Tohearfrometernity's Blog

I asked the Lord,’Why now’?   ‘Why all the suffering now?’  He said, “So, I may look upon you, and see the suffering you are willing to do for me; in  the same way you look upon me, and see the suffering I have done for you!”

To love and be loved!   It is everything!   Do you love Jesus?   Does the suffering for Jesus offer you solace to your heart?    Jesus desires we desire Him.   We must decide to make Jesus priority one!   Many tell me that is not so.   I say to you friend:  “Do you wish to be  ‘ second fiddle’ to anyone?”   We are talking about the King of Kings, and the Savior of the World!   How can we become complacent to Jesus?   Are you complacent in the other relationships within your life?

Jesus Christ should be first!   If He is not first, then there is work to be done!   Absolutely, Positively, First and  foremost, Jesus Christ is waiting for us to make Him number one in all things!

Love grows when Jesus is first!  If you draw closer to Christ, he will draw closer to you.

Book of John: Chapter 15 verses 9-11 Jesus Speaks

9)” As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you.   Live on in my love.   10) You will live in my love if you keep the commandments, even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and live in his love.   11)All this I tell you that my joy may be yours and your joy may complete.”

When we were children, and a toy broke,  all we had to do was ask, and Father ‘fixed it’.   Dad, it seemed was ‘magic’!

Whether it was a wheel that fell off of a ‘tonka truck’ or an arm that came out of a doll; it seemed Dad always fixed it!

Sometimes He would look and say, ‘How did this happen?’   We would always say, ‘it was and accident’.   Then he would say, ‘Be more careful next time’.   Then it was fixed, again!

There were times he would leave, and it would seem he was never coming back; then finally, he would come into the house and it would not look the same, but he had fixed it.   He had improvised!    Nonetheless, it was fixed, and it was  perfect!

There were times he would say, ‘It can’t be done!’    It would leave us feeling very disillusioned, and sad.   We would say, ‘try,’ please, Dad!    Then he would say, ‘you do not know what you are asking.’   Arguing with him, I would always say, ‘Yes, I do!’   ‘You can do anything!’    ‘Fix it please,  Daddy!’    Then he would look at me and say,  ‘I can’t, Honey.’     Then, though he would try to explain why, I would typically cry.

Those were the simpler days!

Now, when I need something ‘fixed’ I talk to Our Heavenly Father, and ask Him to fix it.    Most always He comes through like ‘magic’.   But, there are times when He says, ‘you don’t know what you are asking’, and I say, ‘yes, I do, you can fix anything!’   He doesn’t tell me as to why, but a peace settles over me, and I know, He’ll help me through.   Though it seems like the end of the world, that it can not be fixed; He helps me to accept it.    For just like it was ‘an  accident’ that it happened; so too, it remains.

It is not easy to accept ‘no’.   Especially when we all know God can do anything!   He can change anything, and make anything.   However, that does not guarantee the ‘winning ticket’.    For God does not think as we do.

Just as any Father feels badly saying ‘No’, so does our Heavenly Father.

I truly believe He loves us so, but we must learn; we must trust, and obey.    Not so easy, but ‘growing up’ was not easy either.   Neither is growing in the LORD.

His ways, are not our ways, and because of that we can find ourselves finding fault with God if we are not careful.    For the ‘inner child’ in all of us wants it fixed and to remain the same.    Unfortunately life is constantly changing.    He is the driving force in all situations, and knows what is best.   Though it can not be fixed because He desires otherwise, we can accept, when we ‘trust.’

Though it is, ‘No’ He will  bless us, to remind us how very much He loves us…

Book of John: Chapter 14   verses  1-4 Jesus Speaks

1)”Do not let your hearts be troubled.   Have faith in God and faith in me.   2)In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places; otherwise, how could I have told you that I was going to prepare a place for you?   3) I am indeed going to prepare a place for you, and then I shall come back to take  you  with me, that where I am you also may be.   4) You know the way that leads where I go.”

Do you think Jesus was inconvenienced by us?

When He lived His life He chose to make us ‘Priority One’!   How   many of us make Him priority one?   Is Jesus an inconvenience ?   It would seem so, would it not?   When the ‘world’ is upside down, and the ‘personality’ of people seems to be anger, does it not seem Jesus is a nuisance?   People do not like to be told they are wrong.  None of us do!

