I am sorry that I haven’t blogged for several days. I have been in Eastern Oregon shooting sage rats, whose official name is Belding’s ground squirrels, and catching big monster trout. There was no cell service where we were, so I was forced to just hunt and fish! About 20 of us went over together, and we had great fellowship as we camped, hunted, and fished together. We built a huge campfire, sat around it in the evening, talked, and some roasted marshmallows and made smores. I go on several hunting and fishing trips during the year, and this is one of my favorites. However, it is usually the last trip I went on that is my favorite, so this year’s “rat hunt” will fade in the favorite column until next year, when it will bounce back to first. Why is a particular trip a favorite? Because it is the most fun or enjoyable for any number of reasons. The Lord made us beings in His image that can experience joy. Sometimes, we call it having fun or being happy. God designed our strong desire for pleasure to motivate us to seek Him. Psalms 16:11 says that “in His presence is fullness of joy.” Heaven will be the ultimate experience of joy forever, and hell is the total absence of joy forever. Life is full of miserable times; I think about heaven during those times. It won’t be that long, and I will be there with my new glorified body. 

One of my greatest strengths over the last 55 years of pastoring has been my love for reading, studying, and learning. A Pastor is called on to do various things, but the most important thing is the quality of his teaching and preaching. People don’t go to church because it is their duty; they go because they want to experience God and learn how to live a life that is pleasing to Him. Anointed preaching and teaching of the Bible so that it becomes life-giving is the engine that makes any church go. Good preaching has several ingredients, but a major one is good studying and preparation. There has to be substance to the content. 

Ezra 7:10 For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel.

1 Timothy 4:16 Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you.

2 Timothy 2:15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.

My Mom read to me a lot before I could read, and then when I could, she would constantly take me to the library, and we would leave with a big box of books. It wasn’t simply the ability to read that I got, but the love of learning. 

After I started pastoring, I read commentaries on the Bible, many books on leadership, books written by successful pastors who had built huge churches, and books on the various skills that I needed to be a good Pastor. Besides reading their books, I took many successful pastors out for lunch, getting counsel from them and picking their brains for some information that would help me. Now, at this stage in my life, I am trying to pass on information I have learned to some young pastors and pastor wannabes. 

Today, I attended Jefferson Baptist Church at the 8:30 a.m. service and was blessed by the entire service; it was terrific. Then, I drove up the road to Jefferson Evangelical Church, where I am pastoring now, and had another super fantastic service. We had two different people give testimonies of how the Lord changed their lives, three special music performances that were anointed, and I wrapped it up with a ten-minute sermon. Then, we had a big family gathering with around 50 people in the JBC gym, which included dinner, an egg hunt, lots of games, and lots of conversations with each other. It was an unbelievably blessed day for me. Now, I am sitting in my recliner, thanking the Lord for my incredibly blessed life. I have the world’s best marriage to an angel of a wife, eight children who are all champions for Jesus, six sons-in-law and two daughters-in-law who are amazing, and 28 grandkids who all are lovers of Jesus. I have pastored Jefferson Baptist Church from its small beginning of a handful of people for 50 years, and now I am pastoring another church with a wonderful family of 50 people whom I love and who love me. Thinking back on my life, I can’t think of anything I would change. I have been a journal writer most of my life, and much of what I write about is all of the sins I have committed, the dumb things I have done, the stupid and prideful stuff I have said, the conflicts with different people I have had, and the poor choices I have made. I try to write in such a way as to learn what not to do again so that I can learn from my failures and grow in wisdom. Knowing how much I have failed in my life and then reviewing the fantastic blessings of family and ministry I have experienced, I recognize what a recipient of God’s love, grace, and mercy I am. It is very humbling and overwhelming. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for a perfect Easter Sunday. 

