onthemove
76 Guys Were New to Fourth Annual Fishing Fray
by Kurt Buchholz
Face the Realities “I Am Who I Am.” This is the name God told Moses to tell the laymen (the sons of Israel) when they asked for God’s name. (Exodus 3:14) I hadn’t really given this verse much more thought than thinking that I Am Who I Am is quite a mouthful and really didn’t sound much like a name. That all changed recently when our pastor preached about this verse, making the point that “I Am” is present tense, not past tense. God’s message to the laymen of Israel is a message that is very meaningful to us today. He is not the ‘I Was Who I Was’ or the ‘I Will Be Who I Will Be’ God. He is the God who is in this moment, all that ever was and is — and is to come. His fullness exists in this moment. What a promise to live by! The International Lutheran Laymen’s League was founded by those who didn’t turn a blind eye to the calling God was putting before them. A group of 12 laymen successfully raised $100,000 to settle a church debt, and later raised $2.7 million to fund a pension plan for professional church workers. (For more on the story, see: http:// www.lhm.org/about/ourhistory.asp.) They could have easily done what we find ourselves doing: griping about why someone else is not seeing the obvious solution and just fixing it, pointing a finger at those who may have been the cause or just turning a blind eye. Instead they opened their eyes to the reality that was in front of them and were faithful to God’s call. I know this is a daily challenge for me whether the subject is politics, current events, decisions made by congregational leaders or challenges in my own family. I am tempted to point a finger, interject an over-simplified answer or just try to pretend I’m not involved. And daily God loves and forgives me and continues to call me as His own. How do you respond in the moment when U.S. soldiers and diplomats are
killed, when children bring guns to school or when there seems to be no chance of working together for the common good in our systems of government? Like those first LLL laymen, we know that challenges are before us: challenges in the state of outreach in the LCMS as we read about in the last issue of The Lutheran Layman; challenges in our government as we learn about in the new LHM television special “The Intersection of Church and State”; and challenges in our own communities and families. Let us join together just as Moses and the sons of Israel and those first laymen did in 1917 to face the realities of the moment with conviction and hope assured that God is a God of all moments. It is in the individual moments of the day that the God of all time (past, present, and future) calls us to be a witness to the wonderful work that He has done. Let us pray for each other that God would open our eyes to see Him in every moment of the day. May God’s certain promises be our guide in this uncertain world as we join together to boldly respond to the moment. n
18 The Lutheran Layman November - December 2012
The Fourth Annual Men’s NetWork North American Fishing Tournament came to an end on Sunday, Sept. 2. Over the course of 18 weeks this spring and summer, everything from largemouth bass to freshwater stripers were caught, weighed, photographed and results e-mailed per contest rules to our dedicated tournament staff at Lutheran Hour Ministries. There were 177 guys registered with 76 of those being new to this year’s contest. Of the winners, there were 50 different guys who pulled in a $10 gift card, with several men netting multiple wins. Among these were Tom Schramm (19 wins/$190 take home), John Nail (14 wins/$140 take home) and Jacob Oberheu (11 wins/ $110 take home). Not a bad haul for these gents, considering it only cost them the $10 entry fee, which got each one a nice Men’s NetWork cap and specially designed fishing lure too, by the way. All in all winners landed more than $1,800 in cash over the course of this year’s contest. The Grand Prize this year went to Jonathan Hoppert; his name was drawn from all of the winners to win the $500 MasterCard/Visa gift card. Enjoy it, Jonathan. We know you will! n
Thank You, Thrivent Members,…!
Kurt Buchholz, Int’l LLL Chairman of the Board
…for your participation in the Thrivent Choice program! You have directed more than $175,000 to Lutheran Hour Ministries (LHM) so far this year! There’s still time to use your 2012 Choice dollars to help share the Gospel through LHM! Visit www.lhmgift.org/choice.htm for instructions on how to direct your Choice dollars online. LHM is listed as International Lutheran Laymen’s League/Lutheran Hour Min. You can also call Thrivent (1-800-THRIVENT) and they will walk you through the process. n