On Sunday mornings I am relieved to see the people of my flock. I am glad to spend time with you in worship or bible study. I pray for you by name throughout the week. I hold you in my heart and lift you up in intercession before the Lord. I am concerned about your spiritual and earthly well-being. Every Sunday I know whether you are there or not. I rejoice when you are there on Sunday and I miss you when you are not.

Some like to have a spiritual father who looks after his flock. You may not want all this attention and concern. But then I don’t have a choice. I was called to this by the LORD; to be a shepherd and carry his people on my heart.

And Sundays in our society is just another day. A day to work or a day to play. Another day in our hectic time.

“ and before we know it the year is half over and we are in July!”

So many of us keep ourselves so busy and hectic. Of course there is our work to provide for our needs. There is keeping our household together with all its chores. And we keep ourselves occupied with all kinds of other distractions too. With zooming from there to there we can lose sight of where our lives are going and before we know it the year is half over and we are in July!

The Bible is loaded with caution that we are not promised more than today and the life is but a vapor.  As James 4:14-15 says,  “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

Our faith leads us to deeper and clearer understanding of life on this earth. We are also learning about the eternal, never ending life promised to us.

Our time is a gift to us from the LORD. The gift of time from the LORD is so our lives can be lived to be a blessing. God is in control. He is the giver of life and the giver of everlasting life which comes after death.

As Christians our hope gives direction and purpose to every day of life. Our hope is in a life lived through Christ Jesus, which leads to eternal life with him.

Coming to worship on Sundays is about valuing and gaining the worth of our time. Worship is about luxuriating in the abundance of God’s time. This summer make time to value your time by celebrating the LORD who gives you time.

• I rejoice when I see you on Sundays.
• I miss you when you are not there.
• I hope to see you Sunday.

May the unfailing love of the LORD rest upon you as you put your hope in Him. (Psalm 33:22)

Your servant in Christ, Pastor Douglas

The face plant. The old “falling flat on your face”. The embarrassing, comical and sometimes very painful act of falling face forwards into some object, usually the ground.

    In the Old Testament we hear about an episode when the Philistines who are enemies of the Israelites defeat them in battle and seize the ark of the covenant (1 Samuel 4). The gold covered ark contained the tablets of the LORD’s covenant with Israel; the Ten Commandments. The ark was a emblem of God’s presence and power. 

     So the Philistines take the ark back to their country placing it in the temple of their god Dagon. When they return to the temple the next morning the idol Dagan has fallen down. So they put their idol up right again. The next morning they return again to find their idol Dagon face planted on the floor with his head and arms broken off. Meanwhile sickness and tumors plague the Philistine people.

     What idols are worshiped in our society? What are the values that we idolize and give our lives to? Greed, Sensual Pleasures, Self Power.

       These false gods and idols are also face planted in the presence of the Lord. None offer real and abundant life. Rather following these gods causes sickness and disease in people and plagues society at large.

Pursuing these idols lead people into self destructive behavior.

People do face plants with their lives all the time. 

God invites us to avoid face plants. God invites us into lives that are upright and fulfilling.

Blessed are those who fear the LORD,
who find great delight in his commands.

2 Their children will be mighty in the land;
the generation of the upright will be blessed.

3 Wealth and riches are in their houses,
and their righteousness endures forever.

4 Even in darkness light dawns for the upright,
for those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous.

5 Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely,
who conduct their affairs with justice.

(Psalm 112:1–5).

“Which of you fathers, if your child . . .  asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?  If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:11–13). 

The LORD your Father is ready to bless your life more abundantly than you can even ask or imagine. The greatest gift the LORD can give you is to bestow the Holy Spirit on you.

Unfortunately we do not desire a close relationship with God. We keep our heavenly Father at arm’s length.

BUT if you want to have God closer in your life all you have to do is pray and ask.

• Do you ask for the Holy Spirit? DO you ask regularly?

Hard to eat egss if you do not have a plate and a fork. The eggs will not just be poured down your throat. Like receiving your breakfast eggs, we must make our selves available and ready for the work of the Holy Spirit, rather than resisting.

• Do you make yourself ready to receive?
• Are you showing up to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit in worship, the preaching of the Word, the blessing of Holy Communion, the fellwoship of the other saints in progress?

Eating breakfast often means to have to forego something else. Eating may be a little act, but it is still an acceptance of the breakfast interruption. You cannot receive the Holy Spirit and remain the same. A closer relationship with God makes it more difficult to be of this world.

• Are you willing to receive the blessing of the Holy Spirit at the expense of other distractions in your life?

Summer is about to begin. Time to slow down, rest and relax? (Farmers are asking, “What time to relax?”)

Or do you get busy with relaxing going here and there? Doing this and that?

