Every Day a Challenge

For the last 2 months, I have had this nagging pain in my chest and in my back. I have tried everything to get rid of it. I stretch and stretch and stretch, thinking that it is just a kink in the back and if I stretch enough it will go away. It started out small. Every once in a while it would hit with a vengeance and I would wonder, what is it? I waited a couple of weeks before saying anything. You know the routine. If you give it time, it will go away. After a couple weeks I finally told Penny about it. The thought then was, once you voice it, it will go away. It almost worked. But then it kept coming back. Because it was a pain in the chest at times, Penny was concerned. Who wouldn't be? After all, her father was called to heaven with a heart attack and she sure didn't want that to happen to her husband, at least not yet. So we finally called the doctor. Or I should say, she called the doctor and I grumbled all the way to the doctor. Telling the doctor, I felt like a fool. What is wrong with you? Can't you just buck up and put up with it like a real man? Are you a wimp? It sounds silly telling the doctor, "I've got a pain and don't know what it is." He looks at me like I am from another planet. It was like he was thinking, "What kind of man are you? A wimp? Can't you handle a little pain now and then?" Of course he didn't say it, but I felt like that is what was on his mind. Sent me for a stress test, just to make sure it wasn't the heart. That test went well. The treadmill type of test, hooked up to all sorts of wires and gadgets. I pushed it, just like the doctor said to, and turned out, the heart was all right. So we waited. He called it "watchful waiting." I called it ridiculous and chalked it all up to being less than a man. Of course, all men have pain and they put up with it. Why couldn't I? So we went another couple weeks. But it persisted. Every time Penny would ask, the response would be denial. "There is no pain." "What are you talking about?" "I am all right." I was working hard to be the man I thought I should be. (For those women reading this, understand the mind of a man. We cannot admit pain. We cannot admit that we are not "strong" enough to handle something so simple as a little pain in the body. We are MEN! Real MEN don't have things like this happen.) Finally, after 2 weeks of "watchful waiting," it got to be too much. Back to the doctor. Back to feeling foolish. Then the ultra sound for the gall bladder. Of course, nothing wrong. No stones. A normal gall bladder. But what about the pain...what pain? No pain. Wait, what was that. I guess it is still there. But they tell me nothing is wrong. Why would it hurt if nothing is wrong? Must be an overactive imagination. Be a man. Put up with it. But it persisted. So off for another test - hepatobiliary or something like that. Shoot the nuclear dye into the veins and wait 45 minutes. Easy peasy. Laying there, dozing, watching the timer and the liver, gall bladder and small bowel on the screen and it was a piece of cake. "Now I will put this in and see what happens...you doing all right?" Of course I am, I am a...what is that? O my! THAT IS INTENSE! "Try to lay still. It will only be a minute." Boy was it a long minute. That pain is intense. I never felt like that before. "Now this one won't be as bad." True, but still was something to behold. Then it was over. One hour and fifteen minutes later I walk out of the room. Penny looks at me, and drives me home. She says I look white. Of course I look white, they just tried to cause my gall bladder to react to the medicine and it did! Wow! Back to the office. Back to work like nothing is going on. The ladies in the office know that it isn't right. They are very supportive. They even wonder why I am there at all. (We learn because of the bad news Mrs. Doyle receives, that is why I am there. The Lord was watching over her even as He was watching over me.) A tough day. Lots of pain, some of it intense. Then bed time. Welcome relief as I go to bed. Wrong! After 2 hours, I wake up and feel awful. I get up. I walk. I lay down. I get up. I sit up. I change chairs. Penny gets up. "Of course I am all right. Well not really. I just can't get comfortable. I will be all right." Back to bed. The sitting up. And before I know it, she is driving me to the ER. Please, give me relief. I feel awful. Do something. Make me better. Morphine and relief. No pain. No suffering. Wait, it is coming back. A shot in the arm and good bye. Off to home and to bed. Call the doctor. See what is going on. Doctor not told about it (though his partner did get the call during the night). He is sure it is gall bladder. Take it! Please! No, not yet. You must wait. You must put up with it. Talk to the surgeon - tomorrow. Waiting. Surgeon and more talking. More feeling like a fool. Am I sure that it really hurts? Is this in my head? No! It is in my back and chest. Does my abdomen hurt? No! My shoulder blade not my back. Can I feel any more like a fool? Discussion. More discussion. And then the decision, we could take the gall bladder but it might not be the problem. I don't care! Take it! I want to be free from this nagging, chronic pain that never leaves and never goes away. Please! OK, but wait till Monday. What! Monday! Are you sure? OK, I can do this. Back home, service, lots of well wishes. Still there. It will be all right. I know it will be all right. The Lord has me and will see me through - just not today. I must wait...till Monday. Why? Because. No other reason, just because. So this morning (Thursday) I get up, think I feel all right and then, right there, the ache is back. It hurts. Pain level - all right Penny, here it is, around a 3. I can handle a 3. I can handle it till Monday. But take this out and be done with it. More ramblings to come, I am sure. This helps. Now you know. And I know. The question is, can a real man feel like this and still be a man? Oh the struggle of the mind. Peace - rejoicing in suffering. I thank You Lord for humbling me, for helping me and for being with me. I rejoice that I am Yours and I rejoice in the struggle. I do truly rejoice!

