A Letter I Read in Today's Mail

Mike,

What’s up? It’s been a while. Since you didn’t write much during the summer months, I thought I’d write to you. I’ve learned some things you might want to think about. I know, I know, I’m an old guy, but you would benefit from the years I’ve lived ahead of you. You will be me some day. Here’s some advice I think you'll be glad to receive.

• You’d be wise to find a mentor, not just an advisor but a mentor. You need someone who is close enough to you and someone you trust to tell you the things you may not want to hear, and you need someone who can give you direction for what lies ahead. You will serve churches outside of denominational structure and built in mentors. Do what you must to secure one.

• Pay more attention to Brenda as the days go by. Romance her in the mundane years of your marriage like you romanced her before you were married. You’re busy, and she’s got her hands full with all those kids, but you’ll be glad when you get to be my age that you pursued her in these child raising years.

• Do more to impact your kids for life and eternity than I did. You won’t regret it. How old are your kids anyway? How many do you have? Let me help you with something. Being a dad is incredible! At the same time, it’s hard work and, at times, a bit frustrating. Listen to me, it may seem like those kids will be around forever, but they won’t be. Your dad ministry to them is short-term with long-term impact.

• Take care of your body earlier. It gets harder the older you get. Your metabolism will slow down. You can’t eat french fries and drink Pepsi without consequences. The same holds true for all personal disciplines. Start them now; it’s much harder to start disciplines as you age.

• You will make mistakes. Some mistakes will happen because you are immature. You will make other mistakes because you think you know better. You don’t. You won’t know you’ve made a mistake until it happens. You’re not likely to prevent them. When you make a mistake, own it and move on.

• At your age it may seem like your mom and dad are a nuisance or interfering in your life. From time to time their phone calls might be an intrusion and their visits come at inconvenient times. I get it. We older people aren’t always understanding of your time and responsibilities. Still, when you get to be my age, you may wish for one more phone call. So let me suggest that you call your mom and dad or go see your mom and dad or find ways to spend time with your mom and dad more than you think is necessary.

• Would you consider learning a trade? Your dad is a really good mechanic, able to fix nearly anything. You like books, sports, traveling, and thinking, but you will benefit from a skill. So pick one – electrical, plumbing, carpentry, masonry, welding, HVAC – doesn’t matter which one you pick, I promise you will need it pretty soon.

• Learn a second language. You don’t know this, but the world is coming to the United States, and you’re going to get to see a good portion of the world. If you can learn a language, your travels will be all the more enjoyable, your experiences in cultures will go beyond what you can now imagine, and your potential for usefulness to the Lord will expand. It will be hard work, but God gave you a good mind. Put it to use.

• Value faithfulness over productivity. You’re a driven guy. You want to accomplish things, and you have accomplished some things early on in your life. But, you cannot control productivity. I don’t know what you will accomplish in the years to come, but I do know God values faithfulness in his servants more than he values productivity. You will find contentment in your own faithfulness and in the faithfulness of your co-workers much more than you will find satisfaction in your productivity or theirs.

• You can be moody from time to time. It’s not your best look. I understand how you feel. Sometimes you think life isn’t fair or your circumstances should be better than what you’re currently experiencing. Look, I don’t know if life is fair to you or not, and I can’t say if your circumstances are better or worse than anyone else’s, but here is what I do know and want to say to you: be happy because God has given you a lot. He has given you your salvation, his Son, his Spirit, and his Word. No matter what you don’t have or what you wish was different, choose to be happy. I promise you that you will be happy that you choose to be happy.

There’s more I can tell you, but knowing you, you may have skipped a few ideas already just to get to the end of this letter. It’s a fault we share. We aren’t very patient. So, I’ll stop right here. I hope you find my thoughts a help in some way.

Stay cool.

Mike

As always, thanks for reading, and I welcome your feedback and any suggestions you might have for an upcoming Lunchtime Musing.

I'm Back

Back in the day, Michael Jordan took some time off from basketball to take a swing at professional baseball. When he sufficiently scratched the itch, he returned to the game with a two-word press release, “I’m Back.” MJ wore three numbers during his GOAT career – 23, 45, & 12 (look it up if you want to know the story). Having had a little time off from writing, I’m Back with 12 Thoughts from the Summer Months. Why 12? Because I don’t have 45 thoughts from the summer months, and no one wants to read 23.

