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Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Guest Writer: Mitzi Jackson–We’re Off! Digging Deep ’24-’25

I say this every year but it’s worth the post. 

•If you are looking for a small group study- Do digging deep. 

•If you need accountability for Bible study- Do digging deep. 

•If you want a challenge- Do digging deep. 

•If you want to grow closer to God-Do digging deep. 

•If you need or prefer a guided study – Do digging deep. 

•If you like a personal study that you can do at your own pace- Do digging deep. 

•If you want to know more about the Bible-Do digging deep. 

•If you want to build close relationships with sisters in Christ- Do digging deep. 

•If you want a community of women who love you where you are and will encourage you to draw close to Jesus- Do digging deep. 

•If you are on the fence about digging deep- Do digging deep. 

-But even if you don’t do digging deep- find a way to get into His Word. There are so many ways.

 

If a one-on-one Bible study is more your style, let’s talk and we will make it happen! 

His word convicts us. 

His word equips us. 

His word transforms us.

His word instructs us. 

His word brings us salvation. 

His word brings us peace. 

His word shows us His character. 

These things cannot happen if we are not in His word. 

I just want to encourage you today to find a way to make it happen. Make it a priority.

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Ladies that are doing this study… Don’t let yourself get overwhelmed. Do what you can and commit to staying plugged in. 

You will grow no matter how many questions you answer and no matter how many you leave blank. This isn’t for a test grade. 

It isn’t pass or fail. It’s Bible study. 

We all grow when we are in the word together and together we can do this! 

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Guest Writer Glenn Colley: Moderate Drinking and Romans 14

 

The Passage

Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him. Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.

One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living. But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written:

“As I live, says the LORD,  every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God.”

So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way, (Romans 14:1-13 NKJV).

The word doubtful is an adjective describing things which give pause. It comes from a Greek word meaning “to deliberate”. There’s nothing wrong with God’s people carefully thinking through matters of their faith and scruples, but Paul has a particular kind of subject in mind.  He gives two illustrations. The first is eating only vegetables versus (presumably) eating meats.  Perhaps this has to do with meats formally sacrificed to idols as in 1 Corinthians 8. The second example Paul gives to help us understand his point is respecting one day over another, presumably relative to Jewish traditions and holy days that were no longer bound on God’s people.  Note that both of these are limited to viewpoints and practices that are not sinful.  This passage does not teach that any sinful practice is somehow not sinful in some cases.  

Is the use of beverage alcohol sinful? Some today argue that drinking intoxicating beverages, when they do not get drunk, cannot be called sinful, and thus the practice fits nicely in the context of Romans 14.  Where this argument breaks down, however, is that it ignores the truth that a practice can be sinful even when it is not explicitly prohibited in Scripture.  Some sins are presented implicitly. A clear example is from Paul’s writing in Galatians 5:19-21, “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Seven Important Concepts 

First, focus on the words, “…and the like” from Galatians 5.  The Holy Spirit requires us to think about things which are similar to this list and avoid those like things, as well.  In fact, a careful reading of this passage shows that these “and the like” sins will keep one out of heaven, as is true of the explicitly stated ones.  Read the list again and pause with each sin to consider the things that are not stated but are like them. “And the like” sins are ones which are implied by the Holy Spirit, are dangerous and require thinking and discernment.

Secondly, while we all recognize what it means to be “drunk”, i.e. impaired in speech, gait, and emotions, it is nonetheless true that defining the beginning state of being “drunk” is difficult, and would naturally vary from one person to the next. Think about those roadside signs which say, “Buzzed driving is drunk driving.” Those billboards result from the obvious truth that there are various degrees of drunkenness. A person who weighs 250 pounds and has a history of drinking will be affected differently from one who weighs 125 and is just beginning his drinking practice. Whether the person who is drinking has a full or empty stomach will naturally have a bearing on the effect of the drink.  Do you see the risk? Where is the line for drunkenness in God’s eyes?  

Thirdly, every person who decides to drink “moderately” has made “provision for the flesh” (Rom. 13:14); that is, he has created a way to furnish—to pave— the path to sin in the future.  If a Christian lives on, there will inevitably be hard days in his future; days of stress, heartbreak, and pressure. The alcohol will be waiting in his house or at the store whenever he feels overwhelmed and craves escape—and he will have given himself permission to use it.

