Coming to the Still Waters

The Sobering Effect of Another Year-End

      I am getting a lot out of Tim Keller's book "The Meaning of Marriage."  This chapter dealt with speaking the truth in love and making sure grace was thrown in there.  Keller calls this a great power of marriage that makes it so attractive and effective.  Here are some quotes: "Don't resist this power that marriage has. Give your spouse the right to talk to you about what is wrong with you. Paul talks about how Jesus 'washes' and 'cleanses' us of stains and blemishes. Give your spouse the right to do that." "When you see the problems in each other, do you just want to run away, or do you find a desire to work on them together? If the second impulse is yours, then you have the makings of a marriage." "Truth without love ruins the oneness, and love without truth gives the illusion of unity but actually stops the journey and the growth. The solution is grace." "As long as you feel superior to someone, feel lik...

     I just came across this article about the church and health.  It seems to look at it from a biblical point of view.  Definitely some challenging things to think about and act upon. Adam January 2007 Issue Obesity in the Body of Christ  by Wendy Ashley      On any Sunday, you could walk into almost any Southern Baptist church in America and enjoy doughnuts and coffee before Sunday School, a potluck dinner on the grounds after the morning worship service, or an ice cream social in the evening. Many of our church activities are centered on food. Food is a gift provided to us by God to enjoy and to sustain our physical bodies. But are we overdoing it? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), obesity is now the number one health threat facing Americans — and the church is certainly not immune.       A new study recently published by Purdue University Professor Ken Ferraro examined th...

     This is the second book that I have come across that talks about friendship and marriage.  I am seeing that this is a point that I need to stress with myself and couples that I minister to in the future.  Here are some quotes on this subject from Tim Keller's book " The Meaning Of Marriage." "Proverbs 2:17 speaks of one's spouse as your 'allup, a unique word that the lexicons define as your "special confidant" or "best friend." "The Bible does indicate that your spouse must be more than your dearest friend, but not less." "Marriage won't work unless you put your marriage and your spouse first, and you don't turn good things, like parents, children, career, and hobbies, into pseudo-spouses."      How we search for a mate so backwards at times.  We look someone who is "pretty" or "handsome" rather than being guided by God to someone who can be our best friend for life.  We hope that ...

     Here are some more quotes from the book I am reading this Christmas season, Tim Keller's "The Meaning of Marriage - Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God".  This is a deep book and I am finding things that I will definitely use in counseling and also from the pulpit during the wedding ceremony. "Wedding vows are not a declaration of present love but a mutually binding promise of future love. A wedding should not be primarily a celebration of how loving you feel now-- that can safely be assumed. Rather, in a wedding you stand up before God, your family, and all the main institutions of society, and you promise to be loving, faithful, and true to the other person in the future, regardless of undulating internal feelings or external circumstances." "Having said this, it is important to observe that of the two--emotion and action--it is the latter (action) that we have the most control over.It is the action of love that we can pr...

     So a week with no activities at church leaves me a week at home to get ready for Sunday sermon and some extra reading.  I got a couple of books I asked for this Christmas.  Paul David Tripp's "What Did You Expect? Redeeming the Realities of Marriage" and Timothy Keller's "The Meaning of Marriage - Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God."  I am hoping to take some of the material in these books to help with my marital and pre-marital counseling along with a possible marriage retreat this spring.  A great quote from the Keller book,  "In so many cases, when one person says to another, 'I love you, but let's not ruin it by getting married,' that person really means, 'I don't love you enough to close off all my options.  I don't love you enough to give myself to you that thoroughly.'  To say, 'I don't need a piece of paper to love you' is basically to say, 'My love for you has not reach...

      What a great Christmas Eve service and Christmas Day service.  Attached is the audio of the morning worship service with the first half featuring our children leading worship.  Jason on drums and singing, Ben on bass guitar and singing, Abe on electric guitar, Anna on acoustic guitar and singing (leading) and Stephanie on the keys and singing.  It was a great Christmas present to us and a great time of worship for our congregation.  The picture is just something I had to add to upload an audio file.  It is one of the characters that Stephanie has been crocheting over the last year.      Stephanie and I are so thankful for the presence of God in our lives.  We are starting to make it more of our conversation about the second coming of Christ.  So every Christmas is another reminder of another year closer to the day that we see Jesus face to face. We hope you had a great Christmas Day. Adam

     The house is getting fuller by the minute.  When it is all said and done, we will have 8 adults and 4 dogs in the house and every room being utilized.  The puzzles are out, the craft table is up, the oven is a cooking, and the Christmas movies are playing.  We are hoping to make this a Christmas one to remember for years to come.  A special treat for us will be them all being in church on Sunday with Jason on the drums, Anna playing acoustic guitar and singing, Ben on the bass and singing, Abe playing electric guitar, Stephanie on the keys and singing and me throwing my voice in there too.  Health-wise, Stephanie and I are doing great with our more healthy eating.  Neither of us have succumb to the holiday sweets.  Of course, it sure is easier when they are not in the house.      With a Christmas Eve and Christmas Day service this weekend, I have had to do double duty on the sermon end.  I found a great video ...

