"Behold! I Make All Things New!"

My devotion today began with this sentence: "Endings are always difficult. But when they’re new beginnings, they’re revitalizing."

Those are good words for today.

As we look to the blessings and struggles of the past year, we will have mixed feelings. We will celebrate new loves and relationships. New experiences and challenges conquered. An exciting upcoming move or new job.

But we will also have some sadness: loved ones who have passed on; undesired career changes or financial uncertainties; unwelcome health news or antagonistic colleagues.

Yet the fact is this: the Lord brought us through this last year and He will see us through the next one, too!

In the book of Revelation, the last book in the Bible which tells of the End Times and things to come, God says,

⁵And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.” ⁶And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life. ⁷All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children. ~Revelation 21:5-7

There is a lot packed in there! It's not just something to look forward to in some ethereal future. Jesus ["the one sitting on the throne"] says He is doing this now. "...I am making." Then He reminds us that we can trust what He is telling us here because He encompasses all of history, all of time, all of space. He knows what happend to and for you this last year and He knows what will this next year. 

But more than just knowledge, because of His love for you and me through faith in Jesus, who are His children, He also promises that, "all things work together for good!" (Romans 8:28) [Go ahead and just read that whole chapter!]

Let us thank the Lord for all He brought us through in 2014 as well as His grace and gifts given this year, and let us look with joyful hope in 2015 as He will do the same, as He has promised!

Come, gracious and merciful, Lord, Jesus! Come!

Well Done, Pastor Fink - Good and Faithful Servant!

[Jesus said,]“Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.” ~Matthew 25:21

Yesterday, December 27, 2014, the Lord and Master of Ronald Frank Fink spoke those words to him as he went Home to be with Him forever.

Pastor Fink was my senior when I started in ministry in 1996, at Trinity Downtown in Orlando, Florida.

At the time I didn't appreciate all he had to teach me and what it meant to be a pastor. At times I saw him as frustrating and limiting to what I wanted to do (whether or not it was good for ministry or Trinity!). I was arrogant and inexperienced. I was not a good associate pastor to work with. He was more patient, kind, and forgiving than I ever deserved. It wasn't until several years later that I realized what I had in him as a mentor and how much more ministry I could have done and how much I could have grown had I humbled myself and listened to him. The Lord being good, He was able to redeem some lessons for me when I squandered it with Pastor Fink. I can look back on my time as a sole pastor and then a senior pastor myself and see things much more clearly as to how and why he did things the way he did.

Years later, I wrote to him apologizing for my behavior. I wish I would have said it to him sooner. I wish I had said it to him in person. I wish I had been faithful in working with and under him. I wish I would have seen what a privilege and honor I had in him at the time.

Even so, I am so very thankful for the time I did have with him and with Millie! Such amazing people and brothers and sisters in Christ! Pastor Fink touched me and my life in ways that truly changed me for the better - even if I didn't realize it until later. He has influenced me and so many others - and will continue to - for many, many decades to come.

I truly miss him and am saddened by the news of his passing. Besides a great role model, He was just a really fun and neat guy to be around. I have no doubt about where he is and am comforted in knowing that I'll get to see him again when my Lord calls me to Himself at my heavenly Home.

I just pray that I can become a fraction of the “good and faithful servant” Pastor Fink was! 

Well done, Pastor Fink; well done!