Last Days

I’ve kind of felt like I was in those days, the last few days of this year. I ended up sleeping in a hotel room and left with a stiff neck, which has caused the worst debilitating headaches I have experienced in years, but that is not specifically what I wanted to comment on. As the year 2025 winds down, there are many people trying to put their financial house in order. They do their charity giving to get a break on taxes. Businesses want to close the books and so all spending must be accounted for. Maybe there are projects that we are trying to finish. Some feel the need to drain the accounts to zero so that they can receive more next year for that account. Surgeries, doctor’s appointments, etc. are done if the insurance will pay more this year. I am amazed at all the things people will do to get themselves ready for the New Year but watch them fail miserably in being prepared for the Last Days (spiritually). Our finances may be in order, but far too many people are completely unprepared to meet Jesus. God has no desire to check out our stock portfolio or what we have in the bank. He doesn’t care how successful we have been in the business world, or even how much money we have given to charity. What does He care about?... your heart and soul. We measure our preparedness to face the last days, not in what we have done, but in whether we have entrusted our hearts to Him. Just as we go to an Accountant to get our finances in order, we can go to specific people in our church to help with our spiritual readiness. The difference is, no matter how hard you try, you may still run out of money, whereas the deeper our walk is with God, the more assurance we have for eternity with Him. You might ask someone, “Are you ready for Christmas” and they might answer, “Yes”. You can ask if they are ready for a new year, and they might answer, “Yes”. But ask them if they are ready for Jesus' return, most will either look confused or maybe say, “I think so”. Which preparedness is the most important? So, what are we doing about it? We need to be praying for boldness to speak up passionately about our faith. We need to speak up when others take God’s name in vain. Why would someone want to serve a God we don’t seem to respect? Invite friends, family, neighbors etc. to church. Father, prepare us to walk by faith here on earth and to have a heart for other lost souls that are not ready. Amen

Pointed, But Worth Thinking About

There was a poem that I read at our Christmas Eve Candlelight Service that was taken from “Twas the Night Before Christmas", but with a clear message. Praying that it will make someone think about what Christmas is about.

‘TWAS THE NIGHT JESUS CAME

‘Twas the night Jesus came and all through the house, not a person was praying, not one in the house.../ The Bible was left on the shelf without care… for no one thought Jesus would ever come there.../ The children were dressing to crawl into bed, not once ever kneeling or bowing their head... / And Mom in the rocking chair with babe on her lap, was watching the Late Show as I took a nap... / When out of the east there rose such a clatter, I sprang to my feet to see what was the matter... / Away to the window I flew like a flash, tore open the shutters and lifted the sash... / When what to my wondering eyes should appear, but Angels proclaiming that Jesus was here...

The light of His face made me cover my head, it was Jesus returning just like He’d said... / And though I possess worldly wisdom and wealth, I cried when I saw Him in spite of myself... / In the Book of Life which he held in his hand, was written the name of every saved man... / He spoke not a word as he searched for my name, when He said “it’s not here,” my head hung in shame. The people whose names had been written with love, He gathered to take to his Father above... / With those who were ready, He rose without sound, while all of the others were left standing around... / I fell to my knees but it was too late, I’d waited too long and thus sealed my fate... / I stood and I cried as they rose out of sight, Oh, if only I’d known that this was the night... / In the words of this poem the meaning is clear, the coming of Jesus is now drawing near... / There’s only one life and when comes the last call, We’ll find that the Bible was true after all...

Father, I don’t want to be that person that is not ready and surrounded by people that are not ready. Help us! Amen

Where Did the Joy Go?

I had gone shopping recently at quite a few different stores. I didn’t notice it at the time, but it looked like business as usual. Many people were probably looking for gifts. Looking back at the day, the one thing I didn’t see was joy. What season are we in? Christmas. What is one of the greatest Christmas songs? Joy to the World. We have the most amazing story of God sending His son Jesus into the world through Mary. There are kings, shepherds, angels, and the Savior of the world in a barn. It is a story of hope, of renewal, of forgiveness, and of restoration. You and I, as sinful as we are, can be made whole though who this baby would become. All generations were to be blessed by the events that we celebrate at Christmas. Why don’t we see Christmas joy? (without the alcohol). Shouldn’t we be bubbling over? Why is it that not one person seems to be filled with genuine Christmas joy. I try to make eye contact, smile, and say hi. I get a few smiles, but not true joy. It makes me wonder what is actually driving Christmas... Christ or the world? If we are too busy to be joyful, then our life is out of sync with God. If our scheduling, gift searching, family gathering, food preparing traditions are squeezing the joy out of us, maybe we need new traditions! I hate to say it, but maybe when Christmas is over, we might begin to understand the joy that should fill our hearts. It reminds me of when I was serving in South Dakota. We were reading through the bible in a year, and we got to Christmas in July. There were a number of people that commented about not really contemplating the Christmas story before because of all the busyness. The Devil doesn’t need us to get rid of Christmas. He just needs us to be so busy that we don’t have time to really think about the meaning of the day. I don’t want to lose the opportunity to minister to some that don’t always make it to worship, but I fear that many people don’t’ even begin to comprehend the great love the Father has for us. Maybe, as a church, we need to start celebrating Christmas at a time other than now is so that we can avoid much of the commercialism that the world puts on it. Take some time to contemplate the obedience of Mary and Joseph, the searching of the Magi, and the excitement of shepherds. Father, help us to pause and consider all that You have done for us through Your son, Jesus from birth to cross to resurrection. Amen

