Update: Future Plans

Recently the blog template I have used for 15 years became unusable due to automatic updates. I was able to transfer over 1000 blogs to this new format. As I worked through the problem, I evaluated the best options with regard to future blogging. First, I plan to blog more consistently. Second, I plan to duplicate new blogs on my website or on Facebook. Third, I will work through past blogs, eliminating some and editing others. That will also involve moving some blogs to my website.

Over the past 15 years, the website and blog have grown incredibly, with some internet traffic sites counting almost 40,000 visits monthly. On the linked page, you can read more about my plans, including early blogs from 2008 and 2011, here –> http://www.bobyoungresources.com/articles/future-blog-plans.pdf

Sunday: Honoring Mothers

Through my years in ministry, I often mentioned my mother in sermons and church bulletins. My sermons on Mother’s Day were peppered with personal memories.  More recently, I have written about my mother in blogs, website posts, and Facebook posts. Through the years, some have commented that they would like to have known my mother. Some have mentioned that they were touched emotionally as they listened to a sermon or read an article.

I have taken time to reflect over the last few days. “Why do simple reflections cause people to cry? Why would people want to know my mother?” There are several possible answers. One truth, perhaps not technically an answer, is that people want to know those who shaped us because of what they see in us.

We honor our parents, teachers, and mentors by the lives we live. Honoring our mothers is not a once-a-year occurrence. You can honor your parents today–and every day–by the life you live.

After Easter: Building on God’s Foundation

On Easter, most Christian churches have their biggest Sunday attendance of the year. No Sunday of the church year surpasses Easter in total attendance. Surveys show that more Christians are in church on Easter than any other Sunday of the year. Not only do most of the members show up on the same day (quite rare these days!), but multitudes of visitors also fill the church buildings! Since churches tend to soar or crash based on numbers, spirits and hopes are buoyed by the large crowds. The hope is that the interest shown will be a harbinger of good things to come. The sad truth is that few churches are able to build on the Easter experience. In most years, post-Easter church resembles pre-Easter church. Why is it so hard to maintain Easter momentum?

Psalm 11 is a mystery for many. Are we, or are we not, supposed to “flee as a bird to God’s mountain?” What is David’s message? How are we to understand these words: “When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (11:3) If the question is read as a rhetorical question, the answer appears to be “nothing.” The righteous are powerless. Is that the correct meaning, the correct application? The verse is easily misunderstood apart from its context. When life’s circumstances make our faith apprehensive, Psalm 11 provides foundations.

Let’s quickly work through this short psalm–only seven verses.
1a — In the LORD I take refuge… This theme statement in Psalm 11 is encouragement and affirmation of supreme trust in God’s righteousness. David affirms his dependence on and confidence in God and urges others to find refuge in God.
1b — How can you say to my soul, “Flee like a bird to your mountain?”  Notice the question. This is not advice. This is bad advice being questioned. When one take refuge in God, why would one give such counsel? Those who counsel flight fail to trust God. Refuge in God does not depend on absence from this world—-it is not necessary to flee like a bird to the secure places.
2 — Behold, the wicked bend the bow; they have fitted their arrow to the string to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart. Despite the evil intentions of the wicked, security and refuge are possible in the midst of a troubled, threatening world. The forces around us, bent on assaulting the upright in heart, still seek to overwhelm us.
3 — If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? When all that is tied down is coming loose, one may ask with good reason, “What can the righteous do?” When the evil in our world surges and we can no longer depend upon a moral world order, what shall we do? When evil overcomes good, where shall we turn? Some would counsel flight, many would counsel non-resistance. When evil seems to have the upper hand, when it appears that evil will triumph and that overcoming evil with good is no longer an option, what shall we do? The alternative reading, “What is the Righteous One doing?” reflects how easy it is to question God in difficult days.
4-7 — The LORD is in his holy temple; the LORD’s throne is in heaven; his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man. The LORD tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence. Let him rain coals on the wicked; fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup. For the LORD is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face. David’s answer, his reply to the fearful, is that God is still God. God is in control. God is sovereign. Life looks different when God is our foundation. The foundations are not being destroyed! Here is David’s answer. Never fear—-God is yet in his holy temple, God is on the throne. The challenge that faces the church is to remember and constantly proclaim that God is on the throne! David’s solution is not to declare that “God is good” in the midst of trouble and death. “God is good” works best when we get what we want. David’s solution is to recognize that God is in control. God sees, God tests, God examines, God will act. God is righteous, God loves justice.

