Yesterday my wife’s grandma passed away at the age of 92. She was an amazing woman who was full of faith in Christ and who could outwork most of us well into her 80s. That kind of energy and passion always fascinated me when I was around her. She was truly a matriarch of matriarchs and she will be missed by the legacy she leaves behind. We’ll head towards the Spartanburg area tomorrow for the receiving and then the funeral on Tuesday. Please keep all the family in your prayers.

2 Samuel 14:14
Like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die.

Over the years of my ministry as a youth pastor, I’ve spent my share of time in funerals. I’ve attended the services for people that I knew and people that I didn’t. I’ve preached them, too, even the funeral of my brother. But the one I sat in yesterday almost brought me to my knees in anguish because eternity never felt more real to me than it did then.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that God has set eternity in our hearts, and so it shouldn’t really sneak up on us, even though it often does. It seems that we spend the great part of our lives trying to escape eternity. We live day to day and really don’t stop to consider eternity, and it’s easy to understand why. You see, you and I live in The Land of Second Chances. It’s a hard place to live in at times, full of mistakes, careless words, even anger-filled tantrums. It’s a place where on any given night we can hurt the ones that we love the most. It’s a place where we often lay our heads on the pillow of regret. Admittedly, it can be a land of pain, confusion, and raw, unbridled emotion. But at the end of the day, it is still The Land of Second Chances.

What does that mean to those of us who live there? Continue reading

Did you miss Part I?

I sat down, the hopelessness of my questions overtaking me, and cried ugly. As I wept, I felt the peaceful presence of One Who knew more than I, and I felt comfort in that peace. He spoke and I listened. He told of His love and of the everlasting nature of His love. His words held me as a mother holds her own, and I pleaded with Him not to stop. He showed me the finality of man’s love, but also the infinity of His own. He spoke a bit longer and then rose to leave. As He did, I felt the comfort leaving, too, and as if He knew, He turned and caught my eyes in His for what seemed an eternity. Something about that gaze made me uncomfortable and peaceful all at once, and yet it was unexplainable. Finally, He opened His mouth, His eyes never leaving mine, and the words He spoke were alive, cutting through my confusion, my hopelessness, my despair.

“I love you.”

He was gone, and yet, He wasn’t. His words hung in the air and surrounded me like the warmth of an early morning cup of joe. I rose to leave, sad now, sorry that I couldn’t stay in this place forever and feel the comfort of His words. And yet, the words came with me. They were everywhere I went, everywhere I looked. They were in the brush of the wind, the heat of the sun, the chill of the night. Everything echoed what He had said.

“I love you.”

I raised my hands to the heavens and smiled. Thank you! Thank you for those 3 simple, marvelous words! “I love you,” He had said. Present tense, never past. Once was, now is, it will always last. Love. The word is itself one of beginnings. It is a word that speaks of eternity.