Pastor Tommy’s blog

Article from the AP wire caught my attention a couple days ago.  Writers ALAN FRAM and EILEEN PUTMAN opened the piece with a stark observation –

“Is everything spinning out of control?   Midwestern levees are bursting. Polar bears are adrift. Gas prices are skyrocketing. Home values are abysmal. Air fares, college tuition and health care border on unaffordable. Wars without end rage in Iraq, Afghanistan and against terrorism.  Horatio Alger, twist in your grave.”

These writers bemoan the general decline in all that seems to make Americans feel safe, secure, and confident in our situation.  It’s a realistic, if not depressing assessment of the status quo, which some wise person has observed, really means “the mess we’s in.” 

If the only point of reference I had to consider the relative health of our society and culture were temporal, physical things such as the article mentions, I guess I would be more than a little depressed.  No wonder the liberals are so anxious to change things!  However, I have another, more accurate and true point of reference — the Word of God.  The Scriptures tell us that we live in a fallen world, a world that is tainted and messed up because of human sinfulness.  While this profound truth gives perspective, it is still very depressing because it means that we are all in deep trouble.  When you think about it, we should be surprised whenever something goes right instead of being so woeful when they go awry. 

Here’s the really good news, folks.  Jesus promised us that HE is going to make it all right again!  I’ve read the last chapter, and in the end, the good guys win.  The catch is that only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life are the “good guys.”  All the rest will be thrown into the lake of fire for all eternity.  Just read the last few chapters of Revelation.  The logical, natural end of the direction in which this world is traveling is toward destruction, as God has decreed.  Friends, I truly hope and pray that you will be counted among the “good guys” by having repented of your sinfulness and trusted in the sacrificial, substitionary death and resurrection of Jesus — THE ONLY SAVIOR.

Fram and Putman end their article with this pitiful, hopeless observation -

“Why the vulnerability? After all, this is the 21st century, not a more primitive past when little in life was assured. Surely people know how to fix problems now.  Maybe. And maybe this is what the 21st century will be about — a great unraveling of some things long taken for granted.”

I’m not one of those who thinks we all need to hoard food, cash, and ammunition for the coming destruction.  God’s grace extends to the whole world for the sake of the elect, and that means that tough times don’t last forever.  However, we need to be realistic and consider that “the good old days” are the days we are in right now.  Only God knows what tomorrow may bring, and we should have an attitude of appreciation for those blessings we truly take for granted, because the day will surely come when the prosperity we think we deserve will be taken from us. 

My prayer for you (and for myself) is that we would be strong in faith as the great Apostle Paul, who wrote in Philippians 4 –

I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.  I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.  I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. 

Here is the Christian response to a world in which there is “a great unraveling of things long taken for granted.”  The only hope lies in Christ and the strength He alone provides.  Are you prepared for what tomorrow may bring?  Do you have this great hope in Christ?  I pray that you do.

By the way, you can read the article in its entirety here.

I just finished recording a few thoughts in regard to recent natural disasters.  It’s a bit long, so take your time.  Thanks for reading.

These past several weeks have been very difficult for us here in Northeast Iowa.  The weather has presented challenges to us all at once more than anyone can remember.  All the problems, from wet fields to flooding to tornadoes and even the cooler-than-normal temperatures, have us all wondering where God has been through all the troubles and suffering.  I have been wondering the same thing, and I thought I would share a few observations that we all need to remember.

Remember the Rainbow

First of all, it is common to ask the question, “Why did God let all this happen?”, but that question does not really get us where we need to go.  The answer to the “why” is that God’s majesty and glory might be revealed.  The Bible tells us that “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.” (Hab 2:14) 

The real question we need to ask is this, “What is God saying to us?”  As I consider the nature and personality of Almighty God as He has dealt with His people down through the years, a few thoughts from the Scriptures come to mind.  One source of great comfort comes from the story of Noah.  On a recent detour around the flooded city of Cedar Rapids, I saw a sign that read, “Send for Noah, we need an ark.”  The good news is that we need never worry about worldwide destruction from flooding.  Genesis 9:12-15 says, “God said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud, and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh.”  While it is true that many people are suffering from the flooding, it is also true that the flood only affects a small area as compared to the rest of the country, or even the world.  God is calling us to remember the rainbow and His promise to all the world that it signifies.

