Mack Ames Books and Maine Moose Patrol

When I was 10 years old, I knew in my heart that I wanted to be a teacher. When I was 23 years old, I graduated from Covenant College with a teaching degree in secondary education history. When I was 30 years old, I became headmaster of a Christian elementary/middle school that helped form my goals to become a teacher many years before. At 40, I was unemployed and casting about for the right landing place. 

Little did I know that the best job for me was waiting behind the walls of a correctional facility. First as a substitute teacher for juveniles, and then as a full time instructor for adult learners, the Lord has led me each step of the way in my desire to teach. There are many challenges, but also many rewards, to what I do. It never entered my imagination 41 years ago that becoming a teacher could involve students in prison, but I would not trade this for any other job in the world today. 

As a colleague says somewhat tongue-in-cheek sometimes, we’re ‘making a difference, changing lives.’ We never know of the true impact we make with the men in our classes. We see some appear to make true changes in the lives, and we hope it lasts for them. Every now and then, we hear of a success, or we hear of one that loses his battle after his release. We do our best.

I was raised in Maine, USA, in a little town called Carmel, emphasis on the CAR, unlike in California where they put the emPHAsis on the MEL. And perhaps more accurately, I should say we pronounce it CAHml. But that’s beside the point.

The point, friends, is, where in Maine is my town? With a population of about 1200 during my childhood, it wasn’t large enough to include on most maps of the state, so we just told people we were “about an inch west of Bangor (BANGore)” on the map; you know, using your index fingertip. For people “from away” that were unfamiliar with the situations of towns and cities of Maine, though, that wasn’t necessarily helpful, so they’d ask questions like, “So, are you in the south? The east? Central? North?” And it was never an easy answer. Directions & Angles always played a part in that.

If you don’t know what Maine looks like, this is going to be especially difficult for you to follow, so I suggest you Duckduckgo.com yourself a political map or photo or two of the state so that you get an idea of what I’m talking about. Might want to include a snowy forecast map, too, since that comes into play. For examples:

So, as we look at the above image, how do we describe the directions to locations in Maine? If you live in Portland, then you are most definitely in Southern Maine, right? Or would it be more accurate to say you are Coastal Maine? Western Maine? Southwestern Coastal Maine? Coastal Southwestern? Forget Portland. Rumford. Rumford is DEFINITELY Western Maine. Case closed. Whew. Eastport. Well, it goes without saying, doesn’t it? Coastal! Ha! I kid. Eastern Coastal. No, I joke some more. Easternmost town in the United States, so yeah, it’s Eastern Maine. On the coast, too.

Madawaska, Fort Kent, Presque Isle, Caribou, et al, are definitely in Northern Maine, but you’d be surprised to hear how often Bangor is put into that category, too. It’s a 2-hour drive from Bangor to Presque Isle, per the 70-mph limit. But if you look around that northern area of the state, called Aroostook County, you’ll notice there aren’t a lot of towns; it’s largely unpopulated wilderness. The area of the state of Maine is equivalent to the rest of the New England states (Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, and Rhode Island), but with a present population of just 1.3 million people. Aroostook County, along with the northern regions of several other counties, is wilderness. But that’s beside the point. I digress once again!

Let’s look again at Bangor (not BangER; BANGore–or as one local Democrat inadvertently says, “BAN Gore”). Depending on one’s point of view, Bangor, ergo my hometown of CAHml, could be in Northern, Eastern, or Central Maine, all at the same time. It all has to do with Directions and Angles. For the OuttaStaytah that thinks Maine is just from the New Hampshire border to Bah Hah-bah, then Bangor is “Northern Maine.” For the political campaigner that’s tryin’ to rally the troops, as it were, Bangor is “Central Maine” when the race is for the U.S. Senate, and “Eastern Maine” when it’s for the Maine Senate or House. But when it’s the weather forecaster, that’s a whole different animal, as we’ll see below.

