From the Home Place

October 13, 2025

I will be using the New American Standard Version for Bible quotes:

As we begin our study of Colossians 3:1-4, because of the “Therefore” in v. 1, we have to go back to Chapter 2 to determine the proper context of Chapter 3. Colossians 2:6 is a great start, “Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.” I usually would not stack two “therefore” statements together, but here it seems to work.

As your reading of Chapter 2 has revealed, to become a Christian we place our complete faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ. His life, death, burial and resurrection are our hope! Through faith, by God’s grace (Eph. 2:8), we are now dead to sin and alive to Christ. As 2:6 clearly states, we are now expected to live lives honoring of the name of Jesus. Note the words Paul uses in verse 6, “Christ Jesus the Lord.” Christ – “The Savior”, Jesus – “The Anointed One,” – Lord – Master. Jesus is the anointed one who saves, as such He is the Christian’s Master, and we are to “walk” with Him, not that He is obligated to walk with us.

My, how often we seem to get this one simple task backwards. We tend to live our lives as if we are doing God a favor by asking Jesus to accompany us on our journey. There is a reason that I constantly refer to Christians as a “Christ-follower.” The Master leads, the servant follows. Read Colossians 2:7 once again!

Now note, verses 9, 10 & 11 all contain the phrase, “in Him.” It isn’t that you as a Christ-follower now have Jesus in you, the amazing fact is that you have been placed “in Him!” Remember that we have often mentioned that the first response to the first sin was “fear!” When I was a little kid, I was afraid of the dark. The ranch I grew up on, didn’t have any kind of light out in the corrals or barns until I was well into high school. As such, I spent several years walking around in the dark doing chores or checking cows during calving, totally afraid.

I wasn’t afraid of a boogeyman grabbing me, I was afraid of stepping on a rattle snake or into a nasty critter. (Well, O.k., there could have been a boogeyman there as well.) Instead of stumbling around in the dark, it sure would have been great to have had a light. The same is true of our life apart from Christ, we are stumbling around in the dark, filled with fear. Yet “in Him” we walk with Jesus, the Light of the world! (Jn. 9:5) Jesus tells us some 350 times in the Bible, “Fear not.” Why, because the Light gives clarity and security. 2 John makes it clear, “The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him.”(v.10)

As a Christ-follower, now read Colossians 3:1-4 and pray that the light comes on! In verse 1 and again in verse 2 we are to keep our focus on “things above.” Look at verse 4, because we are “in Christ” “who is our life, we now walk by the Light, not by the darkness on the world, and as such we “will be revealed with Him in glory.”

Three phases: Salvation, sanctification, glorification! When you acknowledge Jesus as your Savior, you are saved, rhen you enter into the process of sanctification by learning to walk with Christ and you will be glorified with Christ in heaven!!!

Please note, you are saved through faith and faith alone, not by church membership, nor by baptism. The Bible makes it very clear that those two elements are to be a byproduct of salvation, not a means to salvation. “For 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.” Acts 4:12

As a Christ-follower, you are to walk with Him until you are glorified in Heaven, all by His amazing grace!

Walking with Jesus with you, Neal

October 12, 2025

If I were to open a discussion on the present condition of the United States government, everyone would have an opinion. Everyone would be able to tell me exactly what they think should be done about the present shutdown, and probably with plenty of emotion expressed in said statement! But if I were to ask us to open a discussion on heaven, what would be the comments? Would said comments carry the same emotional energy as the previous question?

I’m sorry to say, that the comments about heaven would probably be way lighter in content and in emotional energy. The simple truth is that very few of us know much at all about heaven, the place where we claim we will spend eternity, while we know much about the world around us today.

When we get to heaven will we have angel wings? Will we spend all of our time singing and worshiping, or will we have other activities? Will we recognize our friends and family members who are also there? Will we have a body, or will we just be a conscious vapor? Will everyone do the exact same thing, the exact same way, for all of eternity? And I’m sure that you can add to the list of questions, yet the answers are extremely lacking.

But let’s be fair, of course we know more about the world we have lived in all of our years, and little about a place we have never experienced. When was the last time your pastor taught about heaven during a sermon series? Have you ever attended a Bible study about your eternal home? You see we all have a view on the known, and a faint opinion on the unknown.

Today, our Sunday School and small groups will begin such a study. We are going to look into the Bible for answers about heaven. I’ll admit, it is probably going to be the most difficult class I have ever taught, but I’m sure it will also be one of the most informative. After all, if we start knowing only 5% about heaven, an improvement of 50% will be significant.

