Tough Love

Joseph rules over Egypt.
A famine causes widespread hunger.
Rumor is that food can be bought in Egypt.
Jacob's sons go to buy grain.
They bow before Joseph.

And what does Joseph do?  "He acted as a stranger to them and spoke roughly to them."

He loves them so much that he cared more about their salvation and their repentance than he cared about the comfortableness of BeingNice.

Jesus Sinners Doth Receive

Luke 15: The tax collectors and sinners crowded around Jesus, soaking up His preaching.  The "good guys" were crabby.  "Eeeeuw -- this guy hangs out with sinners.  He even eats with them.  [shudder]  Yish."

So the exact same words -- "Jesus sinners doth receive" -- have various meanings.  It could be a complaint (as from the scribes and Pharisees).  Or it could be a simple statement of fact.  Or it could be high praise and thanksgiving to a gracious Lord.

Tying Scarves

Melody linked to a you-tube about tying scarves.  I need to learn a few of these because I am inept with scarves.  I think many of my scarves are way too small to use these tricks, but the instruction helps me think in new ways.

Now, can I remember even ONE of these for when I'm dressing in the morning?  Or will I have to run to the computer and hunt through blogposts for the video-link?  Oh, you know how it is -- if I have to struggle that much to tie a scarf, I'll be going scarfless.

Family

Our friend, Rachel-the-Most-Excellent-Photographer, came over to take some pictures of our family when Paul and Mandy were here to visit last month.

Why You Can Be Wrong Even When You're Right

or "Why It Matters That Justification Is the Chief Article"

It is unfortunate that men who have offered strong confessional Lutheran service in the Gospel have then doctrinally gone astray. How does this happen? When the chief article of justification [and I would say applying it, not just knowing it] begins to wane in one's thinking as the chief article, when it becomes just one among all the other articles of faith, the devil can use whatever articles make up one's doctrinal passion (which are good in their own right) to replace it.  Just because you're against the false teachers about whatever articles of faith are near and dear to you, that's no guarantee that the devil must throw up his hands and raise the white flag in seeking to separate you from a right faith and ministry in the righteousness of Christ.  He's demonstrated ample ability to use your passions, your commitments against the false teachers, and your zeal, to dethrone the significance of the forgiveness of sins in an all-sufficient cross of Christ.

Once dethroning the sufficiency of the righteousness of Christ as the chief article [so it's not gotten rid of, it's just no longer the center], he then works to drive a wedge between those articles of faith and issues of praxis that stir your passions, and the pure milk of the Gospel. When other heterodox traditions hold your views on your passionate articles of faith, the devil will be at work to have you view their doctrinal errors as not so bad . . . even when they involve a false understanding of justification, the central article of the Gospel.

Dr Steven Hein

"Going East?"
as referenced at the Redeemer conference 20 January 2014

Click on Dr Hein's name to find the whole piece.  The context is how, in the "Battle for the Bible" in the 70s, many Lutherans became so passionate for inerrancy that they siderailed justification.  They didn't get rid of the forgiveness of sins for the comfort of terrified consciences.  But it wasn't the main thing. Thing is, inerrancy is important; it mattered; it was indeed something to fight for.  But the church's focus was sometimes askew.  Sadly enough, we can still make the same mistake.  Today our passion may be missions.  Or respect for the office of the ministry.  Or liturgy.  Now, those are very important things; they are indeed things to fight for.  But even they can [gasp] become idols. 

Gary's Award

for QUALITY work

Nasty Deer

The only predator left for the whitetail deer in our area:

Guns would be much better.  Venison sausage would be much better.
Spending time contacting the insurance company and getting repair estimates?  Not so good.

Thankful at least that no one was hurt, the car was not totaled, and that we found a reputable body shop where we can take the car already next week.  (The place that gave us the first estimate told us it would be March 17 or later.)

Matthias

Born Tuesday.
Baptism scheduled not this Sunday, but next.
Mother and baby are both doing fabulously.

Link to "Why I'm Not Eastern Orthodox"

So I can find this article later:
A young man's explanation of differences between Eastern Orthodoxy and Lutheran teaching, and why he decided to remain Lutheran instead of change to EO.

A Blessed Dying to Self

The Lutheran approach to [theosis/divination] is categorically opposite from the way the Orthodox tend to think of it.

This is the process of theosis:  God keeps on taking things away from you, one after the other.  And every time He takes something else away, He says, "You still have Me, and I'm enough."  And the day is going to come when He takes away your breath.  And He's going to say, "But you still have Me, and I'm enough."  And this is theosis.  Not this infinite climbing up, but this finding that having Him really is enough.  He gives Himself fully to you.  And if you have Him, you have everything you need.  And He gives Himself fully to you.  The older you get, the more you get this thing about TakingAway; the sorrows mount.

You live more and more from Him, and less and less from your old Adam.  This is progress in sanctification.

 Pastor Weedon 

at the Redeemer conference, 

at the 5-6 minute mark

Despicable Offerings

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit.
A broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.  (Ps 51:17)

Overall, it's not okay to give broken stuff to God.

In Leviticus (chap 22) God tells His people that the animals they sacrifice cannot be lame or ill or damaged.  In Malachi (chap 1) the Lord rips into the priests for defiling the altar with lame and blind sacrifices. 

How different it is with our hearts!  Not only is brokenness acceptable, but being broken is the only acceptable way.




Weedon summarizes Kleinig's book Grace Upon Grace:

God keeps on taking things away from you, one thing after another.  And every time He does, He says, "But you still have Me, and I'm enough."

about 5:20 on the you-tube video

Valentine's Day

Aldi was empty last night when I got off work.

The only other time I'd seen the place so vacant was about 8 hours into an ice storm.  The panic-runs were long-done when I stopped by Aldi on my way home from work that day.

For the life of me, I couldn't figure out why the grocery store was SO empty.  I left the parking lot.  I drove past about a dozen restaurants.  Not a single parking spot in any of those parking lots. 

Oooooooh. 
So that's where everybody is!

I came home to a dinner of fajitas made by my daughter and husband. 

That's better than going to a restaurant!

THIS is "not being moved"?

Psalm 66 tells us that the Lord "keeps our soul among the living and does not allow our feet to be moved."

Then it goes on to tell us that He has tested us.  He has refined us.  (Now, that may sound nice at first glance.  But it requires an awful lot of fire.  And burning up.  You know?)    He brought us into the net.  He laid affliction on our backs.  He caused men to ride over our heads.  We went through fire and water.

And THIS is what it looks like when He keeps our soul among the living?  [shudder]

And yet, after all this,
THROUGH all this,
no matter how we fall,
no matter how we are attacked,
He brings us out to rich fulfillment.
And He has not turned His mercy from me.

Where's the Renewal of the Lutheran Church?

