Recently, I had the opportunity to travel with the Bishop and Cabinet to Houston, Texas for an Immerse Conference led by Rudy and Juanita Rasmus. They have an incredible testimony of how God saved them and called them into the ministry to pastor a dying, down town United Methodist Church called St. John’s. They set their hearts to pray and began to love and accept people unconditionally.
The church has been re-born and in the process so has Rudy and Juanita. Though it is a great testimony, in no way has it been an easy ride for them. Juanita gave her witness as to how God brought her through a most difficult and dark period of depression. She had to do the difficult work required to move through this period in her life and ministry.
Like Rudy and Juanita, to varying degrees, we experience “dark times of the soul.” Some times suffering is self-induced; at other times, it comes upon us beyond our doing or control, Yet, I cling to the promise found in Psalm 30.5, “Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.”
This verse was never more true for the followers of Jesus than Easter Sunday morning. They came to the tomb with dried over tears on their face and, alas, they discovered the tomb empty and weeping gave way to great joy when the angel said, “he is not here, but risen, Look there is the place they laid him, But go and tell his disciples….” (Mark 16: 6-7).
He Is Risen!
Roger
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