Think It Through

This is so good and I wanted you to read it. I copied this post from Pastor Mark Wilson, pastor of Hayward Wesleyan Church in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. Read his blog at http://revitalizeyourchurch.blogspot.com/


The quality of life is not a matter of luck - but of choice!

Some choices don't make much difference - like "What should I wear today?" (Although some people take an extraordinarily long time deciding this!)

Other choices can change the entire course of life - like "Who should I marry?" or "How does God fit into my life?"

Sometimes small choices can turn into disastrous outcomes:

"Should I cheat?"
"Should I take this drug?"
“Should I visit this website?”
"Should I protect myself and tell a lie?"
"Should I go out with this person?"

Think it through!

Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick invented the following six-point test for making excellent decisions:

1. Does the course of action you plan to follow seem logical and reasonable? Never mind what anyone else has to say. Does it make sense to you? If it does, it is probably right.

2. Does it pass the test of sportsmanship? In other words, if everyone followed this same course of action would the results be beneficial to all?

3. Where will you plan of action lead? How will it affect others? What will it do to you?

4. Will you think well of yourself when you look back on what you have done?

5. Try to separate yourself from the problem. Pretend, for one moment, it is the problem of the person you most admire. Ask yourself how that person would handle it.

6. Hold up the final decision to the glaring light of publicity. Would you want your family and friends to know what you have done? The decisions we make in the hope that no one will find out are usually wrong.

Poor choices bring negative results. On the other hand, things usually turn out better when we make the right decisions. It pays to think first and act second.

Thank God for Small Things (and my wife)

Two weeks ago last Friday I had an accident riding my motorcycle on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I had taken a couple vacation days to go ride the parkway. I was having a blast! Rode all day on Thursday, May 20, rode the entire parkway in the state of Virginia. Stayed Thursday evening at a motel in Waynesboro, Va., where the parkway ends and the Skyline Drive of the Shenandoah National Forest begins. Friday I started back towards North Carolina, and about 10:30am Friday morning the bike and I went down.

I still do not know what caused the bike to go down, probably will never know for sure. A couple thoughts; one, I hit a slick spot when applying the front brake and locked the brake causing the bike to go down, two, I dozed off. I know the dozing off theory sounds weird but I was so relaxed, was by myself and there was hardly no traffic. One reason I came up with the dozing off theory is I don't remember going down. All I remember is sliding along the road after I went down.

Thankfully I was not severely injured. I did suffer a broken collar bone and some broken ribs (ouch), it still hurts two and a half weeks later.Hurt also was my pride, it took a big hit, it's a man thing, men think they can avoid stuff like this. The injury has limited what I can do. With arm in a sling, I could not dress myself, shower, lay down, drive (at least for a few days), very hard to keyboard on the computer, on and on I could list small things that one takes for granted every day I could not do. I had never broken a bone in 64 years of life before. All of a sudden I realized how thankful we need to be for the ability to do the small tasks of life everyday. It's unbelievable how difficult life is when you can't do the small everyday ordinary tasks. God surely knew what He was doing when He gave us two good hands, two good arms, two good feet, two good legs, etc. Wow they are so necessary. Be thankful for the ability to use the members of the body.

My good wife has been such a blessing. With me whining and complaining, you know how men get when they are hurt or sick, she has been a tremendous help. I am pretty much a do it for myself type of man, but I needed help with just about everything and my wife gave me all the assistance I needed.

After two and a half weeks I am getting back to doing most things for myself, still can't put on my socks very easily.........another small thing we take for granted everyday. I am slowly healing and slowly doing most things for myself again, still cannot lay down (Oh! I miss being able to lay down and stretch out), little by little, day by day, I am accomplishing (very carefully) the small things of life.

Will I ride again? I love riding my motorcycle and never want to go down again!!!!!
However as of now I am thinking, yes, I will ride when I heal.

Thank God every day if you have the ability to do the small things of life!!!! The every day small things we take for granted are really big when you can no longer do them.

Every Church Needs a Little Conflict

Last week I attended a Church Conflict Resolution training event. About 20 of us gathered at the beautiful Table Rock Conference and Retreat Center near Pickens, South Carolina. Dr. George Bullard who is part of the Columbia Partnership and an expert on resolving church conflict was with us for two days. Dr. Bullard shared with us some pretty heavy stuff.

