tag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:/blogs/mike-s-blog-posts?p=2Mike's Blog Posts2023-11-21T18:52:50-06:00mikewestendorf.comfalsetag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/73074022023-11-21T18:52:50-06:002023-11-21T18:52:50-06:00The Surprising Value of Hopelessness<div class="text-container galileo-ap-content-editor"><div>
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<div><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);"><i>"</i>You wearied yourself by such going about, but you would not say, ‘It is hopeless.’ You found renewal of your strength, and so you did not faint."<i><strong> - Isaiah 57:10</strong></i></span></div>
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<br>H O P E L E S S - In the 2011 NIV there is only one instance in Biblegateway.com's search function where this word comes up. Once. Search for just the word "Hope" and you will see it appear 180 times. Anytime you hear someone utter that word "hopeless", it is usually spoken with a tone of defeat, resigned to NOT seeing their hopes and dreams realized. For some it is the emotional state after years of letdowns and disappointments. For some of us it might be a self defense mechanism so that we don't hurt so bad when we don't get our way. Feeling Hopeless is often a place where our feelings and emotions become numb as the surety of the exact opposite of hope shows up at our door. And for a lot of people it is the default reality of life ultimate life experience. Yet, for many of us who say we're hopeless, we're not really completely hopeless.</div>
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<p>Before I really make the point on this, I need to tangent for just a moment, because it's important to the context of this story in Isaiah 57. As I spent time slowly reading through the book of Matthew I started to see how many times human beings tried to build their own kingdoms. Peter did it, Judas did it, James and John did it, James and John's MOM did it. Jesus' Mom did it. The Israelites did it. The Jews did it. I do it. You do it. There is a "kingdom" that we are building in our hearts and our minds and we are actively seeking to accomplish it. Plans are not a bad thing. Planning is good. But if I'm honest, many of my plans are for a better tomorrow - defined by yours truly... ME! The way I think it should go. The way I want my future to be. Confident, secure and comfortable according to Mike. And while we don't always intentionally do this, our sinful nature, the part of us that we have to fight daily, is always building "my" kingdom.</p>
<p>In response to this kingdom building Jesus said to Peter "Get behind me Satan, for you do not have in mind the things of God, but of Man." To Judas Jesus said, "woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born." These are hard words to hear, and perhaps even harder to admit a part of us needs to be reminded just how far off and self centered our kingdom building can be.</p>
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<p>The first half of Isaiah 57 is a lament from God about how far away his people have run from him. God calls out the unrighteous and points out their many wounds and transgressions. Most importantly how far they have run after the "gods" of their surroundings that can neither comfort nor save. Their lusting, their sneering, their rebellion and their restlessness. By the end of the chapter God says "the wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud. “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.” And it is verse 10 that just broke my heart... "You wearied yourself by such going about, but you would not say, ‘It is hopeless.’ You found renewal of your strength, and so you did not faint."</p>
<p>In the culture of today, as it has been before, we have looked to other voices to give us hope when things are going wrong. A "god" is something that we put our trust in to tell us who we are, to give us worth and hope for a better tomorrow. Money does this really well. We can trust what money can get us and the supposed freedom it can provide. Money tells us "we are somebody". Accolades and compliments can become a god along with those whose praise we seek. When life isn't going well we can self medicate to numb our emotions, our hearts and even our conscience. The god of "Control" is ever elusive too. In seeking control, we learn all kinds of manipulation skills as we build our kingdoms and regain our hope. ANYTHING than to come to the place of human hopelessness.</p>
<p>As I thought about how many different things I can turn to when my hopes for this life go sideways, I started to realize that hope in the wrong thing is really no hope at all. Hope in anything other than the God of the Bible, is hope in something temporary, far short of satisfying and ultimately self seeking kingdom building.</p>
<p>On Good Friday, we examined God's grace and mercy in Christ through the eyes of the Thief. Pastor Jeffrey Bonack helped take us through a powerful reflection and ultimately, an immensely personal example of the value of hopelessness (See it on YouTube). The dying thief was perhaps the only one to understand the depth and richness of the love of the dying man next to him on the cross that first Good Friday. As he experienced the imminent end of his own life, there was nothing left to put his hope in. There was no way to control, no change of circumstances, no tomorrow, no getting out of the death he was dying. It was hopeless. And then, the Holy Spirit worked a miracle of faith in his heart. To turn to the dying Savior next to him and lay what life he had left at Jesus feet. "Jesus, Remember Me, When You Come into YOUR Kingdom". To which Jesus replied with an eternal hope. "Today, you will be with me in paradise."</p>
<p>The world without Christ will grab onto any and every replacement hope. It will do everything it can from medication to identity surgeries to worldly wisdom, distractions and addictions galore - ANYTHING to "keep hope alive". But it's all worthless junk. God warns us all, "When you cry out for help, let your collection of idols save you! The wind will carry all of them off, a mere breath will blow them away."</p>
<p>For the Christian, however, we can take hold of Jesus, his words, his promises and by grace through faith we can trust in his forgiveness, mercy and love. Ultimately we can trust our future as we place it in His hands. We can hear the words of God through the prophet "I have seen their ways, but I will heal them; I will guide them and restore comfort to Israel’s mourners, creating praise on their lips. Peace, peace, to those far and near,” says the Lord. “And I will heal them.”</p>
<p>As I've reflected on the value of coming to the place of hopelessness, it has changed the way I think about the future and especially how I pray. I've learned that it is OK to admit that, from my perspective and capabilities, things appear to be "hopeless". I will tell God straight up "Father, I have no hope left, you alone can save." Oh he may not always move in the way we think he should move, but it will always be for our eternal best and God's kingdom.</p>
<p>That relative that you've been praying will kick the addiction. It might be hopeless. That cancer that won't go away. It might be hopeless. That career that won't take off. It might be hopeless. That marriage, that family you want SO bad. It might be hopeless. And when we can admit it and confess it, God is able to move. Because hopelessness for the Christian means we've given up on building our kingdom. Our ego and human nature feels so defeated when we admit it's hopeless. God is saying "When you are weak you are strong". Our dreams die, God is saying "Come to me all who are weak and heavy laden and I will give you rest". Our depression and fear increases exponentially in our hopelessness, God is saying "I've told you these things so that IN ME you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble, but take heart. I have overcome the world".</p>
<p>You say "It is hopeless", God is saying "Now I can bring you healing". Oh there is surprising value in hopelessness. To admit it and say "It is HOPELESS" can be the gateway to the powerful prayer "Thy will be done, Thy kingdom come"... and all the eternal blessing that God unlocks when we trade in our kingdoms, to be part of what God is building in HIS kingdom. The salvation of more souls!</p>
<p>Hosanna in the Highest. To God be the Glory!</p>
</div></div>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/73073502023-11-21T18:28:21-06:002023-11-21T18:48:11-06:00Did You Hear What I Heard?<div class="text-container galileo-ap-content-editor"><div>
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<div><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);"><i><strong>"And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” - Matthew 28:20</strong></i></span></div>
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<div style="text-align:left;" align="left"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);">After our first Christmas concert of the season we had a lot of younger kids take advantage of the free posters we give out. Asking for signatures and autographs from the band, the kids overcame some fear and talked with many of us making for some neat moments to just encourage young ones.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align:left;" align="left"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);">As I was writing my signature I kept coming back to including this line: "Emmanuel, Always" As we went through the album and spoke about the stories of God's faithfulness playing out in the lives of Isaiah, Joseph, The Shepherds and Mary, this became the unrelenting theme - Emmanuel - "God With Us" is ALWAYS with us!</span></div>
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<div style="text-align:left;" align="left"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);">What a comfort and encouragement for all of us. In the midst of our stories that don't always... and perhaps don't often... go the way WE want them, we can trust that God is with us always.</span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);">He's with us in the <i><u>confusion </u></i>as he was with <strong>Isaiah </strong>as he struggled to understand what God was telling him to share, after all how could he possibly know the ramifications of his prophecies of the suffering servant.</span></li>
<li><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);">He's with us in the utter <i><u>disappointments</u></i> as he was with <strong>Joseph </strong>who had a right to expect Mary to be sexually pure, helping him to trust God with his life and future. </span></li>
<li><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);">He's with us in the <i><u>fear </u></i>filled moments when we're sure we won't make it out alive, like <strong>the shepherds</strong> who were shown the holy angels and heard them speak words of blessing instead of fear.</span></li>
<li><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);">He's with us in the <i><u>anxiety </u></i>when our plans go in a completely different direction. Blessed though we may be, like <strong>Mary </strong>we have questions, significant questions. </span></li>
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<div style="color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:16px;text-align:left;" align="left"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);">Emmanuel - Always! As we consider the stories in the Bible, we remember that they were not characters in a novel, but people with real lives, real emotions, real hopes, real dreams, real tragedies, real disappointments, real fears, real anxieties. And because "God with us" with them Always, they have a story of God's faithfulness, written out for all of us to know and be encouraged by.</span></div>
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<div style="color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:16px;text-align:left;" align="left"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);">In the same way, God is working a story of his faithfulness in your life today. Even if we can't see the end result. Even if the healing doesn't come in this earthly life. Even if my dreams in this world don't come true my way. Even if... Faith lays claim to the promise. He is working all things together for our ultimate good, for his ultimate glory - that HIS Kingdom may come to more and more people!</span></div>
</div></div>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/73073492023-11-21T18:25:19-06:002023-11-21T18:25:20-06:00When the Gospel Isn't Good News<p align="left"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);">In my work with young adults, I've been wrestling with the realities and challenges of children transitioning to independence. This is quite the process that involves major challenges to our identity, meaning and purpose.<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/395830/40bba93f82750f3838212fbf3050d6271e511c4d/original/tree.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_m justify_left border_" /></span></p><p align="left"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);">The apostle Paul writes this in 1 Corinthians 13 - "<i>When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me</i>." As we grow up, our identity is no longer rooted primarily in the family or friend/high school groups. When we don't have a good sense of who we are our meaning and purpose often become confused. And while being a young adult is incredibly rewarding, it is quite the process to work through identity, purpose and meaning. In the 18-25 time of life we tend to rethink everything... and it is normal and it is good, but not without challenges to our faith.</span></p><p align="left"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);">What does any of this have to do with the Gospel? Well, I stumbled on an oversight in the way I and many other Christians, talk about this beautiful message of Jesus. Let's see if you see it too. I'm asking you, my reader - how do you define the Gospel? Take a moment to stop and articulate how you define it in the next 60 seconds... And go.</span></p><p align="left"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);">For most of us we know that the Gospel means "Good News". Pastor Don Thompson, before he went to heaven, shared with me the Greek word at the root of it "Euangelion" (oi angelian), which means "Good Announcement". But how did you define it? What does it mean? I started asking younger people and older people, fellow Christians and called workers and I started to notice a trend. As a generalization I found most of us would say that the Gospel is the Good News that Jesus died in our place to pay for our sins and to give us eternal life in Christ. And that is right. And that is true. And that is... missing something. While it explains WHAT the Good News is, the most important piece is the why. Four little words at the start of John 3:16, For... God... So... Loved... And we often tend to leave these out.</span></p><p align="left"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);">Not surprisingly, the loss of those 4 words can reframe the good news in a subtle, but, profoundly different way. When we forget that God, <i>In Love for you and for me</i>... sent Jesus - we can repackage the Gospel this way. God sent Jesus to die for our sins so that we could go to heaven. And while that is not inaccurate, we tend to shift the focus that reshapes the Gospel even more. If we're not careful, the why begins to change more into this idea - "God Sent Jesus to die for my sins so I can go to heaven... SO... if I want to go to heaven I need to do more or try harder to be a good Christian because Jesus died for my sins." The motive becomes "I'd better do x, y and z", and that, is no longer good news, because we'll never be able to do enough.</span></p><p align="left"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);">One of the great longings of young people is to belong. Built into all of us is a deep desire for intimacy. To be fully known and to be fully loved. To fully know and to fully love. God longs for that too. It's what love looks like. It's what true relationship looks like. And God is after an eternal relationship with us. The Bible is the story of God's unending love to save us from eternal death and how he did it through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.</span></p><p align="left"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);">So why bring any of this up? Well, one of the realities of young adults is the transactional nature of life. <i>Earn </i>a degree. <i>Earn </i>a job. <i>Earn </i>the credibility to have an apartment, car loan, girlfriend/boyfriend.<i> If I do this, I get that</i>. As a child shifts into adulthood, life tends to be transactional. Earn, work, do. Throw in the deep drive for intimacy along with the challenge of forming an independent identity and you have a deeply rooted transactional way of viewing the world. And it's easy to wonder if God really loves me, if God ever loved me and if he's waiting for me to do something so he can love me. And even the strongest Christian young people wonder at this, let alone the ones who barely know anything about Jesus.</span></p><p align="left"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);">When you and I remember God's "why" part of the Gospel, it makes it really really really good news. God did all of this because he loves you and me, not as a carrot to get us to behave. Jesus sacrifice is THE demonstration and proof of God's love for me. It is so important for you and I to make sure that people remember that God did this because of his deep love for us. And young adults need to hear it, often. Our response comes from love and praise for what Christ did for us. “We love, because he first loved us”</span></p><p align="left"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);">What I am finding is that when I remember "For God So Loved..." I am far more patient with people that I disagree with, who don't like me or don't believe in Jesus or live for him. It turns out, the best way to share the Gospel with people is to start with God's love. Without love, we get law and most people hear our good news as a manipulation... because it is.</span></p><p align="left"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);">I'm still trying to get my head around this so if I didn't get it all correct, or if it could be written better please share your thoughts. I write this because as we transition away from childhood to adulthood, love is an important part of it. It's fascinating to me that this passage about leaving childish things behind is at the tail end of the "love" chapter of the Bible in 1 Corinthians. Our young people (well really ALL people) need to know more than anything else that God did the transaction - because he loves them. It's important that older Christians and parents be patient with young adults. While we pray for them to live Godly lives, let's make sure that we are reminding them of the whole Gospel. And it starts with 4 beautiful words. For God so Loved... you!"</span></p><p align="left"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);">A good place to start is by preaching this beautiful message to the person in the mirror. MW</span></p>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/65724562021-03-12T22:25:51-06:002023-04-17T10:41:23-05:00"I Don't Know How You Get it All Done!"<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/395830/842781202075ba30cd7c0b7aa7b112457b25e817/original/blogmarchpic.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>The Battle Between Capability and Capacity </p>
<p>I have been doing some studying on a personality test called the Enneagram. Finding I am a 2 on the Enneagram was somewhat liberating, but also a bit like getting splashed with cold water. Called "The Helper" I learned that while I am healthy I am positive and people oriented and a great asset for building community, I am motivated by pride and have an unconscious motivation of being needed. People Pleaser? Yeah... that's me. </p>
<p>Over the past several weeks, stress in my life has caused me to do some reflecting and I have seen more clearly the connection and disconnect between a person's capabilities and their capacity to leverage them in a healthy way. </p>
<p>Capabilities are all those amazing talents that you have been blessed with and skills that you have developed over the years. Capabilities tend to increase over time. </p>
<p>Capacity has to do with what you can realistically get done in the 24 hours of time that you've been given. It has to do with the ability to leverage those capabilities to an effective end. Capacity tends to diminish over time. </p>
<p>Healthy, my definition, is being able to leverage capabilities and capacity in the order of God pleasing responsibility that you have. Intimacy with God first. Present with Family second. Work third. and down the line etc... </p>
<p>I'm seeing that I have been given these incredible abilities to serve other people in many different ways. Some are very public, some are private. I'm a little older so there is a little bit of money that we are capable of investing in others. I have more experience, which makes me more capable of doing more things, better things with more people and more connections. IT'S EXCITING!!! And it's dangerous. </p>
<p>Whenever you and I say yes to something, we by default say no to something else. It appears that I am more capable and I have more capacity than I ever did before. But I'm still just one person. It appears that I can help so many more people, do things with greater quality. I KNOW I can DO xyz. I am CAPABLE of creating great things. And, in my quest to leverage my capabilities, I too often fail to see that I don't actually have the CAPACITY to do all of it. Not without making some serious modifications to my HEALTHY priorities. </p>
<p>Jude 1:8 floored me as I was doing research for this little blog. It says "8 In the very same way, on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings." </p>
<p>Yep, before I know it, I can be so far out of my lane trying to accomplish something great... even something great for God, that I will have actually caused considerable damage to myself and to others, but most importantly to God's relationship with me. In trying to use my capabilities outside of healthy, God pleasing Capacity, I can actually do the opposite. It's a desperate battle that we need God's help to fight. </p>
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<p>Outside of my own increasing awareness of this issue, Biblical Christianity suffered a substantial loss in the past several months as it was uncovered that Ravi Zacharias had misused his ministry to abuse women. The man celebrated for his Christian witness, integrity and defense of the Gospel, turned from Biblical truth in grievous ways in parts of his private life. While he died in May of 2020, his reputation and that of the the ministry he founded is suffering irretrievable damage, not to mention damage to the very message of God's grace to many around the world. </p>
<p>Does God forgive sin? Yes he does. Thank God, because in God's eyes every sin is as grievous to God as the worst sin from our perspective. Did Ravi actually have the capacity to be as "successful" as he appeared to be? It would appear that he did not. While his sin does not necessarily negate or cancel the contributions that God made through his life and ministry, for many it has caused great hurt and has opened up potential for great spiritual harm. </p>
<p>What would he have had to say no to in order to stay in a healthy balance between his immense capabilities and his healthy capacity? I cannot say, but clearly he needed help in that battle. And so do we. </p>
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<p>In my desire to be a helper, one of my favorite things to hear is when people say to me "I don't know how you get it all done!". I have long prided myself on my ability to juggle many tasks and somehow make them all fit. Over the past year that statement makes me nervous and in the past two weeks that statement has become a warning. It aligns well with the warning from Galatians written above. </p>
<p>"7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life...." - Galatians 6:7-8 </p>
<p>Are you like me? Have you and I tasted some of the destruction of this imbalance brought on by our selfishness? Then let's take heart with the passage from Jeremiah and so many others in the Bible that remind us of God's saving Grace: </p>
<p>"13 Lord, you are the hope of Israel; all who forsake you will be put to shame. Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the Lord, the spring of living water. </p>
<p>14 Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise. </p>
<p>This Lenten season, may we go to the Cross and see where Capability and Capacity met. Jesus endured the cross, paid for our sin debt to restore broken creatures like you and me to a healthy relationship with God found in and through Jesus Christ. May his ascension promise to be with us always and his sending of the Holy Spirit to strengthen faith, be the comfort and healing to repentant hearts. That we might get up yet again and walk in a healthy combination of capability and capacity TODAY to God's glory alone!</p>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/65110742020-12-31T16:03:41-06:002023-11-21T18:30:14-06:00Then...<p><i>"On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then... they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts..." - Matthew 2:11 </i></p><h2 style="text-align:center;"><span class="text-huge">THEN... </span></h2><p>A few weeks before Christmas as I was preparing to play my first concert in 9 months I remembered why I love the story of the Wisemen so much. It has to do with that word THEN. As a worship leader I've heard it said that worship is about hearing, or about seeing, or about responding. Those are all parts of that I agree. When they are all together I think we get the most complete picture of what it means to "worth" something or someone and the story of the Wisemen gives us a short brief lesson that has been helpful for me. </p><p>As you read the passage above consider this order. </p><p>1. They came to his house. <br>2. They saw him. <br>3. They humbled themselves and bowed in worship to him. <br>4. THEN... they presented him with their gifts. </p><p>I don't know about you, but I spend too much of my life trying to get to ME giving MY gifts to God. I think things like: "I know I mess up Lord, but see all the gifts I have for you?" Or sometimes I go in reverse and say "I have no gift, no good thing, no fruit of the spirit to show you and give you today Lord, so I guess we'll talk some other time". If you have ever FELT the pressure to produce gifts or if you have FELT like you can't talk to God because you know your sins, I think we need to get our spirit realigned and the Wisemen show us what scripture so often teaches us. </p><p>1. Come to God's house. You know, going to church really is a good thing. A place of public worship that we recognize as a "house" for God to be the center of. But the new testament also says that God's house, is in you too. That you and I, body and soul, are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Can't get there in person? Open up the Bible for yourself and just start reading. It is like going fishing with your Dad, or going for a walk with your Mom. It's the best quality time with your God. When we are concerned about what we produce for God, it's time to come to God's house. </p><p>2. See Jesus. Worship really is about the eyes of faith, seeing Jesus and hearing his voice. Do we see the Savior God. The name Jesus means "The Lord Saves". Do we acknowledge and believe that God saves us from sin and death through the perfect redemptive work of Jesus? Not sure? See it - as you read God's word in the Gospels. See the MAN who knows your every pain. See the GOD who forgives every sin and makes all things new. We need to ask God to help us see our Savior. </p><p>3. Sometimes I just need to get on my knees, literally, physically. It reminds me that I sometimes make way too much of myself. That I don't make me, God makes me new. God gives me worth. God directs my steps. Being humble is hard (especially for us people pleasers), but true worship is centered on Jesus, not me. It's centered on God's response to us, worship does not glory in my response to Him. I forget that, kneeling after seeing is so good for our souls. </p><p>4. THEN... I love that they searched for Jesus, came to his house, saw him, bowed down and expressed their love and admiration for him and correctly exalted Jesus above themselves. They did all this FIRST. THEN... they presented their gifts. They could stand in his presence and present what they had to offer. That picture of relationship that God has with us is amazing and worth a whole other blog post. </p><p>In a season that amplifies gift GIVING, it can be dangerous to me and my relationship with God when I make much of what I bring or don't bring to God. </p><p>In His mercy, on the days when I have made a mess of the life he has given me, I come to his house with empty hands, barely able to see him, not even wanting to be in his presence. And wonder of wonders, God covers me with his grace, I find healing under the safety of his wings. When I make life about my gifts to him, he lets me see the pride in my heart, that wounds my soul and hurts my relationship with him. There again, God forgives and makes me whole again. It is not about my gift at all. </p><p>My gift is a simple response to what God has given me. It is TRULY a gift when I give it from that posture as a response to God's grace. Anything else is just another form of works righteousness... me trying to earn God's favor. </p><p>My prayer for you and I in the new year is that God would help me, help us, keep our response to his goodness in its proper place. That he would inspire me to come to his word. To see Him with the eyes of faith. To see him rightly as my Father and King. And to wonder that he emboldens me to stand in his presence and present the gift of my life to him, as small and imperfect as it is. </p><p>May we SEE Jesus - THEN may we (like the shepherds) live for him in gratitude for all the things we have heard and seen, which are just as we have been told.</p>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/64445552020-09-28T12:59:25-05:002023-11-21T18:31:36-06:00And God Said No - Higher Authority<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/395830/d9ed62310053aa136ff59a93d1a4da0dcaf1d3d1/original/20200725-204054.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" />I've said it a lot. I know you have too. I want to get back to normal. A wild wild west of living from day to day, week to week, closings, openings, masks, distancing, protests, politics, elections... it is stretching all of us. Our social media and media shows just how frustrated and tired we all are. Even the strong among us have rough days. So the prayer continues to go up to the Lord (for the Christian anyway) and the wish goes up to "karma" (for the unbeliever in Jesus) <strong>I JUST WANT TO GET BACK TO NORMAL!!! </strong></p><p>And day after day, week after week - it would appear that God said NO! </p><p>I'm just another sinner/saint/human being, trying to hear God's voice through the chaos and live biblically - imperfectly. Thank God for his Mercy and his Grace! As I've wrestled and continue to wrestle with this life we're living in I wanted to put out four thoughts for our consideration on why God appears to be saying no. </p><p>God wants to be our highest authority and our guide in life. </p><p>It's hard to admit it, but we, as American Christians, tend to be a lot more like ancient Israel wondering in the desert. As you read through the historical books of the Old Testament, what do you see? A chosen people desperate for salvation from Egypt. Their relentless cries go up before God and he delivers them. He draws near. They complain, they leave - he promises, he delivers. "Bad guys are after us (did you send us here to die?!?!?!?)". "We've got nothing to eat or drink (did you send us here to die?!?!?)". "The promised land is filled with giants (did you save us only to let us die?!?!?). </p><p>Think about how many of us have prayed for God to reduce the amount of anxiety in our lives? I know I have. I hear so many voices other than my Savior... and I let them tell me the story of my present and my future. God invites us to cast our cares on him because he cares for us - and then I promptly take them back with a steady stream of worries. </p><p>My kids need to have everything better than I had it. If they don't have this, they won't get that. </p><p>If I don't do this work, I can't get that opportunity. </p><p>If I say no to this thing, I'm afraid I won't be able to do that thing. </p><p>Why is my heart anxious? Lord take it away and give me peace! </p><p>So let me ask the question that God keeps laying out before me. </p><p>"MIKE - Who is your highest authority? Who are you looking to for Peace? Comfort? Prosperity? Future? What is the authority you are trusting above me? Yourself? Government? Your employer? Your spouse? Your accomplishments? What... What authority have you made greater than me?" </p><p>God wants to be our guide through the days, the moments and the challenges of life. Consider God's Old Testament guiding: </p><p><i><strong>By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.