New Year, Where's Pastor D?

Hello, friends!

Contrary to rumors that I have fallen off the face of the earth, I am here in sunny Saint Clair, taking a bit of time off (the fancy word is "sabbatical" or 'rest' - you can see the word 'sabbath' in there).  I'm able to rest and read and write and gather all kinds of thoughts together that God has been placing on my heart the last six months or so especially.  Thoughts that will prayerfully lead to plans and new ideas and new ways of reaching the lost through the varied ministries at Immanuel.  Are you still settling for the "status quo" or are you ready to really do exciting new things?  I pray it's the latter.

So I am laying low for a bit, doing this and that, talking to God a lot, seeing what plans He has for ILC and me and you.  I can't help but think that we've only just "scratched the surface" of what He has in mind for us to do in the Saint Clair and surrounding areas.  We have a great big God who will supply all of our needs if we simply lean on Him and TRUST IN HIM and not on ourselves! 

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight."  (Proverbs 3:5-6)

I like how Solomon (who asked God only for His wisdom) tells us that we are to submit to God in how many of our ways?  Some?  Only the ones that we agree with?  No, by the power of the Holy Spirit he writes that in ALL OF OUR WAYS we are to submit to God.  How's that been working for all of us?  I know that I struggle with that, and I know that all of you do also. 

There are so many amazingly wonderful good things that God has in store for ILC in the coming years, if we would, as a church, as a staff, as pastors -- everyone of us, allow the Holy Spirit to daily reinforce to each of us that it is His Church and not ours.  The decisions we make regarding anything -- ANYTHING -- that goes on within our great church had better be Spirit driven and Spirit given, because if not, it's just human babbling.  This is God's church, and each of us have to daily be reminded of just that.  As much as we love her, and as much as we feel that we have invested in her of ourselves, it is still and will always be God's holy church. 

See you all soon with lots of new thoughts and plans and ideas for the coming year God has given us to enjoy and share with others who don't know Him yet.  Peace.

A Matthew West Concert in Our Area?

I've been in contact over the last several months (ever since I saw Matthew in concert in Adrian in Oct.) with his "peeps" about coming to Port Huron sometime after the New Year.  I then started meeting with the great folks at WNFA radio in PH since they do this concert stuff, and with the blessing of our church council, we're hoping to bring Matthew to Port Huron some time in March.  PLEASE keep this in your prayers!  This will be another awesome opportunity for the message of God's love to be shared in a very unique way with a lot of hurting folks in our area, and everyone else who just needs to be reminded otherwise!  Will keep you posted as to the progress as further events unfold.  Peace...

New Matthew West CD is Out!

Well, my friends, by now you know that I really enjoy listening to the music of Christian artist Matthew West.  A while ago I wrote about a new album that he was working on where the premise of it was that he wanted to hear the different "life stories" of people, and from those letters and emails, he would write his next album's songs. 

Drum roll, please....  that new album has been released this week, and it is as good as I've been expecting!  Better!  MW is such a talented singer & songwriter with an uncanny ability to tell an amazing story in a song, but to also be able to properly include the "God story" in each one also.  The album is called "The Story of Your Life" and it's available in stores and i-Tunes. 

While all of the songs are really great, some of the ones that really stand out are the title track, which kicks of the album appropriately so; "My Own Little World," that tells stories about sharing ourselves with others; "One Less," that describes how families are able to, by God's grace, adopt kids from around the world and reduce the number of broken hearts by one (or three, actually!); and "Two Houses," that describes the pain of divorce through the eyes of those who never really wanted it in the first place, and are fed the lines: "Look on the bright side, you have two Christmases, now!"  Yeah, right...

But all in all, as I said, it's an incredible album, and I'm sure you're going to hear more about it from me.  Either blaring from my office, or referred to in sermons, or (oh, I really hope) played in worship sometime.

