St. Nick Info

An informative article:  The Real Saint Nick.

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Pot-bellied Christmas?

I had not even considered this aspect of the legalization of marijuana and other substances.



I had not thought about the fact that someone who uses such substances would slip them into food.  But then, perhaps this is because I do not ordinarily eat with those who would do this.  St. John’s admonition provides ample protection.

2 John 10-11

- - -

As a side note, what is to prevent people from adding various over-the-counter substances that are already available within the limits of the law?

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12/12/12

     In our household this unique alignment of repeating numbers was especially significant. While the rarity of this occurrence is obvious to all, being the last calendar date with such repeating digits for this millennium, for us it also is our twentieth anniversary of our wedding. Thus it is not only significant as it draws special attention to the twelves of 12/12/12, but it also embodies the twenty for the fulfillment of our twentieth year together as one in the Lord, 12/12/2012.

      We both included this in our little cards to each other, but my wife designed a graphic that captures the essence of the symbolism beautifully.

     In our discussions throughout that evening, in addition to giving thanks to God for His gift of bringing us together to live as husband and wife, and especially His merciful and continual intervention to keep us from destroying this union so that we are brought together again and again in His love through His never-ending forgiveness, we also noted how this special choice of dates is one that we chose according to what He worked for us as we attempted to find a date when all of our family and friends could be with us on the day of our wedding. In this we acknowledged that we had no idea that He was giving to us also this special date on which our twentieth year of marriage would be marked perfectly by the numerical notation of 12-12-2012.

      This stands as a reminder of how the Lord always works on our behalf even without our awareness, acknowledgment, or even asking. It is a wonderful blessing that the Lord Jesus has given us a common prayer among us where by His command we do acknowledge all things and receive them with thanks, as we pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.”

      Luther gives a wonderful explanation to this petition:

Give us this day our daily bread.   What does this mean?—Answer.      God gives daily bread, even without our prayer, to all wicked men; but we pray in this petition that He would lead us to know it, and to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving.

What is meant by daily bread?—Answer.      Everything that belongs to the support and wants of the body, such as meat, drink, clothing, shoes, house, homestead, field, cattle, money, goods, a pious spouse, pious children, pious servants, pious and faithful magistrates, good government, good weather, peace, health, discipline, honor, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like.

+ + +        If we are willing to see it, the Lord makes His goodness and mercy manifest in everything in our lives, even in something as seemingly tiny as a grouping of repeating numbers. Certainly He does so in our marriages that demonstrate to us His holy union to His bride the Church, and in the manifold blessings poured out to us, the children of that union, through the means of grace administered to us within His everlasting household and especially at His Table. Through this we observe in the clearest way possible how truly good our Father and God is.

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What is Church Planting or Establishment?

Most religious organizations, especially those who apply the name of Christian to themselves, have people who are called “Church Planters” or something similar.

This week I noticed this concept stated on a Facebook page regarding that pastor’s and that congregation’s view of their purpose and mission.  The statement reads:

Ongoing work of the establishment of new Confessional Lutheran congregations throughout our region.

As I read this I was amazed regarding how totally foreign this sounded to me.  I was amazed because I was raised with this notion being taught in my home congregation and the church body to which this congregation belonged.  This was the language used at the seminary.  This was the language of my peers, my fellow pastors in that church body.

Until I was confronted with this statement on the Facebook page of one of my former peers, I did not realize how far removed I have become from this way of thinking.  Moreover, the longer that I considered the issue, the more that I realized that I never really held this notion to be the way of Christ’s Church.

Even when as a child and teenager and college student and then as a seminary student I felt a great urgency for and strong pull toward the work of a missionary, I never really embraced the concept of being an establisher of congregations.  I never really spoke against the concept and yet this never was the language of my heart, mind, and soul, either.

As I ponder this concept now, it actually is quite offensive to me.

When a person recognizes idolatry and blasphemy against God, the arrogance of these does injure one’s spirit and is a cause for grief.  When an individual or group of people begins to speak as though they were the ones accomplishing the miracle of Church, this is a very brazen theft of God’s glory, even though most people would perceive this as serving the Lord.

How do the Scriptures teach that a congregation becomes established?  The Scriptures teach that as the saints and especially the called preachers proclaim the Gospel that people are drawn together by the sweet and powerful words of God’s love, mercy, and salvation so that they draw near to hear more.  As the Holy Spirit works to congregate them, the saints lead them to the existing congregation, if one does exist in the area.  If not, they acknowledge that they have need to call/elect/ordain a pastor to administer to them the means of grace.  This then is not the accomplishment of a group or of an individual, but of the Holy Spirit working through the means of grace.  This is not the work of a missionary, nor of a church body, nor even of a congregation.  This is the work of God and He works it when and where He has determined.

God is the one who converted those who in their daily lives walk in spirit and display the love of God in their lives.  God is the one who gives homes and neighbors and friends and family, who then observe the mercy of God at work in the lives of His saints.  God is the one who generates interest so that people ask concerning the hope that the saints have and demonstrate in their daily sojourning.  God is the one who gives the answer to the saints to share with those who ask.  God is the one who works conversion in these new believers so that they cry out for more of this blessed Life.  As they gather together and cry out, God grants that they are now a congregation in need of a pastor to rule over the administration of God’s gifts as the called servant of the Word.  The pastor rules God’s household in the same manner as the master of a banquet rules over those gathered, not as their lord, but as the administrator and steward of the feast.

Most who would read what stands written above would like say “Amen” in principle.  Yet this is extremely rarely observed in practice.

This is why people imagine that they must have a church body or denomination in order to be validly counted as a church and as Church.  This is why many pastors who have spoken boldly against the sins and waywardness of their church bodies either did not leave their impenitent church bodies, or continued in them until another church body was organized to which they could bind themselves.

Then, having constructed or organized for themselves a new and improved church body, they and those with them begin to seek to pursue the “Ongoing work of the establishment of new Confessional Lutheran congregations throughout our region.”  When Confessional Lutheran is not the preferred label, others are supplied, such as orthodox, faithful, true, genuine, Bible believing, and Christ centered.

This mindset always leads right back to the failures from which the group tried to escape.  The reason for this is that the same corrupt and fallible approaches for establishment have been utilized.  The new church body has a new group of overlords who carry the same false notions that built that previous crumbling church.

Thanks be to God that the words proclaimed by St. Paul remain true yesterday, today, and forever:

There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.   (Ephesians 4:4-6)

When we truly hear this, then we no longer try to be God and we no longer imagine ourselves as church planters or establishers of congregations.  When we truly hear this, we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, eagerly gathering to the preaching of the pure Gospel and the administration of the Sacraments in accord with that pure Gospel.  When this is what is happening, then we are gathered as the Church and all that we receive is purely by grace as God grants it through the faith that He works among us.

Is this really such an important distinction?

The distinction is one of whose works we trust.  Do we trust God’s works or our works?  Do we trust in the things that God has ordained for His Church, or do we trust in the things that we or our leaders have organized and established?

One way continues forever and never fails.

As for the other way, well, one only needs to look around to see the results of the other way.  Who can even count the failed attempts through the other way?

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Tis the Season?Some Fascinating Music Videos

Here are some music videos and their accompanying links:




Christmas Flash Mob by Journey of Faith at South Bay Galleria - official video





Christmas Food Court Flash Mob, Hallelujah Chorus - Must See! - YouTube


It seems that this is the one time of year when such things are counted as permissible, perhaps even to be encouraged.