- Exodus 31:21-22 </strong></i></p><p>The psalmist says it this way: </p><p><i><strong>7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? </strong></i></p><p><i><strong>8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. </strong></i></p><p><i><strong>9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, </strong></i></p><p><i><strong>10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. </strong></i></p><p><i><strong>11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” </strong></i></p><p><i><strong>12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. - Psalm 139 </strong></i></p><p>God's presence is with us every day, all day. It is he who says "I am with you always, to the very end of the age." </p><p>But he is also THE highest authority we can reach out to. When we get sick, we reach for science. When our car breaks down, we reach for a mechanic. When we have no money, we reach for credit. When we have no hope, we reach for someone or something else. </p><p>Perhaps this is one of the greater reasons for God to say no to a return to the old normal. We struggle to let God guide. We struggle to let God lead. We struggle to trust that it is only God and God alone who saves. Though he often acts through his creation to bring about change, we have looked to the "creation" to save us, instead of the creator. </p><p>He is reminding us that HE is our rest. He is our salvation. HE is our peace. HE is the source of joy. And HE is the only chance of a hope fulfilled and the only securer of our deepest need. </p><p>It's my prayer that God again becomes greater. When he is, I am reminded of the bible passage from 1 John 4:4 - "Greater is HE that is in you, than he that is in the world". </p><p>Christian, the world doesn't need you. The world needs the Christ in you. Draw near to God, let him remind of you his voice, let his spirit give peace to your decisions and in your greatest fears, let him be your greatest authority - so that through you, the hurting world may know that God is Here! </p><p>Mike</p>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/62768932020-04-03T09:00:00-05:002023-11-21T18:31:59-06:00Do You Not Perceive It?<p>Isaiah chapter 43 was the focus for my Awake and Alive small group a couple weeks ago, and I really appreciated the time we spent with the encouragements from God's word. Of the ones that jumped out to me, the most interesting was the verse that I selected for this months' blog. Here it is in a bit more context: </p><p><i>18 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. </i></p><p><i>19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. </i></p><p><i>20 The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, </i></p><p><i>21 the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise. </i></p><p>As I sat with this Bible passage a few things really jumped for me: </p><p>* "do not dwell on the past". God is always thinking about our unending future. What is in my past is often a piece of shame (something I regretted) or often something I have cherished (and may have made an idol). </p><p>* How many "new" things is God doing for us right now? Giving us Sabbath rest. Giving us our Families back. Giving us what we NEED, while limiting significantly what we WANT. He's giving us HIMSELF back, because I've tried to replace him with so many other things. How long have we prayed for peace, less anxiety, meaningful relationship instead of social media driven jealousy? In about 3 weeks, a whole lot of us are going to really need a haircut. Seeing our true colors and showing roots and unkempt hair may give us a glimpse of the more beautiful people GOD can make us if we weren't so busy being Instagram ready. </p><p>* The birds have been completely untouched by this. They continue to sing their honor of God. They have what they need. They don't think about tomorrow. They have only today and they seem to know it. When the sun comes up, they sing. It is their purpose and joy to do so. If nature does that, because God provides needs, how much greater might my song of praise be? </p><p>* God formed me for himself. Let that sit on you for a moment. God. Made you. So that he could enjoy you. And he does that most completely when you and I rest in him. When we say thank you. When we bring him our honesty. When we share our hurts. When we share our laughter. You and I are not alone. A song of Praise to God is a great way to remind yourself that God almighty walks this same road with you and me! </p><p>And then it hits me. God asks me point blank... DO YOU GET IT??? Do you SEE it? I am doing something new, and it is primarily for MY people, the ones who, by faith can sing my praise. Of all the Covid19 stuff that is happening, if there is one group that God may be moving heaven and earth for, it's that his church would rediscover its uniqueness and it's Gospel understanding in the world. It is what makes us different, set apart. God has done a work in us. He has given us life instead of death. Hope instead of Fear. Mercy instead of Retribution. Grace instead of Justice. </p><p>Is it possible that God is allowing this so that his people might turn to him in Repentance? Be assured of Forgiveness? Rediscover our Identity in Christ? And learn again how to Sabbath Rest? Stronger Families? Greater Neighborhood Empathy? Family Worship? and Gospel Outreach to our neighbors who do not have this hope... yet? Lord move among us this Easter season! I want to be still enough to PERCEIVE it!!</p>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/62278752020-02-24T08:45:00-06:002023-11-21T18:32:16-06:00What to Do With Stinkin Thinkin<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/395830/98cf27875719f85a75bab74e77121dc0be53531e/original/feb-2020-graphic.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_center border_" alt="" /></p><p>Last week, I was challenged as I delivered a chapel to our grade school kids at St. Paul's. The text was the passage above, and as I prepped for it, I remember back to my mom's challenges to me when I was a kid to "quit yer stinkin thinkin!" As I talked with the kids, I recounted the times stinkin' thinkin' comes into play when: </p><p>We get a bad grade. </p><p>We do bad in a sport. </p><p>We get in trouble at home. </p><p>A friend doesn't want to play with us. </p><p>On the heels of events like these, come the voices that we are dumb; we're no good, we're selfish and worst perhaps, nobody loves us. I had a young child stand behind me and just keep tapping me on the head while I was talking to prove the point... and after a while I have to admit, it was hard to remember what I was talking about.</p><p>Well before I had my stinker thinker kid come up and help me, I asked the kids to say the words out loud on the picture above. That IN CHRIST, God reminds me that his death and resurrection paid my sin debt. That my baptism gave me a new name and status "child of God". That my God attached promises to that status, promises that won't be taken away. Ultimately, God gave me an eternal identity as his child, and God took on the role as my Savior, my Redeemer and ultimately as my heavenly Father. I Matter, I am Loved, I am Enough - because of Christ. </p><p>So as the young child continued to hammer away at my head, I finally stood up, picked him up and took him to the cross. I held him up over my head and reminded him that my thoughts needed to be captured and redefined through the lens of the Cross of Christ and my identity in Jesus. (I had his dad's permission, just in case you're wondering). I put him down, I went and sat down on the stair, started to talking to the kids and... once again he returned to start smacking me on the head </p><p>You know how this works in life. You know that those thoughts seem to have an innate ability to escape the capture to the cross only to lodge right back in our brain. Some of you might be looking for a practical way to do this so let me point you to one more place. </p><p>Genesis 32 - Jacob, a bit of a liar and manipulator is coming face to face with his brother whom he swindled out of his inheritance. His brother is coming with 400 men. Jacob fears the worst, that Esau will destroy him and wipe out his family. It is into this very real fear for his safety and his future that Jacob sets for us an example on how to capture stinkin' thinkin' and make it obedient to Christ: </p><p>"Then Jacob prayed, “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, Lord, you who said to me, ‘Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,’ 10 I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two camps. 11 Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children. 12 But you have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.’” </p><p>When the thoughts and stories and fears come into our mind that we're not enough, that we can't be loved, that we don't matter, it's important that we do a few things. Vs 9-10 Jacob acknowledges his relationship to God and blessing he receives from God. </p><ol>
<li>Claim again the promise of your identity in Christ as his child. </li>
<li>Confess your fear and your thoughts that stand in contrast to God's word (I Am Afraid). </li>
<li>Remind God of the promises HE has made to you (But You Have Said). </li>
<li>Name specific promises God has made to you regarding your reality (I Will Surely). And I'll add a number 5, because sometimes I can't remember all this and one of my favorite prayers of scripture is "I do believe - help my unbelief" - Mark 9:24 </li>
</ol><p>When that pesky little bugger of a thought keeps distracting you and shouts lies and accusations contrary to what God as said about you, take it captive and make it obedient to Christ. Your situation certainly says something about the way you can handle things, where you need to repent, where you can find courage and where you can improve. But when it cuts down your identity remember that IN CHRIST - You Matter, You are Loved and You are Enough!</p>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/62278772019-12-23T15:40:00-06:002023-11-21T18:31:13-06:00I Need a Savior, Not a Santa!<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/395830/a9b332a55641581707752e0c7c5849f1f29ab365/original/savior-not-santa.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_center border_" alt="" />I get asked sometimes about why I think Christianity is different. Why Jesus is different than all of the other religious figures? What makes Jesus so profound that I would make him my world view, and it keeps coming back to the reality of Grace and the reality of Karma. <br> <br>Karma, probably the traditional way Americans think about it anyway, usually comes around the idea that "what goes around comes around" You get what you deserve in the end. Your good deeds must outweigh your bad deeds. In other words, Karma sounds a lot like what are YOU doing to fix your mistakes. If others mistreat you, don't worry "Karma" will get them. <br> <br>Grace. Well grace goes hand in hand with mercy. It's not just a level of compassion and empathy, but mercy can only be extended by the offended person when they know, or are at least willing, to absorb our mistakes. Just like Karma, a mistake, a failure, a sin - creates a movement of degradation or a wounding of a person or relationship. There is a justice that is coming against the one who made the offense, and our world is very sensitive to justice and fairness (we ALL feel this on some level). There is a debt that the offended demands be paid in full. Justice is coming, and we can instinctively feel the hammer blow coming. Grace means the hammer falls on the one who has every right to demand retribution. <br> <br>This is what the message of Christmas is. Over and over, our mistakes and sins - yours, mine, the worlds, for all time - demand justice and retribution. They have wounded and broken the relationship with God and with each other. Over and over God calls people to repentance so that they would be made whole again. All of the sacrifices of people, secular, religious, Christian or non, are still an effort against the pending judgement that we all feel. We may try to lawyer up, make excuses, work extra hard, do religious things, sacrifice for our neighbor - but it will never be enough. <br> <br>THAT is why Christmas is so beautiful. The baby who would come to mankind, born to a virgin, born under the law of God, would live a perfect life under that law, die my death under that law and rise to life as the first to live beyond the earthly grave WAS ENOUGH! God's Justice was satisfied!! Jesus did this so that he could extend his Grace to us, to redeem the broken relationship between us and God and give us a path forward to sharing God's grace and mercy; the only path to actual lasting peace in this world. Justice is satisfied in Christ's work. Because HE made the payment, God can extend Grace to you and me. And yes, it's free of charge. <br> <br>So, which song gives you peace? </p><p style="text-align:center;"><strong>You better watch out, You better not cry, You better not pout, I'm telling you why </strong><br><strong>Santa Claus is coming to town </strong></p><p style="text-align:center;"><strong>He's making a list, He's checking it twice, He's gonna find out who's naughty or nice </strong><br><strong>Santa Claus is coming to town </strong></p><p style="text-align:center;"><strong>He sees you when you're sleeping, And he knows when you're awake, He knows if you've been bad or good - So be good for goodness sake </strong></p><p>Oh... wait a second. That may be fun, but it sure sounds like the Santa philosophy has some strong similarities to MY effort and the baggage of Karma. I need more than a Santa! That's why these word are so endearing for so many centuries! </p><p style="text-align:center;"><strong> O come, O come, Immanuel, and ransom captive Israel </strong><br><strong>that mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear. </strong><br><strong>Rejoice, Rejoice, Emmanuel shall come to thee oh Israel </strong></p><p style="text-align:center;"><strong>O come of key of David come and open wide our heavenly home </strong><br><strong>make safe the way that leads on high and close the path to misery. </strong><br><strong>Rejoice, Rejoice, Emmanuel shall come to thee oh Israel </strong></p><p>As I've walked through the Christmas season, I feel the weight of all the stuff I need to get done. All the ways I might let people down if I don't do enough, or remember, or do everything perfectly. Santa can be a nice escape and can remind us of the fun and, perhaps like reading "Chronicles of Narnia", there are glimpses of Christian joy in some of the Santa story. But there is just no escaping the reality that I need a Savior from all of the trappings of Karma and "I've got to do it" thinking. </p><p>Santa doesn't have "peace on earth, good will to those on whom God's favor rests" in his bag. But when you look into the manager to see what God delivered to us in Bethlehem, you will find the answer to your greatest need, your highest joy and your most desperate hope. </p><p>The Savior in the manger means God sees YOU! And because of Christ - You Matter. You are Loved. And You are Enough.</p>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/59981622019-11-29T18:00:00-06:002023-11-21T18:34:17-06:00When God Might Need a Backseat Driver (umm... Never!)<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/395830/6f13c149ca5bbbb591cf910de1d2eeec6ca8dd97/original/driving.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6NDAweDI2NyJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="267" width="400" /><p>Last week I was driving my Freshman son to school and we came up to what is known to be a Looooonnnng stoplight. While he insisted that we would be late, I decided that, instead of waiting for 3 minutes to go straight, I would safely and legally turn right, turn left and turn right again and save my son 2.5 minutes and keep him on time for class. He was quite frustrated with me at first and I asked him point blank "Do you TRUST me?". And from the back seat of the car, his blunt answer was - NO!<br><br>While it was mildly amusing to me as I schooled my son, I was forced to confront my own issues when I was put in the backseat of God's car insisting that God must be making a mistake. I'm now a staff minister at St. Paul's Lutheran in Muskego and part of my role is to help with funerals. When we heard that God had called home a beloved member of our church, Christian college mentor and softball coach, husband and father in a God fearing family... let's just say I had a hard time not questioning God's decision and his timing. In fact, on some levels I still am.<br><br>"God, I know you're in heaven and you can see all things, but in case you didn't notice, your Christian church on earth needs all the help it can get. I'm not so sure this was a good idea.." "Father, you passionately instructed husbands how to love their wives and wives love their husbands and parents love their children and kids honor your parents... we sure could use more LIVING examples of that in our world. I'm not so sure this was a good idea..." Years ago, 11 year old me found out about the death of a beloved mentor and neighborhood friend. I cried and screamed - believing that if God raised people from the dead in the bible, he could do it again for my friend... Many of you know what I'm talking about.<br><br>I have to admit, from my place in the backseat of God's car, I don't always like where He's taking me... taking us. Many days I'm sure that, if God just listened to my advice, this thing would work out OK. The trip would be quicker and more successful. The words from Isaiah sting as my heavenly Dad turns around and looks at his son and says "Son, do you trust me?" and I sheepishly, or angrily, or sadly say NO!!<br><br>And yet on he drives, knowing of the wound and fear in my heart and drives to where he knows I need to go and where only he can lead.<br><br>As we consider the upcoming Christmas season, perhaps we might reflect that God's rescue plan, in the person of Jesus, born into humanity in the humility of a stable in Bethlehem is FAR from the script we would have written. And yet it had to be done this way so that every prophecy would be fulfilled, every promise of God would come true, every sin would be forgiven and every trusting soul would be delivered.<br><br>Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit - I'm afraid you're driving the wrong way. Overcome my fear with your constant assuring presence. Forgive my doubting, accusing heart. Help my unbelief and deliver me from evil. In this season of life, when it's all out of my control - give me a faith that sees Jesus and your deep desire for all people to have a personal relationship with you through Christ. May it be before me as it was with Job when he said - "My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you".<br><br>By faith, I know that you don't need a backseat driver. Help me to leave my life and future in the safety of your hands and your plan! Drive on dear Jesus!</p>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/59981612019-10-30T19:00:00-05:002023-11-21T18:33:19-06:00Jesus Didn't Come for You...<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/395830/55e0634300baeabd53c56ce1526017c43e32c9f6/original/doppleganger.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MzAweDMwMCJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="300" width="300" /><p>Do you know what a "doppelganger" is? The dictionary gives the entry of "a ghostly double or counterpart of a living person". I had never heard the word before an artist that I have a lot of respect for somehow managed to put it into a song that somehow made a lot of sense. You see, I've been coming to a realization about myself and about us as human beings. There is a part of me that I really... Really... REALLY want you to know. And there is a part of me that I really... Really... REALLY hate. I would hate for you to see that version of me, and I really want you to see my best version. I think all of us can relate. <br> <br>The smart and witty version of me, who has the right answer to the question. The super Christian who knows some Bible passages and how to apply them. I would hate for you to see the guy who swears at the TV when Michigan or the Packers can't do anything on offense. The disappointment I unleash on my kids when I'm not paying any attention to them. The Bible that hasn't been opened in a week.<br> <br>As I think about the alarming rise of fear, anxiety, depression, and suicide among people today, especially for young adults, there is something that is becoming clearer and clearer to me. I am afraid - deeply afraid to really look into the mirror. Because on the other side of the pretty version of me, my ghostly double, the monster that is inside me, is too much to bear. <br> <br>But, this is where the healing begins I have this picture in my mind of me standing in front of a mirror staring at the doppelganger, ashamed of what it is and that it is a part of me. When slowly I become aware that Jesus is standing right behind me. He isn't mad, he isn't upset, he isn't ashamed, he isn't disappointed. He looks at my ghostly alternate and says "that's the part of you that I came for, that I love, that I redeemed". He reminds me that he didn't come for the part of me that is healthy; he came for the part of me that is sick. And since I and my doppelganger share the same blood - then Jesus came for me on my best days when my pride is blinding me from my need for a Savior - and he came for me on my worst days when the monster has won the day.<br> <br>We look into the mirror and hate ourselves. Jesus looks into the mirror and his heart breaks for relationship with us... to make us whole and to begin again!<br> <br>Jason Gray wrote a song years ago called "<a class="no-pjax" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=0019bo099c5OtLaDfwKYE0mwFHC94tgPGj-6_2fObqxZky4YZguZ-pkHh_JGpUh7OGr-84HaEeq_1KYl2vInQf5TRrdI9eej7DytMt_Mwu0zQv7sQYPWUxkM34I60o9POg59H-m6KCmPO34-UKrJSMyhgqmCxrzeSdDRLmsIZUHMCep3XASwGqfIA==&c=3R9cUETLePxQlfUqDEfP1C1_U68RyjdjTxN0SOHEi40qcUteKJohsw==&ch=ArCFJ-useNkT3AvFGanhVxIYLrenFr0RAnmIS8qoyTwv7RNZzwd2Ew==" target="_blank"><strong>The Golden Boy and the Prodiga</strong> <strong>l</strong> </a>" about this doppelganger effect. If we are to love our neighbors as ourselves, what happens when we hate what we see in the mirror? Jesus reminds us he came to heal the sick, not the healthy. Save the broken sinner, not the righteous who need no savior. He finishes the song with these lyrics:</p><p style="text-align:center;">The Golden boy is made of straw His finest suit will surely burn<br>His vice is the virtue That he never had to earn<br>The prodigal's been broken And emptied at the wishing well<br>But he's stronger for the breaking With a story to tell<br> <br>I'm not easy with confessions It's hard to tell the truth<br>But I have favored the golden boy While the other I've abused<br>And he takes it like a man Though he's longing like a child<br>To be loved and forgiven And share the burden for awhile<br> <br>So take a good look in the mirror Tell me who you see<br>The one who Jesus died for Or the one you'd rather be<br>Can you find it in your heart To show mercy to the one<br>The Father loved so much That he gave his only son...</p><p>No... Jesus didn't come for the Golden Boy version of me and when I hear that, my prideful monster rises up. And in frustration and embarrassment at the appearance of my monster, God's love, mercy, and grace washes over me and reminds me that I matter, I am loved, I am enough. Why? Because Jesus came for the Prodigal that is inside me and inside each one of you.<br> <br>Give yourself a break; receive the forgiveness that Christ won for you - because he loves you on your good days yes, but even more so on your days of weakness. <a class="no-pjax" href="http://r20.rs6net/tn.jsp?f=0019bo099c5OtLaDfwKYE0mwFHC94tgPGj-6_2fObqxZky4YZguZ-pkHh_JGpUh7OGrGu_Bjvdppk97tvbR3Ik7Gioif3qu3lcUIFkA8HTFnl4_Ji3jR8P4fr-inqe2VsNlM0G2qHhuJf1kPYZ3-6_dVxeG90m5qJcFP-qXrGkMJAK6juiGoSYPAw==&c=3R9cUETLePxQlfUqDEfP1C1_U68RyjdjTxN0SOHEi40qcUteKJohsw==&ch=ArCFJ-useNkT3AvFGanhVxIYLrenFr0RAnmIS8qoyTwv7RNZzwd2Ew==" target="_blank"><strong>I wrote a song about that called "Singing Over You</strong></a><a class="no-pjax" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=0019bo099c5OtLaDfwKYE0mwFHC94tgPGj-6_2fObqxZky4YZguZ-pkHh_JGpUh7OGrGu_Bjvdppk97tvbR3Ik7Gioif3qu3lcUIFkA8HTFnl4_Ji3jR8P4fr-inqe2VsNlM0G2qHhuJf1kPYZ3-6_dVxeG90m5qJcFP-qXrGkMJAK6juiGoSYPAw==&c=3R9cUETLePxQlfUqDEfP1C1_U68RyjdjTxN0SOHEi40qcUteKJohsw==&ch=ArCFJ-useNkT3AvFGanhVxIYLrenFr0RAnmIS8qoyTwv7RNZzwd2Ew==" target="_blank"><strong>"</strong></a>. Read Zephaniah 3 for yourself and see the Savior who is mighty to save the sin sick monster in all of us!</p><p> </p>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/59981602019-09-24T19:00:00-05:002023-11-21T18:34:01-06:00Moving from Meteorology to Ministry<p>I just wanted to share with you some of the changes coming up and to ask for your prayers.<br><br><strong>I have been the Director of Operations for Innovative Weather</strong> at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee for the past 12 1/2 years, where I mentor college students in the field of meteorology. I oversee all partner relationships, develop the internship program and do life with my staff. It has been an amazing run and on October 31st I will work my last formal shift as the leader of that intern program. Before that, I was an on-air meteorologist for Weather Eye Inc. for 8 years and before that a severe weather assistant for NBC Channel 4 in Milwaukee for 4 years. <strong>That's roughly 25 years as a meteorologist!!</strong> While I will remain on with IW in a guidance role, this is a major shift in my life. <br><br>I will be stepping into <strong>full time ministry with St. Paul's Luthera</strong>n church in Muskego, WI, where I have been a part time partner with them. For several years now, I have been an adviser to the Ministry team and the coordinator for The Bridge and contemporary services. I teach 7th grade public school catechism, and I partner with St. Paul's on Awake and Alive. My role there will expand to include creating a functional 18-25 ministry and mentoring opportunity for older generations, overseeing our worship tech teams, and learning how to tell story through the use of video technology. <br><br><strong>In addition</strong> to my work at St. Paul's, I continue to lead Climb the Mountain Ministries - which is the traveling/speaking part of my personal music and ministry that I will continue to do as we partner with other churches around the country. I lead Awake and Alive, a ministry that is passionate about serving 18-25 year olds through our conferences. And over the past 4 months, I was asked to help Time of Grace create online content and ministry specifically for Gen Z and more will come on that later. <br><br>Most importantly I am Melissa's husband and the father of Adam (20), Abby (18), and Thomas (14). They are my most cherished relationships I have next to Christ. <br><br> </p><hr><p>To be honest, working two careers at the same time is hard, but I've also been blessed to work in the best of my skill sets with some of the best of people both in secular and ministry life. The reality is that I am beyond blessed, and I am quite tired. Transitions are stressful as it is, and this move will include some pretty big life changes for me and for my family, and we really have no idea how it all goes. If in the quiet of your day, would you pray with me for a few things:<br><br>* For a professional transition to the interim Director of IW - Alex Bukvich. That he would not be overwhelmed and that I would be part of the team that God uses to help him lead IW into the future.<br><br>* For St. Paul's leadership as they lead God's people there with the heart to reach others that don't know the hope of Christ.<br><br>* For my wife Melissa, that the transition gives us more time together as a family. All you spouses of ministry workers know that a transition like this has some challenges. God grant us peace in the midst of the moves.<br><br>* For me. To keep priorities as they should be. That I would have people who would help create and sustain healthy boundaries while encouraging faithful, creative ministry. That God would open doors for me to help people see Jesus more clearly both inside St. Paul's and beyond through the various ministries God has allowed me to partner with.<br><br>Ultimately that God would take away the fears and anxieties by helping my family and I focus on what Christ has already won for us and to walk into the future "For the joy set before us".</p>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/59981592019-07-22T19:00:00-05:002023-11-21T18:34:58-06:00Everything for Good??<p style="text-align:center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/395830/c1a812e270ddf5f10bc63bd838bffac218f9dca6/original/everything-for-good-2.png/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6NDAweDQwMCJd.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="400" width="400" /></p><p>There are probably 3 Bible passages that find voice in the songs of this album. For the Christian, they are very familiar passages of hope in troubled times, and I hope they are treasures to you. Romans 8:28 and Jeremiah 29:11. But during a season of intense challenge and fear, it was this diamond of truth in Lamentations that God sang over me and my family. While that fear gripped us for a time, God’s patient, steady healing had begun much earlier by planting so many stories of his faithfulness in our lives before we even started this journey. One where we grappled with the challenges of mental health and the need to be vulnerable enough to let people into our pain. The journey to wait patiently to hear God’s voice in our waiting. And the maturity that would eventually come, only after God had put his “yoke” on us, on me, for a time that would bring growth that could only come through a challenging season.<br><br>Through it all, I am amazed to see, say, and sing that God’s faithfulness is even greater than I could have known, that His mercies really are new every morning. His compassion and love for you, for me, will never fail, because that love consumes the heart of God. So much so, that the Son of God, became human and lived a perfect life we couldn’t live. Died a death that we deserved. Paid a price we could never pay. To call us something we could never claim. Son, Daughter – Loved one of God, by the life and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. <br><br>If you are new to Christianity, new to the relationship with Jesus, then I hope these songs of praise, reflection, and even deep vulnerability, will give you a glimpse into the hope we have in the midst of difficult times. That they might give you a prayer to sing when you have no words to give and will give you a shout of joy when you experience the faithfulness of God. He really does work - everything for good - for those who hope in and love him!<br><br> </p>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/59981582019-06-23T19:00:00-05:002023-10-16T09:54:41-05:00Abominables and the Spring that Wouldn't Come<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/395830/735417eabce4010a06d8d712632d9366413b0353/original/june-2019-graphic.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6NDAweDIyNSJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="225" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Spring is my favorite time of year. I enjoy Summer's heat, the colors of Autumn, snowstorms and Christmas lights in Winter. But I LOVE seeing the earth explode with color and life (and no I don't have allergies). God reminds us of his Gospel Grace "See I make all things new!" and I just revel in the longer days, warmer nights and the way things come to life. So what about this year? In the western US, they never really got a spring. It just jumped from a wet winter to summer. But for me, my precious spring - never came. And I've been wrestling with the reality of "Disappointment". <br><br>In her book "Rising Strong" author Brene Brown describes disappointment as "unmet expectations" and she notes something very powerful about these expectations. MANY of them begin as stealthy, sneaky assumptions. It's SUPPOSED to be like THIS! That's what our minds say anyway. And then we feel the disappointment emotionally, spiritually and physically. The antidote and recovery is really to acknowledge the story we've told ourselves, examine our assumptions, and set up clearly defined, communicated and agreed upon boundaries.<br><br>So, for me anyway, my spring has been filled with the Abominable of an East wind, that kept the chilly waters of Lake Michigan present throughout SE Wisconsin in April and May. We've had the Abominable of snow, which again showed up into late April. We've had the Abominable of widespread persistent clouds/rain for most of spring and the Abominable of Hudson Bay Canada - which is still 50% ice covered as of late June! It's like they just kept coming and messing up my spring and even early Summer. And these Abominables never seemed to make time to get on the same page with me!!<br><br>So I have been reminded of a couple things this spring.<br><br></p>
