TIMES OF REFRESHING

 

A Russian memorial of a descive win over Germans in a WW11 battle



It has been a week of color and the smell of oil paint mixed with turpentine permeating the whole house. Two friends from England, one from NYC, and two Ukrainain artists filled my studio to craft 3D portraits out of flat canvas.



Every day we arose with one thing in mind; it's time to paint! We all went to bed with brushes still clinging to our hands like clutched swords in the heat of battle. There was definitely the look of war on our hands as paint indelibly stuck under fingernails. Up one day at 4 am we raced in the dark to a previously selected spot to paint a plein air landscape. Sleep was not a factor this day, everyone was way too excited. In fact sleep was the last thing we were thinking about. We were determined to catch the rising sun's first Orange rays beating down on a sole Ukrainian farmhouse, built right in the middle of a field. 



In waist high grass easels were set up in haste, while already mixed paint was pallet knifed out to each artist. It was not long before both house and light were captured in oil and we were heading back for bacon and eggs and the smell of great coffee brewing. Noline, was the star of the week. Her meals were wonderful. She was and is a great trooper. Thank you sweetie for supporting us with you delicious food. It has been a wonderful time allowing the creative juices to flow one stroke at a time. Everyone has left. They waved goodbye well satisfied with their weeks work. It is now that I get the chance to sit down at the computer and describe for you the joy of serving a great God who delights in giving you the best He has. 



Up to their waist's in grass



No sooner was this week completed with all the hectic running around to airports, painting, sightseeing and food preparation and I am back to packing for Western Ukraine and the revival meetings in Ivano Fronkievsk. This is where it gets interesting. We are so conditioned in performance for acceptance that during this awesome week of painting I allowed the enemy to get to me. He would bark in my ear, "you have not prayed enough for the upcoming services. God will not be with you as He has been in the past." More than once I just had to stop and rebuke this lie of the enemy. Now it is a fact most of the preaching that is done today is in some way conditional, even when mixed with huge doses of grace. There is this “thing” in side all of us that we have somehow got to work a little harder in order to please God. If we are not fasting, or reading, or studying until the candle is burned out, God will not hear your prayers.




With the object in sight they paint



Let me illustrate this in a different way with Buster my dog. I love this dog, he is a strong and very smart German shepherd. The reason I love him so much is because he is hard wired to please. For instance, he took a nap in our bathroom but the door closed behind him and he was stuck in there for a couple of hours. When he was discovered he ran excitedly throughout the house nudging us with his nose and just about wagging his tail off his body. He was so thrilled to be with us again; it was as though we had been gone for months and he had to show us just how excited he was. I had to more than once calm him down. Like I said, 'he's hard wired to please.' That’s why I love him and why I hate him. Since he is always exuberantly trying to please you, he is a constant reminder of just the kind of people we are. We too are always running our lives around in circles trying our hardest to please God. I am not saying don’t be excited about the Lord, but what I am saying is that I do not have to try to please God and constantly seeking His approval by my works.

No let up for these dedicated artists



In Ivano Frankievsk we are having a multi-church baptism by the river this Saturday. Watch for the video clip. This is a first for this religious laden area. I will be preaching on the white sands to families and members of ten small congregations who are participating. My text is Act 3:19. Peter calls for repentance and conversion of the Jewish listeners where approximately 5000 were converted in one day. Peter said there were times of refreshing for all who turned to God. The Greek transliteration makes this point very clear as does the Puritan writer Thomas Brooks. In fact God anxiously awaits to have the opportunity to pour out revival upon His people. In one act of true heart felt turning to Christ, God will pour out His abundant love and power upon you. 

Checking for "Values"



The King James calls this “times of refreshing.” But as I have mentioned, the literal transliteration is “an opportunity to believe God and have revival come to your life.” This revival of promised blessings is backed up by the historical records of the Old and New Testaments.

