“I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. Last of all, as though I had been born at the wrong time, I also saw him.” (I Corinthians 15:3-8)

Thoughts… Did you know that while 85% of Americans claim to be Christian, 35% of those believe that Jesus Christ, though crucified, never had a literal, physical resurrection?

That fact suggests that as a nation we’re fascinated with Jesus, we respect him, you might even say that we love the idea of Jesus, but we’re uncomfortable with the resurrection and we’re uncertain that it really happened. Why then, are we so enamored with Jesus? Perhaps one of the reasons is that buried deep within our hearts is a irrepressible longing for the resurrection to be true. You see, we just know instinctively that if the resurrection is not true, we’re hopeless.

It’s like the four friends who were talking about death one day when one asked the other three, “When you are in your casket and people are mourning you, what would you like to hear them say about you?” The first man said, “I’d like to hear them say that I was a fine physician in my time and a great family man.”

The second said, “I’d like to hear that I was a wonderful husband and a school teacher who made a huge difference in the lives of children.” The third man said, “I’d like to hear them say, ‘Look, he’s moving!’”

We’re a lot like that last guy, aren’t we? We want resurrection. But the truth is, this universal hope of resurrection is only possible by the reality of Christ’s resurrection. It’s this reality of his resurrection that’s at the heart of Christianity. Take away the resurrection and you might as well throw away your Christian faith. If there’s no empty tomb, then Jesus was the biggest fraud who ever lived, and so is Christianity. But if Jesus conquered death and rose from the tomb, as the Bible says he did, that’s the biggest news to ever hit this planet, and it is the basis for your hope in this life and in the one to come.

Paul says the resurrection isn’t just a little sidebar to your faith, it is the centerpiece to Christianity. It is so important that Paul says if you are not going to stake your life and eternity on the reality of the resurrection, you’re wasting your time being a Christian. But if you’re going to take your stand on this belief, then you can be confident that the resurrection is not just some myth, it is based on solid, eyewitness, irrefutable proof.

I don’t know if you’ve ever realized this, but there is an enormous amount of evidence that Jesus rose from the grave. Many skeptics have converted to Christianity trying to disprove it, because of the evidence they find. I won’t go into all the proofs here, but let me take the one Paul talks about here in I Corinthians 15: The visual proofs.

In the accounts of 5 different New Testament writers, the risen Christ made 13 separate appearances to a total of 557 witnesses who saw him with their own eyes. When Paul wrote to the Corinthian Christians, he said most of these 500+ eyewitnesses were still alive, and all you had to do was just go ask them about what they saw with their own eyes. Put them on the witness stand, cross examine them, but what you’ll find is overwhelming and convincing proof that they saw the resurrected Christ with they own eyes.

Dr. William F. Albright, famous Johns Hopkins archaeologist said, “For a mere legend about Christ…to have gained circulation and to have had the impact it had [in the 1st century], without one shred of basis in fact, is unbelievable.”

In other words, to deny the resurrection would be harder to swallow than the truth.

The story is told of a Muslim who became a Christ-follower, and he was asked by his friends, “Why have you become a Christian?”

He answered, “Well, it’s like this. Suppose you were going down the road and suddenly the road forked in two directions, and you didn’t know which way to go, and there at the fork were two men, one dead and one alive—which one would you ask which way to go?”

The Bible says if you choose to follow the One who is alive, you will experience resurrection power. Follow the proof and you will find the power. Find the power and you will find God’s provision for your life now and for all eternity.

Prayer… Lord Jesus, I reaffirm my belief in the historical reality that you died on the cross for my sin and in your your literal, physical resurrection from the grave. And I rejoice that in both your death and resurrection, God the Father made you, though you had never sinned, to be the offering for my sin, so that I could be made right with God through you.

