Archive for March, 2014

Frozen

Posted on: March 29th, 2014 by Brad Peterson

Last Tuesday, I was very excited, and it just wasn’t because my spring break vacation was going to start at 3:30 pm.  No, I was excited because in the mail that day was a movie I was highly anticipating was going to arrive in the mail:  “Frozen,” the massive Disney animated hit.  Even though I was leaving and would be able to watch it for a bit, I couldn’t wait to.  It is one of the best movies that I have seen in awhile, which puts me on par with many of your kids who loved it too.  I loved the visuals, the music, the humor, the story.  A great movie.

And then, Wednesday morning, I got a gift.  Amy and I decided to upgrade our flight to first class which meant a larger seat, a full, hot breakfast, and a free digital player filled with TV shows, movies, and more.  Guess what was on it?  FROZEN!  Even though I wanted to sleep since we had woken up at 2:30 am, I instead excitedly watched it and I thought it was even better than I had remembered.  What is worse, on the way back, while sitting in coach this time, a girl in front of me and across the aisle rented one of those players and was watching “Frozen” on it.  I might, repeat, MIGHT have watched it over her shoulder for awhile.

It has been a great time of movies for me.  In the past month, on TV alone, I have watched the original “Star Wars” Trilogy, “The Little Mermaid” (my favorite animated Disney movie of all time), “Cinderella,” “10 Things I Hate About You,” “Goodfella’s,” “Caddyshack,” “Animal House,”  “The Blues Brothers” (my Dad’s favorite), “Ghostbusters,” and “Casablanca.”  On Blu-Ray or DVD I’ve watched “Thor: the Dark World,” “Iron Man 3,” and “Mary Poppins,” with the second Hunger Games movie cued up to watch during cleaning on Friday.

Movies, for me, not only help me de-stress by getting lost in the story, but they also take me back in time.  I stayed up very late to watch “Blues Brothers” because it always makes me think of my Dad.  The same is true for “The Little Mermaid,” which is a story in its own right.  “Ghostbusters” makes me think of early youth, “The Star Wars” movies always make me think of my best friend Ryan and our marathon watching sessions, and “Animal House” and “Caddyshack” make me think about college years.  I remember the people and friends who I watched these movies with and the feelings that I felt the first time I watched them.

I look forward to the new memories that will be made with the newer movies that I see.  But most of all, I will appreciate the power of the movies to give me a chance to leave the stresses of the world, even for just a little bit, as they help me “Let it Go.”  Get it?  See, how I did that there?  “Frozen” rules.

Have a great day!

Denial

Posted on: March 18th, 2014 by Brad Peterson

17 The woman said to Peter, “You are not also one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.”  25 Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They asked him, “You are not also one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.” 26 One of the slaves of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?” 27 Again Peter denied it, and at that moment the cock crowed.  John 18:17, 25-27

I want you to imagine it is 1986.  Some of you might remember it better than others.  It is the summer and I, a 10 year-old Pastor Brad, is doing what most 10 year old boys are doing:  causing trouble.  My parents are not at home.  They are not even in the state.  They are in Maine, taking their very first vacation without kids since their honeymoon in 1968.  My grandma is staying with us, watching over us, and unbeknownst to our parents, teaching us how to play poker.  Grandma Schimka ruled.

Anyways, during the late afternoon 10-year old Pastor Brad is playing in the backyard with his neighbor Curt.  They have played some baseball, battled it out in a light saber duel for the ages, and then got to the good stuff:  attempting to blow old toys up.  After some unsuccessful attempts, we take some fireworks and poppers and let them off on the edge of my backyard, right by a field that will turn into a subdivision three years later.  Laughter is had.  Bodily harm has mostly been avoided.  Dinner time commences and we retreat to our respective homes.

Twenty minutes later, as I’m eating dinner, Curt comes to back door by our kitchen, wondering if I can come out and play.  “I can’t,” I say, “I’m eating dinner.”  Ok, he says.  Five minutes later he comes back, with a glass of water in his hand.  “I can’t come out yet,” I say.  “Alright.”  Curt leaves.  Five more minutes go by and he comes back again.  Before he says anything I say, “Curt, I’m not done yet.  Sorry.”  Curt then says, “Uh, I think you better come out.  Your pine tree is on fire.”

We run out of the house and sure enough, our pine tree, right near where we had been playing around with fireworks, is on fire.  Curt was holding the water glass trying to put it out.  As my Grandma calls 911, I grabbed our hose and started to try to put it out.  Eventually the fire department comes, gets it out, and everything is fine.  Until they start asking questions about how this could have started.  Curt and I clam up, claim we have no idea how it could have started.  We denied having anything to do with it.  We knew better, were taught to always tell the truth, but we were scared to death of what our parents might do to us.  So we denied it.  Completely.

Today we have a story of denial, one we might know well, Peter’s denial of Jesus after Jesus is arrested.  It can be easy to be critical of Peter in this situation.  Peter was Jesus’ number one disciple.  Peter was the first one to confess that Jesus was the Messiah.  Jesus was going to build his church on Peter, his rock.  Heck, Jesus even told Peter he was going to deny him, which Peter said would never happen.