First, there is the record of one and a half million people going through the waters of baptism as they walked through the parted waters of the Red Sea. Immediately on getting to the other side God destroyed their enemies. This is a life giving promise to those plagued by a harassing enemy. God will fight for you against all attacks. Then there is a second promise. it is the destruction and down fall of stubborn strongholds in our lives. The walls of Jericho collapsed supernaturally right after another generation of Israelites came through the waters of the Jordan River. This was a type of their baptism. So you too can have the confidence that no matter how impregnable the issue at hand in your life might be, God is willing and ready to bring it down. Lastly, we see in the New Testament, Jesus receiving an open heaven after He was baptized. In other words, communication with His Father would be unhindered. Nothing could come between Him and His Father. We too are now privileged to have God's open heaven for uniterrupted communication with Him through Jesus Christ. 

Pam, from England, doing a great job



Packing up after a hard morning of work



Peter calls all of these “the time or opportunity of God refreshing His children.” These blessings are unending, just as God's mercies are unending and new every morning. God gives us these because we simply choose to believe Him. Therefore, without faith it is impossible to please Him. So as I make preparations to travel tomorrow by overnight train to Ivano Frankievsk, I go with the confidence my God is with me, He is not against me. He fights my enemies for me and brings down every stronghold fortified against me. He alone gives an open heaven to all who trust in Him, and it is His delight to shower us again and again with His mercy and love. Today, stop trying to please God in your own strength. Like a good Italian pastor once preached; “just stop!”  

Enjoy these few photo's and rest in the loving arms of Jesus. 













New and lasting friendships were made from across the globe































WHY JUDGMENT CONTINUES

Have you wondered why there is a prolonged outworking of judgment throughout the world today? Why is there so much untold suffering, and very little lasting peace? Whether it is natural disasters pummeling the world, or the monetary system being brought to the brink of utter ruin and collapse, there is judgment being pronounced on the earth. From major tsunamis, tornados and hurricanes, to droughts, endless wars and devastating earthquakes, the obvious conclusion is – this present world we live in is under judgment! Ultimately, we cannot help but feel and see that the collateral damage of this profound reality is untold misery on a global scale. Are there any answer to all of this?

Let us ask some further questions: What is being achieved, if anything? Is God behind this? What is it that we need to learn and understand? Until recently, all I could have done was quote some verses and give a normative explanation to all this phenomena. But God has begun to awaken within me an understanding which I did not possess in times past. Little by little a veil is being lifted and God is giving a fresh glimpse into what He wants to accomplish in the world today. I feel like a man who has been walking through a dark but furnished room, stumbling and bumping onto objects along the way. Suddenly, without any doing of my own, I have found a candle with matches. In a moment, complicated issues have become clear and light is being shed on the subject of judgment. I did not ask for this directly, it has been handed to me by the Lord, and I will begin to speak what is revealed. You may not like all that is about to be said, but I will with gentleness and as much clarity as I presently have, write what has been given to me.

It has been in relative but short retrospect while working with churches in Ukraine, that understanding in these matters has come to light. What I will say in this blog is by no means a reflection on this country. I am talking globally, and this setting in Western Ukraine is the backdrop, a minute example of a universal problem. A further disclaimer. This is not intended in any way to disregard the amazing work that is being done for Christ in many parts of the globe. It is only one small voice speaking into key issues. In these last times, it is my firm belief the church will be more triumphant, more Christ honoring and more of a force than the devil had ever bargained for.

RELIGIOUS STRONGHOLDS  

God is revealing His purposes to me through a microcosm of His outworking as I have mentioned here in Ukraine. In this far western part of the country, religious influence prospers more than in any other place. In its many forms it has become a pervasive and powerful force as exampled by the swollen springtime rivers which gush from the mountains. In the beginning I had wondered why God had led me to this city with such strongholds. Now it has become evident. I truly see and understand how God is making His point. He wants to uncover these same strongholds which in too many cases have gripped the remnant church.

