From the Home Place

September 25, 2025

I’ll admit right up front that I have made plenty of just plain dumb decisions in my life. Some of those decisions have life-long effects, while others pass with time. Yet, most of those dumb decisions seemed to be good decisions at the moment.

As a person ages, there are a lot of changes that take place, especially physically. Strength that was once available has now faded into the sunset. Health that was good, is slowly deteriorating as well. Like the story goes, “My body is like an old car – My headlights are growing dimmer by the day, my engine is difficult to start. Speed is out of the question, and my radiator and muffler both leak.”

Yet one of the good things about growing older is that I make fewer dumb decisions, at least I can’t remember them. As I sit here this morning and look back over the years the Lord has given to me, yes there are several things I would change if it was possible, which it is not. But when it comes to faith and family, I will die a grateful old man.

The decision to marry my high-school sweetheart, Miss Deb, was one of the greatest decisions I have ever made. For from that relationship, we have adult children who have brought our lives much joy, especially when they started bringing “short-legged” people home with them!

On the faith side, my only regret is that I didn’t accept Christ as Savior at a younger age. Yet the forty-three years of walking with Him have been an amazing journey. I’m so grateful that my Heavenly Father has given me much more than I could have ever earned, and that He has not given me that which I truly deserved. I love that my Lord is both graceful and merciful.

The sadness of my heart today is for all of the folks that I know who have never made a decision to follow Jesus. Just like making dumb or smart decisions, God allows each individual to make a decision to follow Him, or not.

Much like I cannot blame God for the dumb decisions I have made through the years of my life, those who decide not to follow Jesus will not be able to blame God on their judgment day. You see friends, God does not decide to send anyone to Hell. People decide to go there by refusing to decide to follow Jesus, God’s offer of salvation. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for their deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” (2 Corinthians 5:10)

It’s a simple fact that we humans often make bad decisions. So, to anyone who might be reading this blog I say, “Don’t make another dumb decision by refusing salvation through Jesus Christ.” I assure you, a life with Jesus is the smartest thing you will ever chose!

Making a wise decision with you, Neal

September 24, 2025

As most of you know, we have spent our summer working on the outside of this ‘ol house. Many of those summer days were well above ninety degrees. It has been a hot one, and as such we have consumed gallons of water, tea and Propel in an effort to keep our bodies hydrated. It seemed like that every quart I put in, my body put out almost an equal amount in plain sweat.

Working on a steel roof at ninety-four degrees soon turned our t-shirs into wet rags and our foreheads into a river of sweat. And yes, we smelled like it too. So you can imagine that every time one would bend over or look down, we had sweat running into our eyes, and the salt in the sweat burned like acid in the eyes. I mean it really burned!

Also, as we worked with a mountain of lumber and hundreds of feet of steel, there were plenty of stickers and cuts. And once again, when the salt running off our bodies would get into one of those open wounds, it really burned!

For all of the studies I’ve taught and all of the studies I’ve listened to about the “salt” mentioned in Matthew 5. We discuss that salt is a preservative, that it adds flavoring and that salt is used to kill germs in bad water, but I have never heard anyone mention that salt burns when you get it in an open wound, or in one’s eyes! Perhaps it is because it’s not very glamorous to talk about the sweaty salt.

Yet I think it is really amazing that our Creator has made our sweaty bodies to produce salt water that really burns when we get it into an open wound. Perhaps it is to be a reminder of what the Lord Jesus said to His first disciples, and to us as well, “You are the salt of the earth,”

With all of the good things that salt is, it can also be a cause for real pain. Perhaps, it is time for we Christians to be the real “salt of the earth.” For far too long we have sat in our churches and been well behaved children of God. Loved one, Jesus was not speaking to well behaved children! He was speaking to a group of believers that He expected to reveal all of the good qualities of salt, but then they were also to be an irritant to their sinful culture.

Let’s read Matthew 5:13 in its entirety: “You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again. It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.”

That is another blessing of working on a hot steel roof in a ninety-plus degree day. Inevitably, while working up under the eve of our house, some of that sweat would always drip into my mouth, and do you know what, it tasted just like salt!

Salt is great for flavoring, for sterilizing, for preserving and for reminding us that salt is an irritant that is supposed to taste like salt!

