Just Between You, Me, & God 10/2/2012

"Be careful of what you ask for, because you just might get it." This is a statement that my Mom would use often when one of us three boys would wish for a circumstance to change in our lives, hopefully improving our situation. We've all wished for things to change from time to time like, I wish I was older (that's when I was young). That wish came true but now I can't go back. I wish I could play sports like that guy or sing like that girl or was as smart as that person or was as handsome or good looking as that one. Zig Zigler used to talk about wishing for other people’s talent. He would say, "What would you do with someone else's talent? The answer is, not a cotton pickin thing, if you're not already using the talent you've got." I wish I had more money. The famous multimillionaire John D. Rockefeller was once asked, "How much money is enough?" to which he replied, "Just a little more." It seems that we are never satisfied. God gave you the spouse that you asked for but now you tell Him, "That was OK God but, you know the one I really wanted is that one over there." I wish I was thinner, stronger, taller, shorter, and healthier; the list goes on and on. Here's another one I've heard a lot lately, "I wish Jesus would return." That's one we might want to think about a little more. Are you really ready for Jesus' return? Zephaniah tells us that we should be in repentance in Chapter 2: 1-3, "Gather together-yes, gather together, you shameless nation. Gather before judgment begins, before your time to repent is blown away like chaff. Act now, before the fierce fury of the Lord falls and the terrible day of the Lord's anger begins. Seek the Lord, all who are humble, and follow His commands. Seek to do what is right and to live humbly. Perhaps even yet the Lord will protect you-protect you from His anger on that day of destruction." (NLT). Jesus Himself tells us in Matt. 24:37-39, "When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah's day. In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. People didn't realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes." I am afraid that many in the Church are going to be caught saying, "I wish I had kept His commands, I wish I had studied His Word so that I would have been prepared, I wish I had lived my life as Jesus instructed, I wish I would have given my life to Him before He took mine from me." Just like Adam and Eve, we have the choice to follow and obey or to do it our own way. If you don't want to get left behind then it's time you got on the boat. There is only one way out and that is through Jesus Christ. Accept Him as your Savior, believe in your heart that he is the one true Son of God, that He died on the cross for your sins and that on the third day he arose from the grave to give those who believe everlasting life, and change your life today to give up your old ways because you have been reborn into a new Christian life of action, not just passively sitting by and waiting. Do this now and we will sit at His table together. Pastor Dean

Pastor Dean Hanssen is the Outreach & Ministries Pastor for LHF.

Just Between You, Me, & God 8/13/2012

I was a middle kid with an older and a younger brother. As three boys often do, we could get in trouble pretty easily. When brought before the judges (Mom or Dad) and asked "Whose fault is this?", I could point in either direction and lay the blame accordingly. Likewise, they could point at each other and I would be caught in the middle. Truth be known, we all usually had some kind of part in the mischief. It seems to be our human nature to want to blame someone else for our troubles. Zig Zigler pointed out that "when you're pointing a finger at someone else that just means that there are three more pointing back at you. In Matthew 7:1-6, Jesus gives a lesson to His disciples on judging, mercy, and protecting what is sacred. "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye. How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from you brother's eye. Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces." Jesus is telling them that they set their own standard of judging on themselves by the way that they judge others. It doesn't mean that some things do not demand judging but if you do, you'd better have your own house in order. If our own lives are in disarray, then we are hypocrites for judging others for their way of life. When we as Christians take the standards that God has given us (pearls) and disregard them ourselves but expect others to live up to those standards, then we are giving them excuse that we don't even live up to God's laws so why should they, how can anybody if we can't. If we as Christians expect to see marriage continue as one man and one woman as God intended, then we need to look at fixing our divorce rates, our unfaithfulness, and our acceptance of living together outside the bonds of marriage. Maybe if our kids could see how God intended marriage to be representative of our relationship with Christ then they would grow up with a better self-image of themselves and how to relate to others. When our image in the mirror becomes more clearly then we can start to show others by God's example through us. Pastor Dean

Pastor Dean Hanssen is the Ministries & Outreach Pastor for LHF.

