The Fountain of Life and the Snares of Death

Twice in the Book of Proverbs, Solomon, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, writes of "a fountain of life" and "the snares of death." It is worth unpacking these words a little more. There is impressive meaning here.

In the first instance, Solomon writes "the teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death." In the second instance, it is "The fear of the LORD" that is that fountain of life that turns a man from the snares.

The teaching of the wise and the fear of the LORD are not contradictory. Solomon's father, King David said it this way: "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding." Solomon would have understood "the teaching of the wise" and "the fear of the LORD" as being interrelated.

The fountain of life concept has less impact to us who live in water rich areas of the world. In the semi-arrid Middle East, a fountain of water would have been a source of life.....not just an expression of art. Water brings the land to life, and a fountain or a spring would have meant a place of abundant life. Fountains are also moving water, constantly refreshed.

Creatures caught by snares do not meet death quickly, and that is the image we should see in this passage: slow death. Snares are hidden in small animal pathways in the brush. The animal caught by them has neither seen them nor smelled them as great care has been used in the setting of them.

So it is with sin. The enemy hides the deadly snares of sin carefully in the brush of popular culture. Sin is deceptive....it often seems free or fun, or both at once.

How then to avoid the snares of death? Fear the Lord and heed the teaching of the wise. It remains as true today as when the pen first scratched the words some 3,000 years ago.

Linda's Improvement Two Weeks After CCSVI Treatment

Linda was treated for low flow in both her jugular veins two weeks ago in Albany, New York, and she continues to gradually improve.

In Albany she underwent an as yet unproven treatment for amelioration of Multiple Sclerosis symptoms that may have been triggered by CCSVI. Both of her jugular veins had significant narrowings. Venous flow was substantially improved by venous angioplasty in both.

1. Energy – Good improvement. Linda self reports about 50% improvement in energy level. I would say it is at least that.
2. Pain level – Dramatic improvement. She says her pain level averaged “8” pre-treatment and now averages “1” or a little more.
3. Left hand – Good improvement. This was an immediate effect, and growing. She is able to type now with the left hand, but only poorly pre-treatment. The large muscles in the arm are growing in strength, but not as quickly.
4. Mobility – Some improvement. Because of the improvement in energy, Linda gets around more and better. Pre-treatment, we had come to the place where I was taking her most places and bringing her inside with the transport chair. Post treatment, she is much more willing AND able to drive herself (the right leg was not much affected by the disease) and get inside a building.
5. “Molasses” – Dramatic improvement. Pre-treatment, Linda would be “in cold molasses” in the afternoon and evening…..that is to say, hard to move. That effect has disappeared in her legs, but persists in her left arm, although it is better.
6. Temperature – Dramatic improvement. Linda’s hands and feet are warmer. I can feel that when she touches me.
7. Depression – Dramatic improvement. Hope has been restored.
8. Balance – Good improvement. She can now stand without support for several minutes.
9. Tingling – Some improvement. Her left leg tingles sometimes, but has improved. The left thumb tingles constantly still.
10. Physical therapist – shocked. I wish I could have been in the room as she observed the positive changes in Linda.

We have not observed any negative effects. We're both still pretty dazed and amazed!

Update - 27 months later:  what appeared to me to have been a relentless progression of MS symptoms in Linda seems now to have halted.  Most of the immediate improvements we saw initially and I reported above have dissipated.  The pain level remained low until Linda fell on her back the following spring, and that brought other pain. What helps most now seems to be 1) a life of faith and hope, 2) happy marriage and family relationships, 3) physical therapy with an optimistic therapist which has rebuilt some core strength, 4) low dose naltrexone.

Slow Miracles

Slow miracles are just as good as fast miracles......they just aren't as flashy. We are in the midst of a slow miracle here and we are grateful for every bit of it.

Linda mentioned to me just a little while ago, "the procedure really has made a difference. I'm not in molasses like I usually am at this time of the day." That was the first thing I observed on the day of the procedure....she seemed to have more energy than usual. Today, she confirmed that without the molasses effect, her energy level has picked up.

We've been back from the trip to Albany 24 hours now, and it's at home where we can really gauge how it is going. Here at home we notice several things: 1) more energy as mentioned above; 2) a left hand and arm that is functioning better; 3) more perceived body warmth; and 4) less pain. Let me elaborate a little.

