From the Pastor - Victory Tabernacle UPC Florence, Texas

Victory Tabernacle UPC

FROM THE PASTOR

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Sometimes I Can Hardly Wait

An eighty-nine-year-old man was sitting on a park bench crying. A passerby who noticed the tears running down the man's cheeks stopped to see if he could help.

"I don't mean to intrude," he said, "but is there anything I can do to relieve your distress? Are you sick?

“No, my doctor says I am as healthy as a 30 year old man.”

“Do you need some money?”

“No I have millions.”

“Is it your wife, Is anything wrong at home?"

The eighty-five-year-old man replied, between sobs, "No, everything is fine there. I have a big beautiful house. I have two new cars and a swimming pool, and I have a thirty-five-year-old wife who is a terrific cook, treats me like a king, and loves me more than anything."

"Then why in heaven's name are you crying?" asked the passerby. To which the elderly man replied … "I can't remember where I live."

“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” (John 14:1-3)

This is a home worth keeping in mind. With the cares of life and the worry of what lies around the corner for our nation it would be easy to forget. With the political posturing permeating our news media and the seeming endless bad news it might be easy to let it slip your mind.

But let not your heart be troubled. Jesus promised a place that is prepared for those that are faithful; to those that will endure to the end.

I recently read a story about a missionary couple that had been working in Africa for years and were returning to New York to retire. They had no pension; their health was broken; they felt defeated, discouraged, and afraid.

As the trip began, they discovered they were on the same ship as President Teddy Roosevelt, who was returning from one of his big-game hunting expeditions.

No one paid any attention to them. They watched the fanfare that accompanied the President's entourage, with passengers trying to catch a glimpse of the great man. As the ship moved across the ocean, the old missionary said to his wife, "Something is wrong."

"Why should we have given our lives in faithful service for God in Africa all these many years and have no one care a thing about us? Here this man comes back from a hunting trip and everybody makes much over him, but nobody cares about us."

"Dear, you shouldn't feel that way," his wife said.

He replied "I can't help it; it just doesn't seem right."

When the ship docked in New York, a band was waiting to greet the President. The mayor and other dignitaries were there. The papers were full of the President's arrival. No one noticed the missionary couple. They slipped off the ship, disappeared in the crowd, and found a cheap flat on the East Side, hoping the next day to see what they could do to make a living in the city.

That night the man's spirit broke. He said to his wife, "I can't take this; God is not treating us fairly." His wife replied, "Why don't you go in the bedroom and tell that to the Lord?"

A short time later he came out from the bedroom, but now his face was completely different. His wife asked, "Dear, what happened?"

The Lord settled it with me. I told Him how bitter I was that the President should receive this tremendous homecoming, when no one met us as we returned home. And when I finished, it seemed as though the Lord put His hand on my shoulder and simply said;

"You're not home yet."

(Author unknown)

The promises in the Word of God are many. But today my mind is on home.
I’m blessed here in this life just by knowing Him and knowing He is near. But today my mind is on home.

Right now as I write this I hear music practice taking place in the sanctuary. They’re singing songs about heaven and I have to smile as I listen. They’re singing songs about home. It’s beautiful to hear … it’s beautiful to remember. I remember where my home is. Do you?

Your friend,

Kenneth J. Haggstrom, Pastor

Victory Tabernacle UPC of Florence