Fourthly,  a Christian’s influence is involved.  Even if one could justly argue that the sort of moderate drinking he does never truly approaches any drunkenness, will the same be true about the people whom he may influence to drink? When I was in high school, if a teen bought a six-pack of beer, he would predictably drink six beers. What is the Christian drinker’s influence on him? Is it probable that the vast majority of Christians today who drink run the real risk of others learning about it and being influenced to also drink—perhaps at different levels and with much more serious consequences?  What of the person who insists that no one will ever even know of his drinking in the privacy of his own home? Will someone see the purchasing, the disposal and recycling of the container? Will the person who delivers it know? I’d say it is pretty hard to imagine going through life as a moderate drinker and having no one know of or be influenced by the practice. In fact, I know a man who died as an alcoholic because he began drinking wine that he made in his own kitchen after his fellow church members (“moderate” drinkers) taught him how to do it. (Besides all of this, many of those who advocate “private moderate drinking” are, ironically, advocating it very loudly and in extremely public forums.)

Fifthly, when serious-minded elders admit the massive numbers of people—sometimes innocent people—whose lives are seriously harmed by drinking (parenting problems, marital problems, employment problems, death/injury due to a driver whose mind is to some degree affected by the drink, etc.), they will naturally see this as a spiritual danger, step up, and make it clear to the Christians among them that they recognize drinking as a spiritual threat to the believers in their charge, and make their will known.  Their authority extends to matters such as this one, and their word is binding. “Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you,”  (Hebrews 13:17).

In the sixth place, there are many in the body, in our alcohol saturated society, who are vulnerable ones. In a sense, they are truly “weaker brethren”. They have battled alcoholism in their former lives and they have overcome. But the struggle is real every day of their lives. Falling back is always one weak moment away. How must those brethren feel when they see those who purport that they can handle moderate drinking, when they see members advocating moderate (even private) moderate drinking. Again, it is ironic that a number of those who advocate that drinking is approved if done privately, are doing so in the most public of forums; in books and and on instagram and facebook, on their blogs and podcasts. The inconsistency is glaring. 

In the seventh place, it is a frequent occurrence that those who drink moderately have, by their own admission, at times, crossed over the line at which alcohol has affected their ability to think clearly, to judge righteously, to fully control their bodies. In these cases, they are drunken. It’s rare to find a moderate drinker who can, with integrity, say that he has never crossed that line. He has made a provision in his life—invited an opportunity for blatant sin. When we resist the devil (temptation), that’s when the devil flees from us (James 4:7). The word “resist” there means to set one’s self against. It cannot be that I am setting myself against the devil when I place myself in a situation that, with few exceptions, leads to sinful drunkenness, in order to please my own desires. 

Another Way to Forbid

While it is wrong for men to bind where God has not bound, it is also wrong to pretend that only things which are explicitly forbidden in Scripture are sin. Pornography use is wrong because it violates Scriptural principle (i.e. Matt. 5:28).   Meth manufacturing, use and marketing, and gambling would all be approved if only those actions explicitly declared in Scripture to be sinful, are sinful.  Advocates of moderate alcohol usage would be hard-pressed to teach their children not to moderately use marijuana, particularly in states where use is legal. But the truth is, sometimes, actions are implicitly forbidden, and the use of intoxicating beverages, except for medicinal purposes (1 Tim. 5:23), is forbidden in this way. 

The Romans 14 Context

Now, back to Romans 14. Verse 21 merits discussion, for it has become the hallmark verse for those in the body who want to partake in moderate drinking. Women in some churches meet together at a restaurant weekly to have a glass of wine (or more) or to have a beer together. Men have come to often include alcoholic beverages in their retreats and/or men’s nights out. Others partake, but claim they can do so privately without influencing the “weaker “ brother (defined by the moderate drinker as the one with the propensity for alcoholism or the one who believes any alcoholic drink is sinful). Verse 21 is often used to justify moderate drinking in the last of these scenarios. Near the conclusion of a discussion that is obviously about issues in which sin is not involved, the advocates of moderate drinking would have us believe that the inclusion of the word “wine”  (oinos-GK) in verse 21 leaves the door open for Christians to drink intoxicating wine with the approval of heaven. (It should be noted here that the word wine does not always, in Scripture, refer to intoxicating wine See Isaiah 65:8; Isaiah 16:10; Lamentations 2:11. It should also be pointed out that wine in New Testament times was far less intoxicating, even if fermented, than the alcoholic wines of America today.) It’s most important, though, to remember that verse 21 is in the context of activities that are not sinful (eating meats and observing Jewish holidays). I would urge those who are studying the use of alcoholic beverages in moderation to study this excellent article from Apologetics Press: https://apologeticspress.org/elders-deacons-timothy-and-wine-1208/. 