Linda in the last couple of years has been fairly low energy in the afternoon and evening. She just has "worn out". It doesn't seem so surprising now.....her jugular veins were not allowing good blood flow from her cranium.

Second, her left arm has been following the path of the left leg toward immobility. Her left leg is largely frozen in the extended position. It can be moved, but only with external force. She doesn't have the ability to move it. Her left hand has been gradually diminishing in its ability to work. She mentioned yesterday on the airplane, "my hand is still working better than it was."

Linda has always wanted a warmer room temperature than me, and I doubt that will ever change. In the last couple of years, however, she has wanted a LOT of warm things around her. If we sit to watch a movie, she has wanted a lot of cover, even with many warm clothes. Today she said, "I'm warmer than I have been." Nice!

The pain issue has been a big deal. She's not much of a complainer, but I have known that it was tough for her. Involuntary grunts of pain in the night were very common. Now, she seems to be sleeping more easily and is struggling less with pain during the day.

This is what we have seen so far. We are a couple of grateful people.

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights". We are grateful for this gift of a slow miracle.

We're also grateful for pioneers like Dr. Gary Siskin at Community Care Physicians and Albany Medical Center, and the team there. What a gift they have been to us and to many others.

Day Two After "Liberation"

It's called the Liberation Treatment because a fair number of MS sufferers around the world have been "liberated" from many or most of their symptoms by it. My wife Linda had the treatment Monday. This is day two after her CCSVI was repaired with balloon angioplasty in her jugular and azygous veins.

It feels as if her energy level has markedly increased. Yesterday morning she reported that her hand was working easily for the first time in many weeks. Her pain level was down yesterday.

Today, the report is still good. She seems to have more energy than before. That alone is a good result. Pain is up, and hand is not working quite so well. Some of that may be due to tiredness from the driving around we have been doing.

The docs at Albany Medical Center recommend not forming a firm judgment about the results of the procedure for at least three months. That's the way we're going to look at it. We see some good things, but hope for more as the repaired veins do their work!

The Tide is Returning?

The tide may be returning. Already Linda feels better with more energy and seems more resistant to the cold. Even just a few hours after the procedure, she is moving around with more energy that I have seen in months.

At noon today, we went into the Albany Medical Center (AMC) where Linda was made ready for the catheterization procedure. Dr. Gary Siskin came in and talked with us again. He had called the previous day to ask what questions we had, and to help us with pre-procedure anxiety, and to help us manage expectations.

He’s a careful physician, but compassionate. On Sunday he basically said there is no telling what this procedure will bring about. Don’t expect U-Tube results, but hope for good outcomes was his message. Changes may be subtle, he said.

At AMC, the radiology team told us they have now done more than 200 of these procedures. The team at AMC was open, friendly and professional. It does make a difference to be among friendly people when going through something like this.

The procedure took only 90 minutes, which is the average, one of the nurses told me. I waited in a larger waiting room with a pager they supplied.

When I got back to the recovery area, Linda was already there resting comfortably. That doesn’t sound like a big deal….resting comfortably…..but that has not been the path she has been on in recent months. Mostly she has been in pain.

And she was laying there talking about big plans that she had for a choice piece of cooked bovis domesticus.

Dr. Siskin explained what happened to the table. He said that her azygous vein looked pretty good, and he only smoothed it out a bit. On the other hand, both jugular veins had noticeable stenoses occurring high up the neck. He said the constriction was impressive in both of them; more than the norm he sees. He did an angioplasty in both. That helped the blood flow a lot, he said. He could see it in the imaging. He provided a DVD copy of some of the images.

He recommended that we visit an Interventional Radiologist closer to Anchorage for a three month followup. He wants Linda to take aspirin daily for three months. He also asked us to email him with information on how it is going.

I didn’t realize the emotions bottled up in me until I called our daughter….and found at places in my oral description that I could hardly talk. It’s mainly relief that she is okay, but also a sense that this could be the beginning of the tide starting to return.

