Pastor's Ponderings: Old Testament bible study of Psalm 21 (June 19, 2025)

June 19, 2025:  Thursday Bible Study on Old Testament of Psalm 21

Blessings and Peace be with you today in this extreme heat. I pray that you can find a comfortable place to stay inside as the heat moves up to 114 according to the weather forecasters. Please pray for the people who have no choice about being outside, especially the homeless in our community. In the past several days Melody and I have helped homeless people. Their names are Richard and Tommy. Also pray for Jeff who is battling cancer. He is traveling to Colorado to have some time with his daughter Shannon who is married to our Joshua. I hope that in these difficult times in our nation that we never forget why Israel lost its place and its land. The Old Testament is clear. The message of the Old Testament prophets was clear, and I might add, unheeded. Their failure to care for the orphan, widow, and resident alien with God's justice, comfort, and peace, was the cause of their destruction. God's truth for us has not changed. We too bear the responsibility to guarantee these realities in everyone’s lives. I come from an immigrant family, like I suspect you do too, unless you are indigenous to this land we call home. My family immigrated to Michigan before it was a state, during the upheaval of the Civil War, I knew the first generation of those who were born in Michigan. They came from poverty and famine to make a better life for themselves. They became lumber jacks and built the church that I grew up in, and they settled in cohesive neighborhoods on the shore of Lake Michigan. They came for a new life, and like so many that have come to the United States today, they were not criminals, but hard working, faithful Christian, people who sailed here for the promise of a better life. Regardless of faith traditions, when we deny the rights of these new immigrants, not the criminal ones, but the ones here for their children and for a chance at the abundant life, the blessings of God for all people,  then we must ask,  "Where is our faith when we support the wholesale removal of children, families, of good people?"  I know what Jesus would say to us. Aren't we fortunate to have His forgiveness for our failure as His children?

How interesting that our Psalm today is about receiving God's blessings and being God’s blessing. Though this Psalm is about David, and the king's blessings from God, here we use our discernment which is a gift of the Spirit, so that we might think about our own relationship with God, and what this Psalm has to say to all people of faith.  First let me say that this is not the excuse of the King to be only a blessing to the people of Israel, because it is truly the LORD'S desire for the leaders of faithfulness to be that blessing to all people. Yes, I know that we could go to another Psalm and discover some texts that indicate that the king who is to be a blessing has the authority from God to destroy others. That is not really what this Psalm is about. This Psalm does not take the position that the king (or that we) should take the initiative to act to safeguard God's purpose in the world. When we do that, we act, and sometimes claim, that we have the power to safeguard the One who is the master of creation, the Redeemer and Sustainer of all life. Can we really be so bold as to make such claims about God needing us if He is going to succeed?!  When the king of Israel in the Old Testament is out keeping his nation safe, keeping its boundaries fixed, and displaying his confidence in the presence of the One who has called him to Faith, the example of God's rich blessing is evidenced in the King's very life.  The greater purpose of the King receiving God's blessing is that others may see the reality of this blessing, and by it, be blessed themselves. This really helps us to understand that having received the LORD'S blessing, we are to allow that blessing to become, by its example for those around us, a powerful blessing for us all. David knows that he alone cannot act to bless all people. First, he is flawed, and despite that, he loves God, even when David is punished for his error in his relationship with Bathsheba. David's faith does not falter when he realizes that in that circumstance, he has not been an example of the LORD'S blessing. His reconciliation with God even strengthens his faith in God's blessings. When David returns from his work as king of Israel, which may include being at war with the enemies of his nation, and with those who have no relationship with God, this Psalm tells us that God goes out to meet David with blessings, long life, abundant good in all things, and more.  This Psalm indicates that David is a blessing because of God's blessing in his life. This is just like Abraham in Genesis 12. He too is told that he will be a blessing, though it will not be by every action that he takes, it will be because Abraham has responded to the blessing of an heir late in his life, and he will live with joy and peace in this blessing of God.  Can you tell who has these blessings in their lives, not because they directly bless you with the "things" of life, but instead by their response to God's grace which has surrounded them and enters your own life as you know them and their faith in the promises of God?  At the Synod Assembly last week, I had a chance to speak with Pastor Mateo, the pastor of San Juan Bautista on Tucson's south side. He inspired me with the courage, faith, and blessing of San Juan's members. Attendance has been tough there since ICE and the Border Patrol have been given the right to enter houses of worship to make arrests. The attendance has rebounded because the members have said they must live their lives of faith. What courage! What a blessing for us all! The power of faith in God's blessing and grace!

