghost. He never wavered from the Apostolic Doctrine. I want to take this opportunity to thank God for the real blessings that I have been given.

My parents are both gone now. My mother passed away May 9, 1985 and my father passed away on Oct. 15, 2008. At the young age of 35, I am left with a tremendous responsibility as spiritual "Elder" to my family. I am in no way prepared or deserving of such a position. However, the job has been left vacant, and requires replacement.

To my cherished friends that will read this post, I would like to say that each moment is a blessing from God, not the things, but the moment. It would be easy to focus on the losses that I have encountered, but I choose to focus on the moments that I was blessed with. I cherish this moment that you, my friend, are taking the time to read this. God bless.

C.I.P. Graduation Service, Lake Havasu

What a touching service. There were two gradutes from the Christian Intervention Program at Christ Alive in Lake Havasu: Dave and Janey.

This is Bro. Micheal Buxton about to give Dave and Janey their graduation certificates.

After receiving thier certificates, the church joined together in prayer for them. It was powerful!

Me preaching...

Golden Corral after service...the best part!

Thanks Bro. Buxton for the invitation and the hospitality.

Trip to Lake Havasu

Hey everyone, I just thought that I would post some pictures of our trip to Lake Havasu, AZ. We are preaching for Bro. Gerald Buxton at Christ Alive Worship Center (we are still here at the moment). We are having a great time. Lake Havasu is beautiful. This picture is of London Bridge Beach which is right next to the historical London Bridge.


This pic is another the girlies getting their feet wet and looking for rocks.

This is the London Bridge at night. It is fantastic!

This is Kandee and I with the bridge in the background.

Pray for us.

beach Trip

I know...it's been a while since my last post. Well here is some of the pics from a trip to the beach just a few weeks ago.

This is in Morro Bay. The girlies were wading in the water, looking for sea shells.

Me and my sweetheart.

This is us feeding peanuts to the squirrels at Morro Bay. These little guys were awesome. They would come right up to us and take the peanut out of ours hands.

I was think...this is the way that we should trust God. He has never hurt us or gave us something that was not good. We should stretch out our hands and graciously receive what God is trying to hand to us.

Do we really trust Him?

More than meets the eye

2 Kings 6:17
17 And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.
Have you ever heard that old expression, “That’s just the tip of the iceberg?” This saying comes from the fact that only one tenth of an iceberg is above the water. So when we see an iceberg, we are only seeing ten percent of what is actually there. A closer observation below the surface reveals that the mass and shape of what is below the water is much greater and more profound than what is above.
This is also true in our relationship with Jesus Christ. If all we have is a surface relationship, we are missing the greater portion of what God wants to give us. To get beyond a surface relationship, we must dive below the surface and see what is waiting to be found. To accomplish this feat in our relationship with Jesus, we must…
· Study the Bible with fervor, delve below a surface reading, and find what God is really telling us.
· Pray with more than just a surface prayer. I was always taught that you pray until you touch the throne of God. There are occasions when “touching the throne” is more emotional than others. However, we should not be satisfied with superficial prayers.
· Live so that God is glorified in everything that you do. Surface relationships often result in living for us. Deep relationships result in living for others, namely Jesus Christ.
Depth comes from exploration. Let us pray that God will open our eyes, and see that He has ordained a generous portion for us. May we put aside superficiality, and explore all that God has for us.

Lightning is one of the most frightening things in nature, full of power, destruction, and wonder. I wonder what would have happened if Benjamin Franklin would have looked at the lightning and said, "It's too much to deal with. I can't handle the unknown." What would our lives be like now? The beautiful thing is that Mr. Franklin looked at the terror and saw transcendence. He stood in the presence of the power to gain its potential.

We as Christians sometimes look at the unknown with fear. We fail to see the wonder and the beauty that God has put right before us; all we see is the dread. Be always ready to step out into the path that God has prepared. When we see the lightning, remember that God is just cutting through the darkness.

"The Life Within"

by Steven J. McDaniel
The old house was in slight disarray. The windows didn't seem to close as tightly as they once did. The lawn was over due for a mowing. The front door had small finger prints from little hands that had recently played in the dirt. The roof was lightly sprinkled with needles from the enormous pine tree that stood triumphantly in the neighbor's backyard. The sidewalk was cracked in several places, obviously from the years of earth's constant movement. From the road, it appeared to be just another house.
Children ran to the front door from somewhere in the side yard. A young boy of about five years old led the way, followed by a tottering three year girl, curls bouncing as she walked. Directly behind the two children came a beautiful young woman, locking the gate to the side yard as she came through. She smiled at the two young ones and told them, "Hurry up, Daddy'll be home soon." She walked with the grace of one blessed by the hand of God himself.
The little boy opened the door and ran inside, followed by his sister. The young woman stepped onto the porch, looked down the street as if hoping to see someone coming. She looked down at the flower bed by the front door. After staring for several moments, she took one more look down the road, then walked inside, and closed the door.
The life of the house was not reflected by the outside; the life was within.

This is us at California City, our favorite get-away spot. We go as often as we can. I would post more pictures of the desert area, but showing this picture just about shows it all. LOL. Honestly, there are a lot of hills as well as bushes. It's a lot of fun.

I just thought I would introduce you to the smallest member of our family. This is our Jack Russell named "Jake." He is really a great dog. He is almost 6 years old, and can play fetch with the ball for hours. We have to buy raquet balls for him because he can chew up a tennis ball in a matter of minutes. He goes nearly everywhere with us on vacation. He loves going to the California Desert, and he loves to ride on the quad with me. Pretty cute, huh?