So, for the next few weeks, we too will look into heaven through this blog, praying the Holy Spirit will roll back our misconceptions while opening our eyes to biblical truth!

For today, one verse: “Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set you mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.” Colossians 3:1-4

Wow, there is enough said within these four verses to last us for several days. So here is what I want you to do please. Spend the next week breaking apart these verses. Study them one word, one thought at a time. Ask questions, pray for answers. Depend upon the leading of the Holy Spirit, “do not lean upon your own understanding.” Ask the Sprit to help us see the truth of these verses through His heavenly eyes, and not through our earth-bound eyes.

So for today, consider the first word, “Therefore.” As we have all been taught “anytime we find the word ‘therefore’ in a Bible verse, we have to determine what it is there for?” So, today’s assignment is to read and chew on the previous chapter to determine the “therefore”. As you read Colossians 2, focus upon your position in Christ and the truth He brings verses the opinion of man.

Please know, I’ll be praying for you as we delve into better understanding heaven, and I for sure would appreciate your prayers for me as I write each day.

Blessings, Neal

October 9, 2025

Teddy Roosevelt once commented that “The outside of a horse is good for the inside of a man.” A truer statement has never been spoken. There is just something about having a good horse around the place that brings rhythm. He will nicker at you the first time he sees you each day and will gladly let you visit with him while he is eating his breakfast, especially if there is a brush in your hand. A good horse is loyal, trustworthy and kind. Perhaps that is why we speak of having “good horse sense?”

If only we humans consistently revealed those same three characteristics. Being loyal means to be dedicated to another. Oh my, what this world would look like if more of us lived our lives for the betterment of others. Not because we are getting paid for it, but because it is just the right thing to do. Read your favorite Gospel and note how often Jesus speaks of “the least” of persons being blessed if they are loyal to Him. Note how often Jesus challenges us to live our life for others as a sign of loyalty to Him. Note how often Jesus invites us to loyally advance the Kingdom of God.

The second great characteristic in a good horse is that of being trustworthy. Perhaps the best way to appreciate this characteristic in a horse is to have to ride one who is not trustworthy. You know, that one who is always waiting for you to get too relaxed so they can blow-up. Or the one who waits for you to make one little mistake so they can try to pile-drive you out in the pasture. A untrustworthy horse will sure enough make a person appreciate a trustworthy one!

If you have someone who wants to ride one of your horses, you will catch the one that is trustworthy, knowing that you ‘ol horse will take good care of the dude. A trustworthy horse will always give you everything they can in an effort to please you – they won’t “cheat” you. If you have never had to ride a horse that you couldn’t really trust, you have been extremely blessed, and probably wealthy enough to afford only good horses.

So, this characteristic invites the question, “Are we trustworthy to God?” Can He depend upon us to always do the right thing as a reflection of His characteristics? Being trustworthy means that no matter what God might ask of us, we happily do our best to please Him. We never use words like “can’t” or “won’t.” He can depend upon on us to give our very best every time. And just like that trustworthy horse, God can trust His trustworthy servant to take good care of those He places in our care.

The last characteristic of a good horse is kindness. When a person learns to read horses, you will quickly recognize a horse with “a kind eye.” You can see in their eye that they want to be your buddy. When a kind horse looks at you, you don’t see any fear or anger in their eye, just a softness that says, “I want to be your friend.”

Of course, I saved the most difficult characteristic for last. How often do we look down our nose at another person? Or when someone walks into our space, we look at them with fear and a fair amount of resentment? When folks look into our eyes, do they see comfort, contentment and calm? When folks look into our eyes do they see us saying, “I just want to be your friend?”

Yep, the outside of a good horse is sure good for the inside of a person. I wonder if our Lord had this in mind when He said, “Well done my good and faithful servant.” I think Jesus would love to say, “The outside of My servant is good for others.”

Yep, I sure miss having a good horse around, and I reckon there are those in my life who would love to have a good Christian around. Perhaps we would all do well to have some “good horse sense” and treat others like we want them to treat us.

Ridding into the mission field with you, Neal

October 5, 2025

Wow! When I put Coffee (our dog) outside at 5:15 a.m. the wind was blowing, rain was falling and it’s just plain cold out there. Two days ago, I was hunting a shade tree by ten o’clock.

I would suspect that most all of us have spent some time attempting to determine what the Lord wants us to do next? We tend to say something like, “I just want to do God’s will for my life.” And as noble as that may sound, in my opinion it isn’t all that difficult to understand God’s will for our lives.