How do we reacte to evil?

I was reading a devotion this morning and it was based around 1 Peter 3:9 "Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing." I find that an amazing passage, one that many of us, myself included, have a hard time putting into practice.

My first reaction when someone does something to me or says something to me that sets my teeth on edge, is to respond in the same way. When someone hurts me by what they say, I want to hurt them back. I want to retaliate. I want to get them more than they got me. That is my nature.

I have to fight against that - even when it comes to my wife and children (perhaps more so with my wife than anyone - maybe because I feel "safe" there, knowing that she will continue to love me despite my being a jerk to here, who knows?). I want to say something or do something to hurt that person that hurt me. If I see a post on Facebook that makes me mad, I want to type something mean-spirited back to them. If I receive an email that is not right, I want to shoot one back that is even worse than the one I received.

Sin! SIN! That is what I am fighting against. I am fighting my sinful nature. That rears its ugly head time and again. And it is too easy to give in to it. To answer the call of anger, bitterness, hatred, hurt and a whole host of other feelings.

How do I overcome that feeling or action? By not relying upon myself. To do so is to fail. It is at those moments when I need to stop myself from acting and ask the Lord to fill my heart with His love and forgiveness. I need to pray to Him to give me the same spirit that He had on the cross - the spirit that lead Him to say, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." How can He pray that prayer when He is hanging on a cross, dieing? It is because He looked to His heavenly Father for guidance and strength. So, too, should we.

Father, help me to have the spirit to bless those who revile or anger me. Father, give me the spirit to love those who hate me. Father, give me the spirit of Your Son who loved me despite my arrogance, stupidity and sinfulness. Father, give me the spirit to bless those who curse me, to offer a blessing instead of a word of anger. Father, change my spirit, my being, my actions. Father, change ME!

"Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing." Father, let that be my action in all I do today.

Taste and see!

Taste and see - that is my thought of the day. We have had a taste of spring this last week and weekend. It was enough to get all our thoughts moving to this next, wondrous season of new life. The warm weather made us long to sit on our porch, to walk down the road, to dig up the earth for the garden, to go out and watch some baseball, to long for warmer days. Yes, it gave us a taste and now that we have had a taste, we want more! We don't want this cold weather (as if 40 degrees is cold!). We want it to remain in the 60's and 70's only to move into the nice summer weather. We want more!

I thought about that in two ways: 1) Isn't that the way that temptation and sin work? 2) That is the way that we should be with the Lord.

Temptation and sin give us just a little taste so that we want more. Pornography works that way. Start soft, with just a tease on a TV show or in a movie. Just enough to want more. Then it begins to build as more and more is needed to satisfy. Drugs and alcohol are the same way. Taste and see what it can do for you! It can make you feel so good. It is freeing! Sexual activity is that way for the young, unmarried person with a boyfriend/girlfriend or for the older, married person with a spouse and a girlfriend/boyfriend on the side. Taste and see how good it can be, how pleasurable, etc. And a little taste leads to wanting more.

