For the past five days I have been in Cuba.    Three Assemblies of God missionaries joined me in Miami and we flew down to Havana last Monday.     Our goal is to substantially assist our Assemblies of God churches and pastors, led by Cuban General Superintendent Hector Hunter, a delightfully kind and wise leader.    Since 1990, a revival of unprecedented impact in the Assemblies has been reported.   Of the eleven million residents of that island, over 1/2 million of them regularly attend Assemblies of God churches.      Since the communist revolution of 1958-59 led by Fidel Castro, there have been many restrictions on our leaders there, some of them even going to prison.    And yet the church surges on.      There are well over 8,000 churches, home meeting places and cell groups that meet regularly.    Over 6,000 of them meet in the most humble of dwellings, buildings at least fifty years old and many of them over a hundred years old.     I met and had fellowship with pastors who live on the most meager of pay – none over $10 – 15 dollars a MONTH.   With the exception of food which is quite inexpensive in Cuba, the other prices are not much different than they are in the U.S.    Could you even imagine getting along on such meager pay?     The government gives the people some food monthly, but not much more.      Communistic socialism, as you know, works on the principle of “Each person works according to his ability and each receives according to his need.”   In other words, the “state” dictates what you “need.”      But here’s the amazing thing:  Every pastor I met was enthusiastic about his or her life and the future of God’s work.   I never heard one pastor complain about the government of his or her personal situation.     Everything is done for the Kingdom of God and eternity.     I must tell you that I asked God to help me in my own outlook on life and “preaching the eternities.”    

While in Cuba, the four of us traveled from Havana to Santiago de Cuba by plane.    We planned to go to Quantanamo; however, Hurricane Gustav changed our plans.    The extreme western end of the island (which is mountainous and gorgeous) got hit by heavy rains and governmental authorities refused to let anyone drive into the area because of flooding and mudslides.    And the storm was fast heading toward Santiago.  So we rented a car ($1,000 deposit and $185 per day for a beat up car that was filthy inside and out) and headed back across the Island.   We drove about 600 miles over the next couple days, visiting many churches and leaders, finally arriving back in Havana last Thursday.   I caught the last flight out today and only arrived home a few hours ago.     It was a very hard trip, without question.     But my prayer is for those faithful men and women of Cuba who are determined that everyone of Cuba’s 11 million people is personally evangelized with the Gospel in one way or the other.      Now if only America’s followers of Christ will be so motivated and energized!      Pray for Cuba!

I am writing this about 2:30 Tuesday afternoon.    Fay, the tropical storm (that, thank God, never quite made it to hurricane status), still lingers with constant drizzle.    The winds never got much higher than 40 to 50 mph and then only briefly.     So all of us in our neck of the woods are rejoicing in being spared the ravages of a much stronger storm.      Having gone through hurricanes here in recent years, we know their savagery.  Thanks to all who prayed for us.

Yesterday afternoon, Darlene and I had a mid-afternoon dinner at the home of Muslim Imam Mohamed al Darsani and his wife Paulette.    Mohamed is a native of Damascus, Syria, and we were served the finest of Syrian cuisine.    Arabs have a history of hospitality towards those they like, and we were certainly the recipient of that yesterday.     Mohamed and Iranian-born, former Muslim fundamentalist, Resa Safa, now a charismatic Christian pastor in Tulsa, will debate Christianity versus Islam in our church this Sunday night at 6 o’clock.     We expect a huge crowd.   The doors will open at 4:30.     The event will be covered by the media, including live TV.      I know both of these gentlemen.     I eagerly await this discussion!

My personal thanks to Senior Pastor of McGregor Baptist Church here in Fort Myers, Dr. Richard Powell.    In his services last week, he took time to say some wonderful things about our own First Assembly of God.    His remarks were included in their weekly telecasts Saturday and Sunday following.    For 22 years now, First Assembly and McGregor Baptist have been like two strong fortresses for Christ on either end of Colonial Boulevard.     I have the highest regard for these good folks and for Dr. Powell personally.    May the Lord continue to bless them over and over again.

So here we are again….wondering when “Sister Fay” is going to visit us…..how strong she’ll be….how wet….where and for how long.    Kinda like waiting for the guy in the floor above to drop his other shoe, you know?    I pray that you stay safe and sound.     We still plan the week’s activities here (with the exception of Help For Hurting Women – which has been canceled for tonight.)     I’ll keep you posted on any changes on my blog here and on the web site, www.famfm.com.      Please call the church office (936-6277) if you have a storm-activated emergency.      Our whole staff prayed this morning for the safety of not only our church folks, but everyone in Fay’s path.    God bless you, good friend.   

Pastor Betzer

With very few exceptions, I “disappear” into my study on Saturdays.     I complete the preparation for preaching Saturday night, twice on Sunday morning, plus my Sunday School class.     I have also spent a lot of time during the week asking God for direction, studying, jotting down notes to myself and just thinking.     There are two goals to be accomplished before taking the pulpit:   1)   Finding from the Lord what He wants the message to be; and 2) Then researching the scriptures and deciding how to present the message in a way that is understandable and pertinent.     Great chefs, I am told, find the “presentation” of the food to be essential.    So should it be with preachers and teachers.     We should not only know our message backwards and forwards, but we should have heard from God, the Master Designer, how to present these glorious truths in a way that can be comprehended by old and young alike.

