And the Truth will set you free

The Freedom of Grace

2009-05-20T10:27:00.002-05:00

Dear Readers,

There is a passage in the Bible that describes the relationship between God and you and me. This passage is in the letter St. Paul wrote originally to the Church of Ephesus. Ephesus was a thriving city in what is now Turkey. It is on the southwest coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

The one thing that St. Paul was teaching was "we are saved by means of God's grace." There is no better passage that describes God's grace and how it is, than in Ephesians 2:1-10.

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you previously walked according to this worldly age, according to the ruler of the atmospheric domain, the spirit now working in the disobedient. We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and by nature we were children under wrath, as the others were also. But God, who is abundant in mercy, because of His great love that He had for us, made us alive with the Messiah even though we were dead in trespasses. By grace you are saved! He also raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavens, in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might display the immeasurable riches of His grace in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God's gift - not from works, so that no one can boast. For we are His creation - created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them.

This is a great passage about bondage to sin and being freed to live in grace. The human nature is sinful. God writes in Psalm 51, "Into sin my mother conceived me." Our natural existence is based upon satisfying our own selves. We are naturally disobedient, we are naturally stuck in the rut of selfishness and satisfying what we want only. We are bound to this. We cannot work our way out of it. Without God, we are not free. And now, God sent Jesus into our lives. Jesus brings the freedom of grace from sin. Grace is the instrument God uses to bring salvation. By the miracle of conversion, we are freed into a life of grace. The Holy Spirit changes our hearts and souls and minds and to believe in Jesus and receive the grace that Jesus gives. Jesus gives us grace freely. It is not earned by what we do or how good we are. Grace is the great equalizer of people in the sight of God. We are all equally freed from sin, condemnation, and wrath. God the Father, looks at us through God the Son Jesus Christ eyes. We are forgiven. We are changed. So now our works take on a whole new light and purpose. Our works are done so that will fulfill the Will of God. There are many works that can be done. We are created so that the works are done. For example, I cannot do all types of work. I am created in a special way in order to do some works. You are created in a special way in order to do some other works that will complement what I do. And there are many more believers created by God in special ways that will complement all what we do to the glory of God.

So it is grace that frees us from the bondage to sin. Grace given to us by Jesus Christ, frees us to experience the life of God. It is His free gift. Let us live in grace.

Your servant in Christ,

Pastor Hemsath

The Freedom of Love

2009-05-06T11:54:00.002-05:00

Dear Readers,

I want to share briefly with you the freedom of love. Love is a wonderful thing. Yet love, as it is used currently, is a lousy word. Where else can the phrase, "I love you, man" be used in order to coerce a beer from a friend. The use of the word, love, is so badly used today.

Yet love is freeing. Here the Word of God from 1st John 3:16-21

This is how we have come to know love; He laid down His life for us. Whe should also lay down our lives for ur brothers. If anyone has this world's goods and see his brother in need but shuts off his compassion from him - how can God's love reside in him? Little children, we must not love in word or speech, but in deed and truth; that is how we will know we are of the truth, and will convince our hearts in His presence, because if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts and knows all things. Dear friends, if our hearts do not dondemn us we have confidence before God ...

We know love. We know the love that God gave to us through the self sacrificing actions of Jesus Christ. God so loved the world that He sent His one and only Son into the world to save the world. God demonstrated His love for us in this. For while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. This is true love. This is the love that God gave and it has freed us from sin, death, the influence of Satan, and hell. We believe and know that God loves us so much, that no sacrifice was too great to save us from our sins and selves.

Then we demonstrate and live that love that God lives in us. We "pay it forward" to others who are in need. We demonstrate God's great grace so that others will see Him in us. Are we perfect at it? By no means. We will fail to show love "24/7." That is when our hearts condemn us. But the Holy Spirit is there in convicting us that we are not living in the freedom of God's love. He causes repentance in us so that we are once again connected to God's love. Then we are freed again to serve Him and our fellow man.

That is the freedom of love.

Your servant in Christ,

Pastor Hemsath

The Truth of the Resurrection

2009-04-13T14:15:00.004-05:00

Dear Readers,

Alleluia! Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed! Alleluia!

There is so much truth contained in that age old Easter greeting. In the Lutheran tradition and practice, the above sentences are said from the Pastor to members and from the members back to the Pastor as a form of greeting. This greeting is packed full of truth. It is true that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. "How do you know that?" some people may ask. Some continue, "After all, the only evidence is a book that was written by men. Men are sinful, so therefore the product of their writing must also be sinful. It's not a reliable witness for the truth."

My reply to a statement like that is, "The truth of the matter is, I can't 'prove' what happened to Jesus with any sources outside of the Bible. But the truth of the resurrection is not dependent upon evidence outside the Bible. The truth of the resurrection is dependent upon what is contained inside the Bible. I use a phrase to describe my understanding and belief in the truth. That is, "If it's in the Bible, and God inspired sinful men to write God's truth, then God can inspire the writer to write the truth without any errors or fabrication." To me, the truth that the resurrection happened is contained in God's Word. Now I must ask a related question, "Why is it necessary for the resurrection to be true?"

The resurrection must be true, as St. Paul writes in 1st Corinthians 15, "But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man. For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ, the first fruits; afterward, at His coming, the people of Christ. Then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when He abolishes all rule and all authority and power. ..." (1st Corinthians 15:20-24 Christian Standard Version) What Paul says for us is, if Christ didn't rise from the dead, then our faith is of no value. Paul also says that Christ did raise from the dead. It is true. There is no doubt.

And Christ's resurrection leaves us with such a great joy. Christ's resurrection guarantees that we will rise with Him. Christ's resurrection guarantees that we live with Him is great grace and mercy, until we are raised from the dead. And finally, Christ's resurrection guarantees that we, who are sinful by birth are forgiven by Jesus' death and a new life was created for us when Jesus rose from the grave.

And the greeting that we use is an exclamation point to emphasize the truth. The truth of, "Alleluia! Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed! Alleluia!"

Going Back to the Roots

2009-04-06T16:11:00.002-05:00

Dear Reader,

I'm going to change my train of thought today from what I have been doing. I looked at the title of the blog, "And the truth shall set you free." I realized that I haven't been focusing on that theme in many of my previous posts. Don't get me wrong, the truth of what I've shared with you, does set you free. Yet I haven't been as deliberate to point that out as perhaps I should have.

That is going to change today, and I pray, for the future posts of this blog.

It is my belief that a fundamental part of who is God is that He is truthful. The Bible is full of God being truthful. God didn't, and doesn't, have a whole lot of tact. As a matter of fact, God is extremely blunt. God isn't "politically correct." God is painfully truthful. And that is good for all of us. We need people to be painfully truthful with us, don't we? We need brutal truth sometimes because we will never grow out of our comfort zones, we will not mature without some painful, brutal truth. We may not like it. We probably won't want it. But it's not a matter of want. It is a matter of need. We need God to be brutally honest and truthful with us. We need ourselves to be brutally honest with ourselves.

Please, please, please, do not misinterpret me. I do not want to convey the truth of God as "mean," "angry," "selectively punishing groups of people." God wants us to know that He is not mean, nor angry, nor punishing a certain group of people. God is just, right, and sent His punishment for sin on a SINGLE PERSON. That single person is His Son, Jesus Christ. The Bible presents the truth of God and what God ultimately wants from all of us. It is written down in the book of John, chapter three.

There was a man from the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Him [Jesus] at night and said, "Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher, for no one could perform these signs You do unless God were with him." Jesus replied, "I assure you: Unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." "But how can anyone be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked Him. "Can he enter his mother's womb a second time and be born?" Jesus answered, "I assure you: Unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit, is spirit. Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again. The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don't know where it come from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." "How can these things be?" asked Nicodemus. "Are you a teach of Israel and don't know these things?" Jesus replied. "I assure you: We speak what We know and We testify to what We have seen, but you do not accept Our testimony. If I have told you about things that happen on earth and you don't believe, how will you believe if I tell you about things of heaven? No one has ascended into heaven except the One who descended from heaven - the Son of Man. Jesus as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life. For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world that He might condemn the world, bu tha the world might be saved through Him. Anyone who believes in Him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the ON and Only Son of God. This, then, is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deed were evil For everyone who practices wicked things hates the light and avoids it, so that his deeds may not be exposed. But anyone who lives by the truth comes to the light, so that his woks may be shown to be accomplished by God." Christian Standard Version, John 3:1-21

Jesus was truthful about God's plan to Nicodemus, as well as to us. The Savior of the world is Jesus. God's wrath, judgment, and grief about sin was taken out upon Jesus, not us. God is not angry with us. God wants us to believe that Jesus is the Savior of the world. God wants us to live in His promises of life, light, and immortality. God wants us to live a joyous, praise filled, life that lives by means of the light of God. In other words, we follow the will and direction of God because of what Jesus did for us. This is the truth. This is the freedom that we have because of the truth.