One of the things Dr. Bullard shared is that not all church conflict is unhealthy. Matter of fact, according to Dr. Bullard, every Church needs a little conflict and he gave seven reasons why:

1. Congregations without a healthy intensity of conflict do not have passion around their mission, purpose, and values.

2. Congregations without a healthy intensity of conflict do not have clear beliefs and core values.

3. Congregations without a healthy intensity of conflict are into an avoidance life style.

4. Congregations without a healthy intensity of conflict make shallow decisions that come from a group-think mentality.

5. Congregations without a healthy intensity of conflict do not have the opportunity to learn how to handle decision-making around complex issues, and thus handle transitional and unhealthy conflict when they are experienced.

6. Congregations without a healthy intensity of conflict do not learn how to keep conflict from escalating to an unhealthy intensity.

7. Congregations without a healthy intensity of conflict do not take risks because they are afraid it will create conflict it cannot handle.

What do you think..............

Voting on The Man of God

The church where I am a member this past Sunday had a recall vote on their pastor. Yes, there are a few churches around who still operate that way. Voting on the pastor is something I have given a good deal of thought to over the years. Here are some of my thoughts.

-Whoever came up with the idea of having the church decide by a secret ballot vote of the members on whether or not they want to keep their pastor came up with a very strange and cruel method.
-I can't find any Biblical foundation for such an idea. The only time the New Testament church voted on something was when the apostles cast lots to determine who would replace Judas. The lot fell to Matthias. Matthias was never heard from again. In due time God raised up His own man to replace Judas, the replacement was the Apostle Paul.
-Voting on keeping the Man of God. The Man of God who is the shepherd of the sheep, who prays, preaches, counsels, and helps direct you in the ways of God. The Man of of God who is God's anointed leader of the church. Then we want to turn it into a popularity contest as to how many people like him enough to keep him as pastor.
-From my experience when a church has a plan in place to have their members vote on keeping the pastor from time to time it creates an unsettled atmosphere within the church. Particularly unsettling around the time of the vote.
-Pastors are humans and have family. Can you imagine the stress having an entire congregation of members vote on the pastor puts not only on him but his entire family?
-Church is not the place for politics. We are people of God seeking the will and way of God. We find God's will and way by prayer, Bible study, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
-Voting never settles anything. People feel the say way after the vote as they did before the vote.
-Kids know it doesn't sound right. When our church announced a vote on the pastor two weeks before the vote was taken my grandson who is 11 years of age looked at me and said, "what is this about", you could see the look of something about this doesn't sound right in his eyes.
-The church has a mission to accomplish that is the greatest mission on earth. We should not be wasting our time 'voting on the Man of God'.

In case you are wondering the vote on our pastor came out very good. Oh yes, a few people voted no, now I suppose church folk who have nothing else better to do are trying to figure out who voted no. How ridiculous!!!!

I can't help but wonder what God thinks about such a strange way of doing things. What do you think. Please leave a comment.

Major Truths from Minor Prophets

The last few weeks I have been leading Wednesday night Bible study at the local church where I am a member. Our church has many different Wednesday night activities; pre-service meal, children's meeting, youth meeting, choir rehearsal, a small group or two may meet from time to time, church committees may meet from time to time and there is a Bible study. With all that is going on the Bible study usually has 25 or so present.

When I was asked to lead I asked the group what they would like to study. We came to an agreement to study the minor prophets of the Old Testament. To date we have studied two of them, Joel and Amos.

At first read one is not sure what can be drawn from these prophets that is applicable today. However as you study and probe into what they are saying we have discovered some very major truths from the minor prophets.

Joel gives us two major truths to ponder:
1. The Day of the Lord - This is a phrase mentioned often in the scriptures. Life is full of the hum-drum, ordinary days, at times we may think nothing is really happening. We may think God is not noticing and rewards/judgments are not coming. But God is active and throughout the history of mankind God has had HIS day and there are more Days of the Lord to come.
2. Pentecost - What a mighty day! The birthday of the church! Yet today I don't think we have discovered all the meaning of Pentecost. The coming of the Holy Spirit into the world and the ushering in of the church/grace age is of epic importance to us yet today.

Amos gives us five major truths to ponder:
1. God speaks to His people - We are not left to wonder about the answer. Through the Holy Spirit and the WORD the voice of God give us all we need to know God's will and gain eternal life.
2. Sovereignty of God - God is in control! He has the whole wide world in His hands! He does what He wills! He is the Supreme ruler!
3. The problem of sin - Mankind has a fatal flaw, it is called sin!
4. Visions/Dreams - In the past God used unusual means to make His ways and will known, does He still speak this way today?
5. Restoration - The architect of this world, God Himself, is more interested in our restoration than anything else!

