In the fall of my 5th grade year I got the mumps. Mom and dad both worked full time so I stayed home alone for a week. I had a children’s bible that had been given to me by my God parents, Mr & Mrs H. H. Rieky. (I’m probably spelling that wrong). I read it. I read the entire Old Testament and the gospels and acts. I tried reading the Epistles but got bogged down when there was more words than pictures.

At the back of the Bible was a sinners prayer, a place to confess your sin and receive forgiveness, accept Jesus as Lord and savior. I did that. And waited. Nothing changed. My dads stack of Playboys didn’t go away, mom and dad still fought, my dad still drank and got angry.

I thought my Prayer didn’t work. I expected my world to change but it was my heart that changed. A transaction had occurred but I wouldn’t realize it for 11 years, when I finally understood that salvation comes by grace.

Matthew 9 talks about how you can’t add new things to old. They don’t go together.

“14 Then John’s disciples came and asked him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?”

15 Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.

16 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. 17 Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”’

Christianity is a new way of life. It’s not Judaism. It’s not animal sacrifices and rituals. Christianity is about Jesus, what he did for us. He forgave, once for all and all eternity, our sin. He paid for it, covered it over. It is no longer animal sacrifice. It is a human sacrifice, one human man died to redeem all of mankind.

The transaction is simple.

“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”

It’s a new life in the same world. The sin and sadness and anger and will all be there, but now we can shine on it.

Darkness does not overcome light, light overcomes darkness.

Jesus is the light of the world.

Titus 2

I love the Andy Griffith Show. I long for life in Mayberry. Living life, doing what’s right, fishing, (what? I’ve fished before), talking with folks, living in a black and white world.

The instructions that Paul gives for the folks on Crete sounds like a life from a bygone era but it’s the life of a christian. The way we live today may seem antiquated to the world and culture around us and that’s ok.

“Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.”

This lifestyle won’t sell more beer, or guns or pickup trucks. It’s not what our culture wants but it is what our culture needs. We are Not to impose this on anyone but to live this way in front of everyone.

Ladies, your turn.

“3 Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. 4 Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.”

Busy at home and subject to our husbands? Be pure? Think pure? 50 shades of white?

Yes.

Young men what can your lives look like?

“Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. 7 In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness 8 and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.”

Next are the Slaves, not many of those this century but there are a lot of employees. If we have someone to answer to at our job this week lets try and live like this:

“Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, 10 and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.”

Why? Why this self control and good behavior?

“11 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”

Jesus died to save sinners. Not all the sinners have heard that yet. Let’s Tell somebody about Jesus today.

I’m telling you, now you go and tell someone else. Tell them Jesus loves them and died for them, to pay for their sins, mistakes and rebellions, then he rose from the dead and now lives in heaven where he’s busy doing 2 things; defending us against our accuser and building us a home to live in forever.

Long term or short term solutions? Why not both?

Matthew 9 starts out with the story of Jesus healing a paralyzed man. There is more details about the story in Mark 2 and Luke 5. The mans friends were so determined to get their sick buddy to Jesus that they hauled him up to the roof, made a hole, rigged some ropes, and lowered their buddy down from the ceiling. Kind of like a reverse jewel heist.

“Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. 2 Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”’

(Matthews version is underwhelming in suspense and drama. )

I wonder what his friends thought about going through all the trouble to get their buddy to Jesus, only for Jesus to forgive his sin. But the story continues.

“3 At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!”

4 Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? 5 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 6 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” 7 Then the man got up and went home. 8 When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to man.”

My long term problem is the sin that separates me from God. If it isn’t taken care by the time I die I will go to hell. My short term problems, health, wealth (or lack of), clothing, shelter, they are what I pray about, what I worry about, what consumes my focus and energy but the real problem of sin is much more serious.

As I’m writing this I’m listening to an icy wind howling outside. It’s 19 degrees with a 9 mph wind. According to my weather ap It feels like 8 degrees. It reminds me of the harshness of our world and how real our problems are. Life can seem long but it’s measured in years. Death and what comes after? We can’t measure because you can’t measure something that continues forever. Eternity is eternal.