When the roads dictate north and south, east and west, that’s one way of knowing where in the state Bangor is. But when the weather patterns show up, all bets are off! God’s hands turn the winds wherever He wants them to go, and the map above shows how He often sends them to us, swirling from Montreal to New Brunswick, via Vermont and New Hampshire, with an occasional swipe at Massachusetts. Here is where listening to the meteorologists gets interesting, because when they speak of “from Bangor north,” they sometimes mean “north by northeast, due north, and north by southwest,” but that’s not how they say it. Oh, wait. Did I say “north by southwest”? I meant south by northwest. Well, you get my drift. It’s confusing as all get-out. I will tell you what’s not confusing, though, is that the meteorologists firmly place Bangor in East-Central Maine, settling that argument once and for all.

So, then, where did I grow up in Maine? In the town of Carmel, about 15 miles due west of Bangor (which is inarguably located approximately 200 miles north by northeast of Portland, a city on the southwestern coast of the state), in a region known emphatically as East-Central Maine, where politicians blow hot air that doesn’t melt the ice and snow in the winter, but occasionally will give me a day off when the roads are too treacherous to drive to work, thus giving me the time to write foolishness like this.

I have known David Stonehouse since we were both just wee lads. His mother used to babysit me when I’d get out of kindergarten at noon and have to wait to catch the bus for the ride home at the end of the regular school day. There was a school van that would drive us kindergarteners home or to our sitters, and I frequently yearned to be dropped off at my house–we drove right by it before I’d be returned to the Stonehouse’s on Wiley Street, but I would have been at home alone for several hours, which would’ve been a crime (or at least frowned upon).

So, I’d go to see Mrs. Stonehouse, where she’d give me lunch, playtime, and a nap. I’d see Mr. Stonehouse, too, sometimes. I liked both of them. He was our pastor, and he had a deep, resonant voice, a warm smile, and a kind heart. But Mrs. Stonehouse was the one I truly adored. She was no-nonsense about my getting my nap, but she was also a very loving, cheerful woman.

Her son David is, I believe, a year younger than I am, while his brother Tim is a year older than I. That meant that Tim was in school all day and I didn’t see him, but David, whom his mother referred to as “Davey” at the time, was at home when I was there, and their youngest sister, Susie, was in diapers (most of the time…lol). They had older siblings that weren’t in my “social circle,” as it were, but are all dear people in their own rights.

In David, then, I had a playmate while I waited for the bus. Then, when it was time to catch the bus, his mother would help me get my stuff together, bundle up when the weather called for that, and then walk me the two blocks to the bus stop. All of my life, I’ve remembered with gratitude my time with the Stonehouses at their home in Bangor that year, but I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned it to any of them. So, dear readers, knowing that David Stonehouse is a Faithful reader of this meager blog, Thank you to you and your dear Mother. May God bless you all for the love shown to me!

But wait. There’s more.

In 1980, my young life experienced many changes. It still makes me shudder with discomfort to consider how much happened. It wasn’t all “bad,” but a lot of it was painful.

First, Pastor Stonehouse took a call to serve as a Regional Home Missionary to plant new churches in the Philadelphia, PA, area for our denomination. It was a great opportunity and fit for his gifts and skills, but a painful loss for our church to see him and his family leave.

Second, a new school opened and my mother became a teacher there. I had just finished my worst year in school ever with a horrible teacher at a different school, so when my parents gave me the option to attend the new one, I immediately said yes. Still, it meant leaving friends I’d had since kindergarten and the next four years were no picnic. The new school faced constant struggles to survive, my mother battled breast cancer, and as much as I liked the school, my education suffered gaps in math and science.

Third, my eldest sister got married.

For a sensitive, introverted (yes, I was introverted) ten-year old it was a lot of emotion to deal with. As the 80s progressed, the emotional load did, too. In the course of time, as I graduated high school and enrolled in college, I found that the Stonehouses’ new home was a perfect “landing spot” on my drive between home and the campus for summer and Christmas breaks. Once again, Mrs. Stonehouse provided care and comfort for me as she had so many years before.

