My NewDay Friends,

In the past few week I’ve noticed a lot of my conversations with people focus so much on what is happening “next”.  We have a hard time living in the present… in the “now”.  I like how Eugene Peterson gives an everyday perspective on Jesus challenge to us in Matthew chapter 6, “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get  worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you  deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”

Last week I was consumed with what is happening next.  Two couples just had babies.  One couple had a girl and the other a boy.  When I went to visit Robin  Ben in the hospital and see their new baby, I just assumed it was a girl.  I even brought a little gift basket with girl type stuff in it.  Yesterday, at our Sunday Worship Service I mentioned to everyone that they had a girl. NOPE…They are proud parents of Mason… a little boy!   (Thanks Robin  Ben for your understanding, forgiveness  laughter!)

I hope most of you are better than I am at being fully PRESENT in the moment.  May my error be a challenge to you to keep your focus on God and others while sharing your life fully with them!

I cannot begin to express to you what a JOY it is to be working together with you in serving the Lord Jesus!

Blessings on you today!

Pastor John

I walked outside my office and down the river that flows under the main road heading through Rochester, MN. I looked up to see all the cars whizzing past. Traffic slowed as I stood below in the grass bank of grass. All of a sudden, all the cars stopped. I’m not sure why. It could have been an accident, or a long stoplight, or something in the road. They were at this standstill for over 5 minutes.

I kept looking up to see if anyone would notice the beauty of the river. If anyone would look down and see me sitting here, waiting to catch their eye and to smile and wave. No one looked. No one saw me. Eventually the traffic begin to move again and on they went.

I wonder how many times we miss out on the simple fact that God is just waiting for us to stop and enjoy the moment with Him. Richard Foster, said, “Today the heart of God is an open wound of love. He aches over our distance and preoccupation… He aches over our obsession with muchness and manyness. He longs for our presence.”

It’s time to stop… to be present with the One who is trying to get your attention.

Living in the moment, Pastor John

The title is from a white water rafting company t-shirt I got a few years ago. It echoes the kind of life I want to live.  I got in a discussion with another person awhile back about this whole area of taking risks.  His philosophy was, “I only take risks that I’m pretty sure I can succeed at.”  That’s pretty sound advice, if your only goal is calculated success.  But what about being so compelled to launch yourself out there that whether you succeed or fail, it’s doesn’t matter?

When Jesus called people to Himself and simply said, “follow me”, certain ones dropped everything for the opportunity to learn and walk and live with one who claimed to have “the words of life.”  This past Sunday I had the privilege of hearing six people share how following after Jesus has changed their life.  The focus was on a desire to be totally immersed and surrounded by the one who loves them most.  They came to be baptized.  Each one had taken a risk, surrendered their life to the creator of all, and found out what only those who are willing to take this step of faith learn… Jesus catches us when we fall, forgives us when we return, and embraces us as beloved children.

Every time I wear that shirt I look forward to someone asking me about “risk”.  I know one life changing risk that’s always worth taking.

This is one of the most radical ideas I have ever read in the Bible.

Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.  By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35

Does Jesus actually think that we, as followers of Him, are going to truly love one another sacrificially – just like He did?  Do you think He expects that people who have different personalities, cultures that differ, that come from varying background and experiences – can REALLY “love” one another?

It would mean the agenda for my life would always have to go through the filter of, “does what I am doing demonstrate my love for my fellow brothers & sisters in Christ?” I’m trying to do this and it’s creating great havoc on my ability to spend money on things I want, to do what I like with my time, and how I prioritize all I do!

Is this really how people will know we are different – because of the level of sacrifice we make for the sake of those who Jesus called us to journey alongside?  I have found that making this one of the great commitments of my life takes up more time and energy than I ever thought it would.  It makes me so much more vulnerable to be hurt and taken advantage of as well.

Can Jesus truly expect that we can adjust our life and create the time to care for one another this way in the world in which we live?  Doesn’t He realize how busy we are trying to balance the burdens of our own life without having this extra weight of sharing our lives with others?

Would it be okay for me to be a “disciple” of Jesus and make it more about Him loving me and me loving Him?  This call to “love one another” is sure making a mess of my life.

Please… let me know… is it worth the effort to keep trying to live this way?

Pastor John

I’ve been struggling with the painful reality that most people, in some way or another, tend to sabotage themselves.  We might mentally acknowledge that something is not good for us, but we end up choosing that “thing” anyway.  I recognize that I am most vulnerable to doing this when I don’t like the way I “feel” inside.  The inner longing creates a void that I want filled.  This leads me to begin to look for a way to effectively meet that need.  Ironically, it’s at this point that I am most likely to sabotage myself by choosing a solution that will do me more harm than good in the long run.

