Today is Patty’s birthday. She is 77 years old, and she was 21 when we got married. I have written about it before, but I thought today would be a good day to share again how we met.
I played on the basketball team at the college I attended, and we practiced during dinner time, so our team ate in the cafeteria after everyone else was gone. Patty worked in the cafeteria as part of her financial aid package from the college, and she was the one who usually dished out our food for us each evening. One evening, our coach came in and announced loudly that we were given free tickets to the “Far West Classic” basketball tournament at the Memorial Coliseum, where some of the best colleges in the country would be playing, and the seats were close to the court. We all got super excited, and in the midst of our excitement, Patty yelled from behind the food counter, “Hey! I feed you guys every night; I should get to go!” The coach laughed and said, “No! Guys only”! Well, on the night we were going to the tournament, we all gathered outside the Student Union Building, where we were going to board our school’s bus to take us to the Coliseum. While we were standing there, Patty dressed up in a guy’s suit, which was way too big for her, with her hair stuffed up inside this man’s hat that was too big for her head. She looked like a homeless guy, and we all thought that was who she was until she got close and we recognized her. She intended to show up at the bus for a joke and then return to her dorm, but our coach told a couple of guys to grab her and haul her on the bus with us. When we got to the Coliseum, 16 College men got off the bus with Patty, who looked ridiculous! Everyone was teasing her through the whole evening, telling her how to walk like a man, clap like a man, and eat hot dogs like a man. They all were flirting with her, except me, and I thought, “What a dumb thing for anyone to do”! At half-time, everyone had left to go and get refreshments except Patty and me; she was about eight seats away from me. I turned and looked at her, and at the same time, she also turned and looked at me. Our eyes met, and she smiled at me. Thinking back on it, it reminds me of when I went fishing and I set the hook on a big steelhead; she hooked me good with that one look. The rest is history.

In 1989, I attended my first “Prayer Summit” the first week of February. I had been pastoring at JBC for 13 years and had struggled greatly as a pastor. The Summit was four days of praying with 63 other pastors for most of the day, with no agenda, just praying. At the end of the four days I was very convicted by my prayerlessness. Before I got home from that prayer summit, I had written seven goals concerning my prayer life. I have diligently pursued those seven goals for the last 36 years. I now pray a lot more than was my habit then. I not only pray more, but I also labor earnestly in my prayers. Praying increases my desire for what I am praying for, my passion, so that I am pleading with God for what I am praying for. I pray for my weaknesses, my character flaws, and my sins. I want so much to be better, live better, serve better, and preach better. I pray for each of my family members, begging God to guide them, protect them, and bless them. I pray for the people in my churches to grow, love God, protect them from evil, and make them warriors for God. I pray earnestly for JBC and JEC that God will make them churches of great unity, abounding in love for each other and all people, and that they will grow and become blessed churches that glorify God. The cool thing is that even though I am becoming less and less mobile and energetic as I get older, I can still pray. The difference between now and then is because of those seven goals I set because of God’s convicting work in my heart. We all get convicted about things we need to change in our lives, but if we don’t write it down, we will forget about it.

I have many titles: the world’s greatest fisherman, pastor, the world’s worst clarinet player, Mr., husband, and Dad. My favorite title is Grandpa. In a couple of days, Patty and I are flying to Oahu to spend ten days with nine of our grandkids. I am anticipating having a very enjoyable time. I will get to fish with my grandkids, hunt with them, eat with them, swim with them, watch TV with them, and talk to them. I watch and listen to them all the time. While with them, I am trying to figure out who they are, their strengths and weaknesses, what they might do in life, and how they will serve the Lord. And I pray non-stop for them that God will bless them, protect them, guide them, and make them a mighty warrior for Jesus Christ. These kids have a great heritage; their grandparents on both sides of the family are Christians, their parents are Christians, and they are being raised and trained very well. I will pray a lot for them and their parents, but I am also praying that God will give Patty and me great wisdom and opportunities to influence them to be champions for Jesus. Here is a picture of one of my grandsons fishing with me the last time we were in Hawaii.

