Pastor CJs Blog

Praise Be to God

2008-07-23T16:14:00.002-06:00

Every now and then something happens that just seems to overwhelm us. We look and are certain that God's hand has moved. It is a moment that leaves us in awe and the only thing to do is to give thanks and praise to God.

Recently I have experienced several of those moments. I will spare you the details, but I am quite excited and overwhelmed (in a good way) with the things that I see God doing and the places where I see him working.

Probably the most interesting thing to me in all of this is the realization that as God moves, we grow. I had to do some growing and learning before I was able to recognize God's hand in the process. I had to be humbled and willing to wait and not rush. And when I slowed down for that, when I learned that, I saw the hand of God at work. And it is awesome.

Our God is truly great. He is certainly worthy of our praise. If his work in our lives was limited to the death and resurrection of Jesus, than that would certainly be worthy of all praise and honor and glory. Indeed it is worthy of those things and more. However, God's working in our lives is not limited to that. And for those moments when you are able to catch a glimpse of his work, there is nothing better to do than to stand back and sing, "Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise him all creatures here below. Praise him above ye heavenly hosts. Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen."

May you see the hand of God in your life this week and always.

Pastor CJ

Moving On

2008-07-16T10:25:00.002-06:00

I don't think you ever realize how much stuff you have, until it is time to move it. At least that is the case for most of us who are lucky enough to live in this wonderful country. My family is gearing up to move into our first house, and it is quite exciting. It is also quite exhausting. We are pulling out things that we have had for years, and haven't seen them in that long either, and yet it is amazing the things that we find ourselves being attached to.

I can't get rid of that, my mother, my uncle, my next door neighbor's brother's uncle's cousin's sister's third-cousin's former college roommate gave that to me. It is kind of silly. In the midst of all the silliness it is important to remember what is really important in life. It is important to remember what is really valuable and what really makes the difference. That is the love of God in Jesus.

Sure the other things are nice. But those things will not last forever. They get old, they fall apart, there is always a newer, better and updated model or edition that comes out so that we have to spend more money on something that we already own. But only the love, grace, mercy and forgiveness that we have in Jesus will never disappoint us or, leave us wanting.

It is something that is a great comfort. Though heaven and earth pass away, our God never fails. Though you have to move everything you own, and the stuff breaks and you don't know what to do with it, God never fails.

Not only is this a great comfort, but it provides purpose in life. Knowing this great comfort in our lives, the question that we ask then, is how do we make it known in the lives of others? This is way more than simply talking to people, although that will be a part of it. This is investing ourselves, serving, loving and caring for them. It can be very difficult, but in living this way, we will experience life as it was truly meant to be lived, and what can be better than that.

God bless you this week in all that you do.

Pastor CJ

An Amazing Witness

2008-07-10T13:05:00.002-06:00

This week, I saw one of the most amazing sites that I have ever witnessed in my life. Some very dear friends, were hit with a very rough situation. It has not been easy in any way shape or form. They asked for the members of their small group and some close friends to come by. Not everyone knew the announcement they were going to make, and yet everyone showed up. That by itself is a miracle with schedules being what they are.

Then my friend, shared what was going on. It took some humility and faith. Mistakes had to be admitted. Forgiveness was sought. It took a look of guts and stand up there and do what was done. And then, forgiveness, love, support encouragement. It flowed deeply and freely. These members of the body of Christ gather around their wounded friends, and did not judge or accuse or preach, but instead they forgave, and loved and cared for and supported.

And that support is something that has continued throughout this week. My hunch is that no one in that room was thinking from a theological perspective. They were not thinking, "I know that in Jesus my sins are forgiven, and that as I look for the last day when all things will be restored, therefore I will forgive and work toward that restoration here and know as I am able." I am sure no one thought that. But that is exactly what took place.

Because our sins have been forgiven we are able to forgive others and to proclaim God's forgiveness when it is sought. Because all things are going to be restored, we can work toward that, and help those who need it, when it is needed.

Even though that moment was terribly difficult for my friends, it was indeed holy. God's Spirit was there, and he was working through his people. The love that flowed in that room is a greater and more powerful witness than all the philosophical and historical arguments combined. (Not that those things are bad). In all it was truly an amazing thing to witness, because the witness that it gave was amazing.

God bless you this week and always.

Pastor CJ

Thank You

2008-07-02T11:11:00.002-06:00

For those of you out there that serve in our military or have served in our military, I would like to thank you. Thank you for your service, your dedication and for your sacrifice.

No matter one's views of politics or policies and the like, the fact of the matter is that the people in our armed forces make tremendous sacrifices so that we can continue to be able to practice our religion as we see fit, so that we can speak openly with fear of repercussion, so that we can go to bed at night and know that we are safe and sound.

Although "wars do not make one great" and should not be treated lightly, the men and women of our armed forces put on uniform so that those of us back home can be safe. And for that I say thank you. God bless you.

To the rest of you out there, as you celebrate this 4th, give thanks to God for the many blessings that he has blessed us with. A blog like this is not legal in every part of the world. But I can type, and you can read it freely. Praise God. May he bless you and keep you safe in your celebration this weekend.

