Happy New Year!

We've been hosting the True Men Blog at two blog sites and it's time to roll them into one site. It's been a challenge to take care of both sites.

We've decided to go over to WordPress.

We're so thankful that you've followed this blog faithfully over the last 10 years or so. Please head over to The True Man by Ed Blonski to continue to follow our blog!

May God richly bless you as you begin a new year!

Tradition

These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away. Their worship is a farce, for they replace God’s commands with their own man-made teachings.” Isaiah 29:13 as quoted in Mark 7:7.

In 1914, Bayer started putting cotton in their bottles of aspirin to reduce breakage of the tablets during shipment from the manufacturing plant to the store. In the mid-1980s, however, they figured out that if they coated the tablets with Toleraid microcoating, that this would make the tablets less susceptible to breakage. Amazingly, it wasn't until January 1999 that they finally made the decision to get rid of the cotton ball in the aspirin bottle, and this only after four and a half years of testing and discussions. An eighty-five year old tradition ended, some fifteen years after it had become obsolete.

How many traditions in the Church need to also be ended because they are obsolete?

This is part of the point that Jesus makes in Mark 7. The Pharisees are critical of Jesus’ disciples because they don’t ceremonially wash their hands before they eat. Jesus’ response is in Mark 7:7, where He quotes Isaiah 29:13 (see above).

I’m all for traditions. There are some beloved traditions in my own family – cutting down the family Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving is one. Family pizza night on Fridays and Family pancake breakfast on Saturdays are two more. Then there is the “Christmas Candle” tradition that was passed down from my grandmother, to my mother, to me.

Some traditions are worthwhile and important to maintain, especially in the Church. But if a tradition is maintained at the expense of the relationship that it is meant to build and strengthen, then it is something that needs to be questioned and, just possibly, discarded.

God wants, above all else, to have a relationship with you. He cares so much – He loves you so much – that He sent Jesus Christ to die in your place, for your sin, on the cross. The traditions that Scripture establishes – such as prayer, hymn/song singing, Holy Communion – are meant to uphold and strengthen that relationship that God desires with you.

If you don’t know why something is done in your worship service, ask your pastor or elder/deacon or altar guild member. Most likely they will be able to tell you and you’ll be amazed at how it gels with the relationship that God wants with you.

But if the answer is “because we’ve always done it that way” then I say it’s a tradition that needs to be seriously questioned. You may find that even though most people feel that it’s only done “because it’s always been done” it really does point to a worthwhile tradition that nobody knew the reason for. Finding out that reason will be a relationship building exercise – and it most likely will be fun, too!

Check out the traditions in your church. I think you’ll be amazed at what you find! And if you find it amazing, share it with me by sending me an email about your tradition and the reason that you found out it is done.

Have fun and have a good worship experience!

© 2015 True Men Ministries

Light For the Path

After a very long night, we arrived at camp. Last night was a night of flight delays, rowdy drunk guys, and closed car rental places. This afternoon was a short hike up to Fern Falls and then Shadow Falls.

Relatively few people see these two beautiful spots in the creation. They aren’t on any tourist maps. Nothing really tells you they are here except for a brown and white sign that points up a dirt road.

Fern Falls, Northern Idaho 

Shadow Falls, Northern Idaho

 

 The trails to these two falls are wide and easily traveled. Even though it was near 100 degrees, the air around the falling water is cool. After a hot walk, it is very refreshing.

On the way back down the dirt road, we pulled off to take a really great picture of the mountains and valleys around us.

 As I was looking over this sight I began to think about how great God is – it was almost as if He created this just for me at just this moment. Then I began to think that maybe God created me for just this moment and sight. Maybe it’s a little of both.

The three of us began to think out loud and I mentioned how this view is only good during the daytime. At night it would only be dark shadows, unless there was a full moon. I thought that it might look pretty cool under a full moon. But one of my companions noted that it would be scary looking.

As I thought about that for a while, I found that I agreed with him. It was then that I thought that life was pretty much the same way. It looks great in the daytime, in the light of the sun. But it’s scary when there’s no light.

Without the light of Christ in our hearts and shining on our lives, life is frightening. In the dark, walking through life is dangerous. You can’t see the trail. You might wander off the trail and off the side of the mountain, never to be seen or heard from again. Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” When I remember that John 1 says that Jesus Christ is the “Word of God” this makes perfect sense to me.

Without Christ in my life as savior, brother, shepherd, warrior, friend, I wouldn’t be safe. I would be living my life like I was walking on that mountain trail at night. It would be scary and I could very well stumble and fall down the mountainside.

Hiking mountain trails in Northern Idaho is amazing. In the daytime. The views are spectacular. It is strenuous due to heat and altitude. But it is all worth it. What I mean is that it isn’t easy, but it is fulfilling and rewarding. But hiking at night is none of those things. It is foolish and downright dangerous. I found that on many parts of the trail I needed to look right in front of me to where I was going to put my foot next. At night I couldn’t do that.

It’s the same thing living life without Christ shining the way. Every day, I need to be in the Word of God so that the Word of God – Jesus Christ – is guiding me, showing me where to put my feet at the next step. I need to follow the footsteps of nail-scarred feet to get through this life.

© 2015 True Men Ministries

Becoming God's Man

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart;

I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” “Ah, Sovereign LORD,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.” But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the LORD.

Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “Now, I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.” Jeremiah 1:5-10

I was a freshman in college when I wanted to be a senior in high school.

What happened was that I was 18 and graduated from my own high school. One of my best friends was a year younger than me. He went to a catholic high school in Northern Illinois. He lived across the bay from me but I had gone to a public high school. I was taking freshman classes at the local community college because I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. I thought I did, but it turned out I didn’t have a clue. Only today do I realize that it had a lot to do with what I was going through in my life at the time. It wasn’t that I didn’t have a good senior year of my own, but I put my heart and soul into my best friend’s senior year. I went to his senior year homecoming with a girl from his high school. I went to his senior prom with another girl from his high school. I went to his football games, basketball games, and we hung out all the time.

