Signing off...but I'll be back

Can you believe that 100 degree temperatures are here?  Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later.  Luckily it's a dry heat😅!

So, I'm going to take a summer break (I know it's not officially summer but 100 degrees is good enough for me).  I'll pick things back up in the fall.

Thanks for checking in on the blog.  I pray you kind readers have a blessed and safe summer.  May God keep you all in His constant care and love!

Marriage's Death Certificate

 I recently came across these words from Max Lucado:. 

When one or both people in a marriage stop trusting God to save it, they sign its death certificate.  They reject the very One who can help them.

As we Lutherans would say, "This is most certainly true."  When married couples ask to meet in my office to counsel and pray about their marriage, within the first few minutes I can usually tell whether there is hope or not.  It comes down to whether or not the couple are willing to let the Lord do His healing work and put His Word to work in their lives.  Sure, there are always problems, many of them serious, that cause a marriage to begin to come apart at the seams, so to speak.  Relationships generally do not fray over night but over time.  So, it only stands to reason, that mending the relationship will also take time.  But when a husband and wife are willing to trust God, listen to Him speak to them through His Word, put that Word to practice in their lives, practice repentance and reconciliation, and learn to love one another as the Lord has first loved them, the Lord can do a marvelous work.  Nothing is impossible for God.  Nothing.

How do we know God?

True knowledge of God's will does not start with the Law but with the Gospel, for the Gospel alone renews our minds, enables us to love, and gives the Holy Spirit free reign in our hearts to produce the fruit of faith.

"Gospel Motivation" by Robert J. Koester, Northwestern Publishing House, page 63 

Remembering Jim Peterson

I wrote this blog post back in 2013.  I happened to find a picture of Jim while going through some old boxes over the weekend.  You have people in your life that truly make an impact, who inspire you to be better.  Jim was one of those people in my life.

Watching the ASU-Missouri football game on TV last Saturday caused Sherri and I to remember a chance meeting with our good friend, Jim Peterson, at another ASU-Missouri game over 20 years ago.

Jim and I had become friends while working together in radio.  When he walked through the front door of the station, I immediately recognized him.  Jim had been a star pitcher for the ASU Sun Devils baseball team.  He left after his junior season and signed a contract with the Dodgers organization.  Arm problems forced Jim to retire so he returned to ASU to finish his degree in Mass Communications.  He came to our station looking for a job and our manager hired him.  Soon Jim and I were working together every day.

After a time I realized that Jim wasn't the person I thought he would be.  He was not an ex-jock full of himself.  Jim didn't brag about his accomplishments.  He was a humble person who was more interested in talking about Christ Jesus instead of himself.

I learned a lot about Jim during the time we worked together.  Jim knew the Scriptures.  He relied on them for direction for daily living.  He was passionate about telling others that faith in Jesus was the only way to heaven.  He was a good apologist for the faith and easily shared the story of Jesus' suffering, death and resurrection with anyone willing to listen.  Jim was a person I very much wanted to emulate.

Eventually, Jim got a job hosting a sports talk program on a Phoenix station and then moved into television.  We lost track of one another for awhile.  Then, out of the blue, Jim called me from New Jersey.  He had moved there with his wife and had become a member of an LCMS congregation.  We touched base every few months until he called one day with shocking news.  He had been diagnosed with throat cancer.

Jim went through several surgeries along with chemo and radiation therapy.  But the cancer was aggressive and I couldn't believe it when he wife called one morning to say that Jim had passed away.

I traveled to California for Jim's funeral service.  As I opened the church bulletin, I read a message that Jim had asked to be printed.  It read, "Don't talk about me...talk about Jesus Christ."  It was pure Jim Peterson.

Give thanks to the Lord today for the people who have made a difference in your life.  I'll do the same, beginning with my good friend and brother in the faith - Jim Peterson.

Why study the Bible?

Bible study in its purest form deals with our lives on the most basic level, our relationship with God and the life of service that must inevitably follow.  It deals with God's love for us in its richest, most beautiful and most edifying form.

Robert J. Koester
"Gospel Motivation"

page 162 

Defining Temptation

I think Pastor Richard Lauersdorf does a pretty good job of it in his book, "As Luther Taught the Word of Truth."

Playing around with temptation is like trying to run down a mountainside.  There comes a time when your legs get away from you and you ca

A Bonhoeffer Prayer

This is a prayer I often return to.  It often expresses my heart better than I can.

O Heavenly Father, I praise and thank You for the peace of the night.

I praise and thank You for this new day.

I praise and thank You for all Your goodness and faithfulness throughout my life.

You have granted me many blessings; Now let me accept what is hard from Your hand.

You will lay no more on me than I can bear.

You make all things work together for the good of Your children.

Amen.

What can your substitute do for you?

From John Jeske's wonderful book, "Connecting Sinai to Calvary:"

Because in our place our substitute lived a life of perfect obedience to the holy law of God, God considers us to be people who have given Him the perfect obedience He demands.  Because in our place our substitute died innocently under God's curse, God considers us to have been punished for our sins.

