You think you've got a tough job?

You, my friends, should have tried to walk in Moses' sandals.  HIs job was to lead God's people, the Israelites, from Egypt to the Promised Land.  Working in a nitroglycerin factory would have been less stressful!

The people rejoiced when God miraculously delivered them from slavery.  They sang with Moses when God destroyed Pharaoh's army in the Red Sea.  They praised God when He promised to establish a covenant which would make them a people to be envied by all other tribes and nations.

But the Israelites could also be, as God described them, "a stiff-necked people."  You've heard the phrase, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going?" When things got a little difficult for God's people, they would moan and complain, with Moses as their whipping boy.  They accused their leader of having brought them out to the desert so they could die of thirst.  They whined of having no food to eat.  Even when God provided them with good food, they complained that they were tired of the same old menu.  How was it that Moses could put up with these people.

Moses got frustrated from time to time.  But soon he would calm down and get back to his job, leading God's people to the land that the Lord had given them.  Moses was able to do so because He had a personal relationship with God.  He communed with the Lord.  He spent time in God's presence.  Moses even reflected God radiance to the people.  When the going got tough, Moses got back to His ever-present God.  He trusted in the Lord.  The Lord was with him.

You are just as blessed as Moses.  Remember the great hymn of the church?

                         Jesus, priceless treasure, Source of purest pleasure, truest friend to me

Our greatest treasure in this life in the Lord Himself.  No matter how tough life becomes for us, we have a personal relationship with Jesus.  He is with us always.  He has sent the Spirit to guide us.  He is preparing a place for us and He will come again to take us to our home in heaven.  Don't despair, my friends, in these tough times.  Just as Moses communed with God, so you have fellowship with the Lord, now and forever! 

Our hearts are not empty

And I heard a voice from heaven saying “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.”  “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them.!”

At approximately 12:45 pm, Sherri’s mother, my mother-in-law, and our sister in the faith, Betty Landis, died in the Lord and was received to rest in the arms of Jesus until Resurrection Day.  Her passing was peaceful.  Sherri, who has spent the majority of the past week sitting at Betty’s bedside was there, stroking her hair and assuring her of the promises made to her by her Savior God, promises to forgive and to heal and to save.  And now, while our hearts are heavy, they are not empty, for they are filled with the joy of knowing that Betty no longer suffers but, instead, has received her “Yes” to her prayer, “I want to go to heaven.”

For me, I had the great honor of being her pastor.  She was certainly my champion and she affirmed me in ministry again and again.  She loved hearing God’s Word and receiving His supper.  Her connectedness to Jesus led her to love her husband Bill, Sherri and her sister Carrie, our kids and grandkids, and more friends that one could count, with love of Jesus that she had first received from her Savior.  Those fruits of faith our family won’t soon forget.

Gracious God, we give You thanks for calling Betty to Your side.  With Easter still so fresh in our lives, we give thanks that Your sent Your Son into death so that we will never be defeated by death.  Instead, we praise You for the rest You have granted Your servant.  Have mercy upon Sherri and our family and all those who mourn today.  Take away our sorrow and keep us in the peace that comes from knowing that in Christ we have life – life now and eternal, blessed life in heaven!  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Bonhoeffer - "Christ builds the church!"

It is not we who build.  Christ builds the church.  No man builds the church but Christ alone.  Whoever is minded to build the church is surely well on the way to destroying it; for he will build a temple to idols without wishing or knowing it.  We must confess - He builds.  We must proclaim - He builds.  We must pray to Him - He builds.

We do not know His plan.  We cannot see whether He is building or pulling down.  It may be that the times by which human standards are times of collapse are for Him the great times of construction.  It may be that the times which from a human point of view are great times for the church are times when it is pulled down.

It is a great comfort which Christ gives to His church; you confess, preach, bear witness to Me and I alone will build where it pleases Me.  Do not meddle in what is my province.  Do what is given to you to do well and you have done enough.  But do it well.  Pay no heed to views and opinions.  Don't ask for judgments.  Don't always be calculating what will happen.  Don't always be on the lookout for another refuge.  Church, stay a church! But church, confess, confess, confess! Christ alone is your Lord; from His grace alone you can live as you are.  Christ builds.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, as quoted in "The Harvest Raise," pages 329-30

The Friday Funny #499

An atheist scientist came to God and said, "We've figured out how to make a man with you."

God said, "OK, let me see you do it."

So the atheist bent down to the ground and scooped up a handful.  But God stopped him and said, "Oh, no you don't.  Get your own dirt!"

Have a great day!

6 Weeks Post Surgery - What's Next?

What's next, I hope, I a round of golf!

Six weeks ago I underwent back surgery.  And the surgery was a success.  Pain that I had been living with was gone.  I can now stand easily and walk freely and generally feel a whole lot better.  A couple of folks tell me that they think I've grown two inches! I guess I didn't realize how stooped over I had been.

My rehab has consisted of walking - nothing more and nothing less.  I walk a mile or more in the morning with my dear sweet wife and our dog.  And most evenings the dog and I do another mile or so.  I want to increase the distance as I go along but have been warned "not to push it!" So, I won't.

The picture above was taken at Torrey Pines Golf Club outside San Diego.  That's the ocean behind me.  The view from the tee box was beautiful.  The tee shot was not.  Somehow, I found myself back in the fairway and am in the middle of hitting my approach shot to the green.  How did I do? I don't remember.  There were so many approach shots!

So, this Saturday, I'm going to the driving range and swing the clubs a few times.  Nice, easy swings.  Just to see if I remember how to do this.  At my age, golf is just about the only outdoor sport I can still play (yes, I know, there are some who refuse to believe that golf is a sport).  Hopefully, I will be able to get out of bed for church the next morning.

Leading up to surgery I've had more than one person ask, "Do you know how to avoid a second back surgery? Don't have the first back surgery!" But I feel very blessed by God.  The surgery went well.  I was relieved of the pain.  I feel hopeful that when retirement comes I'll be able to travel and pursue some of the things on my retirement to-do list.  One goal - eliminate so many of those approach shots!

How do we pray without ceasing?

Richard Foster says that when Paul instructs us to "pray without ceasing," he is reminding us to "seek to discover as many ways as possible to keep God constantly in mind.  This means keeping God in mind for others as well as for ourselves.  We do this by praying for our spouses and treating him or her the way we would like to be prayed for and treated; praying for and asking our pastor how we can serve him today; and praying and looking for opportunities to serve the co-worker who rubs us the wrong way.  Integrating our relationship with God into our daily tasks and relationships is a vital step as we seek to live a life of significance.

Kurt Senske, "The Calling - Living a Life of Significance," page 37

One reason to do good works

An interesting take on good works from the book, "A Lutheran Toolkit," by Ken Sundet Jones.  He writes on page 50:

The second reason to do good works is that the old person in me, the guy who's curved in on himself, hates doing good works.  The "The Freedom of a Christian," Luther put it this way: "The human creature cannot be idle because of the demands of its body, and because of the body, it attempts to do many good things to bring it under control."  Luther's assumption is that we're like addicts working a program of sobriety.  The first step in Alcoholics Anonymous is this: "We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable."  For Luther, we do good works in order to create the discipline the unmanageable sinner inside us.  We can't create the new person of faith (remember: the Spirit does that with the office of preaching).  But where faith exists, we'll see ever move clearly how we don't do what we should and in turn do what we shouldn't.  When faith arises we grab hold of opportunities to make the sinner in us do what it hates - that is, think about others and serve their needs before our own.