I didn’t know who I was. But God did. And God started me on the road to becoming His man.

After that year, I transferred to a Lutheran college and began to study for the ministry. But I still hadn’t quite figured out who I was, even if I had begun to figure out what I was going to do with my life.

In college, I started hanging out with a group of guys. Great guys. They were all studying to be pastors like me (although they were much better at the whole “going to class” thing than I was). We began to sing together and we were pretty good. It might have been simply coincidence (but then again, maybe not) that they were all from Iowa. Most Iowans are intensely proud of their state and their heritage (it must be something in the corn) and these guys were no different. I was the odd man out, being from Illinois, specifically the Chicago area (about as different from Iowa as any place could be).

I still didn’t know who I was. I was still trying to find myself. And I’m almost afraid to admit this – and I know I’ll hear it from those guys after they read this – but I was sorely tempted to try to become an Iowan myself. I saw how happy, how solid, how full of life these guys were. I wanted to be a man like that.

But it is a testament to how far God had brought me without my even realizing it that I never really went too far in becoming an Iowan. I think the furthest I got was to read a book called “The Iowa Baseball Confederacy” by W. P. Kinsella (who also wrote “Shoeless Joe” which became the movie “A Field of Dreams.”)

Instead of trying yet again to become someone else, I began to become myself. Or rather, I was beginning to become the man God had in mind when He made me.

There is something inside us as humans that deny who we are and makes many of us try to be something we are not. I suspect it has something to do with losing the image of God that we were originally created with. We lost who we were and sin makes us try to be something else.

Then a miracle happened. Since we couldn’t become who we were meant to be, God became one of us. God become human in Jesus of Nazareth. He took on flesh and blood. Then He spilled that blood and broke that flesh on the cross and took away our sin.

Jesus’ death and resurrection makes us who we are – children of God. It was and is a defining moment in our lives.

No longer do I have to pretend to be something else – a part of my best friend’s senior year or an Iowan (sorry guys!). I can be me. Pastor. Husband. Father. son (little “s”) of God through baptism.

I can be the man God has called to tell the Good News about Jesus. I can be the man who loves one woman (and has for over 24 years) as unconditionally as any human can. I can be the man who raises three boys to know Jesus, love baseball and Chicago, and I can be the man who thanks God everyday for my life. My life. Not a life I envisioned long ago when I didn’t know who I was. Not a life of trying to be someone I’m not nor ever could be.

I thank God for the death and resurrection of Jesus that makes me His man. Each day He reveals a little more about me, and that’s pretty exciting!

© 2015 True Men Ministries

Patience

What is it about patience?

I’ve played poker online. Play money only. And I like to play in 10-player tournaments. We all start out with $1500 in chips. Usually, within the first couple of hands, someone will go “all-in,” that is bet all their chips. And 9 times out of 10 they will lose. To win about 75% of these tournaments all I have to do is be patient and wait for the impatient, and mostly immature, players to blow all their chips.

But this isn’t about winning at poker. It’s really about life, I think. Waiting till all the “fluff” and “stuff” gets out of the way before you really play. I don’t pretend to know much about military strategy, but I would assume that it is the same kind of thing. There will always be someone who wants to get all he can right away and is willing to risk everything.

Maybe the mentality is that there will always be more to fill up the emptied bank account.

But life is rarely like that. Oh, a whole generation has been raised to believe that all a person has to do is deposit another quarter in the slot to replenish a “life” for a new game. But when it really comes down to it, there is no “new game.” This is the only game we’re given. And we don’t get unlimited lives – unlike most of the video games out there that have “cheat” codes that allow a “god” mode where you can’t be killed.

When I’ve played golf, sometimes I play “mulligans,” where you get to hit an extra ball if the first ball you hit doesn’t go where  you would like it to go (which often happens to me). But in “real” golf, you get no such mulligans. You have to play the ball you hit, whether good or bad.

What’s the point? I’m not sure, really. Except to say that while I may not be able to make the best with what I’ve been given, I think that God can, and does, real good with what I’ve been given. Because what I’ve been given, He’s given me and He promises to do good with it, for the sake of His son Jesus Christ.

© 2015 True Men Ministries

Know God

“The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” Psalm 46:7

When I was about 8 years old, I lived in a house on a hill overlooking Long Lake in Northern Illinois. It was March and I was looking forward to my birthday. Winter was slowly coming to an end – it had been a glorious winter! Cold and snowy, the creek that ran in back of our house had frozen in December and we played hockey out there as much as we could.

It was a Saturday and I was walking along the bank of the creek. I kept looking at the ice, wondering if the recent warm spell had weakened the ice. I threw rocks and sticks out onto the ice – nothing happened. Finally, I got enough courage to test it myself. I slipped down the bank onto the edge of the ice. So far so good! I took one step out, then another step and – whoosh! – fell right through. Thankfully, the creek was only about 3 feet deep at that point. I sank up to my waste in the freezing water. I was pretty scared, first because I knew that you could die if you fell through ice. But then, when I realized I probably wasn’t going to die since I was only two feet from shore and in three feet of water, I was scared because my mom was going to kill me for doing something so stupid!

I was reminded of this story by my morning devotion today. It comes from Patrick Morley in his book Coming Back to God. He tells a story he once heard from his professor.

“A man was hiking on a cold winter day. He came to a river that appeared to be frozen over. Since he was unfamiliar with the area, he didn’t know how thick the ice was. Naturally, he was afraid of walking out and falling through. So he got down on his stomach and slowly inched his way out onto the ice.

