Dinosaurs/Christ is for all Peoples

Greetings to everyone in the love of Christ and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.  I was going to write a blog this weekend, but ended up being busier than I thought and had to finish a test.  I did have a great weekend and hope you did too.  Thursday night was registration as I told you last time, so I wanted to let you know the results of that.  It went as smoothly and successful as it could have.  I got all the classes I wanted which was no minor feat.  There was one class that I had to have, and I was pretty well guaranteed to get into it, but I was not guaranteed the professor I wanted.  The class was Homiletics and there are three professors teaching three sections of the class.  All three professors are great guys, but one professor is known for being an excellent Homiletics guy.  There were five seats left in his section of the class, and about thirty guys all gunning for those five seats.  Lord willing, I was one of the five to get into his class.  Besides Homiletics I with Dr. Schmitt, I am also taking Lutheran Confessions II, taught by Dr. Kolb who edited the Book of Concord, Synoptic Gospels with Dr. Voelz who has written several books on Greek and its grammar, Early Worship with Dr. Maxwell, and Calvinist Reformation with Dr. Bode, Jr.   With five classes for fifteen credits, plus my Cross-Cultural Module of Sign Language Class, both jobs, and Intramural Softball, Spring Quarter is shaping up to be one busy quarter.  However, it will just require good time management and prioritizing. 
Friday, I went to classes and then Friday night was a special treat on campus.  It was the Green and Gold Follies which is basically a talent show.  There were several great acts and several that had us laughing the entire time.  After the Follies, we got a group of about twenty guys and went to Applebee’s to enjoy late night half-off drinks and appetizers.  Its nights like those that I am reminded we are all here for education, but the community life here is an experience like non-other that you cannot find anywhere else. 

Saturday morning I slept in, and then my friend Chris invited me to go to the auto show with him, his cousin, and his cousin’s wife.  His cousin is also a student at the seminary, and both he and his wife are wonderful people who are always fun to hang out with.  We had a blast looking at, sitting in, and dreaming about owning all those brand new 2012 cars and trucks that we could not afford if we were to combined all our money.  I found several new Chevrolet Trucks to put on the Christmas wish list though.  I am pretty sure Chris and I did offend a salesman though.  He was a Fiat salesman standing by a two door Fiat.  Chris’s cousin challenged me and Chris to both try to fit in the back seat of the Fiat, which if you know anything about the Fiat cars; you will get the humor behind this.  The salesman started getting defensive about us making fun of how little his cars were, so we walked away.  Then Saturday night, Chris, Stein, Lee and I played some cards.  It is hard for me to pass up a good card game, especially when it involves my closest friends here and getting to spend time with them.

Sunday morning, I got up and went to church with Tim and James.  I didn’t have to read or do anything for the service which was kind of nice.  I am constantly going over the liturgy on week nights in order to better prepare myself for leading liturgy in another two weeks.  Then I sat in with the youth group which I am so glad I did.  We watched a video on dinosaurs and a guy digging for dinosaur bones.  Now if you know anything about me, you know I have never believed in dinosaurs and have always thought God put all these bones there just to make us think we know what we’re talking about and watch us invent animals that he did not actually create.  However, after watching this video and this guy talk about them, I have a whole new understanding of them.  This guy is a creationist historian and adventurer.  He goes on all kinds of cool trips and digs and fun stuff, but he works for the Creationist Museum in Ohio.  He was talking all about dinosaurs and their bones and the history of them.  However, he did not talk about dinosaurs being sixty-five million years old and living before humans were on the earth.  He talked about dinosaurs being part of the “behemoth” category of creation on the sixth day.  They were created on the sixth day, the same day as humans, so they would have lived on the earth with the humans.  He believed Noah would have taken two of these creatures on the ark with him, and the rest would have drowned in the flood.  He said the reason they became extinct was because the climate of the earth changed after flood and they died out.  He then went on to talk about hats, shoes, and even teddy bears they have found petrified.  This process can happen in months or even weeks if the conditions are right.  So the fact that these bones are petrified and preserved does not mean they are millions of years old.  The final thing he did that really impressed me was to use scripture to argue for the existence of these creatures.  In Job, it talks about a large creature with a tail the size of a cedar tree.  However, every large creature we still have, have small tails.  Elephants, hippos, giraffes, and so forth, these all have small skinny tails.  Dinosaurs had huge tails that would have been the size of trees, so maybe even in the time of Job these creatures were still around.  The reason the word “dinosaur” is not used or found in the Bible is because it was not invented until 1841.  There was no word “dinosaur” before 1841, so how could it possibly be in the Bible.  It was kind of a cheesy video, but was very knowledgeable and the kids and I really enjoyed it.  Then Sunday afternoon I played basketball again for the first time since rolling my ankle.  I wore my brace just to be safe, but it felt pretty good. 

Yesterday and today classes were cancelled for the Multi-Ethnic Symposium on campus.  I was kind of skeptical, but actually turned out to be a great two days.  Plus not having classes is always a fun thing.  Yesterday I went to opening chapel at nine and then went to the opening two presentations.  The first one was how music relates to culture and can be used to combine culture to worship.  It was a little over informative to the point it got a little dry at times, but overall was a good message.  I really appreciated the second guy who talked about how un-diverse we German Lutherans really are.  I did not know that we are the least diverse denomination of Christians.  He talked about how even when we go into new cultures to try to spread the Word and name of Christ; we bring our German liturgy and prayers with us.  It was just really a good shock and awe to open everyone’s eyes and minds to the problems we are facing.  Then I had to work lunch and then had to miss out on the afternoon presentation to finish my take home test for Confessions.  Then last night, a guy from the Mission team from Iowa District West was in town for the symposium.  He called all the guys from Iowa District West and took us out to eat at Applebee’s.  The District paid for our dinners, so I definitely want to give a big thanks to them.  It was really nice because I did not realize who was all from IDW.  There are seven of us here and I only knew three of them.  So we were all introduced to each other, enjoyed a nice meal, and got to talk to Mark, the guy form IDW.  Mark did one thing that really impressed me.  After the waitress took our order, Mark told her we would say a prayer before we ate, and he asked her if there was anything that we could include in our prayers for her.  It was something I had never even thought of doing, and yet he asked her like he would if he personally knew her.  She was kind of stunned and just said she couldn’t think of anything.  So he told her we would prayer for her well being and we did.  It was just an awesome chance to witness and pray for your neighbor all at once.  I would highly suggest trying it next time you go out to eat. 

Today, we got up and went to the presentation on Muslim Outreach.  The lady presenting had a great story about how she became first Lutheran, and then heavily involved in Outreach.  She lives in the Metro D.C. area and her entire focus is Muslim Outreach.  We had an assignment to interview one person about their diverse ministry during the symposium, and Chris, Stein, and I talked to her for about ten to fifteen minutes later in the afternoon discussing how she goes about reaching Muslims.  One fun fact, Muslims cannot refuse a gift, because it is too disrespectful.  So she carries Bibles in her trunk at all times and will give any Muslim she sees a Bible, knowing they have to accept it.  She also said, about eighty percent of Muslims living in the United States are “seekers”.  She said in the Middle East they could be killed for even questioning a different religion.  However, once they are here and away from that peer pressure they seek knowledge both about their own religion and about others.  She has studied and trained in Islam in order to help show them what their faith truly is, and then uses it to show them what we believe.  She was a fascinating lady and I pray her work is successful.  One of her biggest challenges was the fact that she lived in New York during 9/11.  She had a lot of anger and resentment for all Muslims, but had to overcome that in order to be loving and kind to them. 

Then this afternoon I worked out with Chris and then had to work.  It has been a busy weekend and first couple days, and I am in total shock that January is already over.  However, only two and a half weeks of classes left until Spring break. 