Is it easier for Jesus to heal me or forgive me? Which is more important? Healing seems very important when I’m sick but Since healing will only last my lifetime how important is it? Forgiving my sin will change my life for now and forever.

I am so grateful that I can go to Jesus and be forgiven and ask for healing. I know I will be forgiven, I don’t know if I’ll be healed. I think I’m still getting what’s important.

But wait, there’s more…

How many times have we heard that line in a TV ad?

The next story in Matthew 8 is about Jesus healing 2 demon possessed men that lived in tombs.

When I read it through I was distracted by the fact that Matthew talks about two men but when Mark and Luke tell the story they only mention one.

I did some extra research and read what the experts had to say. While reading about that, one expert mentioned the fact that while Jesus was in the midst of a successful ministry time, crowds were gathering, he hopped in a boat and went to the very place where two men who were being tormented by a demonic legion. No one could contain theses guys. Not only were they busting ropes, they were breaking chains. If they couldn’t be contained then they also couldn’t be set free. Jesus dropped everything and crossed a lake in a storm to get to These men.

“28 When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes,[c] two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. 29 “What do you want with us, Son of God?” they shouted. “Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?”

30 Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was feeding. 31 The demons begged Jesus, “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.”

32 He said to them, “Go!” So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water. 33 Those tending the pigs ran off, went into the town and reported all this, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. 34 Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they pleaded with him to leave their region.”

Jesus knows us, knows our troubles. He knows where we are and what we are going through and how to set us free and is able to set us free. No matter who or what or how many, Jesus can set us free. These men were not able to be held prisoners by anything but were in fact enslaved by evil. Jesus set them free with a word. He said to the legion, “go!” And they went.

I want add just a little from Luke’s telling of the story.

“34 When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, 35 and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 36 Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured. 37 Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left.

38 The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 “Return home and tell how much God has done for you.” So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.”

Jesus can restore us. He can bring release from enslavement to evil, he can bring sanity back. Jesus sought these guys out. He then set them free when no one else could. They couldn’t be chained or freed.

Today, right now, Jesus is still seeking the lost hurt and damaged. How do I know? I am one. I am damaged on the inside and the outside yet, Jesus loves me.

He loves us. Will we allow Jesus into our lives and let him clean us, clothe us and set us right?

2 Thessalonians 3

The end of another book.

While we are waiting for the return of Jesus here are some things we can do:

1. Pray for the workers who are out there spreading The news that Jesus has come to forgive our sins.

“As for other matters, brothers and sisters, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you. 2 And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil people, for not everyone has faith. 3 But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one. 4 We have confidence in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we command. 5 May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.”

Wim and Jenni Dufoort
Chris Bowman and his wife Vicky
Marc O’Dare Shaw and his wife Kathy
Rory Lewellyn and Debbie Lewellyn
Brandon Bee and Leanne Bee
Blake and Christina Barnes
Just a few that I know. Please join me in praying for them.

I’m not sure what all has to happen before Jesus comes back but when the very last person who will accept the message of salvation has heard about Jesus, I think he will come and get us. We should be praying for these to get those. And let us not forget our own role in sharing Jesus with our world, our neighbors and coworkers and friends, The folks we see everyday.

2. Work. Earn the bread we eat.
   “For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, 8 nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. 9 We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate. 10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.”’
3. Live a life that reflects Jesus. Live morally, with grace and mercy.
   “And as for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good. Take special note of anyone who does not obey our instruction in this letter. Do not associate with them, in order that they may feel ashamed. 15 Yet do not regard them as an enemy, but warn him as you would a brother.”

My shift is almost over. I just want to finish up and go home.

I will end today with what I grew up hearing at the beginning of every sermon,
“Grace and peace to you, from God our father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

(Another memory from 2016)

“The answer is Jesus, now what’s the question?”

Sometimes I can sound like that.

How true is it?

Who am i going to call? When Life is overwhelming and doom is looming. Who do I call? I call a carpenter. I call Jesus. That’s what the disciples did in Matthew 8.

“23 Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. 24 Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”

26 He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.

27 The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”’

One thing that I saw in this story is the humanness of Jesus contrasted with his divinity.

