Ministry

God is awesome!

/ The Pastor

I really want to share with you some details about an encounter with a gentleman (Q) last night, but I can’t because of confidentiality.  But I do want to say that God is awesome and works in wonderful and powerful ways.  I also want to say that I am thankful for the priesthood of all believers because without faithful people living out their faith, this gentleman would not have received the care that he desperately needed…not just last night but for the last couple months.

I want to give a big shout of thanks out to these two parishioners but I won’t.  Rather I will give and big shout of thanks and praise out to God for working through these two people to share the Gospel with Q.  I want to say that it was pure chance and dumb luck that they found me last night so I could talk to Q (I was out for a run and hence away from my home and phone).  But I won’t say that…rather I will say that God is awesome and works in wonderful and powerful ways.

I don’t know what is in store for Q but I can rest assured that he will be cared for and love for the rest of his life.

Praise be to God!

-edh-

Remembering Martin Luther

/ The Pastor / 3 Comments

luthers-seal463 years ago day, in 1546, Martin Luther (the great reformer of the Church and the namesake of the Lutheran Church) died.

So in honor of Martin Luther I would like to share with you Luther’s morning prayer:

We give thanks to you, heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ your dear Son, that you have protected us through the night from all danger and harm.  We ask you to preserve and keep us, this day also, from all sin and evil, that in all our thoughts, words and deeds we may serve and please you.  Into your hands we commend our bodies and souls and all that is ours.  Let your holy angels have charge of us, that the wicked one have no power over us, Amen.
(From Lutheran Book of Worship)

If  you visit Rev. Joelle’s blog you will find Luther’s sacristy prayer.  This is another prayer I use often…usually before I begin the task of writing the sermon I am to preach.  It is a reminder to me that God is in control and since that is the case, we can not fail.

Luther’s task to reform the church was not something that came from his own personal agenda, but it was something blessed by God.  Of all people, Luther understood that he could not do anything he was doing without the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  Let this day be a reminder to us all that the ministry we do (whether we are ordained or not) is not something we do on our own.  Seek God’s guidance and direction knowing that if we were to do this ministry relying on our own strength, we would surely bring it all to ruin.

May God bless your day and ministry.

-edh-

Christmas Eve

/ The Pastor / 1 Comment

The hustle and bustle of another busy Christmas season is coming to an end shortly.  And I know I probably say this every year but it seems this Christmas season was busier than others.  For pastors this is indeed a busy time, especially for those who have mid-week Advent worship service (I don’t have those).  And as I look back on the past month I get more and more tired.  But no need to worry…as it happens during Holy Week…on Christmas Eve I get a boost of adrenaline that takes me through Christmas Day worship.  But can you say “Eric will be napping on the way to Iowa tomorrow”.

Today is Christmas Eve and I am preparing for a 5pm worship service at Salem and a 9am Christmas Day service at Belmont.  My sermon is written…I just need to review, practice and tweak it some.  The worship service is set…I just need to run through things and make sure all my “props” are there and ready.  The music will be coming (Connie’s family is providing the brass accompaniment tonight).  And all the worship participants are set to go.  My biggest task I have left to do today is to make some bread in the bread maker for supper tonight (Italian Herb bread is on the menu).  All in all…not too bad of a day coming up (maybe that is the adrenaline).

But before I go and continue my preparations I want to leave you with a couple things:

(1) MERRY CHRISTMAS to you all and thanks for a great year.  I will be posting a year-in-review later on but I just want to say now that I am thankful for the many friends I met through this blog.  I am also thankful for the many commenters and others who stop by.  This blog is for you and that is my motivation for writing this; knowing that God is using me to preach his Word to people all over the world.  What a blessing this has been.  May you experience the love of God through your many gatherings and may you have safe travels and joyous homecomings.

(2) I want to share a story with you I heard on the news this morning.  Check out this Star Tribune link for the complete story.  Basically…there was an apartment fire in Burnsville, MN recently where nearly 200 residents lost everything.  Yesterday a person donated about 1 million dollars to the victims (nearly $17,500 per person…today the people can pick up their checks).  Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Burnsville is serving as a collection site to provide for the basic needs of these families.  This story touched my heart as it is an example of the Spirit of Christmas at work.  Praise be to God.

Once again…have a very blessed Christmas and be safe…all the while praising God, always and forever.  Amen!

-edh-

My blogging call

/ The Pastor / 3 Comments

Wow…it’s been just over a week since I showed up here.  This has been one of my longest blogging droughts since I started blogging just over 2 years ago.  I am not sure what it is…

Maybe a little writer’s block.
Maybe a little busyness with a few funerals on top of everything else.
Maybe it was me just needing a little break to re-evaluate my call to this blog.

It seems strange to talk about blogging as a call, but I truly believe it is a call.  It’s a call just like anything else…

Being called to be a teacher.
Being called to be a doctor.
Being called to be a garbage collector.
Being called to be a parent.

Not everyone has the desire to write about stuff going on in their little world.  I believe I have been called to this unique ministry and the call is still there.  Sometimes we need to go through periods of time when we test our call; when we question if this is what we are supposed to do.  And if we are truly called to a certain vocation, God will affirm His desire to use you in that vocation.  I am not sure what God’s plan is for me, but I am going to continue to listen and see what that is.

In the mean time…I will continue to write and throw ideas, thoughts and pondering out to you.  I will continue to invite you to comment and share your ideas.  I will continue to be challenged through reading other blogs (which I have been doing through this “drought”).

So with that I need to run and get ready for tonight (Wednesday).  Tonight I am taking a group of 30 people to Sioux Falls to serve at The Banquet; a feeding ministry in Sioux Falls, SD.  I am guessing I will be sharing my experience later on.  But in the mean time you can check out the following links.  One is the website for The Banquet and the other two are previous posts that I have written about experiences at The Banquet…so enjoy and I will see you all very soon.

