Pastor Robert Lopez and is evangelism team at Lancaster State Prison.

Harvest Evangelistic Association
PO Box 934
Rosamond Ca. 93560

The photo shows Pastor Robert Lopez, inmate Pastor at Lancaster State Prison, alongside his evangelism team. In the past three weeks, they’ve led over 80 inmates to Jesus, supporting them with soft drinks and sweetbread funded by donations that we send monthly.

Currently, we send more than 180 teachings biweekly to 9 prisons, including one outside California.
Please pray for our ministry and consider donating via Zelle at HarvestEvangelisticAssociation@aol.com
Questions? Call us at 818-624-1038.

God bless you and your family,
Claudia and Timothy Emerick

The Hard Sayings of Jesus!

The Hard Sayings of Jesus!
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail.

They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3: 22-23.

I have walked with the Lord for 53 years and I know many of His sayings have been at times difficult to understand and hard for me to accept. These hard things must be embraced if I truly want to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. Even though His purposes and plans for me are difficult, I must never complain against them or even decide not to follow God any longer. (John 6:61,66).

Sometimes I must admit, Lord, that you’re saying and actions in my life bother me. But I must understand if I’m never disturbed, corrected or even disciplined by you, I probably would not trust you. I have praised you many times for the different miracles that you’ve done in my life. But they’re also times that you have refused to comfort me and told me to stop whining and get on with a job. Most of the time when you give me a hard saying I discover more about You and more about me. It is like a lightning storm illuminating a pitch-black night which suddenly reveals to me what I never knew was there.

Hard sayings are always dividers; they divide the true disciple from the fake, they divide truths from falsehoods, and they divide the right feelings from the wrong ones. A hard saying is a purifier that strips away all the crusty accumulations of sin and bad habits and leaves me clean.

Hard sayings are painful; and they hurt at times. But how much better is to have a hard saying from You who loves me indefinitely, than a smooth thing from Satan, only who wants to twist and destroy me. Lord, give me the sense to appreciate your love. Your hard things are like taking great strides to glory. I will never forget that your precepts for with them has given me life. (Psalms 119:93).

Redemptive Love!

Redemptive Love!
And we love to come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. I John 4:16

God commands us to love others. However, He does not mean I should love them naturally, but redemptively. Marriage is not a contract but rather it’s a covenant. The covenant between not only between the couple but also the couple with God. The basic difference between traditional marriage and covenant marriage is how the parties enter into the marital contract. In a traditional or “contract” marriage, a couple need only purchase a marriage license, obtain two witnesses and have a state-licensed agent to perform at the ceremony. In a covenant marriage, God is present through the covenant itself, as it is through a shared love for Him that individuals can genuinely care for one another. This relationship is grounded in redemptive love—the love of God.

Redemptive love is God’s way. God showed this convincingly in the life of Hosea, the prophet. His wife left him and went to live with another man, and Hosea had the humiliating experience of having to buy her back from her adultery. (Hosea 3:1-3). Think about buying back what is already yours! Yet, that is what God did for us at Calvary. Father God told Hosea to do this because this is exactly what Israel did to Him. They left Him and went after false gods. We fail to understand that God is a jealous God and He wants all our love, all of dedication, all of us. Not just on Sundays but every day of our life.

It is my great pleasure to say that I have been married to my best friend for 26 years. We have not always seen eye to eye and yes, we’ve had our ups and downs but in all we understand the relationship is a covenant not just between ourselves but with our Lord Jesus Christ. Redemptive love knows no shame; it is concerned with the loved one, not with its own feelings. Jesus did not cry out in self-pity, “Poor Me” when He was hanging on the cross. Hosea did not flinch or complain when he bought back his wife. He took her shame and disgrace as his own and for her sake he paid her debt willingly and brought her home safely once again. Redemptive love binds and makes permanent. Gomer, Hosea’s wife, never left him again. How could she, after love like that? I am at times weak and run from God but soon God brings me back home once again. Redemptive love is the most powerful binding force in the world.

We should realize that we cannot love others naturally. This is not redemptive love. Marriages and relationships fail because human love is based on our fallen sinful nature. Human love will never be sufficient. It is never enough. It’s only through God’s love that we received when we were born again can we truly love one another. Love is an action not just a feeling. Put God’s “agape” love into action.
I Cor. 13:1-13.

