Dear Friends:

March blessings to you, as we move through the season of Lent.  Lent—(not  “lint” as one child recently called it) is a season to look  within and to look  around  and to look above and to say: “Lord, how am I doing?”   If I’m honest and sincere, I’ll ask the same question of me.  Am I closer to God than I was a year ago?   A month ago?  A day ago?  Do I want to be?

The picture of the cactus is a recent shot taken in March.  If you had seen it in early February and January setting on a window sill, you would have seen no flowers.  It had none.  However, one day as I was doing dishes, I could see a bud, then buds, and now beautiful flowers.  A thing of beauty, my cactus friend, as it moves in the rhythm of God’s creative plan.

So with us…each of us is called to be within the  Plan of God, and therein to discover  and project  the beauty that God has put and continues to put in us.  However, unlike my cactus friend, I have a choice.  I can accept God’s plan for my life, or I can reject it.  One of the learnings in my life is that  I do not feel as beautiful when I am out of God’s Will.  I’m  then like  an unflowering cactus, not a whole  lot of beauty there.  Shows up with worry, despair, jealousy, lack of care for others…not very attractive.   But with Christ in me,,,there is  a lot more to me that becomes attractive to God, to others and to me.  I’m like a new creation.

I invite you to join with me  in the prayer:  “Oh God, let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me, his spirit, his direction, his deeds, his possibilities…”  Hey, stop by, it’s Lent,  makeover time.  Let the beauty  of Christ  grow within you, and  we’ll  talk about it over a cup of coffee, maybe a cookie.  The lights are on!! Come on by.

Your friend, Pastor Don

Dear Friends;

February, and with it a flocking to the card shop for a Valentine’s card…or shopping for  some other expression of love.  How do you say  “I love you”?  Of course, verbally is wonderful….Just to let people know that  you treasure them…people shouldn’t have to guess whether or  not you love them.  Somehow, it needs to be communicated.

I just got back from two weeks  in Africa (Sierra Leone, to be exact), working on a medical mission team(in addition to doing 53 baptisms)…and doing some preaching.  Many experiences and sights…one of which speaks volumes regarding love.  At the clinic  in which  we functioned , in a small African village (700 people) which was surrounded by  four other villages, we saw many people.   Most walked to the clinic…some at a distance of 4 to 6 to 10 miles.  One morning, I saw  an older man carrying a young man.  It turns out that he had carried this young man for almost 5 miles.   The young man (19 years old) was his son, and this son was suffering  from tropical ulcers (literally open and oozing sores along his feet and legs). By the grace of God, we treated him initially, and then got him to a  hospital for specific treatment.

When I asked the father about his trip and the difficulty of carrying someone for a fair length, he replied: “When one cares, one does.”  He loved his son.   It showed.   As with us, huh?  If we love someone, it  should show…whether it is a friend, a sibling, a  parent,  a stranger, or God.   “When one cares, one does.”

Best wishes on your expressions of love this month.  Stop by, the coffee’s fresh, the lights are on.

Pastor Don

When I was growing up, the New Year was always pictured with a child bringing it in.  Here is my granddaughter bringing in (so to speak) a new year.  What will the new year be for you?  Will you live a life that says you’re stressed or blessed?  Will your face be one that shows you’re disappointed or anointed?

As you view Alexis, you’ll see that she is there with a light.  In the Gospel of John, John talks about Jesus coming as a light to a dark world.  Sometime, just turn off the light in your home, room, or office, and let yourself experience the darkness.  It’s kind of scary – images unclear – hard to do things and to do them right.  Jesus comes as a light to our dark world, and shows us a light of love where there is hatred…a peace where there is resentment…and a joy where there is despair and sadness.

I thank God for that light, for I do sin, and I do find myself living in a darker world than God wanted for my life.  God wants for you and for me so much more than we even know to ask.  As a child He sent His Son into the world, to bring a light (even being the Light) that you and I might see.  As I accept Christ into my life, to be a part of my life, I find that I am able to see God and others more clearly, love God more dearly, and follow God more nearly.

