Real Meaning of Christmas

      Greetings to you all.  I am trying to finish out this week strong.  I have to finish writing my sermon today, and then study for two tests tomorrow.  One test should be pretty easy, in fact the professor said it will be the easiest test we ever take at the seminary.  However, I still have to study the different emotional words for it.  It is pastor as counselor and we have been working on active listening skills for the past two weeks.  This is where a counselor listens to the client or parishioner in my case and then reflects back to them both content and feelings of what they just stated.  This helps the client know you are actually listening, and it makes sure you are both on the same page.  The test is watching a video of different people talking, and then we have to write down what we would reflect back to them both about their content and their feelings.  We have a big list of different emotional vocab words, and being a guy I am not familiar with most of them.  So while I am not worried about the actual test, I still have to study that vocab list.  The other test is my history class and some of us guys are getting together tonight to study together for that one.
      I am going to post my paper that I wrote for Systematic's II as my thought for the day.  I want to preface the assignment a little so you know what I was trying to accomplish.  The assignment what to write about the "real meaning" of Christmas using ONLY Luke's two works.  The Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts were our Scriptural foundation.  It was supposed to be three to four pages and written as if it were an article in the Lutheran Witness.  However, I still wrote mine basically as an academic paper and it ended up being seven pages long.  The professor made a comment in class about when I handed him my paper he thought I must have used really heavy paper since it weighed so much more than everyone else's. For this class our papers do not get letter grades.  We get either Pass/Marginal Pass/Not Pass.  If you get Not Pass you have to re-write the assignment.  If you get Marginal Pass you have your choice whether you want to re-write it or not.  and if you get Pass you do not have to re-write it.  Then at the end of the class your grade is determined by how many Marginal Pass's or Pass's you had.  I got a pass on this first one which I was very happy about.  So I do not know if it is an A paper, but it was close enough to what he was looking for to pass.  I apologize for it being so long, but if you feel adventurous enough to read the whole thing, here it is.  Enjoy.

      Christmas to most people these days is all about buying gifts, decorating the house, making huge extravagant meals, traveling home to be with family, or going to church.  Even Christians who know the story of Christmas as the birth of Jesus get lost in the meaning of Christmas.  They may go to church and they may even wear a pin or button that says, “Jesus is the reason for the season.”  They may even put up decorations that say, “Don’t take Christ out of Christmas.”  However, even these people have most likely been engrained to be confused about or just plain forgotten the “real meaning” of Christmas.  The Bible has many great answers to what Christmas is really about, but according to Luke, in both his Gospel and the book of Acts, the “real meaning” of Christmas is the birth of Israel’s King. 

            The Old Testament is the narrative of God’s people, Israel.  It’s not the happiest story as a lot of tragedy and hard times happen to them, but it is also a story of promise and hope.  God made a promise to Adam and Eve in the garden, God made a promise to Noah before the flood, God made a promise to Abraham, then Isaac, and then Jacob, and God made a promise to David.  The promise that God makes with almost everyone of these is that there will one day be a “savior”.  Abraham was promised to have offspring more numerous than stars in the sky and be the blessing to all nations.  This was passed down through Isaac and Jacob, with the promise that their descendants will inherit the entire earth.  Then God promised to David that his house and kingdom shall be made sure and his throne would be established forever.  This is the key promise to Luke.  In many of the Psalms, we see God’s people who have no human king and are under foreign rule and oppression cry out for a king to come and save them.  The Psalmists know though that God is their one true King who reigns and will send the messiah, the Davidic King that was promised to David.  No matter how bad the times in the Old Testament got, they had this hope of the promised king who would come and rule once and for all.  The King of Kings who would fulfill the promise made to David that his throne would be established forever.  This is the promise Luke zeros in on and points to as he writes his Gospel and the book of Acts. 

            The “real meaning” of Christmas is the jubilee that this Davidic King, promised for so long, from the rule of David through four foreign captivities of the Babylonians, Persians and Medes,  Greeks, and then the Romans, is born!  This King that will establish the throne of David, the one sang about in so many Psalms, the one longed for by the people Israel, the one prophesied about by the prophets, is here!!! He has finally come and is born to this world.  I am not exactly sure about this part of Biblical history, but I imagine that if a people with no king heard the news that the “queen” had given birth to a son who would be the one to reign and rule as soon as he reached a proper age, there would be grand celebrations, praising and rejoicing among that people.  Especially for a people who have been waiting centuries for this king to come along.  And on top of the fact that their king who will save them is born, this birth also shows that their God who had made this promise for so long is a God who keeps His word.  He promised them a messiah, a Davidic King to establish the throne forever, and now He has fulfilled that promise.  It is no longer a promise that is hoped for because it is a promise that is now trusted in.  It is assurance that God does indeed love His people and is faithful to His covenants.  The birth of a king who has come to save and a direct sign from God that He has not forgotten His people or promises of salvation all in one birth is definitely worth celebrating and this is the “real meaning” of Christmas that Luke focuses in on. 

            Now I am not just making this claim, but I have scriptural evidence for this.  I am going to mainly focus in on Luke’s Gospel because this is only to be a brief article and there is plenty of support in his Gospel alone without diving into the book of Acts.  The very beginning of Luke’s Gospel, with both the foretelling of John the Baptist and the foretelling of the birth of Jesus, points back to the Old Testament.  The foretelling of John’s birth is a parallel to the story of Abram and Sarai’s promise of Isaac being born.  They are a couple old in age, barren, and laugh at God when He tells them that they will have a son of their own.  I believe Luke starts his Gospel with this parallel to take the reader back to the original promise God made to Abram.  He is connecting all events of this Gospel with the one narrative of God’s people.  Then the foretelling of Jesus’ birth is clearly pointing to the promise made to Daivd, “And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end” (Lk. 1:32-3).  Jesus is the offspring of “his father David” and will establish his throne forever over the “house of Jacob” or God’s people.  In Mary’s song, even she sings of God finally saving His people when she sings, “He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever” (Lk. 1:54-5).  Mary who is a faithful servant to God, knows the Scriptures of the Old Testament, she knows the Psalms.  When the angel tells her she will give birth to the “son of David” she knows how grand of a deal that is for all of Israel, going all the way back to Abraham.  Luke goes on in the birth story to tell that Jesus was born in the city of David because he was of the house of David.  Simeon’s song in Luke 2, the one we sing most Sunday’s in liturgy, shows that Simeon through the power of the Spirit knows this is the Davidic King who has come for the salvation of the people Israel.  These are all ways Luke is directly pointing the reader of his Gospel to the fact that this one who was born is indeed the King of Israel, the King of all of God’s people. 

            So we know that the real meaning of Christmas is that Jesus is the promised Davidic King of the Old Testament, the promised messiah of the Psalms.  However, what did this King come to do?  He came to show that He has established the throne of David forever.  He came to show that He has salvation for the people Israel.  Throughout Jesus’ ministry, He shows the people what His salvation is.  When John’s disciples ask Jesus if he is the one to come, Jesus answers by saying, “Go tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them” (Lk. 7:22).  Later one when Jesus in continuing to heal people, He also begins to tell them that their “sins are forgiven” or that their “faith has saved them”.  Jesus, the Davidic King, was born into the flesh to bring the people Israel their long awaited salvation.  What did this salvation look like?  It looked like their King healing their diseases and afflictions, and it sounded like Him telling them they were forgiven and saved.  An important point Luke is making is that Jesus was giving salvation before His death and resurrection.  This is not the salvation the people of Israel were hoping for though.  They wanted a king who would come and defeat all their enemies and rule over them in prosperous times when they would suffer no more.  Jesus did not come with armies and riches to wipe out everyone else and make His kingdom a rich nation with a luxurious lifestyle.  However, a king being born in a stable should have been a good sign that He would not live up to the expectations the people had for Him.  However, He constantly reminded them that He was the fulfillment of the promises and the prophets.  Even right before He is betrayed and killed He reminds His disciples of what He has been telling them all along when He says, “For I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in me… for what is written about me has its fulfillment” (Lk. 22:37).  He has come to fulfill the promises of the Old Testament.  He has come to bring the people Israel their salvation, even if that salvation is not what they expected or wanted. 

            I think it’s important to show that Luke includes quite a few places where he shows us that Jesus is not just the King of Israel, but King over all of creation.  The miraculous catch of fish by the disciples in Luke 5, the calming of the storm in Luke 8, and the quote by Jesus of “even the stones would shout my praises” in Luke 19 are just a few examples.  Luke is showing the reader that Jesus is indeed the Davidic King of God’s people, but He is also the King of all creation and His rule extends to the animals, winds, waters, and stones.  He is King of all of God’s creation. 

            The fact that he claims to be their King, but is not the type of king they desired is what got Him killed.  Jesus foretells His death three times, and He tells them He will be rejected, delivered into the hands of men, and be killed. (Lk. 9:21, 9:44, 18:33).  He does not say, “I must sacrifice myself,” or “I must die,” or “I must lay down my life” in His foretelling.  Luke is showing that this is the King who came to save but was rejected by His own people.  He is not paying the price of our sins on the cross, but simply being denied as king by His own people.  In chapter 19, Jesus enters Jerusalem as the heroic King, with people shouting out, “Blessed be the King.”  However, that joyous occasion is short lived.  Throughout the rest of Luke’s account of Jesus betrayal, trial, beatings, and death, it is made clear that the people want Him dead because He claims to be a king, more specifically their King.  Again, the Davidic King that they had waited for so long was not what they expected and so they denied Him as the Davidic King.  They thought they knew better than God and rejected this one sent as their King.  As Jesus hung from the cross, looking down at the people who rejected Him as their King, the ones He came to save, He says, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do” (Lk. 23:34).  He is saying that they do not know that they are rejecting their King; they do not know that they are throwing a coup over God Himself.  They are killing the very one they have begged God to send. 