My thought for the day is from the symposium.  I heard a lot of very useful information and did learn a lot about the problems we are facing as a synod, and the goals and plans to starting working towards those problems.  However, no matter what the topic was, no matter what culture or ethnicity we were talking about, there was one major theme throughout the entire two days.  I heard it in every presentation, the lady who works with Muslims stressed it several times, and I think it should have just been the theme for the symposium.  The theme I saw the most was that when you are trying to reach new people, of any ethnicity, it is important to establish a relationship first.  You can walk around telling everyone you meet about Jesus right away.  However, it is better if you stop and talk to that person getting to know them, show them you care about them and their well being.  Then when you share Christ with them, they will know you are only telling them about this Jesus guy because He must really be a good thing for them.  Relationship witnessing was expressed as so much better than just telling people the good message.  This really hit home, because as the lady who does Muslim Outreach was telling us about this necessary relationship when witnessing, she was looking us in the eyes with a big smile on her face.  She listened to us when we talked and was very kind and caring even to us.  You could tell right away that she treats everyone she meets with the same smile and love.  This is the key.  Christ loves us so much that He gave His life for us to save us from our sins.  He died out of love for those who do not know Him too.  So if you are telling someone who does not know Christ about what He did for them out of the love He has for both them and yourself, you should do it with that same love.  And this is true for people even within your own culture.  You can never show enough love to your neighbor, so just try to love everyone you meet, and be kind and caring to them.  This is how we can best share our faith and the good news of our Savior.  All Praise be to Him who sent us our Savior, His Son, out of His love for us His children.

Dear Heavenly Father,

You have filled this entire earth with so many of Your children.  You have made us each different in our own ways with different languages, cultures, music, and ways of praising You.  Help us to always be united in Your Son, our Savior.  Help us to be kind and loving to all our brothers and sisters in Christ, just as You were so loving to us.  We pray this in the same name all Your children pray to You in, Jesus Christ, the Savior of the whole world.  Amen.  

Crazy Week!

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  This week was already going to be a busy week, and it got even busier.  I already had a book report, a big project on a book, a in-class test, and a take home test all this week.  Then to top it off, one professor decided that our work in another class needed to be due.  So that added another book report and finishing my reading journals for two books.  However, I have buckled down and am slowing crossing more things off the list.  I got all the reading journals done, the big project on the book done, and the study guide for the test almost done.  Today, I have two book reports to write, but I have both books read well enough to write about them.  Then tonight I will study the study guide for a while and be ready to finish off this week strong.  Since I made such good head way yesterday and have the rest of today to finish the rest, I decided to take time to say a quick hello to all of you.  I truly do appreciate all of you who take the time to read this, and I hope it always proves to be satisfactory of your time.  

I haven't done much this week besides classes, homework, work, and try to sleep.  We do register for spring quarter tonight which is exciting for three reasons.  One, because it reminds me that the classes I am in are almost done and I get to move on to the next set of classes, two because I am excited for and looking forward to the classes that are coming up, and three I get to start making the schedule for next quarter's work schedule.  I do love the classes I am in now, but at the end of week seven with final tests and projects right around the corner, classes are seeming less fun and more stressful.  My favorite class this quarter has easily been Lutheran Confessions I.  I love it partially because Dr. Arand is an amazing man who knows his stuff and has a great way he teaches it, but also because we are studying the Augsburg Confession and Apology which are both amazing pieces of work that our church is fortunate to have.  I am excited for next quarter to have Confessions II.  Dr. Kolb, who edited the Book of Concord is teaching that class, so he knows his stuff too.  I am really excited for Homiletics I.  After I finish this class, or maybe even before I am officially done according to my field work pastor, I will be in the pulpit preaching.  I have heard preaching is less nerve racking than giving liturgy because you are the only one who really knows if it doesn't go exactly according to plan.  However, I imagine I will still be shaking in the last verse of the hymn of the day just as I was in the opening hymn for liturgy.  The third reason registration is exciting is because part of my job as student supervisor for the cashiers is to make the schedule.  Everyone emails me their schedules and I try to piece together a schedule that gives everyone equal hours when they are able to work.  It literally is a giant puzzle that can be challenging, but feels good once it is accomplished.  I will write again either tomorrow or Saturday to let you know officially what classes I got into.  

My thought for the day comes from a discussion last night with my friends Chris and Stein.  We saw a picture on Facebook of a woman with her mouth taped shut, and then the tape continued to make a cross on her forehead.  Who ever made this picture took the time to find every little piece of the Bible where something bad happens to a woman and list it below the picture.  Of course the theme text was 1 Timothy where Paul is talking about a woman being submissive.  This really bothered all three of us for several reasons.  I will list the reasons it bothered me.  For starters both their usage of 1 Timothy as well as many of their other "quotes" of Scripture take the text out of context and misuse the passages.  You can make a lot of very bold very untrue heresies using Scripture if you simply pull out random verses out of context.  That is the important part of Scripture is to look at the entire selection using critical analysis to accurately interpret the passage.  The second thing that bothers me about this is if you wrote down every bad thing that happened to men, it would be a very long list too.  The Bible is about real people living real lives, and guess what bad stuff does happen.  However, that is not the point of the Bible.  We can look at all those bad things that happen because of sin and then look at all the good and wonderful things God has done for His people, including us and see He is always in control.  It is just frustrating when people misuse Scripture to try to make Christianity a bad thing.  But yet, the Devil loves to use ignorant people to put things like this in our world to turn other people who know nothing about Christianity against God.  It is frustrating and discouraging, but we as Christians must still show all those people love and kindness, find an appropriate way to correct them and never get upset or down grade them.  If you treat them with disrespect, they will not be convinced that Christianity is good thing.  Then also never make the same mistake of misusing Scripture, but know it well enough to use it as God’s Word as He intended it to be used.  All Praise to Him who gave us His Word as one more gift to us.   

LSB Prayer148

Blessed Lord, You have caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning.  Grant that we may so hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them that, by patience and comfort of Your Holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.  Amen.  

Beat up!

