You Can't Get Me!

When I was little, I used to play a game called "You Can't Get Me!" I would tempt the adult, that I really wanted to get me, with these words. When they would try to catch me, I would run as fast as I could, hoping they would run a little faster and actually get me. As a greanparent, I have seem my grandkids do the same thing. I usually act like I am uninterested, and when they least expect me I grab them and give them a hug, a kiss or a tickle! They squeal and run off when I let them go. All is fun for everyone.

As a pastor, I see the same thing. People show up at the church for a couple of Sundays, and then they are gone. Maybe a few months, or even a few years, later, they show up again. This time they stay around for a two or more weeks and then all of a sudden they are gone again. One man that I know, has done this a half dozen times or more.

This morning on my way to the office, I was pondering the fact that once again he seems to have disappeared after being here three weeks in a row. God spoke to me through his Word. John 16:9-11 pretty well sums it up. In a very loose "Gary" paraphrase, it reads like this. When the Holy Spirit comes, he is going to get you! He is going to love on you, kiss you, and tickle you." Most of us might run, hoping to entice him to run a little faster for the sake of game. But this man, and others, don't get the idea that you have to slow down if you want the person chasing you to catch you. It is one thing to run, but it is another thing to run so fast that you can't be caught!

I had a dog once that liked to play the running game. His whole objective was to run, me chase him, and he never get caught. He would tire, and start sniffing around a bush. I would get within arms reach of him and as soon as he would see me about to catch him, off he would go. I finally became so grieved with that dog, that I took the attitude, "When you get ready to come home, you can do it on your own. If you get hit by a car, mangled by a bigger dog or even get hungry, you are on your own." Over the next two or three years, that dog became so hard to deal with that we finally gave him away to someone who thought they could help him. They eventually took him to the vet and had him put to sleep!

According to Bible prophesy, the results in the end for those who will never let themselves be caught by the Holy Spirit, is death! Maybe we should get serious about the running games we play with the Lord and let him catch us! Think about it...

Sawdust In Your Eye- Part 2

I'm still working on this fireplace surround at home. I have sanded it and clear coated it. I steel wooled the first finish and recoated it with clear coat again. It is beginning to look real nice. At the same time, I am still thinking about sawdust in my eye. What has really made me think about it is the fact that I am quite perfect! And since I am so perfect, it is real easy for me to see the faults of all the people around me. Boy, you guys have a lot of faults! You should really get busy and clean them up so you can be perfect like I am.

Jesus addressed something about this in Luke 6:41 & 42. It reads, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye." Wow! This is really deflating! Afterall, I thought I was so perfect. Seriously, why is it easy to see all the wrong in other people and not realize the size of the board in our own eye? I can pick someone around me apart and all the time I am worse than they ever dared to be! Maybe it is my nature. Maybe it is something I learned from my parents. Maybe I'm not as perfect as I think I am. Hey, Brother, can you lend me a hand? I have a quite large board that I need to remove from my eye! Think about it!

Sawdust In Your Eye!

I've spent the last two days working on a new surround for our fireplace at home. This morning, I had to get back over to the office and get some things done! After cleaning up the mess in the living room, I decided to clean up the mess that I had become after two days. I showered, shaved and put on clean clothes. As I was sitting on the deck, drinking one more cup of coffee, I blinked and realized I had sawdust in my eye. I was kind of shocked after showering and shaving that sawdust could still be around to get into my eye!

Then I realized that my glasses were covered in sawdust. The sawdust did two things to me. It really altered my vision and it also hurt. I did what I could to get it out of my eye and was eventually successful. But, after the fact, I began to think of the spiritual ramifications of the moment. I realized that it wasn't the only moment that my vision had been altered in the process of building the surround for our fireplace.

We bought our house thirteen years ago. It was brand new and it had a fireplace in the living room. The fireplace was nice to have but I never really liked the oak box that was built around it. It wasn't something that I figured I could ever do anything about and so I live with it. I never really liked it, but lived with it anyway. We have been doing some updating in the house. We began to have some kitchen appliances go bad and decided to replace them. That meant that we had to put in new counter tops because the old just wasn't modern enough. You all know the routine. The carpet was beginning to show wear and tear after thirteen years of living and two dogs and twelve grandkids. We debated back and forth over hardwood or carpet. We spent months trying to make a decision. We finally decided to go with the carpet instead of hardwood floors. Now we were at the moment of decision. I had in my mind to redo the oak box around the fireplace. I had a man who said he could do it for me, but at the last minute he couldn't get the time before the carpet layers came. It was do or die!