Romans 5:6-8 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Jesus Christ died for me. Jesus was one with the Father; He was God. God the Father took all of my sins and put them on Jesus. He looked at Jesus as if He actually committed my sins. The Bible says He became my sin. The Father then poured His wrath out on His Son for my sin, He turned His back on Jesus because He had become my sin, and their oneness was broken for the first time in all eternity. I was saved, born again, adopted into the family of God, forgiven, and destined for heaven when I admitted that I couldn’t save myself, believed the gospel, accepted the free gift of salvation, and committed to following and obeying Jesus, my Savior, and Lord. 

This morning, at 4:30 a.m., my alarm went off because I was going to attend prayer that started at 5:00 am as part of JBC’s five days of prayer, and I jumped out of bed to turn it off. When I did, I got this awful vertigo. I didn’t know which way was up. I grabbed the counter’s edge where my alarm was on and asked Patty to help me get back into bed. I stayed in bed, slept until 10:00 am, and cautiously got up. After showering and dressing, I looked back in my journal because I remembered this happening before but couldn’t remember the details. I discovered this same thing happened in the last two five-day prayer events, both on Wednesday morning. I thought maybe it was the devil trying to keep me from prayer, and then, as I looked back in my journal, I saw where this also happened in Alaska last year while fishing. It looks like I have this reaction whenever I go two days in a row with five hours or less of sleep. There was a time in my life when five hours was the normal amount of sleep I got, and I functioned fine. Oh, the trials of getting old! Oh well, I will plan and adjust accordingly. I wonder if we will sleep in heaven. We will have glorified bodies like Jesus so that sleep won’t be needed for health, but maybe there is another reason; we will see when we get there. Sleep is a reminder of death and resurrection. When we go to sleep it is a picture of our dying and when we wake up, it is a picture of our resurrection to new life with a new body in heaven. That is going to be so wonderful and I am anxiously waiting. Easter is our celebration and reminder of the basis for our faith in that amazing day in the lives of those who are fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. 

Today was the second day of our “Five Days of Prayer.” We pray from 5:00 to 10:00 am and 5:00 to 10:00 pm Monday through Friday. We do this four times a year. My goal is to pray for 30 of the 50 hours of prayer. It has been a very good prayer time. Last night and tonight we had about 90 people in the prayer room. During those prayer times, many people would pray out loud, so I didn’t feel compelled to pray out loud as much as usual. I listen and agree in my heart with those who are praying out loud. During these times, my mind doesn’t wander, but it goes into this sort of spiritual mode where I am thinking about God, heaven, angels, eternity, and my past life, reminiscing on how much God has blessed me. Even though I work hard to stay focused on what those around me are praying so that I can enter into their prayers mentally, I enjoy these wanderings off into spiritual bliss. I don’t try to go into these times of spiritual daydreaming; it just happens periodically. However, it isn’t that surprising because of the strong sense of God’s presence in the prayer room. I often switch my mental meanderings to thinking about people I know who have no faith. I feel very sorry for people who don’t have the peace, security, and joy I have in my relationship with the Lord. If you live close enough to attend part of these prayer events, you should give it a shot to see what happens. 

Today was the second day of our “Five Days of Prayer.” We pray from 5:00 to 10:00 am and 5:00 to 10:00 pm Monday through Friday. We do this four times a year. My goal is to pray for 30 of the 50 hours of prayer. It has been a very good prayer time. Last night and tonight we had about 90 people in the prayer room. During those prayer times, many people would pray out loud, so I didn’t feel compelled to pray out loud as much as usual. I listen and agree in my heart with those who are praying out loud. During these times, my mind doesn’t wander, but it goes into this sort of spiritual mode where I am thinking about God, heaven, angels, eternity, and my past life, reminiscing on how much God has blessed me. Even though I work hard to stay focused on what those around me are praying so that I can enter into their prayers mentally, I enjoy these wanderings off into spiritual bliss. I don’t try to go into these times of spiritual daydreaming; it just happens periodically. However, it isn’t that surprising because of the strong sense of God’s presence in the prayer room. I often switch my mental meanderings to thinking about people I know who have no faith. I feel very sorry for people who don’t have the peace, security, and joy I have in my relationship with the Lord. If you live close enough to attend part of these prayer events, you should give it a shot to see what happens. 

