Wellington Church of Christ

God doesn’t tell us much about the afterlife.  He prefers for the details to be a mystery, to be something that we believe in based on faith.

Even the apostle Paul is not permitted to tell us what he knows.  In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul explains in vs 4 that he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak.  Why isn’t he permitted to speak these the words he heard there?  Simply put, God won’t allow it.

The song, which is eight minutes thirty-three seconds in length, is loaded with cultural references, some cryptic and some obvious.  His inspiration for writing the song came after three of the worlds most famous musicians died together in a plane crash in 1959 – Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and JP “The Big Bopper” Richardson.  But he didn’t write the song in 1959.  In 1959, McLean was only 13 years old.

It’s easy to be unfair.  It takes time and mental effort to really be fair.  Most people don’t want to do that, which creates a lot of our current world problems.

I know already that it’s a losing battle to try to get you to avoid simplification, but hear me out.  In some ways, simplification is a good thing.

For instance, say you are out with your family or friends and someone asks the impossibly daunting question, “Where are we going to eat?” (Sarcasm intended, but seriously, why is this such a hard decision?)

You’ve probably heard the saying before, “The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.”  It’s a bit of a cheesy saying, but true nonetheless.

In the case of Daniel, it took great courage for Daniel as a teenage, prisoner slave, to stand up to his captors, the mightiest nation in the world, and decide that he would not break God’s law to please them or to blend in.

Our new series will begin with a teenager named Daniel.  I think it’s very important to not forget his age.

When we think of Daniel, I think most of us see that picture in our head of the man with the gray beard in the lion’s den, but when the Book of Daniel begins with Daniel as a young man.

Daniel was a very impressive, very well-educated young man with more character and integrity as a teenager than most people achieve in their whole life.

As we finish up our current series this Sunday, I’m very excited, and already looking forward to our new series, called, Nothing New: The Uncompromising Christ in a Compromising Culture.

Don’t get me wrong, Jesus will continue to be the focus of every lesson.  Nothing other than Christ will ever take center stage in any sermon that I preach, but what I will emphasize and the primary question that I will answer is, “How do I live in this increasingly bizarre world?”