Pure Water, Fresh Air, New Birth

By Rick Blumenberg  @rickblumenberg

Years ago Mutual of Omaha, a large insurance company, studied the salesmen who failed to discov­er the rea­sons for failure and "weed out" likely fail­ures before spending so much money tra­ining them. This would also help many avoid fail­ure. 

Many Ways to Fail

They discovered there are unlimited ways to fail. They finally admitted the study was a fail­ure. Every time they thought they knew every possible way to fail somebody discov­ered a new one!

In any situation, the gate that leads to failure and de­struc­tion is wide with numberless ways to get there. Multi­tudes of people find their way t­o and thru it. Every generation invents new methods and previously un­known ways to go to hell. 

On the other hand the gateway that leads to life is narrow. You have to search to find it. Many lose their way and perish before they  get through. That's why the Bible is so important. It tells The way to get to heaven--the way to put all the various parts of life together so life is a meaningful whole. But it only tells one way of salvation and that way is Jesus.

Some don’t like only one way

Several years ago I watched the Donahue Show as he inter­viewed Billy Graham. When Phil asked how to get to heaven he quoted Jesus' state­ment to Nicodemas; "You must be born again."

As you can imagine, Phil didn't like that answer. He knew before asking he would­n't like the answer. He knew what the answer would be. I think his pur­pose, was to make Graham look stupid to his audience because Phil did­n't think it made sense that God would be so "narrow-mind­ed". Logic says if there is a God he would not make only one way to get to heav­en. Anyone who thinks so is illogical, nar­row minded, and bigoted.

I’m constantly amazed that a per­son who is not smart enough to create even one tiny single-celled amoe­ba, much less anything as com­plex as an insect or worm, would still think he/she is smart enough to tell God how to handle His crea­tion!

But perhaps you've asked that same question. Why did God only make One Way to get to heaven—One way to be saved? Does the Bible really teach that? Let's see.

I John 5: 11-12 "...God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.  He who has the Son has life; He who does not have the Son of God does not have life."

Now let me ask you a question: How many liquids do you know that will pre­vent a person from dying of thirst? I only know of one—water. It can come in many forms— milk, cola, cof­fee, or other drinks that are water-based. You can drink gasoline, motor oil or brake fluid but they won't sustain life. In fact, they de­stroy it. If we don't have water, we die. That's pretty narrow isn't it? It just isn't logical. Anyone who would believe such a thing would have to be narrow-minded and bigoted. The problem is…..it's true

How about breath? How many gases can we breathe to maintain life? I only know one—oxygen. We can breathe many gases. Some will kill us, some are harmless, one makes us laugh, but none sustain life. If you don't have oxygen, you die. That's pretty narrow isn't it? It just isn't logical. Anyone who believes such a thing is nar­row-minded and bigoted. The problem is…..it's true.

If we take water out of the liquids we drink, we die of thirst.

If we take oxygen out of the air we breathe we're soon asphyxiated.

If we take Jesus out of the picture, we are "dead in tres­passes and sin". And eventually, when separ­ated from our physi­cal bodies by physical death, that spiritual death be­comes ete­rnal. Without Jesus, life as we know it would not even exist.

Thank God for Water!

Why did God create the human race (and as far as I know, all other forms of life) so we must have water to sur­vive? That's easy. You know the answer. Because water is e­nough! Water is a mar­velo­us li­quid! It brings wealth to a nation, health to it's peo­ple and to all of creation if it's kept clean and pure. Not­hing tast­es bet­ter than a cool, re­fresh­ing drink of spar­kling pure water!  Thank God for water!

Thank God for Oxygen!

Why did God create us so we could only breathe oxygen? Ano­ther easy answer, He only created one gas to sus­tain life be­cause oxy­gen is fully adequate! Oxy­gen is a marve­lous gas! It gives health and strength to all the dif­ferent or­gans in the human body. Nothing feels bet­ter than a deep breath of fresh, clean air! Thank God for oxyg­en!

Thank God for Jesus!

But how about salvation? Why did God plan only One Way for peo­ple to be saved? Why couldn't there be "many roads, winding their way to one God"? The answer is the same as the answer to the two previous questions—because One Way is enough.

