All the World to be Taxed

Luke 2:1

King James Version (KJV)

2 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.

This week congress passed the revised tax law for Americans. President Trump touts this as a great step forward for America in his goal of “making America great again.” He is, of course, totally unwilling to acknowledge that America became great initially when almost no American paid any income tax. He tells us confidently that everybody’s taxes will go down. His opponents point out that the taxes of the middle class will go up and that Social Security and Medicare will go down, giving me a double whammy! Secondly, I had over $2,500 tax wrested from my account a few days ago because I live in house in California. Furthermore, the California legislature is doing everything it possibly can to push that amount up to $10,000 and more.

The Old Testament predicted that our Lord and Savior would be born in Bethlehem. His father and mother, Joseph and Mary, were betrothed to be married and living in Nazareth in a different province of the Roman Empire that was several days’ walk from Bethlehem. Mary was “great with child.” Other Old Testament prophecies indicated that this was indeed the exact time Christ was to be born. 

God in His infinite wisdom knew that both evil angels and people (both Jews and Gentiles) eagerly awaiting this birth. He didn’t dare have the parents either married or living in Bethlehem lest they be destroyed before Christ was even born. So He had the great Augustus Caesar suddenly decide he wanted to know exactly how many subjects he had, who they were, and where they came from.

Only an absolute dictator could demand such from his subjects. He issued a decree that everyone should be taxed, in Greek ἀπογράφεσθαι, which looks to me like it means something like “written down.” Various English Bible translations render this as taxed, enrolled, registered, census taken, and even “names written down in a book[i].” This must have been the greatest data base every assembled in antiquity. Whatever it was, it was instrumental in getting the Joseph and his “espoused wife” to the right city at the right time while many others were also there so that Jesus had to be born in stable. Of course, to the watching universe, Jesus anonymity was shattered that very night by the visit of the shepherds.

Thank You, Lord God, that You are willing and able to “pull strings” to get Your will done even when it means going to the very top of earthly powers. I trust that You are willing to do this even today to prepare the world for Your Second Coming.

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[i] Worldwide English (New Testament) (WE) © 1969, 1971, 1996, 1998 by SOON Educational Publications

Unshakable Government

[i]

 [ii]

Hebrews 12:28

Good News Translation (GNT)

²⁸ Let us be thankful, then, because we receive a kingdom that cannot be shaken. Let us be grateful and worship God in a way that will please him, with reverence and awe.

This past week Robert Mugabe, the world’s longest ruling dictator of 37 years, was deposed by a carefully orchestrated, bloodless coup d’etat.  Mugabe had emerged the victor in a bloody civil war that rocked the idyllic, prosperous, and peaceful Southern Rhodesia or just Rhodesia. Hundreds of innocent people were killed after the war by simply stepping on land mines that had been planted throughout the country.

Mugabe started a systematic genocide attempt on the Ndebele people who had put up the strongest resistance to his assuming leadership.  He methodically drove the successful white farmers out of the country and gave their farms to his favorite military generals who had no desire or skill to farm. The net result was that when he took office, the country was exporting food to the nations around: after his policies took effect, starvation overtook the country. The international community has had to step in and feed his people.

The pictures above show how he squandered the limited wealth of his country to build himself a mansion that rivals the mansions of European nobility and royalty. As the country ran out of money, he printed vast amounts of paper money until the Zimbabwe dollar became literally worthless.

[iii]

King Ndebele, a boyhood friend of mine, once wrote, “When the British were here, we had freedom but not independence. Now we have independence, but we don’t have freedom.”

As we see the steady erosion of our rights and freedoms in our own country, I appreciate more and more the promise that we will, in God’s own time, receive the “kingdom that cannot be shaken.”

 Let us indeed “be grateful and worship God in a way that will please Him, with reverence and awe.”

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[i] https://i2.wp.com/truthorfictioncom.c.presscdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/zim5.jpg

[ii] https://i0.wp.com/truthorfictioncom.c.presscdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/zim10.jpg

[iii] http://m.wsj.net/video/20150616/061615zimnote/061615zimnote_1280x720.jpg

God Does Speak to Us Directly

Habakkuk 2:2

King James Version (KJV)

² And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.

For years I envied Abraham. When he wanted to know something he simply asked God and God answered him. That was simple enough! I wished God would answer me when I desperately needed to know which way to go. As time went by for me, I began to sense that in reality God wasn’t right there at Abraham’s beck and call. We only have record of three or four times when God actually spoke to Abraham. Abraham lived about 180 years, so on the average he received an answer from God about once every 45 years. And, of course, I have an advantage Abraham did not have: the sacred Scriptures that record God’s answers to others.

