Praise the Lord!

Psalm 111:1-10 ESV

Praise the Lord!

I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation. Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them. Full of splendor and majesty is his work, and his righteousness endures forever. He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and merciful. He provides food for those who fear him; he remembers his covenant forever. He has shown his people the power of his works, in giving them the inheritance of the nations. The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy; they are established forever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness. He sent redemption to his people; he has commanded his covenant forever. Holy and awesome is his name!
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!

It is easy for us to praise the Lord some places. For instance I awoke this morning at one of my favorite camps and I type this devotion sitting on the porch of my cabin looking at the bluff cross and enjoying a cup of coffee.  It is easy for me here to praise God and give thanks for my surroundings and the life I have!

But psalm 111 calls us to praise the Lord not only in the easy or convenient times but at all times! When the dishwasher is broken, the kids won’t listen to anything, work is a complete disaster… these are the times we praise the lord!

A fellow camper told me a story of a visit he made to New Orleans shortly after Katrina. He met a woman in the gift shop of his hotel singing a hymn. He asked her how she was and she replied blessed! And when he asked if she was effected by Katrina, she replied she had lost everything, but she was still blessed! Perspective is everything.

Always remember even in the darkest times God is with you and walking with you so give praise to the Lord!

What is to hard?

Genesis 18:1-15 ESV

And the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth and said, “O Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree, while I bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.” And Abraham went quickly into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quick! Three seahs of fine flour! Knead it, and make cakes.” And Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to a young man, who prepared it quickly. Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them. And he stood by them under the tree while they ate. They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “She is in the tent.” The Lord said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.”

This is a story most of us have probably heard. Abraham and Sarah are without children and pushing a century and that is when decided to bring the blessing of children. I have to admit I would be skeptical. But is anything to hard for the Lord?

If you are like me that is the verse that stuck with you. We have heard this and want this to be true. It means that everything can happen in God’s timing. But then I looked again…

How many times am I like Sarah and I laugh when I hear what God is going to do whether I am worried or think it can’t happen. I have to have God and the life he wants for me in a box so I can control it. Maybe that is the reason I doubt what I have heard God say will happen. Could it be that we want control more than the abundant life God has in store for us?

Is there anything to hard for God? No and frankly that scares me and gives me the greatest comfort because he loves me and has the best for me if I will just give him control…

Waiting on the storm to end…

I was looking on Facebook last night and I came across the above picture from my friend Philip Brooks. He had captioned it waiting on the storm to end. It reminded me of the text from John 6 that is our gospel lesson for the day.

The gospel lesson is a combination of 2 miracle stories, the feeding of the 5000 (the only story of Jesus found in all four gospels) and Jesus walking on water. In particular the photo reminded me of the last part of the text, but all of it since it is one pericope.

When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. (John 6:16-21 ESV)

This is John’s version of the above story. Jesus says to the disciples “I am.” They are on a rough and rocky sea and the wind is blowing, it is dark and they see someone walking on the sea and they are scared! They wonder what is going on and even though at least 4 of them are fishermen, they are worried to be out in the storm. Or maybe it is the ghost, but whatever they are scared. But Jesus simply says, “I am here, do not be afraid.” It is like when you were a young child and you woke up from a nightmare sweating and wondering where you were and not sure of anything, then you hear your fathers voice, “I’m here, it’s ok, do not be afraid.”

You see the reason the photo struck me was that in John’s version of Jesus walking on the water, it never says that the storm is calmed. We might assume that it is because the other versions (or at least one of them) has the storm being stilled. But not in John. Go ahead read it again. It says Jesus got into the boat and the reached the other side. The storm was calmed. Sometimes in life we have to wait out the storm, but we are not alone…

You see that is the just of this whole gospel passage, Jesus gives us what we need. Food to satisfy hunger. Not a wonderful grand banquet, but fish and bread, sustenance for the journey. And when the disciples and we are scared, He says take heart, it is I, do not be afraid. The storm may still be raging, but Jesus is there with us.

So wait out the storm and enjoy the show, knowing He is always with you.

Secret Snickers

Have you ever watched a movie or tv show where a group of people were stranded somewhere for an unforeseen amount of time and one of them had some food they were trying to hide from the others. Maybe because they knew there wasn’t really enough for everyone, or maybe because they were just greedy and didn’t want to share…

Have you ever had food when someone else was hungry and offer it to them? Or were you selfish and kept the food all to yourself? I’ll admit I have been on both sides of this equation, I have offered and I have retained the food I had.

I wonder if Jesus carried a secret snickers? Read the passage for the day from John 4:31-38:

Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”

Jesus says he has food the disciples don’t know about. Does he have a secret pocket in his robes where he has stashed some snickers for the road? This of course is not the case. Jesus was not hoarding food, or eating anything at all. The gospel of John is full of double meanings and makes us look deeper at our faith and what God is saying to us. Jesus was physically hungry, yet that was not the purpose of the food. The food Jesus spoke about is doing the will of the Father.

