January 28, 1998

Dear Friends and Loved Ones,

May the tender mercy of our God, whereby the Dayspring from on High has visited us, wash over you in waves of intimacy and blessing, understanding and enlightenment, peace and serenity. May His still small voice be clearly discerned in your heart of hearts where the eternal secrets of the Almighty are revealed in your quiet time together - "I love you. I will never leave you. I am delighted to be your Father."

May your faith increase and your walk gain confidence in that which is true and genuine. May your vision constantly improve to see what is sham and what is solid, what will last and what is temporary. May your investments be securely in place where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. May you celebrate exuberantly with the angels of God as many are ushered into His Kingdom, and may you have your share of joy in these days of transition by netting not a few yourself.

LONG TIME

This edition of the "semi-regular" newsletter is a lot more "semi" than usual. I would like to dazzle you with reasons and excuses, but there really are none. I did get assigned to the editing job for Rick Hohn’s auto-biography, but that was finished by December. It gets harder every year to write at Christmas time, and I suppose I procrastinated past it. I do hope you had a blessed time with your families centered around Jesus however you celebrate or don’t celebrate that day. The couple days a week I spend at Green Oak Ranch highlights for me the viciousness of our unreal and unfulfilled expectations, especially surrounding Christmas. He is coming again, and then we’ll really celebrate and our expectations will be more than met.

BEGINNING NOT END

We talk (me) more about the end of all things as we know them, instead of focusing on the Kingdom of God which is coming forth in power and glory. We are in a similar situation to Jesus and His disciples as they made their last trip to Jerusalem. Jesus is leading them, and clearly explains that He must be condemned, turned over to the Gentiles, mocked, spit upon, whipped, and crucified, and that He would rise on the third day. The disciples were afraid. They were numb with confusion, yet so like us they still managed an argument about sitting in the places of honor.

In much of the world today our brother’s and sisters are experiencing tribulation on a scale unknown in history. We read stories about implanted ID chips and understand why they would be a good idea from the world’s perspective. The movement toward a one world "big brother type" beastly government is rushing to fulfillment on hundreds of fronts. Those who want to resist this inevitable happening here in the United States are overwhelmed and don’t know where to fight. For every victory in stemming the tide there appears to be hundreds of places where freedom loses.

Those of us who love our country are saddened by this state of affairs, but we are not heartbroken. We are looking elsewhere. As the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11, we are longing for a better country - a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called our God, for He has prepared a city for us. Beloved, that city is almost on us, and rather than focus on the deep darkness that is covering the earth, set your mind of the glory and majesty of God which will soon overwhelm us, and the awesome revival that is taking place even now.

We’re not going from here to there by going around the troubles. We must through much tribulation enter the Kingdom. We are going through. There is a Kingdom coming, just as there was a resurrection for Jesus after He endured the cross and the sufferings.

In the transitional period today between life as we’ve known it for six thousand years and the millennial Sabbath, we tend to focus on the "tribulations." But remember, there is at least another thousand years of life here on planet earth, better and more glorious than anything we’ve known so far. We will all live during that time [all who know Jesus, or are born from above], even if we have the privilege of giving our lives for Him just before He returns. The daily prayer of our Father’s family for His Kingdom to come is about to be answered. Hallelujah! Maranatha!

Also remember that we know in part. None of us knows the whole picture. Therefore, the only wise course of action is the one the Lord tells you to take. Do what He says, even if it is to run for political office, plant trees, or plan for a family.

THE KINGDOM SUFFERS VIOLENCE

Some weeks ago during early morning quiet time, the Lord impressed on me the consistent, on-going problem of dragging our old nature into the Kingdom and causing violence to the plans and purposes of God. This was a wonderful time of revelation. I had never been satisfied with the typical interpretations about the Kingdom suffering violence and the violent taking it by force, and my own understanding was at best very splotchy. Now it made sense, and it fit with all the reasons for Jesus to speak in parables - lest they see and hear and turn and He would have to heal them.

When we are born from above our spirits are made alive and joined to His Spirit within. Our soul then begins the renewal process wherein the image of God is restored in us. Our thinking, feelings, and emotions become more like Jesus all the days of our life. Our old nature, which was killed with Jesus on the cross in our baptism, is to remain dead, but it keeps returning to life. It is to be reckoned dead, but it constantly reminds us of sins and failures. It is given no place in our lives, yet it demands it’s rights and is expert at self-defense.

