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Homesick at Home

Homesick at Home

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Chesterton once described feeling homesick even at home. He puts his finger on a truth that every human knows in their bones. There’s a restlessness, a desire, a longing in the human heart which is always there, just out of reach. It lingers in our peripheral vision, and the moment we try to look directly at it, it dances away. We experience a pleasure and yet want that joy to linger just a moment longer, but off it goes like a mist.

This desire drives us to hunt for the pleasure that will satisfy. While mankind is fallen, and our desire has been deformed and misdirected, still it is there. After the binge. After the bender. After the porn. After the cut. After the sex-change operation. After the gossip. After the trophy is lifted. After the award is won. After the glowing profits report. After the investment gains. After the divorce. After the feast. After the rave. Desire lingers, still longing.

The Christian is one who knows that the desire that aches even after enjoying some earthly pleasure, is because we haven’t imagined the joys which are laid up for us in Christ. The homesickness we feel even at home is because we’re not home yet. We’re pilgrims seeking a kingdom whose Builder and Architect is the Lord.

The Lord’s Supper is a meal that is a promise. It holds out a promise that the elusive joy is real. But we won’t find the joy in the stuff. Our thirst won’t be slaked, our hunger won’t be sated, our nerve endings won’t be overwhelmed with everlasting pleasure by anything in this world. The Christian Gospel proclaims that the joy is there. The Joy has a name. The Joy is a person. Joy is found in the presence of One who died, was buried, but rose again, and now reigns eternally.

So come in faith and welcome to Jesus…

1 John 1:4 – Silos Full of Joy

1 John 1:4 – Silos Full of Joy

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And these things we write unto you so that your joy may be completely full.

1 John 1:4

We come to the purpose statement of this epistle. This purpose statement is glorious in its simplicity, and yet there are deep fathoms here. John has hard things yet to address; he has anti-christs to warn against, he has comfort which needs to be given, he has complex theological/philosophical ideas to explain, and he has sin to rebuke. But he doesn’t front-load any of that. Rather, he reminds his readers that everything which is written to them is intended to make their joy full.

He expands on this purpose statement in the closing sentences of his epistle, and there he says that he has written that they “may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God (1 Jn. 5:13 KJV).” In order to fill their cups brimful with joy, their joy must be tethered to the Eternal Life which comes through faith in the name of the Son of God. Which is the main melody which is recapitulated throughout this letter.

So, John is not interested in just making them circumstantially happy. Rather, he explains that all he is going to write unto them is to the end that they may be in a state of being supremely joyful. He writes these things so that their joy might be complete, overflowing, spilling over, and with a cherry on top.

The Greek word which I translate here as “completely full” is πεπληρωμένη; another time this exact inflection of the word is used is when Jesus tells the disciples to “ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full (Jn. 16:24).” There the joy is full by asking of the Father in Jesus name. Here our joy is full by receiving the words which John proclaims. Putting those two passages together we see that the believer’s joy is made full by praying to the Father in Jesus and hearing from the Father of Jesus.

OTHER POSTS IN THIS SERIES

RIP Willis Christie – The Power of Joy

RIP Willis Christie – The Power of Joy

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Aside from my father, the man who shaped me most was my Grandpa Christie. Tonight, my mom held a phone up to my Grandpa’s ear so I could say a final goodbye in his waning moments. A few moments later Mom messaged to say he’d passed.

I wanted to share a few reflections on his life and lessons I gleaned from his example. When we would visit, you’d have to get up quite early to say goodbye to Grandpa before he got on his motor-bike (or into yellow delivery van) and headed off to his daily toil. I saw a hardworking man, and he set the example of diligent labor to provide.

Grandpa always had a poignant question to stump you with, or make you think. He’d point at a cloud and ask, “Do you know how far away that cloud is from us?” When I’d answer with the blank stare of a teenage musician, he’d say, “Well how can we figure it out?” And then we’d talk about angles, geometry, and come away with at least our critical thinking skills sharpened. But Grandpa always had a question for you. This taught me an important lesson: God gave you a brain and expected you to use it.

Grandpa always had a soft spot for good, ol’ fashioned Scottish humor. In other words, a loud belch would make him laugh with William Wallace-like thunder; and he would beam with pride over his grandchild’s effervescent display of burping skills, giving a coveted two thumbs up.

He would hand out Christmas gifts faster than we could unwrap them. Then he’d paingstainkinly assemble them for us to play with. He would gladly play whatever game we kids would propose, including racing us in a 100m dash, kickball in the park, or aluminum foil baseball in Grandma’s kitchen.