But then, tradition is nearly always counted as valuable and acceptable, especially if it helps to foster merriment and good cheer so that people are thinking of “giving,” which translates to purchasing.

Yet the heart does rejoice to hear that the Gospel is proclaimed, even if only for a brief season and often with tradition and marketing as the motivation.  The Gospel is nevertheless briefly broadcast to fall upon the various kinds of soil, where perhaps it will sprout and take root and flourish for a precious few souls.




Joy to the World Christmas Food Court Flash Mob! - Must See!


How many people notice that this common use of this hymn or carol is truncated to omit the third stanza?  How many people even know the third stanza?  Though this video is offered by Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, they make no mention of the stanza that explains the reason for this marvelous “Joy to the World.”

Here is the entire hymn:

1. Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
 Let earth receive her King;
 Let every heart prepare Him room
 And heaven and nature sing.

 2. Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!
 Let men their songs employ,
 While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
 Repeat the sounding joy.

 3. No more let sins and sorrows grow
 Nor thorns infest the ground;
 He comes to make His blessings flow
 Far as the curse is found.

 4. He rules the world with truth and grace
 And makes the nations prove
 The glories of His righteousness
 And wonders of His love.

Why is there cause for this wondrous Joy to the World?  It is because in Christ there is no more sin, the cause for sorrow and the curse that God placed upon the ground for Man’s sake.  In Christ, the Lamb who takes the sin of the world has come.  In Christ the curse, while still evident to remind us of the need for the repentance that the Holy Spirit works, no longer has power to bring us low and make us sad.  For in Christ we have redemption and justification and sanctification.

But people prefer to omit this stanza because apart from Christ there is no true Joy to the World because apart from Christ the curse still rules.  And so they embrace only the notion of the hope for joy, joy that is a fleeting emotion that must be conjured up through hyperbolic emotional facades.  Singing of carols without thought as to their meaning; bright lights on trees and the eves of the houses; flying reindeer and fat jolly old men in red suits farcically saying “Ho! Ho! Ho!” while the cameras flash and little children are urged into deeper delusions of self-gratification and lust for toys and other gifts of mammon, all these are promoted for the sake of fleeting moments of feeling happy without considering the cause of unhappiness in the world for which the Christ is come into the world to remove.

Perhaps the saddest realization of all is that this is done also in the churches, where the pure Gospel is supposed to be preached with the true Joy to the World that is realized only through the change of heart and mind that we commonly call repentance.

So, for those who know the true source of Joy to the World it is indeed proper to

Repeat the sounding joy:

 No more let sins and sorrows grow
 Nor thorns infest the ground;
 He comes to make His blessings flow
 Far as the curse is found.
 Far as the curse is found.
 Far as, far as, the curse is found.

After all, this is what the world most needs to hear, is it not, so that this joy may indeed be made known to the world?





Musical Interruption - Carol Of The Bells - Must See Christmas Video!


Wikipedia has a brief history of Carol of the Bells.


At Lyrics Carol of the Bells the full text of this very popular and merry song are available.  This again is fleeting hyperbole, but it does indeed move the heart, mind and spirit to momentary feelings of joy.


Certainly even such shallow songs can be of benefit in lifting the spirits of souls that are in need of upliftment.  But if this is all that people embrace, the emotional drop that occurs after the hype has ended can be devastating.  Such hyperbole has to be pursued continually and in the end has no real power to overcome the curse, only presenting a delusional momentary sense of escape.

In awareness of this some have taken songs like this one and have rewritten them to try to Christianize them and give them a more sanctified appearance.

One example is this one sung by the Ray Conniff Singers:

Ring, Christmas bells, Merrily ring,
Tell all the world Jesus is King!
Loudly proclaim
With one accord,
The happy tale;

Welcome the Lord!
Ring, Christmas bells,
Sound far and near,
The birth day of Jesus is here.
Herald the news
To old and young,
Tell it to all
In ev'ry tongue.
Ring, Christmas bells,
Toll loud and long,
Your message sweet
Peel and prolong.
Come, all ye people,
Join in the singing,
Repeat the story
Told by the ringing. Ring!
Christmas bells, Ring,
Christmas bells.
Loudly proclaim Ring!
Christmas bells. Ring!
With one accord,
The happy tale;
Welcome the Lord!
Ring, Christmas bells,
Ring, Christmas bells,
Merrily ring,
Tell all the world Jesus is King!

Another example is Michael W. Smith - Christmastime :

This lovely sounding song is yet another attempt to make Christmas merry through music.  The lyrics at Christmastime Lyrics - Michael W. Smith are nevertheless lacking in any real substance concerning the cause for Christmastime to be merry.  Apart from the real reason for the birth of Jesus to the world, His rule as King is a terrifying thing.  People turn to Jesus as King with the false notion that they are able to make Him King in their hearts and lives.  And so they find themselves trapped in charismatic hyperbole that they seek after all their lives.  They find a sense of peace for as long as they are able to convince themselves that they actually do honor Jesus as their King and Lord.  However, their own awareness of their sinfulness cannot be forever suppressed.  This leads to despair, sometimes even suicide.

But Jesus comes as a very different King than people choose to make Him.  He comes not with bright lights and flashy glory.  He comes not in hyperbolic singing.  He comes not through the giving of toys and presents from Santa under a glistening tree.  Neither does He come with demands to be worshiped.

Rather, Jesus comes as the King who gives Himself for us.  He comes through the humble vessel of a bloody womb, blood from which He Himself had to be cleansed and purified, the blood of Mary’s sin that she inherited from Adam, the same sin that inheres in our flesh.  He comes at the end of His ministry among the Jews humbly riding on an ass, even the foal of an ass, being carried as the King who is the final sacrifice for the sin of the world.

Today He comes to those who gather to receive Him according to His promise to give His very body and blood in the Sacrament of the Altar.  There He comes under the true Christ Mass gifts of bread and wine that we bring to His Table and He blesses with His gift of Himself in His true body and blood of our salvation and regenerated life in His Holy Communion.

Here is encountered the King of Glory offering us His gifts under the tree of salvation, a tree where the garland is a crown of thorns beaten deeply into  His bleeding scalp, a tree where the only light shining is the light of His love for sinful mankind and the glint that shines from His bright blood flowing down the trunk of the cross, blood shining with His own life that flows for the life of all who will be baptized into Him.

This King comes not to demand that we make Him King of our hearts and lives, but to enter into us through His means of grace to make His home our hearts, not by our choice and not by our commitment to Him, but by His choice and His commitment to us.  He pours Himself out to us and into us and as He creates faith in us, He begins to rule our hearts and minds through the peace of God that surpasses all understanding.  Then we finally know the Joy to the World that He comes to bring.  Then we realize that the curse is but God’s gracious call to stop seeking to make Jesus Lord so that we may receive Him as He comes to us as the one who truly is Lord of all.  Then our Joy no longer is something that we must produce through hyperbole, but the heavenly gift of Jesus who comes to us and produces in us what we cannot produce for ourselves.

Then our emotions are not the cause of our joy but merely reflections of the Joy who is come to the world to redeem the world and save the world from the curse of sin in the world.

Thus this season of Advent is a truly wonderful time of preparation for the celebration of the Christ Mass and these Advent hymns proclaim that for which we expectantly await:

"Come, Thou Precious Ransom, Come"

1. Come, Thou precious Ransom, come,
Only Hope for sinful mortals!
Come, O Savior of the world!
Open are to Thee all portals.
Come, Thy beauty let us see;
Anxiously we wait for Thee.