Jesus Christ is a marvelous Savior! He brings whole­someness and joy to all who believe! Absolutely noth­ing is as wonderful as living life fully surrendered to the lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the only true and Living God and our Creator!  Thank God for Jesus!  

I'm Rick Blumenberg . . . and that's My View from Tanner Creek.
     

One Billion Worship Every Weekend!

@rickblumenberg

“I got to hear Valarie Peery sing "Take My Hand Precious Lord" while accompanying herself on the piano this morning at church. I was beside myself. Not many things I enjoy more than hearing Valarie sing and play!”

These words were written after my cousin Valarie Peery sang and played piano recently at First Baptist Church, in Clinton, Kentucky.

Here is my comment about a service I attended here in Southwest Michigan on the same day:

“That really was a marvelous worship service and the sermon was equal to it—one of the best services ever. Pastors David Colp and Chad Harlan were both marvelous and it was obvious the Holy Spirit was leading it all—and what an awesome choir to sing in.”

This past Sunday we joined our daughter Kathy, her husband Mike, and their family at Tabor Church near Muncie, Indiana for a great worship service.

The amazing thing is not really these three marvelous worship experiences scattered over five hundred miles, but that on any given weekend there are probably a billion people who worship God in churches throughout all our communities and around the world. They worship in a multitude of languages, in every skin color, all economic and educational levels, and by people of just about every conceivable variety.

More than two billion people scattered over the earth profess to be Christians and I’m guessing maybe half attend church on any given Sunday. This makes a wonderful unity in the Holy Spirit, as we lift up the Lord Jesus that binds all these believers together in worship to God.

Sometimes people criticize the church and talk about “how bad things are” but things are wonderful in God’s church! And will continue to get better as more and more people are born into the family of God and give him first place in our lives. When I say God’s church I don’t refer to a denomination, but to the entire family of God scattered around planet earth. We don’t all agree theologically, we’re not all at the same level of understanding or spiritual maturity but we all worship God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—so we are all family.

In the combined worship sites of both my Mom and Dad’s families and both of my wife’s parents’ families you find worshippers in all kinds of churches from Pentecostal to Catholic and everything in between, so we love all kinds of churches! They all help those we love to live better both here and in eternity.

Whatever the name is over the door, it is God’s house and these are all God’s children and when we worship, in a very real sense we all worship together. Quite often in a Sunday morning worship service I become aware of the multitude of saints I “worship with” on a given weekend. I’m guessing that to God it’s just one glorious worship service with all his children on the planet. We pour out our worship and he pours out his love, instruction, admonition and guidance.

Often as I pray I follow St. Paul’s encouragement in Ephesians 6:18 to “always keep on praying for all the saints”. God knows when I pray I leave it up to him as to who are the saints. I never try to tell him. Jesus said, “Other sheep have I which are not of this fold” so God may have some saints out there that will catch me by surprise when I see them in heaven, but I won’t mind at all. Jesus came to save us all and I’m firmly convinced some people who do not look like saints down here will be with us up there, and dressed in the white robe of His righteousness.

I like Bill Gaither’s way of saying it…”I’m so glad I’m a part of the family of God!”

I'm Rick Blumenberg . . . and that's My View from Tanner Creek.

   

I am the Light of the World

By Rick Blumenberg  / @rickblumenberg

According to John, the Gospel writer (John 8:12), these words were spoken by Jesus when he was in Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles. He had been teaching in the temple but the Pharisees refused to listen and even heckled him, apparently trying to distract people from giving him their attention. Here was the Son of God, who had come into the world to bring desperately needed light, but they refused to listen and even tried to stop other people from hearing him.

When Jesus said “I am the light of the world,” he didn’t mean the religious world. He also didn’t mean only the world of the Jews. He meant the whole world—not even limited to planet earth. He could have been light to the Pharisees. He came to bring them light, but apparently they preferred their darkness.

He went on to say “Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness.” Jesus Christ neither leads into darkness nor leaves us in darkness. The word “Walk” implies something that is continuing. Now we know that sometimes even Christ-followers find themselves in darkness—tragedy strikes, disappointment comes, people we depend on fail us—but if we continue to follow Jesus he always leads us out of the darkness into his brilliant light. And when we find the darkness closing in we need not be afraid. God never allows the dark periods in our lives to be wasted, but uses them all to teach us things we can’t learn in the light or perhaps to show us how much we can trust him when those dark periods invade.

