I have so much to be thankful for this year, but especially lately.  It seems there is so much tragedy around me lately.  Sickness, pain and death are everywhere.  Satan is really working overtime.

And yet I am so grateful to my Savior Jesus.  Though many around me have died, they were all faithful Christians.  I know they are with the Lord.  When I think of them and sadness comes, I immediately turn my thoughts to where they are.  “I am but a stranger here, heaven is my home.” And God’s peace and joy come, until I am thanking Him for their life and example.

I have seen a lot of pain lately, even in my own family.  And yet I am so grateful to my Savior Jesus.  I know He is on His throne and He works might miracles.  I am grateful because it has driven me to my knees, seeking His will and His grace.  And He never lets me down.  He is always there.  I am reminded of Jeremiah’s words in Lamentations 3, “Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall!  My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me.  But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:  The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an en.  The Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I will hope in Him.”

I have seen a lot of sickness, more than usual.  And yet I am so grateful to may Savior, Jesus.  He is the great physician.  He heals and restores.  Maybe not the way I want.  Maybe not even in this life.  But our times are in His hands.  His faithfulness is to the end.  His promise is that we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us.  And His promise is, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the very end of the age.”

So thank You Jesus, for your goodness and Your promises.

Okay, the other day I said I was going to blog about the new word in the collegiate dictionary, “Unfriend.”  I was just kidding, but I guess a few people were interested.

There are a lot of different ways to go with this topic.  I just don’t want to appear unfriendly.  With all the social networking sites, we can surround ourselves with a lot of “web-friends.”  (Still, just ask one of them to help you move and see who your real friends are.)  I love to hear the discussions, “How many friends do you have?”

There is pride in having the most friends.  So what if we don’t really learn any real social skills, there over-rated anyway.  There will always be different levels of friendships.  Now there is a new one – unfriend.

How do you unfriend a person?  Does that mean they weren’t really a friend in the first place?  Did they make us mad and we can just unfriend them without ever talking to them?  Will restaurants open next to Friendly’s?”  (UnFriendly’s for those who didn’t get that joke – and if you didn’t get it, am I still your friend?)

Truth be told, if the word unfriend is now a real word and even in the dictionary, is it reflecting a direction we may not want to go in society?  Nothing can replace a real friend.

“A man of many friends comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” Proverbs 18:24

One day things will return to normalcy, but probably not soon.  Anyway, here are some special moments from the weekend.

• The first thing Saturday morning there was another funeral.  A special saint of God, Edna Pearl Hergert was called home.  Pastor Carl officiated at the funeral.  What a special man of God Pastor Carl is!  He ministered to Edna for a long time.
• Then we had a special CARE Ministry breakfast for all who are involved in CARE ministries.  A lot of people showed up and were encouraged by Mary Lou and her team (Marsha Peth and of course, Pastor Carl).  Pastor Spillman shared a word of care with us too.  It was a wonderful event.
• Many youth and adults helped the Christ family move.
• Thanksgiving food baskets were put together and distributed.
• Worship was a delight.
• Sunday was beautiful.  It is so good to worship.  Nothing is as refreshing and renewing for me than gathering with God’s people at FT and joining in worship.  It just lifts my spirits.  God is good!
• Did some special geocaching on Sunday.  It was gorgeous out and I hope you enjoyed it.
• A member assured me the Bills would win.  I will hold him accountable.
• Saints won!  This could be the year.

Dear readers (both of you),

Sorry it has taken me so long to catch up, but life has been hectic.  Turning 50 is tough.  I normally like to get ahead the first couple of weeks of November as I prepare for Thanksgiving through Christmas, but I just haven’t had the chance.  Ministry is happening.

While there have been my own crisis (for another day), we have had a lot of sickness and death hit First Trinity.  It has been a tough time.  My heart breaks for the families that are going through so much.  I love the people God gives me to minister to, and I hurt when they hurt.  I only wish I could do more.

But there is good news!  I am still no better at High School Musical on the Wii.  I played Sarah and came in a strong second.  That is okay because a real man should be able to win that game.  Don’t get me wrong.  I still have the moves.  I just need the right tools – unbuttoned shirt, gold chains and shoes with big heels.  Then I can really disco!  I better calm down, this is making me want to DANCE!  DANCE!  DANCE!  (Imagine a long pause here as I dance up and down the hall at church).

Okay I’m back.

Mission Madness was huge!  It was a blast.  We surpassed our goal and have a great foundation for our mission work in 2010.  Thanks Dawn for all your hard work, and thanks to all who helped in so many ways.

I also want to thank everyone for bearing with me during these tough times and having to read old blogs.  But now things are calming down (at least in my dream world), and I am back in the blogosphere.

The next blog should be about the newest word in the dictionary, “Unfriend.”  We will see.  Stay tuned.

Wow!  My wife turned 50!  Okay, so did I.  Our birthdays are one day apart.  She is the older one.

We had a great weekend with family.  I will talk about that at another time.

Here’s the deal.  Things start breaking at 50.  I had some nice video to share, but now the new software for my flip video won’t let me save my videos.  Software is broken.  I wanted to share some video of my Pastor Chuck bobble-head.  I love it because he always says yes to my questions.  My office is filled with balloons and streamers.  But you will just have to picture them in your mind until my software works again.

Abby and Jon are feeling sick.  They are broken in a way.  We were planning our 100th geochache, but the clouds broke open and rain is coming down too heavy.  Our birthday plans are broken.

I’ve got to go home and fix some broken things around the house.

