Faith

New Year’s blessing

/ The Pastor

May the Lord bless and keep you as you leave 2014 and enter 2015.

May you leave 2014 with hope as you confess your shortcomings; remembering that the past is the past.

May you see 2015 as a fresh start; a reminder of the forgiveness you have through faith in Jesus.

May you see 2015 as a gift; reminding you of God’s amazing grace.

May you see 2015 with new eyes, reminding you of the New Life you have through Jesus.

May you know the strength that only comes from God.

May you know peace that only comes from the hope of the resurrection.

May you know the amazing love of God in this new year and may that love shine though your life as a witness to others.

All glory to God our Father through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Happy New Year and Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Morning devotions ~ Your reflection

/ The Pastor

As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man. [Proverbs 27:19]

Never think or imagine that what you believe about anything goes unnoticed by anyone. Your heart is indeed a reflection of who you truly are.

I have heard people say,

“My faith is a private faith. I believe in God. I just don’t think I need to go to worship to prove to anyone what I believe.”

That is sad and a little hypocritical for you ARE proving something; that you really don’t believe and love the Lord. Worship is not about proving anything to anyone. Worship is about praising God. It’s an outflow of what is in your heart. If your heart is not busting at the seams to worship and praise God then I have to wonder what is in there.

What you believe about God is going to be revealed whether you like it or not:
~ How you live.
~ How you respond to situations.
~ How you love (or don’t love) people.
~ How you react to adversity.
~ How you respond to suffering.
~ How you respond to death.

Your heart reflects the person you are and shines brightly what you believe about God. Private faith? No such thing. Think about what you say and what you do; for they tell others a story about God. So make sure you do your daily heart check up.
~ Pray
~ Read scripture
~ Spend time with God
~ Worship
~ Question God
~ Listen to God
~ Be shaped by God
~ Reflect on your sinfulness
~ Know that through Jesus Christ you are forgiven

And be ready to reflect the glory of God in your life. Be ready to praise God with your whole being. Be ready to live as a forgiven sinner.

May God be praised always and forever. Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Morning devotions ~ Longing and Fainting

/ The Pastor

How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord ; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God. [Psalm 84:1-2]

I like to travel and visit new and interesting places or visit some of my old favorites. One of my favorite places to go is NW Washington. It’s beautiful out there; along the Cascade Mountains and the Puget Sound. I love the seafood and especially seeing friends. And being out on the road can be fun for a while; driving through the mountains, but eventually the traveling and the time away gets old and I begin to long for home. I long for my place of rest and peace.

How lovely is your dwelling place

The psalmist here is longing to go home. He realizes he has been away long enough and is anxiously awaiting the day that he will return to the courts of the Lord. Later in this beautiful Psalm, the author writes, “For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.”

We do live in a sinful and wicked world and the heart wired for the Lord longs to return to it’s creator; to dwell in the lovely place of the Lord. Christmas is a time to remember that God has opened the way for his children to return home. And the way home is Jesus. Through faith in Jesus; in his death and resurrection, we can have the hope dwelling in God’s lovely places someday. And when you see your salvation in Jesus, your heart, too, will long and faint for the glory of God and to dwell in his courts forever.

Sing for joy to our living God for He is Good and Awesome!

Have a very Merry Christmas and God bless!

The Pastor -|—

Grieving — My adoption story

/ The Pastor / 9 Comments

Last Sunday (March 3) I mentioned that I hope to have some good news to share with you soon.  Well…

No good news (at least not yet).

We did travel to Florida on Sunday and Monday.
We did meet a baby girl that was born on Monday.
We did spend quality time with the birth mother and her family.

But…

We did not come home with a baby girl 😦

The birth mother, at the last second, decided she couldn’t sign off and decided to parent the baby.  Needless to say my wife and I were devastated.  I told people before we left that nothing was final yet; that the birth mother still could change her mind.  I knew this, but a large part of me still fully expected to come home with a baby girl. I think a lot of people did.

The drive home from Florida was extremely long.
Lots of tears were shed.
Lots of questions were asked.
Lots of quiet moments were experienced.
But through it all, the one thing that gave and continues to give my wife and I hope and strength is the love and grace of our awesome God.  We have seen this through the love of our family and friends.  We have heard this through scripture and prayer.  We have felt this in the warm embrace of a hug.  God is good…all the time…even though we do experience heartache from time to time.

I don’t blame God for any of this.  I am not angry with God for the heartache my wife and I are experiencing.  Rather…I am joyful that we are not going through this alone.  We know that God will bring healing…AND…that God will use this to bring Him glory.  And THAT is exciting.

My hope and prayer is that I can grow stronger through this experience so I can better help people who are grieving in any way.  I have experienced heartache and grieving before but nothing like this.

