Prairie Pastoral

This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

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July 27, 2022 | 1 Comment

As We Wait…

Minnie was a sweet lady I would visit at her home south of town. Frustrated with her lack of progress in physical therapy after a fall, she’d ball up her fist, scrunch up her face, and say in a stage whisper, 

“I want patience, and I want it now.”

Oh, Minnie, we are with you.

When will I get a break? When will it be my turn? When will it get easier? When? There are no easy answers to these questions.

I’ve read whole books about patience. I pray for it all the time. I know the answers I’m supposed to give to others and myself. “It’s all God’s timing,” or “Trust God. He will provide.” My answers are true, but they’re not necessarily what I want to hear when the good news is slow to come. [Read more…]

Discipleship, Parenting, Patience, Time, Trust Tagged: frustration, Patience, Teenagers, When?


February 18, 2022 | Leave a Comment

Business as usual?

Then Jesus began to denounce the towns in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades or if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you” (Matthew 11:20-24).

Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum: What had they done to deserve such reproach? What had they done to earn such a curse?

Nothing. They’d done nothing. And that was the point. In the words of the old King James, “…they repented not” (11:20).

Our great grand-daddy of Presbyterians, John Calvin, in his commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, named their indifference was the sin of ingratitude. It was, he wrote, “As if there had never been poured upon it a drop of Divine grace.” The punishment would be greater “in proportion to the higher favors which it had received from God” (https://www.ccel.org/study/Matt_11:22-11:24).

Simply put, the miracles dazzled their eyes, but didn’t change their hearts. Jesus wasn’t a Messiah to them; he was a magician, nothing more. Their hearts weren’t changed. They didn’t turn their lives around. That’s what “repent” means, after all. “To turn around.” To turn from the old and embrace the new. To turn from sin and choose virtue instead. To turn from death and rejoice in new life.

But, u-turns are hard to make some times…for lots of reasons. Even when you’ve had that heart stopping moment of God’s presence wrapped around you, [Read more…]

Discipleship, Repentance, Trust Tagged: Bethsaida, Capernaum, Chorazin, repentance, u-turn


July 27, 2021 | Leave a Comment

Now let the fear of the Lord be upon you

One of my favorite things to do in ministry is to visit with church members who are getting ready to leave the church.

I’m kidding. It gives me an ulcer.

I remember, years ago in a previous ministry, meeting with a household that was very angry about a series of decisions the church leaders had made. I spent the hour in their living room, explaining the leadership’s actions and prayers leading to the decision, knowing the whole time that it was useless. They’d already made up their mind to leave. [Read more…]

Criticism, Discipleship, Fear, God, Jesus Christ, Trust, Truth Tagged: angry church members, fear of the Lord, Jehoshaphat, Tears for Fears


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This is the day that
the Lord has made;
let us rejoice
and be glad in it.

– Psalm 118:24
Rev. Dr. MJ Romano

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Bible Verse of the Day

For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
Romans 5:19
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LaJunta Presbyterian Church

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