In recent weeks, we have “streamed” our Wednesday night and 11 a.m. Sunday morning services around the world.     We know (because of computer reports) that folks watch in over 60 nations.     We are also podcasting.     The responses are amazing and place on me an enormous responsibility to be faithful to God’s Word in the pulpit.     It should come as no surprise that in these nearly 22 years of pastoring First Assembly of God here that preaching and teaching are my priority.      Currently on the weekends I am presenting a series on King David.     This weekend it will be David and Bathsheba, one of the most bizarre and tragic episodes in all scripture.      Of the 20 kings who ruled in Jerusalem, in my own estimation David would come in fourth or fifth behind Uzziah, Hezekiah, Joash and Josiah.    (That’s only my own personal opinion.)   Yet David was “the man after God’s own heart.”   Acts 13:22 makes that fact very clear.       But David dropped the ball many times, no more so than in the case of Bathsheba and her husband Uriah.      What a story!      So now….back to my knees, my study, my Bible and my preparation for the weekend.     Wherever you are, your presence in the House of  God this weekend is essential to your spiritual health.    Hebrews 10:25 admonishes, “Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together, as the manner of some is!”    See you in church, good friend.

I woke up yesterday morning with a rather painful back, moaning a bit as I was scheduled to play 18 hole of golf with my son David and two other guys.    I ate breakfast, gulped down a Motrin or two, and headed for the course, the gorgeous Raptor Bay layout in Estero, Florida.     After three holes, David and I were two over par, a dreadful portent when playing two-man scramble.     The number four hole at Raptor Bay is a pretty little par three, 138 yards.     The hole was cut in the back of the green behind a swale, so, while we could see the pin easily, we could not see the actual cup placement.     I was hitting third and made a pretty good pass with my 8 iron and the ball headed not only for the green but for the pin.    The ball hit just behind the swale so we could not see it come to rest.    One of our opponents, a marvelous golfer named Les, observed, “That ball might be in the hole.”    Yeah, right.     I have been playing golf for 55 years and never had an ace.  Came close once decades ago.   I’m a hacker, at best a bogie shooter.    Guys who play golf as I do don’t have holes-in-one.     Les was the first one on the green and walked over to the cup.   There, lying at the bottom of the cup was my Titleist 4.     My goodness, I had a hole-in-one!     What a strange sensation!   I had never even seen one (except on television).      My best friend, Dave Weston, has had 5 of them.     So there you are!     55 years!    My next hole-in-one will come when I’m 126 years old.     But then again….who knows.

It was just an ordinary morning when the extraordinary happened.     That could be your story today, friend…that job you need, that healing in your body, that event that changes your life that you truly believed could never happen.      Historic things happen….on ordinary days.

My 21st published book GODCAST will be released by New Leaf Press in late September or early October.    It will contain 240 stories, observations, sermonettes and some former BYLINE scripts, seen and heard on hundreds of radio and TV stations around the world for years (the run ending last December).    Over the 28 years I had the privilege of being the radio/TV voice of the Assemblies of God, I received nearly 1.5 million letters, e-mails and phone calls from over 80 nations.    When we finally went off the air last December, hundreds of people called or e-mailed me, asking to put some of that material in book form.      New Leaf Press has been such a help to me in this endeavor and I am most grateful.     Upon its release, GODCAST can be obtained in major book stores and through Amazon and other outlets.    In a subsequent blog, I’ll tell you when the release date will be.     The Revivaltime/Byline series originated from around the world — such as the Kremlin in Moscow, the White House, the Knesset in Jerusalem, the jungles of Africa, the frozen plains sof Siberia, across China, South America and many other venues as well.      I believe that GODCAST will not only make for some fascinating reading, but will also be a blessing spiritually to each reader.

I have been asked by so many to blog that I have finally acquiesced and with the help of  Alex Quinonez start today.  Actually it’s a good day to start because so many exciting things are happening.    Several of them are personal in our family.  What a thrill it was yesterday to drive to the airport, along with granddaughter Brooke, and greet our arriving son David, his wife, Janis, and their two children Daniel and Hope.  They are now home for a year of furlough from the mission field where they have served in Africa for the past 14 years.  They are long overdue for a rest from their ardors and I am thrilled they’re home.  They are living in the First Assembly missions house behind the church.  Second, I cannot tell you the joy in my heart with the news from our youngest daughter who has been hired as the new Lee County Director for The American Cancer Society.  Wow, that’s tall cotton!

So….how come I’m still in Ft. Myers and not in Springfield, Missouri, at the General Presbytery of the Assemblies of God session?  Blame it on Delta!!  When I got to the ticket counter, the bedraggled agent told me that the flight was hours late which meant I would miss my connector in Atlanta and maybe I couldn’t even get there the next day.  So with David coming home from Africa and being extremely weary personally I thought, “Hey, I’m just going to take three days off and rest.”  It’s wonderful!!    

My precious wife Darlene gets home tomorrow from her family reunion in beautiful Bend, Oregon.  Sixty of her family members were there for a weekend of rest, relaxing, and remembering.  I’ll be very, very glad when she’s home ’cause I’m getting very weary of Cheerios.

Two weeks from today, Lord willing, I’ll be in Cuba, traveling for five days from one end of the island to the other (about 850 miles).  Cuba will be our Peninsular District missions project in 2009.  It is our God-given goal to raise $3 million in our district next year as we “adopt” Cuba as our sister ministry.  I am truly anticipating this outreach.  Pray with me for its success, won’t you?

So….I am now a blogger.  Somehow I feel younger.  If anyone in this whole wide world has read this, let me know, will you?

Pastor Betzer