death of a vision

Tragedy can snatch a vision from one's grasp without warning. An acquaintance of mine birthed an inner-city work that was ravaged by a horrible flood and he is just now resurfacing in a new ministry. Another personal friend who works with young people recently experienced the untimely death of a young person under his care struck by lightening. He is processing his grief and grappling with God's purpose in continuing his ministry there.

How the enemy wants to gut our vision of something grand and beautiful for God! He will do everything he can to discredit us, discourage us, divide us, destroy us. He knows that if he can get us looking at the wrong things, he can kill the vision that we have.

Staying focused on God's call and not being deterred by the concerted efforts of the enemy to change our view of things by causing us to look away from what God has called us to do is a matter of disicpline. I am reminded of Hebrews 12:2 where we are challenged "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, scorning its shame..."
The death of a vision comes when we cease to look at God and allow our eyes to only see what is around us, not unlike Peter, who walked on water until he took his eyes off of Jesus. He sank and would have drownded, if not for Jesus' hearing his cry, "Lord, save me!", Matthew 12:22ff.

Don't let your view of things be shaped by circumstances; instead, look at Jesus, and keep your vision clear and focused. Don't let the enemy steal what God has shown and revealed to you by obscuring it with obstacles. Hold on to it tightly and see God's plan and purpose in the middle of the storm.

Appropriate pride

"Proud" was how I felt at our most recent worship service at Grace Fellowship! I know pride is a bad thing but in this case it was, I think, appropriate.

Our youth led the service on Sunday--greeting, ushering, leading worship, acting in a skit--and our youth minister preached his first sermon. For all of us at Grace it was a day to thank God for how He has blessed our youth ministry, even though we have never had a numerically large group. We have operated with a ministry philosophy of building a core group of teens who loved the Lord and lived out their faith.

The results "on display" Sunday...

*Our worship leader began as a thirteen year old just learning to play the guitar, taught by our then youth minister (now our associate pastor). Kyle is a student at Biola University.

*Our pianist, Tessa, has grown up in our church and recently graduated from high school.

*Our man who led in prayer, Brian, is a product of our associate pastor's youth ministry and now works as a volunteer with our teens.

*Our skit team was composed of five teenagers, including our associate pastor's daughter, Morgan, who was five when she arrived at Grace.

*Our missionary spotlight was given by Beka, recently returned from four weeks in the Ukraine as a completion of a class project from Simpson Bible College.

*Our "offerng leader", Richard, found Christ a couple of years ago out of a life of drugs, and now works with our teens and is headed for Moody Bible Institute in January.

*Our speaker, Christian, is now our youth pastor, though his roots go back to earlier days when we supported him as a young missionary doctor in Guatelmala while he was in the service.

It is no wonder I am smiling...and "proud" in an appropriate way...of our kids at Grace and our ministry team who serves them faithfully!

Getting ready for the fall...

FROM THE PASTOR
“Getting Ready for the Fall”…that was going to be how I entitled this short piece for the church newsletter and then I noticed there was a possible double meaning hidden in those words. I want to be sure that I cover all bases so no one is left wondering, “What did he mean by that title?”

I just returned from a week away at the ocean, a favorite of mine for deep thinking and meditation. It was restful there, and unburdened by the cares of everyday life, I was able to find time to think about things that really matter—my ministry, my marriage and family, and my future—all things that are of critical importance. I am excited about ministry, I am committed to my wife and family, and I am trusting God with our future. That is how I would summarize all the ponderous issues that can be examined in these areas with an unavoidable measure of angst and worry. Ministry is always characterized by balancing need concerns with areas of growth; marriage and family issues always revolve around whose hurting or what can I do to help? And my future at age sixty…? Am I making the best investment of the resources I have?

