Let’s Talk

Where would we be without communication?

I might argue that we’re in this mess (sin) because of a decidedly lack of communication between Adam and Eve.

We need to communicate. With each other and with God.

But there is good communication and bad communication. Could I also add, lazy communication?

Good communication is what God has with us. He communicates clearly His love for us in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Bad communication is what the devil uses against us. He lies, just as he did to Eve, “Did God really say…?”

Today there are so many different ways to talk to other people.

Twitter. Facebook. Myspace. Email. Texting. Instant Messaging.

There really is no reason or excuse not to talk to people. We are more accessible than ever before.

But it is also true that more and more people can hear what we say – even if we never intended to be heard by so many people.

Now, maybe more than ever, it is important to mean what you say and make what you say count!

LiveJournal Tags: communication,Facebook,MySpace,Twitter,God,Jesus Christ

Mowed Down by God

“He will be like rain falling on a mown field, like showers watering the earth.” – Psalm 72:6

Mowing my yard where I grew up was a chore. We had a pretty big back yard. It would take about 2 hours to mow the whole yard with a push-mower. I would divide the yard up into sections because that seemed to make things go a little faster. I guess it’s the sense of accomplishment that achieves this effect. First I would mow a square section right in back of the house. Then I would get the section adjacent to that all the way back to the property line in the back of the yard. Then I would move to a sort-of square in the back corner. Finally I would get the section next to the garage. As I was cutting this last section, it’s shape reminded me of the state of Nevada.

Every Saturday I would have to mow the grass. Not much has changed. Each week I have to mow the grass at my own house as well. In the early Spring I do a silly thing. I put down lawn fertilizer and the result is that when it rains I end up having to mow the grass twice a week.

In Psalm 72, the “king” is compared to a rain failing on a mown field. Walking in a yard that has been newly mowed and after a rain is an exhilarating experience. A quietness seeps over you. Birds sing softly in the trees as water drips from the leaves. Taking your shoes and socks off, you walking through the wet grass and you can feel the life between your toes.

The “king” of Psalm 72 possibly two kings. First King Solomon. He is noted, in most Bibles, as the author of this Psalm and it is a prayer asking God to bless his reign. The second king could be the “King of kings.” Jesus Christ is seen all over the Old Testament, especially in the Book of Psalms. This Psalm could be outlining some of the attributes of Jesus as Messiah-King.

Jesus is like a shower on a newly mown field. He waters and feeds us with His love and blessings. He sustains us with His life-giving showers as He forgives our sins. He takes care of us. At times we must be “mown” – a rather violent treatment that is beneficial for growth. A lawn that is not regularly mown grows to a certain point but then begins to choke itself. God, in His perfect justice and love, disciplines us – “mows” us. And Jesus in His perfect salvation and love showers us with forgiveness and blessing.

“You heavens above, rain down righteousness; let the clouds shower it down. Let the earth open wide, let salvation spring up, let righteousness grow with it; I, the LORD, have created it.” – Isaiah 45:8

LiveJournal Tags: Jesus Christ,God,mow,grass,Psalms,isaiah 45

Change

The day dawned clear and bright. Cool but not yet the promised cold of autumn was in the air. It was a Wednesday. The sound of geese honking filled the crisp morning air.

But there was a sound missing. At first it went unnoticed. But after a few minutes, it became clear that this Wednesday was unlike any Wednesday in America for many decades.

The sound of jet airplanes did not fill the morning sky. Living near a metropolis like Chicago this was unnerving.

It was September 12, 2001.

Nearly 3000 people had died the day before in New York, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. The iconic skyscrapers of the World Trade Center were gone, having been replaced by a smoking hole that smelled of burning death.

They say that America changed on September 11, 2001. And for a while they were right. No airplanes would fly for a week. Professional baseball was put on hold for a couple of days. Ministers planned prayer services and memorial services all across the country – some working together with those they wouldn’t even think of worshiping with on September 10.

America did change on that day. September 12, 2001 was a very different day.

But would it last?

Looking back nine years later, there are some things that have changed but most others did not. Places of worship were full(er) on September 15 & 16, 2001, but most did not see a repeat of that attendance the following weekend. Air travel and baseball had resumed. People went back to work, back to school, back to living a “normal” life.