Receive God's desired peace and joy that can only come from a relationship with Christ,

Pastor D

Logo Items

A while back, I wrote about our efforts to come up with a new logo that would capture what we are "about" here at Immanuel Lutheran Church.  I wanted something a little edgy, along with the timelessness and certainty of the Cross of Christ.  Here's what we came up with: 

So, what do you think? The wood of the cross has the water of baptism seeping from it, and the agedness (yet timelessness) of the "Immanuel"  ("God with us" - Jesus) is easily recognizable.  So, I hope that it is received well.  We kicked it off at our church-wide picnic last month.  We gave away T-shirts and window stickers with the new logo on them.

So here's my question for anyone who is reading this:  Is this something that you would want to wear on some other item of clothing?  I'm thinking quality polo-style tops, sweatshirts, and wind-shirts, to name just a few things.  What do you think?  Let me know!  "May the peace of God be with you. (Philippians 4:9b)"

New Matthew West Single Out!

There's a brand new single out from my favorite singer - Matthew West!  It's called "My Little World."  It's from a new album that is due out on October 5th, that's rather unique.  He put a call out to all of his fans to submit their own stories of their lives.  The highs, the lows, the joys, the pains.  Stories of God's hand working in your life, and maybe not.  Nothing was "out of bounds."  The name of the album then, is "The Story of Your Life." 

He's touring to support the new album, and will be nearest to Saint Clair on October 15th in Adrian, MI.  I'm going with my beautiful wife who couldn't go the last time we saw Matthew in Flint last year, so this will be a treat for me to go with her and share a beautiful time with her.  (He's written some pretty amazing love songs, too, guys  :)  ) 

It's going to be wonderful, and my Immanuel family will be sick of hearing about more Matthew West by the time this is all through.  But he has such a wonderful God-given and Spirit-inspired talent and gift of lyrics that capture Christian life and at the same time give glory to our amazing God.  See you there!

Precious in the Sight of the Lord

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. (Psalm 116:15)"  What an amazingly Christian take on death!  Don't get me wrong, death is the enemy (1 Cor. 15:26); it has been ever since the fall of Adam & Eve and sin has infected all of creation.  What the message tells us is that our earthly death is the portal into our eternal life with our heavenly Father forever in the joy and splendor and perfection of heaven. 

And our dear friend Nancy Fleury is resting forever in the arms of her Savior Jesus there, joining with all of the company of saints who have gone before her in faith.  So we mourn, of course.  A dear friend has been ripped from our lives.  Yet we also rejoice because she has realized the goal of her faith.  A faith that began at her baptism and was sustained all of her life through the Word of God and His Sacrament of Holy Communion, received with her Fleury family each week and her Immanuel family gathered around her.  We will gather again tomorrow to honor her and remember a life that was given and lived out in faith and to hear words of promise and victory!  All praise and honor and glory be to our Lord and God!

Back Home

Whew!  It's good to go away on vacation, but boy, is it good to come home!  I don't think I'll attempt two border crossings (Niagara Falls and the Blue Water Bridge) in the same day.  More than three hours of waiting in line!  But the boys were awesome even with all of the time in the car.  I'm so proud of them. 


I told the congregation yesterday in service that the people of Boston were so kind and helpful.  Even though they've seen millions and millions of tourists walking their streets looking for Paul Revere's house and the Old North Church, they still patiently tell us where they're to be found.  Why do they do this?  They're kind folks, as I said, but also, they know that they're ambassadors for the city of Boston.  If they make a bad impression upon the guests that come to their wonderful city, chances are that people will be turned off by their attitude and won't want to return.  And worse yet, they may tell their friends and families of their not-so-good experiences. 


In the same way, we're to be ambassadors of the local church we belong to, and more importantly, of the message of Jesus Christ - the Savior of the world.  In this consumer kind of world we live in, it doesn't take much to turn people off.  That includes our attitudes, words, and actions that are in contradiction of our faith in Jesus.

"Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers.  Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the Word of truth."  (2 Timothy 2:14 - 15)

And now, it's back to lots of work as we prepare for a "new year" that begins in the fall with the start of the school year.  It's going to be here before we know it, to the chagrin of all the kids enjoying the fleeting days of summer!  God's incredible peace to you all!  Pastor D