Jesus was exhausted. I don’t want to be glib or irreverent but God was tired. The needs of the people had exhausted Jesus. He understands my human need for rest.

The disciples woke him up. What did they think he was going to do? He wasn’t a sailor. He was a carpenter by trade and a pastor/teacher/healer by practice. They were surprised when he calmed the storm. They wanted help in the storm but from their response it seems they didn’t expect the storm itself to go away.

Jesus shows us his divinity in his authority over the wind and the waves.

Mary and I joke about scary situations and will usually say, “so this is how we die”. Somehow those words can take away the terror. There is in us an innate fear of death. This last hospital stay for Mary I don’t remember saying those words. I was trying to keep Mary from thinking that way. It was another brush with death. We didn’t say “so this is how we die”. Instead we prayed fervently that it wouldn’t be her death.

The answers to life’s questions, why am I here, what is my purpose, what is my value? Those can be answered in Jesus.

I was created, created for a relationship with God, and when that relationship was separated by sin, God made a way for us to be together again through Jesus and his resurrection.

What is death? Why are we so afraid?

The answer is Jesus?

Jesus died and rose again.

“Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.”

Sometimes the questions we are asking boil down to , who cares, who can help, where can I go?

Jesus.

wholovesyou #whatistheanswer

“The answer is Jesus, now what’s the question?”

Sometimes I can sound like that.

How true is it?

Who am i going to call? When Life is overwhelming and doom is looming. Who do I call? I call a carpenter. I call Jesus. That’s what the disciples did in Matthew 8.

“23 Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. 24 Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”

26 He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.

27 The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”’

One thing that I saw in this story is the humanness of Jesus contrasted with his divinity.

Jesus was exhausted. I don’t want to be glib or irreverent but God was tired. The needs of the people had exhausted Jesus. He understands my human need for rest.

The disciples woke him up. What did they think he was going to do? He wasn’t a sailor. He was a carpenter by trade and a pastor/teacher/healer by practice. They were surprised when he calmed the storm. They wanted help in the storm but from their response it seems they didn’t expect the storm itself to go away.

Jesus shows us his divinity in his authority over the wind and the waves.

Mary and I joke about scary situations and will usually say, “so this is how we die”. Somehow those words can take away the terror. There is in us an innate fear of death. This last hospital stay for Mary I don’t remember saying those words. I was trying to keep Mary from thinking that way. It was another brush with death. We didn’t say “so this is how we die”. Instead we prayed fervently that it wouldn’t be her death.

The answers to life’s questions, why am I here, what is my purpose, what is my value? Those can be answered in Jesus.

I was created, created for a relationship with God, and when that relationship was separated by sin, God made a way for us to be together again through Jesus’ and resurrection.

What is death? Why are we so afraid?

The answer is Jesus?

Jesus died and rose again.

“Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.”

Sometimes the questions we are asking boil down to , who cares, who can help, where can I go?

Jesus.

I confess, I have frost in places.

I’ve been thinking about confession and it’s power to cleanse and set us free. While I was taking my walk this morning I think God gave me a picture of how not confessing effects us.

The morning was cold, down into the 20s so everything was covered with a thin white frost. Even the blacktop road I take my walks on had an even sheet of shimmering white crystals. For a while. Then the sun rose and even though the air was still cold, still below freezing, wherever the sun hit the frost began to melt off of the road.

As I walked I noticed an irregular pattern of icy spots still clinging to the road. Upon further inspection I discovered that wherever the road was shaded from the suns light, the frost remained.

I thought about my life and how sometimes I try to hide things in my heart from God. I try to keep the Son’s light from illuminating things that I know are wrong, but I don’t want to deal with, or I have

secret sins that I don’t want to give up.

1Jn 1:5 God is light and in him is no darkness. Exposing ourselves to the God who not just brings light but is Himself light, it is difficult to hide stuff from him.

If I don’t let the light of Jesus shine on my sins, my life will continue to be “frozen” in those areas. If I confess my sins God is faithful and just to forgive my sins and cleanse me from all unrighteousness, (to melt my frozen road).

