Step Out of the Boat

Save the date…

Messiah Men’s Conference
April 13-14, 2012

The theme is: “Step Out of the Boat.”

Men… are you ready for a challenge? Are you looking for new focus? Are you fired up to serve? Are you prepared to be changed?

Join us on the campus of Messiah Lutheran Church for a powerful speaker, stimulating workshops, great food, and manly conversation.


Keynote Speaker: Keith Rhodes

Keith Rhodes

• CEO of Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Orange County;
• Grew up in rural Alaska;
• Recruited to play basketball and football at Grambling;
• Recruited to play for the NFL;
• Endured the devastation of Hurricane Katrina;
• Worked with abused and neglected children in various levels of residential care for 20 years;
• Holds degrees in Criminal Justice and Criminology, with an emphasis in Juvenile Delinquency and Domestic Terrorism;
• Has worked with counterdrug taskforce and gang suppression in 87 cities over the past 20 years, and also trains federal, State, and local law enforcement worldwide.

Keith has a great personal story and a great challenge for every man!

Your $20 ticket includes Friday dinner, Saturday breakfast, and all workshops and materials.

Register:

• Online at http://www.messiahyl.com
• At the Messiah Church office;
• At the registration table on Sunday.

If We Are the Body

We are progressing through a Sunday sermon series called:

“Tough Questions About the Christian Faith.”

Today’s topic in that series was:

“But isn’t the church responsible for so much injustice?”

I’m not going to give you a blow-by-blow of Pastor Bob’s awesome teaching, except to state that his answer to the topic question was: “Yes.” If you want to listen to Pastor Bob cover the many injustices perpetrated by Christian churches, check out the MP3 library on the Messiah site (it will be filed under today’s date: January 29, 2012). Besides the obvious injustices like the Crusades, the Inquisition, Witch Trials, the selling of Indulgences, and forced mass conversions… there are other, less obvious, injustices that pastor Bob covers. If you listen to his sermon, let me know if he left out your pet-peeve injustice.

He spoke of how the church went from being focused on the servant ministry of Jesus, to being so successful that it turned its focus on ruling, administration, law-making, judging and condemning, and protecting its power and holdings. When you are busy ruling you cannot be busy serving.

As Pastor Bob spoke of the servant heart of Jesus and His ministry, and what WE should be doing, I suddenly heard the song “If We are the Body” by Casting Crowns playing in my head. OK… maybe I was just recalling the lyrics. Here’s a video set to the song. It looks like something from a time capsule from another age. I think it’s very well done.



Are you part of the ministry body of Jesus? Where are your arms reaching? Where are your hands healing? Where are you teaching God’s Words? Where are your feet going? Where is your heart showing… that Jesus is the way?

Your brother in Christ,

Dave

Renewal

Very likely, by the time you read this, it will be a new year; 2012. So, let me start off by conforming to centuries of tradition and wish you a happy, prosperous, and healthy New Year.

Every year, people make New Year’s resolutions… to stop smoking, get more education, lose weight… as many, and as varied resolutions as there are people (times a WHOLE bunch). Often, the resolutions are the reiteration of resolutions from past years that usually didn’t last more than a couple of weeks. Perhaps we need to look at resolutions differently.

Let’s change our vocabulary. Change ‘resolution’ to ‘renewal’.

Resolutions depend on our resolve… which is notoriously weak, completely dependent on our will, and often weakened by stressful circumstances. How many times have we resolved to start a new habit (or stop an old one), only to completely abandon the resolution’s good intentions at the slightest bump in the road?

Renewal is a different story altogether. Think about all the successful renewals in your life. You might renew a magazine subscription, auto insurance, a commitment to charitable giving, or health insurance. In each case, you renew a commitment and someone else renews their commitment to you… on an on-going, continuous, and mutually beneficial basis.

As I was thinking and writing about this, I received a Jews for Jesus newsletter that completed my musings in a far better way than I had originally planned. I have renewed my support of the Jews for Jesus ministry year after year and they bless me through their newsletter with their ministry news, their zeal, their evangelical fire, and their incredible faith in God and Jesus Christ as our sovereign Lord. In Remember to Renew, the cover article of the Jews for Jesus January 2012 newsletter, Executive Director David Brickner seemed to finish my thoughts about renewal (quite wonderfully, in fact). He also makes a profound comment about struggles and disappointments that I found to be just what I needed.