My wife, Sylvia, and I have been collecting letters we wrote from Africa over the years we were serving as missionaries there. The other day I ran across a letter I wrote on April 30, 1979. It addressed God’s response to an issue we had faced for over a year.

Soon after we married, we committed our lives to be missionaries to Africa. We enjoyed our work and stay in Africa and loved the people we worked with there. The issue at that time involved our furlough home to the U.S. coming due in 1979. Complications had arisen that were demanding our attention but were beyond our ability to solve. We asked the Lord to clearly indicate to us whether we should return to the U.S. permanently or return to Africa for another term. The Lord provided a double response in January that He clearly wanted us to permanently return to the U.S.

Sometimes the Lord has to hit me up the side of my head with a two-by-four to catch my attention. Both Sylvia and I wanted to remain in Africa, so we laid plans to continue to stay there. But this decision weighed very heavily on my mind. It seemed to me that I was ignoring God’s clear word, and I could gain no rest. Matters came to a head on Friday, April 27. That evening His response was as clear as if a voice spoke audibly to me. It said in the tone of absolute authority and gentle reproof, “I already told you!” I sensed I had been proceeding in a path of open rebellion to what God had personally revealed to me.

That is the closest I have ever come to sensing that God was speaking directly to me. I thank the Lord of heaven and earth for stooping to communicate with someone as insignificant as I. The other day as I read that 1979 letter to her, I asked Sylvia how she felt about our decision to return permanently to the U.S. at that time. She agreed with me that it has certainly been the best for us and our family.

Thank You, almighty Lord, Creator of our vast universe, for being sufficiently interested in each one of us to be willing to guide us when we really need You.

________________________________

http://www.beliefnet.com/faiths/~/media/9b929b827b024a27bf5ec7ca1819f110.ashx?w=480&hash=408B149D5003DD49F949DF2C0E2F5032D03AFD51

WE PLAN--GOD DIRECTS

Proverbs 16:9

 King James Version (KJV)

⁹ A man's heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps.

Sylvia picked an eclipse atlas off of the coffee table the other day. “Are you going to use this again?” Her obsession these days is to throw away, give away, or otherwise dispose of any object I don’t absolutely have to have.

“No, I’ll probably never look at it again. You can put it in the giveaway box.”

We had planned to view the August 21 eclipse this past summer. We wanted to drive north into Idaho where the eclipse would have been very visible. Later we planned to drive with our son Fred into Oregon and view it there. I had bought the atlas to show us where the best viewing was to be.

Earlier we took a trip east to Tennessee to Sylvia’s family reunion. It had lasted the better part of six weeks, and we had seen a lot of friends besides her family. I was still recovering from the West Nile Virus, and by the time I reached home, I was exhausted. A number of the symptoms like bouts of extreme fatigue, balance impairment, and headaches had reared their ugly heads.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that a rushed trip north with long drives and little sleep would just not be good for my weakened condition. So I bowed out as gracefully as I could. Instead I organized an eclipse party for our Better Than 50 Club so we could at least see the partial eclipse here.

I am still disappointed that I didn’t get to view the total eclipse, but I realize that it was the best for my health. I don’t want any recurrence of that awful disease.

Thank You, Lord directing my steps in the past. Help me to follow Your directions on a daily basis, too.

Old Age

Titus 2:2

King James Version (KJV)

² The aged men [are to] be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.

Seventy-five years have gone by since I was ripped out of my mother’s womb. In my youth my parents had a lot to be proud of and a lot to be disappointed over. I have pushed the limits in most things that came my way. In some directions, pushing the limits has been both exciting and rewarding. At other times it has been embarrassing and even on occasion expensive.

I purchased a Ford F150 4x4 pickup that I don’t need on a daily basis in my line of work. It averages 12 miles per gallon of gasoline, which makes it the most expensive vehicle I’ve ever owned.

It has taken me through hundreds of miles of raw desert, both beautiful and ugly. It has brought home a trailer load of my daughter’s belongings from Kansas down a thousand miles of glare ice and falling snow. Numerous times it has taken me across the Rocky Mountains on sand, dirt, and rocky trails sometimes barely visible. I have confidently challenged roads and trails from Key West, Florida, to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. It uncomplainingly sports thousands of scratches running from the front grill to the tail gate from desert thorn bushes crowding the tracks.