John also gave us the remedy or the guide for confession. In 1 Jn 1:8-10 he tells us this: “ If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.”

1 John 1:8-10 NIV

From man’s beginnings back in Genesis, we see the pattern of sin. After breaking God’s command and sinning Adam and Eve knew they were naked and hid from God.

Are there still areas in my life that I am hiding from God? Why am I hiding them? If the frozen road is an example of God’s warm influence in my life, then I gain nothing from hiding, and will lose nothing except the frost by confessing and exposing my hidden parts to the warmth of God’s grace, mercy, and forgiveness.

God shine into my life, thaw my frozen hidden parts. Bring your warmth and love into my shade and shadows and melt my sins away. You are light and in you is no shadow or variation due to change.

How about you? Do you have some areas in your life that you are hiding from God’s view? Are you willing today to knock down the barriers and let God’s warm love melt away the frozen frost of sin? Will you confess your need for help and forgiveness today?

It’s your funeral. I have heard that said warning someone of impending danger and doom. Well, it’s your funeral. It really is. We’ll each get one so it’s my funeral too. We are all going to Die!

I’ve been reading a book by Robert
Wolgemuth called “Lies Men Believe: And the Truth that Sets Them Free”

In it he quotes Hebrews 9:27.
“ Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment,”
Heb 9:27 NIV

He focused on the words, …and after that.

We know intellectually that we will die. We will all die. Forgone conclusion and yet we do anything and everything to not think about it.

Dying is bad enough but what if we tack onto that, tack onto that we will face judgement for our lives. That is not a pleasant thought, quick, someone or something please distract me. I don’t want to even think about it. There must be something shiny, or funny to show me. Maybe some Office reruns.

Well heck.

The bad news first. You mean death isn’t the bad news?

The Bible tells that we are all guilty of sin. Most of us feel we aren’t that bad, haven’t robbed a bank or killed anyone so comparatively we are doing okay. Then along comes Jesus. First he tells us that thinking about it is the same as doing it. So those hidden fantasies, like revenge or a lustful escapade. They are the same as if we did the deed. We are all Guilty. Then second Jesus lived a perfect life. Not just a really really good life. A perfect life. He is now the standard. Perfection is the standard that we will be judged against.

Appointed once to die and after that, judgement. I’m not the judge. I know the judge. He happens to be my Father. I will get family privileges, you see my older brother is Jesus. The Jesus. God my father adopted me. He was able to do that because Jesus my brother died to pay for all my sins. It’s okay. He rose from the dead 3 days later. Now he is alive forever.

The really cool part is that Jesus is my brother, and my savior and ALSO he is my lawyer. Yes I will die and face judgement, by my Dad, and my perfect older brother will be defending me. Do you want the same deal? Jesus as my defense attorney and as my older brother. As they used to say on TV call now! Operators are standing by. Jesus will always answer the call.

A very long time ago a man who is gifted in the prophetic gifts gave a bible verse to Mary and me. He gave us more than one but as I was reading through 1 Corinthians 16 I saw it and remembered that day.

The verse is 9 but I will put it in context and add some at the beginning. This is Paul speaking to his congregation at Corinth.

“After I go through Macedonia, I will come to you—for I will be going through Macedonia. 6 Perhaps I will stay with you for a while, or even spend the winter, so that you can help me on my journey, wherever I go. 7 For I do not want to see you now and make only a passing visit; I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits. 8 But I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost, 9 because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me.”

This verse and this event take me back to a time when my belief was new and exciting and scary. God spoke to me then through this man, a prophet. He is speaking now through the Bible and through other believers but it isn’t as specific as that verse was to me that day.

I don’t know how that verse has been fulfilled in my life, at the time, it made me think of mass evangelism but that isn’t what I have done. I raised a family. I worked and lived and Mary and I stayed married. I haven’t started any churches like Paul did. I served in one, the same one for about 32 years.

This verse though makes me think of another verse that explains my life a little better.

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

This verse makes me think that God isn’t a trophy maker, He is a tool maker. When we are saved he changes us into tools that he can then use to enlarge His kingdom.

As a electrician I know that every job requires specific tools to get the job done.

