Greg and Melissa Griesemer

Re:

2011-12-23T14:03:00.001-08:00

My dear Madam:
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Fri, 23 Dec 2011 23:03:43
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"You cant-----Maybe if you knew how to use your fists, you wouldnt talk that way; eh, Gus? queried Ted.Well, I dont know but I think Bill is right." (c) Elsalyn wall-clock

For More Pictures and Articles

2009-07-18T04:11:00.000-07:00

visit the secure section of www.gregandmelissag.com

Commencement 2008

2008-05-12T10:50:00.000-07:00

Gregory Griesemer graduated May 11^th 2008 with Thankeethelaud honors with his Masters Degree in Divinity from The Master’s Seminary in Sun Valley California with the support of many family and friends and his incomparable wife Melissa.

It's a girl!

2008-04-21T14:53:00.000-07:00

We found out that we are having a baby girl! Sophia Marie Griesemer is due to be born September 11th 2008.

Melissa had ultrasound #3, 16 weeks along

2008-03-27T22:59:00.000-07:00

We got an email today from my sister Brenda informing us that the Santa Clarita Valley Pregnancy Center was giving free ultrasounds so they could train their people how to use their new machine. The SantaClarita Valley Pregnancy Center is an organization that Melissa and I love and support here in Santa Clarita. They minister to ladies that are pregnant and perhaps considering getting an abortion to encourage them to love their baby and keep their baby. They recently purchased an ultrasound machine to offer their clients free ultrasounds so they can put a face to the bulge in their bellies. We called around 9am and had an appointment by 10:30am! They let us watch the baby for about 45 minutes! We saw the baby doing summer-salts and sucking his thumb. "Boy! Get your thumb out of your mouth!" I say boy, but we still don't know. Thanks you Santa Clarita Valley Pregnancy Center. You can see below that we got some great pictures.

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Back from Arabia

2007-08-25T15:25:00.001-07:00

We returned from our trip to Israel, Jordan and India this week. Melissa and I are both back to the old grind. She will be teaching technology at Village Christian School and I will be finishing my last year for schooling for my Masters of Divinity at TMS.

Check out more about our trip at

www.gregandmelissag.com

Israel Insights

2007-07-28T07:14:00.000-07:00

After spending several days in Israel I have come to love the land that God chose for carrying out his plan of redemption. There’s such a diverse terrain that in one day you can travel from salty seas to freshwater lakes and from dry, desolate desert to forested hillsides. One unique feature of Israel’s terrain are the wadis (pronounced “wod-ees”). They are four-story ravines with cliffs on either side and if you’re lucky, there is freshwater running down the middle. Greg and I hiked two such wadis called En-Gedi and Yeh-Yuddia. En-Gedi is a luscious green wadi with many waterfalls and pools, as well as caves carved into the surrounding cliffs. It’s also the place where David hid from Saul…I can see why he chose this location!

Visiting the towns where Jesus spent most of his public ministry along the Sea of Galilee was also an amazing experience. Most of them are in ruins now (Capernaum, Bethasaida, and Chorazin) but it’s still inspiring to be there.

Jerusalem was also exciting even though it’s the total opposite of the Galilean area. In Jerusalem, life is busy and fast-paced (much like Los Angeles). There are cars everywhere, so many that people park on the sidewalks, and the sound of a honking horn is a common occurrence. The food is awesome…fresh baked bread, swarma, falafal, and tasty cappuccinos. Don’t try to buy anything on the Sabbath (Saturday) because all the shops are closed. Greg and I drove up and the down the streets last Saturday looking for lunch and nothing was open!

There are so many other things to mention which I look forward to sharing with you when I return. Shaloam! (“peace” in Hebrew).

-Melissa

We made it to Jordan

2007-07-28T03:12:00.001-07:00

We spent the night in Bet Shean (where the Philistines hung King Saul from the wall) last night. This morning we traveled to Afula to return our rental car and caught a taxi to the Jordanian border. The border crossing was uneventful except that I had forgotten about a little canister of pepper spray that I had bought in Israel. Apparently, pepper spray is illegal in Jordan. The up side is that I got to meet a large number of Jordanian police and military personnel. They even served me Arabic coffee while I was being interrogated. After a brief 30 minute delay, we made it to the Jordanian side of the Jordan River Valley. We arrived in good time a few minutes before our ride arrived to pick us up. Bob and his daughter drove the 2 hours north of Amman to pick us up. On our ride home we just had to take a few excursions to Succoth, the Jabock River and Penuel (where Jacob wrestled with the Angel of the Lord).

