Pastor Allan's Blog

Instant Answers.
 
Isn’t this what we all want?  In today’s world, we want instant answers to whatever life throws at us.
 
I think we all seek after instant answers because we are not willing to invest the time necessary to formulate a well thought out and defensible solution to life’s questions.  The same often applies to our Christian walk.  When was the last time you studied your Bible to resolve one of your life questions?
 
The world waited and waited for the arrival of the Messiah.  From the last Old Testament prophet, Malachi, to Bethlehem….hundreds and hundreds of year passed by.  During that interim, the world looked for the coming of the Messiah.  They wanted an instant answer to the problems of the world.  The promise of the Old Testament is that hope was on the horizon.
 
What’s so different today?   Like people before the birth of Jesus, we look forward to His return.  2000 plus years ago, Jesus was the hope of the world then, and He is the hope of the world for today and tomorrow.  With that hope, hope of salvation, Jesus brought to all of us an instant answer about our salvation.
The instant answer to your salvation question is from Jesus Himself in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
 
Jesus came as a gift to the world and you.  What better gift can you give Him than to simply believe?  In an instant….your salvation is secured!
 
Keep looking up—Jesus is coming soon!
 
Love in Him,
Pastor Allan
© 2018 Allan Redenius, All Rights Reserved

For a moment, imagine, visualize a beautiful Christmas scene.  Now put your imaginary picture inside a snow globe.  You know, the kind you shake all around and little snowflakes float about, eventually settling back to give your Christmas scene just a little extra touch of perfect.
 
In my snow globe is a picturesque row of tiny houses.  There on the roof of one house is Santa all decked out in his traditional red suit.  His reindeer all harnessed ready to take flight bringing happiness and good cheer.  In front of this row of houses is a little ice pond.  Children are ice skating, swirling this way and then the other.  Mom and Dad stand nearby with a little campfire to keep them all warm and cozy.
 
Now as I shake and propel the snow to float all about, the scene comes alive.  Reindeer really do fly.  The children gracefully move to and fro.  I can even hear little squeals of laughter coming up from my imaginary play-land.  The snow begins to settle, the reindeer begin to take their rightful place, prancing and dancing, and the children, swirling all about, begin to slow.
 
All is perfect.  All is calm.
 
This past week, our family spent some very precious time together.  It was as though we were inside that picturesque snow globe where everything is perfect.  Time seemed to have stood still as we enjoyed our moments of togetherness.
 
As we come into this advent, this season before Christmas, may I give you this blessing?  Have a snow globe kind of Christmas!
 
Oh yes, there is another snow globe scene.  “And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby keeping watch over their flocks at night.  An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them……”
 
Now that’s a perfect picture!
 
Love in our Savior, Jesus Christ,
Pastor Allan
© 2018 Allan Redenius, All Rights Reserved

During my career as a Certified Public Accountant, I helped so many people with, not only their tax situations, but with other financial matters.  Let me share just a couple of those moments.
 

• My friend, Ray was an elderly astute investor.  One day, toward year-end, I was at his home.  Together we were discussing tax planning opportunities and strategies.  We were interrupted by a phone call from his New York stock broker who represented a reputable firm.  Ray’s wife was participating in our discussions and while he was on the phone, she made this comment.  “He calls all the time.  I think Ray talks to him because he’s lonely.”  Several weeks after that visit, Ray died.  In February, I returned to do their tax returns only to discover a stack of stock trades Ray made while yet alive.  In the end, he lost $500,000.  It was a hard day to tell his widow how Ray had been taken advantage of by this stockbroker.  To make a long story very short, the family eventually recovered the losses.  That was a happy day!  By the way, that settlement and story made the front page of the Wall Street Journal!
• On another occasion, one of my clients was an absentee owner of a manufacturing company.    As I was preparing the tax return, I noticed that some of their line items were extraordinarily high.  As I drilled down, it became apparent that the bookkeeper had embezzled money---a lot of money.  By the end of the day, I confronted the bookkeeper and she admitted her crime.  Now get this, she asked, “Are you going to call the owner and tell him?”  To which I replied, “No…”  Her face lit up with liberation and thanks.  She was excited until I pulled a chair up in front of her desk and said, “No, I’m not going to call the owner and tell him.  But, I’m going to sit right here and listen while you call him and tell him what you did.”  For some reason, she never liked me after that day.

