Thumbs Up for CPH

I think Concordia Publishing House has some of the best customer service around. Whenever I call them, they always cheerfully make the problem right. Thank you, CPH!

Church Directory

Q: How is my church directory like a computer?

A: It is obsolete as soon as it is published!

We have so many people coming and going and moving and changing that it's never right - I have more scribbles in it than I have untouched entries.

Playing With Words

The Hebrew language is great for playing with words. I remember Dr. Wenthe at the Seminary marveling at some wonderful Hebrew words and phrases in the classes I was privileged to have with him.

Well, we found a good one yesterday in our Psalms Bible Study. We began studying Psalm 37, which begins:

"Fret not yourself because of evildoers;

be not envious of wrongdoers!

For they will soon fade like the grass

and wither like the green herb."

The Hebrew word play is in verse two, with the verbs for fade and wither: in Hebrew they are yimmalu and yibbolu. So, I told the class, whenever you find yourself fretting or getting angry at someone or something, just tell yourself: yimmalu and yibbolu! It will not only bring a smile to your face to say such silly words (and so diffuse your worry and anger), it will also remind you of the rest of the psalm - that the Lord is caring for you, He is faithful, He does not forsake His children, and that the things of this world are passing - but the Word of the Lord and His steadfast love endure forever.

Gotta love Hebrew! :-)

Update: I am pleased to say that I have broken new ground by posting these transliterated Hebrew words. If you do a Google search on them, my post is the only hit that comes up!

From Today's TDP

"For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead." ~ 2 Corinthians 1:8-9

Amen.

Confirmation

Today was the confirmation of my second child and first daughter, Sarah. Whenever you have a confirmation, I highly recommend singing the hymn "God's Own Child I Gladly Say It: I am Baptized into Christ." We sang this as our opening hymn today and it definitely set the emphasis for the day in the right place - not on what Sarah has done, but on what Jesus has done, and continues to do, for her. Click here to read the sermon, in which I used this hymn. (And in case you're wondering . . . no, we do not project stuff on the screen behind us in the Divine Service! We're stuck with that there in the building that we rent.)

Change and Updates

I've updated my blog a little and changed the look. I've seen others use this template and I thought it looked nice. I've also fixed some broken links and added some new blogs to consider. Hopefully I'll keep up with this part of blogging a bit better. Enjoy!

Lots of Luthers!

Ever go to a city and see those colorfully decorated animals on the street corners? Lots of cities have done it. They've had pandas in DC, dogs and cats in CT, and cows in NY.

Well guess who's coming to Wittenberg? [Click here to read about it.]

I wonder what they're going to do with them all when they're done . . . Maybe instead of those garden gnomes . . .