Category: Uncategorized (Page 3 of 5)

Perhaps this letter comes far too late. The things I wish I would have told you while you still stood among us. But maybe the words found here will bring comfort to someone. Maybe they bring closure. Maybe they let people know who you really were.

Brother, I’m sorry I wasn’t there. When you were at your hardest moments, you felt like the world was empty. You talked of loneliness and darkness and felt like life had a major void, but you knew in your heart you weren’t alone. You craved the connection that you had lost. The love of your life was so far out of reach and you didn’t know how to cope. You cried and crumbled and called out for help, and no matter who was there or how close we stood to you – you still felt alone.

You carried a weight under which many of us would have broken a long time ago. You were husband and spiritual leader in your home. You were a 24/7 nurse who lovingly stood by your bride and prayed with her for years as she battled cancer. You took your responsibility seriously. You had little close family of your own so her family became like yours. You were guarded because you didn’t think anyone could really love someone like you. But what’s not to love brother. You were something special.

I’ll miss our weekly calls and more than weekly texts. I’ll miss the way you gently reminded me that I forgot to change colors on the church furnishings. I’ll miss our brotherly banter over politics, denominations, religion, relationships, how much cancer sucks, and what it means to be a man of God. But most importantly I’ll miss you my friend.

You taught me more than you probably will ever know. From how to love people deeply to what it means to really have hope in Jesus when there’s nothing else left. Thank you for the lessons my friend, I only wish there were a few more to come. I’m a slow learner you know.

But brother there’s one thing I think you might have forgotten so I want to put it here. It’s too late for you to hear it but maybe it will make a difference for someone else.

No matter how lonely you feel, you are never alone. No matter how dark the nights, a little light is glimmering in the corner. Even in those final moments, the moments that were the hardest, the moments when there was little time left – even in those moments that would change our lives someone was changing yours.

You fought like no one I knew. You fought for what you knew was the truth of scripture. You fought for your bride and for your church. You even fought for me a time or two. I only wish I would have been able to fight harder for you. But as I sit and write this final note I’m reminded that someone far more capable than me already did that fighting and won.

To the friends and family you left behind I pray they always know that what you saw and what you knew can change their lives too. I hope they look beyond the pain and despair, the slow fade and the abrupt end to see where your hope was. There’s one thing we all need to know about Joe. He had two loves: his bride and his Jesus and today we rest in the hope that he sits with them both. And he’d love nothing more than to see you there one day too!

Until we meet again brother. Rest well in the arms of Jesus.

Soli Deo Gloria – To God Alone Be Glory

Most people who are church going people will know some of the bigger names in the Bible. Names like John or Mark or Matthew or Peter are all pretty common. But what about some of those odd ones in the Old Testament? Or what about the ones who really don’t have a lot of references made to them?

I’m currently leading a group of people at the church I serve through some of the lesser known books of the Bible. We’re in the book of Joel, so I thought it would be a decent time to unpack a little of what’s going on in the book of Joel and better yet – why we should even care!

We’ll do a quick flyover of this book. Don’t worry it’s only three chapters long! We’ll focus on four quick things: who wrote it, what is prophecy, what was the fulfillment they saw, what can we take from it.

Who is Joel?

First of all, names mean something in the Bible. Joel is no different. His name means the Lord is God. It’s pretty cool how names can actually tell you a little bit about what the person is going to do or what they do shed light on their name.

What is prophecy?

Biblical prophecy has two parts: foretelling something and forth telling something. Foretelling is essentially what we would call predicting the future. However it’s not really as sci-fi as we like to think. Biblical foretelling was when a prophet would tell the people something that was going to happen based on what God told them was going to happen. So it was really passing along a message from God about their future.

The second aspect of prophecy is about forth telling. The idea here is basically interpreting what’s going on in a way that makes it relatable and understandable for the future. We’ll unpack both of these in the next section.