So, from now on, I will be more deliberate in my presentation of the truth; the truth of God for our freedom from sin, death, and the power of Satan.

Talk to you soon, freed people.

Trust in God to Serve

2009-03-31T15:48:00.002-05:00

Dear Reader,

"Be all that you can be." was the slogan for the Army. Now I think that it's, "An Army of one." You've heard phrases like, "Climb the corporate ladder" and "You are the master of your own destiny." Society values achievement and status. We were told from almost the womb that we can be anything and anyone that we set for ourselves. We live in a very individualistic society. Now I'm not advocating that success and achievement are bad things. But as Jesus, "Not so with you."

Our lesson is from Mark 10:35-45.

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, approached Jesus and said, "Teacher, we want You to do something for us if we ask you." "What do you want me to do for you?" He asked them. They answered him, "Allow us to sit at your right and at your left in your glory." But Jesus said to them, "You don't know what you're asking. Are you able to drink the cup I drink or to be baptize with the baptism I am baptized with?" "We are able." they told him. Jesus said to them, "You will drink the cup I drink, and you will be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with. But to sit at my right or left is not mine to give; instead it is for those it have been prepared for." Then the other 10 disciples heard this, they began to be indignant with James and John. Jesus called them over and said to them, "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles dominate them, and their men of high positions exercise power over them. But it must not be like that among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be a slave to all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life - a ransom for many. (Christian Standard Bible Translation)

The world's philosophy is simple. Be as good as you can, nobody can stop you from reaching your goals except you. You are the most important person. The implication is you will do things only if those things elevate you or your status among other people. The philosophy of the day of James and John was the same. But Jesus was about to turn the way that they think and the way the world thinks upside down. Jesus says to us, greatness is dependent upon service. If you want to be a great person among people, serve them. If you want to be "the top dog," be a slave to people. This is so foreign to people. Yet it is Jesus' basic understanding for his people. Self glorification or doing things in order to receive honor and glory from other people is not the way to be great in his eyes. Serve people, care for them, tend to their needs, and put others ahead of you is the way Jesus wants his people to act.

Now the next question is, "Why?" Jesus tells us. Jesus didn't come into the world to be glorified by the world. Jesus didn't come into the world to "toot his own horn." Jesus came into the world to serve us by means of giving up of his life. Jesus is the sacrifice for all our sins, especially in this case, the sin of ego and pride in our own achievements. Jesus came and took away our sins and sinfulness and replace them with his grace; his wonderful grace and love and self-sacrificing service for the sake of all the people of the world. Because Jesus did this, we serve. We serve people and their needs. Jesus gave to us what we needed most; forgiveness of sins and a new resurrected life. Because of Jesus' life, death, resurrection, and ascension, we put the needs of others ahead of ourselves.

Does this mean we are at the beck and call of every person's wants and desires? No. Jesus wasn't. He didn't give James and John what they wanted. Jesus gave them what they truly needed. Our service is the same. We serve people by giving to them the free grace of God so that their sins are forgiven and their lives are restored. We also give them what they need in this world in order to live. Things such as health awareness, food gifts, financial advice even. As we meet their needs, we also are in a position to give them what they truly need as well. We take our service as we trust in God to serve us with forgiveness and life.

Your servant in Christ,

Pastor Hemsath

Trust in God to Lead

2009-03-24T16:34:00.002-05:00

Dear Readers,

Have you ever thought that best person to follow was yourself? We all have at one point in time or the other. The nation of Israel at the time of Moses did. More accurately, they didn't want to follow God's lead. If there was a pattern of behavior in the Old Testament, it is this one. The nation of Israel was saved by God either from their own sins or the oppression of others, then they went off in their own direction either ignoring of God's lead or following the lead of other people and their false gods, then God sent calamity and punishment in their lives, they cried out to God for forgiveness and rescue, and then God withdrew His punishment and restored the nation of Israel to step one again. You'd think that they would get an idea that they need to follow God's lead and not wander off. You'd think that they would learn. They didn't. If you ever get a chance to read the book of Judges, at the very least, you will see that pattern develop.

And that pattern of behavior is no different today than it once almost six thousand years ago. We, believers of God in Christ Jesus, fall into the same trap of behavior. We sin against God and follow our own devices and desires. We create and have "false gods too." God sends to us a "wake up call." He points out our sins and sinfulness as well as the consequences of those sins. We then realize our sins and sinfulness and cry out to God to forgive us of all our sins. And here is where the pattern breaks. Instead of God sending "judges" to lead the people out of sin and death, God sent Jesus Christ, His one and only Son into our world and our existence in order to forgive our sins in His ONE TIME act of love. Jesus came into the world, not to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him so that the world would believe in Jesus Christ, God's Son. God the Father sent His Son as a one time sacrifice for all sins of all the people of every age all over the world.

Because God forgave us of our sins, we follow God to wherever He is leading us. And where is that? With the ancient nation of Israel, God was leading them home to the promised land. He led them through Moses and Joshua, the many judges, priests, scribes, pharisees. God was leading the ancient Israelites to the land flowing with milk and honey, the land that God promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God, through Jesus Christ, is leading us believers in Jesus who are the new nation of "Israel," to the ultimate land flowing with milk and honey. God is leading us home to heaven.

Someday, we'll get there. So what do we do now? Put your trust into the hands of a loving and merciful God, who is full of grace and love. Follow Him to the cross and live in the shadow of the cross. Trust in God to lead you home.

Talk to you next week.

Pastor Hemsath

Trust in God's Wisdom

2009-03-17T16:23:00.002-05:00

Dear Reader,

"These are the times that try men's souls." Do you know who wrote that? I was pondering the times, the hardships financially that many people are in, this sentence popped into my head. At that time, I didn't know who wrote it. My first thoughts were either Winston Churchill or FDR. So I "google'd" the phrase and I was totally surprised. Thomas Paine, the Revolutionary author of "Common Sense" wrote it. It is the first sentence of the first paragraph of the booklet, "The American Crisis."

This phrase from Paine over 230 years ago, still apply to us today. These are times that sorely test our souls today. We look to our leaders, both corporate and government, for guidance and wisdom in order to lead us out of these trying times. And our leaders are saying to us, "We don't know what to do. We don't know how to fix this. We are as scared as you are." The wisdom and intelligence of man in this crisis is failing. And people are asking, "Who's going to lead us through these times?" When the times are tough, and human wisdom fails, we turn to the wisdom of God. The text for us this week is from 1st Corinthians 1:18-31.

For to those who are perishing the message of the cross is foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is God's power. For it is written: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will set aside the understanding of the experts. Where is the philosopher? Where is the scholar? Where is the debater of this age? Hasn't God made the world's wisdom foolish? For since, in God's wisdom, the world did not know God through wisdom, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of the message preached. For the Jews ask for sings and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles. Yet to those who He called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is God's power and God's wisdom, because God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength. Brothers, consider your calling: not many are wise from a human perspective, not many powerful, not many of noble birth. Instead, God has chosen the world's foolish things to shame the wise, and God has chosen the world's weak things to shame to strong. God has chosen the world's insignificant and despised things - the things viewed as nothing - so He might bring to nothing the things that are viewed as something, so that no one can boast in His presence. But from Him you are in Christ Jesus, who for us became wisdom from God, as well as righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, in order that, as it is written: the one who boasts must boast in the Lord.

We believe that God through Jesus Christ, will lead us through these times that are trying our souls. We believe that God will be the light in the darkness. We believe that God is our guide, not only in troubling times, and also in times of great joy and prosperity. We believe that God, the Holy Spirit, guides us believers through the problems we are currently facing.

Won't God make the life of the believer immune for all trials? No, God will not transport us out of troubling times. God will lead us by means of His grace, love, mercy, and wisdom, through the problems that we all humans face. If God had a weakness, that weakness is much stronger than any of man's strengths. If God was foolish, His foolishness is much wiser that the wisest man or woman in human existence.

So, does God tell us what to do in this financially troubling times? Does His Word tell us what to do? There is much from God and His Word that can lead us in these times. Yet I think God says much more about placing our total lives and existence and experiences into His hands. His hands have saved us from our sins and sinfulness. His hands have given to us His wisdom to follow. His hands have given to us expertise in certain areas to use as tools when we follow him. We don't trust our own expertise, because it will ultimately fail. We trust God to lead us so that we use our expertise to serve Him, to serve others, and then to serve ourselves. We trust our God and Savior, Jesus Christ, in order to lead us in our daily lives.

Your servant in Christ,

Pastor Hemsath

"Who Can You Trust?"

2009-03-09T15:18:00.002-05:00

Dear Readers,

My title comes from a line from the movie, "Batman." This was the original with Michael Keaton playing Batman and Jack Nicholson playing the Joker. The Joker used this line to make himself look like someone who the people could trust instead of Batman.

