This past Saturday, we had a Bible Prophecy Conference at our church.
This was the 13th Annual Midwest Calvary Chapel Bible Prophecy Conference. It was touch and go whether our church could actually pull it off this year since Pastor Joe had been so sick.
But it all came together as the Lord had pre-determined that it would. We had several great speakers in the line-up, who talked about the Great Reset, the surveillance state, Matthew 24 and Luke 21, and of course, the Rapture. If you had been there, you might have learned, for example, that there’s a difference between The Tribulation and The Great Tribulation, or that there’s a plan to hack into the DNA of all the people in the world and change them into whatever the elite globalists want the masses to be.
Since my post last week was mostly about Matthew 24, I was interested to see what differences of opinion there might be between the speakers and myself, or even between the speakers and each other. And there were some.
But there were some opinions about details of the Second Coming that were pretty unanimous --
We’re getting down to the wire. Current events are painful to watch, but it’s a privilege to be a part of the generation that will likely be alive when Jesus comes to claim His Bride, the Church.
It will get much worse.
While we are here, the Church is that which restrains Loser Satan from doing all he wants to do. There is a limit to what God is allowing him to do.
While we are here, We the Church are to continue the work we have been commissioned to do. That has never changed.
Perhaps the most riveting presentation came from a speaker who had no PowerPoint presentation, no outline, not even any notes in front of him. But he was there in Dnipro, Ukraine, beginning to plant a church. He could identify with the refugees we’ve heard about because he and his family were among them …
Levi Brinkerhoff at Calvary Chapel of Lafayette, March 26, 2022
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A Tale of Four Basements
Meanwhile, I have seen several basements lately. Our own is rather gross from all the flooding, so I haven’t been down there with Eric. (I know that sounds squeamish.) There’s nothing of value down there anymore except the few large appliances we haven’t moved out yet.
But Sunday afternoon, Eric and I went to Dad’s house, and Dad showed Eric not only his cleverly-engineered water softener salt bag pulley system, but his extensive pipe-and-triple-sump-pump flooding control system to keep his basement dry. Lining all the walls of his deep, dry basement are shelves full of carefully packed and labeled boxes of everything he wants to have close at hand. Granted, much of that might have been carefully packed and stored by Angela before she passed, but my dad’s act, as usual, is together, and it’s very impressive.
After the basement tour, Dad showed me pictures he took on his smartphone when he had visited Uncle Sam.
“Look at all the stuff he has in his basement!”
Cabinets full of tools and equipment of all kinds inhabit my uncle’s basement.
“Dad, the only reason you don’t have all that stuff in your basement is because you have it all in your workshop!”
“Oh yeah.”
The project, undertaken by his two adult children, to liquidate Uncle Sam’s belongings has begun. He’s in a nursing home with no prospect of coming home now and he needs to pay for his room and board there. Diabetes has killed one of his legs and he might not get to keep even that. He has lost almost a hundred pounds since we last saw him.
Sam Jr. (Tito) and Eunice (Mimi) have been keeping some of the belongings, giving some away, and selling some in order to empty the house to put it on the market. Every bit of Sam’s possessions must be evaluated, whether to keep or not to keep.
Another friend told me recently that if we ever had to evacuate our house because there was a toilet paper shortage and we couldn’t wipe, we could come and live with her. And she showed me pictures of her basement, with enough toilet paper stuffed in every corner to billet a regiment! Of course, she had much more in her roomy basement, including emergency food supplies that would last 25 years, that kind of thing.
There are things people hoard, even when there is a popular saying, “You can’t take it with you,” that gently discourages too much of that. We kept boys' clothing in the attic for many years when Chris grew out of it, only to find out when David was that size that any elastic was rotten and brittle from the summer heat. Then, as the Bible notes, there are things like moths, rust, and thieves. In our case, silverfish eat the finish on books, and mice use your belongings for their toilet and for enhancing their nests.
What To Keep and What to Give
Scripturally, there are things that are good to hoard, to packrat, to keep with you and share with others as needed. This one’s at the top of the list:
“Buy the truth, and do not sell it, Also wisdom and instruction and understanding.”
~Proverbs 23:23
And of course:
"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
~Jesus, in Matthew 6:19-21
What about the other stuff?
Still from "He Is No Fool" by Twila Paris
There is, without a doubt, some satisfaction in remembering that in the junk drawer or the button can, you have just the right screw or just the right button needed to save something and make it useful again. The chances of it happening more than once a year could be slim, but it sometimes does work. And my friend would feel very good about the toilet paper if there were a severe toilet paper shortage and she, being prepared, could share her stash with friends and neighbors.
But by and large, the real treasures are not earthly stuff. The statement above was made by a missionary to an Amazon tribe, whose life and “untimely” death were made into a movie called End of the Spear. Yes, you’ve got the idea. He died from a spear, but he gave his life freely and gained eternity. Here’s a music video by Twila Paris that will explain the saying even more.
In Acts Chapter 11, a prophet named Agabus prophesied that there would be a severe famine. At once, the Church in Antioch chose to take up a collection for the brethren in Jerusalem and send it by the hand of Paul and Barnabas, two of their teachers. They dug deep and sent a generous gift. It looks like that is repeated at the Church in Corinth and the one in Galatia. The Gentiles were concerned about their Jewish brothers and sisters in Christ.