Get to digging in the garden of the Minor Prophets you will find some major truths to live by!

Reminiscing

From time to time my mind rolls back over the years. This time of the year I have a great memory from the month of January in the late 1950's to reminisce about. I grew up 12 miles northwest of the city of Indianapolis, Indiana. Every January the Nazarenes, Pilgrim Holiness, Wesleyan Methodist, Free Methodist, Missionary Band, Salvation Army and other like minded Wesleyan Armenian groups would put on a mid-winter indoor camp meeting at Cadle Tabernacle in Indianapolis. A few days ago a boyhood friend, James Scales, from Indy posted the pic of Cadle Tabernacle below on my face book.

The tabernacle was huge, I don't know the seating capacity but it was in the thousands. In that day the biggest Wesleyan Armenian church around that I knew of had an attendance of 300-400, walking into that huge tabernacle that would seat thousands got my attention as a young boy. Thousands would come for the ten day meeting.

The camp meeting was led by Dr. P.F. Elliot who at the time was President of Owosso Pilgrim College in Owosso, Michigian, his booming voice and ability to work a crowd made him an excellent leader for the services. The camp had the best Wesleyan-Armenian evangelists and singers of that day. Too this day, one Nazarene pastor who was a camp evangelist stands out in my mind, his name was Lawrence B. Hicks, he pastored First Church of The Nazarene in Ashland, KY. Too this day I remember a title of a sermon he preached at the camp meeting, it was titled "This is That", taken from the words of Peter in Acts 2:16. I remember Jim Bohi singing "Until the Storm Passes By" and Orval Butcher and his trombone. It was a mighty gathering, great fellowship, tremendous singing and powerful preaching. Eternity will show the results, but it sure made a impression on this young lad.

I mentioned the camp was in January, you guessed it, it always snowed. The snow did not cause the meetings to be cancelled and did not keep people away. Through the snow and ice the thousands would come service after service. We took the snow, ice, and cold in stride it was just part of January winter in Indiana.

Today the Tabernacle is gone, the camp meeting era is pretty well gone as well. The memories remain.

Blessings for the New Year

Blessings for the New Year. They are adapted from the English theologian William Barclay's writings from Matthew 5:3-10

-Blessed is the man who has realized his own helplessness and put his whole trust in God. He will be a citizen of God's kingdom.

-Blessed is the man who has a sense of his own sin. He shall be comforted.

-Blessed is the man who is self-controlled and knows his own ignorance, weakness and need. He will be king among men.

-Blessed is the man who longs for total righteousness as a hungry man longs for food or a thirsty man longs for water. He shall be satisfied.

-Blessed is the man who is concerned with the feelings of others. Others will be concerned with his feelings.

-Blessed is the man whose motives are pure. He shall see God.

-Blessed is the man who works for others highest good. He will be a son of God.

-Blessed is the man whose life is disrupted, insulted, and feels the hand of evil against him for Christ's sake. He will enter the kingdom of heaven.

Snow

This past Friday, December 18, we had a significant snowfall for central North Carolina. At our house there was 4-5 inches. We do not get much snow in central North Carolina and a snow of 4-5 inches this early in the winter is unusual. Snow in our area shuts everything down, actually it becomes a social day for the family and the neighborhood.

I have always marveled at snow. How can tiny flakes come down in such numbers to accumulate across the landscape in inches and feet?

Snow reminds me of so many things:

1. A fresh fallen unmarked snow reminds me of a new beginning. Everything has changed from the night before, the tracts made will be brand new.

2. A fresh fallen snow covers everything, it is like a blanket insulating the cold barren earth.

3. No two snowflakes are alike, yet they blend together to make a beautiful picture.

4. Snow brings people together. Plowing, shoveling, sledding, making a snowman is usually done with others.

5. Snow brings an opportunity to help others. The elderly, and handicapped need help to get the car out, get to the mailbox, delivery of supplies.

6. A warm fire. Working and/or playing in the snow gets one cold and wet. A warm fire to cozy up too, warms us up and dries us out.

7. Memories. One of my fond childhood memories is winter camp meeting. I grew up around Indianapolis, Indiana and each winter there was a mid-winter indoor camp meeting at Cadle Tabernacle. The tabernacle's seating capacity was 10,000. The camp brought in the best Wesleyan/Armenian preachers and singers of that era (1950's). It always snowed during camp meeting but we always had great crowds, great services, great fellowship.

Let it snow!

