Words from a Branch

  The Last Conversation with Granddad; A Eulogy for Marshall Helms             There is so much that needs to be done, and so precious little time. There are some here who need comfort, and some who need assurance, and some who need encouragement, and some who need to be admonished. Yes, there is much to do, and precious little time. So, let us pray. Father, the task before me is overwhelming, and I have no strength for it. Abide with me please that in my weakness Your strength might be perfectly evidence, and Your word might go forth today to accomplish all Your good and perfect will. I ask it for the sake of Your glory, In the name of Jesus. Amen.             It has been rightly said that it is not wrong to mourn. Indeed, in Matthew 5 our Lord says those who mourn are blessed for they will be comforted. We mourn death because it is unnatural. It discomforts us bec...

Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 6:34 ESV             Humans wisdom has its limitations. Even where wisdom might succeed it is frustrated by other aspects of human finitude. That is to say there must and shall come times when we say of necessity, “I do not know what else I might do.” Our unnatural nature of sin, which demands self-reliance as a point of pride, despises such admissions. It is easy to give ourselves over to endless anxiety, and fretting over situations trying to find some way of controlling the outcomes. It is easy to spend today trying to guess what tomorrow will bring in order to be ready for it.             Where wisdom fails faith takes over to give us peace and rest. In faith there is room for love and patience and gentleness which have no home in the...

Hear, my son, your father's instruction, and forsake not your mother's teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck. Proverbs 1:8-9 ESV             The overt meaning and intention of this verse has behind it a few important implications which setup the overt command. Sadly we can no longer take these implications of verses like this for granted. No, not even the mention of father and mother which implies a man and a woman joined in covenant marriage each with a respective role to play in the household and in the upbringing of the children. The family was the first social structure God introduced, and He built it on the union of one man and one woman in covenant. The implication of this verse is that the one man one woman marriage structure is beneficial for the children. As much as non-believers would like to dismiss this truth even their research continues to bear it out; as does real wo...