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Renewal is not only a matter of the mind, but also of the heart. We remember the past because it builds our faith to recall what God has done. We need that faith in order to be transformed and renewed. Renewal is not to occur only once a year with a New Year’s resolution or two. It is a daily response to God as He calls us to present ourselves as living sacrifices as in Romans 12.

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”  – Romans 12: 1-2

The problem with living sacrifices is that they tend to wriggle off the altar! We need to bind ourselves to that altar with cords of love and trust in the One who sacrificed Himself for us. We need God’s renewal in our lives to stir up fresh dedication, new commitment, and the kind of faith that enables us to see a future that is brighter than our past. I want that renewal. I want to remain on that altar for Jesus. That is my commitment before the Lord…

Maybe this past year has held struggles and disappointments. Perhaps there are physical problems for which there is no relief in sight. Do not lose heart, but remember that even though we are perishing outwardly, inside we are being renewed day by day. And our light momentary affliction is working a far heavier weight of glory that will last forever and ever (see Corinthians 4:16-17).

As we enter 2012, I invite you, dear friends, to remember and renew your relationship with the Lord Jesus.

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To David Brickner’s words, I say: “AMEN!” And if you don’t yet have a relationship with Jesus, I invite you to accept the gift of salvation, joy, and peace that Jesus freely offers to every person. That’s EVERY person. That includes you… even if you don’t believe. See me on our campus on Sunday, or contact me if you need to know more.

And, once again: Happy New Year!  It’s my prayer that 2012 be the year you begin a lifelong renewal in the Lord!

Your brother in Christ,

Dave

FYI: Jews for Jesus exists to make the Messiahship of Jesus an unavoidable issue to Jewish people worldwide.

You can find out more about their ministry online at: jewsforjesus.org

Alive in Your Loss – Untitled Hymn

Christmas is near.

Of course, search engines have little respect for time, place, or situations… focusing, as they do, merely on the keywords you have supplied them. Loss (read: death) is no respecter of time, place, or situation. And sometimes, a shared holiday tradition will hit us with a sharp reminder of a loss… be it recent, or something you thought was dealt with long ago.

As Christians, we should never trivialize loss. It’s very real. It hurts, and I am sorry for the loss that has brought you here today.

Chris Rice sings a moving song called:

Untitled Hymn (Come to Jesus)

It will touch your heart, and might give you some peace. I’ve attached a beautiful video (with lyrics) of the song that Chris Rice first released in 2003.

The song’s lyrics invite us to go to Jesus in a variety of ways. I find that I have come to Jesus singing… I have fallen on Jesus… I have cried to Jesus… I have danced to Jesus…  and at the end of MY days, I pray that I will fly to Jesus… and live!

How have you come to Jesus? Be mindful that each way YOU come to Jesus is reflected out to a lost and hurting world. The world is seeking answers, reassurance, and salvation… that can only happen when they come to Jesus… and live!

Your brother in Christ,

Dave

2011 Christmas Card

Christmas Eve is fast upon us!

This year, we have 4 Christmas Eve worship services scheduled (3:30, 5:00, 8:00, and 9:30 pm). Christmas Day falls on a Sunday this year, so we will have just one worship service (with Communion) at 10:00 am on Sunday.  If you are in our neighborhood, consider yourself invited. You don’t need to be a member, you don’t need to bring anything, you don’t need anything at all… just come and join us as we give thanks to God for the greatest Christmas gift of all!

I’ve started handing out my Christmas cards to everybody that I can connect with. This year I’m allowing for more time for this, as I’m hobbled a bit by a torn tendon in my left ankle. I usually hand out 500 cards each Christmas, so please be patient with me as I offer you a card… for the fifth or sixth time. I don’t keep a list. As a matter of fact, I will extend my Christmas message to everyone I see during this season… at the market, pumping gas, at work, at the post office… everywhere. This blog allows me to connect with a few other people, too. If you are one of them, here is this year’s Christmas card from me:

Front:

Sweet Christmastime…

Inside:

O Come, O Come…
Sweet Christmastime to Me

By David Alan Hoag – December 1, 2011
(sung to O Come, O Come Emmanuel)

O come, o come… sweet Christmastime to me
I want to see my grandkids trim the tree
I want to walk through bright streets of light
And like a child renew my lost delight.
O come…
O come…
Sweet Christmastime to me
And change my heart to what it ought to be.

