Monthly Archives: March 2018

Monday Evening Musings …

I had a funeral early this morning and am just now getting around to my Monday morning post. As for my later musings …

-I had a funeral this morning for a precious lady who had battled cancer for many years. She was funny, kind and was one who persevered through many trials. I was not her first choice for the funeral. She informed me a while back that I could do her funeral now that her first choice had died. I asked who her first choice was, and she answered “Don Rickles”. I loved her and her sense of humor. It was a joy and privilege to lead her funeral service.

-Yesterday was a long day. I only slept about 3 hours Saturday night, my mind was racing with many things. We had our regular schedule of Sunday activities. Then I was at the funeral home for a couple of hours during the visitation for the lady whose funeral I did this morning. Then my wife and I went to another town, about 45 minutes away, to visit a lady from our church. When we got home I attempted to do some studying and preparing for this week, but my mind would not engage for some reason. So I went to bed early in an attempt to make up for the short sleep time the night before.

-Some of the children in our church led the congregation in a song during worship yesterday. Another group of our younger children were moving through our sanctuary singing and waving their palm branches. The group of children was about half our normal size due to school being on Spring Break. The kids did great and our people sang well as they followed the kids.

-We had sleet and snow arrive on Saturday so the ground was covered with snow Sunday morning. Not fun for the last Sunday in March.

-Our people were very engaged during all parts of worship yesterday. There were even some “Amens” and other comments spoken out loud during the message!

-In our family Bracket Challenge for the NCAA tournament I will finish in 9th place among 12. Not a good showing at all. My bracket was shattered early in the tournament. But, I have loved watching this tournament. Some outstanding games and some fun stories about players, coaches and even a team chaplain. I picked Virginia to win it all. Since they lost their first game you get an idea about my bracket. How is your bracket doing?

-Preparations are being made for Easter Sunday and our Good Friday service. I always look forward to preaching these services.

-Have you thought about the fact that Easter Sunday is on April Fools Day this year?

-One reason I try to go to a funeral visitation, and hang around for a lengthy time, when I am doing someone’s funeral service is the stories I hear. Also, to see the family interactions. I learn a lot by being an observer during this time. I love hearing how those coming to the visitation were impacted by the deceased. It always helps me as I put together the service and message.

-The people in my church are awesome. Watching them set-up, serve, and clean-up for a funeral dinner is inspiring. They go above and beyond what is expected. They also do it without thought of getting any recognition for their service. I love them! Our people also make great food.

-I am getting the itch to fish. Looking forward to fishing a little more this year than we did last year.

-My wife and I are going to get away for a couple of nights right after Easter. I don’t think we will have any internet or TV service in our little cabin. We are not going all the way off the grid, we will still have some phone service, but we will be at the edge of the grid for a bit. This is a much needed, and much anticipated, time of relaxing and refreshing.

-I am very excited for the series of messages that will begin the Sunday after Easter. We will be looking at how Daniel, and some of his buddies, handled adversity and unexpected circumstances. We all face difficulties. How we respond to, and handle, these difficulties is what causes us to soar or crash.

Here’s hoping that you will take some time this week to reflect on the love that Jesus has for you and how much he sacrificed to show you his love.

 

Dennis

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Monday Morning Musings …

Wow God! God showed up, spoke where my words failed, and lives were changed. That is a full day. As for my musings …

-Many people received help from God during our worship yesterday. We looked at Romans 7 and the struggle of doing what we don’t want to do and not doing what we desire to do. The struggle is real, and God’s solutions are real. Many people switched their focus from their struggles to their Savior. As a result, their chains came loose.

-Yesterday was gorgeous day. There was a hard frost, but when the sun started shining the frost melted, the temperature rose, and moods got better.

-Our attendance was a little better, but still not what I would like to see.

-There seemed to be a lot of distractions during much of our worship time. Maybe no one else noticed, but I felt distracted.

-I thought about my Dad a lot this past week.

-I was scrambling with my words during yesterday’s message. I am so thankful for God’s intervention and speaking to people’s hearts and minds.

-Very burdened this morning for several people, and families, that are wrestling with the emotions of very serious physical concerns for loved ones.

