Welcome Home!

As I finished reading the Bible this morning I reflected on just what it will be like seeing loved ones who have gone before me into heaven. Will they come rushing to greet me? I'm not so sure.

Our desire to see long-lost family members and friends will be strong, but not as strong, I think, as our desire to see Jesus.

I think it will be like a big concert. We go to see a band. That is our desire. But while we are doing that we will see familiar faces in the crowd. A mother, a father, a friend. What could be more wonderful than worshipping with family and friends?

Of course, some of our earthly acquaintances will not be there. We will be sad about that, but only for an instant. They made their choice. We made ours. Back to worship.

I wonder if any of our friends and family members are waiting to hear the story of Jesus this Easter. Will we have the courage and desire to tell them? The story of Christ's life and death should be an easy one to tell. OUR story should reflect HIS story. Were we not dead and then brought to life?

The story of the prodigal son should be everyone's story in some shape or form. We all are lost until we come to ourselves, repent and seek forgiveness from our Father. When that happens there WILL be a celebration in heaven.

"This son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate." - Luke 15:24

This Easter, share your testimony of how you came to faith in Christ. In so doing you will honor God and declare your faith in Jesus on Resurrection Sunday. You were dead and are now alive again. Celebrate!

Christmas Letter 2017

The beginning of "the Christmas letter" is always an enjoyable time for me. It is a time of reflection and praise as I look back on the year's events. "The reason for the season" always seems to get lost in the hustle and bustle of Christmas shopping and holiday traffic. It shouldn't be that way.

When spring arrived this year so did the reasons for praising God - the One and Only reason for the season. In April I began building a tiny home for Him - a future shelter for area homeless. This is what the tiny home looked like at the end of April . . . two days before my near head-on, roll-over, 60-mph car accident.

The accident was a blessing in many ways. First, the air bags did their job and I was able to climb out of the car. Two days later I was back at work, praising God for His protection. This was my car the day after.

July was a good month. Bev and I celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary by taking a trip to Mackinac Island. We love that place. This year we had an amazing conversation about our faith with the chef at our B&B - Rosie. What an amazing lady.

And speaking of amazing ladies, Miss Emma Elaine was born to our daughter and her husband on July 4th. What a precious gift SHE is!

As I reflect on all of these events in our lives this past year it occurs to me that, when added together, they represent The Gospel of our Lord, Jesus Christ, our Messiah.

In the tiny home we see an example of us humans trying to build our lives on our own, without the help of God. In the end, doing things on our own leads to death (the car accident). We need someone to rescue us. If we place our faith and trust in Jesus (the bridegroom) we can have a successful marriage lasting far longer than just 40 years. It is through our belief that God forgives ALL of our sins that we become born (Emma) . . . again.

And that is why we celebrate the birth of Jesus. He was born, to die for us so that we might live.

^"17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! ¹⁸ All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹ that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰ We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. ²¹ God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." - 2 Corinthians 5:17-21

May God bless you all this Christmas. May you draw closer to God this year than you have ever been. May Jesus be born in you and may you play your drum for Him every day of your lives. Love you all!

Be Born In Me - Francesca Battistelli
Little Drummer Boy - For King and Country

Bittersweet

I attended a funeral this past Monday. The mother of a dear friend had passed away after a battle with cancer.

Funerals for Christians are interesting things to observe. Yes, there are a great deal of tears and plenty of loving hugs to go around, but the thing non-believing witnesses to funerals don't get is . . . the celebration.

It is true that ALL people will miss loved ones regardless of their belief systems, but for the Christian there is another feeling present at funerals. Along with the despair of loss is the additional feeling of . . . hope. Read these words from Jesus and see if you can find a reason to hope.

"¹⁶ Jesus went on to say, “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.” - John 16:16

That's a little vague I guess until you link that verse to HIS death and subsequent resurrection. Let me offer you another passage that might help make things more clear.

^"3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

⁵ For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. ⁶ For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin -⁷ because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

⁸ Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹ For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. ¹⁰ The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God." - Romans 6:3-10

When we place our faith in God, and we accept the fact that Jesus died for our sins, our old self dies. We then receive God's promised Holy Spirit and we become born . . . again. And just as Jesus rose from the dead, so shall we rise to a promised new life.

THAT is why we who believe in Christ celebrate at the funerals of our brothers and sisters!

^"8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. " - 2 Corinthians 5:8

During the funeral the pastor told us that Jean's wish was that all of her children would serve the Lord. Did you catch that? Jean's wish was for others, not for herself. More evidence of the faith that carried her through her illness.

Before I left the funeral I prayed with my young friend Cheyenne, Jean's granddaughter. I prayed for her and the new life that is growing inside of her - Amelia. I prayed for Amelia, a new life just beginning here on earth. As I did so, I couldn't help but think of Jean, also a new life just beginning . . . in heaven. There is no fear for those who believe. Only hope. May you rest in that hope today.

This story is dedicated to the memory of Jean Palmer - to her loving daughter Jeanne, her husband Steve and their kids Joshua, Kahla, Cheyenne and Jessica. And to Amelia. See you soon!

Jean

He Rose - Deluge

The Commands of Jesus: Rejoice!

[This is the third in a series of articles about The Commands of Jesus.]

Did you watch the Daytona 500 last weekend? The Daytona 500 is the biggest race on the NASCAR calendar. All the drivers hope to one day win that race, and when they do they often celebrate and rejoice afterwards.

We get to see all kinds of celebrations on TV. Many people just watched the Oscars. I guess you could call it a celebration. But everyone was pretty much celebrating themselves.  It was kind of sad really. We all think we know what it means to rejoice but Jesus has a slightly different idea of its meaning. Read this from the Beatitudes, found in the book of Matthew.

11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you." - Matthew 5:11-12

Do we rejoice when other pick on us because of our faith? I sure don't. I tend to get really defensive. Sometimes I am even afraid to say anything about my faith because I know it will make other people uncomfortable. But Jesus said that we are supposed to rejoice in it. Do YOU rejoice in persecution? Do you think the Coptic Christians in Egypt rejoiced when ISIS cut their heads off? Think about it for a moment. Right now the persecution they experienced in this world is over. They are rejoicing with Jesus, right now. Do you think they care anymore about ISIS, about their pain and suffering? They are with Christ!

I'd like to show you one more example of rejoicing from the Bible. It is found in the story about the Prodigal Son. Only this story is not about the son. It is about the father.

"18 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ 20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him." - Luke 15: 18-20

It kind of sounds like the sons father is rejoicing. This story is really a parable about the rejoicing our Father in heaven feels when wee come home to Him.

You can read the whole story here.

As Christians, we are expected to rejoice at the Good News we have received. We should rejoice at being chosen to be a child of God. And we SHOULD rejoice in the persecution we face in this world because, "to live is Christ, to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21).

Blessed are we who have made Jesus the Lord of our lives. Blessed are we who face persecution, abuse, teasing, bullying, beatings, whatever, in the name of Jesus. We are not of this world (Romans 12:2). Our reward is in heaven. Let us rejoice and be glad in it! :)

Today Is The Day - Lincoln Brewster

Rejoice - Chris Tomlin 

I Am Second - Trevor Bayne

"4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice." - Philippians 4:4