A Video We All NEED TO WATCH!

This is a video we all need to watch.  Great, great message.

God's Blessings!!

Remembering where we've come from....

Well for the ladies in our family the last few weeks have been a time of remembering their pasts.  First Gail got together with two of her oldest friends Pam and Roger.  Back over 50 years ago Gail's mother Mary Alice used to take care of Pam and Roger while their mothers were at work.  So the three of them grew up together from a very young age.  They have a very precious photo of them as they were going off to their first day of Kindergarten together and the three of them reenacted that photo the other night while we were together for dinner at Julio's Restaurant.

Gail is in the center of both photos
Wm Roy Karlen photo

The three of them had a great time remembering all the things that they had done together as little tykes.  Poor Maddie was with us and she was shocked at some of the stunts that they had pulled.  But to be honest it sure sounded to me like Pam was the ornery one and my sweet Gail was the good little girl.  Or perhaps they all just chose to not tell as many stories on Gail, I suppose Maddie and I will just never know.

At any rate we all had a great time (even Maddie) and stayed at the Restaurant until they were about to kick us out so they could close.  Fortunately they were very slow that night so we weren't in their way.

In the top photo the girls are around 9 years old
Maddie is in the middle of the front row
In the bottom photo the girls are all around 19 years old
Maddie is the second from the left side of the photo
Wm Roy Karlen photo

Next Maddie went out to dinner with her friends from Elementary School.  There are five of them who were just about inseparable back then.  We always had one or more of the girls at our house, or if they were not here, Maddie was off to one of their houses.  The five of them have all grown up to be such beautiful young ladies, it makes me sad as I remember them all as these cute little girls.  One is working towards being a physician, one is studying radiology, one wants to be a teacher, one is working towards becoming a pharmacist and Maddie is right now looking very closely at becoming a realtor.  I firmly believe all of them will do well in their endeavours, and I'm proud of all five of them for their ambitions.

Each of these lovely ladies is headed down a new road.  Roads that will take them far, far away (Maddie is wanting to move to Canada) from their childhood friendships.  But even as they continue to move through life it's important for them to remember where and from whom they've come.  That's why gathering with old friends is so important in my opinion.  You relive those days and you remember what used to be important when life was simpler and more innocent.  I sincerely hope they'll stay in contact with one another as they continue to grow and start their own careers and families.

But one of the interesting things about memories is that science has found that the very act of remembering actually subtly changes our memories, therefore, our memories evolve as we age.  When you combine this with the all too human tendency to only remember the good things, can often end up giving us idyllic memories of our past.  Which brings up my own memory, of some of the haunting lyrics in the song "September When It Comes" by Johnny & Rosanne Cash.  The verse goes "I cannot be who I was then, in a way I never was...."  

I fear that often our memories of the 'Good Ole Days' are far, far better indeed than the 'Old Days' ever were.  Sad to say this phenomena can be corporate in nature as well as individual.  As a group we tend to look back at years gone by and remember them as being the 'Golden Years' for our organization.  I've seen this in many organizations for example the Junior Chamber of Commerce and certainly in any Christian Denomination that I've been involved in.  Many of our Churches in this part of the Country enjoyed their largest membership numbers perhaps 40 years ago, and have ever since been lamenting the 'Good Ole Days'.  A great deal of ink and bandwidth has been expended trying to determine just why this trend has continued so I won't pretend to try and tackle that in this blog post.

But, there are absolutely Churches out there that are bucking this trend.  And how are they doing it?  Well, I suspect that there are specific things in each instance.  I certainly don't think that fashionable things like 'coffee bars' and the like are going to suddenly turn a church around and make it the 'place to be'.  So what is it?  Well, I'm going to give my own opinion which is worth in most likelihood, exactly what you are paying for it... so take it for what it is.

I remember back when I was active in the Jaycee organization (look out idyllic memories ahead). I was at the monthly meeting for my local chapter, the Bennington Jaycees.  It was election time and they were trying to find somebody to run for Chapter President.  Now this chapter at that time had two distinct factions at work and was nearly at the point where the membership was so low that their charter would be pulled by the National organization.  Nobody would come forward to take the helm of this sinking ship and I'll confess I suddenly became very disgusted and angry with what was going on.  Suddenly, I piped up and said that I'd take the job.  Everyone looked at me kind of stunned wondering why in the world I would agree to take this thankless job (though relieved that now they could stop trying to rationalize to everyone why they couldn't do it).

