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Posted At: 8:34am by AgentDelta
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Greetings to you all!
It's that time of year again. The stores have mass-mailed their Christmas fliers with care. Retailers are hoping against hope that people will buy more stuff this year than they did last year. The Salvation Army bell ringers are out in full force. And somewhere in with all of that, we have the reason for all of this madness. No, it's not a conspiracy by a big Eastern Syndicate, as Lucy from Peanuts would have you believe. It's a countdown to the anniversary of one of the most important events in history: The birth of God's Son, Jesus Christ. The Word becoming flesh. The Son of God becoming the Son of man.
Perhaps it is not so much the birth of Christ that we celebrate (although God becoming man is a momentous event). It is the reason that God became man. We celebrate because of why Christ came. After all, if Christ had come, but had lived as a Galilean carpenter all His life, Christmas probably wouldn't be nearly the celebration it is today. Indeed, the reason why we celebrate the lives of most famous people is not because they were born, but because of what they did. We celebrate George Washington's life not because he was George Washington, but because he was instrumental is helping America to become the country that it is today. So it is with Christ. We celebrate his birth in large part not simply because he was born, but because of why He was born: to earn salvation for all mankind.
And not just because He came to earn salvation for all mankind, but because He came to earn salvation that would freely distributed. After all, that salvation is worthless to us unless we have it. And that is the beauty of the salvation that Christ won for us: this salvation is freely given to us. We don't have to earn it. We don't have to buy it. We don't have to perform great feats to demonstrate our belief in God. We simply sit back and receive the salvation. And God wouldn't have it any other way. In fact, He doesn't have it any other way. We can't earn our salvation. We can't buy salvation. We can't win salvation by performing great feats to demonstrate our devotion to God. God simply gives it to us. In some ways, it's like a college scholarship. But not any ordinary scholarship. Salvation is like this: Suppose that you are terrible in school. Really terrible. So terrible that despite the fact that you are 18 years old, you haven't been able to pass preschool. Now suppose that Harvard College (THE Harvard College) calls you up on the phone and says “We've been reviewing your academic records. We see that you've spent the past 14 years flunking preschool, and that you got the lowest scores possible on the SAT and ACT. But, despite all of this, we're going to give you a full scholarship to attend our school. Books, room and board, tuition, everything will be paid for. You don't have to pay a penny. We'll even pay for your move up here.”
Salvation is kind of like that: Completely unearned and undeserved, yet freely and fully given without a moment's hesitation. And that's why we celebrate Christmas, and that's why we have Advent, the countdown to Christmas: Because on Christmas, God became man, and took the first step towards earning that marvelous salvation for us.
One final thought: I would say that counting down to Christmas is not the only reason we have Advent. I think another reason we have Advent is because this momentous occasion is too big to celebrate on just one day. We need several weeks to celebrate and fully absorb the impact of Christmas. What do y'all think? Does that sound like a reasonable proposition?
I wish you all a blessed celebration of Christ's birth, both during Advent, and on Christmas. 
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Posted At: 7:43am by AgentDelta
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And certain people (what makes you think I'm one of them?  ) have requested that the author submit said post to Higher Things. The post is the 2006-11-24 post on http://sceadu.blogspot.com/. I highly recommend that you go there and read that post.
In other news, Thanksgiving went well. We got to spend Thanksgiving Day doing traditional Thanksgiving Day stuff (cooking, eating, digesting food, sleeping, etc.). The day after Thankgiving, me, my Dad, and my Grandpa spent the day chipping some tree limbs while my Mom and my Grandma went shopping.
I also encourage you to read the 11/26 edition of Mallard Fillmore. It has the North Korean nuclear rap. :D
I would also like to thank everybody for their kind comments about my sister. She is a bundle of energy. :D
In closing, allow me share with you some wisdom from Foxtrot, particularly, Jason: "If you ask me, a lot of sports would benefit from an infusion of rocketry."
So there you have it. A full range of topics in one blog post. :D
AD
Edited on: November 27th, 2006 7:45 am
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Posted At: 7:26am by AgentDelta
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Y'all've been asking to see a picture, so here it is: .jpg)
This is my sister, Avonleigh. She is 19 months old, and full of energy. This picture was taken fairly recently.
