Another Milestone

Monday, February 16, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
Wow! I made it past another milestone—my 67th birthday! For some reason, 67 sounds much older than 66; it has the “get your stuff in order because you are using up your years” ring to it, the ring that 66 did not have. Now, don’t misunderstand me, as I am not packing my bags for the trip Home; instead, I am, merely, telling you that I am older than I have ever been and younger than I will ever be. I might add that I am trying to focus on being “younger than I will ever be,” rather than being “older than I have ever been,” which is quite a challenge. My friend, Phil, who lives in the “show me” state of Missouri, reminded me of this last night, and I have been thinking about it ever since (I pay attention to his comments because he is much older than I).
Anyway, I thought I would share a few things with you that seem to be important to me, at this juncture in my journey:
1. After all of these years, I still believe that the gospel is the power of God for salvation, not the antics of man.
2. Without understanding “why,” I am fully convinced that God really did call me to preach the aforementioned gospel.
3. It took my getting over the religious teachings of my formative years before I could see it, but today I am confident (beyond question), that the gospel is not God’s unveiling of what we are to do for Him, but His announcement of what He has done for us.
4. After a life-time of attending organized church, not to mention 30 years as a pas-tor, I am fully-persuaded that it has become the enemy of the True Church, and that grieves me.
5. Even so, “I am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that Day.”
6. In my opinion, God has given the preaching of His word and the celebration of the Eucharist a place of priority within His Church, that is much higher than most realize.
7. Although there have been times when it seemed otherwise, I know that God is in control—every time and all the time—and that is a source of great comfort to me.
8. Absolutely nothing can separate me from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus.
9. True friendship is of far more value than great riches.
10. The older I become, the more I realize just how little I know about Him.
11. One of the most grievous mistakes a Bible teacher can make is to cease being a student.
12. Rather than evidencing little, or no faith, my doubting that evidences the genuineness of faith.
13. God descended to me, I did not ascend to Him—of this I am certain.
14. My sin debt has been canceled and nailed to the cross—I no longer bear it!
15. When I am deceived, I do not know that I am.
16. God chose me; I did not choose Him, and that is for certain.
17. Jesus rescued me from sin and death.
18. God’s prescience did not determine His choice in election.
19. My will is free to do righteousness because I am a slave to righteousness.
20. Keeping the Ten Commandments is a “piece of cake,” when compared to Jesus’ commandment for me to love others, even as He loves me!
I could go on-and-on, but suffice it to say that I am still enjoying the journey (for the most part), being fully persuaded that His grace is sufficient for me.