House from Jesus' Time found in Nazareth

Jesus was born in Bethlehem but he was raised in Nazareth. Today the Israel Antiquities Authority has released news that for the first time a home from Jesus' time in Nazareth has been found. It was found next to the Church of the Annunciation as excavation was being done to prepare for the building of "The International Marian Center of Nazareth"

According to Yardenna Alexandre, excavation director on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, "The discovery is of the utmost importance since it reveals for the very first time a house from the Jewish village of Nazareth and thereby sheds light on the way of life at the time of Jesus. The building that we found is small and modest and it is most likely typical of the dwellings in Nazareth in that period. From the few written sources that there are, we know that in the first century CE* Nazareth was a small Jewish village, located inside a valley. Until now a number of tombs from the time of Jesus were found in Nazareth; however, no settlement remains have been discovered that are attributed to this period."

Read the article here from Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

It is interesting to imagine that Jesus may have visited this house during his life in Nazareth.

[*Note: There is a concerted effort to replace A.D.--"The Year of our Lord" with CE-- "Common Era" which I reject. However, I would never change a quotation.]

Book of Concord for Advent 3

Here is a suggested Book of Concord reading for the Third Sunday in Advent.

Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article IV, 80, 81

Christ is not received as a Mediator except by faith. Therefore, by faith alone we receive forgiveness of sins when we comfort our hearts with confidence in the mercy promised for Christ’s sake. Likewise, Paul says in Romans 5:2, “Through Him we have also obtained access” and adds, “by faith.” Therefore, we are reconciled to the Father and receive forgiveness of sins when we are comforted with confidence in the mercy promised for Christ’s sake.


May we continue to be comforted not only throughout Advent but always!

Comfort, Comfort Ye My People
Johann Olearius, 1611-84; tr Catherine Winkworth, 1827-78, alt.

1 “Comfort, comfort ye My people,
Speak ye peace,” thus saith our God;
“Comfort those who sit in darkness,
Mourning ’neath their sorrows’ load.
Speak ye to Jerusalem
Of the peace that waits for them;
Tell her that her sins I cover
And her warfare now is over.”

2 Yea, her sins our God will pardon,
Blotting out each dark misdeed;
All that well deserved His anger
He no more will see or heed.
She hath suffered many_a day,
Now her griefs have passed away;
God will change her pining sadness
Into ever-springing gladness.

3 Hark, the herald’s voice is crying
In the desert far and near,
Calling sinners to repentance,
Since the Kingdom now is here.
O that warning cry obey!
Now prepare for God a way;
Let the valleys rise to meet Him
And the hills bow down to greet Him.

4 Make ye straight what long was crooked;
Make the rougher places plain.
Let your hearts be true and humble,
As befits His holy reign.
For the glory of the Lord
Now o’er earth is shed abroad,
And all flesh shall see the token
That His Word is never broken.

Public domain

Scott Murray's "Memorial Moment"

I'm a great fan of Winnie-the-Pooh. Mostly because I, like him, am a bear of very little brain. That's probably why I post so few original items. However, I am able to recognize greatness. Scott Murray is one of the best devotional writers that you will encounter. His devotion today, "Don't Despair," is just one example. He writes:

I remember with great vividness being caught up in the "charismatic movement" of the late 1970s. For a teenager this movement was attractive, because it emphasized emotions and experience over all things. The hallmark of the teen years is that they are filled with passionate involvement in the budding adult emotions and experiences, which make it a time fraught with struggle and trouble. It is hard enough being a teenager, but harder yet when a teen is enticed into believing that Christianity is merely about their personal experience of faith. The charismatic movement pointed the individual back to his own heart for support in struggle, sustenance in trial, and certainty of salvation in the midst of guilt. This is exactly the wrong direction to point the growing adolescent. First, because it reinforces the perversely natural interest in the interior life that is characteristic of a developing teen. Interiority needs to be overturned or turned out of itself to a life that is exterior to itself. Another's life must become the focus of those who are by nature self absorbed. Second, the Christian faith specifically calls on us to turn away from ourselves in repentance, to hate our own life, and to lose it, in favor of the life of that Other.

Faith cannot be established on the whims and feelings of the immature heart. God calls us out of ourselves to the maturity of confidence in the Word of Christ.

Read the more of this devotion here

The Nehemiah Project

Here is an interesting article about The Nehemiah project. It was featured on NPR. The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) has over 20 years' involvement in such pursuits. LCMS World Relief and Human Care Executive Director Matthew Harrison has moved our church to do incredible things in the US and around the world.

Low-Cost Brooklyn Housing Sees Few Foreclosures

by Jim Zarroli

Yvonne Ziegler had an apartment in a central Brooklyn housing project and a decent job in an office. But like a lot of New Yorkers, she figured she'd be renting forever. Owning a place seemed beyond the realm of possibility.

Thanks to the Nehemiah project, a church-run affordable housing program, Ziegler now owns a trim, neatly maintained three-bedroom house, where she lives with her elderly mother in the Brooklyn neighborhood known as East New York. The program has built more than 4,000 houses in Brooklyn and the Bronx since the 1980s.

"When it came to light that these churches were building affordable houses and how low the mortgages were, I thought, 'Well, maybe this is something I can aspire to,' " Ziegler says.

The Nehemiah project, named for the biblical prophet who rebuilt the Temple of Jerusalem, has provided a bulwark of stability in neighborhoods once devastated by arson and neglect. That's been especially true during the mortgage crisis. In a part of the city where foreclosures topped 10 percent last year, few of the program's homeowners have defaulted on their loans.

Read the entire article here.

