Storm clouds are gathering

8/9/10 Monday
There are storm clouds gathering. They gather throughout the world and also around us. These clouds are the signs of impending doom and victories over them. They are the signs of the times, the revealing of things to come. Just as in politics, when elections are coming up, activity increases with plots and schemes being hatched to tear down opponents and get opposing viewpoints accepted, so it is in the spiritual realm. Angels and demons fighting for the souls of mankind. Demons working to disrupt and cause discord wherever they can, tweaking on the faults we all have as a part of our human nature. Pride is the central one, the root of all sin. Spiritual pride is a particularly odious one to the Lord, the sitting back in confidence that you’ve got all the answers and an inside track. Jesus spent a lot of His time on earth fighting this very thing, pointing out the fallacies of the Pharisees and pissing them off so much they plotted to kill him. Imagine that, leaders of religion who are so blinded by their pride and ambition that they completely justify in their mind killing in the name of God. There is a blindness that comes with pride, a sense of “I’m right” that is so strong it overpowers what you know in your heart is the truth. With it comes a refusal to acknowledge any error, a refusal to believe you are wrong. There is no “I’m sorry” possible here for that would admit error. Being proud means never having to say your sorry.
These clouds passed right over the house, twisting like crazy. They turned into a tornado that touched down five miles away

Cherie and I are watching as God brings things together, as people of different interests and skills from varying parts of the country show up at the little church in Stanton. Linda gave me permission to write about her, she’s one of those wonders. I have only a vague idea of what God has in mind but mostly I see things happening. What I know is that whatever it is it will be something that no person will be able to say “Look what I did”, that it will be something that in the end will be obvious that it was a sovereign act of the Lord of all. Will our farm and the vision we have be a part of it? We sure hope for that but ultimately we are here to submit to God, for without submission He is unable to use us or at least we will be less usable. God can use those who hate and reject Him for His purpose but I prefer to be a willing instrument of His plans.

I won’t write of Linda at the moment. Feel a check in my spirit on that but suspect you will hear her amazing story later. Among other things, she is also a traumatic brain injury survivor who as I was had been declared dead and was in a coma. That our lives touched the same people is amazing in itself. There was another person we met, who when I gave her our Westbrook Farms business card exclaimed “I KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!!” Seems that she has been following our blog for almost two years so is familiar with us and the struggles we overcome.
You can see the sand storm coming low on the horizon. A not uncommon thing around here

We anxiously wait to see what’s coming, as we have since the day God restored our marriage after a 20 year separation. There are some who are unable to see a big picture, focusing on minors, but I don’t think God thinks small so it’s exciting to be here in the midst of things. I just see things coming together and the enemy working to tear them apart. Just like in a war, when the scouts see lots of activity on the other side, all of this tells us something is brewing. I think the little town of Stanton is going to see a spiritual renewal. Actually I know it will and have been praying for it. The spirit of the Pharisees has been implanted and well established for a while, building walls of pride so that those who need life, and Christ who gives it, haven’t been reached out to. My prayer is for God to tear down these walls, to break the cold hearts of stone and turn them to flesh again. Do you really believe? You who say you’re a Christian, do you really believe that the person next to you, who knows not Christ, is thus destined to go to hell and not live eternally in heaven. Do you really believe that you hold the key to life for them, that in your hands is the only life preserver that can save them? Do you really believe that you will stand before God and have to answer for every word you said and be judged? Or have you swallowed the easy “God in a box” answer that says it doesn’t matter what you do, the “Don’t worry, be happy” religion that will deceive many and was foretold about two thousand years ago.

Mathew 7.13 "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
15 "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.
16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
17 Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'LORD, LORD,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me on that day, 'LORD, LORD, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?'
23 Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'


A note I wanted to make and forgot. Yesterday, as we were returning from taking the widow to see a movie (Toy Story 3) I noticed that my truck was smoking pretty bad so called Cherie, who was driving ahead. She let me catch up and followed to see where the smoke was coming from. It’s blue burning oil smoke and seemed to come from the middle of the truck. When we got home I looked underneath and see that oil is sprayed all over the place. Not good. The truck has over two hundred thousand miles and has been running on two gears (first and third) for a year now so I suppose this was inevitable. No problem, God will supply as He always does. Meantime I must worry about it catching on fire from oil getting on the hot exhaust. It only has minimum liability insurance so that’s not good, but simply the way it is. At some point I will crawl under it to see if it’s a seal I can reach but odds are it’s a main seal and that will require removing the transmission. Removing the transmission was going to happen sometime anyway whenever we had the funds to get a good used transmission from up north.