Choose Greatness

Psalm 91:1-16 ESV         
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day

A great man lives by faith in the Son of God. 

I am most certain that what separates average men from great men is the level of willingness a man has to deny himself.

Again and again it has seemed to me, that I must deny myself the things that I want, and force feed myself the things I need.

Another key characteristic will be a man's willingness to adapt to the form of true servitude. 

This is as awkward a position as I can possibly imagine for myself.  I am at my core utterly interested in myself as a standard position, and usually that position is coupled with the false view that I'm a selfless altruistic humanitarian, which is a lie.

If I am to be at all honest with myself, first I must be honest with God in prayer.

There is no magic to this, but it is certainly supernatural much of the time.  God is one who provides the willingness, the ability, the transformation itself.  He adjusts me, and without him I would be doomed to flounder in egoism, repetitive failure, and regretful despair. 

God has set me up from a broken addicted position, to a sitting position, but in this position I am still offered the choice.  In the past the choice had become a necessity, an addiction.  I had no choice.  By faith in God, and adherence to the foot work he would have me do, I now have a choice.  But I can still choose to do wrong.  I still have that option. 

My choice today, and this is vital, my choice is to be a powerhouse Christian of incredible faith.  I choose it.  It's a direction in my mind and I have an incredible knowing that I'm always headed towards it. 

Too many Christians are living defeated, crippled.  They choose defeat over their problems.  They are crippled by the evil around them.  Their hearts are dead, ashes. 

So simply, my brothers and sisters, choose to be a great Christian.  Choose greatness.  Choose to be a powerhouse Christian of incredible.  Choose it.  Get on a mission for it.  Seek it out in all areas of your life.. patiently.  Cleverly.  Reach for it.  Reach for God.  He reaches back.  He'll meet you.  He'll guide you along the way.  He'll be there every step of the way saying, "Fear not, for I am with you." 

Simply, so simply.. choose to be great.  Choose greatness.  And believe, patiently, through sustained belief and being on a mission for it, a long term journey, full of failures and victories, that you're always going closer.  Adopt that mindset.  And you will have it.  As Jesus said, tell that mountain to move over there, believe in your mind you've received it, and it will be yours.

Proverbs 2:1-12 (ESV)
My son, if you receive my words
    and treasure up my commandments with you,
² making your ear attentive to wisdom
    and inclining your heart to understanding;
³ yes, if you call out for insight
    and raise your voice for understanding,
⁴ if you seek it like silver
    and search for it as for hidden treasures,
⁵ then you will understand the fear of the Lord
    and find the knowledge of God.
⁶ For the Lord gives wisdom;
    from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
⁷ he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
    he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,
⁸ guarding the paths of justice
    and watching over the way of his saints.
⁹ Then you will understand righteousness and justice
    and equity, every good path;
¹⁰ for wisdom will come into your heart,
    and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
¹¹ discretion will watch over you,
    understanding will guard you,
¹² delivering you from the way of evil.

Using our Unique Talents to Impact Culture

Ephesians 2:1-10 (NIV) As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, ² in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. ³ All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh^[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. ⁴ But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. ⁶ And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, ⁷ in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰ For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Let me tell you about the post-modern man in his 20s from suburbia, or the inner city.  He is quite the character, and loves to party and have fun.  Are those things evil inherently?  Not at all.  The post-modern man has many beliefs, but they are in stark contrast to the modern man's beliefs.  The modern man might've had certain political beliefs, scientific beliefs, spiritual beliefs, and even philosophical beliefs.  The post-modern man has no such interests and thus no such beliefs.  The post-modern man is the ultimate entertainment junkie.  He has favorite movies, favorite musicians, favorite celebrities, favorite alcoholic beverages, and favorite sports teams.  This is often the extent of the post modern's interests and thus has few further beliefs on topics we in the church might've considered important to the masses at some point in history.

