It was on this day 24 years ago that I became a dad. I suppose I had already been a dad for the past nine months and 10 days—a full term of pregnancy plus a few extra days of waiting. But on March 5, 2000, I finally got to meet my firstborn, my boy, my sweet Nick. I watched with wonder as he emerged into this world. I took him in my arms for the first time and gently kissed his forehead. I studied him from the tip of his toes to the crown of his head and declared him perfect. I marveled at what God had given me, at what he had given us, at what he had given the world.
I watched that baby grow into a boy, and that boy grow into a man. I watched him grow not just in stature but in character, not just in age but in wisdom. I watched him profess faith and be baptized, fall in love and get engaged. I watched him begin to prepare himself for a life dedicated to pastoral ministry. I watched with joy and delight.
Twenty times March 5 came with great gladness and sweet memories—with gifts, treats, and celebration. And four times it has come with a combination of gladness and sorrow and with memories that are both sweet and bitter. Four times it has come with Nick no longer here to celebrate or to be celebrated.
March 5, 2021 was the hardest. Nick had been gone for just four months and we were still so new to grief, still so raw. We had been warned that the first would be the hardest and those warnings proved true. That was a hard, hard day. March 5, 2022 was a little easier and March 5, 2023 a little easier still. By then the sharpness of the pain had settled into something more like a dull ache. We had better learned how to cope with our grief and to come to terms with it. Perhaps better said, we had further submitted it to the Lord and further bowed the knee to him—to the God who is sovereign and kind, to the God whose purposes are always and only good.
And now we have come to the fourth birthday in which Nick is in heaven and we are on earth, the fourth March 5 we have faced with this combination of sorrow and joy. We grieve that we cannot see him, hug him, speak to him, express our love to him. We grieve that his presence has been replaced with absence, that our memories of him are always accompanied by the sorrow that we have no more memories to make, at least on this side of heaven.

March 5 through the years
But we also rejoice that we had the privilege of knowing him and loving him. We rejoice that he lived a life worthy of the gospel and that he has now been delivered from all sin, suffering, and sorrow. And we rejoice, of course, that we will see him again. It’s a strange place to be—this place of already and not-yet, this place of faith and not sight, this place of promise but not fulfillment. Yet we are content knowing that it is God himself who led us here and God himself who will eventually lead us out. We have confidence in him, in his love, in his purposes, in his goodness and glory.
I don’t know if birthdays are a thing in heaven. I don’t even know if and how time passes there. But I do know that right here a few of us continue to count it special because we continue to love the one who was given to us on this day, 24 years ago.
This poem is on my mind today and seems a fitting way to close.

Whate’er we fondly call our ownBelongs to heaven’s great Lord;The blessings lent us for a dayAre soon to be restored.
’Tis God that lifts our comforts high,Or sinks them in the grave;He gives; and when He takes away,He takes but what He gave.
Then, ever blessed be His name!His goodness swell’d our store;His justice but resumes its own;Still we the Lord adore.

We are going around the world in A La Carte today! What a blessing that so many writers from so many nations choose to bless us with their wisdom.

