Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Seeking to Trust Myself Less and to Trust God More


Dear Fellow Children of God,


In 1991, at the end of the first summer that Kathy and I spent in Alaska, one of our St. John members told me, “I’m glad summer is ending and fall is arriving.  Now we can finally get some sleep!”  I’m not sure I totally understood what she was saying.  But, a couple of months earlier than that conversation a former Alaskan pastor had shared a similar thought in different words.  He expressed some frustration by saying, “The problem for me in Alaska was you have to get a whole year’s outside work done in 3 or 4 months!” 


I hope you are enjoying the Alaskan summer, even though this year may have been a little cooler and wetter than recent summers.  Our family has worked on the lawn, planted a garden, and grown flowers we planted this year, and cared for flowers that came up from perennials planted in past years.  Our family has also done some fishing, had some family outings, watched some baseball, and been on two camping trips.  We have been busy enjoying family and home activities.  But, even though I have not traveled outside this year and did have time to work around the house, it does always seem like there are more chores and work to do.  And consider, what about the years that I travel and can’t get everything done?


The problem with this kind of thinking is that we only depend on ourselves.  We depend on our time, our energy, our efforts, and we forget the help that God always gives.  Actually, for people created and loved by God, self-reliance can be an oversight, or self-reliance can simply be stubborn pride.  In all of life, no matter the work, the blessings, nor the troubles, our real hope is in God who loves us.


Jesus faced this same kind of thinking in His day.  In a much earlier time in human history, when people relied more on agriculture, when people relied on seasonable weather to grow enough food, and in a country which was occupied and taxed by a foreign army, the people of Jesus’ day worried about provisions for life.  They worried about where they would get food, and about sufficient clothing.   They worried because they relied and depended on themselves.  In response, listen to what Jesus taught the people of His day in what is called “The Sermon on the Mount.” 


25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? 28 "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?  (Matthew 6:25-30)


It is pretty easy to understand what Jesus is teaching.  God provides!  Sometimes we don’t understand how or when God gives what we need.  But God provides for His people!  God provides food even for the birds.  God dresses beautifully even the flowers.  And each of us as humans are so much more valuable to God than birds or flowers.  When we worry about what we need to live, we are trusting ourselves and remembering our limitations.  When we worry about what we need to live, we are forgetting about our loving Heavenly Father and as Jesus says, we have “little faith.”


Yet God speaks to us daily.  Have you seen the beauty of the flowers this summer?  Maybe there are flowers you have grown.  Maybe you’ve noticed the beautiful Alaskan wild flowers.  God is good and He does provide.  I will also tell you, our garden is doing well and we have eaten radishes, spinach (a lot!), lettuce, rhubarb, and collards.  God provides!  He takes care of the needs we have in this life.


Actually, if you considered who is speaking the words of Matthew 6, you can see behind our earthly needs and realize God provides for us eternally.  Jesus who shares these truths about God’s loving provision is God Himself!  Jesus is the Son of God who came to this world, not just to teach us, but to provide for our eternal welfare.  Jesus taught faith to the people of His time and provides for eternal life through His life and His death and His resurrection.


Maybe you feel overwhelmed at times by all the chores that need doing in the summer months.  Maybe you worry about your needs and those of your family throughout the year.  Look around you at the beauty of the earth, the wildlife and the flowers in our world.  God provides, not just in this world, but through Jesus, God provides His love eternally.


A Child of God, Seeking to Trust Myself Less, and to Trust God More,

Pastor Jonathan


P.S.  Here are some pictures of the flowers around our house this year.



P.P.S.  I think I may have shared these pictures before, but here are some shots taken of our garden this year.  https://goo.gl/photos/i2NUj2PfrGyGNVey8


P.P.P.S.  I took Bim Hoylman fishing after Wednesday church last week, July 19.  Here are some pictures of that trip.  https://photos.app.goo.gl/vsSYi9d0ctsK7h8W2


P.P.P.P.S.  I / we got a new dog this past weekend.  Our last yellow lab, a female, was named Su (Susitna).  We have named this male yellow lab Mat (Matanuska).



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ABOUT ‘THOUGHTS FROM THE PASTOR’ -   I am sending these e-mail messages, hopefully weekly, to all St. John members and friends whose e-mails I have.  (I am regularly adding new names of friends and members – in case you are just receiving this e-mail for the first time.)  However, if you do not want to receive this e-mail, please let me know, and I’ll gladly leave your name off my list for this message.