It’s what I need to experience, blessing, not stressing…anointing, not disappointing.  Happy New Year to you as you celebrate the gift of 2010 with the Light of the World.  Stop by; the coffee’s fresh and the “light” is on.  Blessings to you.

Your friend, Pastor Don

Dear Friends:

I’m sitting here with my granddaughter, Alexis.  I do day care for her on Fridays.  We have a good time.  Alexis has her first Christmas this year.  At 10 months…probably not a real in-depth experience for her.  Nevertheless, what will it be for her as she grows up,matures, and eventually moves into a challenging time of world citizenship?  Where will Christmas fit in for her?

As Christians, we learn over the years that Christmas is more than stuff.  It’s about a savior who came for the long haul.  It’s about a Christ who came to deal with our lives, our life styles, our guilt, our sin, our possibilities, our futures.  Christmas is about a Christ who came to bring peace and who challenged us to do the same.  Peacemaking is hard work.  It calls for us to work for justice and righteousness, not just for ourselves, but for all people.  Without justuce and righteousness, there is no lasting peace.  All you get then is a cultural Christmas, a four-hour cultural Christmas aspirin, and very little peace.

My Christmas wish for you and for all the children in the world is that the Christ who came, comes, and will come, is the Christ who makes a difference in your life, lifestyle, and future.  May He be forever witnessed by what you do and by what you say.  May others see and hear the Christ in you.  And may the world be blessed by what Christ has done and is doing for us and through us.

Merry Christmas, my friends.  Come on by.  The lights are on.  The coffee’s fresh.

Your Friend, Pastor Don

Dear Friends,

What is that?  A bunch of dirt, bulb food, 700 tulips, and a way to get it done.  Actually, what you’re looking at is a beautiful tulip garden in May of 2010.  Of course, I’ve gardened a few times and I’ve learned what can happen.  You take that soil and put it in a garden space, dig enough holes to put down 700 tulip bulbs, give them a little food and some water, cover them up, and “walla,” there it is…a gorgeous sea of red, yellow, pink, and purple with white and orange interspersed.  It happens.

It happens with people as well.  God looks at us, not so much as to what we are, as to what we can become.  We think we could never be this, or do that, or become something new.  But as we allow God to have His way with us, all things are possible.  The Bible states: “Anyone in Christ is a new creature, behold the old has become new.”  There is a beauty within each person that God seeks to bring out, to garden within their soul, so to speak.  It takes God, a master gardener with people, to bring it out.

The bulbs on the dirt pile will never be all that they can be without a gardener tending to them.  It is the same with you and me.  We’ll never display the beauty within us until God gets a chance to work with us.  Of course, that takes faith…just the same as with the tulips.  When I garden, I do believe those bulbs will come alive, not tomorrow, but in God’s creating time.  It’s the same way with you and me:  as we place ourselves in God’s hands and let God do His gardening with us, something beautiful happens.  In God’s time.  He makes all things beautiful in His time…

Stop by.  The coffee’s fresh, the lights are on.

Your Friend, Pastor Don

Dear Friends:

I’m soon to be off in the venue of a pilgrimage…to be a pilgrim in the Holy Land.  I sometimes refer to North Dakota as the Holy Land, as that is my place of origin.  However, when literally walking in the footsteps of Jesus, one does go to Israel, Jordan, and Palestine…which is where I’m heading.

The word holy means to be set apart for a special task.  In that sense, one can provide a sense of holiness right in their homes and in the places where they move about.  One doesn’t have to go to the Holy Land to provide a holy space or a holy place, do they?  While Jerusalem was the place where Jesus died for the salvation of the world, I found it at a church camp in North Dakota, when I accepted Christ as the Lord of my life as a fourteen year old.  Thus for me, that North Dakota camp, Wesley Acres, is a holy place for me.

Holiness is where God is honored and where Christ is lifted up and where the power of the Holy Spirit seeks to exist and nurture.  Where are you standing?  On Holy Ground?  I hope so.  I’d love to visit with you about it.  Stop by.  The coffee’s fresh; the lights are on.  I’ll be around as soon as I get back and then between the two of us, we can stand on Holy Ground!

