Give thanks...really GIVE THANKS!

Well, my belly is still way too full from the tremendous meal we shared last night. I'm thankful for my family and friends who gathered together for our Thanksgiving meal. I'm thankful for the laughter, I'm thankful for the joy, I'm thankful for the peace and well being I feel when I celebrate with those I love. As a pastor I have unique relationships with family and friends that by necessity extend way beyond blood bond or social circle. When I give thanks for all of you, family, friends, acquaintances - shadow readers that I cannot see or know face to face, I give thanks, with Paul in 1 Corinthians 1...

"I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge- even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you-so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."

I give thanks...really GIVE THANKS that it is the Word of God which bonds us together in faith. I give thanks for the circle of love he has given us through the cross of Jesus which makes us more than friends. I give thanks that we are those who have been "enriched in him in all speech and knowledge" for a simple purpose, to set conflict aside and celebrate the gifts the Spirit has given each of us. I give thanks that God has called us into HIS fellowship - where we all work TOGETHER for the sake of the Gospel over and above our own self-interests. Giving thanks, true thanks, cannot dwell only on what has been done for me, but true thanks moves into my words and actions toward YOU! I pray that you help me to be thankful for you each day and that you also take every day to give thanks...really GIVE THANKS for all those God has gathered around you in Christ Jesus!

Waiting and wishing

"Want to know a secret? Promise not to tell? We're standing by wishing well!" Snow White's impossibly songbird like voice flutters, "Make a wish into the well, that's all you have to do, and if you hear it echoing, your wish will soon come true!"  Psalm 80, a song of Asaph, can sound a bit like a wish. Their brother tribes of the north have been taken captive by Assyria. No buffer exists between Judah and their own exile. "Give ear, O shepherd of Israel...stir up your might...come and save us!" Sung, shouted or prayed, the cry sounds like a wish dropped into the darkest depths of a well - sounds a bit like our own wishes that God would come to us and act, even in the light of our own inaction. In the midst of all the trouble in our lives, in the time waiting for His miraculous and magnificent intervention, it seems that we can only come to God with impatient wishes while the opportunities to see and participate in His mighty acts pass us by. There is something beautiful about the way Snow White humbly trusts that her pleas will be heard, albeit that she has directed them the wrong way! There is more to be said for the pleas of Asaph ,who calls upon the Shepherd of Israel, the one who leads His flock through the depths of darkness and into the marvelous shining light of His presence. There is even more to be said for how this Good Shepherd comes to restore and to save His people. He comes humbly, riding on a  donkey. He comes obediently, submitting not to His own will but to the will of His Father. He comes as the least of all, to a cross and to a tomb. He comes in glory, resurrected, renewed and restored so that all of the wishes of our eternal struggle with sin are filled with overflowing grace - He comes, friends - to you. Will you wish and pray with me that our hearts and the hearts of this failing world will accept He who comes, in the name of the Lord?

Tend to Lead

They're turning up an old field in the French Valley. The odor is this side of pungent and that side of repulsive! The girls keep asking, "where are all the animals making that smell?" Not one animal to be seen. Then I remembered, the first day we came and visited the area - four years ago just a couple of weeks ago. I remembered that field FILLED with sheep! It was pasture land. And with hundreds of sheep eating acres of grass you get mounds of ....well, you know! That wasn't so long ago, where have the sheep gone? Chances are, over four years, most of them are no more. Some probably died of old age, while others of weakness, illness, or injury. Some may have simply wandered away, lost to the fold and the shepherd alike. I imagine the shepherd tending the flock in French Valley was diligent and caring. Quite unlike the shepherds in Ezekiel 34, the shepherds that God spoke against, the shepherds that had been feeding themselves rather than the sheep. It's interesting for us to think of ourselves simultaneously as sheep and shepherds. We are sheep in that we need to be led and cared for, shepherds in that we're called to lead and care for others. We are sheep that have been sought out by a Shepherd, a Good Shepherd who came to be among us. Jesus, who called us, gathered us and through His Holy Spirit enlightens us still to be both sheep AND shepherds - to be blessed that we may be a blessing-  to be faithful as He was faithful, even unto death on a cross! "I Myself will be shepherd of MY sheep," says the Lord God - "I will rescue my flock...I will set up over them ONE shepherd, My servant David, and He shall feed them." As you are fed by the Word of God become flesh, remember that we eat for energy to DO - to lead others, to be shepherds in His glorious pasture!

