New T-shirts

Hey we just got our new shirts in for our student group at CMU. There are some extras available and if enough people want them we might be able to make another order of them.

Gotta Love Global Warming

I mean without it we would not have snow sticking to the ground on October 12th in Michigan. Can't wait to see what warming Earth temperatures will bring us next.

Great new Christmas song

I know it is too early to be listening to Christmas music. We have not even reached Halloween after all. Today, however, one of my favorite artists Brad Paisley released a new Christmas cd.

Listening to Born on Christmas Day it might be one of my new favorite Christmas songs. Amazingly Paisley wrote it when he was only 13. One thing I find great is that it touches on what was expected of the savior and the way that God chose to send him. Plus the way that he uses a recording of when he was 13 mixed with today is pretty cool.

The rest of the CD is great as well if you like country or even just great Christmas music you should check it out.

Brad Paisley- Christmas

Why Campus Ministry is Important

Here is an article that I wrote for our campus ministry newsletter. Feel free to use it if you would like. If you do and you could let me know as well that would be cool.
Enjoy.

Without Campus ministry we lose a very valuable part of the church. To me, campus ministry takes care of the students in college who are often neglected by the church. It gives them a place to continue to grow as students of faith in a Lutheran setting. There are so many organizations that can seem appealing to a student and lead them away from the faith. A Lutheran campus ministry helps to fill that void before that happens.

If we do not work with people when they are younger we lose the opportunity to equip them for leadership in the church. Because they have a place to go in college and continue in the Lutheran faith, they are much more likely to become elders or even consider studying for the office of the holy ministry.

Christ the King Lutheran Chapel has probably been one of the single most important influences in my college life. In the few years that I have been here I can safely say that my faith and knowledge of God has greatly increased. I can also see this in the eyes of my classmates all around me. This is truly what campus ministry is designed to do. Its purpose is to maintain and nurture the faith in Jesus Christ that exists in those who attend. It helps to make sure that that faith is nurtured with solid biblical teaching and worship. There are so many organizations on campus that fail to meet this criteria.

I wish that every college student would have the opportunity to experience what I have at the chapel. Unfortunately, not everyone has this same blessing. I am grateful that the Lord has placed me in such a place where I can learn and grow and not have to leave campus to do so. This place has truly become my home. From the wonderful congregation to the great pastors that we get to work with, it is the best thing that we can offer a college student. In 30 years I probably won't remember anything about some of the classes I am taking, but I guarantee that I will remember the experiences the chapel has created for me in my life and the lives of so many before me. Hopefully, this place will be around for many years for people to come and serve and to help create other opportunities like it.

It has begun....

Well, classes have finally started and I can say that this semester will be great. I know some people in my classes which is something I couldn't say a few years ago. It is nice to be in a major and seeing the same people often.

Tomorrow our stuff for campus ministry will start with our lunch at 12 and then bible study at 9:30. Normally it is student led but our new pastor will be leading it tomorrow. This is the first time that I will have been able to sit in on one of his studies.

In other news my favorite band, Nickel Creek, of all time will be taking a break at the end of 2007. At least the lead singer Chris Thile will be pursuing a solo career so I won't lose them entirely. However, I have recently taken a liking to the bands King Wilkie and Old Crow Medicine Show. If you like bluegrass at all you should take a look at them.

Good Search

One important thing for a college group to survive is money. We are registered on Good Search.com It is a search engine which donates a portion of proceeds to a charitable organization of your choice. Each search on the site equates to one cent for the group. That can add up fast. Check it out. Specify Christ the King Lutheran Chapel in Mount Pleasant, MI as the charity if you would.

Back to School...Back to Blogging

So it is back to the old university for me. The summer was good but I am glad that I will be getting back to doing things on a good schedule. It is good also to be back with things like Lutheran Student Fellowship. I love my church here and we even get to have a new pastor this year as well.

Reflecting on the idea of my blog a little over a year ago is something I have thought about. I started writing in order to get my thoughts out there and also receive some feedback. Soon however I was overtaken by the numbers game and lost my focus trying to get more people to visit. My attempt this fall is to get back to the idea of getting my thoughts out there.

