Prepare Ye

I'll be leaving the land of snow and Dell's with an original Pentium processor running Windows 95 with a dial up modem, and headed back to The LTS. Happy New Year! While the video is bad, all you need is the audio. Edited January 2. I really am planning on going back. One day when there is less than a foot of new snow and high winds. Maybe I'll get there for graduation.

While I have been home in the middle of the Mitten State, I have had a chance to talk to a lot of relatives, friends, former co-workers and random people, many who have had questions about my change in career paths. Besides telling them I'm doing it for the wardrobe and the work hours (weekends and holidays ON), I've had to answer a gazillion theological/religious questions. Couldn't THE LTS have given us a pamphlet with the FAQ for rookie seminarians returning home? But the top question(s), start with "What are your classmates like?" After starting to describe them in glowing terms, setting the case for their sainthood, they politely interrupt and ask, "No, what ages are they and where do they come from?" Besides a special corner of the Heavens, I share that most are from Pennsylvania, with some scattered from around the east coast and a few wanderers from Michigan, Minnesota, California & Alaska. Age wise, many pipeliners or neo-pipeliners (c), but

I just finished reading a book I would like to recommend to everyone. It is called The Shack and is written by William P. Young. It is the story of a man whose daughter is abducted and taken to a cabin in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later, the man receives what appears to be an invitation from God, inviting him to the shack for a weekend. I raced through the book in a single setting, because I could not put it down. The 250 pages just flew by. It is very well written, and quite touching and thought provoking. www.theshackbook.com

The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After His mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit. So her husband Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly. But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to him in a dream saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you are to name Him Jesus because He will save His people from their sins.” Now all of this took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: “See, the virgin will become pregnant, and give birth to a son, and they will name Him Immanuel,” which is translated ‘God is with us.’” When Joseph got up from sleeping, he did as the Lord’s angel commanded him. He married her, but did not know her intimately until she gave b

Before I head back to Michigan, here are my predictions for all of the college bowl games. I have them listed in confidence order (for the ESPN Bowl Mania contest). So I am most confident in the outcome of the XXXX Sports bowl in Orlando on December 28, and least confident about the Independence Bowl. I'm not listing any corporate titles unless they make a donation. 32 XXXX Sports - Boston College over Michigan State (sorry Sparty) 31 Fiesta - Oklahoma over West Virginia 30 Sun - South Florida over Oregon 29 a pizza company.com - Cincinnati over Southern Mississippi 28 Las Vegas - BYU over UCLA 27 Orange - VaTech over Kansas 26 XXXX Car Care - UConn over Wake Forest 25 Rose - USC over Illinois 24 Humanitarian - Fresno St over Ga Tech 23 XXXX Steakhouse - Tenn over Wisc 22 Music City - Florida State over Kentucky 21 Cotton - Mizzu over Arkansas 20 Holiday - Texas over Az State 19 credit card - Florida over UM (Sorry, Lloyd) 18 Hawaii - Boise State over East Carolina 1

Last night, I partook of a celebration of the end of the semester with some of my fellow juniors at THE LTS . During the conversation, some of my pipeliner friends shared with me that some of my second career fellow classmates had made them feel that the calls the pipeliners were responding to were less than the second career people because the second career people had given up SO much in order to follow God's call. The pipeliners were hurt; feeling that people who they respected didn't respect them. Having walked away from a house and a career, I understand what one of my second career friends may have meant. Because in coming to THE LTS , I gave up the life I had been leading. But my pipeliner friends are giving up their entire lives. They are choosing not to buy new cars, not to have wonderful homes full of the latest toys and gadgets. Who's call is more virtueous and who is called more deeply. I am not to say. Nor is anyone else. We are called when God wants us. God doe

No more papers, tests, quizes, reflections, evaluations, presentations etc. Like a wrestler seeing Hogan "Hulk up," I am done. One semester down, five (plus internship) to go. While I'm back in Michigan (interviewing for the UM football job - but I'd never leave Gettysburg), I'll be internet-challenged, so posts may be infrequent. But Merry Christmas and God Bless Us, Everyone.

Today's deep theological insight .... Finals & final papers suck!

A word of advice for people doing children's sermons during advent. If you are explaining the advent wreath and that it is made from evergreens, expect that one of the little darlings will point out that your evergreen wreath is made out of plastic. It didn't happen to me, but I felt their pain.

