Wally Hilgenberg

One of my heroes of the faith passed away yesterday. Wally Hilgenberg, former Viking linebacker died at the age of 66 from ALS.

I first met Wally when I was a young teenager. Wally and his family began attending the same church my family was going to, Christian Life Church in Farmington. As a big Viking fan, I was star struck seeing him in church. There were Sundays when he would bring with him some of his teammates like "Bench warmer" Bob. I had a hard time focusing on the sermons on those days.

Beyond the Viking player was a man that dearly loved his family, the Lord and the outdoors. I became friends with one of his daughters and had a few opportunities to be in their home. I especially enjoyed playing pool. I will never forget seeing the autographed picture that O.J. Simpson signed for Wally. It was a picture of Wally tackling O.J.

I am so grateful for men like Wally. A tough football player, a rugged outdoors man, and a man with a passion for God. I believe that a man who gives his life to Christ doesn't become a sissy, he becomes everything God intended for a man to be. It is in Christ that we live life to the fullest.

Perhaps Wally will now be able to encourage the Lord to give the Vikings some extra help from above.

Transformation

A month ago we began the process of removing several trees in our yard. The first few days we cut down about 25-30. Today we brought the total to 54!

As you look at these pictures you can begin to see the transformation of our yard take place.

Why take down so many trees? Tonight I am actually wondering. I'm stiff and soar! When we moved into this house almost five years ago we thought the "woods" in the back yard was pretty sweet. As the kids have grown we realized that their play area was quite small because of all the trees. The pine trees where planted so close that were looking pretty bad. Several of them were actually dieing. The plan was put into place and the transformation has begun.

We have a vision of a beautiful lawn, an area for a swimming pool, a small baseball/football field, a volleyball court and an area to have a fire. Today I'm tired and feel like leaving the yard as is. I would, but the vision spurs me on to complete the transformation.

My life can be like that. I know that I am a work in progress, being transformed a little at a time. There are moments when I am tired and think it would be easier to stay as I am. The vision that God has given me compels me to press on. To see what the finished product will be if I finish the race, if I allow God to transform me to be more like Jesus.

I love what the Bible says about Jesus. "Who for the joy set before Him, endured the cross". What an example of having a vision and pressing on through the pain to experience the joy.

PS If you have any expertise in making my lawn look like the 13th hole at Augusta National, give me a call.

More pictures will follow as the work continues on.

Left Behind

The following news clip reminded me of a dream I had one night. I must have been around 10 or 11 years old. The church I had just started attending was showing the left behind movies "A Thief in the Night" and "A Distant Thunder". Even though I was a Christian, one of those nights I had a dream that the rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) happened and I was left behind. I was so scared and the only place safe I new to go to was the church. When I arrived, I was surprised to find that there were a few others who had apparently attended church but never accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

I can't tell you how relieved I was to wake up! Have you ever had one of those dreams that you woke up from and thought, "thank God I was only dreaming"?

I believe that Jesus Christ is returning soon and I am concerned for family, friends and the entire world. It seems that others are too. Apparently a few creative thinkers have put together a web site where you can enter the names of people that will receive an email if the rapture happens.

Check out this story.

YouveBeenLeftBehind.com lets subscribers send an e-mail message to up to 62 people exactly six days after they've disappeared from the earth because of the rapture. The website, run by Mark Heard along with four other Christians, dispatches the e-mails when at least three staff members fail to log in for six consecutive days. Its purpose is to give Christians one final shot at evangelizing their loved ones.
Christian Post 6/8/08

Morrison County Government Center

This morning, Gordon Wheeler, Sr. entered the County board meeting concealing a gun. Gordon was upset about some county decisions that were not in his favor. Wheeler has had a long-standing feud with the county over some adult businesses he owned near Camp Ripley and Swanville. In 2007 he filed a lawsuit against the county but the suit was dismissed.

When it was all over, apparently only Wheeler was wounded. Kare 11 reports that he was killed.

Thankfully no one from the county was injured. One lady from my church was in that meeting earlier and had left to go back to her office when the incident occurred.

I just talked to her on the phone. Thank God she is ok.

It is in difficult times like this that we recognize how life can change so quickly. We must live every moment to the fullest and be sure that we are always in a right relationship with Jesus Christ.

If your reading this blog and feel overwhelmed by stress and have thought about carrying out something like this, find someone to talk to. There is always a better option than the taking of someone else's life. There is always hope in Jesus.

Motion Missions Trip to Mexico

Some of the youth from Living Hope are in Mexico City right now.

I can't wait to hear their stories. They will be sharing them in our July 13th service. My son Mark is on his first missions trip. The picture below has me a little curious. I don't think I will be able to wait until July 13th to hear the story behind this. In fact, I talked with the missionary they are with, Peter Breit. All he would say about this is "That's no ordinary water and you'll have to ask Mark what could possibly make it worth it when he gets back."

(Marissa Burns, Mark Thompson)

(AIM team with people from one of the local churches)

22 Years Ago Today

Not only is today Flag Day, it is also my anniversary. 22 years ago today, Darla and I were married. Happy Anniversary honey!

We haven't changed a bit!

Lake Delton Drained

My family just returned from a great week of vacation in the Wisconsin Dells area. On Sunday, June 1st, we road on the Original Wisconsin Ducks. We were able to experience a great tour through the woods, onto the Wisconsin River and Lake Delton. The guide explained to us how Lake Delton is a man made lake, "artificial" was the term he used.

On Monday night we went to the Tommy Bartlet Water Ski show. This great show is also located on Lake Delton.

As you can see from these pictures. It was raining pretty hard. We could have sat underneath their large canopy but we thought that if we were a little wet it would make the experience more like "4-D". (Maybe this is why I have the sniffles today?)

As you may have heard, Lake Delton is no longer a lake. With all the recent and heavy rains, Lake Delton forced itself out of its normal boundaries and found a way around the dam. Once it broke loose, there was no containing it. Within hours a beautiful lake is now muck.

As I watch the news, it is hard to believe that I was just enjoying the entertainment that is provided by Lake Delton. As a pastor, there are many applications and lessons that can be learned by this tragedy.

• We can find ourselves drained if we are not careful
  
• Life changes quickly
• Bad things happen to good people
• Too much of a good thing may not always be a good thing
• Tragedy often brings out the best in people
  

I encourage you to take a moment and pray for the people in areas that have been flooding. Pray for them like it was you in the situation.

I was glad to hear the Tommy Bartlet show will open up yet this week, obviously without the water skiing portion. The statement, "The show must go on" really is true.