“Getting ready for the fall” involves for me an inventory of what we are doing that is good and what are we doing that needs to be improved. It also begs the question, “What are we not doing that needs to get done?” Our staff will have met by the time you read this and have spent a day discussing all of these valid concerns as we seek to be good stewards of the responsibilities of leadership. We will be seeking God’s direction as we try to “fine-tune” the calendar and schedule for the balance of the year. I will be preaching from the book of I Peter beginning in September, and will be joined by Pastor Mark, in teaching the truths of this letter written to people who were going through really hard times. Some of our church families are experiencing the same so this book seems appropriate for us at this time—and for our ministry to other hurting people.

“Getting ready for the fall” for me means as well increased discipline and accountability as the weather cools and I move inside for more exercise…and, potentially, more “holiday-inspired” eating. It is also a time to guard myself against the unrealistic demands of heavy programming and heightened expectations that I tend to place on myself. What is critical here is for me to seek to please the Lord as I minister for Him.

“Getting ready for the fall” could mean something much more ominous. There is an election on the horizon that frightens me and some measures on our state ballot that are of huge importance as we seek to affirm the importance if the family and what a marriage relationship ought to look like. There are many religious political pundits who are forecasting a “fall” for our country if we make certain choices that signal an acceleration towards our own demise. “Getting ready for the fall” means for me that I will exercise my votes carefully and prayerfully and not fatalistically sit back and watch what I fear may happen, actually happen, because I chose not to vote. “Swing Vote”, an average movie, has a singularly important message in its hypothetical story—one man’s vote can make a difference. So get ready for the fall by being totally engaged in the political process. There are lots of ways to make your vote seem bigger than one.

“Getting ready for the fall” is a challenge I have already begun to embrace. I have re-examined my schedule, sorted through my priorities and am in the process of making some choices that may signal a fresh direction for my life. Why not join in the adventure?

away from my blog

I will be taking a break from my blog from August 4-12. I am refreshing myself with the mountain breezes of Felton, California and the ocean sounds of Santa Cruz.

I will share the highlights when I return...

a grandparent's lament

A cruise with fifty-two family members on any account is a cruise to remember. We had a great time, highlighted by quality and quantity time with eight of our grandchildren, including four month old, Brady, who we have seen just a few times before.

Here are my conclusions following our family outing...
1, We live too far away from all of our grandchildren.
2. At our "ripening" age grandchildren are critically important to our life.
3. We have to make some changes in our schedule to see them more often.

The challenge is that I have a very demanding fulltime job and my eleven grandchidlren are scattered from here to Texas!

JJ, our grandson from Texas, will be joing us this week for a nine day stay. He will be nine in September so this is an adventure for him and a thrill for us to have him all to ourselves. We have all kinds of things planned, including a few days camping near Santa Cruz.

But, alas...

We will have to say good-bye until the next time we get together--it could be 3-6 months--and that is much too long.

Grandkids are a top priority in our lives and we continue to look for ways to have quality and quantity time together with--Sage, Eden, Zeke, Haaken, Kyle, Julianne, Nate, Brady, JJ, Milla and Owen.

We can't always plan on mom arranging a cruise for the whole family!

Thanks, mom!

family reunion

For a part of this next week Beverly and I will be doing something probably unheard of, or at least highly unusual--meeting on a cruise ship with every member of her mother's family, that is 52 of us. That includes all of her mother's children, spouses, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Everyone is coming...a gift of Bev's eighty-four year old mother!

We are sailing to Cabo San Lucas and will be gone for five days and four nights and stopping only there. I can't iamgine what it will be like for us all to eat together and keep track of one another, but it should be exciting and entertaining. And it will be such a thrill for Henrietta--Bev's mom--to be surrounded by all of us who love here.

Anyway, I will be away from my blog until after July 22nd.

Wish me "happy sailing!"!

THE REASON FOR GOD

I am a Tim Keller fan anyway. A member of our church family suscribed several years for us to his weekly sermon tapes. It was a wonderful gift and Beverly and I grew to respect Keller's unrelenting commitment to preaching the truth and communciating with intellectual New Yorkers checking out Christianity.

