Author: Merlin Erb

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A Special Trip To Beijing

1992 : Pg. 311-313 Go Now: From the INNERMOST PARTS OF THE HEART to the UTTERMOST PARTS OF THE WORLD by Wendell Martin. The following was his experience!

With only a day’s notice, I left my wife and children to help rush a special load of Bible teaching aids and commentaries to Beijing. As time was short and the situation justifiable, our team of four was flown to the capital, the heart of China’s government and cultural history. The flight was without incident, and we passed through customs with ease. The hardest part was trying to make it look like I was carrying only a few pounds in my backpack and suitcase while in reality I was carrying nearly a hundred pounds. I have a great deal of respect for the forces of gravity!

Waiting for the cover of darkness, we were driven to a quiet section of the city. Leaving the car a few blocks from our destination, we shouldered our heavy loads and walked a few blocks to a narrow alley. Turning into the alley, we called out our warnings to each other in hushed voices while proceeding cautiously over the uneven path. The farther we went the darker it got. We fumbled along the dark, narrow alley that made several turns before opening up to a small courtyard that fronted a dilapidated house. The courtyard and house were conveniently surrounded on all sides by tall, windowless buildings.

          As soon as we arrived, a small, elderly whom everyone called Grandma rushed out of a dimly-lit house, greeting us in nearly flawless English. She then guided us to a secluded room where we dumped our precious load among other piles of Bibles that had been delivered the preceding week.

          As I observed Grandma over the next few hours, I realized I was in the presence a real soldier of the cross. Her story was typical of the hardships the Christians endure in China. In the past, she had been a medical doctor and had acquired wealth and high standing in the community. Then at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, her home was invaded by radicalized youth called the Red Guards and everything was destroyed: the bathtub, sinks, plumbing, stove, and so forth. All she had left was an outdoor faucet in the courtyard, and she was permitted to use the public toilet. The same day these things happened, she was demoted from her position at the hospital and reassigned to cleaning toilets. She did that until she retired. She continues to use the outdoor faucet and public toilet. In the middle of winter, that can be hard on an eighty-one-year-old widow.

          In one of our conversations, I asked Grandma what the most valuable lesson was that she had learned in life. She replied with a little chuckle, “Loosing all my material things is the greatest thing to ever happen to me. The reason is because it opened space for all the good things the Lord wanted to give to me.” The deep joy emulating from her convinced me that what she had received from the Lord was indeed a reality to be treasured above all else.

          The materials we delivered were for a group of seminary students graduating from the government theological seminary. Those students are taught a very liberal theology that denies the virgin birth of Jesus and His physical resurrection from death. However, because of the efforts of this old lady, nearly half of the graduating class had been secretly taught a “more perfect way” and also led into the baptism of the Holy Spirit. These students who were leaving the next day to their assigned churches were desperate to receive good solid teaching aids that weren’t distorted by the government. We had been able to provide them at the last minute.

          Upon seeing the materials we had brought, several of the students wept uncontrollably. In my heart, I wept too, and I continue to weep for the millions of Chinese Christians who have been praying and praying that someone would help them to get a copy of God’s Word.

          At on point in our conversation, Grandma told us a story about a pastor who had recently traveled a great distance to receive some Bibles. He wept when he was given two. Unlike the two students, his were tears of grief. He had hoped to receive at least ten Bibles that could be shared among the ten thousand people meeting in house churches under his supervision!

          By the following night, the graduation was over, and the students began sneaking back into Grandma’s house one or two at a time until within twenty-four hours, the “treasure room” was empty.

          The return to Hong Kong was highlighted by the opportunity of sharing with a group of students studying English. Before it was over, their teacher asked me to pray for her, which I did. She then proceeded to ask Jesus into her heart. After finishing the prayer, she was silent for several minutes. Then she looked at me with tears in her eyes and said, “After all these years, I finally found peace in my heart!”

          What a way to end the trip! However, the best part of all was when I walked in the front door of our house and saw my wife and children!

NEXT UP: No idea. Yet!

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If I were the Prince of Darkness…

By Paul Harvey, perhaps the original podcaster?

If I’d want to engulf the whole world in darkness, I’d have a third of its real estate and four fifths of its population, but I wouldn’t be happy until I had seized the ripest apple on the tree. So I set about,however necessary, to take over the United States.

I’d subvert the churches first. I’d begin with a campaign of Whispers with the wisdom of a serpent. I would whisper to you as I whispered to Eve, “do as you please.” To the young, I would whisper that the Bible is a myth. I would convince them that man created God instead of the other way around.