On that note I would also like to turn my blog to a certain topic in a way. Campus ministry is something that affects me a lot. I would like to make an effort to show what exactly goes on with our group here at CMU be that by things like posting Bible studies and more photos of what goes on around the church. I think a lot of people get lost in the college years and maybe that is something that needs to be talked about a little more.

So in conclusion my goal is to get back to blogging about things I am thinking as well as turning my efforts to explaining exactly what campus ministry is and possibly working towards being a resource for other campus ministry groups be they LSF or Christ on Campus which our organization is also a part of. Here's to at least a good fall worth of thought provoking blogs.

Everyone says I can get it right now! Even God?

Through reading Is God Listening- making prayer a part of your life by Andrew E. Steinman a strange idea struck me. Our modern society is extremely focused on obtaining instant results. I must say that I myself am guilty of this all too common demand. I read my news online, I bank online and a various number of other tasks I handle online. The reasoning of this is that I want my results quickly. For instance today realizing that I needed a cable to connect my GPS to my computer on jumped on eBay and purchased in a matter of minutes. It will be shipped to me tomorrow. Even as little as a few years ago this simple online transaction would have taken some time to be played out if I needed to actually leave the house to make a purchase.

I have known that this has been something that plagues the world for some time but it has never really occurred to me as to what it may affect. The book as you may suspect raises the idea that our immediate results do not normally happen with our prayer lives. God does not care if we want to know right away he will answer us when he feels that the time is right and he will answer however he wants in our best interest. Maybe something that deserves to be looked at is the immediacy with which some expect God to answer them. It important for all of us to remember that God will always act in our best interest whether we can see it happening or not.

To me it seems that I often want that immediate result but it was interesting to have a different look on the way that God deals with and uses the prayers that we bring to him on our behalf.

Oh and just for fun the reason that I have a GPS is for one of my immediate result style hobbies of Geocaching. Check it out if you get the chance but don't say I didn't warn you if you get hooked.

I am still around...

Boy, it has been a long time since I have posted. This post has been long overdue. Anyone who even remotely checks my blog should know that. Well I have been working at the golf course and savign some money up for next school year.

My birthday was the fourth and like it seems with most of the days that I get gifts now I find that my personal library has increased. Maybe I will review these books once I get them finished.

Discourses in Matthew- David P Scaer
Is God Listening- Andrew E. Steinmann
A Theology to Live By- Herman A. Preus
Proclaiming the Parables- Martin H. Scharlemann

Contempt of the divine service

It has become more and more apparent that people do not like what the Divine Service has to offer. That's right offer. After all it is God giving us his grace not our trying to make him feel good through our praise.

I think the thing that bothers me the most is that the reason that most people do not like the Divine Service and would prefer a contemporary one is due to the fact that they do not understand it. I recently finished the Fire and the Staff and Klemet Preus has a great description of how when one does not understand what is going on they will not appreciate it.

This begs another question though. How come we are not teaching people what the Divine Service is all about? I contend that if people did not think it was just the same old thing and actually understood the reason behind the parts of the service that they would come to know and love the grace offered in it so much more.

It's just that all of the praise songs that I have run into lately have been very empty. Not to mention that they are often in a very high key and since I have a very low voice I get left out. The hymns from the hymnals tend to be able to include me since they are focused more in the middle ranges. Could this be a reason that we do not see men singing in church? The praise songs were simply not made for them to sing. I guess that is because we know that all men hate singing and are almost never capable of it. Anyways those are my thoughts on the subject for the time being.

With Great Care

Today, I began really packing stuff up to head home for the summer as college students do. In the process I found that I took great care in packing my books. I like them and they are mine so they deserve proper care. I made sure that I placed them all in the box in a fashion so that they did not bend one another's cover or any of the pages. Stay with me here I'm getting somewhere. It doesn't matter that when they were shipped to the bookstore or put on the racks they may not have received the best of care. Now that they are mine it is my responsibility to watch over them.