Your friend, Pastor Don

Dear Friends:

Here I am visiting with friends….sitting here with Facebook.   I signed up not too long ago, and am already visiting with friends from ages 13-82.    Some of these friends I haven’t seen for  over 10 years, as they now  are far away.  But it’s good to keep up , and this new technology of  Facebook allows me that  exercise in a computerish sort of way.

With all the technology  in the world, it’s difficult at times to move along with it, especially if  we’re older than 50.  But as I keep up, I remember  a saying that says, “When was the last time that you did something for the first time?”  Lots of possibilities.

And as a Christian  minister, it’s important to touch base with  what’s available.   To reach out and try.  God has never asked me to be successful as much as God has asked me to be  faithful.   God blesses me  daily with  new possibilities for ministry and the sharing of His Love and His Word.   Facebook lets me do that…in a different sort of way…even as this blog does .  20 years  ago, 10 years ago, not possible.  Now  through some new technology I can say it  in more ways and more technological ways: FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY SON, THAT WHOSOEVER  BELIEVES IN HIM, SHOULD NOT PERISH BUT HAVE ETERNAL LIFE’. (John 3:16)  More and more ways to spread the good news!

Come  on by, the new sign is now working, the coffee’s fresh, the lights are on. Celebrate new possibilities of ministry with me.

Your friend, Pastor   Don

Dear Friends:

Here are some of my third grade friends at Normandale Hylands. They recently received a new Bible from the United Methodist Men’s Group. As third graders, they’ll have the opportunity to study it and with their teachers’ aid, learn to use it.

Learning to use it; that’s the key, isn’t it? Though the Bible is a great book, and the greatest bestseller of all time, it is perhaps the least read book on our shelf. It is many times displayed in prominent places, but not necessarily are its recommendations followed. There are those who feel it is out of date.

Yet, the truths of the Bible are never out of date. I believe that while it was written by human hands, it was done so under the inspiration of God. It proclaims truths that eternal. When I and these third graders read the Bible, God will speak to us through its pages—as to countless others before us.

In reading the Bible, I have discovered food for my soul and guidance for my journey.

What’s been your take on the Bible? Worth the read? Out-of-date? I’d love to hear from you. Even more, if you don’t have a Bible, and would like one, I’d love to be able to give you one. Stop by, the lights are on, the coffee’s fresh. The Word of God is yours for the taking.

Your friend, Pastor Don

Dear  Friends:

Here at Normandale Hylands, it’s September.  Is it that way with you, also?  Of course.  However, September at Christian churches means that Sunday school is starting.  The vacations are ending.  It’s time to make time for Christian education and learning.  Outside my office, I’ve been watching a brood of swallows hatch, be nourished, and finally learn to fly.

Sunday school is that time with our children and all children of the faith…learning to fly spiritually.  It’s about giving wings to our faith.  Jesus was so concerned about children, that he always gave them a high place…right next to him, even on his lap.

So with Sunday school set to start on September 13th, what shall we teach them?  One, God is good…all the time.  Two, God gave His Son for us as a demonstration of that love.  Three, the meaning of life is to live in such a way that your life brings glory to God, and the world is a better place because you have been here.  Jesus’ life is a wonderful role model for all people who understand that. It is what we teach our children; it is what we teach all those who are young in the faith, no matter their age.

Sunday school: “Let the children come to me…and I will help them and show them how to fly spiritually and victoriously.”  Jesus:  He lived, He died, He lives!  Sunday school starts September 13, 9:45am with classes for all ages.  You are certainly welcome!  The lights are on.  The coffee’s made (there’s even punch and cookies).  Come celebrate life!  Come celebrate God.  Come celebrate the possibilities of God in your life!

Blessings to you, Pastor Don

Dear Friends:

Here  are two of my friends who are soon to get married..Rachael and Jon.  What would you tell folks who plan to get married?

I might say that  in my experience most people get married believing a myth—that marriage is a beautiful box full of all the good things they have longed for: companionship, sexual fulfillment, intimacy, friendship. And that somehow the box mysteriously remains full of those goodies.

After marriage, they start to empty the box, believing  their spouse  will fill it again. But it won’t happen, at least not  for long.  The box  gets  empty, disappointment sets in, and the relationship takes a nosedive.