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.”

  • The Lost Art of Fear

    Psalm 72:1-7

    Give the king your justice, O God,

    and your righteousness to the royal son!

    May he judge your people with righteousness,

    and your poor with justice!

    Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people,

    and the hills, in righteousness!

    May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,

    give deliverance to the children of the needy,

    and crush the oppressor!

    May they fear you while the sun endures,

    and as long as the moon, throughout all generations!

    May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass,

    like showers that water the earth!

    In his days may the righteous flourish,

    and peace abound, till the moon be no more!

        
    The church I serve formerly sponsored two BSA scout troops. That is coming to an end – sadly – as of the end of this year. I say sadly because no one wised for this to happen, but the LGBT idealogues pushed the BSA to policies which ultimately will not allow groups such as ours to disallow openly LGBT persons to serve as leaders of troops we sponsor. Because we fear God, however, and want to uphold the values he has revealed in Scripture we have chosen not to re-charter our troops. We have nothing against Boy Scouts. Our troops have been a blessing to us, and previously the BSA stood for morality, decency, and godliness. I was a Boy Scout. My sons were Boy Scouts. But today’s agenda moves this program farther and farther away from the scouting programs of yesterday. The losers in all of this are the boys.

    Those who propose this agenda agenda of acceptance would argue that they are maintaining these values. I must disagree. The call to morality and godliness is much broader than the oft-trumpeted call for unconditional love and tolerance. God is indeed a God of grace. He loves all people. His love is unconditional, and Jesus himself promised that whoever comes to him he will in no way cast out (John 6:37). Jesus is the embodiment of God’s love and grace. 

    Without grace we have no hope. But an unrepentant heart will receive grace as entitlement. Grace is never deserved; it is given. It is not something to which we are entitled. It is something we do not deserve, and when embraced by a repentant heart will move us to gratitude, fear, love and trust. 

    There’s that word: fear. Jesus is also the embodiment of truth. That truth is found in his word, and expressed in the life and ministry of Jesus. Jesus forgave the sin of the woman caught in adultry and then told her to “go and sin no more” (John 8:10-11). He expressed much the same idea to the lame man whom he healed (cf. John 5:14). He also taught us not to fear man or the devil, but to fear God (cf. Matthew 10:28). 

    That seems to be the challenge today. We not only have tee-shirts that say, “NO FEAR”, we teach it to our children, and have so domesticated God that we no longer fear him. He is only thought of as a loving God – not as a God of justice, holiness, and judgment. Where there is no fear there is no reverence, no restraint, no repentance. There is only a weak nod to true goodness, and an empty and impotent love that is truly not love at all. 

    I have already received emails regarding our decision to end our sponsorship of BSA troops. One subtly accused me and our church of being unloving and judgmental. I do not look forward to the accusations and judgments of others. But when I weigh my fears of man against my fear of God, God wins (thankfully!).  

    I dont’ believe I have handled this perfectly, but I have done all I can to express the grace and truth of God in this situation. We are not entitled to God’s grace, but he lavishes is on us abundantly. May God make us all truly repentant so that we may receive his grace with grateful and generous hearts!

  • God Makes Good on His Promise…With More to Come

    Jeremiah 33:14-16

    “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 15 In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 16 In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’

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    There are 354 promises in the Old Testament about the coming of the Messiah as listed on the According to the Scriptures website. As St. Paul says that all the promises of God are fulfilled in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20). Some of those promises describe the coming Messiah. Others speak about God’s judgment on evil.

    Here God’s promises are about justice, salvation, and justification, a squaring-up of life’s imbalances and injustices. When God finally acts, Jeremiah tells us, he will balance the scales. Wrongs will be righted. Good will be vindicated. Justice will prevail.

    It may not look like Jesus accomplished all that as we look at today’s world. Terrorism, human trafficking, runaway greed, and all manner of evil and injustice runs rampant. That is because Jesus’ redemptive work is finished (John 19:30), but the full consummation of that victory is yet to come. We await the Second Coming of our Savior who now is preparing a place for us in his paradise. We await the revelation to all of the One to whom every knee shall bow (Philippians 2:10): Jesus Christ. He is our righteousness, justification, and hope.

