Mount of Olives Church

It was Good Friday, and we had just watched the service streamed from church. Wanting to continue the blessing of the music and message, we searched YouTube to see if we could find more inspiration. It had been a stressful week with a CAT scan, imaging and other tests for me, and eye surgery for Ken. We were also in the process of selling our home and buying another. That Friday evening found me filled with anxiety and unable to find peace. I longed for a oneness with my Heavenly Father that had been eluding me throughout the week. As I saw the various offerings on YouTube, I came upon a title “Because He Lives” by Bill and Gloria Gaither. I clicked on the site, and we heard an hour of songs about the cross, the suffering of Jesus, and ending with the resurrection. Music has always spoken to my heart, and I drank in the words to the old hymns as well as the newer worship songs. I could feel the anxiety slip away as the words echoed in my soul, “Because He lives, I can face tomorrow; be...

Galatians 6:10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. One rainy day, I got a call from the church office saying the Rock roof was leaking, and asking if I could check it out. Upon inspection, I found out that the HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) duct work had been damaged and water was collecting on the duct work and leaking inside. How it got damaged is another story. So I contacted two HVAC companies and received bids to do the repairs. One was for $10k the other was for $8K. That was way too much, so I talked to a few people and contacted Mount of Olives member, John Linder. We formulated a repair plan, and after about two days of work, we fixed the duct work and stopped the leaks for a fraction of the estimated cost. God has provided us with the ability to help others (our church) by performing repairs. We have the gift of being able to help make repairs, and you also have some gifts....

D.L. Moody was an American evangelist in the late 1800’s. Once, a committee of ministers in a certain city was discussing the possibility of having D. L. Moody serve as the evangelist during a city-wide evangelistic campaign. Finally, one young minister who did not want to invite Moody stood up and said, “Why Moody? Does he have a monopoly of the Holy Spirit?” There was silence. Then an old, godly minister spoke up, “No, he does not have a monopoly of the Holy Spirit; but the Holy Spirit has a monopoly of D. L. Moody.” Does the Holy Spirit have a monopoly on our lives? This is the mission of our Lenten season. When God calls us, through the Church, to serve or go deeper in some way, we often say “no”. How about in this period of preparation for Holy Week and Easter, we turn our “noes” into “yeses”. This is a great deal of what Moody did, and we can do it too. What can you say “yes” to? Write it down right now, and then start to carry it out. Galatians 5:24-25 NRSV And those who belong ...

In the 60s, Simon and Garfunkel wrote these song lyrics: I am a rock, I am an island. I’ve built walls, A fortress deep and mighty, That none may penetrate. I have no need of friendship; Friendship causes pain. It’s laughter and it’s loving I disdain. I am a rock, I am an island. This is an unfortunate philosophy of life, yet many people live according to this outlook. It is done in a variety of ways. We live it out when we bury and submerge our emotions. We live it out when we refuse to go deeper into Christian Community. This has never been God’s plan. Yesterday, we examined how Jesus created His Church. One of the aspects of His Church was for us to give care and comfort to those with whom we are in fellowship in Jesus’ name. Certainly, COVID-19 has taught us we need community; especially Christian community. Galatians 6:2 ESV Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Pray with me: Heavenly Father, too many of us sadly think we can go it alone, but we really ...

Harry Houdini, the famed escape artist, issued a challenge wherever he went. He could be locked in any jail cell in the country, he claimed, and set himself free quickly and easily. Always, he kept his promise, but one time something went wrong. Houdini entered the jail in his street clothes; the heavy, metal doors clanged shut behind him. He took from his belt a concealed piece of metal, strong and flexible. He set to work immediately, but something seemed to be unusual about this lock. For 30 minutes, he worked and got nowhere. An hour passed, and still he had not opened the door. By now he was bathed in sweat and panting in exasperation, but he still could not pick the lock. Finally, after laboring for 2 hours, Harry Houdini collapsed in frustration and failure against the door he could not unlock. But when he fell against the door, it swung open! It had never been locked at all! But in his mind, it was locked and that was all it took to keep him from opening the door and walking ou...

A pastor was preparing a Christmas message and fell asleep in his study at the church. He dreamed that he was in a world into which Jesus had never come. He walked out on the streets, but no church spires pointed to heaven. He was summoned by a weeping child to visit her dying mother, but on arriving found that his Bible ended with the Old Testament. The New Testament, with all its promises of heaven, had disappeared from his Bible. He bowed his head and wept in bitter despair, for he could offer her no hope beyond the grave. Suddenly the pastor was awakened by the choir down the hall practicing the familiar Christmas carols. Joy filled his soul as he realized as never before why we sing "Joy to the World the Lord Has Come!" (Our Daily Bread, Dec 20, 1992) Have you ever considered what the world would be like if Christ had never come? Or have you ever thought about what your life would be like if God had not come into our world through our Lord Jesus Christ? It really would b...

