“For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy” (1 Thessalonians 2:19-20 NIV).

“Move that bus!” Shouts Ty Pennington, host of ABC’s show, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

Ty shouts this now famous phrase inviting the crowd to join in each week, as they reveal the new home they have built for a needy family. If you’ve watched this show, it’s hard not to get a tear in your eye. They really do amazing things to give folks their dream home.

But it takes more than a house to make a home. As the Scripture says, “Unless the Lord builds the house the builders labor in vain” (Psalm 127:1).

The apostle Paul told the Thessalonian believers that they were his glory and joy. Why? Because he had labored among them like a parent, caring for them like a mother and leading them like a father. He was filled with joy because they had believed the Word he shared with them. He was overjoyed because they were his spiritual children, his godly legacy.

I’ve lived long enough now to understand how Paul felt. I’m starting to catch a glimpse at the home God is building… in my family and in our church. We have worked and struggled together, sometimes worrying how things would turn out. But our children are growing up. They are having children of their own. And as I listen to them I hear them sharing God’s Word with the next generation, just as we shared it with them.

I’m really starting to focus on passing on a godly legacy. All of my children and their spouses have placed their trust in Christ and are living lives as Christ-followers. Now, I’m a new grandfather and I’m starting to aim at my children’s children.

Would you join me in this? Let’s pass on a godly legacy. So, that someday when God says, “Move that bus!” We’ll stand as a family to cheer and worship Him for the home He has built for us.

“Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I am… I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord” (1 Corinthians 7:8, 35 NIV).

As we’ve been going through this message series on the family, I’ve been reminded that many of our church family are single people. I’ve also been reminded that all of us begin life as singles and most of us will experience seasons of singleness again. Whether from death or divorce, singleness will find most of us again.

The church’s emphasis on families, couples, and children often leave singles feeling left out. It may make them feel as if there is something wrong or inadequate with them.

But the Bible says that singleness is a gift (1 Cor. 7:7). Singleness is an opportunity for undistracted, “undivided devotion” to God. Rather than viewing singleness as a curse, we can receive it as a gift. And offer that gift back to God.

The Bible basically says this:

Are you single? Good. Stay that way, but live like you’re married to God with all of your devotion focused on pleasing Him.

Are you married? Good. Stay that way, but live like you’re not. At least in the sense that you’re not married to this world. Not married to pleasing your spouse or yourself above God. Live with singular devotion to God.

This coming Sunday I’ll be preaching a message for singles. They’re part of the family too. We can make room for singleness in our lives. It can be a gift when we recognize the Giver.

“Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many. …Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life.” (Proverbs 4:10-13 KJV).

“When can I take a shower?” I asked the nurse while looking at the surgical dressing on my stomach.

“Whenever you want.” She said.

“What about this? Don’t I have to keep this dry until the stitches come out?” I questioned while pointing at my belly.

“Stitches?” She questioned. “You don’t have any stitches. We super-glued you.”

“Hmmm…” I mumbled. “This nurse sure is a kidder…” I thought to myself as my mind surrendered to the pain meds.

As it turns out, the nurse wasn’t kidding. They used some sort of dermabond to close me up after doing a laproscopic surgery to remove my gall bladder. It’s supposed to improve one’s recovery rate (I’ll let you know).

With a quick recovery in mind, I plan to preach this Sunday. It’s Mother’s Day and we’re in a great series on the family and I love to preach, so…

… I hope the super glue holds fast.

“And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.” (1 Kings 19:12 KJV).

I know I’m going to lose “man points” for this, but I watched ABC’s “The View” this morning. Now, before you judge me too harshly, hear me out. I had little choice, it was the only thing on the TV in the hospital waiting room.

While waiting over 30 minutes to get some lab work done,  I scanned the room desperately looking for a magazine or something to read. Nothing (unless you count Ladies Home Journal, and various other women’s mags). So, out of sheer boredom, I watched “The View.”

The setup for the show is a familiar one on TV these days. Introduce a current event or topic and let four or five people shout their opinions at each other until one of them yells loudest or tells the funniest joke. At which point the audience applauds.

The topic I heard was “Should married couples have secret bank accounts or separate bank accounts?”

Comic Joy Behar responded with her snappy delivery, “Well, if I want to splurge on an expensive lamp, I don’t want to have to ask my husband’s permission!” (Audience loudly applauds).

“My husband and I share one account. We discuss what we want to buy. It helps us…” Elisabeth Hasselbeck attempted to say before being drowned out by comments from the other three women.

To end this segment, Whoopi Goldberg summarized with an authorative tone, “Well, I think they should have three accounts. One for her, one for him, and one together.” (Audience applauds).

Having never watched this show (for this long) before, I think I understand it. Whoopi and Joy are the sharp witted, comics who get the laughs. Elisabeth is the token, sweet faced blond, who innocently offers old-fashioned opinions, and Barbara is the journalist keeping them on topic.

As entertainment, I guess I can see why some would enjoy it. But as thoughtful help for one’s marriage, family, finances, or life it’s worse than useless. It’s dreadfully inadequate.