I would confide that what’s bad is good, and what’s good is, SQUARE? And the old, I would teach to pray after me, Our Father, Which art in Washington? And then I get organized. I’d educate authors in how to make lurid literature exciting so that anything else would appear dull and uninteresting.

I’d threatened TV with dirtier movies and vice versa. I pedal narcotics, to whom I could. I’d sell alcohol to ladies and gentlemen of Distinction. I tranquilized the rest with pills. If I were the devil. I’d soon have families at war with themselves, churches at war with themselves and nations at war with themselves, until each in its turn was consumed and with promises of higher ratings, I’d have mesmerizing media fanning the Flames?

If I were the devil, I would encourage schools to refine young intellects, but neglect to discipline emotions. Just let those run wild until before you knew it, you’d have to have drug sniffing dogs and metal detectors at every schoolhouse door. Within a decade. I’d have prisons overflowing. I’d have judges promoting pornography.

 Soon, I could evict God from the courthouse, then from the schoolhouse, and then from the houses of Congress and in his own churches, I would substitute psychology for religion and deify science. I would lure priests and pastors into misusing boys and girls and church money.

If I were the devil, I’d make the symbol of Easter an egg and the symbol of Christmas a bottle. If I were the devil, I’d take from those who have and give to those who wanted until I had killed the incentive of the ambitious. And what you bet I couldn’t get whole states to promote gambling as the way to get rich.

I would caution against extremes, in hard work, in patriotism, in moral conduct. I would convince the young that marriage is old-fashioned. And swinging is more fun. And that what you see on TV is the way to be. And thus, I could undress you in public. And I could lure you into bed with diseases, for which there is no cure.

In other words, if I were the devil, I’d just keep right on doing what he’s doing. Paul Harvey 1965.

I presume by now most of we oldsters have seen/heard this 6-8 times starting in ’65. I still find it amazing how 60 years ago Paul Harvey so accurately “prophesied” the future spiritual condition of the United States. At that time, many of his statements were considered ridiculously outlandish in our culture. Yet today, we find ourselves realizing that this 1965 secular radio precursor of today’s podcasts piece could not be read in the pulpits of many churches.

What happened? First off, all within me wants to scream “Haven’t you read your Bibles? This has all been “prophesied!” FYI, consider for a different twist, Mission Drift: The Unspoken Crisis Facing Leaders, Charities, and Churches by Chris Horst, Peter Greer, George W Sarris.  

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Go Now: From the INNERMOST PARTS OF THE HEART to the UTTERMOST PARTS OF THE WORLD

Plus FORTY STORIES OF FAITH

Chapter 04 Story from a Short-Term Bible Courier pg. 302

“Not again,” I sighed under my breath with my heart sinking. I was being pulled over for the third time in a row with a suitcase full of Bibles. I had never before known the border to be this tough, this tight, this merciless.

            The customs official asked, “Do you have any Bibles in your suitcase?”

            “Yes,” I replied as he told me to go stand in a very long line of other people who had been pulled over by the border guards for having something “bad” in their possession.

            I had been through this process before and was becoming quite familiar with it. I knew I would be there for a very long time. Another gentleman from Florida had also been caught. He obediently came over to the counter and stacked his Bibles up for the whole world to see. I did the same.

            The guards took his pile of Bibles and tied them up in the large white confiscation bag and threw it on the scales to be weighed. They took my passport, and thus began the wait. I waited and waited and waited… Finally the guard that initially asked me if I had Bibles came over to me and silently handed back my passport to me along with the other gentleman’s passport and urgently said, “Go! Go NOW!”

            My eyes questioned him, as this was not part of the normal routine. I knew I needed to get a receipt in order to pick up my Bibles from confiscation after paying my storage fee. Staring straight ahead without looking at me, he again said to me under his breath, “GO NOW!”

            The older gentleman grabbed his passport from out of my hand, grabbed his large, white confiscation bag still sitting on the scales, and walked out of Customs and across the border.

            I was still standing there stunned when a younger guard a bit further away looked at me. With a slight smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye, he silently mouthed to me while motioning with his thumb, “It’s OK. Go, now.” I quickly took my Bibles off the counter, packed them back into my suitcase, and simply walked out of the Customs area as the tears fell down my face.

            I believe God’s agents are working the borders to help make sure His Word gets to the hungry people who are craving to know more of who He is.

            BOTTOM LINE:

I was greatly humbled to be reminded that I have five or six personal Bibles sitting on shelves at home in different translations, colors, and sizes that I can pick up and read at any time I choose. I don’t have to worry about being questioned or thrown in jail. I asked the Lord to forgive me for my complacency and thanked Him for a fresh perspective on the value of His Word, the value of my freedom, and, most importantly, the incredible value of knowing Him.