It is difficult to see how one can lift the word wine in verses 21and 22 from a context of matters of non-sinful judgment and from a contextual  admonition that we be certain that we do not tempt another to violate his conscience. It seems we offer that very temptation to vulnerable people, even in the declaration that we have liberty to do that very thing. And in the partaking of alcohol, we also put our own souls at significant risk. Anyone who looks around at the effects that American forms of strong drink are having in our culture and continues to say “I can drink alcoholic beverages without causing harm in my family or my congregation or to my influence”  is not resistant to the temptations of the devil. 

The 1 Corinthians 8 Connection

It’s interesting to see the conclusion of a similar discussion of matters of judgment in 1 Corinthians 8, as Paul writes when discussing the eating of meats that have been offered to idols. In that chapter, Paul gives permission to eat those meats, remembering from whence they have come. But he adds this strong word of caution in the final verse: 

Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble. 

It is difficult to see how one can partake in moderate drinking today without causing a brother to stumble. If Paul made this strong personal prohibition when the matter was a liberty he had just permitted through inspiration of the Spirit, how much more should we resist this temptation to fulfill our fleshly desires when the Scriptures are replete with warnings about the effects of alcohol? 

The Prequel to the Romans 14 Discussion

The last two verses of the preceding chapter of Romans should serve as a prequel to this discussion of matters of judgment:

Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts. 

Making no provision for the flesh is a strong clause. It literally means we are prohibited from preparing or supplying a path to sin. Besides all the above concerns, I surely cannot think of a way we could better give sin a door in our lives than the purposeful use of alcoholic beverages. In using, we consume that which, with each drink, makes us less and less able to discern the difference between right and wrong. We open the door with our heart’s welcome to the temptation that has turned roughly a quarter of our American adult population into binge drinkers and has already given over 1 in every ten adolescents an alcohol consumption disorder. 

The Tragic Irony 

But the very fact that brethren are using social media platforms to encourage the use of alcoholic beverages in moderation before a vulnerable and often underaged audience—an audience that statistically will find within it great numbers of problem/binge/addicted/ young alcohol abusers, takes my breath away. While saying this is drinking that will not influence vulnerable people, advocates of moderate drinking are shouting to our children that there is an open, guiltless doorway to the use of the very drug that will spiritually impair and ultimately kill many of them. This is the tragic irony of this argument. And they are doing it in the name of Romans 14, a passage that is clearly a prohibition of doing that which might place a temptation in the path of a vulnerable one. 

I pray that no one who is respected by any of my five grandchildren will make such a boastful claim of liberty and license to any of  them in their tender futures. But, the fact is, someone that was respected by my (at the time) seven-year-old grandson has already engaged him about this. This young and moldable boy told me that this professing Christian man explained to him how that it was not good to get drunk, “…but I enjoy drinking alcoholic beverages, from time to time… I just don’t get drunk.” In 2019, 1.1 million children between the ages of 12 and 17 sought treatment or alcohol abuse. Those are just the ones who admitted a problem and sought a solution. The numbers are staggering. So much risk is unnecessarily placed on young shoulders when we, as people who should be thinking soberly, begin to search for ways to make provision for our own flesh. 