No post yesterday, because I was out fellowshipping with my fellow students until early this morning. I realized yesterday what I've missed about coaching football. It is the celebration & satisfaction of seeing someone you've worked with doing it right and succeeding. I found that joy here yesterday. In our Intro to Homiletics class (Preaching with training wheels), most of the class gave mini-sermons. (I did mine before Turkey Day, the text is archived here .) I have to let the ELCA churches know, trade for draft picks in the 2011 draft. You WANT to draft preachers from THE LTS in 2011. The Spirit is at work here. And for my Lutheran brothers of the Missouri and Wisconsin persuasions, you guys are missing out on SOOOOOOO much. My new preaching hero used this for the jumping off point on a sermon for "Who do you say that I am?" Every day, I see something out of one my classmates where I just want to give them a high 5. That sense of accomplishment and seeing some

Today was a good day. First, my group's OT presentation went pretty well. I got tie tounged, but I think it went moderately well. I got to share my theory that Aaron Sorkin stole part of the courtroom scene in "A Few Good Men" from the conclusion of the book of Job (You want answers? I want the truth! You can't handle the truth! ) Second, I got the Two for Tuesday special and got two, count 'em, two papers done today. And one isn't even due until next week! Then I come back from the library and find out the Tigers just made a blockbuster trade. Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis from the Marlins for for young left-hander Andrew Miller, outfielder Cameron Maybin, backup catcher Mike Rabelo and pitchers Burke Badenhop, Dallas Trahern and Eulogio De La Cruz. Those are a lot of good prospects, but those are two GREAT players. Now if they can replace Todd "Gasoline" Jones and keep Zumaya from getting hurt.... Since I'm in a joyful mood. L&G, Beet

Quick Random Football Notes The BCS should be abolished. The OSU deserves to be in the title game, but making a case for LSU, Oklahoma or USC is very easy. I hate the ESPN whiners saying how tough a playoff would be. I think the sweater vest can use the extra resources at The OSU in a playoff a little better than he did at Youngstown State where he won 3 National Titles in 1AA. If division 3 non-scholarship teams can play a 16 game tournament, so can the megabucks schools. Michigan will be better off for not having Les Miles. Why Brian Kelly is not on any list amazes me. I'd love to see GoBlue call the sweater vest and offer a blank check. The Pats beat the Ravens to stay undefeated. The Ravens whine about "phantom calls." Mugging isn't a phantom crime. Losing your composure isn't a phantom crime. Having an "offensive genius" run an offense that has held back an all-time defense isn't a phantom crime. Billick is the only person in the NFL who need

First, thanks to the two angels who corrected me that one of my papers is due THIS Wednesday, and not next Wednesday. God protects fools, drunks and little children. HAT TRICK! Copied & Bumped up to the top of the page. Thanks to Law & Gospel, Here I Stand and Lutheran Flavor for playing along and tagging others. And thanks to the others for playing along. And the questions are spreading across the blogiverse. OK, across the Lutheran seminary small corner of the blogihood. If I learned only one thing in Greek, (and that's a real possibility) it is alright to start a sentance with and. και ? Here is Law & Gospel's contribution. She's a good person, even if she likes fruitcake. ; D Here is Here I Stand's offerings. Angel Tree is a GREAT program. If your church isn't involved, get involved. It provides a great ministry to reach out to. Here is Lutheran Flavor's answers. White trees???? Other entries are from: Faith in Community , Art's Strange

Growing up, I remember singing "Create in me a clean heart..." every Sunday morning when the ushers took the golden plates up to the Pastor. While working on an OT presentation, I rediscovered the text comes from Psalm 51:10-12. How much more effective of a point would have been made if they included verses 1-9? Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgement. Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me. You desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the

Well, it's 4th and 1. It's the bottom of the ninth. It's sudden death overtime. It's time to put up or shut up. End of the semester means not so much reading, but LOTS of writing. Oh yeah, I'm supposed to remember all of that stuff I read. The Greek final is over, but is the p stand for pastor or for repeat? So, I've decided to chuck it all and open the first Taco Bell in Gettysburg. I think I can fill out the staff with some of my classmates. Can we serve Guinness with the chalupas? Now if someone can pull my Mom off of the ceiling, I'm just playin'. Until the dean calls me in for a "meeting." Until then, it's time to play tag. Here are three questions of three. What are your three favorite Christmas songs & who sings them? O Holy Night - Martina McBride I think this song is the test of singers. If you can hit the note (and if you know the song, you know the note) you can SING. Martina hits it, kicks it and drops an elbow off the top