When he crawled near the middle of the river, the air began to tremble as he heard a rumbling sound drawing closer and closer.

Suddenly a wagon with four horses at a full gallop shot over the crest of the riverbank, thundered across the river, then disappeared over the crest on the other side. And there he was, lying on the ice, feeling foolish.”

What can look like solid ground may not be. But then again, it may be. It pays to know the territory as best you can so that you don’t get wet or look foolish.

In a lot of ways, this is how God is. He is an amazing God, our God is. He is unfathomable. We could spend eternity trying to figure Him out and we probably never will. But the promise from our God is that we can spend that eternity trying to do that because He saved us for eternity through the death and resurrection of His Son.

We can begin today to learn more about God. He’s revealed a lifetime worth of stuff in His Word. I encourage you to open His Word today – start at Psalm 46 and begin to see just how amazing our God is.

© 2015 True Men Ministries

The Other Side of the Miracle

Again He went out from the region of Tyre, and came through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, within the region of Decapolis. They brought to Him one who was deaf and spoke with difficulty, and they implored Him to lay His hand on him. Jesus took him aside from the crowd, by himself, and put His fingers into his ears, and after spitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva; and looking up to heaven with a deep sigh, He said to him, "Ephphatha!" that is, "Be opened!" And his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was removed, and he began speaking plainly. And He gave them orders not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they continued to proclaim it. They were utterly astonished, saying, "He has done all things well; He makes even the deaf to hear and the mute to speak."  - Mark 7:31-37

12 years ago I witnessed an event that has happened only three other times in my lifetime up to that point (and has only happened twice since). I was be able to watch the Chicago Cubs in a playoff series. Baseball, like life, has its winners and losers. It has its surprises. You can be as prepared as possible and still have to rely on something completely out of your control for results.

In 2003 the Chicago Cubs had to rely on the efforts of other teams to make the playoffs that year. Combined with the Brewers defeating the Houston Astros twice, the Cubs defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates twice to earn a spot in the National League Playoffs. The Astros and the Pirates had to lose so that the Cubs could win.

You see, there’s the miracle and then there’s the other side of the miracle.

Christine was a normal college student but one day she was having trouble seeing. After her vision didn't clear, she went to the doctor. The doctor told her that there was something seriously wrong with her eyes and she would have to go home and see a specialist. The specialist told her that to save her eyesight she would have to have a lens transplant, but the lenses had to come from a person about the same age as her. Someone in their late teens or early twenties would have to die and donate their lenses so Christine would be able to see. Soon after that, there was a tragic car accident and a 16-year-old young man died. His family agreed to donate his lenses and today Christine is able to see. It was truly a miracle for Christine; nevertheless, the family of that 16-year-old young man was on the other side of the miracle.

What is it like to be on the other side of someone else's miracle? Is it a place you've been? How does it feel?

You have a God that knows exactly how it feels.

Jesus Christ was on the other side of the miracle that saved your soul. His death on the cross earned your salvation. You did nothing to earn it. There was nothing you could ever do to earn it. The salvation that Jesus earned on the cross comes to you by grace – pure and free. But it cost Jesus his very life. The author of life – through whom all living things (and all non-living things, for that matter) were made died so you could live forever.

I had a friend named Mark who died 13 years ago. He faced his own death from ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. Yet he was an instrument through whom God sent miracles to others. Others witnessed how he kept his faith, kept loving his Lord, kept serving his Savior. Through all that I’m sure their faith was strengthen even as Mark’s body weakened and eventually died.

I think that either you receive the miracle or you’re the person through whom God gives a miracle to someone else. Either way, God is at work and we are blessed.

The next time you see a miracle, remember the one who works it – our God and Savior who gives us life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

© 2015 True Men Ministries

Dreams

About 10 years ago, I attended a theological symposium at my alma mater Concordia Seminary in St. Louis.

I remember feeling that as I walked among the buildings that held so much promise for me when I was student in the early 1990’s, that there was so much more ahead of me. As I walked among the buildings with fallen leaves crunching under my feet, I reminisced about the past. At first I felt a sense of loss. Ten years after graduation, was I really where I thought I would be?

This was not the first time I had walked among those buildings with a sense of loss. Two years after arriving on the campus, fresh out of college, I didn’t have much hope for the future. Classes weren’t going well and I was distracted from my studies. I was thinking of giving up becoming a pastor. I felt that I missed something along the way. My life wasn’t turning out the way I had thought it would. But my life soon changed dramatically!

Ten years later, as I walked among the buildings again, I realized my life turned out better than I had hoped it would. It is vastly different from what I thought it would be, but it is so much better that I spend very little time now thinking about how my life could have been had this happened or that not happened.

This morning, as I walked over to the church office from the parsonage, the sky was dark with the remnants of a thunderstorm that had just passed. The air was thick with humidity just as it often was so long ago on my walks across the campus of Concordia Seminary. I found myself dreaming again. It has been 28 years since I first arrived at seminary. During the seven years I lived and studied among those buildings, I had dreams live and die. At the end of my time there, God gave me a new dream – one I would share with my new wife.

It has been a dream of what God could actually do with my (our) life. But it had taken almost 10 years for that dream to come into focus.

And as soon as that dream came into focus God revealed to me a new dream.

What do I want to do with my life? What is it that I want to do in God’s kingdom? I’ve been a pastor for 20 years. I’ve preached about 1000 sermons, led over 1500 Bible classes. I’ve taught Luther’s Small Catechism to 20 classes of children. God has used me to touch so many lives. I know I’ve messed up a lot along the way, but I have faith in God that He is the Almighty who can work through my messes.