Yet, Jesus is the first, last, and always, the Alpha and Omega!   In other words,   THE LORD;    even if we don’t want to be inconvenienced, He is!    Until we realize that, we will have everything, backward-front words, inside-out, and up-side down!

Unfortunately, Jesus does not step up to the plate and say, ‘you are wrong!’   He does it in the sense of conviction.   Conviction, or guilt, lingers if we do not do the ‘soul searching’ required.    We turn to outside forces…the contraband of the world…the quick fixes!    Then, we remain the same.     Why?    Because the only changing force is Jesus!

He needs to hear from each of us!   This means we must realize we are incomplete without Him!!

When called upon, Jesus washes the inside-out!    He turned the up-side down, right side up, and the back-ward front words, forward!   He make everything right!!

However, when He does this, it is such an awakening, that we can not hardly bare the ‘difference.’    Yet, the ‘feeling’ He leaves us with is so profound, that we continue to come back for more.    This is Jesus in action!   Yet, we must let Him ‘help’ us!   We need Him…His Help…His Love…and His Forgiveness!

So, I ask you; “Is Jesus an inconvenience to you?”

To Love and Be Loved is Everything!

Book of John: Chapter 5 verses 41-47 Jesus Speaks

41) “It is not that I accept human praise-42) it is simply that I know you, and you do not  have the love of God in your hearts. 43) I have come in my Father’s name, yet you do not accept me.   But let someone come in his own name and him you will accept.   44) How can people like you believe, when you accept praise from one another yet do not seek the glory that comes from the One  (God)?   45) Do not imagine that I will be your accuser before the Father; the one to accuse you is Moses on whom you have set your hopes.   46) If you believed Moses you would believe me, for it was about me that he wrote.   47) But if you do not believe what he wrote how can you believe what I say?”

When we think of bravery, we typically think of soldiers, fighting battles and standing against the enemy.   We all face challenges, but few of us consider whether we are brave or not.

In the battle between good and evil, the ‘soldiers of Christ’ are standing against evil!   They are bold and brave in their fight for Christ and His teachings against Satan and his demons.

To be a soldier for Jesus Christ is to face a different type of wound…a wound to the spirit.    The spirit of Jesus Christ dwells within His own, those who profess Him as LORD and SAVIOR.

To be brave, to stand firm in the instructions of Jesus, and allow His direction within ones life;  this courage is powerful, and fulfilling!   He sees all sides, and blesses according to the needs of his servants!

He will instruct anyone of His servants to do something that seems unnatural.    Yet, when fulfilled reveals itself to be a robe of splendor to his assigned servant!    This is Jesus Christ!   He adorns his own in ‘robes of splendor’, because they have chosen to become his servant, his friend, and his beloved.   They have chosen to ‘trust’ him above themselves.   He delights in blessing his own, and waits for all to come to him.   His love is everlasting!   From age to age, Jesus Christ reigns as King and His servants are His beloved!

To be His beloved, call upon Jesus Christ to come into your heart, and He will!  He will bless you and refine you and love you beyond all human understanding.

Book of   2 Corinthians : Chapter 5 verses 1-10

1) “Indeed, we know that when the earthly tent in which we dwell is destroyed we have a dwelling provided for us by God, a dwelling in the heavens, not made by hands but to last forever.   2) We groan while we are here, even as we yearn to have our heavenly habitation envelop us.   3) This it will, provided we are found clothed and not naked.   4) While we live in our present tent we groan; we are weighed down because we do not wish to be stripped naked but rather to have the heavenly dwelling envelop us, so that what is mortal may be absorbed by life.   5) God has fashioned us for this very thing and has given us the Spirit as a pledge of it.   6) Therefore we continue to be confident.   We know that while we dwell in the body we are away from the LORD.   7) We walk by faith, not by sight.   8) I repeat, we are full of confidence and would much rather be away from the body and at home with the LORD.   9) This being so, we make it our aim to please him whether we are with him or away from him.   10) The lives of all of us are to be revealed before the tribunal of Christ so that each one may recieve his recompense, good or bad, are according to his life in the body.”

