IT DOESN’T GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS

Every once in a while something happens that makes you feel really good inside. Such was the case for me last Saturday morning.

Our church has two Guatemalan cleaners, a husband and wife, both in their early thirties. Wonderful people, Christians, assigned to work at our church about two years ago by the cleaning agency that employs them. During their time here we’ve grown to love, appreciate and admire them for the grit they’ve exhibited in leaving their home country to come to the United States in legitimate pursuit of a better life.

Louis and Sylvia tried to have a baby for several years, but each pregnancy ended in a miscarriage…four in all…and with each crushing loss the non English-speaking Sylvia sank deeper into melancholy. Often Louis, his brow furrowed with concern, would pull me aside to ask for prayer, first for the well-being of his wife and then for the blessing of a baby.

By now you’ve probably guessed where this story is going. Three weeks ago the Lord said yes to Louis and Sylvia’s fervent petitions and baby Louisa was born, dark-haired, robust and ready to turn her parents’ lives upside down. Louis and Sylvia believe with all their heart that this baby was a gift from God and so they asked if I would join them to formally thank him for his precious gift of grace. Of course I said yes and at 11 am last Saturday we came together in our sanctuary, along with several members of their family, my wife Nancy and the Lacorazzas to praise and thank the Lord for his faithfulness. There were no dry eyes.

Ministry has its burdens—people problems, funerals and the like—but ministry also has many blessings, not the least of which is the opportunity to come together with believers for occasions of unmitigated joy. Last Saturday was one such occasion and I’m inordinately grateful to God for allowing me to be a part of it. As I said, it made me feel really good inside.

Praise the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever (Psalm 106:1).

Love and blessings,

David

WHAT A CONSOLATION!

Sometimes people look to us preachers for answers that we can’t provide. Last Friday was one such occasion as I presided over the funeral of a gentleman who died in the youth of old age. His passing came as complete shock to his family and friends and left them full of questions, deep questions—Why did God let this happen? Does God care? Is this death just a pointless occurrence?

Believe me when I say, I suffered with and for these distraught congregants and I totally understood why they craved some kind of explanation that would help them find meaning in this tragic loss.

Allow me to share with you an abridged version of what I shared with them…

I don’t have an explanation for you this morning. Explanations for events like this belong only to the mind of God, and I’m not God. What I can offer you, however, is consolation, the consolation of Jesus Christ whom I know beyond a shadow of a doubt shares your grief. I’m reminded of one place in the gospels where John records these remarkable words, “Jesus wept” (John 11:35). Why did Jesus weep? He wept because his dear friends, Mary and Martha, were distraught over the death of their loved one. Just imagine —God, in human flesh, weeping with and for his earthly friends. As an earthly friend of Jesus by virtue of your faith in him, Jesus weeps with you too. In your season of bereavement take this consolation to the bank—you have our Lord’s never-ending companionship. You need not bear the pain of your loss alone. More than once in the New Testament Jesus reassured his brokenhearted and emotionally fragile friends with these words, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).

But the consolation of Christ goes far deeper than the emotional comfort of his enduring companionship. It reaches to the soul and instills in the soul an implacable confidence that beyond this life there is eternal life and that the cross and resurrection are the lasting pathway home to God. As Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me” (John 14:6). I strongly encourage you to take this path. Seize this season of sorrow and make it into a defining moment in your personal life journey. Put your faith in Christ and come to know with confidence that death is not the last word on life and that when all is said and done, somehow, some way, some day this loving Christ will make sense out of this seemingly senseless event that has turned your world upside down.

Did my grieving congregants hear and not just listen to my words? Truthfully, I don’t know, but I pray that they did.

Love and blessings,

David

A SPECIAL VISIT BY A SPECIAL PERSON

If you were in church last Sunday then you know that we’re going to have some special guests in worship this Sunday. Dr. David Lewis, our church’s first associate pastor, will be with us, along with his wife Eileen and fifty four men’s and women’s soccer players from Houghton College in New York. They’re in the Boston area for a weekend soccer tournament. For the overwhelming majority of you David Lewis is just a name, but for me and a handful of current members who were active in the church back in the early to mid 80’s, David’s name evokes a warm smile, many fond memories and a lot of admiration.