The Banquet
Website for The Banquet.

The Banquet
This is a blog post I wrote in 2006.

Feelings I won’t describe
This is a blog post I wrote in 2007.

Take care and God bless.

-edh-

No tomorrow?

/ The Pastor / 3 Comments

The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners–of whom I am the foremost. But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. (1 Timothy 1:15-17)

I read this passage this morning and it really caught my attention.  Therefore it got highlighted in my Bible.  Paul wrote this passage for Timothy as he was encouraging Timothy in his ministry.  And through that encouragement I also find encouragement.  Paul was the chief persecutor of the church; killing those that professed to believe and follow Jesus.  But God had other plans and called Paul to be a promoter and preacher of Christ.  Since then, Paul became the greatest missionary this Church has ever seen.

God, though Jesus Christ, came to save sinners which, in the words of Paul, he was the foremost.  God, through Jesus Christ, came to save sinners which I feel I am the foremost.  God, through Jesus Christ, came to save sinners which YOU are the foremost.  But for that very reason I/we received mercy, so that in me/us, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me/us an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life.

We are all the worst of sinners…but God’s mercy and forgiveness and love is so much greater.  This is our urgent message.  We can’t take this for granted.  Who, in your little world, needs to hear a message of hope?  Let our ministry be one that assumes no tomorrow.  If that is indeed the case…what are we waiting for?

-edh-

Ministry model vs Business model — Part 3

/ The Pastor

Ministry model vs Business model — Part 1

Ministry model vs Business model — Part 2 

I have appreciated the discussion that has taken place around this “new” model for my church council and I want to highlight comments/suggestions that were submitted.  If you have any thoughts about encouraging a church council to be more mission minded please submit them.

Scripture
One thing that I suggested is that after the assigned council person for the month lead devotions, that I would lead the council in reading scripture; maybe the texts assigned for the upcoming Sunday.  Then Carolyn stopped by and suggested that after the first month of doing this I should encourage a pair of council people to lead the reading of scripture instead of the pastor doing it every month.  Scripture is something that all people are encouraged to engage and is something that anyone can read.  Carolyn is right.  Even though I did not intend to communicate that the pastor has be the one to read scripture the unwritten message was just that.  We are indeed the “priesthood of ALL believers”.

Prayer
Unlikely left a comment where he suggested starting the council meeting asking people what they are praying for.  At first people were a little hesitant, but after a few years Unlikely is filling up an 8 1/2 X 11 sheet of paper.  I believe this is also a great way to connect people with one another.  When you know what/who someone else is praying for, you get a glimpse of that person’s heart.  It also makes the assumption that everyone is praying (and as Christians we should be).
 
Then Eric left a comment just recently about prayer and scripture.  He said, “Can you imagine the apostles of the early church getting together to make decisions without prayer and Scripture?”  That seems unheard of, yet we need to make an effort to include prayer and scripture more when we meet as a church council.  I have found that many people are just not comfortable praying in front of others, yet they are comfortable talking to their best friend.  I/We need to help people understand that prayer is not something that has to be done a certain way but rather it’s simply talking to your best friend.  Maybe this could be a devotional topic/discussion for an upcoming council meeting.  Maybe Unlikely’s suggestion about prayer will help here.

Thank you for the comments that have come thus far.  They have definitely given me (and hopefully you) something to think about.  If you have anything else you would like to contribute to this discussion please leave a comment.  This series will be continued…

God bless!

-edh-

Ministry model vs. business model — part 1

/ The Pastor / 6 Comments

On Thursday (in my Coffee shop ponderings) I briefly mentioned something I am trying to do with my church council.  I am trying to make a move from a business meeting model to a ministry meeting model.  At the time I said I am still working out the specifics of this plan (which I still am) but I want to begin to think this through with you here.  Justin left a comment on that post saying that he is doing something similar with his council and was wondering how I was going to maintain what I started.  That is a very good question and one I hope I can answer here.  But how I want to begin this discussion is to define the two different models and then work from there. 

My initial thoughts on the definition of these two models stem from something I heard at our latest synod assembly (SW MN, ELCA).  The participants were asked to raise their hands if they agreed with the following statement:  The Church has a mission.  Most people raised their hands.  We were then told we were wrong.  Rather, the MISSION (of Christ) has a Church.  When the Church claims to have a mission we have a tendency to direct and lead the way rather than being lead by Christ; we quickly lose focus.

So the first part of my definition is this:
Business meeting model — The church has a mission
Ministry meeting model — The mission of Christ has a church

As church councils, we need to think in terms of what advances the mission of Christ.  Building projects are important along with paying bills, deciding what color carpet to put in or what bid to approve.  You could even argue that those things advance the mission of Christ, but how often does talk of the mission of Christ enter those conversations?  More often than not, we discuss what WE think is important…what will please most of the members.  Maybe, just maybe if Christ’s mission came into the conversation, the color of the carpet would not be important or maybe just maybe, new carpet would not even be an issue anymore.  Christ’s mission has a way of changing how we look at the world.

So…to begin to answer Justin’s question; how am I going to maintain what I stated:  I am going to type up the list of goals (ones that we see will advance the mission of Christ) and keep them in front of the council and the church.  We will discuss how we are doing with these goals each month before we do any business.  We will keep asking the question how does this advance the mission of Christ?  I will also publish these goals in the newsletter and get everyone thinking about them and asking the same question.  This is a small piece, but it is a beginning.

What are your thoughts?  Does your council have a “business” focus or “ministry” focus?  How do we move from a “business” to a “ministry” focus?

There is definitely more to discuss on this issue…

-edh-