In addition to my dad's audible sermons, which we play on the radio and stream here on the website, over the last year or so we have tried to provide you with some of dad's written thoughts as well in the form of the "Left Hand Page." We hope these short essays which he wrote for the "left hand page" of the weekly church bulletin during his tenure have been a source of encouragment and teaching for everyone, and we thank you for listening.
Now for the new. Our website is very antiquated, and I can't actually change too many things myself... really just the two spaces on the main page, on the left where we do the "left hand page" and on the right where we typically have had an announcement about how to sign up for the streaming sermons, or maybe announcing an Israel trip or something like that. And we will continue to have announcements... but I believe the Lord put on our hearts to begin to also use this space as another means to provide our listeners with new content.
Now, oftentimes we are all amazed (me included!) how my dad's sermons, some of which are over 30 years old, seem to miraculously relevent and line up with current events. You may not know this, but I plan the list of sermons from 30 to 60 days ahead of time so that the guys who do the program editing, the voicing, the programming of the sermons into the website, providing it to the radio station, etc, have time to do their thing. So if my dad speaks about, for example, an earthquake, and we recently had one in present times (and we have had this actually happen as some of you will remember!), not only was his sermon about 30 years old, but additionally I had placed that sermon onto that day in the radio rotation about 30 to 60 days before it was played. Never have we had an event in present times and I said "oh lets play his sermon where this or that happened." These are always planned WAY ahead of time. The only sermons we do plan are holiday sermons. So all that to say, you can see how the Lord continues to miraculously orchestrate what you as listeners hear, as we just fumble along and try our best to do what we believe he wants. And He makes it happen, in spite of us!
As a ministry, since we play sermons and use writings from when he was a pastor, and he passed in 2003, one thing we haven't done is speak much about current events. And don't worry, going forward, we won't be talking about "current events" in the sense of politics, social society, etc... My dad believed, and we continue to believe, that the primary job of those in ministry is to, well, minister... meaning provide people with the tools to learn more about and draw closer to the Savior. And in so doing, people will follow the Lord's guidance for their lives based on their relationship with Him, and not based on anyone elses "opinion."
That said, we would love to be able to respond to things happening in our world. For example, if there is a hurricane, we can write something we believe the Lord wants us to share as encouragment to those who are hurting. And more than that, we want to be open to passing along whatever we feel the Lord would have us share with you.
So along with the ongoing Left Hand Pages, please check this space going forward for periodical essays of encouragement, teaching, and prayer. For now I have asked my mom, Pastor Ron's wife Joyce, to share something from her heart maybe twice a month. And moving forward, we plan to ask other people if they would share things they have on their hearts with those of you who visit our website.
Thank you again for your prayer and concern for the ministry, we can't say it enough. Lord bless you all in this holiday season!
Ron Mehl Jr