<ol>
<li>I am in control of a lot less than I think I am (hint - none of it... really).</li>
<li>In a day an age of instant anything, seasons of patient endurance are important for our personal and spiritual growth.</li>
<li>When I feel the impact of disappointment, it's really important for me to step back and examine my expectations and really look hard at my ASSUMPTIONS.</li>
</ol>
<p><br>Lastly, I am reminded that when Abominables come attacking my expectations, God is often using them to redirect my focus, my vision and ultimately my path and the steps I take.<br><br><em>Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. - Proverbs 19:6</em> <br><br>In the end - Spring came. Flowers sprouted. Grass greened. Birds returned to singing. The sun did shine from time to time. Though it didn't come the way I wanted, assumed and expected - I still look around and marvel at the goodness of God and grateful that he directs my steps!<br><br></p>
<p> </p>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/59981572019-05-09T19:00:00-05:002023-11-21T18:35:14-06:00Did You Hear the Good Message?<p style="text-align:center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/395830/ca6f7904a8ec796bc6e87476ea1013dccbeac3d0/original/may-2019-graphic.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6NDAweDE4OCJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="188" width="400" /></p><p>In my 7th grade confirmation class, my students have had a hard time getting their heads around what the "Gospel" is. Most of the time they'll say "It's the happy part of the Bible" or "It's found mainly in the New Testament". They're not wrong, they just aren't right.<br><br>If you're new to Christianity, the idea of translation for the word "Gospel" is "The Good News" or more specifically, "The Good Message". I honestly prefer the word "message" in our context and culture of the day because nobody reads the news, they get the news when they want it, or they get it usually when it's bad news. But a text message makes all of us jump, and we get a little excited because we know it's for us... I know the text is for ME.<br><br>The Good Message is this: Jesus Christ loved me so much, that he died for my sins and rose to life to give his victory to me. He makes me his child and gives me life that will last even when my body dies, promising to make me fully human and in complete relationship with God in heaven. <strong>Or more simply. Jesus died for my sins, so that I could have eternal life and invite others to that same hope.</strong> <br><br>But today, I just want to be an encourager to remind us, as I have to remind my Catechism students, that the Good Message is found, not just in the New Testament, but it's rich and personal in the old testament too. Many of you probably already do this, but just in case you don't I want to share a guide that is helpful for me to see the Good Message throughout the Bible.<br><br>Look for anywhere that talks about things that are dead, dying or broken. They can be people, kingdoms, cultures, dreams... Look for anywhere that talks about things that are new, growing or coming to life. When you see these examples from scripture you will see the Gospel truth come to life. The following passages have been the help for me to see the story of Jesus more clearly throughout scripture and everywhere in the world, right down to my own heart:<br><br><strong>For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.</strong> – Romans 6:23 (This is a great, simple packaging of the Good Message) <br><br><strong>The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.</strong> – John 10:10 (Jesus is speaking very specifically here) <br><br>Through this lens, you start to see some beautiful applications of the Gospel in the Old Testament, stories that are often practical, personal, and transformative reminders of the stories of God's faithfulness when we believe the Good Message and put it into practice in our everyday life.<br><br> </p>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/59981562019-04-16T19:00:00-05:002023-11-21T18:35:31-06:00He Looked Right At Me<p style="text-align:center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/395830/1cec9b35545ee1fc954f6fce6f7b80da1348da9e/original/april-2019-graphic.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MjI2eDMwMCJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="300" width="226" /></p><p> "I thought I could handle it. I knew it would be a little dangerous and that someone might recognize me, but I had to do something Luke! So I followed John who was able to get us into the courtyard as we waited to figure out what was going to happen to Jesus. I thought, maybe there was a rescue, but you know I did tell him that I would die for him. I tried to do it with my little short sword in the Garden, but the Master wasn't pleased with that effort. So while I was in the courtyard some people started to ask me questions. I tried to shake it off and get them to move on. I evaded... OK, I denied I knew Jesus quietly the first time, but they were persistent. Finally I had had enough and I started calling down curses in my denial. I heard a sound behind me and it triggered a memory of something Jesus said. 'Before the rooster crows you will deny me three times'. As I recognized the sound of the rooster and the words of denial coming out of my mouth, Jesus was being led through the courtyard.<br><br>Luke... He looked right at me".<br><br>Luke was a very detailed writer and likely spent a lot of time interviewing people. As God led him to write down the accounts of the people to help tell the narrative of the Gospel of Christ, we can almost picture Peter and Luke sitting down as Luke perhaps asked him all the hard questions. Later on, in the letters that Peter wrote to the church, you have the much older and wiser friend of Jesus who speaks with the maturity that only failing, repenting, trusting God's forgiveness and then getting up again, can bring to a person. After his denials of Christ, he weeps bitterly. He hides with the other disciples after Jesus death is confirmed. He cowers in fear at what the Jewish elite might do to him. And then - a glimmer of hope.<br><br>Perhaps the first glimmer of hope came from the very face of Jesus. Jesus wasn't surprised, he predicted it would happen. I picture Jesus continuing his prayer at the time of the prediction "Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers" (Luke 22:31-32).<br><br>Fast Forward: At the news of women that they had seen an angel, all the other disciples refused to believe them. It was just utter nonsense. But the thought of those words "JESUS IS ALIVE!!", caused his broken heart to dare to hope again. "Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb" (Luke 24:12). In John's Gospel, John beat Peter to the tomb, but Peter was the one to go in. That day they would see Jesus in person. Some days later, Jesus would again look into the eyes of Peter and ask him three times "Do You Love Me?". He would restore Peter and weeks later, Peter would preach one of the most pointed sermons ever at Pentecost, setting the foundation for what the church would be in the millennia ahead.<br><br>So what about you? What about me? I just keep coming back to the look on Jesus face and the prayer for Peter who he knew would blow it. Maybe nobody knows the doubts that you wrestle with. Maybe nobody knows the secret sins I've committed. Maybe nobody knows the fear we carry and the real consequences of truthful answers. God does.<br><br>As we walk with Jesus this Holy week, to the upper room, to the cross, to the tomb, and to the empty grave, consider the fact that in your darkest times, Jesus is looking right at you. With the words "He is not here, he has risen, just as he said", may God melt our fears into joy. First, that his sacrifice for my sin was enough!! That by it, my identity is "LOVED CHILD OF GOD!". That "Life to the Full", heaven, perfect relationship with God is something that we will experience when our bodies die.<br><br>This Easter season, when Jesus looks straight at Peter... at you... at me - consider JESUS hope for you and me in the wake of the Easter Resurrection - "I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen others". Yeah - He's looking at You :)<br><br>He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!</p>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/59981552019-02-21T18:00:00-06:002023-11-21T18:36:29-06:00The Pharisee in Me<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/395830/870d93a4edc2f4e3aabf3439f76a34e2a4bcfde8/original/feb-2019-graphic.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MzUweDI2MyJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="263" width="350" /><p>"White Washed Tombs". That's what Jesus called a group of religious elites in his day. Jesus, the Son of God, who was sent to bring life to the dead, healing to the sick and to bind up the brokenhearted had had enough. The Pharisees had pushed, prodded and "prouded" themselves throughout Jesus ministry and God was done. Jesus, God in human flesh, calls out these religious elites with seven woes, each one more damning than the previous one. And then he gets to the 6th time and he calls them a grave that has been painted over to look pretty on the outside while a dead heart lurks within.</p><p>We are going through a couple of challenging message series over the past two months "<a class="no-pjax" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=0010mNjKTFkSyirWxtfNu9ZS94tmwBTVsvHVUQ3CAbeQoPBZQtJwPmcSAZhrAM0otQZ-ufBCgwlMg2qVtBwOS7PRr_Uy1oo_Gdv1d8LQNLiwiApZdiMBh5ej8oNzBcSlq-AqvbYWn83_eCoSyMqmunMCC5sbhPM78wzrS_t265UP8rhO-B3Ebfy3wDUF4ZjwhZNWJ0CXLpowAX9VEiarlNWgG9EiUWfqbJ-dKN0rCbeGloBiU21HwLF4d7Dx5a9uEgL&c=y8zwYOiOzzuqXB1isb2UtSc7Ub4RCfqoh8egRtcc0UXjZ7hd1YWlew==&ch=Gu1MEe19b8KTLCP1KP6Qkk9A_aDNRazhVFYDz9tNRTM4f1kIZuG6BQ==" target="_blank"><strong>Jesus Friend of All</strong></a>" and our current series "<a class="no-pjax" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=0010mNjKTFkSyirWxtfNu9ZS94tmwBTVsvHVUQ3CAbeQoPBZQtJwPmcSAZhrAM0otQZFH2DI_tYs3Yrs2xwOm5frsjg_pxdYHMoygHfII5iuuZcDnUW4aw1PMLdzooYckTfzPKITCvf-uZJwNTulKyU0iAZY9kcSzKGXj4OJ4ajOz98FEluE4bW-A==&c=y8zwYOiOzzuqXB1isb2UtSc7Ub4RCfqoh8egRtcc0UXjZ7hd1YWlew==&ch=Gu1MEe19b8KTLCP1KP6Qkk9A_aDNRazhVFYDz9tNRTM4f1kIZuG6BQ==" target="_blank"><strong>Me, Friend of All</strong></a>?" (Just click on the links if you'd like to view them). The challenge has been to examine how Jesus was a Friend to us and then to challenge God's people and ask the question, "Do I follow Jesus example?" This message series is based in part on an incredible book called "Gay and God" written by Pastor Mike Novotony and it's an examination of what it means to love ALL people ... AND ... love ALL the passages God wrote. And I have a confession to make.</p><p>I grew up in the church. Christian education. I knew the Gospel, passed the tests, served in the church and have tried to lead. Yet there has been a nagging in my heart when it comes to loving people who aren't Christians, or Christians who say they are, but don't live like it. You see, it's in humility that we see and admit our sin. Only the repentant sinner receives forgiveness and that means you have to show people their sins, right? How can they know they need a Savior if they don't know they are a sinner. It's good math - and yet I missed something until a couple weeks ago and it has bothered me much of my adult life.</p><p>Loving people who don't believe in Jesus is hard and my default heart position is to point out people's sin. My overwhelming desire is to point out their failure to live up to the LAW. The driver that cut me off... LAW ON YOU!!! The thief who steals and gets caught... THE LAW ON YOU!!! The person who doesn't believe like me... Yep, THE LAW ON YOU!!! Oh I might not say it that way, but I am surprised and disappointed to see that this is almost always my knee jerk response. And I can see now that it is the Pharisee in me. I know Jesus, I am saved and yet my instinct is to point out the failure of people first, rather than the love of our Savior.</p><p>In Mike's book, he does an excellent job of helping us see how Jesus loved those who were not at all like him. The Good Samaritan is Jesus, I am the wounded man on the side of the road, so completely different from him and yet he helps and heals me. You see, God's example starts with an unconditional <strong>LOVE.</strong></p><p>In the story of the Prodigal Son, the Father waits with patience after the younger son crashes and burns, while the indignant older son despises the foolishness of the loving Father. For the one who ran away, the Father waits patiently. For the son "slaving away" he goes out to get him. The Father extends and restores relationship to those who have destroyed it. That is the heart of the <strong>GOSPEL.</strong></p><p>As I went through the book about loving LGBTQ people AND the Passages that God wrote I found that, while others may find their identity in their gender, sexuality, skin color, financial status and religion among other things - perhaps my identity is far more rooted in the Law, than it is in the unconditional Love of God. It is the reason I am quick to say "But we need to show them how they are sinning... how they are wrong". The Law does not inspire life, it only confronts people with Death. If there is no hope for forgiveness extended first, the law is a hammer that will crush without mercy and that's why the order Pastor Novotony lays out is to Love, Gospel, Bible, Trust. LGBT if we are going to be Jesus to people who do not know Jesus.</p><p>While I am disappointed to realize that there is a lot of Pharisee in me, I also take comfort in who Jesus eats with. Remember how several times the Bible talks about Jesus going to eat with Sinners and Tax Collectors? Remember how he said he came to SEEK and SAVE the lost? Well he also ate with Pharisees and yes, even some of them came to experience the power of the Gospel he preached. It is comforting to know, that God's gift of Grace and forgiveness and unconditional love is also a gift that he extends to the Pharisee in me.</p><p>Let's keep praying for each other that we might serve those who have no relationship with Jesus with the LOVE of Christ, the unimaginable gift of the GOSPEL, the undeniable TRUTH of the Bible and then let's live in absolute TRUST that God will work all things to his good, in his time, for his glory and our eternity!</p>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/59981542019-01-30T18:00:00-06:002023-11-21T18:36:48-06:00Rest in the Midst of the Polar Plunge<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/395830/da690c6ca2d4f554a903341825b16fba43b6b993/original/jan-2019-graphic.png/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6NDAweDIyNSJd.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="225" width="400" /><p>January is known for a lot of things. If I were to ask you what the month of January meant to you, what would you say? For us, the wedding anniversary of my wife and I (22 years this year!). It's the birthday month of two of our three kids It's Awake and Alive month! And it's the month when seasonal depression can really kick in. <br><br>Right now, we're just starting to come out of the darkest time of the year, have endured a lot of snow and cold these last couple weeks (-21F this morning in MKE), and for some, it can really suck the life out of you. For any of us who struggle with Seasonal Affective Disorder, then this plunge isn't just the temperature related kind, it can be the depressive kind too. Overworked, underexcercised, stressed out, unappreciated, tired, restless, cold... Waaaaaait a second. I think I see what's going on here...<br><br>I don't know about you, but I know that I have a tendency to turn inwards when I don't feel good. I look around and compare my life to some ideal that I have in my mind. I look in the mirror and I cast judgement on what I see. I look at my to do list and I feel guilt. I remember what I thought, said, did and I want to take it back, I feel my shame. It's amazing to see that for some of us, we really have to be careful in these darker months, because we tend to look inward at our self. It's hard to see our way out and it's exactly the opposite of what the Psalmist implores our souls to do.<br><br> </p><p><i><strong>6 My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.</strong></i></p><p><i><strong>7 Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.</strong></i></p><p><i><strong>8 By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me - a prayer to the God of my life</strong></i> </p><p><i><strong>11 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God." - Psalm 42</strong></i></p><p>When we feel the physical, emotional, and spiritual impact of the various "Polar Plunges" in the seasons of our lives, it is good for us to be in God's word. In the intimacy of the presence of God who encourages our inner being to look from ourselves and circumstances to see the God who is in control and who holds us when we love ourselves and holds us when we are broken to pieces.<br><br>Melissa and I spent a week in Florida on tour and vacation. This was not really a relaxing vacation this time; it was more of a "TourVenture". Budget rental car problems, LOTS of driving, breezy so not quite as idyllic. I'm whining right? Well we did have one night where we shelved our plans to "do" anything, just so we could watch the sun set off the Florida Keys. Quiet, just watching, listening, feeling and being still. It was then that I could finally hear that still small voice saying "remember your God" In that moment the familiar words of Jesus came flooding into my mind, my body, my spirit, my soul.<br><br>"Come to me, you who are weary and heavy burdened - and I will give you rest"!<br><br>Even in the middle of my polar plunge Yes my soul, put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God!</p>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/59981532018-12-19T18:00:00-06:002019-03-10T14:38:18-05:00"I See You" - A Christmas Encouragement<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/395830/f4f0099e82af715e593ba1fb606e743ad540c9d5/original/dec-2018-graphic.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6NDAweDI2NyJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="267" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></p>
<p>Christmas has a lot of meaning in our world, and it means different things for different people. There is the fun of the Christmas "spirit" with the giving and receiving of gifts, the childlike imagination of Santa Claus, the quiet and dark of the season where the stars shine so brightly on a cold night. And of course for the Christian, it is the celebration of promise fulfilled in the babe in Bethlehem, Jesus Christ.<br><br>Regardless of where you are on this spirit and spiritual spectrum, one thing that is probably most powerful for people around the globe is the importance of belonging and impact of family and of community. If you have or have had that strong sense of family and community, I praise God with you! I pray that family remains strong and moments filled with joy. I have come from one of those families, imperfect, but mine, and one that I have been grateful. <br><br>And yet this time of year is also one filled with quite a bit of stress, but probably more than that - loneliness. <br><br>My hunch is that loneliness at Christmas brings to many of us the illusion of perfection, one that just doesn't exist in families, even with the first one with Adam and Eve. There is regret for sins left unconfessed and unforgiven. There is the chair that now sits empty that was once filled with the love that we miss so dearly. There is the distance that separates loved ones and a nostalgia that we long for. And there is also the joy that comes that we so dearly enjoy and so desperately want to hold onto. For these and other reasons, Christmas is also a very lonely time of year for many people. And for some of us, we may wonder if anyone sees us.<br><br>This Christmas, as we've shared concerts talking about the characters and story of the Nativity, there is one idea that has been quietly growing in my heart and that is this. That baby in the manger is God almighty saying to you and to me "I SEE YOU"!<br><br>In the garden, God saw Adam and Eve in their nakedness, having broken relationship with God and with each other launching all mankind into a holy and spiritual deficit that we can't recover from on our own. But in that moment, God said effectively "I See You". He covered their nakedness and promised one to come that would crush the enemy.<br><br>In the Old Testament, God says to the captives in Babylon "I See You". Sin has carried you into captivity, but I will be with you and when the time has been completed I will restore you.<br><br>To the small of Bethlehem, God says "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” - Though you are small, I SEE YOU, the restoration will come!<br><br>And in the manger of Bethlehem, the virgin gives birth to her first born, a son, calling him Emmanuel - that "God With Us" would save his people. God in human flesh cries out and in effect the voice of God now speaks "I See You".<br><br>In the Upper room Jesus will say "Take and Eat, Take and Drink" this is FOR YOU, because I see you. On the cross he will say "It is FINISHED" and in the Garden he will look at a broken believer who is desperate to find the body of her Lord and say to her "Mary".<br><br>For all of the lonely, the broken, and those who feel shattered, the manger in Bethlehem reminds you and me that God Sees YOU, God sees US! And as the angels sing and shout "GLORY" "GO and SEE", our hearts pound just a little harder. The edge of hard memories softens. Our social status no longer matters, what we've done and left undone stops for a moment for you and I to go and peer into the manger and see God staring back at you and me... "I SEE YOU" <br><br>Yes, it is good to wait quietly for the Salvation of our Lord!<br><br>May you have a full and Merry Christmas! God Sees You, You are not alone!</p>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/59981522018-11-19T18:00:00-06:002018-11-22T15:02:23-06:00STOP - Wait - REST<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/395830/9fbb7c6e21502c3e8df73166f6d7ee4ae0d09e4c/original/mc-nov-pic.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MjM1eDIzNSJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="235" width="235" /></p>
<p>Can you feel it? I bet most of you have. The pre-Black Friday emails have been coming for the past week. The warnings of holiday travel times have been rolling through the media. Santa is at the mall, and for some reason, December decided to skip its place in the seasonal line and jump in and take over November's weather.<br><br>Yep, it's the season for "GOTTA GET IT DONE AND MAKE IT PERFECT" anxiety. <br><br>happy place, happy place, happy place<br><br>About 8 years ago I had my first encounter with full blown depression. I've had family go through it, friends wrestle with it and walked through counseling to get a handle on it, but never really felt it myself. And due to a series of poor decisions on my use of time as well as work stress, I was burnt out and fell into a black hole that I never want to go back to again. For three weeks, there was little that you could tell me that I didn't already know. Knowing the truth did not make the darkness any lighter; to some degree it actually annoyed me. <br><br>I had been listening to a song by Steven Curtis Chapman that God put in front me in the way that only he could and the chorus just kept ringing in my ears:<br><br>"And believe me now, believe me here<br>Remember all the times I've told you loud and clear<br>I am with you and I am for you<br>So believe me now, believe me now"<br><br>With this refrain rolling through that depression, the anxiety and the guilt that I felt started to ease up, and I felt more like myself as some of the over committedness and stress subsided. Yet, ever since that time I've had an increasing sensitivity to burnout, almost a sixth sense of sorts. And while I absolutely LOVE the Christmas season, the stresses and strains of family, work, ministry, conferences... often turn my thoughts inward on myself and what " I " have to accomplish. I can literally feel the knot in my stomach tighten at the risk of anxiety and depression nipping at my heals.<br><br>That's why I appreciate this section of encouragement from Lamentations and why I thought it was good to share with all of us. Take a moment to read this, perhaps take a pencil and write them out for yourselves and savor the PEACE that these words hold for us:<br><br><br>"22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. <br>23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. <br>24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” <br>25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; <br>26 it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord." - Lamentations 3:22-26 <br><br>My prayer is to read these words and let God breathe life into you this holiday season. You and I can't accomplish anything of lasting value unless he makes it possible anyway (check out vs. 37). But we can do the best with what we have and that means - keep our priorities of God, Family, Work, Stuff straight and in their proper order. <br><br>Perhaps most importantly find a regular time and a place that you and I would simply sit and "Wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord"<br><br>God bless your Thanksgiving and Advent journey!<br><br></p>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/59981512018-10-16T19:00:00-05:002023-11-21T18:37:03-06:00Can you have "Faith - Without a Doubt?"<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/395830/003467b9dfb2b3ac07e2c16169f5479ea3c3102c/original/without-a-doubt.png/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MjAzeDIwMyJd.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="203" width="203" /><p><br>The topic of doubt is a big one in the lives of Christ "But how can I trust you?” Says the parent to the teenager that had the car out past curfew with no call and no answer? "But how can I trust you now?” Says one spouse to another in the midst of a lie discovered? "But how can I trust you now?” Says a friend to a former when the gossip reaches their ears? “But how can I trust you?” Says the Christian to God when circumstances go beyond the sight of faith.<br><br>The topic of doubt is a big one in the lives of Christians and is of significant importance in the lives of young adults in particular. For many of us, doubts are like germs. We wash our hands to make sure we don't get those little germs on us. We use anti-bacterial everything to make sure we kill off the latest thing going around the office. We get flu shots to make sure we don't get the strain this year. As a society, we tend to fear germs.<br><br>And aren't doubts, when it comes to matters of faith, viewed much the same way? When we have doubts, we open ourselves up to a sickness of thinking. We open ourselves up to lies from the enemy, our defenses are down, we take actions, we think thoughts, and we follow lines of thought that can lead us to dangerous places. Oh if only we could keep that simple and strong childlike faith "Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so".<br><br>As we transition from an adolescent understanding of the Gospel to what Jesus called "Life to the Full", it's a lot harder to simply trust Jesus love simply because the Bible and my 6th grade faith says so. "How can a loving God allow...” (insert doubt). "I'm obedient, why am I suffering" (insert doubt). "I believed and so many prayed, so why didn't God save...” (insert doubt). The doubts we have often challenge our view of God and we find it hard to trust as the child we once were. The strength of that simple beautiful childlike faith vanishes as our hopes seemed to be bigger than the promises God could deliver. And then we hear him say "you of little faith, why are you so afraid." Translate - why do you doubt me?<br><br>The disciples fear for their lives, they proclaim their doubts, they exclaim with an amount of certainty that they are going to die, and they need him to save. Do you notice God didn't rebuke the wind and waves at once? He didn't speak first to the problems and the turmoil, he spoke first to the disciples - he speaks first to the doubts in you and me. <i>"TRUST ME, I make even the storms of life, and even your doubts serve my design to help you see me more clearly and to understand the true mission of Life to the Full"</i>.<br><br>Most germs are actually good for us. Without them, our immune system cannot handle the increasing risks that future germs carry. We get a little sick; the body learns how to defeat the germ and builds in an immunity to help us in the future. Because we live in a sinful world, our faith is something that will grow only when it's stretched and worked, sort of like a muscle, or better yet an immune system. As God leads us into valleys, we ask the hard questions, we experience uncertainty and often in fear, we honestly confess and express our doubts. And you know what? <strong>God is not afraid of your doubts</strong>.He's heard them all before, and he asks us to look deeper into Grace, trust more of our life to him, and let him help us see beyond the temporary sufferings with a faith that sees when all the lights go out.<br><br>God knows a growing faith will have doubts, and while some germs can overwhelm the body, he knows some doubts can overwhelm our faith. This is why walking together with other Christians, built on the foundation of the truth of Scripture and the promises of God found in the Bible is so important. Sometimes germs make us so sick we need help. Sometimes doubts can so overwhelm our faith that we need help. It's why staying close to God's word and God's people are so important. Because in the doubt, is a bigger perspective of God's Grace, plan and purpose.