November 17, 2007

 

 

Beloved friends in Christ,

May you have a blessed and wonderful Thanksgiving Day celebration that is a natural outflow of a life of thanksgiving. “Thank You,” is perhaps the most appropriate prayer we could ever give in any circumstances. Thank You for salvation, life, mercy, provision, promises, health, hope, family, purpose …for everything, even the disguised blessings. 

 

For many whose families have suffered the devastation of the world’s ravages, this holiday is a tough one. Expectations, “resentments under construction,” run high and are usually unattainable.

 

However, I believe Thanksgiving is one of the primary reasons that the blessing of God remains on this nation. We have obviously lost or loosened our Christian and moral underpinnings and are worshippers of money, sex, fame, sports, drugs, health, political correctness, etc. ad nauseam. Yet when millions of American families bow around the festive table and thank God for His blessings, God is greatly pleased. It is His heart to lead us to repentance through kindness. It is His desire to continue to bless us. He has no pleasure in the wicked getting what is coming to them. He came Himself in the person of Jesus to take what the wicked had coming, so we might receive His righteousness. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!

 

Jim, one of the Crushed Grapes Elders, lives on a small acreage at the foot of Palomar Mountain. He heard the honking and the command to evacuate, barely. He roused his family, packed them all in his truck with a trailer, and started following them out of the fire area. He remembered a bank with his cash in it, and returned. The fire was heading straight at his place, driven by fifty-mile-an-hour winds. He did a few things, and then in concern for his neighbors who may not have heard the command, he went towards the fire and began waking several sleeping neighbors, who would have probably perished. He returned to his place and started putting out the fires with a large hose and pump. It was going well until the electrical transformer exploded on the pole and the hose went limp. He ran to the car to leave and pray and heard the quiet voice within say “Look at your water tank.”

 

The lights on the pump at the tank were on. He got the hose going again, put out the fire in two bales of hay which had ignited, spread out the hay, sprayed a few other hot spots and the hose went limp again.  About that time, a truck and fire crew arrived, and Jim supplied them with shovels. They put some gel on the buildings and for the next several days, Jim fought the fire, assisted the crews, and provided water from his tank and other neighbors’ tanks. Before this, the crews were making a forty-minute round trip to fill their trucks.

 

Blinded by the choking smoke, Jim would periodically drive up the road toward the top of the mountain to get above the smoke to see where the battle should be fought.

 

Jim’s mother had been suffering from dementia and graduated to glory four days before the fire. She was on oxygen, and Jim had put the tanks in the car, not wanting them in the house where they could explode. During five grueling days, Jim got fifteen hours sleep total, but when he needed a rest, he went to the car and breathed the oxygen. He said it was better than caffeine without the jitters.

 

Just look at what God can do: Use you to save lives. Make pumps work after the electricity source explodes.  Send co-workers at the right time to help and be helped. Provide a place above the battles to see where and how to fight. (He who has ears, let him hear.) Have provisions on hand for when the need arises. Okay, all together with me, “Thank You, Thank You, Thank You.”

 

Personal notes: The book is progressing slowly, but surely. I have been doing some commuting to Tijuana for dental work. The “miracle” car appeared to die, but it now looks like an inexpensive resurrection is in the mix. Tuesday meetings at Brother Benno’s Good Samaritan House are a favorite of mine. The Saturday morning “church” meetings in Oceanside are small but greatly blessed. Betty and I seem to be in good health. Sarah continues to struggle, lots of tests and medical appointments, but her spirit is strong and vibrant. Wedding plans are still in the mix.

 

God bless you spirit-filled ones who are, “always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Eph. 5:20.

Love,

Frank