Dear Fellow ABATE Members,

Shortly before writing this, we had returned home from performing a roadside Cross Dedication, for a fallen biker. A friend of this biker had made an absolutely beautiful cross from cypress wood and used preservative coatings to insure this cross would be there for a long time.  When the cross was placed into the ground, concrete was used to further insure its permanence. This cross represented the love, the "bottom-of-the-heart" kind that is rarely expressed in today's world. And, this cross is a reminder that one day, as it was with this biker who lost his life, we will all have a day of reckoning with God.

As we remembered this biker, we were reminded that life is uncertain; that none of us is guaranteed the rest of today or tomorrow. David, said in Psalms 39:5, "You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man's life is but a breath."

The cross can be a barrier or it can be a bridge to God. It is a bridge that starts to be crossed while one is living, the crossing begins when one accepts Jesus Christ as his or her Lord and Savior.  We spend millions of dollars trying to cross from one point to another.  Think of all the money it took to build all the bridges around us. Think of all the bridges on the nearby Caloosahatchee River, the money (millions and millions of dollars) and all the materials it takes (thousands of yards of concrete, tons of metal and steel) to cross from one point to another.  Yet, we look at the cross and see that the greatest bridge to be crossed was built, with only two boards and three nails.  God has made things so easy for us to make that crossing.  The bridge costs nothing to cross as Jesus gave His Son Jesus to pay for that cross. Yet, many of us have let our pride, wanting to do things our way, and giving into Satan, put barriers in our minds and hearts to stop our crossing of the cross. In 1st Thessalonians, the Bible tells us that the Lord will come as a thief in the night. The actual Bible verse says, "²for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night."  For this biker that was killed in the accident, I am sure that even 30 seconds before the accident, he had no idea that in 31 seconds that he would experience his passing, from this life to the next. His death was not in vain, if it teaches us to be ready for our time to meet the Lord. The questions we all need to ask ourselves: Are we ready? Are we sure?  What will I need to do to make sure that when I pass from this life, I will be with the Lord?

Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live, even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die." -John 11:25

We are here if you need us.  Email or call: tprovenz@comcast.net or 239-267-8641.

With Blessings and His love,

Tom and Kathy

PS.  We have a new website: www.messiahsmessengers.org