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.
******
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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