In racing your starting position is important. In some cases it is huge. You know the tracks, the ones were it is really hard to get around guys. Where you start is vital.

The Big 8 series and the Mid American Stock Car Series the season started at Rockford and the Spring Classic. What a great place to get things started for the season.

Last year we did a survey and overview of Psalms. What a great book. This year we go to the New Testament and study the book of John.

As we start the year with chapter one in John (the foundation), the start is also vital. It establishes what we will think about a bunch of subjects. The Bible; Jesus; light vs. darkness;

Let’s dig in by reading John 1-5; 11-18:

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  In him was life, and that life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God- children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”  From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.  For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.

Beginning – Jesus is the Alpha and Omega, first and last. Jesus is complete. There is nothing more for Him to learn, to know. He is complete in His power and strength, in His love and kindness, in His mercy and grace.

Word – The Word is Jesus. Not only is He the Word, He shares it with us.

God – Jesus is God. John is going to make a strong, more than that, a defined, clear, statement, agreement, case that Jesus is God and LORD. Where as others that scribed the words in Scripture made clear that Jesus is Savior, God used God to make it very clear who Jesus was, is, and always will be.

Light – Jesus is the light, darkness is sin. This is a great statement of hope. In a world that is in need of hope and truth we can find it in Jesus.

Receive – giver and receiver. God the Father gave His Son, Jesus gave His life and we, as sinners, get salvation. And people say they want fair. NO THANKS! I want His grace and mercy.

Believe in his name – it is only Jesus (John 14:6)!

Children of God – we get the good side of the promise here; salvation. We get to become heirs, part of the family, God’s family. Can I get an Amen and WOW!

Full of grace and truth (2x)

Grace – God’s Riches At Christ Expense

Truth – nothing false, reliable, dependable; trustworthy. I wanted truth so badly. I was searching in the wrong places and then God opened His Word and my heart up to truth.

Law – the Ten Commandments, measures us as sinners. The 10 measures us and we are declared, “Sinner”. All have fallen short says the echo in Romans (3:10-12; 23; 6:23). The Law is there so that we know that we must turn to God and cry out for His mercy.

V 18 ! – declared God again; God and salvation is made known to us, we have no excuses (Romans 1:20). So start the season right. If you have never turned to God in repentance, do it right now.

Looking forward to seeing you at a track soon.

Have a great day racin’ in the SONshine,

Todd

We are into the race season but not that long ago was Daytona. It is over a weeklong event and then there is a winner. There is huge excitement leading up to it and then even more so once the cars hit the track. I think about some of the big events in Wisconsin and Illinois in racing like The Fall Classic at MIS, National Short Track Championships at Rockford and Oktoberfest at LaCrosse Fairgrounds. There is an excitement that builds and champions crowned during these extended racing weekends. They are great, fun events. They also are the end of a season weekends.

As much as you and I enjoy them, there is a week that is even more important and we are coming up to it. I would like to give you a list and hopeful you take a few minutes each day to look at them. Please read them and if you have a family read together. I pray God opens your heart and mind up to His Word and love. Each day write a note of what God speaks to you as you read, study and mediate on His Word. May the Holy Spirit reveal truth to you.

Palm Sunday – Matthew 21:1-11; John 12:12-19

Monday – Mark 11:15-18; John 12:20-50

Tuesday – Luke 20:1-8; Mark 12:41-44

Wednesday – Matthew 26:17-30

Thursday – Luke 22:7-38; Mark 14:12-26

Thursday night – Matthew 26:36-56; John 18:1-12; Luke 22:54-71; John 18:13-27

Friday – Luke 23:66-71; Mark 15:1-22; John 19:16-33

Saturday – Matthew 27:50-61

Sunday – John 20:11-18; Luke 24:13-35; John 20:19-25; 20:28

As I think during this week I remind myself that I have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and only because of His great love for me, us that I have hope as I bow before Him as my LORD and savior. May you also know the hope that only Jesus can bring. May we echo the words of Thomas in John 20:28!

When God speaks into your heart and life this week share it with someone. I would love to hear from you what you learn.

See you at a track soon and have a great day in the SONshine,

Todd

Have you noticed there are some new names in the sports page headlines? Tebow, Trevor Bayne, Jeremy Lin. I was thinking about them the other day and wondering what is up with them. They do not play for the best teams, yet have some success. They have something else that is catapulting them to huge chunks of media exposure. I think that Americans, both young and old are looking for someone strong and stable. They are tired of the guys who make foolish mistakes and look like the goofballs that are on the sitcoms. I do not watch the sitcoms but I have heard of some of the poor representations of husbands and dads on them.

