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The Purpose Driven Life , by Pastor Rick Warren, as noted last month, has sold over 6 million copies and has been a #1 New York Times bestseller. That's a lot of books. Some Lutheran churches around the country are studying this book. In fact, The Purpose Drive Life has become one of those institutions considered by many to be essential to the life of the Christian community.

 

This month, we announce a critique and online discussion of The Purpose Driven Life on our Forum. Since its start a couple weeks ago we've had nearly 350 views of the postings. We invite any of you reading this newsletter to drop by, study the postings and enter into the discussion.

 

First Things First - Larry Harvey, J.D., and I will conduct a seminar introducing the Beatitudes lifestyle on Saturday, April 24, 2004 at  Zion Lutheran Church of Tomball, Texas.  You may call Zion   at (281)351-5757 for registration details. The entire seminar will be available for downloading from our website next month.

 

In the introduction we will discuss the difference between the Law and the Gospel in Holy Scriptures, quoting from 2 Timothy 2:15: "Do your best to present yourself to God, as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth." We go on to point out that the Beatitudes are Gospel, inasmuch as Jesus is both the object and the content, as He said of himself: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them."

 

So we ask, based upon the First Beatitude, What is first in our lives?

• Doing the best we can with what we have?

• Finding our purpose?

• Fulfilling our obligations?

• Our families?

• Our spouses?

The First Beatitude answer is that first we daily empty ourselves so we may be filled with the living Person of the Incarnate Christ.

 

The seminar continues with a careful study of each phrase in the First Beatitude: Blessed are the Poor in Spirit, for theirs (those Reborn in Christ) is the Kingdom of the Heavens.

 

Study Guide on The First Words of Jesus  - is now available. We're in the final stages of editing.We'll go to press with this 110 page guide by Larry Harvey, J.D., next week. The Guide "has been developed to assist you in the careful consideration and study of the Beatitudes from a Gospel perspective. The material is divided into ten sections, including an introductory section, one section for each of the Beatitudes, and a conclusion. Except for the conclusion, each section is divided into five separate studies for your consideration."

 

The Study Guide will also be available online for downloading or for purchase in written format. Watch for details next month.

 

Reclaiming the Sabbath - If you have been a reader of this newsletter for some time, you may recall a seminar Larry Harvey and I conducted at Resurrection Lutheran Church , Spring, Texas . I discussed it in the February, 2002 edition of this newsletter. Since then, I have been working on reducing the seminar to a written format that will be available through our website. Each month I'll be posting a chapter or two and will eventually have the entire book available for downloading or purchase from CrossTies Ministries. Following is the introduction.

 

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This project started when the pastor of a Lutheran church approached me on behalf of his congregation. He said that in a year and a half from the present that congregation was planning to send him on a three or four months sabbatical. They were applying to the Lilly Foundation for a grant to cover the expenses of his being gone and were planning to continue his salary during that time period as a sign of their gratitude for his decade of service. The question that concerned him and the leaders of the congregation was simple and yet complex. He had a pretty good idea of what he wanted to do on his sabbatical. The complex challenge was how to help the congregation grasp the meaning of  his sabbatical for their own lives. How could he and the leaders prepare the members for his sabbatical so that both pastor and people would come out on the other side refreshed and renewed. Could I help?

Needless to say, I asked for some time to meditate upon this question - and to pray. We met several weeks later to discuss my proposal. "Sabbatical is a term derived from the Biblical word Sabbath," I said. "As you know, the third commandment in our numbering (Lutheran) reads 'Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy' (Exodus 20:8). I don't think any of us have grasped the full implications of that commandment for our lives. About all most of us remember from our catechetical instruction is that we no longer observe Saturday as our day of worship, because we Christians have chosen to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the great event that took place on Sunday. And beyond that we have Martin Luther's instructions to hold the preaching of God's Word sacred and hear it gladly. That's it.  However" -- I was warming to my subject -- "I do believe there's a whole lot more the Bible has to teach us twenty-first century Christians beyond that."

"Like what?" he asked.

"Like how to use time, how to relax, spend time with our families, set priorities in our lives and a thousand other related issues. Time management is the biggest problem we face. With all our modern gadgets and time-saving devices, our telephones and computers, our fast cars and jets, things are not slowing down. They're speeding up. Everything has to be faster and everyone is in a hurry. As a result, we have no time. We're like the rabbit who jumped down the hole in front of Alice .  He was constantly checking his watch and saying, `Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late!'"

"I see what you mean," he replied. "Even pastors' families have the same problems."

"Of course. We're caught up in the same race. We're part of the same culture. When my children lived at home, my wife was constantly reminding me that I was so wrapped up in the busy-ness of the church that I had little time for my own family. Ask her. She will immediately provide you with twenty or thirty examples of when I was not there for important family events. Everyone else's needs took priority."

He knew what I was talking about and so did the church's leaders when I presented my proposal to them. As a result, we developed a contract between us for me to provide a ten-week course to help them reflect upon twenty-first century life in light of Biblical teaching about the Sabbath. This book is a record of those lectures.

Since that time the leaders of that congregation have gone on to prepare their own Bible studies, based in part on the resources I provided. In the course of two years they taught the thousand plus members of their church the Biblical meaning of the Sabbath. I believe many will be blessed as a result. Perhaps their studies will also soon be published. For now, however, I present my own work in hopes that it will assist you to find new and creative ways, based upon the teachings of Holy Scripture, to grow in your faith and to learn better how to manage God's daily gift of time. I will do my best to keep the body of the text accessible to the average lay reader. In the notes that follow I will offer further resources, books, Internet links and the like for those inclined to dig deeper.

So, let's jump in. Like Alice, it may not have flashed across your mind to consider such things, but even Alice knew "that she had never before seen a rabbit with either a waistcoat-pocket, or a watch to take out of it, and burning with curiosity, she ran across the field after it, and fortunately was just in time to see it pop down a large rabbit-hole under the hedge.

White Rabbit checking watch

"In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again."  I'm not sure either how we shall get out of this hole, but maybe we can figure that out when we reach the bottom.

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Keep our work in your prayers. Above all, we need your prayers. Also, if the Lord moves you to support our work, join us. Become a member. Send a one time or a monthly donation. We are only able to continue because of your prayers and your love. For more information go to http://crosstiesministries.org/membership/membership_information2.htm.

 

Dr. Alvin H. Franzmeier

CrossTies Theological Director. Write to me at   alandsyl@airmail.net