“Do You Want To Be Made Well?”

I have had numbness in my left foot (and sometimes also leg) since May 6, 2018. I know the date because it is the only time that I have left a hockey game due to a physical problem. I even played a game after dislocating my right shoulder in a game. Needless to say, my whole arm was numb for an entire period!

I was warming up before my game by skating around the rink and suddenly, my whole left leg went numb, and I was in extreme pain. I tried to “skate-it-off”, but I could barely make a full lap around the rink.

I left the rink, went into the locker room, changed into my street clothes, packed up my gear, and drove home.

When I arrived home, Cathy, out of concern, asked me why I was home so early. I explained the situation to her and because she saw that I was in pain (and because I had left early), she told me to take a shower and then she would take me to Urgent care. 

At Urgent Care, they gave me pain meds and sent me home…the next day I went to our primary doctor and to our favorite chiropractor; Dr. Joel.

After that, I have been doing everything I can to fix it including more chiropractic and weekly treatments from our favorite PT Kathy…All with no complete healing. And it has been almost six months!

Stating the obvious, I want to be healed because I don’t like having a numb foot, and because my outdoor hockey season is about to start.

Have you ever struggled with an illness or physical condition for a very long time that won’t go away?

 

I would like to invite you to get a Bible and READ John 5:1-16 and then read my observations…

“Bethesda” means “house of kindness”. The Pool of Bethesda is deep enough to swim in. Beneath the pool was a subterranean stream that would occasionally bubble up and disturb the waters.

Ancient people believed that the disturbance was caused by an angel who occasionally would come, stir up the waters, and whoever stepped into the pool first would be healed.

To us it is mere superstition, but it is the kind of belief that is all around the world today; especially people who are ignorant of the Word of God and by people who are desperate to be healed and will believe anything to get their healing.

One day Jesus was passing by the pool and noticed a man who was sick lying on a mat.

The man had been sick for 38 years! He had tried to get into the pool to be healed, but someone always gets into the pool before him.

He was been committed to the same plan every day to get his healing and it hadn’t worked because someone always got their healing as they got in the pool first. And he was still sick, broken, and he was frustrated

All of us as humans deal with brokenness: Broken bodies, relationships, dreams, spirits…all longing to be healed.

We fool ourselves by telling ourselves; “It’s no big deal…” Trying to get through life walking with a limp and keeping ourselves busy as we ignore the deep need we all have for healing

But if we are truly honest with ourselves, we too would like to just once be the first person in the pool, and THEN we would be healed.

We hear how others have gotten healed and set free, so we pursue our healing. We set out on a plan of action for how we will get healed…

Someday, THIS plan will work, you will see….

Some of us have given up on ever getting healed and so we put our focus on our children. If one plan doesn’t work we will try another. We will try harder, driver further, believe harder…

Or we work on something else like our career. We are constantly on the move; all in an attempt for us to get rid of the pain in our lives.

And, like the man on the mat, we never quite get into the waters to be healed. And what’s worse, we lose focus and can no longer see God even when He is standing next to us.

Verse 6 Tells us that Jesus (the Healer) passed by the pool. But, the man was too filled with discouragement to see Jesus. He was too focused on being frustrated because no one helped him. In fact, this man almost missed seeing the only One who could heal him.

Jesus asked a simple question: “DO YOU WANT TO BE MADE WELL?”

Why would Jesus ask that? Of course, he wanted to be made well! After all, he had been coming to the pool every day.

Sometimes we can get so used to the pain in our lives that we become a friend with it and it becomes part of who we are; even part of our identification.

Our pain becomes like a lizard on our shoulder: It irritates and hurts us all the time. It distracts us and prevents us from being truly free. It takes away a part of us.

AND YET, we don’t seem to be able to get rid of it and we treat it like it is our pet; not realizing that also pushes everyone away from us.

So, Jesus persisted with His question: “DO YOU WANT TO BE MADE WELL?” – “well”, “sound”, “whole” Do you REALLY want to be healed?

Verse 7 Look at how the man responded: “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.”

This man hadn’t listened to the question that Jesus asked him; “DO YOU WANT TO BE MADE WELL?”

It seems to me that this man wanted instead to form a committee to look into the problem; perhaps a committee to regulate who goes into the pool…A committee who will make sure that everyone gets their turn.

