Dear friends of Vital Signs Ministries, August 2026
“What are you doing here, Elijah?” This was the simple, but convicting question the Lord God asked his prophet when He addressed him in a remote cave where he was trying to hide from the wrath of Jezebel. It was a sad, shameful place to be discovered. After all, Elijah had been fresh from witnessing one of the most awesome spiritual victories of the entire Old Testament — the contest at Mount Carmel with the fire from heaven, the destruction of 400 prophets of Baal, and the turning of the people of Israel from their idolatry to follow anew the true God. And yet, fast on the heels of that world-changing demonstration of God’s might, when he was verbally threatened by Ahab’s dreadful haridan, Elijah had himself taken to his heels and ran for cover — some 200 miles away!
How dramatic and complete does a spiritual victory have to be to give a prophet confidence in God’s power and wisdom and favor? How much more does the Almighty have to do in order to prove that the only place of security and blessing for men is wherever a true heart of worship and honor to God resides. It’s remarkable, isn’t it, that the holy fire from heaven had impressed the prophet for one day only. It is thus a strikingly appropriate rebuke God delivers to His runaway prophet through the plain question, “What are you doing here?”
Of course, Elijah knew better than to answer the Lord the way he did. The jig was up; he was caught in the act; one might successfully go to ground to escape a Jezebel, but there is no hiding from the Lord God. And his retreat south had represented not merely a flight from Ahab and Jezebel, it had also been a flight from his trust in and duties to the Lord. He should have immediately come clean and fallen upon God’s mercies.
But instead of a penitent confession to God, he dithered around the matter with 1) Misdirection by self-congratulation. Don’t ask me that, Lord, think instead of how “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts.” 2) Misdirection by focusing on others who are a lot “badder” and thus more deserving of Your anger than me. “The sons of Israel have abandoned Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword.” Go deal with them, why don’t You? And 3) Misdirection by self-pity. Don’t be disappointed in me, Lord. After all, “I alone am left [among Your prophets] and they have sought to take my life.” (Actually, as he will soon learn, he’s not alone at all for not only is the all-powerful God with him and always on his side, there are another 7,000 who “haven’t bowed the knee to Baal.”)
Observe, moreover, that Elijah repeats these same exact cop-outs even after God has brought him through earth-shaking wind and earthquake and fire…and, yes, His loving voice in a gentle breeze. It’s no good, Elijah. God didn’t fall for the excuses the first time and He won’t the second time either. Yet another factor relevant to Elijah’s cowardly cave-in is that he isn’t only forgetting the fiery judgment of God on Mount Carmel, but all of the other miracles the Lord had performed in his presence: the divine supply of oil for the widow of Zarephath, the resurrection from the dead of her son, the supernatural provision of food through ravens, the fulfillment of God’s prophecy of a terrible drought, and the little cloud “no larger than a man’s hand” which God turned into a mighty, life-giving rain. Elijah had indeed submerged an awful lot of evidence of God’s sovereignty and personal care in order to hang on to his fear of Jezebel.
But here is my favorite part of the story, one that so clearly shows God’s patience and grace. God looks at His runaway prophet, cowering in a cave 200 miles from where he should be, and who has twice now, with blabbering alibis for his unfaithful behavior, continued to “run away” from the Lord — and yet God doesn’t strike him dead nor even force him to don sackcloth and ashes while confessing in full his shameful behavior.
No, God simply orders Elijah to go back — all the way back from whence he came — and get back to work. That’s it. True, God is going to eventually offer him a most honorable “retirement” (a fiery chariot ride to heaven, no less!), but it won’t be on Elijah’s terms or in the time Elijah chooses. No, God has several key tasks still on Elijah’s agenda. No punishment. No fierce reprimands. No retraining regimen. Just a reminder of his duty and of the Lord’s presence in Elijah’s life for both his good and the good of God’s people.
