Obituary of a Husband by a Bitter Widow

¹⁴ Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness—without it no one will see the Lord. ¹⁵ Make sure that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no root of bitterness springs up, causing trouble and by it, defiling many.Hebrews 12

"R. BRUCE EVANICK is a shareholder with the law firm of Abbott, Simses & Kuchler. Mr. Evanick completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Notre Dame in 1971. He received his law degree from Duquesne University School of Law in 1974.

"Mr. Evanick is a member of the Louisiana (1997), Texas (2002), Mississippi (2004) and Pennsylvania (1971) bars and the Louisiana Bar Association

'Robert Bruce Evanick (always known as Bruce to those who loved him - and those who employed him and exploited his work ethic) -- died Tuesday afternoon, December 4th, 2007. A massive heart attack killed him - despite the heroic efforts of many physicians, surgeons and nurses - in a waiting area at Ochsner Hospital. He was not an inpatient there. He was there to provide company and comfort to Brenda, his wife, whom he loved and supported, in all ways, for 32 years. Her heart is broken. He died a horrendous death, on the floor of the waiting room, at Brenda's feet.

'His death should be a warning to all those who believe that they are being used by insensitive employers. He deserved better, both in life and death. Bruce had been seduced into a sedentary and high stress life style after he moved to New Orleans by the promise of "big money" from a corporate defense law firm. Essentially, his succumbing to that seduction and his devotion to duty caused his death. Of the many shareholders in the firm for which he labored, only one took the personal initiative to call Brenda to offer her personal condolences.

'Bruce's death leaves a huge void in the world. It is truly a sin and a shame that only one of his fellow shareholders were moved to personally console his widow. He loved her to his last breath and would have been deeply saddened by their cold attitude.

Bruce is survived by two siblings from whom he was estranged. The firm will be holding a Memorial Service in their office sometime on Monday, December 10, 2007. It is not known if they would welcome people from outside the firm and the firm’s prestigious client list.

Brenda will not attend.

Bruce has been cremated and his remains will be placed in an exquisite wooden box which he loved and will remain with his grieving widow'

http://obits.nola.com/NOLA/DeathNotices.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonID=99254817

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Christianity is the only hope for order and peace.

BUDAPEST, Hungary, February 19, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – Brushing aside any semblance of political correctness, Hungary’s Prime Minister said in his state of the nation speech on Sunday that, “Christianity is Europe's last hope.”  

Addressing his country and the world, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán warned that European nations which have encouraged migration have, “opened the way to the decline of Christian culture and the advance of Islam.”

Orbán painted an image of Western Europe being overwhelmed by the accelerating influx Muslim immigrants in recent years.  

“According to estimates, the proportion of immigrants will grow at an accelerated pace in the European countries west of us,” said Orbán. “I won't even say anything about France and Holland, but even the born Germans are being forced back from most large German cities as migrants always occupy big cities first.”

Orbán warned that as Western Europe becomes saturated with Muslim occupants, Islamists would soon seek to stream in to his country from both Western Europe as well as from Islamic nations.

“This means that the Islamic civilization, which always considers its vocation to convert Europe to what it calls the true faith, in the future will be knocking on the door of Central Europe not only from the south, but from the west, as well,” he said.

Prime Minister Orbán said his government will oppose efforts by the United Nations or the European Union to “increase migration” around the world.

In June, LifeSiteNews reported that Orbán had taken a strong stand and not backed down against outside globalist influences seeking to control his nation’s politics.

Billionaire George Soros, who famously backs many progressive initiatives around the world, locked horns with Orbán over the Central European University (CEU) he founded in 1989, which has been criticized as a funnel for anti-nationalist views.

Orbán and Soros have a history, beginning in partnership and ending in acrimony.

Orbán started public life as a crusader against communism and attended Oxford University on a Soros scholarship. Soros, who expatriated from Hungary, also funded Orbán’s political organization, the Alliance for Young Democrats.

But Orbán’s defense of conservative values has led to breaking ties with Soros, whom he now criticizes as a foreigner meddling in his country’s affairs.

After Prime Minister Orbán delivered his strongly worded state of the nation speech, a UK Daily Mail report said, “Orbán has conflated the issue of immigration with the image of Soros, 87, whose name was used in a tough anti-migrant bill sent to Parliament on Wednesday.”

The Daily Mail report continued:

Soros, for his part, compared Orbán unfavourably to both the Nazis and the Communists, saying his rule evoked dark tones from the 1930's, when Hungary was allied with Nazi Germany.

