God is good!!!

If there was ever a time when I needed to be reminded that God will never give us more than we can handle…it is now.

Here’s the situation in brief:

–As I have mentioned before this weekend is Salem’s 125th anniversary and there is an open house at the parsonage tomorrow (Saturday).

–The bathroom is being remodeled.  We ordered flooring but as of Thursday is just arrived but no one was available to put it in = messy house for open house = stressed wife = stressed husband (me).  Help!

–[Here's God intervening] One of my trustees has a son who installs flooring (why I didn’t remember is beyond me).  She heard about our setback and called her son and he said he could come on Friday to install the flooring.  PRAISE BE TO GOD!  He just left (Friday morning) to get is tools so he can start.  The  bathroom will now be done by the open house = less stress for my wife = less stress for the husband (me). PRAISE BE TO GOD!!!

–[Here's God intervening again] Project #2…the patio.  One parishioner is working on this (former landscaper) all by himself = lots of work.  Yesterday and this morning people have been calling me left and right saying they are coming over to help Joel and get this done (Joel is happier).  PRAISE BE TO GOD!!!  And now I am feeling overwhelmed by God’s greatness and faithfulness.

–[The priesthood of all believers] People from the anniversary committee, the congregation president, various other council members, parishioners, and friends from the community (a friend of mine who happens to be the council president at the other Lutheran church in town) have stepped up to make this weekend happen.  Thank you and PRAISE BE TO GOD!!!

In response to this all I can say is “God is good…all the time.  All the time…God is good!!!”

PRAISE BE TO GOD!

-edh-

What a blessing

I feel incredibly blessed…

Yesterday the congregation I serve celebrated the 5 year anniversary of my ordination (which is on July 2).  There was a special recognition of this occasion during worship in addition to a number of other surprises my wife and others cooked up (and let me tell you…as a pastor who is used to leading worship, it was a little uncomfortable not knowing what was going on in worship…but I still really enjoyed and appreciated what they did).  Connie’s very musical family was there to provide special music and brass accompaniment during the hymns and offering.  My mom read scripture and the church presented me with a gift.  After worship there was a cake/coffee reception for me (something the community was invited to, along with worship).  These were all things I was truly unworthy of, but it was nice to experience this affirmation of my call here.  I feel incredibly blessed for God has done amazing things here through all of us.

So many people were involved to help make this a special day and they tried so hard to keep things from me (which was tough considering we live and serve in a small town and small congregation), but they did a great job.  So if you are one of those people reading this…THANK YOU!…yesterday will be a day I will always remember and treasure.  But the main we all need to remember (and something that people highlighted yesterday) is that through it all…in everything that happens good and bad…PRAISE BE TO GOD!

Thank you to Salem and Belmont Lutheran Churches and to the community of Jackson.  Connie and I are very happy to be part of these communities.  PRAISE BE TO GOD!

-edh-

I am ready

It is Monday (or it WAS Monday…since I wrote this yesterday and am finishing this post today) and I am back in the office.   As you know from my last post my wife and I were out in Washington visiting my internship congregation.  It was such a relaxing time…visiting with friends, hiking, shopping, eating AWESOME seafood, gazing at the beautiful scenery and spending time with my wife.  It was just what the doctor ordered.

So now…as I sit here in my office…I am feeling refreshed (never mind feeling overwhelmed yesterday morning trying to catch up); ready to get back into the swing of things:
I am ready to get back to the craft of preaching.

I am ready to write some lesson plans.

I am ready to begin getting caught up with people here.

I am ready to begin planning the end of the program year.

I am ready to lead this congregation once again.

I am ready to breath the air of SW MN once again with a renewed sense of ministry.

I am ready…

I have talked with people who think vacations are not a priority; that they are a waste of time and money (especially in our struggling economy now days), but I do not regret spending the money I did these past two weeks.  I do not regret it because I feel blessed and since that is the case I need to take care of myself and my wife.  I need to be able to continue the ministry God has given me to do.   And I am ready once again to take on the challenges that are ahead and for that I give thanks and praise to God.

So with that I must move forward…because…I am now ready.

Praise be to God!

-edh-

Priesthood of all believers

The priesthood of all believers is one of the basic tenants of the Lutheran faith; that we are all ministers; all preachers of the Word of God.  Some people just happen to be called and set apart for this ministry, but it doesn’t mean it is reserved for the clergy alone.

