One ten foot section has no less than seven patches, and that does not count all the other patches/fixes on the waterlines underneath our church building. All of these patches were meant to be temporary, but some of them are years old. The problem is that someone got a “good deal” on some cooper pipe that is the wrong grade, cheap doesn’t always pay. Somebody else put in a hot water heater for the kitchen but didn’t think about electrolysis and improperly connected different metals. Finally beyond the frequent fixing of leaks and talking about permanently fixing the problem we really haven’t done what needs to be done, until we do it is merely a matter of time before the next leak. Maybe you have a ten foot section in your life that continually springs leaks and sports numerous patches from the past? Maybe you have things that are incompatible connected to each other that will cause problems as long as you refuse to disconnect them and start over doing it right? Maybe you too know exactly what needs to be done but never get beyond the temporary fix and talking about really addressing the problem? Maybe the spots of the next leaks and breakdowns are already beginning to show? How are your spiritual water pipes? According to God they are problematic, “all have sinned” (Romans 3:23), they are leaky, the wrong grade, and faultily connected. They are continually decaying, held together by temporary patches, doomed to completely fail. They are a testimony to procrastination, misplaced priorities, bad habits, and a stubbornness that refuses to address the problem according to the knowledge, wisdom, and word of the Master Plumber. An Old Testament parallel is God’s indictment of the ancient Israelites, “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water” Jeremiah 2:13 (NIV). Godlessness causes us to leak the most precious substance of them all, life.To permanently address the problem we need to first of all be connected to God the right way and that is only possible through God’s Son Jesus Christ, “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” 1 John 5:11-12 (NIV). Then we need to let the Master Plumber replace the old leaky pipes with new pipes that won’t leak even under pressure. We need our life to be re-piped with holy habits, right attitudes, and godly wisdom based on God’s standards and codes found in His word, the Bible, “…learn from me (Jesus Christ), for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls (no leaks there)” Matthew 11:29 (NIV). How I pray our stubbornness, shortsightedness, procrastination, and pride will not keep us from finally letting God have a go at our pipes leaking life.To God be all glory, love you Pastor Hans
Acting Truly Free
“If the Son sets you free, you really will be free” John 8:31-36 (HCSB)Americans really do enjoy and have been proponents of an uncanny conglomeration of freedoms: national freedom, political freedom, religious freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and individual freedom. I wish all people everywhere were afforded such freedom.Freedom is a beautiful thing; it sure trumps tyranny, oppression, and exploitation in all its forms. You can breathe, relax, rest, and be yourself where there is freedom. Somebody should say, “Amen!”We are not as free as we think we are, even in America. We love the notion of freedom being able to do whatever we want, but that is impossible because we share this planet with seven billion other residents and we have a responsibility to the generations to follow. If we do not link freedom with responsibility then we will soon forfeit and destroy it. As always, the written word of God, the Bible, has invaluable wisdom and guidance for us, “For you were called to be free, brothers; only don’t use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love. For the entire law is fulfilled in one statement: Love your neighbor as yourself. But if you bite and devour one another, watch out, or you will be consumed by one another. I say then, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh” Galatians 5:13-16 (HCSB). Freedom, as the signers of the Declaration of Independence recognized, is a gift of God. It carries with it the responsibility to love my neighbor as myself, which in part means I cannot claim for myself what I am not willing to grant my neighbor and I cannot force my neighbor to give up what I choose to give up.Why would the Apostle Paul even have a need to tell the Galatians to not use their freedom in a wrong way? Because humanity is fundamentally flawed, we share a sinful disposition that bends us toward godlessness, self-centeredness, corruption, shortsightedness, foolishness, arrogance, and evil – “the flesh” as Paul summarizes it. It is by the flesh bright, educated men and women manage to steer nations into insurmountable, enslaving debts. It is by the flesh people who are well of become insatiable monsters of greed. It is by the flesh and under the mantle of individual liberty millions become slaves of addictions. Look closely, where there is violence, terror, war, oppression, exploitation, and entirely avoidable heartache, pain, and suffering, and you will witness freedom being destroyed, perverted, abused, and horded among a few, by the works of the flesh.Who is best qualified to set