Thursday Thought 2/12/2026 - It's almost Valentines Day

drawn by Holden

Hey out there – the three of you who read this blog.  (Hi Mom, hi Aunties)

It’s Valentine’s Day coming up.  Of course, that means all sorts of commercials and advertisements pushing us towards the purchase of how much we love.  Sounds kind of funny when you put it that way doesn’t it?  We get to show how much we love someone because there is a day that is commercialized so much, that it has become synonymous with chocolate boxes, flowers, lavish gifts, even heavy sexual innuendos…

Sounds like this world.

A quick question to the google machine about what and why is Valentine’s Day gives us this… “We celebrate Valentine’s Day to show love and appreciation for the people we care about.

Valentine’s Day is named after Saint Valentine, a Christian priest who lived in ancient Rome. One popular story says he secretly performed marriages for couples when the Roman emperor had banned them. He was later punished for this, and over time he became associated with love and devotion.

In the Middle Ages, people in Europe began linking February 14 with romance. Later, poets and writers made the idea of “romantic love” on this day even more popular. By the 1700s and 1800s, people were exchanging love letters and small gifts.

Today, Valentine’s Day is about: Showing love to romantic partners, appreciating friends and family, Expressing kindness and affection.”

It doesn’t sound like a negative thing, does it?  I don’t think so.  However, it does sound like something that we should be doing all year long, every day, doesn’t it?

The Bible tells us in John 13:35 NIV 35 “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  And it also says in John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

Seems to me that Jesus was saying “Love one another... ALL THE TIME”.  It’s puzzling then that we allow mainstream advertising and commercialized authorities to tell us to love our loved ones and show how much you do love them by purchasing this bauble or that trinket.

One of the greatest ways that I have always appreciated to be loved is a note or text or random reach out “just because” type of thing.  To be in someone’s heart, to have someone praying for me, or thinking about me just because, means there’s a place in their heart especially for you!  It’s quite an honor.

But bending to the commercialism of corporate giants to purchase this, or plan for that, or that the real only true way to show your love is by purchasing something that is expensive enough to show true devotion.

One of my most prized possessions right now, is a drawing I received from a young man at our church.  He drew it, colored it, and took the time to come to my office and tell me that he had made it for me.  He explained the picture to me and made sure that I understood its meaning.  I mean, who doesn’t love a colorful drawing of Sonic the Hedgehog???   And this is a bit shy and not super gregarious boy who took the time and effort to express himself to me this way. (Thanks Holden!)

It’s something I will treasure, right next to the Lamborghini Countach with the huge red bow on it that I better see in my driveway from my wife in two days!!!  😊

Let’s do better, and love like Jesus all year long this year.  Maybe we can change this world for the better, as He wants us too.

Blessings, and Happy V-day to those I love.  I really hope you know who you are!

PTV

Thursday Thought 2/5/2026 - No Expectations? Really?

I have been at an event this week which has blessed me very much.  I got the honor of serving as a sectional presbyter for the MN Assemblies of God (MNAOG).  This week I have had the honor of serving as a member of a board who interviews potential pastors, young and old, and talk with them, pray with them, and hear their hearts for this calling on life.

And not one story is the same.  Not one.

The expectations on these candidates are quite high.  To become pastors, to hold yourself to a level of standards that approaches what the Bible lays out.  (you notice I said approaches the standard, because “all fail and fall short of the glory of God…” Romans 3:23

And hearing these stories and listening to these callings, it has made me wonder about the expectations that I put on people I know.

Now first, let’s be clear.  Everyone puts expectations on people.  If someone tells you that they do not have expectations, they are either fooling themselves or they are just lying.  We all do it.  We have expectations, especially for the people around us.  Right?  I mean, just thinking about my children and as they grew – I had expectations for each of them.  For the people I work with and serve with – of course I have expectations for them in how they do the ministries, or jobs that they are to do.  In fact, if you are any type of manager of people in an occupational position, or a serving position, expectations are written into the development plan.  I know that they’ve been in every job I’ve had.

But we have different expectations for those we love, don’t we.  We place people into levels of expectations, those who are supposed to love us for instance.  Our parents, our children, our spouses, even our siblings.  These are people who because of the close proximity to our inner circle, become “high expectations” people.  Then there is the next level, people who we are close too, people we might even trust, but we aren’t completely shocked when something occurs that breaks trust because they are not in the “high expectations” category, they would be in the “high-middle expectations" category.

So we are caught off guard and hurt quite painfully when a “high expectations” person breaks trust, and it can really throw us off.  You can see where this is going, right?  High, high-middle, middle, middle-low, low, and so on. An expectational scale.

And we attribute significance to each category in our expectational scale to how much these levels can hurt/harm us, or help/encourage us.

But are expectations really fair?  I mean, is it scriptural?  Is it a characteristic of God?

And it’s a really big question.

It really depends on how you understand God—and where your personal faith is.

God does have expectations—but they’re usually less about perfection and more about orientation or what is our heart saying.   In fact, God knows that we are not going to be perfect, but what He wants to see which way we are headed.  What do we choose?