Jesus also said, “Whoever follows me will have the light of life.” Sometimes when life brings those dark periods we learn we can trust God in the darkness, knowing there is no darkness to which Christ cannot bring the light of life. And the light he brings is powerful, mind-blowing, inexpressible light. But Jesus took this analogy a step farther when he introduced an entirely new concept.

In Matthew 5:14-16 Jesus said to his disciples “You are the light of the world”! What an amazing thing to say! Not only is Jesus the Light of the World, but you too, if you are a follower of Jesus, are light as well. We not only have the light, we are the light! Everywhere God’s people go we take the light of Christ!

His financial light overcomes poverty.

His emotional light overcomes despair.

His educational light overcomes ignorance.

His spiritual light overcomes sin and death and hell.

I could go on and on for a long time, but suffice it to say, God’s people take the light of Christ wherever we go. We not only walk in the light but we are the light of the world because Jesus Christ lives in us, lighting up our lives with his truth, wisdom, and guidance, so that His light also shines through us! His light becomes our light and we take it wherever we go, whether it be local or international or somewhere in between.

The darkest places in the world are the places where the light of Jesus Christ is not allowed to shine. But there is no wall, no barrier and no border that can block the prayers of God’s holy people. Jesus taught us to pray for God’s Kingdom to come and God’s Will to be done “on earth as it is in heaven.” We can change the world for good even in places we cannot go by using this all-powerful tool we call prayer to light up the world’s dark places.

I’m Rick Blumenberg and that’s 
“My View from Tanner Creek.”

      

A Prayer We Don’t Expect to be Answered

By Rick Blumenberg  / @rickblumenberg

There is, it seems, one prayer Jesus taught us to pray that we Christians don’t expect God to answer. We are to pray to our heavenly Father “Your kingdom come, your will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.” However, very few Christians really believe the time will ever come on earth when God’s kingdom will come as it is in heaven. We seem to expect the world to get worse and worse instead of better and better, which is what we should expect if God’s will is done.

The prayer Jesus taught us to pray has always been God’s plan for the world. The best Old Testament description of this prophecy is found in Jeremiah 31:31-34 where God spoke of the new covenant he would make when Jesus would come. We read in verse 34, “And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord’: for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

Apparently God expects a time to come when everyone on earth will love and serve him. Apparently too, Jesus is calling on us to help bring this about through our prayers.

How often do we pray in faith for God’s kingdom to come and God’s will to be done here on earth? When we pray the “Lord’s Prayer” do we really think about what we’re asking for and do we pray in faith that it will be answered?

I think our pessimism about the future of Christianity may come from a misunderstanding of Jesus’ statements quoted in Matthew 24:7-9 and Mark 13:7-9. I believe Jesus was talking about the early days of Christianity, not the last days, as these verses are usually interpreted. He was bracing his disciples for the fact that following him would not be easy. And sometimes it will be exceedingly difficult. What did Jesus mean when, after mentioning these things, he said, “these are the beginnings of birth pangs”. Could he have meant, when this happens to you remember, you are birthing a new world order and births come with great pain. Satan and the then current world order did not want the new era to be born and resisted it with ferocity. Resistance is still very real. Persecution is happening in many places of the world, but this is not the end. God is still on his throne. On the other hand, we know when it is finished, giving birth brings great joy.

Our task, as followers of Christ, is to do what he told us to do—pray in God’s Kingdom! As we pray, of course we must work, but we are confused if we think the work is more important than prayer. We live now in the “greater works” time Jesus spoke about. Greater works than the miracles Jesus did? Absolutely! Jesus still lives and is still working, but in a much greater area through his Holy Spirit. He continues to do the works of God with great power. But he set the world up to operate on our prayers and our faith. He counts on us to pray in God’s Kingdom!

Here is the really tough question: Would Jesus teach us to pray a prayer he knew would never be answered? I don’t think so!

This was an assignment for all Christians—to pray faithfully for God’s Kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus gave us the assignment and the method to bring it about—prayer. If we use God’s method we can pray in God’s Kingdom! Do you want to know what happens when we don’t use God’s method? Just look around and see for yourself. Alright then, now that we know let’s do it!

