1. My goal here isn’t to selfishly reflect on all the reasons I will miss Rod because I know that if you are reading this, you may miss this man, too.
  2. A “good death” and “good life” are not accomplished through personal striving but are grasped by faith in the promises of God.
  3. God gives his church a story that helps to make sense of this life.
  4. It would serve us well to embrace the beauty of our diversity within the unity of the body of Christ.
  5. Theology and history go hand in hand in the real person of Jesus Christ, making the truth of the Gospels profoundly human and powerfully meaningful.
  6. We know that death does not have the last word in Christ.
  7. We must also address the stigma surrounding addiction within so many churches.
  8. It is of the utmost importance that pastors teach their congregation that through faith in Jesus Christ, they are fortified against the machinations of the adversary.
  9. This is an edited excerpt from the conclusion of The Resurrection Fact: Responding to Modern Critics, edited by John Bombaro and Adam Francisco. (1517 Publishing, 2016).
  10. God comes to us through the flesh and blood and spirit of Christ precisely where he promised to be manifest to us and for us.
  11. I’ve experienced firsthand the promise that God never leaves a congregation empty-handed.
  12. A pastor is sent to proclaim the unconditional grace of God, reminding us again and again that it is our Heavenly Father who reaches out to us in love through his Christ-won forgiveness, and not the other way around.