Light From the Cross For Your Journey

Growth Cycles

2009-05-11T10:28:00.000-07:00

I have heard so many good grow-your-faith stories in the last month or so, my brain is on over-load. A lot of it came at the Northeastern Minnesota Synod Assembly and Learning and Sharing Day this past April. Some I have heard from my family, most recently my daughter Hannah who has let me comment on her work for a college class that has her dealing with faith and worldview issues. I have gotten feedback from dear readers such as you. Some growth ideas have come from visitors to our ministry, some from those whom we serve through our extended ministry in the community, the food shelf and emergency help.
My brain is on overload, and my cup (heart) “runneth over.” There are just so many great responses to God’s love and grace at work in our lives. I am encouraged by the growth cycles I see; deeply, richly encouraged. What I see at work in you, the growth in your service and love, is helping me to grow. So I thank God and you.
Now if only there were better ways to share those stories of faith and joy with more people. MY brain is on overload and that makes it more challenging for ME (alone) to share YOUR good stories with “others,” who then can “experience God’s love and forgiveness” (from our Church Mission Statement) more fully too.
I use this blog. I Facebook. I write an article for the church monthly newsletter.
I record little messages for our radio spot (an new series is in the works for KLKS, soon to be broadcast). I deliver weekly (or more sometimes) Sunday messages.
But that is not nearly enough given the richness of God’s supply!
Maybe… what if… how about… if you were to grow in how and when you share? Could God’s Spirit lead you to expand your avenues of sharing, telling, showing how God is helping you grow and live and love in faith? I bet it could happen. Then light for each other’s journey would grow. And more people would grow in their faith. And more wounded souls would find solace and healing. And more amazing stories of God’s love and forgiveness could be told and more growth in Christ would happen and the cycle is perpetuated!
In God’s strength we can feed that growth cycle!
On the journey with you,
Pastor Chris

Waterlife Baptism Testimony

2009-03-05T11:00:00.000-08:00

I have baptized quite a few folks; lots of babies, several youth, a few adults, and my own kids. As I thought about sharing what Baptism means to me I seriously thought about sharing the stories of their baptisms. You know how you feel about your own kids, you know the emotion you brought when it was your kid at the font. I had that too, plus I was the one actually pouring the water. There was just too much indescribable emotional content in those events for me to try to share it here.
So here is another Baptismal moment that has stuck with me ever since I was a part of it.
We were in Hilton Head, SC, on a youth trip, on our way to a National Lutheran Youth Gathering, and our Synod was have a pre-gathering; a time to prime our pumps and do a service project. Our last night there we were having a Baptismal Remembrance event at the ocean shore.
I have shared in other times and other places how I find the ocean to be such an amazing entity; all the raw power, so much water, what the ebb and flow can do, it is all just astounding! It is part of how I understand the awesomeness of God. It is even more astounding to realize that all the tides and waves of all the oceans since the beginning of earthly time combined are not even an involuntary hair twitch on the little finger of God.
So there we were on the edge of all that and the tide was coming in.
There were rows of adults in the water at the water’s edge, columns of people streaming to the ocean.
From below them on the beach we can see little of the resort, mostly just faces and legs and hands, trying to steady themselves in the moving surf.
We were to reach into the waters of the ocean and mark the foreheads of the people coming forward.
The movement, the ceremony was like Ash Wednesday, but the words are more fully baptismal: “Remember you are child of God, sealed by the holy Spirit and marked with the Cross of Christ, forever.”
There were often grains of sand mixed with the salt water, leaving more that just a wet mark on their heads, a sharper reminder that “…you are child of God, sealed by the holy Spirit and marked with the Cross of Christ, forever.” In front of me wave after wave of youth and adults, all children of God, some I knew and some I did not, each seeking to be reminded, eager to be touched by God’s love, by God’s sign.
Behind me in the cadence of creation, the tide, the power, surges around our feet, not without some danger of overwhelming us, of pulling us to where we may not have been prepared to go.
-- Earlier that day we had worked that beach to clean it of humanity’s trash; in the sand were other reminders of the power of the ocean; the minor hurricane earlier that year had re-arranged the beach, sometimes whimsically, burying man’s concoctions and constructions --
But in the ceremony on the shore there was another power on display. Baptism. We were all washed. Graced. Reminded of God’s overwhelming love. Every wave, from shore to sea, every wave, a celebration of Grace. “Remember you are child of God, sealed by the holy Spirit and marked with the Cross of Christ, forever.”

