Pastor's article

 As January rolls around, it is time for a great new beginning. If you could get a “fresh start” what do you hope to accomplish this year? For some of us we look and say-this year I am going to make some changes. Others of us say, January 1 is not really different than December 31, but imagine if January 1 you woke up and found what Ruth Balloon found a couple of weeks ago. 

Ruth Balloon is a Dallas woman working hard in a boot shop and she decided to check her bank account. When she logged onto her account, imagine her shock when she saw that her account was not short any money but had a very large deposit. Ruth found her bank account showed a balance of $37,203,337!! When she saw this she said to herself “I was like, wow we have a lot of money.” Rather than rushing out on a spending spree Ruth’s husband called Legacy Texas Bank to find out happened. It turns out that there was a clerical error that caused this amazing deposit. Ruth says “I was a millionaire and I have a screenshot to prove it.”1

So imagine what kind of new start you could have in 2020, if you had 37 million dollars. I don’t share the story to ask what would you do if you discovered the mistake- I hope I know what you would do- but to ask do you need to have 37 million to get a fresh start. As Christians, we often forget to realize what God has given us with a “new start.” 2 Corinthians 5:17-20 says, 

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.

According to this passage, when we become believers we are made new again! We can rejoice in understanding that the deposit God makes in our lives is not a “clerical error” rather it is a gift given to us by the creator Himself. For so many people they live with guilt, anger, hurts and worries that God wants to take care of and let us have that “new start.” As the New Year begins, I hope that you can rejoice not only that it is 2020 but that God sent His son so that we can live a life of reconciliation and one of power. 

Imagine, waking up and someone deposited $86,400 in your account every day. What would you do? Suppose there is just one catch, you must spend it every day. Every day a deposit is made but you can’t carry it over because at the end of the day it is gone. Would you live differently? Would you spend your money differently? Would you change the way you see your family and friends? The reality is God deposits in your “account” every day. There are 86,400 seconds in each day, when the day is done, they are all gone. This year live each day to the fullest. Be thankful for the blessings God has given you. Be aware that time is passing and tomorrow is a gift none of us is guaranteed. Live today as a new creation and thank the Lord for all the gifts He has given to you, and may 2020 be the best year ever.

In Christ, 

Brother Alan

1 https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2019/12/13/Bank-mistakenly-deposits-37-million-into-womans-account/2621576253090/?sl=7