Some random Christmas reflections:

Now that all of the Christmas services at church are over, the presents have been opened, the kids have had their day of fun and the post-Christmas realities are setting in, I am in a more reflective mood than I have frankly had time for up until now.

My reflections are these:

First, I am a VERY blessed man! I have a relationship with the creator and sustainer of the universe who chose to humble himself and become a man. Born into the brokenness of this world to show me how to live and how to give of himself for the sake of others who would neither fully appreciate, or respond appropriately to that sacrifice. I am also blessed by the fact that I have a wonderful wife, Jenny, by my side in life and in ministry who shares so much of herself for my sake and for the sake of three of the most amazing children who have ever lived. They, too, add so much to my life that I cannot begin to express my love for them. I am often overwhelmed by the treasure that God has shared with me in these three little lives that are entrusted to our care. My life is all about God, Jenny and these three precious souls Joey, Ian and Will. That is enough to fill my heart to overflowing.

Add to those blessings the fact that I am privileged to serve alongside some of the most amazing Christ followers I have ever known in the Bethel Baptist Church. Additionally, the past year has brought another team of amazing coworkers into my life through Blessing Hospice. I appreciate being allowed to serve on a team that shows such love and compassion shining some light into what might otherwise be a VERY dark and lonely hour for the patients and families that we serve. Yes, my life is very rich!

I have been given a heritage of faith that I will treasure until I draw my dying breath, and beyond. I am so thankful that like Timothy, in scripture, I had a mother who had great faith in Jesus Christ and her mother before her who not only sent me to church, but TOOK me there to learn the truths of Christ’s great love for me. A virtual host of dear saints of God took me under their wings at various times and in various settings to keep me on the path of faith that has led me to this point in my life. I miss those relationships as not a day goes by that I do not think of my mom and so many other people who have preceded me into the presence of Christ.

Our house is dark and silent as I write these words. The only lights on are the lights of the Christmas tree and the glow of my computer screen. I always get more philosophical in times like this. Yeah, one of the primary thoughts on my mind right now in addition to my recognition of how blessed I am is that I also really miss my mom right now. Christmas was truly special to her and she always became a bit more childlike this time of year, this is a trait she passed on to me and I am passing on to my own children. Mom is celebrating her 7th Christmas in the presence of Jesus this year. I cannot imagine the joy she is feeling as a result of that. But, I also think of what I have not been able to share with her in those 7 years. Joey was 11 months old when mom died and Ian and Will were not even on the horizon yet. I have worked hard to make sure my kids know about my mom and her name is not avoided in my conversations with them. My children are very blessed to have Jenny’s parents living nearby this year and they are a significant part of their lives. (and I am blessed by the best in-laws any man could ever ask for as well). Even so, I always think of my mom and shed tears over what has been lost in my life this time of year. But, one day, we will get to celebrate the birth of Jesus together in his very presence and that celebration will be unending!

So, for now, I sit and I ponder these things, I ask lots of questions to which there are no real answers, I revel in my blessedness, I recognize just how very broken this world is and I yearn for that day when Christ returns to set all things right. In the meantime, I recognize that which I seek to communicate to all who will listen. What we have now, is only a dim reflection of that which is to come. 2000 years ago, in a little country town, in the darkest hour of the night,

“… people living in darkness [saw] a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light [had] dawned.” (Matthew 4:16 NIV)

One day again, we will see the light dawn in a new and more powerful way in our world. Until then, I reflect, I reminisce, and I yearn for that day when Christ will come again into this world! I (as we all are) am a product of my past, and my present and I hunger for that future!

Merry Christmas, My Friends!

On Becoming Family

I have been thinking about this matter for a long time as a pastor who is involved a great deal on boards and committees in the larger American Baptist family as well as some ecumenical work. I realize, most certainly, that people will not always get along and there will be differences of opinion. That is the nature of the fallen world in which we live. However, I do believe that the culture of mistrust that permeates so much of our society has contributed a great deal to the ineffectiveness of the church in reaching the lost for Christ today.

Perhaps we have lost something in the past 2000 years that we would do well to recapture. The book of Acts (the story of the early church) we constantly see words like “together”, “In one accord”, “all things in common”, “fellowship” etc. And as a result of this the early church experienced explosive growth. Nowhere in the gospels do I read about particular worship styles, concerns over what is “in my best interest” or anyone being interested in strong-arming fellow believers to do things that they felt were out of sync with the will of God as revealed through the Holy Spirit. Looking at some of the groups I have been involved with in the past as well as currently, I see things coming into play that I would have to say are counter-spiritual and frankly do more harm to the cause of Christ than anything outside of the church. I have heard individual believers doing and saying things that clearly communicate “I don’t care if you are a follower of Christ, I will not trust you, therefore I will jeopardize ministry to protect my self-interests”. Or some seem to be saying “I really don’t care about you personally, I really want to just look out for number one. If that means wasted energy for you or that the Gospel is hindered by my actions, then so be it”. Do people really say those things? Yes, most certainly, by their actions, they do and the result is that we give justification to those outside the family of God to persist in their cynicism thinking that the church is no different than the world around us and in some ways is even worse, because we can’t even get along with those in our own household.

