Back From Vacation

I am back in blog land.


We went on vacation to Virginia for my brother-in-law's wedding. It was very nice. While there we visited DC for three days, floated the Shenandoah River, spent two days touring Gettysburg, PA, and briefly visited Harper's Ferry and Leesburg, VA. Below is a shot of the supreme court, the Lincoln Memorial, and a neat picture of a double rainbow over Arlington National Cemetery.

Our kids stayed with grandma and grandpa at the farm and had a blast.


Our flight was late on Tuesday and made for a lot of schedule suffeling on Tuesday and Wednesday morning, but we finally made it through. All the flight delays made for a lot of good reading time.

Pullin' Into Western VA

We just arrived in Warrenton, VA and met up with Stephanie's family. We had a great morning in DC. Went through the Library of Congress and the Aerospace museum. Last night we ate dinner on the Potomac River in Georgetown.

Meanwhile, keep praying for the girls in St. Louis. I have no new update at this time. I am hopeful that all is stable or improving and that John and Stephanie are getting rest.

Prayer Meeting

I was so proud of our church today. We need special prayer for the babies. The church set aside the normal routine of Wednesday night to pray over them and some other health needs in the church. Big thanks to Dylan and others on the leadership team who planned and led the meeting tonight.

As I was praying I thought about the will of God and was reminded that Jesus had compassion on the sick and on the crowds that followed him. When he turned water into wine it seems that he had compassion on his mother and indicated it was not his time, but he did not refuse her!

If, in man's relationship to God, man can sway the sovereign will of God through prayer and the making of requests, then it behooves us to pray! There is much more that can be said, but for now we just need that encouragement to pray and trust God for a miracle.

Let There Be Babies!

It may have been 14.5 weeks early to us, but yesterday God spoke from heaven to the Jahnke family and said, “Let there be babies!” Alanna Grace and Sarah Nicole entered the world around 5:00 p.m.

Please keep our Associate Passtor’s family in prayer. The girls were flown to St. Louis to a NICU where they are expected to remain till September some time. Pray for Stephanie and John, I am sure that this will be stressful. Also, pray for the new grandparents and for safe travel for them. Finally, pray for the girls. Pray that they will grow and develop quickly.

It is amazing to think that in a society like ours that when a mother wants to keep her babies that we move heaven and earth to save them. Two helicopters landed around 4:00 p.m. to take the babies to St. Louis. Each chopper flew to the St. Louis hospital in 15 minutes which means that they had to approach speeds of 200 mph. Each of the girls’ life flight teams waited at the hospital for about 90 minutes for the babies to be born. The same teams of five or six highly trained people that save lives in so many situations wheeled out two little incubators, one at a time, to their respective choppers. In each of those specialized plastic boxes was a small life weighing only about 2 pounds! The insurance company, the hospital, the NICU, the Obstetrician, the pediatricians and a team of great nurses, are all collaborating in the process. What lengths we go to save these precious lives.

What is totally confusing is that if the same woman did not want those same babies at the same point of development it is totally legal for her to terminate them.

Why is it legal to treat one human being with such respect, such expense, and extreme care and then take an equally valid human (in some cases a more healthy human being) and discard them?

History will be the judge. Our selfish legal decisions will be judged by our children on par with human trafficking, the slave trade and genocide. All errors of the human race that are perpetrated by mis-guided groups or societies. What is most hideous about abortion is that one person makes a choice without legal ramifications, without peer review, without any formal accountability.

Relay for Life

We did our first annual Relay for Life team this last weekend. Here are some pictures.

What was great about this outreach event is that it has multiple sides. First, it allows us to get our church out in the community. About 2,000 people attended the event. Second, we promoted the event as an opportunity to work with people from outside our church. This is a great way to work with all kinds of people and build relationships. Often churches do outreach events where people outside the church are invited to attend, this was an event where we invited people to fully engage and work along side us. Third, it is a great way to show the love of Jesus to people on their terms rather than the churches terms. It is a chance to affirm something that we almost all agree on, that is a desire to help fight cancer.

Jairus the Father

This is the father's day message from 2003.

This week I will be posting some previous Father's day messages.

Mark 5:21-24
When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the Lake. Then one of the synagogue rulers, named Jairus, came there. Seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” So Jesus went with him.

And Mark 5:35-43
While Jesus was still speaking, some men came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher any more?”
Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”
He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. When they came to the home of the synagogue ruler, Jesus saw a commotion with people crying and wailing loudly. He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” But they laughed at him.
After he had put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means, “little girl, I say to you get up!”). Immediately the girl stood up and walked around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. He gave hem strict orders no to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.

Jairus was a father who experienced a miracle in his house. What kind of father must I be to experience miracles in my house?