Sylvia, my faithful life partner, loves adventure as much as I and has supported and accompanied me in our varied experiences. We installed a cap over the pickup bed, and on long trips we put a mattress back there. This allows us to sleep almost anywhere we can find a spot to pull over, including Walmart parking lots. We have slept—or sometimes tried to sleep—in our F-150 during fierce, tornado-alley rainstorms, desert heat, and mountain frost and have actually done very well for ourselves.

In many ways our experience with the F-150 parallels what God has put up with in my life. He has supported me through near death from West Nile Virus and on Los Angeles freeways. He has rejoiced with me in celebrations like children’s weddings and graduations and commiserated with me through loss of many friends and the death of my parents. Like the Ford, He has given us of the beauties and bounties of life and walked with us during poverty, scarcity, and sickness. 

Lord, as old age embraces us ever more firmly, continue to support us, and renew our faith, love, and patience.

#CALIFORNIA, #IE, #FORD, #F-150, #WALMART, #WESTNILEVIRUS, #LOSANGELES, #FREEWAY, #RAINSTORM, #BLACKICE, #TOWING, #SCRATCH, #OFFROAD, #OLDMAN, #WIFE, #INSOMNIA, #ROCKYMOUNTAINS, #CAMPER, #DEATH

When It Seems Everything Goes Wrong!

Psalm 23:4

Good News Translation (GNT)

⁴ Even if I go through the deepest darkness, I will not be afraid, Lord, for you are with me.

It was four o’clock in the morning. I tossed and turned. My mind started toiling through a long list of recent setbacks.

Our faithful, gas-guzzling pickup had just done a seven thousand mile trip. Now suddenly on the last fill-up, its mileage had dropped to a third of what it had been on the trip. We had double checked the calculations. Google told us this happened to other owners, and they had a terrible time finding out the cause. One had even replaced the engine, to no avail.

Our water main had broken and we had been without water for twenty-four hours. Our neighbors let us take showers in their home, bless their caring hearts. I had spent the whole day repairing it, and now the sprinkler system wouldn’t work. The temperatures were in the hundreds, and the trees and plants were starting to seriously wilt from lack of water.

The Internet and phone company had spent four days doing a “simple” upgrade, and still neither the phone nor the Internet worked. Since our home is up a little valley, even our cell phones don’t work unless the Internet works or we go outside and stand in the middle of the street to make a call. So we were thrust back into the nineteenth century reliance solely on the post office for our communications.

Katie, our beloved one-year-old, still-chewing-everything puppy just chewed up Sylvia’s C-PAP breathing apparatus. The insurance company tells us we can’t get a replacement for at least another month. When I walked Katie in the hills in front of our home, a young coyote was walking shoulder against shoulder with her trying to coax her back to the pack and the kill. Katie wasn’t sure whether she should go with her new “friend” or come back to me.

While we were on our trip mentioned above, our son Fred phoned us to tell us he was engaged to Uni, a lovely girl he has been dating on and off for a number of years. Then he phoned us to tell us they are getting married later this month. They plan to meet in Oregon and see the August eclipse and invited Sylvia and me to go with them. I am eager to see the eclipse and even more eager to be with Fred on the trip. But I’m also still recovering from my battle with West Nile Virus. I seemed to lose some ground on our 7,000 mile trip in which we took everything very easy, so I fear a rush trip of 2,000 miles may set me back even more.

A smiling doggy face and furniture-beating tail greets me as I roll out of bed at six o’clock. I happen to read our familiar and much beloved Shepherd Psalm. I reread verse 4, and peace covers over my many concerns. My Lord is still with me.

Thank You, Lord, that I can rely on You to solve my problems as You have so frequently in the past!

Prayer

1

Matthew 14:23

Contemporary English Version (CEV)

²³ Then he went up on a mountain where he could be alone and pray. Later that evening, he was still there.

Thousands of people had the personal commitment to follow Jesus way out into the mountains at considerable discomfort to themselves. They hadn’t planned to stay very long, so most of them had not brought even a small lunch. They thrilled to Jesus’ love and oration and witnessed miraculous healings. Finally their human weakness overcame them: they were tired and hungry. Once they started talking about it, their hunger dominated every thought and feeling. Here were 5,000 men who were extremely hungry. Very likely there were at least 5,000 women present, too.