2. Enter now my waiting heart,
Glorious King and Lord most holy.
Dwell in me and ne'er depart,
Though I am but poor and lowly.
Ah, what riches will be mine
When Thou art my Guest Divine!

3. My hosannas and my palms
Graciously receive, I pray Thee;
Evermore, as best I can,
Savior, I will homage pay Thee,
And in faith I will embrace,
Lord, Thy merit through Thy grace.

4. Hail, hosanna, David's Son!
Help, Lord, hear our supplication!
Let Thy kingdom, scepter, crown,
Bring us blessing and salvation,
That forever we may sing:
Hail, hosanna! to our King.

"Oh, Come, Oh, Come, Emmanuel"

1. Oh, come, Oh, come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

2. Oh, come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan's tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save
And give them victory o'er the grave.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

3. Oh, come, Thou Dayspring from on high,
And cheer us by Thy drawing nigh;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

4. Oh, come, Thou Key of David, come
And open wide our heavenly home:
Make safe the way that leads on high
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

"Once He Came in Blessing"

1. Once He came in blessing,
All our ills redressing;
Came in likeness lowly,
Son of God most holy;
Bore the cross to save us,
Hope and freedom gave us.

2. Still He comes within us,
Still His voice would win us
From the sins that hurt us;
Would to Truth convert us
From our foolish errors
Ere He comes in terrors.

3. Thus, if thou hast known Him,
Not ashamed to own Him,
But wilt trust Him boldly
Nor dost love Him coldly,
He will then receive thee,
Heal thee, and forgive thee.

4. He who thus endureth
Bright reward secureth.
Come, then, O Lord Jesus,
From our sins release us;
Let us here confess Thee
Till in heaven we bless Thee.

Yes, indeed!  Tis the Season!

God bless us every one!

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It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

     “It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas,” argh!  Argh!  ARGH!  I really dislike this song.

     However, as I heard it play on the radio today I realized how true it is.  It really does describe very accurately how Christmas looks.

     It really does look very much like when the Lord Jesus was born in Bethlehem.  Who realized then the great miracle that the Lord was working as the Word was being made flesh to save us?  With all of the hustle and bustle of Caesar’s decree, with all of the business to transact, with all of the family affairs to conduct, who was really noticing the birth of the promised Seed of salvation?

     Who had room for the Lord? Who had room for the holy family?

     Yes, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

     This year I heard the first so-called Christmas song on the radio already before the end of October.  This week I heard a radio announcer say, “In case you haven’t noticed, it’s Christmas season.”

     We have not even concluded the Trinity season.  Advent does not begin till this Sunday.  The Christmas season does not begin until the Christ Mass.

     But how many people care anymore?  For most people the season of Christmas is over when the presents under the tree have been opened.  The day that the season begins is the day that people cast aside their notions of Christmas.

     The season of Advent, the season of preparation for the blessed coming of the Lord to save the world from sin, that wonderful season is counted as a time for buying and selling.

     Yes, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

   

     And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.  (Luke 2:1-7)

     Nevertheless, both at that time as well as today, a few have had a different view of Christmas.  Even today a few do grasp the meaning of this first Advent of the Christ.  Yes, a few are glad for the season of Advent and its wonderful focus upon our great need for the gift of salvation that was nurtured within the womb of the virgin and delivered to the world wrapped in swaddling cloths. For a season the holy catholic Church falls to her knees, confessing her great need for the forgiveness that the child born of Mary would purchase with His lifeblood.

     Yes, it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas.  It has always been a tiny few who understood and were gathered by the Spirit to the means that the Lord has ordained for the imparting of His grace to those who have gathered to receive it.  As most look elsewhere for meaning and hope and purpose and goodwill, the saints humbly gather to the one place that it is readily accessible and they do receive that which their hearts desire.

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Impatience!!!

Why is it that we may on some occasions spend 30-45 minutes or more wandering a store, perhaps even asking questions of a sales person for 10 minutes or more, but when we get to the checkout line we suddenly imagine that 5 minutes is an outrageous amount of time and a terrible imposition?

To see this in the more extreme manifestation, observe how people often act in the parking lot after investing hours at a concert or sporting event or other entertainment.



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On the other hand, I have found that if the other people in line allow me to enter into a friendly conversation with them that the time in line becomes almost insignificant.

In fact, I have observed that people’s scowls often turn to smiles and their eyes brighten and that even sometimes, when we finally get to the register that it seems as though the time of our encounter was too short.


:)   :)   :)

Some things are simply too REAL to be funny!

Alternative Cancer Treatments

Today I found a link for:

The Complete Guide to
Alternative
Cancer
Treatments

It is a PDF file of a 474 page book.  It seems to be worth the read.

I learned of this book from this site.

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Living Faith

Today I visited a blog that I occasionally read because reading the posts there often moves me to dig more deeply into what the Spirit has given us in His blessed doctrine in His Holy Scriptures.  The blogger very often says much that sounds right, because parts of the truth are presented.  Yet these things only sound right to those who do not listen for the truth as a whole.  The truth cannot be broken apart with only part of the truth being embraced and told.  If this is done, what is told is not the truth, but only part of the truth.  The statements made are true insofar as they reach, but without the rest of the truth these true statements are false.  The various articles of the truth cannot stand alone.

I share this not as an attack upon anyone, but so as to remind us all that this false premise that the truth can be in any way truncated is truly a false premise that causes us to cling to a faith that is powerless to save us.  This false premise manifests itself in the ways that we express ourselves concerning the faith and life as Christians.

In We are Christians not Faith-ians the blogger attempts to address a very serious faux pas or false step among those who profess to be Christians.  The issue that Pr. McCain attempts to address is truly a serious issue.  It is good that he and others recognize this and desire to correct the misstep.

However, if one is careful in reading this post, one observes that the true problem is not really addressed. McCain’s concern is the misunderstanding of what it is that makes one a Christian and gives absolute assurance of one’s salvation and security in that salvation.  This is a valid concern.  He makes some valid points regarding this concern.  He attempts to direct his readers to the true definition of the faith in which true believers have their hope.

He makes a very valid point when he says:

Do not confuse faith in faith, with trust in Christ. There is a key difference.

What he is expressing is that the individual’s personal faith is not the faith that regenerates the person into the kingdom of God.  A common way in which this faux pas is expressed by those who profess to be believers is to call this “personal faith in Christ as one’s personal Savior.”  If one pays attention, the problem with this becomes “self” evident.

In this regard, consider this question:

Does a person who believes tell oneself,
“I must believe”?

McCain writes: “Never look to your subjective feeling that there is faith in your heart.”  And again he says:

Salvation rests on objective realities that have absolutely nothing to do with feelings or emotions. Faith is merely and only the receiving hand God gives us and into which He pours His good gifts, it is not the cause of our salvation.

We are Christians, not Faith-ians.

His warning against the feeling that people mislabel as faith is certainly correct.  But does that really get to the issue?

He says that faith is not the cause of our salvation.

How then will one respond to those who object to this quoting the Lord Jesus saying: “Your faith has saved you”?  How will one respond to the many “by faith” passages in the New Testament Scriptures, especially in the epistles of St. Paul?  For example, how many times does St. Paul write that we are justified by faith?  Actually, he writes “out of faith.”  Does this not call to remembrance what the Lord Jesus teaches Nicodemus concerning Baptism in John 3 and what St. Peter declares in 1 Peter 3?

Can we really say that faith is not the cause of one’s salvation?

Is this really even the issue?  Could it be that the real issue is one of a false definition of faith being embraced?  Could it not be that the real issue is what is taught by the author to the Hebrews?
 

