Catch A Wave

Summer is the perfect time to catch a wave.  In Arizona with our dry heat that isn’t as easy to do as it is in California or Hawaii.

The wave I’m referring to however has nothing to do with ocean water, but has everything to do with living water.

The grace of our Lord Jesus , the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.  That is the wave that we catch a ride on every week at worship and I hope everyday as we go about our business.

The unrest in the Middle East, the violence and persecution that show up in our headlines everyday, the insistence of society today to force everyone to accept any and all lifestyles as permissible and continuing of the “dumbing down” of America, all of these factors make catching that wave all the more important.

Jesus warned us of the very things that are happening today. 

Mark 13:5-13 GW  Jesus answered them, "Be careful not to let anyone deceive you.  (6)  Many will come using my name. They will say, 'I am he,' and they will deceive many people.  (7)  "When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, don't be alarmed! These things must happen, but they don't mean that the end has come.  (8)  Nation will fight against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes and famines in various places. These are only the beginning pains of the end.  (9)  "Be on your guard! People will hand you over to the Jewish courts and whip you in their synagogues. You will stand in front of governors and kings to testify to them because of me.  (10)  But first, the Good News must be spread to all nations.  (11)  When they take you away to hand you over to the authorities, don't worry ahead of time about what you will say. Instead, say whatever is given to you to say when the time comes. Indeed, you are not the one who will be speaking, but the Holy Spirit will.  (12)  "Brother will hand over brother to death; a father will hand over his child. Children will rebel against their parents and kill them.  (13)  Everyone will hate you because you are committed to me. But the person who endures to the end will be saved.

Catch that wave,

Pastor Steve

Time For An Upgrade

The Pope said in a recent interview that the church is spending too much time on issues like abortion and homosexuality.  The church is obsessing about these issues and needs to be all inclusive, the church needs to find a new balance. 

His words not mine.

Jesus warned us about times like this.  Jesus said that there would be those who come and say they are from me, but are not.

The Pope has a point, we do obsess about minor points and ignore the major point.

Jesus is the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.  John 14:6

That is the major point and all others are minor points.

If Jesus Christ is indeed your Lord and Savior then abortion and homosexual relationships are not part of your makeup.

You can’t kneel down to Jesus and ignore the rest of the teachings of the Bible, because,  you have died to sin and been born again of the Spirit.

You are indeed no longer of the world but merely living in the world, now a member of Christ’s Kingdom.

You think different, act different and live different.

If you merely mouth Jesus Christ but live of the world you are not living in faith.

No matter how much you complain, petition, insist or protest, the laws of God are the laws of God.

God indeed wants to embrace all of mankind.  God indeed wants to save everyone. 

That is why God sent His Son to be our sacrifice, to atone for our sins.

After all that, why would you expect God to say, “Gosh here it is 2013, time to do an upgrade to my Word.”

If Christ is your Savior, if you acknowledge Him as your King, then you follow Biblical teachings, you hold all life sacred and you abhor sexual sin.

Does the church need to find a new balance, do an upgrade?  I don’t think so.  The Gospel of Jesus Christ is all inclusive.  I think the church needs to reinforce the main message!

Blessings,

Pastor Steve

Analog Man

Analog Man

Welcome to cyberspace, I'm lost in the fog

everything's digital I'm still analog

when something goes wrong

I don't have a clue

some 10-year-old smart  *** has to show me what to do

Sign on with high speed you don't have to wait

Sit there for days and vegetate

I access my email, read all my spam, I'm an analog man.

The whole world's living in a digital dream

it's not really there

it's all on the screen

makes me forget who I am

I'm an analog man

Turn on the tube, watch until dawn

one hundred channels, nothing is on

endless commercials, endless commercials, endless commercials

The whole world's glued to the cable TV

It looks so real on the big LCD

murder and violence are rated PG, too bad for the children

they are what they see

Joe  Walsh 2012

Joe Walsh 2012

Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord,

 Joe Walsh, rock guitar and jammer for the James Gang, The Eagles  and his own solo career.   66 years young and still touring playing hard pounding rock and commenting on the world as he sees it. 

I agree that we are becoming one dimensional, living on a screen, no longer dealing with reality.

We hide in our screen and create perfection because the real world is messy.

 In another 20 years we will lose all artistic creativeness because we won’t be using paint, paper, pen, pencil, instruments or our own vocals.

The new art is one dimensional, the new music is synthetic with maybe 8 words.

 None of it can be presented live because it is all done on a computer. 

 Many people also see God as analog.  They feel that time as passed him by and it is time to reinvent him.

