Friends In Need

I have a friend in Haiti. She is the daughter of one of my heroes. Her name is Annette Hala.
She is there working as a missionary in an orphanage. Her sister, April, is keeping us posted on Annette via Facebook. Annette is alright.
She and her fellow missionaries need our prayers, as do the children in their care.

Wayne Hala is Annette's dad. He was the pastor of the church I attended in Iwakuni, Japan. He is in the top 3 of my list of heroes. Please keep the Hala family in your prayers.

To Wayne, Melody, April and Annette: I love you and am thankful for you. May God bless you and keep you.

Father, thank you for my friends. Please keep Annette safe, and guard her mind and heart. Strengthen her faith. Thank you for your mercy. Comfort her family and give them peace.

Believe It or Not

There is always a scripture verse or a famous quote on the front of the bulletin we get at church every Sunday. Today, there was a scripture verse. Habakkuk 1:5.

Habakkuk 1:5 says: Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told.

The context of that is that there would be a nation coming that would defeat Israel.

It made me think. If we were to have a modern day prophet come to the United States and preach that God was sending another nation here to exact His judgment on us, we would probably laugh at him and dismiss him as a lunatic. He'd be largely ignored. Nobody would believe him.

There are some things people just aren't going to believe, or don't want to believe.

In John 14:6, Jesus says very plainly that He is the only way to salvation.

That's a very unpopular thing to say in a lot of 'christian' churches today. It's a very unpopular thing to say to those who say they don't need to identify with a religion to go to heaven. "If you are a good person, and treat everyone else with respect, then you'll probably go to heaven." Sounds good and reasonable, right? This is why there are those who don't want to believe the truth. The thought that there is only one way is unreasonable to them.

We would drive ourselves insane if we tried to make anyone believe something they don't want to believe. If someone doesn't believe after already hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ, chances are, they aren't going to. The Holy Spirit may draw them, God may change their heart, but apart from that, they are going to believe what they choose regardless of what is told them. (Luke:16:19-31)

But don't lose heart. There are those who will believe. For all those who refuse the free gift of salvation in Christ Jesus, there will be those few who are willing to receive it. Those few are worth the aggravation.

Read Isaiah 55:10-12.