FPC Hanford Blog

With Valentine’s Day only a few short weeks away, our thoughts turn to love and romance. However, for many, Valentine’s Day holds no fascination – perhaps because of painful, past disappointment of love lost or love never found. Fortunately, the God who created us also loves us beyond our capacity to understand, but not beyond our capacity to experience.

In his book The Pleasures of God, John Piper shares why God’s love is superior to any love we will find here on earth:

“Sometimes we joke and say about marriage, The honeymoon is over. But that’s because we are finite. We can’t sustain a honeymoon level of intensity and affection. We can’t foresee the irritations that come with long-term familiarity. We can’t stay as fit and handsome as we were then. We can’t come up with enough new things to keep the relationship that fresh. But God says his joy over his people is like a bridegroom over a bride. He is talking about honeymoon intensity and honeymoon pleasures and honeymoon energy and excitement and enthusiasm and enjoyment. He is trying to get into our hearts what he means when he says he rejoices over us with all his heart.

And add to this, that with God the honeymoon never ends. He is infinite in power and wisdom and creativity and love. And so he has no trouble sustaining a honeymoon level of intensity; he can foresee all the future quirks of our personality and has decided he will keep what’s good for us and change what isn’t; he will always be as handsome as he ever was, and will see to it that we get more and more beautiful forever; and he infinitely creative to think of new things to do together so that there will be no boredom for the next trillion ages of millenniums.”

The Apostle Paul reminds us in Romans 5:5 and 8, “And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us…. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” My encouragement to each of us is to always keep God’s love for us at the forefront of our thinking. Then, share his love with others.

Keep the faith,

Pastor Tony

With 2011 behind us and the prospect of a New Year before us, our thoughts turn to resolutions. For many of us, we hope and desire that 2012 will bring happier circumstances. Author, innovation consultant, and speaker Stephen Shapiro, with the help of Opinion Corporation of Princeton, New Jersey, offers the following interesting statistics concerning New Year’s resolutions:

• Forty-five percent of Americans usually set New Year’s Resolutions; seventeen percent infrequently set resolutions; thirty-eight percent never set resolutions
• Eight percent are always successful in achieving their resolutions; nineteen percent achieve their resolutions every other year; forty-nine percent have infrequent success; twenty-four percent (one in four) never succeed and have failed on every resolution every year.
• Forty-seven percent set resolutions related to self-improvement or education
• Thirty-eight percent set resolutions related to weight
• Thirty-four percent set resolutions related to money
• Thirty-one percent set resolutions related to relationships
• The younger you are, the more likely you are to achieve your resolutions (thirty-nine percent of those in their twenties achieve their resolutions every year or every other year, while less than fifteen percent of those over fifty achieve their resolutions every year or every other year)
• The less happy you are, the more likely you are to set New Year’s resolutions (this is especially true for those who set money-related resolutions: forty-one percent are not happy; thirty-four percent are moderately happy; twenty-five percent are happy)
• There is actually no correlation between happiness and resolution setting/success (people who achieve their resolutions every year are no happier than those who do not set resolutions or who are unsuccessful in achieving them)

The last statistic particularly caught my eye. We believe changes in our external circumstances will bring happiness and contentment. The reality is that only God can do this. Only he can create true, lasting change in our lives. He does so by transforming us from the inside out: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Cor. 5:17) My encouragement to each of us this coming year is to place our hope in the Lord rather in the things of this world: “…But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”  (Isaiah 40:31) Have a blessed New Year!

Keep the faith,

Pastor Tony

Please indulge me. It is still college football season. Several weeks ago, I was at the USC/Stanford football game at the Coliseum with my 8-year-old boy. We witnessed a football game for the ages – a triple overtime epic. Unfortunately the Trojans lost. When the game ended, there was a stunned silence in the crowd. Yet, after the initial shock that the game ended, the crowd applauded both teams, particularly the Trojans. Even at that moment, dialogue began and perspective gained concerning the remarkable game we had all just witnessed. The decided underdog Men of Troy stood toe to toe with the 4th ranked Stanford Cardinal, exchanging blows and giving them more than they possibly bargained for. I have attended approximately 220 USC football games over the course of 40 seasons. For the first time, I felt like a loss was a victory…almost.

