A great day…but don’t forget

/ The Pastor

I began my day by sitting on my patio this morning:
I heard the birds singing.
I felt a gentle breeze.
I drank my coffee.
I read scripture.

…and I gave thanks to God for a beautiful day…and for freedom.

What a great day…Praise be to God!

Today is Memorial Day.  Many people will attend parades, programs and spend time with family and friends.  Grills will get fired up.  A grave site or two will get visited.  A day off work will be enjoyed.

But through all these activities remember a couple things:
(1) Remember and thank those who have served this country in the armed forces.

(2) Remember and thank those who currently serve (remembering their familes as well).

(3)  Remember and thank GOD!

We enjoy many freedoms in this world because of those who have made incredible sacrifices for our freedoms…and they should be remembered and thanked.  But don’t forget the freedom we have through Jesus Christ.
~ Without the cross the freedoms we have in this world life would be truly meaningless.
~ Without Jesus’ sacrifice we would have no hope.
~ Without God’s love we would not be truly free.

Give thanks today…but don’t forget to give thanks to God (today and everyday); for through Jesus we are truly free.

Praise be to God!
Thank you, God!
Bless those who serve this country!
Bless all your children!
Amen!

edh -|—

 

Don’t wear red

/ The Pastor

I saw a question on Twitter this morning that asked:

“Are you wearing red today?”

To some of you this may seem like a strange question so allow me to put it into context.  Today is Pentecost Sunday (liturgical color: Red).  This is the Sunday when we recognize the giving of the Holy Spirit to the disciples in Acts 2.  A great story of the birth of the church and the work of the Holy Spirit. But I have serious problems with this question and the encouraging of people to wear red today (other than the fact that we don’t encourage people to wear clothing to match other liturgical colors throughout the year).

Think about it:  If you were to visit a church on Pentecost Sunday (not knowing what this day was or forgetting it was Pentecost) and upon entering the church you notice a sea of people wearing red, what would your first thoughts be?

For me I would:
(1) Start to wonder if there was a special celebration going on that I wasn’t invited to. I might be a little leery about going in; thinking I was crashing a party.

(2) Wonder if people were looking at me wondering why I didn’t wear red today. Kind of like going to a Vikings tailgate party and not wearing purple and gold.

(3) Feel like an outsider; not part of the group.  Kind of like wearing a Packers jersey to a Vikings tailgate party.

(4) Feel left out; like I am not wanted in this group…like a Packers fan at a Vikings tailgate party 🙂

(5) Probably not return to that church…because I would not want to feel like this again.

The encouraging of people to wear red on Pentecost (and Reformation Sunday…the other Sunday people are encouraged to wear red) is done in order to give those Sundays a special emphasis; not to isolate visitors.  But it does have that effect.  So I have stopped inviting people to wear red.  If they do…great.  Will I wear my red stole today?  Absolutely.  But I want ALL people to feel welcome.

Think about that today and other Sundays:
~ Are there things that we do in our churches that might cause people to feel like outsiders?
~ Are we truly welcoming communities?
~ When visitors walk into the church do they feel like they are wanted?
~ When visitors attend worship do they feel self-conscience about not knowing the “rules” of the church?

Let’s not become so comfortable that we exclude others.  Make it a point to say “hi” to someone who is visiting and befriend them.  Don’t let your church become an exclusive club but an inclusive family…the Body of Christ.

So don’t wear red today…wear the love of Christ.

edh -|—

Showing the love of Christ

/ The Pastor

On August 22, 2011 I wrote a post about a “mission activity” that the council of Salem Lutheran Church did on the first day of school last year.  The post is called Doughnut holes. Click on the link to read about what we did.

Anyway…

The Lutheran magazine did a little story about this mission activity in their “Two Month out” section in the June issue.  Very exciting.  When we planned this mission activity we never thought it would get so much attention.

PRAISE BE TO GOD!

All we wanted to do was welcome kids and parents back to school by showing the love of Christ in a very practical way.

We weren’t trying to recruit.
We weren’t standing on boxes preaching “Repent!”.
We were doing nothing but welcoming people with a smile while serving doughnut holes, juice and coffee (and tissues for parents).

