Mal 3:6  For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

THE LINE IS MOVING EAST AWFULLY FAST

Many a time while preaching in churches in USA and western Europe I have used their marker board to illustrate the various sections on the European continent and their degree of reception to the gospel message.   At that time several years ago I would draw a line from north to south dividing Germany from Poland, Austria from Czechoslovakia and Italy from Yugoslavia…or the approximate equivalent.  I told the people that if you traveled and preached going west of this line the reception to the gospel got progressively worse and worse.  If you traveled and preached going east of this line the reception to the gospel got progressively better and better until you reached the Muslim countries.  I explained to them that the main reason for this was proportionate to the materialism prevalent in these countries.  The only thing that has changed from then until now is that the line has drastically and definitively moved east. 

We have ministered in Romania now for four years.  We have seen so many dramatic physical, material, and infrastructural changes it is difficult to comprehend.   The past nearly two years since Romania entered the EU has accelerated these changes sharply.  It seems that our city, Brasov, is attempting to compete with Prague, Vienna, Berlin, and other popular tourist cities of central and western Europe. Prague has become the San Francisco of central Europe as to its draw to tourists. The banks in Romania began giving personal credit and the toys began showing up. But, along with these changes proportionately change the interest in “religion”, things of God, truth, concern for sin either personal or public, concern for anything internal, and concern for anyone but self.

They view materialism as THEIR opportunity to get, have and enjoy what all the rest of the world has had for generations and what they have so painfully been deprived.  There is no end or reversal to this trend.  The song of the thirties describes it well, “How ya gonna keep em down on the farm after they’ve seen Parieeee”.  America has had many toys for many generations but now they suffer in anguish from the threat of someone taking them from them and there will be an awful skirmish.   

Deu 6:10“…to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not,

Deu 6:11  And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full;

Deu 6:12  Then beware lest thou forget the LORD,”

We have not and will not change our message.  The Lord never changes and His message of repentance and free heart salvation has never changed, but the times and fickle hearts of people sure do. In the midst of all this materialism and apathy towards the gospel we did have a young adult lady gloriously saved in our service two weeks ago.  Praise the good Lord and pray for Sylvia.

Notice the photos denoting the many visible changes here in Brasov in the last few years.  Where the money comes from to pay for these is everyone’s mystery. In SR#114.01 you see a portable stage set in the center where we preach.  This along with several tiers of platform for thousands of chairs took 10 days to assemble employing many men, trucks, welders, heavy equipment, TV and electrical cables, and miscellaneous other junk, all for a music festival…you guess what kind of music prevailed.   It took two weeks to disassemble all this and be gone.  Someone said the low price of a ticket was $20.  When we first came no one would dream of affording this.  In Photo #SR 114.02 is all that we peons are allowed to see of a private residence just 600 yards (as the crow flies) from my front door.  It is so massive you would need several cameras to capture all of it.  This photos shows the wall and entrance way with a guard house still not complete.  The house is somewhere up the hill in among the trees.  You may just barely be able to detect on the hill in the foreground a level place with a lighted, high-fenced tennis court.  Just to the right is a private helicopter pad.  It was reported the owner paid 4.8 million Euros…=7 million dollars for the property alone.  When dad goes to work, probably in Buchurest, he flies right over my house.  I know when he comes home too.

In Photo #114.03 they have remodeled all the parks for the kiddies, old-folks, and basketball addicted teens.  The landscaping is absolutely beautiful.  In Photo #114.04 this is not just a car…there are too many cars…this is a driving machine.  They are becoming more and more a common sight along with Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Corvettes, Mercedes, Land Rovers, and even Bentleys and Rolls.  Don’t bother to ask how…I don’t know.  In Photo #114.05 the tour busses are lined up day and night bringing tourists who appear to come from the far corners of the earth.  In Photo # 114.06 is one of our several 5 star hotels.  Photo #114.07 is a downtown traffic circle in front of the hotel with an Orthodox church in the distance.  All traffic circles in town look like this.  In Photo #114.08 the city and county buildings are all getting an expensive face lift.   All the infrastructure has been redone throughout the city and most of the major roads have been or are being made new.  Do you know of any US city that can boast of all of this in the last 2 years?  In Photo #114.09 an entire new fleet of public busses along with police cars, snow-plow trucks, and other city utility vehicles now add to the overwhelming traffic.  In Photo #114.10 all the fountains have been renewed.  In Photo #114.11 is the hill overlooking the city and would you just look at the hotels up there under construction. 

The last Photos #114.12 seems to contrast this eye-boggling and incomprehensible, sudden and nearly instant material growth.  This is “Christian” graffiti I just recently noticed on a wall as I was walking.  Thank God someone is trying to advertise the Lord, but with all the high-tech, first-class trend you would think the Lord would at least rate a good sized billboard.

FLASH FLASH FLASH

THIS JUST IN

The good Lord is definitely at work in providing us property inside the city of Brasov.   If you knew the utter impossibility of this prospect you would pray for this just to see a modern day miracle.  I cannot say anything more right now but STAY TUNED TO THIS STATION FOR FUTURE REPORTS.

 Attempting to plug the hole in the materialistic dike in eastern Europe
Gerald Sutek and the SWAT TEAM for Christ 2Tim. 1:8, Amos 5:10
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