Pastor CJ

Remember

2008-06-27T17:14:00.002-06:00

A funny title for a late blog. I did not forget to post this week. I did not have a chance to do it sooner, and for that I apologize. We are currently moving into a new house, and so my posts may be a little sporadic over the next few weeks, but I will do everything in my power to keep those Wednesday posts consistent.

This has been a week of anniversaries for me. My wife and I celebrated nine years together. I often wonder what she did to get stuck with me. It is also the third year anniversary of my installation at Our Father. If anniversaries are anything, they are a time to remember. On those days we remember the original event. We celebrate it and give thanks for it. This process then is one that allows us to relive those important and meaningful events in our lives.

The Scriptures often speak of remembering. They tell us to remember the awesome deeds of our God. How he has rescued his people. How he has set them aside, and done for them, what would have been impossible if they had been on their own. In remembering how he has worked in our lives, it allows us to be sure and certain of his presence in our lives and his care and concern for us as his people. The Scriptures will often talk about the Exodus from Egypt in this kind of language. God, stretched out his mighty hand and saved the children of Israel from slavery to Egypt. As this event is remembered from generation to generation it allows those of us who were not physically present to be part of the event and to be included in that incredible number.

For us as Christians we also remember our baptism. For in those waters our sins were washed away and God made us his own dear sons and daughters. In baptism we are connected to the death and resurrection of Jesus and therefore have the hope and certainty of life everlasting.

Remembering the important events in our lives can be a source of great joy and celebration. Remembering how God has worked in our lives can be a source of joy and peace and hope and encouragement. For it reminds us that no matter what we face, no matter what is going on, that he will continue to be a part of our lives. Our God is always, always, always faithful. And may he bless you this week and always in Jesus.

Pastor CJ

You are what you do.

2008-06-18T16:20:00.002-06:00

If I were to ask you, what do you believe? How would you answer? Would you give me a list of facts? Would you give me a list of theological statements? Or would there even be a list at all?

As I look at myself, I find that I use to equate belief with knowledge. You ask me what I believe and I would say, "I believe in God the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord..." By the way I still do believe that. And I do believe that being able to articulate one's faith is very important. We need to know what we believe and why we believe. It is important to be in God's word, and to understand how it all works together, and the teachings of the church and all that good stuff. I don't want to take away from that at all. However, I would like to suggest that perhaps we look at it from a different angle. How does what I believe show in the way that I live my life?

If I tell my wife that I love her (and I do) but my actions are not actions of love, how much value do my words have? Not much. If I believe that God hears and answers all my prayers (and I do) why is it hard to pray? If I believe that God speaks to us through his word (and I do) why is it hard to find time to be in that word? If I believe that God gives me all that I need to support my body and life (and I do) why does worry come so easily?

I think you get the idea. This is something that I find to be very interesting as I look at my own life and consider the way I approach these things in my own life. What do you believe? What is important in your life? What is it that matters more than anything else, that matters the most? And does your life show that?

When our lives don't match the things we value, there is God's grace that is full and fulfilling, that restores and stands up on our feet. We are able to daily drown our own sinful selves, so that every day a new person would rise up to serve God in everlasting righteousness, innocence and blessedness.

I find in this great comfort and joy. It means that I can do the things like prayer, scripture reading, loving my wife, etc, I can do those things that I know I am supposed to do. And I can do them not out of guilt. "Oh I should do this, or I should do that." But I can do them as a response to the awesome grace that God in Jesus has shown to me. And I can do them, because I believe that they are important.

God bless you this week and always.

Pastor CJ

Don't Wory, Be Happy

2008-06-11T08:17:00.002-06:00

Now that tittle doesn't sound right. Did I really type that there? That doesn't sound like something I would sing. Although it is a catchy tune, and it is impressive that entire track is all vocals, the philosophy is one that we actually have to fight against. And the reason why this is the case is because "don't worry, be happy," doesn't help anyone. I don't know about you, but it is actually something that makes me feel worse because then I am not only feeling bad about the fact that I am worrying about something, but I am also feeling bad that I am not happy instead.

OK, that was a little goofy, but I did it to illustrate my point.

I am constantly taken aback by how easy it is for me in my own life to not trust God. Now I am not talking about the mindset that says, "I don't have to do anything anymore, because I am trusting that God will provide." But I am talking about a general kind of confidence in knowing that nothing that happens is outside of God's ability to handle. I am talking about knowing that he is able to bring good out of bad. Why is it that I find myself living in fear when I certainly know and believe that God will provide me with all that I need to support my body and life?

I am writing this, because having a God that we can trust in is truly an amazing thing. And though knowing that he will care for us does not mean that we will be happy all the time, it does men that we will know peace. It is a peace that surpasses all human understanding, and in that peace we can rest easy.

It makes sense if you think about it. If God can handle paying the price for our sins, through the death of Jesus; if God can handle and destroy the power of death, through the resurrection of Jesus, then he can certainly handle any problem that comes my way.

