Pastor's Corner                                               

He Paid the Debt

            Let me take you down memory lane for a moment. I remember it like it was yesterday.  I loved going to the church in New Braunfels where I gave my life to Christ. Each time the door was open, I was there.  It was a very small church building that could sit roughly 60 people if we squeezed in tightly.  Pastor Dick Olney would lead the worship, and his ever-cheerful wife Barbara would play the piano and joyfully sing at the same time.  One song Brother Dick would lead us in was a song that I never got tired of singing and it still brings a smile to my face.  That song is “He Paid a Debt.”  Here are some of the lyrics: “He paid a debt He did not owe, I owed a debt I could not pay, I needed someone to wash my sins away; And now I sing a brand new song, ‘Amazing Grace,’ Christ Jesus paid a debt that I could never pay.”  Brother Dick and his wife would sing this song with passion and conviction at the same time.  Even if we just had twenty or so in Church in the mid-week service, they sang the song with all their heart like they were singing it for a king and his audience at Carnegie Hall.

            Looking back, Dick and Barbara were indeed singing to a King…. Our Lord and King.  They sang with such passion for they knew exactly what the Bible says about our debt being canceled as we find in Colossians 2:13-14 “He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, 14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.” It saddens me that commercialization has all but erased the true meanings of Christmas and Easter – Resurrection Day.  But if you are taking time to read this, read again the lyrics to the song above and the scripture in Colossians again.  Can you read both and feel the conviction and passion build inside of you that truly, Jesus Christ did die for the debt of your sin that you could never pay yourself?  Easter – Resurrection Day happened to cancel yours and my debt in full “Tetelestai!”  That is Easter!  That is Resurrection Day! Which brings me to another song that brings tears to my eyes with total thanksgiving in my heart – “Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe; Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.”

            Celebrate Jesus this Resurrection Day.  “TETELESTAI!!!”

Blessings to all, 

Pastor Paul