1.There is serenity in pulling weeds. I find it one of the more peculiar realities of getting older. I hated, I mean HATED, pulling weeds as a child. Granted, pulling weeds often was punishment for meanness to my sister, but that’s for another time. Now, a nearly old man, not only do I not mind pulling weeds from the front yard grass, I also find it relaxing. I do some of my best thinking when uprooting unwanted plants.

2. Time goes by fast. My grandmother told me, “The older you get, the faster time goes by.” Where did the summer go? Where did the years go?

My times are in Your hand:
Jesus, the Crucified;
those hands my cruel sins had pierced
are now my guard and guide.

3. The local church is a necessity. Over the summer months, I’ve watched those bereaved, diseased, discouraged, burdened, confused, ashamed, and overwhelmed receive the care of the church as intended by our Lord. We need the church. I need the church.

4. Sin delivers deep pain. Whether our own sin, the sin of those we love, or the sin of complete strangers, sin brings chaos, delusion, conflict, loss, pain, and death. I pray with the psalmist, “Lord, rescue me from their destructions” (35:17).

5. Writer’s block is a real thing. Whether writing a thank you note, a college essay, a novel, or a weekly help for Christians, sometimes the words just won’t come. The cure? Just keep writing. Eventually you will land on the best words and ideas.

6. There are few things more glorious than a newborn baby. The Lord brought more of them to our church over the summer months. So much awaits that bundle of joy. From this little life the Lord will bless untold numbers for generations to come. As these little lives age, the Lord will show himself faithful as he has to me and to you.

7. Little to no contact with children is a sad life. I pondered this recently when I thought about the lives of a couple I’ve known for many decades. Now, both about 70 years old, they live without interaction with children. By choice, they had no children, which means no grandchildren. They are not believing people, so they do not interact with children on a regular basis in the life of the church. They live in a secluded part of the world, isolated from any neighborhood kids. Whether your own children or grandchildren or those in the church, the sounds and sights of twirling girls and wrestling boys makes me smile. This is one of the blessings of a church with multiple generations.

8. Elderly Christians and church members are a gift to the local church. “We have to get younger” was a phrase I overheard recently at a local cafe, made by a blue-haired lady to a patient old man. She was speaking of her church. We don’t have many old people in our church, but I am so very thankful for the ones we do have. They provide maturity, stability, history, and perspective. Our church is better because of them and loses a little when health separates them from us.

9. Psalm reading and memorization is good for the soul. Our church spent the summer reading the psalms and memorizing Psalm 1. Psalm saturation gives voice to my sorrows, wisdom in my choices, expressions of my gratitude, and a deepening of my intimacy with the Lord.

10. Working out regularly really does make you feel better. Though it may not feel like it over the last few days, Minnesota summers melt away like ice cream under the sun. Like many, I do everything I can to be outside during the summer months. That means I am not in the gym getting in regular workouts. Bodily exercise profits little, but it does profit. The Lord has given us some measure of how we feel by taking care of our bodies. So, back to the gym beginning next week.

11. Love is so much better than conflict. I’ve made a comment like this to Brenda a few times over the summer months. Paul writes, “Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification” (Romans 14:19). It seems so obvious, but too often we’d rather fight than love. I’d like less of the former and more of the latter, and I have much control about which is more prevalent in my life.

12. I live a blessed life, one beyond my ability to express to the Lord or to people. Looking back over the summer months, I declare I have a great wife, “practically perfect in every way,” amazing children and beautiful grandchildren, a church who loves me, friends who want to be with me, good health, a capable mind, all my needs met, and a future that will include God’s amazing grace and wise leading. What more could I want or need?

As always, thanks for reading, and I welcome your feedback and any suggestions you might have for an upcoming Lunchtime Musing.

Not Sorry if It Rained on Your Parade

Like many Minnesotans, I love our summer days, and my shoulders droop when they are interrupted by soaking rains and daytime thunderstorms, with one exception. For several years, I have asked the Lord to open the windows of heaven and pour torrential rain on the Twin Cities the last weekend in June. Across the world and in our Twin Cities, the final Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in June is the close of Pride Month, the celebration of all things LGBTQ.

