All Things Are Permissible

     In the post below, Tattoos, another statement is made in the referenced article that should be examined more carefully:

But at the end of the day, having a tattoo does not impact one’s salvation. As always, salvation is a matter of Christ’s work on our behalf. The verse that comes to mind for the question of Tattoos is one that comes to mind for a lot of similar issues, “All things are permissible, but not all things are beneficial. All things are permissible, but not all things build up.” (1 Cor 10:23)

     Is the pastor’s point correct?

     When St. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10 that all things are permissible or lawful, is he saying that these things Do Not Impact a person’s salvation?

     In the verses that immediately precede this verse St. Paul says:

     Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar? What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing? But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he? (1 Corinthians 10:18-22)

     While the pastor rightly says that salvation is a matter of Christ’s work on our behalf, does this mean that the choices that we make in our lives Do Not Impact a person’s salvation? Does this match what St. Paul says of the Holy Communion?

     In this pastor’s admonition to the inquirer concerning tattoos, he applies 1 Corinthians 10:23 as though it applies only to the issue of how we act regarding the weak in matters of adiaphora, things of indifference.

     But what made the thing that St. Paul specifically addresses in this passage a thing of indifference? St. Paul addressed the purchasing of meat in the marketplace that came from pagan sacrifices. This meat came from animals that the pagans had slaughtered as sacrifices to their false gods, and the leftovers were sold in the marketplace. To those who purchased it without thought to the false gods, it was just another piece of meat.

     However, for some of the newborn Christians, this would be perceived as partaking of the sacrifice to the false gods. Since many of these new converts had previously worshiped these false gods, this would be a terrible stumbling block for them. Those who were not recent converts would not be troubled by this for themselves and could purchase and eat this meat without a troubled conscience. But for those who were weak so that their consciences were troubled, such an action would be sinful to them for they would be acting not from faith but with doubting. This would indeed Impact their salvation. On this St. Paul writes to the Roman saints:

     Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth. And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin. (Romans 14:22-23)

     If a person does something that the person fears may be wrong, the person is acting contrary to faith. By this, even if the action is not actually in itself sinful, acting in this way the person acts in opposition to faith.

     Does the merit of Christ cover or remit such sin? Yes, most certainly it does. However, is a person who acts in opposition to faith relying upon this remission or turning away from it to something else?

     Thus we need to be very careful in all matters. We need to be continually partaking of the pure means of grace so that we rest in the assurance of receiving the merit of Christ and resting securely in the remission of sins that He purchased for us. If this is where our hearts are secured, we won’t even trouble ourselves with questions over whether or not to cover ourselves with questionable tattoos and the like. Rather, we will be rejoicing in our baptismal grace and identity and doing the things that naturally flow from them. In such a mindset there is no question of what is good and salutary.

     For those who have tattoos, they should not be judged by others on account of them. Rather, they should be embraced according to their identity in Christ that they received in their baptism. But for those who are contemplating tattoos, pastors should direct them to the means of grace where the saints hear themselves proclaimed God’s holy and beloved children, recreated into the image of God. With this as their mindset, who will even entertain marking themselves with anything else?

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Luther on Ecclesiastes 7:16-18

     During my preparations and studies for Sunday’s sermon and service, I searched Luther’s Works for what Luther observed from the appointed Gospel reading of Matthew 25:14-30. In so doing I found this wonderful commentary:

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Ecclesiastes 7:16-18 (KJV)

¹⁶ Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy^g thyself? ¹⁷ Be not over much wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time? ¹⁸ It is good that thou shouldest take hold of this; yea, also from this withdraw not thine hand: for he that feareth God shall come forth of them all.