In the past I have written about how in the Garden, Jesus prayed for HIs Father’s will to be done. It appears to me that Jesus was asking the Father to help be obedient, even unto the point of death. Previously in Luke 4:43, Jesus reminded His disciples that His purpose was to “preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also.” Thus for me, God’s will is our obedience in whatever He calls us to do, while His purpose is for us to “preach”/declare “the kingdom of God.”

I know, right now you are asking, “well then how am I supposed to declare ‘the kingdom of God? What is His “purpose” for my life?’” Great question, simple answer – 1 Corinthians 10:31 challenges us, “whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” So whether you are being a mom, a teacher, a construction worker, a rancher or farmer, a parent or a student, or anything else, do it “to the glory of God.” Maybe this will help, God’s will for all Christians is complete obedience; while God’s purpose for each person is that which you feel He wants you to do. Will = Being; Purpose = Doing.

So, let’s say you are wondering if God is calling you into a specific ministry, here is my advice: Pray, realize (do you have the spiritual giftedness to do what you think He is calling you to), and look (what are the circumstances of my life). My final comment is always the same, “If you see God opening a door, walk through it. If you see God closing a door, don’t try to kick it open.” Pay attention to what God is doing in and with your life, He sure enough may be wanting you to continue walking down a different path of ministry.

Two elements that I’ve always found to be helpful when I’m searching God’s purpose: prayer & fasting. Pray without ceasing; and fast asking for clarity to hear His voice. I’ve also learned, there is no need to ask if you have no intention of obeying. You can’t trick God into, or out of anything. Remember, He knows the “intentions” of your heart.

Also, never tell God “I can’t!” If He calls you to it, He will equip you for it. And never attempt to tell Him “I won’t!” Completely yield your life to Him and then watch what He can do for you and with you!

Following His lead with you, Neal

October 4, 2025

This is going to be interesting: Yesterday the temperature hit 83 degrees for a high, tomorrow the high is predicted to be 49, a change of 34 degrees. Big temperature swings are not all that uncommon in Wyoming, but seldom are they all that much fun either.

According to the stats, the temperature of the church was way higher thirty years ago, and since Covid, it has been quite chilly. Now with recent events, we are seeing another upward swing of people coming back to churches. I find it interesting that whatever the temperature of the nation seems to be with current events, the temperature of the church seems to follow it, hot or cold.

It has always been said that when things are going well and life is easy, church attendance drops. However, it is during the most difficult of conditions within the nation, church attendance rises. This would tend to indicate that church involvement is more of an emotional issue than it is a matter of conviction.

It was recently reported that more Americans are “dissatisfied with life” than since the Viet Nam War, and as such, many people are once again asking questions about religion and faith. The problem is that most of those who are asking such questions are find their answers on the internet instead of within the church. In another words, they are allowing the world to influence their decisions instead of finding their answers within the pages of the Bible.

A person’s personal perspective is the lens through which they look at life. That perspective is influenced by where, when and how a person grows up. Family life, education, location, situations within a person’s community and country all develop a person’s perspective.

Fact: the older I get, the more glasses have become my friend. Also, the older I get, the more often I have to increase the magnification of those glasses. Said another way, I have had to change the lenses of my glasses, which changes the way I see the world around me. Thus, physically, I have had to change my perspective of how I see life.

Living causes us to also change our perspective emotionally. If a person cannot change their emotional perspective, that person will usually become stuck under the control of past events of life. Thus, that person will see themself as a victim of life. As such, their out of focus life is seen as the fault of someone or something in their past, thus keeping them from coping with what is taking place in their life today.

Remedy: To change my present understanding of life, I have to change the perspective through which I view life; and significant change is seldom comfortable. Because changing my perspective is difficult and usually demanding, we will all tend to stay stuck in our old way of understanding life.

I am in a stage of life where I am often told, “Getting old is not for sissies.” Well, I would say, “Growing in Christ is not for sissies.” Why, because the more I read and understand my Bible, the more I see the need to make changes within my life and how I see life. As I develop a biblical world view – I will realize that I must change my perspective from how, when and where I was raised, to that of a person who is growing in learning to walk with God, in the newness of life!

Summary: “If you want to grow spiritually, which will change how you live emotionally and physically, then you must change your perspective to one who looks at life through the lens of the Bible.” The amazing thing is, God will accept anyone right where they are in their personal perspective today, but He has no intention of leaving us there tomorrow. Could it be that developing a biblical perspective is how He gets me ready for Heaven?

Changing my perspective with you, Neal