The End is Just the Beginning
I thought I should write something about “Senior Night.” Here’s the deal: my son is a senior and tonight, for the last time, he will play a home basketball game at his school. As I was thinking through this, my good friend texted me out of the blue and said, “Praying for you on Senior Night.” Coincidence? I think not.
A Dad Learning from His Father
I’m a dad. It’s who I am. It’s easily the best job I’ve ever had, but also the hardest. I get to play and have fun with my kids and see their great joys and successes; I also get to watch them endure pain and sadness and suffering. But I don’t watch for long. If my children cry for help, I run to them and do whatever I possibly can to ease their pain. I want to rescue them; I long to make their suffering go away.
God’s a Dad. It’s who He is. When the Israelites had lived as slaves in Egypt for over 400 years and were crying out for help, God heard them, He saw their suffering, and He wanted to rescue them. In fact, God appeared to Moses in a burning bush and commanded him to go rescue His children from slavery.
Snow Without Ceasing
16 “Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
To paraphrase and summarize the thoughts of John Piper, “praying continually” means at least three things: maintaining a spirit of dependence that permeates all we do; praying repeatedly and often; and not giving up on prayer.
His Speech that Takes my Breath Away
Has your breath ever, quite literally, been taken away by the created world in which we live? Have you ever gasped in amazement at the majesty of what surrounds us every day? Once, while sitting on an airplane, high above the clouds, I looked out the window and actually had to catch my breath because of what I saw. The indescribable beauty stunned me. And it happened simply because God spoke. The Bible tells us in Genesis 1:1-2, that “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” From the verses that follow, we know that God spoke and this world came to be.
A Life Changed by Love
“’The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.’ And they praised God because of me” (Galatians 1:23-24). The power of a changed life is the greatest testimony one can have as a Christian. And what more radical life change could one undergo than the persecutor becoming the persecuted?
As Christians, our regenerated lives shine brightly in this dark world as evidence to the fact that Jesus is alive and He is changing the lives of those who follow Him. We testify by our words and actions, most significantly through the fruit that God produces in our lives, marked especially by our love for Him and for other people.
The Gift of Christmas
14 “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too [Jesus] shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 17 For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people” (Hebrews 2:14-15; 17)
Memories of the Greatest Gifts
A Treasure That Can’t Be Stolen
Throwing Off the Extra Weight
Rescuing the Rescuers
One of my former youth group students is now the lead minister in a southern California church, has been married for several years, and is the dad of one daughter with a second girl set to arrive in March. Another of my former students serves as a deacon right here at Sunrise, leads our worship ministry, has been married for a number of years, and is the dad of a son and a daughter. Besides making me feel OLD, these young adults remind me of the importance of investing in our youths, because they are the ones receiving the torch we pass, the ones who will continue to reach this world and make disciples. I’m thrilled to say that these men are doing just that. Even as the torch is passed to them, they are beginning to hand it off to the next generation after them. While their race is not over, they are helping others to start down the path of Christian living and service to the King.