The following are the words of writer Robert Capon. Good to think about as we go through this week. Capon writes, “What role have I left for religion? None. And I have none because the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ leaves none. Christianity is not a religion; it is the announcement of the end of religion. Religion consists of all the things (believing, behaving, worshiping, sacrificing) the human race has ever thought it had to do to get right with God….Everything religion tried (and failed) to do has been perfectly done, once and for all, by Jesus in his death and resurrection. For Christians, therefore, the entire religion shop has been closed, boarded up and forgotten. The church is not in the religion business, it never has been and it never will be, in spite of all the ecclesiastical turkeys through two thousand years who have acted as if religion was their stock in trade. The church, instead, is in the Gospel proclaiming business. It is not here to bring the world the bad news that God will think kindly about us only after we have gone through certain creedal, liturgical and ethical wickets; it is here to bring the the Good News that “while we were yet sinners Christ died for the ungodly” It is here, in short, for no religious purpose at all, only to announce the Gospel of Grace”….AMEN…. Thank you Robert Capon. It cannot be said any better than that.

John 3:16– God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that who ever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.

I was listening to a country singer named Eric Church sing a song entitled “Like Jesus Does”. In the song Eric describes how she (I assume his wife) loves him like Jesus does. He describes himself as a “back road sinner at a tent revival. A good old boy drinking whiskey and rye”. She carries him when his sins are heavy and she knows the man he isn’t. And above she forgives him when he can’t forgive himself. Eric always thought she would give up on him one day. But she instead loves him like Jesus does, with undeserved grace and unconditional love. As Eric’s last line says, “I thank God every night and twice on Sunday”.

Jesus, our Lord and Savior died for our sins and will never leave us. He loves us with an unconditional love that is nearly impossible to understand. He asks nothing in return. He wants us to simply believe in him and have faith. To Trust Him.

Remember………Jesus plus nothing equals everything.

Have a good week and see you next Monday.

I was asked recently the question, “What has God done for you? Well, let me answer that with the following. First, God gave me hope. He gave me Jesus who became my Lord and Savior. And Jesus gave me the Way and the Truth while the world gave me nothing. Then He gave me Jan to be my wife. Then He gave me my children. He has given me and my family good health which I NEVER take for granted. He has given me a way through his word in the Bible on how to live a life of purpose and meaning. So basically, His view of life is completely different then the world’s view. Obviously, I could go on and on pertaining to the things God has given me and still overlook much.

In conclusion, I greatly appreciate and am thankful for all that God and His son Jesus has done for me. I am overwhelmed by his Grace and unconditional love. I give Jesus my gratitude. Thank you, Lord. Amen

John 14:6 – I am the Way, and the Truth, and Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

I am not qualified to have God put His creation under my feet but that exactly what God does according to Psalms 8. Words like awesome and epic and greatness do not even come close to describing who God is.. These words and others do not come remotely close to describing His creation. Yet, God is mindful of us and loves us and wants to care for us. God crowned us with glory and honor. God made us ruler over His works. Yet, we manage to mess things up everyday. In our sin we have become irresponsible stewards of His creation. Yet again, God steps in and forgives us of our sins and continues to love us unconditionally and extending His amazing grace to us. That’s unbelievable when you think about it. He gives us way, way, way more then we deserve…..He is incredible. I believe in you Jesus and want to continue to pursue you into the mystery of your creation.

Psalms 8:1 – How majestic is Your name in all the earth. You have set your Glory in the Heavens.

Christian writer Max Lucado put the importance of Christmas in perspective when he wrote the following words……”when it comes to goodies and candy, rosy cheeks and red noses, go to the North Pole. But when it comes to eternity…Forgiveness…Purpose…And Truth…go to the manger, kneel with the shepherds and worship the God who dared to do what man dared not dream. Heaven opened herself and placed her most precious one in a human womb…God became man…the Creator of Life was created. AMEN

HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND GOD BLESS YOU ONE AND ALL.

I believe there are lots of ways to arrive at the decision to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. In the Bible Jesus says that He is the Way and the Truth and nobody comes to the Father except thru Him. This is non negotiable. Jesus is the Way. However, there are many, many stories about how one arrives at this decision—to believe that Jesus is God. Some people believe when they are quite young some when they are quite old and even others in their last days. For me, the light went on when I was 38 years old. I was in the middle of an 8 year Bible Study program when I really accepted Jesus on purpose. Before that I was just kind of hanging around Jesus not really committed to a decision. I think what really moved me forward was my job as a high school biology and human physiology teacher. As I taught high school kids how the human body works it became more and more clear that each one of us is a miracle. We are a miracle of God’s creation period. Charles Darwin is quoted as saying, “to suppose that the human eye could have been formed by natural selection is absurd in the highest degree.” This is coming from the “father of evolution”. I believe he’s 100% correct. We are miracles created by a greater miracle—GOD! Jesus is my God and the mystery behind all of the above I accept based on faith. I don’t need a scientific proof. For last 30 plus years I have been pursuing God through His teaching, reading countless books, and following His word in the Bible and I have been Blessed. I still have years to go and Jesus is not done with me yet. I believe it!

John 1:1 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

When my daughter was around 10 years old and was acting up I exclaimed, “Allison, act normal”. Her answer was, “what’s normal Dad”. That answer stopped me cold and actually made me smile as I thought…..”what does normal look like”. The dictionary defines normal as, “conforming to a standard; usual, typical or expected”. Well, based on that definition who wants to be normal. I don’t think I want to be remembered as usual or typical. I think I would rather be unique, different or one of a kind. I think of Jesus and “usual” does not come to mind. Words like unique, awesome, different, one of a kind, and revolutionary come to mind plus many, many other words. Jesus was an unbelievable individual. He was completely unique. No human has ever come close to being like him through all of time. Was it normal when he healed people, was it normal when he was resurrected? Every day is Easter Sunday for me because of Jesus. Thank God for Jesus and by the way, my daughter is 38 years old and has not been normal a day in her life and I am thankful for that!

Psalm 139:14 – I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.

A favorite song of mine is “Thank you Lord by Chris Tomlin, Thomas Rhett, and Florida Georgia Line.” Its a upbeat simple song about things to be thankful for. The following lyrics express thankfulness in these words……

The small things….

Blessings on Blessings on Blessings…

for my mamma, for my friends…

for your love that never ends…

for my babies, for my girl…

for the hard times…

for lighting my way in the dark times…

for pulling me in, forgiving again…

for keeping me humble…

for picking me up when I stumble…

and although I change You stay the same…

AND I DON’T SAY THANK YOU ENOUGH…

John 14:6 – I am the Way, the Truth and the Life…..