pastorsblog

It Was Inevitable; It Is Minnesota!

The picture above is the view of the deck outside our back door this morning.  After a mild winter with very little snow, we finally got hit this weekend.  The National Weather Service issued a winter warning for much of the state and The Minnesota State Highway Patrol is not advising any travel at this time.  It is the first time in several years that we have had to cancel church services due to the weather.  While we will miss our time of worship together today, I trust that many of you will find a time of personal or family devotion. 

Many not from the "cold north" as they like to call it, have a hard time understanding why anyone would ever want to live in this climate.  I have to admit that when I am shovelling snow, coming into the house with steamed up glasses or driving on solid ice, their observation seems to make a lot of sense.  However, as I sit here even now watching the soft, crisp flakes that continue to fall to the ground, I find myself reminiscing about a time when I was 6 years old, when my hometown was hit by one of the worst winter storms in years.  Labelled "The Blizzard of 66" the whole town was without electricity (yes, Heather, Gettysburg, SD, had electricty then), and a number of families were forced to make my grandparents home, where there was a fireplace, their temporary dwelling place.  Those memories still resinate in my mind as a time of family and friendship building.  We made the best of the situation.

That's how we learn to live in Minnesota.  We learn to make the best of it.  A few years ago when the two "snowthrowers" I had (my boys) got older and too busy to shovel anymore, I bought myself a snowblower.  Additionally, we own our share of hats and gloves and coats and scarves and know how to dress for the weather.  We all have ice skates, and snow skis and snowbords stand ready and at attention.  We ride snowmobiles whenever we get the chance and know how to not only use, but say the word "toboggan."  Our car has heated seats and one of our vehicles is a 4 wheel-drive.  My philosophy is that if God has called you to make your home in Minnesota, you might as well "live" in MInnesota!

With that said, I think I'll go make myself a hot cup of coffee, grab a blanket and a good book and crawl up into my Barcalounger next to the fireplace in our family room.  I need to get my rest before heading for the slopes at Afton Alps a little later this afternoon!

Love On A Shoestring Budget

I learned the value of the low budget getaway a number of years ago while teaching at a small private Bible college.  My  family lived on campus in one of the men's dormitories and I was the dorm supervisor.  In addition, I taught classes practically every morning during the week in the main campus building just 2 minutes away from our home, and had an office in the same building where I spent most of my afternoons.  I was on the ministerial staff of the church next door to the college and spent several evenings a week, as well as Sunday mornings there.  I rarely had to even get into my car.

As you can imagine, spending this much time in one location under these circumstances was not a real good recipe for sound peace of mind, and from time to time, we would need to " go out of town" to maintain our sanity.  While I will admit that my tenure there was one of the most blessed times of my life, I'm sure one would not be surprised to learn it was not one of the most lucrative times.  We did not have the money to take the kind of family vacations we would have liked to have taken back then, but we learned to make the most out of what we had. Our vacations usually consisted of getting a room at a hotel for the night in one of the nearby suburbs where we could just spend time together as a family playing games, eating out and watching old movies on television.

Now before anyone thinks I am trying to create a pity party here, let me say that we hardly ever felt that we were even sacrificing during those years.  God was good to us and we always felt blessed.  The point I am trying to make is that it is possible to enjoy life even when you don't have a lot of money.

I heard about a young couple several years ago who were just getting by.  Valentine's Day came around and he wanted to do something special, but did not have very much money to do a lot.  However, being the wise man that he was, he knew he had better do something!  So he invited his sweetheart out on a date to a restuarant were he could use a coupon.  Good try, but not good enough.  She became upset, implying that he was cheap and didn't love her enough to go "somewhere fancy" where they didn't have to use a coupon.  I'm sure he felt not only defeated, but deflated.

Now I believe in being extravagant whenever possible.  There is nothing I love more than showering those I care about with the best gifts I can afford.  Unfortunately, this is not always possible.  The Apostle Paul wrote, "I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound : every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need."  Let us always remember that "godliness with contentment is great gain" no matter what circumstances we find ourselves in.

By the way...  my Valentine's Day date with my sweetheart this year cost me a total of $8.00 (that includes the tip) after the $20.00 gift certificate that was given to us at Christmas time was applied.  Heather, I love you and there is no one else I would want to be with more than you.  Thank you, Dear, for letting us go low budget once in a while... Dear...  Dear... ?    :)

I See God's Hand

One of the greatest privileges of pastoring enjoyed by my wife and me is visiting the hospital following the birth of new babies born to members of the church we pastor.  We had that honor again yesterday when we visited the mother and new baby girl who was born to one of the young couples in our church the day before.  As Heather and I stood in the room and gazed upon this beautiful little baby, we were reminded of another Valentine's Day (actually February 12) 21 years ago, when our son, Andrew, was born.  We joked a little about how we spent Valentine's Day that year, and that even though we were not able to get in our traditional Valentine's Day date, what a blessed time it was to hold our precious little boy in our arms that special day.

