Loving Jesus means loving His Church

Loving Jesus means loving His Church!

He (God) is in charge of it all, has the final word on everything. At the center of all this, Christ rules the church. God’s purpose in all this was to use the church to display his wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was his eternal plan, which he carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord. Ephesians 1:22-23 (MSG, parenthesis mine)

God’s purpose in all this was to use the church to display his wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was his eternal plan, which he carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord. Ephesians 3:10-11 (NLT2)…

Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. Ephesians 5:25-26 (NLT2)

“I love Jesus, but I don’t care much about organized religion,” sounds pious, but is a bunch of hogwash. It is like saying, “I love Jesus, but I have no use for the Bible.” God/Jesus is organized, all of creation is organized, but the church, which Jesus founded, died for, loves, and is still building is somehow unorganized? It defies both logic and scripture.

“I love Jesus, and my church is out there in nature.” Your church might be out there on some beautiful mountain top but Jesus’ church, the one He laid down his life for and is constantly interceding for is not there, because Jesus church is made up of people, saved sinners, who congregate, want to grow in their knowledge and application of the word of God, and who minister together.

“I love Jesus, but that doesn’t mean I have to go to church.” Yes, it does (Hebrews 10:24-25), because the Holy Spirit has made you part of Christ’s body, Christ’s church, from the moment you believed in Jesus (1 Corinthians 12:13). A Christian “goes to church” because s/he is part of and belongs to the church, in order to contribute to the life of the church all that God has shaped and the Holy Spirit has gifted him/her for. To merely think of church in terms of “going to church” is being ignorant of the nature, purpose, and importance of the church.

I love Jesus, but I had all the church I’ll ever need as a kid. My parents drug me there every time the doors opened.” Three things: 1. Good for your parents. 2. You are no longer a kid, time to grow up and take responsibility for your spiritual life, and your obedience to Christ. 3. You can’t tank up on church like you fill a gas tank, we need church like one body part needs all the others in order to thrive and live (1 Corinthians 12).

Hopefully, if you have children, you will raise them to love Jesus and all that He loves, including His church.“I love Jesus, but I have been hurt by the church.” That one hurts, because far too often this has been a true statement and because I have experienced it myself. You can get hurt in church, and sooner or later you will get hurt in church. That never excuses any dysfunction and sinfulness in the church, but it is the reality of people of all kinds of backgrounds, various levels of spiritual maturity, … sharing life together and daring to become like Jesus.

I have been in ministry for over 40 years, 36 of them as a pastor, and during that time I have witnessed plenty of ugliness in the church, enough to the check out on the church many times over. I can only imagine how grieved Jesus, who sees and knows the sum-total of all Christian sinfulness, wickedness, carelessness, and ugliness, must be. And yet, He has not chucked the church but instead continues to love and refine her.

So, how can I turn my back on what Jesus loves so much and refuses to give up on? Jesus and his church are to be central in the Christian life, they are not meant to be mere add-ons. The testimony of the New Testament is that followers of Jesus reorganized their entire lives around Christ, His church, His word, His purposes, and all He loves, and they did it together.So, have you excused yourself from being part of the church, checked out on the church, defined the church differently than scripture defines it, minimized the importance of the church, been an accuser of instead of a participator in the church, someone who added a little church instead living a life as devoted to the church as Jesus?It is time to love Jesus and His church! It is time to become a full and life-long participator in the church! Do it!
To God be all glory. Love you, Pastor Hans 

Have You Had A Bristlecone Transformation?

Methuselah, 4851 years old, a Great Basin bristlecone pine is still going and growing somewhere in the White Mountains of Inyo County in eastern California. Walking through the bristlecone forest where it is hidden feels like encountering a family of Ents out of Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings.” You are in the presence of something ancient, their needles alone can last up to 40 years. One of these trees could be 1000 years old and be called a mere whippersnapper by the gnarled ancients of the grove.It’s the resin that helps preserve them.

On the short educational walk by the visitor center, the first stop is by a large dead trunk of a long-dead bristlecone. The instructional sign tells you that this tree was over 3200 years old when it died – in 1650. Yup, for over 450 years that tree trunk has been laying there and it is far from being decayed. Someone should make anti-aging skin cream out of this resin. Like all things in nature, there is a lot we can learn from these tenacious bristlecones God made to last for millennia in a most inhospitable environment.

We are unfamiliar with bristlecone permanence. In fact, most everything in our experience is marked by the exact opposite, impermanence. The bristlecones don’t waste things, they latch onto every drop of water they can get their roots on. We, on the other hand, are professional wasters: water, food, stuff, time, money, opportunities, relationships… Deep down, we long for permanence, we want love to last, and peace, and health, and good times, and prosperity, and freedom, and stability, and life. But our resin can’t compare to the bristlecone’s. Living in fleeting impermanence we try to squeeze as much out of our vapor-like lives before they dissipate, and all too often sacrifice the permanent things our hearts yearn for. The spiritual reality is that the wrong resin is pumping through our veins, sinfulness, depravity, an inherited penchant to rebel against God and his order.

The Bible (God’s written revelation) tells us about a time when people lived much, much longer. The oldest recorded individual of that time was Methuselah, he lived 969 years (Genesis 5:27). God cut the human lifespan down to 70 plus-ish years (Psalm 90:10). Why? Because 969 years is way too long to have the resin of sin be at work in a person, for human depravity to have an opportunity. We ought to thank God for putting a restrictor plate on our life expectancy because of our sinfulness; our own evil and evil people still flourish way too much in just 80 years. That’s also more than enough time for each one of us to come to grips with our sinfulness, our spiritual rebellion, and our need for God and Jesus Christ to give us eternal life, to have the resin of the Spirit of God transform us for permanence that will far outlast even the most ancient bristlecone.

Future generations will be able to tell if we were truly transformed from decaying sinners into eternal saints through our faith in Jesus Christ. How? By how quickly there will be no trace of our existence, no witness of our faith in their memories, no tangible impact on their hearts, minds, and lives, no blessing of things permanent left behind for generations far into the future.To God be all glory. Love you, Pastor Hans

Extraordinary Kindness

Generous, stingy, educated, ignorant, selfless, selfish, honest, liar, saint, sinner, gentle, violent, trustworthy, corrupt, hard-working, lazy, hot-tempered, calm, humble, arrogant, forgiving, bitter, fit, out of shape, interesting, boring, funny, grumpy, patient, impatient, blessing, jerk, straight-forward, two-faced, wise, foolish, handy, clumsy…

We are all known for something. When others think of you and me, they never do so without adjectives or descriptive nouns that identify something about us, our character, habits, appearance, our social status, ethnicity, roles, …I am a Christian, man, husband, Dad, Opa (grandpa), brother, uncle, neighbor, German, American, immigrant, citizen, pastor, neighbor, whipped cream lover, educated, white, bald, fairly fit, odd, multi-lingual, now 60-year-old, who tells lots of people that they are my favorites.

