Slaughter of the Innocents

It is difficult to imagine a man like Herod. He was pro­bably one of the cruelest men who ever lived. Because of a pervasive fear someone would take his throne and he would be killed, he was vicious toward any threat, real or imagined. When he heard wise men had come to wor­ship a new Jewish king he called them to his palace to find and destroy the baby Jesus. (Matthew 2:13-23) His plot was foiled when God directed the wise men to go home by another route, but Herod devised another plan so vile we can hardly imagine it. He att­em­pted to destroy Jesus by taking the lives of every baby boy born in that part of the world who was under two years of age!

As horrible as that may seem, Herod's evil scheme was far surpassed in horror and blood­shed when the Supreme Court of the United States made it legal for anyone who chose to do so, to destroy their own unborn chil­dren through the practice of legal­ized abortion.

Since then, literally millions of children have had their lives callously snuffed out in hospitals designed to be in­stitu­tions of healing. In hospital mater­nity wards and nur­series throughout the world, doctors struggle to save babies youn­ger and smaller than those being destroyed in legalized abortions!

Abortion by choice is a self-inflicted death-blow to the home. If we can so easily destroy our unborn children, our living ones come next. When “pro-choice” groups first advocated legalized abortion as a means of birth control one reason in its favor was that it would diminish the incidence of child abuse since unwanted children would no longer be born. We don't hear this much anymore because we all know that since the legalization of abortion the incidences of child pornography, child abuse and child molesta­tion have literally skyrocketed upward. When we devalue any person or people, we devalue us all.

Any mother who has ever carried a child to term, any father who eagerly awaits the birth of a child, or any parents who lost an eagerly awaited child by miscarriage, will tell you that at eight months the baby is very much a per­son—a living being with an already developing personality. Thus life (as an individual hu­man being) must begin at conception or somewhere between conception and eight months....or is it seven? Six? Two?

Conception is the only answer that makes sense.

When we claim the unborn child is not human, it is only a small step to saying the helpless child, senior adult, mentally handicapped, or some other less than “perfect” beings are also less than human and they, too, can be exploited. Even as I write this, persons come to my mind in all of these categories and I remind myself they are all perfect just as they are!

When we claim unborn children are somehow less than human and therefore reasonable targets for abortion, we return to the mentality that produced slavery, the persecution and near destruction of the Native American peoples, and the holocaust of Jewish and Gypsy peoples by the Nazis. When we want to do a really evil thing to an­other human being we always seem to rationalize it by pretending they are not human, or, are somehow sub-human.

Someday history will look back on the abortion massacre of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries with the same revulsion with which we remember these other self-inflicted plagues of humanity.

On this January while we recognize the sanctity of human life, I know some of you who read this may have been deluded by the abortionists and agreed to a procedure for yourself, a loved one, or perhaps for unknown persons in an abortion mill. That agreement now leaves an ache in your heart that seemingly cannot be healed. I assure you Jesus Christ can heal your aching heart. He loves you and will bring grace and peace if you will surrender the pain to him. The Bible tells us there is “no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1) so I urge you to trust him for complete healing.

I'm Rick Blumenberg . . . and that's My View from Tanner Creek.

When it is God’s Will for us to Suffer

Sometimes it is God’s will for us to suffer. I know we don’t like to hear that, but it is  true.

Peter wrote (I Peter 4:19) "So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good." I believe this makes it clear that it is sometimes God's will for us to suffer. Does this mean God is a sadistic God who enjoys seeing his creation suffer? Not at all, but in the same way that we sometimes need to suffer in order to accomplish something in life there are times when God knows his will cannot be done except through suffering. The question is who will do the suffering?

I think Peter was saying if that is what God wants from us, then we should be willing to do it. It doesn't mean, however, that God asks us to suffer gratuitously, or for no reason, just for some sadistic satisfaction. When God asks us to suffer, be sure he has a reason and his grace is sufficient for us to be victorious. The gift of grace is a small price for the suffering and who knows, the accomplishments of our sufferings may eventually become the greatest joy of our lives.

