Standing in the Need of Prayer

I was going to write a blog about our missions team, who left this morning for Haiti. It’s a life-changing trip for them, and I wanted to talk about how it could be for the rest of us in the congregation, as well. Through our prayers for them during this week, by making sure we learn from the team when they return home, by asking God to open our hearts to the opportunities that will present themselves to us – all this and more can make a difference in our lives too.

But then I heard the news today about the mission team that was murdered in Afghanistan. These were people of God who were simply trying to give medical aid to those in need in that war-torn country. The Taliban executed them, claiming they were trying to convert people to Christianity, which is against the law in Afghanistan. Family, friends, and the mission organization deny this claim. These men and women were just trying to be the hands and feet of Christ, bringing healing and friendship to this village.

This is the reality of bringing Christ to the world. People die. Martyrdom isn’t just something that happened to the apostles or the early church. It’s happening today, in our “enlightened” era. And, if we live our faith, it’s possible that we could be called upon to give our lives, literally. There are people all over the world that do so, every single day.

So today, this week, pray for our mission team. Pray that God would keep them safe. Haiti may not be a Islamic terrorist stronghold, but it is a lawless, chaotic place. Pray that God keep them safe, but keep them true to their faith. May He give them the courage and the words they need to speak to people to reach them.

But also pray for the families of the mission team who has gone home to their Father. And pray for believers all over the world who face death for their beliefs. Next week, Dr. Pat will tell us more about the persecuted church and we will learn about many ways we can pray. But let’s begin now, that God may be glorified and triumphant, despite the evil that mankind does. God bless your week…

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Traditions

My husband’s family had a reunion this weekend. We gathered at the lake property that has been in the family for more than 68 years. The current cottage – the third, as the first two were burned down by vandals – has the exact same layout as the first. There is no electricity, just as always. There are propane lights and a refrigerator that runs on propane, same as years ago. No running water, most of the time. There’s a gas generator that runs a water pump, but it’s tricky and they don’t always have it working. So that means using the old outhouse, as has often been the case.

Family reunions are held there, because they have been for years. Pictures and stories of the past are shared and laughed over. New spouses and expanding families are brought into the circle through these stories. And these new people tell us their stories, and become part of ours. It was a delightful day.

Traditions help us feel part of a group. They keep us in touch with our past and let us know we’re not wandering around, rootless. And when they are enjoyed and relived with others of the group, they can, indeed, be delightful.

But next year, we’re going to get together in Iowa, at one of the cousins’ farms. And we’ll have just as much fun and maybe even get a little closer to one another because of the change. Some of the younger generations are beginning to do the planning, taking charge of the organization and the communications. In this way, the tradition will be passed on, but will grow as new people join our family.

We need to hold our traditions, no matter how much we love them, with a loose hand. If we hold on to them too tightly, insist on sticking to every single old way, we can lose all together. New people can feel excluded or can’t make it work, when a small change would let them in. New ideas, new stories, new people – we can keep the old, learn the new and enjoy both all the more.

What traditions have you added to – and enjoy? Share your thoughts by clicking “comments” below.

Saved and Restored

Today, MN Teen Challenge shared music and testimonies with us at our church service. What a moving experience! People from all walks of life with all kinds of backgrounds, coming to Christ as their only salvation. Those that shared their lives with us this morning spoke of the emptiness they felt without God in their hearts. And they spoke of the redemption they have experienced since they have allowed Christ to heal them.

Redemption is a word that speaks of release and liberation. But it also speaks of recovery and healing. God not only saves, but He rebuilds. He not only rescues, He revives. God reclaims us, and He restores our lives.

It is wonderful to see this coming true in the lives of our brothers and sisters in Christ today. But God has promised this for a long, long time. We’ve been studying the prophets this summer and we’ve read of how they exposed sin and called people back to God. But they also speak of this rescue and restoration, promises that God meant for the people of Israel, but also means for us. This morning, before service, we were reading in Isaiah. He told us of this promise in so many places in his book, but here’s one example.

“Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.” Isaiah 46: 4

Isn’t that a beautiful promise? I encourage you read through some of these prophets we are discussing this summer and see the wonderful promises God has made through them, for those who “bind themselves to the Lord to serve Him” (Isaiah 56:6).

How has God redeemed and rebuilt you? Please share your encouraging testimony by clicking on “comments” below.

Signs of Significance

Do you notice church signs as you drive by? Almost every church has a permanent sign in front. These signs often give the church name, service times, maybe even the pastor’s name. Often, they have an area for personalized messages. Some pastors use this space to advertise the current sermon series or the next special event coming up. Sometimes a Bible verse is posted there. All advertising of a sort, and helpful to let passers-by learn a bit about the church itself.

And then there are the “clever” signs. We’ve all seen them. “Free trip to heaven! Details inside.” ” This is a ch—ch. What is missing?” “Searching for a new look? Have your faith lifted here!” The topper? During Thanksgiving season one year, I drove by a sign that said “Gobble up Jesus this season.” Really. I’m not making that up.

