What happens after you mess up?

No one is perfect. Most people agree with that statement. We all mess up.

I remember when I was a kid and Mom took me to the grocery store with her. She did this out of necessity, because she had no one to watch me when she wanted to buy groceries. At the register they had displays of various things, one of which was a strip of gumballs individually wrapped. I really wanted one of the gumballs, so I just took the one on the end of the string. When we made it back to the house, Mom discovered the gum in my mouth and she knew I had taken it from the store. She marched me back to the store, she bought the string of gumballs and I had to apologize to the manager. That was tough for a six year old.

I messed up, Mom was not happy but this incident did not change her feelings for me.

Imagine a scene where two people mess up, but their mistake was not a minor issue like stealing a gumball. They disobeyed God and it caused a ruptured relationship with God. This was not the end of the story, this mistake caused every person who ever lived to have a broken relationship with God. Our natural reaction after someone makes a huge mistake never have anything to do with that person. What happened in this story? You can read it in Genesis 3.

After these two (Adam and Eve) messed up, God changed the order of things. People would be distant from God, women would have pain in childbirth and men would work hard all the days of their life just to survive. We learn that God must punish disobedience. He cannot just look the other way.

We learn something else when we read verse 21: “The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.”

After the largest offense ever made against God, with the highest consequences, God cared for the Adam and Eve. He provided for them what they needed at that time, clothes.

It breaks my heart that people do not understand how good God is to everyone of us. If you get just a glimpse of how good God is, it will change your life.

The Kingdom of Heaven

In Matthew 13 Jesus teaches in parables. A parable is a story that teaches a truth indirectly. The parables are a contrast with Jesus' direct teaching style shown in Matthew 5-7. One of the parables in this chapter, found in verses 24-30, is about a farmer that sows good seed with an enemy that comes in the night and sows weeds in the field. Matthew 13:24-30 reads:

Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?' And he said to them, 'An enemy has done this!' The slaves said to him, 'Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?' But he said, 'No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn."'"

The parable teaches about the existence of good and evil. This is not news to anyone. The intent of creation was that everything would be good. Genesis 1 gives an account of creation, in which God concludes in verse 31 "God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good." In Genesis 3 we see the story of the fall of man, the disobedience of man created an entrance of evil into creation. The parable describes this as an enemy that sows weeds in the field.

The field in the parable would not be like those we see today. There would be areas thick with wheat and other areas with more bare spaces. The weeds would be scattered around the field in the same way. Today we see some areas where good predominates. There are other areas where the evil has won, leaving no room for any good. However, in all places there is a mixture of good and evil. We may not understand the plan, but this is clearly the plan of God to allow the good and evil to coexist for the current time.

It is too easy to focus on the evil in the world and feel that we are defeated. This is a great error. This parable teaches us there is always a mixture of good and evil. It is the job of the believer to bring the Holy Spirit to bear in the world to increase the effect of good. Paul tells us in Romans 12:21 – "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."

The parable goes on to teach us the end will bring a separation of the good and evil. It is only when the world passes away when there will be two places, one with all of the evil and another with all of the good. Until that time, we are to keep on working, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to be a positive influence in the world.

Jesus Tempted

Last week during church, we were going through Matthew 4, which starts with the story of the temptation of Jesus. A question was asked about the connection with this story and the statement made by James that God cannot be tempted. Here are the verses:

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. – Matthew 4:1

Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. – James 1:13

Do we have a contradiction here? James tells us that God cannot be tempted and Matthew describes the story of Jesus being tempted. The Bible clearly teaches that Jesus is both man and God. Jesus is not a man that has a special connection with God, but he is God. So when James tells us that God cannot be tempted, then why was Jesus tempted?

If we look at the Greek behind these verses there is help. In Matthew 4:1 the work tempted is used once and in James 1:13 the we find the word tempted four times. In each case, the Greek word is the same word with grammatical variations. The key phrase is: "God cannot be tempted", which is two words in the Greek, God and 'not-tempted'. The form of 'not-tempted' is the negated form, typically done in Greek by adding the letter 'a' in front of a word. The definition of this 'not-tempted' word in Greek is 'not able to be tempted'.

James is telling us that you can try to tempt God, but you will not be successful. God is not affected by any temptation. In Matthew, the devil tries to tempt Jesus, but the result is known ahead of time. Jesus is God, so no one is able to tempt him.

It appears the contradiction is not valid. What to you think?

I know the plans I have for you

Jeremiah 29:11 states: 'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.'

Many believers claim this verse as a promise in their life. The promise is for a good life, a life with hope. It is important to have hope, a belief that life will be better tomorrow. Hope allows us to work through difficulties in life today, knowing the difficulties will result in a better life.

I recently went hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park with my son. We selected a trail with a 2500' rise to a peak that was above 12,000'. The start of a hike is always exciting and we started out a little too fast. As we passed the 11,000' elevation, the hiking became tough and it was slow. One factor that helped us get to the top was the hope of seeing the top of a mountain. We persevered and our reward was a great time of exploration of a new world. It is vital to have hope, it is what keeps us going.

The application of this verse to a specific life can be problematic. A person may think it is Gods purpose to make a better life happen in their life and God will fulfill this better life very soon. When a person faces persistent problems, the thought could come to mind that God is not fulfilling His promise. What is the problem?

Context is the problem. When we take a verse from a large book, it is easy to misunderstand the meaning of the verse. Jeremiah prophesied through the time that Judah, the southern kingdom of Israel, was conquered. Assyria destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel 135 years earlier. The writing of the 29^th chapter of Jeremiah was to the people taken into captivity in Babylon. Their life was hopeless because the temple in Jerusalem was the center of their life with God. With their removal from the location of the temple, they believed their contact with God was gone.

Jeremiah writes to the exiles, instructing them to build a life in Babylon. They were to work for the success of the place where they were living. God promised to bring them back to Jerusalem at the end of seventy years. This is when God makes the promise in Jeremiah 29:11. This promise could not have made sense to the readers of the letter. Their picture of a good life was to be in Jerusalem. God was telling them to live their life where they were. The fulfillment of Gods promise would not be in their lifetime. The return from exile would be when their children were old.

We must take into account the context of the verses from the Bible that we claim in our lives. It is clear this verse does not mean that God is promising to provide a better life immediately. If we forget to look at the context of a passage, it may lead to disillusionment. If we work to discover the context, we can learn the richness of God's promises, regardless of the facts we face in life at the moment.

Psalm 100

1–Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth;

There is one God and He is powerful beyond measure, He knows all things, He is the source of all knowledge, He is the eternal One, never with a beginning, never to have an end. God is the creator of all, everything we see, feel, touch, hear and taste and all things we cannot perceive. Beyond this, God loves each person. He knows all details about us and He loves us. This is amazing. All people should respond with a joyful shout at this news, at these facts.

2–Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing.

As our creator, God built each of us in a unique way. We have strengths and weaknesses. We have talents and areas where we are void of any ability. God built us for action, not for inactivity. God does not call us to do service in areas where our gifts are absent. When we serve God in our areas of strength, we serve with ease, our service is vital and good, and we serve with gladness. Each of us should sing our personal joyful song to God.

3–Know that the LORD Himself is God; It is He who made use, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

It is vital that we know our position in life. This is not to say there should be a structure among people built to keep certain people 'in their place'. We should know who God is and who we are. We should strive to understand our position with God. Life will go better for us if we know that God has abilities beyond our comprehension and that we are finite. We should know that God made us and that we are His people. We are helpless sheep that need a shepherd. Sing joyfully to God because He is our supremely competent caretaker.