     So today ended our study of the book of Malachi.  I can truly say that I received more comments on this book than any other.  Some challenging topics to cover but I continued to have people come up to me and thank me for talking about them and giving them what the Bible says about them.  We ended today with God speaking to the "remnant" that listened and feared Him and esteemed His name.  God's last words before 400 years of silence was to keep the commandments, look for the coming of Elijah (John the Baptist), and be concerned about the salvation of others.  It was a good way to end the series and the year of preaching chapter by chapter and verse by verse.        Stephanie and I are so thankful for the return home of our children.  Even though not all of them will be here a long time, anytime is precious with them.  We are hoping to have some alone time with each of them to express our love and appreciation ...

     The house is warmed up with wood from our woods.  I burned through all the eco-bricks but it took 2 months to do it.  Moved my wood working tools to the empty bay in the garage to work on some little projects.  Stephanie is painting one of the upstairs bedrooms to freshen it up for Christmas.  A trip to town to finish up the bulletin and do a run-through of the sermon from the pulpit.  A trip to the grocery store with the bonus of some sale items picked up for future entertaining.  A stop before coming back home to a good friend who I hadn't seen since I was in bad shape taking chemo and radiation and before the surgery.  A stop to let them see that Adam is doing okay.  Now I get to settle in to work from the computer and watch a little PGA golf.      We will be increasing our possible new year resolution list from Malachi this Sunday. 1.  Acknowledge the love of God in my life. 2.  Cherish the nam...

      I am coming up on the one year anniversary of this blog.  I am thinking about making the challenge for myself of blogging every single day in 2012.  It will be tough but I think it would be good for me to take this on.      Sunday's service was another God-anointed, Spirit-directed, Jesus-worship time.  We ushered in the Christmas season with "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" and "The Great I Am" along with communion. It was a Sunday to follow the text of Malachi and talk about what it talks about, divorce and marriage and next week is about giving.  Tough stuff to talk about but I am so convinced that we don't talk about the tough stuff enough.  I think many walk around not knowing what the Word of God says and rely on  other sources to get the answers rather than the Bible.  We love to make up our own rules.  I find that when you give people the Biblical answers it gives them the opportunity to ask forgiveness ...

The Story Behind the Story of Christmas

Immanuel: The Real Meaning of Christmas

      We are studying the last book of the Old Testament.  God's last words to His people before 400 years of silence.  The next time we will hear from God will be through the angel Gabriel and his message to Zechariah and Elizabeth.  Last week we looked at chapter 1 and realized that God is upset about the actions of His people.  V.2 they are doubting God's love.  V.6 they are despising God's name.  V.7 they are not giving their best to God with their offerings.  Is there more that God could be upset about?      Chapter 2 keeps right on going with 2 more points that go together.  The first point is corrupt ministry and God says He will bring curses upon what should be blessings.  The second point is corrupt marriages that are practiced and promoted by those in ministry.  The text brings it so we will handle the topic of divorce, especially because God says that He hates it.  I am not sure at this po...

      So much to be thankful for this year.  At one time, this trip to see our daughter and son-in-law and son in college would have seemed almost impossible or at least a painful one but God is healing me and I was able to drive the whole way to Texas and allow Stephanie to sit and crochet.  It was a great day of meeting up with our son-in-laws parents and family again and again to be face-to-face with people who I know were praying for Stephanie and I.  It was another time to sit down and be asked what God had done through me and also the church during this time.  Our beloved Lions lost the football game but our free-range, no hormone turkey was fantastic!!!  We will venture out today, only for the essentials, but it will be fun to have some time with the boys.      I have a little extra time this week to look at Malachi 2.  There seems to be two parts to this chapter.  The first deals with corrupt ministry and the se...