It is hard to do something like this in print. It is my prayer that these words bring comfort, hope and peace. They come out of my own experience and the peace and hope that comes as I learn to trust in God, even if things do not always happen according to the way that I had planned them.

May that peace keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Now and always.

Pastor CJ

Christianity is Not a Religion

2008-06-04T16:14:00.002-06:00

Last week, I had the privilege of enjoying some time away with my wonderful wife, but this week I am back. I was looking through a catalog and I found a T-shirt that has "Christianity is not a Religion" printed on the front of it.
I find this to be very interesting. Because I think it is also very accurate. Christianity is not a religion. It is about living and experiencing life. Life experienced in relationship with God and life experienced in relationship with one another.
Christianity is not just going to a church building once or twice a week, but it comes out in the ways that we live our lives. As Christians, who know the healing and forgiving power of our God, we are able to let that power flow through us into the world around us. This comes out in living lives that are marked with love and service. As we care for the people around us, as we serve them, as we proclaim God's word (both law and gospel) into their lives, we are experiencing life, and making know the One who is the way, the truth and the life.
It is easy to get bogged down in religiosity. It is easy to get caught up in actions and rites. But Christianity is so much more than that.
In the same way, worship is not just something that takes place during a small portion of the week, but worship is to be done with our lives. The prayers and praises that are offered up on Sunday morning, are continued throughout the rest of the week. In doing this we seek to glorify our God with our lives. We seek to make him known, so that people can know the joy, peace and hope that comes from living in relationship with him.
Christianity is not a religion, and may it never ever be.

God's blessings and peace in Jesus, be yours this week and always.

Pastor CJ

The Mission of God

2008-05-21T15:41:00.003-06:00

For those of you who may not have known this, I recently began working on my Doctor of Ministry degree. The program is in Congregational Mission and Leadership. And I must say that I am pretty excited about it. Needless to say, you can expect to get a few blogs on ideas that have crossed my mind as I have been doing reading and course work. Thus the blog for today.

I read a great book The Ministry of the Missional Church by Craig Van Gelder. The premise for this book is that the Church being the church is not and should not be separate from the church being about the mission of God in the world. In other words you cannot separate church from mission, because in order for the church to be church, the church needs to be about mission. That is the premise. So what is the mission of God?

It is simply that God is seeking to bring back, to reconcile to himself, all of creation. Cool, huh? And so the church needs to think and operate according to this. How does_______ (fill in the blank) participate, contribute, is a part of the mission of God? This is not to say that whatever you filled the blank in with is necessarily bad, but I think that it provides us with a different framework for how we think about the things that are done as a church.

Have you ever had the feeling that the point of church was survival? We have to keep on keeping on. Or maybe perhaps that the activity of the church was limited to a local congregation? What this "mission of God" kind of thinking does is to challenge the local congregation to think a little more big picture. In other words, God has placed us in the very specific community that we are in, because he is about reconciliation, and we are to be about the work of reconciliation in this place. It isn't about merely surviving or feeling stuck in a location. But it is about being part of something that is bigger that we are, and being able to make a real, genuine difference. It is about thriving and living and experiencing life the way that it was meant to be lived.

This is such a very exciting topic. But at the same time is is very simple. It is the will of God that all people be saved. It is the mission of God to reconcile those people to himself. It is through the church that God works to bring that about. What an amazing and awesome privilege we have to be a part of that. Not even the angels get to partake of this great honor. God's blessings to you this week and always. I look forward to your comments and responses.

Sincerely,
Pastor CJ

Confirmation

2008-05-14T23:33:00.002-06:00

Having completed the list of questions that I was handed months back, I figured I would take this week to share some of my thoughts on a very important day. For fifteen of our 8th graders, this Sunday is confirmation day for them. That is the day that the faith given to them in baptism is confirmed in them.

They have gone through two years of classes, worked on projects that expressed their faith, participated in service events in the community, and now they get to go through this very special day.

And yet, even though there were many requirements that needed to be met, confirmation is not a graduation. It is not the end of the road, rather it is the beginning of the journey. So during this confirmation week, I would request your prayers. Please pray for these confirmands, and that this day would be a launching point for them into the greater life of the church.

Also, think about topics or questions or things that you would like to have addressed in this blog and we will move forward. God bless you this week and give you his peace in Jesus. God bless our confirmands, and all confirmands.

Sincerely,

Pastor CJ

Really?

2008-05-07T08:43:00.002-06:00

Is God Really ALWAYS with You?

The answer is yes. God is really always with us, and nothing will change that. The presence of God in the midst of his people is unlike anything else that you will see in other religions. There, there is a different relationship with their gods.

For us, our God became a human being, Jesus. He lived with us. He died for us. He gives us his Holy Spirit. So we are never ever without our God. He will never ever leave us or forsake us. He will never ever abandon us. He promised to always be with us and we can be sure and certain of that wonderful hope.

