Comments for Pastor Cal's Stuff

Comment on What I Should Have Said by Nicki Baumann

Nicki Baumann — Thu, 27 May 2010 21:41:53 +0000

You train of thought made me think about this devotion.

Thursday // May 27 // 2010
Today’s Read the Word: Psalm 34
Why?

Good and upright is the Lord; therefore He teaches sinners in the way.
— Psalm 25:8

Many people point to the problem of evil and suffering, more than any other, as their reason for not believing in God. It is not merely a problem; it is the problem.

We look at this world in which we are living today and wonder why: If God is good, then why did that happen? Why that earthquake? Why that tsunami? Why that tragedy? Why that illness? Why that loss of life? The questions go on and on.

The implication is that either God is all-powerful, but not all-good, and therefore doesn’t stop evil. Or, that He is all-good, but not all-powerful, and therefore can’t stop evil. The problem with the question of “If God is good, then why. . . .” is the one who is asking it determines what is good and what isn’t. And the very nature of the question suggests that God is not good.

But who am I, or who are you, to say what is good and what is not good? When did we become the moral centers of the universe? God is not good because I think He is good or because you think He is good. He is not good because we took a vote on it, and 98 percent of us believe that He is good. No, God is good because He said He is good. There is no higher authority than God himself. Jesus said, “No one is good but One, that is, God” (Luke 18:19).

So God is good, whether we believe it or not. God and God alone is the final court of arbitration. As the apostle Paul said, “Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar” (Romans 3:4).

The big question is what is good, because sometimes our definition of good and God’s definition are not the same.

Comment on Stump the Pastor by Nicki Baumann

Nicki Baumann — Thu, 27 May 2010 21:30:55 +0000

So what biblically constitutes adultry in regards to abandonment? It seems pretty clear to me that remarriage after a divorce of a non-believer leaving a believer would be biblical. But what aobut when they were both believers and the divorce happened anyway, what does the Bible say about adultery regarding to remarriage in that case?

Comment on What I Should Have Said by Joyce Oezer

Joyce Oezer — Sun, 09 May 2010 00:21:10 +0000

Dear Pastor Cal, I am Amy’s aunt Joyce from IN—Phil is my “little” brother–I waited to talk to you after the service Wed. but you were busy with others. If you saw the framed picture of the bride with Amy as the flower girl, the bride was my daughter Kathy. She went to live with Jesus when she was 25—not quite 2 years after that picture was taken. Kathy and Amy loved each other dearly and now they are together again. Though my husband and I have walked the hardest road of any parent—that of losing a child, we cannot begin to fathom what Phil and Sue have experienced and will continue to do so. Thank you for your message at Amy’s service and for all you have done in supporting Phil, Sue and the rest of the family. I also want to thank the people of your church who gave our family so much love, caring and support in so many ways while we were in MN. May God richly bless you in your ministry there and all the wonderful people of Bethel. Thank you also for this message which brings so much comfort.

Love in Jesus from all of us, Joyce Oezer

Comment on Small Group Ministry Gathering, aka -SEGUE- by calvin

calvin — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 15:16:04 +0000

Great post, Teri! As you know, I love word pictures. And as you know, Bonnie loves regular pictures. She suggested I add this one. I hope you don’t mind!

Comment on This place was hoppin’! by Bonnie Olson

Bonnie Olson — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 20:32:22 +0000

It was a great night to be at Bethel Church!!! The only problem I had was trying to figure out how to capture pictures of it all going on. A challenge yes, but with the help of others, we did capture a lot of the excitement. Looks like Pastor Cal was able to give you an idea of all the action. Wednesday nights are definitely the place to be if you want to meet up with others! Try it out!

Comment on April Council by Joel DeHaan

Joel DeHaan — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 03:08:28 +0000

Great lead in pic.
Interesting reading, stay the course with additions and considerations for corrections along the way.

Joel

Comment on Warm Up Your Brains! by calvin

calvin — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 04:24:04 +0000

Great story, Teri!

Comment on Warm Up Your Brains! by Teri Hyrkas

Teri Hyrkas — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 17:37:23 +0000

Truly enjoyed your sermon Sunday, Cal. Have been memorizing the text you ‘assigned’ to us, also. Regarding the ‘Shema’ I wanted to pass on this excerpt from the introduction to the book I am reading now, called “The Zookeeper’s Wife”, subtitled, ‘A War Story’, written by Diane Ackerman, c.2007:

My grandfather, who lived on a small farm (in Poland)heardd folk stories passed down through generations.
One of them tells of a village with a little circus whose lion had suddenly died. The circus director asked an old Jewish man if he would pretend to be the lion, and the man agreed since he needed the money. The director said: “All you have to do is wear the lion’s fur and sit in the cage, and people will believe you are a lion.” And so the man did, muttering to himself, “What strange jobs I’ve had in my life,” when his thoughts were interrupted by a noise. He turned just in time to see another lion creeping into the cage and fixing him with a hungry stare. Trembling, cowering, not knowing how to save himself, the man did the only thing he could think of — vociferously chant a Hebrew prayer. No sooner had he uttered the first desperate words, ‘Shema Yisrael’ (Hear O Israel)…than the other lion joined in with ‘adonai elohenu’ (the LORD our God), and the two would-be lions finished the prayer together.

So, just as you were saying on Sunday, the Shema is pervasive in the Jewish culture. I guess, as this little story would show, it is so pervasive that it is even part of a Jewish humor : )

Comment on Round Two! by Jason Ruis

Jason Ruis — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 12:09:50 +0000

Looks good! I wish I could have been there to have some input as well but we had a parent/teacher conference during that time.

It is really cool to see the excitement building as we continue moving forward with this. I think it really shows what happens when we are heading in the direction God wants us to be. I think when we get this off the ground it is going to really change the face of Bethel Church.

Way to go Hyrkas’ and Wergin’s on jumping right in and helping get this going. You guys are definitely the right people for the job!

Comment on T-Day by Betsy Wergin

Betsy Wergin — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 16:02:48 +0000

The good part of paying taxes is that you had to have earned money if you had to pay taxes. I am thankful for a good job and comfortable income. My dislike of paying taxes is knowing how many unnecessary and in some cases even unbiblical things taxes are used to pay for. Governments role in our lives should be far more limited the benefit of that is then far less taxes would be needed. It should be noted that it is not the age of the building or the amount of space in a school building that make an education a good one.

All things considered, even taxes, we live in a wonderful country and I am thankful and blessed to live in the United States of America. Our freedom to worship God openly and to share the Good News openly are gifts form God not to be taken lightly or for granted. May the USA bless God and may God bless the USA.