I remember talking with a friend of mine about 10 years ago and he said that he felt that there was a momentous change coming in his life. He felt that God was going to be doing something in his life very soon. He didn’t know what it was. He didn’t know if it would involve a move away from where he was at the time or not (it did and not very long after that conversation). He only knew that God was going to do something dramatic in his life very soon.

That’s sort of like how I feel now. God has been preparing me for something. He’s brought me to this place in His kingdom. He has used me as His instrument of change. I feel that God is going to do it again – possibly soon but I’m not sure. I can see things working in my life, preparing me for something. Something that God will use to bring transformation to this world. Maybe not the whole world, but maybe the parts of the world that I come into contact with.

In the Bible, these kinds of moments often included God calling a person by name.

“Abraham….”

“Samuel….”

“Ananias….”

And when any of these people were called by God, they all initially responded in the same way.

“Here I am.”

Never, “Who are you?” They knew who it was! “Here I am,” takes faith. And that same faith is given to each of us through God’s means of Grace – the Holy Scripture, Holy Baptism – and strengthened through Holy Scripture and Holy Communion.

I believe God has called each one of us to be in this place “for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14).

He’s calling you and me by name.

Through the power of the Holy Spirit, let us answer, “Here I am.”

© 2015 True Men Ministries

Smells

Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Ephesians 5:1-2

Do you smell it? It is the smell of bacon frying. It is the smell of coffee percolating. It is Sunday morning. Worship starts in 3 hours. I amble through the kitchen toward these smells to start my day of worship. Somehow, it just wouldn’t be the same if I didn’t smell these things.

It is the smell of crunching leaves that have changed color and fallen. Of pumpkin pie spices and burning leaves. These are the smells of autumn (at least for me).

The smell of peanuts and stale beer. These are the smells of baseball, of a big-league ballpark.

The smell of pine and apple-cinnamon and mint. These are the smells of Christmas.

The smell of wine and freshly cut flowers. These are the smells of worship. This is what I smell as I stand at the altar preparing it for Holy Communion.

Smells are very powerful. They invoke feelings of seasons and events. The invoke memories (a whole episode of M*A*S*H was dedicated to this).

Smells are also part of our relationship with God. Starting in Exodus 25, God instructs his people to build a place of worship. There are specific items that are dedicated to smells. The Altar of Incense and various forms of incense would be used. Partly, I think, to have a distinctive smell associated with the worship of God. Partly to cover up the smell of all the sacrifices that would be made. But there is one more reason.

Our sin must raise a stink in God’s nose. The filth of our evil deeds. Our thoughts, our actions, must raise an awful stench to him.

How do we clean ourselves of this smell? I’m afraid it just isn’t possible for us to do this. No soap is strong enough to clean us of our sin. Oh, we certainly try. We apologize to those we wrong. Sometimes, if we’re guilty enough we will give money to the church or some charity to try to ease our conscience. But the smell lingers like smoke on your clothes after sitting around a campfire.

How can we get rid of the smell of sin in our lives? Sin has to be removed. It would be the love of Jesus Christ who “gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Ephesians 5:2)

Each season has its distinctive smells, and that can help us remember that we smell pretty good to God because of Jesus Christ and his death and resurrection for us. The next time you walk into a kitchen to smell the good smells there, thank God that Jesus takes away your stinking sin and makes you smell good with his righteousness.

Merry Christmas

God became a human being. Unique among the world religions.

God also died to save all human beings. Also unique among the world religions.

I focus on these two things - that God became a human being and that God died to save humanity (and me) - during this time of year.

Everything else is not worth worrying, whining, or wishing about.

I wish you a very blessed Christmas and pray that God will touch your heart in a special way this Christmas.

In the Dark

Life begins in darkness. For about 9 months, each human being is “in the dark.” Coming into the light must be a frightening thing – strangers with masks on, bright lights shining directly on you, lots of noise. But then the warmth of a mother’s arms, soft words of love and comfort, life in the light is very different than how it began in the dark.

This holds true throughout our lives. Many Christians talk about a “dark night of the soul” and life can be like that sometimes. Going through periods of darkness – depression, terror, the loss of a job, the death of a loved one, and so on.

This seems to be the natural way of things. God even tells us, in His Word, that, “weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning” (Psalm 30:5 ESV).

I was reading a book by Frank Viola called “Revise Us Again” and in it, I learned a truth that I had overlooked all these years. The truth that God begins our lives, begins all our blessings, in the dark and not in the light!

In the first chapter of Genesis, it is made very clear that each day begins in the evening – at sundown and not in the morning at sunrise.

Jesus Christ was born at night. He died when darkness covered the land. He rose from the dead early on the first day of the week while it was still dark.

“It is in the hidden hours of the night that God does His deepest work of transformation. The night, the evening, and the darkness are all promises of a new day.

If you can hold this in your heart, it will change your life” (Revise Us Again, p 115).

If you are going through a “dark night of the soul” then keep this in mind!

If it feels like your life is ending, think about this: “What we call the end, God calls the beginning. God takes away to establish, and what He establishes is always better. As high as God is going to elevate you is as deep as He digs to lay the foundation” (p 115).

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Here I Am

About 10 years ago, I attended a theological symposium at my alma mater Concordia Seminary in St. Louis.

I remember feeling that as I walked among the buildings that held so much promise for me when I was student in the early 1990’s, that there was so much more ahead of me. As I walked among the buildings with fallen leaves crunching under my feet, I reminisced about the past. At first I felt a sense of loss. Ten years after graduation, was I really where I thought I would be?

This was not the first time I had walked among those buildings with a sense of loss. Two years after arriving on the campus, fresh out of college, I didn’t have much hope for the future. Classes weren’t going well and I was distracted from my studies. I was thinking of giving up becoming a pastor. I felt that I missed something along the way. My life wasn’t turning out the way I had thought it would. But my life soon changed dramatically!

