Pastor's Blog

Dear Family, on this new day of grace, I invite you to pray. May the lightness of his gentle grace encourage us all as we are given eyes of faith to see the power by which He makes all things new today. The circumstances of the day may remain as yesterday, but inwardly we experience a lightness in our heart and soul as a result of being assured of being in His Presence today.

KJV Lamentations 3:22-25 It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.

KJV Psalm 27:13-14 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

Isaiah 40:28-31 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Lord, we would have not known if we would have not heard that you are the Creator of the ends of the earth and that you never faint or tire as we do. How is it that there is no limit to your understanding and that your ways are past finding out? Lord, you give power to the faint and to those who have no strength and are in fact, weak, such as ourselves, you increase strength! How does that work, Lord? How do we go from having no might to increasing in strength? Not even the strength of the youth will avail anything, but You, Lord, through the power of faith renew, rejuvenate, make us alive again, when we wait upon you. It is truly as it is recorded:

Psalm 123:2 Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God, until that he have mercy upon us.

2 Chronicles 20:12 O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.

Dear Lord God, cause our eyes of faith to be upon you today as well as during all the days of our lives, so that our strength shall be renewed to the extent that we will live and walk above the challenges and difficulties of life. As you are the center of our lives, may it be the our problems would be seen as periphereal rather than central to our vision of faith, a hope which is focused on and in your Son, Jesus Christ. Cause us to remember that as your children we not only go into, but we also pass through difficulties. Dear Father, isn't it true that trials are like the trains that come through town, we know that they come through, some are short, some are long, but they all pass through town. But dear Father, it is so hard when the noise of the train is rumbling through town for a long time as if it will never pass through.....Cause us to trust, Dear Lord.

Psalm 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Lord, it is always through your Word and your Spirit that we are renewed, comforted, directed and encouraged in the midst of the struggles and storms of life. Dear Father, be with each of your children today; with those who are struggling with fear, with those who are struggling with lack of hope, with those who are disappointed with life, with those who are finding it difficult to forgive themselves as well as others, with those who have lost their way but do not as of yet realize it, with those who are grieving, with those who are suffering with pain, with those who are rejoicing in you, and, Lord, with all people everywhere in the world!!

Dear Holy Father, this weekend we have the privilege of having our dear brother, Pastor Rodney Johnson and his wife, Dolly, with us for a series of services. Lord, how we look to you for your blessing upon this time together. May you bring many of us together into the wonderful fellowship of the body of your Son, Jesus Christ, and may we be fed with your living Word so that we will be comforted, encouraged, strengthened, and directed in your wonderful Kingdom in which we have the privilege to be a part of. Bless Pastor Rod in the preparation and delivery of the joy which you have and will be giving him to share with us this weekend. May it all be to your glory and honor and for the edifiying of the body of your Son, Jesus Christ.

In the matchless name of Jesus, we thank you and praise you, Amen

In the name of Jesus, Amen!

Good Morning, Dear family,

God's Peace to you all!

KJV Colossians 3:23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;

Many good things have happened recently, for on Friday night we had a wonderful time as we gathered together for the benefit of the Natalie Matson family. Thank you for your donations of items, thank you for purchasing those items which you did so that financial donations could be given to the Matsons, and above all, thank you for sharing your heart with us all on Friday night.

Also, we had a wonderful time with Jennie Johansson, Michael Rahkola, Jay Wirkkala, Sven Johansson and the many which were gathered last evening at our church. The youth presented an interesting, informing, captivating and challenging recap of their recent mission trip to Guatemala. Let us thank God for these young people and continue to support our young missionaries as well as our upcoming missionaries within our congregation. We praise God for the work that He is doing in our hearts, do we not?

I will place this morning some of the main thoughts from yesterday's message and will also place the poem that I read as well as the words to the song sang by Dorothy Aho at Cole Ruotsala's celebration of life. The title of the sermon was "God's Mysterious Ways." This message was motivated by a question placed before me as to why did Cole die and not Natalie. It was with great prayer and supplication before the Lord that I approached and continue to approach this question......May the Lord continue give us understanding in this struggle to grapple with these questions.

Quote: Benjamin Disraeli, "To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge."

KJV Isaiah 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
KJV Isaiah 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
KJV Romans 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

KJV Job 9:1-12 Then Job answered and said,
2 I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just with God?
3 If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand.
4 He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered?
5 Which removeth the mountains, and they know not: which overturneth them in his anger.
6 Which shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble.
7 Which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not; and sealeth up the stars.
8 Which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea.
9 Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south.
10 Which doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number.
11 Lo, he goeth by me, and I see him not: he passeth on also, but I perceive him not.
12 Behold, he taketh away, who can hinder him? who will say unto him, What doest thou?

What do we say when a child is taken and another left? What do we say when a parent is taken when the children are young and another parent lives past 100 years old? What do we say when cancer suddenly hits our loved ones, one is healed to life here on earth, but another is taken to heavens shores. How do we cope with these perplexing and difficult questions of life?
But not only do we struggle with finality of life, but we also struggle with the ongoing difficulties of life that may not necessarily end in death, but are ongoing struggles with sickness, troubled and broken marriages, disappointment in our extended families, financial difficulties, living in past regret and unforgiveness, broken dreams….the list goes on.

