A Leader's Greatest Victory Is Over His Ego

I think it's fitting for us to talk about humility before the 45th President of the United States is sworn into office on January 20th.  President Lincoln throughout history has been regarded as a great leader who had great humility.  Why?  He learned that a leader's greatest victory is over his own ego.

If you've ever not confessed to doing something wrong, guess what, you've got an ego problem.  Me too.  My pride often gets in the way of my relationships and my ability to serve God.  Can you relate?

2000 years ago, one of Jesus' original 12 disciples, a guy by the name of Peter, had an ego problem too.  But Jesus had a way of humbling Peter...for his own good.  When Peter cut off a guy's ear to try and protect Jesus, Jesus humbled Peter.  When Peter denied Jesus that same night, he was humbled again.  I'm guessing that when Peter wrote 1 Peter 5:6, "Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time" he knew the reality of that statement first hand.  

If you and I want to be influential leaders in our homes, in our workplaces, and in our communities, then we must humble ourselves under God's mighty hand.  After all, He's God.  We are not.  His are the hands that created this world.  His are the hands who were nailed to a cross and then three days later were revealed to His astonished disciples when He proved that He was risen from the dead!  His mighty hands are the ones that rule this world for our good.

Don't be too proud to trust Jesus.  Don't be too proud to admit when you are wrong.  Don't be too proud to realize that the largest room in your, and my, house is the room for improvement.  Don't be too proud to pray to Jesus and ask Him for a double dose of humility...your friends and your family members won't mind that a bit!

Heavenly Father, thank you for loving me enough to humble me before you exalt me or else my pride would destroy me. Your will be done. Amen.

Happy New Year, Time for Resolution...

Last night I went to the Broadview YMCA for my routine muscle enhancement session (workout...). I was surprised to find that there were only 2 parking spots available. I pulled into an available spot, checked in at the front desk and went upstairs. Sure enough, the place was packed. Every corner of the building had people lifting things up, putting them down, sweating to tunes and gasping for their next breath. That's when it hit me... It's a New Year. Everyone is working on their resolutions. I guess I'm not too worried about the crowds. Unfortunately many of them will fade away as we get further into January. After all, statistics tell us that only 8% of resolutions actually succeed. 

Maybe you're on a resolution to eat better, loose weight, get up earlier. I pray you're part of the 8% who succeed but I also pray that you consider adding something to your daily routine that is even more important than diet and exercise. The Youversion Bible App has been a great part of my life. 

Here's how:

• Encouraging Verse of the Day (Everyday God provides someone I can share this passage with)
• Reading plan that takes me through the Bible (4 times cover to cover through the Bible in the last 4 years)
• It reads to me while I'm driving 

God's richest blessings on your new year and your resolutions as well. Remember the wisdom in the passage below and the NFL players in the video.

For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. (1 Timothy 4:8)

That's Why I say Merry Christmas!

"I love Christmas, but I hate the stress."  That was what one person recently said to me as she stopped for a moment to say hello in my office.  

Sadly, Christmas often stresses us out because it heightens our relentless pursuit of perfection.  We work hard to find the perfect gifts and wrap them with the perfect paper.  We endlessly stress out to get the perfect foods for the party.  We worry about getting the perfect family picture taken and getting the perfect Christmas cards out on time!  Why all the stress about perfection when the only perfection we need comes from that baby who was announced to imperfect people?

The night that Jesus was born, the angels were sent by God to announce Jesus' birth to shepherds in fields nearby.  Maybe it's just me, but sometimes I wonder why God sent angels to shepherds.  Stop and think about it: angels are bright and shiny.  Angels are perfect.  Angels can't say the wrong thing.  Wouldn't it have been better for God to send angels to everyone to announce Jesus' birth, instead of shepherds?  But no, God sent them to shepherds.  People who were ordinary, dusty and dirty, and no doubt smelled a little bit...have you ever smelled a sheep?

Why would God send bright and perfect messengers to dirty and imperfect ones?  Isn't it because the perfect object of their message, Jesus, came to save those who are imperfect?  That's right.  The angels said, "Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you.  He is the Messiah, the Lord" (Luke 2:11).

The reason Jesus was born and lived perfectly 33 years on this earth and then died and rose again is simply stated in 2 Corinthians 5:21, "God made him (Jesus), who had no sin, to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."  That's what makes Christmas worth celebrating.  That baby grew up to be my Savior, and yours.  He took my sin upon himself when He died and He gave me His perfection.  I'm righteous, in other words, right with God, in spite of all of my imperfections, because of what Jesus did for me.  And He did the same for you.  That's why I say, "Merry Christmas!"

You're invited to join us this weekend as we celebrate the timeless love of our Savior and what He did to save us.

Worship times on Saturday, December 24: 5:00pm and 7:00pm at our De Pere site (2066 Lawrence Dr, De Pere)

Worship times on Sunday, December 25: 9:00am at our De Pere site 9:00am at our Green Bay site (1167 Kenwood St, Green Bay - 2 blocks north of Lambeau Field on Oneida St.)

