Lord, have mercy

 I cannot imagine the pain, what it must be like to be one of the parents, one of the teachers, one of the children in Uvalde, TX this morning. I cannot imagine what it must be like to be one of the patrons, one of the workers, or one of the community members in Buffalo, NY in the days following the mass murder. I cannot imagine...no I cannot. 

Terrible events. Murder. Massacre. Death. These things are so terrible. They happen. Just when we think we have moved beyond such events, another one happens. Just when we think we have a handle of what is going on in life, something takes place.

Awful. Terrible. Nothing brings into focus the fact that we must do something to change the way things are in our communities. There will be talk about gun control. There will be talk about red flag laws. There will be talk about one party being the party of hate. There will be all sorts of  things being talked about. There will be talk about mental illness. There will be hand wringing and then it will begin, the placing of blame upon someone missing something and not reporting it. There will be blame. There will be so much said. 

What can be done so this won't happen again? What laws can be put into place? What kind of security can be put into place to stop this from happening? We will try to figure this out.

There is one need - Jesus. We have pushed the Lord out of the way, setting Him on the shelf, making sure that no one pushes the message of the Gospel upon anyone. We need to bring that message back into hearts and lives.

This last Sunday I preached about peace. I mentioned that the peace of this world can be shattered in a moment. And it was in Uvalde. In that moment, the peace that they felt was shattered, broken. People's hearts and lives were broken. Where is the peace? Where the peace to be found in this situation? What can be said? Where? What? So many questions.

Peace cannot be found in the things in this world. We live in a broken, sinful world. Evil is present each day. Evil cannot be stopped because it does not follow the law, it does not care for others. Evil could care less about anyone but itself, and it wants to destroy and cause more pain and suffering. We will put more laws in place. We will put more security in place. There will be things put in place. Will it stop evil? No. Will it stop someone from doing such a horrific act? No. Why? Because evil does not care. Evil seeks only to create chaos, pain and suffering. Period. 

So where is peace found. "In me is peace..." Jesus said in John 16:33a. There is the only place to find peace. In Jesus Christ. In faith in Him. In this fallen, broken world, we need to turn to Jesus. We need to turn to Him each and every day, not just in such a tragedy, but in days where there is no tragedy. As Jesus said, "I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have tribulation. But take heart, I have overcome the world." John 16:33

This is terrible. This should not have happened. But I will tell you this, it will happen again. Not because of lack of gun control, or lack of security, or whatever. It will happen because there is evil in this world. It is only as Christ changes hearts and lives will things change. Only in Christ.

It isn't just in such tragedy that we find pain and suffering. It happens when cancer takes a life, when heart disease takes a life, when a traffic accident takes a life, when a person takes his own life, when there is abuse, when there is hatred, when there is anger, when there is personal attack. All of these are from evil, from this world. In Christ alone, can this be changed. 

I pray for the folks in Uvalde. I pray for the folks in Buffalo. I pray for folks in the hospital. I pray for folks undergoing treatments. I pray for folks in difficult and painful situations. I pray that the ONE, Jesus Christ will come into their lives, into their brokenness, and bring them personal peace that is found in Him. Yes, we live in a broken world, but we have One who has overcome the world. Look to Jesus Christ for peace.

My Journey to the Doctor of Ministry

 This last Friday, May 20th, I had the pleasure of receiving my Doctor of Ministry degree. I had begun work on the Doctor of Ministry degree in 2012, returning to the classroom and academic studies after 25 years of not being in the classroom. It was a challenge, but thanks be to God I received the guidance from the Lord, and support from Penny and my family, and also St. Paul's, Troy, IL and St. John, Clarinda, IA. It was a long and difficult journey, but here I am, having completed the journey and received the degree of Doctor of Ministry. 

Yes, it was great. I enjoyed it. Did I enjoy all the work - um, maybe...ok, yes it was good, and yet it was challenging. To do the work that was necessary was not easy. Penny kept encouraging me when I was ready to give in and cry "uncle." So I ended up writing my Major Applied Project (MAP), which is the "dissertation" of the Doctor of Ministry program, "In Search of the Best Practices in Preaching Christian Stewardship." 

Why did I go into the program? On day I was attending a Symposium on Homiletics at Concordia Seminary (when I was serving in Troy, IL I was within 45 minutes of the Seminary so I took advantage of the continuing education options available), and I began to think about my preaching (that is what homiletics is, the art of preaching). How as I doing with it. It had been over 20 years that I had been in the ministry and I begin to think about how my preaching was doing. I looked around at the various examples of preaching that I saw in different places and I was not really thrilled. I saw a real issue with most preaching - it was shallow, did not offer much, was not done well, etc. I know, sounds judgmental. But there is poor preaching in the world today. Too often, the pastor is afraid to offend anyone so he ends up saying nothing worthwhile. The Gospel is watered down. Or the Law is preached with no Gospel application at all. Or it is just an awful sermon. I thought, "Am I like that? Is my preaching getting shallow, or worse, is it getting worthless or awful?" 

So I began to think that I needed to work on my preaching. I needed to improve (still do, by the way) my preaching. But I also know myself. To try to do that on my own, meant that I would start, get busy with parish life, and not get around to finishing that which I began. Contrary to what some folks think, the pastor works more than just one or two hours a week. You get busy with congregation life and don't make time for continued independent study. 

