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It is the Sabbath, Shabbat as it is in Hebrew – a day of rest, of peace and I am in Tel Aviv looking out toward the Mediterranean, reading Ezekiel. In my word study I came across a horrific website that degrades anything religious or, for that matter and more importantly, biblical. An editor wrote an inflammatory article and then admitted in his footnote that he lied but it didn’t matter because “gullible Christians don’t read footnotes.” What struck me was that here was someone defaming God’s Word absolutely certain he can get away with it because we, as Christians, don’t know enough to not take everything we read at face value. I urge all my students, all my readers, please check any fact I give you, particularly when I tell you, “the Bible says…” or something similar. I will never seek to mislead but, believe it or not, I have made mistakes… if you can’t imagine it, ask my children! Back to Ezekiel…

I listen to God telling Ezekiel what his message is to be and that no longer will the proverb stand that “The days keep passing by and every vision fails” (Ezekiel 12:22). In other words, the people were tired of hearing that according to this vision, such and such will happen but time goes by and nothing happens, the visions were not fulfilled, so no need to worry about another vision. In the police department we used to say that about City Managers… no matter what the newest one tries to change, not to worry, because of politics they would soon be gone and we could ‘get back to normal!’ But in Ezekiel 12:23, God says, ‘no more!’ (That is a paraphrase!) What He says will happen will happen right away so they might listen!

Guess what, it did! My thoughts for now are these: First, as Christians we must stop swallowing everything someone tells us about God’s Word and know it well enough for ourselves to be competent to “Give a reason for the hope that is in us” (1 Peter 3:15). Second, we must come out of our rut, (you know that a rut is nothing more than a grave with the ends kicked out), and live like we REALLY believe that God’s prophesies are coming true in these last days, that Christ’s return is truly imminent and get excited that the victory is His!

It was one of those parenting moments that you wish you could capture forever. It is a simple observation simply stated that had theological depth that only a five year old could master.

Our son, Daniel, who is almost 18 has just survived, by the grace of God a horrific traffic crash on a major highway. Also surviving the crash was his niece Allyson age 4 and Aaron age 5, our grandchildren. Both grandkids were safely buckled into car seats.

Reflecting on the crash some short time after the police, fire and EMS units cleared the scene, Aaron explained to his mother, “Satan did this. He is a rude bully.” Case closed.

Recently Karin had the opportunity to visit a friend of ours, Susanne, in North Carolina along the outer banks. Susanne told her, one morning while walking the beach, that sometimes folks come across shells washed ashore upon which another person, heaven knows when and where, had written a note and tossed it in the ocean. It wasn’t but a few minutes later that Karin looked down and their was just such a shell lying in the surf at her feet. the writing almost washed off, still readable though..

      “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work you              will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. Phil I:6”

I wonder how long it took the person to write that on a shell and toss it in the ocean? Maybe, just a minute!

    Dreams can come true and for the boys who have been part of the Bosnian work of Canadian Brad Collins with ABWE, they have realized many dreams. Just two days ago, September 26^th, the HAYAT television company that is viewed internationally in the Balkan and eastern European parts of the world, aired a story on the Bosnia Sports Foundation and the hockey clubs of Ilizda. Filmed while the hockey team was practicing at Butmir, a military (NATO) base in Sarajevo, the broadcast was part of the television program, “Make My Dream Come True” In this episode, the path that the team leaders have taken from refugees during the war to international travelers for hockey, recognized by the NHL and the IIHF in Europe was documented. News that the team hoped to go to Slovakia to play in IIHF sponsored ice hockey games became part of the dream when HAYAT Television presented the team with enough money to finish paying for the Slovakia trip. The team leaders and players had taken the first steps by approaching local businesses and international corporations to raise the funds necessary. This exposure internationally there, in that region, is an answer to prayer and so is the provision of funding for our ‘boys’ to move up in their competitive world of ice hockey. Keep your eyes on these young men as they enter the world of international ice hockey competition and two of the leaders take training with the IIHF in coaching and refereeing. To learn more about these young men’s amazing stories, go to http://www.riggs.abwe.org

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