From the official website: The 51st annual Twin Cities Pride Festival will be held at Loring Park and Parade Park in Minneapolis June 23 – 25, 2023 and will feature local BIPOC and LGBTQ+ vendors, food courts, a beer garden, and music stages.

If you are unaware, BIPOC is an acronym that stands for black, indigenous, and people of color. As an aside, I have no idea what one acronym has to do with the other, but I’ll leave that for another time.

Unless your head has been in the ground, you are fully aware of the push in the public arena for all things LGBTQ. The list of sponsors, corporations that gave big money to make the event happen, is staggering. Target, Delta, US Bank, Mayo Clinic, General Mills, and Xcel Energy top the list that includes 3M, Cub Foods, AARP, UPS, Caribou Coffee, Thrivent Financial, and Medtronic. There are more, but why bore you with the list? I’m not advocating boycotting any of the businesses. I’m informing you of how wide the push extends.

A Gallup poll concluded LGBTQ identification has been increasing over time. Younger generations are far more likely to consider themselves to be something other than heterosexual. The pollsters write, “With younger generations far more likely than older generations to consider themselves LGBT, that growth should continue.” The prophecy has come true. The most recent data reports nearly 40% of 18 to 24-year-olds identify as LGBTQ, with the B as the overwhelming identifier. Did you read that too quickly? The number is 40%!

Does that concern you? I think it should, especially if you have children in any educational institution, elementary school to college, that does not openly embrace a biblical worldview. What is the biblical worldview on gender identity and sexuality? Against the growing consensus in Western Culture, God’s Word upholds the beauty of two sexes, condemns all expressions of sexuality outside of covenanted marriage between one man and one woman, and offers God’s grace to escape God’s coming wrath for those who rebel against God in sexuality and gender.

This is a musing and not a treatise, so here are some thoughts as you consider how you will respond to the growing push to embrace LGBTQ ideology in our schools, at your workplace, in your family, in your church, and in our community.

Know the Scriptures. God’s revelation is the greatest resource we possess to combat any rebellious worldview. In the approaching days, Christians do well to know the content and meaning of Genesis 1-3, Romans 1, 1 Corinthians 6, and Matthew 19, to name a few. The Scriptures will guard your mind against the lies of Satan and will equip you with tools to support those close to you. The Scriptures will inform your conscience when faced with pressures to conform.

Celebrate what God celebrates and condemn what God condemns. God celebrates masculinity, and God celebrates femininity. God celebrates one man and one woman marriage. God celebrates the intimacy and oneness in his design for marriage. Work to make your marriage the beauty that God designed. Protect your marriage from little foxes that would destroy it and give cause for condemnation, “How can you criticize whom I choose to love when your so called ‘God approved’ love is a mess?”

Answer your children’s questions. I was in middle school when I asked him. My dad came home from a long day at work and sat down on the couch, looking for a moment of relaxation. Earlier in the day at my Christian school, I heard a word I didn’t know. Some of the guys were talking about it. I acted like I knew its meaning, but I was clueless. When my dad got home, I assaulted the poor man without any warning, “Dad, what is @L$%*!?” The man nearly died. When he collected himself, he gave me a three-word-answer. By his brevity and tone and his immediate departure to another room in the house, I learned that conversations about sex, my body, and girls were off limits. I never again asked him any question on those subjects. In his defense, he didn’t see the uppercut coming, and I am sure his dad never had a similar conversation with him. God has uniquely positioned you to be the parent of your children. Part of your task is to answer their questions about the world in which we live, both its beauty and its ugliness. You do well to answer them and not send them to Instagram or TikTok for answers.

Love sinners to Jesus. Luke 7:36-39 records a social event where a woman of the city, whose sexual exploits were known to all, interacted with Jesus. A group of Pharisees also attended the dinner. When they saw Jesus and the woman interacting, they said, “This man, if he were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.”

The Pharisee’s response tells us all and has become the M O for many Christians. Over and again, we see Jesus move toward the sexually sinful, like the woman in Luke 7 and like the woman at the well in John 4. It is the response of the Pharisee that says, “Keep your distance.”

Instead of keeping distance, love sinners toward Jesus. Would you welcome at your table for the purpose of talking to them about Jesus a person who is male but identifies as female? Would you choose to befriend a coworker whose LGBTQ lifestyle makes you uncomfortable for the purpose of talking to them about Jesus?

