RUMINATIONS OF A REVEREND

What makes you nervous? I was thinking about this today, because I had a recent situation where I felt quite nervous. An individual asked me a question that I didn’t know how to answer, which resulted in the blood receding from my face and my heart starting to pound. I was nervous, but why? As I have reflected on that situation and others like it, I’m struck by the fact that Jesus never appeared nervous in the gospels. Perhaps a person could argue that in the Garden of Gethsemane He was nervous, but I would counter that He was nervous in a different manner than we are. Jesus was troubled then because He knew the ordeal that lay ahead of Him, but I wouldn’t say He was nervous in the sense of fearful. Our nervousness usually stems from fear, which in turn stems from a lack of faith. Jesus rebuked the disciples for their fear during a storm saying, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” He was actually sleeping on the boat during the same storm and clearly not nervous at all. What a...

2011 has had a challenging beginning for the Sheets’ household: we started the year with a blizzard that shut down the highways and forced my in-laws to stay a couple of extra days, the stomach flu invaded our whole family and kept Christy from working for a week, our van’s power steering broke and needs fixing (who knows how much that will be), and our dog can barely walk or move so we need to take her to the vet. This is not how I wanted to start the new year. 2011 has started off with some great opportunities to see God work. We were blessed with some extra family time as Christy’s parents needed to stay longer because of the New Year’s blizzard (and thankful for a warm home to spend it in), we had the opportunity to show Christ’s love by caring for each other during a battle with the stomach flu in our house (and it gave Christy some extra time to get things ready for daycare and schooling), we are fortunate that our van’s power steering went out in the church parking lot and not s...

So I'm driving with my family in the car out to Cooperstown Bible Camp and my wife is talking to her mother on the cell phone. In such confined quarters, I can't help but overhear my wife's part of the conversation, and one of her comments seemed to slap me in the face. She said, "Are you having fun?" I know that's a common expression we use all the time. We ask our children, "Did you have fun today?" I asked my football players after their scrimmage on Saturday, "Did you have fun?" You probably have asked friends after they returned from a vacation, "Did you have fun?" We use the expression all the time, but the phrase really struck me that day in the car. I wondered, "Is that our primary goal as Americans--fun?" My deeper question was whether this Epicurean mentality of Americans had consumed the American church. Is the issue of fun the ultimate issue? Do you ever hear parents ask their children, "How was your day...

Don Postema wrote, "I used to write in my daily calendar '7-7:30 a.m.: Prayer.' But many times I passed that up. It was one more thing to pass by that day. Now I write '7-7:30 a.m.: God.' Somehow that's a little harder to neglect." http://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/search.html?type=keyword&query=%22Fear%20of%20God%22&start=41 I thought about that and the idea of an 'appointment with God'. Oh sure, I've heard the phrase used many times, but I'm afraid I've glossed over the significance of that phrase in the past. I have meetings and appointments with people weekly. Someone may have an issue they want to discuss, so I'll set up an appointment to meet with that person at such and such a time. When I have an appointment, I try and make sure I keep it unless an emergency arises. Let's say that someone stops by to simply chat, but I have an appointment in fifteen minutes. I will usually cut that time of casual chatti...

That question has been around since the day God’s curse fell upon the earth because of sin. Suffering has multiplied over the years through famines, diseases, wars, and the wickedness of man. Children are abused and die of starvation. Women are raped and forced into prostitution. Men are beaten and made slaves in some parts of the world and terrorists kill their fellow humans in brutal fashion simply to make a point. Tragically, Keenan Cooper (the son of a friend) lost his life on account of such evil. Then there is the slow, miserable death that cancer inflicts upon its victims. My wife’s aunt battled with cancer for years, as we slowly watched her waste away and eventually succumb to that evil disease. Recently, a dearly loved resident in our town also lost her battle with cancer. In both instances, people were praying and trusting in Jesus to heal, yet the healing people looked for never came. How can we as Christians shout, “God is good all the time!” when we see the tremendous suf...

Fortunately, in my ministry career thus far, there hasn't yet been a Sunday where I was the only one that showed up at church. I have had some Sunday's that came pretty close, but I have never had to preach only to myself on a Sunday morning. However, there have been many times when I realized that I was preaching to myself along with preaching to the rest of the congregation. The Sunday of our men's fishing retreat at Lake of the Woods was just such an occasion. The LORD used my own mouth to convict me. I shared about Andrew and Peter's calling to discipleship and how Jesus transformed them into fishers of men. That is one of those passages you have to consider from the culture of the day versus the American culture. Most people in America think of fishing as a hobby or recreational past time. We fish because we enjoy it, not because our livelihood depends on it. Andrew and Peter, however, were fishermen by trade. They provided for themselves and their families throug...

Faith. It's a name we give to children. It's a theme of ancient hymns as well as contemporary pop songs. It's even used as a comprehensive term for a person's religious beliefs (e.g., "What is your faith?"). As believers, the very term that identifies us stems from the word 'faith.' "To believe" is mereley the verb form of the noun "faith" in the Greek. So believers are essentially people of faith. But what does that phrase mean in society today? Last night the President gave an address from the oval office dealing with the BP oil spill crisis and the administration's response to it. At the close of his speech, he made some remarks to inspire hope to Americans. However, his words highlighted the subtle tragedy concerning the "faith" of many Americans. He stated, "It’s a faith in the future that sustains us as a people. It is that same faith that sustains our neighbors in the Gulf right now." After a brief ref...