Pastor Rolf Nestingen was born January 24, 1950 in Williston, North Dakota. As a "preacher's kid," he lived most of his young years in Jamestown, North Dakota before moving to Minneapolis, Minnesota where he attended junior high and senior high school, graduating from Patrick Henry Senior 
High School. Throughout high school and college he was a football player and a member of the wrestling team.
He received his BA in Classics/History from Augsburg College in Minneapolis in 1972; a Master of Divinity from Luther Northwestern Theological Seminary, St. Paul, in 1976; and a Masters degree in Biblical Studies from Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia in 1977. Since his ordination in 1977, he has served congregations in Keene, North Dakota; Harmony, Minnesota, Minot, North Dakota, and now Grace Lutheran.
Past and present, he continues to be actively involved in God's plan that allows him to be the best servant he can be.
Dear Friends in Christ,
In a revised version of a corny old joke, two pastors serve churches on opposite sides of the same rural highway. One day a passerby notices the two of them erecting a sign on the shoulder of the road, a sign which simply reads: “THE END IS NEAR!,” and below, “Turn yourself around now before it’s too late!!” Suddenly a speeding motorist squeals around a curve in the road, and noticing the two pastors with their sign, the driver leans out his window and yells, “Why don’t you mind your own business, you religious nuts!?” As the car disappears out of sight, there is the sound of screeching tires, and after a moment a big splash of water. It’s at this point that the one pastor turns to the other and wryly wonders, “Do you suppose we should change that sign to read: ‘BRIDGE OUT’??”
Lately I’ve been thinking about the role that religion has come to play in modern American life. Have you noticed? Religious folks always seem to be portrayed or characterized as meddlesome and judgmental, if not downright threatening and dangerous! Stereotypes abound, often reinforced by images in the extreme – a Mormon cult in Texas, terrorists in the Middle East, the rhetoric of a political candidate’s pastor, and even insensitive protesters at a memorial service in Menomonie!
It makes you wonder, doesn’t it? What is the real purpose of our Christian faith? Is it to seek out some self-serving affront to your own sensibilities, or to search out some ill-conceived insult where only a warning was intended? Is its sole purpose to somehow bolster your own biased opinions, or to sustain your own private prejudices? And after all is said and done, we must still wonder, “What would Jesus do?”
Recently I heard about a man who was shopping in a Christian bookstore. Noticing a ball cap with WWJD? printed on the front, he asked a clerk about it. “What would Jesus do?,” the clerk replied. “Well, for one thing,” the man responded, looking at the price tag, “I don’t think he’d pay $17.95 for this cap!”
This is the problem. There seem to be far too many people in this world who already think they know just exactly what Jesus would do, both in the church and out. That is to say, personal opinion often parades as piety. Yet the simple fact is this – they’re not Jesus, you’re not Jesus, and I’m not Jesus. It’s like the guy who told me, “There’re only two things you need to know about God -there is one, and you’re not it!” To put it plainly then, knowing the difference, this is the real trick, and first obligation of every true disciple – not to ‘play God’, or to put ourselves in the place of Jesus, but rather “…to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling,” as the Apostle Paul suggests.
And this is the challenge then, to ‘let go and let God’, to set aside our own personal agendas, and let Jesus take the lead in our lives. For otherwise it is as the author Anne Lamott predicts, in paraphrase, that “When we discover the God we worship hates all the same people we do, then it is that we know we have a god of our own making!”
Many of us enjoyed reading the book “If You Want to Walk on Water, You Gotta Get Out of the Boat” during Lent. In its initial pages the author John Ortberg refers to an old joke which describes a Christian happening upon the scene of a fatal accident. A man lies on the pavement, critically injured. As bystanders attempt to help someone says to the Christian, “Can’t you do something religious for this poor soul?” “Certainly,” says
the Christian, and with that he begins to take up an offering.
Now let that be a warning to you! For true discipleship does not begin with an open hand, but rather an open heart!!
Sincerely in Christ,
Pastor Rolf
On October 28, 2007, Pastor Nestingen celebrated his Thirtieth Anniversary of Ordination and Tenth Anniversary of his ministry at Grace Lutheran Church. Bishop Duane Pederson and Pastor David Irgens celebrated a candlelight vesper service that evening. His brother, Dr. James Nestingen gave the message. Following the service a Norwegian dinner and celebration was held in the church parlors. Over four hundred people participated in an evening filled with joy and humor. The congregations of Keene, Harmony, and Minot shared many wonderful pictures and memories from Pastor Nestingen's ministry in those areas. Some members even made the long journey here to Grace in order to participate in the event. All of Rolf and Sandy's daughter's, including some grandchildren, also made the journey, surprising their parents by walking down the main church aisle during the morning worship service. Below are just a few pictures from this grand event. Congratulations to Pastor Nestingen. Here is a link to WQOW that has a brief video of the big event.