4–Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name.

Knowing these things, we will deeply appreciate what God has done for us and praise will flow out of our gratitude. We will bless God and praise His name. He alone is worthy of our praise.

5–For the LORD is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting and His faithfulness to all generations.

Just as a mother tenderly cares for her newborn child, God carries me all the days of my life. He is there every moment, providing protection and care. The only time that God is not apparent in my life is when I drive Him away. God will never leave me, He will always care for me. Just as God has taken care of countless people in the past, He will take care of me every day that I live.

I will praise God.

Psalm 23

1–The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.

God is my Lord. He may not be your Lord, but I have decided that He is the Lord of my life.

Not only is God my Lord, but He is my shepherd. Sheep are helpless animals that will wander into harm if not protected from themselves. I am more like a sheep than I would like to admit. There are many decisions that I need to make and many actions that I need to take that are beyond my ability to make the right choice. If I am left on my own, I will make the wrong choice more often than not. God will shepherd me as I live my life, helping and guiding me as I live. I will never been in need of anything that is a necessity of life and I will receive many things that are simply gravy.

2–He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.

Since I am like a sheep, I many times do not know what is best for me. Just like the baby that is tired but fights sleep by crying, I have trouble knowing what is best for me, even if it is right in front of me. My Shepherd will make me lie down in the wonderful green grass of life. He knows that I do not like stormy waters, so He leads me by quiet pools. I am thankful that God knows what is best, even if I cannot recognize it and that He makes/leads me into the best for me.

3–He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.

I remember years ago when I played football. In the first practices of the year, in the heat of the summer, I would get very tired and thirsty. Although I do not get to that point physically very often these days, I do get exhausted with the daily grind of life. God, my Shepherd, restores all aspects of my life. I am restored physically, mentally and spiritually.

Not only am I restored, God will lead me in His righteous ways. Why does He do this? One reason is that I benefit by walking in God's ways, His ways are protected ways. This is a good reason, but not the best. When I walk in God's ways, which is only accomplished through His work in my life, God is glorified. There is nothing better than bringing glory to God.

4–Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

Everyone will experience the darks shadows of the valley. Sometimes the shadows are not so dark, but other times the darkness is so profound that you cannot see your hand if you place it in front of your face. What is the solution when you find yourself in the valley? Certainly being out of the valley is a solution, but the best solution that God is with you as you travel through the valley. There is nothing like knowing the One who restores your soul is right there with you.

Why is God's presence so important to those who make Him their shepherd? God has every tool at His disposal, as the shepherd has his rod and staff, to correct our ways and protect us from every danger. I take comfort knowing that God is present in my life and capable to guide and protect me.

5–You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows.

One of my favorite activities is coming home at the end of the day to a meal that has been prepared for me by my lovely wife. It helps that she is a great cook. Walking in the house that has all the smells generated during the preparation of the meal is like settling in a warm bed on a cold winter night. God prepares wonderful meals for me and He does it right in front of those who would cause me harm. God heals my diseases. God provides for me lavishly from His abundance.

6–Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

The life with God is not simply to know that He will take care of you in eternity. God desires to surround you with goodness, love, kindness and provision right now. I need to remember that God is taking care of me, especially when I have a bad day and complain, whine and moan about my life. It is the best to know that God will take care of me every day of my life and He will welcome me into His kingdom after my life is over.

Have you made God your shepherd? There is only one way to do this, it is through God's son, Jesus.

Being Called by Name

The young girl dresses up like a princess and wants her daddy to notice. She wants to hear him tell her she is beautiful. The little boy is playing in the park with his mom nearby. As he jumps off the play set, he wants to hear his mom tell him how brave he is as he makes the big jump to the ground.

As we get older, the little boy or girl in us really does not go away. We want to have someone notice our work. We do not want to be anonymous; we want someone to know our name.

In the tenth chapter of John, Jesus called himself the good shepherd. There is a relationship between the sheep and the shepherd. The shepherd knows his sheep and the sheep know the shepherd. We are told in the shepherd knows the sheep by name.

Think for a minute what this means. Jesus is the Word that was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made. Jesus is the Word that was God. Jesus healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, gave hearing to the deaf and he controlled the weather. Jesus, who is almighty God, knows us by our name. That is awesome.

Have you allowed Jesus to call you by name? Is Jesus your shepherd? Or do you try to be your own shepherd. You should place your trust and your life in the care of the Good Shepherd.

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"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers." – John 10:1-5

The Word Became Flesh

On December 27th I was blessed with the addition of my first grandchild to the family. Jacob Wesley is great baby. Jacob has about two things on his agenda these days. He likes to sleep and when he is not sleeping, he likes to eat. That is about all he does. The other day I spent about an hour holding Jacob. It is a great way to spend time. As we spent time together, I thought about the helplessness of a baby. Jacob can do nothing for himself.

During that time, my thoughts drifted to Mary holding her new boy, Jesus. This happened because I had recently read these verses.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. – John 1:14
Him nothing came into being that has come into being. – John 1:1-3

Mary’s baby Jesus had created all things. Yet he was as helpless as Jacob is right now. Why would the all-powerful God submit to becoming a helpless baby? What a risk that God took, becoming as helpless as anyone can become.

This is an extravagant display of love for us. God did spare anything to reach out to us, to establish a relationship with us. What will you do with this great, risky, expression of love for you?

Separated from God?

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:38,39 (NASB)

Paul gives us an exhaustive list of things that cannot separate us from the Love of God. Nothing in or after this life can separate us from the love of God. No supernatural powers, the past, present or future can separate us from God. Nothing in creation can separate us from God.

Why does God seem so distant in many situations? What cause does Paul miss in his list?

You can separate yourself from God. God will not force Himself on us. If we desire our space, then God will keep His distance. What an amazing ability that God has given us, the ability to keep our distance from the Almighty.

If you really knew God, you would run toward Him. There would never be a thought of keeping God at a safe distance. Do you really know God? Are you keeping God at a distance? I implore you to run to God and enjoy His embrace and His salvation.

God’s Provision

A week ago, I was helping my Son pack his stuff in the back of my truck before he headed off to Nashville. The truck is a 1995 Dodge Ram with 150k miles. When I gave Luke a hug to say goodbye, I told him that God would take care of him. Luke is heading into life as a graduate of college. As he drove away with Janet at his side, I asked God to get them safely to Nashville.

The trip for Luke and Janet was a little longer than normal, driving through Springfield to catch up with a friend. They arrived in Nashville shortly before midnight.

On Monday morning, Luke called to report the truck had died. He was a few miles from his apartment, heading out for the day. A broken down truck 600 miles from home with my plans to fly to Nashville the next weekend to drive it back to KC. This did not look good.

Luke worked on the problem. He had a friend that used a repair shop in the area, so he arraigned for a tow to the shop. The shop determined the problem was a failed fuel pump. It would take a factory part and a lot of work, because the fuel pump is in the fuel tank. I wondered if the truck would be done in time for the weekend.

Luke picked up the repaired truck on Friday afternoon. There was a new charge on the card, but Luke was driving away and the plans for the weekend were still a go.

As I thought about my prayer last Sunday, I thanked God for answering. He made that fuel pump last through a late night trip. He let it fail in a place where there was time and resources to fix the problem. This is just one more of a thousand stories where God takes care of His children. It is good to be God’s kid.

A Companion During Tragedy

On April 19, 1995, Timothy McVeigh parked a Ryder truck with about 5,000 pounds of fertilizer and diesel fuel in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. At 9:02am, the explosion occurred, resulting in the death of 168 people.

