Cascade Community Church
Our Pastor
Pastor Karl Selman has 35 plus years of experience in active Christian ministry. He was ordained in 1968, was the Associate Pastor of two churches and Pastor of a third church prior to accepting the call to Pastor our church in 1981.
A
Word from Our Pastor
Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I pray that each of you have survived all the snow and ice of this past winter and are as ready as I am to begin enjoying all the beautiful flowers and much anticipated warm weather of Spring and Summer. I am so looking forward to a many good times with all the outdoor activities, picnics and fun that summer brings. It is so nice to enjoy our gardens and all the beauty of nature. I would like to also take this opportunity to wish you and yours a very blessed Easter as we celebrate the resurrection of our most precious and loving Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As we experience the earth coming back to life with all her beauty and magnificence. My prayer is that this will also be a time of renewal for each of us as we remember and celebrate all that this Season means to us and to the world of which we are a part. May our God richly bless each and every one of you.
Last year was a time when we seen our nation focus on getting legislation passed which would make it easier for our nations citizens to get and to keep the coverage they need to be able to see a doctor or pay for their healthcare and medications which, in many cases, are needed to help them continue living a life with some measure of quality. In our church over the years we have seen several situations where people have worked hard their whole lives but at the end of their life have had to worry about how to pay for prescriptions or medical procedures which they desperately needed to maintain their health. Thank God that we were finally able to get legislation passed and signed into law, which will be a big help to so many people throughout our nation. Although it was not exactly what many of us were hoping and praying for, it at least moves the ball forward and hopefully in time can be improved upon and made better. Unfortunately this process has also shed light once again on how far so many religious people in our nation have found themselves on the wrong side of such and important issue facing the people of this nation. Just the other day I was watching a young man speaking on the subject of religion verses doing what's needed to benefit humans, the earth, and life itself. He has come to the conclusion that religion, including Christianity must be abandoned based on the fact that more often than not religion stands on the wrong side of so many important issues facing the world. Our nation and the world of which we are a part has so many serious problems facing us and time after time religion, including many Christians are part of the problem instead of being part of the solution. This is why so many people are coming to the belief that God and religion are just not believable. As a minister of the Gospel I find myself feeling so discouraged because I see and understand completely why so many are coming to the wrong conclusion about the existence of God. The church should and must be part of the solution not just another part of the problem.
Just in the past few months we have had several major earthquakes around the world and a couple right in our own neighborhood. The world is becoming more and more crowded each day and so many do not begin to have the basic needs to live a good and productive life. Every few minutes a child dyes from the lack of safe drinking water, starvation, preventable illnesses and disease, the results of war, and the list goes on and on. We face a very uncertain future because of climate change. I Just recently read an article about the Pentagon's planning strategies for a future world where people will be fighting for land and water which is absolutely necessary to sustain life. I can go on and on listing so many problems we face as a people but I do not wish to make this message a message of gloom and doom. But, all these things I have mentioned are real issues facing all of us and they are all issues we should be concerned about and we especially as Christians should be part of the solution rather than part of the problem. Jesus calls us to feed the hungry, cloth the naked, and care for the least among us. He actually said that this would be the criteria by which we all will be judged by on that great Day of Judgment. He also said that we are to "love our neighbors as we love ourselves." I am fully aware that there are those who wish to rewrite the Gospel to re-create Jesus as a more militant and aggressive personality but God has already revealed Himself through Jesus Christ as a loving, compassionate, and caring God, rather than a God filled with all the flawed and sinful human emotions of anger, hate, and bigotry. When you hear or read about religious leaders who blame suffering people who have survived an earthquake, or those who are living with a disease or illness, a rational person should realize these statements are so misguided and so far off the mark such as recent statements I've heard that the most important issue of our time is to stop gay folks from getting married or that gay marriage is a threat to the future of the human race. It makes me really wonder what planet these people are from. We as the Children of God must stand up for the truth as presented to us by our God through the life and teaching of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
