About me

I was born and raised in Northern (Superior) Wisconsin about 80 miles from the Canadian border; and, yes it gets very cold there! At the young age of 32 I began to feel called into ministry. One night at a church dinner, my wife Judy and I sat at a table next to our district superintendent. In the course of our conversation, he said that he had a small church that needed someone to supply the pulpit until he could appoint a new pastor. My pastor suggested that maybe I could do that. I agreed, and two Sundays later, my wife and I drove to that small rural church. Little did we know that I would fill the pulpit in that church for thirteen years!

I have now been in the ministry for 35 years after also serving churches in Virginia and Maryland. I am currently retired...well, sort of. In my retirement, I am now serving as part-time Pastor of First Evangelical Covenant Church in Superior Wi. I began writing books about seven years ago, and still enjoy speaking and teaching when I can. My wife Judy passed away in 2021and I have since remarried to My wife Crystal.

I have a deep desire to help people grow in their faith and knowledge of God’s Word. My books are what I call a “Quest for Discipleship”. As I said, I am a published author and I have nineteen books which include my latest called "Tell Me, Show Me, Fill Me, Change Me"; "In It For Life"; “By His Hand”; “Show and Tell”; “The Promised Gift”; “Jars of Clay”; “The Kingdom of God”; “From the Pastor’s Desk”; “More From the Pastor’s Desk”; "T.E.A.M."; "Let Earth Receive Her King"; "Therefore" "Principles from Proverbs"; "God's Top ten"; "Prayer Changes Things", "5 R's of Revelation" and two "Renewed Faith" 90 day devotionals all by Life Ministries Publishing.

Thank you for checking out my blog and I hope that you will also check my website at;


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Wednesday, December 18, 2013

“Just Like Scrooge”
Colossians 1:15-23

    Over the years I’m sure we all have either read or seen the Charles Dickens classic “A Christmas Carol”. Most of us remember it as the story of Scrooge. I would like to borrow from this story if I may this morning, and talk about Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Future. It is Christmas that truly holds the mystery of God’s greatest gift - “When the fullness of time had come, God sent His Son” God in the flesh - “Immanuel” - God with us.
    Traditionally, the Christmas story is found in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, but I would like to show that the Christmas story can be found in other places as well…From the “Christmas Carol”;
“Are you the spirit sir, whose coming was foretold to me?”I am”… The voice was soft and gentle. Singularly low, as if instead of being so close beside him, it were at a distance. “Who are you”? Scrooge demanded…“I am the ghost of Christmas Past”.
    We too have a Christmas past. Our scripture underscores our Christmas past as being one of alienation from God; and even enemies in our minds, because of our evil behavior. Notice the past tense of the words “this is what you once were”.  As Christians we must see that there was a time when we were alienated from God. We had no use for God. We didn’t even think about God that much; a rather indifferent attitude. In fact, our behavior was influenced by self, the flesh, the natural man spoken of by the Apostle Paul in Galations 5 - “For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want….I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
    After the fall in the Book of Genesis, this is what it says about God’s view of man - “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil.” Sin always starts in the mind; works its way to the heart; and into our behavior. No one likes to see themselves as sinful, because we don’t really believe we are all that bad. And, books like “When bad things happen to good people” and “I’m O.K., You’re O.K. by Thomas Harris, give a sense that we are really good people. And, if along our journey we happen to come to know Christ, then we are somehow “better” people. This humanistic teaching or train of thought sees man as being “good” in and of himself.  However, the painful truth is that man is sinful. And until we see our Christmas past as being one of separation from God or being alienated from God because of our sin, we will never really appreciate the Christmas Present or the Christmas Future.
Again from the “Christmas Carol”…
“Come in!”, exclaimed the ghost, “Come in and know me better”… Scrooge entered timidly and hung his head before the spirit… Though the spirit’s eyes were clear and kind, he did not like to meet them. “I am the ghost of Christmas Present” said the spirit, “Look upon me”….
    God has no intention of leaving us in the midst of a sin-stained life. And, as we move closer he calls; “Look upon me!” “Look to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other!” (Isaiah 45:22) And, in our scripture, verse 19, it says; “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him, to reconcile to himself all things; by making peace through his blood, shed on the Cross.” God’s demonstration of his love began in a manger and culminated on the Cross!  Again, the Apostle Paul puts it this way in Romans 5:10 - “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this; while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
    In the Christmas Present, God offers us the greatest gift of all, salvation, through His Son Jesus Christ; the holy babe in the manger; the divine Son on the Cross. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; all things have become new” What a great message to proclaim this Christmas Present season!
Once again, from the “Christmas Carol”…
“I am in the presence of the ghost of Christmas yet to come…Lead on”, says Scrooge, “Lead on!”
    There is a Christmas future that awaits every child of God. In the Bible it’s called our “glorification”!  It speaks of a time when we who are His will be as He is!  In our scripture we read in the last part of verse 22 - “in order to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation; if you continue in your faith, established and firm.”
    In our Christmas future, Jesus wants to present us “holy” because He has taken away our sin; He has paid the price required of God for our sin, the shedding of blood. He can present us “blameless” because without sin there can be no charge brought against us; and we are “free from accusation”.  The Bible tells us that Satan is the “accuser of the brethren” but, Christ is our advocate before the Father, ever interceding on our behalf. He is the one and only Savior of mankind.
    God, in the form of the Christ-child, born in a manger in Bethlehem, came to forgive our Christmas Past… to bring us reconciliation and life and truth in our Christmas Present…Or, you could say that He came to show us the truth about life; and to give us a glorious hope for our Christmas Future.
    In the “Christmas Carol”, Scrooge had his life totally transformed by a visit from three spirits, who showed him the reality of who he was and who he could be! It’s really the story of Christmas; A babe in a manger, coming to show us the same thing! 
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