This letter was written by a man that has spent 30+ years in prison and will remain there for life. He was only a youth when he and a buddy did one unlawful act for money that got out of control and cost him a life-time of regret:
Dear Dad,

I'm sorry I can't be there to spend the day with you and I'm sorry I didn't spend the day with you more often. I'm sorry that we argued so much and I'm sorry for ever saying some of the things that I said. You only wanted what was best for me and I was too stupid to listen to you. If I would have just listened to you I would be there with you right now. If I only knew then what I do now. I know that I really let you down dad and I'm sorry, but I hope that there was a time I made you proud of me. I'll never forget any of the time we spent together; like the times you would play monster with me, or when we would go for walks down the hill. The times when you would give me the royaltickleroonie or the times when you would hold me over your head and I would pretend I'm super-man. I hope, wish and pray that you and I get to spend one more day together. I don't care what we do as long as we're together. Maybe someday we can go back out to that pond and go fishing one more time. Dad, I'm sorry I never told you any of this sooner but I'd rather you know now then never know at all.

                                                                                                                           Love,
                                                                                                                                         John

 This is a man who lives with regret. There are two kinds of sorrow, two kinds of regret: godly and worldly. "Godly" sorrow leads to repentance, which is a change of mind involving action, which is in line with God's will (like Peter's remorse after his denial of Christ). Peter's repentance resulted in Godly change.  Jesus would restore Peter to useful service as he went on to help many years of fruitful ministry! "Worldly" sorrow brings death (like Judas' "sorrow" after he betrayed the Lord; Matthew 27:3-5).  Judas thought killing himself would solve his regret, but sadly his worldly choice short-circuited his opportunity to live a meaningful life by serving Jesus.  His repentance resulted in death accomplishing nothing!

"For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death"(2 Corinthians 7:10)

Chances are, you won't spend the rest of your life in prison for one wrong decision but we all have regrets.  When you do something you regret ask yourself if you are taking a godly path of repentance or a worldly path of remorse without hope? In addition to making time to consider all the things we are thankful for this Thanksgiving, this might also be a good time to allow the Holy Spirit to show us if there is anything we will regret by the choices and decisions we are making today.  Today may be the day God is calling you to reconsider choices you are making that are not in alignment with His will...

A word of encouragement from the apostle Paul:

"I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:12-13).

"Now godliness combined with contentment brings great profit. For we have brought nothing into this world and so we cannot take a single thing out either" (1 Timothy 6:6-7).

"Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, "I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you," so that we confidently say, "The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"' (Hebrews 13:5-6).

CONTENTMENT is that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, which freely submits to & delights in God's wise & fatherly disposal in every condition....It is a work of the Spirit 'indoors.' (The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs, 1599-1646 AD)

Have a truly blessed Thanksgiving!

From all the Pastors of San Diego Bible Church

Ensenada, Mexico Trip, Saturday December 21st  - Please join us in visiting our sister church, La Roca de Salvacion to deliver the Christmas gifts for the children and the warm clothing to the families. We are departing at 8:30 am from Chick-Fil-A and will arrive back home at approximately 7 pm.  Passports are a must!  Drivers are needed (you must have Mexican  insurance).  Contact Dan Bauch at sandiegobiblechurch.com.

A friend shared this analogy recently and I couldn't help sharing it with each of you:

Around the turn of the twentieth century, a bar of steel was worth about $5. When it was forged into horseshoes, it was worth $10. When made into needles, its value was $350; when made into small pocketknife blades, its worth was $32,000. When made into springs for watches, its value increased to $250,000. What a pounding that steel bar had to endure to be worth this much! The more it was shaped, hammered, put through the fire, beaten, pounded and polished, the greater its value!

YOU have great value to God! As a believer, you have become adopted by our heavenly Father and are now one of His precious children! As a child of God it is important for you to know our "Dad" wants you to grow up spiritually. Said another way, Father wants you to grow up in your faith so He can use you in more creative and effective ways. However, growing up can be painful! I still remember the growing pains in my limbs as a child to this day, but oh so necessary to become a man.

God has a unique way of growing us up and James tells us in the book that bears his name, just how God matures His children into disciples of Jesus. If you guessed BOOTCAMP, I'd say it was a nice guess, as it sure will make a huge difference in your spiritual life which most of you are already discovering, especially as you remember to read your bibles daily ☺.

But the right answer, the primary means of growth for you and I are through TESTS and TRIALS. Probably not what you wanted to hear, but something you need to know.