<br><br>Most Christians want to have the maturity of faith that can stand on the promises of God and say "I have faith without a doubt". Don't be surprised that, if we ever get there, our adult faith can't grow to that confidence without God walking us through MANY doubts. I don't know that we can actually have a strong faith... without acknowledging our doubts and processing them through God's word and the ultimate story of his eternal Grace for us. <br><br>My prayer? Admit our doubts. Stay in the word. Let God open up the deeper truths, the fuller connections to the story of God and what this life is really for. Your doubts, treated by God's word and the accountability of Christian mentors, can be what God uses to grow us from that childlike faith, through the questioning that comes as faith develops deeper roots, to one of a mature Christian. A Christian confident to not only stand in the storm, but to then take the light of the Gospel into the darkness before you with boldness. - God be with you this month!</p>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/59981502018-09-19T19:00:00-05:002023-11-21T18:37:18-06:00I Wish I Had a Do-Over!<p>I was making a forecast earlier this week and felt pretty good about how things were turning out. Most of the big storms were in Minnesota and Iowa and I knew there was a small chance for a few weak ones along a cold front dropping through northern WI as it headed south. When I got home from the office, my email started to let me know that the office was putting out alerts for storms near Green Bay - I had underestimated the impact of the cold front and the storms were bigger than I thought they were. In hindsight - I wish I had looked harder at the cold front - I knew better. "Can I have a do-over?” <br> <br>As of this writing we're in week two of "The Family Church" series at St. Paul's, and I'm just being blown away at the teaching, insights, and moments in worship, in God's word, in the devotions and the messages. This past week was about considering the reality that all of us who know Christ as Lord and Savior, are in a position to be a shepherd to someone (<a class="no-pjax" href="https://vimeo.com/290166245" target="_blank"><strong>you can watch the message here</strong></a>). Particularly for moms and dads, this idea of being the PASTOR of my family, is pretty radical and for some of us downright terrifying. Being a Pastor is hard. <br> <br>I can say with the Psalmist <i>"I know my transgressions and my sin is always before me" - Psalm 51:3. </i> I KNOW my intentional, willful acts of rebellion. I am aware of my quiet failings that I hear about years later. The enemy is eager to remind me of my missteps and my natural urge is to say "I've got to fix this!” If I can't fix it, then I long to have a do-over. Yet life doesn't work like a video game, you don't just reset it back to start. Perhaps you get one in golf, but there are no mulligans in life. Our actions have repercussions and when they involve sin, the consequences leave us devastated. Are you wishing for a Do-Over in your life, but know that you'll never get one? <br> <br>As Pastor Pete Panitzke wound down his message from God's word, he wanted to leave all of us with a clear ringing Gospel message, and it just released the guilt of my heart releasing the weight and memory of my failings as a Parent Pastor. <i><strong>God, knowing our desire to fix things on our own efforts, or our desire to just quit because it's too hard, says to you and me - "I don't give Do-Overs... I give Forgiveness". </strong></i><br><i><strong> </strong></i><br>A <strong>Do Over</strong> makes it easy for us to ignore the past and move on without learning... it stifles vulnerability and intimacy. <strong>Repentance </strong>acknowledges our sin. It paves the way for <strong>Grace </strong>to be the wonder that it is, restoring the whole relationship we have with our Father in heaven. <strong>Faith </strong>in a loving, saving God is the gift that allows us to humbly admit failure and receive the blessing that Forgiveness is. <br> <br>I am grateful for the shepherds in my life who remind me that it is not about the Do-Over, but it is moving forward in the power of forgiveness. It is Forgiveness that God uses to change our futures. If you've screwed up a relationship, damaged a friendship, or been impacted by the sin of someone else, I pray that you and I can find freedom and strength that comes through the forgiveness given to us. That we might be restored and then be used by God to restore all the other people we know that are wishing for a Do-Over. <br> <br>May you and I have the opportunity to be the sweet sound of Gospel joy in the world this week! <br><br> </p>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/59981492018-08-23T19:00:00-05:002018-08-29T04:59:25-05:00For All Who Ask God Why<p>This!... That's how it actually finishes. "In days to come, you will understand this". This phrase just blew me away in my reading of the book of Jeremiah, and I honestly haven't really been able to move past it. After all, how many times do we ask God - WHY?? <br> <br>I have found truth in the statement that "Disappointment comes from unmet expectations", and it has been a very helpful way for me to process frustration, anger, and sorrow. Know too that many unmet expectations begin as "stealth assumptions"; it is a critical perspective to understand some of our disappointments in life. One of the great applications of this principal can be applied to that question that we so want to ask God - WHY? Sometimes these why questions come from a place of utter brokenness, often in times of intimate and untimely loss. We had an expectation, and it was not met. We are left heartbroken. Sometimes these why questions are in response to our awareness of how good we've got it in a season of life. We had expectations, but God far exceed them, and we are left to wonder.<br> <br>And yet when it comes to the why questions, we often only see a very small and, if we're honest, fairly selfish perspective when it comes to what God is doing. The book of Jeremiah has been a fascinating read for me of late. I always grew up with people saying he was the "weeping prophet". I had no desire to really read it, and boy have I missed out. I'm not even through it, and it's taken me 7 weeks just to get to chapter 32. It is SO culturally relevant today, and this particular passage just stopped me in my tracks, and here's just one or two reasons why.<br> <br>Chapter 30 begins with a description of what it means to be "by nature sinful". We live with a wound that cannot be healed. A shame that cannot be covered. That is who we are by nature, and God is well aware of it. Our sin has produced it. And then Mercy is shown to us, and God himself provides the healing. And then Grace on top of Mercy is shown to us when he calls us back to him and calls us his people. The text even hints at Jesus, the Leader coming from among us and being close to God. Why? <strong>"So you will be my people, and I will be your God.’</strong> - Jeremiah 30:22</p>
<p>It is this backdrop that serves the passage that we wanted to share with you this month. While it starts with the idea of God's "fierce anger", we're reminded that anger is not necessarily sinful; it can also mean "intense focus". A synonym for anger is "Passion", and while we don't want to overlook God's righteous hatred of sin (which is a large part of the book), passion may be a better translation within the context. . <strong>"The intense passion of the Lord will not turn back until he fully accomplishes the purposes of his heart." </strong>And what is that passion and purpose? That you and I would be his own and that he would be what he set out to be - our Good and Perfect Father.</p>
<p>A friend of mine shared with me that he recently found out that the death of his teenage daughter many years ago was a significant motivating factor in the life of a young high school student who was inspired to become a teacher to help kids through hard times. Decades after this happened, my friend gets a glimpse of how God used a devastating disappointment to inspire his daughter’s classmate to shine his light to many young teenagers for years to come. At 76, my friend could only marvel at the good that could come out of his family's heartbreaking loss. "In days to come you will understand... this".<br> <br>We all ask God why. We want to know the reason for our pain, and we want to know now. Your loving father knows the pain; he suffered it all, far more than we can know. And yet he walks with us through the pain, he walks with us through the seasons of wonder, he walks with us through the seasons of uncertainty. While we can't know all of the details and connections to our circumstances, we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him. For all of us who ask God "WHY!?" we hear him say very simply that to be his people, is to be what we were made for. To be his people is to be fully human. The overarching reason behind all of the stories and circumstances comes back to God's fierce passion that we would "be his people and that he would be our God" He will use every joy and hurt to accomplish this eternal reality. I pray that in days to come, we will understand this, especially when life in this world hurts the most!</p>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/59981482018-07-24T19:00:00-05:002018-07-26T15:16:59-05:00Live Like It's True!<p>A few weeks ago I was reading in a Christian magazine called "Forward in Christ", a brief article about the word "Amen". Ask someone what it means and you get the general definition of "agreement". Ask a Christian and it is often translated something like "So shall it be". Or if you were Jean Luk Picard from Star Trek the Next Generation "Make it so!". It might even be translated "la la la la, la la la la", perhaps silly, but when put at the end of the statement "We are found in you! And this makes all the difference. This changes everything - Making our whole existence - Worth something so we sing"... AMEN!!!</p>
<p>I have always loved this word and what it means, but as I was reading through the article, the highlighted quote by Pastor John Braun said this: "Amen is our word of confident faith in all the promises God makes". And I stepped back and just sat with that for a while, considering deeply the connection between the words Confidence, Faith, Promises, and God.</p>
<p>At about 4am the next morning, I was stirred to waking by the relentlessness of this wrestling match of words in my soul. You see, some of the songs I have written have been born out of sleep and in the waking hours of the night. I guess there is something creative that stirs in me at this hour of the early morning, and as I woke up, words were on the tip of my tongue I walked out to the kitchen and began to write:</p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><strong>"Amen! So Shall it Be! LIVE like it's TRUE. The word Amen is more than an agreement with a statement, opinion, or promise. Amen moves our prayer from active hope, to living belief."</strong></span></p>
<p>This was the idea that the article had stirred in my mind, to my heart, and to the deepest part of my soul. What excites me about that word, used in Christian faith is that it moves our heart and mind from hope to something that gives life. Martin Luther described the process of believing as three parts. KNOWing information, TRUSTing that information to be true and then LIVing like it is true. You need to hear the Gospel and be touched by the means of Grace. By that Grace, we trust the promises of God to be true. BUT... then comes the hardest part for many of us, LIVING like those promises are true.</p>
<p>And that is why I believe this one little word is so powerful. Our prayers are often statements of information, desire, longing, and hope. They are statements. And then, we conclude and have to do something more than hope and that is live out the belief that our God hears us and will answer us, yes or no, or not now - all in his time. ALWAYS knowing that he will answer our prayers for our ultimate good and his ultimate glory.</p>
<p>As I sat with the satisfaction of the thought that AMEN moves our prayer from active hope to living belief, a robin began to sing in the altered darkness with just the faintest hint of light on the eastern horizon. It is amazing to me, that <span style="font-size: small;"><em><strong>here too is the example of AMEN sung by God's creation itself, greeting the dawn that is - not quite yet, but sure to come!</strong> </em></span>An active hope, sung into living belief that the promise of the new day is coming!</p>
<p>May our every prayer and hope rest in the confident faith in all the promises God makes - Amen?</p>
<p>AMEN!</p>
<p> </p>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/59981472018-06-20T19:00:00-05:002018-06-21T15:41:04-05:00In the Shadows of a Burned Out Church<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/395830/f94ad13075f1c24b76ca250d25242cf98591e944/original/trinity-lutheran-1.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6NjY5eDM3NiJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="376" width="669" /></p>
<p>On May 15th, a fire broke out in downtown Milwaukee on the roof of the historic Trinity Lutheran Church (LCMS) and one of downtown Milwaukee's oldest church landmarks. Many of us in SE Wisconsin have seen the devastation from that fire and felt a loss and a perhaps a bit of wonder at how God allows something like this to happen.<br><br>Whenever we go to events in downtown Milwaukee, we frequently park in the lot behind the church so this fire had something of a personal effect for me and my family. A couple weeks ago, after a chilly Tuesday evening softball game, I took my youngest son, Thomas, down to see the remnants of the church. From the parking lot you could get something of an idea of the impact, but not until you walked to the side did you see the full impact of the fire. As we talked about the work of the firefighters, what the congregation may do and the fact that there is nothing that can pull down the Gospel of Christ, a man who lives on Milwaukee's streets walked up to us. As I asked him how he was doing, his response was direct and to the point, "Terrible", and I was not surprised by this answer. So I asked him to tell us about Terrible.<br><br>LW is 51 years old, an African American man who was quite eloquent, well mannered, and respectful, but bore the evidence of a hard life. He had come from Chicago and through a series of circumstances found himself on the streets of Milwaukee where he shares poetry and appropriate jokes for people in the city. Odd jobs around town is what he tries to do when he can get them, but without the degree and skills that come from a more significant education or trade work and without the stability of a home, he relies on whatever comes. The sins of his youth bare their scars today, but he handled himself in our presence with respect and some words of advice for my young man.<br><br>I asked him what gives him "joy", and not surprisingly, there wasn't much that left him deeply satisfied, but a memory that gave him peace was the mother of his children before they were no longer together and she passed away. Relationships in good and difficult times, they are one of our greatest blessings! I asked if I could share what gives me hope with him and for him. You see, what I saw in this man was perhaps something of the best Milwaukee might offer. A black man and a white man, not afraid to be honest with each other, respectful and vulnerable in the presence of my 13 year old son. Yes, I know what addiction has done to so many that find themselves homeless, but in that moment it was three human beings made in the image of God, standing in the shadows of a burned out church.<br><br>And I shared with him the Joy of the Lord and prayed it would be his strength as it is ours. Hebrews 12 finds these familiar words "For the Joy set before him, he endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God". That it was in Christ's humiliation that he paid the price for our brokenness and sin and then calls us sons and daughters of the King who created us and calls us his own. We stood on the corner with our hands on our shoulders and prayed over LW's life and future. After saying Amen, my young son, remembering that he had gloves he wasn't using, quietly handed them to LW on this chilly evening. LW looked at Thomas and down at the gift and to Thomas again and said "Thank You young man". A few minutes later he remembered the cookies that he had brought and offered them as well.</p>
<p>I couldn't help but think that perhaps this church now more accurately reflects the Body of Christ. Whether homeless or well fed, jobless or well employed, in families or if we're fatherless, we all have a heart that has been burned out, desperate to be made new.</p>
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<td>And yet, our baptisms remind us daily that God is renewing us day by day, constantly calling us back to himself until the full renewal comes when he does make EVERYTHING new! The cross reminds us that in brokenness, Joy is possible because when we have relationship with Christ he will work all things to the good of those who love him and he will use our brokenness to call others to him!<br><br>It is a beautiful thing to consider that a broken black man, a broken white man and a broken young man, might be brought together to share the "Good News" that makes all things new. God's grace through the Gospel, a personal message meant for every living person, still goes forward, even in the shadows of a burned out church!<br><br>To God be the Glory!<br>
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</table>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/59981462018-05-21T19:00:00-05:002023-11-21T18:37:32-06:00The Journey of a Divine Call<p>If you haven't heard by now, I've been given the honor to pray over some specific next steps in the life of my family and ministry. It has been percolating for the past few years where I have been a part time ministry worker with my home church at St. Paul's WI where I lead worship 3 weekends/month, help with scheduling and mentoring as well as participate in our Ministry Growth Team. As God has started to shuffle the ministry staff "deck" in many churches around the country, he has seen fit to extend a Divine Call to me through our friends at Crosswalk Lutheran in Phoenix, AZ.<br><br>My full time work remains a love of mine, working with college meteorology students in my role as the Director of Operations for Innovative Weather at UW-Milwaukee, which I have had for the past 11 years. I continue to lead <a class="no-pjax" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=00103xpwLqbayRl_SOhIFF4iaIcH1Aj3bPLa0rWNzAiwQa1NBrMmeRMzldvB0qxntuWcG8B7pnsnViXMUl4h4QvMeZRem_nT1pIQbG-nYQcrIPXvgokknhlhYk3-tnl5nfGtTwGUt6ggqY=&c=5t3hTKU7QD5UiF-Uh9TZRicjaUo3TAFe7EJ8-XYig40tZxBu4Lz0yw==&ch=4BPKHXRdtblWzTf3mjAroEk2i4vSc0a0qABMeCFqcmhazoHkFZ4y7w==" target="_blank"><strong>Awake and Alive</strong></a> (our next event is coming up June 10th in Muskego and online) and I continue to make plans to get back into the concert ministry as time allows this summer. But, this is a new thing for me to consider a call from a church into full time ministry for a specific reason and for a specific season. My full time work remains a love of mine, working with college meteorology students in my role as the Director of Operations for Innovative Weather at UW-Milwaukee, which I have had for the past 11 years. I continue to lead Awake and Alive (our next event is coming up June 10th in Muskego and online) and I continue to make plans to get back into the concert ministry as time allows this summer. But, this is a new thing for me to consider a call from a church into full time ministry for a specific reason and for a specific season. It's an honor and... it is a challenge! If you've ever wondered some of what goes into it, here are a few things I've learned:<br> <br>In my rookie experience, the Call process seems to have 4 key parts.</p><ol>
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<strong>Align ministry and values.</strong> Do my skills match the calling church's needs, mission and values?</li>
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<strong>Pray for peace in the financials.</strong> I have a lot of people that remind me that God will provide what is needed. As a person who didn't guard my finances early on in life, I'm sensitive to Dave Ramsey's advice.</li>
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<strong>Family input and reality.</strong> This isn't a call just for my ministry, but the ministry of our family and that includes my wife Melissa and our three children.</li>
<li>And while all of this is going on, we listen to thoughts and concerns from our church, co-workers, family and friends. You see I already have a call on my life that I'm living out. This is a pause to consider a change of focus, which means that if I have peace with 1-3 ultimately I have to <strong>make a judgement</strong>.</li>
</ol><p><br>Honestly, I never really understood what getting a Call means for the family receiving it, but it basically means putting your life on pause and agreeing with God to step back and reflect on a lot of things in life; where you are serving and where God is leading. In many ways once the decision is made it ultimately is a win/win for the person receiving the call because God will make all things work. But the process??? One friend said it's like being handed one more part time job on top of the work you already do. It adds some stress, but the blessing comes as God gives multiple pieces of one's life clarity. And I've been praying for that a lot lately.<br><br>So please do keep us in your prayers and please do share what gifts and talents you believe God has given me that he can use in ministry to a world that is longing for a hope that will last. Whether it's something I do already or something I might do down the line, your encouragements, challenges and affirmations are a value to me.<br><br>My family and I thank you!</p><p> </p>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/59981452018-04-22T19:00:00-05:002023-11-21T18:37:46-06:00Who Named You That?<p>Finish this for me "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but..." One of the great lies of Satan. It is amazing the power that words have over our emotions, our futures and at the core of it all, our identity. I was talking to one of the young adults that I have an opportunity to walk with in life, and as we talked about the struggles that come from being ignored, we stepped back in time to when they were younger and had to deal with the name calling and put downs of life that come in our early teens. Those simple words of "nobody wants you here" or "you're not any good at this" can become a recurring theme for a lifetime of rejection and subsequent negative self-image... IF, we don't learn the truth.</p><p> </p><p>It is perhaps on the more philosophical side of things, but we did not create ourselves, therefore we don't get to claim or create our own identity. We can say all the nice things to ourselves, but we know that those self help words often run hollow and don't sustain a positive image. In a biological way you could argue that we were created by our parents, which is why words of encouragement or discouragement run so deeply for children. But here is where our passage takes us and what gives us a new foundation to see our true identities. That before we were even formed in our mother's womb, before our moms and dads were even born, God KNEW ME!! He is the one who started the creation, he is the one who put the world in motion. He is the one who can see all of time and all relationships. And it is Him ALONE, that can actually name you and me! We can say with the psalmist:</p><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="color:#ff6600;"><i>For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.</i></span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="color:#ff6600;"><i>I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. - Psalm 139</i></span></p><p> If you find you have forgotten who you are. If you hear the voices of your past bringing shame, rejection and a condemning spirit. If the voice screaming loudest to you is the voice inside your head. Spend some time with Psalm 139 and find joy in the realization that NONE of these other characters can actually give you those names of shame, failure, and rejection. You are called child, son, daughter, adopted heir of the Most High God. Reborn from death to life in the hearing of God's story and history - the very word of God. Washed and sealed in the waters of baptism. To have intimate Common Union with the God who loves and redeems you and to be brought into Community with others who share that Communion. To be humbled at our many many failings, but to be amazed at the constant pursuit of God's forgiving and redeeming Grace given freely to us. I can't believe it without the faith the Holy Spirit gives, but he gives and gives and gives again.</p><p> </p><p>Oh sure, our actions can be judged and held to standards, but not our core identity. The 12 year old bully never had the power to name you. The angry parent (and I have been one) can't name you. Your perfectionist boss doesn't have the authority to name you. Even your doting fans and admirers can't name you. Your greatest enemy Satan, has no power to name you Only the God of scripture, the one True God, the great "I Am" and your ultimate creator, has the power to name you and to give you your foundational identity. He speaks truth when he calls you wayward and sinful and he speaks true when he calls you son and daughter. Because of Jesus Christ and what he earned for us when we could not, this is the foundation of his love that leads God to call us his boy, his girl. That is what you are and that is what he longs for you to know and truly believe.</p><p> </p><p>He loves us, Oh how he loves!</p>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/59981442018-03-22T19:00:00-05:002023-11-21T18:39:03-06:00Everything for Good<p><i>“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” - John 16:33</i></p><p><i>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</i></p><p>The passage above has long been a favorite of mine, especially in times where life has seemed to swallow up the hopes that I had been holding onto. In a challenging time in our family a few years ago, this was one of the passages that kept us close to the Savior... one of the reminders of the faithfulness of God as we wrestled to make sense of our circumstances, the new reality and the path forward.</p><p>In the Bible, the book of John was written by the youngest of the Apostles when he was an old man. It is in his account of the events that led to Easter that we have the most intense, behind the scenes look at the night that Christians call "Maundy Thursday". This is the night that Jesus met with his disciples to give them final instructions and encouragements, he foretold to them what would happen to him and what they would experience. It is the night that Jesus instituted what we now call "The Lord's Supper", a means of grace that continues to pour out the healing of our hearts and the strengthening of our faith. It is a night that Jesus:</p><p> Washes the feet of his disciples (and encourages them to be the servant of all)</p><ul>
<li>Teaches them to remain connected to God (He is the Vine, we are the branches)</li>
<li>Promises the Holy Spirit</li>
<li>Shows them how relationship with God is accomplished (Through Jesus alone)</li>
<li>Predicts his betrayal by one of their own and the denial of his most vocal supporter</li>
</ul><p>And it is here, that Jesus speaks of deep grief that will come to the disciples... and then promises that their grief will turn to joy. He finishes this night of intimate teaching and loving of his disciples by telling them WHY he has said this, and he says it to you and me. That in a relationship with Jesus Christ, made possible by his payment for our sin and his power over death, you and I can have peace even in the seasons of life that are filled with such deep trouble. Peace that the world cannot give, because there is one who is greater - Jesus, who has overcome the world.</p>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/59981432018-01-25T18:00:00-06:002018-01-27T11:41:00-06:00Breathe In<p>I came across a definition to the word "INSPIRE" that I haven't been able to stop by thinking about. As we talked in a ministry team meeting about encouraging people I felt that the word "encourage" was a little flat and not capturing what our group was really wanting for people and that I saw the alternate definition for inspire which is to "BREATHE IN" and thought, That's IT! We don't want to just make you feel a little better about your situation, but we are hoping to breathe life into the places where you are out of breath.</p>
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<p>I personally believe that the idea of inspiring... breathing life into the people around us, is one of the joys of life and one of the core purposes of our response to God's love for us. Adam was a lump of clay and God Breathed Into him - He inspired him. We were dead in sin and God comes through his word and Means of Grace and breathes life back into us and the relationship we have in him. He then tells us to go and share the history and story of God's faithfulness as he uses us to breathe life into the people who are hurting and broken... the dead places of life. He inspires us. We inspire others.</p>
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<p>If you've ever traveled on an airplane, they do the demonstration of the masks dropping from the panels in case of a loss of cabin pressure. Oxygen masks fall and the instructions are that we need to get them on ourselves first so that we can Breathe In - THEN we help someone else with theirs. God wants us to be inspired by him, that's what time in his word, in the Bible and in Worship is all about. God inspiring us. But the breath we have in our lungs is meant to be used to then go and serve others... to breathe life into others... to inspire others, all on the foundation of God's grace and his providence.</p>
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<p>One day, our bodies will "expire". Our time will be fully spent this side of heaven as God takes us into complete relationship with him in heaven. Until that time, the act of Breathing in God's mercy and Grace and Breathing out his praise and proclamation is what we were meant to do. Communion and Community. I want my work and ministry to do that for you. If there are ways we can serve you even in an email, please help us be better at it.</p>
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<p>May God Inspire you today, to be an inspiration for your family, friends, neighbors, dorm mates, coworkers, strangers on the street. And may you breathe in God's love and do it all over again!</p>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/59981422017-12-19T18:00:00-06:002018-01-15T15:18:16-06:00Just What I Always Needed!!!<p>My youngest son is 12, just about to turn 13. I can remember this season of Christmas presents when I was his age. You know the one where the kid is growing so fast you can't keep them in shoes, shirts or pants because they outgrow them every 3 months. Their entertainment is shifting from affordable toys to the start of more expensive entertainment endeavors. They are impossible to buy for on a budget. NOW... as a kid (perhaps us adults too) the Christmas moment that we're all hoping for is that moment when we open the gift. With passionate and enthusiastic energy we tear open the wrappings, rip open the box, hold up the treasure inside and exclaim... "IT'S JUST WHAT I ALWAYS NEEDED!!!".</p>
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<p>What a second. I mean it's supposed to be"It's just what I always - WANTED!!!". Nobody rips open the wrappings to find underwear and socks with the excitement that we received something that we needed. On occasion, what we always wanted is something that we really needed and those tend to be the magic moments that bring some of the greatest joy and satisfaction, and I pray we see Christmas this way.</p>