The way you think of me and would describe me depends on your experience with me, how well you know me, whether or not you like me… Some things about me I cannot change, some I should (so I am told, but I am also stubborn), some I want to, and some I have. I cannot not be a German, white, Dad, Opa, uncle, neighbor… What I do have to decide what kind of German, American, husband, Dad, Opa, white, man, and neighbor I am going to be. I do have to choose what I will be known for, what adjectives and descriptive nouns my name will conjure up in people’s minds and conversations.

In Acts 28 Luke, who is among the shipwrecked crawling up a beach on the island of Malta, whose inhabitants met them with “extraordinary kindness” (v.2), received them, made fires for them, and helped them. What a great thing to be known for! Extraordinary, uncommon, kindness. Contrast that with the Cretans who were described by one of their own as, “liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons” (Titus 1:12). Everyone is capable of kindness, even extraordinary kindness. These Maltese were not Christians, but they were super kind. This did not mean they had no need for Christ and the forgiveness and eternal life that is only found in Him, but it did mean they made a real, tangible difference in the lives of the battered survivors littered on their beach.

In pouring rain, they poured out extraordinary kindness to such as extent that Luke attached it to them whenever and wherever he mentioned them, and that God thought it important enough to permanently record it in the Bible (God’s written word). It is a great honor when people use the words extraordinary kindness to describe you, it is quite another when God recognizes you as such. Everybody is capable of kindness, even extraordinary kindness, but for a Christian, it is never optional. Kindness is a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22) and without it a believer is unstable and keeps tripping up (2 Peter 1:5-11). Two more thoughts:

• How much unkindness does it take before people will stop calling you kind? In my experience, not a whole lot.

• Imagine with me the difference kindness makes, especially when we commit ourselves to practice it continually, rain or shine, regardless who washes up on the beach of our lives, beginning with those closest to us.

You can be extraordinary kind today and every day. 

To God be all glory.
Love you, Pastor Hans 

Watching While Waiting (Waiting - Don't Waste It, part 2)

“So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, ‘Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?’ He replied, ‘The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him. As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. ‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!’” Acts 1:6-11 (NLT2)

For almost 2000 years Christians have been waiting for Christ to return, that’s a very long wait, that’s 80 generations (if you count 25 years as a generation) waiting their entire lives. I would call that serious waiting. There they were gawking into the empty sky Jesus just disappeared into when two angels told them to snap back to a life of waiting, watching, and working. Maybe we need some snapping back ourselves?

It is easy to get sidetracked, bored, and passive while waiting. Jesus had warned his disciples about becoming lax and irresponsible while waiting (Matthew 24:42-25:46, Mark 13:33-37), “Stay alert!”Staying alert is one of the big challenges in waiting, it so easy to slip into Netflix filled waiting, simply passing the time waiting, whatever I want to do kind of waiting, and before you know it you’re just staring into space – spacing out.So, how do we stay alert in both waiting for Jesus’ return and the waiting in everyday life? Here are there things to learn to practice: 

1. Waiting with your ears open (Acts 8:26-31)

• To the Holy Spirit – He has where you are in time, location, and situation for a reason.

  1. Listening to obey (James 1:2-7). Listening to the Holy Spirit is about wanting to do God’s will, not about evaluating options.

  2. To what you hear around you – Learn to listen for clues of God being at work in people, hearing people’s questions, confusion, searching.

1. Waiting with your eyes open (Acts 17:16-17)

• To spiritual reality – There is a spiritual dimension, a bigger picture to all of life.

  1. Noticing what is right in front of you.

  2. Seeing opportunities to advance God’s kingdom.

1. Waiting with our life open (John 4:3-10)

• When you are tired, exhausted, busy.

  1. When you encounter different people and situations.

  2. When you are alone or with your group.

Maybe God is trying to open up your ears, your eyes, your life in the midst of all the current waiting. What does God want you to hear, to see, to be open to?

To God be all glory.
Love you, Pastor Hans   

Waiting - Don't Waste It

I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD. Psalm 27:13-14 (NIV)

How good are you at waiting? Yes, you, and I can see you ducking. Our entire culture is not good at waiting, we don’t see it as a virtue but as a failure of someone or something, as something interrupting our happiness. It has to happen now, quickly, and hopefully, sooner than later. Have you noticed? The COVID-19 crisis did not care one bit about making us wait, putting our plans on hold, for who knows how long. By now we can’t wait for things to get back to some kind of normal. So again, how good are you at waiting? Since you are, for some reason, refusing to answer, take the following test. Mark all the ones you would have a hard time with:

• Waiting for 2000 years. Christians have now been waiting for almost 2000 years for Jesus to return and who knows how much longer it will be (2 Peter 3:3-10).

• Waiting for 400 years. God told Abraham that his descendants would have to wait for hundreds of years to be delivered from the tyranny of Egypt (Genesis 15:13).

• Waiting for 70 years. The rebellious remnant exiled to Babylon was told they had to wait for seventy years before any of them could return. (Jeremiah 29:10)

• Waiting for 7 weeks. After Jesus’ ascension, the disciples had to wait seven weeks for the promised Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49, Acts 1:8)

• Waiting for 1 week. Saul, because he saw his troops defecting, couldn’t wait for more than a week for the prophet Samuel to arrive (1 Samuel 13:8-11).

• Waiting for 1 day. Naomi told her daughter-in-law Ruth to relax, be patient, and wait a day for Boaz to take care of things.

• Waiting for 1 hour. The disciples were emotionally and physically tuckered out they couldn’t wait for an hour when Jesus asked them to sit and wait until He had prayed (Matthew 26:36-41)

Our chief problem with waiting is that we run out of time even if we beat the life-expectancy statistics. But we don’t just run out of time in general, we don’t get to be kids forever, opportunities pass, the chance to have children diminishes, the time to adequately store up for retirement vanishes, you can’t realize your dreams by waiting forever, ...God on the other hand never runs out of time, He is the Eternal One, the Inventor and Creator of time and space.