The post-modern man's heaven is the ultimate party experience.  It is often described in movies like American Pie, Dazed and Confused, American Graffiti and so on.  The ultimate party experience!  Everyone is dancing to trendy music, alcohol all around, the good old boys all hanging together, with trophy women on their arms.  The ultimate high, the ultimate experience. 

Morality and truth mean little to the post-modern man.  Satisfaction is his goal.  As belief is the engine for the spiritual walk in Christianity, money is the engine for the pleasure seeking walk of the self-worshiper. 

Laughter is at the top of the list in any social interaction.  Grotesque jokes, obscene comments, derogatory language, and constant sexual references.  One could say sexual intercourse is the method by which the post-modern man in his twenties worships his maker, which he considers to be himself.  The post-modern man considers women to be a commodity, and he loves his bros, or at least however far his bros will get him to the ultimate "fun" feeling, the commodity of women, the supplies of tap alcohol, and sometimes even the supplies of multicolored pills and poppers. 

Often this lifestyle will not bother the post-modern man, but if it does, there are many facade pseudo-spiritual remedies for such depravity.  Many a hippie would claim to be buddhist, or new age, or just spiritual in general.  That way there is no need for a lifestyle change, but a significant possibility to cover up their own guilt at depravity, drug addiction, alcoholism, cheating, stealing, lying, and pornography addiction. 

The post-modern man loves video games, computer games, the latest gaming consoles, facebook, twitter, the internet, and free pornography websites galore.  He expounds constantly on the corruption of politics and religion, and refuses to work a job because he would never want to support the evils of such sinister mega-corporations. 

All the while his words may expound a certain level of truth, his own utterly selfish dope infested beer can littered room at his parent's house tells a different story.  He cries constantly at the evils of the world, yet very much serves them in his daily life.  He always has a new idea and a new thought, but never any action to back up all his random delusions while tripping on coricidin, half drunk, and wired up on clonazepam and amphetamines that he stole from his dad's bathroom cabinet. 

Victory for this man in his twenties is vast riches, bursting bank accounts, fancy new cars, and a dyed blonde orange skinned trophy wife with breast implants. 

There is no place for truth or religion in this young man's deranged mind.  He's drunk on what the mainstream media has fed him, what Hollywood has called good, and what the music industry has blasted into his ears as "cool."  A topic like Christianity is as foreign to the post-modern kid in his twenties as a UFO sighting.  That's no "fun" to talk about.  It's no "fun" to do.  It's "boring" and "I don't care."

It's not pretty is it?  I know, let me tell you, I know.  I used to be that kid. 

This lifestyle is the proliferation of Satan's plan for humanity.  His work is quite completed in that young man.  It's not that there is no God and is no Satan, it's that even if there was, the young man wouldn't care anyway.  The effects of sin, and the deceit of Satan is the evil one's ultimate power to deceive humanity (John 6:66). 

So, how can we as the body of Christ on Earth reach out to this twisted fellow? 

We can't.

He doesn't care and he doesn't want to talk to us.  Which is why prayer is so important.  It is only by the work of the Holy Spirit moving among the nations that this young man can begin to hunger for spiritual truth.  Prayer, prayer, prayer. 

Of course if the church had a larger and more powerful voice in the public circles, television, the internet, music and so on, this young man might not be in such a depraved state.  Engaging culture is so very important, and that's the wonderful thing; we as Christians absolutely can engage culture. 

This is where our diversity comes as a great asset.  There are Christian musicians, Christian businessmen, Christian photographers, Christian graphic designers, Christian writers (like myself), Christian speakers, Christian product designers, and on and on and on.  There are Christians among every demographic, every social circle, every interest group, and every level of income in western society.

We are to be conformed to the image of Christ, yet that conformity is once again a paradox within Christianity, and there are many.  In this case, we are to conform to the image of Christ, yet ironically this also means pursuing our own unique spiritual gifts, and our innate God-given talents.