So what’s the moral from these two episodes?  Nobody is going to watch your money with the same diligence you will.  Remember the old saying, “A fool and his money are soon parted.”
 
Be diligent and take care of all the things God has blessed you with and remember the best advice ever regarding investments comes from Matthew 6 verse 20…“Lay up your treasures in heaven!”
 
Blessings and Love in Christ,
 
Pastor Allan
© 2018 Allan Redenius

“Stay back! Stay back!” Those were the words of caution my Dad hollered whenever I got too close to the power-take-off on the feed grinder.  If you don’t know what that is, it’s the drive-train between the tractor and piece of machinery to which it’s attached.  It spins at an enormous speed.  Lethal to anyone who even gets a thread of clothing caught in the spinning apparatus.  This was long before OSHA was even a thought.
 
“Don’t stand behind that cow!”  More words of caution my Dad barked out at me as he sat there milking the cow by hand.  Over the years, I’ve come to realize that there is more than one reason not to stand behind a cow.  Getting kicked is just one reason…you figure out the second. J
 
“Watch out for the bees, they might sting you.”  “But Dad, they’re drowning in the cow tank.  They need to be rescued,” as I gingerly reached down to gently scoop them out of the water.  Little did I know that my heart for saving those little guys is the same heart that now reaches out to rescue people from the sin in which they are drowning.
 
Dad had told me, “Don’t drive so fast!”  Those were the wisdom words spinning through my brain as the car was spinning around on the hi-way.  After three complete turns on the ice and ending up going the same direction, I believed it to be the result of my skillful driving.  Now I realize that it was God’s hand on the wheel, not mine.  Here’s a post script to that episode.  I NEVER TOLD DAD!! J
 
Our Dads warn us to keep us safe.  Our Father in heaven warns us to keep us saved!  My advice---we are blessed to have a heavenly Father Who sent His Son to rescue us!  Honor, love, serve and obey Him!
 
Love in Christ,
 
Pastor Allan
© 2018 Allan Redenius, All Rights Reserved

Why is it, there are some things that you can only vaguely recall from an earlier time in your life?  Here’s an example of a memory that has haunted me for a very long time.
 
When I was young, I had two aunts. Maude and Etta.  Between the two of them, they raised two brothers, Hank and Connie.  Here’s the part I don’t recall.  I don’t remember what they looked like.
 
But what I do remember is this.  Hank and Connie were killed on Hwy 18 just east of Algona.  Somehow, they were involved in an automobile crash.  I don’t remember the details.
 
Another thing that sticks in my brain after all these years was the fact that the family was very upset because the funeral home insisted on a closed casket for both of them.  I know it sounds kind of morbid, but those are the facts.
 
The older I get, the more I realize that even then, God was preparing me for what I do today, funerals.  The closer I draw to God the more I realize the meaning of what Paul teaches in 2nd Corinthians 5:8, “….to be absent from the body, is to be present with the Lord.”  Now I suspect Hank and Connie were driving along living life like there were hundred tomorrows in front of them.  Then in the “twinkling of an eye” their soul was demanded by God.  I hope they knew Jesus.  I want to see them again!
 
If you’re driving down the highway of life, I hope you know Jesus.  I want to see you in heaven one day as well!
 
Love in Him,
 
Pastor Allan
© 2018 Allan Redenius, All Rights Reserved

My very first car was a 1956 Oldsmobile.  By no means was it a muscle car of the day.  Unless, of course muscle means built like the proverbial Sherman tank.
 
I remember it hailed one day and the hail stones were as big as softballs.  O.K., maybe not that big, but they were big.  As I walked to the parking lot to survey the damage to my $75.00 car and as I saw all the other cars all dented up, I was feeling kind of low.  Do you know that it must not have hailed in the 100 square feet in which my beloved car occupied?  There wasn’t a dent on it!  All around was plenty of evidence of a big hail storm, but my car sustained not a blemish.  On the other hand, it was so big and strong, chances are the hail stones were injured!!
 
