The Pastor's Blog @ Saint Matthew's — Written by Pastor Anthony J. Iovine

LCMS Response to Health Law Issues

by Rev. Iovine on February 4, 2012

From LCMS President Matthew J. Harrison:

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

We are deeply distressed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) recent decision to require nearly all private health plans, including those offered by religious employers, to cover contraceptives. This will include controversial birth-control products such as “Ella” and the “morning after” pill, even though the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns that such drugs can cause the death of a baby developing in the womb. The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) objects to the use of drugs and procedures that are used to take the lives of unborn children, who are persons in the sight of God from the time of conception, and we are opposed to the HHS’ decision mandating the coverage of such contraceptives.

This HHS action relates to a provision in the “health care reform” legislation (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act) signed into law in 2010. The church’s benefits partner, Concordia Plan Services, which provides health care coverage to nearly 48,000 people, has been actively monitoring this legislation and, as a result, Concordia Health Plan (CHP)—the LCMS church workers’ health plan—has been maintained as a “grandfathered” plan. As such, employers and workers participating in CHP would not be subjected to the mandate. However, many religious organizations do not have grandfathered plans and cannot avail themselves of the extremely narrow religious-employer exemption, which only is applicable to religious employers that primarily serve and employ members of that faith.

For centuries, Lutherans have joyfully delivered Christ’s mercy to others and embraced His call to care for the needy within our communities and around the world. In a nation that has allowed more than 54 million legal abortions since 1973, we must consider the marginalization of unborn babies and object to this mandate.

In addition, I encourage the members of the LCMS to join with me in supporting efforts to preserve our essential right to exercise our religious beliefs. This action by HHS will have the effect of forcing many religious organizations to choose between following the letter of the law and operating within the framework of their religious tenets. We add our voice to the long list of those championing for the continued ability to act according to the dictates of their faith, and provide compassionate care and clear Christian witness to society’s most vulnerable, without being discriminated against by government.

The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, a church body of sinners redeemed by the blood of Jesus, has affected the lives of millions of people with care, aid, housing, health care, spiritual care and much more. We have been a force for good in this nation, promoting education (the nation’s largest Protestant school system), marriage and giving people the tools and assistance to be good citizens. We live and breathe Romans 13:3–7. The governing authorities are “God’s servant for good.” We pray constantly for our President and those in authority. We have sent our sons and daughters to fight for this country. We have provided military chaplains, elected officials, officers, including some who have held the highest military offices and other appointed positions in this country. Our people have and are serving as congressmen and women and senators.

Increasingly we are suffering overzealous government intrusions into what is the realm of traditional and biblical Christian conscience. We believe this is a violation of our First Amendment rights. We will stand, to the best of our ability, with all religious and other concerned citizens, against this erosion of our civil liberty. Come what may, we shall do everything we can, by God’s grace, to “obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).

In His peace,

Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison
President
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

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Tragic

by Rev. Iovine on January 29, 2012

A tragic story out of Topeka, Kansas:

A Salina, Kansas pastor (LCMS) is injured, and his wife and two of his children are killed, in a head-on crash on Interstate 70 near Topeka Saturday afternoon.

According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, 62-year-old Steven Moore of Topeka was driving a Dodge Challenger east on I-70. He crossed over the center median and struck an on-coming Ford Windstar van driven by 37-year-old Laura Geske of Salina.

Geske was killed in the crash. Also killed was 3-year-old Joy Geske and 8-year-old Joshua Geske. 41-year-old Jeffrey Geske was hurt, as was 3-year-old Jacob Geste, Joy’s twin brother. Both were transported to Stormont Vail Hospital in Topeka.

Keep Pastor Geske and his son, Jacob, in your prayers.

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Sanctuary Lamp

by Rev. Iovine on January 28, 2012

A member of the church asked me earlier about the sanctuary lamp, known more commonly here as the “eternal candle.” We have regularly purchased the candles from Concordia Publishing House. However, over the past couple of months, we have started buying the candles locally at a dollar store in town.

