Hi all,
First some personal updates – we’ve talked with Chris several times by phone and Zoom web meetings, who remains locked down in his group home, and he seems to be holding his own. I’m in talks with a State Senator and other officials to get rid of the ‘one size fits all’ approach to nursing homes and group homes. Chris is always asking us and staff when I’m coming to get him. Mentally he is about 4 though in age he is 40, but imagine keeping a 4 year old away from mom and dad for more than 2 months and you have an idea.
It has been good however in the Father’s ordering of our steps that we’ve had all this work done in the kitchen and laundry room while he has been gone because the house has been in such disarray. We’ve had workers in and out and dust and noise and all that, so from that standpoint it’s been good he wasn’t here. It’s also given us some peace to know he can do a longer separation. Lessons learned for us and him.
The plumbers came Monday to give us water in the kitchen so Barb is a ‘happy camper’. She is starting to put things that have been piled in Chris’ bedroom and our living room, into drawers and cabinets, yippee for all! Beginning to feel like normal. I have to build a ramp for Chris’ wheelchair into the house and that will be the last piece of this puzzle. What a process! Thank you to all who contributed in prayer, financial gifts, and well wishes – what a double whammy, tornado and then water damage. Then Covid 19 on top of it all, lol. For months we’ve had more on our plate than we can say grace over – nice to be getting back to some form of order.
October conference
October 8-11 in Tulsa will be our National Conference, which we hold every 2 years – this is the year! It will be held at the Stony Creek Hotel & Conference center in Broken Arrow, convenient to the whole area. Consider joining us as it will be a time rich and deep in worship, teaching, fellowship, and meeting lots of instant new friends. That element of being joined spiritually to others on the same spiritual page is one of the intangible special things that happen.
Prophetic
I don’t like to share things the Lord says to me in a visitation if He says ‘You need to pray about…’ or ‘As it stands now, this will happen so pray…’. But sometimes the world gets turned upside down and I just have to trust people will pray as they should. Under that category I’ll share a couple things rather vaguely; One is the Democratic Party in the US from August-November’s election, and the other is the election itself – that it go smoothly, etc.
I was driving home the other day and passed a yard that had an American flag displayed on the fence. As I passed by my thoughts turned to patriotism and suddenly the Father broke in: “In days ahead patriotism will be used to describe those who obey overreaching governmental controls – and used against Christians and conservatives who will disagree. They will be accused of not being patriotic, and in days ahead increasingly blamed for what’s wrong with the nation.”
He talked to me about fear. He also talked about how the spirit affecting people is largely world-wide, the spirit of fear, and that will be followed by anger of the nations in days ahead. There’s more, but that’s for later.
As I shared before out of Isaiah 8: 12-14 what He shared with me:
“You are not to say, ‘It is a conspiracy!’ In regard to all that this people call a conspiracy,
And you are not to fear what they fear or be in dread of it. It is the Lord of hosts whom you should regard as holy.
And He shall be your fear, And He shall be your dread. Then He shall become a sanctuary…”
What makes them afraid does not make me afraid. Amen! He has been faithful to preserve our lives to this point, and He will continue! Brian had a great word which is shared below:
From Brian: Hey everyone! For those of you who don’t know me, I am John’s youngest son Brian. I have been involved with CWOWI, in some shape or form, since its beginning in 2002. Amy, my wonderful wife, has served with CWOWI since 2010. In 2018 I was directed by the Lord to leave my career in law enforcement and come on staff with CWOWI. Over the past 2 years I have worked diligently in the background supporting my Dad and the Network.
Last week, being Springtime in Tulsa, we had the first tornado warning of the year (our area had 5 last Spring). During that tornado warning the wind began to increase, low hanging rumbling clouds moved quickly across the skyline and warning sirens begin to wail outside. I have been through countless tornado warnings during my tenure in Oklahoma to include a couple of near misses. For me, the intimidating chaos was almost enjoyable. In my mind, the wailing warning sirens seem to call attention to the greatness of nature and the Creator.
My three daughters; Ellie (13), Hailey (11) and Hannah (4 going on 13) were not so calm. As the storm grew in intensity, they began to feed off of each other’s fear. In opposition to fear, I was the voice in the dark calmly telling them to put on shoes, grab a flashlight, grab a blanket and get in the closet under the stairs. When they would begin to lose control over fear, I would interrupt their doomsday thought path with comfort and peace. The storm passed and the girls learned, once again, to trust the voice of their dad.
Just like my three girls, during the tornado warning, we currently have many voices in the world feeding off of each other’s fear. The fearful voices of the media, neighbors, friends, family, social media and some leaders can raise the level of fear to an unhealthy level in us. Just like me being the voice of calm and peace during the storm to my girls, Jesus is that voice to the Christian Body. We must decrease the voices of fear in our life and focus on the calming voice of Jesus. We see in our network, all over the world, that God is moving among those who are listening to His voice during this storm.
“39 And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” – Mark 4: 39-41 ESV
Brian
Brian and Amy are such a blessing to us and our service in the Lord.
Thank you for your continued generosity, love, and support – praying for you and yours, seeing His faithfulness day by day.
Blessings,
John & Barb
