Holden and his beautiful mom.
With a happy grandma!
Monday, May 13, 2013
Saturday, August 11, 2012
What to do when you have had it!
The Old Testament prophet Elijah had just had a huge victory over his enemies, the priests of Baal. They lost and he won, so he had them killed.
The queen of the land Jezebel was away when all this happened and she comes back and is really mad at Elijah because she felt she had lost her connection to god, and by losing her connection to god, she also felt she had lost here power. So she swore that she would kill Elijah. So he runs for his life and hides in a cave. (PLU's football coach, Frosty Westering, often said it was a short distance from the penthouse to the outhouse! I guest Elijah just found out how short it is.)
Elijah is in despair. He has had it and he is scared.
But God never leaves us alone. It may feel that way, but God is always close at hand. The same was true for Elijah.
An angel comes to Elijah, taps him on the shoulder, and gives him some food and says, "Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too hard for you." He eats the food of God.
The angel comes another time and does the same thing.
Now the miracle! He went out on the strength of that food for 40 days and 40 nights!!!!
Are you feeling like Elijah? The world is after you and crushing down on you? Your enemies seem large and intimidating? The world's food will not be enough for you to make it through. You have lost your strength.
There is a food that will give you the strength you need. It is a food that never stops. It is abundant and plentiful. It is the bread of heaven, Jesus. Cry out to Jesus! Ask for his help. Look for strength from God. Look for Gods angels to come to you in ways you do not recognize. Find this abundant bread at a worship service in Jesus' church. Look to the true bread that gives you strength forever.
The queen of the land Jezebel was away when all this happened and she comes back and is really mad at Elijah because she felt she had lost her connection to god, and by losing her connection to god, she also felt she had lost here power. So she swore that she would kill Elijah. So he runs for his life and hides in a cave. (PLU's football coach, Frosty Westering, often said it was a short distance from the penthouse to the outhouse! I guest Elijah just found out how short it is.)
Elijah is in despair. He has had it and he is scared.
But God never leaves us alone. It may feel that way, but God is always close at hand. The same was true for Elijah.
An angel comes to Elijah, taps him on the shoulder, and gives him some food and says, "Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too hard for you." He eats the food of God.
The angel comes another time and does the same thing.
Now the miracle! He went out on the strength of that food for 40 days and 40 nights!!!!
Are you feeling like Elijah? The world is after you and crushing down on you? Your enemies seem large and intimidating? The world's food will not be enough for you to make it through. You have lost your strength.
There is a food that will give you the strength you need. It is a food that never stops. It is abundant and plentiful. It is the bread of heaven, Jesus. Cry out to Jesus! Ask for his help. Look for strength from God. Look for Gods angels to come to you in ways you do not recognize. Find this abundant bread at a worship service in Jesus' church. Look to the true bread that gives you strength forever.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
I AM
When Jesus is coming to the disciples walking on the water in John 6:20, the disciples think it is a ghost. He says to them, "It is I, do not be afraid."
Actually, in the Greek, it is translated, "I AM, do not be afraid".
You may remember that Moses was once asking God for God's name. God responds with, "I AM".
Moses was trying to know God's name to gains God's power for the difficult job he was given by God. It was felt that if you knew the name of someone you also had their power. God gets around Moses' question by simply saying "I AM!"
Now Jesus, over and over in the book of John, calls himself, "I AM". "I am, do not be afraid".
Jesus is God! He affirms this by suffering on the cross. God affirms Jesus as the great I AM by raising him from the dead.
Jesus can be trusted to keep his promises because he loves you and because he is God.
Actually, in the Greek, it is translated, "I AM, do not be afraid".
You may remember that Moses was once asking God for God's name. God responds with, "I AM".
Moses was trying to know God's name to gains God's power for the difficult job he was given by God. It was felt that if you knew the name of someone you also had their power. God gets around Moses' question by simply saying "I AM!"
Now Jesus, over and over in the book of John, calls himself, "I AM". "I am, do not be afraid".
Jesus is God! He affirms this by suffering on the cross. God affirms Jesus as the great I AM by raising him from the dead.