Have you ever considered what it must have been like for Jesus, the eternal Son of God, in his incarnation, to restrict himself to time, to waiting, to running out of time?Some of Satan’s major temptations thrown at Jesus were regarding waiting and time (Luke 4:1-8). “You’re hungry! So, why wait? Just turn these stones into bread?” “You’re supposed to be king of everything! Why waste time waiting for God’s long-winded plan filled with suffering? You can be king now; all you have to do is worship me.” When it comes to waiting Satan assumes at least four things:

1. We are not good at waiting. There is not a single baby who is good at waiting, “Feed me, change me, hold me, adore me – NOW!” Our needs scream out, our wants demand satisfaction, our dreams whisper to us, “You don’t have forever,” none of them encourage us to wait.

2. Our sinfulness hates waiting, self-denial, submission to God’s will and ways. “Waiting to have sex until you are married – get real!” “Staying out of debt and waiting to buy things until you can pay for things? – What about your credit score? Dummy!”

3. Waiting becomes more difficult the longer we have to wait. Have you experienced rising anxiety as you waited patiently in an airport check-in lane, realizing that at this pace you will miss your flight? Consciously or subconsciously we are aware of and afraid of missing out, that opportunities are not endless because life isn’t.

4. We make serious mistakes when we operate out of impatience, impulsiveness, and give in to FOMO (fear of missing out).

As busy as Satan might be in our waiting, God is even more so. He is the one who is in charge of time, so, if God has us waiting, we can safely assume that we we’re not wasting time or opportunity. God is not inactive when he has us waiting, He is actually growing us, developing us, shaping us – Jesus thought so.

To God be all glory. Love you, Pastor Hans 
P.S. For more waiting click here to watch the 04/26/20 sermon - www.LDPBaptistChurch.com       

Don't Get Spiritually Infected

But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them. In this way, they will bring sudden destruction on themselves.  Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of these teachers, the way of truth will be slandered. 2 Peter 2:1-2 (NLT2)

Coronavirus, Coronavirus, Coronavirus, … COVID-19, COVID-19, COVID-19, …Social distancing, shelter-in-place, wash your hands, sanitize, …Respirators, masks, PPE, hospital beds, shortages, …Infection totals, death tolls, …Shutdown, …Crisis…

Daily we are bombarded with Coronavirus news, facts, statistics, changing predictions, revised timelines, official guidelines and orders. Mix that with our own worries, fears, anxieties, economic and existential threats, and it leaves you feeling confused, unsure, powerless, and vulnerable. Christians should be uniquely equipped to navigate in, even thrive trying times and circumstances. Not because we, in ourselves, are somehow better than everyone else, but because the life of Christ and the Spirit of God indwells us, and because true and well-taught followers of Jesus have a theology that incorporates and embraces suffering.Satan also thrives in chaos and crisis, he is the master of instigating and using them for his godless, evil, and destructive purposes (John 10:10).

It should come as no surprise that he will fan the flames of the current massive fire, not only in the world at large but also within the church. Much of the New Testament is devoted to warning believers against devil’s attack on the Body of Christ, the church, specifically against:
-Gutting the Gospel – faulty theology (Galatians, 1 Corinthians 15, Romans 1-11)
-Behaving badly – faulty ethics (1 Corinthians, Galatians 5-6, Romans 12-16)
-False teachers – faulty discernment (2 Peter 2, Jude)

It should not surprise us that with the current crisis and chaos there will be a spike in false teachers, conspiracy pundits, and eschatology (end times) wizards raising their voices, claiming new prophetic insight, personal expertise, miracle cures, proposing unbiblical means of harnessing and unleashing the power of God, contradicting sound science, dressing forms of presumption in so-called faith teachings, twisting the scriptures while trying to sound like theological experts.Now, with our world, including the church, almost exclusively relying on electronic media false preachers and teachers have a platform as never before.

Here in the United States the purveyors of the prosperity gospel, health and wealth pundits, word of faith charlatans already dominate the airwaves. Sadly, too many believers are tuning in to them, give them a hearing, lack the discernment skills, and don’t take time to check out both their life and teaching. Satan knows that a gutted, watered down, twisted, added-onto Gospel leaves the church without a message, perverts the church’s mission, and rips the Messiah/Christ out of its center. Satan loves for Christians to behave badly, unholy, hypocritically, loud, proud, fearfully, cowardly, selfishly, soft, and spoiled, indistinguishable from the world around them.

Christians behaving badly discredit the beauty of the Christ-life and the changing power of the Gospel. Christians behaving badly may talk a big game but bring shame to Jesus’ name. Christians behaving badly are vulnerable to all kinds of theological cockamamie and extremes.Satan is not ignorant of the word of God (Luke 4:9-11), he knows how to quote it, misquote it, divorce it from its context, twist its intentions, selectively apply it, and rearrange it to make the weird and perverted seem plausible. False teachers may be using the “Good Book” (the Bible) but they use it according to the devil’s playbook. If he/they can get you to accept faulty theology, it will sooner than later affect your behavior, conversely, if he/they can get you to legitimize bad behavior it will affect your theology,  both will rob you of the ability to discern. Time for a self-check:

• How theologically sound are you? Are you making an effort to be so?

• How Christ-like is your behavior? What needs to change?

• Who do you watch, listen to, read? Should you? Why or why not?

 To God be all glory.
Love you, Pastor Hans      

Stable and Shining

“You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.” Matthew 5:14-16 (NLT2)

Jesus was directly speaking to his disciples when he spoke these words, but there was also a large crowd listening in, and clearly, he wanted them to hear what he had to say as well. At the end of his sermon, he spelled out why he was preaching what he was preaching.

“Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows (practices, acts on) it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock.  Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock.  But anyone who hears my teaching and ignores it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash” Matthew 7:24-27 (NLT2, parenthesis mine).

