promises

I am reading the Psalms in the mornings again, the refreshing songs and poems that stir my heart and speak just as much today as they did when I was a child. My childhood and adolescent mornings were spent drowsily reading portions of the Psalms and Proverbs for twenty years. Under the watchful eye of our parents, neither of which had been parented well, we grew up with daily family worship: Scripture reading and prayer. 

Floods of memories of time spent investing in the eternal Kingdom of my heart engulf my mind as I read the Words again and again. Thank You, Abba Father, for them and for the parents who gave us all this priceless gift!

"Those who love Your law have great peace, And nothing causes them to stumble. I hope for Your salvation, O LORD, And do Your commandments. My soul keeps Your testimonies, And I love them exceedingly. I keep Your precepts and Your testimonies, For all my ways are before You." (Psalms 119:165-168 NASB)

death and eternity

Heidi Nadolny, my brother's ex-wife's sister-in-law, called me on Wednesday to let us know that her beloved daddy had died. We used to be oh-so-close to their family and treasured our alliance with them. Heidi is such a dear one, and her four "babies" are precious to us as well. My heart broke for her, and I cried, weeping with those who weep.

Her Opa had passed away quietly during a midday nap. Bill had let her to go see him in Ohio for her birthday a little while ago. What a blessing those sweet memories will be to her in the coming weeks and months!!! She said they played games and talked and visited. I am grieved that she has lost him, but knowing he is now in heaven makes the loss sweet. Rest in the forever saving arms of Jesus, Heinrich Lohmeyer!

It seems like Jesus is calling so many people home to heaven lately. I am surrounded by death, and no sooner does one person pass that I hear of another!  It also brings up the pangs of missing Daddy so terribly. Some experts have said that the ache dulls over time. They lie. I miss Daddy more now than I did when he passed into Glory.
Please pray for Opa's children- Heidi, Lisa, Linda, Brian and their families!

Opa and one of Linda's boys

missionary tribute: Bob Bishop

Bob Bishop passed into eternity on Saturday. He was 74 years old, and had recently had health issues including Parkinson's. Bro. Bob was the president of Globe Missionary Evangelism, later renamed Globe International, a missions board that has sent out hundreds of missionaries into foreign fields. I was only 9 years old when I met Bro. Bob.

When we moved to Pensacola in 1985, our large family was welcomed into the Lillian, AL homegroup, comprised of senior citizens, living out their retirement dreams in Spanish Cove "over the bridge." They all sat together, right in front of the balcony edge, left side. So for several years we sat there too. And so did Bob and Beth Bishop.

Missions conferences would roll around each year in April. Former Liberty Bible College graduates, laboring on foreign fields all over the world, would come in to raise support and spread the vision for their ministries. I remember sitting through hours upon hours of morning and evening conference sessions, enthralled with the stories and pictures. Bro. Bob was always involved in the missions conferences somehow. I know that Globe Missionary Evangelism was not formed until some time later, but he always had his hand in the missions pot at Liberty, so to speak. Bro. Bob was a steady man, a faithful man. A man who loved God and wanted to see the world evangelized with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

One year I well remember an certain incident involving Bro. Bob. Dirk Wood had been on the field a year or two at that point, and he was crazy for God and as spicy a personality as anyone I remember from my childhood. Towards one of the last fund-raising sessions, he called Bro. Bob up to the stage and had him take his shoes and socks off, amid much laughter and cheering. Then he had him climb onto one of those old rust-colored upholstered chairs that always sat up front, and he shouted out, "LOOK AT THOSE BEAUTIFUL FEET, YA'LL!"

Of course, this is a reference to Isaiah 52:7 and  Romans 10:15, which both basically say, "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, Who proclaims peace, Who brings glad tidings of good things, Who proclaims salvation, Who says to Zion, "Your God reigns!"

We cannot imagine all the people that will be in heaven one day because of the fulfillment of God's destiny and will for this man and his family's life work. Bro. Bob's memory will be blessed (Prov. 10:7).  We were made for eternity!

thoughts on Osama bin Laden

Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, "I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."

The fact that Osama, hated man across the world by many both Christians and Muslims alike, is dead somehow does not excite me. And before stones are thrown, YES, I REMEMBER SEPTEMBER 11TH. Very Well. I stood in disbelief with my students and watched the second tower get hit and both towers fall. Horrible day. Beastly crime. The fact that he is dead only means that another such monster will rise to perpetrate terror upon the world in replacement.

I am reminded by verses in Matthew 5 that I memorized years ago when I was a teen: "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect."  For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,  

In the Old Testament, God commanded His people to obliterate the heathens that would seek to adulterate His people and their faith in Him. In the New Testament, He commanded us to love. WHAT IF, just what if, the young terrorists who gave their lives in jihad on 9/11, and on all the other myriads of dates that mark terrorist hits, had been evangelized and reached for the Gospel. What if their Christian neighbors, in the next house next door or the apartment above, had reached out to them and by the POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT they had been converted?!? How many of us have actually prayed for the salvation of these men and women who perpetrate crimes against humanity? And who has prayed for Bin Laden?

Not many of us, I am pretty sure.

Again, from Matthew 5: "You have heard that it was said, And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.  But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.

Jesus did not advocate apathy or passivity. Look at what he did in the temple, exploding against the hypocrisy, idolatry, and thievery in His Father's house. But He does command us to LOVE as He and our Heavenly Father love.

As a teacher, I am well aware that some of my students from "christian" families are abused every day- verbally, emotionally, or physically. I grieve and pray and counsel and actively do what I can to stem the tide of evil being perpetrated by people claiming the be washed by the blood of the Lamb. The Church is in pitiful and deplorable shape. Jesus says that He is coming back for a spotless Bride, without wrinkle or spot. So much of what I see and hear is far from that. What this world needs is JESUS and His message of LOVE, HOPE, and SAVING GRACE. I know that even in my own life, walking circumspectly is so difficult.

OBL is most likely going to burn in hell for eternity. Either He heard the Gospel and rejected it, or he had "eternity in his heart" and ignored it. Or could he have lived in the world and never heard the Gospel? I like the way that R. C. Sproul explains this in this article, "Are those who have never heard of Christ going to hell?"
http://www.ligonier.org/learn/qas/are-those-who-have-never-heard-christ-going-hell/

Jesus himself commented on this. Mark 16:16, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." I think this specifically refers to those who have heard and rejected the Message. God is holy and righteous and just. The Scriptures are full of references to His recompense of the wicked.  But in balance, Ezekiel 33:11 says, ‎"As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways!"

I don't think that my thoughts are conclusive on this matter. Just thinking aloud here...