But Orbán remains committed to his policy, claiming that Soros and supporters of migration are losing the fight.

He said: “Soros has antagonised not only us but also England, President Trump and Israel too. Everywhere he wants to get migration accepted. It won't work. We are not alone and we will fight together and we will succeed.”

In addition to inviting Soros’ ire, Orbán came under fire a couple years ago from the U.S. State Department under President Obama as well as the European Parliament for purportedly discriminating against homosexuals because of Hungary’s insistence on defining marriage between a man and a woman, and that pre-born babies have rights.

Last year, Orbán also criticized liberals and encouraged citizens to give life to more children during the 11th conference of the World Congress of Families.  

Three thousand “natural family” advocates who attended the four-day conference heard Orbán in his opening address lambaste the European Union (EU) for its “relativizing liberal ideology that’s an insult to families.”

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Building Mental Health in Churches and Schools

I recently posted a blog about the 5 different levels of mental/ emotional/ spiritual health. It has received a lot of hits. The topic is obviously of great interest to many of us if not most.

As a result of the recent killings in Florida, the debate over how to contain future killers is hot and heavy. Many suggest that we need more and better mental health counseling. That would likely include laws to control mentally unstable people from buying guns. 

I don't want mentally unstable persons to have guns. However, the ability of a professional, clinical, Counselor to diagnose such a person before they have committed a crime is fraught with legal and diagnostic challenges. For example, the family with whom Nikolas Cruz lived saw no signs of violence in his walk, talk, or actions. 

Could a therapist have done better? Maybe, but unless the young man says, "I am going to harm another person, I, as a Professional could not take his gun away. We cannot even demand that a person take his medications. The ACLU, not the NRA, has seen to that. 

It is frustrating and painful to see so many people hurt day by day in our nation and I am thinking about ways to reduce the despair that drives people to be violent.

There is a dramatic shortage of Professional Therapists toady. My own Counseling Center, Life Way in Cincinnati, does a lot of good but there is a big need for more.  

My way has been to train thousands of people in Peer Counseling so they can help people in distress get enough healing and change that they will not take out their rage on others. We have trained over 150 Mentors to support "At Risk Kids". Maybe they can minister to a kid in pain and prevent a rampage of anger and killing. 

Can you support us as we expand our ministry to "Heal the broken hearted and set the captives free". 
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Guidance for the Journey

When we are Facing Great Waves

Thy sea, O God, so great,

My boat so small.

It cannot be that any happy fate

Will me befall

Save as Thy goodness opens paths for me

Through the consuming vastness of the sea.

 

Thy winds, O God, so strong,

So slight my sail.

How could I curb and bit them on the long

And saltry trail,

Unless Thy love were mightier than the wrath

Of all the tempests that beset my path?

 

Thy world, O God, so fierce,

And I so frail.

Yet, though its arrows threaten oft to pierce

My fragile mail,

Cities of refuge rise where dangers cease,

Sweet silences abound, and all is peace.

~Winfred Ernest Garrison

 

Does Our Helping Hurt?

Do not rush into trying to minister to hurting people. Trying too hard to help people can be harmful. By trying to force people to change we can cause a push back. 

Push Back Can Cause a Person to: 

1. Quit trying
2. Think like a victim
3. Feel angry
4. Feel shame
5. Put us on a pedestal
6. Trust in us to heal, rescue, or save them 
7. Feel guilty

It is harmful. First, do no harm. 

Every book and class we do focuses on helping people grow and prosper. We want to see people get stronger and more independent. We do not want them to be dependent on us. 

So, we try to plan everything we do to support positive growth.

Isolated as Christians?

                                         
                          Connected to the World but not to Our Neighbor

If we need a wake up call to mobilize Christians into action, this article in the Wall Street Journal could be it Deaths of Despair The article interviews a married couple that both teach at Princeton University. Ann Case and Angus Deaton write a report that reveals the very disturbing statistics about suicide and death by addiction.

One of their telling arguments has to do with the rise of Evangelical Churches and the demise of traditional churches. Evangelicals, they say, focus on an individualistic faith that tends to isolate us from each other. Traditional churches are more community oriented and do a better job of building relationships and deeper communities.

In my view, one of the culprits in the Evangelical movement has to do with the fact that they often attract people who drive to church from a far distance. These people may see each other at worship but attend different schools, shop at different sores, and rarely work with each other. Their children attend different schools and getting together to hang out during the week is difficult.

