Author: The Pastor

I’m back…

/ The Pastor

I am back from vacation…

…and it is a little weird.  I haven’t watched much news for the past few days; I haven’t checked my email much and my blog has gotten a little breather.  In a way I feel a little lost.  And now I find myself trying to get my barrings so I get get back into the swing of things.  But even that is difficult today.  The dew points here in SW MN are suppose to be in the 70s (I could definitely feel it on my run this morning).  The heat index is suppose to climb over 100 degrees and here’s the worst of if…I have no air conditioning in my office.  So in addition to finding myself a little lost today I find myself in my secretary’s office typing this post (she has air conditioning).  I guess today is a good day to do visits with people who have air conditioning.

Worship attendance
Well…just as I expected…worship attendance this past Sunday (when I was gone) dropped off considerably.  We average around 85 on a Sunday but when I am gone we average less than 75.  This past Sunday we had 52 in worship.  Some people tell me that is a credit to me, that people only like coming to worship when I am there.  But I say, "Hog wash!"  Attendance drops off because people feel guilty otherwise and this way they know that I will never find out they weren’t there.  Honestly people…don’t come because of me, come to worship because you want to worship our God.  Don’t come out of guilt, but come out of respect and awe of our creator; come with thankfulness; come with praise.  Come and worship, don’t just come to "check in".

Harry Potter
Don’t worry…this won’t be long, but I just have to share this little tid bit.  On Monday Connie and I went to Sam’s Club with her sister and brother-in-law (Mary and Matt).  As we walked into the store there was a huge Harry Potter display.  As we walked by Matt grabbed a book and started to read the last couple pages.  Of course I asked him if Harry Potter died like so many people are speculating and he told me…

…just kidding…I won’t say anything.  Now I know how book #7 ends and the thing is I really don’t care 🙂

Oh…my vacation…
Vacation was really fun.  I spent the weekend at Shetek Lutheran Ministries (see link on left side bar) at family camp with Connie’s family.  It was fun to be at camp again as a camper (my first time in 21 years).  I spent 8 summers at various camps (3 of which were as a full time program director) and now I am a board member at Shetek serving on the program committee.  So it was a little difficult just being a camper and not an evaluator.  Of course I would do things differently but I still had fun.

Sunday and Monday were spent in Sioux Falls at my in-laws.  By Monday evening I was ready to come home (thank goodness my wife had to work on Tuesday).  And as Forrest Gump would say, "that is all I have to say about that".

…back to normal?
…whatever that is.  I am looking forward to some sermon prep this week but then it is off for some continuing education next week.  I will still be around but not in the office.  Next week is the Okoboji Lakes Bible and Missionary Conference.  Okoboji/Spirit Lake, IA area is about 20 miles from me so I will be driving back and forth.  The conference is free and has a lot of big time speakers including Ken Davis.  I am really looking forward to hearing Ken and the rest of the presenters.

So it is good to be back.  Vacations are nice, but I would go crazy if I were on permanent vacation.  So here I am…doing what I love to do…serving God with some renewed passion and energy; ready to get back at it and ready to rustle some feathers.  Because as Paul says, "…I am not ashamed of the Gospel…" (I just wish others felt the same way).  Well…I guess I need to start rustling some feathers with my August newsletter.  This should be fun (in a nice, Christian way of course). 

Take care and God bless.
-edh-

Harry Potter

/ The Pastor / 6 Comments

Wouldn’t it be nice if people got as excited about the Bible as they do about the release of a Harry Potter book?

Wouldn’t it be great if people would camp outside the local Christian book store to wait for the newest release of the latest study Bible?

Wouldn’t it be awesome if people would go out and spill the beans about the Bible’s story causing people to still rush out to get their copy?

Wouldn’t it be nice if people would discuss the implications of Jesus’ death (and resurrection) for us rather than wondering if Harry Potter (a fictional character) is going to die and what that is going to mean for fans?