Several times when we worked in Africa, we stopped way out in the bush and broke out a picnic lunch in what appeared to be a totally deserted spot. Within a very few minutes we would have 20 or 30 children appear, as if spontaneously generated, and stand around watching us eat. After a little more time a few adults would appear and silently observe. If things were like that in Jesus’ day, (and I have no doubt but what they were), there must have been well over 20,000 kids in the crowd, curiosity written in every face, eagerly commenting to their friends about what they were seeing or hearing.

Jesus had everyone sit down in groups of fifty to a hundred. He took five buns and two fish, blessed them, started breaking them, and passed them to his disciples. They in turn probably walked to one of the people in each group of fifty, broke the bread and fish, and gave them to that one person. He or she had then repeated Jesus’ actions and personally experienced the same miracle of multiplying the food. Every single person eventually participated in this astounding miracle, each sharing with the next.

A ground swell of enthusiasm and support erupted in their dinner conversations. People cheered in support of this mighty miracle worker who had not only fed them but also made them miracle workers. It was obvious that Jesus must be made their leader, their commander, their king. Jesus disciples could not but have shared the common determination to elevate him to king.

Satan must have presented to Jesus how he could use this mighty miracle to not only become their king but also accomplish his self assigned mission of saving the human race. Jesus could rally an unbeatable army, capture Rome, and then the entire world. His human heart must have glowed with deep satisfaction that he had had such marvelous success in helping so many people. Surely this must be the way to finish his work and achieve his ultimate goal.

But there were red flags going off in his mind. They signaled, perhaps weakly but persistently, that this would not accomplish his genuine goal. Using his irresistible divine power that had so excited the people, Jesus now ordered them to leave. With extreme reluctance they all finally left. He stood alone.

His humanity was exhausted by the effort and cried for rest. Resolutely Jesus turned and went deeper into the mountains. Mustering his failing energies, he prayed to God. He sought wisdom and power to pursue his mission to save mankind by the only absolutely effective way—to die for them. This urgent prayer and communion took all evening and well into the night. Eventually, under divinely renewed power, Jesus strode forth, even across the storm enraged lake, to his destiny.  

Almighty, loving God, help me to so commune with You.

[1] https://thebarkingfox.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/bfb140303-feeding-the-five-thousand.jpg

I Haven't Done a Thing All Day

Jeremiah 31:14

Revised Standard Version (RSV)

My people shall be satisfied with my goodness,
                says the Lord.”

My wife, Sylvia, has an oft repeated lament. “I haven’t gotten a thing done today!” She was reared under the philosophy that, no matter how much good she accomplished, there was always room for improvement. As a child she remembers that when she brought home a good report card from school, or when she received a compliment for a beautiful musical performance her father would reply, “That’s good! But you still need to work on …” She remembers never receiving an unconditional statement of approval for anything she did.

Her parents had taken to heart the biblical and Spirit of Prophecy cautions about indulging oneself in pride. Gradually over the years a feeling of inferiority, a sense that nothing she ever did measured up to an unreachable standard, clouded her entire life.

She has earned a Masters degree in English and a TESOL certificate in teaching English to speakers of other languages. Her perceptive linguistic aid has enabled many a foreign doctoral student to submit their dissertations in excellent English. She periodically receives acknowledgements from these grateful professionals.

She has fought a lifelong battle against chronic depression. Now she counsels many others with depression on how to overcome this debilitating disease. Many an hour she has spent on the phone encouraging and counseling this person or that who is on the verge of doing themselves harm.

She loves children, and they love her. Seeing their special needs, she has produced a CD of her own music that is directed towards giving a child grace for the day and courage to meet the night and the future. She often gets reports from grateful parents about how their child loves her CD and goes to sleep listening to it every night. Many have memorized all the words of her songs.

Lord, bless Sylvia and everyone else who is dissatisfied with their own lives and accomplishments with satisfaction in Your goodness that makes up for their sense of lack. Amen

Water in a Drought

Jeremiah 32:17

Amplified Bible (AMP)

¹⁷ ‘Ah Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! There is nothing too difficult or too wonderful for You

[1]

Ikizu Secondary School and Seminary is located in the great steppe country near Lake Victoria in Tanzania. Steppe country is characterized by 4 feet tall grass punctuated by picturesque flat topped acacia trees. It is only slightly better than desert. Being very close to the equator it receives two rainy seasons a year, two weeks in November and December and six weeks in February and March.

