Back for Africa and Japan

It's been five weeks. I'm sorry about not writing, but it really was beyond my control.

I spent the first week at Kibidula giving a week of prayer on the Eight Conditions For Overcoming. I preached every morning at 9 AM Then we all went to work demolishing buildings to be replaced by a Kibidula chapel. It was hard work, sometimes dangerous as walls would fall in where some people might be working. I attribute God's generous grace for no one getting hurt. At noon, the cafeteria provided us with wonderful food. I then spoke again every evening. All went well and I believe Kibidula is doing great.

Janet, Deniece, Twalisa, Emily and I went on from there to Mago. My wife's project has really advanced. She has all these beautiful buildings in their proper setting. There are students running around everywhere and lots of work for everyone. Janet gave me the job of dropping (felling) 30 to 40 trees around some of her buildings. It was tricky work. At first I lined myself up determining what I would do with each tree. God had other plans. Janet's workers, with whom I could not communicate had there own plans. It was terribly frustrating for me at first, but in the end it turned out to be a blessing. We managed to fall all the trees without touching one of the buildings. Hard work. I could hardly drag myself around after a couple of days. My wife's container finally showed up while I was there. It took half a day to unload the thing and half a day to cut the welds that held it to the truck platform. All in all, it was a great time. I find that manual labor is far more fulfilling than desk work.

The third week (four days) we spent at Lake Malawi--Matema Beach. Steven Grabiner organized an OCI Retreat for the African projects. Wonderful, and the venue couldn't have been more conducive. We swam, we prayed, we listened to talks, we bonded and we grew in grace.

Going in to Matema, my wife's pick-up blew a tire. Upon inspection, we noticed that the companion tire was in terrible shape. The wires were coming out of its great gashes. So we went to town and paid a fortune for two used, junk tires.

I left Matema on Saturday night, 9 PM, to catch a plane in Dar Es Salaam at 10:10 PM on Sunday. Twenty miles out of camp we shredded another tire. (One of the new old ones.) It was on a prayer that we made it to Mbeya, Tanzania. We manage to find some sleep at 1 AM and at 5 AM we were in town looking for the bus station. From there my wife went looking for new tires and I rode the bus for twelve and one half hours to Dar. Sweat and stink and weariness was all part of the adventure. It was so hot in Dar that I put my jacket in my suit case and boarded the plane without anything warm. Well, only an old sweaty shirt in Zurich in winter is not good. Nor was it good in Washington or Denver. No matter, I survived.

I arrived at home at 9 PM and left for Japan at 6 AM in the morning.

I enjoyed Japan a lot. The people are hospitable, kind, courteous and interested. I preached 13 sermons in the city of Meaboshi??. I believe our project called Mt. Akagi is doing very well. They certainly could use more funding and people, but they are improving their lot every day. The Lord is blessing.

I'm home. Steven Grabiner is here doing a week of prayer on the book of Revelation. Great. I wish I was not so jet-lagged. I think Steven wishes he was not so jet-lagged also. Tomorrow I preach at Copper Mountain to the Veggie Diner group.

As for news: I believe I can announce that my wife is sincerely determined to come home to stay. She must find someone to replace her, and that isn't easy, but if the Lord wants it too, I believe it will happen within the year. (We'll see.)

I was reading in Prophets and Kings about King Hezekiah. It says that the Lord left him to prove him, to show what was in his heart. The Lord did that to me once. Consequently, I made the biggest mess in my life. So did Hezekiah. Only a fool would wish to live independently of the Lord.

So says the Preacher to his Tribe.

Super-r-r Woman

I leave for Africa and Japan in three days. This will probably be my last blog for one month. Sorry, I'll be having too much fun, or there won't be internet where I am going. Actually, I won't have a computer with me, so don't count on hearing anything. Ugh! Sounds so final like I'm entering the twilight zone.

The paragraph that follows this sentence is from a 16 year old girl working with my Lover In Africa:

Mrs. Fournier and her right-hand woman, Deniece, have probably taught me more in these few short weeks than I have learned in years of ordinary life. By normal standards, I’m smart. I have nearly a 4.0 GDA, but here that doesn’t matter. It means absolutely nothing. Practical experience and hard work are all that counts. These women are incredible. They can fix almost anything, run a school, communicate through the language barrier, cook almost any meal, put up with each other, and show Christ through their everyday lives. It’s like living with a super-hero and her side-kick. They are who they are, and they are God’s. I admire that.

There you are, I'm married to a Super Heroin. I've always known, but do you know how hard that is? Like the girl says, I'm smart but around her, that doesn't count. (Kidding, sorta.)

I spent last weekend in Norway.

The institution in Norway, the Heartgood Foundation and the European Bible School lost their leader several years ago. It's been struggling ever since. It was decided by the last board that the board should all resign "en masse" and that a new group of seven should attempt to find a solution. I was elected to the new group with Steven Grabiner, Erik Somme, Knut Guvstavsen, Nila Teale, Nic Dan, and Jamiek (Somebody).

The first two days were very discouraging. It was like we couldn't get anyone to say anything that would give us hope of rescuing this institution. (Now I must tell you: On my way to Norway, I prayed every half hour on the half hour that the Lord would show us what to do. On the last day, we broke through the negativity. I wish I could tell you the whole story, but I can't.) God works in mysterious ways. In the end, we elected Knut to be President. Knut is one of the original founders of Heartgood Foundation. He is choosing to buy the farm. This will provide the school with much needed money while leaving the farm in proximity to by used. Also, we accepted a young couple's proposal to run a school starting in 2013. This young couple has two weeks to make a decision. Pray for them. (I believe they will accept the counter proposal. God led too beautifully not to.)

Tonight, I speak at Larry Romrell's house to a group of SDA's from Franktown. Tomorrow I do vespers at EVI, and on Sabbath I speak in Copper Mountain. Sunday I leave for Africa.

In the meantime, I have nothing to do but run in every direction trying to gather all I must take to Africa. I hope I don't end up with more than I am allowed to carry.

Monday I am reunited with Super-r-r Woman. Hmmm! I feel like Clark Kent kryptonited.

Heavy Snows, Heavier Responsibilities.

It's winter in Colorado. The temperature went as low as 8 degrees Fahrenheit this morning. I checked Whitehorse, Yukon, and it was 34 degrees. We seem to be the cold spot in North America. The snow was beautiful, but heavy and broke a lot of branches. As many as 15,000 were without electricity last night and still today. Otherwise, beautiful.

We are having a birthday party for one of our doctors today. Dr. Cherne is 85 and going strong.

I went to Washington DC this week. Had an invitation to a North American Division meeting with the Supporting Ministries of which ASI is one. We were a group of about 20. The meetings were very interesting, but I don't know what was accomplished except perhaps to make friends and to spread goodwill toward one another. I did see Pastor Orville Parchment, and a host of other long time friends.

Better still was that I got to visit with John, Janice, David and Arwyn. That was great. The whole trip was worth it on that account. We met at David's new house, cozy and good for David. I read Calvin and Hobbes to Arwyn. Endearing. Did you know that there is no point in debriefing Calvin--he doesn't wear briefs.

We visited for several hours. It is all interesting to us that within the last year we all-John, Jason, David and I are saddled with heavier responsibilities. (You can add Janet to that, except that her responsibilities she's carried for some time now.) For some of us, John and I, the responsibilities were totally unexpected. David is now in management in the Communications branch of the Risk Management Dept. of the GC. We all praised the Lord for the honors, and are praying for wisdom to execute wisely our tasks.

All is well. God is good and the future is bright.

Love it

Someone reminded me that I hadn't blogged lately. Yea, I know. Not enough hours in a day.

I did run to Chattanooga this week. I hope I haven't already told you. Steven Grabiner, OCI President, Wilbur Atwood, the President of Wildwood and I had a scheduled meeting with David Gates. All I can say here is that the meeting was productive of great good . . . I hope. Time will tell.

