Good Morning Family,
The times in which we live since the invasion of Ukraine by Putin’s Russian army are very trying. As I spoke last Wednesday to our students, I shared with them that, aside from the uncertainty in the days after 9-11, this is perhaps the most concerning time in world affairs in many, many decades.
I have spoken with many of you, and I feel your angst at the actions and inactions of the United States government as we grapple with what to do or what not to do. Our first line of defense for the people of Ukraine is prayer…prayer for wisdom for her leaders and military, prayer for the safety of her people, prayer for victory over a clearly demonically driven enemy. Yes, no one is beyond the reach of the Gospel, not even Vladmir Putin.
However, it is incumbent upon us to pray for the Russian military to fail at every attempt to overthrow a free people. As we pray, we must remember there are many young Russian men in the military that have no clue what their mission really was. We should pray for Russian troops to be confounded or to surrender. That is not out of the realm of possibility with the Lord. We pray for Putin to either come to his right mind or to be so confused that he cannot lead or that his people remove him from power. We have seen the hand of God move in international events in a mighty way and this is our fervent prayer: that this will turn out to be a David versus Goliath outcome.
I am going to also step out here and say that I could not help thinking about what we are to do as a country and a world power in light of the Good Samaritan parable that we preached from last week. And how we see God always come to the aid of the afflicted. We need to pray that God would turn the hearts of those in U.S. leadership, whether they acknowledge Him as Savior or not, to do His will in this point in history. Those who come after us will remember what the United States did or did not do... whether we led or shirked our duty
Forgive me for being so blunt. And I am not advocating for anyone to think like me or hold my opinions. I am merely being transparent with you during this time that is trying the souls of so many across the world.
As always, my prayer is that we would all, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth.” II Timothy 2:15
Your Shepherd of the Hills,
Dr. Steven Gann
Bro. Steven