I have been at the Oklahoma City National Memorial twice. Each time it was a deeply moving experience. Many places in the world are non-descript and forgettable. This place has deep meaning because of the loss of life that occurred on that April day.

Across the street from the memorial is a statue of Jesus with His head in his hands. Jesus is obviously weeping and He cannot stand to look in the direction of the Murrah building site. This brings up some great questions.

Could God had stopped this tragedy? I believe that He could have. God is all-powerful and all knowing. He knew about McVeigh’s plans and He could have stopped McVeigh from carrying out this deed. This is a tough answer, because it means that ultimately this tragedy is God’s fault. He could have stopped it.

I like this answer much better than those who would try to make excuses for God, in some way trying to protect God’s reputation. I would much rather have the tension of all bad things being God’s fault and have God being in control and able to act in every circumstance. If God could not have stopped this tragedy, then what else is He powerless to prevent? We do not need to protect God’s reputation.

Another point is appropriate during this Holy Week. Jesus became a man, lived life just like we do. He suffered unjustly during the events we remember during Holy Week. Jesus suffered in every way that we will ever suffer. Jesus is the only one who can stand with you when you experience loss or injustice and know how you feel.

When we see a national tragedy like the bombing in Oklahoma City, or we face the death of a loved one, we know that Jesus can be there with us. Tragedy will come in our lives. The promise of having the company of Jesus during these times will not make the hurt disappear, but it is a great comfort to know that Jesus has experienced more than we will ever experience. His comfort during these times is huge.

Will Jesus be with you when you face the tragedy that will come in your life? You must invite Him into your life to experience the comfort of having His presence during the coming days. Will you turn from doing life your way and invite Jesus to be Lord of Your life?

The Works of God

The people asked Jesus, what must we do to be doing the works of God?

What do you suppose Jesus said? Would it be attend church, give to the poor, tell someone about Jesus, or could it be…? The list is endless.

When parents bring their first child home, the list of things to do is endless. The carefree days before the arrival of the infant are gone. There will be many hours of joy, toil and maybe worry. Diapers will be changed, bike riding lessons will be given, help will be given with class lessons, coaching positions will be filled, graduations will be witnessed. The list of tasks for a parent seems endless.

How big must be the works of God? How much work will be enough in the eyes of God? These questions overwhelm, like a flood coming down the canyon.

What is Jesus’ response to this question? The work of God is that you believe in him whom he has sent. Whom did God send? Jesus is the one God sent. You do not have a long list of tasks to accomplish for God. All you have to do is believe in Jesus.

That is amazing.

God With Us

Watch for this—a virgin will get pregnant and bear a son; They will name him Immanuel (Hebrew for "God is with us"). – Matthew 1:23 (The Message)

When I have an opportunity to hang out with someone, my excitement level is dependant on the person. On Monday, I spent the whole day with my wife, two sons and daughter-in-law. That was the best. I was spending time with my family.

If I could spend time with a famous person, I may be exited. At the other extreme, I would not care to spend time with someone I do not know.

What is so special about Matthew quote of Isaiah, saying ‘God is with us’? Is God someone that you hardly know, so you do not really care if He is with you? It really depends on who God is.

• God is the one who spoke and the universe came into existence. At each stage of creation, God proclaimed the verdict that creation is good.


• God is the most powerful, He knows all things and He is everywhere.


• God pursued the Israelites for over 1000 years, seeking relationship with them as they rejected Him.


• He sent His Son Jesus to pay our penalty and make a way for us to be reconciled with God.


• God is in control of all events, great and small.

This is just part of the story. Is it a big deal that God wants to be with us? In my life it is a great deal. How about yours?

The Mountains in Life

Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him – Mark 11:23 (NASB)

This was the verse for this morning. I have read this verse many times, but this morning I wondered why I have not shown belief in this statement by action.

When I complete three papers of over the next few weeks, I will be done with my work for my Masters of Divinity degree. Why did I spend four years working half time, attending class half time and studying half time? It was because I believe the most important thing a person can do is get right with God. This is a personal decision. No one can make it for you. However, we need the instruction and support of others before and after we make this decision.

The reason for the fancy degree is that I will spend the rest of my life working on building groups of people that will be a church. These churches will not just a place to spend an hour a week, but a place to spend life with others. A church will be a place where people can learn to hear from God and work with others to further His kingdom.

Right now, this church is Briarcliff Chapel. We meet on Sunday mornings in a coffee shop. Starting this church is not like looking at a mountain to hike, it feels more like a mountain range to cross. I really need God’s promise to move mountains, if I will only have faith.

Will I really step out in faith and expect God to move the mountain range in front of me? Or will I continue on in a vain attempt to move these mountains on my own?

What is the mountain in your way? Do you know that God has promised to handle your mountain if you will trust him? Will you trust Him?

How Big is Your God?

O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath.
For your arrows have pierced me, and your hand has come down upon me.
Because of your wrath there is no health in my body; my bones have no soundness because of my sin. – Psalm 38:1-3 (NIV)

The Psalms can be a great source of comfort. But sometimes the Psalms confuse us with their in-your-face nature. Raw human emotion and overt displays of feelings of the writers can make the American mind uncomfortable. The writer has problems in his life. He characterized his life by rebuking, disciplining piercing and loss of health. Where does he lay the blame for his condition? He blames God for his condition. He understands God to be in control of all things, even the bad things he receives.

Many people believe God to be good. He brings good things into our lives. To protect the good God, they believe that bad things come from some other source. This kind of thought comes from an attempt to make God ‘nice’ or to excuse God for bad things that happen. How can a good god allow bad things to happen?

With this thinking, we run into problems when we read something like Psalm 38. The writer clearly blames his bad condition on God. This is the natural conclusion if God is all-powerful. All things come from God, not just good things. You can play semantics and say that God simply allows bad in the world, but the fact remains that an all-powerful God allowing bad to happen is the same as bad coming from God himself.

I would rather deal with the problem of bad things coming from an all-powerful God, than with a good God that cannot act in any way that He wants in any circumstance. I find comfort in the fact that God is in control and nothing in my life is outside of His ability to control.

Special Days

If you live seventy years, you will have lived over 25,000 days. Many of those days are routine, boring or normal. Very few days are memorable for the specific date. An example is September 11, 2001. The rest of the days just fade together. But there are a few days that are memorable, even if we cannot remember the date.

We remember days because of special activities or the people we were with on the day. I remember very few days at work, but I do remember taking trips with the kids to Chicago, Colorado, San Francisco and even Omaha. Some of these trips are memorable because of the good times, others because of the struggles. On our trip to Colorado it was a surprise for the boys, they did not know it until we were halfway across Kansas. Other special days come from what appear to be normal days.

We have a wood burning fireplace in our house and we will burn over five truckloads of wood each winter. A common activity is to go to the farm to cut wood. Last year, about this time, I went to the farm with my Dad. These trips were typical for our family, a time of being outside and working hard. Times like this with Dad had been different since he had cancer surgery six years ago. He did not have the lung capacity to work as he had, so it was more common for me to run the saw and for Dad to go along for the trip. This was becoming the new normal. Usually Dad would work harder than anyone. Regardless of his ability, he enjoyed being at the farm.

This day was different. We selected a spot and Dad ran the saw the whole day. I loaded the wood in the truck. It was just like years past. When we were done that day, Dad said ‘I had fun’. Some would not call hard, physical work fun. This is not the case in our family.

