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

Another Trip Around the Sun - 1/15/2026 Thursday Thought

According to the little AI in all our search engines, yes, a year is essentially the time it takes for the Earth to complete one full orbit, or "trip," around the Sun, which takes about 365.24 days.  I guess then that it also explains our leap years every 4 years.

If you look at that statement above, you’ll notice some things that are very detailed.  Like three hundred sixty five point twenty four.  Many people are very concerned about that “point two four”.  I myself, find it something that is mildly interesting, but not of much concern.  I mean, the year is going to go by anyway – whether I am concerned where that .24 is going or not.  But some are very concerned about that .24.

Life is like that isn’t it?  I mean, there are so many things going on right now in our culture, our society, in the world – that barely touch us, then there are things that are happening right outside our door that affect us deeply.  And how do we engage with these things in a way that is consistent with what God would want from us as Christians and also get our “rights” and our “beliefs” made known to all.

And I wonder, “Do we need to be marching, or do we need to be praying?” 

Many will say “I have my rights, I need to let everyone know that this is what I am about”, but who are we letting know?  The world?  The people around us?  Because the people around us should already know who we are and what we believe in by our actions…

Because the Bible says in John 13:35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

They should already know who and what you are…

So, I guess my point is; do we need to march, or do we need to hit our knees and pray.

James 5:16: "Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working".

1 Timothy 2:1: "First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone".

Ephesians 6:18: "...praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints".

Colossians 4:2-4: "Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful and thankful. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ...".

1 Thessalonians 5:17: "pray without ceasing"

My right, my “rights” as a person as a Christian, as a Child of the Most Worthy, is to do as He instructs as He commands, because He is the King!

And He says to Pray first.

Is it important that the world knows my opinion?  To some it may be the most important thing, but to most it’s discarded off as someone just trying to have an agenda.  My only agenda is to follow what God is asking of me.

And He is asking me to pray.  So, let’s pray…

Our Heavenly Father, I come before you in this written prayer – asking you for a supernatural spiritual renewal and revival.  We need you, Lord.  This world needs your touch with your hands on it.  I realize that this is the domain of the evil one, however, as we live and continue to strive and do your will, to bring your message of sacrifice and love to all – we need you here.   I am praying for all, Lord.  For those who seek refuge, for those lost in a place where they need shelter, even for those with evil in their hearts, Lord.  We all need you.  For those who want equality, for those who want rights, for those who want their voice heard, God, we need you.

Heavenly Father come.  We pray for your return.  We pray for your kingdom come and your will be done here on this earth.  These concerns, these “issues” are not going to be solved by any one of us.  This isn’t a place where people will just look at each other in love instead of hate – and it is getting harder and harder to come and “reason together”.  We need you, Lord.

Heavenly Lord grant us peace that passes all understanding, give us eyes to see and ears to hear – you.  Give us stamina to hit our knees and pray on these things instead of having to have a “voice” to the world.

Less of us Lord, and more of You.  In Jesus’ blessed name I pray.  Amen.

God Bless you –

PTV