Are We Ready?

I went into town today with my computer because I needed to get somewhere that had a greater speed to download some information. As I did a little shopping while I was there, I put the computer under a jacket on the back seat. It was out of sight for any want-to-be thieves, but that meant it was out of sight for me too. When I got home, I took everything in the house, or so I thought. When I went into my office to write this pondering, I realized my laptop was not there. I realized right away that it was still in the very cold car. Did I want to go out in the cold just before bed? No! I went out anyway so that I had it inside. The issue was that when cold items warm up, there is often some condensation that takes place. In a computer, I’m guessing that isn’t a good thing for that moisture to be in the components. Therefore, for the sake of the computer, this is being written on the 23rd. I shared this because I was mad at myself for not having looked ahead to what I needed to be doing. Had I brought it in with the other items from the store, all would be well... but I didn’t. That means when I was ready to share an insight with you, I couldn’t. It makes me wonder how often we might fall in other areas of our life. How can we be ready? I think being more and more familiar with God’s word is a great start. We can’t answer questions adequately or defend the word of God if we are not really familiar with it. The time to study isn’t when we are asked the questions but before the questions come up. Better later than nothing, but better to be ready. We can prepare by spending time with God in prayer and asking for the Holy Spirit to be poured out upon us. Why? True prayer is not just us talking with God but leaving silence for God to speak to us or put His desires in our hearts. Also, we need the Holy Spirit for our faith, for wisdom and for understanding, and for leading us in ministering to others. Why did the Holy Spirit tell the disciples not to worry about what they would say? Because the Holy Spirit would give them the words to speak. Once my computer was dry, I could write this passage. Once we let the Holy Spirit have control in our lives, we can be about His work. Father, open my eyes to see the things you would have us do. Speak to us and reveal Your glory. Amen

Come, Holy Spirit

I was just thinking about going shopping yesterday. The winds were crazy strong and dust and debris was flying everywhere. Thankfully, it was a warmer day so that the wind chill was not unbearable. I watched one of the workers with a line of about 10 carts strapped together. He was going to push it into the building. The key word... was. As the front of the carts were almost to the building, a big gust of wind blew the front carts so hard that he was struggling just to keep them from crashing into the cars. On his second attempt he got it. At one point, we were parked and my wife headed into the store. I stayed outside in the car. I thought someone was pushing on the car to get my attention, but it was just the wind. As I was driving home, I was getting hit by gusts of wind that were shaking the whole car. I knew it was there, but there was no warning when it was going to hit. The word for the Holy Spirit is tied to the word wind. As a believer, I know that the Holy Spirit is real and that He goes where and when He pleases. The winds yesterday threatened to do damage. The Holy Spirit aims to stir our hearts and put the desires of the Almighty God into this worn down and broken heart. Does the Spirit still bring supernatural gifts to believers? I have no question that He does. Why don’t we see it more? Maybe it is a lack of faith on the part of the minister or on the part of the one needing the Spirit’s touch. What I do know is that God is able to accomplish more than we could ever think or imagine. We, however, do not control the Holy Spirit any more than we control the winds. Pray for wisdom and common sense. There is a great lack of that in the world today. Pray for boldness and a message to speak as we live in a world that is lost and dying. Pray for the gift of prophesy for the world needs to have a spokesperson declaring God’s message. It should not just be the supernatural gifts that we are desiring, but also the fruit of the spirit... actions that spring from a surrendered heart. Is your life overflowing with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control? It should be! I say let the wind blow... the Holy Spirit, that is... that God’s church is strengthened, and God’s people are thoroughly equipped to serve. Heavenly Father, stir in Your church today, that the hearts of Your people would rest fully on Your holy word. Amen