Some time ago I met a gentleman who was a recent convert to Christ. He said the thing that brought him to Christ was observing a co-worker who was going through a very difficult time in life. She had such a beautiful attitude and showed such amazing grace in the midst of such a horrendous time that he finally had to ask, “How do you do it?”

She told him it was Jesus—that his grace gave her the strength she needed, not only to go through the suffering, but to do her best to be like Jesus in her attitude. It took a while for him to believe on his own, but he said there was no doubt that the way she dealt with her suffering was what brought him to Christ.

If God had something he needed you to do in order to accomplish something good for his kingdom would you be willing to do it? If so, then you are suffering according to God’s will.

If an unbeliever causes persons to suffer because they are Christians, that is probably not God’s will, but it is God’s will for us to suffer in a Christ-like way. Such suffering will provide evidence the Holy Spirit can use to touch the heart of the unbeliever and perhaps bring him or her to a personal relationship with Christ.

Remember also that Jesus said, “I have told you these things so that you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33^(NIV)) I believe Jesus was saying we will sometimes have to suffer. However, he was assuring us we will never suffer alone as long as we trust in him. He is with us. And we will overcome through the marvelous power of the indwelling Christ.

Jesus is a perfect example—if he had not been willing to suffer for us we would not have salvation. It was God's will for Jesus to suffer in order that the world might be saved. Jesus was willing to suffer—leaving the wonders of heaven and the glorious presence of God, the Father, and coming to a primitive, poverty stricken earth in order to bring us salvation and the awesome privilege of living every moment of our lives with the living Christ indwelling us so that wherever we go and whatever we do, his wonderful presence can be revealed by his Holy Spirit living in us.

I'm Rick Blumenberg . . . and that's My View from Tanner Creek.

When God says “No”

We can get some real junk on the internet and we do have to watch what we watch and read, but we can also find great wisdom. It’s just a medium, a network, and its value to each person is in how we and our friends use it. Recently I saw a post shared first by Nirmal Patrick, then by Robert Fry. It said God’s “no” is not a rejection, but a redirection. Since I’m always looking for something to write about, I decided to follow up on this bit of wisdom with some thoughts of my own.

We all know God sometimes says “no” to our fervent prayers. People are not healed, and sometimes die. We don’t get the job. We don’t sell the home (or buy the one we wanted). There are all sorts of prayers that are answered by God with a firm and definite “no”. Why would a loving God do something like that?

Really, you already know the answer—because He loves us. God, like any other loving parent, knows that sometimes he must say “no” to our prayers. Our difficulty is that we often don’t recognize this as love. We think if God loved us he would do what we want. But deep down in our hearts we know that isn’t true—especially if we’re parents—sometimes love demands a negative response.

If God says “no” it is only because he knows something we don’t know. If we knew as much about the situation as God knows, or had the wisdom of God, we wouldn’t have asked for it in the first place. If we could see into the future the way God sees we wouldn’t want the kind of future our misinformed prayers would bring.

It all boils down to faith. Do we trust God enough to accept his “no” with as much praise and thanksgiving as we do when He says “yes”? Sometimes faith is not about believing there is a God, as much as it is about trusting in the kind of God he is. He knows everything about you and me—including our futures and he knows what is really best for us. He not only knows us, he cares about our future state. He loves us unconditionally and understanding that we don’t have the foresight and wisdom he has, means he sometimes must forego the joy he would find in always doing what we want—because he knows if we knew all that he knows, we wouldn’t want it either. Faith in God keeps us strong when the trials of life come upon us, as they surely will. The short term answers

we would choose are not always best for life and/or eternity and God always thinks with that kind of view.

So when God says “no” remember his “no” is just as good as his ”yes” and just as much a sign of His unconditional love.

I'm Rick Blumenberg . . . and that's My View from Tanner Creek.