---

16. Be not righteous overmuch, and do not make yourself overwise; why should you destroy yourself?

17. Be not wicked overmuch, neither be a fool; why should you die before your time?

     That is, forget about the highest law; measure yourself by your own foot and sing, “Know thyself.”²⁸ Then you will find in your own breast a lengthy catalog of vices, and you will say: “Look, I myself am still unrighteous, and yet I am tolerated by God and am not banished by people. Then why am I so carried away with fury that I harshly require of others what I do not achieve myself?” This is what it means to be “righteous overmuch.” The things of this world cannot bear it. Therefore observe the laws by teaching and preaching, and give thanks to God when your household or your audience acknowledge that the laws and teachings are holy and just, even though they do not observe everything as it is prescribed. In this way you will be truly holy and wise. You will be “overwise” and “righteous overmuch” if in your administration either of public or of private affairs you have good laws but insist on them and want them to be observed in such a way that there is not one iota of transgression. For this is what it means that “the highest law brings the deepest injustice.” A prudent public official or head of a household ought to make a distinction between the goodness of the law and the obedience of his subordinates. It is better to bear with and to endure a moderate amount of rebellion than to let the entire state perish. This is what usually happens to the rigid enforcers of laws. Therefore laws should be enforced and insisted upon as far as the situation allows, but no further. This is also what physicians do. They do not diagnose and cure diseases only on the basis of books or of what is prescribed but are often obliged to make adjustments in keeping with the state of the body. Thus also the minds of men are influenced in the most diverse possible ways, so that it is often necessary to modify the laws themselves. This calls for extremely wise men, of whom there are few in the world. Therefore all those chosen as heads of households or as public officials should be men like David, Abraham, Solomon, and Joshua, if they were available, men who could administer the laws properly. For this is how important it is to administer the state well.

Be not wicked overmuch.

     This is the second part of the conclusion. See to it that just as you are not righteous overmuch, you are not wicked overmuch either. That is, do not despise and neglect all the duties of government committed to your charge, and do not permit everything to fall apart. It is good to overlook some things, but not to neglect all things. If wisdom does not succeed, that is no reason to go crazy with anger and revenge. Finally, do not give in to idleness, so that you do not want to care about anything. Do not behave like that wicked servant who buried his talent and did not want to trade with it at all (Matt. 25:24–30). Well then, be just and let others be just with you; demand uprightness; persevere, regardless of the outcome. Why? “Why should you destroy yourself, or die before your time?” There is reason to fear that He may come suddenly and call you to judgment, as He took away the soul of the rich man at night when the rich man was not thinking about it (Luke 12:20). If this life were heavenly and angelic, nothing would happen unjustly; but our sinful nature cannot do anything but sin and be foolish. Anyone who does not know this has not yet learned about the world. We should think that here we are as though we were in a shipwreck or a fire, where one must labor to snatch at least some brand from the fire when one cannot control or extinguish the whole fire. Therefore if you are in a household, be content to snatch even one person from the public fire of wicked people. If you are a teacher of children, labor to educate at least one of them and to bring him up properly. If you are a preacher of the Gospel, do not preach as though you could gain all men for Christ, for not all heed the Gospel (cf. Rom. 10:16); but if you convert three or four souls and lead them to Christ, like the tips of burning brands (cf. Amos 4:11), give thanks. For one should not quit simply because so few are changed for the better to hear the preaching of the Gospel. But do what Christ did: He rescued the elect and left the rest behind. This is what the apostles did also. It will not be better for you. You are foolish if you either presume that you alone can accomplish everything or despair of everything when it does not go your way.

18. It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand; for he who fears God shall come forth from them all.

     Christ makes a similar statement in Matt. 23:23 when He says: “These you ought to have done without neglecting the others.” Thus here, too, he demands both: justice and yet not the highest justice, so that you are neither too remiss nor too exacting. Sometimes you must overlook the laws and judge as though you were wicked, and sometimes you must take hold of the laws and become just once more. But remember, as has also been said earlier, that he is here speaking not of personal righteousness but of communal or political justice, not of righteousness before God but of justice in governing others and before the world. For in personal righteousness there cannot be too much righteousness.

He who fears God shall come forth from them all.