I still believe there is a child out there…somewhere…waiting for us.
I still believe that I will be a father someday. So in the mean time we will move forward and continue to pursue our dream to be parents someday.  We pray for the birth mother as she parents this little baby girl. We pray for healing and wisdom. We pray for strength. Satan will not use this to drive a wedge between me and God.

And…hopefully, soon, I will have good news to share with you. Thank you for your love, prayers and support.

Praise be to God!

The pastor -|—

Vacation and disconnected

/ The Pastor

I have been on vacation for a few days and away from any computer (and very little cell phone/WiFi signal).  It’s been strange being somewhat isolated but also revealing.  It shows how much I (and I am guessing most people) desire to be connected to the world as we are accustomed to through the Internet and smart phones (and other means).  Technology is such an important part of our lives today.  Ten years ago I wouldn’t have felt myself twitching being disconnected like that.

In any case…I am sorry that I haven’t posted any devotions for a while but I will be back at it tomorrow when I return to work.  One thing that I have learned these past few days though; I need to find another outlet for this spiritual discipline if I happen to be “disconnected” from the world.  I have missed writing and engaging scripture in that way.  In a time where people rarely hand write letters and notes I never gave it a second thought to do that; to actually pick up a pencil or pen.  What a strange concept 🙂

My other thought is that maybe Satan used my dependence on technology to keep me away from devotional writing.  I never gave THAT a second thought (or a first thought for that matter).  But now that I am aware of this hopefully I will be better equipped to combat Satan when he strikes again.   It’s amazing the things and ways Satan uses to draw us away from God but to see them and be aware of them is half the battle.  The other half is how you chose to deal with it.

Satan, often times, uses good things to draw us away.  I guess that is why Satan is so successful in tempting us.  Another reason is that we think we are strong enough to handle things on our own.  It’s like we have a humility problem.  We have a hard time falling to our knees in prayer; asking God to take control.  If only we would turn our lives over to God and send Satan running in the other direction.

Dear God, grant me the eyes to see when Satan attacks.  Grant me the faith to turn to you.  Grant me the strength to resist temptation.  Grant me the humility to reply on you.  In Jesus name, Amen!

P.S.  Wait a second…did I just write a morning devotion?  I guess I am back today 🙂

Praise be to God!

edh -|—

Whom do you follow?

/ The Pastor

It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in man.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in princes.
[Psalm 118:8-9]

Sound advice but one that is hard to put in actual practice especially during an active political season where promises are being made left and right by individuals trying to earn your trust and get your vote.

And these promises grab our attention because:
~ We see the economic struggles around us.
~ We see poverty and homeless in our communities.
~ We see people struggling to find work.
~ We see people scraping to get by each month.
~ We see troubles all around us.

Or…you may find yourself smack dab in the middle of the chaos and are looking for a savior.

But then ~ someone comes along who promises they can fix things; turn the economy around; create jobs and put more money in our pockets. When that person (or political party) makes these promises we are tempted to give them our “worship”.  After all, if they can fix what is wrong in our lives, why shouldn’t we follow them.

But here’s the problem…

…when we follow man we will be lead astray for they can only take us so far; for they are mortal and will not last forever.  If we put our trust in man/princes alone we may be happy for a season but it won’t last.

But…

…when we put our trust in the Lord we will have a joy that WILL last forever despite any hardships we may face now.  For only God can give us what we truly need: forgiveness and everlasting life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

So put your faith in the Lord.
Find your refuge in God our Creator.
Place your trust in Jesus Christ.

And know true JOY ~ all the while praying for those who are in elected office and running for office; praying that God may use them.

But place your trust in the Lord, not in man.

edh -|—

Authority of Jesus

/ The Pastor

Do you want to know what never, ever gets old with me?

What never gets old with me is the fact that when Jesus says something…IT HAPPENS.  No if, and or buts about it.  When Jesus speaks, people (and demons) listen.  I guess that is also why I enjoy preaching on texts, like what we have for Sunday ~ Mark 1:21-28 ~ the authority of Jesus/casting out evil spirits.

Jesus teaches with authority (not like that of the scribes).  The scribes, when they taught, would rely on the authority of the great teachers that came before them.  Their teaching would be full of phrases such as:

[So and so] said [this] about [this] Commandment and therefore according to [so and so] you should live in [this way].

This got old for the people.  The scribes never taught with their own authority.  They didn’t make their own judgments.

But Jesus did…and the people loved it.

You see…Jesus’ authority wasn’t just in the manner he spoke.  It wasn’t just in his voice inflection. It wasn’t just in his facial expressions and body language.  Jesus’ authority was much different…and powerful.  Jesus’ authority was his own’s and he didn’t need teachers who came before him.  Actually…no one came before him because he was God for crying out loud.  You don’t get any more authoritative than that.

And Jesus displayed that authority through his powerful words when he commanded those evil spirits to leave that man…and the evil spirits listened (kicking and screaming on the way out).  But that shouldn’t surprise you because…
…when Jesus speaks people listen.

