A Little Child Shall Lead The Way

All of the congregations I have served over the past forty years have participated in Christian Food Pantry programs for the poor. In one church the vacation bible school always had a food collection. On the last day all the children were to bring a can of food as part of their offering.

One little girl brought up a large can with a white label and with a smile placed it in the basket. She was from a very poor family so after the final program was over I discreetly looked for that white can. It was “Commodity food” from a government food surplus program. I realized that her family shared from their meager pantry to help those in the same condition.

It has been over thirty years since that day and I still remember that little girls sacrifice. On top of that she or her family had no way of knowing that we had selected them to be among the families chosen to receive the food. I was inspired to be more generous with my meager possessions and blessings.

Be generous in feeding the poor through your church.

Point of True Beginning

Everything has a beginning point.  I looked at the blueprint for a new church building and on the corner of the lot was a point marked as “The Point of True Beginning.” It was a survey marker from which all other survey points were measured. We see all around us points of true beginnings in our lives, our families, our work, and even in the universe itself.

The bible talks about in the beginning there was God and nothing else, so God is the point of true beginning for everything. As God created the heavens and the earth, God also creates new beginning in each one of us every day. Each new year and yes each new day has a beginning for new experiences that will challenge and shape us for the future.

There are lost of new beginnings and the real question is how we will face them. Will we face them with fear and trembling looking into the unknown? Will we approach our new beginnings with excitement and eagerness with trust in our relationship with God? We can face what ever comes into our lives with confidence and hope in the promise that God is with us all the way.

Enjoy your new beginnings. 

2012

2012 has arrived and holds a lot of promise for all of us, some good and some bad but for the most part some where in between.

I haves some dates already planned for my new calendar and there are some I do not yet know about that will be there. We never know what the new year will hold for us but we hope and pray that it will be better than the last.

Happy New Year to everyone and may God bless you in this coming new year.