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Does Generosity Outpace Consumption?

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Each Lord’s Day, I usually take sermon notes. It helps keep me focused and attentive to what God is saying through the message. Last Sunday, I thought I would just listen and forget the note taking. We had taken a day off from our church to visit our son and celebrate our granddaughter’s birthday. As I listened to the message on a couple of the Ten Commandments, I couldn’t help but reach forward for a piece of note paper in the hymnal rack. With pen in hand, I feverishly tried to catch up with what I was hearing! Photo Credit: Andrew Moca unsplash.com We have worshipped in this setting before and have been blessed at other times to hear the lead pastor speak. He is a gifted communicator and always offers such insightful applications from the Bible text during his messages. The title to the sermon was “How to Keep Your Physical Blessings as Blessings.” The text was from Exodus 20 where Moses lists the Ten Commandments, and related teaching from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6. ...
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"Dust-Covered Disciples!"

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Recently, I had two special blessings. The first was on a Sunday as we gathered for worship in the church where our grandsons, Charlie (12 yrs.) and Dawson (10 yrs.), attend. These boys had made their public professions of faith over the summer at separate events. For Charlie, it was at a camp experience, and for Dawson, it was during Bible school. On this day, their dad, Dan, conducted the ceremony of believer’s baptism. In our tradition, any candidate for baptism must have first accepted Christ as Lord and Savior before baptism. Thus, it is called “believer’s baptism.” We believe that baptism symbolizes and celebrates a person’s inward, personal decision to follow Christ through the outward picture of their baptism. Retreating for Rest & Reflection! The baptismal formula that I have affirmed throughout my pastoral ministry involved saying these words over each candidate who entered the baptismal pool, “In obedience to the command of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And upon you...
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What is the Call to Ministry?

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We have two members of our family who are in a serious decision time in their lives. They are in that exciting liminal or threshold point of determining God’s will for their lives. More specifically, these men are praying about what the call of God looks like at the next chapter in their journey of ministry. One is sixteen and a half years-old and ready to wrap up his high school years, and the other is in his late forties and quite familiar with the unfolding of God’s plan for his life. He has a college education and some serious Bible study behind him along with plenty of work and life experiences that have shaped him. Credit: Jesus Loves Austin unsplash.com I have been at a similar juncture several times throughout the last sixty years since I first stood before my home church and surrendered my life for special service. That’s how intentionally broad the commitment to ministry looked like for me as a fifteen-year-old teenager. I had a lot to discover about the dynamic and ever-unfo...
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Baby Talk, Prayer, and Practice!

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We have a new baby in the church! His parents are so proud, and they cradle him in their arms with such care, as they introduce him throughout the Sunday morning crowd of friends. Several times now, Monique and I have gazed into his precious face with excited emotion. We are mesmerized by his sweet little features and the inquisitive look in his eyes. We have wondered what he is thinking about as he sees the many faces leaning forward to peer into his little face. We can’t help ourselves from speaking to him in “baby talk” with soft and higher pitched greetings! Family Prayer Image: vecteezy.com Babies bring celebration and new life to the church! They give us hope and the certainty of a blessed future in the next generations. When baby Jesus was presented in the Temple by Mary and Joseph, two mature adults, named Simeon and Anna, came up to bless Him with lofty words of praise. Simeon took the baby in his arms and exclaimed, “For my eyes have seen your salvation!” Anna also gave thank...
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Beating the Heat!

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With temperatures still in the nineties during mid-September, the extremes have those of us in central Illinois asking, “How do we beat the heat?”  The conventional answers include staying inside (if you have air conditioning), taking breaks in shady areas, seeking out a shelter like a library or other public buildings, using fans to move the air, keeping hydrated, and similar strategies. Electronic WBGT Meter Creator: SrA Willard E. Grande II We are fairly “weather wise” in keeping up through our local news station. It does a great job of informing us about trending weather conditions related to the temperature, humidity, wind speed, and solar radiation. I noticed this late summer, as high school football athletes were preparing for the fall season, that the sports staff at the station added additional stories about a metric that is being used to measure heat stress. This device is known by its acronym – WBGT which stands for “wet-bulb globe temperature.” Now, that’s a mouthful!...
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"Lord, Have Mercy"

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I don’t know if this frustrated employee meant it as a prayer, but I heard her say, “Lord, have mercy” while I waited at the slightly cracked open window. My reply was, “The Lord will answer a prayer like that!” She looked up at me a little surprised and embarrassed that I had overheard her self-talk. This lady, who takes my early morning orders at the local fast-food drive through, has complained before about her headset. She often apologizes to me that the device doesn’t always alert her to customers waiting at the ordering station. "I Swan!" credit: pngtree.com How do you express your frustrations? What is your “go-to saying” for these times? I had a beloved Texas friend, who served as secretary for our church. She would exclaim, “I swan!” when she was perplexed. The origin of this south wide phrase may simply be Baptist-speak for “I swear!” or I do declare!” I often heard one of my mentoring leaders in the church draw out this exclamation, “Geeeesh!” when he was frustrate...
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"What Unites Us"

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This past week, I was privileged to be involved in two ministries that united people near and far. My services, as a care pastor for our church, as well as a law enforcement chaplain with the state police, have given me unique opportunities to minister to others. I was privileged to officiate at the funeral of Terry Nydegger on Wednesday. Terry served the New Berlin community as Chief of Police and the Sangamon County Rescue Squad for a combined record-breaking 48 years of service! The Stars and Stripes credit: adobestock.com The life and service of Chief Nydegger was memorialized and widely celebrated across the county and state for his five decades of self-less dedication. His numerous skills and achievements were remembered along with his calm presence, hands-on experience, and steady leadership. He rescued and saved many lives and guided countless individuals through challenging circumstances as a SWAT team medic and member of the dive team. For the eight-mile motorcade from the ...
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