Posted on

State Fair

I went to my first Minnesota State Fair this past Saturday.  Actually, it was my first state fair from any state.  I have lived in 5 different states, and 8 different cities, and this is my first time to ever attend a state fair.  And I guess I picked the right one to go to for my first experience.  The Minnesota State Fair is the 2nd largest in the country.  And if the information booth attendants that I talked to are correct, then it is only a matter of time before we move to the top of the list.  Of course, they may be a little biased. 

Last year the Fair set a record with about 1.8 million people in attendance.  The daily attendance averages around the 150-200,000 range.  I find that staggering.  I also find it incredible that the fair has been around for 150 years.  A lady I know has gone to the fair every year of her 47 year old life.  My wife’s parents had their first date at the Minnesota State Fair.  And we have relatives that travel up each year from Chicago just to come to the fair for the weekend.  I guess it is kind of a big deal!

Anyway, I thought I would share with you a little bit of my thoughts on the fair itself.  We arrived at the fairgrounds at about 8:15 a.m.  Which is a great time to go by the way.  The crowd was very thin at that time and the temperature was perfect with a nice breeze to keep us cool.  This made it much more enjoyable to leisurely stroll through the grounds and enjoy the sites and sounds.  By the time we left at 2 p.m. we were encased in a sea of people and the sun and humidity combined to make the stroll much less enjoyable. 

So if you can handle the crowd, there is a lot to enjoy at the fair including: Minnesota’s largest pig, a wall filled with beautiful artwork done completely in seeds, a great international bazzaar with several unique booths, parades, star-studded shows, machinery hill, crazy contests, magic, music, education, agriculture, animals, rides, games, and of course more food than you could possibly ever eat.

And speaking of food, after seeing miles of booths, hanging out with more animals than were on the ark (okay maybe not quite that many), and wading through some of the biggest crowds I have ever seen; the thing that stuck out to me more than anything else was all the different foods you can put on a stick. 

If you go to the Minnesota State Fair website you can use the foodfinder to scroll through the information on all 316 food vendors that have booths at the fair.  When you do, you will find typical iconic fair foods like the corn dog, walking tacos,  gyros, footlong hot dogs, and mini-donuts.  You will also find unique and interesting gastronomic delights such as beignets, spamburgers, sticky bun burritos, texas tator dogs, and the pot roast sundae which is a scoop of mashed potatoes, roast beef, gravy, corn, and a cherry tomato.  But the most mind-numbing fad at the fair is the way that each vendor is trying to outdo everyone else in what flavors they can manage to fit on a stick.  This year’s offerings include: chocolate watermelon, macaroni n’ cheese, deep fried tator tots, cajun seasonsed alligator sausage, big fat bacon, ostrich, deep fried candy bars, pork cheeks, salmon, lobster, porcupine meatballs, sliced ice cream on-a-stick dipped in chocolate and rolled in nuts, stuffed grape leaves, camel, deep fried bologna, hot dish (that’s right hot dish on a stick), deep fried smores, spaghetti and meatballs, dill pickles, mashed potatoes, and of course, Fudge Puppies (a Belgium waffle on-a-stick dipped in chocolate and topped with choices of whipped topping, crunch coating or strawberries). 

As far as the eye can see at the fair there are people walking around eating food on a stick.   Now, I understand the concept behind this fad.  It makes sense that you want to give people food that is mobile so that they can buy it and eat it while they walk.  But if that is true, can you explain to me why we need things like pizza, olives, and dill pickles to be on a stick?  Aren’t those foods already falling into the walking around category before you attempt to put them on a stick?  And while we are on the subject, does anyone really need a deep-fried candybar?  And how in the world do you put spaghetti and meatballs, or mashed potatoes on a stick?  And why do we need to?

I know it is all for fun and when you go to the fair, the outrageous and the extravagant foods are part of the attraction, but we also need to learn restraint.  One of the problems we face as a society is that we do things just because we can.  We struggle with restraint.  I will be talking this Sunday about the fruit of the Spirit.  Paul tells us in Galatians 5 that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.  Self-control isn’t easy, but God wants us to be able to exercise restraint.  We need to know when to say “when.”

