To Follow

/ The Pastor

Holy God,
through Jesus Christ You call us to action,
as You call us to follow.
But road is not easy
and the task is daunting.
We are tempted to give up
or take shortcuts so not to offend people.

May we never do so.
May we always be faithful.

Grant us Your Spirit
that we may fix our gaze upon Jesus,
so much so,
that his glory is reflected in the world
through our faithfulness.
May our actions shed light
in a dark world
and
may our words speak peace and hope.

You call us to follow,
may we do so now without hesitation.
All praise, glory and honor
be unto You,
Creator God,
through Christ Jesus our Lord,

Amen.

The Pastor -|—

The Morning

/ The Pastor

The scene
A quiet house
The sound of chirping birds drifting in through an open window
The words of Scripture marinating in my soul
And a good cup of coffee to top it off

God’s blessings to start the day
God’s presence to renew my soul

The prayer
Oh God,
Your mercies are new everyday
Your blessings abound
Your love is wide and deep
Your grace is unending

Your Son, Jesus, is Lord of all
My Savior, Jesus, died for me

Renew my faith this day
Embolden my witness
Bless my words
Guide my decisions

May Your mercies and blessings;
Your love and grace
Be evident to all

Glory and honor be unto
You
Oh God
This day and always

Amen

The Pastor -|—

Raining

/ The Pastor

As the rain drops fall upon my head,
that are way too many to count,
I am quickly chased inside,
but maybe I need to stay out instead.

For as the countless drops of rain,
fall upon the ground,
I remember Your varied blessings,
that bring healing to my pain.

For the sting of death is beaten away,
the joy of life is given,
and even though Satan still roams free,
I can live with hope today.

For the ultimate blessing is Jesus my Lord,
who crowns me with glory and honor,
and therefore I rest assured with peace and joy,
that I am set free from Satan’s hordes.

And so I listen to the falling drops of rain,
as I hold tightly to Your promises,
and remember with all joy and peace,
that Jesus will forever and always reign.

The Pastor -|—

Standing

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

I stand.

I stand condemned under the weigh of my sin,
with no logical defense to make.
I stand condemned as a violator of Your holy law,
oh God.
I stand condemned.

I stand condemned as glory-stealing,
honor-withholding sinner.
I stand condemned as an non trusting kingdom builder,
oh God.
I stand condemned.

And as I stand condemned I see my Savior,
my Lord,
my advocate,
my Jesus.

Jesus stands with me.
Jesus intercedes for me.
Jesus takes the judgment for me.
Jesus dies for me.

And…

Jesus rises for me.

I now, through faith, I stand liberated,
I stand free,
I stand hopeful,
I stand forgiven.
For Jesus, my Lord, took the weight of my sin
and made my defense before You,
oh God.

And now I no longer stand,
rather,
I fall on my face to worship You,
oh God.
I fall on my face to honor You,
oh God.
I fall on my face to praise You,
oh God…

as I stand on Your promises.

The Pastor -|—

Laughing

/ The Pastor

We turn our eyes away from God,
and Satan laughs.
We fight among ourselves,
and Satan laughs.
We seek our own agendas,
and Satan laughs.
We put our needs before other’s,
and Satan laughs.
We build earthly kingdoms,
and Satan laughs.
We worry,
and Satan laughs.

We do anything and everything but seek the glory of God,
and Satan laughs.

But…

Let’s look to God,
let’s seek reconciliation,
let’s seek God’s will,
let’s humble ourselves,
let’s seek to advance God’s kingdom,
let’s trust God.

Let’s do anything and everything we can to bring glory to God’s holy name through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Let’s laugh at Satan and tell him to go to hell. Our Lord, Jesus, reigns.

Praise be to God!

The Pastor -|—

Send Me

/ The Pastor / 1 Comment

You have sent me out
to make disciples

of ALL nations.

You have sent me out
to lead people to You.

ALL people.

You have sent me out
to proclaim forgiveness

of ALL sins.

You have sent me out.

But I am judgmental
I am sinful
I am weak
I don’t know it all

Why, oh God, why,
have you sent me?
Certainly there are others more qualified.
Certainly there are others more faithful.
Certainly there are others who are smarter.
Certainly there has to be someone else.

But yet You have sent me.

Oh God,
lead me,
forgive me,
empower me,
gift me.

 For you sent me unqualified,
but,
only You can qualify me.
So in the name of Jesus
send me qualified in Your eyes,
so the eyes of others can see you.

Who shall You send?

Send me!

The Pastor -|—

Installed and Restless

/ The Pastor

This pastor is officially installed. My wife giggles at this because it sounds like I’m an appliance or something.