I also met with Rusty Mckee of Little Debbie fame. I was blown away. The man was so congenial that I felt like we had know each other forever and that we were the best of friends. My purpose was to raise funds for our new Lifestyle Center. I believe, true to my nature, that I did a soft sell. He assured me that I couldn't have come at a better time. Mckee's Little Debbie had a slump in profits since 2008 and now they seem to be recovered. Besides, we are getting close to the end of the year when these folks need to donate for business purposes. We'll see. For me, the friendship is worth everything. (A people oriented person am I.)

We had a cooking school this week. Breads. It was great. The people didn't leave till 9:30 PM. The people were genuinely grateful for the experience.

Our Lifestyle guests are just the grandest people ever. Eleven women and two men. The laughing-est bunch you ever met. All suffering terribly, yet full of godly joy. I think they'll live forever.

On Sunday, I need to fly to Washington DC. The General Conference of the SDA church has invited me to attend an all day meeting on Monday. They are paying for everything. David Fournier heard I was coming and offered me to stay with him. Love it. Too bad I already had a hotel room. I'll be sure to find time for Davey regardless.

Everyone asks how I am doing with my new ASI responsibilities. Truth is, I'm loving it. I'm way too busy, but I prefer that than having too little to do. So far, I'm keeping out of trouble and I am praying double time so I don't. I have lots of help from my two VPs and my Executive Committee and all the former ASI Presidents. Love it, plain and simple.

Sometimes I get invited to eat with the Lifestyle guests. Oriental day. Super good.

Same table.

Every evening I go to the mountains to pray.

Later.

Always Rushed.

Since we last talked EVI had its yearly convention. In may respects it was the best ever. We had a great speaker--Chester V. Clark III. The convention was better attended than ever. Leasa sent out invitations to many of our friends and a good number came who would not have thought of it.

The board meeting was done in two and one half hours. Try to beat that. Kevin Hogfeldt was our board chairman this year because Steven Grabiner couldn't make it. Kevin did a great job of it.

We then traveled to DayStar after the EVI board and got there around 9:30 PM. The DayStar board was very, very encouraging. The Lord is blessing them tremendously this year. I am truly pleased with what is going on there. They have 33 students, aiming for at least 35. There farm is on track to profit about $150,000 this year. They have awesome farmers.

We got back home at 9:30 PM that night.

The next day I nearly spent till noon on the phone with various ASI people. In the meantime, I am trying to write an article for ASI and I must start on our Faith Ventures also.

Tonight we have a reception for Philip and Dayna Smith. They were married a few weeks ago in CA., but being as they are staff at EVI, it is only fair that we celebrate with them also. Sorry, no pics. Maybe next week.

Visitor Convention Morning. Not the least nervous.

Aspen gold on the way to DayStar

Sunflower by the side of DayStar road

Castle Rock at DayStar

Ignacio Perez is my farmer. Great Year.

It's Time , , , To Be About Our Father's Business

I just returned from my first ASI Fall Retreat. Eleven of us gathered at Denzil and Donna McNeilus' home to do business. For some of the meals, George and Shari McNeilus, Garwin and Merrilee and Pat McNeilus joined us. Also a young couple that lives nearby. It was a very relaxing weekend (On one level.)

On another level, I was a bitstressful. I was told that I needed to take charge. (That is totally against my temper-mental makeup.) But, I chose to take charge and do it. I pretty well made up my mind to be myself and to participate fully in the program.

For recreation, we visited Pat McNeilus' steel operation and Garwin's One Day Church factory. Very impressive. More impressive, maybe I should say as impressive is Merrilee's shell collection. All that aside, we actually got a lot of work accomplished.

The most exciting piece of work was the theme for the next two years: "It is Time . . . To be about Our Father's Business." I delivered all the devotional meetings and in them I explained my vision for ASI. It was well rec'd and with that we formulated the title. My task now is to write an article, and sent it to the ASI magazine and the Review and whoever else might print it. When we choose our speakers for the next convention, we will expect the speakers to align themselves with the theme, but they will have the freedom to determine what is our Father's business in this late day and speak to the issue. I think it is genius. (No, I didn't come up with the concept, but since I am in charge, maybe I should take the credit. Not!) The Lord guided us through.

I'm getting excited. Imagine. I sincerely believe God will do something special with ASI in the coming days. Why else would He choose less than the least of all saints to be President?

So prays the Preacher for his Tribe.

Marilee McNeilus is an expert collector of sea shells.

She has amazing things in her collection

We visited Garwin McNeilus' One Day Church factory

Pat McNeilus' steel processing plant.

Steel comes in rolls.

From West to East

Today I've got to pack. I leave for Minnesota tomorrow early. The ASI Executive Committee is meeting for our annual fall retreat. Being the new president, I am expected to lead the pack into new territory, i.e. the new theme for the next two years and the wherewithal to implement the new theme. I am also expected to lead out in morning and evening devotions plus speak at the 11 o'clock service on Sabbath morning. And with that I will chair the board and act presidential. So far, no one's asked me to make lunch and sing special music. If they did, I would make rolled oats and sing "When the Moon Hits your Eyes Like a Big Pizza Pie, That's amore." So would go the rest of the meetings.

Actually, I expect the Lord to lead and to give us a blessing. (You may pray for yours truly anyway.)

Last weekend, five of us from EVI boarded a plane and flew to Las Vegas (Sin City.) Our mission was to train church members from various churches to do health work in preparation for the big evangelistic effort scheduled for next spring. The big effort was called "Babylon Rising." I say "was" because somebody--John Bradshaw--decided to rename it. The new name is so tame that I can't remember it. Anyway, we did our thing (rallying sermons, health talks, health expo, and cooking classes) and the Lord blessed abundantly.

During the same weekend, Las Vegas hosted the Mr. Olympia bodybuilding contests. There was muscle every where. These self-centered gorillas are driven to show as much skin as possible. Why else take steroids, and look like a cartoon character? The problem, however, is that bodybuilding has grown to include woman, if that is what you'd call those creatures. They look like tall midgets--everything exaggerated.

Through it all, the Lord keeps supplying my poor brain with something to say for Him. I'm impressed and truly thankful. His biddings are enablings.

Love to all.

ASI is God's Problem

Sorry it's been so long. Lots to do and nothing happening. Well, I suppose anything can be interesting if it is written well. (Now we need to look for someone who writes well.)

Hey, did you all read Jason's blog of Sept. 3. Wow! The driving scene is like an action movie and the star of the movie saved the day. Things like that should happen to liven up things in my dotage.

Restoration Intl' just shared their third annual family camp meeting at EVI. The attendance was down a little. Labor day weekend is a factor; school started for some, is another. The economy isn't helping anyone, etc. Whatever. Everyone appeared to have a great time.

Many of our staff went up to the meadow for a corn roast last week. The corn was awesome, the fellowship, even better. We have a great family here at EVI.

I've been going up the mountain to pray quite often, lately. This ASI presidency weighs heavy on me. Not because of the extra work. It hasn't been anything to speak of yet, but I truly feel incapable of meeting my leadership responsibilities. For example: I am to lead the way. I am to come up with a vision that will inspire the ASI members into action. Well, I am the most un-visionary character you ever met. However, I am in position, therefore, God has to be my vision. Period. If God doesn't come through, then forget me.

Also, I need to speak three times in Las Vegas on the 16th of Sept through to the 18th, on health evangelism. Not exactly my forte, but praise God. I prepared one sermon today. Truth is, I'm going to pray my way through this. I'll let you know as God works.

An elk in our neighbors yard. We have elks in our field every day.