…when Jesus speaks his words do something
[“Lazarus, come out”, “Take your mat and walk”]

…when Jesus speaks he means exactly what he says.
[“Your sins are forgiven”]

Wow…that is authority.  That is awesome.  That is powerful.

We are God’s children because He says so.
We are forgiven because God says so.
We are saved through faith in Jesus Christ because God says so.

Next time you are in worship and hear the pastor announce forgiveness, know that the pastor does that with the authority of God and therefore the words being spoken are from God himself…AND therefore…you can trust that the words will do what they actually mean:  YOUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN.

Thank you, God, for calling me your child, forgiving me when I stray and embracing me when I return.  May you be praised always and forever. Amen!

edh -|—

Let’s go to Nineveh

/ The Pastor

Jonah 1:1-3
The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”  But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.

Almighty God ~ You are a loving and compassionate God; slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
Jonah knew this but didn’t really KNOW this.
We know this but in the same way we really don’t KNOW this.

or

Maybe it is that we really don’t want to believe this.  We want you to be compassionate and loving toward us but let’s not get too wild here.  Let’s not get too crazy or go overboard.  After all…there are people out there we would rather not see in community with us.

But your ways are not our ways.
Your plans are not our plans.
Your vision is not our vision.

Grant us faith to go where you call us to go; even if that means going to Nineveh (to those we would rather not see saved).
Grant us faith to trust your will.
Grant us faith to TRULY see your love and compassion for people.

Because if we truly think about it, we are Ninevites.  We incurred your wrath but you sent Jesus (whom we crucified).  But through faith in Jesus ~ responding to his message ~ receiving your forgiveness, you relented from the punishment due to us.  May we serve and praise you for that amazing love and compassion.

We don’t deserve it ~ no one does. But according to your will, lead us as we follow you to Nineveh.

Praising you always and forever!  Amen!

edh -|—

Overcome

/ The Pastor / 3 Comments

I was asked a question about God yesterday:  “Why does God allow little children to suffer terrible illnesses?”  It is the age-old issue of God, evil and suffer.  How do they coexist if indeed God is a loving God.  I don’t like watching little children suffer.  I don’t like watching footage of earthquake and tsunami damage.  But suffering is part of life…but why?

My first response was that God created this world perfect but sin messed it up…and God was grieved (to put it mildly).  But the suffering we experience in this world is not the end for God has overcome the world.  God overcame the world through the death and resurrection of Jesus.  As I sat and pondered this issue some more I was drawn to John 16 where Jesus is comforting his disciples.  Jesus closes that chapter by saying “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.  In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world.“ Praise be to God!

I still don’t like suffering.  I still grieve when little children suffer terrible illnesses and when I see reports of natural disasters.  And…I still ask that age-old question from time to time:  Why God, why?  But each time God comes through with words of reassurance and hope; strengthening my faith through reminding me of his love. And through this faith strengthening I am reminded that this is not the end.  My faith tells me that when I am going through hard times that God is right there with me.  My faith tells me that in the midst of suffering God is right there whispering those words of Jesus in my ear and in my heart.  My faith tells me that when Satan takes his best shot to drive me to despair I can respond by saying, “You have already lost!  My God has defeated you and has given me the victory through Jesus Christ so go away!”

Evil and suffering are here to stay…for the time being…but take heart…Jesus has overcome the world FOR YOU and FOR ME.

Praise be to God!

-edh-

Really?

/ The Pastor

I recently read a little blurb in the March issue of The Lutheran.  Check this out:

A British university study suggests that people of strong faith can spread
religion through a “believers’ gene” that is part of their DNA.
The Proceedings of the Royal Society B, a prestigious journal
of Britain’s Royal Society of scientists, theorizes a “predisposition
toward religion.” Author Robert Rowthorn suggests that people with
strong religious beliefs tend to have more children and this, combined
with a genetic predisposition to believe, can explain the expansion of religion.

Wow…I think someone needs to tell these people that they have too much time on their hands but more importantly about the work of the Holy Spirit.  Then again…maybe they have figured out how the Holy Spirit “really” works.  Who knew that God programs us at the DNA level to believe.  The next thing you know is that on CSI, while they are doing a DNA profile, you will hear them say, “Hey look…we have a Christian.”

But seriously…this is just another sad example of how people just can not leave some mysteries up to God.  There is this insatiable desire to try to figure God out.  We can’t just leave things up to faith.  I mean…there are some things we can not fully explain.  I think this is just another attempt to remove God from the picture and become gods ourselves.  Surprise, surprise.

For me…the wonder of creation is that I don’t totally understand it.  I love being surprised.  If everything was calculated, figured out and predetermined ahead of time life would be incredibly boring.

“Believers’ gene”…nope.  It’s just good ole fashioned parenting.  No mystery there.

-edh-