DOES ANYBODY CARE ANYMORE?!
Jerry W. Carmichael
"I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts.. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life" (1 Kings 19:10,14). 
Shortly after the great victory on Mount Carmel, the life of Elijah the prophet was threatened by Jezebel the Queen of Israel. The same Elijah who stood bravely before 450 prophets of Baal was now running for his life! First he ran to Beersheba in Southern Judea, then a day's journey into the wilderness, then another 40 days before finally arriving at Mount Horeb in the Sinai Peninsula. There he sought shelter in a cave! When confronted by God and asked why he was hiding, his reply was,  "I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life."
He is reassured by God that, "I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him" (I Kings 19:10-18).
The lessons are various and many! In our world of rapidly declining morals one too often hears tales of gloom and doom about the Lord's church. Yes, many have fallen away and gone back into the world! Yes, many congregations are changing from the old paths to entertainment based programs aimed at pleasing the masses instead of pleasing God!  But the fact still remains that God is in control! There are millions in the world working diligently spreading His word thus unleashing His power to save! There are conversions to plain, simple New Testament Christianity every day. As long as this continues none of us will ever be able to truthfully say, "There's no one left!" This writer bristles at comments such as "No one is receptive to the gospel anymore." Really!? Such a statement assumes that the speaker has actually tried to share the gospel with EVERYONE on earth and has found no takers! This will never be the case, because the word will never lose its power! It is the word that gets into the hearts and minds of people and motivates them to change their lives. It is the implanted word, when acted upon that is able to save souls (James 1:21).  It is the gospel that is God's power unto salvation (Romans 1:16). As long as it is being taught, somewhere by someone, the church will never fade completely away (Matthew 16:18).
Rather than being prophets of ruin and despair, let us be encouragers, evangelists, and seed sowers! It is a very simple task to talk to others about Jesus! As long as there are those who do so, we can never honestly say, that WE ARE THE ONLY ONES LEFT or that NO ONE CARES!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A GREAT BIG HUG
 No moving parts, no batteries.  No monthly payments and no fees;
 Inflation proof, non-taxable, In fact, it's quite relaxable;
 It can't be stolen, won't pollute,  One size fits all, do not dilute.
 It uses little energy, But yields results enormously.
 Relieves your tension and your stress,  Invigorate your happiness;
 Combats depression, makes you beam,  And elevates your self esteem
Your circulation it corrects  Without unpleasant side effects
It is, I think, the perfect drug: May I prescribe, my friend,... the hug!
(and, of course, fully returnable!)