Once there was a man who had a beautiful new car. The owners manual assured the driver that his car would serve him faithfully for years if he would treat it properly. Despite the assurance of having a sound car for years, the man mistreated his vehicle. He “peeled out”when the light turned green, he raced, he stopped short. He didn’t change the fluids regularly, and never got a tune up. His carelessness and hard driving damaged the transmission of the car, and his speeding severely damaged the engine. Realizing he had damaged the car, he resolved to drive more carefully, but no matter how carefully he drove, his careful driving did not repair the damage ‘under the hood’. To have the repairs done, he needed to bring the car in to the dealer for proper reparations, which he eventually did. It was costly, but the car was eventually restored to excellent condition.   We can regret our sins; and we can, and should turn from sinful ways. But when we...

About five years ago Tirouhe and I decided to get our boys a couple of bunnies for Easter. While in the pet store I asked the salesman for two same-sex bunnies (knowing their reputation). I was assured that we were purchasing two male bunnies. We gave the bunnies to the boys and together we built a nice rabbit hutch. One year and fifteen bunnies later, we realized that salesman had been in error. After giving away seven bunnies, we still had eight left, and built an additional rabbit hutch.   Life with kids and pets can be very unpredictable. Occasionally, one of the kids would feed the bunnies and forget to latch the hutch door, and in the morning we would discover that a couple rabbits had escaped. They would seldom get far. The older ones didn’t run because they were too overweight. The younger ones didn’t run because when they left the hutch they were in the yard, which meant to them that they had fallen into the middle of...

All Christians share certain basic beliefs. We believe God exists. God has a Son. The Son took flesh, becoming man. He walked amongst us. He taught and performed phenomenal miracles. He fulfilled all the Old Testament prophecies of the coming of the Messiah. He endured tremendous suffering. He humbly offered up His life as a redeeming sacrifice for our lives. He was crucified and rose again on the third day. He ascended into heaven. He sits at the right hand of our Heavenly Father. He is to come again with the glory of the Father to take His faithful unto himself to be with Him forever in paradise. We who confess these beliefs, and follow the teachings of Christ, are body and member of the 'one church.' By following Jesus we enter into a communion with the living God of all creation. This communion brings about a fullness within us, and amongst us, that is far beyond the physical joys of this world. As the church, we recognize that telling the...