2008-11-07T10:09:00.000-08:00

THE WAY IS NOT DARK
One of the really good things about this first week in November is that the elections are over. We know who won (except for a couple senators). All the dire predictions about darkness and doom if the “other” one won have been cast in a whole different (and realistic) light. The world is a brighter place, if for no other reason than the ads are gone. Add to that about half the population will be happy because their candidate triumphed, so that half of the world is a little brighter too.
On the other hand there is a dim view of all this. The election results have yet to brighten the economic outlook or repair the dark future of my retirement account totals. The darkness of war still looms and in even more places than the day before the election, with the Russian President’s missile announcement. The gloominess of hunger and poverty and community tension and all the rest of the depressing news did not magically vanish in a flash of post-election light.
There is a more certain reality for seeing true light in our journey, a reality that comes from the depth of truth.
Part of that reality is that the world it is not as dark as the news makes it seem. It never is. That understanding is based on a truth that Christians claim shapes their lives: None of those elected, nor their financial contributors, is really in control. Christians confess, believe, and trust that GOD is in control. Jewish people and Muslims and a bunch of other faithful folk believe the same thing. Another part of that “more certain reality" is that GOD is a GOD of Light and Truth and Hope and Love and Joy, shinning with a brightness that no darkness can overcome.
As the globe tilts away from the sun with the shift of the seasons, and our sunlight dwindles, the True Light that has come for all people never diminishes. It’s not dark. It never has been. It never will be. The light we can live in is eternal, and no earthly circumstance nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from it; the true light of GOD’s love.

Changes in the Weather

2008-08-06T10:54:00.000-07:00

According to the calendar summer is almost over. Some days the weather seems to agree with the calendar. Some days, well, it is hard to tell. But that is summer in Minnesota; heck, that’s the weather in Minnesota; always changing.
A lot of times it seems that is the way the whole world works, from the weather to politics, from finance to family, changing all the time, nothing to hold on to, nothing to rely on.
At Light of the Cross Church, we share one thing we know we can rely on: God’s love and forgiveness. That is what our mission statement declares and that is the basis for our core values. We do our best to live in that love and share that forgiveness with everyone we can. There are times in my personal journey that this is a difficult challenge. There are times in my personal life that I don’t want to be consistently loving and forgiving. But then here comes eternally consistent Jesus, pumping in a constant supply of love to share, reminding me repeatedly that I am forgiven. And if I am, well, I have no right not to be forgiving. As a congregation we produce the same kind of inconsistent behavior. But we try our best, and the Spirit shakes us up and reminds us again and we try again.
That’s what makes it a journey.
And that’s why I’m on it with you.

Wave Journeys

2008-08-06T10:50:00.000-07:00

One of the joys of living up in vacationland is the chance to see family and friends as they enjoy the area. We get to see family, especially from the Twin Cities a lot more in the summer. Our nephews came up to visit for a few days earlier this summer, and they brought their parent’s boat. Which is cool, because our boat is vintage and not working very well and needing another coat of paint (but that’s another blog). So we used it, several times. One day when we hit the lake the day that turned stormy. The 16 year old nephew was driving—fast—right into the storm and the 5-year old was getting scared. When the rain started falling so did his tears.
The only comfort he got from his tough-guy uncle (me) was “You’ll be fine” as the rain stung our faces in the front of the boat. This was so comforting to him that he cried harder.
Finally my wife called him to the safety of her arms in the back of the boat and to the comfort of a soothing lullaby. He stopped crying, and the sun came back out and all was right with the world again.
The journey we are on as people of God sometimes looks like that little episode. At church we learn about Jesus sharing that same kind of comfort with his followers. We know --and we try to share-- that the loving power is offered to all of us, even if we head too fast into the storms of our lives.
Why do we head right for the storm, even when we know better? The 16 year-old boat pilot did not have the benefit of experience and wisdom, so he can be excused (except for his tendency to want to torture the 5 year-old a little). But even old guys like me can be found squinting our eyes in the face of the blowing rain, thinking we need to be brave or just because we are stubborn. Jesus calms the storms, even calls us to walk out into the midst of the crashing waves. But not alone. And not as an exercise in bravado. He calls us to His side in the midst of the storm.
That’s a journey we can handle.
I’m on the journey with you.

