Religion Today: Power Crisis
Guest Writer Spotlight: Power Crisis – By Richard Lewis
A few years back we had a power outage in our neighborhood in Riverside. It started out while we were trying to eat dinner with some friends from church. My wife had just served a nice dessert dish when the power went out. We made the best of it and ate Crème Brulee by candle light. It was romantic – for a while.
When the power remained out after our friends had left, I called the power company to inquire about progress on the repairs and they had a very generic recording on the answering machine. It went something like this, “At approximately ‘7PM’ there is an electrical power outage in your area. The cause of the outage is ‘unknown’. The length of time to resolution is ‘unknown’.” It was, perhaps, made even more frustrating because we could see lights were on in nearby homes.
SEE OTHER RECENT ARTICLES BY RICHARD LEWIS:
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By the following day the power outage soon shifted out of the fun “romantic” candle lit stage as we had to move our food into ice chests and we began to realize how much we had taken for granted having electrical power. It would be about 28 hours later the power was finally restored. The cause was a failed transformer. Our hearts went out to hurricane, tsunami, and earthquake survivors who had lost their power for not just hours but days and even weeks.
Oh, what a contrast to God’s power in our lives. He doesn’t have to promote a “Flex your power now” program so that we avoid using his power during the peak times of day. His power is not subject to black-outs or brown-outs. Lightning strikes, vehicle accidents downing power poles and old electrical transformers don’t reduce God’s power. The price of His power never increases. Natural disasters don’t stop his power from being available. There are no recordings that tell us God’s power has failed and that they are not sure when it will be restored. His power is great, without limits and available to us.
1Chronicles 29:11-13 “Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.”
Have you ever watched a friend going through difficult times and yet having the power to overcome? It may be an unexpected death in their family or perhaps they have received the diagnosis of a debilitating or terminal illness. We may wonder, “How can they keep going on?” or “What is the source of the power and peace that seems to shine forth from them even in the midst of tragedy?” We visit their home or hospital room and come away encouraged when we had come to encourage them. We wonder where this power comes from, so we can have it when we face the impossible. The power that we seek, to be able to overcome, is not found in ourselves, but in God.
Holocaust survivor, Corrie Ten Boom, put it so well, “Look around and be distressed; look within and be depressed; look at Jesus and be at rest”
Richard Lewis is a graduate of Arizona State University (Advertising) and California Baptist University (Computer Information Systems). Richard and his wife Sue met while they served as staff members at Campus Crusade for Christ for 8 years in the 1970’s. Richard served in the Campus Ministry at University of Texas at El Paso, Louisiana Tech and at the International Headquarters in San Bernardino, California.
Following their ministry in Campus Crusade Richard was the owner and manager of a bicycle shop in Riverside California for 19 years. After retraining in the computer field at California Baptist University, Richard worked as a Information Systems contractor and employee at Boeing for 17 years. Richard has written over 150 published articles in Information Systems and Computing publications including Windows Magazine and Windows Scripting Solutions. Richard has served in a leadership role as a Deacon and Elder in several churches as well as being a meditation presenter and Men’s Ministry coordinator.
Richard has written hundreds of meditations and devotionals that have been used in church and small group meetings. Many of these have been published in The Upper Room and Racers For Christ publications and on their web sites.
In 2021 Richard published a collection of his devotionals. These are available in a Kindle and paperback format on Amazon (ISBN 979-8705738878) “Life Stories to Uplift and Encourage”.
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Trevor Montgomery, 49, moved in 2017 to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source (RCNS) and Shasta County News Source (SCNS).
Additionally, he writes or has written for several other news organizations; including Riverside County-based newspapers Valley News, Valley Chronicle, Anza Valley Outlook, and Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle; the Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County; and Mountain Echo in Shasta County. He is also a regular contributor to Thin Blue Line TV and Law Enforcement News Network and has had his stories featured on news stations throughout the Southern California and North State regions.
Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)
During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with other locations.
Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.
Trevor has been married for more than 30 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 18 grandchildren.