To me it seems that this man wants a ticket booth set up so we know when it is our turn or some other way to make sure that things are fair…THEN he will get his healing

Too often Jesus comes to us offering life; “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. (John 7:37b)

And we respond by asking Him what He is going to do about injustice. Or by asking Him to fix the holes in the umbrella; instead of asking Him to stop the rain.

The man’s problem wasn’t just a physical problem; he had a heart condition. He was so focused upon himself. He was so focused on his plan that he couldn’t see the possibility for God to do something.

The healer Himself was present and all the man wanted was for Jesus to help him into the water; not to heal him another way.

Verse 8 Jesus responded to the man’s complaints; “Rise, take up your bed and walk.”

Verse 9 And immediately the man was made well! He took up his bed and walked.

NOTICE: Jesus didn’t help the man into the pool. He didn’t dialog about the situation. He didn’t analyze what was the solution. He healed the man.

 

Jesus came to set us free, not help us in our futile plans.

Jesus didn’t get the man a new job that paid better or get him a new mat. Or get him new friends that would help him get into the pool. Or ask the Father to send an angel to stir up the waters.

Jesus healed the man.

You see, Jesus came to deal with the sin problem as well as the physical lameness. Verse 14 we read that the man’s condition was due to sin. We don’t know what he did, but Jesus tells us IN THIS CASE, sin was the issue.

Jesus said to the man; “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.”

Jesus wants to do the same for each of us today: Not help us in our futile plans. Not help us get into the water. He wants to heal us totally in all areas of our lives.

The Heavenly Father wants you to be whole TODAY; restored to what God originally intended for you; through receiving the work done on the cross by Jesus

This healing is based upon what Jesus ALREADY did not your efforts! There was a very real debt to be paid and Jesus paid it with His death, burial, and resurrection.

Q: Have you given your life to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord?

     Have you been transformed by the power of the Spirit of God?

At this moment, you can bow your head and say, “God, be merciful to me a sinner!” (He will hear that simple prayer).

You can do this right now by praying in your own words like this:

·        Ask Jesus to forgive you for your sins

·        Ask Jesus to take His rightful place as LORD & SAVIOR

·        And then turn away from whatever the Bible says is sin.

·        This is only possible after Christ has come to live inside of you.

And the Spirit of God will come into your heart and will enable you to stop trusting in your own efforts to please God and begin to trust in what Jesus Christ has already done.

The Healer is here today- His Name is JESUS

We read in John 5:6 that when Jesus passed by the pool, the man was too filled with discouragement to see Jesus. He was too focused on being frustrated because no one helped him. This man almost missed seeing the only One who could heal him.

Some of you are in that same position today. Do you see Him here? Or are you simply struggling to get into the water and mad that no one will help you in?

The Healer is here today- His Name is JESUS

Do you hear Him calling out to you? Or are you waiting for an angel to come instead? Or are you mad because others have gone ahead of you?

Jesus is asking each one of us the same question today: “DO YOU WANT TO BE MADE WELL?” Physically, Emotionally, Spiritually…

 

Why would Jesus ask that? Of course we want to be made well; after all, we’ve been coming to church for years!

The Healer is here today- His Name is JESUS! How will you respond to his question that He is asking to you? Will you respond with excuses? My family has always struggled with this…It’s our generational thing…

Or Will you respond by rising up, taking up your bed and receiving your healing?

IT’S REALLY UP TO YOU…. But you will need to respond to the question that Jesus is asking…

An Open Letter to My Canadian Friends

Oh Canada!

I love you, but I don’t understand why you are pushing me away.

I have supported you and openly received the great gift of hockey that you gave to the USA (and the world). It was the greatest gift that any country could give another; and I have played the game for fifty years!

I have stood up and proudly sung your national anthem at every game that a team from Canada was playing in. I even made plans to move to your country if I would have been drafted in the mid-seventies.

I have shed tears each year when a team from Canada wasn’t playing in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Canada, I love you, but I don’t understand why you are pushing me away.

I realize that you Canadians didn’t take lightly President Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum; especially when he labeled your country ‘a national security threat’.

And, because you are a kind and loving people, I want you to know that it is ok to be insulted by his comments.