God's blessings to you all.  I have quite a bit to fill you in on.  Friday night, about five, I got a phone call.  From the time we had gotten out of class at 3:30 until I got that call at five, it had been raining and freezing a solid sheet of ice on everything.  I hadn't noticed because I went back to my dorm room to work on some stuff before the basketball game.  So the phone call was from the on duty security guard who knew I had been a part of the chemical application team last time.  I agreed to go in, went to my room changed clothes, and headed down to the maintenance building.  However, on my walk down I stepped onto a sidewalk that was completely ice and slipped and fell hard.  Of course my first instinct was to look around and make sure nobody saw me.  Then as I tried to stand up on the ice my jeans ripped out.  I had to just laugh about the jeans cause they were old work jeans anyways, but I noticed my shoulder was hurting from the fall.  I am not sure if I landed on my elbow and it jerked my shoulder too hard or if I actually landed on my shoulder, but either way it was a little sore.  Then spending the next two and a half hours lifting 40 pound bags of ice melt both into the gator and holding them up to pour them into the spreader, lifting the spreaders in and out of the gator, and pushing the spreaders down every sidewalk, it was all upper body muscles being used.  When we were done at 8 and I went to shower quick before heading down to the game where all my friends were already, I realized my shoulder was really sore.  It has been stiff and sore every morning and evening since; however, during the day it stays pretty stretched out and feeling alright.
The game Friday night, once I got there, was a blast.  We beat Fort Wayne by a lot but they only had seven guys and no coach.  Then after the game, some of us guys all came back to the dorms and enjoyed a few beers and watched a movie.  It was so much fun and I do not think I have laughed that hard in a long time.  It was a much needed let loose Friday night.
Saturday morning, I slept in and spent the afternoon laying around my room, relaxing, and doing some reading.  Saturday evening I spent several hours going over liturgy multiple times in my room and preparing everything for Sunday morning.  I felt ready but knew I would still be nervous.  I was kind of worried about how well I would sleep Saturday night since I was already getting nervous, but I actually slept pretty well.
Sunday morning started off in a shaky way. I had forgotten to set my alarm Saturday night, and Lord willing I woke up on my own at 7:45.  We leave for church at 7:55.  Luckily I had preset the coffee maker and laid out my clothes the night before.  I went to the bathroom to make sure my hair was OK and I did not have major bed head or anything since I did not really have time to shower.  I got dressed as quickly as I could, grabbed my hymnal and alb and headed out the door.  Luckily the sheet of ice that had covered our cars Friday night had mostly melted off Saturday, so scraping Sunday morning was easy enough.  I pulled around about 7:59 and the guys had just gotten there.  After that everything else went a lot better.  We made the drive and got there in plenty of time.  I got suited up in my alb and pastor and I walked up front and he announced the opening hymn.  During the last verse of the opening hymn, I was literally shaking in my seat I was so nervous.  I made my way down in front and felt I was doing well.  I had memorized the first half of the service so I did not have to look down at my hymnal.  I still had my hymnal in my hand and it turned out to be a good thing.  During the absolution, I froze.  I looked down and found my spot and continued on, but the mistake was made.  However, after I made that first mistake, it actually calmed me down quite a bit and I was able to make my way through the rest of the service.
I told all the guys Sunday afternoon when they asked how I did that my church asked me to never come back.  But the truth is I got many compliments and they were all very understanding, encouraging, and supportive.  I did have some say that I was not loud enough, but the organist in the back said she could hear me.  I also had some tell me that they could tell I was nervous and stiff, but again others said I looked really comfortable and peaceful.  Pastor told me I did pretty good for my first time, and I am doing it again in three weeks.
At Sunday school, Tim, the fourth year, and I taught a class because the teacher had gone home sick after church.  We were going through the tenth plague in Exodus and the Hebrews leaving Egypt.  It was very interesting to see the story of the first Passover and leaving Egypt from a young child's point of view.  I told them all about the Seder dinner I was a part of last year, and they were actually interested in how it works and what each part means.
After church and Sunday school, Pastor had to go get ready for a Circuit meeting, so Tim, James, and I decided we would still go out for lunch without him.  I felt weird since I still had my clerical on from doing liturgy that morning.  Now, I know I was and still am against students wearing their clericals, but I was told we are supposed to wear them when we are either doing liturgy or preaching.  So I broke down and wore it.
Sunday afternoon, I hung out with the guys for a little bit, played basketball with Chris and Lee for an hour, and then actually accomplished quite a bit of homework last night. It was funny though, I was in my room working on homework with my door closed.  I had three different people come knock on my door just to see what I was doing cause they either needed a break from studying or were just avoiding homework all together.  I just had to laugh because each time I would really get going on a train of thought, and each time it was derailed by another person knocking.  However, that is one part of dorm life here I cherish.  I am making such great friends here, and it gives me great hope for the future of our church, but I also realize I probably will not see most of them very often after we leave here.
Today, I worked lunch and then played basketball with Chris right after.  We wanted to play early so we could have this evening for homework.  We were playing some tough and physical basketball, not giving any easy shots and making each other work for every point.  However, we both ended hurt.  He tripped on my foot going after a rebound and hit his elbow on the floor pretty hard.  Going for a different rebound, I landed on the top of my foot and rolled my ankle pretty good.  It would not have been so bad, but it was the same ankle that I landed on when I fell off the roof two summers ago.  It doesn't hurt too bad but I think is going to be tender for the next couple days.  I was mostly upset because now I will not be able to play intramurals tomorrow or basketball and running with Chris for a couple days.  So with my shoulder being stiff and sore and now my ankle it has been a rough weekend.  Hopefully they both heal quickly and I would appreciate any prayers for them.
My thought for the day comes from Chris and  I talking while playing basketball.  I could not go to chapel this morning since I worked lunch. However, Chris went and said it was a really good sermon on distractions.  The preacher was talking about everyday things in our life that distract us from our relationship with God.  I guess he even included wives and families.  Now I do not believe he was arguing for celibacy for ministers, or trying to say wives and families are bad things.  I think his point was that even these things can distract us and occupy our time to the point where we start shorting or skipping our daily devotions or time spent in prayer and His Word.  Chris was thinking about this a lot since he is engaged and looking to the future to his new marriage.  I do not have to worry about that yet, but is still something we can all think of.  According to Chris the preacher's main point was that if you put God above all else and submit completely to your relationship with Him, everything else will fall into place and line up where it should be.  My comment was that that is a lot easier said than done.  We all want to be perfect Christians, but we are all also sinful by nature and will.  No matter how hard we work at putting God first and above all, we will always fail and fall short.  But I get his point that just because we will fail as sinners, we should never give up or stop trying.  So I will continue to try my hardest to be the best Christian I can be, because I do want to put my God and faith in Him above all else and always above all else.  I hope you do too, and I pray that we may all be strengthened by His Spirit to live such faithful lives.  All Praise be to Him who calls us His own and desires a relationship with us.
Dear Heavenly Father, 

Almighty God, You sent Jonah to forewarn the sinners of Nineveh and they turned from their evil ways.  Please let Your Word be our warning to turn from our sinful ways.  Give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness and put upon ourselves the armor of light from now until the day You have promised through Your Word.  That final day when our Savior Jesus Christ will come again to call us home.  Also, God of all grace, govern our hearts that we may never forget Your blessings but steadfastly thank and praise You for all Your goodness in this life, until with all Your saints, we praise You eternally in Your heavenly kingdom; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.  Amen. 

Friday's post!

I wrote this post on Friday but forgot to put it up.  So here it is for you with my apologies.

Hello to everyone again.  Since the last time I wrote to you I have had a great couple days.  Besides classes, homework, and work, I have been playing basketball everyday with my friend Chris.  He and I go play one on one and are actually great competitors for each other.  He is a fast outside-shooting player, while I am a big in the paint kind of player.  He forces me to be quick on my feet and never quit moving because if I do not guard him up close he just hits the three, but if I guard him and do not force my feet to keep constantly shuffling he just burns me with his quick first two steps and has an easy lay-up.  In other words, if I decide to be lazy, he makes me pay for it.  He is quick on defense so I either have to hope my ten foot jump shots are on that day or use my footwork to beat him while down low.  I on the other hand force him to use his body to keep me out of the lane and use his position to have any chance at rebounds.  SO we make pretty good competitors and actually go back and forth on wins.  I am not only getting better at my jump shots, free throws, and defensive shuffle, but am also getting in better shape.  When I played my intramural game the other day, I did not get winded nearly as quickly as I had been the past few games.  So I am loving being able to play every day and getting the exercise all at once.  

Wednesday, I did not have classes and spent most the day in my room just catching up on a bunch of stuff.  It was a pretty relaxing day.  Then Thursday I had one class Hermeneutics.  We are still going through Dr. Voelz book titled What does this Mean.  Of course, the old joke as students work through this book is asking one another, "Seriously, what does this mean?"  It is a complex book, but makes you think about language, how you use it and what word choices you make.  It is basically trying to get us to realize that just because we know what we are trying to say or mean by our writings and speech, is that the same way the hearer or reader is going to understand it.  It makes me think about my vocabulary and just speech in general, which is always a good thing to do at this academic level.  Then I spent the rest of the day doing laundry and hanging out in my room.  Today, I am going to my four classes.  Then tonight Fort Wayne is in town for a basketball tournament.  So we all plan to go route on our preachers and enjoy the fellowship of our eastern brothers.  Tomorrow, I plan to go to the practice chapel and go through liturgy about a hundred times, or until I feel ready to lead it.  Again, I please ask that you keep me in your prayers as I prepare and lead liturgy.  

My thought for the day comes from an email from my neighbor. 

 "I read about a woman named Pam, who knows the pain of considering abortion. More than 24 years ago, she and her husband Bob were serving as missionaries to the Philippines and praying for a fifth child. Pam contracted amoebic dysentery, an infection of the intestine caused by a parasite found in contaminated food or drink. She went into a coma and was treated with strong antibiotics before they discovered she was pregnant.  

Doctors urged her to abort the baby for her own safety and told her that the medicines had caused irreversible damage to her baby. She refused the abortion and cited her Christian faith as the reason for her hope that her son would be born without the devastating disabilities physicians predicted. Pam said the doctors didn't think of it as a life, they thought of it as amass of fetal tissue. While pregnant, Pam nearly lost their baby four times but refused to consider abortion. She recalled making a pledge to God with her husband: If you will give us a son, we'll name him Timothy and we'll make him a preacher.
 Pam ultimately spent the last two months of her pregnancy in bed and eventually gave birth to a healthy baby boy August 14, 1987. Pam's youngest son is indeed a preacher. He preaches in prisons, makes hospital visits, and serves with his father's ministry in the Philippines. He also plays football. Pam's son is Tim Tebow. The University of Florida's star quarterback became the first sophomore in history to win college football's highest award, the Heisman Trophy.
 His current role as quarterback of the Denver Broncos has provided an incredible platform for Christian witness. As a result, he is being called The Mile-High Messiah. Tim's notoriety and the family's inspiring story have given Pam numerous opportunities to speak on behalf of women's centers across the country. PamTebow believes that every little baby you save matters."