Jesus, God is interested in you and me living lives of stability amidst the instability, even torrents, and disasters of our world. He wants you and me to be people of purpose, who make a difference, whose light keeps shining no matter how dark it gets, whose actions make people want to sing praises to God. But for this to actually happen, we need to hear Jesus' words and trust them enough to act on them, that’s called faith. This is why I read some portion of God’s word (the Bible) every day, think about it, take some notes, and try to make “act-on-it” connections to what is going on in my life around me. The last two mornings I read Luke 11 and 12 (We are in Luke in our church’s Bible-reading plan) and found some things to help my life keep shining brightly and keep me stable in our current crisis, and, since this is a pastor’s note, I am convinced these will benefit you too:

Pray – Luke 11:1-13

• Not if but “when” you pray.

• Pray with persistence, keep knocking, seeking, asking.

• Pray with a focus on God’s goodness.

• Pray seeking God’s very best.

Help – Luke 12:13-21

• Don’t hoard.

• Don’t act on the fear of not getting your fair share.

• Look out for more than yourself.

• However little or much you have enables you to share.

Invest – Luke 12:21, 31-34

• In more than yourself.

• In more than the stock market and your financial portfolio.

• In more than what will keep you comfortable to the end of your life.

• In the goodness of your heart.

Jesus didn’t just teach the above as a means of crisis management, he wants you and me to practice them, and much more keep-your-light-burning stuff, whether the sun is shining, or the torrents are raging. He wants you and me to build foundations that don’t crumble even under the greatest stresses and challenges.
To God be all glory.
Love you, Pastor Hans         

Finding Peace When You Want to Panic (COVID-19, part 2)

Prudence, Wisdom, Faith, Fear, Stupidity, Foolishness ,Presumption, Panic, Crises— all have the potential to bring out both the best and worst in us, they also reveal who we really are and what we really believe.Our world is filled with three kinds of evil, natural evil like the COVID-19 virus and other diseases or earthquakes and other natural disasters, moral (human) evil we perpetrate on others and our world, and spiritual, demonic, satanic evil, which is ever busy inciting people to do evil. Often the first is made much worse by the second.

One thing is certain, evil is never theoretical, it is real, brings hardship, causes stress, kindles fears, inflicts pain, and kills.Jesus encouraged us to pray: “Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil (or the evil one). [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.]” Matthew 6:9-13 (NASB, parenthesis mine).

It is foolishness to ignore evil of any kind, including the evil within us, it is unwise to think we do not need God’s help when it comes dealing with evil, and it is faith that will help us to deal better with evil, with our fears, and keep us from panicking. Christians are called to a life of faith that applies to the real world, actual circumstances, to life’s unpredictabilities, dangers, and worries. In all of these our anchor, our starting point, our compass is God himself, his presence, his Spirit, his wisdom, his strength, his word (Scripture/the Bible).Christians are called to pursue knowledge, prudence and wisdom, they give us discernment, navigation skills, and help us to not be led by fear and panic. Wisdom is never in opposition to faith.

Often, I have had a fellow believer gush about the fact that their doctor was a Christian and prayed with them. I think that is fantastic, but I want my doctor also to be competent, I want her to wash her hands, put on a fresh pair of gloves, and be up to speed on the most current medical knowledge, skills, and wisdom. I want her not just to be confident, I want her to be confident for the right reasons. This is true for you and me as well, it is one thing to have a faith that talks confidence but is ignorant, lacks wisdom, and is presumptuous, it is quite another thing to have a faith that is informed, pursues and practices wisdom, and knows how to be both controlled by the Holy Spirit and sound interpretation of the Bible. Christians never have reason to panic, we are called to live out of the peace of God that even disaster, suffering, and death cannot rattle. This peace is not an invitation to stupidity and foolishness, to denying or foolishly responding to real and healthy fears. But this peace does enable us not to be consumed by our anxieties, our worries, and our fears, and act with Christlikeness in the midst of evil and the storms of life.

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers (sisters), whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.  Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me--put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you” Philippians 4:4-9 (NIV, parenthesis mine).

To God be all Glory. Peace to you, Pastor Hans      

Commanded to Love - Moving from Optional to Optimal

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.  Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1 John 4:7-8 (ESV)

It seems like it should be the last thing we should need to be reminded of, and even less that we should have to be commanded to love. But the reality is we do need to be reminded and commanded to love. God certainly thinks so and in his written word (the Bible) he reminds us to love:

• God

• Jesus Christ

• Our Neighbor

• Each Other

• Our spouses

• Our children

• The Alien

• The Poor

• Sinners

• Our Enemies

• And …

God does not suggest to us to love all of the above, he commands us to, which tells us he does not consider it optional. We like for love to be optional, for us to feel it, and when we don’t we give ourselves a free pass. God, however, wants us to think of love as optimal, regardless of how we feel, and he knows more about love than anyone of us.God’s commands expect radical commitment, total participation, full obedience. They don’t come with a lot of legal fine print, but they do come with an expectation of us living by them because we trust God, because we are sure that in his love, goodness, and holiness he will only command us what is best for us. When God commands us to love he is leading by example, he is not asking us to do anything he has not done so himself. He has practiced:

• Faithful love

• Persevering love

• Sacrificial love

• Forgiving love

• Patient love

• Humble love

• Risk-taking love

• Extreme love

• Honest love

• Tender love

• Promise- keeping love

• Giving-your-all love

• Selfless love

• Merciful love

• Unfathomable love

• And …

Too many of us have experienced the absence of love, the opposite of love, twistedness masquerading as love, conditional love. Too many of us practice manipulative love, fearful love, even sick love. So, not trusting others and ourselves we are cautious, mistrusting, fearful with love. This why we need to be both reminded and be commanded to love on an entirely different level than our experience and fears compel us to and cause us to settle for.

I wish I could tell you that I no longer need to be reminded to love like God wants me to, commands me to, and has shown me himself through Christ. I wish I could hang up a Ph.D. diploma earned from DUL.edu (Divine University of Love), but all too often I find myself still in the Grammar School of Love. I am not saying this as an excuse, but because I still need to and want to learn.

I know God is right in all his reminders and commands for me to live a life of love. God doesn’t just remind and command, he provides and enables as well, especially regarding his commands to love. He provides opportunities to love and grow in love. He gives ability and strength to love when we can’t fathom how to or have plum run out of love. He allows us to tap his endless reservoir of love. He blesses and uses every effort we make to keep his commandments to love. There is one thing God will not do when it comes to love, he won’t make us - we have to choose, decide to, pursue, and want to live a life of love.

To God be all Glory. Love you, Pastor Hans

P.S. A good place to start keeping God’s commands to love is with the people currently in your life, the people God brings across your path today. 