Conscience is what preaching is all about in the Lutheran Confessions, from start to finish.   I have come to believe, with absolute firmness, that if we're going to see renewal in the Lutheran Church, it will begin out of the preaching office.  It will begin with pastors again recognizing that the point of their sermon is to comfort troubled consciences -- not to take the doctrine of justification and just throw it out to any and to all in such a way that you proclaim to impenitent sinners the forgiveness of their sins.  That doesn't help them, and they don't really care.  But to consciences that truly are troubled because they know they have not lived in an unbroken yes to God, and they know what the Law of God says about this, to such consciences we proclaim,  "In Jesus Christ, there is a perfection that is yours."

Taken from a recent Issues Etc

broadcast by Pastor Weedon

Eastern Orthodoxy considers it "humility" to not be certain of the promises of God to you.  (Hmm.  God says something.  I then suspect His word isn't sure and certain.  That sounds to me more like cheekiness than humility.  But maybe that's just me.)

The beautiful uniqueness of the Lutheran Church is comforting sinners.  When people's hearts melt from hearing awesome preachers, it's because those men comfort troubled consciences.  The glory of private confession is that the pastor comforts the troubled conscience.  Frequent celebration of the Lord's Supper is for the sake of bringing the comfort of Christ's holiness to sinners who are troubled by their sin.  "Toward forgiveness is directed everything that is to be preached" (Large Catechism).

To send faithful laborers into Thy harvest,

we beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.

To accompany Thy word with Thy spirit and grace,

we beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.

Hey, sing it with me!  (to the tune of "Hail, Thou Once Despised Jesus")

Christ alone is our salvation,
Christ the rock on which we stand;
other than this sure foundation
will be found but sinking sand.
Christ, His cross and resurrection,
is alone the sinner's plea;
at the throne of God's perfection

nothing else can set him free.   (ELH 484)

Pastor Weedon spoke this January at the conference at Redeemer Lutheran.  He spoke about what it means to be Lutheran and why people should stay Lutheran.  (This is from a man who nearly became Eastern Orthodox but then realized what that would mean, and who then re-embraced the Lutheran confession.)
Part 1
Part 2
Yes, it's long. 
But it's worth the time.
Thank you to the many friends who forwarded the links to our family.

Standardized Testing

Common Core increases (yet again) the testing requirements on students.  a) Testing doesn't measure what it purports to measure.  b) Too often, the existence of standardized testing controls the curriculum, as schools "teach to the test."  c) Testing takes time away from real learning.

Not only that, but testing can frustrate children and make them feel stupid.  Here is one story of a mom who helped administer standardized tests to a kindergarten class.  It makes you want to cry.  Even in the best of circumstances, standardized tests are designed so that kids CANNOT do them: that's the sorting mechanism.  The tests are supposed to be so hard that everybody hits a point of incompetency.  On top of that, tests aren't always administered in the "best of circumstances." 

For those with kids in the public schools, many states allow parents to opt-out their kids from the state-mandated testing.  For Wisconsin, information is available at the DPI website.  Information for other states may be researched at an Opt Out website. 

Parables

I was always taught that a parable is "an earthly story with a heavenly meaning" and that Jesus told parables to help us understand.

But Jesus said he told parables to hide the truth of God's word.  (You don't believe me?  Go look at Mark 4.)

Furthermore, the parables aren't stories that make sense to us.  As Pastor is wont to say, "The stories start off sounding like something we're familiar with, but there's always a curve ball."

As I'm proofreading another CCA book, I noticed this line:

Parables always teach reliance upon Christ and never teach reliance upon ourselves.

But somehow, our sinful nature still wants to think that the primary point of parables is to give us a pep talk (or a scolding) about behaving a certain way.  Nope -- the parables teach reliance upon Christ alone.

Glue

Gluten.  The sticky stuff in pasta and wheat.  The reason you can make paste or glue by mixing water and white flour.

GLUten.
GLUe.
And they're from the same Latin root.

Cool.

From the Joseph Story

From Thursday's Bible class -- notes and ruminations:

Genesis 45:5, 8  Joseph told his brothers, "God sent me before you" into the land of Egypt.  Even though the brothers had committed a dastardly deed in selling their brother into Egyptian slavery, Joseph's explanation of events said that God was the one who brought him there.  God turned even their evil into good ... as He is wont to do.
The prophet tells us that "out of Egypt I have called My Son."  But God also sent Jesus (like Joseph) into Egypt.  And as it happened for Joseph, it was (to all outward appearances) attempted murder that sent the boy Jesus from Canaan to Egypt.


45:24    When Joseph had equipped his brothers for the trip to Canaan, sending them to fetch the rest of the family, he sent them off with "See that you do not become troubled along the way."  It's almost as if he knew they would begin to wonder if Joseph had really forgiven them, if it was a set-up, if there would be repercussions.  "Don't be troubled.  Don't be agitated.  Go in peace."  Joseph knew the human heart's inclination to doubt, to fear, to be troubled.  And he wanted to comfort them so that his beloved brothers would not be troubled.


45:27  The fellows told Dad, "Joseph is alive, and he's ruling Egypt."  Now, that's quite the shocker!  But then the story goes on: "When they told [Jacob] all the words which Joseph had said to them...."  Pastor pointed out that "all the words" means the guys would've had to admit to Dad what had happened that long-ago day, 22 years earlier ... and admit that they had lied all along.  "And Jacob's spirit revived."  It did?  Wow -- so he forgave them. 
How could he forgive that?  Well, think about his own past.  Jacob had deceived.  He had cheated his brother.  He had lied to his father.  He had been separated from his family.  But the Lord's mercy forgave him, so that love and mercy overflowed from him to others.   How about that?  When God is merciful and loving to scumbum sinners, it really does bear fruit in the lives of those who receive His love.


45:5 and 50:20   Even though the brothers meant evil against Joseph, God meant it for good "to preserve life."  "To save your lives by a great deliverance."  "To bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive." 

1. God worked for good by feeding physical food to gobs of people through Joseph's leadership in Egypt. 
2. God worked for good by saving the brothers from their impenitence, bringing their sin into the light of day that they might benefit from the forgiveness Joseph had for them.
3. God worked for good by preserving the life of the ancestor of Jesus.  Judah and his brothers did not die of starvation.  Their family continued, and the Messiah --the Savior-- was born just as the Lord had promised to Abraham.  

50:17  So when Jacob dies, the brothers send a message to Joseph: Dad said to forgive us for the evil we did to you.  Did Jacob say that, or did the guys just say it because they were shakin' in their boots?  Either way, it shows that we need a mediator, an intercessor, to plead for us sinners.

Knitting Doctor #4's Scarf

Paul mentioned in 2012 that he'd like a Dr Who scarf for Christmas.  I didn't like what I found online.  So for this Christmas I decided to knit one.

Now, I'm not much of a knitter.  When I saw the real scarf in The Day of the Doctor, I realized my colors were a little off, and my garter stitch probably should've been a purl stitch.  But overall, I'm pleased with the results.  It's a comfy wool scarf that's machine-washable.  And the colors are gorgeous.  And it's 16 feet long!

