devo

I make mistakes…God works through our mistakes

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11885785_830146970434472_3138855651551647161_oI make mistakes.  I know this is a news flash for most of you.  I say the wrong things. I do the wrong things. Often they lead to big messes, but mostly God uses my mess ups for His purposes.

I messed up last Sunday.  It wasn’t big but it was a mess up. During worship I was leading the end of the service and I was supposed to say the prayers,then go into the creed, followed by a song.  I finished the prayers of the people and then sat down for the song.  I missed the creed all together.  The pastor told me lead them in the creed after the prayers, and I missed it.  It was a total mess up  hopefully no one but the person running slides and the music team noticed. It didn’t end the world but I was frustrated with myself.

Right after the service I went up to the music team leader and apologized.  While we were talking someone came a lady came up and told us saying the creed after that song was one of the most moving moments she has had in worship in a long time. She finally said it and really meant it. It was a great Jesus moment.

I feel like we all need this reminder from time to time. We need to be reminded that God can use our mistakes,  our mess-ups for his Work.  He can use our broken best laid plans for his Work.  So today if you messed up remember God is working it for his good. God is working it so others can know Jesus.  May you be reminded of Jesus working in your good times and your bad.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 NIV

Sleeping on an air mattress, following Jesus can be uncomfortable!

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wpid-wp-1441706854917.jpgI miss my bed.  I miss how it makes me feel.  I would like just once to wake up in my own house on my own bed next to my wife and not have a kink in my back and neck. My new chiropractor loves this by the way. (Not really but we have gotten to know each other rather well these last few weeks based on the number of times he has popped my body back in place.)  Needless to say it has been a uncomfortable few weeks.

Beyond the aches and pains I started at a new ministry.  I traveled back and forth to sell and buy a house.  I have lived with my in-laws for almost 6 weeks now.  I went from a 5 minute commute to work to over 45 minutes when traffic is good. I went from knowing everyone’s names to knowing almost no ones.(cue Cheers music)  OH and my wife is living in Grand Rapids and i see her on the weekends.  Needless to say everything is different.  Life has become uncomfortable and I am ok with it.

I do like life to be comfortable.  I like to have a routine. I like things to be predictable. I really like to sleep in my own bed with my wife.  However being uncomfortable has helped me know Jesus.  Over 3 months ago my life was flipped on end.  I said goodbye to some amazing people.  I am serving in a new ministry.  It isn’t comfortable but it is exactly where God needs me to be.  Worship, prayer, and everything else is in my faith life is different.  Jesus is in control and for that I am grateful.

So why bring up being uncomfortable. Is it so you can feel sorry for me? Is it so you can comment on this post and say we are praying for you or can we help? (please do pray for me and my children.) Really that isn’t the point. The point is being uncomfortable in this faith walk is a good thing.  It reminds me of God and His work in my life.  It reminds me that no matter how much I have planned and how comfortable I am He seems to find a way to make me uncomfortable so I can trust in Him, so I can follow Him.

When we get comfortable I think we tend to trust in ourselves.  We trust in our choices, and abilities instead of trusting in Him.  We trust our good fortune, or luck.  We trust in everything but Jesus.  We look to everything but Jesus. Here is the thing. We need Jesus.  We need Him in His word, and sacrament. We need Him in our prayer life.  We need Him in everything. Being uncomfortable has reminded me of Jesus’ work for me.  Thank you Jesus for reminding me of my need for you.  Thanks for making me uncomfortable!

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NIV

I didn’t hear the sermon…but I saw Jesus and shared Jesus with my squirly neice.

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DSC_0004I have a confession to make. This past Sunday I missed most of what happened in Church.  In fact I apparently missed my Brother in-law Pastor say that we worship three Gods in one person.(All pastor’s have slips  of the tongue) It was trinity Sunday and apparently he made this mistake during the opening announcements of the service. I tried to pay attention, I really did. However for this service I had one job in mind. I was going to keep my niece occupied so my Sister-in-law could enjoy the service of the baptism of her son. My self appointed job was sitting with my niece and trying to keep her quiet and distracted.  She is what I would call a wild child and I love her for it.  During the service I asked her in my quiet voice if I could suck her thumb that she was sucking.  I don’t know why I did it except she was starting to get noisy and point to Mom, and I though maybe it would make her smile. It did and for the whole hymn she kept trying to stick her disgusting thumbs into my mouth. (By the way she has a tendency to stick her hands in her diaper quite often just for the visual) This was the beginning of probably the most amazing worship service I have been a part of in awhile.

You see next my niece went up with all the other little kids and saw the baptism.  It was a very cool moment. When she returned, we spent the rest of the service quietly talking about it. Most of the message I spent pointing at the hymnal I was holding and showing her the baptism picture on it.  I quietly sat and talked with her about how she was baptized when she was a little baby and that one day she would be with Jesus. I talked about how I would be with Jesus because I was baptized too.  She smiled such a great smile and laughed her little laugh all very quietly. She would point to the baptismal font and then to herself and laugh. It was pure joy. We went to communion and I got to share with my niece about Jesus again. She smiled and we had the best time together. I held her and sang a hymn to her. At the last hymn she was tired and fell asleep in my arms. When the service was done the lady behind me said “What I did with that little girl was a miracle.”  I am not sure it was a miracle but It was a great day as an uncle because I got to share Jesus with my 2 year old niece.