I’m Rick Blumenberg and that’s My View from Tanner Creek.

    

What to Do When You Need a Miracle

by Rick Blumenberg / @rickblumenberg

When Jesus did a miracle his disciples were usually astonished. Even though they had spent much time with him they still were not accustomed to miracles. He tried to tell them that, as his followers, they should be able to count on miracles any time one was needed but it was not easy to accept.

According to Webster's New World Dictionary (1966) a miracle is "An event or action that apparently contradicts known scientific laws." So how do we go about finding such a miracle when we need it? That's the first step to receive a miracle—it  must be necessary to accomplish something God wants done. It can be a personal miracle. For instance, God wants his people to be fed and if you cannot possibly feed yourself God can supply your needs the same as he did for the Israelites in the wilderness. Or, it can be a corporate miracle—perhaps a church that has a need that cannot be met with God's normal sustaining help. However, there is no reason for God to supply a miracle for something we can do in our own strength (even if we don't think we can do it.)

The next requirement for a miracle is "asking faith". God can't say yes to prayers we don't pray and it takes faith just to ask. In a typical congregation many would find it difficult to pray for a miracle from God to supply a particular need In theory many Christians believe God is a God of miracles, but few of us realistically believe God will provide a miracle for me. It takes faith just to ask.

All too often we are like independent children who want to do it ourselves. We don't want help. And that can be good. We shouldn't sit around and wait for God to supply everything with no effort on our part. But when we have done our best to obey the Lord, have given time, talents and treasure for work we genuinely believe God wants done, and it is still impossible for us to do, then it is time to ask for (and expect) a miracle. I'm convinced it pleases God when we ask. For us to refuse God’s help when we have done our best and are unable to do more, doesn't please God any more than it would please you, as a parent, if you had a child who, after doing his best to finish a task, would rather be defeated than allow you to help.

When our younger daughter, Twyla, began her sophomore year in college it was the rage to have a "deck" in your dorm room. The rules were if you built it, it had to be removable and could not be fastened in any way to the walls of the dorm—no nails, bolts, etc. She designed the deck she wanted, saved the money for the materials, but couldn't build it alone, so she asked for my help. We had fun building it and at the end of the year she sold it to another student for the next year and got her money back for the materials.

I'm glad she asked! I would not have built the deck for her while she was out having fun, but when she was willing to work at it, I enjoyed helping her. Just thinking about it brings back good memories of the time we spent together on that task. I think God is also like that. Our heavenly Father wants to help and is happy when we ask.

God said to the Apostle Paul (and to us all) "...my power is made perfect in weakness." (II Corinthians 12:9^(NIV))  Does that mean God's power is ever less than perfect?  In one sense, yes. God's perfect power is often limited, but not by any lack on his part. We limit God’s power when we don't ask for Divine help. It is also limited because we don't attempt great things God wants done that require his power. We are too easily satisfied with a mediocrity we can do with our own ordinary strength.

God's power is limited and cannot be perfect unless it is being used because that power must be let loose in the world to accomplish God's will! The reason many of us never see a miracle is because we never do anything God wants done that requires his miraculous help.

I'm Rick Blumenberg . . . and that's My View from Tanner Creek.

Pardoned to Paradise

Two men asked Jesus for help on that barren hillside called Golgotha. One received pardon but the other received not a word. The verbal attack of the one showed the condition of the heart was more important than the actual words, because truth spoken in derision can be the worst kind of insult. 

"Aren't you the Christ?" The dying thief asked in mockery. And his attitude of scorn destroyed a request for salvation: “Save yourself....and us!" he spat. 

The insulting thief found nothing but silence from the King of Kings, while the other found words of assurance and victory. It was the attitude of the repentant thief that earned a pardon. 

The first expression of that attitude was deep conviction of sin: "Don't you fear God since you are under the same sentence?"

The repentant thief was about to stand before God, his Creator and give an account of his life. He realized in despair all he had to show was his sinfulness. The very thought of seeing his sinful life revealed in God's holy presence brought an awesome conviction of sin.

If we are to enjoy pardon, we too, must see our sin as God sees it: a reproach to His holy character, an insult to His beloved Son, and destructive to the people he loves. 

