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"...lead me in the way everlasting..."

It’s the last day of 2020! I don’t know about you, but I find it hard to believe. In some ways, I feel like this year flew by – in other ways I feel like it has drudged along. But all in all, I feel like it came too quick. The year kept on moving forward no matter what was going on. There were not pauses, no retakes and now here we are, getting ready to begin a new year and – many of us – are hoping for something better!     That’s the interesting thing about time though – it keeps on moving forward – keeps on leaving and there is nothing that anybody can do about it. You can’t slow it down or speed it up or get any of it back.    One of my favorite quotes comes from one of the Lord of the Rings books (and movies).    “I wish it need not have happened in my  time ,” said Frodo.  (maybe you can relate to Frodo this year!)  “So do I,” said  Gandalf , “and so do all who live to see such  times . But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the  time  that i
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Christmas with the Apostle John

I think it is safe to say that most of the time we read of Jesus’ birth from the Gospel of Luke. There we read of the swaddling clothes and the angels in the fields. It is beautiful and we ought to read it. But today, I’d like to read John’s treatment of Jesus’ birth over in John 1. What I’d like to do with you today is simply read through the text and receive some important truths about Jesus therein!   We begin in  John 1:1, “ In the beginning was the Word,   and the Word was with God,   and the Word was God.   2  He was with God in the beginning. ” Jesus is eternal. He was with God in the beginning of all things but He Himself has no beginning. Before He became human, before He was born and given the name “Jesus” He was the Word of God, the Son of God and He, like God, has always been.    3  Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.   Jesus participated in the creation of the world! Nothing that exists was made without Him! It is interesting
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The Selflessness of Christmas

A few weeks ago, Leah and I were talking to the boys about what they wanted to get for different members of the family for Christmas. We told them to think about the person that they were buying for and what they liked and pick out a present that that person would like rather than getting them something the boys would like. Here’s a few things they came up with. I asked Anthony, “What does Grandma like?” “Grits!” came the quick reply. And he is right, my mom loves grits, eats them for breakfast almost every morning. So, Anthony got her a tub of grits that is wrapped and under the tree right now.   I asked Jack, “What does Mimi like?” “Books!” Jack said! And he’s right, Leah’s mom loves to read – but Jack wasn’t done. “And she likes it when I color for her!” So, Jack decided to color a picture of a book for his Mimi.    This is what I love about Christmas! Thinking about another person and what they like and getting excited by the idea of doing something for them. We call this selflessn
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Excited for Christmas

Greetings everyone! By now many of you have heard that my wife Leah has tested positive for COVID 19. She is doing well with mild symptoms - mainly congestion and fatigue with occasional headaches. We had the boys tested today and they are all negative for the virus. I was tested yesterday and should hear back today or tomorrow. We deeply appreciate all the prayers and offers to help!     Today I want to talk about the excitement of Christmas. I remember when I was a kid Christmas Eve seemed like the longest night of the year! My younger brother and I could hardly get to sleep. We would sneak out and look under the tree and then run back to one of our rooms and try to guess what we got. On more than one Christmas we would come busting into my Mom and Dad’s room sometime before 6 AM and my dad would often tell us we had to wait another 30 minutes or an hour. We were so excited we couldn’t stay in bed!   Then, just a few weeks later when it was time to go back to school… everything chang
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Trusting God

Proverbs 3:5,  “Trust in the Lord with all your heart,   and do not lean on your own understanding.” Psalms 9:10,  “And those who know your name put their trust in you,      for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.”   Over and over again scripture implores us, commands us, and calls us to trust God, to trust Him enough to obey Him even when we don’t want to. Even when it doesn’t make any sense. Even when the world and everyone in it is telling us something different. Why? Because trusting God is the key to fulfilling your purpose in this life, to being successful in this life. Allowing God, your Creator and your Heavenly Father to guide your life will lead you to accomplish things on an eternal level, even when you aren’t aware of it (see last weeks devo).   The question is – will you choose to trust God?   Yesterday we completed our 5 week study of the life of Joseph called “Trust” – in both difficult and triumphant moments Joseph showed us what it looks like to trust Go
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Don't miss the good news!

In December 1903, after many attempts, the Wright brothers were successful in getting their "flying machine" off the ground. Thrilled, they telegraphed this message to their sister Katherine: "We have actually flown 120 feet. Will be home for Christmas." Katherine hurried to the editor of the local newspaper and showed him the message. He glanced at it and said, "How nice. The boys will be home for Christmas." He totally missed the big news--man had flown!    I read another story today about a brother and sister who were singing Silent Night together one day in December. When they got to the end the boy sang, “Sleep in Heavenly beans”. His older sister quickly corrected him, “No! it’s not beans, it’s peas.”    I think that sometimes, especially these days, you and I can sing the songs and read the story and still miss the message. We sing about heavenly peace and the salvation that came to the world on that first Christmas night so many years ago, but we d
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God Is Working Behind the Scenes

Yesterday, some close friends of mine shared a very meaningful passage of scripture with me from   Galatians 6:9, “ And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. ”    The passage means to keep moving forward and serving the Lord in your situation and trust that, even though you can’t see it, and if you are serving Him – loving Him and honoring Him with your behavior and work, He is working behind the scenes.    This all reminded me of a song we often sing at Rocklane called “Waymaker”. (You can watch an excellent rendition here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJCV_2H9xD0 ) The bridge of the song reads,    “Even when I don’t see it, You’re working.  Even when I don’t feel it, You’re working. You never stop, you never stop working.”   We are used to instant gratification. We want to see the results and see them know. But in Christianity the measure of success is not the visible rewards – but rather in the faithfulness. I have been readin
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