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<p>I recently was listening to a secular program that was interviewing a talented secular individual who explained that he loves what religion adds to the human experience, but that he doesn't believe that religion and spirituality needs to be connected to a particular god. Many in the secular world WANT the emotional security and idyllic aspirations of spirituality and religion, but they often don't want the savior that we NEED. How different is it for us?</p>
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<p>I know that I can often look at my life and make a list of needs and wants. My <em>savior </em>could be a raise in salary, a new laptop, a car repair, a doctor to heal my illness, a compliment to change my mood, a government to give me a tax break, Amazon to give me a deal, my spouse to give me attention, my... to give me... what I want. What I need.</p>
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<p>As we move into the Crazy Beautiful of the Christmas season... As we move into the lights and glitter, tastes and sights, songs and sounds of Christmas, will you join me in praying that God would give us the contentment only found in Christ? That as we list all the wants and needs, and some of these are VERY real needs and hopes, that we would see that the contentment of our lives is ultimately found in Jesus Christ? It is he who gives us what we truly need. Forgiveness of sins, Relationship with God, Rescue from the Enemy and the promise of Resurrection from the Dead - an Identity that cannot be taken from us! It is Jesus that gives us a "double portion", not only giving us Grace that forgives sin and right standing before God, but also equipping us for every good work, every opportunity to share real joy, while meeting every true need we have. And when God elects not to meet our ultimate earthly needs, he gives us a heavenly crown and eternity with him instead.</p>
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<p>I pray that we, somewhere in the celebration, somewhere in the silence, exclaim from the deepest part of our soul "Jesus, YOU are just what I always WANTED.. because you are all I ever NEEDED"</p>
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<p>May you be blessed with a great Christmas of peace in Christ, wherever you are and whatever season you are in!</p>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/59981412017-11-21T18:00:00-06:002023-11-21T18:40:31-06:00What's the Point of Church? - Part 2<p>Last month, I shared that one of the reasons we invite people to church, one of the core ideas for why we encourage people to be present in public worship is because of the intentionality within worship of "Communion" with God. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ was to give us life to the full and the only way that happens is when we are in a Common Union with God through Jesus. Worship is a place where we act on our need for a Savior through confession and absolution as well as Holy Communion. That the deepest core of our humanity is based on the relationship we have with the God that desires an intimate relationship with us. We were created for Him. Sin makes that relationship dead and damaged, repentance and forgiveness renews and restores our true selves - a daughter, a son of the King of Kings.</p><p> </p><p>But there is another reason to gather in worship and that is the Common Unity that we have by being alive in Christ. We may be very different, have different likes and dislikes, skin colors, ethnic backgrounds, and economic realities. But at the foot of the cross, all are equally needy, all are equally redeemed and that common reality gives us the common ground that we need for true Community. Being on our own may be less messy at times, but we were made for community. Our gifts are not meant only for us, but are meant to contribute to the better functioning of the whole of society.</p><p> </p><p>Yes, you can worship in your car, at home, by yourself and you should do this. Yes, you can worship with your family, in your Bible study, and in your small group and you should do this. But there is nothing quite like when people come in a common belief in our need for Communion with God, hear of his great love for us individually and then celebrate with one voice the truth of who Jesus is... There's just nothing like it.</p><p> </p><p>And it's not just in the 1 hour on a Sunday, but the accountability, friendships, affirmations, encouragements, and hard conversations that come from trusted Christian friends. One author has said that sin makes us less human, a step further away from what it means to be truly made in the image of God. In a world hellbent on destroying the humanity of the individual and turning community into a cancer, being part of the Body of Christ, remains one of the greatest tools to stay connected to God in deep relationship with him. Rooted in the extravagant love of Jesus as we seek to live out life to the full.</p><p> </p><p>Going to church isn't about a religious duty. Going to church isn't about relationship with an institution. Going to worship, being part of church, being part of the Body of Christ, is one of the most human things that we do. Made to be image bearers of Jesus who we love, God is conforming us to Christ's likeness - that we would be little Christs in the world, helping others find healing and life in broken and dead places. There is no better place than to be connected to God in Communion with him in a deeply personal way. And there is no better place to be connected to the mission of God and making his glory known, than to be in Community with others who have that communion unity through Christ.</p><p> </p><p>Why go to church? For communion and community, it is ultimately what we were truly made for!</p><p> </p><p>Have a great Thanksgiving!</p><p> </p>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/59981402017-10-25T19:00:00-05:002023-11-21T18:42:04-06:00What's the Point of Church? - Part 1<p style="text-align:center;"><span>Why do you go to church? Seriously, I assume you're reading this, but I'd like to know why you go to church... or why you don't go. What did you hope would happen there? How did you hope you would leave the worship service? All of us are on a journey when it comes to faith and that is the same for Christian faith as well. I really would like to hear from you on this, it's not just a question to the air, it's a question I ask a lot of people, and I'd really appreciate hearing from our readers too.</span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span>---------------------------------------------------</span></p><p><span>If you've grown up around church, this is the one thing that we are encouraged to "invite" people to. Worship is what we encourage people to commit to. We teach "going to church" to our young kids, we drag our older tired teenagers, we sometimes bribe our friends to come with us and for many it really is something we look forward to, but... WHY?</span></p><p><span>I've been thinking and praying over this quite a bit over the past 5 years and as I've wrestled with the notion of "intimacy" and the 18-25 year old time of life. I have started to see more deeply that God's greatest desire is intimate relationship with us as individuals so that we would function fully human (God's definition - made in the image of God) with the people around us. Intimacy requires that I reveal myself and trust that when I do, I will be loved and not humiliated. Intimacy, I believe, is the starting point for why we come to church and why worship is so important for us. The opportunity to experience "Communion and Community"</span></p><p><span> </span></p><p><span><strong>Communion - a common union</strong>. A deep connection between two people or better yet, between the Created and the Creator. Best yet, a deep and eternal connection between a loving Father and a dearly loved child. Worship offers the opportunity to experience this communion between you and your heavenly Father in two very special places that are intensely personal. Confession and Absolution and the sacrament of Holy Communion</span></p><p><span><strong>In Lutheran worship, we take time for "confession and absolution".</strong> It is a moment where we are invited to, spiritually and in reality, to take off our masks before God. To confess all the ways I've tried to hide from God because of the things I have done to offend him. As we stand naked before our heavenly Father in the admittance of my lack of living a life to God's standard and for his Glory, God answers our repentance with love. We can look our Father in the eye because he has invited us to do so. In repentance he turns a loving face to us, forgives sin and encourages us to choose life and not death. By the faith given us and the power of the Holy Spirit in us, choose God's way, rather than sin. The reason God can look at us with love is that Jesus Christ paid the penalty for sin. God turned his justice and judgement of sin from us to his Son who bore the penalty for us. He died the death we deserve so that God could look at us the way he could only look at his son. Intimacy. We share our reality with God, who forgives and shows us the face of love. As Saints in Christ, we confess our sin and need for a Savior, and we are "absolved" or forgiven of our sin, assured of our good standing with God because of the sacrifice of Christ.</span></p><p><span><strong>In Lutheran worship we take time for Holy Communion</strong> where the Bible teaches that Jesus is actually present in, with and under the bread and wine. Translation? What we believe, by faith, is that in Communion, God comes to us PERSONALLY and gives us personal assurance of his love for us and his common union with me... with you. While the confession and absolution portion of a worship service is personal to a degree, it often feels far more communal. We can hide in the community and we can feel far from. In Holy Communion, that gift is intensely personal "For YOU, for the forgiveness of YOUR sin" and for YOUR relationship with Jesus.</span></p><p><span> </span></p><p><span>One of the great reasons to "go to church" is that it is one of the few places on earth that we can experience this common union with our God. While we can and should be with Jesus everyday in prayer, in the word, in the quiet moments of meditation and in private worship, the worship service offers us a unique opportunity when we gather with others who need that communion with God. And it's that common need for Grace that makes us a unique community, which we will cover next month!</span></p><p><span>The takeaway? One of the great reasons for going to church is for the strengthening and restrengthening of that union we have with God. The God who craves intimacy with you. Who desires for you to be fully known and loved. The God who knows that the only way that we become fully alive and fully human is in an intimate relationship with our heavenly Father. A relationship that was won by Christ alone and is renewed the same way.</span></p>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/59981392017-09-18T19:00:00-05:002023-11-21T18:42:28-06:00The Mask and The Maker<div>
<div style="text-align:center;"><span> "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." - 1 John 1:8-9</span></div>
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<span>"Until We Have Faces" is one of my favorite albums from a group of Christian musicians that call themselves "Red". They shared that the album was based loosely on some reading from the C.S. Lewis book "Till We Have Faces", the last novel he published in 1956, a retelling of the myth of Cupid and Psyche. I won't give you the book review, you can read it yourself, but one of the quotes from that book was a name sake for Red's album, and it's a lesson in "intimacy" for me, something that has caused me to be in God's Word in a new way.</span><br><br><span>Toward the end of the book, the main character has come to issue her self righteous complaint against the "gods", but as she does so she hears the ugliness and bitterness of her words in a cackling, hated voice reading her complaint over and over until the judge says "enough". In the silence that follows the judge simply asks the question "Are you answered?" and our character simply answers "yes", having finally heard her unmistakable true voice. Lewis then pens this brilliant confession:</span>
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<br><span><strong>"“When the time comes to you at which you will be forced at last to utter the speech which has lain at the center of your soul for years, which you have, all that time, idiot-like, been saying over and over, you'll not talk about the joy of words. I saw well why the gods do not speak to us openly, nor let us answer. Till that word can be dug out of us, why should they hear the babble that we think we mean? </strong></span>
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<br><br><span>Throughout our lives, the search for and affirmation of identity is intense and is often driven by a desire for intimacy. To be known, truly known by other people and to truthfully know others, in a sense to be naked and unashamed. Physical, emotional, and spiritual intimacy are important for human beings and without it, our interactions with other people are hollow, shallow, self serving and unfulfilling.</span><br><br><span>This quote is so powerful to me, for two reasons. Person to person, intimacy requires me to be honest with myself about who I am, my strengths, weaknesses, likes and dislikes, beauty and ugliness. In order for me to have intimacy with another person, I have to be willing to take off the mask and have the courage to be vulnerable and to share these realities with someone else. Intimacy requires honesty and a willingness to share it (vulnerability). It's only then that we can have a chance at the depth of relationship that all of us really want. </span><br><br><span>Secondly, it makes me think about my relationship with God, with Jesus. The Bible talks about the growth that God is desiring for people who call themselves Christians. It's not just about "getting to heaven", but it's about a deepening relationship with the one who made you and loves you, cheers for you and died for you, showers mercy on you and forgives you. God desires intimacy with us, with you, with me. He has shown us his beautiful face, but all too often, we refuse to show him ours. Because of our refusal, we feel we are not known and many people don't see the face of God as a beautiful thing</span><br><br><span>"How can we meet them face to face, until we have faces?" I love that quote and the implications it has for everyone, but especially for Christians. It's what "confession" is all about. In public worship and in private, we are invited by God to take off our masks of self reliance, denial and outright lies. We acknowledge the good things that we have are gifts, not rights. We confess our failings and our utter need for help. We speak plainly, openly, passionately, emotionally, because God is our Father, he's shown his face to us and it is not the of wrath that we know we deserve. THAT face... he showed that face to his son Jesus who took our place and paid the debt we owe to have relationship. Instead, by grace through faith, we take off the mask of "self", and we assume the face of who we REALLY ARE! A child, speaking to and answered by our loving heavenly Father.</span><br><br><span>The beginning of true intimacy with people around you, derives it's strength and power from the intimacy that you have with Jesus. And this is a process and it takes time, your lifetime. But the reality is that, the more we get to know ourselves, be honest about who we are in Christ, the easier it is to spend time with God in his word and the more deeply you appreciate, understand and feel that word running through you and see it in your life. God is eager to give you your deepest most rewarding relationship - the one he gives you of himself. My prayer is for you, and for me, to meet with Jesus face to face.</span>
</div>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/59981382017-08-16T19:00:00-05:002017-09-18T14:28:18-05:00Through All Generations<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large; font-family: 'Dancing Script', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large; font-family: 'Dancing Script', sans-serif;">"I will sing of the Lord's Great Love forever, with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations" - Psalm 89:1-2</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; font-family: 'Dancing Script', sans-serif;"></span><br><span style="font-size: small;">I'm really excited to celebrate a story I want to share with you, one that is a joy to me, a fulfillment of the mission of my ministry. If you've been walking with me for a while, you know that the underwriting theme is growing in faith and sharing the stories of God's faithfulness through ALL generations. We are healthiest as human beings when we are interconnected to older and younger people than us, and the church is healthiest when these relationships are lived out at home and in the church.</span><br><br><span style="font-size: small;">Several years ago, an older friend of mine approached me after a concert to share a song that he had written. I listened to it and was excited to hear his heart and the reason for the question "Will I see you in heaven my friend". I saw in him an opportunity to take it and make it his own and offered to help him put together a team that would help breathe it to life. He and his wife Diane prayed about it, saved and waited patiently and finally decided to pull the trigger and to it. I acted as the project producer and enlisted the help of a couple young guys that have been helping me in ministry and asked Jack Albert to do a video shoot and interview and asked Alex Bennett to lead the musical production of the song.</span><br><br><span style="font-size: small;">This past Sunday at our last Awake and Alive session, we introduced Paul's "Milemarker" video. We use these videos to give people a chance to tell their story of God's faithfulness and the importance of their relationship with God. After introducing it, I interviewed Paul and talked a little bit about how similar older and younger people really are. He was nervous to sing the song, having never done anything like this in his life and yet here he was, climbing the stairs and onto the stage to sing his song after sharing his heart about the difficult place this song came from and God's faithfulness through it.</span><br><br><span style="font-size: small;">It hit me that this is the beauty and point of Awake and Alive and what I pray God does in my music and ministry. A 75 year old gentleman has a story of God's faithfulness to tell. A 43 year old guy has a heart to make known these stories. And a couple 24 year old guys put their budding skills to use to help make this project a reality. The generations get together to tell a story of God's faithfulness. And what a story.</span><br><br><span style="font-size: small;">The Psalmist encourages us to consider the promises of God, the faithfulness of God to his desire for us to have complete relationship with him. It means not all our dreams will come true, because many of our dreams would get in the way of an eternal relationship with God. And that means we are going to deal with disappointment, frustration, hurt and yes, death itself. But we do not have to fear it, those who trust in the promise of "Life to the Full" through Christ have been set apart for an eternal relationship with God. Death doesn't win, it's the gateway to what we were created for - Complete relationship with the God who loves us so much that he sent his one and only son, that we would have life through him!</span><br><br><span style="font-size: small;">Do yourself a favor, check out Paul's story of God's faithfulness. What a blessing to know that God can use us at any age to be a part of inspiring and encouraging all generations!</span><br><hr>
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</div>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/59981372017-07-27T19:00:00-05:002017-07-30T16:41:45-05:00Never Arrive<div style="text-align: left;">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong><span style="font-size: small;">"For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you." Romans 12</span></strong></span><br></span></span><hr>
<span style="font-size: small;"><br>Tiger Woods was in the news again, more back problems and a new DUI. President Trump just can't seem to find where he put his humility... if he ever had any to begin with. The tabloids continue to point out all the flaws of the idol people we worship in our culture, and every time I try and point my finger at popular people who have fallen, there are three fingers pointing back at me. I hate to admit this, but these stories often make me afraid to stand up and boldly profess what I believe about Jesus Christ and his Church because the human story always seems to be about the struggle to get on top and then a well reported fall. It's like the moment we "arrive" there is often a well polished fall from grace waiting for us the moment we do. </span><br><br><span style="font-size: small;">Earlier this summer we wrapped up a study on the story of Gideon and the topic has really been on the subject matter of idols. We enter the story with Gideon being called by God to destroy the idols that have removed the goodness of God from the life of the Israelites because of their constant disobedience, which led to constant war, poverty and a general demolishing of God's chosen people. Gideon shows his weakness time and again, fearful to lead God's people to victory over their enemies, but God delivers despite his weakness. God wins the battle, Gideon rightly deflects the praise to God as he refuses to be their king, but... then he asks for a reward from the people. A gold earring that he eventually makes into an "ephod" that eventually became a new "god" that turned his family, and the nation, upside down. He takes many wives, has many children, and in time, he eventually names one of those kids "Abimilek", which means "My daddy is king". He arrived and then he fell.</span><br><br><span style="font-size: small;">Want another? How about David and Bathsheba? He had established his kingdom and finally built his palace as was custom to do when men had "arrived". In that season, instead of doing his job as king as his troops were in battle, he stayed home in his palace with time on his hands and an imagination that was overactive to the point of lust. He arrived and the moment he did, the temptation seemed to be on, and he did not have accountability around him, or at least chose not to listen to it. He arrived and fell horribly. </span><br><br><span style="font-size: small;">So this is a bit depressing for a fan blast I suppose, but I would rather talk about things that are real than just the headline that looks cool. I don't have it all figured out, I'm still on a journey, but this idea of never arriving has me thinking. The passage from Romans 12 is a constant reminder to me (though I don't always remember it), to remain humble and to remember who actually wins the battles and who actually pours out blessings and open doors. It is my faithful God, who calls me his child through the gift of faith in Christ Jesus. The passage encourages me to think of myself with "sober" judgement since drunkenness doesn't only come from alcohol. There is something about "arriving" that settles in the ugly places of the human heart if we're not careful, the place where pride, conceit, selfishness and arrogance reside. It is good to celebrate victories, something we should do more often quite frankly, but it is important to beware of the human tendency to "arrive" and the dangers that come with it.</span><br><br><br><span style="font-size: small;">In spending time in scripture in Judges 6 through 8, these were some of the encouragements I found that I hope may be helpful for you too.</span><br><br><span style="font-size: small;">1. It's OK to ask God why difficulties are happening, he's not afraid of our questions and even our doubts. Gideon himself asked God face to face quite plainly why they had been abandoned; if God was "with them". One thing I'm seeing more often is that when we ask God hard questions from our limited perspective, don't be surprised when he pulls us right into his rescue plan. He often uses us to answer our own question. (Read Judges 6, it's pretty interesting)</span><br><br><span style="font-size: small;">2. Walk with the measure of faith that God has given you. Gideon didn't seem to have a strong trust with God based on all the doubting questions he had. He just didn't have much relationship with his God. But God's response was beautiful - patience and step by step walking with Gideon. That step by step is what relationship is all about, so if you're struggling to trust God with the big picture... then trust him with the baby step - he'll be right there building relationship with you.</span><br><br><span style="font-size: small;">3. When you WIN... you need mature Christian accountability to celebrate with you, but also to keep you humble, to remind you how God's hand is the hand that saves. When you LOSE... you need mature Christian accountability to mourn with you and to hear your repentant heart so that they can remind of you God's great faithfulness to forgive and restore. Be careful of the moments you and I feel like we've "arrived". Don't fear them, but when success comes, be sober and surround ourselves with people that will keep us from getting drunk on our own egos.</span><br><br><span style="font-size: small;">4. Finally, in this world, whatever you are pursuing: marriage, a job, a relationship, a college, a grade, a sports goal... whatever you are aiming your efforts at - remember that you Never truly Arrive. Our home is heaven in complete relationship with Jesus Christ. COMPLETE relationship is what our hearts were made for and we only find that when we close our eyes in faith and open them in heaven as we see Jesus in perfection who has always loved us perfectly. Celebrate the mile-markers in your life's journey. Don't arrive until you really do, finishing the race in the arms of Christ!</span><br><br><span style="font-size: small;">I hope some of these might be an encouragement to you as my Pastors have been to me. Until next month, here's what else is going on!</span><br><br><span style="font-size: small;">Mike</span>
</div>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/59981362017-06-14T19:00:00-05:002023-11-21T18:44:39-06:00"Dad... Pastor Your Family"<div>
<span><strong>"Dad Pastor your families!" </strong>That was the message at the Simply Youth Conference in 2011 that I heard loudest and most clearly. I had gone with the hope of understanding college and high school ministry better and while it was a great learning session, the most impactful words of that 3 day conference was when the speaker paused for a moment, looked up and into the faces of the dad's who had come to Chicago and said "Dad, Pastor your family". I sat back in my seat having just been leveled by that statement because for the previous 10 years I had sort of been running from that idea. Not until my oldest was about 10 did I start feeling that I was misunderstanding the deeper reality of my role as a Father.</span><br><br><span>For most of life being dad meant - do house stuff, teach kids things, provide a home, encourage and discipline children, manage problems and finances, make sure mom is happy (because - say it with me - if momma isn't happy ain't NOBODY happy :) ) and make sure the kids get a Christian education. Bring them to church so they, like myself, could learn from the Pastor. But the older I got, the more I felt that I was missing something about my role as a dad. And then that zinger came into my life and I couldn't duck out of the way. I couldn't hide from its reality. The person in my children's life that would most resemble a shepherd was... ME (and yes, my wife too).</span><br><br><span>If you are a person who believes in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, in his forgiveness of sin so that we have relationship with Jesus, then you know that the ultimate arc of the Gospel is that God would have complete relationship with individual people for all time. It is what the Cross is ultimately all about. That God would pave the way for a relationship to be made new with the God who knows us better than we know ourselves and that this relationship would be eternal. The "Church"... the Body of Christ is God's invention, people with unique giftings and life circumstances that come as individuals to be united as one to God's family by his Grace and then to turn both individually and corporately to proclaim this LIFE to the world that does not know. </span><br><br><span>On earth, the local church is served by a visible Pastor and they go to school and seminary and know language and have all the answers... right? Not entirely, but I suspect many of us think that way. I think that's why that statement "Dad, Pastor your family" floored me, and perhaps it floors you too, because I don't have all the answers to faith and Jesus!. As I sat and thought through the implications that I, along with my wife, are ultimately the primary Shepherds for our children, I poured through the scriptures and looked harder at the role of the Pastor. John 10, is a great place to go if you want more background. </span>
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<br><span>The reality of it is that I spend more time with my children and wife than my Pastor does. I have more influence over my children than my Pastor does. I have more teaching time, more free time, more of me to give to my children than my Pastor can give to them. My Pastors open up deeper truths, my Pastors help me understand scripture better, my Pastors help the LOCAL church flourish as a larger body - but they cannot replace a Father's influence - the local Pastor supplements and guides it.</span><br><br><span>When two Christian people get married, a "Family Church" was born. When children come into that home, their first experience with what it means to be part of the "Body of Christ" is in the family. And a child's first Pastor... is their father and mother. A couple years ago, Pastor Jeremy Mattek shared a statistic that indicates that 80% of children will follow the belief pattern lived out by the - FATHER. That's not to undo the value of moms on our children, but it is a biblical truth that dad's have tremendous influence over the life trajectory of their children... particularly in matters of faith. Our world continues to show us this truth. Our world is crying out for Dad's who won't run from being the Pastor to their children.</span><br><br><span>On this Father's Day weekend, I'm calling on all imperfect dads, young and old and guys who hope to one day be... to step into the reality that you are the Pastor of your Family Church. I don't want the perfect ones, just the guys who have messed this "dad" thing up at times. The first place a Church Pastor goes - is to the cross of Christ with a heart of repentance and hope. Repentance for the ways I have failed to live out my role as a loving Shepherd for my family. Hope and confidence that my Jesus hears me, forgives me and restores me and enables me to step into God's calling on my life as a father with joy and an eagerness to learn the craft of Pastoring my family well. Turn to God's word, just read it, learn to hear your Savior's voice, know it well (John 10, Ephesians 3, Romans 12 and the book of Proverbs are great places to start). Turn to your local Church Pastor, who has been given special training in understanding God's word, law and Gospel, Sin and Grace, let them help us tune our ears to God's voice even more. And let's give our Pastors the time they need to pastor THEIR families as well!</span><br><br><span>If you are old and have failed all your life at this... it is never too late to show our children the love of a shepherd. It will come when they see you spending time with Jesus and sharing the stories of God's faithfulness with others. If you are a new dad, it's a lot - but it's not as much as you may fear. Adding the responsibility of Pastoring your young children and family will only help you see Jesus more clearly as you personally spend time in his word. If you are single, perhaps your time will come, but if it has not or does not, be the friend who can help support a dad who is struggling to Pastor his Family Church, or be the Christian mentor and shepherd to the kid who doesn't have a Family Church. For all who are in a Pastor or Shepherd role, it is a serious matter and it is a great joy!</span><br><br><br><span>"Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. <strong><u>Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.</u></strong>" 1 Timothy 4</span>
