Morning devotions

Cyber Giving

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.
[2 Corinthians 9:6-8]

Apparently today is Cyber Monday; a day dedicated to “amazing” online deals.  Millions of people will flood the Internet in search for those must have items for themselves or for Christmas gifts.  I can not even begin to imagine the amount of money that will be spent today on stuff.  Sure…there is stuff that I want, but is there stuff I absolutely need?

I can think of many people who need stuff that I take for granted.  I can think of many charities and ministries that need assistance that I take for granted.  So instead of cyber spending I am going to be cyber giving today (leave it to me to buck the trend).  Instead of spending money on myself or on stuff, I am going to be spending money on others.  And I challenge you to do the same.  In the midst of your Cyber Monday shopping remember to do some Cyber Giving; remembering those who are less fortunate.

Here are some ideas on how to celebrate Cyber Giving Monday:
(1) Commit to give a certain percentage of your total Cyber Monday shopping total to a charity/ministry.  (i.e. Giving 10% — Spent $200 — Total gift $20)

(2) Take your Cyber Monday spending total and give that amount to a charity/ministry.

(3) “Cyber shop” (not actually buying anything) and give that amount to a charity/ministry.

(4) If you buy toys for your children also buy some toys to give to your local Toys for Tots.

(5) Cyber shop for someone in your community that can’t afford to buy presents for their kids.

And I am sure there are many more things you can do on this day to help someone out.  Most of us have enough stuff, but others do not.  Let’s  cheerfully cyber give to the glory of God.

The pastor -|—

Christ the King

/ The Pastor

Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.” “You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
[John 18:36-37]

Today is Christ the King Sunday (according the the common lectionary).  This is considered the last Sunday of the Church year (with Advent beginning a new cycle next Sunday).  But whatever the so-called Church calendar says, I still want to get you thinking this morning what it means for Jesus to be the king of your life.

~ Does Jesus rule your whole life or only parts of it?
~ Do you go to Jesus with your hopes and dreams; joys and sorrows or do you look to worldly saviors?
~ Does Jesus get your complete worship or are there other “kings” you worship?
~ Do you seek Jesus for direction and guidance in your life or look to day-time talk shows or the self-help section?
~Do you celebrate and hold onto worldly kingdoms or seek the Kingdom of God?
~ Does Jesus sit on the throne in your heart or have you reserved that for something or someone else?

May this “Christ the King” Sunday shine a light on the defeated gods/lords/kings of this world that continue to seek your attention and alligence; and may your true KING, Jesus Christ, shine forth.  The gods/lords/kings of this world have lost but Jesus has won.  And because Jesus has won we also win through faith in him.

Jesus IS King!
Jesus IS Lord!

Alleluia and Amen!

edh -|—

Give thanks

/ The Pastor

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
[Psalm 136:1-3]

And don’t just give thanks today, but rather every single day of the year.

Why?

for his steadfast love endures forever and ever and ever and ever…

Have a Happy Thanksgiving 🙂

edh -|—

We get to

/ The Pastor

I heard a statement yesterday that I hate to hear ~ but I also love it hear it:
“Eric has to preach tomorrow.”

“Has to”?  Really?

My response was immediate:
“I get to preach tomorrow.”

I hate to hear that phrase because it makes what I do sound laborious and tedious and that I really don’t enjoy it; that I would rather be doing something else.  But I love to hear that phrase because it gives me the opportunity to share my faith and the excitement I have in preaching and leading worship.

“Have to”?  Not even close.

Of course people smile and nudge me as soon as I correct them as if to say: “That is what I meant.” But part of me doesn’t believe them.  Even so…I had an opportunity yesterday and I am happy to say that I took it.

Don’t get me wrong though.  I am not trying to say that my job is any better than yours.  I am not trying to imply that my job is more honorable than yours.  I am certainly not saying that your job doesn’t matter as much as mine.  Sure…I get to stand in front of people and proclaim the Gospel in what I hope to be no uncertain terms.  But then again…so do you.

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
[1 Peter 2:9-10]

We are ALL called to be ministers.
We are ALL called to proclaim Christ’s saving love.
We are ALL called to witness to the resurrection.

