That was the phrase I heard being spoken over the phone as I waited for my flight the Saturday after Thanksgiving. “I don’t need to take this”, I’ve used the phrase myself many times. It is usually my cue to exit stage left. Not that I was prying but I couldn’t help but hearing et least one side of the story. This story seems to be universal.

Yes, a family member had did him wrong sometime in the past. Yes, he attended the family get together with this on his mind. The offending parties offered no apologies. He began to make his case with other family members. Not receiving the required level of sympathy he made an early exit from the festivities with the all so familiar statement, “I don’t need to take this”. He was still searching for that ally against this injustice over the phone as I boarded the plane.

Years ago I was called into a management meeting to discuss my supposed misbehavior. It seemed to me that minds were already made up and I said those very words: “I don’t need to take this” and left the meeting. Thank God my boss chased me out to my car and demanded that I finish the meeting where I was eventually exonerated. “I don’t need to take this” would have not been a good explanation to my wife as to why I wasn’t going back to work.

During the heat of the holiday get togethers I am sure many people speak these words. I found myself thinking those very words as I was digesting some unpleasant words spoken about me. I am thankful that I have learned a few things in my older age. I quietly tried to work through the issues. We talked things over and we came to the conclusion that I didn’t have a problem with anyone. But a case had been made against me that had burrowed deep into the soul of someone else.

We prayed. We forgave. We cast out the spirit of bitterness and the difference in the atmosphere was as palatable as the turkey and fixings we were about to eat. It just as easily could have been me in that airport trying to patch things up. Better to pray than run.

I drove down to Yuma to cover services for Pastor Foley. Another beautiful drive that took me through Aguila where circumstances forced me to pause in my journey towards death. Below is the photo of the little motel we stayed in while I figured out how to get more money to continue on. I left after one day going to find some work in Wickenburg or Phoenix and then come back to continue on. I found work in Wickenburg and I found myself in a little rattlesnake nest of Christians. I got saved in Wickenburg and when I returned to pick up the pieces in Aguila, I found my traveling partner had made other plans, pawning my film equipment and taking off in my car after giving me a good word for the church. Got saved and then stomped down and then God picked me up. Sound familiar?

Joan and Audra are back East with Laura Michelle. They are going to travel up together to Rochester to spend Thanksgiving with her family. I will be going to Reno to meet up with Brooke and have Thanksgiving with my Mom and sisters in Yerrington. Then off to Salem for a revival, a day in Seattle and then a revival for Dave Marks in Chilliwack BC.

I had a great time preaching in Phoenix for Jim Radersdorf. I interviewed a several people during the revival. There are two photos below of Adan Moraga age 15 and Jason Resendez age 31. Adan was one of several young people coming home from school. All of these young people communicated in broken English. I was amazed that all of them had recently heard the gospel message and were attending different churches in the area. One young man named Marvin Garcia age15, had actually been invited to church by missionaries from Mexico outreaching in Phoenix. Marvin’s desires in life centered around cars, especially a Corvette. It took me a few times to figure the Corvette out. Adan, the young man in the photo had the best English. He communicated that life was OK and he was looking forward to working so that he could get a car, money and a house.

It was my interview with Jason Resendez (sitting in the photo) that reminded me of the life and death struggle with drugs that many people are dealing with. Jason was sitting by the church waiting to go a job interview. He had recently come back to Phoenix from Denver. He left Phoenix a couple of years ago to be a part of the drug rehabilitation program of Victory Chapel in Denver. He managed to stay clean and took on different responsibilities with the ministry. He married and had a child. His comment was it was probably not a good choice since she was a recovering addict also. She had warned him that if he ever used again she would leave him. He used and she left. He felt alone and alienated from the ministry that still wanted to help him so he came back to Phoenix where he has family.

He is a very well spoken man. He was very familiar with scripture and the different illustrations that we pastors use to help someone break demonic strongholds in their lives. He began to diagnose why he returned to the drugs. A very familiar pattern was described of listening to the old music associated with his drugs, visiting some old friends, having just one beer and eventually moving back to using.

He wondered aloud if there was something wrong with years of church centered around the constant reminder of his problem with drugs. Is the answer being part of a regular church with people living more normal lives? When it was all said and done he knew the answer. The answer was not in the program it was in the relationship. He asked that people would pray for him to move forward and stop backsliding and to really choose Him.

I am preaching here in Phoenix. Jim Radersdorf, the pastor, is the same age as me and he also was in Uganda for a number of years. It has been a good time of ministry. The church of about 150 is mostly Spanish speaking, which leads me to these political thoughts.

Here in Arizona one of the better known faces with a strong stance against illegal immigration and amnesty is J D Hayworth. He looks like he will not be re-elected this year as all of the ballots are still being counted and he is still down 50% to 47%. At the same time there were several propositions on the ballots that attempted to differentiate between citizens and non-citizens that all easily passed. These included issues of English, legal options, education benefits and handling of felons.

The point I am making is that Americans will anonymously back laws that differentiate illegal immigrants from citizens. Those same Americans will vote against the face associated with the gathering and deporting of those same illegal immigrants. Why? As I look out at the faces of the people in this church, how could I possibly support having armed police moving into their homes and gathering them up to ship them out of the country?

President Bush was doing what was best for the nation and the Republican Party when he tried to get his immigration bill passed. If it passes now it will be good for the nation and the Democratic Party. Securing our borders is something that obviously needs to happen and will happen without it becoming a major political issue. Americans will easily support the securing of the border because it is a faceless bureaucratic action. But the American psyche is not comfortable with a kind of Stalinist roundup of a group of people that for the most part have come here just like all of our ancestors searching for a better life.

I am following the election results through several of my favorite blogs. As of right now at 9:30 pm Pacific time it looks like the Republicans will hold onto the Senate and the house looks very, very close. Probably have to wait until the morning. I was really pulling for Michael Steele in Maryland. Once again it is very close with Cardin being announced the winner with 1% of the vote counted. We will know for sure in the morning.

The problem with following American politics and wanting good men and women to get elected is that there is a prophetic outcome that doesn’t jive with my Christian-conservative values. The country does seem to be split right down the middle and one of the factors of that split is Christianity. As much as I have enjoyed Bush’s presidency I am aware of the glacial movement towards one world government, one world economic system and one world religion that was given a big push forward with 9-11.

When it is all said and done I am sure that Kingdom theology is not the ultimate winner but a system that welcomes the anti-Christ. Obviously we see the spirit of anti-Christ working now. This knowledge always acts as a governor on my excitement level in politics. The real challenge for me is to impact people with the gospel message. The ups and downs of politics pale when compared to the importance and dignity that goes with the preaching of the gospel.

One of the features of this blog that I want to now officially start is to talk to people in the vicinity of the church I am preaching at and get some of their thoughts. We will see where this takes us. Today I went down to the church here on Indian School in Phoenix and talked with Evelat Torres.

Evelat was not familiar with the church. She was visiting some offices right next door to the church. Although she was not familiar with “The Door” at this location she was familiar with “La Porta” in Mexico which are our sister churches.

Evelat explained to me in a slightly struggling English that she had just accepted the Lord into her life a month and a half before our meeting. She said she did this because her son was in Iraq. She further explained that she had been unable to emotionally deal with her son being in Iraq. This trauma caused her to call upon the Lord and get saved so she could pray for him.

She knew that I would be putting these comments in my blog and that I would be showing her photo also. She asked if I would also mention in the blog her prayer request. She would ask that anyone who should read this would pray for her son Abraham Torres a marine in Iraq.