Keller's recently-released book, The Reason for God, is addressed to people with doubts...doubts about subjects we are often reluctant to discuss. Keller addreses them with his typical insightfulness and from a rational perspective that does not preclude faith, but encourages it. He deals with subjects such as suffering in the world, hell, the exclusivity of Christianity, and other topics that cause the juices of doubt to flow deeply...sometimes even in the veins of believers.

I like Keller because he makes me think. His "take" is usually a little different than mine might be, and I find that refreshing. His immersion in the inner city makes him a sensitive spokesman for the masses out there on the streets searching. Hopefully, in Keller's book they are challenged to look carefully at the God revealed in the Word.

What's negotiable?

When it comes to marriage with my wife, some things are negotiable, and some are not. We can negotiate about who waters the plants on the deck, whose turn it is to wash the dishes, and, even, whether or not a new plasma television for watching sports is in the budget.

What is not negotiable is whether I brush my teeth and bathe daily...and who I make love to. Those things we have agreed are non-negotiable.

In my faith there are some things that are negotiable as well. We can debate about what the Bible says about the chronology of events in the "last days" (we could even debate about whether or not these are the "last days"). We can argue about whether or not all the gifts of the Spirit are for this day and age, or, whether or not some of them ended with the apostolic age.

But, again, some things are not negotiable...and at the top of that list is the authority of the Word of God.

We are living in times where everything is considered negotiable and everything has to be accepted in the name of tolerance. What some describe as the postmodern age of the church is often characterized by the words, "Let's talk. Let's dialogue about our faith. There is nothing that is not potentially negotiable..." It may not be couched in those words, but when hard-pressed some of today's emergent church spokesmen suggest it is arrogant to assume that any theological position we hold to is non-negotiable.

If the authority of God's Word is up for grabs, what truth is there that we can utlimately come to to test the validity of our faith?

My wife is unwilling to negotiate who I am intimate with...and I am counting on the same commitment from her. It's what keeps our trust of one another firmly in place, even during the rocky times of life.

My faith is built on an unserving commitment to the authority of God's Word...and that's what holds me steady whenever everything else seems uncertain. It's not negotiable.

"for better, for worse..."

Marriage vows are a part of most traditional wedding ceremonies although, I am told, the contents are ever-changing to facilitate the mercurial nature of marriages today. Going in, it as if there are a list of predetermined caveats that undermine the once-honored "for better, for worse; for richer, for poorer; in sickness and in health..." In their place are the now more common, expected--if not recited words--"as long as we love each other", "until we change", "whenever it takes more effort than I am willing to make", etc.

It is tragic to me to observe the blatant disregard for commitment and the choosing of the path of least resistance as the final arbiter of whether or not two people, once in love, often now parents, decide to remain in their marriage. More often than not is the well-documented legacy of divorce that wreaks its toll upon them and succeeding generations.

I know it well. I have been divorced. As a minister, I desperately want to protect those I counsel from the pain and sorrow that awaits them--that foolishly they expect will be evaded or, at least, diminished, by leaving a troubled relationship. Little consideration is given for the selfishness and costliness of their decision and the inevitable repercussions for little children left in the wake of a breakup for "convenience and comfort", or, for just "pure" lust.

"For better, for worse..." aniticipates that in the normal marriage there may well be a little of both. The vows of commitment declare the determination to stay in the marriage because of a promised love for one another. Such vows do not leave the back door open for a quick departure (eagerly provided for by the State) but, sadly, the words seem to be only rhetoric, a traditon to be adandoned in the name of personal expedience.

It is no wonder things are not better...but worse.

Seven Things God Hates

Well, it seems big jump from the "fruit of the Spirit" for five days of VBS to "Seven Things God Hates" in our Sunday morning worship series from Proverbs. But I took that step Sunday.

