Ministry

Names, names and more names…genealogies and our connection to God’s story

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names

One of the hardest parts of reading the scripture in a year is getting through the many sections of names. It can seem tedious, and well, down right boring.  I have read them over and over many times.  Going through long lists of names can be tedious and often funny when reading it out loud. But in those lists of names we are reminded of two very important things.

God remembers our name.  This might seem so simple but is so powerful to me. We are not just some number on his score sheet.  God doesn’t do a count of people just to say oh look I have 10,000 believers, or I have 20,000 believers.  He has your name written in the book of life.  You are his.  He records them and reminded his believes so many years ago to do the same. As you read through those genealogies and read those names which might seem weird or just plain odd remember he has your name written in the book of life.  He did it at your baptism and holds you close to himself. He knows you and knows your name. You are important to Him.  He died and rose for you.

Lastly God is faithful.  He took time to work out our salvation.  He took time to work through all these people before us and was faithful.  He promised to bring our salvation to completion and did through Jesus.  God worked all these things so some of the most unfaithful, and awful people.  He didn’t pick a bunch of amazing wonderful people.  He chose us because he is faithful.  God is good!

This last week we have done a good job as a family of reading our scripture each day.  It isn’t always going to be easy but is going to help us see Jesus and His work for us. He knows you and your family by Name. 

My God bless you as you read the scriptures as a family.

You can download a daily reader from: http://www.oneyearbibleonline.com/readingplan/oneyearbiblereadingplan.pdf

 

Join my family in reading through the scriptures this year.

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So last year my family tried to read the bible in a year.   We made it to April without many hick ups. Then we missed a few days and my wife and I kept reading through it until almost August. Then we fell off the wagon completely. Maybe it was because we moved or maybe it was because we lost focus on the goal. So here we are again ready to start a new year and I am determined yet again to read the scriptures as a family. I have the one year bibles out and ready to begin again. So who wants to join us. Who is ready to do this again. My goal is to post each week the readings we have read and the readings we are going to read for anyone who wants to join us. We may not make it the whole year and we may not make it a month but I am determined to keep my family in the word of Christ this year. I am determined to stay in the word myself this year.

It will be a journey. It will be funny at times, it will be awkward at times, and I guarantee Satan will be on the prowl trying to get us off the scriptures but I know my God is bigger.  I know being in the Word is so good for my family I am praying Christ will push us to the finish line this time.  So join us. You may miss a week, you may miss a month, But I would encourage you as we encourage each other as families to be in the Word. My God bless you this year as you walk with Him. God is good and in His word we are reminded of the work he is doing in our lives.

You can download a daily reader from: http://www.oneyearbibleonline.com/readingplan/oneyearbiblereadingplan.pdf

 Week one readings:
January 1 Genesis 1:1-2:25 Matthew 1:1-2:12 Psalm 1:1-6 Proverbs 1:1-6
January 2 Genesis 3:1-4:26 Matthew 2:13-3:6 Psalm 2:1-12 Proverbs 1:7-9
January 3 Genesis 5:1-7:24 Matthew 3:7-4:11 Psalm 3:1-8 Proverbs 1:10-19
January 4 Genesis 8:1-10:32 Matthew 4:12-25 Psalm 4:1-8 Proverbs 1:20-23
January 5 Genesis 11:1-13:4 Matthew 5:1-26 Psalm 5:1-12 Proverbs 1:24-28
January 6 Genesis 13:5-15:21 Matthew 5:27-48 Psalm 6:1-10 Proverbs 1:29-33
January 7 Genesis 16:1-18:15 Matthew 6:1-24 Psalm 7:1-17 Proverbs 2:1-5

The day after Christmas…What was once new seems old

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I20151224_220436_001t is the day after Christmas.  All those things under the tree that seemed new just 24 hours ago are looking less so.  Soon all those decorations around the house will need to be taken down. All the stuff put away and life going back to normal. Maybe even a little dull. Soon the kids will be bored with their toys and other things they got for Christmas.  It will all lose the luster of being new.

The day after Christmas reminds me of my own faith walk. Often what seems new each day gets a little dull.  It is so easy for me to forget the newness of the gospel. The beauty of its work in my life.  It is so easy to look at our faith and miss the point.  When we focus on how we feel or look at something it can so easily dull in our minds.

