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