Being a Christian and Church - Think about it

When a doctor gets sick of sick people, that’s a problem. When a pilot begins to loathe flying, that’s a problem. When a cook becomes disgusted by cooking, that’s a problem. When a teacher starts disliking students, that’s a problem. When a preacher/pastor hates church, that’s a problem. And, when Christians are down on the church, that's a problem.So, think with about the church for a minute:It was Jesus’ idea to form the church, “… I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it” Matthew 16:18 (NLT2). So to think of the church as something irrelevant and unimportant or worse is to call Jesus’ plan for his church a bad idea.Jesus is the head of the church, “He is also the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He might come to have first place in everything” Colossians 1:18 (HCSB). So, it makes little sense to proclaim a personal relationship with Jesus but have no connection and submission to his church.Jesus loves and died for the church, “… Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her” Ephesians 5:25 (NLT2). So, how can I claim to love Jesus and love what he loves and paid the ultimate price for?The church is the body of Christ, “Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit. Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part” 1 Corinthians 12:13-14 (NLT2). So, since the same Holy Spirit who regenerates a sinner at the moment of salvation also places every believer in the body of Christ, I have no business living a life outside of that body.The church is central to God’s plan and work in our world, “Through Christians like yourselves gathered in churches, this extraordinary plan of God is becoming known and talked about even among the angels!” Ephesians 3:10 (MSG). So being apathetic and disconnected from God’s church also I am not fully participating in God’s plan.Jesus takes his church very seriously. So, he continually works on it, refines it, confronts it, encourages it, watches out for it, Revelation 2-3, Ephesians 5:26), and should not take it any less serious.Church, being part of a church, participating in the work of the church is meant to become a habit, “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching” Hebrews 10:23-25 (NIV). So, I need to learn to be so involved and committed to the church that I no longer have to think about my commitment to it, my participation in it, my showing up for it.We live in an I-Me-Mine culture, the Christian life is a stark contrast to this, it is about Him-You-Us-We (which is not to say that God does not care for each one of us individually and in Christ saves each one us personally). Switching from one to the other takes some major adjusting, reordering, rescheduling, and a total commitment to personal holiness and full participation in the body of Christ, his Church.So, did you notice? This preacher is still high on Jesus' Church, and the local body he has called me to pastor, hoping you will share the same appreciation and enthusiasm.So, does your Christian life reflect an understanding of Christ’s church? Are you as committed the church, the body of Christ, as God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit would have you?To God be all glory. Love you, Pastor Hans 

Waiting - Advent

How much time of your life have you spent waiting? On the phone being on hold? In a car stuck in traffic? In a doctor’s office or hospital waiting room? In a checkout line? For a reply to an email, text, an application, or test? For someone to show up?How good are you at waiting? Are you the patient or impatient kind? Do you progress from irritated, to grumpy, to nasty rather quickly? Let’s face it, we live in a most impatient culture, time is money, waiting wastes the most precious resource of them all – life itself. We want it now, not later! We want things to be in stock or qualify for free same or next day delivery. Heck, we get irritated if the confirmation text or email takes longer than 30 seconds.Have you ever considered how much waiting God has woven into the fabric of life? How much waiting there is in the Bible? You have to wait nine months to see and hold your baby. Almost everything we eat didn’t grow overnight, needed time to grow and ripen. You can’t speed up the seasons, you have to wait for each one to arrive and take its turn. The earth turns and circles at its own steady pace, it will take 364 from Christmas to Christmas, from New year to New Year. The ancient Israelites yearned for deliverance and freedom for hundreds of years, the Jews were looking for the Messiah for over a thousand years before Jesus appeared. The martyred saints, who have been crying for justice under the altar of God for who knows how long (Revelation 6:9-11), were told to wait a little longer.From as far back as can remember an Advent Calendar (it counts down the 24 days before Christmas) is part of my Christmas memories. At first, it had just pictures in it, until someone had the bright idea to put a piece of chocolate behind each calendar window – needless to say, some days were raided prematurely, we couldn’t wait. But, Advent still takes 24 days, even though Christmas shopping has sped up, Black Friday shopping now starts early in the week and Cyber Monday will try to catch up.Waiting slows us down but it does not necessarily mean doing nothing, especially when you are walking through life with God. Since patience is a fruit of the indwelling Spirit of God (Galatians 5:22-23) whenever and for whatever God makes us wait is not without purpose. It is a great paradox that in a world were everything seems to speed up God slows us down, that in a culture that hates to wait, God refuses to speed things up, for people who want things now, God has not opened a convenience store nor offers same-day shipping to expedite answers to prayers.We are no longer waiting for the first appearance of the Christ (Messiah), we merely remember it, but we are waiting for the return of Christ, the consummation of the ages, the completion of salvation, the execution of complete justice. In that waiting impatience is a dangerous thing, it sidetracks us, gets us out ahead of God, has us running through life at a crazy pace like the rest of our world, with little time for prayer, for worship, for anticipation, reflection, and dependence. Our impatience wants to cram our lives full of what we want. In having us wait, God is trying to create room in our lives for what and how he wants it. We want life to take place at our pace, God is continually inviting us to slow down to his.How we wait tells a lot about whose agenda we are on, who and what we are most concerned about. How we respond to being slowed down says a lot about what is going on inside of us. What are you waiting on God for this Christmas season? Whose pace are you on during this Advent?Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:28-31 (ESV)To God be all glory, even when waiting. Love you, Pastor Hans     

