out of the depths

A Song of Ascents. Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications! If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered. I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;  my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning, more than those who watch for the morning. O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is great power to redeem. It is he who will redeem Israel from all its iniquities. (Psalm 130, NRSV)

Have you ever felt like you were all alone and the world was closing in around you?

Darkness pervades the day, and it seems like nothing ever goes your way?

I know from personal experience that in those moments it is hard to see, hear, or remember that God is walking with us. It is hard when we feel like we have lost control and hit the bottom. But when you are laying on your back as far down as you can go and you reach up and scream for God to come help you, you will have His hand. He will be there.

When you hit rock bottom, all you can do is look up and cry out, and when you do, Jesus will be there to hold your hand and tell you He is with you.

So cry out to the Lord and hold fast to His hand, because He won’t let go of yours.

everlasting light

Instead of bronze I will bring gold, instead of iron I will bring silver; instead of wood, bronze, instead of stones, iron. I will appoint Peace as your overseer and Righteousness as your taskmaster. Violence shall no more be heard in your land, devastation or destruction within your borders; you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise. The sun shall no longer be your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you by night; but the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Your sun shall no more go down, or your moon withdraw itself; for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall be ended. Your people shall all be righteous; they shall possess the land for ever. They are the shoot that I planted, the work of my hands, so that I might be glorified. The least of them shall become a clan, and the smallest one a mighty nation; I am the Lord; in its time I will accomplish it quickly. (Isaiah 60:17-22, NRSV)

How many times a day do you turn on a light?

Flip a light switch?

We in the western world take light for granted. We can at any moment walk into a room, flip a switch, turn a know, clap our hands and we get light.

But image if electricity was not readily available. Many this winter have lost power and gone several days, if not weeks without it… If the sun and the moon were your only sources of light…

God is here promising the people, His people, that they will never be in darkness, because He is their light. He is the source of how they will see. He is the source of their illumination!

Is God your source of illumination? Is a light for your path and a guide on your journey?

If He is you will never walk in darkness again!

Strength

For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God. May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:9-14, NRSV)

Where does your strength come from?

I admit I like going to the gym to walk on a treadmill or along a track, maybe to do zumba or aqua zumba, but strength training is not my thing!

I don’t like pumping up. I like doing fitness classes, step and walking, but then where does my strength come from? Now it is true walking and fitness classes do work your muscles and will build muscle over time, but is that the strength mentioned in Colossians?

We are strengthened by the fact that we know Christ and have been saved by His grace and mercy. We get our strength to live life and to see beyond the pain and sorrow because of the strength that He has and has given to us. Through the strength of Christ we will be able to endure all because He is always with us. Christ strength is sufficient for us!

Path to the Future!

BridgeAs I sit and write this newsletter article as the called pastor at St. John’s Lutheran Church I have to reflect on the road that got us to this place.
I have to say us, because of Krista, Charis, Carina, Calea, Kata and Kaity. Kata and Kaity being our cats, had to move several times with us. It was not an easy road to come along. There were several times I wondered if it was the right road for me to be on. I wondered what in the world I was doing to my family. Was this the actual path we were to be walking down, or had we missed the boat, or the carriage, or the bus? We traveled a lot of roads it seems, talking to a lot of different people about ministry possibilities, but none of them seemed right. It seemed the path we were on was heading in the wrong direction. Maybe Robert Frost would say we were on the path more traveled…
I also have to say us because of all of you, the worshiping community that is St. John’s Lutheran Church. You are involved and have been traveling a road or two over this time as well. There have been many changes and struggles, but you have held tight to the faith you have in Jesus Christ and are ready for many years of ministry here in this place.
3 months ago, my family and I were preparing our house in Texas to come here to Wisconsin, continuing down the path that God had set before us. I wondered again if this was the right path for us, but we have been truly blessed to be a part of this community here at St. John’s. God knew what was going on when Jerry Wirtley was matched with St. John’s Lutheran Church. My family and I truly are blessed to be here in Little Suamico with such great people. You have blessed us from the moment our conversations have begun.
Thank you to everyone who has stepped up to the plate and helped us here at St. John’s to move forward in the ministry that God has placed before us. We still have a lot to do and I have no doubt that this body of believers will accomplish everything that God puts in front of them. We have to dig deep and work together, but nothing is impossible if we stay together in God!
So as I think of the paths and roads we have come down to get us to the place we are now at, I pause only for a moment, to say thank you, we have made it this far, yet we can not always look back, but also must look towards the future. What will our path hold for us now? I really do not know what the future holds, yet I know God brought us to St. John’s, and God will help guide through the years and paths ahead of us, as we journey through ministry together here. So let’s decide together on the path we shall take and move forward with God, stepping out on faith, even more than we have, living in the hope of our time with God. Let us take that road less traveled by and then in the end hopefully we all will hear, “welcome home, my good and faithful servant!”

simple and clear

Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ He asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ The reply came, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.’ The men who were travelling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one. Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank. (Acts 9:1-9, NRSV)

Sometimes I wish the signs God gave me were simple and clear, like being blinded on the road and hearing the voice of Jesus speak to me. Or a burning bush and the voice of God bellowing…

But would I follow? And maybe, just maybe, God’s signs to me are simple and clear, and I just can’t see/hear them because I’m too caught up in looking at my own sin and not able to let go to see them or hear them.

Plus if a voice came from the clouds, or from a burning unconsumed bush I would run away screaming like a little girl!

Jesus does call each of us in a simple clear way that we can understand and only we can understand. That is why Moses got a burning bush and Saul was knocked down and blinded on the Damascus road. That is what they needed. That was their 2X4!

God hits you with what you need, and yes it is always simple and clear. Just listen and tune into God and you will see the sign!