Book of 2 Corinthians Chapter 5 verse 20-21

20) “This makes us ambassadors for Christ, God as it were appealing through us.   We implore you, in Christ’s name: be reconciled to God!   21) For our sakes God made him who did not know sin, to be sin, so that in him we might become the very holiness of God.”

Like poison that moves slowly, with no taste, or texture, it destroys everything in its path.   Leaving any and all totally unaware.   This is evils way!   Evil lurks in many forms.   It takes it’s place in those caught  unaware.

Evils greatest achievement is ‘unbelief’.   Evil has convinced the multitudes that it is not real!   That it is somebody else, but not them.   Deadly beyond all human consumption is evil!   It is the worst of all things, for it destroys from the ‘inside out’.   Within its occurrence, it confuses the unbeliever into self-destruction!

Self-destruction is all around us!   The unbeliever, is content and totally unaware cunning is going on within himself.

God’s intervention unto us is His Own Son Jesus Christ!   His desire is that we remove the scales from our eyes, and come to believe Him.   Yet, few do!   For they, the unbelievers, do not believe Him…and that is the poison!    The poison…sin…death!    The Son of God is the ‘gate keeper’.   The gate to the kingdom of heaven is ‘locked’ to the unbeliever!   In other words if Jesus Christ is not called upon to open your eyes and mine, and remove the ‘scales’ evil has placed there,   the reign of God will not be realized! 

We the sinners can not see without ‘His’ eyes!   Much like a person with cataracts, so too is the person’s eyes without Christ!   Once removed the wonders of it all never cease!   This is Jesus Christ in action!   HE STARTS  SLOWLY!   Then as we continue in His light He opens the doors to the light of understanding, beyond our wildest dreams!    Jesus must be trusted, embraced, and loved above all else; then He becomes more alive within each who come to Him!!

Book of Romans: Chapter 1 verses18-21

18) ” The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against the irreligious and perverse spirit of men who, in this perversity of theirs, hinder the truth.   19) In fact, whatever can be known about God is clear to them; he himself made it so.   20) Since the creation of the world, invisible realities, God’s eternal power and divinity, have become visible, recognized through the things he has made.  Therefore these men are inexcusable.   21)   They certainly had knowledge of God, yet they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks; they stultified themselves through speculating to no purpose, and their senseless hearts were darkened.”

 On bended knees I come before Our Lord in prayer.   

I look upon His feet scarred so deep.
Then I begin to weep.   He looks down  upon me, lifts my chin. His scarred hands I see.   Then the tears continue to fall;  For  it  was I that put them there, after  all.   Then, with eyes like diamonds, HE looks upon me, and I say, ‘Lord, I am so sorry, forgive me, I pray!   Only then I  hear Him say, “You are forgiven!   I love you so, that is my way!”

The greatest gift I could know – is that He loves me so.

Jesus, I say, what can I do to thank-you for this gift of love you have given me?   Then He says, ‘Continue to pray’!    So every day, I continue to  pray, that in some small way my ‘little light’ will be His delight; that some day He will say, “Well done good and faithful servant, enter into the home of my Father.”

Book of Luke : Chapter 24 verses 36-39 Jesus appears to the Eleven

36) While they were still speaking about all this, he himself stood in their midst (and said to them, “Peace to you.” )   37) In their panic and fright they thought they were seeing a ghost. 38) He said to them, “Why are you so disturbed?”   Why do such ideas cross your mind?  39) Look upon my hands and feet; it is really I.   Touch me, and see that a ghost does not have flesh and bones as I do.”

Book of Isaiah: Chapter 12 verses 1-6 Song of Thanksgiving

1) On that day, you will say: I give you thanks O LORD; though you have been angry with me, your anger has been abated, and you have consoled me.   2) God indeed is my Savior; I am confident and unafraid.   My strength and my courage is the LORD, and he has been my Savior   3) With joy you will draw water at the fountain of salvation, 4) and say on that day: Give thanks to the LORD, acclaim his name; among the nations make known  his deeds,  proclaim how exalted is his name.”5) Sing praise to the LORD for His glorious achievement; let this be known throughout all the earth.   6) Shout with exultation, O city of Zion, for great in your midst is  the Holy One of Israel!”

Most recently, I came home to find a book stuck in the front door of my house.   A book of miracles!  

Do you believe?

