The Sickness Whereof He Died

Have you every heard something said that impacts you so profoundly you still remember it many years later? I don’t mean remember it in a way where you say, “Oh I remember something about that. “ I mean, remembering it so vividly that you remember exactly where you were when it was said. You remember the day, time and everything else about it. You can see it in your minds eye as if you were still there. Several years ago this happened to me and I have never forgotten what was said.

It was a Sunday morning in July of 1990. My family was on vacation and we had stopped to visit some close friends. We were in services with them that day and setting in the Adult Sunday School Class. Elder Harvey Cantrell was pastor of the Church we were visiting in Hanford, California and was teaching the lesson that day. During the course of the lesson Elder Cantrell read a passage of scripture that impacted my life. Now, in all honesty, eighteen years later I don’t remember what he was teaching that day. Nor do I remember much that was said before or after he read and made a short comment on this passage of scripture. It was the scripture and the brief comment that struck a chord in my heart.

The scripture was; “Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died…” (2 Kings 13:14). The comment that he made was, “We will all die sometime, unless the Lord comes first. That is why sickness comes and people aren’t healed. It doesn’t mean they don’t have faith, it means that it is time…”

What made this scripture and statement so impacting to me was the fact that just a few months prior to this we had found out my father had Parkinson’s disease. We had been praying and fasting for his healing, however, he wasn’t getting better but was getting worse. I was dealing with unanswered questions in my mind and in just a few simple words God had given me an answer to my question. There are just sometimes God doesn’t heal because it is time to go home. That day God let me to know that my father wouldn’t be healed in this life. I needed to live my life accordingly.

Death is a hard subject to address for a couple of reasons. One is that very few people are around to tell us about death that has actually experienced it. Because of this it remains a mystery and we are all somewhat afraid of the unknown. The second reason is death is looked upon as the end of everything, which it is in this life. No one wants to experience death. However, I have a couple of thoughts about death that came to mind recently with this memory and I felt maybe I should share.

Death was introduced into this world because of the sin of Adam and Eve in the garden. The Bible tells us it is the curse of man, because of sin. We also know that it is appointed unto man to die. That is the end of it all for us.

There is another way that the child of God can view death. Looking at our own death or looking at the death of a loved one who is a “believer.” The Psalmist tell us in Psalms 116:15, the death of one of His saints is precious in the eyes of the Lord. This should let us know there is a different view of death for the born again child of God. In God’s opinion His saint passing on is a special event. Why? One of the reasons is God looks upon us with great value and calls us His jewels in Malachi 3:17.

Death came to this world by the sin of one, Adam. By the same token life was brought to us by the second Adam, Jesus Christ. Paul said that when we were born again we became new creatures in Christ. Those things of old are passed away and all things become new. I am in no way saying that we will never die, I have preached too many funerals for faithful saints to say that. What I am saying, however, is that we can take a different view of the death of a saint. The curse of sin was death. Yet when we are born again, that curse is removed. Jesus Christ walked into hell and demanded the keys of death and hell. Death no longer has dominion over us. It no longer rules or has authority over us. Death is no longer a curse to the saint of God, it is now precious. Our second birth has brought about that change.

I remember sitting there that morning and thinking of my loved ones who had already gone before me to meet the Lord. I thought of others I knew who were dealing with sicknesses whereof they would die if God didn’t heal them. I realized, although I was a healthy young man at the time, there might come a time when I would hear a doctors report that spelled out the end being near. I remember these thoughts going through my mind and thinking; “Isn’t that just like God, He takes sickness, tragedy and all of the other things that seem to be so bad and brings about that which is precious. He uses it to add another Jewel to His Treasury!”

Just a thought!

God Bless!

Friends Visit With T.E.A.M. Ministry

Don & Melinda Doran with Don & Kathy Davis

from St. Francisville, Louisiana

What a pleasant surprise when the phone rang and Kathy Davis said I am going to be in your area and would like to visit and also introduce you to my husband Don. We had met Kathy and Ty a few weeks back and now it was a thrill to meet and visit with Don. We were in service with them on Wednesday night and then spent the evening just laughing, and crying too, on Friday. We were so blessed and they ministered to us in such a special way. It is so wonderful to be a part of the family of God.
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When we met up with Kathy and Don on Friday afternoon we were surprised, to say the least, when Debbie Bennett, Kathy's sister, stepped out from hiding behind Don. Debbie is a long time friend of ours on EA and we didn't know she was going to be with us, she came up on Thursday night. This was our first time to meet in person, although we have laughed, cryed and prayed together many times on EA.