I had lost my mother a few years before, so we shared sorrows, but also memories and laughter and prayer. When her husband passed away suddenly, she still opened her home to me as I traveled through. Her Christian kindness never ceased.

It has been very many years since I was last in Philly or visited Mrs. Stonehouse, and I am sure that she, like all of us, is not perfect. But because of the passive and active obedience of Jesus Christ, her Savior and mine, the Lord views her as perfect, and I see her as a woman of grace, mercy, love, kindness, and true Christian charity.

David Stonehouse, a Happy Valentine’s Day to your Mother, sir.

I’ve had this nagging itch to write but nothing to write about. Of course, as I noted here not too long ago, there’s not much evidence that anyone reads this blog, so it’s not like anyone’s beating down my door to get Maine Moose Patrol’s NEXT BIG THOUGHT posted.

At the correctional facility where I teach there’s a program called WorkReady(tm) (hereafter, WR) that I facilitate several times a year, instructing a handful of men for 11 weeks at a time on the soft skills of obtaining and maintaining employment when they leave inside for outside. After fits and gasps in December for a variety of reasons, the winter group began two weeks ago. We seemed to get into a rhythm the last two days, and I hope it lasts.

One of my WR students just completed a college course I facilitated that introduced entrepreneurship skills. When he gets out later this year, he’ll be taking over a family construction-related business. The college that sponsored the entrepreneurship class has signed on to provide more courses for men here, so this young man is pursuing a certificate in business with them, possibly transitioning to an associate degree or more, at some point.

By his own admission, he was “never an ‘in-school’ guy.” Like so many of the men in this place, great with hands-on, not so great with book learning. He was driven by intrinsic motivation to take hold of the work in the entrepreneurship class, but had started off WR with a pretty negative, lazy attitude, culminating in a warm discussion after class on Tuesday of this week, in which I invited him to choose whether he was going to participate or quit the class.

On Thursday, he was back in class, ready to learn once again. Then he began his other college classes and found that he needed help with writing. He immediately turned to me; “Mr. MacDonald, could you help me, please? I don’t want to be a bother–“

I cut him off. “It’s not a bother to help someone that wants to learn! I’m happy to help.” I’ve been helping him since WR ended this morning. He’s once again driven to do his work and to comprehend all he needs to know to learn for this course. It’s good to see.

As he writes an autobiographical piece of finding his place in society, he struggled a little to explain how working construction fulfilled that for him. I suggested some ideas to him, ending with, “You have a particular vocabulary all to yourselves, just like we teachers have one to ourselves. You speak a language that is yours. That’s part of what it means to “be a society.” What other ways can you think of to describe your social or work circle as “a society”?

The character of the Christian cannot be separated from what the Christian does without creating a dualistic existence, a split personality that reveals an error in basic understanding of what it means to be a follower of Christ. There is no such reality as being a Christian in private and not in public (nor vice versa). Secularized Americans call for Christians to “hide” their beliefs when in the public square, but followers of Christ could no more do that than leopards could change their spots. If Christians demanded that secular humanists should hide their lack of Christian faith from public view, such a demand would rightly be met with derision. It runs both ways.

On the other hand, there are far too many Christians that have voluntarily lived dichotomously, failing to comprehend how all-encompassing the Lordship of Christ is for the life of the believer. There is no corner, no element, no strand of the heart, soul, mind, nor strength that can be withheld from service and submission to God. “For you have been bought with a price…” I Corinthians 7:23. To live as if we have partial control of our lives is to express the lie of the old bumper sticker, “God is my Co-Pilot.” NO! God is the Pilot, the Navigator, the Flight Engineer, and the Airplane. We are the passengers, carried by God to the destination intended by Him for His glory.

