God doesn't always work in the ways that we think he is going to.  This week we see a showdown between a false prophet and a real prophet of God.  Paul tells us why the law isn't such a bad thing after all.  And Jesus has some radical words about conflict because of him.

Old Testament: Jeremiah 28:5--9
Epistle Reading: Romans 7:1--13
Gospel: Matthew 10:34--42

LCMS Congregation Locator: http://locator.lcms.org/search.asp 

And now for something completely different….it is arts and crafts time.  As you probably know if you’ve looked at my blog before, I generally write about theological topics.  My intention was always to write about other things, but I haven’t really kept up with that very well.

Today that is changing.  (At least for a day)  I’ve always enjoyed doing arts and crafts.  It is probably due to my mom being a teacher and using those kinds of projects to keep my brothers and I entertained when we were kids.  I’ve always wished that I was more artistic, but I do enjoy trying.

A couple of weeks ago someone gave me a couple of spools, balls, I’m not sure what you call them, of yarn.  They just happened to be in the colors of my alma matar, the University of Nebraska - Kearney.  I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with the blue and gold yarn, but I figured I’d eventually find some project. 

Last week on one of the local morning shows they were interviewing a woman who was sharing fun projects to do with the kids this summer using stuff you might have around the house.  One of the projects caught my eye and was the perfect way to use the yarn.  I found it to be a nice, relaxing project that even allows you to take out a little stress with a hammer.

The neat thing about this project is that the sky is the limit in terms of what you can create.  You control the size of the wood, the pattern, and the colors.  If you can imagine it then you can probably create it. It is also an easy project to do while you're watching TV or a movie.  

Supplies Needed: 

• a board (should be at least an inch thick because you’ll be nailing into it.  I bought a 1x6x8 board at Lowe's.  I figure I can make at least 3 different things if they’re 2’ long.  More if I cut them to shorter lengths.  You can use whatever you have or buy for what you want to make) 
  
• Nails (Make sure you get them shorter than the thickness of your board.  I made the mistake of not doing this and was constantly pounding them back through from the back.) 
  
• Yarn (Whatever colors you want to use for your design) 
  
• Spray paint (Use this to quickly paint your board whatever color you’d like.  You could use a stain or varnish too I suppose.) 
• Your pattern (You can print this off from your computer.  Use a shape, multiple shapes, letters, whatever you want. Just make sure it fits on your board)
  

1)   Decide on a design.  Like I said, I started simple.  I had the blue and gold yarn which were the colors of UNK so I knew my design would be something to do with the school.  I figured the letters were an easy first try at doing this.  Print your design off.  Each letter fit on a single piece of paper in portrait orientation. 

2)  Cut your board to the size that you want to work with.  I cut 2’ off the board that I bought.  The nice thing about the 1x6x8 board is that it is easily cut with a handsaw.  You don’t need any power tools for this project.  

3) Spray paint the board with whatever color(s) you’ve chosen.  The spray paint I bought was fast drying and was dry and ready to go in about 10 minutes.  

4) Align your patter on the board after it has finished drying. 

5) Add at least four nails to hold the pattern in place so it doesn’t move while you’re adding the other nails.  

6) Add as many more nails as you need to complete the pattern.  Remember that you’ll be wrapping the yarn around the nails so you’ll want to leave a little space to get in-between them.  The number of nails isn’t really important and can be a way to add your own touch to whatever you’re designing.  

7) Once you’ve added all of the nails you can rip the pattern off. 

8) Use your yarn to wrap around the nails.  You can do whatever kind of pattern that you want.  You can put an edge on it, create a pattern from side to side, be creative!  Don't be afraid to unwrap it if you don't like how it looks and try again.  I did that a couple times.  

I decided to go pretty simple for my first try and I think it turned out well.  My next attempt will be a yellow board with blue yarn in the shape of a Loper head. 

If you try this, post a picture and let me know what you do.  

This week we move into the second half of the church year and see the theme of trust weave it's way through our readings!

This week the spirit is poured out on 70 Elders tasked with assisting Moses as the Israelites journey through the wilderness. The apostles recieve the Holy Spirit with tongues of fire on their heads, and Jesus speaks of the Spirit which is yet to come.

Send me your questions:
Email: schlundt@csl.edu
Twitter: @TallT84
Or leave them as a comment here

This week's readings:
Old Testament: Numbers 11:24–30
2nd Reading: Acts 2:1–21
Gospel Reading: John 7:37–39

This week Paul takes a trip to Athens and teaches the Greek philosophers about the "unknown god" for which they have an altar. Peter tells us to be prepared to suffer on account of our faith and to be prepared to give a reason for the hope that we have in us. He reminds us that in the same way that Noah and his family were saved through the ark, we too are saved by our baptisms that connect us to Christ's death and resurrection. Finally, in John, we hear Jesus give us a promise that the Father would send the Holy Spirit.