Real Fireworks

2008-07-17T11:00:00.000-07:00

The light from fireworks is a real delight for me. I like to watch them and I like to light them off (not that I would ever light the illegal ones, except in highly controlled settings). It really is a good thing for me that people up here in vacationland keep celebrating Independence Day till the end of August.
When I was I kid, it started with simple "sparklers." I then made my own, using the stuff from sparklers, packed into an old bb tube. We were economically challenged, and did a lot of "do it your self" things. My older brother was a joy to watch, because his chemistry set could be made to produce truely dangerous explosives.
The trouble with fireworks is that the light they give off is so fleeting, so temporary. It won’t really light your way. It is gorgeous, it is wonderful, it is pretty, it is awesome. But it is short.
The light of God’s fireworks, God’s word and God’s Spirit, the fire of God's love, is consistent and constant and trustworthy and true. That’s the eternal glow of God’s promise.
At Light of the Cross Church and probably at a church near you too, we try to shine the light of God’s fireworks on your path so that you can find hope and abundant life. We do sometimes "hide it under a bushel" in the words of the old kids song, and the light we show can be so "little." But under that bushel and behind that "little" is God's abundant fire. I wanna get better at letting that "fire."
I'm on the journey with you.

Worry About Faith

2008-05-28T08:43:00.000-07:00

The title is meant to be an oxymoron, mutually exclusive, non-sense, contradictory.
Faith and worry do not work with each other.
One conquers the other.
Either you worry, and worry wins; or there is faith and faith wins.
Faith is a gift from God, a gift of the Holy Spirit; it is yours. But you can choose worry, and faith is blocked.
Now I hear your brain alarms going off… “ya but…”
Believe me, mine are ringing too; this message is as much for me as for anyone else.
Aren’t there things as parents, or grandparents, or patriots, or environmentally concerned citizens, or the financially savvy retirement bound, or pharmaceutically informed consumers, or even spiritually-attuned-to-the-end-of-the-world believers, that we ought to be worried about?
Is there a place for healthy concern? Fill in the blanks with your own examples:
Parents _____________________
Grandparents ___________________
Patriots _______________________
Environmentally concerned citizens _________________________
Pharmaceutically informed consumers __________________________
Spiritually-attuned-to-the-end-of-the-world believers _________________
But where is the line between worry and healthy concern?
Last Sunday in church we heard Jesus’ own words on the matter: (Matt 634 ) So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today.
The psalmist's chant from Psalm 131 are shaped to calm the anxious soul: “Like a child upon its mother’s breast, my soul is quieted within me.”
And Isaiah’s ancient prophesy in chapter 49 are his timeless description of the care God gives, even in the face of severe worry and doubt: “The Lord has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me!”
God answers any worry, any doubt, any fear from any source: “See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands!”
That is enough to quiet my “ya but”!

Release Point

2008-05-20T10:51:00.000-07:00

It hardly seems possible. June. Here. And there was so much I was going to get done in the early part of spring!
But, zoOOom! It’s gone.
Of course, with the weather being what it was, it hardly seems as if there really was a spring. As I blog this that seems to have changed for the better at any rate; perhaps winter really has released its grip.
This June is particularly poignant for our family because it marks a major change in our lives. Our youngest is graduating from High School and our household is returning to one location. For the past 5 years my wife and kids have been spending the school and work week 2 and a half hours west of here. It was the only school the kids had known (we’d lived there for 13 years) and Sandy (my wife) has a thriving massage therapy business there. They’d come home for weekends and holidays, including summer, and I’d go there (to Pelican Rapids) for sports events and school events and stuff. With Hannah graduating that will stop, and that is a good thing to release.
But it is bitter-sweet because it also puts us on the edge of the “empty nest.”
There was so much I was going to do before that time came….
Through the mist in my eyes, it is hard to see where the time flew, and we are faced with letting go and releasing our hold more fully into God’s hands. We face a release point.
The life of faith calls us to very similar “release points” all the time. It might not be as big as letting kids go, or watching parents return to their Creator, or feeling our own physical bodies decline. But time and time again God calls us to release our cares, release our lives, release our love, release our grip, so that God can do what God would do. So that we and those we love will bathe fully in the blessings God would rain (reign) upon us.
Time and time again God calls us to release our anger, our pain, our grudges, our worries, our frustrations.
God calls us to release our joys and plans and hopes and celebrations and hearts and souls.
When we do it, God’s care flows more fully, God’s healing comes more completely, God’s Spirit guides more deeply.
And I want that, really I do. But at the moment just before the release there is an ache, a hesitation, a “holding back.” Part of my heart longs to hold on: sometimes in the name of human love; sometimes in the name human pride; sometimes in my own sinful stubbornness.
But the Spirit gently tugs and the world turns and the release point comes. And in trust, I open my hands, my heart, my soul, and God takes hold. Really. I will.
On the journey with you,
Pastor Chris