Dear Heavenly Father,

Gracious Father, we praise and thank You that You sent Your Son into our flesh to proclaim the Gospel of His saving work for all mankind. Continually pour out Your Holy Spirit upon us in Your Word and blessed Sacraments that we, with all Your Church, may faithfully confess Your saving name.  Allow Your Spirit to give us the strength to live our lives fulfilling our Christian vocations as a witness to Your love and honor. Keep us steadfast in the one true faith of Your name and Your Word until our final breath.  We offer up our prayers to You our dear Heavenly Father, through our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. 

Amen.  

Anxious Excitement!

Greetings to you all in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ.  I have exciting news but it still makes me a little nervous too.  I told you how I did my worship demonstration for class.  Well now that it is over, my pastor decided it was time for me to start leading liturgy in church.  So this Sunday, for the very first time ever in front of an actual congregation I will be leading Divine Service Setting Three.  I am super excited to be doing it; however, I am also nervous.  I am mostly nervous because we used Setting One for the demonstration, and I am using Setting Three in church.  I am working through it every night this week and will go to the chapel here on campus to run through it for extra practice too.  Please keep me in your prayers that I may serve my Lord well with my leading abilities.  

Sunday was a great day.  Church went well and I read the Old Testament and Epistle readings.  Then for Sunday school I sat in the adult Bible Study.  I imagine next year when James, the second year at our field work church, goes on vicarage, the adult Bible Study will be passed on to me.  So while sitting in the class I did think of a few things I would like to add to try to improve both attendance and accomplishments of the class.  I think James has those same things in mind, but he just isn't stepping up to do them for some reason.  So maybe if I put them in as soon I start leading the class hopefully they will help.  Then Sunday afternoon, after a short nap, Chris and I went and played basketball which was a blast.  Then I did homework and went to bed.  

Monday, I had my one class of Hermeneutics in the morning.  Then I went back to bed until lunch when I had to work.  I know I could have gotten some more reading done, but the bed just looked so comfortable that I couldn't pass it up.  Then after work, I did some more homework until Chris came and got me to play basketball.  I beat him twice one on one, but to his defense he is about four inches shorter than me and rebounds normally go my way.  Then two other guys challenged us to two on two.  They beat us the first game, but we came back and beat them the next two.  The competitiveness of Grandpa Abbott lives on.  It was fun but I was super tired after five games.  Then I went and started drinking water because there was a blood drive on campus.  It had been a while since I have had time to give blood, so I decided to give.  I felt great and drank lots of extra water.  

Last night, after playing so much basketball and giving blood, I was extra tired.  So I went to bed around nine thirty which is extremely early for me.  I slept right through a giant storm last night I guess.  Everyone this morning was talking about how it woke them up and was rattling the windows.  I never heard any of it.  One other thing about the weather, sadly enough all the snow is gone again.  It was warm and sunny both Sunday and Monday, so it all melted.  Today it is chilly again, but not as chilly as in Iowa or Nebraska by the sounds of it. 

My thought for the day comes from the blood drive yesterday.  I had a really nice guy from the blood drive who took me through the whole process.  He picked out the vein he wanted to hit, and then stuck the needle in and as easy as that my blood was flowing from my body into the plastic bag.  I told him he must be a pro because most of the time they have trouble finding my veins, let alone hitting them with the needle.  I have had several experiences where it takes two or three sticks before they get a successful one.  He laughed and said, “Well good I can open my eyes now.”  That is just one example of the awesome sense of humor he had.  However, my friend Stein who was on the bed beside me and I were timing ourselves to see who could fill their pint bag the fastest.  This is a contest I have never lost, and I beat him by almost a minute yesterday.  It took me just barely over six minutes to pump out a pint of blood.  My record time is four and a half minutes.  The number one slogan all blood banks use is that a pint of blood can save up to three lives.  So I started thinking about this.  Three people could possibly have their lives saved because I sat in a chair for six minutes donating a pint of my blood.  It seems like a very small sacrifice to make to save even one life.  Then it got me thinking about the blood of Christ and the sacrifice He made.  My pint of blood has the possibility of saving one to three earthly lives.  The blood of Christ has the possibility of saving EVERY life eternally.  When you think about it that way, Christ’s sacrifice seems pretty small.  One man died once, and is now able to save EVERY life eternally.  Now the reason I keep saying EVERY life is not because I am an universalist, but because Christ died for the sins of every human being, both believers and non-believers, for all times.  But stop and really think about it, one death to save billions or even trillions of lives.  However, when you stop and think about the sacrifice from Christ’s point of view, it is a huge sacrifice.  He was in Heaven living where everything is perfect and reigning as King.  Then He had to leave Heaven, take on human flesh and be born of a human.  Live a life on this sinful earth, being tempted by the Devil, constantly avoiding those who wanted to kill Him, and try to teach the disciples and other “stupid sheep.”  He had a hard life, a frustrating life, and had to live the entire thing without ever sinning.  Then after he accomplishes this lifetime of temptations and frustrations without ever once sinning, instead of being rewarded, He is punished by a terrible, painful death.  He had done exactly what no human being could ever do, He lived the perfect life here on earth, and for it He got to be the perfect sacrifice.  He knew he would be beaten, spit on, mocked, and hung on a cross to die.  And yet He went through with all of it because He knew it was the only way to restore the relationship between us humans and His Father.  When you stop and think about it from Christ’s view it was certainly more than just one man’s death.  It was a huge sacrifice and yet He did it for us.  Then if you look at it from the Father’s view, it is even an even bigger sacrifice.  God the Father, who knew it was our fault that our relationship with Him was ruined, sent His Son to earth, with the command that He must be the perfect sacrifice.  He knew the pain His Son would suffer; He knew the same people He was trying to save would kill His Son.  And yet He still sent His one and ONLY Son, the same Son who at His baptism directly said, “You are my Son, with You I am well pleased.”  He loved His Son, and yet knew it was the only price that could ever restore the relationship with His creation.  Then as Jesus hung on the cross with every sin of every human being of every time, that immeasurable amount of pure sin filling Christ as He was nailed to that cross, the Father who cannot stand sin, could not even bare to look at His Son.  The death of His Son was His plan of salvation, His command, and yet when His Son, His beloved Son, was obedient and obeyed His command to the point of death, our Father could not bear the sight of His Son defeating sin, death, and the Devil once and for all.  That one death seems anything but a small sacrifice when you look at it from either one or both of those points of view.  So I will continue to donate six minutes of my time and one pint of my blood when I can to help my neighbor who needs blood, but I will also continue to tell others about my God and my Lord who made the largest sacrifice ever known to us, for our sake, and all because He loves us.  All Praise be to Him who loves us enough to pay the ultimate price for us, in order to still have a relationship with us.

Dear Heavenly Father,

You are the one who should have condemned us to Hell when we fell as a race.  We, Your sinful disobedient creatures, deserve nothing more than Your wrath and punishment.  However, by Your grace and mercy alone, You commanded Your one and only Son to die.  You commanded Your Son to be the Savior that would and did restore our relationship with You.  We thank You for this.  We thank You for Your grace and mercy.  We also pray that You allow us to always be a witness to that same love You showed us and continue to show us, so that all may know You.  We pray this in the same name of our Savior who was obedient to Your command, even obedient to the point of His death, Jesus Christ.  Amen.  

Just in time!