Why? The cost.

CPH sells a case of 24 candles for $88 plus shipping, a cost that easily breaks the $100 barrier. These candles burn for seven days, thus we need to change these candles out weekly. Considering that there are 52 weeks in a year, we regularly go through two boxes, plus four from a third. Overall, CPH sanctuary candles have cost us, on average, more than $300 per year.

In November, while in Dollar Power store in Brookchester here in New Milford, I noticed that they sold 7-day burning candles for $1.50 each. When we finally ran out of sanctuary lamps, I decided to pick up a couple at Dollar Power and use them in church. Honestly, I wasn’t too confident that they would last as long as the candles purchased from CPH. To my surprise, the candles burned for at least six and half days, about the same as the CPH sanctuary lamps. However, it was the cost that sold me. The church would be saving approximately $2.50 per candle if we continue to purchase them from the local store instead of paying almost $4.00 a candle with shipping from CPH.

And unless I didn’t write about it, my guess is that no one would have noticed.

Annually, these Dollar Power candles would cost us a tad more than $77 a year without any shipping cost. CPH, which charges a premium to ship, would cost Saint Matthew’s approximately $300.

I’m not crazy, but saving $223 a year seems like a good idea.

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Taking God Out of the Public, Again

by Rev. Iovine on January 27, 2012

A teenager in Rhode Island is facing a huge community backlash for leading an effort to remove a prayer that hanged in an elementary school for nearly a half century. I think the community should shun this young lady and teach her that her rights are not more important than the rest of the community. The New York Times this morning describes the prayer:

“Our Heavenly Father,” the prayer begins, “grant us each day the desire to do our best, to grow mentally and morally as well as physically, to be kind and helpful.” It goes on for a few more lines before concluding with “Amen.”

Of course, we do not want the children of our society to do their best, to grow mentally and morally as well as physically as long as we say the words, “Our Heavenly Father” or “Amen.”

This is yet another sad example of an activist court that tries to purge the mention of a generic God in the public square. People of faith and the #church need to stand up and fight for their rights to speak of God in public.

New York Times story link:

Rhode Island City Enraged Over School Prayer Lawsuit
A girl’s successful lawsuit to have a prayer removed from her high school has roiled the heavily Roman Catholic city of Cranston, where residents are appealing the decision.

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On Paper

by Rev. Iovine on January 27, 2012

I am an avid reader of the Lifehacker website, a site that purports to supply its readers with tips and tricks to get things done. As someone who has been obsessed, though not very successful, at getting things done in an orderly manner, Lifehacker has provided me with endless ideas and suggestions on organizing my daily and business life. This morning, their lead post reminded me of something I re-learned last year:

It may seem like common sense that you need to get your ideas out of your head to act on them, but how many of us walk around with an always-updating to-do list in our heads only to forget one of them later? One of the basic principles of GTD (Getting Things Done) and many other productivity systems is that your first step is to get your ideas and to-dos out of your head and on paper or into some system as soon as possible so you have the clarity to actually work on them.

One of my most glaring problems as a pastor has been inability to properly organize my day ever since I started using online tools (Google Calendar, iCloud, Remember the Milk, etc.). I found that being overly reliant on electronic tools, though very cool, has caused me NOT to regularly check my typed calendar and lists that were supposed to keep me focused to actually accomplish them. I found it was so much easier to change the due date on a to do list item in Remember the Milk when my day came to an end and that specific task went unfulfilled.

However, with my cancer battle, my brain became lazy. To do lists in Remember the Milk, Tasks in Google Calendar, and the actual online calendaring systems I used, all became worthless. My not-accomplished to do list was deleted. I would forget to look at my phone’s calendar or look at my daily calendar each morning in iCal on my computer. My life had become a wreck. Until I started thinking about my pre-seminary life — my to do lists were actually accomplished. My calendar flowed so much easily each day. And I would remember details from events and meetings I attended.