This is our own EVI Michelle. Meechee and I are great friends,

My wife in the mountains. I put her on an airplane yesterday. As I write, she is about four hours from landing in Dar Es Salaam. I'll miss her. She comes home in Dec and I intend to visit her in Nov.

This is the headstone for the young fella who died at EVI August 16. May we all die the death of the righteous.

Second Chance

Five couples from Eden Valley are spending a weekend in Silverthorne, Colorado-the Roeskes, the Hueys, the Katsmas, the Bates and the Fourniers. We just decided to get away. The house we are living in is a palace, actually, it is more like a wildlife museum--amazing--their are stuffed animals everywhere and the furniture is unique to Colorado. The folks who live here, Randy and Sandy Bright use the place to teach people about nature and animal biology.

We are not doing too much. We went to church at the Copper Mountain Chapel yesterday. That was good. After lunch, we rode a ski-lift up to the top of the mountain. After Sabbath, we played games and just sat around. This morning we cleaned up and watched one of those Christian movies called The Note. Made me cry for one and one half hours. I hate tear jerkers, don't you? I think my wife is watching it all over again--a gluten for punishment, or is that glutton? In any case, if you need to clean your eyes watch The Note.

The movie might have been called Second Chance. It struck me.

(You know, artists are generally know to be melancholy. Strong emotional feelings drive strong responses. A writer definitely writes better when his mood is either very high, or more likely very low.)

I'm not saying that I am an artist. As a matter of fact, I think I am anything but melancholic. But like I said, the movie struck me. It was about a note that washes up on shore written by a passenger on an ill fated jetliner. The note is to "T". A lady who writes a column for a magazine finds the note and tries to find "T". It appears that everyone who sees the note is inspired to a second chance.

A few years ago (as I've said before) I was sunk. It just came clear to me. God gave me a second chance. He should have cast me aside. It is only of grace that He keeps bestowing honors upon me. Go figure.

So says the Preacher to his Tribe.

The Bright Side

German countryside.

Meetings in Germany

Local town in Germany

Tree outside my room in fall colors already. Cold and rainy.

ASI inauguration. On the left outgoing pres. on the right incoming .

I've finally found a moment so that I can write this blog. Sorry guys for making you wait so long. The last two weeks have been a whirlwind of activity.

My son came to Eden Valley while I was still at the Oak Haven Convention. When I came home we had a great week together. Mostly we ate tomato sandwiches as much as we could. EVI tomatoes are the best. My Lover came home a week later sicker than I've ever seen her. We drove to Sacramento and the ASI meetings like that, but there she crashed. Finally, I have to get a prescription from doctor Emerson for anti-biotics, which did the trick. Praise the Lord.

In Sacramento, I met with two brothers, my three children, nine of my twelve grand children, and one niece with her family. I didn't have all the time I wanted to visit with everyone, but the little time I had was ultra special.

As you all know I was given the opportunity to preach at ASI three times on R by F in relation to the Three Angel's Messages. You cannot know how many misgivings I had going into those meetings. It seems I am never satisfied that I have the right material. But what I had was what God gave me. So, I went forward with the little I had. After every meeting I felt that God's Spirit was there to promote Himself. I'm so thankful. The last time I was asked to preach at ASI (that was in Dallas, TX) I literally gave up on the sermon I had prepared and preached more or less from the hip that Friday evening. I haven't been happy about it since. For that reason I was worried about my next performance. What can I say, sometimes the Lord humbles, sometimes we are better prepared for a blessing. Can you see how God prepared me three or four years ago to bless me this time? I can see it.

The Lord delights in confounding the wise at the hand of fools. He loves to humble the mighty using the weak. He grants the base things of this world power over the sophisticated. So He did at ASI. Of all the people He might have honored to be president of ASI, He chose me. Do you know who He chose. Two and three years ago, my usefulness had run its course. I was, in my own eyes, the biggest failure I'd ever met. It pretty well seemed like I had failed on every front. Going to Africa to help my wife was seen as the most merciful thing to do to others and myself. I could finish my course quietly and out of sight. Today, I am being blessed with a great honor as if I was somebody. At ASI I was caught completely by surprise. My heart by turn shrank and rose. Shrank into depths of despair then rose to heights of, should I say it . . . better leave it unsaid. I thank God for expressing confidence in me, but you all better pray for me. Except by a sustained miracle I am sure to fail.

The day after ASI I was suppose to chair a board meeting for OCI. I couldn't. I had to leave for Germany that morning. In Germany, I preached the same messages plus two and gave my testimony to some of the most humble and genuinely Christian people I've ever met. Tho' the weather was cold and rainy, the experience was great.

Unfortunately, I came home to our little David. He died three days later. I prayed a lot for him, but the Lord indicated that it is better this way. I accept that. The family understandably wrestles more with that concept. David is safe. I've never been more sure of anyone's salvation. He was baptized a few weeks ago and told me he didn't think to win this battle, but that it was worth it for his family's sake. Like Christ, he was willing to die to see others gain eternal life. He as a great witness, and only 17 years old.

A few weeks ago I was overjoyed to be able to announce to my wife that her container was gone. Yesterday, we found out that I made a mistake on the paperwork and I am causing her no amount of grief. That is bad and I feel terrible for the mistake I made, but there is bright spot in and through it all. If someone had made a mistake that was to cause me that much grief, I would be tempted to put them through a knot hole backwards. Tho' sincerely troubled, my dear wife has shown no temper or one sign of remonstrance toward me. It's a huge witness to me of God's grace in a person's life.

So life goes on. We'll fight and win tho' we lose a few battles. God be praised.

Tomato Season.

Special Kay just walked into my office with a two-pound tomato. Jason and I pretty well eat only tomatoes sandwiches. We are not even tempted with anything else. Our tomatoes are out of this world, as a matter of fact, you'd say they taste like the came from a valley called Eden.

This may be my last entry until mid August. We leave for Sacramento on Tuesday and then I go from there to Germany till the 14th.

All is well. The weather is hot, in the 90's. It hasn't rained as much as it was lately, but it threatens to every day. My wife comes in tomorrow with two of our grandchildren. Miracle or miracles, by God's grace I managed to ship Janet's container yesterday. This is one thing she will not need to deal with while here. The last time she visited, we gave her no rest. I think this time will be stress free, except of course that she is married to me. That's enough stress for anyone . . . I guess.

Jason is here from Africa. He's been helping Ignacio on the farm. They are plowing with bad equipment. Finally, we borrowed a plow from Sunrise next door. They don't have the best equipment either, so we are managing to break it every time we take it out. Jason feels that our inexperience is contributing to our little streak of bad luck here. No doubt.

Our young cancer patient isn't doing well. The prognosis says he will die within a month, perhaps two. He wants to be baptized. I will begin Bible studies with him tonight. Obviously, I don't intend to focus on doctrine and prophecy. He needs to be ready to meet his Maker. Not a bad idea for all of us. Get ready, get ready, get ready.

Listen dear ones, the end has come. If we can't read the signs, we are blind. I'm actually amazed that we are in no greater trouble or distress over it. The Lord is merciful, but it looks to me like everything will deteriorate and will not get better.

Our farm is producing an amazing amount of food. Our last farmer's market netted $1,200. The farm team is working their hearts out.

Finally, our roofers are here today. I hope they stay for a while. Yesterday, we talked to a couple of people, husband and wife, about demolishing seven of our trailers. They came down from $1,500 to $1,000. That is good, but we are a little unsure about hiring them. Pray for us.

Love to all.

All in a Week's Living

I'll be leaving the day after tomorrow--Friday. I'll spend the weekend at an Oak Haven convention in Michigan. I get to speak and to sit on their board. It's always a good time.

Thought I would write before I left.

