Times Past and to Come

This past year was my second year of the four-year program. I was more than happy to begin the second year of study. The first year of the Seminary program is a base-laying year upon which the rest of one’s seminary education in built. The second year, then, has been a year of thoughtful insight and challenging theological ideas. Yet, God is faithful to his promise that he will never give you more than you can handle. By taking my academics is stride, I have successfully kept me grade point average high and have gained valuable information for teaching and preaching. Though, as I look back upon this past year, I am dumbfounded by the idea that I have learned much more than academics. It has become clear to me that all the academic information I learn is only learned to serve the church. “How can I serve the church?” has been the question for me this past year. I have worked with diligence to keep this question at the forefront of all classes and extra-circular activities. And to my surprise (though, it shouldn’t be surprising), more than any other thing learned, I have learned to serve Christ and his church.

This leads me to the activity that has held me captive this past year…church music. I received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Music from Concordia University in Seward, Nebraska and have always hoped that God would use my music to serve him and the church. Well, this past year has been full of opportunities to serve through music. I was privileged enough to be a member of the worship band for the “New Directions Mission Conference” put on by LCMS-World Mission. Immediately following the conference I was approached by Lutheran Hour Ministries who sought my interest in a project to musically re-write some hymns from Lutheran Worship. I was overjoyed! A meeting with Mark Eischer, the Executive Producer of the Lutheran Hour, solidified my involvement in the project.

Lutheran Hour Ministries is putting together a special edition of the Lutheran Hour, which will be sent out to our troops overseas via Armed Forces Network (AFN). The demographic was set to be between 18-30, mostly men though not limited to. With this clearly in mind, I re-arranged four hymns for a rock band: “On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s Cry,” “What a Friend We Have in Jesus,” “Lord of Glory, You Have Bought Us” and “Draw Near and Take the Body of the Lord.” I have spent the last couple of months working with a band in a recording studio so that the songs may be available for the Lutheran Hour at the end of the summer. It is my hope that the music speaks mightily to our armed forces and that the church is able to use the music as another tool to reach people for Christ. The arrangements will be copyrighted and then made available to churches that possess a CCLI license. What a blessing these past couple of months have been. I was even blessed enough to appear on a Christian radio station here in St. Louis as a part of these projects.

All that aside, Erin and I are headed off to vicarage in early August. We will be serving Christ the King Lutheran Church in Kingwood, Texas for the next year. Kingwood is located to the northeast of Houston. While Houstonians would consider Kingwood a suburb, those living in Kingwood assure us that they are not. If you have access to the Internet, you can check out the church’s website at www.christ4u.net. Christ the King has many ministries and opportunities to learn. Erin and I are looking forward to our time there. At present, I will be in charge of Kairos, a twenty-something ministry that meets on a weekly basis for worship and bible study. Outside of that responsibility I know very little about what I will be doing.

The only thing I do know, God continues to be faithful in spite of my shortcomings. Looking forward to what is to come.