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Majestic God

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

When I drive to and from the church office each day (and when the skies are clear) I am blessed with beautiful views of Mount Rainier. Each time I see this magnificent mountain I am reminded of God’s creativity and power. And each time I see this mountain I give God thanks and praise. Only God could create something so magnificent and glorious and beautiful and awe-inspiring.

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But also…

This mountain is not lost in the midst of other mountains around it. Nothing is close to it to steal its glory. Mount Rainier stands alone in all it’s splendor. In this part of God’s creation, nothing compares to Mount Rainier. And when the clouds shield the mountain from view, I am saddened, but I know that she is still there.

And then…

as I view this glorious mountain, I am reminded that God is still bigger and this bigger God is for me and with me. This glorious God redeemed me through Jesus Christ. This spectacular God loves me. This creative God cradles me in his powerful yet gentle hands. This magnificent God is in complete control. God is not lost in the midst of other Gods, but stands alone in power. Nothing compares to God almighty. And, there are times when God seems distant and out of view, but God is still there. God has not left.

And so…

As I continue my blessed drives to and from the office I will continue to ponder this awesome God of ours and give God thanks and praise for His gentle reminders of his glorious magnificence. And when the clouds shield Mount Rainier from view, I will remember that she is still there and will never leave; reminding me of God’s ongoing faithfulness to always be with me.

All praise be to God!!!

The Pastor -|—

Gripping the Cross

/ The Pastor

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The hand that grips this cross
is sinful and stained,
but thankfully the one who died upon the cross
is holy and perfect.

The hand that grips this cross
is in need of help and rescue,
but thankfully the one who died upon the cross
has won the victory through his resurrection.

The hand that grips this cross
falls short of God’s glory continually,
but thankfully the one who died upon the cross
extends grace and mercy endlessly.

The hand that grips this cross
will one day give way to death and decay,
but thankfully the one who died upon the cross
has risen that the possessor of this hand may live eternally.

The hand that grips this cross
doesn’t always treat people as they ought to be treated,
but thankfully the one who died upon the cross
doesn’t treat the person of this hand as they ought to be treated.

and therefore,

The hand that grips this cross
will always cling to the promises secured therein;
thankful for Jesus, the one who died upon the cross
FOR YOU and FOR ME.

The Pastor -|—

Beneath

/ The Pastor

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Beneath the cross of Jesus
I am humbled by your love.
It’s for sinners that you died;
through grace coming from above.

Beneath the cross of Jesus
I’m convicted of my sin.
But sacrificed as the lamb;
My Savior was slain for me.

Beneath the cross of Jesus
I am captured by your grace.
Undeserving as I am
but life’s given by your hand.

Beneath the cross of Jesus;
reflecting on Your mercy,
Your precious Son died for me
to heal me forever more.

The Pastor -|—

Symbol Man

/ The Pastor

Hebrew - Beth

No worries, I am not following in the footsteps of Prince and becoming symbol man or the blogger formerly known as The Pastor. But if I were to become a symbol man or something of the sort, I like this one. Not just for is aesthetic appeal but for what this symbol refers to. So I am keeping this symbol in front of me.

So why the symbol?

The symbol is called a bet, and it is the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

O.K., that makes sense but that still leaves more questions.

Hold on, there is more.

Psalm 119 is an acrostic poem. It is broken up into 22 sections of 8 verses (one section for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet). Each verse within a particular section begins with that corresponding Hebrew letter. The section titled, bet, (the above symbol) refers to verses 9-16 which reads as follows:

(9) How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.
(10) With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!
(11) I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
(12) Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes!
(13) With my lips I declare all the rules of your mouth.
(14) In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches.
(15) I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways.
(16) I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.

These verses caught my attention yesterday as I was preparing devotions for our local radio station; particularly verse 9 about how to keep one’s way pure.