There is something about giving that frees you up. Jesus’ point about where your treasure is should be considered well. If your main focus is on your stuff here, that’s where your heart will be. Put simply, this is idolatry. But if the rewards accumulated by your good works done in Jesus’ Name are piling up in Heaven, you will long to be there, where God is.
Levi, in his talk on Saturday, told of leaving everything behind in his only-recently-acquired apartment, and sitting in a slow-moving line of cars with car-sick and cranky children for about 35 hours. But eventually, he made it safely out of Ukraine, donated his vehicles to those who were conducting rescue missions, and he and his family flew back to the States. He would sometimes feel pangs of guilt for having left his friends behind in the war, but his children needed to be safe.
And now, he is engaged in the same kind of operation that Paul was. People in Ukraine are not just shell-shocked, they are dying from the blasts, from the cold, and from literal famine. So from his vantage point here, speaking to Western churches, and especially the overflowing crowd at the Prophecy Conference, he is mobilizing The Church to send relief into Ukraine. At some point, he says, he may be able to go back to help, but our church in Lafayette has become a drop-off point for such items as clothing, diapers, MRE’s, bulletproof vests (if you can get them), and painkillers, as well as money. And when Levi comes around again, he will arrange to have these items shipped out to those who need them.
Levi makes it clear that this is actually not so much a war: it is terrorism. If you’ll remember, last week I went over people’s theories of who was at fault in this siege, and I said I tended to believe that Putin is demon possessed. Now hearing this from a boots-on-the-ground representative of the Church in Ukraine, it is very clear that Putin’s aggression is driven by Satan. Ukrainians have had to stop marking locations with “CHILDREN” in hopes that the enemy would pass over those places of refuge. They found out quickly that the Russians are specifically targeting those locations.
But in the end, it doesn’t matter who is at fault politically. The Church’s mission right now includes navigating through occupied cities in bullet-riddled cars to rescue the perishing on a day-to-day basis, and to bus in essential survival supplies.
Practically speaking, aid to refugees and to God’s people trying to help orphaned Ukrainian children is a very good thing -- something we can do to help, even though we are thousands of miles away. And by sending aid and praying for our frontline workers, we will be able to store up (hoard, if you will) treasures in Heaven.
While we are here, We the Church are to continue the work we have been commissioned to do. That has never changed. While the world wants to send bombs and bullets (and we probably should), God’s Church is shining.
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How to Give:
An email from Pastor Joe to our church:
Thank you for giving to the missionaries on the cutting edge of what God is doing, in extracting those who are still in Ukraine and finding a safe place. Below is a list of items for the Ukrainian refugees. Your continued prayers and financial aid are much appreciated by the Calvary Chapel missionaries. The best way to give is through Calvary Chapel with a notation in the memo or note that says "Ukraine Refugees," and we will get it to proper missionaries, who are distributing the aid. We have about eight missionaries to whom we are sending funds to assist in their outreach to the Ukrainians. You can also give to Samaritan's Purse, who also have boots on the ground at the borders where the refugees are crossing. If there is a specific missionary you want to give to-- like one of the Markeys or Levi-- please note that.
Some of you may have heard that Jed Gourley, one of our CC missionaries, took a bus into Ukraine and rescued 40 orphans and has a temporary place for them in Hungary. All that is happening is an ongoing and uncertain drama that needs lots of prayers.
Blessings & Maranatha!
- pastor joe
ITEMS FOR UKRAINE / REFUGEES:
Being collected at Calvary Chapel, Lafayette
2111 East State Street
Lafayette, IN 47905
765.477.7744
(It has been requested that people not send anything that’s not on the list)
GEAR:
- Bulletproof vests Level 3 or Level 4
- Military style helmets
- Tactical gloves
- Night-vision goggles
- Multi-tools
- Knee pads
- Camping mats
- Sleeping bags
- Tactical backpacks
- Flashlights
FOOD
- MREs
- Protein/energy bars
- Baby/infant puree
- Grains, beans and rice
- Instant and ground coffee
MEDICAL:
- First aid packs
- Bandages
- Tourniquets
- Emergency pressure bandage
- Gauze
- Medical tape
- Medical scissors
- Body warming pouches
- Hot and cold packs for pain and inflammation
- Space blankets (thermal isolation)
- Saline wash for eyes
- Ibuprofen
- Tylenol
- Aspirin
- Paracetamol
- Diarrhea medication
- Diapers (all sizes)
CLOTHES:
- Thermal underwear (size L and bigger)
- Fleece jackets
- Heavy duty socks
- Children’s clothes of all sizes (no stains or tears)
LINKS:
I have included links above, but here they are again for reference:
Levi Brinkerhoff's presentation at the Prophecy Conference
For giving through Calvary Chapel:
https://cchapel.org/give-online/ (Be sure to put what the donation is for in the memo field.)
For contact information for the various missionaries, especially including Levi:
For Samaritan’s Purse:
https://video.samaritanspurse.org/channel/international-crisis-response/
A big thank you to each one who is giving to these critical needs. You are, literally, a God-send.
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