At the time, I knew it was different, but I took it as a sign of Dad being better. A few weeks later, we would get the news that Dad had a new cancer. Six months later, Dad died at home. Some days the National Football League teams wear uniforms from the past in a throwback game. That day I had a throwback day with Dad at the farm. It is a day I will always remember.

He Cares for You

It is very comforting when you find out that someone cares for you. Most of us have had a number of people who care for us. Mothers, fathers, spouses, brothers, sisters and friends are many of the people who could care for you. Some of these we expect to care for us, such as our mother and father. It is tough when a parent fails to care for us, which has happened to many times.

It really matters who the person is that cares for us. If a stranger cares for you, it is not the same as a parent or sibling. The status of a person affects the value you place on their care in your life.

Peter tells us to “cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you” (I Peter 5:7). Here we learn that God cares for us. For someone who does not know God, this is not a big deal.

God is the one who created the universe with His spoken word. He is the God who consistently cared for the Israelites when they consistently rebelled against Him. God sent His son Jesus, who is fully God, to live among us. God takes care of those who love Him and those who could care less.

When you think about who God is, the fact that He cares for you is the most important news that you could hear.

Grace

Grace is unmerited favor. It is receiving something that you did not earn. You cannot work to receive something and receive it by grace at the same time. My paycheck comes because I work. The biweekly payroll deposit does not happen because of grace.

Grace is particularly good when we receive something that we need. Most of us have received things we did not earn, but things we did not want. When Lori and I were newly married, we received three hand-me-down mowers. These were not new, but mowers that supposedly had some life in them. I remember one time while trying to mow the yard, I did not finish. It was not because of laziness, but because two of the three mowers had broken down and I just was not up to trying the third. We received these mowers through good intentions, but they were not what we needed.

The ultimate need for all people is to become right with God. The problem with this common need is that we cannot earn our way back to a right relationship with God. The only way is for us to receive grace. Jesus met the requirements of God and He freely shares His work with us, if we will receive it. Being right with God only comes through unmerited favor. Have you accepted this gift?

Yesterday we were talking with a man who has problem with receiving grace. He expects that we must do something to be right with God. He does not want to accept the fact that nothing we can do can fix our problem. We must have help. Why is this? Some people want to be able to say they did it. We see this in a child who will not accept help; they say ‘I do it myself!’ Some people think they are not worthy to accept this gift. They must clean up their life to be acceptable. The problem is there is no amount of cleaning you can do to make yourself acceptable. As some church signs say ‘Come as you are’.

Some have accepted this gift. Do you live by this gift? Maybe God would like you to change something in your life. You do not because you just do not want to, or you do not have the power, or you just do not try hard enough. God does not disown His child, just because they are disobedient or will not try. Grace extends to us when we are far from God and it continues with us through our life with Him. We start our relationship with God through grace and we must live our life with Him through grace.

What a great and awesome God who loves such a weak and ineffective man as myself!

Are You Lost?

Daniel Boone once said, “I have never been lost, but I will admit to being confused for several weeks.”

There have been very few times when I have been lost. It could be that I do not place a high value on always knowing where I am. I may just know where I am, so am not usually lost. There are two times when I was lost that stick out in my memory.

We were on a family vacation in Chicago. Our time in Chicago was over and the objective was Milwaukee. Most of the time, I have a good sense of direction. I usually just know which way is north. This day, I was turned around trying to find the entrance to the freeway. When I made what I thought was the correct turn, we started to head south. Just in case you do not know your geography, Milwaukee is north of Chicago. I was lost and deep down I knew was lost. I understood my problem when I noticed the highway sign saying we were heading south.

Another time I traveled to Boston and stayed in a city northwest of the city. After I had checked into the hotel, I drove around looking for a place to eat. Of course, the restaurant next to the hotel is never good enough, so I set out. I drove for around an hour, not seeing much but dark countryside. I did not know where I was going, so I did not consider myself lost. I found out that I was lost when I saw the sign welcoming me to Massachusetts. I had been in another state and did not know it!

The fact may be that you are lost, but do you know that you are lost? The problem with not knowing you are lost, you do not know about your problem. If you do not know about your problem, you will not work on finding a solution. If you do not know you are lost, when someone recognizes that you are lost and offers help, you will reject their help. After all, you are not lost.

I turn from geography to theology. If you are doing life on your own, apart from God, the bible says you are lost. You are without God. You are doing things on your own with no help. Since God created all things, including you, He knows how you should live. If you ignore the guidance of God in life, you are certain to lose your way.

There is a solution. This solution does not come from man, but it comes from God. When we live life as we want to, apart from God, we have placed ourselves in the place of God in our life. The bible calls this sin. This sin separates us from God and we are lost. Our sin not only separates us from God, but it causes God’s justice to condemn us. We have a penalty to pay to God for our sin and there is no way for us to make adequate payment.

We find the solution only in the person of Jesus. Jesus lived a perfect life. He paid the penalty for our sin. Jesus offers us the gift of the payment of our penalty, allowing us to be set right with God. The only thing we can do is to accept this gift. Have you done this? If not, why not right now?

And God Said

Have you ever seen a bumper sticker that goes like “God said it, I believe it, that settles it”? This statement seems to be from a non-thinking follower of God that blindly does what they think God says. This type of person worries me because they could follow anyone they think is speaking for God.

It could be the person driving the car has a profound faith and trust in God. They have lived a long life relying on God’s provision and they have never been disappointed with the way God handles things.

A few weeks ago I read Genesis 1 again. One the surface, this seems like an account of the beginning of the world. The problem with this conclusion is Genesis 1 says nothing about the scientific or historical details of creation. It does say a ton about the nature of God.

Eight times there is the statement “God said…and there was”. I have made a number of things in my life, but never has something come into existence because I said so. It was always been with much work and effort. These simple statements about God in Genesis 1 are enough reason for the follower of God to worship Him and Him alone for the rest of their life.

The People of God

We have been in Colorado for five weeks. In that time we have lived in four homes. Two of the home we occupied when the owners were on travel. Our current accommodations are in a second house that has been dedicated for people who come to Loveland doing missions work.

In every case, the people we have met, either prior to moving in or after they returned from their trip, have shown a love and deep concern for others. Not just people they know, but friends they have not met yet. A place has been carved out for us to stay, meals have been prepared for us and food is available for our use. Their home is open for our use with no concern for the security of their belongings.

What is the common element found in these people? They have become children of God and they are serious about following Him. If you asked them, I am sure they would not claim to be doing anything special. They are just doing what they can. If you ask me, I will say I have seen the actions of Jesus in these normal people.

I want to be just like the people I have met in the last five weeks.

The Call of God

I am currently serving as a summer missionary on a church planting (church starting) internship. One of the purposes of the internship is to determine if Colorado should be our home after school. The major part of this decision is the determination of the call of God in our lives.

The topic of the call of God in a person’s life is a major issue. This is particularly true for seminary students. When I was nearing the end of engineering school, I was looking for a career. Actually, it was just a job, but the placement folks at the school called it a career to make it sound fancier. When graduation comes near for a seminary student, they do not look for a job; they try to determine God’s call for their life.

The call of God for a church planter is a bigger deal, if that is possible. Many will say a person starting a church will not stick with it if they do not have a clear call of God in their life to the specific place and people. This sounds good in the church planting book or in the seminar on starting churches. There is a problem for a person like myself who believes that God rarely speaks in unusual ways. This is not to say that God leaves us to fend for ourselves. God is with us every minute of our lives. We have the Bible and other believers to help us through our lives. It is it not enough to read God speaking to us through scripture to “Go and make disciples”? This is a call of God in my life. It is lacking in specifics, but it is very clear.