Unfortunately, unlike our desire for spring, these kind of "taste and see" leads to destruction. Pornography destroys relationships. Drugs and alcohol destroy lives. Premarital sex destroys the sanctity of the sexual relationship in marriage (and leads to crisis pregnancy, STD, abortion and abuse). Extramarital sex destroys relationships and families. And in the end, they all lead to the same place - away from the Lord. Any sinful activity is wrong - even if it feels "right." Why? Because the Lord has told us that very thing. We may not like it. We may want to change it. But the fact remains - sin is sin, no matter how we want to package it. We might quell our conscience into accepting that it is all right (like society does with same sex relationships) but it is still wrong before the Lord. Nothing good comes from the sinful "taste and see" attitude.

Taste and see that the Lord is good. His love is wondrous. To have a taste of that love is fabulous. To know the grace that loves you despite your sinfulness and your rotten behavior is beyond explanation. To taste the love that is given in the Supper of our Lord, the body and blood of Christ, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins - it is a feast fit for a king yet that is given to the beggar.

Why is is that we love the taste of sin and despise the taste of grace? Why do we love to have a feast of sinful behavior and activity and yet we want only a a morsel or less of the love of Christ? Why do we immerse ourselves into that which destroys and run in fear from that which saves? It is because we are sinful. It is easier to run from God than to be embraced by Him. It is easier to curse God than to praise Him.

It is only by the working of the Holy Spirit, working through Word and Sacrament, that this all changes. Once He has worked that change in our hearts, we suddenly taste His goodness, as for the 1st time, and we want more. We want more love, more grace, more comfort, more of His presence in our lives, more of Him each and every day.

Taste and see - what do you desire? Are you desiring the Lord and His goodness? Are you following Him and the life He has laid before you? If not, ask yourself why not? It isn't the Lord's fault. The fault - lies within you, your heart, your life. He desires you. May your heart and life be opened to Him!

Happy Valentine's Day 2011

Friends, what is "love"? Today is the day of "love" and "lovers." But what exactly is the love that we celebrate? For most, it is the romantic movie that ends with the man finally coming to his senses, realizing that the only woman for him is the one that he has been fighting off or trying to avoid, proclaiming his love and then they join in the kiss of the century (again!). With a heart filled with longing, the woman turns to her husband and thinks (or says), "Why can't you be like him? Why can't you love me like that? Why can't we have that kind of love and relationship?"

For others, love is what happens when the flowers have been given, the candy eaten and the wine finished. Slipping off into the bedroom, the covers are turned down, the "sexy" lingerie is donned (only to be lost quickly) and the next 15 minutes to an hour is spent in love. In the throes of passion, love is proclaimed - a love that will change in the morning, or with the shift of emotions when the next time doesn't happen.

So what is love? Is it an action? Is it an emotion? Just what is it? I don't know if I can tell you exactly what it is - as far as a part of speech. But I can tell you what true love is - it is what God has for us. It is NOT what we have for God. The difference is God's love is agape - love with no boundaries or strings, while our love is very much set according to what we can receive from this God.

He loves us - not because we deserve it but because He wants to. We aren't worth loving. I don't care who you are or what you have done, you don't deserve God's love. You can profess your the depth of your love for God, you can sing praises till the cows come home and then sing some more, and your love is still colored by what you want from God. (You want Him to cure cancer, give world peace, take away poverty and at the same time, make it possible for the St. Louis Cardinals to waste millions of dollars signing a ballplayer that isn't worth that kind of money - no one is!) You love God because He gave His Son for you. You love God because He has forgiven your sins. You love God because He has given you a good job, lots of money, a good looking spouse that you can spend the night with, and a chance to go fishing when the ice finally goes away.

But you are dirty, rotten, no good, filthy, disgusting, over-whelming self-indulgent and increasingly stuffy. There is not an ounce of worth to MAKE God love you. Just the opposite is true. Nothing could MAKE God love you. He just does. Period. Plain, simple, deep, unending, complete and total love given by God, shown in all that He has done and continues to do for you. Look at the cross - LOVE! Look at the crown of thorns - LOVE! Look at the manger in the stable -LOVE! Where ever you look, whatever rock you turn over, there is God's love. Breath the air - LOVE! Eat the wonderful supper with your special sweetie tonight - LOVE (His not yours). LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!

God so loved the world...that means you and me. There is love. The way we love today is beautiful by human standards, but it is tempered with what can be gotten because of that expression of love. The better the flowers, the meal and the gift, the more kisses you receive. You want those kisses, so you do your best to make it possible.

