A Pastor's Thoughts

For the last year or so, doctors have been telling me that my 84 year old mother has a huge kidney stone and that she will require surgery to break up the stone and remove the pieces.  The original surgery was set for September, but my mother contracted some infections and those had to be taken care of before she could have the surgery.  So they rescheduled the event for November 7, 2018 and we were all ready to do that when it was discovered that she was on some medication that would make the surgery difficult, so they fixed that situation and rescheduled the surgery for November 14, 2018.  My mother was not allowed to eat anything or take any medication for that day, prior to the surgery.  We got to the hospital at 2pm on the 14th.  I was told that the surgery was at 3:30 and she needed to be prepped.  So we checked in and went up to the pre-op section of the hospital.  The nurses put my mother in a gown and a hat to keep her hair out of the operation.  All of this was accomplished b

I have nothing to hide.  That is what most people say. The hear storied of Google copying everyone’s location and contacts and they are unfazed.  This is because most people say they have done nothing wrong.  They don’t mind if the NSA or other government agency is spying on them, they have done nothing wrong.  I used to think that.  I used to think that I was obeying the law, so who cares if I am watched.  My life is boring, I thought.  Then I came against Alameda County.  Actually my church came against Alameda County’s Assessor’s office.  Our church was doing everything that every other church was doing.  I had told the assessor’s office everything we were doing and they approved.  Then the government changed the law.  I was still doing the same thing, but activities that were legal last year are no longer legal.  Alameda County changed the law and did not tell anybody.  Now my church is being taxed and fined for things that used to be legal.  Things like weddings and quinceaneras.

Today I had a three hour meeting with people from the county.  Specifically James C. Johnson (510) 272-3795, james.johnson@acgov.org and Israel Padilla Villafuerte (510) 272-3767, israel.padilla@acgov.org.  I went there to try and come to a resolution concerning the huge tax bills we have been getting, as a tax exempt church.  Back in 2014, we were thinking of renting our hall for weddings and such.  I called the county and talked to Kristi Roy, who told me that the rentals could not be regular and they could not be repeat business of the same people all the time.  Ms. Roy was functioning as an agent of this government body, so I took her words to be true.  I asked if I would be violating the law or if I would lose my tax free status.  On both accounts she said no.  When Ms. Roy came twice to tour my building I asked her again, to her face, and was told that it would be lawful and acceptable.  Today I found out that Ms. Roy lied to me and that renting our hall is not allowed.  That is

I meet with the Assosor’s Office of Alameda County tomorrow (September 6, 2018).  I will defend Cornerstone Fellowship against the force of government.  When the San Leandro Times reporter called the county, they talked to a Brian Hitomi.  Mr. Hitomi said that I was renting rooms in a commercial way.  People may wonder what evidence or proof the county has for this accusation.  All the county has are some pictures that were posted online.  People said that the event was held at my church and put my phone number for others who might want to hold their event at my church.  My name was not on the pictures.  There was no date on the pictures.  I do not own the pictures.  In a court of law, these pictures would never be allowed as evidence because their origin cannot be determined.   Yet some bored county employees just started googling things and they found some random pictures and that allowed them to accuse me of renting rooms (not one room, but plural rooms) in a commercial way,

America is a great county, a great place and a great idea.  One reason it is great is our constitution.  There are three inalienable rights listed in the constitution.  Inalienable means that these rights cannot be taken away and they cannot be given away.  In other words, Americans are stuck with these three rights.  They are, for review purposes, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness .  The constitution actually says that these three rights are given by God, which means they predate America.  The constitution is only stating what actually is, it is not inventing or creating rights.  These rights, therefore, do not come from the government, at any level and they cannot be taken away by the government, at any level.  This is where government has failed. For the most part, governments are pretty good about not depriving people of their lives.  Apart from the unborn, which is another blog, governments take great pains to ensure there is a valid reason, before they put someone