“Wine is a mocker, strong drink is a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise” (Prov. 20:1).  

https://apologeticspress.org/elders-deacons-timothy-and-wine-1208/

https://alcohol.org/statistics-information/

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Guest Writer: Glenn Colley–Ten Truths about Marriage

This is something Glenn wrote 14 years ago. Further, Glenn and I are not certified counselors. Often though, God puts us in the paths of couples who are seeking advice about how to “fix” broken aspects of their marriages. Of all the couples involved in all of these conversations, I’m sure we are the couple that has learned the most. Glenn reflected on these lessons learned and made a list from which he will probably one day preach or perhaps he will one day include it in a book. They are not necessarily profound, but they are absolutely true. (They are as true in 2024 as they were in 2010 or in any previous year. They will be true in 3024 if the world stands in another millennium.) The preferable time to think about them and make adjustments is before your marriage is in trouble. Here’s the list:

1. Advisors don’t know what the problem in your marriage really is until they talk to both of you. They will sometimes think they do, but they don’t.

2. You were schooled about how to act in marriage by your parents. You may do better or worse at it than them, but they laid your foundation.

3. Two people who are compatible enough to marry and who will maintain their dedication to obey God above all, will never divorce.

4. Wives, and sometimes husbands, can easily fall into destructive habits of constantly finding fault with their mates. Many spouses have died the death of a thousand cuts.

5. Pornography robs marriage of trust and happiness. If you’re viewing it, beg God to forgive you and do whatever is necessary to stop it.

6. Adultery doesn’t begin in the bedroom. It starts in innocent places with electric conversations and glances.

7. If you think the person you’re having an affair with will always be loyal to you when he was willing to break up your marriage, you’re not very smart at all. You’ll burn your family bridges to marry him (or her) and wake up one morning very miserable for the mess you’ve made of your life.

8. The typical husband is very predictable. He is programmed to respond to a wife who is feminine, gentle, respects him, and pays attention to the marriage bed.

9. Enduring a marriage crisis can make your marriage stronger than it otherwise might have been, if the problems are fixed right–with plain-talking repentance, open communication, and reciprocal warmth that is willing to forgive and move on in the grace of God.

10. Children do not escape the divorce of their parents unscathed. They are generally the ones who suffer most and they generally are better off in a marriage of conflict than in a situation in which divorce has occurred. (I, Cindy, contributed this one. I seem to always end up working more closely with kids involved in divorce. It is the saddest of all the things I do in life.)

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Guest Writer: Glenn on Praiseworthy Thinking


Some mornings in life you will awaken with a lot of negativity on your mind. Today’s post is from a good friend (my best friend on earth)  who helps me put the minuses in my world each day in their proper place and just go on praising. It’s what I need today. But first, one of my best helpers who’s already finished his race:

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you (The apostle Paul–Phil. 4:8-9).

According to Strong’s, the word praiseworthy means well spoken of, i.e. reputable; of good report…sounding well; uttering words of good omen, speaking auspiciously. 

Paul means we should meditate on things that good people would admire. Consider three illustrations from Scripture: 

1. Paul wrote to the Christians in Philippi, “Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel” (Phil 1:27). Paul is urging them to reflect well on the gospel in their community by the way that they live.

 2.  The qualifications of men we need for our church elders include, “…he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil” (1 Tim. 3:7).

3.   Jesus taught us to live our lives so that, in general, people will admire His Father because of the lives we live serving Him, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Mt. 5:16).  

Perhaps the application of this principle fluctuates with cultures, but the meaning is this: Generally speaking, there are things which good people in any society approve and appreciate.  These are the better things in us. Perhaps it is less true in America today—we’re in a time when political assemblies can erupt into crowds booing when the name of God is mentioned in a positive way—but the general recognition of good exists, nevertheless, and arguably, still among the majority of people in our country.  Think for a moment about praiseworthy ideals: to honor one’s parents, to possess good manners, to show respect toward the elderly, to protect women and children when they’re in trouble, to be honest even when our dishonesty might go unpunished, to obey the law as a matter of conscience (Rom. 13:1-5), to respect other people’s property, to respect God’s laws about sexuality (avoiding adultery, homosexuality, rape, lasciviousness, etc… [1 Cor. 6:9-11]), to be kind to people who are kind to us and even to those who are not. These are things that are respected by the communities in which most Christians live and work.

There are still many in this old world who appreciate these things. Paul exhorts us to meditate on them. To do so contributes to our spiritual health and to preventing impediments to our successful evangelism.  