After packing all of my books away I thought of the care that we should take care of the Gospel of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. It is after all the Good News which was shared for us. It is now ours and it is our responsibility to watch over it. Without it we are lost as it is the only assurance that we are forgiven of all of our sins. We are given the command to share it with others and be sure that it remains pure in its teaching. Since we have received the Gospel so graciously as a gift from God it is our job to take care of it in the ways God expects us to. It is important to remember to keep it in a form so that "none of the pages get bent". Once we receive something it is our job to take care of it.

I urge everyone to take care of the gracious gift that our Lord has bestowed upon us and watch over it with the utmost of attention.

Coffee

I was just thinking about the fact that I do not like coffee. Everyone always talks about their favorite coffee shop and what not. I guess maybe I am missing something, though I doubt it unless someone can convince me otherwise. Because I want to be a pastor and I don't like coffee it seems it may be an issue, not really in a serious way though. But hey according to a lot of people what is a service without the coffee. It's almost as if the coffee and donuts provide us some means of grace. Anyways maybe I will just stick to getting my caffeine from Mountain Dew. All that sugar has to be better for me anyways.

Christ Is Risen.....

.....He is Risen Indeed ALLELUIA!

The Faith of Children

On Sunday, which was Palm Sunday, during the children's talk one of them said something that sparked a thought in my mind. The faith of a child is an amazing representation that our faith is really worth something.

The kid I'm talking about, a little boy, is about 3 or 4 years old. In general he is a pretty funny kid. But during the talk our Pastor asked why the people put palm branches on the road when Jesus was riding into Jerusalem. He raised his hand and stated that it was so that the cars could drive on them. Upon realizing that this wasn't really the right answer he interjected this thought. "But when Jesus died on the cross he took away all of our sin". Of course we all know when you are a kid this is the right answer to any question asked at church but he truly meant it. Out of the mouth of someone who most would never consider as having a really valid opinion about many matters comes this important and simple statement.

The thing is he as other kids know is that one thing only truly matters. That thing is that Jesus died to take away all of their sin. They are not worried about the things that we disagree on in the church. Rather the faith of a child can take us right back to what is truly important and that is our faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins. This is the only thing that matters to them and is what gives them confidence about their life. It is interesting that as we grow older we often lose this perspective on things. We find things that seem to be important but when it comes down to it that simple statement of faith is all we truly have and rely on.

I have been told that when I was in kindergarten I happened to be talking to my class and telling them about how Jesus died to forgive their sins. I guess my teacher had to kind of cut me short since I was in a public school and was explaining this. Where has this ease of sharing the Gospel gone as I have gotten older? I still share but it seems not as often as I need too or as easy as I once did. What is it about growing older that causes us to lose the sense of faith and ease that we had when we were young?

Perhaps this is why we are given this very common story of Jesus and the children in the New Testament. In Matthew 19: 13-15 Jesus tells the disciples to allow the little children to come to him and that the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as them.

Earlier in Matthew 18 we are told that unless we do not become like children we shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. This is surely a testament to the innocence and understanding of Jesus that the mind of a little child is capable of possessing so simply.

Even though they may not know much about life they have the ability to show us great faith. Although they may not necessarily know why they know they just know that Jesus died for them and that is what matters. It is amazing what we can learn when we listen to the little children around us.

Socialism and Evolution Don't Mix

Just like oil and water these two philosophies do not work together. I noticed that there are a lot of kids here at school who will argue that they agree with both of these ideas. Fundamentally though one person can not believe in both.

In a nut-shell evolution says the fit will survive. This means that those who can not make it in life on their own should die off since they are not fit for life.

Socialism on the other hand says we should help everyone even if they can not accomplish things on their own. It is an attempt to make everyone equal.

Clearly, you can not say that the people who are more successful therefore in their opinion superior for life should also be helping those who are not superior.

Personally I think both of these philosophies do not hold a lot of strength anyways but why do people seem to agree with both of them so often?

Jesus

Apart from faith in the resurrection of Jesus there is nothing.

