An early riser.

“Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let your hands not be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.”  Ecclesiastes 11:6

As you may, or may not know, I am an early riser, and this verse gives me something to hang my hat on when people shake their heads at when they learn that my day typically begins around 4:30 AM.  It is not that I love getting up early; it just happens, farm boy and cows.  While living in Haiti, getting to the office in Petionville by 5 AM meant that I could drive down Delmas with very little traffic to deal with; a good thing.  Leaving my apartment later than 6 AM increased the drive time by thirty minutes at a minimum as vehicles and hordes of pedestrians clogged the streets.

Working in the morning when the mind is fresh is generally best for me as my creative juices just seem to slow down in the late afternoon.  It would seem that this scripture would encourage each of us to work and not be idle from the break of day until sun is setting; stay busy with the time you have been given.  Through all of our labors, do the best we can with what we have been given.  Each of us has been given various talents and endless opportunities to serve our Triune God.  It doesn’t matter if we are young or old; our time and talents are so valuable for doing His work in His world.

Thank you for using your time and talents to feed His children in Haiti; whether it be morning, noon or night; thank you for answering and following His call to feed His children.  I close today with the words to the hymn ‘God of mercy, God of grace’ that was written by Henry F. Lyte in 1834.

“God of mercy, God of grace, show the brightness of Thy face; shine upon us, Savior, shine, fill Thy church with light divine, and Thy saving health extend unto earth's remotest end.  Let the people praise Thee, Lord!  Be by all that live adored; let the nations shout and sing Glory to their Savior King, at Thy feet their tribute pay, and Thy holy will obey.  Let the people praise Thee, Lord!  Earth shall then her fruits afford, God to man His blessing give, man to God devoted live; all below and all above one in joy and light and love.”

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.

May God be with you,

Jay

Got any thorns in your life?

“Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy.  But since they have no root, they last only a short time.  When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.  Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.  Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop; some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”  Mark 4:16-20

Have you ever walked in the tall, weedy area surrounding a lake and found that when you got back to your truck or house, your jeans and socks were filled with sandburs?  You can’t just shake them out.  One by one, you have to painfully pluck the thorns out.  Thorns are found everywhere in this fallen world of ours.  There are a plethora of prickly issues surrounding us that steal our joy, confidence, and may shake our faith in Jesus.   

The thorns in our fallen world are gang leaders, deceitful politicians and the ‘bad shepherds’ in our media.  They know nothing of peaceful coexistence with the life of God’s children.  They keep annoying us.  They sow seeds of disturbance, deception and discontentment.  They put themselves on a pedestal of self-made glory.  They are thorns.   

The thorns of this fallen world have a way pricking into your skin and causing you to get used to them.  It can be painless after a while.  We need to pluck them out, one by one.  Pulling them out may draw a few drops of blood and even leave a scar.  A scar left on your body, in your memory or in your wallet.  Pull them out; one by one.  Replace the scar with a closer walk with Jesus.  I've got a few ugly scars to prove it.  Each one is a mute reminder of the years I let them cling to my jeans, socks and life.  They can come back.  Pull them out.  Walk closer with our Savior.

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.

May God be with you,

Jay

Turn away from evil.

“Their teaching will spread like gangrene.  Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have departed from the truth.  They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some.  Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.” 2 Timothy 2:17-19

These verses from 2 Timothy hit the proverbial nail, squarely on the head yesterday, given the recent news here in the U.S. and also in Haiti.  These days, you can’t read the news from the ‘shepherds’ of this fallen world or watch much of the programming on cable or in the theater without thinking; ‘come Lord Jesus, come’.  There should be a vivid reminder that we can’t serve two gods; the God of Good and the god of evil.  Much of the media today inundates us with painful reminders of the shocking disregard for God's moral law in our culture; don’t try to compare their programs to the Ten Commandments.   

