To Lake Havasu City

          To Lake Havasu City, my home in body but never in soul.
          From Codey, a servant of the LORD.  Peace, love, and light from the Father to the Son to the world.  Amen.

          I feel entirely compelled by honesty to speak my mind to this city, as harsh as the words may be.  Those of you who know and sympathize with what I have experienced will probably find my words tempered and even-handed, whereas the subject of my words will likely find me verbally reckless and hot-headed.  (That is what you do, is it not?  Hate those who disagree with you?)  It is entirely unfortunate that the crowd to whom this post is addressed will not receive it well; still, for some reason, wise or unwise, I feel the need to truly speak my mind before leaving you all.
          You do know that the nature of this city is the reason we are leaving it?  And I do not speak of how dull it is around here or how little there is to do; with this I could have and was beginning to learn to be content.  In fact, I was insufferably busy during my time here, far busier than a strongly pronounced introvert such as myself hopes to be. 
          So this has nothing to do with boredom.  Well... perhaps I am over judging.  Boredom and lack of opportunity are factors.  Still, the end-all (for me, at least) is the nature of the city; or, more exactly, the nature of its people.  If Las Vegas ("sin city") had a child, this city would be her prostitute daughter.  So worldly are its people!  So entirely sold to what is useless are they!
          Do not suppose that we are afraid of you, my family and I.  We may be acting out of fear, but there is a difference between reacting to fear and enslaving oneself to it.  A soldier afraid to die can do two things: fight bravely or flee.  To flee would be to submit and enslave himself to fear.  To fight bravely, he must still react to his fear of death, for his fear of death is what compels him to stay alive in battle.  Fear of death allows him to dodge bullets and terminate enemies.  Courage allows him to fight, fear allows him to fight well.
          So we are not afraid of you.  In fact, we are afraid of ourselves.  Afraid of what we might miss without the opportunity, afraid of what we might become after prolonged exposure to the likes of you.  And do not suppose that we are enslaved to fear, for if we were, we would kill ourselves.  These fears will never leave us until we die; even to Capistrano they will follow us.  For I am sure that to every sinner, every drunkard every prostitute every sluggard, to every one sinner here in Havasu there will be two where we are going.
          However, to every one person here who has given there life to Christ and who lives their life like Christ as well as their flesh allows, I am confident that to every one who is saved there will be at least three where we are going.  Though it seems a small number, it is more than enough for me.  Whatever number of saved there are, God will provide, just as he has each and every time in the past.  This will be to our betterment, which will be to his glory.  Amen.
          I think it best to acknowledge the Christians in Lake Havasu City.  I say to you: do not give in to the sinners around you!  Do so, and you may find God rescuing your friends from you just as he rescued me, and you will simultaneously lose yourself to sin and lose your friend to the jealous hand of God.  
          Do not abuse substances.  Do not slander.  Do not lust.  Be especially careful not to do these things, for these are the things that you will be most intensely tempted to do.  Do not give in; wait on the LORD.  Believe me when I say that when you wait on him, he will deliver you.  I say this with confidence because he did the same for me.  And when he does deliver you, you will be safe indeed!  The temptations of the world will not scathe you during a season of deliverance.  Therefore, wait on him, and he will deliver you.
          Now, to the sinners of Lake Havasu City, I can honestly say that I wish you the best, for if I did not do so then I myself would be undeserving of the best, which is something I strive to achieve for myself.  Not that I am capable of achieving the best for myself by my own power.  The thing that is the best for me, the path that leads to the best, and the power required to keep me on that path all come from another so infinitely more powerful than myself and all of humanity.  The only thing in my power, the only thing, is my power to choose to start that path.   
          This is not to say that I wish you the best merely so that I can be deserving of the best, or simply because I ought to, but because I truly do.  Why shouldn't I?  Why should I be hateful and resentful if you were to repent and do what is best for yourselves?  That is not to say that I am hateful and resentful now.  No, what you may read as hate is merely frustration, which is entirely different.
          The past is just that; past.  The past has no other use but to be used and referred to at the expense and benefit of the present and future.  The past does not deserve to wreak havoc on the present and future.  However, if it can enrich the present and future, what reason have we not to let it?  If you were to repent, what is past would be past, and there is no need for me to let the past ruin my future by allowing my heart to harbor hatred against it.  Indeed, your repentance would also be in the past, and that repentance could enrich the future, both yours and mine.  As it is, your past is also your present, and until you repent it will be your future.  What a sad thought this is for me!
          I do not expect you to repent because I leave, sad as you may be about my passing, for if you were capable of being convinced to repent under any reasonable magnitude of circumstances, you would have done so already when I begged you to do so in person (in my own, somewhat roundabout way).  Even so, I say it one last time.
          Repent!  Repent and believe the good news I have been presenting to you all this time!  Let go of your pride; it will grant you no power.  Let go of your lust; it will leave you empty.  Let go of your contempt; it will control you.  Let go of the things of the world and pursue things that are true and pure and eternal!  Pursue what I pursue; you will not be disappointed.  I have never been let down in my pursuit of these things, and I am confident that I never will be.  What is to stop you from pursuing them besides you?
          As bitter and frustrating and sad as it is, I bid you farewell.  If only I could I stayed a bit longer!  I might have finally made an impact on the likes of you.  Yet these are my conclusions, and it is clear that the LORD knows better, otherwise I would not be moving.  Sons and daughters of the world, if nothing else, know this.  Know that I would have fought for you to the end.  Do you think I would ever have given up preaching and ministering to you?  Certainly not.  Such is the tenacious love of Christ.  Take this as a sign; if I am so tenacious then surely the love of Christ must truly be working in me.  
          Do not fool yourselves.  This love is for all, not merely the "good guys" or self-righteous religious types such as myself.  This love is for all, and for all it sacrificed all that you could inherit everything.  Gifts of eternal value, highly prized in this age and the age to come.  All you need do is accept it!  Is it not you I hear, babbling on about acceptance?  Do you not cling to inclusiveness like a priceless ideal?  Christ's love includes you!  Accept it!
          
          Now I fear that I am beating the dead horse as I continue to preach and dictate to you.  This stands as yet another witness to my furious love for you.  So now I really do bid you farewell!  Know that I could have written so many more paragraphs addressed to your betterment.
          Peace, love, and light from the Father to the Son to the world.  Amen.