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<br><span data-mce-mark="1">Happy Father's Day!</span>
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</div></div>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/59981352017-05-17T19:00:00-05:002017-05-18T04:59:08-05:00Jesus Willingness, My Rest<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: medium;" data-mce-mark="1"><strong><br><br>"The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” - John 10:17-18</strong></span><br><br><span style="font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: small;" data-mce-mark="1">"The best sharing of the Gospel comes from people who are at rest" MW</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: left;"><br><br><span style="font-family: geneva, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Last week, I had a chance to lead chapel at Wisconsin Lutheran College, and I was assigned the above text as the final point for their celebration of "Good Shepherd" week. As I prayed over the text and what to say and what God might be putting on my heart to share with the college students and the staff, I could not escape the over arching point - that Jesus was willing. That was the guidance given to me as a starting point based on the themes for the various days that week, and as I stared at the text and read John 10 front and back, I came to see these passages as the exclamation point to one of my favorite texts in all of Scripture. Jesus came to give life to the full and... it would cost him his life and... he did it willingly!</span><br><br><span style="font-family: geneva, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Jesus has come through this chapter reminding us of the reality, we are all really like sheep. A lot more helpless than we think we are A lot more prone to wandering than we really believe we can be. With a lot more enemies than we can fathom. He reminds us that there is only one Gate that leads to life, all the other doors we walk through will end in the hands of a thief, a liar and a murderer. He reminds us of his heart, his willingness to sacrifice himself in the defense of and for the lives of these sheep, not just his compassion for them, but his deep love for them. And he reminds us that he is not satisfied with the flock he has, he wants ALL to know the way that leads to life to the full and his willingness to go the distance and make this a reality. And then comes his exclamation point, he is loved by his Father, who loves that he lays down his life. And in doing so WE ARE LOVED, because the only one who COULD do anything about our condition and position DID something - he laid down his life and by his Father's love, picked it back up again.</span><br><br><span style="font-family: geneva, sans-serif; font-size: small;">If you have grown up around church world, you've heard stories like this. If you haven't, this is an illustration into what the bible says God has done for you and me. We had no relationship with God, no relationship with the author of lasting "good". We were lost, nobody would save us. Even the bible notes that nobody is going to die for someone unless they are a really really really good person... and even then they are only willing to maybe dare to die. The sacrifice Jesus is speaking of is of course the Cross. His victory over death, hell and Satan was sealed when he resurrected from the dead (picked up his life) and now WE have a shepherd who not only knows the way, the truth and the life, but IS the way the truth and the life.</span><br><br><span style="font-family: geneva, sans-serif; font-size: small;">The question eventually comes around to "How ought we to respond to what Christ has done for me?". If this is what God has done for me, what is a reasonable response for me his son, his daughter? As I sat with this text there were two responses that were wrestling inside me. One was that, if Jesus was willing to sacrifice his life, I should be willing to do that with mine. Lay down my life, point people to Jesus, do something great for God and... I realized that my heart was motivated by a sense of working to pay God back. (btw "should" is a striving word and it is often a confession of guilt.) </span><br><br><span style="font-family: geneva, sans-serif; font-size: small;">And then it hit me - <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Rest</strong></span>. My first response in seeing Jesus willingness and knowing my status as his son because I am forgiven in Christ - is to rest in that. There is only one Good Shepherd and it's not me. He was willing. Jesus loves the Father and His obedience to his Father's will that we should be redeemed, showed love by laying down his life for helpless people like you and me. And as soon as he picked up his life again JESUS became our green pastures, our sanctuary, our rock, our fortress and our shield.</span><br><br><span style="font-family: geneva, sans-serif; font-size: small;">So to all of you who, like me, wrestle with what you ought to do in response to this Good message I invite you to rest. And when God opens doors to serve and share the stories of his faithfulness, do so from the position of rest rather than striving. From that place of rest you can:</span><br><br><span style="font-family: geneva, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Be willing to lay down your life in service to others. (John 10:17-18)</span><br><br><span style="font-family: geneva, sans-serif; font-size: small;">See the people lost, broken, hurting and go to where they are. (John 10:16)</span><br><br><span style="font-family: geneva, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Share the story of the heart of God through Jesus for them. (John 10:11-15)</span><br><br><span style="font-family: geneva, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Help them understand and see how Jesus is the one gate to life that lasts. (John 10:7-10)</span><br><br><span style="font-family: geneva, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Point to Jesus, the rescue for sinners, ransom from heaven, Salvation for our souls. (John 10:1-6)</span><br><br><span style="font-family: geneva, sans-serif; font-size: small;">He was willing! You have a shepherd, Jesus, who gives peace in every circumstance and in the midst of any trial or enemy. He picked up his life Easter Sunday morning so you can believe it!<br><br><br></span></p>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/59981342017-04-09T19:00:00-05:002023-11-21T18:40:18-06:00Love and Pity (You are loved!)<p style="text-align:center;"><strong>"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." - 1 Corinthians 13:13</strong></p><hr><p style="text-align:center;"><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/395830/0f67070573a008c3116aa5c1acd47894ac79d6c9/original/humiliation-of-christ-sml.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6NDAweDMxOCJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="318" width="400" /></p><p> </p><hr><p><span>As I sat listening to the bible reading for a wedding I played for recently, I was reminded of the passage above and the thought struck me. “How much different would it be if 1 Corinthians 13:13 ended with, “the greatest of these is pity”? Lately, I’ve been wrestling with a deep seeded thought that has been with me for as long as I can remember. Somehow in my time as a child the phrases about my relationship to God that I remember most about me were the pretty harsh ones. God’s love seemed a lot more like pity than love and that’s where it stopped for me, I just didn't realize it.</span><br><br><span>Perhaps I haven’t lived long enough to put it into words correctly, but considering relationship with God through the lens of pity versus love is helping me understand some of what I have long wrestled with. Love and Pity can be very close and yet very far apart. I share a couple definitions to show the point.</span><br><br><span><strong>LOVE (noun):</strong> 1. a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person. 2. A feeling of warm personal </span><br><span>ttachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend</span><br><br><span><strong>LOVE (verb):</strong> 1. To have love or affection for. 2. To have a profoundly tender, passionate affection for (another person)</span><br><br><span><strong>PITY (noun):</strong> sympathetic or kindly sorrow evoked by the suffering, distress, or misfortune of another, often leading one to give relief or aid or to show mercy.</span><br><br><span><strong>PITY (verb):</strong> to feel pity or compassion for; be sorry for; commiserate with. 2. To have compassion; feel pity.</span><br><br><span>I have lived much of my life believing that I do not deserve to be called a child of God. And that is true. On my own, apart from God changing my heart through the story and truth of his faithfulness in his word and active heart surgery through baptism, I would have no relationship with God. The cross, the empty tomb, Jesus payment for my sins, taking my place, my punishment, my death – all of this has changed my life and my eternity as he now, by Grace through faith, calls me a child. And yet… I still grew up living out my identity as the sinner, the undeserving child, the one God saved from hell. In other words – he came because Jesus pities me. Seeing my lost conditions he was moved by a sympathetic or kindly sorrow evoked by my suffering to take my place.</span><br><br> </p><p><span>And yet, compassion and pity alone are not what motivated the heart of God and pity is not what spurred Jesus on to give his crown, his glory, his life for you and me. It was his LOVE!! It was his profoundly tender, passionate affection for me!! It wasn’t that he just felt sorry for me, but that he had a deep affection for me, LOVE of a Father for his child. God does not simply Pity you, he LOVES you. It is why God himself says that his identity is LOVE and that the proof of his LOVE for us is the sacrifice of his son so that we could be called CHILDREN of God. Objects not simply of his pity, but people defined by his LOVE!</span></p><p> </p><p><span>So yes, God’s compassion and pity saved you from Hell, Death and Satan, but it is his LOVE that saved you FOR RELATIONSHIP with God. You and I do sin, but because of the LOVE of Christ he invites us to "remain in his love" by walking with him in his word. He holds you and makes his love personal through Holy Communion and though we have sin to repent of, Jesus calls you a SAINT because of his love. You are his Son, his Daughter! Jesus Christ did not sacrifice himself simply because he had pity on us, it is so much deeper. The Cross shows us the depth of his LOVE for us, because he wanted you to have complete joy, to be fully human, to be fully alive and to walk in complete relationship with Jesus – for all time. “Lift up your heads, O ye gates, be lifted up that the King of Glory may come in.” Psalm 24</span></p><p><span><strong>You Are Loved by God!</strong></span></p>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/59981332017-03-14T19:00:00-05:002023-11-21T18:43:06-06:00Worship is Seeing<div>
<div style="text-align:center;"><strong>"You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you,</strong></div>
<div style="text-align:center;"><strong>in a dry and parched land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.</strong></div>
<div style="text-align:center;"><strong>I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you." - Psalm 63</strong></div>
<p><br><br><span>Matt Redman is a Christian songwriter on many favorite songs that are sung today, probably best known for "10,000 Reasons" and "Blessed Be". One of the phrases that he says frequently is that "Worship is about seeing. Before you can worship God you must first see God" I've been thinking about that quote along with how I have been raised to see worship and liturgy in the Lutheran church with that idea that in Christian worship "God comes to us (Word and Sacrament) and his people respond (Praise, Proclamation and Exhortation)" I love that picture that worship always begins with seeing, which is part of the reason why worshiping the God of scripture is sometimes a challenging thing.</span><br><br><span>How many things do we see and then follow. Social media shows us an image, we follow it, or a person or a song or a menu or... and we offer our praise "you are awesome". We offer our proclamation "This is so awesome!". We offer our exhortation "You should see this, hear this, get this". These aren't necessarily bad things, after all encouraging one another and lifting up one another is a good thing. In the end, we were in fact made to worship, which makes our lives such a minefield when we begin to truly worship created things over the one who created us and brought us to life. That proper balance is struck when we're walking with Jesus in our personal prayers and time in God's word.</span><br><br><span>Jesus said <strong>"I have come that they may have life to the full"</strong> John 10:10 and in another place reminds us where our joy truly comes from; <strong>"I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete."</strong> John 15:11. Our worship truly does start well before we ever get to church, before we ever open a hymnal and before we even head out the door for church. In our waking moments, we open our eyes and we see. We see what needs to be done. We see the need for coffee. We see our children's smiles, our dog's wagging tails, the cat's "gift" for us in the living room. For me, it's amazing how many other things I "See" before I see my dearest treasure and relationship - Jesus.</span><br><br><span>I share this Psalm that I came across in a little moment of quiet time in my reading as an encouragement to all of us. As I was sitting with this psalm, it has now become my prayer in my waking moments over the past week and I'm hoping that God will help open my eyes of faith to see my Savior and God in all of the waking moments and various circumstances throughout my day. That I would be less tempted to pursue the worship of the things I'm tempted to reach for that will leave me unsatisfied and would be able to say "no", "I have seen the Lord and beheld his power and glory". That in the seeing of the one who has loved me to the cross and back, I would declare with the psalmist "Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you."</span><br><br><span><strong>Worship is about seeing</strong>. I pray that it is not only for an hour on Sunday that this makes sense, but that God would continue to extend our vision to see Christ in all our circumstances so that every response to every situation might be worship that brings joy to God and complete joy to us.</span></p>
</div>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/59981322017-02-20T18:00:00-06:002023-11-21T18:45:52-06:00Saved From... Saved For!<div>
<span><strong>“Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Ephesians 5:14</strong></span><br><br><span>I've been thinking a lot about some familiar saying that I've heard as a Christian growing up around the church and I've been wrestling with why they often seem hollow to me. Martin Luther is quoted as making this statement "We are all mere beggars showing other beggars where to find bread.” We hear in our words and in our church culture that "I am sinner saved by grace". And I'm reminded many times that by Grace through faith I have been saved from death, sin and Satan. All of these are true and I don't argue with them, but all of these statements hide the full truth and I'm concerned about what that does to our Christian witness and the healthy worship life of the church.</span>
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<br><span>On our own, apart from a grace fueled relationship with Jesus, we are simply sinners without eternal hope and life; we have no relationship with God. We are beggers hoping to find something that will fill our appetites. Death, Hell and Satan stalk its prey and we need a savior FROM these things. But my concern is that we continue to see our identity as a sinner, a begger and someone who only need be saved from horrible things. As I lived out my identity this way, much like Luther I tried to feel more "sorry" for my sins. Church worship was not a place of celebration on a regular basis, only on Easter Sunday and Christmas did my heart leap for joy. Church was supposed to feel more like Lent and Good Friday because that's how beggers and sinners who need to be saved from death should behave, speak, sing and look. And my heart hurt... until I started really looking at what God says in the bible about people who have been given the gift of faith in Christ Jesus.</span><br><br><span>In many places in the New Testament Paul writes to the "Saints" in Ephesus with the new translation replacing "Saints" with "God's Holy People". God calls me a Saint because of the finished work of the cross. I have not only been saved FROM death, hell and Satan, but I have been saved FOR something. For relationship with God almighty who loved me so much that if I was the only sinner, and I had been the one to kill Jesus myself, he still would have sacrificed himself so that he could save me FROM my depravity FOR his names sake and for perfect relationship. Why? Because I am not a begger. Not I who have, in Christ, the greatest of fare at the marriage feast of the Lamb. Not I who have been given every spiritual blessing! Not I who has been given earthly gifts to live in him and to share him with others. Why? Because God calls us "Children of God - and that is what we are!".</span>
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<br><span data-mce-mark="1">In humility we must recognize that we are saints that sin, who need to humbly repent as the tax collector that God would have mercy on us. We see the evidence and wreckage of sin in our lives all around us and we are called to be humble and admit our need for our Savior. But in forgiveness, don't simply mumble an Amen and continue in the identity of a begger and helpless sinner. Wake up, you've been risen from death, Christ HAS and WILL Shine on you! In Christ, even though you are a sinner, God sees a SAINT. In Christ even though you are a begger looking for bread, God sees a PRINCE! In Christ, even though you have been saved FROM death, hell and Satan, God sees someone he has saved FOR relationship with himself for ALL time! “Wake up, <strong>sleeper</strong>, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Ephesians 5:14</span>
</div><p><span> </span></p>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/59981312016-11-04T19:00:00-05:002022-02-10T23:00:27-06:00Add Value!<p><span style="font-size: small;">It's Saturday night and I'm waiting to pick up my older two kids after their participation in the play at Wisconsin Lutheran High School. I was able to rake, dump leaves, mow the lawn, get a nap in all while wearing a T-shirt on this crazy warm November day and as I kick back at my computer I'm thinking about worship tomorrow morning. Last weekend I was able to present encouragement to men at the Men of His Word conference in Rochester, WI around the idea of a Great Marriage and I wanted to share an encouragement that I took away in getting ready for the talk. </span><br><br><span style="font-size: small;">Honestly, it's been a month of being stretched over the past 4 weeks as we've been helping my wife recover from surgery. She is doing well, but we've both been surprised at just how much work has to be done in recovery. It's just a much slower go than we were thinking and it's actually pretty crazy just how busy things are in this house. As I prepared for the talk last weekend I had 5 encouragements that I wanted to give to the guys when it comes to serving our wives, but one that has been helpful to me in other relationships in my life. John Maxwell is a leadership speaker and he shares that one of the key values of a leader is to "Add Value" to people. If you endeavor to lead, or if you are thrust into a leadership position in your company, your sports team, your college classroom or in your family, one of the best ways to simplify your purpose is to "Add Value". </span><br><br><span style="font-size: small;">This month I've done more driving than I care to admit, but I'll share three things that I learned and hope they might encourage you.</span><br><br><span style="font-size: small;">1. As the Dad and as the Pastor of my "Family Church", one of my focus points over the past 6 weeks has been to decrease the anxiety in my house for my family. For me, that has meant getting up a bit earlier to get kids to school earlier. It has meant biting my tounge and not correcting right away, but allowing for more listening and lastly, not allowing my frustration at things like finances or schedules to get to me so much and certainly not be so visibly frustrated. That has been a big help in lowering the anxiety for my kids and therefore a lowering of anxiety in my house (and for me!!)</span><br><br><span style="font-size: small;">2. At Innovative Weather, I had to let go of the leadership a bit and let my senior staff lead. I just couldn't do it all and it was so good to see how far many of them have grown. Giving young people an opportunity to step up and help in major ways is something that we need to be willing to do more frequently. The time off forced me to let go and in doing so I found out what my leadership impact has been, both what I do well and it exposed areas of communication that I need to do better with.</span><br><br><span style="font-size: small;">3. A smile means "We're OK". I believe one of the greatest gifts God has ever given me is my wife's smile. It's not that it's just beautiful, but it means something important to me. Her smile means "We are OK". Ladies, did you know that for a lot of men and this includes brothers, friends and husbands, even customers - your smile for some reason let's a guy know that he's OK. As Melissa gets a bit better, I see that smile more often and it does something to my heart and my attitude that fills me up in ways I can't get anywhere else.</span><br><br><span style="font-size: small;">There was a lot more, but that's all I've got for this Mic Check! Be sure to check out the Blogs online for some additional notes coming up later this month! In the meantime, how do you Add Value to your family?<br></span></p>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/59981302016-02-11T18:00:00-06:002023-11-21T18:44:20-06:00Simple Wisdom for the Struggle<div data-contents="true">
<div data-offset-key="rtat-0-0" data-block="true"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="43sbr-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="43sbr-0-0" data-text="true">It has definitely been a season of challenge, of growth, of grace and living in the struggle over the past month. The value of just reading the bible and being in God's word is one of the places where all the chaos and crazy just melts away and you find a quiet and a peace and wisdom when it comes to the bigger picture. I'm working on memorizing Proverbs Chapter 8. I believe it is one of the few times where the Holy Spirit actually names himself and speaks directly to us as the third person of the Trinity. It is an awesome chapter.</span><br><br><span data-offset-key="43sbr-0-0" data-text="true">For anyone else wanting the constant noise and confusion and the many voices that speak into our lives to just stop and be quiet - find time for Jesus through the Wisdom of the word and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. God can't say it any more clearly than at the end of Chapter 8:</span><br><br><span data-offset-key="43sbr-0-0" data-text="true">32 “Now then, my children, listen to me;</span>
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<div data-offset-key="9f0of-0-0" data-block="true"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="9f0of-0-0"><span data-offset-key="9f0of-0-0" data-text="true">blessed are those who keep my ways.</span></div></div>
<div data-offset-key="2m7cr-0-0" data-block="true"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2m7cr-0-0"><span data-offset-key="2m7cr-0-0" data-text="true">33 Listen to my instruction and be wise;</span></div></div>
<div data-offset-key="jvur-0-0" data-block="true"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="jvur-0-0"><span data-offset-key="jvur-0-0" data-text="true">do not disregard it.</span></div></div>
<div data-offset-key="3a4bi-0-0" data-block="true"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="3a4bi-0-0"><span data-offset-key="3a4bi-0-0" data-text="true">34 Blessed are those who listen to me,</span></div></div>
<div data-offset-key="e9ikm-0-0" data-block="true"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e9ikm-0-0"><span data-offset-key="e9ikm-0-0" data-text="true">watching daily at my doors,</span></div></div>
<div data-offset-key="epse4-0-0" data-block="true"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="epse4-0-0"><span data-offset-key="epse4-0-0" data-text="true">waiting at my doorway.</span></div></div>
<div data-offset-key="cjvar-0-0" data-block="true"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="cjvar-0-0"><span data-offset-key="cjvar-0-0" data-text="true"><strong>35 For those who find me find life</strong></span></div></div>
<div data-offset-key="3h2q3-0-0" data-block="true"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="3h2q3-0-0"><span data-offset-key="3h2q3-0-0" data-text="true"><strong>and receive favor from the Lord.</strong></span></div></div>
<div data-offset-key="f4ccm-0-0" data-block="true"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="f4ccm-0-0"><span data-offset-key="f4ccm-0-0" data-text="true">36 But those who fail to find me harm themselves;</span></div></div>
<div data-offset-key="5i30a-0-0" data-block="true"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="5i30a-0-0"><span data-offset-key="5i30a-0-0" data-text="true">all who hate me love death.”</span></div></div>
<div data-offset-key="5bc01-0-0" data-block="true"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="5bc01-0-0"><span data-offset-key="5bc01-0-0"> </span></div></div>
<div data-offset-key="cesor-0-0" data-block="true"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="cesor-0-0"><span data-offset-key="cesor-0-0" data-text="true">Have a great weekend!</span></div></div>
</div>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/59981292016-02-03T18:00:00-06:002016-02-04T05:20:01-06:00What To Do With Fear<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/395830/8127c5e51f87798775f36e35603950f3c1aea7b7/original/fear.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6NjAweDM5OSJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="399" width="600" /></p>
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<p><br><span style="font-size: small;">I've been thinking a lot about what fear does to people, but thinking more on what it actually is. Fear is really a confession of a need for help. A circumstance happens and in that moment we often react to the fact that we don't have enough information about what is happening in the moment and we have exceptional anxiety about negative impacts in the future.</span><br><br><span style="font-size: small;">And then we often hold onto the fear, internalizing it for fear of embarrassment. But to move beyond fear, it often starts with a confession of our need for help, that we can't do it on our own, that we don't have enough information about what is making us afraid and we don't have enough information about what it means for our future.</span><br><br><span style="font-size: small;">As parents, we see our children struggle with fears that to us are almost irrational. WE know many fears really aren't that big of a deal, because WE have been there and we KNOW the outcome isn't what our child may think in the moment. If only we could get them to see it. What we fail to do in many of these cases is to give them the chance to actually confess their need for help. We just stomp on it and say "it's nothing to fear".</span><br><br><span style="font-size: small;">Then we grow up and we face real fears. Death, money, relationship struggles, health, work, home, food etc... And we are afraid and anxious. So what do we do as mature grown ups? We work harder. We read more books. We get more opinions. We get by hoping it will go away. We get medicine... but what we DON'T often do? We don't confess our need for help and our inability to understand.</span><br><br><span style="font-size: small;">And then, the Christian remembers. Jesus death on the cross was done so that we do not have to fear God. That when we come with our sins to God, acknowledging them, asking for his grace and mercy and forgiveness, he looks at us and says "It is finished". When we don't have to fear God because we have relationship with him through Jesus Christ, he then can look at us and say like a perfect parent: "Tell me your sorrows... Confess your fears... Leave me your burdens". In relationship we leave them to the one who has been to death and back, defeated it and the devil and has triumphed to say that in all things He is with us, Always! Like a parent speaking to a child, he knows the real impact of what we fear and he has ultimately defeated it.</span><br><br><span style="font-size: small;">When I'm afraid, when you are afraid, confess your need for help. Confess it privately to God, but then confess it to someone you know and trust. It won't make all the challenges of life go away, but confessing our fears goes along way toward replacing fear with faith... As God says of himself in Isaiah, "I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you - Do Not Fear... I Will Help You!"</span><br><br><span style="font-size: small;">Confess your fear. Confess what you don't know and can't understand about your present circumstances and your future reality. Confess that the moment is beyond you. Confess your need for help - and in so many different ways - He will help you! Often by using other people and sometimes in his own divine ways. </span><br><br><span style="font-size: small;">With Peace - Mike</span></p>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/59981282015-09-24T19:00:00-05:002015-09-26T04:47:01-05:00Play Nice?<p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">American politics and culture are a pretty tough place to be. It’s always been that way, but over the past 15 years it seems that the political divide has become much larger and the “middle” is much smaller to almost non existent. And as it often is, politics represents culture in its more honest form and the bottom line is that people disagree. In an America where we’re all supposed to put aside our personal beliefs for the common good, or at least keep our personal beliefs, well… personal, it’s hard for the Christian to know how to apply matters of faith and what we believe to our culture today. <br><br>In social settings we’re told to be quiet because we are interfering with people’s freedoms, while the Christian would offer that they aren’t free, their actions lead to bondage and brokenness of all kinds. I’ve been reading slowly through the book of Proverbs and in chapter 29 there were several things that jumped out at me. Verse 16 puts it this way “When the wicked thrive, So Does Sin, but the righteous will see their downfall”. In the American effort to pursue freedom from responsibility of Godly living Christians become the kill joy, the stumbling block for wickedness as the bible would call it. Yet sin brings death to our world, not just personal eternity. It brings death to relationships, opportunities, reputations and it brings death to freedoms. <br><br>N.T. Wright once described sin as making a person less human. In creation we were made in the image of God and it was good. When sin came, we stepped out of the image of God and we stepped away from truest humanity – sin is a step toward becoming inhuman and the world is filled with examples of this. It is ALWAYS this way. Obedience and love for the relationship we have with our heavenly Father because of our relationship through Jesus Christ, given by grace through faith by the Holy Spirit – that is what leads to being more fully human and in fact it is one of the hopes of God that we would become more Christ like.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">But there is tension and a warning. Verse 27 says it this way “The righteous detest the dishonest; the wicked detest the upright.” And here in is the reality, the question will always come down to perspective. One believes in the protection of human freedoms to do whatever they want, the freedom to remain the god of their lives and Biblical Christianity is a serious threat to that way of living. Christians believe sin causes death and they believe with the wisdom of verse 2 that “When the righteous Thrive, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan.” Sin is a serious threat to the stability of a people, a family and a nation and even more importantly people’s eternities.<br><br>An old history teach repeatedly would teach that “those who refuse to learn from history are doomed to repeat it”. Christians need to stand firm on what it means to be fully human and we need to stand firm on what the bible describes as sin. History is complete with examples of horrendous national outcomes that disagree with the precepts of Biblical Christianity, the marks are clear, though the sin process is subtle and does not bring death right away. Like a person caught in the addiction of heroin or meth, it slowly transforms and turns a human being into the walking dead and EVERY sin addiction does this in the end. The only hope for that situation is the restoration and the power that comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ. In repentance, in turning toward God and walking in what God has says is best in his word the Bible, can a human being become more human and find the healing they are ultimately looking for (See John 4 for a great example of this). <br><br>We don’t want to see a country where inhumanity reigns, we don’t want to see it in our families and we pray for wisdom for our sons and daughters and for our older generations as well as our own. <br><br>God give us eyes to see your word in action (Hebrews 4:12), give us courage to stand firm in your commands and when we fall, forgive us and help us to receive and reflect the love of Christ. Let your love for people and desire to see them truly set free form the burden of playing god motivate American Christians more than a desire to get back to the perception of the good old days. Too many hearts and souls need to hear that whoever confesses and renounces sin finds mercy, restoration, renewal, resurrection and new life through Jesus.</span></p>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/59981272015-07-08T19:00:00-05:002015-07-09T05:02:23-05:001000 Miles for an Audience of Seven: Spiritual Lessons from the Road<p><span style="font-size: small;"><br><img src="http://mikewestendorf.com/img/Webbanners/BannerNew10.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="150" width="600" /><br><br>In a few weeks I will be returning to Murphy, NC to do a benefit concert to support an addiction treatment center as part of a thank you to something that God did in my life in one of the most unassuming places I could have imagined. In town to do a concert with a radio friend of mine, I was blown away at what the final outcome was and what it has meant for me in ministry and in life. Sometimes the biggest disappointments are the most fertile ground for God to plant the best desires. This is part of my story. - Mike</span></p>
