​I just returned from sharing lunch with a humble MARBC pastor.  Few of you reading this have probably met him nor would you recognize his name if I shared it.  He and his wife have faithfully plowed, sowed, watered, and cultivated in a small town for several years.  All the while they have fervently prayed for any spiritual growth that would lead to a harvest - in a field that you and I would probably have abandoned long ago.  He recently reached out to me seeking this lunch date so that he could “pick my brain” about what to do in the next chapter of life to which God seems to be leading this faithful, veteran couple.
 
He came ultra-prepared with notes carefully written on little sheets of paper as we connected at the little restaurant.  He was concerned that he would clearly articulate the details and burdens of the ministry that he was prayerfully preparing to leave, due to quickly advancing issues of age and poor health.  He also came with an expectancy that I could offer some options and solutions regarding the challenges that will still confront the shrinking flock at the “church of the rocky soil” after his departure.
 
The important details that we discussed in that little restaurant setting were overshadowed from my perspective by something even more significant.  Here is a man of God whose spiritually calloused hands are still clinging to the plow handles that the Chief Shepherd assigned to him. Simultaneously he is seeking God’s Spirit to help him, and his dear wife, know how - and when - to release their grip.  It was a powerful moment that impacted all of our senses as we sat across from each other in that small booth.  He and I both knew it and were dependent upon God’s clear guidance in those precious moments.
 
On my bookshelves are many books that attempt to both define biblically and apply practically the spiritual discipline of prayer.  Many of them are thick, detailed, and very edifying.  Sandwiched amidst those thick spined treatises is a little booklet that packs a spiritual wallop.  I received it as a gift several years ago and have chosen to re-read it each month in 2021.  It is a 30-day devotional that features several of Charles Spurgeon’s reflections on the topic of prayer.
 
One of the daily readings has as its focus, “Praying in the Spirit.” Providentially, I read the following devotional entry earlier in the day prior to this impactful lunch encounter.  Read with an open heart what C. H. Spurgeon observes as he ponders this amazing spiritual gem from Jude 20:
 
“I understand that the Holy Spirit is actually willing to help me pray, that He will tell me how to pray, and when I get to a point where I'm at a loss for words and cannot express my desires, He will appear in my extremity and make intercession in me with groanings that cannot be uttered. Jesus in His Gethsemane agony was strengthened by an angel; you are to be strengthened by God himself. This thought needs no adorning of oratorical expression. Take it as a wedge of gold of Ophir and value it; it is priceless, beyond all prices. God the Holy Ghost condescends to assist you when you are on your knees, and if you cannot put two words together in common speech to men, yet He will help you speak with God. And if at the mercy seat you fail in words, you will not fail in reality, for your heart shall conquer. God requires no words. He never reads our petitions according to the outward expression but reads them according to the inward groaning. He notices the longing, the desiring, the sighing, the crying. Remember that the outward of prayer is but the shell; the inward prayer is its true kernel and essence. Indeed, a prayer wailed forth in the bitter anguish from a desolate spirit - a cry so discordant to human ears - is music to the ear of God. Notice the value of the heart in prayer and be comforted.  ‘Holy Spirit, teach me to pray, strengthen me to pray.  My heart is Yours. Intercede for me before the Father’s throne.  Amen.’” *
 
What Jude shares succinctly in his brief urgent note to the church via the four-word phrase, “pray in the Spirit” (Jude 20), Paul elaborates upon in Romans 8:18-30.  Sufferings are miniscule when compared to the coming glory (8:18).  The struggles make us more than eager for the revealing to come (8:19).  Creation groans to be unbound and restored to its created purposes because God chooses to bless those He has redeemed (8:20-21).  The pains of spiritual birth and the legalities of spiritual adoption will culminate in literal redemption (8:22-23).  And to guarantee that the saints can keep focused upon these eternally significant truths (8:24-25), the Holy Spirit groans on their behalf.  The Holy Spirit isn’t bound by the tendencies of earthbound saints to focus only on the temporal, physical and emotional ramifications of their human struggles (8:26).  Instead, He “goes deep,” groaning and interceding at a level that is both spiritually significant and humanly unutterable (8:27).  As a result, He drives and directs the children of God to embrace God’s will and eternal purposes (8:28-30).
 