The chapter had once been one of the major chapters in the State and was constantly looking back and telling stories about back when they had done this and that.  Well, long story short by the end of my year as Chapter President we had more than tripled our membership, started two new chapters in nearby towns, and had helped two other nearby chapters to rebuild themselves and keep from having their charters pulled.  How did we do it?  Well we got excited about being there, we did things to generate enthusiasm and participation by old and new members.  One of the things I was the most proud of was that we had one member who had belonged to the chapter for nearly 20 years, who had never once signed up a new member, during our year he signed up five members.

We went from a chapter that was about to die to the largest chapter in our population division and the number five ranked chapter of any size in Nebraska.  It was all done by involvement and activation.  Suddenly, we had energy and folks wanted to be involved.  In any organization or life, things can turn up or down fairly quickly.  With an organization what you have to have is a core of motivated people who are having fun and feel valued because of what they are doing.  But these folks can't claim all the responsibility or duties, you have to spread around the tasks as much as you can so everyone feels vital to the group.  Plus you have to make sure that everyone knows that their contributions are valued by the whole.

The key to me is that enthusiasm, that excitement, a positive attitude in that things are on the upswing.  At the risk of falling prey to the gurus of 'the power of positive thinking', there is a great truth to the impact of believing in the best.  Ironically, too often we as Christians are 'Debbie Downers' when we should really have faith that God will provide.  God will always provide but we have to follow his path with excitement and confidence, if we do there is no place for us to go but up...

It's a wonderful thing to remember our pasts and our individual and corporate heritage, but let us not unconsciously decide to live in the past.  God wants us to be his hands and feet in the here and now, we can't do that if we are stuck in the past.

May this rambling blog post find you all well and enveloped in the Love of Christ.

In God's Grace,
Roy

Never place a limit on God's capacity for Grace.

Well of course by now nearly everyone in the entire United States and likely a large share of the world has learned of Robin Williams unfortunate passing.  It is such a terrible loss, and a stark reminder of the problem that we have in society of widespread depression and dependency.  Suicide is such a desperate act, and unfortunately the victim just cannot see the very great pain and anguish that they will leave in their wake. 

 Robin Williams - article on his passing

We need to be ever watchful around our friends and families for those that are inordinately depressed or despondent.  One must be on the lookout for the classic signs of an individual who is contemplating taking their own life.  A quick resource for such information would be the link below.

Suicide Prevention

I am fully aware that a great many Christians feel that taking one's own life is a fast train to a very hot spot.  The idea that everyone who commits suicide goes directly to Hell is all too common among those who profess to be followers of a Loving Christ and a Gracious Father.  I have to wince whenever I hear such talk for it is more damning to God than it is to the victim of suicide.

A few years ago a couple who is very dear to my heart had the great tragedy of one of their children taking their own life.  When I called to talk to my friends I reached their adult daughter and she told me that their Minister was talking to her parents at that moment.  So I visited with her for a while trying to find out how she was coping.  I sensed that she was afraid and I came right out and asked her if she was afraid for her brother's soul and that he might not be allowed into Heaven.  She confessed that yes, she was scared of that very thing (I learned later that their Minister rather than trying to assuage their worries had basically confirmed them).

I then asked her a very simple and a very direct question.  

I said to her, "If your father had the power to bring your brother back to life right now at this very moment, do you think he would then tell your brother to get the Hell away from me and never let me see you again... or would your father just throw his arms around him and tell him he loved him?"  

She replied "He would tell him he loved him of course."

To which I answered "Then how could God do any less?  Your father is a good man, a loving man, a gracious man, but he is not greater than God."

She thanked me and I could tell instantly from her voice that she was greatly relieved.

Perhaps nothing about my chosen religion irks me more than those who try to put a limit on the capacity for God to exercise his grace and forgiveness in this world.  If you have witnessed grace and forgiveness in or from another human being, well then you've only seen a tiny fraction of the grace, love and forgiveness that God is capable of.

