Family
In Memory of Maria
Two days ago, my bladder awakened me at 3:50 am. Stumbling into the darkened bathroom, I did my duty and returned to bed, encouraged that I still had a few hours to sleep.
As I dozed off, suddenly a large BOOM thundered through the neighborhood, rattling the windows, and causing me to bolt up wide awake.
What in the world was that? I’d never heard such a thunderous noise in the nearly thirty years we’d lived on Arlington Place. Must have been a sonic boom made by an airplane overhead.
Still befuddled, I dozed back to sleep.
A few hours later I found out. My friend and personal banker, Maria McDonald and her husband Bill, were found dead in a home that had been obliterated by a horrific blast just a mile away from us.
Today I write in memory of Maria.
There are many bad things taking place in the world that modern communications remind us of daily. People are being slaughtered and are fleeing the Middle East by the hundreds of thousands. We are in the midst of a hard-fought and ever-changing election campaign that will determine the next president of the United States.
But when you lose a friend, the world stands still. You think about life, death, and the reality of eternity. Suddenly human love and affection takes center stage over all the international headlines.
Losing Maria has done that for me.
Here’s what happened.
Bill and Maria McDonald (70 and 65 respectively) lived a mile from our home (as the crow flies) in Port Orchard, Washington–a small town of about 13,000 people located in the center of Puget Sound. In a community of this size, you know many people–even though 60,000 folks are scattered among the trees and the metropolis of Seattle is just across the water.
Two days ago Bill and Marie’s triple-wide mobile home, situated on two and a half areas behind Mullenix Elementary School, simply exploded–leaving most of the debris, according to a first responder, “no bigger than match sticks.” (At this point, the source of the explosion is unknown.)
Though there is heavily forested land between our home and theirs, we felt the blast hit our house causing the windows to shake. Shirley’s parents, who live seven miles away, heard the sonic boom and got out of bed to see what was happening. People in Renton, Washington–forty miles away across the water–heard the explosion.
Now we know why.
The McDonalds’ two and a half acres look like a war zone. Neighbors’ windows were shattered and pictures fell off walls. At the elementary school, 1000 feet through the dense trees, windows were broken by the impact. Recovery crews are finding bits of the house and even family pictures up in trees and on power lines a quarter mile away.
The home is gone–as if destroyed by a tornado.
The blast was so unusual that it made the national news and certainly dominated the local coverage. If you’d like to see an early report on what happened, you can watch it here on the local KOMO News broadcast.
I heard about who had died when I visited my mom that afternoon. She’d gone to the bank earlier that day where Maria worked. It was closed but cameramen were present. They broke the news that Maria and her husband had been killed in the vicious blast.
My mother was one of the first to be interviewed on camera about the death of Maria.
I met Maria McDonald decades ago ago when she started working for Kitsap Bank. This well-known local institution has been our family bank since 1950 when my young doctor father walked through the front door and shook hands–the only terms necessary for getting a loan in those days–with bank president Frank Langer.
Ever since, Kitsap Bank (with numerous locations around west Puget Sound) served as the Boehme family bank.
Maria, from a Guamanian background, started working at Kitsap Bank twenty-two years ago. She was a gentle, kind soul, who was known for her business acumen, sense of humor, service at St. Gabriel’s Catholic Church, and her great cooking. She had recently helped organize a Lenten soup supper at the church.
Husband Bill was also active at St. Gabes, an Air Force veteran from the Viet Nam War, worked with the Knights of Columbus and owned a satellite communications consulting firm.
Bill and Maria have five children and twelve grandchildren.
At a memorial mass held yesterday, both were fondly remembered for their faith and love.
Jarrod Roth said for many:
“There’s something about them that sets them apart from many others in a special way. It’s the way they connected with people. In a loving way, in a self-less way, uplifting way, it was a very humble way of living their lives. In a way it made them larger than life…They’ve touched all of us. They’re gone but not forgotten.”
