Missionary Sojourn

I am grateful for the planting season!

Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.

Ecclesiastes 8:11 NKJV

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

2 Peter 3:9 NKJV

And they were greatly astonished, saying among themselves, “Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.”

Mark 10:26-27 NKJV

Moreover I saw under the sun:

In the place of judgment,
Wickedness was there;
And in the place of righteousness,
Iniquity was there.

 I said in my heart,

“God shall judge the righteous and the wicked,
For there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.”

Ecclesiastes 3:16-17

Good morning, Father!

Abba: Good morning, Jon!

Me: In our news, we hear of the arrest of some judges. The populace is divided as to whether their activities are justified, though they have violated the law. It seems the heart of the verse penned by King Solomon in Ecclesiastes is made manifest in our day, as I assume it was in his.

Judges appointed under more “liberal” administrations seem to have difficulty recognizing the trouble associated with continuing as they have been, now that the pendulum is swinging back the other way. I hear some voices decrying that the arrests are evil retribution and other voices crying that there has to be some way to deal with “activist” judges and hoping for more of the same. I am grateful that You are patient in Your judgment, giving us time for repentance (should we so choose). I pray that more will take stock of how far we fall short, and seek Your favor and Your truth.

Abba: There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. (Proverbs 16:25) There was a general societal understanding of right and wrong for a time in your nation’s history. Only a vestige of such understanding remains, a shadow left behind by those who have followed Me. It was left with their children, primarily by example, but delivered without clear sight that these accepted norms could only firmly stand when darkness in individual (yielded) hearts is banished by illumination by My Holy Spirit. As it now stands, there is incessant arguing to twist laws written to make society function well for all. Rather than justice, there is mere justification.

… having a form of Godliness, but denying the power thereof; from such turn away.

2 Timothy 3:5

Without My sustaining power, under the degrading influence of sin, even truth once known will be forgotten. The judgements of men are imperfect for the truth does not reside in them naturally.

Jesus said to him, I AM the way, the TRUTH, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

John 14:6

Me: Father, poll results to the question, “Would you consider yourself a ‘born-again’ or evangelical Christian?” was nearly the same in 2022 (33%) as in 1992 (36%). This is likely only a margin-of-error sized change in the past thirty years. Also, according to Gallup, in the same period, the percentage of people who think the Bible consists mostly of “fables and legends” has doubled (from 14% to 29%). These trends make me wonder, “How many true believers are there?” and “What do those who consider themselves ‘born-again’ base that assessment on?”.

Abba: Consider this teaching of Jesus:

Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Matthew 7:13-14

There are many examples in scripture of My call being answered by a mere remnant of those who should have responded. I can empower the faithful to do great things.

In that day the Lord of hosts will be
For a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty
To the remnant of His people,
For a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment,
And for strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.

Isaiah 28:5:6

(Though the above interjection for the remnant, all of Isaiah 28 bears on these questions, on the failure of priest, prophet, of pride and debauchery and on the painstaking process of growth for those who would seek God and do better. The passage culminates in the promise of the Savior.)

King Saul’s son Jonathan, speaking to his armor bearer, said,

“Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that the Lord will work for us. For nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few.”

1 Samuel 14:6 (emphasis, mine)

As it was for Jonathan on that day, so it is for those committed to the narrow way, to those who enter by the narrow gate today.

Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door (gate) of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.  The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

John 10:7-10

Me: Thank You Father! I love You!

Abba: You are welcome, Jon! I love you!

Gardening Update:

The above (admittedly grainy) satellite photo is of the broken concrete south of the barn that covered an old animal-lot area there. The concrete turned out to be about six inches thick. Fortunately, none of this concrete had any reinforcement in it. The bottom-left section held the remains of dirt and more concrete removed from an old cesspool that was taken out near the house when the septic system was installed (to meet code) prior to our purchase of the property. Four feet of extra dirt and broken concrete was on top of the underlying concrete slab. This month, twelve dump-truck loads of concrete were hauled away and four truckloads of Iowa “black dirt” were hauled in to create 3000 more square feet of potential garden.

The photo above was taken today, showing what the area looks like after a half-day of tiller work to break up the pavement-like packing that resulted from the tracks of the skid loaders spreading and leveling the fill dirt. Give this four or five years of development and several loads of compost, and who knows? Maybe it will be a garden after all! The structure at the bottom right is the end of an old concrete feed bunker that stretches the entire 50-foot length. We left it there as a retaining wall.