God's greetings to you all.  So I almost used the excuse that since yesterday's post was longer and had two "thoughts for the day" I would let that be it for the week.  However, I decided to write another one and keep my goal of three times a week true.  Today was a great day.  I slept in until brunch, ate, played cards with the guys, and then went to the basketball game.  I have been working on a project the past two days and I am finishing it now as I type this.  My friend gave me the entire New Testament on CD's.  I have been busy putting them all on my computer so I can upload them to my IPOD to listen to as I work and exercise.  I have been listening to them already and am already loving them.  My goal is to not let them become my daily devotion or only study of our Lord's Word, but simply another way to listen to them whenever I can.  It is a production done by Zondervan and is dramatized which makes it interesting to listen to.
The Preacher's game was a very close and an exciting one, but they lost in the last minutes.  It was a blown call by the referee, but they are only human too.  The cards I played with the guys were Pinochle. We hadn't played cards much lately, so it was a blast to pick them up again.
My thought for the day is from a discussion I had with a friend today.  He asked me if I will send my kids to a Lutheran school if one is available.  I answered that I would.  After discussing some more I realized that he was thinking about his own education.  He went to public elementary and high schools and then a state school for college.  He expressed that he sometimes felt behind other students here because he has never been to a Lutheran school until now.  However, he had also had people tell him that he will make a better pastor for not having been "Lutheranized" by only attending Lutheran schools.  I have actually heard someone say that statement before too.  Sometimes I actually agree with it.  When I see students who have been to Lutheran elementary's, high schools, and colleges, I feel like they are not even aware that there are non-Lutherans in the world.  I have seen these students struggle to answer simple questions because they turn immediately to Lutheran doctrine.  Now please do not think I am against Lutheran schools; however, I also do not think students who have attended Lutheran schools are the only ones who are prepared for church work.  Most of you know I attended public schools through high school, because Adair, Iowa does not have the option of a Lutheran school.  Then I did attend Concordia, Seward, a Lutheran college.  So I have experience with both types of schools.  I would say both have their benefits and both have their flaws.  I will always support a Lutheran school when given the chance with my children someday because I will want them to have the freedom to learn about Christ in school.  I will hope they choose a Concordia for college.  It may be more expensive, but I truly appreciated the professors we had at Seward, as a number of them had perish ministry experience.  Also, New Testament and Old Testament were required which I believe was good for all students.  So yes, I will hope they go to Lutheran schools.  But I will encourage them to have friends, jobs, and experiences outside of church and our Lutheran realm.  I believe everyone needs to understand how the "real world" outside of the church works. I also believe that Christians need to know how to have friends and co-workers who aren't Christians.  I think this teaches a person a lot of valuable skills on how to have a peaceful, civil conversation about God to someone who does not believe the same thing as that person.  This is where I feel the bad reputation comes from for those who have grown up in Lutheran education all their lives.  They get so used to only being around those who believe the same thing as them, they forget how to talk about Jesus in a way that is understandable and capable for all people no matter where their faith life stands.  However, I also know students here who have been in Lutheran education their entire lives and are some of the best outreach people I have met, and are perfectly capable of talking to anyone about Christ in a beneficial way.  This is where I think it up to each individual to shape his or her life how he or she wants as he or she is growing up.  And yet, each individual can and is used by God through the power of the Holy Spirit.  So I will support the Lutheran education system because I do believe it is certainly a good thing, and then put my trust and prayers in the Lord that all Christians will always be a Christian witness to their faith every chance they get.  We should all have one common goal in this world, and that is to share Jesus Christ with everyone of His children.  All Praise be to Him who does not leave us on our own to fend for ourselves, but sends us His Holy Spirit to strengthen and nourish us in our faith, just as He sent His one and only Son to be our Savior and Redeemer.
Dear Heavenly Father, 
You have chosen us as Your children. We sinners were not even able to chose You as our Lord.  After You claimed us and put Your name on us, out of Your grace and mercy, You sent us Your Son as our Savior and Your Spirit as our keeper of faith.  For all of this we most certainly thank you as we know we are unworthy and undeserving of such blessings and promises.  Please keep us strong in our faith, let us share our faith with all of those who You put in our lives, and never forget to make time to be in Your Word, be in prayer with You, and be in praise and worship of Your holy name.  In the same name that makes us Your forgiven children, Jesus Christ who lives and reigns with You and the Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.  

What a Beautiful Sight!

Grace and peace from God our Father and Lord Jesus Christ to all who read this.  I started writing a post yesterday, but only got two lines in before I received two emails.  One was an important one asking my opinion on something so I spent a while replying to that one just how I wanted it so sound, and then the second email was asking me to go into work.  Wednesday night my boss called me in to help pre-treat sidewalks with chemical application.  It was 37 degrees and the chance of freezing rain seemed very unlikely.  However, we got asked to do it, so I gladly accepted the hours and went to work.  Then yesterday I woke up to an absolutely beautiful sight.  SNOW!!!!!  So it was a good thing we treated the sidewalks after all.  I didn't have any classes yesterday, so I slept in which was nice.  I had also hoped to get out and take some pictures of the campus covered in snow.  I had a hunch that our lovely campus would only look that much better with a layer of snow, and I was correct.  However, since I didn't have time to get a post done yesterday, I also didn't have time to get any pictures taken.  I thought about taking my camera to work with me since I spent quite a bit of time out in the snow, but I didn't want my camera to get wet or broken.  Reverend Castens, one of our admissions guys, put up a You Tube video of the snow on campus.  The link  for that is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qA0DV-W2mU.  I went to work at four yesterday afternoon and we got done shortly after nine.  We spent the first few hours in the smaller equipment cleaning up parking lots and sidewalks as best we could.  Then we spent the final two hours treating the sidewalks with the chemical application again.  For those of you who are wondering, the way we treat the sidewalks is by dumping bags of chemical ice melt (which is extremely better than having to deal with salt like at Seward) into fertilizer push spreaders.  Then we simply walk the sidewalks and let the spreaders throw out a layer of the ice melt.  It is actually good exercise walking every sidewalk we have on campus, including all residential areas and perimeters.  I love moving snow and this small snow storm did not even come close to quenching my thirst for snow removal.  However, I hope this is only the beginning of winter.  

Today, I have just been sitting in classes all day.  If you read my Facebook status, that was a quote from Confessions.  For those of you who may not have Facebook, I will copy and paste it for you: -Three men appeared at Heaven's golden gates before St. Peter. The three were St. Aquinas, Gabriel Biel, and Martin Luther. St. Peter asks, "Why should I let you in?" St Aquinas pulls out a large bag of works and says, "Look at all the works I did with God's grace." St. Peter says "I see. What about you Biel?”  Biel pulls out a large bag of works and says, "Look at all the works I did without God's grace." St. Peter says, "I see. What about you Luther?" Luther just simply hands St. Peter his baptismal certificate. St. Peter asks, "And where are all of your works?" Luther slaps his forehead and says, "Oh I thought I was suppose to leave those on earth!" -The truth is your neighbor needs your works. God does not. We are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ as our Savior. Now that we are saved, serve your neighbor and be an active Christian, not because our works save us, but because they are good for our neighbors who are our brothers and sisters in Christ.  Again, that was part of our discussion in Confessions class. 

Chapel was a unique service today.  It was the Rite of Aspersion.  For those of you who have never seen this before, they took water out of the baptismal fount, that is always full and running in the Narthex, into bowls, and used evergreen branches to sprinkle water on the congregation as we sang a hymn to remind us of our baptismal promises.  I thought it was really cool and hope to use the special rite in my church someday.  As human beings who need tangible things, feeling the drops of water hit you, is a great way to remember our baptism.  

This afternoon I am in two more classes, and then work again at four.  I am getting a lot of hours this week, but other than one or two reading assignments I plan to make up this weekend, I am actually still keeping up with school too.  