 The book has specific experiences that occurred in the lives of people that under normal circumstances would go unnoticed.   However, a prayerful Christian will recognize the events for what they are.

In the fires of 2003,  the fires were very close to our house.     I went out and put ‘Holy Water’ around the house, and offered up a ‘rosary’, prayed for the ‘winds’ to change.   Upon completion of these acts…the winds did change.

The fires in Southern California were so bad, evacuations were necessary.   There was a house in Scripps Ranch that stood alone, after everything around it burned down.   There was another instance in Rancho Bernardo, where the elderly couple did not hear of the evacuation and their house was the only one standing, after most around them burned!

Fear of the LORD, and His incredible love is constant.    Yet, He must be ’embraced’!    That means,  He should be foremost in the minds and hearts of all.   Thereby, His presence, His teachings and His person is recognized, and reflected upon, in any and all situations.

Many did not believe the winds would change.   I did!   I have read of God’s Great Love within the Holy Scriptures and know them to be true…as true today, as back then.    For God is, for always, and forever!  Amen!    Praise God!   He never leaves us, but waits for our call.   Our desire to ask Him must be first in our hearts and minds…then our ‘in love’ for God grows!!

Desire the ‘in love’ experience and call upon God in any all circumstances and watch your life unfold in wonderful, mysterious ways.   Then, you will know His real presence, and comfort.

Once you have desired to ‘know’ Him; then learn His laws.    The Ten Commandments are His.   He loves them as much today, as when He first wrote them.    Love them and bind them to your heart.   First above all things, desire them to be kept; He will bless you, for embracing Him.   He is within His teachings and the joy never leaves once He is embraced.

Satan and his demons are real.   Their job starts with causing you to doubt.  Strive against Satan by choosing to believe.  The New Testament of God’s Son Jesus Christ will enlighten your mind to a deeper understanding of the love of our ‘Heavenly Father’.   May God Bless You, enrich you and love you!   Amen!

Book of Luke: Chapter 12 verses 4-9   Jesus Speaks:

4)” I say to you who are my friends: Do not be afraid of those who kill the body and can do no more.   5) I will  show  you whom you ought to fear.   Fear him who has power to cast into Gehenna after he has killed.   Yes, I tell you, fear him.   6) Are not five sparrows sold for a few pennies?   Yet not one of them is neglected by God.   7) In very truth, even the hairs on your head are  counted!   Fear nothing , then.   You are worth more than a flock of sparrows.”   8) ” I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men-The Son of Man will acknowledge him before the angels of God.   9) But, the man who has disowned me in the presence of men will be disowned in the presence of the angels of  God.”

Book of Luke: Chapter 10 verses 25-28

25) “On one occasion a lawyer stood up to pose him this problem: “Teacher, what must I do to inherit everlasting life?”   26) Jesus answered him: “What is written in the law?  How do you read it?”   27)He replied: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”   28) Jesus said, “You have answered correctly.   Do this and you shall live.”

Life in motion, often times, brings forth unkindness;  unkind People leave notes on cars for parking to close, they throw water in your face for turning out a light, they speak rudely concerning ones appearance, they cut people off, and ‘flip people off,  tell people off, and where to go and where to sit!

ANGER!   One of the seven deadly sins, is alive and well, living within our midst!

To be charitable, to ‘pray’ for he/she that offends is Christ’s way !    The light is missing, and Jesus’ power awakens within the opposing spirit when a believer prays for the offender.   This is Christ’s love in action.

Jesus, when asked, answered to forgive seven times seven times seventy.  Temptation is everywhere!   Anyone and any situation can become a occurrence to  infuse evil!   Evil, that which opposes the will of God…namely to ‘hate thy neighbor!’

To avoid the temptation,  acceptance of the spirit of Christ,  embracing Him and His teachings brings forth peace.   Then a joy fills the heart of the prayerful, for Jesus is pleased.    This is Jesus Christ in motion, within a ‘broken and hurtful’ world!  The world awakens  Through the love and teachings of Jesus infused by His Beloved!

However, this awakening can not occur without devotion to Jesus…forgiveness, love, patience, understanding, peace, joy,mercy, to name a few!   Jesus is so much, one could not name all He encompasses!