Just Between You, Me, & God 7/2/2012

We have a new member in our family. Buster is a 1 and a half year old Golden Retriever that weighs 67 pounds. He is house trained, which is a blessing in itself, but he still struggles with some manner opportunities. Buster is not our only pet, we have a cat named Molly who is rather antisocial, and a paranoid Chihuahua, Red, that is rather possessive of my wife and thinks he’s a giant among dogs. Now Buster, still somewhat a puppy, doesn’t know how big he is and he just wants to crawl up in your lap like the little dog, or thinks that Red is a toy that should want to play with him all of the time. There has been baring and gnashing of teeth with some vicious attacks that has sent the big dog scurrying. On the other hand, Buster and Molly have become best of friends with contest to see who can lick who the most. Buster has a definite tongue advantage. If he does overdo it a little, all it takes is one carefully placed, extended claw, to make Buster stop and reconsider his options. Buster does like to chew things and we have made adjustments in the placing of things where he can’t reach them. He, well they all require a certain amount of forgiveness. Sometimes I’m afraid he’ll think his name is “Buster Stop”. I often wonder if that is what God thinks about us when, like Paul, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do---this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.” Romans 7:15-20. Fortunately God doesn’t know me as “Dean Stop”, but because of Jesus Christ death on the cross for me and my acceptance of that, God knows me as “Dean Forgiven”. Take your guilt and give to Jesus who has already paid for your forgiveness and feel the freedom and love that comes in a relationship with our Savior, Jesus Christ. Pastor Dean

Pastor Dean Hanssen is the Ministries & Outreach Pastor for LHF.

Just Between You, Me, & God 6-4-2012

I had the pleasure of attending the wedding of my niece Lisa and her fiancé Josh on Saturday.  It was a simple and beautiful wedding filled with laughter and joy on both sides of the aisle.   I liked their emphasis on friends and family and not getting caught up in all the hype.  Many weddings on TV are shown as extravagant, over budgeted affairs where everyone is at each other’s throats and no one is focused on the spiritual outcome which will help guide the couple through inevitable rough times and help preserve their happiness through Christ.  Weddings play a major role in the Gospels and throughout the Bible.  God instituted marriage with Adam and Eve.  Genesis 2: 24, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh."  Jesus very first miracle was performed at a wedding that He was attending when He turned the water into wine.  Matthew chapter 22 tells the parable of the wedding banquet where those who were chosen by God to be His chosen people refuse to follow and believe, in fact they reject the offers of God to come to His wedding banquet.  Now God opens the wedding feast to any and all who will believe and follow.  Jesus is depicted as the Bride-Groom and the Church (that’s us, the believers) as Christ’  bride.  In Revelation 19, starting in verse 6, John witnesses in Heaven, the wedding  between Christ and the Church.  “Hallelujah!  For our Lord God Almighty reigns.  Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him glory!  For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready.  Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.”  Then the angel said to me, “Write:  Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!”  I don’t know about you, but that’s one wedding I don’t want to miss.  As unworthy as we are, through His crucifixion and resurrection we have been made clean and presentable as the bride of Christ.  The Grooms Father has paid for and arranged everything in order that we may celebrate this ultimate relationship with Him, forever and ever.  Embrace Jesus today as your Lord and Savior and 1000 years from now we will celebrate our wedding to Christ together, around the table at the wedding feast.  God bless you Lisa and Josh, Pastor Dean


Pastor Dean is the Outreach & Ministries Pastor for LHF. 

Just Between You, Me, & God 4/16/2012

There is a show on TV called “Undercover Boss” that has a President, owner, or CEO of a company go out into the workforce with their employees to see exactly what is going on with them, the company as a whole, and how that all relates to their customers. In order to get the most honest responses, the boss has to wear some sort of disguise or look different from normal so that they can’t be recognized, then they are worked in as a trainee. Most of the encounters are pretty eye opening, from how little the executives know about how the basic jobs are done to how unrecognized the plight of the employees are to anyone outside their immediate sphere of workers. It’s pretty scary to see how simple some of the disguises are and that some probably don’t even need one. Communication flow up and down the ladder is rarely about peoples’ lives which leaves them with a feeling that nobody cares or that they personally just don’t matter in the whole scheme of things. When you stop to think about it, we all have an undercover boss and His name is Jesus. He is a boss who is in touch at all times and is aware of exactly what we are going through and how tough it can be and is willing to help. Look at Matt. 11:28-30, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” He is well known by His people and they are protected by Him. John 10, 27-28, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.” He is clear about what is most important. Luke 16:13, “No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” He is clear in His directions and fair in His judgments and is righteous above all and, is forgiving to the repentant. If you don’t know Jesus as your boss, your Lord and Savior, then read the Bible, get to know Him, your eternal boss, Jesus Christ. God bless you for all you do, Pastor Dean.

Pastor Dean Hanssen is the Ministries & Community Outreach Pastor for LHF