So I thought maybe I would look into the Doctor of Ministry program, with the focus being homiletics. As I looked into it, thought about it, prayed about it, I finally thought I would bring the topic up to Penny. I figured she would be the voice of reason in this whole process and would tell me all the reasons I should not do it. We talked and she said, "I think you should do it." I was floored. I told her I thought she would be the one to talk me out of this tomfoolery. Yet she said to go for it. So I thought, ok, maybe I should see what my kids thought. I asked both Rachael and Matthew what they thought. And they both said to go for it. Really? I was not expecting that. 

So I approached the congregation (St. Paul's, Troy, IL) elders and talked with them. They also agreed it was a good idea. So I applied. I began my first class in nearly 25 years in January 2012. From there I would take classes each winter and summer. At first they were 2 weeks residental class. Then it became 1 week residental classes. I finished all the course work by summer 2018, which was right at the time I was starting to serve as the national LWML pastoral counselor (2017-2021). All I had left was the MAP. That is all. 

I started and stopped on the research and writing of the MAP several times. I even almost dropped out of the program because I was not sure if I could write the MAP. But when I found out that if I dropped out, I would have to do all the coursework again if I reapplied, and with Penny telling me to get it finished and not drop out, and encrouagement from my children, I stayed in the program. In March of 2019, I took the call to St. John, Clarinda, IA. Covid hit. I had cataract surgery, 2 knee replacments and I finished my service as LWML pastoral counselor (in June 2021). So I returned to writing in earnest, and by the end of August 2021, I had the MAP written, sent to my advisor, made corrections, sent it back (I had sent each chapter to Dr. Peter, my advisor, as I was writing), and by October 2021, I had the MAP completed. I defended my MAP in November of 2021, and I was done. Completed. Finished. No more work on it. nearly 10 years after I started, I was done. I began the journey in January 2012 and by January 2022, I was finished. Praise be to God!

Did it help me? I believe it did. It challenged me to think about my preaching. It showed me different ways to preach. It helped me to see how to bring the Word of God into the lives of the hearers. It assisted me to become a better preacher and a better pastor. It also helped me define and develop my understanding of stewardship and how to apply that into sermons. I am still working on that. I think there is much that I can do to continue to improve in both my preaching and in my application of stewardship, but having gone through the Doctor of Ministry program helped me greatly. 

That is a little of the journey that I took. A ten year journey through hills and valleys, over mountains and through tunnels, finally arriving at the place where I walked across the platform to receive my degree as the picture shows. 

Was I happy? 

 What do you think? 

Thanks to everyone for their support and encouragement. Penny was my biggest supporter and encourager. My family was supportive and encouraging. The congregations I served, St. Paul, Troy, IL and St. John, Clarinda, IA were very supportive. I received finacial support from individuals, the Southern Illinois District LWML, and St. John, Clarinda. I greatly appreciate all that support. 

Now, let's get going on preaching God's Word and living the life of a Christian steward.

Thoughts on Mother's Day

 Happy Mother's Day. For those who have born children, I wish you a blessed Mother's day. Today I think about what it means to be a mother. My lovely wife, Penny, has given birth to our two wonderful children, Rachael and Matthew. That makes today a special Mother's Day. Yet, I also remember that we had a third child, one that we lost early in the pregnancy. Penny was a mother before she gave birth to Rachael, it is just that our first child was not carried to term. We rejoice that the Lord has blessed us with both Rachael and Matthew, both of whom are a blessing to us. Thank you Penny for being that very Christian and loving mother to our children. 

I say that because there are many women who have lost children, being unable to carry them to term because of many different reasons. On Mother's Day, there are women whose hearts are heavy because they have not been able to give birth to their children. Today we need to lift them up in our prayers, remembering that they are mothers too, those they may not have the opportunity to hold and love their children after birth. I give thanks to God for those women who may well be sad on this day. God bless you and give you strength and comfort today. 

Then I thought, there are many women who have taken on the role of mother, even though they had not given birth to the children they raise. There are many who have been adoptive or foster mothers, showing love to children who have not had the blessing to be raised by their birth mothers. I know this for sure because I was not raised by my birth mother. I give thanks to Gen Foerster Osborne Brawner, the woman who raised me and my brothers. I would not be the man I am today if it was not for the fact that she took on the opportunity to raise me when I was 3 years-old. There are women today who raise their grandchildren, their nieces and nephews, and children that are not blood at all. 

If you have the opportunity to talk with your mother today, please do so. Remember that you will not always have your mother present in this world, for one day, they will pass from this life. Then you will not be able to call them on Mother's Day and talk with them. Tell them today how much you love them.

Yes, I know that there are mothers who have been less than stellar. There are those who were not good at raising their children. There are those who do not know Christ and therefore do not raise their children to know Christ. There are mothers who are physically and emotionally abusive. I am sorry for those children who must go through this. I pray that those children will be removed from those terrible situations. And for those who have been removed from those situations, I encourage you to forgive those abusive and unloving mothers for the way that they treated you. That does not mean you must condone those things that they did, nor do you have to go back into those situations. But as Christ has forgiven you, forgive them for the terrible things they did (or didn't) do to you. 

So many emotions on Mother's Day. Personally, I give thanks to God for the mothers I have know - my birth mother, the mother who raised me, the mother of my children, my mother-in-law, and my daughter. Thank You Lord, for each one of them. 

Happy and blessed Mother's Day.