Take a few minutes now to reflect on our heritage that provided us the priceless value of His Word, our freedom to act for & obey Him, and our very own opportunity of knowing Him.

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STEWARDSHIP: A WAY OF LIVING

The Stewardship of OPPORTUNITY

By Darryl Derstine, who lives in Holmes County with his wife and seven children. He works at Christian Aid Ministries and CAM Books. He can be reached at bss@camoh.org. This portion of his article was taken from the June 2025 Plain Communities Business Exchange(PCBE) beginning pg. 100.  

I split this article so If you didn’t read Monday’s blog for Part I, you best scroll down and read it first before starting here….

Part II

It was printed on rough, poor quality paper and sold cheaply on the streets. It didn’t matter. It sold, sold, sold. It sold more than 100,000 copies in England of that day, outselling by a healthy margin any other book besides the Bible. The common people loved it.

It would continue to grow. The American colonies had an edition in 1681, only three years after it first appeared in England. It became very famous there and I’ve heard it said that if you went into a log cabin on the American frontier and they were privileged enough to own three books, those books would have been the Bible, Plutarch’s Lives (an ancient history book) and Pilgrim’s Progress.

It was published in Dutch in 1681. Twenty-two years later it was published in German and in Swedish 24 years later in 1727. That was only the beginning. It would go on to be translated into over 200 languages and has never been out of print since first published 347 years ago.

It has been called the first novel written in English. Its effect on other literature has been simply outstanding. Mark Twain, Charles Dicken, Nathaniel Hawthorne, C.S. Lewis, Charlotte Bronte, George Eliot, Sir Walter Scott, and others have drawn inspiration from it.

While we can be amazed today at the reach and power of this old book, we have to remember that he wrote it in prison, leaving behind an impoverished wife and family, including a favorite daughter who was blind from birth. We can be thankful that John Bunyan went to prison. I’m sure his wife and children were not.

But he might never have written Pilgrims Progress if he wasn’t confined. Outside he was busy “hedge preaching.” But forced to sit in a stone dungeon , with nothing to do, he wrote, and the world was never the same. We surely must realize that John & Mary Bunyan could have crumbled into self-pity, discouragement & true uselessness, much like Jeremiah was also likely tempted, but like the Bunyan’s, he too, arose to the occasion, obeyed God facing significant opposition, imprisonment, and personal struggles throughout his ministry of prophesy about the impending destruction of Jerusalem and Babylonian captivity due to Judah’s disobedience and idolatry.

(merlin writing now italicized) Frequently, God’s chosen don’t want to hear God’s prophecies. They wanted to hear some sweet story about how they’re going to be prosperous. Listen, they put Jeremiah in a pit in manure up to his neck. You think he wanted to go back to those people? God made his forehead just as hard as theirs, so that he would have the boldness, and he was willing because God gave him understanding. See, that’s what many people are missing today. We cannot say no to our Father and expect Him to give us understanding because we’re simply not ready for understanding, if we don’t know how to obey. Think about it. We can change that.

We’re built to obey the Lord and to benefit from that obedience. We’re not built to be one of the herd in the world. We are built for the body of Christ, that’s why we believe in Jesus. We’re put here to be saved and to be a contributor in the body of Christ.

The world is full of actors. They look in the mirror and they do what everybody else does. They start comparing themselves to everybody else. They fix their hair based on somebody else. They put on clothes based on somebody else. Nothing they do is unique; they’re always emulating somebody else.

Yes indeed, we grew up in this world so we’re thoroughly accustomed to its ways. And it’s that connection to the world that is the very thing that must be replaced by the Spirit’s empowerment. The world’s connection system to us is polarity opposite to our Spirit’s Operating System (SOS); totally incompatible!

Did you know Satan has made both fences and distractions to keep us from engaging meaningfully with God’s Word or His people.  That very point has been recorded and prophesied by prior civilizations when situations then did arise that distracted and ensnared people away from worshiping the one true God, which though interesting today, is not well known.

BOTTOM LINE:

So, according to the evidence left behind by people in prior civilizations on cave wall etchings & drawings, etc., or as recorded in scripture in Jeremiah’s day, or as written personally by John Bunyan; all expressed concern that the future generations, even civilizations would know and worship the One True God.

So, who are the truth-bearers in our midst today? Are you? Who have you “invitationally encouraged” today?  (Do notice I said “truth-bearers,” not merely “truth-tellers?”) Think of invitational actions such as fruits of the Spirit, etc….. Remember, our actions usually speak our “inner truth” more accurately & effectively than our tongue….

