​My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.  For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,”  James 2:2-3

 James 2:2-3 This is how it looks for me in Minnesota-->

.. I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Ps 23:4

The 23rd Psalm is a classic go-to scripture of comfort for believers. I read the beginning 'the Lord is my shepherd' to the concluding promise 'I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever'.. BUT my life seems to be hung up these days in the middle.. the SHADOWY DEATH VALLEY part.

Maybe I am the only one, BUT.. in this divisive election year, with social unrest, riots, racial tensions, persecution of Christians, and where socialism, and Marxism are being mainstreamed all while this little (microscopic little) virus Covid-19  deepens our paranoia and to wear a mask or not wear a mask has divided even our churches to where we are mandated to comply. This is a whole other discussion, but my point is ..

​WELCOME TO SHADY DEATH VALLEY 2020.

​Who knew there was a VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH in Minnesota in my neighborhood, but I am living proof it is here and wants to be here to stay.

I pray that God will blessed with the peace of God's answers for any SHADOWY DEATH VALLEY moments in a way that is beyond your dreams.

Jeff (in the SHADE not the SHADOWS) Larson

note: Let me leave you with more than a few cartoons of HOPE inspired from the Bible book of Psalms. Psalms is for everyone who feels life is hopeless, and/ or you are simply .. having a bad day.

There is..

• HOPE for COUCH POTATOES? 
• HOPE for WORMY self esteems
• HOPE for the GUY WITH BAD BACK (my personal SHADOW today)
• HOPE for the UNPREPARED STUDENT
• HOPE for STAR GAZERS
• HOPE for SKY DIVERS
  ​

The 23rd Psalm specifically is full of Hope.

• HOPE for CAMPERS
• HOPE for all of us BURDENED by life
• HOPE for OUR NATION if...
• HOPE for this world created by God where NATURE sings and
• the Illegal use of SHEEP HORNS cannot be stopped​

There are those grey overcast days where I think the sun will never shine again. Maybe a little foggy, drizzling still morning but then a spot on the clouds glows and just moments later the sun peeks out.  I now see the sun and feel it’s warmth.  Amazing how that feels especially on that cool grey day, but sometimes as quick as the sun appears the clouds return and the sun is gone and so is it's warmth.  

This glimpse of the sun describes often my pursuit of God. I read, and pray and the story of God and the Gospel message makes sense.  This time of clarity is beyond refreshing until.. circumstances and the world distract me, along with my inconsistent pursuit of God until my perspective is clouded and poof my moment of clarity is gone.

Sometimes Christians are just so smiley and so ‘Ned Flanders-like’ happy I could just slug-em.  I know the joy of the Lord is my strength, but what’s with the ‘goofy-grins’? 

I heard a good sermon a while back about the Fruit of God’s Spirit.  You know.. love, joy, peace.. blah, blah, blah… and included in this list is JOY which I happen to misplace from time to time in my life..  

Real Joy is not a serene surreal spiritual experience, but instead every day rubber meets the road with a pot-hole or two along the way experience. 

So where do we find Joy today?
Now with all of the bad news in our world right now.. my joy is challenged. I think of the Covid-19 related issues, racial tensions, hatred, greed, the media who lie as easy as they tell the truth, and all this stirred by the 2020 elections.

All of this and what I see as the Church (Christians) who are not salt and light. A church that compromises God's loving firm truth with the compromised views of our secular society. ​A church that lives in fear and too often is more concerned with offending the world, than offending God. A church that lives in Fear instead of Hope. 

note: I am not pointing a finger at others here.. as I am a part of the Church.  This is a sober reminder to love one another while we love and obey God.

Now back to the answer of the question.. Where do we find joy today?  Know that joy is not found in who wins the upcoming elections. There are consequences to our actions, our votes, and in the direction our country chooses. 

Our joy is found in the Lord through difficult times. It does matter that we love and obey God, but even if the whole world chooses NOT to obey God.. we must stand strong with Him always. Through good times and bad.. Joy is ultimately and eternally found in obedience and love of our God.

• .. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength! Neh 8:10
• The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving. Ps 28:7​

The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.

So there you have it.  Maybe there is a world of Christian existence that is somewhere between a Ned Flanders goofy grin, and those Christians who look like they are in pain in church. 

How will those people survive in Heaven when they learn they will have to be happy.  So ‘Smile Mon!’