There Are Always Unknowns

This morning, I was going to head over to church for choir practice. My car is outside so I was going to start the car warming up so that it would defrost my windows. I looked out and I could see through the windows from one side to the other. No frost I thought and so I didn’t start the car but went back in to finish getting ready. When I headed out to the car to get going, I was shocked to see that the front window still had quite a bit of frost on it that required some scraping. Up to that point, I was feeling so good about being ready to go. I’d like to tell you there was an amazing result because I was running late, but I’m not aware of anything. Maybe I was spared hitting a deer because of the delay, or maybe I was just running late. We want to be in control. We want to call the shots. We want to be able to say, “I did it my way!” Sadly, my way is often in conflict with God’s way. God’s way requires trusting Him, surrendering my will, and to be prepared for the unknowns. Sometimes God uses these unknown circumstances to get our attention. It is then, when we recognize God’s leading, that we are usable. Sure, God can force me to do something. He did control various people in the Bible. But that is not how it normally works. One person, fully submitted to God, can accomplish more for God than a multitude of self-seeking Christians. Where do you fall on that scale of obedience? If Adam and Eve had been obedient, there would be no sin in the world. If Cain had been obedient, his brother Abel would not have been killed. If the people had been obedient, there would not have been a world wide flood and later, they wouldn’t have ended up in exile... several times. Thankfully Jesus was obedient... all the way to death on the cross. I look at things through my limited vision, but God sees the whole picture. I see my life as being in good shape while God sees there are areas I am falling in. We need to be praying to see the world through God’s eyes. Along with that is the need to allow God to be Lord. I read recently that it is not enough to believe in a savior. More importantly, we must allow Him to be Lord of all our life. Father, forgive me for trusting my own wisdom. Pour out Your Spirit upon me and fill me with true understanding. Amen

The Words Within

We sing so many hymns without ever hearing the words. I was going to look at a few hymns to hopefully open that message up. Tonight, I wanted to look at “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear”. “It came upon a midnight clear, That glorious song of old, From angels bending near the earth, To touch their harps of gold: “Peace on the earth, goodwill to men, From heaven’s all-gracious King.” The world in solemn stillness lay, To hear the angels sing.” The angel's message was called ‘that glorious song of old’ because it had long been prophesied. The message of peace comes from our Heavenly King. The silence was torn open with joyful song. The next verse, “Still through the cloven skies they come, With peaceful wings unfurled, And still their heavenly music floats O’er all the weary world; Above its sad and lowly plains, They bend on hovering wing, And ever o’er its Babel sounds The blessèd angels sing.” The image is of angels dividing the clouds or sky to enter the earth, described as sad and lowly plains. The precious message the angels bring of peace and hope still float over this weary and lost world. Next, we read, “And ye, beneath life’s crushing load, Whose forms are bending low, Who toil along the climbing way With painful steps and slow, Look now! for glad and golden hours come swiftly on the wing. O rest beside the weary road, And hear the angels sing!” A powerful picture is painted of a fallen world that is being crushed by sin, and they struggle with each step to find meaning and rest. As the angels sing, we are invited to pause, to listen, and to rejoice in our Savior. Lastly, we have, “For lo!, the days are hastening on, By prophet bards foretold, When with the ever-circling years Comes round the age of gold When peace shall over all the earth Its ancient splendors fling, And the whole world give back the song Which now the angels sing.” The prophets have declared the coming of the Messiah, a king who will restore Israel. The peace that is being declared is not necessarily an earthly peace, or rest from troubles, but rather a spiritual peace. This peace is not found in sacrifices or works on our part, but through the child whom the angels are declaring. When we finally recognize who Jesus is and what He did, we return the praise. Father, thank You for sending Your son into a dark and sin filled world. May the world know the peace Jesus won for us. Amen We sing so many hymns without ever hearing the words. I was going to look at a few hymns to hopefully open that message up. Tonight, I wanted to look at “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear”. “It came upon a midnight clear, That glorious song of old, From angels bending near the earth, To touch their harps of gold: “Peace on the earth, goodwill to men, From heaven’s all-gracious King.” The world in solemn stillness lay, To hear the angels sing.” The angel's message was called ‘that glorious song of old’ because it had long been prophesied. The message of peace comes from our Heavenly King. The silence was torn open with joyful song. The next verse, “Still through the cloven skies they come, With peaceful wings unfurled, And still their heavenly music floats O’er all the weary world; Above its sad and lowly plains, They bend on hovering wing, And ever o’er its Babel sounds The blessèd angels sing.” The image is of angels dividing the clouds or sky to enter the earth, described as sad and lowly plains. The precious message the angels bring of peace and hope still float over this weary and lost world. Next, we read, “And ye, beneath life’s crushing load, Whose forms are bending low, Who toil along the climbing way With painful steps and slow, Look now! for glad and golden hours come swiftly on the wing. O rest beside the weary road, And hear the angels sing!” A powerful picture is painted of a fallen world that is being crushed by sin, and they struggle with each step to find meaning and rest. As the angels sing, we are invited to pause, to listen, and to rejoice in our Savior. Lastly, we have, “For lo!, the days are hastening on, By prophet bards foretold, When with the ever-circling years Comes round the age of gold When peace shall over all the earth Its ancient splendors fling, And the whole world give back the song Which now the angels sing.” The prophets have declared the coming of the Messiah, a king who will restore Israel. The peace that is being declared is not necessarily an earthly peace, or rest from troubles, but rather a spiritual peace. This peace is not found in sacrifices or works on our part, but through the child whom the angels are declaring. When we finally recognize who Jesus is and what He did, we return the praise. Father, thank You for sending Your son into a dark and sin-filled world. May the world know the true peace Jesus won for us. Amen