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.  (Hebrews 12:2)

Is not the real issue the one whom we count as the worker of faith for us?  Is it not true that the problem is not really that we count faith as the cause of our salvation, but really that we only give lip service to counting God and His means of grace as the cause of our faith?  Additionally, is the problem not also that we look to our personal faith rather than the faith of Jesus in which all true Christians have their being?

St. Paul writes: “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.”  (Romans 1:17) This is a quote from Habakkuk 2:4,

Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.

The Septuagint translation gives an interesting insight as one observes how they translated this text:

If he should draw back, my soul has no pleasure in him: but the just shall live by my faith.

With Hebrews12:2 in mind, does this not bring clarification to the issue under consideration?

Does this not bring to the fore that the real issue is not whether we are Faith-ians, but rather, whose Faith in which are -ians?

When a person understands the life of being a Christian from this perspective, it changes the person’s entire understanding of life as a Christian.

It is notable that McCain does not even mention the means of grace in this article.  Some of those who commented mentioned them, but this seems not to be what McCain had in his mind as he wrote this.

Perhaps this is because the means of grace are not regularly thought of by people as the means of faith.  It is common, especially among those who call themselves Lutherans, to speak of faith as God’s gift and the work of the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the Gospel and through the Sacraments, but then to look away from them as if what has been said is not what really matters.  A powerful example of this is the way that 1 Corinthians 11:28 is misapplied concerning the Sacrament of the body and blood of the Lord.  This misunderstanding and misapplication leads to people and entire churches counting one’s personal faith as the cause of worthiness for coming to the table of forgiveness and life in God’s kingdom.

But the apostle is teaching the opposite.  He is teaching that a man, as the head of his wife and household should examine himself, that is, his household, to be certain that they recognize their need for the body and blood of their Lord so as to be moved by the faith that He has worked in them to come to the table, and that this man also examine himself to be certain that the table to which he brings his family is truly the table of the Lord and not a table of adulteration of the Sacrament.

When people share in this understanding, what is taught is that each head of each household should be instructed and reminded to look back with his entire household daily to the promises made in their baptism, that is, God’s promises made in their baptism.  Looking back to one’s baptism causes one to realize that being a Christian is not the product of one’s faith, but rather one’s faith is the produce of being remade to be a Christian.  Perhaps this point should be repeated.

Looking back to one’s baptism causes one to realize that being a Christian is not the product of one’s faith, but rather one’s faith is the produce of being remade to be a Christian.

This realization then moves the person to rise up from the false reliance upon one’s own faith so as to approach the Table of the Lord’s Remembrance, where he remembers whom He has made us to be and with His body unites us with Him in His remembrance and renews us again in the forgiveness and life in His blood.

This is how God works His grace in us and for us, which we perceive through the faith that He engenders in us.  Then we simply say “Amen” to what He has done, as He continually gives and teaches it to us anew through His means of grace so that we do remember that He is the Father and we are the needy children.  Then we rejoice in the doctrine that St. Paul very carefully sets before us:

But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

    For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves:  it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.  (Ephesians 2:4-10)

+ + +

Johnny Cash - Hurt

Today I viewed a movie that included this Johnny Cash song at the end:



As I heard this song I heard Johnny’s broken heart as well as the broken hearts of many people in the world, some whom I know closely.  Some are very dear to me personally.  Some I care for dearly, even though barely knowing them.  Yet their pain is steeped into my memory and beyond, even into my heart and soul.

This song, especially the final stanza, made me think of the sad theft that has occurred in most of what is today called Christianity.

The full lyrics are listed at Lyrics.
Here is the last stanza:

If I could start again
A million miles away
I would keep myself
I would find a way

These words very powerfully resonate with the false doctrine of most of what is considered to be Christianity today.  These words reflect the image of humanity lost in self-reliance, knowing nothing of God’s pure grace.  Most Christians confess this very same empty doctrine of works righteousness.  Sinful man cannot keep himself.  Sinful man is blinded to the way so that he seeks where he may, but never finds the way that he seeks.

I have watched those I love allow to be brushed from their sacred heads their everlasting crowns of life, to be exchanged for flowery temporal wreaths placed upon their whitewashed tombs, tabernacles of clay.  Those who once rested securely in the promises of their baptism now seek to find their own way, calling their own decisions and their own efforts at godliness the way of the Lord.  Those who once humbly confessed the faith of Jesus have turned to boasting of their own faith in Jesus.  Those who once longed for the blessed Communion of the body and blood of the Lord now trust in the fellowship of coffee and donuts.  Once they professed the creeds, but now they promote tolerance of mixed confessions.  Where they formerly united in the historic liturgy and rich proclamation of the ancient hymnody, they now divide themselves into multiple worship services of diverse style and focus, even bragging of the blended nature of their contemporaneity with the world. Their own personal witness has been elevated in superiority over the doctrine and practice of the apostles.

“Judge not lest ye be judged,” and “I cannot judge another person’s heart,” has become the mantra by which all who profess the holy catholic Church are judged and condemned as “unloving” and “intolerant.”

Yes, this song by the Man in Black is a very sad song.

Sadder still is the song of those who reduce the Gospel to a nondescript guideline of how personal faith in Jesus and seeking to live a good life, or at least a better life and treating others with some level of respect, is how Christianity and the Church is rightly defined.  This song is far sadder even than Johnny’s, for Johnny at least realized that his way was not the right way.




Johnny Cash - Hurt

Hurt (3:37)

A Permit to be Homeless?

Let's see.

First the government and the big bankers and businesses put people out of work and foreclose on their homes, making them homeless.

Without an address the homeless often cannot find employment.

Without employment, after their time for staying in a homeless shelter is used up, they have no place to stay and no money for food.

So what is really being done when permits are required for the homeless?

They are being told that they have no right to live.

How many people are only a paycheck or two away from this?

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Do You Honestly Believe God?

Is your God a liar?

     If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.  (1 John 1:8-10)

Do you profess to be a Christian?  Do you confess to believe in Christ as your Savior?

Is your sin big enough to need a savior?  Or do you just need a little help?  Are you just needing a push in the right direction?

Those who truly look to Christ as their Savior do not have any little sins.

For example, the sin of praying is taken very seriously by one who truly trusts in Christ.

Do you understand what this means?  Do you understand why your praying is sinful?

According to this passage from John’s letter to those whom he identifies as his little children in the faith, if you imagine that your prayers are without sin, you deceive yourself and call God a liar.

Consider when you pray.  Let’s take the prayer that the Lord Jesus gave us to pray.  When you pray the Our Father, does your mind wander?

Do you pray this prayer perfectly with absolute and undivided attention to the Lord?

If you say that you do, then don’t even bother reading any farther.

But if you answer honestly, then this passage from the Scriptures will be received with great joy and thanksgiving in your heart, soul, and mind.

If you realize that even your best efforts at prayer and worship fall short and are of their own merit nothing but idolatry, then these words recorded by St. John will be wonderful words to you.  For these words are written for real sinners, of whom Isaiah and St. Paul declare that all of our righteousnesses are as bloody rags, corrupt and to be burned forever.  If your best deeds are such, then you will hear what the Holy Spirit is revealing in this text.

Here the grace of God is declared for us all to hear, that God, the faithful and just one, will forgive us our sins when we honestly acknowledge them so that we confess them.

It is a very sad matter that this text is usually proclaimed as though it were a cause and effect scenario, as though God forgives us because we confess our sins.  Most people hear this as though we must confess our sins in order for God to be willing to forgive us.  Most preachers proclaim this as though God forgives us because we humble ourselves and confess our sins.

