The Cross and Pen

Recently, I celebrated my sixtieth birthday. While I wouldn’t categorize myself as old, I admit (to myself mostly) that I am indeed getting older. It’s an interesting process, one that has to be experienced to be truly understood and appreciated. Perhaps the element that stands out the most with advancing age is time. In youth, time abounds and is plentiful, a never ending commodity one takes for granted. As the years tick by, though, time grows in value. The fundamental rule of economics is supply and demand. Well, I’d like more time on this planet, as would most of us. However, as we get older its supply dwindles. With each passing day, my time grows more valuable. I’ve become increasingly aware of just how limited and precious it is. Money was never a major concern to me the way it is to some people. This is especially true now. Knowing the average lifespan, examining my family history, there’s a good chance I might live another twenty years, Lord willing. But what if He isn’t willi...

Recently, my church’s men’s group pondered what it means to be successful according to the Bible. At the same time, we debated whether it was possible to have both worldly success and  biblical success. While no one debated what worldly success was, there was considerable discussion about biblical success. Using Matthew 19:16-30 as our text, we discussed the story of the rich young man as it related to biblical success. Recapping the story, a rich young man was disappointed that biblical success meant giving up his worldly success. Jesus went on to admonish the disciples, “Truly, I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again, I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:23-24, NRSV). Was Jesus advocating for a lack of possessions? We debated this issue, particularly the benefit riches can and have provided many Christians in their service to the chur...