Father God, May I be one of those tools in Your hands today.

I want to live beyond.

It’s a longing of my soul that nothing here can satisfy, no drink can slake my thirst.

Part of the call is a call to adventure. Mary and I took a trip to Italy, that’s how it looked on paper. What we really did was answer a call to an adventure.
I recently read this quote by Chesterton “an adventure by its nature, a thing that comes to us. It is a thing that chooses us, not a thing we choose”. Mary and I have had many late night talks about going back but if we do, it would be a trip we planned, not an adventure. I keep watching and waiting to hear adventure call again. Two years before that we went on the adventure of recording her album. An adventure has at its core, a greater purpose, a bigger story where even if our role is only as an extra, or a gaffer, (whatever that is, I’ve seen it in movie credits) we are part of a bigger story.

I said that I want to live beyond, not the great beyond necessarily, I would gladly go there, but while I’m still in this body on this planet with all of you, I want to live in the beyond. I want to live beyond hopeful, and be confident. (Right now if my wife is reading this she’s probably thinking “I’d settle for hopeful”, I tend to be doubtful). I think this is new thing.

I want to live beyond thankful and I’m not sure what that is, possibly generous? Generously.

I want to live beyond forgiven. What is that? Forgive-ing? There are more of these than i can think of now, living beyond, and I’m hoping that I live the rest of my days in the beyond.

It starts with feeling like this about God.

“Come and see what God has done, his awesome deeds for mankind! Praise our God, all peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard; he has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping.”
Psalm 66:5,8-9

Starting at grateful but living beyond it, worshipful? My acts of worship sometimes focus on the warm fuzzies I get when I touch the heart of God, those are so beautiful, I always cry…then the snot. Being so grateful that worship becomes my normal. But actually focusing on blessing God with my worship, without the hoping and planning for what it does for me.

Anyway, If were going to say how I want this next year to be different, that would be to start living in the beyond, and maybe my adventure will never take me outside the boundaries of my life now, but it will be moving into something new. I can feel spring breezes of change faintly blowing in my soul already, scented with petunias and pines and ocean sprays and I can faintly hear the babble of babies and rivers and i hear the unfamiliar languages of the angels.

Beyond is calling, no, Jesus is calling, he is calling me to begin to live beyond…

It’s the same tree that we’ve had, but it always makes me sad to take it down. Tonight is its last night. I tell you there are fairies and elves and angels living in this magical thing. It makes smile even if I am sad, I still get and give presents even if I’ve been bad. Jesus, his sacrifice, He himself being the gift. God kind of magic. I didn’t say good magic. God magic. Where He trades beauty for ashes and the oil of joy for mourning. Where bad guys get changed into good men. Where black sin is washed away by red blood and it becomes white as snow. All of that is woven into this magical tree. Tonight, I am praying that the magic is distilled and sprinkled on us as we sleep so January second becomes the start of Christmas magic being dispersed and dispensed through Mary and I for the rest of the year. On mission. Loving broken and fallen people through the God magic of Christmas. ❤️🎄

Truth be told this from a memory 4 years ago but the message is the same this year.

It is New Year’s Eve. 2022 is almost in the books. Some of this year has been very good. Some of it not so much. We did some amazing things. But some of my bad habits followed me. I tend to focus on my failures because I want to not repeat them. I opened my bible ap and this is what I read:

“This is what the LORD says— he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”

I believe in and worship and follow and am lead by an invisible God. I believe he created and sustains everything that exists. The earth will revolve on its axis and the sun will appear on the eastern horizon because a God who can create everything from nothing has said it should be so. God has revealed himself in a couple of ways, through his word, the Bible and through his son, Jesus. This Jesus lived a perfect life, and yet was brutally killed. We sing about his death. I was struck with how odd that must sound to people who don’t know the story. Why do we sing about his death? We believe that his death paid for our sins and we believe that death could not hold this Jesus, that he physically rose from the dead three days later. We believe that since death cannot hold Jesus, that it also has no power over those who believe in him.

