Hello everyone. I have quite a bit I think I am going to try to write about in the next few days, including this post, so I hope you bear with me. School is still going well; however, there is only two weeks left of this quarter and I still have quite a few papers and projects to complete, so I will have to buckle down and bear through it. I believe Tuesday was the last time I wrote to you. Wednesday, I went to worship class only to find out my group was not suppose to be there until the next week. So I enjoyed another class free Wednesday. Both Wednesday and Thursday were pretty uneventful days, just trying to catch up on some reading and making the official list of everything I have to do in the next couple weeks.
Friday I spent the day going to all my classes as usual. Then Friday afternoon was Prof and Stein, where beer and fellowship was enjoyed by all. I got to sit and talk with a group of guys I normally do not see outside of class, so that was nice for a change. Then Friday night the Preachers had a home basketball game. We lost but it was a close one. After the game, we could not decide what to do. A group of guys were going to the bar, another group of guys were going to Applebee’s to hang out, but both of those cost money. The group I normally hang out decided we were just going to try to find something to do on campus. I think we found the best option. We christened in the brand new lounge that was just completely remodeled in the third floor of Wartburg. They have a brand new pool table and foosball table up there. So we played both of those and then broke out the cards and had some intense pinochle going on. The entire time we were hanging out we were sampling some home-brewed free wine. Our friend Aaron’s mom brews her own wine and beer. He brought six or seven different bottles of wine of hers and let us sample all of them. It was such a fun night of just relaxing and spending time together without spending any money.
Saturday, Chris and I worked out before brunch. Then after brunch the guys finally got me to give in. I have lived twenty-three years without seeing any of the Star Wars movies. Chris and Stein, who both love those movies, decided that was long enough and got me to watch Episode IV. Now that I have seen that one, I imagine I will also be watching V and VI in the near future too. I thought it was a good movie, but am not absolutely in love with it like most of the guys here. Sorry if I offend any serious Star Wars fans who might be reading this.
Saturday evening we enjoyed a few rounds of a board game we all enjoy. It is called Axis and Allies, and basically is our own rendition of World War II. I was Russia last time we played and the Allies won. I dominated with Russia and was able to push Germany into a corner he couldn’t get out of with the help with England on his other side, but then I also took over all of Asia and forced Japan back out to the sea too. Now this new game we just started, I am Russia again, but am getting pushed back on both sides. It is a very complex board game with sea, land, and air units that all have different movements, attacks, and defenses. The wars all are done with dice and when the rolls do not go your way, you can lose a lot of armies very quickly.
I have been fighting the start of a nasty throat/chest cold. I have been trying to get extra sleep, am taking Dayquil and Nightquil, and using lots of cough drops. Last night I went to bed at a decent time, but woke up several times coughing. I have also not had much of a voice yesterday or today. I was certainly glad I was not doing liturgy this week, or I would have had to shout just so they could hear my rasps. However, even with waking up during the night, I was able to get up this morning in time to shower, get dressed, and met the guys to head to field work church. I did not have to do anything for the service, and then sat in with Tim and his Sunday school class again. He has the most hyper class out of all the classes and it’s also the biggest every week. So a second adult is always a good thing in that classroom. We covered the manna, quail, and water during the Exodus of the Israelites. Then after church, Stein and I went to get stuff to change oil in our cars this week. It costs way too much to get it done at any of the mechanics around here, so we bought ramps and a drain pan and will just change it in the parking lot. Plus, all Walmart’s and Auto Zones now take used oil and oil filters for free. I think we plan to do that tomorrow if the weather is still nice.
I went over to a friend’s house to watch the Super Bowl this evening. He lives in the married housing with his wife, and she made a ton of food. They had wings, potato skins, bacon wrapped little smokies, cookies, chips and dip, and chili. Plus he bought several different types of beer. They have a 52 inch High Def. T.V. and surround sound set up around their brand new wrap around couch. It was pretty much the perfect set-up to watch the game. There were about ten to fifteen of us there all enjoying the game. Now I am just writing this quick before I head to bed and try to sleep all night without waking up.
I have several thoughts for the day that I have been thinking about lately. I think I will only include one in this post and then try to write the rest tomorrow in a new post. The first post I was thinking about came from Confessions class on Friday. We spent the entire time looking at baptism and the Lord’s Supper. These are articles eight and nine in the Augsburg Confession. I will include much more about both of these in tomorrow’s post, because I took several great notes that Dr. Arand used that I wanted to pass on to you. However, this short but very useful idea also came from Dr. Arand and I could not help but tell it to you. He was taking about faith and God’s grace, and the analogy he used was this: “Faith is like a chocoholic”. A chocoholic always wants more chocolate. He or she can never get enough chocolate. If you offer them a bag full of M&M’s they will want the whole bag. This is true of our faith and God’s grace. A faithful person can never get enough of God’s grace. When he says the confession in a Sunday morning service, and receives the absolution, that is receiving God’s grace. Then he hears a sermon about baptism (proclamation of the Word) and he is reminded of his baptism which is a state of being in God’s grace. Then he walks up to the communion rail and receives the Lord’s body and blood, which is receiving God’s grace and all are forgiving him of his sins. Now he could stop and say, “Have I really sinned enough to need that much forgiveness in one service?” However, a true faithful person can never get enough of God’s grace and will simply say, “I have been forgiven of my sins.” If there is a special service Monday for some reason, he will gladly go up and receive communion again if it is offered, because a faithful person does not see God’s grace as something only needed once in a while, but should always be accepted with praise and thanksgiving. I can remember from my own Sunday school classes as a kid, our teacher one time asked us how often we should take communion. Us kids guessed several numbers, but she corrected us with the right answer which is, "as often as it is offered". A little bit of God’s grace is sufficient enough to forgive us of our sins, however, we should live as faithful people who can never get enough of His grace and mercy He offers to us. We should delight in receiving the gifts He gives to us, His children, out of His steadfast love for us, as often as it is offered. All Praise be to Him who continuously offers us His unmerited grace and mercy through His Son, by the power of His spirit.
Dear Heavenly Father,
We thank you so much for the love, grace, and mercy You continue to show us day in and day out. We ask that You allow us to receive Your gifts with thankful and faithful hearts, always adoring Your name, clinging to Your faith, and trusting in You to provide for us all we need and so much more. We pray in the name of our Savior, Your Son, who You sent to be our Redeemer through the power of Your Holy Spirit. Amen.
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