This last week I listened to people explain to me how their wrong choices created the problems they are having right now.  It grieves me deeply to the debris of shattered marriages, careers, and friendships washed up on the shore of another person’s life. In looking back over my own life, there was one time I really messed up a friendship.  I can picture the moment clearly in my mind where I deliberately lied to a good friend and he found out.  On top of that, when he confronted me about it… I lied again.  He was devastated. In a few short weeks, I lost that friendship.  I got to tell you, if I could go back and change those choices, I would in a heartbeat.

I know I needed to change. I found some great insight from the Apostle Paul in his writings to other followers of Jesus in Philippi… “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things….And the God of peace will be with you.” I began to move from sabotaging myself in choosing quick fixes to thinking about what is the BEST choice.  I encourage you to begin the mental discipline of displacing those thoughts that will lead you down a road to pain, to one that brings healing and hope.

Pastor John

It had been a hard day for my youngest daughter.  Navigating the emotional roller coaster of adolescent friendships is difficult.  During our conversation she remembered a verse a speaker quoted from the Bible that said we, as humans, “are fearfully and wonderfully made”. She understood what “wonderfully made” means, but she was uncertain about the “fearful” part.  “What does it mean?” she asked.  I probed my memory for the meaning and started to give the theological background on the etymology of the word.

I looked at her face and stopped. A background lesson on the premise of the concept is not what she needed right now.  Smiling (and praying for wisdom), I began to describe what I saw in her.  So…Amanda, and for all those who question their worth and value, let me remind you of this…

You were designed as one of God’s most precious creations.

You are his “masterpiece”. His handprint of compassionate design flows

out of you to color our world in a way only you can.  You are valued by Him, sought by Him, created to bring joy, hope, faith, and love to others.

You are beautiful… even when you can’t see it.  Thank you for being you.

The hug I received was all the thanks I needed.

Pastor John

This last Saturday afternoon, I stood on the steps of the Rochester YMCA conversing with a young man about our pasts.  One of the people that had the most influence in his life was his grandmother.  He admired her inner strength and sense of compassion for others.  But it wasn’t until the last few months of her life that he “really” got to know her.  Though her body was deteriorating, her spirit was alive with memories.  One of those memories of when she was a little girl working in the South.  She would be picking cotton all sunup to sundown just meet the master’s quota.  She recalled that at the end of the day if it was cold, some of the smaller children would be called into the master’s home to sleep curled up at the end of his bed in order to keep the master’s feet warm.  Being a slave meant you did what your master asked of you.  I could see on his face and hear in his voice the mixture of admiration and sadness for what his grandmother had endured.   This amazing relationship impacted and shaped him.

Taking the time to listen and really get to know a person is one of the greatest blessings we give each other.  I hear people often say, “I don’t feel connected”.  I’m not as surprised by that anymore because most people don’t realize what it truly takes to “feel connected”.  It’s the most valuable commodity we have today and it’s limited.  You only have 24 hours of the stuff each day.  Using it up with what “needs” to be done, with important deadlines, with activities and events consumes our minds ability to relate with those around us.  There is simply not enough time to “feel connected” in a world like ours if you don’t stop and listen and enter into the lives of those around you.  It’s what makes us truly human.  We are children and servants of Jesus, our master, who came and washed the feet of his followers as an example of how we are to live.  “Feeling connected” will only come when you take the time to make it happen.

Pastor John DuBall

Myth #10:  Time Heals All Wounds

^“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side,
but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;
persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”

2 Corinthians 4:7-9

Every one of us will go through some kind of loss in our life.  Anything from being let go from a job, a broken relationship, to losing someone you love to death. It is a storm that tosses you about inside and leaves you feeling unsteady and confused. You try to makes sense of it and carry on, but time is NOT the friendly healer you hoped it would be.  What do you do with that grief?

A friend of mine lost her husband a short time ago.  She recently sent me these excerpts from a book that she has been reading called, When Your Family’s Lost a Loved One: Finding Hope Together.

“There comes a time in our grief that we realize we have to figure out how to keep on living, how to incorporate the loss into our lives. We want to feel normal again, to feel joy again. It is a cruel choice to have to make. It feels completely unfair, but unavoidable. We can either hold on to the pain, accepting its regular doses of misery because it keeps us connected to the loved one we’ve lost–or we can choose to release it, process it, talk about it, cry about it, let it wash over us, and then let it wash away our tears.

We can make the painful choice to let it go–not all at once, but a little every day. We find that we can decide whether or not to let ourselves sink to that place where the flashes of memories and reminder of loss threaten our contentment and composure.

We can begin to make that hard choice. We can begin to let go of our grief so we can grab hold of life and those who are living.

It is choosing to live fully for God, recognizing that there is no real life apart from Him and that anything less is merely existing. It’s trusting God completely with your future and your family’s future, knowing there may be even more loss ahead.

When we lose someone we love, we’re faced with a cruel choice: give in to the weight of sorrow so that we get stuck and never move forward, or summon our energy and courage each morning to keep going and looking for brighter days.