Back to the church and Easter. Success down at the church house is not built on numbers, but on God. The church must be built on the foundation of God. The world will do its best to destroy the foundations. The church that fails to build on the foundation will struggle. Christians whose faith depends on always seeing God’s goodness will at some point struggle. The call of Psalm 11 is to see more clearly the nature of God, and his work and presence in this world.

Getting Used to the Wind

I grew up in Kansas. The wind always blows–well, almost always. It blows all day and continues all night. It finds its way into the corners of the house and whines eerily in the darkness. When one is not used to the sound of the wind gushing around and through a house, the sound catches and holds one’s attention. One can imagine all kinds of things. But as one who grew up in Kansas, I can tell you that you get used to it.
The word for wind and spirit are the same in Hebrew and in Greek. One of the problems the contemporary church has with the Holy Spirit is that we have not become used to his presence in our lives. We experience him, notice him, see his presence too infrequently. We think of his intercession in prayer too seldom. We consider his presence and action unusual rather than common.
Jesus said that after his departure he would send the Holy Spirit who would be his presence among his people. The Bible describes the Holy Spirit as Exhorter, Consoler, Presence, and Help. God, help us get used to the wind!

The Gifts of the Spirit Are Gifts

I share a quote from Jerry Lynch:
“It took me quite a while to realize that the “spiritual gifts” (patience, kindness, and so forth) were simply that, gifts, and not to be employed as behavior modification mandates, or how a Christian should act. It is this shouldistic attitude toward life in the spirit that Christ took exception to with the Pharisees and what I see as presently contributing to the sad state of the Church.”

Isn’t it amazing that with our lens of legalism we have even figured out how to misunderstand God’s gifts. The gifts (fruits) of Galatians 5 are ours because of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The fruits list is not a “to do” list. It is not a “should” list. As Lynch observes, it is not a behavior modification list. No wonder we have trouble understanding grace. Our “shouldistic” attitude is apparent in moralistic sermons.  (I was fond of assigning students in the preaching class the task of preaching without moralistic imperatives: words like “should, have to, must, ought to.” Listen to the sermon Sunday and see how often moralizing creeps in!) Our speech reflects a misunderstanding of what God is trying to do in our lives and how he wants to do it.

God’s work in our life through the Spirit is less forced and more automatic. Spirit-filled people put to death deeds of the flesh, give evidence of the Spirit’s presence in attitudes and actions. Spirit-filled people wield the sword of the Spriit well. Spirit-filled people are people of prayer. Spirit-filled people talk about Jesus.

God’s gifts come into our lives little by little through our continuing surrender to the Father’s will, confidently knowing that he will care for us and provide our every need. As we are in the process of receiving and developing more fully God’s gifts in our lives, our part is to relate to others honestly and openly about our shortcomings. Ours is to admit our inability to develop and demonstrate the fruits of the Spirit by our own power. Ours is to be open to God’s gifting. Trying to do it on our own power only leads to closing ourselves off from God’s power, God’s presence, God’s gifts, and God’s results.

The gifts of the Spirit are gifts. They are not our own doing–they are God’s doing. Ours is to be open and receptive to the teachings of the Master, becoming more and more like him. That is what discipleship is all about.

When We Pray….

My birthday — #74!  A day for spiritual reflections!

