I john 2:6; I Peter 2:4-5 – Rejection; Psalm 27:9-10
Homeless people are a problem for those of us in the property management business. They urinate on the walls and leave trash as evidence of their seemingly never ending presence. Dealing with homeless people can stretch ones patience to the end. The only way I can remember to always be kind to them is to keep in mind they were someone’s little baby. Only then do I regain my patience and kindness.
Remember the scene, a little baby is born, mom and dad look on with admiration at God’s miracle, yet as time goes on, we as families have our differences. It’s hard to imagine, but some parents later in life reject their children. What if your mom and dad reject you? What kind of hurt is that? Deep and lasting. Psalm 27:9-10: “Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, O God my Savior. Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me.” The hurt of rejection from mom and dad can leave lasting scars. Remember, the Lord won’t reject us.
God’s word says we must walk as Jesus walked. I John 2:6: “Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.” When Jesus was on this earth, He was rejected. Does this mean we can be rejected? Yes; if we stand for Christ and truth, we at some time can expect to be rejected.
Sin is the ugly root in each one of us; even in light of that truth rejecting one’s own son or daughter seems cruel to me. I have a hard time understanding this but human pride, unforgiveness and the desire to control other people’s lives forces some people to reject their own. How sad.
Remember God could have very easily written us off. Even though we are His sons and daughters, we are all prodigal sinners. We all need forgiveness and restoration. Remember Christ’s work on the cross, it allows us to be accepted by God the Father, not rejected.
Do you know someone rejected by their own blood? Be gentle, be patient. Remind them though flesh and blood may reject, the Lord will not reject them. Pray for restoration.
Mark 8:31; “He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again.” If you have been rejected, you have walked as Jesus walked. Walk on brother, walk on sister, you’re in good company. Continue to walk as Jesus walked.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Don’t It Make You Wanna Go Home.
During the week of Christmas 1968 I was working in a cable trench somewhere in Southeast Asia. It was close to 100 degrees, and I was working with a Wisconsin cheese head named Mike. Mike said to me, “Beef, wouldn’t it feel good to lay in a snow bank for about an hour?” It sure would have felt good at that time. Mike and I reminisced about memories of winter and Christmas in the upper Midwest. It left us “longing to go home".
When I got home in the spring of 1969, I realized you never really come home. Things change while you’re gone; people die, trees get cut down, and other things change. Memories of home become distorted over time. The reality of coming home never measures up to our “finally coming home” expectations.
Today we as Christians talk very little about Heaven and the new world to come. Why? Because we have it very good here. God has blessed us but we have sold out for second best, the pattern of this world. Romans 12: 1-2: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.” We may say one thing and believe another; we live grabbing and clutching for everything the world has to offer, yet deep down we know it does not truly satisfy.
We will not truly feel at home until we go to Heaven. The old Negro spiritual was right, “The world is not my home, I’m just passing through.” In this world, we should not feel so comfortable with it that we fail to look forward to our Heavenly home and the new world to come.
The 60’s country music song writer Joe South penned these words, “All God’s children get weary when they roam, don’t it make you wanna go home.” In Hebrews 11, the chapter on the heroes of the faith, it says: “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” (Heb. 11:8-10) and “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country--a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.” (Heb.11:13-16)
Are you weary of roaming? Are you searching for a place of personal peace? Is there a “searching for home” shaped hole in your heart only God can fill? Are you weary? Come home to Jesus.
Come home, come home,You who are weary, come home;Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling,Calling, O sinner, come home! (I think I heard this somewhere before.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AirBbS4R7Z0
When I got home in the spring of 1969, I realized you never really come home. Things change while you’re gone; people die, trees get cut down, and other things change. Memories of home become distorted over time. The reality of coming home never measures up to our “finally coming home” expectations.
Today we as Christians talk very little about Heaven and the new world to come. Why? Because we have it very good here. God has blessed us but we have sold out for second best, the pattern of this world. Romans 12: 1-2: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.” We may say one thing and believe another; we live grabbing and clutching for everything the world has to offer, yet deep down we know it does not truly satisfy.
We will not truly feel at home until we go to Heaven. The old Negro spiritual was right, “The world is not my home, I’m just passing through.” In this world, we should not feel so comfortable with it that we fail to look forward to our Heavenly home and the new world to come.
The 60’s country music song writer Joe South penned these words, “All God’s children get weary when they roam, don’t it make you wanna go home.” In Hebrews 11, the chapter on the heroes of the faith, it says: “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” (Heb. 11:8-10) and “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country--a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.” (Heb.11:13-16)
Are you weary of roaming? Are you searching for a place of personal peace? Is there a “searching for home” shaped hole in your heart only God can fill? Are you weary? Come home to Jesus.
Come home, come home,You who are weary, come home;Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling,Calling, O sinner, come home! (I think I heard this somewhere before.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AirBbS4R7Z0
Friday, September 14, 2007
Diminishing Our Daughters’ Honor
Proverbs 11:22: “Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion.” (NIV)
Kyla Ebert, a twenty-two year old college student and Hooter’s waitress, was escorted off a Southwest Airlines flight for being dressed in a manner deemed far too revealing. Ms. Ebert protested and was allowed to fly. There has been much discussion concerning this incident; speculation and snickering by the press. I read one press account that said “What’s next? Will women be required to wear berka’s when they fly Southwest?” The discussions center around what kind of dress is appropriate and what is too revealing. I realize Ms. Ebert is 22 years old but did mom and dad teach any discretion or modesty in dress when she was 15 years old?
During a discussion with a couple of friends about being parents, the husband used the phrase “allowing our children to diminish their honor”. In our society today, do we allow our children, in the name of fashion and popularity, to dress in a manner “that diminishes their own honor”? It set me thinking.
We as parents are to know better. One of our God given functions is to teach and guide our children through “the maze” called life. But I fear we as parents want our children to be fashionable and popular. Will we allow our children to cheapen themselves as we worship at the altar of fashion and popularity? As a caring parent, we should not allow them to acquiesce to pressure of the “anything goes” culture. We must protect them, not just for the short term but for the long term, protecting their lifelong honor.
Jacob, the Old Testament patriarch, had a number of sons and a daughter named Dinah. In Genesis 34 Dinah, apparently on her own, goes off to visit the neighboring pagan tribe. In the process, she is raped by the son of the tribal leader. Shechem, the son, speaks tenderly to Dinah and wants her as his wife. The clan is willing to pay anything for him to have her as his wife. “Now Jacob's sons (Dinah’s brothers) had come in from the fields as soon as they heard what had happened. They were filled with grief and fury, because Shechem had done a disgraceful thing in Israel by lying with Jacob's daughter--a thing that should not be done.” (Gen. 34:7).
They were filled with grief and fury! Why, because Shechem had done a “disgraceful thing”, lying with Jacob’s daughter, “a thing that should not be done.” Dinah was blessed to have two older brothers who were willing to defend there sister but in their fury and grief they became deceitful.
Negotiations ensue, both clans, intending to take advantage of each other, reach agreement which extracts a high price for her hand in marriage. Dinah’s brothers, Simeon and Levi, add an additional requirement for the marriage agreement; all the men of the pagan tribe must be circumcised. The pagan tribe agrees and when they are sore and healing and cannot defend themselves, Simeon and Levi kill the men with the sword, plundering everything and take the women and children captive. A message needed to be sent. In any case, this is an overreaction to this situation.
But do our women know we would defend their “honor” no matter what? Would we, as men today, defend our daughters’ honor, our wife’s honor? Do we as men through indifference allow our children to “diminish their own honor” by being an indifferent parent, by shirking our duties? When we defend someone’s honor, let’s deal decisively but honestly and with passion.
Kyla Ebert may be a babe and the world will admire her or it may abuse her. There is nothing wrong with beauty; God is a God of beauty. No doubt a beautiful woman is the finest piece of God’s handiwork but without modesty, she is a woman devoid of true beauty; she looks cheap.
Have we, as parents by our own indifference, allowed our daughters to “diminish their own honor”? If we have, how sad.
Kyla Ebert, a twenty-two year old college student and Hooter’s waitress, was escorted off a Southwest Airlines flight for being dressed in a manner deemed far too revealing. Ms. Ebert protested and was allowed to fly. There has been much discussion concerning this incident; speculation and snickering by the press. I read one press account that said “What’s next? Will women be required to wear berka’s when they fly Southwest?” The discussions center around what kind of dress is appropriate and what is too revealing. I realize Ms. Ebert is 22 years old but did mom and dad teach any discretion or modesty in dress when she was 15 years old?
During a discussion with a couple of friends about being parents, the husband used the phrase “allowing our children to diminish their honor”. In our society today, do we allow our children, in the name of fashion and popularity, to dress in a manner “that diminishes their own honor”? It set me thinking.
We as parents are to know better. One of our God given functions is to teach and guide our children through “the maze” called life. But I fear we as parents want our children to be fashionable and popular. Will we allow our children to cheapen themselves as we worship at the altar of fashion and popularity? As a caring parent, we should not allow them to acquiesce to pressure of the “anything goes” culture. We must protect them, not just for the short term but for the long term, protecting their lifelong honor.
