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December 2009
Dear Family of God,
God be PRAISED!! It is good to be in communication with you again! I have received a number of emails from individuals requesting an update of what is happening in my life. I am happy to announce that just three weeks ago my daughter, Alyssa, was married. She was a beautiful bride...of course Mom will say that! She is now Mrs. Randy Tusek. Randy is a native Illinoisan who truly loves Alyssa with all of his heart. They are very happy. Alyssa is a Physician's Assistant in charge of the Burn Unit at the local hospital here in Springfield, Illinois. She is very much loved and respected in her work saving lives. Mom is very happy how the Lord is prospering her talents! Nathan is doing very well too. He is loving life and trying different vocations on for size. He's enjoying the search! Finding the "shoes that fit" is very rewarding when you find them. It is music to my ears to hear him say "I really feel the Lord is leading me to go..." Yes, the Lord has incredibly blessed my life!!
Quite frankly, I have written several updates but then never loaded them on the website. People still have questions about what occurred about five years ago. I have felt a desire to give an honest, frank report but then I feel perhaps the timing is not right for such things. More information is being obtained as the months go by. False information is still being circulated...by those who have something to hide or something to gain. Suffice it to say "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the Kingdom of God. Blessed are you when men shall revile you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for My sake, Rejoice and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you." (Matthew 5:11,12) My Bible says the guilty will have a price to pay. I pray for my enemies. May God have mercy.
A negative saga, which has continued for the last nearly six years, is that I am in the legal process of still trying to obtain a fair marital settlement. This has been very difficult. Please pray that this issue can be remedied soon.
Someone once said “Let me compose the songs a nation sings, and I care not who writes the laws.” Music makes that much of an impact. God has really blessed the vehicle of music in such a way that it speaks to the heart like nothing else does. It gets past the walls and the barriers and any obstruction that might be in the way. That’s why I think there’s a certain text in the Bible that is so intriguing, that we’re going to look at in a minute.
Several chapters in the Bible describe the events that led to the birth of Jesus on this earth. There are prophecies in the scriptures that foretold the coming of the Lord, but unfortunately they were not the focus of the people. God had carefully spelled it out so clearly in the scriptures the time He was sending His own Son to the earth as the Saviour of the world, but the people messed up big time. They were so focused on other things they missed it.
When Jesus was born on this earth there was only a few animals in a stable there to greet the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Now here’s what I think is so awesome. God could have been angry and offended that He was treated in such a way, but instead He said “Angels, I’ve got a job for you to do. I want you to sing the sweetest you have ever sung, I want you to sing like you have never sung before and let the world know that Jesus, the Savior of the world is born.” God wanted to sound the message in such a way where no one felt condemned because they missed the greatest event on the face of the earth, and He wanted to sound the message in a way that was so attractive that He chose a song to do it, and He chose the sweet voices of the angels to sing it. Luke 2:13,14 say “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying “Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, good will toward men.”
Yes, I have felt that I have gone through my own "Great Disappointment." It's an understatement to say people will let us down. It's been excruciating. But to honor my Lord I choose the path that God chose and that was a beautiful song...a song that He sang through the angels to those who rejected Him. Please pray for me as I am writing a new CD of songs as my gift to Jesus...my gift to those who choose to listen. Additionally I plan to release a new devotional book in 2010. Please keep an eye on my website for updates. As always I am available to come and minister at your church, vespers program, special function, women's ministry event, etc. Please email me at the email address associated with this website.
Today you might feel like you’ve missed God just like those people did way back when, when Jesus was born. But the good news is, God doesn’t condemn you. In fact God is working overtime right now to bring His message of love to your heart, it might be through a person, it might be through a radio program, it might be through a song. But He wants to gently let you know that He doesn’t condemn you. He wants you to know that He loves you and He wants you to love Him. You can’t say "no" to a love like that.
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THE GIFT!
A few days ago I received an incredible GIFT! Just about the time I was feeling that I was forgotten, Carol, from College Place, Washington, sent a “work of heart!” I was so touched I am quite sure I cried for two hours. The quilt is a multi-colored block-styled creation with Bible promises stitched all over it. Just lovely! Below is her letter as well as a poem she wrote for me. I hope it will inspire you to share your heart with someone who has been caught in the trenches of life. It warms the heart of God!! THANK YOU, CAROL, for your God-inspired thoughtfulness!!
