Pastor Matt Clausen

Stumbling with Pride

Voting from a Biblical Perspective

When I was a kid, I loved Christmas and tolerated Easter. To this child, Christmas was about presents, good food, and most importantly, several days off school. Easter on the other hand was about getting dressed up in uncomfortable clothes and having to pose for lots of pictures with my family in those uncomfortable clothes. There wasn’t much comparison between these two major holidays, one was a dream come true for all my childhood indulgences and the other paled by comparison.

It’s Christmas Time – Get Busy

Recently in a sermon, I told the story of how my daughter learned to ride a bike. In case you missed it, here are the essential details. When my daughter was five, she received her first bike. It was pink and green with tassels on the handlebars, and it had “Girl’s World” written in big letters on the frame. She loved the bike and immediately began to show it off to the neighbor kids.

One of my favorite words to describe this time of year is the word hectivity. It is a combination of the words hectic and activity, and it describes what many of us are involved in during the month of December as we add parties for work, family gatherings, special church events, shopping, planning and more, to an already busy schedule. December is a month of hectivity.

Both of us were born in 1973, the year of the Roe v. Wade ruling. We were among the first children born during this 50-year period when abortion on demand was the legal position of our country. Our hearts break at the fact that over 63 million abortions have taken place in the United States during these five decades. With the recent court ruling overruling Roe v. Wade, we want to take a few minutes and share the Bible’s teaching on this issue in hopes that it helps bring greater understanding to why followers of Jesus feel strongly about this issue and work to end abortion. As followers of Jesus, we are not called to view this issue or any issue primarily through the lens of personal convenience, family tradition, or political preference, but we are to view it through the lens of the teaching of God in the Scripture.

On June 26, we started a series on Sunday mornings called Epic Poetry . It is a series in which we are looking at select Psalms. I thought it might be helpful to provide a brief overview of the book of Psalms as we prepare to meet with God in its pages for the rest of the summer.

In 2007, I went to see a doctor to get a physical. It was the first time I had been in for a physical as an adult. I’d been to the doctor when there where things wrong that needed treatment, but I’d never been to the doctor to have him do an overall diagnostic of my health. The doctor came in to see me, ask me questions, and order a few tests. When he was about to wrap up our appointment, he looked at me with a little grin and asked me, “Do you want the 95% physical or the 100% physical today?” In my naivete, I asked him what the difference was between the two. After he explained the difference, I quickly responded that I would take the 95% physical. He told me that was fine, but that the next time I came in for a physical it would need to be the 100%. I haven’t been back for a physical since.

My dad called me last week to let me know that my uncle had passed away. My Uncle Don loved Jesus and his family very much. He wasn’t a big talker. He would sit silently for long stretches during family discussions while others produced most of the words, but just at the right time, he would break into the conversation with something very profound or funny. He didn’t speak often but when he did everyone benefited from what he said.

On the 4th of July, my sister, her husband, and her kids came to visit us at our house. I have a niece that is 16 and a nephew that is 14. My niece has a wonderfully sensitive soul and is kind to everyone she meets. Unfortunately, sensitivity and kindness are not always valued among teenagers, and she has been experiencing mocking and ostracization from girls around her the last few months. My sister told us that my niece was really looking forward to coming to see my kids because she knew they would treat her well.