I wonder what kind of advertising these signs are for the church. I know the messages are meant to catch our attention – but once they’ve done that, do they really help a non-believer or non-churchgoer know more about the church and Christ followers? Or do they just make it easy for others to ignore the church and its serious message of repentance and salvation?

It makes me think about the messages I broadcast in my own life. Do my words and behavior send a true message of God’s grace and desire to have relationship with every one of us? Or do I allow people the option of ignoring God and His call on our lives because my “advertising” doesn’t offer anything substantial? There’s nothing wrong with being clever, but I want to be sure I’m living a message of significance to draw people to the true Jesus.

What’s the goofiest church sign you’ve seen? Share that and other thoughts by clicking on “comments” below.

Are You Ready?

Canning season started in my household this weekend. A trip to the Farmer’s Market yielded bunches of young beets, which I turn into pickled beets. (Some people really love my recipe!) Later this summer, when the crop is available, I’ll be making dill pickles. Since I make 120 to 130 quarters of pickles (all of which get eaten every year), when the right size cucumbers are available, I need to pickle!

I’m always at the mercy of the crop’s success and timing. And since the process takes hours – cleaning cukes, sanitizing jars, heating brine, and boiling jars – I have to be ready to move when I get home from the market. So long before I know for sure that I’ll be canning, I’ve made time in my schedule, purchased ingredients, and made sure I have the right equipment and supplies. Then, and only then, am I ready to shop for the produce.

Now all of this preparation is well worth it. It’s delightful to give family and friends a gift they truly appreciate each year, one that comes from my own hands. I have nieces and nephews and brothers and sisters who have begun to help me with my efforts and our days together are always a blast. And frankly, I love eating them! But none of the joy and benefit will be there if I don’t prepare well in advance of the time I’ll be able to move ahead with my task.

The parable is pretty obvious, isn’t it? God has a call on our lives and there’s joy and satisfaction in fulfilling that mission. But if we aren’t prepared, well in advance of when the mission is ready to begin, we’ll never get there. If we don’t turn our lives over to God, letting Him guide and direct us, we’re not going to be available to make His project happen.

So if I’m willing to start thinking and planning and investing now for something as unimportant as making pickles in August, how much more should I be preparing myself for God’s calling that can have life-changing impact? Find out your strengths, begin practicing your gifts, pay attention to what God is showing you. Be prepared when the crop is available so you can experience the joy of the mission!

How is God preparing you? Click on “comments” and share your thoughts.

Honor and Faith

Last weekend, we celebrated Memorial Day – dedicated to the memory of those men and women who gave their lives in service to our country. Today we remember D-Day, the World War II operation that began the re-taking of France back from the Nazis. I’m glad of these and the many other opportunities we have to honor those who make our country and our freedom possible.

I’d like to honor my grandfather. John Groebner served in France in 1918, in World War I. He was in the US Army Corps of Engineers, the 34th Division. Grandpa died when I was only in my teens and too young to be thinking about the stories I should have learned from him. So I don’t know anything about his years of service – except for some poems he left behind. He wrote of sweethearts and mothers left at home. He wrote drinking songs and tributes to his regiment. He wrote with humor and he wrote with faith. I’d like to share a couple of his writings here, to celebrate our service men and women everywhere and in every time.

Our Country
To her we drink, for her we pray
Our voices silent never.
For her we’ll fight, come what may,
The Stars and Stripes forever!

His Flag
(about the service flag flown in honor of a member of the military)
It’s just a service flag but oh!
How much it means to those who know
The sovereign pride, the thrill, the grit,
The stabbing pangs that paid for it.

It means a buoyant soul that’s gone
Where shell and shrapnel crack the dawn
Fine courage, leaving with a smile
The things that youth finds most worthwhile.

It means a mother-heart that pressed
A dear, dear head against her breast
That he might never see or know
The tears that washed the whispered “Go”.

It stands, that service flag, for youth
That’s found new standards of Right and Truth.
It means to all, though king or clod,
A richer fellowship with God.


Thank you, Grandpa. And thank you to all our service men and women and the families who love them and let them go. Please feel free to click on "Comments" below and share your stories of honor.

Stomp!

I just watched a performance by some cast members from the Broadway musical theater group, Stomp. You may have seen them over the years. They use trash can covers, pans, heavy boots, and even kitchen sinks to make surprisingly tuneful percussive music. They stomp their feet, dancing to music of their own making. They make bells out of cups and cans and alter tones by changing levels of water in the container. They wet down rubber gloves and add squeaky counterpoints to their harmonies.

The creators/composers/choreographers of this group obviously have a wonderful ability to look beyond the apparent use of an item and turn it toward making music. They must walk down the street with a completely different outlook on life. Where we might see garbage, they see an instrument. Where we might hear racket, they hear melody. Where we might ignore something as common, they are drawn with curiosity and creativity.

I think they are blessed with a bit of God’s vision. They see beauty where others see waste, just as God can look beyond what we see as useless in each other and ourselves to the wonderful value of it. God can use anything He desires to fulfill His kingdom on earth, just as Stomp can use anything to make music. We need to allow ourselves to see with God’s eyes, so when we hear His call, we don’t waste time denying our usefulness. We need to hear music in our lives, where now we might think we hear only noise.