But first we also need to see that there are generally multiple layers of fulfillment to a prophecy. There is often an event that triggers the prophet to speak which is the first layer. Then, at some point in the relatively near future, there is another layer which will give the initial event a little spin and that the initial event helps us understand better. And ultimately there is a fulfillment that occurs in the person of Jesus at some point in the often very distant future.

When you think of these layers, think of the eye doctor. They put different lenses on that help you see what’s on the little screen on the opposite wall. These different events help bring the next one into focus a little more clearly. Another way of seeing it is like ripples in a pond. Each inner ripple pushes the next ripple further from the center. One directly impacts or influences the next one. The same is true with how we see Biblical prophecy.

What did the people of Joel’s day see?

Ok so here’s where we get into the types and layers of prophecy. Let’s take a quick look at what Joel is using as the impact event. Evidently there was a swarm of locusts that had come through the nation. If you’ve never seen them, locusts are nasty little buggers. They eat everything in sight making the land impossible to live off of for just about anyone. From crawling immediately after birth to hopping when they’re a little older to flying which makes them a real terror, there is essentially nothing out of their reach.

Now the locusts were bad, but God was using the locusts to show the people that something far worse was on its way. They were like a swarm of locusts but even more devastating. The locusts pointed the people to an army that was going to invade and terrorize the nation even worse than the locusts did!

But it’s not done there. Because there is this final ring or lens of fulfillment that was of great concern to people of the Bible and should be for us today as well.

Why should we care about Joel?

Perhaps you’re a history buff and just love historical narratives. Well if that’s the case then you love the book of Joel for the style of literature it is. But if you’re like the rest of the world, then what’s so important about Joel? I mean Jesus isn’t mentioned by name in there. There’s no reference to the church or outreach or worship or anything like that in it. And I sure hope we don’t have to see a swarm of locusts anytime soon!

The importance of Joel is found in the not yet part of the prophecy. Remember the rings of prophecy ultimately end with Jesus? Well this is one of those type of prophecies. The final swarm of locusts or army of devastation is coming in an even worse form than the previous. Every generation thinks it’s living through what some call the end of the world.

But ultimately there will be a final ring of fulfillment that will awaken the swarm of locusts that will bring about the end of the world as we know it. But there are a few things to keep in mind. Light comes after darkness. Good comes after bad. Morning comes after night time.

That might seem a little abrupt and out of place but hang in there. This culture would mark the day starting at night. Which meant that day came after night and light after darkness. Throughout the ending period of Joel’s writing he talks about light and day verses dark and night.

There will be a period of darkness, much like the invasion of locusts or the nasty army of Joel’s day. But just like after the locust and army invasions there will be a new day after the final ring of darkness. The Bible calls this time the Day of the Lord. It’s a phrase that is used several times in Joel and it’s a designation of this end of the world time period.

Put it all together.

Joel means the Lord is God. The one who made everything is in control of the ending. The locusts destroyed much of the nation of Israel of Joel’s day but the people, in large part, survived. The army invaded and many met their end but many were saved through the whole invasion. Even though they were captured and taken in to exile and had some really hard times, God brought them through. And they saw the light of day on the other side of their exile.

The same is true for you and me today. As we go through these moments getting closer and closer to the end of the world or the Day of the Lord, we shouldn’t think that God is going to zap his people off the earth before the bad stuff happens. That just isn’t how God works. No matter how much you’d rather it be that way, nowhere in the Bible does God take his people away from the bad stuff. Instead he shows how he is with them through it and brings light after the darkness.

One final example

There’s a famous Bible verse found in Jeremiah. It says that God has plans for us, to make us prosper and give us hope and a future. People love that verse! I mean who wouldn’t? Right? But you should probably read right before it. That hope, future, blessing, good stuff all happens after the darkness and crap of life piles on them.

So Joel is important because he helps us realize that life will suck and God won’t always keep us from the suck of life. But in the end God wins and light prevails and a new day happens. And that new day is for us.

Pressure. It’s not always a bad thing. When I wash my truck, I like to use pressurized water. When we blow up a balloon we pressurize the air going in so that the balloon will inflate. But pressure applied in the wrong way or at the wrong time can lead to bad results. Take that same pressurized water that goes through a pressure washer and you can cut your skin.