When I first became a Christian I was a very young man, a teenager to be precise. The message that convinced me to become a Christian was a message of God's unconditional love. The message I heard was that God loves all of us and that He will forgive us and welcome us into His Church no matter how big a sinner we might be. I heard the Parable Jesus told of the Prodigal Son, who had left home and squandered all his earthly goods and wound up eating the food he was feeding to swine in order to survive. As the story is told by Jesus, he finally comes to his senses and decides to go home and ask for his Father's forgiveness. What he didn't realize was that his Father spent every day watching and longing for his return and was ready not only to forgive him but to welcome him home with open arms. That parable teaches us the true nature of our God as being presented to us and all of humankind by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I believe I will take His Word as the Authoritative Word on the subject of God. Those who would try to alter or change it into something else are not doing God a service but rather turning so many people against God and religion. God calls us to make a positive difference in the world, to be part of the solution to the world's many complex and serious problems. If we want people to believe and except Christianity, we must present God as He really is and that of course is the God as presented to us through the life and teachings of Christ. I was listening to a man talking on the TV the other day and he spent about a half hour expounding about his faith in God and how that so many people just don't get it. He then went on to say that if he were President the first thing we would run out of would be missiles. To that I must say, no I really just don't get it and I hope I never do. This perversion of the Christian faith is so sad and shameful. This is why people become atheists. This message is the exact opposite of all the Jesus Christ taught using His Gospel message of love and forgiveness and the life he lived daily as He walked upon the earth so long ago.
As a young Christian I fondly recall a woman who was a member of the church I attended. She would get up in front of the congregation to sing occasionally and she would always begin by asking everyone to close their eyes and imagine that we were all in heaven with God. As we began to imagine that wonderful scenario, she would always say that she could see people coming into Heaven through the gates and that God was removing all their labels as they entered in. One of the reasons this always had so much meaning for me is because of the way society, other people, and sometimes we ourselves label ourselves and each other as human beings. Labels only separate and divide us. Labels never bring us together. God wants us to know that we are all His children. He loves us all completely and unconditionally as any parent would love his or her children. Paul understood that as well when he wrote that in Christ Jesus their is no male or female, bond or free, but rather in Christ Jesus we are all one. We can also add to that in this day and time in which we live that there is no territorial borders, no racial or sexual orientation barriers, or any other barriers we as humans come up with to make us feel inferior or less worthy of the love that God has promised to all us. To be a positive part of the world's problems we must all love one another and work together to make this place better for us all. I hear people all the time saying that we as Americans are an exceptional people. I know and understand that all of us need to proud of who we are but the reality is that God does not have exceptional or special people but rather in God's eyes ALL people are EXCEPTIONAL and SPECIAL.
I know as Christians have a hope that after this life is finished and we have done the best we can do that there will be an eternal life waiting for us with God. I have that hope as well. But, that is no excuse for saying, O well, this world is not my home so I don't have to do anything to take care of it or make it better. This earth is our home. It is a place God prepared for us and when He was finished, He said that it was good. He placed us here, put us in charge, and instructed us to take care of the place. It is not OK to say we do not have to worry about the earth because Jesus is coming back any day now. The Apostles thought Jesus would return in their lifetime and every generation since then believed the same thing. Christ may return tomorrow but He also may not be back for ten thousand years. So let's stop making excuses and begin helping our neighbors and friends solve the world's many serious and complex problems. Let's be a positive example of God's love and show the world that our faith is more than just a bunch of empty words. Let's show the world that God really does care about us by caring about one another for a change. Let's ignore our differences and come together to be people who really represent God as He was presented to us through the life and message of His Son, Jesus Christ. Just as Jesus freely gave His life and allowed them to hang his body on that Cross for ALL of us. Let us never forget that as His mortal life came to an end with His arms outstretched, He let us know how much God really does care for us by His willing sacrifice and final prayer to God, "Father forgive them, for they don't understand what they are doing."
May our God and our Savior richly bless you and your family throughout this Season of Easter as we prepare our hearts to celebrate the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord and our Savior, Jesus Christ. And let us always remember that God blesses us so that we can be a blessing to others. May you and yours have a very Blessed Easter!!!
Your
Pastor and Friend,
Karl