How wrong they are.  Every time we come up with something new, God must raise his eyebrows and think, “you finally got that?”

 God is way past digital, God IS.

We are living in an “I deserve this environment”.

Waiting for a reward is unthinkable.  We must have it now, we deserve to have it now, it is our right to have it now.

Really?  Are we really serious?

What we deserve right now is instant judgment.  What we deserve right now is eternal damnation for the lifestyle that we have chosen.  What we deserve right now is the Second Coming.

 What we are getting however is God’s grace.  God most assuredly could end it all right now but he isn’t finished with us yet.

Jesus came that all could be saved. 

We were given our walking orders , Matthew 28:18-20  When Jesus came near, he spoke to them. He said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  (19)  So wherever you go, make disciples of all nations: Baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  (20)  Teach them to do everything I have commanded you. "And remember that I am always with you until the end of time."

 God is way past digital, God is waiting for us to catch up. 

 God does not need to be reinvented, we just need  tell the story , share the Good News, the world will do whatever it thinks is right for the moment, but we can make a difference.

For the confusion we have a simple solution, better than vinyl, better than 8-track, better than CD, Better than streaming in the cloud. God Is, Jesus Is, you need it.

Blessings,

Pastor Steve

Spread It!

Our neighbors are camp hosts in Oregon for the summer from May through September.  I am taking care of their three horses, feeding them twice a day and putting eye drops and salve in one of their eyes twice a day.

I am amazed at how big these guy’s are and how much they eat.

They also relieve themselves a lot and this is the point of my story.

The neighbor has a little tractor and manure spreader.  Patti drives it, I fill it, and Patti spreads it.

The tractor is a Sears and my Dad always told me “Sears stands behind everything they sell except their manure spreaders, they stand beside those.”

Well I stand beside it as well.

As I fill and the spreader and watch Patti spread it, I am reminded that this is what we do with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

We have an unlimited supply and we spread the Gospel wherever we go.

Some of it takes hold, some of it falls on deaf ears, some lays dormant before taking hold.

We continue to spread the Good News but some people see it as just so much manure.

Paul says “The message about the cross is nonsense to those who are being destroyed, but it is God's power to us who are being saved.”

1Corinthians  1:18  

We continue therefore to spread the never ending supply of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those in the darkness around us.

Unlike the guarantee from Sears,  God stands behind us, promising us that nothing on this earth, above this earth or under this earth can ever take us from him.

When we spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ we are preparing the non believer for the Holy Spirit which will lead them to Christ.

Enjoy your summer, see how much you can spread!

Blessings,

Pastor Steve

The End Is Near

As the church year winds down we here Jesus expounding on a familiar theme, "The Kingdom of Heaven is like..."

Matthew 25 tells us it is like the ten bridesmaid who took their lamps to meet the bridegroom, five were wise and brought extra oil for their lamps, five were foolish and ran out of oil.  Next the man going on a trip, entrusting different sums to his servants, two double the sum and the third buries hit only to return it with no interest.  Finally, when the Son of Man comes he will separate the sheep and the goats.  The sheep get into the kingdom because the king says when he was hungry they fed him, when he was thirsty they gave him something to drink, when he was sick they cared for him, when he was in prison they visited him.

So lets see, we need to keep extra oil for our lamps, double our money and feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, care for the sick, visit the prisons and we get into the Kingdom of Heaven.

Well keeping extra oil for the lamps seems strange, I wonder if keeping extra batteries will do?  Doubling our money can also be risky and somewhat impossible, burying it doesn't seem like a good idea either but just hanging onto it can be hard enough.

Feeding the hungry, giving water to the thirsty, caring for the sick and visiting the prison's can be costly and dangerous.

That seems very difficult to do, how are we supposed to follow those rules?

Awake, Awake and Greet the New Morn

Awake! awake, and greet the new morn,
an angel heralds its dawning,
sing out your joy, for Christ will be born,
God's gift, this Child of our longing.
Christ comes as a baby weak and poor,
to bring all hearts together,
to open wide the heavenly door,
and live here inside us forever.

To everyone who sorrows or fears,
Emmanuel comes a singing;
the humble song is quiet and clear,
but fills the earth with its ringing.
Music to heal the broken soul
and hymns of loving kindness,
the thunder of the anthems roll
to shatter all hate and injustice.

In deepest night Christ's coming shall be,
when all the world is despairing.
Where people long to love and be free,
Christ comes to speak of God's caring.
A soul without voice breaks forth in song,
a lame one leaps in wonder,
the weak are raised above the strong,
and weapons are broken asunder.