Wouldn’t it be nice if the world really understood what is truly important in life?

Wouldn’t it be nice…

The Church and unity

/ The Pastor / 11 Comments

It seems that everyone in the world (this may be a SLIGHT exaggeration) has been talking about the recent Vatican statement about the true nature of the Church.  By now my comments may be old news but I still feel lead to make some comments in response and to share my faith, so here I go:

Why am I a Lutheran?  This is an interesting question and one that I believe every Lutheran needs to ask of themselves every day.  Even if you are not a Lutheran, answering why you are part of a particular denomination is important.  Recently a brother in Christ, Chris, has embarked on a very important journey; asking this very same question.  He is a former Lutheran making the move to the Catholic Church (follow the link and check out his blog to read more about his journey).  I may not agree with some of his answers, but we are still brothers in Christ and I still have a great deal of respect for him.  Chris is asking questions and not taking anything at face value.

And even though the Vatican has issued a very stern statement about the "true nature of the Church" I still have a great deal of respect for all my Catholic brothers and sisters.  Rome may have their firm stance on what constitutes the Church and Protestants have theirs but behind all the rhetoric, we are all still brothers and sisters in Christ.  We acknowledge "…one holy catholic church…", we uphold scripture and believe in salvation through Jesus Christ. 

As Lutherans we have varying doctrines that Catholics are not going to teach such as: the priesthood of all believers and simul iustus et peceator (simultaneously righteous/saint and a sinner) among others.   But what ever our differences, Jesus prays that we may be one "My prayer is not for them (the disciples) alone.  I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one…" (John 17:20)  I believe in Jesus Christ though the witness of the first apostles.  I am every bit a part of the Church.  Jesus died that I may live and no one can take that away from me. 

But what does it mean to be one…the Lutheran Confessions assert:
Concerning the Church:
"It is also taught that at all times there must be and remain one holy, Christian church.  It is the assembly of all believers among whom the gospel is purely preached and the holy sacraments are administered according to the gospel.

For it is enough for the true unity of the Christian church that there the gospel is preached harmoniously according to the pure understanding and the sacraments are administered in conformity with the divine Word.  It is not necessary for the true unity of the Christian church that uniform ceremonies instituted by human beings, be observed everywhere." (Augsburg Confession VII)

What is the Church?
Likewise, although the Christian church is, properly speaking, nothing else than the assembly of all believers and saints…" (Augsburg Confession VIII)

But we cannot end with a quote from the Lutheran Confessions for they are not the sole authority in our lives.  I believe in the authority of scripture so let’s hear what the apostle Paul has to say: "If you confess with you mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." (Romans 10:9-10)  Faith comes first through the Holy Spirit and our confession follows.

Through faith we are one.  Jesus is our authority and I believe we can celebrate that as common ground if nothing else.  So why am I Lutheran?  It is a question I ask myself everyday.  I take nothing for granted.  But in the end I am a Christian…AND…in the end…denominations will not matter.  We are brothers and sisters through faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  So let’s celebrate THAT and move on in proclaiming this Good News.

Praise be to God, always and forever. Amen!
-edh-

Musings from a weekend

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

Sonshine
I am back!  I returned from the Sonshine Christian music festival Saturday around 8:30pm.  After two nights of camping (I slept outside under the stars), listening to great Christian music, keeping an eye on 15 middle and high schoolers, and cooking, my body was shouting to me…"ENOUGH!"  As soon as my head hit my pillow on Saturday night I was off to la la land.  The problem was that 5:45am Sunday morning came way too quickly.

My favorite group at Sonshine was the Newsboys.  They can sure put on a show, but its not all show for them.  The lead singer spoke for a while and shared his faith.  For them (and for many others there at Sonshine) being on stage is about serving and worshiping God.  I think sometimes our kids miss that so I really appreciate it when these popular bands stop and talk for a while.  I know some people get testy and want them to sing, but the reason they are doing what they are doing is because of Jesus, so why not talk about him.

