on precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints (Ps 116.15)

I am in the process of digitizing our old messages recorded on audio tape. Today I came across our Christmas program from 2002. We have used an arrangement of Christmas carols interspersed with a reading of the Christmas story from Matthew and Luke several times over the years. On this particular occasion, we asked one of our dearest members, an elderly gentleman named Wally Russell, to be our reader for the evening. At the time he was 88 years old.

Wally Russell came into our ministry when he was 75. Within a few days following the passing of his wife, he received a mailing from us inviting folks to come 'check us out'. Wally visited our services the next Sunday and one of our men followed up with a visit to his home. In that visit, Wally came to understand his need for a Saviour and trusted Christ to save him from his sins. He would often testify of his gratitude to the Lord for 'turning me around 180 degrees'.

Wally passed away last year at the age of 92. He is now in the presence of his Lord and Saviour. As I listened to his voice in the recording, I thought of the fact that the words Wally read that Sunday in 2002 are a brilliant reality for him now. He is in the presence of the Lord who came to the earth to save him. No doubt he has seen many of the angels and has grown spiritually far more than he ever could on this earth. What a blessing it is for our brother to be in heaven, and how we long to know what he now knows.

Wally's voice stumbled a few times in the reading that night. Time on earth was taking its toll. But the moment his spirit slipped out of its earthly bounds, everything was made whole.

This is the chief delight in the ministry - witnessing the spiritual birth, growth, and translation to glory of the lives of the Lord's saints.

Regards
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

on marking an anniversary

Sunday happened to be the 24th anniversary of my wife's wedding (mine too!) We marked the occasion with a special day at church oriented around the theme of Christian marriage from three perspectives. Here is how it all came about...

A couple of months ago, a fellow from the Baptist College of Ministry contacted me about visiting our church on his honeymoon. In our correspondence, he offered to serve in any way he could in our ministry. At first, I thought to just have him relax and enjoy the fellowship with our church on his visit, but then I noticed that the Sunday he would be here would be our anniversary... and the wheels started turning in my head. What about making the day an emphasis on Christian marriage from different perspectives? And so we did.

I preached on Mk 10.6-12, the Lord's answer to the Pharisees concerning the permanence of marriage. My title was Marriage - A Supernatural Work. I elaborated on the theme of my recent post on the subject. Working on this proposition, 'Marriage is a supernatural work of God, creating a new union between two people that is intended to be a life-long relationship.' I discussed God's involvement in marriage, where God supernaturally makes two individuals one married couple, then man's abuse of marriage, where men violate God's creation by sinning against the union God created, and the Christian's commitment to marriage, which, though understanding the divine perspective of marriage might cause one to fear, still proceeds in faith, committed to God's ideal and availing of the grace of God to live out Christ's ideal - permanent, indissoluble, supernatural union by the work of God.

My son, Rory, preached "Single Focus", from 1 Cor 7.24-35 concerning the focus a single Christian should have towards marriage. That is, don't be so in love with the idea of marriage that you are distracted from what ought to be your focus in life, married or unmarried, living and serving with the will of God as your priority in life.

Last, bro. Thomas Overmiller brought us a message from Gen 2.16-18, Marriage is for Ministry. First there is a ministry of wife to husband and husband to wife, and a ministry to children who may come, and a ministry to and through the local church. In other words, marriage is not about self, but about serving.

It was another great day in the Lord's house. We had a number of visitors, including a former member who returned for this particular day having heard what the topic of the day would be. We pray that the Lord would work in hearts and continue to build his church.

Regards
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3