Linda,
“The quilt is about 86 by 99 inches and will fit a full or queen bed… It was an honor for me to make this as a tribute to a woman of God. It was put together with much prayer and a blessing is on it. To me, it is like Aaron and Hur holding up the hands of Moses… If you look at it closely you will find the elements of the poem in the quilt itself: the colors pink, black, gold, white and green that encases the black cross signify the resurrection. You will find the heart, the name in red, the anchors and the butterflies. The quilt is stitched together with red and black thread and bound with blue, like the borders of blue on the Israelites’ garments… This quilt was born out of struggle and suffering, like your life and mine. I have never ever been capable of writing a poem. I once took a zero in grade school for not writing a poem! But I sat down this afternoon and asked God to dictate one to me and He did. I hesitated to put my name on it. It was written in the spirit of Hannah’s song and Mary’s song. Praise God, and I hope it is a blessing to you, Linda.”
Linda’s Song
Life-giving words fell from the lips of a beautiful woman dressed in pink.
They flew through the air on the wings of a bird and entered the hearts of the people of God.
The people rejoiced and turned to the Lord and the words multiplied in the world.
The beautiful lady was given a voice to sing the praises of Him who was slain.
But into the life of the beautiful singer treachery, slander and falsehood did come.
Like the Lamb who was slain she walked the dark path of ignominy, shame and reproach.
So the beautiful lady fell on the Rock and her life was shattered to bits.
But the One who was slain was there all the time to pick up the pieces to sew them together
With black thread for sorrow, and red for blood to anchor her soul in the storms of distress.
The beautiful singer was now dressed in black with a border of blue for obedience and trust.
Then to the Lord she cried out in despair “Oh what is to become of my life and my song?
And how can I serve You again?”
Out of the ashes of sorrow and shame she lifted her gaze and beheld at the cross
Her name on His heart there in letters of blood, as her tears were dried up by the Lamb who was slain.
And around her dark cross everywhere to be seen sprang up the grass all new, fresh and green.
As the Lamb who was slain arose from the grave, so her life resurrected to serve Him again.
Like a butterfly reborn on a bright spring morn she came forth as gold from the hand of the Lord.
Now her story and song more melodious and deep speak power and grace to souls who are meek.
As they learn to sing the wonderful song of Moses and Jesus, victory and grace,
On the sea of glass for the Lamb who was slain.
And in that bright land much fairer than day, the beautiful singer will cast down her crown,
All full of the stars for the ones she has brought to the feet of the Lamb who gave her the song.
She and others will praise God and sing “beauty for ashes and robes of pure white,
The oil of anointing has banished our pain! We are trees of the Lord for the Lamb who was slain.”
And all of the creatures joined in that song to the Lamb who was slain and enthroned over all,
To receive power and riches, wisdom and strength, honor and glory and blessing forever
As the years of eternity roll.
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A CHRISTMAS CAROL
...how sweet it is!
"A song sung around this time of year says “Tis the season to be jolly,” but I’m going to add “Tis the season to be caroling.” And folks, don’t you agree there’s nothing like the sweet sound of carolers coming to your door during the holidays to sing a few songs. And there’s nothing like singing carols around the piano this time of year, and there’s nothing like hearing a beautiful choir sing about the birth of Jesus. There’s just nothing like the hope and cheer that singing and listening to carols being sung brings.
Caroling is really an ancient custom. This tradition has been passed down through the ages to us. The word “caroling” is an ancient word that means to dance or sing songs of praise and gladness. Caroling was actually practiced during all seasons of the year during the Dark Ages, but they sang about all different things. Then when Constantine endorsed December 25th as the day set aside to recognize the birth of Jesus, the natural result was that songs were written and sung about Jesus’ birth. The organized church of the day did everything they could to squash out the singing of carols because they felt that the tunes to the songs were too common, and they weren’t anything like the stately music that was used in the church at the time. But as the centuries rolled by, things began to change a little at a time.
