It Must Be Done

Today's sermon that I preached deals with Luke 2:41-52.

We all have things that we are supposed to do even if we do not feel like it or are understood as to why we do them. Such as saying good-bye. Some see saying good-bye as a permanent thing and yet others see it as a temporal thing especially, for those of us who name Christ.

Jesus had to deal with the fact that he had stayed back in Jerusalem when his parents had gone a day's journey before Mary and Joseph realized that he was missing. When they found him they asked Jesus why he had caused them such great pain and agony in his decision to stay back. Jesus answered by saying that he was to be at the Temple and that he must do his Father's work. Indeed, he was listening and talking and learning from the leaders. However, his parents could not understand why Jesus had to do these things even when he mentions that his heavenly Father told him to do so.

What we have to deal with is do we do what we are supposed to do? When we are called to do something do we listen even when we are misunderstood or do we forget the idea or suggestion because it does not seem practical? Unfortunately, Jesus' ministry was constantly misunderstood and sometimes we are too, but that does not excuse us from doing those things that we are to do.

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Today was my last day in Chetek, Wisconsin at Prairie Lake Evangelical Covenant Church. I am going to miss the people and their hospitality. This is the third time that I have had to say good bye to a congregation do to internship. The first was when I was in college and the other two happened this year. The first occurred a month ago when I left the Covenant Retirement Communities. To accomplish my seminary internship I had two sites where I was part-time. Nonetheless it has been a hard day, but I look to the future and I am excited to see where God will put me.

The Future of Legacy

I don't know about you, but there has been a lot of talk about legacy over the last couple of days. Every time an important person in this country dies their legacy is bound to come up. This has given me the opportunity to think about my legacy and how people will remember me. Gerald Ford's legacy has been mentioned as one who healed our country in the midst of political scandal and outrage. Very little has been mentioned about the fact that he pardoned Richard Nixon; although it has come up people seem to think differently now about that decision then when he made it. The same happened to Ronald Regan and I wonder how history will interpret and look back on Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush. Will these men be remembered, for their failures or for being the right person at the right time?

Even before I heard of Gerald Ford's death on Tuesday, I have been thinking about my legacy. This Sunday, December 31 ends my time at Prairie Lake Covenant Church in Chetek, Wisconsin. I have been thinking about how I will be remembered in this congregation after I leave. Will I be remembered, for dumb mistakes that interns make or my city slickerness? Or will I be remembered, for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ? When all is said in done, not only this week, but at the end of my life I hope that my legacy will be one of obedience to God and that I modeled that to everyone who I met along the way. I hope to hear the words one day, "Well done good and faithful servant." Perhaps this is the thing we should be reflecting on this week--our legacy and be able to change whatever needs changing, so that others will see a positive legacy and focus on that instead of the negativeness in our lives.

Believe It or Not pt. 2 or Merry Christmas

To all who read or come upon this blog over the vastness of cyber-space, I express to you a joyous and heartflet "Merry Christmas!"

In my last posting I refered to the humbleness of Christ--God coming down to become human and to live among us, for a time, yet still God. This kind of meeting is something that we expect at Christmas as we gather with family and friends, but it is also true that perhaps this is the time to think about us coming to God in humble submission of our entire selves. This is not just, for the non-Christians among us, but, for Christians as well because sometimes we forget that we too have to be dedicated and in full submission to Christ. May the changes that need to be made in our lives this season happen.

Yesterday at church I saw two good friends who now live a ways away from here. It was definitely a joy to see them and to talk to them. That definitely made my day!

Merry Christmas!

Believe It or Not

On Wednesday, the church that I am with, for another week, had their Candlelight Service and I was asked to preach at it. This is what I talked about. From Luke 2:1-20.

Believe it or not the space shuttle weighs 4 million pounds on the launch pad. When it lands it weighs 230,000 pounds. Most of that weight is lost in the first 10 minutes of flight.

Believe it or not 17 tons of gold are used each year in the U.S. to make wedding rings.

Believe it or not Jesus Christ is the Son of God, born of a virgin, in Bethlehem.

Believe it or not the most overdue library book in the world was borrowed from Sidney Sussex College in Cambridge, England and returned 288 years later.

We have no problem being able to verify facts. We can use scientific or mathematical or logical methods to arrive at facts.

The birth of Jesus is something that is factual, but sometimes we do not want to believe it. The narrative from Luke begins with a fact and ends with a fact--A decree went out (v.1); The shepherds left rejoicing (v.20). In between these we are faced with other facts. Facts of census, room, shepherds, and angels; all working in their humbleness which only adds to the story. At the end of the day we all have to decide whether or not we are going to believe this story or not, but then again this is just the beginning!

What Matters the Most?

I can not believe it. A senator from South Dakota is lying in a Washington D.C. hospital bed in critical condition after suffering a stroke and emergency brain surgery. What does the media care about? Which party is going to be in control of the Senate next month. As an after thought they mention get well wishes to the senator, but on the whole the whole story is about the balance of power. Since when did we become such uncaring and ungrateful towards our fellow citizens that when one of them falls sick that we care more about who will be in power in Washington D.C. . I truly feel bad, for the media and their endless pursuit of polarizing our country. They absolutely have nothing else to do. I mean this, I hope that the senator gets well soon and is able to continue to serve the people of South Dakota.

