Meeting Godparents and their importance in our faith

Our son just met his godparents for the first time yesterday. Is it significant? Probably not. He is 9 months old and will not remember this day. However, that does not diminishes the role of godparents.

Growing up I was asked my parents, "What is a godparent?" They replied almost bewildered, "If something happened to us, you would live with them." Hence the beginning of confusion. I had three godparents that consisted of three families. Who would I live with? I didn't want to live on my uncle's farm, nor move to the Twin Cities, or live in Arkansas. Man the problems.

This is the same problem most families have concerning choosing godparents. They think in terms of who will raise the kids (that is what a will is for) as opposed who will support and nurture the faith given in Holy Baptism. When choosing godparents, the qualifications are easy (but we tend to make them hard): 1) Believer in the crucified Christ for our sins (along with the Trinity), 2) Active in their faith (e.g. receive the gifts of God in worship), and 3) promise to pray and uplift your child in your faith. It truly is simple.

What a gift we have in our godparents Some are family, some are not, but the main focus is on faith in the living Christ who has won our salvation.

p.s. Our godparents bought our son Luther's Works on Galatians. Beat that!

Complaints, the devil, and living under the cross

I have noticed lately that myself and others have been kind of cranky. Complaints have flowed from the tongue like water down the Nile. Almost as if noone is thinking. Or even worse, don't realize how low it brings everyone that surrounds them.

When I hear and make complaints that have nothing to do with the ministry of the church or of important issues, it really is tough to take. Mainly because I would place a major amount of complaints without a few compliments and an obvious love of those whom you are complaining about a sign that the devil is at work like crazy. Which actually shows that we are probably giving too much Christ and Him crucified in our coummunity, which is even better.

Now there is a distinction of valid complaints and not valid complaints. Example: Complaining about not mentioning Jesus enough, not having enough Bible studies, not reaching out to the community enough, not being in the Word enough, not enough forgiving, ALL VALID and my word, would be a blessed complaint.

However, what are most of the complaints we deal with and that I many times make myself? Personalities, organizational skills, building problems, minor mistakes, and my favorite of a friends of mine, "the pastor is to passionate when he preaches." NOT VAILD!

Can we bring up concerns in a loving manner and not jump down people's throats? Yes. Do we have to complain ALL the time and never bring a compliment? No. I am open to concerns more than most, but when the concerns are so minor compared to our biggest problem of proclaiming Christ, we have to ask who is working so hard to stop us from proclaiming forgiveness and bringing the crucified Lord to the community?

Ever thought this would be good outreach?

Check this out...

Confirmation is coming....

Starting in September confirmation begins. For many pastors, this means the begining of headaches, yelling, and seeing glazed eyes. And in many ways, this is what happens. When in junior high, the last things that you want to do is sit for more "education." This presents a major challenge to all pastors and confirmation teachers, "How do you make it interesting without sacrificing confessional theology?"

I am always open to more suggestions for the future. We have a pretty good format (as far as engagement). 15 minutes of memory work recitation and updates on life. 5 minute break. 25 minutes of Catechism study (5 minute break). 15 minute study of one chapter of the Gospel of John. 5 minute break. 10 minutes of vespers and prayer. Go home!

That format works well to make it through the night. However, what is the best way to: 1) Have the children learn the faith? 2) Have them understand their identity as a baptized child of God? 3) Keep the kids active after confirmation is finished? (or more importantly, have the parents take part).

Everyone's prayers are requested. It will be a fun year. I actually enjoy confirmation and getting to know the kids.

A new tradtion...

There are three long-standing traditional statistics that I would like to challenge the members of any Lutheran church to break. These statistics have been standing for just too long and someone should do something about them.
The first statistic is that the traditional Lutheran congregation can always be divided into three distinct segments: One segment of the congregation is made up of members who do virtually nothing. They don't attend worship. They don't contribute any offerings and they don't volunteer for anything. Another segment of the congregation is made up of members who worship infrequently, they give a little something to the Lord in their offerings and every once in a while they will volunteer for something at church. And then there is the segment of the congregation made up of members who are in church virtually every Sunday to hear the message of the Savior who died and rose for them. They bring their offerings regularly and actually set aside a percentage of their annual income for the Lord. And you will see them volunteering for just about everything they have time for.
I wonder if we could become non-traditional and break out of the three segment statistic. Perhaps a good start to break the statistic would be to ask, "To which of these three segments of the congregation do I belong?" "Would it be possible for me to move up a step to the next segment, or could I be encouraging another member to move up a step?"
The second of the traditional Lutheran church statistics has to do with the 80/20 rule which holds true in our church too, that 20% of the members do 80% of the work and bring 80% of the offerings, and 80% of the members bring 20% of the offerings and do 20% of the work.
Perhaps a good start to break this statistic would be to ask, "Into which percentage group do I fall?" "Could I change to the other group or possibly help someone else to do so?" Or to put it more accurately, what if the church could change to even a 70/30 ratio? What amazing things could be done for the Lord!
The last statistic of the three is the 2% statistic. In good economic times and in bad the church continues to receive, all averaged together, no more than 2% of the membership's annual income. What amazing things could be done for the Lord's kingdom if that figure only increased to 3%.
Perhaps a good start to change this statistic would be for each of us to ask ourselves, "What percentage of my annual income do I give to my Lord?" "Out of love for all His gifts to me, could I possibly do anything to increase that percentage?"
So there you have it; Three traditional statistics, just challenging us to break them. Can we do it as members of God's church? With a recommitment to our Lord, I believe we can.
"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich." II Corinthians 8:9

Total Body Transformation Guaranteed

My wife and I will begin a new workout routine today called, "P90." This is an intensive program for 90 days that "promises" to have a total body transformation. Thus far it looks good. If I follow the guidelines, eat less, and focus on the exercises, I will probably get a total body transformation.

Yet, my hope is that my body is transformed before the 90 days into a heavenly body as Paul tells us. Our body might change here on earth, but it will never be fully transformed until the day of resurrection. On that ONE and final day, our Lord will take our lowly, love handled, slightly obese, out of shape bodies and make them perfect. Not because of a workout system, but simply due to the blood of Christ and our faith.

Until that faithful day of resurrection, I will try to eat better, workout, and transform my body to its fullest. But understanding that it will not be perfect until the day of Christ.

San Diego. Heaven on earth or decadence gone wild?

My wife and I just got back from a wonderful week in San Diego. Beaches every day, a Padres/Brewers game, lots of food, and an amazing hotel. If you have ever been to San Diego, you are amazed at the consistent weather. The high for the year 85 the low around 65. Sunny, low wind, and low humidity. In matters of weather, why would one want to live anywhere else? Is it heaven on earth?

In a whole different way, we also saw and experienced people gone wild. Various lifestyles, drunkeness, insecurity, homelessness, drug use, and rainbows plastered on businesses. Needless to say, there are many problems in this weather wonderland. The need for repentance is much like Ninevah, but the chances of repentance is even less. We pray for the LCMS churches in the San Diego area and pray for repentance for all people who have forgotten God and His law.

By the way...if you are in San Diego and looking for a good confessional, LCMS congregation, check out, Grace Lutheran Church www.gracesandiego.net. Pastor Bombaro is a faithful pastor in a very unfaithful area.