The Operation Log of Agent Delta

Yesterday's (Wednesday's) afternoon vespers service was the best chapel service yet!!! Why, you ask? Two reasons. The first one is that we sang "A Mighty Fortress is our God." You don't know awesome until you've heard 1300 people singing "A Mighty Fortress is our  God" all at once, and being led by an organ and some well-used brass.

The second reason that yesterday's chapel service was so great was because Pr. Borghardt did the sermon. I have been wanting to hear Pr. B preach since the first session of his in-depth sectional. Yesterday, I finally got that chance, and I wasn't disappointed. Pr. B. does awesome sermons!!!

The Feast continues to go well, and already I cannot wait for "For You" next year (hoping I can go). We have a nice chunk of free time this afternoon, so I think I'll go out to the Air Force Academy with my group.

For my evening in depth sectional, I'm going to Pr. Borghardt's sectional: "The Law the Gospel, and what to do with the rest of my Life." The first day, Pr. B. got to hammer the Law into us for 45 minutes straight! I think he kind of enjoyed it. The second day he got into the Gospel, and he has made good transition from the Law to the Gospel, and is doing a good job showing us just how great the gospel really is, especially when compared to the law. Today (the last session of that sectional) he might get into what to do with the rest of our lives, or he might just continue with the Gospel. either way, it'll be good.

For my morning in depth sectional, I am taking Pr. Sollberger's sectional "Singing at the table: Confessing the truth, or Hooked on a Feeling?" (I think I might have gotten the title a little bit off). His sectional has been really informative, especially for me, since I've been wanting to learn more about this subject for quite some time now. While being very informative, he also manages to be very funny (So does Pr. B.).

This post has gotten longer than I intended, but that's OK. So long for now! Comment!! :P

Well, I'm at The Feast. The primary purpose of this post is to serve as a storage house for all the funny quotes I can remember at the end of the day. So here they are:

"Remember to set your cell phones to stun...er, vibrate..." -- Unknown

"...And we like to think of the New testament God as a kind, loving God, with a shepherd on his shoulder..." -- Pr. B

"Let's ride the carous wheel!!!" -- Anonymous.

 You've got to admire John Glenn.....Still
proud to be ex-military!!
> >
WHAT SENATOR JOHN GLENN SAID:
> >

> >
> > There were 39 combat related killings in Iraq in
> > January.
> > In the fair city of Detroit there were 35 murders in
> > the
> > month of January.That's just one American city,
> > about as deadly as the entire war-torn country of
> > Iraq.
> >
> >
> >
> > When some claim that President Bush shouldn't
> > have started this war, state the following:
> >
> >
> >
> > a. FDR led us into World War II.
> >
> > b. Germany never attacked us; Japan did.
> > >From 1941-1945, 450,000 lives were lost ...
> > an average of 112,500 per year.
> >
> >
> >
> > c. Truman finished that war and started one in
> > Korea.
> > North Korea never attacked us.
> > >From 1950-1953, 55,000 lives were lost ...
> > an average of 18,334 per year.
> >
> > d. John F. Kennedy started the Vietnam conflict in
> > 1962.
> > Vietnam never attacked us.
> >
> > e. Johnson turned Vietnam into a quagmire.
> > >From 1965-1975, 58,000 lives were lost
> > an average of 5,800 per year.
> >
> > f. Clinton went to war in Bosnia without UN or
> > French consent.
> > Bosnia never attacked us.
> > He was offered Osama bin Laden's head on a platter
> > three
> > times by Sudan and did nothing. Osama has attacked
> > us on
> > multiple occasions.
> >
> > g. In the years since terrorists attacked us ,
> > President Bush
> > has liberated two countries, crushed the Taliban,
> > crippled
> > al-Qaida, put nuclear inspectors in Libya, Iran, and
> > North
> > Korea without firing a shot, and captured a
> > terrorist who
> > slaughtered 300,000 of his own people.
> >
> >
> >
> > The Democrats are complaining
> > about how long the war is taking.
> > But
> > It took less time to take Iraq than it took Janet
> > Reno
> > to take the Branch Davidian compound.
> > That was a 51-day operation.
> >
> >
> >
> > We've been looking for evidence for chemical weapons
> > in Iraq for less time than it took Hillary Clinton
> > to find
> > the Rose Law Firm billing records.
> >
> >
> >
> > It took less time for the 3rd Infantry Division and
> > the
> > Marines to destroy the Medina Republican Guard
> > than it took Ted Kennedy to call the police after
> > his
> > Oldsmobile sank at Chappaquiddick
> >
> >
> >
> > It took less time to take Iraq than it took
> > to count the votes in Florida!!!!
> >
> > Our Commander-In-Chief is doing a GREAT JOB!
> > The Military morale is high!
> >
> > The biased media hopes we are too ignorant
> > to realize the facts
> >
> >
> >
> > But Wait there's more!
> >
> >
> >
> > JOHN GLENN (ON THE SENATE FLOOR)
> > Mon, 26 Jan 2004 11:13
> >
> >
> >
> > Some people still don't understand why military
> > personnel
> > do what they do for a living. This exchange between
> > Senators John Glenn and Senator Howard Metzenbaum
> > is worth reading. Not only is it a pretty impressive
> > impromptu speech, but it's also a good example of
> > one
> > man's explanation of why men and women in the armed
> > services do what they do for a living
> >
> >
> >
> > This IS a typical, though sad, example of what
> > some who have never served think of the military.
> >
> >
> >
> > Senator Metzenbaum (speaking to Senator Glenn):
> > "How can you run for Senate
> > when you've never held a real job?"
> >
> >
> >
> > Senator Glenn (D-Ohio):
> > "I served 23 years in the United States Marine
> > Corps.
> > I served through two wars. I flew 149 missions.
> > My plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire on 12
> > different
> > occasions. I was in the space program. It wasn't my
> > checkbook, Howard; it was my life on the line. It
> > was
> > not a nine-to-five job, where I took time off to
> > take the
> > daily cash receipts to the bank."
> >
> >
> >
> > "I ask you to go with me ... as I went the other
> > day...
> > to a veteran's hospital and look those men ..
> > with their mangled bodies in the eye, and tell THEM
> > they didn't hold a job!
> >
> >
> >
> > You go with me to the Space Program at NASA
> > and go, as I have gone, to the widows and Orphans
> > of Ed White, Gus Grissom and Roger Chaffee...
> > and you look those kids in the eye and tell them
> > that their DADS didn't hold a job.
> >
> >
> > You go with me on Memorial Day and you stand in
> > Arlington National Cemetery, where I have more
> > friends
> > buried than I'd like to remember, and you watch
> > those waving flags.
> >
> >
> >
> > You stand there, and you think about this nation,
> > and you tell ME that those people didn't have a job?
> >
> > What about you?"
> >
> >
> > For those who don't remember
> > During WWII, Howard Metzenbaum was an attorney
> > representing the Communist Party in the USA.
> >
> > Now he's a Senator!
> >
> >
> >
> > If you can read this, thank a teacher.
> > If you are reading it in English thank a Veteran.
> >
> >

