From the Home Place

February 8, 2026

Good morning! Right now, we have 28 degrees, headed for 62 with snow on the horizon for Tuesday and Wednesday.

Miss Deb and I were blessed to get away for a couple of days. We went to the Rapid City Stock Show and looked at a lot of high-priced items at the trade show. It always amazes us how many friends we tend to see every time we go there. It was very enjoyable to get to spend time with our beautiful daughter, Mandi, and her husband Mike. We are so grateful for the love those two have for eachother and for Jesus.

On Friday we bumped into some friends from over ten years ago. She and Deb used to work together in Platte, SD. A good visit was had by all. The next day we were grabbing some groceries right quickly, and there we were blessed to visit with a young lady we have known for nearly twenty years. Another good visit, and then we crammed groceries into our little car and returned home. We arrived safely in front of our house with the words, “Thank you, Lord, for giving us a good, safe trip.” For as we all know, “It is always good to be back home!”

As I have mentioned before, it is good to get to see old friends. For all who have committed to follow Jesus, just think of how awesome it will be to get to heaven and to be reunited with people whom you have had contact with here on earth. I suspect there will be some folks there who you didn’t expect to see, and some that won’t be there that you did expect to see?

I’m constantly reminded that God has His standards by which He will determine who is in heaven and who is not. As a professor once told me, “Hell will be full of good ‘ol boys and good ‘ol girls,” because we tend to use our standards of what good is instead of God’s standards. It’s easy to compare our life to those around us here on earth and determine what we are “good.” Yet we forget, God will measure all that we do to the things that Jesus did and from there He will decide if our works were good or not.

After all, “good works” are a result of salvation, not a means to. Yes, good works will have value when we stand before God, but only if our life has been covered with the blood of Jesus Christ. In Acts 4:12, Peter was speaking of the name of “Jesus” when he stated, “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”

Believing in the finished work of Jesus, and applying that faith to our individual life, is the only means of entrance to heaven, but when we get there, our good works will be used as the standard of measure towards receiving rewards that we will then present to Jesus as a gift to Him, for His glory!

Bumping into old friends here on earth is fun, but spending eternity with them will be great! And once again, when we get home safely, we will shout, “Thank You LORD for getting us home safely!” “What a day of rejoicing that will be!”

As we go to church today, may we go to celebrate that which Jesus has done, looking for opportunities to do that which God will call good.

Being a good doer with you, Neal