The week has been hot with evening storms. Last night, I spent a half hour with our 17 year old lifestyle guest. He is fighting sarcoma fourth stage. My heart goes out to David, but he doesn't seem to pity himself. We talked of spiritual things and he thought he might lose the battle with cancer for his relative's sake. Already, the man who brought him to us four months ago has become much more religious. This man has since married David's cousin. This cousin became very angry with God when David's mother died of cancer ten years ago. She seems to be softening considerably. David is delighted to have a part in it. It seems to be worth the whole ordeal. Impressive!

There is still a boy in the great sufferer. He bought a small remote control helicopter and proceeded to demonstrate how well he can fly it in his room.

We are all grasping at straws to find a treatment that would bring healing to him. Personally, I am looking for a direct miracle. I deeply long for David to live and I am petitioning heaven for that miracle. Please pray with me. (Last week I met a lady who had come to EVI with cancer. What I remember about her was that her husband hovered over her and wouldn't let anything the least bit stressful come her way. He gave you the impression that he would break your arm if she suffered anything untoward. Anyway, they came to donate some equipment they had bought to fight cancer. The dear lady, that I thought was going to die, has been cancer free for two years. What do you think he thinks of us now? He's as docile as a day-old puppy.)

I'm working also on the papers to send my wife's container to Africa. We are close to seeing it gone, but the closer we come to the departure date, the more obstacles the Devil throws in our path. We are shipping a tractor. Customs demand that we show the original title for the tractor. The problem is, Colorado does not issue titles for tractors. We can't produce one out of thin air. That's the kind of hurtles we face.

I am one sermon short for the ASI National Convention and the German camp meeting. The idea is that I need five sermons in all and I have four to date. Not to worry, I have hundreds of sermons. It's a matter of choosing one that fits the occasion. Stress!

My Vice-president was scheduled to leave tomorrow for Hungary. Come to find out, the airline changed her ticket without telling her. She, according to the airline, was meant to fly from NY to Budapest today, but needed to leave Denver tomorrow. How do you do that? They re-scheduled her for Monday and upgraded her to first class. Good deal. That should happen to me sometime.

Yuli and Michelle are planning to leave for DayStar and Monument Valley tomorrow morning. We've had a blast. I'll miss them. Yuli preached to the EVI staff this morning. Very good sermon. Maybe he's missed his calling. Maybe he should take a vow of poverty and become an itinerant preacher like uncle Frank. (Preaching doesn't pay much.)

Blessings to all.

Ramblings of a Tired Preacher

The ASI meetings are beginning to weigh heavy on my heart. I'm trying to pray more. Now I know that whatever I say doesn't amount to anything except the Lord takes what I say to the hearts of the people. Sometimes I wish I was more confident about what I am going to share, but then again, that might leave me, well, too confident. I rarely come to the place where I think I've got a cracker-jack sermon. Sometimes, I am totally disgusted with my own efforts. It's amazing that the Lord can bless me at any time. But, He does.

Usually, when I am ask to speak in a place where I am more or less intimidated, I don't do so well. I do well when I am perfectly relaxed. (Lord, leave me in my comfort zone.) Do you guys ever feel like that?

The talk of the week is the weather at EVI. Every day starts sunny and hot. By midday the clouds begin to gather. By evening we can expect a weather watch and a damaging storm. We've never seen so much rain here. Everything is beautifully green, but the hail that accompanies every third storm or so is frightful.

In two weeks my lover will be back. I'll be home one day from a board meeting and convention at Oak Haven, and then we will have four days to prepare for the ASI Convention. (Then, I leave for Germany from Sacramento, can you believe it?) It's cause enough for divorce. Good thing she still loves me . . . I think.

My wife has been suffering from dizziness at night, in bed. She says that when she turns her head in bed, she gets nauseous. She wants me to ask the doctors about it. My guess is she suffers from vertigo. I've had that experience before. There is a little bone in the ear area that when displaced disturbs the equilibrium. She needs to roll hard on the floor till the little bone goes back into place. (Serious! Why are you laughing?)

Denis Priebe will be preaching at EVI this weekend.

Yuli and Michelle Petov, from London, are here and doing well. Yuli is working full days on the farm. No doubt, he is well appreciated by the farm crew and for sure by me.

All is well. The whole world is falling apart and I am snug in the Lord. It seems unfair, but I suppose everyone could enjoy what I enjoy. Hope you are.

So says the preacher to his tribe.

Lots to do

All the Maranatha workers are gone. They did a great job. What a blessing that my Vice-president has such good contacts. We hope to do it again before too long. We want to get started on our new Lifestyle Center. If you have a million dollars or part thereof, please send it our way.

All the windows are replaced at my house and the siding and the house is newly painted. It looks grand. Now, all I have to do is clean up an inch of dust on everything. Never mind, it's worth it. When the Maranatha guys took my cement back steps out, they found two snakes and tons of eggs. (I believe I wrote about that.) Well, my big snake is back and just hanging around the house. he's huge, about six feet long and beautiful colors. It's a bull snake, good for keeping the mice population down and for killing rattlers. So, I keep him/her as a pet. He/she gets in the way sometimes--under foot.

I'm spending the holiday weekend cleaning my shack and if I can, I'll work on the yard a little too.

Julie and I spent nearly two hours on Skype yesterday. We had a long intimate conversation--very close.

We have a young cancer patient at EVI. David is only 17. As a matter of fact, his birthday was on Sabbath. He's been with us for three sessions already and we are determined to keep him until he is healthy enough to go home. It's a slow heartbreaking process. He has fourth-stage sarcoma. In essence, he should be dying soon, but our protocol is helping him to not deteriorate. I pray for him all the time. Please pray with me. I believe God would be glorified if he should be healed.

Our little Michelle Fournier Petrova should be here with her family in two days. I hope they contact me about their arrival, otherwise I don't know when to go fetch them at the airport.

This week, all of EVI will spend two days doing a work bee on the farm. Then, I promised my wife I would start working on shipping her container. Lord, there is a lot to do.

Blessings to all,

Much Accomplished

It's been an amazing three weeks. (The three weeks ends next Wednesday, June 29.) The Maranatha builders are accomplishing an great amount a work for us. They are all the while very pleasant and loving. I wish you could all see the facelift that's happened to EVI.

In the meantime, they sometime run me off my feet. Not so bad actually, I was braced to run and it turns out I have been able to accomplish all I needed to accomplish for them and for myself as well. While they are here, we managed to finish preparing our next Faith Ventures Magazine. I even managed, yesterday, to write the first draught of my next editorial. Now I must start pushing others to do as well.

I preach every morning to our lifestyle guests, and every evening to the Maranatha crew. The Maranatha people had asked that I speak for about twenty minutes every night. They didn't want to go longer because they'd be really tired. Last night I spoke for one hour and they showed no sign of wanting me to stop. The Lord is really blessing.

We have a young man here as a lifestyle guest who is only 17 years old. He has terminal cancer, fourth stage. His chances are non-existent except for what the Lord might choose to do. He's been with us for three months now. (We don't usually keep anyone that long, but our hearts are going out to him.) We've decided to keep him as long as it takes. (It might take forever.) Yet, there is good news. Our doctors sent the last C.A.T. scan to the boy's surgeon in Pennsylvania. We were under the impression that one of his tumors had grown from four centimeters to seven centimeters, but it turns out, according to the surgeon, that the tumors barely budged from their previous sizes. To me it is like the little cloud Eligah saw when looking for rain. He knew what God was up to, and so do I.

Another of our lifestyle guests drew me aside to ask about baptism. She lives in Minnesota so I can't follow her too closely, but who knows, maybe I can do something by phone or skype. Wouldn't that be innovative?

Jason lost his passport on route to help his mom, or while helping her. In any case, he is in Dar Es Salaam trying the Canadian embassy for help. We'll see what happens next. He only has a month to get a passport to come to the ASI convention in Sacramento, CA.