Make your way up into the Carpathian Mountains, and almost every mile there are exquisite roadside shrines with religious idols. Even in the more prosperous homes there are huge shrines. On any given Sunday you find dozens of people literally walking miles to reach imitation gold domed churches as part of their religious observance. As you drive by you can hear them chanting and singing on their walk in their weekly pilgrimage. To the casual observer it has the outward appearance of true holiness and dedication until you scratch the surface of the lives of these men and women. You dig only to find, poverty, misery, and abuse. I asked a cab driver if he was a Christian; “Oh, yes, everyone here is.” Religious dogma has so infiltrated the minds of the people that they cannot see the plight of their own bondage.

NIGHT, DAY, NIGHT – JUDGMENT IS RELENTLESS

He calleth to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? The watchman said, the morning cometh, and also the night: if ye will inquire, inquire ye: return, come (Isa 21:11, 12 KJV). The call to the watchman was how long will we have to endure such adverse difficulties? Like a sick person after a sleepless night, who longs for the break of dawn, only to find out that the day is as bad as the night, and all too soon another sleepless night is upon him. The condition of judgment is unchanging declared the watchman, who is as vigilant as a lion. He invites the enquirers to return as many times as they wish, but the answer would remain the same. Judgment is upon us!

Today, God’s judgment is felt throughout the world. Even when there seems to be a new day emerging fiscally. But it will be short lived and darkness will again return. Presently, for many casualty nations of this last economic crash, the news cannot and will not be good. Like the watchman speaking by the Holy Spirit; “Your new day will soon be swallowed up by night.”

The church is feeling the weight of judgment because there has been powerful influences of religious behavior infiltrating into mainstream Evangelicalism, Protestantism and Pentecostalism. God has allowed judgment to speak to both the world and the church. He is working something into the body of Christ, while at the same time removing subtle burdens, which have been quietly and unobtrusively slipped around the neck of His people as a yoke of bondage. The Apostle Paul, who would not hurt a bone in your body, stood with all heavens authority against such entanglement with another yoke of bondage. What is this yoke? In one simple word. Exclusivity! It is more than just doctrinal differences. It is a compelling by which church leaders seek to maintain control over congregants, and it is staggering to behold, not to say anything about it being exploitative.

Long gone is the scripture where Christ said He would build His church, and the gates of hell would not prevail against it. Now around the world, 80 - 90% of time, money and energy, is spent inside the four walls. Reputation is at an all time premium and preaching no longer singularly is Christ exalting. Christianity for the masses has become a weekly routine of one service after another. The yoke is clearly identifiable. So if the local church is full, or semi full, and if the bills and salaries are paid, and the preaching is fiery, then it is considered a great day. And there seems to be no way out of this cyclical pattern. The body of Christ has settled in under this as the norm. Yet in record numbers pastors are leaving the ministry. Something is clearly not right and God is powerfully addressing it.

Here is the key! The present shaking is for the sake of His remnant church. This remnant, beleaguered by a gospel of prosperity preaching, have themselves succumbed to following a pattern of self-centeredness. Like the yeast of the Pharisee, it has permeated even the most influential of us all. Through judgment and suffering God is slowly achieving change from this pattern. God is placing a new cry in the heart of the pastor He is touching and from the people He is leading. It is a cry for authentic true freedom in Christ. And God has heard it. In an unprecidented moving of the Holy Spirit, witnessed by ten churches in Ivano Fronkiesk, with this number increasing monthly, who are laying down their differences for the common good of serving one another.

God is showing and demonstrating, at least in this tiny example of Western Ukraine, what He is wanting to do in a fresh and powerful way around the world. No monies are being exchanged, and no sheep are being stolen. The need for each other is being established. This working of the Holy Spirit does not impinge on their present identity or pressure to all look alike. Not at all! But out of the ashes of the incessant religious fires that have burned far too long is coming a vibrant church who believes in the sovereignty of Christ once again. Poo-hoo this as much as you want. But judgment today is breaking off the yoke of bondage along with the apendages and fetishes for the constant approval of man. Judgment is taking pastors apostolically out of the four walls which have held the people captive, and are offering their help to other unrelated churches. This is without cost and without the need of recognition. Hallelujah! Revival fires are burning again.  Listen to the word of the Lord.