Yet this is a good question. Who can you trust? There are so many people in our lives who are trustworthy and many who are not. Think about the people in your life. Think about your boss or your co-worker. Think about your parents, grandparents, and children. Think about your friends and neighbors. Who can you trust? What about your pastor? What about your teacher? There are so many people in your lives that you trust. Some, and I hope all, have proven themselves trustworthy.

But you know as well as I, no person is 100 percent trustworthy. We all let others down in some way. For example, when I fail someone, two things are happening. The first is the guilt I feel for "letting him/her down." It is not a good feeling. The second thing that happens is that person will not trust me as before when he/she asks me to do something for them. In other words, I have to prove myself trustworthy again.

And why did I fail? Mostly it was because I was thinking of other things that needed to be done, rather than putting a priority on the needs of the other person. In other words, I was being selfish.

There is a Bible story for you this week about being trustworthy and to answer the question, "Who can you trust?" In Mark 8:22-38, Jesus asks a couple of questions of His disciples. The first question is, "Who do the people say that I am?" The answer was, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, and some others say one of the prophets." The answers are varied and all wrong. The right answer came when Jesus the disciples, "And who do you (or in Texas language 'All y'all') say that I am?" Peter spoke up, "You are the Christ." Peter was correct. Jesus was telling the disciples then as well as the disciples now, that He is the Christ, aka the Messiah, the one who came in order to save the world from it's sin and sinfulness. Jesus then told them what the Messiah was supposed to do in order to save the world from it's sinfulness. Jesus was to be betrayed, handed over to the elders, chief priests, and the scribes so that He would be crucified and die, then on the third day, be raised to life. The same Peter, who just moments before confessed his faith in who was Jesus, now sets Jesus aside to tell Jesus, "This isn't going to happen. I'm not going to let it. I want you to remain here with me." Peter went from acting on His faith and trusting the truth of Jesus' words, to acting upon selfish desires and thoughts. Then Jesus spoke to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan. You are not thinking about the things of God but of man." The name Satan is translated as "Adversary," or "barrier," or "detraction." Peter was not trusting Jesus. He wanted what he wanted; Jesus all to himself.

And now, Jesus, using this episode, teaches the disciples and the crowd who had gathered, about trust. "If anyone wants to be my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me and the gospel will save it." Jesus is saying to you, "When you trust me and believe in me, you will follow me. Yet it will be challenging. You will bear a cross, or better said today, you will have burdens for following me. And your burden will be light. You see, I have carried your burdens of sin, death, and the influence of the devil on your behalf. I have taken away that burden from you. You do not have to carry the weight of guilt, grief, and sadness over sin and its' consequences. I have done that for you. That is why my cross is huge. I carried yours as well as the same for every living person, past, present, and future. Believe me. It's true. I am God. I am trustworthy. I have done it for you. I "proved" myself to you and for you. Now I will lead you to where I want you to go. Bring your cross, the burdens of life because you are following me, and follow me to heaven."

And Jesus is trustworthy. He died for you. He rose for you. He gave you the gift of a new life with Him. Believe in Him and follow. Trust him.

Your servant in Christ,

Pastor Hemsath

Trust

2009-03-03T17:33:00.002-06:00

Good afternoon, readers.

I hope that your week is starting out on a good note. Mine, so far, has been good. One of the constancy's of being a pastor is the constant state of busyness. There is always something going on, some opportunity to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and some opportunity to bring the comfort of forgiveness of sins to a needy member. Part of what I need as a pastor in order to care for the congregation is, "Trust." They need to know me and my habits and my behaviors and my thoughts so that they'll know what I'll say when they need God's representative. They can trust me to bring them comfort when down, counsel when struggling, and the Word of God to encourage and uplift their faith. And more than me, they can trust God and His ways.

In my messages to you and the congregation, the readings I will use will focus on the theme of, "Trust." In Proverbs 3:5, God says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding." These are great words of God. Trust in God, because He proves Himself trustworthy time and time again. There is an episode in the Bible about Abraham and his son Isaac. Isaac was the son that God promised to Abraham and Sarah. Both of them were very old and did not have any children. God told Abraham that he was have a son, and that Abraham would be the father of many nations. God proved himself trustworthy by breaking through the barreness of Sarah and allowing her to conceive Isaac. Abraham believed in God and believed that God would provide for him. Then God did something a little weird. God asked Abraham to take Isaac and to offer Isaac as a sacrifice to God. I can't imagine the thoughts and feelings that Abraham experienced. Yet through it all, Abraham trusted that God would do the right thing.

Trust like that was super-human. No one could do what Abraham did. Most of us, if not all, would run from that requirement. Probably all of us wouldn't be able to go through with it. I think what kept Abraham on task is, God is trustworthy in fulfilling His promises. Abraham could have thought, "God promised me Isaac. He promised me that I would be the father of many nations. Isaac is a miracle son. God will not allow Isaac to be sacrificed. So I will do what God says. I will trust Him with my son's life." God didn't stop Abraham until the very last moment. Abraham puts his son's life in the hands of God. And God again did what was right.

Trust like that is super-human. And it is that trust we have too. We who believe in God, trust in God. Faith trusts God with everything that it has. Faith that we have, trusts God. Temptations are out there not to trust God. Temptations are those things as James writes, "But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desires." (James 1:14). Temptations seem so clear and alluring and enticing. We also see God's way that He laid out for us. But it seems a little fuzzy, like an out of focus photo. The reason that God's way seems fuzzy is not because of God but because our sinful nature clouds the way of God and Satan doesn't want us to see God's way. Yet the faithful person doesn't lean on his or her thoughts, reason, emotions, and experiences for guidance. The faithful person relies on the faith and trust in God for the right thing and the right way to go. The faithful person uses his or her thoughts, reason, emotions, and experiences as tools to follow God's way. Trust in God is super-human. Trust in God is doable. Trust in God follows faith. Trust in God believes and knows that God will do what He says and said He will do.

Have a great trusting week in God.

The Power of God to Change

2009-02-24T14:21:00.002-06:00

What, God change? Nope. God doesn't change in his nature, his purpose, his focus regarding you and me. God's essence of who he is doesn't change either. God is all powerful, God is all knowing, and is present everywhere. God's Law doesn't change. He laid down for us what is right and what is wrong. God didn't change his mind. So what I mean is that God has the power to change us! What, us change? That's so scary. Just the thought of the word, "Change," sends shivers up and down the spine.

Yet to be truthful, we aren't afraid of change. What we're afraid of is the perceived loss of something because of the change. We so focus on what we might lose, that we don't see what we might gain from the change. For example, when my congregation went from one worship service to two. There was a lot of discussion surrounding that we would not know everyone anymore. Yet what we gained was the opportunity to serve even more people than we were before.

Change happens all the time. Most of the time we don't see what has changed around us. Or in us. And did you know, that God underwent a change? Or rather, a "metamorphosis?" God did. God the Son, the second person of the Trinity, underwent a metamorphosis. He went from being a Spirit being, full of light and power and glory. The Son of God became the human man, Jesus. The spirit of light and power and glory became veiled so that we could not see it. One day, Jesus, both God and man in miraculous combination, went on top of tall mountain in Israel with Peter, James, and John. At that time we saw the metamorphosis from the veiled God man to the radiant God man. Jesus shone his full glory and majesty in front of Peter, James, and John, along with Moses and Elijah. The Law and Gospel prophets of old, alive and resurrected standing before and talking with Jesus. At this event we see Jesus as he truly is. The light of God that came into the world in order to save the world through him, shines brightly into the lives of his people. At the end of the event, Jesus was seen by Peter, James, and John, in the way they always saw him before. Yet because of Christ Jesus, Peter, James, and John, were metamorphosized themselves. They, because of the presence of Christ, were changed from the inside out.

And from that moment on, Jesus walked into "the hornets nest." Jesus went to Jerusalem, so that he would be betrayed by one of his hand picked men, whipped, beaten, bloodied, crucified and died. The power of God was demonstrated and fulfilled by the power of Jesus Christ to die so that all our sins would be forgiven. God died so that we would live in forgiveness today and live with him in his light forever after our deaths. And we will see the metamorphosized Jesus when we arrive in heaven, yet with a couple of differences. We will see the light of God in Jesus with the nail holes in his hands and feet, the spear hole in his side, scars from the crown of thorns, and the lash scars from the whip. Because of Jesus' life, death, resurrection, and ascension, we will see Jesus radiant and bright as hs truly is.