As Christians, we must give up the notion that we can retain any control over anything in our lives, and we must recognize that only God is sovereign. He calls us to obey: To love Him, to love one another, to care for the widow, the orphan, the sick, the needy, the poor, and the stranger within our gates. He calls us to seek His face. He promises to love us, to forgive us when we confess our sins, and to work all things for our good.

This is not fatalism. This is a relationship with the living God who provided atonement for our sins through the blood of His sinless Son on a Roman cross. The resurrection of Jesus on the third day proved His power over sin and death, and affirmed the sovereignty of God. When we turn to Him humbly in repentance and faith, He hears us, forgives us, and makes us His own! He alone is trustworthy. He alone is faithful. He alone loves eternally.

God holds presidents, kings, queens, and all other rulers of the nations in His hands. Why do we think that we have to establish a kingdom for God on earth when He has already done so for Himself? Why do we threaten war upon our fellow Americans when our politics go awry? Why do we advocate for violence and claim it is biblical? Do we fear that Man is more powerful than God? Are we afraid that the Lord’s plans will falter if we do not help Him?

Brothers and Sisters, I implore you, set aside the anxieties and frustrations in your hearts; give them to your Savior. It is not ours to rule the nations. It is not ours to set politics aright in America. It is ours to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, and mind, and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. If we glorify and enjoy God as we should, then He will take care of the politics. If we care for the sick, the poor, the unborn, the unwed mothers, the shamed, the hurting, the homeless, the marginalized, the overlooked–in the love and name of Jesus, God is sufficient to sort out the rest.

Let us not be strident. Let us be humble, loving servants of our dear Savior. Do not dare to bind the conscience of fellow believers where Scripture is vague. Give grace first, with forbearance. As far as it is up to us, live at peace with everyone.

My former boss shared this from Tolkien, which my wise sister has shared on occasion, as well, and it is a hearty reminder of the providence of God for the times in which we live:

I’m fairly certain, however, that my former boss–whom I admire greatly and count as the best boss I’ve ever worked for–might disagree with the premise I see in Tolkien’s words here. It is likely common knowledge to Tolkien was very dismissive of his friend C.S. Lewis’s penchant for allegorical writing, and is known for saying that his Christian faith was not on display in his own books. However, as numerous scholars have suggested, and as I have seen for myself in careful readings of his books (as well as knowing what it means to be a Christian) I think Tolkien protested a bit too much about that.

While Tolkien’s Christian worldview was not overtly on display in the way Lewis’s was in the Chronicles of Narnia, the quote above and one from my previous post on “A Sister’s Wisdom” demonstrate elements of God’s providences for His people to recognize their roles in life as their Sovereign carries forward His plan of redemption in the lives of humankind. We frequently don’t feel up to the task as Frodo expressed, nor do we believe we are strong enough to hold back the evil that is upon us, but we are called to everyday obedience, everyday submission to God, everyday kindness and prayer, everyday forgiveness and grace. When we rest in the confidence that our God will bring the results that He desires, then we will walk day by day in greater peace than we’ve known before.

I have three older sisters, and I did not always believe that they were wise, but somewhere along the way, I grew up (and so did they), and I am so very thankful to be their baby brother. The one with whom I sparred the most growing up has become the one with whom I interact the most often in our adult years. I don’t love her more than I love my other sisters–I love them equally much! Yet, our interactions are almost daily, via social media.

She posts many quotes from authors and literary characters that are sometimes witty but more often poignant or providentially timely. It was she who prompted me to show an interest in the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien, including the Hobbit, the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and the Silmarillion. What powerful stories he wove! When the movies for LOTR came out, I enjoyed them to an extent, but so much of the full tale was lost or altered that I was driven to the books again to restore my fulfillment of the original stories.

My sister’s interest in Tolkien and his characters frequently appears in her posted quotes, as the battles of good vs. evil in his stories so often reflect the real world in which Tolkien lived, and which in turn, we live. Fighting evil seems so overwhelming at times that we often feel ill-prepared nor up to the task. Yet we must not despair of doing right.