Yes, air travel had changed. Now you can’t bring a bottle of water through the security check point and you have to take off your shoes. We’ve gotten used to the color “orange” in the last nine years.

But other than that, I don’t see that much has changed.

Which leads me to the question, “What does it take to change the lives of people today?”

A great triumph like winning a war or a great tragedy like September 11, 2001 cause a pause, but do they really enact true and lasting change? If they cannot, what can?

The answer is paradoxical. The answer is ironic. The one thing that can enact true change is Jesus Christ, who is “the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

The one who does not change – Jesus, the Son of God – is the only one who can bring true change to a person’s heart and life.

Many thought that 9/11 would bring lasting change to American lives. That the attacks would turn peoples’ hearts back to God and that the places of worship would be full once again. The American memory recalls that this is what happened after December 7, 1941, and V-E Day and V-J Day.

But unless the heart is broken to repent of sin and turn to the everlasting peace of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, this change will not last, and for most will not happen at all.

Be the change you want to see in the world. Not even tremendous and horrendous acts like 9/11 can bring true and lasting change. But the one more powerful than anything in the universe can.

Jesus Christ brings change because He brings forgiveness of sins. Through the truest love in the universe Jesus died on cross to pay the price for all our sin. On that day – the first century’s “9/11” – true change came on the following Sunday. Places of worship weren’t filled like they were following our 9/11. It wasn’t a full place but an empty place that brought terrific change to the world – the empty tomb of Jesus Christ. He rose from the dead and lives and reigns to all eternity.

And Jesus loves you with a changeless – and life-changing – love. That will bring true and lasting change to your life.

© 2010 True Men Ministries, Inc.

LiveJournal Tags: change,9/11,Jesus Christ,September 11

Open the Door

In Genesis 19, the two angels that had accompanied the Lord as He visited Abraham at the Oaks of Mamre (Genesis 18) went on to Sodom and knocked on Abraham’s nephew Lot’s door. 2000 years before Jesus is born, Lot shows hospitality to these two strangers – not knowing they were really God’s angels. He showed great hospitality to them, and the Epistle to the Hebrews has this in mind when it tells us of one of the basic missions of our Christian faith.

Showing hospitality to strangers is how we can show the love of Christ to others. Most likely, there has been a time that a stranger has knocked on your door. How did you respond? Did you show them hospitality?

What did you do when you found out that the stranger was a Mormon on his mission trip? What did you do when you found out that the stranger was a Jehovah’s Witness on her mission trip?

I know of people who slam the door in their face. I know of people who yell at them that they are going to hell! I know of people who tell them, “I’m a Lutheran and I believe in the Bible” and then get into a bit of a theological argument with them.

These may not be angels from God. They may just be ordinary people who happen to disagree with what you believe about God. But does that mean you can’t offer them a cookie or a muffin or a cold drink of water on a hot day? You may not want to hear about the Mormon Church or hear that the end of the world is coming. But does that mean you can’t offer them a chance to get out of the hot sun into a cool home and sit for a couple of minutes and rest?

I do not agree with Mormon Theology about Salvation. I believe that a person is saved only by faith in Jesus Christ – True God and True Man – and His death and resurrection for the forgiveness of sins. (http://www.lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=2708) I disagree with Mormon Theology that salvation is conditional (http://www.mormonwiki.com/Plan_of_Salvation) and that “God is a glorified, perfect, all-powerful, all-knowing, resurrected man.” (http://www.mormonbeliefs.org/mormon_beliefs/mormon-doctrine-salvation)

But does that mean I slam my door in their face when they come to my house? No! Jesus said to love all people. He spoke and ate and listened to those He disagreed with. And sometimes Jesus was able to change their minds and their hearts by sharing the Truth with them. The Truth is not a door slammed in the face. The Truth is love and compassion that opens the lines of communication. Truth is best shared through hospitality!

Two young men or women, wearing black pants and white shirts and ties may knock on your door this week. Or someone from across the street may stop by to say hi. You can slam the door in their face or you can open your door, show them hospitality and share the love of Jesus with them.

Open those doors and share the love!

© 2010 True Men Ministries, Inc.