Whether it comes in all the way – and who would not wish for that – or only part of the way, we’re grateful for the hope that this has engendered. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Hope for a Tidal Change in Linda's Health

On Friday morning, Linda and I take off for Albany, New York for an unproven medical treatment that we are expecting will halt the symptoms of the multiple sclerosis that has been slowly, inexorably stealing her mobility and motion.

From Cruise

By faith, I believe this treatment will provide that firm halt, and provide a base for rebuilding mobility. God made our bodies to heal, and once the offense is ended, they will heal. The tide of her health has been ebbing. I believe that tide is going to rise!

We have been trusting God throughout the 16 years of this affliction. This procedure feels to me like His provision. But even if I'm wrong, we're going to continue to trust.

The medical community is divided on the "liberation treatment" that she will experience on Monday. The investigations so far have been inconsistent, with results ranging from substantial success to inability to replicate findings. Neurologists tend to argue against it, urging suffers to wait for definitive results.

We can't wait. In the years that it could take for more definitive answers on this treatment, Linda could be wheelchair- or even bed-bound. I understand the desire of physicians to have good science-based treatments.....but I also clearly understand the desire of patients to grasp at what offers hope.

A small band of Interventional Radiologists are offering the procedure, arguing that it appears to be helping some. When we made the arrangements for this trip a few months ago, the only USA option was Community Care Physicians in Albany, NY. Others in the USA had started, but have been stopped by their institutions, at least temporarily. A number of clinics in Mexico, Europe and India have been providing this service for many months now, with good many good reports. Hundreds and hundreds of MS sufferers have now undergone the treatment worldwide. Some have reported spectacular results, others a little bit of help, and others....nothing.

Briefly, the treatment involves threading a catheter into the veins that drain the brain and repairing kinks or constrictions. The point of this is to allow better blood flow. It has been known for over 100 years that MS sufferers have deposits of iron around veins draining the brain. The theory is that constricted drainage leads to iron from blood hemoglobin crossing the blood/brain barrier, killing sensitive nerve tissue. The condition has been dubbed chronic cerebro-spinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI).

It appears that Linda is being attacked by secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS). In this variation, motor control is progressively lost. Drug therapies are generally modestly helpful, if at all, and there are a number of serious side effects associated with them. The effects of SPMS in her have been devastating to her ability to walk. In the 2001-2005 time period, she and I walked over 1,000 miles while we lived in Uppsala. Today, she can only walk with an electric nerve stimulator that lifts her left foot and using a walker for balance, and then only for short distances. Her left side is particularly affected, but there are deficits in her right as well.

So....to Albany we go. If you remember of us at 9 AM (Alaska time) on Monday, September 20, please pray for good results. No....don't pray for good results....pray for amazing results!

Thank you for your love, your concern and your prayers.

The Immensity and Heritage of God's Love

Here I sit with tears in my eyes as a new understanding of the immensity and heritage of God's love permeates my thinking. I don't think that love was necessary......God surely could have made us without it. There must have been other ways for Him to accomplish His purposes, but He chose the way of love....because that is who He is.

So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. I Jn 4:16 ESV

I'm deeply grateful for the deep veins of love in my life: family, wife, children, friends, brothers and sisters in Christ, even random strangers....all joined together and over arched by the eternal love of God.

And how do we respond to this great love? With love. Jesus said it this way: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Matt 22:37b-39 ESV
I love you, Lord.

Evernote: Multi accessible notes, records and more

I have become a fan of Evernote in just a few days. I need multi-platform and multi-site access to notes, documents and other records, and this classy little PC/Mac program / iApp works like a champ.

Google Documents is my preferred multi-site documents and spreadsheets solution, and I use it several times a day on average. It works well for simple or even medium-complex word processing documents and spreadsheets. I access it from the office, I access it at home and I can view it from my iPhone in the coffee shop. It works on the PC and the Mac, and it works on my iPad. I even share some documents with colleagues and friends.

What Google Documents does not do well is simple notes, audio, pictures, PDFs and other records, and this is the need that Evernote fills. Like Google Documents, Evernote is free, at least up to 40 mb of uploads per month. A souped-up version is available for $5 per month, and I can see myself shelling out before long.

