CRUSHED GRAPES MINISTRY |
Frank B. Smith, Director, PO Box 3009, Vista, CA. 92085-3009 |
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August 10, 2008
Dear fellow lights of the world,
"Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the LORD rises
upon you.
See, darkness covers the
earth and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the LORD rises
upon you and his glory appears over you.” Isaiah 60:1,2
One man, Adam, opened the gates to sin, darkness, and
alienation. Sin came in like a flood together with its companions of
decay, disease, death, and destruction. Creation had an ego infestation.
The increase of wickedness grew and spread exponentially. By the time of
the flood, God had had it. Mankind had become so violent that God was
grieved that He ever made us. God ratcheted up the effects of sin by
tilting the earth, shortening life spans, and dumbing us down so that we
could not use all of our immense creative power for evil.
In Eden, there was only one rule. After the rebellion, God
gave ten rules, then hundreds and thousands. No one ever was accepted by
God through these rules. The law became the instrument God used to show us
that we cannot save ourselves or become acceptable by what we do. God
Himself would have to come and take care of it for us. He did just that.
Jesus, the creative Word, became flesh and lived the only
perfect life under the law. He fulfilled or filled full the law and then
offered Himself up as our substitute to pay the price for us. Jesus has
brought us back to the relationship Adam and Eve enjoyed in the Garden of
Eden before the sin catastrophe - and then some. God walked with them, but
He lives in us. They had one rule: “Don’t eat that.” We have one rule:
“Love.”
The old covenant of law has been made obsolete by the new
covenant of grace. Heb.8:13 The law never made anyone perfect. Heb. 7:19
We have been made perfect forever. Heb. 10:14
Now in this Sabbath millennium we sons and daughters of God
are to set creation free from its bondage to decay. We are to expedite the
Elijah Task to “restore all things.” Matt. 17:11. God is doing His part;
we are to do our part. I believe God will fix the earth’s wobble and tilt.
He will extend our lifespan (already happening), and the violence of man
on this earth is to be replaced by the love of God through us.
Who is up for such a task? Only those who can truly say, “I
can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me. Do you believe it?
Let’s do it!
Schedule:
God-willing I am traveling to Auburn, Washington for
Jonathan Anderson’s wedding and to spend time with Steve and Christi
Anderson of “Answer The Call Ministry.” From there I will hop a plane to
Dallas for the House2House Convention. I plan to stay with Chris Fraker
and Robert McMurray in Denton Texas, and preach at the ACTS Bible School
on August 31. From there I will drive up to Gardner Kansas to see my kid
brother who is in pretty bad shape with dementia, leukemia, diabetes, etc.
I will, God-willing, return on September 4.
Betty has scheduled cataract surgery on August 19. Please
pray that it goes as quickly and smoothly as they say it will. Also a
prayer request is for transportation. The “miracle car” has defied all
expectations, but is now in a state of disrepair that seems terminal.
Thank you.
The August Saturday morning Oceanside church gathering is
scheduled for the 16th at 10:30 AM, at “The Place” 4168 Avenida
de la Plata.
God bless you beyond anything you have ever experienced. We
need this blessing as we rise up and face our awesome assignments. The
greatest victories are in the midst of the greatest perils – fiery
furnaces, lions’ dens, fishes bellies, between an army and a sea, locked
in the inner prison with feet in stocks, etc., etc.
The thick darkness of the world is often disguised as light
and beauty as in the spectacular opening ceremonies of the Olympics. Many
house church leaders in and around Beijing were swept away and imprisoned
last week. May our brothers and sisters rise and shine as the glory of the
Lord appears over them in their perilous places of shining. Shine,
beloved! Shine.
Love,
Frank
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