Whether it’s talking heads on a so-called news show or shouting voices on the latest reality show, a multiplicity of opinions doesn’t reveal true wisdom. It really just tends to broadcast more foolishness. (To which the audience applauds).

The only “view” that I want to heed is God’s. His voice is quiet and wise. He has a lot to say about everything that concerns our lives. I’m not interested in following the loud voices of this culture. I don’t want what they have, so why should I listen to what they know?

I was glad when the nurse finally called my name and freed me from the waiting room.

As I left, I thought, “I want God’s “view.” I want His blueprint. So, I will listen to His still, small voice.” (Any applause?).

“By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures” (Proverbs 24:3-4 NIV).

After a long day at Wake Medical in Raleigh our long awaited grandson has arrived! His name is Nathaniel Dillon Combs and he was born on Thursday, April 23, 2009.

Nathaniel was born to our son Jonathan and his wife Nicole. This is our first grandchild. I must say that this is quite a new experience. We have known the wonder of childbirth as parents, but standing by and watching as your children have children… is awe inspiring and overwhelming.

God is so good! I’m glad that we have built our house on His firm foundation. Now, we pray that our children and our children’s children know the joy and blessing of building life on His Word and His grace.

By the way, I think this new Combs boy looks really intelligent. I held him only a few minutes after he was born and he was already looking around the room and checking things out. Don’t tell anyone, but I think he takes after me.

Stephen and I attended the Innovative Church Community’s “Wilkesboro Regional” this past Tuesday. It was a great day! Here, you see us standing in front of Pastor Tom Bartlett’s Celebration Church (Left to right, Me, Tom Bartlett, Jimmie Davidson, & Stephen). We were there to hear from Pastor Jimmie, founder of Highlands Fellowship, an amazing multi-venue, multi-site, purpose-driven church based in Abingdon, Virginia.

The ICC was started several years ago by myself and a few other church planters and pastors who needed mutual encouragement as we tried to stay focused on being missional for Jesus. Over the last couple of years we’ve launched over seven different regional “peer learning communities” throughout North Carolina. Jimmie Davidson was our featured speaker in Wilkesboro this week.

Jimmie gave a talk entitled “What is it?” With the story of Exodus in the background, he described four “leadership questions” that we would have to answer while following God’s call. They were:

1. Burning bush: “What’s calling you?”
2. Red sea: “What’s stopping you?”
3. Manna: “What sustains you?”
4. Promised land: “What’s your giant?”

He closed by saying, “If you want to make it to the promised land, you have to persevere! You can’t give up! You have to hang in there!”

Now, that was a word worth driving to Wilkesboro to hear.

 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3 NIV).

Have you ever eaten an apple from an apple tree you planted?

My guess is “no.” I know I haven’t. When it comes to apples, I’ve been the happy recipient of another’s “living hope.” Someone else had enough hope in the future to plant an apple tree.

What is this “living hope?” Maybe one way of answering this would be to ask what would “dead hope” be?

If we consider that the apostle James said there was a kind of faith without works that he called “dead faith,” then perhaps the same may be applied to hope. If dead faith is faith that has no effect, takes no action, bears no fruit, then living faith must be faith that works, faith that acts, faith that does bear fruit.

By analogy, “dead hope” would be hope without present result. This kind of “dead hope” might explain the spectator Christian who passively waits for heaven while watching the world go to hell. This hope bears no fruit. This hope has no “life” for today. This is not the hope of which Peter preaches.

When we have “living hope,” we plant today with a confidence that Christ will cause it to bear fruit tomorrow. This “living hope” is not made of thin, doubtful stuff. No, it is a certain expectancy that since Christ kept His promise to be raised from the dead, He will keep all of His other promises for us too, especially the one that we will be raised like Him.

This living hope should move us to bear fruit in our present world and with our present bodies, knowing that what we do by faith and by the power of the Spirit will be kept for us in eternity.

Christ’s resurrection means that we can finally get to taste an apple from a tree we planted.

“We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently” (Romans 8:22-25 NIV).

This is a photo of my daughter-in-law, Nicole, at her baby shower last Sunday. Also pictured is my first grandson. What? You don’t see him? Oh, he’s there. Just ask Nicole. She’ll tell you that the baby boy is definitely there! She gets constant reminders that even though she doesn’t have him yet, he’s surely coming.

The apostle Paul said that our resurrection hope is like child labor and child birth. He said that all creation is “groaning as in the pains of childbirth.” You see, since Christ has defeated death and become the firstborn from among the dead, the Resurrected One, we now have this same hope. We have the hope of resurrection!

Creation awaits the resurrection of Christ’s followers because when we get our new bodies, the Lord will also make a new earth and a new heaven. Creation can’t wait for the Lord to come!

My wife and I can’t wait for our grandson to come. Sure, there will be some groaning between now and then. But our hope is that a new baby will be born. That will turn our groaning into glory.

We also eagerly hope that all the suffering, frustration and longing that we now experience, which is shared by creation itself, will soon be turned to glory at the return of our King.

He is risen. He is coming again.