And you know what's really cool?  I suspected [aka, feared] that knitting would increase the arthritis pain in my wrists and finger joints.  It didn't.  Quite the opposite!  Knitting helped.  Now I'm trying to convince myself to keep knitting -- even if there's nothing to be made -- just for the sake of the comfy therapy and pain relief that the knitting provides.  And maybe, as a side benefit, I could become adept at purling.  Or ribbing.  Or other pretty stitches.

But for now, I am pleased as punch about this scarf!

Energy Balls

You know those energy bars that are available at the grocery store?  The ones full of ingredients that sound like you're doing a science experiment instead of eating food?  Well, here's a real-food alternative that is quite easy.

Combine:
1 cup oat
2/3 cup coconut flakes
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup flaxmeal or wheat germ
1/3 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
(optional: 1/4 cup finely ground nuts
and/or 1/2 Tbsp cocoa powder)

Mix well.
Chill 30 minutes.
Shape into balls.
Store in refrigerator up to 1-2 weeks.

Delicious.
They're like candy bars to tide you over when you're famished.
Problem is, they are high in calories, and they're so little that it's easy to just grab one or two and snarf 'em down like as if they're nothin'.  Certain people have gained some weight since I made these.  The energy balls sit in the fridge, tempting us, while ostensibly waiting to be a late-morning snack on those days at work where I can't go to lunch until nearly 2:30.

Recent Days

Snow removal.  Never-ending snow removal.

Working extra hours.  Hooray that the office will soon be fully staffed!

Fighting illness and recuperating from injury.

Some proofreading for CCA.

More snow-shoveling.

Maggie and I doing some art-history study for her schoolwork.

Some fretting and grieving.

Trying to keep up the exercise at Curves.

A trip to visit my mom.

A family gathering when Mandy and Paul came for "Christmas" in mid-January.

More snow-removal.

Andrew started spring semester for nursing school.  This meant a decrease in work hours for him, and an increase in studying.  Lots of studying.  Lots of homework.  Tough stuff.  But he's doing it.

And seriously.... we have to go out and shovel snow again?!

The Debate

Maybe you're not out of it as badly as I am.  My head pretty much stays tucked in the sand, and I'm quite happy living in LaLa-Land, thank you.  So this morning I was surprised to hear that, last night, there was a debate between Ken Ham and Bill Nye.

(By the way, I cannot spell Bill Nye's name without the backspace key.  It always comes out "Billy" before I go back and erase the "y.")

The debate is close to three hours long.  No small thing to fit into your day.  If you want to listen, it will be available "for several days" at debatelive.org.

I was not as impressed as I'd expected.

Ken Ham (the creationist) kept stressing that evolution is a belief system and not observable science.  That's definitely true, but I wish he'd given more to-the-point answers too.

Bill Nye (the evolutionist) kept repeating several points.  One could have been easily answered (but wasn't).  The earth has an apparent age that is older than creationists say it is.  Well, of course!  Adam wasn't created as a baby.  In the Garden of Eden, there were already full-grown fruit trees.  So also, rocks and stars would look like they too were "grown up" even when they were only minutes or days old.

Another of The Science Guy's major points was that America needs scientists to compete globally in technology.  Beats me what that has to do with defending evolution.

Another of Bill's claims was that evolution could be disproven by even one counter-example.  He claimed there were none.  Ever.  He said there is not one example anywhere in the fossil record of a species of a particular era being found alongside (in the same rock strata) a species of a supposedly different era.  So ... I remember in the past hearing about examples.  I guess if you're convinced that such fossils cannot exist, you'll discredit any fossils that do disprove your beliefs.

It was also interesting that both sides have unanswerable questions:  "We don't know how to explain that.  It's something we need to study more, to learn more about."  Granted, each side has an easy time explaining some of the other side's big mysteries.  But they both have spots where they say, "I don't know."  From my vantage point, that means neither side can say, "Ah HA!  Caught you!!  You can't explain thus-and-such!  Well, if you can't explain everything, that in itself says you're all wet."




One portion of the debate allowed for questions from the audience.  I thought an interesting question (directed toward the creationist) was, if hypothetically evolution was proven and creation was disproved, would the scientist then still hold to his religion, his Christian faith?  His answer was basically, "It can't be disproved because it's true."  

My answer would have been, "No."  I would then go on to explain that creation cannot be disproved because it is true.  But if we're going to be silly and play The Hypothetical Game, then my answer would be No.  Once upon a time, I sort of believed that evolution was true (because it's what I was unequivocally taught at school) AND that creation was true (because it's what God said).  So I do realize that there are Christians who believe in evolution, Christians who haven't realized the ramifications of what evolution does to theology.  And God, rich in grace, forgives us all for Jesus' sake -- not because we've got our heads on straight about how He made the world.

But when you realize what evolution says about death, and how it is not the result of sin;

and when you realize what evolution says about Adam and Eve, so that Jesus cannot be "the second Adam" (1 Cor 15:22);

and when you realize that God would be lying (and that Jesus would be mistaken -- Mark 10:6) if evolution were true,

then no, I could not be a Christian if I were shown that creationism were impossible.  If creationism were impossible, then the whole of the Christian faith would be unraveled.

And the devil knows that.
Thus his repeated attempts to promote evolution.

Snow Dimples

the effects of drifting on paw-prints

Out roof-raking in the warm sunshine yesterday, I saw the cutest little dimples in the snow.  The tracks may have been from the kitties, but after the wind whipped around, who knows for sure where the original dents came from?

Shovels

In Illinois, people "scoop snow." 

When we first moved to Wisconsin, people laughed at us.  "You're going to do WHAT with the snow?!"  You see, people in Wisconsin shovel snow.  Scooping is not an option.

(Pssst: We learned to use the word "shovel" instead of "scoop.")

I have now lived in Wisconsin for more than half my life.  This became quite apparent to me as I was in Illinois shoveling (scooping?) my mom's driveway this week. 

Her shovel didn't work as well as I wanted.  My guts compelled me to go grab a different shovel from the garage.  You know, the kind of shovel that would properly clear the drive.  But Mom owns only one shovel.  One.  For all the different types of snow: deep, shallow, powdery, wet, blowing, packing, or icy.

It boggles the mind.

And then -- next -- it boggled my mind that I had become dependent upon having an array of snow-shoveling tools.

I think I'm a Wisconsin girl now.

Do You Have What It Takes?

You've heard it.

The passage is from Luke 14.  Jesus tells us that we take stock of our situation before building a tower so that we know what's necessary and don't find ourselves quitting halfway through.  Jesus tells us that you assess your chances of winning in battle, before going to battle, so you don't get creamed.

So, do YOU have what it takes?

Can YOU be a follower of Jesus?

Wait?
Does that sound like Jesus???

What's that second illustration again?  The king doesn't have enough soldiers, so he begs for terms of peace rather than going to war. 

What if you take stock of yourself and find yourself to be a loser?  What if you realize that you have nothing in you to fight the battle?  What if self-examination reveals that you cannot complete the building you started?

Maybe the whole point of what Jesus says here is that you can't do it, that you do cry "uncle" and give up.  Maybe "forsaking all that he has" is more about being stripped of self-reliance than it is about turning one's back on material possessions. 