And before we get to heaven, we radiate the light of Jesus Christ to people around us who are still sitting in darkness, death, and under the influence of Satan. They may not realize it. They may think everything is all right. But it's not. We, who received the change of God, who live in the light of the Gospel of Jesus, radiate to them this light of God. It is a major change for those people. They will resist the change because they fear of losing their lives as they know it. Yet they are gaining a life far greater than what they ever imagined. They will be gaining the life of God in Jesus Christ. You see, we lost the sinful nature. We lost the darkness. Yet we gained a light that no human being can create. We gained Jesus. And if people who are living in darkness come to live in the light, they too will have what we have. They will gain life and light from God. This is the power of God to change people. This is the power of God that changed us. This is the power of God that will change others.

See you next time.

Pastor Robert

The Power of God to Heal

2009-02-16T15:49:00.002-06:00

Dear Readers,

God is all powerful, He is all knowing, He is everywhere. These are the three basic characteristics of God. This month, I will talk about certain aspects of God's power. This week, I will talk about the power to heal.

In the book of 2nd Kings, there is a story of a General of Syria named Naaman (pronounced Na - a - man) and a man of God named Elisha. j

"Naaman, commander of the army for the King of Aram, was a great man in his master's sight and highly regarded because through him, the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man was a brave warrior, but he had a skin disease (leprosy). Aram had gone on raides and brought back from the land of Israel a young girl who served Naaman's wife. She said to her mistress, 'If only my master would go to the prophet who is in Samaria, he would cure him of his skin disease.' So Naaman went and told his master what the girl from the land of Israel said. Therefore, the king of Aram said, 'Go and I will send a letter with you to the king of Israel.' so he went and took with him 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold, and 10 changes of clothes. He brought the letter to the king of Israel and it read, 'When this letter comes to you, note that I have sent you my servant Naaman for you to cure him of his skin disease.' When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and asked, 'Am I God, killing and giving life that this man expects me to cure a man of his skin disease? Think it over and you will see that he is only picking a fight with me.' When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel hore his clothes, he sent a message to the king, 'Why have you torn your clothes? Have him come to me, and he will know there is a prophet in Israel.' So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha's house. Then Elisha sent him a messenger, who said, 'Go wash seven times in the Jordan and your flesh will be restored and you will be clean.' But Naaman got angry and left, saying, 'I was telling myself: He will surely come out and stand and call on the name of Yahweh his God, and will wave his hand over the spot and cure the skin disease. Are not Abana and Pharper, the rivers of Damascus, better tha all the waters of Israel? Could I wah in them and be clean?' So he turned and left in a rage. But his servants approached and said to him, "My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you have done it? How much more should you do it when he tells you, wash and be clean?' So Naaman went donwn and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, according to the command of the man of God. Then his skin was restored and became like the skin of a small boy, and he was clean." (2nd Kings 5:1-14, Christian Standard Bible translation)

God chose to heal Naaman through his servant, Elisha. What I find interesting about this event is all Naaman wanted was to be healed. Yet when Elisha prescribed the method, Naaman was very mad. Not only did Naaman want to be healed, but he also wanted the grandious style and hand waving and screaming, "HEAL!" That's why it's important for the servants to point Naaman back to what he wanted. Naaman wanted to be healed. He wanted God to heal him. And that is exactly what happened. Yet Naaman's healing was more than skin. Naaman was healed on the inside. In verse fifteen, God says, "Then Naamen and his whole company went back to the man of God, stood before him and declared, 'I know there's no God in the whole world except in Israel.'" Naaman was healed by God on the inside too. God transformed Naaman and made him a new man.

Now let's move forward into today. God can and does choose to heal people of diseases like cancer. Yet God's greater healing is the power to heal people of the darkness of their sins. God heals by means of baptism. Naaman was healed of the disease when he dipped into the Jordan seven times. We are healed when we are baptized by and in the name of God of our sins and sinfulness. Like the Jordan, was use plain water. But the water doesn't heal. God's Word, in combination with the water, heals. We are healed and forgiven of our sins when we are baptized. God pours out His Word along with the water onto our heads and the Word of God penetrates the mind and heart and converts the person totally and completely.

I hear questions, "Why didn't God choose to heal my mom or dad, aunt or uncle, brother or sister? Why did God let them die?" I answer the questions with this. We will, one day, all die. It is the result of sin and the sinful nature we inherited from our families all the way back to Adam and Eve. Yet God did heal the loved one who died. We believe that death is the means that God uses to ultimately heal those who believe in Him with eternal life. Paul writes in 1st Corinthians 15, God transforms us from mortal to immortal, perishable to imperishable, dead to alive. Jesus states that He is the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in Him, even though they die, yet will they live. So God uses death so that He can demonstrate His greatest power, to power to rise people from death into life eternal.

So God does heal. He heals diseases. He heals people of their sin. He heals into life eternal.

Please comment. Let me know what you think.

Your servant in Christ,

The Power of Jesus' Teaching

2009-02-02T14:45:00.003-06:00

Dear Readers,

During this season of Epiphany, I will highlight Bible texts that will bring to you the power of God. I will bring to you different aspects of the power of God to change your lives.

But before I do that, I want to briefly describe the season of Epiphany. This season is also called, "The Season of Light." The season is the time when we learn and grow in our faith surrounding the "Light of the World," Jesus Christ. We grow through the life of Jesus, who is our light and our salvation. Being in the light of God, we also live in His power.

So this week, we live in the power of Jesus' teaching. Jesus is recorded in Mark 1:21-26,

Then they went into Capernaum, and right away He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and began to teach. They were astonished at His teaching because, unlike the scribes, He was teaching them as one having authority. Just then a man with an unclean spirit was in their synagogue. He cried out, "What do You have to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are - the holy one of God!" But Jesus rebuked him and said, "Be quiet, and come out of him!" And the unclean spirit convulsed him, shouted with a loud voice, and came out of him. Then they were all amazed, so they began to argue with one another, saying, "What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him." His fame then spread throughout the entire vicinity of Galilee.

Jesus taught like no one else. Jesus has authority and power in His teaching. Jesus commands authority by both who He is, and what He has to say. Jesus' teaching is simple. It is, "Believe in me and the good news of salvation that I am sharing with you and you will be saved." Jesus speaks this message and delivers it with power. So much so, that the people who hear Him say basically, "Oh Wow!"

Not only that, Jesus authority and power over unclean spirits was amazing also. Now I've never seen an exorcism before, but I've seen and heard God's power through the Holy Bible, which is also the Word of God.

And it is the Holy Bible, the Word of God that teaches us with His authority. The Bible states that faith comes by hearing. So God has the power to change lives, to cause faith to happen within the person who hears. As we hear the Word of God, it rattles around in our brain and then permeates into our essence or our soul, causing a change of monumental proportions. It is the Word of God, Jesus Christ, who casts out the demons of our lives. He is the one who says to our sinfulness, as well as all the "little demons," "Get out of him. Go away from her. You no longer have a home in that person." Jesus then replaces the demon or the sin with Himself. So we are free from sin, from death, and free from the power of Satan. We are truly changed. That is the power of God to change lives. That is the power of God to change your lives. Let God the Holy Spirit into your lives and bring to you His life changing authority and power.

That's all for now.

Your servant in Christ,

Pastor Robert

A New LIfe Because of Death

2009-01-14T11:34:00.002-06:00

Dear Readers,

God writes through St. Paul in Romans 6:1-14

What should we say then? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may multiply? Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Or are you unaware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in a new way of life. For if we have been joined with Him in the likeness of His resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that sin's dominion over the body may be abolished, so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin, sin a person who has died is freed from sin's claims. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him because we know that Christ, having been raised from the dead, no longer dies. Death no longer rules over Him. For in that He died, He died to sin once for all; but in that He lives, He live to God. So, you too consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its desires. And do not offer any parts of it to sin as weapons for unrighteousness. But as those whoa re alive from the dead, offer yourselves to God, and all the parts of yourselves to God as weapons for righteousness. For sin will not rule over you, because you are not under law but under grace. (Christian Standard Bible translation)

This is a great explanation of who were are as Christians. Sin does not have any power over us. We have the power to say to sin, "See ya. It's not been good to know you. Go away from me." God gave to us the power to walk away from sin. We died to sin. Our sins were crucified with Christ Jesus. By means of His sacrifice upon the cross, Jesus took away from us our sins. Through the action of Baptism, those sins were drowned and buried with Jesus. And then we were made alive in Jesus because He was raised from the dead. Since Jesus was raised from the dead, so are we! Hurray and hallelujah! We are alive and free from sin, death, and the so-called power of Satan. Our freedom came at a cost. The cost was the life of Jesus. And the benefit of the cost is life with Jesus today and every day of our earthly lives. And when God the Father calls us home to heaven, we will live eternally with God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit forever. So while we live on the earth, now, let us offer our lives, which includes words, thoughts, as well as actions, to God in righteousness. Amen, and Hallelujah!

