FINALLY SOME GOOD NEWS!

        We all need some Good News now and then to keep us focused on what’s important. Today’s Good News is that Christ Lutheran Church, Coolidge, Arizona, the small congregation I’ve helped serve the past two winters, will get a new pastor. And he will be their first full-time pastor in Christ’s 68 year history. 

        From its founding in 1959, Christ Lutheran has been served as part of a dual parish or by part-time retired workers. Some 25 years ago, its dual parish agreement with a larger congregation in Casa Grande was terminated, so retired pastors began serving as they could be scheduled. Laymen also led services when pastors could not be located. Although its local membership is small, area retired winter residents have given Christ a positive vitality that rubs off on all who attend. 

        Five years ago the congregation decided it was time to call their first full-time pastor. Their efforts culminated yesterday in a phone call to the congregation broadcast over its PA system at their 9 AM service. Amid cheers and singing the Doxology, the 130 people in attendance heard their new pastor accept their call and felt God’s blessing in a very special way. 

        Thus, in a month or two, little Christ Lutheran will have its very first full-time pastor who will bless current and future members and guests with the Gospel. It will also connect better with the local people, since it is the only Lutheran congregation in the Coolidge - Florence area of 40,000 residents. Like the many farms around the town, its fields are ready to harvest.

        Good News is what the Christian Church is all about, “Gospel” coming from Old English words that mean “Good News.” The Gospel of Jesus as the Savior of the world is the church’s central message. Jesus of Nazareth as the true Son of God come into the world to save sinners is Good News for all of us. 

        If you can’t find much that is positive in the news today, give God thanks for faithful pastors, congregations and leaders willing to share the Gospel, the Good News of eternal life in our Savior Jesus.

Please keep Christ Lutheran and its new pastor in your prayers.

Rev. Bob Tasler

www.bobtasler.com

WHAT IS RETIREMENT?

...A church member keeps membership records on her church's computer until she is ninety.

...An eighty-eight year old neighbor works at a local Post Office twenty hours a week.

...An eighty-six year old woman walks nine holes of golf five times a week, often when the temp is over ninety.

...A ninety year old man pilots a P-38 fighter plane, the same kind he flew in World War Two.
...A former president sky dives on his eighty-fifth birthday

...A man in his mid-seventies drives to church in his 700 horsepower Dodge sports car.

...At eighty-nine, a world renowned pianist performs one of his greatest recitals in Carnegie Hall.

...An eighty-six year old mother of seven is rarely home, usually traveling to see one of her families.

...A farmer's son publishes his first book at sixty-five and begins his twenty-fifth book seven years later.

...A ninety-five year old Grandmother lives alone and reads books on her Kindle.

...A seventy-seven year old pastor accepts a fulltime call to serve a church in California.

...An eighty-four year old pastor finally stops preaching every Sunday and driving forty miles each way.

...A former school teacher composes her own Christmas letter in poetic verse until she is one hundred.

...A ninety-four year old entertainer performs at a theater where he first started sixty-three years before.

...At eighty-three, a nationally known radio broadcaster signs a ten year contract to continue his show.

           These people are supposed to be retired? What, then, does "retirement" mean? To some, it surely doesn't mean leaving a job, sitting in a rocker and doing nothing. It means a change in their schedule, working less, doing what they always wanted to do, or just saying "no" to a forty-hour week. They did it because they decided to, and they did it because they still could.

            We read of the many aged Bible people who blessed God with faith and good works. God still brings blessings into the world through such people. Psalm 92:14 tells us, "The righteous shall still bear fruit in old age; they will still stay fresh and green."

All of these "retirees" are Americans. I have personally known 10 of them..

Rev. Bob Tasler, www.bobtasler.com

SOS or MAYDAY?

      Most everyone knows that SOS and MAYDAY are international emergency signals. But what does SOS mean, and why is MAYDAY used?  By 1904 many trans-Atlantic ships had become equipped with Marconi wireless communication, and radio operators sought a code that everyone would know meant distress at sea.

      CQD was first used in 1904 as "General Call - Distress", but by 1908, SOS was ratified as the official distress signal. Some people still think SOS means "Save Our Ship", but the letters actually have no meaning. The Morse Code for SOS, 3 dots - 3 dashes - 3 dots, came into use because it was simple and unmistakable in its sound. Most everyone can remember its meaning in time of need.

      Mayday has a different root. It was adopted by Frederick Mockford, senior radio officer at London's Croyden Airport. By 1923 there were so many airplane flights from London to Paris that Mockford saw the need for a distress word. "Mayday" was coined from the French word, m'aidez which means "help me."

      All people face periodic life-threatening situations, whether on land, air or sea. God's people since ancient times have always cried out "God help me!" in different ways. David prayed, "Listen to my cry for mercy, Oh Lord. When I am in distress, I call to You because You answer me." (Psalm 86:6-7)

      Going through a crisis can strengthen both our resolve and our faith in God. Troubled times can lead to a stronger faith if we put our lives into God's hands and trust that He will bring us through our troubles in His own way which is always better. 

If today you are in distress, call out to the Lord in prayer.

 

Rev. Bob Tasler, www.bobtasler.com

WALK CAREFULLY

      Last week while at a store a little boy ran into me because he was walking forward while his head was turned sideways. His mother said rather sharply, "Watch where you're walking!" I wonder how many times I said that to my boys as they were growing up. 

      Little people want to see everything all at once. They don't always take time to watch where they are going, charging ahead and thinking the world will get out of their way. Big people can do the same. Even when we aren't sure where we're going, we still charge ahead and then are surprised as we stumble or hit a wall.