There is a necessary correlation between the two. God is a God of love--we love to talk about His mercy and grace, His kindness and patience. We are drawn to the loving God and we can be enveloped in this to such an extreme, however, that some would suggest anything without this motiff should NOT be taught or preached, i.e., sermons on sin, death, hell, etc.

God is also a holy God--a righteous and a just God. He is a God who hates sin. How can we NOT talk about the things He hates--the things Proverbs 6:12-19 identifies as "detestable" to Him--with a mindset to take note of them as children who desire to please their Heavenly Father?

Here's the connective link. If we truly love God how could we choose to do the things that He hates? The list--pride, dishonesty, injustice, selfishness, rebellion, hypocrisy and divisiveness--is developed in my sermon (available on gracefellowshipamador.com). These things are contrary to the nature of a holy God, and should be uncommon to the life of a believer who truly loves Him..

I love God too much to choose to do the things He hates.

Still, I do fall short of such determination. In that context I am reminded of Paul.s words, "God commended His love towards us that while we were yet sinners (see the list above), Christ died for us".

Take the jump with me, and embrace the "fruit of the Spirit" produced in a loving relationship with God...but repent of the things God hates that can break our fellowship with Him.

Vacation Bible School

We are passed the midweek point of a spectacular week of VBS at Grace Fellowship. Yes, I am the senior pastor but I am also,along with my wife, the volunteer 3-4 grade and 5-6 grade Bible lesson teacher..what a great assignment!

Why me? We have 120 children participating and about another 50-plus teen and adult helpers in refreshments, crafts, music, administration, drama, teaching, recreation, assisting...you name it. I just wanted to connect with the children of our church this week. Every morning about 8:30 a.m. I show up to greet them by name, hug them,and generally let them know I love them--from the innocent two year olds to the "sophisticated" sixth graders. And I get lots of love back in return.

Two sessions of twenty-five minutes each Bev and I teach about the fruit of the Spirit--love, joy, peace, patience and kindness. As we have looked into the eager faces of the 50 plus children in our two classes, I have had an emotional moment or two thinking about the families they represent--their path to Grace Fellowship--and their role apparent as future participants in the body of Christ. What an opportunity to impress them with the truth of God's Word.

Each day the children come together to sing and are dismissed to classes that include music, recreation, crafts, Bible story time and Bible application. The opening session features a dramatic presentation by some high school teens, and every other environment--grade specific--includes age appropriate crafts (the older boys arte constructing bird houses!), interactive games, the Bible lesson and application time and a culminating session where everyone comes together to reconnect before heading home about 12:30 p.m. It is a long but worthwhile morning.

It is 5 p.m. and I am tired. Three days down, two more to go!

But I am energized by the realization that I am investing in the lives of young children who will, hopefully, look back some day and remember this as a special week.

It has been for me!

Father's Day

I have been reflecting upon my father's life the last few days. June 10th would have been his 86th birthday and the twentieth anniversary of his untimely death is later this year. The shadow of his life gives me pause to remember him today.

Dad was extraordinary in many ways. People who know me--and who knew him--tell me he was one of the kindest, most loving persons they knew. Though he was a large man, he was gentle and soft-spoken, and no one ever feared a temper tantrum or a vile word from him.

He was brilliant, though he camouflaged it well. He knew words in the dictionary I had never heard and he could remember pieces of history and other trivia that amazed us and made us laugh. He could read quickly and still recall details from what he had read. He had an incredible sense of discernment about people and their motives and was not easily deceived.

Dad was a motivator, even though he did not realize it. He used His presence and passion well, encouraging kids the world would have abandoned to go to college and to prepare themselves for service. At one time over one hundred teenagers had left the small church he pastored in Stockton, California, to travel cross-country to a small Bible college in Iowa to ask God how they could spend their lives serving Him. And now they are literally scattered aorund the world in churches, on the mission field...in various places of influence for the kingdom of God.