Sent 11/18

Dear Gov. Shawarzanegger,

Maybe you can help me. I'm a pastor of a Lutheran congregation in Temecula California. Trinity is a congregation that seeks to fulfill a simple mission of encouraging and supporting relationships that are Christ centered and community focused. Lutherans historically view support of governing officials as a duty, often whether we agree with their choices or not. Much like yourself, we take service toward others very seriously, particularly when it comes to the families that live here in Temecula and Murrieta. Our main ministry here is a vibrant pre-school, where we teach the promise and hope of faith and the honor of serving others in response to all that has been given to us. One of our new ministries is a home that offers short-term, emergency sanctuary for victims of domestic violence. Trinity SAFE house is a partnership with a community organization that seeks to hold our precious families together even in the darkest of times. Given all that we are charged to do here in service to our Lord and others, I ask if you can help me in explaining to the congregation, the community, the children and the families how we are to honor duly elected officials who choose to ignore the will of the people. The actions of recent weeks are deeply sad and disappointing. For the issue of Prop 8 to be twisted and turned, using terms like "hatred" and "bigotry" to describe those who hold the traditional view of marriage is, at best, a misrepresentation of the majority view. For you, as a Governor we elected and still support to consider allowing vocal minorities to sway public policy is a deep challenge to your credibility as a leader. My job, as one who is called to speak the Word of God in all situations, is to humbly ask you to consider the affects of attempting to change human history. Never has any ruling government, no matter their political ilk, sought to overturn natural law for the sake of political correctness. It's as if I requested that you overturn the Law of Gravity simply because I have the desire to fly! The debate about "equal rights" is a straw man - as you and any other reasonable individual know that our government protects the rights of homosexuals through domestic partnership legislation. They have all the same rights and responsibilities given any other citizen, and that Sir is a fact. That being said, to change the definition of a term like marriage -which means at its core the same thing it always has, namely the joining of man and woman in sacrificial relationship - is absolutely ludicrous. You may as well say that water is dry and the sky is green, just because you want them to be! So, back to my question- what does a simple pastor do? Rest assured, I will continue to preach the Word- calling each us into repentance before God for violating His creation and proclaiming the forgiveness that is in Christ Jesus for all who believe in His sacrificial relationship, His precious death on the cross for us.  I give you, my Governor, that option today. As I teach that you cannot offer critique without a practical solution, here's mine. Consider taking the word "marriage" out of all legal definitions of domestic partnership. Restore true marriage to the it's rightful place, to the Church and the home, thereby freeing human conscience to either follow the will and the Word of God, as they understand Him or to follow their own will and their own ways. Thanks for taking the time to listen to the people- all the people you have been called to serve.

In Jesus Name...

Be strong and...

COURAGEOUS! A couple days after Veterans Day, I'm still thinking about courage. I'm remembering my job at Siemens, handling the Government accounts. I spent a lot of time in VA hospitals and Military medical centers like Bethesda and Walter Reed. Invariably I'd be waiting to meet with the clinicians, passing the time talking with the vets. I heard stories of the Battle of the Bulge,  of Heartbreak Ridge and of Saigon - stories even of Lebanon and Kuwait. Generations of the courageous baring old wounds and revealing dark nightmares to a suit - there for the sole purpose of demonstrating hearing aids! Talk about feeling inadequate and humbled! These men and women had the courage, not only to endure tremendous hardship in war but to continue to endure tremendous hardship in peace. They lived through moments of incredible uncertainty, only to be thrust back into life in the "real" world, where we certainly know what's around the next corner. At least we think we know! Paul writes to the people of Thessalonica in similar words Jesus used when He talked about our expectations. "Concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night." This uncertainty friends is the source of courage. Who would be courageous if they knew the day and the time of the Lord's coming? Either we would be consumed with doing good deeds to ensure our salvation or we would fall into a resigned depression thinking it all hopeless. It's like the scenes in the movie Groundhog Day, when the main character knows he cannot die, so he take tremendous risks that lack courage. Whether we speak of the courage of those in battle or the courage of those at peace the source is the same. It is a selflessness, a light of hope that no matter what happens - life is not lived for the self, but for others. Putting on the "breastplate of faith and love" and the helmet of "hope and salvation", the truly courageous willing step into the fray to lay down their life for another. It's never been clearer than the courageous work of Jesus on His cross. It's never been truly possible until He did it first. Now as He readies us with faith, we must choose courage - the willingness to live and to die Christ Jesus! 

Here we go...

It seems that the American Humanist Association, taking the lead from a group in London, placing the ad to the right on buses in Washington D.C. The sides of the buses are plastered with the same message - "Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness sake." It seems that atheism is now called humanism - sounds a little softer, doesn't it? "Why believe" is the question. Why believe in something outside of yourself? The british ad said "There is probably no God." Probably. Zephaniah 1:12 says this...

"At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are complacent, those who say in their hearts, 'The Lord will not do good nor will he do ill.'" There's something to be said for blatant atheism - at least it's up front and visible. Our concern at Christians is not some ad on a bus - it's whether or not we are living our lives as practical atheists - living as if God will not do anything, good or bad. Living as if we need to be good, for goodness sake. Zephaniah's words are against those who have not seen that our God is a God of tremendous action. Our God is one who changes lives. Those who have been made ready by God's Word, yet are not willing to proclaim it with a life that has been changed are just like the atheist. In fact, they may be worse - they're hypocrites. Complacency is rampant in the church - but so is goodness. This goodness is not from ourselves, but from a God who is even willing to forgive those who don't always recognize His work in their lives. God is not only good - He's necessary! God is necessary for lives of true selfless goodness toward others - not because He's our big Santa, but because of Jesus. Why believe in a god? Because without Him, we have no hope!

