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
More to Fear then Fear Itself
It had the face of an ugly old man and hung on the wall next to my father-in laws recliner. When you pulled on the string protruding from the bottom that ugly old man head broke out in a wicked laugh and squirted you with water coming from its mouth. The first time Grandpa held his grandson, my son, up to the face and told him to pull the sting it scarred the peediddles out of him. In fact it scarred him so much that whenever we drove to Grandpa’s house all he could think about is “the man” and whether or not he was there. Eventually Grandpa had to take the thing down.Little boys are not the only ones who get scarred, who get preoccupied with fear, who become afraid. Fears abound, parents have lots of them, so do politicians, business owners do, as do employees, healthy people are not exempt, sick people have them, the rich, the poor, the strong, the weak, none of them are without them. Life is unpredictable in so many ways, it is impossible to find a truly save place. Violence, disease, senselessness, injustice, stupidity, disaster, tragedy, evil and the like are relentless, unpredictable, often unannounced, not just a prank, very real, and lethal.Sick as I am I liked scaring my kids, still do, and the grandson had better get ready. My youngest daughter used to just collapse when I would jump out from a behind a tree when she had to feed her animals in the dark. Even now, as a young adult, she is leery to go out and feed them after the sun goes down if I am around, but she no longer collapses to ground instead she has transitioned to punching me, hard (I am kind of getting scarred of her punches).FDR said, “So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.” It was his first inaugural address as president and the US was in the midst of the Great Depression, people were facing hardship and were riddled with fears. He was right in that fear, being afraid, can be utterly paralyzing. I remember asking my aunt why the German people did not rise up against the atrocities perpetrated by Hitler, “You don’t know fear” was her reply. The Apostle Paul reminded Timothy not to let his fears paralyze him, “God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline” 2 Timothy 1:7 (NLT). Solomon reminds us, “If you faint in the day of adversity, Your strength is small” Proverbs 24:10 (NKJV).President Roosevelt was also wrong, we do have more to fear than fear itself, namely God. It is when we fear God that we maintain the right perspective on all of life. It is in contemplating and acknowledging his power, his sovereignty over life, death, right, wrong, and us throughout all of eternity, that we become truly wise, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” Proverbs 9:10 (NASB). Jesus warned, "Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him (God) who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” Matthew 10:28 (NASB, parenthesis mine). And it is when we trust in his love, when we are transformed by his love, that fear is finally defeated, “If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us” 1 John 4:15-19 (NIV).To God be all glory, love you, Pastor Hans
Peace Beyond Understanding
Peace Beyond UnderstandingWe like for things to make sense, to fit, to work out. But things don’t always make sense no matter how hard we try, no matter how much we strain our minds. Even if we find some logic our hearts might not buy it, because in order for something to make sense it is not only the mind which has to be convinced.It is because things don’t seem to make sense that we worry, get anxious, and fret. If bad things only happen to bad people and good things to good people it would be a lot easier to make things fit. If the innocent were protected and the evil were apprehended it would be easier. If we would only reap what we sow it would be easier. But disaster, tragedy, evil, injustice, hardship, disease, suffering, pain, and even death are not evenly distributed, strike with unpredictability, mangle our understanding. So we try hard to make life as safe and predictable as we can, we try hard to protect ourselves against pain, especially if it has already injured us. It doesn’t work. Even if our worrying, our anxiety, our fretting has some success they in themselves afflict us, twist us, pain us.Senselessness, not being able to understand, hurts, carries no peace, continually assaults the mind. Its casualties are too numerous to count. “What should I have done?” What did I do to deserve this?” “Why didn’t I recognize …?” “Why me/us?” “Why would God do this to me/us?” “If only I …!” “How come ...?” “Why?” Endless questions, endless second guessing, real and imagined regrets, the absence of soothing answers, an inner bleeding spins and dizzies us like clothes wrung out and stuck in the spin cycle of a washing machine.We try to cope the best we can, life does go on. Some drink, medicate. Some