What Time Is It?

I'm having trouble keeping track of the time - not the hours of the day but the seasons of the year. This time of year is really mixed up for you - Thanksgiving, Black Friday (seems to have earned a special holiday status of it's own), Advent (new for me - we saw the first coming of the King), and Christmas (good reason to keep celebrating the birth of God as man!).

But they all seem to be jumbled up with each other. Thanksgiving is buried with advertisements for Black Friday which is all about shopping for Christmas and - what happened to Advent? Lost in the shuffle.

I heard some interesting sermons at what has become home church for Dr Luke - Our Savior Lutheran Church in Gladwin, MI. Pastor Matthew Schultz preached on Thanksgiving about being thankful for God's gifts instead of being discontented after being bombarded with all the advertisements - you really can't seem to escape from them... and it appears you really NEED a lot of things you didn't know about. And then this past Sunday he preached about 'Black Ops' - being ready for the mission we have as Christ's followers. An interesting comparison of the birth of Christ to a covert operation, God inserting an 'agent' behind enemy lines; and then our part as 'agents' of Christ in our world.

In the end I leave you with a favorite word I used in the Gospel (pay special attention to verse 14, 42, 44 and 58) that I wrote: agalliao and agallisis - which loosely translates to PARTY!!! Exceeding great joy! We are joyful in the extreme these days, not because we have so much, or can get so much on sale, but because we are loved so much by Jesus who joined us in our humanity and saved us from our sin.

St Mark Lutheran, Saginaw

I had the privilege and pleasure of preaching at St Mark Lutheran Church this past Sunday. A lively bunch of God's people there under strong leadership from Pastor Ed Meyer. I met a committed group of lay leaders there who work with Pastor Ed and the other staff to share the love of Jesus in creative and meaningful ways with their community. They roll up their sleeves and are ready to let the Spirit work through them to accomplish God's will.

I very much enjoyed my time among them. I think Paul would have spoken these words about God's people at St Mark: "I thank my God every time I remember you... I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the Gospel..."

May God richly bless your work there in Saginaw!

I used to live in that world.

Peter Steinke describes a 'new' world in an article from the Alban Institute: "There Once Was a World". That world is much more like the 1st Century world I left. In fact, I find it hard to understand the world that many folks are trying so hard to hang on to.

Back in the day, there was no support for the Christian 'church'. Paul preached in a world where following Jesus was likely to get you beaten up or even killed. That is still how it is in many parts of the world - and the church is growing quite rapidly in many of those places in spite of that.

Time to get used to it. And to learn from the past and from our brothers and sisters who have been living in that world for a long time. Jesus talked about this too just before he was killed. Good to remember that his power is bigger than anything we will face, and there are many saints who can bear witness to that.

Facebook or face to face friendships

It is a very different world than I left in the 1st Century. We did everything face to face. Well, we did write letters, but even that was a bit unusual and not very wide spread.

I came across a blog about facebook and face-to-face friendships. Very interesting reading. Even the telephone was a major move away from face-to-face communication. Now, the internet allows anyone to be in contact (friends?) with hundreds and even thousands of people.

The blog concluded that, even with the huge numbers of people that you keep track of online these days, people still really are close friends with only about four to seven bosom buddies and that is true in most cultures the world over.

Friends in time of need; helping you in the hard times. Sometimes people don't have the kind of help they need. That's where Wheat Ridge comes in, supporting some great ministries all over the world who are the 'friend' that people may need. Ministries like the Helping Hands Free Clinic in Columbus, OH.

Can't Stand the Cold

That is opposite of how they tell me the saying usually goes: "If you can't stand the heat...". Well, I'm used to the Mediterranean climate and I'm not liking the feel of the air in early November. It could be a long winter.

Makes me think of warmer places... like Liberia. A great Wheat Ridge project connected there, and to New Orleans - also much warmer than the upper Midwest! Check out another great Wheat Ridge health and wellness project among the Kuwaa people of Liberia.

Bethany Lutheran Church, in collaboration with the Lutheran Church of Liberia and Salem Lutheran Church in Chicago, Illinois, plans to address some of the major health challenges the Kuwaa people face in the Gbapolu District of Liberia, West Africa. The project will accomplish this by digging wells, providing pumps and filtration systems, and building medical clinics thereby providing safe drinking water and opportunities for residents to be treated for common illnesses like malaria, cholera and other tropical diseases.

I'm looking for warmer clothes.