[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"\u002Farticles\u002Flives-on-loan":3,"\u002Farticles\u002Flives-on-loan-surround":58},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"bibleBooks":8,"body":11,"columnName":40,"date":41,"description":17,"extension":42,"image":43,"meta":44,"minRead":45,"navigation":46,"path":47,"postType":48,"publication":49,"publicationUrl":43,"seo":50,"stem":51,"topics":52,"__hash__":57},"blog\u002Farticles\u002Flives-on-loan.md","Lives on Loan",{"name":7},"Dave Faust",[9,10],"1 Corinthians","Romans",{"type":12,"value":13,"toc":36},"minimark",[14,18,21,24,27,30,33],[15,16,17],"p",{},"In August my wife Candy and I took our daughter Melinda to college. She is the youngest of our three children. For her, it's time to spread her wings. For us, it means an empty nest (with a few feathers left behind).",[15,19,20],{},"During her high school years we would sit around the family room teasing each other, talking about school, and bantering about everything from pop music to Bible questions and current events. Today her room sits quiet and empty. No more clutter on the floor. No more half-eaten pizzas on the kitchen counter. No more late-night banging around downstairs after I've gone to bed . . . it's great, actually! God has blessed Candy and me with many friends, and this new season of life offers a freedom we haven't felt for years. So why do I still feel a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye?",[15,22,23],{},"Parents don't own our kids. They are just on loan to us for awhile. We are God's caretakers, bringing up the next generation on his behalf. No matter how well we understand this, though, we still feel the loss when someone we love leaves home.",[15,25,26],{},"Our own lives are on loan from God as well. On the day we accept Christ as Savior and Lord, we sign our heart's title over to him. Baptized into Christ, we receive a new quality of life that will never end. When changes come, our hope remains anchored in our unchanging God. When losses come, God \"gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ\" (1 Corinthians 15:57). When youthfulness fades and health declines, when loved ones move away or die, even when our own bodies are placed in the grave, nothing can \"separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord\" (Romans 8:39).",[15,28,29],{},"If your life is on loan, you may as well just give it back to God—with interest. That's what Otis Palmer did. Even in his seventies he made annual trips to Haiti where he encouraged missionaries, fixed broken plumbing, and taught children. When we learned that he was sick and near death, Candy and I visited him in his home. After we talked for awhile, I asked, \"Otis, I want to lead in prayer. What would you like for us to pray for you?\" He leaned back on his bed and thought for a long moment, then he replied, \"Honestly, I can't think of a thing! The Lord has been so good to me. He's given me everything I need and even more than I asked for.\" His wife Anna Jean added, \"He's at peace. We both are.\" We offered a short prayer of thanksgiving, then hugged Otis and left.",[15,31,32],{},"At the funeral a few days later, his son-in-law read a statement Otis had written about Heaven called \"Family Reunions.\" \"This reunion goes on and on and on,\" Otis had written. \"There will be singing and music. We will have our own houses—mansions, actually. There will be no quarreling or troubles of any sort, no locks, no credit cards or money.\" Until you arrive at that family reunion, Otis wrote, \"you proceed with life here working for the Father,\" and \"anything you need, he will provide.\"",[15,34,35],{},"Right now your life may contain an empty room, an empty nest, an empty place at the kitchen table. Remember, there is a family reunion coming. And with Christ as your partner, you never need to have an empty heart.",{"title":37,"searchDepth":38,"depth":38,"links":39},"",2,[],"First Look","2001-10-14","md",null,{},3,true,"\u002Farticles\u002Flives-on-loan","column","The Lookout",{"title":5,"description":17},"articles\u002Flives-on-loan",[53,54,55,56],"Biblical Theology","Intergenerational Ministry","Spiritual Formation","Christian Unity","nqHiwQIem6eDpeoRe5dmqfk1eDgA7MIppYn3kSdtkd8",[59,64],{"title":60,"path":61,"stem":62,"description":63,"children":-1},"Live Like You Believe It","\u002Farticles\u002Flive-like-you-believe-it","articles\u002Flive-like-you-believe-it","“They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him” (Titus 1:16, *New International Version*). What an indictment of phony faith! The apostle Paul warned Titus to watch out for religious influencers who claim to believe in God, but whose actions don’t match their words.",{"title":65,"path":66,"stem":67,"description":68,"children":-1},"Living and Active","\u002Farticles\u002Fliving-and-active","articles\u002Fliving-and-active","I met Feng Min at a dinner for international students at the University of Cincinnati. A few days before, he and his wife had come to the United States from China. Since the meal was sponsored by Christians, we bowed our heads and prayed before the food was served. Feng Min asked me what we were doing. It turns out, he had never seen anyone pray like that before."]