Paul tells us in Romans the “gifts and call of God are irrevocable”. This statement tells us of the unchanging nature of God. When He says something, there will be no changing of His mind, no oops after a misstatement. So there is a call and it will not change. But what about the specifics? Is it Colorado, Haiti, Boise or Gladstone? Is it to rich, young, educated, working class or recent immigrants? Do I need to have a specific answer from God before going? Is enough to know that God is big enough to handle any situation that I find myself? Maybe the key is just being obedient to the general call and pick a spot and know that nothing is outside of God’s control.

Update from Colorado

We have finished two weeks in Colorado, working as church planting interns. We have had much variety in these two weeks. We spent two days in orientation meetings, one afternoon taking a church planter assessment and a day celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary. Lori found a job as the weekend pool sitter in Cherry Ridge Village, actually the job found Lori. We have spent time observing the people in Loveland and Fort Collins, talked with a few people and wondered about the best way to talk with them about God.

Chris has worked his engineering job in coffee shops, churches and homes. Anywhere there is an internet connection.

There have been preparations for the missions team that will come the week of June 23rd. We have written and printed flyers. Plans are taking form for service projects, painting of two homes in the park and planting of six trees. We have purchased reusable shopping bags and flower seeds for the week of the nature clubs. There is more work to come, but we have completed the bulk of the preparations.

We have stayed in two homes, getting to know two great families. We will be moving to a third home tomorrow.

This time is a middle ground between the academic work of Seminary and the day-to-day work of the church. It will be good when school is behind us and we are permanently settled, but it is never a good idea to wish away time.

Review

Three years ago I had finished my first class toward a Masters of Divinity degree. I now have three classes remaining; only one of those classes will be in a classroom. The purpose of going to Seminary was to prepare for work in the area of starting churches. On the eve of starting an internship in Colorado, I thought I would write a brief summary of events of the last few years.

The general geographic direction of future work in planting churches has always been toward the west. After my first year, Lori and I took a trip to Boise and Flagstaff. The trip was our first long trip on the motorcycle and we visited with Southern Baptist associational leaders in both cities. The purpose was to explore potential relocation to one of these areas. The results of the trip was a definite no to Flagstaff and significant tension in Lori about Boise being so far away from potential grandchildren (and our kids of course!).

Last summer we changed the geographic focus to Colorado. During a week in August we visited with a church planter, two associational leaders and a state leader about potential work in church planting. After the trip Lori and I decided to apply for an internship in the Longs Peak Association, which is north of Denver along the Front Range.

The major event in my life the last six months was the news that Dad had three months to live in December. Dad had a new cancer in his left lung. He had a significant portion of his right lung removed six years ago. Dad when to numerous doctors and decided on radiation and chemotherapy, which started on March 3rd. This treatment continued for three weeks, then Dad’s condition deteriorated. This led to three weeks in the hospital in April. Dad was brought home on May 3rd and he died on May 7th.

There are many things to write about Dad’s death, but these will have to wait until another time.

This was followed by preparations to be in the Loveland, Colorado area for ten weeks of church planting internship. Right now, Lori and I are in western Kansas, planning on arriving in Loveland tomorrow. What will the summer bring? Only God knows. There will definitely be more written on this topic in the coming days.

George Wesley Lancaster

George Wesley Lancaster, age 84, died at his home on May 7, 2008, losing a battle against lung cancer.

He was born on December 4, 1923, on the family farm north of Seney, Iowa to the late M. J. and Rosabelle Lancaster. He served in the Navy in World War II, leaving the service in June of 1946 at a rank of Yeoman Second Class. Mr. Lancaster earned a BS in Animal Science from Iowa State in 1950. At Iowa State he was a member of Farmhouse Fraternity and he participated in livestock judging teams. On April 9, 1950, he was married to Lucille May Pageler near Merrill, Iowa.

Mr. Lancaster worked as a farm hand at Edg-Clif Farms, as a tenant farmer near Blockton, Iowa, and he worked the Lancaster family farm near Seney until 1959. He started a career with Consumer Cooperative Association, later named Farmland Industries. He retired in 1988 as a management consultant working in the Kansas City, Missouri headquarters. A member of Gashland Presbyterian Church, faithfully teaching a Sunday school class for 10 years. Mr. Lancaster served in the Service Core of Retired Professional Executives (SCORE). His favorite activities included fishing, gardening, attending Elderhostels around the country and spending time with his grandchildren.

He is survived by his wife, Lucille, daughter Betsy Reese of Independence, Missouri; sons David and wife Mary Lou of Hillsboro, Kansas; Mark and wife Mary; Tom; and Chris and wife Lori, all of Kansas City; nine grandchildren, brothers William and wife Leona of Aurora, Missouri; Robert and wife Lois of LeMars, Iowa; sister Bonnie and husband Dean Shaw of Clarkfield, Minnesota; brother-in-law Ralph Anderson of Aurora, Illinois. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by brothers Edwin and Edgar; sister Evelyn Anderson and son-in-law Michael Reese.

Busyness

It has been a while since I last wrote. Why? I could say that school work and a few preaching engagements have taken up my time. Other activities like paperwork for the internship this summer have taken some time. Most of these things will fade in memory, but the one that will not is the decline in the health of my Dad. When I wrote last, in March, Dad had finished one week of radiation and chemotherapy for the cancer in his left lung. The last week in March a pneumonia developed in Dad’s lungs and his ability to breath was severely impacted. This led to less physical activity, a loss of appetite and dehydration that came from nothing tasting good.

On April 10th, Dad had an appointment with the lung doctor. Dad was only able to walk a few steps, breathing was a major challenge. The doctor admitted Dad to the hospital that day and Dad still is in the hospital. There have been days when Dad was not able to communicate with anyone and other days when he seemed almost like the Dad I know. It has been a rough time, not knowing what the next day would bring.

When one of your loved ones is far away from death, it is easy to think things will go on like they are forever. We do not want to think about the inevitable. Recently, I have been faced with the inevitable, because it is apparent that death is near. Is death a few days away? Or will it stay away for a few weeks or months? Only God knows.

One encouraging fact is that Dad has been reconciled with God. He turned away from his sin and embraced the grace that is found only in Jesus. When Dad dies, I will be sad. I will miss my Father. I will become the old man. But I know that he will be in the presence of Jesus and he will never have to struggle again for breath!

How does God Work?

Some will sit in the comfort of their home, or in the pew at church and wish they could see God at work. They think about the great miracles described in the Old Testament and the mastery that Jesus showed over all areas of creation with His miracles. They think it would be great to see those things. But what do they do to put themselves in the place to see God at work?

I am a football fan, particularly a Chiefs fan. If I want to watch my team play, I must do things to make it happen. Usually it is making sure I am at a place where I can see the game on TV. Occasionally, I will try to see a game in person. The point is that I cannot watch the Chiefs without some planning and maybe cost on my part.

It is the same way with God. If you think by sitting in your living room you will see a miracle of God, you are fooling yourself. You must put yourself in position to see God at work. God may show Himself or not, but if you put yourself in the place you have a chance. Where are these places?

I have seen God working most in the last year when I went out to tell the gospel to whoever I would meet. I have prayed for the healing of a man’s intense headaches, to hear of a healing a few weeks later. I have heard the prayer of a homeless man, who had a greater need and greater understanding of the necessity of God to work in his situation that I can imagine. I have understood new things, from unexpected sources as I prepare a sermon.

In C. S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia, the main character is Aslan. Aslan is a lion who is clearly a picture of Christ. One of the lines in the book says that Aslan is not a tame lion, but he is good. I cannot predict God’s actions, but I can rely on His goodness.