Zech 6:12-13  Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord: Even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both. KJV

The BRANCH; Jesus, our savior whose kingdom is ever growing and expanding, He will build His temple; He alone gets the glory; and He alone governs. He alone unifies the office of king and priest alike, and only under His leadership is suffering alleviated and the religious yoke smashed and broken. In these last days you are about to see a church without walls. Oh, don’t get me wrong. They will still meet in manmade edifices, but they will fellowship with one another without fear and their mandate will be simple: To take the love of God to all mankind.

Neil's painting of the Carpathian Mountains

COMMANDED BLESSINGS

Kris Malinoski, cheeks bulging with compressed air stood outside the inglorious turn of the century hotel, in Ivano Fronkievsk, playing Amazing Grace on his saxophone. Those walking by were immediately arrested by his forceful and faultless playing of the all time favorite hymn. Ivano Fronkievsk, is accustomed to street musicians of various kinds so these pedestrians passed by giving him little more than an interesting smile. Their attention gravitated instinctively beyond this sidewalk artist glancing in wonderment at the newly generated activity at the hotels entrance. As I stood alongside Kris, I heard the cough and splutter of ill tuned four cylinder diesel engines of the “Masharootka’s,” or oversized vans pull up to the curb, offering an unsolicited background hum to the music. Passengers in their ‘Sunday’s-best’ regalia were disembarking from the rattle-trap busses to make their way into the dingy and dimly lit building. Their posh clothing, with bright colors, contrasted and even contradicted the gray old hotel of a past era.

This edifice which once boasted of a hundred or more beautiful suites, now offered only a paltry fraction of those rooms which had been moderately refurbished. Today’s patrons would be the basement bargain hunters seeking low priced accommodation at the convenience of city center privileges. Guests taking advantage of such deals know they would have to acquiesce to communal bathroom facilities, a relatively small inconvenience or trade off for having such great central locality. All new renovations started and ended on the third floor, leaving the rest of the hallmark building to a fate of a slow and lingering demise. One glance at the antique chromatic pictures hanging on the walls instantly took you back to a rich history of this being a prestigious hub for the musical arts. The theater’s two well-designed balconies, wrapped around the main floor which gave its customers a full coverage on any performance on a stage of unusual depth.  

Tonight though, this small auditorium with its well worn floor boards, which creaked and groaned at the slightest provocation and its former luxurious seating, long overdue for new upholstery and much needed padding, hosted a different sort of audience. On fire Christians filled the seats downstairs, in what they now considered church pews, for a combined worship service. Inside there was an unmistakable sense and expectation of what God was about to do. At the very least, He was meeting with His people. Amidst all the hubbub of guitars being tuned and the electric piano being tested, there was the buzz of close friends and new acquaintances greeting each other with ‘Slava Bogo,’ or ‘praise God.’ Above this joyful commotion there was the distinct manifest presence of God in the house. You could feel His smile over this naive group of believers from 10 different backgrounds and churches.

Young and old were coming together for two hours of collective prayer, praise and the preaching of God’s Word. Pastors and congregants were bravely crossing all denominational and doctrinal boundaries for the sole express purpose of worshipping God together! Kept apart over the years by Satan’s stratagems of fear and somewhat grounded lies, they now momentarily left all their individual differences behind and linked arm in arm to boldly shout God’s praises. For all they cared, the entire world was welcomed tonight to hear them worship God. This, my friend, was revival! From past political and present religious oppression, these Christians had a shout in their heart for the King of Kings.