Jacob, the Old Testament patriarch, had a number of sons and a daughter named Dinah. In Genesis 34 Dinah, apparently on her own, goes off to visit the neighboring pagan tribe. In the process, she is raped by the son of the tribal leader. Shechem, the son, speaks tenderly to Dinah and wants her as his wife. The clan is willing to pay anything for him to have her as his wife. “Now Jacob's sons (Dinah’s brothers) had come in from the fields as soon as they heard what had happened. They were filled with grief and fury, because Shechem had done a disgraceful thing in Israel by lying with Jacob's daughter--a thing that should not be done.” (Gen. 34:7).
They were filled with grief and fury! Why, because Shechem had done a “disgraceful thing”, lying with Jacob’s daughter, “a thing that should not be done.” Dinah was blessed to have two older brothers who were willing to defend there sister but in their fury and grief they became deceitful.
Negotiations ensue, both clans, intending to take advantage of each other, reach agreement which extracts a high price for her hand in marriage. Dinah’s brothers, Simeon and Levi, add an additional requirement for the marriage agreement; all the men of the pagan tribe must be circumcised. The pagan tribe agrees and when they are sore and healing and cannot defend themselves, Simeon and Levi kill the men with the sword, plundering everything and take the women and children captive. A message needed to be sent. In any case, this is an overreaction to this situation.
But do our women know we would defend their “honor” no matter what? Would we, as men today, defend our daughters’ honor, our wife’s honor? Do we as men through indifference allow our children to “diminish their own honor” by being an indifferent parent, by shirking our duties? When we defend someone’s honor, let’s deal decisively but honestly and with passion.
Kyla Ebert may be a babe and the world will admire her or it may abuse her. There is nothing wrong with beauty; God is a God of beauty. No doubt a beautiful woman is the finest piece of God’s handiwork but without modesty, she is a woman devoid of true beauty; she looks cheap.
Have we, as parents by our own indifference, allowed our daughters to “diminish their own honor”? If we have, how sad.
Thursday, September 06, 2007
When the swallows leave Winfield Township (Doesn’t sound as romantic as “when the swallows return to Capistrano!)
The first sign of fall was three leaves turning golden yellow on the big ash tree by the bird feeder. The days continue to be hot but the evenings and nights cool off, putting a snap in the Minnesota air. My neighbor stops by and during our conversation says, “The air feels like fall.”
Last Saturday after I had taken a tire to be fixed at Warren’s in Prinsburg, I decided to drive home cross country. I ended up coming east on County 64. Slightly east of Darren Bratsch’s about 160 barn swallows were gathered on power lines. I love barn swallows, the “fighter jets” of the bird world. They are efficient bug harvesters; each farm place seems to have about eight on an average year. I wondered, who told the swallows when to meet? Who told them where to meet? I mean, if my math is correct, 8 per farm, 160 swallows total, they gathered from twenty farms.
When swallows have their first of two groups of fledglings, they harvest bugs from before sunrise until after sunset to feed their young. When they have the second batch, the young swallows help feed the new batch making it easier on mom and dad. Swallows take time off after the second batch of fledglings is out of the nest. They hang around ponds, grass, and fields harvesting bugs strengthening themselves for migration.
Barn swallows are impressive travelers. A round trip for migration can cover 14,000 miles. Who told them when and where? When swallows migrate, they average 600 miles a day; roughly 12 days to cover the 7,000 mile migration. I’m impressed.
Swallows have been known to play with each other. People have observed a swallow picking up a piece of tin foil, flying in the air, dropping the foil and another picking it off in flight only to be dropped again and the process is repeated over and over again. (Personally, I believe this is “Top Gun” training for young “fighter jet” swallows.)
The Lord takes care of the birds. (Matt. 6:26-27: Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?) Something is telling them where to gather (Rev. 19:17: And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, "Come, gather together for the great supper of God,) and when to gather to head back to Argentina.
The Lord is so good, yet many times I do not recognize it. Last Saturday I was concerned about my Sunday sermon. As I worked, my thoughts were continually occupied with thoughts about this sermon. Sunday morning I awoke early and in my time of prayer, I asked for God’s guidance. I received no peace until I met with the elders of the church; they had no peace either concerning this service. Yet when we visited, the same issue was on all our hearts. My sermon addressed these issues. We prayed with tears of joy in our eyes.
What’s the message? On Saturday the Lord allowed me to notice the swallows on the power line by Darren’s and it should have reminded me not to worry because if the Lord takes care of the barn swallows, He will surely take care of me, one of His sons.
I should have known; oh what needless pain we bear!
Last Saturday after I had taken a tire to be fixed at Warren’s in Prinsburg, I decided to drive home cross country. I ended up coming east on County 64. Slightly east of Darren Bratsch’s about 160 barn swallows were gathered on power lines. I love barn swallows, the “fighter jets” of the bird world. They are efficient bug harvesters; each farm place seems to have about eight on an average year. I wondered, who told the swallows when to meet? Who told them where to meet? I mean, if my math is correct, 8 per farm, 160 swallows total, they gathered from twenty farms.
When swallows have their first of two groups of fledglings, they harvest bugs from before sunrise until after sunset to feed their young. When they have the second batch, the young swallows help feed the new batch making it easier on mom and dad. Swallows take time off after the second batch of fledglings is out of the nest. They hang around ponds, grass, and fields harvesting bugs strengthening themselves for migration.
Barn swallows are impressive travelers. A round trip for migration can cover 14,000 miles. Who told them when and where? When swallows migrate, they average 600 miles a day; roughly 12 days to cover the 7,000 mile migration. I’m impressed.
Swallows have been known to play with each other. People have observed a swallow picking up a piece of tin foil, flying in the air, dropping the foil and another picking it off in flight only to be dropped again and the process is repeated over and over again. (Personally, I believe this is “Top Gun” training for young “fighter jet” swallows.)
The Lord takes care of the birds. (Matt. 6:26-27: Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?) Something is telling them where to gather (Rev. 19:17: And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, "Come, gather together for the great supper of God,) and when to gather to head back to Argentina.
The Lord is so good, yet many times I do not recognize it. Last Saturday I was concerned about my Sunday sermon. As I worked, my thoughts were continually occupied with thoughts about this sermon. Sunday morning I awoke early and in my time of prayer, I asked for God’s guidance. I received no peace until I met with the elders of the church; they had no peace either concerning this service. Yet when we visited, the same issue was on all our hearts. My sermon addressed these issues. We prayed with tears of joy in our eyes.
What’s the message? On Saturday the Lord allowed me to notice the swallows on the power line by Darren’s and it should have reminded me not to worry because if the Lord takes care of the barn swallows, He will surely take care of me, one of His sons.
I should have known; oh what needless pain we bear!
Friday, August 31, 2007
Living Among the Pagans—How does the world view the church?
I Peter 2:12 says: "Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us."
This year as I preached in different churches, I have begun to see a pattern. The pattern is an oppressive, indifferent, grumbling attitude toward life and the church.
I was talking with a young man who knows that I am a Christian and I asked him what he thought of Christian men. He said the Christian men at his work are viewed as weak and submissive “even though they really are not", he said. I asked about the church. It’s viewed as totally irrelevant; “it needs to change”, he said.
I wonder if we (the church) haven’t brought these problems on ourselves. We are called to be a light upon a hill (Matthew 5:14-16: "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”) when in reality we have become a monastery upon a hill. The church is called to be a light to a dark, dark world. Yet we have separated ourselves but in the wrong way.
We have taken upon ourselves to use the model of the monastery not the light upon the hill shinning in the darkness model. The monastery model is identified as a thick stone walled fortress high upon the hill, occupied by people dressed differently than the world (monk garb). We stay in the monastery, we take good care of ourselves in the monastery (the goal is self-sufficiency so we don’t have to touch the dirty world). We speak a strange language (church talk); we are seen as walking in circles around the monastery, mumbling to ourselves (evangelistic campaigns based in the church where only the saved show up to hear the message).
It says in 1 John 2:6: “Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.” How do we as Christians walk? Where do we walk?
Jesus was criticized for hanging out with the down and out people. (Matt. 11:19: The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners.'" But wisdom is proved right by her actions.”) Jesus had His head anointed with oil by the village whore. He took a cup of water from a women with a checkered past. Oh, we must walk as Jesus walked but we “keep our distance” from our hurting world because we want to keep our “upstanding” reputation. Oh, we might keep our upstanding reputation but the pagans who live among us will view us with suspicion because they don’t know us.
If we are to live among the pagans, we must first live “among” them... We must have relationship with them not just rub shoulders with them as we pass on the street. If we live among them, trust them, include them, they will experience relationship, and once we have a relationship, the door is open and we can share Christ. Is not Christ and the need for a Savior what personal relationship is all about?
There is an old poem, I don’t know the name of it, but it’s about the village priest who wanted to be closer to God. He climbed up the church steeple looking into the heavens and he cried out to God “where art thou God?” and God replied: “Down here among my people.” I believe we are climbing up our steeples to get away from a hurting, sinful world when we are called to live among the pagans. But we are called to be different, set apart from the world, not physically but set apart in our actions and spirit. We are to be in the world but not of it. Romans 12:16-18: Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
Are we living among the pagans or are we just rubbing shoulders, fleeing back to the monastery on the hill, walking with our head down, and grumbling how bad things are? Are we afraid of the world? Jesus said: “I have overcome the world.” (John 17:13-20 says: "I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message",) If we believe this, why are we so afraid to leave the monastery? Why are we afraid to climb down from the steeple?