Christmas Season

Don't wish me Happy Holidays or Merry Xmas! For me it is and always will be Merry Christmas. For us Christians Christmas is the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, it is not just a holiday time or a celebration we leave Christ out of.

I know December 25th is not the actual birth date of Jesus. However, we Christians celebrate it as such and have for a very long time. I know some say to celebrate is to recognize a pagan holiday, and in past history some may have celebrated it that way. Too us Christians in today's world it is a very sacred religious celebration. The word Christmas originated as a compound meaning "Christ's Mass". It is derived from the Middle English Christemasse and Old English Cristes mæsse, a phrase first recorded in 1038.[6] "Cristes" is from Greek Christos and "mæsse" is from Latin missa.

As far back as I can remember in my lifetime Christmas has always been about celebrating the birthday of Christ. Yes, we had a Christmas tree when I was a child and we received presents but the focus was on celebrating Christ's birthday. I thank God for the rich Christian heritage I have. I have fond memories of Church Christmas programs, plays, cantatas, and caroling the great religious Christmas songs to shut-ins. It was truly a time to proclaim Joy to the World Christ has come.

Today our political correct world wants to leave Christ out of Christmas entirely. I have many Christian friends who use Happy Holidays, but not me and I never will. To me it is and always will be Merry Christmas.

Thanksliving

At our house preparations are underway for Thanksgiving Day. The Scruggs' clan, about 25 of us, will gather for a Thanksgiving feast and family gathering. I am glad the USA has set aside a day for us to give thanks. It is a reminder to all of us how blessed we are.

However, I don't want to just celebrate Thanksgiving one day a year. I want to be thankful every day all the time. In order to do that I need to live with an attitude of Thanksliving. Thanksliving is a lifestyle,daily being thankful for all the blessings God so richly allows me to have.

Everyday I want to live a Thanksliving life for following:

God- He is my heavenly father, saviour, guide and comforter, I would be nothing without him.

Wife- She is my friend, helpmate, partner, and lover. We married as kids. She was 19 and I 18. I have often said she took me to raise. Whatever I am she has been a big part of.

Family- I came from a big family, there were six of us children plus dad and mom. The godly heritage they gave me, the values they instilled within me, I am so thankful for. My wife and I have two children, two grandsons, and a daughter in law, we are so blessed. In addition both my wife and I have brothers and sisters who bless us along with their family members.

Health- I have had excellent health all my life. Only have had two bumps in the road to speak of. I had prostate cancer surgery five years ago and a recurrence of cancer in the prostate area about a year ago. I was never sick and surgery along with painless radiation has cleared me. I am thankful for the health God has allowed me to have.

Church- My parents were saved when I was about 5 years of age. I have been in church ever since my parents found the Lord. Church has become my life; member, pastor, and church administrator. I love the church and am so thankful for it's blessing on my life.

Material Blessings- As I look around me I don't have as much as others, but I have more than many. I am so thankful for what God allows me to have, enjoy, and manage to His glory.

The joy of daily living- What a joy to wake up every morning and have the privilege of living the day to the glory of God. Working as a church administrator, helping my family, keeping my home maintained, attending church, helping friends, and in my spare time enjoying some recreational activities.

I want to live everyday with a Thankslving attitude. When my family gathers in a few days, yes we will celebrate Thanksgiving and be thankful, but I want to live daily with a spirit of Thanksliving.

Fall and the Outdoors

Pic of old country church 50' from the trout stream we fished yesterday


This time of the year is my favorite. I love fall with its cool nights and beautiful colorful days. It is a great time to be outdoors. Just yesterday me and a couple fishing buddies went to Stone Mountain State Park in Roaring Gap, North Carolina to trout fish. The scenery was gorgeous. The fishing was great, the trout were hungry and catching them on a fly rod is a thrill.

Tomorrow here in Central North Carolina deer season comes in for muzzle loading rifle. I plan to be in the woods and in my tree stand before daylight. I enjoy hunting butI also enjoy the outdoors. Sitting in my stand watching it break day, then the sunrise glistening through the trees is beautiful. The squirrels run up and down the trees, from time to time other wildlife bound through, and when the deer come through there is nothing quite like it.


Pic of my trout fishing buddy fishing yesterday.

A Workable Health Care Plan

My previous post WHAT'S THE UPROAR has provided some dialogue on the ongoing debate over a national health care plan. I had some comments all against what I posted. However no one offered a solution to the health crisis in America without me first asking them what do they suggest as a solution? The solutions they offered once I asked are not workable solutions in my mind.