     That is, the fear of the Lord will easily judge both. If I fear the Lord, my heart says: “I have often lived this way, and I still live shamefully. Therefore I will have compassion on those delinquents. If I can restrain them by moderating my discipline, I will do so. If not, I will let them continue until they collide with the law of the sword. If they escape all of this, they still will not escape the judgment of God.” Thus he who fears God proceeds correctly in these matters; when he sees that he cannot prevail, he calls upon the Lord. Therefore do your duty, warn, exhort, and never stop. He who does not hear you will bring on his own punishment, even though not through your punishing him; for there is One who will punish. This is what happened recently to our peasants. When they did not accept our rebuke, they were thoroughly punished by others.^{29 30}

__________

     ^gdestroy...: Heb. be desolate?

     ²⁸ This injunction, quoted here in Greek, was attributed to Thales of Miletus.

     ²⁹ Once again, as on p. 90 above, a reference to the Peasants’ War of 1525

     ³⁰ Luther, M. (1999, c1972). Vol. 15: Luther's works, vol. 15 : Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Last Words of David, 2 Samuel 23:1-7 (J. J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald & H. T. Lehmann, Ed.). Luther's Works (15:122). Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House.

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Is this a Powerful Sermon?

      This morning I noticed the following at Against Death and For Life!:

This is an incredibly powerful sermon delivered by Pastor Matthew C. Harrison, president of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, on the subject of our society’s attitude toward life deemed not worthy of being lived. Powerful, powerful stuff here folks. You owe it to yourself to gather your family and watch this together.

      So I viewed it and listened carefully, twice. Then I reviewed several portions a few additional times.

      Is this truly a powerful sermon? Does Pr. Harrison hold to the preaching that his professed quia subscription to the Lutheran Confessions define as a truly powerful sermon? Is this a sermon that rightly distinguishes between the Law and the Gospel and applies each to the hearers so as to move them to be cut to their own hearts and turned to true faith in the Gospel?

      Having viewed it and listened carefully I do not find this to be what this sermon does. I do not hear Pr. Harrison holding me and the other hearers accountable for our own sinfulness. Rather, it sounds to me like a highschool pep rally to inspire school spirit and to pit one school and team against another. “Rah! Rah! Rah! Go Team!! Yes! Our team is the best, to H with the rest! Yea.............Team!”

      In this sermon I only found one very weak attempt at applying God’s Law to the hearers. At 10:20 on the time line Pr. Harrison says:

     Then Jesus began inviting the dregs of society to be His friends, like Levi, the tax collector, Luke 5:27. And He still invites the dregs like YOU, even you in the back. (Audience chuckles.)
     I asked them before this sermon if I could mention a few of their sins up here publically, but nobody was forthcoming. (Audience chuckles.)

      This is the only attempt at application of the Law to the actual hearers. And this was making very light of their own sinful condition, actually making a joke of it. Not one person hearing this would be cut to the heart concerning one’s need for God’s forgiveness and healing. I certainly did not hear myself being confronted with my sinfulness.

      What I did hear was a condemnation of OTHERS! Over and over the Nazis were condemned. There also was a connection made to those who have promoted and performed the more than 53 million abortions in America.

      But no condemning statement was made concerning the hearers and their refusal to love their neighbors. No call to acknowledge any of our own sins and rebellion against God’s holiness was preached at all. Rather, the LC-MS and its membership were praised for their good works and urged to take pride in doing more good works. The presumed good works of fighting abortion from a “loving” and “joyful” disposition were praised and urged. “Go Team!”

      Just as the Law was not applied to the hearers, neither was the Gospel applied. No one hearing this sermon would respond with a broken and contrite heart saying, “God be merciful to me a sinner.” Even a Nazi would laugh at this sermon, without any sense of wanting to turn to God to hear His gracious absolution. Even if a Nazi heard that the millions of murders were wrong, that Nazi would think that at least the six million plus murders are not as bad as the 53 million abortions of the Americans. Both the Nazis and the LC-MS membership hear an excuse to say: “At least we are not as bad as certain others. Besides, Pr. Harrison says that Jesus invites the dregs to be His friends.”