We do not have to take Christ to a hurting world, He is already there. Let’s go see what He is doing so that as we live among the pagans and they will see our good works.
There is work to do. Let’s go do it. When we are busy doing the work of the Lord, we won’t have time to continue our petty grumbling. Our spirits will be lifted as we see God’s work among the “pagans” and yes, the Holy Spirit will lead and guide these pagans and us as we become brothers and sisters in Christ. Once we engage the pagan world, put on God’s armor and go to battle and fight for Truth, we will not be viewed as “wimps hiding out from the hurting world” but will be viewed as sons and daughters of the living God.
With God’s help, we will turn the world upside down. We are called to do it; we are empowered to do it and the Lord will provide and protect. Let’s go! Wake up, Church, wake up!
This year as I preached in different churches, I have begun to see a pattern. The pattern is an oppressive, indifferent, grumbling attitude toward life and the church.
I was talking with a young man who knows that I am a Christian and I asked him what he thought of Christian men. He said the Christian men at his work are viewed as weak and submissive “even though they really are not", he said. I asked about the church. It’s viewed as totally irrelevant; “it needs to change”, he said.
I wonder if we (the church) haven’t brought these problems on ourselves. We are called to be a light upon a hill (Matthew 5:14-16: "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”) when in reality we have become a monastery upon a hill. The church is called to be a light to a dark, dark world. Yet we have separated ourselves but in the wrong way.
We have taken upon ourselves to use the model of the monastery not the light upon the hill shinning in the darkness model. The monastery model is identified as a thick stone walled fortress high upon the hill, occupied by people dressed differently than the world (monk garb). We stay in the monastery, we take good care of ourselves in the monastery (the goal is self-sufficiency so we don’t have to touch the dirty world). We speak a strange language (church talk); we are seen as walking in circles around the monastery, mumbling to ourselves (evangelistic campaigns based in the church where only the saved show up to hear the message).
It says in 1 John 2:6: “Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.” How do we as Christians walk? Where do we walk?
Jesus was criticized for hanging out with the down and out people. (Matt. 11:19: The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners.'" But wisdom is proved right by her actions.”) Jesus had His head anointed with oil by the village whore. He took a cup of water from a women with a checkered past. Oh, we must walk as Jesus walked but we “keep our distance” from our hurting world because we want to keep our “upstanding” reputation. Oh, we might keep our upstanding reputation but the pagans who live among us will view us with suspicion because they don’t know us.
If we are to live among the pagans, we must first live “among” them... We must have relationship with them not just rub shoulders with them as we pass on the street. If we live among them, trust them, include them, they will experience relationship, and once we have a relationship, the door is open and we can share Christ. Is not Christ and the need for a Savior what personal relationship is all about?
There is an old poem, I don’t know the name of it, but it’s about the village priest who wanted to be closer to God. He climbed up the church steeple looking into the heavens and he cried out to God “where art thou God?” and God replied: “Down here among my people.” I believe we are climbing up our steeples to get away from a hurting, sinful world when we are called to live among the pagans. But we are called to be different, set apart from the world, not physically but set apart in our actions and spirit. We are to be in the world but not of it. Romans 12:16-18: Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
Are we living among the pagans or are we just rubbing shoulders, fleeing back to the monastery on the hill, walking with our head down, and grumbling how bad things are? Are we afraid of the world? Jesus said: “I have overcome the world.” (John 17:13-20 says: "I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message",) If we believe this, why are we so afraid to leave the monastery? Why are we afraid to climb down from the steeple?
We do not have to take Christ to a hurting world, He is already there. Let’s go see what He is doing so that as we live among the pagans and they will see our good works.
There is work to do. Let’s go do it. When we are busy doing the work of the Lord, we won’t have time to continue our petty grumbling. Our spirits will be lifted as we see God’s work among the “pagans” and yes, the Holy Spirit will lead and guide these pagans and us as we become brothers and sisters in Christ. Once we engage the pagan world, put on God’s armor and go to battle and fight for Truth, we will not be viewed as “wimps hiding out from the hurting world” but will be viewed as sons and daughters of the living God.
With God’s help, we will turn the world upside down. We are called to do it; we are empowered to do it and the Lord will provide and protect. Let’s go! Wake up, Church, wake up!
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Living the High Life
Miller High Life is a beer brand. It currently has an advertising campaign promoting the fact that you can enjoy a reasonably priced beer (Miller Beer) and implies that with the money you save, you can enjoy the high life, the good life, and a time of prosperity, status, and good will—all as a result of drinking Miller Beer.
We all want a good life. We want a simple life, peaceable, a life blessed with children, just enough stuff, not too much to be a burden, a respectable life, a successful life. How do we get it? In Psalm 103:17-18 is says: "But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord's love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children's children-- with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts." In a nutshell it says if we obey God, His love and blessings will flow in our lives and in our children’s lives and their children’s lives…our grandkids. What’s the key? Obey God! You want a good life and you want to be a blessing to your children and grandchildren, obey God. God’s plan works. My plan doesn’t work.
Why obey? Because God says to do it. Why? So in this life we can live the true “high life” and be a blessing to our generations to come.
Obey God; Fear Him; have awesome reverence and fear and He will bless us and our descendants. Why? Because God says so. God’s blessing upon you. Amen.
We all want a good life. We want a simple life, peaceable, a life blessed with children, just enough stuff, not too much to be a burden, a respectable life, a successful life. How do we get it? In Psalm 103:17-18 is says: "But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord's love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children's children-- with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts." In a nutshell it says if we obey God, His love and blessings will flow in our lives and in our children’s lives and their children’s lives…our grandkids. What’s the key? Obey God! You want a good life and you want to be a blessing to your children and grandchildren, obey God. God’s plan works. My plan doesn’t work.
Why obey? Because God says to do it. Why? So in this life we can live the true “high life” and be a blessing to our generations to come.
Obey God; Fear Him; have awesome reverence and fear and He will bless us and our descendants. Why? Because God says so. God’s blessing upon you. Amen.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
More on Acedia—Culture of Indifference or Sloth
Dorothy Sayers, on the sin of acedia or sloth:
“It is one who believes in nothing, cares for nothing, seeks to know nothing, interferes with nothing, enjoys nothing, hates nothing, finds purpose in nothing, lives for nothing, and remains alive because there is nothing for which it will die…”
R. R. Reno in First Things (August 2003) says this:
“Most of us just want to be left alone so that we can get on with our lives. Most of us want to be safe. We want to find a cocoon, a spiritually, psychologically, economically and physically gated community in which to live without danger and disturbance. The carefree life, a life acedia, is our cultural ideal. Pride may be the root of all evil, but in our day the trunk, branches and leaves of evil are characterized by a belief that moral responsibility, spiritual effort and religious discipline are empty burdens, ineffective and archaic demands that cannot lead us forward, inaccessible ideals that, even if we believe in them, are beyond our capacity.”
Today to be aloof, distant, with an appearance of being well-healed, possessing a sense of coldness for the purpose of creating space in our personal cocoon, leaves us respected and admired in today’s world. But deep down inside we know we are slowly suffocating to death from loneliness, indifference, and purposelessness. May God wake us up. Come Lord Jesus, come. Amen.
“It is one who believes in nothing, cares for nothing, seeks to know nothing, interferes with nothing, enjoys nothing, hates nothing, finds purpose in nothing, lives for nothing, and remains alive because there is nothing for which it will die…”
R. R. Reno in First Things (August 2003) says this:
“Most of us just want to be left alone so that we can get on with our lives. Most of us want to be safe. We want to find a cocoon, a spiritually, psychologically, economically and physically gated community in which to live without danger and disturbance. The carefree life, a life acedia, is our cultural ideal. Pride may be the root of all evil, but in our day the trunk, branches and leaves of evil are characterized by a belief that moral responsibility, spiritual effort and religious discipline are empty burdens, ineffective and archaic demands that cannot lead us forward, inaccessible ideals that, even if we believe in them, are beyond our capacity.”
Today to be aloof, distant, with an appearance of being well-healed, possessing a sense of coldness for the purpose of creating space in our personal cocoon, leaves us respected and admired in today’s world. But deep down inside we know we are slowly suffocating to death from loneliness, indifference, and purposelessness. May God wake us up. Come Lord Jesus, come. Amen.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Send in the Clowns
(Click on the title to hear the song & see the lyrics)
Clowns have a special place in the history of the circus. Their job was to lighten the mood. If an act did not go off well, the call went out to “send in the clowns” and the clowns flooded the ring. Clowns were also used to create a distraction especially if a tragedy or accident occurred. The clowns were sent in to distract and maintain the “happy” experience.
Stephen Sondheim wrote a song called “Send in the Clowns” which was popularized by Judy Collins and others. The song is from a musical in which an aging actress begins to see her talent steadily slipping away and wonders if she is at that point where they need to “send in the clowns” to distract the audience from her diminishing talent. A sad day for this actress when she realizes as far as her career goes, “it’s over”.
Churches have clown ministries. I guess they have their place; special occasions, working with children but I wonder if it is frivolous. What are they trying to distract us from, if anything, or is it just good fun?
