Something to Think About

Life is not measured by length but by depth. Birthdays tell us how long we have been on the road, not how far we have travelled. --Vance Havner

Pastor's Corner

Love is a choice.

The Puritans used to say you got married in order to fall in love. Their reasoning was that only through the life long journey of marriage could a man and a woman come to know the wonder, joy, and depth of real love—the kind where you are truly known and truly loved at the same time.

The qualities I love most about my wife were largely unknown to me when we got married. We stood before the preacher and promised to stay together in sickness and in health, for better or for worse, but neither of us knew what those words would cost or where they would take us. How could we? We were just kids! We couldn’t possibly know the bumps and turns and heartaches – and joys – that were waiting for us down the road, and yet it was these very bumps that shape and form the love that binds us together today. The joys we’ve shared and the struggles we’ve survived have burned off the “chaff” and left in its place a deep and lasting bond that we confidently call love.

Today when our marriages are struggling the world says, “Cut your losses and move on. You have a right to be happy!” But God says, “When your marriage is struggling, hang on tight, fight for your love because happiness and joy waits for you on the other side of your struggle.” Do you want to be happy; do you want your marriage to be richer? Then, don’t give up but treasure the good times and use the hard times to go deeper. Remember, love really is a choice.

Pastor Don

Something to Think About

There is no detour to holiness. Jesus came to the resurrection through the cross, not around it. (Leighton Ford)

Pastor's Corner

Looking back or looking forward – we do not lose heart

“So we do not lose heart…as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” (2Cor. 4:16-18) A lot has happened in 2013, some good, some bad. In the political arena things have not gone well for us as Christians and looking forward into 2014, things are looking to get worse. Perhaps in your individual life things have not gone as you had hoped. Perhaps health has been an issue, perhaps your job has had its tough times, or perhaps you’re just tired. There was a lot going on in the Apostle Paul’s life that would have knocked me down! Yet he was able to say in the midst of it all, “We do not lose heart”! Why? Because what we see is passing but what we do not see is eternal! God will have the final word in all things and He is working all things to His glory. All of this will pass away but the eternal things will not. The triumphs we have experienced are passing to we will not put too much stock in them. The discouragements will not last either so we will not let them bring us down, rather, we will fix our eyes on the things that are eternal and take courage! 2014 will be lived to His glory come what may.

Pastor Don.