Posts from March 2010

Who Can Hear and Live?

Sam Hamstra | Mar 30, 2010

The One Year Bible recently brought me to the book of Deuteronomy (a book I would seldom, if ever, read without the encouragement of the One Year Bible).  In Deuteronomy 5:23-27 I found these words of Moses to God's people, words by which he describes the reception of the Ten Commandments: "When you heard the voice out of the darkness, while the mountain was ablaze with fire, all the leading men of your tribes and elders came … Read More …

The Privilege of Preaching

Sam Hamstra | Mar 29, 2010

Just over twenty-nine years ago, I preached my second funeral as a pastor. The first was, as pastors like to say, "easy." I led a memorial service for an aged saint who died peacefully and quickly in the Lord. The second was a "tragedy" (the word we use for an untimely death), the funeral of a teenager who died in a snowmobile accident. It was during that memorial service I embraced my identity as a pastor-preacher.  Up to … Read More …

The End of a 54 Year Streak

Sam Hamstra | Mar 22, 2010

The more I think about it, the more remarkable it becomes. My dad never missed a Christmas with his family. As a result, I enjoyed fifty-four Christmas Days with my father. Take a snap shot of each Christmas day in my life and you will find my dad (as well as my mom). He never missed one with me, nor I with him - until this year for my dad passed away on April 26, 2009. A fifty-four … Read More …