"Butterflies and Rainbows"
We greet you in the Name of our Lord and Savior, Messiah Jesus of Nazareth! Alma and I are continuing in prayer for each person who receives this, that God reassures your heart, that although in the world there is going to be problems, we can be happy, because Jesus overcame that world for us! Praise the Lord!
“Come out of her, my people! Run for your lives! Run from the fierce anger of the Lord. Do not lose heart or be afraid when rumors are heard in the land; one rumor comes this year, another the next, rumors of violence in the land and of ruler against ruler.” (Jeremiah 51:45-46 NIV) “Therefore, ’Come out from them (idolatry) and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.’ And, ‘I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” (2 Corinthians 6:17-18 NIV)
Alma and I wish to thank you so much for this opportunity to share with you what we are doing, and what is going on in the ministry. Your continued participation in intercession and in other ways are key to our continued success in completion of the Great Commission!
Recently we have been confronted with a message that can work against what is to come. If the reader remembers, God told me twice last November that there is a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit coming and we can do nothing to prepare for it except to prepare ourselves inside. Alma and I have experience in outpouring due to our time spent on the foreign mission-field, and what we saw firsthand during that time.
“… judgement begins with the house of God…” When Peter dictated those words, what was he talking about? I think the context of 1 Peter 4, is that we believers in Jesus should be living differently than the world does because if we can’t get it together, how would we expect the world to do that? We are supposed to be the representatives of Jesus the Messiah in our worlds and neighborhoods. When this promised move of God pours out on the entire world around us, that is when the difference between us and the horror of the world will be most evident!
When I lived in Peru, the entire country was in the throes of death and destruction. They had brought evil on themselves by the nonchalant attitude of electing a socialist government which destroyed the economy, caused untold horrors and little by little, their country was being lost. It was a scary place, with plagues, terrorism, murders, earthquakes, famine, and certain doom!
Before we arrived, God told us to not fear anything that was going on, because we would participate in the deliverance of the country. When we finally stepped off the plane, the Holy Spirit said at an audible (to me) level, that we would stay in Peru until the fall of the terrorist group that was destroying the country. He commanded us to preach fearlessness, deliverance and His prosperity to an already decimated population. The things we shared were a source of rejoicing among the Believers, but as with anything that God says, they seemed totally impossible. (Jumping to the end of the story, everything He said to us is exactly what happened.)
We rented a house and began immediately to preach that God was going to deliver the Nation and that the powers of evil (communists) were going to fall, and God’s people would be exalted to a place of ruling among the nation. Little by little, God showed the difference between those who served Him and those who rejected Him. The Peruvian people who loved and served God dressed well, had plenty of food, lived fearlessly, sang and rejoiced before the Lord constantly, even in the face of terror, and nobody died from either a plague, or an act of terrorism. In the rest of the country, there was death, disease, starvation, and terror. The people needed something that they didn’t have. I did not have to say to anyone, “Hey you guys! You should never have elected the communists!” They already knew that from the horrible state their country was in. We should always remember that the devil is never satisfied. Should you give in to what he wants and elect communists, that is only the beginning. Destruction and death follows because he is the source of that! Our hope in the midst of such things is: God is not the source of that! He is the great Lover and Deliverer!
The separation of the Believer and unbeliever in those days was the difference between life and death, food and starvation, disease and health, terror and fearlessness, losing everything and improving constantly, joy and despair, and yes, it reflected the difference between God and the devil.
I have been confronted with people, who I think mean well, who constantly remind us that it is going to get bad. Remember, Heaven is a place of butterflies and rainbows, so I do indeed talk a lot about it, because that is where we are all going. But, our suffering should not be for our personal blessing only. We are not living in a world of riches and butterflies and rainbows. No! We endure whatever comes along on our path to help the kids at the orphanage, bring the GOOD NEWS to the lost and to help people! Our goal is for the ones around us to have a life of peace, health, prosperity, and fearlessness, and then when they die, to go to that world of butterflies and rainbows! We want for them to have the good life that only the Good News can bring. Let’s remember that the lost and dying are not going to come to us because they are going to get judged and be killed. They come to us for Good News: To know Jesus Personally! The places God takes us are usually places of suffering. The Message we preach is life and blessing, and how to receive it, and that is what the world seeks! Let’s preach Good News!
Thank you for remembering that PayPal, CashApp, and Zelle are available, not to mention the return envelope, and we also have text to give. We greatly appreciate you and God does too! He promises to bless the cheerful giver! Thank you for all you do for us! We are winning!