On the road to humility

Jane Fryer is a favorite author of mine.  Over the years I have found her notes in the "Today's Light Bible" from Concordia Publishing House to be invaluable.  I found this Fryer quote in my journal yesterday and wanted to share it with you. 

True, godly humility comes to us as God's gift of grace.  When His Word leads us to see our helplessness, our sinfulness, our need for Jesus, we're on the road toward humility.  When we - by grace - focus on Christ, when we cling to Him as our only hope, we are exactly where God wants us to be.  When we trust in Christ's pardon alone as the remedy for our sin, then God can lift us up.  He gives us - us! - the very righteousness of God.

Two things strike me as I read this.  First, humility is not something that we work up in ourselves but it is happens as we are changed by the forgiveness and grace of Christ.  Second, isn't the Gospel of Christ such sweet news? Nothing compares! 

It's the Lord who does the work in the church

While doing some reading in "Treasury of Daily Prayer," I read these words from Acts 19:11: And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul.

These words were an excellent reminder that...

When the words of absolution are spoken during worship, it is the Lord's who is doing the forgiving.

When the water is applied to a person, little or big, in baptism, it is the Lord's baptism.

When the bread and wine are being distributed, it is the Lord's Supper.

God uses people like pastors to proclaim His Word and administer His sacraments.  But these are not the pastor's things.

These are the Lord's things and it is He that is doing the miraculous in our lives - calling us to faith, giving us the new birth and new life, enabling us to embrace Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior, keeping us in this one, true faith until we called to our heavenly rest. 

Praise the Lord that He still does the extraordinary in our lives!

It does matter how Christians live

Luther, writing in the Large Catechism on the First Petition of the Lord's Prayer...

In the second place, God's name is profaned by an openly wicked life and works, when those who are Christians and God's people are adulters, drunkards, misers, enviers and slanderers (1 Cor. 5:11).  Here again God's name must come to shame and be profaned because of us.  It is a shame and disgrace for a flesh and blood father to have a bad, perverse child that opposes him in words and deeds.  Because of that child the father suffers contempt and reproach.  In the same way also, it brings dishonor upon God if we are called by His name and have all kinds of goods from Him, yet we teach, speak and live in any other way than as godly and heavenly children.  People would say about us that we must not be God's children, but the devil's children.

From "Luther's Large Catechism with Study Questions," page 105, Concordia Publishing House

One of the great enemies of spiritual life

Hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life in our day.  You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.

Dallas Willard

Here's hoping you have a relaxing weekend!

Satan's Goal...

is to rob us of our thankfulness for God's good gifts.  If it were within Satan's power, he wouldn't let us have a single piece of bread, not a single penny of income, not even a single hour of life.  But since that's not in his power, he'll try to rob us of God's blessings by making us ungrateful and unappreciative of them.

John C. Jeske, Connecting Sinai to Calvary, Northwestern Publishing House, pg. 52

How important are you to Jesus?

How are important are you to your Lord? Let me ask you, has anyone believed that you were important enough to help you pay your bills...come to your rescue in your time of need...be with you during a serious illness? We all know folks who care for us in such a great way.

Has anyone believed you were important enough to pay for all of your sins...to rescue you from the clutches of the devil...to heal you from the sickness of sin and give you eternal life? We know of only One who could and would do for us what we can't do for ourselves - Christ Jesus.  That's how important you are to Jesus.

The Bible in 50 words

My dear, sweet wife, a few years ago, pulled this from the Grand Canyon University website.  Interesting.

God made
Adam bit
Noah arked
Abraham split
Joseph ruled
Jacob fooled
Bush talked
Moses balked
Pharaoh plagued
People walked
Sea divided
Tablets guided
Promise landed
Saul freaked
David peeked
Prophets warned
Jesus born
God walked
Love talked
Anger crucified
Hope died
Love rose
Spirit flamed
Word spread

God remained.

Easter Tears, Easter Joy

            The first Easter Sunday began with tears – Mary Magdalene’s tears.  These were the worst kind – tears of hopelessness.  She had first met Jesus when she was full of the devil – seven demons in fact.  Since that time Jesus had been her teacher.  His Words filled her heart with something she had never had before – peace with God.  As she watched Jesus day after day – performing miracles, loving the unloved, giving hope to the hopeless – she began to wonder if He was the promised Messiah.  After all, He had changed her life.  She had watched Him change the lives of others.

            Now it seems that her hopes have died.  Mary Magdalene had returned to Jesus’ grave and it appears to have been robbed.  The stone is rolled away and the body of the Lord is gone.  That’s why the first Easter Sunday begins with tears.

            Who can live without hope? Not you.  Not me.  Not Mary Magdalene.  Fortunately, Mary saw hope through her tears.  Turns out the grave of Jesus wasn’t completely empty.

            When Mary looked closer, she found two angels in the tomb.  They weren’t shedding tears.  They weren’t disturbed at all.  One of them asked, “Woman, why are you crying?” Mary sobbed, “They have taken my Lord away and I don’t know where they have put Him?”

            Next to speak is someone that Mary doesn’t recognize, at least right away.  He wonders the same thing as the angels.  “Woman, why are your crying? Who is it you are looking for?”  Mary thinks this person is the gardener, the caretaker of the gravesite.  She says, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you put him and I will get him.”

