The Coin Returns (see post of 1-26-08)

Today I opened the mail and there I saw a letter from my friend at the Defense Department. A short note accompanied his coin and I sent of a brief note of thanks to him. It really was silly how much I wanted this coin back. I looked at it for a while then put it in a plastic holder. I was heading out to a local bike shop for some parts and I thought about taking it with me. Not a great idea. I put it in my safe and locked it. I did take one of my coins with me. You never know when the opportunity to share your faith may arise.

It is dangerous to take Bible verses out of context or take different genres from the Bible and apply them incorrectly, but as this episode unfolded I was reminded of the words of Jesus, recounted by Luke 15:8-10:

"Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.' In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

Maybe this story will help someone, anyone, repent of their sins and give their life over to Jesus.

Amen.

Why I know God loves me personally

As parents, we are amazed when we have our first child. We look at them, touch them, kiss them, feed them and clean up after them. Most of all we love them. We have created a human being and though it is a daunting task, that love grows as they grow. If we are blessed with another child, our love for the first child is not lessened or split between the two. It is equally applied to the new child. Our love graciously grows. When I see the school pictures of Hannah and Luke, I am amazed at how much I love them and adore them. I told Luke this morning that I cannot imagine a father loving his children, and expressing it, more than I love them.

But I'm wrong. Based on the simple premise that there must be an "Intelligent Designer" that created the earth and therefore us, He must be much more powerful than me. It would therefore go that He would make a creature similar to Himself, but not infinite, sovereign or omniscient as Himself. And based on these two creations I've had a hand in creating, I cannot believe that He would not be concerned with everything they, and I, do. My faith has grown and changed in my life, but there is one thing I am sure about, that I can trust above all other things. That is that I have a perfect Father in heaven who cares about me, listens to my prayers and responds as He sees fit, not just because I want something. I believe I am a very good father to my children. I am intentional, I try to get better and I love them dearly, even when I have to discipline them. But I am so imperfect.

Luckily they have a perfect Father in heaven.

And He knows us and loves us. Imperfect as we are.