I mentored David during his last two years at Gordon Conwell Seminary and his performance here at FBC was so stellar that I recommended to our Advisory Council that we call him as our church’s first-ever associate pastor. They agreed, as did our congregation, and in 1982 David began a four-year full time ministry with us. We all knew that we needed this infusion of gifted youth leadership for our church to grow. At the time it was a bold step of financial faith, but believing that God would provide we forged ahead. Looking back now I can see that this was the genesis point of what has developed into a twenty-five year growth trend for our congregation.

After leaving us in 1986 David went on to earn his doctorate and is currently working as an Associate Professor and the Faculty Director of Sports Ministry at Houghton College. I invited him to take my place in the pulpit this week, but he declined, preferring to sit with his wife and students. He did agree, however, to do a Ministry Moment interview.

I hope you’ll join us this Sunday for what promises to be a wonderful homecoming and a rich celebration of our love for Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8).

Love and blessings,

David

ON JOINING A NEW DENOMINATION…

Yesterday Dana and I attended a regional clergy conference for the Baptist General Conference (aka Converge Worldwide), held in Quincy, Mass. As most of you know, this might be the new denomination with which our church affiliates. All morning I was sputtering to myself about having to relinquish so much of my day for this event…so much to do and so little time…you know how it is…but what a mistake it would have been for me to stay home!

I can’t speak for Dana, but personally I was exhilarated by the experience. After years of suffering through the theological mish-mash of ABC ordination councils and annual meetings, spending time with colleagues who are on the same theological page was in itself an enormous breath of fresh air, sending me home feeling good about the “rightness” this denomination for us. Time will tell if the First Baptist Church body agrees.

As many of you know, post-worship this Sunday we’ll vote on whether or not to pursue the application process with the BGC. May I remind you, this vote is not a decision to affiliate, but a decision to pursue the process of affiliation. In other words, upon deeper investigation, if something turns up that proves unacceptable to us (or to them) we’ll call a halt to the application and move in some other Holy Spirit-led direction. I’m not expecting this, but you never know. Joining a new family of faith is a big deal, one that we all hope will significantly enhance the effectiveness of our church’s mission. Please pray for God’s counsel.

One more thing…in response to the inquiries of a few of you, there’s no plan/intent/desire to change the name of our church. In other words, a new denomination is not tantamount to a new name.

Hope to see you this Sunday.

Love and blessings,

David

ONE WEDDING TO GO…

Five down one to go. A while ago I mentioned in a blog that I had six weddings coming up in the next eight weeks. Well, it’s five down, one to go and this one promises to be extra special since it’s the wedding of my middle son, Justin. We love his wife-to-be whom he’s been dating for over six years, so we’re thrilled about their pending union, but adding to the excitement is the fact that I’ll be doing the ceremony. I choke up every time I look a couple in the eye and say, I now declare that you’re husband and wife. I can only imagine how I’ll handle it with my own son and his bride!

Weddings are joyous occasions for parents, but those of you who have been through it understand that there’s also a lot of grief mixed in. Not surprising really, since there’s just as much goodbye as hello in the coming together of a new couple…hello to the new family union, with all its hope-filled promise and goodbye to the old family union, with all its shared history. But isn’t this what God planned from the get-go? “Therefore, a man shall leave his parents and unite with his wife and the two will become one flesh”. (Genesis 2:24).

Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not feeling sad, just a little wistful. More than anything, I’m deep-down glad…glad that a major phase of my parenting is now over, glad that my son is in love, glad that I’m about to gain a daughter and glad that a new generation is about to become the stewards of their own little place in history. My prayer for them, as for all young couples who are starting out, is that they’ll lavishly embrace Christ in their marriage mix.

Love and blessings,

David

WHAT THE GOOD CHRISTIAN DOESN’T KNOW

“You don’t have to go to church to be a good Christian”. If I’ve heard it once I’ve heard it a thousand times. By nature I’m a pretty easy-going guy, but I have to be honest, every time I hear this comment I bristle because it always seems to spring from an attitude of superiority, not to mention the fact that it’s just plain false.

I ask you, why would Jesus lay down his life to birth the church if the church were a take-it-or-leave-it proposition? Also, what does being a “good Christian” really mean? Ask this question of the one who pooh pooh’s the need for the church and you’ll probably hear something like this…being a good Christian means believing in Jesus and living a good moral life.

Ridiculous!

On more than one occasion Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24) This is the measure of the good Christian life, nothing less. What Jesus is telling us is that the good Christian life involves sacrifice. It involves sitting with the dying neighbor, having breakfast with the lonely widower, sharing pain with the depressed colleague, standing up for the social loser and showing love to the hostile adversary. In short, the good Christian life is hard, very hard, so hard that the believer who takes it seriously doesn’t run from the church, he runs toward it. Why? Because the good Christian life is so physically, emotionally and spiritually draining that it craves the renewal that only God’s community can provide.