There you have it. The picture y'all have been waiting for. :P
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Posted At: 7:19am by AgentDelta
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Saturday was National Adoption Day. My family was among those taking part. We have now officially adopted our first foster child: Avonleigh Grace. Sorry, no pictures at the present time. Bug me enough and I might get around to putting one up. ;-)
In other news, I got my SAT scores back. For those of you who wanted to know, I got a 2080: 770 on critical reading, 670 on math, and 640 on writing. I will take it again on December 2. I figure it can't hurt to try for a higher score, since most colleges accept your highest score.  I also found out that Hillsdale doesn't really consider the scores from the essay portion of the SAT, which is good for me, because that's the section I did the worst on.
I recently sent in my application to Hillsdale, so I should hear back from them soon.
In other news, HT lock-ins are awesome. You should have one in your area. Pr. Borghardt was the speaker at the one I went to this weekend. His topic? "The Law, the Gospel, and What to do with the Rest of my Life." Sound familer? Don't worry. It was just as good the second time around as it was the first.:-)
We (the people at the lock-in) also got to watch the new HT promotion DVD, with scenes from The Feast. I'm in it. So are Paul, Andrew, and Nat, to name a few. AND I got to see the Beryl graphics on Pr. B's laptop. The graphics are so much better than those on Mac OS. Linux rocks! (Look here to see what I'm talking about.)
All for now. Have a happy Thanksgiving. And please, don't call it Turkey Day. :-)
AD
Edited on: November 20th, 2006 7:22 am
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Posted At: 8:09am by AgentDelta
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I just got an e-mail from HT saying that my registration for "For You" in NC has been received and approved! WOOHOO!
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Posted At: 9:03am by AgentDelta
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As many of you know, I am obsessed with Poe. Edgar Allan Poe, that is.
As many of you may not know, I am currently reading Macbeth for school.
As many of you have probably gathered from the title of this post, I think it would be great fun to combine the two.
For example, pretend that you are at a rehearsal for a performance of Macbeth. Everybody has been saying the same lines for who knows how long, trying to perfect. You think that the rehearsal needs some excitement. You have the part of Macbeth. The follwing scene ensues:
*Rehersal for Act I, Scene III*
First Witch: "All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Glamis!"
Second Witch: "All hail Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Cawdor!"
Third Witch: "All hail, Macbeth! thou shalt be king hereafter."
Macbeth (you): "Be that word our sign of parting, bird(s) or fiend(s)!
Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!"
Wouldn't that be great? Wouldn't it? You get to decide! Post your opinions in the comments. I can't wait to hear what y'all think!
(Joking as always)
AD
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Posted At: 8:15am by AgentDelta
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I took the SAT today. Now I get to wait for my score. The way I see it, one of three things will immediately be clear when I receive the scores:
1. I blew it. There's no way I'm getting into to college with this score.
2. I made it! There's no way I'm NOT getting into college with this score.
3. I don't know. I may or may not get into college with this score.
In other news, we have a new foster baby. Yes, we do. We're hoping to adopt her. She's 4 months old, and already she's trying to be manipulative. She's not succeeding very well. We see right through her. ;-)
I was listening to the BBC a moment ago. It cracked me up. They had a guy on there saying that the UN would take action. :rolleyes:. Yeah, right. :P
In other news, did y'all hear that the Pope has removed Limbo from official Roman Catholic doctrine? Limbo was supposedly the place where the souls of unbaptized infants went when they died. Now Roman Catholics believe that when infants die, their souls automatically go to heaven. Or at least, that's what I've heard.
In other news (from the BBC, again) The UN has imposed sanction on North Korea. Waddaya wanna bet that nothing tangible will result? ;-)
Other than that, nothing much happening around here.
Edited on: October 15th, 2006 8:18 am
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Posted At: 8:25am by AgentDelta
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I know, I know, it's been awhile. And I only have the usual excuse: I've been busy. :P
But it's true, as y'all well know.