Like the prophets of the Old Testament, prophecy is a gift of the Spirit, and often not one which people want in their lives because the message they bring is always challenging to the way we would like things to be. I have been struggling lately with that call to speak God's Truth in the face of what is happening in our nation. To do so is not easy. My dreams of the last four or five months have been troubled. I have come to know them as a message from God for my life. I know that to serve the Gospel is my call. That alone is challenging in our modern difficult world, but I must also discern how prophecy fits as I proclaim God's generosity in our midst at American.

With love for you all in Christ, Pastor Kim

Pastor's Ponderings: Tuesday Bible Study on Paul’s letter, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 (June 3, 2025)

June 17, 2025:  Tuesday Bible Study on Paul’s letter – 2 Thessalonians 3:1-5

Good morning, dear friends in Christ. Thanks for the break yesterday. Our family took the afternoon to go to a movie together. We saw the new How to Train Your Dragon. It was delightful and a great deal of fun to see how the movie adapted to the original animated version. Just a reminder that we will be showing the last Saturday movie at 2PM on Saturday afternoon. It is Studio Ghibli, G rated, great for any age. Snacks are free or bring your own. This will be the final movie event at church as the summer heats up, and hopefully the humidity will be too intense for us to gather at 2PM in July, August, and maybe even in September. If you are getting upset in your daily living by all the changes, acts of violence, or even the condoning of violence perpetrated by people who are of a different opinion than you may be, then please remember that God is ultimately, and always, in charge!  So, keep your cool, (not easy to do these days), and for your own safety as a desert dweller, stay cool! The temperatures this week are going to be high, so take the necessary precautions to hydrate, and spend as little time outside as you must.

I shared on Sunday at the service that I am a vivid dreamer. and sometimes my dreams are very active, and I have been known to throw myself out of bed during a dream like that, or far too often I awaken feeling frustrated after a dream, because in my dream I am unable to get someplace that I should know like the back of my hand.  I call this a frustrating dream, and it always feels like I have spent hours moving about to accomplish my end goal of arriving where I want, or need, to be. It would be so nice if during those dreams, that I have regularly, there would always be a group of people who prayed for me. That would be very comforting. I know that in my life, many of you continue to keep me in your prayers, and I thank God for your prayers every day. I pray for you too. In today's reading from II Thessalonians Paul asks the people of Thessalonica to pray for him in his own work, that the Word that is Jesus Christ the Savior, and Paul's own words, will bear the fruit of faith in our Savior's Kingdom on earth.  When we move to the Acts of the Apostle's we will discover how that went for Paul. It must have been frustrating for Paul, like me in those dreams where I just can't seem to get where I need to go to get done something that I know I need to do. Isn't this Paul? I think that sometimes we think that Paul's life was easy, as he reached out into brand new communities of people who had never even heard of the God of the Messiah and Savior. In fact, there lives of worship were about how their actions could manipulate a specific god to do their will, or to the self-proclaimed god, the emperor. Are your prayers, and communications with God more like that? We know that Paul is driven by faith in Jesus Christ, and that through him the Spirit moves to transform the hearts and minds of people to treasure the actions of the One True God for forgiveness of sin, God's promised presence in life and death, and the certainty for all believers that Salvation belongs to all who believe.  The prayers of the Thessalonian church are vital to Paul, as God acts through him bringing people to faith in Jesus. However, we know that Paul certainly experienced getting bogged down as others tried to persecute him for this message of Truth. It must certainly be frustrating, and that Paul saw it taking too long, or not happening at all in some communities, especially because Paul understood that he brought the only Truth of Christ to new community after new community. I love Paul's closing sentence in this passage. Once again, he gives thanks for the power of the Gospel in the lives of the of the people of Thessalonica, and he knows that it is that very same Gospel that propels him forward every day, even when the reception he receives is cold and violent.  Paul writes: "Direct your hearts toward the Love of God and the Patience of the Christ."  Paul knows, as do you and I, that life can get tough, and in fact, such difficulties are inevitable, yet people of faith in Jesus continue to walk forward each day, confident of Christ's Patience, Comfort, Strength, and Peace.  The people of Thessalonica have a treasure beyond measure, Jesus Christ the Lord and Savior!

Thank you for saying yes to the Spirit's guidance in taking part in the online studies that we have shared.

In the Love of Jesus Christ, Pastor Kim

Pastor's Ponderings: The absence of Monday Thessalonians Bible Study on the 16th of June

June 16, 2025:  Monday Bible Study on Paul’s letter to Thessalonians

My dear friends,

Just a note to let you know that I will begin the rest of the 2 Thessalonians study on Tuesday morning, June 17. A little note: the 15th was my Mom's official birth certificate birthday, but her mother always insisted that she was born on the 17th of June two days later. One guess which birthday my Mom liked to celebrate? I will be with you tomorrow. The next Bible Study will be on the Acts of the Apostles when we finish our current study.

God bless you all.

With love in Christ, Pastor Kim