St. Luke, The Evangelist

On October 18 we remember that God has truly blessed the Christian Church through the work of St. Luke, The Evangelist. He was St. Paul’s companion. He researched the life of Jesus in order to write the Gospel bearing his name. In his research he may have talked to Mary or someone very close to her so that he is able to tell us about the manger and the shepherds. Many parts of our worship come from Luke such as: The Benedictus—Song of Zechariah, Luke 1:68-79; The Magnificat—Song of Mary, Luke 1:46-55; The Gloria in Excelsis—Luke 2:14; and The Nunc Dimittis—Song of Simeon, Luke 2:29-32. Many other well know events in the life of Christ are recorded by Luke such as: Jesus words to the thief on the cross, “This day you will be with me in paradise,” Luke 23:43 and that in the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus’ sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground, Luke 22:44. St. Paul calls Luke the Beloved Physician, Colossians 4:14. As Paul’s companion he witnessed St. Paul fight the good fight of faith and records his activities in The Acts of the Apostles. The sweet message of salvation through Christ that the Holy Spirit directed St. Luke to write comes to us like water in the wilderness.

Here is a reading from the Book of Concord for St. Luke, Evanglelist:

The Formula of Concord, The Epitome

Article III, The Righteousness of Faith Before God, 4.

We believe, teach, and confess that our righteousness before God is this: God forgives our sins out of pure grace, without any work, merit, or worthiness of ours preceding, present, or following. He presents and credits to us the righteousness of Christ’s obedience [Romans 5:17-19]. Because of this righteousness, we are received into grace by God and regarded as righteous.

Lutheran Survey Results - Concordia University Wisconsin

Check out Lutheran Survey Results - Concordia University Wisconsin

Religion and politics are always ticklish subjects but here is an interesting look at the LCMS and ELCA. I was surprised that the LCMS turned out to be as far right as the study indicates and also surprised that the ELCA turned out to be as far left.

This makes the ELCA's actions this summer seem much more understandable. As to the LCMS, I would be interested to know how various groups in leadership compare to the attitudes of the general population of clergy and lay.

Sunday, Oct 11, 2009 - Some thoughts on the Rich Young Man

The first thing I noticed is that LSB cuts the Gospel lesson in half. October 11 is the 19th Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 23 B. The appointed Gospel is Mark 10:17-22 which makes no sense to me. This pericope occurs in LW on Pentecost 21 but it is the entire section, Mark 10:17-30. Likewise in RCL Proper 23 and ELCA Pentecost 23 the entire reading is included but ending at the 31st verse (Mark 10:17-31). In LSB we have to wait until next week to finish the story and hear Jesus’ explanation (LSB Proper 24, Mark 10:22-31).

This is the account of The Rich Young Man. I cannot imagine how one would properly preach on this account without including the second half of the story. And then what does one do next week? I solved the dilemma this year by putting the account back together this week. What will I do next week? Fortunately this year, next Sunday is St. Luke, the Evangelist and the appointed Gospel is Luke 10:1-9 so I won’t have to figure this one out until three years from now.

What’s the point of this event? Clearly the issue is not being able to recognize one’s own sinful condition. Unfortunately most will get hung up on the fact that the young man is rich and will conclude that Jesus is speaking against riches. Dividing the pericope in the manner of LSB only reinforces this mistaken notion. You cannot understand Jesus’ encounter with the rich young man without hearing this dialog between the disciples and Jesus in verses 26 and 27: They were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”

Who can be saved? No one! (by their own thoughts, words or deeds.) It is only God’s action in Christ through the cross that makes salvation possible!

In light of this, the reading from the Book of Concord that I have chosen for this Sunday is:

The Smalcald Articles
Part II, Article I, The Chief Article, 1-5.

The first and chief article is this:
Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, died for our sins and was raised again for our justification (Romans 4:24-24).
He alone is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29), and God has laid upon Him the iniquities of us all (Isaiah 53:6).
All have sinned and are justified freely, without their own works or merits, by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, in His blood. (Romans 3:23-25).
This is necessary to believe. This cannot be otherwise acquired or grasped by any work, law, or merit. Therefore, it is clear and certain that this faith alone justifies us. As St. Paul says:

For we hold that one is justified by faith apart form works of the law. (Romans 3:28).
That He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. [Romans 3:26].

Nothing of this article can be yielded or surrendered, even though heaven and earth and everything else falls [Mark 13:31].

For there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)
And with His stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)

Upon this article everything that we teach and practice depends … Therefore, we must be certain and not doubt this doctrine. Otherwise all is lost…

(The ellipsis in both places are references to the pope and I made the determination that those comments would detract from the purpose of this reading in the setting of Sunday morning.)

Reading from the Book of Concord for Propper 22 - Pentecost 18

We read from the Book of Concord each week. I try to find a reading that reflects the Bible readings of the day. I've decided to post them on my blog each week so that others may reflect on them.

Luther’s Large Catechism--The Sixth Commandment, 206-208

Understand and mark well how gloriously God honors and praises this estate [of marriage]. For by His commandment He both approves and guards it. He has approved it above in the Fourth commandment, “Honor your father and your mother.” But here He has (as we said) hedged it about and protected it. Therefore, He also wishes us to honor it [Hebrews 13:4] and to maintain and govern it as a divine and blessed estate because, in the first place, He has instituted it before all others. He create man and woman separately, as is clear [Genesis 1:27]. This was not for lewdness, but so that they might live together in marriage, be fruitful, bear children, and nourish and train them to honor God [Genesis 1:28; Psalm 128; Proverbs 22:6; Ephesians 6:4].

