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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Monday, December 2, 2013

Preparing for Christmas
Advent

    This is the time of year when everyone starts getting ready for Christmas. The stores are packed with people buying gifts. The houses are decorated with lights and trimmings and yards become the showcases of Christmas splendor. Usually the preparation includes a cleaning effort and some rearranging of the house to accommodate the tree and other decorations. And, perhaps the final preparation is the placing of gifts under the tree.
    All of this is a great illustration of how God wants us to prepare for Christmas. When we truly prepare for Christmas, there is a personal cleansing. When we truly prepare for Christmas, there is a new arrangement of our priorities. When we truly prepare for Christmas, there is a decorating of the heart. When we truly prepare for Christmas, there is a receiving and giving of gifts.
I. The cleaning of the heart
“Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God.” (Matthew 5:8)  The word “blessed” literally means happy in the original Greek. From this statement of Jesus we see that the pure in heart are the happy in heart. Why? Simply because they will one day see God. Now this sounds really simple, doesn’t it? But, I don’t know about you but there are a lot of days when my heart seems more polluted than pure. So, how can we become pure in heart? What do we have to do? I have some extremely bad news for you; there is NOTHING you can do to make your heart pure! The good news is that God is the one who cleans the heart and all that you need to do is ask Him. David asked God for this exact thing: “Create in me a pure heart and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10) God granted David’s request and gave him a clean heart. He can do the same for us; all we need to do is ask. 
II. The arranging of priorities
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.”  Matthew 6:33 An essential part of preparing for Christmas involves re-arranging. Just as we arranged our homes, schedules and other aspects of our lives for Christmas. God wants us to arrange our hearts for Christmas. His desire is for us to make more room for His Son in the room of our heart. When we make this extra room in the heart, God blesses us with more of Christ. It is then that the blessings of God begin to rapidly flow into our lives and overflow into the lives of others. When we put Christ in the center of our lives, everything else comes together. When Jesus made this statement of seeking the kingdom of God first, he was giving the antidote for worry. Jesus makes it clear that if we are to succeed in life; our focus must be on God first. We are not prepared for Christmas until our priorities are in line.
III. The decorating of the heart
What does God do to decorate a heart? “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” He says.  Far too often, we only give God partial control and we only allow Him to make the changes that we approve. God’s desire is to take our life and make it even more beautiful. God wants to add value to our lives. However, he waits for us to give Him permission to begin the work. God desires to decorate our lives with his blessings and give us something completely new.
IV. Let’s talk about the receiving and giving of gifts…“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”  (John 1:12)  John speaks of those who received Christ. The Greek meaning of the word “receive” means “to welcome” or “to accept.” John is making it clear that we are to welcome Christ into our lives. This receiving is not just for part or some of our life but rather it is for every area of our life. God has given us an incredible gift; .He paid the debt of our sin. By faith, in Christ, we can become children of God. Literally we are given permission to join God’s family. By faith in Christ, we become a part of eternity. Our citizenship is changed and we gain an interest in heaven. Our position in life is changed as well. “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” said Jesus. There is a fullness of life that can hardly be explained, that comes with receiving God’s gift.
    One of the greatest joys of Christmas is found in giving. It is indeed better to give than to receive. It might surprise you but this applies to Christ as well. There is great joy when you give a gift to Christ. What does Christ  want from us? “My child, give me your heart and let your eyes keep to my ways” says, Proverbs 23:26  We can give God our heart, we can give him our eyes, our hands, our minds, our mouth, our time, and the list goes on. What gift will you give Him this year?
    So, where are we with our preparations for Christmas? Are there some areas of the heart that need to be cleansed?  Maybe we need to rearrange some things to make more room for Christ. Perhaps we need some of God’s blessings for decorations. Have you received the gift of Christ and have you given Him your heart? What gift will you give back to God this year? This year the wonder of Christmas can come alive in brand new ways if we will open our hearts and allow God to prepare us for Christmas.
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