I’m sure you have all heard about the earth quake that happened in Sichuan last week. Over 30,000 people are dead and millions are homeless. I live about 1,500 miles from Sichuan province and didn’t even feel the quake. I have seen frantic images of people experiencing horrible grief, shock, and fear. It is devastating to watch a sobbing mother looking at the building in ruins she knows her child is buried under. It is miraculous to watch a young girl come walking out of the rubble after being buried underneath it for 80 hours! As I think about last weeks earthquake, the words of J. in Matthew 24 come to my mind and cause my heart to beat fast. “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake…and because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And the gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come (Matt. 24:7-13). Natural disasters are increasing and seem to be happening every time you turn around. Tsumani, Katrina…. and now Sichuan. And I get the shivers as I see J. words come to life before my very eyes. It feels me with excitement and a holy sense of terror to realize the birth pains have more than begun. Are you ready to meet J.? Am I? How loving of God to get the world’s attention in such ways. People must wake up and call on the name of the LRD! I am convicted that I must make eternal decisions and put all I poses into eternity. The ch. has an open door in Sichuan right now to proclaim the good news! Please be pr. that more than anything right now in Sichuan that S*l*a*tion would spring up from the ground and spread a passion for the Name above all other Names!