Visiting With Stan

I went to visit Stan Kruszelnicki today. Stan is one of the legendary workers in our church. Stan is not able to get out and around too much these days but he’s doing pretty good for 90 years of age.

During my visit with Stan I was impressed when he told me this about his life: “If I could do it all over again I wouldn’t change one thing.”

I said, “Wow, that’s remarkable. That’s a wonderful thing to hear, Stan.”

Stan’s daughter Janet took this picture and I told him I wanted to post it online because, “Everybody loves Stan!”

He said, “They do?”

I said, “Yes. When I post this online even people who don’t know you will hit ‘like.’”

He said, “Even with you in it?”

#EverybodyLovesStan

It Is Important To Be Grateful!

I’ve had several conversations over the past couple of weeks in which the discussion very naturally turned to gratitude. I didn’t suggest the topic or force the topic it simply came up on its own.

When the topic arose, my friends communicated this basic message to me: “I’m grateful for certain things in my life.”

I recognize this to be a very good attitude on the part of my friends. In fact, in recent years there has been serious academic research on the subject of happiness and it is now known that being grateful increases a person’s happiness.

Want to be happier? Be grateful for the good things you already have in your life.

Gratitude improves happiness because gratitude involves intentionally noticing and acknowledging good, positive, beneficial things in our lives. It makes sense that noticing good things in our lives would increase our happiness, doesn’t it? Some of the books on the subject of happiness even recommend keeping a gratitude journal as a specific action a person could take to increase happiness.

Even when I have difficulties and challenges going on in my life, I do not have to think too hard to come up with many legitimate reasons for being grateful. I suspect that is true for you, too.

Most of us are very blessed. Have you noticed?

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Tension At Culver's

A group of us were eating lunch at Culver’s after church, yesterday afternoon. 

Suddenly, we heard a commotion coming from the check-out counter. An irate customer was yelling and making a scene. The yelling continued. It was loud enough and angry enough that many of us customers in the seating area of the restaurant were looking around, whispering and wondering if this was possibly going to escalate into something more than just a verbal tirade.

Before long a police car pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant and then another police car arrived, as well.

At a certain point the uncomfortable incident seemed to be over. Although I could not see the entire check-out counter area from my seat I’m fairly certain the tense encounter never advanced to any type of physical level. And, fortunately, the irate customer left without the police having to intervene.

A few moments later a very sweet young woman who works for the restaurant came around to our table with a handful of blue tokens.

She was smiling but she also seemed concerned and a bit unnerved. She said, “We are so sorry for the disturbance that happened. Please accept these tokens for a free scoop of ice cream with our apologies for the disruption in your dining experience.”

The folks from our group very quickly responded saying, “No, that’s alright. We understand things can happen. We’re fine.”

A couple of my friends attempted to put her at ease. We understood she was in no way at fault.

I said, “I’m not upset but I will take one of those tokens for the free ice cream, however.”

And everyone laughed. That broke the slight tension of the moment. And then a bunch of other folks took the tokens for free ice cream, too.

Hey, this is a pretty good rule of thumb: Even in a tense situation you should not turn down free ice cream.

I Am God's Friend

We sang a song in our services yesterday titled “I Am A Friend of God.”

I am familiar with the song. We have sung it in our services in the past and I have heard it on the radio a number of times. It’s a nice song and I’ve always liked it.

Yesterday, however, the truth which this song conveys gripped my heart in a way which has not occurred before. It’s sort of weird because I am a Christian pastor. The idea that God thinks of me as His friend is a biblical concept with which I am familiar. This is not a new idea to me.

But sometimes a truth we know becomes conscious to us and relevant to us in a profound new way and we come to “know” it in a manner we have not previously known it. I sat playing this song over and over on my computer last night and my heart was rejoicing.

It is empowering, uplifting, encouraging… it is extraordinary. I write this with no sense of bravado or pride. I write it with tremendous love, peace and gratitude in my heart. I am God’s friend.

Surprised To Meet God

I like reading or hearing stories about people who are not religious—people who were not looking for a spiritual experience—but they have an encounter with God. Believe it or not, God is capable of surprising people in this way. Sometimes He shows up in our lives when we never expected such a meeting.

He is not concerned with the religious trappings many people value. He’s more concerned that we recognize Him honestly in love, humility and repentance acknowledging the truth of who He is.

It’s cool to hear of people coming to God and finding that unexpectedly, it is actually more of a relief than they realized.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

Life's Too Short To Be Mean

As I was approaching the “15 Items Or Less” aisle at Jewel, this morning, the cashier saw me counting the items in my basket and she said, “Aw come on in over here. I won’t throw you out of my line if you are one or two items over the limit.”

It probably helped that there was no one in her line at the time. And for the record, I had 13 items so I was under the limit.

I laughed and said, “That’s nice of you to give me assurance that you won’t be kicking me out of the line if I’m over the limit.”

