Mid-terms Done

Three mid-terms and a Greek quiz behind me. Now I wait for the grades. Back to that thing called life. This semester’s mid-terms were a lot like the finals for last semester. One right after another. The challenge with this format is that we have to start building our study guides a couple of weeks in advance. I am hopeful to gain some discipline and start them early on and just keep adding to them. In one class the study guide was 24 pages long. I am not sure how one person learns 24 pages of names, dates, places, events, titles, relationship to other people on the list, etc. This was the class I had the most trouble with of the mid-terms. Just the study guide is something that you have to mentally get past so you can open your brain to study. One way or another the Holy Spirit is making it happen. My only part seems to be to remember how and where to write my name on the front page of the test. So far, so good!


We have approved $200 to buy some shelf stable breakfast food for the homeless from the Junior Class fund. I thought we had a contact to determine the best ministry to distribute this food, but that is not panning out. So, I am on a search today to find that ministry. Once we get this process nailed down this will become a pretty easy thing to do and yet provide one of the things that we have been told is needed in Columbia. There are about 1700 homeless and $200 won’t go far, but it is more important to get the process down so that everyone can gain confidence in this process. Then we can open our minds to the spirit and come up with ideas to raise more money and food.

The weather this time of year is just incredible. Forties at night sixties in the day, I love this type of weather.

Air tickets to go back on our next break got way out of hand for an unemployed seminarian due to spring break into Florida. I will be staying here and working on the three 10 page papers I have due by the end of the semester. Truth be admitted, I probably need to do that anyway to get these papers knocked out. When taking 17 hours there is not much time for working ahead. Debbie and I are trying to figure out meeting in Jacksonville for a weekend.

Things are going great at my field church. Although I have messed up the Kyrie the last two weeks. For some reason it takes me a while to get the new melody in my head when we change the setting. I believe I have it down now and will give it another shot this Sunday. I also did the Children’s Sermon at both services for the first time here. In my home church I have done these quite a few times, I am now in the rotation here. There are some things that you just let come to you if you know what I mean.

LTSS had Seminary Days over this last weekend until Tuesday morning. One of the very positive things about this for the rest of us is that on Monday evening they put on a big dinner for the visiting prospective students. Smoked pulled pork and chicken, coleslaw, corn on the cob, drinks and the seminarians provide the desserts. Sure beats a microwaved chicken patty and chips in the dorm!

That is all the news that is fit to print. I leave you with this difference in the way we as Lutherans look at grace and the way the Reformed (Calvinists) looked at it in the 15th Century from our History of Christianity class as we were taught. The Reformed feel that we have no ability to accept God’s grace as we are only able to think of ourselves and are sinful. God has predetermined who will be saved (the Elected) and who will be condemned to Hell (also called double pre-destination). Jesus Christ died only to atone the sins of the elected, not necessarily for everyone. The Elected are not able to resist His grace no matter how hard they try. They will also be with Him in heaven for all of eternity. This is also called TULIP Calvinism. Total Depravity, Universal Sovereignty, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and Perseverance of the Saints. Those who eventually became known, much against Martin Luther’s wishes, as the Lutheran’s believe that we are only able to resist Gods grace, although there was a controversy over our ability to at least not resist. God has not predetermined who shall be saved and who shall be damned. I believe the statement is that we are saved by grace through faith alone. Now the other part of this is that true faith brings good works, you want to do these good works because you understand what Jesus Christ did for us. You don’t have to do these good works to be saved as that would be relying on our own abilities to be saved. We don’t have those abilities; therefore we could never live up to the requirements to be saved through our good works alone. God wills all of His children to be saved and sent His Son to atone for all of our sins. Those saved will be with God for all of eternity. I don’t know about you, but I would not like to know that I was already predestined to damnation for all of eternity. While I am nothing but sinful by myself, I believe that Jesus came to atone for all of our sins. I am prayerful that means we are all going to be saved and spend eternity with our Creator. That is a bit of a statement to swallow at first because that means all of us no matter how evil we have been on earth would be saved. Can you live with that? I can, but it has taken me years to get there and it is only through some pretty deep reflection about my own sinfulness and how God could save me and trying to understand where is the line that you have to cross to not be saved that I have been able to come to this place. I am hopeful there is no line, because if there is I can’t defend myself to be on the saving side. Grace and peace be unto all of you. Steve