  • Perfect Peace at Last

    Isaiah 11:6-10

    The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
        and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
    and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
        and a little child shall lead them.
    7 The cow and the bear shall graze;
        their young shall lie down together;
        and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
    8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
        and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
    9 They shall not hurt or destroy
        in all my holy mountain;
    for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
        as the waters cover the sea.

    10 In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.

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    Imagine a Christmas party where Hillary Clinton sits with Rand Paul, Donald Trump enjoys conversation with Bernie Sanders. Promoters of the Keystone Pipeline engage in congenial interaction with members of the Sierra Club, and American Civil Liberties Union members interact with National Rifle Association members. Republican, Democrat, Tea Party, Libertarians, Socialists, and Anarchists no longer divided, accusing, condemning, or undercutting: That would be a miracle. That would be heaven. That would the the perfect rule and reign of God.

    There is only one way that will ever happen, and it has nothing to do with political, economic, social, or legal solutions. It won’t be voted in. It won’t be won by a war to end all wars. It will be established when God chooses to end all the fighting, war, bloodshed, immorality, destruction, and sin on earth and reveal to all the triumph of his Son Jesus Christ.

    On that day Christ shall stand as a signal for all peoples – all ethnic groups, nations, tribes, languages, peoples, and classes will see that the way of faith and fear and love for God is the only way to life. The root of Jesse – whom we know to be Jesus – will be our focus, joy, hope, salvation, and peace. That was promised 2750 years ago by Isaiah. It was seen for a while in the life and ministry of Jesus. It will be fully experienced on the Great Last Day and in the life of the world to come.

    Come Lord Jesus!

  • Roots and Branches, Justice and Widsom

    Isaiah 11:1-5

    There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
        and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
    2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
        the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
        the Spirit of counsel and might,
        the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
    3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
    He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
        or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
    4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
        and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
    and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
        and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
    5 Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
        and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

    The most recent shooting spree in California begs for solution or explanation. How could such a thing happen?!? How can we stop it in the future?

    While there may well be good solutions to these kinds of atrocities, most people don’t look deep enough to find them. The solution lies deep in the root, springing from a discarded relic of the past. The Solution is God’s salvation and the wisdom, justice, and righteousness that  flows from his being.

    God’s Savior has come. Filled with the Holy Spirit, wisdom, counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord.

    Dale Meyer, President of Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri offered this insight today in his Meyer Minute. It’s worthy of reposting.

    Meyer Minute for December 3

    “God isn’t fixing this” blares the headline in today’s New York Daily News. After each terrible incident, people in places high and low encourage us to pray, and we do, praying for those devastated by the violence and praying for peace. Now, in the wake of the shootings in San Bernardino, people are tweeting, posting, and publishing that prayer is useless, “God isn’t fixing this.”

    Of course God isn’t fixing this! God is saying, “See how your life goes, America, if you don’t live in true fear of Me.” Read what Paul said about the worldly wise people of his day. “Although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks for him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools…. Since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind…” and then follows a catalog of the sins that plague our lives today (Romans 1:21, 22, 28-32).

    God’s giving us over to our self-willed ways. Do you think gun control is the solution? Or the opposite, every citizen armed? Both solutions are superficial because they presume humanity is OK, ignoring that these horrific crimes are symptoms of a problem between us and God. As long we imagine we can fix it, God will keep giving us over to ourselves.

    My first professor of theology was the late Dr. John F. Johnson. To this day, 50 years later, I remember him saying the first rule of theology is “We don’t know.” A lot of people are asserting a lot of things. They don’t know. Everything will stay imprisoned under sin (Galatians 3:22) until America shudders in fear before God. God isn’t fixing this because a fix wouldn’t lead us to true repentance.

    “Stir up Your power, O Lord, and come, that by Your protection we may be rescued from the threatening perils of our sins…” (Collect for the First Sunday in Advent). We don’t know. Therefore we pray.

  • NWHPC Christmas Party Prayer

    Each year for the past several Christmas parties I have offered a prayer. Somewhat light-hearted, but sincere and offering  the prayer in Jesus’ name, it is my personal witness to the reason for the season. Here is this year’s prayer. By the way, I call those who shoot Nikon cameras Nikonians, those who shoot Canon, Canonites, etc. It’s part of the lighthearted nature of the prayer.


    The tradition continues year after year:
    We gather together for food and good cheer.
    The NWHPC is a group really that
    Is a gourmet dining club with a photo habit!