What might the future bring? I suspect the church will need to be prepared in the coming decades to aid those who received surgical treatments or years of hormonal treatment for the purpose of gender change. Will we help them?

Would you repent of any acceptance of LGBTQ lifestyle because your acceptance does not move sinners toward Jesus? Would you repent of any sinful language you use about LGBTQ people? Would you show sympathy and compassion to someone in our church struggling with same sex attraction, with gender identity, or any other sinfully sexual expression? Will you move toward sinners with the hope of the gospel and the love of Jesus?

Here we are. God created us to live in the days in which we live. None of us fought in World War I. None of us experienced the Black Plague. None of us was exiled to Babylon. We live here and now in this time. Like the faithful brothers and sisters before us, we will rely on God’s Word delivered to us by God’s Spirit to live as faithful followers of God’s Son.

The Lord brought some rain to the region last weekend. I thank him for the rain and for every expression of his grace.

**********

See you in August. Thank you for reading. I'm going to take a few weeks off from writing with the hopes of returning with a fresher mind and better pen.

As always, thanks for reading, and I welcome your feedback and any suggestions you might have for an upcoming Lunchtime Musing.

Yeah, I know I'm Late. Don't Judge Me, Bro.

The following LM first appeared Father's Day 2019

I watched them enter the worship service, mom and dad with kids in tow. Something wasn’t right.

Mom is as perky as they come; she has a perpetual smile. Once dad has his morning cup o’ joe, he’s the best – cheerful, gregarious, light-hearted, a servant, a good dad and husband. When they entered the room for worship, I hardly recognized the persons taking their seats 20 minutes after our worship began - shoulders drooping, kids plodding, and no happy faces. Who are these people?

“Hmm,” I thought, “I wonder what happened this morning.”

I never connected with dad following Sunday’s worship. I did chat with the kids and mom. The youngest of the three hugged my leg as his older siblings told me about their Saturday. Mom filled in the missing details – nothing about the events of the morning and why they were so late.

Worship over, the building locked and all the doors closed, Brenda and I slid into our SUV and headed to meet our kids for Father’s Day lunch. While I missed dad, Brenda found out about the late family’s Sunday morning. It was chaos that involved a running loaner vehicle, needed because of another expensive repair. I mention running vehicle because the only set of keys were locked inside the car as the family stood at its doors ready to get in.

The poor dad. I don’t know what he had in mind for Father’s Day, but I guarantee being locked out of his running loaner vehicle, arriving late for worship at his church, and trying to find a solution for how to get into the vehicle without smashing a window wasn’t in his Father’s Day fantasy.

As I listened to Brenda’s retelling of the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad morning, I was reminded of how judgmental we can be.

Can’t you get here on time?

Nice of you to join us…20 minutes late.

Shameful the lack of respect. Probably stayed up too late and didn’t roll out of bed until the last minute.

Our Lord and his apostles condemn and warn disciples of Jesus about the tendency to make unrighteous judgments, yet we do it all the time. We see a behavior that doesn’t meet a standard, and we assume wrongly the reasons for the failure.

• We would never be so spiritually immature.

• We would never conduct ourselves in that manner.

• We would never allow our children to do that.

• We would never dress that way.

• We would never let our children out of the house in that condition.

• And on and on the examples go.

I am so refreshed by this young father’s commitment to lead his family on the Lord’s Day. He had a ready-made excuse to stay home, but he didn’t. He would be late. Everyone would know it. Somebody may make a snide comment to him or cast a look of disdain, but that would not keep his family from meeting with God together with his church on the Lord’s Day.

I am so encouraged by this young husband’s love for Jesus to love his wife enough to direct her to their Lord on the Lord’s Day. He didn’t let the battle against the flesh defeat him. He would love her by loving her Lord.

We have no idea what’s going on in the lives and homes of the people in our church. No idea at all. We cannot judge what we do not know. We must not assume our conclusions are on target. Instead of judging, let’s come alongside and ask questions.

You look like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders. What’s up?

You’re not usually late like that. Did something happen at home today?

I’m glad to see you and the family this morning. How’s life? You good?