the boundaries for freedom? Who can legitimately assign the responsibilities of freedom? God and God alone, who gives it in first place. The majority has proven itself as incapable. Emperors, kings, presidents, governors, houses of government, and high courts all have proven themselves to be greatly flawed when at their best and outright evil at their worst. And even we, the small people, fail on our own home-fronts. We are all men women of the flesh. And yet, somehow in our flesh we insist that the answer lies in us, that God is not needed. The answer of the word of God is clear, only the Spirit of God can enable us, creatures of the flesh, to not be ruled by the flesh. Everything else is self-dilution and wishful thinking. It is the Spirit of God, imparted through faith in Jesus Christ, who enables us to be men and women of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control” Galatians 5:22-23 (HCSB) – to act as truly free men and women.To God be all glory, Pastor Hans
Tired and Blessed
Sometimes working on a car can frustrate the living snot out of you. I thought I was done but when I turned the key the newly installed power steering pump proved to be defective, it howled like coyote on a moonlit night. On the second attempt I forgot to hook up the transmission cooler lines to the radiator and after turning the engine on pumped a liberal amount of transmission fluid onto my garage floor. After cleaning up the mess it became obvious the pressure line to the power steering pump didn’t seal. This is how small jobs escalate into major headaches. I can see why people take their cars to a mechanic, except that Dad is whole lot cheaper.Since Susie and I are not tired enough, and since I seem to cave in under the pressure of my daughters, and since I seem to like having a puppy slobber all over my face while I am lying under a car, we added a little canine to our lives. Where were my friends that should’ve stopped me. Too late, Leroy Brown has moved in, let the chewing begin.I wish tiredness and weariness would be confined to small things like that, don’t you? If life would be that simple Jesus would’ve had no need to tell people then and now to, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light” Matthew 11:28-30 (NLT).What tiredness and weariness was Jesus speaking about? How much tiredness was Jesus addressing when he said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me” Matthew 5:1-11 (NASB, italics mine)? Ever been tired of yielding little to no influence, to always be at the mercy of powers greater than you? Or what about being tired of mourning caused by the continual destruction dished out by violence, war, death, corruption, greed, pain and wrong? How many will get tired today of being gentle, humble, and meek and decide to get a piece of theirs by whatever means? How long does it take to be tired of thirsting and hungering for poverty, injustice, and evil to end? And when does being merciful turn into being taken advantage of and becomes exhausting? How hard is it to keep a pure heart in impure situations, in a nasty world? When do you give up on peace and throw in the towel? When does the price for living right, for trying to be godly become too steep?Tiredness and tiredness of soul tempts us to surrender, to cave in, to check out, to be overcome by and participate in the very things that wear us down. It makes a difference who we listen to, who and what we follow when we are tired. There are ways to be blessed, and to bless even when we weary, exhausted, and beat up. "Everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock” Matthew 7:24-25 (NASB).Always remember who and what God blesses. Pastor Hans
When Fat Is Good
When Fat Is GoodLazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth. He who gathers crops in summer is a wise son, but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son. Proverbs 10:4-5 (NIV) There is profit in all hard work, but endless talk leads only to poverty.Proverbs 14:23 (HCSB)I went by the field of a slacker and by the vineyard of a man lacking sense.Thistles had come up everywhere, weeds covered the ground, and the stone wall was ruined. I saw, and took it to heart; I looked, and received instruction: a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the arms to rest, and your poverty will come like a robber, your need, like a bandit. Proverbs 24:30-34 (HCSB) If you want to be lazy the Bible, God’s written word, is not the book for you, neither is following Jesus. You will find neither advocates sloth, laziness, or sluggarddom. If you want to be a bum, a moocher, and are afraid of working hard don’t look to heaven for support. You are more likely to get a kick in the rear from the Almighty than receive the slightest support for laziness.Laziness is utterly self-centered, it leaves others holding the bag, others doing the hard work, others to take care of your responsibilities. Laziness is full of empty talk, full of wasted potential and opportunity, and full of frustration for those who are stuck with a lazy son, daughter, husband, wife, relative, worker or co-worker, or friend.Laziness is not void of activity, although it does a lot of sitting around. You can be lazy and spent endless hours on the computer, or playing video games, or watching