In my opinion, we/I Christians are guilty of losing our saltiness, and especially of losing the irritant quality of salt. After wrestling with a jagged piece of steel I ended up with a significant cut on the palm of my hand, and you guessed it, some sweat ran into that cut and man did it burn. But you see friends, that burning effect of salt reminded me that I am still alive, another positive of salt.

So I ask, could it be that as salty Christians are we to be irritants to the sinful world around us? Not in obnoxious ways, but in ways that make it uncomfortable to continue in sinful actions and attitudes. (The Scripture also reminds us that we are to correct with “gentleness.” 2 Tim. 2:25) That would require we Christians to not possess those same sinful actions and attitudes within our lives, or otherwise we would truly be hypocrites. That my friends, is what Jesus meant when He said that Christians can become “tasteless.”

But here we are, still on earth and still usable to our Master. Perhaps it is time for we Christians to repent of our sinful tastelessness and to become all that salt is intended to be. Including an ocassional irritant. After all, that burning feeling reminds folks that they are still alive. According to 2 Timithy 2:25 we must be the irritant of “gentleness.”

September 23, 2025

May I encourage you to grab your Bible and read Isaiah 5, then read this post.

The “woes” of Chapter 5 seem to culminate in Chapter 6, Verse 5 when Isaiah declared, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips.” Jesus would have said that it isn’t what we put into our mouth that defiles us, it’s what comes out of our mouth that defiles us! Why, because that which comes out of the mouth is that which is within the heart. (Mark 7:20-23)

All of my life, all of your life, we have been surrounded by the defilement of evil. It would appear that for many, those years of living in an evil environment has developed a culture of evil people. Many of us have experienced the evil tongue of the internet. I absolutely believe in everyone’s freedom of speech as granted by the Constitution, as Americans. However, we should realize that speaking evil comes under the jurisdiction of God’s judgment, and not man’s laws.

Isaiah Chapter 5 clearly teaches that God will judge a nation that calls “evil good.” Verse 5, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;” read the whole Chapter, it appears that when God spoke to Isreal, He was also speaking to modern America! I am of the opinion that God does not realize that our Constitution overrules His Word! Perhaps, we should realize that our Constitution does not overrule God’s Word.

For all Christ-followers, evil is evil according to God’s word, not man’s opinion. Just as “good works” mentioned within the Bible are those works that are good according to God’s standard. Evil is also defined by God, not man. You see, our standard is totally skewed. We Americans tend to think that good is that which “I” say or do, and evil is the negative which is spoken about, or done to “me.” And once again, I admit, “I am a man of unclean lips.” Gossip and slander so easily roll off of our lips in conversation and on the internet.

Please hear me, I fully realize that in writing this, I’m standing on the edge of a cliff. I am not pointing a finger at any person other than myself. My desire here is to draw attention to what God’s Word says will happen to an evil nation. If you are wondering what God considers to be evil, Colossians 3:8-9 gives us a partial list: “But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.”

Isaiah 6:5 concludes, “For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” Colossians 3:10 concludes, “and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him.” Being in God’s presence changes a person.

As Christians living in America, I would suggest that the light of Jesus Christ shines brighter now than ever before! A light that will “overpower” evil if we Christians live the light!

Standing against evil and for good with you, Neal

September 20, 2025

The harsh reality is that death comes knocking for all of us and we have to say “farewell” to family, friends and earthly possessions. Yet how we answer the death call seems to be quite different. Some are ready, even looking forward to the call, while others tend to think of it in a fairy-tale manner. By that I mean for the Christ-follower, death is like graduation day. As believers we step out of the only realm we have ever known, into the presence of All Mighty God! For the unbeliever, death is a passing from bad to worse. It has been well stated: “For a follower of Jesus, this earth is the only Hell they will ever know; for the unbeliever, this earth is the only Heaven they shall ever know.”

It seems to me that there are three major factors that will determine the attitude of our funeral. 1) How we love people. 2) How we respond to life circumstances. 3) How we respond to God.