Does God have a DARK SIDE?

(insert heavy breathing) "Luke...(breathe)..I am your father."(more heavy breathing)

With this dramatic scene, the hero Luke Skywalker  learns of the potential for evil coursing through his veins - the inclination inherited from his father toward the Dark Side!

I wonder - particularly when reading texts like Psalm 90 - does God our Father have a dark side as well? Have we, as His children, inherited the negative as well as the positive qualities of God?

God...DARK? To some of you, them is fightin' words! Psalm 90:7 - "we are brought to an end by your anger." Verse 9 - "For all our days pass away under your wrath." Verse 11 - "who considers the power of your anger?" Wow! That's DARK! We don't want to think about these things! But the fact is that God gives life AND takes it away. Our reality is that we live in the wrath of God, as our bodies ages, decay and eventually succumb to death-the just reward for our sins. The power of the anger of God is immediately evident. We don't have to guess - the darkness is deep. It's so deep that we soon realize that it's this darkness, brought to our attention through the knowledge of good and evil our God tried to keep us from, this darkness now courses through our veins as children of wrath. Whew- that's tough to swallow! But, friends, you and I realize that we cannot know light without darkness. As God has a side that is dark and hidden from our knowledge and understanding, He also has a side that is light...pure light.. THE  light, as the evangelist John writes, that "shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." This is the light that has been revealed to those who walked in darkness, says Isaiah (9:2). This the light of God's love, the only light that has the power to illuminate our path today and into eternity. There will be a day when we live in this light ALWAYS - that day is, in fact, with us, when we grab a hold of the gift God has given us - Jesus, pure light, pure love - in whom there is no darkness, no tears, not death - simply LIFE!

Ready?

I'm currently re-reading the book Wild at Heart by John Eldredge - a great book that seeks to restore the word "man" to the phrase "Man of Faith". I had forgotten about an experience I once shared with Eldredge -they used to call it the actors nightmare. Imagine standing on a stage in front of a packed house. The sets are beautiful, the costumes perfect. As the music swells to a crescendo marking the beginning of the first scene, you suddenly realize that you have no idea what play this is. you don't know what character you are playing or any of the lines you are supposed to deliver. The overwhelming anxiety of being woefully unprepared hits your mind and body like a freight train. Your thoughts race, you start to sweat as your chest tightens and it becomes hard to breathe. When you snap awake the panic remains until you change your pajamas and settle down! You can translate your own nightmare of being unprepared. Each is the same - even when it comes to our spirit.  The unprepared spirit is a spirit of complacency, the lie we tell ourselves that we've got the golden ticket into heaven, so why worry about our walk here and now. The unprepared spirit manifests itself in so many ways, from ignoring our own sins to pointing out the sins of others. It shows itself in trusting in what we know over what God continues to reveal in His Word. Sooner or later, the unprepared spirit takes control - making us angry, bitter, impatient and quarrelsome. Friends in Christ, the unprepared spirit has been replaced for you, put to death actually, by the Spirit of Christ Jesus. In His cross Jesus won freedom from anger and bitterness. He has given us the gift of waiting on the Lord, not with impatience of little children -but with the patience of Job. Your spirit is prepared by THE Spirit, to be re-committed to a life of faith in God above all things - trust that He has prepared you for an eternity with God. Are you ready? In Christ Jesus...you bet!

Probably???

News out of London last week - Atheists were banding together to raise funds in order to place signs on the iconic big red buses. "There is probably no God. So stop worrying and enjoy your life." Stop worrying. That's what true Christianity is all about, isn't it? Cast your burdens upon me, Jesus says - Do not be anxious about anything. Yet we worry anyway! Maybe that's what the atheists are so concerned about. Maybe they're just looking out for our welfare. Maybe they just want to see us be as "happy" as all of them. Hmm...maybe...but I doubt it! The prophet Amos says that the Day of the Lord will be darkness, not light. Our millennial friends take this as an occasion to worry, "where will you be?" Jesus, in Matthew 25 warns about those who are not ready for the darkness that is to come. Again, any floppy Bible pounding preacher can go after this one! Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4 talks about the coming of the Lord - many have taken verse 17 to be the defining Scripture that proves a "rapture" of the righteous - so...which are you? Will you be left behind?? Friends - Jesus says STOP WORRYING, enjoy your life! The Day of the Lord, the Day of Darkness, the Day of Judgment, the Last Day -whatever you want to call it -the day is coming, no doubt about it. As those who live in faith of being redeemed by the blood of Jesus, there's no worry - only motivation. Motivation to take the message of light into the darkness. Motivation to share the fuel of our salvation with those who have come up empty. Motivation to joy, for all of those who have died in the faith and will rise with us on the Last Day to everlasting life with God. This is our hope. This our faith. No "probably" here! There IS a God - He is Christ Jesus. In Him all worry turns to joy and a life full of His love for you and for all who call upon His name!