    Thanks to the hospitality of Pam and Bear
    We enjoy the friendships with those we hold near.
    And when the time comes to begin with a prayer
    We turn to our resident Rev – who this year is the chair.

    This is the season for God who loves much:
    Nikonians, Sonyans, Canonites, Pentaxians, and such
    To touch our hearts and move us to pray
    For thanks and good favor from day to day.

    So bow if you wish to acknowledge these gifts
    And even more the Giver who gives us all this.
    Thanking God for good food, good drink, and his favor,
    And the gift of his Son who lay in a manger.

    May this be a good night filled with such fun
    We’ll barely think we’ve started when the evening is done.
    And as we end this prayer and get on with our feast,
    We pray for world peace for greatest and least.

    I ask this in Jesus’ name, for Him I call Lord
    And invite those who wish to join in accord
    Saying thanks be to God and at the end
    To join me in speaking our heartfelt… Amen!

  • When God Shows Up

    Isaiah 54:8

    In overflowing wrath for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you, says the Lord, your Redeemer.

    Ephesians 2:8

    By grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.

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    God’s wrath is described in the Bible as a cup of bitter gall to be “drained to the dregs” (cf. Isaiah 51:17, 22; Jeremiah 25:15; Revelation 14:10; 16:19). We often think of God’s active punishment of evil in the fires of hell as the essence of wrath. While that certainly must be part of our understanding of God’s wrath, there is much more to God’s wrath than burning fires and poison-filled cups.

    God’s self-described moment of wrath is expressed through Isaiah as a time when he hid his face from his people. That is a fate far worse than we might imagine. In fact God’s wrath is significantly expressed in the absence of his presence, protection, and love, as well as a smoldering pot of caustic bile.

    Isaiah gives us a glimpse of that which is more fully expressed in Romans 1 & 2: the absence of God’s corrective, protective, provisional, and loving presence. Given over to our sinful desires, we would self-destruct in a self-inflicted blaze of doom.

    Thankfully we have not been left up to our own devices. In an act of selfless love and compassion God revealed himself to us through Jesus Christ. God has not withdrawn himself from us, he has redeemed us and saved us by his grace. By faith in him we have been saved from God’s wrath and judgment. Thank God for his indescribable gift!

  • Our Fullest Hope and Greatest Comfort

    Psalm 36:7

    How precious is your steadfast love, O God! All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

    1 John 3:1

    See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are.

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    Today is the First Sunday of Advent. This season of the Church Year is one of preparation, anticipation, repentance, and expectation. We reflect on Jesus’ first coming at Christmas. We rejoice in Jesus’ present coming to us in his word, in the gathering of his people, and in the Sacrament of the Altar. We look forward to Jesus’ second coming on the Great Last Day with anticipation and hope.

    Some people do not wish for the Last Day; they fear it. They worry about being scrutinized, judged, and very uncomfortable, but hopefully making the cut at just the last minute, and finally being in heaven.

    What Good News it is to hear of God’s steadfast love, our adoption as God’s children, and a place of safety in the shadow of God’s presence. Not only does God offer refuge to us who will face our last day and the eternal judgement at the end of all time. God offers us his abiding love, protection as his beloved children every day. That’s God’s promised gift through his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

    This is a worthy comfort for this season and throughout all our days.

  • The Lost Art of Speaking the Gospel

    Psalm 34:1

    I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be on my lips.

    James 5:13

    Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise.

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    A member of St. John once offered this analogy: If someone saved your life, would it be OK to think about your thankfulness and have an attitude of gratitude toward him or her? Or would it be better – and more appropriate – to go to that person’s house, knock on the door, and offer your thanks and praise in person?

    It is a somewhat common axiom: “Preach the gospel at all times. If necessary use words.” Apart from the fact that it is impossible to preach the gospel without words of some kind, it is true that nonverbal communication conveys 80% of any message. Things like tone of voice, context of comment, body language, and facial expression all go into the process of communication. The twin adage that people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care is also offered as proof that talk is cheap.

    The foundation of the Christian faith, nonetheless, is the Bible: a collection of words that convey profound and eternal truths. Only through the revelation of God’s grace and truth in Jesus Christ, his Son do we know of God’s most profound gifts. And the Bible calls for us to express our faith, thankfulness, and joy in words and songs.