The truth is far more wonderful!

The truth is that we confess our sins because God forgives us.  We confess our sins because God has declared us to be forgiven in Christ.  Thus, when we hear this wonderful good news and are converted by the Holy Spirit so that we believe it, we no longer are afraid to come to God.  Instead, we now acknowledge God’s forgiveness in Christ and come to God through Christ, confessing that we need to hear His holy absolution.  We hurt because of the knowledge of our sinfulness and we confess this to God who readily and lovingly declares to us yet again, “Yes, My Son has taken your sins so that they are no longer accounted to you.  Your sins have all been forgiven you even from eternity.  Go forth in the blessedness of this forgiveness.”

The Gospel teaches us that in Christ our sins are forgiven.  When we hear this, when we truly hear this, our hearts are changed.  We are regenerated from unbelievers to believers.  When we believe God, we cannot call Him a liar.  When we believe God and His gracious declaration in connection with Christ, we want to be baptized into Christ and to be made to be partakers of this Holy Communion of God in the body of Christ.  The Gospel works this in us.  Then we see that of our own thoughts, words, and deeds, we sin against God continually.  Knowing this, we come and confess our sins so that we can hear Him say again and again and again, “I forgive you.”

We need to hear this.  This is how God sets us free.  We come to Him with hearts burdened with sin and He divorces us of our sins.  He sends our sins away from us.

As we hear the truth concerning Jesus, we believe what He has accomplished for us.  Our natural response is to confess our need for His forgiveness.  His response is to declare it to us as often as we need to hear it.

God does not demand that if we want to be forgiven we must confess our sins.  Rather, He promises that when we confess our sins we will actually hear His forgiveness.

God promises that His forgiveness is purely by grace through faith.  If we insist that we must somehow make ourselves worthy first by believing or by inviting Him into our hearts or by confessing our sins, or by examining ourselves, or by anything else, we call Him a liar.  This is the opposite of believing Him.  This cuts us off from receiving His forgiveness.  This is not because He refuses to grant it, but because we refuse to receive it as it must be received, by grace, through faith, as an absolute gift, purchased and won for us by Christ and made available to us in Christ.

This knowledge of God’s honest proclamation of grace through faith is cause for everlasting thanksgiving or Eucharisting, which in essence is the very life of the Church.

+ + +

Bye Bye for Now

For now, Wichita water can say Bye Bye to fluoridation.

Amazingly, the deceitful propagandists with their exorbitant spending did not win the day.  Enough people were aware of the facts and were unwilling to be swayed by dishonest dentists, doctors, and pharmacon pushers that the addition of this poison to our drinking water was voted down by 60% to 40%.

Therefore, those who want to poison themselves may do so, but the rest of us are safe from forced fluoridation.  At least until the Obama and his health czar or other administrative tyrant somehow make it a national mandate.

At least we should not be getting any more phone calls from the ADA calling us liars for presenting the facts that even the FDA and CDC openly admit.

It is a little victory, but nevertheless cause for giving thanks to God.

Election Day

Tomorrow Americans will be voting concerning various political issues, including who will be the President for the next four years.

I have met a few people who think that Obama is the right choice.  I am amazed at their reasoning when they try to explain.

I have met many more who think that Romney is the lesser of two evils.

In talking with people I have heard many people say that they would consider voting for a third party candidate, but that such a candidate cannot win.

Huh?

I’ve seen polls that indicate that those claiming to be independent of the two lock-step parties are as much as 40%.

If everyone one who claims to be independent really meant it and voted for say, Gary Johnson, he would be the next president elect.

If everyone who said, “He can’t win” voted for him, guess what?

I don’t agree with Gary on everything, but hearing him speak and reading his positions, he seems to me to take the Constitution very seriously.  He has a good record.  He is every bit as pro-Life as Romney.

You think otherwise?

Read what Romney’s site says:

Values: Marriage, Family, Life.

First notice that this is stated in the third person.  This is written by someone other than Romney.

Next notice that he makes no statement of any actual plan for action.

The boldest statement made is:

“He will protect the right of health care workers to follow their conscience in their work.”

How?

Every statement indicates that he intends to point his finger at someone else and claim no responsibility himself.  Read what his propagandist writes for him.  See if he ever actually commits to anything.  Anything at all.

Gary Johnson at least speaks in the first person or simply states the points that he believes.  Johnson says basically the same regarding protecting life that Romney says.  He says that all life is precious and must be protected.  He furthermore limits a woman’s choice to viability of a fetus.  So if this is pressed regarding what viability actually means, then the fetus would be protected from conception.  This is not his current stand, but he indicates protection for those he counts as viable as necessary.  This is actually more than Romney states as his intended actual action.

But then, what Republican president has actually done anything more than claim to be pro-Life.  What president has actually done anything about it?

On the other hand, pro-Life presidents have pressed for the Patriot Act and the TSA and Homeland Security and other horrific acts.

Johnson says: Civil Liberties:

• The PATRIOT Act should be repealed, which would restore proper judicial oversight to federal investigations and again require federal investigators to prove probable cause prior to executing a search.
  
• Habeas corpus should be respected entirely, requiring the government to either charge incarcerated individuals with a crime or release them.
  
• The TSA should take a risk-based approach to airport security. Only high-risk individuals should be subjected to invasive pat-downs and full-body scans.
  
• The TSA should not have a monopoly on airport security. Airports and airlines should be encouraged to seek the most effective methods for screening travelers, including private sector screeners. Screeners outside of government can be held fully accountable for their successes and failures.

This is a very good start.  Imagine if we had a president who actually tried to accomplish these things.

At least pro-Life people would not be labeled as terrorists and arrested for speaking out.

What did either of the Bushes do?  What does Romney actually commit himself to do?

Johnson is on the ballot.  Voting for him is easy.  Voting for him is casting a true NO vote to the way the lockstep parties have been leading us.  That may be a long way from what a great option would be, but it would be a step in the right direction.

If anyone thinks that the Patriot Act is a small issue, wait till that person is arrested without Habeas Corpus.  Suddenly very little else will matter.

Sadly, Johnson admits that he does not know much about the NDAA, but since he desires to repeal the Patriot Act, he would surely also want to repeal its big brother.

At any rate, it will surely be interesting to see how many people are truly independents, and how many are merely noise makers.

Drink this!

Drink this,
it’s good for you!





The American Dental Association and Wichitans for Healthy Teeth, keep calling me and telling me this.



It makes me very unhappy.

I don’t want to have Sodium Fluorosilicate or Sodium Silicofluoride or any other toxin added to my drinking and bathing water.  I don’t want my garden plants to be soaking up this toxin to grow in my vegetables.  I don’t want the birdies to which I give water to drink this either.

The ADA and the Witch-itans for toxic waste keep trying to convince the people that fluoridating the water is something that this good for us all and for the children.  They want us to believe that the warning labels that the FDA requires on toothpaste containers is unnecessary and that families should not be made to be overly concerned about fluoride ingestion of their little ones.

Add it to the water and drink it!  It is good for your teeth!

(It is bad for the environment, but don’t concern yourself about that.  It is a regulated toxic substance, but that should not concern you regarding the water that YOU and your CHILDREN drink.)

“Vote YES for fluoride!” they say.

They call people who warn against fluoride as a dangerous toxin LIARS.

But what about the labels that the companies who make and sell and distribute this stuff say?

Check out what Darwin Chemical says at Sodium Silicofluoride 99% technical Grade.