My thought for the day could have been the above quote, but I decided to do another for you too.  One thing I have been seeing a lot lately in our younger and upcoming generations is the idea that just going to church does not make you a good Christian.  Now this statement is true and I am actually quite impressed with people who realize that truth.  However, the downfall of it is, these same youth are avoiding churches and have come up with this idea that they are better Christians for not being a part of the church.  This is a serious problem.  I am going to give you my opinion on the topic, and if you have any comments or disagreements to add, or questions please contact me either via email or even the comment section below and let me know.  My view is that the church (with a lowercase c= the people who attend services every Sunday and are a part of the four walled building that holds their services) has made a bad name for itself by most of them being either corrupt or just stagnant.  The reputation of our churches has become that they are more worried about money for a new edition to the church, or to build a bigger building, or to redo their parking lots rather than sending money to missionaries, or starting outreach programs.  The reputation has come to be that church goers sit in their same pew ever Sunday and look to see who is or isn't in church that Sunday rather than welcoming visitors or praying for those who aren't there.  These younger generations think church goers are only self righteous people who think they are better than everyone else.  Now while I know not every church and not every member of those churches accurately fit into these categories, I do feel our churches could be doing some things to make a better name for themselves.  Church on Sunday morning is intended to be an hour where Christian brothers and sisters in Christ gather in His holy house to confess they are sinners, admit they need Jesus Christ as their Savior, hear His Word and receive His sacraments in order to be strengthened in their faith, and to praise Him for all He does for us.  Then the rest of the week, we are to live as a Christian, being loving and kind to our neighbors.  Again, this is not because our works save us, but because they help our neighbors.  However, I need to make one more point before I get to my views on this.  These people who are against “the church” state it as the fact they are against religion, or they don’t want to be religious, they just want to believe in Jesus.  OK, here come my thoughts.  First, how they word it, being against religion, is ignorant.  If you truly believe in Jesus, guess what, you are religious.  A religion is a set of believes, not what church you belong to.  So if you believe in Jesus, you have a set of beliefs, therefore you are religious.  Secondly, even if you think churches are not doing what they are meant to do, we are called to be ONE body in Christ.  If you think your church is corrupt or stagnant, become active to change that problem.  Work together with your brothers and sisters in Christ to change the problems rather than separating yourself from the body of Christ.  This is where the Church (with capital C= the congregation of all believers on this earth) becomes important.  The Church is the body of Christ, not the church.  The church should be doing everything it can, not to be building bigger, better churches, but to be building bigger the Church.  Being religious should have the best name and reputation if we are truly following the example of Christ in our everyday lives, not something people are avoiding and denying.  However, this also comes down to one of our biggest struggles as Christians.  We strive to live the best life we can, again not because our works save us, but because we want to be like Christ to share Christ with all.  So we try to live the best we can as a Christian witness, but as sinners we will always fail.  Now does this mean we stop trying?  Absolutely not!  We try our best, we fail as sinners, but rejoice in the fact that we are still righteous before God because of His grace and mercy that has forgiven, redeemed, and saved us by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Then since we know our God has done all this for us freely, we want to try even harder to be better.  But again we fail, and again we rejoice in the fact that God has mercy on us.  It is a continuous cycle that all Christians should face and it never ends.  It is the struggle of being a terrible sinner and yet a beloved saint at the same time.  Praise the Lord He only sees the saints, not the sinner because of our Lord Jesus paying the price for all our sins.  The video that has really sparked this whole movement is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IAhDGYlpqY.  This was the email I got yesterday that I took my time forming my opinion on and hope it comes out correctly and clearly in this post as well.  Again, if you have anything at all to add or ask, please do not hesitate.  I pray daily for the Church, that we may put a side our human failings and simply work harder to spread the love of Christ.  All Praise be to Him for all he has done for us sinful people. 

Dear Heaven Father,

We thank you for all the undeserving mercy and grace you have freely given us Your sinful children.  We beg You that You continue to bless us and strengthen us in our faith and love of You.  Please be with Your Church and all believers, that we may all confess You as true Lord and Savior.  Never let our sinful human errorget in the way of sharing and clinging strong to Your Word and Gospel.  In the name of the same Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever.  Amen.      

The First Week

Hello and greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. This week is the first week in the new year when I begin my three post strategy.  Last week was the first week back to classes, and between classes, work, homework, and my friends being excited to hang out again I had zero time and even came up a little short on sleep.  However this last weekend was a blast and now this week I am back to my normal routine of classes, work, homework, and then making time for devotions, reading, and this blog.
This weekend we went to our friend Adam's parents' house.  They live in Festus, MO which is only about forty-five minutes from here.  They fed us supper, we played some board games and a very cheap, friendly game of poker, and then sat around a bonfire.  It was a great night enjoyed with dear friends.  Then Saturday we watched a movie and played another board game before heading back to the seminary.
Sunday was a great day.  I went to church but didn't have to help with anything.  I found out, once I am done with worship this quarter, I will have the chance to lead liturgy three or four times before summer break.  I will be taking Homiletics next quarter, and pastor said I could have preaching opportunities this year yet towards the end of the spring quarter.  It is weird to think I will only be three quarters into my seminary career and will already be leading liturgy and preaching in front of a congregation.
The weather has been unusually warm and sunny this last week, and today was another beautiful day.  I could seriously use some snow, but can never complain about a beautiful sunny day given as a gift from our God.  I spent today in my dorm room cranking out homework, a practice sermon just for fun, and this post; however, I am sitting at my desk next to my window with the window open letting the cool breeze in.  My window is on the south side of the dorm so the warm sunlight beats in through my window and really warms the place up, so the cool breeze is actually a good thing.  I have two exciting things to mention and then I will get to my thoughts for the day.  The first exiting thing is that I have my worship demonstration Wednesday.  This is when we go through Divine Service Setting One including Communion (Just practice-no actual elements) in front of our peers and professor.  My friend Stein and I have been practicing together the past few nights, and it has been a blast actually going through the service.  The second exciting thing is that I found a guy at the seminary who was the perfect size.  I had brought Grandpa's albs back with me after the funeral.  An alb is the white robs pastors wear for those of you who do not know.  Anyways, this guy was the perfect size to fit into Grandpa's albs so I gave them to him for free.  He gets two free albs, and I get to know they are in great hands still being used.  He speaks fluent Spanish and his passion is Spanish ministry including missionary work across the border.  This to me was pretty neat since Grandpa spent so much of his life doing missionary work.  I also thought it was cool, he asked to hear all about Grandpa since he was getting his alb.  I think I may have talked his ear off, but as you know from my last post I like to brag about my Grandpa, he was a very special man.
My thought for the day comes from Hermeneutics last Thursday.  We use terms like "father" to describe God.  We use terms like Christ the "bridegroom" and the church is His "bride".  All of these terms are relationships we have with God.  We use the terms from relationships we have in our everyday life to describe our relationship with God.  However, is it not a little weird that we are able to use so many relationships we have with other humans to describe our relationship we have with our God?  Dr. Oschwald proposed the idea I want to tell you because I really like it.  Would it make more sense to say that God intentionally designed our relationships we have with other people in a way that allows us to better understand how our relationship with Him works than to say we just apply our human relationships to God?  It hit me like a brick wall simply because I had never thought if it that way.  God let us have man and woman who fall in love and get married and the husband is head of the house who provides for his family and would gladly give up his own life to protect his wife and family. Just as Christ loves us so much He provided for us and saved us by giving up His own life on the cross.  And God designed the father to be a man who loves His kids who is literally his offspring, teaches them, protects them, and takes care of them.  Just as God the Father who created us making us His offspring and His children, He protects us, provides for us, and takes care of us even sending His Son to be our bridegroom and Savior.  We can use relationships we have in our lives to know God better because that is how God wanted us to know Him.  He wanted us to know Him as our Father, our Savior, and our Bridegroom.  So He gave us these relationships to help us be closer to Him.  All Praise be to Him who makes Himself known to us through everyday relationships.
LSB Prayer 175
Merciful Father, through Holy Baptism You called us to be Your own possession.  Grant that our lives may evidence the working of Your Holy Spirit in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, according to the image of Your only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ our Savior.  Amen. 
 

Christmas Break/ My Grandpa

Blessings to you all from our God and Lord, Creator and Redeemer.   I apologize in advance for the length of this post but I have a lot to catch up on.  Also, I am typing this as I am sitting in a twelve passenger van with six family members as we drive from San Antonio, Texas back home to Iowa, so time in certainly not an issue.  I will get to our trip to Texas in a bit, but first I wanted to fill you in on my week in Nebraska.  I had a wonderful week moving Bill and Jami, visiting friends, and even had a company Christmas party. 

That Friday, the last day of classes two weeks ago, I left St. Louis about 4 in the afternoon after my last class.  I found out that is the absolute worse time to ever try to leave or enter St. Louis.  They had electric signs saying that 4:30 to 5:30 is a highly advised no drive time.  It took me the first hour to get twenty miles down the road.  However, after that it was smooth sailing and I got to Nebraska right about midnight.  I met up with a friend for a drink, and then headed out to Bill and Jami’s.  That weekend, we spent both days moving Bill and Jami into their new house.  Saturday we moved everything from their rental house to the new house, and Sunday we went to Columbus to empty Jami’s storage unit and move all of that stuff down to the new house.  Sunday night I went to Matt’s house for supper.  He lives just south of Seward.  I got to know him because he is engaged to my friend Ally.  They have asked me to be in their wedding this coming fall and I am excited to watch them grow as a couple.

