Thoughts From the Back Deck...

Psalm 95  (ESV) Oh come, let us worship and bow down;   let us kneel before the  Lord , our Maker!   For he is our God,  and we are the people of his pasture,  and the sheep of his hand.  Today, if you hear his voice,   do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,  as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,   when your fathers put me to the test   and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. Worship is acceptance,  Bowing down is acceptance, Kneeling is acceptance, Recognizing we are people of God's pasture is acceptance, Being "sheeple" is acceptance, Not hardening our hearts is acceptance, Not testing God is acceptance, ...acceptance that the LORD is God and that we are not!  Why the death of children in Hawaii? Why the property destruction in the wake of Idalia? Why the shooting in Jacksonville? Why the violence in our cities and schools? Why the corruption that seems ...

#10, Thoughts From The Back Deck... Ephesians 2:19   So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God It's darker than usual this morning on my back deck. The wind whistles through the screens. The pool has a higher water line than it did last night but it's not overflowing. Lakeland dodged another hurricane.  Others didn't!  One of the many things I have learned in Florida is when a hurricane comes through, there are no strangers or aliens (outsiders) in my experience. People step up unless they are fighting for cases of water that they will just end up giving away later because they over-bought! We learned quickly that if there is a water problem, we have bigger problems and probably need to evacuate! Still, overall, attitudes are different in times like this. People open up to each other. Help prep. Help clean up. Even open up their homes to others. This hurri...

#9 Thoughts From The Back Deck... Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Sometimes things we say or hear lack the clarity they should give us. Take for example the name of the current hurricane making life difficult for us in Florida.  Idalia: ( ee-DAL-ya) That word (in this case name) means "behold the sun".  Does the word "irony" come to mind? Great name for a hurricane!  The verse for the day does not leave any lack of clarity.  Map-driven identity (nationality, place of origin, language...), social or economic status (free or slave), or even your sex are irrelevant. Things of this world mean nothing to Jesus. People in this world mean everything to Jesus. He came and died for us. We share one common trait: we are all sinners in need of a savior.  Because of what Jesus did for us let's always start with looking at others as Jesus lo...

#8  From the back deck... Isaiah 26:3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. It began to hit yesterday... It's more difficult today as I looked out at the congregation and saw Michelle sitting alone during worship. Grace is back at Concordia Ann Arbor, MI. starting her final full year. 3 semesters left plus summer nursing rotations. Faith is at Concordia, Seward, Nebraska starting her freshman year. Wednesday she starts shooting practice at 6 a.m. Her first competition is right around the corner.  David, it looks like he might be ready to return to flight school. A mentor for the church has been helping him study for his private pilot test and taking him up in his plane. Time will tell. Right now he is working at Publix but he is ready to fly the coop and spread his wings. We will take and treasure whatever time we have left with him. I am usually up between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. starting my day, even on my day off! Saturdays were a da...

#7 thoughts from the back deck... Romans 12:4-5 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Recently, I read this history book. I felt it was thoughtfully written, covered our history in a balanced and encompassed the scope of time well. It did not try to cover up or excuse the past but did ask questions to make me think about how I judged our past in light of where we are and how we look at life today. The author did not shy away from our past difficulties and sins but also showed how we are different and have learned and grown as a people. The title, A Land of Hope , is fitting as the author reminds us of our history. The author did not try to give answers to questions about people's past behaviors because he was not there, and this was not "Bill and Ted's Most Excellent Adventure (a very goofy 90's movie reference!). I read...

#6  Thoughts from the back deck... Psalm 119:165 Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble. (ESV) When our kids were younger, and we were living in Alaska, they felt the need to complain about "mom's and dad's rules". Michelle listened and said: "Fine, no rules!" The kids were free to do whatever they wanted that cold winter day! No rules! Talk how they want. Eat what they want. Behave how they want. They greeted this new freedom with shouts of joy. Then, they began to test Michelle's resolve. "Can we have cake for breakfast?" There are no rules! Believe it or not, a day and a half later the kids were begging for rules! "Mom, stop this! We need rules!" Why the change of heart? They fought...a lot! They learned there were things not good for them or for their relationship with others. They still talk about and laugh about that time today as young adults. God really knows what is best for us. His law is th...