How does God work? I do not have the slightest understanding. But God is active and I plan on doing what I can to see His action.

Wonder

I have been working through the first two chapters of the Gospel of Mark the last few weeks. Jesus teaches with authority. He heals people and casts out demons with immediate results. Jesus calls people and they drop whatever they are doing and follow Him. I have heard and read these stories many times. It can become routine, even ordinary.

When I think about the reality of Jesus, the fact these things happened. The fact that unexplained things happen today, I should be overwhelmed and amazed. What is wrong with me?

Last summer, we would go to a park in the inner city on Sundays. Usually there would be a group of men in the park. Most of the men were immigrants from Africa. A majority of the men were Muslim. One man in particular seemed to want to hear what we had to say about Jesus. One time, he asked me to pray for him, because he had terrible headaches. I prayed. I asked God to heal him. I pleaded with God to show His power. I wanted to see a change. As usual, no clouds parted, nothing remarkable happened that day. On another day in the park, the man came and said his head was healed. The pain was gone. He demonstrated it by doing a flip on the sidewalk. I was witness to a miracle.

Did I show wonder that day? More than I have when reading the Gospels lately, but not near enough. This is something that I need to work on. I must let myself experience the wonder of God, or there will always be a wall between myself and God that will keep God at a safe distance. This is not acceptable. Bring on the wonder!

Practice

One of the reasons that I like sports is the need to do something the right way at the decisive moment. When the golfer stands at the tee there is one chance to hit the ball and send it down the fairway. The pro hits the ball long and straight down the fairway while the other player sends it to the rough. What is the difference between the pro golfer and the weekend golfer? Could it have something to do with the hours, or minutes, spent in practice? So how will you do when the moment comes to perform?

There are many moments in life when you have a choice to make and no time to make the choice. At these moments, you will do what you have been practicing. If you look at the story of Job you will see an example. In the first chapter of Job the story is told of the testing of Job. Job was wealthy and he was living a good life. He feared and worshiped God. Satan believed that Job worshiped God because God blessed Job. God allowed Satan to strike everything but Job’s body. Then Job received four messengers in a row. All of his possessions were gone and all of children were dead. At this moment what did Job do? What came natural to Job? He worshiped God.

Job worshiped God when his world fell apart because this is what he practiced when times were good. So what are you practicing now that will show when the time of stress arrives?

When God Tells Us Not To Pray

Three times God told Jeremiah “do not pray” for the people (Jeremiah 7:16, 11:14, 14:11). Have you ever heard this? How does this command from God sit with you? It really depends on your understanding of God.

If you believe that God does not exist, then it does not matter to you. If you believer that God is not involved in our lives, then you are similar to the atheist who does not believe that God exists. I am not like these people. I believe God created all things, nothing holds together without God’s active involvement, God is supremely powerful, God knows all things and that He is everywhere. I am in desperate need of God working in my life. There are too many things out of my control. I have too little influence on things that really matter.

To have God say, “do not pray” because He will not listen is the worst that can happen. If God does not intervene in my life, He if is not active, then I am lost. Do you understand the importance of God saying, “do not pray”, or have you never really thought about it? Maybe you shoud.

2007 Family Christmas Letter

Sam and Melissa were married on July 20th of this year. The day was perfect. The wedding and reception were a good reflection of their personality. Lori and I enjoy the addition of a daughter to our family. Sam works as a sales person with Sprint and Melissa is a third grade teacher in Independence. They have a nice apartment in Liberty and have settled well into the married life.

Luke is a junior at Belmont University in Nashville where he is continuing his work toward a degree in psychology. This year he is a resident assistant in the dorm and he is part of a group that bakes pies.

This year we said good bye to a friend who had lived in our house for over a year. Jason had lived with us as he raised support for his missionary work in Central Asia. In May he left for a five year tour of duty. It was our pleasure to have Jason with us during his preparation to be a full time missionary.

Lori continues to work at Love Bites Café in Riverside. The café is a family owned business and we have been adopted into the family. She has taken a few classes in the women’s program at seminary.

Chris has one semester plus one class remaining for a Masters of Divinity degree. He continues to work on a part time basis as an engineer, working this year what will be the largest ethanol plant in the country.

Lori and Chris took a vacation/scouting trip to Colorado in August. We rode the motorcycle to Pueblo and worked our way up to Fort Collins. We spent time seeing the country side and visiting with some Baptist officials about opportunities for applying my seminary training in Colorado after graduation. We have applied for an internship next summer in northern Colorado in another step toward determining the next step after school.

Last year we reported the addition of Amos the Labradoodle. He has taken up fetching of papers in the morning; unfortunately we do not take the paper so my job is to return the paper to the rightful owner.

God has taken care of us this year and we trust He as done the same for your family.

Chris, Lori and Luke

Three Months

This day started like most everyday. There were tasks and activities that were very normal. I attended class and handed in an assignment. I talked with a professor and worked a half day. I did some shopping, actually just following Lori around the store, and went to a birthday party. In my family, we have three birthdays on consecutive days in the first week of December.

It is routine in my family to have these parties. They are low-key affairs, but we enjoy the time we spend together. This night was not normal. It started yesterday when the doctor asked for Mom and Dad to come in today. Brother Mark went with them to hear the report from the doctor. Dad had surgery five years ago to remove a spot on his lung and came out of surgery with 1/3 of his lung removed. They had found cancer during the surgery. Today the doctor said they had found two problems, one in each lung. When asked about the seriousness of the report, the doctor estimated that Dad has three months to live.

What is there to say? I am sure there will be much to say in the weeks to come. Right now the words are not coming. There is one thing that I know. God is in control. He has blessed our family with more things that we can count. More than the things that God has given us, He has promised Himself. This is the promise that I will need in the coming weeks.

The Secret of Life

There is an emphasis in the American life of being significant. We should have a purpose driven life. The promise is we will find fulfillment when we determine our purpose and achieve that purpose. The good kid goes through college and earns a good degree. He finds a good job and has dreams of climbing the ladder. Five or ten years latter, disillusion sets in when work becomes a daily grind. Where is fulfillment?

The young woman marries, has children and spends her life raising the kids. I applaud this mother. After 15-20 years of hard work, she finds teenagers living in her house that believe they know everything and their mother knows nothing. Where is fulfillment?

No matter where we look in the world, we will ultimately run out of hope there is fulfillment in the things we do. The person who has a bad relationship with God is in a bad place. Nothing will fix the problem.

It can be different for those with a repaired relationship with God. Repair of their relationship with God comes when they have realized they are hopeless and they have turned from their wrong ways and accepted the grace available through the sacrifice of Jesus. A person in this position can let go of the vain struggle for significance through our efforts and find significance in the mundane life we live because of the presence of God in our lives.

If you read Ecclesiastes, one of two things will happen. You will despair because all life is vanity. The other option is to understand the life on this earth will not bring fulfillment, it will only come through a relationship with God. A relationship on God’s terms, not ours. You can see this in one verse that I found.

Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which He has given to you under the sun; for this is your reward in life and in your toil in which you have labored under the sun. – Ecclesiastes 9:11

Lord, help me to live this life with Your perspective. This will enable me to live the full life, pursuing the right things, giving up the pursuit of things that will not satisfy. Help me to be satisfied with the rich blessing you have given.

Worship

Psalm 150 tells us of many different ways to praise (worship) God. The first half of the psalm talks about praising God for who He is. The second half talks about different ways to praise God. So what is the point?

