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Welcome Home!

/ pastorpete51 / 3 Comments

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—everyone—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:6 ESV

Though we had traveled quite a bit around the United Staes to visit our families, my wife and I had never been overseas till were invited to visit friends in Switzerland. Naturally, we delightedly accepted and as the time grew closer, we anxiously awaited our passports to arrive in the mail. Then, after months of planning the day finally arrived and we headed off to the airport. Once in the air my wife was completely at peace and enjoying the flight, but the long hours over the ocean was a little intimidating for me, and it took more than a few quick prayers to calm my nerves. The ten days of our visit passed quickly, and when the day of our return came, we were sad to leave our friends, yet happy to be going home. After landing back in New York, of course had to pass through customs, and with our still shiny new passports gripped in our hands, we waited patiently in line. But as we stepped to the front and handed them to the officer, we were startled to hear him say, “There is a problem here.”

A bit sleepy from the long flight home, his words jolted me wide awake. “What problem?” I asked in confusion.

“These passport aren’t valid.” He replied, “You never signed them!”

“Oh no!” I exclaimed. “I am so sorry! We’ve never traveled out of the country before, and I had no idea!” I pleaded.

The gentleman gave me a smile of assurance then quietly said. “Well I’m not supposed to do this but just go to the back of the line and sign them. Then we’ll try again.”

Relief swept over us as we hurriedly made our way to the end of the line, found the page where our signatures needed to be and hurriedly signed. This time as we handed our passports to the officer he grinned, stamped them, and said, “Welcome home!”

Just like the wandering sheep in today’s verse we had a serious problem. We knew where we needed to be, we had no right to go there because we had never signed the documents. In the same way, God has provided eternal salvation to everyone who will put their faith in Jesus, but we have a part to play, by personally signing our name on the line. Our entrance is assured by grace, but each of us must personally receive it by faith. Only then will our entry be assured so that when we arrive at Heaven’s gate, we will hear the Father calling out, “Welcome Home!”

The Snickel’s Family Friend

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment 
 A friend loves at all times,
and a brother is born for a time of adversity
Proverb 17:17 NIV  
In the Spring of ’86 just as the days were turning warm
With the money they had saved they bought the field above the farm
And as their boys ran through the hayfield, they watched the cows below
Then imagined how their house would look and where the garden ought to go

The Snickels watched their home being built as it took about a year
Then they sorted, prayed and planned when they saw the time growing near
For the move out to the country and to leave their friends behind
Oh, what a great adventure, that they pictured in their mind 

But as the seasons came and went, very soon their two boys grew tall
While the garden that they planted filled up the canning jars each Fall
And their work seemed almost endless, so they hardly noticed how things changed
To wake up one day and find their boys lives were being rearranged

The boys left behind their household chores for college and a job
And as the little home grew still, the quiet days just seemed so odd 
It seemed like only yesterday when Snickels pancakes filled each plate
Now looking out they watched as now the empty field fill up with flakes 

But in their sudden loneliness God spoke His promise true
That through the night however long He'd make each sunrise new
And on the pathway that we walk He keeps close onto the end
And through every year that passes He will be our faithful friend

The Snickel's Family Friend 
By Peter Caligiuri 
Copyright © 2023 
All rights reserved

Home Sweet Home!

/ pastorpete51 / 5 Comments

I sincerely thank God for the privilege and ability of being able to complete such a long road trip as the one we returned from last night. Over the last 3 weeks, Nancy and I travelled through 17 states (not counting our home state of Florida). These are just a few random photos from our 5,500-mile jaunt. While away, we visited all 7 of our grandchildren, both our sons and their wives as well as many close friends. We were also able to stay in the beautiful small town of West Plains, Missouri, which is close to the village where we were married 50 years ago. It was really neat going to the old church, which is now Immanuel Southern Baptist of Pomona Missouri, and worship with those lovely people. While we sang the old hymns, I noticed that they are still using the piano on which Nancy played on the worship team before we were married! Now that we are home, we have to mow the lawn, go shopping, pick up the mail, wash the car and reconnect with our local friends and neighbors. But as I was resting and rejoicing in being, “Home Seet Home” I remembered that while He was here on this planet, that Jesus rarely had any such privilege. In fact, while responding to an eager listener who said he wanted to follow Him, Jesus said, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” Matthew 8:20 NKJV

Then it hit me that after I had unpacked all my thing and settled in, that I would still not really be home, because as a Christian our only true home is with Jesus. As the Apostle Paul once said, “So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 5:6 NKJV. But God does have a home prepared for each of us who by faith have followed Jesus and given our lives to Him. No matter where you call home today, whether things are going well or terrible, whether we are loved and accepted or rejected and unloved, Jesus has a home for us in Himself and we can have great and unmeasurable peace as we unpack our spiritual bags, come home to Him and find rest in Him alone! Some on Home! Jesus has left the lights on for us!