Everything Is Connected

I am learning so much from the Physical Therapist. It is amazing how much every bone, muscle, tendon, etc. is connected to each other. I had a different arch support in my shoe, and it really seemed to cause more problems on my knee. When I mentioned this to my therapist, he explained which muscles would be affected by that. He would ask about pains in my body that I wasn’t aware affected my knee. I am just blown away by that. I don’t know they are all true, but I have seen charts on pressure points on the bottom of the foot and other areas that are supposed to help relieve headaches, cause energy, avoid nauseousness, etc. I am thinking there is much more to that after seeing how everything is so connected. The ancient Hebrew people also saw everything being connected, but I’m not just talking about the anatomy here. They didn’t see God’s word as a bunch of separate stories about God. They believed that every part was connected in some way. There are images that repeat themselves that reminded the Hebrew people of other things God had said. For instance, when we hear of the Tree of Life, we think about the Garden of Eden, which is very accurate. However, it is mentioned a number of times in Proverbs, and several places in the book of Revelation. The Hebrews, another name that was used for God’s people, built onto the original mention in Genesis at creation. For them, what was mentioned in Proverbs would have connected Genesis to Revelation. It added depth, complexity, understanding, and consistency. The same thing would be said, say, for sacrifices. There were different types, offered for different purposes, over thousands of years. Each new mention added deeper understanding to what was already known or studied. I think this one is particularly important for us today. We talk about the sacrifice of Christ, but I don’t know how often we ponder why Jesus’ death was necessary. We have the basic answers, but a deeper dig into understanding what the Sacrificial system meant to God’s people, the better we will understand what Jesus did. I believe we have to know the Old Testament to better understand the New. Father, give us the longing to know You better each day. Help us to understand Your heart and desire for Your creation... us. Amen

The Gift of Life

I was listening to an ad on the radio today. It was a young child that was telling his mom about a fictional story. When the mom started asking where he got such an idea, the child answered that it was from a toy (Artificial Intelligence). This toy asks questions and helps the child create a story. On the one hand it sounds fantastic. On the other hand it sounds terrifying. Does that toy become the babysitter? Will that or the next toy lead the child down a specific ideology that we may not even see coming? Do the parents check out or are they with the child when the toy is leading, suggesting, questioning? Many kids are already struggling with interacting with adults and now they are interacting with machines? I do acknowledge that it could be an amazing teaching tool and play toy for the child, but it doesn’t take much imagination to see how terribly it can be abused. Those that are not heading into Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology with a lot of caution leave themselves open to be manipulated and led. I am not afraid of technology. I just can see the great dangers. Can we put the genie back in the bottle. No! I don’t even know how much we can control it anymore. The AI videos that are coming out get harder and harder to distinguish. For those old enough, you remember the jingle, “Is it real or Memorex”. Back to the original topic... children. Today, when something happens, my understanding is that many parents “google it”. They look it up on the computer for advice. While this can get quick information, it takes the parents away from learning the uniqueness of their child. Each child has their own personality, abilities, temperament, and learning style. To use the internet for information to process can be good. To use it as a teacher, one size fits all, is dangerous. God tells us that we are meant to train the children in the way they should go and they will not depart from it. The computer and AI will likely not have a Christian component to it. Faith is a relationship that is to be nurtured and often modeled by parents, church members, and the pastor. We are in a time of Christian renewal in many parts of the country. Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, ministers... let us be extremely cautious of how we use technologies. Father, show us how we can use technology for Your glory and what things we should avoid to keep from stumbling. Amen

Helping or Hurting?