Wait, why not just give to your loved one with no expectation of receiving anything at all. Give, and don't become upset if they don't say, "Thank you." Give, and don't worry if no one else know about it. Give and don't expect to get lucky later on. That is the love of God. He gives, knowing we will not always appreciate it or say, "Thank you." He gives without expecting to hear our praises.

All of these thoughts flow from 2 places. The first is 1 John 4:10, "In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (ESV) His love guides our love. His love is the basis of our love. His love is all encompassing. And the other place is 1 Corinthians 13, the great chapter of love. That talks of true love, based in His love not ours. We can never live up to any of that love in vss. 4-7. His love is completely shown in those verse.

Happy Valentine's Day. Enjoy the day. Enjoy the romance. Know that there is nothing wrong with romance - for God intends it to be that way. He wants us to be romantic with each other. Know that is the kind of love that it is. Don't pretend to be an all-loving, self-sacrificing person because you gave flowers. Let it be an expression of you romantic love for your loved one. Enjoy the passion that it inspires. Rejoice, for God wants that passion inspired.

And know that the love you are showing is but a shadow of what true love is all about. Let the love of Christ, fill you to overflowing so that you can love that special person in the way God intends you to love them. Now get out there, share that candy, smell the flowers, eat the meal and enjoy all that might come next!

The Call to be "Nice"

I started last week talking about M.T.D - Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. On of the items that keeps coming up in the National Study of Youth and Religion is that the call of the Christian is to be "nice." We are to be nice. That is a good statement, for we are called to be nice to all people. The problem develops when the NSYR found that apart from "being nice," the average religious teen does not think that religion influences their decision, choice of friends or behaviors. It does not help them obey God, work toward a common good, compose an identity or belong to a distinctive community. Think about that - these are the things that religion does not do!

So what does religion do for a person? It helps you be "nice" and feel better about yourself. Religion can give comfort in the midst of turmoil and give support in making the decisions that teens have already made (giving them the "back-up" for their decisions).

In M.T.D., religion stays in the background of life.

Now before I go on, ask yourself, "Is this the way that I view religion"? Do I see religion as something that is on the edge of my life, not really the center of all that I am and do? do I really think that my religion influences what I do at work, in the office, at home, on the computer, with the family and out with friends? Do I really have a religion that leads me to act in a certain way at all times? Or have I pushed my religion into the background, using God as a supreme being that is there to help me out in times of trouble but in the end, is not really involved in my life?

Be honest. You don't have to answer to anyone but yourself. And, if this really is your view of religion, you don't even have to answer to God - for all he calls you to do is be nice, treat others fairly and not mess things up in your life. In the end, all "good" people go to heaven ("good" = not being a jerk, not messing things up too badly, not robbing, raping or murdering, but living a normal life that everyone else is living, being nice to others).

That, my friends, is the influence of M.T.D. in the lives of the Christian adult today. And if it is in the lives of the adults, why wouldn't it show up in the lives of the teens? After all, they are listening, watching and learning from us - at home with the parents, at school with the teachers and at church with the pastor and church members. We are actually modelling M.T.D. for our youth and they are learning from us, learning very well.

Before I go on and address the whole "call to be nice," I am going to let you chew on these thoughts for a little bit. I will be back in the next post and talk about what Christians are actually called to do in their lives.

Thoughts on a simple verse

Taking a step away from M.T.D. for the moment. Just finished reading 1 Corinthians. I have encouraged the congregation to read this book as we are working through it as the epistle reading during the season of Epiphany.

Many wonderful verses to consider. Today: "Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love." 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 (ESV) Be watchful - keep your eyes out because the devil is prowling about like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. It might just be you! You are in the wilderness. Wild animals are all about you. be watchful. That doesn't mean curl up in a ball and hide from the world. It means go about your day with the watchfulness of faith. Know that you will be assailed on all sides.

Stand firm in the faith - maybe I can't get away from M.T.D. Stand firm in the one faith - the faith in Jesus Christ as the Lord as Savior. God is not a god that you use according to your whims, whenever you have need of Him. He is in your life, active every single moment. He with you in good times and in bad times. He is the One who has rescued all of humanity from sin, death and the power of the devil. Standing in Jesus Christ, that the faith that we stand firm in, not the wishy washy faith of a pluralistic society, one that stands on absolutely nothing. Stand firm in the faith.