The idea was simple and practical…and a lot of fun.  It was something anyone could do.  We saw many smiles that morning and made our day.  Will we do this again?  Absolutely!  Will we continue to show the love of Christ in a practical way?  I sincerely hope so.

How is God calling you to show His love in a practical way?

edh -|—

Rested and Ready

/ The Pastor

I’m back 🙂

After Easter I took 2 weeks of vacation and let me tell you…that felt good.  I so needed that.  I feel refreshed and energized…and a little feisty (see my Twitter account @SWMNRev).  I am excited to get back into the pulpit on Sunday.  I am looking forward to teaching this afternoon.  I have thoroughly enjoyed my pastoral care visits this week.  Not that I didn’t enjoy all these activities during Lent but it is nice to do them at a slower pace.  I don’t know if that makes sense or not.  It’s just…different.  It’s hard to explain.  But when you are going 100 mph for so long it feels nice to creep along at 10 mph for a while.

And that’s what I am doing…creeping along.  Enjoying the sites.  Smelling the roses (as it were). Spending more time on a few activities.  And basically just getting caught up (including writing here).

So that’s what I got for now.  Me basking in aftermath of the gift of some Sabbath rest…and looking forward to what God is going to do through me in this new season.

Praise be to God!

edh -|—

Post Lent/Easter post

/ The Pastor

A couple days ago we celebrated the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ; a victory won FOR YOU and FOR ME.  We sang our praises; we heard the Word proclaimed; we participated in the Lord’s Supper.

Now all seems quiet.  Almost eerie. And kind of nice.

Don’t get me wrong…I love Lent and Easter even though it is extremely busy and sometimes stressful.  And I think this year it was busier and more stressful than others though.  I am not sure why but it just was.  Half way through Lent I was “knocked down” for a couple days.  I had to cancel a couple small groups and just rest…but I was ready to go for Wednesday evening worship that week.  The rest of Lent I could still feel the effects of that mid-Lent hit.  I had my good moments and my bad moments.  But praise be to God…the Holy Spirit gave me strength to continue in my ministry.  Satan took his best shot but lost.

Now it is the Tuesday after Easter.  I am sitting on my couch enjoying the very beginning of a 2 week vacation.  And it almost feels strange,  but I feel more relaxed than I have for a couple months.  And despite my love for Lent and Easter I am enjoying this feeling of having nothing pressing on my to-do list other than:

~ Working in the yard
~ Running some errands
~ Watching some TV
~ Catching up on some reading
~ Sitting by the river
~ and enjoying some time with my wife

So even though I love the Lenten small group studies, the mid-week worships and the Holy week schedule going into Easter Sunday…and that on top of my normal weekly duties, I am also enjoying this time down.  But once again…don’t get me wrong.  I love being a pastor.  And in some strange way I also love the busyness and stress:

~ I love the hustle and bustle of ministry.
~ I love running around visiting people.
~ I love the lesson planning.
~ I love the worship/sermon prep
~ I love dealing with the day-to-day demands.
~ I love the proclamation of the gospel.

So BECAUSE I love being a pastor, and all that goes with it, I am going to enjoy this time away.  I am going to take full advantage of this rest.  I am going to make the most of this vacation.  And if you see me anywhere near the church building for any other reason than to get my mail…kick me out.  I won’t be offended…because I know that with the proper rest these next couple weeks I will come back even stronger on April 23; ready to take on the world and all that goes into being a pastor in this small town in SW MN.

So in the mean time, continue to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord.  Continue to proclaim this victory.  Continue on with “business” as usual.

Now…it’s time to return to my next vacation agenda item.  Let’s see what’s next…Hmmm…NOTHING.  Sounds good to me 🙂

edh -|—

Holy Week support for your pastor

/ The Pastor

Holy week begins on Sunday, April 1…and that’s no joke.  Palm Sunday through Easter Sunday is considered the holiest week of the year for Christians and the busiest week of the year for pastors.  And…if you’re a solo pastor it is even busier (not to say pastoral teams are not busy or have it easy).

So with this busy week coming up I wanted to give you (the people sitting in the pews)  a little heads up.

Your pastor WILL be busy…

…and maybe a little stressed and  maybe a little over-tired.  There are a bunch of worship services to plan, details to line up, multiple sermons to write and maybe some small group studies to lead (among other things).