Yet,  it is imperative to have knowledge of the ‘seven deadly sins or  the fall of the spirit, will not  be avoided.

The seven deadly sins….Lust, Anger, Gluttony, Covetousness, Pride, Envy, Sloth, are intertwined, in that if one is achieved easily, temptation follows more readily.

Next time someone ‘takes your parking spot’, takes the ‘last sale item on Black Friday,’ ‘tells you off,’ or ‘flips you off,’ think of Jesus.   For Jesus hurts for the hurting; He wants to be their light too.    The power is to think Jesus, and love as Jesus, and to forgive as Jesus.    Not easy, not ever; but truly joyful.   For when you say a prayer, calming within the soul occurs, and the offense is not that bad after all.

Our Lord desires us to pray for our enemy’s and forgive seven times seven times seventy…He desires love, and love starts with me, and I pass it onto you.    May God Bless You!

Book of MATTHEW: Chapter 19 verses 21-35

21)” Then Peter came up and asked him, “Lord, when my brother wrongs me, how often must I forgive him?   Seven times?”   22) “No,” Jesus replied, “not seven times; I say, seventy times seven times.   23)That is why the reign of God may be like a king who decided to settle accounts with his  officials.   24)   When he began his auditing, one was brought in who owed him a huge amount.  25) As he had no way of paying it, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt.   26) At that the official prostrated himself in homage and said, ‘My lord, be patient with me and I will pay you back in full.’   27) Moved with pity, the master let the official go and wrote off the  debt. 28) But when that same official went out he met a fellow servant who owed him a mere fraction of what he himself owed.   He seized him and throttled him.   ‘Pay back what you owe,’ he demanded.   29) His fellow servant dropped to his knees and began to plead with him, ‘Just give me time and I will pay you back in full.’  30) But he would hear none of it.   Instead, he had him put in jail until he paid back what he owed.   31)   When his fellow servants saw what had happened they were badly shaken, and went to their master to report the incident.   32) His master sent for him and said, ‘You worthless wretch!   I canceled your entire debt when you pleaded with me.   33) Should you not have dealt mercifully with your fellow servant, as I dealt with you?’   34)   Then in anger the master handed him over to the torturers until he paid back all that he owed.   35) My heavenly Father will treat you in exactly the same way unless each of you forgives his brother from the heart.”

Book of Matthew: Chapter 5 verses 43-48  “Love Of Enemies”

43) “You have heard the commandment, ‘You shall love your country-man but hate your enemy.’ 44) My command to you is: love your enemies, pray for your persecutors. 

So many years ago, before there was anyone; it was Jesus and I.    He and I sat and talked.   I told him, “You are Awesome”.   He smiled!    I told Him, “You are my Everything”.    He smiled once again.    Then He said, “Will you go to the Cross for me?”   I said, “I will.”    He said, “Will you suffer with me?”   I said, ” I will”!   He smiled!    Then, was when I’d come to know, that I love Him so.

Time has passed since He and I had that talk.    It has always been He and I.    Through everything, it has been He and I.   No matter where I have been or what sins I have committed; it has always been, He and I.

When the road is long, and temptation is ever so strong, I think of Jesus, and He smiles, and says,  “I know”!   Then I know, it is all worth it!    All the pain, all the trials, all the suffering, and all the tears!

For sometimes it seems there are more tears, than I can count.    Then I remember Jesus.   He said, ” Tell me if it is too much”.    I say, ” It will never be to much LORD!”   So, He and I continue to talk.    Through out my life, He is here!   He is the only ONE.   He is and always will be.   There are many I love; but none can touch the heart I have for Jesus.    For the love I can not have, or will never realize, will only sustain me to suffer more for Jesus.   For I know, Jesus’  heart breaks for the whole world.    So few know this great love.   For to know great love, we must suffer with Jesus.   That is not to imply you can not have great love for Jesus without suffering, but rather, the ‘Core’ of Christ is within the suffering!   When I suffer, I know Jesus is ’embracing’ me!   For  one of Jesus Christ’s  greatest gifts  is to share Himself with those He loves deeply!    To know Jesus deeply, one must suffer deeply.    Sometimes, that means tears falling until they feel they may never stop.    Yes, it hurts!    But, to suffer with Jesus, to remember He loves you so, that He has chosen to reveal His deepest self to you, and allow you to suffer intently with Him, is to be called His ‘Beloved’!