One More Thing… “Our old history ends with the cross; our new history begins with the resurrection.” —Watchman Nee

“Do this to remember me.” (I Corinthians 11:24)

Food For Thought… A few years ago a highly acclaimed movie called Saving Private Ryan hit the theaters.  It began with a very gripping scene of Allied soldiers storming the beaches of Normandy on D-Day. The story centered around an army officer, Captain John Miller, and a small unit of men assigned to search the interior of France to find one soldier and bring him out. This was a search and rescue mission. This soldier, a Private James Ryan, had 3 brothers who’d been killed in 3 different battles in war. The military brass decided it just wouldn’t be right if he, the 4th brother, lost his life as well.

So this search and rescue party was dispatched, and ultimately, Private Ryan was saved. But in the process, several men gave their lives to save this one man. And in one of the last scenes, the heroic Captain Miller was mortally wounded in the final battle to get Private Ryan into allied territory. In his final breath, Captain Miller whispers to Private James Ryan “Now, go and earn this!”

What was Captain Miller really saying? “Remember this…don’t ever forget what others have done for you…your life has taken on higher value because of this…so remember this sacrifice by making the rest of your life count.”

And the movie ended by flashing forward to the present, with Ryan, now an aging man, visiting a military cemetery and kneeling before the marker of Captain Miller, who saved him. Moved to tears, he remembered the sacrifice that saved him. With a deeply emotional, trembling voice, the now elderly Ryan whispers to the grave of Captain Miller, “Everyday I’ve thought about what you said…I hope, at least in your eyes, I’ve earned what you’ve done for me.”

These scenes from Saving Private Ryan remind me of another search and rescue mission. About 1900 years before Private Ryan was saved, there was another warrior who was sent out. But instead of the many sent to rescue the one, this was the story of one sent to save the many. And this warrior, too, gave his life to deliver the many out of the enemy’s territory safely into his Father’s kingdom. And as he was about to go into his final battle, knowing he would sacrifice his life, he uttered these moving words we reread each time we come to the Lord’s Table:

“The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body, which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.’” (I Corinthians 11:23)

What was Jesus saying? “Remember what I am about to do. Never forget it! You’re life will never be the same because of this…this shows that your life has value in my Father’s sight…so don’t live a day without thinking about what I’ve done for you. ‘Do this in remembrance of me.’”

When you receive communion in your fellowship, is the Lord’s Table truly a time for remembering what Jesus has done for you, or do you simply perform your way through it?

I read of youth pastor who led his youth group in a re-enactment the crucifixion. He played the role of Christ, the students the jeering mob who shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Then they dragged him into yard of the church and hung him up on a cross. And as this “Christ” hung there, the kids grew quiet as he said, “Even though you are doing this to me, I still love you.” The pastor of the church had been watching, and he noticed one of the younger girls in the front of the group, transfixed by the scene. He looked at her and saw real tears streaming down her face. And the pastor was moved by her love, and he said, “I was envious of her. For the rest of us, it was a ‘performance.’ For her, it was the real thing. She was there…she was remembering.”

Next time you come to the Lord’s Table, don’t let it be a performance. Make it a remembrance. It will please the Lord very much, and it will truly bless you as well.

One More Thing… “If we show the Lord’s death at Communion, we must show the Lord’s life in the world. If it is a Eucharist on Sunday, it must prove on Monday that it was also a Sacrament.” — Maltbie Babcock

“Don’t you wives realize that your husbands might be saved because of you? And don’t you husbands know that your wives might be saved because of you?” (I Corinthians 7:16)

Food For Thought: What would happen in our marriage relationships—in all of our relationships, for that matter—if the primary motive was to introduce our significant other to Christ?

I am not talking about badgering a spouse into the kingdom through a non-stop, hard sell verbal witness. I’ve known spouses who do that—and it rarely leads their mate to Jesus! It often leads them to bitterness and greater resistance to the Good News.

C.S. Lewis wrote, “It is right…that we should be much concerned about the salvation those we love. But we must be careful not to…demand that their salvation should conform to some ready-made pattern of our own.”

I’m talking about showing them the real Jesus. I’m talking about offering them authentic salvation. I’m talking about living every dimension of your life so that Jesus can be seen. That’s really what Christians are meant to do, after all. We are to make the Savior attractive to those who are far from him by the way we live—how we respond, how we serve, how we give, how we navigate disappointment, how we suffer, how we love proactively and unconditionally. Who wouldn’t be attracted to Christ when we’re living that kind of outstanding witness.

