David Bahn – Reflections

Light from the Word and through the lens

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In 1968 Jerry Snell opened a door in the hallway outside our first hour chemistry class. He invited me into what I discovered was a darkroom. Soon I was on the school newspaper and annual staff as a photographer. Later I learned that Jerry was a Lutheran who was planning to become a pastor. A few years later I was not only a Lutheran, but I was heading off to seminary to become a Lutheran pastor, too. Jerry followed a year later and served as a pastor in Missouri until his untimely heart attack and death. I thank God for Jerry and enjoy photography still today – not to mention rejoicing in having served as a Lutheran pastor in congregations in Utah, Colorado, Arkansas and Texas. I’ve retired now and serve part time as a Congregational Support Specialist for the Texas District of the LCMS. I also provide coaching and leadership training through various PLI cohorts and with individual congregations and organizations. David Bahn is a follower of Jesus Christ, husband to Diane, father and grandfather. He is an avid amateur photographer. His photo website is “Flowers by God Photos by David” He also publishes a devotional blog DavidBahn-Reflections.com. He and Diane live in Cypress Texas and enjoy visiting their grandchildren who live in the United States and Germany. He graduated from Concordia Theological Seminary in 1979, and earned a Doctor of Ministry degree from Fuller Theological Seminary in 1991. Diane, his wife, is now retired from PLI (PLIleadership.org). They have offered presentations on Marriage and Ministry Partnership, Leadership, Changing Your Congregation’s Culture, and Missional Living. They look are working with PLI International training pastors and wives of the ELVD Diocese of the Lutheran Church of Tanzania. David’s personal mission statement is “Leading people to realize Jesus’ calling and plans for their lives.”

We wait for God; God waits for us.

John 10:14-16

I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.

This cross was discovered in the rubble of the twin towers in New York City. The cross is the single most powerful symbol of Christ's love for all people.

Henri Nouwen says, “Increasingly we feel we have less and less influence on the decisions that affect us. So it becomes increasingly important to recognize that the largest part of our existence involves waiting in the sense of being acted upon.” Many of us can identify with that today; whether it is the healthcare issues that crowd the airwaves and newscasts, or the holiday season with foreboding or promising hopes for the future. We wait for decisions to be made that will affect us. Most of us have no control over those decisions.

We do have control, however, over our response to those decisions and our attitude as we wait. We can wring our hands and fret and worry. We can rise up in arms. We can declare our beliefs, values and preferences to those in charge. But in the end we can change little. Some would call this attitude defeatist, I call it reality.

But that’s not the whole of reality; not the whole by any means. There is a God who is holding the universe together and pursuing a mission and writing a story of grace, love and redemption – all the way through the twists of plot and turns of events in our daily lives. He has no back-up plan. God never looks down on earth and smacks his forehead saying, “I didn’t see that coming!” God is in control.

And here is the greatest mystery of all: God is also waiting. He is waiting for a response of repentance and faith. He is waiting for His people to turn back to Him in hope. He yearns for us to recognize that while we have precious little control over the things of this world; we do have access to His grace and the Holy Spirit by which we entrust ourselves to Him and look for His salvation.

Thank God today that He is willing to wait for you; He hasn’t given up on you with a dismissive wave of His hand. Wait for Him, for His will and His ways are eternally good, and His gifts worthy of our hopeful waiting.

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