One day, Martin Luther, the great 16th century reformer, heard a knock at the door and answered. “Does Dr. Martin Luther live here?” he was asked. “No,” Luther answered, “he died, Christ lives here now.” This is one of the great lessons of Advent, along with its cousin, Lent. It is meant to be a time of self-reflection and transformation. So, during this period, we need to ask about the death of our pride and self-will. Who is still in charge of my life? Whose agenda am I living out? Whose plan am I fulfilling? Am I wanting to be served by others, or am I striving to serve them? This is our great struggle; wanting to live according to my plan and desires. And yet God is calling me to “die to self and for Christ to live within me”. Galatians 2:19-20 NRSV For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of ...

The great Lutheran pastor, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, imprisoned by Hitler during World War II, writes to his fiancé about one of the many lessons he learned from life in prison: “A prison cell, in which one waits, hopes, does various unessential things, and is completely dependent on the fact that the door of freedom has to be opened from the outside is not a bad picture of Advent.” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in Letters and Papers from Prison; in a letter to his fiancée, Maria von Wedemeyer from Tegel Prison in Germany, November 21, 1943) Our salvation is never something we accomplish. Even faith is not something we do. The door is opened from the outside and this is what Jesus came to do. During this Advent season, we are reminded that because of our sinful condition, we are in bondage to sin and must be rescued. This is why Christmas is so wonderful. We celebrate that He has opened the door to our freedom from “sin, death and the power of the devil”. Galatians 1:3-5 ESV Grace to you and peace ...

When I was in middle school (they called it junior high back then), I took a typing class. It was one of the best classes I took in middle school. It gave me a skill I have used all my life. Being able to type with all of my fingers; not having to look at the keyboard has been invaluable. In fact, I am doing it right now. However, there was one problem with the class. The problem was in how you were graded on typing tests. There was a chart on the wall in the front of the room. It showed you how many words per minute you needed to type in a timed test to get an A, B, C, D or F. In addition, points were marked off for mistakes. When the first test took place, it initially looked like I was going to get an A (which didn’t happen often for me in my other classes). But then when points were taken off for typing mistakes, I was down to a D grade. I didn’t like this system at all because I thought it missed the spirit of what should be graded. I believed then, and still do today, the test...

In theology, there is a concept known as Law and Gospel. This concept teaches the Law of God has two functions. The first is to teach society how to live and the second is to lead us to Christ. In terms of the first purpose, the Commandments of God have served as the foundation to the secular laws of many countries. The Law of God tells society it is not a good idea to steal from one another, murder one another and so forth. If society follows the Laws of God, it will be healthier place. But the second use of the Law is meant to frankly “drive us to despair”. In the second use of the Law, we begin to see that we can never live up to all that God is commanding of us. Jesus takes the Commandments and teaches the Sermon on the Mount, which some have called the “impossible ideal” because He takes the commandments to an even higher level. But the point is, with the second use of the Law, we see we cannot save ourselves. We can never live at the level of perfection which the Law requires. T...

When we are in the midst of certain situations, it is sometimes difficult to see God’s hand. But then when we look back, we can see how God was able to move in our lives. The situations we thought were road blocks; God was using to re-direct our journey. When I was in college at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, one of my professors was Dr. James Kallas. I had the absolute joy of having him for four courses in theology and biblical studies. Through the years, he has been one of my mentors, and what I learned from him has shaped my theology still to this day. One of the classes I had from Dr. Kallas was on the Apostle Paul. In the class, Dr. Kallas taught us how Paul brought the Gospel to the Gentiles, which the early church resisted. But then, Dr. Kallas gave us an understanding that helped us to see and understand the hand of God at work in the world for His purpose. Dr. Kallas explained how Paul had been a Jew, in fact a Pharisee. He had also studied in the Greek Stoi...

Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran pastor and theologian during WWII.  He was an anti-Nazi dissident and helped found the Confessing Church. He wrote such great books as “The Cost of Discipleship” and “Life Together . ” His efforts to help a group of Jews escape Switzerland, along with being accused of partaking in a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, led to imprisonment. He was executed just days before the prison was liberated by Allied Forces. Bonhoeffer knew what struggle and suffering were about. The following poem was written by him in prison. When we go through tough times, it is essential to know who we are and Whose we are. Because of Jesus Christ, you are a child of God – that is enough to get us through anything. Who Am I?  by Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer "Who am I?  They often tell me I would step from my cell’s confinement calmly, cheerfully, firmly, like a squire from his country-house.   Who am I? They often tell me I would talk to my wa...