A few years back, I was having problems with pain in my arches. My wife had encouraged me to go to someone who makes special arches/lifts for the shoes. They measured the pressure points on the bottom of my feet when I was standing and used that as a basis to find supports that would help support and strengthen my arches. There were three levels - the biggest for every day, the middle for exercising, and the smallest for walking around home. I struggled to work my way up to the largest but could never keep it on for long. Over the last couple of months, I could wear that large one for longer periods of time. Progress! Or was it? My knees had been feeling better and was going to be in town for a short time, so I put the biggest ones on. By the time I got home, I was struggling to walk again. What was designed to help might actually be part of my knee problems. My feet may have changed enough that I need to upgrade what I have. Designed to help, but in reality, hurting. Many of you don’t care what my feet are doing... that’s fine. What I wanted to do is paint a picture of ministry. Not everything that we think is good, is necessarily helpful to those around us. If a program or study works well in one church, it doesn’t mean it will work well where I am. The men’s study that I go to every Wednesday morning works well there, but if we tried to split it up and go to two separate places, neither group is guaranteed to be successful. The Holy Spirit has to be a major part of it. We’ve tried several activities at church to try reaching our community that have not worked. Were they a mistake? No. Maybe we didn’t entrust it to God as we should, or the timing was off. Some activities that have happened by accident or we were forced to adjust part of it, has been successful. We want to help, but we need to analyze the results too. Just like my shoe supports needing to be re-examined, we should be constantly looking at how we can improve. What is working well, what needs to go, and what things can we adjust to make them work. We must remember that over it all, it must be covered in prayer. If God is leading, it may start out slow, but God will make it fruitful. Father, we like to think we are in control. Give us ears to hear, a heart to serve, and faith to walk where You lead us. Amen

How Far Will I Trust?

The car I have is a 2019 vehicle that is way fancier than I needed, but it was a good deal and had most of the things I was looking for. It ends up having a lot of bells and whistles that I will probably never use. One feature that I do like is an obstacle detection alarm. This means when I am backing out of a parking space, a beeping sound in the car will alert me to cars and people. Also, when I am parking, the beeping will sound if I begin to get too close to any obstacles. Today, as I was halfway to church, I realized I had left something at home that I needed. I was turning around quickly. As I threw the car into reverse, a warning light came on. Part way home I saw the explanation. Wipe off the sensors on the outside of the car. I didn’t have time to do it and at that point didn’t need the feature. Later, as I drove into town, I noticed the warning light was off. Did it fix itself or did it stop working? It was now dark and a car opposite to where I was parking had their lights on, making it hard to see. I wanted to back into the spot but was partially blinded by the lights. Now, I had to decide if I trusted that object detector was working or not. I started backing up very cautiously, but then the beeping started, indicating I was getting close. It worked. I parked. No damage done. That’s one thing with a car that can be repaired, but we need to ask ourselves how far are we willing to go in our trusting Jesus and the Bible? This question really does have eternal consequences. We might ask ourselves; do we trust our money or God more? Would we still have the same faith (or greater) if all of a sudden, all our money, savings, and retirement funds were worthless. If God called you to leave everything to do a job He had in mind for you, could you do that? We can’t say we are too old to serve because God called Noah to start building the ark when he was about 600 years old. He also used John the Baptist’s mother who was barren and well beyond childbearing age. I had to trust a feature on my car for a moment that I was in control of. God wants us to be willing to give up all control, all ownership, all relationships, etc. to follow Him alone. O Holy Spirit, stir in our hearts and renew our faith. We offer our lives, our wealth, our time, and more in obedience to You. Amen

See for Yourself

There are some things that we learn best if we experience them for ourselves. There were things my father told me that were for my own good. I respected him, and yet it seemed like I had to test some out on my own. I remember doing the same thing with my kids. There are many wise people around us, that if we would actually listen, would save us a lot of problems. I think it is one of those flaws that come with sin. We find ways to justify it, but most of it comes from not wanting someone else to tell us what we should be doing. I was thinking about one of the Scripture lessons for tomorrow. John the Baptist was the only prophet, other than Jesus, to be prophesied about before he was even born. His job was to prepare the way for Jesus, which he did boldly. He even spoke against rulers and their sinful behavior, which is why he landed in jail. From jail, John heard all that Jesus was doing. I’m not sure how much John doubted who Jesus was and how much he just wanted his disciples to follow Jesus. If he had told them to leave him and follow Jesus, most of them would have refused and stayed with John out of loyalty and ministry. If they wouldn’t listen to his direction to follow Jesus, he decided to introduce them to Him. John is in jail, so how can he do this? He tells them to go ask Jesus whether He was the One to come or if they should be waiting for another one. Jesus’ response in Matthew 11 is, ...The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.” Isaiah prophesied of the blind seeing and the deaf speaking. It was confirmation that Jesus was the Messiah. It also revealed to John’s disciples that his ministry was to prepare for Jesus, and the Messiah had come. In the Gospel of John, we already hear of John the Baptist pointing to Jesus as the Lamb of God and some followed Him. Who is it in your life that you have tried to share the word of God with, and they just don’t seem to want to hear. Maybe they need to see Jesus for themselves. Invite them to church, a Bible study, a Christian movie, or pray that God wouldf reveal Himself to them. God, Your desire is not to be hidden from Your children. For those that struggle in their faith, reveal Yourself to them in Your own way. Amen