Joyful Christians without goofy grins?  I know it will be a challenge, but we are just the people to do it.

May God bless and use each of you in ways that are beyond your dreams. I pray you find joy in the Lord in every circumstance.

Jeff (silly smirking) Larson

(revised and formerly entitled 'My Painful Introspection')
PAIN IS EVERYWHERE.. and our God alone is they answer.
There is pain in our own bodies, our minds, and our souls. Pain is found inside our own families, our friends, and everywhere else if you turn on the news and see all the angry hateful hurting people of our country and this world wanting relief from pain. With this in mind let me share..

My Painful Introspection.. by Jeff Larson (deep thoughts)

1.  Pain.. it hurts,
2.  Hurting.. I don't like hurting,
3.  I bruise like a peach, and
4.  If it is said most of the important lessons learned in life are through our failures and our pain.. then I should be a genius!.. but am not

​For those of you that know me, aches and pains have been my lifelong companion & complaint.  I have migraines, a bad back, and these days I spend more and more time discussing life with my good friend Arthur Itus (arthritis). It tell Art what I would like to do, and he tells me why I can't.

This is valid question, but for me I see a 'dangerous beauty' in this broken world where God the Creator allows his creation (you & me) the opportunity to persevere and succeed despite our state of brokenness.
​
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4

This Dangerous Beauty is found as we are allowed to choose right from wrong in big & small ways, and even good from evil. 
There is danger in choosing poorly, and if we do not persevere.. BUT
there is beauty in prayerfully choosing well, supporting each other, to persevere, and trust God when bad things happen to good people... when it HURTS!
​

My wife and I have a rescue dog named Cooper and I have written a 'beautiful' poem that captures my life with him.

Ode to Cooper
Cooper is our little rescue dog;
there's no doubt he LOVES my wife Mary,.
BUT despite the fact I 'm the one who rescued him;
​.. for me.. Cooper remains wary. 
I so want Cooper to love me too..
but he's a work in progress..
You see Cooper does not trust me ..
leaving me judged without due process.        

Thank you, thank you
But then I stop and realize.. I am SORTA a rescue dog too. 

During this pandemic shutdown, I have come to realize how very LOUD our society was.  Oh there is now less to do, less to watch, and less to fight about, and HEY.. THEY TOOK AWAY MY SPORTS!  But we are still Loud while Home-bound ..  once we turn on the evening news.  

AND in the midst of this Shutdown we are becoming a little (or lot) stir crazy.  The rush is removed from rush hour traffic while the din of sports, entertainment, and misc. life have been reduced to .. sports reruns (zzzz), and movies of the good ol' days before social distancing. I even treat watching Gilligan's Island reruns like it was the original Survivor series! My money is on Gilligan getting voted off.

The blessing for me of this shutdown, is before the government shutdowns are lifted and we return to the 'smack down' of 24/7 Election coverage.. I have been listening to audiobooks 

• Traditional Christian Values are mocked by the government.  The anti-Christian Nazis manipulated the church to promote antisemitism and obedience to Hitler over obedience to God. Today, there is growing pressure by the government to remove tax exempt status to churches who will not perform same sex marriages. The world even bristles at our core truth that Jesus is THE WAY to Heaven.
• Fascist groups like the Nazis of the 1930s and Antifa today are eerily similar and rage against those who disagree while the police are ordered to stand down. They both consider it 'thought violence' to disagree with them and feel vindicated by responding with physical violence. Both use lies and fuel rage to mobilize the mob mentality.
• The Church is diluted and weak. Just like the church in Germany in the 1930s, churches in America often choose the path of least resistance. The Bible (GOD'S WORD) is redacted and reduced to embrace gay marriage, abortion, other misc issues of morality.. and greed (see prosperity gospel). The church too (or most) often chooses the approval of secular society over the approval of God. We are becoming a 'christian' Mega-church/social club that is 10 miles wide and 6" deep. *Discipleship is an afterthought when compared to attendance numbers and the approval of the masses
  Note: I am not saying all churches are like this, but waaaay too many variations of prosperity Gospel preachers who focus on what God wants FOR YOU($$), rather than what God deserves FROM YOU (our, love, obedience, worship, & service).

In response to Hitler and Nazi Germany Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote..

• "Silence in the face of Evil is itself Evil. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act. 

Similarly Martin Luther King Jr. response to Civil Rights issues of the 1960s said. 

• "Doing nothing is doing something. Saying nothing is saying something."