The second expression of that saving attitude was honest confession of guilt: "We are punished justly," he said, “We are getting what our deeds deserve." Like the prodigal son of whom Jesus earlier spoke, the thief came to himself. He stopped trying to blame his guilt on someone else. And that was the only way he could be rid of it.

The purpose of Jesus' death was to bring pardon but His purpose can only find fulfillment in our honest confession. Until we admit our guilt his death is wasted on us.

The repentant thief realized his Sin brought him to this place. We need to realize our sin brought Jesus, the God-Man, to this day—Crucifixion and to this place—Calvary.

He got what we deserve.

We get what he earned—if we confess our sin, ask his forgiveness and accept him as Savior!

The third expression of that attitude was a full awareness of the Holiness of Christ: "This man has done nothing wrong!"

One reason Jesus came to earth was to show us the character of God in the body of a man. He is the perfect likeness of the invisible God. But, until we recognize the holiness of Jesus, the man, we cannot imagine the holiness of God, the Creator, and we cannot experience his holiness in our own lives.

The fourth expression of the attitude that brought pardon was an expression of faith in the midst of hopelessness: "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."

Picture the scene: The repentant thief hung on a cross in the hour of his death. He looked beside him to Jesus and saw there a man who was beaten, wounded, and bleeding. The blood from the crown of thorns was dried on his forehead, and fresh blood from the nails dripped from his hands and ran down his arms and torso to the sword-cut in his side continuing down to mingle with blood from his nail-pierced feet and fall to the ground. Sweaty from the strain of carrying the cross; with dust from countless feet settled on his body. Chilled from the wind that blew upon Golgotha, he probably shivered violently from the cold. He did not look like a king. There was no indication he could even help himself much less anyone else. But in spite of all the evidence to the contrary this condemned man believed!

In the face of hopeless despair, he believed. He believed so much that even in his agony he groaned those never-to-be-forgotten words, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."

That man was the first Christian! He was first to believe and first to receive the pardon Jesus came to bring. 

Pardon is a beautiful word to a condemned man. "Today, you will be with me in paradise!” was the word from Jesus that transported him from the agony of crucifixion to the bliss of eternal paradise! From the dirt and stench of execution to the inexpressible delight of the resurrection! From the destruction of sin to the redemption of righteousness through Jesus Christ, God's Son!

Pardon is also a beautiful concept for you and me. Almost 2,000 years ago Jesus paid the price for every one of us! Because of what God did through Christ we hear him say also to us "Today, you will be with me in paradise." We need not wait to die. Life is a paradise for all who live by faith!

I’m Rick Blumenberg…and that’s “My view from Tanner Creek”.

Preached @ 1984 Good Friday Service at Hillcrest United Methodist Church in a service planned by the Elkhart Area Ministerial Association. I was pastor of Midtown (now Adamsville Road) Church of God.

This Gospel is just as true today as it was then!
   

The god Atheists don’t believe in…

During the recent Spring floods on the Mississippi River, when they blew the levy at Bird’s Point in Southeast Missouri, I read the comments about the event. One person, who claimed to be an atheist, wrote “What good does it do to pray to god? He is the one who sent the flood?” His point was that Christians are obviously confused about their science and theology.

That’s really bad science and, if possible, even worse theology. Anyone who understands weather knows God did not send the flood. It was a major weather event and many of us think it was made worse by human intervention—but why would we blame God for that? On the other hand and contrary to our atheist or agnostic commentor, praying for the people affected by the flood makes perfect sense for those of us who believe in the Creator God who showed his love to us in Christ Jesus and continues to show it with his loving care and companionship.

It seems to me that atheists reject the same false gods that we Christians don’t believe in either. If they knew the God we know, the One who created the heavens and the earth, and who came to earth as the Creator among his creation, in order to redeem us from the sin into which we have fallen, they would find it much easier to believe in Him. If God were like how most atheist and agnostics describe him, I wouldn’t believe in him either and I certainly wouldn’t love him.

The reason Jesus came was to help us know what God is really like. Many times the Old Testament concepts people had about God were a sort of mixture of paganism and primitive thought made firm and unyielding because those same people made them into laws, and tried to force their ideas on the people around them. It didn’t work then and it doesn’t work now—at least it doesn’t work to make the world a better place. But when Jesus came, we got an entirely different view of God.