So enjoy the fair, have fun, but also let the extravagance of the fair remind you of this lesson.  We don’t just do things just because we can.  At some point we need to learn to say, “when.”

Posted on

You Can’t Handle the Truth

This week in my devotions I was reading in the book of Jeremiah.  Now if you have never read Jeremiah, it is not an easy book to read.  It is a bit of a downer.  Jeremiah was a prophet of the Lord and God gave him a lot of bad news to share with the people of Judah.  He prophesied about things like the destruction of Jerusalem, exile, and captivity.  Not very good news.  Even one of the most well-known verses from Jeremiah: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11),  comes as part of a letter to the exiles where Jeremiah is telling them to be patient and get comfortable where they are at, because they are going to remain in exile for 70 years. 

But the people didn’t want to hear what Jeremiah had to say.  He was threatened, put in prison, beaten, and even thrown into a cistern.   One of the passages that really stood out to me comes from Jeremiah 43:1-3a “When Jeremiah finished telling the people all the words of the Lord their God — everything the Lord had sent him to tell them — Azariah son of Hoshaiah and Johanan son of Kareah and all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, ‘You are lying!'”

Now obviously one of the lessons we should learn from this passage is the faithfulness of Jeremiah in following the Lord even in spite of such opposition and such a difficult task, but instead I want to remind us of what we also can learn from the other side of the story.

Notice that the people called Jeremiah a liar.  Why?  Simply because they didn’t want to hear the message that he was bringing.  But truth is truth regardless of whether or not we like it.  Sometimes we need to hear tough things.  The truth is not always good news.  Sometimes it is painful and hard. 

There is a movie called “A Few Good Men.”  In that movie Jack Nicholson plays a colonel who is called as a witness in a trial.  He is being questioned by Tom Cruise who plays a JAG lawyer.  At one point in the questioning Cruise says he wants the truth and Nicholson tells him that he doesn’t want the truth and that he can’t handle the truth.

Is that true with us?  Do we say we want the truth, but in reality we really don’t want to hear the truth?  Maybe God has been speaking to you.  Maybe He has been trying to tell you some truth that you don’t want to hear.  My challenge is to be willing to hear the truth regardless of how easy it is to take.  Don’t close yourself off to bad news, or tough criticism, or strong rebuke if it comes from God.  The people of Judah needed to be disciplined.  They needed to learn a lesson.  They had strayed from God and that is why God allowed them to be exiled.  But Jeremiah 29:11 was still true as well.  God did know the plans He had for them and ultimately it was for their good.  And it is the same with us.  God knows what He is doing.  Trust Him and let Him help you to handle the truth.

Posted on

Canned Peaches

Have you ever eaten a canned peach?  They’re pretty good right?  My kids enjoy them so much that they even fight over the left over juice.  Canned peaches come in very handy during the colder months, when a variety of fresh fruit is much harder to come by.

I like canned peaches, but the other day I was peeling a fresh peach for my daughter and I was thinking about canned peaches.  Have you ever thought about the difference?  Canned peaches and fresh peaches don’t even seem like the same thing.  They have very different flavors.  I am sure it has to do with the canning procedure, but whatever the reason, it changes the flavor and makes them different.

But not only are they different, they also just aren’t as good.  There is something really wonderful about eating a big, juicy, fresh peach, with the juice running down your face.  You know what I’m talking about!  Canned peaches are pretty good, but they pale in comparison to the real thing.

Imagine if all you ever knew was canned peaches in your life and then all of a sudden you get your first taste of a fresh peach.  Wow, what a difference!  And you are thinking to yourself, where has this freshness been all my life?  Why have I settled for canned peaches, when fresh peaches are so great? 

