I read a cute story recently about a little guy who woke up about 4 o’clock in the morning, unable to sleep. He went to his father’s room and asked for a drink. Receiving it, he lay quietly for a while. All was quiet for a while, and then, in the darkened room, the boy asked, “Daddy have you got your face turned toward me? “Yes, son” was the reply. Comforted, the small boy fell asleep. Sometimes life is like the darkness that frightened that little boy. But like him, we can be sure that our Heavenly Father’s face is turned toward us. In one Old Testament book of the Bible we read, “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.” When we are God’s children, even in the dark times of life, we can know that He is watching over us. And we become His children by inviting His Son into our lives. Open your life – He’s waiting to come in.

Pastor Alex Rockwell

We are told that Ponce De Leon went to Florida in the 1500s to search for a spring with waters having the power of restoring youth. People have always been obsessed with the idea of physical immortality. Dr. Phillip Minton of Stanford University wrote in his book “The Immortality Enzyme” that in the near future there will be an enzyme on the market that will be used to fight aging, cancer and heart disease. Medical science is making remarkable advances in the fighting of disease and adding years to the average life. We cannot achieve immortality on our own, but an immortal state is freely available. Jesus promised, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live…” So, Fountain of youth; medicine that produces immortality? Not going to happen. But receiving eternal life? That can happen if we trust in the One who promised, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” So, does anyone want to live forever?

Pastor Alex Rockwell

The headline screamed “The curse of the affordability delusion.” The recent article then stated the obvious, that though car prices have been moving higher, you won’t see that reflected in the down payments or in the monthly loan payments. Why? Car loans are being extended to as long as eight years these days. The longer the loan, the easier it is to afford a car – on a monthly basis. Then columnist, Rob Carrick concluded, “Where we get into trouble is by believing the cost of debt is measured only by our monthly payments. That’s delusional.” This thoughtful article reminded me that it is not wise to sacrifice the permanent on the altar of the immediate, and also of Jesus’ rhetorical question when He asked, “What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his own soul?” While it is true that for some, taking out a long term loan is the only way to acquire a new car, as a general rule of life, the wise think not only of the present, but live with eternity’s values in view.

Pastor Alex Rockwell

“How you are perceived effects how people treat you.” That’s the conclusion of the lead researcher of a recent study. Apparently baldness has its virtues. The study out of the University of Pennsylvania found that men who shave their heads bald to the bone, like famous actor Bruce Willis and Basketball star Michael Jordan, are actually viewed as more powerful and confident than their counterparts with full heads of hair. But the Bible has something very different to say about our appearance. When the search was on for a King in Israel, God surprisingly chose a very normal looking younger man who became King David. In a revealing statement, Samuel the prophet was told by God, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature… the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” God knows what you and I are really like on the inside. That can be scary or comforting, depending one’s our relationship to Him. What’s your reaction?

Pastor Alex Rockwell

Two very interesting signboards stand side by side near a freeway interchange on the outskirts of a large city. Each sign flashes the time of day and the current temperature. One day one of the signs read temperature 86, but the other said the temperature was 82. Clearly, either one or both were wrong. But what an illustration these were of “relativism,” and “subjective truth.” Because of our moral and spiritual conditions, on our own we cannot establish correct guidelines for moral conduct. When we try, we often come up with different readings. One who attempts to conform to these varying patterns of life will be very confused and frustrated. And man is hopelessly lost without an object source of truth, outside of himself. That can be found only in the eternal truth laid down in the Word of God, the Bible. Read the Bible. Obey it. Let it be the standard for objective truth in your life. Give God your heart and He’ll take the kinks out of your head.

Pastor Alex Rockwell

Childhood obesity is now epidemic in Canada. The number of obese children has tripled in the last twenty five years. And yet The Canadian Medical Association reported only 9 percent of parents are willing to acknowledge weight problems in their children. They seem to prefer to compare their children with others, rather than the reading the scales. How so like human nature many of us are. When faced with a problem, we just put our head in the proverbial sand. Unfortunately, many are like that when it comes to things spiritual too. The Bible, just like a properly working scale, is a trustworthy standard. But it seems easier and less painful for us to say, “I’m as good as the next person”, forgetting that the Bible says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” and that “there is none righteous, no not one.” The wise among us will acknowledge our spiritual need and turn our lives over to the only Savior – Jesus Christ.

Pastor Alex Rockwell

“The Devil made me do it.” Those words became a national catch phrase in the 1970s, when comedian Flip Wilson coined them. But listen to this one: Woody Smith, a Kentucky man accused of strangling his wife, claimed that excessive caffeine from sodas, energy drinks and diet pills left him so mentally unstable he couldn’t have knowingly killed her. Excuse making has been around for a long time. When Adam, our first father, was confronted about his disobedience blamed Eve, saying “it was the woman whom You gave to be with me…” But John warned, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” But thankfully, John wrote this in the very next verse, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” So let’s stop blaming the devil or someone else. Let’s be honest, admit our wrong-doing and accept God’s forgiveness and cleansing.

Pastor Alex Rockwell

Last month Terraine Saunders, 46, was walking on a sidewalk near his home in Maryland at about 6:30 in the morning. Another man driving on that same road dozed behind the wheel of his vehicle. The vehicle left the roadway, jumped the curb and hit Mr. Saunders, killing him. The driver of the vehicle stayed at the scene and was cooperative. Police do not believe speed, alcohol or drugs were factors in the incident. In life, similarly, it is often true that people are asleep at the wheel of their lives. While physically awake, they are spiritually asleep, unaware of what is really going on, unconscious to the dangers ahead, missing out on the joys of life. Most seriously, they are unaware of their eternal accountability, of the need to prepare for the next life. To these spiritually asleep at the wheel, Paul urged, “Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead and Christ will give you light.” This is your wake-up call.

Pastor Alex Rockwell

The prediction that our world would end on December 21,2012 has come and gone, and we are still here. Many of these rumors involve the Mayan calendar ending in 2012, a comet causing catastrophic effects, a hidden planet sneaking up and colliding with us, and other various stories. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration scientists took steps to reassure everyone that there is no evidence that the world will end anytime soon. There have always been rumors about the end of the world. While many who have made these predictions have been sincere and well intentioned, they have all been wrong. The world’s most authentic, most trustworthy book of all time warned about end of the world predictions, “no man knows the day nor the hour.” And Jesus promised, “I will come again… ..Let not your heart be troubled…you believe in God, believe also in me…..I go and prepare a place for you…” Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people. Are you prepared?

Pastor Alex Rockwell

Our environment makes us act unlawfully. There are no absolutes, so no such thing as right and wrong? University of Cambridge researchers don’t agree. Their study found that teens who avoided crime did so because they saw it as “wrong”, but that teens with little sense of right and wrong were responsible for most juvenile crimes. Professor Per-Olof Wikstrom, the professor of Ecological and Developmental Criminology at Cambridge who led the study observed, “The idea that opportunity makes the thief, that certain environments are conducive to crime, runs counter to our findings.” The Bible warns “be not deceived…whatever a man sows that he shall also reap.” And Solomon, the word’s wisest man advised, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. “ As juvenile crime increases, surely it’s time to get back to the Bible, back to teaching our youth we can’t do wrong and get away with it.

Pastor Alex Rockwell