Canadians aren’t only polite; they’re incredibly humble too, and reluctant to take credit for even plainly heroic acts.

I, too, was taken aback by his comments and wondered if he forgot that your and daughters fought alongside the boys and girls from the USA in Afghanistan?

But, why are you pushing me away?

I have even defended and revered the outlandish suits worn by Don Cherry and have helped my fellow countrymen to honor him as a revered hero of your country.

I consider it a true honor to have been able to walk the same continent as Mr. Cherry; something that I will always cherish (pun intended).

I raised my children to drink maple syrup out of the bottle and to shop at Tim Horton’s.

Before they left home, I taught each of them to spell “Canada” without using flashcards….C-eh-N-eh-D-eh

I even taught my children English so that they would be able to talk with people from the Great North and told them that it was ok to take money from your country…

I even supported people who threatened to move to your country if Trump was elected. I told them that you would greet them with open arms.

So why Canada, why? Why are you sending me signals that you don’t love me anymore?

Why Canada, why did you have to send the thick clouds that are blocking our sun? What did I ever do to you?

The thick haze caused by smoke from more than 100 Canadian wildfires is causing unhealthy air quality conditions across a large part of Minnesota.

And we need our sun, without it we will become like the Eastern section of the USA and think up bad thoughts about Canada.

Minnesotans with lung or heart disease, older adults, children, and people participating in activities that require heavy or extended exertion may experience adverse health effects. This includes physical activity like playing sports or working outdoors.

This past weekend I coughed, and I am still coughing today because of your smoke. It’s enough to make me get upset and to….

Oh Canada, I don’t mean to have blown my top and gotten so harsh with you; you don’t deserve that.

I’m sorry (I learned that word from your country, since you Canadians say it so very, very often).

Everyone knows that Canadians are without any doubt one of the nicest populations on earth; maybe are too nice for this bad, bad world. 

You know that I love you… Of all of the adjectives that I could use, “nice” suits you best! Canada is to niceness as Saudi Arabia is to oil.

So, I ask you to please send a wind from up north to blow the smoke away so once again Minnesota can be clean like Canada and people can once again go outside and practice being nice.

The world, I think, would be a better place if we were all a bit more Canadian.

Waiting for A Harvest

It’s that time of the year again when gardens are tilled and seeds or plants are planted, watered, and then we wait…and wait… and wait…

If you think about, it’s amazing how long it takes for the seeds to germinate; and then how long it takes from germination until we see flowers. Then how long it takes until the crops come up and we can eat the produce…

It’s several months until we see anything for all our labor; if we see anything at all, because there are many conditions beyond our control such as weather and the quality of the plants and seeds.

This is true for all crops including flowers, trees, and vegetables.

Another huge factor is the condition of the soil; is it clay, sandy, or black? Each serves a different purpose depending upon what type of crop is planted.

But it should noted that the condition of the soil didn’t come that way by chance. This soil was prepared by the gardener ahead of time in anticipation of what was to come.

In fact, it takes a tremendous amount of work to turn untamed land to good soil: Rocks must be removed (again and again), thorns pulled up, and hard places roto-tilled to loosen up the soil, because even the best soil must be broken before it can become beautiful.

And then, as I said, we wait…this is how things grow.

So, is it worth it???? Is it worth all the arduous work just to even prepare the soil to receive the seed or plant? And why must we wait; why can’t things happen faster?

If you’ve done gardening for any length of time you know that the answer is “yes”, that it is worth all of the hard work that goes into preparing soil and planting for the future harvest.

Being able to pick rich and fresh produce from soil less than one hundred yards from the kitchen door is so very much worth all of the effort and the waiting period!

And before you know it, it’s State Fair Time! Time for ribbons and trophies!

But what about areas of our lives where have been waiting for a harvest?

We are not naturally good soil for God to plant into us His Word

“But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness to him: nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Corinthians 2:14)

 

Too many Christians are content with remaining un-tilled soil. We delude ourselves by thinking that the condition of the soil doesn’t matter.

We don’t want God to point out where we need to be changed. We prefer to remain rocky and weedy. We prefer to try to grow things despite the resistance in our lives

None of us are beyond God’s ability to change us. But His change takes time: - It doesn’t happen in a single day. Even so, He can change us from a desert land to a fruitful garden

My friend Rev Bob Tolliver wrote:

“Trees do not grow year-round. In the Spring, life begins to flow and leaves begin to appear During the Summer a new layer of fiber slowly begins to form under the bark.