A week or so ago my wife started writing and emailing devotions to her co-workers (and I managed to get on her email list as well…surprise, surprise).  She has been more faithful in writing than I have been at blogging recently (I hope she keeps it up).  Each night she spends about an hour or so in devotions; searching scripture and writing what God places on her heart.  Her devotions are thought provoking and definitely come from God (I keep telling her she need to write a blog, but so far no luck).  Each morning I sign on to my email and there is her devotion for the morning…and she ministers to me.  She says that every once in a while a co-worker will tell her how thankful they are that she does this…but don’t worry…she never let’s those comments go to her head.  She feels so unworthy to be doing this but at the same time she feels that God is placing these devotions on her heart to share.

For me, Connie epitomizes the “priesthood of all believers”.  She saw an opportunity to share Christ at work and she is taking it.  She doesn’t do it for her glory but for Gods.  Allow me to share an excerpt from her devotions for this morning (I do have her permission to share this) that speaks to this very thing…being a minister where ever we are at:

Colossians 3:16-17
“16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
Here again we are commanded to be thankful and give thanks to God.   Do you ever think about your job being an extension of the Lord Jesus?  He just told us it is in this verse.  You are showing Christ when you answer the phone, do some filing, deal with a difficult person, go to a meeting, or go out on a visit.  I remind myself constantly throughout the day that whomever I am dealing with is a child of God.  He created this person and I need to love them, no matter how difficult.  I am thankful for people who have differing personalities because if everyone was like me, we would have way too much chaos in this world!  With Thanksgiving coming tomorrow, I want you to know that my thanks to God include my job and my co-workers.  I feel blessed to be able to share these devotions with you and know we are all focused on the same God everyday.

I am thankful for ministers such as Connie.  We all need to epitomize the phrase “the priesthood of all believers”.  It can’t simply be left up to the clergy.  Look for opportunities to talk about Christ.  Whether it is through an email devotion like Connie is doing or whether it is through how you respond to a “difficult person”.  Each and every person can be a minister/preacher in a variety and a number of ways.  Don’t miss your opportunity.  But what ever you do, do it all for the glory of God; giving thanks and praise to Him.

-edh-

More Amos…

Greetings and salutations…and welcome to another beautiful day.

For today’s installment/post I would like to introduce you to a guess writer…my wife.  Yesterday I preached on Amos 5:18-24 and upon telling my wife about this she read Amos devotionally for a couple days.  Yesterday, my wife wrote something about Amos that she posted on a discussion forum that we’re involved in with a number of friends of ours.  What is to follow is what she posted (with her permission of course).  I thought she had some great insights on what God is saying to us through Amos and made me think about Amos in a brand new way.  So…here it is.  I will pass on any comments to my wife, Connie:

I wanted to share something with you guys that really struck me last night as I was reading in God’s Word. I was reading in Amos because my hubby preached on the Amos text today, and I decided to just read the whole book.

Then I also was struck by Amos 6:3-6 “Woe to you who put far off the day of doom, who cause the seat of violence to come near; Who lie on beds of ivory, stretch out on your couches, eat lambs from the flock and calves from the midst of the stall; Who sing idly to the sound of string instruments, and invent for yourselves musical instruments like David; who drink wine from bowls, and anoint yourselves with the best ointments, but are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.” Now I want to write to you what I read, here is the Connie translation of Amos 6:3-6 “Woe to you who feel that God is not going to return in your lifetime and therefore become complacent in our mission to make disciples, who have allowed a deterioration of Biblical values; who have the fancy houses and sit on the couch watching TV all day, eating the most elegant foods; who sing hymns/songs in church with absolutely no emotion and invent “new ways of worship” rather than focusing on what God has truly given us in worship; who consume alcohol instead of turning to God for guidance or use Bath & Body Works products when Suave brand is just the same, you are not searching for justice in the community or world, but rather search for the best for yourself”. Anyway, here is Amos 8:11&12 “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord God, That I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; They shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord. But shall not find it”. I was struck by the famine, because I feel that is where some of our churches are headed or are already there. We have our “books of worship” which may contain some scripture, but we are not spending the most time in God’s Word. We don’t always openly talk about God’s Word in our workplaces or our coffee fellowship downtown. We are truly in a famine. When we do talk about God’s Word or guidance, we make it into some “grandiose” language such as “And then the Lord spoketh to me saying” or some other crazy talk. I feel that God came for the people, in their terms, in their language. We the church are in the midst of this famine and if we don’t get going, we are going to dry up!

I especially enjoy the “Connie translation” of Amos 6.

What do you think about this “famine”?

-edh-