To Think of You

/ The Pastor

To think of You,
oh God,
is to be reminded of my sinful estate;
my fallen nature;
and my constant disobedience.

To think of You,
oh God,
is to run to You in confession;
to seek Your mercy;
and to fall at Your feet.

[Enter Jesus]

To think of You,
oh God,
is to hear forgiveness;
to know grace;
and to feel Your love.

To think of You,
oh God,
is to know peace in chaos;
hope in despair;
and tranquility in upheaval.

To think of You,
oh God,
is to know everything will be alright;
to be reminded that You are in control;
and to be filled with joy.

To think of You,
oh God,
is to know that I am Your child,
wrapped in Your arms,
and keep safe for all eternity.

To think of You…
🙂

The Pastor -|—

Through YOU, oh God

/ The Pastor

As I think about this world,
oh God,
I shake my head in frustration;
not because You have fallen short,
but because we have.
Politicians make empty promises;
people spew words of hate,
racism runs unchecked,
people listen in order to respond not to understand,
we speak about people not with them,
the homeless have become a political issue not people to love.

How have we gotten here?
Why have we gotten here?

Oh God, it is too much to think about.

But all praise be unto You,
oh God,
through Christ Jesus my Lord;
for You continue to reign.

May my thoughts not leave this world,
but may my thoughts be filtered through You;
through Your love for us.

May my promises to others NOT be empty.
May I speak words of LOVE.
May I accept ALL Your children.
May I REALLY listen.
May I speak WITH people.
May the homeless be HUMANIZED.

This is YOUR world,
oh God,
and therefore may I live in it for Your GLORY.
May people see and hear CHRIST in me.
May I be a witness unto others of Your LOVE.
May I not grow frustrated but rather remain HOPEFUL.

All praise be unto You,
oh God,
through Christ Jesus my Lord;
for you continue, and will ALWAYS, reign.

Amen!

The Pastor -|—

My Abba

/ The Pastor

Holy Father,
Jesus said, “let the little children
come to me and do not hinder them,
for to such as these belongs the
Kingdom.”
Oh God,
may I have the child-like faith
to run into Your holy arms.
May I receive Your Gospel as a baby excitedly receives their milk.
May I cling to Jesus as tightly as my children do to me as I try to leave for work.
May I gaze upon You as a newborn does unto their parents.
Holy Father,
I thank You that You do not hinder me coming to You.
I may stumble and fall along the way,
but You are quick to scoop me up.
Loving Father,
here I am; hold me.
My Abba. My God.
Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Master Artisan

/ The Pastor

To anyone who says there is no God; that we are just a cosmic accident; or that life/creation just happened, I say hogwash. Check out God’s handiwork from today:

O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
Out of the mouth of babies and infants,
you have established strength because of your foes,
to still the enemy and the avenger.
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him?
Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.
You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under his feet,
all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of the field,
the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Psalms 8 (ESV)

God is awesome!
All praise to his holy name!

The Pastor -|—

For Your Glory

/ The Pastor

Holy God,
we humbly come before You
to praise Your holy name;
to lay our petitions at Your feet,
and to confess our sins.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord
receive our praise,
hear our petitions
and grant us forgiveness,
so that,
our lives may be refreshed and strengthened
to live for Your glory.
Send now Your Holy Spirit,
oh God,
to fill us and lead us along our way.
In Jesus Name we pray,
Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Solomon’s Request

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?”
1 Kings 3:9 (ESV)

Solomon was wise in his request and thus God gave him a discerning mind (wisdom) to lead God’s people. And this request is also my request, not because I am wise in asking for this but rather I am realistic. I look at the congregation God has called me to lead and I am not so vain to think that God called me here because I am so wise. On the contrary, God called me here because God wants to use me to do something great for His church, and thus all glory goes to God. Yet, I am overwhelmed and scared silly at the task at hand. As I pray each week, Oh God, I am not a good speaker or preacher and thus if this task were left up to me I would surely bring it all to ruin, I also plead with God using Solomon’s request:

Oh God, give your servant an understanding mind to lead your church, that I may discern between good and evil, and what your will is; for who is able to lead your great church.

This is my prayer.
This is my request.