Therefore, God has also most richly blessed this estate above all others. In addition, He has bestowed on it and wrapped up in it everything in the world, so that this estate might be well and richly provided for. Married life is, therefore, no joke or presumption. It is an excellent thing and a matter of divine seriousness. For marriage has the highest importance to God so that people are raised up who may serve the world and promote the knowledge of God, godly living, and all virtues, to fight against wickedness and the devil.

The other lessons for this week are:
Old Testament Reading Genesis 2:18–25
Epistle Reading Hebrews 2:1–13
Holy Gospel Mark 10:2–16

Is Everyone Endowed With The Inner Light?

From: The Aroma Of An Empty Bottle
by Carl E. Braaten

My second suggestion is that the ELCA has succumbed to the same ailment as liberal Protestantism. What is that? Modern Protestantism is an amalgamation of historic Christianity and the principles of the Enlightenment, its rationalism, subjectivism, and anthropocentrism. The underlying assumption is the neo-gnostic belief in the innerdwelling of God, such that everyone is endowed with the inner light that only needs to be uncovered. The light of truth does not shine through the Scriptures and the Christian tradition as much as through scientific reason and individual experience. This is what happened in Minneapolis: appeals to reason and experience trumped Scripture and tradition, punctuated with pious injunctions of Lutheran slogans and clichés. The majority won. And they said it was the work of the Spirit, forgetting that the Holy Spirit had already spoken volumes through the millennia of Scriptural interpretation, the councils of the church, and its creeds and confessions.


(Emphasis mine)


This insight from Braaten is key to understanding not only the ELCA but many of the other protestants around us (both liberal and conservative).

People think that their experiences are authentic revelations from God rather than needing the Holy Scripture.

How the ELCA Left the Great Tradition for Liberal Protestantism

Here is an insightful analysis of the ELCA published online by Christianity Today. I think that you will find it interesting.

How the ELCA Left the Great Tradition for Liberal Protestantism
There is no authoritative biblical or theological guidance in the church. There are only many voices.
Robert Benne | posted 9/02/2009 09:21AM

Quote of the Day

The Book of Concord’s confession of the Lord’s Law and Gospel is so destructive of the world’s religions that it is ever under attack both blatant and subtle, with the latter ever the more sinister.

Dr. Norman Nagel

The Lord’s Supper in the Theology of Martin Chemnitz

Forward to
The Lord’s Supper in the Theology of Martin Chemnitz by Bjarne Wollan Teigen

Dr. Scott Murray on Promises

Scott Murray really has a handle applying God's Word to living in today's world. His "Memorial Moment: He Promises" is a good example.

I would do it an injustice to try to summarize it here. I encourage you to read his daily devotion.

The Latest Trend--Gregorian Chant!

Jeffrey Tucker writes:

"The most exciting, vibrant, and young movement in Catholic Church music today involves the revival of Gregorian chant, and also the old and new music that flows from its stylistic sensibility and texts. Workshops around the country are growing larger. Sales of chant books are booming, to the point that distributors can hardly keep them in stock. Membership in chant-support organizations is growing. Discover this energy is as easy as typing a few search terms.

I'll only mention one program taking place in late September at the National Shrine in Washington, D.C.. The Church Music Association of America, working with the John Paul II Cultural Center and St. John the Beloved parish in McLean, Virginia, have put together a Pilgrimage for people seeking to learn Gregorian chant. It is under the direction of chant conductor to the nation Scott Turkington.

Already one week before, more than 160 people have signed up to attend. This includes mostly young people, but also many middle-aged people seeking to upgrade their skills."

I'm sure this is off the radar screen of most people. It will be interesting to see how far it goes. There seems more and more evidence that young people are gravitating to formal and structured worship. I doubt that there are many 50-60 year-olds who can get a handle on this.

You can read the rest of the article here:

The Lutheran Study Bible

We have ordered two cases of The Lutheran Study Bible. It is the least expensive edition. I believe that the price is $35. The price will go up significantly after Oct. 31. Stop into the office and get yours.

Here is some information about it.

The Bible uses the English Standard Version translation and contains more than 26,500 study notes prepared by Lutheran theologians, scholars, and pastors, representing more than 20 Lutheran church bodies. A CPH release says this Bible is "Christ-centered, devotional, and practical," and designed for use by Christians from "confirmation through the senior years."

According to a CPH Web site, the new Bible "offers the English-speaking Lutheran Church what it had enjoyed before while using the German language: a 'from-the-ground-up' Lutheran study Bible, making exclusive use of Lutheran notes, commentaries, articles, and annotations.

The Web site includes excerpts, product comparison charts, and other related media including a podcast interview with one of the project's associate editors, Dr. Jerry Joersz, former associate executive director of the Synod's Commission on Theology and Church Relations.

"We are excited to offer all English-speaking Christians a study Bible that offers such a comforting and powerful Christ-centered understanding of the Scriptures," said Rev. Paul McCain, CPH publisher and executive director of editorial. "The Lutheran Study Bible invites Lutheran Christians to engage in a conversation that has been unfolding within and around God's Word throughout the centuries."

If you want to order your own or one of the leather editions go to: www.cph.org/lutheranbible.

Health Care Debate Information

From the LCMS:

To help you engage as an informed citizen in the national health care debate, find useful information focused on abortion, end-of-life care, and ethics in the public square, in the proposed health care legislation. Read more here.

Concordia Theological Seminary Responds to Actions at ELCA Convention

The following is from Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft. Wayne, IN:

“Concordia Theological Seminary, with the Christian church throughout history, confesses the sanctity of marriage as a union between a man and a woman—God’s gift of marriage at creation is a beautiful and abiding blessing upon all of humanity.