            However, because He is the Davidic King who has established the throne of David forever, He does not remain dead.  Three days later He rises just as He told them He would.  He knows He is the fulfillment of the prophesies of the Old Testament prophets.  He knows He will rise again to once again take His seat at the throne of His Father.  When He appears before His disciples, He tells them, “Everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled” (Lk. 24:44). 

            Luke wants us to see Jesus as the King of David’s throne, the fulfillment of God’s promise.  He wants us to see His death and resurrection as the rejection of His people and the fulfillment of the Scriptures.  However, this does not mean that His death and resurrection are not important.  Luke’s whole Gospel is concluded in chapter 24, verses 46 and 47.  “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”  The kingdom of God is now at hand because the King has come and fulfilled all promises and prophesies.  Jesus has shown us what His salvation will be when He comes back for that final day.  To believers, their sins will be forgiven, their faith will have saved them, they will be healed and all afflictions corrected.  This is what Jesus showed us in His ministry and it is what He will bring with Him when He comes back.  He is reigning on His throne forever because the Davidic King has come and established His throne forever. 

            So what does that mean for us?  What did it mean for the disciples after He ascended?  Luke tells us in His Gospel and throughout most of the book of Acts: “That repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations.”  The apostles were given the directions to go and proclaim this way of life, repentance and forgiveness, to all nations.  They include this in almost all of their preaching in Acts.  And we know this is how we are still under the throne of Jesus today.  We are part of that all nations, that Jesus told to hear His way of life.  We repent and are forgiven of our sins because we believe in the one true King who reigns.  Even Gentiles have the fulfillment of the Davidic King, and they are included in the people Israel who now accept their Davidic King knowing He is indeed reigning and ruling.  And just as the people of Israel waited for His coming the first time, we now wait for His coming the second time.  His second coming, when He will not be rejected again, but he will be professed as King by all.  This is when He will bring His salvation once and for all.  What will it look like?  It will look the same as His salvation looked during His ministry.  The blind will see, the lame will walk, and all believers will be forgiven of sins and saved by their faith in Him. 

            So what is the true meaning of Christmas?  It is the birth of our King, the one promised to establish the Davidic throne once and for all, forever.  It is the assurance that God loves His people, including us today, because He kept His promise and fulfilled His Word.  And we can trust in His promise He gives to us that our King will come again with the salvation of His people.  We can trust this because Christmas reminds us that God keeps His promises and that our King, even though He was rejected, lives and reigns.  This is worthy of celebration for sure.

Rejoice!

       Greetings to you all.  I hope you are all doing well and having a blessed Advent.  Not much is new with me, just trying to finish out this last week of classes.  I head home Friday after classes for a two week Christmas break.  I plan to spend the first week in Iowa with family and friends and then most likely Nebraska the second week but still not sure on that.  I will try to put up one or two posts over the break now that mom finally has internet capability.  I also will try to put up my sermon at the end of the week.
       My thought for the day comes from Pastor Laetsch's sermon yesterday.  Pastor Laetsch is my field work supervisor in Highland, IL.  He is a single 70 year old man who has told me he would have retired by now if he did not thoroughly enjoy working with us seminary guys so much.  He has been such a good supervisor for me to work with and learn from.  He lets me doing anything I want to try, but doesn't push me into anything I am not comfortable doing.  We also go out to lunch every Sunday together so there is a lot of one on one time to talk and discuss anything that I have doubts, worries, or questions about.  I truly appreciate having being blessed to wok with him.  I won't give his whole sermon again, just a few highlights.  The main point is his idea, but I will obviously put it into my own words with some of my own ideas.  His sermon was on the pink candle of Advent.  He discussed how the pink candle stands for rejoicing.  His main point was the difference between happiness and rejoicing.  Happiness is short lived, based on materials, moments, or memories in our lives, and comes and goes frequently.  So we get a new toy at Christmas, or a new car, or have a good family dinner together, we get very happy.  However, all it takes is one thing to snap that happiness away from us.  So even in this time of happiness during the season of Christmas as we buy gifts and prepare for family and are just excited and happy to celebrate the holiday, we turn on the news and that happiness disappears.  We see what seems like pure evil in a man killing twenty-six people at an elementary school, and that excitement and happiness is replaced with sadness, anxiety, and confusion.  Our happiness is short lived and can be taken away from us daily.  However, rejoicing is long-term, based on the truth of the Gospel of our Lord, and can always be found.  To rejoice can mean to express the joy  we have as Christians.  However, it can also men to show that we trust in God at all times and know He is always in control.  It is not based on anything we do or any materials we have in our lives, but entirely based on the work and will of our God.  So even during times of what seems like pure evil, even during times of complete sadness and mourning for twenty-six people who were shot to death for no reason, we still cling to our Lord who is in control, who has authority over all evil, and has given us the ability to know that truth through the death and resurrection of our Savior.  The truth of the Gospel is not just that we are forgiven and will join our Lord in Heaven someday.  The truth of the Gospel is everything our Lord does to us and for us.  He sustains us, protects us, guides us, and even in times of mourning gives us hope to cling to.  This truth of the Gospel is the reason we are able to rejoice at all times, even times of mourning.  The God we serve, trust, and believe in is the one and only, true God who is active in our lives each and every day.  Even when we think He is no where to be found and question how or why He seems to allow such evil to be present, He is there, actively in control.  So we do not question where He is or what He is doing, but we cling to the hope, the truth, and the faith we have in Him.  We rejoice, not necessarily by singing hymns of praise, but we rejoice by trusting Him, clinging to Him, and knowing He is God.  So if you have an Advent wreath in your home, or next time you're in church, and you see the pink candle being lit, remember to rejoice!  Even in the times of stress of the holiday, even in times of mourning death, even in times of doubt, rejoice in our Lord who is not only the reason for the season, but is God over death and sin.  He is our God who has the authority over all evil and is actively in control in our lives even when to us it seems He is not there.  We rejoice in the truth of the Gospel because it is not based on what we do, but what God has done and continues to do daily for us.  Philippians 4:4, "Rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say, rejoice!"  All Praise Him who sent His Son, our Savior, to be our salvation and to be our hope in which we cling, and in whom we rejoice!
Dear Heavenly Father, 
We live in a present evil age, but do not let us forget that even in this age, You are in control.  We beg Your mercy for the families and all those suffering and mourning the school shooting in Connecticut.  We beg Your mercy for every one dealing with doubts, confusions, or feelings of abandonment.  Lay Your comforting hand on them all and help them feel Your peace.  Remind us all that at all times we have Your truth of Your Gospel to rejoice in.  Help us to always rejoice in Your name, staying strong in the one true faith of You and all You have done for us through Your Son and His active reign in our lives.  We pray all this, rejoicing in the name of our Christ and Lord, Jesus. Amen.  