My hesitation came over whether I could do it and it would look professional or shoddy. I didn't want it to look shoddy as the focal point of the living room. I could see the fireplace surround in my mind. I spent a lot of time looking at fireplace surrounds on the internet. I just couldn't convince myself that I could do it and it would look good. As I look back at the situation, you might say I had sawdust clouding my vision even before I cut the first board! I finally got out my knife, got on my knees and cut the old carpet around the old fireplace surround., With that broad cut of the carpet, I was committed to finish the project. I did!

My understanding "If you can see it you can have it!" has been reinforced in my mind. David wrote in the Bible, "Open the eyes of my heart, Lord!" Jesus talked about getting our eyes opened to true understanding. Most people don't understand what they can have in the spiritual realm, because they go through life with spiritaul sawdust in their eyes. They never understand what God has for them in the way of abundance and blessings because so many people around them hold them back and say it can't be done. Do some research and get into the Word of God and you will find that you can do it, too. Ask some friends who are followers of Jesus Christ what they know about spiritual things. There is a whole new life out their for those who will just get on their knees and get started by asking Jesus into their life! Think about it!

Change!

Lord, help me! I just logged in to write a blog and the format has all changed. I just figured out the old way of doing things so I can actually get something done. Now I am looking at everything different and when I get done here I won't know if it is going to go through or not until I can or can't read it. Facebook changes constantly to the point that I barely trust it to do what it is supposed to do. By the way, I see that Facebook's going public on the stock market fell flat on its face today. No wonder. They probably changed the terms six times in the day. Anyhow, I do wish they would change it back to the simple way it was and leave it alone. My smartphone is so not smart (my wife won't let me say "dumb") it can't figure what changed over night. What I did yesterday, never works today. What I expect to happen when I go to look for something never happens anymore and then I have to figure out how to get out whatever I am in. It drives me nuts! It is a good thing in this ever changing world that God does not change! He is the same today as he was yesterday and as he will be tomorrow! That is a promise we need to stick in our hearts and hold claim to. What if he said yesterday, "Just accept my Son, Jesus, and you can be saved!" Think about that! Especially if he said today, "Only those who can site the Ten Commandments are going to be saved!" And tomorrow he says, "I don't think I will save anyone for any reason." We would be just like I am with my smart(not so smart)phone! We wouldn't what to count on. But, God does not change! We can count on his promise that if we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we will be saved! I love it when things stay the same and we can count on them through thick and thin! Think about it!

The Lord Needs It!

Yesterday I preached both services at our Palm Sunday celebration. It was fairly easy to pick out a text as I usually preach about the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. The people were so excited to see Jesus they cut palm branches down and laid them in his path as a royal carpet for him. Always in the past, I have focused on the statement Jesus made toward the end of the text after the Pharisees told him to make his disciples be quiet! Jesus said, If they are silenced, the rocks will cry out!"

Yesterday I focused on how the people could celebrate and worship him one day and a week later call for his crucifixion on the cross! I said they were "fickle," or not loyal and easily swayed! I went on to make the point, twenty one hundred years later, we are just as fickle! We are in church one Sunday worshipping and clapping and singing our hearts out and the next Sunday we are off playing golf, or fishing or sleeping in or whatever our own desire plays in front of us. Jesus is Lord one Sunday and our lawn is Lord the next!

The point that I made is that we go through life as tied up to the post as was the donkey that Jesus needed. The text says that the donkey was never ridden. We speculated why that point was made in scripture. Some thought it was that the donkey was pure. Honestly, how pure can a smelly donkey be? There were some other ideas shared, but I pointed out that this donkey was standing in a village, where there people, and he was not being used for the purpose he was created. Smelly as he was, inexperienced as he was, young as he was, THE LORD NEEDED HIM!

Part of our fickleness today is that we don't understand how much the LORD NEEDS US TO GET HIS WORK ACCOMPLISHED ON THIS EARTH! We are his hands and feet. He has work for us to do that will build his church, stretch his body and build up his family! If you are not serving in anyway in your church, hear these words...THE LORD NEEDS YOU! Think about it!

