From the Home Place

January 27, 2026

At 3:30 this morning the temperature is 17 degrees above. Right now, there is no wind and it seems as if Mother Nature is at peace, yet my spirit is in turmoil.

Yesterday I was blessed to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with two hundred plus folks at a well-respected man’s funeral. Though I have been allowed to speak to larger crowds, yesterday’s gather still weighs heaven on my heart. Miss Deb and I have been so welcomed into this community, and we have been given a vast number of opportunities to show and share the love of Jesus with different folks. I must say, “We love living in the Lusk area!”

Yet today my spirit is feeling the tension of “is there something else I should have said, or perhaps that thing I should not have said at yesterday’s gathering?” In years past I have felt this same angst on different occasions, but today, my spirit is burdened for the folks of this community. Yesterday, as I looked at an auditorium filled with dear souls, I was close to tears. Tears not only for a beautiful family having to bid their patriarch farewell, but a gathering of good folks where so many may be so far from Jesus.

I had asked the Holy Spirit of God to speak through me yesterday, but on that day, I believe He gave me the burden He carries each day for those who do not know Jesus yet. You see friends, as Christ-followers, we ache for those who are far away from Jesus. However, the pain I feel this morning, and I’m quite sure the pain the Holy Spirit feels for those who do not know Jesus, is far beyond just the normal concern for the lost. Today’s pain that of a burden.

When the Spirit of God woke me at 3:15 a.m. today, He laid a mantel upon me that feels heavy and restless. I believe it to be the mantel of feeling a little bit of what Jesus felt when He went to the cross for me, and for you, and for all others who still have not turned to Him for salvation! Is it that He is impressing me with the fact that time is getting short? Is it that He is impressing me with the fact that my time is getting short? I haven’t the answer to either question. However, I do know that Almighty God Himself has allotted each of us a set number of days to live this life, and once again yesterday’s events drove that reality home to me.

By God’s amazing grace, I have been blessed to live a good life. That same grace joined my life to that of my beautiful wife, our children, grandchildren and now great-grandchildren. But most importantly, God’s amazing grace has called most of our crew to salvation in Christ Jesus!

He has given Miss Deb and I so many awesome friendships all around this country. Yesterday, I was blessed to have a brief visit with a young lady that I used to dance with when she was just a little girl. I was allowed to visit with a young man whose grandfather I knew well back when. As such, I was able to get caught up on his family’s lives, what a fun time. And yes, there was a time that I enjoyed a dance with his mother when she was still a young lady.

Oh, the amazing blessings God sends to us each day! Yet with those blessings, also comes the burden of walking with His Spirit through a world far from Jesus. Perhaps what I am sensing today is that there is not much distance between the two emotions of blessing and burden. Today, it feels as if those two walk so closely together that it’s impossible to realize one without the other.

So today, I praise God for the blessings of the life He has given, yet I also feel the burden of not yet fulfilling HIs calling upon my life. If this day, you realize His calling upon your life, may I encourage each of us to “let our light so shine” that others will be drawn to the light of Jesus Christ!

Carrying the blessings and the burden with you, Neal