Don & Melinda Doran with Debbie Bennett

of St. Francisville, Louisiana

Jared Doran with Debbie Bennett.

Both Kathy and Debbie are team members of TEAM Ministry MVPs. MVPs are Much Valued Prayers and pray for needs that are sent to TEAM Ministry. We appreciate their commitment to prayer and we were so excited to meet these wonderful folks.

Entertained by the Ambassador of the Enemy

It is 2:20 PM on Sunday afternoon, footsteps echo down the hall as Admiral Momura and Mr. Kurusu approached the office of Secretary of State Cordell Hall, for a requested meeting. The two Japanese representatives enter the office and hands the Secretary of State a decoded message from Tokyo saying, in brief, negotiations between the two nations were at an end. They were totally taken back and embarrassed by Secretary Hull’s reaction. You see, what they didn’t know is that moments before they entered the room, Secretary Hull had received word of the attack on Pearl Harbor by the same Japanese nation these men represented. That attack had happened at 1:53 PM Washington, D.C. time. In fact, they themselves didn’t even know of the attack at that time.

This picture of Pearl Harbor was
taken from a Japanese attack plane.

How like the enemy! No matter who your enemy is, they want to make you feel at ease and catch you “off guard” with their attack. The enemy of our soul tries the same tactics over and over again. He will send his ambassador to entertain us and keep us busy while he slips in the back door to destroy us.

The messenger arrived with a letter of great importance. I am shocked to receive a message by a messenger since almost all messages are sent by email or by text message now. I opened the envelope and read the message, surprised at the signatures at the bottom of the page. What could they possibly have to say to me? My surprise deepened when I read the contents as it was an invitation for coffee! Wow, who would have thought this would take place, not even in your wildest imaginations.

The invitation was from Sandy and Toby, two people who do not like me at all. They wanted me to meet them at the little Java Hut on the corner of Ono and Plains Streets. Which is not a good area of town; in fact, it is a good place to stay away from. These two men can have nothing good on their minds.

The messenger turns to leave but I stop him before he reaches the door. “Wait a moment and I will send the reply with you!” If they were going to be formal, I would as well. I would also handle this immediately since I didn’t have to think about my answer.

I sat down at the keyboard and quickly typed out the return message which read, “Ono, I won’t go! Why should I leave the work I am doing for God to be entertained by the enemy of my soul who desires to do me harm.” I hit print and as the message printed I grabbed an envelope. I gave it to the messenger, along with a tip for his efforts, and sent him on his way. The matter was all settled.

As Nehemiah refused to meet with Sanballat and Tobiah and the others, we should refuse to be entertained by the enemy of our souls. Nehemiah had purposed in his heart he was going to see Jerusalem rebuilt, no matter what the cost might be. When the enemy did their best, on several occasions, to distract him, he refused to be distracted. He refused their offers of entertainment. Ono, he just wouldn’t go to the Plains of Ono!

Satan tries his best to distract us from the work we are doing for God. He tries to get us engrossed in other things drawing our attention away from our purpose.
God tells Adam and Eve they can eat of every tree in the Garden except the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Satan appears and asks them, “…hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” (Gen 3:1) Suddenly the emphasis is off what God is blessing them with, every tree but one, to what God isn’t giving them, not everything.

He speaks to a young man, Cain, and tells him it doesn’t matter what he sacrifices, just make a sacrifice. He wouldn’t have dared to say, “Don’t make a sacrifice!” That was too big a step. He just said your sacrifice is as good as what God is requiring, so do it your own way.
He spoke to Saul and said you are the King why do you have to wait for a prophet? Go ahead, the people expect you to make the sacrifice.

He comes against us with partial truths, which are only lies. He tries to distract you, confuse you and destroy you. Let me encourage you to refuse to sit down for coffee. Don’t let him in your living room or office. Don’t be entertained by the enemy.

When President F.D. Roosevelt gave the news to Secretary Hull he instructed him to not let the Ambassadors know that he already knew of the attack and to quickly and discreetly send them on their way. However, Secretary Hull called it as he saw it and the two men left in embarrassment. We don’t need to negotiate with the enemy, we need to send him on his way, with a firm, “ONO, I won’t go, why should I leave the work of God while you intend to do me harm?”

