Rob Ketterling

MONEY THOUGHTS

As we continue the Pocket Change series I promised to blog a few things about money so here goes my first money blog. Let me review the first weeks sermon and give you some additional thoughts on a generous heart. I truly believe that giving at the tithe (tenth) level is the New Testament starting level of grace giving. So many people want to say their heart is right and they love God, love the church, but want to spend almost 100% of their money on themselves. I just cannot believe that grace giving would be less than the Old Testament tithe.

The problem with grace giving as far as the church is concerned is that people say they want to give only if they feel like it. The problem is that most Christians don't feel like giving! Many people have never been taught what to do today and in the Old Testament the Law was a teacher or tutor to lead them in giving. So without the history of the Law, many of us today have no clue what to give and a series like this one helps to educate us on how to be givers.

Here's a good question to ask yourself concerning tithing, giving and money in the church. "If everyone gave like I do, where would this church be?" It's a good question that makes you think, "Do I really have a generous heart?"

STOVALL'S SURGERY WAS A SUCCESS!

In my sermon this weekend I talked about the heart of giving and opened up the sermon with an illustration of the importance of your heart and talked about my friend Stovall having heart surgery Tuesday. Well, it was a great illustration and I'm pleased to tell you that it was a great surgery as well! Stovall is doing great and they were able to save the valve so it was even better than we had hoped for!

Thank you for your prayers and I'll keep you posted on any further updates!  

GREAT WEEKEND!

It was a great weekend at RVC and I just loved being back this weekend! The worship has gone to another level and I want to encourage the church to keep it up! I also loved preaching this week and thought the first sermon in the Pocket Change series started out great! So many people commented that the topic of money is always a touchy one for churches and this sermon was one that was so life giving that they didn't feel awkward at all. I'm just hoping that people will respond and start to become generous, grateful givers! I'm hoping that just from donating our pocket change, we can raise over $10,000 for Jesus Delivers.

For those of you wondering what the results were on the approval of my shirt from Switzerland, it was 80% for it and 20% against! The only opinion that really matters is Becca's and she likes it so it doesn't matter that it was an 80/20 split!

Lastly, The Super Bowl did not turn out the way I wanted it to or the way I thought it would. Congratulations to the Saints, it only makes it more painful that they won, it leaves me with a huge case of the what ifs! There's always next year for the Vikings!

SAINTS HAVE NO CHANCE!

I know all of my friends with Louisiana ties will not like this blog post but I just watched the NFC Championship game (I was in Switzerland and didn't get to see it but saved it on my DVR.) and the Saints have no chance against the Colts. OK, they have one chance. It's the same chance that they had against the Vikings and they must cheap shot Peyton Manning like they did Favre to even think of keeping it close.

Seriously, the Viking's have plenty of things to blame the loss on, fumbles, interceptions, 12 men on the field...(How did they have 12 men on the field!) But the only reason they didn't win going away is that Favre was beat up with cheap shots. #93 McCray should have been ejected for his late hit on Favre when Favre didn't even have the ball and was not in the play at all. Poor form by the Saints, too bad for the Vikings and too bad for all the fans of the Super Bowl as we will only have the commercials to look forward to. My prediction, Colts laugh their way to a win, the commercials in the first half win, those in the second half wasted their money as millions turn off their TV sets. It will be that bad.

POCKET CHANGE

This weekend we start a new series called Pocket Change and if you could help me out with it, I'd really appreciate it. We are raising money by collecting coins until Feb 28th and I want you to bring loose change to church. We will be collecting it in the lobby in a giant bin and I'm going to start it out this weekend by putting $27 in it that was loose change in the drawers of my desk at church. Yes, I had $27 in change in my desk drawers! Here's why, whenever I go to preach I hate having change in my pockets so I put it in my desk becasue if it's in my pockets it makes noise. I'm not sure how long I've been collecting this change but I'm thrilled to start this out with $27 of pocket change!

If you can remember to bring your change this week, please help us get it started strong. I'm hoping that we raise thousands of dollars and the first $10,000 will go to Jesus Delivers, a ministry we help with that feeds people in the inner city of St.Paul. Let's see how our Pocket Change can change the world!

NO JURY DUTY!