She was in a great mood smiling and laughing. She said, “Hey life’s too short to be mean. I prefer being nice.”

I said, “That's a pretty good policy to operate with.”

A 94 Year Old Shares Some Wisdom With Me

Yesterday I was at a nursing home visiting someone. As I was leaving, an elderly woman was shuffling into the elevator in her wheel chair. I could tell she was determined to get somewhere.

I said, “You get around pretty good in that chair.” And we both entered the elevator.

She said, “Yeah,” shaking her head, “I can still walk but they want me to use this wheel chair because I’ve fallen a few times.” She continued, “I’m doing alright for 94.”

I said, “You’re 94 years old?!?”

With a big smile she said, “Well, I’ll be 95 on Friday.”

I said, “It’s great to see you moving around and being active.”

There was a twinkle in her eye and I could tell her mind was sharp. She said, “You have to get out and do things in life. If you don’t that’s when you start to lose it. And I don’t want to lose it.”

So there are some words of wisdom for today from someone who has a lot of years under her belt and yet is still going strong.

So... I'm Not Cool, After All

When I was young I wanted to be cool.

Then I got a little older and for a while I actually thought I was cool.

Then a little more time went by and I was surprised and a little stung to find out I never was cool in the first place. I thought I was, but I wasn’t. It’s quite an embarrassing reality to discover because everyone knew it except me.

Now I’m at a place in life at which I don’t know who is cool and who is not cool—I don’t even know the criteria for being cool—but it doesn’t seem to matter to me all that much.

Does this mean what I think it means? I’m getting old and crotchety?

Thank You For So Many Moments of Beauty, Glenn

The music which played during the formative, coming-of-age years of life usually has a special place in our hearts for the rest of our lives. Songs from my teenage years can spark wonderful memories and deep emotions. It can take me back to people, places and events in tremendously fond and moving ways. It is a special and irreplaceable part of this earthly journey.

One of my favorite bands from those early years is the Eagles. For myself—and I realize this is true for millions of others, as well—many of the songs from the Eagles' vast repertoire are masterpieces.

So learning of the passing of one of the founding members and primary songwriters of the Eagles, Glenn Frey, truly saddens my heart.

Thank you Glenn, for helping to bring so many moments of beauty to our hearts.

Here are some of the lyrics from the song “It’s Your World Now” by Glenn Frey and Jack Tempchin…

It’s your world now

Use well your time
Be part of something good
Leave something good behind
The curtain falls
I take my bow
That’s how it’s meant to be
It’s your world now
It’s your world now
It’s your world now

Dan Marler

Oak Lawn, IL

Why Try To Fight Against God?

Some people see God as an adversary. If you think about it, this is a strange position to take.

If there is no God then who are you fighting against? Why waste your time with an adversary who does not exist?

On the other hand, if there is an all-powerful, Supreme being why would you try to fight Him? There is absolutely no way to win.

The good news is that God does not view you and I as adversaries. He loves us. He wants what is best for us. In fact, the Bible tells us before we were inclined to make a move toward God He was already establishing His love for  us.

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

There’s no need to fight God. Recognize and embrace His unfailing love.

A Grand Drama Is Unfolding... Right?

We were not brought into existence to live meaningless, insignificant lives. God does not create things without a purpose. A grand drama is unfolding. We have been created to be a part of it and to play a role in it.

I realize most of us we read lofty words like this on a regular basis and what I’ve written here can seem like more of the same old, tired verbiage.

“Sure Dan, a grand drama is unfolding… uh huh… blah, blah, blah.”

But the alternative is to believe life is basically a fairly pointless, random accident that occurs for an incredibly brief period, relatively speaking, and then it’s over and we’re gone.

This is not intended to be a powerful argument for the truth of the “grand drama” view of things. This is simply how I express the fact that I am far more inspired by the idea of a life of genuine significance.

“For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10

A Visit To Junkanoo

Over the years I have discovered that people have a tendency to remember my daughter Rachel. Some of it has to do with the fact that Rachel seems to have a sticky kind of uniqueness.

We were at a place called Junkanoo, yesterday. When the waitress came to take our order I pointed to Rachel and said, “She’ll have a bowl of the clam chowder soup.”

The waitress—a lively and fun woman—said, “I know that. Rachel loves the clam chowder.”

With a surprised look on my face I said, “You remember that she loves the clam chowder?” The last time we were in the place was more than 6 months ago.

The waitress said, “Sure. She had the clam chowder the last time you were here. You were sitting over there.” And she pointed to a table.

I laughed and said, “You have an amazing memory! That was last summer.”

We have been to this restaurant about 5 or 6 times over the past few years and our visits are usually 6 months apart.

Terry—the waitress—said, “How could I forget Rachel?”

…By the way, Terry is a terrific waitress!

…Oh, here’s another “by the way,” the clam chowder soup was fantastic, as usual!

…I’m sorry, but here’s one more “by the way,” the juke box at Junkanoo has Celtic music so that gives the entire operation a 5 star rating from Rachel.