I never met Bill, but certainly agree about Maria.
As our personal banker, Maria managed all of our YWAM and personal accounts. I always enjoyed coming into the Kitsap branch near our home and seeing Maria perched on her chair in the right corner of the building. Her smile always invited me to come over to work out some kind of problem.
One of those problems drew us close five years ago.
I was traveling and speaking in Puerto Rico in 2011 when Shirley called to tell me that our home had been robbed. It took place in broad daylight and involved some “professionals.” During the only hour of the day when no one was at home, the thieves entered our house and quickly searched through every room on two floors–probably in less that ten minutes.
Our compound of buildings also houses two Youth With A Mission offices.
The police later told us that they were looking for three things: 1) Money (including checkbooks), 2) Jewelry (to pawn), and 3) Fire arms (for you know what).
In ten minutes of ransacking, they took four check books in desk drawers and Shirley’s engagement ring. She felt extremely violated when she came home later that day and found numerous drawers open and her jewelry box plundered.
She urgently called me to ask what to do.
I told her to call Maria and put a stop on everything. When I came home, it took weeks to undue the damage that ultimately cost us $1000 in bad checks. The engagement ring never turned up though I looked through every pawn shop in the area. The thieves were eventually caught and went to jail.
We did learn from the police department how to hide and scatter valuables in your home. If, there’s a next time, the robbers will waste their time.
But back to Maria, our personal banker.
She was the one who lovingly walked us through that ordeal. She not only did the work of cancelling old and creating new accounts, but she also shared her heart and soul with us.
She too had been robbed. So had her daughter. Almost like a grief counselor, she walked us through the process of dealing with our loss with her strong faith, caring personality, and warm smile and comfort.
Every person should have a personal banker like Maria.
That’s why when I heard she’d been killed in the explosion, I nearly cried as if she was a member of the family. In small communities, some friendships are like that. You might not know people socially or intimately, but the friendship is deep and meaningful.
Friendship, on all levels, is a gift from God (Proverbs 17:17).
I learned after the blast that Maria was just two months from retiring from the bank. She and her husband looked forward and planned to travel and enjoy their large family.
All that vanished in an instant.
There are some important lessons here.
First, you can work all your life to attain a goal or an imagined future, and that plan can change in a heart-beat. Thus the importance of placing your life in God’s hands, seizing every day for what it is, and knowing that eternal life for the redeemed is your ultimate destination (Psalm 90:12).
Secondly, life really boils down to two things. Be a good steward of the things God has given you (Titus 1:7-9). You will not have them forever, but God wants us to use them for His glory for our brief time on earth. Even more importantly, serve the people around you (1 Corinthians 9:19). They are your greatest treasure and possess infinite value.
Stewardship and serving are twin pillars of a wise life.
And finally, make sure to befriend and share Jesus with those with whom you have daily contact (2 Timothy 4:2). They include the clerk in the store, your lawyer, your CPA, the neighbors on your block, and your friends at church and at play.
Talk about God’s kingdom. Point them to Jesus. Love and encourage them.
I write these words to remind myself to press on.
In memory of Maria.
Planned Parenthood and its Doctrine of Demons
There is a scary, prophetic word found in the Bible in 1 Timothy 4:1,2:
“Now the Spirit expressly says that in the latter times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared.”
The phrase “doctrines of demons” in those verses really stands out to me. Do demonic spirits really have teachings just like groups or churches do? What do they teach–what is their doctrine? Read More
The Real Meaning of Changing the Definition of Marriage
It was both interesting and agonizing to watch the legal collapse of American morals and marriage from thousands of miles away–in Asia.
I was in Mongolia and then China when the US Supreme Court changed the five thousand year definition of marriage through Obergefell vs. Hodges. Both of these Asian nations are “rising” countries where the Good News of Christ is bringing increased morality and positive changes to many peoples’ lives.