The Apostle Paul tells us in the above verses “turn away from evil."  I’ve been reading that one gang leader in Haiti wants to dialogue with the PM in Haiti and I am hopeful that our God will move the gang member to put down his weapons, repent, restore a relationship with Jesus and rebuild the wrongs that have been done to Haiti.  I am not trying to judge the leaders in Haiti or here in the U.S.; that is left to our Triune God.  We all need to come to our Heavenly Father, and repent of where we have been wrong.  We need to stop running away from Jesus and leave the ‘shepherds’ of this fallen world and come into a right relationship with our Savior.  Take a look into the mirror; are you proud, selfish or arrogant?  Politicians, have you taken credit for something that someone else did?  The evil ‘shepherds’ of this fallen world will take you farther and deeper than you want to go, they will keep you there longer than you want to stay, and it will cost you more than you want to pay.  Whatever changes you need to make to turn from evil; start today.  Don't hesitate because of the pain it may cause or the problems it may create.  Doing this requires changes; sometimes, drastic changes.  Like turning away from evil.  Like saying "no" to sin.  To the gang leaders in Haiti; turn away from evil.  That is our prayer for today; for them and us.

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.

May God be with you,

Jay

I grew up with cows; not sheep.

“Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them.  Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?  And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home.  Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’  I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” Luke 15:3-7

My early years growing up were spent on a farm in Seward County, and my parents had Holstein cows that needs to be milked twice daily.  My sister and me didn’t get to go on vacation very often.  I had read Bible stories about sheep and was glad we had cows.  My dad would yell a few words at the cows that were grazing in the pasture and they would come single file, walking to the barn when it was time to give milk.  I could easily see the difference between herding cows and sheep.  In my mind, herding sheep was more like herding stubborn people.

Ever get that feeling when the ‘shepherds’ of this fallen world tell you what to wear, drive, eat and who to vote for, that you are not really that important or able to think for yourself?  You are not that important; the ‘shepherds’ of this world are the important ones.  When they have the 99 who strayed back in their pen, well, that is good enough.  They can do without you.  No one really notices, needs, or cares about you.  After all, how important can one be among so many.

Thankfully, our Good Shepherd offers each of us a life-transforming perspective to assure us, and these kids from Haiti, just how valuable each of us are to Him.  We get lost; He finds us.  We get into trouble; He comes to our rescue.  The next time you begin feeling like you are unnoticed and unworthy, or struggling to believe how significant your contributions are to God, remember the above passages; you are worth more to God than you can possibly imagine.  Every individual, including you, is of immense worth to Him.   I grew up around cows but have learned how much I resemble a sheep.  We all do and thankfully, we have Jesus, our Good Shepherd.

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.

May God be with you,

Jay

How is God working thru you?

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”  Romans 8:28

Question for Saturday; how is God working through your life to accomplish the purpose for which he created you?  I can’t tell you how many times people have remarked that they don’t know what their purpose is in life, why are they still here and not in Heaven.

Why do you suppose that He called you to help feed children in Haiti who will one day bring the message of Hope to just one or two of the people riding in a truck on a bumpy street in Cap Haitian?  Why do you suppose that your 35 cents was used to provide a meal for one young life, who in turn when skipping down that street, heading home while singing ‘Jesus loves me’, planted a seed in the life of the woman riding in that red truck?  It is a God moment in time; you are called, the child attending the Lutheran school in Cap Haitian was called and the Holy Spirit is entering into that person riding in the back of the truck.

Alexa knocked another song out of the park yesterday.  She brought me the song ‘Softly and tenderly’ that was being sung by Merle Haggard and since he is in my range, we did a ragged duet.  This song was written by Will Thompson in 1880 and it is such a wonderful reminder that daily we are being called by Jesus to come home.  We are being called home as are the Haitian children attending school and the lost lives that they are touching.

“Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling, calling for you and for me; see, on the portals he's waiting and watching; watching for you and for me.  Come home, come home; ye who are weary come home; earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling, calling, O sinner, come home!  Why should we tary when Jesus is pleading, pleading for you and for me?  Why should we linger and heed not his mercies, mercies for you and for me?    Come home, come home; ye who are weary come home; earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling, calling, O sinner, come home!  Time is now fleeting, the moments are passing, passing from you and from me; shadows are gathering, deathbeds are coming, coming for you and for me.  Come home, come home; ye who are weary come home; earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling, calling, O sinner, come home!  O for the wonderful love he has promised, promised for you and for me!  Though we have sinned, he has mercy and pardon, pardon for you and for me.  Come home, come home; ye who are weary come home; earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling, calling, O sinner, come home!”

