Wednesday Report

Can't believe another month has passed and it's the Ranch board meeting again on Monday. I'm not so sure that 2 hours will cut it for much longer as we have so many exciting things to go over and discuss. Had a great opportunity to share the ranch plan with a couple of very respected local businesses this afternoon.

This morning I dropped Diane off at an appointment and while I was waiting for her to finish. I was blessed again to be able to share the ranch plan and update the folks in the waiting room on how everything is progressing. Surprise, surprise I just happened to have some info with me, to pass on to them all. Go figure.

We then headed to Atco Electric and started the process of getting power installed at the ranch, God is so good.

The assistance for non profit organizations

is even better then it would have been if

we had gotten it done last year when

we had first tried to.

As I write this, the battle for the hearts and minds of our children rages on. A friend of ours in Idaho once said that in our society today children have had more parents than parents have had children, man how true.

We are called irresponsible or not a good steward if we don't have a great financial portfolio. And if our families and our community are falling apart around us, well it's in God's hands don't worry. To tell the truth, I'm sick and tired of hearing that it's in God's hands. The God of Abraham Issac and Jacob, the God of the universe, the God that sent His only begotten Son to die for our sins is a God of action, not a scape goat. I can't believe how often I hear, God is in charge, Don't worry it's in God's hands.

The God I read about inspires us to action not into passive waiting as God is in charge. There definitely are times when we are to wait on the Lord, but sometimes it seems like an excuse not to do anything. I keep remembering that famous quote that says, "for evil to prevail, all it takes is for good people to do nothing." No wonder we no longer have prayer in our schools. No wonder money, position and image are the rule of control. We have bought into the cowards mentality that we can sit back and enjoy, don't worry, don't do anything rash, or anything that may upset the apple cart because God is in control and nothing we do will make a difference anyway.

We can make a difference in our communities, we don't have to let our youth be taken over by all the negative influences that are out there. We can join together to make a difference by offering them the positive and esteem- building choices that will give them a strong and productive future with more hope than any drug dealer will ever give them.

I read this in a newsletter the other day, a bit radical, but sometimes we need a wake up call like this, I found it very interesting to say the least.

By Bojidar Marinov

I refuse to be comforted. I refuse to listen to sermons and leaders that assure me that “whatever happens, God is in control.” I refuse to read and listen to pastors, authors, and leaders that comfort me with God’s peace when everywhere around me I see God’s war.

When they banned prayer in schools, the Christians in this country were assured that in these “last days” that’s what was expected to happen. They were supposed to take comfort in the fact that Jesus was coming soon. He didn’t. And while Christians were learning to be comforted with this open attack against their faith, Roe v. Wade came. Again, words of comfort followed. Meanwhile, tens of millions of unborn children died in this government-sanctioned sacrifice of infants. Only a precious few brave men and women stood against it; the majority were comforted that “whatever happens, God is in control.”

The pulpits never gave a call for action.

They started cracking down on Christians by passing laws to silence Christianity: “Hate speech,” “separation of church and state” and all the other mantras. In a nation that was founded to proclaim the blessings of Christ, Christ was now pushed out of public life. Pastors, leaders, authors and theologians responded by . . . more comforting words. “See? He must be coming soon! 1968! No, 1988! 1989! 1996! Have comfort!”

No call for action.

Christian children were ridiculed and ostracized in schools and universities. Their faith was mocked by professors who knew nothing about their fields of study but knew everything about Marx’s Communist Manifesto. The churches started losing their young men and women by tens of thousands every year. Colleges and universities that were established to nourish and expand the Christian religion and knowledge were now openly enemies of Christ.

Again, the pulpits were silent. Except for a few comforting words. God surely must be in control.

We don’t even notice anymore when things like that happen. We are so comforted that we don’t even think of raising our voice in protest anymore. We surely value our peace and comfort—that’s what our leaders have taught us.

We have become comfortably numb.

But I refuse to be comforted. I refuse to believe in peace when I see God at war. I refuse to believe that God makes all these things happen only to teach me that He is in control and nothing else. I refuse to believe that these are blessings when I know very well they are curses. And I refuse to accept curses for comfort.

The Bible tells me that God teaches my hands to war. And my hands are itching for a fight. I don’t want to sit idly when the heathens are taking over God’s earth. I want to be out there defending it. I want my pastors and leaders to lead me, not comfort me. I want them to teach me to fight and overcome. There must be instructions for victory in the Bible. I mean, real victory, not abstract dreamy “victory” of being rescued in clouds.

The Angel of the Lord didn’t comfort Gideon when he was threshing wheat. “What are you doing, mighty warrior? Hiding like a rat?” Elijah did not comfort his generation; he asked many uncomfortable questions: “Who you are going to serve, God or Baal?” The prophets did not deliver messages of comfort to Israel; they called Israel to war, to action, to repentance.

This great country, the United States of America, was not founded on sermons of comfort. The Pilgrims and the Puritans didn’t stay back in England and find comfort in the fact that “whatever happens, God is in control.” They took action. The political architect of the American Revolution, John Witherspoon, President of the College of New Jersey and signer of the Declaration of Independence, considered by most people of his time to be the “spiritual father” of the colonies, did not comfort his spiritual children; to the contrary, he worked tirelessly to instill a message of discomfort and urgency in them:

There is not a single instance in history, in which civil liberty was lost, and religious liberty preserved entire. If therefore we yield up our temporal property, we at the same time deliver the conscience into bondage.

Had he comforted them, the USA could have never been founded. And we wouldn’t have the freedoms we have today.

I want to have the same spirit as the Founders. And therefore I want my pastor to be like John Witherspoon. Don’t comfort me; teach me to fight and win.

Many pastors I have talked to complain of the growing influence of “para-church” organizations. No wonder. If churches give no message of victory, someone else will. And they will gain influence. People follow leaders, not drug-traffickers. And messages of comfort and peace in times of discomfort and war are nothing more than anesthetic, a narcotic to escape reality; and those who preach comfort and peace when there is no comfort and peace are spiritual drug-traffickers, not spiritual leaders.

Therefore I refuse to be comforted.

1 Corinthians 15:58 (New International Version)

⁵⁸Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Thank you for taking the time to view our blog. Battle River Ranch Camp is a non profit organization that is focused on developing trades and life skills, training opportunities for men and women that are searching for positive choices and find it hard to get the opportunity to develop a productive life skill. Many men and women today have no idea what they could be good at or how to find out their possible skill area or level. We are a faith based training center. Harold and Diane Stephan left a life filled with addictions and their journey has taken them through different twelve step programs and life recovery through a relationship and healing process with Jesus Christ. We would love to hear from you and if you feel this is a program and facility that you would like to be more involved with or support financially we would love to talk to you.