 Tomorrow is Minnesota’s fishing opener. All this week, boats have been getting prepped and fueled up; fishing gear inspected, new lures added, old line replaced with new and fishing licenses purchased. New technology lets people see structure and even displays fish. Water temperature, lunar phase, and weather fronts are watched closely because each has an affect where and if the fish will be biting. The very best resource every fisherperson can have is a fishing guide who knows where the fish are biting.
Many have taken a vacation day today and are already on their way to their cabin or favorite fishing lake. Some will be on the lake the day before just to make certain everything is opener ready. There will be the fishing fanatics who will have their line in the water at 12:01am Saturday fishing the first minute of the new fishing season.
Jesus wants more people to be fishing fanatics.
Some of Jesus’ first followers were commercial fishermen. After they followed Jesus for several months, he challenged them to switch careers and become fishers of people instead of fishermen.
What’s the difference?
Not much.
Good fishers of people get their harvesting equipment ready for the season. They review the gospel of the good news and acquire new ways to share the “For God so loved” story. New technology shows maps and charts of demographics where people need and are responding to this good news.
The very best resource every person can have is a fisher of people guide. The Holy Spirit knows where people are responding and will gladly lead you to them.
Matthew 4:18-20 The Message
Walking along the beach of Lake Galilee, Jesus saw two brothers: Simon (later called Peter) and Andrew. They were fishing, throwing their nets into the lake. It was their regular work. Jesus said to them, "Come with me. I'll make a new kind of fisherman out of you. I'll show you how to catch men and women instead of perch and bass." They didn't ask questions, but simply dropped their nets and followed.
And they became fishing fanatics.
What new ways have you used to tell the old story?
Comment here:
 The Bible does not gloss over and air brush people to make them look good. The Bible contains raw, truth- filled events and people including mothers who were bad.
Lot’s wife was fleeing with her family their city of residence, Sodom, because God was going to destroy the city for its’ great wickedness. God had warned Lot’s family not to stop or look back. The longing of what she was leaving behind was too much for Lot’s wife. She looked back and became a pillar of salt. (Genesis 19)
Lot’s daughters become mothers by getting their father drunk and having sex with him as he lay in a drunken stupor. (Genesis 19)
Potipher’s wife tried to seduce their handsome slave, Joseph. When he refused her forceful advances she accused him of attempted rape and he was thrown in prison. (Genesis 39)
Maacah, used her influence as queen mother while her son, Abijah ruled over Judah. She reinstituted the cultic worship of the fertility gods Baal and Asherah. (1 Kings 15)
Jezebel married Ahab, the warrior king of Israel and together they became wicked rulers who followed false gods instead of the only true, God. (1 Kings 16)
Athaliah – following the death of her husband and son, each of whom reigned as king, massacred all but one of her own family so she could rule over Judah. (2 Kings 11)
Herodias, hated John the Baptizer, because of he spoke against her marriage to Antipas. She was the divorced wife of Antipas’ half brother, Philip. Her daughter’s dance pleased the king so that he promised to give her anything she wished. Herodias had her daughter request the head of John the Baptizer on a platter. A king can never break his promise. (Matthew 14)
Bad mothers are present today causing pain and heartache for their families living in dysfunctional households. Mother’s Day is not a day they want to give flowers or even a card. My grandfather was an alcoholic and my mother broke the cycle of alcoholism, but brought anger, bitterness, and resentment into our family. My siblings and I often heard our mother say how much she hated us as we were growing up.
Our mother has great regrets from those times and each of us has forgiven her. This Mother’s Day, we will take her out for lunch, help her with some errands around her home, and each of will say words which were not always said or felt growing up. Today, the words are authentic and freely spoken often. “I love you, Mom!”
1 Peter 5:10 And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.
If you grew up with a bad mother, how has God restored you?
