March 5, 2025
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Loving Creator, Still in One Peace, |
February 26, 2025
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| ps from ps I saw a Facebook meme this morning that really made me think and reflect as I ran. Went like this: “The first person to apologize is the bravest; The first person to forgive is the strongest; The first person to forget is the happiest.” I wonder what Jesus would wordsmith on this saying? I preached on Luke 6 this past Sunday and Jesus’ instructions on things like turn the other cheek, love your enemies, share your clothes with those that don’t have any…..all mixed in with a splash of forgiveness and grace. And throughout all of those hard things unfolding in life, you will sense the blessings from the Most High. Really! Hard! Stuff! If I was rewriting this saying through the lens of Luke 6, it might be more accurate to say: “The first person to apologize is blessed; The first person to forgive is blessed; The first person to forget is blessed.” Please note: the neither the meme nor Jesus ever said, “The first to apologize/forgive/forget took the easy route.” Because none of those are easy. That’s probably why Jesus talked about them time after time. That’s probably why we hurt as we encounter struggles with those movements time and time. But following Jesus wasn’t designed to be easy. It was designed to be a blessing! Even as we do tough stuff. A blessing as the kingdom of God breaks in every time we apologize and forgive. A blessing to have community around you to struggle with the tough stuff together and feel support from. A blessing to know that others, all the way back to Jesus’ day and before, have had these same struggles and been able to move through. Really hard stuff. They can be the same people/places/situations/relationships/events where the really amazing blessings break right in. Lord, thank you for promising blessing as we move through the hardest stuff. Amen Still in One Peace, ps |
February 19, 2025
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| ps from pk Did you miss some church time this weekend due to the storm? Kristen put together a mini church service (15 minutes) for your meditative pleasure. Looking to see God more in your daily life? Listen to Kristen’s sermon and hear Jesus’ suggestions. Click HERE to shoot over to YouTube for her brief reflection and prayers. Blessings, ps and pk |
February 12, 2025
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| ps from psWhat are the things that root you? I’ve been thinking about roots a lot as I look forward to spring this year (cue the snow as you read this) and the roots of trees helping to send energy and life to the ends of all the branches, bringing forth new growth and leaves. But it’s the roots that hold it all together! It’s the roots that bring that life. What are your roots? Your roots of faith? Your roots of contentment? Your roots that guide your purpose? Throughout Scripture, we hear about the roots that connect us to a loooong line of God’s work in the world. God’s creation. God’s prophets. God’s people. God’s direction. And God’s love through Jesus. Roots. Connecting us and bringing us life and energy and new growth. In these waning days of winter, I ask you to consider if you’ve reconnected with your roots lately? Have you given them time? Have you recognized their life giving power? And have you realized that many of those roots might just connect you to an amazing God again. Lord, help me to re-root today. Amen Still in One Peace, ps |
February 5, 2025
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| ps from ps “You’re only…..” Has anyone ever told you that? Sometimes it can be motivating. But most of the time it holds us back. And breaks us down. And sets up boundaries. And when we start to hear it enough, we start to believe it. And then it progresses to something worse…we start saying about ourselves – “I’m only.” And that’s when the real damage is done. Especially in God’s eyes. This weekend at church, Kristen started using this phrase in her sermon as she retold the story of Jeremiah’s call to be a prophet of God. God’s call went out to Jerry and what was his first response? “I’m only…” Who had he heard that from? How many times already in his life? But the beauty in the story is that God’s call to him already had gone out. God had already identified him as amazing. As important. As needed. As crucial for the story of salvation history. God reminded him that he knew him from the beginning. Jeremiah’s beginning. Had designed him for the incredible. And gifted him with the potential. In some ways, God was trying to help him realize his “only” was exactly what God needed him to be. Only Jeremiah was just about right! Did you wake up today and feel God’s calling for you in the world? For your team? For your family? For your church? For your neighbor? For those who are hurting? Did you have that reaction that Jeremiah did and want to reach for the “I’m only’s” that have snuck in to our subconscious and conscious from the unhelpful and untrue and unrealized? Or, above those doubts and fears, can you hear the voice of God who needs you and wants you just as and only as you. Only you. Your only today is perfect. Your only is needed. Your only is loved. Your only, in the eyes of God, is just about right! Lord, help me to appreciate the only you made me to be. Amen Still in One Peace, ps And also “pps from ps”: Biegner Winter is 67% over!! |
January 29, 2025
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| ps from ps We will now take a 100+ day break from football and Buffalo Bills analogies and metaphors. So….. moving on to the Buffalo Sabres and hockey. “The next shift is the most important shift.” – Coach Lindy Ruff Coach Ruff has tried to instill in the team this year an important principle – bouncing right back when you get scored on. So, he’s pushed the team to understand that when the opposing team scores a goal, the VERY next shift is the most important shift to push hard, and score right back! Some games it works better than others, but last night, it was executed perfectly. Both times that the Boston Bruins scored on the Sabres, the very next shift our top line pushed harder and grabbed a goal back. It not only fired up the whole team to play harder, but two of those guys on the same line got hat tricks (three goals in one game). “The next shift is the most important shift.” – Jesus, to the disciples and us. Throughout the incredible journey that Jesus took with the disciples, he was teaching the same principle that Lindy is teaching on the ice – after someone gets a goal on you, your immediate response is most important. Whether it was the need for forgiveness…whether it was standing with the outcast…whether it was people drawing swords and cutting off ears…whether it was the crowd coming up hungry….whether it was the village turning them away….each and every time, Jesus taught them to use the principles he was teaching to come back right away with love, compassion, forgiveness and peace. And this was God’s principle from the beginning…in the garden…with those worshipping golden calves…and throughout all of salvation history, God was teaching us to respond to the hard stuff with the love stuff. To come back from being down on our luck, hurt and off track by recentering around the Coach’s message, the teammates on our lines and our options to put a goal on the board with grace, action and tangible hope. Today, you might feel like the other team just got a goal. You might be down, disappointed, disconnected or disillusioned. If so, I would encourage you to hear Jesus’ words that “the next shift is the most important shift.” How will you respond today? How will we recenter around God’s love and hope when it feels like we just went down a goal? Don’t forget you play on a team. You have line mates – church, family, friends that you can skate hard with. You’re not alone on the ice. And your incredible and increased effort will inspire them as well. Lord, thanks for reminding us that it’s important to keep going and respond with more love. Amen Still in One Peace, ps And also “pps from ps”: Happy 42nd Anny to my folks! |
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