As an example of what I am doing with Evernote, my wife and I are planning a couple of out-of-Alaska trips in September. As I gather information items for the trip, I am saving them as PDF files and dragging them into an Evernote "notebook" labeled travel. Or I could easily make a web clip and bypass the PDF stage, but I like PDF for printouts.

I have another notebook for my office notes, and I just started another for some health related materials. Other notebooks will follow, I know.

Here's the part I like about Evernote: I can see my notes and records on: 1) my main home workstation, 2) my iPad, 3) my iPhone, 4) our Mac Mini that we use with the large LED monitor on our "entertainment center", 5) on my office computer at the office and 6) any web browser.

I have shared my travel folder with my wife so she can see it in her iPhone, or on her laptop or a web browser.

Now, I don't have to look through piles of travel related emails to find the confirmation information; it's all in one place. If I need to show something to an agent, I can just pop open the iPad and display it....whether or not I am connected to the cloud. So long as I have synchronized documents between devices, I have the data where I need it.

I already have many work-related notes already in my Evernote notebook, and I have been using this for less than two weeks. I keep a running note of what I want to talk to my boss about so that when we have some time, I can pop it open, no matter where I am.

Recently I started a note in my office notebook about budget items for mid-year consideration. I also have a couple of PDF'ed handwritten notes from staff meetings so that I can refer to them later. Today, I snapped an iPhone picture of something in the building that needs repair and saved it to Evernote to remind me to get it taken care of. I know at least one user that takes meeting notes on his iPad, and saves them to Evernote. I'm going to try that, too.

Here's a video that tells more about it. The Evernote website has a great video library showing other uses.

Crossover of Faith

Nearly every Christian parent has dreams for the life of faith that his child will follow. No matter whether we are evangelicals, mainline protestants, Catholics or others, we want our kids of follow Jesus.

According to a 2008 Pew Study nicely summarized by Michael Bell here, most do, but there are interesting changes along the way for some of them. What really makes this information really accessible is a fascinating graph he developed that accompanies his review:


The "spaghetti diagram" (see a clearer image here) shows movement between Christian faith traditions very clearly. At the top is the faith tradition in childhood, and at the bottom the same people as adults.

A Moment of Hope

Hope drifted gently on the wind on a sunny Anchorage summer day recently. Hope in this case was encapsulated in millions of cottony seeds filling the air and sky from thousands of cottonwood trees. I sat suddenly awed by the meaning embedded in that commonplace annual event.


The tiny seeds of the cottonwood are surrounded by feathery material. They almost float. With a little dry warmth that breaks open their natal seed pod they burst into the wind carrying the hopes of the cottonwood tribe.

I doubt that trees have a soul, but could they be intelligent? They are certainly aware -- trees can alter their growth and turn their leaves to the sun. Could it be that there is something akin to a very slow neural network in the intricate array of moisture and nutrient pathways within plants?

Are trees capable of praising the LORD? The prophet David thought so:

Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them.

Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy; they will sing before the Lord, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth.

He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his truth.

Linda and I once arrived on the scene of a foaling minutes after a young colt was born. The mare was exhausted, but the geldings were beside themselves with excitement, even having had nothing to do with the conception of the tiny horse now bathed in early April sunlight.

Are cottonwood trees excited in their own treeish way about the hope that floats away from them as their seeds are released on the wind? Are they filled with joy and peace that they have accomplished an important part of their purpose?

It is tempting to think that we are like cottonwoods, full of joy...and hope....and fulfilled purpose as children come into the world. And it is true that children is part of the purpose of mankind. But if we put our hope in children, or parents, or spouses or friends or institutions or things, we will be disappointed. They fail. Like the seeds of the cottonwood, some take root and grow, but others fail in various ways.

The seeds of the humble cottonwood are a lesson in hope. But we are created by God at the very pinnacle of creation, and while we may delight and even hope in children, family and friends, there is for us a hope that will not fail. The apostle Paul put it this way: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. We can entrust our hope in Christ, because we know he cares for us.

US Fails to Halt Paramilitary Invasion on American Soil

The United States has been invaded by foreign paramilitary units, and the federal government is only making ineffective, politically correct moves to stop it.