One of the things that I always marvel at as I look upon a baby, especially a newborn, is the beauty of those little fingers.  It is a reminder to me that the Great Creator formed us by his hand from the dust of the ground and filled us with the breath of life.  One can't help but stand and marvel at the beauty of his creation in the sight and smell of a newborn baby.  One would think all of its intricacies would open even the most blinded of eyes.  Unfortunately, for some it seems, nothing would be enough.

On April 12, 1961, Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human being to travel into space.  There were speculations in the media, that from orbit Gagarin made the comment, "I don't see any God up here."  There are, however, no such words in the full verbatim record of Gagarin's conversations with the Earth during the spaceflight.  It was later discovered that the phrase originated from a speech by then Soviet Leader Nikita Khrushchev, where antireligious propaganda was being discussed. In a certain context Khrushchev said, "Gagarin flew into space, but didn't see any God there".

A few years later in their April 6, 1966 edition, Time Magazine splashed their cover with the caption, "Is God Dead?"  The question was borrowed from the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche who said, "God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him..."  The Time article began like this:

"Is God dead? It is a question that tantalizes both believers, who perhaps secretly fear that he is, and atheists, who possibly suspect that the answer is no."

The psalmist said it best when he wrote: "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork."  (Ps. 19:1)  This verse should be especially comforting for all believers.  God has chosen to reveal Himself in the big and the small.  Looking out at the stars on a crystal clear night can almost be mind boggling when we considered the vastness of God's creation.  No less magnificent is the reminder that when we see the hand of a new born baby, we can be reminded that the heavens where created by the hand of God for mankind to enjoy, and that's something to think about!

Congratulations, Brandon, Janie and Olivia (and extended family members), on the wonderful new addition to your family...  that little miracle named Samantha Isabelle.

Dogter Jagyl and Mr. Hienna

I have been writing this blog for almost nine months now, and I think I have resisted writing about our dog until now, but I want to tell you something really interesting (and somewhat humorous) about him.  I wish I had time to tell you about how he ended up coming home from the pet store one night with my wife and children, but that is another story...

Jag is a great family dog.  He loves everyone in our family, and everyone loves him.  He squeals and wags his tail when we come home and walk in the door and almost always wants to be right next to someone when we are at home.  He is a very loving dog... most of the time, however, when he decides it is time to eat (or at least time to "fake" like he is about to eat) he seems to become a totally different dog.  If he feels threatened at all that he might not get the opportunity to eat the food in his bowl, he will sit next to his bowl, look at us and give us the "evil eye" that basically says, "I may or may not decide to eat right now, but don't even think about telling me I can't eat if I want to."  It is really amazing to see this sweet, lovable little beagle dog transformed into a "hound of hell" for these few moments, then, to see him transformed back into his compliant little self following his meal.  It reminds me of the old familiar story about Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Created by Robert Louis Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was written in 1885.  Henry Jekyll was a prominent, well-known and well respected London doctor. He came to believe that within all humans there existed two countering forces, good and evil, and he began to experiment to separate the two, using himself as a guinea pig. Initially he acted out of scientific curiosity, but his experiments managed to unleash a version of him that was unfettered by society's restraints, able to enjoy all his forbidden desires; after this Jekyll continued his work because he secretly enjoyed the freedom this alter ego had compared to his respectable life as a reputable doctor. The chemical formula he discovered not only altered his mind, but his body also changed under it's influence - he became smaller, almost ape-like, and something about his very presence caused normal humans to be repulsed by him. Jekyll dubbed his other self Mr.Hyde.

I read a story once about the trial of Nazi war criminal, Adolph Eichmann.  A man who had been brutally treated by Eichmann during World War II had not seen Eichmann for decades, but was scheduled to testify against him at his trial.  This man was full of bitterness and hatred as he awaited Eichmann's appearance in the courtroom, however, upon Eichmann's entrance, this victim of Eichmann's cruelty fell to the ground, buried his hands in his face and began sobbing.  When asked later by news reporters why he had reacted this way, he responded by saying that over the years he had built Eichmann up in his mind as a dark, cruel monster of a being, but when he walked into the courtroom, thin, shackled and defeated, he realized that Eichmann was just a man after all.  He then said, "Eichmann is in all of us."  What he was trying to say is that the potential for evil is in all of us.  We need to be careful about the choices we make.  Paul the apostle said it this way in Romans 7:19:

"For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do." 

Paul wanted us to know that there is always going to be a struggle going on within us and he gave us the answer to overcome evil with good when he wrote again in 1 Corinthians 9:27:

But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection : lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway."

There will always be days that are not as good as others, when it seems like we are fighting a losing battle against sin, however, if we will purpose in our hearts to win the battle over self, with Christ's help, we will always tend to lean toward the Dr. Jekyl side of our nature (minus his proclivity to create a monster, or course... )