Warm hellos friends, brethren, co-workers, spiritual family, and scattered children of God, from here on the Gulf Coast. My wife and I pray and hope this finds you all doing well, and that again your week has been blessed.

On Thursday afternoon, I posted a couple pictures to my personal Facebook page of Common House Gecko metal wall hangings taken from our back porch here in Alabama. It took us almost 5 years since we moved here in July of 2017 to finally get them up. On our multiple yearly trips to Colombia we commonly saw these live by the numbers on the walls and ceilings of where we stayed, and were even more common in the homes of brethren we stayed with. We also had these in our home in the U.S. in North Carolina.

Memories are still fresh from out pre-move trip to search for a new home here. About the same time of year as it is now, we’d spent 6 days looking for a new home in the Mobile, Alabama area. Things were still “up in the air” so to speak, as I penned my Friday night letter then. We eventually did find a home that would work, but many details had to be agreed upon first…so we had to wait…we did put in an offer to purchase a home here.

Our home then in Charlotte didn’t go on the market for sale for another 2 weeks. Pastoral transfers had a lot of details that God always worked out for us, but we had to trust Him. We then drove about 11 hours back to Charlotte to top of the visit.

It’s funny as we age how memories can trigger other reflections, and pretty soon we can seem to almost go back in time. Memories can be good or bad. I encourage us all to focus on the good ones, and stay positive in a rapidly uncertain and changing world.

I’ll keep this Friday evening letter a little shorter, as I’ve many things to catch up on with the upcoming Sabbath and travels.

I mentioned last time that we would examine the description of the fall of “Babylon the Great.” This event will be accompanied by more massive loss of life on planet Earth!

There are allusions to the end time fall of Babylon in the Hebrew Scripture prophecies such as in Jeremiah 50 and 51. Revelation 18 addresses the fall of Babylon in sobering terms.

There is a warning for God’s people to flee from the area of this end time Babylon before her punishment is meted out. “And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.” (v.4) The aspect of the suddenness of the destruction is alluded to. “Therefore her plagues will come in one day–death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her.” (v.8) The destruction will be witnessed by small and great at a distance, “. . . when they see the smoke of her burning, standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.‘” (v.9-10) This description is repeated. “‘For in one hour such great riches came to nothing.’ Every shipmaster, all who travel by ship, sailors, and as many as trade on the sea, stood at a distance and cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What is like this great city?‘” (vv.17-18)

What is this great city? Is it referring to only a particular city or perhaps a more extensive area? What means or ways will be used to accomplish this sudden destruction? We’ll explore this more next time…

Arms up friends! Our prayers and thoughts are with you daily. Please do pray for us as well.