Steadfastness- Part Three

Okay! I admit that I am on a roll--maybe I'm hammering away on my soap box a little too strong on the issue of steadfastness! God has been putting this on my heart and it does seem to be important for the overall health of the church!

We have just finished a picture directory at New Life Bible Church. One of our members came up with the idea of creating a picture board in the hallway so we can look at a face and see the family's name at the same time. I have taken those pictures and compiled them into a directory that we can all have. It is in the process of putting this directory together that I realized how many people are so inconsistant in their attendance at church. In the six weeks that we took pictures for this directory, some families, who are of major importance to our weekly fellowship as a church, have never showed up--never showed up in six weeks time! Others got into the directory and have never been back since. That completely blows my mind! This is your eternity that you are fooling around with people! Let's take it a little more seriously!!!

Think about this. What would my bank do if I continued to draw off the benefits of having a checking account and decided that I no longer needed to make deposits of any kind in that account? What would my boss at work do if I decided to show up to get my check but quit coming to work three weeks ago-with not so much as as phone call to explain what was going on. How would my wife feel if I told her that I was just too busy to come home to her at night and she didn't see me or hear from me for a month and half! None of us would ever consider any of the above actions, and figure we could get away with it!

But when it comes to the spiritual side of life-worshipping God in spirit and truth-we have this idea that if we show up once or twice a year, that is all he needs! Satan is alive and well and has far too many people deceived! Our spiritual needs, which should be the most important part and consistant part of our lives, becomes next to nothing in our search for a satisfying life! Many of us are missing the very thing, the teachings of Jesus, who gives us life and gives it abundantly (John 10:10)! Think about it!

Steadfastness- Part Two!

I have been waiting until this morning to finish my thoughts on being steadfast! Yesterday I spent some time talking about the negative side, or not being steadfast. It is really defeating to look at all those who have come into fellowship with Jesus Christ and then walked away because a varity of really poor reasons. What is worse is seeing the destruction that has come in most of their lives over their wrong choices.

Today I want to talk about those who have been committed and steadfast in their service to Jesus! We have people at New Life that have served the Lord faithfully since the day they committed their lives to him. Those people serve where ever and when ever they can. I know of one lady who taught a childrens class for fifty years or more. The kids loved her and she loved them. We have people who clean the church faithfully. They drive 30 miles to get here and they are here five days a week. They do all the purchasing of supplies and food that we need for all of our various ministries. They work with the senior citizens and help with funeral meals. They help out in our Kidzone ministry at a moments notice.

Another man used to come to church a half hour early and weed the flower beds before every Sunday service. He had served the Lord his entire Christian life and because of his age was not able to do the things he had before. That didn't stop him from being steadfast! He simply found another way that he could do something for Jesus!

The church, our church and the church all over the world, operates on the loyalty, support and love of people like I have mentioned today. They aren't looking for some petty excuse to move to another church or quit coming all together. If they are offended for any reason, they practice forgiveness and love and continue to work in any way possible. These people are steadfast! What about you? Think about it!

Steadfastness!

Steadfastness is a big word! It is one that many people don't use, don't understand and certainly don't incorporate into their lifestyle. Divorce, for an example, is an example of the lack of steadfastness in our society! God tells us that he hates divorce, but the divorce rate- in the world and in Christianity- is now higher than ever! As soon as our spouse does something that goes against what we want, gets sick or almost any other excuse, we change our attitude toward him or her and we go in search of someone else! What ever happened to our wedding vows when we said "for better or for worse!" Of course! We never imagined there could be any "worse!"

This blog isn't just to harp on divorce. What about loyalty to our church? How about being steadfast in our role as a part of the body of Christ! I can't imagine any body anywhere that could survive very long if the heart or the lungs or the kidneys, or any part for that matter, just didn't show up for five or six weeks at a time. Float in and float out and have absolutely no responsibility to the rest of the body at all- a total lack of steadfastness! As a society, can you imagine how sick we would all be? It is a good thing God knew what he was doing when he connected our brains and the rest of our organs together. Personally, I'm glad they have all been steadfast in my body for the last 65 years!