Caribbean Salmon

My housemates who aren't exactly fond of salmon requested that this recipe be made again!  The original recipe is found here.  My [lazy] adjustments are as follows:


2# salmon fillets
2-3 Tbsp Jamaican jerk seasoning
1 tsp lime juice
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 Tbsp pineapple juice (because I didn't have oj opened)
1/2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp brown sugar

Preheat oven to 450.
Mix all ingredients except salmon.
Spread a few tablespoons of olive oil on a jelly roll pan.  Place fish in the pan, skin side down.  Spread spice mix evenly over the fish pieces.  Cover pan with foil and bake until done (when thick part of the meat flakes with a fork).

just as Christ also loved the Church

How does a person vow to "suffer all, even death" rather than fall away from Christ, and then not even be able to "suffer" waking up to go to church the week after his confirmation vow.

Similarly, if a guy is going to vow to love his wife, just as Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself for her (Eph 5:25), it seems like he should be working on making-the-bed and picking-up-the-dirty-clothes if that is what makes his wife happy.  If he can't sacrifice himself to take out the trash for her, then how will he sacrifice himself when it's a much weightier matter?

We're willing to make big promises ... but then we show our true colors in the smaller, relatively inconsequential things.

Boring Things

This afternoon we attended a most lovely wedding at church.  You sit and listen to the Bible readings and the hymns and the sermon and the canticles.  And you rejoice for the couple and for what God has given.

And then I came home and found Glenda's Christmas letter in the mail.  It was full of "boring" stuff: kids getting glasses, books they're reading, studying, going to work, ... all the normal stuff of everyday life.  All those happy things of "a quiet and peaceable life."  Combine that with Robin & Fritz's wedding, and her letter made me cry happy tears.  That boring life -- that quiet and peaceable life -- that's what I want for all my loved ones.

Recent Days

Germs running rampant round about these parts.  Illness hasn't knocked out those who live at my house, but Christmas plans were a bit up-in-the-air for a while, not knowing who might succumb next.  Turned out all the kids were here except the MinnesOtans. 

Although the December symphony was canceled because of a snow inundation, Lessons and Carols went on as planned.  It was a lovely service.

Church services for Christmas Eve and Day continued with the saints days for the rest of the week.  So thankful that Pastor is willing to have services these "extra" times!

We have spent a LOT of time this December moving snow.  Our back muscles hail the wondrous snow-blower.  And even though the sky seems to toss snow at us perpetually, it hasn't been as bad as December 2008's snow dump.  With a nice warm day (in the 40's!) yesterday, I worked on removing snow from the roof.  (As if my shoulders and neck weren't already sore -- LOL.)

In the space of a month, we are losing three of our four full-time tellers at work, with people moving to other positions.  That means part-timers are going to be working many extra hours.  Oh, I hope they find replacements soon!

Bethany and Evan and Helen came to church here today, and then they joined us for lunch.  We also had Katie and girls and Olivia to join in the party.  I was a wretched host, not having the food prepared before they arrived (because I spent yesterday roof-raking).  But they all pitched in and helped finish what I hadn't prepped last night.  And it was lovely visiting with them.  And we enjoyed dinner with Olivia's parents and some friends last night.  And the previous night we were invited out by friends.  I feel like I've barely been home since Thursday afternoon.  But it has been so enjoyable to sit and visit and laugh day-after-day!

"I Never Knew You"

Once upon a time, a bunch of sem-wives were gathered for a class with a sem professor.  One of the women took it upon herself to tell the rest of us that we weren't really Christians, that we hadn't asked the Lord into our hearts, that we hadn't truly made Him lord of our lives.  She insisted we would come to the end of our lives and  

When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, "Lord, Lord, open for us," He will answer and say to you, "I do not know you." ...  There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out.  (Luke 13:25-28)

The professor did not contradict this woman.  He agreed that this verse made him uneasy.  Would he be one to whom the Lord says, "I never knew you"?

After a period of deep distress (anfechtung) for me, a pastor preached the gospel to me and assured me of Jesus' promises and that His death atoned for my sins and that in baptism He claimed me as His own.  Thanks be to God for Tom Baker!

So anyway,
this section of Luke came up recently in Bible class.  I know too many people who quote verse 24 ("strive to enter through the narrow gate") as if it were preaching salvation-by-works.  C'mon!  You have to strive!  You have to do what's right!  The entryway to heaven is narrow, so you better get it right, and do all the right things!

So I had questions.

Pastor talked about how our "striving" is not so much striving to do all the right things, dot the i's and cross the t's, and pile up our goodness.  It is striving against the Old Adam -- the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh (Galatians 5).  Our "striving" is when our sinful nature is drowned daily and dies with all sins and evil desires.  Our striving is putting to death that inherent pride which thinks God will look on us in kindness because we've been such good Christians.

He "knows you" by lavishing forgiveness upon you.  And if you can't be sure that Jesus knows you, it's because you are relying (at least to some extent) on your works. 

I love it when Pastor goes on a rant-of-sweetness about certainty, about the promises Jesus has made to us, and how He is the one who holds onto us. 

Upcoming Wedding

Two weeks ago, Andrew picked up the ring from the jeweler.  He came home and opened the mail to find that he had been accepted into the clinical portion of the nursing program.  That evening he proposed to Olivia, and she said YES. 

Ain't that grand?!

Wedding date is as yet undetermined, but Andrew says they're leaning toward this August.






Photos courtesy of our friend (who shall remain unnamed because I'm not seeing her name on her new blog and don't want to out her without permission).

Christmas Decorations

Over and over I'm hearing women bemoan that they don't have their Christmas decorations up yet.

Maybe they're feeling pressed to get-it-done-already.
Maybe they've decided to go easy on decorating, but still feel guilty over it.
Maybe they worry what their kids will say about fewer decorations.
Maybe they feel wasteful to have decorations that will sit unused this year.
Maybe they're convinced they're letting someone down, or somehow betraying the Christmas spirit to not decorate All The Things.

And this is joyous?

Why do so many women have to make excuses to themselves when they back off just a smidgeon from the hype?



I want so badly to yell from the rooftops, "Just forget it all.  Go to church.  If all you do for Christmas is go to church, it's still a good Christmas."

Led by the Spirit

After Jesus was baptized, the gospels tell us that He was "led by the Spirit into the wilderness" (Matt 4, Mark 1, Luke 4).  

Did Jesus have this magical feeling that He should go to the wilderness instead of into town?  What is it to be "led by the Spirit"?  How did He know to go to the wilderness?  How was He led?

It's not unlike how Simeon knew when to show up in the temple to see the baby Messiah.  The Scriptures told him/Him.

When Jesus was baptized, He was declared to be "the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world."  The Scriptures tell us about the scapegoat (Leviticus 16).  When the sin of the people was imputed to that lamb, it was driven into the wilderness to "take away sin."  When the sin of the world was imputed to Jesus, that made Him the true scapegoat.  That meant He had to go into the wilderness. 

He knew this.  He knew God's word. 
The Spirit led Him through what the Scriptures said.