It was not a miracle. It was a good weekend. It was a good day.  Two things I hope everyone takes from this story. First it is ok to give up a worship service to help a little one know Jesus and allow others to hear about him. It is ok to just pack it in and say you know what today is about my niece and everyone else in the room. I know parents who miss a lot in the service because they are devoting their lives to help their kids hear about Jesus.

Second and here is my challenge for congregations.  Maybe next week when you see that mom or dad who are struggling with their small child  to listen to the sermon you can sit next to them. Offer to hold one of the young ones during the service so they can hear about Jesus.  Take time with the little ones who are squirmy. Share Jesus  with them.  It can be a blessing for all involved.

but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 19:14

Facebook Christianity and my blurry life…We are all broken, ugly, sinners.

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WP_20150308_16_42_06_ProI know I am not the only one to make this observation; People are not real on Facebook!  We only put the best out for others to see. We will take a picture 5 times if we don’t think it looks good. This can be difficult for Christians and others who are going through tough stuff.  We all post the best picture, video or quote.  We want others to believe everything about us is awesome. I know I do it.  I post when we are doing family game night, reading our bible together or having a family hug moment.  I don’t know that I have ever posted a picture when one of the kids is having a tantrum, or in the middle of a fight.  I know none of you have seen a video of me screaming at my children over something trivial. I never show you my unkempt house, my piles of dirty laundry or the time I left the seat up.  I don’t want people to see those moments.  I want them to see the good. Heck, I only want to see the good.

So it got me thinking, what if for a week we took pictures everyday, every 15 minutes or so? What if I took pictures of the mundane, the broken, and the bad? What if everything posted to Facebook wasn’t the good stuff, but was me at my worst? What if I posted pictures from angles not so flattering to myself or  only posted pictures that are too blurry to see? I suppose some of you would be offended, many would be annoyed, others would look down on me. Many would know for certain what they have always suspected, Steve is a broken sinner. Steve is selfish, Steve is a slob, Steve doesn’t do much right at all!  To be truthful you would all be right.

For those of you who know me, don’t worry I am not going to post pictures every 15 minutes.  You won’t have too unfriend or block my posts…hopefully. I write this because I want us all to be reminded we are broken. I to fail more than I succeed. I to am in need of Christ’s forgiveness.   We all need His grace, forgiveness, and mercy. We need it each day.

If this week you experience in real life the ugly and the broken, and you are ashamed of it. I would try to remind you, Facebook isn’t real life.  It isn’t real Christianity.  In real life the picture is actually blurry and often broken.  You are not alone. Jesus is there  with you.  He had gone through it as well. We have all been forgiven in Christ.

Therefore (Jesus) had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. Hebrew 2:17-19 ESV

Stripping paint… How ministry can be tough when you don’t get to see the end of the project.

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DSC01756This past weekend I was on a retreat with High school students from Big Rapids, Muskegon, and Grand Rapids. I loved it.  I loved talking about Christ with them and on the first night we spent talking about the term whatever.  We focused on whatever we do, we do it for Jesus.  If we hold the door open we do if for Jesus, If we clean up after dinner we do it for Jesus, If we scrape paint we do it for Jesus.

We scraped a lot of paint.  In fact when we arrived we had thought we would be painting.  We came to finish this great project.  Instead we spent 8 hours scraping one building.  It was hard work.  The building was build in 1957 and had at least 6 coats of paint on it.  The process was spread paint remover goop on building, wait 30 minutes scrape, get off a layer or two,  and repeat.  If you waited too long it got dry and stopped working. At one point someone said “Wow this is hard work.” And I said “Yes and we are paying to do it!” It was hard and to be honest. I am not sure we all had the satisfaction of seeing a completely striped building ready for paint. Being the scraper of paint is tough work and not very satisfying.

So I think scraping paint reminds a lot of being a disciple of Jesus. Sharing Jesus with students, friends, families, enemies and everyone in between is tough work.  Sometimes when we spread the good news you don’t get to see it finished. even after you spend a lot of time on it.  We would love for it to happen so quickly. We would love to be able to pray, talk and conversion happens.  You don’t always get to see the beautiful building God is working them into.  You see siding that looks beat up.  You see the little bits of stubborn paint on a person that just isn’t wiped clean.  Sometimes at the end of your time with the building, you don’t see the finished project just a building you worked on.  I can be so frustrating.

I tried to tell the students this weekend.  This project isn’t complete.  We did what God had planned for us to complete.  We followed Jesus. We served and one day the whole project will be finished.  It wasn’t our job to finish it was are call to start the project.

As you think about that person, or family who needs to hear about Jesus, and are frustrated that the job isn’t done remember we all play a part and sometimes we don’t get to see the finish just are part of the process.

What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.  1 Corinthians 3:5-7 ESV