<h2><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Intro</strong></span></h2>
<p>I’ve been working on a song called “Eyes on You”, likely to be the title track of the next CD project and it sparked a memory of a concert that I performed 3 years ago in North Carolina. Longing to grow as a musician I wanted to do music ministry well, with excellence, with purpose and passion. I had gone through <a title="Tom Jackson's Website" href="http://onstagesuccess.com/" target="_blank">Tom Jackson’s training </a>and theories on live music and the purpose for Christian artists on stage. I had been blessed with some pretty good experiences with live music ministry up until then, and now we had an opportunity to perform for a good friend of mine named Tim Radford who owned the local radio station in Murphy, NC “ (<a title="WKRK Radio" href="http://1320am.com/" target="_blank">WKRK radio</a>.)<br><br>Tim and I were able to get the concert on the calendar– had good friend David Michael Carrillo opening for us with another friend, bagpiper Scott Mueller making the trip with me. We advertised on the local cable station, did interviews for the radio station where I had been a meteorologist for 3 years and felt pretty good about seeing 100-150 people showing up for the concert. Even the people at the barber shop knew who I was. It was going to be great night! I had the right setlist, the right musicians, a great venue“ perfect.</p>
<p>My prayer before arriving at our concert was that I wanted to hear from the Lord through the experiences and since I’m sometimes hard of hearing in my faith, I asked God to speak loudly.<br><br><span style="text-decoration: underline; font-size: medium;"><strong>Verse</strong></span></p>
<p>After all the hype, promo, preparation and expectations we had 7… SEVEN people come for the concert. We had driven 1,000 miles… for 7 people. Sure in our words we say “Lord even if it impacts just one person, it is worth the sacrifice”… but we don’t mean driving 1,000 miles for just ONE person to show up!… In that moment my heart was laid bare, I saw the cut, it wasn’t pretty and for the first time in my music ministry, I didn’t run for the bandaid, I watched it bleed… and then I watched God start to heal it.<br><br><span style="text-decoration: underline; font-size: medium;"><strong>Chorus</strong></span><br><br>That night, God began a healing process that changed my heart for people, service and true ministry. Confessing to God before I went out on stage I told God “You need to break me of this. I can’t do ministry with the heart I’ve brought… forgive me, change me, help me to see what real ministry looks like then give me the courage to do it”. I went out, took the stage and with tears, shared my heart with the 7 people who had come. I apologized for my lack of true ministry and the transformation was on.<br><br><br><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><span style="font-size: medium;">Bridge</span><br><br></strong></span>An older gentleman named Bruce Wiley and his wife were in the audience. Bruce seemed to be enjoying the concert, but every once in a while he would share a face of pain and stand up, then sit back down. We had two songs left in our set, and Bruce stood up, stopped the concert, called the band to him and shared with us one of the best ministry encouragements I have ever received. He said “You boys have no idea how much this night has meant to me… you have no idea. I have two inoperable tumors in my back and the pain is just killing me. I’m sorry that I can’t stay, but thank you” With that he shook hands with my band and gave me a hug. With a twinkle in his blue eyes, he said “You have a Great life”. With that he and his wife slowly walked out of the church as Scott started to play Amazing Grace on the Bagpipes. The prayer of thanks we received from the people that remained was a great way to cap off an extraordinary night of brokenness and healing.<br><br><br> I learned that my ministry fails when I take MY eyes… off Jesus.</p>
<p> When my focus becomes the show and not the message.<br><br> When my focus is on my talents instead of God speaking through brokenness.<br><br> When my focus is on me and what I can do… Things do not go smoothly.<br><br>Sure good things happen because God continues to work through sinful people, but it is never what He fully intends to do through us when we keep our focus on ourselves. When we have our Eyes on Christ, follow his example of serving others for Jesus’ sake and God’s glory and fame, when we are willing to share our brokenness and God’s healing, when we’re willing to be satisfied for serving EVEN ONE… God delights, His name is praised and the mystery of God’s grace is made plain.<br><br>If you have a heart to serve God, be ready to get cut, many of your injuries will be self inflicted. But if you are willing to learn, willing to wait on God’s grace and watch him heal your heart, you will learn what it means to Share the Hope for Jesus Sake.<br><br>Go figure that an old man would have showed up and turned this ministry event from a disaster to a total blessing, giving me a new perspective, a new vision… and a new mountain to climb!<br><br><span style="text-decoration: underline; font-size: medium;"><strong>Reprise</strong></span><br><br>The following week, I had a concert back in my home state of Wisconsin, only this time I had a different mindset, a bruised but healing heart and a focus on being a minister to the people that came. Before the concert started, I took a moment to tell this story to the audience and with my band in the crowd, I asked everyone to welcome each other. I don’t know why God brought each of them there, but they were there and we had some songs and some encouragements to share.<br><br>God blessed us with about 150 people that night and to this day was one of the best concerts that we’ve done.<br><br>Mike Westendorf - Special thanks to Transparent Christian Magazine - originally printed in 2010</p>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/59981262015-03-24T19:00:00-05:002015-03-25T03:22:06-05:00Leaners<p><span style="font-size: medium;">Leaners? I've been thinking about the idea that we sometimes have a tendency to get out ahead of God. His command for us in Ephesians 6 is to "stand firm" against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms, yet we often run out into the battle outside the plans and timing of the one who actually can do the fighting. Impatience to see God's will for our lives unfold? Following along with the crowd? Worry nagging at your confidence and playing on your fears? Do you feel like running forward to "make something happen"? Do you feel like running away because of what HAS happened? </span><br><br><span style="font-size: medium;">As a visual, imagine leaning. When we lean one way or another we can do so just a little ways, so long as we have a strong base or foundation. But we can only lean so far. If we get out ahead of the foundation, we start to lose our balance and we start to fall. If you have a crutch, you can lean a little further away from your foundation, but eventually your strength will fail or your crutch will fail and you will fall. The higher up you elevate yourself (think of a ladder), the less you can lean, the quicker you lose your balance... the further you can fall.</span><br><br><span style="font-size: medium;">Interesting that in the Christian life, our leaning away from the foundation is often motivated by our lack of understanding of God's ways and our impatience with standing in God's plans/timing. Satan's game is to lure you away from the foundation and to get us leaning toward things that will leave us unbalanced and eventually lead to a fall. Some of these decisions lead to addictive behaviors and we need a crutch to help us lean out even further. Pride elevates our platform above God's and Satan will use that pride to get you to move higher and prouder than the God who saves you. When we lean on a ladder, the fall is all the more spectacular. That fall can be deadly and that's exactly what sin brings. James says it this way: "<em>But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death."</em> Death to relationship, death to opportunity, death to reputation, death to freedom. Remove the foundation and all you have is a state of living death, it's what we call hell. And all of us have tasted this on a small level.</span><br><br><span style="font-size: medium;">But praise God that for every one who has fallen, the cross of Jesus restores. The cross of Jesus resurrects the broken. The empty tomb of Jesus is historical fact and it ensures that what God says he will do, he will do. Grace is freely given. Forgiveness bought and paid for by Jesus so that for every repentant "leaner", for every one who has been lured away to addictive crutches and habitual falling, could stand once again in the foundation of the God who made them, loved them, restores them... restores me! How?<br><br><span id="en-NIV-29508" class="text Col-2-13">Colossians 2: <em>"When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,</em></span><em> <span id="en-NIV-29509" class="text Col-2-14"><sup class="versenum">14 </sup>having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.</span> <span id="en-NIV-29510" class="text Col-2-15"><sup class="versenum">15 </sup>And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross."</span></em><br><br>Hosanna! God Save Us! And by God's grace through Jesus and the gift of faith freely given, he has done just that.</span><br><br><span style="font-size: medium;">What are you leaning toward? What crutches do I have in my life? Where is the ground compacted from my constant falling, who heals the scraped knees and wounded hearts? This Passion season of Jesus, I pray we'll remember, we'll repent of our leanings away from Jesus and find the strength to lean into his love and mercy and life for us! That we will find personal resurrection, healing and restoration in the finished work of the Cross that Jesus did because of his great love for us.<br></span></p>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/59981252015-03-05T18:00:00-06:002021-08-02T14:45:26-05:00The Best Part of Being Alive<p><span style="font-size: medium;">Two thoughts that have been burning in my heart for the past two months.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">The world is in prison with a zombie identity (Ephesians 2), looking for life and for healing; – they will never find it apart from Christ. Jesus came to bring life from death, he came to change our identity – give us true relationship and to give life to the full. This relationship is all Jesus doing – allowing us an opportunity for confession and true forgiveness, true healing and loved completely. <span class="text_exposed_show">Don’t only run from sin, but run TO Jesus. To run only from sin is to run aimless, it will track you down. Run to Jesus, the only source for healing and strength in our weakness.</span></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: medium;">The Gospel story is incomplete if we don’t carry the heart of healing into the world. This is not a "law" statement at its heart. I believe we miss out on the deepest joy and most complete realization of the work of Christ – that we would be conformed to the image of Christ, weeping over brokenness, sacrificing our lives to bring the healing of God’s Grace so that we and others can dance on God’s great dance floor. This is not a “you’re not saved if you don’t do this”, but it’s a <strong><em>“you’re missing the best part of being alive”</em></strong> if you miss the heart for healing and celebration that Jesus had himself and transplanted in us.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">Oh that we would wake up every day with that heart. To make known the mile markers of faithfulness to the generations and the world around you – sharing the great love, healing and hope of the God who is faithful (Psalm 89:1-2).</span></p>
</div>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/59981242014-09-26T19:00:00-05:002014-09-27T03:56:32-05:00The Gospel - Good News or Good Message?<p><span style="font-size: small;">In preparing for the last of the "Awake and Alive 2014 Summer Series" messages, we wanted to focus on the prayer that Paul had in his letter to the churches, specifically to Ephesians. In it he asks them to pray for him that he would declare the Gospel message faithfully as he should. I asked one of my pastoral mentors about the original Greek language translation and how we might better understand it. It is pronounced "Oi - Angelian", (don't ask me to spell it) and the general translation looks like this. Oi - is the word for "good", Angelian - is the word that is more like an angel, which in bible language is also a "messenger" of God. A translation might then read "The Good Message"<br><br></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">If you are like me and you were raised in the church all your life, you came to know the Gospel to mean "The Good NEWS". This deeper look really made me wonder at how I had grown up with it and something struck me. Perhaps a couple generations ago and even in older days beyond that, communities, families and individuals were really craving news. It was the lifeblood to understanding what was happening and what might be coming. You think about Paul Reveere's ride with the news that the colonies would be called to arms. You think about people in the 1940s huddled around radios that were almost as big as pianos to catch some of the news about the war going on in the greater world. You think even back to these original letters of Paul, NEWS of his well being and his encouragement.<br><br></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">But today, I don't think we value news. News is negative, it's polarizing, it's a sham, it's communicated in a way to draw viewers, often through sensationalism as much as its desire to inform people for the well being of community. You can get it on demand, you can get it on a billion channels, you can get it online, you can get it on your phone. We don't trust it, because it is increasingly done with lower journalistic integrity in an effort to beat the other network to the punch, even if it means we don't get all the facts right when we go to press... News is typically not good, even though we still want something.<br><br></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">That has got me thinking about the way Christians translate "The Gospel" and what it means and I think it's a problem for two reasons. 1. As I mentioned, news typically is not viewed as good anymore, nor is it trusted. And then 2. We can get it when we want, we control it, what we read and how it's read to us, so there isn't much urgency to it and it's really not all that personal. Perhaps this is a cultural reason why people don't want to hear about Christian "Good News". We don't have an appetite or respect for NEWS. Times have changed.<br><br></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">This is where I think the original meaning has so much more value, especially in our culture today and in our church today. This is not just The Good News, the Gospel is The Good Message! And there is a difference today. A message conveys that the content is personal. A message contains information with an expectation that the receiver of the message will respond to it. In other words, a MESSAGE will have personal impact and will demand personal response to it. NEWS is something that you can pass on, turn off, tune out and get someone else's interpretation on. NEWS is academic and often impersonal. NEWS says "take it or leave it", but a MESSAGE says "Respond to this".<br><br></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">I think there is some real power in understanding The Gospel in this light. That it is not simply news, it is, as translated, a message. That the God of heaven has a personal message for the receiver of the message. The message is related to things that are extremely personal and eternal in nature. That they are, above all, GOOD things for the individual recipient of the message. That good message is this. That when you and I dare to be honest and look at ourselves, you know you aren't perfect. You know there are flaws. Your life is filled with "shoulda's" and "coulda's". You have caused harm and you have caused pain and there is pain in our lives that we cannot understand. Even if you only did one thing wrong/bad/not right and otherwise led an awesome, kind and helpful life, that one thing sits lurking in the background diminishing joy. The reality that we all carry guilt and we all walk in pride and neither of these things lead to good things. In fact they tend to ruin things in the end. Even our greatest strengths often become our greatest weaknesses.<br><br></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">The good message starts with this reality, it doesn't hide behind self help books and positive personal empowerment. It says what it says. The message is that You and I are dead. We have no relationship that we can create with the God who created us. We are in essence, zombies... walking dead (Ephesians chapter 2). That is what we are on our own and our culture overwhelmingly confirms this - when we care to be honest. The good message has to start there, because otherwise there is no good in the message. The Gospel helps us affirm that we have no relationship with God, but that God wants relationship with us. In fact, while we were dead in sin and relationship, God made us ALIVE through Jesus (that's what the cross and resurrection are all about)! He breathed life into a heart that would never beat for truly right things. With a new heart, he has opened up our minds to what the bible calls "The renewing of our mind" that we would think correctly as true human beings. With new thinking he has enabled renewed living, living for right things, living for things that matter most. The good message says then that he has brought us to a place and a path that leads to what Jesus called "Life to the full".<br><br></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">The Good message is personal - By Grace, God has given us a new heart, one that beats for a relationship with the God who loves us. This new heart gives us a new identity and a new eternity. This leads to changed thinking, which leads to changed living, it leads to a new purpose and that purpose is to FEARLESSLY make known the mysteries of this GOOD MESSAGE, that even while we were sinners, while we were dead in relationship with God, Christ died for us and raised us to life - no matter how far from God you may think or feel you are.<br><br></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">So one last thought. Studies are being done on this idea. Do you have a smartphone? Ever watch someone with a smartphone? He'll casually check email, she'll look up the news, we'll look to see what's going on when we have a free moment. BUT... when that phone vibrates and indicates that you received a text or a facebook message... people tend to stop what they are doing and all focus goes to that message. Why??? BECAUSE IT'S PERSONAL... and it demands our attention... RIGHT NOW! And even if we don't respond to it right away, the moment that we know there is a message waiting for us, much of our thought goes to it, demanding we take action.<br><br></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">The Gospel is more than good news. It's personal, it demands attention and it requires action. The Gospel is the best good message we could hope for, because the sender of that message wants you and I know where life comes from, what it is and how it lasts forever.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><br>For a great starting point, consider reading the book of Ephesians in the Bible. You won't be disappointed!<br></span></p>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/59981232014-09-26T19:00:00-05:002023-11-21T18:44:59-06:00Worship in Reverse<p><span>I lead worship frequently at my home church in Muskego called "The Bridge at St. Paul's". I lead within our modern worship setting and within our contemporary setting - both are topics for another blog one day. This time I just wanted to relate a worship experience that I found to be particularly striking in how God uses his word and worship to tell the greatest story.</span></p><p><span>I am part of the worship leadership team and in the ministry team setting we do spend a decent amount of time discussing the sermon topic of the week as well as the worship service elements and songs so that we can help tell the story and give people a chance to respond to it as well. Worship in a Lutheran setting has regularly been translated to mean this: "God comes to us (word and sacrament) and his people respond (to Him and to one another about Him). We are in a bible series called "Stuck?" looking at encouragements through the book of Phillipians" and the section of scripture that day was related to Paul's reality of being stuck in prison, yet finding joy and freedom in Christ.</span></p><p><span>As I went through song selection and the worship elements of our contemporary service I choose 4 primary songs "All the People Said Amen" by Matt Maher, "Jesus Paid it All' by Kristian Stanfil, "Awake My Soul" by Chris Tomlin et al, and "Our God", by Chris Tomlin as well. Our service order looked like this:</span></p><p><span>All the People said Amen</span></p><p><span>Prayer</span></p><p><span>Confession/Absolution</span></p><p><span>Baptism of a 4 year old (really cool!)</span></p><p><span>Jesus Paid it All</span></p><p><span>Lesson 1 - Numbers 11: 4-17</span></p><p><span>Lesson 2 - Matthew 9: 18-26</span></p><p><span>Offering</span></p><p><span>Awake My Soul</span></p><p><span>Message "Advancing - based on Philippians 1:12-30</span></p><p><span>Prayers/Blessing</span></p><p><span>Our God</span></p><p><span>Usually you don't start a service with "Amen" as it's the finish and close to so many things. It means "let it be so" and I choose to start the service with an ending comment. There's a line in the song that goes "We're all broken, but we're all in this together. God knows we stumble and fall. And He so loved the world he sent his son to save us all", which is what we're really amening. As I was listening to John Backus lay out the message theme he made the great point about the Gospel message being one that releases from so many of the prisons of this life. That Jesus is the lock pick, his relationship to us by faith can unlock even the physical prisons and give us perspective to experience joy in all circumstances. And then it hit me how neat worship can be when we think it through. Forwards and backwards when it's done well, you will see worship and the encouragement we receive as well as the strengthening of faith.</span></p><p><span>For me it was looking backwards and putting the order in reverse. I was amazed at how the service order translated as I looked hard at the statements that were being made to us and that we ourselves were making. Starting backward our worship story that weekend looked like this:</span></p><p><span>"If God is for us, who can be against us? Our God, through Jesus, is the lock pick, who has awakened my soul. He has breathed life and spoken to us in his word, that we might see that Jesus Paid it All and we praise the one who paid my debt and raised this life up from the dead. He did this by making me his own dear child through baptism that I might confess that I am a sinner, broken and a person who has stumbled and fallen, but God so loved the world that he sent his son to save us all - AND ALL THE PEOPLE SAID AMEN!".</span></p><p><span>Even in reverse order, what a story! </span></p><p><span>Mike</span></p><p> </p><p> </p>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/59981222014-05-15T19:00:00-05:002023-11-21T18:45:27-06:00Awake and Alive - Wake Up to Who You Are!<div style="left:-1988px;position:absolute;top:-1999px;" id="stcpDiv">
<span>"</span><span id="en-NIV-29269">And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,</span><span id="en-NIV-29270">may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, </span><span id="en-NIV-29271">and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:17-19</span> - See more at: http://mikewestendorf.com/18_25_generation_summer_groups/#sthash.2B3sjKuX.dpuf</div><div style="left:-1988px;position:absolute;top:-1999px;" id="stcpDiv">