There is a simple integrity of trust being fostered among leaders and saints in and around Ivano Fronkievsk. Everyone is discovering afresh that God does not ‘steal’ sheep, but He adds daily to the church as should be added. This revival is not a ‘flash in the pan,’ ‘fall to the ground,’ ‘taking up three offerings kind of service.’ In fact, there are no offerings received at all. Ten pastors are now standing together in unison and praying for each other’s sheep. This is a miracle in the making. A year earlier there was not this level of trust among the churches. The music and worship teams change every month and are being conducted by one of the participating ten churches. Everyone has a part, everyone is benefitting and everyone is being honored and respected regardless of the size of their congregation. The word preached is exhortative and convicting. People are responding to the Spirit’s wooing and salvation is being given to the hungry and the hurting.

No one could have planned for this; no one could pay for this. God has chosen to place His hand on this religious war-torn area of Ukraine. He started it and He will finish it. The constant prayer that is prayed is no one touches His glory.

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore. Psa. 133:1-3. KJV

MOLD BREAKERS

Life-patterns can be anything from biting your nails to lying or cheating. You want to break the cycle but can’t. This force of habit can reach deep into the inner emotions. For instance, responding to a jealous spirit will make you feel miserable. It's pain is continuous like the slow and constant drip from a leaky faucet . You masquerade in the costume of concern or protectionism, but it is a self destructive life-pattern which you need to be free from. For others it can be bitterness of soul which the bible refers to as a ‘root,’ or inner heart condition. 

Once you engage in this business of old life patterns it is like letting the cat out the bag. It scratches and claws all the way. Your attitude will make you feel terrible. Your fingers bleed from that last tear at those already chewed down nails, and there seems to be no end in sight. Your emotions are constantly in an upheaval and are triggered again and again by ill conceived perceptions of what you imagine other people are thinking. For some they spend hours not sleeping because of worry. They nurse fears all night long. Instead of being rested in the morning they are exhausted. Do you think God doesn’t know these things? Of course He does. Not only does He know and understand your situation, He is already at work to break the mold.

Sheba, alias, Ugly, the dog who attached herself to us and our wonderful German Shepherd, is intrinsically incorrigible. She is after all the neighborhood stray. The reject, so ugly even her mother abandoned her. Completely beaten down in spirit she would crawl on her belly to try and get into the house. Now she stubbornly does everything she can to get out. If you are curious at all, you would be asking the question, “Why?” Well as the saying goes, ‘curiosity killed the cat; but satisfaction brought it back.’ So let me explain this ongoing saga which is revealing many of the stubborn secrets of the heart.

God spoke to me to embrace this flea bitten taxi of a dog as mentioned in a previous blog. Sheba now eats a constant meal from our table and has a permanent home with us. Life should be perfect for her now, right! Wrong! She still loves to stray and eat garbage even after a healthy hearty meal. A life-pattern forced upon her from birth no doubt.

We decided recently she needed a bath. After all, is that not what we need when we come to Christ? A bath! So into the bath Sheba went. The water turned instantly into a murky muddy pond. Goodness, she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. Amazingly, all her real colors were revealed in that moment. For her, this must have been the very first bath in her life. You would imagine she would be filled with gratitude by all of our loving care. But no! All she could think of was how do I get out of this place. So it is with us when light is shined upon our somewhat unwelcoming heart attitudes.  How do we escape. Do not get disappointed or discouraged at this point when after receivig a cleansing from Christ, your true old nature is seen for what it really is - Ugly! God is not finished with us yet. We are all a work in progress.

We discovered, at least for now, Sheba still prefers the dirt of the world to the cleanliness of a new home. To keep her from wandering we placed her inside a fenced area, in what she now, unfortunately, considers it ‘a gated community.’ We are helping to break the mold of her straying, running wild and doing her own thing. These strongholds are deeply impressed and ingrained reactions in her life. Call it anything you like, but little by little we are with love and guidance chipping away at her instinctive self-preservation. We are allowing her to form a new reliance and dependance with her adopted owners. Does any of this sound familiar?