For you see not only would my friend have embraced his child but he would never, ever let go of that embrace.  That does not mean there would not be a scolding coming at some point but a scolding is considerably different than eternal damnation.  And I have to believe from my own life experiences that the act of the father embracing the son after all that he had done wrong, and showing genuine love and grace to the child, will have a much greater impact on that boy's soul than any amount of scolding or restorative punishment could ever have.

Let us never strive to limit God and his capacity for grace and love.  I believe fully well, that God threw his arms around Robin Williams yesterday and said "I love you" to him in an embrace that will outlast all of time.

God Bless You All,
Roy

Finding Our Inspiration

Well last night at the gym I had another lifter come up to me and give me what is certainly one of the greatest compliments you can be given in this world.  He told me that he always enjoyed seeing me there lifting and that I was a great inspiration.  Now this is a guy that I have nodded to a couple of times in the past and who I have overheard saying things as I've been in the middle of a set (generally some profanity laden comment about how much weight I was training with) but not a lifter who I have ever actually talked to.  I told him thank you very much for the compliment and introduced myself.  We visited for a bit and then I went back to my training.

The lifter that gave me the compliment was probably in his late 20's to early 30's.  I suppose to him seeing somebody in their mid 50's still training heavy is inspirational at some level.  To me though I really don't think I'm the right person to aspire to emulate.  Rather, I see two others that train at our gym as much more inspiring.  

One is a gentleman in his early 60's who has already suffered several strokes, along with several other serious health issues and who just went in to have a mass removed from one of his kidneys.  This man, up until his recent surgery has always been there at the gym, pushing as hard as he can and making improvements in his abilities.  The worst of his strokes has left him with a stiff gait and one leg that he has to basically drag along.  But still, he trains legs just as hard as he is able.  To me, this gentleman is an example of what to aspire to when faced with difficulties in this life.  Never give up, never surrender.  He also happens to be a strong Christian and I have no doubt that this is a large part of what keeps him moving forward.

The second is a gentleman who is in his early to mid 50's and who has suffered a serious brain injury.  He is confined to a wheelchair as his legs just do not respond correctly to his brain's commands.  Yet this man is there at the gym training on the machines and even using the leg machines to the best of his ability.  Last night he even pulled himself up onto a treadmill and was walking on the mill (at the lowest speed) as best he could manage.  Another gentleman (who is also long in the tooth) and I were already walking on the treadmills and we kept shouting words of encouragement and praise over to our friend as he trudged along.  You could see that he was quite pleased with himself as he shuffled along.

Personally at age 54 I do not consider myself to be 'old' so I certainly don't think I'm 'inspirational'.  Honestly, when I'm lifting weights, my body feels no differently to me than it did when I was training in my 20's.  The one's who I find inspiration in are the two men I've just mentioned, and another man that I haven't seen around for awhile who comes into the gym and trains while dragging an oxygen tank along with him.  Now that's dedication!  He could easily give up (and most do) but instead he tries to do whatever he can manage in his current condition.

Which brings me to a point where I ask myself that question, "who should we as Christians look to as our inspiration".  Well of course the obvious answer is Jesus who is the Christ.  However, I hear so very often "well we can't be like Jesus", and even I have said to my students in Sunday School that "I can't be like Jesus, nor do I think I can live up to Paul, but maybe, just maybe I can be like Timothy".

I've come to now believe that this is a problem for us, if we don't think we can live up to Jesus' example then unfortunately few of us even try to live up to Timothy.  My late Mentor Jesse was especially critical of this phenomenon.  He felt that we as Christians have come to focus far to much on the Divine Christ and not nearly enough on the Human Christ.  We cannot obviously aspire to be the Divine Christ but we absolutely should aspire to emulate the Human Christ.  Jesse constantly pointed out that Jesus never once asked for us to worship him, but rather he asked for us to follow him, to be like him, to walk in his path and his ways.  And let us not forget that the early Christian Jewish movement was referred to as 'The Way'.