Perhaps in my private prayers, I do not pray “out loud” often enough in. Thinking (rather than audibly saying) the words I share with God is powerful. I am confident God knows and “hears” my thoughts, meditations, and communication. I know that the Spirit intercedes when I am hesitant and incapable of expressing my spiritual wrestling. In quiet, internal meditation I have known what it is to be aware of God’s presence and to relax and relish my relationship without words. But is there not also a value in audible private prayer?
In our audible prayers during Christian gatherings, we speak to God, we speak to another, and we speak on behalf of others. In addition, there is another level of communication taking place as we speak to ourselves. Perhaps we need to experience audible prayer during our times of private prayer because we are a little dense, even in some sense deaf, to borrow the words of Peter Rollins. In prayer we can verbalize and hear in our own words some of our deepest fears, longings, joys and hopes. As we express these, we hear them and gain insight into our feelings.
I have for several years maintained that one advantage we preachers have is that we are weekly given the opportunity to verbalize our faith and that we get to hear our bold affirmations of what we believe. (Of course, it is possible to preach so as to never affirm personal faith and belief; but, in my judgment, preachers who so preach miss one of the great blessings and joys of ministry.)
In preaching, the preacher can be involved in two or three simultaneous conversations—preaching and speaking so that the congregants hear, God hears, and the preacher himself also hears. In audible private prayer, the Christian has the blessing of two conversations. We speak to God; we also speak to ourselves in an effort to overcome our spiritual deafness. In audible prayer, we may for the first time hear feelings that were previously a mystery to us.
Perhaps you have heard the claim: “in Scripture, God speaks to us; in prayer, we speak to God.” The statement is true, but I suggest an addition. In prayer we speak to God–revealing ourselves to God, revealing our inner world to the God of heaven. In prayer we also reveal this inner world to ourselves.

The Jesus Story (7): To Whom Is God Sending You with the Story of Jesus?

We have been rethinking Acts, the gospel, the good news of Jesus. This sermon is conclusion. This series is a summary of what I saw when I studied Acts. Here are the principles we have identified: the story of Jesus is a life and death story (a death and life story); the story of Jesus is to be proclaimed; the story of Jesus is to be proclaimed even to the most unlikely; the story of Jesus is a forgiveness story; the story of Jesus changes everything, the first disciples were being prepared to be sent forth with the Holy Spirit to tell the story.

The Christian life is a life of responding to and living out the Easter story, the Jesus story. How? It is appropriate that we share post-Easter lessons as part of this series. The final lesson in the series, the story of Jesus, what does it mean today?

The last truth—really a question: to whom is God sending you with the story of Jesus?

  • Acts: God sent the apostles to the multitudes of gathered Jews, 3000 responded.
  • God sent the apostles to preach in the city of Jerusalem, many more responses, eventually 5000 counting only the men.
  • God sent the church; Jewish priests became Christians.
  • God sent Stephen, he died.
  • God sent Philip to Samaria.
  • God sent Philip to the desert, to an Ethiopian nobleman.
  • God sent Ananias to Saul.
  • God sent Peter to Cornelius, a Gentile, but was thereafter content to send Peter to the Jews.
  • God sent Paul to the Gentiles. Acts is filled with specific names and places.

Paul tells about being sent to preach the gospel to the Gentiles three times in Acts: Chapters 9, 22, and 26. He mentions his call and sending in Galatians 1. He was acutely aware of having been sent by God to preach. He felt he had no other option, 1 Corinthians 9. We can learn from all of Paul’s accounts of his commissioning, but I especially like Acts 26:15-20.  (1) Paul was a servant and witness.  (2) Paul experienced God’s rescue and was promised continued rescue as he went forth to preach. (3) Paul was sent…

    • to open eyes
    • to turn people from darkness
    • to turn people from Satan to God
    • to offer forgiveness
    • to show people the way of the sanctified life