So while I was standing there peeling that fresh peach for my daughter and thinking about canned peaches, another thought came to me.  How often do we settle for canned peaches in our spiritual lives?  I think that happens alot.  We are satisfied with our relationship with God being pretty good.  We read our Bible, we pray, and we go to church and participate in worship.  Everything is pretty good.  And we are satisfied with pretty good.  But is that all there is?

I want to challenge you today, to take some time and consider if your relationship with God is more like canned peaches or fresh?  Does God have more in store for you that you are not enjoying simply because you are satisfied with your spiritual life being just pretty good?  Consider David, who in Psalm 42 says, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.”  Does that sound like a man who is looking forward to some canned peaches?

This Sunday, I will be talking about a new way of looking at prayer.  It fits in well with this idea of canned peaches compared to fresh.  I don’t want to ever be satisfied with canned peaches, when there is freshness available to me.

Posted on

Hospitality

My wife Julie was diagnosed with pneumonia last Friday.  The doctor told her that she had to go home and go to bed.  She was told to treat it as if she was in the hospital even though she was at home.  I know that many people have been praying for her and thankfully she has begun to feel a little better.  The fever finally broke and while the cough is still prevalent, at least some of the pain has subsided. 

Now of course, when mommy is laid up the rest of the home is put in a tough position as well.  The kids still need to be taken care of, the house still needs to be cleaned, the laundry needs to be done, and of course everyone still needs to eat.  We have four children, ages 2-10 and so you can imagine that while Julie has been recuperating, my life has been kind of out of whack.  I have been trying to be both mommy and daddy for the last few days as well as taking care of a sick wife. 

Thankfully my work is flexible and I have been able to do a lot of work from home so that the kids are still okay.  I also can multi-task, at least to some extent, which means that I can get laundry and other household tasks done while also working on my sermon and even writing this blog. 

But one of the reasons these last few days have gone so well is because of the ministry of hospitality provided to us by our River Church family.  Julie’s parents live nearby, but they were on their way out of town when Julie was diagnosed.  Julie’s mom offered to postpone our trip, but I told her to go ahead and go, because while it would be convenient to have her here, we also have a church family here with us and they have really stepped up. 

We have had a few people volunteer to take the kids for a time so that I could get work done or run errands.  And we have had several families that have brought us meals so that I did not have to think about cooking dinner.  What a blessing everyone has been.

This is part of what it means to “be the church.”  We are called to show hospitality to one another.  We are supposed to care for one another.  It isn’t always easy.  It isn’t always convenient.  But we do it because we are called to “be the church.”  I am so thankful to our church family for the blessing they have been during this time of need.  Thanks church!

Posted on

Leadership Summit

So this past week I was at the Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit Simulcast in Bloomington.  It was a great conference featuring speakers like Bill Hybels, Jim Collins, Tony Dungy, Andy Stanley, and TD Jakes among others.  The Summit is a nice blend of men and women who approach leadership from different perspectives.  Topics included change, endurance, mentoring, tension, and motivation, again, among others.  Several of the names on the docket for this conference were ones that I recognized, but there were a few that I had never heard of before.  And suprisingly it was some of those that impacted me the most.

One of my favorite sessions happened to be an interview with Terri Kelly, the CEO of W.L. Gore & Associates (Gore-Tex).   I actually ran out of space trying to taking notes from some of the points she was making.  The interesting thing is that she was not coming at this from a church leadership viewpoint, but rather from one that was purely business.  But so much of what she was saying fits with the church as well.

For instance, she pointed out that a good leader doesn’t simply tell people what to do, but rather provides influence about what is important.   That is so true of my job as pastor and the leadership of the church.  We need to provide influence about what is important.  We need to be listening to the Lord and seeing where He is at work and what He wants us to do, and bring that to the church so that we can follow the Lord together.  In order for that to happen we need to have a common foundation, which is the Lord, and a common set of values.  We talk often about our vision and purpose and the reason is because we all need to be on the same page so that we have a framework for making decisions about what we are going to do and not do.