In the Fall, the new wood has created a new "circle" from the most recent growth and begins to mature. Interestingly, it is during the most desolate and severe season that the hardening and maturing takes place ---- the winter.

During those times, it appears that life is gone and the tree is dead, but the life as simply retreated to the roots leaving the outward appearance of death.

All of that to say that perhaps the most important seasons of our walk with the Lord are during those times when we feel we have spiritually "flat-lined" and have lost any ground gained.

Just the opposite is true. It's through those "dark nights of the soul" when we can become the most mature ---- if we don't fight it.”

Soil that was called “good ground” didn’t come that way by chance. This soil was prepared by the GARDENER ahead of time. But it was not the soil that did the work

To be good soil that receives God’s Word: I must be open, receptive to God and His Word. There can’t be resistance or reluctance on my part to having stones removed. I must welcome it daily. I must allow it to change my thoughts, attitudes, prejudices.

Secondly, every area of my life needs to be reachable/available. ALL the ground in a garden is tilled for fruitfulness. ALL areas of my life need to be tilled by the Holy Spirit. This takes time, but it must be done. Again, He is the One who will do the work; we cooperate.

The key ingredient to good soil being productive is how much God is really in control of our lives, and how obedient and responsive we are to His Word.

The Holy Spirit has come to help us bear fruit to be productive, appointed to bear fruits that honor the Father. And there will be a bountiful harvest of divine fruit because my Heavenly Father has been working with great skill in His Garden and I chose to respond to His work in humility and with my heart.

Our Heavenly Father has a Garden that He has been working on; a garden that He is proud of, filled with blue-ribbon produce. A Garden that He longs to share with the world. It’s the lives of you and I!

"And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart." (Galatians 6:9 NKJV)

It's Friday... But Sunday's a Comin!

The following is from Pastor S.M. Lockridge (1913-2000)

It’s Friday
Jesus is praying
Peter’s a sleeping
Judas is betraying
But Sunday’s comin’

It’s Friday
Pilate’s struggling
The council is conspiring
The crowd is vilifying
They don’t even know
That Sunday’s comin’

It’s Friday
The disciples are running
Like sheep without a shepherd
Mary’s crying
Peter is denying
But they don’t know
That Sunday’s a comin’

It’s Friday
The Romans beat my Jesus
They robe him in scarlet
They crown him with thorns
But they don’t know
That Sunday’s comin’

It’s Friday
See Jesus walking to Calvary
His blood dripping
His body stumbling
And his spirit’s burdened
But you see, it’s only Friday
Sunday’s comin’

It’s Friday
The world’s winning
People are sinning
And evil’s grinning

It’s Friday
The soldiers nail my Savior’s hands
To the cross
They nail my Savior’s feet
To the cross
And then they raise him up
Next to criminals

It’s Friday
But let me tell you something
Sunday’s comin’

It’s Friday
The disciples are questioning
What has happened to their King
And the Pharisees are celebrating
That their scheming
Has been achieved
But they don’t know
It’s only Friday
Sunday’s comin’

It’s Friday
He’s hanging on the cross
Feeling forsaken by his Father
Left alone and dying
Can nobody save him?
Ooooh
It’s Friday
But Sunday’s comin’

It’s Friday
The earth trembles
The sky grows dark
My King yields his spirit

It’s Friday
Hope is lost
Death has won
Sin has conquered
and Satan’s just a laughin’

It’s Friday
Jesus is buried
A soldier stands guard
And a rock is rolled into place

But it’s Friday
It is only Friday
Sunday is a comin’!

Canoes, Kayaks, and Smelly Feet

Strange title, isn’t it? And yet, you are reading this; aren’t you…perhaps intrigued by the title…let me explain…

I grew up on the frozen pond across from my childhood home. And it set a course that would become a love and a passion for hockey that I enjoy no matter whether I am playing or watching; inside or out. I still get shivers as I walk into an indoor arena and catch a whiff of the ice, but there still is nothing like the feel of skating on a pond or outdoor rink.