The word “relax” means to make or become less tense or anxious. Although the word “relax” does not appear in the Bible, the word “peace” occurs more than 265 times. Better than just lessening anxiety; peace means to be free from disturbance, to experience tranquility.

So where do we find peace?

Jesus tells you that he gives a peace that is unlike anything some resort or cruise can give.

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27) 

Through our Lord Jesus Christ we have peace with God. Christ brings us the peace of God which exceeds all expectations and transcends all understanding will protect your hearts and minds. The life of faith gives you peace and joy through the Holy Spirit. That peace and joy relaxes you.

To have this peace, this extreme relaxation, one must rest. This peace doesn’t come through busy-ness.

So where do we find rest?  

We adopt the world’s view that breaking the Sabbath, not resting and worshipping God, isn’t a big deal.

God sees and makes it different (Deut 5:12-15). The LORD tells his people that he will give them rest (Jer 31:2) Not only that. The LORD commands that people take a day of rest (Ex 20:8-11) The LORD names this day of rest Sabbath. The Sabbath is not to be a day of distractions and busy-ness. The Sabbath is to be a day of remembering our lives are holy, sacred and special.

“You shall keep my sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, given in order that you may know that I, the LORD, sanctify you.” (Ex 31:13)

Our ultimate rest and refreshment is in God (Heb 4:1-11, Rev 14:13). When we do not rest in the LORD, we damage ourselves (Jer 17:21) Sabbath is a time to renew your connection with the LORD who loves you.

Don’t take a vacation from the LORD this summer.

Rather than spending time away from the LORD, rest and relax in the LORD.

In the time of slowing down take time to be still in the presence of the LORD.

Come to worship and give all your anxiety to the LORD.

Start you beautiful summer Sunday mornings in Sabbath time reconnecting to the source of your peace.

Start your slow mornings in prayer and pondering the Word.

May the Lord, who is our peace, give us peace at all times and in every way. (2 Thess 3:16) – Pastor Douglas

For the past week I was juror #21. My wife Debra said she was eager for my jury duty to come to an end because I was a little cranky. Sitting in judgment on someone is a serious task.

Sometimes we hear that as Christians we are not supposed to judge. Our task is not to condemn people. We don’t know what God is going to do with someone even in the last moments of their lives. But our task to judge and discern between right and wrong, good and evil. Not only a Christians, but also simply as human beings in soceity trying to limit the amount of damage people do to others.

The beginning of judgment is confession. Confessing we did something wrong. The man who was defendant in our courtroom pled not guilty. The jury struggled with that assessment.

When we refuse to admit our guilt before God, we are judged. We feel the weight of rebelling against God whether we recognize it consciously or not. The consequences of rebelling against God seep out in our life whether we see it or not.

When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
For day and night your hand was heavy on me;
my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.  (Psalm 32:3–4)

The good news is that the LORD is already to forgive and restore us if we will simply confess our sin. When we acknowledge our sin and do not try to cover and conceal our rebellion, we find forgiveness (Ps 32:5). Instead of being a stubborn mule who won’t admit when they are young, we are encouraged to take God’s guidance. Even more we are encouraged to see his unfailing love that surrounds us when we trust the LORD enough to confess our sins.

   Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the one whose sin the LORD does not count against them
and in whose spirit is no deceit.    (Psalm 32:1–2)

I got selected to be on jury duty Tuesday. I was really rooting for being dismissed. Perhaps I could have come up with some excuse to delay my service. But then it is our civic duty and someone has to serve on the jury.

Being in judgement over someone’s actions and life is a fearsome responsibility. Yet we are judging all the time. We like to think we don’t but we do.

Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath. – Psalm 38:1

Being judged by the Lord is a blessing. The Lord judges us rightly and righteously. He is not all jacked up with emotional anger or hurt. His judgments are truth based. Based not on personal preferences but on his majesty and truth.

My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear. – Psalm 38:4

Because the Lord sees us rightly and righteously, we wriggle and squirm. We don’t want to be under his wrath.

Psalm 38:21–22 (NIV): Lord, do not forsake me; do not be far from me, my God. Come quickly to help me, my Lord and my Savior.

Amazingly our judge is also our savior. Celebrate that God’s mercy is greater than our judgement.

Every epoch of history, every season of life has its challenges. When we finish one set, another new set emerges. In our challenges we can lament, whine and be discontented. We live in a time when lamentation seems especially plentiful. We focus on our discontent. We lament all the places in our lives where we feel vulnerable, weak, and under attack.

Focusing on the negative only feeds more lament. Our discontent deepens and depresses us. We feel defeated. This discontent dries out our lives.  Dried out lives mean we are just a bag of dried bones.