1. How we love people: People tend to give us back that which we have given them. We reap what we sow. If we spend our life trying to get along with others, they will remember our kindness. As the Apostle Paul stated, “In as much as it is possible with you, be at peace with all people.” Kindness begets kindness – Proverb 15:1, “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”
2. How we respond to circumstances: I have found that if a person tends to see the difficult circumstances of life as opportunities rather than obstacles it makes life even more rewarding. Every trial makes us either bitter or better, the choice is ours, but that choice usually impacts the lives of others, and they tend to not forget that impact.
3. How we respond to God: You see loved ones, when a Christ-follower passes on, their life is easily celebrated. The Bible teaches us though a Christian is no longer with us, they are in the presence of God in the glory of heaven, and that brings great peace to those left behind.

Let’s build upon number three a bit more: The painful truth is that not all folks are ready to make the journey called death. So many live as if they will never die and stand before God. Some even die thinking Hell to be a constant party, not so! Years ago, when a family entered a local eating establishment the question wasn’t so much “What are we going to eat?” Upon entering a local the restaurant, the first question one had to answer was, “Smoking or Non?”

God is asking each of us to answer the same question, “Smoking or Non?” Will we decide to follow Jesus and be allowed to spend eternity in the non-smoking section, or will we live a life controlled by sin and self-pleasure and spend eternity in the smoking section? We all get to choose.

The problem, just like at the restaurant, you have to decide which section to sit in before you are seated. Stated another way, you have to decide where you want to spend eternity before you die. At the moment of death, the decision has already been made. You see friends, there are no do-overs once we take our last breath. At death, how we lived, and who we lived for have sealed our eternal state. We all live for self or Savior, which are you living for? Your decision is absolutely an eternal decision which determines “Smoking or Non,” and that same decision usually determines how folks will remember you.

Choosing a non-smoking eternity with you, Neal

September 21, 2025

Today is another Sunday, what will you do with it? Will you play golf, go fishing, go shopping, mow the lawn, visit family or friends, OR will you go to church? Perhaps you will join others and go to church, which church? Why go to that church? Will you go because pastor’s sermons always make you feel good about yourself? Perhaps you will go to church today because that’s what you have always done, and you feel a need to check that box as a part of your “spiritual” duty? Or perhaps, you are going to church because of the meeting after the morning service – a meeting to vote on buying or selling property, a meeting to vote on hiring or firing a pastor, or maybe a meeting to decide to continue as a church or to lock the doors and sell the building? Why will you attend “your church” and not one of the other churches near you? Why even go to church?

Well with all of those questions, I do hope that you will go to church today, and not for any of the reasons listed above, but that you will attend church today to be encouraged and challenged in your walk with God. Also, I hope you will take time to pray: to pray for your pastor before you even leave your house, asking the Holy Spirit to guide his heart and his tongue. Praying that the Holy Spirit will help you to have a humble heart, with a hunger to feed upon the living Word. Praying that the Spirit will guide your conversations as He uses you to express His love to those around you.

You see loved ones, I believe that going to church begins at home, in prayer, so that when we get to church, our spirit is ready to join the Holy Spirit in glorifying the Lord Jesus. Regardless of your reason for going to church today, may the primary reason be to express your love for Jesus, and to invite others into that love relationship.

Revelation Chapter 19, verse 7 reads, “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.” Yes, this passage is speaking of a future event, yet it seems to me that the “bride” should be making “herself ready” even today. If you are truly Christ-follower and not just a church attendee, then you are a part of that brideship. You and all other Christ followers of all past, present and future generations comprise the Bride of Jesus.

The reason we go to church can easily involve things like fellowship, service and even meetings after the service, as long as all elements are preparing the bride to meet her Groom. Otherwise, I fear that we are only attending another social event.

Summary: Begin with prayer for your pastor, for musicians, for teachers, for attenders, and especially for yourself, that all will be done for the glory of the Groom (Rev.19:7), and that HIs bride will continue to make herself beautiful!

In our culture, we have made weddings all about the bride, in God’s culture the wedding is more about the Groom! So I ask this last question, “Shouldn’t the bride of Christ be more interested in making herself ready for the Groom, than doing the business of Sunday morning church?” Remember, you, as a Christ-follower are that bride, and you are to get “you” ready to meet the Groom.