To love Jesus Christ is not done in the way one loves mortally.    But rather to desire Him above all else.    This is realizing a ‘spiritual highness’ that Jesus adorns one with, when we choose Him above ourselves!    To live and breathe Jesus; His life, His love, His body, and His blood, is to come to Christ stripped down,  bare naked,  with no reservation, no unguarded pretense whatsoever; then,  and only then , do you begin to realize the ‘Living Christ’ for who He really is!!

Book of Sirach: Chapter 51 verses 13-15   18–19

13)  “When I was young and innocent, I sought wisdom.   14)She came to me in her beauty, and until the end I will cultivate her, 15)As the blossoms yielded to ripening grapes, the heart’s joy, My feet kept to the level path  because from earliest youth I was familiar with her.”

18)”I became resolutley devoted to her- the good I persistenly strove for.   19) I   burned with desire for her, never turning back.   I became preoccupied with her, never weary of extolling her.   My hand opened her gate and I came to know her secrets.”

Book of Sirach: Chapter 51 verses 1-8

1) ” I give thanks, O God of my father; I praise you, O God my savior!   I will make known your name, refuge of my life; 2) you have been my helper against my adversaries.   You have saved me from death, and kept back my body from the pit,  From the clutches of the nether world you have snatched my feet; 3) you have delivered me, in your great mercy, From the scourge of a slanderous tongue, and from  lips   that went over to falsehood; From the snare  of those who watched for my downfall, and from the power of those who sought my life; from many a danger you have saved me, 4) from flames that hemmed me in on every side; From the midst of unremitting fire, 5) from the deep belly of the nether world; From decieveing lips and painters of lies, 6) from arrows of dishonest tongues, I was at the point of death, my soul was nearing the depths of the nether world; 7) I turned every way, but there was no one to help me, I looked for one to sustain me, but could find no one.   8) But then I remembered the mercies of the LORD, his kindness through ages past; For he saves those who take refuge in him, and rescues them from every evil.”

Eternal Father, you have loved me forever.   This I know.    You loved me before you made me, and loved me when you formed me.     You rejoiced when I was born.    Cried for me when I was alone.   You held me up with the strength of you hand.    Your love sustained me when  no one would understand.   You introduced me to Jesus so that I would understand.    You blessed me with His Mother, that I may know love eternal.    Your Holy Spirit  gave me strength when my days were ever so long;  When everything and everyone seemed so wrong.   You dried my tears and told me, ‘it won’t be long’.   You rejoiced when I found love, and smiled when I gave life.   You turned not away when I fell; but picked me up, and loved me still.    You held me tight that I would know,  that you were there, no matter where I would go.    You loved me through my life……my relationships, my family, friends, and in my strife.   You allowed me to grow… patiently waiting that I would know.   I know My God,  I still doubt, when fear floods my soul.    I know this disappoints you LORD; I’ll try harder so you know.    I really do trust you LORD, it’s just I fear LORD when I know not where to go.     Once again I am certain,  though I see you not, that you have my hand in yours, and my battles you have fought.   I cry knowing I have disappointed you so.     But try I will LORD, for I love you so.   AMEN

Book of Revelation: Chapter 3 Verses 7-13  To Philadelphia.

7)”To the presiding spirit of the church in Philadelphia, write this:

“The holy ONE, the true, who wields David’s key, who opens and no one can close, who closes and no one can open, has this to say:

  8) “I know your deeds; that is why I have left an open door before you which no one can close.   I know that your strength is limited; yet you have held fast to my word and have not denied my name.   9) I mean to make some of Satan’s assembly, those self-styled Jews who are not really Jews but frauds, come and fall down at your feet; they will learn of my love for you in that way.   10)   Because you have kept my plea to stand fast, I will keep you safe in the time of trial which is coming on the whole world, to test all men on earth.   11)  I am coming soon.   Hold fast to what you have lest someone rob you of your crown.   12) ” I will make the victor  a pillar in the temple of my God and he shall never leave it, I  will inscribe on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God,  the new Jerusalem which he will send down from heaven, and my own name which is new.   13) “Let him who has ears heed the Spirit’s word to the churches!”