TV. You can be lazy and wear out your phone (that maybe someone else is paying for) doing the TTT (talking, texting, tweeting). You can be funny as heck, be the life of the party, and smooth as silk and be lazy to the core.Are the people around you blessed by your work ethic, or do they have reason to complain? Do you love to your best or are you more prone to the minimum required to get others off your back? Are the folks who hired you glad that they did? Can your children use you as an example for working hard? Can your parents be proud of both your attitude regarding work and your work? Can people write you a recommendation without having to lie? If someone looks at your “vineyard,” your home, your apartment, your room, your work space, what do they see? And if God were to look for a hard worker, for any task of his, would he be looking for you?The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, But the soul of the diligent is made fat. Proverbs 13:4 (NASB) Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper. Proverbs 13:4 (NLT) Why are you sitting here staring at this pastor’s note? Get up and do something productive, would you! – please – now! Look at you go.To God be all glory, Pastor Hans
How to be Really Rich
How to Be Really Rich I was raised in a culture of thrift but I life in a culture of indulgence. I was raised in a culture of saving, but I life in a culture of waste. I grew up in a culture that did not value being in debt, but I live in a culture where debt is considered normal, even necessary. One of my early memories is going to the bank with my Mama and my birthday money to open a saving account (it didn’t earn hardly any interest back then either). As the years went by money started to accumulate in that account as did opportunities to spend it. Unfortunately, or was it fortunately, my parents had voted themselves veto power, which they used to block most every spending plan of mine except for a bicycle. To this day I still have some money in that account. From the time I left for college at age 18 until now thrift, saving, and not accepting debt as normal or necessary has served me well. I also happened to marry a girl who grew up with the same values, which was a good thing because we started out with almost nothing. When we moved for the first time after two and a half years the only furniture we owned was a rocking chair and an orange crate. When you are poor thrift, saving (even if it is just a little), and staying out of debt is super helpful we found. Did you know that God’s written word, the Bible, advocates the attitudes and habits of thrift, saving, and not considering debt as normal? God has wisdom and ways to bless us in every area of life including the acquisitions and management of money, wealth, possessions, and riches. “It is the blessing of the LORD that makes rich, And He adds no sorrow to it. - He who gives attention to the word will find good, And blessed is he who trusts in the LORD” Proverbs 10:22, 16:20 (NASB).Of course you can be thrifty, save, and have no debt and also be grumpy, stingy, and judgmental. You can be rich and be a jerk, wealthy and discontent, swimming in abundance and drowning with sorrow. Plenty of people who don’t give God a second thought succeed in getting rich, are good money managers, and could teach many a lesson or two. God will never teach us just to be rich, because you can be rich and poor, rich and evil, wealthy and without compassion at the same time. But God will gladly teach us all we need to know for his blessing to flow into our lives, and there is no one who blesses like him. So if you are tired and weary when it comes to money, wealth, possessions, riches, whether you have a lot or are completely broke, then why not give Gods word and wisdom a real try? Chances are certain that you will end up being blessed.To God be all glory, Pastor Hans
Some Thoughts about Romance and Marriage
Some Thoughts about Romance and Marriage
Just because you are madly “in love” with someone does not necessarily mean it is a great idea to marry that person. I have been to some breath-taking places, like on top of the Goerner Grat and its awesome 360 view that includes the Matterhorn, or the top of Half Dome or Mt Dana, or looking at stunning sunsets on sandy beaches. However, as beautiful as these places are none of them are suited to grow a garden. It is easy for passion and love to ignite but marriage is about a place where love can grow, can mature, and produce a harvest year in and year out.
What is the best way to prepare for romance and marriage? Working on your own godliness and looking for godliness in the persons you consider. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” Galatians 5:22-23a (NIV). Just think what can grow between two people if that describes them? Replace anyone of the above with an equivalent negative and picture how that will impact romance and marriage in the long haul. What if you replace self-control with a temper or an addiction? What if you replace faithfulness with unfaithfulness, or goodness with hurtfulness or wrong doing? You maight have some exciting days on the beach, but most of the time you will be engulfed in a cold fog. We should aim higher for both ourselves and especially the other person.
