A Reason for Hope

Rebecca Manley Pippert wrote a book, Hope Has Its Reasons. In our New Testament, unlike the world we live in, hope is not just wistful wish that everything will turn out for the best. It is an expectation. It has its roots in the Bible story of Jesus who came to share God's love. When the people, many of those in power, didn't want to listen, they killed Jesus. The folk who had come to love Him and His message felt defeated, past discouraged. Three after his death, though, these same defeated people were proclaiming to all who would hear, "He is not dead! The God who has sent him has raised him from the dead!" From that point on, nothing, no personal tragedy, no task, no challenge, no relational problem, has been insurmountable for people who have the coming of Jesus. A very happy and hopeful Easter!

Lent

When I was just a little kid, my friends (Roman Catholic) made a big deal about "lint." I, of course, thought they were talking about that stuff you find is your pockets or in your navel. The were always giving something for this "lint." They treated this season with a kind of reverence we didn't have at our church. In my later years, I've come to appreciate this 40 days before Easter when the days grow longer (Anglo-saxon, lenthening of days, or Lent)as a time of spiritual growth which calls us to take a good look at ourselves; our mortality, our failings and, in the light of these limits, turn to God in a new and healthy ways. Please join with us in this time of renewal.

With a Heart in the Middle

Though it's the shortest month, February was always an exciting time for my nuclear family. Both of my sisters were born in February; George Washington and Abe Lincoln were born in February. But what's really exciting is the heart in the middle, Valentine's Day, Named for a third century saint, it celebrates love. Love comes in many wrappings romantic love, friendship love, many times both. It's good to stop and quite intentionally tell people we love that we, in fact, love them. Love has other dimensions, though, such as compassion. Recent earthquakes in Haiti called the world's attention to a region which was already in desperate need of that attention. The advent of an earthquake makes an already untenable situation worse. So, let us "love with actions and in truth." During this month with a heart in the middle, let's have a heart

All Things New

In the Revelation (21.5), the exalted Christ promises to make all things new. In this time of New Year's resolutions, when prople resolutely vow to loose weight, be nice to the crotchety old man next door, and read the Bible every day, such resolutions are inevitably doomed to failure, Jesus' promises come as welcome news to all of us who are tired of such failures. What we, in our own machinations, cannot achieve; Christ can do in us. As we live in vital relationship with Christ, He miraculously, almost imperceptibly changes us people of greater love, service, and joy. Thanks be to God for new creations in Christ. Grace and peace, Tim