But here he is: denying Jesus.  Even though Jesus told him he would, Peter denies Jesus.  Why?  Because he is afraid.  Peter is afraid of being arrested like Jesus, Peter is afraid of something happening much worse than that.  So Peter hides the truth.  Just as I did.  Just as we all do.

We often deny Jesus is our Lord and Savior.  There are times when we don’t let our faith show.  Often we do it out of fear.  What will someone think of me if I confess or show my faith?  What if I get made fun of?  What if I get rejected?  What if they think, because I’m a Christian, that I won’t accept them for who they are?  Will they generalize or pigeonhole me as being this or that because of my faith?

Frankly, many times it is easy to deny our Lord and Savior, to keep our faith hidden, maybe bring it out on Sundays for church or something like that.  Sometimes we justify our denial for self-preservation, other times so that we might not “offend” someone else.  We can make all kinds of excuses, but the end result is the same: we are denying Jesus.  The Savior who dies for us.  The Savior who forgives us.  The Savior who brings us to everlasting life.

The thing is, of course, is that Jesus does not deny us.  Jesus bleeds and gives his life so that we might have new life.  Jesus does not deny us when we come to him in prayer, when we are in need of strength, when we look for hope.  Jesus does not deny us when we need to be pulled out of the abyss of grief or the black hole of despair.  Jesus does not deny us when we are in need of acceptance and belonging.  Jesus keeps being there, no matter what we have done, when we call on him.

And thanks be to God for that!  Thank goodness that our denials of Jesus don’t keep him away.  Jesus loves us, and because of that, Christ will never deny us.

I was afraid, and so I denied that I had anything to do with our tree burning down.  Even when my parents came home from vacation, I didn’t fess up.  But it ate at me, and a while later I admitted that it was my fault.  And in admitting that, I felt new freedom, and my parents gave me forgiveness.

Lucky for us, when we do find ourselves hiding and denying our faith, when we come to our Savior in repentance, we receive that forgiveness.  May the Holy Spirit come into our hearts so that we would not deny our Savior but live boldly in faith, not ashamed of our faith but celebrating.  After all, our Savior has given us everything we need in this life and will be with us always.  For that we can say, “Thanks be to God!”  Amen

 

Psalm 121

Posted on: March 8th, 2014 by Brad Peterson

Psalm 121:  1 I lift up my eyes to the hills— from where will my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore.

I recently met with a woman who had suffered a tragedy.  Answers to the why’s of the event were not available and probably never would be. Besides feeling like her heart had been ripped out of her chest, she felt devastatingly alone.  Though people were around her, trying to give her support, she felt very lost and alone.  She did not know where to turn to for help.  She did not know if she would even be able to get up in the morning, let alone try to live.

After we spent time talking, I read her this Psalm.  Psalm 121 is one that is written for those who feel lost in life, who feel lone, who feel like the only place they now reside in is one of pain and despair.  This Psalm is full of promise: that the Lord helps, the Lord hears, the Lord protects, and the Lord walks with us.  Even more importantly, this Psalm reminds us that the Lord cares.

I’m not sure if my conversation with the woman helped or not.  I hope it gave her some comfort, even for a few moments.  But I know that the words of the Psalm will have lasting impact, that she will know that she can always turn to the Lord who created her, saved her, and promises to be with her forevermore.  After all, it has always done that for me.

Lent Theme 2014

Posted on: March 3rd, 2014 by Brad Peterson

It is always amazing to me what happens when I haven’t played my ukulele in a bit.  It might just be a week, or maybe even a couple; but the first time I pick it back up after a layover I find it really hard to play like I should be able to. I don’t hit the chords just right, my hands hurt, and I even forget some of the chords. It doesn’t take long before I get out of shape and need to be renewed.

  The same is true for our faith. When we are not practicing our faith; when we are not keeping our FAITH ALIVE; it grows stale, cold, out-of-shape. Lent is a time to make our FAITH ALIVE, to be renewed in our faith and think about ways we can live out our faith every day so that it remains strong and vibrant.

  We start with ASH WEDNESDAY, where we come forward to not only acknowledge our sinfulness, but to receive God’s forgiveness in Jesus Christ and to be reminded that in our baptism we are always children of God. We will then move to THE BIBLE, the place where we hear of God’s promises for us and to know that Jesus loves us and is there for us.

   Next we will explore WORSHIP, the place where we receive God’s grace through the sacraments and hear and give thanks for the salvation won for us by Christ on the cross. Then we will talk about PRAYER, the tool given to us so that we can communicate with God who wants to be in relationship with us. These are all focused on us as individuals and how our individual faith is renewed by the Holy Spirit.

   But our last two weeks, HOSPITALITY and SERVICE, we will take a turn and look at how by living out our faith in the world not only encourages others but also renews our own faith. These two weeks remind us that we are not alone on our faith journey and that Jesus calls us to live our faith every day and that by living it out, we strengthen it at the same time.

   Besides exploring these topics, we will gather together in fellowship at Lent suppers and enjoy moving-worship through Holden Evening Prayer led by the Youth Choir and Men’s Choir.

   Lent is an opportunity to make our FAITH ALIVE! I hope to see you on Wednesday nights and may the Holy Spirit renew us in faith every day.