​First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood                          
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012                                                                              
Sermon Notes (Sunday ~ April 20 2025)
Sermon Title – Untouchable
Text – John 20:1-18
Rev Scott Morschauser

​First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood                          
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012                                                                              
Sermon Notes (Sunday ~ April 13 2025)
Sermon Title – Passion and Pageantry
Text – Luke19:28-40
Rev Joel Buckwalter

​First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood                          
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012                                                                              
Sermon Notes (Sunday ~ April 6 2025)
Sermon Title – Letting Go And Loving
Text – John 12:1-8
Rev William Gaskill

​First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood                          
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012                                                                              
Sermon Notes (Sunday ~ March 30 2025)
Sermon Title – The Prodigal Father
Text – Luke 15:11-32
Rev Paul Seefeldt

​First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood                          
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012                                                                              
Sermon Notes (Sunday ~ March 23 2025)
Sermon Title – He is Able
Text – Hebrews 2:14-18
Rev Dr Cliff Jones

​First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood                          
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012                                                                              
Sermon Notes (Sunday ~ March 16 2025)
Sermon Title – The Fox and the Hen
Text – Luke 13:31-35
Rev Paul Seefeldt

​The First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood
Sermon Notes – March 9, 2025
Rev. Richard Herman, Guest Preacher
 
 
 
A Lifeline of Hope
Psalm 62; Hebrews 6:13-20
Based on a Stephen King novel, The Shawshank Redemption tells the story of Andy Dufresne, convicted of killing his wife and her lover, then sentenced to life in Shaw-shank Prison. Maintaining his innocence, Andy manages to survive 19 years of harsh prison life, finding comfort in an unlikely friendship with a fellow convict named "Red".
At one point, following two weeks of solitary confinement in “The Hole”, Andy walks into the mess hall where Red and others gather ‘round him. “Easiest time I ever did,” he says.  
“No such thing as easy time in the hole. A week seems like a year,” one of them says.
Andy replies, “I had Mr. Mozart to keep me company. Hardly felt the time at all.”
“Oh, they let you tote that record player down there?” quips Red.
Tapping his head and heart, Andy says, “The music was here...and here. That's the one thing they can't confiscate, not ever. That's the beauty of it. Haven't you ever felt that way about music, Red?”
“Played a mean harmonica as a younger man. Lost my taste for it. Didn't make much sense on the inside.”
“Here's where it makes the most sense. We need it so we don't forget,” Andy responds.
“Forget?” says Red.
“That there are things in this world not carved out of gray stone.  That there’s a small place inside of us they can never lock away, that place called hope.”
“Hope’s a dangerous thing,” says Red.  “It's got no place here. Better get used to the idea.”
Well, Andy never does get used to it. For him the power of hope and some good friends keep him going even when all seems bleak. In the end, hope enables him to escape Shawshank and start a new life in freedom. As Andy says in a letter to Red:  “Remember, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.”
If there’s one thing we desperately need in our time, it’s hope. Publications as diverse as Fortune Magazine,  Psychology Today and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution call attention to an epidemic of hopelessness that grips our nation. Even the Brookings Institute, sees “America’s Crisis of Despair” effecting economies, jeopardizing personal well-being, health, and longevity, and influencing politics.
Theologian Jurgen Moltmann was spot-on when he said:  “Human beings can’t live without hope.”  To live without hope is to cease to live.  Hell is hopelessness.  It’s no accident that above the entrance to Dante’s hell is the inscription: ‘Leave behind all hope, you who enter here’” (in Theology of Hope).
But let’s be clear: the Christian virtue of “hope,” is not mere wishful thinking. Rather it’s to anticipate or expect with confidence and solid assurance.  It’s not a wannabe thought like: “I hope it doesn’t rain tomorrow,” or “I hope I get an ‘A’ on the exam.”
Nor is it mere optimism that longs for the best with no guarantee.  Christian hope is faith looking ahead to the fulfillment of God’s sure and certain promises.  Optimism is a wish without warrant. Our hope is future certainty, guaranteed by God himself.  
When David says in Psalm 62:5, “For God alone my soul waits in silence and quietly submits to Him, for my hope is from Him” (Amp. Bible) the Hebrew word translated “hope” literally means “a cord, as an attachment.”  In other words, hope is a lifeline.
Hope is a lifeline thrown to us when we're overwhelmed or struggling because of our circumstances. It’s a lifeline enabling us to hang-on 'til help comes, a lifeline that helps us persevere, infusing us with strength to endure and overcome, even when it feels like our world is falling apart.
But like a literal lifeline, hope is only as strong as that to which it’s tied.  When some-one is drowning, a lifeline is only as good as that which holds the other end. If it's tied to something flimsy or held by someone feeble: it’s useless!  If it's tied to a stout post or held by someone who’s muscular: it’s a life-saver.
So, before we can talk about what we hope for, we must first consider what we hope in.  Which presents a problem for many whose lifeline is tied to the wrong object or held by the wrong person.
Thus, God’s first invitation is to hear what Scripture says about misplaced hope by looking at some inadequate things to which we tie our hope ... like other people.
 