LiveJournal Tags: Jesus Christ,hospitality,sharing,evangelism,Mormon

Insanity

One definition of insanity is doing something over and over again expecting a different results.

I can understand trying something twice or thrice with the hope that “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”

But there has to come a time when I realize that doing certain things the same way and hoping for a more successful outcome is, at best, a waste of time, and at worse, a tremendous waste of the resources that God has graciously given me.

As a creature of habit, doing something different is hard for me. I’ve been trained to do certain things in a certain way. Many times, this is a good thing. For example, I’ve been celebrating Christmas the same way for the last 15 years. However, I’ve never looked for a different outcome at Christmas.

But leading people, preaching, teaching – these are things that I’ve also been trained to do in a specific way. And I’ve been looking for a different outcome over the years – a more successful outcome.

I want to lead people into a more personal and active relationship with Jesus Christ. I want to preach sermons that engage more people in ways that the Holy Spirit can more readily use to make people disciples of Jesus Christ. I want to teach people about living the full life that Jesus promised.

15 years ago, I graduated from seminary thinking that I had all the answers about how to do all three of these things successfully. Now I’ve reached the point where I can admit “I don’t know nuthin’.”

I tried to do it the way I learned at seminary. I read books, journals, resources. I went to seminars, symposia, and conferences.

In the spirit of 1970’s British comedy troop, my leading, preaching, and teaching is ready “now for something completely different.”

This should be interesting.

LiveJournal Tags: Jesus Christ,leadership,insanity,change

Love You Can Touch

I’ve been listening to an audio book the last week or so – Susan Isaacs’ Angry Conversations with God. It has been an eye-opening and heart-touching experience.

This blog is not about that, however. Listening to her book led me to her website, which led me to her blog, and her latest blog post is her eulogy / obituary of her cat, Honey.

First, let me say that I’m not a cat person. I used to say that I hated cats, but actually I was just posing for all the dog people in my life and in the world. I don’t hate cats. When I was in high school our family had a cat – a deaf, albino cat named “Snow” who’s meow sounded like a baby wailing (a foreshadowing to the days when my wife and I would wake in the middle of the night to the sound of one of our infant sons wanting to be fed).

That was the only cat I ever had. She was an ok cat. Cats usually don’t come when you call them, but Snow had a perfect excuse – she couldn’t hear! But she did snuggle and she was soft and, really, what more can you ask of a cat?

After my wife and I were married, before we had children, we agreed that we wanted to get a pet and we decided on a dog. Actually, I think I make the whole decision and either conned her into it or persuaded her with my awesome debating skills.

We got a puppy – a black Labrador Retriever we named Seamus. The name came from a golden Lab my best friend in high school had. “Moosie” was a great dog that made our lives full of life and love. He cuddled with us through the night, keeping us warm on long, cold, winter nights in Michigan and Wisconsin. He loved to swim and play in the snow.

When our first son was born, we did the things that the “Book” said to do (What to Expect When You Are Expecting). I took the blanket that EJ was wrapped in at the hospital home so Moosie could sniff it and get used to the addition to our family. When EJ came home, Moosie camped under his crib during the night for the first week or so. He was kind and gentle with EJ and a great companion for him.

When Moosie was 12 years old, his hip dysplasia became so bad he couldn’t walk anymore and we knew that it was time. He was in pain all the time. He would look at me with that sad look that only a dog can pull off well. That was one of the hardest days of my life, saying good bye to him. I think EJ took it the hardest. He had to learn one of those life lessons at age 10.

Moosie epitomized what Susan Isaacs calls in her latest blog post “love you can touch.”

I know that God loves me. I know the Bible verses – John 3:16, Romans 5:8, 1 John 3:16.   But let’s face reality – we cannot physically touch God’s love, not in this lifetime. The Bible says we cannot even look upon God and live (Exodus 33:20). And what is love without touch? I don’t know what it is, but I wouldn’t call it love.

Maybe that’s why God gave us people like ourselves (“bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh”) and animals. We could love and touch them, and thus experience, in some way, the love God has for us.

