Thoughts from a First Call Pastor

Here I will share some thoughts as I begin my career at Christ Lutheran in Byron, MN. Since I'm done with seminary I'm hoping there are a few ideas left rolling around in my head worth sharing. So here it is, some of the things that I think I think...

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

The Bachelor

Recently Dawn and I have started watching, "The Bachelor." I'm pretty sure neither of us could tell you why, but we have. Part of the appeal, it seems, is trying to figure out the genuineness of the intentions of the women on the show, the bachelor as well I suppose. There are a lot of accusations about being fake flying across the television screen and in our living room. Yet, is that really fair as audience members? How often have you had the following conversation:

"Hi, how you doing?"
"Good, thanks."

How often have you genuinely cared about how the other is doing when you ask that question? How often have you been genuine in your response? How often do you ask just to be polite? How often do you respond to make the other person happy so they will simply continue on their way?

In Romans 12:9-16, Paul encourages our love to be genuine, to really care when we ask things like, "How are you doing?" We are encouraged to serve, love, and care for others out of the goodness of our heart. It is the kind of love we receive from God first. God's love for us is ALWAYS genuine. When we pray God REALLY wants to know how we are doing and what we need. God loves us so deeply. So let us join our hearts together and genuinely love one another.