A Song of Ascent . . .

Dear Friends, prayer and financial partners,

Today, I gave the last lecture on World Religions and the Christian Witness, the last master’s degree class for me this semester; and, I must say that like a good Alka-Seltzer tablet, “Oh, what a relief it was!” Great students, brilliant by any standard, I must say.

As expected, Islam generated the most interest—particularly the jihadist mindset that some Muslims have, and of which others have a hard time understanding. It would be easy—too easy—to just chalk jihadism up to the Devil’s shenanigans and leave it at that, but then that would be leaving out the willful and depraved nature of man, wouldn’t it? In that regards, I reminded them that Christ called Peter Satan on one occasion, not because he was possessed, but because he had taken the Devil’s side of the argument. Had Peter persisted, no telling where he would have ended up—perhaps, in Judas’ camp, who knows? The upshot of the whole point is that it doesn’t take demonic powers for anyone to do the work of the Devil, man is perfectly capable of doing it for him.

So, in understanding jihadism, and fanaticism in any form for that matter, one must understand the capacity of man to absorb evil and act out evil intentions with the precision of intellect and cunningness that baffles the imagination. Burning a captured Jordanian pilot is just child play for them; as is burying little innocent children in the sand, suffocating them to death, just because they happen to be Christian with parents standing conveniently by to witness the slaughter as a caution deterrent to ever even think about opposing ISIS and the agenda of these mad men.

Granted not all Muslims are jihadists, nor are all Christians complacent, either; so, I am not trying to paint the picture any darker than it already is—all I am saying is that it is already dark enough! Hell is at our gates, and yet we leave our doors wide open, and all in the name of fairness and political correctness. Our borders, ports and airports are like sieves, full of holes that our Congress and President cannot—better yet, will not fix.

And, of course, this is only part of the problem we face.

Racial tension is at a new all-time high, gun related homicides rates are astronomical, our financial systems seem to be sound … but, the cautious are warning us of another meltdown. I am no pundit, but I can say one thing, I am so happy that I can put my confidence in the Lord, from which comes my strength, and joyfully join the Psalmist in singing—

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—

Where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord,

The Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip—

He who watches over you will not slumber;

Indeed, he who watches over Israel

Will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord watches over you—

The Lord is your shade at your right hand;

The sun will not harm you by day,

Nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all harm—

He will watch over your life;

The Lord will watch over your coming and going

Both now and forevermore.

And, to that I can add a hardy, Amen!

If all goes as planned, you will receive this newsletter when Bonnie and I are processing through immigration here in Colombo to board our flight which will take us to Singapore (with a 24 hour layover), then on to Doha, Qatar (for another 8 hour layover), then on to Dallas, where we will arrive after almost 60 hours in transit.

We ask for your prayers, and once again thanks for helping us make this ministry possible.

Blessings, and remember we are not alone, He is with us each step of the way.

Jim__/