Words from a Branch

Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. John 12:25 ESV                 This formulation is found in every gospel, Mark 8:35, Matthew 10:39, 16:25, Luke 9:24, 14:26, and 17:33. John 12:24 says, “Truly, Truly, I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a seed; but if it dies it bears much fruit. One life must end so that a greater life may begin. You cannot have your own life, and have the life of Christ abide in you. The call to follow Christ as these verses tell us is a call to die to self.   This is exactly as difficult as it sounds. The more we are invested in this life, the more difficult it is to lay this life down.                 We want to eat our cake and have it to. We want to keep our lives, and gain the eternal lif...

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5 ESV                 As the song says, “…The fundamental things apply, as time goes by.”   I suppose it is cliché to say that a particular verse changed your life, especially for a minister of the gospel; nevertheless this verse did change my life, especially as a minister of the gospel. Now allow me to depart from my typical tone and pull back the curtain a bit. In the midst of this pandemic I have been troubled. As an individual I have been made to compromise, it is necessary, but to me very uncomfortable. As a minister I have often been at a loss as to how best to serve the church and its people. Some things had to change very quickly, and because of that a lot things had to be, “good enough”, or, “the best we can do right now” instead of the very bes...