Not only is he with us, but he cares for us and loves us. He will always provide us with all that we need to support our bodies and lives. And he gives to us a life with him that will never end. He is present as we read his word. He is present as we receive his body and blood in communion. He is present as we serve others. He is present as we spend time with his people and grow in love with them.

To be sure, there are times when it does not feel like God is around. Or we ask, "If God is here, why is he allowing this to happen?" And yet, even in the face of the most awful things we can imagine, our God does not leave us alone. He will not always let us in on why he is allowing the things to happen in our lives that are happening. But he will never abandon us or forget us because of them. Check out Romans 8.

May you always find comfort, strength and joy in the good news that are God is really and truly always with us.

God's peace in Jesus.

Pastor CJ

Recharging Your Faith

2008-04-30T09:11:00.002-06:00

How do you recharge you faith when you are feeling burnt out and lost?

Spending time in the Scriptures an in prayer is a very good way to recharge your faith. Also receiving communion is another way to do this. The Holy Spirit works through these things to strengthen our faith. These things, the Scriptures, Holy Communion, and Holy Baptism, are known as the means of grace, and they are very powerful in our lives.

Another way to recharge your faith is to spend time with other Christians. As Christians we are to bear each other's burdens, so that the things we face, the challenges that come against us in life, we never have to face alone. But we have the help, support and encouragement that comes from one another.

Yet another way to recharge your faith is through service. This can be very, very powerful. Going away for a few days on a servant event can be a life changing event for people. It helps you to put things into perspective and realize what is important. Serving others is living out our faith, it is what we are to be all about as Christians. And service can be a great source of renewal. If you are not able to go away, get involved locally. There are many ways to help, and places to go to help, that will allow you to serve. And in that you will find a great source of encouragement. It is kind of cool, those who serve, not only are blessing the ones they are serving, but they themselves are blessed in their service. It is a situation where everyone involved wins.

There are many practices, known as Spiritual Disciplines, that can be helpful as well. These are things like fasting, prayer, worship, service, study, simplicity, solitude, as well as a few others. They can be good tools to help us refocus and recharge.

I hope this has been helpful. If you have any thoughts or questions, please post them. God's blessings in Jesus.

Pastor CJ

It's All Part of the Plan

2008-04-23T09:45:00.003-06:00

Has God planned us from the beginning of time and does he know exactly where we will end up?

It is true that God knows everything. He knows all the decisions that we have ever made, and he knows all the decisions that we will ever make. Not only does he know that, but he knows everything that would be different had we made a different choice. He knows how life would be different if we had gone to a different school, or would have married a different spouse. So we say that God knows everything, we mean that God knows everything. This is one of those things that could keep you up all night.

It is important to understand that there is a difference between knowing that something will happen, or what will happen, and making something happen. It is like watching the movie Titanic. You know how that movie is going to end. You knew the ending before you even bought the ticket. No matter what was going to happen, the boat is going down. And no matter how much you want to change that, it won't change.

In the same way, because God does what is going to happen, does not mean that he makes it happen. Remember he knows every outcome of every possible path that we choose to go down.

Now, when it comes to salvation, we will find in the scriptures a paradox. A paradox is two statements that seem to contradict each other, but in reality both of them are true. You also have to be careful that you do not make arguments from silence. That is you have to be careful about saying that something is true, even though the scriptures don't tell us in so many words. God's word can speak for itself and it is best to not add to it.

With that in mind, God has chosen his people before the creation of the world, to be his people. For those who belong to him, that is a great source of comfort and strength. But you can't automatically assume that the opposite is true. You can't simply say that God then has chosen other people, who are not his, to be separated from him for all eternity. That is not how the scriptures speak. In fact, they say the opposite. God desires that all people would believe in him and come to know salvation in Jesus. God wants all people to be saved.

Because this is true, then the church has a pretty big mission to accomplish. And this not converting people, because only the Holy Spirit can do that, but it is for us to proclaim the good news of God's love in Jesus. To love and serve people as God would have us love them, and to speak and give witness to the hope that is in us. We do this, because from a spiritual perspective people are born in sin and are separated from God, they are spiritually dead and can, on a spiritual level, do nothing. They can't choose to follow Jesus or anything like that. However, the Holy Spirit works through his word, to give life to people, so that by the time they say, "I want to be a Christian" the Holy Spirit has already worked his wonderful work.

Now the Holy Spirit, can work in any way that he wants. However, he has chosen to work through the Scriptures, that is why it is important for us to proclaim them correctly, so that the Spirit can bring about salvation through them.

This is a topic that can be difficult to understand. But it is very much an important one. If you are in need of more explanation. Please let me know.

God's peace in Jesus.

Pastor CJ

Big Huge Super Bad Sin

2008-04-16T12:27:00.002-06:00

If you commit a big huge super bad sin how do you ask/receive forgiveness?