Similarly, we believe the living and healing voice of Jesus through His prophets and apostles—Sacred Scripture—when He calls us to fidelity in marriage and warns about the harmful and destructive impact upon human beings when adultery, promiscuity, or homosexuality are practiced. In departing from two thousand years of Christian teaching and practice as well as challenging the majority of present day Christians, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has exhibited sectarian behavior that saddens a large spectrum of the Christian community.

We pray that the Lord will strengthen those who remain faithful to His healing Word and recall those who have so tragically abandoned that Word and its healing and absolving Truth.

Read the entire article here.

90 percent of worship services targeting a younger generation run into serious trouble after three years.

Costly conformity

Only one thing surprised Dan Kimball about the Axis reorganization: it took 10 years. Kimball, who teaches and oversees the Sunday gatherings for Vintage Faith Church in Santa Cruz, California, has tracked many young adult ministries over the years. He estimates that 90 percent of worship services targeting a younger generation run into serious trouble after three years. One factor is the way these age-specific ministries isolate young people from the rest of the church.

Read the rest of the article here.

Statement on the Obama Health-Care Plan

From
Dr. Gerald B. Kieschnick, President
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

The LCMS supports the protection and nurture of human life from conception through death. We would not endorse any component of a plan that includes funding for abortion. Currently, federal money cannot fund abortions (Hyde Amendment, 1976), and there appears to be nothing in the health-care reform plan at this time that would change that. However, some versions do propose a sliding scale of health-care premiums based on income, with government money making up for the lower premiums of poorer people. As pro-life advocates, we would want to prohibit any government money from being used, even indirectly, for insurance that covers abortion.

Read the entire article here.

Dr. Gerald B. Kieschnick, President LCMS

Statement of the president of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod in response to certain actions of the 2009 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
August 24, 2009

Says in part:

Doctrinal decisions adopted already in 2001 led the LCMS, in sincere humility and love, to declare that we could no longer consider the ELCA "to be an orthodox Lutheran church body" (2001 Res 3-21A). Sadly, the decisions of this past week to ignore biblical teaching on human sexuality have reinforced that conclusion. We respect the desire to follow conscience in moral decision making, but conscience may not overrule the Word of God.

We recognize that many brothers and sisters within the ELCA, both clergy and lay, are committed to remaining faithful to the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, are committed to the authority of Holy Scripture, and strongly oppose these actions. To them we offer our assurance of loving encouragement together with our willingness to provide appropriate support in their efforts to remain faithful to the Word of God and the historic teachings of the Lutheran church and all other Christian churches for the past 2,000 years.

Read the entire statement here

Address to ELCA Churchwide Assembly

Dr. Gerald B. Kieschnick, President
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
Address to ELCA Churchwide Assembly, August 22, 2009

Here is a portion of his address:

I speak these next words in deep humility, with a heavy heart and no desire whatsoever to offend. The decisions by this assembly to grant non-celibate homosexual ministers the privilege of serving as rostered leaders in the ELCA and the affirmation of same gender unions as pleasing to God will undoubtedly cause additional stress and disharmony within the ELCA. It will also negatively affect the relationships between our two church bodies. The current division between our churches threatens to become a chasm. This grieves my heart and the hearts of all in the ELCA, the LCMS, and other Christian church bodies throughout the world who do not see these decisions as compatible with the Word of God, or in agreement with the consensus of 2000 years of Christian theological affirmation regarding what Scripture teaches about human sexuality. Simply stated, this matter is fundamentally related to significant differences in how we understand the authority of Holy Scripture and the interpretation of God’s revealed and infallible Word.

Read the entire address here: Address to ELCA Churchwide Assembly, August 22, 2009

Silliness

Here's a headline I just read:

Temptation Harder to Resist Than You Think, Study Suggests

Christians have long known that we do not struggle against flesh and blood. Our constant battle with the temptations of the World, the Devil, and our own sinful self can only be overcome with divine help!

The article by Jeanna Bryner begins:

If you think you're generally good at resisting temptation, you're probably wrong, scientists now say.

"People are not good at anticipating the power of their urges, and those who are the most confident about their self-control are the most likely to give into temptation," said Loran Nordgren, senior lecturer of management and organizations at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, in Illinois.

Read the rest of the article here.

The Best Stuff

I only put the best stuff here. It turns out that the best stuff comes overwhelmingly from Dr. Scott Murry. Here is part of today's devotion:

There is a great deal of pressure on theologians to reduce that implication or to soft pedal it. A pastor friend of mine recounted calling members of his parish who had been absent for quite some time. At first, they declined to speak of their reasons for being absent. Finally, however, the husband simply said, "Every sermon is about sin and grace, and we are sick of hearing it. So we won't be back." The pastor quietly admitted that every sermon was about sin and grace, "That is unlikely to change." Of course, every sermon is about sin and grace! That is what the Christian religion is "about." There is no greater problem in the world and no better solution.

Read the rest at: Memorial Moment

Lifted Hands?

Should we lift our hands in prayer and praise? It turns out this question is older than I thought. Tertullian (who lived from A. D. 160-220) already considered this question. It seems that in his day as well as ours some Christians were making a big show of lifting their hands over their heads in prayer. Here's what this Church Father has to say:

"But we more commend our prayers to God when we pray with modesty and humility, with not even our hands too loftily elevated, but elevated temperately and becomingly; and not even our countenance over-boldly uplifted. For that publican who prayed with humility and dejection not merely in his supplication, but in his countenance too, went his way 'more justified' than the shameless Pharisee. The sounds of our voice, likewise, should be subdued; else, if we are to be heard for our noise, how large windpipes should we need! But God is the hearer not of the voice, but of the heart, just as He is its inspector."

