A Friend Comes to the Seminary

The Seminary has called the Rev. Brian Mosemann to be the new dean of students.  He replaces Rev. Timothy Puls after a 10 year run in that post.  Rev. Mosemann was my pre-seminary director at Concordia Chicago.  I’m happy that he has accepted and I look forward to having him in the Fort.  Blessings on your transition Mosemann!

A Visit Is Worth a Thousand Words

We just had a gentleman and his wife stop by for a seminary visit.  They were a very delightful couple.  I really enjoyed showing them around.  Originally from Indiana, he found and married his wife while studying at Concordia University Ann Arbor.  Our campus is very interesting place.  Even in the middle of a quarter break, it is still alive.  I would say there isn’t a place like it in the world.  And the best part about it: CTS belongs to the church.  It is your seminary.  If you are 5 years old or 85 years old…this is your seminary.  If you plan on being a pastor or if you don’t have any plan to change your career, this is your seminary.  AND it is alive as God uses ordinary means to form and shape future workers for his church. 

 

There is a lot of history with this campus.  Kramer Chapel towers over the upper plaza and the bell tower tolls the hour.  But most fascinating of all is that God takes poor miserable sinners and forms them into his servants.  From here into all the world, these pastors and deaconesses bring the Gospel to the lost and care for the God’s weak and sick. 

 

It’s a blessing to have such a place as Concordia Theological Seminary.  You really should stop by and take a look.  And if you can’t pray for the continued support of forming pastors and deaconesses for Christ’s church. 

Whiteout

The snow is falling in Fort Wayne again.  It is almost a whiteout at the seminary.  Of course it is a beautiful, but I just don’t want to go out in it.  When is spring gonna come??

Back in the Fort

To St. Louis and back and so I journeyed Wednesday and Thursday.  I was there talking about the synod’s upcoming Pastoral Education Month.  This yearly celebration of our synod occurs during the month of May.  There will be resources on the synod’s Web site and posters mailed to congregations.  Why?  Pastoral Education Month has been designated by the Synod’s Board of Directors to help educate the synod about the process of forming servants for Jesus Christ.  It encourages pastors and congregations in the processes of finding putting forth possible candidates for the seminary.  Also it provides a way to encourage financial support for the formation of the Lord’s workers.  Look forward to more information as this year’s celebration draws closer and closer.  Mark the calendar though…perhaps your church could have a Pastoral Education Sunday during the month of May.  Give me an email if you have any questions: steven[dot]cholak[at]ctsfw[dot]edu.

Normal is broke, be weird!

Everybody should know about Dave Ramsey.  Dave is a financial talk radio host, best selling author, and TV personality.  He speaks and writes about getting your finances in order and most importantly...about getting out of DEBT.  The normal way of life for most of us is to live paycheck to paycheck.  But there is a better way to do things.  Each dollar can have a name and our money can do what we tell it to do, rather than the other way around (money telling us what to do).  We all wanted to learn from someone to have financial peace, and no one ever teaches us.  We get out of high school with credit card companies marketing to us, but school never teaches us how to get by without the credit.  Well, I encourage you to be weird...drop your debt and have some peace.  Then you'll have money to spend, money to grow, and the most fun...money to give away!

We're having a heat wave...

A tropical heat wave. The temperatures have risen to about 40 degrees in Fort Wayne. Pretty crazy not to have to bundle up so tight. We had temps in the teens last week, with wind chill factors in the negative numbers. I don't know how long it will last, but it sure is nice.

A Meditation for Epiphany

In the name of the Father and the +Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen

O Daughter of Zion - your hill is the holy mountain of God. You have been citied high - for everyone to see. Your city cannot be hidden, yet you hide and desire sweet, sweet slumbers. For the air is thin and the view has become boring. So angels fill the still dark sky and beckon you to rise: "Hark the glad sound!" They sing. A thrilling voice announces to the ends of the earth: Behold, your Savior comes. Isaiah prepares your way. He has opened your gates and cleared your road of stones. John has warned you of the wrath to come! Preaching repentance, O Daughter of Zion, the Kingdom of God is at hand. Salvation belongs to our God through Jesus Christ our Lord. And that salvation is his reward for you to have. Upon the cross he has accomplished your freedom. God has become man and in that incarnation the almighty creator has taken on your flesh and your blood. Freedom is accomplished as God hanged upon the cross. There the Lord hath elected to show his love to you. Behold, O Daughter of Zion, Jesus has taken your sin and guilt and destroyed it there on Calvary. Your sin and punishment taken away - paid in full. Hark the glad sound - O you holy people of God. The Savior cometh. He cares not for the things of earth...nor the pleasures it doth offer. He comes and seeks you out for you he did suffer. Let us therefore be joyful - the Savior approaches and calls you righteous. Softly from his manger Jesus calls you: You are safe from danger, children you are freed from sin and death.