Comment here:
 Collisions don’t just happen on the highways. People collisions happen when opposing personalities sit next to each other on a Sunday morning or in a small group. There are people who are brassy, noisy and loud. They are even more shocking to shyer people if they are prone to profanity. The more private person keeps their comments to themselves, speaks little, and when they do talk they make safe comments.
Jesus had clashes of personality, political, and socio-economic collisions just among the twelve disciples. James and John, the two fishermen were given the nickname, “Sons of Thunder”. Most feel this reflected their rough, loud personalities and we imagine them yelling, perhaps even cursing on the Sea of Galilee before meeting Jesus.
A few have considered that Jesus often identifies us by what we are going to become. Peter was rash and lacked stability, yet Jesus calls him, “Rock”. It is possible that the fisherman were quiet and lacked boldness. That may be why their mother went to Jesus in behalf of her shy sons and requested special seating for them in heaven. Jesus dubs them “Sons of Thunder” indicating they will become bold preachers of the good news about Jesus.
You may be more uncomfortable around brassy, noisy people. You should not be. Those that are more vocal wear their emotions on their sleeves and it is fairly easy to know if their day is going well or not. It is the quiet folks that should make us nervous. They could be having a great day or they could be almost crushed by the weight of challenges in their lives and no one is aware. They quietly go about their lives in a slow, emotionless death.
The loud person has their temper tantrum out in the open. It is embarrassing to see, but it is short and then it is done. The quiet person stuffs anger and is heating up just below the surface. When their kettle finally boils over we hear the stunned response from family and friends that they never imagined this person could behave so violently.
Beware the quiet ones.
I am not advocating we become obnoxiously noisy and have tantrums. There are healthy ways of expressing joy, delight as well as frustration and anger. The apostle Paul gives us counsel on living in harmony instead of collisions.
Romans 12:15-16 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
What nickname do you think Jesus would give you?
Comment here:
 Yesterday, I got the diagnosis; internal complications. The lawnmower has engine problems to the extent that repairing exceeds the value of the mower. Nothing lasts forever in this world. This morning I fought with the weed whip trying to get it started for a quick trim. The morning chill was still in the air, but after dozens of pulls on the recoil, I was perspiring. The trim was accomplished with many starts, stops, recoil pulls, nursing the throttle, and the weed whip operating sporadically. Nothing runs well forever.
By the sweat of my brow.
My comments are not intended to be pessimistic, but a statement of reality living in a fallen world. The Bible says that we will have sweaty brows in this world. It came about when satan, who was an angel, rebelled against God. He lost his place in heaven along with his angels and is now leading the world in rebellion against God.
Revelation 12:7-9 And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
Satan got Adam and Eve to join his rebellion. Their disobedience brought a sin stain on our planet and the entire human race.
Genesis 3:17-19 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’
“Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat of it
all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food
until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”
So, there is a natural corruption in our world as well as a moral corruption. It is evident every day and will be evident to some degree or another until the end of the age. Lawnmower engines fail. Weed whips require tune ups and repairs. You and I fail in living in ways that show we love God.
What should keep us from total despair if every day means sweaty work?
John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
We break the cycle when we admit our rebellion against God and surrender to Him. He rescues us and gives us a full life of victory over broken mowers and broken lives. This is a great reminder every time we start sweating the small stuff!
 The trial of Amy Senser was not a question of whether she struck and killed Anousone Phathavong. The question was whether she knew that she struck him.
What went on that night?
Perhaps it was confusion, a raging headache, construction cones, and there was nothing to admit or confess because of innocence. Perhaps it was confusion, substance use, seeing a person hit, and a force pressed against Senser from admitting responsibility because of guilt. The jury found Amy Senser guilty of knowing she hit a person and leaving the scene.
We all have experienced that force causing us not to be truthful. One snowy morning I passed a car on my way to high school. After passing, I saw the car spin out and go into the ditch. I turned around and discovered it was a classmate of mine who was not hurt, her car was not damaged, just stuck. She was very appreciative of my stopping and helping. She explained that this “idiot” driver passed her, momentarily blinding her in a swirl of snow, she could not see the road and went into the ditch. I struggled with a force compelling me not to admit I was the “idiot” who passed her. If I was truthful, I would move from being the hero helping to the idiot causing.