That vehicle served me well.  Never mind that whenever I pulled into a gas station I would always fill the oil and check the gas.  Yep---you read it right---I’d fill the oil and check the gas. J
 
The only problem with that car was that you needed a square mile to just turn it around.  One day, I parallel parked with it and when I came back, the vehicle in front and behind had changed.  The new ones left me no room to negotiate an exit.  So, what did I do?  Put my muscle car into low, gently moved forward, nuzzled up to the car bumper in front of me, and pushed him out of the way---GENTLY!  Don’t worry, I didn’t even scratch his bumper.  But I now wonder about his transmission.
 
Sometimes life is kind of like that.  You just need to muscle, push your way through….sometimes ever so gently!
 
If you need more muscle in your life, call on Jesus to give you strength and He’ll just carry you through!!
 
Blessings,
Pastor Allan
© 2018 Allan Redenius, All Rights Reserved

Imagine this if you can.
 
One day the family decides to move “out west.”  In the west, the sky is bluer, the grass is greener, and without a doubt, the trees are taller.  Besides all that, there’s gold in them ‘thar hills. J
 
The covered wagon is loaded up with the essentials of the trip; food, check—water, check; Mom’s piano….wait!  “Are we really taking this?  Yepper, the map says it’s a straight road.”
 
You and I now know what the pioneers never thought of.  The width of the Mississippi.  The heat and cold of the plains.  Then, as they looked toward the western horizon, they saw an ominous cloud bank come into view.  Soon, they were at the foot of the Rocky Mountains.  I am convinced it was here that most of them lost a wagon wheel and where it fell off, that was the spot they called home.  Obviously, most of them stopped at Denver.  J
 
Not unlike the pioneers, as they planned for their westward journey, we all approach life with a certain excited anticipation.  We too have the map by which to guide our course.  Like their journey, our life takes unexpected twists and turns.  Sometimes our wheels even fall off.
 
Then there are a few who made it to the Promised Land.  A land of seemingly endless milk and honey—oh, don’t forget the gold.  Why did some persevere and others did not?
 
I really don’t know the answer, but this I do know.  If your wheels fall off, don’t settle for where you’re at but instead keep moving toward the Promised Land…a place called sweet Beulah land.  There you will find streets of gold, a crystal shiny sea, and waiting for you will be Jesus Himself to welcome you home!  He loves you so very much……
 
Love in Him,
 
Pastor Allan
© 2018 Allan Redenius, All Rights Reserved

If any of us are on the football or basketball team, none of us want to stand on the sideline or sit on the bench.  Even if you’re a professional player making big bucks, you want to play, not stand around or sit watching the game from the bench.
 
Remember when you were young and played some kind of sport that required teams?  There was always a self-appointed captain and then there was the dreaded draft.  The captain picked who they wanted on their team.  I, like you, never wanted to be picked last.
 
All of us want to be “in the game.”  All of us want to be included, especially in the game of life.  Now in life, there are realistically two teams you can play for….Team Jesus, or the other one.  Deuteronomy 30:19 says, “….choose life….”  So all of us have a choice of which team to play for.
 
Now if you choose Team Jesus, don’t be worrying if you can play or not, or for that matter if you’ll be picked first or last.  The Captain of the team says in John 15:16, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you…”  Then He doesn’t say, “…go sit on the bench.”  He continues in John 15:16 with, “….so that you might go and bear fruit….”
 
So if you’re standing on the sideline or sitting on the bench, that is not where the Lord wants you.  He wants you in the game.  What do you think, “….go and bear fruit” really means?
 
Hope this call to action makes you uncomfortable so that you will go and actively be a vital member of Team Jesus!!
 
Love,
 
Pastor Allan
© 2018 Allan Redenius, All Rights Reserved

Have you ever thought about lost opportunities?  Things that present themselves to you and at the moment you turn it down, ignore it, or walk away from it.  Something presents itself and later you think, “if only….”
 