Jesse was of course (as he was so very often) absolutely, spot on, dead ringer, CORRECT.  We spend so much energy singing praises and worshipping Christ that we simply forget to walk in Jesus' shoes (and here I am certainly to be criticized, I may be the worst offender of all).  Now walking in Jesus' shoes does not to me anyways, mean doing big and grand missionary projects and traveling halfway around the world at great expense to spend a week helping out in a foreign land, (not that these things aren't important for other reasons and other means) but what I personally think it means to walk with Jesus, is how we live our daily lives, how we interact with our family, our friends, our business contacts, those we pass on the street.  Are we following the example of Jesus?  Of course a few years ago there was the great 'WWJD' movement (what would Jesus do) which I very much liked and I still like.  But, if our image of Jesus was of Jesus who is Divine, well then we're busted before we even start... we simply cannot live up to that mark.

We need to aspire to live like the fully human Jesus.  The man who feared to walk the path that he was called to walk, but who walked it anyways.  Not because he was God and he knew he would rise again on the third day, but because he was a man who had unwavering faith in his God and who in spite of all his fear and apprehensions walked that path that God called him to.  This is the Jesus we must follow... Jesse was right, we need to worship Christ a bit less and follow Jesus a great deal more.

May this blog post find each and everyone who may chance upon it richly and sincerely blessed by the Spirit of our Lord.

In God's Unwavering Grace & Love,
Roy

Video of Sermon at Humboldt Christian Church on July 20th 2014

Well I finally managed to get the video of my Sermon at Humboldt Christian Church edited and loaded to 'Youtube'.  As always don't watch my videos thinking you're going to see the most polished of Preachers perform.  I have always said, and always will say that I am more of a teacher than a preacher.  Hopefully, I am able to leave everyone with a bit more knowledge about the Scriptures and/or Biblical History after every sermon.  Feel free to look at my other sermons on my 'Youtube' channel and on 'Photobucket', I've posted the links below.

Roy Karlen - Youtube Channel

Video of Sermon at Salem UCC

Over the weekend we made a trip to Wichita, KS and the drive and time in the motel gave me a chance to do some more reading in Ehrman's book on 'Peter, Paul and Mary'.  I am really enjoying this book so far and am surprised that Ehrman and I share similar opinions about the nature of the book of Acts.  Though we differ a good deal on our opinions about why the Author of Acts was so motivated to craft his book the way he did.

Once I've had a chance to finish the entire book I'll come back and blog about just what I've eluded to in this post.

I hope this quick post finds you all blessed and well in the Love of Christ, the Guidance of the Spirit, and the Grace of God.

In Christ,
Roy

Manuscript of Sermon at Humboldt... video coming soon

Well Sunday we had the pleasure of going down and worshiping with the good souls at the Humboldt Christian Church.  It was a very good visit and I was pleased that the sermon was very well received by the Congregation with a great many telling me how much they enjoyed the service.  One woman told me she wished she could do a Bible Study with me sometime.  A large number of the members told us that they hoped we'd be able to come down and fill in for Howard again, I told them all I'd be delighted to visit anytime.  One of the members and his family invited us to go to lunch with them in Auburn, however we had planned to head in the opposite direction after the service, so unfortunately we had to decline the invitation.

After the service we drove by a couple of Churches which happen to not be too far from Humboldt.  These are Congregations to which I have submitted my resume and I thought I'd just as well take a look at the Church buildings while I was in the area.  All of the buildings involved looked very charming and very much like many of the photos I post of small country or small town churches.

I do have quite a number of resumes out at the moment and I am prayerfully asking for God's guidance for myself and each of the search committees involved.  Any and all prayers for discernment are greatly appreciated and desired.  Thank you to any and all who take it upon themselves to do so, God Bless You!

We did get the sermon recorded but it's in two parts and I need to splice it and edit a bit of time off the beginning and end of each segment.  I'm still trying to figure out the software that came with the camcorder so it's not ready to upload to 'Youtube' quite yet.

I did do something that I normally don't do though in that I preached this sermon from a manuscript.  Of course the actual sermon deviated from the manuscript but for the most part I stayed close to the manuscript in content if not the actual wording.

Until I have a chance to clean up the video a bit I'll post up the manuscript for anyone's review.