While working on my house, the Maranatha people disturbed my pet snake. Actually, it turns out there was two snakes. I've seen one of the snakes once or twice per year for the passed two years. It seems one of the snakes got hurt while they were breaking the cement of my old sidewalk. The snakes were underneath. There was probably one hundred eggs there also. This week, I've seen the other snake twice at the place where they had their nest. She (I assume it to be a she) is looking for her eggs, I think. Otherwise, she is just coming to say hello. I nearly jumped on top of her yesterday. I came out the door and jumped the two feet to the group, and the poor mrs. snake was there. She jumped one foot to one side and I to the other.

Pastor Jim Brackett preached twice for us this week also. I always enjoy listening to him. He forgot his glasses at both meetings and had to run back to get them, Then when he left EVI, he set his computer down and drove off without it. I had to call him and both of us had to drive twenty miles to make the rendez-vous. Hmm! Do you think he's get old? Yea, about as old as me.

Till next week.

Hail, Hail the Damage is All Done.

I was just looking at Angie's gardening blog. Wonderful! it isn't so wonderful at EVI, however. We had a half-hour hail storm the other night. The storm devastated our exposed farm crops, but not only that, we have sixty plus Maranatha workers here and everyone suffered damage on their cars and RV's. My car is all dented, and so is my wife's car--everybody's. The good thing in this bad thing is that no one, not one soul complained. Everyone just picked up and went to work the next day. Some of these dudes drive Lincolns and fancy sports cars and beautiful big Macho Trucks. No complaints. Impressive really.

The work is progressing very quickly. These folks are mostly older, but there seems to be none lagging behind.

I'm am preaching to my lifestyle guests in the morning, and to the Maranatha people in the evening. The rest of the time, I'm running to keep the leaders from getting frustrated. Not everyone has patience for their forte. Leasa says he must be constipated. She aims to fix him a drink to solve the problem.

Today we had a meeting with the man who drew us an architectural plan of our new Lifestyle Center. (Greek to me.) Well, I can tell which room is which and I can see the layout, but when they begin talking of structural stuff, I'm lost. Frankly, (cause that's my name) I hate being in the dark. Maybe I don't hate being in the dark, maybe I hate that I am not interested when I am suppose to be. When I was a little boy, a road grader couldn't drive by that the neighborhood boys wouldn't run out to watch it grade the road. I couldn't figure what was suppose to be interesting about that. (I still don't know.)

Is there something wrong with me? (Actually, I couldn't care less.) I'm interested in enough things without being interested in everything. What about you?

Till next time, The Preacher to his Tribe.

Positive Activity

I've been home for a week. The place, EVI, is buzzing with activity. Maranatha workers are beginning to arrive already. (They start work next week.) Pastor Dan Gabbert, from Black Hills, is here to give us a seminar on Christian Counseling. His material is more than great. I wish I could imbibe it fully. It is so practical and spiritually sound.

We traveled to DayStar Academy on Sunday for a board meeting. DayStar is doing great. The farm, and the greenhouses are beautiful. (I looked at ours today also. Wow, I was impressed with them too.) They (DayStar) did lose their fruit to late frost. Too bad. They have wonderful fruit there usually. Nevertheless, they are projecting a very optimistic farming season. As for their student enrollment, they have more interest and applications than ever before. Mostly, that is Alexa Hernandez's doing. She and her husband are amazing promoters. Besides, she uses the web to great advantage. Chris Anderson, the new President, is very creative and energetic. When I go to visit, I am more and more impressed with his abilities. I believe he will succeed wildly, if he stays close to the Lord. DayStar is negotiating with Dr. Michael Duerksen. The man seems to be very accomplished in the realm of Rescue and Relief. He is very spiritual and well connected. He wants to involve DayStar as a base for training young people in Disaster Relief and Rescue. The board is looking into the possibilities.

At home, we are gearing up for Maranatha. If my wife had not been here ahead of us, I think we'd be lost in an organizational mess. She did a great job. I believe she's left us with everything in place, but the actual labor. The shingles are off nearly all of the eleven roofs we are to replace. I feels like we are ahead of the curve. Did I mention that the County approved our Master Plan? It's all a go. Praise God. It feels like we were just given a wonderful miracle. It was unbelievably easy. In times past, it was like pulling teeth. Could it be the financial meltdown is playing in our favor? The Counties dare not hamper any construction for fear of making the economy worse. Even that, I think, was organized by God to favor EVI. What an arrogant thought! Forgive me, but I think God does things like that for me all the time. Not because of me, but because He is just so powerful and loving, and I believe He'll do that for me, and, He keeps me believing.

Doesn't God do stuff like that for you? Believe and doubt not . . . for you, anything.

Oh, just a word on jet lag. I suffered the worse jet lag ever in Ukraine. Back home, I've suffered none at all, zip! Usually, coming from Eastern Europe I will wake up at midnight, then one, than two, then three etc, and then I come apart around four in the afternoon. Not this time. (Forgive me for saying so, my dear health reformers) but I took Tylenol PM four nights in a row and I slept four full nights in a row. It does wonders against jet lag. No drowsiness either. Worth it??? You bet.

That's it for now. Pray without ceasing because "only that which is done with much prayer will in the end prove to be efficient for good." DA 362 Love.

One Hour interview on Hope Channel

It's Fri-i-iday. The OCI Retreat is almost over. It's been a wonderful gathering. Especially wonderful was the reunion with my son. Today, the former Union President, Adrian Bocaneanu, interviewed both Jason and I together on the Hope Channel of Romania. We had a good time. As he found out that Jason was a pilot and built his own aircraft, so went the interview. No matter, it was great. We nearly cooked in that studio set. They shut off the AC to minimize the sound and turned on a dozen spot lights to magnify the the beads of sweat running down our foreheads. In the end, my shirt was sopping wet.

The weather has been marvelous--hot summer days. I've been coming to these OCI Retreats for so long that I know most people. What a blessing that is, except that it is hard to walk from point "a" to point "b" without being stopped for an extended conversation or for making an appointment for "counseling".

Jason feels lucky to be my son because we have one of the best rooms in the house. Maybe he is the special guest and I am to feel lucky. Whatever! We do have great accommodation, complete with consistent hot showers and internet.

Jason was surprised at the third world feel of Romania. Herd boys, horse and wagon, old women in kerchiefs hoeing in the garden, old, old houses, narrow roads , water wells in the courtyard of every house with a dipping bucket etc.

I expected to arrive home on the 25ft of May. It appears now like it will be the 24th of May. My mistake.

Just a Thought

What is the difference between creation and evolution? Creation implies the instant appearance of something that didn't exist before and evolution is an improvement of something over an extended period of time. In the context of salvation now, are we evolutionists or creationists? When David prayed, "create in me a clean heart oh God," what was he thinking? To whom was he ascribing the process, to the Creator or to natural selection? If he believed God's promise, "I will create in you a new heart," when would faith expect to enjoy that new heart? Would it be over a gradual period of time, or immediately?

Be it onto you according to your faith. Ask now, believe now and enjoy now.

So says the Preacher to his Tribe.

Chernovtz

I am in Chernovtz, Ukraine, speaking to Amazing Facts College of Evangelism students. The adventure is great, but as usual, I'd as soon be home. On Monday, the students and I, plus several others, made our way to the wilderness where we had a picnic. Great fun! We played soccer for too many hours. Everybody is limping around like crippled old men, me especially, since I am an old man to begin with. Never mind, I can still run with the youngest of them. I can't boast to being a great footballer, however.

I've got two more days of speaking, and then I'm off to Romania for the OCI Retreat. That should prove to be more relaxing, I think. I do have one assignment there, one sermon to preach that I am not ready for. That is always troubling to me. What is more troubling is that I am not as concerned as I should be. I can't figure out what to talk about and I'm cool. That's out of character for me, but hey, I'm dependent on the Lord, and if He chooses to give me the talk later rather than sooner, who am I to complain, or fret?