I still think a national health care plan is a workable solution to the health care crisis. However let me suggest a Biblical solution to health care costs.

I do not have health insurance. I belong to Christian Healthcare Ministries a faith-based alternative to health insurance. In the past 15 years members of CHM have shared more than $450 million in medical bills. It works like this. Members send a monthly financial gift to the CHM office. Members monthly gifts for gold level is $150.00; silver level is $85.00; bronze level is $45.00. The gifts are then used to meet participants medical bills.

You asked does CHM work? This past spring I had to have 35 radiation treatments for a recurrence of prostate cancer. The bill was over $60,000.00. I told the medical providers I was self pay. When the bills started coming in I begin negotiating with the medical providers as a self pay patient. I was able to get the medical providers to reduce the total bill to around $30,000.00. I then submitted my bill to CHM and they paid all but $500.00, the $500.00 was my gold level deductible. Yes,CHM works!

CHM carries out the command of Galatians 6:2: "Carry each others burdens, and in this way you fulfill the law of Christ." This is the foundation upon which CHM is built. Together, thousands of CHM members support each other in the critical life need of meeting health care costs.

Advantages of CHM:
-No application fee
-No annual fee
-No waiting period for accidents
-Maternity program
-Chose your own health care providers
-No physical required
-No one is dropped because of medical conditions
-The confidence and joy that comes from knowing you are providing for your own health care needs as you also help fellow Christians.
-CHM members pray for one another.

Qualifications for joining are simple:
-be Christians living by Biblical principles
-abstain from the use of tobacco and the use of illegal drugs.
-follow biblical teachings on the use of alcohol
-attend group worship regularly if health permits.

Do some research and you will find CHM was featured August 12, 2009 on the CNN Situation Room. CNN went on the road with the health care debate and CHM was one of their features.

Wouldn't it be great if everyone in America would join CHM? We know they will not and that is why I favor a national health care plan. But for me and possibly for you CHM works. If you would like to have more information about joining CHM send me an email.

What's the Uproar!

This post is meant to bring about a dialogue. Seriously I would hope you would leave comments and help me work through my thoughts.

Our country is seriously considering a national health care policy. It seems that it has come down to a liberal vs. conservative debate, which frankly I think is ridiculous. Politics should not be involved when it comes to our health and getting proper medical care. I am having a hard time understanding why the conservatives of America are in such an uproar over national health care.

I think we would all agree that the cost of health care in America is staggering. I recently had thirty-six radiation treatments for a recurrence of prostate cancer and the bill was around $65,000.00. For many just paying the health insurance monthly premium is a struggle. It is also without question that there are a lot of Americans who do not have proper health care because they cannot afford it. Something has to be done in America to solve the health care costs dilemma we all face.

One of the things that seems to fuel the uproar is fear. For some reason the conservatives in America fear what happens when the government takes over health care. On this point I refer them to the government run Medicaid program. We are raising a grandson, who was born cleft lip and cleft palate. When he was born to our daughter, a single mom, he qualified for Medicaid. Our grandson is ten years old now. Medicaid has been fantastic! He has had the best of medical care with doctors of our choice and neither we nor his mom have ever had to pay a cent. If the proposed national health care is run like Medicaid I see no reason to fear.

Another argument about the fear factor. When a person reaches the age of 65 they automatically go on Medicare, a government run health program. I have yet to hear one senior complain about the health care they receive through Medicare.

The second argument I hear is it will cost too much. The cost is projected to be $1 trillion over a 10 year span. A lot of money I agree. But the projected costs for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars is projected to be $2.4 trillion over 10 years. I don’t hear conservatives saying the wars cost too much. To be honest I never thought we should have gone into Iraq to start with and it appears Afghanistan is headed toward another Vietnam. The war thing will wait for another post.

Another argument I hear is that people illegally in the country will be able to get national health care. I say “what’s the big deal about that”? Shouldn’t we as followers of Jesus Christ want every person to be cared for body, soul, and spirit?

Another argument I hear is they are going to pay for national health insurance by cutting Medicare benefits. The cry is this will hurt the senior aged population. Come on now let’s get real. Do you think for one minute the congress and president is going to do something that would be political suicide. The age 65+ voting block is powerful. You go cutting their benefits and come next election you will be voted out. I don’t think the congress and president are that stupid.