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

(Jesus said,) ‘Pray then in this way: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one.’ - Matthew 6:9-13 Why do you have to learn Greek? That was a question that I was asked more than one time before I left Michigan to come out to Gettysburg. Why do we have to learn Greek? That is a question that my classmates or I ask more than one time each day we are here in Gettysburg. Actually, it is not that bad. It is frustrating, but no more so than any of the other courses I am taking. It’s just that it is so unfamiliar. First, it uses a different alphabet. Some letters are the same, but there are some new letters in there. Then, some of the familiar letters are not who they are in English. For example, this letter “p” is the Greek letter rho, and makes the “r”

The website Allballs.com earlier this week posted a list of the Top 10 Greatest Sports Movie Motivation Speeches. With one exception, I agree with the list. Here is the link to their site where clips are imbedded. I'm listing the movies with clickable links to YouTube or other sites to watch the clips. 10- James Caan in The Program (60 minutes) CAUTION - Strong Language 9- BillieBob Thorton in Friday Night Lights (We will win State. Can you be perfect?) 8- Dawson in Varsity Blues (Let's be heroes) CAUTION - Strong Language 7 - Coach Boone in Remember the Titans (Titans were greater than the gods.) 6- Rocky in Rocky IV (If I can change ... ) 5- the Groundskeeper in Rudy (There are worse things in the world ...) 4- Ronald Reagan in Knute Rockne All American (the classic) 3 - Gale Sayers in Brian's Song (This is the one I disagree with. Right movie, wrong scene. It should have been the scene where Gale accepts the Rookie of the Year award. He says, "I love Bria

Friday afternoon was not a good day. I've been having troubles getting my MacBook to boot up and install Windows, and then I choked on a Greek Quiz like Mama Cass on a ham sandwich. So I went for a drive. Wound up on Little Round Top. It was a cold and blustery day with the leaves at near full color. Took some photos. Wanna see 'em ... here ya go. The title of this post comes from the Gordon Lightfoot song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald." Anytime I'm out in cold, windy weather, I think of this song.

My writer's block got cured sometime around 3:30 a.m. This is the text of my mini-sermon that I pulled a near all nighter to put together. It's not exactly what came out because I worked from an outline, but it's close enough. In case you get bored, here are some pictures of the prettiest and best seminary in the megaverse ... THE Lutheran Theological Seminary (which is located in Gettysburg, PA.) I think we should go Ohio State and add the THE (2 of the 24 ways to say it) and drop the location. After all, everyone else is just copying off of us. According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts: If prophecy, use it according to the standard of faith; if service, in service; if teaching, in teaching; if exhorting, in exhortation; giving, with generosity; leading, with diligence; showing mercy, with cheerfulness." – Romans 12:6-8 I love coaching football. Besides missing my family and friends back in Michigan, not being able to coach this year has been the bi

Since I'm still struggling for my mini-sermon that is due to be presented in under 12 hours, I decided to surf the net. I enjoy deadlines. I just obey them like I obey speed limits. I think they're a great suggestion. So for my reading pleasure, and yours as well, here is the start of a great article from The Wittenburg Door Magazine . Click on the link at the bottom to go to their site to read the rest. Pondering a ban on 'hammer boarding.' The envoy from the emperor sat with Pontius Pilate, prefect of the Province of Judea, at a low wooden table. They were joined by a representative from King Herod's palace, several specialists on Judean culture who advised the prefecture, and an observer from the office of Caiaphas the High Priest. "The subject of our meeting is crucifixion, or as the crowd is calling it, "hammer boarding," Pilate announced. "There has been an outcry by some that the practice is not worthy of a civilized people and possibly in

I have found the future of church nerd liturgical rock and roll, and his name is Johnathan Rundman . Johnathan played a concert at the LTSG Megadome Entertainment & Worship Complex (also known as the Church of the Abiding Presences (a.k.a. the Chapel)). Johnathan performed around a dozen songs of acoustic/liturgical rock. Not bad for a Yooper! Johnathon Rundman - You Don't Speak For Me off of "Sound Theology" Disc Two His songs are available on itunes. Thanks to VH1 for the continuous plugs. I'd post more, but I have a mini-sermon to write and I still haven't settled on a text. Procrastination ... What A Rush!!