      Indeed. Where did Pr. Harrison say anything about members of the LC-MS being in need of repentance? Was it somewhere in this sermon mentioned so subtly that even with several viewings that I did not perceive it?

      On that, what about the many blatant denials of the pure Gospel and Sacraments that the pastors and congregations of the LC-MS have committed for many decades, and with increasing boldness in recent years? The Lutheran Confessions speak of these compromises as the very worst of sins, even calling them soul-murder. Do we Lutherans, regardless of whichever synodical team or congregation we belong, do we not need to hear the call to acknowledge the First Three Commandments and our many sins against them? Do we not need to hear that we daily worship at the feet of the idol of the media and movie industry and the Internet? Do we not need to hear how we have taken the Lord’s name in vain and misused it in connection with false worship practices? Do we not need to hear how nonchalantly we treat daily prayer and devotion? Do we not need to hear how we give “half-cast” prayers toward God? Do we not need to hear, especially those who are of the LC-MS, how unionism has been openly practiced without even a hint of contrition over this violation of the Third Commandment?

      How can Pr. Harrison or any other pastor imagine that anyone from outside their “fellowship” will take their preaching seriously? Why would any nonbeliever be moved to listen to this kind of pep rally drivel? This is not even honest evaluation of their own membership. Why would someone like myself, someone who counts himself as a very desperate and poor, miserable sinner turn to such a works-righteous preacher and church body? I need to hear God’s Law and Gospel carefully and accurately preached to me so that I know that my need for the remission of my sins has been genuinely addressed. I need to know that the merits of Christ crucified are imparted to me through the ordained means of grace. I need to know that my miserable attempts at righteousness are not the basis of my judgment. I need to know that the perfect righteousness of Jesus has been poured out to me so that by His righteousness I am judged.

      Then and only then do I recognize myself as one among those who rejoices to count myself among those “who like Jesus are people of joy over life.” Pr. Harrison proclaims this as a catch phrase, but it is inestimably more. When a person hears this as what God works for us, then the person truly is made to be a person of joy over life. Then a person does not need to be urged to stand up for others, for that is the regenerated motive of the person’s heart. This is what the Holy Spirit produces. It is not something that a person must generate within oneself. The preaching of the necessity of good works in the life of Christians takes true form when preached as St. James says:

     What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? (James 2:14-20)

      St. Paul proclaims the same, saying:

     So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. (Romans 1:15-17)

      A living faith causes a person to live from that faith. A living faith is not idle. It is like turning the key in a car and hearing no sound of the engine being turned. A person observing this says that the battery is dead. It has no life in it. Thus it produces no action.

      On the other hand no one imagines that a battery is made to be a good battery by turning over the engine. No. Rather, a person observes the innate goodness of the battery when it produces the work of turning over of the engine. Because the battery has life in it, the engine is turned over. The life has already been given to the battery by another source of life or energy. Then, because the battery has been made to be a good battery that is full of life, it then produces that which flows from the life that has been generated within it. Because of the life generated in it, the battery is declared to be a good battery that produces the good work that a live battery produces. If the battery dies and produces no work, it is then declared to be a bad battery and is cast into the pit.

      People in whom the true faith is alive do the works that this living faith produces. This living faith is generated in the person through the pure means of grace, that is, the pure Gospel and Sacraments. Oh that the preachers would preach and administer the pure and unadulterated Word and Sacraments rather than preaching that people should be good Lutherans or good Christians or good Whatevers. For as St. Paul masterfully proclaims, it is the Gospel that is the power of God into salvation. It is the Gospel that is the power that generates the true faith that changes people’s hearts and minds so that they live by faith and live the life of joy that produces the good works of that joy.