While farming with my father I was sorting heifers in the cattle shed. I controlled the crowding herd with a broken fork handle minus the tines. I struck one heifer on the head and to my shock, she dropped dead. A force pressed upon me not to be truthful to my father.
The bible describes this force as sin. Sin is anything that is against God. The struggle to be truthful and take responsibility is not just against a jury, a classmate or parents, it is against God. Sin occurs whenever a wrong desire becomes an action.
James 1:13-15 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone; 14 but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
I told tell my classmate that I was the “idiot” who caused her to go into the ditch and that I was sorry. Jesus gave me victory over sin and my classmate gave me forgiveness for my carelessness.
My father passed away without ever knowing what caused the death of that 500 lb. healthy heifer. My desire gave birth to the sin of dishonesty and deception. I cannot confess to my father, but have confessed to God.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Victory for Amy Senser, myself and for you over the force of sin is through Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:56-57 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
How does Jesus give you victory throughout your day?
Comment here:
 Prom has become a rite of passage for high school students. Just like getting your driver’s license the moment a student turns sixteen, prom has a high level of expectation especially during a student’s junior and senior years.
Our school does a great job at making prom a special occasion. Planning happens almost as soon as the last prom is over. A student committee works with school faculty months before the event. The wonderful evening has become almost a full weekend. Today, many students will hit the tanning booths to turn any winter paleness into a Malibu bronze. Haircuts, highlights and perms will happen today or early tomorrow. Some couples will hire a photographer for pictures before prom. Grand March begins early afternoon and has become a feature event before the dinner and dance. The dinner and dance begins early evening and goes late. Some couples plan a Sunday afternoon get-together, making it a full weekend.
Prom can be a great time for young people preparing for an elegant evening, practicing proper social graces and treating your date with high honor. Couples that plan on doing things together with other couples find that the excitement of prom is multiplied because the experience is shared.
The down side is the high expenses paid for a single event. A parent told me this morning that they are spending $400 for their son’s prom expense. Some students go big ticket and rent expensive tuxes, costly beauty treatments, hire limousines, photographers and the sky is the limit on what can be spent.
Many students go with someone who is “just a friend”. Experience has shown that spending close to $1000. per couple suddenly places high expectations on their “just friendship”. The morning after prom is often filled with shame and anxiety over actions remembered or blurred. Law enforcement officers are staffed heavier and hate arriving at scenes of injured youth or worse.
Pondering prom for your growing son or daughter?
There is the good and there is the bad. There are scripture verses that you can cite promoting prom or prohibiting prom. My wife and I chose to discourage prom for our children and instead promoted spreading those expenses over several weeks doing a wider range of activities with friends rather than in one day or weekend.
What are your ponderings about prom?
Students and parents may leave your comments here:
 This morning, I was awakened by the feeling of something crawling on my shoulder. In my half sleep, I believe what remained of the insect under my hand was a spider. So, my early thoughts of the morning wondered if there was anything to the claim that the average person swallows eight spiders every year while sleeping.
I discovered that this is a popular urban legend. In a 1993 PC Professional article, columnist Lisa Holst wrote about the ever-present lists of “facts” that were circulating through e-mail and how quickly they were accepted as truth. Holst demonstrated her point by offering up her own list of ridiculous “facts” among which included the statistic cited above about the average person’s swallowing eight spiders per year. She found this “fact” from a collection of common mis-beliefs printed in a 1954 book on insect folklore. Holst’s promotion of this false “fact” became one of the most widely-circulated bits of misinformation still alive the internet.
Now, I was feeling less gullible, but still glad the spider was discovered on the outside of my digestion system. Outside is better than inside.