-Been studying for the sermon series that I hope to begin the week after Easter. I am excited for this series and the potential for impact and healing. The series is entitled “Yes You Can … because God Will”.

-Our stagnant attendance is confusing. We have so many good things taking place in our ministries, but it is not being reflected in our weekly worship attendance. Praying and analyzing this, trying to discover if there is any obvious reasons.

-Looking forward to Easter weekend.

-Feeling grateful for those who lift me in prayer often.

-The NCAA tournament, March Madness, was true madness during it’s first weekend. Our family has done a bracket challenge for many years. It began when my kids were younger than most of my grandkids are now. My bracket is shattered after this first weekend. The good news is that I have a lot of company. It was a lot of fun seeing so many underdogs come through with the win.

-My wife and I are going to try and get a brief getaway soon. We had one planned about 5 weeks and circumstances prevented that one from taking place. This one will be nearby so if any urgent things take place I can get back here quickly. The short distance away is what gives me confidence that we will get this one accomplished.

-I need to get to the hospital and visit a couple of people from my church.

Here’s hoping that you recognize God’s presence as go through this day.

 

Dennis

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Monday Morning Musings …

Yesterday was the Sunday pastors dread. The Sunday after the clocks are moved ahead is a difficult day. Yesterday was a difficult day for a lot of reasons. As for my musings …

-Many people evidently forgot to move their clocks ahead. We were missing a lot of people and it had a negative effect on the atmosphere in our worship. We had to work hard to engage people yesterday.

-Last week was a long and emotional week. We traveled to Kansas on Sunday and we had a memorial service for my Dad on Tuesday. It was a very good service. On Wednesday we traveled to Indiana and on Thursday we had a graveside service for my Dad. That was a small service with 90% of those in attendance being family members from my Dad and Mom’s extended family. We traveled home on Friday.

-Last week did have some great times. The best of which was a lot of time with some family. There were a lot of memories shared. It was very encouraging.

-One of my struggles yesterday was still trying to recover from the week physically and emotionally. Fortunately, the Lord is gracious and filled in a lot of spaces where my thoughts and words failed.

-Even with a smaller attendance and change in the atmosphere we still had a good time of worship.

-Yesterday we had a soup lunch for some of the people serving in our greeter, teaching and security ministries. We wanted to thank them, encourage them and remind them of the importance and purpose of these ministries. It encouraged me to spend time with this great group.

-My wife and I are heading out in a few minutes to attend a graveside funeral service that is about 30 miles away. It is a service for the uncle of someone in our church. There is little family around and she is having to deal with all the arrangements. We just want to support and encourage her.

-I am more tired this morning than at anytime in the past week. I think with the travel, services and emotions of last week, getting home and needing to gear up for Sunday and go through everything on Sunday, that my body decided it was time for some recovery. I need to make sure I am careful with decisions today, as my mind is not sharp.

-Yesterday was encouraging because of conversations with people and reminders from people that they are praying for me.

-This past week was a reminder of the sacrifices that those who serve as missionaries make to serve. My son, and family, wanted to attend my father’s services, but with the time and cost of travel from that far away it was not possible. My Dad would have understood and was always thrilled that they are serving in this capacity. But it was still difficult for them to miss the opportunity to be a part of the services and the resulting time with extended family. Remember to pray for those who serve in other countries and pray for peace with the things they miss.

-I have been wrestling with a lesson I learned this week as I shared at one of my Dad’s services last week. I will write about it later this week.

Here’s hoping that you will encourage someone today.

 

Dennis

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Monday Morning Musings …

Here I sit, back in Kansas once again. This time getting ready for the beginning of some great times of honoring my Dad. We have a service here tomorrow and then one in Indiana in a couple of days. This will be a long, difficult and wonderful week as we remember and honor a great man. As for my musings …

-During worship yesterday, we gave a significant check to a local ministry. It was half of our “Give it all Away” offering from a couple of Sundays ago. We had the director of the Pregnancy Center there to receive the check. It is fun to bless other ministries.

-I am loving our current sermon series, “Moving to Yes”. This series will take us to Easter. This morning we looked at the costs of moving to yes and the costs of doing nothing. This series is really challenging me, I am praying that it is challenging others as well.

-The people in our church are amazingly generous. They blessed us yesterday with money to cover the costs for our travel this week. I am so humbled by their encouragement and support.