So what can we do. How do we make it seem new every day?  Well the answers aren’t simple. They don’t have an easy answer.  We don’t have some simple way to make everything seem new.  The reality is our emotions have little to do with the faith we trust in. With the God we believe came near to us. Time can sometimes make us lose focus on this.  We can get caught up in the emotion of this moment.  Yet God has promised he is near.  In our baptism he came and claimed us as His own.  In the Lord supper we experience the Grace of God in the Body and blood.  In Worship we hear about the one who shed his blood for us. This is what helps us be new every day.

So today as you begin looking at the rest of the year.  The decorations and presents look a little dull remember the one who was the reason you celebrated.  Remember the God of the universe coming down for us.  Remember the work of Christ to be near so that he could die for you and me. It is so simple; it isn’t a new story to hear or a new gift. It is the gift we received long ago, the gift that changes everything for you and me.  The Gift of the Son of God coming to be with us, to die for us, and to rise again. 

Snatching them from the fire…Letting God use us in family and ministry

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Fire is one of my favorite things. I love camping mostly because I get to build a fire and watch it.  It is mesmerizing.  It is amazing really. It is also a dangerous thing. When I was a young boy my dad and I were in the back of the property burning up some brush.  It was mostly a white pile of hot embers at the time and so I threw in a new stick.  My Dad was in the front of the house getting more wood and I grabed at that stick to move it again and BAM new flame burned my hand.  My dad came running and got me some ice to help my hand heal. I was in a lot of pain but it could have been a lot worse.  As a kid I didn’t understand the danger. I was in playing with fire.

Last week I had the privilege of sharing the staff devotion for the school teachers.  I know most school devotions take the form of reading something you find meaningful to share with others.  I read a text from Jude

 22 Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh. Jude 22-23 NIV

These verses remind us of the our ministry among each other.  Every day my goal is to help my kids be snatched from the fire.  I pray every day God uses me to snatch other kids and families from the fire. Their is no greater calling as a parent, Dad, friend or minister.  This is serious business and God has called all of us to be a part of it.  The Holy Spirit does the work.  He changes hearts, He changes minds, we just get to be a part of it.

In the season of Christmas and the crazy times we are living remember to be merciful to those who are struggling.  Be merciful to those who don’t know Jesus.  Be merciful to all you meet. You just may be a part of snatching them from the fire.

What did you expect…Unexpected promises kept.

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IMG_2192When I was a kid I remember all sorts of catalogs of toys especially this time of year.  We would often get the big toys r us book around Christmas and circle all the things we wanted to get.  We were so excited when it came.  We probably circled 200 items in the whole catalog. It probably would have been easier if we had just crossed off the things we didn’t want.

What I found most amazing was often when I got that one toy I so wanted for Christmas sometimes it didn’t work out the way I tought it would.  Maybe it wasn’t as big as I had hoped or it didn’t look as shiny up close.  We all have expectations and sometimes those expectations aren’t realized because they aren’t the right expectation.

This week as I was preparing for Chapel I was reading the text from Luke 2:1-7. It is the simple story of Jesus birth.  What jumped out at me was this story is not something that people expected.  At least most Jews didn’t expect it to go down this way.  Here is some of the unexpected that maybe you just ran over on your way to finishing the text.

He was born in the city of David Bethlehem.  First of all the city of David in the old testament would have been Jerusalem.  His City was Jerusalem.  To hear him being born in Bethlehem was shocking. This was a tiny little back woods town of maybe 200-300 people.    This is crazy the king of kings born in such a place.

Or how about the wrapped in clothes a lying in a manger.  Ok this takes some explaining. How come no castle? How come not a palace, and beautiful bed?  Well he was placed in the feeding area for the animals in the small one room house.  Such a humble beginning for the prince of peace.

Wow unexpected for the king of the universe yet it is how He came.  It is how God fulfilled His promise.  It is how God is working in the lives us his people.  God will fulfill his promises.  He fills them in unexpected ways but he always fulfills his promises.

Jesus makes two other promises at the end of his life.  He promises to be with us to the ends of the age and He promises to come again.  Does God being with us always make sense or always look the way we want it. Probably not.  But we have a God who fulfills his promises yesterday today and always.