The key is not sternness or control. It is  forming a bond with her through love and constant feeding of quality food. Slowly Sheba is coming around to the fact she can trust humans, that someone has her back and will be there for her. This is not a one day process. She claws and whines to be loose. Let her out to do her business and she is gone like a shot. Back into the forest, back to the old haunts of garbage digging. Our natural inclination is to let her go, give up on her. Like a cracked record (this statement is understood by anyone 50 years or older) we keep rehersing the statement, “Why can’t she be just like ‘Buster’ who was raised in the house of rightousness?” But Sheba is unique. She is her own person and no sooner do we think those awful thoughts when around the corner she appears wagging her tail coming home again. Asking us to love her, to accept her as she is. Oh! That prodigal child. :)

Read between the lines. God is speaking to someone today. He (God) is causing you to rethink your self-reliance. He has been feeding you, cleansing you, creating a bond through love to help you abandon yourself into His loving arms. Biting your nails only hurts you and does not bring about any lasting change. Jealousies, anger, bitterness, all of these are real foes of inner peace.  They are at best a broken reed, which when leaned upon pierce your hand.

Stop for one moment, reflect on God’s goodness. Take time today to smell the roses. Think of all the blessings in your life, these are the real mold breakers. God is leading you to trust Him. He has a great track record of success. Chew a nail today if you wish, but when you do, with each nibble, count His many blessings. You will find God has been taking care of you all along. He is breaking the mold of old life-patterns of thinking and acting in your life. He is literally casting the mountain of your woes into the sea. He is doing all this by simply loving and blessing you.

So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life — your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life — and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

(Romans 12:1-2, from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

AN ANOINTING FOR THE MUNDANE

It’s a crisp morning and the orange hues are already streaking across the European sky. It’s 4:15am and we awaken to the sound of early birds tweeting for anyone who cared to listen. (We are suffering from Jet lag)  It is beautiful outside. I take my dog out so he can sniff the scent of all the night’s marauding stray animals. As he runs around, as if he’s chasing rabbits, I often wonder what goes through his head when he inhales all those strange odors. “Ah, that’s the dog from up the road; he’s so skinny he’s not a threat to me. Or, that’s the Heinz 57 breed; he’s definitely no danger to my territory.” After a few minutes I bring him back inside and make coffee for Noline and myself. We sit on the bed and have a short discussion of today’s activities. I decide first off to blog while it’s still cool. You know the old colloquialism; “Red sky at night is a shepherd’s delight, red sky in the morning is a shepherds warning.” Meaning, it will be cool in the evening and morning but really hot by midday. So I take advantage of the cool morning. Welcome to Ukraine!

We arrived back yesterday from the whirlwind trip to New York, London, Stoke on Trent, Liverpool and Norwich. I spoke to an executive board and at two leaders’ meetings. But now our internal timetable is horribly messed up. We want to sleep when we should be awake and are awake when we should be sleeping. But this is the mundane of life for which there is an anointing to get things accomplished.

This morning I have a plethora of thoughts running through my mind. There is a fence to purchase and install so my dog does not dig up the neighbors garden. There’s a closet to build so my wife doesn’t kill me as we are still living out of boxes a year plus after leaving NYC. Then there are ministry trips to arrange and leaders to call; I have to get my car serviced, do registration so we can stay in the country and go to the American Embassy to have a form stamped and signed. Believe me; we need an anointing for the mundane!

As I write this I think of the millions of moms who are not in the work force outside their homes. Many could go as attaché’s to foreign countries with the training they have had. They constantly avert near World War three episodes with children who refuse to listen. They could easily handle top executive positions, since they are so qualified in multitasking; laundry, cooking, cleaning with the constant barrage of; “mom where’s my shirt? Or mom, where’s my lunch box.” They deal with the same myriad of issues as you and I and yet may suffer with thoughts of, “I’m so unspiritual.” So for all you stay at home moms and dads, there is an anointing for the mundane.