You see, (and you really don’t need me to tell you this), our world is filled with so many distractions. Satan is on the prowl, looking for someone to devour. Just yesterday I read about a pastor who got caught up in prostitution and was arrested. He said he had a moment of “great weakness”. I am not judging him but I can’t help but wonder if that weakness was due to taking his eyes off of God; by not guarding his way according to the Word of God.

I am not suggesting that I am tempted to engage in prostitution (and I am definitely not tempted) but there are other temptations that Satan uses to attempt to draw me away from God. We all face these attacks. Some battles we win and many we lose. And in those defeats I look to another symbol; one that points to God’s incredible love and grace:

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Forgiven, I live to continue to fight the fight of faith.

How?

By guarding it a according to the Word of God; by loving God’s Law; learning it; meditating on it; memorizing it; reading it. And keeping at it, for when you drift away from reading scripture you quickly forget, because we all have very short term memories when it comes to God’s Law and the Gospel.

Guarding one’s way can not be done through clever tricks or strength of mind or simple human will power. Guarding one’s way is only done through the strength of God through the Holy Spirit. The Word of God.

And so I am going to keep this symbol in front of me as a reminder to fight the fight of faith; guarding my way according to God’s Word. And you too, Christian, fight on, going in the strength of God, guarding your way according to His Word and clinging to God’s awesome grace in Jesus Christ.

Holy God, may I always keep Your Word in front of me; that I may not turn away and go astray. But when I do go astray, retrieve me as a shepherd hunting down a lost sheep and restore me to life. It’s in Jesus name I pray, Amen.

The Pastor (a.k.a. Symbol man)  -|—

The “Worm” of God

/ The Pastor

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Oh God, feed me
Oh God, nourish me
Oh God, provide for me

Fill me with Your holy Word and satisfy my deepest longings.
Fill me with Your love that it may overflow to others.
Fill me with Your wisdom that I may teach others Your ways.

May I be dependent on You for life.
May I be dependent on You for peace.
May I be dependent on You for direction. 

And when that day comes that You push me out of the nest;
calling me to obedience,
may I mount up with wings like eagles
as You provide the lift.

But unlike the vulnerable little bird,
leaving the safety of the nest,
may I know the cradle of Your hands
keeping my life from the snare of the evil one.

So no matter what I find out there may my cry always be:
Oh God, feed me
Oh God, nourish me
Oh God, provide for me

The Pastor -|—

Bursting In

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

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This was the scene on Sunday morning as I was about to prepare for worship. I was captivated by the sun pouring in that magnified the beautiful stained-glass windows. I imagined the light being the Holy Spirit pouring in to fill the room with his presence. When I shared this photo on the church’s Facebook page I said,

“The sun is bursting through. Will you do the same this morning? Let’s praise this awesome God together.”

Whether people actually “bursted” in or not is up to interpretation. And of course, the praising of God is something that only God and the worship attendee really knows for sure. But did the Holy Spirit burst in? That I have little doubt as God’s Word was read and proclaimed and I believe the Spirit gave life to those words. All that is left now for this pastor to do is pray that that Word does something in the hearts of those sanctuary bursters.

And this is my prayer every single Sunday and every single day. My hope is that people don’t stop worshiping when the event of worship stops but rather continue worshiping as they burst through the doors and onto the mission field that is life. The event of worship is a faithful response for the Christian but a life of worship is a living testimony of the Good News of Jesus Christ crucified and risen for sinners.

So may you burst forth praising God with your life.

Holy God, fill us with Your Holy Spirit that we may burst at the seams with love and grace. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

The Pastor -|—

JESUS HAS RISEN!!!

/ The Pastor

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Holy God, You are worthy to be praised. You are worthy of all worship and honor. You are worthy to be glorified. Send now Your Holy Spirit to speak to us as Your Holy Word is read and proclaimed. May the truth of the Gospel take up residence in our hearts and may the resurrection of Jesus give us hope each and everyday of our lives. Bless now our hearing that we may be sent out into the mission field around us to proclaim that Jesus Christ has risen, he has risen indeed. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

May your Easter be a blessing as you celebrate the hope of the resurrection.