Blessed Are You Among Women

Our story today was the Visitation.  Newly-pregnant Mary goes to visit pregnant Elizabeth. 

Question:  Who was it that Elizabeth said was "blessed"?
Kid's answer: Mary.

Yes.
True.

But ...

You know how kids are so often prone to answer "Jesus"? 

That wouldn't have been a wrong answer, now would it?  "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb."  In other words, "Blessed are you, Mary, and blessed is Jesus" (Luke 1:42).

We always hear this verse used to tell us why we should indeed extol Mary.  And that's not untrue.  But I don't think I've ever heard someone point out that Elizabeth was saying "Blessed is Jesus."

Errands

Yesterday began with
chapel
Curves
pharmacy.

Home for showers and getting dressed. 
Then round two:
Goodwill (where we found a flute and a clarinet!)
Salvation Army (which was closed)
Woodman's
Fleet Farm
Walmart
a neighbor's house.

Home to bake the cinnamon rolls, wash the used stroller we were giving as a gift, and wrap presents for the child our branch adopted for Christmas-giving.  (For me , it's so much happier to give a child things he needs -- like diapers or a snowsuit or a stroller -- than it is to give frivolous mind-rotting gifts that are requested by so many, things that I refused to give my own children.)
to work to drop off gifts
bookstore
another grocery store
the home of a neighbor who sells honey

Home to make and eat supper.
Church for Advent service
and choir practice.

Today I have to pick up the messies I left all over the house yesterday.

The Unruliness!

I made cinnamon rolls yesterday. 

When I ate them, I bit them. 

I did not unroll them.  I just chomped a hunk out of the side.

I do believe there's been some sort of cosmic shift in my reality....

Favorite Insta-Supper

Gary's favorite insta-suppers are
~ Aldi bake-at-home pizza (almost as good as Tony's)
~ spaghetti with a side of green beans.

My favorite?  When there's no time to cook, and you didn't thaw hamburger, and you need real food, this is what I love:
~ boneless center-cut pork chops
(skillet-fried with a rub of basil, brown sugar, chili powder)
~ buttered, parsleyed pasta
(maybe with pesto or parmesan too)
~ a side dish or two of frozen veggies

Seriously, it's about 20-25 minutes from the time I arrive home until we sit down to eat.  And it's real food.  And it's deLIcious.  Not the cheapest, so I don't plan it as part of the meal rotation.  But my tastebuds wish I would ....

Snow Storm Wins over the Symphony

Big dump of snow today.
Loads of accidents.
Thankfully, Philip made it home from church safely, and Andrew made it safely to work.

Symphony was canceled. 
It was a wise decision.
But I'm still disappointed.
I'm trying not to think about it.

Reading Challenge

The conclusion of my reading-year.   I seriously doubt anything more books will be finished in the next three weeks.

My primary list:
Anne of Green Gables   by L. M. Montgomery  Jan 24
Anne of Avonlea   (these two with Maggie) Feb 24
Christ Have Mercy   by Matt Harrison April 7
Mara, Daughter of the Nile   June 7

Love Divine   by Alan Kornacki July 30
A Great and Mighty Wonder July 31
One Thing's Needful Aug 5

Mitford's These High, Green Hills Aug 16
Out to Canaan    by Jan Karon Aug 27
A Common Life Sept 2
A New Song   Sept 20
In This Mountain   Oct 4
Shepherds Abiding  Oct 12


The list that someone else made for me:
Lutheran Catechesis   by Bender Dec 27, 2012
Old Testament Catechesis   by Bender March 1
New Testament Catechesis    by Bender  began in October
Bible Stories for Daily Prayer    by Fabrizius   still waiting



Alternates:
Kristin Lavransdatter  by Sigrid Undset  going on 2014's list
To Kill a Mockingbird   by  Harper Lee May 8
Luther, the Reformer   by James Kittelson  unread
The Right to Be Wrong   by Seamus Hasson unread
On Being a Theologian of the Cross   by Forde unread
Luther on Vocation   by Wingren July 15


Books not on the original list:
A Long Way from Chicago by R Peck audio book April 16
A Year Down Yonder by Peck audio book April 18
And She Was a Christian: Why Do Believers Commit
Suicide by Peter Preus May 7
Heaven Is for Real June 27
How to Treat Your Own Hand & Thumb Osteoarthritis  Sept 28

Eighteen books read.
Two audio books "read."
Two proofreading projects completed.
And for the last two months I've been knitting and watching movies instead of reading.

Now it's time to figure out which books will go on my 2014 list. 

The Trinity in the Second Petition

God's kingdom comes when our heavenly FATHER gives us His HOLY SPIRIT, so that by His grace we believe His holy WORD and lead godly lives, here in time, and there in eternity.

The Word became flesh

and dwelt among us ...

John 1:14

Those Blasted Cell Phones

Once upon a time, we had no answering machines.
Once upon a time, we would go on vacation, away from the telephone for an entire week.

Today people get itchy if they leave the cell phone at home for an hour or two of errands.  What if they miss something?  People!  People!  It's good to be away from the phone sometimes!

An online article recently pointed out what happens when teens have constant contact with their friends via texting.  They end up with nothing to talk about in-real-life.  And they have no incentive to spend time together in-real-life. 

Try it.  Fight the addiction.  Turn off the phone for a couple of hours a day.  Say no to the stress of always being available to dozens of friends.

Symphony This Sunday

Our church choirs have a reputation.

(That's kind of cool....)

This Sunday we're singing at the concert for the local symphony. 

At work the other day, I heard a commercial for us.  On a 50,000-watt radio station.  On one of their most-listened-to talk-shows.  A commercial for us.  I was excited!  Oh my goodness -- you can buy tickets for the concert on Ticketmaster.  To me, that's where you get tickets for Toby Keith or Kenny Chesney or Michael Buble.  One of my co-workers said, "I have NEVER seen you nearly so pumped about ANYthing."  No foolin'!

This is going to be fun.



If you're local and want to attend, it's 3:00 on Sunday at Hamilton Fine Arts Center (at the high school).  Information is available at the symphony's website.  The children's choirs are singing a couple of songs without the adults, and I don't know what those pieces are.  The adults (or adults with the kids) are singing:
Once in Royal David's City (Mann/Willcocks/Vierrege)
Up, Good Christen Folk
Praise God the Lord, Ye Sons of Men (Hugo Distler)
Jesus Christ, the Apple Tree
Your Little Ones, Dear Lord, Are We  (David Cherwien) 
Silent Night (Hal Hopson)
See, in Yonder Manger Low (Keith Veirrege)

Penance

"The Mission."
A movie with amazing music and cinematography and casting.
Docudrama set in the 1750s in South America: Jesuit missionaries going to the native peoples, and what happened when the Treaty of Madrid rearranged European "ownership" of the South American lands.

The movie has a bunch of different aspects:

Enslavement of the Guarani people even when slavery was officially illegal.

Corrupt leadership, in both political government and church government.

The shock to authorities when they find native people (so unlike themselves) trusting in the same Lord, worshiping Him with the same liturgy, and receiving the same sacraments.