25 Years?

2008-04-29T09:36:00.001-07:00

In the next couple of months it will be official.
I have been in the pastor business for 25 years. The Synod will recognize me at a Lunch at the Assembly. The church I serve today has given me a cake and applause.
A venerated retired pastor passed on his silver anniversary cross to me at the end of worship last week.
That was awesomecool.
Pastor Les always wears a cross to worship. He has quite a collection from his days in “the business.” He just happened to be wearing his anniversary cross when last week. It was one of those “Spirit moments.” I was preaching about how Jesus promises to send His Spirit to comfort and show us truth and be our Advocate. And then God goes and touches my heart with that very same Spirit in a surprising way.
It really was awesomecool.

Prayer Shawl Blessing

2008-04-29T09:24:00.001-07:00

I just got my own prayer shawl.
The “shawlers” were here knitting today and praying for those who they knew were going to be blessed by the shawls. And they picked me too.
There were a couple people with health issues who were getting them, there were plans to support some other people for other reasons. And they picked me too.
As the shawls are knitted or crocheted, the craftswomen pray. There is a meditation, a conscious imaging of God’s love and care that goes into each shawl. And they picked me too.
They let me choose the color (it’s a cool blue). They draped it around my shoulders. I lifted it to cover my head in good Jewish fashion. It sent a tingle into my body and a warmth into my soul.
They want me to use it for my prayer time, and to pray for them too. It is a cycle of prayer and support and love and comfort. And they picked me too.
It’s just so cool!

On The Road Again

2008-04-21T11:47:00.000-07:00

(Willie Nelson, in case you were wondering.)
Well, spring time does that to me. I try to find that song and crank it up on the car stereo. And hum it while on the motorcycle. Just the chorus really, I’m not even sure what the rest of the song says. But this time of year, as the ice disappears and the air warms and the sun shines from a higher angle (all important factors in riding joy) I get the urge to be on the road, on the motorcycle. And that chorus just echoes the urge; "I just can't wait to get on the road again."
So in spite of the glacier still on Mille Lacs, I have the bike on the road. It is a 1979 Honda GL 1000, Gold Wing. Before the pharing and bags came standard. I tool the windshield and pharing off last spring because of electrical problems. So it's a chilly ride. Why I am out there already? I love to ride. Period. Not far, mind you. I prefer air conditioning and cruise control and comfy seats for long distances. But there is something about the total presence of the road on a motorcycle.
It echoes to me of Jesus’ call to those who follow him to be in the moment, to live each day as it is, without worry for tomorrow:
"Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day's own trouble be sufficient for the day. Matthew 6:34
On a motorcycle you need to be very much “in the moment,” especially in spring before the potholes get patched. On a motorcycle the fresh spring bugs are very present (maybe I should replace the windshield), the low spots in the valley keep their coolness evident, and the flocks of migrating birds need to be “ducked.”
But the joy in the midst of the challenges is worth the challenges.
The feel of the road, the presence of the beauty, the liveliness of the smells, the camaraderie of the other riders (“We Always Wave” is kind of a “core value”). It’s all so very good.
Just like the journey of faith.
Lots of people in lots of circumstances ask me, as a Pastor, “How do you put up with ________?” (You can fill in the blank; just about anything you choose, I’ve probably answered.) There are challenges.
The only answer is the joy. Jesus and the Spirit grant a deep well of peace, Shalom, wholeness; a reminder that God is good all the time. I live in that promise, so that’s why…
I’m on the journey with you,
Pastor Chris