Using Your Breath

Praise the LORD! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heaven!Praise him for his mighty works; praise his unequaled greatness!Praise him with a blast of the ram’s horn; praise him with the lyre and harp!Praise him with the tambourine and dancing; praise him with strings and flutes!Praise him with a clash of cymbals; praise him with loud clanging cymbals.Let everything that breathes sing praises to the LORD! Praise the LORD!Psalm 150:1-6 (NLT2)I am assuming, by the fact that you are reading this pastor’s note, that you are breathing, which means Psalm 150 above is talking about you.You might not have enough breath to produce a blast out of the “ram’s horn,” maybe not even enough to get it to squeak, but if you have any breath you are capable of praising God, the LORD.You might not have the skill to play the lyre, harp, strings, or flute, but if you are breathing right now you are capable of praising God, the LORD.Your dancing days might be over and a tambourine in your hands might not be a good thing, but if you can wiggle just a bit and even if that little bit leaves you out of breath you can still and should still praise God, the LORD.Letting you play the drums might be huge mistakes and the end of any band, but if you can bang two pots together you are capable of praising God, the LORD.So, the question is: Are you praising God? Are you known as someone who habitually and continually praises God? Are you using your breath and the life your breath represents to praise God? Because, if I read the last line of Psalm 150 correctly, every living, breathing thing is meant to praise God, the Lord, and that includes the two living, breathing two of us.The donkey living a few houses down uses his breath to praise God and when he does, you know it. The many birds around our houses give daily morning and evening concerts of praise even when they had a hard day or difficult week. How much more should you and I, image-bearers of God, excel in singing praises to God!It’s a mistake to quit praising God, to shut down our ability to praise God, to use up our breath with complaints, fears, anxieties, trivialities, things that don’t deserve repeating, empty talk, ugly words, and songs dripping with negativity. Of all the creatures capable of praising God we are the ones who have to choose to do so, we can choose to so.So, give it a try, get out a pot and a big wooden spoon, step outside with it, look up and begin praising God for his greatness and follow each statement of praise with a resounding “BANG!” On your way to work this week turn off the news, the talking heads, your song list, and instead spend some time praising God for who he is and what he has done in your life. At the dinner table share your “Today, I praise God for ….!” And next weekend, come to the “sanctuary,” God’s house, to lift up your praises alongside others who delight to use their breath to praise God.To God be all glory! Have a great Thanksgiving. Pastor Hans P.S. If you are not traveling this Thanksgiving, invite someone in your neighborhood who would otherwise be alone to be part of your Thanksgiving celebration and feast. 

Habits of a Wise Person - Wise Believers

Look carefully then how you walk (live), not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. Ephesians 5:15-21 (ESV, parenthesis mine)

“Get out and get me someone competent in here!” the ER doctor yelled after the assisting nurse had contaminated the sterile field while the doctor was sewing up a deep gash that exposed the kneecap. You can’t be too careful when it comes to avoiding infection.

Have you ever been to a classic car show? Talk about paying attention to every last little detail, whipping off every little spot, polishing even nooks and crannies to a full shine.

You can tell when someone is being careful about something. What we should be most careful about is how we live, specifically being a wise person down to small details of our lives, carefully avoiding any contamination of foolish behavior. In the scripture passage above Paul lays out seven marks of a wise person, of a careful follower of Christ:

1. Wise persons/believers seek wisdom. No one comes by wisdom magically but rather by pursuing it, searching for it, and when finding it applying it.

2. Wise persons/believers manage their time, don’t waste time, fill and spend their time wisely.

3. Wise persons/believers not only acknowledge God but actively seek to know God’s will and then radically adjust their lives to God’s will.

4. Wise persons/believers are careful about what controls them and avoid handing over control over to anyone but the Holy Spirit.

5. Wise persons/believers are worshippers, not just for an hour on Sunday, but all the time. They keep their worship earbuds in all the time and have a very distinctive song list.

6. Wise persons/believers practice and express gratitude. They notice even the small beautiful, kind, thoughtful, acts and blessings, and are good at tracing them back to their source – God.

7. Wise persons/believers live in community, don’t isolate themselves, but acknowledge their need for one another, know the benefit of living life and serving God together.

Isn’t it strange how we can be very careful about some things while at the same time being sloppy, careless, even foolish about other things? You and I don’t have anything more valuable than the life God gave us than the living soul he created us to be. Let’s be most careful about it. Look again at the seven points above and mark the ones that need attention, need changing, need for you to learn to be careful with.

To God be all glory. Love you, Pastor Hans

Disciple, Disciple-Maker, Witness, Sent Servant, Ambassador

• Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Matthew 28:18-20 (NASB)

Being a follower of Christ, a Christian means being a disciple-maker, which means leading others to faith in Christ, to follow Christ, and to grow in Christ. It means to go out by the authority of Jesus to reach the entire world with the Gospel of Christ and training all those who turn to Christ for salvation, forgiveness of sin, and eternal life.Disciple-makers have to, first of all, be disciples themselves, learning and observing all Jesus commanded ourselves, being genuine and committed ourselves. This doesn’t mean you have to wait to be disciple-maker until you have it all down perfectly (you never will), but it does mean we have to be ongoing learners and practitioners all the time and everywhere.

• “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." Acts 1:8 (NASB)

Every disciple of Christ is also a witness of Christ, of the fact that Jesus is alive, that he conquered sin, death, and the grave. A good witness needs two things, a testimony and integrity, truth and credibility. Jesus told his disciples that through the Holy Spirit he would empower them to be his witness. Interestingly the Holy Spirit is called Holy, true holiness includes absolute integrity, it is spotless, The Holy Spirit is also called the Spirit of Truth (John 14:17, 15:26, 16:13). Since he empowers us to be Jesus’ witnesses, we can assume he will continually work towards us embracing holiness and truthfulness, to have a genuine testimony and integrity.

• So Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you." John 20:21 (NASB) "For even the Son of Man (Jesus) did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." Mark 10:45 (NASB, parenthesis mine)

Every disciple of Jesus, everyone who testifies of Jesus is meant to act like Jesus, to carry out the will of God like Jesus, to be a servant to both God and people like Jesus. We are on God’s, Jesus’ mission.

• We are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:20-21 (NLT2)

Christians are Christ’s representatives, ambassadors of God’s kingdom. We are meant to be about Christ’s interests, Jesus’ politics, Jesus’ message to the whole world.

• Disciple, disciple-maker, witness, sent servant, ambassador – GO!