The LORD looks down to see the valley of the dried bones. Though people may be walking around, so many are just dried up bones. We try to find life in ourselves, in our own efforts, in our own aspirations. We come to the end of our fried up bones. “Mortal, can these dry bones live?”   On their own? Hoping in their own arid state? No.  “Our bones are dried up and our hope is lost.”(Ezek 37:11)

The LORD speaks to the dried bones. “O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.” (Ezek 37:4)  The LORD promises to speak and act in our lives.

There is hope for the Dried Up. The LORD says to us, “I am going to open your graves.” I am going to bring you back to life when I put my Spirit with you. What an amazing promise! The LORD promises to breathe his Spirit into our dried up, slain lives. As Paul proclaims. “But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.” (Rom 8:10)  Even though we are dead and dried up,  the Spirit can come into you to give you life.

Where discontent dries out our lives, Hope in God is moisture and breath. We are blessed when our help, our hope is in the LORD our God (Ps 146:5)  So we are to listen for the Word and the Spirit. “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.” (Rom 8:11)

May the Spirit of the Risen LORD come upon you.

Your servant in the Gospel, Pastor Douglas

Isaiah 30:21 (NIV): Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

We all need guidance in our lives. Just like we need directions to drive to a new place we need directions to walk in the ways that lead us into salvation. We don’t naturally walk in the ways of righteousness. Rather we travel our lives in self preoccupied and self destructive ways. We can do no other outside the grace of God.

To teach us to live beyond the natural, to live beyond our temporal sinful nature the Lord gives us the Holy Spirit.

John 14:16–17 (NIV): And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth.

The Spirit is the voice of God to encourages to walk in the way. The voice is heard and confirmed in scripture, prayer, worship, preaching, and the fellowship of the saints. We need this voice every day because we need directions to the place we’ve never been before- eternal life with God.

I can’t imagine being asked to give my son for sacrifice. What is our reaction to the story in Genesis 22 when the LORD calls on Abraham commanding him, “Take your only son, whom you love, and give him as a sacrifice.”

Often we ask, “How God can be so barbaric?” Sacrificing children to appease the gods and ensure prosperity was common then and remained common until modern history. Yet we often miss how children are sacrificed today for the prosperity and contentment of adults (human trafficking, abortion, parental neglect, and sexual abuse). We can miss the barbarism of our own age.

Abraham takes two servants and a donkey laden with wood for the execution. As they arrive to the sacrificial spot the wood is laid on the shoulder of the son Isaac as Abraham carries the fire and the knife. The Son asks the painful question, “Where is the lamb for the offering?”

The old man Abraham binds his strong young son? Isaac lets himself be offered. Can we imagine the heart ache of that moment? How can Abraham even look at his one and only son whom he loves?

The LORD intercedes. “Stop Abraham!” “I know you revere and trust me to even give your son for me.” The LORD makes clear repeatedly that he forbids human sacrifice to appease him or curry favor.

The LORD provides a lamb. For all the sin and hurt and utter darkness of this world the Heavenly Father gives Jesus Christ, his one and only Son whom he loves. The Son carries the wood of his execution to the site of his sacrifice, Golgotha. The Father gives the Lamb of God to cover and wash away the sin of the world. He does not withhold his own son (Rom 8:32)

As you contemplate these days of Good Friday, Holy Saturday and the Sunday of the Resurrection we rejoice that the LORD who gives himself for you!

Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord / the Rock of our salvation.  For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. – Psalm 95:1 & 3

“I will place shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing,” declares the LORD.” (Jeremiah 23:4)

The LORD calls me to shepherd his flock. To bestow care on his sheep (jer 23:2). I am called to gather them rather than scatter. I know each of my sheep by name. I pray for them. I know when I see them and when I don’t. I worry about them when they scatter from the flock for weeks, months, or even years. The scattered ones seem to scatter even more when I seek to bring them back into the fold. I am charged with protecting them from what would destroy (Jer 23:1)  Destroyed by what? Sin death and the devil. Destroyed by being lost in this transitory life.

“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” (Rom 8:36, Ps 44:22).

I am called to lead them so they are no longer afraid ot terrified. Where instead of guilt, shame or unworthiness, they are filled up with the joy of belonging to Christ.

Jesus said to Peter, “feed my sheep.” I desire to feed my sheep giving them the Word of God. TO feed them the Lord’s Supper. (Jn 6:54-56) But many sheep are too busy for the Bread of Life. So many sheep do not like the taste, don’t recognize its nutrional value and would rather consume junk food.

I am explicitly aware of how inadequte I am for this calling. How I fall short. How much I mself need the Great Shepherd. Still I am not relieved of being their shepherd. In spite of my short comings, I still seek to gather and feed my sheep. I do rejoice in the 99 gathered together (Lk 15:1-7). But I guess I am like Jesus thinking about the one that has wandered away.