Pastor Tim spoke on serving yesterday in his message. It was an excellent message and our attendance was as big as it has been in the first three months of 2012! The problem was that there were a lot of people who should have heard the message- it would have made a huge difference in their daily lives- that didn't, because guess what? They were no where to be found! Their chairs were empty and they left everyone else in the body of Christ hanging on their own. No support! No service! No explanation as to why they weren't there! No steadfastness- no responsibility to anyone but themselves! The sad part is that it is "themselves" who will be hurt in the long run!

Paul wrote in I Timothy 4:1, "The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons." Paul says in II Timothy 3:1, "But mark this: there will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slandorous, without self control, brutal, not lovers of good, treacherous, rash conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God- having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them." Wow! Paul prophesies that people will be anything but steadfast in the last days before the return of Christ! What about you? Think about it!

Next blog-Steadfastness, Part 2- There are some really great people who serve God on a daily basis.

Remaining Faithful To The Call

Yesterday I wrote about getting a call from God, a request from him to serve him in ministry! I remember the day just as clear as if it happened yesterday. At first, I didn't think I wanted to do it. I gave up all sorts of excuses, but sooner than I would have imagined, I gave in and said, "Ok. But we have to do this together!" We have worked together through the last 25 years of my life. It has had some great moments and some bad moments, but I am still in full time ministry.

Over the years, I have had different influences in my life try to pull me away. At about the same time that I was starting the work at New Life in Winnebago, I had an opportunity to buy a meat market! It was so tempting, and if God had not intervened (another story in itself), I would have surely been pulled out of ministry with the work that market would have caused.

I have been continually tempted with sin in many different forms. Sin is just giving into my own evil desires. Sometimes I have stood successfully against it and other times I haven't done as well. But God has been always faithful and forgiven me as he says he will.

Most recently, my health has done a lot to drive me out of ministry. I have slowed down considerably, but I have not stopped. Again, I thank God for faithful partners in our effort to spread the good news across the area we live in and even around the world.

What's my point? Everyone of us face constant struggles in life--mostly designed by Satan to pull us away from serving the Lord and Savior who called us into the family of God. Stand your ground! Don't let the little things spoil your service to God! Most of the excuses I hear are so petty that I simply shake my head as I listen to them. Don't use excuses to show unfaithfulness toward a faithful God! Use backbone and stamina to stand firm for the Lord and serve him through thick and thin! Think about it!

I Got The Call

About a month ago, my daughter in Green Bay called and asked if we could watch the kids for two weeks-one week at our house while they were off for spring break and the second week at her house while she had a banking seminar in Florida. We agreed that we would. For two weeks our routine has been anything but normal, and I have to admit that deep inside of me is a piece of me that says, "We will never do this again!"

I love my grandkids. I love being around them and I love being a part of their lives. I just got back from taking both of them to school. And again, that very small piece of me says, "What a drag!" But I realize that I have just spent a very small portion of the grand scheme of their lives sharing something with them that will go down as a memory in thier minds. As I took Isaiah to school this morning we had a conversation that I hope will make a difference in his life from this day forward. I took him to the Wisconsin DMV twice in the last two days as he tries to get his drivers license. The move to Wisconsin has complicated things in a big way for him. In some small way, I believe that helping him work out all the details will mean something to him in the next few years as he grows into a man. I took the kids out for ice cream last night and spent some quality time enjoying each other, and all of Isaiah's friends as they came in for ice cream, too. Jared came up with us to see Jaelyn and it has been interesting seeing a side of him I had never seen before.

All in all, we were called to do an important mission. We will complete that mission tomorrow. We were able to serve Tera, our daughter in a moment of need. Tired as we are, we have benefited from it. We know the kids have benefited from it, too!

So what is this all about? Twenty four years ago I got another call from someone else. I felt God Almighty tap me on the shoulder and tell me he needed me to help him for a period of time. Just as I had the option with Tera, I could have told him I just wasn't able to do it. Or I didn't want to do it! Or I was too busy with all that I had going on! But just as I did with Tera when she called, I did with God! I get tired, and his work messes with my routine, and his people mess with my mind! But I don't regret one moment of what I have faced since saying, "Yes, Lord! I will do what you want me to do!"