And see what Orca Chemicals says on their Safety Data Sheet.

And let’s see what Solvay Fluorides, LLC says on their Material Safety Data Sheet.


Shall we select and highlight the Darwin Chemical’s product description?

(Note what the listed applications are.)

Sodium Silicofluoride 99% technical Grade
Sodium Silicofluoride 99% min Technical Grade

Catalog Number:      Q137

Definition:
     Sodium Silicofluoride, also called Sodium Fluorosilicate, is a white, odorless, tasteless, free-flowing powder.

CAS Number:
      16893-85-9

Application:      This material is used in a wide range of applications such as: fluoridation, laundry soaps, opalescent glass, vitreous enamel frits, metallurgy (aluminum and beryllium), insecticides and rodenticides, chemical intermediate, glue, leather and wood preservative, moth repellent and manufacture of pure silicone.

Technical Data:      Loss on drying at 105ºC 0.30 max
     Assay (on dry basis) 99.0 min
     Free acid content (based on HCL) 0.10 max
     Water insoluble matter content: 0.40 max
     Heavy metal content (based on Pb) 0.02 max
     Iron content (Fe) 0.02 max
     Particle size (based on 250um sieve) 90 min

Packaging & Handling:
      Packed in 25 Kg or 40 Kg bags.

     This product may be fatal if inhaled or swallowed. Irritation to the eyes, nose, throat, and skin can result from contact with this product.

Carefully read MSDS before using this product.

Remarks:      DOT Shipping Classification Class 6.1 (Keep away from food)
DOT Shipping name Sodium Fluorosilicate
UN 2674
Packing Group III
Label Keep away from food

Two items especially grab my attention:

     This product may be fatal if inhaled or swallowed. Irritation to the eyes, nose, throat, and skin can result from contact with this product.

     Keep away from food


But the Witch-itans for Healthy Teeth say, “Add to the drinking water.  It’s safe!”


Who is calling whom a Liar?

Fluoride Is Good for You - Can You Trust Your Dentist?

The American Dental Association is ramping up its efforts to promote fluoridation of Wichita’s water.

The Phone has been ringing with a recorded message from a dentist who calls those who are opposing this toxic substance/medication being forced upon the public LIARS!

Yes, she actually calls anyone presenting the truth about fluoridation LIARS!

Guess who she claims as the authoritative source for this claim.

The MEDIA!

She actually makes the claim that every time that the MEDIA has checked the scientific evidence that the MEDIA has found it to be false.

She claims that “Fluoride Is Good for You!”

Does she give any actual scientific evidence for this claim?  Does she give any actual evidence that counters the warnings about what fluoride actually does to people who consume it?

Why would a dentist act this way?  Why would the ADA make such an effort to promote this toxic waste being added to our water?

Do these dentists have anything to gain?  Is it possible that they gain something by this?

Have you heard of Fluorosis?

Definitions of fluorosis are easily found on-line, such as the CDC’s article: Community Water Fluoridation.

Some photographs of fluorosis are also available, such as these:









Wow!  What wonderful smiles drinking fluoride can produce!  Guess who people turn to in the hope of correcting this when it happens?

Could it be their dentists?  Do dentists make any money from this?  Hmm?  Does the ADA benefit from this?

Here is the definition from medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com:

fluo·ro·sis
n.
An abnormal condition caused by excessive intake of fluorine, as from fluoridated drinking water, characterized chiefly by mottling of the teeth.


fluorosis /flu·o·ro·sis

1. a condition due to ingestion of excessive amounts of fluorine.
   
2. a condition in humans due to exposure to excessive amounts of fluorine or its compounds, resulting from accidental ingestion of certain insecticides and rodenticides, chronic inhalation of industrial dusts or gases, or prolonged ingestion of water containing large amounts of fluorides; characterized by skeletal changes such as osteofluorosis and by mottled enamel when exposure occurs during enamel formation.

Sadly, fluorosis is only one of the effects of ingestion of too much fluoride.  Some are far worse.

But the ADA and many dentists want us to believe that adding fluoride to our drinking water is a good idea.

The published list of those dentists and other medical professionals who have endorsed this can be viewed at Medical Community Endorsements.

At Endorsing Organizations another list of the organizations is listed.

Is your dentist or other health care provider listed?

Did you know that some dentists and health care providers refuse to be members of these organizations because of these issues?

Yes!  There actually are people who are standing up for us and saying NO to the organizations who claim to be looking out for us but are really promoting things that are only good for their own business interests.  Some of these people have faced persecution from their peers, yet they continue to act according to their consciences and for the good of their patients.

Is it time that people start asking more questions of their health care providers?  Could it be that we should stop giving blind trust to “professionals” and should learn more about these issues ourselves?

Did you know that the ADA actually has a web page called Statement on FDA Toothpaste Warning Labels, where the ADA announces that they are trying to persuade the FDA to remove the requirement to warn people about the dangers of swallowing fluoride?

Can you believe this?  Even the FDA and the CDC, with their shabby record, still warn the public against the dangers of fluoride ingestion, but the ADA publically declares that they want them to stop.

Could it be that it is time to reward those brave and honest professionals who stand against the pressure of their peers to go along to get along?

To whom do you really want to give your trust?

Reformation Day —God’s True Purpose for His Church

When I was a teenager, our family needed to clear some acreage of the briars and palmettos and undergrowth and to level the ground for seeding.  We had a small tractor with various implements.  My father entrusted much of the work to me as the eldest son.

The work included pulling out various palmettos and stumps, plowing and then discing.  One day I was discing through some very tricky areas between the pine trees.  Often the passages were very narrow between the trees.

On one pass through a particularly narrow gap, a large stinging insect attacked and stung or bit me on the back of my shoulder.  It felt as though someone stuck me with a red hot fire iron.

I jerked in response to the pain, thereby turning the wheel slightly, and running the front right wheel of the tractor into one of the pines.  I broke the axle.

I was in pain.  I needed to tend to my shoulder.  But I also was hurting because I broke the tractor.  I had broken my father’s trust.  I broke his tractor.  I felt guilty, ashamed, and afraid.

When Dad came home I told him how I had let him down.

He responded, “Let’s see.”  Upon examining it he said, “Well, we’ll have to fix it.”

After we fixed it, which did cost for the repairs, again he entrusted me to do the work at hand, reminding me to be careful.

This is much like the Lord’s way of dealing with His children, only God’s is even better.  Not only does He deal with us with compassion, love, and forgiveness, not only does He fix what we have broken, not only does He take away our guilt and shame and fear, not only does He entrust to us again the work of His kingdom, but He also empowers us through the gift of the indwelling of His Holy Spirit and through the continual nurturing of His Holy Communion.

Sadly, those to whom the most precious work of preaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments has been entrusted keep forgetting this as His true purpose for His Church.  And so, as has happened time and time again in previous times, the focus becomes shifted to what we must do rather than what our Heavenly Father does for us.  The preaching becomes “How to” sermons.  The precious Gospel is reduced to commandments that we must keep, such as “You must believe” and “You must repent” and “You must commit your lives to Jesus” and “You must make Jesus the center of your life.”

