Good morning and happy Saturday. I hope that you had a great Christmas. I really enjoyed mine. God blessed us with a wonderful Christmas Eve service. Omar and his team did a fantastic job with the music. There is just something about that service that makes Christmas special. Then, spending Christmas Eve and Day with family was really good. And now, today is the day where you pick up the remnants of the wrapping paper and try to figure out where you are going to put all of the stuff you just got. Nevertheless, we can keep the Christmas spirit alive throughout the year by seeking to worship the One born King of the Jews, our Savior, Christ the Lord. Amen and amen.
As you have probably picked up on from reading these Ramblings, I like to read the news (and I have a weird perspective on things, but that is a story for another time). I like to be informed on what is going on locally, nationally and around the world. I also check different sources since all of the them have their own biases. Lately, most of the news is a bit discouraging. There is just a lot of stuff going on in the world that makes you question the sanity of world leaders, the misfortune of those that live in the 10/40 window, the instability of the world, and the fragility of life. Most of the time, I am not really shocked by anything I hear or read. Maybe it is being desensitized due to the sheer volume of information. Whatever the case, I was shocked when I read an article this week.
In California, two men were in the hospital due to Covid. If you haven’t heard, LA County in overwhelmed right night. So these two strangers are in a double room being treated. One of the men was 82 and the other 37. Something triggered the younger man, so he attacked the older man and struck him with an oxygen bottle. Sadly, the older man died the next day. So, what was he doing that was so offensive? The reports say that he was praying. That’s right, he was talking wit God. We could assume that he might have been asking for God’s help since he was in the hospital. He might have even been praying for his roommate. We don’t know those details, only that he was praying and the other man wanted him to stop. How tragic. However, it is a reminder that spiritual warfare is real. We don’t really expect something like this to happen here, but we do know there are places around the world that if you are caught praying in the name of Jesus you would be beaten or killed. I personally believe that we are going to start seeing more evidence of spiritual warfare and persecution in America. It is inevitable. There is so much that is being allowed, accepted and promoted here that is an affront to God and a violation of His Word. How long will God allow a nation to mock Him before He responds?
This past week, we were reminded of the spiritual battle that we are in. As most of you know, last Saturday was an incredible day in the life of our ministry. The two Christmas parties we had were the culmination of many months of ministry with the children and youth of our community. For a few, even longer. But Saturday was the day that God chose to move in a significant way. He blessed us by allowing us to witness multiple people including adults make decisions for Christ. It was absolutely incredible. It was also surprising as well. There wasn’t any indication that Saturday was going to be that special. Things had been fairly routine up until then. But praise God He did the incredible! For that we rejoice. And then Wednesday came. Throughout the last few years, there has bee a pattern that has become fairly predictable. Soon after something amazing happens, like multiple salvations or a baptism serve, we are quickly reminded of the spiritual warfare around us. On Wednesday, we had a group of youth wander in off of the street that sought to disrupt everything we were doing. Things went downhill rather quickly. We had to hold youth apart to break up a fight. Finally, we had to throw them out and we just took everyone else home. Needless to say, it was a bad night. However, it was a reminder that what we are doing is real. We are on the frontlines of a spiritual battle in our community. Our adversary fights back when we see spiritual victories. It comes with the territory. It might have even been a ploy to get some of us discouraged prior to the Christmas Eve service that would be 24 hours later. But praise God it did not. We had a tremendous service and Christ was exalted.
As we get ready for 2021, please allow me to remind you that we all need to pray for each other and the church. We will seek to do even more ministry, to reach more people with the Gospel, to impact our community in greater ways. In doing so, we will press further into enemy territory. Each of us needs to be prepared spiritually for the battle at hand, we need to put on the full armor of God. It is going to be great when we see the victories and it is going to be difficult at times. Nevertheless, what we are doing is incredibly important and worthwhile. And, it is what the Lord has led us to do.
Let’s do this!
Pastor Larry
Ephesians 6:10-20
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