The place of priests in fighting injustice: fighting militarily or not.

Persecution of the Church.

Self-defense and "just war."

The affect of the Gospel.



Whoa, that last one!  (Okay.  Warning.  Spoilers ahead.)

In the story, a slave trader ends up killing his brother in a duel.  He is devastated.  There is no hope for him.  The person who finally gets through to him partially is the priest who is ministering to the Indians who had been this slave trader's prey.  Of course, being Roman Catholics, there had to be penance.  They came up with a task, and the slave trader kept at it.  No matter how long he doggedly worked at his penance, he wasn't finding peace.  There was no relief. 

There was no comfort for him until he arrived at the home of those Indians he had hunted ... and they forgave him.  They did not take vengeance on him.  They physically removed the burden he'd been lugging along as penance.  And they accepted him into their midst. 

Penance did not save him.
Penance did not help make up for his evils.
Penance showed him that he could not atone for what he'd done.
It was mercy and forgiveness that freed him.
That mercy, in conjunction with God's word, was what changed the slave trader into a priest.




The Mission is one of those movies that is both sickening and beautiful.  The violence & gore, the bigotry, the evils -- it's enough to turn your stomach.  And yet, there's the beauty of defending the innocent, and the glory of seeing hearts and lives changed by the Gospel.

"Bless You!"

AaaaaCHOO.
Gesundheit.  That is, "good health."

One lovely day when I was sitting at the feet of John Kleinig, the good doctor mentioned that people chafe if we preach to them.  People don't want us to speak the Gospel to them.  They really don't want to hear the Law.  Some won't mind too much if you say that you pray for them.

But he said nobody gets upset if you bless them.

You know what?

I think he's right.

AaaaaCHOO.
God bless you.

And then, when you say out loud

"God bless you,"

in your heart you can also

beg the Lord to bless this person.

 

Curves

We have been at the Curves gym two-and-a-half months now.  It takes time.  We progressed past the point of not wanting to bother going.  (C'mon, really?  Audible verbal arguments with myself?  "I don't WANT to go today."  "You need to."  "No, I don't.  What difference does one day make?"  "For exercise, probably not much.  But making a habit?  Skipping just one day makes a huge difference in your mental commitment."  "Commitment schmamittment.  Bah humbug."  "Fetch your gym shoes and get moving, you lazy bum.")

Maggie finds Curves to be more fun than going for walks or using the Goodwill-purchased exercise equipment in our basement.  We were doggedly pushing each other to build this into a habit, a routine, a natural part of life.  And it was working ... until we skipped a week due to illness and another half-week due to holiday closures.  Now it's time to rebuild that habit.

Some critics say Curves is for old women.  Or for people out of shape.  Yeah?  So what's the problem?  I'm old.  And Maggie is out of shape.  We're doing something.

Maggie lost 3 pounds in the first three weeks.  Unfortunately, she gained back most of them with Halloween chocolate.  But she gained back "most."  Not all! And this morning we did our first weigh-and-measure since we joined, and she's down nearly 8#.  That's excellent news!

The Difference Between East and West

In 1951 Herman Sasse wrote to pastors about the place of the cross in the Eastern Church and the Ancient Church. 

As soon as the great question is put: Cur Deus homo? [Why did God become man?] it is understood [in the Eastern church] as a question for the rationale of the incarnation rather than of the death of Christ.

Sure enough, an EO writer says --
The Incarnation did not take place for the Crucifixion; the Crucifixion took place so the Incarnation and the eternal communion of God and man could be fulfilled despite Satan, sin, and death. Explaining that there was no necessity in God the Father that required the death of His Son, St. Gregory is telling us that, from before the ages, it was the divine will for mankind to be sanctified and made immortal by communion with the humanity of the Incarnate God, but corruptibility and death came and stood in the way. 





Sasse continues:

Thus for the Ancient Church, as even today for the Eastern Church, the cross is hidden in the miracle of Christmas and in the miracle of Easter.

How is that limitation of Ancient Christianity and its theology to be explained? Certainly it must not be forgotten that the divine revelation given in Holy Scriptures is so rich that whole centuries are necessary to understand its content fully. It cannot be expected that the Church of the First Ecumenical Councils should already have solved the problems of the medieval Western World.

As to the meaning of redemption, the Greek Fathers could not get away from the idealistic conception of man.

The lack of full understanding of the greatness of sin is the reason why the Ancient Church and the Church of the East never reached a theologia crucis.

So if you wonder what's the difference between Lutherans and the Eastern church, this is it.  In EO, sin is not quite as bad, not quite as deep, not quite as corrupting, as what the Bible teaches. 

"The Law shows us our sin
and how much we need a Savior."

Not so much sin?
Then you don't need so much of a Savior, do you?
And some of the glory goes to you instead of all the glory being His.

Andrew's Schooling

He's still waiting to hear the verdict as to whether he was accepted to the RN program at our local tech school.  Fantastic program with shockingly low tuition.  (Hey, shockingly high property taxes ... and thus the thing about "every dark cloud has a silver lining.")  I thought Andrew was a shoo-in.  Great entrance-test scores and perfect GPA. 

But then he told me that those factors cannot be considered in the decision-making process for who's admitted to the program.

Really?  I'm dumbfounded.  What DO they use as criteria to make the decision then?  Or maybe they don't make decisions, but just draw names out of a hat?

Well, he's got a good job as a CNA. 
And hopefully, in another week or two, we'll hear good news that invites him to sign up for classes for spring semester.

(Wow.  You can't use performance in pre-nursing classes to determine who's admitted to the nursing program.  Just wow.)

Thanksgiving Plans

As much as I hate to say it, I'm glad Paul and Mandy aren't coming for the holiday.  They're going to visit her mom's family. 

And I just keep wanting naps.  Those germies from last week haven't entirely dispersed yet.

Maggie made bread yesterday.  Andrew made cheesecake; Rachel is making pies.  Katie said she'd be in charge of sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes.  I'm going to cook the turkey and slice it on Wednesday.  If I can muster the strength, I'll mix together a cranberry salad and a broccoli salad.

So if I'm full of snot and crashed on the couch on Thursday, they all can still eat something and enjoy each other's company.  Thanks be to God.

(You know what?  Having a paid-job really interferes with a person's ability to rest and recuperate from illness.)

"Blessed Are the Barren"

Luke 23: The days are coming in which they will say, "Blessed are the barren, wombs which never bore, and breasts which never nursed." 

I had always thought that was, well, you know, something the Bible said.  But it's not.  It's just something Jesus reports that "they" say.  Duh -- how come I never saw it until Pastor pointed it out today?  That's something the unbelievers say.  Not Christians.  And certainly not something God says. 

"Better to not have babies" is the response of the hopeless and the despairing.

Happy Things

The same edition of the Bible. 

People were laughing at me during Bible class this week.  I had a question, but I needed to refer to another passage -- a passage whose location I could not pin down.  Poor Pastor -- how can he answer a question comparing passages when I can't even tell him what they are?  "I can't find it.  I don't have the right Bible."  (That's why they poked fun at me.)

