The Three Cs

Churches that depart from the Word will soon find that God has departed from them.   Many American churches are in a mess. Theologically they are indifferent, confused, or dangerously wrong. Liturgically they are the captives of superficial fads. Morally they live lives indistinguishable from the world. They often have a lot of people, money, and activities. But are they really churches, or have they degenerated into peculiar clubs? "The Word-less 'Church'"

Terrific post by Pastor Peters A footnote in God's history. . . Matthias is a nobody and with him, in the company of our gracious God and a host of other nobodies, I am proud to number as one more nobody.  Amen 

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.  If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all  sin. There is a serious problem in America, and the world. It seems that we are losing the ability to peer into the blackness. I have seen blackness, and I am not sure I want to see it again. I have seen blackness in different times of my life, in different ways, too, as I will explain later. But I can understand why astronomers want the ability to see their hand in front of their face, which rates as a 1 on the Bortle Dark-Sky Scale . They can't see otherwise. As David Dickinson writes on Universe Today in his post " In Search of Darkness: The Battle Against Light Pollution ," a good majority of mod...

Jesus wept. They're two of the most powerful words in Scripture. I am not sure they are the most powerful because I will never lose sight of simply being forgiven because I believe (John 11:25-26). But as verses go, few show the humanity of the Christ as John 11:35. Not only was Jesus the great physician, giving sight to the blind, giving legs to the lame, forgiving the outcasts, he was raising the dead. But all the while he bled. He cried. He wept. As a carpenter, his back surely ached from time to time. His feet undoubtedly hurt. But maybe more importantly, he wept. Think about this. God wept. The creator of the universe wept ... with us.  I think that is just marvelous news. God wept. In other words, he knows exactly how I feel. He saw us crying and came to comfort us. He saw us trying to repent, and freed us. Here was God manifest in the flesh (1 Timothy 3:16) crying with us because he was one of us (Gen. 1:27). I don't think Jesus wept because his friend Lazarus ...

And God said,  "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear." And it was so.  God called the dry land Earth,  and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. My amazement with the stars is unending. The night sky, and a map of the universe that hung on my brother's wall, have long been all the reason I ever needed to believe in God, Creator of the Universe. But this time-lapse video from the International Space Station is just as awe-inspiring. The Universe Today regularly posts videos like this one.

Listen without interrupting. (Proverbs 1:8) Speak without accusing. (James 1:19) Give without sparing (Proverbs 21:26) Pray without ceasing (Colossians 1:9) Answer without arguing. (Proverbs 17:1) Share without pretending. (Ephesians 4:15) Enjoy without complaint. (Philippians 2:14) Trust without wavering. (1 Corinthians 13:7) Forgive without punishing. (Colossians 3:13) Promise without forgetting. (Proverbs 13:12)

Another terrific sermon from Priestly Rant ... I am glad I read it. So the question, What good deed must I do to have eternal life? And Jesus gives his famous answer, perhaps one of the most abused answers in all of scripture: Go, sell what you possess, and give it to the poor. It is the answer that many a pastor loves for it allows him—he believes—to beat up on the stinginess of a parish. It is the answer that many a Stewardship Committee leader loves for it allows him—he believes—to prostitute mercy for cash. It is the answer that many a Christian backside sitting in a pew likes for it allows him or her—so they believe—to hold up the amount of the money that they give and wonder why you don’t do the same. But Jesus wasn’t talking to you. You didn’t ask the question of the Good Teacher. You’re not wealthy, and if you are you’re not troubled by it. You are not seeking answers. Go, sell what you possess, and give it to the poor.

This is without question one of the best sermons I have ever read.  Ash Wednesday from a Past Life Tonight as you all know is Ash Wednesday, but I’m not going to talk about it…its kind of boring and self-indulgent. I mean think about it for a minute: we all come in, acting somber and “penitential”—by the way, does anyone really know what that means?— maybe “sorrowful”—for what we’re not sure of—we come to the altar, heads bowed, hear the words used at a burial and get a mark on our forehead. Church is over, we go home, hit the shower, and down the drain goes both mark and emotion. No, I don’t want to bother much with Ash Wednesday-who cares about a mark that washes off anyhow; a mark put on by a man.

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life — the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us — that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.  And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. I can't help but ask, as I read this passage, what would I have done if I had seen Jesus 2,000 years ago. What would I have thought if I had seen him give sight to the blind? What would I have believed if I seen a dead man walk out of the tomb after Jesus called to him? Seriously. Think about this for a minute. Two thousand years ago, or even today, if you saw someone raise from the dead (John 11:38-43; M...

I admire good writing. More importantly, I admire good research. The Rev. Daniel Preus, Fourth Vice-President of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, clearly has given us both in " How to Witness to Jesus Christ on the Public Square and Avoid Syncretism " ... Enjoy For Christians it goes without saying that we are going to talk about Jesus to those who do not yet know Him, and for that matter, also to those who do. Jesus says that He is the way, the truth and the life and nobody comes to the Father except through Him. ( Jn. 14:6 ) Peter says that there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. ( Acts 4:12 ) Again St. Peter says, “ Always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, in meekness and in fear. ” ( I Peter 3:15 ) Why? Because the hope that is in us is the only hope for sinful people, the only hope of salvation, the only hope of deliverance from sin, the only hope of everlasting li...