Here are just a few of my own personal financial lost opportunities:

• Using my Mickey Mantle baseball cards as “clackers” on my bicycle spokes;
• Spending silver dollar coins and not saving them;
• Turning down an investment opportunity that eventually would have been a gold mine.  Grrr…

Then there are more tragic lost relationship opportunities:

• Waiting until I was 55 to tell my Dad, “I love you.”
• Waiting too long to say, “I’m sorry” even when I didn’t have anything to apologize for;
• Failing to witness to the resurrection of Jesus Christ because I lacked courage.

Often opportunities present themselves only once.  All too often we need to instantaneously make a decision to do something with it.  There will be times when we choose poorly.  It’s just part of our human condition.
 
In the world today, how do we know what to do with things and relationships that present themselves?  Here’s my advice---pray for wisdom!
 
Love you all,
Pastor Allan
© 2018 Allan Redenius, All Rights Reserved

When I owned my C.P.A. firm, people would ask, “When are you going to retire?”  I always had a standing answer for them.  “All my clients are my friends.  If I retire, I won’t have any friends.” J
 
As you know, I eventually changed careers and now I Pastor a whole group of new friends—more like family than friends.  With that career change, people now ask, “What’s the difference between being a C.P.A. and a Pastor?”  Again, I have a standing answer at the ready.  “When I was a C.P.A. and did your tax return, I would have to do it again next year.  As a Pastor, what I do today lasts forever.”
 
Yes, life is all about changes.  If you’re reading this reflection there still awaits one big change for all of us.  In anticipation of that big change, you and I need to wonder about the legacy we will leave behind.  Or, when life is over, and we are no longer here, will our life be as though you take your hand out of a bucket of water?  There is no hole.  Will anyone even know you were here?
 
To all my past friend, current friends, and future friends, this is the legacy I leave with you.  Believe in Jesus and our friendship will never ever end.
 
Just because…I love you all,
 
Pastor Allan   
© 2018 Allan Redenius, All Rights Reserved

Maybe I’ve told you this story before, but if I have it bears repeating.
 
Armona’s Dad was a truck driver and hauled grain and livestock.  One day he was hauling a load of pigs and, at that time, you had to not only weigh them at the stock yard but each pig had to be counted to provide that information as well.  So, he called his friend, Fred to count the pigs as they, one by one, ran up the chute and into the trailer.
 
Of course, Fred was more than willing to help.  Stand and just count sounded pretty easy.  Kind of like a real cowboy who sits in the middle of the seat in an old pickup.  Don’t have to drive….don’t have to get out to open the gate….perfect job! J
 
Everything was in place and the pigs began to file by Fred for him to count.  “One, two, three, four, five, there goes one, there goes one, there goes one.”  What nobody knew was that Fred could only count to five. J
 
When the hog dust had cleared and all safely loaded into the truck, Armona’s Dad asked Fred, “Well, how many hogs did we load up?”  Fred’s simple answer was, “Well, I know there were at least five.”
 
What’s the moral to this story?  God gives us all a purpose in our lives.  Fred’s purpose was not to count, but he provided wonderful memories with his personality. 
 
What’s YOUR purpose?
 
 
Blessings this day,
 
Pastor Allan
© 2018 Allan Redenius, All Rights Reserved

When I was eleven years old, I delivered the early morning newspaper.  Of course, I would always read the paper somewhere along my route after the sun came up.  One of the continuing stories I read about and has remained in my memory, is the capture and trial of a Nazi SS soldier named Adolf Eichmann.
 
Eichmann, along with Hitler engineered what Germany called the Final Solution.  It was a Nazi plan for genocide, the extermination of the Jews.  The details of Eichmann’s trial chill me to the bone.  How can such evil be manifested by one man against another?
 