The next time someone tells you that a person can be a good Christian and avoid the church remember this, their comment says more about them than it does about the church.

Love and blessings,

David

THE IDOLATRY OF THE MIND…

“David, your brain on the edge of a razor blade is like a BB on a four lane highway.” That’s what my seventh grade friend shouted at me one day when he was upset at something I’d done. I’ve long since forgotten what provoked the comment, but after all these years this vivid image still brings a smile to my face.

I have to confess that it was this comment that popped into my mind recently when I listened to Stephen Hawking, the world-renowned British physicist, talking about his “proof” for the non-existence of God. In the realm of theoretical physics he’s an unparalleled genius and yet, in the realm of philosophy or religion, he’s inordinately ignorant…or biased. Take your pick. I kept wondering as he spoke, does he really think that by explaining the material origin of the universe he can eliminate what the philosopher Aristotle referred to as the “prime mover” or what the theologian Thomas Aquinas later referred to as the “first cause”? In his Summa Theologica Aquinas wrote extensively about the so-called cosmological argument for the existence of God. Simply stated, it goes like this. Everything in the material universe is the result of previous causes, but this series of causes cannot possibly go back in time forever. Therefore, there must be a “first cause” and that first cause is God.

Don’t get lost in the headiness of this. Just note the fact that a celebrated atheist like Hawking has proved nothing about God when he expounds on how the world came about. Should we be impressed with his prodigious intelligence? Sure, but don’t let this translate into believing that his argument for atheism holds water. It doesn’t. Science might speak to the HOW, but it can never speak to the WHO. Only Biblical faith can do that. And what does Biblical faith teach us? Simply this, that behind all that we see, touch taste and smell, i.e., behind the entirety of the material world, lies the great I Am, whose spoken Word brought all there is into being. Does this tell us all there is to know? Of course not, but it’s the starting point for all we need to know. John the apostle, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, expressed it this way, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” (John 1:1-3)

In my judgment Stephen Hawking and many like him are victims of an idolatry of the mind. To them, if it can’t be understood it isn’t real. But just imagine what a small world this would be if the human mind were the final measure of ultimate reality. Should we learn from Hawking and others like him? In matters of science, sure, but in matters of religion, forget about it. As brilliant as they are, they’re out of their league.

Love and blessings,

David

SIXTY AS THE NEW FIFTY

Lately I’ve been hearing a lot of my contemporaries saying something that I find rather amusing, sixty is the new fifty. Have you heard this? If you’re in my age-range maybe you’ve even said it. If so, then I apologize if I’m about to burst your bubble. Trust me, sixty is not the new fifty. Sixty is sixty. It always was, it is now and it always will be.

So why the self-delusion?

I wish I knew, but I suspect it has something to do with the need among persons my age and older to avoid the fact that, well, we’re getting old. Let’s face it, if the normal course of things plays out those of us over sixty are in the last trimester of our time on this planet. A rude awakening, but no less true by virtue of our artificially trying to strip away a decade from our accumulated years.

Granted, these days most of us sextegenarians probably do a better job of keeping ourselves healthy than our forebears did. Better medicines, better beauty products, better fitness habits and better foods…all these factors contribute to the prospect that we’re likely to be healthier for a longer period of time than our parents, or their parents before them.

And yet, I repeat, sixty is still sixty.

So, how do we who have accumulated more than six decades of life change our perspective and simply accept what is? Well…maybe we don’t. Maybe we doggedly perpetuate our denial, but if we do, why stop at fifty? Why not shout from the rooftops that sixty is the new forty, or the new thirty-five? Frankly, I like the sound of that a lot better!

Now, if only I could remember why I’m writing this…

Proverbs 16:31 says, Gray hair is crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life.

If you’re old maybe this will make you feel better.

Love and blessings,

David

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE CHURCH WEDDING?

Over the last ten years I’ve noticed a trend away from young couples marrying in a church. For example, of all the marriages that I’ve performed in the last decade, only one out of four took place in a church sanctuary. All others were held in a park, a hotel or some other religiously neutral site, usually one that is geographically close to a reception hall, allowing guests to move from ceremony to party without having to travel.

