Ever hear this before? “I cried because I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet…” Well, meeting this man with no feet will make you cry…

Today, I attended the funeral of a 16 year old girl named Crystal. She was killed in an auto accident this past Monday. I had met her only once - she was the sister of a young lady for whom I had conducted the wedding last month. Some of the photos that scrolled by on the screen were taken at that reception. It was a very moving service, and a chilling reminder of the brevity of life.

Biblical authors often spoke of this fact. Job declared that we were like a vapor or a mist. James quoted him and embelished. Moses, in the only psalm credited to him, said that God had numbered our days. The author of Hebrews declared that it is appointed to man once to die. Life really is short. Unfortunately, it’s shorter for some than for others, but thank God we have this life. No matter the number of our days, each one can be precious when we’re redeemed by Jesus.

Every time we say goodbye to a loved one, especially one so young, we should be reminded to make the most of today’s opportunity to live for Christ and to enjoy our loved ones to the full.

This past Sunday I preached from the fourth commandment, which is really two commandments in one: 1.) work six days, and 2.) rest one. We explored the extreme views on sabbatarian doctrine - legalism which asserts we must keep every point of the Old Testament sabbath laws and liberalism which ignores the underlying sabbath principles altogether. Read the rest of this entry »

Saturday, I flew a kite! It was a beautiful breezy day and my daughter had just gotten a cheap (99 cent), flimsy kite, so we headed over to the front yard of the church. On the way I thought, “This is never going to work, but at least we’ll have a nice walk on a pretty day.” Much to my surprise, the kite flew easily. In fact, it soared to at least fifty feet - pretty impressive for a five-year-old and a Dad with no kite-flying experience. Read the rest of this entry »

Today is pretty special for several people. I have the privilege of baptizing a man who is 68 years of age. He’s been a Christian for a long time, but was baptized after he received Christ. I’m excited to welcome Bob into our church family and his encouragement has already gone a long way in my life. Jimmie is 70, and she’s also joining our church by baptism in the evening service tonight. Then there’s little Alexandria who is in elementary school. All three are giving a public testimony of their salvation. Read the rest of this entry »