1. He was a father involved in God’s kingdom.
“Then one of the synagogue rulers, named Jairus, came there.”
2. He was humble.
“Seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet…”
3. He was a praying father.
“Seeing Jesus, he…pleaded earnestly with him…”
4. He was a father with faith.
“Please come and put you hands on her so that she will be healed and live.”
5. He was a father who took Jesus with him.
“So Jesus went with him.”

Weekend Rewind

I was very excited about this Father's Day message. I liked having people share their experiences with their great grandparents. I liked using other peoples stories as the illustrations not my own. There were several amazingly beautiful surprises. This message was much richer because I used your stories rather than mine.

I was also impressed at the end to hear people naming off character traits that they had learned from their father. There were two young women who both spoke up and a 12 year old boy in the first service who I think made their dads really proud and a bit humbled. Again, the input of the congregation was rich.

It really makes me think that I need to come up with a way of preaching crowd participation messages more often and have a way to capture the entire thing on CD better.

Weekend Rewind

I only have one thing to say: We ran out of communion on a June Sunday!!!

Our attendance was 133, the second Sunday of June! Usually we have a slump in the summer. This summer we have kept up so far! January through march we averaged 127. The last few Sunday's have all been 127 or more.

Can I tell you a secret? John and LeRoy went down to get more cups of juice and I began to sing a song while we waited for more supplies so we could all take communion together. Two lines into the song I about had a fit. I remembered that I had thrown all the left-over juice away! I was thinking, "What in the world are they going to bring up here?" Some where they found some grape juice. Fortunately we had some left from the worker's bar-b-q on Saturday.

S-T-R-E-T-C-H

A few months ago I posted a blog about being stretched. A person in the church came to me and said that the Lord was going to begin to stretch me. If there is one thing that has kept me calm it is the warning that I feel I received from the Holy Spirit, through a friend, that God was going to stretch me.

Perhaps the biggest talent that I am being trained in right now is managing my time. Every day seems shorter! I finish lunch and say, "I only have four hours!" Every conversation counts. I am trying to sharpen my focus to what counts the most. I am cutting away some time wasters at the office.

When I get home I want to slow down and be a dad to my kids. That means at work I have to have a pretty tenacious, competitive attitude. I am happy. I am not stressin' But, I feel like God is trying to teach me how to do the full court press for all four quarters, not just the last few seconds or minutes. That requires a different kind of pace that can be maintained, in a healthy way, for the long run.

Going on Vacation

This week has been a lot of preparation for vacation. We are going to Virgina, Washington DC, my brother-in-law's wedding, and Gettysburg. I am cramming all the things that I need to do next week into this week and have worked non-stop! Sorry for the lack of blog stuff.

Relay for Life

Tomorrow is the Relay for Life. I am looking forward to making some new friends who have been invited to join the First AG teams. This is one of those times when we can not only invite those outside our church to attend something we are doing, but to work with us for a common goal.

I am personally interested in this because my grandfather died with cancer after several bouts with it. He did very well until his last few months, so well that I can't remember seeing him sick until the end of his life. I visited him in the hospital but he never seemed mortally threatened. I am also participating because I have an uncle who is currently fighting cancer. My cousin Matt got me interested in the Relay when he told me that he purchased a luminary for our grandfather a few years ago. Now I have finally gotten around to being involved.

Atta' Boy

We finally determined the name of the worker of the year award that is being given Saturday at the workers appreciation bar-b-q. We were going to go with "The You Da' Man Award" but felt it was too male specific. So, with a little constructive and creative input we changed it to "The Atta' Boy Award" which can also be "Atta' Girl" when the award goes to a lady.

The goal is to create an annual award that will recognize an individual who has really been useful and productive in the kingdom for First Assembly of God.

Don't miss the meal we will eat at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday at the Optimist Park on 9th street.

Summer Reading

This summer is like the summer of reading for me! I have fallen in love with reading in a new way this year. As I have noted in other entries, I read Carl Sandburg's biography of Abraham Lincoln and then picked up a copy of Michael Korda's book Ike, and finished it two nights ago. I am also reading two new text books for two college classes I teach.

This week I am reading a book for a book review. The book is a response to three other authors who have turned out to be the newest proponents of atheism. To really review the book I am quickly scanning the works of Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, and Richard Dawkins. If you want to read some of the latest writing that argues against the existence of God these are three names that have had influence.

So, why is a Pastor telling people in his blog who to read if they want to know more about contemporary arguments against the existence of God? Because God made you with the ability to reason and think as well as the ability to feel and be emotional. Many who reject Christianity claim that it is all smoke and mirrors which effectively play on emotions and that faith extinguishes reason.

