Get Back

Get Back

“And you are to say to them, These are the words of the Lord of hosts:
Come back to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will come back to you.”
                                                                          Zechariah 1:3

Later this morning, students all across Michigan will be returning to the classroom, getting back to the routines of waking up early, taking notes in classes, solving Math problems, laboring over English papers and tackling the homework assigned to them by teachers. But none of that is the reason why I’ve found myself thinking about the words to an old Beatles song with a chorus that simply says:

                                “Get back, get back, get back to where you once belonged.”

For one person, the getting back that the Lord is quickening might be to a life of prayer and to being disciplined in setting time aside each day for personal prayer. As someone who would know firsthand, Howard Taylor could say of his father, missionary Hudson Taylor, “these 40 years have not seen the sun rise in China without my father kneeling in prayer.” The relationship with the Lord that is nurtured during times of prayer will become the foundation of the strong, fruitful, fulfilling life you long for.

To another, there might need to be a getting back to the Word. I hope we are all mature enough to realize the truth of God’s Word when it says that “man does not live by bread alone but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” God’s Word is our source of hope and strength, of guidance and direction, of knowledge, wisdom and understanding, of vision and of courage. No matter what distractions have filled our summer days, getting back to the Word is necessary, in fact, crucial to the man or woman who wants to live a life blessed by God.

The call is to getting back to doing what we know is right and pleasing to the Lord. I had started to list out some others areas where there is a definite need to “get back” in the body of Christ but I was reminded of what Jesus told the Ephesians, “do the things you did at first”. To the one who really wants their will to line up with the Lord’s, no list is necessary; only a call, as the prophets declared, to come back to God, to return to the Lord and to a life of walking in obedience to His will.

For me, getting back to sending out weekly devotions is only one of many disciplines that I hope to live out by God’s grace and mercy. My prayer is that God will place a strong desire in each of your hearts to get back to doing those things He has called you to, those things that we know are only for our good, those things that will lead to a deeper union and communion with a God who truly loves us.

God Bless,
Pastor Joe

Gateway Church

Impressed

Impressed

“Wherefore glorify the Lord in the fires….”
                                     Isaiah 24:15

It wasn’t the words that were spoken in chapel this week and it wasn’t the eloquence and delivery of his message that stood out. It wasn’t the film clip of his years playing quarterback in the National Football League and it wasn’t his success as a professional athlete that drew my attention to our guest speaker and what he had come to share with the teens in our high school. What impressed me was the life response of a man who had experienced the personal tragedy, many years ago, of his 15 year old son committing suicide.

Facing hurt and overcoming loss, experiencing difficulty and battling disappointment are realities that we will all face, to varying degrees, at some time in our lives. But how we respond, as we seek to glorify the Lord in the fires of life, is what matters most. Some end up caught in the trap of guilt and sorrow, never finding the grace to move on from their crisis moment in life. Others fall victim to bitterness, giving in to the blame game (a game we always lose), blaming God and others for the hardships they have endured. For these, the remedy of trusting in God’s love and providence is too difficult to accept as a foundation for finding healing. But there are those whose response inspires us to live out our faith with a holy determination to make a difference in the lives of others.

Our guest speaker, 25 years after his son’s tragic suicide, was addressing our students, many of whom were the same age his son was, on the subject of depression and the causes of teen suicide. His message was focused on warning signs that we each need to be aware of, on the need for each person to take an active interest in the lives of those around him, and on the fact that depression can be treated early on and overcome. This was not a man holding on to sorrow and loss; this was a man giving his life to help others teenagers not make the same mistake his son did.

And that’s what impressed me; he made a conscious decision to make the very best of his tragic situation. Standing in front of our teenagers, he was willing to share his heart, hoping to turn his loss into another’s gain. Paul Billheimer wrote a book entitled “Don’t Waste Your Sorrows.” Our speaker that day, Eric Hipple was living this out, not wasting the sorrow of his personal loss. And that is our challenge, to find the courage to do the same, to take our own personal life experiences and turn them into opportunities to share the amazing grace of God with others around us.

God Bless,
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church

Having Done All

Having Done All

“Put on the full armor of God so that you may be able to
  stand your ground, and after you have done all, to stand.”
                                                   Ephesians 6:13

If ever a story was to inspire us to give our all to the things of God, to seasons of committed prayer and fasting, and to going after God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, David’s intercession for his ill child is certainly one. The Bible gives us this account, in II Samuel 12, of what David did when his son became sick:

“David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted…. he spent nights lying on the ground…refused to get up from the ground….and would not eat.”
 