It’s just that my “job description” is a little different from yours.  We ALL have holy and important callings.  For God has placed each one of us in the vocation we are in for a particular purpose…so make the most of it.  Instead of saying (or thinking) “I have to go to work”, say instead “I get to go to work and share my faith with others.”  That is a holy and important work. Imagine the impact we could have on the world if we looked at our “jobs” as mission outposts for the sake of the Gospel.

God, please help me see myself as an instrument for your glory.  Help me to see my place in life as having a specific purpose.  May you be praise through my “work”. Amen.

edh -|—

The End :)

/ The Pastor
“No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. 34 It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.35 “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. 36 If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’ ”
[Mark 13:32-37]

In just over a month we will know for sure if the Mayan calendar will do what calendars are supposed to do…start over for a new cycle.

Mayan calendar

That’s right…Dec 21, 2012 is coming up and that is the date the Mayan calendar ends and the date some have falsely predicted that a cataclysmic event will end the world.   I for one don’t think the Mayans had some special revelation from God about the “unknown day or hour” Jesus talked about in Mark 13, but if they did…GREAT!  Bring it on 🙂

What I find intriguing, though, is the number of people that are concerned about this possible end of the world.  And some of these people are Christians.  Why are you worried?

As a Christian this should not be scary but rather exciting.
As a Christian you should not fear the end but rather embrace it.
As a Christian you should not ignore the end but watch and wait.

[Once again…I believe I will wake up on Dec 22 and finish Sunday worship prep]

You see…the essence of our faith in Christ is that we will be reconciled to God and live in Paradise for ever.  Jesus died and rose so that sins would be forgiven and all of creation be restored.  But for creation to be restored, this one must end.

Scripture tells us over and over again that Jesus will be returning to bring us home.  Revelation tells us of a place where tears, sorrow and death are no more.  And if the end will bring an end to death and sin…then bring it.  I can hardly wait.  Our hope is centered on Jesus who will return us to where we are meant to be.

So in the mean time wait with hopeful expectation, share the Good News and praise God always and forever.

See you later…one way or another 🙂
edh -|—

Giving

/ The Pastor

Today I am preaching on Mark 12:41-44 ~ “The Widow’s Offering”.

It is a story that always hits close to home as it challenges me how I give back to God.  It is so easy to focus on budgets and worry about income and bills; so  much so, that we often times cut back on our giving in order to get by.  But what if we actually believed that everything we have belongs to God (which it does).  How would that direct our giving?

Hmmm…

You see…giving is a matter of faith.  Do you actually believe that God will provide for you?  If you don’t then you don’t have much motivation to give.  If you DO believe God provides for your needs then faith tells us that in order for God to provide for others God needs us to provide for them.  God blesses us so we may bless others.

What a novel idea 🙂

When you place your gift in the offering plate you are:
~ Praising God for is abundance
~ Thanking God for His blessings in your life
~ Blessing others
~ Showing trust
~ Worshiping God

The offering is not just part of the worship service, it IS an act of worship.  May you know God’s blessings so you may bless others with the love of God.

We give thee but thine own, whatever the gift may be;
all that we have is thine alone, a trust, O Lord, from thee.

May we thy bounties thus as stewards true receive,
and gladly, as thou blessest us, to thee our first-fruits give.

The captive to release, to God the lost to bring,
to teach the way of life and peace — it is a Christ-like thing.

And we believe thy word, though dim our faith may be:
whatever we do for thine, O Lord, we do it unto thee.
[Evangelical Lutheran Worship book #686]

Praise be to God!

edh -|—

Crossing over

/ The Pastor

Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
[2 Timothy 3:12-15]

It seems to me that this verse is becoming more and more true now than ever before.  Sometimes it feels like I am fighting an up hill battle in this world.  When you watch the news and TV shows one can quickly see the downward slide.  Gone are the wholesome family shows like The Cosby Show or The Brady Bunch.  Now we have shows that highlight alternative families, violence, vampires, evil, etc.  The “dark side of the force” is being promoted as glamorous with more and more people crossing over.  This pastor’s heart is aching at what it is seeing.