On Prayer
Chapter XVII. ----Of Elevated Hands.

Earned Gace is Never Grace

Infants are the test case for grace. Infants become believers, and thus part of the church, through the gift of grace bestowed on them by baptism. Grace is the divine act of compassion given to those who are weak and unable to find God by their own efforts or works. What would better describe a newborn infant than that he or she is weak and incapacitated? Yet, exactly such as these are the ones whom the God of all grace has determined to save through the work of His only begotten Son. Sometimes moderns think that adults are the paradigmatic case for grace. This presupposition arises not from an understanding of grace as a gratuitous gift from God, but from the presupposition that humans need to provide God some sign of their inclination toward Him, that they are seeking Him, that they are worthy of grace, or that have opened their hearts to Him. Such views are prevalent in American evangelicalism, and yet have more in common with classic doctrines of prevenient grace as taught by the Roman Catholic Church. Prevenient grace is the grace which disposes the person toward God. Prevenient grace is a contradiction of grace. Earned grace is never grace (Rm 4:4).

This is an excerpt from Dr. Scott Murray's devotion for July 20, 2009. Read the entire devotion here.

There is but one touchstone of truth in the Church: Holy Scripture.

Dr. Scott Murray has another one of his insightful devotions today. This one is titled " Deceiving and Being Deceived." One of his paragraphs reads:

The Word of God has an independent authority. It is self-authenticating and does what it says. This is why it is incapable of "being deceived" in Augustine's pattern of thought. It must be that way, because, although God's Word can neither lie nor deceive, we ourselves are more than capable of lying and deceiving; our depravity is always sticking out from under the wig of our piety. God must correct our bent views, not merely for the sake of being right, which He always is, but for the sake of our salvation. Without this divine self-revelation we would never have the capacity to conceive of the divinely worked way of salvation in Christ, the atonement for our sins, and indeed for the sins of the world. What no one could conceive, God conceived in His living Word. All men are sinners and therefore are deceivers and the deceived. Only Holy Scripture is true. The truth of Scripture gives to us Him who is True.


Read the entire devotion here: Memorial Moments

COMPLAINING

Rev. Dr. R. Reed Lessing presented the Bible study at the Michigan District convention in June. He has put together a very interesting study of Philippians. It is available for download at the Michigan District website:

I found the section on complaining to be very helpful:

Philippians 2:12-13
“Therefore, my dear friends, as you have
always obeyed-- not only in my presence,
but now much more in my absence–
continue to work out your (plural) soteria
with fear and trembling, for it is God who
works in you to will and to act according
to his good purpose.”

Philippians 2:14-15
“Do everything without goggusmon or
arguing, so that you may become
blameless and pure, children of God
without fault in a crooked and depraved
generation, in which you shine like stars
in the universe.”

THE FOUR COMMON TYPES OF COMPLAINERS

• The Whiner - “It’s Not Fair!”

“It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” (Exodus 14:12)

• The Martyr - “No One Appreciates Me!”

“Moses said to the Lord, ‘Why pick on me, to give me the burden of a people like this? I can’t carry this nation by myself! ... If you’re going to treat me like this, please kill me right now - it will be a kindness! Let me out of this impossible situation!’” (Numbers 11:11-15)

• The Cynic - “Nothing Will Ever Change!”

“But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!” (Numbers 11:6)

• The Perfectionist - “Is That Your Best?”

“But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, ‘Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst.’” (Exodus 17:3)

Which One are You?

1. The Whiner
2. The Martyr
3. The Cynic
4. The Perfectionist
5. All of the Above
6. None of the Above

HOW TO CONQUER COMPLAINING

Focus:

• Not On Where We’ve Been

“The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, ‘If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost–also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic.’” (Numbers 11:4-5)

• Not On Where We Are

“They said, ‘The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim,). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.’” (Numbers 13:32-33)

• On Where We’re Going

“If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us.” (Numbers 14:8)

Philippians 2:16-18

“… as you hold out the word of life-- in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing. But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and have chara with all of you. So you too should have chara and chara with me.”

All Thy works with joy surround Thee, Earth and heav’n reflect Thy rays.
Stars and angels sing around Thee, Center of unbroken praise.
Field and forest, vale and mountain, Flow’ry meadow, flashing sea.
Chanting bird, and flowing fountain, Call us to rejoice in Thee!

Infant Limbo

Today's devotion by Dr. Scott Murray is a must read:

Infant Limbo

The subject of infant baptism generates a great deal of heat and very little light when discussed among American Christians today. American Christians, under the influence of the baptistic tradition, are unique among Christians in denying not only baptism to infants, but also faith and regeneration. Of course, this has more to do with the imposition of dogmatic theories about the concurrence of the will in faith and the possibility of belief in Christ among infants. These theories arise from the American presupposition that action is superior to repose; in other words, our firmly held doctrine that faith that does not demonstrate action is not faith at all. To rest comfortably in the arms of Christ is inferior to demonstrating the power of faith through personal confession or action. However, Christianity is not about purely external demonstrations of power. Christian faith is often hidden under contrary signs: life under the signs of death (1Co 15:36), heaven under the signs of hell, the righteousness of God under the signs of human guilt (Ps 32). In the Man dying there is the greatest power unto life for the world. In the midst of great suffering there is the gift of heaven. Where sin is admitted and accepted there God declares all guilt taken away and all transgression covered. Christianity at bottom is about receiving something, not doing anything. Doing is God's. Receiving is ours. This describes infant faith given and confirmed in the sacrament of holy baptism.

