Category: Hope

Hurricane Sandy

11/1/2012

Hurricane Sandy, that began in the Caribbean waters roared up the coast of the United States bringing snow, rain, winds and high tides to many states. The current death toll in the US is 72. New York has received most of the damage. Over a million people without power, their mass transit shut down, thousands of flights cancelled, but the worse seems to be over. Now it is a time of assessing damage, digging out and rebuilding.

Insurance companies call destructive floods, tornadoes, fires and hailstorms "Acts of God". I have not heard anyone claiming that the storm was a result of God judging New York or America. It has almost become commonplace for such claims whenever there is a large catastrophe. The Bible records times where God removes His hand of protection and a family, city or nation is devastated by a natural calamity.

Can we always correlate weather related disasters as a judging act of God?
Luke 5:45b (NIV)
...He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

Pray for those families who have lost a loved one and pray for those affected by the storm to place their hope in the Lord.

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Three Values of the Wait

9/26/2012

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I am writing this blog from a hospital waiting area. My daughter-in-law has been in the maternity floor of our local hospital since 1pm and is ready to have her first child today! My wife and I came at 7:30pm and left at 3am for a couple hours of sleep. Each of us headed out for work at 5:30am, but I have dropped some commitments and juggled my schedule to join the waiting.

My son cannot believe it is taking this long and I remind him that good things take time. The arrival of a baby is a very good thing!

I am learning the value of the wait. My prayers as a young follower of Jesus used to be, "Lord, give me patience and be quick about it!" I was foolishly praying for patience when a farm accident injuring my thumb got me time in the hospital from Thanksgiving Day until a day before Christmas. I have learned to be careful what to pray for when I pray!

The Bible records stories of people waiting.
A wife and husband, Sarah and Abraham, waiting decades for the baby God told them they would have.
A suffering man named Job, waiting for justice.
A nation of people waiting for their Messiah.

If you are waiting for an answer from God, a relationship to be restored, a position to open or a return to health - remember these three values that come from wait:

1. Patience - that God's timing is always better than our timing.
2. Confidence - that God is going to come through.
3. Joy - the anticipation brings greater joy when the waiting is over.

Psalms 130:5
I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits,
and in His word I put my hope.

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A Live Dog and a Dead Lion

9/11/2012

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There are events that our nation celebrates because it has made a positive mark in our country. Thanksgiving, Independence Day, and Martin Luther King's birthday are examples of events and people who have made a mark on our nation that we celebrate.

There are also days of tragedy that have marked our nation. December 7, 1942; April 19, 1993 and September 11, 2001. Today marks the 11th anniversary of 9/11.

Each of our lives has events that have made positive marks that we celebrate and tragic marks that we mourn. Because I am an optimistic person, I think it is better to spend more time celebrating than mourning. A passage in the Bible appears to tell us to do otherwise:

Ecclesiastes 7:1-4
A good name is better than fine perfume,
    and the day of death better than the day of birth.
2 It is better to go to a house of mourning
    than to go to a house of feasting,
for death is the destiny of everyone;
    the living should take this to heart.
3 Frustration is better than laughter,
    because a sad face is good for the heart.
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
    but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.

Before you embrace a life of cynicism, the writer of Ecclesiastes is expressing the meaninglessness of a life lived without God. Without God, there is no hope and that person may become aware that God can fill their emptiness if they go to a funeral instead of a bar.

Today, is a somber day for America, but not hopeless.
Ecclesiastes 9:4 Anyone who is among the living has hope—even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!

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35W Bridge Collapse and What to do When the Unshakeable Shakes

8/2/2012

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Yesterday, my home state of Minnesota, remembered the collapse of Bridge 9340 better known as 35W. Five years ago at 6:05pm CST on Wednesday, August 1 the eight lane bridge suddenly gave way. Approximately 100 vehicles plunged 115 feet down to the river or on its banks killing 13 people and injuring 145.

Survivors and witnesses of the collapse recall the day the fifth busiest bridge in the state failed and fell. Many could not believe what they saw happened really happened. Mighty structures that seem unshakeable do not collapse and crumble. Similar words are expressed about 9/11. Planes do not fly into skyscrapers causing them to burn and collapse. People who experience earthquakes talk about the alarming feeling of having everything that was solid and stable now shaking and swaying.

You have likely lived through emotional shakings where the world around you became unsure and unsafe. An accident, a terminal diagnosis, or a tragedy shakes our world and nothing seems dependable anymore. The morning comes and your first hope is that it was just a terrible dream. Then a heavy realization hits you and sickens you with the truth that it is not a dream, but real life.

What can you do when your world shakes and nothing seems unshakeable anymore?

Wait before God – when you want to panic.

Hope in God – when everything else can be shaken.

Trust in God - for protection and victory.

Pour your heart to God – let Him know your fears and hurt.

Psalm 62:5-8 (NLT)
5 Let all that I am wait quietly before God,
    for my hope is in Him.
6 He alone is my rock and my salvation,
    my fortress where I will not be shaken.
7 My victory and honor come from God alone.
    He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me.
8 O my people, trust in Him at all times.
    Pour out your heart to Him,
    for God is our refuge.