It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.  Michael Middendorf, in his book "Called by the Gospel: An Introduction to the New Testament," calls this passage the most controversial section in Hebrews because of what the verses seem to say. And they seem to say that once you are saved; that once you see the light of God beckoning; that once you are empowered by the Holy Spirit, if you reject God it will be impossible to regain your salvation. But nothing could be further from the truth. First, let's start with John 18. Three times, Simon Peter, the rock on whom God would build the church, denied Christ. Three times, bystanders shined the spotlig...

“A Simple Way to Pray” – Great Resource for Everyone in Your Congregation This Lent

In the wake of the Sandy Hook grieving, here is a terrific, and sober, explanation of why LCMS clergy should not engage in syncretism. Surburg's blog: The Grief Ritual of American Civic Religion I didn’t watch the Sandy Hook Interfaith Prayer Vigil when it took place, because I alrea...

The streams of consciousness are beginning to flow regarding the LCMS pastor who gave the benediction at a interfaith "community" service in the wake of the Newtown, Conn., shootings. Apparently, even the media has been weighing in on how our church has responded. For starters, we have our president, the Rev. Dr. Matthew Harrison, explaining in a post at " Witness, Mercy and Life Together " how he handled the situation ...  I asked Pastor Morris to apologize for taking part in this service. I did this for several reasons: I believe his participation violated the limits set by Scripture regarding joint worship, particularly with those who reject Jesus (Romans 16:17), and was thus a violation of Article VI of the LCMS Constitution. Pastor Morris’s participation gave offense in the Synod, something we are to avoid, even if we are doing something we believe might be appropriate (1 Corinthians 8). I most sincerely desire to avoid deep and public contention in t...

As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer  or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work—which is by faith.  The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.  Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk.  They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.    We know that the law is good if one uses it properly.  We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers,  for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and p...

Pastor Peters expresses this so well ... Faith is about real, concrete reality. . . "It is as if faith were merely the maraschino cherry added on to an already lush dessert of ice cream, fudge, nuts, and caramel sitting on a double chocolate brownie. If that is all faith is, a spiritual bonus, then you can keep it.  I do not need a little added extra."

I don't need to comment on this post. I just need to share it. Upon this rock... which one? Matthew 16:18 is a problem for Lutherans and Roman Catholics.  Rome points to Peter and the Petrine office of the papacy.  Jesus is pointing to a man, rather a succession of men, whose primacy is, in their view, undisputed.  Lutherans insist that Peter may have been the voice but it is the confession that is the rock.  This faith is the rock upon which the Church is built -- not a man but the confession that Jesus Christ is Lord.  Lutherans insist that this is affirmed in Jesus' own admonition that Peter did not confess this on his own but as the Father revealed it to Him.  Now surely this is a rather simplistic way of putting it and there are nuances on both sides that I have overlooked to put this into a brief paragraph. But allow me this for the moment.

The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath. Acts 13:27 I can't imagine that if I had been alive 2,000 years ago I would have recognized Jesus either. He was, after all, a man, right? And God is, after all, the creator of the Universe, which today we understand is so big that we can't even begin to comprehend how big it really is. Think about this for a second. There is a website called Scale of the Universe that does a good job helping you begin to understand. Neptune is only 4.5 billion kilometers away. We are only 2 million light years from the Andromeda Galaxy. The known radius of the universe is only 14 gigaparsecs, which in simpler terms is only 14 times 3.3 billion light years, or 3.3 x 10 25 meters. And God came to us. And the Jews didn't recognize him. Honestly, that doesn't surprise me. Jesus looked like a regular guy. The God of the Univers...

I have been a professional journalist for almost 30 years. Needless to say, I love terrific word play. And Ray Hartwig's post on Witness, Mercy and Life Together is just beautiful. While We Weren’t Watching… It snowed in St. Louis last night. A blanket of four inches of perfect white piled up very neatly, flake by flake, on every surface with anything close to a horizontal plane. It would have been quite something to watch. But it happened while most of us weren’t watching, winter’s reminder of another blanket of white that covered the earth one other night while most were sleeping. We celebrated that night recently, the night when the world slumbered in the cold wintry grip of a long winter’s night of sin and death. Snow had been in the forecast, broadcast by prophets centuries earlier: “Behold,…! Unto us…! But thou Bethlehem…!” One had it predicted most accurately, a majo...

I have been meaning to write about my readings from Acts. But today, let's just sing God's praise. Shout for joy to God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise! Say to God, "How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you. All the earth worships you and sings praises to you; they sing praises to your name." Selah Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man.

Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” (Genesis 37:9 ESV) Full Moon Silhouettes from Mark Gee on Vimeo .

I wish someone would have explained confession to me the way Pastor Peters did in this blog post sooner. It makes such beautiful sense. Where is our shame?   I find myself haunted by my sins unspoken, unconfessed, and unrepented.  It is the singularly most powerful part of Christian faith to say them out loud, to speak them before another set of ears, and to be held accountable not only for the sin but for the grace of forgiveness that compels me to amend my sinful life by the power of the Holy Spirit. ... No, sadly, we are not so shamed by our sins of thought, word, and deed.  It may be that we find them not so sinful.  Or, it just may be that because we dare not admit them or own them publicly, we think we are effectively hidden from them and their consequence.  And that, my friends, is the greatest deception of all...