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Unlocking Cellphones Becomes Illegal

The article Unlocking Cellphones Becomes Illegal Saturday reports that today, January 26, 2013, the government has declared that it is illegal to unlock a new cell phone.



Myself, I did not even consider the issue as this seems to me to be clearly stated in the contract that people sign with the big mobile carriers.

However, it is amazing that the government will prosecute people for breaking private contracts, using Copyrights as the excuse.  Big corporations that are overcharging people for phones and for mobile services now have the US Government to enforce their contracts.

Sadly it is no longer ironic that the US Government does not take interest in prosecuting the big corporations for violating the contracts with their customers.  The US Government has absolutely no concern for the fact that these corporations promise good service but do not supply good service.  The government takes no action regarding the abuses of these corporations with poor reception, dropped calls, bad connections, and a host of other issues.

Instead, the government helps the corporations to enforce the contract in a one-sided action against the little people.  Suing these companies is restricted to class action law suites because of the cost factors.  These suits are a joke as they never actually punish the corporate thieves and most customers never even see any substantial refunds.

Moreover, the corporations are allowed to track the customers’ activities without restriction and without customer consent.  “Minority Report” type selling of the customers’ activities and even location is now common.  People are even being conned into accepting retinal scanning “for their protection.”

In the end, it is the willful gullibility of the customers that allows this.  Greed, a.k.a. “envy” and “idolatry,” lusting after every new technological gimmickry.  If people did not buy the overpriced phones and plans, and if they demanded proper service or stopped using the phones, and if they voted for officials who actually cared about people rather than enslaving them through economics and promotion of lust, things would be different.

But that requires an otherworldly mindset.

Philippians 3:20

Colossians 3

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Do We Really Need Moore Control?

Do we really need Moore control in our lives and over our citizenship?  Do we really need more governmental control over our freedoms?



It is reported at Michael Moore Takes To Twitter To Demand Stricter Gun Control that Michael Moore (and a number of other Twitters) has made a number of twit remarks concerning the recent Newtown tragedy and the need for Moore gun control laws to counteract the Constitution.  He does not believe that the American people should be allowed to govern themselves concerning their ownership of private property, particularly not private ownership of guns.

The Inquisitr report reads:

Michael Moore has taken to Twitter to call for tighter gun controls after a shooter killed 27 people – including 20 children – at a Newtown grade school.

The Bowling for Columbine director tweeted:

    “Too soon to speak out about a gun-crazy nation? No, too late. At least THIRTY-ONE school shootings since Columbine.”

He later added:

    “The way to honor these dead children is to demand strict gun control, free mental health care, and an end to violence as public policy.”

Other reported Twitters said:

Gun control is our only road to freedom. Freedom from the fear of senselessly losing children. I'm so saddened. WE NEED LAWS NOW.

- - -

Gun control is no longer debatable- it's not a 'conversation'- It's a moral mandate. '

I really do not know quite what to think of Michael Moore and other Twitters like him.

Could it be that they really are genuinely concerned citizens with good intentions who simply do not think through to the conclusions of their presumptions and demands?  Could it be that they are not really seeking to undermine the Constitution and the rights of American citizens but are simply very simple-minded people who have never learned to think logically and realistically?  Is it possible that they really are so irrational as to believe that making public policies actually effects any kind of change and solves problems?

Perhaps.

For the sake of learning and thinking, let’s consider this from that perspective.

In what areas do people who think this way acknowledge and even demand that privacy be respected and the respective actions of individuals be treated as rights?  What are some of these areas?

• Irresponsible/Casual Sex
  
• Abortion
  
• Alternative Sex & Lifestyles
  
• AIDS/HIV & other STDs
  
• Pornography
  
• Welfare & Foodstamps

What are some of the areas where people who think this way reject a right to privacy and a right to act according to their own decisions?