Who among us has never been disappointed or hurt by someone you trusted or put your hope in? You thought they were a friend only to discover they got close to you to get from you what they wanted for themselves; or they wanted to "rescue you”— you were their “project.” Even those we love and who love us, sometimes let us down. As, the prophet Isaiah warns, “Don’t put your trust in mere humans.  They’re as frail as a breath” (2:22).
That’s also true of governments and elected leaders. The Psalmist counsels in Psalm 146: Don’t put your trust in the rulers of this world—kings, princes, or presidents. Don’t expect any rescue to come from mortals. For as soon as their breath leaves them, all of them perish and die and their dreams, plans, and memories come to nothing (v’s 3-4, paraphrased).
Friends, be careful not to put your hope in a president to "save our country" or make it great again. During the campaign, promises are made that tap into our hunger for hope or grab onto our fears, saying only he can save our nation.  Then, after the election, we're told "Don't expect miracles!" If we vote and give our support, basing our hope on campaign rhetoric and promises, we discover it’s been misplaced. 
How often do we hear (or say): We need the government to do something!  To offer another program or pass another law. Yet, to expect the government to make things right, putting our hope in Washington, Trenton or Camden, is idolatry. It sets us up to be disappointed time and time again.
The Savior never has, doesn’t now and won’t ever reside in the White House, the state house, or a town hall.  Don’t let political rhetoric fool you.  If we tie our hope to other human beings, we will be let down sooner or later.
 
The same’s true if we tie hope’s lifeline to Money, Riches, or Wealth.
Every year between Thanksgiving and Christmas, it’s easy to see some version of “the most filmed story of all time”–Charles Dicken’s “A Christmas Carol.” Whether it’s the 1984 version starring George C. Scott, the earlier musical Scrooge with Albert Finney, or the 2009 Disney film with Jim Carrey, it’s the story of a man who tied his hope to a golden goddess only to realize it couldn’t buy true happiness.
Nevertheless, our culture continues down that same crooked path. Christmas itself has mutated into a consumer holiday, with "success" based on how much buying is done.  We spend money we don't have, on what other people don't need or want, hoping to get what we really desire but can't buy, which is LOVE!  As the Beatles once sang: "Can't buy me love."
Solomon says in Proverbs 11 that whoever trusts in riches will fall like a dry leaf in autumn, but those trusting in God’s provision, will flourish like green leaves in spring-time (v. 28). Paul reminds Timothy to tell those rich in this world not to ... put their hope in their wealth, which is uncertain; but instead to put their hope in God, who richly and continually provides ... (1 Tim. 6:17).
In Luke 12 Jesus tells the story of a wealthy landowner, whose farm produced a bumper crop, who says to himself: “I have a problem. My barn’s not big enough to hold it all. So, here’s what I’ll do: I’m gonna tear down my little barn and build a bigger one. Then, I’ll have plenty of room for it all and I’ll say to myself, ‘Self, you’ve done well! You’ve got it made. Retire, relax, and take it easy for years!’ And I’ll just sit back, eat, drink, and have a good time!”
But God interrupts him saying, “Excuse me, Mr. Brilliant, but your time has come. Tonight, you’ll die. Then, who’s going to enjoy all your stuff?”
Jesus sums it up saying: “So, take care to protect yourself against even the least bit of greed. For, life’s not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot”(12:15-21). 
Don’t tie your hope to money, riches, or wealth..  And ...
The self-centeredness of “Mr. Brilliant” also cautions us not to tie hope to ourselves!
As Proverbs says: Anyone who trusts in their own wits is a self-confident fool (28: 26a); and Jesus adds: “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted" (Mt. 23:12).
A minister, boy scout & a computer executive were together in a small plane when the pilot said the plane’s going down.  However, there were only three parachutes and four people.  The pilot said, "I should have one of the parachutes since I have a wife and three small children.” He grabbed one and jumped. The computer executive said, "I’m the smartest man in the world and they need me, so I should have a para-chute.” He grabbed one and jumped.  The minister turned to the boy scout and with a sad smile said, "You’re young and I’ve lived a good life, so you take the parachute. I'll go down with the plane."  The boy scout said, "Relax, Reverend.  The smartest man in the world just grabbed my knapsack and jumped out of the plane."
Friends: beware of tying hope to yourself—you may be jumping out of an airplane with a knapsack in your hands!
 