There is an aspiration to live as Jesus Christ lived, with his perfection of resistance to sin and sharing of the truth, but that does not mean I have to buy sandles, grow my hair out, grow a beard, and wear white pajamas everywhere I go.  To be Christian is to be unique and diverse, with unique strengths and creative talents to contribute to the culture, to the body, and to the glory of Jesus Christ.

I'd like you to be thinking on that topic, what unique gifts do you have to contribute to engaging culture for Jesus Christ?  How can you share his message with your own unique gifts? 

This is an absolutely wonderful thing, because we have certain things we love to do, like for me, I absolutely love to write.  And look, I can be in this blissful state of writing on my computer, be loving every minute of it, and be able to share the Bible, share the love of Jesus Christ, and encourage other Christians, in my spare time.  Isn't that wonderful? 

You've got talents to contribute, so be thinking on that.  And let me encourage you, you've got it in you to be not just an average Christian, but a powerhouse Christian of incredible faith.  We've been saved from the ugly fate of the post-modern man, women, whatever.  We've been spared from that.  It breaks my heart, the new heart Jesus gave me, to see so many still lost in that.  So let me encourage you, step up onto the battle lines, the front lines of cultural engagement.  Many Christians have been saved from death by Jesus, but hang back, quiet when they are so deeply needed on the frontlines.

The final work is of the Holy Spirit, which will be moved by God's sovereign will, but will also be moved by our earnest prayers, as the representative body of Christ on Earth.  So be in prayer.  But then also engage culture with your unique talents, via the internet, via your local coffee shops, local government, businesses, missions, your college or university, or just your day job.

There are so many little things we can do.  Imagine if every person reading these words started leaving free Bibles at laundry mats, or put spiritual journey pamphlets on community boards at gas stations, or just spoke to a coworker about coming to church sometime.  Imagine if every Christian in the world started doing that.. today.  Wow.  That would be something.  Not every Christian is willing to, but I bet you are.  And those are just things every Christian ought to be doing.  Engaging culture is more than leaving Bible's at coffee shops or talking to coworkers about Christ.

Engaging culture is really synonymous, in the United States at least, with engaging and interacting in secular media outlets, like the internet for example.   Another example, in a corporate sense, would be Liberty University in Virginia, the college I attend, by distance.  Liberty University engages culture by having division 1 teams in basketball, football, and so on.  They can then represent Christianity in those hard to reach arenas of sports and entertainment.  An individual example in music would be LeCrae a rapper who constantly represents for Jesus to other high level musicians.  In the NFL you have Tim Tebow.  In the realm of reality TV there is Duck Dynasty.  Be in prayer about God raising up more brave and vocal representatives of Christ in all areas of our extremely corrupt media and culture...

Get creative, and think outside the box with engaging culture.  I always mention the internet first because it's a great starting point to build confidence in publicly declaring, plus it's effective, because of the sheer volumes of people that can be reached almost instantaneously.  I want people all over the globe, from every tribe and nation and language to know and receive the love that belongs to them in Christ Jesus.

I love Jesus so much, because he saved me from being a drug addicted money chasing womanizer.  On a personal note, I've now been clean and sober over 16 months, and yesterday I had my first day of work at Salvation Army of Wausau!  So exciting!  I'm an intake worker at a homeless shelter now, and so far I love it.  I love helping others.

I love the light feeling Jesus puts in my heart every morning.  I love it so much, it's so foundational, it's so incredible, it's redeeming to everything I used to be, and feeling how I now feel, I want everyone to know about how awesome and loving Jesus Christ is, and how Christianity is the complete and utter truth of life on Earth.  

I want everyone to know Jesus has died for their sins and has made a way for them to eternal life.  He will help you today, to change, to become a decent man or woman, and he also vertically completes all requirements on, under, and above heaven for your eternal salvation in heaven, in the next life, at new Jerusalem, our hopeful coming city.  The place that is real and true, and does actually really exist.  This I believe.  The moment one has believed in his heart in the risen Lord Jesus Christ, he is saved.  Nothing can take that from him.  The vertical work is complete, the eternal life is finished, by Jesus on the cross, and now horizontally, we want to live well and love others, not because of a list of rules, but because of the grace and mercy we've been shown.