And even if our loved one already knows the Savior, our assignment is no less. We are to be Jesus to them. Our living witness to a loving Savior should be the very thing that makes them want to go deeper in their own relationship with the Lord.

That’s our job—to be Jesus to the people we love. We may be the only Savior they’ll ever see!

Prayer: Dear God, my prayer this morning is simple: Help me to so live that my spouse sees you when she sees me. When I speak, in my body language, in my actions, in my attitude, help me to be the Gospel in the real world of my everyday relationship with my wife.

One More Thing… “When I have learnt to love God better than my earthly dearest, I shall love my earthly dearest better than I do now…. When first things are put first, second things are not suppressed but increased.” —C.S. Lewis

“But on the judgment day, the fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done—if the worker’s work has any value. If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames.” (I Corinthians 3:13-15)

Food For Thought: When I was a kid growing up in Sunday School, we used to sing a little song that, now that I think about it, was pretty sobering. If I would have known better at the time, it would have scared the willies out of me. It went something like this:

“Oh be careful little hands what you do.
Oh be careful little hands what you do.
There’s a Father up above, looking down from heaven with love,
So be careful little hands what you do.”

The song had several verses: “Oh be careful little feet where you go… Eyes what you see… Ears what you here…” and so on. The song was cute and catchy in a way that made it unforgettable, but it also contained a not-so-subtle threat that served as its underpinning: Be very careful—God is watching you! And if you mess up…

Obviously, that was back in the day when parents didn’t think a whole lot about damaging little Johnny’s self-esteem. At least they didn’t in my home, and my church. They didn’t mind talking about things like offending God and its consequences, judgment and hell, and all kinds of other things that would make most church people squirm today.

However, squirming is sometimes good for you. And Paul is taking us through a “squirm session” in this section of I Corinthians. He has been addressing some of the divisions that have developed in the church at Corinth. The people have been choosing up sides as to who their favorite preacher was. Some said, “Oh, I got saved under Peter’s ministry.” Others said, “Well, I have grown the most under Apollos’ fine expository preaching.” Still others shot back, “Yes, but I have been spiritually grounded on Paul’s deep theology.” Then the really spiritual people would top them all: “Well, we follow Christ!”

That’s not all that different from today, is it? I hear some people say, “Oh, I get so blessed by Joel Osteen. He’s so positive and I like that smile.” And then others says, “Well, I like John MacArthur. He teaches verse-by-verse, you know! That’s the only way to study the Word!” And there are those who say, “I like Rick Warren. He’s so funny and easy to follow. That purpose driven stuff is really cool.”

Well, Paul sets our crooked theology straight by reminding these Corinthians that this preacher-by-popularity is way off base and misses the fundamental point: The church has but one leader, Jesus Christ. We are not under Paul’s or Peter’s or Rick’s or Joel’s lordship, we are under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

The Apostle then reminds them that the church is like a seed, and the seed is from God, and no matter who waters that seed, God is the one who makes it grow. Switching analogies, Paul then talks about the church being built on the foundation, and that foundation is Jesus Christ. And anyone who builds on it—whether Paul, or Apollos or Peter…or for that matter Brother Jones or Sister Bertha, or you or me—needs to remember we are building on a foundation that is Jesus Christ. So let us be careful then how we build.

Now he’s the clincher: One day each of us will stand before God to give an account as to how we added to that foundation. And by the way, we all add to the foundation. No matter who you are or what you do, if you’re a Christian, you’re a part of building the church, either adding to it and beautifying it, or taking away from it and diminishing its value. And on that final day, our works—what we’ve done with Christ’s church—will pass through the fire. Then the truth about our work will be exposed for what it is: Eternally valuable or immediately flammable.

So Paul’s warning is very important:

“Oh be careful little hands how you build!
There’s a Father up above looking down from heaven with love,
So be careful little hands how you build.”

Notice what Paul goes on to say in verse 16: ““Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?  God will destroy anyone who destroys this temple.  For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.”