The Light of a Funeral

2008-04-15T11:29:00.000-07:00

The media said nearly a thousand people; I counted 1200+. The public funeral for the 16 year old killed in the bus crash near Albertville, MN on April 5th. The one that sent my daughter to North Memorial Hospital overnight. The one that brought enough fear to my journey to dim the light for a time. That one.
It was harder to bear than I thought. Or maybe I just didn’t spend very much time really thinking about it. Because to really acknowledge Jessica Weishair’s death is to contemplate what a couple of inches and a whole ton of unknown circumstances could have meant for Hannah, my daughter and who really knows how many other kids who walked away, wounded but alive.
There were myriads of flowers. Lots of posters with kids’ grief in colorful marker and simple drawings. There was the combined high school band, in their usual black attire, honoring her with a flower filled empty chair in the flute section. There was the music the band, with amazing poise and stalwart talent, played in her honor. There was Mr. Fitzsimmons, directing with distinction. There were words and stories and scripture and songs. And a deep, deep pain.
All I could manage to say to Jessica’s father: “Each hug is a prayer.”
Pastor Rotvold gave us light, though. I suppose his message is written somewhere for public consumption; I hope so. While I cannot recall quotes from his sermon, do carry away a gentle light to ease my fears and draw my tears. The tears needed to be drawn out from my soul, to drain away some darkness so that light would return His words gave all of us that gift. I must find a way to thank him. His daughter has become one of my daughter’s best friends in the last couple years. What they have been through these last days has welded that connection with a glow that will not easily fade. I must thank him and his wife for that too.
Yes, it was harder than I had anticipated. Even writing here draws tears again. I know the shedding of those tears is part of the healing. I pray it comes for the Weishair family too.

As Much Of Hannah's Story As I Know

2008-04-10T10:29:00.000-07:00

“Hannah”
She was a little aggravated. All the spots to stretch out on the floor for a halfway decent sleep were all gone. Sleeping upright in a bus seat is not high on her favorites list. She’d just had to deal with a bloody nose too and wasn’t sure it was done, so she is half awake.
The bus swerves, was it to the left? Then back, then the tell-tale sound of the rumble bumps and then she is trying to hold on as the bus begins its tip. There is not much to hold on to on a bus seat when it comes right down to it….
The next waking thought is clouded with a bloody face and bodies on top of her; two?, three?, and she’s in a crumpled ball under it all. Vaguely she is aware of screams and some panic. “Get off me! I can’t breathe!” How long before they listen? Then, in the dark band mates trying to leave through the escape hatch in the roof that is now a side wall. “Where’s my pillow?” one girl panics. “Never mind!” Hannah shouts, “This is an emergency! JUST GET OFF THE BUS!”
A chaperone from the other bus is soon by her side, because now she realizes she can’t get out on her own. Both feet are stuck outside the glassless window she is sitting in. Her legs are under her at slightly strange angles. Paul, the chaperone is astounded at her calm. She is beginning to wonder what life might be like with out a foot or two, but is confident of life. The firefighters are there too. One stays with her and Paul until he figures out how to use a little saw blade to dig her out. An hour and a half. She asks about the kids in the front of the bus, she knows there are others trapped, but they won’t tell her anything. “You just worry about taking care of you here,” is all they say. As her legs finally pull free, the sensation returns to her feet and “It just kills!” It is that tingling sensation when your arm “goes to sleep” only “50 times.”
They get her out through the roof hatch, on the back-board, they put the cervical collar on. “I’m fine,” she insists, but they have a job to do. She is the first of the trapped students to get out. They decide she needs to be airlifted to the trauma center at North Memorial in Robbinsdale. “I’m fine,” she insists, to no avail.
“It was a beautiful sunrise from the helicopter,” she reports later. She is able to give home and cell numbers to the medics in the chopper, who in turn, give them to the outreach worker at the hospital who then calls her parents.
Once she woke up on the bottom of the pile in the bus, she is awake and alert through the whole thing.
X-rays show no damage, CT scan reveal suspected minor internal bleeding. She has significant “road rash” on her face and arms but her legs are remarkably unscathed. She credits the thick sweat pants she was wearing. She is a dirty mess, though. Grass and dirt and little chunks of gravel keep falling from her hair and hands and head and arms. Every bed she is on she leaves her outline in dirt on the sheets. She doesn’t really get fully cleaned up until late on Sunday. Her nurses and mother and aunts and friends keep helping her pick away at the mess; strands of hair that were scraped out of her scalp by the rough ride on the bottom of the pile she keeps handing to her father for him to throw away.She recovers quickly. The foot she could not put weight on at all on Saturday she is walking on by Sunday afternoon. Blood tests that were causing minor concern for internal bleeding normalize by Sunday morning. The physical therapist that did her pre-release assessment was surprised to let her go with no restrictions. Her trauma doctor recommends a week off from school.