So, what is the answer? Well, I will be the first to admit that I don’t have all of the answers, but I do believe that it starts when we return to the values that were paramount to the success of the early church. When we give equal credibility to the ideas and dream of others as we do to our own, we honor the Holy Spirit and bring a smile to God’s face. Those first century followers of Christ trusted one another with their very lives, their fortunes and everything that they held dear. When we follow suit, the purposes of Christ are raised to higher levels of success. I believe when we put everything that we have and everything that we are on the line for Christ, we will find the unity that is woefully lacking in our world and we will see successes that have been previously unimagined. We need to adopt the attitude that says: “I may not even know you, but because we both bear the name of Christ, I will trust you and work with you for the sake of those outside of our family to graft them into the vine”.

Is this risky? Yes! Is this uncomfortable? Absolutely! Can we be hurt by those who abuse the family relationship? Yes, sadly, it happens all too often. But, until we can put aside pettiness and quarreling aside, we will probably continue to stagnate and as a result, those for whom we exist, will continue to drift and many will die without knowing Jesus. That fact alone, my friends makes all of these things risks that are, for me, well worth taking!

All of this being said, I want to say this: In my current church at Bethel, I have come to know a group of people who do not always agree with one another on every single issue. However, at the end of the day, the fact that we are family keeps us moving on together, side by side. As this is happening at Bethel, I believe it can happen anywhere, anywhere that people are willing to take the risk and “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35 NIV)

Why the Almighty isn't doing so well...

An interesting artcile with some very valid points. Well worth reading.

Dennis Prager

Things I am thankful for"

In the country again
Originally uploaded by jwlohr

We moved to Jerseyville nearly a month ago and it has felt like home very quickly. I jumped into the ministry of the church fairly quickly after our arrival here, so there are still some boxes yet to be unpacked, but life has been so very good, it is simply hard to describe.




The church has welcomed us in amazing ways and With today being "thanksgiving sunday" it seemed appropriate that I would express my thanks in this forum. I am thankful for so many things this year that there simply isn't room here to list them all, but I will hit some highlights (in no particular order):

I am thankful for a home in the country where I can walk out in the yard and see the stars so clearly pretty much any night and sunsets nearly every evning like the one in this picture.

I am thankful for a church family that appreciates and responds so well to my feeble attempts at ministry in their midst.

I am thankful that my children have adjusted so well to our new setting and seem to be thriving.

I am thankful that my wife has been such a trooper in adjusting to new surroundings in her ongoing effort to keep me happy and fulfilled.

I am thankful for all of the locations offered to me for deer hunting (we will have venison to eat this winter).

I am thankful for neighbors who are there for us whenever we need anything and for neighbors who I hope will be willing to call on us for the same.

More than anything, I am thankful for the grace of God which continues to amaze me day by day.

Bethel Baptist here we come

IMG_6366
Originally uploaded by jwlohr

Starting November 1, 2010 the "Country Parson" will actually be a COUNTRY parson again... We are moving to the Bethel Baptist Church in rural Jerseyville, Illinois. In the brief time we have spent with the folks at Bethel we have simply felt drawn to them. I have most definitely layed out the fleece on this whole matter and God has consistently shown us his will and how clearly it has unfolded. We've been blessed by the Bethel family already and are very much looking forward to getting better acquainted with our new church family.

Of course, it is bittersweet as we leave some good friends in Wood River and the surrounding area. But, when God is clearly involved, the call is irresistable. Such is the case for us in this move to Bethel. The new chapter begins in our lives in just over one month and I for one can hardly wait!

Another slide show

The Keys to Life, Love and Happiness!

Church camp 2010
Originally uploaded by jwlohr

After a layoff from directing or counseling at camp for nearly a decade, I decided it was time to say yes to the invitation to direct a camp. Something about finally having a child of camping age made that decision a bit easier. Joey went to camp where I went as a child and she seemed to have a really good time. I find myself thinking and sometimes saying things that I never thought I would say like "When I was a kid..." Well, when I was a kid, the cabins were grafiti-laden, non-air conditioned, hot, leaky, primitive places to sleep at night... times have certainly changed from those days!

The camp has improved a lot from those days with the addition of lots of modern amenities and attractions including the zip line Joey is riding on in this picture. I simply LOVE this picture, because the smile on her face is so huge. I cannot believe how much my baby girl has grown. As Will is just now starting to walk, I remember when Joey was that age and how amazed we were at her development even then. It seems each new stage brings more and more Joy in watching our children develop and grow. Of course there are challenges in parenting and in many ways, we would like to keep all three of the kids small forever so we could protect them from the inevitable hurts that they will face in life. But, it is also a great joy to see the joy and the zest that they posses as they live their lives. How much better would this world be if we could all retain just a bit of that child-like enthusiasm and unadultrated joy in our daily pursuits?

What a blessing our children are and how very much they enrich our lives. It seems I am more in love with the three of them with each passing day. God has blessed me richly with them and with a wife who brings nothing but blessing to my own life. While I may not have much in terms of money or power, I am an immeasurably wealthy man in terms of the love I am shown each day by the four most important people in the world to me! They teach me again and again what life is really about and how to be a happy man at the core. Even when the world around me brings challenges (several times a day it seems) my family reminds me again and again what is needed to possess a joy that carries me through the present struggles and to keep things in proper perspective. Thank you Jenny, Joey, Ian and Will! I love you all more than I can ever say!