Do we treat others with compassion and fairness?

Are we honest, humble, and responsible for our actions?

Do we try to grow toward goodness, even when we mess up?

So then in this view, expectations aren’t where we mess up, they become a moral compass. And falling short doesn’t mean rejection; it means you’re human and still you are learning.

It means that growth is much more about learning and relationships.  Because you can follow the letter of the law on something but not believe in it.  And we are being asked to believe with everything we have Jesus. Do we trust Him? Do we have faith in Him? You have to be able to answer the question.

But yes, when it really comes down to it, there are expectations.  And we all do it, and we all have them placed on us. These expectations are consistently described as a journey of growth, empowered by faith and the Holy Spirit, leading people to reflect on what is God's character.

Here are some core expectations that we see in scriptures, for instance;

Love God & Neighbor: The greatest commandments are to love God with all your being and your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-39).

Act Justly & Show Mercy: treat others fairly with compassion (Micah 6:8).

Live Righteously & Be Holy: pursue goodness and be set apart, reflect God's own holiness (1 Peter 1:15-16).

Believe & Trust: have faith in God, and to follow His guidance.

And many times, we look at these as merely suggestions – but they are not.  In fact, we have a list of commandments that we hold too laid out in Exodus 20:2-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21, that give us much more than expectations.

There is no complete answer other than, we are not perfect, we are human, and we will have expectations, and we will expect from people, and people will expect from us.  But if we look at it with the lens of our Sovereign Lord, then we will see that many reasons for expectations are that we want to encourage those around us, those we love, those we think highly of, to be the best they can be.

I think that is why God put the greatest commandment in our path. The Great Commandment.  According to Jesus in Matthew 22:36-40, the greatest commandment is to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind". This is the first and foremost commandment, with a second being to love your neighbor as yourself.

This expectation emphasizes the complete, total, and unconditional love for God using one's entire being (heart, soul, mind).  The second part Jesus links to a second, related command: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," (Leviticus 19:18).

So maybe we give each other a little slack but just know that God is expecting us to follow Him in ALL ways, not just some ways.  Not just in the ways that we can relate too or actually carry out…in all ways.

Maybe expectations aren’t fair.  Maybe expectations aren’t fun.  But guess what?  It’s real life.  It’s what we have.  It is what it is, as people say.  And maybe we put them on people unfairly.  And yes, I think we should be looking at ourselves as we make our expectations for others.  But I also think that expectations can hold us to a higher standard that we are being called to be as people of God.  Let’s look to Him in all things.  He will guide us.

Peace,

PTV

Thursday Thought 1/29/2026 - Another Hard Week

Not everything you read here is going to be rose colored.  You dig?

I have to admit; I am not really doing the greatest mentally with this whole “getting older” thing.  It makes everything harder.  Even just sleeping through the night becomes difficult due to aches, and “sleeping the wrong way”, and having to “get up” during the night.  (Yes, I used several quotations in that last sentence.  I am disguising my words to appear less crass, but also to allow those who know (IYKYK) to understand my meaning….

Then you get up to the same things each day.  The same aches and pains, the same heart aches that you push off, but that rush up on you as the day starts – the same concerns and issues that you worked on the day before from your job, the same family concerns that trigger those heart aches.  Maybe it’s even physical illness, or a condition that eases while you sleep or lay down, but that comes back full bore when you sit up, awake, on the side of the bed.

Sometimes just putting my feet into my slippers is like surrendering to the day, because it’s the first step towards all these things.

And it’s not just our personal concerns.  There are maniacs running around our country, our state, and our communities.  And we just don’t understand why.  Why does this pain, this trouble, these heart aches, this anguish continue?

And these questions sit right at the center of the human heart— and the Bible doesn’t brush it off or pretend it’s simple. It actually expects us to ask.

Let’s be really clear, the Bible is very honest about pain.

God never scolds people for having personal concerns or deep anguish. Scripture is full of voices crying out or wondering why we are experiencing these things…

“How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?” (Psalm 13:1)

“Why, Lord, do You stand far off? Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble?” (Psalm 10:1)

“My tears have been my food day and night.” (Psalm 42:3)

Those aren’t weak people talking. They’re faithful people—David, Job, Jeremiah—who loved God and still felt crushed.  These are pillars of the Bible asking these things.  I mean I love David just because he was so real.  He was up one day, and down the next.  Even Jeremiah, who is known as “the weeping prophet” looked for answers.   Jeremiah was called that not just because he was sad in an emotional sense. His tears, his grief expressed deep pain for sin and its consequences. Also, Jeremiah's grief was rooted in faith that God would ultimately make everything right.

So why does grief / pain continue? Why doesn’t it make sense?

The Bible gives perspectives, not tidy answers.  There is no silver bullet.  Because there is to be relationship.  There is to be reliance, there is to be FAITH.

We live in a broken world because of the fall of man.  And pain isn’t always personal punishment or failure. Jesus directly rejected that idea in John 9 where we see Jesus heal a man who was born blind.  

