Fan? Or Follower?

Last week at work, a driver came in wearing (gasp) a Milwaukee Brewers hat. I gasp because I am a Cardinals fan. I proceeded to ask him if he liked the Brewers. He said that yes he did. I started telling him how the Brewers did us a big favor the day before by beating the Cubs. How much that really helped us out. He looked at me quizzically and stated "oh, I'm just a fan. I don't really follow them." Right then and there God did what He always does. He used that conversation to point something out to me. That there is a difference between being a fan of something or someone or being a follower of something or someone. I started to think, not only am I a fan of the Cardinals, but I am also a follower. I know the roster names and positions, batting order, how many games ahead or behind. The scenario for each game and series. I am invested in the team. If I can't watch them on tv, then I track them on my phone. There are only a few people that I know of that I can talk sports with and are fellow followers. We can talk stats, players and what not. But most of the people I come in contact with, are just fans. Casual observers, very little interest. So that's what God was showing me that day. He wants us to be His followers. Not to just know about Jesus, but to know Him, personally! Jesus wants us to be in the game, engaged and participating, not just sitting on the sidelines cheering. We are to take up our cross and follow Him. To many people are comfortable with just knowing about Jesus. They have heard of Him and all the good things that He has done, and think "wow, that's a good story." They do little to grow closer to Him. To know Him personally. To accept Him as their personal Savior. They go to church on Sunday just for the fire insurance. Then come Monday morning they are right back to doing what they always do. I want to be known as a Christ follower. A heart and life that have been changed because of Jesus' grace and forgiveness. So my question to you is this. Are you a FAN? Or a FOLLOWER? There is a great book out that is titled Not A Fan. I suggest that you get it and read it. It is amazing! God Bless!

Over Size Load.

For the last couple of weeks, I have heard sermons about John the Baptist. Preaching from Matthew 3 about how he was preparing the way for Jesus. So when I hear a message more than once, to me it's confirmation. God is trying to tell me something. Along with this God always gives me an object lesson. Something to physically look at instead of just listening. This time was not any different. We were driving home from my in-laws this past weekend in Eastern Iowa, when God showed me what he was talking about with John the Baptist. We were driving on Route 20, about 30 miles outside of Dubuque, when I saw it. A lead car. You know what I am talking about. The ones with the flashing lights and signs warning of an over sized load following. I didn't recognize it at first, but then I saw the huge truck carrying a huge cement cylinder. Then it hit me. That first vehicle was like the John the Baptist. He was preparing the way for the bigger over sized load behind him. The lead car was like John, and the big semi carrying the cement thing was Jesus. And there it was. God's object lesson for me of what He had been telling me the last couple of weeks. What I got out of all of this was, I (we) need to open our mouths and tell someone about Jesus. People will not know about Him, if we don't talk about Him! We need to be the voice in this modern day wilderness shouting, make way for the LORD. I pray that I am up to the task.

Light In The Closet.

My wife is still asleep when I get ready for work in the mornings. So as not to wake her, I don't turn on the overhead light, but I pull the string for the light in the closet. That light is not very bright, but it's enough to get dressed by and get my boots on. Every morning it's the same thing. Well today I realized something that I had been doing all along. I found myself standing a little over an arms length away and stretching and reaching for the pull string. Most of the time I had to do this multiple times because I just couldn't reach. Then I would get mad and say things like "really", or "seriously". Well this morning I discovered something. If I just took a couple of steps more into the closet, I could reach the pull string without much effort and get a good handle on it and it would come on with the first try. "Genius" I thought!! So this got me thinking about people trying to reach God. Far too many people including some Christians stand at an arms length away and strain to reach God. They are content with this distance from Him. They feel that if they can reach just the hem of His robe, they are okay. If I can move a couple of more steps closer to get a good firm grip on a pull string for the light in my closet, couldn't I do the same for Jesus, the light of the world? Step closer to Him and get a firm grip of His right hand. Then one that He will never let go of. I know I want to press in and get closer to Him. I am not content or satisfied with just being around Him, I want to be close to Him. I want to sit at His feet, pressing in against Him, feel His loving arms wrapped around me, reassuring me, keeping me safe. Who knew that this would all start from pulling a string to turn on a light in a closet!

Where Was God?