In Galatians 6:9, the Apostle Paul reminds the Christians at Galatia of the solemn duty God gives his people: “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” How do we fight the evil in the world? How does this work itself out in daily life? I think of this verse when my sister posts the following meme on social media:

Through our pastor’s sermon yesterday morning, God challenged me to consider what the One Thing is that I desire most for 2021. That is, if fill-in-the-blank would happen, it would make 2021 the best year possible.

Then he said, if your answer is anything except the Creator, that’s your god. In verse 4 of this Psalm, David declares–in the midst of terrors, trials, uncertainties, and hardships–that the One Thing he desires is to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord. He exhorted us to consider that setting aside all created things for the beholding the beauty of the Creator will fill us with a greater understanding of being held in the stronghold that is Jesus Christ than we could ever find in pursuit of any earthly gain.

When challenged yesterday, I was saddened to realize that I had something else in mind as an answer to the question. However, God never leaves us in our sinfulness, so with the Psalmist, I make this my prayer, and like the Apostle Paul in Philippians 3:14, “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus”:

Psalm 27

The Lord Is My Light and My Salvation; Of David.

1 The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

2 When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall.

3 Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.

4 One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.

5 For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock.

6 And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the Lord.

7 Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud; be gracious to me and answer me!

8 You have said, “Seek my face.” My heart says to you, “Your face, Lord, do I seek.”

9 Hide not your face from me. Turn not your servant away in anger, O you who have been my help. Cast me not off; forsake me not, O God of my salvation!

10 For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in.

11 Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies.

12 Give me not up to the will of my adversaries; for false witnesses have risen against me, and they breathe out violence.

13 I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!

14 Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!

https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermon/1821153925285

As I post this to social media, I call on Christians across America to substitute our own country and people wherever China and Chinese are mentioned. For decades we have seen ourselves as part of a privileged nation (I am guilty of this, too), and the Lord has certainly blessed us in many ways, but by and large we have given ourselves over to trust in princes rather than in Christ Jesus, and we are reaping the whirlwind for that sin. Our most recent presidential election featured two immoral men from which to choose—which one was less bad? In either choice, we get someone deeply flawed. It is way past time for Christians in America to stop looking to political officials to establish justice in this country, and for us to act justly ourselves, to show mercy ourselves, and walk humbly in Christ ourselves. Read the translation of this Declaration of Faithful Disobedience by Pastor Wang Yi, now imprisoned in China for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and tell me if you are not moved by the truth of his words, including these: “This is why I am not interested in changing any political or legal institutions in China. I’m not even interested in the question of when the Communist regime’s policies persecuting the church will change. Regardless of which regime I live under now or in the future, as long as the secular government continues to persecute the church, violating human consciences that belong to God alone, I will continue my faithful disobedience.”

~Bill MacDonald, 12/9/20.

12/9/20, posted on Facebook by Early Rain Covenant Church.

Today marks the two-year anniversary of the raid on Early Rain Covenant Church, in which Chinese authorities jailed more than 50 members and detained dozens more. Although most of these Christians have since been released, Pastor Wang Yi and Elder Qin Defu remain in prison. Pastor Wang Yi was sentenced to nine years and Elder Qin Defu to four. Other church members continue to suffer threats and harassment by authorities as they are still officially forbidden from meeting together. Please pray for this church and for their families today as they bear this reproach for the sake of Christ. Below is the letter Pastor Wang Yi wrote to be published at his arrest. May his words continue to encourage and convict us.

**************************

My Declaration of Faithful Disobedience

On the basis of the teachings of the Bible and the mission of the gospel, I respect the authorities God has established in China. For God deposes kings and raises up kings. This is why I submit to the historical and institutional arrangements of God in China.

