Morning Prayer on the Web

I have been doing my morning devotions on the webex video conferencing service for over 2 years now. My thought was simply that I would invite others to join me in hearing God's Word and praying, if that were helpful to them. Some mornings I have one or two people join me, but others, like this morning, I had probably almost 20! And it is a joy to be able to pray for the many requests they enter and for people in all kinds of needs. We start at 7 am (I know, I know, too early for some and too late for others, but its the best time we could pick!) and it lasts about 20-25 minutes. You are always welcome to join us. Click here for information how to do so.

Obama & Health, Part 2

Well, when is an "accommodation" not an accommodation? When is a "compromise" not a compromise? When it comes to Obama's Health Care mandate to religious organizations to cover "Women's Health Care," abortions. I watched his announcement on Friday and thought to myself, "That solves nothing." And it truly doesn't. For example, my church body has its own health insurance. So, when he says that churches will not have to pay, but the insurance companies still will, how does this help us? And church bodies like ours? It doesn't. Even if we had a separate insurance company, we would still have to pay them to give the coverage to others. It's all a shell game. Even though many in the media hailed this compromise from Obama, the lawsuits and battles will continue. Nothing has changed.

I had taken comfort in our plan being "grandfathered," but apparently that is only until 2015 or until *any* change is made to the plan. So the problem is still there. Continue to keep this in your prayers - there is much at stake here for all churches fighting for the sanctity of life.

Also, there *was* a petition on the White House web site to sign protesting this action. It looks like they have closed the petition since they believe Obama has answered it and therefore it is not needed anymore. Go to wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions/ and check for a new petition to be posted there about this and sign it. Keep letting your voice be heard!

Obama's Health Plan

It has been much in the news recently, that the Obama administration is forcing religious organizations (outside a very narrow exception clause) to supply what they call contraceptive coverage. I say "what they call" because the "Morning After Pill" they call contraceptive, but it is really abortive. (The Morning After Pill prevents a fertilized egg from implanting in the womb. They say this is preventing pregnancy and therefore contraceptive. But if life begins at conception - which we believe - then it is abortive.) The Roman Catholic Church has been mostly in the news opposing this action, and they seem to be the organization that will feel the greatest impact. But I have been wondering: does it impact the LCMS also? Will our Health Plan now have to supply what we believe to be sinful?

President Harrison issued a statement today saying NO. Concordia Health Plan opted to be "grandfathered" in under Obamacare. I am not exactly sure what that all means, but apparently it means they will be exempt from a lot of the new changes and are allowed to operate as they have been all along. This is most certainly good news! But please keep those who are now "under the gun" in your prayers. I am sure there will be lawsuits aplenty coming soon, and this is likely to drag on for awhile. Pray for our country and world to return, as John Paul II put it, to a culture of life rather than a culture of death.

Be sure also that this kind of persecution will continue. The Scriptures promise it. As our culture continues to degrade, the church which becomes more and more countercultural will face more and more pressure to do what the world wants and says is right. Not only with regard to issues like health care, but also with, for example, gay marriage. How long till the government tries to say that churches must marry whoever or lose their right to perform marriages? Or lose their tax exempt status? Or have to pay fines? It's coming.

But whatever happens, whatever threats are made or carried through, the church must remain faithful to the Word. "And take they our life, goods, fame, child, and wife, let these all be gone, they yet have nothing won, the kingdom ours remaineth." (from: A Mighty Fortress by Martin Luther.)

Really?

No kidding . . . seen on NBC Sports web site:

Cheating material?

A website poll shows married women would rather have an affair with Eli Manning than Tom Brady.

Really? Why ask such a question? Have we degenerated that far?

An Interesting Luther Quote

[A]fter the children of Israel had entered into the land of Canaan, killed absolutely all the kings and destroyed their power, there still remained a natural and genuine part of the annihilated peoples of the Canaanites, Jebusites, and Amorites (as is written in Judges 1). They did not rule, nor were they equal to, the children of Israel, but were tributaries and servants, until at last David, having established the kingdom, wiped them out. So also we, having been called into the kingdom of faith by the grace of baptism, gain the rule over sin, for all its powers are smitten. Now only grumbling remnants, possessing the nature and character of what was destroyed, remain in the members. These we ought to extirpate by our own exertion, but this will happen only when Our David, having established the kingdom, will be enthroned in his majesty.

from: Against Latomus, Luther's Works, Volume 32, p 203

School and Stuff . . .

Well, it's been a while since I've posted. School started up again last week. Both my classes look rigorous, so I'm really going to have to stay on top of things.

My first class is "Justification and Grace" with Dr. Michael Root, a former ELCA theologian for 39 years and now Roman Catholic. This is looking at the 16th century disputes and modern ecumenical attempts to come to agreement. With his background, knowledge, and perspective, this should be quite interesting. A big class - 11 of us, so the discussion should be good. I'm the only Lutheran (of course), but there are a couple of Reformed guys too.

My second class is "Sacramental Treatises" with the former dean of the school, Kevin Irwin. We'll be reading various treatises from church fathers, I'm assuming on *various* sacraments. This prof will expect a lot, so I'll have to be on my toes. A smaller class, only 5 or 6 of us.

The good news is that with both these classes, I believe I'll be able to research and write about Private Absolution, which is what I want to write my dissertation about. So these classes should be quite helpful in my investigation and framing what I want to ultimately write.

In other news, we had some new birds at our feeder these past few days: some Bluebirds and a Cedar Waxwing. This picture shows a male and female bluebird. We actually had two pairs. Very cool to watch. Don't have a picture of the Cedar Waxwing yet . . .

My son is also working on a science project, to determine if the length of parachute cords have an effect on how quickly they drop. So yesterday afternoon, a cold day indeed, I was outside timing his drops as he performed his trials. Boy were my hands cold at the end! But he got some interesting results. Once he firms up his conclusions and figures it all out, I'll have to report what he found.

And finally: reading late Medieval philosophical writings still makes my head explode!  :-)

No.

Well, its appears that in yesterday's playoff game, Tim Tebow threw for 316 yards. So guess what appeared on the Fox Sports web page? 316 . . . 3:16, as in John 3:16! Uh, no. Please. There is no divine significance whatsoever in the number of yards TT threw for yesterday. Stop it.