To the best of my knowledge, I am officially registered for FOR YOU in NC. WOOHOO!!
In other news, I have recently become enamored with the writings of Edgar Allan Poe. I recently got "The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe." I had never read any of Poe's humor before, but he's actually pretty good. If you converesed with me recently, you have doubtless heard me say "If you are ever drowned or hung, be sure and note your sensations--They will be worth to you ten guineas a page." This quote comes from "How to Write a Blackwood Article," which is actually more of a satirical work than a humorous one. If you want humor, read "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether."
In other news, I'm taking a speech class now. How fun. I haven't done too badly do far. I'm class president! This is because we only had three people to fill the 5 officer positions. A couple of new people have since joined the class.
Already this post is longer than I intended. Sorry. Nothing profound from me tonight. Maybe next time. ;-)
*Reads e-mail* How interesting. Our high was 99 degrees today, and I just got an e-mail from a local university saying, among other things, "The temperature is dropping..."
Final words from me: Go to FOR YOU in NC next year. It's going to be so awesome. :D
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Posted At: 9:09am by AgentDelta
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Sorry it's been so long. I've been busy!
"For you." That is the theme of next year's Higher Things conferences.
To paraphrase next year's conference coordinators, "The Gospel is not that Christ died, but that
He died FOR YOU." We see this theme reflected throughout the Divine Service.
Yet it is this principle that is perhaps one of the core differences between
the traditional Divine Service and the modern contemporary worship service.
The core of each service can be described using almost the same words.
However, the words are arranged differently. The Divine Service is all about
what God has done and continues to do FOR US. The modern contemporary worship
service is all about what we do FOR GOD. A small rearrangement of the words, but
big difference in meaning. Want proof that this is what each service is about? Look at the Words of
Institution from the Divine Service: "This is my body, given FOR YOU...this is
my blood, shed FOR YOU." Now look at a popular contemporary worship song:
"Here I am to worship, here I am to bow down..." It's all about what YOU are
doing.
Many churches hold contemporary worship services in an attempt to "reach out"
to youth. Personally, I find the core principle in these services rather
scary. You may wonder why I think this way. After all, what's so scary about
a little change? What scares me is that God demands perfection. Suddenly, I'm
wondering if my worship is good enough. After all, since God demands
perfection, my worship better be perfect. After all, I am offering it to God.
What if He doesn't like it? What if it's not good enough? That's a scary thing
to have to wonder about.
But the Divine Service is different. It's all about what God does FOR US.
Suddenly, God's demand for perfection goes from being incredibly scary to
incredibly comforting. Jesus earned my salvation, and it is perfect, because
God accepted what Jesus earned for us, and God will accept nothing short
of perfection. Now I know that my salvation is perfect. Now I know that God
will never require anything more, or anything better, than what Jesus has
earned for me. I don't have to worry anymore! That's what's so cool about Jesus earning our salvation and
giving it feely to us. That's also what's so cool about the Divine Service.
It's all about what God has done FOR US.
Edited on: August 14th, 2006 9:14 am
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Posted At: 12:36am by AgentDelta
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I'd like to talk about what happens when 1300 Lutherans cross the road. First, some background. The way the campus is set up, we all have to cross a certain street to get from chapel to the plenary sessions (the sessions that everybody attends). There are no lights at the crossing. Cars simply stop for pedestrians. This creates a problem when all 1300 of us cross the road. The length of time required for this crossing creates traffic backups. This has become such a problem that we have been asked not to cross the road all at once, but to stop periodically and let cars through. This could lead to a whole slew of "Why did the Lutherans cross the road?" jokes.
On other news, Nat, Paul, and Andrew had an interesting conversation after chapel that I had the privilege to listen to. It went something this:
Andrew: Nobody is cooler than Pastor Bender!
Nat: Maybe Batman is.
(After this, I can't remember who said what, but I do remember most of what was said"
Somebody: *Hums the Batman theme* Pastor!!
Somebody: "Deacon! To the Pastormobile!
Nat: "Transubstantiation? Where? I'm off!!"
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