Pastor’s Ponderings

Volume 2, No. 21                    June 6, 2010

 

As I write today the rain is falling, doing its thing on plants and crops and grass. Rain always makes me think of two things: 1) as a kid who loved playing baseball, I remember how upset I would get when it would rain on game day. Why would God do that? Didn’t He know how much I needed to play baseball (of course, it was always about me!)? 2) I always recall the verse from Matthew

, "…He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous (5:45).

 

As I have grown older and wiser (!), I have pondered more the goodness and graciousness of the Lord. Even the sun and the rain are given to those who don’t deserve it. I know we righteous think we deserve sunshine (especially in Minnesota!) and rain to water gardens and lawns, but in reality we deserve nothing from God but His wrath. Yet, He takes care of us in ways we sometimes take for granted. We assume that the good things of life will come our way, but why should we assume that? If we don’t deserve God’s kindnesses why do we assume that He will reward us with good things?

The remarkable thing is that God not only sends sun and rain to replenish the earth, He has given us the gift of grace and forgiveness in our Savior Jesus. Is this also something we take for granted? How do we respond to that grace and forgiveness? Do we honor and worship Him as we should or since it’s summer do we assume that it’s now time to take vacation from worship? Is not the Giver of all good gifts worthy of our presence, our worship, our adoration?

Something to ponder.

 

A Few Final Thoughts…

 

Co-Ed Dorm Rooms Becoming More Prevalent - This fall, 17 colleges, including Princeton and Yale, are offering students the choice of co-ed dorm rooms. This will bring the total number of colleges and universities that have the co-ed rooming arrangements to more than 50. Caleb

Price, social research analyst for CitizenLink, said the policies were initially promoted by gay and transgender activists, but have recently become more mainstream. "There's a politically correct move to deconstruct gender and sex in all arenas of society," said Price, "with college housing being just one test laboratory for this social experiment."

[CitizenLink.com] Wouldn’t you love your child to be attending one of those 17 colleges?

 

Americans' Opposition to Same-Sex Marriage Eases - According to a Gallup ® poll, opponents of legalizing same-sex marriage continue to outnumber supporters in the United States, by 53 percent to 44 percent. Support was slightly higher (46%) in 2007. In 2008 and 2009, support ranked lower, at 40 percent. When Gallup first asked about the legality of gay marriage in a 1996 poll, 68 percent of Americans were opposed and 27 percent in favor. Those who say religion is "very important" in their lives oppose legal same-sex marriage, 70 percent to 27 percent. In contrast, Americans who say religion is not important support gay marriage by just as wide a margin. [Gallup.com]

  

New Member Seminar – The next New Member Seminar has been scheduled for Saturday, July 31 (9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.). If you know of someone who is interested in learning more about Lutheranism or becoming a member of St. Paul’s, encourage them to come to this seminar.

 

Be blessed and be a blessing!

 

Pastor