When Jesus walked this earth, He made a point of touching those who needed it the most. Some people He healed with just a spoken word. But there were those who, I suspect, needed to be touched, longed to be touched, that Jesus deliberately healed with a touch. Just in the Gospel of Matthew alone:

Matthew 8:2-4

Matthew 8:14-16

Matthew 9:28-30

Matthew 17:6-8

Matthew 20:33-34

Being able to touch and be touched is a fundamental human need. Infants do not thrive without being touched. You can tell – from a distance – a couple who are in love because they hold hands or in some other way tenderly touch each other.

God reaches out to us and touches us through His Son Jesus Christ. True, this mostly happens as a spiritual touch. But maybe that’s one of the reasons we have pets – to be able to experience God’s love we can touch.

© 2010 True Men Ministries, Inc.

 

LiveJournal Tags: Jesus Christ,Christ,God,love,touch,pets,dog,cat

Cancer, Change, and Other Things that Scare Me

I don’t think I ever liked to be scared. When I was about eleven or twelve years old I went with my parents to one of their friend’s house for dinner and desert. The adults stayed upstairs playing cards while us kids went downstairs to watch TV. A movie was on – Godzilla I think. Not a particularly scary movie – more fun than scary. But it was on “Creature Feature” on the local TV station. At every commercial break I would hide my eyes as the movie was about to come on because the title screen for “Creature Feature” was Lon Chaney as the original Phantom of the Opera. Godzilla didn’t scare but the Phantom sure did. I hated it. I don’t think I ever liked scary movies.

Now that I’m older, there are other things that scare me more than images from classic horror movies.

Today I spent two hours with a good friend who is in the hospital recovering from surgery. He found out this past week that he has colon cancer. The word - “cancer” – has a very scary ring to it. I’m scared that my friend may die. Of course, I know he’s going to die sometime – we all will. Unless Jesus comes back during our lifetimes, no one gets out of this life alive. But just because something is inevitable doesn’t mean it isn’t scary.

Thankfully, we think that the doctors caught the cancer early enough and it is very treatable. But still…. Scary.

Only thing that scares me is change. The night before I got married I knew life was going to change forever for me. And I was a little scared (but also very much looking forward to it – love will do that to a guy). When I found out I was going to be a father for the first time, I was scared. Having children changes everything. Each time I’ve moved I’ve been scared – a change of scenery scares me a little bit – the unknowns of it.

Change is the only constant, I’ve heard. I don’t “do change” very well. Maybe its because I’m a Lutheran-Christian. Change doesn’t come easy for me in my “tribe” of Christianity (as Len Sweet calls it). Which is kind of silly, really. I’m mean, of all the tribes of Christianity, Lutherans might be the ones who should embrace change best of all. It was Martin Luther that profoundly changed the Western World in the 16th Century AD.

Lon Chaney – the master of change in the early movies; Martin Luther – the great changer of the 16th Century; Cancer; Moving; all of these changes are scary to me.

Why do things have to change? Wasn’t I happy before things changed? Well, sure. But I must admit, I was getting a little bored, too. I was looking for change, even though it was scary.

I must face the truth – change happens. I think it is safe to say that change has to happen. Sometimes I wish it didn’t. Isn’t there anything that doesn’t change? It seems the older I get the more change there is. It seems like the world is changing faster and faster each day.

What doesn’t change? The love of my wife? Ok, yes. She told me she loved me 20 years ago and has told me every day since. But no, that isn’t right either. Her love for me has changed. Because I’m not the man she fell in love with 20 years ago. Her love for me – while still very strong, rock-solid even – has changed through years. The same can be said of my love for her. Today she’s not the woman I married. She’s even more beautiful and lovely today! My sons have changed over the last 14 years. They are growing up. My calling as a pastor has changed through the years – I’m still growing up.

ISN’T THERE ANYTHING THAT DOESN’T CHANGE?

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8

Where there is cancer and the many changes that it brings, Jesus is there changeless – He loves and strengthens and, when it is God’s will, even heals!

There there is a change in location or ministry or career– as scary as that is – Jesus is there changeless – He loves and strengthens and heals the fear and hurt that sometimes come with change

Change is inevitable. Jesus Christ and His love for You is the only thing that will never change.

And the next time I’m scared of change, I’ll remember this. Without change, there would be no butterflies.

LiveJournal Tags: Jesus Christ,change,Lutherans,Lon Chaney,love,Hebrews