Another great presentation was an interview with Jack Welch, the former CEO of General Electric and author of the book, “Winning.”  He said that it is the leaders’ job to energize people, not through cheerleading or hyping something up, but by getting them to feel the vision. 

What a great concept that is.  Do you feel the vision?  I hope so.  We, at The River, believe we are called to “be the church.”  That is who we are.  We are committed to bringing maximum glory to God through knowing Christ and making Him known to every man, woman and child in the community of Chaska and to the regions beyond.  We will do that through authentic community, intentional discipleship, Spirit-filled worship, Kingdom praying, and missional living.  I hope you feel the vision.  Let’s be the church!

Another great presentation was with Blake Mykoskie, the founder of Tom’s Shoes Inc.  He made a great point about asking people to do audacious things.  I really liked that.  Tom’s Shoes gives away a pair of shoes for every pair of shoes that is bought.  That is pretty audacious.  I want us, as a church, to step up and do audacious things.  Obviously, it needs to be in line with what God is calling us to do, but I believe we sometimes miss out on big things because we are afraid to step out of the boat and trust God to help us walk on water. 

All in all, this was a great conference.  I am really glad that I had an opportunity to be there.  I pray that God will help me to be the leader He has called me to be and that He will use me to lead the church in becoming the church that He is calling us to be.

Posted on

River City Days Wrap Up

I want to say a big “thank you” to everyone who helped us make River City Days a great weekend for The River.  We had a booth on Friday and Saturday and lots of people from The River came by to help out.  Over the course of Friday evening and Saturday we gave away over 1,000 balloon animals and we had 12 winners in our gift card giveaway.  Thank you also to everyone who came by our booth to get a balloon, or to sign up for our drawing or to just talk and get information about the church.  We made a lot of new friends and had a great time being in the community.

For those of you who are wondering about the drawing, here is a list of the winners: Jayd Laurentz, Nichelle Schwarts, Kerry Larson, Gary Sauber, Kim Lane, Tricia Brkovich, Barb Horel, Mary Lou Bullerman, Nancy Skoglund, Karen Scullin, Travis Ristow, and Sandy Lewis.  If you see your name here, please feel free to contact us about getting your prize, or we will be sending it in the mail. 

We gave away Dunn Bros. and Rex Cinema gift cards as prizes this year.  The reason is very simple.  We gave away Rex Cinema cards because that is where we meet on Sunday mornings for our worship services.  And we gave away Dunn Bros. because that is where Pastor Rob hangs out most of the time since he has no office. 

Then on Sunday, we moved our entire worship time out to City Square Park to join in a praise and worship time featuring 7 different churches.  We were asked to provide sound for the entire event and then to also stick around and provide sound for a talent competition later in the day.  Again it was a big committment, but we said yes.  The main reason we were involved is because this fits in so well with who we are as a church.  We believe very strongly that we need to come together as one Church in the community, and we also believe that as a church we are called to be in the community, so this event fit perfectly with those two core values.  The event ended up being a great time of worship and it was wonderful to experience the different worship styles of the churches in our community.

Overall, River City Days weekend was a great success and there are so many people who helped make that happen, but most of all we want to thank God for providing in such a great way.  We specifically said, in the weeks leading up to this weekend, that taking on all that we had to do was definitely bigger than ourselves and that we needed to trust God to come through in a big way.  Well, He did!

Posted on

The Shortcut

I read a great article in Sports Illustrated today.  It is from the July 19 issue and it is called “Measure of a Champion” by Phil Taylor.  The author talks about LeBron’s decision to leave Cleveland and go to Miami.  He says that LeBron basically made this move because he is trying to shortcut his way to a championship.  LeBron himself even said that he doesn’t want to get to the age of 31 and find himself with bad knees and no championship.  The author was critical of how LeBron took the easy way out, but he also laid part of the blame on the emphasis that we put on championships to define the greatness of our sports stars. 