Act like men. All right, so this one hit me as I was thinking about our Men's Ministry. The goal is to help men to live like men - Christian men. We are always talking about and studying how we can be men of God not men of the world. It is a challenge each and every day. Women - the challenge is for you too! Act like women. Be women of God. Men and women are given their identity by God. They are given their direction for life. Act like it!

Be strong. Weakness is all around us. In fact, we are encouraged by society to be weak. How? By robbing men and women of their God-given identity. By giving in to the pluralism of society. By not standing firm in the faith. Be strong - not in yourself but in the strength of Christ who has overcome and lives and reigns to all eternity!

Let all that you do be done in love. Let the love of Christ guide you. That is the love that causes you to reach out to the hurting person at work, the frustrated student in the classroom, the spouse who is struggling with temptation, the child who is lost in the ways of the world - treat them with the love of Christ. Go back to 1 Corinthians 13 for the love that is to guide you in your life. Don't be a bull in a china shop. You might have the right message but don't destroy people just because you are "right." Too many do that. Instead, reach out to others with the depth of love that God has reached out to you with. We forget too often that we too are people in need of the love of God.

God's word to guide your day.

MTD - a few thoughts

Penny and I attended the Youth Ministry 2011 conference at the beginning of January. The presentation was by Christian Smith, a sociologist who has been involved in a major study called the National Study of Youth and Religion. They found that the youth of the nation are basically religious, with many saying that they are Christian. The problem they found was what the youth meant by Christian, religious or spiritual. Many of them had an interesting definition that began to take shape in a form of religion. It isn't like Lutheranism or Methodism. Instead, it forms a relationship with the accepted religions and begins to change and morph that religion within the lives of the youth.

The more they studied it, the more they began to get a handle on what was being said by the youth. Christian Smith and company came up with a name for this "religion." They called it Moralistic Therapeutic Deism or MTD. It is an interesting form of religion. You can't really say that it is Christian, but it builds upon Christianity. You can't really say it is biblical because it builds upon feelings. It is truly deism in the modern sense of the word.

What does MTD look like? It has 5 basic tenets.
1. A God exists who created and orders the world and watches over human life on earth.
2. God wants people to be good, nice and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions.
3. The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.
4. God does not need to be particularly involved in one's live except when he is needed to resolve some problem.
5. Good people go to heaven when they die.

Now on first glance, you might agree with what is said in MTD. In fact, you might agree on a second glance. One thing I have come to understand is that it is not just youth that feel this way about their spiritual life. They are learning this not from the world "out there." They are actually learning this in two places: at home and in their church!

That is right, they are learning this at home, from the most influential people in their lives - their parents. (That might just be you!!) And they are learning that from the church they attend. That means that their pastor, their Sunday school teacher, their youth minister, and the various other people they come in contact with are actually following this form of "Christianity' themselves.

That was an amazing insight to me! I have been struggling with trying to figure out what is going on in Christianity today (including in many Lutheran churches) and have come to see that in many ways, MTD has come to have a great influence upon the teachings and beliefs of the church. It fits very well in our pluralistic society, one that wants to let all things live together in harmony and peace, without any differences or disagreements. When was the last time you heard someone stand up and publicly state that they believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior and that only those who believe in Him will go to heaven? Did they catch a lot of flack for it? I was thinking of the new governor of Alabama when he, speaking in a church, said that those who are Christian are his brothers and sisters and that he wanted those who didn't believe in Christ to become his brothers and sisters. You would have thought he was proclaiming that it was all right to hang your puppy dog and skin the cat! There was such a backlash from various organizations and media outlets. But is not what he said true? Not according to MTD.

He actually broke a cardinal rule of MTD - don't be a jerk to others. And in making such a statement, he was a jerk. He needed to retract the statement and apologize to all those he offended. Imagine how Paul the apostle would have responded to that! There on Mars hill or in any of the other places he preached the gospel.

OK, that is enough for the moment. I will post more about MTD. Actually what I will do is take each point and begin to help us understand it in light of Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions. Talk with you soon!