08-01-08

“IN FLORIDA, IT’S RECESSION”

(Joel 2:1,2)  Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh [the Second Coming of Jesus Christ], for it is nigh at hand; A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness [for the unsaved – the bad guys], as the morning [Heb: dawn, sunrise] spread upon the mountains [for the saved – the good guys] [His Second Coming will be two different things for two different peoples]: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like [the good guys again J, full of the Holy Spirit], neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations [until the conclusion of the Millennium].

For your information, our newsletter title is copied from the front-page headline of the St. Petersburg Times today, and the sub-tile reads “The economy shrinks broadly for the first time in 16 years, and experts say that seals it.” Beneath those blaring banners and attached to the story is this prominent sidebar with my underlining: “A GREAT QUARTER IF YOU SOLD GAS – Exxon Mobile earned a jaw-dropping $11.7 BILLION PROFIT in the second quarter, the largest earnings in the history of corporate America.” May I firmly suggest that we are entering into “the day of the LORD” (Joel 1:1), a time from which there is no-return, and no escape, for what possible cure will the politicians of America enact that can possibly heal the malevolent monster of self-serving “greed” so obviously prevalent in the darkened souls of unsaved men?   

Nevertheless, dear brothers and sisters, although many may continue to serve “mammon” (Gk: wealth personified; avarice deified) unto their reward of the second death, we shall continue to serve God, the Lord of Light, unto our reward of eternal life. Hallelujah! And thank you for serving our Rescue Mission with your fervent prayers and love offerings which have pulled our Rescue Mission out of debt. God bless you. The volunteers, staff, Board of Directors, and myself wish to sincerely thank you, each and every one of you. Your response to our Rescue Mission’s appeal for financial help in the newsletter of last month was quite wonderful, and greatly encouraging to me as I opened your envelops and happily J considered the unmistakable earnestness of your most gracious love sacrifices, which I deem to be the evidential knowledge that the Lord our God Almighty is truly alive and working marvelously in each of your lives. Please continue helping us help them. Thank you. God bless you.

The majority of our financial donations come from folks who give their love offerings/sacrifices (love offerings? If you didn’t love the Lord, you wouldn’t send offerings to support His work) on a regular monthly basis, and thereby have established and sustained the financial foundation upon which our Rescue Mission has been supported and built up over these past twenty years since our inception in 1988. Thank you. However, some of you responded to our need expressed in the last newsletter by stretching your hearts beyond your normal giving. Twenty-five dollar givers gave fifty, fifty dollar givers gave one hundred, and one hundred dollar givers gave two hundred. And a few gave a thousand dollars, and one even gave two thousand dollars. Praise God. Thank you Lord.

Regardless of the dollar amount, some of these donors could easily afford their donation, and of course there were those who could hardly afford their donation, the latter persons being a biblical fulfillment of the most lovely “widow’s mite” givers, and without doubt these are dearest to our Lord. You see, it is not the outward dollar amount that our Lord looks at, but God looks on the inward heart, and counts the sacrifice. 

1.       (Rom 12:1)  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service [after-all, God did unquestionably save you from being “cast into the lake of fire” (Rev 20:15) for all eternity].

2.       sacrifice = Dictionary: 1. the offering of life (animal, plant, or human) or some material possession, etc., to a deity, as in propitiation or homage. 2. that which is so offered. 3. the surrender or destruction of something prized or desirable for the sake of something considered as having a higher or more pressing claim.

WHOM ARE WE “PRESSED” TO HELP?

Whom are you and I helping with our prayers and love sacrifices? Well specifically, we have 7,706 families, euphemistically called “economically challenged” families, i.e., low to no income poor folks, who are desperately attempting to scratch out a meager existence in Pinellas County and have registered with our Rescue Mission to receive a free supplemental box of groceries every month, as our diminishing food supplies become available. That is a lot of families. Even so, it is most unfortunate that not everyone in need knows about our services. I bring this point up because a few days ago the unemployed 44 year old loving father of a local poor family committed suicide because he could not get a job and support himself and his two sons, ages 8 and 13 years old. His name was Dallas Carter, and his family had never registered with us to receive a free box of groceries, so apparently he did not know of our existence. The circumstances of the sad and unnecessary demise of Dallas Carter were first recorded in the July 27^th edition of the St. Petersburg Times newspaper along with, what I presume to be either the complete or extracts of his last note written just previous to his suicide. I have included it intact herein as recorded:

I, Dallas D. Carter,…

…buy the time you get this letter I will be gone or dead. it’s not a good letter, sometime people do dump thing I’m not really a bad person Just life gets away from me sometime… …for me to have done some kind of criminal active things had to get really bad for me… …I’m on SSD i have had both of my hips replace. I did try to go back to work but I got hurt even more on the job. So I thought maybe i can go back to school but the VR said no to me about school…   …I have to sons one is 8 years old my other is 13 year old. their mother live in Maine. if something go bad for me I’d my son’s go to their mother in Maine… …I’m sorry if I’ve done something wrong. if my sons are going to their mother in Maine please make sure the state is in their life… their good boys. I have even try to get state help with food + Bills the Bills that I pay are like 15 bill’s each month. I can’t do it no more I need help so I’m sorry if i do something wrong. all I’m trying to do is paid some bill’s… …I need about $6,000 to paid off bill’s. I have try to get a job but then me have both hip’s replace no one is will to get me a job. I have 5 Discs in my back that is bad all so… …I Don’t know that I’m doing now!!… …hopefully my son’s are not with me when i do something dump… 

The next evening, when his sons were asleep, about 11 pm Dallas Carter made his final call for help:

                   911, WHAT’S YOUR EMERGENCY? I’ve got a .40 caliber pistol beside my head and I’m drunk. OKAY SIR, HAVE YOU DONE ANYTHING TO HURT YOURSELF? I’ve drunk tequila and beer and I’ve got two kids in the house. OKAY SIR, WELL, CAN YOU PUT THE PISTOL DOWN AND TELL ME THE ADDRESS WHERE YOU’RE AT? I’ve overdone it. SIR, WHAT IS THE ADDRESS WHERE YOU’RE AT? I’m tired of living. I’m tired of dealing with this bull, and I can’t handle it no more. SIR, WHAT IS THE ADDRESS WHERE YOU’RE AT? I need help. I’m ready to die.

Quoting now from the St. Petersburg Times reporter text:

              “Police say the crippled man fired at least 30 shots with a .30-30 rifle and a .40 caliber pistol out of the rear of his apartment. Some of the bullets struck a thick wall and a factory building adjacent to the complex. Most of the shots appeared to be concentrated on the Char-Griller Smokin’ Pro on his patio. When police arrived, Shawn and Chris ran from the apartment. A negotiator with a bullhorn approached the building and tried to communicate with the man inside. At 11:32 p.m., Dallas Carter emerged from his front door carrying the pistol in one hand, and the rifle in the other. He faced the police officers and raised his weapons.”

Dallas Carter is dead now. He was a good father and loved his children, and in his own way of thinking, unable to do more, Dallas sacrificed the very last thing he had, his life, for the benefit of his children. Please pray that Father God bless Shawn and Chris; please God bless them with an abundance of You. Amen.

May I say to you, my dear brothers and sisters, that because of your earnest prayers and continuing sacrificial love offerings, our Rescue Mission doors will remain open, arms outstretched wide to whomsoever is in need, to comfort, console, and help in any way we can, the many other Dallas Carter families who are jobless, sick, confused, depressed, hungry, frightened, and lonely. Thank you. God bless you. Sincerely, Rev. Lionel

(Mark 16:15)  And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel [of love] to every creature.