I think that the reason for those three guys coverage and the love people have for them is because they are men of courage and integrity. But there is something else that I see in these three. The all have a purpose and that is to honor God with their play and words. I think we are looking for that. I know God is. Micah 6:8 He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Echoed in Deuteronomy 10:12-13  And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,  and to observe the LORD’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good? It is written that eternity is written on our hearts so there is hidden in us a longing for God. The question is will we respond to that longing or will we suppress it? My prayer would be that even right now you would turn to God, turn away from sin, (repent) and cry out to Him for salvation. It also challenges us. Who are we going to look to as our “heroes”. Even in this we need wisdom, not only for ourselves but also as we parent. So, choose your “heroes wisely and most of all have Jesus as your all-time favorite Hero.

See you at the track soon and have a great day in the SONshine,

Todd

It is almost the start of the season. We have Daytona under way and soon the local Midwest tracks will be lighting up.  In racing one of the important parts is gauges. There are gauges used by those working on the engine, those working on the oil pressure, water temperature, the electric and so on. Then there are those working on the tires. There are numbers being written down and checked against other numbers and numbers from the past. There are gauges in the car that that driver needs to pay attention to. If the gauges are ignored and numbers too high or too low there can be speed lift out of the car or even a crash about to happen. It is not the gauge that wrecks the car. The gauges only indicate that there is a problem or potential problem soon.

In the Christian life we have gauges too. We can see how we are doing. Think with me. We have the Scriptures. We have the Holy Spirit. We have other people. We have others like prayer, Scripture reading and studying and we have our giving to measure us.

Let’s look at each of these briefly. When we hold our life up to the Scripture how does it look. Scripture gives us a chapter on love (1 Corinthians 13). How am I doing? Tough question because I fall short and need to repent and turn God’s way. Are my words and actions kind, building up or tearing down (Ephesians 4:29). We are to examine our life and have God examine it. In 2 Timothy 3:16-17 we read  All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,  so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

We have the Holy Spirit who guides and directs us.  Nehemiah 9:20 You gave your good Spirit to instruct them. And Psalm 143:10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground. He Spirit will alert us to sin if we are listening. It also encourages us as we follow Christ.

God has given us others, spouses, children, friends, pastors, etc. to help us and show us areas of needed growth. It is an area we have to be careful in because we do not want to just go with the crowd or just do things because others are doing them but God does have us fellowship for the reason of growth and fruitfulness.

Our prayer life can reveal our walk with God. If we have to pray, if we go to Him for great and small, if we lift up others, if we pray for our enemies, we can see if we are being faithful and trusting. Our Scripture reading can show our love for God. Do we long to get into God’s Word and read and study? Do we have tell others what we just learned?  Do we desire to know Him and His Word? Our giving can gauge where we are at with the LORD. Do we give cheerfully or do we have to wrench open the wallet or checkbook to give to God’s work (always start with the poor, local church then other ministries)? It is said if you ask a man to open their checkbook (credit card statement) and daily planner you can see where their priorities are. What would they say about you?

I hope you would stop right now and take a look at the gauges, God’s gauges and see how you are doing. I know I am right now and I have some things I need to work on and some things I need some help on (both God’s and others).

Dear Lord I pray from Your word Psalm 139:23-24  Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. And Psalm 5:1-3  Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my sighing. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray. In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.

Thanks and hope to see you at a track soon and have a great day racin’ in the SONshine,

Todd

Our condolences go out to the Kenseth family. Mrs Kenseth meant so much to Roy and the family and friends. We pray Joshua 1:9 Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go” with you. May God comfort you in this difficult time.

Todd Christopherson
Pastor, Chaplain
Team Jesus Racing Ministry

It is that time of year in which there are banquets and the season trophies get handed out. They are always a fun time to get together with the racing community.

As I reflect on them this year, I think about two things, first the trophies. During the race season I have seen guys give away their trophies. Bobby Wilberg often does that at MIS. I had the  fun of winning a faster pastor race this year and I gave my trophy to the guy that finished second (maybe should not have doored him coming to the line.

We go into high schools and see the trophy cases filled with those “days of glory”. Successful individuals but mostly filled with teams that succeed as a group. Racing is a team sport and that is where the credit lands at banquet time. Many names are mentioned; not just the driver.

As a Christian, I think about the trophies too. God’s Word talks about crowns (trophies). Five crowns are mentioned.  (Imperishable, 1 Corinthians 9:24-25; Rejoicing, 1 Thessalonians 2:19; Righteousness, 2 Timothy 4:8; Glory, 1 Peter 5:4; Life, Revelation 2:10). Here is the cool thing about trophies (crown) in Heaven. They go back to the one that gave them and the one that deserves them. Revelation 4:10 The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, KJV

Second, I think about Matthew 22:1a-2 Jesus saying: 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. God talks about a banquet here but it is ONLY for those who are saved. I hope you do not miss out on that. Have you turned to Him in repentance? Have you admitted your sin? Have you turned from your sin? Have you cried out for forgiveness? I had to do that. I was deep in sin and in great need. I would not admit that for many, many years but there was a point that I saw my sin, my need and that Jesus alone could save me. I hope you join me, ok forget me, join Jesus, God the Son, the Creator at His table in Heaven.

Thanks and hope to see you at a track soon and have a great day racin’ in the SONshine,

Todd