The hammering and polishing process can cause us to get angry or bitter if we dig our heals in, when God is trying to get us to do things His way and pay attention to what He is teaching us, OR, on the other hand, it can refine us when we press into the challenges that come our way, allowing God to buff shine us, so we can reflect His glory!

The choice is yours. The next time you get pounded, ask yourself, "God, what are you trying to teach me?"

James 1:2-4 My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing. NRSV

BOOT CAMP CONTINUES THIS WEEKEND WITH,
"WILL THE REAL JESUS PLEASE STAND UP?"

This week we will prove from every type of source that Jesus is God, not "a" god, but the second person of the Trinity. This is a great weekend to bring any of your friends and family who may not be saved as we bring all the FACTS on Jesus and as you get a chance to be the critic and play the role of a private investigator.

We will be interviewing Jesus' family, friends and his enemies, while looking at all the evidence that will prove who Jesus really is.

Hope to see you this weekend and I pray that God will bless you this week in a special way!

Love and hugs in Christ,

Pastor Steve

2Tim. 2:15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.

While the apostle Paul wrote this verse of scripture to his protégé, Timothy, right before he was executed, the Bible makes it clear, all believers are to study the Word of God and not just read it. Notice Paul says we are to work at the Scriptures - as in laboring after its truth. We are to be unashamed in our ability to accurately be able to interpret God's Word for ourselves, not depending solely on the interpretations of your pastor, but on the Holy Spirit.

We are not to depend solely on the Holy Spirit either for interpretation, as many a Christian has gone down the path of error believing they got a word from the Holy Spirit only to discover later it was some other spirit.

1John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

We are told to tests the spirits, which is always done through accurately testing someone's teaching through God's Word. When all is said and done there is no substitute for self-study. This is in fact what the Bereans did who were known for their diligent study of Scripture. They even examined the apostle's teaching with the Word of God!

Acts 17:10-11 The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.

God expects you and I as disciples to engage in more than just reading the Bible, actively engaging its pages, through study, which brings me to this weekend.

Join us this weekend as I will be teaching the difference between reading and studying your bible as a special addition to Boot Camp - The Essentials of Christianity Series.

This is a special ops weekend with special activities! Remember to come early as we start right off with the teaching before worship and if you come to the second service on Sunday, you will want to be there no later than 1015am!

Please make sure you bring your bible and a blank notebook to church this week!

FINALLY, I am super stoked at the excitement with all of you and the BOOTCAMP series. I'm excited to see our first BETA TEST video under our sermon header at sandiegobiblechurch.com website!

It's a little grainy and has a bit of a hum to it as a test video, but the tech gang says we will be at full speed by the end of the week! We should be able to have video sermons from now on moving forward! Let me encourage you to watch the video, link it to your Facebook page and LIKE US!

God has used this series to transform over 15,000 believers into fire-breathing disciples of Jesus and I'm praying He will make a difference with your friends and family as well. One of our past test sermons already has like some 6,000 hits on it from YouTube. God is at work as we venture into NEW YOUTUBE LAND for JESUS!!!!!!!

Sending you each the love of Jesus and a great big hug from all of our pastors,

Pastor Steve

Matt. 28:19-20

"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

What an amazing weekend of BOOTCAMP!!!!!!!!! YOU are becoming and helping to make disciples. And we are doing it together!

WOW! I'm really excited about the turnout and the decisions for Christ this past week at Boot Camp AND I'M SO PROUD OF EACH OF YOU for making so many changes in how we experience CHURCH to accommodate this series from the pulpit!!!!!!!!!!!!

YOU defied the San Diego Culture and YOU came early. This allowed us to start the teaching on time and still have our worship! THANK YOU!!!!!!!

AGAIN, Thank you SO much for such a great launch and your sacrifice!

Just a couple of reminders for you this week:

1. It's Daylight Savings time this week for those of you who come Sunday ☺  

2. If you come to the 10:30am service on Sunday morning, please remember to come early at 10:15am so that you get to worship with the first service or you will miss the worship!

3. If you come to the second service, please plan on worship at 10:15am planning to stay an extra 15 minutes so you don't miss worship.

4. Please take the time this week to visit the websites I gave as homework to see why evolution is a religion and has NO FACTS to back it up...none!!! Be sure and go to

Evolution Vs. God

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0u3-2CGOMQ) and watch this amazing video where Ray Comfort dismantles atheistism!




5. Also, be sure and visit http://www.ICR.ORG/ and look under "topics," where you will find a wealth of information about creation science - what science doesn't want you to know about God and Creation ☺

6. Be sure to load up the car and the minivan with more folks who NEED this series. You and your friends will be blessed together!!!!!

With all the love of Christ in His Mercy and Grace,

Pastor Steve