In Need of Healing

Last night was not a restful night of sleep. I must have picked up a bad bug from somewhere and it determined to hit me with its full furry last night. Today, I went from sitting in a reclining chair and never moved the whole day. My system was going haywire, and my brain had pretty much shut down. I think I would have paid quite a bit for a solution to my situation. Unfortunately, I had to ride it out. I tried to isolate from my wife to keep her healthy. Sometimes we need to let the body fight it out. Since my stomach was queasy, I wasn’t really in the mood to try too many medications. Feeling a lot better, but still under the weather. It is amazing how something that I wasn’t trying to get ended up getting me and taking me out of commission. We often think about sin as a deliberate act of defiance against God, but often times, our sins were not things that we were looking for, not wanted. And yet, when that sin takes root in our lives, it has the ability to turn our lives upside down. The good news is that, unlike my illness, we don’t have to ride sin out. As a matter of fact, God doesn’t want us to continue to struggle with sin. Looking at 1 John 1:8-10, it says, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.” What if I ignored the bug I was fighting? I would probably have struggled with it much longer or needed to get some medical help. If we take our sins to Jesus, in confession and repentance, God promises to forgive our sin. Faith is what drives us to want God’s forgiveness. If, however, we confess our sins without meaning it, it is no different than telling two 5 year olds that the need to say they are sorry. They say it, but there is no true confession. Even worse is to deny that the sin is even there. Then there is no healing or restoration. If I try to claim that I am healthy when my body is riddled with sickness, my “business as usual” attitude puts myself others in jeopardy. Praise God that He forgives the repentant. Father, open our eyes to recognize and admit our sin, repent and confess it, and receive the sweet renewal for forgiveness. Amen

Plan B, C, and D

As a pastor, I have gotten used the fact that we don’t always celebrate the holidays right on the actual day. Since we have worship on Christmas Eve and Christmas isn’t always the best day to travel, we often spend a later day with my mom up north. My son’s schedule is so crazy that between us, we have a hard time finding a date that works. We were going to see my mom for Thanksgiving, but there was a blizzard. Still need to work out Thanksgiving with her. The first attempt with my son, I wasn’t sure if I was infected, so we passed. Then we rescheduled, but his job called him in to work that day. Now we have been shooting texts back and forth trying to juggle schedules. I think we celebrated Christmas with them in early February last year. The best made plans often need to be adjusted. Why did I burden you with my plans when you have your own struggles to get together? I want you to ask the question of whether you really need to do all the things you do leading up to Christmas or whether you need to be in charge of all of them. Maybe the meals can be put together by a number of different members of the family. Maybe you need to go to one less Christmas party. Do you need to fret over all the gifts? Are you going overboard? Do you have time to just sit down as a family and enjoy that fellowship? Maybe you can pause before opening up gifts, or the meal, or some other part of the family get-together to read the Christmas story from the Bible in Matthew or Luke. Invite family and friends to join you for worship, whether Christmas Eve, Day, or just a regular Sunday. My point is, figure out what is really important. Maybe drop some things that are too overwhelming. Make sure the main priorities remain the priorities. Use the family time to tell stories, share experiences, discuss future goals, and mix in a large dose of laughter and love. Our kids are making something of their own lives, and we are so proud of them. We miss not seeing them as often and so we need to make the most of the times we have. It is such a joy to have a church family to worship with, study with, mourn with, and celebrate with. My prayer is not only for you enjoy your own families, but that you are richly blessed as grow with your church families daily. Father, thank You for family and friends. May we grow in faith and in love this season as You prepare us for the coming year. Amen