But America–my home nation–is a “falling” nation where the current rejection of our Christian heritage is breath-taking and is bringing about the demise of a once great nation.
While in Asia, I pondered the consequences of what is taking place in the United States. Here is the real meaning of changing the definition of marriage.
1. The world has changed–not to be legally renewed in my lifetime.
Changing the definition of marriage in the world’s only superpower will cause a flood of nations to follow suit in the coming years–causing the Western world to release its moorings from the Judeo-Christian traditions that made it great and prosperous. The world will dramatically change as a result by decreasing and hurting children and tearing apart the family fabric.
It’s already been fraying due to easy divorce, co-habitation, and dead-beat dads–but this could be the deathknell. And because SCOTUS wrongly legislated a “right” to same-sex marriage in the Constitution, this means that only a Constitutional Amendment (CA) can change that.
CA’s are rare. It is not likely that this decision will be reversed in my lifetime, if ever. Marriage may never be the same again on planet earth until Jesus returns to make all things new.
2. Secularism has triumphed (for the present time) in American culture.
As I pointed out in my 1989 book Leadership for the 21st Century: Changing Nations Through the Power of Serving, there are three worldviews that are battling for supremacy in the 21st century. The first is the biblical faith which is multiplying via loving persuasion in South America, Africa and Asia, but receding in the West.
The second is radical Islam which is terrorizing the world of the Middle East, North Africa and across Central Asia–trying to establish a regional or global caliphate.
The third is secularism or atheism which controls China, North Korea and Cuba via communism and many Western nations by way of secular philosophy. Atheism uses education, the media, and the power of government (especially the courts) to champion its man-centered ideas of hedonism.
The rejection of biblical, covenant marriage in the USA is a huge victory for the secular cause. The war of values will continue, but it’s uphill now for people of faith.
3. Cultural Christianity is dead in the urban cities and rural America will be forced to follow.
Though the nation is divided over the marriage issue, and the Supreme Court decided the issue prematurely via judicial fiat, the fact that marriage was altered in thirteen states and then rammed through the courts indicates that the Christian consensus on basic moral issues is a thing of the past. Our heritage of Christian truth is no longer strong enough to stop the tide of sin.
This is especially true in our cities–urban areas–which have gone secular in the past few decades. Cultural Christianity is no longer dominant by legacy or default. In many of the southern states, cultural faith is still the norm in many aspects of society, but the SCOTUS decision will force them to change. The North has defeated the South again–and this time in the battle of family morality.
The one area of the country that has been a restraint on ungodly behavior (the Southern States) will now be forced to accept the way of the world.
4. This was never about marriage, but the degrading and destroying of the image of Christ.
If we think the Obergefell v. Hodges decision was simply about marriage, our view is too narrow. No, it was the next battle in a long string of conflicts designed to degrade and destroy Christianity in American life. This is a culture war with many fronts: right to life, human sexuality, prayer in schools, Ten Commandments, the war on Christmas, morality on television and in the movies, and now marriage.
As Franklin Graham said recently, “All the things of God are under attack.” That’s true because the architect behind the degrading and destroying of biblical faith is not a human being or movement–but the Devil himself.
In America, that means we’re battling for the future of 320 million souls.
5. President Obama’s “transformation of America” is now complete.
President Obama did a major victory lap after the Supreme Court decision, and even illuminated the White House with the colors of the rainbow. This is because, whatever the motivation, his stated goal of “transforming America” is nearing completion. It contains three main elements:
- Economy – putting the USA on pathway to socialism (especially through the Affordable Care Act).
- Military – downgrading America influence in the world and weakening the military.
- Social – destruction of Christian morals (immigration, drug laws, right to life, sanctity of marriage, etc.)
6. Persecution of Christians has arrived on our shores. First silencing then sentencing.
It’s notable that even a secular progressive, Kirsten Powers, a columnist for both USA Today and the Daily Beast, has recently written a book on how the secular left wants to silence all faith-based speech in our nation. In The Silencing: How The Left is Killing Free Speech, Powers details not only how secular-progressives aim to win the war of ideas, but are committed to completely silencing anyone that disagrees.