2000 Hits!

         Greetings to the loyal readers of this blog that I have out there.  I want to say thank you so much for reading this, for tolerating my lack of dedication, and hopefully understanding everything I type.  I have now had 2000 page hits on my blog which is just amazing to me.  I give the glory to God and hope His Word is being heard through this page.  I have to write a sermon next week so I will put that up once I am done with it.  I also have to write a paper on what Christmas actually means according to Luke so I will put that up too once I get it back and its graded as acceptable.  So I am going to try to get more blogs up here for you guys because it is obviously worth my time to keep this going for you the readers.
        I mainly wanted to just say thank you, but while I am here I will include a quick thought for the day.  Today I had an extremely difficult experience.  I cannot discuss the details because of pastoral confidentiality, but just wanted to share some thoughts.  He is a dorm student and as dorm counselor part of my job is being there for guys needing to talk.  More than that though he is a friend of mine and I could tell something wasn't right today.  I could tell something was just a little off about him, and I started being my usual smart alec self. However, very quickly I realized that it wasn't anything little that was bugging him so I just told him I could use a hug and he gave me one.  Later when I was talking to him through texting I offered to talk to him if he wanted and so he came down and talked to me.  The opening line he told me hit me hard enough to almost knock me off my seat.  If he hadn't been so serious and almost in tears immediately I would have thought he was trying to pull a cruel prank on me.  It just reminded me that part of pastoral care is hearing people say things that you never could have guessed they were going to tell you.  Now before I go any further, please trust me when I say that this guy is going to be OK, has a better grasp on this issue than I would expect, and it is something that in due time will help not hinder his ministry.  As awful as it seems to say that this terrible experience he is struggling through will help his ministry, it's true.  In fact, he told me a story about how it has already helped him hugely once in his life and he isn't even in the ministry yet.  It's just hard though how these difficult things ht you when you are not ready for them.  Chris, Stein, and I were just talking today about how at times personal devotions, prayer-life, or even going to church or chapel seems like a chore or hassle.  We find a million excuses to distance ourselves from God.  However, the good Lord drags us along and eventually gets us back on track.  The only problem is once He gets us up and going, we take off running and think were doing fine.  Then we run out of gas and collapse and just want to lay there.  Then the good Lord drags us along again and the cycle starts all over.  We admitted that when our relationship with God seems to be in the right place, every other relationship seems to be so much easier and go smoother.  However, when things start going too well, we give ourselves the credit and this is when we take off running and don't pace ourselves.  I will admit I haven't been "running" on my devotional life lately.  I spend quite a bit of time in prayer every day, but Scripture tends to fall into homework instead of just devotions.  The point I am making is that just when I start thinking life is so good as a Christian, I hear this guy in my room doing everything he can to hold back the tears as he is telling me his struggles.  Talk about knocking me flat on the ground with no energy to move.  I was going along good and this hit me out of left field.  The hope I have is that God will pick me up from this and drag me along again until life is back to seeming good and easy again.  Even more importantly I pray he will pick this guy up and help him get back on the track.  However, it is a constant reminder that while the Lord gives us daily blessings we do not deserve, we still live in a sinful world.  Galatians 1:4.  Jesus rescued us from this present evil age.  He has rescued us through His death and resurrection.  However, we still live in this present evil world.  We live under this constant tension of the righteousness of God versus the evil of the sinful world.  It is not until the final day, when Jesus comes back that that tension ends.  Then the rescued creation will be the only world we know.  The righteousness will be the thing we know.  No longer sinners in a evil present age, but righteous children of God in a perfect new creation.  God gives us His Spirit to drag us along, to remind us that we are rescued even though we continue to live in this present evil age.  And the devil uses this present evil age to try to turn us against that rescue, against the Spirit who is guiding us.  However, that is why we need to make sure our relationship with Him is as strong as it can be.  We need to make sure we are spending time in prayer, time in devotions in Scripture, and time humbling ourselves.  The good days are all because of Him, nothing we do.  However, even on the worst days, He is still in control and still has the power through His Spirit to pick us up and keep us going.  I know you can't pray for this guy by name or situation, but I think if you pray for him, God knows who you mean.  Stay strong in the faith, stay strong in your personal relationship with Him, give all glory to Him, and then when the hard days hit, trust in Him alone to pick you up and keep you going.  All Praise be to Him who gives His strength to help us weak sinners get back up and stand in the righteousness of His Son.  All Praise be to Him who picked Himself up and walked out of the grave to be our rescue even in this present evil world.  All Praise be to Him who will come back to pick us up on that final day as His children perfect and righteous in His new creation.
Dear Heavenly Father, 
I beg Your mercy that as You are all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-present, You will know this student's struggle, You will give him the strength to make it through this, and You will be with him as he continues through this issue.  We also pray that You would be with us to know our struggles, give us the strength to make it through, and be with us until You return to call us by name.  We also pray that You give us Your Spirit to guide us and keep us on track no matter what the devil or this world throws at us.  We pray all this trusting in the name of the one who rescued us and is our life and salvation, Jesus Christ.  Amen.  

God Cursed!

        Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior.  The first two weeks of the new quarter have been extremely busy.  Classes are going well, but they are requiring a lot of my time.  I have also been playing basketball several nights with friends besides playing intramurals.  I have been working extra hours too as the holiday season is a busy one on campus.  Today I did liturgy in church and then helped the Sunday School with practicing for their Christmas program.  Hearing them sing Christmas songs got me really excited for Christmas.  I still have two weeks left of class before I get to go home, but they will go by fast.
        My thought for the day comes from Systems class.  Dr. Okamoto put the fall of mankind in a way I had never heard it before.  He said that when Adam and Eve sinned, God cursed.  He cursed the serpent, He cursed Adam, He cursed Eve, and He cursed all of creation.  He said, "Damn it!"  God cursed all of creation.  This is the reason Dr. Okamoto loves the song "Joy to the World" so much.  In verse three it says, "He comes to make His blessings known, as far as the curse is found." He comes to make His blessings known to the entire creation.  The curse God put on creation is all from the fall.  However, God did not just curse and walk away.  He cursed creation, but then gave them the hope and promise of salvation.  He promised a King that would come and end the curse.  He sent that King in the form of His Son, Jesus Christ.  Jesus is the one who came to be King of Israel, the "true" descendants of Abraham.  He was rejected and killed, but rose again and now reigns in Heaven beside the Father.  However, He came as King to show He is the salvation that was promised in the garden.  When Jesus performs His miracles and heals people, He says, "Your faith has saved you."  He already had salvation and gave salvation before His death and resurrection.  He died because His own people rejected Him as King.  So what will salvation look like at the end?  When Jesus returns, what will His salvation be?  The same as it was during His ministry when He was here the first time.  The lame will leap, the blind will see, and all believers will hear Him say, "Your faith has saved you."  He is the King who has the salvation.  He is the King who will end the curse once and for all when He comes back.  The curse will be lost and the new creation will once again be perfect.  Now I am not trying to say Christ death and resurrection was not important, absolutely not!  However, I am saying that our King, the one who was promised and sent down from heaven to take on flesh and live a life in this world has shown us what His salvation will be on that final day when He returns again.  Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess Him as Lord, as King.  He will not be rejected the second time, but will come to tell all believers that their faith has saved them and that they are healed of all sin, infliction, and disease.  What a wonderful day that will be!  All Praise Him who did not leave us cursed, but sent His Son to be our King and show us what His promise of salvation will look like on that final day.
Dear Heavenly Father, 
Thank You so much for sending Your Son to be our King, our Savior.  Thank You so much for not leaving us cursed, but showing us what Your salvation will look like as we wait for You promise to be reality.  Give us faithful hearts this Advent as we prepare the birth of our King, and keep us faithful always until that day when we will stand before You healed and saved by the faith You give us.  In the name of Jesus, we pray for all things. Amen.    

November's Happenings

Greetings to you all.  I know I have taken basically a month off.  However, with finals week and then a two week break, that tends to happen.  I did really well on all of my final projects and tests last quarter.  I got all A's for the quarter, which thoroughly surprised me with some of the classes I had.  Dr. Lessing really liked my exegetical and not only gave me a really high grade on it, but bragged it up in class.  I was shocked because I knew my Hebrew was rusty and I never would have dreamed that simple old me could have impressed the great Dr. Lessing.  The Lord was with me on that one I guess.  Then I had an absolutely wonderful two week break.  I spent the first week in Nebraska hunting, seeing friends, and relaxing.  I got a decent four by four buck, the biggest buck I have shot yet, and our group got a couple of pretty nice ones.  I got to spend some quality time with my old college buddies which is always fun.  Then on that Sunday in the middle of break, Mom, JoAnna, and I took Dad to the chiefs game.  He had never been to a professional football game and has been wanting to go for quite awhile.  So we got really good seats for not that bad of a prices, being a terrible team isn't always the worst thing, and we had a great day of watching football. The best part of being at a game is always the surroundings and events that do not get shown on T.V.  The national anthem and fly over was awesome, the people around us were really cool, and there was even a fight in our section that entertained us during the fourth quarter when the game was basically already over.  It was a long day, but dad loved it and we all had a great day.  Then I spent a day and a half in Iowa, before we took off for Illinois.  JoAnna and I went Tuesday night, the parents came Wednesday, and Tim got in Wednesday too.  The whole family was together for four days and it was a great time.  We spent most of the time eating, drinking, playing cards, laughing, and just loving the blessed family the Lord has given us.  We did take one day to do an "outing".  It was this outing that made us realize how redneck we truly are.  Our outing consisted of breakfast at a really neat little cafe, spending a couple hours in the gigantic Scheels in Springfield, and then going to a cemetery.  In Scheels they have a full size Ferris wheel, three life size NASCAR simulators, a golf simulator, a bow range, and all kinds of other fun activities and options besides just shopping.  Justin and Tim did the NASCAR race, I took dad to the golf simulator and helped him pick out a hybrid he liked and bought, and we all had a fun time taking silly pictures in different areas of the store. The cemetery we went to was Lincoln's tomb.  It was actually pretty impressive and worth seeing once.  Then on Sunday I went to church with the family, and then headed back to spend my birthday in St. Louis.  It was another great birthday.  Having a birthday that is almost always just a couple days from Thanksgiving is perfect for reminding me how truly amazing life really is thanks to the good Lord's abundant blessings.
The new quarter started Monday and I can already tell this is going to be the hardest quarter of my seminary career.  However, good news is if I can survive this quarter, it is all down hill from there.  I have five classes and four out of the five require more time than the typical class here.  However, I know everything will get done and I will survive, it will just take all the focus and motivation I have in me.  Other than that life is going so well right now I cannot imagine being anywhere else or doing anything else other than what I am doing.
       My thought for the day is a trivia question.  I am going to ask you the question and then leave a space so you have time to think about it before you see the answer.  You can look below right away if you just want to know, or you can try to think about it and answer it yourself before you look.  Are  you ready?  Where is the one place in the Bible where we see Jesus standing at the right hand of God after His ascension?  There are several places we see Him sitting at the right hand, but there is one place where He is standing.  



Need a hint.... it is in the Book of Acts.



Need another hint.... it is at someone's death.