Legacy of a Praying Saint

First Church of God in St Joseph, Michigan, just lost a great saint in our prayer ministry with the recent death of Catherine Mommany. Her funeral was today. I know she is happy to be with her beloved husband and a daughter, both who preceded her, but her children who remain, the rest of her family, and all her many friends will miss her and her extensive ministry of fervent prayer. 

Andrea wrote on Facebook, “She was one of the people who prayed for me that i come to Christ. I will be forever thankful to and for her. She was a pillar of the Church. We will dearly dearly miss her!!! I loved her calm sweet smile. She was always the first one at prayer before service on Sundays. O man what am i gonna do without her??” 

Actually Catherine prayed for all of us—even you who didn’t know her. She prayed for all the saints, as the Bible teaches we should (Ephesians 6:18) and she prayed for all the lost people on earth, as Jesus taught us to do in the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:10). That may seem like too great a scope for one person to pray, but Catherine knew it wasn’t too big for God.

And the effects of Catherine’s prayers will continue. Her work isn’t done until all of time is done because the influence of her godly life will continue to grow in the lives of those she has prayed with and for until the end of time. 

Goodnight Catherine. We’ll see you in the morning. Today in the service Pastor Confer gave us your message about heaven—“Be there!” Even though you’ve been promoted to glory, your prayers are still working to accomplish God’s will here on earth. And more people will be there because of your influence. 

Catherine didn’t have a computer on which to read my blog, but she always read it and encouraged me because another reader, our good friend Shirley Zick, would read it online and then print it off for Catherine to read. What a wonderful friend! Thank you Shirley! Catherine so appreciated your kindness and I treasure you as a friend and reader. 

I'm Rick Blumenberg . . . and that's My View from Tanner Creek.

Passion for Paraguay: The Kiss from Heaven

Norberto and Julie Kurrle are on mission in Paraguay where they lead a ministry to train pastors and churches for growth and outreach. This blog post tells about one of their prayer supporters who recently died of caner and the loss they felt. It is a perfect example of my last blog about laypeople who serve the Lord faithfully at home and work--we are all ministers and missionaries when we fully surrender, then follow God's leading. Click on the link below if you want to meet some really neat people.


Passion for Paraguay: The Kiss from Heaven

Serving God in the Marketplace

When we talk about missionaries we usually think in terms of people who are sent out by a church, church group, or other type of mission-sending agency. But since the early days of the church God has always worked most powerfully through people in their normal work-a-day world. Understand, I believe very much in the concept of missions as we normally think of it. Our family spent a year and a half in East Africa as missionaries for the Church of God (Anderson, IN). We were assigned to Tanzania and that was our primary field of emphasis, but we also lived in Kenya while studying Swahili at the Church of the Province of Kenya guesthouse. I believe in organized, planned, missionary sending ministries. We give our tithes and offerings to make that possible and I hope you do too. The spread of the Gospel throughout the earth depends on our doing this and doing it well and it is the directive of Christ that we do so.

However, I am also convinced that the greatest missionary impact is in the lives of lay people who serve God consistently, day after day in the marketplace of life—the schools, the factories, the retail stores, and every other place you can imagine where God’s people go to earn a living for themselves and their families. There is nothing as life-changing for a non-believer as to see a godly person live a Christ-like life in all the various experiences of the work-a-day world. They see them face tragedy and loss with a grace that is incomprehensible. They see them have fun with no need to get drunk or take recreational drugs. They see Christians get angry without sin. In all these normal life situations, they wonder how they do it. Sometimes they ask.  When the Christian identifies God—Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit—as the source of their strength it is the most powerful witness anyone can ever see. As I said before, it is life-changing!