Day one and Two of the trip to Biloxi

We started out the trip driving down to Nashville in order to stay the night at Our Savior Lutheran Church. It was about a 10 hour drive or so to get there.



We also had a chance to go into the city for some dinner and to see some of downtown Nashville after we rolled in at about 6:00 p.m. Oh yeah and the warmer climate was definitely a welcome change from the snow that we left in Michigan.


Here is my girlfriend Rachel and I outside of a great barbeque place in Nashville. Another cool thing was that we walked into an ice cream shop which had a live band. We ended up talking to the guy and he made up a song about us on the spot it was pretty cool.


On Sunday morning we got up and went to church at Our Savior. It was a good service. After that we were back on the road for the remaining 9 hours or so after stops in order to get us to where we were staying in Biloxi, MS.

I'm back

After a long trip all day Saturday and into Sunday morning I am back in Michigan. As promised I will have posts about the trip and what we did forthcoming.

Off to Biloxi

I will be leaving tomorrow morning to go to Biloxi, MS to do some hurricane relief work over spring break. We are staying at the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd. We are driving from Michigan so it should be a good drive. I would ask that you please pray for our safe travels down there as well as getting work done when we are down there. Thanks.

I will be back in a week and this time I promise I will give some more information about my trip.

Curling anyone?

So today I went curling for the first time. Yes the crazy winter sport where rocks are thrown down a sheet of ice. It was much harder than it seems on tv and also a lot more fun. I honestly can not wait to go play it agian there.

I went curling at the Midland Curling Club.

You can also check on the USA curling association if you want.

To give up or not

Lent is a time of reflection upon ones own sin. The way I see it giving up something for lent stems from the idea that it helps one recognize what Jesus did for us through his sacrifice. Too often it seems that giving something up has either turned into a chore. People seem to do it because they think they have to and if not they are doing something wrong. These people will also complain about the fact that what they are giving up they really want. I think the whole point of this tradition is missed. Of course there is no real merit in giving up anything anyways it is meant as a way to help people prepare for Easter not as some contest for God.

Two examples I have seen in the past few days from either side.

One friend is giving something up but won't tell anyone. He seems to not feel it is important for anyone else to know what he is giving up. It is between him and God and he is using this to reflect not for glory.

Another person says they are giving up soda and fast food. Then goes on to mention that they will have nothing to eat now and what not in a very complaining matter.

First guy seems to be doing it for the right reason. It does not seem to be beneficial for the second person to give anything up. Will I be giving anything up probably not it is not really effective for me but I will be preparing nevertheless.

Christianity will change to survive... in the next 100 years

In the post before this I mentioned the where will Christianity be in 100 years discussion in my class today. The comment that struck the hardest chord with me was the idea that in order to survive Christianity will have to conform to the times.

This could not be farther from the truth. No matter how much people would like to change our message there is only one way that it can be done. God does not give us room to rewrite the Gospel and the Law so that it can relate to social issues. In fact the cause for all of this rewriting is the Law accomplishing what it is supposed to but people are not being given the Gospel to show them how much God really does care about them. So much in fact that he gave his only son to save us from a fate which we deserve.

Society loves to rewrite the rules for Christianity because they are living under the delusion that as long as the accepted rules are followed then it will merit the Grace of God rather. The Christian church is not one of following Law to be saved but rather a combination of rightly divided Law and Gospel. (A good intro to this idea by Ryan at Wretched of the Earth) The key is the Gospel for salvation we can do nothing on our own to merit God but rather God gives us everything as a free gift no strings attached.

Anyways does anyone have any thoughts about where Christianity will be in 100 years?

If being nice were good enough....

At lunch today something was mentioned that I could not pass up as a start off for a post. One of my friends was talking about his brother and the fact that he was born with diabetes, epilepsy, and ADD for example.

My roommate and other good friend happened to say to this "and he's such a nice kid too. Being nice doesn't count for anything anymore." Or something along those lines.

