Dear Family & Friends,
“When the army came back to the camp, the elders of Israel said, ‘Why did the Lord let us be defeated today by the Philistines? Let’s take with us the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Shiloh. When it is with us, it will save us from the hand of our enemies.’ … So the Philistines fought. Israel was defeated; they all ran home. The slaughter was very great; thirty thousand foot soldiers fell in battle. The ark of God was taken, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phineas, were killed.” I Sam. 4:3, 10-11
The people of Israel thought that as long as they carried the ark of the covenant with them that they would win in battle, but they were defeated instead. They mistook the ark as having power itself, instead of the presence of God. They also forgot that the covenant they had made with God required their sincere faith in Him and their desire to obey his commands. Their faith in God was not much different than that of the Philistines in their gods. Israel’s leaders, including Eli’s family, had not taught the people well nor kept the covenant very well either.
We all need to be careful that we do not treat God as someone we can summon to work for us when we need Him. We also need to be careful to cultivate a desire to be obedient to God, so that we will be pleasing to Him.
The Eternal Light congregation hosted a two day VBS this weekend. Each day was a full day. Please pray for the outreach to the families that will follow.
We received a note asking to for prayer for the nation of Liberia. The government has declared a state of emergency due to the Ebola crisis. People are dying daily from common ailments because there are no medicines or they cannot be treated due to the hospitals being closed. Pray for God to intercede in this crisis.
It has been almost a month since Ellinor’s court date. We are hoping that her paperwork will arrive soon saying that the court has approved the adoption. Ellinor came back to our home last Sunday evening and has fit right back in although she has had a pretty high fever these last two days. Please pray for Ellinor to feel better.
We ask that you pray for a member of the Team Expansion family, Deshay Linn. She is being treated for Typhoid. She grew up on the mission field in Venezuela.
Thank you for your prayers.
God Bless,
John & Cheryl
1. Please pray for us as we work to develop a desire in our own lives to be obedient in all things to God.
2. Please pray for the VBS follow-up.
3. Please pray for the Ebola & medical crisis in Liberia and other places in Africa.
4. Please pray for Ellinor’s paperwork to come from the court soon, and for her to feel better.
5. Please pray for Deshay Linn as she is being treated for typhoid.
Posted on September 8th, 2014 by dunns
Filed under: Uncategorized