Guess where that strategy comes from? It’s not Hollywood, but from the darker forces behind the human voices.
Because of the Satanic relationship to atheism, there is no interest in a marketplace of ideas. Just like the political arm of communism, secularists want a monopoly on speech and ideas. Increasingly, the voices of the Church and Scripture will be shouted down and removed.
After the SCOTUS decision, a number of newspapers announced they will no longer publish articles in favor of traditional marriage. The silencing has begun. So has the persecution. Bakers, florists, and anyone else who will not participate in a same sex marriage will be made to pay for their faith.
The next battles will involve outright persecution of the Church over tax exempt laws, and many other issues. Are you ready to suffer and stand up for your beliefs?
7. American exceptionalism is dead – now only a historical reality.
What made the United States of America a unique and exceptional nation for two hundred years was the blessing and fruits of its unique Christian heritage and ideals. Faith powered morality. Morality gave birth to freedom and liberty. And liberty produced success, innovation, entrepreneurship, wealth and many other blessings that came to us as a nation when we honored and followed God’s ways.
Turning away from this exceptional faith and its fruits will bring exceptional calamity to a nation that was once “the light of the world.”
As we become like other nations in turning away from God, we sabotage our unique leadership and role in the world. All that’s left is the history of exceptionalism–not the practice.
8. We are living in days parallel to Jeremiah – shallow revival then judgment.
The prophet Jeremiah lived during a time of the decline of a nation. In his early years, he participated in a glorious religious revival under the leadership of the godly King Josiah (2 Chronicles 34). But that revival was shallow–and near the end of Jeremiah’s life, the southern kingdom of Judah turned away from its God-given roots and was destroyed.
I participated in the last “American revival”–the Jesus Movement and charismatic renewal of the 1960s and 70s. It was wonderful and many lives were changed. But it also did not go deep enough to renew the biblical foundations of the American nation.
Will America experience the same fate of decline and judgment as experienced by the prophet Jeremiah?
9. God’s blessing is being removed from our nation – He is not answering our prayers.
The Harbinger by Jonathan Cahn is a prophetic book warning US citizens that God’s blessing is being removed from this nation if we do not pray, repent, and return to the Lord.
Many people are praying. I have participated in many movements of prayer in the past few years. But God is not answering those prayers because we are not turning to Him in sufficient numbers to confess our sins, change our lives, and plead for the healing of our land (2 Chronicles 7:14).
10. It is time to flee the public schools.
This may seem extreme, but changing the definition of marriage means that the secular indoctrination of the public schools will be acute during the coming years. Christian children will be persecuted, ridiculed, and labeled as bigots if they do not toe the new morality line.
It’s time for the Church to evacuate the schools for private and home education where they can train their children in God’s ways and not let them fall prey to a the worldly system. Some will stay to shine the light. But most need to flee–for their own safety and salvation.
11. This could be the Church’s finest hour. We will find out who the real believers are.
The great upside of our cultural demise is that God could use it to awaken the American Church to her finest hours of prayer, worship, evangelism, mercy and social impact. In the coming years, we will truly find out who the followers of Jesus really are. There will be no fence-sitting, no cultural Christianity.
Some may even die for their faith as they take a stand for Christ. This could be the time of America’s greatest revival–as the people of God return to Him and become channels for his power in our backslidden land.
12. The future is all about birthrates — physical and spiritual.
It is sunset in America at the present time–a time when life is ebbing. Same sex marriage will deflate both physical birthrates and spiritual ones amd increase the looming darkness.
If America is to be revived again, then we must restore the American family through a love of children and a renewal of marriage and family–and we must evangelize the nation with many through spiritual births.
Is it really sunset in America? Only God knows. The future is all about birthrates.
Which side will multiply the most?