Grandpa Christie faithfully passed on the biblical virtues of hard-work, seeking wisdom, self-sacrifice, and cheerfulness. But when I think back on his life and legacy, I am exceedingly grateful for one thing in particular.

He taught me to be joyful.

He insisted on cheerfulness. He fostered it in his love of laughter, and his playful competitiveness. There wasn’t a thanksgiving meal where he didn’t find a way to be ridiculous; leaving his kids and grandkids and great-grand-kids laughing raucously, while leaving his beloved Mildred shaking her head with, “Oh, Will!”

Joy triumphs through difficulty. Joy has foundations deep in the holiness of God. Joy is found only in the presence of God Almighty. Grandpa knew this, and sought to give joy to his family, his friends, his customers, and the strangers he always seemed able to strike up a conversation with. His legacy is saturated with joy.

But this joy had roots deeper than the maple tree in his backyard, the one that formed the obstacle course to thousands of croquet games. This joy went beyond financial stability, difficult patches in his marriage or child-rearing, or through the difficult decision to finally retire in his late 80s. His joy was found in Jesus.

I know this because he told me.

One year around Christmas-time, he took me with him to pick up an inordinate amount of KFC which Grandma had ordered for whichever family gathering it was. As we drove back he asked, “If Jesus were to walk in the front door, what would you do?” I don’t quite recall my answer, but I clearly recall his. He said, “I think I would likely just go up and say, ‘Hello, how are you doing, come in and sit down.'” And then he continued, “But I think the best thing to do would be what that one carol says: ‘Fall on your knees.'”

Here was a man who knew that Christ was worthy of worship. From that eternal well of saving grace, Grandpa Christie dispensed the joy he found to everyone who crossed his path, every time they crossed it. That life of holy joy is now done. But now Grandpa’s joy is deeper than it has ever been. Grandpa’s laugh is now louder than it ever was. His wisdom reaches further than ever before; because now he is in the presence of the Resurrected Christ, who will one day raise the dead.

Grandpa’s jolly wisdom was always a true delight to be around. But the joy we found in Willis Christie is but a shadow glory. It is but a morsel of the joy which God intends for those who trust Christ. Grandpa’s joy wasn’t found in himself, it overflowed from the glory of Christ crucified, risen, and ascended. Grandpa is now enjoying that full glory. As the old hymn puts it:

Soon shall close thy earthly mission

Soon shall pass thy pilgrim days

Hope shall change to glad fruition

Faith to sight, and prayer to praise.

Love Thy Neighbor

Love Thy Neighbor

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Introduction

Because of Adam’s sin not only was our fellowship with God broken off, but also our fellowship with each other was shattered. Adam blame-shifted (Gen. 3:12). Cain killed Abel (Gen. 4:8). Lamech was a murderous hothead (Gen. 4:23). Things went from bad to worser in Noah’s day (Gen. 6:1-5). Man’s relationship with God was broken; as a result, his relationship with his brother became a cess-pool of selfishness and strife.

The Text

1 John 2:9-17 “9 He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. 10 He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. 11 But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes. 12 I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake. 13 I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father. 14 I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one. 15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”

Summary of the Text

The old commandment has been made new in Christ (vs7-8). The command to love the Lord thy God is fulfilled by believing in Jesus Christ: God’s Son (1 Jn. 3:23), our Advocate and the only propitiation for sins (1 Jn. 2:1-2). This naturally leads to “love thy neighbor.” Claiming to walk in the light while hating your brother, indicates you are really continuing in the darkness of your sinful state (v9); your light is dark indeed (Lk. 11:35). God is light (1 Jn. 1:5), and through Christ we abide in God. Thus, abiding in the light of God in Christ, results in loving your brother. When the light is on you don’t stumble around (v10). Hating your brother is a spiritual diagnostic that indicates you continue to dwell in the deep darkness of sin (v11).
The repetition in verses 12-14 should not be taken as “scribal error,” but as a chorus worth repeating; these are theological poetics. John calls attention to our forgiveness, knowledge of the Father and the eternal Word, strength from the abiding Word, and overcoming Satan. Is that not the best sort of content for a gospel hymn?
John warns against loving the world and the world’s things—especially its lusts and pride. These worldly things are not of the Father, and they are fleeting (vs15-16). But, in contrast, those who do God’s will abide forever (v17). The sum is: loving God through Christ leaves no room for treasuring the world’s lusts and pride.