My veteran pastor friend and I left our lunch meeting this afternoon feeling satisfied physically by the good meal we shared.  However, we left feeling satisfied more so spiritually. He left encouraged by the guidance and perspective that he received through our conversation.  I left greatly impacted by the spiritual example of a faithful prayer warrior who is still “praying in the spirit” for God to be glorified in and through his humbly consecrated life.  He has – and is.
 
I have experienced similar emotions whenever I leave the home of my godly brother-in-law, who is also a wonderful friend, early spiritual mentor, and fellow pastor.  He has been sidelined from active ministry for a few years now due to several intense physical afflictions.  Sharon and I cherish every “always too brief” encounter that we share with him and Sharon’s older sister.  I have to admit that there are always pangs of guilt in my heart whenever he asks me to share about my recent ministry experiences and how God is at work in His Church.  He always tears up as I share about the work of the Lord.  They are tears of joy celebrating how God is at work, mixed with a tearful desire to once again have his arthritically crippled hands wrapped around the handles of a God-ordained plow.  He recognizes that he can no longer serve at the forefront of a dynamic public ministry as he did in years past.  Nor is he the energized, effervescent evangelist who could passionately challenge others to count the cost and receive the gift of eternal life through the finished work of Jesus Christ.  Yet now, by the Holy Spirit’s groaning enablement through prayerful faith and perseverance, he may be preaching his most powerful message for the glory of God.
 
Driving back to my office, I prayed that my life will be as spiritually focused as my humble lunch companion.  I prayed that I will be instilled with the Spirit-filled passion and desire of my faithful, longsuffering brother-in-law.  I pray that yours will be as well, my fellow brother and sister in ministry.  You, too, mean much to so many of us, no matter where you may be plowing.  Most significantly, you mean eternally more to the Chief Shepherd.  Keep doing what you do for the Lord while praying in the Spirit.  He will answer you and bless you.
 
You have His Word on it!
Ken Floyd
 
* Charles Spurgeon on Prayer; A 30-Day Devotional Treasury, compiled and edited by Lance Wubbels; Emerald Books, Lynnwood, WA

By the year 1812, the majority of the European continent was under the control of the famed French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte.  In that year, Napoleon attacked Russia, which led to his downfall and abdication.  He was then exiled to the little island of Elba in the Mediterranean Sea.  Three years later, in March 1815, Napoleon escaped from Elba and returned to France.  Men gathered once again under the French flag and Europe again faced the prospects of war.
 
Word soon spread throughout Europe that Napoleon’s army was on the march.  Knowing that Napoleon’s earlier plan was to invade Britain, the British Army was assembled.  Led by the Duke of Wellington, the British Army and its allies approached the village of Waterloo (which is now a part of Belgium) to challenge the invading Napoleon and his troops.  Hanging upon this battle was whether Napoleon would regain power and control all of Europe.
 
If Napoleon’s army were to break through Wellington’s troops, the people of Britain were poised for his invasion into England.  To help them be prepared, a series of messengers were stationed on hilltops throughout the region from Waterloo to London.  Each messenger was to relay by semaphore the outcome of the battle.  With a semaphore, a person holds a flag in each hand.  The position in which each flag is held represents a single letter.  The last messenger in the chain was stationed for several days in the tower of London’s famed Winchester Cathedral.  
 
Finally, the words of a message were spelled out from the first hill where the messenger was observing the battle.  One by one the letters were signaled to read: “Wellington defeated.”  At that point a mist swept across the region and the messenger on the hill could no longer be spotted.  Rapidly, the semaphore was repeated from hilltop to hilltop until the message finally reached London.  A heavy gloom quickly fell over London as the word of the national tragedy was received.
 