#5  Thoughts from the back deck... My hearing is not the best, especially in a room full of other people talking or ambient noise. Often, a single voice gets lost and jumbled up with the voices of others around me. It is my fault. I wrecked my hearing growing up. Headphones, a Walkman, and for those of you who are clueless as to what a Walkman is, Google it! There is a lot of noise in the world. Ideas compete for our attention. Certainly, the devil shouts out his distractions. So much noise. So many voices. No wonder we have a hard time hearing God speak. I had a close friend once tell me: "Andy, why should I pray? He has not done anything for me?" So much noise. So many voices. Have you experienced what I have experienced? I can give you a laundry list of items I have prayed for that are and were important, and yet...God was quiet. I have taken things before the altar of the Lord, seeking Him, and the ambient noise around me makes it hard to know if God hears me! I understan...

#4 Thoughts from the back deck...   Attached are two photos. One is from my time in Alaska serving the Lord in that beautiful place. The Dahl Sheep and Mountain Goats are a common sight when you know what to look for. The other photo is from our school chapel this morning. Today, 50 3rd-grade kids received their Bibles, surrounded by their parents or grandparents. This morning, I read this verse from Psalm 94:18-19, "When I thought, “My foot slips,” your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up. When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul." (ESV) It is a rare thing to see a Dahl Sheep or Mountain Goat lose its footing and fall. They are comfortable walking on very narrow cliff edges. Young ones bounce and play, sleep, and nurse from their mother on slivers of rock so narrow our shoe width hangs over. You and I, as we walk through life, walk on a very narrow path. There is no salvation without Jesus. That can be a scary thing, and we all can ask ourselves qu...

#3  Thoughts from the back deck... Romans 8:32, He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (ESV) It is the time of year when parents (including Michelle and I) see kids step away from us. The young mom looks over her shoulder as she sees her Kindergartener stepping through a steel door, across the threshold, and into a classroom. There are the parents looking in the rearview mirror as they drive away after dropping their young adult off at college. Their "child" is crossing a threshold into new experiences. Regardless of the age of our children, it is a time of year when they cross a threshold and enter a new world. A world with different faces to smile at. A world that will hold learning and growth. A place where there will be laughter, pain, joys, stress, forgiveness, and accountability. The other side of the threshold holds more than just learning facts and ideas. Life is more than the sum of w...

  #2 Thoughts from the back deck... When I saw this as the verse for the day, the words GOVERNED, FLESH, DEATH, SPIRIT, LIFE, and PEACE jumped off the page. (See gif attached). When I was told about the tumor on my pancreas. For a time, I was governed by flesh and thoughts of death. That is normal. Some things take time for our minds to process. While we can find strength in a variety of things like our spouses, our parents, our children, our own fortitude, even in the power of positive thinking... God gives us LIFE in Jesus. We don't have to be governed by the things of this world. We, instead, get to be governed by His Holy Spirit, who rests His hand on each of our hearts and minds. There, in Him who is greater than me... greater than my problems... greater than my fears... greater than my thoughts... greater than even death... is our LIFE and PEACE. LORD, continue to govern over me! Amen Message me, text me, call me, walk up, and tell me how I may pray for you this weekend or an...

 #1  Thoughts from the back deck... 1 Corinthians 13:12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. (ESV) For most of my life, up to a point, I lived life without glasses. Then I hit my 40's and ever since, I have watched my glasses get thicker! My eyes don't see as clearly as they used to, and it's not just because the Corgi jumped on my lap and did a "fly-by-licking!" Yet, as I have grown older, I do see some things a little clearer without glasses. I see God at work in ways I was too busy or "too young" to recognize. I also see in a way that brings understanding, of how God sees me: 1. As his child 2. As washed clean, made Holy by his son, my savior. 3. As broken but beautiful. 4. As one most precious and of great value. ...and God sees me and you as we truly are, fully! No blurry vision or hidden faults. And His response is the same: arms open,...