<span>"</span><span id="en-NIV-29269">And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,</span><span id="en-NIV-29270">may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, </span><span id="en-NIV-29271">and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:17-19</span> - See more at: http://mikewestendorf.com/18_25_generation_summer_groups/#sthash.2B3sjKuX.dpuf</div><p style="text-align:center;"><i><span><strong>"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:17-19</strong></span></i><br><br> </p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/395830/a2b65738687148d0d78b986129e66b3f4f079c61/original/aanewsummergraphic-med.png/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6NjAweDI5OCJd.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="298" width="600" /><p><br><br><br><span>What is it that makes waking up and getting out of bed so difficult? The alarm clock goes off, we reach for that 10 minute snooze. Perhaps you're like me and you intentionally set your clock ahead 5 minutes to afford you that opportunity to smack the snooze bar. Or perhaps you put the clock on the other side of the room so that you have to get out of bed and turn it off in the hopes that you'll wake up on your way back to bed after turning it off. OooorrrRRRR, maybe you're like me and a lot of my friends who stay up too late and don't go to bed with nearly enough time to catch up on sleep. What is that nagging voice in our bodies, in our heads and even in our hearts that says "Go back to sleep".</span><br><br><span>You know, I've come to hear a similar voice whispering to me about my identity as a Christian, as a child of God, as the one who is dearly loved. A voice that tells me, tells us, that we are really quite awful at a lot of things. A voice that breathes doubt into our value, our purpose and our identity. A voice that whispers, shouts, sings and speaks "Christian, go back to sleep"! Maybe you're heard it too. No this isn't just about being tired on a Sunday morning when you know out of some "duty" you should "go to church" for something. No, this is a voice that is saying so much more and it's amazing to me how often I hear it and how often I reluctantly follow it, at least part way.</span><br><br><span>In the Garden of Eden, Satan whispered to Adam and Eve "Did God really say?". To Aaron Satan whispers "Where is Moses, what will you do with these people?" To Jesus himself Satan Whispers, "Give up, give in and I will grant you fame and power... a new identity!" Well in the bible, in a letter written by one of Jesus close disciples named John, we learn of this "Good Shepherd" Jesus. In verse 10 of that chapter we have one of the clearest mission statements that Jesus makes about his own life and by extension, the mission statement of people who by faith believe. Jesus said "The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy, but I have come that they may have life and have it to the full"! His blanket statement is that all other voices besides Jesus are, in the end, simply in it for our downfall and demise, physically, spiritually and eternally. If all we really want is "Life to the Full", which all of us do on some level, Jesus says that the only way you'll get to experience that is through Jesus.</span><br><br><span>In a nutshell, that is what Awake and Alive 2014 is all about and it is what the Awake and Alive concert and worship events are about as well. A chance to celebrate who Jesus is, what God has done for us and the purpose he has given us. A chance to get around the Bible, specifically a look at Ephesians and dig into our true identity and the mission and purpose we have in living out this life. And we want to pay special attention to speaking into the 18-25 generation about this life. We want to be a group that is praying "Lord, make me AWAKE to who I am in you; make me ALIVE to your plans for my life today as I live out this identity in my world around me". </span><br><br><span>If you are in that 18-25 generation, I have heard your stories for the past 10 years from all over the country as you've shared the ups and downs, the questions and doubts, the joys and break through moments of your journey with Jesus in your young lives. I hope you will consider coming to our three summer group sessions specifically for your age group and generation. You can learn more about it at </span><a class="no-pjax" href="http://awakeandalive2014.com/"><span>AwakeAndAlive2014.com</span></a><span>, especially for those of you in SE Wisconsin. This is FOR YOU!</span><br><br><span>If you can't come to these summer sessions, we are making a portable and smaller version of it to bring to your church, your city and your campus. This </span><a class="no-pjax" href="http://mikewestendorf.com/concert_events/"><span>Awake and Alive Concert/Worship event</span></a><span> is meant to speak more directly to the 18-25 generation, but is also built to help churches and communities better walk with this age group and step into serving them and serving WITH them as we learn to better walk together for Jesus sake. That an older generation would ask God to wake them up and make them alive, and then give them the strength, wisdom and opportunity to pray for the 18-25 year olds in their midst as well.</span><br><br><span>Wherever you are in life, whether you're new to Christianity or were "born in the church". Whether you have questions or are walking on solid ground, we pray this will be a prayer for your generation as it is for mine: "Lord wake me up to who I am in you (my true identity) and then Lord make me alive to the plans and purposes you have for me to live out that identity as your child in my life today. Right here, right now! For the sake of others and for your glory, Amen!"</span><br><br><span>God be with you this summer! - Mike</span><br><br><br><i><span id="en-NIV-29318"><strong>Ephesians 5:13-16 - "But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light.</strong></span><span><strong> </strong></span><span id="en-NIV-29319"><strong>This is why it is said: </strong></span><span><strong>“Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, </strong></span><span id="en-NIV-29320"><strong>and Christ will shine on you.” Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise,</strong></span><span><strong> </strong></span><span id="en-NIV-29321"><strong>making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil."</strong></span></i><br><br><br> </p><p> </p>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/59981212014-01-25T18:00:00-06:002014-05-16T05:27:47-05:00Accessible Worship - Is It Really About Style?<p><span style="font-size: medium;">I've had the privilege to be part of some great churches growing up and a lot of great mentors in my life. My life experiences as a meteorologist at Weather Eye, Inc. and the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee running Innovative Weather. 20 years around broadcasting and trying to communicate difficult concepts in simpler terms for people to understand. Blessed to work in high school and college ministry trying to walk with the next generation well and learn from them as they grow through some common roads that we are traveling. Blessed to be a husband and father, to be a loved son raised in a Christian household. And as a touring Christian artist to work with many WELS churches encouraging people and helping build and affirm the Christian culture of those churches.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">Over the years, I have helped lead in many worship settings from traditional/classical, to contemporary/modern worship settings in our WELS churches and I believe that God has given me something to share that I hope will be an encouragement in the end. I am working at trying to articulate some of what I have learned as an artist that has been able to travel to different parts of the country and worked with a myriad of different church cultures over the past 10 years. The end result is a presentation that I am calling "Accessible Worship".</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">Too often the "style" of worship in our churches gets a lot of sarcastic, even sinful comments ripping up or tearing down one another. In the WELS, it's actually quite tame compared with the rhetoric of some denominations, but the feelings run deep and over the past 10 years I have not seen much conversation between two primary camps. Even labeling the camps can be considered derogatory, but like in so many other areas of life there are often two that pull against each other. Call it Traditional and Contemporary, Liberal and Conservative, Progressive and Orthodox, Right and Left. In the views of many, these words are used too often to label worship environments, language and culture and in labeling them, we often miss out on some important details.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">My effort in a Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) setting, is to actually push past the labels to try to make the point that communication is not simply content, but involves all of the senses and that a variety of worship environments, when filled with the right content, is not only healthy for the church, but biblical at it's core. Yes, even if it involves an organ with a 40 voice choir, or a worship team led by guitar, keys and drums.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">This space is really just a teaser for something that I hope to share with people in the coming months, but while I try to gather thoughts and put them down in coherent and hopefully encouraging and above all, biblical ways, I want to introduce to you the tension in three examples:</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">A member of a church that worships in a worship environment that is traditional and liturgical in the way it communicates, leaves a worship service feeling preached at, uninvolved and frustrated. They can't put their finger on exactly what it was. They might say it was the message, they might say it was the music and the songs written by Yoda, they might say it was the distractions or just life in general, but they leave feeling as though they did not worship. Yet when you look at the content of what was said and done in worship, all of the important elements were there. God's word, songs of praise, a lesson, communion, a creed, prayers of the church, a message. They leave frustrated and wondering what's wrong with me.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">A member of a church that worships in a contemporary and non liturgical worship environment and they leave feeling as though their ears are going to burst, like the attended a rock concert and while they felt respected by the people there, they felt the whole thing was irreverent and did nothing to honor God. They might say it was the lights, or the stage, or the pastor who wouldn't stand still, or the style of the song and the seven 11 simple lyrical content and they leave feeling as though they did not worship. Yet when you look at the content of what was said and done in worship. all of the important elements were there. God's word, songs of praise, a lesson, communion, a creed, prayers of the church, a message. They leave frustrated and angry at this so called church.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">A Pastor, takes a call knowing he's involved in a somewhat impossible task, of trying to be everything to everybody. Even though he's been warned he can't be and that God will care for those he can't, it's not about him after all. Yet he has both of these people in his congregation. He has his own preference on how to conduct worship and he has his own experience set. Yet his heart breaks for both of them. Does he take a blended approach to worship "style"? Does he split his congregation by having both traditional and contemporary offerings. Can the church culture understand the importance and validity in both when they are done with the utmost respect to God's Word? When he sits down to talk with them with an aching heart he says to one or the other "what am I doing wrong?". He doesn't know, the people don't know - they just hurt.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">Well I want to speak into this so that both sides and anyone in between can have a chance to sit down and have an honest conversation about things like: "Worship, Communication, Language, Relationship, Evangelism, Entertainment, Performance and Encounter. I want to take a harder look at the use of Traditional, Blended, Contemporary and Modern worship settings from a WELS viewpoint and I hope and pray that God will remove the fear that is unnecessary and may fill us with a passion for fearlessly proclaiming the whole of the Gospel as has been the heartbeat of so many Christians who have gone on before us.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">Please pray for me and those who are my mentors on this topic, that it would ultimately bring Glory to God, clarity to worship leaders and through it all, more people to know the saving power of Jesus Christ and where true Life can be found.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">Mike</span></p>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/59981202013-10-22T19:00:00-05:002023-11-21T18:48:11-06:00When Push Comes to Shove<p><span>Recently as part of our "Gathering" Series of speakers for our campus ministry in Milwaukee, we had well known author/speaker on the topic of Creation and Evolution named Jay Seegert. Jay opened his talk just readily admitting that he is a Christian and as such, believes in God and that the Bible is His Word. Shortly thereafter, I found myself in a bit of a back and forth between differing views on the topic and found it interesting to wrestle with what I know, what I don't know and the essence of faith and what I believe. As it so often does on the internet, the conversation boiled down to people on two sides that ultimately started talking past each other. This was my response to it and thought it might help others who are stuck in the middle of these "debates/arguments". I don't have it all together, but Jesus is what I have and that is more than enough. I hope somehow it's an encouragement.</span></p><p><span> </span></p><hr><p><span> </span></p><p> </p><p><span>I have been watching you guys argue about definitions of words and research. I've been reminded of why I need to be a good listener so I can properly defend what I believe. I remembered that intelligent people want to be respected and that requires a willing listener. I've been reminded that whether you're a creationist or evolutionist, all of us agree that we're here because of a miracle. A miracle of divine proportions or the existence that we see against astronomically impossible odds for evolution to be true in the "traditional" portrayal of evolution. </span><br><br><span>I'm reminded that part of why anyone believes something is partially based on faith and partially what they know or have experienced personally.</span><br><br><span>I'm reminded that we are ALL one experience away from having our world rocked, where everything we thought we knew is stressfully challenged. Whether it's a new study, a personal tragedy, a national catastrophe.</span><br><br><span>I'm reminded that we will all die and that every one of us will take only our faith to the grave. Faith that nothing is there, faith that pearly gates are there, faith that there is a Savior, faith that hell awaits...</span><br><br><span>I'm reminded that people won't usually believe in a God that loves them when the people pushing that God demand that the ignorant people give up their idols of evolution and accept creation as a prerequisite to Salvation. (I hate when Christians do this because all too often they "communicate" the opposite of the words they say... we need to let the Spirit do the convincing)</span><br><br><span>I'm reminded that you can throw out "did ya knows" until you're blue in the face, but it will never prove your stance because it must be answered within the big picture, not just the lab.</span><br><br><span>I'm reminded that there is not one example of Kind mutation, but lots of species mutations.</span><br><br><span>And I'm reminded that at this time in my life and understanding, I believe in a young earth for a number of reasons:</span><br><br><span>* When God said "let there be", how old were all the things he called into existence? I wonder if the planets and solar systems have a "born on" date. If we used our calculations at the moment God said "let there be", what would the calculations be?</span><br><br><span>* Scientists are studying a fallen world, not the world that the Christian believes was called into existence.</span><br><br><span>* If God was an instigator and then it took Billions of years for things to come together... he's pretty lousy at creation and probably can't be trusted to supply my daily needs. Certainly doesn't seem to jive with the God of the bible.</span><br><br><span>* The biblical translation for "day" in Genesis is 24 hours, not period of time. There are other words that the writers use for "long periods" and it is not the same word. If I believe the Bible is God's word, I think God would know the difference.</span><br><br><span>* If God started evolution, death has been a part of the world much longer than Adam and Eve. Theologically it nullifies the need for a Savior and the whole "love of God" thing because the wages of sin is death, the gift of God is eternal life, which is the main story of The Bible. God would thus be a liar and a poor designer requiring billions of years of death before he finally accomplished Life.</span><br><br><span>* Everything tends to decay (laws of thermodynamics), not bigger and better things.</span><br><br><span>* The big bang... sounds an aweful lot like "Let there be"</span><br><br><span>* Science is the study of what is, and is not interested in the "truth" as we normally talk about it. It is the uncovering of information on how things and why things work. As one scientist told me "Science is self correcting"... so you never really know if we're at the end of understanding.</span><br><br><span>* Science is filled with a history of hypocrites as rich as the church and has many examples in which money taints pure research (just think of the tobacco/oil company research arguments).</span><br><br><span>* If the proof for creation is the bedrock of your faith... you will be tossed about by the latest research, you will be a very defensive Christian and you will spend a lot of your life <u>not</u> living in the peace of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only Foundation that is unshakable and the only one that doesn't change. Science admits that it is "self correcting", which means the conclusions can and will change, especially in historical science. To the Christian, we need to be careful that "evidence" does not become our God, which is a matter of Faith - sure of what we hope for, certain of what we do not see - which is also a huge component of Historical Science. They are certain of something they don't see, which is why they continue to pursue it so passionately. It would be great if Christians also pursued their faith as passionately.</span><br><br><br><br><span>That's where I am today, right now. This banter has been an experience that caused me to dig a little bit into what I saw going on between viewpoints, which devolved into the classic "he said she said", "you're not listening" as it predictably does. I come away being reminded of some of the things I believe to be true about the world around me and I'm sorry, I just don't see the scientific excellence in the theories of evolution as they have been taught to me and pushed on me in museums and in our culture. If you tell the lie long enough, people will blindly believe it. A great example of that is in the Field museum in Chicago, which has a fascinating colorful display that tells the story of evolution, without any proofs other than "Scientists NOW believe..." Looks convincing until you really dig in and look under the hood and take in the big view, that according to many Christians who are also excellent scientists, say could not and did not happen.</span><br><br><span>In the end, I believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, the one that was to come into the world and with his life atone for the sin of every person. So that we would know how great the Father's love that for us, even in a broken world that God himself weeps over. That the author of life and purpose, would step into time and fix the sin problem for humanity and make a way that we could find the peace that all of us are looking for... you only find it in one God, the God of the bible. Why would I believe that? Because by faith, I see this "life" all around me in the world today. </span><br><br><span>I love Science, thanks for reminding me that I really do love it. And I love my evolutionist friends that I will likely never win an argument with. I just hope they'll know that Jesus loves me, and I love them because Jesus loves them and when life gets hard and they are wondering where peace comes from in the hard times, I can share where I believe peace comes from. Not as a Scientist, but as a Christian friend who wants everyone to know that Jesus is the Way, is the Truth and ultimately is the Life we are looking for.</span><br><br><span>Thanks guys, have a great rest of your week!</span></p>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/59981192013-10-18T19:00:00-05:002023-11-21T18:47:49-06:00Wearied by Worry<p><span style="color:#ffff99;"><strong> </strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#ffff99;"><span><strong>"I'm tired of worrying about how we're going to pay for this!!"</strong></span></span></p><p><span style="color:#ffff99;"><span><strong>"I'm worried about when my kids will come home... it makes me tired!"</strong></span></span></p><p><span style="color:#ffff99;"><span><strong>"All this anxiety and worry about the government burns me out!"</strong></span></span></p><p><span> </span></p><p><span>Have you ever felt like this? If you're a human being with any level of responsibility the chances are really good that you would say yes. The Great Recession has cast us with mounting debt and too few resources to pay for things. We have put off repair work, upgrades and regular maintenance. We've down sized, budget battled and gone without. In some cases we've given up on dreams or at least postponed them until... well I'm not sure when, but some other time that has to do with "not now". Being the kind of person that likes to plan ahead and know what's going down the line, I tend to worry more than I would like to admit. Because I'm often not patient enough, I feel the lack of control when things don't happen on my timeline and it leads me to worry about when and if something will ever happen. Worry, makes me tired in my heart and can often lead me to inaction. Almost like it talks me out of attempting to do things because the attempt would make me worry, and I'm tired of worrying.</span></p><p><span> </span></p><p><span>Worry is defined by some this way: as a verb "give way to anxiety or unease; allow one's mind to dwell on difficulty or troubles." or a noun "</span><span id="en-NIV-17355">a state of anxiety and uncertainty over actual or potential problems." I've been a Christian all my life. I know the passages that the Bible has to say about worry. In fact Solomon captures the heart of it quite well when he says <strong>"For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune.</strong></span><span><strong> </strong></span><span id="en-NIV-17356"><strong>What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun?</strong></span><span><strong> </strong></span><span id="en-NIV-17357"><strong>All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless." </strong> Perhaps, with some guilt, we read these passages in frustration wondering how we can in fact let go.</span><br> </p><p> </p><div class="heading passage-class-0"><h3><span style="color:#ffff99;">Philippians 4:5-7</span></h3></div><p><span style="color:#ffff99;"><span id="en-NIV-29448">Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.</span> <span id="en-NIV-29449">Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.</span> <span id="en-NIV-29450">And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.</span></span></p><p> </p><div class="heading passage-class-0"><h3><span style="color:#ffff99;">Matthew 6:25-27</span></h3></div><p><span style="color:#ffff99;"><span id="en-NIV-29450">“Therefore I tell you, do not <strong>worry</strong> about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by <strong>worry</strong>ing add a single hour to your life?</span></span></p><p><span> </span></p><p><span>"Doubt is momentary Atheism" I've heard this quote before and I have been thinking about it quite a bit in this context. The most quoted command in the bible is "Do not be afraid", which can also be said - "Do not fear" or "do not be anxious" or "do not worry", yet why is it so hard to do this. I don't know about you, but for me it likely has to do with my inability to live in a way that gives up control to God fully. It is evidence that God is still building my faith, burning away the impurities of my own desires and my own time frame so that he can give to me something that is my hearts best and most intimate desire. Perhaps too, it's his promise that this life is hard and difficult (John 16:33) and I am afraid to go through the trials and pains in life that I really would rather not deal with, loss, hurt, death.</span></p><p><span> </span></p><p><span>But all of this worry leads me to a tiredness in my body, a numbness in my mind and a distress in my heart. So much so that recently I found myself praying quietly, but loudly - I DON'T WANT TO WORRY ABOUT THIS ANYMORE!!! GOD ARE YOU LISTENING, I'M TIRED OF WORRYING??? To which I perhaps heard God more clearly in these passages. Do you know what he said?</span></p><p> </p><p><span style="color:#ffff99;"><span><strong>IT'S ABOUT TIME! Mike, I never asked you to worry about these things. Mike, I appreciate what you want to "do" for me, but if it leads you to a place of worry, don't go there, I didn't ask you to do that. I have dealt with your worry, I have assigned a time and a place for things to work for your best and to my glory. I have met every need for you and for your family. Am I not God? Am I not the one who called you? Am I not the one who has loved you, walked and danced with you? Am I not the God that has wept with you, sat in the dark with you, rejoiced with you? Are you not my son who I have adopted for Jesus sake? Are you not beautiful to me, because I made you? Mike, I really would like you to give up worrying, because I never asked you to do it, in fact I want quite the opposite for you, to live free of worry. So be at peace, do not fear the future, you have only to live for me today and not tomorrow. Tomorrow will be "today" soon enough and that is where I will meet your need and you will have opportunity to live for me and for my name."</strong></span></span></p><p><span style="color:#ffff99;"> </span></p><p><span>OK, so God didn't actually come and say that to me, but the aha moment and all the passages came flooding in that reminds me of the heart that God has for me and where my life fits into his plan. I have only to live in it. An author once said "Where there's not hope for the future, there's no power in the present". Worry causes us to lose hope as we take our eyes off Jesus and his promises. For us, the result is that we often lose power in the present moment to deal with life around us, a vicous cycle that leaves us spent and often feeling defeated. I don't want to worry about these things anymore... so with God's help, I'm going to do my best to give up this unhealthy hobby... it makes me tired and I have too much to live for today!</span></p><p><span> </span></p><p><span>Climb the Mountain!</span></p><p><span>Mike</span></p><p><span> </span></p><p><span> </span></p>mikewestendorf.comtag:mikewestendorf.com,2005:Post/59981182013-06-18T19:00:00-05:002023-11-21T18:46:21-06:00Clarity Through Tragedy<p>I was recently asked about how I view what happened in Oklahoma City, if I get excited to see weather of that magnitude or if the seriousness of the situation trumps my excitement.<span> </span>To be honest, the reason I loved the weather was because of a huge storm in Michigan when I was about 7 years old.<span> </span>A funnel cloud went over our sub division and touched down about a mile from our house.<span> </span>The damage wasn’t like OKC, but to a 7 year old what we saw was nothing short of amazing.<span> </span>I remember having to walk through corn fields to find some of our outdoor stuff including a hoppity horse that was 10 rows into the corn.<span> </span>For me, that’s where my amazement with the weather took off and I still am awed by it every day.</p><p><a class="no-pjax" href="http://mikewestendorf.com/Blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Image1.jpg"><img src="http://mikewestendorf.com/Blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Image1.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="El Reno Tornado" height="150" width="200" /></a>But that question is a pretty easy one.<span> </span>The weather really does inspire awe when it reaches that magnitude and it is utterly humbling, but the seriousness of what has happened far outweighs it.<span> </span>We spend a lot of time running around in life with things that are so important, yet in a heartbeat, all of the chasing after stuff, running a million miles an hour, worrying about the smallest of details, suddenly doesn’t matter.<span> </span>In that moment, you know in your heart what matters most, because they are the things that you hope against hope for.<span> </span>In OKC, the stories that are being made known have been interesting and heart wrenching to follow and even from a distance some of them resonate with me too.</p><p>As a student of American culture, I am reading and hearing the responses from people who “praise God” for seeing them through this tragedy and who hope in Jesus despite having lost so much and it is awesome to hear and see those testimonies.<span> </span>You hear the remark that the only thing that really matters is the people, because the stuff you can replace.<span> </span>You hear the quiet and not so quiet comments of a growing number of people who don’t believe in a god, but the goodness of people.<span> </span>And of course you hear the loudest question to Christians “If your god is all powerful, where was your god in this?”<span> </span>After which the conversation often turns to a caricature of a god who stands aloof, has a huge ego or has it out for people as he stands in judgment and doles out punishment on the land. Perhaps worse is the shrug of the shoulders and the comment, “what god?” Increasingly the commentary for some in America is that Christian belief is at best unbelievable; at worst it is responsible for all sorts of injustice… “The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it”- John Chapter 1.</p><p>When tragedy strikes, especially like this, what we hold closest to us becomes clearly focused.<span> </span>One author wrote “Where there is hope for the future, there is power in the present.”<span> </span>For the atheist and humanist who are content to see life with no loving God, it seems as though it is the human will to overcome and to deliver justice as people work to improve life with general claims of the “goodness” of mankind.<span> </span>People find great comfort in knowing that our history includes stories of people who have done seemingly amazing things when they put their minds to it.<span> </span>For 13 million people in America, they will claim to do it without god in their life.<span> </span>They care about their communities, help their neighbors, are good to others and would agree with most of the 10 commandments.<span> </span>In fact, if they didn’t say they were atheist and we didn’t say we were Christians, we may look and sound a lot alike.</p><p>When tragedy strikes for the Christian, what we hold onto becomes clearly focused as well does it not?<span> </span>It reveals that all of us are at different places with a maturing faith because it asks us to wrestle with the hard questions of faith.<span> </span>In so many places the bible tells us that we will suffer, sometimes for the sake of Christ, sometimes because we live in a fallen world.<span> </span>Jesus himself tells us that we cannot worry about tomorrow because today has enough concern of its own.<span> </span>We are warned that we will hear of wars and rumors of wars and that the travesties and realities of life in a broken world, broken society and broken people, will be felt by all of us.<span> </span>We will pick up our cross and follow Jesus.<span> </span>So what on earth are we holding onto when it would be so much easier to shake our fists at God and kick the dust off our shoes never to utter a prayer again!<span> </span>Why bother hoping when disappointment is just around the corner?</p><p>That’s when we start to come to the awesome, but at times, hard realities about Christian life and Christian faith.<span> </span>Tragedy often shows us that we have made plans for our lives and told God to bless them our way and in our time.<span> </span>Tragedy challenges our notions of needs vs. wants.<span> </span>Tragedy makes us aware of the needs of others, because we often find ourselves in need.<span> </span>For some of us, we are shown humility because we are brought to a place where we can’t do it on our own and that we absolutely need the help of others.<span> </span>We pray for miracles.</p><p>More than that, it is ultimately a reality check to what we believe is the purpose of and definition of “life”.<span> </span>Jesus said, “I have come that they (you and I and even those who don’t know him) may have life, and have it to the full.”<span> </span>We will spend a lifetime trying to understand this, but in its simplest terms, it means that Jesus brought us from spiritual death to spiritual life by his death and resurrection.<span> </span>That by pouring out his grace and the Holy Spirit in our life he has given us hearts that can believe this message.<span> </span>That by redeeming us through Jesus he now empowers us to live lives for his glory as his kingdom comes to this generation through his word (the Bible) and sacraments and his will comes through those who make his faithfulness known through all generations (Psalm 89).<span> </span>We begin to see that ours is a life that walks in quiet times in the peacefulness of faith and is sometimes carried through tragedy and joy in this world with Jesus.<span> </span>That we may walk with Jesus with a hope beyond this life in the fullness of life for eternity, even after we have suffered bodily death.<span> </span>For some relationships with people around us, this view of life may be the only thing that separates us; that we believe there is more to life than living and dying and we want people to know that life.</p><p>The Christian’s greatest hope in tragedy is Jesus, because we don’t fear death, more than that, even in adversity we can live life and have it to the full.<span> </span>Our greatest prayer is that everyone we know could understand and believe that life is more than overcoming for a time in this world, but that it is acknowledging that in our greatest need, we were rescued from drowning and now get to walk with Jesus as he accomplishes his purposes to save.<span> </span>What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and grief’s to bear.<span> </span>What a privilege to carry, everything to God in prayer.<span> </span>O, what peace we often forfeit, oh what needless pains we bear.<span> </span>All because we do not carry, everything to God I prayer.</p><p>See you next time!</p><p>Mike</p><p> </p><p><a class="no-pjax" href="http://mikewestendorf.com/Blog/" target="_blank" title="Mic Check - The Official Mike Westendorf Blog">To check out more of Mike's blogs check out his Blog link</a></p>mikewestendorf.com