      Apostle Paul knew what it was like to charge ahead in life. When his name was still Saul, he knew exactly what he wanted to do. He had a plan for his life and self-confidently lived by his firm convictions. But they were the wrong convictions. One day on the road to Damascus he walked straight into a wall named Jesus, and the Lord brought him down low and into the Kingdom of God.

      This is the same person who tells us the words of our text today: "Be very careful, then, how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil." (Ephesians 5:15-16) 

      With a passage like that, it would be tempting to preach about all the evil in the world, but that would accomplish little. There's always been evil in the world and today's world is much like Paul's. The point is not how bad the world is, but how we live and walk in the world in which we live. 

      Paul has timeless words of wisdom for us all, no matter how old or young:  "Walk carefully." Jesus forgives us when we misstep and the Holy Spirit will help us when we come to Him in prayer for guidance in our walk.

Walk Carefully!

Rev. Bob Tasler, www.bobtasler.com

JESUS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD

        Yesterday the Church remembered the Transfiguration of Jesus on Mt. Tabor, ten miles southwest of the Sea of Galilee. In that event Jesus’ appearance was transformed into radiant light and witnessed by Peter, James and John. Christians may wonder why this event is important enough to mention, especially just before Lent. 

        Millennia ago God revealed Himself to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, whose progeny became the Children of Israel. During the Exodus from enslavement in Egypt, God accompanied them in their desert wanderings through the Pillar of Cloud by day and the Pillar of Fire by night, which guided and assured them that He was with them. 

        Years after conquering of the Promised Land, God told King David his son Solomon would build a temple in Jerusalem. He promised to be with them there in the Temple Holy of Holies where His Light and Glory, known as Shekinah, would remind the people of the twin pillars and that He was still with them.

        God’s Shekinah remained until the Israelites followed pagan gods and were defeated by the Babylonians who destroyed the Temple in 587 BC. Ezekiel the Prophet lamented this, especially when he saw the Shekinah Glory of God leave the Temple (Ezekiel 10-11).

        But God’s Glory and Light returned. Centuries later on the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus was transformed, revealed as the Light of the World. Christ’s glorious resurrection showed that God was again with His people. Christians note this event each year because it took place just before Jesus entered Jerusalem to give His life as a sacrifice for the sins of all the world.

        Jesus will always be the Light of the World. When God said, “Let there be light,”He created the power of the universe and all the elements that give life on earth. The glory and power of God are all wrapped up in the humble carpenter, Rabbi Jesus of Nazareth whom we worship because He is the Son of God, Savior of all believers. 

Rev. Bob Tasler

www.bobtasler.com

SATISFIED WITH LIFE?

      I woke up early this morning and couldn’t sleep, so I grabbed my laptop and designed an Order Form for my book display at a Phoenix conference later this week. After Carol and I had a donuts with friends, for some reason I was led to start work on our taxes which took me well into the afternoon.
      I had a few visitors and late lunch of a sandwich with wine just before Carol came home from Chorus practice. After a short nap I booked some flights online for a summer trip, grilled pork chops for supper and sat down to watch the news and a movie. Only as it ended did I realize I hadn’t written my WEEKLY MESSAGE which is always a Monday task.
      So it’s late and I’m back at the laptop grumbling because I still must write. I love writing but dislike feeling forced to do it. I once complained of this to close friend, and he said he liked my stories even if I didn’t like writing them. Almost twenty-five years and I haven’t missed composing my 250+ words of the WEEKLY MESSAGE more than a dozen or so times. But I can’t seem to quit.
      250 words can say a lot. Some of the Bible’s important events (Jesus’ birth, temptation and baptism) are barely that long. The 23rd Psalm is less than half that long (117 words) and look how enduring it still is.
      We don’t need more words in our world; we just need to use them more wisely and carefully.  Scripture tells us God meets the needs of those who seek Him, “Those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.” (Psalm 34:10)
      A devotional writer named Julie, now at home with the Lord, once wrote, “If today you’re thinking you need just a little bit more of this or that, consider the possibility that God has given you just enough.”

He is rich who is satisfied with what he has.

Rev. Bob Tasler  +  www.bobtasler.com

MY FRIENDS, YA GOT TROUBLE!

      “The Music Man” was a successful 1957 Broadway musical and 1962 movie, written by Meredith Willson. In the story, Prof. Harold Hill comes to a small Iowa town to get the people to invest in band uniforms in order to keep their children out of trouble, which he identifies with the local Pool Hall. It is actually a money scam which he later regrets, but one of his signature speeches has these words:
      “If so my friends, ya got trouble, right here in River city!
      With a capital "T" and that rhymes with "P" and that stands for Pool!!”
      Although the production has little similarity with real life, sometimes life is filled with genuine trouble. Discovery of illness, untimely death, relationship failure, loss of paycheck, all can bring a person a tsunami of sorrow. An associate told me of his hope that the new year would bring less trouble, but so far January alone has brought him more trouble than all of last year.
      In John 16:33 Jesus tells us, “In the world you will have tribulation.” God’s people are not promised a life of ease, prosperity or good health, yet we are never alone in our trouble. In Isaiah 43:2 God tells us, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.”
      When we have troubles of any kind, God is still with us. He never leaves us. Although we don’t always understand His purposes in the trials we experience, we still trust Him because we know He will always love and care for us. God loves us, no matter what.
      Thus, we need never be separated from the abundant love of God, for He has promised us, “Neither death nor life, nor things present nor things to come will ever separate us from the love of God which is ours in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:38-39)

When trouble comes, His presence and love are our best hope.

Rev. Bob Tasler
www.bobtasler.com