Then, as a kind of “catch-all”, the Bible says not to put our hope in “idols,” which are not just images craved out of stone or made of wood but anything we value more than we value God!  It’s what we’re so obsessed with, or addicted to, that it displaces devotion to God!
 
It can be an object or activity which means more to you than Jesus, something to which you devote all your time, energy, imagination, or money. For some, it may be cars, clothing, a house at the shore or even membership in a particular club or organization.  It can be the ‘dream job’ toward which you build a resumé.  Then, when you get it, it becomes all-consuming, demanding more and more time at the office, on the road or in meetings. For some, recreation becomes an idol, be it sailing, softball, travel, partying, or a myriad of other distractions.
An idol is anything you make, buy, do, or own that directs your life and displaces devotion to God.  It can even be something religious, as with those who make church an idol or see a particular program or ministry as something that can’t be touched, altered or ended.
But the biggest problem with idols is that first we shape them, then they shape us!   The psalmist says:
Their idols are silver and gold, made by human hands.
They have mouths, but can’t speak; eyes, but can’t see;
   ears, but can’t hear; and noses, but can’t smell.
They have hands, but can’t feel;  feet, but can’t walk,
       nor can they utter a sound with their throats.
Those who make them will be like them,
       and so will all who trust in them. (115:4-8; cf. 135:15-18)
Beware, says the psalmist! That which we worship, shapes us in its own image; and then, if it’s the wrong thing, takes us captive to empty hope.
In the words of missionary doctor, Albert Schweitzer: “If you own something you cannot give away, you don't own it, it owns you.”  That’s idolatry.
These are some of the inadequate places to which we might tie our hope.  All of which will bend, break, and drop us in a pit of despite.  For…
The LORD our God is the only Adequate One to which we can tie our hope-line…as knew a Canaanite woman named Rahab.
In the OT book of Joshua, the Israelites were coming into the promised land. Those living in the city of Jericho heard all the stories of God’s mighty deliverances and miracles on behalf of His people. They learned of the plagues with which God ravaged Egypt and how He defeated Pharoah’s grand army at the Red Sea.  They were aware of how God destroyed two powerful Amorite kings. As a result, the king and all of Jericho despaired, feeling helpless and afraid.
Yet, in the face of such overwhelming odds, one Canaanite woman believed in the God of heaven and earth and set out to align herself with the Lord and His people. Trusting God, Rahab hoped to be spared the fate of those who opposed God and His people.odand    
Rahab’s hope was no mere whim or wish. She acted on it; providing shelter for two Israelite spies sent on a recon mission into Jericho, even helping them safely escape the authorities. But not before she declared her faith in God and asked the spies to make sure she and her family would be spared.
While the two spies had no idea what God’s plan was to take the city, they promised to save Rahab and her family. As a token of this promise, Rahab needed to tie a red cord in the window of her house located on the city wall. Which she did.
That piece of cord was her lifeline of steadfast hope in God and belief in the promise to save her life.  Which was no small thing, for she and her family were the only ones spared when Jericho was destroyed.
As the Scripture poetically tells us:
My soul finds rest in God;
    my hope comes from Him.
Truly He is my rock and my salvation;
    He is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
This I call to mind and therefore I have hope:
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
    for His compassions never fail.
They’re new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. (Psa. 62:5-6; Lam. 3:21-23)
 