The year was about 1969, and I was a math and science teacher in the secondary school. It also became my responsibility to take care of all physical maintenance on campus, including providing the campus with electricity and water. I had some great student helpers that actually made the maintenance possible. One of these was Abraham Sando.

One Friday morning Abraham knocked on my door. “Sir, we are getting no water from the pump.” He broke the news apologetically but with finality.

“Has the pump broken down? Is the engine working okay?” I queried.

“Yes, sir!”

“Did you turn it off last night?”

“Yes, sir! And I started it this morning again.” He and I walked over to the water pipe that came up from the well, which was a mile down in the valley next to a creek that usually had a little water in it. There was definitely no water coming up the pipe. We had received no rain in the short rainy season. It was now the beginning of March, and we had received no rain so far this rainy season. The dam the villagers got their water from had dried up completely. Villagers had dug 6 and 8 feet deep holes in the bottom of the dam where a pitifully meager supply of water would trickle in overnight. The creek was dry, too.

My thoughts ran quickly to the more than 200 students and staff who depended on our well for water. We had a tank, but it would not last more than about three days.

“Please go back down the hill and turn the pump off,” I said resignedly to Abraham. “We’ll leave the pump off until Sunday morning, and I hope water will run into the well in the meantime. Hopefully we can pump on Sunday.” He smiled in agreement. He was also worried about the dire consequences we faced without water.

As soon as George Dunder, our principal, arrived in his office that morning, I went in and alerted him to our predicament. He asked for my suggestions. After a discussion of what we might do, I suggested that we make Sabbath a day of fasting and prayer for rain. We did exactly that. Really the only alternative would be to close the school down and send all of the students and staff away.

On Sabbath I overheard a number of students discussing our water situation. These particular students tended to be very skeptical all the time. They reasoned that the day of fasting and prayer was really worthless. After all it was in the middle of the longer rainy season, so if it started to rain, it would not be God answering our prayer; it would simply be the natural course of events. On the other hand, if it didn’t rain, then God clearly hadn’t answered our request, if He existed at all. I couldn’t help seeing their reasoning and wondering how God would answer our prayers and preserve His integrity. I said nothing to them because all I had was questions, too.

Our water tank was nearly empty by Sunday morning. After Abraham came up from starting the pump, we walked over to check the flow in the pipe. We had a tap located on the main water pipe. We measured how fast the water was coming up by opening the tap and timing how long it took to fill a five gallon can. Water was indeed coming up the hill but only at a quarter of the normal rate. I asked Abraham to check this tap every hour or two during the day to gauge how much water was running or see if the well had again run dry.

He checked in with me that evening and reported that the water was still pumping at the same slow rate. We normally ran the pump about 8 or 10 hours a day 6 days a week, and this kept us in ample supply of water.

“Good! If we are still getting water, let’s run the pump night and day until either the flow of water returns to normal or until the water runs out entirely. When you go down in the evenings, just fill up the diesel tank to run the pump engine and check the oil. Then watch the flow of water up here on the hill several times during the day. Don’t go down there on Sabbath. I will personally do the Sabbath duty.” I didn’t want him to worry about whether he should work on Sabbath.

For the next six weeks we continued on this regimen. There was not even a hint of rain. The tropical sun burned down on us every day from a clear blue sky. But we had just enough water to meet our needs.

One day in the middle of April, well into the dry season, a black storm came up. It rained hard and long. All the creeks started running. Some water ran into the dam, more than filling the holes the desperate villagers had dug. A great relief filled my soul. And the well ran totally dry!

I said to the skeptical students, “What do you think? You suggested that either way our need was met, it couldn’t be the hand of God. Now you are witnesses. You have drunk the water God provided for six whole weeks without rain.”

For once in their smug skepticism they were speechless.

Thank You, God, that Your might power and outstretched arm is still as mighty today as in the time of Jeremiah and that You have ways of meeting our needs that we would never even dream of!

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[1] https://www.hipporoller.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/gokwe-dry-dam-zim.jpg

Tread on Serpents

April 25, 2017

Luke 10:19

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁹ Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

[i]

Thirty or more years ago when we were searching for a home near La Sierra University, we spelled out several criteria. We wanted a home near enough for me to walk to work. It had to have four bedrooms, one for us, one for our boy and one for our girls, and one for a guest room especially for grandparents. We hoped it would have a swimming pool so we could keep an eye on what our kids and their friends were doing. We also hoped it would have access to countryside where we could walk for recreation. Of course, it also had to be in our price range.

