A Stack of Books to Get Through

One aspect of retirement I enjoy is that I have plenty of time to read.  There are a couple of times during the day where I have free time to pick up a book.  And my dear, sweet wife and I end our days with digging into a favorite book.  Here's what's on my bed table now:

The Betrayal of Anne Frank - A Cold Case Investigation.  For decades those familiar with the story of Anne Frank and her family have wanted to know who turned them over to the Nazis.  Rosemary Sullivan's book tells the story of how retired FBI agent Vincent Pankoke and a team of investigators reviewed hundreds of pages of files and conducted numerous interviews and believe that they have finally discovered what actually happened to the Franks.  The story of Anne Frank has always intrigued me and I look forward to digging into this book.

A Guide to Mental and Emotional Wellness.  I'm close to finishing Dr. Jennifer Londgren's book.  It is published by Time of Grace and is full of suggestions for finding peace, purpose and joy in the midst of a difficult and uncertain world.  

Paul - A Novel.  I read this wonderful book by Walter Wangerin Jr. many years ago.  I'm teaching a class on the Book of Acts so I decided to read through this book again with the idea that I might glean something from Wangerin that would apply to the class.

Grace Under Pressure.  I recently read Christopher Kennedy's book, Jesus Said What and found it an interesting and helpful read.  Kennedy took a number of those hard saying of Jesus and unpacked them.  I can see myself utilizing the book when preaching on some of those texts.  The subtitle to his new book is Responding Faithfully to Stress.  I'm hoping to find real encouragement in this book.

So, that's it for now.  Happy reading!

The Lord is near during the busy days of Advent

The season of Advent is a busy time for a parish pastor.  The regular work of ministry goes on - writing Sunday sermons, preparing Sunday worship, Bible study or Confirmation to prepare, people to counsel, homebound to visit and any number of unscheduled things that can crop up on a given day or week.

But work increases at Advent.  There are extra sermons to write and extra services to prepare.  There is the need to be sure that volunteers are willing to serve at the extra services.  Every pastor wants to make the Advent season as meaningful as possible.  But the hours are many and the days are long.  There were years when I worked myself into exhaustion.  I hated the fact that there were times when Advent and Christmas were over and all I could do was breath a sigh of relief.

But then I started taking to heart Paul's words to the Philippians 4:4-5 - Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.  Let your reasonableness be evident to all.  The Lord is near.

It was so comforting to know that I wasn't doing all this work on my own.  The Lord was near to me.  I picked up His Word and He spoke to me.  I looked at my baptismal certificate on the wall and rejoiced that I was a child of His kingdom, I thought about the communion elements on the altar and gave thanks that Jesus met me right there, giving me His body and blood.

As this realization took hold, I attached a sticky note to my computer monitor - THE LORD IS NEAR! Since I spent so much time at the computer I was reminded again and again that God had not left me on my own to do the work of the ministry I had been called to do.

The Lord is near to you as well.  He is near as you as you are taken into the surgical room.  He is near to you when it seems that your family has abandoned you.  What ever the situation might be, He will never leave you nor forsake you.

Paul instructs us to rejoice.  Today, rejoice that the Lord is near to you!

Fill our songs with your love

Fill them, O Jesus

Fill our hearts with Your love.

Fill our songs with Your windy Spirit

Let nothing we sing be empty or noxious or foolish or false

For if you will be the cause of our carols

then we will have joined the heavenly choir

We, with Mary, may be transported

and joy will shed joy on everyone.  Amen.

Walter Wangerin Jr., "Preparing For Jesus," page 83

Words of Wisdom

"Our lives are fashioned by our choices.  First, we make our choices.  Then our choices make us."

Anne Frank

The Friday Funny is Back

You've gotten to the end of the week? How did it go? Good?  Bad? Don't want to think about it?  Here's something that might brighten your day.

A little girl finally got to attend a wedding for the first time. While in the church, the girl asked her mother: “Why is the bride dressed in white?” The mother replied to the girl: “Because white is the color of happiness, and it’s the happiest day of her life today.”

