Cindi & I were recently blessed with the trip of a lifetime, a 35-day Voyage of the Vikings cruise because they desperately needed a last minute Guest Minister. Afterward, when I greeted the church at the opening of worship on our first Sunday back from across the waters, I gushed, “We feel like Traphene Hickman—our hearts and minds are overflowing with stories.” We enthusiastically met people, experienced cultures, saw creatures, beheld nature… and ate too much! The range of each spanned from wonderful to pleasant to odd to bizarre. Coming away from that holistic exposure to the new and different, I am all the more convinced that none should deny the handiwork of God. I am also all the more saddened by the countless minds and hearts that don’t believe in the loving Creator God. I ache for those who study the breadth of creation, and the myriads of unique qualities, but then multiply evolutionary years to ludicrous mathematical numbers just to deny any supernatural authority. So many people are obsessed with doing it all “on their own” – and that, my friends, is what Jesus came to cure.

From My Heart,
Rev. Jeff Garrett