As Christians, we are called to be joyous not morose. James 1:2 says: “Consider it pure joy”. Titus 2:7-8 says in part: “...in your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech…” But I don’t see where we are called to be frivolous. I mean when the wheels fly off of our life and we need help, will we seek out the clown?
I believe we will seek out a friend who is rooted in God’s word, a friend who is tested, passionate about life and the faith, encouraging with wise words of comfort. I believe we are called to be serious about the faith, not frivolous. Christ was never pictured as a chuckling, jolly figure. Isaiah 53:3 described Him as “A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.”
In school, I was the class clown and I was good at it. As class clown I deeply wanted the approval of my peers. It masked or distracted from what was really going on in my life. Inside my heart was a God-shaped hole and no amount of acceptance from a fractured world could fill that hole. I needed Christ but I didn’t know it. I distracted myself from the sadness unfolding around me. It was a frivolous, self deception; I was the court jester.
How many people on the surface appear happy and well adjusted, keeping up a “glittering image” while being lonely and hurting deeply? Have we as a The Church “sent in the clowns” when we should be demonstrating the love of Christ?
Clowns have a special place in the history of the circus. Their job was to lighten the mood. If an act did not go off well, the call went out to “send in the clowns” and the clowns flooded the ring. Clowns were also used to create a distraction especially if a tragedy or accident occurred. The clowns were sent in to distract and maintain the “happy” experience.
Stephen Sondheim wrote a song called “Send in the Clowns” which was popularized by Judy Collins and others. The song is from a musical in which an aging actress begins to see her talent steadily slipping away and wonders if she is at that point where they need to “send in the clowns” to distract the audience from her diminishing talent. A sad day for this actress when she realizes as far as her career goes, “it’s over”.
Churches have clown ministries. I guess they have their place; special occasions, working with children but I wonder if it is frivolous. What are they trying to distract us from, if anything, or is it just good fun?
As Christians, we are called to be joyous not morose. James 1:2 says: “Consider it pure joy”. Titus 2:7-8 says in part: “...in your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech…” But I don’t see where we are called to be frivolous. I mean when the wheels fly off of our life and we need help, will we seek out the clown?
I believe we will seek out a friend who is rooted in God’s word, a friend who is tested, passionate about life and the faith, encouraging with wise words of comfort. I believe we are called to be serious about the faith, not frivolous. Christ was never pictured as a chuckling, jolly figure. Isaiah 53:3 described Him as “A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.”
In school, I was the class clown and I was good at it. As class clown I deeply wanted the approval of my peers. It masked or distracted from what was really going on in my life. Inside my heart was a God-shaped hole and no amount of acceptance from a fractured world could fill that hole. I needed Christ but I didn’t know it. I distracted myself from the sadness unfolding around me. It was a frivolous, self deception; I was the court jester.
How many people on the surface appear happy and well adjusted, keeping up a “glittering image” while being lonely and hurting deeply? Have we as a The Church “sent in the clowns” when we should be demonstrating the love of Christ?
Monday, August 06, 2007
Dakota Fred’s Old Time Egg Case
“Dakota Fred” Seehusen was my great uncle; he was called “Dakota Fred” because he left Minnesota for South Dakota. You see over the years the Seehusen clan had used a limited number of first names with the middle names always being the name of their father. This way the clans could keep track of who was who without having to employ a genealogist. So, everyone had a nickname: Dakota Fred, Fat Bill, Short Bill, Hank, H.T., Barber John or Quiet John.
At one time Dakota Fred had a homemade wooden egg case (crate). It was a case made especially to carry eggs to town to be sold so that they wouldn’t be broken.
Now here is where life takes an interesting twist. For four years, I have been involved in a men’s Bible study in Cokato, Minnesota. Tuesday night I arrived early for Bible study (we hold it in Morris Brothers’ Excavating Shop) and I was helping clean up the floor when I noticed an old box against the wall. Burned into the box was F. H. Seehusen, Danube, Minnesota. I was shocked. I asked Tom, the owner, “Where did the box come from?” He said he’d had the men clean up the shop one day this week and they had found it and brought it to him to see. Tom has no idea where the box came from and he gave it to me.
I wonder—why did this box, how many years later, end up in the exact shop where I have Bible study? The shop is 60 miles away from Danube, my current home and origin of Dakota Fred’s egg case. What’s going on here? We were all amazed and left wondering. Is God trying to tell me something or does he just want me to return the egg case to Dakota Fred’s descendents? That’s what I did and they were extremely pleased to receive it.
Where has this egg case been for 70 years? Only God knows. Isn’t that good? Only God knows! Another question to ask when I get to Heaven. Trivial, yes, but you must admit it is intriguing.
At one time Dakota Fred had a homemade wooden egg case (crate). It was a case made especially to carry eggs to town to be sold so that they wouldn’t be broken.
Now here is where life takes an interesting twist. For four years, I have been involved in a men’s Bible study in Cokato, Minnesota. Tuesday night I arrived early for Bible study (we hold it in Morris Brothers’ Excavating Shop) and I was helping clean up the floor when I noticed an old box against the wall. Burned into the box was F. H. Seehusen, Danube, Minnesota. I was shocked. I asked Tom, the owner, “Where did the box come from?” He said he’d had the men clean up the shop one day this week and they had found it and brought it to him to see. Tom has no idea where the box came from and he gave it to me.
I wonder—why did this box, how many years later, end up in the exact shop where I have Bible study? The shop is 60 miles away from Danube, my current home and origin of Dakota Fred’s egg case. What’s going on here? We were all amazed and left wondering. Is God trying to tell me something or does he just want me to return the egg case to Dakota Fred’s descendents? That’s what I did and they were extremely pleased to receive it.
Where has this egg case been for 70 years? Only God knows. Isn’t that good? Only God knows! Another question to ask when I get to Heaven. Trivial, yes, but you must admit it is intriguing.
Friday, August 03, 2007
When Bridges Collapse…
Ecclesiastes 3:1-4 - There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
Psalm 31:15 - My times are in your hands; deliver me from my enemies and from those who pursue me.
Matthew 10:29-31 - Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
Lamentations 3:37-38 - Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come?
Isaiah 45:7 - I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things.
Acts 17:24-28 - "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being.'
Exodus 4:11 - The Lord said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord?
John 9:1-3 - As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.
Romans 8:26-28 - In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Romans 11:33 - Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!
Psalm 31:15 - My times are in your hands; deliver me from my enemies and from those who pursue me.
Matthew 10:29-31 - Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
Lamentations 3:37-38 - Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come?
Isaiah 45:7 - I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things.
Acts 17:24-28 - "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being.'
Exodus 4:11 - The Lord said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord?
John 9:1-3 - As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.
Romans 8:26-28 - In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Romans 11:33 - Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Can you blow the water out of a spoon?
Theologian R. C. Sproul says there are two parts to the holiness of God—His “set apartness” (He is not like us and we are not like Him—we are set apart) and His moral purity. We have a tendency to dwell on His moral purity rather than dwell on His “set apartness.”
I remember my Sunday school teacher Myra Moje handing out a one page paper with a picture on each side along with a small amount of writing. The Bible story was about Moses and the children of Israel and the parting of the Red Sea. On the front was Moses and the children of Israel walking into a lake with water parted, water probably 10 feet deep. Moses looked confident; the children of Israel looked scared. On the back of the lesson the picture was of the Egyptian army drowning in the Red Sea. I kept this lesson and hung it on the wall in my bedroom.
I am preparing to preach on the holiness of God and I thought about how majestic, powerful and mighty He is. How different from us. I considered the parting of the Red Sea; a cursory glance of the reading of Exodus 14 and 15 is impressive. It says in Exodus 14:21: “Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided,” a whole night, up to 12 hours.
I then read Exodus 15, “the first praise song of the Bible” that God parted the Red Sea by air out of His nostrils. A “strong wind” in Exodus 14 is just air out of God’s nostrils.
I took a spoon, a serving spoon, and put a little water in it and then with my nose, tried to blow the water out of the spoon; I could not. I closed off one nostril and blew a little water out of the spoon. I have proof for sure that I’m not like God—He is set apart totally different from me. He is marvelous, wonderful and mighty beyond comparison.
Remember the Sunday school lesson with the picture of the ten foot wall of water? I did some research from World Book Encyclopedia; not the Internet in case you were wondering. (You can’t believe everything you read on the internet but you can believe World Book because my mother-in-law sold World Book and Mabel wouldn’t sell anything that told a lie!). In World Book it says the average depth of the Red Sea is 1785 feet; a little over a third of a mile in depth. The widest point of the Red Sea is 221 miles. I got to thinking—let’s say they didn’t pass through the widest part but a part 50 miles wide. Now, our Holy, Majestic, all powerful God, blows air out of his nose; it’s a strong east wind (Ex.14:21). He stands water up 1785 feet for 50 miles, holds it there for 12 hours and I cannot blow water out of a spoon! He is set apart from us. He is God. He is Holy, Majestic, and All-Powerful. We are not any of these.
Listen, it said when He closed back the water, He let out a breath (Ex. 15:10 But you blew with your breath, and the sea covered them.), and the Egyptian army and their horses sunk like lead to the bottom…Just a sigh from the Almighty and water returned.