Pressure isn’t a bad thing but when it’s the wrong pressure applied in the wrong way at the wrong time it can lead to devastating results.

Recently we talked about a type of pressure that we all go through in life. In some places we call it testing. In others it’s called trials. And in other circles it’s called temptation. They all three essentially are the same idea. The end result is generally what determines the word we use.

A test is something that isn’t intended to cripple us. A trial is something that makes us struggle and often rely on other people to help us through. And a temptation is generally something that leads us into a bad scenario that often bites us in the butt.

So the Bible uses these three words almost interchangeably. And be totally honest it’s super confusing the way we do it! In several cases we see these words used in a variety of scenarios and think they mean totally different things. But in actuality it’s the same original word that we translate differently based on the context.

In one place it says we are going to face trials of various kinds. In another we read that with every temptation there will be a way out. And in yet another we see that faith that is tested genuine will be like gold refined by fire. Three words trial, test, temptation and they all are the same root word. Confusing huh!?

One way that I tend to look at this is by the outcome. And this is where I kind of disagree with how some have translated the Bible throughout history. For me a test or a trial is something that is intended to cause us to slow down and consider what and who we know. Often these types of events can be overcome if we use the resources that are at our fingertips. But a temptation isn’t the same.

A temptation is something that often brings defeat. Temptations will generally put us in the driver seat and lead us to rely on our own self centered ways. What makes me happy? What can I do to overcome this? What’s in this for me? Why is this happening to me? I deserve better. These are all things that come out of temptations.

A famous, and generally misquoted, bible verse about temptation says that God will not let us be tempted beyond what we can bear but in every temptation there will be a way of escape that he provides for us. Note that the testing, trial or temptation will be greater than we can bear on our own. The point is that we will go through these things, and if we don’t look for the way out we will be overcome. The point is the way out.

What’s the way out in your temptation? Where has God put an open door in the midst of your struggle? Are you so busy trying to figure out the problem that you fail to see the open door right in front of you? If so then perhaps you’ve turned a test or trial into a temptation.

Look for the way out. It’s most assuredly there. You just have to look for it.

There are two words in our language today that are seemingly the same but have vast differences in meaning. The two words are punishment and discipline. We don’t really care for either of these words, and I believe that’s because we don’t truly understand either of them.

Punishment is the easier one. It’s pretty much what one would imagine. You do the wrong thing and there’s a punishment waiting for you. You break the speed limit and you get a ticket. That’s a just punishment for a broken law. You disobey your parents and you get a punishment, whether that’s a time out or a spanking or some other creative tool up the parental sleeve. Punishment is generally a painful experience that follows our neglectful action or our willful disobedience. The purpose is to show us the wrong in our actions.

Discipline however isn’t like this at all. Even though we’ve tucked both of these words into the same basic definition, that’s not really how it’s supposed to be. As a matter of fact, discipline has nothing to do with the right or wrong in our actions at all. Discipline is about creating a new way of life, a better way of life, a healthier and more fulfilling way of living.

It’s super easy to mix these two up because we really don’t like the idea of either. But sometimes discipline is vital in life. Runners can’t run a marathon without training. That’s discipline! Weight lifters can’t increase their capacity to lift without the discipline of working at it constantly and making sure their diet matches their weight lifting goals. Discipline is the idea of creating a habit in life, often through challenge.

This week we talked about punishment and discipline. Here’s video of that talk. I hope you can see the difference between punishment and discipline and lean into the moments of discipline in your life.

Neither of these hands are my hands, but they are special hands. Most hands are special to be honest, but these are extra special. These hands have crafted some delicious goodies over the past 93 years. They’ve stitched some creatively amazing quilts. They’ve cooked amazing meals. But probably most importantly they’ve remained open in a loving way that not many can rival. These hands are not mine. They are not yours. I’m not even related to these hands, but they treated me as if I was part of the family.

Today these hands are finally at rest. They do not move. They no longer cook. No more quilts will be stitched or cookies baked. These hands now rest. From over nine decades of work and countless thousands of meals served, these hands are finally able to stop.