One of my favorite parts was when someone got up to talk about sponsoring a child through Compassion International.  After talking about the difference we could make in a child’s life they asked who would like to help save a life.  A number of hands went up in the crowd (not as many as I would have liked to see), but my favorite part was that half our kids took home information and are going to talk to their parents about sponsoring a child (I have been sponsoring a child for about 2 years and it has been very rewarding for me).  I just hope and pray that our kids follow through.

Sunday
My wife and I had a great time hanging out together on Sunday.  Connie was unable to go to Sonshine with me so we had a happy reunion yesterday.  Later that night we spent some quality time with some close friends.  All in all it was a really good day.

Vacation this week
Starting on Thursday I go on vacation until next Tuesday.  I know it is not long but it will be fun and relaxing to have some time off.  This weekend we are going to Shetek Lutheran Ministries for a family camp weekend (I am on the board at Shetek).  This will be the first time in 21 years that I have been a camper at Bible camp.  This will be great. 

The funny thing is that my mother-in-law is having a fit that I am taking vacation on Thursday and Monday and Tuesday next week.  "How much vacation does he need!" she said to Connie (don’t worry, my mother-in-law does not read this site).  If only she knew that I still have about 2 1/2 weeks of vacation left this year 🙂  Maybe I will have to egg her on a little this weekend (but in a nice and Christian way).

Anyway…
That is it for know.  I will have a more theological and "deeper" post later.  Right now my brain is still recovering from being baked in the Sonshine sun.  I hope you all had a great week.  Take care and remember to bask in the glow of God’s glory (and don’t worry…you don’t need sun screen).  God loves you no matter what.  Take care and God bless.
-edh-

Sonshine

/ The Pastor / 4 Comments

I am super excited about getting out of here today and heading up to the Sonshine Christian Music Festival in Willmar, MN.  Five stages, hundreds of artists, thousands of people praising God, three days and two night of camping and of course the 15 middle and high school students we are taking.  It should be a fun (and interesting) weekend.  I just hope I can get up for worship on Sunday morning.  So all of this means that I will not be able to check my blog until Sunday at the very earliest.  But I will be back to give you a full report of the weekend’s festivities.

In the mean time I would like to leave you with a couple more quotes from the book Dangerous Wonder that I read this week.  I am still thinking and praying about what I read and these two quotes are currently running around in my heart:

"The greatest enemy of Christianity may be people who say they believe in Jesus but who are no longer astonished and amazed." (pg. 24)
I have encountered way too many people who take God for granted and therefore are no longer amazed.  How about you…what is your experience?  And what can we do about this?

"Shouldn’t Christians be known by the fire in their souls, the wide-eyed gratitude in their faces, the twinkle in their eyes, and the holy mischief in their demeanors?  Shouldn’t Christianity be considered dangerous?" (pg. 31)
I like that phrase "holy mischief".  What does that phrase mean for you?  How can we embody that phrase and help others to do the same?

I hope you all have a great weekend.  Pray for me and my group as we travel and praise God through great music.  And remember to be "mischievous" all for the glory of God. Amen.

-edh-

Dangerous Wonder

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

I just finished the book I spoke about in my last post, Dangerous Wonder: The Adventure of Childlike Faith.  This is about the 6th time I have read this book and each time I highlight something new and make new notes in the margins.  If you want a book that’s not about theology but rather about living this is your book.  It is about breaking the rules and living by the spirit of the law rather than by the letter of the law.  It is about being "reckless" in your faith – reckless in such a way that your faith shines through in helping and serving people rather than through dogma and rules.  It is about being amazed and blown away by the love and grace of God.  Dangerous Wonder shatters the myth that you MUST "color inside the lines" and shows how God encourages and welcomes "outside-the-lines coloring".  This book slapped me in the face with the reality that following Jesus is fun, wild and dangerous; and the only way to grasp that reality is by re-claiming our "childlike faith". 

"Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it." (Mark 10:15)

As I was reading I jotted down some quotes, from the book, that really struck me and I would like to share a couple of them with you.  I am curious how they strike you:

"Predictability and faith cannot coexist…take surprise out of faith and all that is left is dry and dead religion.  Take away mystery from the Gospel and all that is left is frozen and petrified dogma.  Lose your awe of God and you are left with an impotent deity." (pg.28)

"Could it be that one of the significant problems in the church is noise?  Modern faith might be undermined more by activity and noise than by immorality and lack of commitment.  Maybe we have become so active and noisy that we have drowned out the thin silence of God." (pg.81)

Right now I am thinking I need to be a little more "childlike" in my faith.  I need to slow down and focus on listening to the still, small voice of God (the thin silence)…

-edh-

Reprise: Childlike wonder

/ The Pastor

Childlike wonder was a post I wrote on June 27, 2006.  June 27 was the day after my first round of golf for that year.  Being a person who loves to golf, that is a very late start date for me, but this year was even later.  This past weekend was my first weekend out and let me tell you, I felt like a little kid golfing with my dad for the first time in a couple years (I didn’t golf with my dad last year).  It was a moment of "childlike wonder" that I haven’t felt for awhile and it is something I don’t want to wait another year to experience.

My dad taught me the game of golf and I have many, many fond memories of my dad and I golfing on various golf courses.  I still remember the lessons he taught me about golf (and life for that matter).  And my dad still knows how to get into my head.  He tried doing that on the ninth hole (of my first round of the year), but this time I was ready.  He said, "You know, you and I are tied".  This use to get to me.  I would dwell on the fact that I have a chance to beat my dad and would usually end up messing a shot or two up and therefore lose to my dad.  On Friday my dad’s ploy did not work.  I cracked off a good drive; stuck my next shot just short of the green; my chip shot stopped just short of the hole and I tapped in for a par — my dad and I tied (we each shot a 44).  You can about imagine the "childlike wonder" I experienced at that moment.

[Side note:  The next day I shot a 43 but my dad shot a 41.  No mind games there, I just fell a little short, but the "childlike wonder" was still there.]

Imagine if we could always have this "childlike wonder" in our faith as well…

The late Michael Yaconelli (founder and former president of Youth Specialties) wrote a book called Dangerous Wonder: The Adventure of Childlike Faith.  It is a book I have read many times and a book I will be reading again.  Childlike faith is something that too many people grow out of but Mike would argue that childlike faith is something we need to reclaim.  So I commend this book to your reading.  It is short book of 145 pages — a fun and quick read.  But by the way of a short synopsis:  Childlike wonder is like the wonder and fascination of a two year old experiencing a soft and fluffy snow for their very first time.  The experience is so awe inspiring that their senses cannot take everything in fast enough and therefore nearly "short circuits" their brain from information overload.  How much more AWESOME is God. 

The danger for the church is the loss of this "childlike wonder" of God.

Now…imagine how fast and big the church would grow if more people had a "childlike faith"…<pause to ponder and dream>…a "childlike faith" that drove people to pursue God in order to attempt to "take everything in" to a point where our brains (and hearts) would go into overload because of the AWESOME love and grace of God.  Just imagine…

…it is time for me to start reading again.  Take care and God bless.
-edh-

The preacher and the drunk

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

My secretary emailed this to me and I just had to share it with you:

A man is stumbling through the woods, totally drunk, when he comes upon a preacher baptizing people in the river.  He proceeds to walk into the water and subsequently bumps into the preacher. The preacher turns around and is almost overcome by the smell of alcohol, whereupon he asks the drunk
loudly, for all to hear,  "Are you ready to find Jesus?" The drunk answers, "Yes, I am!"  So the preacher grabs him and dunks him in the water.  He pulls him up and asks "Brother, have you found Jesus?"  The drunk replies, "No, I haven’t found Jesus!"  The preacher, shocked at the answer, dunks him into the water again for a little longer. He again pulls him out of the water and asks again, "Brother, have you found Jesus?"  The drunk again answers, "No, I haven’t found Jesus!"  By this time the preacher is at his wits end and dunks the drunk in the water again – but this time, holds him down for about 30 seconds and when he begins kicking his arms and legs, the preacher pulls him up and asks, "For the love of God, have you found Jesus?" The drunk wipes his eyes and catches his breath and says to the preacher…"Are you sure this is where he fell in????"