Brothers and sisters let us wallow in the power and majesty and holiness of our God. Forgive us for trivializing His word about who He is. A little bit of research into facts leaves us staggering—He is the Great I Am…
Last Saturday I heard a story on the radio about a disagreement about who has the tallest building in the world Taipei, Taiwan or Abu Dubai. Abu Dubai won—1685 feet. Think of this, 3,500 years later, mere men get puffed up when they pile up steel, concrete and glass, and with modern technology can only build a building 1685 feet high, a full 100 feet short of the walls of water God help up for 12 hours for over 50 miles, possibly more. What a God! He alone deserves our praise and worship.
What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? Psalm 8:4. All of this is humbling and it should be. Amen
Exodus 14-15; Isaiah 6:1-9, 1 Peter 1:15-16; Hebrews 12:14
I remember my Sunday school teacher Myra Moje handing out a one page paper with a picture on each side along with a small amount of writing. The Bible story was about Moses and the children of Israel and the parting of the Red Sea. On the front was Moses and the children of Israel walking into a lake with water parted, water probably 10 feet deep. Moses looked confident; the children of Israel looked scared. On the back of the lesson the picture was of the Egyptian army drowning in the Red Sea. I kept this lesson and hung it on the wall in my bedroom.
I am preparing to preach on the holiness of God and I thought about how majestic, powerful and mighty He is. How different from us. I considered the parting of the Red Sea; a cursory glance of the reading of Exodus 14 and 15 is impressive. It says in Exodus 14:21: “Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided,” a whole night, up to 12 hours.
I then read Exodus 15, “the first praise song of the Bible” that God parted the Red Sea by air out of His nostrils. A “strong wind” in Exodus 14 is just air out of God’s nostrils.
I took a spoon, a serving spoon, and put a little water in it and then with my nose, tried to blow the water out of the spoon; I could not. I closed off one nostril and blew a little water out of the spoon. I have proof for sure that I’m not like God—He is set apart totally different from me. He is marvelous, wonderful and mighty beyond comparison.
Remember the Sunday school lesson with the picture of the ten foot wall of water? I did some research from World Book Encyclopedia; not the Internet in case you were wondering. (You can’t believe everything you read on the internet but you can believe World Book because my mother-in-law sold World Book and Mabel wouldn’t sell anything that told a lie!). In World Book it says the average depth of the Red Sea is 1785 feet; a little over a third of a mile in depth. The widest point of the Red Sea is 221 miles. I got to thinking—let’s say they didn’t pass through the widest part but a part 50 miles wide. Now, our Holy, Majestic, all powerful God, blows air out of his nose; it’s a strong east wind (Ex.14:21). He stands water up 1785 feet for 50 miles, holds it there for 12 hours and I cannot blow water out of a spoon! He is set apart from us. He is God. He is Holy, Majestic, and All-Powerful. We are not any of these.
Listen, it said when He closed back the water, He let out a breath (Ex. 15:10 But you blew with your breath, and the sea covered them.), and the Egyptian army and their horses sunk like lead to the bottom…Just a sigh from the Almighty and water returned.
Brothers and sisters let us wallow in the power and majesty and holiness of our God. Forgive us for trivializing His word about who He is. A little bit of research into facts leaves us staggering—He is the Great I Am…
Last Saturday I heard a story on the radio about a disagreement about who has the tallest building in the world Taipei, Taiwan or Abu Dubai. Abu Dubai won—1685 feet. Think of this, 3,500 years later, mere men get puffed up when they pile up steel, concrete and glass, and with modern technology can only build a building 1685 feet high, a full 100 feet short of the walls of water God help up for 12 hours for over 50 miles, possibly more. What a God! He alone deserves our praise and worship.
What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? Psalm 8:4. All of this is humbling and it should be. Amen
Exodus 14-15; Isaiah 6:1-9, 1 Peter 1:15-16; Hebrews 12:14
Friday, July 20, 2007
A Wanna-be Preacher (Also known as a lay pastor)
Inside of two weeks, at two different social functions, I was introduced by former classmates as a “wanna-be-preacher.” They could have said I was a businessman as I also run a business. I wondered, “why this obvious shot at my faith and my ministry?” In both cases I said nothing (most of you will find that surprising!).
My friend, Lee, a lay pastor said “Think about it, that is what we are. I wannabe like Jesus. I wannabe a peacemaker, I wannabe one who hungers and thirsts after righteousness. I wannabe pure in heart. I wannabe meek. And as that ol’ spiritual put it... “I wannabe a Christian inna my heart, inna my heart. But the joy of it all is that one day I’M GONNA BE JUST LIKE JESUS WHEN I SEE HIM FACE TO FACE!!!!” A good point.
I was not called to be a pastor of a church with all its trappings, benefits and status the position affords. I have nothing against seminary education or traditional pastors but I’m called to be a guerrilla fighter for Jesus. I wear no uniform (no frock or collar on backwards) that sets me apart from the common man. I do not work out of a fort (AKA a church); forts with walls to protect us from the enemy but those same walls also act as a hindrance for the common people to “come in.” I do not have to battle artificial barriers. I am not asked to do the perfunctory grace before the meal at the athletic banquet because I am a pastor and that’s ok with me. I go where I’m called. I’ve never asked once to preach anywhere; I never preached because I had to. God has called me to the front lines; I’m a plain front lines sergeant in God’s guerrilla force. I preach in campgrounds, garages, excavator shops, churches of eight different denominations; I preach at funerals, weddings, graduations and Memorial Day services. Not impressive but that’s where I’m called.
Theologian John Piper wrote a book to pastors entitled “Brothers We are Not Professionals” with the subtitle “A Plea for Pastors for Radical Ministry” says:
“We pastors are being killed by the professionalizing of the pastoral ministry. The Mentality of the professional is not the mentality of the prophet. It is not the mentality of the slave of Christ. Professionalism has nothing to do with the essence and heart of the Christian ministry. The more professional we long to be, the more spiritual death we will leave in our wake. For there is no professional childlikeness, there is no professional tenderheartedness, there is no professional panting after God.”
“Brothers, we are not professionals. We are outcasts. We are aliens and exiles in the world. Our citizenship is in Heaven, and we wait with eager expectation for the Lord (Phil. 3:20). You cannot professionalize the love for His appearing without killing it. And it is being killed."
“The world sets the agenda of professional man; God sets the agenda of the spiritual man. The strong wine of Jesus Christ explodes the wineskins of professionalism.”
In the preface of the book, Piper said this:
Insulated Western Christianity is waking from the dreamworld that being a Christian is normal or safe. More and more, true Christianity is becoming what it was at the beginning: foolish and dangerous. “We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles” (1 Cor. 1:23). “The hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.” (John 16:2).”
I must admit, at first I was hurt by the comments. But after some thought, my passion to reach my family and friends has only been increased. Jesus told us not to worry about what men say. We should worry about what God says and He is the one who can throw us into Hell. (Mark 9:47 “And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell”.) (Notice-“thrown into hell”, no Swing Low, Sweet Chariots here.)
We live in a world where for many people the only reward they will get will be a respectable lifestyle with all the benefits and a mushy, pointless life. How sad. We are to model our life after Christ. I have not done that as I should but it is good to be reminded that He alone is our example. I am not what I should be but praise God I’m not what I once was.
In our world today, we need foot soldiers on attack for Christ, sold out, uncompromising, with the truth; meek but fully armed with the Spirit and the Word willing to march into Hell… It’s time to pull our boats on shore and abandon them (Luke 5:1-10). God will go with us and protect us.
I am a wanna be! I want to be more Christ-like in character; I want to touch people that are down and out and without the hope of Christ. I want to be “light” in a dark, dark world. -- O Lord, make me worthy to be called your child. Forgive me for my past of being a coward and not standing up for the faith. Use me wherever. Grant me Lord, a humble and willing spirit to persevere to the end. Bring me Home Sweet Jesus; bring me home. Amen.
My friend, Lee, a lay pastor said “Think about it, that is what we are. I wannabe like Jesus. I wannabe a peacemaker, I wannabe one who hungers and thirsts after righteousness. I wannabe pure in heart. I wannabe meek. And as that ol’ spiritual put it... “I wannabe a Christian inna my heart, inna my heart. But the joy of it all is that one day I’M GONNA BE JUST LIKE JESUS WHEN I SEE HIM FACE TO FACE!!!!” A good point.
I was not called to be a pastor of a church with all its trappings, benefits and status the position affords. I have nothing against seminary education or traditional pastors but I’m called to be a guerrilla fighter for Jesus. I wear no uniform (no frock or collar on backwards) that sets me apart from the common man. I do not work out of a fort (AKA a church); forts with walls to protect us from the enemy but those same walls also act as a hindrance for the common people to “come in.” I do not have to battle artificial barriers. I am not asked to do the perfunctory grace before the meal at the athletic banquet because I am a pastor and that’s ok with me. I go where I’m called. I’ve never asked once to preach anywhere; I never preached because I had to. God has called me to the front lines; I’m a plain front lines sergeant in God’s guerrilla force. I preach in campgrounds, garages, excavator shops, churches of eight different denominations; I preach at funerals, weddings, graduations and Memorial Day services. Not impressive but that’s where I’m called.
