Wet nap, please
I got to feed Wesley his lunch today. He had some prunes and then carrots. After that, he got a new snack stick. The toast that he tried last week didn’t really do it for him. Apparently, this didn’t do it for him either, but it was fun to watch.
Dear brothers and sisters of our Lord Jesus Christ, on this day the Church begins a holy season of prayerful and penitential reflections. Our attention is especially directed to the holy sufferings and death of our Lord Jesus Christ.
From ancient times the season of Lent has been kept as a time of special devotion, self-denial, and humble repentance born of a faithful heart that dwells confidently on His Word and draws from it life and hope.
Let us pray that our dear Father in heaven, for the sake of His beloved Son and in the power of His Holy Spirit, might richly bless this Lententide for us so that we may come to Easter with glad hearts and keep the feast in sincerity and truth.
Lutheran Service Book Altar Book, p. 483
This is what true repentance means. Here a persons needs to hear something like this, “You are all of no account, whether you are obvious sinners or saints ‹in your own opinions›. You have to become different from what you are now. You have to act differently than you are now acting, whether you are as great, wise, powerful and holy as you can be. Here no one is godly.”
But to this office of the Law, the New Testament immediately adds the consoling promise of grace through the Gospel. This must be believed. As Christ declares, “Repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). That is, become different, act differently, and believe My promise. John the Baptist (preceeding Christ) is called a preacher of repentance, but this is for the forgiveness of sins. That is, John was accuse all and convict them of being sinners. This is so they can know what they are before God and acknowledge that they are lost. So they can be prepared for the Lord [Mark 1:3] to receive grace and to expect and accept from Him the forgiveness of sins. This is what Christ Himself says, “Repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in [My] name to all nations” (Luke 24:47).
Smalcald Articles III III 3-6
From Treasury of Daily Prayer, Ash Wednesday, p. 25-26
Cheap toys
When we got home from church and lunch, it was time to get out of the church clothes. As I was changing, I had Wesley up on the bed and found a “toy” for him to play with. He seemed to enjoy it.
In our winkles as of late, we’ve been reading through a document entitled “Congregation-Synod-Church: A Study Document on Basic Theological Principles Underlying LCMS Structure and Governance”. This document has 22 “Basic Theological Principles” regarding LCMS structure and governance. When you read them, you might scratch your head. The language in them, while not contradictory to our theology and practice, will cause the reader to ask themselves whether or not this is what we truly “believe, teach, and confess.”
My biggest question in reading this document is this: Are we “walking together” or are we moving apart? Granted, this document is intended to be read and studied, discussed, and the like. However, it seems that there might be a push to move away from our polity which has worked for almost the last 162 years (04/26/1847). Why fix something that isn’t broken? Or, if it is broken, why has it taken 162 years to fix it?
Let us hope at our synod’s convention in 2010, we will truly be “walking together.”
I’ve done a few videos of Wesley with my phone, but never anything worth uploading. Today, we tried something new. We gave him a Gerber Graduates Finger Foods to gnaw on. He had zwieback toast. Some of the faces he makes when he takes the toast stick out of his mouth are pretty good. Hopefully the video works.
Bath time
So Wesley had his 6-month check up today. Here’s the important things to know:
Weight: 21 pounds (90-95 %)
Height: 28 1/4 inches (90-95 %)
Head: 42 cm (25%)
Right now, he’s where he should be for a 9-month old! What can I say, he’s advanced for his age!
That was the theme of Robert Schuller‘s message on The Hour of Power this morning. NOTE: I DO NOT BELIEVE THE DOCTRINE AND TEACHING OF ROBERT SCHULLER!!! I have to say that this rates up there on “worst Schuller sermons” yet. There were six bullets he had for the sermon:
1. God blesses us without consulting us first
2. God blesses us without our approval
3. God blesses us where we need it most
4. God blesses us by not giving us what we want, but what we need
5. God blesses us where we need it most when the timing is right
6. God blesses us with “good luck” coming out of what we thought was “bad luck”
Now if you read the sermon (which I encourage you to do) or know anything about Schuller, he’s all about the power of positive thinking. That’s fine and dandy, but the power of positive thinking won’t earn you salvation. Here’s one little snippet from the sermon.
You have to make the good things in life happen. You have to be responsive and responsible. You have to have courage, faith and determination. I’ve lived possibility thinking. It works.
Now readers (if there are any), where do you see Jesus in that statement? Where do you see the cross? That’s right, there is no Jesus and there is no cross. Instead, you are left with you! But now here comes a problem. What happens if you are responsive and responsible, have courage, faith and determination, yet nothing “positive” happens in your life? Maybe it’s because you were thinking positive enough. Maybe it’s because you’re not good enough. Let me tell you something friends, you AREN’T good enough and what’s worse, YOU NEVER WILL BE! Paul tells us in Romans (3:23), “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We will continue to fall short of the glory of God, regardless of how positive our thinking might be.
If Schuller would have changed a few things with regards to points 4 & 5, he almost might have been Lutheran. The good Lutheran way to put that would have been to quote the words of the prophet Isaiah (55:8), “For my thoughts arenot your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.” In that aspect, Schuller is right. God does indeed bless us with those things which we need, not those things which we want (First Article; Lord’s Prayer, Fourth Petition). I doubt Schuller would agree with this since he tends to deny much of what Lutheran’s believe(Issues, Etc. interview with Schuller).
I’m sure I could go on more about this sermon (and I might), but for now, I need to finish things up and pack, get myself to bed and get ready for a 6:00 am flight.
2008 is done and over with. Vacation begins Monday with a very early morning flight (6:00 am) with a more-than-likely cranky baby. These are the official numbers for 2008.
Sermons: 27 (remember, I preach about 2x/month)
Funerals: 3
Baptisms: 9 (including the baptism of my son, Wesley Michael Tucher)
That’s it folks. 2008 is officially closed.
My new kicks