In God’s world, inside is better than outside. Jesus was not talking about spiders, but about the human condition. Our attitude, character, thoughts and intents of the heart are the things that matter. If we have a bad hair day, mismatched socks and clashing colors, but our character is pure, we are looking good. If we are dressed to the “t” but have stinkin’ thinkin’ (borrowing Joyce Meyer’s phrase) we better go back to the dressing room and get presentable.
The Holy Spirit has a dressing room for each of us. Our position is on our knees with our face to the Lord instead of standing tall in front of a mirror. The Holy Spirit reveals the areas inside of us that are in need of attention. When we look intently on the Lord, we begin to reflect His grace, wisdom, and love. Authenticity of being fully everything that God has designed us to be makes us radiate a beauty or handsomeness that shows our family resemblance to Him.
Luke 6:45
The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.
 The National Day of Prayer occurs the first Thursday of every May making this year’s 61st observance on May 3, 2012. From the National Day of Prayer website www.nationaldayofprayer.org :
History of the National Day of Prayer “Fasting and prayer are religious exercises; the enjoining them an act of discipline. Every religious society has a right to determine for itself the time for these exercises, and the objects proper for them, according to their own particular tenets; and right can never be safer than in their hands, where the Constitution has deposited it.” Thomas Jefferson, 1808
Because of the faith of many of our founding fathers, public prayer and national days of prayer have a long-standing and significant history in American tradition.
The National Day of Prayer is a vital part of our heritage. Since the first call to prayer in 1775, when the Continental Congress asked the colonies to pray for wisdom in forming a nation, the call to prayer has continued through our history, including President Lincoln’s proclamation of a day of “humiliation, fasting, and prayer” in 1863. In 1952, a joint resolution by Congress, signed by President Truman, declared an annual, national day of prayer. In 1988, the law was amended and signed by President Reagan, permanently setting the day as the first Thursday of every May. Each year, the president signs a proclamation, encouraging all Americans to pray on this day. Last year, all 50 state governors plus the governors of several U.S. territories signed similar proclamations.
The National Day of Prayer is Significant
The National Day of Prayer has great significance for us as a nation. It enables us to recall and to teach the way in which our founding fathers sought the wisdom of God when faced with critical decisions. It stands as a call to us to humbly come before God, seeking His guidance for our leaders and His grace upon us as a people. The unanimous passage of the bill establishing the National Day of Prayer as an annual event, signifies that prayer is as important to our nation today as it was in the beginning.
Like Thanksgiving or Christmas, this day has become a national observance placed on all Hallmark calendars and observed annually across the nation and in Washington, D.C. Last year, local, state and federal observances were held from sunrise in Maine to sunset in Hawaii, uniting Americans from all socio-economic, political and ethnic backgrounds in prayer for our nation. It is estimated that over two million people attended more than 30,000 observances organized by approximately 40,000 volunteers. At state capitols, county court houses, on the steps of city halls, and in schools, businesses, churches and homes, people stopped their activities and gathered for prayer.
The National Day of Prayer is Ours
The National Day of Prayer belongs to all Americans. It is a day that transcends differences, bringing together citizens from all backgrounds. Mrs. Shirley Dobson, NDP chairman, reminds us: “We have lost many of our freedoms in America because we have been asleep. I feel if we do not become involved and support the annual National Day of Prayer, we could end up forfeiting this freedom, too.”
NDP Facts
1) There have been 137 national calls to prayer, humiliation, fasting and thanksgiving by the President of the United States (1789-2011).
2) There have been 59 Presidential Proclamations for a “National Day of Prayer” (1952-2011).
3) Gerald Ford (1976) and George H. Bush (1989-91) are the only U.S. Presidents to sign two National Day of Prayer Proclamations in the same year.
4) Every President since 1952 has signed a National Day of Prayer proclamation.
5) 34 of the 44 U.S. Presidents have signed proclamations for National Prayer. Three of the Presidents who did not sign a proclamation died while serving in office. Two Presidents, not included in the count – William Howard Taft and Warren Gamaliel Harding, signed proclamations for Thanksgiving and Prayer.