Principles, Takeaways for your prayer life–
PREPARE MY HEART TO WILLINGLY SACRIFICE FOR THE GOSPEL. Ours is a world of opportunity, challenge, blessing. A poll found that most Christians are “satisfied” with our evangelism and our mission efforts. Wake up!  Our efforts are meager at best. A man who served many years as a missionary was asked, “Do you like the work?” He replied, “Do I like this work? No, I do not like dirt, dirt floors, rough concrete floors. I do not like walking into houses through goat refuse and chicken litter. I do not like people who live like the world—but they do not know any better, and someone has to tell them. Is a Christian to do nothing for Christ that is unpleasant? Liking or disliking has nothing to do with it. We have orders to ‘go’ and we go. Love constrains us.”
PREPARE MY LIFE AND LIPS TO DO WHAT I AM SENT BY GOD TO DO. A missionary is one sent. Missions is inspired not by the needs of men but the command of Jesus. I go because he told me to go. The great danger in missions is that what God’s eternal plan for his creation is overshadowed by the pressing needs of humanity. Sympathy overwhelms the sense of “sent-ness.” Seeing such enormous needs, human powers fail.  We forget that we are not sent to elevate people, educate people, nor to ease the plight of needy people. We are sent with good news for eternity. Inspiration to preach the gospel is always first, never second.
PREPARE MY MIND SO I WILL NEVER FORGET THE URGENCY OF THE GOSPEL. We do not make our lists, thinking and praying about those to whom God is sending us, because we do not grasp the urgency.  I read about a young missionary that went to a remote village to tell the gospel story. No one in that village of 231 people had ever once heard the gospel. The chief reluctantly let the missionary speak to the entire village. When the villagers were told about Jesus’ life, arrest, crucifixion and resurrection, they were amazed. Some wept openly. They marveled that the Son of God loved them and died in their place so their many sins might be forgiven. They wanted to know more. An older man came to the young missionary immediately after the presentation and asked, “When did God give you this message? How long have you had it?” The missionary replied, “God gave this message to people long ago, but I only learned it a year ago.” The obviously upset man grabbed the young missionary and through tears he cried out, ‘God gave you this message last year and you did not come to tell us before my mother, father, and son died?”

All around us are people who have not heard the gospel and those who need to hear the old, old story. All around us are people with problems so severe that only the gospel can provide relief. The gospel is God’s power for salvation. In our world are billions of people who have never heard the gospel once. They are waiting for someone to tell them the Truth. Why are we not going? Are we purposefully disobedient? Are we ignorantly disobedient?

This is not a mission sermon, although some will see that application. This is a gospel sermon, the evangelistic call and responsibility of every Christian.  The Jesus story—lived out daily, changing who we are, changing others, changing our world. More Christians, new churches, new places, our communities, our cities, our country, our world.

BE SPECIFIC. To whom is God sending you with the story of Jesus?

The Jesus Story (6): Resurrection to Ascension, 40 Days of Getting Ready to Be Sent Forth with the Story

Luke, in Acts 1, writes about Jesus’ presence with his disciples for 40 days after his resurrection, “speaking to them about the kingdom of God.” Jesus had been preaching about the klingdom during his entire ministry (Mark. 1:14-15). The kingdom was a frequent subject, in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7), and in the parables of Jesus (Matt. 13). In Matthew 18, Jesus again teaches about principles of the kingdom. 

Wouldn’t you like to have been present during the 40 days after the resurrection?  Surely Jesus would have been speaking from a different perspective. Jesus was preparing his disciples for his departure. He was teaching and giving them instructions. The Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20, Luke 24:46-48, and see Acts 1:8) was most likely given during the 40 days. We probably have abbreviated versions of what Jesus said and explained.

Jesus’ teachings were challenging to his followers.  Luke mentions that some followers associated the kingdom Jesus was describing with Jewish glory in a restored Jewish kingdom. Jesus replied by telling them about a “Holy Spirit-driven” kingdom.  The kingdom would be characterized by the presence of the Holy Spirit, giving the church discernment, empowering and emboldening the church, sealing God’s promise.  In the same breath, Jesus told them that the Holy Spirit would enable their testimony (witness) “to the ends of the earth.”

The modern church that so easily speaks of “being led by the Holy Spirit” seems to have forgotten that Jesus described a primary purpose of the coming of the Holy Spirit as enabling the gospel message. A person led by the Holy Spirit will, of course, make good decisions. But Jesus said the leading of the Holy Spirit would empower evangelism. A person filled with the Holy Spirit will be boldly telling the story of Jesus to others (Acts 4:31).

Paul later writes that a person led by the Holy Spirit rejects physical pleasures (deeds of the body) and does not fulfill the desires of the flesh (Gal. 5:16; Rom. 8:12-13), empowered by the Holy Spirit.  But the first promise of the Holy Spirit’s coming, from Jesus’ lips, highlights God’s eternal purpose to make disciples.  Jesus told his disciples that their primary task was preaching the gospel to the world, preaching repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

Have you heard the phrase, “back to basics?”  To get back to Holy Spirit basics, we have to go back to the forty days between Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, when the Spirit was promised and the disciples waited.  Jesus said that as the Father had sent him, he was sending his followers (John 20:21).  The verb “to send” is where we get our word for “mission.” The Holy Spirit was given to exhort us forward to complete Jesus’ mission. (While the word parakaleo, is often translated as “comfort,” a variety of meanings are possible: to beseech, implore, urge, exhort, and encourage.) The Holy Spirit is much more than a Comforter. The Holy Spirit exhorts us, empowers our testimony (Acts 1:8), increases our boldness (Acts 4:31), and explains why disciples make more disciples everywhere they go (Matt. 28:19-20).

