The Winter Malaise

First of all, I want to apologize for not posting for almost three weeks. Winter came, and by winter I mean the time you get in Wisconsin when it's cold day and night with snow permanently on the ground.

The photo here is from the morning that we had church cancelled because of a snow storm. Doesn't the sepia filter give that great old-timely look? Thanks Katie.

My typical pattern has been getting out of whack lately with the extra driving time because of snow and ice on the roads, shoveling the driveway, bundling up, warming up the car, etc. then the fun but time consuming Christmas present buying (sometimes fun...), special Advent services, Christmas services and invites, travel plans, etc.

What's surprising is that beyond the obvious benefits of my Bible reading plan (Immersio), it's given much needed structure and consistency to my days. It's something to look forward to and challenge me every day.

I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas on the Eve of Christmas Eve, as Katie reminded me this morning. At Resurrection, the church I'm serving at this school year, we've had a well-received Advent series I had the opportunity to think up and design on the "Songs of Advent." We had 3 special services on 3 of the 4 songs Luke gives us in the beginning of his Gospel (a book about the good news of Jesus) concerning the events surrounding Jesus' birth. They are the the following:

The Song of Zechariah (Benedictus), where Zechariah, a Levite priest, who had the once-in-a-lifetime chance to perform the temple ritual for the Day of Atonement (יום כפור), was told his son would be the promised Elijah, the forerunner who'd prepare God's people for the Messiah's birth.

The song of Mary (Magnificat), where Mary was told she'd give birth to the promised Messiah, who would be Yahweh himself in the flesh, given the name Jesus, which means Savior.

The song of Simeon (Nunc Dimittis), which a pious man named Simeon sang when he held the infant Jesus in his arms at the Jerusalem temple during the time when Jesus was being circumcised and redeemed (see Leviticus 12 and Exodus 13:2 for the background on the ritual. The Redeemer himself was redeemed! Neat idea...). Simeon was told he'd see the Savior, the redemption of Israel, before he died. Thought-provoking moments in history and solemn events to be sure which have inspired many hymns and artwork.

You might be thinking, what about the 4th? Well, that's the angels' song to the Bethlehem shepherds who were told to go and see this child born in Bethlehem who was the Savior, the Messiah, Yahweh (the Lord) in the flesh!

Christmas Day I'll have the chance to talk about John 1:14a "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us." No more than 10 words, but more than enough substance for an eternity of meditation! We just got our microphone's working again for recording better, so you should be able to read and/or see and/or listen to the sermons on the Resurrection's website, http://www.rlcverona.org/site/cpage.asp?cpage_id=180020015&sec_id=180007160

So have this encouragement during the cold, dark days that lie ahead of many of us (those in the southern hemisphere or better climates, instead just imagine how it is for us in the upper Midwest):

God fulfilled his promise to send a rescuer from the problem of evil and death which have infected his good creation when the Word, Jesus, became flesh and lived among us. Through trusting and following Jesus (in order words, through faith in him) we join the winning team in the struggle between life and death, light and darkness, truth and deceit, so that his victory becomes your victory since he lived as your Savior, died as your substitute, and rose as your conquering Lord!

It's appropriate to use the verse that inspired the name of Resurrection Lutheran here:

John 11:25 "Jesus told her, 'It is I who am the resurrection and the life. Whoever trusts me, even though he dies, will live.'" (my translation). Jesus says, "I, not others, are this," thus evoking as well the name "I am" that Yahweh gave to Moses (Exodus 3:14) for the sons of Israel when he was told to redeem them from physical slavery (which Paul uses as an image for the slavery of sin).

Trusting, by its very nature and definition, leads to following. There are many paths to follow in this life, but they all lead to death in the end, except one! Following Jesus leads us on the path to eternal life because he's promised to come again, this time in glory, to renew creation and form the "new heaven and new earth," and give those who follow him glorified bodies in which to inhabit this new world.

Enough said for now. Is it obvious I'm about to practice delivering my sermons?

Bible Reading Plan

I've now completed week 1 of my (in my humble opinion) groundbreaking and original Bible reading plan. Basically, this one follows the church year, reads the Pentateuch, Gospels, Acts, Psalms, every year, and the rest every 3 years, including time for reading the Lutheran Confessions. I have a detailed explanation on Resurrection's website (the church I'm serving at as a student pastor for this school year).

http://www.rlcverona.org/site/bibdisplay.asp?study_id=180003697&sec_id=180007160

It's going fantastic so far. Manageable, a good variety, interesting.

In a purposely overly-simplistic way for the sake of expressing it in this blog post, if I can comfortably read though these books, then I'll have the essential base for understanding all of biblical studies, which involves in-depth knowledge of literature, history, and philosophy/theology.

These are the four books:

1) Greek and Hebrew Bible (or if you prefer, Biblia Sacra Utriusque Testamenti Editio Hebraica et Graeca). It's a single volume which contains the 27th Nestle-Aland Greek Bible and the 4th edition BHS Hebrew Bible. It doesn't get more hardcore than this. I even got a leather-cover custom made for this baby.

2) The Rahlfs-Hanhart Septuagint, 2nd edition. The Septuagint is a hard to define term, but basically it can refer to the Greek translations of the Hebrew Bible. Now, I know this isn't the critical apparatus isn't much by any means compared to Göttingen Septuagint, but my interest for the present isn't the implications or interpretations of all the Greek variants, but instead comprehending and immersing myself in the language of the Koine Septuagint itself so I can better understand the "Intertestamental Time" and the language of the Greek Bible.

3) The Lutheran Study Bible. For more in depth information, go here http://www.cph.org/t-tlsb.aspx. This is an exceptional study Bible which has excellent scholarship behind it, and it's uniquely devotional and meditational with Law and Gospel applications (including Luther's Small Catechism!), which is befitting anything Lutheran as opposed to a standard Evangelical study Bible focused more on apologetics or a certain theme.

4) The Book of Concord. This is the least important of the three, but good for understanding one aspect of Church History in a cursory way, and good for seeing how pious laymen and theologians down the ages who knew their Bibles have expressed their belief in the Word they were willing to die for (and many did). This edition has great footnotes and introductions. Perhaps next year I'll get to reading just one of the Latin and German editions I own (forget the Triglotta with the English besides! :) ). For more info on these epic statements of faith, see http://www.cph.org/t-topic-concordia-faq.aspx

So since high-school I've been reading through the Bible every year in one form or another. This is my first time mixing it up a bit more. Feel free to contact me for advice on a plan that'd fit you. I've tried many and have a lot of creative ideas for other plans as well.

I can't overstate how it's changed my life to read the Bible regularly and annually. There are tons of different types of reading plans. So if you have interest, check one out and go for it. New Years is a good time to start! If you want a boost, here's a few sites with some plans.

http://www.youversion.com/about/reading-plans

http://www.navpress.com/dj/content.aspx?id=138