1. I am now in my second week back from being gone on a nine week sabbatical. I am glad to be "back in the saddle again" - I was greeted by that song blaring through the church sound system as I opened up our second service this past Sunday! :) I love my job. I love my church family. I love the staff and elders who I am privileged to work alongside of! And I love all of YOU who take time to read my meanderings! Thanks!
2. With the hurricane season ramping up, we are reminded of just how vulnerable we are as human beings. It has been many years since the Caribbean and the United States have been hammered by hurricanes such as Harvey and Irma (the latter of which is still "in process"). The destruction and devastation to lives and property have brought untold suffering to millions. Some look at this and dismiss any thought of God. After all, if God truly existed, then why do such tragedies happen? But people who think in these terms do not understand the story line of the Bible. The Bible begins with the account of Creation. In the opening two chapters of Genesis we are told that an almighty God created this vast and complex universe out of nothing. And he did so by simply speaking a word! Wow! That's power and wisdom beyond what we can even begin to fathom! And when God was done with his creative handiwork ... he looked it over and pronounced it to be "very good" (Genesis 1:31).
But when we arrive at Genesis chapter 3, we encounter THE complication of the Bible's story. For in this chapter, our first parents, Adam and Eve, rebelled against the Creator. And in doing so, the creation was plunged into an ever downward spiral of chaos. The Apostle Paul understood this as he refers to the creation as being "in bondage to decay" (Romans 8:21). This all happened as God leveled his righteous judgment upon humanity for their sin. But why curse the created realm? Wasn't God a bit harsh in what he did? Not at all. For starters, we know that God as the judge of all the earth will always do what is right! It is his nature to do so. He can never do wrong! He is perfection perfected! In addition, I also believe he desires for our vulnerability which so often brings suffering our way to draw us to him. The writers of the various psalms in the book of Psalms in the Older Testament of the Bible often refer to God as their "rock," "refuge," "strong tower," etc. Given this, my prayer for the victims of Harvey and Irma, cancer and heart disease, poverty and abuse, is that in their suffering they would seek and find the only lasting and real comfort we can hope to have in this life and the life to come ... the comfort God offers to us in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
3. Last Sunday I finished up our summer sermon series with a message on the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector as recorded by Luke in the 18th chapter of his gospel. The parable answers one of life's most fundamental questions: How can a person get right with God. If you want to find out the answer to the question, you can click here to listen to the message.
Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj
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