The Three Cs

As Lutherans, most of us relish and rejoice in the thought of joining all the saints in singing our hymns of praise every Lord’s Day. What is good for Grandma and Grandpa, the saying goes, is good for us; therefore, there is no room for contemporary music in our divine services. Well, you might not know this, but some Sundays our ancient liturgy has a rather contemporary flair. Amid the Kyries, Alleluias, and Prefaces we have used for centuries, many congregations will enjoy singing what has become one of our most loved contemporary hymns of praise, This is the Feast , also known as Worthy is Christ.  When people hear the word contemporary, they most certainly think of the Hillsongs, Third Days, and Casting Crowns of the music business. But the word contemporary quite literally means “belonging to or occurring in the present.” And that’s exactly how This is the Feast fits into our Lutheran Service Book today, and the worship books of many other denominations for that matter. ...

What do you want with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time? In case you've missed it, I write a lot about believing in God. (OK, that's an understatement; it is what I write about). Believe, is my reminder. Set your hope in Jesus. Have faith that the one you have not seen is real, that the stories you read about him are true. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and strength. Of course, I am not just reminding you; I am reminding myself, in a large part because of today's passage. You realize, demons believe in Jesus, don't you? Oh, wait? Demons are real, you ask? Of course they are real! Why would we need a savior if there are no demons? Yes, demons are very real; they really do possess people; they are going to hell, and they know it. And they want to take you and me with them. Demons are intimately aware of who Jesus is. In fact, they not only recognized the son of Joseph and Mary, they recognized him as the W...

Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. In my last post, I challenged the idea that Jesus never said he was God, by laying out from just the first eight chapters of John how in fact he did say he was. The Jews knew what Jesus was saying, and they wanted to stone him; they just didn't get the chance. And if you will listen to Jesus' words today, you will hear him say it clearly. Today, we have what I think is the most powerful testimony yet, the Father and the Son ar...

The Spirit and the Bride say, "Come." And let the one who hears say, "Come." And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.

Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!" And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!" And the four living creatures said, "Amen!" and the elders fell down and worshiped.

Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen. I have been slacking the past week. I know I have had time to blog, but for whatever reason I just didn't want to. Nonetheless, I have been thinking about doing today's theme for some time, like I do on my Facebook page: That is, post a verse of the day from my readings. I was going to put this off until I finished Revelation next week, but then I heard a wonderful sermon from Ephesians by Pastor Jeff Schwarzentraub (harvestdenver.org), who reminded me again, who reminded all of us again: Don't be ashamed to preach the Gospel. Tell all the world the good news that Jesus Christ died for your sins. Tell all the world that Jesus Christ is risen; he is risen indeed! Alleluia! Tell all the world the good news that all who believe ARE forgiven. Tell all the world! If you don't, who will? What's holdi...

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. God bless my pastor, Joe Meyer, for going somewhere on Sunday few would be brave enough to do. Today is Memorial Day. Yesterday, all across the United States, churches no doubt took pause, like mine, to remember those who laid done their lives in defense of our great nation. I am sure most, like mine, sang patriotic hymns, and said prayers for the families of the men and women who made the "ultimate sacrifice" for our nation. Being Memorial Day, I suppose it's common for pastors to preach, too, on one of the great passages of Scripture, John 15:13, reminding us of the incomparable Gospel. "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends." Those sermons undoubtedly went something like this: Those of us who believe are Jesus' friends. And Jesus died for us. He allowed God ...

He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. How fitting today that another 60 days would conclude with this verse. "I Am the Alpha and Omega," the Lord declares, believe in me. "I Am the Beginning and the End," the Lord declares, listen to me. Believe, He says, your thirst for life will be quenched! What a beautiful assurance, especially as we end the Revelation by John. As I have been reminding myself for weeks now: Faith comes through hearing the Word (Rom. 10:17). And if you have faith, God will save you (John 20:31). Don't fret about what you didn't do. Don't fret about what you did do. Do hear the Word. Do hear the Law. But lean on the Gospel. God is offering us forgiveness, if we will believe. From time to time, I think we all have doubts about this. So tomorrow I am going to begin a new 60-day cycle reading the Ne...

Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Christians today need to get their ears cleaned. Have you heard the news? There are "Christians" coming out in support of abortion . There are "Christians" coming out in support of same-sex marriage . There are "Christians" coming out in support of idolatry . There are "Christians" quietly dismissing adulterous and lewd behavior. Simply put, too many Christians are turning a blind eye to sin. Have you tried to watch television lately? Sin is OK, people are declaring. Sin all you want, never minding what I am doing; I will look the other way while you do it. How can one discard the Word of God while proclaiming to be a Christian? How can one believe Jesus is Savior without hearing the Word of God? If you don't believe the Bible is the Word of God, why would one even need a Savior? Are you denying the truth? God has answers for these questions and more through the whole...

We accept man's testimony, but God's testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. I don't understand why some (or is it most?) people don't believe God. Note here, I am not talking about believing in God; I am talking about believing God. I suspect most people, like the Bible says (Romans 2:15), believe in God because most people look at the stars, at the sea, at the mountains, at each other, in marvel, and declare God must be the creator. Creation is too amazing! Amazingly, some people don't believe at all. But horrifyingly, I suspect most people don't believe God. For as long as I can remember I have believed in God. Today, I definitely believe him. I crave to learn more about God. I crave the light (John 12:46) that emanates from God. I crave the food (John 6:35) and water (John 4:13) that God provides. And through all the trials and tribulations of my life, I have learned to trust, to believe, that God wi...

And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe. I have Christian friends who don't believe the Word of God. Do you believe? Think about that for a minute. Do you believe in God? Do you really believe the Word is from God? Do you believe the Word was God? Do you believe the Word was with God? (John 1:1-5). And that the Word became flesh? (John 1:14) Some people who call themselves Christians, don't believe. If they don't receive the word of God, if they say it is from men, that it is a human word, not the Word of God, then how can they call themselves Christian? It seems to me that is one of the points Paul is driving home in 1 Thessalonians 2:13. It is important because, what do we have without the Word of God? What we have are heresies taught by false prophets and greedy teachers. "We ar...

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ. I have been seeing this a lot of my readings of late. Watch out, Paul shouts, again. Watch out for the Judaizers! (Gal. 2:4) Watch out for the Pharisees! (Phil. 3:5) Watch out for the Gnostics! Watch out for the false teachers! (2 Cor. 11:4). Watch out! Don't be deceived. There is only one path to heaven, Paul is reminding us, again. And that is, Jesus (Col. 1:13-14). Christ lived for you! Christ died for you! And now, Christ lives for you! That's right, Christ LIVES for you! Jesus was dead (John 19:33-34). He was rotting in the grave (John 19:42). But now he is alive (John 20:27). The Alpha and Omega (Rev. 1:8), the creator of the world (Col. 1:16, Gen. 1:1), the Living Word, who was with God and was God (John 1:1-2), was dead but is now alive, and most importantly, lives in you (Col....