A New Season

2009-01-05T10:19:00.002-06:00

Greetings to all,

It is time for a new season. I'm not talking about winter or spring or summer or fall. Those recycle and return. What I'm talking about is a new season of life. The Bible says, "This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it." Every day is a new day in and with God. So no matter what today holds, let us rejoice and be glad in it. I tell you, it will surprise a lot of people when you go through one of the worst days in your life with a smile on your face.

Struggles and strife are normal to people every day. Some days are better than others. So when we go through each day with joy because this is a day that the Lord has made, we have a different perspective on the day. It's normal to be upset and angry when things go wrong. It's normal to be sad. And it is also normal to be happy and joyous. Yet what's not normal to people is to recognize and believe that this is the Lord's day. He made it. He created it especially for us. This day is a new day and a new season.

For me, I want to know the answer to the question, "Why?" Why is today a new season from yesterday? Why would we rejoice, especially when the day is wrought with sickness, sadness, and grief? The reason why is a day that occurred long ago that we call "Good Friday." This is the day that Jesus died. It was a day of horror, grief, betrayal, and death. It was a sad day for all of those people who loved Jesus. And even for Jesus it was a painful and bloody day. But for you and me, it is a joyous day. It is the day on which God saved the world from sin, death, hell, and Satan. Through all that grief, sorrow, blood, pain, humiliation, and death, we receive the gift of life. We rejoice every day, because Jesus died for us all, so that we have the promise of sins forgiven. Now add Easter Sunday into the mix. Easter is the day that God broke the bonds of sin and death through Jesus' resurrection. So now we live in the reality of a new resurrected life. We are free from Satan's so-called power and we live in the power of the almighty God. The problems of life and death attempt to bring us down. Yet we rejoice through our sufferings and struggles because of what Jesus did for us.

So every day is a new season. Every day is something new to explore. Every day is a new season of life. Every day is God's day. Remember why each day is a day of rejoicing and rejoice.

Your servant in Christ,

Pastor Robert

The Wierdness of it All

2008-12-22T14:15:00.002-06:00

Dear Readers,

God is a little strange. He sent the angel Gabriel to a young lady named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man who was Joseph. Joseph's ancestor was King David of Israel. This is the same David who defeated Goliath in battle. That seems a little weird to me. Have you ever been visited by angel? Gabriel greeted Mary, "Greetings to you who are highly favored by God." That is a strange greeting. Most people greet each other with words like, "Hello" or "How do you do?" Mary even thought the greeting was a little strange. She pondered the words and tried to figure out what Gabriel was saying. Gabriel had a message for Mary. She was going to have a child and she was to give to the child the name, "Jesus." Jesus' life path was to be the King who reigned from the throne of David. Jesus is to rule forever. Now, we've crossed over into the crazy side. Jesus, a child of Mary, ruling forever? That's crazy. Yet now it's going to get even more bizarre. Mary asks Gabriel a very good question, "How is this going to happen? I'm a virgin." Gabriel has an equally great answer to Mary's question. It just goes to show, God is a little weird. The answer is, "The Holy Spirit will come over you and the power of the Most High God will come upon you and cause you to become pregnant. Because of this, the child that you will be carried will be called "Holy," "the Child of God."

Now what Gabriel is describing is impossible according all human works and understanding. It physically cannot happen. At this moment in time, Mary easily could have said to Gabriel, "This is nuts. This is crazy stuff. I can't handle it. I won't handle it. Forget about it." Yet we know that, that didn't happen. Gabriel, in order to show that power of God through weirdness, tells Mary about her relative, Elizabeth. Elizabeth is six months pregnant. That sounds okay until you add in Elizabeth is well past the age of being able to bear children AND when she was of age, Elizabeth could not and did not have any children. Now Elizabeth is pregnant. Strange things are happening with God.

Then Gabriel told Mary, and he tells us too, "That nothing is impossible with God." All the weird things that Gabriel was describing were not impossible for God to do. And God did them. All the crazy things that God did were for our benefit. Jesus' name is a very special name. It's "Yeshua" in the Hebrew language which means, "Savior." The child Jesus grew up and gave to us salvation from our sins by means of His death upon the cross. The "throne of David" was a cross for Jesus. The King of kings and Lord of lords was THE ONE who God sent to free God's people from their sins and sinfulness. So this is a story that tells us nothing is impossible with God.

It is also a story about one thing that Mary possessed. Mary possessed, "Faith." After all of what Gabriel told her, she responded saying, "I am the Lord's servant. Let it be to me as you have said." Mary possessed a faith to believe the impossible. Her faith guided her as she later travelled from Nazareth to Bethlehem, just before giving birth to Jesus. Her faith comforted her when she watched her son die at the hands of sinful men. Her faith rejoiced when she saw her resurrected son as He gave the promise of a resurrection to all people. And Mary is an example of faith in action to us as well. We believe in the truth of Jesus, conceived in the Virgin Mary, born, and died at the hands of Pontius Pilate, and on the third day rose to life. We believe and base our lives and actions upon the reality of Jesus Christ. So no matter what happens in our lives, the ups and the downs, we are guided in the crazy weirdness of it all. That nothing is impossible with God.

Next Post: The Birth of Jesus

Who Told You about Jesus?

2008-12-09T11:34:00.002-06:00

Greetings readers,

I know that I have taken a hiatus from blogging. Now, I have a renewed zeal to enter my thoughts on life and how God impacts that life. My motivation was caused by the re-design of our website. Now, on the website, there's a link to this blog. Now I have to keep it up to date. Yet that isn't my motivation. My motivation is you, who is reading my blog. Whether you're a first time reader, or someone who has read it before, I want to bring the reality of Jesus and His impact upon your life.

So I have a question for you. "Who told you about Jesus?" In my life, it was my parents. You see I am a "lifer Lutheran Christian." I was baptized at one month old, and I've been a Christian ever since. My life, was by no means, "Perfect." It wasn't and still isn't. But it was perfected by God the Father, through the total person and God, the Son of God, Jesus Christ. I don't ever recall a time that I was outside the grasp of Christ or His Church. Some of you who are reading this, didn't start your Christian life the way I did. You became a believer by God through someone later in your life. Some of you who are reading this, haven't yet come to faith. If so, I pray that my witness to you will propel you into a desire for more of God through me.

God chose, and continues to choose people in order to bring the reality of Jesus to other people. God chose prophets, historians, and apostles to bear witness to the reality of God. God chose ordinary people, who are believers, to share God's great and powerful love with those who did not know Him. It is the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, who empowers us to tell the story of Jesus to others.

So what does God want believers, like myself, to say? One of the great examples of what do we say is from Isaiah 40:1-2. God says, "'Comfort, comfort My people' says Your God. Speaking tenderly to Jerusalem, and announce to her that her time of servitude is over, her iniquity has been pardoned, and she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. " (Christian Standard Bible translation)

God tells us through the prophet Isaiah, that we who are His people, are to be comforted and at peace. God has saved us from our sins, and sinfulness. We know this to be true because of Jesus. The reality of Jesus and what He did, is the pardon for our sins. Through Jesus, our lives are smoothed out. The peaks and valleys of daily living were lowered and raised by Jesus. The bumpy roads of life were smoothed out. I know what you're thinking. You still struggle with highs and lows, your life isn't any where close to being smooth. Yet, as one who knows the reality of Jesus, I know that my life is so much smoother and level with Jesus in my life. I know that He forgave me of my sins and gave me a focus on His new life. I can't imagine living my life without Jesus. I can't imagine what it would have been like if I didn't know Jesus. God is using me to bring the reality of Jesus to you. God is using me to tell you about Jesus and what He did for you and me.

There is much more to tell. I pray that I will be consistent in bringing to you the reality of Jesus. And the truth will set you free.

Outside of My Comfort Zone

2008-01-14T22:48:00.000-06:00

Greetings to all once again.

I am constantly reminded how comfortable I can be with myself. I am really being reminded this week. I'm at a conference in Colorado Springs, Colorado. This conference is on prayer and spirituality. Now that shouldn't challenge a pastor now, should it? It does me. I will make confession is this forum. My personal time with God is not as I would like it to be. What I mean is, I think that I could spend more time talking to God by myself and studying the Word of God by myself. This conference addresses both of those issues. We've learned so far about being in quiet solitude with God and how that time with God will enhance me as a Christian and also as a pastor. I have no doubt that it will. However, I don't like quiet. I don't mind studying with music going. Our I don't mind watching TV. However quiet solitude with myself is a great challenge. And it is quite uncomfortable to me.

And this is why I came to this. I need to be challenged. As a pastor, in order to fill other people with the Word of God and what it means to them, I need to be full. Then I need to study and to pray for God's opening of my heart. And this is my challenge.

So what am I going to do? I will learn from God. I will relesh the challenge and rejoice in God's formation of me as a pastor. Because I see myself as God's man to share the Word of God with you and the members of my congregation.

So as I sit in my room and the retreat center, I want to share my prayer to God with you this night.