He wrote, “But let’s not pretend that we can’t understand how James got the wrong impression about championships, how he got the idea that it’s all about the destination, and that the journey–the struggles along the way that bring winners to tears when the goal is finally achieved–is irrelevant.  We’ve become so demanding, so impatient for stars to win titles that it shouldn’t be a total shock when someone like James tries to engineer a shortcut to one.”

I thought that was a good point.  We have focused so much on the idea of a superstar needing to win a championship that it should come as no surprise when one finally decides to try and take a shortcut to get there.  But we need to realize that shortcuts are also a compromise.  You see, it is not just about the destination, but also about the journey.

In our lives, we can be so impatient with what is happening that we look to God for shortcuts.  How often do we pray and ask God to give us patience, or peace, or joy, or whatever other characteristic we are missing in our lives?  We pary for Him to take us out of bad situations and put us in good ones.  We pray for tough times to go away and good times to abound.  All of that is understandable, but we need to remember that as we journey through the difficult times of life, we learn and we grow, and we become all that God created us to be.

James writes in James 1:2-4, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

It is not just about the destination, but about the journey.  When we seek shortcuts, we are shortcircuiting God’s will in our lives.  We are trying to bypass the very things that God is using to develop in us the maturity He wants us to have so that we will be complete.  Remember, He wants us to be great.  But getting to that greatness requires going through the path of perseverance.

I don’t know what is going to happen with LeBron.  He may very well win many championships with his new buddies in Miami and maybe everyone will forget the way he left Cleveland behind and jumped on the bandwagon heading for a championship.  But we need to remember that while shortcuts can make things easier and quicker, in life those shortcuts keep us from developing the character that is going to help us become great. 

Let’s stop looking for shortcuts, and let God build us into winners.

Posted on

Join us at River City Days

Come and visit us at Chaska’s River City Days this weekend, July 23-24.  River City Days is Chaska’s annual community celebration.  It is sponsored by several local community organizations and businesses and features food, games, and arts and Crafts booths.  The festival is held downtown in the Chaska City Square.  You can check out the River City Days website at http://www.chaskarivercitydays.com/.

The River will have a booth this year with clowns making balloon animals, prize drawings for Dunn Bros. gift cards, and opportunities to talk with people from our church family and with Pastor Rob.  Our booth will be located just off of 41 and 3rd Street.  Come on by and visit with us.

Also, on Sunday, July 25 our worship time, which regularly meets at The Rex Cinema, will be moving out to the City Square at 9:30 a.m.  Love INC will be having a fundraising Pancake Breakfast and we will be kicking off a time of worship music with 6 different churches from the surrounding area.  Come on out and join us for this time of worship and breakfast.

Posted on

Garden of God’s

So my family and I recently got back from vacation in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  We were out there for about 10 days visiting family.  If you have never been to Colorado Springs, it is one of the most beautiful places in the country.  It is nestled right at the base of Pikes Peak in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.  One of the main attractions in the area is Garden of the Gods Park.  It is a registered National Natural Landmark and is known for it’s breathtaking red rock formations.  You can check it out at http://www.gardenofgods.com/home/index.cfm

Colorado Springs is the city where my wife and I were married and since my family still live there we get back to visit every couple of years.  One of the traditions that my son and I have established is that every time we get back for a visit, we go for a hike at Garden of the Gods. 

Now if you have ever been to Garden of the Gods you know that there are several rock formations that are tourist favorites like “The Kissing Camels”, or “Balanced Rock.”  But for Jacob and I, our favorite place to visit is the “Siamese Twins.”  It is a little bit off the beaten path, and if you didn’t know it was there  you might easily miss it.  But each time we visit, that is one of the places we like to go.  I believe it offers the most wonderful view in the park.  There are two giant rock towers that are connected together in such a way as to form a window right in the middle that allows you to look through the formation and see Pike’s Peak off in the distance.  It is an amazing view that I marvel at everytime I visit the “Twins.”