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Guest Writer: Shameika Hanna

(The following was “stolen” [but I know I have her permission] from a dear friend who works very hard in the Lord’s church on Grand Bahama. The events chronicled occurred this very weekend. I just thought blog readers should see it. It’s a little window to the big (and largely lost) idea of commitment in marriage. I’m posting  today just as she wrote it two days ago. I’m not sure how she found the time to write on this same day, but I’m glad she did. If you could see all of her journey since 2005, you’d see a maturing in Christ that has blessed over and over again. You’d say with me “He is just so good!” I’m going to add also, that it was very appropriate that she wore white in this ceremony. She is pure in Him in every way.)
On March 9, 2005 I married the love of my life. There was no doubt in my mind about this decision, although there was a price to be paid. We would forfeit a wedding and begin a life of lasting love outside of the knowledge of our friends and loved ones. Two faithful witnesses in a honeymoon suite in Oklahoma City would take in the hour as a sound Gospel Preacher helped us perform our nuptials and we would be man and wife. Those witnesses, and the friend in the city where we would honeymoon over Spring Break, would be the only ones who knew and we would hold a secret for nearly four months about the most important news in our lives from our families back in the Bahamas. Those days were hard. The loving congregation where I worshipped in college had a reception one evening when they heard the news, but Tavaro would not be present. Eventually we told our parents, most of whom now are deceased, followed by the rest of our families and there was a bitter-sweetness about the exchange. 1) Relief that our small world knew we belonged to each other and 2) a sense of loss as they realized they were not part of that special and once-in-a-lifetime day.
In the most unfathomable fashion imaginable this weekend, Saturday December 9, 2023, which amounts to 18 years 9 months later, we relived a version of that lost day. A surprise wedding.
For three months (or more) Tavaro Hanna hid, planned, imagined, conducted meetings, made purchases, prepared invitations, formulated a program and meticulously wrote a cover story to make me a cake-topper bride wearing a dress I had never seen, shoes I had never worn, and bridal jewelry that was unknown. He had flawless makeup applied by a skillful artist under the guise of a “series of photoshoots” and in an elegant low-bun hairstyle, I walked into our marital home to put on what I expected to be an outfit in Christmas colors for this family event.
To my surprise, our children didn’t come to meet me outside and our car was not in its place. The house was still and the friend who picked me up was ready to call the man who was decked out in a full suit, standing in the church building where he grew up before his family, my family and our church family waiting for me. Our bed was covered in full wedding garb and he called. She recorded as he revealed the fullness of the expected photoshoot and his best man reiterated that there would certainly be photos but not of the nature I was expecting. I could hear the smile in his voice as he said, take your time. We will wait. I was a bride.
Emotions started to overwhelm me and the beautiful lady waiting reminded me to collect my thoughts, not ruin my makeup and call her when I got to the point of needing assistance in getting dressed. I was chauffeured to meet my groom in a beautiful car, in full shock, and unable to allow my heart to catch up with my head. Along this short drive, I was reminded not to ruin the carefully crafted makeup.
In the previous two weeks Tavaro had asked me to write my vows and said he would too, and the night before our surprise wedding, he had planned dinner as an escape for a few short hours from our busy but blessed lives where we exchanged those vows in a quiet place. I was content having been with him and had the opportunity to pour out my soul in deeply thought-out expressions. Those vows reappearing on this wedding day from his handsome suit jacket pocket to be handed to me for a reading before all the people in our world was far from something I could have expected.
As we pulled-up to the church building, the parking lot was full but the yard was empty. Everyone was truly inside waiting in full knowledge of that to which I was oblivious.
The first face to catch my eyes brought tears. A member of our small congregation who was living on a cay teaching, made the sacrifice and journey to be there for me, with us, showing the kind of love that brings tears as I try to share this. When I entered the building, photos of our loved ones who had gone on were posted and the scene was breathtaking. Our five children were ready in coordinating colors as ‘blue angels,’ and my mother, the only remaining parent between us, was dressed to the nines as the mother-of-the bride. Me.
We took the walk down the aisle to the classical song I love most, Pachebel’s Cannon D and the tears were too much for me to retain clear sight of the beauty around me. My father was missing this moment. Mother took me half-way down the aisle to meet my groom. He was everything I could have imagined and much more as he stood down the aisle with the most confident and joyous smile I had ever seen.
After the entrance of the wedding party: matron of honour- my high school, life-friend and sister in Christ, his brother/closest friend and loving cousin, the best man and our five children the ushers-dear sisters in our congregation pulled out the white carpet for me. The bride.
He met Mother and me halfway down the aisle and held me for a moment. The emotions kept me under their power more than before as we made the last half of the march to marriage. To remarriage. To recommitment.
The container of my heart burst when I saw my father’s sisters. One flown in from Nassau with her daughter then my sister, my only sister, flown in from Miami. We had spent an hour earlier on our weekly sibling synergy phonecall and I thought she was in Miami. I stopped, held each of them, and could barely breathe in the beauty that engulfed me in the scene and in the faces who were there to support us in this way.
While Tavaro’s cousin sang, we signed a legal document of Wedding Vow Renewals with our witnesses as part of a short, deep, heart-gripping ceremony which included our children, members of the congregation he is the preacher for, officiated by the preacher who loved him even as a toddling boy and always thinks of him in kind affection.
There were prayers, tears, and so many well wishers that I am still crying today.
My husband’s sister Rhonda Hanna-Neely is more than that. She is a mother to him and a support to me. She sacrifices to give our children her best by my side each day as a handmaiden of sorts, but with the love of a second mother rather than the effort of a hired-hand. She is also a, Secret Wedding Planner!
When the ceremony ended (makeup somehow still intact) he kissed the bride. Me. We stood before our families and left first to wait at the door and hugged each soul who took the time to come, to share in this joy that has changed my life forever.
The kind of love that goes this far, to do this much and give its all is what I lived this Christmas season. The vows we exchanged were not merely in anticipation of a life together, but in confirmation of a life lived for 18 years in true harmony and godly unity preparing for a lifetime more.
It was not yet ended; there was more. We went outside the church building to a full traditional reception with a wedding cake, head table, host, DJ and beautiful seating for guests. We danced together and he smiled lovingly at me all night long
.
My. Heart. Is. Full.
If you were there, thank you. If you prepared any small thing, in any way, thank you. For the gifts, thank you. If your heart wanted to be present, thank you. For the messages after the wedding, thank you. For caring about our family, thank you. For keeping this secret, thank you, for reading this story, thank you. Thank you.