Christ himself associated the coming of the Holy Spirit with evangelism.  The Great Commission—some of Jesus’ final words. Are you listening? Can you read between the lines?  “No disciple-making, no Holy Spirit.”  “No evangelism—because the Holy Spirit is being quenched, restrained, and grieved.”  Paul describes Scripture as “the sword of the Spirit.”  Does it not make sense that a person in whom the Holy Spirit lives would be capable in using and living out the Scriptures – wielding the sword of the Spirit effectively?

For 40 days, the resurrected Jesus taught his followers about the kingdom, the gospel, and the need to share the gospel and make disciples – all to be made possible by the coming of the promised Holy Spirit. How easily we gloss over Jesus’ own words! If preaching the gospel was a priority for Jesus, should it not also be our priority?  We are sent “on mission” to preach the gospel and make disciples. Biblical mission work preaches the gospel and makes disciples. Does soul-salvation have first place in your life and the life of your church? Is the full power of the Holy Spirit being applied?  May God bless us with pliable hearts to hear afresh the last teachings of Jesus and go forth doing what he has sent us to do. The Jesus Story led the early church to share the story! Can it happen today?

Hopeful Sunday and Hopeless Monday

Yesterday Was Easter Sunday. Church buildings were filled–celebration, victory, joy, hope. But for many, after hopeful Sunday comes the return of a reality less hopeful, even hopeless!
Sermons are heard on Sunday but are intended to make a difference in our lives and in our world Monday through Saturday. Sermons must touch daily life. Ideally, an “Easter sermon” is not only for Easter Sunday but also for the days that follow, because after “Hopeful Sunday” comes the reality of daily life. Easter focuses on an essential event in the Jesus’ story. Without the resurrection, the story of Jesus is meaningless. Easter celebrates resurrection and forgiveness. Easter celebrates changed lives, newness, hope. Here is hope for salvation; here is hope for our own resurrection. But in this singular focus of Easter, it is easy to miss the rest of the story….
The author of Hebrews describes Jesus as a high priest–both faithful and merciful. He is faithful high priest and able to make atonement because he is Son of God. He is merciful high priest who understands the weaknesses of the people because he is Son of Man. The Easter celebration of Jesus’ resurrection usually focuses on his faithfulness to save. But the resurrection is a powerful story that matters because of what comes before–Jesus came to earth as a human being. It is easy to overlook this part of the gospel: Jesus comes to be like us; he identifies with us; in his life, ministry, and death he experiences life as we experience it; he knows tears and pleading, prayer and suffering. He is merciful; he understands life; he knows what we need. In his resurrection, he shows us a possibility beyond our experience. He declares the possibility of eternal salvation; he also declares the possibility of new life in Christ in the here and now.
Beware the trap! On Sunday we see hope. On Monday we go back to fishing (John 20). Where is Jesus today? How often do we think of the resurrection story during the week? The resurrection is a story of hope for eternity, it is also a story of hope for today and tomorrow. Life here is not hopeless, empty, futile. Failures are not forever. The post-resurrection stories of Thomas and Peter impress us; the stories of nine other disciples are not told in the Gospels but would be equally impressive. Look to Jesus to throw off the weight. Look to Jesus to run the race. Look to Jesus to manage the turmoil of life, the conflicts, the sorrow, the times when you cannot see the future. The resurrection proclaims strength in a world that at times overwhelms us. Jesus’ resurrection declares his daily presence in our lives and his intercession for us before the Father’s throne. And that is not a story only for Sunday–that is a story for every day of our lives!

The Jesus Story (5): A Story That Changed the World–a Story That Changes Everything!

We are rethinking Acts, the gospel, the good news of Jesus. This series of lessons, shared during the weeks leading up to Easter, reflect what I learned, lessons I heard, applications I saw when I studied Acts. We know these stories—do we really know these stories?

