End Times Progress!

For Saturday, January 17, 2026:

Matthew 24:7-8 NLT: Jesus speaking: “Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.”

Jesus is teaching about the beginning of the end times. His description doesn’t sound like a pleasant time for anyone. Jesus is drawing a parallel to the pain of childbirth. But when childbirth ends, we get to hold a beautiful little baby, a miracle that puts a smile on everyone’s face! All’s well that ends well!

The Bible tells us that some people will give up during this time of tribulation. Don’t you be like them! One of the Bible’s most loyal believers was Job. We should imitate him, copy his behavior. Job loved the Lord and had a good life. Then things started going south, but Job still loved the Lord. He finally hit rock bottom: starvation and diseases. Job’s wife said he should curse God and then die! But Job didn’t do that. He never lost faith. He never lost hope! God eventually proved himself worthy of Job’s ongoing faith. Job’s good fortune was restored to the best it had ever been! God is good!

As we live our lives, expect some bad stuff. Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” The truly good life will be the life after this life. Jesus has prepared a place for the faithful in the next life, God’s forever Heavenly Kingdom!

Hold up the new baby, and put a smile on your face!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

The Father’s House

Truth and Freedom Church

Thy Will!

For Saturday, September 20, 2025:

Mark 14:36 NLT: “’Abba, Father,’ Jesus cried out, ‘everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.’”

On his journey to the cross, Jesus knew full well the pain and suffering that would be involved. It would not be pretty. The Roman soldiers were good at what they did. So Jesus asked, “Father, is this really necessary? I’d rather skip the ‘whipped and beaten’ part, if it’s all the same to you! But you know me! We’re cut from the same cloth! I’ll be obedient unto death!”

We can learn about prayer by following Jesus’ example. As humans, we don’t always know or understand why something is happening. And we don’t know what is to follow. For example, if Satan is causing an illness, we certainly want to pray for healing. But if someone has lived a good life and God is rewarding them by calling them home, that’s a whole different thing. I would ask Jesus to take charge of the situation.

Two of my children needed a better High School situation. My wife located a suitable private school, but we’d be paying for what had previously been free. I prayed about what to do. About that time, the Billy Graham organization approached me about helping them with a large project. There was no specific deadline, and I could fill all my downtime with their project. It took about five years! By then, my kids were no longer in private school! God is good!

I once lost a church job. The denomination was on shaky theological ground, so while it didn’t break my heart, it never feels good to be out of work. I prayed, “Really, God – is that all there is?” A short time later, another church called me as a pastor and Bible teacher. I was told to teach the truth! Best job ever, but I didn’t know it was coming when I lost the first job. God knew it would all work out.

Obedience and trust in the Lord should be our modus operandi. Pray, “Thy will, not my will!”

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth vs Wrong Teachers!

For Wednesday, May 28, 2025:

Luke 11:52 NLT, Jesus speaking: “What sorrow awaits you experts in religious law! For you remove the key to knowledge from the people. You don’t enter the Kingdom yourselves, and you prevent others from entering.”

We are advised in James 3:1: “Not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly.” The problem here was that the teachers of religion in Jesus’ day were leading people down the wrong path. If the leader doesn’t know the way to the Kingdom, it follows that those they counsel would be led astray. That explains why religious teachers would be examined more closely. Not only are they headed in the wrong direction, they’re dragging others down with them!

We have been given a textbook to use in our religion class – the Bible! We can’t go wrong teaching from the Bible, but we must also understand the times and the context. My favorite example is when Job’s wife told him he might as well curse God and then die! The Bible is truth! But at that point, Mrs. Job was fed up with God’s lack of protection, and she said horrible things. Knowing the context, I believe the Bible, but none of us should act on her advice. That would involve giving up on God, and Job’s challenge was to NOT give up on God. By the way, Job succeeded!

Jesus sees sorrow in the future of a bad religious teacher, while a good teacher, one who furthers the Kingdom, will hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

God Almighty!

For Saturday, December 3, 2022:

Job 38:4 NLT, God speaking to Job: “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you know so much.”

God is allowing Satan to tempt Job, who is forever loyal to God. Job’s friends are questioning the power and sovereignty of the Lord since Job is so miserable. They make a case that if God were more powerful and if he really loved Job, Job wouldn’t be in this mess. Job lost weight. His body was covered with sores. His livestock perished and his crops wouldn’t grow. He was without resources. It would be easy to start considering what his friends were suggesting.

God questioned Job from within a whirlwind, with a wee bit of sarcasm! “Who determined the earth’s dimensions? What holds the earth in place? Who kept the sea inside its boundaries? Have you ever commanded the morning to appear? Do you know where the gates of death are located?” God’s rant continues throughout two entire chapters of the Bible, clearly establishing his position as the Creator, the one with all knowledge and authority. God would ultimately rescue Job, lift him out of his misfortune and reestablish his position in society.

