salvation

What is So Special About That?

/ pastorpete51 / 5 Comments 
For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16 NIV

The word, “Special” is so overused in our society, and its meaning so diluted that, well, it just isn’t very special anymore! For example, the lunch special at my diner, really is just the meal that almost everyone orders because it is cheaper than anything else on the menu. We call our friends, dreams, days and even moments special in our struggle to give them greater value. The phrases “You are special,” or “Everyone is special, have become so ingrained in us, that when experience shows us that we are just ordinary, we get depressed. Uncounted angry words are spoken, and violent acts are committed, demanding that others recognize our specialness. But in our insistence on being treated as special, we have lost sight of one of the greatest truths of all: God loves ordinary people.

The Bible is filled with stories of God dressing ordinary wildflowers in brilliant colors, feeding common ravens, and spending His time counting the hair on every person’s head. In fact, the greatest hope we have from today’s verse is that God is not looking for special people. God is interested in fat people, skinny minnies, wise guys and dummies, kids who are in trouble and adults whose lives lie in ruins. God is just as interested in listening to the elderly, no longer able to communicate as He is to children who seem to never stop talking. God welcomes ordinary people of all kinds, who have put their faith in His Son Jesus Christ. He loves sinful selfish people like you and me and freely forgives as we ask for it. He turns no one away, no matter how ordinary, and He washes feet no matter how dirty, because “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life!” And that, my friend is something that is truly special!

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Rock of Ages

/ pastorpete51 / 3 Comments

In England of 1763, when Augustus Toplady wrote this song, he could not have known that a storm was brewing on the horizon. In just three short years, the American Revolution broke out, claiming the lives of 25,000 colonists and another 12,000 young British boys. For those losing a father, a brother or a son, the political outcomes paled in comparison to their personal losses. Today, it feels as if our society, our nation and our world stand on the precipice of another cataclysmic change. It is like the storms that blow in from the Gulf, here in Florida. While standing on the beach, the outlook seems sunny and hot, but just over the horizon dark clouds begin to form, the wind begins to blow and there comes the distant sound of thunder. Soon the lifeguards begin to yell, “Get out of the water! Get off the beach! Find shelter!”

In the lyrics of this great hymn, our God, who knows what griefs and sorrows lie just over our horizon, also calls and gives us an invitation to run from the storm and find our refuge in the Cross of Jesus Christ!

Come!

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment

Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money,
come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Isaiah 55:1 NIV

When we lived in the mountains of Northeast Pennsylvania we had two Elkhounds: named Sonya and Thunder. Though they were sisters from the same litter, and looked alike, their personalities were completely different. Thunder loved nothing better than to sit with me and let her ears be scratched, but Sonya was always looking for a chance to escape and would usually entice Thunder to run after her. Late one snowy Winter night, I cracked the front door open to see how much had fallen, when Sonya suddenly shot out between me and the door, with Thunder close behind. “Sonya! Thunder! Come back!” I shouted after them, but rather than turning or even slowing down, they hurried off into the darkness. As Elkhounds I knew they weren’t in any danger from the cold, and since they were ignoring me, I simply shrugged my shoulders, closed the door, flicked off the light and went to bed. In the morning you never saw such a meek couple of puppy-dogs, curled up by our doorway and eager to be let back in.

Sometimes our walk with God looks like that night on the mountain. God loves us to come sit close to Him. He wants nothing more than to care for us and keep us safe in His presence. In today’s verse, He calls to us, “Come all you who are thirsty, come to the waters.” But sometimes our heart longs to run, and when we do God doesn’t chase after us. We think we are getting away with something, but in reality, we are trading a safe warm home for a night in a snowstorm of doubts, fears and false promises. How amazingly good it is that God doesn’t lock His door and vow to never speak to us again. Instead, when we limp home with our feet frozen from the cold, and huddle up outside His door, He calls us again, but this time He says, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest!” Can you hear Him calling? Are you ready to listen to His voice? The moment our heart says, “Yes” we will discover a rest that He paid for on Calvary and the home that He has prepared for us to stay in forever!

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-31 NIV

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