TO THE BEACH AND BEYOND

When you invite me to your home and say, “make yourself at home,” be prepared for me to do just that. After a day or so (or several hours) of trying to behave, I will begin my quest for chocolate. You will not notice this at first, because my mission will be one of stealth. It is not that I couldn’t simply ask you for chocolate and you would give it to me. It’s that stealthing your chocolate stash, slowly away, is far more satisfying and fun for me.

I will not take your candy bars, for that would be too obvious. With whole bars of candy, you are safe. The best thing I can find (the worst thing for you) is an open bag of chocolate morsels from the Hershey company. I prefer the semi-sweet variety, but I am expanding my repertoire. Milk chocolate will do, as will white—as I have discovered here.

Yesterday, in the pantry—what unbelievable luck! After rearranging only a few items, I located my Nirvana: an opened bag of Hershey morsels. These morsels were of the white variety—not my favorite, or so I thought. I forgot how good these things were! My intention was to only pour “a few” into my palm, and eat them one at a time, to make them last.

Times ten, and counting.

I succeeded. In fact, I have succeeded ten times.

I am succeeding at least two times a day.

I think Regena will probably read this blog, and the gig will be up. If she doesn’t read it, then on a day shortly after I leave, she will reach for the bag of white chocolate morsels for a favorite recipe (a recipe for which, no doubt, the morsels were intended), and find a mostly-eaten bag. At first she will think, we must have mice, but then she will be unable to reconcile this thought with the fact that mice do not generally replace the bag clip.

Eventually, the truth will come out—though not from me, of course. Eventually, a realization of the truth will hit Regena, as the truth of the salvation of all hit her in 2006. “It was Zender,” she will say. And by golly, she will be right.

I do not intend to finish the bag. (I am presently unaware of God’s intentions.) It is my plan to leave the family with maybe six or seven morsels. Considering the hospitality I’ve been shown here, it’s the least I can do. The other option is to eat every last morsel, and dispose of the bag by stealth. That way, the family may forget they ever even had a bag of Hershey white chocolate morsels.  

I think this would work on Waylan, for sure. But Regena? Ah—she is far too sharp for such shenanigans. 

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Mornings here start with Waylan, Zack and me outside, watching the sun rise. What a marvelous pastime. I am soaking it up as much as I can, because I will be back in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, where it is a little bit colder, with fewer palm trees.

Waylan, Zack and me having coffee two mornings ago.
(Click photos to enlarge.)

One of the trees out back.

The little lake out here is its own zoological paradise. There are cranes, ducks, and turtles. Twice, Waylan has seen an alligator. Yesterday, an otter splashed around the opposite bank. This morning, some crazy crane was in the palm tree over my head, squawking his greeting. I said something nice back to him. He was a cute little crane. Some cranes are white, but this one was purple-ish. He seemed very proud of his plumage.

This morning, I was out by myself as the sun was coming up. 

                                                            

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Two days ago, it was off to the beach! Waylan took me to Deerfield Beach, 11 miles from here. It has been five years since I have seen the Atlantic Ocean, and probably 15 years since I've jumped into it.

I had to keep telling myself that it was January 8. It was just kinda weird and unbelievable. I could get used to it, though. But then maybe that would be the problem: you get used to it. But Waylan still hasn't “gotten used to it,” in this sense. He is still thrilled, every day, about the beauty down here. We were sitting on our beach chairs watching the waves come in when Waylan turned to me and said, “Martin, I love the ocean.”

I gotta say, I like it myself.

(Click photos to enlarge.)

January frickin' 8th.

Waylan and I took to the water for thirty minutes of body-surfing. The air temperature was 82 degrees and the ocean temperature was 75, so it was no problem diving in, walking out, and riding some waves back in. Waylan says the ocean is much choppier in the winter, so we got pummeled by some impressive breakers. I swallowed about a quart of salt water (by accident), so hopefully that will help my throat.

Just before jumping into the surf.

Beach hair.

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That night was the Skype broadcast to the church group in Faith, North Carolina. I’m not quite clear on every detail here, but Waylan used to belong to this church, or maybe he belonged to the church that was the bigger church before the teaching of the salvation of all, through Christ, broke through the door and thinned the ranks. Nevertheless, the pastor there, Alan Hess, is going great-guns teaching truth. Waylan was a big influence there, and occasionally he will teach this Tuesday night Bible group.

On Tuesday, it was the Zender broadcast. The Skype video connection was glitching, but the audio streamed perfectly. Waylan, Regina, and Josh and Ashley were here in Coral Springs for the broadcast, and there were about fifteen or so in attendance in Faith.

I spoke of the blessing, during this administration of grace, of believing without seeing. The Circumcision is all about works, signs, and miracles, whereas the gospel of the Uncircumcision is all about not seeing things, but rather being strong in the midst of infirmity, and conquering in spite of the disadvantages of flesh. In this era, what pleases God the most is faith. And what is faith? It is a conviction concerning matters which are not being observed (Hebrews 11:1). If you’re observing signs and miracles, it doesn’t require much faith. In fact, it doesn’t require any at all.

As for the fruit of the spirit, it is not raising the dead, seeing angels, hearing voices, or miraculously mending broken bones. Rather, it is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, meekness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). These things are most effectively exercised and manifested in the face of evil, oppression, and fleshly disadvantage. For more on that, see Romans 8:35-39.

The message was very well-received, and Alan has invited me down (up, from here) to be a guest speaker. Amazingly, the Faith, NC church—teaching the salvation of all—brings in about sixty people Sunday mornings. Who knew?

Here is the first minute of my hour-long Skype talk:

Oh! We received three visitors yesterday, who drove across the state from Sarasota to meet me and ask some questions. We talked for over three hours around Waylan’s back patio table, and the topic of conversation was important as can be. I will tell you about it tomorrow. For a sneak preview, go to today’s “Zender Special 34” audio show, titled, “The Greatest Manifestation of Spiritual Power Today.” Here is the link:

http://martinzender.com/new_zender_sheridan/Zender_Special/zender34.htm

I was so sick while making that audio yesterday afternoon. I had chills and some breathing issues. I was trying to finish the message before I really fell apart. I couldn’t wait to take a hot shower and go to bed, which I did immediately after, at 5 p.m. But this message is a testimony, I think, of how power finds expression in weakness. 

Thank God, I'm feeling much better this morning.

Tomorrow I will show you photos of the three wonderful people who visited here yesterday, and will also tell you what I found here in south Florida that I thought I was escaping in western Pennsylvania. I could not believe my eyes when I saw it.

© 2012 by Martin Zender