Beloved Friends in Christ,

As I am writing this, I can see the piles of snow outside my window. And while many are celebrating a good old fashioned Canadian winter, I have not been as enthusiastic. Call me a sissy if you like, but I rather like the new milder winters that we have been having as of late.

Of course, I understand that these may be part of a global warming trend, which may prove disastrous. But it is hard to remember that while sipping iced tea on the patio, as I was this past October. Would you call me short sighted if I declared, "Get rid of the (c)old! Bring on the new!"?

Sadly, when it comes to weightier matters, many truly are short sighted. For there is new life to be had, but many want nothing to do with it.

The new life of which I write is that new life offered through faith to all who believe in Christ Jesus. And the new life is this: one of freedom from sin, guilt and shame. For it was Christ Jesus, who during His earthly life lived a holy life free from sin. On the cross, He offered that life to our heavenly Father, asking Him to credit His sinlessness to us, while taking our sin upon Himself. In Christ-that is through faith in Him-we are new, without sin, guilt and shame.

And the wonderful thing about this newness is that, unlike the new milder winters we have been having, there is nothing bad to say about it. There is no down side-nothing like global warming. To the contrary, the downside is clearly with the old. Apart from the new life that is ours in Christ, we remain in the oldness of our sin and its consequence, namely, eternal damnation in hell. Now that's "global warming" at its worst. The result of a new life in Christ, on the other hand, is eternal peace and joy.

So get rid of the old! Bring on the new! That's my Lenten prayer. May God help me, and you too. May God help us leave our old lives of sin behind and cling to Christ and the new righteous life that He has piled before us.

In His service,

Pastor Richard A. Frey