January Message from the Principal
From the Principal’s Desk
January, 2018
Hitting the Reset Button
It’s frustrating to have problems with an electronic device, especially a computer. My home computer has been giving problems, like taking a long time to open programs, not opening programs and giving me a “spinning beach ball” for what seems like an eternity. I try to back out from these programs and reopen them - sometimes successfully, often not. I wish there was a magic reset button on my computer that would make everything perfect, the way it is supposed be. My life would be a lot simpler with this magic button.
Our lives are very similar to my computer. Things don’t go right for us. We get frustrated. We look for easy fixes to complex problems and often these fixes create bigger problems. We need a reset button that will make everything perfect for us so that our lives will be a lot simpler and less frustrating.
What is the source of all of our problems and frustrations? The simple answer is sin. God created a perfect world. Adam and Eve were also perfect, without sin. Then sin entered the world by Satan’s temptations and man’s disobedience. Now we have imperfect people living in an imperfect world trying to solve problems with imperfect solutions. What a mess! No wonder we experience despair, frustration, and anger. What can be done to solve this mess?
Just recently, we celebrated the birth of Jesus in our Christmas services. Jesus is God’s answer to our sinfulness. He was born to live the perfect life we cannot live and to be the perfect sacrifice that we could not provide, to satisfy the payment for all of our sins, not his sins. By his holy life, his innocent suffering and death, and his glorious resurrection, we have been declared justified in God’s eyes. My letter in November focused on the truths of the Reformation. A review of these truths is helpful in understanding what God has given us:
“ It is by God’s grace alone that we receive our forgiveness of sins, not by anything we do. Through faith alone we are deemed righteous in God’s eyes, even though we continue to be sinners. All we believe and preach is from Scripture alone, God’s Holy Word, not words of people or societal norms. There is only one that saves and that is Jesus Christ alone. “
This doesn’t mean we won’t have frustrations, but we know that God has taken care of the big problem we face - sin - and everything else we face is minor compared to this. With these assurances, we have nothing to fear or worry about, not even a stubborn computer that probably should replaced.
Roger Zolldan
Principal, Salem Lutheran School
January, 2018
Hitting the Reset Button
It’s frustrating to have problems with an electronic device, especially a computer. My home computer has been giving problems, like taking a long time to open programs, not opening programs and giving me a “spinning beach ball” for what seems like an eternity. I try to back out from these programs and reopen them - sometimes successfully, often not. I wish there was a magic reset button on my computer that would make everything perfect, the way it is supposed be. My life would be a lot simpler with this magic button.
Our lives are very similar to my computer. Things don’t go right for us. We get frustrated. We look for easy fixes to complex problems and often these fixes create bigger problems. We need a reset button that will make everything perfect for us so that our lives will be a lot simpler and less frustrating.
What is the source of all of our problems and frustrations? The simple answer is sin. God created a perfect world. Adam and Eve were also perfect, without sin. Then sin entered the world by Satan’s temptations and man’s disobedience. Now we have imperfect people living in an imperfect world trying to solve problems with imperfect solutions. What a mess! No wonder we experience despair, frustration, and anger. What can be done to solve this mess?
Just recently, we celebrated the birth of Jesus in our Christmas services. Jesus is God’s answer to our sinfulness. He was born to live the perfect life we cannot live and to be the perfect sacrifice that we could not provide, to satisfy the payment for all of our sins, not his sins. By his holy life, his innocent suffering and death, and his glorious resurrection, we have been declared justified in God’s eyes. My letter in November focused on the truths of the Reformation. A review of these truths is helpful in understanding what God has given us:
“ It is by God’s grace alone that we receive our forgiveness of sins, not by anything we do. Through faith alone we are deemed righteous in God’s eyes, even though we continue to be sinners. All we believe and preach is from Scripture alone, God’s Holy Word, not words of people or societal norms. There is only one that saves and that is Jesus Christ alone. “
This doesn’t mean we won’t have frustrations, but we know that God has taken care of the big problem we face - sin - and everything else we face is minor compared to this. With these assurances, we have nothing to fear or worry about, not even a stubborn computer that probably should replaced.
Roger Zolldan
Principal, Salem Lutheran School