You can tap into this anointing today. Realize God sees you as spiritual because His Son is resident in your heart. Spirituality is not deemed by what you do or don’t do, it is reckoned by who you have in your life. Remember, “God's loyal love couldn't have run out, his merciful love couldn't have dried up. They're created new every morning.”

(Lam 3:22-23, from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

  

SAYING GOODBYE TO DAVID WILKERSON

The sun had almost set over the huge agricultural expanse of Ukraine. We were on the overnight train cutting through the heartland heading back to Ivano Frankievsk, back to revival meetings. Noline was with me on this trip. There hung over us a pall of sadness, as we contemplated not being there at the memorial service of a friend and father to so many. We were sad not to have the chance to link arm in arm with thousands of others who felt the same way. Now, not even the romantic ‘clickity-clack’ of the old lumbering train could soothe the heaviness we felt. It was sorrow upon sorrow. We were finding it so difficult to try and wrap our head around the fact that Bro. Dave was gone.

Mercy however, can come in a small package. In our case it was the Blackberry. Thank the Lord for modernity and the love hate relationship that comes with it. We call it the technological revolution. We love it when it works and hate it when it doesn’t. Today, we loved it. From thousands of miles away that little black innovation called a cellular telephone beeped three times letting me know it had just received a text message. Having gone from 500 messages a month, to virtually none, my immediate reaction was to reach into my jacket pocket and retrieve my phone.

Starved from communication with friends and family abroad, we both with bated breath, eagerly scanned the screen to see who had just texted us. It was a loyal friend in NYC stating she was about to call. It is amazing, almost miraculous, how we can connect with one another from thousands of miles away. The melancholy mood, which had previously pervaded our compartment, had lifted and an air of expectancy now made a shining light in the settling dusk. It seemed an eternity for the familiar vibration and ring tone to activate, signalling a call was coming through. You may ask why all the details? Just get to the point. I can’t! When you are feeling cut off and out of touch with what is happening on the other side of the Atlantic, details count. They become your life.

Our friend had been moved upon and touched by the Holy Spirit, giving evidence the body of Christ was alive and well. She was purchasing tickets for us to travel to NYC so we could attend the planned memorial service. So much for: ‘God is dead. God remains dead,’ spoken by Atheist, Friedrich Nietzsche. Who also said, ‘I find it necessary to wash my hands after I have come into contact with religious people.’ Wash my hands of God’s people? Never! I wanted to take my hands and hug her in deep gratitude.

Flying into La Guardia, our emotions were in an upheaval. We are complex creatures at best. We simultaneously express sorrow of heart and nervous excitement, one betraying the other as circumstances in life change. Once in the city, we were greeted (not personally) with human placards declaring judgment and the end of the world on the 21^st. We sighed with relief. New York thankfully had not changed. We were home.

On Saturday, we walked down the familiar streets to Times Square Church for the memorial service. We were overwhelmingly swamped by many of our friends from the past 12 years. This was our time to say our goodbye to David Wilkerson. Because of this one man we had the privilege of befriending hundreds of people. It all seemed a continual contradiction of sentiment. Yet, Jesus gives us His example of the same feelings. After the death of John the Baptist, He immediately called His disciples away into the wilderness to spend some time alone. Obviously, this was a grieving moment for the Lord who considered John one of the greatest prophets. Yet no sooner had He made His way into a solitary place He was inundated by the multitudes. Jesus did not pretend there was no sorrow; He just allowed both grief and compassion to flow concurrently from Him. In a small measure we too were doing the same.

The service was awesome, anointed, honest, compassionate and challenging; a meeting which was indelibly imprinted on our hearts. It will be remembered with deep appreciation.  Brother Dave was duly honored by all; musicians, speakers and congregation alike. While standing in the closing worship I thanked the Lord for the 12 years He gave me to be a part of this church. I also thanked David Wilkerson for loving and accepting us and being an example of a true man of God. I said my farewells. I knew I could now leave for the work God has entrusted me with. We head back to Ukraine with joy to continue to fulfill the mandate given by the Lord.