It’s the very thing that Paul experienced when he dealt with his pain and loss.  The power that Jesus gives is beyond anything else this world can offer.  The question always is… will you turn to Him with your brokenness and allow Him to bring the healing He longs to give you?

Blessings,
Pastor John

Today as I walked around downtown Rochester, MN, I silently prayed…”God, what do you want most for the people who I meet and will walk alongside in my time here on earth?” I listened and watched.  Most people I saw were focused on getting where they needed to be this morning.  A few were engaged in conversation with another that was nearby, some laughed, but most were alone in their thoughts.  Ironically, two questions jumped to my mind that I longed to ask each person that passed by…

1) Do you know how wonderful and important you are?

2)  Do you know there is someone who loves you more than anyone on this                            earth can?

I think that’s why I am so moved by the example of a woman who lived an extraordinary life of helping others no matter what the cost to herself.  Here name was Irena Sendler.

During WWII, Irena, got permission to work in the Warsaw Ghetto, as a Plumbing/Sewer specialist. She had an ‘ulterior motive’ … She KNEW what the Nazi’s plans were for the Jews, (she was  German.)

Irena decided to smuggle infants out in the bottom of the toolbox she carried. In the back of her truck she had variety a burlap sacks for larger kids. She also had a dog in the back that she trained to bark when the Nazi soldiers let her in and out of the ghetto. The soldiers, of course, wanted nothing to do with the dog and the barking covered the kids/infants noises.

Over the course of a few years, she managed to smuggle out and save 2500 kids/infants. She eventually was caught and the Nazi’s broke both her legs, arms and beat her severely. Irena kept a record of the names of all the kids she smuggled out and hid them in a glass jar, buried under a tree in her back yard. After the war, she made every effort to locate any parents that may have survived and reunite the children with their families.
For the vast majority, there was no family left. She helped these parentless children to by getting them into foster care families or being adopted by those who cared.

In 2007, Irena was up for the Nobel Peace Prize.  She was not selected.  But what she did for everyone of those children gave them hope.  In May 2008, she passed away.

You many never find yourself in a situation quite like Irena, but you can always ask…  Where will you make a difference and bring hope to others today?

Serving  faithfully,

Pastor John

Are Christians NEVER Suppose to Judge?

Do not judge, or you too will be judged. ²For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”  Matthew 7:1-2

I have seen some of the harshest statements of judgment made by the very people who are called to be the most compassionate.  In my third year of college I was working with a teenager who was struggling with an addiction.  We went together to talk to a local minister who in a matter of minutes proceeded crush the spirit of this teen by letting him know that unless he stopped, he stood condemned because God had already rejected him.   I was shocked.  How could he judge this person so harshly?  It lead me to ask, How do I live out my belief and convictions in a way that helps to bring life-changing hope to people instead of condemning judgment?

How did Jesus “judge”, confronting the behaviors of those around him?

Let me take the example of the woman caught in adultery (Jn 8:1-11).  What she was doing went against both God’s and the community standards. The religious leaders came forward with the consequences for this woman.  Here is the judgment:  she must die by stoning her.  They turned to Jesus, hoping they would trap him in a no win situation. If he said she didn’t do anything wrong, then he would not be a person who had the standards to act justly. If he condemned her, then the crowd would see him as merciless.  What did he do? First of all – he agreed with them.  There were God given moral standards that he lived by.  This was one of them.  She did deserve the punishment, but he took gave us an example of how we judge without condemning.  1) He reminded us that we all fail… “he who is without sin, cast the first stone”.  2) He extended grace and forgiveness… “neither do I condemn you”

3) He showed her the better way… “Go now and leave your life of sin”

He didn’t say, “I’m personally uncomfortable with it, but if it works for you, then that’s okay.”  He called it what it was, SIN!  BUT he confronted with the outpouring of compassion towards himself, the one who offered hope and grace, NOT  condemnation!  John 3:17, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

This is where so many Christians get it wrong.  The best course of action is to NOT stop assessing out immoral, hurtful behavior – judging what is right and wrong according to God’s standards, but to do it with the compassion of Jesus.

Let me give you three keys to make this a reality based on what Jesus did in Matthew 7:1-6.

“For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

KEY #1: The same standard you use to judge others will be the same one God will use for you.

“And why do you look at the speck in your brothers eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, Let me remove the speck out of your eye; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck out of your brothers eye.”
KEY#2: Deal with your own sin first before tackling someone else’s.

⁶“Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.

KEY #3: Don’t give out your insights to those who aren’t ready to hear.

Proverbs 9:8 “Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you;
rebuke a wise man and he will love you.”

Ironically the NT is pretty silent when it comes to harsh judgments and condemnation of the Roman Government and it’s leaders.  While it does speak of societal decadence in general, it usually does so in the context of reminding those who were followers of Jesus that they were to no longer live that way.  The reason was simple.  The early church understood their job was not to condemn those around them.  Their role was to compassionately confront by showing others a better way… the best way.