March 7
Inspiration can come from all around us. From a sunrise, to a kind word, to a card in the mail, to a movie, TV show or book. Lately I have been re-reading J. R. R. Tolkien’s books The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. I also re-watched the movies as well. But as I was doing so, I was watching out for those messages of hope (It has been on my mind with these sermons). And there were many times of hopelessness in the book. People did not want to go on in the struggle. They were not sure if they could accomplish the enormous task before them. They thought about quitting or giving in. But because of that glimmer of hope that they had inside them, the pressed on and made it through. Hope does not disappoint. So press on and God will see you through.
February 28
Yesterday I was ordained as a pastor in the Missionary Church. This has been quite some time in coming and quite the journey to get here. I started in the ministry 23 years ago as a pastor out in Wichita, KS. I even started the process of ordination more than 20 year ago. However, after leaving my first church, God had other plans for me instead of continuing as a pastor. I never stopped following God’s will and knew he had called me to be a pastor. And I continued seeking to become a pastor at various churches but none opened up to me. For the next 16 years or so, I worked 6 different jobs (none in church ministry), moved 6 times, got married, had 3 children, and bought a house. And after all that, God finally opened a church where he has now called me. It was a long hard road, but as I have been preaching for these last two months, I continued to put my hope in God. And he has proven once again that he is faithful. Even during the darkest moments of those 16 years, he never left my side and he never let me forsake the call on my life to preach the gospel. And during those 16 years, I did preach the gospel, it just was not from a pulpit. It was by living my life out in the workforce, rubbing elbows with coworkers and bosses, displaying the hope that I had in Jesus for all to see. Ordination will not change that. And I hope that those who read this will realize that you do not need to be an ordained pastor to tell others about Jesus. Let your life be your sermon.
February 21
Tomorrow is 2/22/22 on a Tuesday. Time for tutus and taco twos-day. But it is also about who you are putting second in your life. Is it Jesus our yourself? Who is playing second fiddle in your orchestra? Have you ever seen those bumper stickers that say, “Jesus is my Co-Pilot”? If you have I hope that you disagree with it. Because Jesus does not want to be your co-pilot but the one flying your life. Put him in first place and let him take full and complete control of your life. Lower yourself to second and take your hands off the wheel (and no back seat driving!). (Can I mix the metaphors or what!)
February 14
Valentines Day 2022. Love is a wonderful thing. As I was reading my devotional this morning, I read through chapter 5 of Proverbs that has some wonderful advice on keeping love in the marriage. “Be faithful to your own wife, just as you drink water from your own well. Don’t pour your water in the streets; don’t give you love to just any woman. these things are yours alone and shouldn’t be shared with strangers. Be happy with the wife you married when you were young. She gives you joy as your fountain gives you water. She is as lovely and graceful as a deer. Let her love always make you happy; let here love always hold you captive.” (Prov 5:15-19) I am so thankful for the wife that God gave me. Happy Valentines Dear.
February 7
Sitting on my desk in the office is a mini calendar with a daily quote from some famous man of character. This week one of the quotes was from Dennis Byrd from his book “Rise and Walk”. If you do not remember who Dennis Byrd is he was a professional football player for the New York Jets. In 1992 during a game, Byrd collided with another player and broke his neck, leaving him paralyzed and unable to walk. Byrd however was a devote Christian and used this event to share his testimony and message of hope that he would walk again. Several quotes in my desk calendar reflect that he was able to talk to more people and share God with them more through this accident then he ever would have playing football. And so he saw the hope through the grey skies of his circumstances and was able to use this negative as a positive. He also never gave up hope and through intensive surgery and months of therapy, less then a year later he returned to the Meadowlands for the Jets’ home opener — walking to midfield as an honorary captain for the coin toss.
January 31
The idea of getting small bite sized pieces of hope is an interesting thought. It makes more sense of those Psalms that seem to have so much contrasts in them. It explains Psalm 22 the best. When we can take our eyes off of our problems and circumstances even for a moment, and look to God, we can experience a small window of hope, however brief, in which we can rest in God’s strength and power. And those times can mean the difference between making it through and giving up. So do not discount the precious gift of even bite-sized hope. It might not get us all the way to through, it will make those times a bit better.
January 24
January 17
We started off this week talking about hope. It is also interesting that today we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. He was a man full of hope. I will never forget some of the lines from his famous “I have a dream speech”. “So even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. . . I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today. . . .This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.”
January 10
I wanted to start the new year off with some thoughts on hope. I love the verse that I picked for this year’s theme verse from Romans 15:13, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” God’s hope filling us with joy and peace so that we will overflow with hope. I pray that this year our hope will overflow and make an impact on this church and community.
January 3, 2022
Happy New Year. Since we did not have worship service this week due to the weather, I will also not post much to this devotional. The sermon I prepared for Sunday will be preached on January 9th.