Monday Morning Quarterback – Nov 2!

YEAH – Go Eagles!  Way to take it to the Giants!  Ok – all done gloating – on to what really matters.  For a quarterback, sacks are a part of life.  For humans, death is sure to come.  God gives us hope in the face of this truth.  God has done something about death.  When Jesus died on the Cross He said, “It Is Finished!”  In Revelation 21 he again says “It Is Done!”  There will be a new heaven and new earth and God will be with us forever – its a done deal.  So why do we live in fear of the end?  I think its because we have a hard time grasping the basic truth of our faith – that Jesus died for us and rose to give us life.  He did that for you – just as you are and whatever state you find yourself in as you read this.  Yesterday in worship we sang the Laura Story song (done by Chris Tomlin) “Indescribable”  Great song – awesome lyrics – especially this one at the end that hits the nail on the head.  “You see the depths of my heart -And You love me the same”  Thats the deal.  Plain and simple – LOVE!  That’s why we can trust our eternity to Him!

Monday Evening Quarterback

Hey it’s a very brief nightime edition of the Quarterback.  Yesterday our church celebrated the Reformation.  What that means is that we remember what God did through a guy named Martin Luther back in the 1500’s.  It was so clear this year that we don’t do this to celebrate Martin Luther, but what God did through him. Through Luther, God got His church back on track.  So instead of never knowing if you are saved and whether you could do enough to earn a spot in heaven, you can know that God loves you because He sent Jesus to die and rise for you.  Jesus and His sacrifice is our confidence, not church attendence or earning enough merit badges.  For me – this focus on Jesus and His finished work on the cross to save me from my sins is what being part of the Lutheran tribe is all about.

I met Luther!

I met Luther!  No, not that Luther but a Lutheran named Luther, how’s about that.  It was so cool, the family and I were in Brown County Indiana this past week for a two day deal and we met this farmer named Luther.  Luther is in his 70s and was selling pumpkins by the side of the road.  We stopped, bought some pumpkins and got to talking.  Seems he’s a Lutheran too.  His pastor is a retired pastor we have met before who runs to Book Loft, bookstore in nearby Nashville (no not that Nashville) – the Indiana Nashville.  We had just talked to his pastor like an hour before and it was cool to talk with the great man of God and spend a few moments with him.  I thought, hey, this is what life should be like – bumping into amazing people and hearing their stories.  God has so many cool ways of encouraging us – for me and my family it was Luther and pastor Berg!

New Thrice Rules!

Go out and pick up the new Thrice record – great stuff.  I am lovin’ the disc – big time.   Standout track for me in “In Exile” which I think draws from the perspective of our time here on Earth as Gods people and how the New Heavens and Earth inspire us.  What a perspective – thanks guys for the reminder! Here are the lyrics – even better set to music – especially the chorus.  Its one of those good times to have something buzzing around in your head!     “My heart is filled with songs of forever -
Of a city that endures, where all is made new.”

I am an exile – a sojourner; A citizen of some other place.
All I’ve seen is just a glimmer in a shadowy mirror,
But I know one day I’ll see face to face.

I am a nomad – a wanderer; I have nowhere to lay my head down.
There’s no point in putting roots too deep when I’m moving on.
I’m not settling for this unsettling town.

My heart is filled with songs of forever -
Of a city that endures, where all is made new.
I know I don’t belong here; I’ll never
Call this place my home, I’m just passing through.

I am a pilgrim – a voyager; I won’t rest until my lips touch the shore -
Of the land that I’ve been longing for as long as I’ve lived,
Where there’ll be no pain or tears anymore.

My heart is filled with songs of forever -
Of a city that endures, where all is made new.
I know I don’t belong here; I’ll never
Call this place my home, I’m just passing through.

Monday Morning Quarterback – Oct 19-2009

Its Monday morning and time for another installment of the Monday Morning Quarterback!  This is where I comment on something that happening on Sunday while at church – sorry no ball scores here!  What struck me this week had to do with Communion.  It is such an amazing thing to behold all these families kneeling together even after they deal with some real struggles.  I know we say that the Lord’s Supper brings people together and has a way of healing.  It really hit home for me yesterday.  It was so very clear to me (for once) that God really does take care of things that do a number on families and their relationships.  Life has a way of beating us up and yet we can gather and focus on Gods love in Jesus and the wholeness His life brings us.  The life gives us goes from theory to lifesupport in a huge way.  I am grateful to God for continually opening the eyes of this punk kid from Jersey and making me see that He is real.

One Scary Sermon Series!

Yes it’s time for a new 3 week sermon series at St Pete’s!  This time around it’s gonna be scary.  Not zombie scary, not vampire scary, not Barry Manilow scary – way scarier (my apologies to any Manilow fans that wandered onto this – the guy makes me nervous – I know, it’s my problem – but hey this is my blog – sorry for the outburst)!  The series is gonna check out whats going on with this whole evil thing.  What is evil?  Does evil exist?  When can we consider someone or something evil?  It seems like Halloween is getting popular and looking evil seems to be the cool thing.  Evil is big – until we get hurt by it – then it’s gotstogo (new word by the way – excellent!).  So come on out and check it out in person or at www.stpeterportage.com starting next week for the audio.  There is also a link on the webpage to our itunes deal so you can subscribe and get the ranting on a regular basis.  I’ll leave you with this question: does evil dwell in our hearts or only in the hearts of the truly “bad” folks (assuming, of course that you have the moral fiber of our buddy Ned Flanders)?  Is there evil inside me that I need to deal with at the foot of the Cross?  What say you – give me some good sermon stuff ok!