In the summer months when the ice was melted (is your glass half empty or half full?) I would spend time on the pond in a canoe. My dad thought that it would be a good way for us children to learn to work together while learning water safety.

To further our skills, my brother Joe and I took a canoe safety class at the local YMCA in which we learned how to roll a canoe upright if we ever tipped it over and fell out.  We also learned how to sink a canoe to the bottom of the pool thus producing a frustrated instructor; but that story is for another time…

During all of these trips on the pond, my brother Joe and I learned how to paddle together. Whether the waters were rough or smooth, we knew how to navigate in almost perfect harmony and synchronization. Stroke for stroke we would have made the greatest Olympian rowing team look like mere amateurs.

Following our classes and multiple trips around the pond, several brothers and I my dad went to a trip to BWCA in Northern Minnesota where, together, Joe and faced the roughest waters on Burntside Lake with ease and great rapport. Together we could take on the best canoeists in the world. Or at least we thought we could.

My wife Cathy, on the other hand, had learned her canoeing experience while paddling with her father. They too had taking many trips together, including trip to the very same Burntside Lake on their way into the BWCA. They too had logged many miles together.

So when Cathy and I decided to take a canoe excursion together on the lake at the cabin, it only made sense that we too would be harmonious in our joint adventure. Instead, we were perplexed to discover that we really didn’t do well paddling together in the same canoe. 

We discovered that her idea of paddling was different than my definition of paddling. My definition meant that BOTH persons in the canoe paddled stroke for stroke. 

Her definition meant that when the waters got too rough or she was tired or simply wanted to look at the wildlife on the lake, she could STOP paddling and her dad would do ALL of the paddling; including the steering.

Needless to say, we really stunk at canoeing together and really didn’t enjoy canoeing together. Simply put; she was not my brother Joe and I wasn’t her dad.

In fact we had some trips when we weren’t sure that we should even stay together.

OK, maybe that was a bit over dramatized. Or was it?

Eventually, harmony was restored when a family member purchased a couple of kayaks for the family cabin. From the first trip that we took around the lake (each in our own kayak), we experienced the joy that each of us had had while paddling with our old canoeing partners.

Together we had come to a solution, a compromise in which we both could go at our own pace and yet Cathy and I could still go around the lake at the same time; usually side by side. If one got ahead, it was no big deal to simply wait until the other caught up.

Together we have had many memories from trips around the lake, sometimes two times a day as we spent time at the cabin. Together we have had many trips that resulted in us becoming closer even though we were in different water vehicles. 

Ok, Tommy O, I get the “canoe” and the “kayak”, but what is the “smelly feet”?

Well, as I thought of the obstacles that we faced while trying canoe together, I thought of how many times we let our differences keep us from going the same direction or left us feeling as though we weren’t a part of the same event. 

Even though we were husband and wife and friends who were joined together, we felt as though we weren’t connected. But we were in spite of what our emotions were telling us. And we had to find a way to get along and appreciate what each brought to the relationship; we were called to be together…“What God had joined together…

And the same applies to you the reader; I’m sure that you understand what I mean. Even though you and I don’t get along with every person we come across in our life, that doesn’t negate the fact that they have a place in our lives. 

No, I don’t believe that everyone is going to LIKE everyone else, but still we need to appreciate what the other brings to the table, or should I say body.

This is true for our neighborhood, places of work, family, churches, and yes, even with our spouse. Each person has a unique place or role to play; kind of like the different parts of the human body.

Have you ever wondered why the nose is located so far away from the smelly feet (as well as the other parts of the body that smell)? Perhaps it is because even though we are a part of the same body, we don’t have to like every other part…nor are we always going to get along.

But, take away the feet or the nose (as well as part in between that smell) and you will discover that you have one messed up body; especially if you take away the orifices that are in between! As difficult as it was for Cathy and I to not paddle at stroke for stroke, to not have a nose, or yes, even the smelly feet, would be even more difficult.

My point? Just as Cathy and I had to learn how to walk in harmony, each of us must learn how to walk in harmony; especially with others who are different from us. In fact true unity takes places not just when we agree, but when we don’t; then what will we do…? 

In this day and age when there is so much hatred and killing I am imploring each of us to appreciate each other and to look for ways to walk (or paddle) together.

1 Corinthians 12:15-26 says: “If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. And if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.”

All Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.