Doves, below is a letter I sent to a couple in our church about the need for being prepared for what may or may not lie ahead.  I just thought I would send it to you guys to read and hope that maybe it could help many in the near future.  God bless.

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Hi there to you both.  Hope all is well.  Linda, when you brought up the subject of Rapid Response at the last meeting, it perked my ears because even before the meeting I had been contemplating things that are akin to that, but having to do within our church body.  As Mike knows, I have long believed that our Lord was going to return in my life time, and sound like a broken record now more than ever.  When reading the word of God, one can think that it will be relatively calm on this earth when He returns, with people eating, drinking, marrying and giving in marriage.  Of course we have to overlook the total corruption going on when we say relatively calm.  But that is beside the point.  But with that viewpoint, I still feel that we must be ready for whatever may happen.  It is my opinion that the church body has to be ready to respond when and if things go wacko.  My picture of that would be the following:

 

The church leaders pick a number of men that would be as watchmen on the wall, keenly aware of the happenings of the economy, the nation, and the world to know if things are going sour.  I always liked the numbers 7 or 12, my personal favorites.  The church body would be informed of who these men are and they will have a way of contacting them if needed.  Of course that would depend on the cell phones, or any communication systems for that matter, be working properly.  When/if the time arises that we need to respond, having this set up the body would know that we are all together rather than each one by themselves.  It is my belief that we could all last longer together than if we were separate.  But then we only last by the mercy of the living God. 

 

My thoughts are in their infancy stages, but I don’t believe that we have much more time to get this in place.  Even if I sound like Chicken Little, who cares.  If it never needs to be utilized, we haven’t lost a thing.  If we find ourselves waking up to a different world one morning, and we are prepared, we are much better off.  And what a way to serve the lost than to have a haven for the lost to come to.  I guess I need to explain what a haven is.  Let me preface it by saying that all my thoughts would need much tweaking, but this is just a starting point.  I could envision us having the church as a main gathering point.  I know there are many members, and it would only increase if there were tough times upon us.  All the members that we haven’t seen in a long time would come out of the woodwork.  Tough times are a funny thing.  Anyway, there could be many places that all could be as one, not only the church.  Remember, we would be in a state of emergency, and there no longer would exist the convenience of our own private domains. Thus, whatever we possess is not ours, but it must be given to the Lord for the best of the body.  One lesson I learned on a mission trip was valuable.  (Amazing what you can learn on a mission trip)       We each brought on the trip some of our own food or snacks, and others were sharing with all, but I hoarded my things, and was not at all happy.  Things just were not going well.  At some point, I began sharing and realizing that hoarding was wrong, and it began to change.  I think that if we are all one, then we can do great things for God.   I don’t know how many people could be at the church, but like I said, we could have as many places as possible, yet not so many and so far away that we lose the closeness and oneness that would be required. 

 

I know my thoughts are a bit jumbled, but I only wanted to get this out to you guys and see what you think.  Chew on it a while, maybe bring it up to the elders, and let me know what you think.  We can say all day long that the end is near, but if we are not prepared for the things that may or may not come, then we are unprepared.  That could be found to be detrimental.  The lost souls that are outside may need for us to be ready.  The weak brothers and sisters will need for us to be prepared.  Jesus tells us to be ready.  Let’s get ready!  Love you guys and look forward to what you have to share.  Thanks.          

 

Michael Westphall