God's great and abundant blessings,

Roy

Good morning, we are so happy to be here with you all again. My name is of course Roy Karlen and I am a classmate of Howard's from the Lay Ministry Program, or as some of you may recall I am “The Baptist Guy”.

My wife Gail is with me today and as I said we are both very happy and excited to have the chance to come down and worship with you all once again. I have a great love for small towns and small congregations. As you may remember, I grew up in rural South Dakota and the older I get the more I find that I miss small town and rural life. Ultimately, I would very much like to minister to a congregation such as yours. Gail and I are looking for a permanent pulpit but in the meanwhile we are always happy to come to Humboldt and worship and visit with you all.

Before we get started with our sermon today let's bow our heads in a prayer to our great Creator God.

We desire your presence with us O' God.

Still our restless spirits, that with quiet minds and reverent hearts we may hear your voice and worthily worship you.

Prepare our minds and hearts O' God, that through your Word, read and proclaimed, Christ may come to dwell within us, and ever rule over our thoughts and affections as Lord of our lives.

AMEN

Now I really should confess that I really wish I had been able to be with you all last week. For I'm certain that last Sunday Howard preached over the parable of the Sower.

Now the parable of the Sower is found in all three synoptic gospels, in Mark, Luke and of course in Matthew so it is obvious that it was an important parable to the early Christians. The scripture as found in Matthew was the topic of the Lectionary last week and it was also the scripture that was used at my Grandfather's funeral, which makes that bit of scripture very special to me.

The parable of the Sower was the perfect bit of scripture for Grandpa's funeral for not only was he a farmer, but he also was a sower of God's work and word.

My Grandfather was a tall, handsome man, very much a charmer. He was a very kind, gentle and considerate man who was liked by everyone he ever met. He was a wonderful example in this world of silent testimony, for everyone knew he was a good Methodist and everyone that met him knew he was a good man.

He was genuinely God's hands and feet, and cared for everyone in deeds that were both big and small. When he was younger he was a pilot and he often flew folks that were ill to the doctor in larger towns or he would rescue folks stranded by blizzards or washed out roads. If he couldn't land and folks were in need he would drop provisions to them by flying the plane low over them. In his later years he was famous for recording cassettes with audio books or music for people. But more important than the deeds were the spirit in which he did them, kindness and genuine concern.

As I said Grandpa literally knew everyone in the County. Please indulge me while I tell one story about my Grandfather. It's not particularly germane to the sermon, I just really like this story.

One of my earliest memories is of going with my Grandfather to a Pancake Feed. Now for some reason none of my siblings or any of my cousins were along with us, nor was Grandmother. It was just Grandpa and myself. I was probably 3 or 4 years old and I remember walking into the hall holding onto Grandpa's hand. Everyone was so excited to see us and everyone came up and said “Hello Roy”, I just held onto Grandpa and said “Hi” and I think I gave a little wave to some of them. But I just kept wondering “how do all of these adults know my name”. I remember Grandpa going back and taking over the job of cooking pancakes on the grill and I stood by him literally holding onto his pant leg. And everyone that came by to get their pancakes again said some form of “Hello Roy, Good to see you Roy, or how have you been Roy”... I just kept saying my little “Hi s” back. Getting more and more confused as to how did these people all know my name.

Now this is the point in the story where I should really point out that I am named after my Grandfather. He was Roy to everyone in the County, but of course Grandpa to me.

My Grandfather Roy O. Fletcher with my brothers Warren (the youngest),
Brad, and myself (Roy Karlen) on the end.  I was 12 in this photo.
WmRoy Karlen photo

We'll come back to the Sower later, but for today the scripture is the parable of the Wheat and the Tares. Please out of respect for the Gospel, I would ask that those that are able and so inclined to please stand.

Matthew 13:24-30 and 36-43 (NRSV)

He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field;  but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away.  So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well.  And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?’  He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’  But he replied, ‘No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them.  Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’” 

Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.”  He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man;  the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one,  and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels.  Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers,  and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!

So ends the Gospel reading, you may be seated.

Alright now, let's unpack this just a little bit. First of all this parable is found only in the Gospel of Matthew. We know that the writers of both Matthew and Luke almost certainly had copies of the Gospel of Mark when they crafted their Gospels. We also know that it is widely suspected that both writers had copies of a document that we know as “Q” or “the Source”. Since this parable is not found in Mark it either comes from “Q” or from some other written or oral tradition that the author of Matthew had available to him.