Repent of Your Sins

Another important message from God to us is that we live in a fallen world, a world that is tainted by the presence of human sin and rebellion against God’s authority.  Romans 8 tells us, “for the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it . . . we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pain of childbirth together until now.”  Our world is all messed up, and we are the cause.  I’m not talking about “global warming” here, but the tragic and universal effects of human sin on all creation.  The message for us here is simply that there is much of life over which we have no control.  God Himself is the Lord and Master of all creation, and we have to take what comes.  Because of this fact, we remember the words of Jesus, “He causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”  Think of it this way – if God caused all evil in the world to disappear, where would that leave you and me?  The fact is that every single person on the face of the earth would have to be destroyed because every single person is filthy and evil before the Holy God.  Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory.”  In Isaiah, the Bible says, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” 

The only proper response to this truth is found in one simple word – REPENT!  The fury of nature is nothing compared the righteous retribution God will show to unrepentant sinners on Judgment Day.  If you are a person who has never admitted that you are separated from God by your own, personal sinfulness, then I encourage you to consider your guilt and change your mind.  The word “repent” literally means “to change one’s mind” and consequently, your direction in life.  It’s a Bible word that describes the result of a person’s realizing his guilty condition before God.  God surely loves you, and as long as you live, He lovingly calls out for persons to bow in humility before Himself in repentance.  To put it in terms of the recent disasters, “You think you’ve suffered from a tornado or flood?  You haven’t seen suffering till you have to pay the eternal penalty for your sins in hell!” 

For those who have experienced the new life that comes from repentance and the forgiveness of sins, the message is the same – REPENT!  Church people talk a lot about how bad this world is getting, but the truth is that we ourselves are not helping matters because we are living too much like the rest of the world.  History records that when God’s people repent of their own sins sincerely and humbly that God demonstrates unparalleled favor and power toward them and their communities.  We call it “revival.”  These powerful demonstrations of nature are a clear call from God for all to come clean and seek Him earnestly.  The cure for all sin is the same.  We need to repent.

Reconsider Your Priorities

One more thought bears consideration here.  This idea is a bit more subjective, but I think it applies to us in a very real, tangible way.  We Americans have become soft and complacent in the wealth God has entrusted to us.  We have come to believe that God has blessed us for our own benefit and for no one else’s sake.  Moses recognized the dangers of prosperity as he prepared the Israelites to enter the Promised Land.  He said in Deuteronomy 8, “Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments and His ordinances and His statutes which I am commanding you today . . . Otherwise, you may say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth’ . . . It shall come about if you ever forget the LORD your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I testify against you today that you will surely perish.  Like the nations that the LORD makes to perish before you, so you shall perish; because you would not listen to the voice of the LORD your God.”

America is a nation which has forgotten the Lord and gone after other gods to serve them and worship them.  We are guilty of worshiping the idols of prosperity, possessions, and power.  We are much like small children who fight over toys.  When my own children used to fight over their toys, and now when the grandchildren do the same, we have to take the toys away from them for a time so they can learn how to share.  I cannot help but believe that in some way God is “taking away our toys” so that we can gain a better perspective on what is truly meaningful in life.  Life is much more than new cars and fine houses and fashionable clothing and high tech gadgets.  Americans in general (both Christian and non-Christian) are much like a toddler who loudly protests “MINE!!” in regard to our stuff.  Jesus said, “Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return” (Luke 6:38).  The clear call of Scripture to us is to quit asking “What’s in it for me?” and trying to “get all we can, can all we get, sit on the lid and spoil all the rest.”  Instead, we should look for opportunities to be generous; to give of time, talents and treasures.  The challenge is very real, especially since the price of gas and groceries continues to rise, along with everything else. 

The real issue here is simple, yet profound.  Where is our trust?  Is it in the candidates for President?  Is it in the government?  Is it in our investment portfolio?  Is it in anything less than the One, True, Living God who has condescended to becoming a human in order to die as a substitute for our sins?  I love the song I’ve been hearing on the radio lately which says, “Your grace is enough for me.”  Dear friends, until we get to the point where we can say these words to Christ, and truly mean it, the fury of nature, the failures of life, the futility of human nature will continue to bear the bitter fruit of sorrow in our lives.  We must see all of life through the eyes of faith, and know that Jesus knew what He was saying when He said, “Seek first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these [necessities of life] will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).   

Friend, if you’ve read this far, then please indulge me for a few more lines.  The only hope for finding true meaning and purpose in life’s struggles lies in knowing Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior.  If you sense that what I’m saying is true, then Jesus is calling out to you to surrender your life to Him in faith.  You already know that your life is missing something important and, perhaps for the first time, you realize that Jesus is the answer.  The Bible says, “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).  Will you talk to God right now, admitting that you’re lost in your sinfulness, separated from Him?  Will you confess to Him that you believe Jesus died in your place on the cross and rose from the dead?  Will you commit yourself to live your life for Him from now on?  If you come before Him in honest humility, He will forgive you and give you new life. 