O come, o come… sweet Christ child unto Earth
Again renew the promise of your birth
You come to us in meekness, not might
That we might move from darkness to light.
O come…
O come…
Sweet Christ child unto Earth
In me renew the promise of your birth.

According to that most accurate of sources, the Internet, the words to the favorite O Come, O Come Emmanuel carol were originally written in Latin in the 12th Century. The author of the words and composer to the music of O Come, O Come Emmanuel is unknown. It is, however believed that the melody was of French origin and added to the text a hundred years later. The Latin was translated into English by John Mason Neale in 1851. It seems a rather long gestation period for any song, but I suppose they wanted to get it just right! And now, in 2011, I add 2 verses of my own. Enjoy.

Blessings to you and your family, as you celebrate God’s love at Christmas time.

My prayer is that the peace, love, and joy that come from the salvation through Jesus Christ… be yours at Christmas, and all through the year.

Your brother in Christ,

Dave Hoag

Where’s the Line to See Jesus?

Becky Kelly has recorded a beautiful song that every Christian should hear and reflect upon. Listen to her perform, watch the video, and then read Becky’s story about the song.

About the song (from Becky’s site):

While at the mall a couple of years ago, my then four year old nephew, Spencer, saw kids lined up to see Santa Claus. Having been taught as a toddler that Christmas is the holiday that Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus, he asked his mom, "where's the line to see Jesus?"

My sister mentioned this to my dad, who immediately became inspired and jotted words down to a song in just a few minutes. After putting music to the words, and doing a quick recording at home, he received a great response from friends. He sent the song off to Nashville without much response, except for a Christian song writer who suggested adding a bridge at the end of the first chorus. My dad then asked if I wanted to record the song to see what we could do with it. I listened to the song, made a few changes to the words to make it flow better, and we headed to Shock City Studios.

It was at the studio where Chris, owner and producer, rewrote the 2nd verse and part of the chorus... with goose bumps and emotions high, we were all hopeful and felt like we had something special. The demo was recorded in just under 2 hours and sent off again to Nashville... still no response.

Then 2 weeks before Christmas last year, my cousins Greg and Robbie decided to do a video to see what we could accomplish on YouTube. The first day we had 3000 hits and it soared from there. We received e-mails, phone calls, Facebook messages from people all over asking for the music, CD's, iTunes, anything... we had nothing'. After a couple of meetings with Chris following the amazing response, we got serious. We headed back into the studio this past spring... this time with guitars, drums, bass, pianos, choirs... the real deal.... and here we are today.

Getting iTunes set up, a website put together, and loving that thousands upon thousands of Christians have come together... remembering the true meaning of Christmas. Out of the mouths of babes come profound truths that many adults cannot understand. Hopefully Spencer's observation will cause people all over to reflect on the love of Jesus, and that one day we will all stand in line to see Him. We are most thankful to our Heavenly Father to have this chance to share our music with you. Merry Christmas everyone!

Jesus IS the reason we celebrate Christmas. Blessings to you this Christmas.

Your brother in Christ,

Dave

P.S.: Want to support Christian songwriting and Christian artists? Then buy a couple of copies of Becky Kelly’s CD to give as gifts… and maybe one to enjoy for yourself. Her official site is at:

http://wheresthelinetoseejesus.com/

One final credit: Where's the Line to See Jesus?
Song and Lyrics by Steve Haupt & Chris Loesch.

Back

Was AFK; now back.

ROFL! I c ur noob face. I’ll xlate…

Most of you reading this (unless my demographic statistics are way off), are going to need some help. Here’s what I said:

"I was Away From my Keyboard (not on the computer; doing other things); but I’m back now (from whatever drew me away).

Rolling On the Floor Laughing! (This is hilarious!) I see your ignorant (as in ‘one who does not yet know’) face. I will translate…"

“Back...” That’s online gaming shorthand for “I have returned from whatever drew me away.” And I’m back writing the blog… at least for now.

In any MMORG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) you are usually connected with many other people, all interacting, chatting, and working with (or against) one another… all within digital worlds of great complexity, danger, and stunning beauty (Like World of Warcraft, RuneScape, Eve, and other MMORPGs). I’ll get back to this theme in a bit.