So today, pray, put on your Sunday-best and prepare to meet Jesus, at the local church and in heaven! Today, may we each spend some time in His presence, worshiping and preparing to live eternity with our Bridegroom!

Preparing to meet the Groom with you, Neal

September 19, 2025

Now you have to know right up front that I’m not a “Trekkie.” I’ve never watched a complete episode of Star Trek, or any other science fiction program, so I have little idea of what I’m talking about for the next sentence or two. Supposedly, there is a “black hole” in space that swallows everything that gets near it. It’s this giant vortex of no return, according to science fiction. I have no idea if such a place really exists in space, but for now, let’s step back into reality.

I would highly suggest that every Christian should spend a great amount of time reading the little-read book of Ecclesiastes. It’s in the Old Testament and is considered one of the Books of Wisdom. Though there are a myriad of truths are buried within this book, like most treasures, you have to dig for them. I am of the strong opinion that the book of Ecclesiastes holds many treasures for the soul of all humanity.

One such treasure is found in Ecclesiastes 3:11, which informs the reader that God has “placed eternity in the heart of man.” If you will, God has placed a “black hole” in the heart of every person ever born. He has given us a longing to get ready for eternity. You see loved ones, every person is a physical, emotional and spiritual being according to God’s design.

The physical is the body in which you travel across this ‘ol ball of dirt. It’s that part that each of us has been born into and we preside there until our death, at which time we each enter into eternity. The emotional, often called the “heart” or the “soul” within the Bible, is that part of you that makes you, you. It’s home to your will, your character and to the particular inner characteristics that make you unique from all other humans.

The spiritual is often the most neglected portion of our humanity. It is where the “God connection” resides within each of us. It is that hole within the soul (heart) of everyone. A hole, a place that exists for us to get to know God. The problem is, we humans have a sin nature. The sin nature also resides within my soul, and it desires to please only self.

Stated simply, within the soul of every person is a “hole,” a space, a vacancy, that desires to be connected to God, but our soul desires to fill that vacancy with anything and everything except God. Literally, we are soulish (selfish) people.

Since the beginning of time, humanity has attempted to fill this vacancy with everything except God. Things that I believe can be placed into the two main categories of: lust and pride. Lust can be physical or emotional. To “lust” is to have a deep, driving desire for someone or something, and wanting it now! Pride is that part of each of us that convinces us that we “deserve” whatever we lust for.

The Bible clearly teaches that each of us is born into sin. We naturally sin against God, leaving a gap (a hole) in our relationship with our Creator. As stated earlier, we then attempt to fill that hole with the things of our world. The painful part is that the ruler of this world system (Satan) will do his best to help us find a myriad of other things to fill that vacancy with. The problem is that none of those things, or people, of this world can fill that void for us. The void can only be filled by God Himself, the one who created it in the first place.

Now our enemy will do his best to convince each of us that “if only” can fill it. If only we had this or that, or if only we looked like this or that, or if only we could learn a greater truth, or if only we were to find the one thing that could make us really happy then life would be perfect.

News flash, there is no such thing as a “perfect” life here on this earth. I have read of many people who possessed millions of dollars and all sorts of earthly treasures, yet they died fearful. It is reported that shortly before Rockefeller’s death, he was asked how much money he desired, to which he responded, “Just a little bit more.” Riches cannot fill the void.

I know of a man who owns hundreds-of-thousands of acres of land. When asked how much land he planned on owning, his response was, “Just that which joins me.” Owning things does not fill the void. Nothing of this world system can ever fill the void! Yet, when we realize that we are an empty person we quite often become a bitter person because of the constant pain of emptiness.

The bock of Ecclesiastes, and every other book of the Bible, declares that only God can fill that emptiness. The amazing thing is that when we invite God to fill our spiritual void, then and only then, does our life find meaning, purpose and fulfillment!