Looking at Old Testament Israelites through the eyes of Jesus we can see that God’s original plan was for his people to save the world rather than conquer it, but they never seemed to understand. Jesus introduced radical new ideas like turning the other cheek and walking the second mile—ideas that were totally beyond human comprehension. If Jesus hadn’t come to demonstrate how they worked, we never would have understood them. Doing them is so much more difficult than talking about them. We needed someone, not just a teaching, but a person—Jesus, to show us how to live out such a new and different concept.

Our task as the people of God is to be Jesus to the people we meet who have never met him. We need to turn the other cheek and walk the second mile and find all sorts of ways to show people that we value them. When they grasp the fact that we really do care, we have opened the doorway of their hearts to know God, the source of all such unconditional love. We know from the Word of God that God is love. It is the nature of his being. He loves everyone, everywhere and he loves this beautiful world and universe he created. His goal is not to cast us into a devil’s hell, but to redeem us from Satan’s entrapment. He is on our side! He wants to help! That’s what Jesus came to teach us, but even the teachings of Jesus are not enough for many people—they need someone to show them how such ideas work in the everyday stress of life.

Our job is to surrender our bodies to the Spirit of God so he can reveal his unconditional love in as many ways as possible to a world of people who cannot even comprehend a God like that. However, if they can see Jesus in us, they will see God in him and by thus working together with God we can help him transform the world into a place where the unconditional love of God is shared openly across cultures and beyond human barriers, breaking down walls that divide us and helping all people on earth to live together as loving and beloved siblings in the marvelous family of God!

I'm Rick Blumenberg . . . and that's My View from Tanner Creek.

God's Comfort

Jesus said, “Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted.”

Many times we try to spiritualize this beatitude and make it mean something spiritual in nature but I believe Jesus was dealing with a very important part of the human psyche that is often damaged by not knowing how to properly deal with loss. Grief is a normal part of life on earth. We’re in a temporary situation. People die. Things get lost. Favorite clothes wear out. Friends move away. Loss will always be a part of our lives as long as we live. None of us live forever in this life, so all of us will die and when someone dies, it is not only normal, but helpful, to grieve.

When Jesus told us to mourn, it was so we could experience comfort. He wanted us to know loss is important and should be dealt with constructively. For example, we can know a deceased loved one is with the Lord and doing well in eternal bliss, but we still miss them terribly and we need to grieve our loss in order to receive God’s comfort.

Jesus included mourning in his list of beatitudes so we could understand that grief is God’s gift to deal with the temporary nature of all things earthly. Since loss is a normal part of the human condition and it can sometimes be devastating, we need to learn how to deal with it.

Sometimes the loss will be minimal and fleeting—such as the loss of a beautiful flower that fades. You are sorry the beauty is gone and it must be discarded, but the mourning is minimal because it was expected and can be replaced by another flower or a work of art that pictures the flower.

But sometimes the losses are huge as we mentioned earlier, such as the death of a family member or friend. Or, the loss of a job we depended on for income and life purpose. In such tragic or difficult situations the pain can be excruciating and extended. If we ignore the pain or try to stuff it down somewhere into the inner parts of our psyche, the pain will not go away, it will just fester and boil until it finally breaks out in some physical or emotionally unhealthy way.

So, as Jesus said, we need to grieve our loses. The grief should be appropriate—we should not grieve to the point of being inconsolable for an insignificant loss, nor should we try to move on too quickly when the loss is considerable. But whatever the situation, be sure to grieve your losses so you can experience God’s comfort.

Notice Jesus didn’t just say “Blessed are they that mourn”. He continued with the encouraging words “for they shall be comforted.” Notice particularly that he said “be” comforted. This implies someone else is involved in the comfort and I think we can assume he meant God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. When we grieve our losses, we experience God’s comfort. When we help someone to grieve appropriately, we work together with God in his comforting work.

At the loss of a loved one, grief is God’s way of helping you through this difficult time to victory in the days ahead, so just let him love you and share your grief. Take the time you need to find healing. Grief is God’s process to bring you complete healing, but it takes time. Time is part of the healing, so don’t rush anything so significant.

I'm Rick Blumenberg . . .and that's My View from Tanner Creek.