Dearest God and Father of us all. Melt me, mold me, fill me, and use me for your service and glory. Energize me through quiet and soul refreshing time. Make me a stronger servant of Your wonderful grace. Guide me this night in quiet peace and joy. I pray this in the name of Your Son Jesus Christ, who lives with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever, Amen.

Good night

Your servant in Christ,

Pastor Hemsath

Happy Christmas and Blessed New Year

2008-01-03T11:12:00.000-06:00

Greetings once again to all.

First of all, I pray that your Christmas celebration was a joyous one. Mine was. It was wonderful to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ with family and friends. Secondly, our worship service on Christmas Eve was awesome because it was a new record for attendance. There were 188 people at the service that night. It was a wonderful sight to see, especially from the front of the church. I was awed by the reality of 188 people were tightly packed into our Sanctuary, that is worship space, that is designed to seat maybe, 150. But what is really amazing is they all heard about the birth of our Savior once again. For many people, hearing the story of the birth of Jesus is, "I've heard it before. There's nothing new." That's true, it is a story that hasn't changed for almost 2000 years. I can understand how hearing it again can get a little stale. Yet for 188 people, it wasn't stale at all. It was fresh, new, as if they had not heard it before. And that is the reason for the telling of it, year after year. The Bible states that "heaven rejoices over one sinner who repents." Well, if one sinner who heard that story on Christmas Eve repents of his or her sins, then heaven is rejoicing and some am I. That is why I never get tired of telling the same story of Jesus. If one person hears that story and repents, then my task is worth the telling.

And now a New Year is in it's infancy. It is exciting to see new starts and new beginnings happen at the turn of a calendar page. It is fun to watch people make resolutions and have a sincere desire to make changes. Yet I think and I believe that true change comes from the one who loves us so much, that He was willing to offer His Son as a sacrifice for our sins. Jesus Christ came into our world, shared our time and space for a specific and wonderful reason. Jesus came to take away our sins and sinfulness and replace it with His love, grace, forgiveness, mercy, and peace. As we realize this, we confess before God that we are sinful and that we cannot do anything to change it. Then we take hold of the forgiveness He gave and live in the changed new nature. Then, with the power of God through the Holy Spirit, we live our lives in the new changed person.

Then we live in the New Year and the rest of our lives in the new life of God.

Your servant in Christ,

A Wonderful Time of Year

2007-11-16T07:20:00.000-06:00

I love the fall. I grew up in northern Ohio. The colors of the leaves started to change in mid-October until mid-November. I thought it was awesome. Now that I'm in northern Texas, the colors have barely begun to change. I've been in this area for almost four years and I'm still not used to the weather. I'm really not sure if I like summer for 3/4 of the year. Yet God has placed me here not to like the weather, but to love people. God placed me here in order to bring His Word to people in the communities where my congregation is. And that leads me to the true meaning of my title, "A Wonderful Time of Year."

This time of year is wonderful because of what is happening at the church. In three weeks, we will begin the season of Advent. The Advent season is a time of preparation. For what are we preparing? We're preparing for the arrival of Jesus to earth. And Jesus has two arrivals planned. The first arrival has come. It was His birth. So the season of Advent helps us to prepare for the celebration of His birth.

But it is not this event alone. Jesus has one more arrival to occur. In the first chapter of Acts, Jesus ascends into heaven. As His disciples are staring into space, two angels came to them and tell them that Jesus would return one day in the same way He left the earth. Also, Jesus told His disciples that He would return. Paul, in his first letter to the Thessalonians describes the manner in which Jesus will return. Throughout the world a trumpet blast will be heard and Jesus will be seen descending toward earth in the clouds. This will be the end of time. Jesus will come to bring the reality of eternity to people. We celebrate this arrival of Jesus too. We are looking forward for Jesus to come and take us to be with Him forever.

And that brings us to the here and now. We live in an era between two events. Jesus came to bring Himself to people. Jesus loved people. Through His love, Jesus changed lives. He changed lives through healing and even raising people from the dead. He changed lives by loving people so much that He was willing to die for them. You see, death occurs because of sin. He gave Himself to be the penalty for our sins along with the sins of the entire world. Later, Jesus will return in order to bring Himself to people. When He comes back, Jesus will start the era of eternity.

So what do we now? Simply put, we bring the reality of Jesus' life to the world. Our belief is based upon what Jesus did for us. Our lives as Jesus people are dedicated to serving. So we serve people with the grace of God in feeding the poor, helping the hurting, comforting the grieving, ... Through our serving, we bring the reality of Jesus' life to people. This wonderful time of year helps us to remember and continually serve.

Your servant in Christ.

the substance of faith

2007-10-27T10:56:00.000-05:00

Greetings to all.

I realize that it has been a long time since my last posting. I hope rectify this. One of the challenges of being a minister (also known as servant or pastor) of the Word of God is time management and using my time well. Let us say, that management of my time is one of my greatest personal challenges.

I started this blog in order to bring to you the truth of God. I hope what I write will either solidify your belief in the truth of God or excite it to a new level or bring it to you for the first time. This is what I call the substance of faith.

Faith, as it is written in the book originally written to the Hebrew believers, is "being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." (Hebrews 11:1). It is equally true to those who live today, we who are 21st century believers and non-believers. Faith realizes that even though I do not see God right now, I believe that He exists. Is there any evidence to the existence of God? Paul wrote originally to the believers in Rome, "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - His eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." (Romans 1:20). I believe this with my whole being. God is in the world and made the world. It is evident because we exist. Yet some people do not see that as clearly as I. Why is it that some do not "see" what I "see?" I see what I see, I believe what I believe because of the substance of faith. Jesus Himself challenged one of the original disciples, whose name is Thomas. The event was just after Jesus was raised from the dead. Jesus appeared to the disciples once before, but Thomas was not with the group. A couple of the disciples searched out Thomas in order to bring to him the good news that Jesus was alive. Thomas' response was very human and not acting on his belief. He said, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it." The following week, Thomas was with the others. Jesus once again appeared to them and went directly to Thomas and Jesus showed Thomas the wounds in His hands and side. Thomas' reaction and response was, "My Lord and my God!" You can hear in his words that Thomas was perhaps overwhelmed, overjoyed, and even maybe feeling guilty that he didn't believe the other disciples. But Jesus doesn't pick on Thomas. Jesus acknowledges Thomas and his thoughts and experience. Then Jesus says, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (John 20:24-29).

Jesus is talking about believers and to believers. Jesus is talking to me. I believe the evidence of creation. I believe in the promises of God through Jesus Christ and His existence that changed our lives. I have not met Him. Yet I believe Him and I believe in Him. I believe that He lived in order to fulfill the Father's Law. I believe that He died to be the sacrifice for my sins and therefore remove the sins from me. I believe that Jesus rose to life upon the 3rd day since His death in order to give me the promise of a resurrected life, both while I live now and when I will live forever. Finally, I believe in Jesus who ascended to heaven who guaranteed a place for me in heaven. This is the substance of my faith.

What about you? I cordially invite you to talk with me about the substance of faith; mine and yours.

Your servant (minister or pastor) for Christ Jesus.

The Joys of Ministry Pt. 2

2007-06-13T12:40:00.000-05:00

I have, in my opinion, the greatest career path in the world. I sometimes wonder why it took me so long to become a pastor. I was in the computer field for fifteen years, before my career path changed. I was frustrated and knew that I was going nowhere at the company where I worked. Then God opened my eyes to the path of being a pastor. With much prayer and discussion with my family, we moved so that I would begin my studies into the ministry. A couple of friends at the Seminary and I were talking and all of us expressed that being a pastor is where we were to be.

The joys of ministry far exceed the frustrations that I feel with the ministry. Yes, I get frustrated sometimes. For example, when I see an opportunity to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ my congregation can do and they don't see the same opportunity. Yet when I see a person "light up" when through my ministry, God opens his or her life to His life, the frustrations melt away. When a person is comforted when in grief or sorrow by the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I experience a joy of ministry.

And the greatest joy of ministry for me is to proclaim (aka preach and/or teach) salvation from sin, death, and hell which is grace, life, and heaven. This joy is reinforced when I see the nods of members as what I am saying causes "the light bulb to go on." That tells me that the Holy Spirit has reached their lives with His Word through me.

I wish to use this medium to help you in your walk of life. I firmly believe that the truth of God does change lives. Although I may not "see" you, I hope that what God says through me will cause the "light bulb to go on" in your life.

I'm sure that there will be more joys to share with you.

God's peace I bring to you.

Life events

2007-06-06T08:14:00.000-05:00

Wow. I am still playing catch up with a lot of things. Please allow me to share.