The first is obvious, that God deserves our praise. If we came face to face with God, our only reaction would be to worship Him. In His wisdom, we are shielded from God’s glory. The reason is that God desires true worship. The automatic worship of someone who is face-to-face with God is not of the same nature of the voluntary worship of a person who worships God in faith.

Another point is the method of praise. There are seven instruments mentioned and the expression of worship through dance. The number of ways of worship is expressed tells me that worship is a personal expression. Some people can play one instrument or another, others can dance, others can sing. These are expressions of worship of the heart, true worship that is busting out of a person.

On one level I long for this type of worship. I am tired of the same old routine, the dullness of church. But as I think about it, this type of worship is revolutionary and is bound to make some people uncomfortable. That is the wonder and unexpected nature of the appearance and/or work of God. I think I am ready to see God bust out and live with the loss of my comfort level.

Amos the Labradoodle

This morning, as usual, I took Amos outside for him to do his duty. My custom with Amos is to attach a rope to his collar so if necessary I can grab the rope to encourage Amos to go inside when I think it is time. Amos has found the paper that is on the driveway to be very interesting. No, he has not learned how to read yet, but he does love to pick up the paper and run around the yard with his prize. Amos knows if I call him to come inside he does not have to listen, unless I hold the rope. The other day I found out that just stepping on the rope was not enough proof for Amos; I had to pick it up. When I have the end of the rope in my hand and tell Amos to come inside, he runs right up to the door. There is no need to use the rope to pull him toward the door.

After we went inside, Amos ran upstairs and jumped in bed with Lori and I sat down to read some from the Bible. This morning I started with Psalm 104, which describes the complete control that God has over every facet of creation.

You covered it with the deep as with a garment;
the waters stood above the mountains.
But at your rebuke the waters fled,
at the sound of your thunder they took to flight;
they flowed over the mountains,
they went down into the valleys,
to the place you assigned for them.
You set a boundary they cannot cross;
never again will they cover the earth. Psalm 104:6-9 (NIV)

God speaks and creation obeys. You could say there is a rope on the collar of every element of creation and the rope is in God’s hand. When God speaks, creation obeys.

When I have an obvious display of my lack of control over simple things, like this morning with Amos, it is comforting to know that God, my Father, has control of everything. I do not have to be in control.

Church Planter or Pastor?

So when does a church planter turn into a pastor?

This weekend we traveled to the Springfield area for one last motorcycle trip before the weather turns cold. We rode into Arkansas on Saturday and ended up in Ozark, Missouri for the night. I wanted to attend church on Sunday, so prior to the trip I looked up a church planter’s website for Springfield to see if there was a new church that we could attend. There happened to be a church adjacent to the hotel that was listed as a new church on the church planter’s website. So that was the church we attended.

The service was good, the music was good, the preaching was good and there were a significantly higher percentage of friendly people at the service as compared to a ‘normal’ church. This church has been in existence for three years, they have their own building, two services on Sundays and they are in the process of paying off a loan for land they are planning on moving to someday. Since I am thinking that someday I will be planting a church, I noticed many things that I liked about the church that I liked and I have filed them away in memory

Is this a new church? I guess the answer would be yes if you count it in years. But this church is mature in what they do. They are apparently healthy and progressing as a church. They did not seem to be in survival mode at all, they looked prosperous. I say the leader of the church as moved from being a church planter to being a pastor. It appears the listing of this pastor as a church planter on the church planting website represents a much broader definition of what a church planter than I hold. A few reasons could be the website that does not get updated or the owners of the website like to have as many church planters listed as possible. In any case, I would like to understand their definition of a church planter. Is it someone who has planted a church sometime in his life? Or is there an expiration date for church planters, a time when they turn into pastors. Is this false advertising on the part of the church planter’s website?

Dexter and His New Motorcycle

Yesterday I found out about a friend from my previous church who was involved in a motorcycle accident. Dexter was traveling on his new Honda Goldwing with his wife. They were on a four lane road when the tire blew out on a SUV that was nearby. The driver of the SUV lost control and swerved into Dexter. They both ended up in the median of the highway. The driver of the SUV died at the site after being ejected from the vehicle. Dexter and Susie survived the accident and were life flighted to the hospital in KC.

My first thoughts were thankfulness to God for sparing the life of my friends. Dexter is still in the hospital and Suzie has gone home after a week in the hospital. They will have a long recovery ahead of them. It is interesting that in this case those doing the dangerous act of riding a motorcycle survived the accident when the driver of the SUV died. Another thought is the randomness of this event. If there is any fault, which will be difficult to justify, it is to the woman or whoever was responsible for the maintenance of the SUV. Possibly the tire blowout could have been prevented by checking the condition of the tire, but maybe not.

Another thought, which is minor compared to the life and death issues already discussed, is the loss of a dream. Dexter and Susie just purchased this motorcycle. Based on this bike being one of the best touring bikes available, I assume they were planning on taking the bike on long trips. This dream was lost when that tire failed. I mourn the loss of this dream. As people get older, the possibility to achieve a dream diminishes, sometimes to the point of impossibility. Is this a case of another dead dream?

This is a story of contrast. I mourn for the lost of the driver, of the dream of touring the country on a motorcycle, but I thank God for the preservation of my friend’s life.

The Kingdom of Heaven

So what is the kingdom of heaven like? Jesus tells three parables in Matthew 25 that give pictures of the kingdom of heaven.

The first tells of ten virgins who are waiting for the wedding party, five are foolish and five are wise. The foolish virgins do not bring extra oil for their lamps, but the wise virgins have extra oil for their lamps. Prior to the arrival of the groom, the foolish virgins must leave to buy oil because none of the wise virgins will share their oil. The groom arrives, the wise virgins enter the wedding party and the foolish virgins do not enter.

The next parable tells of a man who went on a journey. Prior to leaving, he left sums of money in the hands of three of his slaves. The first slave had five times the money of the last; the second had twice the money of the last. The first two slaves doubled the man’s money, but the last did nothing with the money. When the man returns, the first two enter the man’s kingdom, the last slave is excluded.

The last parable tells of people who are allowed into the eternal kingdom because they had done good to others. The other people do not enter the eternal kingdom because they had not done the good to others.

What are the conclusions? One is that we are all on our own to get into the kingdom of heaven. The wise virgins did not receive blame for being selfish by not sharing their oil with the foolish virgins. The good slaves receive rewards for their work in doubling the man’s money. The last parable tells us of people entering the kingdom of heaven by the good thing they have done.

Another observation is the link of doing things (works) and entering the kingdom of heaven. It is clear from multiple passages that no one can work their way into heaven. It is a gift. So what is the point? It is clear the person who is really following Jesus will do the good things that qualified the good people in the last parable. Will the person who does not good get to heaven? No man can know this answer. If this person has accepted Jesus as their savior, they will get to heaven. The Bible says this person is a new creation. This new creation should show in the way the person acts. So is the person who does no good really on the way to heaven?

The final observation is the clear teaching of the Bible about every person having one of two destinations. One will be joyful and the other will be horrible. Each of these destinations is permanent. One is called heaven the other is called hell.

As the worker at the airline ticket counter asks, what is your final destination?

Colorado

In August Lori and I rode the bike to Colorado for a week. The trip was a vacation and a scouting trip. Vacation because Colorado is an excellent destination and I could not think of a better traveling partner than Lori. Scouting trip because we are looking for the place we will be moving to in two years. Prior to my starting seminary, Lori and I agreed that we would move wherever we needed to in order to be used by God in whatever way He pleased.

Here are a few of the vacation activities for Lori and I during the week.

