Eerie quiet

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

Quiet
Almost an eerie quiet around here

No hustle and bustle
No scrambling to get the next to-do item done
No printer printing lesson plans or manuscripts
No ringing phone

Just quiet
Eerie quiet

And I almost feel guilty in a way
Shouldn’t I be more busy
Shouldn’t I be “accomplishing” more
I did spend a couple hours doing visits but that was easy
I almost feel relaxed now…sitting here in the…

Quiet
Eerie quiet

And now I realize that I am sitting here writing about nothing
But I have to be honest…it feels good to be writing about nothing
Nothing theologically deep…just some ramblings from a post-Easter pastor
Enjoying…

The quiet
The eerie quiet

But…

The eerie quiet will get old…as it always does
Soon I will need the hustle and bustle
Soon I will need to scramble over a to-do list
Soon I will need to hear the printer working overtime
Soon I will need to hear the ringing phone

But in the meantime I will enjoy…

The quiet
The eerie quiet

(from the post-Easter brain of ) The pastor -|—

Satan attacks but God wins

/ The Pastor / 1 Comment

It’s Monday morning and I have been doing some reflecting on the events of yesterday (Easter).  I feel like a bus has run me over but God was faithful.  Satan did his best to stop the proclamation of the Word of God but God was victorious (in more ways than one). Satan took his best shot but it wasn’t good enough.

Allow me to explain to the glory of God…

Attack #1:
I woke up Easter morning after only about a couple hours of sleep.  A head cold started attacking me the night before.  I thought I was holding it off (drugging myself up as much as I could) but it wasn’t enough…I was prevented from getting a good night’s sleep.  A bad night to have sleeping problems.   But when I woke up at 4:45 a.m. as planned I felt rested.  Score 1 for God 🙂

Attack #2:
As my morning progressed; getting ready for the 7  a.m. Sonrise worship service, I could feel the frog in my throat growing.  I knew that if things continued to progress like this I would have problems later in the morning.  You see…I had three worship services at two sites.  I had a long morning ahead of me and I needed my voice.  Everything went fine during the first service; but I started to feel my throat have issues at the second service (at Belmont) and a little at the third, but my throat held up…I made it . Score another point for God 🙂

Attack #3:
After my first Sonrise service (at Salem) I usually have very little time to get out to Belmont for Sonrise service #2.  Eight miles separates the two churches which usually involves me eating egg bake in the car while exceeding the speed limit…slightly…but not this year.  But in preparation for the unknown I have all my  Belmont materials ready by my office for a quick grab and go…including another copy of my sermon manuscript.  I made it to Belmont with 15 minutes to spare (not too bad…I think that is a record for me).  During worship my nose started to run some more and throat was filling with phloem (sorry for being so graphic).  And then batteries in my cordless microphone pack died but I was able to make a quick change during the offering without missing a beat (nice try Satan). But attack #3 came during the sermon.  About half way through I noticed a problem (besides my nose and throat)…the sermon manuscript I was using was an earlier, uncompleted copy of the sermon.  I am not sure how I managed to print the wrong copy.  Paragraphs were in the wrong order and I was missing 1 and 1/2 pages.  Slight panic set in…and then calm.  I proceed to preach and share the Gospel without a hitch.  Score a couple more points for God 🙂

Attack #4:
I made it back to Salem for worship service #3 with about 30 minutes to catch my breath.  During worship my throat was still being annoying, my nose was still having issues and my energy was starting to run low…but…as I started to preach and preside at the Lord’s table, I felt a second wind.  Score yet another point for God 🙂

All along the way Satan did his best to derail the proclamation of the Good News that Christ has risen! He has risen indeed! Alleluia! But God was going to have none of that.  Yesterday morning was yet another reminder that God is in control and not Satan.  I do not take any credit because on my own I would have crumbled under the weight of all that was attacking me.  Today…I feel like crap…but Easter happened.  The Word got preached.  And now I can have some Sabbath rest.

Satan can not stand the fact that the tomb was empty and that Jesus lives. And he will do everything in his power to stop that proclamation but God is faithful.  God wins and because of that we too win.  Praise be to God 🙂

Final score: God ~ ALL the points in the world. Satan ~ a big fat 0

JESUS LIVES! ALLELUIA!

The pastor -|—

EASTER!

/ The Pastor

CHRIST HAS RISEN!

HE HAS RISEN INDEED!

ALLELUIA!