I see in this series a study to encourage all people. Here we can wrestle with the Jesus story as it spread throughout the first-century world. Here we can see what discipleship looked like in the early church, shortly after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension.  Here we can hear first steps toward obedience, responding to and living out the Easter story, the Jesus story.

Lesson #5, the story of Jesus, what does it mean? Resurrection living, living because of the reality of the resurrection. Today I do not advance far in our study of Acts. I want to talk about us. I want to talk about applications. Where is the Jesus story visible in my life? How has it changed me? I share a message that I have shared repeatedly throughout my ministry.

The fifth truth—the story of Jesus changed the world—still has the power today to change everything. Obedience to the Jesus Story is not finalized in baptism and then you get to stop. Discipleship is about changed lives – resurrection living. Easter is about changed lives. Easter once a year doesn’t work. Annual celebration is Old Testament—Passover once a year. In the New Testament, remembering Easter is weekly, remembering resurrection every week.

The book of Acts is filled with stories of changed lives—the apostles, 3000, 5000, the Seven, Simon the sorcerer—don’t you want to think he eventually got it right? Paul, Cornelius, the list continues. Today we live in Acts 29, post-Acts, and the list continues. This lesson is about us.

The Jesus story is a story of resurrection. The topic that got the early preachers in trouble was resurrection. Death and Life. Nothing is quite so exciting as resurrection–the dead living again, anastasis, literally “to stand up.” Spring is aptly named. This is a time of bounce back capacity, resiliency, renewal, rejuvenation, restoration.

Christ’s resurrection story is told by all four gospels. There are a few, not many, other resurrection accounts in the gospels. The son of the widow of Nain, Jairus’s daughter. A well-known resurrection story, unique to John’s gospel, is the resurrection of Lazarus. These are stories of physical resurrection. This is almost always the meaning of the word in the New Testament.

Today as we think of resurrection, I want to affirm that Jesus is our leader in resurrection, and in resurrection living. He went first, he succeeded, he shows the way. His resurrection is promise, first fruits. His resurrection is guarantee, resurrection is possible, our resurrection is secured. In the Supper we celebrate Jesus’ death and resurrection every Sunday, “until he comes.”

There is something comforting about having a leader. Even more meaningful, it is special when the leader chooses us. Leaders are for leading. How can we know if someone is a leader? Is anyone following?

Jesus is our spiritual leader. Jesus leads us in a specific path–resurrection living. What does this phrase mean? How do we understand this? Today we focus not on resurrection after our death, but on resurrection living in the world today, newness of life that follows our baptism. This resurrection living is true life, authentic, genuine. It is not characterized by failure. It is not futile, it is not fatal, it is not final. It is life that is full, free, forgiven, and oriented toward the future.

I share one of my favorite outlines.

When Jesus leads us in resurrection living…
1. Our lives are not futile. Our PROVISION comes from Jesus.
Futile. Literally, pouring out easily, empty, vain, useless. We would be empty shells were it not for the larger, eternal perspective. Jesus gives purpose. Life is difficult, not easy. Burdensome. But as the poem, “Footprints,” suggests, Jesus helps carry that burden.
2. Our failures are not fatal. Our POWER comes from Jesus.
Literally, resulting in death, mortal, lethal. The word is related to fate. Destiny, inevitable, predetermined, controlled, decided in advance, decreed. The results of our failures are not fatal.
We all make mistakes, but mistakes are not permanent, not eternal when Jesus is leading us. Through Jesus we find power to overcome.
3. Our death will not be final. Our PROMISE is secured by Jesus.
Promises of Jesus cannot be broken, undone, forgotten. In 1 Cor. 15, he is described as the first fruits, the promise of what is to come.

Today, we celebrate, but tomorrow life’s rocky road may return. The roses may show their thorns. Go away today knowing one thing, not just that it is so nice that Jesus was raised from the dead, but that because he was raised, “Burdens are lifted at Calvary.” Sins are covered, futility, fatality, and finality are erased. As we become like him, we are “Christians.”

Will you on this Easter Sunday mirror Jesus–experience the death of the old person, bury that old self in baptism, experience the beginning of resurrection living? It is the beginning of life with him, for him, following him.