Monday I helped Jami and her mom unpack boxes, wash everything, and start putting the house together.  Monday afternoon I took off and headed west to Worms, Nebraska to see my friends Ben and Shalee.  Shalee fed us all a delicious supper, Ben and I got to visit for quite a while, and then Ben’s friend Andy, who I got to know at the wedding, stopped by.  That Monday night, December 19^th, as Ben, Shalee, and I were watching a movie, my mom texted me and told me my Grandpa was home in Heaven in time for Christmas.  He had not been well the past few weeks and was actually in a hospice already since his body was too fragile to continue dialysis, since his kidneys were no longer working.  I will tell more about my Grandpa, both his life and his funeral to follow.  I continued to watch the movie and then that night said a prayer of thanksgiving for Grandpa finally being home with our Lord. 

Tuesday I helped Ben work on the house they are fixing up.  We got one whole room primed and painted, some more of his shiplap nailed up, and then more shiplap stained.  It was a fun day helping him.  I was so glad I got to see both him and Shalee again.  Then Tuesday afternoon I left Worms and headed back east to Benedict which is where my friends Robbie and Jen live on their hog farm.  Robbie is finishing school at Concordia in Seward while also running seven hog barns at his house.  I ate supper with them and had a nice visit catching up with them and their busy lives.  Then I went back to Seward and had a few drinks with Ernie, my good buddy who I did everything with this last summer. 

Wednesday, I hung out at Bill and Jami’s picking up the house and watching daytime T.V.  I forgot how terrible daytime T.V. is with all the court shows, Jerry Springer shows, and soap operas.  Then Wednesday night I ran into Lincoln and had supper with Jon and Kelli.  Jon lived on my dorm floor freshman year at Concordia and Kelli fed me supper every Sunday night freshman year.  They are now married and have an adorable little boy named Mikah.  It was fun to catch up with them and play with Mikah.  Then I went across town and saw Shane who I worked with at the state this summer.  He no longer works for the state so I wanted to make sure I got to see him.  I just hung out with him and his fiancé at their apartment.  It was fun to catch up with both of them.  Then I headed back to Seward in a small snow storm which made me miss snow more than I already did. 

Thursday I hung out at Bill and Jami’s again and watched more daytime T.V. and did a little homework.  Then Thursday night Ernie and I ran over to Waco to eat supper with Travis and his wife Stephanie.  Travis was the mechanic at the state this summer.  After he quit, I helped Bill to get his new job there.  However, Travis and I always got along really well this summer and so we went and ate supper with them at the bar.  Then he invited us out to his house where we played pool and had a few drinks. 

Friday I got up and loaded my car.  I went to the state shop where they were having a pot luck style lunch for their Christmas party.  It was fun to see all the guys again and meet the new guys.  Shane quit, Travis quit, and Roy is leaving in a week or so.  Next summer when I hopefully work there again, it will be almost a whole new crew.  Then after the lunch, I headed to Iowa for the rest of my break.  It was such a great week.  I got to see so many dear friends I hadn’t seen in quite a while and it was just a really nice break. 

Friday when I got home in Iowa, I thought I pulled in the wrong drive way.  I have only lived in one house my entire life in Iowa, the same house, same driveway, and the only real change is the small deck we added when Nate was in college and the growth of the evergreens out front.  And all of that looked the same it always has.  The reason I thought I was in the wrong drive way was because of the 2011 Chevy Camero parked in the driveway.  It only took me two seconds to figure out it was my brother Tim’s new toy.  I knew he had driven up from Florida, but was expecting to see his big truck that he bought a year ago.  Instead, he surprised us all with the Camero. 

We spent the rest of the weekend with the whole family together.  We played ping pong and basketball, went to church, opened presents, and played cards on Christmas Eve.  Then Christmas day we went to church and spent the day watching movies and hanging out.  It was a blast to have all of us together again.  It is not very often that we have all nine of us together, and after I finish the seminary it will be even harder to get all of us together very often. 

Sunday afternoon Tim left and headed back to Florida.  Then after he left, the rest of us packed up the van, climbed in, and headed south for the week.  We went to Texas for my Grandpa’s funeral which was Tuesday.  We left around 3 Sunday afternoon, drove all night with eight of us in the van, and got to San Antonio about six Monday morning.  The only sleep I got was about an hour nap in Missouri and then a two hour nap when we got to San Antonio.  Believe it or not, 8 Richters do not fit very well even in a 12 passenger van.  At one point we had Justin, my nephew, on top of the luggage right behind the very back seat.  JoAnna and I shared the back seat for awhile until I tried to sleep on the floor.  I wedged myself between the seats but it physically hurt and I could only tolerate it a short while.  Then I got shot gun for a few hours as my Dad slept and Nate drove.  Then I ended up with a seat all to myself to spread out and sleep, except my nephew decided he should sit on me.  So I laid down in the seat and let him lay on top of me.  Believe it or not, an 80 pound almost nine year old is heavy and gives off a lot of heat.  When we got to San Antonio, everybody else got breakfast and went into my Aunt and Uncle’s house.  I stayed in the van to get a short nap before my cousin came out to wake me up.  It was a long tiring trip but Lord willing we made it safely. 

Monday we hung out at my Aunt and Uncle’s house spending time with family until we were able to check into our hotel.  Then we all showered which was much needed, and then went back to my Aunt and Uncle’s.  I love when the Abbott side of my family gets together.  We always have so much fun together, and I love the fact that we are a hugging family. 

Tuesday morning was Grandpa’s funeral.  We did it the same way we did my Grandma’s funeral in 2002.  We had only family at the cemetery for the burial service at 9:30 and then all went to the church for the actual service at 11 and lunch right after.  I really like doing it that way because then it is only family at the burial, and you don’t have to go to the cemetery between the church service and lunch.  He is buried right next to my Grandma.  Right beside them is my Aunt Lou Ella.  For those of you who don’t know, I have never met my Aunt Lou Ella.  She died long before I was ever even thought of.  My Grandma and Grandpa, my mom’s parents, had seven children.  Since Lou Ella is home in Heaven, six are still alive.  Lou Ella died when she was three years old.  She was running errands with my Grandpa.  They were returning glass bottles back to the store.  She asked to carry one so Grandpa let her.  She fell and the bottle broke.  The broken glass cut her throat.  They rushed her to the hospital but she didn’t make it.  So we got to see her tomb stone as we stood next to Grandpa’s casket in front of his and Grandma’s tomb stone.  The service at the cemetery was done by the church’s pastoral care minister.  He had known Grandpa for the full 35 years Grandpa was at Concordia Lutheran Church in San Antonio.  He had a beautiful little service and we even sang a version of Jesus loves me.  Then we all went to church for the actual service.  We got many hugs from people who had known and loved Grandpa.  The service was beautifully done.  There were eleven pastors present, the choir sang a hymn and the benediction, my one cousin played the trumpet for several of the hymns, my other cousin played the piano and sang a beautiful hymn, and Pastor Tucker, head Pastor at Concordia, gave a great sermon about Grandpa and eternal salvation.  I guess I should mention that this was the Grandpa who graduated from the same seminary I am at, and was a pastor for 70 years.  He graduated in 1941 and continued to share the Gospel, baptize, and commune people even at his assisted living place in his nineties.  I will now share what was typed in the funeral bulletin. 

“ Reverend Norman V. Abbott- Born August 19, 1917, in Cincinnati Ohio, Norman was the only child of Lawrence and Anna Abbott.  Early on, Norman was encouraged by his mother to become a pastor.  As a result, he attended Fort Wayne Lutheran Preparatory School and graduated from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis in 1941.  He married Ruth Marie Kester and was blessed with seven children.   Norman was ordained at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in San Antonio and served as a missionary pastor in San Antonio, New Braunfels, Hilo Hawaii, Maryville Missouri, and Adair Iowa.  He used his God-given talents of humor, sharing God’s Word, and meeting and loving people to enhance the church and grow disciples.  The last 35 years were spent serving the Lord as the visitation pastor at Concordia Lutheran Church in San Antonio.  Up until his death, Norman was still witnessing to those around him, including the residents of The Waterford where he lived. 