 To God be all glory. Love you, Pastor Hans      

The Priceless, Indispensable Mercy of God

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23 (ESV)  Mercy triumphs over judgment. James 2:13 (ESV) You will tell his people how to find salvation through forgiveness of their sins.Because of God’s tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace.” Luke 1:77-79 (NLT2) The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The LORD is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.Psalm 145:8-9 (ESV)Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Matthew 5:7 (ESV)No one ever paid for God’s mercy because for one it is free, and for another, none of us could afford to pay for it, it’s completely out of our price range (Romans 11:33-36; 2 Corinthians 9:15). But truth be told, we often treat God’s mercy like a raggedy couch sitting by a curb with a scraggly “Free” sign on it, smiling as we drive past.We like things that make us feel warm and fuzzy, especially about God. New, fresh, daily mercies and love – awesome (and it is). Mercy triumphing over judgment – thumbs up (yeah). Tender mercies cleaning up our sin mess – who doesn’t like that (I sure do). Gracious, merciful, super-patient, loving, good to me God – that’s definitely the kind of God I like. God blessing and giving to me – sign me up. Sometimes you get lucky and that couch with the free sign is actually in decent shape and super comfy, but do I really want to mess with it?Nothing about God and his mercy is cheap, optional, or comfortable. He, in His mercy, makes life possible, extends patience, holds back his wrath and judgment, supplies and sustains not just our lives but the universe as a whole. Every sunrise we have witnessed, every sunset we photographed, every breath we have taken, every heartbeat counted, every kindness experienced, every opportunity that unfolded, every drop of love that fell on us traces back to God, to Christ, to his tender mercy and love.Sitting on that unstained, beautiful, and free couch should make us grateful, cause us to be devoted worshippers, have us value this kind of and this magnitude of mercy as priceless, and inspire us to be merciful like our Heavenly Father (Luke 6:36). Did you notice the last scripture above? The only way to not be cut off from God’s mercy is to embrace it, be transformed by it, and become an extension of it (Matthew 18:21-34). If we do that, instead of merely settling for some fuzzy god-feeling and god-idea of our liking, we will be both be blessed and be a blessing, and/but it and we won’t be cheap (and that is a good thing).To our merciful God be all glory. Love you, Pastor Hans         

Leaking, Running Out - Fixing the Core Problems

Imagine you gave me a brand new, four-wheel drive, Toyota Tundra truck (feel free to actually do that), and the first thing I did was to punch a couple of holes in the fuel tank, and for good measure do the same to the radiator. What would you think about me? And, if I told, “It’s much better that way,” after you asked me what in the hesch I was doing, then what would you think? I know what I would think of you if the roles were reversed. I might even take you in right there and then to have your head examined!"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), was God’s word to the people in Jeremiah’s day.How many water faucets are in your house? We have eight inside and seven outside. There are people all over the world who would love to have just one running water spigot putting out clean drinking water. What would you think Susie would tell me if I told her we will abandon using all those faucets and from now on will go down the hill on the backside of our property to get all of our water from the muddy waterhole down there? What are the chances of her agreeing with me that this was a vastly better way of getting water? “But Babe, we would be independent of the water company! No more monthly water bills! We’ll rely just rely on Mother Nature (As everyone knows, she is really dependable in Central California when it comes to water)!This is the problem of godlessness, deciding that you don’t need God, that you can be free of God and live. As long as we reject God and Christ, abandon God for philosophies, theologies, and ideologies of our own we leak, are condemned to our own foolishness, and quickly run out of life. It is amazing we can spot stupidity and absurdity so easily except when it comes to God, Christ, and spiritual reality, there we give ourselves a pass, are even proud of what is obviously ridiculous.So, how long are you going to drive with holes in the tank and radiator, constantly having to stop and refill, often finding yourself stranded, but stubbornly refusing to fix the obvious?How long will you insist on hauling and living on muddy water when living water could be flowing in your life? Jesus declared for anyone to hear, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him" John 7:37-39 (NIV).Today is a great day to fix the two core sins, evils, problems of your life, but you will need Jesus Christ for that. To God be all glory. Love you, Pastor Hans       

Pouring in - Pouring out

We were having the time of our lives playing in the sandbox. But it seems inevitable that playing hard will lead to some kind of accident, especially when you are surrounded by a fleet of Tonka heavy equipment and with shovels furiously digging. Sure enough, one of my grandsons lost control over the bulldozer he was operating bonked himself a good one. He cried and I yelled, “Stupid dozer!”Immediately he shifted gears, quit crying, walked over to me, looked me straight into the eyes, and with a most serious voice scolded me, “We don’t say that Opa!”“Say what?” I asked.“You know. It’s a bad word Opa!”“What word?” I wanted to know.“I’m not going to say it, but you know, OPA!”Indeed, I did know, and clearly, I was trying to corrupt my grandson. You have to be careful what you fill little hearts and minds with, because what you fill them with will be what comes out. This is not just true of little hearts and minds but yours and mine as well. Our mouths, our actions, our reactions are an indication of what fills us, “The things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, … For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander” Matthew 15:18-19 (NIV).It is easier to fill an empty cup than it is to fill one that is already full, that’s why wise parents from the get-go pay careful attention to what goes into their kids’ hearts and minds. A heart and mind that has been filled with bad words, habits, attitudes, ways of thinking and behaving can’t be filled with goodness and godliness until you first pour all that out. Before the Spirit of God can fill you and me with “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control,” we have to pour out what the Holy Spirit wants to replace, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified (poured out and continue to pour out) the sinful nature with its passions and desires,” because the reality of a holy and godly life is only possible by God’s Spirit and making room for all he desires to fill us with, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit” Galatians 5:22-25 (NIV).That pouring out, letting God have complete control of the filling and directing our hearts, minds, wills, plans, desires, attitudes, and habits, is difficult. In our sinfulness, we love to hang on to the sinful, selfish, spoiled, soiled, and same. And, in our perverseness others’ spilling over with what shouldn’t fill us makes us feel a little better. This, our brokenness and sinfulness, is why Christ came and is necessary, only he can help cleanse our hearts and minds and fill us with the Holy Spirit.“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me” Psalm 51:10 (ESV)“God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life” Psalm 51:10 (MSG)             To God be all glory. Love you, Pastor Hans   

Filling Up - Premium for me please

This morning I filled my coffee mug twice, my Musli bowl and stomach once, and all my morning hours even though got up way early. This past week we went camping with the family so we filled the truck bed with camping gear, the gas tank with diesel, the ice chests with food and drinks, several garbage bags (to the delight of the raccoons), our bellies with camping cuisine, our time with adventures, and our memories with joy.Face it, in living life we do a lot of filling up, we have to, we get to, and it makes a difference what we fill up with.

• It makes a difference what you put into our body, both in how well it functions and what it will crave.
• It helps to fill up your bank account every now then, you’ll have less stress and you can pay your bills. But it also makes a difference whether your deposit was earned honestly or otherwise.
• It is inevitable that your time will be filled up, but what you fill it with will determine if it is wasted or used wisely.
• It makes a huge difference what you fill your mind with because it will establish how you think, what you will dwell on, and how you process life.
• It is a vast distance between a heart filled with hate, bitterness, pessimism, grudges, and revenge, and a heart filled with love, kindness, optimism, goodwill, and forgiveness.