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Wednesday, July 19, 2017

Trusting in Jesus During Changing Times


Dear Fellow Children of God,



The last two Sundays have seen exciting additions to the Lutheran Churches in Alaska.  On Sunday afternoon, July 9, I was present in Kenai for the installation of Pastor Dustin Atkinson as pastor of Star of the North Lutheran Church.  The very next week I was privileged to share God’s Word as Pastor Jake Dickerhoff was installed to serve as Pastor of Beautiful Savior Lutheran in Anchorage.  Both young men are married with children.  We in Alaska are blessed to have these servants of God working in our midst.



However, the world into which Pastor Atkinson and Pastor Dickerhoff, Dustin and Jake, are beginning their service of our Lord and His people is a much different world than when I first graduated from seminary in 1979.  In my recent reading many writers and authors have noted and commented on the different culture we face today.  Rev. Dale Meyer, President of Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, has written of new behaviors in a “Millenial” generation, and has also written of rapid changes in our world due to technology.  Pastor Michael Newman in the book “Gospel DNA” has written of changes in the world, and also about changes in churches.  But perhaps the most helpful picture I have read of the change we’re facing is in the book, “Canoeing the Mountains – Christian Leadership in Uncharted Territory” by Pastor Tod Bolsinger.



Pastor Bolsinger described the trip of the Corps of Discovery led by Captain Merriweather Lewis and his friend, Lt. William Clark.  As Bolsinger writes, the Lewis and Clark Expedition planned to navigate the Missouri river in rafts and canoes to the Pacific Ocean.  But, then they encountered the Rocky Mountains!  What do you do when your trip is prepared for river travel and then mountains loom before you?  Bolsinger suggests that the Christian Church in America and Western culture is facing a similar dilemma.  Because of decades of history, the Christian Church is prepared to conduct mission and ministry in a society where the church is part of the very fabric of society, where the Christian Church is accepted and valued.  But that is not the world we live in today.  The Christian Church is not conducting its work for our Lord and His people in a culture that predominantly accepts or shares the values of the Church.



So, if you are a young minister seeking to pastor God’s people and to reach out with the love of God, like Pastor Atkinson or Pastor Dickerhoff, what do you do if the world has changed so drastically?  What did Lewis and Clark do when they faced the unexpected?  Did they give up?



In a way, we should not be surprised at the changes around us.  It sounds like an oxymoron, but “change is a constant reality.”  We live in a world of sin and rebellion against our Creator and Lord.  Perhaps we should be more surprised of the relative peace faced by the Christian Church for the majority of the last 2000 years.  In fact, some would say that current change has only brought us back to the kind of world faced by the apostles and the early church.



However, in this changing world there is one thing that does not change.  We are told in Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”  The Lordship, the power, the mercy, and the love of Jesus remain.



And, this unchanging Jesus told Peter, after he had confessed Jesus to be “the Christ, the Son of the Living God,” (Matthew 16:16),  “. . .on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." (Matthew 16:18-19)



Some misunderstand this statement of Jesus to say that the attacks of Satan on God’s Church will not be ultimately successful.  That is a statement of defense.  But, what Jesus actually says is that hell and Hades cannot resist the good news of Jesus and the spread of His kingdom.  In other words, the world may be changing, and the church’s work may seem more difficult, but God’s Word will create faith in Jesus and people will be led to eternal life in heaven, even when opposed by the gates of hell, even when the world is as changed as our world is.  When God’s Church speaks words calling people to repentance, and assuring them of God’s forgiveness, God fulfills these promises based on His commands.  In other words, the work of God’s Church may seem to have gotten more difficult, but God is still working through His Church! Jesus’ words are really a statement of offense. 



Each article or book I have read has various ideas about how to face our changing world.  Most say God’s Church needs to work together, stay committed to God’s truth, and needs to be willing to adapt.  After 38 years as pastor I’m not sure I have the answers.  But I know who has the answers and who has sent me.  I trust in the unchanging authority and the mercy of Jesus.



Go preach the Gospel, Pastor Atkinson and Pastor Dickerhoff!



A Child of God, Trusting in Jesus during Changing Times,

Pastor Jonathan



P.S.  Here are some pictures from the installation of Pastor Dustin Atkinson at Star of the North, Kenai, on July 9.  https://photos.app.goo.gl/0Clg67Vl9nK7nIit1



P.P.S.  Here is a picture from the installation of Pastor Jake Dickerhoff at Beautiful Savior Lutheran in Anchorage on July 16.  https://photos.app.goo.gl/BMm93GgS93RAorCD3



P.P.P.S.  Here are some pictures from our fishing trips.  We did not catch any salmon.  They were not in very well yet.  But Pastor Tony Schultz and I enjoyed a day of relaxing and trying to catch fish on the river.  https://photos.app.goo.gl/DV4KUn0eSxmjfkmg2



We did go halibut fishing with Mike Sweeney’s cousin, Fred Vasilie.  We had a great time with Fred and his family, AND we caught some halibut.  Here are some pictures from that trip.