Clearly, there’s nothing inherently wrong with this. After all, I’ve performed some gloriously beautiful and spiritually rich ceremonies in extra-church settings, but lately I’m beginning to wonder if I might be missing something. Does this trend represent yet another evidence of a creeping secularization? Are many brides and grooms-to-be now so detached from a vital faith life that marriage in “the house of God” means little or nothing to them?

I fear so.

As I prepare couples for marriage nowadays I frequently have to remind them of something that was once common understanding…marriage is a sacred covenant created and ordained by the Lord. As such, processing down the aisle to a Paul Anka oldie just doesn’t cut it. I also have to insist that at least two Bible readings be included in the ceremony since most couples have never even considered this possibility. Am I angry or bitter about this? Definitely not, but I am deeply grieved.

You might be wondering, if many couples are so secularized, why do they select a minister to perform the ceremony? Why not a Justice of the Peace? Maybe it’s because they’ve known me for a long time. Or maybe they’ve attended a wedding I’ve done, and liked it. Or maybe…and I hope this is the case…it’s because they retain a glimmer of understanding that marriage is more than just a civil union of two people who love each other. Therefore, a man shall leave his parents and unite with his wife, and the two shall become one flesh (Genesis 2:24). Marriage, as originally designed by God, is a sacred institution.

For nearly forty years now I’ve been declaring, I now pronounce you husband and wife and the weightiness of this declaration has never left me. Every time the words roll off my tongue my eyes well up and my heart skips a beat because I consider myself to be the earthly spokesperson of God’s divine sanction, a joy and a fright at one and the same time. At that moment I only wish that every couple were able to see what I perceive.

Love and blessings,

David

FOUR STEPS TO FORGIVENESS…

In about six weeks Nancy and I will resume a ministry we love to hate, our Divorce Recovery Support Group. We hate it because those who attend are hurting, big time, and because it’s no fun having to hurt with them. This having been said, we love it because it’s incredibly gratifying to come alongside someone who’s facing severe suffering and to serve as God’s instrument of healing.

There are lots of heavy-duty emotional and spiritual issues that a divorcing person faces, but without a doubt the biggest is the issue of forgiveness. How do you forgive someone to whom you’ve given intimate access to your being only to have that someone cut your heart out? Agreed, not every divorcing situation springs from a hideous breach of trust, but most do and it’s incredibly difficult to handle. In fact, no one can absorb a dagger to the soul like this and still forgive the person wielding the weapon. It’s impossible. That’s one of the biggest bits of bad news about divorce.

However, what we can’t do, God can. So often men and women come into our group, rage-filled and preoccupied with get-even fantasies, only to leave sixteen weeks later having been liberated from vindictive obsessions. What happens during these sixteen weeks? In a word, forgiveness. Complete forgiveness? No. Forgiveness won’t be complete until we meet and greet Jesus in heaven. I’m convinced of that, but a sufficient threshold of forgiveness can be reached in the here-and-now to supplant vengeful fantasies with beneficent, well-wishing prayers.

So, how is this forgiveness, even a modicum of it, brought about? Since it’s beyond our human ability, we preach to our recovery group that you must take four steps. One, don’t wait until you “feel like” forgiving your spouse. You’ll be dead and buried first. Two, accept that you don’t have the inner wherewithal to forgive since our human lust for vengeance is too strong. Three, get in touch with how much you’ve been forgiven by Christ despite your unrelenting rejection of his plans, purposes and principles. And four, “choose” to forgive your former spouse as a way of honoring Christ for his forgiveness on the Cross, even if you don’t feel like it. God will then honor this choice by seeing to it that your “feeling” of forgiveness eventually catches up to the choice you’ve made.

Keep in mind that these four steps to forgiveness work in any situation, not just divorce. A nasty boss, an outspoken friend, a disrespectful child, a jealous sibling, a mean-spirited adversary…we can be badly wounded by anyone for any number of reasons. Should we forgive even if the offender expresses no remorse or need for forgiveness? Yes, as hard as that is, because un-forgiveness always shrivels our ability to access and enjoy God’s love, and that’s definitely not good. The choice to forgive does not require the offender’s cooperation.

On his way to the Cross Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34). Don’t think for one minute that he was only forgiving those who surrounded him. That prayer was also for you and me because not a day, not a minute goes by when we don’t, by attitude and action, effectively declare to him, “I want a divorce!”