Ready for the answer.... OK.  The answer comes in Acts 7:54-60.  It is the stoning of Stephen.  Right before he is stoned to death, he looks up, sees Heaven open, and Jesus is standing at the right hand of the Father.  Dr. Lessing stated it this way, "In other words, Jesus doesn't take this sitting down."  Jesus sees Stephen, a man trying to spread the Gospel and knows he is about to be stoned to death by the very ones Stephen is trying to save.  Jesus, who doesn't take this sitting down, stands up and allows Stephen to see Him standing there.  Stephen in his final words asks God not to hold the sins of these people stoning him against them.  This is the same as when Jesus asks the Father not to hold the sins of the ones who crucified Him against them.  This is kind of a big deal that Jesus actually gets up out of His seat and allows Stephen to see Him right before he is about to die.  Does this mean that this is the ONLY place Jesus has ever stood up?  Not at all.  However, this does show us that Jesus is not only watching over us, but He cares about us and sympathizes with the pain we go through.  He knows what it is like to suffer in this world, and He knows when we are suffering.  He may even be standing, watching over us when injustice causes us to suffer such as with Stephen.  However, just as He knows we suffer, He knows the joys and glory we will have with Him one day in Heaven and even more in the new creation.  He knows our destiny because He is our destiny.  So now you know a fun trivia Bible fact, but you also should be reminded that Jesus is not just sitting in Heaven idling waiting for His second coming, He lives and reigns from His right hand seat in Heaven, always watching over us and caring for us.  He is an active King who lives and reigns and has sent His Spirit to live and reign in our hearts until that day when we are joined with Him above.  All Praise be to Him who lives and reigns as thee active King of Kings upon His throne.
Dear Heavenly Father, 
We thank you so much for not only the daily, richly, and abundant blessings You so freely bestow upon us, but also for being our magnificent King who lives and reigns over us.  Keep us close to You always, that we may know You, love You, and trust in You until our time comes when You call us home to You.  We pray all of this in Your Son's most holy and precious name, Jesus Christ, Amen.  

Sermon!

Greetings on this the day the Lord has made.  As promised, I am posting my first sermon up here.  Last night I had some of the craziest dreams I have had in a long time.  I think my mind was trying to think of anything other than my sermon.  Then this morning I woke up on my own at what should have been seven, but because of day light savings I had another hour before I had to get up out of bed.  When we were driving through Highland, the closer we got to the church, the more nervous I kept feeling.  It reminded me of the year I played in the High School state football championship.  As the bus kept getting closer and closer to the UNI dome, the more I felt like I was actually going to throw up on the bus.  When we got to church I felt alright, but was still trying to calm myself down.  When I was sitting up front and pastor was leading us through the opening liturgy, I had the biggest lump in the back of my throat.  At one point I coughed and thought to myself, "Do Not THROW UP!"  However, I was able to say some silent prayers, and just kept telling myself that I have good news to tell and that the Lord will be with me.  As I read the text there was still some nervousness in my voice, and I thought to myself, "This is going to be a long sermon if I am this nervous the whole time."  However, once I got into my actual sermon, I just started talking and kept rolling with it.  I got more excited as I was remembering the whole thing without looking down at my manuscript.  The Lord definitely gave me His peace and allowed to me just go with it.  I finished the sermon and realized that I was actually excited and kind of on almost an emotional high.  I was ready to preach again.  I hope I remember that excitement next time I go to preach again.  Afterwards, when Pastor and I were in his office taking our robes off, I told him about how every year as a kid I used to throw up at the Christmas pageant.  I told him about the lump in my throat and the fear that I was going to actually throw up at my first sermon.  He chuckled with me.  I praise the Lord that He was with me and that it went so well.  I definitely still have room for improvement though.  A few pointed out the fact that I when I was speaking of the saints I said, "those who have fought the good fought" instead of those who have fought the good FIGHT.  I also used the term "parse" when I am speaking about the Hebrew language.  I hear this word everyday and totally did not even think about the parishioners not knowing what it means to parse a verb.  One lady joked about if I was teaching her how to cook potatoes when I said parse.  Other than that, I got all positive comments and everyone actually seemed focused on me during my sermon too.
This week was also our final week and conclusion on my Galatians Bible Study.  We will start a new Bible Study class in January, after all the holidays, and they all seemed really excited to come back and keep it going.  One lady told me she feels genuinely sorry for anyone who hasn't come to hear my Bible Study.  I give the credit to the Lord, because I am just a simple man who the Lord has decided to bless and work through.  Here is my sermon, I wish all of you reading this could have been there this morning to hear it instead of read it, but I hope you still enjoy it.

Texts: Deuteronomy 6:1-9

Text: “Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules—that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, 2 that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son's son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. 3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Grace, peace, and mercy be to you from God our Father, and our Lord Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

       In the Gospel lesson for today from St. Mark, we see Jesus discussing the law with the scribes. They ask him which is the greatest commandment. Jesus answers by quoting Moses from the scriptures of our Deuteronomy text. So we look at this text for today, and we see that Moses has already received the Ten Commandments and is giving them to the people of Israel. He has called all of Israel together and is standing in front of them, proclaiming the Law of their Lord to them. In chapter five he not only gives them the Ten Commandments but explains the laws to them as well. Then here in chapter six, Moses gives a beautiful summary of the Lord’s expectations. He summarizes all ten laws into one sentence. Hear this one sentence again, “You shall love the Lord your with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.” Now when you go to the Hebrew of this text, there are some very interesting details that cannot be seen in the English. The first two interesting points come from the verb of this sentence. As Dr. Gibbs says all the time, “parse or die.” When you parse this verb, it is second person “you” but the fascinating thing is that it is singular. As Moses is standing in front of the whole nation of God’s chosen people, you would expect him to use the plural form of this verb to make it you all. However, he simply uses the singular. He is addressing them as one people, the one chosen nation of God. By addressing them as one, he is showing them that they are the one true blessed nation of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The second interesting point is from the rest of the parsing of the verb. Moses directly says the greatest COMMANDMENT is… so wouldn’t you expect the verb to be a command?! The command mood in Hebrew is the imperative, but this verb is not an imperative. It is a Qal Perfect. Now I assume most of you do not know Hebrew grammar or what in the world Qal Perfect is. But a Qal perfect is the most basic verb tense, the most fundamental parsing form you can know in Hebrew. The perfect tense has its use with the idea that this is something happening in the present with a continuing effect, on-going lasting result. If Moses were to have used the imperative form of this verb, it could be translated as “You must love the Lord your God”. Moses does not say you must love the Lord your God, because he knows we cannot love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and mind. He also knows that this commandment is not the thing we “Must do” to be saved. In Bible class on Galatians the last couple weeks we have been looking at how Paul handles the law verses the Gospel. We saw that the promise of salvation came 430 years before the law did. God directly and personally gave the promise to Abraham, but used an intermediary to give the law to Moses. The addition of the law does not nullify the promise, says Paul. The law does not trump the promise, but is simply added as a guide so the people of God now how to live. The law is not a “must do”, it is a “you shall do”. It is also the very simple and fundamental way we should live. It is something we should be doing now, and continue to do with a lasting result.
       The three parts of us that we are to love the Lord our God with also has a slight difference in the Hebrew. The word for the heart, does not mean our actual heart, the muscle that pumps our blood. My undergrad Hebrew prof explained to us that the ancient Hebrews believed that your reason and decision making all happened in your inner cavity, inside here. The old phrase, go with your gut instinct comes from here. When you make a tough decision you can almost feel it deep down in here and so they believed that’s where all of your logic and reasoning happened. So when Moses says love the Lord your God with all your heart, this doesn't have a 21st century, enlightened, romantic meaning. It literally means love Him from the very bottom of your guts, your entire insides and instincts. The second term in this command in the English is translated as soul. If you ever translate, nephesh, the Hebrew word used in this verse, as soul in Dr. Lessings class, you hear a very loud and drawn out “OH NO!” The use of this word is not our soul, but our very being, our entire self. It’s the whole person, everything that makes us us, body and all. And then the third word is finally translated correctly as might, but this might is not our physical strength or how much we can lift. It is the idea of strength as in emotional strength or our motivational strength that comes from within us. When the going gets tough and you dig deep to see what you are made of, it is this strength to keep going that is our might here. So the command literally is, “You shall love the Lord your God, now and continually as the fundamental way of living, with all of your guts, and with all of your entire self, and with all of your motivation and endurance.” This is the greatest command of God. So now we know exactly how the Hebrews heard it from Moses, but we still have to ask the Lutheran question, what does this mean?
       Moses continues in chapter six, by explaining what this means. “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” What is Moses really telling the people when he says this? He is telling them that from the time you get up, until the time you go to bed, whether you are sitting, walking, or even lying down, the words of the Lord your God should be on your heart. Now again, this idea of heart is the idea of your guts being the part of your body that makes all logical decisions and is in charge of reason. So we who know we think and reason with our brain, not our guts, might replace this with the mind. Let the words of the Lord be on your mind, from the time you get up until the time you go to bed, whether you are walking, sitting, or even lying down. Constantly keep your thinking on the words of the Lord. And what specific words are we to keep on our minds, “Love the Lord your God.” If we successfully keep these words on our minds, we will love the Lord our God with all we have, and this will be easily seen. To love the Lord your God with all your guts, and with your entire self, body and all, and with all your might as one strength means you serve the Lord your God with all those things. You cannot just talk the talk, but you have to walk the walk. Think about it. If you love the Lord your God with all your guts, or all your reason, every decision made will be proof that you love Him. If you love the Lord your God with your entire self, body and all, every action or deed you do will show you love Him. And if you love the Lord your God, with all your strength, your trust in Him at all times prove you love Him. So every decision you make, every deed you do, and all your motivation being in Him, will all be out of love for Him. This is walking the walk. And the only way you would be able to do all of these things out of love for Him, was if your love for Him was present and active in your mind, body, and spirit at all times.
     However, we cannot do this and we do not do this. Our sinful nature causes us to put our minds on other things. Maybe stress over your financials or the amount of stuff you have left to do at work. Maybe worries for the future of your family, or an ill friend. Maybe doubts about what you are doing with your life or the choices you have made. All of these things take our minds off of God’s word and effect the decisions we make on a daily basis.
     Our sinful nature causes us to use our bodies for the pleasure of the flesh. Galatians 5 lists the works of the flesh and some of them are sexual immorality, impurity, idolatry, jealousy, fits of anger, envy, drunkenness, and so forth. These things are actions that we do but do not show that we love God with our entire self. Rather they show that we love the pleasures of works of the flesh.
     Our sinful nature causes us to feel weak or worthless. We feel that we are so dirty and filthy that the God who couldn’t look at His own Son on the cross burdened with sin, could never possibly bear to even catch a glimpse of us. These are all ways that because we are sinful beings and do not keep the words of the Lord on our minds at all times, we are not able to love Him with our mind, body, and spirit.
      However, this is the very reason God does not give the law to Moses in imperative form. The greatest commandment of God is not a must do because He knows we are not able to do it. He knows we have all fallen short of His expectations, He knows we fail each and every day. But this is the reason He doesn’t command us that we must do it, instead it is the reason He did it Himself. He doesn’t tell us we must do it, because He has already done it for us. He had given the promise of salvation to Abraham, and the one nation of Israel that Moses is addressing still has that promise of God. And us, we have the fulfillment of that promise. We have the one who was promised from the Garden of Eden. God knew from the very beginning what His plan of salvation would be, and never once was it a command that we must do. It was always His plan that He would do it, He would send His Son to be born of the flesh, to live a life of tempting, pain, and suffering, to be falsely accused, beaten, spit on, mocked, and hung on the cross and left to die. However, just as Good Friday was a part of His plan from the very beginning, Easter was too. The empty grave, the message of why do you look for the living among the dead, the full resurrection of Jesus, body and all, is how God fully restored the relationship between us and Him. Something we could never do, so He did it for us, and gives us our salvation, won for us on the cross and in the empty tomb, completely free out of His love, grace, and mercy for us. He loves us with His entire being and has since the first day of creation.
     So does that mean that because we cannot love Him with our entire guts, self, and might that we do not have to try to? Absolutely not as Paul would say! We still strive, by the power of His Spirit, to keep His words on our minds in everything we do, whether walking or sitting, or even lying down, from our rising to our sleeping, we keep His words on our minds, so that we are better able to love Him with our entire guts, self, and strength. We strive to keep this great command each and every day, but we do so knowing that when we fail, we are still saved by His grace and mercy for us.
      So now that we know what Moses was really saying to the people of Israel and what that fully means for us, what does this have to do with All Saints Day? Well, All Saints Day is a special day in our church year where we remember those who have gone before us, have run the good race, and have been called home to our Lord in Heaven. We remember all of our loved ones who await in the peaceful rest of Heaven, waiting to be reunited to their bodies and with us as we all join in the Church Triumphant on that last day when our Lord comes again. Moses instructs parents in this text to teach these words to their children. However, it is much more than just our parents that we have here in this life helping us remain strong in our faith. That’s why this text is picked for all saints day. We do not just remember our loved ones, but we remember the example they set for us and the support they gave us. God has given us many loved ones, and on this day of remembrance, maybe you’re remembering your parents, spouse, siblings, children, neighbors, or just dear friends, they were all a blessing to us from the Lord our God. They supported us when we needed it the most, they uplifted us when we were feeling down, they reminded us how Christians should act, they reminded us to always keep the words of our Lord on our minds and strive to live our lives for Him. And as we remember the example they set for us, we are reminded of those whom we are setting the examples for too. We remember that there are our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ who look to us for that witness and support. As we strive each and every day to love the Lord our God with all of our guts, self, and strength, we look to those who have gone before us for example, especially our Lord Jesus Christ who was the perfect example, and we set the bar for those who come after us, making sure the people of God never dies or withers out, but continues to grow and flourish. We do this each and every day until we join those saints we remember this day, all being called home into the one church triumphant, singing so loudly the glorious praises to our Lord and our God, as we live our eternal lives in the perfection of Heaven with Him. We have this salvation and our life in Him, because of what He has done for us out of His mercy and love for us.  In the name of the Lord our God, Amen.