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Shining in the Dark

6/29/2012

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Our community has an area church youth group meeting each Wednesday night called ROC for high school students. ROC is led by Jeff Rud and meets at 8:30pm when most church youth groups are done. Cell phones are dropped off voluntarily in a basket as an intentional step to focus on Jesus Christ. There is a time of worship led by young people and leaders. A message from the Bible is shared by a variety of pastors, leaders and students. Students pray for one another at the close of the mtg which is just before 10pm. I attend when I have the evening free because I am encouraged seeing what God is doing among the young people in our community.

This past Wednesday, the youth surrounded Matt with prayer. Matt has attended ROC, graduated from high school and is heading out to basic training in Georgia. Prayer was lifted up for God’s protection and watch over the Cambridge-Isanti wrestlers attending a wrestling camp in Wisconsin. Students surrounded Eric and offered prayers tinged with tears for him, his sister and his father. Andrea “Annie”, his mother, died at the young age of 47 from pancreatic cancer on Monday. Her funeral will be held Sunday and many of the students praying had Mrs. Maltrud as a second grade teacher at Cambridge Elementary.

I held my breath, hoping no one would pray a bad prayer. A bad prayer goes against who God is or what He does. Often people do not know what to say during times of great loss and intense emotion. People have prayed that God needed help in heaven so, this person died. They pray that it was God’s will that a person was racked with an illness and suffered in pain.

Annie’s death and every death is a reminder of two things. One, we still live in a world corrupted by the stain of sin. Before sin, there was no illness, no pain, no sorrow, and no death. Although, Jesus broke this curse on the cross all of us will die until Jesus returns.

The second reminder is that death has lost its sting for Eric and his family, for you and I. We have a hope that looks forward to a reunion of those who have passed before us when the dead in Christ are raised, given a new body and live forever with Jesus Christ. The decision you and I make now affects where our forever will be spent.

My heart was filled with a mixture of sadness and hope hearing and joining the prayers of the students. Their tears expressed more than words. The loss of a mother, teacher and friend is painful. They prayed that Eric and his family would be surrounded by the love of God. They thanked God for the life Annie lived that made a difference because she reflected Jesus into their lives and the lives of many others. They stood in love and support; letting Eric know he was not alone. They prayed God’s destiny and purpose over Eric’s life. Good prayers.

God is doing wonderful things among our young people that came to shine during the dark times of grief.

What things are you seeing God do among young people?

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Bike MS 150

6/6/2012

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Many people do something each year for a cause; they donate blood, volunteer, serve, take a missions trip, do a service project, run, walk or bike for an organization. This Saturday and Sunday I will join three of my children and hundreds of others on the Bike MS 150. The 150 mile ride from Duluth to the Twin Cities is the National MS Society’s biggest two-day ride in Minnesota. Donations that are raised through Bike MS directly help people affected by multiple sclerosis. The Upper Midwest Chapter serves more than 17,000 people living with the disease and Bike MS makes a difference to each one. The promo reads: an unforgettable ride, an unbeatable destination, a world free of MS.

Having multiple sclerosis means you can wake up with blurred vision. Or your memory may fail you for no apparent reason. Or that you may not always be able to walk. The symptoms of MS are different for everyone - the only certainty is that it will affect another person every hour of every day. I have a pastor friend who recently performed a funeral for a 43 year old mother who died of MS.

If you want to sponsor me, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society uses money collected from Bike MS to fund cutting-edge research, drive change through advocacy, facilitate professional education and provide programs and services that help people with MS and their families move their lives forward. Your tax-deductible gift keeps the National MS Society moving toward a world free of multiple sclerosis.

Movement is something many of us take for granted, but for people living with MS, movement isn't a guarantee. Support me, and together we'll move forward on behalf of those who may not be able to do so themselves. Donate online my personal page at the link below.

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/Bike/MNMBikeEvents?px=10420668&pg=personal&fr_id=17515

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Love Never Gives Up

2/2/2012

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Each week, I meet with a small group called a Life Group. We meet in one of the family's home for personal growth as followers of Jesus Christ. It is one of my favorite weekly meetings.
We are going through a book by Max Lucado titled, "A Love Worth Giving - Living in the Overflow of God's Love". The theme of the chapter last night was that love never gives up.

Jesus could have given up on humanity rather than go to the cross. But love never gives up. One of our homework challenges is to read an autobiography or biography of a missionary noting their persevering through tremendous obstacles. The other challenge is to offer encouragement to someone we know that may be discouraged to the point of giving up.

Most of us are aware of friends or families who are going through some very difficult circumstances. I am embracing the second challenge and offering the hope that comes through Jesus Christ.

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, 17 encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.

This verse is good for myself and each of us as we go through life filled with joys, victories as well as challenges and setbacks.

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Hurricane Sandy

Three Values of the Wait

A Live Dog and a Dead Lion

35W Bridge Collapse and What to do When the Unshakeable Shakes

Shining in the Dark

Bike MS 150

Love Never Gives Up

Mark Radeke

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