The home we got couldn’t have matched these criteria any better. Its selling point to me was that it was situated in a little valley with desert hills on three sides. We could walk up into the hills by simply walking past three houses, and we were into the hills. During a normal year the hills turn a rich green color in the winter rains. For spring, summer and fall the hills are the color of dried grass.

Almost every day over the last 30 odd years we have walked at least some distance up into the hills, usually with a dog at our heels or galloping merrily ahead. The dog’s favorite pastime is chasing, unsuccessfully, every lizard that makes a mad dash to get out of our way. Occasionally it would be a bird, ground squirrel or rabbit. Even more rarely, there would be a lone coyote or as many as four or five them to give us a short thrill of the chase.

Sylvia and I have delighted ourselves in counting the number of species of flowers actually blooming on a particular walk. Usually we count anywhere between a dozen and two dozen species. During spring after the hills have turned brown, we find the richest number of flower species. The other day we had counted over 40 species and were at the very top of our La Sierra range and heading home down a very rough trail.

As I walked I suddenly felt something soft under my right foot, not the usual rock hard surface. In the shortest of moments, far shorter than it takes to think it, let alone write it, I shifted the weight off my right foot and made a lunge for Sylvia. I grabbed her by her waist and pushed her backwards and away. I guessed it might have been a snake I had stepped on and didn’t want her to be bitten. She thought I had lost my balance, which I have been doing since my bout with West Nile Virus, and fought to keep me upright. Neither of us fell, and I swung around to see what I had stepped on.

Right where my foot had trod a thick red western diamond backed rattlesnake was slithering slowly away from us. It hadn’t so much as tried to rattle and warn us. It had also not bitten me. I don’t know whether it had tried or not. I was wearing heavy jeans and thick leather shoes, so it might have tried but failed to penetrate to the skin. Furthermore, red western diamond backs are known to be reticent to bite unless directly attacked. But I do feel that I was under the direct protection of the Lord. In the words of Christ in the next verse:

"Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven." Thank You, Heavenly Father!

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[i]  http://www.desertusa.com/reptiles/red-diamond-rattlesnake.html

The Desert Shall Blossom as a Rose

Song of Solomon 2:12

New King James Version (NKJV)

¹² The flowers appear on the earth;
The time of singing has come,
And the voice of the turtledove.

It was twelve years ago, in 2005, that we last had a season like this one. The desolate desert meadows of Anza Borrego were blanketed in the royal purple of the sand verbena punctuated by the lush desert primroses. Hundreds of people walked delicately through the blossoms. Lovers hugged each other in the irresistible romance the flowers leant to their courtship.

In recent years, the entire desert longed for relief from a fierce sun, desiccating winds, and a drought that seemed never ending. Then the winter of the year of our Lord 2017 finally came with lavish, soaking rains. They washed the mountain crags clean. At long last the former lakebed caught the rain and allowed it to sink deeply into the ground again and again over a number of weeks.

On a recent Saturday Sylvia and I drove down to Anza Borrego State Park again just to see with our own eyes the fruit of rains that had brought so much green to our desolate, desert hills. As before we found hundreds of people, starry eyed lovers, excited children, and rejuvenated old folks all wandering, entranced, amongst the desert gold flowers. This time the golden blanket was punctuated by the purple sand verbena and the white desert primrose.

Besides the flowers, we were blessed to see several types of birds.  Not only did we see doves (mourning doves) but great raptors and tiny hummingbirds as well. The hummingbirds benefit the most from a plenitude of flowers. In addition, great, fat, striped caterpillars sat in the shade of the withered leaves gorging themselves on the rich feast, unknowingly heading toward their transformation into creatures with beautiful wings and delicate antennae.

The hand of the Creator stretched out and reminded us that, in the midst of the desert of death and sin in this old world, God is still personally interested in us, in our joy and happiness. He is still interested in instantaneously changing us into beautiful, imperishable immortality.

Thank You, Lord, for these beautiful reminders of the bright future You have already prepared for us!

Win Some, Lose Some, Ever Forward

[i]

Psalm 138:7

New Living Translation (NLT)

⁷ Though I am surrounded by troubles,
    you will protect me from the anger of my enemies.
You reach out your hand,
    and the power of your right hand saves me.

