Galatians 1:13-16: 13 For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. 14 I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. 15 But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man………..

These words from Galatians are quite interesting as we see Paul in a very, very different role than he began his life. Paul was a persecutor of the Christian church and as he says here “he persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it.” But as we know from the Epistles of Paul, God changed his heart and he was called by the Gospel.

Hearing these words, I think they are very contemporary and important for us to consider, especially as we begin another summer at Immanuel when activities are reduced with school out and we take time to visit and vacation with our families. The other thing that I always consider this time of year is how, as the school year ends, with all the things happening in the church: confirmation, graduation and all the joys of ministry that are culminated in this month, and yet we come to a slow-down immediately after.

Sometimes it feels like we go from the resurrection back to the cross again. What I’m getting at is this: It is the time of year where financial stress normally comes upon the church. Church attendance goes down for several reasons. Number 1: Our connection with school families is reduced. Number 2: Our winter visitors go back to their homes in the North and the East and Number 3: Our own families are busy with vacations and visits.

An additional stress to this is financial: the time of year when cash flow becomes difficult. It is also the time of year when we get ready for the next fiscal year in July, often times finding ourselves dealing with the budget for the upcoming year.

As we look at Paul’s life and the contrast of living as one who violently tried to persecute and destroy the church and then seeing the change where he was called by God’s grace and became a preacher of the Word to the Gentiles, perhaps we can approach this time of year in a similar way. Instead of looking at the negatives of ministry, like being in the slow-down as income is being reduced and struggles to make ends meet as a ball-and-chain, it would be best for us to raise our heads up as Paul did and putting his own life behind him and looking forward to the ministry that we all engage in around the middle to late August ― a time when kids will be returning to school, our program of the year will begin for Bible classes and Sunday school, and church attendance goes up, especially after Thanksgiving, and when our winter visitors return again.

This interlude, as we might call it, can be a time of preparation. A time not to look negatively at a poor financial situation for the recession imbedded in this economy. It’s a time to prepare for ministry. A time to look for opportunities to reach out to friend, family and neighbor to share the love, joy and peace of Jesus.

We are scheduled at the end of June to vote on our budget for the 2010 - 2011 program year. Fiscal year begins in July. That is always a time of great stress and distress. A time that tries men’s souls. However, we approach this as an opportunity for ministry as we see in the life of Paul, where he put his old life behind him and brought forth the new. A time of preparation.

I believe we should position ourselves for excitement and opportunity as we approach the fall program year here at Immanuel Lutheran Church and School.

Think about this: 1. Spend some time with your family but be in God’s word and prayer for the ministry here at Immanuel.  2. Look at how God has put us here in ministry here at Immanuel for many years, both at our church and school, which continue to bless us and give us opportunities and gives us potential to share the love, joy and peace of Jesus with many around us.

Yes, we are in a recession. Yes, things have been tough. But if we point out the negatives and the “should haves” “could haves” and “things ain’t so good” we will continue to waddle in the mud. But if we look at everything as an opportunity for ministry; an opportunity to receive the good gifts of God, both in Word and sacrament and then reflect that Love to others through our service.  A service opportunity to others through our giving here at Immanuel of time, talent and treasure.

I think this interlude can be one of excitement and joy. Opportunities will be here this summer to serve in Vacation Bible School, Summer Sunday School, and Workdays. Let’s approach this time of interlude that is usually a financially stressful time, a time of reduced attendance, a time for opportunity, a time to plan and engage in ministry, a time to prepare for our next fiscal year. What an excitement for ministry, motivated by the love of Christ for you.

And then on that note let’s remember these words from Galatians later in the same chapter. Verse 23: They only heard the report: "The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy."

Let’s look at this intermission in our program year as a time to look at it differently, not a time for criticism and destruction but a time to look for opportunity in the way God has blessed us in Ministry this fall.

God’s richest blessings to us in Christ,
Pastor Ken Farnsworth

PS: Leadership will be meeting this summer in using the information from the Cottage Meetings as a guide to develop the ministry plan for the next 3-5 years. Anyone is invited to attend these meetings. They will be posted in the Blue News each week.

Reviews and Reading Recommendations
from the Pastors

"The Creator's Tapestry:  Scriptural Perspectives on Man-Woman Relationships in
Marriage and the Church" is the title of a 76-page report adopted by the LCMS
Commission on Theology and Church Relations at its Dec. 10-12 meeting.

It is the commission's latest and most comprehensive response to a series of
questions about "the Scriptural relationship of man and woman" assigned to it by the Synod's 1995 Convention (Res. 3-10).  Following publication (expected in early March), the report will be sent out to all Synod congregations and church workers and posted on the CTCR's Web site (www.lcms.org/ctcr).