So today, I must ask, “Do you know God?” If not, Jesus has made it possible for you to know the only One who can fill that void that exists deep within your soul. As I’ve shared in the last two writings, asking God to be our dance partner through faith in Jesus is the only way to truly enjoy your journey within this world. Dance with God, follow His lead, visit with Him and trust Him to help you discover the real you! Then I can cheerfully write:

Finding genuine fulfillment in God with you, Neal

September 15, 2025

Miss Deb and I enjoy getting together with friends and playing a card game we call “The Game.” I haven’t time to explain it here, but if you want to come over some evening, we will teach you how to play it. But in The Game, as with most other games, people have to take turns in play. Often when we are playing The Game with a large group, everyone will get to visiting, laughing and carrying on, 11+ and then someone will ask, “Who’s turn is it?” Meaning, that it is the next person’s turn to play.

Today marks the half-way of another month. This date, this time in creation, is a day that you and those around you shall never experience again. Chew on it, those who are alive today are the only people who will ever experience today. For sure, there are years before that none of us experienced, and there will probably be years after us that none of us will experience either . Now, do you have a sense of just how important today really is?

This is “the day which the Lord has made.” He has given you life yesterday and today, but there are no guarantees about tomorrow. With this day the Bible tells us to “rejoice and be glad.” (Psalm 118:24) Will we? To “rejoice” means to celebrate, literally to “shout in exultation.” – “Well this is just another day of work and struggle,” one might say. That same person could possibly continue, “With all of the pain and the uncertainty of this world, I see nothing to celebrate about.” Yet, if you knew this was your last day on earth, would you find something to celebrate about? I’ll bet that you would gather your family together and you would spend time celebrating each of them. You would celebrate that you were blessed to know them. Why wait?

The second unusual phrase describing this usual day is “be glad.” In another words, God wants us to be happy! To which our cynic would again quip, “What is there to be happy about? With the pain and suffering around me, the wars, the fires, floods and earthquakes, and with all of the hatred and confusion around me today, how can I be happy?” To which God responds, “Today is the day I have made for you, ‘rejoice and be glad!’”

The simple truth we are all aware of, but seldom live like we know it is this, “We all get only one life to live.” You live your life and then you pass your stuff on to another generation with this note attached, “Now, it’s your turn.”

I was born April 26, 1953. I have lived approximately 26,427 days, but today is intended by my Lord, to be a special day in my life because it is a day that He has given to me to “rejoice and be glad.” Every day of your life is a special day, because it is a gift from God, do we live like it? Do we live each day as one more opportunity to “celebrate” life with a good attitude and actions that tell the world around us that we serve an amazing God?

On January 8, 1956, Jim Elliot and four of his missionary friends were all murdered by the Alcha Indians of Ecuador. Jim had lived 28 years before his life on earth ended, but it ended. After Jim’s death, his wife Elisabeth Elliot took her turn, and once again attempted to reach the same people who had murdered her husband. By God’s amazing grace, these Indians accepted Elisabeth and many of them came to know Jesus as Savior!

Shortly before his death, James Elliot made this statement, “He is no fool to give what he cannot keep, to gain that which he cannot lose”. Jim was speaking of knowing Jesus as Savior and investing our lives for the cause of Christ. You see loved one, when we get to speak with others about the saving grace of Jesus, that is truly a day to “rejoice and be glad.”

Perhaps we have so many “ho, hum” days because we do not invest those days by serving our Savior in some way. No, I didn’t say that we are to live every day as another church day. Far from it! We are to live each day, even church days, as a special gift from God, so “rejoice and be glad.” A phone call, a note, a few minutes in conversation with someone who needs to hear your voice of hope – that is a day to celebrate! You see friends, it’s the people around us and the Holy Spirit working within and through us, that makes today a special day. For none of us know if there will even be a tomorrow.

So, may I suggest that you lay aside your agenda for today; ask God something like this, “Well Lord, what do You want us to do today?” Yield yourself to His leading, and see what comes about. But above all, “rejoice and be glad” that you get to see today to its end. Celebrate today, for “tomorrow has enough trouble of its own,” as Jesus said.

For somewhere in the future, often way too soon, our lives will draw to a close. And then at death’s door, we will whisper to the next generation, “Now, it’s your turn.” To which I say, “Why wait?” Let’s tell them that now. Today, take a moment to speak words of encouragement into the life of someone younger than yourself. Somewhere in the conversation, let them know that you have learned to “rejoice and be glad” with each day, “Now it’s their turn!”

Enjoying our turn with you, Neal