Not very "Lutheran" but still very funny.  Maybe a better thing to say is, "Jesus has claimed you".  Jesus is not lost…we are.  Jesus is the one who leaves the 99 in search for the one.

So here is to dunking people in God’s grace.
-edh-

Praising GOD!

/ The Pastor / 6 Comments

I think it is very easy for us to rejoice in the wrong thing when we are trying to do God’s work.  Just as the disciples in Luke 10 I too have been caught up in my perceived "successes":

(1) "Pastor…I don’t know the Bible well enough.  Can you tutor me and help me understand the basic Bible stories".
(2) "Pastor…I believe we need to get rid of our bulletin inserts and put Bibles in our pews."
(3) "Pastor…I think we need to give half of our free will offering, from coffee hour, to that visiting pastor as he bikes across the country on his missionary journey."
(4) "Pastor…I would like to serve on the church council." (O.K….maybe this one didn’t happen, but I can dream can’t I?)

Anyway…

…Jesus says, "Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this…but rejoice that your names are written in heaven." (Luke 10:20)  None of this is of my doing.  None of our "successes" are of our doing.  None of the things we like to rejoice in are our doing.  God is the maker and author of life.  Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit and thus it is God working through us.  But more importantly, our rejoicing should be in what God has done, not in what we are doing.  God gives us life through Jesus Christ our Lord.  I don’t give people life.

So as I celebrate some of the exciting things that are happening in my world, I pray that God does not let them go to my head.  Rejoicing in the salvation that Jesus gives us through his death and resurrection is the key to evangelism.  People won’t come to Christ because of my perceived "skill" but through God’s work and God’s work alone.  It’s not my doing, but God’s doing.  So any "skill" I may have is of God.

So Let’s praise GOD always and forever, Amen!
-edh-

Anniversary time

/ The Pastor / 7 Comments

Good morning!  It is another Monday morning.  A busy weekend is done and another one is lurking around the corner.  Monday morning is a low key day for me as I wrap things up from the weekend.  I proof my Sunday sermon to get ready to post to my sermons blog.  I return some emails.  I do what I am doing right now (typing this post) and I usually field a number of those "Monday" phone calls.  So far things are quiet…but just wait.

Oh…another thing I guess…today is my three year anniversary of my ordination.  It is hard to believe that it has been that long.  I still remember that day very vividly…how could I forget…It was mine and Connie’s wedding weekend.  Oh ya…tomorrow is mine and Connie’s three year wedding anniversary.  We figured that since we had family traveling from some distance for the wedding we might as well have the ordination the same weekend.  It also gave my mom something to do.  Since Connie’s mom was in charge of the wedding my mom got to organize and host my ordination party.  Once, Connie’s mom started getting her fingers in the ordination part of the weekend and my mom told me (and I quote) "You tell her (Connie’s mom) to back off.  She gets the wedding but your ordination and it’s reception are mine".  Got to love my mom.

So as I try to focus on the work of the day I find my thoughts drifting slightly (can you blame me?).  Actually I am trying to make reservations somewhere for me and my wife for tomorrow.  So far no luck but Is till have a couple things up my sleeve.

Anyway, I hope to focus pretty soon on the ministry God has brought me here to do.  Three years and counting and who knows how long this will last.  God has been faithful with Connie and I through three years of marriage.  God has been faithful in guiding me in this ministry.  And I know God will continue to be faithful as He leads me (and Connie) into the great unknown.

Thank you, God, for being faithful. Amen!
-edh-