Jesus can be trusted to keep his promises because he loves you and because he is God.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Scarcity and Abundance
In the 6th chapter of Mark Jesus is preaching and has a crowd of 5000 men. Other gospels say, "plus women and children. That is a lot of people. And, it creates a problem.
They are all far from home and there are no places to get food. The scarcity is making the disciples nervous. They bring the problem to Jesus and he asks what they can come up with? They ask around and come up with 5 loaves and 2 fish. Not much for all these people!
Do you ever feel that way? Like there is not enough to go around. Not enough resources, not enough time, not enough skills, not enough of you? Is there scarcity in your life?
If you are like me, there is a lot of scarcity in your life.
In the rest of the story, Jesus takes what they have, blesses it and breaks it and tells the disciples to start handing it out. That had to be nerve racking for the disciples!
When everyone had eaten, there was 12 full baskets of leftovers!
We always make it about us don't we? And, as long as we do, there will never be enough. But, when we make it about Jesus, then there is abundance. Because God is all about abundance!
The secret to all spirituality is to let go. Or, what usually happens is God breaks us, just like the bread. We are forced to let go. We learn to depend on him, (faith) and God provides the abundance in our lives.
They are all far from home and there are no places to get food. The scarcity is making the disciples nervous. They bring the problem to Jesus and he asks what they can come up with? They ask around and come up with 5 loaves and 2 fish. Not much for all these people!
Do you ever feel that way? Like there is not enough to go around. Not enough resources, not enough time, not enough skills, not enough of you? Is there scarcity in your life?
If you are like me, there is a lot of scarcity in your life.
In the rest of the story, Jesus takes what they have, blesses it and breaks it and tells the disciples to start handing it out. That had to be nerve racking for the disciples!
When everyone had eaten, there was 12 full baskets of leftovers!
We always make it about us don't we? And, as long as we do, there will never be enough. But, when we make it about Jesus, then there is abundance. Because God is all about abundance!
The secret to all spirituality is to let go. Or, what usually happens is God breaks us, just like the bread. We are forced to let go. We learn to depend on him, (faith) and God provides the abundance in our lives.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Vatican Gardens and Palatine Hill
Behind the Vatican are the Pope's special gardens. Most of the Pope's walk and meditate here every day. This pope walks and prays here in the afternoon. That is why our tour was in the morning. Here are some pictures:
The Pope's helicopter pad. I wondered hoe he got out of here.
We also went to Palatine Hill. This is where all of the palaces of the Emperors were. It is also where the English word "palace" comes from.
Here is a private courtyard of Nero and Karen. You see the walls in the background. The who area has these walls. They are from former Cesar's palaces.
This is Nero. He was the nasty guy who persecuted Christians. He burned down part of Rome so he could rebuild it in his own image and then blamed Christians.
This is the court of justice where Emperors would sit and listen to cases and then make a judgement.
This is where the Cesar's chair would sit.
No chair, but here Cesar stands holding his scepter ready to make judgements. Tomorrow we get on a jet and head for home.
Blessings to all,
Dave and Karen
The Pope's helicopter pad. I wondered hoe he got out of here.
We also went to Palatine Hill. This is where all of the palaces of the Emperors were. It is also where the English word "palace" comes from.
Here is a private courtyard of Nero and Karen. You see the walls in the background. The who area has these walls. They are from former Cesar's palaces.
This is Nero. He was the nasty guy who persecuted Christians. He burned down part of Rome so he could rebuild it in his own image and then blamed Christians.
This is the court of justice where Emperors would sit and listen to cases and then make a judgement.
This is where the Cesar's chair would sit.
No chair, but here Cesar stands holding his scepter ready to make judgements. Tomorrow we get on a jet and head for home.
Blessings to all,
Dave and Karen
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Worship
Well first I want to say happy Mothers day to my wonderful mom. Thanks for having me and for all the sacrifices you made for me and my brothers throughout your whole life. I love you mom!
Some of you know that every year I get the pleasure of walking through flower gardens on mothers day. You might be thinking that I will not have that pleasure this year. But Karen has found a way even here in Rome. Tomorrow we are signed up to walk through the Vatican gardens. That is right, the Pope's garden...so look for pics of that on tomorrows blog. Sorry to miss you and Duane Peggy!