Part I

The man sat intent, his brow furrowed. On a small table nearby was a Bible and a volume of Acts and Monuments (Foxe’s Book of Martyrs). A leaf of paper lay on the table before him, illuminated by the shaft of light from the single barred window. He was surrounded by thick stones walls. He glanced thoughtfully at the door, thick and cross-plated. It was heavily barred, from the outside. His eyes dropped again to the paper, glowing in the single shaft of light. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Then with a firm hand, he dipped his quill into the inkwell and raised it. Lowering the tip to the paper, he wrote:

          As I walked through the wilderness of this world, I lighted on a certain place, where there was a den; And I laid me down in that place to sleep: And as I slept I dreamed a dream.

The man paused and narrowed his eyes, looking down at the sentence. Then he nodded. Dipping his pen again, he shifted the paper to keep it in the beam of light and wrote again, with more confidence this time.

          I dreamed, and behold I saw a man clothed with rags, standing in a certain place, with his face from his own house, a Book in his hand, and a great burden on his back.

He dipped his pen again, writing with haste now.

          I looked, and saw him open the Book, and read therein, and as he read, he wept and trembled: and not being able longer to contain, he brake out with a lamentable cry; saying, what shall I do?

And so, in that prison cell, on that day was born one of the greatest books in the English language. This book was being written by a mender of household goods, a “hedge preacher.” He dubbed the book, The Pilgrim’s progress from this world to that which is to come: delivered under the similitude of a dream where it is discovered the manner of setting out, his dangerous journey and safe arrival at the desired country.

Today we just call it Pilgrim’s Progress. It would go o to become one of the most famous books in the English language. But initially, the author didn’t even know if he should publish it. He asked his friends. Some said, “yes.” Many said, “no,” claiming it treated spiritual truths in too common a manner, which to them, seemed disrespectful. I’m sure to those raised in the church and cathedrals of the church of England, with robbed priests and their solemn, measured, and gilded worship forms, a book written in the common speech of the street worker did seem that way.

Finally, he decided because he couldn’t get a unified answer, he would go ahead with it. He published it 1678. Of course, it was rejected by the high and mighty and the intellectual elites of his day.

To be continued tomorrow…

It was printed on rough, poor quality paper and sold cheaply on the streets. It didn’t matter. It sold, sold, sold. It sold more than 100,000 copies in England of that day, outselling by a healthy margin any other book besides the Bible. The common people loved it.

It would continue to grow. The American colonies had an edition in 1681, only three years after it first appeared in England. It became very famous there and I’ve heard it said that if you went into a log cabin on the American frontier and they were privileged enough to own three books, those books would have been the Bible, Plutarch’s Lives (an ancient history book) and Pilgrim’s Progress.

It was published in Dutch in 1681. Twenty-two years later it was published in German and in Swedish 24 years later in 1727. That was only the beginning. It would go on to be translated into over 200 languages and has never been out of print since first published 347 years ago.

It has been called the first novel written in English. Its effect on other literature has been simply outstanding. Mark Twain, Charles Dicken, Nathaniel Hawthorne, C.S. Lewis, Charlotte Bronte, George Eliot, Sir Walter Scott, and others have drawn inspiration from it.

While we can be amazed today at the reach and power of this old book, we have to remember that he wrote it in prison, leaving behind an impoverished wife and family, including a favorite daughter who was blind from birth.

We can be thankful that John Bunyan went to prison. I’m sure his wife and children were not.

But he might never have written it if he wasn’t confined. Outside he was busy “hedge preaching.” But forced to sit in a stone dungeon , (much like Jeremiah in being placed up to his neck in manure ) with nothing to do, he wrote, and the world was never the same. (end Part I)

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STEWARDSHIP: A WAY OF LIVING (Day II)

The Stewardship of OPPORTUNITY

By Darryl Derstine, who lives in Holmes County with his wife and seven children. He works at Christian Aid Ministries and CAM Books. He can be reached at bss@camoh.org. This portion of his article was taken from the June 2025 Plain Communities Business Exchange(PCBE) beginning pg. 100.  

I split this article so If you didn’t read Monday’s blog for Part I, you best scroll down and read it first before starting here….

Part II

It was printed on rough, poor quality paper and sold cheaply on the streets. It didn’t matter. It sold, sold, sold. It sold more than 100,000 copies in England of that day, outselling by a healthy margin any other book besides the Bible. The common people loved it.