Isn’t this precisely what occurred in infinitely greater measure 2,000 years ago on the cross? Those intent on Jesus’ demise believed that they had the victory with his death. Little did they know that theirs was not a victory at all.  Out of an apparent loss handed to Jesus and his disciples, a victory would be gained. On the third day, Jesus was raised. 1 Corinthians 15:54-55 reminds us: “Death has been swallowed in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”  God has an amazing way of creating victory out of apparent loss.  Trust that he will do so in your life.

Keep the faith,

Pastor Tony

As we enter the month of November, our thoughts turn toward the Thanksgiving celebration. This is obviously the season to focus upon and be grateful for the blessings and continued faithfulness of God. I came across a quote from Catholic priest and author Henri Nouwen that helps us place this season (indeed, all of life) in proper perspective:

“To be grateful for the good things that happen in our lives is easy, but to be grateful for all of our lives—the good as well as the bad, the moments of joy as well as the moments of sorrow, the successes as well as the failures, the rewards as well as the rejections—that requires hard spiritual work. Still, we are only truly grateful people when we can say “thank you” to all that has brought us to the present moment. As long as we keep dividing our lives between events and people we would like to remember and those we would rather forget, we cannot claim the fullness of our beings as a gift of God to be grateful for. Let’s not be afraid to look at everything that has brought us to where we are now and trust that we will soon see in it the guiding hand of a loving God.”

Pastor Nouwen’s words beautifully articulate the power of gratitude to positively impact our lives. I have discovered in my own journey of faith that gratitude results in joy, despite what might be occurring in my life. I trust the same will be true for you. Psalm 95:1-2 reminds us: “Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with Thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.”

Keep the faith,

Tony

As you all may know, I am an avid USC Trojan football fan. Since and including the 1972 season (when I was a young pup), I have attended somewhere in the neighborhood of 220 games (a conservative estimate), including 16 Rose Bowl games. You may be asking yourself, “What’s wrong with this guy?”

Admittedly, I love going to the games. However, increasingly my perspective is shifting to a new paradigm. Over the past couple of years I have exclusively taken my two boys to the games. Why? It is because going to the games with either my 11 or 7-year-old is an opportunity to spend quality time with them. That is, going to a game is now an excuse to build relationship with my boys.  Once while driving home from a game I asked my son Braden what his favorite part of the day was. He answered, “Being with you, dad.” I got it.

Isn’t relationship what the gospel is all about – “For God so love the world….” God sent his Son to die on the cross in order to restore relationship with humanity that sin had corrupted. Faith in Jesus restores relationship with our Heavenly Father. We then become ambassadors of God’s redemptive plan to build, repair and restore relationships in all forms – whether horizontal or vertical in nature.

Let us view the “events” of our lives (whatever they may be) as opportunities to increase love, forgiveness and understanding. I am praying that time spent with my boys at football games will pay dividends later.

Keep the faith,

Pastor Tony

If you are like me, I have difficulty laying my head down at night with unresolved issues on the horizon. More often than not, I am one who likes to have issues, circumstances or situations resolved sooner than later. If not, I can lay awake in bed worrying about these issues. I know! I know! In my previous blog entry, I spoke concerning not worrying about tomorrow. I never said that I don’t have relapses when it comes to anxiety.

Nevertheless, the reality is that there are circumstances in life that cannot be resolved in a short amount of time. As a result (and in addition to embracing Matthew 6:34), it has been helpful for me to understand that some issues in life can be resolved quickly while others are tensions to be managed. This is another insight I received from the same pastor friend/colleague that I referenced in my previous entry. Perhaps God doesn’t want quick resolution in all things because this can result in bypassing the spiritual maturing component.

James 1:2-4 reminds us, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” We can have joy in the midst of difficulties because we know that difficulties have a purpose – the maturing of our faith.

Keep the faith,

Pastor Tony

I believe we all have had seasons of life when we feel overwhelmed by the complexities and difficulties we encounter daily. We feel we barely have enough energy to make it through any given day. In addition to all of the normal, everyday chores, routines and responsibilities we have, we are oftentimes broadsided by the unexpected. Then, anxiously in the midst of the current day, we worry about what tomorrow will bring. This one-two punch sends us into a tailspin that can threaten to paralyze us. Does this sound remotely familiar?