How is it the most powerful nation on earth can successfully liberate countries a half a world away but allow heavily armed and well-equipped paramilitary units of Mexican drug cartels to occupy American soil? In Arizona today, American citizens are warned to stay out of portions of the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge because of the risk of violence. Police officers in a border town are warned by Mexican drug bosses to "look the other way" or die. Paramilitary groups are even occupying permanent bases on the hills of southern Arizona to monitor US Border Patrol units.

Mr. Obama, do your job: rid our soil of foreign invaders.

Turnagain Arm Bicycle Trip

Turnagain Arm is very scenic mountain fjord southeast of Anchorage, Alaska. It is itself an arm of Cook Inlet, a deep notch in the Alaska coastline. Once only traveled by boat (tricky with the tide and mudflats) or trails, today there three ways along the north side: the Alaska Railroad, the Seward Highway and, at least along a portion of it, a bicycle path.

We started at the NW terminus of the path about 24 miles from Anchorage and rode only about 6.5 miles to Bird Point. The grades are mostly easy, as evidenced by the number of families making the trip with small children.

There are many interpretive signs about geography, geology, ecological relationships, and other natural history notes along the path. There are even more than can be seen from the Seward Highway itself. The trail is near the road in a few places, making it a bit noisy, but in other places it is pleasantly far from the highway as it wends through the woodlands above the fjord.

The mudflats below the trail look interesting, but they are dangerous and have claimed a number of lives over the years. The inrushing tide is sometimes faster than rescue for stuck hikers.

Katie and I made the 6 mile trip in about an hour, but we weren't pedaling fast, just enjoying the late spring day.

The path continues for several more miles to Girdwood.

In the days after the Resurrection

In these days following Easter, I have been wondering what must have been going on in the minds of the disciples in those days right after Christ's resurrection.

Something powerful happened -- the echos of their transformation reverberate even after 20 centuries. We know they were filled with fear at first. The Gospels report that they were behind locked doors -- probably for fear that a similar fate to Jesus' awaited them. Crosses were much too common in first century Israel to be sanguine about them.

They were also confused. Acts records that the disciples asked the risen Jesus if was going to restore the Kingdom to Israel at that time. That says to me they were still trying to fit the mighty sign of resurrection into their grid of understanding.

Jesus gave them a hint of what was to come: wait in Jerusalem for the baptism of the Holy Spirit....and receive power to witness to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1) That is just what happened: the disciples who were sheep without a shepherd on Saturday turned into lions only seven weeks later.

But now, not even a week on after Jesus returned from the dead, the disciples were still trying to put all the pieces together.

That's not unlike us as we joyfully receive Jesus into the locked room of our hearts. It is wonderful to believe in His resurrection and to follow him as Lord. But, it takes the power of Pentecost; the baptism of the Holy Spirit, to receive all that God has for us as believers.

For the disciples in those days right after the resurrection, Pentecost was still weeks away.

Today, as I try to look through the veil of centuries to see into the events of those amazing days, I am reminded again that ordinary men became lions. I am reminded again that resurrection power and the power of Pentecost are available to us today as well.

Lord, let me be filled with that Power of Pentecost again and again so that I can labor faithfully as a witness wherever you call me.

Scammed

We're so accustomed to ordering items from Internet suppliers, and so accustomed to good results, the scammers at GotBody.com took us by surprise.

Several weeks ago my wife ordered some fruit and nut food bars from a company called GotBody.com They showed up quickly, we paid our bill and we thought no more of the supplier.....until unrelated charges of $29.95 and $2.97 showed up on our credit card statement. The former was for NBS * LifeFitMovers and the latter for NBS * MyCostFreedom (Cost Smashers).

We didn't order either of these "services"....or so we thought. On investigation, it appears that even my sharp-eyed wife missed the "fine print" on the checkout form at GotBody.com that said we were signing up for these services unless we unchecked a check box, or something of the sort. Turns out that many others have had similar complaints about GotBody.com.

I called the toll free number of the suppliers and asked them to cancel the subscription. I then called Bank of America where we have had our VISA for many years. They removed the charges, and told me that similar scams happen all the time. They said it was a lucky thing the bogus charge was only $29.95....often they are $149.95.

Lesson learned: stick with reputable sellers, and check the fine print carefully on checkout forms. As for the supplier, after the bad experience at GotBody.com we won't be back.