Friends, TIE YOUR HOPE TO THE LORD!  Nothing else will do!  Don't tie it to people, no matter how capable they seem; they’re not solid enough to hold your hope-line.   Don't tie it to money or wealth; it's not sturdy enough to sustain you, in spite of its lucrative promises.  Don't tie it to yourself, no matter how competent or talented you are. What drowning person ties both ends of a lifeline to himself?  Don't tie it to the supposed power of a government or leader which is insufficient to hold you.  And don't tie it to an idol of any kind, which is an illusion.  Tie your hope to the LORD!  Only He is an anchor strong enough to hold your life. The Bible calls the Lord A STRONG, ETERNAL ROCK. Tie your scarlet cord in the window and your lifeline to the one who is our Rock and Redeemer.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

​First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood                          
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012                                                                              
Sermon Notes (Sunday ~ March 2 2025)
Sermon Title – Travels through Time
Text – Luke 9:28-36, 43-45
Rev Scott Morschauser

​First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood                          
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012                                                                              
Sermon Notes (Sunday ~ February 23 2025)
Sermon Title – At the Heart of Our Hope
Text – 1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 72-50
Rev William Gaskill

​​First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood                          
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012                                                                              
Sermon Notes (Sunday ~ February 16 2025)
Sermon Title – Is it This and That, or Always This
Text – 11 Corinthians 1:15-23
Rev Cliff Jones

 

I want you to picture drawing a large circle around you in white chalk.  Put into that circle the people who know you, beginning with the postal worker behind counter who takes your package, and the contractor who re-models your bathroom or paints your house, the person who regularly cuts your hair.  Move on to include those you hold most dear: the people you write Valentine’s cards to, the people you go out to dinner with, that special friend you call when you get a refund check from the IRS, your family.  These are the people who interact with you, who know you. Now, allow me to ask them a direct question about you:  “This person in the center of the circle - that’s you - What kind of person is she, is he?”  We’re talking about you.
 
They won’t answer describing what you look like.  Instead, they will talk about the kind of person you are.  So, what kind of person are you?  It’s a question of character, isn’t it?  And, we care what these people in our circle think about us, whether we admit it or not.  I can tell by the way you are dressed you value what they think of you, because you are dressed in the general fashion of the day.  I don’t see anyone here with wild, big checks pants with huge bell bottom at the hem.  And at the family Christmas gathering, we’ll even wear the ugly Christmas sweater cousin Betty gave us.  What the people in our circle think about us matters.
 
It matters to us; it mattered to the apostle Paul, who found himself in a sticky situation dealing with his character.  He said he would do one thing, and then he did another.  You ever been there?  In our text today, character looms large, particularly around the aspect of integrity.  Let’s read.
 
v. 15 - “Because I was confident of this, I….”
Paul is referring to what just had said.  He is confident that the Corinthians Christians, have trusted and respected him and his motives.    
 
v. 16 - “I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia and to come back to you from Macedonia, and then to have you send me on my way to Judea.”
Paul planned on visiting them on his way north through Greece to reach Macedonia, and on his way back, and then on to Judea.  However, his plans changed.  He did not visit them.  He had good reason not to, but the Corinthians accused him of going back on his word.  Maybe he couldn’t be trusted anymore.  He said one thing but did another.
 
v. 17 - "Was I fickle when I intended to do this?  Or do I make my plans in a worldly manner so that in the same breath I say both “Yes, yes” and “No, no”?”
Now you and I may think that changing plans is not a big deal.  When that happens we call up and postpone the card game, the golf game, coffee, dinner … but something else is going on here.  Read on farther in this letter and you pick up the important detail that after Paul left the city after first sharing the gospel there, other Christian preachers came to town.
 