For four months now I have been suffering with a headache when I’m not lying down. This appears to be the result of my bout with West Nile Virus (WNV). The hospital did several lumbar punctures to diagnose the disease. After seeing numerous doctors who were simply clueless as to how to solve the issue, I was finally referred to Dr Olivo, a neurologist.

When I described my symptoms to him, his eyes lit up, and he said, “It’s undoubtedly a cerebrospinal fluid leak (CSF) at a lumbar puncture site.” I had come to the same conclusion after reading the Internet. Apparently the fact that the headache and other symptoms disappear when I lie down is characteristic of a CSF leak.

Dr Olivo went right to work to get the various preliminary tests done and then get me into the hospital to have the patch done. Results are supposed to be immediate, so the patch is an outpatient procedure. The radiologist who administered the patch had me lie down for a half hour afterwards and then had me get up and dress. Of course he inquired if I felt better.

I walked around a bit, somewhat bewildered. The room swayed from left to right as I turned my head. I needed to hold onto something in order to walk straight. My entire head ached from my shoulders on up. Not only was I not better, I was also a lot worse.

There was the hope that it would clear up over time. That hope never materialized. I was sorely disappointed but not discouraged or depressed. By chance I had read the promise in the verse above the very morning of the procedure. I sensed as I read the promise that I might need its comfort that very day, though I certainly hoped not.

God has brought me through alive from the very deadly WNV after 9 weeks in hospital and rehab. There are some lingering areas where I haven’t fully recovered besides the CSF leak. The literature suggests that healing from the WNV usually takes at least a year. So I have a while to go yet.

Thank You, Lord, for the promise that Your mighty right hand will save me in the very midst of my troubles.

#CALIFORNIA, #IE, #PSALMS, #BIBLEPROMISE, #WESTNILEVIRUS, #HEADACHE, #NEUROLOGY, #LUMBARPATCH, #DEPRESSION, #CEREBROSPINALFLUID, #CSFLEAK, #MEDICALFAILURE, #HEALING

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Gender Discrimination

Titus 1:5-7

King James Version (KJV)

⁵ For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee: if any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.  For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God.

My great-grandfather was an Adventist.   In his later years he lived with my grandfather.  My grandfather was an itinerant preacher in the Michigan conference.  His brother was sent by Ellen White as a missionary to freed slaves in the South.  My father spent 42 years as a missionary to Africa.  He founded a university at Solusi Mission.  He spent 18 years teaching and being an administrator at Helderberg College.  He carved an Adventist Academy for over 700 students from virgin bush in Zambia.  So I am at least 4^th generation Adventist.

When I was born in the first years of World War II, I was reared in the strictest form of Seventh-day Adventism.  I attended Adventists schools from my first year in school through a Bachelor of Science.  I was taught that the Bible is the Word of God and the Spirit of Prophecy was given to point us to the Bible.  The Bible is the foundation of both individual Christian life and the Church.  I gave my life and career to the Church as a foreign missionary and educator. 

I have watched the Church grow and prosper where it followed the council and guidance of Scripture and the Spirit of Prophecy.  It has grown from an insignificant American sect to a vast Spirit-led worldwide denomination.  It has worked its way from a works-based theology to a grace-based dynamo of spiritual power.

Following the example of Ellen White, the Church has encouraged all members, male and female, to contribute as witnesses to the world.  Over the years I have been interested in how we have ordained men and women as elders and deacons as Bible sanctioned officials of the Church.  We have interpreted “husband of one wife” (KJV) to mean “faithful in marriage” (CEV).  This choice has stood us well.

The Church has a group of officials whom they pay.  The rest of the officials perform their duty as many did in early Christian times, namely voluntarily and without pay.  Now the Church has become of two minds.  The Church is happy to ordain the volunteers without reference to gender even though many of them are mentioned as elders and deacons in Titus.  The majority of Church leaders have decided to not be consistent and insist that those whom the church is paying must now follow the instructions above and be husbands, i.e. males.  On the contrary a strong minority of Church leaders have decided that they will be consistent in their Christian belief and treat and pay the officials equally without reference to their gender.  This disagreement is fast escalating into a rift.

The Church, my Church, is racing down a road to self-destruction and significant loss of human souls to the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.  My soul weeps to see the leaders of the Church, to which I have given 47 years of service, doing their utmost to destroy the very Church I love. 

May the all wise, all powerful, gracious Lord Jesus Christ be able to convince my church leaders to be gentle in their leadership and totally fair in how they treat everyone whom He has called to be His officials.