April 15, 2020
Covid19 – The juggernaut of death for the
21st Century has brought human civilization
to a grinding halt. Scientists know what it is,
where it originated, but cannot stop its
track of death!
I affirm the Second coming of Jesus,
I affirm hope over fear,
I affirm light over darkness,
I affirm life over death,
I affirm reunion over separation,
Life touching life,
heart touching heart when Jesus
comes at last!
Warmest Regards,
Pastor Andre Ascalon
March 28, 2020
Planning for the Future
Planning for the future is a good thing to do but the best-laid plans can be easily dashed. Over the last several weeks we’ve come to this reality as we’re experiencing a new ‘normal’ way of living and thinking. Although many of us still have difficulty with this concept, it is yet an ingrain reality. Planned vacations, shopping routines, work, school, church schedule, and just about every other schedule has come to a screeching halt. Finances have been disrupted, investments are topsy-turvy, and so we have come to understand that planning for the future isn’t definitive. However, against this landscape of uncertainty and amid the raging Covid19, we can still have hope in the plans we make as we prepare to meet our Lord. This is the only plan that has not been affected because the God of history hasn’t changed and will never change. As Ellen G. White says in Selected Messages, Vol.2, chp.12, p.109
“All that God has in prophetic history specified to be fulfilled in the past has been, and all that is yet to come in its order will be. Daniel, God’s prophet, stands in his place. John stands in his place. In Revelation the Lion of the tribe of Judah has opened to the students of prophecy the book of Daniel, and thus is Daniel standing in his place. He bears his testimony, that which the Lord revealed to him in vision of the great and solemn events which we must know as we stand on the very threshold of their fulfillment.”
God’s plans for our lives and the future are definitive and we only have to embrace them, as the prophet Jeremiah succinctly said, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. (Jeremiah 29:11)
Warmest Regards,
Pastor Andre Ascalon
March 16, 2020
Brethren,
In a time when so much of what we face in the world today is hammering at our confidence and conviction, it is inspiring to be reminded of what we’re capable of through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. With the current pandemic of the novel Covid-19 virus, we can hope, we can find strength, we can find comfort in sacred Scripture. As we maintain our fidelity to our convictions, it will bolster our faith in the power of the Living God. Psalm 46 clearly reminds us that God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble and trouble is certainly what we’re facing today as a nation and as a church. However, we need not be alarmed by the events that are unfolding—panic buying, empty store shelves, quarantines because we are reminded in Scripture by the apostle Paul in Philippians 4:19 that God shall supply all of our needs. Despite the intensifying impact of this pandemic on our economy, remember your spiritual security is rooted in the timeless and changeless Word of God.
Therefore, let us take heart and know that in the world there will be troublesome times but as God’s children we can have peace. The psalmist reminds us in Psalm 119:165 that “Great peace have they which love thy law and nothing shall offend them.” Herein is hope and confidence for times like these.
Warmest Regards,
Pastor Andre Ascalon
