18-month-old Anton LaRosa ran into a parking lot and was hit by a car. His head was fractured and he stopped breathing. Under normal circumstances he would have been dead within minutes. But a nurse happened to be present and immediately began CPR. When the child was taken to Mission Hospital every pediatric nurse and doctor who could help happened to be on duty, even two who do not normally work there. A doctor who had that very morning developed a new technique that would help save Anton’s life happened to call in to the hospital, although she had no patients there. Sometimes everything goes wrong; in this case everything went right. The Orange County Register Story: http://www.ocregister.com/news/toddler00327cci1.shtml

No man can estimate what is really happening at the present. All we do know, and that to a large extent by direct experience, is that evil labours with vast power and perpetual success—in vain: preparing always only the soil for unexpected good to sprout in.

J. R. R. Tolkien, the author of The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, made clear in his private writings he intended to proclaim a Christian message through his fictional writings. Tolkien lived through the two world wars, yet he never lost his faith that those catastrophes the devil intends for evil, God turns to good. He embedded that faith in the very creation of his famous imaginative world. In the posthumously published book The Silmarillion, Tolkien has the spirits sing Middle-earth into existence. The melody of Illuvatar (God) was "deep and wide and beautiful, but slow and blended with an immeasurable sorrow, from which its beauty chiefly came." Melkor (Satan) interfered with a loud, brash tune, trying to "drown the other music by the violence of its voice." But the "most triumphant notes" of Melkor's discordant song were "taken up by the other and woven into its own solemn pattern." As a man who himself had faced the monstrous evil that lay behind war, Tolkien didn't sugarcoat his message. He knew the horrific events God uses for good are no less horrific for those who experience them. In The Silmarillion, he put it this way: "Evil may yet be good to have been, and yet remain evil."

hey, many have reciprocated my last informative note. kinda want details... thusly, will give a truncated version that will suffice. 6 yrs ago we (linda and moi) built our house (of houses). many of yall ( or you guys) have been guests, yes? so...you are "in the know". well, about 3 months ago.... a confidant of ours visited us apres' church on a sunday. stayed the afternoon- conversing about everything under the sun (and above it). he stated -when praying for linda- he saw linda as a 25 yr old girl on an island in the S. Pacific.... God wanted her to recapture that time of incredible faith... when she scoured the world as a single girl. he told us- God wanted us out of "our" house... in order to position us. well, "isaac" had been previously on the altar (to no avail). the next morning, linda started cleaning closets in faith. that night (monday) she prayed. as i retired, she asked for my assistance in prayer.... i inquired of God to speak to us supernaturally- as in a dream. that friday- linda called me. she wanted to buy a ticket to help the st. jude cause (cancer research in memphis). prizes are given- the grand prize is a house. it is a cumulative effort by contractors across the city. the drawing occurred sunday afternoon on local tv. linda won. the ratio: one to 11,000. $100 ticket. afterwards she informed me- the night we prayed she dreamt. God told her she would win a house. she did not know of any such house save the st. jude house. she did not know if the drawing had in fact taken place. "everyone in lafayette knows about the effort." so- she went by the house to see if the drawing was over. she had about 4 days left. she prayed over the house fully confident in what was revealed to her. also, she was a bit anxious. friday before sunday she purchased a ticket. she drove haley (our 12 yr. old) to the house and -again- prayed. sunday, after the drawing she told me of the dream!! wow, a trip, no? 5 days later i get a call. an african-american lady was on the line. she told me her name and where she attended church. she had been interceeding for the house during construction. she- during prayer- asked the Lord if He would give it to her. He replied the house was for a minister, his wife, and 2 kids. copesetic, man... we, as of now, have moved. our house sold exactly 7 weeks to the hour. ministry is now afforded. and feasible. linda and i, conjunctively, are serving and discipling kids via the ministry of master's commission. if you (and you do) know us- that is our... well, better put: that is jimmy and linda.

Well, my pastor friends, ever feel discouraged after another week at church? Another sermon preached and little--if any--fruit seen? Charles Bridges has a word of encouragement for YOU. From his classic book The Christian Ministry (p. 75): "Ministerial success must be viewed as extending beyond present appearances. The seed may lie under the clods till we lie there, and then spring up." Do you know what Bridges means? God faithfully uses our work in ways we never imagine, and we never even see--in this life. One great illustration of that comes from the life of the puritan minister John Flavel. Flavel died in 1691 after a long ministry and many trials. But though Flavel had been called home, his ministry continued to bear fruit. Michael Boland, in his 1963 introduction to a reprinting of Flavel's wonderful book, Mystery of Providence, recounts the example of Luke Short. "Luke Short was a farmer in New England who attained his hundredth year in exceptional vigour though without having sought peace with God. One day as he sat in his fields reflecting upon his long life, he recalled a sermon he had heard in Dartmouth [England] as a boy before he sailed to America. The horror of dying under the curse of God was impressed upon him as he meditated on the words he had heard so long ago and he was converted to Christ--eighty-five years after hearing John Flavel preach." "The seed may lie under the clods till we lie there, and then spring up." Amen.