• We ate dinner at Lori’s Hacienda in Garden City, Kansas.


• We visited the Great Sand Dunes near Alamosa.


• We rode the bike through the mountains, retracing part of a trip we took with the boys about ten years ago.


• We rode across trail ridge road in Rocky Mountain National Park.

The scouting trip included talking with three SBC leaders about church planting opportunities, visited the third service of a new church, stayed with a church planter and spent time in Fort Collins.

What are the results of the trip? We rode over 2,500 miles on the bike. We found a potential place to live in the city of Fort Collins. We decided to pursue an internship for next summer to try Colorado and church planting on for an extended period. That was a successful trip!

Sam and Melissa

Two weeks ago tomorrow was a big day in my life. It was not the top day, but it easily hit the top ten. My oldest son, Sam was married to Melissa.

Why was this day a big deal? The first reason is because it was my son who was being married. I attended a wedding a few weeks before and it was a special occasion. Anytime two people make the public statement of commitment to one another, it is a big deal. But that was not my son or my daughter. Two weeks ago it was my son. Lori and I had the front row at the ceremony. It was a big deal.

The wedding was a big deal because it marked a big change in Sam’s life. Two years prior, Sam had finished one year of college with no plans for returning. He was drifting in life and I thank God that He took care of him in those days. Change started happening, very slowly, but it happened. Come to think of it, the slow change is most often a real change. What was the reason for this change? It was Melissa.

Another reason the wedding was a big deal was the work and expense that Melissa put into making the day just as she wanted. The wedding was in a beautiful church and there was a sit down dinner at the reception. Certainly not like our cake and punch reception in the basement of the church. It was a great time and an excellent way to make a special mark on the special day. To this untrained eye, everything went off perfectly.

The final reason for special nature of the day was the meaning of the day to others. The primary purpose was to unite these two in marriage. But there was a wonderful side benefit of allowing parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins to have a day to remember. For those of us who are married, it was a day to remember our marriage day. It was a time to dream of the promise of Sam and Melissa’s life together compared to the partially realized dream of my life with Lori. May Sam and Melissa have half as much fun being married as we do.

Sam and Melissa, thank you for going to the trouble of having the wedding. Thank you for sharing this event in your life with us. Thank you for not making the decision to just start living together without the great marker in time of the wedding ceremony. Thank you for betting your life on living together with each other and reminding me of why I did the same 24 years ago.

Evangelism

So what comes to your mind when you hear the word ‘Evangelism’. Is it a picture of a deranged religious zealot? Maybe it is a wave of guilt because the pastor talks about evangelism like you should be doing it, but you are not? Potentially you are totally indifferent to the term. Or you may not know what it means.

In simple terms, I define evangelism as telling others about Jesus. Some would use the term to mean living a good life, or giving things to people, or preaching a sermon in a church. These do not fit my definition, because there is no direct confrontation with the person of Jesus.

So why should you do evangelism? The question assumes that you are a Christian. By that I mean that you have understood your bankruptcy before God, knowing that you are not perfect and you can never make yourself perfect. You have heard about and accepted the free gift of being made right with God through the sacrifice of Jesus, which is shown by his perfect life, his willing sacrifice of his life on the cross and Jesus’ resurrection. The process of becoming a Christian is all done by God, simply accepted by you. A term that describes this process is the Gospel.

The first reason to do evangelism is that Jesus commanded that we should do it:

Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” – Matthew 28:18-20 NIV.

For years I knew about this command and simply ignored it. It is amazing that Jesus would put up with a follower of His that simply ignores Him. But He does.

There are other reasons for doing evangelism. One is that by doing evangelism you demonstrate understanding of the Gospel. Active evangelism shows that you believe the Gospel; you really believe that if people do not hear and act on the Gospel, they will spend eternity in torment, separated from God.

The final reason that I will add today is that evangelism brings me face to face with the unpredictable work of God. Last Sunday, Darrin, Lori and I were talking with some men in a park. The first man we talked with was incoherent and simply wanted food. We did not have any money or food. We did talk to him about Jesus, but that did not seem to go anywhere. Then we talked with some other men who we had previously talked with. It was then the first man called us all over to him and told us that we needed to pray. He started praying. It was the heart talk of a man who knew he needed God to act. The situation in these men’s lives was not good and they needed God to intervene. After he was done, another man prayed, and then it was my turn. I prayed, but it seemed insignificant compared to the prayer of a man who just a few minutes before was incoherent. I was at a place and time where God had shown His presence. Wow.

So why do I do evangelism? There are more reasons that I have given here, but as scary as it can be sometimes, I do want to see God moving in His unpredictable way. I have witnessed it before and I will witness it again. I just cannot tell you when, but the chances are better when I am trying to talk to others about Jesus.

Father's Day 2007

I have always wanted to ride a motorcycle. I never rode one as a kid and did not start riding as a young man. Marriage, full time job, family expansion with two boys came and the ‘practicality’ of starting a motorcycle riding career was not good.

I started talking more about riding a motorcycle as the boys made their way through high school. As my youngest son approached high school graduation, my wife gave me an encouraging comment about starting to ride a motorcycle. I signed up for the local riding course, earned my motorcycle license and bought a motorcycle. I started using the motorcycle as my primary commuting vehicle. I would ride all winter, as long as there was no snow.

Last summer we took a ~4,500 mile, two week trip to Yellowstone, Boise, Las Vegas and Flagstaff. It was one of the best vacations I have ever taken. We rode in a snow storm in Yellowstone and experienced 117° in Vegas.

So this brings us to last weekend. We had five of us and three motorcycles for a trip to St. Louis for the weekend. The one event was pizza at our favorite place in St. Louis, but the main event was riding the bike with my two boys. It was the best father’s day I have ever had. It was even better than the one when Tom Watson won the US Open (which is cheating because I was not a father at the time).

Advice that I would give to the young parent, spend time with your kids. Take trips, do special things that you will never be able to repeat at another time.

Introduction

I work as an engineer and I am currently between my 2nd and 3rd years of Seminary. My plan is to move west from KC and be involved in introducing people to Jesus and organizing churches.

The introduce people to Jesus part has always been hard, as predicted in the Bible. I have spent years in a Baptist church that told me to do evangelism but never showed me how to do it. With no one to take my hand and show the way, I never tried. I was living life in disobedience to the command of Jesus (Matt 28:18-20) but I did a good job of covering up any problems that I had with my disobedience.

My life has been slow progress toward deeper commitment to Jesus, my Lord and Savior. He has been my Savior since the summer of 1973 when I accepted the free gift of salvation at the end of a Christian summer camp. The active embrace of Jesus as Lord has been the tougher part. I earned a couple of Engineering degrees, was married to Lori, started work as an engineer, and did life. As the years passed, it became apparent that I could continue working as an engineer and have the life drained out of me, or I could embrace the Lordship of Jesus in my life and have a full life. Choosing the later has brought me down a path that has led me to working part time as an engineer and doing four classes each semester in seminary. The description of this path will have to wait until another time.

Currently I am trying to learn how to do 'evangelism', which is the churchy/seminary word telling people about Jesus. My plan this evening was to help out with a church that I do not attend in their efforts to reach out to others with the message of salvation through Jesus. The church cancelled. It breaks my heart the majority of churches in this country are like this church. Ignoring the command of Jesus as a corporate body and as individuals, just like I did so well for years (not that I am excellent in my level of obedience today, just trying).
I long to be part of a group who attempt to be obedient to Jesus. I am not concerned with perfect obedience, mainly because that is impossible. I want to be with a group of people who try.