This week's readings:
1st Reading: Acts 17:16-31
Epistle Reading: 1 Peter 3:13--22
Gospel Reading: John 14:15--21

Next week's readings: 
First Reading: Acts 1:12-26
Epistle Reading: 1 Peter 4:12-19, 5:6-11
Gospel Reading: John 17:1-11

Send in your questions:
www.facebook.com/FaithKnobNoster
@TallT84
schlundt@csl.edu

This past week served as a great reminder that people will find any reason they can to argue.  It doesn't matter if the issues are significant or simple, there just seems to be something inside of us that likes to argue.  It doesn't matter whether it is in friendships, our families, our communities, or even in our churches, no place is immune to arguing.  

I was a little worked up this week about an argument that I observed taking place online.  I normally don't get too worked up about such things but I thought this one was so absurd from all sides that I became a bit agitated. 

Fortunately Jon Stewart was around this week to remind us all that ridiculous arguments aren't really that uncommon and that we will really find any reason to argue that we can.  

Apparently some 4th graders were studying how the government operates. This is a great thing. Coming from a political science background in college I would recommend everyone spending some time learning about how your government operates.  So they partnered with a senator to propose a bill that would make yogurt the official snack of the state of New York.  That seems pretty benign, right? It isn't related to any major social or political policy so it shouldn't take much time to get this through.  

It turns out that they spent 50 minutes debating this bill. That is 10 minutes less than an hour and probably 47 minutes longer than they should have spent on it.  Anyway, you just have to watch the video clip above to get the full sense of what happened.  

Now I'd be remiss if I didn't make some theological connection to this conversation.  Why do we do this?  Why do we argue so much?  It is because we are naturally focused on ourselves.  Our natural inclination is to focus on ourselves and our own needs and desires and not on those of others.  This is problematic when you get 2 or more people together.  When people get together there has to be some external motivation to get them to work together instead of arguing.  A lot of times this is simply transactional.  What can I get from the other person?  Knowledge, friendship, love, a job?  The list is endless.  

Maybe there is another way.  In fact, I would guarantee there is another way.  For that we flip to Philippians 2 where I'll leave you with this quote:

I think it is something worth keeping in mind!

This week we hear Luke describe the practices of the first Christians after Pentecost in the book of Acts. Peter will tell us that we should expect suffering because Christ suffered and then Jesus talks about sheep, gates, and hearing his voice. 

I've also introduced a new opportunity to ask questions. Send me a comment about this or any other video in this series. Comments can be:

1)Left on the YouTube page in the comments section
2) Left in the comments section below. 
3) Left on our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/FaithKnobNoster 
4) Emailed to me at schlundt@csl.edu

I hope to hear from you!

Two weeks have already passed since Easter. Can you believe it? This week we get a double dose of Peter. First we see him preach a big sermon after which, 3,000 people are baptized. Then we hear him build on what we heard about last week. Now he speaks about the ransom that was paid for us. Finally, we'll hear about the biggest surprise dinner ever. Jesus meets up with some disciples on the road to Emmaus, but they don't know who he is right away. After he breaks bread and gives thanks then it all makes sense!

It seems like Christians get a bad reputation these days, especially with non-Christians.  Can you blame them? The loudest voices in Christianity seem to often fall into one of two camps.  You have the “best life” camp, where Christianity is supposed to give you a great life with as little sin as possible (if any), many “blessings” (aka stuff), and happy relationships.  The problem with this camp is that it doesn’t leave any room for our sinful nature that still fights hard to express itself.  When people outside of the church see Christians sinning it becomes very hard for them to reconcile this image that some Christians portray of “the good life” with the sinful, hurtful, downright bad things that they observe.

The other camp that gets a lot of attention is the “God hates everyone” camp.  You know them better as folks from the Westboro Baptist Church and others like them.  The only message a person hears from these Christians is how much God hates everyone.  There is no Gospel message, no good news, no hope, no forgiveness, and no new life.  This is sad because those are exactly the gifts that Jesus won for us on the cross.  Most people recognize the folks in this camp as being on the fringe and yet some believe that this is what being Christian is all about. 

At one of the congregations that I serve we gather together on Wednesday nights for dinner and Bible study.  Since the Fall we’ve been studying the book of Romans.  Taking breaks for Advent and Lent have caused us still be studying this book even through summer is rapidly approaching.  

This week we looked at Romans 12.  Now this is not a long chapter at all, but it is packed with a ton of great (and sometimes challenging) stuff that Paul is sharing with the Roman Christians.  

His words struck me for two reasons.  First, because right above verse 9 in my Bible, the editors have chosen to include the heading “Marks of the True Christian”.  This means that someone apparently believes that the words that are coming next are pretty important.  The second reason it stuck out to me is that the words that we find here are difficult and countercultural.  Let me explain.