Today we took the subway to the Vatican to worship at the main service. It was in Latin, but they gave us a very easy to follow booklet that had it in English. This is me in front of St. Peters.
There were a lot of pastors / priests doing the service, not to mention 10 altar boys! The Pope is usually at some other church throughout the world on Sunday. On Wednesday, he does a service here. On nice days it is outside on the front steps. Bob Reindle actually met the Pope during WW II. You should ask him about it sometime. The guys in red I think are Cardinals.
I spent the rest of the afternoon in my room because my blister has gotten worse and Karen wants me in tip top shape for our garden walk tomorrow. Our room is smaller now that Kay, Marvin and Keriann are gone. It is also cheaper. But it is cozy and very pleasant.
We have breakfast here every morning while in Rome, a warm croissant, cereal, a roll, tea or coffee.
Looking down the hall toward the reception desk. There are about 12 rooms and Hotel Margaret is on the fourth floor. An old fashioned elevator takes us up or we can take the stairs.
A view out our window.
Well I have my foot up, Karen is out roaming the streets of Rome and should be back soon and we will go out to dinner. Tomorrow we go to the Garden and Tuesday morning we take the long flight home. It has been more than I could have imagined. I have learned so much that will be useful in ministry and I am looking forward to sharing it in both preaching and teaching the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Blessings,
Pastor Dave
Some of you know that every year I get the pleasure of walking through flower gardens on mothers day. You might be thinking that I will not have that pleasure this year. But Karen has found a way even here in Rome. Tomorrow we are signed up to walk through the Vatican gardens. That is right, the Pope's garden...so look for pics of that on tomorrows blog. Sorry to miss you and Duane Peggy!
Today we took the subway to the Vatican to worship at the main service. It was in Latin, but they gave us a very easy to follow booklet that had it in English. This is me in front of St. Peters.
There were a lot of pastors / priests doing the service, not to mention 10 altar boys! The Pope is usually at some other church throughout the world on Sunday. On Wednesday, he does a service here. On nice days it is outside on the front steps. Bob Reindle actually met the Pope during WW II. You should ask him about it sometime. The guys in red I think are Cardinals.
I spent the rest of the afternoon in my room because my blister has gotten worse and Karen wants me in tip top shape for our garden walk tomorrow. Our room is smaller now that Kay, Marvin and Keriann are gone. It is also cheaper. But it is cozy and very pleasant.
We have breakfast here every morning while in Rome, a warm croissant, cereal, a roll, tea or coffee.
Looking down the hall toward the reception desk. There are about 12 rooms and Hotel Margaret is on the fourth floor. An old fashioned elevator takes us up or we can take the stairs.
A view out our window.
Well I have my foot up, Karen is out roaming the streets of Rome and should be back soon and we will go out to dinner. Tomorrow we go to the Garden and Tuesday morning we take the long flight home. It has been more than I could have imagined. I have learned so much that will be useful in ministry and I am looking forward to sharing it in both preaching and teaching the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Blessings,
Pastor Dave
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Trastevere and Jewish Ghetto walks
The Trastevere area of Rome has not changed much over the years. It was a place where immigrants would live. Jews lived here till they were kicked out and sent elsewhere. I will show you that in a minute.
Beautiful walk!
This Catholic church was there.
It had beautiful mosaics on the ceiling. This is Jesus and his Mom.
Jesus being brought to Simeon.
Then we went to the Jewish Ghetto. It was along the Tiber River and it flooded all the time. It was the worst and muddiest place to be put.
This is a Jewish Synagogue in the Ghetto. It has been remodeled into a beautiful place. This is where John Paul II gave his famous speech apologizing to the Jewish people for the Catholics silence and persecution of Jews over the years......Lutherans were not much better. The most recent pope preached here as well and apologized also.
Saw these on a wall and a marker in the road stating that a Jewish man was killed there by a Nazi. The area has now become a trendy place to live. So only rich Jews can live here now.....ironic!
Tomorrow we are going to worship with the Pope. When I talk to him, I am going to ask him what he thinks of the Augsburg Confession. That is the Lutheran document written during the Reformation. We should have a good theological discussion!
Blessings to you all, and men, don't forget Sunday is mothers day!
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