Dear Friends in Christ,

Christ is Risen!!!!!

We continue to remember that wonderful fact in the month of May. What a blessing to see warmer weather after a more normal brutal winter in Iowa.

Our world seems to be getting crazier and crazier all the time! The Christian church is not exempt from this as well. The world was horrified to see the flames coming from Notre Dame Cathedral in France. Was it an accident due to renovation work being done – or was it a target of Islam? Perhaps you are not aware that in France an average of two church per day are vandalized. According to PI-NEWS, a German news site, 1063 attacks on Christian church were cited in France in 2018. That is an increase of 17% from the previous year.

As I write this the death toll in Sri Lanka continues to rise from the Easter morning bombings of three Christian Churches

Christian churches are ranked #3 for acts of crime according to the FBI. Due to that fact, St. Paul has taken some steps to increase security here. This is something we would not have even considered not too many years ago!

This should be no surprise to us, for in the Scriptures we are told that things will deteriorate prior to Jesus’ return.

No matter how bad it gets we must remain steadfast in Lifting High the Cross of Christ and spreading the Good News of Salvation through Jesus Christ.

In Christ,

Rev. Scott A. Kozisek