CRUSHED GRAPES MINISTRY |
Frank B. Smith, Director, PO Box 3009, Vista, CA. 92085-3009 |
| May 18, 1998
Dear Friends and Loved Ones, May the overwhelming love and mercy of God touch your life and seep deep into your spirit where God's Spirit is joined to your spirit. May you be awestruck at the depth of His love. May all doubts of your personal worthiness of His great love to you be melted into oblivion as He washes you, nourishes you, encourages you, speaks to you in the inner place, directs your steps, feeds you with the hidden manna, holds you in His hand close to His heart, and allows you to be His servant in sharing this love to many during these fruitful harvest days. www.crushedgrapes.org If you're on the net and haven't checked out the site, please give it a once over. Ray Zukowski has done a wonderful job for us [bless him, Lord], and we are beginning to get some visits. All my books and poetry are available free for the downloading, and the way the material is presented is nice. In fact I have downloaded from the net, How To Start a House Church for distribution to those who can't get it, because the fonts, type, and layout is much better than what I had in the computer. Please help publicize the web site. I believe the dissemination of Ultimate Evangelism and the materials in How To are important for this day. Thanks a lot for any help. Timely Reminder Seeing the celebration of Israel's 50th jubilee birthday jogged my end-times awareness. These dates are very significant to me, and I believe to God. The jubilee celebration goes on for one year ending in May 1999. "He [anti-Christ] will confirm a covenant [treaty] with the many [Rabin] for one seven [seven years]. In the middle of the seven..." Daniel 9:27 The Oslo accord was originally titled the seven year treaty. The intention to follow the accord was signed by Arafat and Rabin at the White House in September 1993. The confirmation was made as a covenant with the grave [Is. 28:15ff] at the funeral of Rabin, November 1995. If all this is significant, the middle of the seven year period comes in May of 1999 at the end of the Jubilee of Israel. The times, time and half a time, or forty two months, or 1,260 days of Revelation all converge in May of 1999. "He who has an ear, let him hear ... This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints." Rev. 13:9,10. Another call to wake up and bring in the harvest is the prophetic message of the Titanic. My thoughts after seeing this epic are included in this newsletter, with a prophetic message. Getting Tired Because the bridegroom was a long time in coming, Jesus said all ten virgins, both the wise and the foolish, became drowsy and fell asleep. I have been blowing the trumpet to prepare for His return for so long I wonder if others are thinking, "Come on, Frank. Get off it." I think, "You've said all this before. Just take it easy, you don't need to get this newsletter out. The ministry of evangelism, deliverance, and healing is going great at the ranch, and you're still holding forth the standard of church of the city to the leaders." STOP! Wow, what an ugly paragraph of self-serving justification. I am easily lulled, and I suspect this is a common problem for many. Don't let your love, your zeal, and your commitment to serve our coming King grow cold. Another mark of this time is, "Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold." Notice it says, "most," not some, not a few, but most. Since we are living in this world of increasing wickedness, do all the right things to keep your love for Jesus hot and passionate. Most of us are aware of the principles of keeping love in a relationship - spend time, quality time, communicate, acknowledge the other, be honest, be vulnerable, get away together, etc. etc. Do what you know you should do. Green Oak Ranch Union Rescue Mission finally sold Green Oak Ranch. Arie DeJong's purchase took effect the end of January, and Green Oak Ranch Foundation is now the official owner. But it is Arie's faith, money, and vision that allow us to continue on as before. Monetarily we lose thousands of dollars every month. Spiritually we gain uncountable treasure in the reclaimed lives of men, women, and children. Carl Fielstra is still the Director and I continue on as a sort of consulting Chaplain. Arie comes most Wednesdays for Chapel and Community meeting. He always comes with several friends and family members. I love his tender heart and thank God he purchased the Ranch to continue this fruitful and Christ-glorifying ministry. I usually go to Vista Tuesday morning and meet with some of the Elders of the Church of Vista. Then the rest of the day is spent in very unstructured counseling and prayer at the Ranch. Wednesdays begin with a 5:30 AM prayer gathering at a downtown fellowship in Vista, Chapel at 8:30, leadership meeting till noon, and then back home Wednesday afternoon. On week-ends I typically return to the Ranch sometime Saturday, teach a class in the evening, and lead the service on Sunday. However, nothing is usually "typical," and sometimes I am in North San Diego County other days as well. Amerivision, Lifeline Last month Crushed Grapes received thirty three dollars towards the ministry from Lifeline. This is a huge increase and I hope it is a foretaste of things to come from our web site. If you would like to upgrade your telephone service and cause 10% of your bill to go to Crushed Grapes, please call 1-800-800-7550 and specify Crushed Grapes, number 66514. Thank you. May God's overwhelming love, grace, compassion, and favor upon you, be a solid anchor of hope for you in an alien world. May the light of Jesus shine brighter and brighter through you as the darkness intensifies. And may your love for God our Father, and the Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit grow deeper and more intimate all the time. I love you and bless you in Jesus name. Frank
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