cling to tighter control, ever greater carefulness. Some surrender to senselessness cynicism, or some other ism. Some remain shattered and broken. But what we really need is peace. We can’t conjure up peace no matter how hard we try, we know immediately when it is fake. No, for some things we need peace that “surpasses all understanding,” peace that exceeds the capacities of our minds, peace that it is able to wrap its comforting arms around our emotions, peace that returns strength, courage, hope, and joy.Where is that kind of peace found? With God alone, with him who is infinitely wise, infinitely good, whose purposes are not upset by the evil and arbitrariness of our existence, who knows how to hold and fully comfort a child – you and me. We are invited to come to him, broken, confused, hurting, angry, despairing, afraid, exhausted, torn and worn. We are invited to cry, to wail, to sob, to shout, to scream, to pour it all out. We are invited to ask, to request, to address the fullness of our needs, of our pain, of our fears, and of our sorrow. We are invited to come without any confidence of our own and yet be confident that in God, through Christ we can find real peace for our hearts and minds. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” Philippians 4:6-7 (NKJV).“May the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way” 2 Thessalonians 3:16 (HCSB).Love you, Pastor Hans
My Little Big Brother
My Little Big BrotherI have two older brothers. One is my big big brother, Michael, and the other is my little big brother, Andreas Paul. Andi, is the little big one, little because size-wise he was the smallest of us five, big because other than his size there really wasn’t anything little about him. He was big in his influence, certainly on me. He was big in faith, big in heart, big in generosity, big in smarts, skill, energy, people skills, and huge in will power and tenacity. He was big enough for someone to model their life after him, big in true friendship, big as Dad, big as a husband, big as doctor. Like I said, he is my little big brother. In my opinion everyone should have a little big brother like that because you if you have one your life is so much better, so much richer. A LBB (Little Big Brother) is great to have if you want someone to ditch Kindergarten with for the very first time. A LBB is an excellent companion to sneak out of the house with in the middle of the night to do stuff you shouldn’t do. But an LBB is not just good for doing stupid stuff when you’re young, you learn of his real value as you go through life you can talk with him, pray with him, worship with him, and lean on him. A LBB gives you all kinds of reasons to be proud of him, you can brag on him and it is not really bragging because it is true (mostly, except when you get carried away – but no one will blame you).My LBB is down to his last few breaths, too soon, much too soon. Soon he will be buried; fortunately he began digging a long time ago and buried things in my heart, in my mind, in my memory. It is treasures he buried there, it’s what LBB’s do, they make you rich, they leave inspiration, they leave life, they never leave things empty. But have to warn you, it’s hard, very hard, to say goodbye to your LBB. I think it is because they are so precious, so irreplaceable, so darn easy to love, but that too is typical of my LBB.Faith, faith in Christ changed him, challenged him, keeps him. You would have a completely false picture of my Little Big Brother without his faith. When he surrendered his skepticism he also surrendered himself. When he drank from the cup of God’s grace he didn’t just sip and so he anchored it all in Jesus, his soul, his marriage, his family, his giftedness, his work, his passions, his days. When towering flood waves overran the shoreline of his life and swept out to sea his health, his career, his speech, and so much more, that faith remained. In the struggle to reclaim, to rebuild, and in the relentless pounding surf of “Why? Why? Why?” that faith remained. And so my LBB is not just leaving behind precious memories but real hope, the hope that comes when you can call Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the one who lived, and died, and rose again, your brother, “So now Jesus and the ones he makes holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters” Hebrews 2:11 (NLT).My Little Big Bother’s last words to me were, “Liebe dich sehr” (love you so).To God be the glory, Pastor Hans
In Honor of Billie Barnes
