{"id":17074,"date":"2021-08-12T15:41:22","date_gmt":"2021-08-12T22:41:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/gospel-express\/2021-biblicalfaith-copy\/"},"modified":"2021-08-12T16:40:54","modified_gmt":"2021-08-12T23:40:54","slug":"2021-pastoralconfession","status":"publish","type":"portfolio","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/gospel-express\/2021-pastoralconfession\/","title":{"rendered":"A Pastoral Confession"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Max Lucado<\/p>\n

Here is a pastoral confession. Promise to tell no one. This will be our secret. It has to do with the thoughts of a pastor during a wedding.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve officiated too many to count. Hands get held. Vows get made. Rings get swapped and\u2026here is my confession.<\/p>\n

I look at them- typically mid-twenties, jobless and kid-less. They know nothing about what awaits them. Utterly nothing.<\/p>\n

She\u2019ll get sick and puke. He\u2019ll grow dense and forget. Bad breath. Bad breaks. Heartaches. Headaches. Bodies will sag and wrinkle. At this point in the ceremony, I come close, oh so very close to asking, \u201cDo you really want to do this? Because, well, let me just say, apart from the grace of God you kids aren\u2019t got a snowball\u2019s chance.\u201d<\/p>\n

But I never say it. Want to know why? Because forty years ago today the same caution could have been spoken over Denalyn and me. Yes, forty years ago today!<\/p>\n

It was a hot Miami afternoon in a Little Havana church. Kids, we were. She a 4th grade teacher, I a wanna-be preacher.<\/p>\n

The pastor might have justifiably called a time-out and warned us about post-honeymoon hurts, wounds, stress and struggles. For, apart from the grace of God, we didn\u2019t have a snowball\u2019s chance.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

But you know what? We had the grace of God. Heaven released a cloud of kindness upon us and, here we are, four decades later, still crazy in love. Great grace, downloaded upon us daily now for forty years. We are grateful.<\/p>\n

As I write, I think of those whose marriages have not made it. Dear friends of ours, some of them. I have no easy answer to offer- just this. The grace that has strengthened us will heal us all.<\/p>\n

And, regarding the secret. Mum\u2019s the word. I\u2019ll keep my mouth shut if you will. But if you ever attend a wedding I\u2019m officiating, I\u2019ll pause at the \u201cI do\u201d question just long enough for you and I to offer a prayer for the impossible\u2026again.<\/p>\n

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