A VISIT TO THE LOCAL LANDFILL – THE GARBAGE DUMP!

It’s a picture perfect spring day. Not a cascading cloud in the sky. The warm rays of the early sun are beckoning you to sit and bask a while and take in all of God’s beauty. The streaking sunbeams were hitting perfectly and magnificently on the new young leaves growing and contrasting on the old knotty trees who gave them life. This sunlight produced a breathtaking transparency of thalo yellow green to the foliage generating an aura of an idyllic world made up of peace and harmony.

So why were we not taking full advantage of this exquisiteness while sipping mugs of piping hot instant coffee mixed with condensed milk? People everywhere are paying top dollar to be vacationing in such beauty; especially if the country was called France, Italy or the romantic get-away island of Gozo, just off the coast of Malta. If you remember, Malta was where the Apostle Paul was shipwrecked nearly two thousand years ago.

Instead, there is no peace, but a sick gut feeling of loss. Noline and I are up and out of the house early today on a mission to the village landfill. Here we were on this faultless morning, scratching through the tons of garbage bags and it’s not even 6:45am. So what in the world were we doing there and why have we donned clinical rubber gloves and gotten down on bended knees sifting through the trash? The reason is simple. We are heading off to New York City in a couple of days.

You could be asking, “Is there a correlation here?” Actually, no! “Well,” you may be saying, “you are waxing extremely poetic and you have used more adjectives, in these few sentences, than a novice writer would have done. You are either working really hard to try to impress us to  keep reading your blog, or you are going to make a point out of  this. But for right now you are not making any sense at all.” You would probably be right on both accounts. I love to keep you reading, and yes I will make a point of my Rhodetrek (pun intented) to keep us all real.

Here’s the scoop. Having trained as a hygienist, I have spent hours cleaning the teeth of men, women and children as part of our mission mandate. Noline also requested a polishing before heading to the ‘Big Apple,’ hence the immediate problem. After the last patient, I, being 58 years old, tossed out the head of my new 2011, state of the art, prophy handheld polisher. This was a catastrophe. Without it, the polisher is useless. We had to leave instantly before they bulldozered that small stainless steel gadget into the ground forever.

So there we were, with the regular crew of dumpster dogs eyeing us out suspiciously, as if we were the intruders into their kitchen of tossed out scraps. After all we were on their turf looking for that piece of metal no bigger than a small person's thumb.

Under our breath was the distinct sound of prayer to a God who knows all things and whose all seeing eye knew exactly where this precious object was. Miraculously, after a half hour of digging, my beautiful wife, who radiated a conqueror's triumphant smile over her defeated foe said, “Is this it?” There it was, lifted up high in her hand like the torch of Lady Liberty for all the world to see. My prophy head, glistening in the rich ultra violet rays of the glorious sun, as if to say, "you found me!" Oh, I could have kissed her right there and then, but with our canine audience still warily watching our every move I opted for the Christianize, “thank you Jesus!” Don’t get me wrong, I am not ashamed to kiss my wife anywhere. But this was answered prayer for sure. He did show us, and it was my wife He used to dig it up and not me. I love it. I love it when God chooses the weaker vessel to show His glory.

Please don’t malign me or to use the popular verbage, marginalize me, for what may look like a spiritual capitalizing of this not so typical human experience. But are you willing to allow the Lord to sift through the mountain of learned Christian behavior and language to reach your heart, so you can obey His voice. We have an extravaganza of preached sermons on how to hear the voice of God. It makes for a great preach and an even greater altar call; but in the long run very few take time in His presence. They don’t sit long enough for God to work in and through them. Lastly, I committed today, no matter how insignificant they are, to go to the refuse of society, to find those who are considered nothing, but who are really treasures in the hand of God.

Have a really great day.