Every church in America does fund raising.  Some do bake sales, other do car washes and many churches only have their building to use so they rent it out for weddings and funerals and other sacred events.  Most  churches do not charge rent, but accepts donations.  Yet when brownies are being sold, a fixed price is stated, that is usually not the case with building rentals.   Alameda County has a policy for what churches can and cannot do with their building.  I read it and had many others in my congregation read it.  All of us lay people found that it was acceptable to rent our portions of our building for sacred events.  I handed the policy to a lawyer and within 30 seconds he found that the policy clearly stated we could not, under any circumstances, rent out our hall for sacred ceremonies.  Therefore, it is clear that the policy of Alameda County is intentionally vague to trap people into breaking the law.  A small church like ours does not have any lawyers or accountants, we

San Lorenzo Pastor Says County Trying to Shut His Church Down By Jim Knowles CASTRO VALLEY FORUM  08-29-18    A San Lorenzo Baptist minister says the county is trying to take away his church’s tax-exempt status and shut it down to build housing or shops that produce more tax revenue.    Rev. Michael Wilson of Cornerstone Fellowship on Lewelling Boulevard says the county has been harassing him and threatening to take away the church’s tax-exemption. He says he believes that his church has been targeted with inspections by the county’s health and building departments as part of a county plan to force out the church.    “What Alameda County is doing is illegal. Under our Constitution we are allowed to worship freely and at a place of our choice, especially one that has been a place of worship for seven decades,” Wilson says. see CHURCH on page 6    Wilson says he now has two tax bills, totaling $17,000 on his desk. And the county has threatened to sue the church if the b

Recently there was the story of a couple of people who demanded that evil was a make-believe construct to explain complex people.  To prove their point, they got on a plane and went to the middle east.  They then began to bicycle across the desert.  A car drove by the western dressed couple, turned around and ran them over.  The five Muslims in the car then got out and stabbed both people to death and they kept on stabbing.  This is because, the Muslim’s said, they were cleansing the world of unbelievers.   These two people had a radical misunderstanding of how the world works.  They are now dead and they are in torment awaiting final judgment when they will be sent to the lake of fire for all eternity. This is because evil is not make-believe.  Evil is a real thing .  I say thing because it is an action, a belief, a worldview and there are beings who are pure evil in the spirit world.  Today we call them Satan and his demons.  They are all equally evil, because when every mo

Press release Our Church is under fire! The San Lorenzo Baptist Church for the past eight years has been the subject of harassment by Alameda County agencies. They have been doing this by using tactics from different agencies such as threatening removal of tax exempt status because they rent their church six times a year to the Spanish community for quinceanera celebration (this is when a 15-year-old girl is brought under God's care.) This celebration is considered very sacred by the Spanish community. This church is shared by two other Spanish-speaking congregations. Alameda County has used different agencies such as: the building department, health department, sanitation department and the state tax board over the years because they feel the property the church sits on would be better used for housing which would include a higher tax income as suggested by its principles. One example of the Alameda County tactics is when they proposed beautification and improvement on the Le

Today I read that another baker in Colorado was being sued by the Colorado government because this baker would not bake a wedding cake that showed the progressive transformation of the male groom into a female groom, ending with two male figurines on the top of the cake, modified to be wearing wedding dresses.   First we need to understand that no one walked into their shop asking them to do this.  No, tax dollars were spent by the Colorado government, as they did research and found this baker so they could be sued.  In other words, the government wanted to sue someone so they invented someone to sue.  Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid and stupid. I read the constitution and the bill of rights and the amendments and the federalist papers and I come to a very basic conclusion.  The government is allowed to make laws at the federal, state, county and city level.  These laws must be in concert.  If these laws are knowable and known, I can know them and I will obey them.  If

