When Governor Felix heard the preacher he kept under arrest talk about resurrection he was interested to hear more, as was his wife. It doesn’t matter who you are, how low or high your position is in life, most people want to have some hope for what comes after death.Felix had another motive as well. He thought since Paul was an influential leader of a religious group that they would want to bail him out, or more precisely bribe him out. As interested as he was in the afterlife he was even more interested in this life.“A few days later (after hearing Paul for the first time) Felix and his wife, Drusilla, who was Jewish, sent for Paul and listened to him talk about a life of believing in Jesus Christ. As Paul continued to insist on right relations with God and his people (righteousness), about a life of moral discipline (self-control) and the coming Judgment, Felix felt things getting a little too close for comfort (became afraid) and dismissed him. ‘That's enough for today. I'll call you back when it's convenient.’ At the same time he was secretly hoping that Paul would offer him a substantial bribe. These conversations were repeated frequently (often)” Acts 24:24-26 (MSG, parentheses mine).What Felix wanted to hear and what Paul told him were two different things. Felix liked the thought of going to heaven but he didn’t care for having to think about right and wrong, morality, and especially judgment. He was part of the Roman elite, the powerful who had tremendous leeway when it came to their actions, their morality, and accountability, as long as they did not conflict with the interests of the emperor. This preacher was making him feel guilty, didn’t not grant him the luxury of appeasing his conscience as to his deeds, his standing before God. This preacher left him no wiggle room as to what would be overlooked and what wouldn’t be. This preacher highlighted his responsibility to exercise morality beyond what was acceptable in Rome, but would stand up in the judgment of God. On top of all that this preacher was making sense, this wasn’t irrational religious nonsense.Felix was smart enough to realize the implications of the truths this preacher was laying out before him. If was going to have real hope beyond death and the judgment of God he would have to face his accountability to God for his actions, for his past, now and in the future. He would have to seek forgiveness. He would have to humble himself. He would have to believe in and follow Jesus Christ, who alone can atone for, propitiate for a person’s sins, bring him/her safely through the judgment of God, raise the dead, and grant eternal life.Felix did what many do at that point of understanding, the point where God, where Christ gets too close for comfort, where you have to repent and believe. He sent the preacher away, “I’ll call you back when it is convenient,” He kept it on his terms, not God’s.Felix did have the preacher back, “often” we are told. He knew what he was hearing was the truth, but as far as we can tell he kept checking out when it got “to close for comfort.” Two years later he was transferred, we do not know what became of him. What we do know is real hope, resurrection hope is only found in Jesus Christ.Maybe this pastor’s note is a little too close for comfort? Will you check out or will you believe?To God be all glory, Pastor Hans
The Cardboard Box
I don’t know how the small cardboard box ended up at the youth yard sale raising money for camp, but it did. Cristy brought it to the office; it was leaking ashes, someone’s ashes. No urn, no burial, not even a deliberate sprinkling of the ashes at some meaningful or beautiful spot. They just got picked up in the standard box, were stashed somewhere, and finally where scooped up with a bunch of other no longer wanted stuff and taken to the yard sale at the church. No takers though, some stranger’s ashes are not what people are looking for.What a contrast it was to Lodgie’s memorial service held in our church’s sanctuary while the yard sale wrapped up in the parking lot. People came from far and wide, wept, gave glowing eulogies, played beautiful music, sang their hearts out, gave praise and glory to God for her life, her influence, her contribution, and her love. Brought together by her death they lingered long afterwards to reminisce, to remember, to comfort each other. There was no obscurity here, no carelessness, to Lodgie’s family and to us our church family that would have been unthinkable, she was too precious, too valuable, too much of a blessing.I knew Lodgie. I have nothing but speculation about the individual in the cardboard box. However, I think the chances of your remains ending up in a dusty, uncared for, standard box at a yard sale are greatly diminished if you live a life that pleases and honors God. We reap what we sow, “Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith” Galatians 6:7-10 (NLT).Death, our mortality, should cause us to think, should cause us to make better, wiser, and eternally significant choices, “A good reputation is more valuable than costly perfume. And the day you die is better than the day you are born. Better to spend your time at funerals than at parties. After all, everyone dies— so the living should take this to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for sadness has a refining influence on us. A wise person thinks a lot about death, while a fool thinks only about having a good time” Ecclesiastes 7:1-4 (NLT). I don’t think the family of the person in the cardboard box heeded the advice Solomon, it might have been because of what s/he did or did not sow, but we really don’t know. What we do know is that you and I have limited time to do good, to love, to bless, to please and honor God, and then we face the reality of Hebrews 9:27-28, “Just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, so also Christ died once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him” (NLT). Where and how we end up depends on our choices, whose wisdom we follow, and whose power we trust. Lodgie left no doubt, the person whose ashes were in the cardboard box at the youth yard sale, who knows. I know where and how I want to end up, that’s why I trust and follow Jesus Christ.To God be all glory. Love you, Pastor Hans