Now may the grace that surpasses all understanding keep and guard our hearts and minds in the one true faith, now and forever. Amen.

Spiritual Warfare

Greetings to you in the name of Christ.  I have not been doing much of anything lately other than working, doing homework, and trying to get to some sleep.  We did win our IM Frisbee Championship today, so that was a pretty good feeling.  Especially since the only thing my team won last year was volleyball and I never played because of work.  Tomorrow is my last day teaching and I did a project where the kids had to come up with a devotion on a text from the Old Testament.  The assignment is to explain the text, explain the theme of the text, tell how the text points to Jesus, and how the text applies to us in today's world.  I am curious to see where they pick out Jesus in these Old Testament stories and what kind of applications they come up with.  I think it will be a fun last day.
My thought for the day comes from Psalms and Writings class.  We discussed the theme of warfare in both the Psalter and the Bible as a whole.  Now it was probably a twenty minute discussion with about a page and a half of notes, but I will give you the abridged version.  We discovered there are two very important things we see on the theme of warfare.  In the Psalter, a couple different places, God fights these giant armies with their horses and chariots.  The people of God are outnumbered and surrounded, but God comes in to save them.  However, God does not use horses or chariots.  He uses His Word.  He does not rely on human war strategy, but on the power of His voice, conquering all.  Psalm 46 is a great example of this where it talks about God gave His voice, and the foreign sovereign territory melted away.  He annihilates them, their multitude of horses, chariots, and soldiers all with His voice.  The second theme we looked at was what the people of God did.  They did not rely on horses or chariots either.  Instead, when they are standing there starring into the huge number of their enemies on the opposite side of the battle field, they praise God and thank Him before the battle even starts.  Psalm 149, verse 6 states that the high praises of God in their throats is like a double edged sword in their hands.  Praising God with your voice is as good as a sword in your hand when it comes to battles and you know God is on your side.  We can see this even more clearly in Acts 16 when Paul and Silas are in prison.  They are in the prison cell, singing praises to God when the earth quakes and they are freed.  (Dr. Lessing made the joke that this was the first real jail house rock).  We can also see it in the beautiful example in Matthew 26 verse 30 when Jesus knows He is about to be betrayed, denied, and killed on the cross; He leads His disciples in a hymn of praise to God.  He is staring death literally in the face and sings praises to His Father.  This is how we are to live our life.  We know God rules and conquers all by the mere power of His voice, and we know His praises in our throats is as good as a sword in our hands.  We are to praise Him in the face of all troubles and temptations, knowing He is with us. So next time you are facing spiritual warfare in the face, stop and sing a hymn of praise to the God who you know is always with, always loves you, and has claimed you as His own out of His grace and mercy.
Dear Heavenly Father, 
We sing Your praises louder than ever, knowing there is no foe or enemy we face that You do not have the power over.  We know in the protection of Your hands, we can sing Your praises, trusting in You.  And then when You deliver us as You always do, we can sing evermore the loud our Thanksgiving to You for all you have done, the protection You give us, the freedom You give us, and the salvation and eternal life You freely give us.  In Your Son's most holy and precious name we pray, Amen.  

