Just Between You, Me, & God 5/7/2012

Back from a week of vacation and trying hard to get back in the routine of daily life. It’s easy to get pulled off course. Day light savings time sends us in a spin twice a year, long weekends, a holiday in the middle of the week, even an alarm clock that didn’t go off when it should have can disrupt our whole mode of operation. Don’t get me wrong, I like vacations, but I get used to my routine also. It sort of keeps me balanced and going in one direction. You get up at a certain time, there are certain things you do at certain times and in certain places. We sometimes call them habits and if you’re not careful they can become ruts. So what is your daily, weekly, monthly, yearly routine like? Is God a part of your daily routine or do you just work Him in once a week, or maybe every other month or so, or is it just that once a year visit around Christmas or Easter? We had a visitor at our little church on Sunday. I happened to greet him as he came in and I welcomed him and ask if he was new to our community. I got an answer I wasn’t expecting. He had been working down South and was on his way home to a town just North of us but he wasn’t going to make it back in time for worship service at his church. He saw our sign and decided to stop in and share in worship with us on his way home. One of his routines is to worship God on Sunday whether he is at home or away on business, that’s how important God is in his life. Going to church on a regular basis has become less of a routine in more and more lives. There are only so many hours in a day so whenever we delete something from our schedule that gap is quickly filled in with some other activity. In Hebrews 10:25 Paul tells us, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another---and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Christianity is all about relationships, with Christ and with each other. There is power in numbers and when we come together with Christ in worship and fellowship, amazing things can happen in people’s lives. Please be faithful in your church attendance and participation and if you are not involved in a church, find one. Zig Ziglar once said, “If you’re letting a hypocrite stand between you and God that just means that the hypocrite is closer to God than you are.” Have a blessed week and bless someone this week with your attendance at church. Thanks for all you do, Pastor Dean

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

Just Between You, Me, & God 4/9/2012

What a beautiful Easter Sunday in Northeast Texas yesterday. I live near Lake Gladewater and there is a sunrise Easter service at the lake each year and I was there at 7AM. Listening to the singing echoing across the lake, I watched as the sun slowly peeked over the tall pines and the mirror still water began a slow ripple to the shore. I closed my eyes and tried to put myself outside the tomb wondering how I would have reacted. Having heard the Easter story for as long as I can remember it’s hard to imagine the discovery of the empty tomb with fear and disappointment that something had gone terribly wrong as Mary and the others originally had. The turning point for them is the same as it is for all of us, the acceptance of Jesus as He becomes real and alive in our lives. The dark feelings of abandonment, confusion, and hopelessness, following the crucifixion, evaporated as the dew does in the new morning sun. Jesus changes everything. The disciples that cowered behind locked doors became bold and daring, stopping only with their last breath in spreading the truth that they knew deep in their hearts, that Jesus was the Son of God, that he had died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins, that He had been buried for 3 days, and that He was raised from the dead and would live forever, just as we as believers can. Where did the boldness come from? The conqueror of death told them that He would be with us until the end of the ages. How could they not go forth and share this life changing Good News with everyone in order to offer them what had been freely given to us at such a great cost? So why, after the Easter resurrection, does the Church go back inside and close the doors behind them, afraid to go out into the darkness with the light that was given us? It is time for the Church of Jesus Christ to once again do as we were instructed in Luke 9:23-26 and pick up our crosses and follow Jesus. Jesus walked out of the tomb and too many of us walked in and took up residence there. Just as Jesus arose from the grave, the Church today needs to arise and stand up for the truth of the Gospel no matter what the cost. What have we to fear in this life when we have an eternity with Christ waiting for us? Arise from your slumber, awaken for you sleep, put aside the things of this world and begin your work for the Lord. Romans 13:8-14. I’ll see you in the mission field of our communities. God bless, Pastor Dean.

Just Between You, Me, & God, Good Friday Edition

Jesus died for the whole world. We tend to think of Good Friday and Easter Sunday as traditional Christian holidays. The truth is; what Jesus did on the cross and what happened on the third day when He rose from the grave, was done for all of us. Jesus suffered and died for Muslims, for Buddhist, for Hindus, for atheist and agnostics, for Jews, for believers and nonbelievers alike. Whether you are in Church every time the doors are open or if you’ve never darkened the doors before in your life, Jesus died for you. Whether you’re politically correct or conservatively outspoken, whether you believe in the psychic or the astrological alignments or if you put your faith in the One who created the stars, Jesus died for you. If you think that you can do enough good works in this life to outweigh every sin you’ve ever committed or if you think that your sins are so heinous that you could never receive forgiveness, Jesus died for you. Whether you think that the laws of God are old and outdated or that God has changed His mind about His creation and that He is no longer in control and doesn’t care what we do as long as it feels good, then Jesus died for you. Whether you think that you are too rich or too poor, that you are too young or too old, and whether you just don’t care one way or the other, please know that Jesus died for you. If this just doesn’t make sense to you then you’re not alone. I often don’t understand myself. How can Jesus death forgive my sins, even when I continue to sin? Jesus explains in a conversation with Peter in Matt. 18:21-22, “Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” Here Peter thought he was going above and beyond with forgiving someone 7 times for the same sin against him but Jesus counters with an amazingly higher number. Before you start keeping track of the numbers, keep in mind that Jesus was trying to make the point that no matter how many times we sin, though Him we are forgiven. Remember also that the sin was not just against Peter or ourselves, but against God. We are His creation, so when we sin against each other, we sin against God. Listen again to why Jesus died for all of us. John 3:16-18, “For God so loved the world (that’s all of us) that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” Brackets are my words. Jesus died for you; the choice that remains is your own decision with God to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior. Please let me know how you decided. God’s love to you, Pastor Dean