The Bible is shockingly clear that only those who have faith in Christ go to heaven. This point baffles those who presume that faith is our action or is only real when it can be demonstrated by action. Because if infants can't demonstrate their faith, therefore they can't believe; and only those who believe are saved, then what happens to infants? They are left in an un-biblical Limbo created on the basis of a faulty dogma about what faith is and who is working in baptism. Sometimes it is argued that the innocent infant who has not yet reached the ability (as though it is a human ability, rather than a divine gift!) to believe are guiltless in the presence of God. But this runs smack up against the divine Word's condition that only those who believe will be saved. Even if they are "innocent and without guilt" the Bible never attributes salvation to anything but faith in Christ.

Even apart from all this, how would such innocence and guiltlessness be demonstrated by the infant? If only a demonstrated or proven faith is accepted as legitimate, why would we merely be able to presume that infants are innocent? What basis would we have for this? What actual action proves the innocence of infants? As I have pointed out previously, this is an opinion that could only be held by people who have never cared for an infant. If we depended on what God actually says about all persons; that is, that they are sinners, guilty before God, and dead in their trespasses and sins apart from Christ and faith in Him, we could conclude the infants have faith (as Scripture specifically declares), because infants are saved. So you can't see or hear about their faith from them? Uh-huh. Well, maybe you should listen to the divine witness instead of believing your own dogmas. How gracious the good Shepherd is, that He takes up in his arms the little ones and blesses them with the new life in Him and the faith to trust Him.

Read the entire devotion here also you may subscribe to these excellent daily devotions.

Jesus' Ignorance

If you haven't yet subscribed to Dr. Scott Murray's Memorial Moments (daily devotions) you are missing one of the most well written, thoughtful and inspiring devotions available. Today's devotion discusses Jesus' Ignorance and deals with a question that is repeatedly asked in Bible classes. Here is a portion of his comments:

Jesus' "ignorance" can be properly understood in several different ways. First, according to His human nature, Jesus, like us, would have had no knowledge of the hidden mysteries of that day and hour. Jesus did not fully use his divine power of omniscience keeping it in decorous and humble control in service to His mission to save us poor sinners. He did not lust to look into those things closed to us humans, even though He had access by right of His full divinity to know what we must not. His omniscience was quiescent, kept within the bounds set by our need. So it is that His indestructible life is offered unto death. He does not put into action His immortality upon the cross but truly dies in the mystery of the cross. So Jesus out of love for us does not know what He knows.

Second, the Father has intentionally hidden this from us, not only to keep us ignorant like a blind man is ignorant of the color of the sunset, but also that we should not concern ourselves about this time or fret unnecessarily about this last epiphany of our Lord when He comes in fearsome judgment. We are to be prepared every day through watchful faith. We are not to dabble in empty speculation about the precise date of "that day." So Jesus, not only refuses to look into this knowledge in His earthly ministry, but upon His resurrection declines to inform the disciples about His knowledge as He in His resurrected glory is now exercising His divine power and authority. The disciples, upon His resurrection see greater glimpses of His refulgent glory now shining forth which leads them now to ask about the days and seasons. It is then that He refuses to tell them what they need not know. He however, does not now indicate that He is unaware of the Father's plan, for He knows it full well, but just declines to tell them. And that should be enough for us.

Read the rest here: MemorialMoments.org

While you are at the site, why not subscribe?

Making Torture safe, Legal and Rare

I hesitate to post this but it's too good not to pass on!

Making Torture safe, Legal and Rare

http://www.osvdailytake.com/2009/05/making-torture-safe-legal-and-rare.html

Six Killer Prayer TIps

By popular demand here is the Six Killer Prayer Tips video. Enjoy!

Susan Boyle

Of course you've seen Susan Boyle on Britain's Got Talent, but if you haven't

click here. It will make your day!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

So why, then, do English-speaking Christians call their holiday "Easter"?

So why, then, do English-speaking Christians call their holiday "Easter"?

One theory for the origin of the name is that the Latin phrase in albis ("in white"), which Christians used in reference to Easter week, found its way into Old High German as eostarum, or "dawn." There is some evidence of early Germanic borrowing of Latin despite that fact that the Germanic peoples lived outside the Roman Empire—though the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes were far very removed from it. This theory presumes that the word only became current after the introduction of either Roman influence or the Christian faith, which is uncertain. But if accurate, it would demonstrate that the festival is not named after a pagan goddess.

Alternatively, as Hutton suggests, Eosturmonath simply meant "the month of opening," which is comparable to the meaning of "April" in Latin. The names of both the Saxon and Latin months (which are calendrically similar) were related to spring, the season when the buds open.

So Christians in ancient Anglo-Saxon and Germanic areas called their Passover holiday what they did—doubtless colloquially at first—simply because it occurred around the time of Eosturmonath/Ostarmanoth. A contemporary analogy can be found in the way Americans sometimes refer to the December period as "the holidays" in connection with Christmas and Hanukkah, or the way people sometimes speak about something happening "around Christmas," usually referring to the time at the turn of the year. The Christian title "Easter," then, essentially reflects its general date in the calendar, rather than the Paschal festival having been re-named in honor of a supposed pagan deity.

Of course, the Christian commemoration of the Paschal festival rests not on the title of the celebration but on its content—namely, the remembrance of Christ's death and resurrection. It is Christ's conquest of sin, death, and Satan that gives us the right to wish everyone "Happy Easter!"

From an article titled:

Was Easter Borrowed from a Pagan Holiday?