In the first and major section of the report, the commission presents the scriptural view of the relationship between man and woman on the basis of the three articles of the Apostles Creed.  Beginning with Genesis and continuing through the New Testament, the report tells the story of how God has created, redeemed, and renewed men and women for service to Him and to others.  The report focuses on this relationship as it exists in marriage and in single life, in service to the church, and as participants in Christ's mission to the world.
 
"The biblical perspective on man and woman resembles a patterned tapestry," says the report, "woven with multicolored threads both alike and different.  Within the Creator's design, man and woman share a common human nature.  In their sameness yet difference they interrelate beautifully -- most intimately within the one-flesh union of marriage." 

In the concluding section, the report addresses the nature of this relationship, pointing out ways in which the Bible describes the complementary nature of the relationship between man and woman.   It also calls attention to ways in which this relationship has been distorted and is often caricatured.  "In Baptism," says the report, "every believer is called to service in his or her vocations within the various spheres of life.  The body of Christ requires that its individual members exercise the wide variety of their gifts, whether that individual is male or female (1 Cor. 12:7)." 

ISSUES, ETC Journal

The journal is released regularly and gives you current, thought-provoking articles.  To get your copy, just send an email to journal@issuesetc.org

This month check out the article “The Church Without the Word” by Pastor Charles Mallie.
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Reverend Charlie Mallie is the associate Pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in Tomball, Texas.

ISSUES, ETC Journal

A sample article from the Issues, Etc. Journal:
“Playing the Pharisee Card”

"I have been called a Pharisee more times than I can remember. It goes with the territory. I host a conservative Christian radio talk show. I publicly defend the teachings and practices of the historic Church. I also publicly point out false teaching and practices in the Church today. For these reasons alone, some believe that I deserve to be called a Pharisee.

"But I’m not alone. Today, the label “Pharisee” is applied to many Christians just like me—perhaps you’re one of them. We are Christians who cherish God’s Word, the Church’s historic Creeds, confessions and practices. When we see the Church abandoning these things to follow the latest fads and entertainments, we lament. When we see the Gospel itself being left behind in the Church’s rush to mimic popular culture, we are grieved. And when we question the Church’s infatuation with the spirit of the age, we are labeled Pharisees."

(continued)

The Journal is released regularly and gives you current, thought-provoking articles.



Issues, Etc.™ broadcasts live weekdays from 4:05 to 6 pm Eastern Time.  For more information, click the graphic above or see our Links page.

The Church and Her Fellowship, Ministry, and Governance
Volume 9 of the Confessional Lutheran Dogmatics Series
By Rev. Kurt E. Marquart

This book is a must-read for those who want to understand the ramifications of the proposed restructuring of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. This dogmatic resource is based upon the outline and thought pattern of the Lutheran Confessions.

The series is strictly and consciously confessional in its presentation of doctrine and its assessment and analysis of modern theological trends throughout the Christian church.

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The Rev. Dr. Kurt E. Marquart, seventy-two years a baptized child of God, forty-seven years an under-shepherd of Christ's people, and thirty-one years Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at Concordia Theological Seminary, father, and grandfather, died September 19, 2006 from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as "Lou Gehrig's Disease."  You can read more about Rev. Marquart here.

Best Portals of Prayer
Rudolph F. Norden, Editor

From time to time readers have requested that selected devotions from Portals of Prayer be made available in permanent form to give the devotions a second life, as it were.

In 1957 Concordia Publishing House issued such a book titled "Meditations from Portals of Prayer.” It was stated in the introduction that the daily devotions had “proved a source of comfort and strength to countless individuals and families in this country and in the far corners of the world.”

Portals of Prayer has continued to bring comfort, strength, and guidance to estimated 3 million persons per issue.

With so many readings to choose from, many excellent devotions and writers had to be overlooked.

Those chosen are representative of an anthology, which in Greek means “a collection of flowers,” a variety yet each with its own beauty and fragrance. The readings selected for this book exemplify a great number of topics discussed in a devotional context, the differing approaches to the subjects, the varying writing styles and the personal gifts of the authors.

There is, however, one constant; the same Gospel of God’s love in Jesus Christ is proclaimed.

The Lutheran Study Bible

Engage in devotional, Christ-centered Bible reading and study with the distinctive, comprehensive notes and practical application of The Lutheran Study Bible.