But the Gospel is the proclamation of what God does for us through His Church and His means of grace.  Through the pure preaching of the Gospel Jesus comes to us and with Him the Holy Spirit, and we are regenerated as the water of Baptism is poured over us in connection with this preaching of Jesus through which the Holy Spirit works and enters into us and makes us to be His tabernacles on earth.  God Himself works the repentance or changing of heart and mind that we need so that we know Him for who He really is.  God committed His life to us, through the gift of His Son, Jesus, so that we would not have to rely upon our weak and faltering personal faith and commitment to Him.  He makes His commitment to us the cause of our salvation and redemption and justification and sanctification.  God makes us the center of His life in His body, the Church.  He makes us the very reason for the Church’s existence, that in His Church He may come to us and commune with us as His precious saints.  He proclaims us to be saints and comes to us to reclaim us again and again and again through the holy absolution and through the Holy Supper.  He makes Himself to be the very foundation of our life so that we don’t have to commit ourselves to Him or try to make Him our focus.  He does this for us through the continual activity of the Holy Spirit in our lives, who is poured out to us and into us in our baptism.

Then the work that He entrusts to us is not a burden that we must strive to fulfill.  Rather, our very lives are made to be the fulfillment of the work entrusted to us as we live as His beloved children, turning again and again to His forgiveness and renewal, rejoicing in His goodness, mercy, and love.  Through this the world sees God’s work done in us and for us and occasionally someone actually asks us to give the reason for the hope in which we live.  Then we joyously may share with them the good news that they, too, are God’s children whom He wishes to have rejoined to Him in His everlasting kingdom of righteousness and blessedness.  Then they too may received the free gift of the new life that is in Christ Jesus in His body, the Church, the household of God.

This is the joyous focus of Reformation Day.  When this is how the Reformation is understood, every day is Reformation Day and the rejoicing truly never ceases.

+ + +

Reformation Day

Today is known by many as Reformation Day.  This is on account of an event that occurred 495 years ago on October 31, 1517.  On that day, a relatively obscure monk and doctor of theology posted 95 theses concerning abuses within the Church of God, or at least what people had been taught to believe was the Church of God.  The truth is that the Church had been taken captive by a larger body that was really not the Church at all.  Yet within this larger body, God had preserved a few who miraculously still clung to the promises of God in Christ, though they were terribly persecuted whenever they dared to speak openly concerning these things.

Dr. Luther wrote his concerns in the form of the famous, or infamous in some circles, 95 theses and he posted them on the community theological bulletin board, that is, the door of the Wittenberg Church.  His intention was to begin discussions regarding what the Holy Scriptures declare for the Church, especially in contrast to the posted abuses.  From this grew a mighty firestorm as the validity of these challenges became apparent to more and more theologians and people.  This reaction to Luther and his challenges, which grew to become a movement throughout the world, became known as the Protestant Reformation, and that which remained closer to the doctrine exposed by Dr. Luther and his fellow theologians was more narrowly labeled the Lutheran Reformation.

Having shared this background information, it is fitting to ask a larger question: “What is Reformation Day really about?”

If a house is handed down within a family from generation to generation, there could be a number of occasions for celebration regarding this house.  One occasion for celebration could be the day of the purchase of the land.  Another could be the day of first breaking ground for the laying of the foundation.  Another could be the day of completion of the building.  Another could be the day the family actually began to reside in the house.  If a loan or mortgage was involved, the day of the payoff could be another occasion.  The birth of the first child could be another.  On and on the occasions for celebration multiply.

Perhaps the house caught fire and burned in the seventh generation and had to be rebuilt.  This would become yet another occasion, one that may even encompass many of the previous occasions and combine them all into one great celebraton.

Reformation Day is much like this.

However, if such an occasion were to be celebrated in perpetuity, would those who enjoyed the benefits of the house make one of the tools the focus of the celebration?  Would they make the focus the pick axe that was used to break the ground?  Would they choose the saw that made the first cut in the new timber for rebuilding the burned house?  Moreover, would they name the house after the pick axe or  rename the rebuilt house after the saw?

Does this sound ridiculous?

What is the Reformation really about?  Is it about the tool, Luther, whom God used to call out His children from a burned out and crumbling house?  Or is it about the house of God to which He called out His children and the joyous and blessed life within this house that He provides for all who hear His calling and gather to the means of this blessed life?

Moreover, what is the house of God, anyway?  Is it the building upon which people place their signs after they erect their stones or bricks or lumber?  Is it the corporation that they charter and define with a constitution and bylaws?

Did Luther and his brethren who stood with him in the face of threats against their lives and persecution of many kinds have anything to say on this?  Did they give a clear definition of what they believed the house of God, the Church, to be?

Indeed they did.  They spoke of this in the confession of faith that they were required to present to the Emperor in 1530 at the Diet of Augsburg.  This has come to be called the Augsburg Confession.  Within this confession many of the articles of the faith are addressed, stating what these churches and teachers who stood together in concord believed, taught, and confessed from the Word of God.

Article VII: Of the Church.


1] Also they teach that one holy Church is to continue forever. The Church is the congregation of saints, in which the Gospel is rightly taught and the Sacraments are rightly administered.
2] And to the true unity of the Church it is enough to agree concerning the doctrine of the Gospel and 3] the administration of the Sacraments. Nor is it necessary that human traditions, that is, rites or ceremonies, instituted by men, should be everywhere alike. 4] As Paul says: One faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of all, etc. Eph. 4, 5. 6.

Article VIII: What the Church Is.

1] Although the Church properly is the congregation of saints and true believers, nevertheless, since in this life many hypocrites and evil persons are mingled therewith, it is lawful to use Sacraments administered by evil men, according to the saying of Christ: The Scribes and 2] the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat, etc. Matt. 23, 2. Both the Sacraments and Word are effectual by reason of the institution and commandment of Christ, notwithstanding they be administered by evil men. 3] They condemn the Donatists, and such like, who denied it to be lawful to use the ministry of evil men in the Church, and who thought the ministry of evil men to be unprofitable and of none effect.

Do those who celebrate the Reformation today share with these confessors of the Faith the same understanding?  Do they celebrate what the “Reformers” celebrated?

What really is the cause for celebration this day?

Is it not that God worked through various men throughout the many generations to proclaim His saving Gospel and to administer His Sacraments for our salvation and preservation as His children within His holy household of faith?  When we celebrate Reformation Day, is not the true cause for celebration the gifts of the Gospel and the Baptism by which God regenerates us as His true children and the Holy Supper by which He nourishes us with His forgiveness and renewal in the one true faith in His Holy Communion?

How many times does the Lord Jesus emphasize the fact that the Gospel is the call of the King to all of His scattered children to be gathered to the wedding banquet?

Is this not the true focus of Reformation Day?

Is this gracious activity of the Lord our God not true cause for celebration?

+ + +

Military Training for Zombie Attacks

At Zombie Attack JBS CEO Art Thompson discusses: Zombie attack - U.S. Military and police engage in a mock zombie attack as part of training to control American civilians; and voter fraud, enough of it exists for Obama to welcome UN poll watchers to the U.S.



I have heard former military people say that they do not believe that the American military personnel as individuals will obey orders to take action against American civilians.  Yet this is exactly what they are being trained to do.  Both the military personnel as well as the citizenry are being prepared to accept this as what is soon to come.

Many people accept and even defend the unconstitutional actions and even existence of DHS, and TSA, the Patriot Act, and NDAA.  Some people even imagine that it is a good thing to have UN poll watchers monitoring the American elections.

Once upon a time the American people believed the bold statements of the Declaration of Independence, especially those dealing with the declaration that all men are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Once upon a time the American people believed that the Declaration’s stated purpose of government is absolutely correct, saying, “That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, ...”

Is this not what the American people believed once upon a time?

Did the people not believe that the purpose of government was to SECURE these rights of Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness, and not to restrict or control or even take away these rights?