Westminster Books is offering deals on their summer reading picks.
The Intermediate State of the Dead in Christ
From the Philippines, here’s Noel Espinosa on the intermediate state. “A recent death in our Church generated much lament. The brother was so young, and so actively useful in our ministries. What is more, he had no known precondition. This event drove me to refresh the subject of the intermediate state of the righteous.”
The Benefit of Ancient Creeds for the Contemporary Church
Next we go to India where Christopher Poshin David writes about Christian creeds. “I recall standing with an outstretched arm in the morning assembly at school reciting the Indian national pledge on Republic Day and Independence Day. The national pledge is an oath of allegiance. It also reminds us of our identity as part of a national community bigger than our individual selves. The church of Jesus Christ similarly has pledges that remind us of our corporate identity as the people of God. These pledges are called the creeds of the church.”
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7 Critical Supplements To Evangelistic Fervour
In Uganda Eddie Ssemakula is concerned about evangelistic techniques. “It is my humble opinion, and suggestion of this post, that we need to rethink our evangelistic efforts in Africa. Something isn’t quite right. How can Africa have one of the fastest growing Christian populations, yet at the same time rank as one of the most corrupt continents in the world? Preaching that proclaims Christ can be heard in the streets, for sure. But are we seeing his lordship and kingdom expand?”
Are Cuss Words Sinful?
In Kenya, the writers of the Kuza site/app consider how and why cuss words are sinful. “You hear them in movies, television series, and in actual conversations. To some, these words sound cool, and they have made them part of their lives. Yet when you learn their meaning, cuss words will make you cringe.”
Grace as the Heart’s Desire
Italy is next, and here Leonardo De Chirico is writing about Roman Catholicism and saying “If one wants to come to terms with Roman Catholic theology, sooner than later one needs to address the ‘nature-grace interdependence.’”
Nothing To Be Ashamed Of: Penal Substitutionary Atonement In Honor-Shame Cultures
We will end in the United Arab Emirates with an article on why penal substitutionary cannot be downplayed or ignored even in honor-shame cultures. “We, the authors, were born, raised, born again, and currently live and serve in what may be appropriately labeled as honor-shame cultures. The prevailing view among many theologians and missiologists concerning our cultural context is that presenting Christ’s atonement in terms of penal substitution is ineffective at best, and is a distortion of the gospel at worst.”
Flashback: But God Makes No Mistakes
There is no condition in which it’s impossible to be a true Christian and to exemplify all the wonderful virtues of Christianity.

One supreme duty which the prevalence of sickness places on us is that of living always prepared to meet God. —J.C. Ryle

The Lord be with you and bless you today

Lessons From the Reformation’s Pamphlet War
Carl Trueman: “What made the Reformation a popular success in so many places? There is no simple answer to this, but a key element was the pamphlet war: the production of short, cheap, polemical publications, often illustrated with woodcuts, that served to shape the mind of the populace. Both Protestants and Catholics engaged in this pamphlet war, which was perhaps the first battle for the popular mind in Western history.”
Drinking From the Jug of Suffering: The Steadfast Faith of Sheshi Kaniki
I was really moved by reading this account of a life well-lived. “Sheshi Kaniki loved to dance. Anyone visiting God’s Tribe Church in Tanzania witnessed this pastor engaging in delighted exultation, full-body worship. Always in the front row, next to his wife Trudie, Sheshi danced in praise — that same joy then radiating through his preaching.”
Why Will A Loving God Send People To Hell? (Video)
This video from TGC Africa deals well with a common question.
Bashing Babies on Boulders
“How could a group of people unflinchingly state, ‘Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock’ and then have the audacity to write such a statement down? More to the point, how does a psalm that celebrates little ones dashed against rocks (Ps. 137:9) belong in the same Bible where Jesus says, ‘Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven’ (Matt. 19:14)?”
2 Reasons Why ‘Jehovah’ Should Not Appear in English Bibles
“One of the more surprising truths of the Christian religion is that we don’t know for sure how to pronounce the name of our own God. Good evidence suggests it should be Yahweh, but good evidence is all God has chosen to leave us—not certainty. There is one thing we do know, though: God’s name is not Jehovah. That word is a colossal, unrepealable, European mistake.” Mark Ward answers.
Christian Living Reoriented
“There is a well-worn path in evangelical Christianity. It begins with the presentation of wonderful news – that God has done everything necessary, in Christ’s death on the cross, to make it possible for us to receive salvation. All we have to do is trust in Christ and we are saved. To put it another way, we don’t have to do anything, because Christ has done it for us. The path then makes a surprising turn.”
3 Reasons for Hope in the Face of Grief and Worry
Alistair Begg: “Most of us are a mixture of emotions and experiences. The good, the bad, and the ugly wash over us regularly. The key issue is what we do with these feelings and experiences. How does being a believer shape the way in which we view our world, especially when we’re faced with worries and grief?”
Flashback: Rejoice in the Wife of Your Youth (and Not-So-Youth)
Whether you are a young man, or a not-so-young man, you have the same calling from God: Rejoice in the wife God has given you. Rejoice in his precious gift.

It is quite time we should learn that worrying is neither a grace nor a duty, but rather a most unlovely blemish in a life—a sin that hurts the soul and grieves God. —J.R. Miller