30+ Days of Giving Thanks, Day 50: Word of Life

Yesterday I wrote about the Montrose Bible Conference and its role in my life and in the lives of my family. Today I am thankful for another place where ministry has taken place that is very special to me. The Word of Life Inn in Schroon Lake, New York, is a beautiful setting in the Adirondacks of northern New York. The facilities there are comfortable and modern (at least the ones I have seen are modern!) and the dining room is marvelous.

I have attended a number of pastors’ conferences there over the years—sometimes with Kelly, and sometimes alone. The drive up in October is spectacular, and the scenery is breathtaking. I hope that all of my friends have the opportunity, at some time, to visit.

Though my connections are not as deep as those I have made at Montrose Bible Conference, I would enthusiastically recommend the Word of Life Inn and Conference Center to any church or group looking for a great location for a retreat or conference. They also have a great Bible Institute and great camps, both summer camps and winter retreats, for teens and children.

Thank You, Heavenly Father, for the ministry and the facilities of Word of Life International.

30+ Days of Giving Thanks, Day #49: Montrose Bible Conference

Today I am thankful for the Montrose Bible Conference (Click on the name to go to the Montrose Bible Conference website). Since 1994, when I was invited to fill in on short notice as the director of Teen Camp week when the person scheduled had to cancel, my family and I have been connected with the Conference in a number of ways. Seven years of Teen Camp, a couple of additional years as Bible teacher for Teen Camp, Snow Camps, Men’s Retreats, Ladies’ Retreats (okay, I have never actually attended a Ladies’ Retreat, but Kelly has, and I have benefitted indirectly from that!) and for the past several years, a place on the Board of Directors has forged a strong and enduring bond between this place of ministry and my family and me.

The Torrey Home, on the grounds of the Montrose
Bible Conference

Whether I am thinking about the place itself, with its buildings and grounds, or the programs that I have participated in there, or the people who staff the conference, or the friendships that I have forged there, Montrose Bible Conference is one of my very favorite places. For over 100 years, people have been “getting out of their routine and experiencing God” through this ministry. I thank God for the Montrose Bible Conference and I ask God to continue to bless and grow this ministry so that many hundreds and thousands of people like me can encounter God in His Creation and in His people.

30+ Days of Giving Thanks, Day 48: God’s Love

Today is the Fourth Sunday of Advent, and our theme for the day is Love. The Christmas story, and the season of Advent, speaks to me about the love of God for me, for you, for everyone. So today, I am giving thanks to God for this simple truth: God loves me! It is an amazing thing to consider, and seems like an impossibility, and yet “the Bible tells me so.”

(Click Here to listen to the Gaither Vocal Band sing "Jesus Loves Me")

Thinking about the love of God brought one of my favorite hymns, ‘The Love of God,” to mind. Perhaps you are familiar with the hymn; if not, listen to it here:

(Click Here to listen to the Gaither Vocal Band sing "The Love of God")

Thank You, Heavenly Father, for your love for me!

30+ Days of Giving Thanks, Day 47: the Local Church

A week ago, I wrote about the Universal Church (see This Post to read what I wrote). Today, I am writing about the “other side of the coin”—the Local Church. This is that expression of the Body of Christ that is visible, it is tangible, it exists within its time and its place. It is what the world sees when it looks at Christianity—for better and for worse!

In particular, I am thankful for the local church to which I belong. Note that I do not refer to it as “my church,” for “my” is a possessive pronoun that may have two meanings: (1) that which belongs to me, or (2) that to which I belong. I belong to Jesus, and am a member of His Body—the Church. He has placed me in the part of His Body which meets regularly  (for worship, for teaching, for fellowship and for service, and more) at 481 South Street in Newburgh, New York, USA, and is known by the name of First Baptist Church in Newburgh. This is my church, but it is not my church—it belongs to Jesus Christ!
Anyway, I give thanks to God for putting me here in this corner of His Kingdom, and in the midst of this local church. The people who belong to the Family of God meeting here are some of the finest people it has been my pleasure and privilege to know anywhere and any time. In the five and a half years Kelly and our sons and I have been a part of this church, we have seen our church grow in grace, in love, in forgiveness and being accepting of others. We have said “Goodbye, for now” to some dear friends, and we’ve said “Hello!” to many new friends.

We have worshipped, we have prayed, we have studied God’s Word, we have broken bread together, we have laughed and we have cried together. We have carried one another’s burdens, and helped one another back to our feet when one of us has stumbled along the way. We together have carried the banner of the Cross, and have planted it deep in the soil of our community. I give thanks to God for this church, and each of the people who are a part of it. Most of all, I give thanks that God has placed me here, and now, to be a part of His great work in this place and time.

30+ Days of Giving Thanks, Day 46: Communication Tools

Today I am going to expand on a point I alluded to a few days ago when I was speaking about the comforts and conveniences of modern living (click here to read that essay): the many and various tools available to me today to aid in communicating with others.

In particular, of course, I am thinking of various digital electronic media that I have to use today that were not available to me when I was starting college. Though I was already interested in computers back then, and even spent my junior year of high school learning about computer programming and data processing, computers were enormous and expensive, and only government agencies and large corporations were making effective use of them.

I went to college with an electric typewriter, stamps, envelopes and stationery. There was a coin-operated telephone in the rear stairwell of our dorm. Those were the tools available to me to maintain contact with my family and friends who were now separated from me physically by a minimum of 3.5 hours by car--a car, by the way, which I did not have. My letters home, and my letters from home, were very rare. Even more rare were the phone calls.

Today, I am sitting in the classroom in our church building, composing this entry on my iPad and listening to Christmas music on the same device. From time to time my iPad emits a soft chirp, notifying me that a new e-mail has arrived and is waiting to be read. Beside me on the table is my mobile telephone, a "smartphone" that also sends and receives e-mail. I am waiting for a phone call from the car dealership that will notify me that Kelly's car has been serviced and is ready for pickup.