6) Records indicate there have been 965 state and federal calls for national prayer since 1775 and counting.
This Thursday, our community will gather at a mayor’s prayer breakfast. Public officials, civic leaders, ministry leaders and community members will gather for an hour before the workday praying for our city, county, state and nation. A group will gather at the government center flagpole at noon to call on God to protect and care for our community. Prayers will also praise and honor God as the true leader over us. One nation, under God.
What does your community do on the National Day of Prayer?
Comment here:
 Have you ever been certain that a direction or answer was God’s will, but found out it was your will but not His will? I have. After several years of farming on the dairy farm I grew up on, I was certain that God was directing my wife and I to purchase a farm elsewhere. God was bringing a change into our lives, but it was a move to ministry and not farming elsewhere. My certainty was wrong and a lot of unnecessary frustration could have been avoided if I was pursuing God’s will, not mine.
What can you and I do that will help us pursue God’s will in our lives?
A prayer from Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) who was an Italian Dominican priest best known for his Summa Theological can be helpful. Some of the words have been edited from 11th century language.
“O most merciful Lord, grant me Your grace, that it may be with me, and labor with me, and continue with me even to the end. Grant that I may always desire and will that which is most acceptable and most dear to You. Let Your will be mine, and my will ever follow Yours, and agree perfectly with it. Grant to me, above all things that can be desired, to rest in You, and in You to have my heart at peace. You are the true peace of the heart, You are its only source; away from You all things are hard and restless. In this very peace, that is, in You, the one Chiefest Eternal Good, I will sleep and rest. Amen.”
This is a good evening prayer, but it is an even better prayer to line up our wills with the will of God. This is one of the few prayers that I have memorized and pray often.
When we pray, we must be about God’s will. We are not bending God’s will to match ours. We are not giving God any new information that He does not already know. We pray to align our will with God’s and remind ourselves that He is the author and finisher of our faith.
Jesus is our example. He came to earth to do the will of His Father.
Luke 2: 42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.”
Away from God’s will all things are hard and restless. But in the very peace of being in Him and in His will we will find rest.
 My wife, Connie and I raised five children that are now wonderful, young adults. We were interviewed on Sunday for our “Raising G-rated Kids in an R-rated World” message series. The focus was parenting during the teen years. We knew all but two of the questions ahead of time, so we were prepared to share our successes, failures, and Scripture that guided us during those years. Here are a few highlights:
Teenagers are moving from adolescence to adulthood, what things did you do to help them during that transition?
Children are moving from literal to abstract in their thinking. Our position as a parent moved from being hero and always right, to sharing a place with friends or losing their place to friends. Teens become critical and challenge formerly accepted beliefs. We found parenting was easier and harder.
Easier: teens can eat, dress, and be quite independent.
Harder: infant/child rearing involves a large percentage of caring for their physical well-being: food, shelter, clothing and protection. Raising teenagers includes a lot of grayer areas: dating, driving, and doubting.
We found that this is an opportunity to have meaningful adult conversations with our growing teens. We asked them questions about injustice in our world, unanswered prayers, and the “why do you think this is happening this way” questions.
We gave our teenagers more responsibilities and less restrictions. We followed advice from another parent who told us to say “Yes” to their requests as often as you can and give a clear explanation when we would say “No”.
1 Corinthians 13:11 “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.”
Deuteronomy 6:6-7 “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”
We would ask our teenager what they were reading in their Bible and ask them what makes sense and what does not. Sometimes we would find solutions together to the confusing portions.
We would ask our children what questions they were asking God about in their prayers and then ask them what answer they have gotten.
We would point our teenager towards books, podcasts, and conferences that brought teaching, perspectives and experiences which complimented and stretched what we had taught them about God.
The single-most important thing we did with our growing teen was:
Pray together.
Let me know what you have found effective raising your teenagers.
Comment here:
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