Finals Pressure

Greetings everyone.  I am extremely busy now that we are down to a week and a half left of this quarter. I have to finish my exegetical of Psalm 82, write one more history paper, and take two tests.  I have my sermon wrote, now I just have to keep practicing it so I can preach it Sunday.  I will preach it first, make any adjustments I decide upon last minute to the manuscript and post it up here on Sunday.  So preview alert, sermon will be up Sunday, I promise.  My exegetical on Psalm 82 is really fascinating because it is one of the most controversial Psalms written.  Before you say, "Why did you pick the most controversial one?", realize I was assigned it and did not pick it.  However, it has been a fun project, I just need to turn all my notes and highlights into a ten page academic paper, which will take some time yet.  I did receive two care packages this week, so that was an amazing blessing for finals week.  One was from my field work church and the other was from a church in Minnesota.  Why the church in Minnesota you ask?  Because the fourth year student from my field work church last year took a call there last May and is now the pastor there.  His LWML group sends these packages out to all of their college students and in their sweet note told me I qualified.  They sent me post-it notes, a pen, and then cookies, bars and candy, and last but not least a tooth brush and toothpaste.  They aren't helping me lose any weight, but they are helping me take care of my teeth against all of that sugar.  I thought it was very sweet of them and sent them a thank you letter.  Other than that I am just going about my normal life.  We lost in the IM Championship Flag Football game today, but it was against a fun team so it wasn't that bad.  We are in the IM Championship Ultimate Frisbee game on Thursday.  This is my last week with the sixth graders so I am trying to plan some fun projects for them.  I am going to miss them after this quarter.
In New Testament Lectionary, we discussed some pretty powerful and amazing stuff over our eschatological theology while translating 1 John 3:1-3 from the Greek.  If you are not sure what eschatological means, it is all of the end time stuff like death, second coming of our Lord, resurrection of the body, and how it will all happen.  I will try to get that discussion up here when I have more time. Dr. Gibbs is the eschatological guy on campus and he has some really amazing views on the subject.  The best part is they are all scriptural based.  However, what I do want to give you to think about is 1 Corinthians 13:13.  This is most commonly used at weddings and the previous verses as I'm sure you all know give a great definition of love.  However, in this verse it gives use the three great blessings the Lord gives us: faith, hope and love.  Love is the greatest of these three.  Dr. Gibbs, the eschatological guy, told us how he understands this verse.  Paul here is writing this as an eschatological view that when the Lord comes back the second time and every knee bows and every tongue confesses He is the Lord, love is the greatest of these three blessings.  It is the greatest because it is the only one left.  Faith will give out to sight as we kneel in the glory of our Lord, hope to will give out to reality since we will then have what we have been hoping for all this time, and love is the only thing left.  The love our God freely shows us, even though we do not deserve it.  The love that caused Him to send His Son as our Redeemer from sin, death, and the Devil.  The love that will cause Him to send His Son the second time to call all believers home, restored in their resurrected bodies and ready to enter the new creation.  This amazing and powerful love that He gives us is all that is left.  So it truly is the greatest and what comfort that gives us that even when faith and hope are gone because we have our Savior in front of us, we know we still have His love upon us as His called and redeemed children.  All Praise be to Him who gives us this love, the greatest  blessing He gives us, for it is out of this love that He created us, redeemed us, and calls us His own.  Amen.
Dear Heavenly Father, 
We thank you so much for the gift of the faith you have called us into, the hope you give us through that faith, and especially the love you freely give us at all times.  We do not deserve to be called Your children, but because of Your love for us, we are just that.  Give us Your Spirit to strengthen our faith, keeping us in the one true hope of Your Son's return, and help us to love You as the one true Almighty God that You are.  In Jesus name we pray, Amen.  

Half a month in a page

Greetings to you all in the blessed name of our Lord and Savior.  It has been two weeks since I last wrote to you.  Some of the major high lights of those two weeks include my family's visit, two successful weeks of teaching, and another great secession of Bible Study.  Mom, Dad, and JoAnna were here from Thursday night through Sunday morning last weekend.  Friday, Mom and JoAnna went to chapel with me, and then after my classes were done, we all went down to the Anheuser Busch brewery for their free tour.  It was a lot of fun and it is a great tour.  I highly recommend it if you ever get the chance.  One out of every two beers sold in America is a product of Anheuser Busch; that's A LOT of beer!  I thought it was really cool because after taking the Schlafly brewery tour twice now, both times they ended it with the fact that all the beer they make in a year, Anheuser Busch can make in four hours.  I believe it after seeing the place.  Then we went to Ted Dewes, a must do in St. Louis.  The rest of the evening was just supper and then chilling.  After they went to bed, a friend was having a birthday party in the cafeteria.  It ended up being about thirty guys and two kegs, but it was a lot of fun.  Then Saturday morning, Nate, Kari, and the nephews came over from Illinois, and we went down to the arch.  It took four hours of waiting around, sitting around, and trying to entertain the boys, but they enjoyed the ten minutes they were at the top.  Sunday they went home and I went to church.  Bible Study after church went great.  We had some of the original regulars come back, plus some of the new ones who tried it the week before came back.  It was the first week we did not get through the lesson, and we did not even get half way through it.  We got off on some major tangents, but they were incredibly important points for the chapter.  The one guy who is now coming asks some great questions and it has been good to have him.  Towards the end, James, the other seminary student came in and we worked well together bouncing ideas back and forth.  It was kind of funny though because he was in the back and I was at the front so as we talked back and forth discussing exactly what we were trying to explain to the group, they looked like a crowd watching tennis, moving their focus back and forth.  So this Sunday we will finish chapter four and hopefully make it through most of chapter five too.  I have been so thankful that not only has the Lord given me curious members who ask great questions, but most of the time, I can draw back on things we discussed in class or with professors to help me be confident in my answers.  I pray it keeps going well for all of our benefit.
Teaching six grade for the last two weeks has been so much fun.  At first I was kind of glad that I did not pursue my teaching degree because I could see that I am much happier at the seminary and field work church than I was in the classroom.  However, as I get to know the students more and more, and am getting more in depth in the lessons I am teaching, I really am remembering how much I love working with kids and being in the classroom.  However, I still think I chose the best path because hopefully as a pastor I will get the best of both worlds.  I will get to work with the kids in Confirmation classes and youth group, but still not be in a classroom all day every day.  I have one week left, and to be honest I am going to miss both the time in the classroom and the kids.  They are a great group of sixth graders.  Their knowledge of their faith impresses me so much and has shown me the vital importance of sending your kids through the Lutheran education system if possible.  As a sixth grader at public school, I didn't know a fourth of what these kids know about the Bible and the church.  God is at work in these schools for sure and I pray He continues to bless all the students fortunate enough to be there.
Other than all of that, my life is going good.  We are down to two weeks left of the quarter which just does not seem possible.  I have a lot to get done in those two weeks, but I will survive.  My thought for the day comes from Psalms and Writing class.  We were discussing Psalm 23, which is a famous Psalm most of you probably know by heart, and looking at the 7 (a holy number) connections to the longings of the righteous in the Psalter.  We read the book by Creach at the beginning of the quarter which discusses the life of the righteous longing to be in the presence of God.  The 7 connections to Psalm 23 that correlate with this idea of longing to be with God are: (Some of these translations are according to the Hebrew)
1. Psalm 27 verse 4- One thing I ask of the Lord, that I will seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the  
            Lord all the days of my life
2. Psalm 73 verse 25- Whom have I in heaven but you?  And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides
            you.
3. Psalm 84 verse 10- For one day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere, I would rather be the
           door keeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
4. Psalm 92 verse 13- They are transplanted in the house of the Lord, they flourish
           in the gardens of our God.
5. Psalm 23 verse 1- The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not lack anything.
6. Psalm 23 verse 6- I shall return to the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
7. Psalm 23 verse 4- for you are with me.

The first 4 are the idea of the righteous longing for the Lord outside of Psalm 23.  Psalm 92 directly correlates with Psalm 1, where the trees are not planted but transplanted by streams of running water.  We see here God takes us from the world of sin and transplants us into His gardens next to streams of running water where we can flourish.  Then in Psalm 23, there are the main three places that show the righteous longing to be with their Lord.  All the righteous need is their Lord, when they are with Him, they literally need nothing else.  Verse six goes back to being in His house like Psalm 84 and 27, but the verse is not simply dwell, but to return back to His house where we belong.  Then in verse four is the most important part of the entire Psalm.  Some commentaries say that this one line is the purpose or theme of the entire Psalter.  There are 26 words (in the Hebrew) then these three words, and then another 26 words.  Hebrew poetry has this style of putting the most important point exactly in the middle.  The three words are (in Hebrew its three words): for you are with me.  That is the message this Psalmist was trying to tell us is the most important point.  Then like I said, some people believe this is the most important point of the entire Psalter: for I am with you.  Three words in the Hebrew, five in English, but what more powerful words could there be than our God telling us, for I am with you.  He is literally all we need, because with Him we have everything.  Not because of anything we have done, but because He has done everything for us out of His free grace and mercy.  He gives us our faith, our daily bread to strengthen and nourish that faith, our Savior that saves us from our sins, and our eternal life we already have in Him.  He gives us everything including the very breath we breathe each and every day.  What an amazing God we have, and we know we have Him with us because He specifically tells us in His Word, and in this Psalm, for I am with you.  All Praise be to Him who gives us everything so that we lack nothing, and tells us, "for I am with you."
Thank you Heavenly Father, 
For with You as our God we have everything we could possibly ever need and more.  Give us Your Spirit to long for You, to long to be in Your presence just as the righteous of the Psalter did.  Be with us each and every day and in all that we do, just have You have told us You will be with us.  Thank you for the life we have in Your name, made possible through Your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen. 

Managed Midterms

Hello and greetings in the name of our Lord.  The last couple weeks have been very busy with a wedding, travels, midterms, and all the other stuff that seems to pile on top.  Last Tuesday I made it to Nebraska safely.  I did pass a wreck going the other direction that had body bags around what little was left of the vehicle.  I looked up the accident report online the next day and saw two kids in their twenties died so that was kind of sad.  However, the Lord blessed my travels.  Wednesday I got to hold one of the most precious babies girls I have ever held.  Bill and Jami, my family that adopted me in Nebraska had a baby girl on the 18th of September, her name is Jordyn Lynn.  She is so adorable and just that amazing stage to hold and snuggle with.  However, I had to cut my snuggle time short because Dillon their two year old son who is my little buddy had to wrestle with me too.  Wednesday night the guys of the wedding went out for a mini bachelor party.  Nothing too crazy but some good stories. Thursday after decorating the reception hall, us guys went golfing.  I played some of the best golf I have played in a long time so that felt good.  Then after rehearsal at the church, we went to the dinner at Valentino's.  It had been quite awhile since I have eaten there, but it was good.  Then the wedding party went bowling together, which was a blast, and a good way to get to know each other a little better.  All of the bridesmaids were from California and all of the groomsmen were from Nebraska so it was a fun mix.  Then the bridesmaids and bride went home because they had to be up early Friday for makeup and hair.  The guys hit a bar or two on the way home and then finally called it a night.  Then Friday was pictures and the wedding.  The wedding was beautiful and everything went very well.  The reception and the rest of the night was a blast.  It was just a really good three days to forget all reality and just enjoy the vacation time of relaxation and laughter with friends.  Then Saturday I drove back to St. Louis and went to bed as soon as I got back because it was kind of late.  