Ten years later, as I walked among the buildings again, I realized my life turned out better than I had hoped it would. It is vastly different from what I thought it would be, but it is so much better that I spend very little time now thinking about how my life could have been had this happened or that not happened.

This morning, as I walked over to the church office from the parsonage, the leaves crunching beneath my feet as they did so long ago on my walk across the campus of Concordia Seminary, I found myself dreaming again. It has been 27 years since I first arrived at seminary. During the seven years I lived and studied among those buildings, I had dreams live and die. At the end of my time there, God gave me a new dream – one I would share with my new wife.

It has been a dream of what God could actually do with my (our) life. But it had taken almost 10 years for that dream to come into focus.

And as soon as that dream came into focus God revealed to me a new dream.

What do I want to do with my life? What is it that I want to do in God’s kingdom? I’ve been a pastor for 19 years. I’ve preached nearly 1000 sermons, led over 1500 Bible classes. I’ve taught Luther’s Small Catechism to 19 classes of children. God has used me to touch so many lives. I know I’ve messed up a lot along the way, but I have faith in God that He is the Almighty who can work through my messes.

I remember talking with a friend of mine about 10 years ago and he said that he felt that there was a momentous change coming in his life. He felt that God was going to be doing something in his life very soon. He didn’t know what it was. He didn’t know if it would involve a move away from where he was at the time or not (it did and not very long after that conversation). He only knew that God was going to do something dramatic in his life very soon.

That’s sort of like how I feel now. God has been preparing me for something. He’s brought me to this place in His kingdom. He has used me as His instrument of change. I feel that God is going to do it again – possibly soon but I’m not sure. I can see things working in my life, preparing me for something. Something that God will use to bring transformation to this world. Maybe not the whole world, but maybe the parts of the world that I come into contact with.

In the Bible, these kinds of moments often included God calling a person by name.

“Abraham….”

“Samuel….”

“Ananias….”

And when any of these people were called by God, they all initially responded in the same way.

“Here I am.”

Never, “Who are you?” “Here I am,” takes faith. And that same faith is given to each of us through God’s means of Grace – the Holy Scripture, Holy Baptism – and strengthened through Holy Scripture and Holy Communion.

I believe God has called each one of us to be in this place “for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14).

He’s calling you and  I by name.

Through the power of the Holy Spirit, let us answer, “Here I am.”

I Love My Church - Part 10

This is based on an article from Hal Seed (accessed here on February 13, 2014).

Hal Seed writes, “A quick read of the book of Acts or the letters in Revelation proves that Jesus loves his church. He died for it, prays for it, lives for it and is going to return for it.

[But] let’s be honest: It’s not easy to love the church. It’s easy to love Jesus. Loving His bride is another story. Churches are filled with frail and fault-riddled people. Every church has a unique personality. All are loved by Jesus, but not all are loved in equal measure by each of His people.”

I agree, loving Jesus is so much easier than loving His bride, the Church. But just like the love of a spouse in marriage, love of the church is more a choice than a feeling.

Based on Hall Seed’s ten reasons that he loves his church, I have ten reasons that I choose to love Jesus’ bride, the Church. They are in no particular order – this is not a ranked list. This week, reason number ten:

10. Full of Marines.

The United States Marines is the smallest branch of the U.S. military. It exists to project military power from the sea (working closely with the U.S. Navy).

U.S. Marines are usually the first armed forces to confront the enemy, doing so in small, compact forces. They may be small in number, but they are powerful! They are dedicated! They are loyal!

That’s the way the Church is, as well. Because let’s face it, we are a small force of powerful, dedicated, and loyal (to God) people who are at war against Satan and his minions.

I think that God intends the Church to be that way – small. If we were a huge army we might get it in our heads that our victories are our own doing. (See the story of Gideon for an example of this idea).

Like a U.S. Marine, we need to be thoroughly trained. The Church has historically done this through what is called “catechetical” studies. Church members are to be in God’s Word daily. Studying the Word, reading it, alone and in groups.

Like a U.S. Marine, we also need to be a part of a “group.” Here, I mean a congregation. There is no such thing as a solitary Christian. In fact, that’s Satan’s most favorite tactic – to get Christians to disengage from their “groups” (congregations) so he can pick them off one by one.

And finally, Like a U.S. Marine, we will never face true defeat. As Christians, as congregations, as a Church, we have already won this war because Christ defeated Satan through His death and resurrection.

There is an added bonus for me personally. The U.S. Marines have the best dress uniforms (in my opinion). And the Church has the best clothes of all – the Robe of Christ’s Righteousness:

“These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Revelation 7:14

It is dangerous work being a U.S. Marine (my uncle gave his life as a Marine in World War II – I wrote about that here). It is also dangerous – in a sense – to be a member of the Christian Church.

Jesus said,

“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. (Luke 10:2-3)

Did you catch that? Jesus is sending us out as “lambs in the midst of wolves.” Think about it. What are the chances that a lamb will survive being in the midst of wolves? Next to nil!

But survival isn’t the point of being a member of the Church. Proclaiming the Good News of Jesus is the point! Our survival is assured, not that we’ll live on this earth, but that we’ll live in Paradise forever with Jesus, with no pain, sorrow, tears or death!

Hal Seed echoes my thoughts about why I love my church with these final words:

“I’ll admit again, my church isn’t perfect. We have lots of warts to work on. But Jesus is working on them daily—which may be the most important reason I love my church!” (read his whole article here).

Why do you love your church? I’d love to hear from you!

I Love My Church Part 9

This is based on an article from Hal Seed (accessed here on February 13, 2014).

Hal Seed writes, “A quick read of the book of Acts or the letters in Revelation proves that Jesus loves his church. He died for it, prays for it, lives for it and is going to return for it.