Love and blessings,

David

THE DARK CLOUDS OF ANARCHY…

A prognosticator or a prophet I’m not, but it doesn’t take much insight to see something significant going on in the world. A growing anarchy perhaps? The revolutions of the recent Islamic Spring, the financial implosion of Greece, Ireland and Portugal, along with the pending financial implosions of Spain and Italy, the stalemated conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, the unrelenting joblessness in America and the recent free-fall on the NYSE…just a few of the major events that point to the fact that the economic and political stability we’ve enjoyed for the last two generations might be headed for a serious shakedown.

Some of you might read this and say, “No way, what you’re describing is just the normal ebb and flow of life in our modern world.” I hope you’re right, but I wouldn’t bet the farm on it. Again, I’m not a prophet or prognosticator, nor am I an expert on reading the tea leaves of modern trends, but I can tell you this, I’ve been around for sixty four years and something about the current climate feels different to me. The political vitriol seems more hateful, the spiritual nihilism more entrenched and the resultant cynicism more widespread. I know of no one who’s drinking in current events and cavalierly holding out hope for better days in the near future.

“Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. But he answered them, ‘You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.’” (Matthew 24:1-2) How preposterous this must have seemed to his disciples. The temple was a massive structure, constructed with huge granite blocks some of which measured over 40’ and weighed more than 400 tons. It was to the first century Jew, indestructible, and a visual portent of a secure future. Jesus knew better. Within one generation Jerusalem and this “indestructible” temple were completely plowed under by the Romans. Jesus knew that no human construct is guaranteed, not the improvement of the stock market, not the recovery of jobs, not the survival of governments, not even civilization itself. To believe otherwise, though instinctively alluring, is also naïve. Human nature, while overflowing with grand curiosity and splendid ideas, is also irreparably corrupted by selfish ambition. If only it weren’t so, but over and over again history corroborates this heartrending fact.

Like everyone else I long for a prosperous and peaceful tomorrow, but the dark clouds of anarchy have me more than a little concerned. Centuries ago the Jewish world was on the cusp of unimaginable implosion when the prophet Habakkuk wrote, “Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no heard in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.” (Habakkuk 3:17-18)

Good advice. This is why as Christians our real hope should not rest in or on anything that humankind creates, but in the protective presence of Christ whom the Bible says, “…is the same yesterday, today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8)

Love and blessings,

David

THE NEW FOUR-LETTER WORD…

So when did ideologue become a four letter word? If you listened carefully to the recent debt debate in Congress you heard this word bandied about frequently…and never in a positive way. He’s a leftwing ideologue. She’s a right wing ideologue. They’re Tea Party ideologues. The implication is that this ideologue, whoever he or she might be, is an ignorant, uncompromising, on-the-fringe loon who’s only looking out for his or her own left or right wing interests. I suppose in some cases this might be true, but here’s what’s troubling me. Labeling someone an ideologue has become, in current culture, an easy, acceptable and yet destructively flippant way of dismissing his or her opinion. How do you defeat someone with whom you sharply disagree? Slap the ideologue label on them. That’s the surest way to run their views off the road of honest dialogue.

But aren’t we all ideologues? Don’t we all have an ideology by which we live, a system of ideas and ideals that shape our values and mold our choices? I sure hope so. And if so, then why is ideologue such a dirty word? As I see it, being an ideologue is only bad when someone tries to force, by abuse of power, his or her ideology onto someone else. Quite frankly, I like persons who have a strong set of convictions and who strive, to the best of their ability, to look after them responsibly, which is what an ideologue does.

For anyone who knows me or reads my blogs it would come as no surprise that I consider myself to be an evangelical Christian ideologue. Should I hide this? Of course not, and neither should anyone whose ideology sharply disagrees with mine. I might believe their ideology to be painfully misguided, even ruinous, so much so that I feel compelled to fight against it with every ounce of my being, but the last thing I should do is dismiss the person who holds it by pinning a pejorative label on them.

I believe, as the Bible expressly states, that Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6) and I’ve given my life to defining and defending the ideology that attaches itself to this conviction. Am I right? With all my heart I believe I am, but I’m painfully aware of the many who sharply disagree with me. So how should I respond to these persons? With a derogatory label or with a compassionate yet robust challenge to their convictions? Based on the example of Jesus, I think the latter is most often the preferred course.

Love and blessings,

David

HOLY HAMMOCK…!

It might sound silly, but it could just be that my hammock has some kind of supernatural healing power. Five minutes suspended in mid air and I feel like a new man.