Hitler and his henchmen were not the first in history to try to exterminate the Jews.  Ancient history teaches us in Exodus 1:22 that Pharaoh ordered all the Jewish newborn boys to be thrown into the Nile River.  In the Book of Esther, Haman gave the order in Esther 3:13, “….to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews—young and old, women and little children…”
 
So why is there such anti-Semitism that runs throughout history?  In case you don’t know, the devil is at war with God.  He has been ever since he said, “I want to be God.”  As you know, Jesus was born in the line of Judah, a Jew.  Now in war, if you can strike a pre-emptive blow, often you gain the victory.  If all the Jews are dead, then Jesus could never have been born.  We all know that after every strike there remains a faithful remnant.
 
Those seeds of hate carry on from one generation to the next.  But what does God promise to people who stand with the Jews?  From Genesis 12:3, hear God’s covenant.  “I will bless those who bless you (Israel), and whoever curses you I will curse.”
 
So, to all my Jewish friends out there, from me to you, “God bless and sustain you!”
 
Shalom,
 
Pastor Allan
© 2018 Allan Redenius, All Rights Reserved

September 16, 2018

When I was ten or so, my Grandpa bought a pair of white rabbits for me.  At that age, I didn’t know that two rabbits would turn into eight, eight rabbits would then turn into thirty two---well, you get the drift.  As a young boy, I was in rabbit heaven.  A new friend every day.  Maybe more like a whole lot of new friends every day!
 
The designated brooder house (that would be the chicken house for you city-slickers) became the designated rabbit house.  Over a hundred white rabbits chewing on the wall of their house meant that I needed to line the walls with chicken wire, or in this case rabbit wire.  These guys were a lot of work for one little boy.
 
One night, there was what I call the “great escape.”  At the rooster’s crow, I looked out my bedroom window at the crack of dawn.  There on the yard were lots and lots of white rabbits.  I gathered up those that I could outrun.  For a while, my herd was smaller, but not for long.  For a while too, there were no skinny foxes around. J
 
Then one cold November day, while Dad was picking corn, Mom said, “Let’s have rabbit for supper.”  At my tender age, I already knew about the circle of life.  For one of my beloved bunnies (notice that suddenly they are not just rabbits) the circle was about to close.  I’ll spare you the details of the long walk to the bunny house, from there to the barn, and back to the house with the finished product.  Oh, my Mom did all the in-between part.  I remember that she cried as the bunny’s circle closed.
 
That night, at the table, not one of us could eat what was prepared for us.
 
Well, not too long after that, we moved to town.  The bunnies had to go.  A man came to the bunny house, loaded up those cute little fluffy guys, and handed me one dollar for each bunny.  I remember taking $126.00 to the bank.  An entrepreneur was born!
 
From two to one hundred and twenty six in a relatively short time frame.  Why am I telling you this?  Because it’s part of my story!
 
Oh, by the way….JESUS is my whole story!!

Love and blessings….Pastor Allan

© 2018 Allan Redenius, All Rights Reserved

September 9, 2018

This week marks an historic event in most of our lives, the tragedy of September 11, 2001.  All of us remember exactly where we were, what we were doing when we first heard of the attack on our country.  When the day was over, nearly 3,000 people lost their lives.
 
It seems every generation experiences historical tragic days that they remember.  For us baby boomers, it was the assassination of President Kennedy, the Challenger explosion, and of course September 11, 2001.
 
Particularly September 11 begs the question, “Why?”  Some think that maybe it was God’s vengeance that fell upon those in the Twin Towers that day.  In Luke 13, the tower of Siloam collapsed killing eighteen people.  If you read that text, Jesus refutes the “God’s vengeance” theory by answering, “Do you think they (the eighteen) were more guilty than all the others?  I tell you, no!”  You know, sometimes bad things happen to good people---just a fact of life.
 
Here’s another thought for you.  God knew all the people that were saved that day and perished.  He also knew those who died and were not saved and would forever reject Him.
 
What’s the moral of this?  Paul teaches us that, “Today is the day of Salvation.”
 
Oh yes, there is one other day we baby boomers remember.  It was the day the Berlin Wall was dismantled.  I watched as people cheered, laughed, and cried as the wall came down.  I cheered, laughed, and cried with them.
 
In all things----God is GOOD!
 
Love ya all like there is no tomorrow!
 