How?

I used to write everything down on paper. Usually the night before, I would actually look at my to do list and when I didn’t accomplish something, I moved it to the next day — and I placed it at the top of my list. That put pressure on me to ‘get things done.’ Since my calendar was written down, I was more aware of my daily schedule. My comprehension level was always higher when I had to sit and write things down rather than relying on typing up notes.

Last year, I purchased a set of DayTimers and made a promise to begin writing everything down on paper. Sometimes, especially after meetings, I type up my notes and file them away electronically (or if my handwriting is really bad, I print them out and file them). My organization has become so much better since “going back” to pen and paper. Even my sermons — I know handwrite them instead of type them. My memorization is much crisper than it has been in years. While my nutritionist tells me I should thank my changed diet (eating a plant-based, whole foods vegan diet), I thank my increased comprehension level to the good old Pilot pen, my looseleaf and reporter’s notebooks, and my DayTimers.

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Bad Pastor…

by Rev. Iovine on January 26, 2012

Earlier this afternoon, I ran into someone in town who regularly reads this blog and he made a very poignant observation:

“Hey, Pastor I., your blog hasn’t been updated since the 18th. You OK?”

And the reality smacked me across the face. I made him a promise to blog everyday for a month. Today is day one.

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Slave States. Free States

by Rev. Iovine on January 18, 2012

Abortion is a scourge on our society. Each year, more than a million God’s innocent children are killed in the womb, kept from living like you and me; millions of children who never had the chance to breath fresh air or play in the park. It is a stain on our culture and our national soul.

As the 2012 Presidential election continues its march to November, there is no doubt in my mind there will be some frantic and ugly comments made, not just by politicians but by their supporters. Today’s shocking moment comes from Merle Hoffman, a leading abortion rights cheerleader for more than 40 years. The Daily Caller reports that the current crop of Republican presidential nominees scares her since all are opposed to abortion. In front of the National Press Club, Hoffman said that if one of the Republican nominees becomes president, she could see it where abortion rights would be curtailed in number of states while in others, it would have free reign. Or as she put it:

“…where you’d have a country where there, in my mind, are free states and slave states.”

Slave states.

She believes that states where abortion would be limited equates to slavery.

Too bad Hoffman never had the same feeling about those children who are killed each day in abortion clinics, including her own.

And it is a rather sad that the reason of her appearance at the National Press Club — originally thought to show that since the start of the national recession, abortions have gone up — was fraught with a great missing link: the data she used actually dated back to BEFORE the recession formally started.

The video from The Daily Caller is below:

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Normalcy

by Rev. Iovine on January 18, 2012

Good Wednesday morning!

It has been a while since I last posted, and my last post was not a fun one: I was sick with the stomach flu. Yes, it was ugly for a short time, but thankfully it left as quickly as it arrived. There have been so many members of Saint Matthew’s who have come down with this flu over the past couple of weeks. As a doctor told one member, the best thing to do is drink fluids and wait it out.

Today is Wednesday and tonight, we will have our bible class and Divine Service beginning at 7pm. Last week, we flipped our worship service and bible study (we worked on the bible study before our worship service) and it seemed to work very well. We’ll do the same tonight. I hope to see you there!

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Stomach Virus

by Rev. Iovine on January 13, 2012

Yes, I have been hit with the ugly stomach virus that is walloping so many congregants and people we all know. I came down with it last evening, just after dinner. It has been a rather ugly day here at the house. While I have slept plenty, the ickiness of this sickness is just nasty.

For those wondering, I spoke with my oncologist earlier today and she gave me instructions: drink a lot of fluids. I was a little worried that with my still compromised immune system that there would be something else I should be doing. Or as my doctor said, “You’ve got a virus. Drink fluids, pray it goes away fast.”

Therefore, I am spending the evening here at the house. If you call and I don’t answer, I am probably asleep.