Showing posts with label dinner party. Show all posts

Oct 17, 2019

I’m Getting Married In The Morning

I LOVE officiating weddings! I personally feel honored to be a part of their special day!

Recently, my 2019 Wedding Season came to an end.

And can I just state for the record how privileged I am to work with such great people and to be invited to join them as they tell the world of their love for each other and state their vows.

Yes, there is a lot of time that goes into getting a couple ready, preparing messages, rehearsal dinners, and trips to mail the paperwork to make things official… But still; what a privilege. I love my job!

Almost all of the weddings that I officiated this year went off without a hitch.

I say that because in May of 2019, I officiated a wedding that I hadn’t planned on officiating. In fact, it wasn’t on my calendar; nor was it even in my schedule for that Saturday in May.

I had two appointments scheduled with couples for whom I was going to officiate later in the summer of 2019. But in between my two appointments, I received a frantic call from a friend who, although he is licensed to marry, had neglected to register his credentials with the State of Minnesota.

He discovered this about two hours before the wedding!

So, he called me to see if I could come down to the wedding and tag team with him and say the pronouncement and then sign and file the legal documents.

I asked him how well he knew the couple since I don’t do weddings by the seat of my pants as he was suggesting.

He told me that had worked for at least six months with the couple (planning and premarital counselling) and that he was related to the groom.

I told him that although I would like to help out, I was busy; but I was willing to call the couple who would be coming over in an hour to see if they would be willing to reschedule. I told him that I would have to get back to him.

This did little to calm him down.

I made a quick phone call and the couple that I was scheduled to meet with was very willing to reschedule and meet with me the next day.

I called my friend back and discovered that the wedding was only eight miles from my house. I decided to bail him out so as to not cause any (more) anxiety for the awaiting couple to whom he had told of his dilemma. I told him that I would need to put on a suit and would be at the venue in about thirty minutes.

I called Cathy to let her know of my change of plans since I wouldn’t be home when she came back for her errands. I changed my clothing and headed out to join my friend at the wedding.

When I arrived, the bride came over to me and sternly asked who I was and what was I doing at her wedding…I said to her that I was the pastor who was going to make this day official. She changed her demeanor and welcomed me with open arms.

We preceded to start the wedding.

I stood next to my friend as he gave a message and walked the couple through the vows, rings, etc. The two candles kept blowing out before the couple could light the unity candle.

The best man used a lighter to keep relighting the two candles. When the groom asked me if this was a bad sign, his bride let him know that this was not the time or the place to ask such questions.

After my friend’s portion was completed, I did the pronouncement and signed the paperwork. The couple thanked me for helping them out. Prior to leaving, my friend also gave me a hug for coming through. And even though it wasn’t on my schedule, it was a nice way to spend a sunny afternoon.

That was the start of wedding season. I’m glad that was not a sign of things to come…

And now that my 2019 wedding season is over, and as I slowly start the process of meeting with the couples for 2020, I pause to tell you a joke.

``A man walking on the beach found a bottle, uncorked it and a genie appeared. The genie declared: `I will grant you one wish. What do you desire?'

``The man thought for a while and answered: `I have always had a fear of boats and planes, and so my travels have been limited. One place I would really like to see before I die is Hawaii. Please build me a bridge from this beach to Hawaii.'

`The genie considered the man's request, but then shook his head and replied: `Do you know what you're asking? Do you know how many hundreds of miles it is from here to Hawaii?

Think of the thousands of men that would be needed.

Think of the number of pilings it would require.

Think of the constant adjustments that would have to be made for the staggered depth of the ocean.

No, no, I'm sorry, but that is a wish that I simply cannot grant.'

``The man sighed with disappointment, thought for another moment, and said: `OK. Well then, just explain women to me.'

``The genie pulled out pencil and paper and asked: `Will that be two lanes or four?' ''

Happy trails my friend – Pastor Tommy O

“There are three things that amaze me—

No, four things that I don’t understand:How an eagle glides through the sky,How a snake slithers on a rock,How a ship navigates the ocean,How a man loves a woman.” (Proverbs 30:18-19)

Mar 28, 2019

Fallacious Fasting

fasting

1. The act or practice of abstaining from or eating very little food.

2. A period of such abstention or self-denial.

3. To eat very little or abstain from certain foods, as a religious discipline.

During this year, Cathy and I have been fasting in a variety of ways.

We are not fasting as a religious or a superstitious exercise; hoping to gain God’s special attention, or to tip the invisible scales of blessing in our direction.

Our goal as a couple (and individually) is to deal with our hearts; which tends to want what it wants. We are longing to have a heart change as we long to be in deeper fellowship with Him.

And fasting things like sugar also has some health benefits such as feeling better and weight loss.

Individually, we have been noticing that when we stop eating something like anything made of sugar or fasting from social media, just how often we go to what we are giving up rather than to Him.

It has been amazing to me how often when my heart is wandering or feeling “blue” that my flesh longs for chocolate; rather than going to the LORD for His help.

It is my observation that too many people fast for wrong reasons. John Wesley said that “some have exalted religious fasting beyond all scripture and reason, and others have utterly disregarded it.”

Fasting is not to be thought of as a means of earning God’s favor or improving one’s status with God. The general purpose of it is to humble the soul before God.

The Bible asks the question in Zechariah 7:5-6 (NKJV):

“Say to all the people of the land, and to the priests: ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months during those seventy years, did you really fast for Me—for Me? When you eat and when you drink, do you not eat and drink for yourselves?

