Giving Thanks

It is such a blessing to know and serve the Lord! I think of the song that goes, "Knowing (Loving, Serving) you, Jesus, knowing you. There is no greater thing. You're my all. You're my best. You're my joy, my righteousness. And I love you, Lord." For sure, there are challenges and obstacles and frustrations and disappointments, etc., but God's grace and power are sufficient to meet and overcome each one. And in the midst of them, he teaches and molds us to be more like Jesus.

Devoted to Christ

Great devotional from Oswald Chambers this morning! He writes about the primary importance of being devoted to the person of Jesus Christ, not the cause bearing his name, or any other cause for that matter. "Today we have substituted doctrinal belief for personal belief, and that is why so many people are devoted to causes and so few are devoted to Jesus Christ." It is good to be reminded that my most passionate devotion must be to Jesus Christ. I owe my ultimate allegiance to him and reserve my greatest affection for him. As a pastor, it is not my job to convince everyone that my opionions and positions are right, but to feed and nurture God's people on his Word, encouraging them to grow in the grace of knowledge of the Lord.

To Believe and to Suffer

Most of us think of receiving a gift as a good thing. For those of us who are followers of Jesus Christ, nothing is greater than God's gift of salvation that comes to us through him. I am preparing to preach this Sunday from Philippians 1.27-30. Verse 29 says, "For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake." Did you get that? Paul places suffering for Jesus in the same category as believing in Jesus. Is that not startling?

Another Attempt

Since it has been 11 months or so since my last post, I figured it was time to give it another try. We'll see how things go this time. I do hope to have more interaction with people, and if this encourages that, then I will be pleased. If not, then I'll simply explore other avenues of communication. There are lots of ideas and topics that interest me, and perhaps this will be a good place to share some of them.

I have recently returned home from a busy week of travel, during which I attended the Southern Baptist Convention in Indianapolis and conducted a friend's wedding in Yakima, Washington. Not surprisingly, I was really glad to get back home on Fathers' day. Fortunately, I don't have any major travel plans until my trip to Chincha, Peru in July.

OK, so that's enough for now. Stay tuned for more to come!