Enough said 🙂

Have a great Easter day celebrating the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Let us pray,
Loving God, through the resurrection of Jesus, you son, you destroyed death and gave hope to the world.  May the words, “He has risen”, speak life to those gathered for worship that they may go out and speak these same words.  Bless those who preach and lead worship.  Bless those who lead music.  Bless those who work behind the scenes.  May you be glorified, may faith be created and/or strengthened and may our worship be pleasing in your sight.  Thank you, O God, for your awesome grace and mercy.  Through Jesus Christ our RISEN Lord and Savior, Amen!

The pastor -|—

Sunday is coming

/ The Pastor / 1 Comment

It’s Saturday.

It is the day between Good Friday and Easter.

A dark day.

A bitter-sweet day.

But for those first disciples this had to be a day of deep darkness and hopelessness.  Think about it:  Their teacher, Messiah, friend, hope had been killed and placed in a tomb.  All of their dreams of a new kingdom had been completely destroyed.  Now what?   Their fear of the Jews kept them locked inside but I can’t imagine they would even want to leave anyway.  I would want to stay curled up in bed…forever.

Jesus is dead.

But we are not living in those days.

We know something that they didn’t know then.

It is 2013 and we are living in the days after that first Easter morning.  We are living in the days when we know what happens next.  It is Saturday, but Sunday is coming.

EmptyTomb-50JESUS HAS RISEN!

Dark days come and go in our lives.  Hopelessness enters the scene from time to time.  There may be days when you feel like curling up in a ball and staying in bed.  But know this…

JESUS HAS RISEN!  HE IS RISEN INDEED! ALLELUIA!

Ever since that day when Jesus defeated Satan and destroyed the grip of death, Satan has been trying to shoot arrows of hopelessness at God’s children.  But know this…remember this…boldly proclaim this…

JESUS HAS RISEN!  HE IS RISEN INDEED! ALLELUIA!

Satan has been defeated.  His arrows are powerless.  His threats are empty.  Death still remains but death does not have the final word.  Why?  Because…

JESUS HAS RISEN!  HE IS RISEN INDEED! ALLELUIA!

Have a blessed Saturday knowing that tomorrow is Sunday; that tomorrow is EASTER 🙂

The pastor -|—

Keep your eye on the ball

/ The Pastor

I read a good blog post yesterday titled Distracted.  It addressed a distressing distraction that has been going on this week; something that has (and is) drawing people’s attention away from what is ultimately important.  Do you know what that distraction is? It’s…

…the Supreme Court discussing and considering a ruling about (so-called) same sex marriage.

And in a show of support on Facebook, people have been changing their profile pictures to a red-ish/pink-ish equal sign (meaning marriage equality).  As I browsed through Facebook this week I saw a ton of those pictures and a lot of status updates defending “marriage equality”…and all of this in the midst of Holy Week.

The blog post gave kudos to Satan on his brilliant scheme to distract people from the glory of this week.  And I have to agree.   All of the discourse I read on Facebook was about gay marriage and condemning those who would hold a different view.  I read these and I was sadden.  But what saddened me even more was that as I look back on this past week I too was drawn in.  My thinking was caught up in this distraction.  I didn’t post anything on social media indicting my view but I was thinking about it…and being distracted.

So I am here this morning confessing my sin and repenting of my actions.  This week is Holy Week.  Yesterday was Maundy Thursday where we celebrated the Last Supper with Jesus and his disciples and then walked to the Garden of Gethsemane to see Jesus arrested and then beaten, mocked, spit upon and tried.  Today is Good Friday where we will walk to the cross and see how our Lord and Savior died to save us from our sins.  He will be buried, but on the third day rise that we may have eternal life.  But instead of pondering what our Lord and Savior did for us we have taken our eye off the proverbial ball.

This is Holy Week.  Look to the cross.  See how Jesus took OUR sin and destroyed the grip of death.  See how Jesus defeated Satan and won the victory for you and for me.  We are ALL sinners…worthy of punishment and condemnation, but through the grace of God we have forgiveness through Jesus Christ.  Let’s keep our eye on the ball people and give glory to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen!

From the Heart of a Pastor -|—

Give1Save1

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

What in the world is Give1Save1?

The concept is simple:

It is an adoption website/blog that helps families raise money to help fund adoptions.  Give (at least) $1 and “Your dollar will be saving and restoring lives in all kinds of ways…”

My wife and I were encouraged to check this site out.  Couples submit an application to be a featured family of the week; they make a short video talking about their adoption journey and that’s it.

Well…

…last week I got an email saying that we were selected to be a featured family.  Their web address is:   http://www.give1save1.com

Once there click on the United States and that will take you to the domestic adoption section.  We are the Hullstrom Family.  The “donate” button, below our video, connects directly to my PayPal account.

