PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS

     Our church is having a special prayer service for persecuted Christians this coming Sunday.  A Coptic Christian pastor will be present, an Armenian Pastor will as well.  We are trying to raise awareness regarding the plight of people of all faith being mercilessly slaughtered for their faith.  There is no doubt that the Bible speaks of the persecution of Christians and even the disciples, save John who was sent to the deserted island of Patmos, met with terrible deaths.  It hasn't come to America ... yet, but some day we men and women of the faith may be asked to give our lives for the sake of our belief in Christ.  Are we prepared to do that?  I am trusting God that I will stand for Him if it should ever come to that. These are perilous times.  Christians are freely mocked and disregarded as fools.  There will come a day when time will be no more and all those who rejected Christ will pay for their sins with their own life.  God is not dead, He is very much alive.  If you doubt that, ask Him to reveal Himself to you and then be attentive, listening for His answer.  It will no doubt come when you least expect it.  rlkeller

PRAY FOR THE PERSECUTORS

       Hot day today.  Supposed to reach 90.  We'll survive.  I just like cold weather better is all.  My lone weekday off.  Thursdays and Sundays.  Kinda disjointed, but it is what it is.  Pups are snoozing behind me on the bed.  Marty is snoring ... < chuckle - smile > ... get that dog a CPAP machine. (lol)

       In light of all the persecution that is going on in the world today, we must pray for the persecutors, that they may find Christ.  I only need to look in Acts to find a biblical example of a persecutor being challenged by God.  Paul witnessed the stoning of Stephen and was diametrically opposed to all the fledgling believers adhered to.  It took being knocked to the ground and struck blind by none other than Jesus Himself.  That will get your attention.  The rest is chronicled in the NT.  I've heard that some of the members of ISIS had actually turned to Christ.  I have no confirmation of that, but since Christ is greater than any force that might attempt to come against Him, I can certainly believe it.  Those who have died for their faith have fought the good fight and are now home.  All that awaits the persecutors of the faith is a lake of fire.  They are unaware of this so it is our responsibility to pray for them that they would come to know Christ in all His glory.  May God's good and perfect will be done. rlkeller

SOME HISTORY

          My schedule has kept me from writing here very often.  Sometimes just once per week.  Such is life.  There hasn't been much to say anyway.  In the non-spiritual realm, the Yankees are doing alright, I don't care about the NBA and the NHL Stanley Cup Finals got rolling last night.  My 2nd favorite team is the Chicago Blackhawks.  My mom came from Chicago and I've been there multiple times.  Even saw a Blackhawks game in 1994 in the old Chicago Stadium.  All I remember from that outing was that they beat the Red Wings and the bathrooms were really tiny with low ceilings. Also that they had a big pipe organ high up in the rafters where someone sat and played during breaks in the action.  Very cool!!  That was the final year of the Stadiums existence.  I've experienced two final years of the existence of things in Chicago:  Chicago Stadium, where the Blackhawks played hockey and the Chicago Bulls played basketball and Riverview Amusement Park, which at one time boasted the largest roller coaster in the world.  That was quite a while ago, 1967 to be exact. Wow! How time flies.  Always remember, God is still on His throne and prayer changes things!! rlkeller