Sunday, all reality of homework and midterms hit and it hit hard.  However, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were four straight days of nothing but class, work, and locking myself in my room to do homework.  It was not much fun but I got everything done, and I feel done well.  I got one back already and got a high B on it so I was happy with that, since it was for my Hebrew class and I am not an expert in Hebrew.  Last night was our first vicarage meeting workshop.  It was long and boring, but pretty important information I guess.  It just stinks because every time vicarage is even mentioned I get more and more excited for call day (which will be Wednesday, May 1st for anyone wondering) and my vicarage.  I then get bummed out because I still have to get through two and a half more quarters before it is here.  The more I talk with my classmates the more we all realize second year is a completely different from first year.  And it's not like its a bad different, just definitely different.  Its hard to explain unless you're here for two years straight. I keep telling myself if I can get through the rest of this quarter I will be fine.  However, I got my classes ready for registration for next quarter and I think next quarter is going to be even harder.  Partially because I am taking more classes and some decently hard ones, but also partially because Christmas break in the middle of the quarter kind of messes with schedules and classes.  But do not get me wrong I will gladly accept any two week break they give me.  I do feel like my head is finally above water again though so I am getting more back to my happy-go-lucky self each day.  

I am also excited because my family will be here in a week from tomorrow.  Now I just have to make sure I use next week wisely to get ahead of homework so I can spend time with them when they are here.

Oh I forgot to mention today was my first day in the sixth grade classroom at Abiding Savior Lutheran School.  I am in Pastor as Educator class, which requires three weeks in the classroom teaching religion class.  I have 23 sixth graders I will be teaching four mornings a week for three weeks.  I am pretty excited about it because I always did enjoy being in the classroom and working with kids.  I think it will be a great experience and a fun time, the only downfall is getting up extra early to be at the school by 8 every morning.  It is about 25 minutes away, but there are four of us at this school so we carpool.  I just observed today, will observe again tomorrow, but start teaching first thing Monday morning.  Since I have had experience in the classroom with sixth graders at Seward, my teacher Mrs. Johnson, told me she is just going to let me do my own thing and help me if I need any tweaking along the way.  So again it is exciting, but it is also one more thing of doing a lesson plan every night for the class each day.    

I have some pretty amazing things I am learning in class right now and I really want to share them with you all.  However, I have been so busy writing papers, reading, and getting ready for tests I have not had the time or desire to type them out for you.  I apologize, but will try to get some good ones in the days to come. My thought for today is pretty short because I have to be at a meeting in twenty minutes.  However, it is one I personally struggled through this week.  No matter how busy life gets, no matter how little sleep we have gotten, no matter how many things just seem like they were put in your life to cause you stress, we must always try to remain positive and remember who we are serving.  There have been a lot of things lately I have found myself complaining about, and I hate being a negative person who finds it easier to complain than to just remember the Lord is with me and I have such a happy blessed life from Him.  While studying the Psalms Dr. Lessing pointed out that so often in the Psalms, especially Psalm 19, we see the voice of creation praising God.  We see the rocks, the sun, the moon, and all of creation have a voice that cannot be silenced. How does creation have a voice that is praising God?  Creation is praising God when it is doing exactly what God made it to do.  The grass that grows, the leaves changing color in the fall, the sun rising every morning, the moon following its phases; these are all ways creation sings it praises to the God who created it.  But Dr. Lessing pointed out that isn't it kind of funny, that humankind, the prize possession of His creation, put above the rest of creation to have dominion over it, is the one creature that complains and whines the most?  The lowly grass that gets walked on praises God daily, and yet we who have a happy healthy life, complain at the smallest things.  We who know what He did for us, His act of salvation through the death and resurrection of His Son, for our sinful lives, whine when we do not get our way in the littlest aspect.  We who have His Spirit with us, living and reigning in our hearts, would rather speak badly about someone, or be upset by things that do not even affect us, instead of just singing His praises for the daily and abundant riches He gives us, His undeserving children.  I will admit, especially this week, I have been very guilty of this.  However, we have so much around us to remind us who we should be praising.  Every time you see the green grass, the trees standing tall, the rain falling, the wind blowing, or even a bug flying around, remember they are serving the only God they know and praise Him by doing what they were created to do.  We need to do the same and really should be setting the example for the rest of creation, not the other way around.  Especially since we have and are able to read and know God's Word telling us exactly what He wants us to be doing.  All Praise Him who forgives our whining, complaining, and unnecessary bad moods, but loves us and continues to bless us as His children, not because of anything we did, but because of what He did for us through our Savior Jesus Christ.  

Dear Heavenly Father, 

Please help us to remember that everything we do is for Your glory.  Everything we have and are blessed with comes from You out of Your free grace and mercy.  Help us to be strong in our faith, positive in our attitudes, and live a life that shows the love You give us no matter what is going on in our lives.  Let all we do and say be for Your glory only.  In Your Son's name we pray.  Amen. 

Wedding and Praise

Greetings and blessings to you all.   I am finding that the constant feeling of being behind and needing to catch up is an exhausting feeling.  However, last night I crawled into bed about seven and was asleep by nine.  I was very tired from a major lack of sleep from this weekend, but I feel must better today after a good, long nights sleep.  This weekend was a blast.  I left Friday morning about three twenty in the morning central time and made it to Michigan to meet up with my friend and his family at about eleven thirty eastern time.  We dropped the girls off at the house where stage one of the bachelorette party was taking place.  Then us guys drove to the groom's grandparents' house where we grilled lunch and played golf with foam golf balls in the back yard.  They live right on a lake so it was a beautiful property.  Then we had a private brewery tour which included a free beer.  Then we had tickets to a comedy club.  I had never been to one before, but it was a lot of fun and we got a lot of laughs out of the whole thing.  Then we hit one last bar quick before we headed back to the grandparents' house.  My friend, the bachelor, was well ready for bed we'll say when we got back, so we put him to bed.  The rest of us stayed up and played cards for a couple hours, again filled with many laughs.  They taught me Euchre which is a pretty fun game.  The next morning we got up and drove to the golf course, but right as we got there it started to rain and radar showed it wasn't going to stop any time soon.  So we changed our plans and went bowling instead.  The rehearsal and rehearsal dinner were Saturday night, and then we just went back and hung out in the hotel.  Sunday morning, I watched some T.V. and got some reading for class done  in my hotel room before the wedding.  The wedding was beautiful and everything went perfect.  The reception was very classy and a ton of fun.  I decided to go back to the after party at the hotel, which was also very fun.  I got to talk to my friend's cousin, who is a fellow seminarian.  We got to know each other last year when he was on campus, but this year he is on vicarage so it was good to see him and catch up with him again.  Monday morning I was on the road by six Michigan time and was back on campus by noon our time.  I took a quick nap before class and then made it to class at two.  So while it was a very busy weekend, constantly on the go, not much sleep, just over 1200 miles on my car, and a little bit of money, it was totally worth it to be there to help my friends celebrate their special day, get to know their families better, and get a mini vacation all at once.
This week is a busy week of catch up and try to get ahead.  I have another wedding, I am actually in this one, next week in Lincoln.  I am excited, but again it is forcing me to stay on top of homework.  If I can survive the next two weeks, the rest of my quarter will be a breeze.  I just thank the good Lord he has given me the ability to be able to do all this extra stuff while still completing all my school stuff.
I am writing a book report on a book titled The Destiny of the Righteous in the Psalms, written by Jerome Creach.  It is an amazing book and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for good material to read.  For me it brings the Psalms alive, makes them understandable, and most importantly practical for our lives today.  It is a pretty easy read, and only 155 pages.  I will definitely keep it on my shelf and read it more than once in my life time.  I will let you buy the book (it's not very expensive) and read it for yourself, but today I want to share one small part of it with you.  This is a quote from chapter two titled: "The Activity of the Righteous".  "Praise is not just a way of speaking about or to our God; it is also a way of living in light of one's relationship with God.  Praise is the most basic "activity" of the righteous, the action from which all else emerges." (p.31).  The book defines "the righteous" not as moral purity, but rather as essentially a relational term, referring to our righteousness being only from God.  It is the understanding that at all times and in all places "the Lord reigns".  He is creator and we are creatures who depend on Him.  So when we know that He reigns, and we depend on Him, we should live our lives through praising Him.  This then goes back to the fact that praising Him does not mean we sit around and talk or sing praise to Him (not that we shouldn't do this), but more importantly that praise should be everything we do in actions and words.  Living a life that is pleasing in His sight and through all we do and all we say gives the glory to His name.  People should be able to see through our lives that we know, understand, and live by the fact that we are creatures created by the creator, our Great Lord and God.  I brought this out with my Galatians Bible study through the most dreaded verse by Lutherans, James 2:17, "So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead."(ESV).  We Lutherans do not like this verse because we're scared it will sound too much like works righteousness.  However, we know we are saved by faith in Christ alone by his grace.  So not that we know that, we should not sit idly by and not work for fear of looking like works righteousness, but praise Him in the sense that we live the activity of our righteousness to show we know our relationship with Him.  Now I know this is easier said than done, because trust me I fail at this day in and day out too.  However, the more we try and ask the Spirit to give us the strength to live a life of praise (by the above definition), the more we will find ourselves actually living that life of praise.  All Praise (as an activity and song) be to Him who is our creator, creating us in a life that is in relationship with Him, making us His righteous children.
LSB Hymn 558 (1,4)- this hymn is written based on Psalm 115
Not unto us, not unto us be glory, Lord
Not unto us but to Your name be praise
Not unto us but to Your name all honor be giv'n
For matchless mercy, forgiveness, and grace
Not unto us but to Your name be glory, Lord
For grace so rich, so wide, so high, so free
Abide with us, till trav'ling days are over and done
And pilgrim feet lead us home, Lord, to You.  Amen.

