Eric's Update on Melanie's health 2-19-2021

Update on Melanie - August 4, 2021

In my February update concerning Melanie's upcoming surgery, I asked friends and supporters to pray that she be completely healed and that God be glorified in every way (read here). Through the two unrelated gastro illnesses she'd been afflicted with over the past 3+ years, we constantly sought the Lord for healing, comfort, and guidance.

During these health battles I've tried to temper just how much and how often I'd write in these updates about the various medical issues we've faced. I'm cognizant that many of you know all too well the kind of medical roller coaster we've been on. As much as I've wanted to bring attention to our personal struggles and needs, I know that many of you have also been fighting battles, medical and otherwise, and there indeed is a limit for each of us concerning how many burdens we can each bear. It seemed as if every day brought some new challenge, or decision - or doctor visit. It was a painful, emotional, life-altering experience for Melanie and also for me but I didn't want my sharing of our particular burdens to become overbearing, especially knowing that the Coronavirus pandemic was adding a sort of stress unlike anything most of us had never experienced.

Through it all, God's light and His hope - and the encouragement and intercession of many of you - saw us through.

So here is a quick update on Melanie's recovery that I recently included with our mid-year giving receipts sent to those who financially support us.

Praise the Lord! God granted our requests and brought Melanie through the extensive surgery to full recovery and we are forever grateful!

I could have produced this update sooner but our daughter, Kellie, contracted COVID-19 a few weeks ago. Considering her several comorbidities, we believe it was nothing short of miraculous that in just the span of five days she went from being hospitalized on full oxygen supplement and being told by the doctors to "get her affairs in order" to being released to go home, well on the road to recovery!

Also, earlier this Spring I battled bronchitis and then pneumonia brought on by seasonal allergies from unusually high airborne pollen where we live. It took a toll on me but I'm back up and running again. I certainly see a pattern, don't you? Melanie, Kellie, and me are all firmly under the care and control of God's hand but as we read so often in Scripture (Moses, Abraham, Job, Peter, Paul, etc.), Satan can use circumstances or directly inflict the righteous. The Enemy would like nothing more than to distract, sidetrack, or completely stop the mission and task God sent us on nearly four decades ago.

I'm aware that some believe they are continually under direct demonic attack and, as I've written before, that certainly isn't me. But there are too many indicators in our recent case to ignore it. This has been a consorted, targeted effort to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10).

Winning in spiritual conflict isn't usually a one-time event. A positive, godly outcome is usually one marked by perseverance and recognizing when the Father is speaking direction, encouragement, or warning to us through His Word, through prayer, or by other means. A major key is also faithfully applying or appropriating the blood of the lamb against the powers of darkness, reminding those forces of the futility of their attacks. (1)

Regardless, Satan desired to use any of the medical issues our family has experienced to impede - or even stop - the ministry. He'd like to do the same to you too. But God intervened for us in every case and God is surely willing to do the same for you! (Romans 8:31-38) The truth is that no one (human or demonic) can shorten your life or mine without Heaven's authority. Though we're all leaving Earth someday, it will be completely on God's timing and terms!

OUR MINISTRY AND YOUR SUPPORT

Though there are more question marks about traveling internationally, the ministry is returning to operation much like it did before the Covid 19 shutdown. One exception is that many conferences have been put on hold but I trust that this aspect will change and that local churches will once again be open to inviting in specialized ministries such as ours. Most of us are becoming aware that mandates, shutdowns, and restrictions are mostly the invention of power-hungry politicians and a generally complicit media that exacerbates every nuance of the pandemic with one result in mind: spread fear to make the population compliant! Oh God, that common sense would again reign!

My speaking schedule remains sparse but with a marked uptick over the past year in correspondence and answering questions related to our field of ministry and sending out products and information there is still much to do. However, I want to emphasize that I'm open and ready (as the Lord leads) to accept invitations to conferences and churches again (click for more info). Preaching and presenting is, after all, what God called me to do and I want to be fulfilling that specific calling as the day of His coming for His Church approaches.

I want to close by expressing our thanks once again to those who have prayed for us and who have helped to financially sustain the ministry through these difficult days. Through these uncertain, emotional times we've continually turned to God in prayer on behalf of our supporters and we trust that you've been sustained by God's mighty and unwavering hand.

Psalm 37:23 has long been a guiding Scripture for me. It states, "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and He delighteth in his way." If you are sensing a nudging or desire to support the ministry, why not step out, trust God, and do so? The blessings for following Him in faithful obedience supersede everything and commence the flow of His bountiful blessings to you in return.

Your gifts and monthly support to the ministry are appreciated and needed as we continue to make a difference in a dark world!

(1) I expound more on this and other related themes in my book, Disarming The Powers of Darkness.