Shadow-Glories

This physical realm of earth was viewed by the pagans as the trash heap of the universe. The quest of the gnostics and mystics to liberate the soul from the body, eventually deteriorated into an inordinate obsession with––ironically––the body. All their seeking for “the divine” only rewarded them with a defiled earth. It is only through the Advocate (1 Jn. 2:1)––the Word incarnate (1 Jn. 1:1-3)––that we can have fellowship with God the Father, know Him (1 Jn. 2:4) and experience His love through Christ (1 Jn. 3:1). Loving God means obeying His command to trust in Jesus, and thus be liberated to enjoy this world rightly. Chesterton put it this way: “He who has seen the whole world hanging on a hair of the mercy of God has seen the truth […] He who has seen the vision of his city upside-down has seen it the right way up.”
Otherwise, we will be obsessed—to the point of perversion—with either hedonistic abuse of this world, or ascetic insult of this world. The Pagans relentlessly worshipped these worldly things (i.e. sun, moon, trees, creatures, etc.); this resulted in abusing their fellow man. Loving the world turns your neighbor into something to satisfy the lust of your flesh, the lust of your eyes, and the pride of life. Your neighbor becomes a means to the end of your own satisfaction.
Love of the world is ruinous to our relationships, especially our closest ones. It isn’t the Swiss yodeler, the Nepalese sherpa, the Uzbek migrant, or the Maasai shepherd who has hurt you or whom you’ve hurt. It’s your spouse, parent, coworker, child, uncle, neighbor, or friend. Worldliness blinds us to the imago dei in our fellow man, and it treats these earthly shadow-glories as if they are preeminent glories. When love for this world rules in our hearts, we degrade earthly blessings and dishonor our fellow man.
If God’s love is not yet reigning in our heart, it would be like “pouring water on a ball; you can gather, no, not a drop, because there is no empty place to retain water.” This world must be given up, and love to God must reign supreme before we can relinquish our grip on this world, and actually rightly love our brother and receive the shadow-glories with thankfulness. These joys pass away and are gone (1 Jn. 2:17). You’re a fool to worship them.

Loving Christ, Hating Sin

John’s overarching goal in writing is that your joy would be full (1 Jn. 1:4). The clear light of the Gospel is that in Christ we have a Mediator to bring us into fellowship with God Almighty (1 Jn. 1:3). It is only through this channel that we can have fellowship with each other (1 Jn. 1:7) and find “peace on earth.” Hatred of our brother has no place in the true believer’s life.
Anti-christs are seducers (1 Jn. 2:26); they won’t acknowledge Jesus was the Christ (1 Jn. 2:22). They are preachers of idolatry. They need minions upon which their own lusts and prides might feed. This is why gnostic cults fell into the self-loathing of asceticism, or insatiable orgies. On the other hand, the Judaizers considered the Gentiles as kindling for hell. For the believing Jews in John’s audience, they should see this link between love the Lord thy God and love thy neighbor. The proper way to understand the law, after all, was not as moral dictums; rather these are the words of a loving King entering into a covenant with His people.
The law was not a list of dos and don’ts. It was a revelation of God’s righteousness and holiness (cf. 1 Jn. 1:5), and man’s unrighteousness and wickedness. Thus, propitiation through our Advocate must be the grounds for our obedience to God’s commandments. Every human attempt to mediate peace and foster love between mankind without first being grounded in reconciliation with God through the Incarnate Christ, is doomed to failure. It assumes that humanity is basically good, divine, and therefore capable of attaining the righteousness of God. It is the anti-christ of adoptionism: Jesus was just a man that God used for an example for us. The other error, Docetism, leaves us without a real human mediator; so regardless of how “reconciled” we are to our fellow man, we both remain under God’s wrath. One other danger is that if we fail to affirm Christ as both fully God and fully man, and lay too much emphasis on the deity of Christ, we may become ambivalent about the need to love, be reconciled and at peace with our brother. We become, in this sense, too heavenly minded that we are no earthly good.
There is no other Savior or Mediator between God and man than Jesus; and our love for our brethren is where our love for Christ is most clearly attested. As we dwell in Christ, we now represent Him in this world. Our love for our neighbor is not what saves us, but it is a vibrant evidence of reconciliation with God, a new birth, and one who is obedient to God’s commandment. Paul hits at this by saying, “Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law (Rom. 13:8).”
How can God command in one breath, “love your brother,” and then command “love not the world or the things of the world?” It is only by a new creation. A new heart that knows the God of love and thus hates sin. In trusting Christ you become a channel of God’s love to this world. This world has nothing for you, but it is in this world in which God is making all things new. The very first order of business after being made right with God, is to go and be made right—on the basis of our union with God in Christ and His indwelling Word—with our brother. God’s love has come to reign in us, and His love spills out of us to our neighbor.

