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.