It would continue to grow. The American colonies had an edition in 1681, only three years after it first appeared in England. It became very famous there and I’ve heard it said that if you went into a log cabin on the American frontier and they were privileged enough to own three books, those books would have been the Bible, Plutarch’s Lives (an ancient history book) and Pilgrim’s Progress.

It was published in Dutch in 1681. Twenty-two years later it was published in German and in Swedish 24 years later in 1727. That was only the beginning. It would go on to be translated into over 200 languages and has never been out of print since first published 347 years ago.

It has been called the first novel written in English. Its effect on other literature has been simply outstanding. Mark Twain, Charles Dicken, Nathaniel Hawthorne, C.S. Lewis, Charlotte Bronte, George Eliot, Sir Walter Scott, and others have drawn inspiration from it.

While we can be amazed today at the reach and power of this old book, we have to remember that he wrote it in prison, leaving behind an impoverished wife and family, including a favorite daughter who was blind from birth. We can be thankful that John Bunyan went to prison. I’m sure his wife and children were not.

But he might never have written Pilgrims Progress if he wasn’t confined. Outside he was busy “hedge preaching.” But forced to sit in a stone dungeon , with nothing to do, he wrote, and the world was never the same. We surely must realize that John & Mary Bunyan could have crumbled into self-pity, discouragement & true uselessness, much like Jeremiah was also likely tempted, but like the Bunyan’s, he too, arose to the occasion, obeyed God facing significant opposition, imprisonment, and personal struggles throughout his ministry of prophesy about the impending destruction of Jerusalem and Babylonian captivity due to Judah’s disobedience and idolatry.

Frequently, God’s chosen don’t want to hear God’s prophecies. They wanted to hear some sweet story about how they’re going to be prosperous. Listen, they put Jeremiah in a pit in manure up to his neck. You think he wanted to go back to those people? God made his forehead just as hard as theirs, so that he would have the boldness, and he was willing because God gave him understanding. See, that’s what many people are missing today. We cannot say no to our Father and expect Him to give us understanding because we’re simply not ready for understanding, if we don’t know how to obey. Think about it. We can change that.

We’re built to obey the Lord and to benefit from that obedience. We’re not built to be one of the herd in the world. We are built for the body of Christ, that’s why we believe in Jesus. We’re put here to be saved and to be a contributor in the body of Christ.

The world is full of actors. They look in the mirror and they do what everybody else does. They start comparing themselves to everybody else. They fix their hair based on somebody else. They put on clothes based on somebody else. Nothing they do is unique; they’re always emulating somebody else.

Yes indeed, we grew up in this world so we’re thoroughly accustomed to its ways. And it’s that connection to the world that is the very thing that must be replaced by the Spirit’s empowerment. The world’s connection system to us is polarity opposite to our Spirit’s Operating System (SOS); totally incompatible!

Did you know Satan has made both fences and distractions to keep us from engaging meaningfully with God’s Word or His people.  That very point has been recorded and prophesied by prior civilizations when situations then did arise that distracted and ensnared people away from worshiping the one true God, which though interesting today, is not well known.

BOTTOM LINE:

So, according to the evidence left behind by people in prior civilizations on cave wall etchings & drawings, etc., or as recorded in scripture in Jeremiah’s day, or as written personally by John Bunyan; all expressed concern that the future generations, even civilizations would know and worship the One True God.

So, who are the truth-bearers in our midst today? Are you? Who have you encouraged today?  (Do notice I said “truth-bearers,” not merely “truth-tellers?”) Think invitational actions such as fruits of the Spirit, etc…..

Part I

The man sat intent, his brow furrowed. On a small table nearby was a Bible and a volume of Acts and Monuments (Foxe’s Book of Martyrs). A leaf of paper lay on the table before him, illuminated by the shaft of light from the single barred window. He was surrounded by thick stones walls. He glanced thoughtfully at the door, thick and cross-plated. It was heavily barred, from the outside. His eyes dropped again to the paper, glowing in the single shaft of light. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Then with a firm hand, he dipped his quill into the inkwell and raised it. Lowering the tip to the paper, he wrote:

          As I walked through the wilderness of this world, I lighted on a certain place, where there was a den; And I laid me down in that place to sleep: And as I slept I dreamed a dream.

The man paused and narrowed his eyes, looking down at the sentence. Then he nodded. Dipping his pen again, he shifted the paper to keep it in the beam of light and wrote again, with more confidence this time.

          I dreamed, and behold I saw a man clothed with rags, standing in a certain place, with his face from his own house, a Book in his hand, and a great burden on his back.

He dipped his pen again, writing with haste now.

          I looked, and saw him open the Book, and read therein, and as he read, he wept and trembled: and not being able longer to contain, he brake out with a lamentable cry; saying, what shall I do?