The messenger waited for the mist to clear to receive further information.  Finally, the mist cleared, and the semaphore started again.  In the clearness of the sky two additional words were added to the message which now fully read, “Wellington defeated the enemy.”  Again, the news rapidly spread over England and the nation rejoiced.  Church bells pealed and people cheered in the streets.  That deadly first message was only the first part of a message that became good news.
 
This story from European history helps capture the demeanor of those friends and foes who gathered at the crucifixion of Christ.  During this event, the sun was blotted out and the earth trembled.  When darkness veiled the cross of Jesus at Calvary, “the Place of the Skull,” the message seemed to sadly announce, “Jesus defeated.”  It is reported that Dionysius the Aeropagite, a non-believer, exclaimed “Either a god is dying or the whole world is in dissolution!”
 
No doubt the Pharisees, chief priests, and scribes smugly thought, “Jesus defeated!”  That was probably the sad assumption of Jesus’ followers.  All of their hopes seemed to be dashed by the reality there before them – “Jesus defeated!”
 
However, three days later at a garden tomb on Sunday morning, the mist and darkness lifted, and the full message came through: “Jesus defeated death!”  Jesus had defeated even the power of death and had risen in a transformed body that left the tomb and his grave clothes empty.  This reality is the only reasonable explanation of what transformed cowardly and dismayed disciples at the cross into zealous, determined evangelists.  They would confidently turn the world upside down as God empowered them to declare the Good News.
 
Some enjoy speculating how the proof of a non-resurrected Christ would change the face of Christianity.  Some liberal elements of Protestantism even seek to minister while operating under that skeptical misrepresentation.  However, it is Biblically clear:  without a resurrected Christ, there is NO Christianity!  The message would revert to “Jesus defeated” instead of “Jesus defeated death!”
 
Please do not miss this point: the death of Jesus by crucifixion would have been a devastating defeat instead of a great victory had Jesus not risen from the dead. That Jesus was the Christ was proved by His rising from the dead and appearing personally to many witnesses as recorded in the last chapter of each of the four Gospels and in 1 Corinthians 15:1-8.  The witnesses included Mary Magdalene at the empty tomb, Peter, James, two disciples at evening on the road to Emmaus, the disciples in a closed room at Jerusalem, more disciples eight days later when Thomas was present with them, the disciples in Galilee, and “five hundred of the brothers at the same time,” as well as to the Apostle Paul.
 
The fact of the resurrection ensures that the Christian’s faith is not in vain and that sin is completely forgiven.  1 Corinthians 15:17 emphasizes “if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.”  The word “futile” (“vain” KJV) means “useless.”  Faith based upon a myth is a useless faith.
 
Only the resurrection of Christ ensures that there is life beyond the grave for His followers.  1 Corinthians 15:18 warns that no resurrection means that “those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.”  If Christ’s resurrection is merely wishful thinking, then we are foolish to expect to see our loved ones again who have died believing in Jesus Christ.
 
The fact of the resurrection guarantees the final destruction of death.  “Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. For ‘He has put all things under His feet.’” 1 Corinthians 15:24-27
 
The fact of the resurrection ensures that the enterprise of the Gospel will prosper and succeed.  Jesus triumphantly declared prior to His return to heaven, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)
 
The in-depth commentary regarding the eternal significance of Jesus’ resurrection concludes with the strong statement of 1 Corinthians 15:56-57 – “The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
 
Jesus defeated death!  Victory is secured!  You have His word on it!  
​
Ken Floyd, April 2021

What magical sounds, sights, or smells transport you back to your childhood? When I hear the words, “Once upon a time,” I’m instantly a child again. I love story; it captures elusive truth and hands it to me so I can carry it close to my heart.
 
Once upon a time the prophet, Jeremiah, dared to tell a terrible truth. Judah, his homeland, was at war with Babylon.
 
“Babylon is going to win this war,” Jeremiah proclaimed in a message from God. “Everyone who stays in Jerusalem will die, but those who leave and go over to the Babylonians will live.”
 
What? Defect to the enemy? Traitor! That’s how many people branded Jeremiah. His wasn’t a message any red-blooded patriot wanted to hear.
 