God Is Real And His Church Is Alive

I know there can be times in life in which this may not seem possible but it is true: there are people who cannot be bought. They are committed to God and to living His way and they are not for sale.

I am not saying these people are perfect or cannot be tempted. What I am saying, however, is their walk with Him is genuine and because of His power in them—not their power, His power—they remain faithful to the truth.

So, don’t be discouraged. God is real and His church is alive.

You are not alone as you serve Him. God is real and His church is alive.

It is wise to walk with Jesus. God is real and His church is alive. 

The Dip Cone Adventure

I walked into a fast food restaurant and said, “Do you have dip cones?”

(Dip cones are vanilla, soft serve ice cream cones which have been dipped in a chocolate sauce which then becomes a hard chocolate shell. This is something God has allowed in the world simply to be nice to punks like me.)

The woman behind the counter said, “Yes we do.”

I said, “I’ll have a dip cone.”

I paid and then the woman behind the counter turned to a young man who was standing behind her and said, “Would you make the dip cone, please? I can never do those properly. They always fall apart on me.”

The young man turned and walked away without saying anything.

Then I waited and waited.

…And then I waited a little more.

Other customers were coming and going. The workers behind the counter were chatting and laughing but were not dealing with my order. I didn’t see the young man who was asked to get the dip cone.

I began to wonder if my order had fallen through the cracks and been forgotten about.

I waited some more.

Finally, the young man came from behind a wall with a dip cone. He looked at me, held out the cone, and said, “Here you go. And if you will hold on a minute and I’ll get your other cone.”

I said, “Other cone? I only ordered one cone.”

At this point a handful of workers all turned and looked our way. Their faces seemed to say, “What kind of horrific mistake has occurred here at this sacred place!?!”

I quickly said, “It’s okay. I just ordered one cone and I’ve gotten my one cone. Everything is fine.”

The manager was standing nearby, the crew looked at her and she nodded her head toward the others as if to say, “Stand down, folks. We’re all clear.”

I think this is the most dramatic ice cream cone order I’ve ever been a part of and it reminds me of an important truth: Properly dispensing ice cream is not something to be taken lightly.

God Is Our Protector!

Here are some truths about the work of God and the nature of God:

He is present everywhere.

He created everything that exists.

He sustains everything that exists.

He is loving.

He is gracious.

He is patient.

He is kind.

He is just.

He is truth.

He knows everything.

His power is absolute.

Everything that exists is under His power and authority.

With these truths in mind, now consider this incredibly encouraging passage of scripture: “…If God is for us, who can ever be against us?” Romans 8:31

If the being who is described by the truths listed above cares about us, loves us and wants what is best for us—in other words, if He is for us—then whoever might be against us will ultimately fail.

So, rejoice and be glad. Let’s look to God as our protector!

Three Things I've Understood For A Long Time

When I was 12 years old I had an experience I sometimes think of as coming alive spiritually. The phrase Jesus used for this experience is being born again. (John 3:3)

Obviously as a 12-year-old, I was immature and my knowledge and understanding of God, theology and spiritual matters was limited. However, here are three things I understood even at that age:

1) I need God.

2) I cannot save myself.

3) I choose to trust Jesus.

That was a long time ago. Now I have experienced way more life. I have made thousands of mistakes. I’ve had ups and downs. I’ve failed many times and I’ve enjoyed a few successes. I have cried. I have laughed. (On a few occasions I’ve laughed so hard that I cried.) I’ve been a student and I’ve been a teacher. I have had the experience of being led and I have had the experience of being a leader.

I have read scores of books about God, discipleship, theology, biblical commentary, the life of Jesus and other Christian topics. I know a lot more about these issues than I did when I was 12 and, yet, my knowledge and understanding of theology and spiritual matters is still limited. (Give me a little break, after all, God is an incredibly big, deep and profound subject.)

Here are three things I understand at my current age:

1) I need God.

2) I cannot save myself.

3) I choose to trust Jesus.

God Is Available To Regular People

Some people want to make their job seem more complicated to others because they assume it will make them come off as valuable and necessary.

Believe it or not, this happens in the world of church work, as well. There are ministers and other church workers who want to make Christianity seem complicated because they believe it makes them appear to be more important and more essential to the spiritual journey of others.

It is true that theology is a deep and significant area of study. God and the truths of God have been examined, analyzed, thought-about and written-about in ways that are intellectually profound and deeply challenging. In fact, I am impressed and thankful for the rich intellectual heritage of the Christian faith.

However, based on the Bible—and particularly on the life of Jesus—I do not believe God’s intention is to make knowing Him and walking with Him so intellectually difficult that only extremely brilliant and learned people will be able do so.

Don’t be intimidated by people who want to be gatekeepers and control your access to God. God is available to regular people like you and me.

I’m glad He is available to regular people, aren’t you?

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."  Matthew 19:14