The historical evidence contradicts this popular notion.
by Anthony McRoy
at http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/bytopic/holidays/easterborrowedholiday.html

Mark Steiner in Madagascar

The current REPORTER Online of the LCMS has an article titled, "Sem students see Lutheran mercy in Madagascar." You can see a picture of our former vicar, Mark Steiner and read about his trip to Madagascar. Click here http://www.lcms.org/pages/rpage.asp?NavID=14961

Flipsyde - Happy Birthday

Rap of the Month

Charles Colson analysis of Evangelicalism

Many Christians confuse emotionalism with faith and personal feelings with spirituality. Charles Colson has written an insightful critique of Evangelicalism in which he states, "The greatest challenge for serious Christians today is not re-inventing Christianity, but rediscovering its core teachings." You can read the entire article here:

Doctrine Bears Repeating

Evangelicals need to brush up on basic Christian teachings.
Charles Colson with Anne Morse | posted 3/24/2009 10:16AM

Response to ELCA Report

MEMORANDUM

To: The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod
From: Gerald B. Kieschnick, President
Subject: Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Document
"Report and Recommendations on Ministry Policies"
Date: February 22, 2009

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

Grace and peace be with you, from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

It is with great disappointment and deep sadness that I share with The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod these brief comments on the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Task Force on Sexuality document "Gift and Trust" and the "Report and Recommendations on Ministry Policies." The "Report and Recommendations" document recommends that the ELCA undertake a process that would result in the incorporation of "structured flexibility in decision making to allow, in appropriate situations, people in publicly accountable, monogamous, lifelong, same-gendered relationships to be approved for the rosters of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America." The two documents were released February 19 by an ELCA task force and are expected to be considered by the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in August.

If this recommendation should be adopted by the Churchwide Assembly, it would constitute a change in the ELCA's present position, which precludes "practicing homosexuals" from being included on its rosters. More importantly, it would constitute a radical departure from the 2,000-year-long teaching of the Christian tradition that homosexual activity, whether inside or outside of a committed relationship, is contrary to Holy Scripture.

As the ELCA Task Force Report itself states, "This church [the ELCA] does not have biblical and theological consensus on this matter." It therefore concludes that the ELCA "must seek a common way to live and serve in the midst of disagreements" such as "the understanding of the nature of sin," "the interpretation of the Bible," "how the Bible guides our lives," and "the level of disagreement the ELCA can bear."

The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod has repeatedly affirmed the biblical truth and historical understanding of the Christian church that the Bible condemns homosexual behavior as "intrinsically sinful" and is therefore contrary to the will of the Creator and constitutes sin against the commandments of God (Lev. 18:22, 24,20:13; 1 Cor. 6:9-20; 1 Tim 1:9-10; and Rom. 1:26, 27).

Our prayer in the LCMS is that our gracious God will penetrate the lives and hearts of the leaders and members of the ELCA in the coming months as they discuss, debate, and determine the outcome of the task force report and its recommendations.

In the meantime, it behooves us in the LCMS, in a spirit of sincere humility, love, care, and concern, to continue to endeavor faithfully to honor Resolution 3-21A of the 2001 Convention of our Synod that while "we cannot consider [the ELCA] to be an orthodox Lutheran church body . we of the LCMS recognize that many of our brothers and sisters of the ELCA remain faithful to the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and we resolve to reach out to them in love and support ."

God's grace, mercy, and peace be with us all.

Dr. Gerald B. Kieschnick, President
The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod

"Transforming lives through Christ's love ... in time ... for eternity ..." John 3:16-17

Harriet Beecher Stowe

Here is an article for Black History Month that you may find interesting regarding Harriet Beecher Stowe, the anti-slavery movement, the Civil War and Uncle Tom's Cabin.

The article contains these two interesting quotations:

When President Lincoln met Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1863, he is reported to have said, "So you're the little woman who wrote the book that made this great war!"

"if a slave can come to Mount Sion and to Jesus and to the company of saints in the New Jerusalem, how can you set him up on an auction block and trade him from one white man to another?"

You can read the article at http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/131christians/musiciansartistsandwriters/stowe.html

“Bishop Announces Plenary Indulgences.”

Indulgences return. Over the years I have been asked if Roman Catholics still teach indulgences. This New York Times article gives an answer.

“Bishop Announces Plenary Indulgences.”

Economic downturn has negative effect on the collection plate

The Journal Sentinel from Milwaukee has an interesting article on offerings received by religious groups.

They report that the Lakeland Baptist Association saw its member contributions drop 15% in 2008.

Greater Milwaukee Synod of the ELCA dropped 6%.

These are certainly difficult times for churches. We will need to learn to be creative and trusting in the months ahead.

Read the complete article here.

How Personality Based Ministries End

I read quite a bit of material to keep current in religion and politics. I hope to keep you updated on some of the current events in religious news that I find significant or interesting.

The Washington Post has an interesting article on the Crystal Cathedral and the potential collapse of this ministry. Here is a particularly important quotation from the article:

"The Crystal Cathedral blames the recession for its woes. But it's clear that the elder Schuller's carefully orchestrated leadership transition, planned over a decade, has stumbled badly.

It's a problem common to personality driven ministries. Most have collapsed or been greatly diminished after their founders left the pulpit or died."

The temporary success of personality based ministries should not entice us to abandon the foundations of our faith.

You can read the entire article here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/31/AR2009013100872.html?wprss=rss_religion

March for Life

Can't make it to the 36th annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., next week? Follow the action online as LCMS President Gerald Kieschnick, members of the LCMS Sanctity of Human Life Committee, LCMS Life Ministry staff members, and Lutherans from around the country join thousands of other pro-life supporters expected this year. For up-to-the-minute web coverage (videos, audio interviews, photos, and more) about Lutherans on march day, visit www.lcms.org/marchforlife.