People who paint pictures, artists aim for perfection and beauty. They are seldom satisfied. People who make things out of wood are the same, constantly examining their work and working toward perfection. Those who play musical instruments practice and practice to get more skilled at their playing. Athletes that we watch in the Olympics strive for perfection in their performance to be the best in the world. That is how it is in every area of life, and it illustrates what our pursuit of character ought to be like; we want to be like Jesus. We aren’t critical of ourselves to the point that it causes us to be depressed, to be overly down on ourselves, or to have unhealthy self-worth. But we are honest with where we are as people in our growth so that we are motivated to make a concerted effort to improve every day. We want, want, want to be perfect, grown up, like Jesus.
I played a clarinet in my High School band. There were nine clarinet players, and we were ranked in ability. The top three played first-chair music, the following three played second-chair music, and the last three played third-chair music. The first chair players played the melody part and had all of the solo parts. Once a month, we could challenge the player above us. We would both be behind a curtain and play the same music, and the whole band would vote on who played the best. The top player for the years I was in the band was Sarah Coffenberry; nobody ever beat her. My problem was that I spent way more time hunting and fishing than practicing my clarinet. That is often our trouble in life; we spend so much time pursuing the things in the world that we have little time or energy left to seek Jesus. When we step into heaven, we will bring our character, not anything from the world.

Philippians 3:12: “Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus also laid hold of me.”
To be perfect is not to be sinless but to be grown up in character and like Jesus in character. Paul says he has not become perfect yet but is working toward that goal. God helps us in the journey towards perfection by bringing trials into our lives.

James 1:2-4 “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

Perfect and complete, lacking in nothing, that is my goal, and I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which I was saved. Many see getting into heaven as the goal of our life. “I am going to heaven, hallelujah; nothing else matters now.” Being given eternal life is a gift from God that we did not earn or deserve. Being born again is just the beginning. Now, we are on a journey of growing into the image of Christ. The power of goals is the most effective tool I have to help me grow to be like Jesus. Paul goes on in Philippians and says, “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” I, like Paul, am a long way from being perfect, but I press on toward that goal. I set goals, examine my life and confess all known sins, read the Bible daily, memorize and meditate on God’s Word, and practice the basic disciplines of the Christian life. Character flaws and weaknesses tend to appear in relationships, so I pay close attention to my reactions to what people say and do to me. Being right, treated well, or being first doesn’t matter nearly as much as being perfect. I will press on toward becoming like Jesus so that when I see Him, I will be like Him and not shrink away from Him in shame at His appearance. I need to be diligent in my “pressing on” because I am running out of time.

On Wednesday, I went fishing on the Siletz River and caught a nice steelhead, and my friend caught two. On Thursday, I went out on the ocean fishing with three friends, and we all limited out with two ling cod and four sea bass apiece. One of my ling cod was 22 pounds. Both days were Sunny and relatively warm. If you wondered why I hadn’t written a blog since Monday, it is because even though I love to fish and had a wonderful time both days, it still tuckered me out. I also preached Wednesday night at the Wednesday service, and Thursday night, I taught two Leadership classes, 6:00 to 7:00 and 7:00 to 8:00 pm. But today, I am all caught up on sleep and rest, and feeling good.

The Bible’s most often prayed prayer request is for strength and energy. I don’t ever remember asking God for strength or energy before I was 50, and only a few times between 50 and 70. But now I ask about every hour! My favorite passage in the Bible now is Isaiah 40:28-31. The word “wait” means to depend on, to seek, to ask. 

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary, And to him who lacks might He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly, Yet those who wait for the Lord Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.