Merry Christmas from our St. Mark family to yours!

You'll never fully understand...

         You cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. (Ecclesiastes 11:5b)

This was the striking verse of the day recommended on my phone this week. I was taken back by its beautiful simplicity. Solomon in all his splendor and wisdom and life experience came to this conclusion.

This verse is a reminder:

• When things go wrong, it is okay to not know why. We're not God.
• No matter how much we know, or discover, or invent, or create - we have limits. We're not God.
• We can't and won't fully understand God. We're not God.

These conclusions, I suppose can be frustrating, scary, or disheartening to some. And yet, as I ponder Christmas this month I'm encouraged. He who is and works beyond our understanding became one of us so that we would understand that he completely knows and loves us. He knows what it is to be a toddler, he knows what it is to get hurt, he knows what it is to be tempted, he knows how much our sins hurt us. Perhaps the most unfathomable thing about God is how he, after becoming one of us gave his life on a cross for us. 

We may not understand the work of God but I'm thankful we can see and know his love through the Christmas story.

Blessed Christmas,

Pastor Eric Hansen

How to Heal a Divided Nation

I don't know about you, but I've been very troubled by what I'm seeing across our nation in the past week.  When demonstrations turn violent and become riots and destroy property and hurt people, that's wrong.  There have been hundreds of hate crimes since the election.  Hate crimes are wrong.  Click on the following link for the story: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/hundreds-hate-crimes-reported-election-splc-n683761  

Personally, on Facebook and other social media avenues, I've been shocked to see the hateful comments being used as carelessly as the two leading candidates used their words.  Do we really want to continue that?  

People are asking me how we can heal this nation?  Here are three points to keep in mind in the coming weeks:

1) Be careful what you say.  I am reminded of what it says in Ephesians 4:29, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."  Believe it or not, words have power.  What you say influences people around you.  Let's make sure that what we say benefits those who listen.

2) Pray for our nation and our communities every day.  "I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people - for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.  This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth." (1 Timothy 2:1-4).  I know of a few of our partners who have put "prayer for our nation" on their calendar every day.  That's a great idea!  

So join me in praying for our nation and our nation's current and future leaders. Join me in following Jesus more closely so that wounds will be healed, families will grow stronger and our communities will see what real peace, love and hope looks like.

3) Keep everything in perspective.  Jesus said, "Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?" (Matthew 6:27)  The answer is?  Nope.  I can't.  If anything, I actually subtract hours from my life when I worry.  You do too.  So don't worry.  Instead, keep everything in perspective.

At the end of the day, sinful candidates were voted into office by sinful people like you and me. We may not agree with the outcome, but personally, I thank God for an opportunity to vote. There are billions of people around the globe who would love to get the chance to do what we did on November 8.  Lest we forget, regardless of who the president is, all of us answer to Jesus. He is the real King. He is the One to whom I prayed that His will be done in this election. He is the One that I trust, not Trump or any of the other elected officials. People will always let us down at one time or another. Jesus never will.

As I wrote in my blog a couple of weeks ago, "Remember, the greatest good for all people occurred when Jesus died at the hands of a pagan governor named Pontius Pilate. Through Jesus' death and resurrection our sins are forgiven and our eternal home in heaven is guaranteed by faith, no matter who is in charge as governor or emperor or even president. If our all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-loving God could pull that off, then He can handle bringing good for His people from this election as well." (http://stmarkdepere.blogspot.com/…/…/decisionsdecisions.html)  Jesus is still the only Savior of this world.  Keep that in perspective.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on how we can contribute to healing our nation.

The 300… (Better than the movie)

Picture Thanks to Deviant Art

Have you ever felt the need to pad your prayers? Ever feel there are things you just couldn’t ask God because of their unlikelihood? Today I read a Bible story that reminds us that our God is more powerful than we can think or imagine.

The Lord can do a whole lot with even a very little.

In Judges 7 we find the nation of Israel dealing with an aggressive foe, the Midianites. Israel had their crops destroyed, their cities raided and were left to flee to caves for safety. Then the Lord calls Gideon to rescue his people. Gideon amasses an impressive army of 32,000 soldiers. To this the Lord says, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me.’” So, those who were afraid could go home and 10,000 are left.

Still the Lord says, “There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will thin them out for you there.” Depending on how the soldiers drank water from the river, some could stay, the majority could go home. Finally, there were only 300 left!!! The Lord brought them from a fighting force of 32,000 to only 300…  The size of their initial force demonstrates the size and power and fear Israel had for the Midianites. But can you guess who won? The 300.

Throughout the Bible the Lord is in the habit of doing amazing things in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Just look at the focal point of the Bible – a humble Jesus dying in our place to give us freedom from sin, death, and the devil. Talk to the Lord always and especially highlight and ask for things that seem impossible. Our Lord makes the impossible routine.