The following is a rant. My apologies in advance.

I went to church expecting Jesus, and left empty handed.

The screens are questionable at best. But that is the least of my concerns. You guys had a 20 minute sing-a-long…of simple peppy hymns…not from LW, TLH, or the new Hymnal…with canned music…and no Lenten hymns.

Via a puppet, you told the children that keeping the 10 Commandments are a way to a good life as a Christian. Where is Jesus? The adult sermon is not much better.

I’ll tell you, Pastor, why people are excited over our favourite TV shows and why they are hesitant to attend your church: YOU DO NOT SHOW JESUS IN WORD AND SACRAMENT AS THE FOCUS OF OUR LIVES. Where’s the forgiveness of sins via the work of Christ Crucified? Instead, we are subjected to moralising and how following the 10 Commandments are a matter of having a “relationship with God”–by the way…which god? Not once you ever pointed to the Cross. Not once you did say we failed miserably at keeping the 10 Commandments and only Jesus followed it to perfection.

I walked out after the sermon, did not go to the Lord’s Supper as we are not in agreement theologically, despite its LCMS name. (And by the way, there’s no chalice, just little jiggers.)

I’m hesitant to attend church in Phoenix, lest I get disappointed. What should I do? Some of you are doing the Lenten non-commenting, so here’s the email: madtheo attt carolrutz dooott com !!!1!

No job yet, despite going to the job fair and applying at Dice and Careerbuilder.  At least it’s not as fierce as the job market in Fort Wayne.  There the jobs require 3-5 years of coding experience and other non-entry level requirements.  It’s tough all over.

I did help some neighbors with their e-mail accounts.  All I can say is that Yahoo is crummy, especially with the POP3 restrictions for free e-mail.

I’m hoping to go to church this Sunday in Phoenix.  The nearest LCMS church is being ridiculous…they held a POLKA service last week.

Tomorrow, there is a happy hour party at my block and I am supposed to bring a snack and a drink to share.  Most likely, I’m bringing cooked shrimp and make an avocado relish to accompany the shrimp.  A white wine will accompany the dish.

Plenty of things are happening now.

Drove my car via I-40/Route 66, about 1850 miles in four days.  Glad to be with my Prediger.

Yesterday, I went to a job fair in Glendale.  I arrived 2 hours early to queue up and when it opened, the line snaked around the stadium. Later, I found out that about 15000 job seekers showed up.

Got a phone call today, and I’ll be taking an exam tomorrow.  If I go well, I’ll start working at a call center.  Prayers, mojo, and wishes are appreciated.

The Prediger and I are now here in the Phoenix area, and we are doing well. We are in an 55+ retirement community and it’s very nice, despite the mostly cloudy and showers. Arizona state law allows at least one married person over 55 to rent from an age-restricted community, so it was no problem for us when we reserved a spot. The first day the neighbors invited us for a dinner party. After that, I went to the bingo session at the auditorium. Now I understood why the bingo lady in the “Super Sonic XL” Loud n Clear commercial was pissed when she missed that number. You MUST yell “Bingo” after the winning number is called.

Some of the neighbors invited me to church, but I mentioned that I prefer the “high church”/liturgical services. (I did not want to tell them that their theology is dodgy. A bad method in neighbor relations.) I care not for cracker-and-grape-juice symbolism. I want the Real Presence!

The Prediger enjoyed his first time yesterday at the Waffle House…that we ended up going there for dinner! Omelettes for the win!

This is the first of an ongoing series on my stint in Apache Junction. “The Youngest Snowbird” gets its name from my neighbors when they found out that I turned 30 recently. Stay tuned for later postings.