It’s usually some time in the evening, generally after dinner, when I slip into the hammock at our home. The sun is setting and from my horizontal vantage point I look up to see the branches of our large oak trees swaying in the breeze, the last rays of sunlight dancing on their leaves. In the background I hear the evening birds, usually robins, chirping away as they prepare to nestle in for the night. The cardinals are climbing all over our feeders and filling their bellies one last time before calling it a day. And if the sky is cloudless I watch as plane after plane flies northeastward, heading toward Newfoundland and then on to Europe, with crisscrossing white contrails marking where they’ve passed

My hammock is a beautiful thing, but what makes it so, is not its power to relax. No, it’s my hammock’s uncanny ability to inspire deep thoughts and feelings. It’s really quite amazing. All I have to do is stretch out for a few minutes and I get lost in a kind of reverie of religious reflection which inevitably, and I mean this sincerely, transports me to an Eden-like reconnection with the goodness, greatness and glory of God’s love. Let me say it again, it’s really quite amazing.

Is there something miraculous or mysterious about my “holy” hammock? Nah! It’s just that the quiet time it facilitates enables me to realize what the Bible prescribed for our spiritual health centuries ago, Be still and know that I am God… Psalm 46:10.

So…what is your hammock?

Love and blessings,

David

CLOSED OPEN MINDEDNESS…

No one’s more closed than an open-minded, theological liberal. Sound shocking? Maybe to an open minded theological liberal it does, but to a conservative such a statement represents experiential truth. I’ve been the beneficiary, recipient or victim (choose your word) of “closed” open-mindedness on many occasions. Let me explain. When I articulate to a theological liberal, i.e., someone who thinks that all religions are equally true, that I believe Jesus is the only way to salvation, I’m met with disapproving scowls and not-so-subtle expressions of vitriol. I then say, “Hey, wait a minute, I thought you were open to all beliefs. Why are you closed to mine?” The open minded liberal then has no intelligent response because they’re suddenly confronted with their own double standard. Yes, they believe, as liberals, in theological inclusiveness, but not if that inclusiveness has to include someone who doesn’t believe in theological inclusiveness. What a sad irony!

Let’s face it, no one is completely open, including and perhaps especially the so-called open minded, theological liberal. Their open-mindedness is a ruse, a smokescreen, a disguise masking the kind of closed-ness that, at face value, they’re so much against. So let’s name it for what it is, hypocrisy. The theological liberal is quick to call conservatives narrow-minded bigots. Should we just accept this and feel bad about ourselves? Or should we lovingly, but firmly, point out the duplicity of their ways? My opinion is that we’re doing them and the Lord no favors by simply rolling over and playing dead.

It’s time we who are theologically conservative held our heads high and let it be known that we’re proud to be who we are, men and women who believe that there is exclusivity attached to the truth of Jesus Christ. If a theological liberal wants to call this closed, so be it. I call it courageous…and honest, more honest than those whose zealous commitment to open-mindedness has blinded them to their own pretense.

And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved…Acts 4:12.

Love and blessings,

David

Amore´

AMORE´…

For me the wedding season has begun. Over the next eight weeks I have six weddings scheduled and what makes this so special is that two of the weddings involve septuagenarians. Both brides and grooms-to-be were widowed and when they least expected it, fell in love again.

I wish you could have joined me as I met with each couple…warm smiles, interlocking hands and joyful countenances all of which belie seven plus decades of life’s weathering.

Romantic love is truly a remarkable thing. It can command an old soul, “Be young again!” and miraculously the soul’s wrinkles fade away. And yet, as remarkable as it is, it pales by comparison to the love that springs from the heart of Christ. His love doesn’t just reconstruct youthful beauty; it is Beauty itself. His love can cleanse the conscience of sin’s guilt, sweep away bitterness, heal hurts, instill purpose and create an inner serenity so deep and immovable that it’s described in the Bible as passing understanding. Maybe this is why I cringe when I hear cynics angrily accuse Christians of trying to “foist” their faith on others. Christians, at least those committed to Christ and not just Christianity, aren’t foisting anything on anyone. They’re simply sharing the wealth.

So unique is the love of Christ that it has its own descriptive word in the Bible, agape. It’s a love so transforming that it can cause a person to lay down his or her life for the wellbeing of another, even if that other happens to be an adversary. Again, cynics see this as ludicrous. Christians on the other hand, see it as the centerpiece of God’s wisdom.

So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him…1 John 4:16

Love and blessings,

David