The proper mind set is Jesus’ attitude who emptied himself, demanded nothing, and did nothing on His own initiative. Our first acts are to be acts of repentance or change in our behavior and thinking. Our hearts are to be broken and contrite, not arrogant and demanding. Wisdom begins for us with the fear of the Lord, not bargaining and conniving with God.

We are like the priests to whom Malachi was written as we call the arrogant blessed, evildoers prosper, and those who challenge God escape. The Kingdom of God suffers the violence of those who grasp the covenants or promises of God and who seek to hold God to His word for their unrenewed soul’s sake or to bless their old nature. Faith ceases to be that with which we please God and marries the leech’s daughter - gimme, gimme, gimme. The Kingdom suffers. The cross is only Jesus’ cross through which we are declared righteous, and not the one we daily embrace as we deny ourselves.

The Kingdom of God is not meat and drink. The Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. May it not suffer because of me and my actions.

Jesus, I repent for every act of saving my life instead of losing it for Your sake. I turn away from my demands, and ask for Your will and Your wisdom. I desire to please You and be a cause of Your blessing to many. I’m sorry for being so selfish and greedy and ask You change my heart, to renew my soul, and to bless Your Kingdom through me.

Rick Hohn is a fifty year old servant of God with severe cerebral palsy. He cannot walk, talk, feed himself, or do any of the myriad of little things that we take for granted. He has enough controlled movement of his head to type with a stylus-like-pointer attached to a headband and extending from his forehead. With this pointer Rick has opened up his world and made a tremendous impact.

Rick and Irene asked me to help them with this book in August of ’97. I was involved in several projects that I thought were of huge importance in the Kingdom of God. As I prayed, the Lord impressed me that I was doing nothing that was more important than this, and that I should help them. He also put a higher priority on this book than my other projects. Several times the house church network or the creation of the web page or haranguing to leaders about church of the city were pushed to a back burner for the book. I told Rick and Irene that I thought they were in "cahoots" with God over this. They are. And God is in "cahoots" with them in using Rick’s story to His glory in these last few moments before the millennial sabbath begins.

One of the first questions I asked after agreeing to help was, "How long did it take you to write this?"

Between Rick’s talking board and Irene’s speech, which is becoming clearer to me, I deciphered, "From ten to ten, six days a week, five years."

The image of Rick pecking at the typewriter all those hours and days and weeks and months and years typing the manuscript haunts me. During some of the editing sessions, when something had to be removed, I felt pain. In a few seconds several words or a sentence or two that must have taken hours or even days to type were cut out.

The insights and depth of perception in Rick are awesome. Fifty years of a brilliant mind, trapped in a body that won’t respond is beyond comprehension. This book is a large window into an unimagined world. A mind altering experience is also gained when you hear Rick preach through his DynaVox speaking computer.

I recommend you buy the book and let God touch you through Rick’s story. It is available for a suggested donation of $20.00. Also invite him to come and preach in your fellowship. I guarantee that his Christ-glorifying message will banish all moaning, complaining, and bitching for a significant period of time.

To order the book, or schedule Rick to preach:

Email: Rickstalk@Juno.com
telephone: (760) 598-8336
address: 1125 Cottonwood, Vista, CA 92083

"GOD WILLING"-Taichung, Taiwan the end of March, Baltimore Maryland mid June, and any other locations God might assign while coming or going.

FINALLY, www.crushedgrapes.org is a registered domain name with the Internet, a server has been contracted, and Ray Zukowski has agreed to be webmaster who uploads all the Crushed Grapes books , articles, and propaganda to the site. So, if you’re on the net, look us up and help yourself to anything there. May God use this to His glory.

LIFELINE Remember Crushed Grapes is a part of Amerivision’s Lifeline. You can switch [upgrade] your long-distance service, pay less, and still cause 10% of your bill to come to Crushed Grapes by calling 1-800-800-7550 and giving them #66514. Thank you.

God bless you and use you mightily in His Kingdom during these awesome days when those who are wise do exploits for our King and shine with His radiated glory.