The Secret Wireless

“I will rescue my flock; they shall no longer be a prey.   And I will judge between sheep and sheep.   And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd.   And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them.   I am the Lord; I have spoken.” Our problem as American Christians is not that we do not expect God’s goodness.   We do.   We expect that God will do good things for us.   He will bless us, prosper us.   He will heal our diseases, find us a job, keep our blessed ducks in a row.                 Our problem, our sin, is that we expect far too little from God.   We are satisfied with far less than God would give us.   We are contented with the minor blessing of this world, rather than the major blessings of the world to come.  ...

             They day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.   It will come on quickly as labor pains come upon a woman full with child.   To those who are living in darkness, the return of Jesus will come as a complete and utter shock, mostly because they don’t expect Him to return at all.                 That might seem like a little bit of a “duh” statement.   If you don’t believe that Jesus is God, or you don’t believe that He even existed, then you certainly will be flabbergasted when He returns in glory.   They are not looking for Him to appear so it is really going to freak them out when Jesus shows up out of heaven.                 And what happens when Jesus shows up unannounced?   It will be destruction for those who are not ...

[Originally preached at the service of thanksgiving following the New Minden tornado in November, 2013.]  How do you comfort someone who is almost literally going through hell?  That is the pastoral task that was before Jesus Himself as He hung on the cross between two thieves.  “Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom,” begs the one.               What do you say to someone like that?  How do you offer them comfort, hope, assurance that everything is going to be ok?  What could even Jesus possibly have to offer this man now?             What could I possibly say to comfort you?  You who have lost friends and neighbors?  You who have lost homes, buildings, pets, a livelihood?  You who are at times so overwhelmed by the size and the scope of what needs to be done t...

          Soul Mates These days young people want to marry their soul mate.  They believe that there is one person, one prefect person out there, whose spirit was cut from the same cloth as their own.  And when they find that person...well...it will be AWESOME, a match made in heaven. So a young man searches and searches.  He does not marry his high school sweetheart because he is just not sure about her.  He dates around in college, but no one hits that spot.  Then one day he sees her.  She is sitting in a coffee shop, drinking the same latte as he, wearing a t-shirt advertising his favorite band, and she is reading his favorite book.  A match destined in the stars. So he approaches her, asks her out, and the rest is history.  They are married 2 years later.  The wedding is beautiful and filled with emotion.  Both man and wife feel that this is ordained by heaven.  They rush off into the h...

  There is a big move these days for people to be prepared, believe it or not, for the “zombie apocalypse”.   It is not that they really believe in zombies, but they are preparing themselves to live in a world devoid of electricity, government assistance, and general modern convenience.                    They call these people “preppers”.   They are prepared, prepped, for a dark and unknown future.   They have a year’s supply of canned food and bottled water in their basement and enough guns and ammunition to defend their home indefinitely.                   That is a little bit to the extreme, but we are a society of people who like to be prepared.   How many of you have been prepared for the next great stock market crash since the 1940’s?   How many have a little nest egg sav...