Baptized into Christ

Eli, Daddy, Momma, RJ, Opa, Uncle A w/JoJo, Auntie K

Opa, Nana, Daddy, Momma w/JoJo, Grandma, Grandpa

JoJo with her sponsors, Uncle A & Auntie K

w/Big Brothers Eli & RJ, all dressed up for Easter

~ Marshall Francis Browne, Jr. ~ August 24th, 1926 - May 3rd, 2011

At approximately 11:15 last night, my beloved Grandpa went home to heaven. Although saddened by the news of his passing and thoughts of life without him, comfort is found in the assurance of his salvation. By grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone he has been welcomed into the arms of our Heavenly Father. Honestly, I'm a bit envious.

Here on earth, he leaves behind a wife of 61 years, four children, seven grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren (two of whom never had the chance to meet him). Rarely all in one place at one time, we'll be gathering for his funeral on Monday, May 16th. He will be missed by many, but we'll see him again soon.

May Day

As I write this, my grandfather is sleeping in a hospital bed while his children (and grandchildren) make plans to see him one last time. We're not expecting him to be with us much longer, and while there is sadness in that, there is relief as well. Relief for him from his pain and suffering, and relief for us being confident in his destination when he leaves this life. Now, we wait. My phone is never far from my side, and each buzz stirs my adrenaline. The day is coming, and we are doing our best to prepare for the departure of this beloved man. My heart aches for our earthly loss and yet in the same beat rejoices for his heavenly gain. Parting is such sweet sorrow.

RJ's First Easter

Today is the most important day. Without the Resurrection celebrated on Easter Sunday, our faith is void. Nothing else matters if this is false. 

We haven't been the most faithful church attendees since moving here to Mississippi. Our synod is not consistent in the teachings from congregation to congregation, and it has been difficult to find a church where correct theology is being preached from the pulpit. The churches down here are wrong, and there is little worshiping done in a service where most focus is on filtering out the bad. The best we've been able to find in our area is the least-wrong congregation, and although we haven't been in attendance every Sunday, we joined them this morning - the celebrating of Easter outweighs any trepidation about incorrect teachings.

My two favorite men, be-decked in ties for Easter service.

Away from family, there was no big meal with rowdy siblings - just the three (four!) of us at home together. I hummed an Easter hymn of two for most of the afternoon, and RJ enjoyed his day of celebrating. And while today is the most important, two days from now is another celebration he's pretty stoked about as well.

Good Friday

Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted

By: Thomas Kelly

Stricken, smitten, and afflicted,

See him dying on the tree!

This is Christ, by man rejected;

Here, my soul, your Savior see.

He’s the long expected prophet,

David’s son, yet David’s Lord.

Proofs I see sufficient of it:

He’s the true and faithful Word.

Tell me, all who hear him groaning,

Was there ever grief like this?

Friends through fear his cause disowning,

Foes insulting his distress;

Many hands were raised to wound him,

None would intervene to save;

But the deepest stroke that pierced him

Was the stroke that justice gave.

You who think of sin but lightly

Nor suppose the evil great

Here may view its nature rightly,

Here its guilt may estimate.

Mark the sacrifice appointed;

See who bears the awful load;

It’s the Word, the Lord’s Anointed,

Son of Man and son of God.

Here we have a firm foundation; 

Here the refuge of the lost;

Christ, the rock of our salvation, 

His the name of which we boast.

Lamb of God, for sinners wounded,

Sacrifice to cancel guilt!

None shall ever be confounded

Who on him their hope have built.

Goodbye, Christmas

As Epiphany arrives, we close out our Christmas celebrations for the year. Never too keen on saying goodbye to the tree, Husby took a little convincing before he relented and allowed me to store the decorations away until Thanksgiving. "Christmas is too short," he says. "We need more that 6 weeks of it." But after [more than!] 6 weeks of Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman, I'm ready to let it go. Though I am sad to see the nativity scenes backed back into their boxes, I know that it makes pulling them out again in 10 months that much sweeter.

Untitled

Having moved to a new state, we recently began looking for a new church home. There have been some struggles we have faced - both personally and through family members - that encouraged us to consider other synods instead of choosing to continue attending an LCMS church, as we have been for a lifetime. Lutheran churches are in short supply here in Mississippi, but we were fortunate enough to find a church just down to road to visit today.

A rundown of today's service at
Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd
in Biloxi, MS:

• Divine Service setting 3 - one of our favorites, we were enthused
• Hymns: On Jordan's Banks(344); Comfort, Comfort, Ye My People(374); How Great Thou Art(801); When Peace Like a River(763); Precious Lord, Take My Hand(739); I Am Jesus Little Lamb(740) - Mostly weak, although nothing objectionable     Hymn numbers refer to LSB
• Elder read the lessons - no problems there
• Elder (maybe DCE?) gave a Children's sermon - not something we're very familiar with, but not alarming

So far, so good ... it was a new church, so we weren't completely comfortable, but we were looking forward to attending their mid-week Advent service ... until we got to the sermon, which included the following definitions:

• Sin = strain on relationships, not the refusal of fun like your grandparents thought (!)
• Repentance = when you realize that you've put a strain on a relationship, so you stop (!!)
• Forgiveness = a gift from God, which is nothing but an idea until you accept it (!!!) "Like a beautifully wrapped present, which is useless until you unwrap it." Yes, that's a quote from the pastor.

Whoa, wait a minute! There's something very wrong with those statements. The LCMS churches I've attended my whole life taught that there is nothing I need to [or even can] do for my salvation - it is Jesus' death and resurrection that forgive me of my sins [which include anything that goes against God's laws]and earn forgiveness for me - no acceptance necessary.

After our experiences today, we are more solid in our belief that we can no longer commune in any LCMS church, since we would be communing with them all - including this false-doctrine ridden place in which we found ourselves this morning. While we are saddened to leave the synod in which we grew up - where we were baptized, confirmed, and married - we are more saddened by the state of the synod and the great lengths to which the faithful will have to go in order to preserve and/or restore any of the principles on which it was built.

Would Luther be rolling over in his grave at the thought of what is being taught in the church named for him and his reformative teaching? I think yes.