[But] let’s be honest: It’s not easy to love the church. It’s easy to love Jesus. Loving His bride is another story. Churches are filled with frail and fault-riddled people. Every church has a unique personality. All are loved by Jesus, but not all are loved in equal measure by each of His people.”

I agree, loving Jesus is so much easier than loving His bride, the Church. But just like the love of a spouse in marriage, love of the church is more a choice than a feeling.

Based on Hall Seed’s ten reasons that he loves his church, I have ten reasons that I choose to love Jesus’ bride, the Church. They are in no particular order – this is not a ranked list. This week, reason number nine:

9. Commitment to church planting.

Why do we need more churches? That is a fair question. Where I live there are six churches with a radius of five miles.

Do we really need to plant another church?

Well, let’s take a look at some numbers.

There is estimated to be 350,000 churches in the United States (according to a survey in 2010 here).

The population of the United States is estimated to be 3.18 million people (as seen here).

One poll puts the number of people who attend worship weekly at about 64,000,000. (20% of the U.S. population, see that information here).

That leaves approximately 254 million people not worshiping each week.

Do we need more churches? It can’t hurt!

I love my church because she is involved in “church planting.” That doesn’t mean we are right now starting a new congregation (although “church planting” can mean that). But what it means is that we have a mindset that we are learning how to be active disciples of Jesus Christ and sharing the Gospel with other people – which “plants the church” wherever those people go!

“Planting” has the idea of seeds and growth. We – as a Church – are surely planting the seeds of faith. The Holy Spirit has given us the seed – the Gospel. We share it with others – plant it in them – and the Holy Spirit causes it to grow.

Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” (Mark 4:26-29)

We desperately need to sow the seeds of the Gospel among the people of this world. And I love my church because she has a commitment to church planting!

I Love My Church Part 6

This is based on an article from Hal Seed (accessed here on February 13, 2014).

Hal Seed writes, “A quick read of the book of Acts or the letters in Revelation proves that Jesus loves his church. He died for it, prays for it, lives for it and is going to return for it.

[But] let’s be honest: It’s not easy to love the church. It’s easy to love Jesus. Loving His bride is another story. Churches are filled with frail and fault-riddled people. Every church has a unique personality. All are loved by Jesus, but not all are loved in equal measure by each of His people.”

I agree, loving Jesus is so much easier than loving His bride, the Church. But just like the love of a spouse in marriage, love of the church is more a choice than a feeling.

Based on Hall Seed’s ten reasons that he loves his church, I have ten reasons that I choose to love Jesus’ bride, the Church. They are in no particular order – this is not a ranked list. This week, reason number six:

6. Entrepreneurial.

To be “entrepreneurial” means to undertake a task or enterprise with considerable initiative and risk.

That describes the Church. As members of the Church our task is to “make disciples of all nations” by “teaching them” what Christ said and did and commanded and by “baptizing them.”

This task or mission has been undertaken with Christ’s initiative. His first step was out of heaven and into our world as one of us. “Immanuel” – God with us! Then Peter and the disciples took the initiative and proclaimed Jesus to be the Messiah who died for the sins of the world and rose again. Stephen, Philip, Paul and the list goes on and on through history of men and women who took up the mission of the Church.

At incredible risk, I might add. Save one, all the original disciples were killed because of this entrepreneurial Spirit.

This risk of proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ still exists today. Richard Wurmbrand wrote a book about the risk taken by many Christians called Tortured for Christ.

Dying for our faith is the ultimate risk, but there are others that are still risks, just considerable less so.

Ridicule, financial, personal comfort – these are all risks that a member of the Christian Church can face for proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The outcome is worth it, however. People are literally dying to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ. The Gospel is the means of grace and changes people’s lives in this life and will change their lives for eternity.

Jesus Christ was “entrepreneurial” when He came to save you and me by being born to be our substitute, living the perfect life to be our righteousness by faith, dying on the cross to forgive all the sins of all people for all time, by rising from the dead so that we, too, might rise from the grave one day and ascended into heaven with the promise that he will return to take us to be with him forever.

This same Jesus Christ gives us his “entrepreneurial” power through the Holy Spirit (working through Word and Sacrament). We may face considerable – or not-so-considerable – risk in proclaiming this Good News.

This “entrepreneurial” Spirit is just another reason why I love my Church!

I Love My Church Part 5

This is based on an article from Hal Seed (accessed here on February 13, 2014).

Hal Seed writes, “A quick read of the book of Acts or the letters in Revelation proves that Jesus loves his church. He died for it, prays for it, lives for it and is going to return for it.

[But] let’s be honest: It’s not easy to love the church. It’s easy to love Jesus. Loving His bride is another story. Churches are filled with frail and fault-riddled people. Every church has a unique personality. All are loved by Jesus, but not all are loved in equal measure by each of His people.”

I agree, loving Jesus is so much easier than loving His bride, the Church. But just like the love of a spouse in marriage, love of the church is more a choice than a feeling.

Based on Hall Seed’s ten reasons that he loves his church, I have ten reasons that I choose to love Jesus’ bride, the Church. They are in no particular order – this is not a ranked list. This week, reason number five:

5. Diverse.

The first members of the Holy Christian Church were Jews from Galilee and Judea. But that quickly changed after the Holy Spirit came on them 50 days after the resurrection of Jesus.

Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,  Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome,  both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians. (Acts 2:9-11a)

Within 100 years, there were hundreds of thousands of Christians who were native to Europe, Africa, Asia, and India. Today there are billions of Christians who are natives of every country on the planet.

But that’s just one aspect of the diversity of the Christian Church.

There are Christians who are poor, lower middle class, upper middle class, and “rich.” There are Christians who are homeless, fatherless, widows, orphans, and also come from “nuclear” or “traditional” families (one mom, one dad). There are Christians who are infants, toddlers, children, teenagers, young adults, middle aged, and seasoned citizens.