And may this be the prayer for all pastors and leaders in the church. May we never be so vain as to think that we are good enough or talented enough to lead in the church. The day that vain ambition takes over in a leader’s heart is the day the church heads down the road to destruction; following a leader that has lost their way. Learn and study Solomon’s request and make it your own.

Grant me a discerning mind, oh God, that I may lead your church rightly;
Grant me wisdom, oh God, that I may seek Your will;
Grant me understanding, oh God, that I may teach others rightly;
for this call is too great for me to do alone.
All glory be unto You, oh God, through Christ Jesus my Lord. Amen

The Pastor -|—

 

Don’t be a Jerk

/ The Pastor / 1 Comment

I saw a Facebook post recently that said:

“Sometimes the best evangelism is simply telling people you’re a Christian and then not being a complete jerk.”

There is some truth to that but it definitely does not go far enough in today’s world. There are way too many people who claim to be a Christian but do not follow Jesus (which doesn’t make sense to me). For some, “Christian” is just a title to be used when it suits them but when opposition comes the title is abandoned. Then there are people who claim the title “Christian” but under a new and “relevant” definition. It’s like a Twitter post I saw recently,

“Saying you’re a new kind of Christian with a new kind of Christianity is basically saying you’re an old kind of heretic.” [Burk Parsons]

To “simply” say you’re a Christian doesn’t tell me much now days, which is kind of sad. “Christian” used to mean something but now it is just a watered down title. So now what? Well, you can’t simply tell people you are a Christian and then not be a complete jerk. In today’s world, Jesus-following Christians need to confess with their mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in their heart that God raised him from the dead. That is salvation and that is the message that needs to be proclaimed.
Jesus is Lord.
Jesus is the Son of God.
Jesus died for you.
Jesus was raised for you.
Through faith, when you confess your sins, you are forgiven.

So don’t “simply” stop at Christian, but confess with your mouth what you believe in your heart…and THEN don’t be a complete jerk.

The Pastor -|—

Your Will, We Pray

/ The Pastor

Father God,
full of love and mercy,
You have promised to hear us as we pray
and to give us each day our daily bread,
and for that we praise You.
Teach us to trust You better
and to seek Your will,
so we may see each prayer as answered according to Your holy will.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord we pray,
Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Unsafe

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

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I took my kiddos to a wildlife park yesterday, just south of Puyallup, WA. They love going and looking at the various animals. The sleeping creature above is a grizzly bear and my son was fascinated with it’s beauty and size. Malachi would point and say, “Dada, dada, [something I didn’t understand]. Dada, dada]. He was excited and wanted to make sure I was seeing what he was seeing.

Of course we would never purposely get this close to a grizzly in the wild, but here we can get up close and personal. It’s safe and comfortable. We can sit back and enjoy the view with no danger of losing our lives. If by some supernatural chance, though, we suddenly found ourselves in this bear’s enclosure, our sense of comfort and safety would be gone in a heart beat. My guess is that we would be quickly moving to find a safe place; hoping not to wake the sleeping beast.

Many try to treat Christianity in much the same way; look at it from a safe distance. Don’t get too up close and personal, for to get too involved is to risk “losing your life”. Many want to be safe and maintain their life so they keep Christianity caged up and show it off to others. When it is not convenient, you lock the “animal” away in it’s cage, but Jesus will not be locked away.

I saw a quote recently by C.S. Lewis that said, “If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity.” There’s a lot of truth to that. Following Jesus means that our old life is crucified with him but we are raised to new life with him. It also means that we are not the same. 

If you’re comfortable in your faith, then something is wrong. We are not of the world and the world hates that and therefore will make things uncomfortable for you. If you’re comfortable in your faith then you are of the world and your religion is locked away behind a “protective barrier”.

The Good News, though, is that discomfort in your faith is a holy discomfort, meant to sanctify you and bring you closer to God through Jesus Christ. To seek comfort in religion is to worship the world. So don’t lock away your faith but rather jump into the wild enclosure with Jesus and embrace the “unsafe” discomfort. Do not allow the world to sell you a comfortable bill of goods. Embrace the discomfort and draw closer to God through faith in Jesus Christ.

The Pastor -|—