I just nod and smile 🙂

In any case, I have been installed as the Senior Pastor of Living Word Lutheran Church in Puyallup, WA; a LCMC (Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ) congregation serving in the south Puget Sound area. And what a blessing it is to be here serving with these brothers and sisters in Christ. It was definitely God thing that my family and I got connected to this congregation. Yesterday was also special because my good friend, Pastor Dan Taylor, flew out from Iowa to preach and preside at my installation. We began serving our first calls in the same small MN town at around the same time (2 months apart and at different churches) nearly 12 years ago. It was fun to serve with him then and a joy to spend time with him this past weekend; listening to him share the Word of Christ with my new congregation.

And now, as I sit here writing this, I am beginning my 3rd week at Living Word. I am learning more and more names. I am learning the rhythms of the congregation. I am learning the lay of the land. And I am even starting to get used to city life; and that is a huge leap for the small town, rural Minnesota boy. I remember not so long ago saying that I would never ever live in a city.

(cue the chuckling)

Evidence, right there, that God has a sense of humor. I imagine God smiling when I was talking like that, but I am glad God took this small town boy out of his element and placed me somewhere outside my comfort zone. It forces me to fall back and rely on God even more because at times I am scared silly. Driving back from the airport last night in Seattle, I remember thinking, “Wow, everything moves so fast“. But God didn’t place me out here to abandon me, but rather to do something amazing. And for that I am excited. I just hope I never get comfortable here, so much so, that I cease relying on God to guide and strengthening me.

And so I look forward to learning more of what God is up to here. I look forward to getting to know people better and better. I look forward to seeing amazing things. And I look forward to more restlessness as God continues to place his hand upon me as He continues to put me at ease.

Oh God, may I always be restless but yet cling to you. Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Seed Sowing in Satan’s Face

/ The Pastor

In reading the Parable of the Sower in Mark 4:1-20, I am quickly reminded that the call and the joy of the Christian is to sow the Word of God. The joy comes from the fact we are sinners but that God offers forgiveness of our sins by His grace through Jesus Christ. And through this forgiveness, we have the sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life.

This is the Gospel.
This is the Good News.
This is AMAZING news!

And yet, we often see evangelism as a chore or as something to do later if we have time or something reserved for a certain committee or (and this is my favorite) it is something reserved strictly for the pastor.

Maybe this inattention to evangelism comes from the fact that, more times than not, you get beaten up when you try to seed sow. Maybe someone strongly rejects your Gospel presentation. Maybe someone tells you to keep your faith to yourself. Maybe someone argues with you to the point of exhaustion. Maybe you have been shot down too many times to count and you’re just plain tired of getting hurt or embarrassed. Whatever the case, it serves as a reminder that Satan is hard at work. Whenever you are sharing your faith or trying to present the Gospel or stand up for what you believe, Satan is right there to make life difficult. And he should because the Gospel threatens Satan.

But we must keep seed sowing.
We must keep spreading the Gospel.
We must keep telling people that there is hope.
We must keep showing people Jesus.

For when we stop, Satan wins and thus he laughs.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, seed sowing is hard but look at the bright side. If seed sowing is difficult and it feels like you are being resisted every step of the way, then maybe you’re doing something right. In that case, keep on going in the strength of the Lord and mock Satan knowing that Jesus stands with you and that Satan can not possibly win.

And that is cause to laugh in Satan’s face and praise be to God always and forever!

The Pastor -|—

For the Sake of the World

/ The Pastor

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. [Acts 2:42, ESV]

And isn’t this what the church should be about:
Diving into and learning scripture,
Spending time with other believers,
Worshiping and communing together and
prayer?
It seems to make sense to me. Sure there are other things about being a church, for example, it’s not about being with believers ONLY, but sharing the Word of Jesus with nonbelievers.

Basically…

This verse in Acts 2 lays out a church on fire for Jesus.
This is a church wanting to be closer to Jesus.
This is a church who is excited about the hope they have.
This is a church that looks to the needs of others.
This is a church who gets it.

This is not a magical formula for success, but rather the activities that flow from the assembly out of their faith in the crucified and risen Jesus Christ. When a church lives out Acts 2:42, the church is doing the very thing that should come naturally, like breathing. If these activities are laborious then something is wrong. You can’t force anything of those activities and you can’t fake it. You are either verse 42 or not. If your church is not, then go back to the beginning: Devote yourself to scripture.

To having any real and lasting hope; for the church to make an impact in the world; for the church to be a beacon of light in a dark world, verse 42 needs to be present. Because believe it or not, people need and want to be part of verse 42.

Only God can make a difference. Only God will bring the increase: And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. [Acts 2:47]

Let’s be an Act 2:42 church that glorifies God almighty for the sake of the world.

The Pastor -|—

Now

/ The Pastor

Yesterday is gone.
Today is now.
Tomorrow is guaranteed to no one.

Act now and make a difference.
Speak now and bring healing.
Do now and do not wait.

For someone desperately needs to hear about Jesus.

The Pastor -|—