Rejoice, rejoice, take heart in the night,
though winds blow wildly and cheerless,
the rising sun shall crown you with light,
be strong and loving and fearless.
Love be our song and love our prayer,
and love, our endless story,
may God fill every day we share,
and bring us at last into glory.

Music: Rejoice, Rejoice Marty Haugen (20th C)
Words: Marty Haugen (20th C)
Sequence: Cathouse Pandemonium, Ltd.Blessings,

As we start a new year, the words of this hymn take on a special meaning.

We have at our disposal 365 days,  8760 hours, 525,600 minutes to share the Good News of Jesus the Christ and the Love of God, our Father to those we see each day.

We have a clean slate to fill with all of God’s love for human kind.  To show the world around us that while they walk in darkness there is light, a light that came into the world over 2000 years ago to save mankind.

We have 365 days to give hope, comfort, strength and love to those who are yearning for a better way.

Our Christian walk should be evident every hour of every day to those we come in contact with.  We can be hope to those in the darkness by show the light of Christ through God’s love.

May 2014 be a year of many blessings to you, and may you be a blessing to those you see all year long.

Peace & Love

Pastor Steve

Look! The Lamb of God!

John 1:29-42 GW John saw Jesus coming toward him the next day and said, "Look! This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. (30) He is the one I spoke about when I said, 'A man who comes after me was before me because he existed before I did.' (31) I didn't know who he was. However, I came to baptize with water to show him to the people of Israel." (32) John said, "I saw the Spirit come down as a dove from heaven and stay on him. (33) I didn't know who he was. But God, who sent me to baptize with water, had told me, 'When you see the Spirit come down and stay on someone, you'll know that person is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' (34) I have seen this and have declared that this is the Son of God." (35) The next day John was standing with two of his disciples. (36) John saw Jesus walk by. John said, "Look! This is the Lamb of God." (37) When the two disciples heard John say this, they followed Jesus. (38) Jesus turned around and saw them following him. He asked them, "What are you looking for?" They said to him, "Rabbi" (which means "teacher"), "where are you staying?" (39) Jesus told them, "Come, and you will see." So they went to see where he was staying and spent the rest of that day with him. It was about ten o'clock in the morning. (40) Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two disciples who heard John and followed Jesus. (41) Andrew at once found his brother Simon and told him, "We have found the Messiah" (which means "Christ"). (42) Andrew brought Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked at Simon and said, "You are Simon, son of John. Your name will be Cephas" (which means "Peter").

John has seen his ministry coming to a close. He has seen the Lamb of God, the one that he was preparing the way for. He is excited to point him out to his disciples and anyone else he happens to be with.

Andrew, Simon Peter's brother is one of the disciples who was with John and after confirming that Jesus is the Christ, he runs to tell his brother.

That's evangelism folks. Being excited about Christ and telling you friends and family about him, telling everyone else you come in contact with.

The Jesus movement of the 1960's and 1970's that I was involved with started many of the changes we have today in the style an music of worship. A number of musicians became members of the movement and a Christian theme entered their music and lyrics.

The counter culture was divided by those for and those against Jesus but both against the establishment.

Jesus Freak was the name given, a name meant to be derogatory. Instead the movement embraced the name and Jesus Freak became an accepted name to be known by them.

Today it depends on who you ask, some see Jesus Freak as a nut case, others as an evangelist not afraid to share their faith.

Vineyard Churches, Calvary Chapel, Maranatha! (O Come Lord, Lord Has Come) Music and most of the Christian Rock we have today happened because of the movement. Some church bodies embraced and took in the movement, others condemned and distanced themselves from the movement.

Witnessing as a Christian is supposed to be like Andrew running to his Brother Simon. It is supposed to be full of energy, love and excitement. Wow! Look what I found!

What Andrew found we have found, Jesus the Christ, the Lamb or sacrifice of God for our sins.

Isn't that exciting? Are we sharing that?

The Good News of Jesus Christ should be in every one hand. It should be studied by everyone who has heard it, it should be lived by everyone who believes it.

We aren't asked to be Billy Graham's or TD Jakes or Joel Osteen's or Rick Warren's. We are asked to spread the word, one by one, to those we know.

The script is simple, John 3:16 God loved the world this way: He gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him will not die but will have eternal life.

That's pretty simple isn't it? Tell the story, pray for the Holy Spirit to enter their heart, and invite them to church. Come with them and help them see Jesus.

We don't need a fancy building, a radio show, a tv show or an internet streaming video. One on one and prayer.