From:
Date: December 3, 2019
Subject: It's December 3; Good Morning Union
“I determined to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” 1 Corinthians 2:2
My dad would have been 102 today! He was a Godly man who worked hard and loved his family. His parents, who both immigrated from Norway, died when he was just a child so he was raised an orphan from the age of 7. He left home at 13 and never had a home again until he was married. He ran away, ended up at Bethel Academy in Wisconsin (he never knew how he got there and thought it was a reformatory!) They got him clothes from the Dorcas Society and he worked two or three jobs and earned his way all through academy. He joined the army, was at Pearl Harbor when it was attack on December 7, 1941. He came home from the war, met my mom, married her, and they had 4 boys (I’m #2). He worked the same blue-collar job his whole life. He was an amazingly stable man for coming from such an unstable beginning!
Our lives centered around the church; if it was happening at the church, we were there! We were janitors, snow shovelers, lawn mowers, and anything else that needed to be done at the church. We couldn’t afford church school but he made up for it by his faithfulness to the church. When college came they mortgaged their little home so we could go to college (all 4 of us went to Union!) I was beyond blessed.
His life was an illustration of my text for today. He would get up at 4:30 every morning so he would have time to study his Bible before leaving for work at 6:15. His life centered around his connection to God and the church and his commitment to his family. Nothing else really mattered. He determined to “know nothing else while he was with us except Jesus Christ and Him crucified,” and he did just that. I am honored to build on that commitment and blessed to be able to carry on his legacy in my life and my work, to “know nothing else while I am with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”
Have a great day establishing that commitment in your life too,
Pastor Rich
Quote for the day: “If you tell the truth you never have to remember what you said.”
PS Christ on Demand- cancelled for this week because Amber is still stuck in the snow storm in Wyoming!!