Is it my brain being weird?  Or do other people do this too?  I can find things easier in the Bible that I use frequently.  I might know that a verse in the psalms is about 1/3 of the way down the left-hand page, in the right column.  Or I might know that it's a verse in the 30's of one of the major prophets, and it's in the bottom right corner of the page. 

Hey, that makes it loads easier to find a passage I'm hunting!

The right Bible. 
The words are no different.
But because of its layout,
its fit with my brain is different.
And that makes me happy.

Godliness

"The mystery of lawlessness" was in the reading recently from 2 Thessalonians 2. 

It seemed an odd phrase.

So how does it compare with "the mystery of godliness" (1 Timothy 3)? 

Wait a cotton-pickin' minute.
Godliness?
Paul says the mystery of GODLINESS is what Jesus did? 

We tend to think godliness is what I think and what I say and what I do and how I feel.  And Paul has this notion that godliness is Jesus' incarnation, suffering, death, resurrection, ascension, and that these events in the Creed are preached.

Happy Things

Wooden knitting needles.

The sound and feel is just luscious in comparison to metal ones.

Happy!

Hold the Traditions

After Paul talks about the falling away of many in the church, he says, "God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle" (2 Thessalonian 2).

Through the Church, the Holy Spirit gave the catechism.  And the divine service with the liturgy.  And solid, Christ-centered hymns preaching the forgiveness of sins.  And the sacraments.  And ministers to speak on behalf of Jesus to us.

Do we fiercely hang onto it, as if our lives depended on it?  (For of course, they do.)  Or do we hold cheap the traditions we were taught?



When the Israelites were leaving Egypt, Moses said, "Stand still and see the salvation which the Lord shall accomplish for you this day....  The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace."

Happy Things

Good brakes.

I did NOT hit the deer tonight.  And the guy behind me reacted quickly enough that he didn't hit me.

I'm sure I left some doozy black tire-marks on the road, though.

A safe car.  With good brakes.  And an honest mechanic I trust. 

It makes me happy that I can rely on Chuck!



And on the subject of deer:
I need to use my brights more often.
And tell the kids to use theirs.
And at this time of year I need to follow people further back than usual.

Happy Things

This is the weirdest picture, ...
but how do you show a picture of somebody not using a hymnal??

It makes me happy to see people singing in church without needing a hymnal. 

My brother-in-law during the processional at his wedding.

The acolytes while they're extinguishing candles.


The elders who are carrying the pall to the coffin during the opening hymn of a funeral.

The 4-year-old who can't read yet.

The 20-something young lady from Indiana who transferred to our church, and several people asked me when they saw her singing on the way back from the communion rail, "Where did she learn all those hymns?"


I suspect the saints and angels in heaven do not use hymnbooks.  The books are necessary on earth.  But it's sweet when the words are so deep within us that we can freely sing from the heart.

Happy Things

A letter.

A real letter!

A few days before Jane started her blogging of HappyThings, Elva wrote me a letter.  I can't even describe how delightful it was to find a letter in the mail!

And yesterday, I came home from work to find a letter from my goddaughter.  Joy, oh joy!

(Idea:  I could write more letters, and pass along the joy!  Wouldn't that be fun?)

Happy Things

How can a simple fried egg be SO good?!

Egg.  From a happy chicken.  Cooked in a cast-iron skillet.  With a touch of sea salt and black pepper. 

Mmmm.  Hot, runny-yolked egg!

Happiness

Thesis: No one can be happy and contented in his life's work unless he is doing it to serve someone else (and not himself).



No matter how much we chase after making ourselves happy, we can never have enough.  It is only in sacrificing and giving that true happiness comes.  That's part of what it is to be made in the image of God.  And it's true whether you're a Christian or an atheist or a follower of some other religion.  It is simply a fact of life, like gravity.

Your Neighbor

"Your neighbor is the man who needs you."

Wow.
That's a quote from Elbert Green Hubbard, a man who differed from me philosophically and religiously on a gazillion things.

And yet, that quote fits beautifully with the Christian perspective of sacrifice for one's neighbor.  It's very much like what Jesus said to the lawyer when He told the parable of the good Samaritan.

When the whole society was familiar with the Bible and steeped in decency  -- even apart from Christ, there was a civil understanding of what is true and moral.

Babies Are Nice

Conversation recently among a group of [unchurched] 20-somethings:
"I don't think I'd ever want a family.  It would be fun to come home once a week and make dinner and spend time with my family.  But every day?!"
"Maybe it would be okay to have kids.  If they'd arrive at age 4 or 5, already ready for school, and able to feed themselves and dress themselves and use the toilet."
"Babies look like little aliens."

A few days later, Bible class was on the topic of marriage, and how the world views marriage, and society's changing definitions of marriage, and how the Church has pretty much taken-for-granted the joys and the normalness of married life and faithfulness, instead of extolling it. 

Some of the ideas "out there" about marriage, relationships, children, are so so unbiblical (and new-fangled) that it boggles my mind.  I don't even know how to begin addressing the complete mess of someone's life when they value self-indulgence, pride themselves in hanging onto grudges, and have no experience with the simple joys and stability that come with plain old everyday family life.  They know they're unhappy.  But the idea of living a life of sacrifice for others?  Not on the radar.

So I asked during Bible class.  "How do we respond?  How do we talk to people about these things when we're not even speaking the same language, when we're coming from vastly different perspectives?"

And Pastor said, "Just live your life.  Just be who you are as a wife and mother."

What?!

That's all?

But the more I think about it,
the more I hear conversations out there in the big wide world,
the more I realize that "just being who I am" IS pretty different.

His Exodus

Isn't it cool? 

In Luke's version of the Transfiguration (chapter 9), Jesus is talking with Moses and Elijah about "His decease" -- literally His "exodus."  His way out or path out.   

And what's the story immediately before this one?  Jesus is talking about taking up the cross to follow Him.

Follow Him. 
The way out.

Abraham's Name-Change

I knew God changed Abram's name to Abraham.

I knew God instituted the sacrament of circumcision for His people.  (In the new testament, baptism corresponds to this -- the way sinners are brought into God's people and marked as His own.)

But it never crossed my mind until this week that those two things happened at the same time.  Little boys got their names at the time of their circumcision (Luke 2:21).  Today, in the baptism rite, children are named.  But looking at Genesis 17, even Abraham received his name at his circumcision ... old age notwithstanding. 

I think that's kind of cool.

Luke 14

It takes so much energy to tend to an illness or a wound.  When I burned my arm recently, it took longer to get dressed in the morning because I had to deal with bandages and wound care.  My mom gets frustrated with the time it takes to sort her medicines and tend to her dialysis and keep up with simple day-to-day care when her body doesn't instantaneously do what her brain tells her body to do.

So when we read in Luke 14 that Jesus healed the man with dropsy, it's lovely to see that He "let him go" or set him free.  The man finally had rest [sabbath] from his wearying illness. 

And when an illness has weighed you down, it seems an even lovelier prospect to have that rest, that freedom.