These hands belong to a woman one knew as wife, three knew as mom, and countless knew as friend. They belong to my wife’s grandma. She’s not my grandma by birth, but she always treated me like I was one of her grandchildren. When my grandma passed away over 20 years ago having started making a quilt for my then fiancé and me. She never got a chance to finish it, but now in our home is a quilt lovingly crafted by the caring hands of my Grandma Elaine and my Great Ma.

You see friends the moral of this little fable is that we never know when life will come to a close. We might be like Great Ma and live 93 amazingly blessed and fruitful years. But we might be called from this earth far earlier. Leave nothing on the table. Use your hands to do good for those around you. Serve where you can serve even when you’re tired, even when you really don’t want to, even when someone isn’t one of “your people.”

The time will come for each of us when we will give an account for the way we used our hands. Our accounting will not matter for our salvation because that was won for us by Jesus’ hands. But did we love well? Did we serve well? Did others see Jesus in the way we used our hands?

I pray that you take this time to look at what your hands are telling those around you. When someone looks at your hands, do they see someone who loved and served and welcomed like Great Ma? If not, there’s no time like the present to start loving well.

You will be missed, but we do not mourn like others mourn. We mourn as those with hope. Rest in Jesus’ hands. Til we meet again Great-Ma, we love you!

There are times in our lives when we just have this feeling that something is lacking or that you’re missing something? There are moments in our lives when we have a felt need that seems to overcome our focus. Now a felt need is distracting to say the least but a felt need isn’t exactly the most important issue.

This week I want to differentiate between felt needs and real needs. Felt needs are surface level things at best. They are the itch that we just need to scratch. Felt needs are generally tangible but sometimes are relational or social. Merely dealing with a felt need is like scratching poison ivy thinking it’s going to get better. It does NOT! I can assure you!

Real needs, or the need beneath the felt need, is what really needs addressed. When we deal with the real issue, not only will the felt need be handled in the moment but we’ll also set ourselves up to not have the same need again. Think about the poison ivy thing again. If all we do is scratch it, it won’t get any better. But if we deal with the underlying problem, the reaction our body is having to the oils in the plant, then not only will it stop itching but it will also dry up and not come back.

In our lives we try to scratch the itch associated with our financial needs, physical needs, emotional needs, social needs, and relational needs. But focusing merely on the tangible and temporary fixes to these needs will only leave us right back where we started days, weeks, or months down the road and the cycle repeats itself.

As a follower in Jesus, we should live like Jesus is the answer to the question we’re not even asking. We follow Jesus expecting him to meet our financial and social and other felt needs when he really isn’t into meeting those needs. Jesus wants to meet the real need underlying all of these and when we come to him as the one who can really drive to the heart of all we need and desire then we’ll find greater fulfillment in life’s everyday moments.

There’s a song that reminds me of this so it will be our Music Monday this week. Check out God Shaped Hole by Plumb. It’s a little dated but it’s still a good message we need to hear from time to time.

Parenting is not for the faint of heart. It’s the hardest, yet most rewarding thing we can ever do. Some parent their biological children. Other’s adopted children. Still others will parent their children’s children or will serve as parents to a child who needs someone to look up to. No matter how you parent or who you’re called to parent, your job is the same raise them to send them.

From the time they were first born, I knew this day would come. When they couldn’t feed themselves and all they did was want to be held, I knew today would come but didn’t give it a second thought. I wanted them to be able to do something, anything really. They slept, cried, ate, needed changed and looked cute. Little did I know this day would be here so soon. We were raising them to send them.

When they hit the school years they were a handful to say the least. They teased and tormented each other and us. They played tricks on teachers because no one knew one from the other. They had their serious moments and their just plain goofy and silly ones. I fear I took too much of that time for granted. I wasn’t patient enough nor loving enough in a way they needed me to be. I overlooked the things that were probably more important to them than I realized.