I believe that when we critically examine arguments against God we often find our own reasoning for his existence even more compelling. The bottom line is that to believe in God takes faith, and to not believe takes faith. Most of the time the decision is based on an individuals presuppositions regarding epistemology, that is, how or what can we know. If a person's epistemology only allows for rational evidence then material evidence is rejected. If a person only trusts empirical evidence then reason is ruled by the evidence of their senses. If a person presupposes philosophical naturalism and the evolution of all things biological and societal then that will rule what they believe they can possibly know and it will guide the leap of faith that they choose to take toward theism or atheism.

I encourage you to be a reader. Proverbs says to "get wisdom, get understanding though it costs you all you have..." A lot of information that you read needs to be previewed and discarded, but even the stuff you disagree with can help you gain understanding.

A Pastor's Encouragement

Yesterday I hung out with a group of pastor friends. We drank coffee, had some fruit and donuts and watched a great video on the greatness of God. Then we went to lunch. After lunch I was talking to Charles Partney who pastors a church in Heculanium, just south of St. Louis off of I-55. I was asking him for some advice and feed back on an issue of church administration and he said, "Your first ministry is your family." That was a great word. Ministry can change in the life of a pastor. Church members may change, location may change, ministry position may change, but your family is your family for life.

I want to encourage every person in our church to remember one of our core values. "We believe that every believer can balance his or her commitments to God, (Deuteronomy 6:5; Joshua 23:11; Matthew 22:37) family (1 Timothy 5:4; 5:8; Psalm 37:25) and community (Proverbs 31:23 &31; Proverbs 10:10-11)."

There is a way for every Christian in Washington to be helping in a ministry in their church, fruitful in a meaningful job to earn a living, faithful to their family duties, and involved in civic opportunities. To prove and exemplify this I am involved in The Optimist Club, hold a second job teaching philosophy at Missouri Baptist University, and keep up with my family and my ministry work. There are some tings that I have to choose not to do, but there are other things that I am fully committed to do. Nobody can do everything, but we all need to do certain things that really matter.

Braggin' Time

Ok, I know that I am just braggin', but you gotta' admit this is pretty cool!

Friday we took the kids to the river front trail in downtown Washington. It is a trail that curves along the river and is kept up by the parks department. It is marked every half mile and is just over 2.5 miles long.

Steph and the kids rode their bikes and I jogged. The plan was for me to jog with Elizabeth and Steph could ride and keep up with the boys on their bikes. Lib is 3.5 and the boys are 5 yrs. old.

Here is the amazing thing. I ended up jogging with the boys the entire 2.5 miles and when we turned around to jog back there was Elizabeth! We started back and I was worried that I would be carrying her and her bike for a mile or two at the end. But she rode the whole thing, all 5 miles! Furthermore, she was the first one back to the river front park where the trial begins.

My thing has always been long distance running. It looks like Elizabeth might have a little of the endurance gene in there somewhere.

Weekend Rewind

I have been so thrilled with the last two weeks of church. The series, "God at the Box Office" is really connecting with people.

Here is what is most thrilling! Last week after speaking about the fullness of the Holy Spirit and empowerment for the mission, I asked a question. "How many of you have been filled with the Holy Spirit in that past and experienced the evidence of speaking or praying in tongues, but you have not prayed in the Spirit for years?" Between the two services about 7 people responded and they were all re-filled with the Holy Spirit. People were so touched that they prayed right through the 30 minute fellowship time between the two services and many stayed late after the second service praising God and remaining in his presence.

This Sunday I spoke on healing and we had three testimonies of healing that morning! Two in the first service and one in the second service. In the first service the entire congregation was involved in the altar call and response, either being prayed for for healing or praying for someone. Every pew was empty!

The other great thing was that in our services we have been experiencing the spontaneity in worship that only comes from following the Holy Spirit. Our worship is contemporary, but that no longer sets us apart from many other churches. What sets us apart is that we as Spirit Filled people follow the Lord spontaneously when he directs. We are not limited to, or tied to, a traditional order of service or liturgy, not even a Pentecostal form of service.

We know that God directs us in planning our services. I have seen it over and over again in the way the Lord will direct Tony in selection and transition of songs and in preparation for preaching. God is not pleased with laziness and unpreparedness. However, he retains the right to break into our services as he wills. Sometimes the first service may be a bit different from the second and God meets needs that we could have never planned to meet, and may have messed up if we had prepared.

First Day of School

Ben and Gabe went to their first day of school!

The boys have not been to pre-school or a day care so we wanted to get them used to the idea of getting up in the morning and attending school by enrolling them in summer school. Here is one of the greatest things! There were two other boys from our church in their class, and a little girl who attends the play group in the summer with some of the young women in our church. I can just see God using these kids to encourage one another for the next several years as they grow up and grow in the Lord. Public schools can be tough places for kids trying to serve the Lord, but they are also a mission field and a part of our culture that we have to learn to engage, even at a young age. You feel a lot more confident when you know that God is working in some other students. The Christian students will have a better influence socially at school because of their numbers.