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.

May God be with you,

Jay

Great things accomplished.

“Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy.  Then it was said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.”  Psalm 126:2

When waiting for something, a traffic signal with a LONG red light, standing in line at the bank, waiting in a doctor office or waiting for a child at school are times when we probably don’t consider the great things that God has accomplished in our lives.

Back in the day when my oldest daughter gave birth to my first grandchild, she had waited for nine months.  The children in the attached photo are a few of the 155 children waiting for their noon meal at Pont Sonde which is located in the Artibonite District in Haiti.  As a Trinity HOPE supporter, I wait patiently for the next newsletter that has new photos and stories of lives being prepared to go into the mission fields of Haiti.

I hope that someday, when I am in Paradise, my children and grandchildren will never have to stand in line for our only meal of the day, as these children are doing on a hot noon in Haiti.  These children and you and me are waiting for one common blessing, being in Heaven with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  We have already received the blessing of being redeemed by His blood and are just waiting until our life’s work for Him has been accomplished.  Yesterday, Alexa didn’t keep me waiting for a good song and shared a song titled ‘Redeemed’ and the words were written by Fanny Crosby in 1882 and it’s message shares the joy that you, the children in Pont Sonde and me have.

“Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it!  Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb; redeemed through His infinite mercy, His child and forever I am.  Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb; redeemed, redeemed, His child and forever I am.  Redeemed, and so happy in Jesus, no language my rapture can tell; I know that the light of His presence with me doth continually dwell.  I think of my blessed Redeemer, I think of Him all the day long: I sing, for I cannot be silent; His love is the theme of my song.  I know there’s a crown that is waiting, in yonder bright mansion for me, and soon, with the spirits made perfect, at home with the Lord I shall be.”

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.

May God be with you,

Jay

Sharing His Word.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Hebrews 12:1

There is a saying that life without God is like an unsharpened pencil; it has no point.  I have given this saying a lot of thought recently as I have watched three funerals online within the past month; guess that I am reaching that point in time.  Sitting there at my PC during the celebration of life services and looking at people who I don’t recognize and don’t know if they too are redeemed or are just there at this service in honor of the departed.

These children in the attached photo are a small group of the 695 children attending school at Fonds Parisien and they, like you and me, have God’s word and we should be moved to put all that hinders us from sharing His word with the lost in this world.  It should be easy to do but satan continues to make it difficult.

“When you carry the Bible, Satan gets a headache.  When you open it, he collapses.  When he sees you reading it, he faints.  When he sees that you are living what you read, he flees and when you are about to share the Gospel news with others he will try and discourage you.”

Thank you for helping children like these with your prayers and support as they take the saving message of Jesus Christ to the lost in their neighborhoods.

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.

May God be with you,

Jay

We are one.

“I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.” John 17:11

“Ou fe yon sel”.  What was that you ask?  What image comes into your mind when you consider the message from our Savior in John 17 that says “we are one”?  During a Lent service a few months ago, while gazing at the Cross, listening to Pastor Fitzner’s message and then looking back over the congregation gathered in our Sanctuary the image of ‘we are one’ was present.

Back in the day while living in Lincoln, I recall when a young man from a non-denominational church had told me, when finding out that I was a ‘Lutheran’ told me that I wasn’t a ‘true’ Christian.  Being a Lutheran is not being a Christian?

Farther back in the day, while I was living in Haiti a member from another Lutheran Mission Society that supported a Lutheran Pastor in Haiti indicated that the Pastors that I was working with were not ‘really’ Lutheran Pastors.  According to them, being a Haitian Lutheran Pastor trained at the Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft. Wayne didn’t mean that they really are not ‘Lutheran’.

Political parties are now putting ads on the airwaves telling how good their candidates are and how bad the opponents ‘really’ are.  It seems that our society has become very prolific at pointing fingers, spreading facts that may or may not be true and proclaiming that ‘my way’ is the high way and you are wrong.  What is happening in our world?  We all can’t be right all of the time and we all can’t be wrong; all of the time.  We were all there when the crowd shouted for Pilate to release Barabbas.  We were all there during the scourging.  We were all there when the nails were being driven to hold our Savior on the cross.  We were all there when He said ‘it is finished.’  We were all there; He died for all of us. 

