(Cocoa Fudge: the Christian’s chocolate!)
We write this page after returning to the U.S. after 5 months in Japan in 2010.
Jesus calls us to live today! We are completely at home wherever we are!
Hi, we are Steve and Karen Moore. We live in Laton, California. We met Beth Turner, an itinerant voice of the Lord in the American wilderness, at
a rest stop in Northern California on our way to visit our daughter and family in Oregon. We were relaxing on the grass getting watermelon all over
our faces when she approached us with a friendly smile and handed us a tract that said, "A man may go to heaven..." and then it listed a variety of
things like, "without health, without culture, without friends, without a thousand other things..." finishing its argument with the decisive and
convincing "...but he cannot go to heaven WITHOUT CHRIST!" I was able to speed read this in a matter of seconds, while resisting ownership of it,
until I was convinced with the mental and spiritual assent: "Hey, that's just what I believe...and what's more, that's what the Bible says!" So we
welcomed the tract and the contact -- the message and its messenger! Once we were disarmed by the grace of this lady and the grace of her message,
we willingly posed for the photo she then clicked off (see photo above).
I serve as pastor of a small Gospel church in the middle of farm country of the great San Joaquin Valley of California. We are surrounded by corn
fields, dairies, and orchards...and dear people of the earth, lovers of all things green, growing, mooing, producing. I'm reminded constantly of
the Scriptural testimony turned principle of living: "I planted, Apollos watered, but God made it grow." The opportunity to sow seed is the greatest
privilege in the world (right Beth?) It doesn't matter where we live and work, there is soil of one kind or another -- people needing the Lord --
and so that's what we do. The seed is the Word of God, the Bible. Karen and I seek to sow the seed, both inside and outside the 107 year old walls of
our little church
I (Steve) grew up in a Christian home, led to new life in Jesus at a tender age by my mom, who is still alive at 92 years old, and still remembers that day.
My Dad -- still alive at 94 -- led our family of seven in God's ways as he led the way to Sunday School and church every Sunday morning. I met my wife
in youth group at church when we were 15. We married at age 20, 45 years ago, and are the proud parents of three daughters on earth, and one son in heaven.
Two of our girls are pastors' wives, and they've given us 11 beautiful grandchildren. And we all love Jesus!
I have a degree in music education from Biola College in La Mirada, California, and a masters degree in ministry from Talbot seminary. I'm a musician as
well as educator, specializing in guitar, but also strong in voice, keyboard, harmonica, uke, sax, and others.
I spent the first 11 years of our married adult life as a classroom and then music teacher in public schools. Every year since then, at various times in
various places, I've served as a worship, youth, Christian Education, or children's pastor, as well as a preaching pastor of three different churches,
in California and Oregon. We spent 5 months of 2010 in evangelism, Bible and music teaching, and preaching in Kyoto, Japan, with my missionary cousin.
A side interest of mine, along with music, is writing. Especially poetry. I've self-published two books of poems and essays, GOING DEEP, and HEADING HOME
(see sample below). I've just completed a third book, now at the publishers (Lady Bug Press, Sonora, California), GOOD SEEDS -- A Daily Devotional
(see sample pages -- actually, the whole book, on
my blog: http://www.papastevespontifications.blogspot.com,
and am in the middle of my first novel, SECOND WIND (you'll notice my propensity for two word titles).
My life's goal always has been and always will be the same as my closing greeting...
CocoaFudge (kokofj = keep on keeping on for Jesus*)
Pastor Steve Moore
*COCOA FUDGE
By Steve Moore from the book HEADING HOME, page 34
Three messages came to me in one day, one after the other, like Job’s bad news of one tragedy on top of another. It seems that three of my friends were under
strong pressure to make some bold changes in their lives, and they were sharing with me about it. They weren’t looking for advice, and that’s good, for I had
none to offer. Maybe they were looking for someone to “weep with those who weep,” and that I was ready to do. Nevertheless, there’s a little phrase I often
quote to myself when things start getting rough, that seemed appropriate for my three hurting friends: “KEEP ON KEEPING ON FOR JESUS.” Regardless of what God
might be trying to tell us through the pain or problems that occasionally come our way, we can know that He’s either directing us to make a change, or He’s
encouraging us to hold fast and stay put, right where we’re planted – even if we’re not at the moment blooming beautiful flowers or bearing luscious fruit.
In either case we can know for sure that our job is always to KEEP ON KEEPING ON FOR JESUS. Maya Angelou put it this way: “Every person must learn when to try
harder, and when to walk away.” Now, regarding the title for this poem, I arrived at it simply by isolating the initials of each word in the phrase,
“Keep On Keeping On For Jesus,” resulting in the acronym, KOKOFJ, which easily translates – and readily rolls off the tongue – as “COCOA FUDGE”…a very sweet remedy
indeed for whatever ails you! And so, let us all take up the challenge of this simple but powerful piece of “unasked-for advice” -- Cocoa Fudge, my friend; just
“Keep On Keeping On for Jesus!”
Keep On Keeping On For Jesus
That’s what we must do,
And say this little acronym
Whenever we feel blue.
Sometimes trials come to tell us,
“Hang on tight, don’t budge!”
While other times God says, “Move on!”
Either way, it’s “Cocoa Fudge!”
Yes, Keep On Keeping On For Jesus,
Though you are but dust;
Do your best, then take a rest,
And in God put your trust.
Surely God’s not finished yet,
He’s just giving us a nudge;
And through our problems we can learn
To say, “Oh, COCOA FUDGE!”
Cocoa Fudge: the Christian’s chocolate –
Is this your sweet story?
Just Keep On Keeping On For Jesus,
Till you get to glory!
If you want to contact me, my email address is: skmoore62@gmail.com
Pastors can be very busy so please be patient in hearing back from me. Thanks!