One Taken, the Other Left!

One Taken, the Other Left!
then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. Matthew 24:40-41.

Transformation touches nearly every part of our lives. As we seek rational understanding, we believe we can shape history to our advantage. Today, more scientists than ever before, Transformation touches nearly every part of our lives. As we seek rational understanding, we believe we can shape history to our advantage. Today, more scientists are active than ever before, and there is intense competition for influence over our thoughts and beliefs. The new teaser of the world is artificial intelligence manufacturing doubt once again those words we heard before, by the enemy, “did God really say…

The scripture of “one take and the other left” speaks about the rapture that will take place of the Church. This is a stark reminder that at some point in time our Lord will come and take those who belong to Him.

Our Lord requires total allegiance. There is no room for compromise. There is no room for double thinking. The basic question to the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is are you ready? As our world undergoes major changes, the enemy constantly whispers that there is still time.
The coming of the Son of Man-Jesus is coming to set things straight. Jesus stated we live in a adulterous and sinful world. And it’s sad to see that many Christians seek more to be accepted by the world then to proclaim their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus stated, “whoever acknowledges me before men I will acknowledge him before my Father in heaven but whoever denies me before men I will deny him before my Father in heaven.” (Mark 8:38).

These leave no doubt of what the Lord expects of us. Will you be Taken or Left?

UGATS Bible College in Pakistan

UGATS Bible College in Pakistan
How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things! Rom. 10:15

Greetings in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Lord has opened the doors for us to be able to teach in a Bible College in Pakistan under the direction of Pastor Asher.

We have been teaching now for two weeks Biblical Theology and it has been a prosperous and productive time teaching the Word of God. The semester covers approximately four months and we covet your prayers and financial support for this new opportunity that the Lord has provided. It is such a great experience to be able to share the Word of God around the world.
Pastor Asher and these students are taking the Word of God to a Muslim nation at great risk. Some of the Christians who have been caught teaching the Word of God received severe persecution. Please keep our brothers and sisters in prayer.

We are now teaching in India, two ministries in Pakistan, and also Bangladesh. We are also ministering to more than 100 prisoners in state prisons in California and other states with bi-weekly teachings. As well as teaching on Linkedin over 5,000 followers and and on our YouTube channel with over 12,00 views.
Please keep Harvest Evangelistic Association in prayer as well so we can partner with many other people in other countries who are in desperate need of solid teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Claudia and Dr. Timothy Emerick

The Danger of Distraction!

The Danger of Distraction!
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your trust be evident to all. The Lord is at hand. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:4-7).

Lord, I must avoid at all times the danger of distraction. What I do on earth echoes throughout eternity. The lives I touch and do not touch are usually due to being distracted by other things that blur my true mission in life. The Lord God knows how easy it is for us to be sidetracked from His will in our daily lives. Sometimes my little kingdom totters, my family convulses, and my mind staggers to the edge. Then I must be still and know that God is God. He must be my only refuge, my rock, my defense, and my fortress.

I must avoid running to Egypt which symbolizes the world for help. This is what Israel did when confronted by a fearsome foe (Isaiah 30:1-2). The trouble with running to the world (Egypt) s that it is a “little help”, and a little help can become a wholesale disaster. It is better to trust the Lord fully, and be completely delivered (vv12-13). Egypt was an illusion, a paper tiger, a tree inwardly eaten by worms. She looked formidable, but her looks were deceiving. She had glamour but no strength. If Israel (or I) trust in Egypt, it will become a “shame and …confusion” to me and whoever I touch (v3 KJV).

How often in my desperation have I looked to a person of wealth, so called possessing wisdom and knowledge, maturity and experience and said, “you are my deliverer”, only to discover the wealth, wisdom, and maturity were nothing more than cold ashes. There was no help whatsoever! I was driven in humiliation back to the source of my strength and wisdom, back to God and His everlasting arms.

It is not acting in faith when we have moments of running to Egypt and is certainly a sin to rest my weight and security upon Egypt, rather relying on God. To “be still” means to “relax”, but I must relax upon the solid rock of Jesus and His word. This is not a trust upon the shifting sands of trusting Egypt. Relaxing on Jesus and His word is like Nahum stated, “The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and He knows those who take refuge in Him. (Nahum 1:7).