Preparing for the Worst

Watching the weather forecast can almost be a form of gambling (just kidding). It is just that they can be wrong so often and yet we still seem to live our lives around what they say. There was a big weather system that went across South Dakota and kept coming across to us in Wisconsin. In South Dakota, at least one of the major universities closed because of the danger. As it turns out, the predicted snowstorm turned into rain showers and amounted to nothing. It was probably a wise choice, but embarrassing when it fizzled out. Well, that same storm is coming our way. This morning it looked like there was a good chance that we would get 3-6 inches. As evening started approaching, it seemed almost an equal chance of getting 1-3 inches. Since I was going to a Bible study early in the morning, I was watching the forecast. Just before bed now, it suddenly jumped up to the 3-6 inches again, almost two times as likely. I will have to decide in the morning what I will do. Will we get the storm predicted or will it fizzle out like it did in parts of South Dakota? When we look at the world, we see so much of the media presenting things as a worst-case scenario. We hear about the big snowstorm, the massive hurricane, the life ending political decisions, the health crises, and so on. I’m not saying they are never right, but it seems like each discipline tries to paint the next situation as one of the most traumatic things the world has ever experienced. Why is it we keep going back to get ourselves wound up again? We let the world control our emotions and yet when it comes to faith, which literally does present a life and death scenario, we seem to ignore it or pay very little attention. We don’t want to artificially hype Jesus’ second coming so that people are reacting to emotions and not grounded in faith, but we also can’t remain silent. I’ve seen some deaths recently that came much sooner than anyone expected. We don’t always have time to prepare, plus relationships are grown, not manufactured. Are all those around you prepared? It is not a question of “if”, but a matter of “when” life ends. We are in the season of Advent... a time of preparing for Jesus’ coming. Holy Spirit, show us how we can help our family, loved ones, and those in our communities, to prepare their hearts for You. Amen

Stump of Jesse

When we lived in South Dakota, we planted a couple of trees in front of the house. During one of the strong storms that went through, one of the trees blew over, snapping about three feet above the ground. I can’t remember if I didn’t have time at the moment or if the ground was frozen, but I grabbed a saw, cut the fallen part off and left the stump or bottom two feet of the tree. As I was debating whether I wanted to dig it out or see if I could use it there in some decorative way, I noticed a shoot beginning to grow in the center of the stump. I found it interesting, so I decided to let it go. There wasn’t much to it when we left to come serve this church in Wisconsin. I was surprised when I went back out there to visit with friends that the stump was now a tree about six to eight feet high. The last I saw it, it was a beautiful tree again. Who would have thought that there was any hope in a stump. In our first lesson today, Isaiah 11:1-10, we hear of the stump of Jesse. Jesse was the father of David, who became the greatest king of Israel, and from his line would come the promised Messiah, that we know today as Jesus. Interestingly, as it talks about a shoot coming from the stump of Jesse, it isn’t speaking of his son David. It is referring, 14 generations later, to Jesus. It basically is saying that Jesse has already passed away, and yet through his lineage comes the life the world has waited for, the Messiah. Then we get some prophetic descriptions of who Jesus would be. In verse 2 we read, The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him — the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord — and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.” As Jesus, He was both God and man, but the Holy Spirit would be upon Him and lead Him. The next section tells us, “He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.” Unlike most earthly rulers that lord it over everyone, Jesus will rule in righteousness, not showing favoritism. All who follow Him will have eternal life. Thank You Jesus for coming into the world, bringing hope and renewal to all who follow You. Amen

We Are God’s Creation!

I remember watching a little clip of a woman meeting her pompous husband at work. While they are there, the wife bumps into the janitor and they get to talking and catching up on old times. When the husband comes by, she introduces the janitor and mentions that they used to date years ago. The husband looks down on the janitor, and after the couple left, the husband started mocking the man. He says with disbelief to his wife, “If you had married him, you would now be a janitor's wife. Aren’t you glad you married me?” To that she answered, “When we were dating, you were struggling with a lot of ideas. I pushed you to make them a reality. If I had married the janitor, maybe he would be where you are today!” I don’t think that was what the husband was hoping or expecting to hear. Talk about humbling. We have a part to play in who we are, but the input and interaction with family, friends, workers, teachers, church, etc. have a way of shaping us to be more than we likely would have been on our own. Ultimately, we are God’s creation. I like a quote from CS Lewis that stated, “The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us.” There is so much truth to that. As a believer, I know that there is nothing I can do that will entice God to love me, and yet God refers to believers as holy, saints, and righteous. Through faith, God not only transforms who we are, but through what He did on the cross, the Father sees us as “good”, even when we make mistakes. A parent will not cease to love a child when he/she makes mistakes, but a good parent will also not be satisfied letting the child wallow in sin. We cannot make a child good, but we can train them in the way they should go. God on the other hand, trains us in His word, fills us with the Holy Spirit, and transforms us as a child of God. Our desire is to hear Him say, “Well done good and faithful servant”, but I can only be “faithful” if the Holy Spirit is leading me. What part do I play. Surrender... submission.... shapeable. As God works in our hearts, He gives us the desire and gifts to accomplish His call. I make myself available in prayer, in reading His word, and in faithful obedience. Father, we come before You unfinished and weak. Through Your love, establish Your goodness in us. Amen