The other thing about this site is that there is no cost to us (except the time put in to create our video). And with the video we were blessed by many people bringing their gifts together to help us. I tell you…when God wants something done God doesn’t hold back.

Praise be to God!

But don’t get me wrong here though…I am not trying to solicit money from you; that’s not what I am doing.  If you feel called to help us…great…but more than anything I ask for your prayers for my wife and I. I also want to continue to raise awareness for adoption. There are so many couples out there called to adopt but adoption is an expense process; something that is difficult to do on your own.  My hope is that you will visit this site, read and watch the stories of other couples and decide if you are called to assist couples in bring a child(ren) into their homes.

Thank you for indulging me with all my adoption related posts recently.  I guess it is no secret that I am pretty excited and fired up about this topic.

God bless!

The pastor -|—

Wave those branches loudly

/ The Pastor

Palm-Sunday

Wave those Palm branches to the glory of God and don’t be silent.

“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
“I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
[Luke 19:38-40]

Let us pray…
Loving God, we enter another Holy Week.  We will hear the same story.  We will participate in the same worship services.  But your story is anything but business as usual. The Passion of Jesus is anything but old news.  I ask that you may make this story come alive for us so that we can see once again your amazing grace; not old news but Good News.  We are sinners, O God, with very short attention spans and therefore we need to hear this story over and over again.  Work faith where needed.  Strengthen faith where needed.  And in the end may we seek you with our whole lives.  May we cry out to you in praise so the rocks will have no reason to take our place. To you who is worthy of all worship, honor and praise…in Jesus name…Amen!

Blessings to you on this Palm Sunday and during your journey through Holy Week as we approach the celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

The pastor -|—

Adoption blog

/ The Pastor / 1 Comment

Greetings one and all…what a beautiful morning 🙂

[Please excuse my chipperness (my new word for the day)…I am enjoying my morning coffee]

I wanted to let you know of a project my wife and I are working on.  We have started an adoption blog called Adopted as an Heir.  I wanted to have a central place for adoption related content instead of it getting lost in the shuffle with everything I write about here.

Our goal for this new blog is:
(1) To share what we have learned along our adoption journey.
(2) To share resources we have found helpful.
(3) To share how we have grown closer together.
(4) To share how we have grown closer to God.
(5) To educate
(6) To encourage
(7) And…whatever else God reveals to us in our journey.  The door is wide open.

I have written a few posts here already about our adoption journey (If you go to the “My Adoption Story” page above you can quickly find those posts). I (along with my wife) will be writing adoption related content on our new blog but you may still find adoption related posts here from time to time.

So feel free to stop by our new sight and share it with others.  We are still learning and growing and we are by no means experts.  My wife and I are just a couple of God’s children stumbling along in this process and seeing God’s blessings along the way.

I hope you enjoy 🙂

The pastor -|—

Praying scripture

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

The following is a prayer based on Psalm 23 that I wrote for a funeral; a prayer I prayed before preaching the message:

O Lord, you are our shepherd, therefore we shall never be in want; for you make us lie down in green pastures, you lead us beside quiet waters and you restore our souls. Thank you, Oh God. We ask now that you may guide us in paths of righteousness for your name’s sake; for we want to give you praise and glory.

But during this time of mourning, Oh Lord, it feels as if we are walking through the valley of the shadow of death.  We ask that you may comfort us with your presence, keep us from fear and protect us from the evil one.

May we feast at your table in complete peace and comfort and security as You anoint us and fill our cups to overflowing.

Oh Lord our God, thank you, for your goodness and love follows us all the days of our lives, and through faith in Jesus Christ we are confident that we will dwell in Your house forever.

Amen.

_______________________________________________________

Don’t get me wrong here.  I am not trying to re-write scripture.  I just enjoy praying through scripture and using scripture to give my prayer a voice…and what better place to do this than in the Psalter.

When my wife and I were freshly grieving our failed adoption I immediately started reading in the book of Psalms.  I found those places where the psalmist was crying out to God; asking how long; wondering where God was at.  I was thankful that the psalmist gave me words to pray as I “borrowed” his words.  I was also thankful for the reminder that God is faithful. The psalmist may have been crying out to God but he usually ended with words of praise for God. I need those words too…so I “borrowed” them as well.

What a great diversity in the book of Psalms. No wonder Martin Luther called the Psalter a “little Bible”.

So…if you need some words for your prayer today…try the book of Psalms. If you don’t needs words right now…go to the Psalms anyway. You will need them eventually.

Praise be to God!

The pastor -|—