Our Church in Lancaster State Prison

This is a picture of our church in Lancaster State Prison under the direction of our inmate Pastor Robert Lopez. He and his team working endlessly to evangelize and teach new believers the Word of God. They also have an active discipleship program. Our ministry is currently sending teachings to approximately 10 prisons in the State of California to about 100 inmates on a bi-weekly basis.
Please keep our ministry in prayer both in prisons, in the United States Mexico and 20 other countries. We also are presently helping economically as well with discipleship our teaching ministry in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. In Pakistan we are teaching twice a week in their Bible College.

Rev Claudia and Dr. Timothy Emerick

Faith & Desires

Faith & Desires
Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you your heart’s desires. Psalms 37:4

Can you imagine your child seeing that you are cooking breakfast and he would keep asking you if you are going to allow him to eat. How would that make you feel? Would you think that your child believes in the love that you have for him? I think that God feels the same way when we have a lack of faith in His love and provision for us. God cares about every detail of our life. God does not turn a blind eye or a deaf eye to our petitions. He is there and more than willing to answer our petitions when we ask in FAITH!

How does one ask in faith? We find a scripture that covers the need we have and then we ask God to help us according to that promise. God is willing, able, and wanting to complete His word in our lives. Then the battle begins in our mind. We ask in faith and then the devil fills our mind with all kinds of doubts and fears that beat up against us taking our mind off the promise. Let’s say you have your vision of what you would like to do. But you don’t have the money nor do you know anyone who can lend you the money. In Psalms 20: 4; “He (God) will give you your heart’s desire and make your plans succeed.”

What’s the catch? We need to seek to do God’s will first in our lives and He will add everything else. That does not mean we have to be perfect in our actions, not just in our heart. In other words, our motives must be sincere and pure. God is not looking for a perfect person. If we look at many of the Bible heroes, we can see they were far from perfect. Remember King David. This guy was far from perfect but God said he was a man after God’s own heart! What does that mean? David’s heart before God was sincere. He did not make excuses for his sin. He asked for forgiveness, left that sin and moved on.

God wants us to succeed. He wants us to prosper. Why? So, we can show others how great our God is and so we can bless others with that what we have received from Him. Go ahead, dream big and ask God to bless that which you desire to do to further His Kingdom on earth.

Are you in the Race?

Are you in the Race?
You’ve all been to the stadium and seen the athletes’ race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You’re after one that’s gold eternally. I don’t know about you, but I’m running hard for the finish line. I’m giving it everything I’ve got. No sloppy living for me! I’m staying alert and in top condition. I’m not going to get caught napping, telling everyone else all about it and then missing out myself. I Cor. 9:25-27; (MSG)

The key word for us today is discipline. I know that for me that is sometimes very difficult for me to stay on track. Right now, I am working out in the gym. I did this many years ago when I was a young man. But now working out again I do not know I had so many different places that could hurt. I hurt all over and I felt like quitting but I know if there is no pain there is no gain. I need to train hard so I can get into condition and live a long and healthy life.

The apostle Paul was using this example to help us understand that we need to stay fit spiritually as well. What needs to take place for us to stay spiritually fit? To name a few; we need to pray, read and meditate on scripture, understand that we are in a battle and we must use the tools of God to win that battle, we need to resist evil and the oppressor, and we must have a heart of compassion and mercy towards the less fortunate.

I don’t know about you but at times I get really lazy. I use the excuse that I am too busy to do all of those things to keep me spiritually fit. But I know if I don’t stay spiritually fit, I am a target for the devil. I will become negative, resentful, and full of excuses for not obeying God. When this happens, I don’t even want to be around myself.

I have served the Lord for 53 years and I know that there have been many ups and downs in my life. I have had many questions which are still unanswered. But one thing I know for sure that as much as I minister to others God makes me learn the lesson first so I can teach others with knowledge and understanding. This I know, I don’t teach the Word of God because I can do everything that it states I should do. I teach the Word of God because it is true! Let’s stay fit so we can serve the Lord!