Little Johnny was asked to write his favorite Sunday School song on the board. He wrote “Jesus Luves Me”. The teacher said, “That’s good Johnny, but you mis-spelled it”. First Johnny said, “I did not.” The teacher said, “Yes you did. You mis-spelled the word ‘loves’.” Johnny said, “No, that’s the right way to spell it.” The teacher showed him the dictionary, but Johnny said, “That’s just another way of spelling it.” All the kids in the class shouted, “No it’s not.” Finally Johnny said, “I don’t care if it’s wrong, that’s the way I want to spell it; any way what difference does it make?” The teacher smiled and said, “It’s easy to fix Johnny”. Then she erased the word “Luves” and replaced it with “Loves”.

As sinners, we after make mistakes. We often sin. But how do we deal with that sin? Do we deny it, pretending we didn’t do it? Do we try to argue, saying that we were right? Do we say that it’s not really wrong, it’s just another way of doing things? Do we say we don’t care if people think it’s wrong, because that’s the way we want to do it? Do we say, “What difference does it make?” and continue to do it, even when we know it’s wrong? Or do we acknowledge that it’s wrong and ask God to fix it?

1 John 1:9 declares: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” God wants to erase our sins, and make it right. But first we must confess our sins and ask God to forgive us. Like little Johnny, we make mistakes. But Jesus will fix it.

Your friend in Christ,

Our third and final Adult Forum will be on Sunday, July 18. In this forum we will be discussing the “North American Lutheran Church” (NALC). This is a new Lutheran Church body that is being formed by LutheranCore in direct response to the Churchwide Assembly’s decisions from last August. At the forum we will be comparing the NALC with the LCMC, to decide what is the better option for our church.

Then in August we will vote on which to join, should we leave the ELCA. This vote will go into effect, if our second vote to leave the ELCA passes. Finally, in September (I’m shooting for “Rally Day”) we will take our second vote, which will ratify the first vote to leave the ELCA if it passes.

I want to commend all of you for your patience and diligence. This has been a year-long process, and considering the changes we are contemplating, that’s a good thing. Whatever the final decision is , we can truthfully say that we did not rush into it. Our decision has been thoroughly studied and well thought out.

The end is in sight. Hope to see you on July 18. - Pastor Ron.