• Gun Ownership
  
• Home Schooling
  
• Open Practice of Christian Faith
  
• Banking
  
• Health Care & Insurance
  
• Income and Business
  
• Property Ownership & Use

Amazingly, people of this mindset praise Islam as a religion of peace while condemning preaching of the Gospel as HATE SPEECH.

How is it that with a topic like gun ownership and use, people of this mindset call for more governmental control of the guns that are not misused but often defend those who misuse guns?

Why do they defend murderers, seeking to prevent them from facing the death penalty, even though these abusers enacted the death penalty against others?

Why do they want to give more control of guns to the government, the same government that still has not answered for “Fast and Furious”?  How many people have died from the guns that this controlling government secretly and illegally supplied to known criminals and abusers of guns?  Is this not the same controlling government that is giving guns to known Jihadists and al-Qaeda terrorist groups?  Where is the logic in entrusting control of the guns to this irresponsible (or worse) government, and to take control away from law abiding citizens who have proven their responsible ownership and use of guns?

How is it that someone like Michael Moore can say, “The way to honor these dead children is to demand strict gun control, free mental health care, and an end to violence as public policy,” while saying not one word regarding the 137 children who are killed every hour in America through abortion?

Here are the statistics as reported at Abortion Statistics:

• 234 abortions per 1,000 live births (according to the Centers for Disease Control)
  
• Abortions per year: 1.2 million
  
• Abortions per day: 3,288
  
• Abortions per hour: 137
  
• 9 abortions every 4 minutes
  
• 1 abortion every 26 seconds

20 children are murdered by a person in a random occurrence and the Moore-like reactionists begin to call for taking guns away from people regardless of how responsible these gun owners have proven themselves to be.

Yet with a child being murdered ever 26 seconds in America these same Mooreites do not even consider demanding that abortion clinics and Planned Parenthood be held accountable and have their licences revoked.

1.2 MILLION children are wiped out in an ongoing bloody massacre EVERY year!  Three thousand two hundred eighty-eight every DAY!

Where is the outcry?

Where
IS
the
OUTCRY?


Where is the demand for the government to control or to stop this?

How is it that the things that they defend are harming the people and the children of our country and that the things that they attack are often the very things that benefit the people and the country?

I myself am not a great lover of guns.  I’m not even a strong proponent of self-defense.  Yet I certainly am able to understand why our Constitution was written with the right for these built into the Bill of Rights.

How is it that those who react to an incident like the Newtown tragedy never seem to report or respond to the cases where law abiding and gun carrying citizens have saved the lives of themselves or their families or even others from the attacks of people with nefarious motives?  Why is it that the media rarely if ever report such amazing and heroic stories?

Why is a teacher who is shot and killed trying to herd the children into a closet while 20 children are left undefended is counted as a hero, but a teacher who desires to carry a legal handgun so as to be able actually to defend the children and prevent most of them from being harmed is counted as an monster to be controlled?

If that dear teacher who herded the children into a closet had a handgun perhaps she could have shot the perpetrator and minimized the number of children who died.

Would that not be equally heroic and perhaps even better than 20 dead children plus 6 dead adults?  Or what if the principal and other administrators were so prepared and properly trained in the use of arms? What if instead of calling for the government to rob citizens of their right to bear arms if the call was for proper instruction in the ownership and use of guns to protect neighbors and children?

The writers of the Constitution deliberated these matters very carefully.  They themselves fought for the rights and safety of others.  Michael Moore and most Twitters are not known for investment in careful study of matters and then reporting the wisdom from it.  They do seem to spend a lot of time with Twits and Tweets and their flashes of brilliant logic.  Surely such 140 character comments outshine the laborious endeavors of those who drafted the Constitution.

How many times have such people come to the aid and defense of their neighbors?  With what means would they defend anyone?

Ah, of course!  They would whip out their cell phones and begin texting!

By the way, has anyone given thought to the number of people killed or injured because of some Twitter texting as compared to the number of people hurt by those who legally owned guns?

