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Blessed be the name of the Lord!  Our great God and Savior is deserving of all of our praise and adoration, for He has done great things.

I am so very thankful to my God.  As a believer, I have peace, joy and hope regardless of the events of my day.  That was made clear again to me very recently, when I lost a good friend and coworker in a tragic accident.  Ten years ago, I began to work for Agnoli Sign Co.  I soon met Joe Shyloski, who had already worked there for some years.

Over the last decade, I had spent many hours with Joe, and I learned to love his faith in God and his devotion as father, husband and believer.  Many times, Joe and I would sing hymns together while we worked on signs, and we would fellowship together, talking with each other about the good things of God.

When I heard of Joe’s death, I was sad at our loss, but I rejoiced at Joe’s gain.  You see, friends, Paul told us, “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him” (1Thess. 4:13-14).

I am thankful to the Lord for the time that I spent with his child, Joseph Shyloski.  While I would like to have had more time with him, I am confident that we will meet again at the coming of our Lord.  Throughout our lives, we each may have to let many of our loved ones go “the way of all the earth.”  Blessed be our Creator, who continues to give us hope and peace in place of sorrow.  I pray that the Lord will comfort Joe’s family in the palm of His hand, as they continue to put their trust in Him.

We celebrated the Feast of Ingathering earlier this month, and we were blessed to have a number of visitors for the meetings.  Brother Joel McNabb, pastor of the congregation in Tulsa, Oklahoma, returned for the Feast, and brought a wonderful report about the things God has been doing for the saints there.

Thanks to the miracle of modern technology, the saints in Tulsa, and Orlando, Florida,  which were not able to make the trip to South Hadley, were still able to be in the meetings.  By way of Windows Live Messenger, they were not only able to see and hear our services, but we also were able to put them on the projector so they could have an opportunity to testify or edify us in song.  Daniel said that knowledge would be increased in the last days.  Truly, this is that day!   As we get more familiar with the resources that are available, we hope to be able to add streaming audio, and even video, to our website, so that people all around the world can be edified by the Word of the Lord as He gives us utterance.

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and remember to pray for God’s people.  God is, even now, raising up a people which He will fill with His glory as He has not done since the days of the Apostles of our Lord.  The enemy is well aware of this, and is doing whatever He can to see that it does not come to pass.  But God’s word cannot fail, and I have read the end of the Book.  We win!  Only, we must endure to the end, and we will do so as we remain in His word, and pray that His will be done in earth, and in us.  Blessed be the Lord.