Greetings to all of you in the name of Jesus Christ, who is Lord.
I pray that this letter finds you well and in His will.
In the Gospel of Luke Jesus talks about signs to the multitudes, “Whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming’; and so it is. And when you see the south wind blow, you say, ‘There will be hot weather’; and there is. Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern the time?” (Luke 12:54-56) When we travel, whether far or near, we are always looking for churches, and we are always reading the outdoor signs that all of the churches have, looking for something to bring home to share with all of you in an effort to touch someone’s spirit. Sometimes there are interesting signs to read. Some are difficult to read while moving, and some signs move us while reading them. If they have too many words, we can’t catch it all. Some are just a catchy phrase, short and simple. 
Just recently, I thought about changing the sign outside. Now we can’t read it anyway and, of course, then what am I going to put on it is the next topic. That seems to be a necessary part of the process. It needs to speak to the season, or to the time, or to the message to be presented. With this being the season of Lent, it seems appropriate to speak to the person and place of Jesus Christ, in our world and in our lives and hearts. Light and cute are signs such as, “CH__ __ CH”, “What’s missing?” UR (you are)…or “The Best Vitamin for a Christian is B1,” or “Wal-Mart is not the ONLY Saving Place” These are some funny ones with a good message.
Every once in a while, I think we need to read a heavy one, one that really makes us think. One that you can’t just drive past without really reading it for all it says. One like I found in Pittsburgh. “If your faith doesn’t take you to church, it probably won’t take you to heaven either”. I had some time ago written one on the back of one of my business cards for later use, and not marking where I got it, I really don’t know, but it recently surfaced on my desk and has been speaking to me for several weeks now…”The Real Issue is This: Is Jesus to be Worshipped or only Admired?” Every time I read it I stop and think. This IS the issue. Who Jesus Christ is and how He impacts my life and yours is the most important issue we will ever decide.
If we only admire Jesus as a great man, such as George Washington or Abraham Lincoln or some other interesting and admirable person, who did great things and lived a good life, that would not have an impact on our lives like knowing and worshipping the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. The great people in history all have one thing in common. They are all now dead. I can admire many people and yet not have peace with God. The only way I can have peace with God is to worship the Lord Jesus Christ and know Him as my Lord and Savior.
As one of the signs of the times in which we live, the greatest need, the greatest difficulty with our way of life is that we only admire Jesus. You 
may say that is not true for you, yet if we examine our lives for just a very few moments, we will all see that we have not given Him the place or the position in our lives that He needs to have. For the most part we could honestly say that Jesus is not living in us. We admire Him and respect Him but He is not controlling our lives, He is not in charge, we are.
So you see the real issue IS, is Jesus someone that I admire or have I given my life to Him. If you have not put your complete faith and trust in Him as your Lord and Savior, if you have not asked Him to save you and fill you with His Spirit, if you are not living a life lead by Him, then you are not worshipping Him. You are only admiring Him, just like so many others. There is only one Lord and one Savior, only one worthy of worship and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. This season of Lent make Jesus Lord of your life and worship only Him.
See you in Church!
March 2010