Shari and I returned from our honeymoon a month ago. As mentioned in my previous post, I spent time catching up then. Two weeks after returning we left again. This time for my parents 60th wedding anniversary party in Cleveland. We had a wonderful time and the whole family was there. While we were there, the son of a member died and I was trying to coordinate things from over a 1000 miles away. We came home and I had to catch up again. Then last weekend was Shari's uncle's wedding. While we were there, Shari's father suddenly thought he was having a stroke and was taken to the hospital by ambulance. Then more time spent trying to catch up. Now one more stress and that is the construction of our new home and everything surrounding that. Needless to say, I got so wrapped up in my world, that people and tasks got in the way. For that, I have asked forgiveness from those I needed to, and now, I hope, that I can get back into a groove.

Life is a series of events, strung together. My brother once said that he was "bobbing along on the cosmic sea of life." It was such a cute phrase, I used it in a sermon many years ago. Yet how many people bob along and allow the sea of life take them "wherever?" Some people that have come accross my path had no direction, no purpose, and no vision for their future. Life took them, "wherever." Sometimes that happens to me. At the same time, my life does have a direction, a purpose, and a vision for the future. It is being a child of God and a brother to my Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. My direction is walking down His path that Jesus laid out for me. My purpose is serving Him with passion and zeal for Jesus and for the people. My vision for the future, which impacts my daily living, is to be in His presence forever.

What about your life? Where are you headed? Let's talk.

Back to Reality

2007-05-16T14:16:00.000-05:00

I completely enjoyed my honeymoon. My new wife, Shari, and I enjoyed Florida. It's not much different than Texas at this time of year. But any time away with the woman I love is an enjoyable thing.

And, a week ago Monday, reality set in. We were both back at work, performing our same tasks, catching up on boatloads of emails, and greeting everyone at church with large smiles on our faces. But for me, as a pastor, the greatest task I have is for the caring of peoples souls. God has called me to shepherd, or "pastor" souls in their relationship with Him. Jesus Christ is "The Good Shepherd." I work for Him. He placed me at Christ the King in this time to nurture the people He draws in with His love and mercy. The challenge is to take God's Law and its' completeness and bring it into people's lives. The purpose is to bring to our conscience that sin separates us from God. It is a barrier, a divider, and worst of all, a killer. For consequence of sin is death and eternal separation from God. The Scriptures write that all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God. It does not matter what is the sin. Every sin produces the same result. That is why God sent His Son to us. For Jesus Christ removed the condemnation of God's Law and took upon Himself. Again, and the Scriptures say He who had no sin became sin for us. Jesus removed the sin and it's consequences. He replaced it with forgiveness and restoration. That is the Gospel part of the message I preach.

This is my reality. I shepherd people into the Grace of God through Jesus Christ for the salvation, or changing of their lives. And I love every minute of it.

One more week

2007-04-22T23:05:00.001-05:00

I have one more week until my wedding. It is an exciting week as well as a very busy week. Not only do I have events that are necessary to be done in ministry, I also have events that need to be done for the wedding. And then there is the house and the progress of construction. Many things are going on this week. Have we anticipated all of them. I think that we have.

Which leads me to the main reason for my post. Prioritizing everything that needs to be done. I see so many things that are yet to occur. I have reduced my "to do" list to not many. And yet what truly comes first? Jesus said it best, saying, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your souil, with all your mind, and with all your strength." Now you may be asking yourselves, "What does this mean to me?" It means that before all the craziness of life begins to occur and the stresses and strains of works begin to bring you down, love of God is the beginning of all of it. And you will see, when loving God first helps us to deal with the procesess of things that have to occur. I'm not sure if you realized that we are the highest priority of God. He loves us so much, that He created this universe and world, jus for us. We human beings are central and the highest priority of God. That is why God the Father sent God the Son into our world so that we are saved from our sins. All God did and contiues to do, is with us as His first priority. Because we believe this, we then love God in return. As ones who love God first, we notice that priorities of life look different, or take on a different hue. They are still important and necessary. But I think that you will begin to look at the priorities of life with a change of perspective.

Please let me know what you think.

One more week

2007-04-22T23:05:00.000-05:00

What Motivates Us

2007-04-19T23:55:00.000-05:00

I find it fascinating to listen to people and find out what motivates them. For some, it's money. For others, it's doing the right thing. And for still others, it's "living the good life," as if I knew what that all means. To me, if I'm motivated to do something, then I will do that. Motiviation for a cause, for example, will determine people's actions.

So what motivates us in our life with God? Is it trying to please Him? For some Christians, that might work, for a while. Yet we either already knew or we find out while we're trying to please God, is that we will fail. It's not that God is arbitrary, or even that He sets so lofty standards. It is because we get tired trying. Our motivation begins to wane because it is almost impossible to please God by means of our actions. So what motivates us? It is God's love for us. In Psalm 30, King David writes about the source of our motivation to serve God, please God, and worship God. God so loves us that He saves us, even when we sin and fall. What motivates us is God's love in Jesus Christ's life for us. Jesus' life of perfect obedience to the will of God. Jesus is more than an example of holy living. He is holy living. He "lived himself" right to the cross. His death upon the cross for the forgiveness of our sins is a great motivator for our life, worship, and love of God. Jesus' resurrection gives us great encouragement, peace, desire, and strength to live everyday as new people. Finally, Jesus' ascension into heaven moves us because we know that there is a place in heaven waiting for us.

We love God and serve God because of His great grace given to us by Jesus. Jesus is our great motivator.

The Reality of Jesus

2007-04-15T23:17:00.000-05:00

"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the one who was, who is, and who will be, the Lord Almighty." This quote is from Revelation 1:8. It is one passage that links us to who is Jesus and who is God.

The world has been struggling with the reality of who is Jesus since the first generation of Christians died and rose to heaven. The first generation is also the "eye witness" generation. These are the ones who saw Jesus. Even a few of the eye witnesses needed a little assistance to believe. One of the Twelve, who was Thomas, needed some help to believe. Once he saw Jesus stand before him after a week, Thomas exclaimed, "My Lord and my God." Thomas believed because he saw Jesus raised from the dead. Even in this time of miracle, Jesus speaks to Thomas and to us as well. He tells Thomas, "You believe because you have now seen me. Blessed are those who will believe even though they will not see me." Jesus is talking about us. He is saying that we, who are many generations separated from the eye witnesses, believe in a Savior and Lord who lived, died, and rose to life that we've never seen. It is awesome.

But who is Jesus? Is he man or God? Is he 50% man and 50% God? The world has struggled with that question for millenia. And the reality of Jesus doesn'i make sense. We can't wrap our logical and rational minds around the belief. Many popular points of view attempt to remove the "Godness" out of Jesus. It is being reported that Jesus was a man only. Jesus was, and contiues be human. He showed the apostles the scars of the nails, thorns, and whips. Yet Jesus is raised from the dead. Only God did that. So what's a person to do? He or she BELIEVES that Jesus is not 50/50. He's 100/100. Jesus is fully human and fully God. Jesus came to give to us life from death, forgiveness from sins, and life everlasting. The Bible tells us that. That is what we believe.

And that belief fuels and spurns us on to living with God living in His promises. Jesus is both God and man. He was sent in the world to save it, to save us by himself. Only the Alpha and the Omega, the one who was, who is, and who will be does that. And we are healed and renewed.

Remember this today. We believe in one we cannot see who changed our lives. And it's awesome.

The Joys of Ministry

2007-04-11T22:13:00.000-05:00

Ah the joys of ministry.

Now some of you may be thinking that I'm being sarcastic. No, I'm not. Even though the day was intense ministry. And it started yesterday.

I lead a group for people who are in the cycle of grief after the death of a loved one. Currently there are three people in the group. Last night, only one of them came. It became a great ministry opportunity and some good counseling was done. Then a young man came up as we were finishing. He's been AWOL from my Thursday Bible study for a few weeks. Well, he was caring for his great grandmother the last two weeks and she died Monday morning. So I did some great ministry and counseling to him. Then I received a phone call from another member who is struggling with loss of another kind and she is very angry. Some great opportunity for ministry and counseling occurred then too. Earlier in the weekend a young man died as a result of a car accident. This young man was a friend of a family at our congregation. I went to the funeral today and some great ministry occurred, just by me being there for my family and sharing in their sorrow. Tonight I went to a viewing of the great grandmother of the young man in Bible study. Some great ministry occurred tonight. I will attend the funeral tomorrow. And the piece de resistance was a fourth member emailed me about a friend where she works whose son died suddenly.

Now you may think, "Wow, what a tough two days." You see, I don't call these days "tough." I see them as intense and powerful. Yet the power does not come from me. It comes from God the Holy Spirit. He guides me in what words to say, or in some cases what words not to say. The Holy Spirit guides me to be there for our members and the people who are not. They need the comforting presence of God's saving grace and love. The Holy Spirit uses my skills and experience to bring His presence and love to all people with whom I have contact. And sometimes that presence is saying nothing.