 

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Guest Writer: Hannah Colley, On the Blessing of the Church in Hard Times

Life’s a flurry right now of Polishing the Pulpit prep. (https://polishingthepulpit.com/) If you’re reading and you are a regular, I can’t wait to hug your neck. If you are a digger, I can’t wait to wrap up the amazing (amazing, because it’s from Scripture) Comfort study and I’m way excited about kicking off our 2023-24 study from one of those large rooms at PTP on Saturday at 12:30. I mean I cannot wait! I’m working hard on the little things that make the study fun. If you have never been to PTP, remember there are a couple of “free” days when you can come try it on for size. But I can already tell you, it fits. You will never want to miss it again. It’s worth the wait, worth the money, worth the pretty big hassle of getting every child and aged person on board for as much of it as possible!

There are hugs to go around at PTP!

So today, in honor of PTP anticipation, here’s an excerpt from an upcoming lesson by Hannah Colley. It’a lesson about keeping our commitments to Jesus Christ. This part is so deeply in my heart as we finish up 2023 and, as we prayerfully move toward even more blessed times as a family, as a congregation, as a church–as we move toward heaven!

Hannah says this:

When you feel alone, remember Joseph. Remember to hold fast to what you know is true—That God is on his throne and He has a plan for your life, even if you can’t see it.

But also, find comfort in the fact that we as Christians have an incredible advantage that Joseph didn’t have, and that is His church. I mean this when I say that I truly do not know how I would have made it through the past couple of years without the encouragement and support of the Lord’s church. Many of you helped carry me through the darkest days of my life. To outsiders looking in, it is shocking to see how God’s people come together to help people that aren’t even blood relatives. But that’s because the blood of Christ has made us family. We were never meant to survive the trials of this life alone. God gave us this community, this family of disciples, to “bear one another’s burdens”—that’s how we fulfill the law of Christ.

I’m so thankful for those who “fulfill”…incredibly thankful. I cannot wait to see many of you at this grand reunion we call PTP. But, oh!… That other reunion! If you have to miss PTP it’s sad. But, if you have to miss that other reunion, it’s the ultimate eternal tragedy! Let’s help each other get there!