Just a thought!

God Bless!

It is About Point of View

Do you fly? You know what I mean; do you fly in an airplane? To me, flying is one of the most incredible experiences I have ever had. I was flying into San Francisco on a 707 one time and we stopped in San Jose. We let off a lot of passengers there. The plane seated about 220 passengers and I doubt there were 10 people left on the plane when we took off to make the short hop to San Francisco. I will never forget and it is twenty years later, the g-force and incredible take off we had that day. It was awesome!

I am not a frequent flyer. It is only every now and then that I get the opportunity to fly. I would like to share some observations about flying that I have made. I remember my wife’s first time to fly. We were flying on a twin-turboprop commuter airplane that seated 30 passengers. Now this was my first time to be on this small of a plane and Melinda was “freaking” out just being on a plane. We were seated over the wing and I had the window seat. As we are waiting to take off, I looked out the window and notice there was a “patch” riveted on the cover of the prop motor on the wing. What really caught my attention was I could see a little bit of oil squirting out of the “patch.” Now I didn’t mention this to my wife or anyone else because I knew they wouldn’t get that plane off the ground if I did so.

However, on our return trip I noticed some things that I want to share with you. I noticed there were times when, because of the clouds, I couldn’t see where we were going. In fact all I could really see was right where we were. My vision was very limited but the pilot had assured us that his visibility from the cockpit was many miles ahead. I also noticed that as we were flying at the thirty thousand feet altitude I could not distinguish anything on the ground. In fact, I pretty much had no idea where we were. The pilot, however, seemed to know exactly where we were at all times. There was no hesitation on his part at all.

When we came into the airport I noticed the closer we came to the ground the bigger things became. At first you could barely make out the cities, then the houses, then the cars, and then the people. Just as we were coming in we flew over a golf course and you could actually see the people playing golf. The closer we got, the bigger things became.

I remember on another flight, I was flying from San Francisco to Dallas. We flew into Denver and I switched planes. The flight from Frisco to Denver was very rough. It was bad enough they wouldn’t let the flight attendants up. This plane was fairly large, and full, but was being tossed around like a kite in the wind. It was bad enough the person sitting next to me filled several “doggie” bags before we landed. When we left Denver for Dallas they allowed us to tune into the pilots radio frequency with our headsets and we were able to hear him communicate with the tower. Again, we were being tossed pretty bad and the pilot kept asking to be allowed to fly at a higher elevation so we could get above the turbulence. They finally gave him permission and we had a smooth ride.

I flew from Springfield, Missouri to Fresno, California several years ago. I was going to where my mother was living at the time and moving her to Arkansas. The day that I left I woke up with a terrible cold. I wasn’t in the air five minutes before my ears plugged from the pressure. They remained plugged until we were in Flagstaff, Arizona, elevation 7,000 feet, traveling to Arkansas three days later.

Let me try and tie this together. When I am in a plane I place my life in the hands of the pilot. I don’t have to be able to see because I trust his judgment. I don’t have to understand if the plane is leaking oil because they have checked it and know what is happening. If I will let the pilot have control he will take me from point A to point B safely. He has my safety as his concern! I need to do the same with God. I need to put my life in His hands and trust Him to get me to heaven safely. It doesn’t matter if I can see or if I understand everything, I must trust Him.

This is the USS Ronald Reagan in the San Diego Bay. Notice how small they seem. The higher I fly the more my point of view changes! There will be some pressure. There will also be some turbulence. But the closer I get to heaven the less the turbulence is going to affect me. Those things of this world that seemed so “big” to me on the ground now seemed so insignificant. Things like houses, cars, pleasures, people, all of these started to loose their importance the higher I go. They eventually become insignificant. I noticed just climbing into the plane changes one’s perspective, of everything on the ground. The closer I get to God and the more I learn of Him, the more my perspective of this world changes.

A scripture comes to mind, “They that wait upon the Lord… shall mount up with wings like an eagle…” I have to wonder if part of that meaning could be that when we bind ourselves together as one with God (which is what the word “wait” actually means) we will get a totally different point of view about the things of this life. Will the way we view things change? Will the “…things of this world… grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace?”
What would happen if we really developed a “heavenly point of view?”

Just a thought!

God Bless!