As a pastor of a Christian church, I have my own understanding and views, based on the Bible, about what righteous order and good government is. At the same time, I am filled with anger and disgust at the persecution of the church by this Communist regime, at the wickedness of their depriving people of the freedoms of religion and of conscience. But changing social and political institutions is not the mission I have been called to, and it is not the goal for which God has given his people the gospel.

For all hideous realities, unrighteous politics, and arbitrary laws manifest the cross of Jesus Christ, the only means by which every Chinese person must be saved. They also manifest the fact that true hope and a perfect society will never be found in the transformation of any earthly institution or culture but only in our sins being freely forgiven by Christ and in the hope of eternal life.

As a pastor, my firm belief in the gospel, my teaching, and my rebuking of all evil proceeds from Christ’s command in the gospel and from the unfathomable love of that glorious King. Every man’s life is extremely short, and God fervently commands the church to lead and call any man to repentance who is willing to repent. Christ is eager and willing to forgive all who turn from their sins. This is the goal of all the efforts of the church in China—to testify to the world about our Christ, to testify to the Middle Kingdom about the Kingdom of Heaven, to testify to earthly, momentary lives about heavenly, eternal life. This is also the pastoral calling that I have received.

For this reason, I accept and respect the fact that this Communist regime has been allowed by God to rule temporarily. As the Lord’s servant John Calvin said, wicked rulers are the judgment of God on a wicked people, the goal being to urge God’s people to repent and turn again toward Him. For this reason, I am joyfully willing to submit myself to their enforcement of the law as though submitting to the discipline and training of the Lord.

At the same time, I believe that this Communist regime’s persecution against the church is a greatly wicked, unlawful action. As a pastor of a Christian church, I must denounce this wickedness openly and severely. The calling that I have received requires me to use non-violent methods to disobey those human laws that disobey the Bible and God. My Savior Christ also requires me to joyfully bear all costs for disobeying wicked laws.

But this does not mean that my personal disobedience and the disobedience of the church is in any sense “fighting for rights” or political activism in the form of civil disobedience, because I do not have the intention of changing any institutions or laws of China. As a pastor, the only thing I care about is the disruption of man’s sinful nature by this faithful disobedience and the testimony it bears for the cross of Christ.

As a pastor, my disobedience is one part of the gospel commission. Christ’s great commission requires of us great disobedience. The goal of disobedience is not to change the world but to testify about another world.

For the mission of the church is only to be the church and not to become a part of any secular institution. From a negative perspective, the church must separate itself from the world and keep itself from being institutionalized by the world. From a positive perspective, all acts of the church are attempts to prove to the world the real existence of another world. The Bible teaches us that, in all matters relating to the gospel and human conscience, we must obey God and not men. For this reason, spiritual disobedience and bodily suffering are both ways we testify to another eternal world and to another glorious King.

This is why I am not interested in changing any political or legal institutions in China. I’m not even interested in the question of when the Communist regime’s policies persecuting the church will change. Regardless of which regime I live under now or in the future, as long as the secular government continues to persecute the church, violating human consciences that belong to God alone, I will continue my faithful disobedience. For the entire commission God has given me is to let more Chinese people know through my actions that the hope of humanity and society is only in the redemption of Christ, in the supernatural, gracious sovereignty of God.

If God decides to use the persecution of this Communist regime against the church to help more Chinese people to despair of their futures, to lead them through a wilderness of spiritual disillusionment and through this to make them know Jesus, if through this he continues disciplining and building up his church, then I am joyfully willing to submit to God’s plans, for his plans are always benevolent and good.

Precisely because none of my words and actions are directed toward seeking and hoping for societal and political transformation, I have no fear of any social or political power. For the Bible teaches us that God establishes governmental authorities in order to terrorize evildoers, not to terrorize doers of good. If believers in Jesus do no wrong then they should not be afraid of dark powers. Even though I am often weak, I firmly believe this is the promise of the gospel. It is what I’ve devoted all of my energy to. It is the good news that I am spreading throughout Chinese society.