In the year 1223, St. Francis of Assisi built a nativity scene outside his church. St. Francis wanted to make the birth of Jesus real to the children he taught, so he brought them out among the nativity scene and they sang songs together about Jesus birth. Now during this time all the songs of the church were sung in Latin, and most people couldn’t understand them. But St. Francis translated the songs and taught them to the children in their own language. The response was overwhelming. Not only did the children get excited about it, but the adults did too. Then over the next several years the “caroling” around the nativity scene eventually turned into nativity plays with caroling in between. These pageants became so popular that they spread throughout Europe. But unfortunately all this was happening outside the walls of the church, because the organized church of the day only believed that songs sung in Latin were good enough to be sung by the members of the church. But the problem was that most people didn’t understand Latin. In fact, the irritation became so great that the church made attempts to ban all the Christmas carols and they said “Any song not written by someone other than a trained clergyman should not be sung.” But by this time the carols had done their work, and people everywhere were humming them and singing them and no one could stop it. The carols had the popular melodies of the folk songs of the day, only they had lyrics that told the story of Jesus. They were easy to listen to, easy to sing and remember and they were welcomed by the common people everywhere. Pretty soon traveling singers called “minstrels” took the Christmas carols all over the place. They sang them in taverns, on the streets, as well as in their own homes. But while all this happiness was going on, there was a lot of unhappiness in the church. The church felt that in losing control of the music that they were losing control of their traditions and their way of doing “church.”
Then in the 1500's, Martin Luther came along and he was one who loved to sing Christmas carols, and he used this music during the great movement of the Reformation. Martin Luther felt that the passion of the heart and the passion of love for Jesus could shine through the carols and as a result many were drawn to the Lord through them. The great composer Handel composed “the Messiah” in the year 1741, and it seemed like with great works like this that things started to change in regards to the church’s opinion of so called “modern” Christmas music. Then in the year 1818, a priest named Joseph Mohr wrote the song “Silent Night” and this was another turning point because then it seemed like a huge rush of Christmas caroling just swept the world, and carols have been a part of the church service ever since.
You know folks, we can learn a lot from this. Most of us have learned that history repeats itself again and again. And just as the traditions of the past have worked to squash out the working of the Spirit of God, maybe, just maybe some of our traditions today might be attempting to do the same thing. But the fact is the evil one, Satan, wants the music of your church and mine to be stale, boring and ugly in comparison with the music the world has to offer, and he also wants our church services to be stale, boring and steeped in tradition so no one will have any desire to come and be a part of it. And this is definitely NOT what God wants for us. I counted seven times in the Bible, there might be more, where Jesus says “Sing unto Me a new song.” And He emphasizes this over and over again because He wants our worship of Himself to be brand new and exciting and spiritually fulfilling. He wants us to wake up in the morning excited about having our own personal worship, excited about going to church, excited about another day to live with Jesus. That’s why He says to sing a “new” song. And that’s why He tells us in His Word that He wants to give us a NEW heart, a NEW spirit, He wants to give us a NEW name, His mercies are NEW to us every morning, He wants us to drink the NEW wine, He wants us to experience the NEW covenant, and He wants us to live in a new heaven and a new earth. Jesus is all about the exciting, the fresh and the NEW!!
And let me just say this to you today. If there is anything in your experience with Christianity that makes you feel heavy and makes you feel that serving God is boring and unfulfilling, the devil has pulled the wool over your eyes, because this is totally and completely contrary to the Word of God. It’s totally and completely contrary to Jesus Himself. If you’ve had this experience, and I think we all have at one point or another, take another look at the glorious Saviour of the world. The Bible says in Isaiah 9:6 “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace.” And folks, He’s this and so much more. So let Him have the chance to show you how wonderful He really is. Draw near to Jesus and He will draw near to you.
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Mmmm Good Chili
5 cloves minced garlic
1 ½ Tablespoons olive oil
2 cans diced tomatoes 28 oz.
1 can tomato sauce 15 oz.
1 can non-alcoholic beer
1 cup elbow macaroni - uncooked
1 Tablespoon Dijon-style mustard
2 Tablespoons Chili powder
2 Tablespoons oregano
1 teaspoon dried cilantro
3 cans chili beans 15.5 oz.
1 package Morning Star Grillers Recipe Crumbles - lightly browned
Water to thin as desired
Cook garlic in hot oil for about 30 seconds. Add tomatoes, non-alcoholic beer, tomato sauce and seasonings. Add beans. Add cooked Griller Crumbles. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Serve and enjoy!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!
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