What about you? Do you feel God calling you to do something for him? How do you respond? Think about it!

We're Starving To Death!

In recent weeks there have been several families, all a part of our church family, quit coming to church! As the spiritual leader of the church family that bothers me! Others in the church, come to me and say, "What happened to such and such family? We haven't seen them for many weeks!" My response far too often is, "I don't know. They seem to have dropped off the face of the earth!"

Now that is probably a little extreme! I really doubt that anyone has dropped off the face of the earth. With the size of our congregation, I realize after a couple of weeks that someone has been missing. After a month or more, I began to make some attempt to get in touch with people. Believe me, in this super day of technology and electronics, if someone doesn't want to be gotten in touch with, there is just about nothing anyone can do to make them respond when you reach out to them.
E-mails, Facebook messages and telephone calls all go pretty much unanswered. Stopping by the house unannounced is just about worthless, too, because you simply can't find people home anymore.

Seeing them in a restaurant or the super-market goes something like this. "Hey, how are you doing?" "Oh, we're just fine." "I've been trying to get ahold of you." "Oh, I know. We've just been so busy!" "I've missed you at church!" "I know. We've all been so sick lately." I'm sorry to hear that! Is everyone okay now?" "Ya! I think we have all finally beat the bug!" "Well, can I count on you being in church on Sunday?" "No! We're going to my brother's house in Dubuque this weekend!" "I'm sorry to hear that! I do hope you realize the importance of having your family in church on Sundays." "Oh, Pastor, you know we love it there. We'll be back soon!" But, "soon" never comes and after a while, the habit of going to church is broken and the damage is never repaired.

In my nearly 25 years of pastoral ministry, I have had conversations like the above paragraph, hundreds if not thousands of times. In almost every case, the parents who needed to have their weekends free, have paid a great price with the destructive consequences to their marriage or to the raising of their children. Why do you suppose that is?

I looked on the Internet and found some information on hunger strikes. They started out as a way to make things happen in the political realm. But they were soon overcome by the people they were trying to motivate, simply by them not making a big deal of it. The striking person eventually starved to death. Moms and Dads who are taking their kids out of the spiritual realm of the church are simply assuring that they, and their kids, will starve to death spiritually after a matter of time.

The Bible tells us that in the last days before the return of Jesus Christ to the earth, there will be a huge falling away from the church. My prayer is that if you are missing church Sunday after Sunday, you will quit messing around with something that is very important to your living, both now and for eternity! Think about it!

Grandkids Are Awesome

Last night we had a little get together for the family. We have seveal birthdays in February and March and so we celebrated those special days. Our family has changed since the days when we went to grandma and grandpa's and there were usually our four kids, and maybe my sister's three. But we seldom all got together in one spot.

Last night we had 11 or our 12 grandkids in one small space. It was chaotic but joyfull! Our getting together has changed, and will change more, it the next year. Ashley is at Taylor University and doesn't get home for everything that happens. Tera and her two kids moved to Green Bay, WI last summer and now they aren't around as much. Lindsey is graduating from High School in a few weeks and she will be going off to college.

I don't like it to be that way but that is the way life goes sometimes. We have to flow with the punches as they come. For the most part, Glenda and I have been blessed in so many ways that it is hard to count. It is inevitable that those little chubby cheeked cherubs will grow up and go off to make a life for themselves someday. My prayer is that in it all, I have been faithful to God to show my grandkids that He loves them and He wants them to love him too. Ashley is studying neuroscience and may discover some cure for Autism or concussions or who knows what in her research over the years to come. Little Isaiah, now 6'4" tall, could play for the NFL or NBA in the years to come. Justin has a heart of gold and is so concerned about lost people who don't know Jesus! I suspect he will will follow in Daddy and Grandpa's footsteps. And Lindsey...? I don't know about her and the direction that she will go. But I do know that whatever she sets her heart to do, she will be great at it.

The rest of the kids have a way to go before they start making life decisions about what they will do. Jaelyn and Jared stayed with grandma and grandpa last night. Levi and Samual went home to Beloit. Those four are all very close together in age. They will be the next group going off to college and starting life on their own. But that is a ways away and I am going to enjoy them while they are still at home.

Thank you, God, for all these blessing, big and little! They are a joy to my heart and I truly love them all!