This is the eve of a an old year being changed into a new year. Will you give some serious thought tonight about asking God to make changes in your life? I am. I am asking God to help me in how I spend my time and how I spend my money. I have already given him my heart and life and he has forgiven me all of my sin and welcomed me into his family. He will do the same to anyone who will confess with their mouth that he is their Lord, and believe in their heart that he rose from the dead.

Will you let God do a new thing in your life in 2023?

#sharethismessage, #hope, #newyearnewlife

I’ve had this nagging problem that I’ve hinted at but I am prompted to share it and add what God is doing to help me.

The problem is that I don’t feel like God really loves me. I believe that I am saved by Jesus, but it feels like it was like a person at a yard sale who buys a box of junk because he sees in it some treasures. He has to buy the entire box just to get the treasures. I feel like the junk in the box that gets bought because God has to take all of us.

I was thinking about this yesterday and wondering if I should post about it, I was driving in Wenatchee at the time and just then a large truck drove past me, with large letters that read, “the junk man”. It said something about taking all your stuff or something to that effect.

As I Started to write this down I felt if God asked me what it I wanted? My brain didn’t have an answer but My heart yelled out, “I want to be your favorite!”

My brain was embarrassed by my hearts outburst. I expected a rebuke from God or at least an explanation by God of how he can’t have any favorites. Instead I felt like God Said “oh Peter, don’t you know, you are my favorite! My favorite Peter Loeffelbein” and then in my mind I saw a picture of God at the garage sale searching through the box, looking for me, I was the treasure he was seeking.

Tears and snot came next.

This is how God feels about me.

It also how God feels about you. We are each one of us, his favorite, His treasure.

My hope is that you read this and feel in your heart, God’s great love for you. I hope it brings hope and joy to you, that it breaks the crust off your heart like it did mine. God loves us all. Truth. But God loves me. You can say that too. God loves me, he sent his son to seek me. Seek you.

Now you say it.

God loves me. It’s true.

Who does Jesus call on? Who is Jesus seeking out? He is looking for those who need help and know they need help.

“ Then Jesus went out to the lakeshore again and taught the crowds that were coming to him. As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Levi got up and followed him. Later, Levi invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. (There were many people of this kind among Jesus’ followers.) But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with such scum?” When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”
Mark.2:13-15,NLT

I am one of those. I am one who was lost and wounded and broken. Jesus sought me out, he found me, is healing my wounds and fixing my broken parts. Do you need that kind of friend today? Will you answer Jesus’ gentle call? He is seeking out those who are trapped in the rubble of our collapsed and broken world. He loves you and longs to offer you help and healing. I know. I am one of those he sought and found.

I was at church this morning helping the worship team set up. We sat down to pray and I was suddenly remembering a Barney Miller episode. It was the one where the sweet older lady was arrested for writing bad checks. She was in the early stages of dementia. She was confused about why she had been arrested. One of the officers patiently explained to her that she owed several thousands of dollars to various people and businesses. She acted as though she understood and said “well let’s take care of that right now, I’ll just write you a check….”

That is where we all are morally. We are bankrupt but keep writing checks, asking for something or someone to cover us. We think that doing good deeds fills our checking account but according to the Bible, in God’s eyes our good deeds are like, this is kind of gross, like used menstral clothes, used sanitary devices. Our good deeds are worthless to God yet we hope to fill up our moral checking account with them, to balance the bad we do with some good deeds. It doesn’t work. It’s like writing a check on an overdrawn account to cover the overdrafts.

There is good news in all this. God himself has said that he can and will and has completely covered our debt. He did this in Jesus, in his death and resurrection. That is why his coming to earth is so important. It continues God’s plan forward.

The apostle Paul said this in his letter to the Christians in Rome, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Romans 5:6-11

He says this later in the same letter, “But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”
Romans 10:8-11

This Christmas God is waiting and wanting all of us to receive his gift, the best gift ever, forgiveness of sins, welcome into family and eternal life with him in a place where there are no tears or pain, only love and joy.

Hebrews 12

Focus on Jesus and run the race naked.

Maybe that would be better stated, run unencumbered. I understand that the original Olympians ran without clothes so as to be free as possible. I think that’s the idea.

