Ramblings

It's the end of another week. Happy Sabbath in a few hours. It's been seven days since I've written. I am pretty much determined to write once per week whether I've experienced anything during the week or not. By and large . . . not.

The fact that we are living at the very end of time is masked by everyday mundane occurrences. I often think of the Jews in Europe prior to WWII. Life was good, they had families, they ate well, they pursued happiness; all was normal and predictable until one day all hell broke loose. To this day, the Jews have nightmares just thinking about what happened. I can't help but think our turn is coming--a time of trouble such as never was. There will be one differences for some Christians, the Spirit of God will be in their hearts fully and there will go forth a power never before witnessed in this old world. For most life will be a terror, for some glory will blend with the terror, and in the end, they will see Jesus coming in the clouds of heaven.

Jared, an 18 year old at EVI, broke his leg in two places this morning. He was riding his bike to work when he was hit by a car. He thought he was all right so he dismissed the driver. Later on he found out his leg needed immediate surgery. The Lord is speaking to our boy. I like Jared. He is smart and on a practical level he is a good thinker, but not interested in spiritual things. I hope he survives his teens. He is met with one blow after another.

Our EVI ladies had a yard sale today. Frankly, I don't know how it went for them. I stay away from junk as much as possible. I've never seen such a pile of one-man's-treasure. My guess is they trucked more to Goodwill than they sold. I"m sure they had a blast and EVI weighs three tons less.

We start another Lifestyle session on Sunday. Fifteen people are expected. We are ready. If you know of a doctor or a potential lifestyle director. We need one of each. So far, the Lord meets our need.

One of our church members will be buried at EVI on Monday. Pastor Eagan and I will share in the services. She was in her early fifties. Cancer took her life. We offered her a lifestyle session when she first heard that she had the dreaded curse, but the doctors have a way of scaring people to death and convincing them that they must have chemo and radiation. Her poor husband (and I mean poor) is probably saddled with an enormous medical bill. I can't claim that the outcome would have been different had she come to us instead, but I can tell you the outcome wasn't pretty for the route she took and the suffering she endured, and the mess her husband is left with.

Last week, a young couple called and asked about coming to EVI with their two-year old daughter who has liver cancer. We wanted to help. My wife was anxious to be her therapist, but the doctors threatened to have social services take the child from them if they don't do chemo. (Police state or what?) No doubt, they think they are doing right. Damn their blindness. The little one will die, must we torture her to the end? (Is it the money? Surely not . . . do you think? No, they wouldn't be that cruel. . . . Do you think?)

I have the keynote address at this year's ASI Convention. Everything is different from last year. Last year, I spent preaching on Righteousness by Faith. In the end, I was able to condense my research into three fair presentations. This year was all busy-ness. My preaching suffered as far as I am concerned. Just lately am I coming into a groove that has some promise. Lord help me. I dare not focus on trying to prepare a winner of a sermon, otherwise, I'll have nothing but a flop. I need only focus on being led by the Lord sermon by sermon until He gives me what He wants the people to hear. Who do I think I am, anyway? On top of that, I am to preach at the North West Youth Congress in Spokane right after ASI. That means I need sermons on the Holy Spirit before the end of the month. I need to find out how many sermons I am expected to give. Does that sound like work to you? It does to me.

Not to worry, the Lord never lets me down.

So says the Preacher to his tribe.