                In the early mornings, he enjoyed the competitiveness of playing tennis with friends.  Vacations were spent visiting family, hiking in the national parks, and taking pictures- there was always a slide show waiting to happen at his house.  In addition, there were many ping-pong games held on the back porch between Grandpa and the grandkids.  Later at the Waterford, he became the pool shark of the second floor. 

                Reverend Norman Abbott was preceded in death by his wife Ruth and daughter Lou Ella.  Survivors are Ruth Anne Endicott and husband Steve of Troy Montana, Lawrence Abbott and wife Phyllis of Maryville Missouri, Ronald Abbott and wife Dorothy of Palmer Alaska, Carolyn Mangels and husband Ken of Georgetown Texas, Evelyn Richter and husband Dave of Adair Iowa, and Robert Abbott and wife Debbie of San Antonio Texas.  He had 22 grandchildren and 30 great-grandchildren and always enjoyed receiving pictures of them.  Norman loved his Lord and his family and touched countless lives during his 94 years.”  

Five out the six still living children with five spouses, nine out of the twenty-two grandchildren with five spouses, and nine out of the thirty great-grandchildren were all present for his funeral.  Most of the rest watched the live stream online.

My Grandpa Abbott is the entire reason I am becoming a pastor.  For those of you who have heard this story already I apologize, but for the rest of you I will fill you in.  My Grandpa Abbott was a missionary pastor at the country church in Adair Iowa.  That is where my mom met my Dad.  Grandpa left Adair to head back to San Antonio, but my mom stayed behind, married Dad, and had us four kids.  I grew up in Adair with many people who had met and known my Grandpa since Adair is a small town where everyone knows everyone.  All my life growing up, I heard from people in Adair how my Grandpa had helped them in one way or another.  The kicker was that people who never even went to his church could still tell stories about how he had helped them.  I figured out at a very young age, from my Grandpa’s example, that being a pastor is a job that supports a family, serves the Lord, and has the ability to help everyone you meet.  I think it was fourth grade when I officially decided I was meant to be a pastor and decided on seminary as my route.  I wrote several papers in elementary and high school, did job research for high school projects, and told everyone I was seriously going to be a pastor.  In high school I considered being a park ranger but didn’t think I could go through all the internships and actually make it work out.  In college I was an education major for awhile and was seriously considering being a high school teacher and football coach.  Then once I got into the Geography program I went back to my park ranger idea.  However, no matter what I tried or considered, the seminary always came first and was always the best option.  From the age of ten in fourth grade, I said I was going to the seminary, and now at age twenty-three I am actually there on my way to be a pastor.  Grandpa was my inspiration, without hearing of how he had helped people, seeing how he touched people’s lives, and watching him share the Gospel with everyone he met, I wouldn’t be at the seminary.  He was my encouragement, always telling me how proud he was that I was following in his footsteps, wanting me to go to St. Louis so I would be at the same seminary he was, and telling others that he had a grandson who was going to be a pastor like him.  Now he is my example.  I can only pray and beg the Good Lord to be half the pastor he was.  We will never know how many lives he saved by being the faithful Christian who had to tell everyone he met about our Lord and Savior.  I strive and pray to be used by the Spirit the same way the Spirit was able to use him.  I will use the stories and my memories I have of him in many sermons and to tell my children what an amazing great-grandfather they are going to get to meet in heaven. 

The coolest thing is I have gotten quite a few things that were my Grandpa’s that I will always keep and cherish.  I got a lot, and I mean a lot of his books, a couple huge boxes of his Bible Studies, four of his stoles, his pectoral cross, a tie clip, and his Greek Bible that you can tell has been used a lot.  The tie clip has an “N” on it for Norman; however, I will still proudly wear it and tell anyone who asks about my Grandpa Norman. 

One comment that I wanted to be my thought for this post and also just to share, came from the cemetery service.  I believe it was my brother who made the comment that the funeral home director, who was in charge of setting up the tent and everything, could probably easily notice a difference in this service to non-Christian ones.  All of us family members showed up about nine, all dressed up, and greeted each other with good morning hugs and smiles.  It was a beautiful day and we were there to celebrate the life of our Father, Grandpa, and Great-Grandpa.  We were sad to lose such an amazing and loving man, but we all knew that he is in heaven where he belongs.  Christians can be sad when loved ones are gone, but we do not grieve for the dead.  We know that our Savior Jesus Christ has defeated sin, death, and the Devil once and for all.  Just as He came back to life and ascended into heaven to sit on His throne, so too will all His children, including Grandpa Abbott, be risen from the dead and ascend into heaven to join the congregation triumphant.  That is the reason we were able to smile as we sat in front of the casket and know while Grandpa’s body is buried there, he is in heaven with Christ.  We also know that that body will be resurrected but made perfect in the Lord’s second coming. 

I do have to admit though there was one place during the church service where I lost it and couldn’t hold the tears back.  My cousin Joel was playing the piano and singing the hymn “In Christ Alone.”  It is one of my favorite hymns, and I have even memorized the fourth verse of it.  I believe I have used it as a prayer before in this blog.  While Joel sang it so beautifully, my other cousin Jason played the trumpet with him.  It is a beautiful hymn, that was song and played so preciously, and I could no longer help it.  It wasn’t even that I was really sad that I started crying, but the one verse talks about Jesus bursting out of the grave.  All of a sudden all I could picture, clear as day, was Jesus bursting open that blue casket we had just seen that morning, taking Grandpa by the hand, and leading Him up to heaven.  The song has great imagery of the pure Gospel, but that one line and that perfect image that flashed through my mind made me so happy.  It made me so that Grandpa was a strong Christian; there isn’t a doubt in any of our minds where he will spend eternity.   It made me so happy that he passed that faith down to his family including me; we can all have the same assurance of life eternal that Grandpa had.  It also made me so happy that we have a Father who out of His grace and mercy decided to send His Son as our Savior to redeem us rather than condemn us.  To me all of that was clearly shown in the imagine of Jesus, our Savior who restored our salvation, bursting open Grandpa’s casket, just as He walked out of His tomb that Easter Morning completing our salvation, taking Grandpa by the hand, just as He claims us all as His baptized children and leads us as He is always with us, and lead him to Heaven, just as we all will be welcomed into His open arms at Heaven’s entrance as His forgiven children.  I tried to hold the tears back but it was no use.  In fact, Justin was sitting right beside me with my one arm around him, and as I tried to use his head to hide my quivering lip and the tears flowing down my face, he looked up at me.  I could see the compassion in his eyes as he said, “It’s OK Uncle Kevy.”  I couldn’t even sing the rest of the hymn even though I love it because the tears just kept flowing.  After the hymn was over I was able to stop and enjoy the rest of the service. 

The rest of the week was just a blessing from God as we spent time with family, played cards, laughing, and telling stories of Grandpa. It was a vacation I will cherish, and I wish the Abbotts could all get together more often. 

I wrote all of the above in the van on the way home.  We Lord willingly made it home safely last night around eleven thirty.  Today has been a day of unpacking, laundry, relaxing, and watching college football.  Tonight for New Year’s Eve I plan to go out for dinner with my friend Britt and then just grab a few drinks at the bar in Anita where her boyfriend is bar tending.  Tomorrow will be church, napping, and hopefully seeing my buddy Skeeter.  Then Monday I will head back to St. Louis to finish the rest of this quarter.  I started today going through the multiple boxes of books and Bible Studies that I received from my Grandpa.  I decided that will be a good spring break project going through all of them and realizing just how valuable they will be.  I did find a set of books I am taking back with me to work through as my personal devotions.  It is a Bible Study guide on Proverbs, but the neat thing is I have two copies.  One with Grandpa’s hand written notes and one with Grandma’s hand written notes.  Grandpa led it in 1997 when Grandma was still alive and I cannot wait to go through the books together and compare his and her notes.  Plus it means a lot to me to see her hand writing again. 

Well I do apologize for this getting so long.  I already included my thought for the day above so I won’t add another one.  God’s blessings to you all on your New Year.  All Praise be to Him who gives us the hope of life everlasting until the day he calls us home by name. 

Dear Heavenly Father,

I thank you so much that you blessed me with a loving and kind family.  I especially thank you for the blessing of my Grandpa, who was Your faithful servant and taught his family to do so also.  You bless each and every one of us more than we are ever worthy of receiving, and for Your grace and mercy we thank you.  We pray all this in the same saving name of our faith, Jesus Christ. Amen.