Like Books?

Like books? I know, that's old fashioned, right? Lots of people read from e-readers, phones, etc. now. But there's just something to me about holding a book in your hand and reading.

So Friday was my birthday and my wife and daughter took me to a used book store they found out in Manassas called McKay's Used Books. I highly recommend you stop in there if you find yourself in that area. It is a large store, well organized, and cheap! How cheap? Books that I would see for $7-8 in other used books store would be $2-3 at McKays. Or cheaper! I got six books on Friday - none theology, just other things for me to read for learning and pleasure. And the prices? 

0.35 - hardcover, 200 pages, about Germans pastors in Nazi concentration camps

0.36 - softcover, 500 pages, Jeff Shaara historical-novel on D-Day

0.97 - a John Irving novel, hardcover, 500+ pages

1.50 - softcover (but not a small paperback), 500 pages, on the Battle of Chancellorsville

2.00 - hardcover, 250 pages, "Great Gambles of the Civil War"

2.00 - Band of Brothers (you might have heard of this one!) I was going to get out of the library, but hey, for 2 bucks! 300 pages

If you're counting, that's over 2,000 pages of reading for only about $7! I like to read while riding my bike on my trainer, makes the time go by much faster! These - plus theology that I will intersperse with them - will keep me in reading for some time. :-)

So stop in at McKay's. You'll have fun and won't regret it.

Just Say No!

 

No. Nyet. Nein. Non. Nee. Ne. Nope. Nej. A'ole. Geen. Nr. Br. Ayi. Ingen. Nei. 

And any other language I can think of!

Good Quote

Jesus curses where we would show compassion (we say: leave the poor tree alone, what did it ever do to you to deserve such treatment?! Leave those in the Temple alone, call an elders’ meeting and address it properly, professionally, don’t make such a big deal about it). And Jesus shows compassion where we would rather curse. Jesus says, ‘Forgive them, Lord, for they know not what they do.’

~ Rev. Dr. Harold Ristau

Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary

St. Catherines, ON

I'm sure you'll be hearing something like this in one of my sermons . . .  ;-)

A Little Late . . .

During my blogging hiatus, we celebrated my daughter's (my youngest) 16th birthday. So Happy Birthday to her! (A little late here, but better late than never.)  :-)

Huh?

For the past few years one of the folks who lives down the street from our church puts up the following Christmas decoration: 

Now, there are a great variety of Christmas decorations people put up these days, but Santa riding an elephant? I have a few questions . . .

Are the people who live in this house from a country/culture where riding elephants is common? I've seen pictures of folks doing so (in Asia, I think), but is that really common enough for a decoration like this?

The company that makes this must have a big enough market to produce them in a sufficient quantity to make a profit. You don't just invest the funds necessary to make one or two of these! Who are the buyers? I've never seen anyone else have one of these! Are they all overseas - in Asia?

Is there some other hidden reason or meaning here that I just don't get? 

Hmmm . . .

Sola Scriptura

File this under "warming a pastor's heart" . . .

I begin my catechesis by telling folks not to believe something just because I tell them - believe it because it is what the Scriptures say. I help them understand the Scriptures and the totality of them (not just cherry picking verses) but Scripture is the authority, not me. 

That teaching really helped a young man in my congregation who now goes to a Roman High School (the public schools here have lost the trust of many). In his religion class, the priest said that Mary was sinless. He asked, "Is that in the Bible?" To which the priest had to say no! But we can infer it . . . The young man didn't argue and make a scene, but he made his point. :-)

Things like this make all the effort worth it.

Thanksgiving

Well, after a three month (!) hiatus from blogging, I'm back again. I just had so much going on and so much on my plate that blogging seemed like a chore I didn't need. So I didn't. I still have lots on my plate, so we'll see how it goes. ;-)

I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving. Ours was smaller this year. My wife had to work and my sister did not come. But we still had a nice time . . . even though the turkey took 90 minutes longer to cook than we thought it would! Just made us appreciate it that much more when it was done. 

A couple of pictures . . .

Hard to fit everyone in . . . Rob, Joanna, Sarah, Michael (Sarah's boyfriend), and yours truly (half of me anyway!).

This one so you can see our feast. Turkey (of course!), mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, stuffing, cranberries, and homemade rolls. Not as good as if my wife had been here (and as I said, a bit later, too!), but pretty good nonetheless.

Then for dessert . . . four kinds of pie! Apple, Pecan, Pumpkin, and Chocolate Cream. Sorry, I didn't think to take a picture of them!

I thought about going on a nice long bicycle ride early in the morning, before anyone else was on the trail, but decided not to. Just relaxed a bit in the morning and then did a nice hard workout before lunch. Then the rest of the day with family. My son won a close game of Ticket to Ride "Rails and Sails." (If you don't know of the Ticket to Ride games, I highly recommend them.) Later, we played some games of a card game named "Hand and Foot." Boys (Michael and I) against the girl (Sarah and Joanna). The first game the guys got wiped out - it took us until the third hand just to get out of the hole! The second game we reversed the tables and wiped out the girls almost as badly. So, a rubber game was in order, but we didn't get to finish. It was close, but I will admit that the girls were winning when we had to stop.

Back to work today. Lots to do. Very busy time of year!