Pastor Allan
© 2018 Allan Redenius, All Rights Reserved

This week the funniest thing happened to Armona and me….go figure!! J  We usually have very humorous events happen very frequently but then laughter and joy are one of God’s greatest gifts.
 
We walked out together from church and each of us---at the same time—unlocked our cars.  I walked to her car and got in.  She walked to my car and got in.  Realizing that our keys wouldn’t work, we looked at each other and just started laughing.
 
Laughter is good for the soul.  It makes you feel better too.  Unless you do what we did.  Then, you need to question your sanity! J
 
How could we do that?  Her car is black.  My car is white!
 
Don’t even ask about changing our answering machine’s message as I attempted to make a new “recording.”  That’s a whole other story but extremely entertaining.
 
And then there’s the one about attempting to open the sun roof in my car---by the way, Armona typed the last two paragraphs and she’s still laughing!! J
 
I’m glad Jesus throws a little humor in my life every once in a while. 
 
Laughing and loving it!! J
 
Love in Christ,
Pastor Allan
© 2018 Allan Redenius, All Rights Reserved

‘Tis the season—oh for sure it’s not Christmas time yet, but there are, if you want to know, 121 shopping days left until then.  No, the season I’m talking about is the beginning of another school year.
 
For me, I don’t remember too many early childhood “first-day-of-school” memories.  But I do remember not liking school at all.
 
My Dad once shared his “first-day-of-school” memory.  After riding his horse to school, the teachers sent him home.  Why?  He couldn’t speak or understand a word of English.  You see, his parents were immigrants from Germany.  So, at home, Dad and his parents spoke German.  I’m pretty sure the language of the house quickly moved from German to English after that first day of school.
 
I’m not an educator, but I know in today’s world, Dad would have had an English Second Language teacher to accommodate him.  That was unheard of back then, so he learned English at home.
 
I still remember Mom and Dad and both sets of grandparents often speaking more German than English.  I always thought they were speaking German to keep secrets from me.  Now today, I hear many foreigners speaking their native language, and I think, when I hear them, the same thing. J  Also, I think to myself that my ancestors learned English when they came to America, why shouldn’t everyone else?
 
But you know what?  I better get used to foreign languages because the Bible describes the people who will be in heaven with me.  From Revelations 7:9, “After this, I saw a vast crowd, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb.”  Yes, it’s going to a be diverse and colorful crowd.
 
Looking forward to that first day in heaven.
 
Love you,
 
Pastor Allan
P.S.  If you aren’t looking forward to the first day of school….I understand! J
© 2018 Allan Redenius, All Rights Reserved

Some things just don’t make sense.  Here are some of my thoughts:

• It rains on your day off.   The days you work—well, the weather is beautiful.  How does that happen?
• When you are young, you have no money.  Yet the aged, who seem to have plenty of money, get all the discounts;
• As a youth, you think you will sleep late when you retire.  Then when you finally do retire, you’re up at the crack of dawn;
• The slow car in front of me seems to be following me.  Why does he have to turn right when I want to go right and left when I want to turn left?  He’s following me but I’m behind him….how does that happen?
• People pay good money to put their life at risk, just for the thrill of it;
• You go on vacation to rest and when you return, you’re more tired that when you left;
• We go outside to get some sun, then we smear sun tan lotion on to keep the sun off;
• Here’s another outside wonderment.  You go out to get a little fresh air and it smells like a hog lot;
• People buy an expensive recreational vehicle to go camping and get away from the crowded city.  Look at any campground and ask yourself, “Is that secluded living?”

Oh, the list could go on and on.  But, there is one more paradox for me to share.  It comes from Jesus words in Matthew 10:39.  “He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.”
 
Have you found yours yet?  Live your life for Jesus…now that makes sense!
Love,
Pastor Allan
© 2018 Allan Redenius, All Rights Reserved

We’ve all heard the age old saying, “The difference between men and boys is the price of their toys.”  All of us seem to grasp the wisdom of that proverb.
 
This week, I’ve been pondering exactly when I put away my little toys.  It’s as though there is a magic invisible door we all must crawl through.  On one side of the door is the life of a carefree little child and on the other side, a grown up with all the stuff that goes along with being an adult.
 