Now the fact that this parable only shows up in Matthew is interesting and potential revealing. Matthew's Gospel is written to a very specific and unique audience, to a congregation of Jewish Christians. And the time at which it was most likely written, the Temple has been destroyed, the Jewish leaders have implemented as part of the prayers in the Synagogues a curse on the Christians, so as a result Christianity is no longer merely a sect within Judaism but on it's way to becoming a religion of it's own.

The weeds or the tares in this parable are believed to be a type of rye-grass that grows in the mid-east commonly called darnel. It is very difficult to discern the difference between darnel and wheat until the crop develops a head. There seems to be a obvious parallel here to the difficulty in discerning the difference between the Jewish Christians and those that are simply Jewish. It is only when we get to the point where the crop develops the head that we can determine the difference. That head that shock of wheat is of course the cross of Christ.

It's difficult to come to this scripture lesson without going immediately to the cutting and burning at the end. That's when all those imposters get their comeuppance so to say. All that end times dialogue that seems to be so appealing to many. But is that really what we should be taking away from this parable? It certainly seems so at first glance but interestingly enough that's not the message most commentaries feel we need to focus upon.

The field we are told is the world, who among us has not been a weed to this world at sometime or another? I'm sorry to say that a very large “Canadian thistle” is right here front and center.

Marcus Borg is a well known Christian Theologian and one of the things he talks about that I really enjoy is the idea of 'lenses'. He tells us that we need to consider the lenses through which we look at the world and scripture. Each of us has their own set of lenses which have been ground for us by our individual life experiences as well as our fields of study. But for today let's all don the lenses of looking at this parable through the lesson of the Cross.

The lesson of love and grace and redemption. Lenses of reconciliation, renewal and transformation.

Let's look at this parable as the field not being the world but the field being our individual lives. Within each of our lives we have allowed God to plant good seeds and I am sad to say that each of us has allowed our egos and our own selfish self interests to plant bad seeds within the fields of our lives. We are all a mixture of the wheat and the tares and the fact of the matter is that we all need the grace of God in order to be reconciled onto him. The Apostle Paul himself stated in Romans that we all do that which we do not wish to do, and do not do that which we wish to do, none of us are truly wheat in this field that is the world. We all fall short of the Glory of God.

When we look at this parable through the Cross, we see that it's not simply a story about final judgment but really a story forbidding us to judge others. If we beginning judging people, we shall surely make mistakes and destroy fellow believers in the process. If there's to be any judging done, it's to be done by God and not by us. Rather if we consider ourselves the wheat we are to live among the weeds. And what the parable doesn't tell us but what we know from the message of the Cross is that those weeds aren't really weeds. They are all capable of being transformed into wheat through the grace of God. A grace that we humans cannot fully understand nor comprehend, a grace that we simply must leave to the almighty hand of God.

Far, far, far too many Christians go about judging others, especially fellow Christians. We label others as heretics and nonbelievers just because they hold a theological point counter to our own. These people are defamed and often driven from the folds. Rarely do we look upon those who are different as unique children of God. This is not what this parable instructs us to do, we are not to judge but we are to silently witness through our lives and our actions.

Let's consider this parable also through the lenses of the two parables that lie in between the verses that the Lectionary has given us today. The Parables of the mustard seed and the yeast. In the parable of the mustard seed we have the smallest growing to extraordinary size, and in the yeast we have a tiny thing spreading throughout the whole to 'change' the whole. Quite honestly we lose much of Matthew's message when we cut out the parable of the yeast. For here we get a glimpse of the transformational event of the Cross. The yeast is the cross and the dough is the world. The world is transformed by the smallest amount. So too can the tares be transformed.