When you experience the cleansing that forgiveness brings, you will know it.  The next step is to tell someone, and get into a Bible-believing church so that you can grow in faith and be encouraged by others who love Christ. 

God is speaking in the storms.  Are you listening?

On Sunday evening, May 25, 2008, a tornado ripped a 43-mile-long path through our area.  The town of Parkersburg, about 25 miles west of us, was practically flattened.  Seven people lost their lives in the storm, and our prayers are with the family members and survivors. 

Dunkerton was spared a direct hit, but those in the path of the storm as it went about a mile north of town were hit hard.  It has been a real challenge to discover how the emergency response people here in our county operate.  I went out Monday morning and bought a chain saw so I could help cut up some of the thousands of trees downed by the cyclone.  Power has finally been restored to most of the area, and the focus of the work now shifts from emergency recovery to clean-up and restoration.  Pray for our community as we work through the process of trying to meet needs, encourage, and share Christ’s love to the many hurting people around us. 

All right, I have to take just minute to vent here.  I am getting so tired of receiving all those insane “chain” e-mails that people keep forwarding to me.  The spam is bad enough, but to have family and friends take up space in my inbox with such hysterical falsities is just unnecessary.  People, please take a minute to log on to one of the many websites which keep up with this stuff (try snopes.com; truthorfiction.com; or urbanlegendsonline.com)– and see if it’s true before you mindlessly send it on!  Just today, I got two (from the same person, whom I love, so I put up with it), one about calling Carribean area codes and being charged outrageous fees (you have to dial an international code before the other area code, of course it will cost more!), the other is some business about Pepsi leaving the words “Under God” out of the Pledge of Allegiance on their cans.  It took me just few minutes to look these things up and find out both are hysterical hoaxes.  It’s just plain irresponsible to simply forward stuff without checking it out. 

I must confess my own sin for just a minute.  Recently, I got a forward from a friend who NEVER sends out such stuff, and I figured it must be okay, so I sent it to five people because the text says that an amazing picture will appear if you do so.  It was a BIG FAT LIE!!!  Sorry to those of you who got that junk.  I’ll not do it again.  I repent, please forgive me. 

Whew!  Now that’s off my chest, and I can go about my day.  God Bless You [both of you].

Well, I have officially survived my first experience of a genuine flood event.  After enjoying a day of running errands and celebrating our 27th anniversary, Kay and I returned to Dunkerton on Friday evening about 5 PM.  The basement of our home was very wet, a  condition we had never seen since moving to Dunkerton.  We had heard that the creek was rising, and might actually flood the city streets, but no one seemed terribly concerned.  At 5 PM the creek was high and still in its banks, but it was rising.  By about 6 PM, the water was up into the Main Street of the town (just one block away from us), and still rising.  We began to be concerned, and within about half an hour, the water was coming up our street at an alarming rate.  I had been told that the power company was turning off the electricity on Main Street and at the lower end of Sycamore in order to avoid electrocuting anyone who was in the flooding basements.  I knew that as long as the power stayed on and the water didn’t actually get up around the house itself, our sump pump would do its job, but the thought that the power might be cut made me panic.  Thankfully, some folks from the church were present, and while several of them cleared out the basement of the church building, which DID become surrounded by water, others helped me remove the washer, dryer, and refrigerator from our basement.  It was a very tense time for us. 

Thankfully, the water got no closer than about ten feet from the house and the power stayed on, but the water in the street was a strange sight to see.  We still have lots of water running through the basement, and probably will for a few more days.  Ironically, the basement in the church house is practically dry now. 

We got some free publicity from the experience.  The local TV station sent out a crew on Friday, and they interviewed some of our people, myself included.  Then on Sunday, they returned and did a report on the church itself.  I was very happy to give God the glory for preserving us through the disaster, and allowing us to tell about it. 

I am still trying to process the whole thing, but I do have some preliminary thoughts about it:

• God is in control; I am not.
• I thank God for so many caring people in the church and the community.
• Life consists of so much more than that which makes us comfortable. 
• Difficult times can bring out the best in people.
• Never, never, NEVER but cardboard boxes directly on the floor of the basement!