Their view of Christianity was quite different from Paul’s; so different that Paul knew it was damaging and wrong.  But, these Christian preachers captivated crowds by their speaking; they were eloquent.  They spun intellectual ideas that sounded so nice; and besides all that, they just looked so good.  In comparison, Paul seemed, well, less.  We hear some of this in chapter 10, 11:
For some say, “His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing.”  “I do not think I am in the least inferior to those super-apostles’.” I may indeed be untrained as a speaker, but I do have knowledge.”  (II Corinthians 10:10; 11:5, 6)
 
Paul realizes the danger.  If they can discount Paul, then they can discount the gospel he taught to the Corinthian Christians.  The message and the messenger are tied up together.  Criticize the messenger and then it’s easier to criticize his message.
 
So, how can Paul compete with them?  How can he rescue the true gospel message?  What will he say here to convince the converts in Corinth that his change of plans doesn’t indicate a lack of sincerity, that he is a man of integrity, that his word and his actions are the same, that he can be trusted?  And, what do we learn about our own character and integrity?
 
v. 18 - “But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.”
Paul is reminding them that when he first came there, his gospel message was consistent. What the gospel promised, Jesus delivered.
 
v. 19 - 21 - “For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silas and Timothy—was not “Yes” and “No,” but in him it has always been ‘Yes.’ For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ.  And so through him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God.”   What God promises through Jesus Christ comes to completion.  They are ‘yes’.  They are fulfilled.
 
Then, Paul mentions a few of these promises:  He has given us salvation in Jesus Christ; He will not let us go.  Like a king who inscribes an edict, then folds it and seals it and stamps it with his signet ring of authority, so that no one dare open it, we are his securely and forever.  Furthermore, God has given us the Spirit of Jesus inside us, which is just the deposit, just a taste of what life will be like in the fullness of the Spirit in eternity,
 
v. 22 - “Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ.  He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”
Paul can get carried away talking about the magnificence and wonder of God but don’t let that distract you from his point:  the Word that Paul shared with them in sharing the gospel has been proven to be true.  What God has promised, God has fulfilled.  There is integrity to his Word.  On the one hand, there is integrity to the Word Paul has brought them. Now, what about Paul’s actions?  Turn back to verse 19 and to two specific words:
 
“For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silas and Timothy….”
 
Those two words, ‘by us.’  Paul is reminding them of what they saw from Paul when he first was with them sharing the gospel.  They saw his love for them.  They saw he did whatever he could so that they would know Jesus Christ is truly Lord.  He even took a job to provide for himself, rather than ask them to support him, so that it would clear he was not doing this for the money. His action matched his word.  They saw it.  They knew it, and Paul is reminding them that his word and deed were consistent.  They could continue to trust his character.
 
The people in your chalk circle are asking; can you hear them?  Are you someone they can trust? Does your word match your deed?  Are you a person of integrity?  What does your life up to this moment testify?
 
It’s not always easy living a life of integrity.  Sometimes it’ down-right hard.  So, here’s an idea I heard from a neuropsychologist:  when confronted with a choice, ask yourself how you will feel about the decision you make 30 minutes later.  Take away the impulse to make a snap choice fast and ask first, “How will I feel about what I choose in 30 minutes.”  For instance, you want to leave and not finish what you said you would.  How will you feel about that decision 30 minutes from now?  Or, you feel the heat rising up into your face.  You want to lash out.  How will you feel 30 minutes from now?  You promised one thing but something else has come up that you’d rather do.  How will you feel 30 minutes from now?  You can take advantage of someone monetarily.  How will you feel 30 minutes from now?  Let this 30 minute rule be a guide.
 