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus encourages us to not worry. Of course this is easier said than done. Nevertheless, Jesus offers compelling reasons to not worry. Since God so faithfully feeds the birds of the air and clothes the lilies of the field with such splendor, how much more will he care for his faithful children? Jesus then concludes with these words: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:33-34)

Do these words resonate with you? They do with me. A pastor friend of mine has articulated it this way, “When I wake up in the morning, I petition God for his strength to see me through the day. In the evening, I am answerable to him for how I have conducted myself over the course of the day. God asks nothing more or nothing less from us.”

Whatever your circumstances, I want to encourage you to not borrow trouble. Live in the moment with the awareness that the Lord is continually with us, maintaining an open-ended dialogue with him over the course of the day.

Keep the Faith,

Pastor Tony

If someone were to ask you, “Who are you,” how would you answer? I might answer, “My name is Tony Winterowd. I am a pastor, father, husband, American, tennis player and USC football fan.” But, do these descriptions define who I am or simply roles I play and preferences I may have? If we define ourselves in these terms, we will be disappointed…if not sooner than later. Why? It is because disappointment is inevitable in the roles we play. For example, if my identity is found in being a parent, what happens to my self-worth if my kids are disobedient or make poor choices? If my identity is defined by what I do for a living, what happens to my self-worth if I am laid off? We can take this a step further. If I perceive myself to be a sinner (though I may believe in Christ), how will this impact the way I behave? The answer, of course, is that my life will be characterized by sin. I will live like a sinner.

Scripture is abundantly clear regarding our identity. John 1:12 reminds us, “Yet to all who receive him [Jesus}, to those who believed in his name, he [God] gave the right to become children of God.” 1 John 3:1 tells us, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God.” Furthermore, Scripture is also abundantly clear in calling believers in Christ Saints. In fact, nowhere in the New Testament are believers referred to as sinners.

In light of these Scriptural truths, we can ask ourselves, “Does what we do define who we are? Or, does who we are define what we do?” Defining ourselves as children of God will drive and impact what we do and how we live. Now, lest our heads swell regarding our standing before God as his children, let us remember that it is only by his grace that he receives us as his children; not anything we have done. Thus, we each can say, “I am not the great I AM. But, by the grace of God, I am what I am.” Dear Christian, you are a child of God – a saint who occasionally sins. Embrace this truth, and, by the strength and power of the Holy Spirit, live accordingly.
Recommended reading: “Victory Over the Darkness” and “The Bondage Breaker” by Neil T. Anderson

Keep the faith,

Pastor Tony

A question that I oftentimes wrestle with is, “How can I be sure that I am in step with the movement of God’s Spirit?” When asking this question, I am not referring to obedience to the unambiguous teaching of Scripture. We don’t need to ask for God’s opinion or look for a loophole when Scripture is crystal clear. I am referring to the amoral dilemmas that confront us daily, especially related to relationships.

Frequently I will wake up in the middle of the night, unable to fall back asleep because of an issue turning over in my head. I have found that prayer is a helpful response during these moments. Spiritual warfare can be the cause of my insomnia. I have also discovered that it may be God’s attempt to get my attention. What I have discovered is that when it is God hitting me over the head with a two-by-four, I feel internal dissonance and agitation that is only resolved through humbly seeking God and actively listening for His Spirit to intersect with mine. In so doing, God’s peace begins to bath my inner being.

Philippians 4:6-7 encourages us with these words: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

Keep the faith,

Pastor Tony

I recently finished (finally) N.T. Wright’s book Simply Christian. The book is profound and yet easily understood by simple souls like me. Many believe Wright is the new C.S. Lewis.

What I found particularly helpful is Wright’s ability to articulate truths and realities we all have deeply embedded in our souls. He states that we all have an existential voice whispering internally, telling us that the world is not the way it should be. This infers that at some point in the distant past, love and justice prevailed. This voice further tells us that a future where all is put to rights is possible – a future where not only love and justice once again prevail, but sin not longer holds creation hostage. Wright goes on to say that Jesus speaks to and answers this internal voice. His life and words point to a new reality that he – and he alone – can make possible. Of course, that reality is found in heaven; in the presence of God.

So, in Jesus, heaven and earth intersect. In Jesus’ divinity we discover who God is; his character and nature. In Jesus’ humanity, we discover what we can become – by God’s grace and power. Jesus provides hope for a new reality and inspiration for a life lived at an infinitely higher benchmark.

Colossians 2:9-10 tells us, “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.”

Keep the faith,

Pastor Tony