Wednesday Hannah Update

2008-04-09T08:43:00.000-07:00

Be sure to check back here for more information.
I looked more carefully at the video footage of the crash site, saw a couple angles that I had not before. It is astounding. The wider view I found on the CNN website really shows how far the bus slid on its side. I have told some folks in person that it seems as if a couple inches one way or the other made a life-saving difference for the girls who survivied. Now I am even more sure of that.
Hannah spent yesterday involved in grief response events sponsored by her school, Pelican Rapids High. They have a great crisis response plan in place and they are really helping the kids (and their parents) face this event.
The road-rash on her face and arms continues to aggravate and her ankle is uncomfortable. But she is glad to be back with her friends and amazed at the new connections they are all making. Their support community, the deepening of casual aquaintance to supporting friend, is a wonder to behold. It is not "just hugs," it is heart connections, and it spilled over to parents and the rest of the community. And even to surrounding towns. Sports rivals are now supportive cheerleaders and prayer warriors. Fierce competitors now shed gentle tears of compassion. These are the links I elluded to last night. These are the grace of Jesus that are along side us as we walk a darkened path. These are the touch of Christ that warm our hearts on the cold road.
I pray they soak into the lives of all who were touched by this, and especially the family of the girl who died.

Funny Links

2008-04-08T12:44:00.000-07:00

Funny how emotions can be so physical.
Funny how integrated we are as humans.
Funny how interconnected we are as people.
Funny how diverse the manifestations of our various relationships.
Funny how stopping to observe those funny links turns into a source of strength.
Funny how I need a nap anyway.

More about this when I don't need a nap.

Extra Light

2008-04-08T12:36:00.000-07:00

This was the last in this month's series of "radio spots." They can be heard from time to time on 104.3 FM (KLKS) out of Breezy Point Minnesota. We will be offering this radio version of Light for your Journey from time to time. This is actually the 3rd series I have done.
This one really fell into place after this last weekends events (see the Hannah Update blog). I was planning to add it to Sunday's sermon (and did, actually). I had written it last week. But it spoke to my own heart's need for Extra light.
It is so great when the days start getting longer and there is more light! Living here in the northland we have to add extra light so much of the time, just to get anything done.
We try to offer some of that extra light at Light of the Cross Church because we know there are dark times in everyone’s life. We also know that the cross of Jesus, his life, his gifts, his love, and his resurrection, can give us more light than we’ll ever need. Sometimes it’s a real challenge to get the light of Jesus to shine on the dark parts of our lives. But that is exactly what we strive for on Sunday mornings and in ministry all week long: to offer you more light, more hope, more life. I think you’ll see that when you come by.
I'm on the journey with you.

April Ode

2008-04-08T12:35:00.000-07:00

This is another "radio spot" offering.
April is a weird month, especially in Minnesota. The world is a warmer place, and it is supposed to be spring, but it seems like winter with mud and gooey dirt roads and a stray blizzard here and there, just won’t let go.
In some ways April in Minnesota is like being a follower of Jesus. Jesus promises us that something really awesome is on the way, and we get little tastes of it all the time, like spring flowers and love. But our mistakes and fears muck it up and put ruts in our road that can leave our lives really messed up.
At Light of the Cross Church we try to offer a little help through that messy journey. We try to remind everyone of the power of forgiveness and the joy of love. We try to be the showers of April to refresh your life.
I'm on the journey with you.