The result is ----- Isolation.

Isolation is harmful. Caring relationships are healing.

Just being with people that smile, listen, hug, interact together. improves my health.

What can we do?

I want your input as well as suggestions about other stories you want me to write about.

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Great Churches Yung Nak Presbyterian

Do you wonder what he most influential in church history in the past 100 years were, and 

what trends did they set and how they expressed their influence?  Can those past churches’ successes help us today?  

Yung Nak Presbyterian Church, Seoul, South Korea

When the Korean War was on the front pages of every newspaper, it was a struggle between North Korean and South Korea. Freedom versus Communism.  This church did more to protect freedom and democracy, and was partly responsible for stopping the spread of Communism in the Far East.

When North Korea invaded South Korea on June 25, 1950, the Communists overran the capital Seoul, Korea, and steadily captured town after town on the peninsula.  Pastor Kyung-chik Han was instructed by the military to evacuate the southern tip of the peninsula so he could speak to the nation.  Constantly Pastor Han preached over radio 24/7 encouraging South Koreans all over the peninsula to stand against Communism and to pray. 

The Communists burned thousands of churches in every city that they captured.  When they invaded Seoul, a military detail was sent to burn down Yung Nak Presbyterian Church.  That church was a hot bed for freedom and anti-communism throughout the entire nation, hence it became a target for North Korean retaliation. 

Elder Lee was left to protect the church, but was killed on the front steps trying to protect the church.  Today, there is a tombstone and grave to the right of the entrance of the church honoring him. The enemies stacked furniture in the basement of the church and set a roaring fire.  But oddly enough, the flames only scorched the ceiling, and did not burn the rest of the building. Pastor Han walked me into a basement room to show me the scorched ceiling.  He explained, “God in heaven saw the tears and sacrifice of our people who built this church before they built their own homes . . . and God would not let it burn.” 

Then Han told me, during WWII when the Japanese occupied Korea, he compromised his faith.  Every Korean who entered a government building had to bow at a Shinto shrine and he did it.  After the war was over the Korean Presbyterian Church lifted his ordination along with many other ministers who bowed at a Shinto shrine. 

Pastor Han prayed long hours and wept before the Lord begging the Lord for forgiveness.  Then he begged for a church assignment. Finally, the Presbyterians directed him to a group of radical anti-communists who were fleeing North Korea and settling in the Yung Nak Valley on the edge of the city of Seoul.  Han was allowed to begin a church with these people.  The young church became as radical for Jesus Christ as they had been radical against Communism.  The church grew rapidly.  Han talked to American soldiers who provided a tent for church services.  Quickly the tent was filled with 500 worshippers. Two tents were joined together as an auditorium for 1,000 people.  Then four tents for an auditorium for 2,000, and finally another tent for an additional 500 people.

The people made a commitment to construct their church first, before they would build their private homes.  Almost every member was living in a U. S. army discarded tent and faced rain and brutal winters without the comfort and luxury of shelter.

Han said, “When the monsoons came, I saw faithful church members sitting against the tent posts of their homes praying all night while the cold water ran through every part of their tent. Yes, they sacrificed for this church. God would not let this church burn when He remembered their tears and sacrifice.”

When the church was finished in 1950, it was the largest Presbyterian structure in the world seating 4,400.  It was built in the form of a cross with pulpit in the center and the choir seated behind in the top of the cross.  There were balconies on the other three legs of the cross. 

Dr. Han had retired when we met in 1978.  I preached the 9:00 am morning service, Pastor Park translated for me.  At the time the church was averaging over 30,000 in attendance, with the crowds lining up at the front door down a long wide stairs reaching into the street.  Each service was 50 minutes long, and the worshippers left through side entrances as the next congregation moved in and was ready to worship at the top of the hour.  I left just as quickly as the worshippers.  Pastor Park got ready for the next service. 

I will always remember Yung Nak Presbyterian Church as the biggest Presbyterian church in the world because of their sacrificial faith for Jesus Christ and His cause. 

WANT TO READ MORE?

What churches were the most influential in church history in the past 100 years?  What trends did they set?  How did they express their influence?  Can past churches’ successes help you today?  What can the ministry of past successful churches teach us today?  Read, The Ten Most Influential Churches in the Past Century, published by Destiny Image Publishers by Elmer Towns.  Order this book from Amazon.com

Go to Sweeten Life Systems to learn more.