To each person that has served in the armed forces we say, “Thank you!”

Saturday May 18,2013 is Armed Forces Day in the United States of America. We have the privilege of thanking and honor every soldier that has several in the different branches of the Armed Services. Every job in the military, every rank is valuable and important. I hope Saturday and every day you know that there are those of us praying for those serving, those that have served and those that will serve this country.

Make sure this weekend you take a moment and thank a soldier and you take a moment to pray for the men and women serving and have served.

2 Timothy 2:1-7 You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.  And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.  Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.  No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs-he wants to please his commanding officer.  Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor’s crown unless he competes according to the rules.  The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops.  Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.

Have a great day racin’ in the SONshine and see you at a local track soon,

Pastor Todd

Our deepest sympathies go out to the Trickle family.

The news today is very sad and hard to put words to it so we turn to the LORD and His word for comfort and understanding. This morning as I read God’s Word I read the following from Psalm 19:7-11 The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb. By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. In days like this I need a solid place to go and the most stable place I know is God and His Word that contain promises like these.

Dick was a fun guy to be around and the stories never got old. It was good to run into him and talk with him at Slinger Nationals and Oktoberfest. Last year at Oktoberfest I got this picture of the two great ones, Dick and Tom Reffner.

Again, our condolences go out to the Trickle family, friends and fans,

Pastor Todd

This year takes on a new meaning on this for me and others that have lost their Mom’s. It is a great lesson to share with others the Scriptures of Exodus 20:12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. And Ephesians 6:1-3 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother”-which is the first commandment with a promise- 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” I can tell, don’t miss any opportunity to obey and honor your parents.

As we drove down to my parents and got to the gate of their gated community I was reminded of a couple of things. First, a story I have heard several times. Once at a track gate an old steward stopped a pickup truck and asked to see wrist bands to get in. The driver showed his and said his passenger was OK to go in. The old steward said, “I don’t care if you are AJ Foyt. You are not getting in on my watch. OK the fun part of the story is, it really was AJ and the steward still did not let him in. The steward made it exclusive to enter.

At my parents community you have to go through a gate and without a pass you cannot get through. My Dad has to leave his name and our names and then a pass is given to get us through the gate to be with him. It is exclusive as to how to enter into the village.

Does that seem wrong that it is exclusive to enter either of those venues? I don’t think so. I think it protects the track, the fans, and the competitors.

These two are great illustrations of heaven and how we are to get in. It too is exclusive and this is what God Himself writes in His Word.

• John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
• John 10:7 Therefore Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep.
• Acts 4:12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

God the Father and God the Son, Jesus wants us to be with them for eternity. They do want any to miss out but they also give us the choice to repent or to go our own way. The problem with not turning to Him is just like Heaven is eternal, so is Hell. So please, DON’T miss this!

Now again, happy Mother’s Day to you ladies out there. And to all you children, don’t miss hugging your Mom, honoring her, not just on this one day but every day, and tell her how much she means to you and how you love her. You know your Mom has great joy in you and in a child that has turned their life over to the LORD Jesus Christ.

Have a great day in the SONshine and see you at a track soon.

Todd

This week was a reminder of the great need we have of prayer in this nation and in the racing community. We are praying for the Prietzel and Pankow families as they deal with the death of their loved ones. May God comfort you as only He can.Then Monday’s Boston Marathon event on Patriots Day was a reminder of the problems in this world. I feel bad for all who were involved, hurt and killed in this senseless event.

Let’s pray Psalm 5:1-4 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.  You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; with you the wicked cannot dwell. And Psalm 5:7-8 But I, by your great mercy, will come into your house; in reverence will I bow down toward your holy temple. Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness

In addition, the West, Texas incident again should prompt us to pray. We just do not know when and where things will happen. We want a) to be right with the LORD and b) to make sure we hug our spouse and kids daily so they know how important they are to us.

As I pray for those in Boston and in West, Texas I am thankful to the first responder and care givers in the hospitals and surrounding areas. I am thankful that many were spared from harm. I am thankful that I know God comforts. I am thankful that God is never surprised by the acts of men or things that happen. I pray for the healing of the wounded. I pray for strength. I pray for mercy. I even pray for the people responsible and their families. We also continue to pray for those from Sandy Hook. And I pray that this would draw us closer to the LORD and some to reach out to Him for salvation.

Have a great day racin’ in the SONshine and see you at a track soon,

Pastor Todd

Really it comes down to ruler or no ruler?

