Welcome to the Fall Edition of the HeartCry Magazine. We are continually overwhelmed with the love and kindness that you all show toward us with your sacrificial support, whether in prayer or in giving. It is a tremendous yet sobering privilege for each of us in the office to be able to spend our daily lives working to advance the gospel. We are grateful beyond words. Please keep us in your prayers – apart from God’s guiding hand, this ministry is useless! Many of you have been faithfully praying for HeartCry Director Paul Washer since his heart attack in March, and many of you have recently been asking for an update on his health. Thank you for praying! While
Paul is not quite back to full strength, he is getting very close.

He still has to be cautious with regard to travel, but his life is otherwise very close to being “normal” again. He has had to spend much more time at home over these months, which the Lord has used to allow him to enjoy his family and to spend countless hours studying and writing. The Lord’s grace has been unmistakable throughout the entire situation, evidenced both in Paul and in his family. Again, thank you for your prayers!

As surely as our planet revolves each day, so fresh pain emerges with each rotation. Natural catastrophes, senseless tragedies, and global threats have become mainstays in our news cycles. One does not need to look far to find recent instances of this reality: the hurricanes that ravaged Houston, Florida, and the Caribbean islands, rendering individuals and families homeless or worse; the horrific shooting in Las Vegas that killed dozens, leaving behind heartbroken and confused family members and friends; or the verbal jousting matches between world leaders, intimating their ability to inflict unimaginable damage on those they deem enemies.

Days like ours are often labeled, “times of uncertainty.” And, in a sense, this is an accurate depiction. None of us can control or predict the future; we have a hard time even understanding the past. Indeed, for many of us, the examples above feel distant we can acknowledge their tragic or fearful nature, but they do not often personally affect us. But pain does not spare us either, stabbing its icy fingers into our daily lives and into the lives of those we love. No man, woman, or child escapes from pain in this life or the uncertainty that it brings.

However, in a greater sense, the pithy phrase “times of uncertainty” could not be more inaccurate; for time itself is governed by One alone, and every event is certain to fall according to His holy plan!

For God, there are no “times of uncertainty.” The mightiest hurricane is but a faint whisper compared to His limitless strength. The deadliest killer can neither surprise nor overcome Him for even a moment. The most powerful ruler is but a pawn in His hand. The most painful situation will assuredly be used by Him for His own glory and for His people’s good.

Amidst all the hurt in the world, we as Christians have a singular source of hope: the gospel of Jesus Christ. Pain permeates the life of every person; the gospel guarantees hope for any person. Pain consistently reminds us of the fleeting nature of this world and all that is in it; the gospel promises us an everlasting and unfading inheritance. Pain gives us a gnawing, unrelenting feeling of not belonging here; the gospel reveals that this world is indeed not our home. Friends, we are citizens of a better Kingdom, one that is eternally free of both sin and pain. What a glorious thought! Nothing can alleviate the plight of every nation, save the gospel.

Brothers and sisters, let us be diligent in our individual and collective callings to bring that one gospel to every land on earth.

In His love,
Forrest Hite (General Editor)