Did the people not believe that governments and those who govern are the servants of this God who endows mankind with these unalienable rights?  Is this not what caused America to be a land that flourished in spite of the fact that the elite abused this time and time again?

Surely as we examine America’s history, these unalienable rights have not been secured for all who lived under the protection of the American government.  Surely we must admit that certain groups especially have suffered injustice and have endured the trampling of these unalienable rights.

The majority of Americans have turned a blind eye to these things so long as they were not personally affected by them.  Sometime ignorance of the abuses or at least partial ignorance was the reason for people’s indifference and tolerance of these things.  Sometimes it was motivated by prejudice.  Sometimes it was fear.  Sometimes is was simple apathy.  Sometimes it was greed of various manifestations.  The government schools certainly have played a role through indoctrination of the children and university students.  The media also has added to this indoctrination.

Perhaps we are getting what we deserve or have asked for.  Perhaps we are responsible for continually compromising and voting for “the lesser of two evils,” without accounting for the truth that this is still voting for evil.

The turning from true fear, love, and trust in God is undeniably the most significant factor.

Even those who do not truly fear, love, and trust in God, who nevertheless valued the doctrine of the Bible which teaches the commandments of love for neighbor, even such “unbelievers” held to a different standard and a different understanding of life in this world than is now being observed generally among us.

Those who signed the Declaration of Independence had this as the concluding paragraph of their Declaration:

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

While these men were not united in their understanding and confession of who God is, and while they were not all of the same confession of the faith given by this God, they all signed their names and gave their pledges to the just ways declared in the Bible.  It was their confidence and “firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence,” that moved them to further say, “we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”

Because of their “firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence” they were unwilling to turn a blind eye to the tyranny that was being forced upon them and their fellow countrymen, a tyranny that they knew would grow even worse for their progeny.

They stood against the king’s troops who were trained and sent to act against the citizens.  They established a constitution that was designed to prevent the necessity of such action in the future.

But tyrants are crafty.  They know how to twist words and used them for the opposite purpose of what they are intended.  And in time the people forget their duty to love neighbor as self and to vote out the tyrants, even at the cost of losing some person fortune, honor, or even life or livelihood.

People forget that compromise is the same as surrender.

Consider the follow illustration using simple plus signs:

Original status:

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First Compromise:

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Second Compromise:

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Third Compromise:

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Fourth Compromise:

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Fifth Compromise:

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Surely this is enough to demonstrate the pattern and the reality of compromise.

Compromise of principles is always one sided.  Those who want to reduce or eliminate the principle never compromise anything.  The goal is to lessen or change or destroy the principle.

The side that holds to the principle or believe is the only side surrendering anything.  They lose with the very first compromise.  Once the principle has been compromised it is no longer the same principle.  It has been lost and the power that it held has been broken.

The next compromise is easier to accomplish because the original purpose of the principle has already been lost.  The power to protect or provide the original purpose is diminished.

Such is the way with the principle of limited government.  Such is the way with the unalienable rights of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

When people forget who the author and giver of these unalienable rights is, they have already lost them or surrendered them.  Then they begin looking to government and other sources to provide these.  With the one who gives these purely by grace divorced from their trust and belief and confidence, they begin looking to those who must take from them to give back less than is taken.

The best example of this is given in1 Samuel 8 with the account of how the people of Israel turned from the freedom of having theLord as their king to demanding that Samuel give them a king like the rest of the nations had.

The Lord warned them concerning what they were bringing upon themselves, but they would not listen.

As is always the way, this began with compromising what the Lord had established.  This began when Samuel’s sons began to compromise and to take bribes and to pervert justice.

The same thing happened with Eli’s sons a generation before.  However, in this case the people cried out to the Lord, trusting Him to set things right again, which He did.  He used the wicked Philistines to remove these unjust rulers.  Then He appointed Samuel, who ruled justly, in accord with the decrees of the Lord.

But now, with Samuel’s sons, who apparently were not even as abusive as Eli’s sons were, the people turned from trusting the Lord to bring the needed reform, and looked instead to the ways of the other nations and demanded a king like they had.  The result was that the protections that the Lord had given were lost through their own faithless choice.

Are we not seeing the same today as people turn more and more to earthly rulers and government, saying, “That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.”

    Prior to this, they had only the Word of the Lord to rule and judge them.  Now they would have an extensive legal system designed by their government.  Now they would taxes and MORE taxes.  Now they would have a standing army to support with both their money and theirs sons.  Now they would have a police state.  On and on the changes came until finally they rebelled against the king whom they had demanded to have rule over them, just like the other nations.

This is the way of the sinful human race.

But the Lord remains a God of grace, mercy, and peace.  His continual desire is to call people back to His merciful love and forgiveness.  He desires that people acknowledge Him as their Father, who rules with divine fatherly goodness and mercy so that they may enjoy the freedom of living in His kingdom, which is from above.

Thus He came to the world as one of us, born of the Seed that He built into the human genome with the creation of Woman, whom her husband renamed Eve, or Life, because of the promise of this future birth and victory of this Seed.  God showed Himself as Immanuel, with us God.  He took the special name of Jesus, the Lord saves.  He reestablished His kingdom by coming in the flesh to His people so as to redeem all of mankind from the power of sin, which is death.  He died with the sin of world in His own body.  He was buried and then rose again free from this horrible burden for the sake of the everlasting freedom of all of mankind, to be received freely by grace through His appointed means.  For all who do receive His grace through these divinely ordained means, life is restored in it fullness and they are regenerated into His kingdom of righteousness.  For such people as receive His grace through these means, they are governed once again in spirit through His Word.  Rules and regulations and laws are not necessary for they live by grace through faith.  They live in this world, enduring the many things that unbelieving mankind imposes upon everyone, yet they live free of these things in the knowledge of their place in God’s everlasting kingdom in which all things are made right again, which will be fully revealed when He comes again in the fullness of His glory to separate the unbelieving wicked from those who are justified through faith.

Sadly, the AP report about the government labeling citizens as zombies actually is an accurate label.  And so the zombie citizenry marches mindlessly to the tune of the devil, the flesh, and the world, not even realizing that they are voting for their own demise.  Even though there are at least two candidates running for the office of president who openly oppose this way of tyranny, most will not even consider voting for either of them.  The Constitution Party has a candidate and the Libertarian Party has a candidate.  They both are far an above either of the Two Party Drones of the imperial globalists.

Amazingly, if everyone who said that these two so-called third party candidates cannot win actually voted for them, either of them could win by a landslide.

The question is whether people will vote according to what they believe to be right or whether they will yet again compromise and surrender to the evil empire.

It is amazing how powerful the result is when even a few people actually stand for what they believe is right.  While I do not agree with everything that was said and done by those who stood against the tyrannical rule of the British empire, I certainly am left in awe of their commitment to what they believed.  It is truly awesome to recount the horrific things that stood against them and to see that they nevertheless prevailed and birthed a new nation, a nation through which many, many people have been richly blessed.  Even in the face of the atrocities that also have occurred, still, many, many people have been richly blessed.

If you would care to hear what some of the third-party candidates are saying, Free & Equal provided a forum for them to debate, which you can view at Third Party Presidential Candidates Debate - C-SPAN Video Library or view below.  It is a 90 minute video with candidates from the Green Party, the Justice Party, the Constitution Party, and the Libertarian Party.

After this debate the viewers were permitted to vote for two candidates to be included in a second debate which is scheduled for November 5, 2012.  The debate will feature Libertarian Party candidate  Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein, whom the viewing voters chose.

Here is the first debate video for anyone who would like to view it:



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