The Pastor -|—

God Can Use Someone Like Me (and You)

/ The Pastor

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Yeah!

I am out of the stone age finally. A Star Trek wormhole appeared on Friday afternoon and I was instantly brought to the 21st century with the arrival of my Nexus 9. But unlike the fictional, but hope-to-be-true-soon TV show/movies, this wormhole looked a lot like a UPS truck.

And what a beautiful sight that was.

Now I know that God can use anything at my disposal for preaching His holy word. God can use paper manuscripts, tablets, smoke signals, sign language, interpretive dance (which I would never attempt unless the Holy Spirit took control of my body). God can communicate His holy word despite my sinfulness and shortcomings. And God will be glorified even when I do whine and complain about situations being “tough” (i.e. technology crashing).

The Holy Spirit can take my messed up words and attitude and use them to bring glory to God. The Holy Spirit can take a disastrous situation and use it for good (just ask Joseph as his brothers sold him into slavery but God used that to save millions and millions of people). God, through the Holy Spirit, can use any and all situations and people.

And God can use this whiny pastor as he complains about a piece of technology failing. God can even use this (near idolatrous) pastor as he gets googly…

(pun intended, get it? Google Nexus)…

…eyed over his new toy (I mean work tool). And praise be to God that the success of God’s kingdom advance is not dependent on me and me alone.

This world and everything it contains is fragile and thus are passing away; but not God and not His holy word. God’s word and promises are forever and will never fail or crash. And thank God for that.

Holy God, knock me down a peg or two (or more) when I get too whiny about situations. Humble me and help me see that it is Your Holy Spirit that gives power to Your words that proceed from my mouth. Knock me up across the head so I may not get too full of myself and depend on my so-called abilities. May You be glorified. In Jesus name, Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Get your ash on

/ The Pastor

I love that title…

a little lighthearted fun as we begin this season of Lent; a season for reflection and remembering that we came from dust, and because of our sin, to dust we shall return.

This season is also a very somber time as we reflect on our mortality but we can’t forget the celebration at the end because of Jesus. And therefore, in the midst of taking ourselves very seriously, don’t take yourself too seriously. Remember that you are a sinful, mortal human being under the curse of death. That is serious and undeniable. But through the cross of Jesus, you are redeemed and thus, through faith in him, the curse is lifted on that Last Day. That is also serious and undeniable AND “fun” let’s say.

[Leave it to me to put a not-so-serious spin on Ash Wednesday and Lent]

So with that seriousness, let’s move to some fun stuff:

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This is me burning palm branches saved from last year’s Palm Sunday worship service. Seems normal, but what you can’t feel is that I am standing outside in a -30 degree wind chill that is chilling me right down to the bone. I guess one can add this to the list of crazy things that only Minnesotans (and other crazy upper Midwesterners] do. But when you live in this part of the country/world you have to make do.

So the ashes are made.
Worship is planned.
The sermon is set.

And I am ready to get my ash on as I dive head-long into Lent.

A serious season in preparation for a “fun” event.

May God be praised and glorified. May you be humbled with the serious fact that you are a sinner. May you be lifted up through the proclamation of the Good News of Jesus.

Praise be to God!

The Pastor -|—

Christmas blessing from The Pastor

/ The Pastor

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From my home to your home…

We hope and pray that your Christmas is one filled with joy and great expectation as you worship this awesome God of ours. May the Holy Spirit strengthen or create the faith in you to see Jesus as your Lord and Savior. And May the God of all creation, create in you the passion to shout from the mountain tops that Jesus has been born for all. Let us pray…

Loving, holy and amazing God, I thank you for this incredible gift, Jesus Christ our Lord.
May those who are grieving find hope.
May those who are lost be found.
May those who are oblivious come to know.
May those who hunger be fed.
May those stray be carried back.
And may the hope of Christmas be our strength as we cling to the hope of the resurrection. All praise to you, O God, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

Have a very Merry Christmas!

The Pastor -|—