Dan, a Lutheran Southern Seminary senior, from Here I Stand tagged me with a 10 random things about me. So, here we go. 1. I was my high school valedictorian. 2. The farthest west that I have ever been is Dallas/Ft. Worth. 3. I was once given the title of "The Holder of the Most Useless Knowledge." 4. The candidate I have voted for has never won the election for President. 5. I wanted to learn to play the piano, but my parents wouldn't sign me up for lessons. 6. I have a hard time hitting a nail in straight. 7. I am a huge space/ NASA nerd. 8. I once drank a quart of beer in 4.68 seconds. The fact that it was timed says a lot about my time in college. 9. I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die. No, wait, that was Johnny Cash. Who was the headliner at the first concert I went to. 10. Sometimes I suffer from writer's block, and

Lord, Forgive me for being so focused on the little details of my life that I am missing the big picture. Forgive me for being so worried about the piddling problems of my own pity party. Forgive me for thinking that it is all about me, when I know it is all about you. Lord, Open my eyes to the suffering and the problems of the people who are around me. Open my heart to their pain and pleas. Open my mouth to beseech you for your tender mercy and healing for them. Lord, Take care of the saints you have surrounded me with and who support me. Provide for them all of what they need to each day do Your work. Heal them of their pain, their illnesses, their suffering and their loneliness. Lord, Open the eyes of my heart. Use me to do your work. Forgive me for loving myself more than I have loved You or others. Amen.

READY : "But the LORD is my fortress; my God is a mighty rock where I can hide. "- Psalm 94:22 SET : I love college football and everything about it. I love watching a good offense, but there is nothing like a strong front line on the defensive side. There is nothing more intimidating to me than having a great front four who let nothing and no one advance down the field. They are the rock of their defense--a mighty fortress, so to speak. Nothing can penetrate them when the offense tries to advance. They stand firm. What an awesome sight it is to see nothing cross the line of defense. In 1529, Martin Luther penned what could have been the most powerful hymn ever written: "A Mighty Fortress is Our God. " You can find the words to this whole hymn by going to www.hymnsite.com . Luther wrote the hymn to honor and recognize the strength, power and might of our great God. In Verse 3 we sing: "And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us, we

Just a bit late. Meant to post this before the end of the month, but it got bumped by the Reformation Polka. U2 - October and New Year's Day from Under a Blood Red Sky . Hey Bono, get over the world-class mullet you wore and issue this on DVD!

It is a tradition at LTSG for the junior class to "capture" the Luther statue on the eve of Reformation Day and the Luther Colloquy and dress him as a staff or faculty member. Here are a few photos of the capture and decoration. . . . . And the final view.. . .

A quick set of links to things I found interesting in the past few days. It beats emailing these links to a hundred or so people ( yeah, like I have that many people to email ) to brighten their day. Sports Coach Bill Belichick's advice column Grand Valley State? really? Charlie Weis: The Worst Football Coach in the Universe Religion Review of the book "Paul on the Cross" by Sinning Boldly A second look at "The Last Temptation of Christ" from Faith and Theology Ten Propositions from Faith and Theology. An interesting series of thoughts on theological topics by Welsh minister. Entertainment Top 15 SNL Musical Skits (More Cowbell please) Best Week Ever Top 10 Director/Actor Combinations

from Pray Now by the Church of Scotland Wilderness - sand Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born ‘as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.  -  Hebrews 11:12 Prayer Wilderness – a place of wonder, of expansion, of terror, of desolation; Wilderness – a state that allows great potential to be born within us, yet often through utterly rigorous testing That we truly question whether we will get through it; Wilderness – a condition that calls out deep prayer from within us. Wilderness – a place of un-ending-ness; No clear end in sight; Goals missing or never materialising; Monotony of every day; Slow, plodding, getting nowhere. How many of our days are like this? Sand, sand and more sand; Barrenness, no purpose, no meaning. And God said ‘I will indeed bless you, and I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore.’ God speaks poetry and inspiration into t

from "Of Course, I Could Be Wrong . . . " At a U2 concert in Ireland, Bono asks the audience for some quiet. Then he starts to slowly clap his hands. Holding the audience in total silence, he says into the microphone..... "I want you to think about something. Every time I clap my hands, a child dies in Africa." A voice from the back of the audience yells out........ "Then fookin stop clapping yer hands, ya arsehole!"

