Hmmm...

You know how Catholics are known for being alcoholics? I think I know why now. In the Catholic (and some Lutheran churches) church after they finish with communion it is customary for the priest (pastor) to drink whatever wine is left over. (Sometimes that can be quite a bit of wine). I can understand that if you drink a lot of that and you do that at least once a week you could get quite a bit of wine in your system. However, they do this because they have already blessed the wine and it is now Christ's blood (shed for you for the forgiveness of sin. This do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me). Sorry couldn't help myself. But what I don't understand is, you know, they don't want to be wasteful and Christ's blood is important, but if you're gonna drink the wine (blood) wouldn't you want to eat the bread (body) too, it's just as important. Can't have the blood without the body.

Oh the joys of being a Lutheran

Oh jeez, you know you're a Lutheran when you wish somebody a Happy Reformation day or All Saints Day and they have no idea what you're talking about. So yesterday was Halloween and the chapel speaker, you know mentioned something about today being a pagan holiday or something along those lines blah blah blah...well, you know what, yesterday was also Reformation Day. By no means is that a pagan holiday.

Reformation day was when Martin Luther posted his Ninety-Fives Theses on the doors of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany on October 31, 1517. This triggered the Reformation movement. Martin Luther posted his Ninety-Five Theses in revolt to the Catholic church (no offense to Catholics, I respect you very much!) who believed in things like purgatory, the selling of indulgences, and that we are saved by good works. Luther only intended for his Theses to bring up discussion, but it turned into the Reformation and a lot more denominations than we had started with. Luther did not agree with the Catholic teaching. He believed that we are saved by faith in Christ Jesus and His grace alone (however, good works are how we serve our God and His  people, and can help build up our faith).
I feel like many people view Luther poorly (and I agree that what he said about Jews wasn't very nice) but I do think that we should thank and honor him for his work because first of all, he really did not think that highly of himself, he was always trying to figure out what God wanted from him and to honor him. He did not want to be known as a saint or to have Lutheranism named after him, because it was God's work and God's church. And second of all, if it wasn't for Luther, unless you're Catholic, your church or denomination or whatever you want to call it would not be here......end of story.

Now All Saints Day is a Catholic holiday, but some Protestant churches celebrate it, my church does. Basically, it's one day out of the year that we commemorate all the saints that have gone before us. Our church lists off everybody in our congregation who has passed away within the last year and rings the bell for each. It's kind of like the country's Veteran's Day or President's Day.

Ok, that's all.

Wow, I just realized I am definitely my father's child....a little sad.

"So I say to you...

So, a long time ago, or maybe not that long ago, a wise pastor once did a sermon on the answers God gives you. He claimed that God has 3 answers to prayer. Those include:

• Yes
• Wait
• Not your way, My way

You'll notice that "no" does not make that list. Today in chapel the speaker talked about how many times when we are faced with difficult situations and when we ask for God's help He may answer no. This causes us, even those of us who are Christians, to lose that peace that we have knowing Jesus as Lord.

I don't know why bad things happen and I certainly do not claim to know everything (ha, I'm only in college. That's why I'm in college so I can learn everything. :) ) But one thing I do know is that God never says "no" to our prayers. He may not give us the answers we desire, but that doesn't mean he has not answered them.

I prayed that I would get in to Bethel College and have the time of my life. God answered me with "Yes, but it's not gonna be easy. You're gonna have to work hard."

I desperately needed a job a few summers ago. His answer, "Wait". Because I waited for His timing and not my own I got to babysit 3 amazing kids who touched my heart.

A lady at our church was diagnosed with Ovarian cancer (an awful cancer that I'll hopefully post about later because September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness month). Not only were her husband, children, and grandchildren praying for her, the whole church prayed that she would get well again. Sadly, she died a few months ago. To some it may seem that God did not answer our prayer or that He answered it with a "no", but He didn't. His reply was "Not your way, My way." You see, she may not be here on this earth with us, but our prayer for her to be healed was answered. God gave her something much better than simply healing her physically. She got to go home! She got to go and be with her Maker! She's in Heaven with the Father pain free and cancer free! So our prayer for her to be healed was answered, she even got more than what we had prayed for. It just was not in the way we had in mind.

I encourage everybody to think about this concept of God never saying "no" to us. Sometimes it may seem a little ridiculous and you may completely disagree with me and that's fine, but believing God's answer to be "not your way, My way" is way more optimistic than the answer of "no" and I'm not usually an optimistic person. But this is one thing that I can be optimistic about.

Comments appreciated! :) I'll try not to be too sensitive. :)

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened."-Luke 11:9-10 -That doesn't sound like a "no" to me. :) 

Maundy Thursday

So since I wrote a blog about Valentine's day I thought it would only make sense for me to write about Maundy Thursday too. Not many people know about Maundy Thursday. So here are some quick facts

• Obviously it's the Thursday before Easter
• Has a lot of other names that I'm not gonna list. :)
• Commemorates the Last Supper when Jesus shared the Passover with the disciples.
• The Last Supper happened the night before He was crucified, hence why we celebrate it Thursday, the day before Good Friday-when He was crucified.
• Maundy Thursday's pretty solemn
• We remember His betrayal, the washing of the disciples feet, the breaking of Christ body (the bread) & sharing of His blood (the wine).

And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you."-Luke 22:19-20

• So at our church because we are remembering the Last Supper we usually have one last communion service before Easter. It also prepares us for the sad day ahead on Good Friday. Our church service is really cool and after communion we strip the alter and cover everything with black cloth. Then on Good Friday the pastors dress only in black instead of their white robes. Then we read the story of Christ's crucifixion and dim the lights, but then we light a candle in His tomb to remember that there is hope & then the bell tolls & everybody leaves in silence. No greetings. Nothing. It sounds really depressing but I love Holy Week. It's so...beautiful & thought-provoking.
• Maundy comes from the Latin word-mandatum which means-commandment. Maundy Thursday is in reference to Jesus' commands for the disciples at the Last Supper to love and serve one another & to remember Him & what He did for us.

Footage from The Passion of  the Christ.

So I hope you guys learned something and set aside time today to remember Christ & what He did. I know some of you will be busy with family or if you're like me studying for finals next week. Remember what's most important!!!