Furthermore, which has caused more harm and damage to America’s citizenry:

Gun ownership
or
Bush’s bailout and Obama’s stimulus?

Pushing yet further, which has caused the death and injury of more women:

Gun ownership
or
abortions?

Shall we push it farther?

Which has caused more harm and deaths for American people:

Gun ownership
or
Pharmaceuticals?

The logic employed by those who are calling for gun control, which really means gun ownership restriction, is not consistent with reality.  It is a reactionary response at best.

Calling for more government mandated mental heath control is even more illogical and even dangerous.  If one considers the increase in erratic behavior of the dangerous kind that has occurred as more psychological and psychiatric and mental health measures have been implemented, there is no reason to believe that these are actually bringing improvements to the mental health of the populace nor that they are reducing incidences of violence.  To the contrary, the evidence indicates the exact opposite to be true.

So what then is the answer?  What do we need?

We need for a change in focus among the citizenry.  We need for the people to remember that they are responsible for their own lives and actions.  We need for the people to turn from dependence upon government and the many other fallible sources of security so that they again look to the things that make for true security and peace and hope and blessedness.

Moore and his ilk are not really so far off from the rest of us.  We all tend to look to exert control in our lives and especially over the things that we find troublesome, unacceptable, and unpleasant.  We seek control for ourselves.  But we especially seek control of others.

Sadly, the more that we seek to have control, either by our own authority and power or through government or other authority, we actually make matters even worse.

A powerful example of this is the horrible atrocities committed by those who proclaimed themselves to be Christian authoritarians.  Those who presumed to be God’s controllers committed some of the most horrific crimes against humanity.  This is because they sought to be in control rather than to submit to that which effects the true beneficial control.

There is only one source that provides the control that benefits all alike.  That is the peace of God in Christ Jesus.  The peace that God’s love works among us is the only control that brings true unity and harmony.  When the love of God in Christ is what holds us and keeps us and guards us, then we love even as we are loved.  Then we look to neighbor with the same love that we have for ourselves. Then we do not seek to control neighbor, but to serve neighbor.  And neighbor, also motivated by this same love of God, seeks to serve us.

More guns are not the answer.  Neither is more governmental control of guns or of anything else the answer.  The more that we empower the government to control, the more that the problems are increased.

The evidence for this is not hard to find.  Consider the mistreatment of the American Indians, the importation of human slaves from Africa and other parts of the world, the mistreatment of Chinese immigrants, the Japanese internment, the prejudicial treatment of various races toward one another, the perpetual banking and monetary abuses.  We have suffered the proliferation of wars both here and throughout the world.  Do we, the average citizens, even know how many conflicts our military personnel are involved in throughout the world right now?  Where does the list of abuses of power by the government’s elite end?  The more power entrusted to these leaders, the more power that they exert.  The more power that they exert, the more that abuses will occur.

Michael Moore and those like him seem to imagine that those who abide by the law should be restricted and even punished in order to gain control.  This is because they do not believe that people can live peaceably together without this kind of coercive control.  The more that this is considered, the more absurd it seems that in order to protect the people from guns, they seek to employ guns to reduce guns.  And so the abuses against the innocent are multiplied.

However, when we, the people, act with the responsibility of our own vocations (callings), acting with loving response to the needs of those around us, these abuses diminish.  When we look not to those who rule with regulations and laws and force and taxes and fines and imprisonment, but turn from them to the One who rules through gracious care, forgiveness, love, and peace, then we see a lifestyle develop among us that flows freely and without coercive control.  In fact, it does not develop so much as it is nurtured and generated.  And the more that it is nurtured and generated among us the more that we desire it.

This is the way of God’s Holy Communion.  This is His good and gracious will.  This Advent season is the perfect time to stand back and reflect and see what God proclaims as His salvific will and plan.  Then, we are well prepared to approach with open hearts and minds to behold it in the Christ Mass.

