Pentecostal Church of God Northern California/Nevada District Newsletter Rev. Lonnie J. Cox, District Bishop

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1 October 31, 2018 To the excellent Pastors, Ministers, and Congregations of our District Church, WE APPRECIATE YOU! Margaret and I want to take this opportunity to thank all of our Pastors for your kind expressions and gifts to us this month. We were surprised and overwhelmed by your thoughtfulness. Thank you!!! We also hope that every Pastor in our District Church felt the love and appreciation extended to them by their local congregations; and most importantly from our LORD JESUS Himself. Amen. Pentecostal Church of God Northern California/Nevada District Newsletter Rev. Lonnie J. Cox, District Bishop Our sincere condolences to Sister Peggy Hammond at the passing of her beloved dad, Rev. Calvin Crandall. This recent photo of Peggy s dad shows 4 generations of PCG Preachers: Bill Hammond, Calvin Crandall, Steve and Josh Hammond. What a heritage! Calvin was 94 when this photo was taken. Both the Hammond and Crandall families are well known and beloved throughout the PCG. If I heard correctly, Calvin passed on Peggy s birthday; which makes the day all the more memorable. We also want to acknowledge the passing of the original Sweet Thing Jean Smith. Jean was the beloved wife of Rev. Ray J Smith, who was himself greatly loved by the PCG. Many of you will remember her fondly. On Friday, Oct. 12, Margaret s sister Irmgard Pauley was in a head on collision, but miraculously escaped serious injury. We say miraculously because in spite of the extensive damage, we believe God spared her for all our family s sake. Thank You Jesus! Irmgard suffered numerous cuts and bruises, but was otherwise unharmed. In this photo her husband Cliff is inspecting the damage. They were well insured and have already replaced the damaged car with something better. PTL! They live in Michigan. 1

2 Margaret s Women s Ministry Rally Tour: Monday 10/1. We began our October by returning from Winnemucca NV. Starting on Friday 9/28 Margaret preached her first WM Conference for Christlife Family Ministries with Pastors Allen and Darla Peavy. CFM is an independent Pentecostal church. We met the Pastors years ago when I preached for them on the way to General Convention. They invited us back this year for the Women s Conference and Sunday morning service. We loved our time with these ladies and gentlemen. God blessed Margaret with favor and the ladies invited her back again next year. We can hardly wait. On Saturday, while the ladies were in service, the church men took me to the shooting range to fire shotguns and pistols. I ll never forget it. It was my first time to shoot skeet (clay pigeons). Pull! Later, I took Margaret to see the shooting range, and on the way back we saw this Antelope. He was one of 3 bucks in a herd of 20 antelope. P.S.: On Monday we saw more antelope and a small herd of wild horses near a wilderness basin. Beautiful!!! Tuesday 10/2. Credentials Committee Meeting. Congratulations to new applicants Robert Johnson, Kurt and Margie Wiley, Robert Chavez and John Sampson. We also approved promotions for Robert and Beverly Masinas and Mike Pilcher. (Of course, all this work must be ratified by the District Board in December and the General Credentials Committee in January). This portends a great Ordination Service in March! Friday-Saturday 10/5-6. District Women s Recharge Conference. The first attempt at a Fall Conference for the ladies was very successful. Over 150 ladies attended! Several women who cannot attend the Spring Conference due to work schedules were thrilled to attend and encouraged Margaret to continue this conference in the future. AMEN and PTL! 2

3 Women s Recharge Conference Cont: Pastor Paulette Blaylock from Porterville CA was the guest evangelist. Paulette pastors a Pentecostal church of about 500. She and her sister Laney traveled for years with the Sevilles Evangelistic Team. You may remember them? In this photo Paulette, Laney, and Margaret are praying and prophesying over the Lead Pastors wives. Margaret loved this special attention given these ladies because she believes they work extremely hard and need to hear a word from the Lord. On a fashion note: Margaret is wearing the Cowgirl Boots given her by the SW Texas District. She looks good, but don t try to get her on a horse! In fact, she said, If the white Charger I am coming back to earth on with Jesus is not a Dodge; I ll be walking! Sunday 10/7. Margaret preached for Don at New Beginnings. We are trying to fill in for him at least once per month until he s back in his pulpit every Sunday. Since the accident, Don has preached 3 times and is stronger with each delivery. PTL! In this photo, when we returned from running errands, we were shocked and pleasantly surprised to see Don going for a walk on the front sidewalk. He is out of the wheelchair and never going back! he says. I pray so too. PTL! Friday-Sunday 10/ Margaret preached the annual Women s Conference at Bethel Island for Pastors John and Lori Thomas. What an exciting weekend for both of us! Ladies from 5 different Sections of our District Church attended. They enjoyed marvelous worship and fellowship as their friendships grow! 3 of these Pastors Wives are posing. 3 are checking out the stuff! 3