Psalm 29 is a song about God’s power and God’s holiness and God’s glory.  It is a song that ascribes or assigns all the proper glory to God.  It is a song of pure praise and worship of the most amazing, powerful, holy and righteous Lord of Lords.  Too often churches today want to focus on the blessings and the prosperity of Christians.  We love to praise God when healing comes, or a job is found or a house is sold, and that is right.  But we also praise God because of his power.  No one else can create a hurricane or a tornado or make the earth quake.  We can figure out how these things happen, maybe, but no human can budge a major fault, no matter how much they try. I was in Santa Cruz in 1989, and witnessed the earthquake first hand.  Initially there was shock and surprise.  Eventually, however, we need to understand that God is glorified in every earthquake, every storm and every weather phenomenon.  God is glorified because God is the only being who can do these things.  We lo

Free speech is a term that is thrown around a lot today, in all sorts of situations.  People accuse Facebook, Apple and Google (YouTube) of stifling free speech.  Recently the conspiracy follower, Alex Jones was removed from Apple podcasts, Spotify podcasts, Google's YouTube and Facebook.  People all over these social media are claiming that this is a slippery slope for free speech. First, we have to define free speech.  Free speech comes from the first amendment to the constitution.  The Constitution is a founding document for America.  The body of the Constitution lists the limits and responsibilities of the federal government.  The Bill of Rights or the first ten amendments to the Constitution list the protections of the people who are living under this federal government.  The first amendment reads like this: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press;

Alameda County has come against San Lorenzo Baptist Church/Cornerstone Fellowship every two years since 2010.  This last attack started in October of 2017.  Israel Padilla Villafuerte has been the main instigator.  He does not like the fact that we allow other churches to use our church for weddings and other sacred celebrations.  When I ask him specifically what law or policy I am violating, he will say something like, “its not like you are breaking a law, its more like how you are doing it.”  This, of course makes no sense.  Mr. Villafuerte is a government employee with enforcement power to force non-profits to conform to a policy, or get taxed out of existence.  I have asked him dozens of times, over the phone, in letters and face-to-face to tell me what we did wrong so that I can fix it and become compliant.  He refuses.  The latest information is that Mr. Villafuerte has enlisted the county lawyers and the county is now suing our church for fraud and non-compliance to some unknow

Biblical integrity is to act righteously, to make righteous choices in all areas of a person’s life.  Christians are to act righteously, even when no one is watching.  Of course we know that God is always watching, so that statement is never true. Many of the Psalms, including Psalm 26 speaks of walking in integrity.  David claims, twice, in Psalm 26 that he is walking in integrity.  He is so sure that he is, he tells God that he can be proven and tested.  In other words, David wants God to test his claims.  This is a bold request to make, because God knows David’s struggles and weaknesses and God can bring any and all forces to bear to test David.  Yet integrity is a theme in the Bible.  God wants his people, Jews in the Old Testament and Christians in the New Testament, to have integrity.   Today, people shun terms like integrity, character and righteousness.  Instead they champion self-expression and they celebrate the most heinous sins.  Yet, the most important thing to

This is my response to President Trump's Press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, being asked to leave a quaint little restaurant 200 miles from D.C. Every time I look at the news, there is another story of someone hating someone else.  People are kicked out of restaurants because of the hats and T-shorts they wear, schools are cleared when someone carries an American flag into class.  The primary motivation for public discourse these days is hate. People would rather lose everything and be politically right than to try and get along.  As long as people stand holding the banner of hate, they think they will win and the world will turn into a utopia.  Many godly people have tried to create a utopia in towns across the globe.  John Calvin felt that with the reformation behind him, he could make Geneva a town based on the gospel of Jesus Christ and his law.  That plan did not last long at all.  Perhaps Calvin missed the point that God himself gave the Jewish people the blueprint f

Self driving cars consist of software controlling a car.  Facebook consists of many software programs.  Twitter, instagram, Google, Amazon and every other website and app people use are pieces of software written by people.  Software is simply instructions, written by people, telling computers what to do.  For many years I was a computer programmer.  The way the process is supposed to work is that people gather and determine what the end result is supposed to be.  These requirements are then given to programmers who make choices on how to bring about those results.  There are many, sometimes hundreds of choices that a programmer can make on how to bring about the desired results.   As we enter the realm of “machine learning” or “artificial intelligence” computer programmers, people, will be deciding how to bring about the results that the directors want.  Currently, Facebook has told its users that it will determine what is true news and fake news.  Those choices are being made by

