We Made It

We bicycled to Church this morning and we made it back home safely!  It was a little cool in the morning (around 40F) but it warmed up to around 60F for the ride home.  The trip is on the order of 15 miles and it feels good to get back to biking.

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I feel a loss of control: I bought gas on Thursday night (the 10 block gas gauge on our new car had just gone to the lowest block) and today the gas has gone up 16¢ per gallon to $4.059.  I was going to tell all of you to fill up, but I don't know what happened (my LW says since it was late when we filled up maybe the gas goblin got confused or didn't see us!).  Fortunately, we in IL have a very high gas tax and since we are close to Chicago get the Summer Blend gas, so we get to pay more than most people.

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An interesting article from Reuter's saying that:

(Reuters) - Banks are foreclosing on America's churches in record numbers as lenders increasingly lose patience with religious facilities that have defaulted on their mortgages, according to new data.
The surge in church foreclosures represents a new wave of distressed property seizures triggered by the 2008 financial crash, analysts say, with many banks no longer willing to grant struggling religious organizations forbearance.
Since 2010, 270 churches have been sold after defaulting on their loans, with 90 percent of those sales coming after a lender-triggered foreclosure, according to the real estate information company CoStar Group.
In 2011, 138 churches were sold by banks, an annual record, with no sign that these religious foreclosures are abating, according to CoStar. That compares to just 24 sales in 2008 and only a handful in the decade before.


"Churches are among the final institutions to get foreclosed upon because banks have not wanted to look like they are being heavy handed with the churches," said Scott Rolfs, managing director of Religious and Education finance at the investment bank Ziegler.
Church defaults differ from residential foreclosures. Most of the loans in question are not 30-year mortgages but rather commercial loans that typically mature after just five years when the full balance becomes due immediately.
Its common practice for banks to refinance such loans when they come due. But banks have become increasingly reluctant to do that because of pressure from regulators to clean up their balance sheets, said Rolfs.
"A lot of these loans were given when the properties were evaluated at a certain level in 2005 or 2006," Rolfs said. "Banks have had to reappraise the value of these properties, whether it's a church or a commercial office building. Values have gone down, so the loans cannot continue in the same form."

Banners

One of my fun duties at our church is changing the banners.  I am one of the young people at our church so  I don't mind going up on a ladder and changing the banners (mainly in the altar area though sometimes on the sides, I don't understand how we decide to put up the side ones ( that is known to Betty)).


I went to the Y this morning and since I was 70% of the way to the church (cheap me not wanting to waste gas), I went to the church and changed the White Banners (Transfiguration Sunday) for the Purple Banners (Ash Wednesday(should be black but we don't have black banners) and Lent).  Before getting into the banner changing profession I never noticed that much the banners or their color.  Below is the ELCA colors and meanings:

The Meaning and Use of Liturgical Colors


In the Christian tradition colors are used for vestments and paraments, but a unified system of colors developed only gradually and haphazardly until and through the Middle Ages. Today, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America provides a system of colors for use by its congregations; for the most part, the same system is also used by Roman and Anglican churches, at least in the United States; and by many churches around the world, including the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada.


The colors serve to adorn the worship space, and to call attention to the nature of the season or festival being celebrated. A brief summary of their usage, according to the church year, follows.