Behold, O Daughter of Zion, your Salvation comes, and has come and behold his reward is here. It is yours. Your city is not hidden, but exalted. You are the redeemed of the Lord.

Amen

Rev. Steven Cholak
CTS Kantorei Tour
Epiphany 2008

McDonalds takes on Starbucks

I'm a big Starbucks fan. It comes from 6 months of employment as they slowly got me hooked on the java bean. It also comes from the ethic I saw as I worked there. They spent more time on training employees (called partners at Starbucks) then they spent on advertising. They were true to their mission and their love of coffee. I haven't worked there for about a year. But I would say they've gone down hill. I wonder if it is their focus on selling everything, but coffee. Whatever the case, the Starbuck's Experience isn't what it was even one year ago.

So McDonald's announces that they are going to install espresso machines and hire employees they will call "baristas." It seems that maybe they are just doing what Starbucks has done so well in the past year or so. You'll be able to get anything you want to eat or drink - even buy some fancy music on your iPhone - but you won't be able to get a decent burger.

I've never really liked McDonalds, but I've used them. When I have to eat, I stop. Their practices won't bother me, because it can't get much worse. Starbucks, on the other hand, grieves me. I hope it turns around...but in case it doesn't I should start a backup plan.

Where do you get your coffee?

They will know we are Lutheran by our...

Just this past Sunday, I visited a church that was not a member of our beloved Missouri Synod. The liturgy was a bit different. There was not a celebration of the Eucharist. There was not a formal reading of the gospel text. Not that there is some golden rule book that came down the mountain with Moses, but the different practices made me think. What makes our worship Lutheran? Can a person tell you are a Lutheran just by the way that you act?

I think they can. I guess I mean to say, the way the congregation acts. There are things about our worship that are distinctly Lutheran. Our worship is liturgical. It is not some man made thing that each pastor or congregation should feel free to dispense with. It is reflective of the gospel we preach and the sacrifice we celebrate. Our liturgy finds its foundation and identity like our preaching, in the Eucharist. Jesus makes our worship what it is. "God with us" is truly seen, felt, tasted, and even smelled in the celebration of the Lord's Supper. Jesus is God Almighty living with his bride. The texts of our liturgy come from the Bible. The church sees the definition of its Old Testament life in the texts of its liturgy.

The world and others may want to dictate what the church does, but the church shouldn't be swayed by the comings and goings of the world, the devil, and our sinful flesh. The church lives and breaths by her Savior who has decided that he will be with us always... being intimately connected in bread and wine, preached Word, and holy absolution.

They will know we are Lutherans by our Lord, by our Lord...yes they will know we are Lutherans by our Lord.

Texas

Howdy! The Cholak's made it to Houston yesterday in one piece. The weather is great and I'm enjoying the niece and nephews. It is great to have the in-laws back from Spain. Tonight the boys are going to see hockey and the girls are heading to the Nutcracker. Isn't it grand? Merry Christmas everyone!

Symposia 2008

Hello everyone! The 2008 Symposia Series at Concordia Theological Seminary is just around the corner. Have you registered yet??? The process is easy. Just click here. Do you know anyone that should come with you? Just send them the link! If you have questions...you can call 260-452-2241.

Six Shot at Nevada Bus Stop

Six high school students were shot at a school bus stop yesterday. Last week, a shooter killed random people in an Omaha shopping mall. We used to think of shootings in connection with battle fields and armies. We might have even laughed to hear that teenagers in 2007 would think of their school cafeteria as a battleground. It is now common place to hear the news reporters refer to the "war on terror" and not be referring to Iraq or Afghanistan. It's a different kind of age, but it isn't.

The sun and the moon were set in the heavens to be a sign and to show the seasons. It will be the wind and waves that will cause the earth to be perplexed. The (one-year) Gospel reading for Advent 2 spoke of how the world would continue to be shaken...by the world. It will even crumble and decay until it passes away. Our hope is not in the sunshine or in the wind against our back. Guns will continue to be fired and greed and jealousy will continue to destroy. But this kind of destroying is only surface deep. They can't destroy the way our Lord Jesus destroys.

And that is where our hope endures. The "with-us" God became man and took all the sin and destruction that is man and put it to death. The nails and the timber of Calvary's cross thought they were contributing to a war on terror, by killing that Jesus, but really Jesus was destroying sin, and death, and crushing the head of Satan. And so you and I have hope and we live clinging to Jesus. Heaven and earth will pass away - but the Word of the Lord (that's Jesus) endures forever!