This question is a great question, because it gives us an opportunity to talk about a great topic and that is the forgiveness of our God. Before I get to that though, it is important to point out that we, as human beings, tend to think of sin not in the theological terms and implications, but in terms of consequences. Since the consequences of being angry with someone are not as bad as the consequences that come from murder we say that murder is a worse sin than being angry with someone. But actually, Jesus says that one is just as bad as the other. Now, this doesn't make a whole lot of sense to us, but that is because we think of sin in terms of consequences. But from sin separates us from God. There are no little sins or big sins or even big huge super bad sins. The wages of all sin is death and that we are to be separated from God. That is why sin is such serious business.
So what do you do when you have committed a sin and as a result of that sin there are big huge super bad consequences? You ask God to forgive you. You repent (change the way you think and act). And you ask the Holy Spirit to give you the strength to fix/correct your sinful life. Then after you have ask for forgiveness, you and rejoice in the joy of knowing that for the sake of Jesus, and because of his sacrifice on the cross, that God indeed forgives your sins. Sometimes it is helpful for us to tell our sin or to confess our sins to another person (i.e. a pastor) and to hear them tell us that we are certainly forgiven and that that is a good thing.
So that forgiveness is real and sure and certain. That forgiveness takes away the sin and the debt that results from that sin. However, that forgiveness does not remove the immediate consequences of the sin.
But the blessings and joy of the Christian community is that within that community we have a family of people who will support us and walk with us as we struggle to deal with those consequences. Because that is what it is to live life in the forgiveness of God.
May his joy and peace in Jesus be yours this week and always.

Pastor CJ

Questions & Answers

2008-04-09T09:43:00.002-06:00

Are there any completely right solid answers to questions or is it more of an experience that Go leads you through?

If this is a question about whether or not there is absolute truth, the answer is absolutely there is such thing as absolute truth. Because it does not come from us, but rather is something that comes from God.

I know that is not a popular kind of thing to post in our day and age, but it is posted with all love and respect. In saying this I am not placing myself above another, or making myself judge over them, nor am I trying to discount their experiences. I am simply writing out what I believe to be true.

Now this is not to say that life with God is all about head knowledge and correct answers that is devoid of any experience at all. God works through and in the experiences that we go through in our lives. The place where this becomes dangerous is when we expect or demand from God an answer or reason for why he allows the things that happen in our world.

It is not that God wants bad things to happen to people. In fact God desires that all people would come to a knowledge of the truth, and would know what life is like, when it is lived with him. The bad things that happen in our world happen because our world is broken by sin.

OK. But that then leads us to ask, why doesn't God fix it? And the answer is, that he did fix it in Jesus. Oh sure, we still see the results of the brokenness in our world, but, because of Jesus, we know that there will be a day when that brokenness will be completely removed, and all of creation will be restored. It is a very exciting kind of thing.

We also know that we who have been reconciled to God in Jesus, have been given the task of proclaiming that, and living that, and sharing that with others. In other words, we don't act better than anyone else, because we are not. We can disagree, but we do it respectfully. But we certainly do love, and serve and care for, and in doing this we are living and showing what it is to live life with God.

There are some Christians who have given a bad example. They have done some stupid, mean and evil things. But that does not mean that Christianity is bad, and the things those people did in the name of Christianity is not even Christian. So in our lives, in the things that we say and in the things that we do, we show that life with God, with his truths, is absolute, and is life the way that it was meant to be lived.

We show that it is a good thing, a blessing and a joy. And we give thanks and praise God for this awesome gift.

God's peace in Jesus.

Sincerely,
Pastor CJ

Help

2008-04-02T09:24:00.002-06:00

How do you help people who are moved by your faith find God?

This first thing you need to do is to memorize the entire Bible, that way you will be able to answer most questions. Then it would be helpful to memorize as many theology books as you can find, just be sure that they are books with good theology, because not all theology books are equal.

OK, OK. I probably took that one too far. But I wanted to use hyperbole to make a point. And that is this. It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that we have to have all the answers and that we have to know everything before we can share our faith with people. It is OK to admit that you don't have all the answers. There are those of us who have bee studying this stuff for a long time, and even though we may know a lot, we don't even have all the answers.

And that is OK. God has revalued to us in the Scriptures all that we need to know, but not necessarily all that we want to know. That point having been made, I think it is important to realize that we are not on our own in sharing our faith. But it is something that we do together as a Christian community. So if you don't know the answer to a question, you can come to me or someone else in the church and they can help. And I think that whole team effort is a very cool thing.

OK, now to the actual answer to the question. Are your ready for this? The answer is to be genuine. Share who you are as a child of God, and how and why that is important to you. Let the people see God's love flow through you, regardless of what they believe or think. Let them see you stand under God's forgiveness. You are not perfect, you don't have to pretend to be something that you are not. So be honest, be yourself. As we say in the order of Baptism (but Jesus said it first) Let your light so shine before others that they may see your good deeds and give glory to your Father in heaven.

And let's not underestimate the power of prayer. It is always important to pray and to ask that the truth of the Gospel would be heard and believed.

I hope that this helps answer the question. I look forward to your response. God's peace and hope and joy in Jesus.

Sincerely,
Pastor CJ

Exploration

2008-03-26T09:23:00.003-06:00

Are you allowed to have your "base" but explore outside of that zone?