Theologian John Piper wrote a book to pastors entitled “Brothers We are Not Professionals” with the subtitle “A Plea for Pastors for Radical Ministry” says:
“We pastors are being killed by the professionalizing of the pastoral ministry. The Mentality of the professional is not the mentality of the prophet. It is not the mentality of the slave of Christ. Professionalism has nothing to do with the essence and heart of the Christian ministry. The more professional we long to be, the more spiritual death we will leave in our wake. For there is no professional childlikeness, there is no professional tenderheartedness, there is no professional panting after God.”
“Brothers, we are not professionals. We are outcasts. We are aliens and exiles in the world. Our citizenship is in Heaven, and we wait with eager expectation for the Lord (Phil. 3:20). You cannot professionalize the love for His appearing without killing it. And it is being killed."
“The world sets the agenda of professional man; God sets the agenda of the spiritual man. The strong wine of Jesus Christ explodes the wineskins of professionalism.”
In the preface of the book, Piper said this:
Insulated Western Christianity is waking from the dreamworld that being a Christian is normal or safe. More and more, true Christianity is becoming what it was at the beginning: foolish and dangerous. “We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles” (1 Cor. 1:23). “The hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.” (John 16:2).”
I must admit, at first I was hurt by the comments. But after some thought, my passion to reach my family and friends has only been increased. Jesus told us not to worry about what men say. We should worry about what God says and He is the one who can throw us into Hell. (Mark 9:47 “And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell”.) (Notice-“thrown into hell”, no Swing Low, Sweet Chariots here.)
We live in a world where for many people the only reward they will get will be a respectable lifestyle with all the benefits and a mushy, pointless life. How sad. We are to model our life after Christ. I have not done that as I should but it is good to be reminded that He alone is our example. I am not what I should be but praise God I’m not what I once was.
In our world today, we need foot soldiers on attack for Christ, sold out, uncompromising, with the truth; meek but fully armed with the Spirit and the Word willing to march into Hell… It’s time to pull our boats on shore and abandon them (Luke 5:1-10). God will go with us and protect us.
I am a wanna be! I want to be more Christ-like in character; I want to touch people that are down and out and without the hope of Christ. I want to be “light” in a dark, dark world. -- O Lord, make me worthy to be called your child. Forgive me for my past of being a coward and not standing up for the faith. Use me wherever. Grant me Lord, a humble and willing spirit to persevere to the end. Bring me Home Sweet Jesus; bring me home. Amen.
How do I pick my topics?
Someone who faithfully reads the blog asked me “How do you pick your topics?” I gave this some thought. They come from my every day experiences in life. As a businessman, I’m involved daily with a number of people. It is fertile ground for “where the rubber meets the road” ideas. People today are hurting. Many are adrift without strong family ties, without community ties, without church ties, and they talk and share with me.
I am impressed with their victory over battles I have never had to fight. I’ve had battles in my life too but as I go through life it doesn’t take long for me to realize how many people struggle day to day to maintain their existence, overcome past failures, and seemingly are optimistic and positive. I’m humbled by their veracity and pluck. It makes me count my blessings every day.
When I fill in for pastors, people will share their hurts with me. Again it’s fertile ground for ideas: people in wheelchairs, people fighting rare and debilitating diseases, accidents that kill and maim loved ones, people living in fear of other people because past relationships have gone bad. All in all, it is humbling to stand in their presence. I have witnessed the reality of evil in the world; I’ve seen the Lord’s victory over evil; I’ve been blessed to see people healed in many different ways, living out their life with hope and joy.
Where do the ideas come from? They come from the people around me. The Lord puts them on my mind and the Holy Spirit makes the application.
I realize I’m a country boy, businessman, and lay pastor who has much to be thankful for. I hope I never take that for granted. Just as the soil in Renville County Minnesota is deep and rich, the Lord has blessed me by planting me in His field, deep with many different experiences and rich with God loving people. I am blessed and humbled. To God be the glory.
I am impressed with their victory over battles I have never had to fight. I’ve had battles in my life too but as I go through life it doesn’t take long for me to realize how many people struggle day to day to maintain their existence, overcome past failures, and seemingly are optimistic and positive. I’m humbled by their veracity and pluck. It makes me count my blessings every day.
When I fill in for pastors, people will share their hurts with me. Again it’s fertile ground for ideas: people in wheelchairs, people fighting rare and debilitating diseases, accidents that kill and maim loved ones, people living in fear of other people because past relationships have gone bad. All in all, it is humbling to stand in their presence. I have witnessed the reality of evil in the world; I’ve seen the Lord’s victory over evil; I’ve been blessed to see people healed in many different ways, living out their life with hope and joy.
Where do the ideas come from? They come from the people around me. The Lord puts them on my mind and the Holy Spirit makes the application.
I realize I’m a country boy, businessman, and lay pastor who has much to be thankful for. I hope I never take that for granted. Just as the soil in Renville County Minnesota is deep and rich, the Lord has blessed me by planting me in His field, deep with many different experiences and rich with God loving people. I am blessed and humbled. To God be the glory.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Friendly Towns/Friendly Churches
On Thursday and Friday, Judi & I had to be in Rochester, Minnesota on business. As we headed back home, we decided to stop in Waseca, Minnesota, for lunch. We lived there many years ago while I attended the University of Minnesota at Waseca. It was a joy to drive around town and see how it has changed.
We were in many towns this week and not many small towns were growing and thriving. Waseca’s Main Street is thriving as are the shopping centers on the north edge of town. We also saw vitality in the agricultural and industrial areas.
We parked one block off Main Street so we could walk up Main Street to find a place to eat. Everyone we met on the street said hi to us before we said anything to them. In the café, as people walked by our table, they would also greet us.
Stopping in another city closer to home, we noticed a marked difference in people’s attitudes. Even at our somewhat lame attempts at levity, we were still met with indifference.
I wonder, could it be that Waseca is thriving because they actually enjoy living and also enjoy being in business? These are good times on the prairie; we live in one of the most blessed places on earth and yet we can act like a bunch of surly old boars and cranky old bats. God help us get rid of this grumbling, pessimistic indifferent attitude that seems prevalent in some of our communities.
I got to thinking; churches are the same as communities in many ways. When we visit a new church for the first time, it doesn’t take long to “get a feel” for the place. We’ve been in positive places possessing a genuine, heartfelt, loving spirit and we’ve also been in churches that are cold and indifferent. What message is your community sending to the outside world: indifference and complacency; or a warm, gracious and positive attitude for life? What message is your church sending? Do we ever wonder why the world does not walk through the door of our church? Could it be about our attitude? God help us.
We were in many towns this week and not many small towns were growing and thriving. Waseca’s Main Street is thriving as are the shopping centers on the north edge of town. We also saw vitality in the agricultural and industrial areas.
We parked one block off Main Street so we could walk up Main Street to find a place to eat. Everyone we met on the street said hi to us before we said anything to them. In the café, as people walked by our table, they would also greet us.
Stopping in another city closer to home, we noticed a marked difference in people’s attitudes. Even at our somewhat lame attempts at levity, we were still met with indifference.
I wonder, could it be that Waseca is thriving because they actually enjoy living and also enjoy being in business? These are good times on the prairie; we live in one of the most blessed places on earth and yet we can act like a bunch of surly old boars and cranky old bats. God help us get rid of this grumbling, pessimistic indifferent attitude that seems prevalent in some of our communities.
I got to thinking; churches are the same as communities in many ways. When we visit a new church for the first time, it doesn’t take long to “get a feel” for the place. We’ve been in positive places possessing a genuine, heartfelt, loving spirit and we’ve also been in churches that are cold and indifferent. What message is your community sending to the outside world: indifference and complacency; or a warm, gracious and positive attitude for life? What message is your church sending? Do we ever wonder why the world does not walk through the door of our church? Could it be about our attitude? God help us.
Friday, July 06, 2007
On offering God advice
Hell or eternal torment seems like a very high price to pay for sin. On issues like this, at times of utter ignorance, we would like to offer God advice on things like His holiness and eternal punishment for sin. Oh, we might not verbalize it but the thought has crossed our mind.
Let me tell you a story. Your daughter is a bio-medical engineer and led a team of engineers to invent a pain blocker that mounts externally on the body to block chronic pain. It has worked miracles in lives of many hurting people. It is a resounding success.
At the annual Christmas party of her firm, she and her team will be given an award for the success of their invention. Mom and Dad get invited to the party. Your daughter sits at the head table along with other award winners. You are seated at a table with 20 other people for dinner; 20 other people you do not know. Polite dinner conversation ensues; a woman casually mentions she had an abortion. No one says a word. A little later a person mentions he has a gay lover. No one says a word. The dessert comes; it’s great; all marvel at its excellence. When finished, a man lights up a cigarette. People get upset. “It’s against the law” some implore. “It gives me a headache” someone chimes in. The scene becomes chaotic as the man is escorted out of the dinner party.
The lesson to be learned here is this: Who are we to think we dare offer God advice concerning punishment for sin and comment on His holiness when in fact at a dinner party we cannot tell the difference between wickedness and bad manners!