It was mercy for God to remove our sins on the cross, but it is grace that he would walk beside us all the days of our remaining lives, sanctifying us, changing us, encouraging us, and comforting us.  And as if the moment of the removal of our sins as we believed wasn't enough, he wipes our feet clean daily as we walk through the muck and sin of this world.

What a God we have!  What false god of Taoism, Buddhism, pantheism, new age, or Hinduism can compare to our God?  Broken clay figures, scattered on the grounds, lies a plenty when we truly understand Jesus Christ, our wonderful personal God, what a wonderful God who Saves!

¹⁴ For this reason I kneel before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family^[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶ I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
²⁰ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.  -Ephesians 3:14-21 (NIV)

The Paradox of Wisdom in Christianity

Proverbs 30:1-4 (NLT) "I am weary, O God;
    I am weary and worn out, O God.^[b]
2 I am too stupid to be human,
    and I lack common sense.
³ I have not mastered human wisdom,
    nor do I know the Holy One.

⁴ Who but God goes up to heaven and comes back down?
    Who holds the wind in his fists?
Who wraps up the oceans in his cloak?
    Who has created the whole wide world?
What is his name—and his son’s name?
    Tell me if you know!"

And Proverb 12:1 says "To learn, you must love discipline; it is stupid to hate correction."  What is the assumption when considering wisdom, truth, and enlightenment? Whether it's western or eastern thinking, we're talking about gathering knowledge, discovering actual truth, and compiling information and obtaining it. 

But the sum truth I gathered under the assumption of self-introspective discovery did not stand as much as a crippled molding wobbly tent of paper compared to the path of trust I discovered later in Jesus Christ.  

The Lord God towers tens of thousands of stories taller than the foolish wisdom of the world. Compare Bukowski to Chesterton.  Compare Hunter S. Thompson to C.S. Lewis. Those writers inspired by the word of God and the Holy Spirit which leads into all truth, compared to the writers who are inspired by misery and illicit drugs... well, there is no comparison.  

C.S. Lewis and G.K. Chesterton would not have been able to reach the heights of truth and wisdom they had, without at first coming humbly to the feet of Jesus Christ and welcoming him into their hearts. And I wish to my depths that Thompson and Bukowski had chosen to do so, and perhaps they did at the end, we don't really know for sure. 

I once made the choice of a Thompson, and then later, I made the choice of a Lewis. I made the choice to stumble to my knees and call upon the Lord Jesus Christ. I did not come to that conclusion by work of reason or wisdom, but by work of addiction, alcoholism, depression, sleep deprivation, and utter inexhaustible misery. When I called upon the Lord Jesus, it was the sort of inward yell for help that shutters through your whole being, through your whole self, an unconditional surrender. The sensation of the desperate cry for help must've been so sincere, so empty of conditional clauses that it rang true to the very throne of God himself. Though of course, the name itself is what got it there. 

I recall the moment quite clearly. Not so much what I was saying, but how it felt. I felt relief. Finally, it happened. The choice that had illuded me, in a moment I had been able to make. But I would not have known whose name to call on had it not been for God the Father. He reminded me whose name I ought to speak at that moment.  Not "save me krishna"  or "save me god-being whoever"  but: "Please save me Lord Jesus Christ!"

That is the beginning of actual wisdom. C.S. Lewis said, “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” How incredibly true that statement is.  

As a human being, young especially, the last thing I wanted to do was admit that I needed anybody's help!  I wanted to do it myself.  I wanted to prove my own self sufficiency.  That has got to be a product of sin in my heart. I am of the line of Adam. We are all born with the sin nature in ourselves. In retrospect I can see it's work so incredibly. Nothing in the very untrained human desires in me told me that I was made by and for God.  Yet... there was something there. Something I didn't want to believe. I tried to hide it, to lay a pile of papers and scientific conclusions on top of that truth. In the end it was totally buried. But desperate misery uncovered it again.

