It’s hard to believe that I’m writing a column that will be published in the year 2020.  What happened to 2019? Or for that matter 2018?  Time does seem to fly by doesn’t it?  The other day I saw a man in the church parking lot teaching his daughter how to ride a bike.  I wanted to go out and tell him to cherish that moment because it won’t be long before he is back out there teaching her how to drive and park the car.

                My prayer for each of us is that we better utilize this year of 2020 for the things that are important.  I’m going to suggest what I believe should be our top two:  Our relationship with Jesus and our family.  Those two things can and will bring us much peace, joy and happiness this year.

                I’m hoping that our “Who’s Your One” campaign with its emphasis on daily prayer and devotions for 30 days will help us get into the habit of daily prayer and devotions every day.  I saw a cartoon in the paper where a man is praying for God to speak to him.  It ends with a hand from a cloud handing him a Bible.  The Bible is how God chooses to talk to us.  The more we study it…the more we pray according to our understanding of it and the more God actually speaks to us.  I fear that far too many Christians spend much of their lives not hearing from God because we do not pursue prayer and Bible study on a daily basis.

                At the same time, I’m thoroughly convinced that family is one of the most important concepts of the un-fathomable mind of God.  We should embrace our family.  Even if there are political differences, social differences, religious differences, we are still family.  I believe that to be important.  That doesn’t mean we water down our theology or change our political affiliation.  Rather, as we live out our relationship with God and its effect on our social-mindedness and our political sway, our own family will benefit from our deep and abiding love for them.

Say good things about your savior and your church!

Bro. Tony