The Pastoral Grind

(Originally written for Douglas County Publishing: Pastor's Meditation September 19, 2017) Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?" Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.  Then come, follow me.”  When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.  Then Jesus said to his disciples, ”I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.  Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”  When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”  Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:16,21-26) I wrote on this passage a couple years ago, but it’s worth coming back to again.  Recently I h

(Photo cred: Ron Frazler "Cornfield" ) (Originally written for Douglas County Publishing: Pastor's Meditation July 11, 2017) Season after season, year after year, we find ourselves turning to God, and offering prayers of thanks, petition, even pleading in regard to the weather.  In times like right now when we’ll take as much moisture as we can get here in southern South Dakota and I’ve heard about the even drier conditions to our north, we ask God regularly to send rain.  That’s the refrain in prayers around dinner tables, coffee groups, Sunday services, and the fields and roads as farmers and people living near farms are reminded again of our dependence upon God. We know it’s not really “Mother Nature” that dictates what happens, though we might sometimes use that language.  It’s not random chance that a pressure system goes through one area and storms follow.  It’s not the weather people with all their computers and technology putting out radars and predicti

(Photo cred: Grant Lubbers) (Originally written for Douglas County Publishing: Pastor's Meditation April 25, 2017) A little over a week ago, The Daily Republic published an article about declines in church attendance across America.  According to the article, this decline is evident here in South Dakota.  A Pew Research Center poll regarding South Dakotans and church attendance recently found that 36% attend services at least weekly, 37% go to worship services once or twice a month, and 27% rarely, if ever, attend.  If we polled people around our region, I think those numbers might be accurate.  If you went to area pastors and asked us if we’ve had conversations about attendance either with leaders or members, I know many would affirm that we have.  Maybe not all, but most of our churches have seen drops in attendance in recent history.  Part of the reason is people have moved out of the area for higher education or have found work or started families elsewhere.  As the

(Photo cred: Hamed Saber "Tehran Traffic Jam" ) (Originally written for Douglas County Publishing: Pastor's Meditation April 4, 2017) “Let’s go!  Let’s go!  Let’s go!” shouted my not-even-2-years-old daughter from the backseat as we were driving around Holland, Michigan at the start of our vacation last week.  As I heard those words, a smirk came to my face, but I was slightly disappointed.  My disappointment was not towards her, but myself.  She didn’t come up with those commands for the drivers around us that can’t hear her on her own.  No, they came from me.  She had heard me say those words among others throughout our trip when drivers “got in my way” or were moving “too slow.”  I can tell you my excuses.  I grew in the south suburbs of Chicago, which has its own city driving style.  From the time I got my license, I have felt comfortable to swoop across four lanes of interstate traffic without slowing down or taking one lane at a time.  The speed limit

(Photo cred: Blogtrepreneur "Legal Gavel" ) (Originally written for Douglas County Publishing: Pastor's Meditation November 1, 2016) If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.  Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.  How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?  For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.”  It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.  (Hebrews 10:26-31) A couple of weeks ago, I was called to the courthouse for jury duty.  Sitting there with

(Photo cred: Lisa L "prayer" ) (Originally written for Douglas County Publishing: Pastor's Meditation August 2, 2016) Is any one of you in trouble?  He should pray.  Is anyone happy?  Let him sing songs of praise.  Is any one of you sick?  He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.  And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up.  If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.  Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.  The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective (James 5:13-16). Growing up, Garth Brooks was one of my favorite singers.  I can remember watching his concerts that were televised, and singing along to his songs when they came on the radio.  “Unanswered Prayers” was one of those.  The song tells the story of Brooks and his wife going to a hometown football game, and running into his “ol

(Photo cred: Z S "sorrow" ) (Originally written for Douglas County Publishing: Pastor's Meditation May 10, 2016) When we think about organizations or teams of people, there are different images that come to mind to describe when they work together as they should.  A well-oiled machine.  A labor force as running like clockwork.  Those images capture the efficiency on display, and the lack of problems or hang-ups as people carry out their tasks.  The church, believers who put their hope in Jesus Christ and who look to him for their salvation, are also an organized group.  We are a people together.  Throughout Scripture, the church is referenced collectively as the bride, the flock of sheep under the Shepherd’s care, and the good seed that has been sown.  We are also each called a part of the one body.  One of the places we find this is 1 Corinthians 12.  From chapters 11 through 14, Paul writes at length about worship practices, about those who hold certain g

(Photo cred: Chris Yarzab "Christian Evangelism" ) (Originally written for Douglas County Publishing: Pastor's Meditation February 16, 2016) “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.  At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.  Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.  And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.  (Matthew 24:9-14) Throughout my life, I have had wonderful opportunities to see what God is doing in various parts of our country, as well as in Mexico and Canada.  I have heard the Word of God being taught to and preached by people who speak English as well as Spanish and in dialects still spoken by tribes who l

(Photo cred: WaIting for the Word "Shepherds 25" ) (Originally written for Douglas County Publishing: Pastor's Meditation December 15, 2015) In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world...And everyone went to his own town to register.  So Joseph also went up…to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.  He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.  While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son.  She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.   (Luke 2:1-7) This past year has been my first opportunity to lead worship and preach God’s Word year-round.  In doing this, I have experienced the changes that different seasons bring.  Obviously there are changes to the weather, but seasons also have an effec