Advent: Blue is used for its references to hope. It originated in Scandinavia, probably because purple dye was too expensive for churches to use. The alternate color for Advent is purple, the royal color of the coming King (note that this is a different meaning than when it is used in Lent; see below).
Christmas: White is used, as a reference to the purity of the newborn Christ, and to our light and joy in him.
Epiphany of Our Lord: White (see Christmas).
Baptism of Our Lord: White (see Christmas).
Sundays after the Epiphany: Green is used for its symbolism of our growth in Christ. Green, in a sense, is a "neutral color," used when more festive or more somber color is not appointed.
Transfiguration of Our Lord: White (see Christmas).
Ash Wednesday: Black is the preferred color, since it is the color of the ashes to which we will all return. Purple is the alternate color for this first day of Lent.
Lent: Purple is indicated, as the stark color of repentance and solemnity.
Sunday of the Passion: Scarlet is the preferred color of this first day of Holy Week, as it suggests the deep color of blood. (Scarlet is to be distinguished from the brighter color of red, which is appointed for the Day of Pentecost, martyrs’ days, and certain church celebrations). If a parish does not have scarlet vestments, purple may be used.
Days of Holy Week: Scarlet or purple may be used for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of Holy Week.
Maundy Thursday: For this fourth day of Holy Week, celebrated as the institution of the Lord’s Supper, scarlet or white is used.
Good Friday: No vestments or paraments are used on this day, after the stripping of the altar on Maundy Thursday night.
Vigil of Easter: White as the color of joy in the Resurrection is used on this night.
Easter Day: On this one day of the church year, gold may be used. White is the alternate, perhaps with gold running through it. The gold color indicates that this day is the "queen of feasts," unique in the entire church year.
Sundays of Easter: White (see Vigil of Easter).
Day of Pentecost: Red as the color of fire is used on this day when we remember the tongues of fire descended on the crowd in Jerusalem. In contrast to the color of scarlet, Pentecost’s red is a bright color.
The Holy Trinity: White is appointed, the expression of joy in the mystery of the Triune God.
Other Sundays after Pentecost: Green is used, to indicate our growth in faith as we follow the teachings and ministry of Christ.
Christ the King: The final day of the church year uses white, a festive color of light, joy, and the celebration of our Lord.
Lesser festivals and commemorations are white, unless a martyr is celebrated, in which case bright red is used.

So I will go as far as I can into rock and roll carrying my Christian banner.  Cliff Richard


He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. - Song of Solomon 2:4.


Moses built an altar and named it The LORD is My Banner;  Exodus 17:15


We will sing for joy over your victory,And in the name of our God we will set up our banners May the LORD fulfill all your petitions. Psalm 20:5


banner (n)  a long strip of cloth bearing a slogan or design, hung in a public place or carried in a demonstration or procession • a flag on a pole used as the standard of a monarch, army, or knight.  • figurative an idea or principle used to rally public opinion  
ORIGIN Middle English : from Old French baniere, ultimately of Germanic origin and related to band

Paul

My wife & I are attending a Bible Study called "No Experience Necessary" led by our Pastor's wife (also a pastor) Sue Ellen. The first couple of sections were on 2 Corinthians 5:11-21 and Galatians 5 :1-15. The Cor talks about New Creation & the Gal talks about Freedom.

An interesting thing (to me) is that Paul in Galatians 1 Paul starts it off with : 6 am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; 7 which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ and in 2 Corinthians 2 : 4 For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears; not so that you would be made sorrowful, but that you might know the love which I have especially for you. 5 But if any has caused sorrow, he has caused sorrow not to me, but in some degree--in order not to say too much--to all of you.

Paul was admonishing the Churches telling them to not stray from the doctrine that he preached. Another favorite Paul moment for me is 1 Cor 1 : 14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one would say you were baptized in my name.
16 Now I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized any other.

Paul drove much of the faith that we Christians profess; it is interesting to me that he was so "angry" (not the right word but close).

epistle (n) formal a letter. • a poem or other literary work in the form of a letter or series of letters. • (also Epistle) a book of the New Testament in the form of a letter from an Apostle : St. Paul's epistle to the Romans. • an extract from an Epistle (or another New Testament book not a Gospel) that is read in a church service.

Guilt

At our Church (Trinity United Lutheran Church), I run / created our website, lead two Bible studies (Tuesday morn & early Sunday morning), lead an after Church Bible studies ( so far on Daniel & Revelations basically 2 per month), & try to sing in the choir (I'm in the choir but don't have the best voice or musical attitude) and do a few minor things here & there.

I feel guilty because there are so many other people who seem to do so much more (we have a small congregation in a large beautiful Church building).

I've been asked to be on the Church council (12 members [wonder where that number came from]) and have refused to do it.

Personally I think I would not be good there since I don't like working in groups (must be my military training) & those who know me can testify I can be a real pain in the neck with my strong opinions.

The study today was on Mary mother of Jesus & how she took on a great duty when she was a young girl; how she said "may it be done to me according to your word" or "“Let it be with me according to your word”(Luke 1:38 NASB/NRSV).

So I feel guilty!

guilt (n) the state of having done a wrong or committed an offense; culpability, legal or ethical;  a painful feeling of self-reproach resulting from a belief that one has done something wrong or immoral