All of the above the Word of God/Bible addresses because it knows the realities of life, including the constant filling that we are engaged in. As followers of Christ, we are as engaged in these constant filling tasks and activities as much as anyone else, however, if we are going to be wise and godly when comes to this constant filling up in life the following are indispensable:

• Constantly being filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:17-20). Which means to continually yield control to him in all we do, wherever we are, and in all we plan.
• Constantly filling our mind and thinking with the written Word of God, the Bible (Psalm 1). Which means taking time to read it, meditate on it, and then trust it enough to apply it to real life.
• Constantly praying. Which means running everything by God, seeking his will, his wisdom, his guidance, his presence, his glory, and refusing to live without it (Matthew 6:9-16).
• Constantly living in community with other believers (Hebrews 10:24-25). Which means I recognize that only together with others can we be the body of Christ, and I need sisters and brothers in Christ pouring into me even as I pour into them (1 Corinthians 12-13, Ephesians 5:21)

Most every morning I get up and brew some coffee for Susie and me, filling my mug, usually at least twice. I didn’t always do that, but now I am pretty consistent with it. The same has been true of the four constant fill-ups I need as a follower of Jesus, a Christian. It took me a while, but now my life feels like an empty coffee cup in the morning without them.To God be all glory. Love you, Pastor Hans  

Without Love

I am working on a car, again, the a/c (air-conditioning) is out. The car is drivable but on 104 (40 Celsius) or hotter days, Susie might want to make it to work without having to take another shower.Our dishwasher rack is missing some prongs, but it is still washing dishes as well as it was when we bought it 25 years ago (Isn’t fun when God makes our things last?!).Walking around our property I continually find vulture feathers, and sometimes when those magnificent flying creatures zoom low over our heads you can see where some of those feathers are missing, obviously, this does not rob them of their ability to fly. Of course, it would be a lot different if a vulture lost all its feathers at once, it would ground them for sure. The dishwasher and Susie’s car would be worthless if their water pumps gave out, or some other vital part failed.It is no different with the Christian life, there are minor issues which might make things more uncomfortable, make things harder, or force you to make adjustments, and then there are major things that bring you to a screeching halt, keep you from soaring, and need immediate attention and repair. This is something the Corinthian Christians lost sight of; they were busy fixing the a/c when their engine had major problems. They argued and divided over minor things and forgot about the most important. As a result, they started looking and acting more and more ridiculous. Christians can employ the full Christian lingo and yet look like a vulture without feathers.The Apostle Paul told the Corinthians that if they got things right their Faith, Hope, and Love would be in top mechanical condition, be the main feathers of their plumage, would leave their dishes sparkling. And of these three, he said, Love was the most indispensable. Without it the individual believer and the Christian community/church is broken, without substance, going nowhere, accomplishing nothing.“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends (fails)” 1 Corinthians 13:1-8 (ESV, parenthesis NASB).So, now that you have read the scripture above, I want to challenge you to do a little exercise with me. Think through this passage with the heading:If I don’t have love (the kind God wants you to have and practice)How does that affect your life, the life of your church, and the lives of those around you? Here are the first four things I wrote down:

• Without out love, I sound wrong, verse 1.
• Without love, I think wrong (“I am nothing”), verse 2.
• Without love, I go wrong (“I gain nothing”), verse 3.
• Without love, I am not as patient as I can and should be, verse 4.

And Now you finish it up:

• Without love,  __________________________________________________
• Without love,  __________________________________________________
• Without love,  __________________________________________________
• Keep going! ….

Now ask yourself, “Who is at the brunt end of my lack of love?” This might be an individual, several people, or entire group or groups of people.Finally, what is the first right loving action you need to initiate towards him, her, and/or them? ______________________________________________________ (It might include having to apologize and ask for forgiveness.)Maybe you’re not feeling it. Maybe you think someone else needs to make the first move. If you are waiting on those two to change you might be waiting a long, too long of a time to become the loving person Christ wants you to be. Start fixing the most important things today.To God be all glory. Love you, Pastor Hans    

Obdurate - Don't let it describe you

Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. Psalm 95:1-2 (NIV)Are you obdurate? Not even knowing the definition of the word it didn’t sound good to me.Merriam-Webster.com defines it: 1. Stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing; hardened in feeling; 2. Resistant to persuasion or softening influences.Google dictionary lists the following synonyms: stubborn, obstinate, unyielding, unbending, inflexible, intransigent, implacable, pig-headed, bull-headed, stiff-necked, headstrong, willful, unshakeable, unmalleable, intractable, unpersuadable, unrelenting, relentless, immovable, inexorable, uncompromising, hard, stony, iron-willed, adamant, firm, fixed, determined.The Complete Word Study Dictionary (CWD) translates the Greek word skleruno as: To make hard or stiff, make obdurate, and adds that in the New Testament it is applied only figuratively to the heart and mind.The writer of the NT letter to the Hebrews, quoting from Psalm 95:8-10 warns four times (Hebrews 3:8, 13, 15; 4:7; NASB, parenthesis mine):“Do not harden your hearts.” “Encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called ‘Today,’ so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”“Today if you hear his (God’s) voice, do not harden your hearts.”    “Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”What both the Psalmist and writer of Hebrews refer to is an event (Exodus 17:1-7) of the generation of Israelites Moses led out of Egyptian slavery to go into the “Promised Land.” Except they never did make it into the land God had promised them but instead, because of the hardness of their hearts, wandered around in and died on Sinai peninsula for the next forty years. What we should learn from them is that we cannot come to God with a hard heart nor can we walk with God with a hard heart. A hard heart will keep us from God, from relying on his power and goodness, from entering into his promises and eternal rest. A hard heart will make us disobedient, resistant to God (Acts 19:9), and it will cause us to underestimate or be blind to the deception of sin (Hebrews 3:13). Our own hard heart becomes be rock we stumble over, a rock that will keep us from “the rock of our salvation.”So, how obdurate is that heart of yours? What excuses have you come up with to let it remain hard? And, how well is that hard heart serving you in trusting and following God, in your relationships with those around you?To God be all glory. Love you, Pastor Hans