For the previous messages in my series on 1 John:
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Brimful with Joy

Brimful with Joy

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Introduction

Sorrow and regret are our daily companions. We grieve over loved ones who have died, we regret missed opportunities and sinful failures in our past. We are content with fleeting pleasures of this world, consuming them with selfishness, and so even our joys are turned to sorrows; and, to bring us to the edge of utter despair, certain death awaits us all. Death which would seem to render everything in life meaningless. Does life have meaning? Can death be cheated? Are joys and pleasures just a cruel illusion? Or are we made for more?

The Text

1 John 1:1-4

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.

Summary of the Text

John opens this epistle by bearing witness that life has been manifested in a person: “the Word of Life” (vs. 1-2); in this person is found “that eternal life which was with the Father.” These verses take direct aim at false Christologies; and what John proclaims here about Christ was offensive to both Jewish and Greek mindsets. The pluralistic Greeks would be offended that John took their philosophical terms and claimed to have found the truth in the person of Jesus Christ. The monotheistic Jews would be offended that John taught that Jesus, a historical man, was God in the flesh, their long-awaited Messiah.

Appropriately, John opens with a bang. The “logos of zoe” was manifested in flesh (had been seen, heard, touched), was God’s Son, and was the man Jesus Christ. Bearing witness to what the Apostles had seen and heard in Jesus Christ–the Word made Flesh (Jn. 1:14)–was the basis for fellowship between believers, whether Jew or Gentile. This introduction ends with quite the crescendo when John declares that all of this is written with the intention that their (and our) joy may be full (v.4).

Fellowship not Fraternity

While the Apostles had seen and heard Christ, many of their hearers had not. The obvious temptation was to uncertainties and errors regarding the Messiah. If you weren’t an apostle could you really have fellowship with Jesus? Was Jesus really God, or just a man God used? Was Christ really a man, or just God appearing as a man? It is in declaring Jesus Christ to be the Word of Life incarnate as a man that John intends to dispel these doubts and thereby gather all believers into the real fellowship which we have in Christ.

Our fellowship is no mere fraternity of humans. Rather, because of our union with Jesus Christ–the mediator between God and man–we have fellowship with God. Christian fellowship is not based on  commonly held beliefs; it isn’t a country club. John Calvin once pointed out, “The ungodly have also a mutual union between themselves, but it is without God, nay, in order to alienate themselves more and more from God, which is the extreme of all evils.” Our fellowship is a spiritual communion of the saints through Jesus Christ which binds us into one body (Rom. 12:5, Eph. 2:16). It is in this fellowship with God by Christ that we are also reconciled to our fellow man (2 Cor. 5:18-21).

Imagine how the Gentile believers might have felt as they tried to sort through the promises given to Israel; they probably wondered if they were on the “outs” and therefore not really the people of God. On the other hand, for Jewish believers–who saw Jesus as the promised Christ–there was  certainly confusion as to what they should expect (as it regarded the Law of Moses) of their new Gentile brethren, and what it meant that believing Gentiles were considered God’s people. This sets up John’s later emphasis on assurance (1 Jn. 3:19) and love for the brethren (1 Jn. 5:1-2); both Jews and Gentiles needed assurance that it was in Christ, and only in Christ that we might have fellowship with God and each other, on the grounds of the Gospel message of grace, new birth, and love for those begotten of God.

Joy: Endless, Boundless, Free

The story of mankind is quite simple. God is supremely happy in Himself. Man was made by God to enjoy God. Through sin, man was severed from fellowship with God, and therefore plunged into the deepest depths of sorrow. Through Christ the joy of fellowship with God is promised and restored.

The aim of this epistle is that your joy might be full. Though Christ we find the joy of sins forgiven, the joy of reconciliation with God and our fellow man, the joy of earthly pleasures becoming subservient to the highest pleasure of experiencing God’s joy in us as His redeemed children, the joy of God’s promised blessings coming upon us. All these joys are poured out upon us because the Word of Life was manifested in the person of Jesus Christ. The promised Christ took on flesh and became a man named Jesus. This is your salvation.

“And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace (Jn. 1:16).” Fullness, not morsels. God promises more than just a token measure of joy; rather, those who hear and heed this Gospel receive the fullness of the super-abounding richness of grace upon grace. This is why the Angel told the shepherds, “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people (Lk. 2:10).” This is why Luke closes his Gospel with this description of Christ’s disciples after they beheld Christ’s ascension “And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy (Lk. 24:52).” This is why “there was great joy in that city [of Samaria] (Act 8:8)” after Philip preached to them the Gospel. This is why the Psalmist declared in anticipation of the Messiah’s reign at the Father’s right hand, “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore (Ps. 16:11).” This is the pith of God’s promise to Abraham, “in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed (Gen. 12:3).”