And so, in that prison cell, on that day was born one of the greatest books in the English language. This book was being written by a mender of household goods, a “hedge preacher.” He dubbed the book, The Pilgrim’s progress from this world to that which is to come: delivered under the similitude of a dream where it is discovered the manner of setting out, his dangerous journey and safe arrival at the desired country.

Today we just call it Pilgrim’s Progress. It would go o to become one of the most famous books in the English language. But initially, the author didn’t even know if he should publish it. He asked his friends. Some said, “yes.” Many said, “no,” claiming it treated spiritual truths in too common a manner, which to them, seemed disrespectful. I’m sure to those raised in the church and cathedrals of the church of England, with robbed priests and their solemn, measured, and gilded worship forms, a book written in the common speech of the street worker did seem that way.

Finally, he decided because he couldn’t get a unified answer, he would go ahead with it. He published it 1678. Of course, it was rejected by the high and mighty and the intellectual elites of his day.

To be continued tomorrow…

It was printed on rough, poor quality paper and sold cheaply on the streets. It didn’t matter. It sold, sold, sold. It sold more than 100,000 copies in England of that day, outselling by a healthy margin any other book besides the Bible. The common people loved it.

It would continue to grow. The American colonies had an edition in 1681, only three years after it first appeared in England. It became very famous there and I’ve heard it said that if you went into a log cabin on the American frontier and they were privileged enough to own three books, those books would have been the Bible, Plutarch’s Lives (an ancient history book) and Pilgrim’s Progress.

It was published in Dutch in 1681. Twenty-two years later it was published in German and in Swedish 24 years later in 1727. That was only the beginning. It would go on to be translated into over 200 languages and has never been out of print since first published 347 years ago.

It has been called the first novel written in English. Its effect on other literature has been simply outstanding. Mark Twain, Charles Dicken, Nathaniel Hawthorne, C.S. Lewis, Charlotte Bronte, George Eliot, Sir Walter Scott, and others have drawn inspiration from it.

While we can be amazed today at the reach and power of this old book, we have to remember that he wrote it in prison, leaving behind an impoverished wife and family, including a favorite daughter who was blind from birth.

We can be thankful that John Bunyan went to prison. I’m sure his wife and children were not.

But he might never have written it if he wasn’t confined. Outside he was busy “hedge preaching.” But forced to sit in a stone dungeon , (much like Jeremiah in being placed up to his neck in manure ) with nothing to do, he wrote, and the world was never the same. (end Part I)

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No Title Available….

Father’s Day morning dailylightdevotional.org got me into I Thessalonians Ch 5 and again, I just read the whole chapter for my encouragement. Yesterday after attending a HS graduation party at the Broken Rock Cafe off the Square in downtown Wooster during the demonstrations, I was reminded of the summer of ’68 when I was here building silos for Mast-Lepley while bunking with Henry & Mary Kaufman of Kaufman Plumbing & Heating while watching the Cleveland Hough riots on their TV.

Then seven years later, I ironically was employed as a health educator for two years at the Hough-Norwood Neighborhood Health Care Center at 8300 Hough Ave. Actually my job was to increase our utilization of services to keep our funding as most of our patients received services at no charge because we had a sliding fee scale based on income but even so, we ran nearly 50% no shows on appointments. A tough business environment!

FYI as an update eight months ago, after driving a friend to the Cleveland Clinic, I chose to drive by the 8300 facility that was new in 1972, and learned it has been closed since a fire in May 2021 awaiting $30 M for its restoration now on hold because of concerns about their financial viability.

As a prayer reality check, I as likely you, have heard by now the briefing detailing how Turkey and others are prepared to support Iran (Russia) going against Israel and ultimately the U.S., as being the little & big Satans.

Therefore, after a day of pondering our futures more so than our past, I offer you this chapter for your personal encouragement too, as we consider our tomorrows, regardless of who we are, where we’ve been, or where we’re going. Remember yesterday’s post? Jesus’ “COME’s” are always invitational regardless of our baggage, whether checked or carry-on! Don’t be be one of His “no shows!”