My twin brother is a minister. My oldest sister has spent most of her vocational life teaching in Christian schools. My younger sister is married to a pastor-chaplain, and now, for forty-one years I have been a pastor as well. All four of us live in the shadow of dad's love and influence.

On this Father's Day I want to honor my dad by seeking to live with a similar mindest to humbly serve God and to motivate others to do the same. In that way I can extend his legacy to me.

Grinnin' with the grandkids

I have eleven grandchildren and in the last ten days I have spent quality time with seven of them--five days with the three in Texas, and four days with four of the eight from San Luis Obispo. What a treat! I have learned a few lessons along the way...

1. Grandchildren make me happy. I can't count the times I stopped myself and thought, "Why am I smiling like this?" (Sadly, that is not typical of my commom facial presentation.)

2. Grandchildren make me tired. I hiked, swam, carried, hoisted on my shoulders, wrestled, ran, chased, hosed...these are all high-level action words that seemed to be "eternal", with the "tired" part only to be discovered at the end of the day when sleep was instant!

3. Grandchildren make me proud! I watched my son, daughter-in-law, daughter, son-in-law, step daughter-in-law--carefully. They are all better parenta than I was and I am intensely proud of how they are raising their children with a good mix of love and discipline, freedom and boundaries.

4. Grandchildren make me concerned. I wonder aloud what kind of world they will live in. What values will be the norm? What role will their faith play in their lives when they get older? And,of course, I am curious about which of them I will see graduate from college, get married, and find their place of service in a needy world.

5. Grandchildren make me hopeful. I see in all eleven of mine with brightness and unlimited potential (a totally unbiased perspective). I see that being fashioned against a backdrop of intentional and careful nurturing by godly parents. I already see in some of them sensitivity, kindness and concern for others...and that gives me hope.

The last batch of grandkids just left and headed home. We probably won't be seeing them for a couple of months--and the three out in Texas even longer (although one is coming here for eight days...I can't wait!)


Any way, I just looked in the mirror...and I am still grinnin'!

Fasting

The medicinal value of fasting has long been touted. Giving the body a "rest" under certain medical guidelines has, apparently, some impressive benefits.

In the realm of Christian faith, there is a tradition of fasting for spiritual purposes from its Old Testament roots in the Day of Atonement, to its inclusion as a concomitant to prayer, especially in times of repentance before God and appealing for mercy, all the way to its mention in the New Testament as a part of Jesus' experience in the desert when He was tempted by Satan. He later addresses the attitude in fasting and encourages its observation as a private thing, judged only by God.

I have fasted several times and discovered its benefit for me to be a purposeful focusing of my attention on God. When the physical needs of hunger are being set aside to cultivate a spiritual appetite for God it can be a valuable experience. I have found it helpful when doing a spiritual inventory of my life or when addressing a specific unmet need.

We are calling our church family next week to a time of prayer and fasting together. I am excited to think about what happens when we corporately pray together and seek Him to meet our needs. The phrase in Matthew 17:21, "some things come only by prayer and fasting", missing from the earliest manuscripts, nonetheless motivates me to earnestly come to God in prayer, and to puruse the most intimate kind of communication with Him, emptied of my physical urges.
I hope others will be joining me.

digging deep

We are probably like many churches that are experiencing the pressures of an unstable financial economy. In our county construction-related businesses impact a lot of our workers, as well as people associated with the real estate business. They have all been hit hard by the current housing market and building crisis.

Our church has a budget that grew about 10% this year, even with anticipated budget cutbacks and "tightening our belt" in every responsible way that we could. The bottom line is we are still not meeting our budget projections, and are being forced to cut our ministry expenditures accordingly. And this is painful, because our church continues to grow.

Church attendance grows at a faster rate usually than giving; at least that is our experience here. It takes time for people to get assimilated into the body and to say, "This is our church home; let's help take care of it." Giving is a matter of the heart and increased giving is the result of people saying "yes" to God when He tugs at their wallets. Because it is a spiritual matter, it cannot be produced
from "guilting" people to give or "brow-beating" them from the pulpit.