Your Kingdom Come
“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”Matthew 6:10 (ESV)Why should you and I yearn for, pray for, and work for God’s kingdom to come? Is it worthwhile to completely abandon yourself to God’s kingship, God’s authority, God’s rule? The answer is, “Yes! Yes! A thousand times yes!”Critics and scoffers have maintained that devotion to God and Christ is the root of narrow-mindedness and the cause of all kinds of ills. This is simply not true. What is true is that the disposal of God and any practice of halfhearted devotion causes both narrow-mindedness and all kinds of human ills. Where God is rejected and subjected is where we are far from the kingdom of God. Contrary to the accusations we will never be villains or fools if we commit ourselves to the pursuit of God’s kingdom. “Let your kingdom come.”The overarching reality of God’s kingdom is that his will is done. The subjects of God’s kingdom consistently and completely embrace the will of God, the wisdom of God, the ways of God, and the commandments of God. Have you ever dared to imagine what that looks like? Everyone relating to one another out of heart of love, with no thought of injuring, defrauding, oppressing, or hurting your neighbor for your own ends; no fear of losing out on life because the love of God anchors your life and you know nothing can separate you from it. No need for jealousy because you can freely rejoice in the success of your neighbor, his/her success does not threaten or diminish you, it brings glory to God and that is enough. “My your kingdom come.”People are not dispensable in the kingdom of God, everyone is assigned an eternal place, contribution, and purpose. This is not so with godlessness or idolatry, people are dispensable there. Those who cannot contribute, those who threaten the current power structure, those who became a financial liability, those who can be a means to an end, those believe differently are all dispensable in the kingdoms, philosophies, and man-made religions of our world. Not so with God’s kingdom, sinners, the broken, the feeble, the weak, and the poor are esteemed and invited on the same level as the powerful, the rich, the privileged. “Your kingdom come.”How many keys do you have? How many PIN #s and passwords? When God’s kingdom is fully realized you won’t need any of them because you won’t have to be afraid of someone coveting or stealing your stuff. “Your Kingdom come.”We are not meant to just wait for it, that’s a gross misinterpretation of eschatology. As a follower of Christ I am citizen of the kingdom (Philippians 3:20), I am called to live out God’s kingdom will now, yearn for it now, pray for it to unfold now. But to do so in a world that seeks its own kingdoms will be costly, will require faith, will stretch and challenge us daily, but it is worth it, a thousand times worth it. “Let his kingdom come.”To God be all glory, Pastor Hans
How Many Nails in Easter?
How Many Nails in Easter?The answer is five, Easter has five nails.On what do hang your hopes? Good luck? Your wealth? Your health? Your family and friends? Your own intelligence? An experimental drug? …?What nail does your future hang on? Your charisma? Some special ability? …?I have seen my fair share of rusty, bent, and failed nails - in hospital rooms, hospice beds, at crash sites, in treatment centers, living rooms, jails, prisons, counseling sessions, and at gravesides. I have not only seen them I have experienced failed nails in my own life, the pain, the confusion, the grief, and disappointment that comes with hanging life on the wrong nails.Those Easter nails are significant because they offer us our only shot at real hope, lasting life, getting it right before God. You hang your hopes and your life on anything else and you will in the end find it all broken on the floor like a picture that has fallen off the wall.Five nails. Three made sure Jesus really died. They fastened his hands and feet to a cross until every ounce of his life was drained out. On those three nails hang the redemptive purposes of God. God sacrificed his own Son so that by his death we might have life. One nail held Pilate’s sign posted above Jesus’ head, declaring “the King of the Jews.” Pilate made a common mistake. He didn’t think Jesus had any significance for him. He didn’t post his complete title, “King of Kings, and Lord of Lords." He, like you and I, should have hung his life on Jesus’ identity, but he relegated Jesus to only having significance for the Jews, good for someone else. He stuck with the rusty nails of his own beliefs. And there is the fifth nail, the one that nailed God’s indictment of each one of us to the cross of Christ, the one that lists our personal sins and transgressions, the one that renders each one of us guilty before God. Paul reminded the Colossians who had trusted in Christ, “He made you alive with Him (Christ) and forgave us all our trespasses. He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it out of the way by nailing it to the cross. Colossians 2:13-14 (HCSB, parenthesis mine). It is the nail that spells hope and life for sinners.This Easter examine the nails and make sure your hopes, your future, your life hangs on the Easter nails.To God be all glory, love you, Pastor Hans
Salad Bars, Smorgasbords, and Potlucks