Learning a New Lesson

I went to Physical Therapist today for a knee problem. It was an amazing therapist that didn’t just tell me what exercises I needed to do, but explained why I was feeling what I was. One of the things I kind of knew, but he brought to mind again was that I might be afraid to walk. That sounds like such a silly statement. After all, I have been walking for many, many years. It’s as easy as putting one foot in front of the other, right? Then I started to think back to when they scoped my right knee. After the procedure, between the pain before and the pain of the procedure, I was very hesitant to walk normally. I had walked with a limp or crutches for long enough to lack confidence that I could trust my knee. Now, I am going through the same idea. He pointed out how I was walking hesitantly and that it actually was putting more pressure on the bad knee. This sounds crazy, but he explained the mechanics of walking and how the hip, knee, and foot worked. With that in mind, I have exercises to strengthen weak muscles, but I also have instructions of how I need to be walking. I have to say that my knee got sore, but I felt like I was relearning what I needed to do. Is it going to be an easy road? Probably not. Does it look possible at this point. Yes. I told you that to tell you this. At one point, our walk with God may have been wonderful, but lately, we may not have a great desire to walk with God. Maybe we just need to learn to walk again. We have forgotten our first love. The world has wounded us and we need to go to the Great Physician, God. Maybe your walk is going wonderfully and this is just a gentle reminder to keep practicing our daily walk with God so that we don’t start having issues. Relearning can be a challenge. Maybe in your faith, you have somehow become afraid to walk. I’m not saying that you don’t have any faith, but you hesitate putting your faith into action without using your crutches. As we spend time with God, be open to Him teaching you through prayer, His word, and Godly instruction from others. My goal, physically, is just to be able to walk unaided. Spiritually, I desire to soar on the wings of eagles and not grow faint. Lord, I claim Isaiah 40. I put my hope in You. Strengthen me so that I will run and not grow weary, walk and not be faint. Amen

Where Did the Family Go?

Today, there are so many families that are broken up. Sometimes it is over political views. Sometimes it is over parenting styles. Sadly, sometimes it is even over spiritual matters. Often people head off for higher education and come back a different people. The different person may have walked away from their faith. They may have adopted a different world view that changes their spiritual outlook as well. We hear, and I often believe, the closest family is not a blood relative, but a brother or sister in Christ. Let us look at the early church. In Acts 2:46-47 we read. "And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved." Notice, gathering for worship wasn’t just one hour a week. It wasn’t even going to a midweek Bible study. They gathered daily around the word of God. They gathered together in homes, eating and praising God. They found favor with God, not because of their lineage or their status, but because they humbled themselves before the Lord in all that they did. What was the result? The Lord added to their number daily. I love our church, and it really does feel like a wonderful family, but we spend too little time together, especially around God’s word. I love our Tuesday study. It has become a family. That isn’t a way of saying we don’t want anyone else to join. I know someone who was separated from his family at a young age. About 60+ years later, they find each other. It wasn’t a burden for the family to grow. As a matter of fact, family has become of greater importance, I think. That’s what I want to see. They don’t even have to be members of our church. God tells us that where two or three are gathered in His name, He is there in their midst. He doesn’t specify Jew or Gentile. He specifies gathering in His name. We say we want to grow in numbers but are we ready? How can we spend more time together and in the word of God? Our worship should not be about an hour on one day but gathering together before God often. If there is an interest, I’d love to meet with others around God’s word. Lord, give us desire, not just to read the word on our own and pray on our own, but to also hunger for Christian fellowship daily. Amen

Here We Go Again

How can we be thankful in all things. What if things go badly for us... should we still be thankful? Sometimes bad things happen because we live in a sinful and broken world. That doesn’t mean that we give up or spend our days complaining. In the Bible, there were times that God allowed bad things to happen as a means of punishment. For example, God’s people turned from Him and He allowed an enemy nation to come in and take them captive. God used bad things to protect His people. Causing hail to fall on the enemy or the Red Sea to collapse on the whole Egyptian army. There were times bad things happened to help other people understand. Healing the blind man was used to testify to the power of God. Job was struck by the Devil, by God’s permission, to teach that Job's faith was enough. We even hear of the Apostle Paul facing a “thorn in the flesh” to keep him from become conceited by what he knew or experienced. Let’s look at Paul’s circumstance. It is found in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” I’m not going to compare myself to the Apostle Paul by saying my knee problems are to keep me from becoming conceited, but it gives me opportunity and encouragement to draw closer to the True Physician... God. I can ask God why or I can honestly say, “God’s grace is sufficient.” In my weakness, I find strength in God. We are not told what Paul’s thorn in the flesh was, but it kept him focused on God. I am being pushed to greater dependence on God, which is a good thing in the long run. We have been given a life changing message of hope. Nothing should stop us. Father, when ministry is going well, help me not to become conceited. When life get tough, help me find strength in You. Amen