“12 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, 2 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. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

Getting to be with Jesus, becoming more like him. I don’t want to lose sight of Jesus. Especially in this Christmas season. Life doesn’t stop during Christmas. So we have life plus-and all the extra stuff that Christmas brings. Somewhere in all the tree trimming, lights, packages, people, sugar cookies and gingerbread there is a baby. Our God became flesh, he is with us and will live among us. He came for a purpose. He came to be a sacrifice, to die to pay for all of our sin.

I want to run the endurance race of my faith as if nothing will stop me or slow me down. I want to focus at this time of year on a baby, a baby born to save me, save us. He is man, he is God, he is our savior and he is our king.

There is a great group of people who have already finished their race. They stand to give us encouragement.

In everything I do this Christmas I am going to try and find the baby. Find Jesus in what I do. He is in there.

This is one of my favorite hymns. It’s not officially a Christmas hymn, it is written for the season just before Christmas called advent. It is the season that anticipates what God will do.

My favorite line in the song is this: “rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel has ransomed captive Israel”.

The Emanuel means God with us. God, the holy one, the one who is not created but is everlasting and eternal, the being who created everything, every thing that exists, the God who is all powerful, all knowing, always and everywhere present, that God, came down here to earth and has experienced life as one of us humans, not as a king or a superhero, but he came as we do, as a baby, born to peasants, poor peasants. He came with a purpose, that purpose was and is to ransom us, to buy us back, to pay the price for our slavery. One slavery is obvious and part of everyone’s life, that slavery is found in part, just a few blocks from my house, that lovely green lawn with all of the beautiful stone markers. We will All end up there, a cemetery, we are all slaves to death. The second slavery isn’t as obvious, sin. To define sin is to say anything less than perfect behavior. It is missing the bullseye. Some can do it some areas some of the time. But we need to do it in all areas, all of the time, for our entire life. Impossible. But that is what separates us from God, our imperfections. My company makes high purity chemicals. They need to be very pure, parts per billion pure. If there is 1 bad piece and 999,999,999 good pieces, it isn’t perfect. Spiritual perfection is even more demanding, Add nines out to infinity, all of those nines, perfect nines, waiting for that last one so they can all be turned to zeros but the last one is bad as all of those nines disappear because of the one bad one. Imperfect. Most of us aren’t that good, none of us are, but God is. Jesus lived that life, nines to infinity and then he added the last perfect one, he died in our place. He won our victory over imperfection and he gives us that freedom, freedom from death, freedom from imperfection.

This Christmas Jesus can ransom us, because he is Emanuel, the God who is with us.

“O come, O come, Emmanuel

And ransom captive Israel

That mourns in lonely exile here

Until the Son of God appear

Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel

Shall come to thee, O Israel

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free

Thine own from Satan’s tyranny

From depths of Hell Thy people save

And give them victory o’er the grave

Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel

Shall come to thee, o Israel

O come, Thou Day-Spring

Come and cheer

Our spirits by Thine advent here

Disperse the gloomy clouds of night

And death’s dark shadows put to flight

Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel

Shall come to thee, o Israel

O come, Thou Key of David, come

And open wide our heavenly home

Make safe the way that leads on high

And close the path to misery

Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel

Shall come to thee, o Israel

O come, O come, Thou Lord of might

Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai’s height

In ancient times did’st give the Law

In cloud, and majesty and awe

Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel

Shall come to thee, o Israel

My personal restoration process.

I work at a chemical plant. My job is in process controls. I create the computer graphics and logic so that an operator can click a button on a screen and a valve will open somewhere in the plant. I always hope it’s the correct valve.

Occasionally There are conditions that I have to insert in the logic. Like don’t open valve X if tank Y is above level Z. It’s called interlock logic.

I have talked and talked about Gods unconditional love for us. He has shown us how much he loves us by giving up his only son Jesus. Jesus died to pay for our sin. He rose again to show that he has defeated death and to give us hope of eternal life.

God has given us his Unconditional love, but there is one small tiny catch. Gods love for us is unconditional as long as it is flowing. His love must flow into us to wash us and forgive us, and flow out of us, for us to forgive others. As soon as his love begins to pool in us, as soon as we stop forgiving others, it stops flowing to us. There is an interlock on God’s forgiveness.