ESV Psalm 139:1 O LORD, you have searched me and known me!
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.
3 You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.
5 You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.

ESV Psalm 139:16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them.

ESV Job 14:1 "Man who is born of a woman is few of days and full of trouble.
2 He comes out like a flower and withers; he flees like a shadow and continues not.
3 And do you open your eyes on such a one and bring me into judgment with you?
4 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? There is not one.
5 Since his days are determined, and the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass,

From Cole’s dad, Aaron
“I am simply amazed how one boy can take thousands of people and help us to forget about our denominations and certain churches. How we can all look past each other and look to the very one who created us. The one who is the ultimate author and maker of all plans. His plans for Cole were obviously to put that little boy on a mission, and that he did. The mission to stop for a moment to realize the true meaning of life and what is truly worth living for.”

Quotes/paraphrase from Pastor Bruce Estola at Cole’s funeral.
"Cole had no idea that he was ministering to the whole world via the internet and the caring bridge site (over 500,000 log ins) not even realizing what he was doing so. Why was there such a strong impact on so many people? We know that older people die and we can accept that. But why does a child have to die? It makes us force our mortality, that we are going to die. Can we trust God when something like this happens? How do we know that our children will not be gone tomorrow? The Bible tells us that God is working everything for good to His people.
We have heard how that Cole wiped the tears away from the faces of his father and mother. God showed us a lifetime of love through a three year old boy and this was over a 2 month period.”

A poem which was on the Cole's caring bridge site.

"I'll lend you, for a little while,
a child of mine,"He said
"For you to love while he lives
and mourn when he is dead.
It may be six or seven
years, or twenty-two or three, but will you
till I call him back,
take care of him for me?
He'll bring his charms to gladden you
and shall his stay be brief,
you'll have his lovely memories
as solace for your grief.
I cannot promise he will stay,
as all from earth return
but there are lessons taught down there
that I want this child to learn.
I've looked the wide world over
in my search for teachers true,
and from the throngs that crown life's lanes,
I have selected YOU.
Now will you give him all your love
-not think the labor vain
nor hate me when I come to call
to take him back again."
I fancied that I heard them say
"Dear Lord, Thy will be done.
For all the joys thy child will bring
The risk of grief we'll run.
We will shelter him with tenderness,
We'll love him while we may---
And for the happiness we've known
Forever grateful stay.
But should the angels call for him
Much sooner than we've planned,
We'll brave the bitter grief that comes
And try to understand."
Written By: Edgar A. Guest
(from "All In a Lifetime"--Copyright, 1938)

A few observations as I spoke with Pastor Bruce a few days before the funeral and we discussed as to why such an impact was made by Cole’s short life.

1. The love that Cole possessed was the love of Jesus Christ.

2. Cole’s parents were transparent in that they shared their emotions during the last two months:
Joy, sorrow, pain, anger, frustration, hope, They were being real with all of us.

3. The body of Christ all across the world laid aside petty differences and came together to seek the will of God in the life of Cole.

God's will vs our will

Prayer is God's ordained means to a God ordained end. Through prayer for and with one another we are brought into the will of God for our lives, even though many times we do not understand his ways or even accept his plan. But only as we are brought into his will we are able to come to a place of acceptance and trust in His goodness, knowing ultimately that our will must bow and submit to His will. The will of the Father is to give us eternal life through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

We must come to this place.
KJV Luke 22:42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.

Cole has gained heaven and heaven is our goal
NLT 2 Corinthians 4:17 For our present troubles are quite small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us an immeasurably great glory that will last forever!
NLT 2 Corinthians 4:18 So we don't look at the troubles we can see right now; rather, we look forward to what we have not yet seen. For the troubles we see will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever.

The following song was sung at Cole’s funeral for the benefit of the widespread family of Cole.
by Dorothy Aho.

Have you prayed for a loved one, struggling hard with pain,
You asked the Lord for healing, yet the healing never came,
And in spite of all your efforts, the Good Lord called him home,
And it's hard to let go when you're trying to hold on.

And now you're down in the valley, looking up to the sky,
You pray, Lord, you know best, but I don't understand why.
But if you could hear your loved one, speaking now to you,
They say you won't be grieving, if you only knew.

If you only knew, I'm just going home, God answered your prayers.
My sickness is gone, things look so much better, from heaven's view.
Here the sun always shines, were having a time, if you only knew.

To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord,
I'm in the arms of Jesus and I'm not suffering anymore.
Hand in hand we will stroll together down heaven's avenue.

O what a celebration if you only knew, if you only knew, I'm just going home.
God answered your prayers and my sickness is gone, things look so much better,
from heaven's view, here the sun always shines, we're having a time, if you only knew.
Here the sun always shines, we're having a time, if you only knew.

In Christ,

Pastor Orval Wirkkala