Wisdom from Norman Nagel

It is only because God has come to be our Father that we can pray to Him.  Only because Christ has taken away our sins on Himself and wiped them out by His victorious death can we stand before God, forgiven, His children in Christ. Only as we are bound to Christ can we come before God as His children, for then God sees us in Christ, wearing the garment of Christ's righteousness.  This is the key to a living connection with God our Father.  All contact, all prayer with Him must be in Christ, in the name of Jesus, that is, with faith in Him.

From "Selected Sermons" page 139. 

Top Ten Discoveries Made Around the Church Office

10)       Pastor complains of one sleepless night after another when unable to get the VBS songs out of his head.

9)         Secretary is fed up having to hum the hymns to the pastor each week because “He can’t remember how they go.”

8)         Church custodian feels taken advantage of when told to wax the fellowship hall floors and the pastor’s car.

7)         Pastor discovers there is no place to hide from the head organist.

6)         Church staff refuses to call the pastor, “The Sermoninator.”

5)         The secretary tries to talk the pastor out of his latest outreach idea, “Reverse Offering Sunday” where visitors get to take money out of the offering plate.

4)         Office computers still function poorly even when upgraded to Windows ’98.

3)         Pastor blows a gasket when he reviews the Sunday bulletin and finds that the secretary has placed a “sad face” next to Confession, a “happy face” next to Absolution and a “sleeping face” next to the sermon.

2)         Church staff surprised to learn that the new copier is coin operated; color copies require a credit card.

1)          Pastor practices his “side hugs” on office staff.  Custodian threatens to “punch him out.” 

Today's Friday Funny

Master to dog: No more food! Your dog food bag says 1 cup.

Dog to Master: The Oreo box doesn't say 16 Oreos either so what are we going to do?

Master to dog: Ok, one more cup and that's it!

Dog to master: Oh, sorry.  I ate the rest of the Oreos. 

Forgiveness is the air we breathe

Pastor Frank Starr wrote a  series of devotional book entitled, "Light For The Way."  The books are over 30 years old and out of print.  But I've found them to be a good tool for daily Bible reading.

I have copies a number of Starr's comments over the years in my journals.  I especially appreciated this one on forgiveness:

The Lord's forgiveness and restoration is the air we breathe, and breathing this air inspires us to share forgiveness and restoration with those around us.

"Light For The Way," Book 1, page 72 

The Christian Way

The Christian way is different; harder and easier.  Christ says, "give me all.  I don't want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want you... no half-measures are any good. I don't want to cut off a branch here and a branch there. I want to have the whole tree down...Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked - the whole outfit.  I will give you a new self instead. I will give you Myself; my own will shall become yours."

CS Lewis from "The Joyful Christian" 

God is always there to help

Psalm 77 is a favorite of mine.  Verse 19 gives me so much comfort.  You should check it out.

Here is Martin Luther's take on this Psalm:

The 77th Psalm is a psalm of instruction.  The psalmist uses himself as an example of how to find comfort when affliction comes and the conscience is troubled, as if God is angry with it.  He says that he was so troubled that he could not have any sleep or even speak.  But this comfort follows: The psalmist can fight off the thoughts with which he futilely suffered, and he can grasp instead the thought of the mighty works of God in the histories of old.  Here we find that God's work was to help the miserable, the troubled, and the abandoned, and to throw down the self-secure, proud scoffers, for example,when He delivered the children of Israel from Egypt.  

For this reason His paths are called "hidden."  He is there to help when we think that we are totally abandoned.  We should learn this well.  God intends by this psalm to show us and teach us His manner of helping, namely that he never abandons us when things go ill.  Instead, we should wait upon His help at that time with the greatest confidence and not believe our thoughts.


From, "Reading the Psalms With Luther," page 181

You Might Be A Preacher If...

My daughter, Stephanie, gave me a nifty little book for my birthday one year.  It was titled, "You Might Be a Preacher If..."  Some of the insights were pretty funny.  To these I've added a few of my own.

You might be a preacher if...

People at the wedding reception can't wait for you to leave.

Your office is "prayer conditioned."

You would rather walk on a bed of hot coals than play "Bible Trivia Pursuit."

You've thought of serving Starbucks coffee during the coffee hour.

You've been asked what it's like to work just one day a week.

You know what a Narthex is.

You've answered a phone call at 2 am and your congregational member said, "I hope I'm not bothering you, Pastor."

You've been asked to offer a prayer for one of your members...when there are two minutes before the service.

When a person takes the communion wine and says, "That's mighty good!"

During the hymns you take a quick attendance count.

You argue with the ushers over the attendance count.

You've got a fabulous sermon on humility.