Columns

We sure love our pets, from dogs and cats to parakeets, tropical fish and hamsters. As parents of three children and grandparents of eleven, I understand the attraction. As empty nesters our little black dachshund Princess has filled our hearts and home with indescribable joy, frequent smiles and too often frustration from you-know-what and totally unnecessary barking. She would be the ultimate church greeter. She loves everyone!

My future is secure in Christ, but I am deeply concerned for the future of our nation as well as other countries with similar challenges. We are facing potentially catastrophic consequences from a consistent disregard of biblical principles both morally and economically. There is, however, hope and it is found in Christ who freely offers wise counsel and divine direction.

Already, many candidates and major media are moving into full swing for next year’s elections. We must first understand what must be done before we can identify who can best help do it. Perhaps as important as any time since our founding, those who believe in divine providence and eternal principles must become well-informed and actively involved in the political process.

It was surely God’s grace and the wisdom that can only come from above leading me to fall so deeply in love with a teenage girl who would become my wife. Betty and I have been in love for over 50 years and married 48. What a joy and inspiration she is! I thank God she was set free from the belief that she had to perform in order to please. From childhood, she felt everyone was watching her every move and she must not disappoint.

Our prayers are with all of the families along the Mississippi River and in the states that have been devastated by the tornadoes and floods this spring.

All of us need direction and wise counsel. God offers it. Wisdom not only comes from the Word, but from above. The God who wrote the Word communicated it and controlled those who recorded it. The Bible itself is a supernatural, God-breathed gift and can be trusted not to our imagination or necessarily everyone else’s potentially misguided interpretation, but God’s written Word is absolutely reliable. The God who inspired it desires to communicate with each one of us in a very personal way.

America and the free world will always be safer when evildoers and evil deeds are properly handled. People of faith should pray for justice to be done and thank God when lawbreakers and murderers are stopped. I am indeed grateful Osama bin Laden was taken out through the united efforts of the intelligence agencies, President Obama and his Security Council, and especially through the training, commitment, skill and personal sacrifice on the part of our Special Forces.

My brother in Christ, follower of Jesus, faithful witness, bold spokesman full of compassion, my friend and co-laborer is now in heaven. He died in a terrible car wreck Wednesday afternoon near Tyler, Texas. His wife Gwen is in serious condition. Please pray for the family.

Jesus said, “There is none good except God,” so the revelation of “good” comes through the manifestation of God. We witness His goodness through the gift of His Son whose death and resurrection is celebrated this special weekend. The scriptures clearly proclaim that God is not only good, but He is love. Herein is love, not that we love Him, but that He first loved us.

I can remember a number of years ago when somebody told me there was going to be an information superhighway and how revolutionary it was going to be. I thought to myself, That sounds like a crazy and unrealistic possibility. How wrong I was.