However, it has been said that Sunday morning is the most segregated time in America. There is the tendency for people to gather together with people who are most like them, and the Church is susceptible to that. But that doesn’t change the fact that the Holy Christian Church is diverse!

We may have to overcome that tendency, but it is possible to overcome by the power of the Holy Spirit working through Word and Sacrament.

I love my Church (see here for what I mean by “Church”). And one of reasons why is because she is diverse. Everyone is welcomed at my Church. No matter what country, economic status, or anything else, everyone is welcomed.

Because we all have two things in common.

1.  We’re all sinners in need of a Savior.

2. We all have the same Savior – Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

In the Holy Christian Church everyone hears of the need for a Savior and how God met that need.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16, emphasis added).

“For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God” (Romans 6:10, emphasis added).

Next time, the entrepreneurial reason.

I Love My Church - Part 4

This is based on an article from Hal Seed (accessed here on February 13, 2014).

Hal Seed writes, “A quick read of the book of Acts or the letters in Revelation proves that Jesus loves his church. He died for it, prays for it, lives for it and is going to return for it.

[But] let’s be honest: It’s not easy to love the church. It’s easy to love Jesus. Loving His bride is another story. Churches are filled with frail and fault-riddled people. Every church has a unique personality. All are loved by Jesus, but not all are loved in equal measure by each of His people.”

I love my church. And by “church” I mean “the one holy Christian and apostolic church,” “The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod,” the four churches that I have served as a pastor (Christ Lutheran, White Cloud, MI, St. John Lutheran, Mayville, WI, Redeemer Lutheran, Ontario, CA, and St. Matthew Lutheran, Hawthorn Woods, IL), and the churches of which I was a member before I become a pastor (St. Paul, Round Lake, IL, Good Shepherd, Lake Villa, IL, Messiah, St. Louis, MO, and St. John, Arnold, MO).

I agree, loving Jesus is so much easier than loving His bride, the Church. But just like the love of a spouse in marriage, love of the church is more a choice than a feeling.

Based on Hall Seed’s ten reasons that he loves his church, I have ten reasons that I choose to love Jesus’ bride, the Church. They are in no particular order – this is not a ranked list. This week, reason number four:

4. She is Caring.

Two separate incidents happened to me this past week that touched my heart in a very special way.

The first was that Virginia died. She was a woman in her 90’s. She suffered from acute Alzheimer’s and lived in a care facility for many years. I would visit her just about every other month (while my colleague would do the same, just not the same month). She didn’t know who I was, didn’t know my name or nearly anything about me.

But she did know that I am a pastor. I would wear my “pastors clothes” and when I walked into her room, her eyes would light up and smile would appear on her face. I would read to her from the Bible and we would pray together.

Virginia was - is – a disciple of Jesus strong in the faith. She and Harold were married in the early 1940’s and lived their entire marriage sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ through their lives. Harold has to begin what I can only imagine to be a very difficult task – living his Christian life without Virginia by his side.

I saw Harold last night at dinner. He was still upbeat, smiling, and exuding the joy of a life lived by and for Jesus Christ. His love for his wife is no less diminished this week and never will be, even though it is now different.

The second incident was a phone call I received during lunch. My good and dear friends Jim and Susie called me to wish me a belated happy birthday. I met Jim and Susie 8 years ago when I served as their pastor in Southern California. Jim was retired from the local police department and devoted almost all of his time to our church’s Senior Adult Ministry. We played cards together. We met each week for breakfast and Bible study. I know they prayed for me and my family daily. They are such dear friends to my wife and I. 

During our conversation Jim told me that he was being inducted into his high school’s Hall of Fame for football. His football time went undefeated for three seasons. This was 60 years ago in Northern Michigan. But even though so many decades had passed, I could still hear the joy in his voice as he told me their plans to travel back to Michigan this September.

These two incidents are just two of many evidences of how the Christian Church is “caring.” Harold and Virginia caring for each other and for their fellow Christians and all the people they met through the years. Jim and Susie caring for each other, for me and my family, and the people of their congregation and all those that they met through the years.

When we let Jesus and His love for us have his way with us, this is usually the result: that we will care for others in the same or similar ways. This is one of the “marks” of the Church, as Jesus said in the Gospel of John:

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).

Next week, we’ll look at another reason to love the Church – her diversity.

I Love My Church - Part 2

This is based on an article from Hal Seed (accessed here  on February 13, 2014).

Hal Seed writes, “A quick read of the book of Acts or the letters in Revelation proves that Jesus loves his church. He died for it, prays for it, lives for it and is going to return for it.

[But] let’s be honest: It’s not easy to love the church. It’s easy to love Jesus. Loving His bride is another story. Churches are filled with frail and fault-riddled people. Every church has a unique personality. All are loved by Jesus, but not all are loved in equal measure by each of His people.”

I wrote about the first reason here.

Based on Hall Seed’s ten reasons that he loves his church, I have ten reasons that I choose to love Jesus’ bride, the Church. They are in no particular order – this is not a ranked list. This week, reason number two:

2. She Is/Can Be Incredibly Fruitful.

Three times a year, St. Matthew offers an Adult Discipleship Class based on the book “God For Us” (Lutheran Church Australia). In this class we explore the basics of the Christian faith from the Lutheran perspective – which means it is a study based on Martin Luther’s Small Catechism.

One session of this class is held at a time when a regular adult Bible study is held. This is deliberate. Even though the “regulars” of that class end up going through this “basics” course numerous times, it is good that they do so for several reasons.

One, it is never a bad idea to refresh in our minds the basics of our faith.

And two, it gives an opportunity for new Christians to mingle with “seasoned” Christians.

