Issue 2: November 2008 Editor: Alicia Gartner By: Pastor Schultz A recent poll in the La Crosse Tribune reported that the season of fall is the favorite season for most people. I am one of them. Many of the things I enjoy most are in the fall, such as hunting, football, cool weather, and good fishing. Fall is also the time of year that we are reminded of the Lord’s abundant goodness as we see fields being harvested, and as we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving. It is fitting that we pause to give thanks to the Lord, not only during this time of Thanksgiving, but each day as we live under the grace of our God. It is during this time of year that we are often encouraged to “count our blessings” and remember all we have to be thankful for. That sounds easy enough, but is quite that simple? As we are reminded that we are living in an economy filled with more questions than answers, in a world where there is far more instability than stability, and as we struggle in getting along with people that we thought were our friends, we might wonder, “What do I have to be thankful about!?!” Sometimes the blessings just aren’t always so obvious. Yet, we still give thanks. Consider what the prophet Habakkuk says, in chapter 3:17- 18... 17 Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, 18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. Habakkuk points out that sometimes the reasons to be thankful are not always evident. The crops might fail, the stock market might collapse, cancer might be in the future, friends might desert us, and we might lose that job. Yet…I WILL REJOICE IN GOD MY SAVIOR! Our thanksgiving attitude, our peace and contentment is not founded on the blessings that we can count on our fingers and toes. Our thanksgiving rests on the unchanging good news that the Lord is good, and he is my Savior. Few hymns capture this truth more powerfully than the hymn that many of us will be singing on Thanksgiving Day, Now Thank We All Our God. Now thank we all our God With hearts and hands and voices, Who wondrous things hath done, In whom the world rejoices; Who from our mother's arms Hath blessed us on our way With countless gifts of love, And still is ours today. This hymn is especially meaningful when we consider the circumstances under which it was written. Martin Rinkhart wrote this hymn in Germany during the Thirty Years War. The Thirty Years War was a long, complex, and devastating war that touched most of Europe. Rinkhart was a good musician and entered ministry as a Lutheran cantor, then as a deacon in Eisleben. In 1617, he returned to his home as archdeacon of Eilenburg. The next year, the horrors of the Thirty Years War began. At one and the same time, Eilenburg was a good place to be and a bad place to be. It was a good place to be because it was a walled city that became a refuge for the war-ravaged population. It was a bad place to be because in a fortified city, disease can run rampant. For some time, Rinkhart was the only pastor in Eilenburg because the others had fled or died. It is reported that in 1637 a great pestilence swept through the city that left 8,000 dead, including Rinkhart's own wife. In the midst of his own grief, Rinkhart conducted nearly 5,000 funerals, sometimes leading as many as 40 or 50 per day. During the closing years of the war, Eilenburg was overrun or besieged three times, once by the Austrian army and twice by the Swedes. How is it that this man could write the words of this famous hymn - "Now Thank We All Our God" - published in 1636, in the midst of such great suffering? He understood the message of Habakkuk. Our own gratitude and thanksgiving rests on the Lord, who is our Savior. We rejoice in the unchanging grace of God, knowing that the Lord Jesus went to the cross and secured the greatest of all victories – the forgiveness of sins. It fills us with humble joy to know that our many sins have been washed away by the blood of the Lamb, Jesus. What grace! We find peace in the all powerful arms of our Savior, who holds us in our life, and shields us in his grace. This season of fall as we are sitting in a tree stand, watching the Packers, or enjoying turkey and stuffing with the family; may it be primarily a time for us to “be joyful in God our Savior.” Let this be our thanksgiving not only in fall, but each day as we live in God’s grace in Christ. “Now thank we all our God!” By: Alicia Gartner Kial Rushlow has been talking about abortion to freshman for the past 6 years here at Luther. She was a counselor at the New Life Resource Center. Kial talked about abstinence, human conception, and abortion to the freshmen religion classes. Some reactions to the information presented were, “Sad” (Morgan Nofftz), “Wrong” (Haley Rieck), “It’s a disgrace to mankind that they would do such a thing.” (Jerad Cary) As you can see our freshmen value life. Josh and Kami Jo Lipps, along with their son Samuel, have been visiting Luther for 3 years. They talked with students in Pastor Bilitz’s Old Testament Survey classes about suicide and the many warning signs . Josh and Kami Jo are marriage and family therapists at Living Well Christian Family Clinic in Onalaska. We thank them for coming and hope they continue to do so. By: Sarah Krajewski About 400 kids were brought to an island inhabited by a group of wacky “hooky spooky” pirates. These pirates were living the life, until they discovered a stowaway aboard. They had to figure out what to do with this imposter. They delivered him to the King of the High C’s. He easily solved the problem by sending this pirate wanna-be to the brig with the rest of the prisoners. Life was good again, or so they thought. They were on their way to the big pirates’ gathering in the big pirate sea. Their goal was to win the singing contest with the King as their lead singer. However, just before the competition, their king acquired laryngitis. BLIMEY! They were in trouble now. They were not going to win their bottle of sarsaparilla. All hope was lost until they heard a beautiful singing voice. Who was it? It was the Stowaway! Whitebeard, the oldest pirate, declared him a full blown pirate of the briny sea, and the stowaway helped them win the singing contest. Hip Hip Hooray!!! Pirates Sarah Krajewski Sara Rieke Karl Schwedler Elizabeth Dorn Eric Sand David Grokowsky Matt Rieck Abbie Schultz King Dan Grokowsky Stowaway Jerad Cary Prisoners Cassie Wierschke Paul Riediger Molly Brueske Tech Crew Stage Crew Alicia Mendel Emily Brueske Erik Precht Brianna Schulze By: Deanna Marquardt Ethan Woodliff: Ethan is in a volunteer service called Civil Air Patrol. He has been in this service for three years and started because a friend of his was in the Air Force and died. Ethan joined Civil Air Patrol be- cause they are associated with the Air Force. He feels that it is the best way to remember his friend. In the three years he has been in Civil Air Patrol, he has learned several different things like drug control, search and rescue, air traffic control, disaster relief, community service, flying, model rocketry, and leadership. He enjoys everything about this service, but mostly the military setting. When he was 16 years old, he won several awards, including the Blue Berett, Red Service, and Unit Citation. He has gone to Volk Field Wisconsin for a competition, and they received third place out of nine in a military color guard competition. He finds it easy because of all the time he spends practicing. He plans to stay in Civil Air Patrol and to take the experience into his military career. Stefanie Cox: Stefanie has been in Karate for more than two and a half years. She started when she was thirteen years old and started because her little sister was involved in it. In karate she has learned about weapons, form, sparring and leadership. She also has performed demonstrations at local events and helped teach younger kids some basic karate skills. She enjoys karate because it has many physical and mental benefits. It keeps her active when she isn’t in tennis and also helps her with self discipline. She was fourteen when she received an award in a tournament, and she has won five first place awards in the forms division. She has participated in two Diamond Nationals’ tournaments which were held in St. Paul. She is one belt from being a black belt and plans to continue her training in karate in the future. One of her goals is to earn a second degree black belt. Karate is both easy for her and a challenge; it helps her get better at what she does and also teaches her to do her best in all aspects of her life. It takes a lot of effort and endurance, but she enjoys it and has fun in karate.