Let me tell you a story. Your daughter is a bio-medical engineer and led a team of engineers to invent a pain blocker that mounts externally on the body to block chronic pain. It has worked miracles in lives of many hurting people. It is a resounding success.
At the annual Christmas party of her firm, she and her team will be given an award for the success of their invention. Mom and Dad get invited to the party. Your daughter sits at the head table along with other award winners. You are seated at a table with 20 other people for dinner; 20 other people you do not know. Polite dinner conversation ensues; a woman casually mentions she had an abortion. No one says a word. A little later a person mentions he has a gay lover. No one says a word. The dessert comes; it’s great; all marvel at its excellence. When finished, a man lights up a cigarette. People get upset. “It’s against the law” some implore. “It gives me a headache” someone chimes in. The scene becomes chaotic as the man is escorted out of the dinner party.
The lesson to be learned here is this: Who are we to think we dare offer God advice concerning punishment for sin and comment on His holiness when in fact at a dinner party we cannot tell the difference between wickedness and bad manners!
Sunday, July 01, 2007
In God We Still Trust
Our friend Warren shared this video with us recently and we thought it was worth sharing with all of you. The words are wonderful! If you click on the title, it should direct you to the video.(Hope it works--this technology stuff isn't always so easy for us old folks!!)
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Becoming Old and Gray—What will your legacy be?
Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me O God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your might to all who are to come. Psalm 71:18
I’ve been gray since my mid-thirties. It has been said that my mother turned gray in her mid-thirties; so did my older sister but getting older has been a different thing.
Today I will attend the 60th birthday party for, Chuck, my same-age, life-long friend and cousin. Chuck is a western Minnesota Dutch farmer with a free-wheeling sense of humor and buoyant attitude towards life. He has had a kidney transplant and battles skin cancer with “this is part of life” attitude.
But we’re getting old, or should I say older. I don’t regret “getting older”, it’s part of life but what concerns me is how quickly I got here—to sixty, I mean. It seems like yesterday I was in the military; getting married 36 years ago seems only a short time ago; and the birth of our children still “fresh” in my memory in many ways. Like they say, “time flies when you’re having fun.”
At sixty, I believe most of the world views us as a “has been”. That ok, I don’t have anything more to prove but it’s definitely not time to give up, whine and complain about getting old, and in “horseman terms” complacently wait for the final long trip to the glue factory.
The Lord has called us to be His witnesses all the days of our lives. Even when I am old and gray” – Psalm 71:18. Our prayer should be that God would not forsake us. Our side of this picture is that we are to declare to the next generation God’s power and might. If I am 60, 70, 80 or 90, I have a job to do: “declare God’s power to the next generation, God’s might to all who are to come.” I believe what He is saying is leave a legacy; a legacy of God’s love and faithfulness demonstrated by His power and might.
As I look back over my sixty years of life, I look with amazement how God has worked. He did things I did not understand; He did things that looked like failure and tragedy and turned them into good…things too wonderful for me to fully comprehend.
What will our next generation say about us? He sure was a “good fella” or will they declare and share the stories of the work of God’s sovereign hand in our lives. Will the Lord be lifted up or will they just refer to us as “another good fella”? What stories will they tell—good fella stories or stories of a mighty and powerful God’s work in our lives? What will your legacy be?
Lord, even when I’m old, may I declare Your power and might. May I always be found faithful. Come Lord Jesus, come. Amen.
I’ve been gray since my mid-thirties. It has been said that my mother turned gray in her mid-thirties; so did my older sister but getting older has been a different thing.
Today I will attend the 60th birthday party for, Chuck, my same-age, life-long friend and cousin. Chuck is a western Minnesota Dutch farmer with a free-wheeling sense of humor and buoyant attitude towards life. He has had a kidney transplant and battles skin cancer with “this is part of life” attitude.
But we’re getting old, or should I say older. I don’t regret “getting older”, it’s part of life but what concerns me is how quickly I got here—to sixty, I mean. It seems like yesterday I was in the military; getting married 36 years ago seems only a short time ago; and the birth of our children still “fresh” in my memory in many ways. Like they say, “time flies when you’re having fun.”
At sixty, I believe most of the world views us as a “has been”. That ok, I don’t have anything more to prove but it’s definitely not time to give up, whine and complain about getting old, and in “horseman terms” complacently wait for the final long trip to the glue factory.
The Lord has called us to be His witnesses all the days of our lives. Even when I am old and gray” – Psalm 71:18. Our prayer should be that God would not forsake us. Our side of this picture is that we are to declare to the next generation God’s power and might. If I am 60, 70, 80 or 90, I have a job to do: “declare God’s power to the next generation, God’s might to all who are to come.” I believe what He is saying is leave a legacy; a legacy of God’s love and faithfulness demonstrated by His power and might.
As I look back over my sixty years of life, I look with amazement how God has worked. He did things I did not understand; He did things that looked like failure and tragedy and turned them into good…things too wonderful for me to fully comprehend.
What will our next generation say about us? He sure was a “good fella” or will they declare and share the stories of the work of God’s sovereign hand in our lives. Will the Lord be lifted up or will they just refer to us as “another good fella”? What stories will they tell—good fella stories or stories of a mighty and powerful God’s work in our lives? What will your legacy be?
Lord, even when I’m old, may I declare Your power and might. May I always be found faithful. Come Lord Jesus, come. Amen.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Ministry Suggestions
In response to my last blog, I was asked to provide some suggestions on what we could do as direct ministry. I am including a list that may spark your imagination. BUT, the first and foremost thing you need to do is PRAY for God’s leading in what He wants you to do. Remember, God has given us all talents to be used to glorify Him—let the glory begin!! Some ideas:
Clean up vacant lots in the neighborhood (get permission)
Paint lousy looking houses—church buys paint; tenants to work together
Pick up roadsides—Do NOT expect a sign
Host a single mom’s night out/young mom’s night out
Watch kids for a mom to do something alone
Mow lawn for someone--busy young family, old people
Be aggressive and share excess produce with neighbors you do not know
Take cookies & go visit old people in community for 15 minutes
Wash someone’s car
Guerilla service young people – when people are gone, mow lawn, clean flower beds, scoop snow, trim trees, pick up trash anonymously. Leave card – "Guerillas for Jesus"
When you go shopping, ask neighbors if they need anything
Help people with budget, insurance forms, VA forms, social security forms, etc.
Write letters to local service people
Assist soldier’s family
Write letters for nursing home patients
Develop church web page; allow people to leave prayer requests anonymously.
Follow up on a prayer request to see how things are going
Use church web page as community news site/bulletin board
Rent tent for county fair/community function. Recliners; cold water fountain; wash feet; massages with massagers.
Teach kids/adults things: to fix bikes, bake, sew, use computers, cell phones, digital cameras, etc.
Offer to clean up county property
Visit shut ins
Take someone to the store, doctor, etc.
Go out for coffee with someone you normally would not go with
Tell someone what God has done in your life—tell your story
Monthly birthday party at church
Volunteer to work at the Thrift Shop and/or Hope Pregnancy Center
Read to children or adults
Make a meal for a neighbor—bring it over or invite them in
Interview older person about their life and write about it
Interview a veteran and record it for history
Make & fly a kite with someone
Share hobbies, collections
Organize “electronic free” night
Take a neighbor child or adult out for an ice cream cone
Help someone with gardening
Visit someone who has lost a family member in the last year & talk about that person
I'd like to hear your ideas, too. May God bless you in your ministry.
Clean up vacant lots in the neighborhood (get permission)
Paint lousy looking houses—church buys paint; tenants to work together
Pick up roadsides—Do NOT expect a sign
Host a single mom’s night out/young mom’s night out
Watch kids for a mom to do something alone
Mow lawn for someone--busy young family, old people
Be aggressive and share excess produce with neighbors you do not know
Take cookies & go visit old people in community for 15 minutes
Wash someone’s car
Guerilla service young people – when people are gone, mow lawn, clean flower beds, scoop snow, trim trees, pick up trash anonymously. Leave card – "Guerillas for Jesus"
When you go shopping, ask neighbors if they need anything
Help people with budget, insurance forms, VA forms, social security forms, etc.
Write letters to local service people
Assist soldier’s family
Write letters for nursing home patients
Develop church web page; allow people to leave prayer requests anonymously.
Follow up on a prayer request to see how things are going
Use church web page as community news site/bulletin board
Rent tent for county fair/community function. Recliners; cold water fountain; wash feet; massages with massagers.
Teach kids/adults things: to fix bikes, bake, sew, use computers, cell phones, digital cameras, etc.
Offer to clean up county property
Visit shut ins
Take someone to the store, doctor, etc.
Go out for coffee with someone you normally would not go with
Tell someone what God has done in your life—tell your story
Monthly birthday party at church
Volunteer to work at the Thrift Shop and/or Hope Pregnancy Center
Read to children or adults
Make a meal for a neighbor—bring it over or invite them in
Interview older person about their life and write about it
Interview a veteran and record it for history
Make & fly a kite with someone
Share hobbies, collections
Organize “electronic free” night
Take a neighbor child or adult out for an ice cream cone
Help someone with gardening
Visit someone who has lost a family member in the last year & talk about that person
I'd like to hear your ideas, too. May God bless you in your ministry.
Friday, June 22, 2007
What is ACEDIA?