Also, that bit about where people sit at the dinner table when they've been invited to a party?  This is not a Miss Manners section of the Bible.  True, it's nice to be nice.  But what's more important here is that Jesus, being found in appearance as a man, humbled himself to death, even the death of the cross (Philippians 2).  And then He was "invited up higher" where He would have glory.

Mercy Seat

... Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood ...  (Romans 3)

So, that "propitiation" is another word for "mercy seat."

In the Holy of Holies, behind the veil in the tabernacle and the temple, the ark of the covenant was covered by the mercy seat.  The place of the Lord's presence.  The place where He particularly was with His people to forgive.  Tucked away.  Nobody went there.  Except the high priest once a year.  With blood and with cleansing.

And now, in the fulness of time, God set forth the propitiation.  Not tucked away.  Right out there where the whole world can see.

The Parable of the Lost Coin

Luke 15: a lost sheep, a lost coin, a lost son.

Did you ever wonder why the middle story is about a woman who lost something?  (Well, besides the obvious: women can get frantic looking for a precious item that was lost.)

Well, the story of the lost sheep shows us how Jesus goes to extreme lengths to bring back the one that was lost.  The story of the lost coin shows us the same thing.  Except the main character is a woman -- a wife -- a bride. 

Doesn't that show us how the Church (Jesus' bride) is like Him?  She too goes all-out to find what was lost.  And she rejoices when the lost one is found.

(When Pastor said this recently,

it made so much sense!)

Why Didn't Anybody TELL Us?

On NPR today, the reporter was interviewing someone who does fact-checking.  The topic?  Obamacare.  The distress?  People's health plans are being canceled.  They're losing their health insurance.  But the President said that wouldn't happen!  "If you like your plan, you can keep your plan."  That's what he promised us. 

The reporter has discovered this week that the President's promise isn't coming true.  Not only that, but the reporter discovered that the sad fallout was included in the bill all along: about half the people who buy their own health insurance (as opposed to plans through their employer) would be losing their coverage.  The reporter wanted to know: "Why didn't we know this before?  Shouldn't someone have discovered this earlier?  Why did we have to wait five years, until it was time to actually sign up in The Marketplace, before we learned what would happen?  Why didn't anyone figure this out and tell us?"

No one told you, Mr Reporter?

I seem to recall a lot of people saying exactly what you did not know.

Congressmen.
Senators.
Talk-show hosts and their callers.
Governors.
Gobs of citizens who called or wrote to Washington.
Political leaders.
Lobbyists.

Regardless of where people stand on the pros/cons of socialized medicine, this reporter's reaction demonstrates something about dialogue.

There has been no dialogue. 
It's all been a monologue.

For years people have been saying, "This is what will happen."  And the Left did not hear.  They could not hear.  They refused to hear.  Their ideology deafened them. 

And now they're surprised.

Why?




PS:  Here's a thought.  Maybe those people who disagree with the administration's proposals aren't as clueless as y'all thought.  Those fuddy-duddy conservatives had the facts right about socialized medicine.  Any chance they might have the facts right on, oh, say, climate change?  Or what constitutes a marriage?  Or some of that other stuff they keep harping on?

Happy Things

Pictures taken by our friend Rachel.  (By the way, if anybody around here needs high school graduation pictures, Rachel is superb!)

Happy Things

Our reverse-osmosis filter had not been working.  For eight weeks, I was buying jugs of water every time I had reason to be in town.  The counter was constantly cluttered with water jugs, hogging space.



  See this guy?  He's smart figurer-outer.  Yup!

See this knobby thing that's part of our plumbing?  It's where the reverse-osmosis pipe exits the water pipes.  Something in there was plugged up.




Gary and I undid it.  We flushed the opening.  (In other words, we gave ourselves an unsolicited shower as water spurted out.)  We put it all back together.  It only took two or three tries before we made it work without leaking.

And now we have nice drinking water from the tap again.  Without repeatedly running into the grocery store to refill jugs!

Now, that's happy!

Happy Things

Turning into this driveway.

Sometimes after work, I head to church instead of heading home.  Maybe there's class.  Maybe there's choir practice.  Maybe some other activity.   It never feels like I've got One More Thing To Do before I go home. 

Turning into that driveway IS "going home." 

O Lord, I love habitation of Your house,
and the place where Your glory dwells. (Psalm 26)

Happy.

Infant Communion

While doing kitchen work today, I was listening to Issues Etc on the topic of infant communion.  The guest said some good stuff.  But one big thing confused me.

Much of his argument [against infant communion] was based on the fact that Jesus instituted baptism in a different way than He instituted the Lord's Supper.  He said that one was directed to the recipients and one was directed to the ministers.  He said that Jesus did not institute baptism by baptizing people, but by telling the ministers what to do, what to say, and why.  He said that Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper by speaking directly to the recipients (through their mental faculties).

But ...

Jesus was baptizing people.  Jesus and His apostles baptized more than John and his disciples (John 3 and 4:1-2). 

First, Jesus baptized.  And He catechized on baptism (to Nicodemus, for example).  Then later, Matthew shows us the specifics of how He told His apostles to administer baptism.  On Maundy Thursday, Jesus communed His disciples.  Then later, we see what Paul wrote about specific instructions regarding how to administer the Lord's Supper that Jesus had instituted earlier. 

Why are those different from each other?

Trick-or-Treat

How do you know if you're too old?

If you're old enough to buy your own candy (that is, if you could be babysitting, shoveling snow, mowing lawns, delivering papers, etc) then you don't need to be out trick-or-treating.

Can you go with your friends -- and no adult along to keep watch?  That's okay for a couple of years, but it also signals that pretty soon you should be handing out candy instead of asking for candy.

I know most of the rest of American society disagrees with me.  But me?  I think the cute little beggars should be accompanied by parents. 

Happy Things

Reading to children.

Picture books. Chapter books. Old books.  Sometimes new books too.

There's something marvelous about reading aloud and enjoying a book together -- something far different from reading a story to yourself.

Hmmm. I should have a picture of me and Maggie reading together too.

Boy, if there were a way to earn a living reading books aloud to kids, I'd be all over it!

Happy.

Happy Things

My mother-in-law's measuring cups.

Reason #1: For 30+ years, I only had one set.  Boy, it's nice to have a spare so that cups don't have to be washed and dried and washed and dried repeatedly.

Reason #2:  They were the ones Gary had, growing up.

Sometimes Pastor uses the analogy of treasuring things that belonged to our forefathers, such as eating holiday dinners off Grandma's china.  He talks about how that can show we loved and honored the person who gave these things to us.  I always feel guilty when he says that ... and miss the point of the analogy while my mind is wandering.  We (like so many others in America) are overloaded with stuff.  And sometimes, material goods (no matter how pretty, no matter how many wonderful memories, no matter how old) can become a burden.  If the treasures don't fit into my house and my life, I cannot treasure them.  And that makes me feel terribly unappreciative.

So, anyway, it's funny to me how much these measuring cups make me happy.  I love their shape.  I love their feel.  I love how nicely they scoop.  I love their history.

Happy.