Snow beginning to lightly fall
Near Wheeling, West Virginia – 1/12/19
Hi Men:
Thank you for all the prayer and fasting for Albert Chong. The good news is the results of his MRI came back good. There is no edema (swelling). But as Lee Yih said earlier, the real nail biter is what will Albert be like when he wakes up. Today they have been bringing him out of a chemically induced coma and the doctors believe he may wake up tonight sometime. Pray that he has no bran damage.
My wife and I just returned from visiting our son John’s future in-laws and family in the Pittsburgh-West Virginia-Ohio area. It snowed while we were back there. I took the above photo of the tree as we were headed to dinner. It was beginning to . It was beginning to snow. After dinner it was really coming down and google sent us back to our hotel in Steubenville on some dark and wooded West Virginia back road. To say the least, it could have made a great beginning to a horror movie. On a positive note, it was great to meet our future daughter-in-law’s family, they couldn’t have been nicer. Here is a photo of John and his fiancée Paige with Paige’s 100 ½ year old great grandfather. His name is Floyd. I asked him what his day is like and he said, (short version) He gets up in the morning and the first thing he does is read the Bible and pray. Then he has a little cereal and some candy. Around noon he doesn’t eat much lunch, but likes those chocolate covered marshmallows. Around dinner his daughters (he has 7) sometimes bring him some food. He likes hamburgers and chili dogs (and more candy). I kid you not! This man so adorable.
I talked to another of Paige’s grandfathers and he told me how sad it was that the number of people who attend church these days has decreased greatly. The church (First Church of the Nazarene) where John and Paige had their engagement party (photo above) used to have a 1000+ people attend on Sunday. Now about 50 or so. I guess it is like Walt said, years ago you left church convicted of the “s-i-n” in your life, but today you seldom hear that 3-letter word.
Similar to David Wilkerson’s 8 minute message on YouTube: A Call To Anguish
On that note, I have attached Leette Henrichsen’s January letter. Please read how merciful God was to her pertaining to a medical incident on Christmas day. A brother brought to my attention a few lines toward the bottom of her letter. Many of you know that she has a Bible study for some of the women at the retirement center she lives at. Most of these women were church attenders their whole life. Read what Leette said:
The Bible study has started up again, and we just completed Hebrews 9. The ladies are asking good questions, and they are beginning to see the importance of studying the Scriptures on their own and making application. This is all new for them, as their prior experience has only been hearing the Word taught.
So studying the scriptures on their own and making application is all new to them. Men, if it wasn’t done back then, is it being done today?
See you at noon men…………..
Can we be still and know that He is God?
Dan
Gal 2:20
Prayer Requests
- Albert Chong: God’s grace and mercy on him as he wakes up
- Pastor Govindu and daughter Priscilla: Motorcycle accident. They will be ok, but they have been injured.
- Ron Rodriguez: Continue to pray for Ron and his brain tumor, for his wife Kristin, 2 daughters & parents, Chip and Jackie
- Bill Waller: God’s hand on him as he moves closer to a March trial with the Federal Govt. (more info coming)
- Romans Study: Friday, Jan 25th
- Pennsylvania Men’s Retreat: February 8-10. Please pray for the men and teachers
- Lost Valley Men’s Retreat: March 1-3. Click Here for more information. Please pray for the men and teachers
- Alejandro Corral: Please continue to pray for Alejandro Jr. and the Corral Family. Thank you brothers.
- Larry Morris: Pray for his son-in-law, Jon Maryl, who has acquired a severe form of dementia. Pray for Colleen, Larry’s daughter.
- Christy Carroll: Please pray for her son Jerome (23) who is schizophrenic. Also for Christy ….. it is taking a toll on her.
- Jim Blasco: My High School buddy. His cancer continues. Pray that Jim be accepted in the new protocol that has been developed.
- Dan Jensen: Attended Zion. Please pray for his church plant in St. George, Utah.
When brothers send me specific days out of the Blue Book, it gives me pause.
Here is one that was set to me this morning. Profound on several levels……..
Facts of the Matter
DEALING WITH SUFFERING (1 of 5)
Everywhere I look I see people who are stressed out. Too many activities, too little time. Fear of losing their jobs, fear that the Country is in serious decline, fear of increasing debt, fear of a gutted middle class. Fear that their kids are being polluted by their peers, the media, and the culture to the point that they are losing them. Jesus had it right when he said, In this world you will have trouble (Jn. 16:33b). That word trouble conveys the idea of stress, to be crushed and pressured by evil forces. In a word: suffering.
Talk about the suffering that accompanies our fears: Just in my lifetime I survived a global war that killed over 50 million people, have lived with implacable predictions of nuclear holocausts, over population, global food shortages, the AIDS epidemic, the depletion of fossil fuels, the threat of expanding deserts, plagues, growing global poverty, terrorist threats, the thinning ozone layer, mad-cow epidemics, Y2K computer bugs, killer bees, global warming, asteroid attacks, the disintegration of the family, declining morals, the loss of jobs to overseas competitors, etc., etc. To put it mildly, this world we live in is a scary place.1 Again, Jesus words of comfort, In me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (Jn. 16:33).
Why do we suffer?
God is disciplining us to make us more like Himself: Take a good look at Romans 8:18 -27. In a word, life is tough in a sin soaked world, and God is using its degradation and pain to fashion us into the likeness of His Son: We know that in all things (the hard stuff of Romans 8:18-27) God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son (Rom. 8:28, 29) (See Isa. 1:35; Zech. 13:9; Mal. 3:2, 3 Heb. 12:11)
God disciplines us by teaching us from the Scriptures: Blessed is the man you discipline, O Lord, the man you teach from your law (Psa. 94:12).
God uses affliction to drive us to His word: Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word (Psa. 119:67). (See Psa. 119:71)
God purifies our lives by entering into an adversarial relationship with us: I will turn my hand against you; I will thoroughly purge away your dross and remove all your impurities (Isa. 1:25). (See Zech. 13:8; Mal. 3:2, 3)
~R. Dwight Hill~
1 Adapted from The Rational Optimist, Matt Ridley HarperCollins Publishers New York, New York 2010 p. 280
Back to Leette’s letter. Would you say “making application” is tied into the verse below?