My wife is in Africa with two of our grand-children. The real adventure begins. What fun it would be to be there. I guess I can't be everywhere.

I haven't rec'd any news since I left America except that Bin Laden was killed. Is that true? Or is that some kind of hoax? In the end, who cares. You can't trust anyone in politics and media these days.

I'm off to breakfast. Talk to you later.

In Ukraine

I’m sitting in Alyosha Ostapenko’s home in Ukraine. This is usually where I land when I come to Novi. They have guests in the Lifestyle Center and until the guests vacate I live with Alyosha and Tanya. They have two beautiful children, Annia and Slavik. Beautiful, but not easy. You can see it on Tanya’s face. She is weary from having to deal with these two demanding, strong, little characters. I tease her, telling her she could have had five of them.

The trip across was pleasant. I read one third of a five-hundred page book. I highly recommend the book by Ron Duffield called the Return of the Latter Rain. If I had nothing else to do, I would spend the whole day reading it.

Last night, I attended a graduation of thirty pastors from one of the Russian Conferences. I invited myself thinking it would be formal affair. It turned out to be a supper and testimony meeting. I might have been embarrassed at having crashed their party except that I don’t embarrass that easily. Things were quiet while we were eating. Finally, one of the pastors singled me out and asked that I tell them where I come from and what I do. I told them about Eden Valley and especially about our cancer treatment program.

The interest was immediately palpable. One pastor has a seventeen year old daughter who has had cancer, and he was very solicitous on her behalf. I was afraid that my little interference was going to dominate the whole evening. Eventually, however, they turned to giving their personal testimonies. It appears to me that these Russian Conferences are ahead of our North American ones in recognizing that lay operated lifestyle centers actually have something to offer to even so-called professionals.

I left my wife to fend without me (as if she needs me), for the next three months. Shawn Boonstra will be living in our house during the next lifestyle session. I’m sorry to miss getting to know him. Janet, Christina and Caleb will get acquainted in my behalf for one week.

I’ll be preaching at least twenty-one times over the next ten days. Then I need to spend a week with Amazing Facts College of Evangelism here in the Ukraine. I’ll be preaching for them also. Then I go to Romania for an OCI Retreat. I only get to speak once there, but it may be my toughest assignment. The blessing, among others, is that Jason will be there.

The problem here, at Novi, is that there is only dial-up internet and Alyosha thinks he may be able to hook my up, but he’s made no move in that direction, so far. I hate to push him, he is very busy getting ready for the Camp Meeting. Alas, third world countries.

Till next time.

In Wildwood

It's only been one week, but somehow it feels so much longer. I don't know, life is getting awfully busy round her, I mean, around here.

I am sitting in my room in Wildwood, GA. I'm here for a constituency and board meeting. Last year, things didn't go so well here. I was elected to the Nominating Committee and the decisions we made riled some people royally. This year, I've come early to try and get a better handle on the issues we face. Issues there are. Some people I am speaking to are quite vocal about things. Others seem to indicate that things are better than they were last year. This afternoon, I am having a meeting with several key players. I am praying. On the one hand, Wildwood accomplishes great things--especially in the outreach dept. But, on the other hand, there is a lot of inertia and apparent lack of decisiveness in the leaders. There is deadwood also. The cost of doing business here is extravagant and our dear leaders (so glad not to be among them) are wondering how to tackle the near future. I'm hoping this board will take the bull by the horns and give these sincere leaders some real direction. They need to act determinatively.

At EVI, we have more than a full session by three patients. We are so thankful for the Lord doing that for us. It isn't like we are way ahead of the curve compared to other struggling institutions. We also only barely have our noses above water, but I can say that I am truly encouraged. The Lord is blessing. We will succeed.

My Lover has been packing her container to go to Africa all week. I believe she hasn't got much room left. The thing will be ready to go as soon as the shipper and Customs and whoever else puts their approval on the thing come through. In three weeks she, Deniece, Caleb and Christina leave for Africa. I leave for Europe. I'll go home this Monday, and by next Tuesday I leave for a month. It's always the same story: I get asked to go. I'm excited. Then when the time arrives, I wish I hadn't said yes. There is so much to do at home. Oh well!!

I preach tonight at Wildwood. "The Gospel and the First Angel's Message."

Did you know that the First Angel's Message is not the Investigative Judgment? The Investigative Judgment is one of the reasons given for the proclamation of the message. The message of the first angel is the everlasting gospel defined as "fear God, give glory to Him and worship Him" Why? Because the hour of His judgment is come. The end of time has come. The judgment is begun, get your act together--fear God instead of anything else.

When I first began reading the Bible, I reasoned this way: The universe is in conflict. There is God, there are demons and there are wicked people. The Beast says, worship me or I'll kill you. God says, "No, worship Me, or I"ll kill you." Humanity, it seemed to me had little hope, except that I managed to figure out who was the strongest--God. It seemed the better part of wisdom to serve Him than to be against Him. Since then, I've learned to serve Him out of love and not out of fear and the love of God casts out fear.

The investigative judgment is important to understand, but not near so important as the gospel that saves and empowers. So, give Him the glory and worship HIm. He alone can save.

So says the Preacher to his Tribe.

Hectic-boring

Life, as you know, is hectic and hectic-boring. What can I say. I am at Uchee Pines at the moment. We had the Uchee Pines board meeting this morning. I left my wife last night at a Ramada Inn in Denver, at the Mid-America ASI convention. The speakers were great. As a matter of fact, it was a great party all around, but I had to leave right after Sabbath to fly to Alabama. I arrived at my motel room at 1:30 AM. (Mostly because the Motel shuttle didn't come for more than one hour to pick me up.) I was up by 5:30 AM. Wilbur Atwood from Wildwood picked me up and we had a great conversation on our way. The board was easy as well.

In the middle of my four-hour night, I rec'd two phone calls from EVI telling me of a fire on the mountain just north of us. The winds blew from 40 to 60 miles per hour, northward. In a very short time the fire took out seven houses (unconfirmed by me) in Masonville. The Lord spared EVI for the second time in relation to fire. The first time was in the year 2000. This time, the rain and snow came. So from my poor vantage point I think all is well at the moment at EVI.

Garwin McNeilus has nothing but praises for my son. And guess what? The big Mid-America booth backdrop has a picture of Jason and I front and center. Like, it makes no sense whatsoever, but we are the main attraction in Mic-America, for sure. Well, at least Jason is. I just happen to be in the picture.

My wife has EVI pretty well organized for Maranatha. We are extremely grateful for the work she's done for us at EVI. I intend to take a three-day vacation with her at Glenwood Springs, CO, on the 12-14 of this month. She must work on sending her container now. The container is not re-certified yet. We are waiting to see if they will certify it. I had given a certain overly trusted individual permission to use the container to store Brent's furniture. They dragged it with my permission promising to be careful. They were not careful enough. There is some damage, and we await the verdict. It may cost me $2,500. My fault.

Christina and Caleb, our two adventurers have their tickets. They are raring to go. We all hope they will not be too homesick,

I took Ramon Chow, David Fournier's uncle by marriage, to see EVI. He says David is in the market to buy a house, but not in the market for a wife yet.

I'm asked to do a seminar at the OCI Retreat on Leadership Concerns. I know nothing about the subject. You can all pray for me. Today, we start a new Lifestyle session. We have seventeen guests. That is one more than we can house and we praise God for the good problem.

Last week, we worked on the farm mulching our raspberries and getting our eyes full of hay dust. Everybody was walking around with what appeared to be red eye. I guess we are all okay by now. We also spent parts of two days re-shingling the Village.

At the Mid-America ASI chapter meetings, one of our speakers (I can't remember which,) after quoting Jesus who said, "Love your neighbor as yourself," reiterated an interpretation I do not agree with. Over and over again I hear preachers point to this scripture as proof positive that we ought to love ourselves.