      I am so thankful for my children in Christian colleges that get exposed to great worship music. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AXT_YyNJXk You won't relent until You, have it all My heart is Yours You won't relent until You, have it all My heart is Yours I'll set You as a seal upon my heart As a seal upon my arm For there is love that is as strong as death Jealousy demanding as the grave And many waters cannot quench this love Come be the fire inside of me Come be the flame upon my heart Come be the fire inside of me Until You and I are One I don't want to talk about You Like You're not in the room I want to look right at You I want to sing right to You http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoezWBPGRAc Nothing can separate Even if I ran away Your love never fails I know I still make mistakes But You have new mercies for me everyday Your love never fails Chorus: You stay the same through the ages Your love never changes There may be pain in the...

     Malachi 1 is coming together but I realize that this might be the most powerful sermons of the year not because of my ability but because of God's content in this book.  God speaks 3/4 of the book directly.  God uses very strong language to His people.  God doesn't give any "outs" or "loopholes" to jump through to escape the challenge.  This Sunday we will look at His love, His name, and His altar.  His love is so evident but we end up doubted it at times.  The power of His name does so many things but we abuse it and discard it.  His altar representing all forms of worship of Him is polluted with us giving "some" of ourselves to Him rather than the best and the first of us.        The first real snow fall has hit northern Michigan.  It is cold enough for it to stick and it might be around for awhile.  Cars in the ditches this morning as we learn again what to do with the white stuff around.  Oh...

     I am trying to firm up my sermon for Sunday because I need to prepare two this week to cover the Sunday we will be gone in November.  I have a hard time going from one to the other unless I have one completed before starting the next one.  Malachi will be the book of the Bible we will cover over the next 4 Sundays leading up to Christmas and the New Year which both land on Sunday this year.  I also hope this will be a great lead in to covering a gospel book after the first of the year.      Sunday was a great day with finishing up the book of Jude.  Again I am driven back to the basics and how important it is for the Christian life to keep up with them.  I have watched too many people abandon them with excuses of "other" things and seen their spiritual life slide south.  We open up the door to the devil when we fail to keep the door open to God on a regular basis.      I always stress the "last" words ...

     We have the author, Jude.  We have the audience, the church.  We have the agenda, contend for the faith against false teaching and teachers.  The false teaching going around was the giving permission to sin pleasurably and the permission to think differently about Jesus as someone other than the only way. Jude calls their actions ungodly and they will be judged by God.  Jude takes most of this letter to answer the question "why" we need to defend and contend.  Now Jude moves onto the question "how" we need to defend and contend.      Jude also challenges us with a couple passages that he pulls from outside Biblical sources.  Here is where the inspiration of the Holy Spirit comes in to say that these statements and prophesies true.  The archangel Michael in battle with the devil makes sure to keep judgment in God's hands and not his own.  Enoch tells of maybe the first prophesy of the second coming of Christ wi...

      Monday was the first of a series of CT scans over the next year.  The oncologist gave a call to say no cancer detected!!!  My wound is continuing to heal so life is not yet back to normal but more normal than it has been for a year.  We are so thankful for God's provision and power and patience with us.  We are going to attempt a video sermon to share with our congregation lessons learned over the last year.  I am still amazed at what we have covered over the year in the Bible.  On Sunday mornings we will have went from James through Jude and will finish with Malachi.  On Sunday nights we have went from Galatians through 2 Thessalonians.  Are we covering the Scriptures?  I can say that we are trying to with God's help.      This week will probably be the last sermon in the book of Jude.  The half-brother of Jesus who considers himself humbly as a servant of that same Jesus addresses the church which...

      First post of November.  Next month will mark a year of keeping this blog.  I am so thankful that I am turning the corner and writing more about the next sermon and my own thoughts than just about my physical health.  So back to Jude.      I am going to take another run at this on Sunday.  It is the first Sunday of the month so it is also communion Sunday for us.  I am planning on reestablishing the author, audience and agenda of the book.  Author:  Jude, half-brother of Jesus.  Audience:  those invited and dearly loved and guarded by God.  Agenda:  warn the church about false teaching and teachers.      It is interesting that the 2 points that Jude brings up that the false teachers are emphasizing are the same that happen today.  The first is taking advantage of the grace of God especially in areas that deal with making us feel good.  The second is painting the pict...

      There are times that I walk away from the pulpit and feel like I could have done better.  It was a tough passage from Jude but I feel like maybe I only covered one side of it.  Watch out for people who are like this that have crept into the church but not the side to look at ourselves and ask the question are we one of them. Do I come in with a hidden agenda?  Am I coming in only to feed myself off of others? Do I keep my word with my brothers and sisters in Christ or do I say things I know that I am not going to keep or do? Do the fruit of the Spirit show themselves as outcomes of my words and deeds or are my branches void of Christlikeness? Do I relish in my sin and continue in it or do I detest it and look for God's victory over the sin? Do I shine brightly for God or am I here today for God and gone tomorrow for God?      So this Sunday I look at another difficult passage from Jude and I want to be a better communi...