This year Jacob and I took the entire family back to our special place.  It is not a long hike and not too difficult.  Our 2-year old, Makenna, even made the hike holding on to my hand.  But while it is not a hard hike it is still not a place that is visited by many.  Actually I have never been there when there have been more than 2 or three other families visiting it at the same time.  And many times Jacob and I have been there all by ourselves.  Maybe that is part of the reason I like it so much.  It is quiter and less distracting than some of the other overcrowded areas in the park.  Which gives you an opportunity to stop and really enjoy the beauty that surrounds you.

I love this park, and I look forward to visiting everytime we get back to Colorado Springs, but one thing that I have always struggled with is the name.  You see, I know that there are not many gods, but only One.  And this park is not a playground for man-made gods to roam, it is a testament to the One True God, the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth.

We are reminded in Deuteronomy 4:39, “Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below.  There is no other.”

Garden of the Gods Park should more accurately be called Garden of God’s, because there is only One God and He made that amazing park with all of it’s breathtaking views as well as the rest of this incredible universe in which we live. 

If you ever get out to visit Colorado Springs I encourage you to visit this Garden of God’s and hike back up to the Siamese Twins, take a moment and gaze through the window of the towers at the beautiful Peak in the background and I trust that you, like me, will be reminded of the awesome, amazing, infinite power of our Creator!

Posted on

That’s My Boy!

So I wanted to take just a moment and brag on my son.   Jacob played baseball this year for the first time since his kindergarten year.  He has focused on basketball and soccer lately, but decided to try baseball again.  His team this year was The Ironbirds in the 9-10 year-old Chaska League. 

Jacob had a decent season in which he learned and grew a lot.  His team showed a lot of promise throughout the season, but kept coming up short and managed to only win one game all season long.  On Tuesday we started the season-ending playoff tournament.  It is a double-elimination tournament, so we were guaranteed at least 2 games.  We kicked things off on Tuesday with a one-run loss, which put us in the loser’s portion of the bracket with a need for a win on Thursday to move on to Saturday’s games. 

The Thursday game was back and forth, but we came into the bottom of the 6th inning down by only 1.  Our first guy got on  base and then eventually made it home when the next hitter also got on base.  That left us tied with the winning run on third.  Our next two batters struck out, leaving us tied with 2 outs and my son Jacob coming up to the plate, and the winning run still on third.  As a father I had some mixed emotions at this point.  I was excited for my son to have a chance to win the game, but also a little nervous for him to be up to bat with such a crucial game situation on the line.  An out would mean the end of the season for the Ironbirds, and a hit would mean a run and a win and the opportunity to keep playing in the playoffs.

So I was a nervous wreck, but Jacob was smooth and calm.  He went up to the plate and hit a line drive up the middle past the pitcher and the 2nd baseman for a single, the game-winning RBI, and a walk off hit!  The entire team and all the parents erupted with wild cheers.  It was the most exciting game of the season and I was jumping up and down and cheering like a little kid. 

That game proved to be the impetus we needed to continue on.  We turned around and played inspired baseball on Saturday, winning the next two games by large margins.  We finally lost in the championship game, after playing 3 straight games on Saturday.  It was an exciting finish to a difficult season.  After winning only 1 game all season long, we finished on a high note and came away with 2nd place for the year.  And my son was one of the heroes of the playoffs.

I told him after the game that he will always remember that hit.  And it should provide extra confidence for him the next time he gets in an important situation like that.  He can always know that he came through in the clutch.  Needless to say I was very proud of him.  Of course, I always love my son, not because of what he does, but just because he is my son.  But I am also watching his life, and there are times, like this past Thursday, when he does something special and while it doesn’t make me love him more, it does cause me to take a moment and point to him and say, “that’s my boy!”

And that got me started thinking.  I can imagine God watching my life like I watch my son.  He always loves me, not because of what I do, but simply because I am His son.  But I would imagine there are those times in life, when I do something special, something that brings Him glory, and He points at me and says, “that’s my boy!”  I hope there are plenty of times like that for Him.