God’s Love Letter

Ephesians 2:8 reads; For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God. (ESV)

I officiated a wedding one day as the pastor. The couple that I met made it very clear to me that they wanted me to share the gospel in simple and plain language during their wedding. The bride-to-be told me that many of her family members will be coming from overseas and that their religion was  not Christianity. With tears in her eyes and passionately explain to me how important it would be for the 150 guests of hers from India to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I told them that I would love to be able to do that and begin to prepare for that special day. I was more than happy to participate in such a wonderful opportunity. Instead of my preaching the normal message to the bride and groom, I prepared my thoughts for a simple love letter from God.

On the 9th hole of a very prestigious golf course we set up for the wedding. As the bride came down the aisle I could see that her smile conveyed a heart filled with love and hope for members of her family. All of the normal Christian tradition was emphasized and then I was given the opportunity to share the special love letter from God, my message to the bride’s family. I stepped aside from a couple begin to address my comments to the congregation assembled that day.

I could see that they were very receptive to the whole field message that I shared with them and I simply told them that God has written us a love letter that if red we transform their understanding of faith, hope, and love.

Following the wedding the bride’s aunt and uncle approached me asking more questions about my message. We exchanged words back-and-forth for over an hour during the reception as we compared Christianity to their Hindu religion. Ultimately I stated that bottom line, the difference between their religion and mine was that through Jesus, we are given a gift of eternal life and that through a simple prayer we can have eternal life in heaven. The brides uncle turned and said I want some of that before we bought our heads and they recited a simple prayer of confession.

As the celebration continued for the bride and her husband there was another celebration that was underway in heaven because of the several that prayed to receive Jesus that day.

Our hope is because of the wonderful love letter that God wrote to us, through his word. It is a message of sacrifice that gives us hope for eternal life. Religion it’s not just a set of beliefs but I trust that we can have With God through Jesus Christ. It is because of his shed blood on Calvary but we have received the greatest gift and that we should pass this gift on the others.

Take just a moment to reflect on the letter, God’s word that he has written to you. Celebrate his gracious gift of eternal life because you are really a recipient of eternal life through Jesus Christ.

Rebuild Or Restart?

Times are different, aren’t they? It seems as though that just a few months ago we were living in a very different age. But here we are, months after COVID-19 has caused many of us to change our routines and comply to new standards.

This begs the question whether we should rebuild or restart?

Many who are leading churches and other organizations are having to restart only to have setbacks with new procedures in an attempt to make church safe. This is not the only industry that is impacted as many nonprofits and charitable causes including foster care has shifted dramatically.

Social distancingIs a new phrase in our vocabulary. Wearing mask is a new practice that we must comply with. The news cycles are not just spreading information about a virus but they are spreading fear and uncertainty.

I often read articles and newsfeeds that talk about organizations having to “restart” their current activities; many having to get very creative in their efforts.

Many could be paralyzed during this time because they’re not sure what the next step is. I believe that if you don’t know the next step look ahead for hope is in the horizon. It’s in the long range that we find a fresh vision. 

It’s time to start thinking long range on many of our efforts. Perhaps we need to be thinking about more than just simply resetting but perhaps we need to rebuild. This is a much different conversation because it’s not just about re-gathering or picking up where we left off.

The conversation is now about finding a long range answer. We must ask what does 2021 look like? Whatever the cause  and no matter the activity that we once enjoyed, we have to consider what starting over looks like. 

When we think about rebuilding we must begin with vision and create a structure that meets the objective in more meaningful ways. We have to consider the impact we could have on long range objectives.

Here are four questions we can start by asking:

1. What is your mission? Everything has a beginning including the reason why you exist to begin rebuilding by understanding your mission.
2. What are your values? State clearly the values that motivate you and help you accomplish your reason to exist statement.
3. What can you do right now that is unhindered by the current circumstances? It’s important to maintain in the midst of obstacles and difficulties so do what you can do now while also thinking ahead.
4. What is your vision and strategy when you think about rebuilding your objectives given the current hindering circumstances? It’s time to think fresh and do as you look at your long range goals and be creative.

Live outside the realm of fear and objections and think clearly, with a fresh vision for how you accomplish your reason you exist mission statement. Rebuild instead of restart. 

Rebuilding gives you a fresh outlook for your future endeavors. When you restart you go back to previous parameters that made sense for a very different time.

Rebuilding allows you the space to push aside obstacles in order to think clearly. When you restart your limit your potential because of pre-existing conditions.

Rebuilding means reconstructing your future hope for why you exist. when you restart you pick up from where you last left off with no consideration for the future.

Should you rebuild or restart? I recommend rebuilding!

Counterfeit Faith.

Romans 12:9 Reads; “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. (ESV)”

My two sons are now grown and even serving in the profession of law-enforcement. When they were in school they combined two projects from school assignments in which their collaborative creativity produced a counterfeit, duplicated dollar bill. They not only created it by using techniques from art class they had aged it, by getting it wet and drying it, and passed it on to me for inspection.

To my surprise, believing that it was real, recognize there humorous trick when they giggled as they told me that it was counterfeit currency. I was shocked! 

I took it from them and told them that this was wrong and even took the dollar bill to a friend of mine who retired from the Secret Service. Even more amazing was that he identified it quickly as a counterfeit without even looking at it but from how it felt in his hand.

Eventually my sons learned a valuable lesson as the retired Secret Service friend took the boys aside one Sunday morning after church and basically scared them enough to which they never tried that again.

My friend, the retired Secret Service agent said that he learned to identify counterfeit money by studying the characteristics of real currency. He told me that in all of his training they are taught to study what is real, not what is counterfeit.

In our lives we too must study what is true to avoid the counterfeit in our spiritual lives. A valuable lesson my boys learned we too can learn as we study the truth of God’s Word in order to have an authentic and genuine relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

First John 1:5 reminds us that God is pure light, in him there is no darkness. For you and for me, it’s important to recognize that in Christ, we too are a reflection of the hope we have through God‘s love for us. As we live out a genuine faith through Jesus Christ, be reminded that in Christ there is no amount of artificial light that will ever replace the glory of the true light that is in Christ Jesus and through His Word, we can reflect His light.

For more on this subject, see my message that I shared on YouTube - Rev. Rick E. Carder.

In order to know the truth of God’s Word begin by memorizing scripture this week and in weeks to come.