I Thessalonians 5:1-28 (MSG)

  1. I don’t think, friends, that I need to deal with the question of when all this is going to happen.
  2. You know as well as I that the day of the Master’s coming can’t be posted on our calendars. He won’t call ahead and make an appointment any more than a burglar would.
  3. About the time everybody’s walking around complacently, congratulating each other—”We’ve sure got it made! Now we can take it easy!”—suddenly everything will fall apart. It’s going to come as suddenly and inescapably as birth pangs to a pregnant woman.
  4. But friends, you’re not in the dark, so how could you be taken off guard by any of this?
  5. You’re sons of Light, daughters of Day. We live under wide open skies and know where we stand.
  6. So let’s not sleepwalk through life like those others. Let’s keep our eyes open and be smart.
  7. People sleep at night and get drunk at night.
  8. But not us! Since we’re creatures of Day, let’s act like it. Walk out into the daylight sober, dressed up in faith, love, and the hope of salvation.
  9. God didn’t set us up for an angry rejection but for salvation by our Master, Jesus Christ.
  10. He died for us, a death that triggered life. Whether we’re awake with the living or asleep with the dead, we’re alive with him!
  11. So speak encouraging words to one another. Build up hope so you’ll all be together in this, no one left out, no one left behind. I know you’re already doing this; just keep on doing it.
  12. And now, friends, we ask you to honor those leaders who work so hard for you, who have been given the responsibility of urging and guiding you along in your obedience.
  13. Overwhelm them with appreciation and love! Get along among yourselves, each of you doing your part.
  14. Our counsel is that you warn the freeloaders to get a move on. Gently encourage the stragglers, and reach out for the exhausted, pulling them to their feet. Be patient with each person, attentive to individual needs.
  15. And be careful that when you get on each other’s nerves you don’t snap at each other. Look for the best in each other, and always do your best to bring it out.
  16. Be cheerful no matter what;
  17. pray all the time;
  18. but thanking God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.
  19. Don’t suppress the Spirit,
  20. and don’t stifle those who have a word from the Master.
  21. On the other hand, don’t be gullible. Check out everything, and keep only what’s good.
  22. Throw out anything tainted with evil.
  23. May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ.
  24. The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he’ll do it!

BOTTOM LINE: Now is the time to STAY CLOSELY TETHERED TO HIM! Get thru gate – seated, belted, trays up and praying prepared for take-off is most desirable.

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Getting There ( Part 3) …Come, Follow Me. Luke 18:22  

      Inspired by the June 13th My Utmost For His Highest as I equate the dynamics of the following truth statement to the law of gravity: When our individual desire dies, our sanctified surrender lives.      

One of the greatest hindrances in coming to Jesus is the excuse of our own individual temperament. We make our temperament and our natural desires barriers to coming to Jesus.      

Yet the first thing we realize when we do come to Jesus, is that He pays no attention whatsoever to our natural desires. And to think, we tend to have the idea that we can dedicate our gifts to God?      

Understand, you cannot dedicate what is not yours! There is actually only one thing you can dedicate to God, and that is your right to yourself (see Romans 12:1 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship”).      

If you will give God your right to yourself, He will make a holy experiment out of you— and His experiments always succeed! The one true mark of a saint of God is the inner creativity that flows from being totally surrendered to Jesus Christ. In the life of a saint there is this amazing Well, which is a continual Source of original life.      

Understand the Spirit of God is a Well of water springing up within us perpetually fresh. A saint realizes that it is God who engineers his circumstances; therefore, there are no complaints, only unrestrained surrender to Jesus. And try to remember, never make your experience a principle for others, but allow God to be as creative and original with others as He is with you.

BOTTOM LINE:      
If we abandon everything to Jesus, and come when He says, “Come,” then He will continue to say, “Come,” through us. Therefore, we will go out into the world reproducing the echo of Christ’s invitational “Come.” That is the result in every soul who has abandoned all and come to Jesus.      
Have I come to Him? Will I come now?

NEXT UP: No idea! I prefer each day be fresh…
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Good Morning Readers:

The charger arrived today so I’m back. Only two days and only $8.45. Dare not complain.

I read in today’s dailylightdevotional.org a verse from Colossians 3:3 (3rd verse under evening: “Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.”) so I quick turned to The Message for further understanding and enjoyed the encouragement so much I decided to share the whole chapter’s perspective with you. Frequently reading in The Message so thoroughly can just flood and rejuvenate my dried up hardened and burdened spirit with the anointing of His Love right into the very core of my soul. The world’s chaos is proliferating requiring me to approach the today’s media smorgasbord with His inspired caution as Satan is indeed a defeated foe as are all his minions.

I’m at Aultman Orrville wired for a sleep study and I was just told lights out and in bed in five so I’m done. God bless.  

Colossians 3:1-25 (MSG)

1. So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides.

2. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.

3. Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life.

4. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.

5. And that means killing off everything connected with that way of death: sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That’s a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God.