Here’s the problem with growing up and going through that door.  You can’t go back.  It’s as if you’re skinny going through but fat trying to go back through that same narrow door.  Maybe that’s what Paul means in 1st Corinthians 13:11.  “When I was a child I spoke and thought like a child.  But when I became a man, my thoughts grew far beyond those of my childhood, and now I have put away my childish things.”
 
So does that mean I can’t play with my grandson’s Hot Wheels on Friday night anymore?  Oh well, I’ll just go to the races.  See what I mean by the price of the toys?
 
In my growing up, I think my Dad pulled me through that skinny on one side, fat on the other side, door.  One day at age thirteen, I was playing in the sandbox.  My Dad said that I was too old to be doing such childish things.  The next week, I had thirty-two lawns to mow and an early morning paper route.  No going back for me.
 
You know, as I think about it, over my life time, I’ve come through many doors wishing I had never pushed on them to see if they would open.  Then again, had I never pushed on any door, I’d still be in the sandbox.
 
Here’s another door you can’t go back through once you enter through it---the door to heaven!  The one place that, once you are there, you wouldn’t want to be anywhere else!
 
Love you,
Pastor Allan
© 2018 Allan Redenius, All Rights Reserved

Last month, my three sisters with their families and our family met for a “family reunion.”  Actually, I had three sisters, one died, and her husband remarried.  His new wife is a wonderful Christian lady and I have adopted her as a sister.  We love that she is a very beautiful part of our family!
 
We were to meet in Estes Park, Colorado but as we Iowans were standing on the side of the road in Rocky Mountain National Park taking in the scenery, suddenly a car roared up beside us with screaming people hollering, “Hawkeyes!  Hello, Iowa!”  What are the odds that we would see family within minutes of our arrival?
 
So lately, I’ve been reliving cherished family memories, or at least trying to.  How I wish I had kept a diary to record those special moments of times gone by.  Now reaching back into my memory is like reaching into the fog and grabbing a hold of something that just happened to be passing by.  Truth be known, these Reflections are really my personal diary that I share in a public forum.
 
Here is one of those family moments I so remember.  It involved my Dad and I as together we attended a Promise Keeper event in Des Moines, Iowa.  The preacher made an “altar call.”  Being the evangelist I am, I said to Dad, “Do you want to go down?  I’ll go with you.”  I was pretty sure, but not 100% certain of my Dad’s salvation.  This was his typical, don’t waste any words, two word reply, “I’m O.K.”  “I’m O.K.” have become cherished words in my memory.
 
If you have a loved one about whose salvation you are uncertain, ask the question!  Who knows but that you have not been born for just that moment?  You could make the difference between eternal life or death for the one you love.
 
I’m O.K.----are you?
Love in Him,
Pastor Allan
© 2018 Allan Redenius, All Rights Reserved

So here I am walking around in a life size, Biblical proportion, honest to goodness, Noah’s Ark.  It’s one and one-half football fields long and seven stories high.  It wouldn’t fit in either Kinnick Stadium or the other football stadiums in the State.
 
Here’s some interesting facts about the Ark that, though not in the Bible, just make sense:
 

• Noah captured rain water on the deck of the Ark, stored it in water towers, and distributed it throughout the boat with hollow wooden tubes;
• The animals that boarded the boat were probably juveniles.  After all, they all stayed on the Ark for a very long time;
• Not only was there probably a waste disposal system, but there had to be a system to get fresh air into the boat.  Upwards of 38,000 animals all in one place probably didn’t smell too pretty;
• Noah had to be an agronomist, shipbuilder, and so many other things.  But the most important trait Noah possessed was this.  He loved the Lord and obeyed Him.

Oh, one other thing on the Ark that surprised me.  There was a gift shop and they served great coffee and a wonderful cookie (that Armona made me split with her.) J  Come on people---Noah had to take a break once in a while!! J
 
Noah’s Ark in Kentucky.  If you’re there, don’t miss it!
 
Love,
 Pastor Allan
© 2018 Allan Redenius, All Rights Reserved