Recently I have been hearing many people speaking about why the world is so messed up, especially in California.  They believe that when beings are born, they are perfect, good, righteous, sinless, wholesome and equipped to live in a utopia.  I called the “things” that come out of the womb “beings” because now, even gender and sex and neutral.  Thirty seconds before birth, this “thing” is not even a person or human.  Not until this being comes all the way out and the parents decide they want it, will it be called “human.”   So, why is there crime and sin and disobedience in the world if everyone who is born is born perfect?  Society teaches these young people to hate, to be racist, to commit crimes, to hurt and to steal.  The institutional racism, the systematic lying and cheating teach these young people this evil is the right way to go.  Therefore, the progressives say, tear down all the institutions and start over.  Destroy and deconstruct everything and start over, then we wil

We are processing in fighting Alameda County, who wants to shut down our church.  In order to inform churches and pastors about this fight, this email was sent to over 2,000 churches via email: To all pastors, church leaders and Christians, There is an assault on our church in Alameda County.  For the last 8 years the county has been coming against us with ambitious tax charges, health code violations and sanitary sewer inspections. We have chosen to expose their attacks and we are asking for your prayers as we proceed.  You need to know this:  if the county successfully shuts down our church, your church could be next.  No church is safe. We will supply further information as things progress.  God bless you and your church as you serve your king. Please continue to pray for our church

God speaks.  Not often, in an audible voice from the sky, but he does speak.  In the Bible he spoke with a voice, he showed pictures and visions and dreams to people.  Today people speak of impressions in their spirit or mind, which was not talked about in the Bible. Today, I believe that people claim God speaks much more than he does.  The primary reason I say this is that God does not need to speak at all.  God has said all that is needed in his Word, the Bible.  We have everything that is required for life and godliness in the pages of our Bibles.  Bibles are not hard to get, except in anti-God countries, yet we still manage to smuggle them into every country and people group.   For those that claim God is a veritable chatterbox I have to wonder what value that brings to their life.  People who claim to hear God’s voice all the time do not seem to have greater biblical understanding.  In fact, people who hear God’s voice all the time tend to be less educated in the theologi

Recently my wife and I went to Lake Tahoe to get away, deal with my stress and relax.  Over the years, South Lake Tahoe, near Stateline has morphed into a timeshare and resort mecca with Marriott buying many acres on one side of the street and a company called Zalanta buying the other.  Since there is no gambling allowed in California, yet, restaurants, resorts and movie theaters keep families entertained on the California side, just a couple blocks from Nevada. When we come up to Tahoe, we usually stop at a local grocery store and get provisions and ammenitites.  Today, we were walked by a man in the grocery store selling vacation ownership, or timeshares.  He offered us $150 at a local ChartHouse resterount and a 2 day, 3 night stay at his resort.  All of this for a 90 minute presentation.  Many people I know and know of would jump at the chance of a $150 steak and lobster dinner and a free stay at a luxery hotel.  As we walked around the grocery store, I thought about what I w

Psalm 18 is a rather long psalm with 50 verses.  In this Psalm, David remembers and recounts the various victories he has had.  For David these would be military victories.  Specifically, David fought against Saul, or usually ran from him, he fought the various armies that were occupying the promised land and he fought against his son Absolom when Absolom wanted to take the throne by force.  David, near the end of his life, takes the time to understand that God’s hand was the victory in each battle David fought. In the first part of the Psalm, David lists 7 metaphors to describe God.  These metaphors denote strength and safety.  The most repeated name for God in this psalm is “rock.”  The Lord is David’s rock.  A rock can be a place of safety and a place of refuge. For us today, I think we can get so busy in doing the right thing, or doing things just to survive, that we forget how much God has done for us.  Few of us today will be leading vast armies to take promised land, yet eve