It is sort of like prayer. Prayer meetings at church are good and we should have them, but even more powerful is for people to “pray without ceasing” by living our lives in the presence of God so that every moment of life is a prayer. Much of the time they are just fleeting prayers “Lord help me!” Or “God give me wisdom.” “Lord what should I say?” “How should I answer?” or, “How do I solve this work or life problem?” or “Thank you Lord for this beautiful day!” And there needs to be those longer personal times alone with God when we spend time in private prayer. But really every moment of every day is a prayer for people who are fully surrendered to God.

In the same way, when we live as Christ-like persons in our work places we are the real missionaries. If you are a salesman, or a janitor, or a stay-at-home mom—a business executive, a police officer or retail clerk—any work that benefits people and somehow makes the world a better place, it can also be a ministry and a mission if it is dedicated to God. A pastor, missionary, or any other ministry professional is no more holy to God than lay persons who serve God as best they can in all the areas of their lives. Any work we do is a ministry or a mission when it helps people and is dedicated to God.

So I praise God for your ministry and your mission! I hope you also give God praise and thankfulness for using you as a … whatever your place of mission happens to be. Being a missionary to a school as a teacher or principle or janitor is just as important to God as being a missionary to Tanzania or Kenya or anywhere else.

I'm Rick Blumenberg . . . and that's My View from Tanner Creek.

Time to make new friends

Tuesday was my last day as Associate Pastors at First Church of God in St Joseph, Michigan. It was a strange sort of day. Very few people were in the offices and those who were, were surprised to see me.

We got word that the daughter of one of our members was in the hospital and she would like to have a pastoral visit, so I went. When I got to the hospital, I found the lady’s room, but she had never heard of the lady who we thought was her mother. She had never been to our church, but she had been to Crystal Springs Church of God one time for a funeral. I asked her if could pray for her since I was there anyway. She said, “No, just say a prayer when you get home.”

“Anything special you want me to pray about?”

“No. Just general prayers.”

“O-o-o-o-o-o-kay!”

A little later Nancy Barker stopped by my office to say goodbye. That was difficult. She is a very special lady. But we made it through that. The nice thing about being a child of God is the assurance that you never have to say a final goodbye to any of God’s people—we’ll see each other again on the other side.

Next I turned in my church keys to Pastor Greg, our church administrative pastor, shook his hand and told him how much I have enjoyed being on the staff at First Church. I then said goodbye to those who were there, and gave a hug to Debbie (my next door neighbor for the last six years, and one of the nicest and most Christ-like persons I’ve ever met) and finally I headed home to retirement. On the way home I found a left-over fortune cookie from our latest Chinese restaurant visit and when I opened it, I read, “This is a good time to make new friends.” I got a good laugh out of that—it seemed so fitting it was almost uncanny.

Actually it is always a good time to make new friends, so that is always true. I guess that’s the secret of a good Chinese cookie fortune—maybe that should be my next career, writing Chinese fortune cookie fortunes that are always true for everyone all the time in every situation. I’m tempted, but I think not. But I will spend more time on my blog where I hope to share something worthwhile that you will enjoy reading.

I also have two book manuscripts that need polishing and a publisher (or two) to find. I am too young to retire, so now I am a free-lance writer! It would be nice if I could earn some money at this (not so new) occupation, but thanks to social security and a small IRA from the 101(k) that was left over from my original 401(k), and some rental properties, extra income is not absolutely necessary (although Carol may think so).

Well, as the fortune cookie said, “This is a good time to make new friends.” I hope you’ll be my friend, as Mister Rogers would say, and that you’ll follow me on my blog.

Seriously, this day does bring a lot of thoughts and memories. I accepted my first congregation in Hoopeston, Illinois, while I was still in college, in 1965. During that time we have made so many friends and have had the privilege of mentoring, teaching and encouraging so many people I can’t possibly count them. Preaching the Word of God, knowing it will live on in the hearts and lives of people long after I am gone…what an incredible privilege! Singing hymns and spiritual songs, many given to me by the Lord, has also been a special privilege.

Today reminds me of the words of the poet Robert Frost…”I took the road less traveled by and that has made all the difference.”