Some politicians who were members of the royal family were outraged. “Kill Jeremiah,” they said to King Zedekiah. “He’s bad for morale. He’s weakening the military and the people with his words.”
 
“Do what you want.” The king shrugged. “I’m not strong enough to stand against your wishes.”
 
The politicians wanted Jeremiah dead, but they didn’t want to murder him outright. That wouldn’t look good, and they didn’t want blood on their hands. So, they lowered him with ropes into a deep, narrow cistern where he sunk in mud. He could die a slow and painful death from exposure or starvation there, but they hadn’t exactly murdered him themselves, had they?

Shivering and miserable, stuck in mud and his own filth, unable to climb out of the pit, Jeremiah began the slow process of dying. What would claim him first, starvation or exposure? No wonder Jeremiah’s nickname was “the weeping prophet.”
 
What had he done to earn such terrible suffering? He’d told a hard truth God had instructed him to tell. He hadn’t liked sharing it; Jeremiah loved his country and wanted it to prosper as much as the next patriot. Now he was dying in agony, forgotten by God and man.
 
Or was he? God never forgets, and God always has a man.
 
Ebed-Melech, an Ethiopian servant, was God’s man.
 
Bravely, he told the king. “Those princes of yours have done a wicked thing. Jeremiah is starving to death.”
The easily influenced king said, “Take thirty men with you, and get Jeremiah out of that pit before he dies.”
 
It wouldn’t take thirty men to pull one emaciated prophet from a pit; the men were for protection.
Ebed-Melech grabbed some ropes and old rags and hurried to the pit.
 
Someone defined compassion as “your pain in my heart.” Ebed-Melech felt compassion. He must have imagined what it would feel like to be in so much pain, half starved, and then hauled up by ropes. How could he make it easier for Jeremiah?
 
“Put these rags under your arms so the ropes don’t cut into your skin,” he called down to Jeremiah. Then they hauled Jeremiah up to safety.
 
Wanted: Kindness and old rags.
 
It seems that kindness felt but not acted out turns to callousness. We see and hear of so much need, so much agony in the world around us. People are suffering in pits of pain, mentally, physically, emotionally. We hear it on the news; we read it on Facebook.
 
What would Ebed-Melech do? We might want to haul everyone out of pits; that we cannot do, but a little kindness goes a long way to someone suffering. I think old E.M., if he were alive today, would find a way to send a rag even if it were just by a card or a name breathed in prayer. And if he could do more, he would do that too.
 
I love story, and Paul Harvey’s “The Rest of the Story” was one of my favorites. What was the rest of the story for E.M.? Jerusalem did fall to Babylon, just as Jeremiah had said, but God spared E.M.’s life. You can read about it in Jeremiah 39:15-18.
 
Ebed-Melech wasn’t even his real name; those words just mean “servant of the king.”
 
Once upon a time, there was a nameless man, who did a great deed of kindness with a heartful of courage and a handful of old rags. I bow to you, E.M. We desperately need more of you in the hurting story our world is writing today. May your tribe increase!

​by Donna Poole, Lickley Corners Baptist Church, Pittsford, Michigan

Donna Poole has served for many years with her pastor-husband John at Lickley Corners Baptist Church in Pittsford, MI.  The MARBC family has been praying for Donna as she continues treatments to deal with Stage 4 lung cancer.   Donna is a prolific writer who shares often about the life she and John share as a pastoral couple in rural Michigan.  Her new book, "If the Creek Don't Rise" has recently been released for purchase on Amazon.  It is the second part of a two volume set titled, "Life at the Corners."  The first book in the set, "Corners Church," is also available on Amazon books.

[Click here to see Donna Poole's books at Amazon](https://smile.amazon.com/Creek-Dont-Rise-Donna-Poole/dp/B08R8ZDFN5/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2EQQIYAFCG0GF&dchild=1&keywords=if+the+creek+dont+rise+donna+poole&qid=1614637747&sprefix=If+the+Creek,aps,188&sr=8-1)