That David was willing to do all that for his child is not the surprising part; we would expect that from a “man after God’s own heart”. But still it stands as an incredible example of how we are called as believers to respond to the deepest and most difficult trials we face. “Having done all” is a phrase taken from Ephesians 6:13 above; it is a place of peace that enables us to stand confidently knowing that we have done all we could on our side of the equation of divine sovereignty and human responsibility, that dividing line between our part and God’s part in dealing with life’s problems. In the face of difficult circumstances and discouraging odds, David prayed and interceded with all his heart for God to be gracious to his little child.

The child died on the seventh day of David’s intercession and David’s “having done all” opened the door for him to see the loss of his child in the light of eternity. His servants were worried about him, saying, “he may do something desperate” but he got up from the ground, changed out of his mourning clothes and worshipped before requesting food and eating. His simple explanation of his actions after the death of the child culminated with “I will go to him, but he will not return to me.” Having done all, having given his best, David was able to stand again, living in the light of eternity.

In every situation we face today, let’s set right priorities so that we too can say that we have done our all, and from that, find the strength that comes from a life of no regrets, a life that is focused on eternal things.

God Bless,
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church

Patient Continuance

Patient Continuance

“To those who by patient continuance in doing good seek
for glory, honor and immortality, He will give eternal life.”
                                                  Romans 2:7

Earlier today, in a very special memorial service, we paid tribute and said goodbye to my mom who passed away last week at the age of 95. The memories we shared will not soon be forgotten and the legacy she left our family will stand as an inspiration for many years to come. Without a doubt, if one phrase from the scriptures could summarize her life, it would have to be a quote from the above scripture in Romans 2:7 which talks about “patient continuance in doing good.” The consistency of her living out her values is an example that we can all learn from.

We see and hear of many acts of hospitality in the body of Christ and my mom was no exception. Her home was open, to family members and friends alike, every Sunday for brunch. But it wasn’t just for a year or two and it wasn’t in response to a message on the subject preached from a pulpit; it was for as long as I can remember, many decades to be sure, and it continued up until the week before her 95^th birthday this past September. There are acts of hospitality and there is a lifestyle of hospitality where such good works are core values that we practice on our own without reminders or encouragement as an outflow of what we believe is important. Such was my mom.

A pan of soup for someone under the weather, a meal for a family member recovering from surgery, or a birthday card for one of her 22 grandchildren and 44 great-children were the rule not the exception. No visitor was ever sent away without having been fed properly and no request to knit an afghan was ever turned down, a pattern continued until only a few weeks before her passing into eternity. Showing constant concern for everyone from close family members to a young boy in our church with special needs were part of that “patient continuance”, a lifestyle of doing good, of showing love, of caring concern and compassionate kindness.

We can be challenged in our own lives to think of others first, to show the love of Christ to others in practical, sacrificial ways, and to make those values so second nature that no one need remind us of their importance. A legacy of mom and grandma opening her home and her heart, of sharing all she had, and of loving those dearest to her with her whole heart is what our family is so grateful for this evening as we settle back in at home. My prayer is that each of us will find the grace to leave such a wonderful legacy to those who share in our lives.

God Bless,
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church

The Father’s Heart

The Father’s Heart

“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father
has been pleased to give you the kingdom.”
                                     Luke 12:32

Sitting in the hospital for long hours watching someone you love suffer can be very difficult. That was my experience this week as my mom battled some health issues at Rochester General Hospital. Lots of reading was done in the times when she was sleeping, lots of coffee was consumed to stay awake, and much prayer was offered up for the Lord to be merciful. In the midst of waiting and watching, I was reading about the events of Easter Week and, in particular, about the sufferings of Christ recorded in Isaiah chapters 52 and 53:

“See, my servant will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted
Just as there were many who were appalled at him – 
His appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man, 
And his form marred beyond human likeness.”

“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed 
for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace 
was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.”

“Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer….”

As I watched a loved one in the hospital, my mind wandered to what it must have been like for the Father, for our heavenly Father, to watch his Son suffer the agony of the cross as He gave His life as a ransom for you and I. It was the Father who had sent the Son on this mission of salvation and now the Father had to watch each of the events from the scourging to the crown of thorns, from the mocking and reviling of others to the nailing on a wooden cross. He heard the cry of “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me” when our sins were laid upon Jesus, and the prayer of “Father, forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing” as Jesus showed compassion to the end.