How is God using you in an unexpected way? Where do you think He might want to use you? Share your thoughts by clicking “comments” below.

Celebrate!

Psalms 146 – 150, the last five chapters of the book of Psalms, begin with the encouragement “Praise the Lord!” The subtitles of each of the chapters in my New Kings James read:

• Chapter 146 – The Happiness of Those Whose Help is the Lord
• Chapter 147 - Praise to God for His Word and Providence
• Chapter 148 – Praise to the Lord from Creation
• Chapter 149 – Praise to God for His Salvation and Judgment
• Chapter 150 – Let All Things Praise the Lord

I feel like every one of those titles applies to our celebration this morning. Of course we spoke of the events at POCC. We spoke of our lives and how they have changed. But filling every word, the reason for all we’ve done and been blessed with, is our God. Our stories are now, as Steve said, part of God’s Story because we have encountered and surrendered to the Living God.

Now I don’t deny that there are many smaller stories that don’t feel worth celebrating in our family. Jobs problems, financial issues, people having to leave, and health concerns. But as we celebrated God and all He has done at Prairie Oak and in our lives, I think we all understood that God works in our lives, sometimes in spite of these things and sometimes through these things. In the stories shared today, we heard again how God can take anyone, wherever they are, and change their lives for eternity.

Thank you all for sharing your stories with Prairie Oak and with us all. I am personally so grateful to be a part of your lives and have you a part of mine. I look forward to another year together to praise God for His Word, providence, salvation, and judgment. Another year to add to His Story through our own stories. Another year to see what God has in store for us.

How has God been at work in your life this year? Click on “comments” below and share your story.

Just Fishin'

“I will make you fishers of men.” Jesus was speaking to some of the men who would become His disciples. This was an apt analogy for them because they were, at the time, fishermen. So they understood the concept, though I’m sure it was odd to them to think of fishing for men. What might they have made of Jesus’ statement?

Well, fishing was something they did every day. They spent the majority of their time doing it. They spent time in preparation – buying and mending nets, maintaining their boats, talking with their comrades about the latest techniques in catching fish. So these men probably understood that Jesus was calling them to a full-time position.

Fishing was second nature to these guys. They’d been at it for their whole lives, in all likelihood. We know John and James for certain were sons of a fisherman. But I wouldn’t be surprised to learn the others were either sons or nephews of fishermen. Or they’d been apprenticed to a fisherman when they were quite young. They’d been fishing all their lives and almost certainly figured they’d be fishing for the rest of their lives. So fishing for men undoubtedly sounded to them like a life-long commission.

These men fished to live. They certainly ate some of the fish they caught, but it was more than that. Fishing was how they made their living. They sold their catches, earning money to purchase supplies and to support their families. Fishing was literally their life. So when Jesus called them to fish for men, they most likely understood that this would become their livelihood – this would be what they did to live.

I wonder, is this how we understand Jesus’ call on our lives to fish for men? Or do we think of it the way most of us think of fishing for fish? A part-time hobby, something to do every now and again for fun, making an occasional nice addition to our diets, but certainly not what we need to do to live.

What do you think of Jesus using the analogy of fishing for evangelism? How’s your fishing been going lately? Share your thoughts by clicking the “comments” link below.

Grace Happens!

I have had the wonderful blessing of spending the last two weekends on the North Shore of Minnesota. The weather has been beautiful – bright skies, with what clouds there were passing quickly. Warm sun shining down. Woods in bud and bloom, but no annoying pest bugs out to break the mood. I’ve appreciated the wonderful blessings of the best of Minnesota weather.

The interesting thing is that none of that fine weather was predicted. Both weekends, the Twin Cities forecasters and the national Weather.com forecasters have projected cloudy, rainy, chill weather. Both weekends! My first thought is that I want to get a job where I can be so wrong so much of the time and not get fired.

Really, doesn’t it seem like weathercasters get away with an incredible con job? They tell us so definitively what to expect of the weather and then, when it doesn’t pan out, people shrug and say “well, that’s the computer models for you” or “it’s just how weather goes.” Man, what a sweetheart deal!

But it makes me think about the “con job” I could be accused of pulling off. Most of the time, I look like a pretty good Christian. I attend church, I work in various ministries, I love my God and am vocal about that. But I mess up. A lot. Rotten thoughts of anger and frustration at others. The curse words I don’t say out loud but which ring in my mind when I get obstructed. My too-often-sloppy prayer habits. I ought to be “fired” from my position as a Christ follower, if I’m holding myself to the standard I want to hold weathercasters to.

But there’s this thing called Grace. God’s unmerited favor toward me. I can’t earn it, I can’t deserve it. And I can’t lose it, because it’s God’s gift to give. So all my failures as His child, all my struggles to be better, and even all the things that I do right don’t change God’s gift of grace toward me. He’s given me grace – favor I don’t deserve – before I was even born and He’ll give me grace through all eternity, after I’m gone from this world.

Talk about a sweetheart deal…

Had times when you thought God should fire you? How has He shown His grace? Share your thoughts by clicking on “comments” below.