Paul starts out by saying that we are to present our bodies as living sacrifices, not conforming to the world, but being transformed by God.  This is important because it is only by the transformative power of God that we’ll be able to do the things that he talks about later.  We are not to look and act like the world, but rather we are to look and act like children of the Living God.  It will quickly become apparent by Paul’s next words that we aren’t supposed to separate ourselves from the world and live in hiding though, as some are prone to do.  

Then Paul begins his description of this new life by focusing first on the relationship between Christians who are living in the body of Christ.  Don’t think more highly of yourself than you ought is how he begins.  This is tough for us living in a “me centered” society.  We’re encouraged to think of ourselves first, to “look out for number 1”, and if something isn’t making us happy we’re supposed to quit it and find something better.  

Paul’s words here connect with his writing in Philippians 2 where he instructs the church there “to count others more significant than yourselves.” Can you imagine a world where we did this all the time?  Where our constant focus was on the needs of others first before ourselves.  It would be remarkable.  

He goes on to remind us that there are many different talents and abilities within the church and that they are all necessary.  Each person should use his/her gifts to build up those around them. 

Then he gets into the part that is identified in my Bible as “Marks of the True Christian.”  Here we go! 

“Let love be genuine…” It is really easy to love other people who love us back isn’t it?  We do it all the time.  We pick friends based on who we get along with and who is nice to us.  We stay in relationships as long as we’re getting more out of it than we’re putting in and feeling happy about it.  Conditional love like that isn’t really love at all if you compare it to God, the source of love who demonstrated unconditional love when he came to save his enemies.  

The next part that jumped out at me was the line “outdo one another in showing honor”.  What if instead of competing to be number one or to have the most recognition we competed to show more honor to others? Then he goes on to say, “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.  Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.” This is where we see the difficulty with the first “camp” that I mentioned above.  There is nothing in scripture that says that your life is going to be better by being a Christian.  In fact, there is a lot that suggests that it will be difficult.  Yet Paul tells us to rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.  No matter how difficult our lives are or what happens to us, nothing compares to the hope that we have.  This is why we can rejoice in hope and be patient in our tribulations. 

Now if this wasn’t all crazy enough, Paul keeps going.  "Bless those who persecute you.  Live in harmony with one another.  Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.  Never be wise in your own sight.  Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.  If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all."  Finally, leave vengeance to God and if your enemy is hungry or thirsty you should feed them and give them water.  

This all goes completely against the individualism that we value in our society.  We are constantly told that it is more important to focus on doing what is best for us.  If someone does something bad to us our first reaction is to get back at them and even the score.  Paul tells us to live peaceably with each other and not to be overcome by evil, but to overcome evil with good. What a remarkable way to live! 

So we may read these verses and think that Paul may have had some nice thoughts, but that it is impossible to expect anyone to actually live this way.  Can you imagine if Christians committed themselves to living their lives this way?  Not because we have something to prove to God or because we’re trying to earn our salvation, but simply because we want to demonstrate the amazing, selfless love the God has already shown to us. Living like this would stand out in a stark contrast to what we usually experience. It would also let non-Christians criticize us for the foolishness of our message rather than the way we live. Give it a try and see how it goes!

It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been in church, whether a few days or many years, there is always something new to see.  Something new to think about and to learn.  Some people think that pastors and others who study theology know everything there is to know about scripture and about the Christian life.  They think this because some people act like they do.  However, for the rest of us, the Christian life is one of continual insight and understanding. 

(Now, to be clear, I don’t want you to hear me saying that we are somehow privy to some sort of new revelation from the Holy Sprit that somehow changes or contradicts what has been revealed through God’s Word.  What I am saying is that  God’s Word is so simple that a child can understand it and yet so complex that one could spend an entire lifetime studying it without ever fully grasping its grandeur.)

Today is Good Friday, a day where we remember the fulfillment of God’s promise to redeem the world.  We listen and sing and watch as Jesus makes a brief journey from inside the city of Jerusalem out to a hill where he is nailed to a cross and raised up as the sacrifice for the sin of the entire world. 

It struck me tonight that the life of a Christian is one of constant anticipation.  We are continually watching and waiting.  The church year begins with Advent in December where we watch and wait for the birth of the Christ child while simultaneously watching and waiting for Jesus to return on the last day.  After that we watch and wait during the seasons of Epiphany and Lent as Jesus preaches and teaches and heals, restoring the kingdom of God. 

Then we arrive at Good Friday.  A day of pain and anguish, shame and guilt, death and destruction.  The sins of the entire world from the beginning of the world until the end of time were heaped upon Jesus’ shoulders.  Then with a simple phrase, “It is finished”, the sins were forgiven, the debt wiped clean. 

We leave the service like the disciples likely left the cross, in silence.  Convicted of our sins, sorrowful for the pain and anguish that Christ endured on our behalf.  We return home to watch and wait, anticipating the joy that will flow from the empty tomb on Easter morning. 

In a few weeks we will see Jesus ascend back to his father in heaven.  His mission completed, his glory restored.  He leaves us behind to watch and wait with great anticipation that day when he will return again. 

Come Lord Jesus!


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