When things go wrong, whether they're death, separation, illness, or sorrow, God's healing presence comes to us. Most of the time it is through caring and loving Christian friends and family who love us, grieve with us, share God's Word, and support us by means of the power and strength of God. The season of Easter brings to us in sharp reality His love as sent His Son to live, die, and rise of life. Easter is the climax of the great redeemer work of God the Father through God the Son.

Easter Greetings

2007-04-09T23:21:00.000-05:00

Yes, I know. It's the day after Easter. We had a great celebration. There were 191 people in worship yesterday combining both services. It was a great day from my perspective for several reasons. 191 people heard the Word and God. And God promises that when His Word goes out, it has an effect on people. So 191 people were effected. I had a great lunch with my daughter, son-in-law, granddaughter, and financee. And we shared the Easter greeting. The Easter greeting in our congregation and my tradition is, "Alleluia, Christ is Risen! He is risen, indeed, Alleliua!" I have said those words on almost 50 Easter Sunday services. It is an acknowledgement of the risen Jesus Christ. He was murdered and crucified so that we do not pay the consequences of sins, that is, death. And the grave did not keep Him. Jesus is God, the second person of God, burst out of the grave. Through His resurrection, He brings to us the reality of resurrection. Our lives are resurrected in HIm. Our lives are bound to Him and His life is bound to ours. That is why the greeting to each other on Easter is so awesome. It is an awareness of Jesus' love for us. And in our traditions and calendar, the SEASON of Easter has six more weeks of it. So we repeat the greeting throughout the weeks ahead. So, "Alleluia! Christ is risen. He is risen indeed, Alleluia!"

Changes to the Blog

2007-04-06T16:49:00.000-05:00

I started to think the other day, that "Pastoral Prose" wasn't going to get a lot of looks. I thought that it sounded "churchy." So I brainstormed for a title to better describe what I want to do. And "And the Truth will set you free" came to mind. I think it better suits want I want to share and discuss. That is, the truth that God gives.

A Week for Heaven

2007-04-05T16:47:00.000-05:00

You know the phrase, "I'm having a ____ (fill in the time frame, day, week, month) from _______." Well, I'm having a week from heaven.

Now that sounds weird, especially when you read my previous posts. But from my perspective, today's title isn't weird at all. Things go wrong all the time. It doesn't make any difference if you're a "good" person or a "bad" person. Sin is a common denominator when it comes to creating havoc. And you can't leave Satan out of the picture. Yet, through all the things that are happening in my life and the lives of the members of my church, I see God working in me and in them. I see faith in action and I see the action of God. Now sometimes to see the action of God in a particular situation you have to look back. You look back at the events and see how God has directed or at the very least influenced the outcome. For example, the ongoing saga of my house sale. Another mortgage underwriter has gotten in the way of the process. The person works for the mortgage company which the couple who are buying my house is using. The underwriter is challenged the liscencing of another person in the process. I have no idea why this is happening. The buyers of my house are fit to be tied. I'm not that happy either. There are moments in this process when if I didn't laugh, I'd be crying. Yet I can't help but wonder, if I didn't believe in God how would I be reacting? I suppose I could have done something very rash. God says that the fruits of having God's Spirit in you are, "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodnesss, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." (Galatians 5:22-23). If God was not part of my life, how balistic could I have gone? I shudder at the possibility.

And finally, I have to look at Jesus. I look at what He did for me. He endured the wrath of all people, through the leaders of the Jewish people and the Roman soldiers. I look at what they did to Him. I see their uncontrolled anger, fear, hatred, and basic human malice. I see me in them when I get rip roarin' mad at people and situations. Yes, I'm a pastor and I get mad. I also see Jesus enduring all of that in order to save me from myself, my sins, the influence of Satan, from death, and from hell. Jesus did it all for me. Wow! It boggles the mind.

During this week, which we call "Holy Week," we celebrate the specialness of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. When I post tomorrow, I'll talk more about "Holy Week" and it's meaning for Christians.

When things go wrong

2007-03-31T08:50:00.000-05:00

Have you ever had one of those days that nothing went right? Yesterday was one of those days for me. I have sold my house. Well, at least in theory. The buyers and I have agreed on a price, we went through all of the steps in order to exchange possession. The one and seemingly insurrmountable hurdle is the mortgage company of the people who are buying the house of the people who are buying my house. If it's sounding a little weird, don't worry, it will get weirder. I was supposed to close the deal yesterday. I waited by my phone all morning. There was no call. I was at the house yesterday to cut the grass that, in my opinion, I didn't have to do. I didn't live in the house any more. There was no call. I called my agent. I told her we had to close today. If we didn't close, I would have to make another mortgage payment. She calls me back an hour and a half later, sayiing it won't happen until Monday or even Tuesday. Needless to say, I am fuming. This deal should have been completed two and a half weeks ago. The buyers of my house are frustrated. It's not their fault. I'm frustrated. It's not my fault. If only I could get my hands on that mortgage company person... And then, to add another level of frustration, it down poured again yesterday, which makes three days of rain in a row, no work is being done on my new house.

Now that I am calm once again, I heard something that God has always been telling me. I was too "hot under the collar" yesterday to listen. He said, "Take the peace of mind that I gave you through the agony of Jesus' final hours before the cross. Whenever I start complaining about things going wrong, I look at what Jesus endured for me. I look at my frustrations with the way "things ought to be," I look at the way things that occcurred in order to save me from sin, death, and the power of self and Satan. Whenever I get selfish about how things are inconviencing me, I look to what happened to Jesus.

What did happen to Jesus? He was betrayed by one of his Apostles. Men, who were leaders of the Jews and the church, hated him because he taught of the Father's true intention, not what they invented. He endured beatings, insults, whippings, nailings, and dying all for us. It was the Father's plan to cause all of this suffering, pain, anguish, and death in order to save us from it. Jesus could have complained. But he didn't. The Bible says, like a sheep before shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. Jesus surprised everyone, including Pontius Pilate, by remaining silent. Through all the torture and agony, Jesus did not complain, nor cry out in pain. Jesus did not get angry with his accusers, but he offered forgiveness and peace to all.

And that is what Jesus, through everything he endured, offers to us when things get frustrating. He gives peace and forgiveness. when our times feel rough and rocky.

The Long day

2007-03-28T22:41:00.000-05:00

Have you ever had one of those LONG days? Of course you have. I had one today. If you read my post from this morning, I was up at 6:00 am in order to be with a member who had out patient surgery. It all went well and she's feeling fine at home. It was a LONG day of driving. Then I finally got to the office. But not until I stopped at the new house sight my fiancee and I are building. The house is still in foundation stage. There were many delays, the lastest that it rained the last three days. If the rain holds off in the next couple of days, we should have a concrete floor. Yet it is supposed to rain tomorrow. It was a LONG day today. To top it off, I sold my old house two weeks ago, but it hasn't closed yet. The delay is from the mortgage company for the people who are buying the house of the people who bought my house. I hope to close tomorrow or Friday. It was a LONG day today. Tonight, since it is the season of Lent, we had our midweek soup supper and then our service. After that, there was choir practice. it was a LONG day. But it was a good day. It was a good day for sharing. One of the things that I do is bring the reality of Jesus Christ to all situations. At the office I read of the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Tonight I preached about the saving grace of Jesus Christ in our journey, or exodus, home. One of these days, I'm going to have to discuss preaching sermons, playing the character in the Bible. I love doing that. It was a good day, even though it was LONG, to live in the grace of God.

Helping those in need

2007-03-28T07:14:00.000-05:00

It is 6:16 in the morning. Under normal circumstances I am not up this early in the morning. My normal time to get up is 7:00. But today is different. A member of the congregation that I serve is going into the hospital for out patient surgery. And I'm going to take her there.

As I was getting ready to go, I was reminded of something Jesus said. "Whatever you do for the least of these my brothers, you do also for me." Part of being a pastor, but more, part of being a Christian, is to care for people. We show God's love to others by being there for them in good times and in struggling times. How do I demonstrate my care? By getting out of my comfort zone, getting up early, and taking her to the hospital. Speaking of which, I have to go. But I have to stop at Starbucks. I need my coffee. :-)

Welcome to Pastoral Prose

2007-03-27T15:44:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the first post of "Pastoral Prose." I would like to introduce to you what I want to do here.

I want to share with you thoughts about God, who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I want to share with you some wonderful words from God on a lot of different topics. Some topics will include love, grace, forgiveness along with thoughts on topics that affect people today. I will also talk about topics that you ask about.

I'm a pastor in North Texas, just outside of Dallas. Businesses and home developments are growing quickly. The small city that I live in is growing as a result. And that scares some people who have lived here all there lives. It brings new people, new ideas, along with some old problems. Yet the church that I serve is here to bring the same love of God to the old and new people of our city and solutions in God through Jesus Christ to the old problems of life. I pray that through this, I can bring to you the love of God and solutions in God through Jesus Christ to the old problems of life.