I also understand that this happens to be the very reason why the Communist regime is filled with fear at a church that is no longer afraid of it.

If I am imprisoned for a long or short period of time, if I can help reduce the authorities’ fear of my faith and of my Savior, I am very joyfully willing to help them in this way. But I know that only when I renounce all the wickedness of this persecution against the church and use peaceful means to disobey, will I truly be able to help the souls of the authorities and law enforcement. I hope God uses me, by means of first losing my personal freedom, to tell those who have deprived me of my personal freedom that there is an authority higher than their authority, and that there is a freedom that they cannot restrain, a freedom that fills the church of the crucified and risen Jesus Christ.

Regardless of what crime the government charges me with, whatever filth they fling at me, as long as this charge is related to my faith, my writings, my comments, and my teachings, it is merely a lie and temptation of demons. I categorically deny it. I will serve my sentence, but I will not serve the law. I will be executed, but I will not plead guilty.

Moreover, I must point out that persecution against the Lord’s church and against all Chinese people who believe in Jesus Christ is the most wicked and the most horrendous evil of Chinese society. This is not only a sin against Christians. It is also a sin against all non-Christians. For the government is brutally and ruthlessly threatening them and hindering them from coming to Jesus. There is no greater wickedness in the world than this.

If this regime is one day overthrown by God, it will be for no other reason than God’s righteous punishment and revenge for this evil. For on earth, there has only ever been a thousand-year church. There has never been a thousand-year government. There is only eternal faith. There is no eternal power.

Those who lock me up will one day be locked up by angels. Those who interrogate me will finally be questioned and judged by Christ. When I think of this, the Lord fills me with a natural compassion and grief toward those who are attempting to and actively imprisoning me. Pray that the Lord would use me, that he would grant me patience and wisdom, that I might take the gospel to them.

Separate me from my wife and children, ruin my reputation, destroy my life and my family – the authorities are capable of doing all of these things. However, no one in this world can force me to renounce my faith; no one can make me change my life; and no one can raise me from the dead.

And so, respectable officers, stop committing evil. This is not for my benefit but rather for yours and your children’s. I plead earnestly with you to stay your hands, for why should you be willing to pay the price of eternal damnation in hell for the sake of a lowly sinner such as I?

Jesus is the Christ, son of the eternal, living God. He died for sinners and rose to life for us. He is my king and the king of the whole earth yesterday, today, and forever. I am his servant, and I am imprisoned because of this. I will resist in meekness those who resist God, and I will joyfully violate all laws that violate God’s laws.

I was asked that question today in class by a man that is known as a classic rambler. I didn’t give him an answer. Instead, I asked him some questions seemingly unrelated to the matter and then read a story to him. He likes the short essay tales that I write, and it seemed a good way to conclude our time together this morning.

Rambling conversations are wearisome. I know that because I’m frequently guilty of causing them. In truth, they aren’t typically conversations; they’re monologues. Actually patient listeners will stay eyes-on the talker all the way through, but the semi-patient (like me) will “listen” while “multi-tasking.” It’s too similar to reading a Stephen King novel in which his unnecessary attention to nitty-gritty detail for mundane matters makes my eyes and mind glaze over, and I begin skimming over paragraphs to return to real dialogue or action.

The more self-aware I become of my tendencies to rambling, the more intentional I attempt to be at getting to the point. I definitely have a mixed record on this, but I think I’m making positive progress. I ask myself if my listener really needs to know every scrap of detail, or if he or she just needs the bottom line? On the other hand, do I have a need to express more than just the bottom line? If so, can I find another way to do that? Do I have to do it in conversation? Can I write it instead?

I can certainly put it in a blog that virtually no one reads. Spill my thoughts here, get them out of my head, leave them on the electronic page, declutter my brain, and free up my emotions for healthier employments. Perhaps then, with a clear head and mind, I can speak concisely and to the point, ramble-free, and find a way to help my student learn to do the same.