Leadership Note 5/29/2019

May 28, 2019

Leadership Notes

On Sunday, as we were gathering for worship at 10:00 a.m., our oldest son was heading up to Selfridge Air Force Base. They were dedicating the 1st Battalion 24th Marines Memorial. That was the unit deployed to Fallujah, Iraq in 2006-2007. The Memorial honors the 22 men killed during that deployment. When I texted some of the pictures to my brother, he commented it was an appropriately nice way for those men to spend their Memorial weekend.

Meanwhile, here at Covenant Church, we worshiped. It was the first Sunday of our summer schedule. It is such a beautiful thing when we worship together. You can tell how much people love Jesus by the way they worship. I love the way Covenant Church folks praise God. Your singing is uplifting. Your attention to God's Word is plain to see. And the way you love each other is inspiring. If someone is not in worship for anything but a compelling reason, I tell you right now, they are missing something special. I love you for who you are and how you worship.

Finally, yesterday, Memorial Day, was one of those postcard Michigan days. It was a perfect to for its primary purpose…a day to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their nation. It was also perfect for its secondary purpose…the kick-off to the summer season. As we reflect on the primary purpose for Memorial Day, and what the members of the 1st Battalion 24th Marines were doing on Sunday, I'd like to share as a final thought something I read online yesterday:

THERE'S A DIFFERENCE:

Armed Forces Day {3rd Saturday of May}:

- For those who currently wear the uniform.

Veterans Day {November 11th}:

- For those who used to wear the uniform.

Memorial Day {Last Monday of May}:

- For those who never made it out of uniform.

These are distinctions that matter. Just ask any of the few and the proud who were at Selfridge last Sunday.

Be of Good Cheer,

Richard