The pains of watching a loved one suffer were experienced by the Father that morning in ways we can only begin to imagine. But His love for us, His desire for us to walk in salvation and life and hope allowed it and enabled Him to endure it. That is how great the Father’s love is for you and I that He watched Jesus suffer an excruciating death on the cross that we might experience eternal life. There is no doubt - God loves you and I.

Happy Easter
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church

The Record

The Record

“I will not die but live and proclaim
what the Lord has done.”
                          Psalm 118:17

In Gettysburg, statues with well defined meanings, markers to denote where troop lines were, and a restored battlefield down to the trees being removed because they weren’t there in the 1860’s tell the story and declare the record of the bravery of men from both sides in our nation’s civil war. In Washington, the record is told at every turn and in every building, the record of a nation founded on the mercy of God and built by the dedication, hard work, ingenuity and sacrifice of men and women of many succeeding generations. It is a record that we need to have; it’s permanence contradicting modern claims of a separation of church and state never intended by our founding fathers.

That God is found in the record of our nation should not surprise us. That God’s providence and grace, mercy and favor are the very building blocks of the modern nation the United States has become is a record that time would erase were it not for the marble and granites halls, stone monuments and memorials on which our nation’s history is engraved. We owe a debt of thanks to those who thought it important to record and to memorialize for future generations those heroes who established a Christian nation in the wilderness of America as well as those soldiers who protected our freedoms and those of so many other nations on other continents around the world.

The significance of the Holocaust Memorial has taken on new meaning in much the same way as leaders of certain nations deny that the Holocaust ever took place. The pictures and films taken by our soldiers when they liberated the occupants of concentration camps throughout Germany provide a record that says otherwise. The testimonies of survivors also paint pictures that no denial can erase; their story is recorded for future generations to learn from and prevent.

The many books in my library provide another kind of record, the record of men and women whose lives of faith have changed the world, Finney, Wesley, Kuhlman and Graham to name a few. And now it’s our generation’s turn to provide a record of faith and service, dedication and commitment to our nation. What is memorialized, recorded and written about us will tell a story; what we do will make up a record of the sacrifices we were willing to make to advance the cause of Christ in the nations of our world.

God Bless,
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church

Certainties & Uncertainties

Certainties & Uncertainties “I know whom I have believed and am convinced that He is  able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day.”                                                     II Timothy 1:12 On a daily basis, we face uncertainties in so many areas. The price of gas was $3.73 this morning when I filled up at Sam’s Club. What it will be when we go on vacation this summer is anyone’s guess. For our public school teachers, the battle over the state budget and what school funding will be set at next year has left many uncertain as to what the future will hold for them and whether they will still have a job. Students graduating from college face similar situations, with the uncertainty of job prospects clouding many a future. For graduating students, making plans for life after high school opens up a whole new set of questions about what lies ahead. And the list could go on to include the elderly and the uncertainties many of them face in considering their future care. The children of parents in the midst of divorce would surely make the list, wondering each day what life will be like without the stable home they were accustomed to. The families of soldiers fighting overseas, the mom waiting for biopsy results and the dad wondering what happens when unemployment benefits run out all find themselves in the same quagmire of uncertainty with the many worries that accompany it. But thank the Lord, the coin has another side; the side that has “In God We Trust” clearly engraved for all who handle it to see.  Our God is “the same yesterday, today and forever”, an unchanging Savior in an ever-changing world. In our times of need, He is our certain help. In our storms and trials, He is a certain shelter from the attacks that come against us. When everyone else fails us, we can be certain of one thing; God will never leave us or forsake, never give up on us and definitely never let us go.  When the writer of Hebrews likens our hope in Him to “an anchor for the soul, firm and secure,” he’s painting the picture of a life that with God as their anchor, can rest in the certainty of His love and care. If the battle of uncertainties versus certainties was an election, the certainty that comes from trusting in God would be the clear landslide winner. If it was a boxing match, uncertainty would be laying on the ground knocked out by the God who tells us that “we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” We can safely say that, as we draw near to God, no uncertainty can stand in the presence of a certain God, or in the minds of those who put their trust in Him. God Bless, Pastor Joe Gateway Church