Bible Study

Greetings to you in the name of our Christ and Lord.  This week was a busy one.  I worked nine straight hours Wednesday for all three jobs since I do not have classes on Wednesdays.  This coming week is going to be busy too because symposium is Tuesday and Wednesday.  However, we do not have classes those days either so hopefully I can get caught back up on reading and homework.  The next couple weeks are going to be crazy as I am traveling to Michigan for a fellow seminarian's wedding, and then am in a wedding in Nebraska for some college friends.  It will be a lot of traveling, but I think I can manage to keep caught up as long as I work a little harder while I am here.
I led my first Adult Bible class today after church.  Last year the second year guy led it over Job, and the most he ever had was six people.  I changed a few things, had two weeks worth of notice in the bulletin, and thought I would be optimistic and make eight copies of my handout plus the original.  Then as I was getting the coffee out and all of my stuff ready, more and more people kept coming into the classroom.  I ended up with eleven people so a few couples had to share handouts.  It was a blessed surprise.  I led them through the introduction of Galatians, a few key terms and definitions, and then explained two kinds of righteousness to them as in my mind that is key to understanding Galatians.  We then dove into chapter one and got through all of the questions with even some deep discussions and side tangents.  I was very pleased with how well it went and thank the Lord that He was with me.  Afterwards they all seemed excited to continue on next time and I do hope they all come back.  The one little old lady told me I will make a great Pastor.  I jokingly told her to hold that opinion until she hears me preach in about a month.  I hope it continues to go well, because I would like to keep the motivation to put in the time and effort to be well prepared and intentional about the Bible study which is easier to do if they are excited about it too.  I know though it's not just me, but the Lord is with me and my teaching too.
I will either preach the last Sunday in October or the first Sunday in November.  I will also continue to be lectern and do liturgy.  As active as I am going to be in the church on Sunday's, I will be well prepared for vicarage, hopefully.
One of the themes from our Bible study that is pretty basic but can never be emphasized enough is the love and Christian attitude we use when dealing with all people.  It doesn't matter whether they are religious of a different denomination or non-religious at all, the more love and genuine care we show to that person, the better chance of building a relationship with them we have.  If someone of a different religion tells us we are wrong, we need to be patient, kind, considerate, and loving to that person.  If we just get mad and say, "Am not, YOU'RE wrong!" we sound like a fifth grader and all hope of changing their opinion is gone.  However, if we just dialogue with them, ask them what they truly believe and compare faiths with them, we stand a better chance of inviting them to listen to our side.  If we remain calm and have a mature conversation with that person we have a chance to plant the seed of truth and pray that the Holy Spirit makes it grow.  All we can do is share the truth we know with everyone and hope it is the seed that the Holy Spirit causes to grow.  We cannot convince them or try to force them to come to the faith.  We are called to share the Gospel, and that means both through our words and even more importantly through our actions in our relationships.  So next time someone wants to argue with you over anything, remember to show them the same love and compassion Christ shows you and see what happens.  Then afterward, pray for that person that he or she may someday find the truth and become a baptized child of God who knows the truth of His Gospel.  All Praise Him who forgives us and gives us His free grace, mercy and love, allowing us to live lives that reflect those unto our neighbors so that they too may know what a wonderful God we have and serve.
Hymn 783 LSB
Dear Father in Heaven, 
Take my life and let it be, Consecrated, Lord, to thee,
Take my moments and my days, Let them flow in ceaseless praise
Take my will and make it Thine, It shall be no longer mine
Take my heart, it is Thine own, It shall be Thy royal throne
Take my love, my Lord, I pour, At Thy feet its treasure store
Take myself, and I will be, Ever, only, all for Thee
In Your name we pray, Amen. 

Settled in/ Leaky kind of People!

Greetings to you all.  Well I am finally all unpack and organized in my new room.  It is weird though because as I started putting things away in drawers, I realized how much more free space I have every where.  Not only is my room actually bigger in size, but I have a second book shelf and a huge storage space under my bed.  I cannot believe how many free drawers I have and just open space I have for a dorm room.  Now some might walk into my room and say this is the small room you are bragging about.  However, I would then proceed to show them the TINY room I lived in last year and let them see how big this one is relatively speaking.  It just feels good to know where everything is and to be able to call it home for the year.
I also played in our first intramural flag football game today.  We lost on the very last play of the game but it was still fun.  Last year I did not get to play football because I worked every Tuesday, plus my team was not very good.  It felt good to hear I went decently high in the draft this year from the other captains.  One of my friends was going to draft me, but he said I went before he was ready to pick me.  Now I am just hoping to help support my team so they feel I was worthy of that pick.  Other than that I am just trying to get into school work and classes again. I am fighting a cold that at first I thought was a sinus infection, but now is just the sniffles and a slight cough.  However, it seems to be getting better each day.  I have also been spending quite a bit of time just reading the Bible.  I am realizing how unfamiliar I am with the themes of the individual books, and where important themes and verses are.  So, my goal is to spend some part of every day in the Word, just reading, studying, and reflecting.  We are still doing our morning Bible study, but I also am making a point to do more on my own too.  This some times comes in the way of other reading, but I figure the professors cannot really be mad at me for putting the Word of God ahead of a textbook written by man.
I also still have to hammer out exactly what I plan to teach this Sunday as my adult Bible study begins, but I will get the questions finalized, my key to my answers finished, and just a general lesson plan to keep us on topic.  Please keep my teaching abilities in your prayers as I will need the Lord's help to get the truth of His Word to these people.
I think my favorite class this quarter is most likely going to be Pastor as Educator.  Dr. Bacon is an amazing man and has me excited to be back in the classroom.  If your asking why I said again, it is because I was in the education program at Seward for awhile and did forty hours of classroom experience through those classes.  I always did enjoy spending time in the classroom with the kids.  The other class I really enjoy is my Hebrew exegetical.  I am not so sure I will like the work for the class, because my Hebrew is not as sharp as it used to be, but I enjoy Dr. Lessing's insights.  We were looking at key New Testament verses the other day that point back to the "wisdom literature" of the Old Testament.  The class is Psalms and Writings so the "wisdom literature" of Proverbs, Job, Jonah, etc. is what we will be looking at besides the Psalms obviously.  One key set of verses we looked at is Ephesians 5:15-21.  This points us to living not in foolishness like getting drunk, but to live in the wise life, that is Christ's example.  However, verse 18 in particular is what we looked at.  It states in the ESV, "And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit."  Now when you look at the last half of this verse, "...be filled with the spirit," it is best to look at it in the Greek.  The Greek verb for "to be filled" is parsed as present, passive, imperative, second person plural from the verb stem meaning "to fill".  Each part of that parsing is important, and this is one of the times the original language makes a huge theological importance.  The fact that it is an imperative means that it is a command.  This is not something we are suggested or hinted at to do, but commanded to do.  It's important we do this because God's Word commands us to.  The fact that it is present tense is important, because in Greek the present tense does not have the same meaning the present tense does in English.  In Greek the present tense means that the action is happening right now, but has an ongoing result.  It doesn't just happen and is done, but is continued to be done and keeps going.  The fact that it is passive means that it is not something we do but something that is done to us.  So we are not the ones who fills us, but we are filled by God with the Spirit.  The second person plural shows that it is for "you" but plural meaning everyone.  So this one verb by its parsing shows us that this phrase is a command that is for everyone, done by God, and done continuously.  This is where Dr. Lessing in his very loud voice said, "See Christians leak!"  We are not filled with the Spirit once, but CONTINUOUSLY keep being filled with the Spirit.  It is an ongoing process that the Lord commands us to do, even though He is the one who does it to us.  So next time your thinking your feeling pretty holy and doing a good job of being a faithful Christian, just remember that you leak!  You need to be continuously filled with the Spirit, by spending time in the Word, faithfully praying, and always asking God to keep filling you with the Spirit.  All praise Him who is the one who fills us with His Spirit, not abandoning us after raising His Son who redeemed us to His right hand, but continuously filling us with His Spirit to guide us, strengthen us, and keep us in the one true faith.
Dear Heavenly Father, 
Thank you so much for the many blessings you so daily and abundantly enrich our lives with.  Please fill us with Your Spirit, not just once, but continuously as You so command us to be.  Thank you for giving us Your Spirit, and we ask the He may guide us, strengthen us, and keep us in the protection of Your hand until You call us home to live with You, Your Son, and Your Spirit, our One True God.  In Your name we pray, Amen.