I wrote about pain yesterday because of some physical problems that I am going through presently. I thought I would repost a blog I wrote several years ago on a long bicycle trip on the same subject. 

A bicycle is an instrument of pain; the Seat makes your butt hurt, the handlebars make your hands, wrists, and neck hurt, the peddles make your feet hurt, and the whole bicycle makes your legs burn. Why would anybody in their right mind choose to expose their body for 8 to 10 hours a day to such a machine of pain? I played various sports in High School and College, and the training and practice sessions were intense and hard and brought a lot of pain. I remember guys stopping and throwing up in a garbage can as we ran the bleachers in the gym. Many friends chose not to participate in sports because it was too hard. The coaches repeatedly quoted several mottos to quote to us: “No pain, no gain,” and “Pain is the gas peddle or the brake pedal in our life; we choose.” I hear some people say of themselves, “I have a low threshold of pain,” and I wonder if they think that they were born that way and that they are stuck there. Our threshold for pain goes up as we choose to move over the line a little bit, a little bit more, a little bit more, and a little bit more. As our pain threshold goes up, so does our character growth rate and our potential for accomplishment. Pain is not our enemy, nor our friend either, but it is an adversary we compete with. Pain wins if we quit because of it or avoid important choices because of it, but I win if I endure despite it, if I grow because of it, and if I accomplish more as a result of it. The challenge is doing something hard and winning. Someone asked me if I enjoy the pain that bicycling long distances brings, and I responded, “No, I hate the pain, but I love the challenge.”

There is a lot written in the Bible about pain. The Book of Job is all about pain. Jesus’ crucifixion is all about pain. We all experience physical pain and emotional pain. I have an arthritic hip, and it hurts a lot. I had surgery on my arm Thursday to remove some squamous cell skin cancer. The place they cut and the incisions hurt like the dickens. My Dad used to say about such injuries, “Just rub some dirt on it, and it will quit hurting.” He didn’t really mean to rub dirt on it; it was his way of saying, ignore it, and it will disappear. I have some pain pills that were prescribed for me, and they help a lot. My Dad refused to take pain pills when he was dying of liver cancer; he just figured the pain was part of life, so you endured it. In my current circumstances of pain, I have written some guidelines and meditation statements.

1. Unlike my Dad, I will take pain pills, but not in excess or beyond the prescription level. 

2. I will discipline my thoughts so I don’t feel sorry for myself. Self-pity is a thinking pattern that does not please God and doesn’t help me grow. 

3. I will rejoice and thank God for helping me to grow. 

4. I will use my pain to remind me of all that Jesus went through for my salvation. 

5. I will remind myself that many Christians have gone through many times more pain than I have and conquered it, so I can as well. 

6. I will not grumble or complain to anyone except Patty, who will make me feel loved, comforted, and relieved with her gift of mercy as my wife. 

7. I will ask God for strength to endure, not escape from pain outside His will. 

Keeping Jesus’s commands is essential. We emphasize his forgiveness to the point that obeying him doesn’t seem that important. It is like obeying His commandments or disobeying them doesn’t make that much difference. It makes a lot of difference. 

Matthew 7:24-27 Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”

Many people break the commandment in Philippians 4:6, “Be anxious for nothing.” In Psalms 37:8, it says, “Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing.” Fretting is when we let a little fear become a big fear because we allow it to go around and around in our brains. Most don’t consider that a commandment because it is in our heads, and no one knows, and it doesn’t hurt anyone but ourselves. As the verse says, fretting leads to evil-doing, even if it is just being grumpy. When a little fear pops up in my head, I replace it with, “Do not fret!” If it continues to pop up in my thinking, I keep kicking it out by thinking, sometimes even saying out loud, “ Do no fret!” The cool thing about choosing to obey is that God gives us the power to succeed. The rest of Philippians 4:6-7 says,”Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” So, when an anxious thought pops into my head I replace it with, “Do not fret,” and then I pray about what was bugging me, and before long I have an amazing peace and freedom from fretting. It is a wonderful gift from God if we would do it. I think some people just enjoy fretting.