      In light of my recent health problems, I have had to say no to a couple of these this year.  I am thankful to fulfill this one for a special couple in our church.  Here is what I am going to talk about in my part of the service. 1.  God has created us equal concerning...salvation, His love, and His promises.  If we believe that God is God and God is good and that God knows best then we need to heed to His words.  God said that it is not good for man to be alone and that a man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife and that roles are to be played out in this relationship.  The husband is the head of the house as Christ is the head of the church and as Christ did not abuse this position but actually sacrificed for it, so should we as husbands.  Always remember that your #1 earthly advisor is your wife, your helpmate. 2.  We have agape love, unconditional.  We have eros love, romantic.  We also h...

      The thermometer is getting down to the 20's each morning now and the wood stoves are needing to be tended more often.  There is a heavy frost on everything this morning, including the raspberries that we have been picking up to this point.  God supplied our needs from the garden, even though we were not able to attend to it like we usually do.  The weeds looked like they took over but underneath all of that was produce that survived.  The change of seasons means the change of activities around our house.        This Sunday marks the first of probably 3 or 4 sermons in the book of Jude.  We will learn of the authorship of the book, the audience of the book, and the agenda of the book this Sunday.  That is a great way and grid to follow when approaching any book of the Bible.        After establishing the authorship and the audience, Jude jumps right into the agenda in verses 3 and 4.  Th...

      I hope all can view the video below but for those on dial up, the chemo is done.  After 7 rounds of full strength chemo and another type of chemo with the radiation and chemo leading up to surgery and then surgery the process is in maintenance mode and we are glad.  These last rounds brought on different side effects and at the same time my body was recovering so that my numbers kept going up instead of going down while taking the chemo.  The oncologist came into the session already to change my treatment but after some talk said it was our call and he was supportive of us.  On paper I am a really healthy guy and you won't know I was taking full doses of chemo at the time.  Needless to say we are thanking the Lord greatly this day.      So Sunday and Monday are great days for the Wolfgang's.  We can't thank you enough for your prayers and concern.  We still have a wound to see get completely healed but it will h...

      So another trip to Grand Rapids, 3 hours each way to spend 15 minutes in front of the surgeon for a follow-up visit to hear, "keep doing what you are doing."  Next time is in 2 months, just before Christmas and it could be the last for this phase of the whole process.  Health-wise I am bouncing back from the last treatment.  Last night teaching at the youth group I could feel the "old" Adam coming back with the energy level.  I sure have had the side effects this time around that I will need to communicate to the oncologist a list of things that I have had happen.  The lastest is a rash on my bottom that is not going away.  I am just so thankful that it isn't bothering me, there must still be a dead zone from the surgery.      Northern Michigan is turning cold and fall is getting brown.  The wood is cut and stacked.  The snow blower is on the tractor and the leaves are almost all taken care of.  Our chu...

      Finally the hiccups are gone!!!  They started on Wednesday and hung on through last night.  Either I threw enough stuff at it or time finally did its job with the drugs getting out of my body.  I think I have tried also every home remedy thought of.  Needless to say, it totally wore me out but so thank the Lord for the relief.  Sunday's sermon was going to sound very unique if they didn't go away.  We also had a visit to the wound clinic yesterday to replace our home health care.  This will be a weekly visit to check on the wound on my behind.  It has been healing.  We used to be able to rinse the cavity with 60cc of water and now only 30cc fits in.  A bit of funny here, now my wound is being packed with gauze that is saturated with honey!!!  It is called Med-Honey and its properties are to promote healing.  It is left in longer between changes to that is a little less work for Stephanie.     ...

      Let's start with a great photo.  We took our second men's retreat up in the U.P. and here is the shot from the shore of Lake Superior.  I was only able to make it to part of this but it was a great time.      Chemo hiccups, never heard of them but I have experienced them.  This is round 3 of chemo and I had some new side effects faster.  I went into a state of anxiety or depression at the infusion center and couldn't keep my head up and then it subsided.  Next I broke out in hives on my face and one hand and was given some medicine to make that go away.  Then I came home to experience excessive burping leading to hiccups that lasted a good 10 hours.  I did my google search and found this to be a common side effect that I had not experienced yet.  Last night if I rolled from side to side they would start up again and nothing seem to take them away.  This morning is better but I can say that my head is c...