Apartment buildings in Ukraine
“Remember the Alamo”, was a saying from the 1836 siege of the Alamo, an old Spanish Mission built around a church. Just 160 men defended it against 6,000 soldiers. It is said the 160 were the original “Band of Brothers.” Santa Anna attacked and overwhelmed the Alamo killing almost all. However, the extra time allowed General Sam Houston to gather a force that won Texas its independence. Note the parallel between the Alamo and Ukraine today. Both were far out numbered.
Today is day #25 of the Ukraine/Russia war. Is this the Tribulation? There has been massive damage done to many cities and many lives lost. Instead of winning the war it made Putin looks bad. Putin expected the war to be over in no more than four days, not so. Therefore, he now claims he has resorted to using hypersonic missiles this week. They travel much faster and are hard to intercept. But this make Russia look even worse since many civilians are killed. On the other hand the new leader of the free world appears to be Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine.
But God continues to work. My son-in-law Mike wrote, “I talked today with a small church pastor in western Ukraine who is feeding, housing and speaking with over a hundred people from Kyiv who fled the luxury and wealth of the capital for simplicity and humility of the village. (well for water, wood stove and outhouse). He was surprised they never heard of Psalm 23. He explained it to them and preached the good news. The church is responding during this times of great evil, death and fear.”
Also my son Caleb is going to be baptizing new believers in Romania and Moldova soon. Having said that both Mike & Caleb’s families are refugees of the war themselves. Pray for their ministries during this special time.
Our daughter Rachel also told us of refugee pastor Yuri, who yesterday just found out his house near Kiev was burning. This is especially sad since in 2014 Yuri and his family had to move from the Donbas region because of the war there. It seems the war has dealt him a double blow. But we are thankful for the work of missions among these refugees.
Is this the Tribulation? No it is not but it is moving that way so don’t be deceived.
Jesus said there will be “wars and rumors of wars” before He returns. We are seeing that. Difficult times come with war. But there are also positive things you don’t expect. It is amazing how the church has come together to proclaim the Gospel in the recent war. That is exactly what Jesus commanded us to do in Mark 13:10. "The gospel must first be preached to all the nations.” That is happening through our missionaries helping the helpless that are fleeing Ukraine. With that comes many opportunities for proclaim the Gospel of Christ in words as they make contact with the many refugees. Christ is speaking through them. Pray for Ukraine and our refugee fund. This reminds us that not just deeds of kindness but the actual words of the Gospel are needed.
Bottom line is preach the gospel which means good news. See 1 Cor. 15:3–6 “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas,… and then to the Twelve.
Pastor Mark
Coming up this weekend…
-Marriage Sunday School Class begins this Sun, 9:50am. Led by Michael and Heather Stephens. Meet in the gym.