The children in the attached photo attend the Lutheran school in Ouanaminthe.  These three boys and three girls are like me; Lutherans and Christians.  Doesn’t matter what the ‘learned’ of this fallen world may say about these kids, you and me; Christ died for our sins and now He is risen; risen indeed!!!  Ou fe yon sel; we are one!  Thank you for joining me in supporting the Trinity HOPE feeding program at their school.  I thought that a good song to close this devotion today would be the words to ‘We are one in the Spirit’ that was written by Peter Scholte.

“We are One in The Spirit, we are One in The Lord.  We are One in The Spirit, we are One in The Lord.  And we pray that all unity may one day be restored.  And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our Love, yes they'll know we are Christians by our love.  We will work with each other, we will work side by side. We will work with each other, we will work side by side.  And we'll guard each man's dignity and save each man's pride.  We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand.  We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand.  And together we'll spread the News that God is in our land.”

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.

May God be with you,

Jay

I am praying for you.

“Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains.  Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.” Ephesians 6:19-20

Every Wednesday morning at 7:20, the Elders and Pastor Smith at my congregation gather around the altar and pray out loud.  We celebrate having a God who is always with us, give thanks for all that God has done for us, confess when we have strayed and pray for our congregation, families, friends, country, state, city and those who have strayed.  When reading these verses from Ephesians, we can imagine that the Apostles like Paul, Peter, James, and John were daily praying for others.

There are many things in our fallen world that too often, conspire against such a commitment to prayer; daily prayer.  Our busy schedules, our intense desire to give our kids the best education and life experiences we can, and simply forgetfulness.  Satan does that to us.

We need to strive to be in prayer daily; for us and for these kids in Haiti.  Praying for God's people was forefront on the minds of the apostles in the early church.  They counted on it from those they served.  Dear brothers and sisters, the members of the Trinity HOPE board of directors ask you to pray for them and these Haitian kids.  Please pray daily that the Lord's message will spread rapidly throughout Haiti and be honored wherever it goes.  Pray too for an end to the chaos that fills the streets, that those kids will be rescued from wicked and evil people.

Please, make praying for others, here and there, a high priority.  You will join the mission of God and participate in unleashing God's mighty power in their lives.

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.

May God be with you,

Jay

Old letters.

“Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way.  The Lord be with all of you.  I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand, which is the distinguishing mark in all my letters.  This is how I write.  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.” 2 Thessalonians 3:16-18

Have you had an opportunity to look back through ‘old’ letters from your parents or grandparents?  Were there written in cursive?  If I had to write in cursive today, my hand would not be writing.  My writing today is either done by printing or using a keyboard.  Ninety-nine percent of my thoughts are conveyed through the computer.  When I send out sympathy cards, a typed letter is my preferred method over handwriting and that is most likely due to legibility so the receiver can read my message.

Back in the day, the Apostle Paul wrote his letters or had a scribe with him that took down his words.  Imagine what Paul would have done with a laptop?  Spend a moment to consider the great documents of history that were written using a stylus or pen held in the hand of the significant person, including a signature.  Such works as the early creeds, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the first Bible, the first books, documents like the Magna Carta, the Declaration of Independence and Constitution of the United States, the Gettysburg Address, and other original speeches and proclamations, not to mention journal entries and poems and songs and letters and love notes; they were all handwritten.  Each word, each page, helped shape the past and now forms a legacy of literary treasure so valuable it is beyond price.

Consider the Apostle Paul, with his ancient stylus in hand, the flicker of a candle as a chilly draft blows through the dark room, the flow of ink, and such moving words in the verses from 2 Thessalonians.  Paul and his scribe probably were not able to write 70 words per minute; patience.  Periodically, as a Trinity HOPE school sponsor, I get a few pages of pictures from students in Haiti with a handwritten message and I think about where they wrote it and how long it took them.  Receiving their Thank You page means a lot to me, seeing their words and imagining their hand gripping a pencil and feeling their love on that page speaks volumes to me.  Are you a donor?

If you would like to receive a letter and a few photos from a bunch of Haitian kids being fed by your hand, check out the Trinity HOPE website for instructions.  Have a blessed Monday. 

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.

May God be with you,

Jay