A drought and a drought buster

Ramblings on a a rainy. Enjoy.


It is President's Day. A day off work for me and for Penny. It has become an unusual thing for the two of us to have the same day off. My day off is Friday and hers is Saturday and Sunday. So when we get the day off together, what do we do? We go on calls together. Yes, I know, a day off is supposed to be a day off, meaning that you don't work. But there are individual spiritual needs which need to be addressed. As we have done throughout the 30 1/2 years of ministry, we go on some calls together. We still spend the day together. It brings us joy to be able to share in the ministry into which I have been called. One of the wonderful things that we have is the fact that we are in the ministry together. No, she is not Mrs. Pastor. But she is a vital part of what I do. She is my support and encourager. You might say that in many ways she is my Barnabas. (Look up the meaning of Barnabas.)

And so, today, we are heading out on calls. Spending time in the van together, enjoying the time the we have been given. The good thing is that I don't have a meeting tonight. That truly is a day off for me.

It is a rainy day. The Carpenters would sing "Rainy Days and Mondays always get me down." I don't feel that way. True, it is a pain to drive in the rain. But we really need it. All winter we have not had the rain or the snow that is needed to water the ground. We are in what Dave Murray would call a mini-drought. He said that this rain would not be a "drought buster" but it would do good to help us out.

A drought buster. I thought of that. What does it take to be a drought buster? You would have to ask Dave Murray that question. But I thought about it in spiritual terms. What is a spiritual drought and what would be a spiritual drought buster?

A spiritual drought is when you haven't worshiped the Lord for months. You haven't received the Lord's Supper for months on end. You haven't spent time God's Word for longer than you can remember. Your soul is in a spiritual drought. "But I can still be a Christian without going to church, taking communion or reading the Bible." Yes you can. Congratulations. You have joined the countless host of people who throughout the years have made that claim. Many of them have suffered terrible spiritual drought. You might even be suffered such a drought. You might not even be thinking about it being a drought. You just got out of the habit of worship. You haven't seen the need to worship. You got upset with someone at church and you refuse to come back to church until that person either apologizes or leaves (you might even feel that way about the pastor).

It doesn't matter how you got into the spiritual drought. You are in it. Perhaps you think that if you go to worship on Christmas Eve or on Easter, that will be the spiritual "drought buster" that you need. Or maybe you think that since you went at Christmas or Easter, that means you don't have a spiritual drought at all. That thinking is like today, we are getting some rain. The ground soaks it up. But if you were to dig down more than an inch, the ground would still be dry as a desert. Spiritually, going to worship on Christmas and Easter is not a "drought buster" for the soul that is spiritually dry.

What constitutes a drought buster? Spending time daily in God's Word. Joining in a regular Bible study. Attending weekly worship. Receiving the Lord's Supper when it is offered. In short, making use of the Means of Grace that the Lord has given you. Like rain is needed on a regular basis to water the earth and break a drought, so the Means of Grace are needed on a regular basis in order to break the spiritual drought in your spiritual life.

I would encourage you to avail yourself of the time of worship that is set before you. Attend the church of which you claim to be a member. Reach out to your pastor and ask him to help you in your spiritual walk. Forgive that person who offended you. Don't let the devil, the sinful world or your own sinful nature continue to cause you to live in a spiritual drought.

Let the water of the Word flow over and through you.

Rambling without a direction.

Winter continues without much winter weather here in Troy, IL. We have had some cold, especially back in January. We have had a little bit of snow. Nothing to really complain about. There have been some gray days but nothing like I just read about in the Lutheran Hour Ministries devotion for today. Moscow having only 6 minutes of sunshine in January? Really. That is hard to imagine. And we complain when we have 4-5 days in a row without sunshine. That reminds me about how selfish and self-centered we can be. We are tempted to make all things about "me." But that isn't why I am writing today.

Actually, I don't know why I am writing. I just had the compulsion to blog. It has been a while and I felt the need to put down random thoughts on "paper." Nope, not really on paper. I guess it is random thoughts on the Internet. It will be "out there" for the world to see. The world for my blog is the few of you who spend the time reading these ramblings.

The Southern Illinois District begins the triennial convention this evening. We will be in convention for Thursday evening, Friday all day and Saturday morning. What is done at a convention? There is worship and study, elections of officers and board members, and resolutions discussed. What is the goal? The goal should be to better equip the congregations of the Southern Illinois District to share the message of the gospel in their communities. The goal should always be the sharing of the gospel. If we are not sharing the gospel, then we are nothing more than another civic organization. No, the Church is meant to be something different from other organizations. The Church is meant to point folks to the Savior Jesus Christ. It is meant to proclaim the good news of salvation in a world that is in desperate need of this good news. Let us pray that is what is done over the next 3 days.

What else is going on in the my life that you might want to know about? Christ forgives me. Christ leads me. Christ loves me. I pray that everything I do reflects that wonderful message.

Baseball season is almost upon us. I enjoy baseball. It is a fun diversion from the actions of the world. Boy do we need that diversion. Over and over again we see the struggles of the world. We feel those struggles in our lives. Financial struggles. Relationship struggles. Health struggles. Emotional struggles. Societal struggles. Spiritual struggles. We need this diversion to help us find some joy in the world. As a Cubs fan, I enjoy watching my team play and win. Yet, I have to say, even when they don't win, I still enjoy watching them.

As I watch the Cubs, I am reminded of the struggles of life. Sometimes you do really good. Sometimes you do really bad. You have to stay the course to make it through each year. Spiritually, that is the way it is too. Some days are really good. Some days are really bad. Through it all we live in the forgiveness of Christ and the love of the Father. We need to stay the course in both good and bad times. I would encourage you to focus your eyes on Christ as you go through today and each day. He will see you through. It might be a struggle. It might be easy. It might be overwhelming. It might slip by without so much as a whimper. Whatever you day brings, may Christ guide you through it.

Yes, I have no clue what I am going to write today. There is it. Peace and joy on you today as you live in Christ's mercy and grace.