So what do we do while we wait for people to get into the life of the body, or, as we wait for them to mature in Christ and begin to understand what stewardship of their resources is all about?

We dig deeper.

We do all we can--and the sacrifical "more" God may direct--and we don't worry about what others are/are not doing. We simply obey God and do what He asks of us.

"Digging deeper" helps us discover we have more than we thought, that we have resources to be developed, that we can uncover more of our own time, talent and treasure if we just keep digging.

We'll get through this time because God's work continues and God continues to bless us at Grace Fellowship. We are digging deeper so we can celebrate the growth that we are experiencing together as God gives the increase.

I think I will grab my shovel and do some more digging...

pain and suffering

I am an observer of pain and suffering, and a recent participant, as well.

What I see in the lives of those with whom I sit in hospital rooms, counsel in my office, comfort at the rest home, encourage over the phone or via e-mail--whatever the venue--is a deepening need for the community of faith.

During my recent bout with kidney stones I was encouraged by cards, phone calls, e-mails, and the assurance of prayers. People offered their "sure-fire" antidotes as well, but the real blessing was that of my church family's connectedness to me during the three week ordeal.

The patient facing surgery, or battling cancer; the couple trying to hold their marriage together; the wife of an alzheimer's patient struggling with his disesse; the family weathering the storm of a son's addiciton; a new convert seeking to live out his new-found faith; a seasoned worker without a job. What do these all have in common? A need for the community of faith to come alongside them--not necessarily with words of theological reason and a formula for immediate resolution...but with simple love and concern.

I can do that...and so can you.

"Well, I woke up this mornin'..."

The lyrics of a WE FIVE song from the sixties begin with the words, "Well, I woke up this mornin', you were on my mind..." My story this week is a little different. When I woke up Monday morning, I felt something familiar...famiiar in the sense I remembered the feeling from several years ago. Sharp pains were pulsating through my lower back-kidney area and it took me just a few moments to realize, "I have a kidney stone!"

"Well, I woke up this mornin'..." and every morning this week with that stone on my mind and in my body, screaming for attention. A kidney stone is an unwelcome intruder. The most signficant think I heard someone say to me about the relative pain of having one was a woman who had had both babies and stones, and concluded that having the stones was worse! I can't compare so I will have to take her word for it.

This week has been an interesting adventure for me, and for my sweet wife, who has nursed me through it. Because the pain was intermittent in the beginning, I sandwiched in time at the office, led my staff meeting and shared lunch, did some disciplings-a few breaks when the stone wasn't screaming "Let me out of here!" In the other more painful moments I cancelled appointments, left my care group early, and abandoned plans to see my grandchildren--the most difficult decision of all. I made the call not to teach and preach tomorrow morning a few hours ago, because I was worried about unnecessarily punctuating my messages with gutteral sounds.

I am now on a regular regimen of vicodin--I know, I hate drugs!--and am drinking copious amounts of water. I have found relief in our jacuzzi tub (the world's greatest invention), and, believe it or not, walking--pacing thoough the house or walking on my treadmill. The concomitant nausea from the drugs has been my occasional companion but the pain is--for the moment--under control.

Yesterday's x-rays revealed that this was more than a bad dream. The technician pointed out what looked like a VERY LARGE stone to me and told me to keep my meds nearby over the weekend since my next doctor's visit is Monday.

When you wake up any morning it is difficult to imagine what lays in wait for you. In just a short period of time I have been transported from the mmagical island of Kauai and a week of sun and fun to a week of sad and bad. I am not complaining. Both menus are inevitably a part of life. When I woke up Monday I looked forward to a week of doing God's work, and spending time with my family. God had other plans.

No, I don't think He implanted a kidney stone to spoil my day. But He allowed me to have some time to really think about pain and how people I minister to deal with it every day. I tell people I will pray for them--and I do--but I feel more passionate today about praying with ferver for those who are hurting. Not surprisngly, the best words I have heard this week from those who have called me are, "I am praying for you."