In racing there are some key components in the area of rules: 1) I like how Mid AM does their rules. They get a group of staff, drivers, owners, teams together and decide what is best as a group and then rules are put together for the season. 2) Next there is tech. As much as there can be stuff that goes back and forth at pre-race and post-race tech, it is good and tries to keep the playing field level; 3) There is the guy in the tower making the race calls and 4) There is the flag man, David in the case with Mid Am, Greg In Big 8, etc. Those guys have a tough job but it is their job to keep the racing safe, and again a level playing field by enforcing the rules. I say thank you to each one involved in keeping the rules and enforcing them. I know it is not an easy job.

Again the rules are important in racing because we want everyone to be safe and we want to know the lines between right and wrong. If there were no rules, it would be chaos on the track. We want the same thing in life. We can apply a lot of this to life.

We need rules in life too or there would be complete chaos. The problem we see in the world today is that some live by different rules than we have. Some live by their own rules and that is how we have harm done to others. That harm can take a lot a different forms – financial; physical; even death and murder.

In racing there is a penalty. They can vary from a few seconds to a lap to losing a race or more. We see someone wreck after qualifying or an engine change going to the back of the lineup. We see speeding on pit road or a lost lug nut. We can see a black flag for an oil leak or dangerous driving. If that happens early in the race there can be a good recovery and we have even seen some win after a penalty. Even if the penalty is late in the race, you do not just pack it up a go home. You get back out and try to improve your finish.

In all of this we can see parallels to life and the way God views things and how we should view things. One difference is in racing is that only a few get caught and serve penalties. In life, God sees that each one of us have broken the rules, it is called sin. It is falling short of the mark or standards or rules God has set for us. He set the rules for our best. He has good, great reasons for each one of His laws.

In racing you may not get caught in sin, in breaking the rules, but in life, as we know, all have sinned. Romans 2:3 do you think you will escape God’s judgment? WOW, did you catch that. NO ONE escapes God’s judgment. So we are all under the same judgment and the question is what to do about it and yes, we will be held accountable. Romans 14:11-12 “’As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.’”  So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God. My answer does not matter but God’s answer does. We are to turn to God and repent. Acts 20:21 I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.

So all of this points to a Ruler and that Ruler is in three person, God the Father; Jesus Christ the LORD and God and God the Holy Spirit. Let’s look at these verse⁴. It is abundantly clear that there is a Sovereign LORD who rules over us and does to give us what is good what is best what is wonderful beyond our imagination.

The rules are good. The Ruler is good.  God really does want to give us an indescribable gift of eternal life. So we look to Him as the ruler. Too often we want to rule but who are we to say to the One who created everything and who gave us life that we are in charge. We are not and if we end life thinking we are, God gives us our wish and separates us from Himself. That separation is called Hell and it too is eternal. I hope you don’t desire that. I hope you want to turn to Jesus as LORD right now and surrender to Him.

Have a great day racin’ in the SONshine,

Pastor Todd

Putting it in that term seems to help me focus on what the truth of the weekend is that including Good Friday and Easter Sunday. This year I am focused on the simplistic truth of the annual remembrance.

I laugh when people say, “I don’t like racing. All they do is turn left and go in circles.” If it was that simple everyone would race and win but we know it is much more complex than that. Not only the driving part but the real complexities are in the shop and getting the sponsorship to be able to buy the equipment needed to compete and having a crew that can make the adjustments needed. Those that say it is just turning left and going is circles are right if racing can be broken down to who can turn left, drive in circles and get to the checkered flag first.

As we reflect on Easter it can be broken down to a historical event just under 2000 years ago that is the most significant event in all of history.

Here is the simplistic message of Easter: Throughout the Bible we can see that we have sinned. That is, each one of us has fallen short of the mark set out by God¹. He gives us laws and commands that we can and should follow Him with so that it may go well with us. If we have sinned, as God says, then we are sinners and that separates us from God for eternity.

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

There is a solution for our sin. It is Jesus and only Jesus.

• John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
• Acts 4:12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
• Romans 10:9 That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
• 1 John 4:9-11 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.  This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.  Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

We see that we have all sinned and need to be saved. We see the only Savior is Jesus and He is the only Savior because He died for us. We see that we have to accept Him as LORD. We have to repent, turn from self to Him. We see He must rule over our lives to be saved. Have you done that? Have you called out to Him? I hope so. I hope you take the time to stop and really think about this. If you have turned your life over to Jesus, I hope this is a time of reflection and worship and crediting Him with all He has done.

Happy Easter and see you at a track soon and of course, have a great day racin’ in the SONshine,

Pastor Todd

If I can help in any way in understanding this or any other of life’s complexities please let me know. I would be glad to help.

Romans 3:10-11 As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one;  there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.; Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,; Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.