For me the real uproar is from doctors, pharmaceutical companies, and health insurance companies who know they will not be able to keep getting rich and richer at the expense of we average Americans if national health care is passed. They are smart enough to realize the conservatives of America are against national health care so they are feeding them with the fear factor, cost factor, and illegal status factor to keep them whipped up into a frenzy opposing so they can continue to get rich and richer.

What is the uproar? When I was a boy growing up I heard the same uproar from conservatives about civil rights? The conservatives were wrong on civil rights! I sensed the same fear over the first ever Catholic president. John F. Kennedy although he didn’t get to serve long didn’t seem to do worse/better than other presidents of my lifetime. What is the uproar? I would love to have dialogue with you, leave your comments.

Reunion

House Darrell lived in when 5-6 years of age

Last winter I received a friend request from someone wanting to be my Facebook friend. The name did not ring a bell. I didn't want to just ignore it without checking to see if there was a past connection I had forgotten so I replied back "help me with our past connection." I received a reply back saying the person was an old high school friend and he was helping with a search to find the Pike High School class of 1964 (my class). The class was planning their 45th year reunion for September 12.I had not seen any high school classmates since high school. This past weekend my wife and I made the trip to Indiana and attended the reunion.

While in Indiana we made other reunion stops as well. We stayed with my brother and his wife (the only one of my siblings still in the area where we grew up). We visited our childhood homes, mine is now gone and a beautiful new home is there now. We visited some relatives we had not seen in several years. I stopped by and said hello to an old neighborhood friend, was he surprised to see me after 45+ years. We visited with some dear friends of ours who live in the area.


Naomi's childhood home

Reunions are a grand time of renewing old acquaintances and remembering old times. However there is a grand reunion coming someday that none of us want to miss. Jesus said He is coming back for us someday. Someday, I don't know when, neither do you, but the call to go up higher for an eternal reunion is going to come. We call it the rapture of the church. In an instant we will go up. There will be no email notice, no phone call to say it is coming, no fax to say get prepared, no text message saying, "I am coming", it is just suddenly going to happen. I want to be ready when the call comes. How about you?

Marriage

Saturday, August 15, I had the honor of serving as the minister for my son and his bride’s wedding ceremony. Shawn Allen Scruggs and Bethany Nicole Vestal were married atBrookstown Inn in Winston Salem, North Carolina in a beautiful outdoor wedding ceremony.

I have performed a bunch of wedding ceremonies in my life and to be quite honest for the most part did not find them particularly enjoyable. In too many cases the minister is there because he is needed to sign the paperwork and make it official. Too few grooms and brides see the wedding as a spiritual coming together of husband and wife with the blessing of God on the marriage. Too many marriages leave God out all together.

I was proud of Shawn and Bethany as they both proclaimed to the wedding party the night before the wedding they wanted their marriage to be built on God’s love and truth. Again during the wedding reception they shared with the guests the same desire. This wedding was truly a blessing to perform. No doubt it was special because it was the wedding of our son. However, I must say it was a blessing to witness two young people proclaim to all they wanted their marriage built on the solid rock, Jesus Christ.



Every time I perform a wedding ceremony I wonder do the bride and groom really realize the depth of the commitment they are making. A commitment not only to each other, but in the presence of witnesses they make the vows to God as well. The wedding vows are words of deep commitment. “for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part, according to God’s holy law, I pledge you my faith.” With today’s divorce rate at an alarming rate, over 40% of all first time marriages end in divorce. Sadly to say the divorce rate among professing believers in Jesus Christ is no different than unbelievers. Statistics don’t lie and they clearly show us that too many couples do not take the vows to heart.

Shawn and Bethany I am proud of you for your declaration to build your marriage on a firm foundation. May you know nothing but martial happiness and joy through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Vacation

Last week my wife and I and grandson Derek went on vacation to New York City. It sure was a change. NYC is an amazing city of 13+ million people, five large burroughs; Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, and Staten Island, each a large city in itself. Manhattan is where we spent our time. Manhattan is home to skyscrapers, a beautiful harbor, financial district, Times Square, media centers, broadway plays, Chinatown, little Italy, Harlem and much more. We toured Manhattan atop an open air cruise bus, with guide on board, every sight and sound of the city was pointed out.

It is said of NYC, it is the city that never sleeps. We would go from early morning to late night and it never seemed the city slowed down.



We also went by ferry to Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island and Staten Island. Went shopping in Macy's and other NYC stores. Derek got his first subway and bus ride.

Big cities are teeming with all kinds of people going here, there, and everywhere. They seem to always be in a hurry. One can see why the Apostle Paul was drawn to the big cities of his day to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ, what a mission field for Christ.