So with all this craziness that is coming up I wanted to clue you in on the top ten ways you can support your pastor during this busy and crazy week.  These are not necessarily time tested things but from where I sit I think they would work…because I wouldn’t mind them.  So here we go (in no particular order…and…definitely not an exhaustive list):

(1)  Stop by your pastor’s office sometime and ask them: Have you taken some time for yourself today?  If the answer is no then as a person from the congregation whose offerings help pay their salary, gently encourage them to go for a little walk ~ 10 to 15 minutes at least.  Anything to just get outside and clear their head.  Tell them you’re doing this because you care about them.  And…if it’s raining then be a little flexible about the outside walking part.

(2) Drop by your pastor’s office with a cup of coffee (or their favorite drink) and let them know that you are praying for them (and actually be doing so before you stop by).

(3) Drop by your pastor’s office with a cup of coffee (or their favorite drink) and offer to do devotions with them.  Sometimes we forget to spend time in personal prayer and/or scripture reading during Holy Week because of everything else on our plate.  Have something planned and them pray over them before you leave.

(4) Volunteer to help with something such as:  Read scripture for a worship service; help set up the sanctuary; make some phone calls; help with the Easter breakfast; basically…offer to help remove something from your pastor’s to-do list so they can spend more time preparing for worship and proclamation.

(5) If you have small children, bring them in sometime and instruct them to run into your pastor’s office and give them a big hug.  But make sure your pastor isn’t on the phone or having a private conversation with someone before sending the kids in.

(6) Have I mentioned the coffee part (that is if your pastor likes coffee)?

(7) Remind your pastor to spend quality time with their family.  Your pastor’s family may “understand” the craziness of Holy Week but it doesn’t mean they don’t want to see their husband/father.

(8) If you see your pastor around town and they don’t wave at you or say “hi”…be patient.  They are not trying to be rude.  Sometimes when there is much to do we have a tendency to put blinders on and get really focused on the task at hand.

(9) Get a group of people together, stop by your pastor’s office and sing some Easter hymns (kind of like Christmas caroling).  Now how can someone not smile at that.

(10) If your pastor is doing a good job, then take some time to let them know.

Once again, this is not an exhaustive list but just some ideas to help your pastor relax and enjoy this week.  For me…this is my favorite time of the year.  Maundy Thursday and Good Friday always give me goose bumps when I think about why Jesus would go through all that for me.  And Easter…well…that is just awesome.  I may be exhausted on Easter Sunday afternoon, but every single year I say to myself “It was worth it”.

God bless you this Easter season and may you know the joy of Jesus Christ died and risen FOR YOU.

Praise be to God!

edh -|—

Promises and Joy

/ The Pastor

I experienced a first this past Saturday…

…I got the privilege to perform an adult baptism.  She is a 20 year old woman (Samantha) who a member of my congregation has been mentoring for the past few months.  This member (Dave) lives at a local nursing home and the young woman is a nurse’s aid at that nursing home.  This woman knew of Dave’s strong faith and went to him with questions.  Through the course of their conversations she mentioned that she wanted to be baptized.  Since she wasn’t currently connected to a church Dave said “I think I can help you with that“, and contacted me.

I joyful agreed to baptize her.

I met with this young woman (and Dave) and we chatted for awhile, but left the bulk of the discipling up to Dave since he had already established a relationship with her.  From the time Dave first started talking with Samantha he would call me and tell me some of the questions she had and how he responded.  We would discuss those questions and I would encourage Dave.

He was doing a great job.

The day of the baptism finally arrived.  The service was performed in the family room at the nursing home.  Samantha invited her family, friends and residents of the nursing home.  As we began, Samantha had to step away to get a tissue.  She was starting to get emotional (and so was I).  I read from Romans 6 and talked about what GOD is doing in baptism.  We went through the confession of faith and when I eventually announced the promises of baptism to Samantha and poured the water over Samantha’s head in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…

…tears were flowing down her face (and down many other faces in that room).

I laid my hands on her head, prayed over her and made the sign of the cross on her forehead.  I also invited her sponsors to make the sign of the cross on her forehead.

Tears were still flowing.

Salem Lutheran Church (the congregation I serve) presented Samantha a quilt and a study Bible.

Tears were still flowing.