Acedia is a culture of apathy and boredom. In William Bennett’s book “The Book of Virtues” it makes reference to America currently experiencing a culture of boredom and apathy. We live in a time of “so what” and “whatever”. Sad to say, the same culture has taken root into the church.
I have preached in 27 different churches in Central and Western Minnesota over the last 8 years, and the best of our knowledge, only 3 of those churches are holding steady or growing. The other 24 have lost significant numbers of people. The young people are gone or leaving and I don’t blame them. Why?
Our young people are bored to death. In a culture that adores “extreme” behavior—bungee jumping, stupid and dangerous stunts, sky-diving and “extreme” immoral behavior, excessive drinking, and “girls gone wild”, we the church, sit transfixed while a generation flees the church. Young people do not want to be entertained. They want to be challenged to live out their faith; faith and actions, faith and deeds. Live on the edge, do good not talk about it. Sad to say, I believe we slumber while a generation slips into hell.
We say one thing and do another. Oh, we sing about, preach about, “marching into hell for a heavenly cause” but in reality we don’t move. We believe being moral and good is the sole purpose and extent of our faith. That’s good but we are to HATE EVIL AND CLING TO WHAT IS GOOD. (Romans 12:9-11). We are to be men and women who “live out” their faith not just go through the motions. Titus 2:12-14: "It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good."
We are sitting; glad God has chosen us, acting moral and good while the world around us goes to hell. We are to hate evil and cling to what is good. Let’s do it.
In Matthew 28, Jesus said to us, “GO”. We say “come.” They (the world) are not coming; as a matter of fact, our pews are emptying out at a rate that alarms me yet I find few, if any people concerned (pastors and church leaders included).
I have spoken about his topic on three different occasions. I feel it has been met with indifference by the older people but with appreciation by the younger people (younger people is people under 35). If our experiences in Western and Central Minnesota are any indication of the true spiritual state of our churches, we are in deep trouble. I can’t soften it in anyway. I am tired of our excuses for our deadness. In Matthew 24:12 it says: "Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold." I believe most have grown cold.
“You’re just a complainer, Jerry,” they say. May I suggest some action?
Each and every one of us should give one hour a week direct ministry in our community. If we do that and we have 200 people in church, effectively we live out 800 hours of direct ministry in our communities in one month. This would transform our rural towns. For the believer, we would be stretched, we’d be scared, we will be pushed into areas of own communities where we’ve never been before. We will find talents we never knew we had. It will be exciting not boring. Living out our faith is exciting and challenging. The community will benefit. How? It will see the love of Christ demonstrated to them. When we live out our faith developing relationships outside the church, this makes easy our invitation to know Christ. It flows naturally, it’s not contrived and, all this would not require one committee meeting.
What do we do? Help people! We all like to help. Pray for eyes to see needs and act. I know what you’re saying, “I’m so busy.” Yes we are. Let’s take a look at our time:
168 hours in one week:
- 24 hours for all day Sunday off
- 48 hours for 8 hours of sleep for 6 days
- 12 hours for family time of 2 hours/day x 6 days
- 52 hours work & commute
32 hours remaining
So, if you perform 1 hour per week of direct ministry that would be 1/32nd of our life. Is this too much to ask?
Open our eyes—use us to your glory. Amen. Come quickly Lord Jesus, come.
I have preached in 27 different churches in Central and Western Minnesota over the last 8 years, and the best of our knowledge, only 3 of those churches are holding steady or growing. The other 24 have lost significant numbers of people. The young people are gone or leaving and I don’t blame them. Why?
Our young people are bored to death. In a culture that adores “extreme” behavior—bungee jumping, stupid and dangerous stunts, sky-diving and “extreme” immoral behavior, excessive drinking, and “girls gone wild”, we the church, sit transfixed while a generation flees the church. Young people do not want to be entertained. They want to be challenged to live out their faith; faith and actions, faith and deeds. Live on the edge, do good not talk about it. Sad to say, I believe we slumber while a generation slips into hell.
We say one thing and do another. Oh, we sing about, preach about, “marching into hell for a heavenly cause” but in reality we don’t move. We believe being moral and good is the sole purpose and extent of our faith. That’s good but we are to HATE EVIL AND CLING TO WHAT IS GOOD. (Romans 12:9-11). We are to be men and women who “live out” their faith not just go through the motions. Titus 2:12-14: "It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good."
We are sitting; glad God has chosen us, acting moral and good while the world around us goes to hell. We are to hate evil and cling to what is good. Let’s do it.
In Matthew 28, Jesus said to us, “GO”. We say “come.” They (the world) are not coming; as a matter of fact, our pews are emptying out at a rate that alarms me yet I find few, if any people concerned (pastors and church leaders included).
I have spoken about his topic on three different occasions. I feel it has been met with indifference by the older people but with appreciation by the younger people (younger people is people under 35). If our experiences in Western and Central Minnesota are any indication of the true spiritual state of our churches, we are in deep trouble. I can’t soften it in anyway. I am tired of our excuses for our deadness. In Matthew 24:12 it says: "Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold." I believe most have grown cold.
“You’re just a complainer, Jerry,” they say. May I suggest some action?
Each and every one of us should give one hour a week direct ministry in our community. If we do that and we have 200 people in church, effectively we live out 800 hours of direct ministry in our communities in one month. This would transform our rural towns. For the believer, we would be stretched, we’d be scared, we will be pushed into areas of own communities where we’ve never been before. We will find talents we never knew we had. It will be exciting not boring. Living out our faith is exciting and challenging. The community will benefit. How? It will see the love of Christ demonstrated to them. When we live out our faith developing relationships outside the church, this makes easy our invitation to know Christ. It flows naturally, it’s not contrived and, all this would not require one committee meeting.
What do we do? Help people! We all like to help. Pray for eyes to see needs and act. I know what you’re saying, “I’m so busy.” Yes we are. Let’s take a look at our time:
168 hours in one week:
- 24 hours for all day Sunday off
- 48 hours for 8 hours of sleep for 6 days
- 12 hours for family time of 2 hours/day x 6 days
- 52 hours work & commute
32 hours remaining
So, if you perform 1 hour per week of direct ministry that would be 1/32nd of our life. Is this too much to ask?
Open our eyes—use us to your glory. Amen. Come quickly Lord Jesus, come.
Friday, June 15, 2007
None Dare Call It Sin
Hebrews 4:13 - Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Representative William Jefferson, Democrat from Louisiana, was indicted Monday on Federal charges of racketeering, soliciting bribes and money laundering…This is part of the first paragraph in an Associated Press article written by Laura Jakes Jordan in regards to Representative Jefferson’s indictment.
I was in my car driving when I heard comments on the radio concerning the Jefferson indictment pitting the Right against the Left and the Left against the Right. I am concerned. I do not know all of the details; he is innocent until proven guilty but this is not a question of the Right verses Left or the Left verses the Right, this issue is dishonesty; it is sin, not Left or Right politics.
We as a nation have failed to call sin for what it is—SIN. We can spin it, call it reactionary political payback, a misstep, a misunderstanding, a personal failure, but none dare call it sin. Even in our churches today, we seldom talk about these things—sin, hell, heaven, abuse and divorce.
Research indicates most people feel they will get to heaven some way, some how. I mean we are for the most part “good fellas” aren’t’ we? Oh, I may tip a few now and then but “at least I’m not a drunk like Bill”. Unless we realize the standard we need to keep does not arise from the standard of our next door neighbor but from Christ’s holy standard, we are in big trouble. Unless I address the sin issues in my life, I WILL at SOMETIME have to deal with the reality of sin and the consequences of hell and the hope of heaven. Remember…to whom we must give account.
Have I dealt with my sin? Have you dealt with your sin? Remember the gift of grace and forgiveness which reconciles us to God and brings us peace. Thank you, Jesus. Amen.
Representative William Jefferson, Democrat from Louisiana, was indicted Monday on Federal charges of racketeering, soliciting bribes and money laundering…This is part of the first paragraph in an Associated Press article written by Laura Jakes Jordan in regards to Representative Jefferson’s indictment.
I was in my car driving when I heard comments on the radio concerning the Jefferson indictment pitting the Right against the Left and the Left against the Right. I am concerned. I do not know all of the details; he is innocent until proven guilty but this is not a question of the Right verses Left or the Left verses the Right, this issue is dishonesty; it is sin, not Left or Right politics.
We as a nation have failed to call sin for what it is—SIN. We can spin it, call it reactionary political payback, a misstep, a misunderstanding, a personal failure, but none dare call it sin. Even in our churches today, we seldom talk about these things—sin, hell, heaven, abuse and divorce.
Research indicates most people feel they will get to heaven some way, some how. I mean we are for the most part “good fellas” aren’t’ we? Oh, I may tip a few now and then but “at least I’m not a drunk like Bill”. Unless we realize the standard we need to keep does not arise from the standard of our next door neighbor but from Christ’s holy standard, we are in big trouble. Unless I address the sin issues in my life, I WILL at SOMETIME have to deal with the reality of sin and the consequences of hell and the hope of heaven. Remember…to whom we must give account.
Have I dealt with my sin? Have you dealt with your sin? Remember the gift of grace and forgiveness which reconciles us to God and brings us peace. Thank you, Jesus. Amen.
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