This is the question of the week. The only thing is, I am not sure I understand what the question is asking. So with that in mind, I will attempt an answer. If I am missing the question, and you know who you are, simply let me know, and I will address the question correctly.

If this is a question about the validity of other religions, which is where I think it is going, and whether or not is OK to explore or take that which is good out of other religions, let me share some thoughts.

From a human perspective there are indeed other things in other religions that are good. Those things that tell people to care for the poor, to treat others well, to be driven by love and service. Those are indeed good things and can be lifted up. However, you do not need any religion to tell you that these things are good. They are simply written on our hearts.

From a spiritual perspective, any religion that leads us away from Jesus Christ, that point to another source of power or strength or salvation, is a false religion and that is not good. Now does this mean that we have to be ignorant of other religions? No. We need to be loving and respectful. We will have friends and family members that believe other things, and so they need to know that we love them, and that they are important to us no matter what they believe.

However, we don't have to go down the same paths that they are going down, and we can respectfully (and I place a lot of emphasis on respectfully) disagree with them.

Now there is value in knowing what other religions teach and believe, so that as we share in conversations we know how to bear witness to who Jesus is and how he alone gives us access to t Father.

I realize that in today's world of political correctness, this can sound harsh. But I do not intend to do anything but speak (or in this case type) the truth in love. I do not consider myself to be better than anyone else, but the things I share here are in agreement with God's word, and since I accept that as a valid source of truth, I am going to run with it.

Long and short, is that there is value in knowing what other religions teach, and (from a human perspective) there are some good things that are taught, but all that we need from a spiritual perspective is given graciously to us through Jesus Christ.

I hope this helps. I look forward to your responses and thoughts and questions.
God's peace, joy and hope in Jesus.

Pastor CJ

Other People

2008-03-18T14:56:00.002-06:00

Are people who are not in your faith bad or do they have worse qualities then us? Ultimately are we the same?

This is a fantastic question, but I am scared to answer it, because I am afraid that you won't believe me. And the reason why I am afraid that you won't believe me is because there are too many people out there who act in a way that is contrary to the correct answer.

The simple answer is that no, people not in our faith are no worse than we are. Nor are we any better than they are. Yes we are ultimately the same. This is especially true from the human perspective, that is from one human being to another. There is absolutely no reason why we should treat another human being any differently than we would like to be treated. There is not one person in this world whom God loves more than another. There is not one person who is better in his eyes than any one else.

In fact, God loved the world (that means each and every human being, regardless of what they believe) so very much that he deemed them worthy to die for. This means that the death and resurrection of Jesus tells us, that people have value and worth and they are to be treated accordingly.

You see, every single last one of us is a sinner. We have fallen short of the perfect life that is required by God. Left to our sins we are separated from God and from one another, and that is in no way shape or form a good thing. However, God did not choose to leave us in that state, and so he sent Jesus.

Now there are people out there who have decided that they do not want what God offers in Jesus. But that does not give us as Christians the right to treat them any differently.

Unfortunately, Christians have acted in some horrible, terrible and sinful ways against people who are not Christian. There is no excuse for this, and in fact, this kind of behavior does nothing but hurts our witness. Instead, as God's people we are to love and serve our neighbors regardless of what they believe or look like. We are not to show favorites, only the love of God.

Martin Luther has a great quote. He says, "It is the job of every Christian to be Christ to his neighbor."

I look forward to your responses, thoughts and questions. God bless you in this holy week.

Pastor CJ

How Do You in the Worst Cases Stay with Your Faith?

2008-03-11T12:36:00.004-06:00

This week's question is in the title (as they will be from here on). And even though the answer is not an easy one, I believe that staying with your faith in the worse cases is easy, because it is in our faith that we find the strength, courage and hope that we need to make it through those difficult times.
There is nothing in Christianity that says following Jesus will be easy, or that following Jesus means that there will be no problems in life, and that we will have everything that we want and desire. There are some Christians who teach that, but that is not how the Scriptures speak. In fact the Scriptures say the opposite. As followers of Jesus we can expect to face trials and troubles because we belong to Jesus and not to the world. And while that does not seem like very good news, it is because there is nothing better than belonging to Jesus. There is nothing anywhere else in the entire universe that can offer to us life and forgiveness, purpose hope and salvation like Jesus. There is nothing that gives us the value and worth that we have like Jesus, and nothing died for us as Jesus did. So even though life can be difficult for being faithful to Jesus, it is truly worth it, and many many Christians have paid the ultimate price because they believed that it was worth it.
Now what about this difficult times when we are not facing persecution, but just going through a very difficult time, maybe it is the loss of a loved one, or a job, or not getting into the school we hoped to, etc. In those times we remember and are reminded of the fact that Jesus is always with us. No matter what happens to us, we are never left alone and he is able to work through those hard times to draw us closer to himself. It is not always fun, but in the end we are stronger in our relationship with our God because of it. And we know that our God is faithful, and that he is true and that he will never allow us to have more than we can handle, although there are certainly those times when we wish that we could not handle as much as we do.
And not only is our God with us, but he gives to us one another as members of the church. This means that we do not have to go through life alone. This means that we don't have to do everything by ourselves, but we have one another to help us make it through those difficult times. Sometimes that means physically helping out, other times it means to uphold one another in prayer. But at any rate this is how we carry each other's burdens.
I look forward to your responses. God bless you this week and always.