We arrived in Amman in the late afternoon. Bob and I went out to town to get some groceries while Melissa and Bob's wife Margie got to know each other over peanut butter cookies. Margie served a delicious chicken dinner. It feels great to be here with the Conovers. We are happy to have a bed that we can sleep in more than one night.

We fly out this Monday!

2007-07-14T13:52:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends,

Melissa and I are here visiting family in Washington until Monday July 16th.We have had a chance to spend time with our parents and siblings. We have especially cherished the time with my Grandmother Marie. We went on a ferry ride with my mother (to get home from the airport) and sailing with Melissa's parents.
-Saturday we are having a farewell party at my parent's house. Many family and friends are expected.
-Sunday we will attend Poulsbo Community Church and I will have a chance to speak about our trip objectives.
-Monday at 4pm we fly out for the Middle East. We have a grueling 20 hour layover in Paris. We arrive in Tel Aviv, Israel July 18th.

Greg's Sermon on Isaiah 53:5

2007-07-02T15:37:00.000-07:00

Listen to Greg's sermon on Isaiah 53:5

Living Hopes Mexico Missions Trip 07

2007-06-26T09:46:00.000-07:00

This year's Living Hope missions trip to Ensenada, Mexico left bright and early Friday morning at 8am 6/22/07. Our 33 member team meet at the McDonald's at Lyons Ave and I-5 in Santa Clarita to caravan south. The group crossed over the border around lunchtime and arrived at Maranatha Baptist Church before 3pm. The Griesemer car only got separated from the group two times :-)

We had a hard day of work on the first day. We tackled replacing a broken water heater, re-roofed 1/3 of the church, replaced windows, and mastered painting, painting, painting the exterior of the church.

After a fruitful first day, the second day held even more backbreaking excitement. The roofing crew completed their job of re-roofing the half of the church sanctuary that had many large leaks in record time. The new custom-made windows were installed and the painting of all the exterior walls and brick walls was finished (as well as much of the sidewalk which created a need for what we called the "ground crew" who wielded the tools of paint thinner and wire brush). The hot water heater was in place and working by Sunday. This provided hot water to the parsonage shower, the church kitchen and the baptistery. The Pastor's wife Mercedes said that they were the only church in town with a heated baptistery. Maybe they will get some more converts now ;-) By 2:00 pm everybody under the age of 30 had depleted their energy supply and were "supervising" from a shaded bench eating ice cream. The night concluded with a practice session for the Sunday morning special music selection from the "LHEF choir" which turned into a delightful time of worship.

On Sunday morning, we enjoyed a time of worship with the members of Iglesia Baptista Maranatha. For the church service, Ricardo (our translator) and Greg preached the Sunday messages, Melanie and James Grunwald played three hymns on the piano, and the "LHEF choir" wowed the audience with two worship songs led by Ben Coussens on guitar. After church the very hospitable hermanas y hermonos prepared carne asade tacos with homemade salsa and guacamole. Yum, yum!

By Monday, just a handful of team members were still in Ensenada. We all made our way across the border and safely arrived home. The return trips ranged in travel time from a gruling 11 hours (Ben Coussens and crew) to the speedy 6 hours (the Grunwalds) which even included an intense run-in with the Tijiuana Federales. Yikes!

It was yet another exciting and profitable trip to Iglesia Baptista Maranatha in Ensenada, Mexico and plans for next year are already underway.

Make a run for the border!

Annie- Summer 2006

2007-06-16T07:33:00.001-07:00

In Memory of my Dear Sweet Annie

2007-06-16T00:34:00.000-07:00

My great-aunt Annie died a little over a month ago and the idea that she's not sitting in Portland right now watching the evening news and eating a chocolate Haugen Daz ice cream bar is still saddening. My husband and I visited her twice a year as we traveled to and from our home state of Washington. Whenever we would knock on her door, she'd yell in her hospitable voice, "Come in!" (even though she had no idea who was knocking!). She'd greet us with a kiss and tell us how much she loved us. She was always eager to hear about our lives and could sit for hours just visiting. Why doesn't my generation do that more often?