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ABOUT ‘THOUGHTS FROM THE PASTOR’ -   I am sending these e-mail messages, hopefully weekly, to all St. John members and friends whose e-mails I have.  (I am regularly adding new names of friends and members – in case you are just receiving this e-mail for the first time.)  However, if you do not want to receive this e-mail, please let me know, and I’ll gladly leave your name off my list for this message.





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Wednesday, July 12, 2017

The GREATER Wisdom of God


Dear Fellow Children of God,



As pastor I have the privilege and responsibility of sharing with people what God has told us in His word.  Sometimes God’s word brings comfort.  But, other times God’s word calls His children to consider their actions in ways those people don’t wish to consider.  I’ve often had folks tell me, “That’s old-fashioned.  We live in a new day.”  You see, sometimes we trust our wisdom and our feelings more than we trust God and His wisdom.



This week I found out, again, that personally I am not so wise.  I went to Kenai last Sunday, July 9, to preach and to install a new pastor at Star of the North Lutheran Church.  (By the way, I am extremely excited about the new pastors coming to Alaska.  But more about that next week.)



Since I was on the Kenai Peninsula, I decided to take my boat and do some fishing.  I performed a wedding in Wasilla on July 8, and drove to Kenai later that night staying with Wayne and Mary Mize so that I could be there to preach the next morning.  I left my boat in their yard.



Around 9:00 p.m. on Sunday evening, when all the church services were over, I went back to the Mize’s and hooked my boat up to tow it to the cabin of Pastor George Rakos where I was going to stay and fish.  I got the keys for the boat and the locks out of my tackle box, I locked the boat and trailer onto my truck, and drove away.  While I was driving I wondered if I had put the keys back.  I looked in my rear view mirror and saw that the tackle box was closed and thought I may have put the keys back. 



But, when I got to Pastor Rakos’ cabin and looked in the tackle box, my keys weren’t there.  I thought I had probably left them on the bumper.  I expected my keys may have been in the Mize’s yard, or maybe the keys were on the road somewhere in the 20 miles between the Mizes’ home and Pastor Rakos’ cabin.  I felt foolish and frustrated.



Then I went to unload my boat.  What did I find on my bumper?  My keys!  They were right where I had left them.  They had not blown off the bumper, or bounced off the bumper.  I felt foolish, but now I also felt thankful.  Pastor Rakos told me, “You’ve had a key story to tell about me for four years.  Now I have a key story to tell on you for the next four years!”



How foolish and unwise we all can be.  And yet sometimes, we think we are wiser than God?!  How many times do we wonder why God let something happen?  Why does God give laws that are different than the way people think today?



I find comfort and a reality check in I Corinthians 1:21-25.  21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22 Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.”



We all wonder about what happens in our world and in our lives.  God’s answer truly is His love in Jesus.  Think about this!  For the Lord of Creation to suffer and die does not seem to make sense or to be wise.  But, in truth and love and in wisdom, God sent His Son to save us. By our power, through our wisdom, we would be lost in our foolishness and sin.  But, in the surprising wisdom and love of God, wisdom which is found in the cross, God calls us to faith, forgives our foolishness and sin, and saves us.



God has a loving reason to give us the guidance of His law and the assurance of His love in Jesus.  The commandments have been given to us for a reason.  God’s love is sure, even when we aren’t sure of His love.  We may not always understand God’s reasons, but we should never doubt His wisdom.



A Child of God, who is not always very smart

Pastor Jonathan



P.S.  Here are some pictures from the installation of Pastor Dustin Atkinson at Star of the North, Kenai, on July 9.  https://photos.app.goo.gl/0Clg67Vl9nK7nIit1



P.P.S.  Here are some pictures from our fishing trips.  We did not catch any salmon.  They were not in very well yet.  But Pastor Tony Schultz and I enjoyed a day of relaxing and trying to catch fish on the river.  https://photos.app.goo.gl/DV4KUn0eSxmjfkmg2



We did go halibut fishing with Mike Sweeney’s cousin, Fred Vasilie.  We had a great time with Fred and his family, AND we caught some halibut.  Here are some pictures from that trip.








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ABOUT ‘THOUGHTS FROM THE PASTOR’ -   I am sending these e-mail messages, hopefully weekly, to all St. John members and friends whose e-mails I have.  (I am regularly adding new names of friends and members – in case you are just receiving this e-mail for the first time.)  However, if you do not want to receive this e-mail, please let me know, and I’ll gladly leave your name off my list for this message.