Pastor CJ

Some Really Good Questions

2008-03-04T08:41:00.002-07:00

I don't want to give the impression that the Augsburg Confession is boring or not interesting. That is not the case. We have been spending quite a bit of time on it, and since we have started on that project, I have received a list of some really good questions. So I am going to spend the next few weeks going over those questions. If there is a huge outcry to bring back the articles, then I will bring them back sooner, otherwise we will stick with these questions for the time being.

If God is all-forgiving then why is there a hell?

When God created the universe, all that is seen and unseen. That creation was perfect. There was no sin or evil or sickness or death. One of the angles that God created became prideful, and this angel decided that he wanted to be God. This angel, who was created good, and as an servant of God, became the devil. He convinced other angels (these angels became demons) to wage war with him against God. It was for the devil and his demons that God created hell. Hell is not a place that was created for human beings. This is an important fact to understand, because it reveals God's heart toward people. Because of what the devil and his demons have done, they are to spend the rest of eternity separated from God's presence. That is what hell is, that is what it is to be damned. It means to be forever separated from God.

It is true that God is all-forgiving. What happens though is that not all people have decided that the like the way God has chosen to work forgiveness in our lives. You see the wages of sin is death. Sin separates us from God and from one another. In a sense it creates a debt, much like what you would accumulate on a credit card. Eventually you are going to have to pay the price. Well, God is his mercy and forgiveness sent Jesus to pay the price for us. That is how God forgives us, it is through the death and resurrection of Jesus. But God wants for all people to know this forgiveness through Jesus.

Imagine if you were sick and you went to the doctor and after the doctor checked you out he said, "I have just what you need. Take this pill, and you will get better." That would be good news. But what if you said, "I don't like that pill, I want to be healed in a different way. I want to heal myself, after all don't all treatments lead to the same level of health?"

You wouldn't talk that way, and we don't think that way in terms of medicine or most other things in life. Where things get sticky in the realm of religion is that Christians have not always given the best witness of this, and lived the best example. But that is why God's forgiveness is so great and such a big deal. And because this forgiveness has been given to us through Jesus, and he always does everything right, we can trust in him and be confident of that forgiveness that God has given to us.

I hope this answer the above question. I look forward to your responses. God bless you this week.

Pastor CJ

The 15th Article

2008-02-29T22:33:00.000-07:00

I have to admit that this is the longest that it has ever taken me to get around to typing out my blog. But I don’t know what else to say, it has been one crazy week. The article for this week basically covers the question of how does one be a Christian and still be part of the government. This is not a new question. The answer is simple. We understand that the government is something that is used by God to keep the peace and order, and so long as what is being done is being done in a God pleasing way there is no issue. The problem that comes with this kind of service is that it often has with it some kind of power, and for some people, that power is more than they can handle. But that does not mean that serving in the government, whether that be a Politician or a Police Office or a member of the Armed Forces, is a bad thing, and God often uses these people to bless us and protect us. Although I am not all the comfortable placing Politicians in the same grouping as police officers and members of the armed forces, but that is another blog for another time.
Luther writes in his explanation of the fourth petition that part of our “daily bread” that God gives to us is good government. Because even this goes toward giving our bodies what they need and supporting them. That being said, if you are serving God as part of the government, do not seek your own power and advancement, but seek to glorify God in your service.

I look forward to your thoughts and comments on this. God’s blessings.
Pastor CJ

What is Really Important?

2008-02-20T10:30:00.002-07:00

Today's article is an interesting one. It may be one that you have to read through a couple of times, before it makes sense, but the reality of it is that it is actually quite simple. The point that it makes is this; observances and festivals are good things, so long as they do not become a burden to the conscious and is not seen as something that will gain us some kind of merit with God.
It is so easy for us as human beings to take something and blow it way out of proportion. You can see this with any number of things. And if we are not careful we can give the impression that the things we do give us more value and worth before God. We have that for and through Jesus. But it is easy to take things that are good things in and of themselves, like worship styles or Bible translations or spiritual disciplines, and make them mandatory or use them as a way to see ourselves as better than others. I do not believe that that happens intentionally, but it is one of those things that comes about as a result of us being sinful human beings.
In Mark 2 Jesus is given a hard time because his disciples picked grain on the Sabbath. This was seen as breaking the law and the Pharisees did not understand how Jesus could allow this to happen. So what happened? Jesus said that the Sabbath was created for human beings, and not the other way around. This does not lessen the importance of the Sabbath as it is a command of God, but what Jesus is doing here is giving some perspective.
The same is true with this article for this week. It helps us to keep the things that we do in our lives, in regard to spirituality in perspective. So that the Gospel is what stands, and the life, death and resurrection of Jesus are held as above all else. This is not to say that worship styles or Bible translations, or spiritual disciples are unimportant, because they are very helpful, but it is a matter of keeping the main thing the main thing, so that we can live as God’s people in this world. I look forward to your thoughts and reactions on this. Blessings this week and always.