The lesson for us is that whether we’re living in good times or bad, we should never give up on God. He’s holding the keys to things we don’t even understand. We can’t know it all, but that’s OK. We have a God who does the heavy lifting for us!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Eternity!

For Tuesday, May 17, 2022:

Job 19:27 NLT: “I will see God for myself. Yes, I will see him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought!”

The people surrounding Job didn’t understand his perpetual optimism. In spite of numerous calamities, Job was steadfastly a God supporter!

Job realized that our time on earth is short-term, but that the life after this life is eternal. The problems of this life pale to someone focused on the big picture, the eternal goal. Job was fully expecting to see the Lord with his own eyes, in other words to be in Heaven, and the prospect was almost more than he could take in!

If we have faith, if are among the believers, we too can look forward to seeing the Lord with our own eyes! We too will be overwhelmed!

Pastor Norton Lawellin 

Jesus in the City Fellowship, 3249 30th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406

My Redeemer Lives!

May 16, 2022 Monday Message:

Job 19:25 NLT: “But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and he will stand upon the earth at last.”

This is the testimony of Job when everything was going wrong in his life. He believed God was the Creator, and God would be there at the end of time, the alpha and the omega. Job chose to remain loyal to the Lord in spite of the misfortune that had befallen him. God, after all, was still on Heaven’s throne!

Unfortunately from time to time, misfortune falls into most of our lives. Jesus said that in this world we will experience some troubles, but we should rejoice because he has overcome the world!

God loves mankind, his premier creation, so much that he wants us all to join him in eternity. He sent his Son Jesus to redeem us from our sin problem, clearing the path for believers to join him in the life after this life!

The important thing is to never give up on God, because he hasn’t given up on you!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship, 3249 30th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406

God Always Wins!

November 1, 2021 Monday Message

Job 2:9 ERV: “Job’s wife said to him, ‘Are you still holding on to your faith? Why don’t you just curse God and die!’”

Faithful to the end, Job remained consistently loyal to Almighty God, in spite of all the misfortune that had befallen him. He explains: “Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?”

Every word in the Bible is true, and I believe Job’s wife did say these words. But just because it’s in the Bible doesn’t mean we should do that thing. Job’s wife has it all wrong!

Her comment is based on a faulty premise. Think about it - God doesn’t have evil in his repertoire. He only dispenses love, goodness and kindness. Evil originates with Satan, the devil.

If you read to the end of the story, Job is totally healed and fully restored! God is good, all the time! God always wins in the end!

No one is worthless; they can always serve as a bad example!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship, 3249 30th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406

Psalms 88 - Redemption Mission

April 03, 2017 Monday Message:

“Lord, you are the God who saves me; day and night I cry out to you.” Psalms 88:1 NIV

Immediately after acknowledging God as the only one who can radically transform our lives – the only one who can rescue us – Psalm 88 delves into an exhaustive list of everything that is wrong – all the problems in this life.

Most of the Psalm sounds like it was written by someone suffering from severe depression. Perhaps the author is injured or ill, and death looms on the horizon. It reminds me of Job’s predicament.

We should not be surprised. Jesus said that we will all experience tribulation in this world. But he goes on to say that “I, Jesus, have overcome the world.” John 16:33

So our day-to-day solution should be to trust in the Father, and to put our faith in his Son Jesus Christ. Our God is a God of second chances, and Jesus is the champion of love and forgiveness. Remember, his mission was redemption of mankind!

“May my prayer come before you, Lord; turn your ear to my cry.” Psalms 88:2

Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship gathers Palm Sunday, April 9, 2017, at the Akina Church, 3249 30^th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406, 10:30 AM. Pastor Michael Pilla begins one week closer to Resurrection Sunday.

God, Why Do You Hide?

September 12, 2011 Monday Message:

“Why, O LORD, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” Psalms 10:1

When the going gets tough, does God really hide? Absolutely not! So let's look at what might be going on.

When the sun goes down each evening, is its light extinguished? No, the earth has simply turned away from the light. God is like that. When we feel that God is distant, oftentimes we have turned away. God is right there, right where He always has been, right where He should be.

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not My ways,” declares the Lord. We know what we want; but do we know what God wants? A crisis in our lives is sometimes like a pruning in the vineyard. It hurts at the time, but we grow stronger by overcoming the adversity. Isaiah 55:8

God has three answers to our prayers: yes, no and not yet. We would love the answer to be “yes” all the time, but God knows what's best. Sometimes what we think would be a blessing turns out to be a curse. Most lottery winners are not happy a year later. They wanted “yes,” but “no” might have saved their lives; certainly their sanity!

“Not yet” is most challenging for me to get right. Even when something would obviously be good, I want it to happen right away. But God often gives us more time to draw a crowd, build teams and increase financial support. The thing that looks good now will still look good a year from now. It will happen in “God's time,” not our time.

“The successes of evil are only temporary, and in the end, only the righteous will endure.” Artscroll Tehillim p. 14

Blessings,

Norton Lawellin