I have successfully survived one full semester of everyone’s favorite Biblical language: Greek. It was something that did not come easily. Learning a language that is completely foreign to you is like fighting upstream in a canoe, it’s always a struggle. If you stop rowing for even just a little while you will find that not only have you not made any forward progress, you’ve actually gone backwards.

Life is much the same way. In this world we’re constantly fighting upstream against all the sin that is around us. The gate is narrow and the way is difficult, but woe to him who gives up somewhere along the way. Luther noted that each day is a new struggle and we have to constantly crucify the old Adam so that the new Adam may take his place.

From the study of Biblical languages, I have learned that we all need someone (preferably even more than one person) to keep us accountable. It’s easy for one person to be in error and continue making mistakes, but often another person will help shed new light on the situation. At the beginning of the semester and the beginning of a new year, find someone (a fellow pre-semmer, a girlfriend, a roommate) who will keep you accountable. Use that person as a prayer partner and study God’s Word together. It’s easy to say to yourself, I’ll find time for God later. However, when you’ve involved someone else, you can each carry a paddle and get your vessel back on track.

But also remember not to paddle in circles. Keep Christ in front of you as your focus. Biblical languages confuse us easily and sometimes we just want to give up. But whether we’re dealing with Greek, Hebrew, a conflict with our parents or even the death of a loved one, each situation offers us the opportunity to acknowledge our weakness and utter dependence on God to give us strength to overcome all things.

Maybe you haven’t noticed (chances are you haven’t), but last semester and now the beginning of this semester, turn out for our pre-sem club meetings on Wednesdays have been less than crowded. Of course some may use homework as a good reason why they have chosen not to attend these meetings, but the truth is that there is always more homework.

My question for you is: is the pre-sem club really that important? Does it really serve a function?

I could be wrong, but I believe all the founding members of it have now graduated, so perhaps the pre-sem club has now lost its mission. We all have less of a vested interest in the pre-sem club since none of us started it. It’s just something that is there; we’re all aware of it and maybe if we have time with our busy schedules, we’ll write it into our calendars.

I think the pre-sem club does and should mean different things to different people, but what I am afraid of is that it means nothing to many people.

Perhaps you went to one meeting and didn’t like it, so you then decided not to come back. If it was important you would offer suggestions or even lead a meeting yourself to bring in a new view.

Or maybe you’re one of the many who have never gone either because it doesn’t sound like anything too interesting or else because you don’t know anyone.

If that is true, you have no more excuses. You know what you like and you are always open to lead a meeting (do a Bible study, start a discussion, have an activity, etc.), so you’ll never have to fear being bored and you know me (perhaps only through word) and I, too, have dedicated myself to being involved.

I don’t think the pre-sem club is a dinosaur ready for extinction.

Why Works Don’t Work

(Ja. 5:1ff, AC XX, p. 50 Kolb)

The wages of sin is death. It’s just that simple, but what does it really mean? Some day we all look forward to having a job where we will be blessed with the opportunity to pay all of our bills. Well, that’s the basic principle anyway. The fact is we can never escape the expenses in life, so we work to earn money.

Some people might like to believe that altruistic and “moral” behavior are things that make a person good. The truth, however, is that no one is good – sin permeates everything.

Good works lead to nothing. When we heap up our treasure or reward for being good on earth, we’re still wage earners of death. If we do something good or bad, we’ll always receive the same paycheck: death.

The only option left then is to throw in the towel. We will never earn our way to heaven, so the only option is death. And so we do die, but our death comes through the cross. And with this kind of death, we are certain of a new life because God will bring that new life within us because he alone has the resurrection power.

If we live under this new life, we realize that we do not earn anything. Our life is no longer our own. Therefore all good things come as a result of this new life. No longer are we servants of sin, now we are brothers (and sisters) in Christ!

· Syndouloi is still looking to expand its authorship. If you have a book review, devotion, story, opinion, prayer request, or anything else that you think would be a good addition to this publication, please send it to the editor, Michael Hanel, in campus mail.

One issue that Syndouloi would especially like to cover is Bible translations. Which translations are good translations? What makes for a good translation? How do different translations affect our theology? What about God’s Word, a recent Lutheran effort into the wide range of available translations? These and other issues would be worthy to explore and would be sure to find a space in Syndouloi, so please get your thoughts to the editor soon.

· If you have any questions about the Pre-Sem Club or program contact either: Pres. Dan Wing, 643-9574; V. Pres. Ryan Oakes, 8676; Sec./Treas. Josh Lowe, 8563; Editor, Michael Hanel, 8596; or Sponsor, Prof. Block, 7442.

· The next meeting is Wed.. Jan. 24 at 9pm in the Pre-Sem Room, Founders 203. If you haven’t caught on, our meetings are weekly on Wed. nights. These one-hour meetings usually consist of free pop and cookies, a speaker or Bible study, and prayer. If you, or someone you know, would like to lead one of our weekly meetings, please contact Dan.

· In the absence of any controversial subjects, please also consider submitting book reviews and or good websites to the Editor. With so many different ideas out there, it’s important that we help each other find the good and avoid the bad!

· If you know someone who did not get a copy of Syndouloi, but would like one, please send a note to the Editor or call him. One need not be in the Pre-Sem program to participate in or just watch this exchange of ideas.

Words of Wisdom

Like many, I had the chance to catch up on a little reading over winter break. The time off provided me with plenty of time to relax, but also time to think. Division in the Church can be a good thing it seems, for the body is made into many parts, but C.S. Lewis in his book The Screwtape Letters also reminds us what kind of divisions are not beneficial:

I think I warned you before that if your patient can’t be kept out of the Church, he ought at least to be violently attached to some party within it. I don’t mean on really doctrinal issues; about those, the more lukewarm he is, the better….The real fun is working up hatred between those who say ‘mass’ and those who say “holy communion” when neither party could possibly state the difference between, say, Hooker’s doctrine and Thomas Aquinas’, in any form which would hold water for five minutes.

This says at least two things. First, ignorance can cause much confusion and many problems. Especially since we will be serving in a position of greater responsibility it is of utmost importance to know why you hold the views you do and also to realize what the implications of those views are in other places. If you support women’s ordination, does that change how you interpret the rest of the Scriptures? Second, we often get caught up in debates, but forget what it is that really causes us to come into disagreement. Think before you act. And learn in order to think. In all things, seek God’s wisdom.

Need for Unity?

Why Works Don’t Work

Notes and News

Words of Wisdom