Total admission of need for God in my life, saved my life. I would not have come to this conclusion on my own. Everything in the world told me to trust nothing and no one. And upon extended inspection of the elements of culture and society, and especially government and economics, that conclusion seemed reasonably justified. If I were to trust even half of the institutions, businesses, and people I meet in this world I would be in for some serious hurt.  But I learned there was one incredible exception to that conclusion: I can place absolutely trust in the Lord God of the Bible. 

It is most paradoxical. But I've learned to love the paradoxes in the Bible. I've also learned to love the paradoxes of 12 step recovery.  The two agree on many things. Of course my bottom line source for truth in the Bible. Always remember that. We test what is true by the word of God. Experience is very important, but always test that experience by scripture.

For me, I always wanted to be the rebel fighting the righteous cause.  Just like Luke Skywalker leading the rebellion against the evil empire. Or like Aragorn or Legolas, battling the hordes of orcs to protect the scattered peoples of Middle Earth. I wanted to be special. 

But I had believed the most deceitful propaganda. The quiet propaganda against Christianity. Don't underestimate the wayward one, Satan and his forces. He has it stacked so well that if I tell anyone that in the mainstream media and in Hollywood there is a massive amount of demonic imagery and dark symbolism, they will immediately assume I'm a quack. The propaganda is extensive and well enmeshed in our societal thinking. They exist as generalizations, probably less experienced then repeated. 

The generalizations are often as follows: 

• Jesus Christ was a great teacher but he wasn't the son of God.
• Organized religion has led to blood shed so it shouldn't exist at all.
• Christians are judgmental or hypocrites.
• Priests or Pastors have been guilty of terrible scandals.
• Science has disproven God.
• The Bible is no longer relevant.

And so on and so forth.  But after inspection, none of those things hold up to be actually true:

• Jesus Christ was a great teacher, but he also explicitly claimed to be the Son of God.
• Organized religion has at times led to loss of life, but so has communism, atheism, and feudalism, this fact doesn't prove it's untrue. Don't judge a worldview by it's abuses.
• Some Christians are judgmental or hypocritical, many others are humble, kind, compassionate, and loving.
• Priests and Pastors have been guilty of scandals, yet this doesn't disprove Jesus Christ, it simply tells us humans are flawed and even Christians can make terrible choices. 
• Science hasn't disproven God. Science isn't even equipped to do so. 
• The Bible remains relevant, as it's teaching are timeless, and lay at the bedrock of western civilization and it's prosperity. 

The beginning wisdom is paradoxically not a striving to know it independently, but an initial admission of total inability to know truth, followed by a declaration of the need for God, followed by the commitment to follow God and to live as Jesus Christ did on Earth. Or as the word of God says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Proverbs 9:10). In other words, holy reverence and regard for God is the starting place, submission and yielding to His word and ways, begins us down the path of real wisdom. 

More so than any other truth in the Bible, the method of life lived by Jesus is to be our guide to living.  Jesus Christ lived a perfect life, he loved his friends, he loved his enemies, he healed the sick, he gave hope to those who had none, he shined a light on the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, he humbly washed the feet of his disciples, and then willingly died on the cross for all the evils of the world, once for all time, for all mankind, reclaiming his life on the third day, and giving final instructions to his beloved disciples. 

There is no other life like it in history or beyond, there is no greater example for how to live, and no humbler a God than ours, who would come in person to wash his people clean, paving the way for their redemption. We were lost, and of no merit to be redeemed, yet we were redeemed, once for all time by Him who loves us.

The Lord God then as our sovereign, our friend, our protector, and our comforter, leads us along the path of wisdom, unveiling mystery after mystery, and truth after truth. What a wonderful thing, don't you think?

Jeremiah 33:2, 3 (NIV) "This is what the Lord says, he who made the earth, the Lord who formed it and established it—the Lord is his name: ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know." 