Good news! I don't have to report for Jury Duty! There are no Federal cases at this moment in MN so I'm free to work and move about the country. (Not that I'm planning to do that but I can if I want to.) It was such a huge relief to be able to sign-up to do my civic duty and then not have to miss work and life. I kept thinking how busy I am and I did not want to be on a jury but then I realized, if busy people, leaders of churches, corporations and businesses don't want to serve, who will be on the jury? So I willingly will serve if called upon and I'll get right back to work and family if I'm not needed!

SOMETHING THAT MADE MY DAY

Yesterday, something made my day when I went on a hospital visit to one of our RVC family members. This guy (I won't say who, it's a privacy thing.) was in the hospital and my wife and I went to see him after our lunch appointment. I don't do a lot of hospital visits because of my schedule but I do like doing them because we get to bring words of encouragement, and spend time praying with people in need of prayer and healing so I do enjoy it because of that.

So after assuring him that I wasn't there because he was super serious, (Some people might wonder if they see me visit and wonder "How bad is it?") the part that made my day was that someone else from RVC was there ahead of me. Not a pastor, another member of RVC showing care, concern, love and his own experience with this same illness. Man, that made my day! I love it when someone from the church beats me to the hospital! People sometimes think, "Oh sure, the pastor has to come here, that's what he gets paid to do!" But when someone from the church body goes to the hospital and cares, well, that's an amazing thing and it's when the church looks really good!

So if you want to know something that makes my day, beat me to the hospital to visit the sick, that's a really good start!

BOOK 8 - THE SHACK

Well, I only read 8 books in the month of January and at that pace, I'll only read 96 books so I'll need to pick it up! Where will I find the time to get to 100?

OK, book #8 was The Shack and it's one of the few fiction books I've read in a long time. I enjoyed it but there were a few things in it where I was going, "huh?" but all in all, I enjoyed it. It's a work of fiction I kept telling myself, relax and enjoy it. So I did.

Here's my big take away from it and it won't ruin the book if you want to read it. After reading the book, I loved God more, realize he loves me more than I can imagine and I want to spend more time recognizing God's presence in my life. So if that's the outcome of a fiction book, then I say it was a great book!

STOVALL, ADRIAN PETERSON AND BRYANT MCKINNIE

It's been a whirl wind of activity for me and I'm so glad to be back in Minnesota! Or should I say MinneSNOWta? (Spell check is having a hard time with that word!) After being in Europe, and then off the coast of Miami, I'm back and ready for an extended stay in the frozen tundra. I missed all of the people, but I did not miss the weather! Even 58 and rainy was nice compared to 10 and snowy! But it's so good to be back at home and RVC!

A couple of quick things, first of all. Thank you to the Parkers for sharing their story with all of us this past weekend, it was a real encouragement to many that you shared about the loss of your son and how you have found Christ, hope and peace as you move forward. You truly are an inspiration to all of us and you illustrated that God is a refuge to the hurting in this world.

Secondly, Pastor Stovall Weems and his wife Kerri are in Rochester at the Mayo Clinic for a consultation with a heart specialist. We met them at the airport last night to greet them and then drive them to Mayo because they're not used to driving in the snow and ice conditions. I had to laugh because we were there to greet them and take care of them and there were four of us there to help them. One luggage claim away, Adrian Peterson and Bryant McKinnie were getting their luggage after returning form the Pro-Bowl and no one was there to help them! Pro-Bowlers 0 - Stovall and Kerri 4 - I guess we know how to take care of our family and friends!

Stovall has an enlarged aorta and it looks like he will need surgery either this week or next so please remember him in your prayers. We are believing for a healing either form the hand of God or the hand of the surgeon so he can continue with many more years of life and ministry. You can follow his progress here.

Lastly, Our men's purity event called The Stand was going on this morning at both of our campuses and it was so encouraging to me to see all of the men there at 6AM ready to live pure for God. Well done men, we will see you tomorrow at 6AM for the final morning session!

A HOUSE OF REFUGE

This weekend I'm preaching part four of "The House" series and I'm speaking on "A House of Refuge" as I teach about the church being a place of refuge to those that are Christ followers and also those in need of God that are looking for Him. Hope you join us and bring someone with you! One other thought, why not try the 12:00PM service in Apple Valley now that the Vikings are no longer playing? I guarantee a win!