4 While Margaret preached the Women s Conference at Bethel Island, I was honored to speak at the Men s Fellowship breakfast at Denny s in Brentwood on Saturday morning. Men from several of our churches in the Bay Section attended, and the food and fellowship was great. As always, I especially enjoyed my time with Pastor J. D. Barker! There s no one like him. On Sunday 10/14 I was honored to preach at the host church, New Covenant Church at Bethel Island. A precious lady named Donna accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior for the very first time. She has visited the church several times, attended the women s conference, and got saved on Sunday. She told the Pastor s wife, I should have gotten saved at the women s conference, but I was hesitant. The Moral is: Don t Hesitate! P.S. 1: We had special prayer for the relocation of the pastor s home. God answered miraculously. P.S. 2: Daniel Thomas (the Pastor s son) continues to write outstanding worship songs. I Want More of You! was especially moving to me. Keep up the good work Daniel. Fri-Sat. 10/ Margaret preached the District Women s Conference for Central California District. This was a dream come true for her! Thursday afternoon we drove to the beautiful Embassy Suites Hotel in Monterey (A 12 story box). I got lost! We went past Salinas and came into Monterey the back way. (I was listening to Margaret talk and got distracted I wish that were true ) ladies attended from across central California. Also numerous husbands came with their wives, so I enjoyed wonderful fellowship with them. We had a designated man zone way in the back of the ball room. We also enjoyed a great lunch with Bishops Rob and Robbie Culver at the New Monterey Wharf. Beautiful! 4 On Saturday afternoon we left Monterey for Concord. We expected a scenic little drive of 2 hours up I-680. But, it turned into a horrific 5 hour traffic jam from Gilroy to Pacheco! We arrived hungry, but safe and sound; and very excited about our Celebration Sunday with Gospel Light Temple tomorrow at Pacheco. Amen.

5 Sunday 10/ th Anniversary for Gospel Light Temple at Pacheco with host Pastors Robert and Beverly Masinas. Thank you Pastors for inviting us to be a part of this special Sunday. We left the motel early for coffee and catching up on our s, FB, and journaling. We stayed too long, but still made the last half of Sunday School with teacher Ronnie Garcia. Beverly led a wonderful worship set, and of course J. D. Barker was right there to lead by example. After service we enjoyed on of GLT s famous pot luck lunches! This was an outstanding Lord s Day for us. PTL! Thursday 10/25. A different kind of MIRACLE! Our Clothes Dryer died. I hustled down to Lowes and picked out a new one that I thought matched the old one. I stood in line and listened as Linda, the sales person, told one customer after another that the dryer they picked was on back order. They left disgusted. I expected the same, but when I gave Linda my choice and she checked the warehouse she exclaimed, Well, today is your lucky day! Nope, not luck! Just God s blessing! Hey, I even got next day delivery and free set up. Now that is a modern day miracle! PTL! Saturday 10/27. WM Rally at Mount Shasta Section, hosted by Family Celebration Center at Redding, Pastors Tom and Shirley Winslow. Margaret was thrilled with the attendance, worship, reception to the Word, and food and fellowship after the service. The center photo shows the Lead Pastors wives in attendance: Sisters Winslow, Richardson (Penny is the Presbyters wife too), Auld, Ziegler, Cox, Humphrey, and Barlow. The district ladies continue to lead in the Revival of Fellowship in NCA! 5

6 Sunday 10/28. It was my turn to preach for Don at New Beginnings in Orangevale. Don was in China with his son Jared (who paid for the trip some time ago, and the doctors released Don to go under specific guidelines). Don had to use a walker, but still was able to sight-see and go to some of the tours. While he was gone, the Pentecostal Messenger published the article on Don they requested. The editor told me our PCG people around the world want to hear his story. PTL! This also was the last Sunday of Pastor Appreciation Month, and NB blessed us with gifts along with Pastors Don and Giovanna! Margaret and I want to thank both the church and the Pastors for allowing us to be a part of this month of expressed appreciation and love. AMEN and PTL. Tuesday 10/30. District Home Missions Committee Meeting. 1. First, we had special prayer, especially for Pastors Roy and Mindy Gross. Mindy is fighting cancer and Roy was injured in a car accident. They need all our prayers! 2. We used our new APLOS accounting program for this meeting. It s easier to use, and makes our reporting cleaner and more comprehensive. The department performed very well this quarter with every month in the black and dependent churches reporting responsibly. 3. The Committee voted to support a revival at Mckinleyville in January to help introduce the re-opened church to the community. We are also back to square one at Willows and the church is still open. CHURCHES OPEN: Plymouth ; Sheridan ; Willows Plymouth has entertained 2 tryouts and will consider them on the first Sunday of November. Interested ministers should still contact Presbyter Judd at We have services lined up at Sheridan for the rest of this year. However, if you are interested, call the office at We had a Pastor and a Buyer interested in Willows, but both have withdrawn. So the church is open again. We are waiting on the Lord to move. The church has been closed for 2 years. The church is not encumbered, so we can afford to wait. Please pray with us for God s will. Amen. Wed. 10/31. Margaret and I loved seeing all of the posts on FB about Harvest Parties and Trunk or Treat Parties and Costume Parties that our churches sponsored to create a sanctified and safe festive evening for our congregations around the District Church. I also loved seeing posts of our churches that continued with their Mid-Week Services as a priority for worship and fellowship in their congregations. It s more proof that our Pastors love their people and are doing all they can to serve them the best they can until our Lord Jesus comes again. God bless you all! In Him, Rev. Lonnie J. Cox District Bishop/NCAPCG 6