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04-01-11

THE END OF SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL

(2 Th 2:6-10)  And now ye know what withholdeth that he [that Wicked] might be revealed [Gk: to take the cover off, disclosed] in his time. For the mystery of iniquity [Gk: lawlessness, unrighteousness] doth already work: only he who now letteth [“restrains” NKJV] will let [restrain], until he [the Holy Spirit who now holds that Wicked back] be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him [that Wicked], whose coming is after the working [“in accordance with the work” NIV] of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness [Gk: delusions: deceitfulness] of unrighteousness in them that perish [Gk: are destroyed; die]; because they received not [“refused” NIV] the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

Dear brothers and sisters, God bless you. Please note that the withdrawal from this world of the comforting protection of the Holy Spirit will allow the coming or exposure of “that Wicked.” The mental picture of association that I have of that occurrence is myself as an eight or nine year kid eagerly bicycling about six miles up and down the green forested hills (birds chirping I remember) on the way to my often frequented and most beautiful swimming pond, and when I arrived on that particularly hot summer day, the farmer-owner had already drained out all the cool clear spring water (I never did find out why)… and all that was left of my precious dream hole were a few dead fish, muddy puddles of dark water, dirty broken tree stumps heretofore hidden, hard rocks, old gnarly limbs, and a great stink. Imagine my disappointment. I can still feel it. Most depressing.

When meditative thought and common sense prevails, who among us could even begin to doubt that the temporary withdrawal from this world of the blessed worldwide covering of the Holy Spirit, shall be accompanied by overwhelming chaos: (synonyms: disorder, confusion, bedlam, anarchy, pandemonium, commotion, disarray, turmoil, madness, mess, unruliness). Significantly, the antonym of “chaos” is “order.” Satan is represented by chaos, God is represented by order (that is one of the reasons why we call Him Father). Therefore, it would certainly seem that now is the time to get your house in “order,” God’s order, for I believe that we are about to meet our Maker… perhaps not immediately, but very very soon. We spoke to you briefly in last month’s newsletter about the relatively sudden, quite visible, dramatic escalation of chaos upon the world stage. Sad to say, but like ever putrefying gangrene once permitted to enter into the limb of a living body, worldly chaos continues unabated, unchecked, accelerating, intensifying world corruption in an evil itinerary of decomposing order -spiritually and physically, from country to country, indeed, from person to person. 

May we note in the latter verses that the word designation of “that Wicked” is strangely not suffixed by the word “one,” which, in ordinary use, indicates singularity, but in the absence of which may well imply plurality. Thus contextually, “that Wicked” is likely referring to the body of “many antichrists” (i.e., nonbelievers) of 1 John 2:18, rather than referring to a single person. Nevertheless, I believe that the course we are on has been set by God. The Christian church as a whole will continue to look for an identifiable single person or “the antichrist,” and he (or she) will soon be found standing in the position of the renowned head and leader of the whole antichrist group or body of disbelievers worldwide (Mat 24:15). By then, the one world government and the one world church, will have consummated into one, and believing Christians will be pretty much dog-meat. It is perhaps more than interesting that the followers of Islam who number about one third of the present world population and are definitely demographically upscale bearing on average 6 children per family (versus the American family’s 2 children) seek world domination as clearly dictated by their sacred Koran, and Islam has no separation of church and state. My goodness, could the Bible be right??

1.      (Gen 16:11,12)  And the angel of the LORD said unto her [Hagar], Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction. And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.

a.      Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary: Mohammed [the founder of Islam] claimed Ishmael as his ancestor, as do most Arabs.

Might I take this moment to mention that, from my point-of-view, these monthly newsletters are inspired by the Holy Spirit, and are meant to convey the religious doctrines and the spiritual observations revealed to me as an Evangelical Pastor and a Watchman on the Wall for you. 30 persons received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. To that end, my often repeated prayer is derived from 1 Kings 3:8,9. I seek only to be a blessing to you and to those others whom we serve J :

1.      (1 Ki 3:8,9)  And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy  people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?

WORKS

The Apostle Paul teaches us “that faith without works is dead?” (James 2:20). So then, having just expounded greatly upon our “faith,” let us now turn to our “works.” During the last month of March, our hard-working Rescue Mission staff and volunteers, traveled 3,789 miles in our truck and van, all within Pinellas County, and picked up and delivered 79,673 pounds of food. That number is just short of 40 tons. Should we divide the 79,673 pounds of food by the average amount of weight in a single meal (1 ½ pounds), we will arrive at 53,115 meals freely provided to the needy residents of Pinellas County, in one month. Thank you wise-hearted donors, staff, volunteers, and the Board of Directors who all together, “as one man” (Judg 6:16) under God, made this miracle possible. Miracle? Yep, for the entire episode was totally under the direction and the authority of Father God.

May I also mention that the number of impoverished families (men, women, and little children) in Pinellas County who have registered with our Rescue Mission to receive a monthly box of groceries has reached 11,085 families. One might multiply that number by 3 or 4 members per poor family to get a good picture of what is happening here. Relating to the latter, the Mission needs used toys for those children, of all ages, to give to them (for smiles on their faces) when they come in to get their box of groceries, most often with their mom, and clothing for the entire family.

Lastly, I rather intensely prefer to avoid and dislike even mentioning it, but we need money. Our vehicles are old and worn, a 2000 Isuzu box truck and a 1989 Ford van, and both need continual repairs or replacement, and gasoline continues to rise (the truck gets 7 ½ miles per gallon and the van gets 11 miles per gallon. Our annual Automotive Insurance of $5,100 is due, and our Liability Insurance of $2,700 is due. Our monthly electric bill averages $1,650 and the City water bill averages $825 (506 showers last month, and maintaining 23 freezers and refrigerators). The monthly newsletter is $800, and the mortgage is $725, etc., etc.

Yes, and although we need money immediately, I have quietly noted (for the past 14 years) that other nonprofit organizations are financially remembered in the final wills of elderly persons (I’m elderly too – it is a hard thing to receive, is it not?) who have passed on, hopefully to a much better wonder filled life. Well, how about us? Surely of the several thousand newsletter recipients, there are some who care enough about the wonderful work that we have been doing since our inception in 1988 that they can make some even small provision for our Rescue Mission continuation beyond their life span here on earth.   

Thank you, dear brothers and sisters, for your kind attention.

God bless you,

                                                                        J                                                                

Pastor Lionel

And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. (Dan 12:2,3)