I was up at 4 am this morning. I emptied the dish washer, showered, dressed, had my quiet time, and fixed a light breakfast. Grapefruit and toast! Is that light enough? I always pack the night before and so this morning I loaded my luggage in the car. I am flying to Ontario, California, and preaching for my good friend Pastor Nathan Cook (No relation to Jerry Cook). Pastor Cook pastors the Faith Baptist Church of Riverside, California. This is one exciting church for sure!
I have only two times in all of these 30 plus years of traveling and preaching every week ever had what happened to me here. Several years ago I flew into Ontario on a Monday and waited at the airport and no one was there to pick me up. So, I called Pastor Cook and he said, “Hello!” I said to him, “I’m at the airport!” He said, “What airport?” I said, “Ontario.” He said, “What are you doing there?” I said, “I am supposed to preach for you tonight and tomorrow!” He said, “No! That’s next week!” I said, “Oh no that can’t be?” I told him, “Well, I m so sorry about the mix up! I will just catch a flight back home! I’m scheduled somewhere else next week so we’ll work out another date in the future!” He said, “Oh no we can’t do that! I’ll get on the phone and call our people and we’ll go ahead and have church!” I could not believe it! The building was not full but it sure looked good for just getting on the phone and contacting the members. We had a great meeting! This is a great church!
By the way the other time was when I flew to Monterrey, Mexico, to preach, as I did for over a decade, for Missionary Tommy Ashcraft. Some how the dates were one week off and He was in Central America preaching and so I spent the night in Monterrey and then flew back the next day. I just flit around the world! Ha!
Today I arrived a little early to the Ontario, California, airport. Pastor Nathan Cook (No relation to Jerry Cook) picked me up and took me to the Ayres Motel in Corona, California. I wonder if Mrs. Ayres has been holding out on me. Could it be that she is really rich and owns these motels? I checked into the motel and greeted Wendy Portelo at the front desk. I asked her if they had a treadmill and she said, “Yes we do!” I then asked her if she would get on the treadmill for me. She said she needed too! I really felt bad then, because I thought she thought I was saying she was a little chunky. I went to my room and then left to go to Von’s Grocery Store to get some fruit. On my way out I stopped by the front desk hoping that Wendy would still talk to me. We laughed and cut up a little bit. Then I gave her a Gospel tract from our church. I went through the Scriptures carefully and reviewed them. Soon she bowed her head and prayed to trust Christ as payment for all of her sins. She thanked me and went to the store feeling a whole lot better! GOTTA LOVE SOUL WINING!