6. It’s because of this kind of thing that God is about to explode in anger.

7. It wasn’t long ago that you were doing all that stuff and not knowing any better.

8. But you know better now, so make sure it’s all gone for good: bad temper, irritability, meanness, profanity, dirty talk.

9. Don’t lie to one another. You’re done with that old life. It’s like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you’ve stripped off and put in the fire.

10. Now you’re dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete.

11. Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilized and uncouth, slave and free, mean nothing. From now on everyone is defined by Christ, everyone is included in Christ.

12. So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline.

13. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you.

14. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.

15. Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness.

16. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God!

17. Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.

18. Wives, understand and support your husbands by submitting to them in ways that honor the Master.

19. Husbands, go all out in love for your wives. Don’t take advantage of them.

20. Children, do what your parents tell you. This delights the Master no end.

21. Parents, don’t come down too hard on your children or you’ll crush their spirits.

22. Servants, do what you’re told by your earthly masters. And don’t just do the minimum that will get you by. Do your best.

23. Work from the heart for your real Master, for God,

24. confident that you’ll get paid in full when you come into your inheritance. Keep in mind always that the ultimate Master you’re serving is Christ. 25. The sullen servant who does shoddy work will be held responsible. Being Christian doesn’t

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Humble Appointment

From Great Days with the Great Lives, by Chuck Swindoll, Pg. 109

Read I Samuel 16:12-17

         Here’s our first good look at David. He walks into the house, still smelling like like sheep, and all of a sudden an old man hobbles over and pours oil on his head . It drips down his hair and drops on his neck. Josephus, the historian, writes, “Samuel the aged whispered in his ear the meaning of the symbol, “You will be the next king.”

          What did David do? What do you do in a situation like that? I mean, it doesn’t come along every other day. God’s ways are so marvelous, aren’t they? At the most surprising moment, the most magnificent things happen. “You’re going to be the next king.” What did David do? Well, I’m happy to report, he did not go down to the nearest department store and try on new crowns. Neither did he order a new set of business cards, telling the printer, “Change it from shepherd to king-elect.” Or have a badge or a vest saying, “I’m the new man.” Or shine up a chariot and race through the streets of Jerusalem, yelling, “I’m God’s choice … you’re looking at Saul’s replacement.”

          So, what did he do?

          It made no difference that Samuel had anointed him with oil. He didn’t bronze that horn and hang it up in his tent. He didn’t expect special treatment from others. No, he simply went back to his sheep. And when the king said, “Come on over here and play music for me,” David went over and played a little. And when he got through, he thought, “Hey, I gotta get back to my sheep; that’s my job.

David was sensitive enough to hear the whisper of God’s voice, “You will be the next king.” But as soon as the big moment was over and they turned off the lights, he was humbly back with his sheep. People actually had to pull him from the sheep to get him to do anything that was elated to the limelight.

BOTTOM LINE: In fact, I think that’s one of the reasons he was a man after God’s heart. He was always approachable, always believable, always authentic … and always faithful in the little things.  

NEXT UP: I left my power cord in DC over the weekend, so I’m finished blogging until next week, or longer perhaps. God bless…

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Four Inner Qualities For Younger Timothy’s Being Discipled Today…

Read I Samuel 16:11, 17: 33-34

Think ahead with me to I Samuel 17. Here is David, standing by Saul, as a giant lumbers across the distant landscape.

Saul says, “Who are you?”

“I’m David.”

Saul says, “Where have you been?”

“With my father’s sheep.”

Then Saul says, “You can’t fight the giant. You’re just a kid.”

Though only a teenager, David responds without hesitation.

1 Samuel 17:34-35 NIV – But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it.

Where did David get such courage? He had learned it all alone before God. What kind of a man is this David? A man of reality. He’s a man who remained responsible when nobody was looking.

          Goliath was no big deal. Why? Because David had been killing lions and bears while nobody was around. He had been facing reality long before he squared off against Goliath. David may have lived centuries ago, but the things we can learn from him are as current as this morning’s sunrise. Two stand out in my mind.

          First, it’s in the little things and in the lonely places that we prove ourselves capable of the big things. If you want to be a person with a large vision, you must cultivate the habit of doing little things well. That’s when God puts iron in your bones, or rebar in your concrete.

          Second, when God develops our inner qualities, He’s never in a hurry. When God develops character, He works on it through a lifetime. He is not in a rush.

BOTTOM LINE:

          It is in the schoolroom of solitude and obscurity that we learn to become men and women of God. It is from the schoolmasters of monotony and reality that we learn to “king it.” That’s how we become – like David – men and women who thrive while seeking after God’s heart.

NEXT UP: David Humbly Thriving After A Divine Appointment

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