"Change is inevitable. Except from a vending machine." ~ Robert C. Gallagher

Good morning and welcome where the celebration of today began just after midnight. That is, the celebration of a new day, this one being Tuesday, September 12, 2017. They tell us that one of the things that people our age, in our 70's now, hate more than anything else is change. However, there are times when change is necessary. This past Sunday, the wife and I joined a new fellowship of believers. That's not something we had ever even thought would be in our future experience. Yet, we have. We, at our age, are NEW members. After nearly 35 years in our former congregation, we now, in many respects, are starting over. We are thankful that in this change God has made it clear to us that He is not finished with us yet. We still have something we can do for The Kingdom and I do know that we both desire to finish strong and finish well, with God's help. The children's song written by the late Joel Hemphill came to mind, "He's still working on me To make me what I need to be it took him just a week to make the moon and stars The sun and the earth and Jupiter and Mars How loving and patient He must be 'Cause He's still workin' on me." You can pray for us as we adjust to our new family, and oh yeah, be sure and pray for the new family, they will need it just as much, if not more. Amen.

I know what some of you are thinking. If we found a perfect Church, well, having now joined, it is no longer perfect. That is as true as it gets. It is important to appreciate one's own fallenness. Don't get me wrong. I've been cleared of all my debt of sin, once and for all, by the blood of Jesus on the Cross of Calvary. He is the one that declared this when He used a legal term, "It is finished." (John 19:30) This is found only in the Apostle John's inspired eye witness account of the crucifixion. The Greek here is instructive, tetelestai, is a legal term with a specific meaning. The word was written on business documents or receipts in New Testament times to indicate that a bill had been paid in full. If that's true, then why I am still dealing with the ravages of personal sin and failure? Good question. The Apostle Paul gives great insight into this dilemma. He describes the war between our old man nature versus the new man nature given to us in our salvation. (Romans Chapter 7) As we yield to the Holy Spirit, our new man gives us the strength to overcome those old man inclinations. The problem is that we don't always yield ourselves to God's abiding presence in our lives. We don't. When we don't, bad things happen. We fail. While failure doesn't change my status as a child of God, it can impact my relationship and fellowship with Him. (Remember King David, who asked that God would restore the JOY of his salvation. Psalm 51). The good news is that we have the promise of restoration as found in John's first epistle, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1st John 1:9, New King James Version.)

I know there are many other views of these truths and there's much more to all of those points but I didn't set out to use today's visit as a sermon or a class on theological matters. You know the drill. I sit down, typically on the edge of my steno chair, and I let my fingers do the walking here, there, and everywhere on the keyboard. That's how I do what I do. It's not always correct. I do make mistakes. Hopefully, the underlying context of my purpose does typically come through. Why a steno chair? I could have one of those more executive type chairs, but, for me, I do better with a steno chair.  There have been times when I have written stuff that just didn't work. For me. I hate it when that happens because I end up deleting everything and starting over. It's not as if I am being graded, but, I do have a desire to use this forum for a positive purpose. I will be the first to say that some days are better than others. However, I do get some good feedback from those who take the time to read. I love the fact that God allows us to communicate encouragement and to use expressed thoughts to stimulate thinking, and of course, to share our common faith in our Lord and Savior. Thanks again for your support over these many years. May God bless us all is my prayer. Amen. ....More later.