    Perhaps you shared the gifts for which you are thankful around the Thanksgiving table yesterday. Maybe you gathered for worship and sang God’s praises. You might be heading out for some Black Friday shopping, and be cheerful because of the bargains you are able to obtain. In any event God delights in your words of praise, and calls for us to praise him constantly.

    The unique calling of those who call Jesus Lord is that our praise is to be constant and continuous. That’s because we praise and thank God for his gifts and character. While his gifts may vary, his character is unchanging. He is good and worthy of our praise.

    I am thankful for Jesus’ gift of abundant life. I intend to show that thankfulness today in the way I act and in what I say: Thanks be to God!

  • A Prayer of Thanksgiving

    Psalm 107:1
    Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!
    Romans 1:21
    For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
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    At our weekly Pastor’s Prayer Partners breakfast we read a prayer by John Baillie. In part is says

    I thank you, O Lord God, that though with liberal hand you have at all times showered your blessings upon our human kind, yet in Jesus Christ you have done greater things for us than you ever did before:

    Making home sweeter and friends dearer:

    Turning sorrow into gladness and pain into the soul’s victory:

    Robbing death of its sting:

    Robbing sin of its power:

    Making peace more peaceful and joy more joyful and faith and hope more secure. Amen.

    These beautiful thoughts are at the conclusion of his morning prayer for the 24th day of the month. The first part of the prayer enumerates other things for which we certainly should be thankful, and I’ve copied those below.

    It seems important to me, however, to offer two additional thoughts this Thanksgiving day. First of all, the reason for giving thanks to God is unchanging: he is good, and his mercy endures forever. That is a constant for which we must always be thankful. Note, too, that we give thanks to the One who is good and eternally merciful; we’re not talking just about an attitude of gratitude.

    Secondly, there is grave danger in failing to be thankful. If we fail to be thankful to God our hearts grow ever darker and we become futile in our thinking. In other words, being thankful to God is the sign of having an enlightened heart. Thanklessness is a sign of futile thinking.

    That said – and with the unchanging reason for being thankful to God in mind – here is the first part of Baillie’s prayer. It is worthy, it seems to me, of a thanksgiving meditation.

    Now unto you, O heavenly Father, be all praise and glory that day by day you richly fill my life with various blessings:

    A home to share, family to love, and friends to cherish:

    A place to fill and a work to do:

    A green world to live in, blue skies above me, and pure air to breathe:

    Healthy exercise and simple pleasures:

    My race’s long history to remember and its great men to follow:

    Good books to read and many arts and crafts to delight in:

    So much that is worth knowing and the skill and science to know it:

    Those high thoughts that sometimes fill my mind and come from places I do not know:

    Many happy days, and that inward calm that you give me in days of gloom:

    The peace, passing understanding, that comes from your indwelling in my soul:

    The faith that looks through death and the hope of a larger life beyond the grave.

    From A Diary of Private Prayer, by John Baillie, revised by David Bahn

  • Essential to the Faith

    Psalm 14:3

    They have all gone astray, they are all alike perverse; there is no one who does good, no, not one.

    Matthew 6:13 (NASB)

    Deliver us from evil.

    "The Crosses of St. John" 2014 NWHPC Portfolio Review

    One of the leaders at St. John serves as an elder and key member of the prayer ministry team. I can count on him, every time he prays, to ask for forgiveness. It is such a refreshing reminder of the reality of our great need before God, and his great provision to us of forgiveness. It might be thought to be trite or merely formalism. But it is not. So whether we are praying at the beginning of a meeting, expressing our concerns for someone’s health, asking for guidance and wisdom, or any other occasion for prayer, Kenneth asks for forgiveness.

    Martin Luther says that, “where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation” (Luther’s Small Catechism, VI. The Sacrament of the Altar). Either my friend and Luther are right, or the Psalmist and they over-emphasize a point. I’ll stand with my friend, Luther, and the Psalmist. We have a problem with sin that only forgiveness will solve. Only by God’s merciful and gracious lovingkindness shown in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection may we find peace and deliverance from evil.

    In his book, People of the Lie, M. Scott Peck defines evil as those who lack an awareness of their own evil and seek to avoid any such awareness. God’s word here confronts us with the reality that we are sinners in need of God’s grace and mercy. Deliver us from the evil idea, O God, that we do not need your forgiveness, and bring us to the cross of Jesus where we will find forgiveness of sins, life and salvation! Amen.