We did throw the ball and play video games together. I remember letting them help me wash the car and mow the lawn. They were by my side through most of their days at home. Even though they had each other, they both just wanted to be where I was. When they were sick they wanted me to stay home. They wanted me to hold them when they were tired. Even when they were throwing up they wanted me by their side. At the time I didn’t like that much but today I’d honestly do it in a heart beat because today we’ve raised them to send them.

When they hit high school and blazed their own trail, we tried to hold them back a little from making massively stupid mistakes. Don’t worry we all make these mistakes. I wanted to protect them as much and as long as I could. We encouraged them. Challenged them. Reprimanded them. We let them fall then picked them up and set them on the road again. We were there to make sure they didn’t hit bottom too hard because we wanted them to learn from the pain. We were raising them to send them.

The past few weeks have been the best of my life. We’ve spent some great time together. I cherished each of the moments. From the 25 plus hour car ride to throwing the frisbee or talking video games each of these are memories I’ll hold onto forever. The hike to the top of Little Devil’s Tower or the nonstop chatter about politics, guns and knives were all things I will not soon forget. They’ve been the greatest times that I just don’t want to end but we’re raising them to send them.

These days have been the greatest but also the worst days of my life because I know what’s coming. The raising is ending and the sending is beginning. One of them will go far and one will stay closer for now but we’re still sending them both. We’ve done what we could and for good or bad the raising portion is done. It’s now time to send them.

To My Boys:

I couldn’t be more proud of who you are and what you’re going to do in life. You are strong men of God. You have a foundation that I pray will never erode or break down. Build on that foundation.

Lucas, as you make final preparations to head off to be prepared to defend this country, even for those who don’t appreciate your service, remember where you started. Remember your fun-loving side. Make people laugh. Remember your faithful side. Show people Jesus. Stay strong when you are pushed to your limits. Keep your nose clean and your chin up. Stay safe and always watch your six. Stay true to you. Dad couldn’t be more proud of you!

Matthew, as you move to college and fight for us all by defending our technology infrastructure, know you are making a difference. You brother gets recognition for his service and I want you to know yours is equally important. Remember your serious side and how you get the job done. Work hard. Be diligent. Overcome the way you have with every challenge you’ve faced so far. Be focused and confident in who you are because you are enough! Dad couldn’t be more proud of you!

Remember the raising moments we shared. Remember that whatever the next stage of your life brings you always have a place to call home wherever we are. While the raising is ending and the sending begins, you can always come home.

To Parents and Parents to be:

Your goal is clear and yet challenging. You are called to raise them to send them. Some of you will send your children near and others will send them far. Remember this is what you were called to do. Your vocation as a parent is so vital. Be there for your children. Laugh with them. Cry with them. Hold them. Dance with them. Play ball with them. You don’t have to be their friend but you are called to love them and cherish them. Raise them well because one day you’ll send them too. But be sure to send them ready to battle the world around them. Send them to stand for the faith you’ve shared with them. Send them to be men and women who will carry the flag of your family heritage wherever they go. Send them with the assurance that while the raising has ended and sending has begun you are always there to support, encourage and love them.

Go with God and may God go with you.

I’m sure we know what has been come to call the Lord’s Prayer. Many of us know it by heart actually. As a matter of fact I bet several of you started saying it in the quiet space in your mind as soon as you read the title of this post. But what if that’s not really the Lord’s Prayer?

Now don’t go burning me at the stake for saying something heretical! I’m not saying Jesus didn’t pray the words of the Our Father. But the intent of that prayer was to teach us the basics of what prayer could and should look like. But it wasn’t His prayer. It was supposed to be our prayer.

Jesus’ real prayer can be found in John 17 and really opens up his heart. Jesus’ prayer isn’t for bread or health or anything like that. He’s so much bigger than just bread and keep me out of temptation. His prayer was for you and me. He prayed the biggest prayer ever heard. It was a prayer for your future and mine. He prayed for things that we don’t even think of most of the time.