You and I have enemies too — dangerous, hateful, unfair, and terrifying enemies — and we too are sometimes tempted to run away and hide, to forget the holy fire, to find reasons to justify our retreat from the battle. Yet we belong to the same all-powerful, all-righteous God as did the flawed prophet Elijah. He is our Creator, Lord, Savior, Worthy King, Coming Deliverer and Rewarder. And He holds His precious children (each and every one immeasurably precious to Him) in His protective hand. He knows where we’ve come from; He knows where we are; and He knows the triumphant, glorious future He is preparing for us even now.
It is always best to trust and obey God, to remember the victories He has already won for us. For far greater than the heaven-sent fire from heaven is the conviction He sent to our hearts, drawing us to receive the free gift of Christ’s atoning sacrifice — the gift that paid the penalty of our sins and adopted us into God’s forever family. Thus does God supply the motivation and the empowerment to keep serving Him — instead of hightailing it from the Jezebels who threaten us. There’s no effective hideaway anyhow. So, let’s put on the armor of God and wield His weapons in the fight He puts before us. And let’s stay the course until our own chariot shows up! Amen?
Okay, to quickly finish up this month’s letter before we leave town, let me review just a few of the most significant of July’s ministry activities.
* Claire threw me a really wonderful party for my 75th birthday. I’ll never forget it. There were around 80 people gathered at Community Bible Church for a dinner of sloppy joes, hot dogs, various salads, baked beans, and 2 huge birthday cakes — one decorated for my birthday and the other to celebrate the USA’s 250th birthday! Claire served as the emcee of the event (very sweetly and efficiently too) and the program included an interactive and entertaining trivia quiz to serve as conversation starter, a nostalgic and heartwarming PowerPoint with music and old photos, deeply encouraging comments from three close friends (John Malek, Dan Hauge, and Chris Schlesiger), emboldening messages in the birthday cards that I will long treasure, and even hugs and some beautiful hydrangeas from our lovely former governor Kay Orr and her daughter Suzanne Gage. What a moving and inspiring night it was for me…and I trust a valuable evening for all of our guests. Special thanks go out to Deb Harrold, Mary Wenninghoff, Allen & Cindy Nelson, and Matt, Laura, Luke, Anna, Lydia, and Isaiah Troutman for their immense help in bringing the thing off. And thank you, Claire!
* July saw our quarterly Vital Signs Ministries Board meeting where the conversations were particularly lively and insightful this time around as we try to develop strategies to best effect our culture’s changing needs, conditions, and fresh opportunities.
* Our ongoing duties were served throughout July in our public pro-life witness outside Planned Parenthood, compiling and sending The Top 5 Plus, the Aksarben Village church services, the social media and correspondence duties, our always-important hospitality ministries, and the full rota of “When Swing Was King” shows.
* By the way, we are delighted to report that, well into our 16th year now, our “When Swing Was King” outreach is better and more popular than ever. And we not only added a senior facility to our schedule this month, we are adding another 3 this fall, bringing our total back up to our former high of 12 shows (in 12 facilities) every month. Wow. Our 3 newest facilities are all in Lincoln, making it 4 there in the Capitol City. We will thus be doing “doubleheaders” (morning and afternoon) on 2 days every month there. Also, we often meet Harold and Mary Dee Berry for lunch on our Lincoln WSWK day, but now we are hoping to connect with other Lincoln-area friends from time to time. Interested?
* The last several Sundays have been unusually full for, in addition to preaching at Aksarben Village on Sunday afternoons, I did “pulpit supply” for two consecutive Sunday mornings at Herman Community Church, then Faith Bible Church, then Prairie Lane Church.Thank you all so much for honorinng me with your invitations.
* We will be leaving this evening for a brief 2-day trip to Wichita, Kansas to visit my little sister Sherry, still enveloped by a severe dementia.
* Our annual Colorado mountain adventure — this time around with Ron & Linda Scheffler and Matt & Luke Troutman — is coming up next week. We will take pictures!
That’s it for now. We will just have time, I think, to proof this letter, correct mistakes, and send it on to the printer before leaving for our last “When Swing Was King” show for July and then heading out to Wichita. Our continued appreciation, dear friends, for all of your prayers in behalf of us and the work of Vital Signs, and for all of your encouragement and assistance. May God richly bless you, your families, and your respective ministries for our Lord.