I'm Rick Blumenberg . . . and that's My View from Tanner Creek.

Lion kill in Tarangire

We were missionaries for the Missionary Board of the Church of God (now Global Missions) in East Africa. We lived at Kaiti Mission on the Great North Road, about two hours Southwest of Arusha, Tanzania. We took a day off from the mis­sion and headed for Tarangire National Park, a wildlife refuge, where large numbers of wild animals lived and no hunting was allowed. From people we met on the road we had heard a pride of Lions had killed a Zebra and if we went quickly, we would be able to see them.

Sure enough, we went the direction indicated and saw a huge flock of buzzards circling overhead—a sure sign of a lion kill. Buzzards circle hoping to get a free meal but they can't land until the lions are finished and gone—otherwise, they become a free meal for the lions.

We arrived to see several beautiful lions. One large male was in charge of several female lions, and a few half-grown lion cubs. The scene included the half-eaten remains of a zebra.  We drove to within a few feet of the pride and began taking pictures. They had seen enough cars to not be afraid, however when I drove a little too close to get a better angle for a picture, the grand-daddy lion grunted and stood up. He walked to the zebra, took it by the neck with his teeth and pulled it farther away from the Land Rover and stood with front feet planted on each side of the zebra, watching as I took his picture—daring me to get out of the car and try to get his ze­bra.

The lions appeared to be perfectly tame, but I knew the peaceful scene was misleading. If I had tried to get out of the car, it would have been my carcass he was drag­ging around by the neck and I would be their next meal. After the Lions finished with me, they would leave my skeleton for the birds to pick clean, then the Hyenas would come, break my bones and suck the marrow out. Within about a day there would scarcely be enough evidence to know I had ever existed.

The peaceful scene we witnessed was totally deceptive because those lions were extremely dangerous. (Just ask the zebra.) The Apostle Peter knew what he was talking about when he said Satan is like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. Satan wants us to think he is as tame as those lions appeared to be—that we can mess around with sin and not be affected. He tries to make us think we can live in his world and not be hurt, but you can be certain, he will devour us if we give him half a chance. The only protection we have is salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. We can ei­ther depend on him as Savior or be eternally devoured by Sa­tan. That’s the worst kind of lion kill.

I'm Rick Blumenberg . . . and that's My View from Tanner Creek.

Focus 40—a time of prayer and fasting

Congregations across the Church of God will spend forty days of prayer leading up to Easter. Will you join us for those forty days, as we pray for various concerns such as the vitality of our movement, and for our Church of God congregations, missionaries and pastors all over the world? If you do not attend a Church of God congregation, pray for your congregation and denomination. As we do so, we join with Christians around the world who fast and pray during the Lenten season.

It is my custom in my prayer time, to pray for all the saints, as directed by God through the apostle Paul in Ephesians (6:18) (“always keep on praying for all the saints.”) I urge you to also pray for the entire family of God, which includes all the saints of God in and out of every communion throughout the world. Pray we will love each other and will each love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Pray we will be witnesses for our Lord Jesus Christ in all our thoughts, words and behavior, and finally pray we will all be filled with the Holy Spirit of God, living our lives in the awesome power of the Spirit rather then limiting ourselves to our own inadequate human power.

But the primary purpose of this year’s Focus 40 is to pray for those who do not know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. So pray for people you know who do not have a personal relationship with Christ, to experience his salvation for themselves. The goal is for 25,000 people to be saved in Church of God congregations around the world. In whatever church group you worship, I encourage you to pray for similar results

As we do this, I also urge you to also pray for all people on earth who do not know Christ—about 4,666,666,667 (4.6 billion) persons! If you are like me, you can’t even conceive of that many people, much less comprehend how to pray for them. The immensity of those numbers is overwhelming to us but they are not overwhelming to God. When we pray for them all to be saved, they are to us, an incomprehensible mass of humanity, but to God they are individuals whom he loves with a passion, and persons he knows by name. This ministry of prayer is a tool God gave to humanity so we can work together with him to accomplish his marvelous Will—especially the salvation of all humanity.