So it is possible to fast and not really be doing it for the LORD.

My favorite (heart exposing) scripture on fasting is from Isaiah 58. The prophet Isaiah (speaking for the LORD) is explaining to the people how their fasting is wrong. They had been fasting with no apparent success in reaching their goals.

Sounds like you and me doesn’t it?

The LORD lovingly rebukes them in an effort to correct their wrong theology and to share His heart on how He wants them to seek His face in a fast.

My prayer is that as you read Isaiah 58 from the Message version of the Bible, your heart will be corrected in areas where (perhaps) you too have been off during your times of fasting.

Remember, the LORD “did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3:17 NKJV)

Isaiah 58

^1-3“Shout! A full-throated shout!
    Hold nothing back—a trumpet-blast shout!
Tell My people what’s wrong with their lives,
    face my family Jacob with their sins!
They’re busy, busy, busy at worship,
    and love studying all about Me.
To all appearances they’re a nation of right-living people—
    law-abiding, God-honoring.
They ask Me, ‘What’s the right thing to do?’
    and love having Me on their side.
But they also complain,
    ‘Why do we fast and You don’t look our way?
    Why do we humble ourselves and You don’t even notice?’

^3-5“Well, here’s why:

“The bottom line on your ‘fast days’ is profit.
    You drive your employees much too hard.
You fast, but at the same time you bicker and fight.
    You fast, but you swing a mean fist.
The kind of fasting you do
    won’t get your prayers off the ground.
Do you think this is the kind of fast day I’m after:
    a day to show off humility?
To put on a pious long face
    and parade around solemnly in black?
Do you call that fasting,
    a fast day that I, God, would like?

^6-9“This is the kind of fast day I’m after:
    to break the chains of injustice,
    get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
    free the oppressed,
    cancel debts.
What I’m interested in seeing you do is:
    sharing your food with the hungry,
    inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
    putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
    being available to your own families.
Do this and the lights will turn on,
    and your lives will turn around at once.
Your righteousness will pave your way.
    The God of glory will secure your passage.
Then when you pray, God will answer.
    You’ll call out for help and I’ll say, ‘Here I am.’

^9-12“If you get rid of unfair practices,
    quit blaming victims,
    quit gossiping about other people’s sins,
If you are generous with the hungry
    and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out,
Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness,
    your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.
I will always show you where to go.
    I’ll give you a full life in the emptiest of places—
    firm muscles, strong bones.
You’ll be like a well-watered garden,
    a gurgling spring that never runs dry.
You’ll use the old rubble of past lives to build a new,
    rebuild the foundations from out of your past.
You’ll be known as those who can fix anything,
    restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate,
    make the community livable again.

^13-14“If you watch your step on the Sabbath
    and don’t use My holy day for personal advantage,
If you treat the Sabbath as a day of joy,
    God’s holy day as a celebration,
If you honor it by refusing ‘business as usual,’
    making money, running here and there—
Then you’ll be free to enjoy God!
    Oh, I’ll make you ride high and soar above it all.
I’ll make you feast on the inheritance of your ancestor Jacob.”
    Yes! God says so!

The Message (MSG)

New King James Version (NKJV)

Sep 24, 2015

When did an invitation to dinner require us to bring something?

Something has shifted in our society and it was so subtle that I am perplexed as to when it began. In fact I hadn’t really thought about it until a friend of mine, Jack, pointed it out to me last Thursday night.

Jack asked; “When did an invitation to dinner require us to bring something?”

He continued with his pondering; “In fact, what is the first question that the average person will ask when invited over to dinner?”

Almost in unison several of us responded; “What do you want me to bring?”

So when did an invitation to dinner require us to bring something? Who changed the rules for invitations so that we now feel obligated to reply to the request by saying; “What do you want me to bring?”

And, as we all know, the host either replies with; “Oh nothing”, or else they reply with; “Oh…why don’t you bring…” requesting something that can be picked up at the local gas station as you are on your way over to the event.

As I pondered the question, Jack proceeded to prod our thoughts by stating; “Worse than that, we do the same thing with God.”

He invites us to come to Him and spend time with Him and we respond with; “What can I bring?” instead of just saying “yes” to His invitation.

“With what shall I come before the Lord,
And bow myself before the High God?
Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings,
With calves a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
Ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”(Micah 6:6-7)

His response to our question is simply;

“He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?”(Micah 6:8)

He invites us to come and eat and drink:

“Ho! Everyone who thirsts,
Come to the waters;
And you who have no money,
Come, buy and eat.
Yes, come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without price. (Isaiah 55:1)

He tells us that He is knocking and wants to come in and spend time with us.

Did you catch that? The God of the Universe, Creator of all, is inviting us to spend time with Him and waiting for us to respond to His invitation:

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” (Rev 3:20)

Even when dealing with our sins He tells us:

“Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” (Isaiah 1:18)

And we want to still bring something to the table…as though we ever could!

So where are you at today? Have you realized that God has been reaching out to you and has sent an invitation to you to spend time with Him? And He isn’t requiring you to bring anything but yourself?

His invitation is simply:

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28

“Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!” (Psalm 46:10)

He is calling out to you today to run to Him; His arms are wide open, waiting to receive you! Come to Him; won’t you? Today, if you will hear His voice:

“Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion,
As in the day of trialin the wilderness,” (Psalm 95:8)

If you would like to know what the Bible says about how you too can begin a relationship with Jesus Christ, call 1-888-NEED-HIM. Someone is waiting to talk to you right now.