FREE e-Book, Tetelestai, if the battle is over, why is life so hard?

23 March, 2024 By Yvon Prehn Leave a Comment

Tetelestai Book Cover — The answer is comforting and challenging, download the eBook for free to find it.

Tetelestai! "It is finished!"

Many sermons, this and every Easter are either based on or contain this great final cry of Jesus from the cross that affirms that the work of salvation is complete.

But is that what Jesus really said? (Spoiler alert....He didn't).

And if He did, why is life so hard, why are there so many battles to fight?

Don't be alarmed.....I'm not being heretical or doubting. In researching the answers to these questions I found answers far more challenging and reassuring than what I'd known in the past about not only the finished work of Jesus but what it means to us in our struggles.

I had great plans to publish an expanded version of this book on Amazon with a Kindle version, but as I shared in another post, life interfered and many projects are put off. As Easter neared I wanted to give you this book.

CLICK HERE to download it. You have my permission to share it.

Clean Monday, a challenge to recommit to Lent and a focus on becoming like Jesus

18 March, 2024 By Yvon Prehn Leave a Comment

Note: this blog first appeared in my Bible805 website, but I thought we all needed the spiritual encouragement here, so I'm also putting it in for you.

“Clean Monday” is an intriguing label isn’t it?

I thought so when it came across my internet feeds. I like the idea of starting the week, clean and right before God and people. That's a useful thought anytime but I was ignorant that today is Clean Monday, the first day of Great Lent, as Eastern Catholics and Eastern Orthodox refer to the Lenten season. For those of you who have been observing Lent in various ways in the Western church, you are a little over halfway through your Lenten observation this year--following is some encouragement to get you through it. [Read more...]

Past email about my husband’s sudden death

4 January, 2024 By Yvon Prehn Leave a Comment

From a ministry newsletter I sent out in August 2024, just changed date so as not to be on top of readings:

The delight of my eyes taken, my husband's sudden death--ministry plans and trusting God

not what I hoped to be writing now, but hopefully the pruning will end and more ministry content coming

^{_{Dear loved ones—and all on my mailing lists and ministries are loved by me and our Lord,}}

I was recently reading that one day, after sharing God’s Word, and doing what God called him to do, God told Ezekiel the prophet that God would take the "delight of his eyes" from him. That night his wife died, and God told Ezekiel to get up and preach the next day.

A few days after reading this, on this past Sunday evening, the delight of my eyes, my dear husband Paul was taken home to Jesus. He had a sudden heart attack at the pool in our Mobile Home Park, where he loved to go. They couldn't revive him. I wasn't with him. 911 was called and they called me. By the time I got there, he was gone.

It doesn't seem real. We were always together in work and ministry. Our last day was good and loving as always and just before he went to the pool, we told each other how we loved each other as we often did several times a day and always before parting. I have no regrets and incredible thanks for the 30 years we had together.

I am with my sister now, she lost her husband a few years ago. We were completely redoing our mobile home, which I must finish without Paul, the work to be done is staggering. I can't carry on our business that supported the ministry, I have to shut that down. I am overwhelmed now, but I know the Lord will get me through it. Please pray for me on that and just for life.

And Jesus is very near and good. It is well with my soul, though my heart is broken, and it is hard to stop crying and focus. But I must.

It won't be the next day that I return to ministry, I am not as strong as Ezekiel, but I do plan to continue to teach our beloved class at church and I have been working very hard on the series of lessons and content for the fall for both Bible805 and Effective Church Communications (more on that schedule later). And I am working on some eBooks that are about to be updated and finished. My planned launch for much of the online content is mid-September. (UPDATE 1-2025 since then, none of that done--the outside work to finish house overwhelming, but I've been teaching live classes and planning to start back on websites, etc. soon this new year).

I start teaching Bible classes at church in September. Following are the start times. I’ll be sending out emails and more information in the coming weeks. If you are in the Ventura, CA area, I’d love to have you in the live class, but as I have done in the past, following the live class I will record podcasts, videos, and post the notes, and questions on www.Bible805.com, www.YouTube.com/Bible805, and www.Bible805Academy.com. Here is the schedule (the question class is based on the questions you sent it and I am incredibly excited about it—I’ll send the detailed class breakdown out later):

Trust the Bible to Answer Your Questions, beginning Wednesday, September 11, 6:30-8:30, Encounter Church, 6950 Ralston St., Ventura, CA 93003

Why We Can Trust the Bible, beginning Sunday morning, Sept. 15, 10:45-12:00 am, Encounter Church, 6950 Ralston St., Ventura, CA 93003

(1-2025, Update on all taught all the classes, a wonderful blessing to do--some in leadership didn't want me to do them at first, but I adamately insisted that this was God's call on my life--I did them and all were greatly blessed and my calling confirmed.)