For me this whole experience was very powerful.  For my first time I got to experience a baptism where the person was aware of what was going on, what the promises being made to them meant and was showing pure joy as those promises were being announced.  Now don’t get me wrong…I still love performing baptisms for infants (baptisms are the favorite thing I get to do as a pastor), but to see the recipient express that joy was…well…awesome.

Praise be to God!

And here’s the other cool part of all of this…

…Dave is currently in conversations with another nursing home staff member about getting her three older children baptized.  Wow…God is awesome!

And I can hardly wait 🙂

edh -|—

New Covenant

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

“The time is coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord.  [Jeremiah 31:31-32]

Loving God…

despite the fact that we have broken the old covenant over and over again you have made a new covenant with us.

Despite the fact that you KNOW we will continue breaking the old covenant over and over again, you have made a new covenant with us.

Despite the fact that you KNOW we will stray and go after other gods, over and over again, you have made a new covenant with us.

Despite the fact that we are unworthy, you have made a new covenant with us.

What wretched people we are…

…but…

what an AWESOME God YOU are!

“For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” [Jeremiah 31:34]

I just can’t get over it.
I just can’t understand why.
I just can’t fathom your reasoning.

Through faith in Jesus you forgive us…and…remember those sins no more.  Wow…that is AWESOME!

Loving God…

stir in our hearts faith to receive this promise and live for you.
Stir in our hearts faith to run to you.
Stir in our hearts faith to remain with you.

Thank you, God, for this New Covenant and for Jesus Christ who died and rose that we may live.  Thank you, God, for showing patience and love and grace and mercy.  

Thank you God…may you be praised always and forever. 

Amen 🙂

edh -|—

The “bronze snake”

/ The Pastor

Amazing and merciful God,

Our “bronze snake” has been lifted up.
Our Savior has won the day.
Our Lord reigns on high.

And through this “lifting up” we find forgiveness through faith in Jesus Christ.  When we grow impatient,
When we become disobedient,
When we long for that which does not save,
you still show amazing love, grace and faithfulness.  As those Hebrews bitten by those snakes in the desert, we too deserve punishment and wrath.   But as you showed mercy to them you show mercy to us as we confess our sins.

May we look to our “bronze snake” and live.
May we look to our “bronze snake” and see victory.
May we look to our “bronze snake” and give you all praise and worship.

Amazing and merciful God…we give you thanks. 

Amen

“Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim till all the world adore his sacred name.”
“Come, Christians, follow where our captain trod, our king victorious, Christ, the Son of God.”
[ELW 660 “Lift High the Cross”, chorus and vs.1]

edh -|—

Defeated

/ The Pastor

It never fails.

Every year at this time in Lent I hit “the wall”.
Every year I begin Lent thinking I am going to be fine…I have this under control.
And every year God humbles me.

On Monday I hit the proverbial wall.  I maybe got an hour of sleep that night as my brain was running wild. I had very little energy on Tuesday that no amount of coffee could fix.  I was experiencing stress related aches and pains.  And I had a hard time concentrating.

It was not a good day 😦

Mid-afternoon on Tuesday I made the difficult decision to cancel my Tuesday night small group at Belmont and cancel confirmation on Wednesday.  I was ready for my Wednesday small group and almost ready for Wednesday night worship.  So I after I got the word out about the schedule changes I went home to lie down.

Defeated.

God help me.

I prayed and prayed.  I confessed my sin of self-confidence in my ability to go through Lent on my strength.  Not that I totally ignored God, but I was happy with MY plan to get everything done.  I scheduled everything out.  I felt I could just plow headlong through Lent and then rest for 2 weeks after Easter.  But I ran out of MY energy.

God defeated me…and I thank God for that 🙂

I got a solid 8 hours of sleep on Tuesday night and felt better on Wednesday.  It felt good to sit and relax…and reflect…and pray.  It felt good to take my time to prepare for release time and then small group and then worship.  It felt good to have fellowship with God and rely on God’s strength through the Holy Spirit.

It felt good to be defeated.

One of these years I am going to figure this Lent thing out.
One of these years I am going to remember who is truly in charge.
But in the mean time I am going to cherish this feeling of being defeated and enjoy the power of the Holy Spirit working through me.

God help me 🙂

edh -|—