Another interesting observation is that the story of the Sower is also about being nonjudgmental. For how many of the farmers here hasn't read this parable and though “why in the world is he scattering valuable grain into rocks and stones?” why is he wasting seed on such thin and poor soil where he surely knows it will wither and die? Well, the answer is that it isn't up to us to judge the soil in which we plant the seed of God's word. Not a one of us can correctly identify were the seed of the word will yield it's greatest harvest. The history of the Church is littered with the most unlikely becoming the most fruitful, and we need look no further than the Apostle Paul to see this truth. In fact we need look no further than Christ himself who came from the peasant class, the marginalized and the disregarded. We are not to judge or discriminate where and to whom we spread the seed of God. We may well see the one time unbeliever become a minister and advocate for God.

We are to live side by side with the tares, with our roots intertwined in fact. To live our lives, like my Grandfather lived his life, joyfully and quietly being God's agents in this world. And had he only lived long enough he would have seen some of these acts come to fruition and he would have had the privilege of seeing of all things, the 'Canadian Thistle' pick up the Good Book and preach.

I would like to think that he's watching not only me preach today but also my cousin who is a Minister in a UCC Church in South Dakota. I know he would have been thrilled to know that two of his grandchildren are preachers. For you see Grandfather sowed well and he did not judge.

Let us close this sermon with a prayer;

Dear Heavenly Father,

Help us to be ever mindful to not be judgmental of others. But let us be ever mindful of living our lives as a reflection of your love for each and everyone. Please forgive us for our failings and guide us daily to a better understanding of you and the path that you wish for us to walk in your creation.

We pray this in Your Holy Name.

Amen

Pipe Organ at First Baptist  Church, Omaha, NE
WmRoy Karlen photo

Going to be Preaching on July 20th

First off let me announce that on July 20th I will be doing Pulpit Supply for my friend Howard Blecha at the Humboldt Christian Church.  I'm looking forward to getting to visit with his congregation again and have already started preparing the sermon.  Howard told me yesterday that when he asked who the congregation wanted to fill in for him several said "get that Baptist guy again".  I had to chuckle over that one, Howard said they couldn't remember my name but remember me as the "Baptist Guy".  Oh well, I could certainly be remembered as worse.  I'm planning on getting a proper video camera before we go down, so I can finally take a decent video of the sermon.  Maddie ended up having an issue with her memory card on her phone and unfortunately that means my last sermon was lost.

This last week or so has been a bit hectic with work and dealing with things at home.  Last Wednesday I went with Creath to Watertown, SD to look at a car.  Creath's car got caught in a hailstorm up in Sioux Falls and the Insurance Company totaled it out, so he decided he wanted to use the money they gave him for the car to try and find his 'dream car'.  Well ironically enough he found just what he was looking for on Craigslist.  He located a young man in Watertown who was looking to sell a 1983 Chevrolet Z28 Camaro.  So being the wonderful father I am (every so often anyways) I drove all the way to Sioux Falls to spend the night and to drive with him early in the morning to get to Watertown to see this car.

Long story short, the car wasn't bad at all, so I negotiated with the seller a bit on the price and then we shook on the deal.  Creath was thrilled to get to drive it back to Sioux Falls.  It's a black car that has been recently repainted.  The paint job isn't perfect, but it's not awful either.  The car handles well and everything works on it, including the rear wipers.

Creath Karlen with his 1983 Camaro
WmRoy Karlen photo

On a less happy note, this week we finally had to have our beloved pet 'Gracie' put to sleep.  It was a very difficult thing to do and we put it off for as long as we felt we could.  Maddie is still very sad over the loss of her 'baby' but as a result all the other animals are being lavished with her attention.  Aubrey and Pansie seem to understand that she is gone, I think they realized that she was sick and somehow understood that when I carried her out the door that last time that she wasn't coming back home.  I buried her in the back by the oak tree next to Jasper and Holly.  Maddie wants to get a headstone for her so we'll take care of that this next week.  I have a friend that sells 'rocks' and one of his products is pet headstones.

Maddie Karlen with her baby girl "Gracie"
WmRoy Karlen photo

I'll likely post again before the 20th but for now I need to run.

I pray that this brief blog post finds you all well and blessed along the path of your individual faith journey.  Please remember that no matter what comes down the road to you today, either good or bad that your God loves and cares for you deeply.  Don't forget to spend a bit of time in prayer and thanksgiving for all that the Lord has created for each of us.

Many Blessings to all!
Roy