So when man wonders about the meaning of life and death and asks, “Does any of it have meaning, and where can I find lasting joy?” The Gospel answers, “Yes.” In the Word of Life made manifest we are offered eternal life. Therefore, death does not have the last word and can be welcomed as a servant ushering us into greater joy and blessedness. True joy and lasting pleasures are found in the glory of God alone. Calvin points out: “He, therefore, has at length made a proficiency in the Gospel, who esteems himself happy in having communion with God, and acquiesces in that alone; and thus he prefers it to the whole world, so that he is ready for its sake to relinquish all other things.” It is right and fitting for us to use the most overflowing superlatives to describe this. As one hymn-writer put it: “Joy, rich and endless joy! High Heav’n the praise prolong; Let holy joy all tongues employ and fill the world with song (C.S. Nutter).” God’s pleasure and joy in Himself, is now bestowed upon us because of our covenant union with the man Jesus who was the Christ.

A World of Pleasure

A World of Pleasure

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Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy: yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God. Psalm 43:4

Bacon and eggs, washed down with cool orange juice. A winning basket in the final seconds. A fresh evening breeze after a hot summer day, with a bowl of home-made ice cream. Morning snuggles with your family. A sunset painting the rainclouds with variegated colors. A new satellite photo of some distant nebula. Placing the final piece of a 5000 piece puzzle. An unexpected $20 bill found in your pocket. A pillow at the end of an exhausting day of hard work. Were we to go on cataloguing such pleasures we would certainly be able to fill out endless volumes of joys and delights. All this to remind us that we live in a world of pleasure.

We live in God’s world, and in this world there are nerve endings. We are not just a line of code in some galactic super computer, with no way of expressing joy or experiencing delights.We live in God’s world, and in this world there are nerve endings. We are not just a line of code in some galactic super computer, with no way of expressing joy or experiencing delights. Though God has perfectly ordered the universe, he has ordered it to include a tear duct in the corner of our eyes; these then spurt out water as we experience the delight of watching our toddler grow so quickly, or reunite with an old friend. He has ordered this world to include facial muscles that convert our feelings of joy into contagious smiles and laughter.

Yes there is pain here in this world, lots of it, because of sin. But even in the pain, if we look closely, we can see that the Father’s hand is working in it to bring about greater joy. The Psalmist calls us to look unto God as our exceeding joy; which means we must have some acquaintance with the more pedestrian joys of everyday life. You know, the sort of joy you experience when slipping on your favorite pair of slippers. These earthly joys certainly are intended by God to lift our spirits, but He has orchestrated them so that they have a “top floor”. They leave us longing for a Joy eternal, and the Psalmist teaches us to go to God and find in Him the never failing fountain of delight, joy and satisfaction.

Much More than Emotion

Much More than Emotion

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David’s famous Psalm of repentance contains this lovely phrase, “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation lightstock_79852_xsmall_user_5740715(Psa 51:12a).” I have found that Christians often apply this verse after assessing their inward emotional condition and concluding that their emotions are out of whack, and therefore something must be wrong; so they pray out “restore to me the joy of my salvation.”

The problem is that we as humans are prone to mistake emotional vibes for authentic joy. One is entirely subjective the other is divinely objective. When we are assessing our spiritual life (which we ought often to do, see Phi. 2:12 & 2 Cor. 13:5), we must never inspect it on the basis of our own light and understanding. The glory of God alone, in the face of Christ, through his revealed Word is the only light bright enough to pierce through all of our emotional log-jams and show us the truth about ourselves. [Read more…] about Much More than Emotion

So Go Eat Some Fudge

So Go Eat Some Fudge

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Merry Christmas to all my readers! You’ve blessed me so much in faithfully reading and sharing my posts, and I’m exceedingly blogpost 12.24.14thankful. I love Christmas—and though the atheists want to erect Satanist shrines next to our nativities, and though the materialists have entirely desecrated not only Christ’s advent but also the legacy of St. Nicholas––and I wanted to write out a few of my thoughts as to how you should celebrate these next few days.
Sadly, many Christians have a perception of God that he is the ultimate Ebenezer Scrooge. He is a penny pinching miser. Or He’s a grinch, seething with wrath over all the merriment and joy of the residents of who-ville. Or, they think He is like Michelle Obama, chiding them for choosing fudge over celery. I think it is important to remember that our God is the God of blessings, “who daily loadeth us with benefits (Psa. 68:19)”! He is not leaning over us, clucking His tongue and wagging His head in disappointment as we enjoy another slab of fudge while opening a gift from someone who loves us deeply. [Read more…] about So Go Eat Some Fudge

Ben Zornes