McDaniel's Corner

Are you willing to fight?

2010-12-03T10:53:00.000-08:00

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself." John Stuart Mill

2009-07-14T07:59:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, there was an email that circulated cyberspace about the fact that at 4:05 and 6 seconds, on July 8, 2009, it would be 04.05.06.07.08.09. The email spoke of how that would never occur again. I thought a lot about this idea, and came to the conclusion that every moment is one that will never occur again.

If you are waiting for some special moment in time to see something spectacular, you are missing it. That special moment is right now. Take a look outside, and see all that God has made for us to enjoy.

My Little Ladies

2009-05-18T22:55:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to post a picture of the two prettiest little ladies in the world. Yes, of course they're mine! ;) Sarana and Kaitlyn really are the lights of my life. I can't believe how fast time flies. "Savor each moment like you would a last meal, fore just like the last meal, once the moment is swallowed, one can never relive it." -SJM

A Pearl in His Hand

2009-04-10T20:56:00.000-07:00

“A Pearl in His Hand”

One day
I sat and talked
with a man that held a
pearl in the palm of his hand.
He talked of life, and love, and the sea.
I knew that the words he spoke were
of me. For I was the pearl he held
in his hand. I was the jewel,
and not as I am. I was the
hope that carried
him on.
I was the luster that inspired his song.

He
spoke
of a
gem
that
was
precious
and rare.
He said
that
the search
had brought
him to there.
He opened his hand, in His palm was a scar.
“The price,” He said, “has brought me this far.”
I stand
here
today,
and
all
that
I am,
Is a
pearl
that
God
can
hold
in His hand.

By Steven J. McDaniel

My Twin Brother

2009-03-21T21:59:00.000-07:00

I have never formally introduced my twin brother. Don't we look alike?

Not really, right? Well, he is not really my twin. Big surprise, huh? This is my brother, Jimmie Charles McDaniel, Jr. He is three years older than me, and I try to never let him forget it. (He never let me forget it when we were growing up, so I thought I would return the favor. :)

In all seriousness, this is one great guy! He looks mean, but he is a big teddy bear. I can call on him anytime, and I know that he will be there for me. I thank God for him every day.

Sometimes we lose sight of the most important things in our lives. We find ourselves chasing the wind, thinking that we have to make another dollar, get something else done, or impress people that really don't matter. I want to make sure that the most important things in my life are not neglected, because I found out that all too soon, those precious things slip away.

Thanks for being the best big brother that I could ever ask for.

Playing in the mud

2009-01-10T20:45:00.000-08:00

These are some pics from our recent trip to California City. We played in the mud with the Jeep and the GMC truck. It was fun!

It was all fun and games until the Jeep rolled off the mountain!

This is the jeep still in the ravine. Thankfully, no one was hurt.

My Calendar

2009-01-09T14:57:00.001-08:00

At the first of the year, I usually think about things that are going to happen during the year. I start thinking about special services, youth events, jr. camps, and promotions. It doesn’t take long for the calendar to fill up. Suddenly, I find myself rearranging to accommodate “unplanned” circumstances.
But today, I stopped to ask myself if I had written into my schedule any time for Jesus. I went back through my calendar and found that there was not one entry titled “Prayer time” or “Study God’s Word.” I also noticed that I had not set aside any time to spend with my family. I came to realize that prayer time and time with family are often things that happen as a result of little “gaps” in our calendars.
How much greater would our relationship with God be if we penciled Him into our calendars, and then kept those appointments? In 2009, let’s write Jesus into our datebooks. I think we will find those will be the most valuable moments of the year.

Just a little thought...Steven J.

A New Leaf

2009-01-07T20:24:00.000-08:00

The beginning of a new year normally prompts folks to change. We often refer to this as “turning over a new leaf.” We tend to make New Year resolutions, start diets (God forbid), and make promises to exercise get in shape. As I said, we “turn over a new leaf.”
Something that occurred to me the other day is that simply turning over a new leaf is not enough. We must be certain that we are turning over the right leaf, and the right leaf only comes from the tree of life.
Prov 3:18
[Wisdom] is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.
James 1:5
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

In turning over that new leaf, remember that God is the giver of wisdom. Make sure that your new leaf is a godly leaf.

Jim C. McDaniel, Sr.

2008-10-17T12:49:00.001-07:00

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

2008-10-05T13:56:00.001-07:00

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

2008-10-04T20:41:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-26T15:02:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-09T22:51:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-04-03T10:35:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-03-10T12:59:00.000-07:00

"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.

2008-02-01T21:16:00.000-08:00

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.

2008-01-29T12:09:00.000-08:00

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?