Wow…how I miss the good ole days.
[Sigh…]

“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed…”

I need to remember, though, that God is sovereign and I am not.
I need to continue in the faith I was raised in.
I need to continue to drink from the living waters of Jesus Christ.
I need to stay close to Christ in prayer and scripture.
I need to maintain Christian fellowship with my brothers and sisters in Christ.
I need to stay hopeful ~ diligent ~ prayerful ~ persistent.

The pastor’s heart may be aching in this world but Christ brings healing through the cross.  In the mean time we need to keep up the fight and not cross over to the dark side.  Let the good in you shine forth to the glory of God our Father.  Remain hopeful, for Christ is returning to bring balance to the force 🙂

[Sorry for all the Star Wars references]

Praise be to God!

edh -|—

Real victory

/ The Pastor

The horse is made ready for the day of battle,
but the victory belongs to the Lord.
[Proverbs 21:31]

Prosperity theologians like to proclaim that victory is something we can claim through a right attitude.  They claim that if we can think correctly about ourselves or look at our situations in the right light we can claim victory or “favor” [ as one particular and misguided prosperity theologian likes to say].

But the author of Proverbs is saying that we can only prepare ourselves for battle but when it comes to “victory”…well…that belongs to the Lord.  And this is a victory we are given through faith in Jesus Christ.

Prosperity theologians don’t like to specifically mention the name of Jesus because that would give Jesus the power (which Jesus already has). To acknowledge that power takes power and control out on one’s hand.  The thing is, we have no victory (or favor) in this life without Jesus.  We have no future without Jesus.  We have no life without Jesus.

So prepare your horse for battle but don’t get too cocky.  Remember who’s in charge.  Any victory you win is from the Lord.  And favor?  Yup…through faith in Jesus Christ we have that too ~ the cross is proof of that.

Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
[1 Corinthians 15:54-56]
AMEN!

edh -|—

Bad start but God reigns

/ The Pastor

I got off to a bad start this morning.  This is going to sound like a broken record to those of you that have followed this blog for a while but my stupid “smart clock” set itself back an hour this morning for daylight saving time.  I’ve had this clock for 8 years so one would think I would have learned my lesson…but no.

You see…after I got this clock the government thought it would be funny to change the date of daylight saving time.  The problem…my clock is still operating under the old date.

“Why don’t you get a new clock?”

That is a very good question…one that has a very good answer.  The clock was a wedding gift and hence my wife has an emotional attachment to it.  I love my wife dearly but I don’t understand the attachment to the clock.  So…we keep it, but one of these days my hammer is going to “accidently” fall on that clock 🙂

In any case…because of my unfortunate incident this morning I got off to a bad start.  My routine was totally disrupted and I stated my day irritated.  I don’t like starting my day that way.  So I got ready in a hurry; shoved breakfast down my throat and ran off to my office.

It wasn’t until I made it to the sanctuary that I realized that I hadn’t greeted God yet this morning 😦

So I stopped my hurrying.
Calmed down.
And prayed.

Amazing what difference it makes when one realizes that GOD is in control not some stupid “smart clock”.  Satan took his best shot at me this morning but God got the upper hand.  Satan tried to disrupt my worship and sermon prep but God will be glorified.

Nice try Satan…you lost 🙂

Praise God always and forever!!!

edh -|—

God is Good

/ The Pastor
image

God is Good!

This was my supper at Wednesday Night Live (Sunday school on Wednesday) a couple weeks.  I am willing to bet you can guess what was on the menu 🙂

After I took this picture I showed it to a parent/church council member and she laughed (she is the one who came up with the caption for the picture).  She then said that she was in charge of devotions at the council meeting (which was slated to begin soon) and she didn’t have anything.  Now she did and shared this as part of her devotions (with her talking and me passing my phone around the table).

God IS good for countless reasons but if God were pancakes I imagine God would be the best pancakes ever.  Sweet enough that you wouldn’t need syrup (which I did use on the above mentioned pancakes).

God is good…all the time!
All the time…God is good!

Amen to that 🙂

edh -|—