At this Christmas time let us not forget the reason for Christ’s coming—to proclaim God’s love for all mankind—to bring “peace on earth, good will toward men”. In other words Christ came not only for your salvation and mine, but so the entire world might personally experience the love and peace of God.

As we do so, we strengthen God’s Kingdom locally and world-wide. We draw near to God, individually, congregationally, and altogether as a movement, and we join together in this wonderful work of prayer with all the marvelous family of God throughout the earth.

I'm Rick Blumenberg . . . and that's My View from Tanner Creek.

Giving, and How to Encourage it

A year or so ago in board meeting a member asked, “Why we don’t do as well in our regular giving as we do with Faith Promise?” I didn’t answer very well due to a lack of preparation, but I’ve thought about it a great deal since then and in a recent staff meeting, when asked a similar question, I shared very candidly. I thought it might be helpful to share here, what I have learned through the years about teaching people to give.
 I recently read a book that helped me find words to describe what I have been doing through years of teaching stewardship. The title is Primal Leadership, learning to lead with Emotional Intelligence, by Boyatzis and McKee. They explain the difference between resonance (harmony) and dissonance (discord) in leadership. The first inspires followers, but the second discourages them and may even create deserters.

People respond better to encouragement, praise, and other positive stimuli than they do to need, emergency, guilt, criticism, or other negative stimuli.

Negative stimuli actually discourage giving even when used to ask people to give. In an old familiar joke the preacher says ‘The good news is we have enough money to meet our budget! The bad news is it’s still in your pockets.’ When I first heard it, I laughed, but it is the worst possible joke if you want good results. Such put-down humor hurts and it especially hurts giving. It doesn’t make people feel like giving. It makes us hold on tight to our money because we know dissonant means are being used. We may not know the word, but we know the feeling and none of us like it.

The best way to get people to give is first, teach biblical concept of tithes and offerings, or biblical stewardship. Secondly, let the Holy Spirit convict their hearts. Do not, under any circumstances, try to do the work of the Spirit to create that conviction. When we try to do his work we always do it badly and it often comes across as condemnation, which is not a godly work. Finally, when people give, leaders should give the congregation encouragement and praise for a job well done. Even if they are not doing as good as they should, if they give anything that should be openly appreciated by those in leadership. With consistence, in different ways and with positive words, and if done with tact and love over time, this will build a strong, financially healthy congregation of generous, happy people.

Here are some other important points:

1. Offerings are an important part of worship. The way offerings are received at many churches announces they are not important. Some offering statements even imply we’re ashamed to ask, but we need the money, etc. Offerings should be acts of worship, adoration and praise, to God. Whoever came up with the idea of saying “This offering is just for the home folks and if you’re a visitor you don’t need to give” has wasted time and insulted God by saying something they have no right to say. What if God is telling one of those visitors to give? How do we know he isn’t?

2. Teach about giving before every offering. A short comment or prayer such as, “When we give generously we are most like God.” Or, “Giving our tithe to the church is our way to recognize every good thing comes from God.” These and other such positive reinforcements week after week builds resonance (harmony) within the church and with biblical living, and produces people who give tithes and offerings, generously, and happily.

3. Pray for God to anoint the offering. Just as we pray for salvation, sermons and worship, we can also pray God will bless church giving. God wants to bless. The prayer of faith is his method.

4. Offerings should be well received. Worship Leaders have other things to think about and almost never give offerings the time they deserve. Pastors, or whoever receives the offerings should be trained in how to give a warm and positive encouragement to give as God directs. Time should be given to do the offertory well—with the dignity required for an act of worship and devotion to the most High God. People will never give enough to the church, but they will give to God. They just need to be inspired so they give from a heart bursting with the joy of the Lord.


I'm Rick Blumenberg . . . and that's My View from Tanner Creek.