I disagree!

The text does not say we ought to love ourselves. Jesus is simply stating a fact--we do love ourselves and in our relation with others we ought to at least love them as much as we love ourselves. Now, let's look at this in a practical setting. Supposing you want to sell your car. It looks good, cosmetically, but you know, and only you know that the engine is shot. When a prospective buyer comes to purchase the car self-love says don't discourage the person by revealing all that is wrong with it. But, if you love your neighbor as much as you love yourself, what will you do? You'll tell him/her the truth of the matter.

Question: What does that do to self? Why, self in this instance is denied, which is really what Christ would have us do with self--deny it. "If any man would come after Me," Jesus commanded, "let him deny himself and pick up his cross and follow me." That is the only proper thing to do with self.

Self love is the sin problem. "It is the love of self that destroys our peace." MB 16 or 18. The carnal nature is always looking for a reason to justify self-love and the verse "love your neighbor as you love yourself seems to afford the best argument. Don't buy it. It is not true.

Love your neighbor; deny self, period.

So says the Preacher to his Tribe.

Everyday with Jesus is a Good Day.

I have a friend, 82 or 83, going on 100, who repeats wise sayings ad infinitum. His favorite is, "Everyday with Jesus is a good day." Yes sir, that's how I feel, too. The world seems to be falling apart very quickly, but I don't care. Jesus says there is a time when God's people will be so full of God's Spirit that the whole world will be enlightened with the glory of His Character. Rev. 18:1. It's hard to believe that that can happen at a time when the world seems to be disintegrating, but it will happen. "For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." Hab. 2:14. (See also Isa. 60: 1-5 and Rev. 18:1.)

Life goes on at Eden Valley. My wife came from Africa thinking to find some peace and rest. It wasn't to be. We dumbed a huge burden on her shoulders--the measure of our confidence in her. She reluctantly accepted challenge, but it has sometimes left her so stressed-out that she can't sleep. In the end, however, she is doing a great job. Things are coming together wonderfully. It never would have happened had she not been here to take the lead. (Amazing isn't it? As far as leadership is concerned, I've always gotten the title, but she is the one that gets things done. Powerful.) It's no wonder God chose her to build an institution in Africa. He knew the material He had to work with. I'm proud of her.

Our children are all like her--can-do people. Jason was elected Director of Kibidula Farm Inst. in Tanzania. It's a huge responsibility with all kinds of potential for heartache and headache. Nevertheless, I believe in him. He'll do fine if he leans heavy on the Lord. The first year will not be a honeymoon. If he can organize himself a staff that harmonizes with each other and with the Lord, he'll be alright. If his staff resist everything he tries to do, or, if the staff are at each other's throats, it will be very difficult to succeed.

The Lord is giving me some good sermons on R. by F. in relation to the Third Angel's Message. I am encouraged. I was suppose to speak today, but our Pastor, Paul Eagan, offered to address the staff. I have a sermon ready for Sabbath in the Estes Park Church.

OCI asked me to do a seminar on topics I know little about at the OCI Retreat in Romania. Because I hate to say no for fear of denying the Lord, I will do it. Lord help me. I have too many requests to preach around the world. This week, Mount Akagi in Japan asked if I would do some meetings in June, so did Miracle Meadows in Virginia and a doctor in Kentucky. All that is added to Ukraine twice, Romania, and Germany. I keep saying I'm going to say no, but I'm too soft. On the other hand, EVI can't sustain an absentee President for very long.

Sylvan Dale, a dude ranch over the mountain, is asking if they can pasture their 120 animals on our upper meadow. The folks who run a rock quarry close to us want to negotiate over our granite. Janet needs their help to load her container on a semi, when it is ready and Leasa wants a big flat rock from them to make a really nice sign for the entrance of our property.

I was talking to Gail Clark of Miracle Meadows this morning. She wants me to do some revival meetings for her staff. I asked about her husband. He's had cancer, Leukemia, forever. Yet, he lives on. She says Green Tea Extract is really helping him a lot. He seems to be recovering. He also does a fever therapy treatment daily.

I've been looking to trade my car in. Ugh! It's a love/hate feeling in my soul. Nothing is more fun than shopping for a newer car, but if I am perfectly honest, I know that my old car might last another year. It has 165,000 miles on it. My wife, always the practical one, says it may last a year, but it will lose its trade-in value in the process. Maybe. Maybe not. They are offering me $1,000 for it now. I found a VW Passat with only 64,000 miles on it, and wonder of wonders, it's a standard shift. (I won't have anything other than stick shift.) So, I am tempted, but oh, to empty my account for a car, yuk! Is that God's will? I'm praying.

Blessings to all,

The Preacher

Notice

I reposted the one I had lost. It is below the one I posted yesterday. It is the same as yesterday's, except in other words.

I've Found a Key.

Frustration. I just wrote a whole blog just to delete the thing by mistake. How many times I am reminded that the Devil really does exist. this wouldn't have happened except that today I wrote on a spiritual topic. So, because I thought to do it today, he thought to oppose it. I will not be foiled, however. I will be patient and I will try to repeat what I had previously written. Yuk! I don't feel like spending another half hour at this dumb computer, but here goes.

(Do you mind if I abbreviate a little?)

The weather is great. It will be in the 70's Fahrenheit this week. Spring is in the air.

I preached at Copper Mountain on Sabbath. Eldon and Marilene Stevenson came with us. (Friends from Australia.) We went from Copper to DayStar that same day. We arrived in Moab, Utah, just on time to take in a concert by a young Philippino lady called Mary Grace. She plays the piano with her left hand and a right stump for an arm. Absolutely amazing.

We went to DayStar to attend a MPI board meeting. Mission Projects, Inc. support my wife's project with two Bible workers. They wanted a report. She did a great job. I had the privilege of doing a report for Riverside Farms Pioneers. I enjoyed that a lot, even though I left RFI thirteen years ago. We got home at 11:30 pm Sunday night and I had to preach at 7:00 am Monday morning.

I've got two more calls to preach this year. One to Japan and one to Kentucky. Dr. Naren and Hannah James are here from Kentucky. He was a patient here four years ago. They are the ones who want me to do a revival meeting in their church before their planned evangelistic series.

My Secretary, Frances Martin, retired this week. She's been faithful for 86 years. We really appreciate her and we intend to keep her at EVI so long as she can care for herself.

My wife is shopping for tickets to Africa. Caleb 11, Christina 13, and Deniece will be going with her in May. The adventure is about to begin. I sincerely wish I was going with them, but I really can't. There is so much to do around EVI.

So there! That is the short version of the news for today. Now, what was I saying about righteousness by faith?

I think it was something about the relation of R by F to the third angel's message. A sermon by Dave Fiedler gave me a clue this week. The issue has to do with authority. The great controversy is between man-made religion and God's way to salvation. Cain invented his own religion in opposition to God's. He tried to coerce Abel to join him in rebellion, but Abel would not put Cain in the place of God. He lost his life for it. The Pharisees were bent on controlling the consciences of the masses, Jesus included, thereby placing themselves where God belonged. There is a name for that--Anti-Christ. The Popes waxed violent in their efforts to rule the people's consciences. George I Butler marshaled his pastors against Jones, Waggoner and White. "Stand by the old landmarks," was his battle cry. The implication was that Jones and Waggoner were going to destroy the church with their heresies. The pastors followed their boss like sheep to the shearing. They put Butler where only God should be.

Finally, the third angel's message points to a Beast determined to control the consciences of the whole world. The issue will be righteousness by faith in the works of men vs. righteousness by faith in the gift of God's salvation. Like Abel, many will lose their lives for the faith. Many more who expect others to think and to decide for them will follow the Beast to perdition. Solemn thought, isn't it?