In Honor of Billie BarnesCan anything good come out of Oklahoma, or as I call it Okiehoma? Well, sometime in the early 1940 two girls hitchhiked from Oklahoma to California, one them was Wiletta June Clayton. She married Lowell Barnes, had children, worked, got involved in church, and eventually moved to a house they’d built in Don Pedro to retire.Don Pedro really is a great place to live, but when Lowell and Billie moved here it had what was an obvious problem to them, no church. So they made one of the best decisions of their lives, they started one, right in their living room. When the living room got too small they moved to the one room school house where now you find Don Pedro High School. When the one room school house got too small they build the sanctuary we worship in every weekend. It is amazing what God can do when he finds obedient and ready hearts.Think with me for a minute, How much has come to pass and grown out of the obedience of these two retired lay people? How many people in Don Pedro have heard the Gospel, have come to a saving faith in Jesus Christ because Billie and Lowell surrendered their retirement to God? How many have had an opportunity to hear and study the word of God, to find fellowship and love, to receive help in various ways because Billie and Lowell took Jesus’ challenge to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” serious?Just a few years into this adventure of beginning our church Lowell became sick and went to glory, but before he died God in his great sense of humor brought in a young German with his family to pastor the church. Thus it was that an Okiehoman widow of a pastor and a Kraut were paired up. Billie made another decision. She decided to support me, to back me up, to pray for me, to relinquish the reigns. She knew how important that was, she understood that each member of our church needs to be faithful even when life brings hard to bear changes; she knew how essential unity is to have a healthy church family. Think about it, how much have we benefited from that decision? I wonder how often and how much I stretched the limits of her patience? Or how often she thought, “What were we thinking when we called him to be our pastor?”I have been asked many times how and why I have stayed so long here at the Lake Don Pedro Baptist Church. It might be that Germans are not as bright as Okiehomans, or maybe it is because Krauts are more stubborn than Okiehomans. But it is much more likely that, beyond the opportunity, my family and I found love here, got to join into simple obedience to Christ, and ran into a widow named Billie who cheered for this church and us to her last breath. So what do you think? Can anything good come out of Oklahoma? Sometime in the early 1940s Billie did.Thank you Billie, your grateful Church family and Pastor.
Your Last Breath, And Breathing Till Then
“ GOD formed Man out of dirt from the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life. The Man came alive—a living soul!” Genesis 2:7 (MSG) “The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”Job 33:4 (NIV) I have witnessed it many times, someone taking their last breath. That’s all that separates life from death – one breath. You can almost see it, life leaving on the wings of that last exhale. The transformation is instant and decay visibly and almost instantly moves into that now hollow shell of a body. The Spirit, the soul, life has departed and you can sense the sacredness of the moment.We hardly ever think about the value of just one breath, or the next breath, or how close to the edge of life each breath really is. There is grace in the fact that most of our breathing is a subconscious, automatic activity. Living life would be very difficult if every breath required conscious effort. But every now and then God confronts us with how precious, how wonderful, how great a gift life and breath really is.Each breath allows us to live, gives us an opportunity to bless or curse, to sing or complain, to worship or ignore God who gave us breath. And it does make a difference what you live and breathe for. At the end of our last breath, the objections of the atheist or doubter none withstanding, we don’t cease to exist. At end of breathing our last we are summoned to give account (Romans14:12; Hebrews 9:27) how we spend the gift our life, what we did with what each breath enabled us to do.As a kid I loved the first autumn mornings cold enough to reveal my breath. On the way to school my friends and I would pretend to be smoking. Ironic, we admired something with our breath that actually robs you of your ability to breathe. That’s how it is, things that rob us of life and breath usually dress up nice in the beginning. Life is full of a million invitations to waste your breath, to lead us down the path where your last breath reeks of regret.How different God’s invitation, God’s challenge to us. At the end of the collection of songs and poems called the Psalms. At the end of pages filled with pain, worry, fears, highs, incredible lows, repentance, agony, deliverance, and goodness this is the invitation of God, “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD” Psalm 150:6 (NIV).How I pray that both your last breath and mine, and all our breathing and living until then, will give wings to our praise of God and Christ.To God be all glory, love you, Pastor Hans