Do you like salad bars? Smorgasbords? How about a good old-fashioned potluck? As a preacher I can do potlucks blindfolded, salad bars don’t get me too excited, and I don’t remember the last time I was at a smorgasbord, although I loved them when I was younger. You know the drill, get a plate, survey the offerings, and fill your plate with everything you love while bypassing the things you don’t like.Growing up my oldest brother loved it when my Mama asked him to dish everybody up. He knew exactly what each one of us didn’t like, so, accompanied with a stupid grin, he would heap our plates with the stuff we didn’t like while quoting the rule, “Was auf dah Tisch kommt wird gessa!” (What’s put on the table will be eaten).How do you approach God? Jesus Christ? Church? The Bible, God’s word? Are all three of them something you loved when you were younger but now you have developed a more discerning palate, a more selective taste when it comes to spiritual things? Do you get out your plate and fill it with all that you love while bypassing what’s not to your liking? Have you shifted to a different cuisine altogether?How do like God? Cuddly and warm? Spicy or just a tiny hint? Loving or just? As the main dish, or side dish, as a dip, or as “but hold the …?”Jesus Christ, do you consider him as a “got to have it,” or “I have to be in the mood,” or “yuck”?What about church? Only if you have to, when it gets scooped onto your plate whether you like or not, but preferably not? Are you the food critic every time you show up?“Oh the Bible, please only the sweet things in it?” “No, just the low calorie stuff, I hate that bloated feeling, some things take forever to digest.” “I have several food allergies, so I have to be very careful what I eat.”The truth is the living God cannot be dished out in portions to our liking, religion can be but God and Jesus Christ cannot. The truth is that my Mama was more like God than my oldest brother (sorry Michael). He delighted in making our lives miserable (he’s changed), she delighted in keeping us alive, in us being well fed, and seeing us grow. She didn’t just give us what we liked (although she often did), she gave us what we needed. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” Matthew 4:4 (ESV, emphasis mine). The truth is when you treat God, Jesus Christ, the church, and the Bible like a salad bar, smorgasbord, or potluck you end up with eclectic and empty spirituality, or with a flabby Christianity with plates full of what we like, yet far from what God and Christ would have us to be; or you become a mere critic of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ, and of his church, and of his word.Allow me to put something on your plate from the Bible, something not all that tasty, but something we need as we try to cope with barbarism, terrorism, evil, enemies, and hate, "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” Matthew 5:43-45 (NIV). “Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice” Proverbs 24:17 (NIV). “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” Romans 12:21 (NIV).To God be all glory, love you, Pastor Hans
I Believe
He said, “I believe.”So I asked him, “Then why are you not married?”He didn’t like where this conversation was going. His girl friend of the past four years tried to come to his rescue, “We’ve had some bad things happen,” she said with tears in her eyes, “We got hurt in church.”“But if I read the Bible correctly getting married would be the right thing to do,” I persisted. I could tell she agreed, and I could tell he didn’t want to agree, he didn’t want to be challenged on what he believed. And part of me can’t blame them; Christians have made a mess out of marriage as much as the non Christian culture. And, yes churches too often hurt people. I know, I lead one, and few people know more about the ugliness that can occur in church than pastors. In fact, and to my shame, I have hurt people. Not intentionally, but I don’t think that makes a lot difference. I have also been hurt, deeply, many times. What does it mean when I say, “I believe?”What does it mean when you say, “I believe?” I was young. I was ready to quit. I was out of church. The last three churches I was a part of were a mess. I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to be a minister after all. I was afraid of becoming a pastor and making a mess myself. I was shocked at how ugly things could get in a church. Somehow I ended up reading in Paul’s letter to the Romans, “So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God” Romans 14:12 (NASB). That’s when God asked me, “What does it mean when you say, ‘I believe,’ Hans? Will you quit believing because things are hard? Are you going to throw in the towel because others are living disobedient? Are you going to use your hurt as an excuse to do your own thing? Are you only going to believe if everything works out and is rosy? Are others responsible for what you do? Are you really going to use the disobedience and unfaithfulness of others as a legitimate reason not be obedient and faithful yourself? Are you buying into that Hans?”“No, Lord, I am not buying this myself. I am just confused and feeling sorry for myself. But I need your help,” was my reply. It hit me, “What if the whole world goes crazy? What if my life falls apart? What if God assigns me suffering, obscurity, and struggle? I will still have to give an account. I will have no one to blame for the choices I have made.”So what does it mean when I say, “I believe?” It means I believe God exists, that He has revealed himself through Jesus Christ, who alone conquered sin and death, who is the way, the truth, and my life. I believe Jesus pursued me as a lost sinner, convicted me of my sin and lostness through the Holy Spirit, and caused me to trust Him with my life for all of my life. I believe Christ saved me from my sin and God’s judgment of sin, keeps me from day to day, and will raise me from the dead even if I die. I believe I have belonged to Christ from the moment I called on his name. I believe Christ has called me to follow him, to live Christlike, to love, and to order my life according to the Bible, God’s written word. I am a servant of Christ, it is His will not mine that is important, it is His purposes not mine that are paramount, and His ways are better than mine. I have no excuse for not loving Him who died for me, no excuse for not serving Him, no excuse for faithlessness and disobedience. Though the whole world around me goes kaput He is able to keep me now and forever. I believe.To God Be all glory, love you, Pastor Hans