It is Finished!

OK, I stole that line (can’t put my finger on where…) but it’s true. The Year of Our Lord 2011 is done. Not only that, but I read through the Bible in one year. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not looking for an attaboy since I should have done this years ago. Still, I made the commitment and followed it through. I will now need to study it, not just read it.

So, did I learn anything? You bet! Here are just a few highlights:

Our Lutheran liturgy comes directly from the Bible
Yes, I already knew this. However, it was fascinating to see the words we use every Sunday in their original context. I found myself putting the words to familiar tunes as I read. If you use the red Lutheran Service Book (LSB), you can see the Bible reference for each section of the service. I’ll cover this Liturgy/Bible connection in more detail another time. 

God really, really wants us to repent and return to Him
In the Bible, as in life, if a message is important, it gets repeated, a lot. The Old Testament Prophets spent much of their time warning the Israelites to abandon their evil ways and obey the laws of God. For a sampling, check this listing (http://www.esvbible.org/search/turn+evil/). Time after time after time, the Israelites disobeyed God and tried to go their own way. Some things never change.

It’s all about Jesus
The entire Bible points us to either God’s Law or God’s Gospel. God has always demanded perfect obedience to his law. Failure means punishment and death. Every one of us deserves that death penalty because we fail to live up to God’s expectations. However, there is Hope. There is the Gospel (Good News) message. There is Jesus. Not only did he save the day, he saved you and me.

If you haven’t read the through the Bible yet, start now: http://www.stlukesreno.com/through-the-bible-in-a-year.aspx

Happy New Year!

Stephen
Sola Gratia - Sola Fide - Sola Scriptura

"Lutheran Worship is Boring"

Some people say that. Some go on to say that we Lutherans need to change our style of worship to attract and retain more young people. But before we even consider discussing the merits of such a position, do you know why Lutherans worship the way we do? Rev. William Cwirla has produced a compact summary over at Higher Things called, "Top Ten Reasons Why We Use the Liturgy."

If you are in favor of switching worship styles, can you provide a similar list so we can compare and contrast? Let me know.

Stephen
Sola Gratia - Sola Fide - Sola Scriptura

Man Builds Noah's Ark

Johan Huibers in the Netherlands is building a 1/5 scale ark. With all that global warming melting the polar ice caps, maybe he is on to something.



Stephen
Sola Gratia - Sola Fide - Sola Scriptura

What you can learn from an Internet hoax

Just days ago a story broke about a research project that found Internet Explorer users had a lower IQ than users of other web browsers. Turns out the story was a hoax. There was no research project and the company who supposedly ran it doesn't even exist. Can we learn anything from this? You Betcha! Here are a couple thing:

1. Don't believe everything you read on the Internet (or e-mail, or texts, or Tweets, or Facebook posts, or blogs or...). Just because it is written down does not make it true. I'm pretty sure your Mom told you that when you were little. What makes you think the world has gotten more truthful? I am not saying you should doubt everything, but I am saying you need to be discerning. To borrow Ronald Reagen's phrase, "Trust, but verify." Oh, I should also point out that he was talking about how we should work with the Soviet Union. It was possible to verify what they said because we had (have) the means to check out their story (you know, spies & stuff like that). If you don't have the means to verify a source, maybe you should think twice before trusting it.

2. If you use Internet Explorer, make sure you are using the latest version (currently it's, IE 9). According to the analytics for our church Web site (www.stlukesreno.com), 48.5% of our visitors in the last month are using IE. Unfortunately, only 1 in 4 have IE 9. Upgrade now by going to Microsoft.com. While you are upgrading your browser and even if you use a different browser or operating system, make sure you install the latest patches, keep your security tools up to date, back up your files, you know the drill!


If you want to read a reliable source of information, try the Bible. Now, you can take my word for it, but you would be better served by reading it and learning what God has to say to you.

Stephen
Sola Gratia - Sola Fide - Sola Scriptura

Follow up on Today's Sermon - Highlighting "Early Edition"

In today's sermon, Pastor Mike referred to an episode of a TV program called "Early Edition." The episode in question is "The Choice." I found a copy of the episode here: http://www.megavideo.com/?v=19BGWAMW but in the interest of full disclosure, I am somewhat doubtful the video is authorized (you can clearly see the Hallmark channel logo in the upper left corner). Remember, just because you found it on the Internet does not mean you have the right to use that material.

"Early Edition" was a quality program and if you can find a legitimate source, such as Amazon, I definitely recommend it.