This is a question that I get asked quite frequently. Weekly and sometimes daily. Where was God when: 9/11 happened? Where was He during the holocaust? How about all of the school shootings? How come God always seemed to be absent during these situations? These are the questions that I am asked. Even as a pastor, I don't have all the answers, but I can turn to God's word to find them. I like the verses in Isaiah 65: 1-3. Isaiah 65 New Living Translation (NLT) Judgment and Final Salvation 65 The Lord says, “I was ready to respond, but no one asked for help. I was ready to be found, but no one was looking for me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am!’ to a nation that did not call on my name.[a] 2 All day long I opened my arms to a rebellious people.[b] But they follow their own evil paths and their own crooked schemes. 3 All day long they insult me to my face by worshiping idols in their sacred gardens. They burn incense on pagan altars. We as a nation can not take Him for granted. It says right there in His word that He was ready to respond but nobody asked. We don't call on Him anymore. We have an attitude that we can do it on our own. Wrong answer! We are a rebellious, evil nation.We are headed for self destruction. We insult God to His face, and then wonder why He doesn't protect us when tragedy strikes. We took God out of our schools and look what is happening.We are trying to remove him from everything. From placing your hand on the Bible in court, to trying to take His name off of our money. We are even trying to remove His name from Christmas and start saying "happy holiday's". He is there for us. All of us. He loves us. All we have to do is seek Him.He is standing there with His arms open saying "here I am, come to me." I don't know about you, but I can't do this thing called life on my own. I need and depend on JESUS. He is my rock, my stength and comfort. He is my healer and my deliverer. All praise and glory to God!

Church Clothes.

I had a conversation with a friend of mine on Saturday. She was telling me that she wanted to go to church on Sunday, but didn't have any "church clothes." I was like "what do you mean?" She said something about having to dress up to go to church. I told her that what she was wearing at that moment would be alright. She didn't believe me at first, but I told her that I myself wear jeans to church. She said ok and that she would see me in the morning. That got me to thinking. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that you have to dress up or clean up to come to Jesus. He wants us to come as we are. Matthew 11:28New Living Translation (NLT) 28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest." It doesn't say go home and put on a suit or a dress. It doesn't say go home and shower first, put on some deodorant and then come to me. Jesus says just "come!" I preached a sermon on fathers day this past year and I wore jeans and a nice button down shirt. I had several family members in attendance and they questioned my attire. I told them that this is how we roll here at this church. I asked afterword if it would have made a difference in the message if I were to be dressed up. They said no, but it might not have been as believable. I have had family members get kicked out of church for the clothes that they were wearing. Weren't dressed in their Sunday best. I could not believe it. The church was willing to turn someone away because of what kind of clothes they were wearing. How is that being a Christian? We are not supposed to judge others. That is God's job. It says in James, James 4:12New Living Translation (NLT) 12 God alone, who gave the law, is the Judge. He alone has the power to save or to destroy. So what right do you have to judge your neighbor? We are supposed to accept everyone, no matter how they are dressed. Remember God shows no favoritism. All are His children no matter what they are wearing. So don't let the lack of "church clothes" keep you from going to church. God will accept you no matter what. Praise The LORD!!

Teary Eyed Work Day!

If you know me well, you know that I am an sensative person. I can cry at the drop of a hat. It all started when my Grandmother passed away. In 1989. Ever since then, any kind of personal event, I cry, weep, sob, waterworks, whatever you want to call it. Weddings, birthdays, funerals, songs on the radio, Hallmark commercials, doesn't matter. Any kind of life change event happy or sad. So occasionally at work I can get teary eyed thinking about things that have happened in the past. Could be a really long time ago, or just a few months. So today was one of those days for me. I found out that a co-workers sister had passed away that morning. That started the ball rolling on my emotions. I started to think about my Grandparents on my Moms side who both passed in 1989. Then from there I went to my Dad who passed in 2011. The final straw was thinking about my dear friend, Pastor Mike who passed a little over three months ago.I was by myself in our cooler at work, pulling orders to load onto a truck. Tears started to flow. I am like "get it together man." Being at work wasn't cool to be crying. Couldn't let anyone see me like this. That is what I was thinking. I started thinking about who had passed and what they meant to me, and what I missed about them. I miss seeing my Grandparents and visiting with them. I miss talking with my Dad about Cardinals baseball and watching old western movies together. I miss my conversations with Pastor Mike. I miss talking sports with him. I miss asking him questions about the Bible and ministry in general. I miss his advice to me and the wisdom he poured into me. I miss hearing his stories. I just plain miss him! I know that I will get to see them all again when I get to heaven, but that doesn't make it any easier now. I loved all of these people immensely. I love Jesus even more, and He comforts and consoles me in these times. I am most thankful!

Fresh Snow Cover

On Saturday, before the big snow storm hit, I was looking out our kitchen window at the snow that was still on the ground. I noticed how dirty and dingy it looked. Instead of just being white, it had a gray and white look to it. Just filthy looking. As the night wore on and it started to snow, the dirty dingy snow was being covered up by a blanket of new snow. It reminded me of Jesus' covering of our sins. Our sin stained lives are dirty,dingy and filthy. Until Jesus came and covered them with His blood and made our sins as white as snow! Like it says in Isaiah; Isaiah 1:18 New Living Translation (NLT) 18 “Come now, let’s settle this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool. The more the snow fell, the more that I thought about our sins being buried forever because of Jesus. Although the snow will eventually melt away, His blood will never wash away. It will cover us forever! Praise The LORD!