Weddings and the Gospel

Shannon and I were blessed at the wedding we were at last night. After the wedding, at the reception, we received many positive and surprised comments on my officiating and on the couple getting married. This kind of surprise is common. It's the gospel. In the unguarded environment of a joyful Christian wedding, I think, some people hear it for the first time. There is nothing like it. The Gospel - the good news of Jesus Christ - when properly heard - is more than just heard: it's experienced. The couple and large portions of their families (I'll leave all nameless for privacy's sake) were powerful examples of people living in the blessings of God because they trust Christ alone for life, life abundant, and life eternal. It was truly a Christian wedding, and not just in name only. (Think about what I'm saying here and you'll get what I mean.) My experience of being a pastor includes hundreds of such days over the past ten years. Watching people's eyes soften and light up after hearing about God-sized hope that is suddenly put within their reach is inspiring. I write this to remind myself. There are lots of things pastors can and do complain about. God's faithfulness to His Word is not one of them. 

Keeping Hold of Life

Shannon and I were at a wedding rehearsal and the dinner afterwards last night.  It was all very nice and had for all in attendance the feeling of arrival. The couple and both families could sit back at the sumptuous meal we were enjoying and appreciate all their work and steady commitment to Christian life that brought them to this moment. What a gratifying moment for a pastor. Hours before this, Shannon and I visited a young woman in the hospital who was quite clearly spared from death the day before in a car accident. Again, a young woman of faith and her family, despite an entirely different set of emotions, could turn to God and say "thanks." I know many marriages end in divorce. I know sometimes young Christian women die in car accidents. I know sometimes four-year-old daughters of seminary students end up with a cancerous brain tumors. Yet, in spite of all that can threaten life, in Christ the weakest of us can keep hold of it. No matter what your circumstances, may your grip on life today be as strong as God.