John Louk

Each year our congregation has been encouraged to fast during Lent, beginning on Ash Wednesday (March 1). Jesus teaches us in the Sermon on the Mount about giving, praying, and fasting as virtues of the kingdom people. Jesus does not say, “If you fast.” Rather he says, " And whenever you fast..." (Matthew 6:16a)  Therefore, I invite you to fast with me during Lent. Fasting is a spiritual discipline; it means abstaining from food for spiritual purposes . Fasting and prayer go together. Therefore we devote the time normally used for eating to reading scripture and prayer. Furthermore, the feeling of hunger is a reminder to draw near to God. We remove our dependence from food and instead depend upon God. Doing so often leads to greater intimacy with the Lord and to hearing more clearly what the Lord is saying to us. While there are interesting physical things that happen when we fast, far beyond anything physical is the spiritual. This is a discipline that helps us hear fro...

Each year, in assessing the state of Salem, we take a look at some benchmark statistics. Our membership now includes 254 professing adults. We also have 40 baptized infants and children— so 294 total. That’s an increase of 21 members. This past year 7 members died and 2 withdrew their membership. We received 28 new members. That means we have received 109 new members since arriving at our current location a little over six years ago! Our weekly worship attendance averaged 210 this past year, a very slight increase from 209 the previous year. This is an area that needs some attention and intention. Gathering weekly for worship is a central action for followers of Jesus. 254 professing members have vowed to be present. Of those, some will be sick or out of town, but we also have 40 baptized children. Their parents vowed to raise them in the church. We also have a significant number of active non-members who regularly worship, and guests join us frequently, too. We could potent...

January is a wonderful time to make some resolutions for the upcoming year. How do we intend to live our lives? After all, life is the most precious gift from God. What we do with it is our response to God. Some of the most popular resolutions in our culture include losing weight, being more healthy, getting organized, learning something new, and getting out of debt. Of course, most resolutions fail within the first month. We make the resolution, but often we don’t have a plan to make it happen. Likewise, as followers of Jesus, it’s not enough to simply want to be a disciple, we need a plan and a process to make that happen. Discipleship is a pattern of life. It’s the practices we cultivate in our lives as we submit to our Lord, Jesus. One of the early Church Fathers, Tertullian (c.160 – c.225) said “Christians are made, not born.” That is, it takes work. Just like Olympic athletes are made and not born, the kind of people we become is directly related to the habits we practice in...

Our Leadership Board has been intentional the last several years about Salem’s direction. Our goals this past year have been to engage everyone in the life of the church; to develop a system of congregation care; to continue holding “bridge events” outside the building to reach out to our community; and to increase the payment of our apportionments from 40% to 50% (our giving beyond the local congregation to support the general church as well as our denomination’s mission locally and throughout the world). We learned much as we worked on these goals. We learned that while God is in control, everything takes longer than we think it will. We have to have patience and trust in how God is working. We discovered that it’s hard to get people to commit, especially to long-term things, but it’s more fruitful with a personal invitation from someone already participating. We also wondered if perhaps we’re attempting to do too much, if the congregation is sometimes spread too thin. Still...

Who passed the faith on to you? You’re here because of somebody. It could be your mom, dad, grandparent, spouse, friend, neighbor, co-worker. It could be an entire congregation. The thing about Christianity is, it’s all about relationship. Someone with whom you’re in relationship passed the faith along to you.  In 2 Timothy 1:5 the Apostle Paul says to Timothy, “I am reminded of your sincere faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now…lives in you.” Timothy’s faith is indebted to those who preceded him, his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice. Faith is handed down, in this case, from mother to daughter to son. For many of us, faith is passed from generation to generation. In November we observed All Saints, a celebration of the Communion of Saints. So first, we give thanks for the people who have gone before us, the people who passed the faith along to us. We’re standing on their shoulders. We are who we are because of them. Furthermor...

There is a tale found in the Talmud, the compendium of Jewish civil and ceremonial law and legend, about Honi the Wise One. When he saw something that puzzled him he would ask questions so he could unravel the mystery. “ One day, Honi the Wise One was walking on the road and saw a man planting a carob tree. Honi asked the man, ‘How long will it take for this tree to bear fruit?’ The man replied, ‘Seventy years.’ Honi then asked the man, ‘And do you think you will live another seventy years and eat the fruit of this tree?’ The man answered, ‘Perhaps not. However, when I was born into this world, I found many carob trees planted by my father and grandfather. Just as they planted trees for me, I am planting trees for my children and grandchildren so they will be able to eat the fruit of these trees.’” We reap the fruit of trees planted before we were even born. Our ancestors planted and tended trees for us. Likewise, when we plant trees, we do it for those who follow us. When we p...

Christ in the Storm on the Lake of Galilee by Rembrandt, 1633 Jesus woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Mark 4:39 My family and I vacationed in the upper peninsula of Michigan. Lake Superior is quite massive and is capable of powerful storms. One day we were out on the water on a glass bottom boat, touring shipwrecks, the result of powerful storms. The gospels tell a story about Jesus and the disciples out on a lake in a boat in the midst of a great storm (Matthew 8, Mark 4, Luke 8). The waves were crashing into the boat. Jesus was asleep. The disciples woke him up, fearing they were going to drown. Jesus immediately calmed the storm and the disciples were amazed. We all experience storms in our life. A week ago, my daughter, Mara, found a lost dog in our neighborhood. She chased the dog down and took care of her. By the time my wife, Joy, and I got home, the shelters were closed and the police wouldn’t send anyone to pick up the dog until t...