If I need to look something up, the Internet is just a few keystrokes away. I can find virtually any piece of information that exists (though I wouldn't understand most of it even if I did look it up!)

In a few more minutes, I will have finished this entry, and one or two more keystrokes from there will publish this essay and make it INSTANTLY ACCESSIBLE to anyone with access to the internet, from ANYWHERE in the world! In theory, 6 billion people could read what I am writing now within minutes of my completing it. (Of course, the number of people who will actually read this is much closer to 6 than to 6 billion, but not because they cannot read it if they want to!

All of this communication technology makes me, a naturally introverted person who finds direct personal communication often awkward and intimidating, feel connected to people who I love, who I care about, and who I want to stay connected to. Granted, reading something I have written, even if it is directly addressed to you, is not an even exchange for a face-to-face conversation. I am often reminded of that fact. I am also aware that not everyone to whom I wish to be connected has access to the internet, and even those who do will not necessarily see what I have written, know that I have written it, or, even if they do, look at it and read it. I understand that.

Even so: writing and publishing this "blog," posting a link to it on Facebook, Tweeting that it is available, e-mailing a link to it, sending a text message, instant message, Kik message, or making a phone call to say that a new essay is available--all of these choices for communicating a simple message were not available to me 30 years, 20 years, or even 5 years ago. By this time next year, I may not even require a keyboard any more, because I will have figured out how to use the "speech-to-text" dictation program already installed on my iPad. For me, a confirmed geek and technophile, it is a great time to be alive!

Thank you, Heavenly Father, for the gifts of technology that assist in communicating messages. May You sanctify my use of these tools for Your service.

30+ Days of Giving Thanks, Day 45: The Artistry of God

I have been to a lot of places and I have seen a lot of things. However, there are many, many more places I have not yet been, and many, many, many more things I have not yet seen. I know this: the places I have been, and the things I have seen, are spectacular! I have seen the water crashing over Niagara Falls—from both the United States' and the Canadian sides. (The view is better from the Canadian side!) I have seen the coral reefs off Key West in Florida. I have been in the mountains of Bavaria, and in the Shawangunk mountains here in the mid-Hudson River valley. 

Today I was talking with a friend about the complexity of the human body's chemistry—magnificent and delicately balanced, and that is but one of the several systems in the human body that are designed (yes, designed!) to work in harmony with one another. I have held, and recently, a tiny example of the human race, and observed the tiny fingernails, little bigger than a single scale on the side of a sunfish (I almost said trout, but we both know better than that, don't we?) A miniature person, like his daddy in nearly every detail, yet tiny in comparison. (That'll change, of course.)

The beauty of the Green Mountains of Vermont was in my mind several days ago as I drove north up U.S. Route 7 from Bennington toward Rutland. Though the mountains are gray now in the late fall/early winter, I could still imagine the beauty of those mountains just weeks earlier when all of those now naked trees would have been aglow with the yellows, reds and oranges of fall foliage.

There is an admittedly small but nonetheless fascinating waterfall in my neighborhood. After a heavy rain I enjoy standing on the bridge that binds the two banks of the Wallkill River together on Route 52 in Walden and looking 50 yards upstream at that crazy tangle of water raging over the rocks of that cascade. It is hypnotic to me. I have walked along the beaches of Cape Cod, of Atlantic City, of Virginia Beach and Daytona Beach and enjoyed the endless repetition and the limitless variations of the surf washing along the sand and rocks.

I have watched many sunrises, and even more sunsets, and marveled at the palette of colors that God has at His fingertips. I have stood amazed at the power and terrible beauty of a thunder-and-lightning storm, and have watched through the windows at the silent snowfall buries the world beneath a thick carpet of snow.

All of these things, and many more beside, speak to me of the incredible artistry of God, and the beauty which He lavishes on all that He has wrought. Whether it is the steep passes and deep valleys of the Appalachian Mountains through West Virginia, or the mile after mile of flatland in Indiana and Illinois, it is majestic and inspiring. For me, everything that God has made sings of the greatness of our God—and even the music of "How Great Is Our God" and "How Great Thou Art" rolls through by mind and soul as I think about it.

Thank You, O God, for the beauty and majesty of this Creation of Yours. Thank You for making it, and thank You for sharing some of it with me for a little while. Maybe, one day, You can show me around the rest of it—You know—the parts I haven't seen yet. That would be GREAT!

And, oh yeah, God. I don't tell you enough, but I really love You, too.

30+ Days of Giving Thanks, Day 44: God’s Forgiveness

Today I am thanking God for His mercy and forgiveness. I am a sinner. Though some people might consider that I am a "pretty good" person, I know that in God's eyes, I have fallen short of perfection, and I continue daily to "miss the mark." My failures, sins, selfish thoughts and actions, pride, and many more thoughts and deeds mount against me and accuse me. I am not now, have never been, and never will be "good enough." That is the grim reality I live with every day. 

What I am thankful for, though, is that despite my many sins, God is willing and wanting to forgive me. He have His Only Begotten Son, a Perfect Man because He, Jesus, is the Son of God, and in fact, God the Son in human flesh. His sacrifice for sins, not only for mine but for the sins of the whole world—everyone!—is a sufficient payment for sin. So, on the basis of what Jesus did when He died on the cross and rose again on the third day, forgiveness of sins (mine AND yours) is possible, if I will confess my sins and my sinfulness to God and ask for His forgiveness on the basis of Jesus' finished work on the cross, my sins have been forgiven and I stand before God clean and whole.
 

Thank You, Heavenly Father, for forgiving me for my many sins.