I am grateful for the great conversations we had with her, most importantly about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Despite the sad fact that Annie belonged to the Mormon church which teaches a false gospel, in personal conversation Annie seemed to believe the fundamental truths of the Bible and understand the person of Jesus. Praise God for the opportunities he gave us to speak with her about true salvation through Jesus Christ!

This July when I drive through Portland, my heart will be pierced with the sadness that there will be no visit with Annie, no "I've-missed-you" kisses, and no "catching-up" conversations. However, I will continue to cherish the sweet memories imprinted in my mind and heart.

Griesemer Summer Trip

2007-03-27T00:47:00.000-07:00

As you know, in August I will begin my final year at The Master’s Seminary. Our long-term objective is to plant churches in the Middle East. With this lofty goal in mind, the leaders of our church Living Hope, Melissa, and I believe that it is essential for us to make a short-term visit to the Middle East.

Three years ago I met a man named Bob. Bob and his wife served as missionaries to the Islamic country of Morocco for almost 20 years. After leaving Morocco, their family moved to Jordan. Bob is currently a professor at a Seminary in Jordan. He is training pastors from all over the Arabic speaking world. Men from hostile Islamic countries around Jordan come to be trained for the ministry. These men put their training into practice by going back to their own countries to pastor existing churches or to start new churches.

Melissa and I have a passion to reach Muslims with the Good News of salvation by faith in Jesus Christ. Knowing this, Bob and his wife have invited us work with them in Jordan this summer. Melissa and I fly into Tel Aviv and will meet Bob at the Jordanian boarder in later July. We will spend the next two weeks ministering alongside them in Jordan.

The purpose of this trip is three-fold:
l) Seek the Lord’s will as to how and where He would have us minister long-term. Melissa and I have heart to see the Arabic-Islamic world won for Jesus Christ and we are seeking God’s direction.
2) Launch an essential ministry relationship with Bob and his family. They have invited us to minister with them upon my graduation. We also will investigate the options for future Arabic language training in Jordan.
3) Explore how we may be able to expand the ministry of W.F.M. into the Middle East. W.F.M is an organization that sponsors native church planters to start new churches around the world. They have a desire to expand into the Middle East. This requires that they have trusted and like-minded contacts in that part of the world. My desire is to facilitate a partnership between Bob, W.F.M. and myself in order to identify and sponsor Middle Eastern church planters from the Seminary where Bob teaches.

In addition to our time in the Middle East, Melissa and I will be traveling to Pune, India from August 6^th until August l3^th. Melissa and I have developed a relationship with a Local Church in Pune. We have been invited by their pastor to visit the ministry that they currently have for destitute children and visit other orphanages around India. While in India, we also plan to visit some missionaries who are ministering in Northern India. The husband and I were at The Master’s College in the same era and he was one of the men who helped ignite my passion for missions. I hope that we can encourage them in their difficult ministry.

I trust that you will be praying for Melissa and I concerning our trip. If you would like to financially support of mission trip this summer please contact me at greggriz@hotmail.com

Thank you again,

Gregory and Melissa Griesemer

See our detailed trip itinerary calendar at

http://www.calendar.msn.com/greggriz@hotmail.com

the Deity of Christ

2007-03-17T00:24:00.000-07:00

This was a great article on the Deity of Christ by MacArthur.

Jesus frequently spoke of His unique, otherworldly origin, of having preexisted in heaven before coming into this world. To the hostile Jews He declared, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world” (John 8:23). “What then,” He asked, “if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before?” (John 6:62). In His high-priestly prayer Jesus spoke of the glory which He had with the Father before the world existed (John 17:5). In John 16:28 He told His disciples, “I came forth from the Father and have come into the world; I am leaving the world again and going to the Father.” Thus, John described Jesus in the prologue of his gospel with these words: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).

Amazingly, Jesus assumed the prerogatives of deity. He claimed to have control over the eternal destinies of people (John 8:24; cf. Luke 12:8–9; John 5:22, 27–29), to have authority over the divinely-ordained institution of the Sabbath (Matt. 12:8; Mark 2:28; Luke 6:5), to have the power to answer prayer (John 14:13–14; cf. Acts 7:59; 9:10–17), and to have the right to receive worship and faith due to God alone (Matt. 21:16; John 14:1; cf. John 5:23). He also assumed the ability to forgive sins (Mark 2:5–11)—something which, as His shocked opponents correctly understood, only God can do (v. 7).

for more of the article go to http://www.sfpulpit.com/2007/03/01/making-himself-equal-with-god/#more-519