Jesus’ prayer, what I think of as the Lord’s real prayer was all about the Father bringing us together as the body of Christ. It was about us loving one another and looking out for each other. It was about the father keeping us under his wings and protecting us from the world, from evil and from ourselves. The point of Jesus’ real prayer was that what he began in us would be finished by the Father and the Spirit.

I’d strongly recommend you read the words of the Lord’s Prayer of John 17. Pick a version of the Bible that you can understand well. Read it slowly. Think about the words he says and things for which he asks. This is Jesus’ heartfelt prayer and you are the focus of these words.

If you’d like, feel free to check out a message all about this other Lord’s Prayer.

What in the world is happening? We were all hoping that 2020 would end and the stupidity, division and fear that it brought would end as the ball lit up on New Year’s Eve. We hoped that 2021 would bring change. That different would come. Well we got change. We got different so now what?

As a culture we’re bent on violence and destruction. Yes both sides of the aisle. All of us will gravitate to our version of right and wrong. We’ll side with the people who express our views most clearly. We’ll find wrong in the people who look different than us. We’ll condemn those who don’t react the way want them to react. But really? Is this the world we want to hand to our children?

Where do we go from here?

In 2020 men and women who were upset with the way they were treated rioted in the streets and burned down homes. They killed people in broad daylight as their means of protesting. As the calendar changed to a new year, we were met with another group who didn’t like the answer they received and gave into the temptation to move from a protest to a riot. Neither are right. Neither are American. Neither depict being one nation, under God, indivisible.

This country is not perfect. We have broken leadership on both sides of the aisle. The very ones calling for peace today were silent when violence destroyed cities across America this summer. Those who are silent today decried the violence all year. You can’t have it both ways.

You can’t destroy the lives of men and women, terrorize their families, and burn down people’s livelihoods. You can’t sit idly by until the story line shifts to your agenda then start to speak. But honestly where do we go from here? Can this whole thing be redeemed?

The short answer is yes and no.

No, we can’t change what happened. We can’t change the devastation wrought on our country by thugs and evil doers whether in the summer months through racial riots or last night in political ones. Whether they are organized in movements or in ad-hoc groups of people or just proposed random acts of violence – it all is downright evil and we need to stand up for what is right.

Where do we go from here? To be honest there is only one way to fix what’s broken. And it’s going to sound cliche to say the very least. The answer is prayer. Now before you write me off as some bible thumping right wing pastor who’s trying to capitalize on this moment give me a second.

When we pray in a moment like this, there’s no room for blame. When we pray in a moment like this there’s no earthly savior to whom we can pledge our allegiance. In prayer we bend to the ground. In prayer we humble ourselves. In prayer we don’t see one man or woman as better or worse than another. In prayer we are the broken, we are the problem and we can be the solution.

Prayer is the act of bending our will to God’s plan. On January 20, 2021 we will witness the inauguration of the next president of this nation. Some of you will be elated because you think this man will save America and unite this people. Some of you will be upset that your guy didn’t get in. Well let me tell you something. Neither one will do anything that God doesn’t allow him to do. Your “guy” won’t save America.

So what’s the answer? Where do we go from here? Down, on our knees and pray. We need to stop the finger pointing and starting the hand folding. We need to stop looking at our neighbors like they’re the enemy and love them like they’re people too. The only answer now is prayer. Not a prayer to have your man become president. If you pray that prayer you’ve missed the point! The prayer we pray is for God’s will to be done no matter what we think.

So friends put on the knee pads and pray. Get down and humble yourself. Stop throwing social media bombs at one another and I told you so’s and he could have done better or she would have handled this differently. You’re just as much the problem as those who tried to burn our country down this past 12 months.

What part did you play in the problem? Where did you not love your neighbor? Where did you fail to see someone different than you as your brother or sister? What can you do better to fix the little slice of the world in which you live? Pray for that.

Where do we go from here? Simple! Prayer!

Today is your day! It’s your victory day. The day you’ve been waiting for. The day we’ve all been waiting for. So many memories have been built over these 88 years of life. From joy to sadness from sorrow and pain and peace, wellness, health and comfort you’ve experienced all of it.

Continue reading