I’ve been seeing some press about a new movie that is coming out this week, titled Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.  I hope it will make it to our area, because I think it is worth the time to see.  The best way to explain it is to look at the trailer.  I have been trying to embed the YouTube clip on here, but it never seems to work, so I’ll try once again to embed, but if it doesn’t work (again) just click on this link. 

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I recently received a link to this video.  Take the time to check it out.  “The truth will set you free.”

Click on this link to view the clip. 

I had a professor in seminary who said that the most influential theologian in America is Oprah Winfrey.  Are you careful about what you are putting into your mind?  One of Satan’s best tools against us is popular entertainment.  “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

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A long time ago, I picked up a habit that makes some folks chuckle and drives others mad.  Whenever someone asks me what I plan to preach about on Sunday, I always say, “Sin — I’m agin’ it!”  I would hope that every Christian is truly agin (against, for those of you who don’t speak Southernese) sin.  One thing that I have come to realize the older I get is that most of us don’t seem to have a good grip on what sin truly is, or how absolutely offensive and detestable it is to God.  We all like to justify our actions and attitudes to cover up or minimize our sin.  For instance, I’ve talked to Christian parents who have reasoned that it is okay for their teenaged daugther to have an abortion because she shouldn’t have to sacrifice her life to raise a child.  Or the guy who says, “It’s okay for me to divorce my wife so I can be with another woman.  You don’t know how bad things are between my wife and me!”  For every sin a human being can commit, there is a Christian somewhere who thinks that God’s standards of righteousness and obedience somehow don’t apply to him or her. 

I saw an interesting article regarding sin this morning.  Reporter Allie Martin opens the piece with this line, “A new survey finds many inconsistencies among Americans when it comes to beliefs about sin.”  She continues, “Ron Sellers, president of Ellison Research, says while most Americans believe in the concept of sin, there are inconsistencies when it comes to what qualifies as sin.”  What is needed is a genuine, honest biblical concept of sin, instead of leaving morals and ethics up to the individual.  At this time of year when we remember and consider the significance of the death of our Savior, when “He made Him who knew no sin to become sin on our behalf,” we would do well to do a little bit of spiritual house cleaning. 

The concluding line of the article is right on target, “Sellers says the survey shows a need by pastors to investigate and dialogue about absolute truth and sin with members of their congregations.”  We are called to be courageous as we consider sin in our midst, beginning with ourselves.  If you’ve stayed with me long enough to read this line, I beg you to spend some time searching your heart for hidden, unconfessed, self-justifying sin.  Confess it to God, and if there is another whom your sin affects, confess it to that person as well.  Remember, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  Dear ones, this is the key to revival.  So I will continue to declare, “Sin — I’m agin’ it!”  Will you join me?

You can read the article in its entirety by clicking here.

I ran across this little ditty on a forum for lovers of antique tractors (like myself).  Sometimes we need a little humor, so read and enjoy!

On the first day, God created the dog and said:

‘Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past. For this, I will give you a life span of twenty years.’

The dog said: ‘That’s a long time to be barking. How about only ten years and I’ll give you back the other ten?’

So God agreed.

On the second day, God created the monkey and said:

‘Entertain people, do tricks, and make them laugh. For this, I’ll give you a twenty-year life span.’

The monkey said: ‘Monkey tricks for twenty years? Tha t’s a pretty long time to perform. How about I give you back ten like the Dog did?’

And God agreed.

On the third day, God created the cow and said:

‘You must go into the field with the farmer all day long and suffer under the sun, have calves and give milk to support the farmer’s family. For this, I will give you a life span of sixty ye ars.’

The cow said: ‘That’s kind of a tough life you want me to live for sixty years. How about twenty and I’ll give back the other forty?’

And God agreed again.

On the fourth day, God created man and said:

‘Eat, sleep, play, marry and enjoy your life. For this, I’ll give you twenty years.’

But man said: ‘Only twenty yea rs? Could you possibly give me my twenty, the forty the cow gave back, the ten the monkey gave back, and the ten
the dog gave back; that makes eighty, okay?’

‘Okay,’ said God, ‘You asked for it.’

So that is why for our first twenty years we eat, sleep, play and enjoy ourselves. For the next forty years we slave in the sun to support our family. For the next ten years we do monkey tricks to entertain the grandchildren. And for the last ten years we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone.

A merry heart doeth good like medicine. — Proverbs 17:22

Someone told me about this little girl singing on GodTube.com.  I couldn’t figure out how to put the image on here, so just click on this link.  Little girl sings “Indescribable.”  It’s worth the effort!