I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.
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Persecution of Christians in Kazakhstan

I was following a story, and throwing my support behind an issue occurring in the country of Kazakhstan over the past year, involving the illegal imprisonment of a certain "Pastor BK."  The story involves a mysterious city that's been built by the country of Kazakhstan.

Rumor was that Pastor Bakhytzhan Kashkumbayev "Pastor BK" was working on a translation of the Bible into the language of Kazakh.  But that's only a rumor.  Inevitably he was arrested in May 2013 on false charges, for being a Christian believer in Jesus Christ.  He was tortured, denied medical assistance, and they were treating him as if he was a mental patient, and that his faith in God was a delusion they needed to beat out of him.

On October 8th he was released from prison, and then re-arrested at his home that same day.  This is often done to mentally torture the victim.  They feel the powerful relief of being freed from prison, and then they are suddenly re-arrested and forced back into the prison cell they thought they had finally escaped.  This same method has sometimes been used by organizations in the United States like the FBI, on journalists and political prisoners.

That's the kind of world we live in.

It's ironic that Christians would face persecution in a country like Kazakhstan.  This country has made headlines in the past year regarding a mysterious and strangely designed city, now their capital city, called Astana.  CNN article on Astana architecture.  Just a few years ago there was nothing in the area known as Astana, and the president of Kazakhstan chose to construct a city out of nothing in this area.  If you page through pictures of the city, you'll notice plenty of occult imagery.

 A photo of the "Palace of Peace and Reconciliation." 

A photo of the tower at the center of the city.

Kazakhstan has been noted to be a tolerant and welcoming place for diverse religions and spirituality.  Ironically, they quietly lock up and torture Christians.  Maybe God is giving us a living message here in what happened to Pastor BK.

Some suspect that this city could eventually be the seat of the Anti-Christ, as it has just the sort of ring of "New Age Inclusiveness" and unifying world religions for peace.  Intriguing Article and more pictures here.  Naturally it's hard to nail anything down as fact, but these theories shouldn't be dismissed lightly.

I got involved with the International Christian Concern right around Christmas 2013 in aiding in the release of Pastor BK.  We sent emails, shared pictures, made phone calls, and tweeted the Kazakh embassy.  People also made pictures to show their public support for Pastor BK.

Here is mine:

After more than 200 days of being imprisoned, Pastor BK was released by the Kazakh government.

From the Facebook Free Pastor BK page: "Dear Friends,

We are still praising God that Pastor BK is out of prison, and home with his wife, able to receive medical care. But the battle isn’t over and we still need your prayers. “Kazakh authorities found Pastor Kashkumbayev guilty of bringing physiological harm through prayer. This precedent can be used against any other pastors in Kazakhstan in the future,” said Russian Ministries. We must continue to pray for Pastor BK and his lawyer as they appeal this guilty verdict. We must also continue our efforts to ensure that believers, and people of faith in Kazakhstan, can exercise their rights to religious freedom."

As members of a global movement of Christianity, let's keep the persecuted church in our prayers!  Let us also remain vigilant and watchful as we live in the end times today.  Recall the great commission to make disciples, and consider becoming involved in missionary work.  If you'd like to get involved in supporting and praying for persecuted Christians internationally visit persecution.org

 Please pray for these issues regarding the trial of Pastor BK, his family, and the charges made against him:

• He was released but found guilty (a face-saving measure). This could set a precedent for other pastors in Kazakhstan to receive the same treatment. Pray for the safety of Christians in this country.
• Pastor B.K. and his lawyer's plan to appeal the "guilty" charge. Please pray for the success of this case.
• The repeal of his fine of $10,800 USD which is under appeal. 
• That Pastor B.K. and his family would sense God's presence and experience healing from the trauma over the last nine months. Pray especially for Pastor B.K.'s health to improve.

 Thank you very much for your concern for our brothers and sisters in Christ around the globe.  Peace be with you.