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Wednesday, July 5, 2017

God's Help for "Family Adventures"


Dear Members and Friends of St. John,


On June 26-28 our extended family spent time in two of the public use cabins operated by the State of Alaska at Nancy Lake.  This family event was actually my daughter, Mary’s, Christmas gift to her 6 nieces and nephews.  So, on Monday morning, June 26, we talked about leaving, and on Monday afternoon 5 households and 13 people all made their way to Nancy Lake.


Staying in a cabin on a lake in Alaska may seem like an outdoor adventure.  After all, there was water, and fish, and birds.  There were fires and sleeping bags and lanterns.  There was a boat, and canoes, and a kayak.  That sounds like the outdoors, right?


Actually, this trip was more of a “family adventure.”  Imagine, for example, cooking for 13 people to sit down at a meal together.  For this meal everyone has different tastes, and some have allergies.  Would you like to plan the meal, or cook the meal on a camp stove?  Imagine the safety issues for 6 children, ages 4-9, around a lake and boats.  And what happens when Poppy (that’s me) pushes one grandchild on a rope swing and ends up pushing another grandson into the water in his clothes?  That doesn’t even begin to discuss decisions about who sleeps in which cabin, and whether we need bear spray or not, and who needs an air mattress.  Putting all 13 of those people into a small space for a period of time creates some interesting decisions and dynamics!


Actually, families have had to make these decisions since time began, only families have not always been camping when the decisions were made.  Consider some of these following questions families face.  What does a parent do when a child has a rebellious streak and doesn’t want to follow guidance?  How far should a parent go in guiding a child?  What happens when there are issues between a husband and wife?  How does a family deal with an illness or a death?  These are just some of the questions that families face on a regular basis.


I have heard people say that faith and life as a child of God is “a mess.”  That is true, because of the sin in our world and in our lives.  Life as a family is “messy” too.  There are issues to deal with that are complicated.  Faith and love as a family has times of real stress.


That is why God gives guidance and direction.  God’s directions for families are not going to prevent or take away all our problems.  But, our Lord’s loving guidance gives the healthiest ways to deal with our messy lives and family dilemnas.  At the risk of being overly simplistic in the difficult issues that families face, let me share with you some of God’s directions.


  • For children.- 1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 "Honor your father and mother"-- which is the first commandment with a promise-- 3 "that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth." (Ephesians 6:1-3)
  • For parents -  4 Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. (Ephesians 6:4)
  • For husbands and wives -  31 "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." 32 This is a profound mystery-- but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However,  each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. (Ephesians 5:31-33)
  • When we face the death of a family member -  25 Jesus said to her [To Martha at the death of her brother, Lazarus], "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26 and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" 27 "Yes, Lord," she told him, "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world." (John 11:25-27)
  • For all of us -   31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (Ephesians 4:32)


Life is complicated and families are “an adventure.”  But families are the plan of God from the beginning of creation.  God sent His own son, Jesus, into an earthly family with a mother and father and siblings.  God gives direction that help families deal with life’s “complications.”  The verses above are just a very small tip of the iceberg of God’s wise and loving directions to help families.


In my photo album from our family cabin adventure I have a picture at the end with all six grandchildren seated on the steps of the larger cabin.  We had them pose for a picture.  But, they were also seated there, in part, because we had a family devotion each morning we were at the cabin.  Family life is messy.  God gives loving and healthy directions.  We need God’s direction for our lives.  One of the very best things a family can do for it’s health is to be part of God’s family, the Church, and to listen and follow the directions of our Heavenly Father for our families.


A Child of God, Living the Adventure of Family as a Child of God,

Pastor Jonathan


P.S.  Here are some pictures from our family cabin / camping adventure.  https://goo.gl/photos/ZAYEKbqvBWeyVALT7


P.P.S.  We only found and caught really small fish (2” – 4”) on the family cabin trip, so the grandkids wanted to go fishing and catch “real” fish.  They caught these stocked salmon on Sunday night, July 2, on Finger Lake.




P.P.P.S.  King fishing is closed in our area.  I tried to fish on Friday June 30, and Monday, July 3, but closures continued.  I did some trout fishing on Tuesday evening, July 4.  Here is a picture from that trip.  https://goo.gl/photos/yEfHVVXxsjSbwffS8


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ABOUT ‘THOUGHTS FROM THE PASTOR’ -   I am sending these e-mail messages, hopefully weekly, to all St. John members and friends whose e-mails I have.  (I am regularly adding new names of friends and members – in case you are just receiving this e-mail for the first time.)  However, if you do not want to receive this e-mail, please let me know, and I’ll gladly leave your name off my list for this message.



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