            Poor Mary.  Maybe her eyes are so full of tears she is unable to clearly see the man standing before her.  But when she hears Him speak her name, “Mary,” she knows who it is.  In that moment, Easter tears are replaced by Easter joy.

            Mary’s joy on that first Easter morning is your Easter joy too.  When loss or disappointment or failure fill your eyes with tears, remember that Jesus can bring healing and restore hope.  There once was a Muslim who became a Christian.  When his friends asked him, “Why have you become a Christian?” he replied, “Well, it’s like this.  Suppose you were going down the road and suddenly the road forked in two directions and you didn’t know which way to go.  And there were two men – one dead and one alive.  Which one would you ask which way to go?

            There is no question as to which way Mary will go.  The same can go for you.  Remember when Jesus spoke Mary’s name.  Why not substitute your own name.  Jesus comes to you, in your weepy and weary moments and asks, “Why are you crying? I am alive!” And like Mary Magdalene, you see the resurrected Lord with eyes of faith.  He turns your tears into joy.  He lifts you from your disappointment and despair and restores your hope.  You can live again because Jesus lives.

            When we think about Easter tears, it is the words, “He is risen; He is risen indeed,” that can bring tears to the eyes of a believer.  We think of all Jesus suffered and endured and He did it all just for you and me.  A love like that can bring tears to our eyes.  But these are tears of joy, not sadness.  These are tears of hope, not despair.  It is most certainly true – Jesus is just as much alive today as He was on that first Easter morning.  Believe it my friends – Jesus is risen indeed!

Join us for Good Friday service

I'll be leading worship and preaching at the Good Friday service at Christ the Redeemer in Phoenix.  My message focuses on the seven words from the cross spoken by Jesus.  We will sing some of the great Lenten hymns of the church and watch a video which zeroes in on those last moments as Jesus hung on the cross, paying for our sins and winning our redemption.  As the church is darkened, we leave in silence, in order to contemplate the sacrifice that Jesus made for sinners.

The service begins at 6 pm.  The location is 8801 N. 43rd Avenue.  If you don't have a church home, come and join us tonight.

God be with you!

Luther on the 6th Petition of the Lord's Prayer

Here is a great quote from Luther's Large Catechism: Though I am now chaste, patient, kind and in firm faith, the devil will this very hour send such an arrow into my heart that I can scarcely stand.  For he is an enemy that never stops or becomes tired.  So when one temptation stops, there always arise others and fresh ones.

So there is no help or comfort to run here, take hold of the Lord's Prayer, and speak to God from the heart like this: "Dear Father, You have asked me to pray.  Don't let me fall because of temptations."

As usual, Luther is right on the money.  The apostle Peter compared the devil to a roaring lion, always on the prowl, never satisfied, always hungry, ever on the lookout for another soul to destroy.    

Will you include Luther's petition in your daily prayers? "Lord, don't let me fall because of temptations.  Amen." 

Thoughts about March Madness

Where to start...

The college game is exciting, much more so than the professional game.  It seemed that nearly every game I watched came down to the final minute, the final shot.  Unlike the NBA, where only a few teams really have a chance to win the championship, the parity in the collage game allows that plenty of teams had a chance to win the trophy.  The eventual winner, University of Connecticut, was counted out for dead, so to speak, midway through their season.  By tournament time they appeared unbeatable...and they were!

These players are really good.  The level of play in college basketball makes the game extra exciting.  I've lost track of the number of clutch shots that were made during the tournemenet.  Many of the players were making three point shots from NBA distance.  In many games a 12 point lead wasn't enough.  A few stops, a barrage of three-pointers, and a trailing team could move into the lead.  And the joy and excitement of the players was contiguous.

Is there a classier broadcaster than Jim Nantz? He is often overlooked because of easy going nature and his "Hello friends," greeting.  Nantz doesn't seem as clever as Joe Buck or as knowledgeable as Al Michaels.  But the man is a pro.  He lets the game take centerstage but is right there with the right call at the right time, all designed to help us enjoy what we're watching.  He's retiring from calling college basketball and he'll be missed.  But tune in to CBS this weekend where the master broadcaster will be calling the Masters.  Tune in early so that you don't miss his "Hello Friends," greeting. It's just as much a part of Masters weekend as the azaleas.

This is how much Jesus loves you

So come to His table, listening only to His words and receiving what He gives.  All your doing doesn't count against you anymore.  There is none of you, none of your doing outside of Jesus forgiveness.  Nothing can separate you from Him, for He has borne it all and answered for it in your place.  The Lord invites you to His table, family and fellowship to share all His happy good.  This is how much He loves you.  And by this Meal the Lord brings you on your way to that glad feast that is the feast of the Lamb with all His saints.

Saints - that is you and me and all His disciples, the many accounted righteous, whose iniquities He bore, whose chastisement He took, those whom He makes whole by what He did as the sacrifice for sin and by what He gives us to share together at His table.  Amen.

Selected Sermons of Normal Nagel - page 112