Pumpkin girl and ninja boy are putting Zeke outside so we can make our way to the fall harvest party at church. Clayton doesn't think his friends will recognize him ....Hummm...
















Sarah Palin the ultimate "hockey mom" made an appearance at our church harvest party. We had a great time and it was a good night for our community.

Last night we went on a hayride out into a pumpkin patch. We walked around in the mud and picked our pumpkins off the vine. So, today the pumpkin carving began. Kylie was creative (right side)...bat eyes, ghost nose and moon mouth. Clayton's (left side) let Kristina do most of the work. After carving pumpkins we went to the corn maze and had a great time. After a pretty rough start to my week----The past two days have been awesome. As we stood outside tonight looking at our jack-o-lanterns I thought to myself, "self, stay on course with what God is doing and let the fire inside burn bright".

I always look forward to the start of fall….I love the change in the weather and of course football starts. This year my anticipation for fall has been high. In part because God is at work and I can not lie---Kristina and I have been waiting over a year for 24 to start back up. We are huge Jack fans. I like Jack because he seems to always do the right thing. As a pastor I wish more people did the right things. Before I get into what I am thinking about tonight—here is a sample of what is coming this fall.



Although 24 can be predictable at times---I love it. It might seem weird but I have learned some great lessons from Jack Bauer. Every season in one way or another Jack has a key player in his life turn on him. His responses to these betrayals make for a great story line. Beyond a good story line it is also a good reminder--- that at some point people will let you down. Think about what you have seen and walked through in your life. At some point you have seen children turn on their parents, who loved them and did an above average job raising them. Pastors turn on their congregations, committing unthinkable acts of immorality and deceit. Husbands turn on faithful wives of 20 years because the girl at the office made him feel young, funny, and relatively attractive. I have seen a lot of people let other people down and of course I have been personally wounded at times as well. I am not an expert and can not speak exhaustively on how to respond when you are let down but I can suggest a couple of things not to do when you are let down.
--Don’t punish the loyal people in your life by becoming a stone cold, arm’s length, “I’ll never let anyone hurt me like that again, the world is out to get me” person. That’s not fair. Paranoia is not a road to recovery. It’s a sure fire recipe for eventual collapse.
--Don’t miss the blessing in betrayal. Because of betrayal, Joseph saved a nation. Because of betrayal, Jesus saved the world. If you walk in integrity and process your pain Biblically, your biggest betrayal could be the delivery system for your greatest blessing.
When that day comes that you are betrayed or someone let’s you down, do the right thing. Jack always bounces back. In fact, he bounces back this fall.
Isaiah 54:17
“No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from Me,” says the Lord.

I am putting final touches on my message for tomorrow. I just got caught up reading in Psalms in part for my message and in part to validate or console my emotions. In my little pit stop I noticed that I was missing the message of the Psalms as a whole. The Psalms engage with the entire human condition and they do it all to the glory of God. From Psalms of lament, sorrow, abandonment and betrayal to Psalms of praise, thanksgiving, joy and celebration; the Psalms cover it all. Across the entire book there is a movement from lament to praise. You see the theme of lament in the opening 20 or so Psalms, culminating in Psalm 22 which Jesus quoted in his moment of ultimate loneliness, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” We also see songs of joyful praise gathered at the end of the book in Psalms 145-150 with the final verse of the book resounding, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!” In the middle we have Psalms of confession (Ps. 51), Psalms of righteous anger and a desire for justice (Ps. 3:7 and many more), Psalms speaking of the glory of and in creation (Ps. 19, 104), as well as Psalms of thanksgiving, celebration, deliverance and hope. In all these expressions, from “praise the Lord” to “break the teeth of the wicked” I believe that every word is inspired by God Himself and they are all for His glory. Therefore, if I am seeking God’s glory I have to take the whole book of Psalms into account. By taking the book as a whole I am forced to wrestle with things I would rather avoid. Well, I have to wrap up my message for tomorrow morning….

This is a message that I preached at the start of 07. The message starts at the 8:25 mark...You can fast forward it. OK, why did I pull this talk out? Well, The passage in Luke 12:13-20 is a great reminder to me that the abundance of a man's life is reflected in what a man lays down...not what he picks up. I was facing some emotions last week that led me back to this passage. I used this passage all week in my quiet times. After a few days of reading Luke 12 I remembered that I had just put my hands on a copy of a sermon that I had preached using this passage and wondered what I saw today that I missed back then. After listening to it---bad video quality and the sound is not the best--- but as I listened to it, it put wind into my sails. This passage was a big part of my week last week. Rather than typing it out---Grab your bible, open to Luke 12:13-20.......

I was reading the Psalms of Ascent again tonight, which are the songs/prayers that the Israelites sang as they went up to Jerusalem for their pilgrimage. The final one, Psalm 134, made me think....I will soon be at the place that I will be able to stand and lift up my hands to bless the LORD. I will be able to look back at this past season of life and stand in awe of what God has done in me and through me. It says, “Behold, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD, Who by night stand in the house of the LORD! Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and bless the LORD. The LORD who made heaven and earth bless you from Zion!” As I begin to climb this mountain in front of me, it is and has been a pilgrimage. This is the final song that the Israelites sang as they approached the temple mound to begin their feasts. For me..change is coming----- and as I approach the end of this pilgrimage to the top of this current mountain, this is my prayer also. I am not looking for a feast, I am longing for a harvest.

Talk about being set up to preach......You have their attention! I could listen to Dex sing all day.


New Creation from FC Post on Vimeo.