Rev. Dennis Ticen 2637 McCool Road, Portage, IN 46368 (219) 762-3846
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The Witness Issue XI
November 2014
"Home" Home has been on my mind a lot these days. As you read this, I am nearing the end of the "Lands of the Bible" trip with several from our congregation and community, and we have had a wonderful time. We have walked where Jesus walked, sat where Paul taught, and stood in awe as we considered the Revelation of Jesus to John on the Island of Patmos. I love to travel, but near the end of every trip, my thoughts turn to home. It will be good to get back to Indiana, to sleep in my own bed, to be surrounded by my family and friends. It will be good to not have to do my laundry in the sink! It will be good to be in familiar surroundings. It will even be good to see Hershey again! As it has been said, "Home is where they love you anyway." Or, as singer Michael Card once put it, "Home is where someone is waiting and loving, and happy to see you again, that half of your heart that somebody else treasures, the one who's your forever friend." But as good as home here is, it's not my forever home. Even as I walk these ancient streets so far from Portage, as I consider the events that took place here and think about the men and women who went so far from their homes so that the Gospel could be proclaimed, I remember they did what they did because they believed in another home, an ultimate home. As the letter to the Hebrews says, "They were longing for a better country—a heavenly one" (Hebrews 11:16). Being on this trip, walking these ancient and modern streets has put within me a longing for home. I'll be glad to get back to Mercedes Avenue, and while I'm not in a hurry to move on to that "better home," I'm thankful that God loves me enough to prepare a place better than I can imagine. Jesus came, lived and died so that one day, we can finally be home. I'll see you soon at the "home" place! Pastor Dennis