"Evangelical" Christianity

One of the things that really gets me going is talking about Evangelicalism. I consider myself a card carrying Evangelical. Schooled at Northwestern College in St. Paul, MN; the things that I had been hearing all my life were finally organized in college. I studied with professors who have their names in many circles in the Evangelical Theological Society and they taught me the importance of what makes a good Evangelical and what makes an even better Evangelical pastor. What I have been hearing in our culture though is something completely opposite. Evangelicals are to be despised, they are hypocritical, conservative, and patriotic, etc.. No well meaning American would fall, for those kinds of things, and if you do you are not paying attention to your culture, but only to your imagination and whims. You rarely hear of good Evangelicals. If you do, they are usually lumped into being called an Evangelical because they are 1) Christian and 2) not Roman Catholic. That is what our society holds as an Evangelical. However, this leads me to wonder about something that was on t.v. last night.

Every year Barbara Walters has her 10 most fascinating people of the year program. Last night happened to be the night, for 2006. I caught her interview on David Letterman the night before, so I was prepared. She mentioned during that interview how she liked interviewing celeb reties and wishes to be one herself. She then mentioned that one of her 10 was Joel Osteen the 40 something multi-millionaire "pastor" of a "church" in Houston. She liked Osteen because of the fact that he believes that God wants us to be happy and rich. She asked Osteen about this and he did not deny, but went further and said that God's happiness comes in all sorts of things, such as wealth, health, and people. While I have problems with Osteen's theology and wonder if he is contributing to the complacency of Christianity in America, does he have the right to be known as an Evangelical? If I go by my college professors the answer is no because he is teaching something that is contrary to the Gospel. If I go by society the answer is yes because he teaches about God and happiness.

One thing that was mentioned at the beginning of Walters' interview with Osteen was that he does not preach sin or damnation or repentance. Unfortunately, if Walters and America knew the history behind Evangelicalism they would find that these characteristics are what makes an Evangelical an Evangelical. Hello, the root word is evangelism! Evangelism involves repentance and confession of sins. It is not as American media puts it a club where if you want to be cool you should join, but do not hold to their views. I am therefore proud to be an Evangelical not because it is the "in" thing, but because it teaches the Gospel of Jesus Christ which requires repentance, and that is how I plan to minister.

First the Forerunner

One of my goals with this blog is to be able to share what I have been preaching and/or teaching. I will begin with the sermon that I preached yesterday.

Sunday, December 10, 2006 2nd Sunday in Advent
Luke 3:1-6

Those of us in the Christian faith have someone in our lives that have brought us to faith. Whether a parent or friend or some other person or even a circumstance; something has brought us to a point in life where we have to make a decision. Paul recognized this in Timothy's life and even in his own work in ministry the impact that Lois and Eunice had on both Timothy and Paul. John the Baptist is the same way.

John the Baptist was the Forerunner, for the coming Messiah. He began the ministry of Jesus and prepared the people by preaching repentance and baptism. Luke shows this explicitly in using the prophet Isaiah and his words from chapter 40. John the Baptist makes the path straight and also smooths out the roughness in our lives and gives us a lifeline to get out of the deep valleys. Nonetheless before we come to faith we are confronted with the questions of faith. Even John the Baptist was subject to the word of God and follow Christ. Just because he was a prophet does not mean that he is not subject to the same circumstances.

The question before us is who are we being the "forerunner" to? Who are we disciplining or listening to? It is an important task that we are all called to do because ultimately only God can change the person's life. If today you recognize that someone or something has been a "forerunner" in your life and are ready to make that decision perhaps the time is right to do so and you should become acquainted with a local church to help you along this path. John the Baptist recognized the importance of this ministry and I hope that we do to.

What's In A Name

Today I thought that I would talk a little bit about names. I am sure, for those of you who have looked at this blog are wondering why I chose the name Confessions? After all a confession is an admission of guilt or that is what Catholics do when they confess their sins to a priest to receive forgiveness. While this is part of the word confession it is not the whole idea.

Confession also has a connotation of holding to what one believes in, like a creed, such as the Westminster Confession of Faith or the Apostles' Creed. In the liturgy of the Covenant Church, for communion the pastor says: "Let us confess our faith using the words of the Apostles' Creed."

A major work by the 5th century pastor and bishop of Hippo in Africa by the name of Augustine wrote his memoirs with this title: Confessions.

This is the spirit in which I named this blog. I want it to be about what I have experienced in life and also what makes me tick and what gets under my collar. I chose this name because of its comprehensive meaning. I hope that you find this blog a confession about words of life and about being a Christian in an increasingly hostile world.

A New Beginning

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

With these words I begin my entrance into the internet world of blogging. This is something that I have contemplated on doing, for some time, but just never did. I decided that this would be the perfect time of year to begin this blog because the church has just celebrated the 1st Sunday in Advent--the time of waiting, for the Messiah, it also happens to be the 1st Sunday of the church year, and because I am a pastor these things matter, for it is only right that something such as this project begin at the beginning and not the end.

I want to welcome you fellow internet blog followers to my blog. Right now it is pretty simple, but as time goes on I think that I will be adding different things and elements, but time will tell. I also have to get the hang of this blogging thing.

As a pastor, I begin all of my sermons with the words that I opened with which come from the apostle Paul when he would write a letter to any one of the churches, here are some references: Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:3; 2 Corinthians 1:3; Galatians 1:3; Ephesians 1:2; Philippians 1:2; Colossians 1:2; 2 Thessalonians 1:2; and Philemon verse 3. The point is that whatever Paul had to talk about in his letter he began with the words, "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." It is with those words that I start my blog because no matter what is talked about here I want to begin with words of comfort and hope. Not all postings will be about the Bible or even Christianity; some may be about the news or life in general, but it does not belittle the fact that I want to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ with all who read this blog and to give comfort and hope where it is needed. With these words I welcome each and everyone of you to my blog "Confessions".