More C.T. Studd: Hot, Lively Heroes for Christ

The difficulty is to believe that He can deign to use such scallywags as us, but of course He wants Faith and Fools rather than talents and culture. All God wants is a heart, any old turnip will do for a head; so long as we are empty, all is well, for then He fills with the Holy Ghost. The fiery baptism of the Holy Ghost will change soft, sleek Christians into hot, lively heroes for Christ, who will advance and fight and die, but not mark time.

C.T. Studd 1860-1931

Snatching men from the very jaws of hell

"Christ's call is to feed the hungry, not the full; to save the lost, not the stiff-necked; not to call the scoffers, but sinners to repentance; not to build and furnish comfortable chapels, churches, and cathedrals at home in which to rock Christian professors to sleep by means of clever essays, stereotyped prayers and artistic musical performances, but to raise living churches of souls among the destitute, to capture men from the devil's clutches and snatch them from the very jaws of hell, to enlist and train them for Jesus, and make them into an Almighty Army of God. But this can only be accomplished by a red-hot, unconventional, unfettered Holy Ghost religion, where neither Church nor State, neither man nor traditions are worshiped or preached, but only Christ and Him crucified. Not to confess Christ by fancy collars, church steeples or rich embroidered altar-cloths, but by reckless sacrifice and heroism in the foremost trenches..."

CT Studd, Missionary to China

Help and Hope for Haiti

It is good to provide help for hurting Haiti. But perhaps it is better to provide help and hope? World governments, aid agencies, the Red Cross, and many, many organizations are pouring help in the form of relief supplies and personnel into the disaster area. It is inspiring to see the world rushing to the aid of these stricken people, among the world's poorest.

For myself, I am sending aid to the church in Haiti. My money to a large international aid organization would be a good thing, but I am expecting with my money to contribute to a great thing!

I'm not so concerned that church buildings be rebuilt, although that will be helpful in the long run. My interest is that the churches, God's people, be strengthened and enabled to help those around them, and that leaders be trained and sent out across the nation. In addition to immediate needs, it is the hope of the Good News of Jesus that Haiti will need for the weeks, months and years ahead as people rebuild lives and communities. It is Christianity that can be the foundation for a stronger and more economically viable Haitian society.

I talked by phone yesterday to Darrell Damron, Vice President of Haiti Arise. Damron told me that the first priority for the organization is to provide immediate aid and medical care for those around them, and then rebuilding of the structures they are using for educating and training. Haiti Arise also sponsors a Bible School and for the third year year this year, sponsored a large conference of Haitian pastors.

A team from Ministers Fellowship International (MFI) had just returned to the USA from the 2010 conference at Haiti Arise when the quake struck. Hundreds of pastors had been together at Haiti Arise in Grand Goave for days of teaching and encouragement. MFI is the relational body of church leaders of which my community, Anchorage City Church, is a part.

MFI churches are being asked to support Haiti Arise because of this relational connection and because of its work to build the church in Haiti. Founders Marc and Lisa Honorat are MFI members.

Pastors Marc Driscoll (Mars Hill Church) and James McDonald (Harvest Bible Chapel) have established another great way to send hope to Haiti through a new organization, Churches Helping Churches. Driscoll and McDonald traveled to Haiti to better understand the situation and are asking their church families to contribute to rebuilding the church through this new organization.

McDonald puts it this way:

The waves of humanitarian aid are washing ashore in Haiti and beginning to meet this massive need but I can’t escape my sense that little if any of this medicine will soothe the sores of the suffering church. The country will be rebuilt in time, but so little of that aid will go to my brothers and sisters and I feel I must do what I can to help them. But I really have no idea what that help would or should entail.


Galatians 6:10 says, “and let us do good to all men, but especially to those who are of the household of faith.”


Without question the priority of the ‘church helping the church’ is commanded by Paul in scripture and modeled by Paul in his crisis care for the Corinthians and the church in Jerusalem. If Paul were alive today there is no doubt his first concern as a church planter and leader in the body of Christ would be for the family of God in Haiti. How can the priority Paul lived and taught not be mine as a Bible believing Christian?

Please join me and others sending help and hope to the hurting Haitian church, so it can offer the great hope of Jesus to the hurting nation all around it.