The most encouraging thing today was hearing directly from Sharron Leonard that she is doing better and is home. I was in serious prayer for Jim as I know what it is to have your heart ripped out. For Jim, the Lord has shown His mercy.

My signed copy of Rose of Dancé has arrived. I have hired a large team of armed guards to protect it as it is highly coveted. ErikaLeigh did also sign a copy for Jim and Sharron Leonard and I was very pleased to announce that to them today. The timing was great. I also have a copy from my brother Chris and it my joy to share it with him. I’m skeptical he will read it, but he will have a work from our daughter which is again a joy to share.

For several hours today there was a distraction with the store in Tulsa. It does appear not to be our problem, but being the user interface, we have to deal with it. During the dialog it was discussed that the Rapid RMS project may have to be shut down in a couple weeks. The clout of the larger players may indeed have been a crushing blow. However, a couple hours later a semi-serious dialog started with someone who might have the interest and resources to restart the ShofarDomain project. With all the takedowns that have occurred lately, the interest may finally arrive.

I have also been working for some time on the outline and Scripture references to discuss the anniversary of the Cleveland Police visit on behalf of Meadowview on the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther taking the stage. With much sadness, I could not complete it today, so I may take a bit longer to do it right. However, you can consider the follower points:

    1. Reconciliation is a command of the Lord. Rejecting offers to do so is an act of hate.

    2. The institutional church is a fraud and not commanded by the Lord.

    3. The mandatory tithe ceased with the Levites. Demanding it today is extortion, suggesting it is deception.

    4. The Lord, not an institution, defines marriage.

    5. Marriage begins with sex and ends with death.

    6. Institutionally decreed divorce has no weight.

    7. Turing to the state to resolve issues is shameful.

There is a lot of Scripture to back up each point and if you or anyone else would like to review it, I would be more than pleased to do so.

It has been a difficult several days and with much discouragement. There are times when just a simple comment will bring encouragement to press on. That happened to me Monday after being on the radio with David Tulis. Because I know the struggle he has as he strives to server “the least of these”, I sent the following email to him to be a simple encouragement as I was encouraged. It was well received and I hope you get the point. I love you!

David,

I made a comment in reference to the photo below

Some look at this photo and see one of “those” people and think there are too many of them, so vaccinate more.

Others will look through the eyes of a parent and recognize the absolute delight in the face of a child, and share the joy of this girl’s parents that she belongs to them.

I’m just a white guy celebrating with the parents of this girl that she exists, a human being created in the image of God.

A moment ago someone simply stated in response: “Amen”. It was an encouragement that my effort had meaning.

It reminded me of the work you do. It is clear we share a love for those who don’t look like us, behave like us, or speak our language. This I celebrate.

So for the work you do that is not acknowledge by the world, please take this as encouragement: “Amen”