With the many health challenges and trials (e-coli, RSV virus, Covid, severe fall, head injury, forced rest of several months) of the last year, I was feeling good, and we were excited about getting our home redone after being there 20 years and finally able to it, our business supporting the ministry was going well, and we were excited about our new fall classes coming up—but the Lord apparently had some additional pruning He wanted to do in my life and though the pain is beyond comprehension, I do believe and affirm with all my heart that He is a good God. One step at a time in obedience is what I pray I will do.

For me to live is Christ. Truly. In times like this, the true reality of our faith, of our Lord is such a precious treasure. What we have believed and I teach, is all true, the Bible is our anchor, and please pray more than anything else that I fulfill the calling God gave me.

I know I have much content I trust was given to me over the last many, many years of study and ministry. I know the Lord wants me to share it. Please pray I fulfill the calling He has given me—that is my most fervent prayer and I truly believe that’s all that matters in the end and I want to end well for my Lord.

Any responses, please send to my personal email: yvonprehn@gmail.com

Thank you beyond words for your patience and kindness with me. I do trust days are coming when I can serve you with content and encouragement and that these dark nights of the soul will pass as I know they will.

UPDATE 1-4-2025--My life has been filled with hard times, challenges, and tragedies, but I could never have imagined the searing, physical and emotional depth of pain of the last few months. My entire life has been upended--loss of husband, attempting to redo home (it was totally torn apart, no functional anything, bathrooms or kitchen, all our life in boxes), loss of partner in work that supported ministry and having to attempt to finish it on my own (I'm still in the midst of overwhelming work on that), loss of ministry partner. I am still floundering in many ways and the pain overwhelms in waves. I'm living with my sister who is wonderful and I have resources to finish the house. I am thankful.

God somehow helps me press on and I am attempting to get back to working on my online ministry again. That's all I can say for now--I must get back to work.

How Christians are like Pumpkins—a fun object lesson for adults and kids to grow as Christians together

7 October, 2023 By Yvon Prehn Leave a Comment

Pumpkin Carving and faith building project — Use this pumpkin carving lesson as a time to teach children about Jesus.

This is just the cutest, fun thing for Halloween!

But first the serious reasons behind it:

In the Old Testament, Jewish parents were commanded to teach their children about God's law during all of life.

Write these commandments that I’ve given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder; inscribe them on the doorposts of your homes and on your city gates. Deut. 6:7-9 MSG

In the New Testament, we are all commanded to do a similar thing—

Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way. Col. 3;7, MSG

Though we are commanded to make God's Word and doing His will part of every area of life, that isn't an easy command to fulfill.

Holidays can help, even ones we wouldn't normally think would help us to grow in our Christian lives.

How pumpkins can help us understand the Christian life, what Jesus has done for us, and how we can live for Him.

We don't often think of Halloween as a time to learn about the Christian faith, but with a little imagination and creativity, it can be! Here is a pumpkin carving project that will help kids learn about Jesus. Below is a short video that goes through the project and below the video is a link to a ZIP file that contains a ready-to-print Pumpkin Project sheet, editable MS Publisher files, jpg images, and an MS Word file of the text if you want to create your own version.

Please note: I saw many versions of this before I created my own and was never able to track down an original creator--if that's you or you know who it is, please let me know at yvonprehn@gmail.com.

Click on the following link to download a ZIP file that contains a ready-to-print Pumpkin Project, editable MS Publisher files, jpg images, and an MS Word file of the text if you want to create your own version: Pumpkin Project & Poem

Share this:

Share this:

The delight of my eyes taken, my husband's sudden death--ministry plans and trusting God

Dear loved ones—and all on my mailing lists and ministries are loved by me and our Lord,

Share this:

Share this:

How pumpkins can help us understand the Christian life, what Jesus has done for us, and how we can live for Him.

Share this:

^{_{Dear loved ones—and all on my mailing lists and ministries are loved by me and our Lord,}}