We often hear that our physical body is the temple of God, and to be sure that is true. We need to pay more strict attention to that. But we also need to be aware that the church we belong to is the temple of God, and it is the dwelling place of God the Holy Spirit. And if the Spirit of God dwells in our church, we, both worshippers and workers, laity and leaders—all of us—need to be very aware of what we’re doing with that temple.

Paul’s advice: Don’t trash the temple—either in attitudes or by actions. There’s a Father up above looking down from heaven with love, so be very, very careful what you do. Love the church, serve the church, build the church—and do it all in a way that brings glory to the Lord of the church and pleases the Spirit of the church, and honors the God of the church.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for the reminder of how precious the church, your bride, is to you. Forgive any attitude that I’ve had that lessens the value you place upon my community of faith. I pray that you would give me a new energy and zeal to love, serve and build your church in a way the glorifies and pleases you. And on that final day, I pray that the work I’ve done will pass through the fire as eternally valuable.

One More Thing… Some years ago I ran across a story that was a sobering reminder about how unhealthy and unholy attitudes can sometimes take root in the church. Hope it causes you to stop and evaluate!

One day, a man went to visit a church. He got there early, parked his car, and got out. Another car pulled up near and the driver got out and said, “I always park there! You took my place!” The visitor went inside for Sunday School, found an empty seat and sat down. A young lady from the church approached him and stated, “That’s my seat! You took my place!” The visitor was somewhat distressed by this rude welcome, but said nothing. After Sunday School, the visitor went into the sanctuary and sat down.

Another member walked up to him and said, “That’s where I always sit! You took my place!” The visitor was even more troubled by this treatment, but still He said nothing. Later as the congregation was praying for Christ to dwell among them, the visitor stood up, and his appearance began to change. Horrible scars became visible on his hands and on his sandaled feet. Someone from the congregation noticed him and called out, “What happened to you?”

The visitor replied, as his hat became a crown of thorns, and a tear fell from his eye, “I took your place.”

“The Holy Spirit searches out everything—he even knows God’s deepest thoughts—and he shows us God’s deep secrets.” (I Corinthians 2:10-11)

Food For Thought: We have relatively little trouble believing that God is a person, and that as a person, he longs to be in intimate relationship with us. Likewise, we have little difficulty believing that Jesus is a person, and that as a person, he desires to live in close, day-by-day relationship with us. It is the Holy Spirit that gives us trouble!

We have great difficulty believing that the Spirit has personhood. And if we cannot believe in him as a real person, it will be extremely difficult for us to embrace a day-by-day intimate relationship with him. And because of our difficulty believing his personhood and embracing a relationship with him, we miss out on so much that God has for us.

The Holy Spirit is a person. He is not an “it”; he is a “he”. He is God, the third person of the Trinity. And just as God took the initiative to reveal himself to mankind in the beginning and call out to himself a people, Israel, through whom he would reveal himself to the rest of the world; and just as God took the initiative and revealed his love for the world and plan of salvation in the person of Jesus Christ; so God is present in the world and revealing himself today in the person of the Holy Spirit.

Unfortunately, most Christians only passively known him and reluctantly embrace him. But God the Spirit is to be passionately embraced and known, and he invites us to do so. When we do, he begins to reveal to us the deep things of God…even God’s deepest thoughts. How wonderful is that.

Before Jesus left his earthly life and returned to his Father, he breathed on his disciples and said, “receive the Holy Spirit.” That same command-invitation is for you and me today. We need to receive by faith God the Holy Spirit just as by faith we received God the Father and God the Son. And when we do, we enter into an incredible journey of discovery as the deep things of God, which are only spiritually discerned (that is, discerned through the indwelling Holy Spirit), are revealed to us.

Have you embraced the person of the Holy Spirit? Are you walking in a loving, intimate, day-by-day communion with him? If not, as Jesus commanded-invited, “receive the Holy Spirit!”

Prayer: Gracious Holy Spirit, thank you for indwelling me, empowering me to live the life God has called me to live, and revealing to me even the deepest thoughts of Father God. My prayer is that you will take control of more and more of my life, filling me with your power and producing in me your fruit. May I know you more and more intimately and walk with you more deeply each and every day.