In a way what he was saying is right. Being nice doesn't really gain us anything when it comes from gifts from God. Things like salvation after all are not earned and the only thing that we have to do to receive them is to be alive to accept them. This seems to be the hardest thing for many people I see to understand. There is nothing that can be done to merit the grace of God period. The fact that his son Jesus Christ died on the cross for us is what saves us and allows us into heaven.

It brings also another point that came up in my Christianity class today. We were discussing where Christianity would be in 100 years. Someone mentioned that they thought Muslims and Christians would begin to grow closer together, and also she wondered how they can not be closer right now since they are basically the same. Except for the fact that the basis of the religion is totally different.

The comment can not everyone say that as long as you believe something then it is find came up. Of course to someone who has no affiliation either was as she did this statement seems to make sense. I do not see the divide getting closer based on the fact that there is only one way to heaven and that is through Jesus Christ and his death for us on the cross. I guess in a way this kind of falls into the well at least they were a nice person category.

Any thoughts on whether we will somehow become closer with Muslims? Someone said we are already close with Jews it will only be a matter of time before we will be the same way with Muslims.

Computers to solve obese children....

What will they come up with next to make parents think that raising their kids should involve no real communication. This computer system at some schools in Houston makes sure that kids are buying the lunch their parents want them too. I'm sorry but watching what kids eat for lunch is not going to tackle obesity. Parents need to step up and teach their kids about exercise firstly and also healthy eating habits.

A computer is only as good as the person who is using it.


Hat tip : Drudge

Gnostic

I realize this is the first time I have posted in quite awhile. Hopefully, I can get some thoughts going again. Funny I always say that.

Anyways in my Christianity (public university) class we have been talking a little about Gnostic and how this sect may have been suppressed by the orthodox church at the beginning of Christianity. After looking at some of the stuff from the Gospel of Thomas it is no wonder they would be suppressed. Some of the information we have read mentions that it was an attempt by the church to gain power and the Gnostic gospels were a threat to the institution of the church. The suggestion is that there might be some useful things that were written and the church was scared so they crushed their existence.

Me I don't buy it. There are too many things that strike me as odd about the Gnostic gospels and I get quite the weird feeling when I read some things in them. The feeling is akin to the one I get when I have read things in the Book of Mormon. Here are some of the things I find disturbing about them.

1. They claim to be "secret" this really was not the goal of Jesus
2. In them a man can essentially become his own god and there is no dependence on Jesus or grace
3. For some reason they did not survive. If so many people knew they were true this would not even be a topic of discussion 2000 years later.

I really do not know a lot about these "secret gospels". There is nothing of value to be found in them so I would not want to spend too much time with them other than being able to refute them if asked. If anyone has any thoughts I would definitely welcome them.

Losing My Voice

Driving down to Mississippi by way of Michigan was quite the journey in a 15 passenger van with 13 people in it. It was fun though because it was a big group of people I am good friends with. I also happened to be one of the people to keep the drivers up the entire time down there. We actually had two vehicles one person followed down in his Mustang.

Upon arriving in Biloxi and due to being awake for about 28 hours without sleeping and what not I ended up losing my voice. It was hard at first because I enjoy talking to people. Of course here I would have a great opportunity to hear some good stories and be able to talk about some of the things that people went through. Of course for the first few days I was forced to do nothing but listen and observe what was going on around me.

I think my voice was gone for about 4 days and on the 2nd day I began to realize that there might be a purpose for my voice being gone. Since I wasn't able to talk it forced me to listen. I think God may have had that in mind when I lost my voice. Especially since this is the first time that it has ever happened in my life. It really made me realize the importance of listening. Sometimes I just talk to much and I guess God wanted me to listen a little more than talk to the people that I met at least at first.

Anyways this is probably the first of things that I came to realize when I was in Biloxi.

A preview of thoughts ahead....

I spent about a week over my Christmas break in Biloxi, MS doing hurricane Katrina relief work. I am glad to have been able to help. There are some amazing people down there. In the next week or two I will be talking about some of the things that happened down there, as well as what you can do to help out our brothers and sisters in the area.

This casino is one mile away from where it was originally located. A Holiday inn stopped it from going farther.