Do you live by faith in God's love for you, or do you live by faith in yourself. We are already deciding how we will vote in the day of reckoning .

So says the Preacher to his Tribe.

Re-take

After the last post, three people, everyone a child of mine, told me what to do to retrieve the lost blog. So, here it is. It's a repeat of yesterday's offering.

It feels like spring. I swear this is the shortest winter in my memory. When I was young, it seemed winter never relaxed its grip. (Of course, we were living in Northern Ontario. The other factor is my age. Everything is going by in a blur these days.) Nevertheless, I can smell spring in the air. Its suppose to be 70 degrees Fahrenheit tomorrow.

On the weekend, my Lover and I, with another couple, the Stevensons from Australia, went to Copper Mountain to church and then proceeded to go to DayStar Academy in Utah. We arrived on time for a concert by Marie Grace. This young Philippino lady has only one hand and a stub of an arm on the right. She plays the piano like a concert pianist. Absolutely amazing.

The next day, Mission Projects, Inc. (MPI) had a board meeting. That is the reason we went to DayStar. These people support my wife's project in Africa by paying for two Bible Workers. My wife gave a great report and I had the privilege of doing a report for Riverside Farms Pioneers. I actually enjoyed that even though I've been away from RFI for 13 years. We got home at 11:30 PM that night.

Today I rec'd two calls to preach. One from Japan and one from Kentucky. The folks from Kentucky, Dr. Naren James and Hannah and Chantie, are staying at EVI for a couple of weeks. He was a Lifestyle guest four years ago. They've come back for more treatments and a vacation of sorts. In any case, they'd like me to do some revival meetings at their church before the evangelistic series they are planning. Mount Akagi in Japan want me for five days. I'll have to run this by my Executive Committee.

My Secretary, Frances Martin, retired this week. She is 86 years young. We will keep her at EVI as long as she is able to care for herself, which I believe will be a long time. Praise God.

My wife is buying tickets to return to Africa. Four tickets, Caleb 11, Christian 13, Deniece and Janet. The adventure is about to begin. Hope our dear kids don't get homesick.

The central theme of the Bible

"Cease ye from man whose breadth is in his mouth." Isa. 2:22. "Cursed is the man that trusts in man . . . Blessed is the man who trusts the Lord." Jer. 17:5-7.

I've finally figured out that this is the connection between righteousness by faith and the third angel's message of Rev. 14. Throughout the Bible there is a great controversy between man made religion and God's church, between righteousness by faith in man's works and righteousness by faith in God's gift. Authority is the issue. Cain wanted to be conscience for Abel, but Abel would not be controlled by a mere man. His allegiance was to God and God's ways alone. The Pharisees were bent on being authority and conscience for all, including Jesus. The Popes ruled with extreme violence the consciences of the populace of Europe during the Dark Ages. During the 1888 Minneapolis, George I Butler determined to command all his pastors to rule against Jones and Waggoner, and they followed. Instead of thinking objectively; instead of thinking for themselves, they placed Butler where God should have been.

And there will come a time when the mark of Cain (of the Beast) will be placed on the foreheads or on the hands of those who put their trust in men. "Cease ye from man whose breadth is in his nostrils." Isa 2:22

So says the Preacher to his Tribe.

Toothache

We are home after a two-week vacation. It was a blast visiting with Angie and Steve and their five children. Not all children however. Vanessa is 17 and going to college. Brianna is 16 and well on the way to outworking all of us. Christina is 13 going on 24, for hight anyway.

The second week was hardly a vacation. I preached 10 times--sermons I had only ever preached once. It'a a lot of work to wrap my head around half familiar yet unrefined material. Not all the sermons were winners, as far as I am concerned. But everyone was gracious.

I had a toothache for the better part of one week. Actually, I think I've had a toothache for the better part of ten years, but I've learned to keep my teeth from aching by rinsing my mouth with hydrogen peroxide once of twice a day. My understanding is that hydrogen peroxide kills bacteria and bacteria is responsible for much of the pain. However, after ten years of dodging the bullet, there was no more I could do. Dr. Richard Mehrer did me the honor of pulling my tooth. It was cracked from top to bottom. The man is the best dentist in the business. No pain, no problems.

We are back in Eden Valley. Today we have four bosses from Maranatha looking our place over to ascertain the extent of the construction they face. So, excuse me, I have to go.

Week of Prayer or Weak in Prayer

Janet and I are in Cashmere, WA. We drove from Colorado to Washington earlier in the week. I thank God for getting us over safely, but it wasn't easy. We hit snow and icy road conditions in Wyoming and it never let up until we left Idaho. Stressful driving. Otherwise, all is well.

I've been working on sending our Graphic Designer all the articles and photos he needs to put our winter edition of the Faith Ventures magazine together. The rest of the time has been restful. Brianna and I have been gathering the troupes for our daily exercise routine. I love it. Usually, vacations are not conducive to exercising.

Tonight starts the Week of Prayer. Originally, I had thought to do a series on God's Call for You. It's a great series, and everyone needs to know God's will for themselves, but I taught half of that series for the LIGHT school at EVI and Brianna and Dakota already heard it. Instead, I will do a series on Righteousness by Faith in relation to the Third Angel's Message. I've only ever prepared and preached these sermons once to my staff at EVI. So it isn't like it is a series, or that the sermons are tried and true winners. On the other hand, I have no way of refining these messages except to have the opportunity to share them as often as I can. So, here goes. (May God's blessing attend this week's weak effort.)

The next issue is how to get this knowledge of Righteousness by Faith into my Christian experience so that the lost notice and the saved praise God. Do the lost see Jesus in you? Is that important? Is anything else more important than that? If anything else is more important to us, then that is idolatry. Lord help us.

So says the Preacher to his Tribe.

Joking or Sense of Humor?

I did something different for a change. Leonard and I installed a laminated floor in David and Candi Katsma's dining room and living room today. It's always a blessing to be able to do something practical. You can see where you've started and when it is finished you can take some satisfaction in a job well done.

I also preached today. This sermon, on the a long standing controversy, but every time I used a Bible verse or a SOP quotation to show how the "liberals" defend their position, my "conservative" staff couldn't help but jump into the fray as if they had to show why the other people's arguments are not sound. We got through the talk unscathed, I think. On the positive side, I find it a good idea sometimes to stimulate my staff with something controversial. At least I know they are alive.

The LIGHT school is into its third week. Our girls, Brianna and Dakota seem to be enjoying their stay with us. Sweet little Brianna is full of energy. I never realized. Between every class she runs around the building five times. The others just look at her and shake their heads. Instead of walking to school, she runs to school. I do a one-hour exercise class for my staff three days per week. She is right there, pumping iron like the best of them. Then she uses my weights when things get boring. When the kids go tobogganing, she is right there. One of our boys has a two-wheel skateboard. She mastered that in no time flat, and while waiting for lunch she was skating up and down the halls and all around the dining tables with the greatest of ease. All that, while fighting a mysterious ailment of sore muscles. Brent, our expert herbalist, has her on a powerful potion. It about curls your hair to drink it, but she does.

3ABN called me this week. Besides the little business they had about something unimportant, they asked me to do some TV programs with Shelley Quinn. Oh me, I've been trying to avoid that. I wouldn't mind doing the Prodigal Son or something, but talking heads seem so difficult for some reason. Anyway, I agreed to do it. We should start filming in 2012. So don't hold your breadth. Maybe I'll have a heart attack between now and then. What a relief that would be.

One of my staff asked if I would do a sermon on jesting and joking. I think she is trying to tell me something. Nah! Can't be. Well, maybe. If I didn't have a sense of humor, I'd be dead, I think. Can someone tell me where the balance is? Joking, bad??? Sense of humor, good??? When does a sense of humor become unacceptable jesting? I'd welcome any advice.