One More Thing… “The Spirit of God…first imparts love; He next inspires hope; and then He gives liberty—which is about the last thing we have in a good many of our churches at the present day…our formalism needs to be buried if we are to experience the liberty of the Holy Spirit.”—D.L. Moody

“Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe.” (I Corinthians 1:21)

Food For Thought: God, the creator of all that is, is knowable. He has made it so that we can know him—not just about him, but actually know him. We can know who he is, what he is like, what he likes, what he wants from us, and what his plans are.

The question is, how do we get to know God? Paul indicates in this verse that getting to know God like I’ve just described will not happen through human wisdom alone —what might refer to as the pursuit of knowledge or research or reason or intellect. God has set the rules for getting to know him and he has declared that the avenue to knowledge is by way of faith.

That’s a very important distinction, by the way. For hundreds, if not thousands of years, and especially in the last 500 years, a large part of humankind has elevated reason over revelation as the way to enlightenment. This is especially true in our western society where we are willing to put faith only in that which has been borne out by empirical evidence. Reason is king and faith is questionable.

Reason is based on sensory data—what a person can see, hear, smell, touch, and taste. Now reason is not bad; don’t misunderstand what Paul is saying. I think Paul would quickly point out that reason is God-given, and that God expects us to exercise it. Reason is not antithetical to faith.

But while reason can lead to a knowledge or an acknowledgment of God, only revelation can lead to a knowledge of who God truly is—the God of the Scriptures who revealed himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Revelation is based on something other, something more. Revelation is based on the truth that God took the initiative to make himself knowable; that he has revealed himself to us through his Word and by his Son. Now reason and revelation will not contradict each other, because both are from God. But reason alone will not suffice.

The brilliant Thomas Aquinas, who live in the 13th century and is arguably the preeminent theologian of the church in the last 1,000 years, if not longer, said it this way: “In order that men might have knowledge of God, free of doubt and uncertainty, it is necessary for divine truth to be delivered to them by way of faith, being told to them as it were, by God himself who cannot lie.”

Someone can observe the universe (sensory data) and discern (reason) that God exists. They can also reason that he is orderly and intelligent, and discover several other attributes of this deity. But they would have no certain knowledge that he is good, loving, and purposeful. Likewise, this person can practice certain moral virtues apart from a faith-based relationship with God, but they cannot practice authentic faith, they will not have the hope of eternity, and they will never know and practice divine love.

A couple hundred years before Thomas, St. Anselm argued that faith is the precondition of knowledge: “I believe in order that I may understand.” (credo ut intelligam). In other words, knowledge cannot lead to faith. It might get you close, but it won’t get you there. Faith is a gift from God, and when faith is experienced, true knowledge flows. Any knowledge gained outside of faith is will be incomplete and untrustworthy.

What he was saying was eloquently stated in the 4th century by another pillar of the Christian faith, St. Augustine. Augustine taught that “faith is to believe what we do not see; and the reward of this faith is to see what we believe.” Faith first, then knowledge flows.

All of that is simply to say that God is the creator of all that exists. He is knowable—he himself made himself that way. Furthermore, he has set the rules for getting to know him. Although he has granted the gift of reason that man might use for amazing things, reason alone, or call it what you will—observation, research, knowledge, intellect—will never lead to a relationship with God. It may lead to knowing about God, but never truly knowing God. That requires faith. And faith comes only as the result of God’s initiative to reveal himself—to make himself knowable. Responding to his revelation is the faith that is required to unlock knowledge—especially saving knowledge of the Almighty.

So what does that have to do with what you are facing in your life today? Plenty! This God who has taken the initiative to reveal himself and who is discernable and knowable through the exercise of your faith, is a personal God—he wants to be involved in the daily details of your life—and a loving God—will wants to take care of you and favor you and pour out his love on you.

Perhaps you don’t see evidence of that right at this moment, but let me challenge you to believe what you don’t see, exercise faith in this loving God, and the reward will be that you will see, sooner or later, what you believe.

