“There will no longer
be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His
bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on
their foreheads” (Rev. 22:3-4).
Hey Gang: In the last ‘What’s Happening Man’ blog I wrote
about tools we have used in gaining the attention of those who have no
foundation in Scripture, or relationship with Yeshua. Today, I want to add some
potatoes, carrots, a salad, home-baked bread and even a slice of pumpkin pie to
the message in that blog. God taught me
a huge lesson on that night in camp when He filled my mouth with a message on
prophecy and it unlocked a whole barn full of teachings throughout the
summer. And, the thing that totally blew
my mind was, I initiated none of those discussions.
I have many things to share with you pertaining to the power
of prophecy and the need for God’s children to have a handle on what is
happening around them. A very powerful
word from Jesus, in this day when all that can be shaken is being shaken, is
one we need to have firmly planted in our minds and hearts, “When all these
happen, LOOK UP!” (Luke 21:31 A Hillbilly Rendition).
If you have not read the last What’s Happening Man blog, stop and go back and read it, for much
of what I will say from this point on is contingent on your understanding where
I am coming from. I also want to warn
you that I am one who loves to take side trips (called rabbit trails) and pull
in personal experiences that I hope adds to the beauty to the Word. When that happens, hang on, for my bride will
bring me back to the subject at hand.
From day one, it was my intent to install a “Holistic
Program” as the focus of the Village Program, meaning the spiritual would be the backbone incorporated into every corpuscle
of the activities. Keep in mind that the
Village was a state approved child treatment center and, therefore, under
constant scrutiny that we not ‘drive religion down the throats of our kids’- as
they put it. But, how many out there
know that God has wondrous ways of taking care of such matters.
One night, one of the youngsters blew out and later that
night, stole one of the Village vehicles, and cut and run. While turning off the freeway in Saginaw,
fortunately the vehicle ran out of fuel and he abandoned ship. After being picked up he told the probation
officer, a sweet young lady with no experience in knowing truth from fiction,
bought into his story that the Village was ‘driving religion down his throat’. When I interviewed him he readily admitted he
wanted out of the Village and knew his sweet young PO would get the job done.
Soooo, the State, in what they thought as their infinite
wisdom, did an investigation and found nothing- but, in the report the
investigating officer said there was a potential
for abuse and recommended action be taken.
When confronted with this, I asked the director, “What would you have me
do?” Her reply, “Give them an
alternative.” No change was needed
because this was an issue discussed with parents and child on intake; we had a
signed agreement between Village and parents that stated the child could choose
to go to life-skills instead of Chapel.
Now, I would be remiss if I did not share with you the
results of that decision. I did as told and clearly explained to the
troops their options. Two chose
life-skills for a month or so and returned to Chapel where it was very exciting
but the biggee was - I changed my message to include a much deeper salvation
message and, for the first time, I added alter calls and many boys over the years responded. The State
meant it for bad, but God meant it for good.
Oh, by the way, life-skills was offered across from the
chapel room and taught by a wonderful Christian house mom and a picture of
Jesus that covered half of the wall.
I also developed a course of study that was based on the
title of today, ‘Adjective or Objective’.
What in the world does that mean?
I would take my Bible, hold it up and tell them we are going to look at
the Bible not from Genesis, but from when the first one was printed. (The Gutenberg Bible was printed mid-15th
Century- which I can see and touch in a museum).
I told them I would be very objective in this message and
not delve into the spiritual aspects of the Word. The first prophecy was one that I knew well -
the restoration of Israel. Ezekiel wrote,
“For thus says the Lord God, behold, I
Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. As a shepherd cares for his herd in the day
when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will care for My sheep and will
deliver them from all the places to which they were scattered on a cloudy and
gloomy day. I will gather them from the
peoples and from the countries.” (Ezek. 34:11-13).
One does not have to be a mental giant to know that there is,
indeed, a land called Israel; it is a real- live entity today that was reborn
on May 14, 1948 after nearly 2000 years.
There are many prophecies related to this momentous fulfillment of God’s
promises including the restoration of the Hebrew language and the restoration
of the land of “milk and Honey”.
As we
progress through the coming weeks, Israel will become a focal point of all that
is happening in our world today, for we are told in very clear terms, that
Israel will be the focal point of all nations in the last days. I will close this session with a verse that
confirms this: “It will come about in
that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who
lift it will be severely injured. And
all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it” (Zechariah 12:3).
Saturday, December 5, in the next What’s Happening Man blog, I will address, although very briefly,
ten major prophecies that have been fulfilled in my lifetime.
Blessings,
Gramps
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