Recently, I was excited to see this in action. Long-time members of St. Matthew – many of them life-time members – sat with people who were on our campus for the first time ever. They were learning about God and Christ together. They were getting to know each other, talking with each other about life and about a Jesus, and making plans to worship together.

What I was witnessing was just how incredibly fruitful God makes the Church. He brings men, women and children to Himself through the Church!

Now, I believe, teach and confess publicly that God makes people His children through Word and Sacrament. But I also believe that God does this best – and most often – through His Church!

By “Church” I mean “the congregation of saints, in which the Gospel is rightly taught and the Sacraments are rightly administered” (Augsburg Confession, Article 7).

The Word and Sacraments make the Church incredibly fruitful. The grace of God gives each member of the Church a place in that fruitfulness. What an amazing gift that God has given us!

This is why I can love my Church! Because this is what God is doing in my Church!

Next week we’ll look at reason three: Responsive.

I Love My Church - Part 1

Recently I read an article by Hal Seed (accessed here http://ministrytodaymag.com/index.php/ministry-leadership/a-pastor-s-heart/20700-10-reasons-why-i-love-my-church on February 13, 2014).

In it he writes, “A quick read of the book of Acts or the letters in Revelation proves that Jesus loves his church. He died for it, prays for it, lives for it and is going to return for it.

[But] let’s be honest: It’s not easy to love the church. It’s easy to love Jesus. Loving His bride is another story. Churches are filled with frail and fault-riddled people. Every church has a unique personality. All are loved by Jesus, but not all are loved in equal measure by each of His people.”

I love my church. And by “church” I mean “the one holy Christian and apostolic church,” “The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod,” the four churches that I have served as a pastor (Christ, White Cloud, MI, St. John, Mayville, WI, Redeemer, Ontario, CA, and St. Matthew, Hawthorn Woods, IL), and the churches of which I was a member before I become a pastor (St. Paul, Round Lake, IL, Good Shepherd, Lake Villa, IL, Messiah, St. Louis, MO, and St. John, Arnold, MO).

I agree, loving Jesus is so much easier than loving His bride, the Church. But just like the love of a spouse in marriage, love of the church is more a choice than a feeling.

Based on Hall Seed’s ten reasons that he loves his church, I have ten reasons that I choose to love Jesus’ bride, the Church. They are in no particular order – this is not a ranked list. This week, reason number one:

1. This is not about us.

There is a reason every single church exists. But the reality is not every single church lives – or even knows – this reason. However, that doesn’t change the fact that Christ establishes every congregation of the “one holy Christian and apostolic church” for a reason. Ultimately, that reason is to “go and make disciples of all nations.”

Congregations get into trouble when they forget this. The life of the church isn’t about “us” – it’s about “all nations.” Or to put it another way, the Church exists to love God and to love our neighbors.

When that doesn’t happen, a church can be considered “dying.” Because if the focus is on ourselves and our needs then our focus is on someone who is not alive.

St. Paul puts it this way, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).

Instead, we need to focus on the living God and the people He sent His Son to save.

As a disciple of Jesus, we are called to be reflective light in this world. We shine, but not with our own light. We shine with the light of Jesus Christ. Much in the same way the moon shines at night – not by its own light but by reflecting the light of the sun.

The Church is filled with disciples of Jesus and we need to reflect the Son’s light by loving God and loving our neighbors.

If we make Church about us, we’re shining the light on ourselves for ourselves. Much like a church that illuminates its stained glass windows from the outside. We make it so we can see ourselves but the world doesn’t see much of anything. Our attitude should be to have the light shining from the inside out. In other words, for all the world to see.

Next week, we’ll take a look at a church that is incredibly fruitful.

Where the Rubber Hits the Road

“What do you want to talk about?”

In my experience, that’s the way many Bible studies start. A group of people get together – men or women or couples or youth – and they first decide what topic they want to tackle.

Marriage. Vocation. Sex. Bullying. Leadership. Innovation. Success. The topic list is virtually endless.

But here’s what I’m thinking. Even though life is full of topics, that shouldn’t be the focus of a Bible study that I’m leading or participating in.

The focus should be on the Bible. The focus should be the Word of God. Ultimately, the focus should be on the Word of God – Jesus Christ.

I want to learn how to be a successful leader. I want to be able to teach my sons how to respond to bullying. I want young people to know the proper place sex has in their lives. I want my marriage to continue to be stronger and even grow stronger.

So I read books and watch videos and attend seminars and symposiums.

All of this is well and good.

But where the gumme hits the strasse (“the rubber hits the road”) is the Bible.

To truly grow as a Christian, to truly develop as a disciple of Jesus Christ, I need to be immersed in the Bible.

I recently finished reading Start with Why by Simon Sinek. I first heard of it after watching a short video called How Great Leaders Inspire Action. Excellent video and excellent book. I learned A LOT from both and highly recommend both. They can teach you so much about being a leader, being an innovator, leading a company, business, and even a church.

But while it is an insightful book and video, it is also just a topic. It is just a tool that can be used to become or be a better leader, innovator, businessmen, church council member, etc.

What I’m getting at is that tools only get you so far in being a disciple of Jesus Christ.

As a disciple, I want to have as many tools in my tool box as I can get.

But without the Bible, I’ll just have a cluttered tool box.

But with the Bible, there’s practically no limit to where I can go using those tools as a disciple of Christ.

The reason this is so is because the Word of God, the Bible, is powerful.

Psalm 29:4 says, “The voice of the Lord is powerful.” Through the Word God created the universe. Through the Word God redeemed sinners. Through the Word God will re-created a new heaven and a new earth.

The Bible. That’s where all topics, all tools, get their power. Start with the Word and there’s no telling how powerful God will make you in this world!