The safest place for Christians should be the gathering of the local church. Here, brothers and sisters-in-Christ should find people different in so many ways from those outside the circle of the church. Here, they should find patient, loving, kind, and empathic sinners saved by grace willing to extend to the failing the grace they’ve received and hope to receive from others. Here, they should find those who give only righteous judgements and those who speak the truth with love-glazed words and eyes.

The gathering of the church isn’t always the safest place, but it should be. The church can be the safest place when each of us recalls the extent of God’s longsuffering towards us.

s always, thanks for reading, and I welcome your feedback and any suggestions you might have for an upcoming Lunchtime Musing.

Summer in the Psalms

It is no secret that I love summer. Hot and humid destroys cold and biting, and it’s not even close. The long summer days in the upper Midwest are made for memories and opportunities. One opportunity is our Bible intake. Let’s spend the summer in the Psalms.

There are 150 psalms in the collection, and they can be consumed in a month in an easy way. For example, today is June 6. Today, we read five psalms beginning with Psalm 6. From there, add thirty and read Psalm 36. Then, add thirty more and read Psalm 66. Complete the days reading by heading to Psalms 96 and 126. On June 7 you begin the reading at Psalm 7 and follow the same course. In July and August when there are 31 days in the month, you will read Psalm 119 (a lengthy and the longest) on that day.

Why Read the Psalms?

• A Simple Way to Take in the Bible – If you are not a regular Bible reader, this is a simple way to become one. Many new Bible readers don’t know where to begin. The Bible is a big book which some might find intimidating. Regular reading in the psalms can develop good Bible reading habits. If you are a regular Bible reader following a specific plan, keep on with your plan. Maybe consider adding summer psalm reading for a little more Scripture saturation.
   

• A Simple Way to Read the Bible Together – If you would like your family to read the Bible and you’re not sure where to begin, summer reading in the psalms is a great way for families to read. Have one reader read a particular psalm, then move on to the next reader and the next psalm. It really isn’t that hard. If you miss a day for whatever reason, you simply pick up with the current day. So, say you’ve missed June 1-5. No problem, simply start with today’s reading, and go from there.
   

• A Great Way to Gain Encyclopedic Knowledge of God and His Works – As a kid, I devoured our family’s World Book Encyclopedias. Encyclopedias were the Internet of the 1970s. From A-Z, a young boy could satisfy his desire for knowledge. The psalms are a massive resource on the Lord and his works, giving the reader a broad knowledge base of who he is, what he has done, what he is doing, and what he purposes to do in the future. Take today’s reading for example.
   

  • In number 6, the psalmist informs and encourages God’s people that their God is close by when he writes, “The LORD will receive my prayer” (9).

  • In number 36, the reader learns of God’s steadfast love for his people when he reads, “How precious is your lovingkindness, O God!” (7).

  • In number 66, we who live in a messed-up world rest when we read, “All the earth shall worship you” (4), and we rest humbly when we read, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the LORD will not hear. But certainly God has heard me” (17-18).

  • In number 96, the psalmist asserts, “He is coming” (13). He has come, and we await his coming again.

  • In number 126, the psalmist describes the return of the faithful from their Babylonian exile, noting “our mouth was filled with laughter” (2). And we dream of days to come when tears will be no more for God’s people as the Lord turns our “weeping” to “rejoicing” (6).

  • A bonus for those still reading – if you like animals, the psalms tell you that God does too, “O Lord, you preserve man and beast” (36:6)

The Summer Challenge

Will you read the psalms together with me and those near you? I hope so. But there’s one more step I want you to take. Will you memorize a psalm with me? Hear me out. 119:11 announces, “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”

Before I memorized Psalm 23 as a young boy, I memorized Psalm 1. That’s the challenge to each of you, memorize word for word Psalm 1, “Blessed is the man who….” You can do it. You really can. The Lord will aid you if you make the effort. You cannot exaggerate the value of memorization of this psalm to your family, our church, and yourself.

What’s that? You’ve already memorized Psalm 1? Then the challenge to you is to memorize Psalm 2 this summer. That’s what I’m doing, and I’d love to do that with you.

So, let’s make good use of the summer days and spend them in the psalms.

s always, thanks for reading, and I welcome your feedback and any suggestions you might have for an upcoming Lunchtime Musing.