Gingerbread Houses

Why use the church calendar?

Do we follow the church calendar because we are stuck on outdated, rote tradition? Or could it have a salutary effect on our faith?

http://issuesetc.org/?p=1566

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All Dressed Up

Last Saturday, I got to go to a murder mystery party at a friend's house. Everyone attending got a part to play in it, and my part was a young lady in an ambassadress contest. This part required dressing up, so I had a lot of fun with that. I am very thankful that I was able to find a nice dress (thank you, seminary co-op!) I had a great time at the party.

His Coming

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. Luke 1:76-78 (emphasis mine)

These verses are Zechariah speaking about his son, John, and his special job to prepare for the coming of the Lord. We are also preparing for the coming of the Lord, during the “new year” in the church calendar, Advent. I have now experienced one full year of the church calendar as a Lutheran, and have found it to be enriching and Christ-focused. I like the rhythm that it gives: following the Advent of our Lord, his Passion, the time of the church. I also like the connection that it gives me to the Christians who have worshipped this way for centuries. God’s truth stands firm, and He preserves His church. I recently read a blog post in which the young writer stated that “each generation reinvents the church.” I found that to be a disturbing statement. We don’t define the church, God’s Word does. We do not fit the Word to the culture; God’s Word speaks to the world. It is His Holy Spirit, through His Word, that still convicts of sin through His Law, and brings salvation through the Gospel.

It is that Word that proclaims to us His first coming as a babe in the manger, fully God and fully man, born to atone for our sins, and that Word proclaims His second coming, as Savior and Judge.

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you all. Amen. (Revelation 22:20-21)

Born of water and the Spirit - John 3:5

"Unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God"

I used to believe that in the phrase "of water and the Spirit" Jesus was most likely making comparison between the "waters" of natural childbirth and spiritual rebirth. After all, Nicodemus asked the question about entering the mother's womb a second time, right?
However, after further study (and yes, a little introductory education in NT Greek was helpful), I clearly see that this cannot be the case. The phrase is most likely entirely referring to a single entity - baptism in my opinion. It is, by far, the easiest and most natural read of the text. Because they share the same preposition "of", it is HIGHLY IMPROBABLE that it is referring to two separate entities. If Jesus was intending to refer to two entities, the Gospel writer (John) would have either:
1. used two prepositions ("of water and of the Spirit"), or
2. used a comparison sentence structure, such as the statement Jesus makes in verse 6 "That which is born of flesh is flesh; that which is born of spirit is spirit."
Of course, I am not a Greek scholar, I do not pretend to be one, and I doubt that even with seminary training, I will ever be one. Theologians will undoubtedly continue to vigorously debate the meaning of this passage. However, it appears to be simple enough to me. Jesus is talking about baptism. Period.
Also, suggesting that Jesus might be referring to natural childbirth poses an additional problem:
If God's Word is 100% true... 100% accurate, then this passage would be suggesting that "being born [through waters of childbirth]" was a requirement for entering the kingdom of heaven. That, in turn, would suggest that all children who die from abortion, stillbirth, or miscarriage are eternally doomed. God's Word is silent on the eternal destiny of such souls, and as a Bible believing Lutheran, I believe that we too must be very careful about any attempt to speak truth where the Bible is silent. It's okay to form opinions about such things as long as we aren't being presumptious to know the mind of God or speak where the Word is silent.
On the other hand, if being born naturally is not a requirement for salvation, why would our Lord even mention it? "Well... first of all you need to be born..." That would be the classic "DUHHHH!" statement of all eternity. Nicodemus understands natural childbirth... the question seems to be rhetorical in nature; Jesus is essentially saying, "no, I'm talking about things of the Spirit... you've been formally trained in the teachings of God, and you don't seem to understand the things of the Spirit."
As a Lutheran, it's quite tempting to launch into a discussion about the question of baptismal regeneration, but I'll skip that...at least for now. :-)

He Passed!

We are rejoicing this morning after finding out that Stan passed his Greek class! It was a tough semester, which reminds us that it is God who supports and sustains us. Now Stan has officially been admitted to the seminary, and can move on in his classes. We are grateful to God beyond words!

Tonight we are going to have a family birthday party for John/celebrate Stan passing the class. It is going to be hard to concentrate on school today!

Thank you, everyone, for your prayers and encouragement. It means so much to us.

Frugal Fall Idea

This year we continued our fall habit of getting pie pumpkins and decorating them with permanent markers. Lindsay took the decorating to a new level with the hats and scarves. After enjoying them as home decor, I scooped out the seeds, cut them in half, and baked them for 45 minutes at 450 degrees in a pan with 1/2 inch water. The skin peeled off easily; then I pureed them in the food processor and made 2 pumpkin pies for Stan's birthday. (Happy birthday, Stan!) I froze the remaining 2 cups for future use. After rinsing the seeds and allowing them to dry overnight, I tossed them in butter and salt, and roasted them at 250 degrees for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Yummy, and the pumpkins only cost a total of $3. My kind of deal!