The Bible Translation that Rocked the World

Here's an article from Christian History that I hope you will enjoy.

The Bible Translation That Rocked the World

Luther's Bible introduced mass media, unified a nation, and set the standard for future translations.
Henry Zecher

Martin Luther was many things: preacher, teacher, orator, translator, theologian, composer, and family man. He came to symbolize everything the Protestant Reformation stood for.

But perhaps Luther's greatest achievement was the German Bible. No other work has had as strong an impact on a nation's development and heritage as has this Book.

In Luther's time, the German language consisted of several regional dialects (all similar to the tongue spoken in the courts of the Hapsburg and Luxemburg emperors). How were these scattered dialects united into one modern language? The rise of the middle class, the growth of trade, and the invention of the printing press all played a part. But the key factor was Luther's Bible.

The Wartburg Wonder

Following the Diet of Worms in 1521, Luther's territorial ruler, Frederick the Wise, had Luther hidden away for safekeeping in the castle at Wartburg. Luther settled down and translated Erasmus's Greek New Testament in only eleven weeks. This is a phenomenal feat under any circumstances, but Luther contended with darkened days, poor lighting, and his own generally poor health.

Das Newe Testament Deutzsch was published in September 1522. A typographical masterpiece, containing woodcuts from Lucas Cranach's workshop and selections from Albrecht Durer's famous Apocalypse series, the September Bibel sold an estimated five thousand copies in the first two months alone.

Luther then turned his attention to the Old Testament. Though well taught in both Greek and Hebrew, he would not attempt it alone. "Translators must never work by themselves," he wrote. "When one is alone, the best and most suitable words do not always occur to him." Luther thus formed a translation committee, which he dubbed his "Sanhedrin." If the notion of a translation committee seems obvious today, it is because such scholars as Philipp Melanchthon, Justus Jonas, John Bugenhagen, and Caspar Cruciger joined Luther in setting the precedent. Never before, and not for many years after, was the scholarship of this body equaled.

Forcing Prophets to Speak German

Luther remained the principal translator, however. His spirit motivated and guided the Sanhedrin in producing a translation that was not literal in the truest sense of the word. He wanted this Bible to be in spoken rather than bookish or written German. Before any word or phrase could be put on paper, it had to pass the test of Luther's ear, not his eye. It had to sound right. This was the German Bible's greatest asset, but it meant Luther had to straddle the fence between the free and the literal.

"It is not possible to reproduce a foreign idiom in one's native tongue," he wrote. "The proper method of translation is to select the most fitting terms according to the usage of the language adopted. To translate properly is to render the spirit of a foreign language into our own idiom. I try to speak as men do in the market place. In rendering Moses, I make him so German that no one would suspect he was a Jew."

The translators used the court tongue as their base language but flavored it with the best of all the dialects they could find in the empire. Luther, a relentless perfectionist who might spend a month searching out a single word, talked at length with old Germans in the different regions. To better understand the sacrificial rituals in the Mosaic law, he had the town butcher cut up sheep so he could study their entrails. When he ran into the precious stones in the "new Jerusalem" that were unfamiliar to him, he had similar gems from the elector's collection brought for him to study. Read the rest of the article here

Dissertation Defense

I am happy to report that yesterday I completed my dissertation defense of Concordia at Christ Lutheran Church: Introducing the Lutheran Confessions to a Lutheran Congregation at Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft. Wayne, IN.

Dr. Q.

Christianity is a distinct culture.

Here is an excellent article by Rev. Dr. Scott R. Murray. If you haven't subscribed to his daily devotions email, you really owe it to yourself. Pastor Murray is pastor of Memorial Lutheran Church in Houston, Texas. This is part of his daily devotions for January 8, 2009.

Christianity is a distinct culture. Usually, we think of Christianity fitting into a given culture, such as Western culture; not as a separate and distinct culture. Culture comes from the Latin word (cultus) which means, among other things, "worship." Usually culture is defined as "the way of life for an entire society;" and includes worship, spirituality, structure, ethics, and behavior. Culture is about "everything."

Christianity is a distinct culture in so far as it reflects in the behavior of the church the spirituality of the God who gives it divine worship. The culture of the church includes a strong boundary between belief and unbelief, truth and falsehood, wisdom and foolishness. That boundary also implies a decisive break with the world and its ways. The cult of the Western world, although arising in the cradle of the church, is no longer directed by its original mother. Western culture has become a self-willed Nietzschean bastard, coming of age cut off from God its Father and its mother, the church. This coming of age has a profound effect on the church. She is now forced to distinguish herself from her bastard child. She can no longer expect support from the cult of the West based as it is on self willed and self centered knowledge; knowledge always critical of both Father and mother, as though an ill-mannered teen.

For example, the Western university and its open enquiry into truth and the nature of reality arises out of the Christian insistence that all of truth is God's. And though the Western university tradition was fraught with many battles over the validity of certain kinds of knowledge, still there was over the long haul an openness about the modes and methods of enquiry into the world and the nature of God. That openness is now being closed off in the dying of the light. Matters of spirit, life, truth, beauty, ultimacy, and God are routinely ruled "out of bounds" in the so-called secular universities. They have forgotten that even the saeculum, "the age" remains God's. Finally, the cultus of the West has become the cult of the self; drowning in the solipsistic sea of foolishness and rabid and intentional ignorance of the cross of Christ. How tragically this narrowing of thought impoverishes the Western world. But this foolish narrowness is not new to Christianity. It has its roots in Eden's invention of the cult of self. Paul the apostle speaks of it as the foolishness of unbelief. The foolishness of the cross despite all this still looms as the wisdom of God. This is the church's cultus.