Alleluia what?

2008-04-08T12:29:00.000-07:00

This is one of my recent offerings for our "radio spot ministry."
Alleluia! You can hear that word in church, or maybe even in everyday conversation. Halleluia?
What does that word even mean? You could go check the dictionary, but let me offer this idea. It’s a way for people, who are just a little fired up with joy, to say “Good Job God!”
At Light of the Cross Church we use it because we are pretty darn happy about what God has done for the world. The whole deal about Jesus dying on a cross and then rising from the dead, that whole Easter and Resurrection thing really means a lot to us.
So we sing Alleluia and we say it; we want the world to know God does great things. We want you to know that God is awesome, so if you hear a Halleluiah from us, that’s what its all about.
I’m on the journey with you.

Hannah Update

2008-04-07T08:04:00.000-07:00

Here is a quick update on Hannah:
We brought Hannah home Sunday night. Here is what we brought her home from:
http://www.startribune.com/local/17342224.html
Thank you for your concern and prayers.
We brought her home to Garrison on Sunday night after she was released from the North Memorial in Robbinsdale. She had been airlifted to that trauma unit after being freed from the Albertville bus crash.
Her lower legs were pinned under the bus for about an hour and a half.
There had been some concern late Saturday for some internal bleeding, but that has resolved on its own. Her right ankle is going to be sore for some time, but there is not apparent permanent damage and she is walking with little discomfort. Her face and arms were badly scraped, but that is healing as well. The doctor has suggested a week off from school and limited activity, but she is eager to return to her friends and community.

One of those dark spots in the road

2008-04-07T06:56:00.000-07:00

There are those dark places in the road. When I was a kid I would get nervous where the light of the street lights on our little town failed, or where the yard light faded from view on our country road where I lived. Nothing ever happened there. Nothing ever came out of the dark. But my heart and my feet both moved much faster anyway.
It felt a little like that on Saturday when we heard of the bus crash. Was that our daughter’s bus? Was she hurt? What about the other kids and parents? How can we find out? The answers came slowly out of the darkness; it felt a little like ooze creeping into our hearts when fears were realized and hospitals called and more questions followed what little information we had.
Prayer words were few; mostly it was unformed emotion, churning under the surface, or erupting into tears; sighs too deep for words.
The extra light we talk about showing and sharing at Light of the Cross eventually found its way into the day. People, mostly, who shone with hope, or compassion, or competence, or confidence, or (in our daughter’s case) stubborn assertiveness, or (in the chaplain’s case) simple Christ-like presence. It was all more than we needed. It was all Jesus. It was light.
It has taken me a couple days to be totally aware of it. It took gathering with the people of the Church and “breaking the bread” to feel the light soak into my soul.
Hannah is fine. She was released from the hospital on Sunday night, hardly a day after being admitted. Nothing broken. Internally mending. Hardly limping. Eager to face, well, I guess, her own unknown. Eager to be light in the lives of her friends who will need her. Eager to walk with the rest of her town through the darkness of grief for a friend lost.
She (we) will need your prayers.

The Beginning of A New Journey

2008-04-04T13:46:00.000-07:00

Today I begin an new thing. It is an echo of other things I have done before; newsletter articles, radio spots, "holy-day" letters; but it is a new way to be on the journey with you.
The life of faith is a journey. If you know me, you know I think that. I've said it before. It's not an original idea either. It IS a notion that appeals to my sense of direction. It is a notion that seems to reflect what the Bible teaches about life and loving Jesus.
So what I put here will be map fragments from the journey I am on. From the journey we are on. There will be things here that won't "fit" in our church newsletter. There will be things here that are beyond what I can say in 45 seconds on the radio (KLKS 104.3, you can help financially support those messages; see the church newsletter and the website).
I will probably get into commentary on the life I see around me. It might not be benign. It might not be what you are used to hearing from me, unless you are a part of the Friday Happy Hour (Bible Study and a Whole Lot More). But even those opinions are only precursors for what you may find here.
In it all, my goal will be "Light from the Cross." Things that can help give you directions on your journey.
I'm on the journey with you.