I am not sure how this will all end up--I am praying for the "skip surgery" option. I do know this. When I wake up in the mornin', I will thank God for His constancy in my life...whether whispering His peace to me in Kauai, or, affirming His love to me in the jacuzzi tub in the middle of the night.

Miraculous deliverance from Kauai...

That sounds like an oxymoron, doesn't it? If you have ever been to the island of Kauai--and you are like me--you probably never wanted to leave! The lush green mountains, the crystal blue ocean, the rolling chartruese meadows sandwiched in between--all of this, enveloped by the intermittent cooling misty rain and sunshine--has a magnetic effect that whispers, "Stay,stay,stay...".

We flew to Kauai for a weekw ith our friends on the ill-fated ATA Airllines. of course, we did not know that when we left. We arrived in Lihue safely,s ettled in to our beautiful surrounding on The Point at Poipu...and received the dreaded phone call the second day.

"Hi, Dale. I have some bad news. ATA declared bankruptcy and closed up shop and your ticket home is invalid. Sadly, it appears there are no tickets available for at least two weeks and the cost is nearly $1000 a piece!"

My faithful travel agent, Donna, assured me that things would change as the airlines sorted through the mess and she would keep me posted on her discoveries. She proved to be a valuable asset in getting us home on time for a relatively minimal additional cost.

We had some nervous days wondering if we would have to stay an extra week and began researching our options, evaluating additional costs, envisioning a work scenario that would allow me to study and prepare for the work I needed to do if we had to stay.

Strangely, none of this really effected our time in Kauai. As much as I am prone to worry I affirmed (a) Donna was working as hard as she could to help us (b) the situation was really out of my control (c) if we had to stay we would some how manage...in Kauai. Where the extra funds would come from was the only thing I worried about, and, hopefully, we would have enough to cover the surplus.

God wonderously supplied another carrier to get us home--on time--with only a little additonal cost. We found that information out about the half-way point so we were able to breathe deeply, and settle back for a delightful week of rest and relaxation.

And that is the story of our "miraculous deliverance from Kauai..."

away...

For the next 10-12 days I will be away.

"Away" is a good place, wherever it may be. Sometimes we simply need a break away from the usual place.

I will tell you what "away" waa slike on my return...

Resurrection Sunday

A highlight day of the church calendar approaches this weekend. It is the day we celebrate Christ's resurrection from the dead, following the ghastly events of the Passion week culminating in the osbervance of His death on Good Friday.

I Corinthians 15 is the biblical source for understanding the significance of the resurrection and the key verse for me is verse 19 where Paul observes, "If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men."

The daily Chrfistian life with all of its challenges is worthwhile because of the sustaining presence and power of Christ. Andrae Crouch wrote many years ago, "If heaven were never promised to me, it would still be worth serving the Lord..." I often agreed with that verse until I revisited this scripture which says that if our hope in Christ is restricted to this life, we are are "to be pitied", or as the KJV suggests, we are "most miserable".

I found some further scripture that corroborated that thought, ""So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. For what is seen is temproal and what is unseen is eternal", II Corinthians 4:18.

What is in focus in this scriptural context is the fact that many of us experience a variety of challenging cricumstances this side of glory. We are "outwardly wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all".

So Resurrection Sunday shouts hope to us! Sometimes we are not certain--if hard-pressed to respond--that the daily grind is sufficient motivation for serving Christ. We find our solace in the long-term objective of being freed from these mortal bodies and and transformed for the eternal reward thata waits us. That is why Paul would write at the end of his life, "Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for His appearing", II Timothy 4:8.

Resurrection Sunday approaches, and with it the reminder for those struggling with the daily "stuff" of life, God has something better in mind.

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross...Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men so that youw ill not grow weary and lose heart", Hebrews 12:2.3.