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!