No it's not "Mother Mary", but God who comes to us in those times. It's been a rough
first five months of 2010, but through it all, my faith continues to increase. Too many times at the beginning of this year I would throw myself a pity party and cry "Woe is me..". Last May I was approached and asked if I would consider becoming a Deacon in our church, I thought about it and said sure. Well fast forward to February of this year, I was asked about it again and was told their was to be a Deacon training being started and would I like to participate. My wife and I (Because a wife plays just as a vital role as the husband does according to 1 Timothy 3:11)went to the first session and I was very humbled after that first lesson, wondering how a man as myself could be called by God for such an important role. But after the six week course was through, my faith was stronger than ever. During that time, we were attacked relentlessly, My wife TWICE had two hospital stays, bills continued to pour in and it seemed at every corner disaster awaited. But through it all, I refused to blame God. Instead He gave me peace and comfort through it all. I'm reminded of the beautiful Keith Green song "Trials Turned To Gold" and Thank Him for all that He has done. Don't let anyone tell you the Christian Life is easy and just filled with blessings at every corner, so-called preachers like Joel Osteen and others with their cotton candy gospel outlook annoy me to no end. Read the first chapter of the book of James, it speaks loudly!
Today is a sad day for me, Ronnie James Dio, the man with the powerful voice, passed away yesterday. There have been and are some great singers in the Heavy Metal/Hard Rock genre, but to me Ronnie was the best. I always loved Sabbath, but when he joined with them after leaving Rainbow, they seemed to have a much tighter sound thanks to Ronnie. My favorite song that Ronnie sang has to be "To Live For The King" on Kerry Livgren's seeds of change album. He made that song come alive and in Kerry's autobiography he said that Ronnie improvised the lines at the end. Thank You Ronnie for your music, we'll miss you.....