Ladies & Gentlemen, the Reformation Polka! shamelessly swiped from the Lutheran Chick Come on everyone, sing along! When I was just ein junger Mann I studied canon law; While Erfurt was a challenge, it was just to please my Pa. Then came the storm, the lightning struck, I called upon Saint Anne, I shaved my head, I took my vows, an Augustinian! Oh... Chorus: Papal bulls, indulgences, and transubstantiation Speak your mind against them and face excommunication! Nail your theses to the door, let's start a Reformation! Papal bulls, indulgences, and transubstantiation! When Tetzel came near Wittenberg, St. Peter's profits soared, I wrote a little notice for the All Saints' Bull'tin board: "You cannot purchase merits, for we're justified by grace! Here's 95 more reasons, Brother Tetzel, in your face!" Oh... Chorus: Papal bulls, indulgences, and transubstantiation Speak your mind against them and face excommunication! Nail your theses to the door, let

Just a quick entry for my dozen of readers. I'm test blogging from a classroom because I can't get on the net with my new computer in my room. So I'm in class an hour early. I'm SOOOOOO pathetic. That, and I need my reading glasses to type on the MacBook. While you're laughing at me, enjoy some pictures.

Well, I'm in a better mood. I went shopping. And now I've got one of these! I went back to my roots and bought a MacBook. It's my 4th Mac, dating back to a Mac SE that I paid extra to have a 30 MB hard drive to go with the two floppy drives. Here's a Reformation Day preview photo of Luther's Rose on the Wentz Library here at LTSG.

I'm fighting through the middle-of-the-semester blues . I miss home. I miss getting to coach in a playoff game after 12 years of getting my a$$ kicked. I miss my big ol' bed. A care package only reminds me I'm away from home. I'm getting frustrated with some of my classes. I'm frustrated with my teaching parish. I'm upset with my lack of getting it. I'm upset some of my friends are getting dumped on since I'm not there. I'm pi$$ed at the idiots in my hometown blaming everyone for a kid getting a gun EXCEPT the family. But, on the other hand. I'm having an "Oh Wow!" moment about twice a day. I'm getting care packages and emails. I'll get home in a few weeks. I enjoy a bunch of my classes and am doing well (so far -- I reserve the right to edit this post.) I'm not at work getting dumped on. I'm not having to deal with the cow crap. Being here is like eating caviar with dirt. But hey, there's better days shining through

I got a call from home today. Mom & Dad told me about the news back home. Two kids were shot while attending a middle school football game. A game at the middle school where I started my coaching career. The school coached by a very good friend of mine. The two students seem to be ok, considering they were shot. One, it appears, had a disagreement with the shooter earlier in the day, and so the shooter went home, got a gun and hunted the victim down to settle the argument and shoot him. The other victim just got in the way. Early reports are that all 3 are students at the high school where I had been coaching. The one that just made the playoffs for the first time since I started coaching there. To recap: A teenager got into a disagreement with another teenager. Teenager #1 got upset and got a loaded gun. T1 then located the person who he disagreed with at a football game with several hundred people around. T1 decided to settle the disagreement by shooting at the other person whi

Just to share, The Ghosts of Wayne Fontes (best blog name EVER!) has a post comparing bad NFL teams to bad consumer marketing ideas. ENJOY!

Well, today (or this week, to be more accurate) was a good day. After being bummed that I couldn't, or really shouldn't, go home for Reading Days, I ended the pity party & got to work. Preached a sermon twice on Sunday (same sermon -- I'm not THAT crazy) and studied for the Greek mid-term that I took today. I did ok (but I reserve the right to amend that if I choked like Mama Cass). Missed a few easy ones, but I think I'll live to fight another day. P is for Pastor and that's good enough for me. But Monday night, I travelled to York to finally see RENT. I have wanted to see this show since I first heard about it. That would have been after Jonathon Larson died. The creator of a play dies just before it debuts, and then it becomes a smash? You couldn't make a movie from that. But whenever the tour came to Michigan, something on my schedule kept me from going. So when I read it was coming near here, I bought my ticket. Front row, just off to the right. The wa

This is the text of the sermon that I gave today at my teaching parish. It's not what I thought I was going to talk about. I thought I was going to give a much more personal sermon, but the more I wrote, the more that didn't feel right. I'll post the stuff I pulled out in a few days, and my readers (all 4 of you) can let me know what you think. The Holy Gospel According to St. Luke, the 17th Chapter (verses 11-19) On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the othe