We see Jesus teach this principle at the end of the Lord’s prayer.

“This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

10 your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

11 Give us today our daily bread.

12 And forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

13 And lead us not into temptation,[a]

but deliver us from the evil one.[b]’

14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

Jesus shared a story to illustrate this point. It’s found in Matthew 18

“Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.[g]

23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold[h] was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.[i] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.

29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’

30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.

32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

I think Gods #1 priority is restoration. Our restoration. In my world it’s my restoration. The fuel of Gods restoration process is forgiveness. When a project runs out of fuel it stops. When forgiveness stops flowing in my life my restoration stops. I cannot have enemies. Not from my point of view anyway. Others can hate me but I cannot hate them back. It goes deeper than that. I cannot hold unmet expectations over someone’s head. I must forgive them, let go of the expectations and love them at ground zero, that place at the foot of the cross where I get my forgiveness. It’s level there. No steps to climb. No podiums to stand on. No hoops to jump through. No bars to leap over or to break through. Free access to Jesus and his forgiveness. As long as I give it away in the same way I receive it.

Father God thank you for beginning my restoration. Thank you for giving your son to die in my place. Forgive me when I fail to forgive others. Help me to keep the flow of your love and forgiveness moving in my life by giving it away in the same manner in which it was given, freely and lavishly.

It must’ve been hard to do.

Make the change from being a follower of Jesus to a teller about Jesus. From having him there with them to having him pop in and out of life unexpectedly.

This next bit is a paraphrase told from the perspective of the once disciple, now apostle, Peter.

I remember that day…

What to do? Let’s go fishing. Fishing is what we do, Simon and Thomas and Nathaniel, James and John. Fishermen. It’s what we do, it’s what we know, it’s how we provide for our families. Fished all night and got nothing. Some guy on the beach shouting instructions on how to catch fish…we’ll try it.

Whoa! Wow! So many fish, almost too many fish. One fish, two fish red fish, 152 fish. (Plus one).

This all seems so familiar, I’ve had this happen before. It was Jesus on the shore.

A quick swim, some breakfast, fish hauling ashore and then the “chat”.

For 3 years we’ve hung out with Jesus. On meeting me he said he would change my name. Now, after the denial, ( three denials, if you’re counting) and the resurrection we are back to Simon son of John. Not Peter. Simon.

Then the questions, do I love him more than these? Do I️ love Jesus more than my fishing buddies do? At one time in the not so distant past I️ claimed that I️ did.

Then the questions come. Jesus could’ve used 4 different words for the word love in his questions. He went straight to the highest, the strongest, the purest, do I Simon, love, agape love, Jesus?

It may be my failures and denials but all I can muster is “you know I love you like a brother, I️ phileo you Jesus”.

He gives me a job. “Feed my lambs”.

Then he asks me again, do I Simon, agape him, Jesus?

“Jesus, I love you, like a brother” is my answer.

“Take care of my sheep”.

He asks again, a third time. I didn’t get why he asked me twice but it becomes clear as he asks the third time, my mind went back to that horrible early morning, my third denial, “I tell you I do not know the man”….and then began swearing like a fisherman.

The third and last question Jesus asks, “Simon, son of John, do you love me….like a brother?”

I’m hurt and frustrated, so my answer is terse, “ you know all things, you know I love you like a brother..”
Again, “Feed my sheep…”

And then I get the prophecy about my death.

“18 Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.”
John 21:18

There are 2 things that encourage me here. “When you are old,” it isn’t eminent, and “old” I will continue to follow Jesus for the rest of my life.

This is one of the memories I think about as I write to those followers of Jesus who will continue after I’m dead. They will continue to tell others about our Jesus.

Add to your faith…brotherly love, and add to that, Agape love, God kind of love, selfless, others first, die in your place, kind of love. Add that to your faith in Jesus. Then you will be able to be fruitful and productive in your faith.

Jesus welcomed me back, I fell, I fell further and harder but his love covered my failures. His love will always do that. It will always cover over our sin.