This new Bible is the first in English to be developed from the ground-up with notes that are distinctively Lutheran, prepared by Lutheran theologians and pastors from over twenty Lutheran church bodies. Current Lutheran scholarship, insights from the Church Fathers, and rich devotional commentary provides meaningful perspective for both young and mature Christians.

The Lutheran Study Bible features:

• 26,500-plus uniquely Lutheran study notes.

• Over 2,000 application notes and prayers for every part of the Bible.

• 80,000 center column cross-references.

• Over 900 cross-references to 120 full or half-page maps, charts, and diagrams.

• 220-plus articles and introductions to biblical books and topics.

• Insights from early church, medieval and Reformation era church fathers.

• Uses the English Standard Version translation, one of the most precise English translations available.

• Durable Smyth-sewn binding.

For more information visit cph.org/lutheranbible

God At Work
by Gene Edward Veith, Jr.

When you understand it properly, the doctrine of vocation -- "doing everything for God's glory" -- is not a platitude or an outdated notion.  This principle that we vaguely apply to our lives and our work is actually the key to Christian ethics, to influencing our culture for Christ, and to infusing our ordinary, everyday lives with the presence of God.  For when we realize that the "mundane" activities that consume our time are "God's hiding places," our perspective changes.

Culture expert Gene Veith unpacks the Biblical, Reformation teaching about the doctrine of vocation, emphasizing not what we should specifically do with our time or what careers we are called to, but what God does in and through or callings -- even within the home.  In each task He has given us -- in our workplaces and families, our churches and society -- God Himself is at work.  Veith guides you to discover God's purpose and calling in these seemingly ordinary areas by providing you with a spiritual framework for thinking about such issues and for acting upon them with a changed perspective.  
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Gene Edward Veith, Jr., is Professor of English at Concordia University-Wisconsin. He has written numerous books and is the general editor of Crossway’s Focal Point series, to which he has contributed two volumes: Christians in a .com World and God at Work: Your Christian Vocation in All of Life. His book Postmodern Times: A Christian Guide to Contemporary Thought and Culture received a Christiaity Today Book Award.

Luther’s Small Catechism
With Confirmation and 8th grade graduation being the focus of May, two books are suggested for your reading.

The first is Luther’s Small Catechism, which can be a regular devotional book for the family coffee table. If you believe you know all that already, come to confirmation questioning on May 15th and see if you know the Apostolic Teaching included there.

The LSC is also great for family devotions. Christian questions and answers is good preparation for worship on Saturday evening.
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Worshipping with Angels & Archangels:
 An Introduction to the Divine Service
by Scot Kinnaman

This book (published by Concordia) helps us understand worship and can be an additional book in the home to understand why we do what we do in the Divine Service.

This book would be a good confirmation gift.

A Case for Amillennialism: Understanding the End Times
by Kim Riddlebarger

Amillennialism, dispensational premillennialism, historic premillennialism, postmillennialism, preterism. These are difficult words to pronounce and even harder concepts to understand.

A Case for Amillennialism presents an accessible look at the crucial theological question of the millennium in the context of contemporary evangelicalism. This study defends amillennialism as the historic Protestant understanding of the millennial age. Amillennarians believe that the millennium of Christ's heavenly reign is a present reality, not a future hope to come after his return.

Recognizing that eschatology, the study of future things, is a complicated and controversial subject, Riddlebarger provides definitions of key terms and a helpful overview of various viewpoints. He examines related biblical topics as a backdrop to understanding the subject and discusses important passages of Scripture that bear upon the millennial age, including Daniel 9, Matthew 24, Romans 11, and Revelation 20.

Regardless of their stance, readers will find helpful insight as Riddlebarger evaluates the main problems facing each of the major millennial positions and cautions readers to be aware of the spiraling consequences of each view.
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Dr. Kim Riddlebarger is pastor of Christ Reformed Church in Anaheim, California, and a visiting professor of systematic theology at Westminster Theological Seminary. He is cohost of the popular White Horse Inn weekly radio program sponsored by the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. He has a Ph.D. from Fuller Seminary.

A Daily Prayer Catechism

Grow each day through this timeless collection of heartfelt requests and the Lord’s faithful answers presented in one-page, easy-to-use devotions.

A Daily Prayer Catechism includes:
• Questions people want the Lord to answer about faith, life and eternal life.
• Answers drawn from God’s Holy Word
• Prayers of the Bible.
• Prayers and meditations from great Christian teachers

The devotions are arranged by the seasons of the Christian calendar and Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation, classic models of devotion. The prayers and topics are carefully indexed so that you can find the right words for your prayers and the answers you need.

 Please visit the Resource Room for past selections.