Stephen
Sola Gratia - Sola Fide - Sola Scriptura

Sunday School's "The Rest of the Story" -- Lutheran style

The late, and legendary radio broadcaster Paul Harvey had a favorite segment called "The Rest of the Story" in which he took a familiar event and told listeners some little-known, always entertaining facts related to that event.

In Sunday School, you might have felt there was more to the story than you were exposed to that day--and you'd be right! Realizing he was not alone, Bruce Wurdeman, Executive Director of Lutheran Hour Ministries has created a series of video Bible Studies called Stuff They Didn't Teach Me in Sunday School.

Bruce has been working his way through the Old Testament and has released almost 100 studies as of this writing. You can watch each 3-8 minute video online or download it to watch later. A discussion page is also available. Best of all, the series is a FREE service of Lutheran Hour Ministries!

Take a look at the promo below.

Stephen
Sola Gratia - Sola Fide - Sola Scriptura

pi to 20 decimal places

3.14159265358979323846

My Junior High math teacher, Mr. Immel, had us memorize pi to 100 decimal places. Sadly, I can only remember the first 20 digits. We spent time on it everyday using mnemonics to help us fit a few digits at a time into the right sequence.

Is it important that I know this number to 100 or even 20 decimal places? No--although it has helped me win a few bets! The real lesson is in the process:

1. Mr. Immel said it was important
2. We heard it
3. We saw it
4. We wrote it down ourselves
5. We learned to recall it through practice

Let's apply this process to the Bible:

1. Certainly the Bible is important
2. We hear it and see it when we follow along with the Sunday readings

But what about the rest of the process? Writing notes during the sermon or during Bible study? Memorizing verses? Why bother, right?

Now you may get the impression you need to memorize the Bible in order to be a good (perfect) Christian. Nothing could be further from the truth. You and I have no hope of being a perfect Christian in this lifetime. We are all sinners and nothing we do will ever be enough to save us from the punishment we deserve for disobeying even one of God's laws. Jesus paid the price and we are saved by believing it.

So why all this emphasis on following this process with the Bible? Because of step 1: The Bible is important. The more time you spend with it, the more it (well, really Jesus) becomes a part of you. Just like pi to 20 decimal places is a part of me.

Thanks Mr. Immel.

Stephen
Sola Gratia - Sola Fide - Sola Scriptura

Mid Year Resolution

We're six months into 2011 and I have managed (with God's help, obviously) to keep working on my New Year's Resolution to read through the Bible. I'll admit that some days I have fallen behind but I am current at the moment. It has been a rewarding experience and I can't wait to see how the story ends on December 31st!

Having dipped my feet into the pool of making commitments, the time has come for me to make another: I commit to posting on this blog at least once per week. It may not sound like much--especially when we are numbed by the youngsters tweeting about what they had for lunch everyday. The point of this blog is to share something useful and hopefully interesting, something that might just get to you stop and think for a couple minutes and maybe chuckle (at me or with me, I'm easy). I owe you that much.

Until next time...

Stephen
Sola Gratia - Sola Fide - Sola Scriptura

Medieval Tech Support

I first ran across this video a couple years ago while preparing to train at a call center. If you kind of squint your eyes a bit, you can almost see someone from Martin Luther's Tech Support team explaining how this new German Bible works (except the guys in the video are speaking Norwegian and the book isn't a Bible--hey, I said, almost!).

Tip of the Day: Before you get frustrated with that person at the call center, remember that you might be the only Christian they talk to all day. Let me know how it goes.

Stephen
Sola Gratia - Sola Fide - Sola Scriptura

My 2011 Resolution: Read Through the Bible

I don’t make new years resolutions. They always sound good in theory but never seem to pan out. Maybe it’s just me (but I doubt it).

This year needs to be different. Let’s face it, it’s embarrassing to admit that although I have been a Christian my whole life, I have never read through the entire Bible. Sure, all 66 books have seen the light of day at one point or another, but I have never even tried to read everything God felt I needed to know about Him.

I know I am not alone in this admittedly sad Christian condition. The cure is simple: Read the Bible! To help facilitate the cure, I added some resources to the St. Luke’s web site. A link on the home page takes you to the online ESV translation of today’s readings. The church calendar now includes the same information for each day. A separate page provides more details about the reading plan & some other tools to help this years resolution be different (and better) than all the rest): http://www.stlukesreno.com/through-the-bible-in-a-year.aspx. The best part is, you can start today. Actually, the best part is, you get to learn more about God!

Check it out and let me know what you think. And have a Happy New Year!

Stephen
Sola Gratia - Sola Fide - Sola Scriptura