> > It might not be a bad idea to keep this circulating.
> >

> > In God we Trust
> >"

Quick update: I waited a week and bought a 2 GB drive at Best Buy. More on my recent activities later.

Agent Delta

Yesterday was Good Friday. Many people do not mark Good Friday. Many people do not understand why Lutherans, among others, hold services on Good Friday.

Lutherans mark Good Friday because on Good Friday, Jesus finished earning our salvation. He earned our salvation by leading a perfect, sinless life, and by dying on the cross.  Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life on our behalf. On Good Friday, He was punished for our sins. He took the punishment that we deserved. This was not a light punishment, not a slap on the wrist. This was perhaps one of the cruelest punishments ever given. Allow me to explain:

To pay for our sin on Good Friday, Jesus suffered the cruelest tortures that man had been able to invent in 4000 years. Even before Jesus was crucified, He was scourged by the Romans. Scourging was a preliminary to Roman crucifixion. Many crucifixion victims died during their scourging. The goal of scouring was for two soldiers to use whips to flay a victim’s back until the internal organs were visible. Jesus went through this. When the scourging was finished, a cross was laid on his back, and He was forced to carry it through the streets of Jerusalem, through a mocking, shouting mob. He was too weak to carry the cross the entire way, so somebody from the crowd was drafted to carry it for Him. When the procession got to Golgotha, Jesus was crucified.

Crucifixion is perhaps one of the cruelest forms of death known to man. Perhaps this is because it is a slow death. It is a painful death. Imagine having spikes hammered through your wrists and your feet. Imagine hanging there, nailed to a wooden cross, for hours on end, with birds pecking at your eyeballs because you are too weak to fend them off. Imagine crowds of people mocking you as you hang there. Imagine life slowly draining from your body. Imagine being in so much pain that you want to die, but cannot. Jesus went through all of this.

Not only did Jesus have to go through these tortures of men, but He also went through the torments of hell. These, we cannot even begin to imagine. But you can be sure that Satan unleashed every torment of hell and then some on Jesus.

And during all of this, Jesus was abandoned and denied by His disciples. He was abandoned by His Father. In short, He had to pay for the sins of the world alone; completely by himself, without a friend in the world.

Jesus went through all of this. And He went through all of this bearing the weight of all the world’s sins. He bore every sin ever committed by every person who has ever lived, and every sin yet to be committed.

After suffering through all of this, Jesus cried out “It is finished.” And with that, our salvation was earned.

Lutherans Good Friday not only because Jesus finished earning our salvation on this day, but also because Jesus had to go through such suffering to earn our salvation. This suffering is also the reason that Good Friday services are not joyous, but solemn. The joy is reserved for Easter morning, where we are given proof that God accepted Jesus’ sacrifice, and proof that our salvation has truly been earned.

I am reading 1984 Release Date: 01 July, 1950