Do not grow weary…

Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?
“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor be weary when reproved by him.
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.”
It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. (Hebrews 12:3-13 ESV)

Are you ready to give up?

Throw in the towel?

I understand. I really do understand. It seems like everything you are doing is hurting and not helping your struggles. You see your loved ones doing more than their fair share of the work and you fell like everyone is catering to you. Like you are letting those same loved ones down…

But listen to the words guoted here in Hebrews from Proverbs 3:11-12 My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights. Did you hear that? Did you see what you were called?

My son… My daughter… My chosen one. You are mine and the things I do for you are for your betterment. How many of us as parents would love to give our children everything they ask for? And do all of their laundry and chores, so they can play and be kids? We would love to allow our children to do what ever they want, but good parents know that saying no is the best thing for their kids, and denying some of their wants is helping them more than hurting them. We are helping to shape them into constructive active participants in this thing we call life, and that is exactly what God is doing for each of us.

We sometimes have to go through those periods of not understanding and not getting what we want, of looking and wondering, but never wondering if God is there or does He care. He loves us and claims us as His own…

My child you are my beloved, and I have claimed you as my own, know that the reproof and testing you are undergoing is for your betterment, and to prepare you for things that are to come. I have never and will never leave you or forsake you. Trust in me and do not grow weary in your path ahead.

Cross Eyed!

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2 NIV)

 Fix your eyes upon Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith. Or as Peder Eide shows us on the coffee mug to the left, Keep your i i on the cross…

If we can focus on the cross and let the other details be handled by the one who use t reside on the cross handle them, our lives will work out much easier than we could handle them on our own.

You see only Jesus really understands this place and what we are going through, because He has been here and he walked in shoes like yours, maybe not dealing with exactly the same things you are right now, but He understands your pains and sorrows. He understands the ups and downs of life and He has been through the emotional and physical dealing that life brings us. He knows. And He can help you with the details if you will focus on Him.

So focus on the cross, on Jesus and life will not be easy, but He will handle the details…

A sad day…

Many of you know I was pastor at First English Evangelical Lutheran Church in Victoria and you may or may not know that I resigned from that role back in February due to differences of opinion on the decision made by the church wide gathering of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in 2009 concerning Homosexuals in life long monogamous relationships being rostered leaders in the church. The decision was to allow congregations that wanted to figure out how to allow these leaders to remain in service they could, and if you did not want to as a congregation you did not have to. This led to many discussions and long talks at FEELC, and in February I left so that the congregation could proceed forward in ministry.

Well today the Southwestern Texas Synod of the ELCA announced in the Vista Online, the publication of the synod, that the synod council took action to remove the congregation from the synod.  Below is the article from the Vista. I pray that this decision will allow healing in both the synod and the congregation and allow all to continue doing the ministry God has called us all to…

Synod council removes Victoria congregation from roster of congregations

      First English, Victoria has been removed from the roster of congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America for repeated violations of its constitution.
The congregation was removed on Sept. 8 by the synod council upon the recommendation of the Rev. Ray Tiemann, bishop of the Southwestern Texas Synod.  The council met Sept. 7-8 in Seguin.
First English held a congregational meeting on Aug. 26 to approve the Rev. Jim Pearson as senior pastor.  Pearson is not on the roster of ordained ministers of the ELCA.
The Constitution, Bylaws and Continuing Resolutions of the ELCA grants the authority for a synod council, upon the recommendation of the bishop, to remove a congregation that “calls as its pastor one who has not been approved for the roster of ordained ministers.”
First English had previously been placed under public admonition and censure by Tiemann for willfully disregarding the provisions of its constitution.  The congregation, upon the recommendation of its executive committee, voted Oct. 16, 2011 to affiliate with two additional Lutheran Church bodies – Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ and the North American Lutheran Church – while still being an ELCA congregation.  It is unconstitutional for a congregation that is a member of the ELCA to affiliate with another church body at the same time.
A congregational meeting to consider withdrawing from the ELCA was held by First English on       July 25, 2011.  The motion failed 109-128.
The executive committee of First English was informed of the synod council’s action on Sept. 8 by Tiemann and synod vice president Carl Teinert.  Their letter requested that First English remove any reference to its former ELCA affiliation from all congregational information, both internal and external.

This Word…

And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. And he said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”  But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.”  And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone. Mark 7:24-30 ESV

Wow! Did you just see what Jesus said. He just called that woman a dog.  That is not nice and isn’t showing love to her. Yet maybe on the heels of last weeks Gospel where Jesus says we do not need to follow all of the rules. And in doing this statement this week Jesus mirrors what the people would say about this woman who is an outsider. Jesus makes them all think….

And another way to look at this is to say Jesus was testing this woman. Had she heard about Jesus and thought she could get something out if Him. Maybe she heard about His healing others and she wants in on it. But Jesus says that the dogs should not take food from the children. He wanted to see how she would respond. And how would you respond?

Maybe, “why do you call me a dog?”

“What did I do to you for you to insult me?”

“How dare you, all I did was come here for help.”

But she does not respond this way. She responds in Faith! “Yes lord the food belongs to the children but the dogs also get the scraps, are not the people of God blessed to be a blessing.” And Jesus sees her intent is real and her faith in God is leading this. She is driven by faith not selfishness.

And Jesus says “because of this word you can go, your daughter is clean.” This word that she speaks is the Logos. The word that became flesh. She was proclaiming it is about living a life of true faith in God and knowing He will provide all of our needs.

Do you trust the word to speak it boldly in the face of opposition? What is your response to the world, what it wants to hear or a word (Logos) in faith?

Live your life boldly and speak the word (Logos) that lives in you!

Praise the LORD!

Praise the LORD, O my soul!
I will praise the LORD as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
Put not your trust in princes,
in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;
on that very day his plans perish.
Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD his God,
who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
who keeps faith forever;
who executes justice for the oppressed,
who gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets the prisoners free;
the LORD opens the eyes of the blind.
The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down;
the LORD loves the righteous.
The LORD watches over the sojourners;
he upholds the widow and the fatherless,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
The LORD will reign forever,
your God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the LORD!
(Psalm 146 ESV)

In what do you trust? Now that may seem like an easy question, but it has changed over our lives for most of us.

I am sure there was someone who at some point in time you trusted with some of your deepest darkest secrets, and then they betrayed you by telling someone else those secrets… You trusted them, and they hurt you. I know I have done that to those that I love. We all have, because we are human. We stumble and fall and we sin. We turn our backs on those whom we need and love because of sin.

But if we trust in God, no matter what happens He will never let us down. He will never turn His back or betray our trust. No matter how many times we do it to Him, He will never leave us or forsake us.

So cling not to anyone else, but put your trust in God, and He will see you through.