I belong to Jesus.  He found me in my fallenness and is slowly making me into His image until I reach glory.  Jesus prayed that one day I would see Him in His glory.  But while I am still on earth building for His Kingdom by His Spirit’s enabling, I can see the glory of Jesus as through a glass dimly.  I see Him in His Word.  I see Him in the lives of my brothers and sisters in Jesus.  I see Him through the writings of imperfect people who followed Him long before I was born.

He is the Good Shepherd and I am one of His sheep.  His calling on my life is to find His other sheep and feed and nurture them until they see Him in His glory one day.  I am blessed to serve as a pastor at a local church that loves me and allows me to use the gifts He has given me to build up His body.  Many people have expressed their gratitude for those teaching and leadership gifts.  They say they are growing.  They feel spiritually fed and encouraged in their relationship with Jesus.

I am blessed to be a pastor at a church that values intergenerational relationships.  Imagine a local church where the pastor not only knows your name but where your 8-year-old daughter knows the name of an unrelated 80-year-old widow.  A church where we grapple with the pain and heartache of all the seasons of life together.  A church where retired men and women volunteer in a children’s program because they want the next generation to follow Jesus in this life while they worship Jesus in the next life.

Some wonder where I get my own spiritual nurturing and biblical insights.  It’s no secret.  I read.  A lot.  I think.  A lot.  As an extravert I get energy being around others.  But I’ve learned that taking care of my soul in private times of reading and writing is what gives others the food they need.  Only because I needed it first.

I hope to write a short devotional each week to be read by the people of our church.  I’m learning from others as they have learned from still others.  John Owen lived a long time ago.  He loves Jesus and wrote 16 volumes of heavy, hard to read devotional theology.  One of his works is “The Glory of Christ”.  I’m reading that.  Slowly.  I want to pass to you how he is causing me to see and love Jesus in a new way.  When we see Jesus, we see the gospel.  A gospel that does not require a Bible degree to understand and love.  A gospel for all generations.