See the ending of the passage, “Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” Others have started the work here, but it isn’t done, so we must enter in and continue the labor. Notice He did not say finish the labor, but we have entered into their labor, and now it is our labor and someday someone else will enter into our labor and it will become their labor. See we are doing the work of the Father. It is not our job to bring the whole world to Jesus, Jesus is already there! It is our job to help them see He is there and continue the work that Jesus himself started to love the world and show them what it means to be in a relationship with Jesus.

So don’t hide your snickers! Share it so others will share with you!

Perfect Harmony…

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:12-17 ESV)

Have you ever heard a choir sing in perfect harmony? Even if you are not a music person, able to sing or play, you can hear it when a group is singing in harmony. It is a sweet sound like none other…

And of course there is the flip side of this. We all know when we hear something that is not in perfect harmony. This is a sound much like a pack of cats running from a little girl trying to pick them all up and love on them… You know the sound…

Which sound would you rather hear?

Which sound would you rather contribute to?

We all have the ability to sing together with all of the world in perfect harmony. SInce we are God’s beloved we need to put on compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience… That should be easy enough be kind and humble, meek and patient, and compassionate, looking out for the other, those who we think are less than us, and those who we think are higher than us are ones we need to serve and do all of these things to.

If one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. We have to forgive as God forgave us. Even when we did not and do not deserve His forgiveness He still forgives us. As the Lord’s prayer says, forgive us as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us. Do you really want to be forgiven the way you have forgiven?

And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. Love binds everything together in perfect harmony. If we can love one another the sound that will be made will be perfect harmonious and the most beautiful sound in the world!

Love as God has loved you and participate in the making of beautiful music!

Review ~ The Church Creative ~ how to be a creative gathering in the 21st century by John O’Keefe

The church as a whole has been in a decline for quite some time.  It seems we are looking for the new program that will turn everything around. The cookie cutter that will make all of our gatherings be like they were in the ‘good old days’… But will we ever get back to those days, if we could ever actually agree on when those day were?

John O’Keefe has given us a work to help us move away from thinking about things in a box, to re-imagining they way we look at issues and ministry. The book The Church Creative is a wonderful work on leadership in the gatherings of the 21st century.

John helps us to look at life in a different way to to image leadership in a different way. This book does not claim to have all of the answers to make you the perfect leader. I think, and believe John would agree, it raises as many or more questions as it answers. It is a method to help us understand what Jesus meant when He said we must enter the kingdom of heaven as children, because as adults we have lost our creative imaginative selves. We are so hung up on fear of doing something different we would rather let the gathering die around us then risk being the person God has called us to be. In John’s words:

This is where many start to buy the stories of limits real adults place on the world around them. This is the time in our lives where we say things like, “Oh, I can’t do that.” It is a time when we’re told that we can no longer see ourselves as an innovator, a knight or a superhero. This is the time in life where we leave behind the “childish” idea of the little train that could and replace it with the adult idea of “I Think I Can’t, I Think I Can’t, I know I Can’t.

As adults we want the limitations that children seem to push aside. We as adults want our worlds in nice boxes so it is all contained. We spend a lot of time as leaders telling people to think outside the box, and John in The Church Creative asks us to completely get ride of the box!

This book is a must read for every leader in the gatherings of the body of Christ. John helps us all see a new way of looking at things and really unpacks the meaning behind Jesus’ statement of new wine in old wine skins in a way that helped me to look at leadership in a new light. God is a Creative and he needs Creatives to lead his gatherings, and John can start you down the road to being the Creative you were created to be.

Greg Von Wald ~ 18 year old speaker at the 2012 ELCA Youth Gathering

Greg is 18 years old and will be attending James Madison University next fall. He will be majoring in Integrated Science and Technology and hopes to change the world through clean energy technology. He attended the ELCA Youth Gathing in 2009 with his home congregation, Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, and is excited to return this year as a participant and a speaker.

who has qualified you

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:9-14 ESV)

The author of Colossians tells us as Paul does at the beginning of most of his letters that he is praying for the community. This letter says that from the day they heard that Christ/the Holy Spirit had come to them they were praying for them. Isn’t it a wonderful feeling to know that people are praying for you? Even if you don’t know it at the time, but find out later that people were praying for you during a time of trial, or just any time makes a sort of warm fuzzy feeling well up inside of you (at least it does me). And I believe that there are people praying for all of us every moment of every day. Anytime we pray that God’s will be done, we are praying for all of the children of God and all those who still are seeking where they belong… God is doing wonderful things in and through His people when they pray.

But then if others are praying for you, are you praying for others? And when you are praying for others how are you doing that? I mean really who qualified you to be able to pray in the first place?

Did you see what the author of Colossians said? “May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father,…” They are praying that the Lord would give the believers strength with power and might and that they might have endurance and patient in all things with joy and always giving thanks to God. Power, might, strength, endurance, patient, joy are wonderful attributes and are reasons to give God thanks, but the real reason in my mind is what follows this and this is also what qualifies you to be who you are and a child of God. “…who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” You see God, the Father, has qualified you to be a part of the inheritance, and He has delivered you from darkness and given you redemption and forgiven your sins!

He has qualified you to share the good news and to build up the saints!

So pray hard saint of God we all need it!