-Yesterday we had someone step forward to say yes. That never gets old.

-Our attendance was down, even with great weather. Makes me worry about next Sunday when we spring ahead 1 hour.

-I am sitting here listening to my 2 youngest grandkids being cute. I am sitting in the home of my brother in law and sister in law. They have opened their home to me often in the past 13 months. They have simply said, “Come when you need to, you don’t need to let us know, just come on in.” What a blessing to be with some family as we celebrate my Dad’s life and influence. My daughters are here, and my sons in law. My son and daughter in law and their family are missing, but since they are serving in Africa it is understandable.

-I just got a text from a pastor friend who had 2 people come to faith in Christ during a funeral he was leading over the weekend and they had more than double their average worship attendance yesterday. I love to celebrate with others.

-I am encouraged by the increasing number of prayer requests from people in my congregation who are praying for their family and friends who don’t know Jesus as their personal Savior.

-We hopped in our van about 20 minutes after I said amen in our worship yesterday. In fact, I never made it into our house because my wife was backing out of the garage as I walked over to the house. 6 hours later we were walking into my brother in law and sister in law’s home.

-Last evening, I was grateful for the prayers of my congregation. We had stopped for a potty break and as I was turning to get back on the interstate an SVU came flying through the intersection even though they had a red light. I was watching when our light turned green and this SVU didn’t slow at all. I was turning, but I stopped, and they flew by us. We said a couple of prayers of thanks.

-I need to make this a short one today.

Here’s hoping that you remember you are loved today and that you let others know they are loved as well.

 

Dennis

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Well Done Dad …

If you are talking about a steak, well done means no pink and some crust on the meat. If you are giving a compliment to someone, well done means that what you accomplished was done with excellence. But if you are talking about the evaluation of a life, well done means a life lived to the fullest in obedience of service for Jesus Christ. It means a life of impact and influence. It means a life that made other people’s lives better. It means hearing the words “Well done, good and faithful servant”. Well done describes my Dad’s life.

If a mischievous smile and a twinkle in the eye were an Olympic sport my Dad would have won a gold medal. When it came to teasing people, and still making them feel good, my Dad was a master. When it came to encouraging you to keep going and not give up, my Dad may have been the best. When it came to making you feel better just with his presence, there may have been no one better than my Dad. Well done, Dad, well done.

When it came to motivating a group of people to grow as followers of Christ and become a church that makes a difference, my Dad excelled. When it came to giving a challenge, one that you remembered, he always came through. When it came to being the pastor that you wanted for your church, it was my Dad. Well done, Dad.

When it came to living what he preached, my Dad did it better than anyone I have ever known. A person who worked with him at factory when Dad was a bi-vocational pastor said of Dad, “The direction of his walk always matched his talk.” Well done Dad.

When it came to making the loudest finger snap known to mankind, Dad was the best. If I was not listening, or if I was beginning to misbehave in church he would drop that right hand outside the pulpit and SNAP his fingers. It was so loud the whole congregation would sit up straight. My head would pop up from wherever I was and then I got the look. This is etched in my memory because I heard it more times than I could count. All of this took place without Dad missing a word of his sermon. He kept me in line, he kept me listening and he kept me interested in Christ. Well done Dad, well done.

When it came to embracing people and making them a part of the family Dad was outstanding. He did this with all of us in the family, he did this with all who entered the family, he did it with all whose family he entered and everyone who was in his church family. He left no doubt that we were loved. Well done Dad.

Between my Mom and Marge, Dad was married for more than 69 years. Dad did it with excellence and set an incredible example of what it meant to be a loving husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather. Well done Dad.

Most of all, Dad took the admonition of John 10:10 to heart “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” You lived life to the full Dad. You showed us how to live life fully for Christ, for your family, your church and everyone you came across. Well done, Dad.

Enjoy your eternity. Enjoy reconnecting with so many who are in heaven because of your influence. Enjoy no more pain. Enjoy the return of a strong voice. Enjoy eating ice cream again without worrying about your blood sugar numbers. Enjoy running and jumping again. Enjoy hearing “Well done, good and faithful servant”. Well done Dad, thanks for the example.

Dennis

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