I have been burning brush piles and have been reminded of a simple truth. In order for a fire to keep burning you have to both tend to it and keep giving it more fuel. This takes at least three things, attention, time, and work. If I am not willing to give those three the fire will go out. And what happens if I no longer give my marriage attention, time, and effort? Yup, things will fizzle, be reduced to a flicker, or even become a cold pile of ashes. I love watching lovers who have learned that truth and whose fire is still hot and blazing after many decades.
Words are important in a marriage. If you look at a great marriage, a blessed romance you will find words that can be trusted, kind words, encouraging words, straight forward words, healing words, together words, tender words, thoughtful words, forgiving words, funny words, beautiful words, pure words, and loving words. Words are like the barometer of a relationship. Where you find ugly words, hurtful words, dishonest words, lying words, selfish words, harsh words, bitter words, biting words, thoughtless words, grudge words, unkind words, and empty words you will find two people far from their hopes and dreams. Of course all the words that come from my lips are real, they describe me even if they fool the listener. So my words reveal who I am more than anything else. Do my words tear down or build up? Do they unleash love or resentment? Do they grow flowers or thorns? Do they bless my love (James 3)?
To God be all glory, happy Valentines, Pastor Hans
More Important Than Sex
More Important Than SexLet me tell you a dirty little secret about people in churches. They have sex, yup, and they love it. Hard to believe, but true. In fact they like it as much as people who don’t go to church. Contrary to some rumors a person’s libido does not shrivel up and go to heaven when a person commits to following Christ.If you read the Bible you will notice that it does not ignore sex but makes it clear that among other things God has created us as sexual beings. The only thing in the creation story that was declared no good was that Adam was alone, he did not have a partner, so God gave him Eve and lo and behold they did the “one flesh” thing which is also known as making love (Genesis2:18-25).Now if you think this pastor’s note is just about sex then you are mistaken, it is actually about something more important in a marriage than sex. 1 Corinthians 7 speaks to those for whom celibacy is out of the question, which happens to be most of us, and then addresses husbands and wives in particular about sex. For one, to not use it as weapon or means of manipulation, and for another, not to stop making love, because in doing so you make each other vulnerable to temptation. The only exception is special times of prayer both husband and wives agree on. Yup, prayer in marriage, the ultimate romantic relationship, is even more important than sex. “The marriage bed must be a place of mutuality—the husband seeking to satisfy his wife, the wife seeking to satisfy her husband. Marriage is not a place to "stand up for your rights." Marriage is a decision to serve the other, whether in bed or out. Abstaining from sex is permissible for a period of time if you both agree to it, and if it's for the purposes of prayer and fasting—but only for such times. Then come back together again. Satan has an ingenious way of tempting us when we least expect it” 1 Corinthians 7:3-5 (MSG). It is difficult to be in a romantic relationship and not think about sex, you don’t have to do anything for that happen. On the other hand the importance of prayer in a romantic relationship, in a marriage, you have to discover and learn. It is interesting that Adam and Eve were both sexually unencumbered and spend time with God face to face (Genesis 3:8). They knew how to talk with each other and knew how to talk and walk with God. We rarely miss on the sex part, we don’t have to be told not to leave that out. But it is not so with prayer, too few make it a priority in romance, include it in dating, and practice it in marriage. I am hoping this pastor’s note will compel you to make prayer a normal part of your romantic, your married life. That you will not settle for a prayerless relationship, but that you will learn to walk and talk with God individually and together. It will not weaken but strengthen your relationship immeasurably.To God be all glory, Pastor Hans
Routine, and Parenting
“ … whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” 1 Corinthians 10:31 (NIV).“Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it” Proverbs 22:6 (NIV) I remember landing for the first time at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) way back when there were no scanners and security lines. I was sitting by a window and all I could see was water and no land until what seems like the very last moment. I was very relieved when the wheels of the plane touched solid ground; although I am sure to the flight crew it was just another routine landing.A couple of weeks ago Susie and I were coming home from a long trip to Tanzania and Germany. Three days before our plane landed flight 214 of Asiana Airlines crashed in a routine attempt to land at SFO. As our Delta flight made its approach and landed we could see on the left beneath us the debris field and burned out hull of Asiana’s Boing 777. I was relieved our plane landed in one piece and I am fairly certain most people aboard felt the same way.If you want to mess with the routine of life have kids, adopt a child, or take in a foster child. It is a great paradox that although children love and need routine they are also so very good at messing with it, messing it up.I suggest to you that raising children into healthy, good, and God-loving adults is more difficult than flying and landing a plane. To me the scary thing is that the runway of life is littered with debris of crashed lives, lined with burned out hulls.I am not an aviator (although I would love to be able to fly) but I know the pilots of the plane bringing us home had to file a flight plan, inspect the plane and go through a pre-flight checklist, follow the directions of the tower and air traffic controllers, monitor and adjust throughout the flight, and go through a post flight routine. Pilots follow the routine because they know it helps them with the challenges, the surprises, the unexpected, and the occasional sheer terror of flying. The goal is to take off, accomplish the purpose of the flight, and safely land.As a parent, did you ever have a hard time spotting the runway, knew you were in over your head, were terrified of crashing, or felt like you were running a school of kamikaze pilots? Here is the core of what has helped Susie and me:
- We have tried to use God’s manual, the Bible, to shape us personally and to instruct us on parenting.
