What does Revelation 5:8, and 8:3-4 say? It tells us that our prayers rise up before our God. “Remember that God is aware of our needs and the situation we are in at all times. When we are aware that the prayers of the faithful are always before the Lord, we can take comfort that he hears and will respond in His own time.” (p 92).

This is a quote from my book (which was edited by David Miller), “Equipping the Church for Difficult Times: A training manual based on the Book of Revelation.” By “difficult times” I mean those times that Christians can often find themselves in, such as; natural disasters, war, social opposition, or persecution. When we are faced with such times we need God’s guidance on how we as the people of God must conduct ourselves and how we can maintain our hope, peace and assurance. What better source than the book of Revelation.

Revelation was written for a church which was submersed in such times in the 1^st century. The church today in many places finds itself often in these times. The church in the United States is finding itself more and more in such situations. Social opposition and even a growing opposition from our own government make it imperative for the church to know what God’s last written work of advice is.

The above quote from my book is a sample of how we can have assurance even when all around us is chaos and evil. What great comfort to know that our prayers are always rising before the Lord. No wall, opposition, or situation can stop our prayers from reaching the father. This knowledge has been a source of great encouragement to my wife and me as we have served in some of the most difficult situations imaginable.

As missionaries believing that God already know what we stand in need of (Mt 6:8) even before we know brings great peace and comfort. We have seen firsthand the results of the genocide in Rwanda when we lived in Goma, Zaire (now the DRC). We saw the flood of refugees streaming into Goma for refuge and heard their tales as we became immersed in relief work. We have been in the midst of natural disasters and war and have had to rely on God through prayer to help us during those times. The book of Revelation has served to lead me deeper into God’s will for my life.

Out of our experiences and my study of the book of Revelation I have presented six lessons that help outline the council God has given us in the book of Revelation. They are presented in a very simple and clear manner. The examples used, which come primarily from Africa, can be substituted for your own current situation. The principles and council do not change. I pray that this book will be a blessing in helping you understand some of this great book of the Bible and how it applies to your situation.

If you would like this book then click on the following icon and you can purchase this from Amazon.com.  

It’s that time of the term of service when we need to be back in the States to make that personal call to the Living Link churches who are so faithfully sharing from their plentiful or scarce resources so that we may serve our Lord in Africa.

We have chosen to take the southern route this time through Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Kentucky, Virginia, Ohio and Indiana. Our purpose is to encourage your faith in the Lord and in the work that He is doing through us and other missionaries like us in Africa.

Surely you are eager to hear more of the story of how the Lord led the way of the evangelistic teams from Côte d’Ivoire into Burkina Faso.

Due to the economic downturn of the whole world, we begin this journey with a bit of trepidation, not knowing what costs lie ahead for us so that we accomplish our purpose in these next three months. We depend on your faithful giving to our Living Link support even while we are in the States.

Unfortunately, due to some of your own hardships in meeting your local needs as a church, we have lost some support. There is a bar we must reach before returning to the field in Africa the first of October. That bar is 100% in pledged support. At present we are at 97%.

We know nothing else to do but to ask the Father who can abundantly supply yours and our needs to do just that in these next 3 months. Will you join with us in asking God to “show up” and abundantly supply what we all lack in order to do His work that He has called us all to do while it is yet day!

During the national prayer breakfast the week of 2-6, 2009, (this was reported by www.crosswalk.com (www.crosswalk.com/news/commentary/11599434/), President Obama made this quote as reported by “Crosswalk,” “There is no God who condones taking the life of an innocent human being. This much we know.” Now either that is absolutely true or we don’t know any such thing period. Yet President Obama supports abortion. There is no gray area here. Either we know it, as President Obama declares, or we don’t know what we are talking about because there are no absolutes. I don’t know how President Obama gets around this double standard but I would imagine it would by saying something like, “There are no absolutes” or some such stance in which truth is not absolutely true can be the only approach that would enable such a standard.

In a world where there are no absolutes we cannot be sure of anything because nothing is absolutely sure or trustworthy. This would be a ludicrous state to live in. Obama’ double standard comes in when he takes a pro-abortion stance. The only way to have such a double standard is to come up with a ludicrous statement that there are no absolutes anyway.

This is like the terminally ill man saying I probably won’t die anyway because there aren’t any absolutes in life!

Let’s get back to reality here! We can, along with including death, draw up a number of absolutes in life. You’re not alive if you weren’t absolutely born, nature has its absolute laws (just try violating one and see what happens—like take the ludicrous approach to gravity and say there isn’t any absolutes so gravity isn’t an absolute either so if I jump off a building I may or may not hit the ground!), life is dependent upon several absolutes, a functioning heart, air and nourishment. The list could go on but the point is made. There are absolutely absolutes in this world.

If there are absolutes in this world then there is an ultimate Absolute, God. God will judge all of us for how we have approached life. Double standards such as this false one means that we are going to violate the absolute standards this Absolute has given us to live by. Only by accepting the one great standard God gave all people will we be able to pass the judgment that is to come. That one great absolute standard is Jesus Christ.

Ryan at Mirambo Tanzania early 80's

Ryan, my son, you are a young man full of love and compassion, whom I love and respect with all my heart. How I thank God for all the years you have been a part of your mom’s and my lives. It has been such a joy watching you grow up even though some of that time you were away at boarding school.

 There have been many successes and defeats in your life as there were in my own. As my father loved me and helped me even in my failures I pray I have also shown you my love and respect. Nothing you have done or could do would diminish that love and respect. You have done so much for which you can hold your head high.

Your sensitive heart makes you susceptible to hurts that weren’t always directed at you personally. But it also makes you sensitive to the needs of others, such a great gift. Don’t become discouraged when others do not think well of you. Often they don’t think well of themselves to begin with and are in need of your prayers for them. You will never fully know their hurts and struggles that often make them act in such selfish manners.  

Your achievements are a great source of joy to me. Who you are as an individual and a man also is a humbling blessing and a fountain of pride. Continue to serve the Lord and He will carry you through as only the perfect father can.

You’re a great man and servant of the King. Continue to grow in knowledge and wisdom of Him. Allow Him to make you even greater.  

Be of good courage and strength my Son, nothing you can do or say will ever make me think little of you.

Love & prayers,

Dad

Traveling in Africa is never easy and this trip was particullarly difficult. Air Ivoire changed the gate we were to leave from 3 times and finally we were called over the loud speaker telling us to get to another gate or be late! When we got to Senegal Delta had closed their gate 75 minutes ahead of time! Bizaar! And because Air Ivoire left fourty five minutes late (normal) we were 15 minutes late getting to Delta’s gate. After a lot of talking we were able to get on the plane but exhausted (this was 3:00 in the morning when this flight left Dakar). Then the flight from there was extremely rough. The seat belt sign was on for the majority of the trip due to the rough weather. Anyway we were finally glad to make it to Oklahoma City and see our son.

We are now back in Côte d’Ivoire and the Harmatan is just now trying to come to an end. I hope soon.

Sherman