Last Updated: 01/23/2015
We write this page after returning to the U.S. after 5 months in Japan in 2010.
Jesus calls us to live today! We are completely at home wherever we are!
Hi, we are Steve and Karen Moore. We live in Laton, California. We met Beth Turner, an itinerant voice of the Lord in the American wilderness, at a rest stop in Northern California on our way to visit our daughter and family in Oregon. We were relaxing on the grass getting watermelon all over our faces when she approached us with a friendly smile and handed us a tract that said, "A man may go to heaven..." and then it listed a variety of things like, "without health, without culture, without friends, without a thousand other things..." finishing its argument with the decisive and convincing "...but he cannot go to heaven WITHOUT CHRIST!" I was able to speed read this in a matter of seconds, while resisting ownership of it, until I was convinced with the mental and spiritual assent: "Hey, that's just what I believe...and what's more, that's what the Bible says!" So we welcomed the tract and the contact -- the message and its messenger! Once we were disarmed by the grace of this lady and the grace of her message, we willingly posed for the photo she then clicked off (see photo above).
I serve as pastor of a small Gospel church in the middle of farm country of the great San Joaquin Valley of California. We are surrounded by corn fields, dairies, and orchards...and dear people of the earth, lovers of all things green, growing, mooing, producing. I'm reminded constantly of the Scriptural testimony turned principle of living: "I planted, Apollos watered, but God made it grow." The opportunity to sow seed is the greatest privilege in the world (right Beth?) It doesn't matter where we live and work, there is soil of one kind or another -- people needing the Lord -- and so that's what we do. The seed is the Word of God, the Bible. Karen and I seek to sow the seed, both inside and outside the 107 year old walls of our little church
I (Steve) grew up in a Christian home, led to new life in Jesus at a tender age by my mom, who is still alive at 92 years old, and still remembers that day. My Dad -- still alive at 94 -- led our family of seven in God's ways as he led the way to Sunday School and church every Sunday morning. I met my wife in youth group at church when we were 15. We married at age 20, 45 years ago, and are the proud parents of three daughters on earth, and one son in heaven. Two of our girls are pastors' wives, and they've given us 11 beautiful grandchildren. And we all love Jesus!
I have a degree in music education from Biola College in La Mirada, California, and a masters degree in ministry from Talbot seminary. I'm a musician as well as educator, specializing in guitar, but also strong in voice, keyboard, harmonica, uke, sax, and others.
I spent the first 11 years of our married adult life as a classroom and then music teacher in public schools. Every year since then, at various times in various places, I've served as a worship, youth, Christian Education, or children's pastor, as well as a preaching pastor of three different churches, in California and Oregon. We spent 5 months of 2010 in evangelism, Bible and music teaching, and preaching in Kyoto, Japan, with my missionary cousin.
A side interest of mine, along with music, is writing. Especially poetry. I've self-published two books of poems and essays, GOING DEEP, and HEADING HOME (see sample below). I've just completed a third book, now at the publishers (Lady Bug Press, Sonora, California), GOOD SEEDS -- A Daily Devotional (see sample pages -- actually, the whole book, on my blog: http://www.papastevespontifications.blogspot.com, and am in the middle of my first novel, SECOND WIND (you'll notice my propensity for two word titles).
My life's goal always has been and always will be the same as my closing greeting...
CocoaFudge (kokofj = keep on keeping on for Jesus*)
Pastor Steve Moore
*COCOA FUDGE
By Steve Moore from the book HEADING HOME, page 34
Three messages came to me in one day, one after the other, like Job’s bad news of one tragedy on top of another. It seems that three of my friends were under strong pressure to make some bold changes in their lives, and they were sharing with me about it. They weren’t looking for advice, and that’s good, for I had none to offer. Maybe they were looking for someone to “weep with those who weep,” and that I was ready to do. Nevertheless, there’s a little phrase I often quote to myself when things start getting rough, that seemed appropriate for my three hurting friends: “KEEP ON KEEPING ON FOR JESUS.” Regardless of what God might be trying to tell us through the pain or problems that occasionally come our way, we can know that He’s either directing us to make a change, or He’s encouraging us to hold fast and stay put, right where we’re planted – even if we’re not at the moment blooming beautiful flowers or bearing luscious fruit. In either case we can know for sure that our job is always to KEEP ON KEEPING ON FOR JESUS. Maya Angelou put it this way: “Every person must learn when to try harder, and when to walk away.” Now, regarding the title for this poem, I arrived at it simply by isolating the initials of each word in the phrase, “Keep On Keeping On For Jesus,” resulting in the acronym, KOKOFJ, which easily translates – and readily rolls off the tongue – as “COCOA FUDGE”…a very sweet remedy indeed for whatever ails you! And so, let us all take up the challenge of this simple but powerful piece of “unasked-for advice” -- Cocoa Fudge, my friend; just “Keep On Keeping On for Jesus!”
Keep On Keeping On For Jesus
That’s what we must do,
And say this little acronym
Whenever we feel blue.
Sometimes trials come to tell us,
“Hang on tight, don’t budge!”
While other times God says, “Move on!”
Either way, it’s “Cocoa Fudge!”
Yes, Keep On Keeping On For Jesus,
Though you are but dust;
Do your best, then take a rest,
And in God put your trust.
Surely God’s not finished yet,
He’s just giving us a nudge;
And through our problems we can learn
To say, “Oh, COCOA FUDGE!”
Cocoa Fudge: the Christian’s chocolate –
Is this your sweet story?
Just Keep On Keeping On For Jesus,
Till you get to glory!
If you want to contact me, my email address is: skmoore62@gmail.com
Pastors can be very busy so please be patient in hearing back from me. Thanks!
Last Updated: 01/23/2015