After a little bit, the girl looks up at her mother and says: “But then why is the groom wearing black???

So what's happening, you ask?

Retirement has been very nice.  We thank God for giving us the resources and good health to make it so.  We are able to spend summers with our kids and grandkids but when the temps drop (and it doesn't take much for us) we head back home to enjoy our mild and sunny Arizona winter and  spring time.

My dear, sweet wife stays very busy.  Sometimes I feel guilty because I don't keep an active calendar the way she does.  But the guilt is my own.  Sherri has never said or done anything to make me feel like I should be doing something more with my time.  I justify this by saying to myself that I worked two stressful jobs, owning and managing six radio stations and almost 25 years of full time ministry, so a slower work schedule is something that, in my mind, has been earned.

However, I am not a complete slug.  I have the privilege and joy of preaching each Sunday at Christ the Redeemer Lutheran at 43rd Avenue and Dunlap in Phoenix.  I have the same privilege and joy at Church of the Master, 27th Avenue and Cactus when I teach a Bible class.  (Church - 9:am -- Bible Class -9:30 am).

Both congregations are made up of wonderful, special people.  In 2022, I filled the pulpit at CTR for a few Sundays and then over the summer I suggested that I could preach regularly for them during the months we are in the Valley.  It's a match made in heaven (at least that's how I see it).  CTR has outstanding leadership and faithful worshippers.  They are making their facilities available to a number of self-help groups and several churches.  CTR is definitely a community church.

At COTM, the leader, John, had gotten my name and called to ask if I would like to teach when they had an opening in their schedule.  As it turned out, the church we attend when we are in Michigan has an excellent man who teaches their Sunday morning class.  Coming to his class each week planted a new desire to do some teaching myself.  This is my second year of teaching at COTM and we are working our way through the Book of Acts.  I have a lot of fun with this neat group of people.

Have I mentioned our dog, Jake? We rescued him over six years ago and I can't imagine life without him.  How good is he? My dear, sweet wife and her family were cat people.  Sherri didn't care for dogs and the ones we have had in the past were tolerated.  The dogs were for the kids and they were supposed to take care of them (at least that was their promise).  

But Sherri loves Jake and will say, "How's my boy!"  Jake is also our unofficial  exercise director.  He likes to walk every morning - no, he has to walk every morning.  He's established several routes in our neighborhood and the exercise does us good.  Without Jake it would be easy to sit in the recliner, have an extra cup of coffee and complain about the difficulty of solving WORDLE.  

Well, it's dinner and it wouldn't be right to keep Sherri waiting:-). Thanks for checking in!

Psalms to read when anxious

I've been filled with much anxiety lately.  The world is in upheaval, politics is so nasty, and morality seems to be an an all-time low.  I worry about my kids and grandkids.  One thing my dear, sweet wife and I did right was to make sure that our kids were in church and Sunday school every week. But our kids are not following the example we set.  I'm concerned that as these grandkids grow older, worshiping God will become less of a priority.  We know that Satan never takes a day off, an hour off, a second off.  The grandkids are still young enough to develop good worshiping habits.  But time flies by so quickly.

I'm also anxious about aging.  I never thought about my age while I was working.  Maybe I was too busy.  But now when I hear of someone who passed away at 72 or 75 or 77, I can't help but think, "I'm almost there.  Will people be reading my obit sooner rather than later?"

I know that my Redeemer lives.  He is the resurrection and the life and everyone who believes in Him will never die.  But I struggle with aches and pains and fear they will become worse.  My dear, sweet wife cared for her Mom and Dad in their last years.  Will she have to do the same for me.

Well, I went searching for some Psalms that I hoped will calm my fears and anxiety.  Psalm 23 was a good place to start.  The Lord will lead me through the valley of the shadow of death and I will be with Him in the house of the Lord forever.  Psalm 121 is a favorite.  It assures me that the Lord is watching me constantly; nothing escapes His attention.  Psalm 77, especially verse 19, has been a source of comfort for sometime now.  The Lord is with me whether I see his footsteps or not.

I've been called for dinner so time to go.  But I'm glad I have some good reading material for tonight.