Truth be told – fifty is just another day to Susan and I.  We are not grumbling or feeling old.  Our bodies are healthy for the most part.  Kids are really healthy other than cold and flu type of stuff.  We are happy.  Things are good and God is on His throne.  What could be better.  And all of  you are just a huge blessing in our life.  We couldn’t be more thankful.  (Well, a working video would be nice).  We really have no complaints.

You are our greatest gift and we thank God for you often.

I must close with the words of wise Solomon in Proverbs 16:31, “Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life.”

Busy, busy, busy!  This whole week was packed.  I returned from a conference in Chicago, only to have a District conference at Pioneer.  Then I returned to Pioneer to speak to the teachers.  Then Susan and I went to Pioneer again for the couples retreat.  Soon they will start charging me rent.

Still, it was a great week.  Here are just some of the special moments:

• Saints won!  They are 5-0.
• Susan and I got to spend time at the couples’ retreat.  Dr. Tim and Cheryl Chambers did a great job leading it.  Thanks to all who put it together.  It was wonderful.
• Saturday worship was fun because it was the first time to in the newly painted worship center.  It is really nice and just draws your attention to the cross.
• Madison was baptized at the early service on Sunday.  She is such a beautiful little girl.  I always enjoy baptisms, and then I got to talk about baptism in Bible class.  Fun!
• The worship team sounded wonderful.
• Sunday was a beautiful day.  We did a few geocaches.  We are up to 99.  We will do the 100th on my birthday.
• Saints won!

I love the response to the statement, “Memory is stronger than vision.”  The insights have been wonderful.

Memory is stronger than vision, especially for many in the church.  But vision has the power to propel us forward.  While memory has the ability to keep us anchored, vision has the power to drive us.  Perhaps another way to put it, memory keeps us rooted, vision keeps us relevant.

Memories are a powerful force.  They can hold us in bondage and prevent us from moving forward.  “I remember the good old days.”  “We’ve never done it that way before.”  And memories can stop us from carrying out the great commission in effective and relevant ways.

But memories can also help us know the faithfulness of God.  He always keeps His promises.  As we read the prayers in the Bible, we see they constantly remind God of His faithfulness.   Our memory of God’s faithfulness gives us the desire to move toward His vision for our lives.

Vision keeps us looking forward to ways we can bring the gospel to our world in relevant ways.  Vision causes us to look ahead.  What is happening in our culture?  What trends are we moving toward?  How can we reach a new generation with hope of Jesus?  How can we show our culture that God’s word is just as relevant to our lives today as it was when it was first spoken?

Vision is the ability to plan based on memory.  We can continue to look backwards and never look ahead.  That is living in the past.  Or we can look at the past, see the event and circumstances that shaped our lives, and then use what we learned to cast a vision for the future.

We have a vision for First Trinity.  We have learned from our 170 year history.  We have seen the faithfulness of God.  We are rooted in His word.  But the message we have to bring is relevant to our times.  The challenge is t0 bring His truth to our world in relevant ways.  We want to transform our world, one life at a time, through the power of God’s living word.

Different weekend for me.  Here are just a few of the special moments:

• I was out of town most of this week.  I attended a wonderful conference in Chicago.  I returned late Thursday night and came straight to church for a Ministry Council meeting.  We have such great meetings because we have a common vision.
• Friday and Saturday were times to visit people.  Some times those calls can be tough except for faith.  I get to visit with people who have such tremendous faith.  I am always blessed.
• Got to watch Jon play football and win again.  They have a really good team considering this is their first year of flag football.
• Baptism on Sunday.  Always one of my favorite things to participate in.
• Jason did a great job.  Of course, I expect nothing less.  He is a gifted preacher.  (Should I be worried?)
• We had a visitor on Sunday, a church mouse.  Funny!  It is amazing how such a little critter can distract from worship.  I am glad I stayed for the second service.
• Bills lost!  What can I say.  It was terrible.
• Now it is off to the next conference.  This week is our District Pastors’ conference.

I am at a conference in Chicago with about 20 other Lutheran pastors.  I always learn so much when I gather with brothers.  I am challenged in my thinking and strategic planning.  This week we are talking about the Reveal study from Willow Creek, about effective church branding, and understanding the culture in our community.  All good stuff.

Anyway,  a comment was made by our instructor, J. David Smith.  He said, “Memory is stronger than vision.”  I found that to be a great statement.  But before I go on about what it means to me, I am curious about how you might interpret that comment.  Do you agree?  Disagree?  Are you clear about our vision?  I am anxious to hear from you and look forward to a fun discussion.

Memory is stronger than vision.

Another weekend filled with blessings.  Here are just a few special moments:

• As often the case, this weekend began on Friday with Joshua’s Men, one of our men’s life groups.  We’ve been meeting for a number of years now and we really felt it was time to renew our commitment to God and to one another.  We spent much of the evening making that commitment.  It was a great time.  I am so grateful for our men’s ministry.
• Saturday morning was an early meeting.  What was great, was even though we were dealing with a big topic, everyone was on the same page.  God’s people discussed and shared and listened, and the result, I left the meeting feeling really good about the decisions.  I left feeling good about working together in ministry.
• The Jon had a football game.  He play really well.  Had an interception and we won!
• Abby had a game and the coach said it was her best game yet.  She plays soccer and is awesome.
• Then on to worship.  The late service on Saturday was interesting.  We had many first time visitors, which is the point of that service.
• Sunday, we had another drama.  Karen and Joe are hilarious and played their parts so well.  They are a hard act to follow.  Karen puts together such appropriate and challenging dramas.  I am thankful for  her ministry.
• Then Sunday evening I had a circuit meeting at my house.  It was really nice.  I got to meet a new person and it was a very encouraging time.  I have such great hope for our circuit.
• Saints won – again!
• Bills didn’t play!!  Don’t get me started.
• Saints won!