I felt such a lose for words as I sat down to pen this weeks pastor’s desk.  My heart was heavy and sad for my family and other families that have lost loved ones in recent days and weeks.  My sadness is not for those who died in Christ because to be with Jesus is far better and the bible promises to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord!   So my sadness is for those left behind and that void that is now present in their lives.  My heart is also heavy for the state of our country and the downward moral slope we are on.  My heart is heavy for my children and grandchildren, wondering if the Lord should tarry, what kind of world will they be left to live in?   But then, like Jeremiah “I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope.  Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.  They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I hope in Him!” (Lamentations 3: 21-24)  I am also reminded to “take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.”  (Ephesians 6:17)   Salvation in this context is for “deliverance” - not deliverance from the penalty of sin, which has already been paid for, but for deliverance of our mind.   You see, the enemy of our soul desires to defeat us in our minds - to bring accusations against us, to try and get us to follow our emotions and feelings.  There are so many other voices too - the voices of our culture and world.   But the Lord always brings us back to His Word. His Word is our only defense.  It is also our offensive weapon.  We are to pick it up  the Sword of the Spirit, to pray and be watchful.   We are to lay hold of the hope set before us - “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil.” (Hebrews 6:19)

In His Service,

Pastor Rodney