At this point, you may be asking yourself, why be consistent when it’s not always easy?  Why does it matter if we’re people of integrity?  It matters for so many reasons.  Here’s one:  if we say we follow Jesus, then it matters that we act like Jesus.  People see Jesus through us.  Your neighbors know you’re a Christian.  They see you pull out of your driveway on Sunday mornings.  They know where you go.  You’ve already spoken.  Are your actions consistent with your Christian identity?  Why should anyone consider following Jesus if we say we’re Christian, but don’t live like it?  Our integrity literally brings glory to Jesus Christ.  Here’s another reason:
 
Wisdom from the Bible says:  (Proverbs 28:18, The Message)
      Walk straight (the RSV says walk in integrity) —live well and be saved;
       a devious life is a doomed life.
And, wisdom from the Psalms says: (Psalm 41:12)
      (God), You uphold me because of my integrity
 
What do these words of wisdom say to you?  I think they say simply that God knows the best way for us to live.  When we choose God’s way, we choose the wise way to live.  That includes matching what we say with what we do.
 
 
Jesus said, “Whoever hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise person who built the house upon the rock; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.” (Mt. 7:24, 25)  Wise is the person whose life foundation is Jesus, who hears his word and does it.  Here’s another reason.
 
Romans 5:3, 4
            Suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character
            produces hope….
 
Paul is speaking about physical suffering.  Paul suffered and today around the world Christians are suffering for their faith.  But, there are other hardships as well.  When it’s hard to be consistent, when it’s hard to do we have promised, when our first reaction is to duck and run - and, yet, we don’t, God is at work in you, producing endurance, and endurance character, increasingly the character of Jesus formed in us.  It doesn’t come easily; it doesn’t magically happen.  Character grows through the struggle.  Who do you want to be?  No matter your age, how do you want to be remembered?  Are you willing to be consistent in the little things?
 
I left Home Depot with a utility knife I had put in my pocket, because I had too many others things to carry up to the check-out counter and I forgot to pay for it.  Should I care if I go back or not?  It’s inconvenient to go back, with all this stuff I’m carrying?  What would you do?  Character is formed in the crucible of hard choices.
 
We (1) reflect God’s glory when we live according to his ways.  We (2) are blessed when we do.  Our character (3) of integrity is formed by consistently doing what is right:  doing who we say we are, and here’s another…
 
There will be a handful of times in your life when someone you care about deeply is thinking of doing something that will come back to harm them:  maybe it’s a career choice that will throw the career/family balance off center; maybe it’s investing is a scheme that promises a 12% a year return.  Or maybe they are afraid to make a choice because what they are considering is new.  You know this is the time to speak up.  You have to say something, but you won’t have facts and figures to buttress your argument.  All you’ll have is you.  And all the other person will have is you.  The life you’ve lived up to that point will either cause them to consider carefully what you are advising, or disregard your words.  They will only have your life to go on.  What kind of life have you lived?
 
In cleaning out my old computer, I came across a letter I wrote to one of my adult children 9 years ago.  I wrote this:
 
“(The corporation you work for) can give you so many benefits and you have been smart to take advantage of them.  You have also taken advantage of things that you can get away with… little things that no one would check on or probably care about, and many other have taken advantage, too, so you are not alone.  In fact, it just seems the smart thing to do.  But, it is not and here is why I say it….”
 
then I go on to spell out why living a life of integrity matters.  To summarize it, I said:
 
“When there is someone who has real integrity, he or she stands out; it gets noticed.”
“What we do once becomes what we do a second time, and a third which becomes a habit (for good or for bad).”
“We reap what we sow.  God will not allow his principles to be ignored without consequence.”
 
Did my letter make a difference?  Hmm, I do know that four years later he took a job at a company with a president whom he then discovered did not act with integrity.  He said one thing and did another.  He was not honest in his dealings.  After a year, my son left.  He saw the mis-match between what the president said and did.  I think he saved himself heartache and perhaps worse by leaving when he did, and maybe, maybe what I wrote was part of that decision. Integrity matters.
 
What will you choose to do, today, tomorrow and the next?  How you will feel 30 minutes later? Choose, with God’s good help, to be a person, like Paul, of integrity.