My friend Terrie Hill died yesterday of cancer. He had been part of our church family for 30 years. He was one of those guys you loved having in your church if you were his pastor. He helped with everything, rarely missed services, was very faithful, and never caused a conflict. He will certainly be missed. It seems like the people that I am friends with are dying at an increasingly faster rate. I think that is because I am old and most of my friends are too.
When a friend like Terrie dies, I think of it like he is on a two-month trip to Hawaii. I don’t feel bad for him; he is having a great time. I feel envious because he is there, and I am here in the cold Oregon rain. You don’t think about missing someone who will be gone for two months; you will see them soon enough. I might live 20 more years, but probably not, and if I did, looking back on 20 years of my life now seems like two months. At this very moment, Terrie has a new body that feels amazing. Lots of energy, a clear, sharp mind, lots of brown hair, skinny, no glasses, a big motorcycle (maybe), incomprehensible joy, zero problems or pressures, and so much more that we won’t know about until we get there. We tend to think about death as the end, but it is just the beginning of a brand new life and experience.
I once heard someone grieving at a funeral say,” I will never see you again.” That’s not true. I will see Terrie in two months or so. I don’t feel very sad, but I do feel very envious.

One of my favorite reading areas is the early church fathers. They lived in the first 100 years of the church and were often disciples of the apostles themselves, so they heard much of what Jesus taught the disciples firsthand. They wrote Epistles and sermons to various churches and people. Reading the various early church fathers, I noticed they all had common themes or topics in their writing. A major one dealt with various false teachings that crept into the church from the beginning. Paul said in 1 Timothy 4:1, “But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons.” A significant way that the devil wants to destroy the church is by introducing false teachings into the church. A second area of emphasis that all of the early church fathers repeated often was the importance of unity in the church. They emphasized that unity and love for one another validated the gospel’s truth. False teaching not only caused people to believe in a false gospel but also caused much infighting over what was true and what was false. The trick is to stand for and teach the truth without causing conflict.
What was true in the early church is still very true today. What was a problem in the early church is still a problem today. There is so much garbage proclaimed over the internet as truth, and there are so many “doctrines of demons” being taught as truth. Let me leave you with four guidelines in this area.

1. Attend a church where God’s Word is taught accurately. Pray for your pastor that God will keep him focused on the Word of God, and doesn’t get led astray by strange teachings.
2. Read and study the Bible daily so you will know if you are hearing some false teaching. Satan introduces false teaching in small doses, so we don’t notice.
3. There are a lot of variations of view on certain doctrines among denominations that don’t matter that much. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Is Jesus coming for us before the Tribulation, in the middle, or at the end? I know what I believe and I believe it firmly, but I will not fight with someone with a different view. We will all find out soon enough.
4. In defending the faith and the essential doctrines of the Bible, do so graciously. You are not more convincing because you are mean-spirited. Being a defender of truth and causing conflict in the process is not a good trade off, and is exactly what the devil wants to happen, don’t be his pawn.

I have purchased two commentaries on 1st John after researching comments and recommendations of many professors and Pastors on which ones they thought were the best. I have also found three sermon series on 1 John done by pastors, with whom I have confidence in their doctrine and scholarship. My new goal is to listen to all the sermons and read both commentaries next year as I memorize 1 John. At some point, after I have gotten the book memorized well, the commentaries read, and the sermons listened to, I will begin writing a sermon series of my own on 1st John.

The goal that I work hardest on is my scripture memory goal. Last year, I spent about 30 minutes almost every day working on my verses. This year, I am increasing that to 45 minutes every day. I finished the year with 815 verses memorized well, and my goal is to end this next year with 1000 verses memorized well. I get more out of the passages I memorize as opposed to just reading them. I think about the content of the Bible passages I am memorizing by going over and over the verses to learn them well. I also noticed more details in the passages than I got from just reading them. When I lie down to sleep, I mentally pick out verses I have memorized and meditate on them. It is a great way to eliminate worry or fretting that many people struggle with as they try to fall asleep. Another significant blessing, especially for people my age, is that the discipline, mental effort, and focus it takes to memorize keeps your brain strong and able to think clearly. I have found that the more time I spend memorizing scripture, the easier it is for me to write sermons, lessons, and my blog. My brain seems to create ideas better and think logically in a straight line in a focused way rather than jump around to a dozen different totally unrelated topics. The mental energy that it takes to memorize is enormous. After 15 minutes, I noticed a significant drop in my success in memorizing a passage. I usually work on my verses for 10 to 15 minutes and take a break, even a nap. Probably the greatest blessing I get from memorizing God’s Word is the success He gives me in the things I do because I honor Him by honoring His Word.
Psalms 1:2-3 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.