Prayer: Gracious Father, I believe. Help any unbelief I may have. I don’t see every thing I’d like to see, but I believe. Now I pray that you would reveal yourself in my life today in tangible ways. Reveal to me your love, your care, and your favor. In the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, the revealed Word, I pray. Amen.

One More Thing… “Reason’s last step is the recognition that there are an infinite number of things that are beyond it. The heart has its reasons, which reason does not know at all.” –Blaise Pascal

“And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who honestly seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6)

“God will keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns. God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” (I Corinthians 1:8-9)

Food For Thought: Do you believe in eternal security? The eternal security of the believer has been hotly debated for hundreds of years by theologians much smarter than I, so it’s not likely that I’ll resolve the issue for you. But let me take a stab at it anyway, and give you something to consider.

Perhaps you’ve already taken a position on this yourself—most Christians have. Maybe you’re of the camp that believes you cannot lose your salvation—once you’re saved you’re always saved. Or it could be you’ve joined doctrinal sides with those who’ve found Biblical support that it is indeed possible to “backslide” and fall away from God.

I grew up in a theological tradition that supported the latter. I like to say we believed in backsliding—and practiced it regularly. But all kidding aside, the older I get and the longer I’ve been a Christian, honestly, I’m not sure where I stand on this issue anymore. Frankly, there are compelling arguments for both sides. I sometimes wonder if there is a third alternative that will be revealed to us when we get to heaven. Wouldn’t that be great!

But one thing I do believe, and that is, if it is possible to lose your salvation—and I say “if” it is possible—it must be exceedingly difficult to walk away from your relationship with God and into a life of sin for the very simple fact of the truth revealed in these verses—I Corinthians 1:8-9. You see, you are not alone; your salvation is not up to you. In fact, very little of it is up to you. That’s not to say that you don’t have a part to play—you do. In verse 9, Paul says it is a partnership that you have been called into with Jesus Christ at the moment of your salvation. Your role in the partnership is to believe, obey, love and serve God.

But even then, God is helping you to do that. According to verse 8, God is giving you the strength, and will continually supply fresh strength to fulfill your end of the partnership until the day Jesus returns and finds you blameless. Isn’t that great news? You are not alone in your spiritual journey; someone greater than you is at your side helping you each step of the way.

And he is committed to finishing what he started in you. Paul says it this way in Philippians 1:6, “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Now here’s the deal, when God starts a good work, he always finishes it. He doesn’t have a workshop full of half finished projects. He completes them all—each and every one of them. And since you are one of his good works, you can have that same kind of confidence Paul talked about that God will take you from the starting line to the finish line of your salvation marathon.

The book of Jude says the same thing, “Now to him who is able to keep you from falling and present you before his throne without fault and with great joy…” (Jude 24) God is able. You may feel weak and incapable in your spiritual walk at times; you may worry if there might be a time in the future where you would walk away from God. But let me tell you this: You are not alone. Your salvation is not all up to you. God is able to keep you from falling. God is able to take you from start to finish and present you in the winner’s circle without fault (Jude 24), complete (Philippians 1:6) and blameless (I Corinthians 1:8).

You are not alone. Your salvation is not all up to you. If you can lose your salvation—if—then it must be the most difficult thing in all creation, since you will have to overcome God’s saving, sustaining, completing grace to do it.

You are not alone. Your salvation is not all up to you. God is able to keep you eternally secure!

I hope that makes your day better!

Prayer: Father, how blessed I am to be the recipient of your saving, sustaining, completing grace. In your love you saved me and brought me into a lopsided partnership; a partnership where you do all the heavy lifting, and what little I have to do, even that, you help me to do. Thank you for the promise of completing in me what you began, for keeping me from falling and presenting me before your glorious throne without fault on that great and glorious day that Jesus Christ returns. Thank you that I am as secure in my salvation as secure can be. I love you, and praise you, and will joyfully serve you all the days of my life.

One More Thing… “If the Lord be with us, we have no cause of fear. His eye is upon us, his arm over us, his ear open to our prayer—his grace sufficient, his promises unchangeable.” –John Newton