Pastor CJ

The Call

2008-02-12T14:21:00.001-07:00

Our article for this week is quite timely, and that is article number 14. This is one that is a little uncomfortable to write about, because it would be easy to come across as me saying, "Hey guess what, pastors are special and you should treat us accordingly. We are God's gift to the church and you need to act that way." The truth is that the office of pastor is a special thing, and that that office is God's gift to the church, but if any pastor is saying that, then there is probably something wrong.

It is this office that God has given to the church to proclaim the gospel and to administer the sacraments. It is not something to be taken lightly and it is certainly not something that should be used over and against a congregation. Instead having a pastor is something that should be a blessing to a congregation, one that allows them to grow in their relationships with one another and with their Lord.

I know for me it is an extreme honor. I am humbled and privileged to be able to serve God and his people in this capacity. It is not that I am better than anyone in the congregation; I just have a different set of gifts and abilities. And it is when those gifts and abilities are combined with the gifts and abilities of the other members of the congregation that we work together to glorify our God and to make know his love and grace and mercy. It is truly an awesome and amazing thing. This is the body of Christ working together to accomplish his work and mission in the world. I thank and praise God for this wonderful and amazing thing.

I look forward to your thoughts and reactions. God bless you this week and always.

Pastor CJ

Who is Worthy?

2008-02-07T10:48:00.000-07:00

Who is worthy to receive the sacrament? I'm sure that this is not a good thing, but for some reason, I can't shake the image of Wayne and Garth saying, “We’re not worthy! We're not worthy!" Now that that nonsense is out of the way, perhaps I can get to this point. In answer to Rich's question, I believe that what the article is speaking against is those who treat the sacrament as if it were some kind of magic kind of a thing. In fact we get the words, "Hocus pocus" from a misunderstanding of the Latin "Hoch es corpus" (I don't know Latin and apologize to those who do for my butchering of it here). Instead, where the worthiness comes from is faith in the words, "For you."
Luther's small catechism asks the question about who receives the sacrament in a worthy manner, and the answer is the one who believes the words "given and shed for you." Because believing those words requires faith. This means that we do not question how our Lord works or even is present in, with and under the bread and the wine. It doesn't make sense to us. It is beyond our logic or ability to understand. But since when do we need to understand something in order for it to be real or true or good. I don't understand how this computer that I am typing on works. I don't understand the furnace system that is keeping me warm right now. But that doesn't mean that they aren't real or good.
If Jesus says that the bread is his body and that the wine is his blood and that those things are given and shed for me for the forgiveness of my sins, even though that is way beyond my logic and ability to understand, I will accept that on faith. Because God is not a liar. Because I know that God is not bound to time and space and the laws of physics and all that good stuff. Because I know that God gives these things to me, so that I would receive forgiveness, life and salvation. Those things are there regardless of me. That is it is not dependant on me for those things to be present, they are present simply by the power of God’s word. That is where the power comes from.
Who is worthy? Well it is not me. Because I am a sinner. But I am in need of the forgiveness and life and salvation that are offered in this holy and wonderful sacrament. But I can receive it in a worthy manner because I have faith in the words, "for you."
I look forward to your response. God's blessings in Christ this week and always.

Pastor CJ

The Use of the Sacraments

2008-01-28T13:50:00.000-07:00

Where we have seen the previous articles discuss what the sacraments are, now in this week's article we see the use of the sacraments addressed. This is something that is truly awesome, and it is one of those things that is rich and deep and much time could be spent mining all the wealth in this.

In previous articles we saw how the sacraments were one of the marks of the church. And here it is stated, that not only are they a mark of the church but they also represent the will of God toward us. Do you want to know how God sees us, or what he thinks of us? Then you can look at the sacraments and the gifts that he gives to us through them. In the sacraments you and I receive forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. For where there is forgiveness of sins and also life and salvation. And as we are aware of this, and reminded of this, then we find strengthening of our faith and even a renewal of our faith. Because the sacraments are before us and part of our lives, they serve for us as a constant reminder of the love, forgiveness, and grace of our God. This makes them something very special and important for our lives and faith. This is why the presence of faith is important, because without that faith, you are saying that the sacraments are not as important as what they really are.

And so it is important to understand and to realize that in the sacraments God is the one who is at work. These are not things that are just commands that we do, as acts of obedience, although God did tell us to do them, but they are a part of our lives, because this is how God has chosen to pour out into our lives his grace, mercy and forgiveness. And because he pours those things out, then the sacraments are not just symbolic acts that we do.

The sacraments are a great gift that God has given to his people. And they are there for the strengthening and encouragement of God's people and of their faith. I pray that these will be a constant source of that comfort and faith for you too. I look forward to your questions and responses.

God's blessings in Jesus.

Pastor CJ