- We have tried to stay connected with the control tower and life/parent traffic control through a routine of consistent, daily prayer.
- We have tried to stick with a flight plan for our children. We did not want to leave important things such as character building, values, faith, and good and godly habits up to chance.
- We have tried to be consistent, practice what we preach and expect, and stick with daily and weekly (e.g. church) routines so we and our children would be prepared for the unexpected throughout the flight.
- We tried to remember that we are co-pilots, to submit ourselves to Jesus Christ as the leader of our personal lives, our children, and our family.
- Our goal has been to get them off our plane, to fly their own, and fly it well, to the glory of God.
To God be all glory, love you, Pastor Hans
Wisdom and Horses
I have been encouraging you to become a person who consistently makes wise and godly decisions. So you might as well know that I am taking horse riding lessons. With our youngest daughter off to college we were left to take care of her horse, and I determined to become more than a ranch hand, or more precisely, someone who feeds and shovels. I have to admit I am a fairly accomplished horse feeder and pucky shovelor, but I know absolutely nothing about working with, training, and riding a horse. So I am paying Rhonda Dumolt for lessons to one day earn the right to wear Wranglers®, a big belt buckle, snazzy boots, and a Stetson® hat. I suppose those four are somewhat like a drivers license when it comes to horses.Yes, what you read above is correct, I am paying to learn something that will cause me to spend more money guaranteed. Just today, during lesson number two I found out that my work boots are not ideal (I told Susie it was a big mistake to sell my cowboy boots at a yard sale twenty years ago). Yes, I am paying to learn to control a beast that has serious potential to hurt me. In fact I have heard it is not a matter of if but simply when. Yes, I am paying for something that makes me feel like when I was sixteen and learning how to drive. Who knows, by the time I get the hang of this equine stuff my daughter’s horse will be so messed up I will have to pay a horses psychologist to straighten him out. And yes, I have put the horse magazines my daughter gets with my car/truck magazines next to the toilet. This past week I was tempted to enter a contest in “Young Rider”.Before I started this pastor’s note I looked up horses in the Bible hoping to make a super spiritual discovery that would directly relate to wise decision making and justify my horse adventure at the same time. Alas, the first scripture that mentions horses (Genesis 47:17) tells about the ancient Egyptians giving up their horses in exchange for food because they were starving.However, the last horse mentioned in God’s Word (Revelation 19:11-21) is a white horse ridden by the “King of kings and Lord of lords” – Jesus Christ himself, executing judgment, triumphing victoriously. And I was reminded that the wisest decision of all is to trust and believe in him both in this life and for eternity, because the day will come when “at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” Philippians 2:10-11 (NASB).How I encourage you to not be among those who simply horse around with the unshakeable and unchangeable truth of Jesus Christ, or even more sadly dismiss it as a bunch of religious horse pucky. It is the most unwise and foolish decision a person can make. Commit yourself to Jesus Christ today.To God be all glory, love you, Pastor Hans