Though I was AFK for a while, nobody seemed to take much notice. There were no comments on the blog wondering why I wasn’t posting, and while that’s pretty normal for the blogosphere, that nobody in our fellowship at Messiah mentioned anything was a bit surprising… and TBH (To Be Honest)… a little disappointing. To be sure… that the blog now posts on Facebook probably accounts for the almost total lack of comments within the blog. It’s easier to click ‘Like’ than it is to post a continuation of the topic on the blog.

And with over a billion people on Facebook… well, it just makes sense to repost a blog out to a social media stream. Not that I reach anywhere near 1 billion readers. Hahahaha… I’d be happy knowing I had any impact at all. It’s hard to see an impact with automated blog statistics hovering near zero all the time.

Now let’s run some numbers:

NationMaster website reports that the Lutheran population amounts to 104 million people throughout the world; this number includes not only Lutheran Church members, but also people who claim to be Lutheran. If only Lutheran Church members are considered, this number scales down to about 70 million (data provided by the Lutheran World Foundation). Europe is the continent which has the highest number of Lutherans: 66 million; in Germany alone there are about 40 million Lutherans.

Again, according to statistics provided by the NationMaster website, there are about 18 million Lutherans in the US. Even though there are no government surveys on religion, a number of studies suggest that there are 9 million Lutheran-church members in the US and 9 million Americans that claim to be Lutheran but are not members of the Lutheran Church.

Wikipedia states that: “As of December 31, 2009, the ELCA (that’s us) had 4,543,037 baptized members, with 2,527,941 of them counted as active participants in their congregations.”

Therefore, on a post that generates a lot of attention, say 13 hits (100% of this blog’s membership), I manage to reach 0.000005% of Lutherans in the US. LOL! Considered by ANY mathematical standard, that’s a whopping 0%. Woot!!!

Now, let’s get back to online gaming. There are currently upwards of 250 million people playing online games. Last year, online gaming was a $16 billion market…expected to top $30 billion in the next 4 years.

I have written about integrity, honesty, commitment, and faith on several gaming forums (think conversational threads). The language on threads is a whole lot more irreverent and raw than what you will find on our church blogs, but participation is off the chart! People are hurting and searching for meaning in their lives. They may not present themselves at our church’s doorstep, but they are out there! Perhaps you aren’t called to enter the unknown country of online gaming, but you could listen at work… at the coffee shop… at school… or just standing in a holiday checkout line. You don’t have to do much more than listen, and then offer a simple invitation for them to come experience the peace, the music, the prayer, the acceptance, and the love of our fellowship in Christ at Messiah (if you are not a member of Messiah, substitute the name of your church).

YBIC,

Dave

Alive in Our Giftedness

My friend and awesome guitarist, Jeff Askew, shared this with me on Sunday. Watching Jon Gomm play this piece is like watching somebody juggle 7 balls... it seems impossible, yet the performer makes it look so effortless! I'm thankful that some people embrace their God-given talents to bless the rest of us with miraculous moments like this!!!

Follow the God-given dreams of your soul. Often, those that say: “It can’t be done,” are really just saying: “I’ve never done it that way.”

God has made you so amazing, in fact, that the Psalmist puts it this way in the Bible:

“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”   - Psalm 139:13-15

Stop seeing the world in terms of limitations. Instead, go out and live up to God’s expectations!

Your brother in Christ,

Dave

A Thanksgiving Spirit

Happy Thanksgiving! Let's try, for one day, to be thankful rather than argumentative. For one day, can we be thankful for our blessings rather than demand that our wants be fulfilled? For one day, can we be thankful for all the people in our lives? For one day, can we love God and love one another? If we can do it for one day, perhaps we would be encouraged to do it for another, and then another, and then… where might thankful hearts take us?

Your brother in Christ,

Dave

Where’s God?

Ever wonder where God is? Does it seem like God never shows up in your life? Do you feel lost or abandoned? Have you given up on finding purpose… for yourself, or even for anything? Well then, I challenge you:

Take 40 minutes to watch the following video with Louie Giglio!

Watch the first 5 minutes, and you will want to see it through to the end. See it through to the end, and you will want to share it. Share it, and you will change a life. Change enough lives, and the world will see… how great is our God!



This is amazing stuff… rocket science, perhaps, but shared in such a way that everyone can grasp the wonder. I urge you… watch this video, as it is wonderful news!

Your brother in Christ,

Dave