Pastor David Maier - Forward in Hope

Confirmation

Tomorrow twenty-two of our eighth graders (one's a ninth grader) will be publicly confessing tomorrow that they believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.  For most of them it will be confirming what took place in reality as they were baptized as infants in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit - faith was given by the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ became personal Savior.  This is a big day for these young people, and for their families and for those who have been praying for their growth in faith.  Because of their recognized growth and maturity Our Savior also then allows and encourages their regular participation in The Lord's Supper.

Soon most of these confirmands will also be graduates of Our Savior Lutheran School.  Maybe because of the chronological proximity of both events, and undoubtedly because of the challenges and temptations that the new frontier of High School presents, and maybe even because of what seems to be a growing spiritual lethargy on the part of parents ... there remains the discouraging fact that many of these children have the propensity of falling away from Jesus and from regular participation in the church.

Well, I've got high hopes for this class.  They are a wonderful group of kids ... and I truly believe that with their honest commitment, the strength of Jesus, and a happening youth ministry ... they will remain faithful AND actively involved.  Their creativity in some of their projects, their confirmation interviews, how I've seen the Holy Spirit working in their lives ... makes me more than hopeful for them.  They also have a great group of parents to support them.

I'm truly looking forward to the Rite of Confirmation tomorrow at OSL.  Please take the time to remember yours ... and the public vows you made.  And along with this class, please remember ... Confirmation is NOT spelled GRADUATION.

Technogy, Me, and Hell

I'm really looking forward to returning to the regular, daily practice of blogging.  Why?  Because of the great, original ideas I have and then have a forum to share them on.  Not hardly ... and not just because I don't have that many great, much less original ideas.  No!  Nothing more really that I just want to regularly communicate with an incredibly loving flock ... and encourage them in their walk with Jesus.

Why then the title?  Folks, pray for me ... because sometimes I think technology (Palm Pilots, Computers, Power Point, etc.) will always have something of an antagonistic relationship.  Even the Administrative Assistant at Church thinks that I have some type of "wierd magnetic field" or something that cause electronic stuff to foul up.  She's seen it first hand.

Anyway ... I haven't been blogging because

• my wireless router at home went on the blink and it roughly 6 hours over 2 days to figure that out and more time for the remedy ...
• we completely lost are cable connection for a number of days ... and someone at the cable company finally believed me ...
• my laptops power supply shorted out ... with sparks, the smell of fire, and that unique, pungent, destable smell of burning plastic ...

As much as I use and depend on technology (and I fear that we need to all the more in the future for communication sake) the last number of weeks has been something of a living hell.

Fortunately, my relationship with God the Father is personal, none technological, depends on no other connection other than the living Christ and the continued work of the Holy Spirit apart from no other means than the Word and Sacraments.  Ah, there's my Lutheran heritage coming out ... and in perfect communion with a now functioning computer.

And they say miracles don't happen in the present day and age ...

Real Men Returning From Venezuela

One of the most interesting comments I overheard in the church lobby regarding our mission team -- Al Broskey and his son Caleb Philips, Jay Hatz and his son Jason, Dan McCaige and his son Dan Jr., Tim Hughes and Dennis coverts (brothers-in-law) -- was, "What are those guys thinking leaving their families behind like that?" 

I can tell you what they were thinking.  These are guys that impress me exactly because of how much they love their wives and their families.  These are guys that, having discussed and prayed with their spouses and families, were encouraged to follow God's leading to participate in this MOST (Mission Opportunities Short Term) Mission Trip.   During these past nine days, with their families blessings and a church's prayerful benediction, offered their physical labors to help expand a Lutheran Church and School in Maturin, Venezuela ... and then share their faith with those who watched, helped, or in the evening studies, prayer and praise time.  These guys are real hero's of the faith and I can't wait until they share in the May 15th Worship Services.

What were these guys thinking?  They were thinking about how much they loved their families, how much they loved the Lord, and how thankful they were that they were able to be blessed by both in these last nine days of what I'm sure was also a great adventure with the Lord. 

Please join me in prayer for the safe return of these real men late tomorrow night.  I just love them!