I want to share a couple of things in this newsletter and building update. The main event is the current state of the Prayer House building, which has been our focus for so much of this year. Tomorrow will be the last day the builders will be on site for the current phase. The roof is on, the porch has been built, and now the main structure of the building is complete. We’ve reached a BIG, BIG milestone. PRAISE YOU LORD!!! There’s a lot more work to do and I’ll share more about the building later, but first I want to talk about something else…

I’ve been thinking about John chapter 11, the resurrection of Lazarus from the dead. You know the story. Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary, was sick and some friends were sent to fetch Jesus so that He could heal him. But Jesus delayed. He waited two more days before He decided to go to Bethany.

By the time He arrived, Lazarus had died. In fact, he’d been dead for 4 days and was already buried in a cave with a big round stone over the entrance to the cave.

When I was having my prayer time this morning I was aware of Jesus there with me, and I kept thinking… “Lord, if You had been here this wouldn’t have happened”. Actually I wasn’t thinking of anything in particular, it’s just that those words kept going around in my mind. And that is what caused me to look at John chapter 11, because that’s EXACTLY what Martha and Mary said when Jesus arrived in Bethany, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” And you can feel the unspoken accusation, the question that’s hanging in the air, “Jesus, where were You? Why didn’t You come?”.

And many of us have the same question echoing in our hearts. It doesn’t matter who we are – bad things happen to us. Sometimes really bad things. And as we look at the past, we cry out, “Lord where were You? Why didn’t You come? If You had been here it wouldn’t have happened!!”.

This is not meant to be a theological discussion. I don’t have the answers, just a few observations from the passage in John chapter 11. 

It’s interesting but Jesus doesn’t stop bad things from happening. He didn’t stop Lazarus from dying. But when He arrived at Bethany He made a declaration. He said, “I am the resurrection and the life”. And then He went to the tomb, to the place where Lazarus was buried, and told the people to take away the stone. There are no barriers with Jesus, and there are no places He cannot go. And we all know what happened next. Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”. And he came out FULLY ALIVE, FULLY HEALED and COMPLETEY WHOLE.

God’s response to the devil’s assault is not always to prevent the assault from happening. God has established righteous laws that govern the universe and He cannot violate those laws – especially the law that gives man freedom to choose both good and evil. No – in these cases God’s response comes AFTER the assault. He responds to the devil’s assault with RESURECTION and LIFE. And we come out FULLY ALIVE, FULLY RESTORED and COMPLETELY WHOLE! It’s how He does things.

“So where was God in the Holocaust?” It’s the same cry, the same question, “Lord where were You? Why didn’t You come? If You had been here it wouldn’t have happened.”

Like I said I don’t have the answers, but I do know from the passage in John chapter 11 how God will respond.

Jesus will respond to the devil’s assault in the same way He did for Lazarus – with RESURECTION and LIFE. He will come to the tomb, to the place where the Jewish people were buried, and from this place of death they will come out FULLY ALIVE, FULLY RESTORED and COMPLETELY WHOLE. If you don’t believe what I’m saying, read Ezekiel chapter 37.  

What is this going to look like? I don’t know – but this is what the Prayer House is all about!

And now to the building… 

This is truly wonderful and amazing and it looks absolutely beautiful. Thank You SO MUCH Father!!! A picture is worth a thousand words, so here are some photos of the building taken in the past few days…

First some photos of the outside.