John 9:1-3 NIV As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.

The world itself is fractured, and suffering is part of that reality.  Just look around, just read the newspaper or watch the news.  Just live life for a while.  But we see here in this verse that Jesus is pulling people back to the fact that this occurred so that relationship could happen.  “That the works of God might be displayed in him” … and others will see it, work to understand it, in fact ask about it.

I have a very good friend who struggles everyday with Cerebral Palsy.  CP can be crippling in every way, every day.  I sometimes wonder how he even gets up sometimes.  Even laying down can be a challenge.  I have asked him how each day he goes about the work that the Lord has tasked him to do (he is a pastor of another rural church in SW MN) and he states to me, “…I never know if its going to be a good day or a bad day physically, but I always wake up with the possibility that it will be a good one.  So, then I can either add to the good, by leaning into that, or I can add to the bad, by leaning that way.  But the day will be the day it’s going to be.”  So, it’s either going to be leaning into the good or the bad.

And I believe that God allows lament, not just praise.  Oh, He is worthy of praise.  He is the only one worthy of praise.  But God doesn’t demand that we understand before we speak. He invites honesty first. Lament is an act of faith, not doubt. You’re still talking to God, not walking away.  So, I say talk to God about it.  Praying and talking to God about what is going on, what you are going through, is leaning into the good.

Scripture says God can work through suffering (Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.), but it never says suffering feels easy. Even Jesus wept and asked “Why?” (Matthew 27:46) About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”). If He did, you’re not wrong to.

But we know that all we have to do is call out to Him.  He has shown me over and over how close He is to me.

“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.” (Psalm 34:18)

“Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7)

It doesn’t say just cast some anxiety. It says All of it. Even the anxiety that feels repetitive, unresolved, or embarrassing.  Even the anxieties that occur each day when you wake up and sit on the side of the bed.  Even the anxiety that you can’t comprehend.

And when the pain keeps coming and understanding doesn’t?

“We walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7)

That’s not a command to stop feeling, it’s an understanding that clarity often comes after endurance, not before.  That we need to continue to look to God in ALL things, at ALL times, and to keep doing that!

Share it with your Heavenly Father, He wants to hear from you.

And in all of the pain that feels heaviest right now, loss, waiting, unanswered prayers, concerns for family or friends, our world as it is: I’m here with you in it.  Let’s cry out to Him together.

Peace,

PTV

Thursday Thought 1/22/2026: What are we doing?

I received this prayer from my leadership of the MN District yesterday…

“Lord Jesus, we are grateful for your presence, grace, goodness to your church in MN. What a JOY to know YOU & to cast our cares on YOU. Our hearts feel the weight of those living amongst us who do not know YOU.

Today we pray you will use YOUR CHURCH to reach a broken world, broken culture, a broken state. Take what the enemy has meant for evil, to destroy us, and do what only you can do… Turn hearts to God, turn RIOTS TO REVIVAL.

We pray YOUR CHURCH will arise with COMPASSION, WISDOM, and UNDERSTANDING of our times. We pray for the immigrants who live amongst us. May they sense LOVE and PEACE emanating from YOUR CHURCH. UNITE YOUR CHURCHES and give us YOUR HEART.  We pray for ALL ethnic groups living amongst us. We pray for breakthroughs and revival in each of these groups

As You moved miraculously on Day of Pentecost, DO IT AGAIN. Let the nations experience the LOVE and SAVING POWER of JESUS.

We also pray for those who have taken an oath to enforce the laws of our land. We pray You will protect them even as they protect us. Give us COMPASSION, WISDOM, and UNDERSTANDING of their challenging calling.

Let YOUR will be accomplished in MN. Use YOUR CHURCH to GLORIFY YOUR NAME. Speak to us, the A/G, about how to “DEMONSTRATE” the love of Jesus. Show each of us how to respond in the unique context in which we live and serve.  Show us how to share the HOPE we have found in Jesus.”  (Reverend Mark Dean – Superintendent MN District of Assemblies of God)

I thank God that I serve in a denomination in which the MOST important thing is RELATIONSHIP with JESUS for EVERYONE.

I said this from the pulpit last week, and I will say it here:  satan wants to distract us, not see what is really going on.  If he can get us to fight amongst ourselves, to hate our brother, our sister, to argue with each other – then our eyes are not on God.  We are distracted from looking to HIM for our peace and joy.

Everyone one wonders why things are such a mess.  I’ll tell you.

Because we are not focused on the One who is Worthy of all our praise.  WE need to be on our knees, praying for revival of this once great nation of ours.  We need God to be present in all ways.  This is not going to be solved by us as really great people.  Because we are not.  IT will only be solved supernaturally, by our Savior and Lord.

Please join me, and our church as we pray for our country, our state, our community – to have God’s intervention pour down on them all.  This will take us all.  Not just the A/G, not just one denomination – ALL of GODS PEOPLE together praying…

Peace in Him!

PTV