If only Michael Moore and the world would stop busying themselves with twittering and facebooking and texting and seeking to control everyone, and allow themselves to see and hear what God gives us in the birth of the babe born in Bethlehem.

As for me and my house, this is where our hearts find peace and security.  Neither guns nor the control of guns can grant this.  Mental health mandates cannot accomplish this.  Declarations of public policy cannot bring this to fruition.  Nevertheless, the Lord does grant it freely and without end through the means that He has ordained.

It is truly amazing to remember that His plan is brought to us through a gentle virgin who delivered the Savior into the world in austerity.  The ultimate victory was accomplished through His self-sacrifice, yielding Himself into the hands of wicked men.  His reign is not by force but through the comforting promises of the Gospel, through which peace guards the hearts of those who receive it.  Those who abide in His kingdom gladly and willingly subject themselves to this way of peace, moved by the faith and love that His love generates in their hearts.

In the Christ Mass the Gloria in Excelsis that has been omitted during Advent shall return and the saints shall sing joyously with the angels and all the hosts of heaven:

Glory be to God on high, and on earth peace, good will toward men!

May Michael and his friends come to know this glorious and joyous good news in their lives, too.

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Biden Versus Ryan

We don’t watch TV.  We stopped paying for the misinformation and blatant lies in the federally owned and operated so-called local paper.  Radio sources for news are equally untrustworthy.  Internet sources also are suspect, but at least with those we can get a broader perspective.

Today I read an online report regarding the vice-presidential debate last night, entitled Snark, interruptions, 'derisive sneering'.

Of particular note is what is reported about the statements of the two candidates about their faith and what they believe concerning gestational children and what stand they promise to take in the White House.  Both men profess to be Roman Catholics.  Both men profess to believe that life begins at conception.

Both men say that they will do nothing regarding this belief.

Here is what is reported in the article:

Vice President Joe Biden said he personally believes that life begins at conception, but wouldn’t do anything to stop others from taking the lives of the unborn.

The arguments came the only meeting of the two candidates for the No. 2 office.

“Our faith informs us of everything we do,” Ryan said. He said his Catholic faith plays a role in his position, but reason and science complete his position.

“I believe life begins at conception. The policy of a Romney administration would be to oppose abortion except in cases of rape, incest and to save the life of the mother,” he said.

Biden also said he was “practicing Catholic” but he would “refuse to impose his beliefs on equally devout Christians…”

“Unlike my friend here, the congressman, I do not believe that we have a right to tell other people that women can’t control their bodies. That’s a decision between them and their doctor,” Biden said.

According to this report Ryan says, “The policy of a Romney administration would be to oppose abortion ...”

Notice that no mention of any action is included in this statement.  This is what the Republicans have said for decades, yet when in office they do nothing.  They only move legislation on this matter when they know that they are a minority or they move legislation that does so little that it really amounts to nothing.  Nevertheless they boldly tout their opposition to abortion.  They boldly profess to oppose the taking of innocent lives.  They boldly claim to be Pro-Life.

Biden says that he believes that life begins at conception, but, “Unlike my friend here, the congressman, I do not believe that we have a right to tell other people that women can’t control their bodies. That’s a decision between them and their doctor,” Biden said.

I wonder, will the people of the world ever grow weary of this insanely dishonest rhetoric?

Both men are knowingly, deliberately lying and attempting to deceive.  Yet the people from their respective sides close their eyes, ears, hearts and minds to what is being said, choosing rather to believe the lies.

Regarding Biden’s statement, does he apply this notion to driving under the influence of intoxicating chemicals such as alcohol, marijuana, and narcotics?  Does he say that he does not believe in telling people who consume alcoholic beverages that they have the right to control their own bodies and therefore may choose to drink to excess and drive without being held responsible?

What about people who want to own, carry, and use guns?  Does he say that they have a right to control their own bodies and carry guns on their persons without government control?

I could proceed with a very extensive list that would still be noncomprehensive, but surely these two examples make the point adequately.

Moreover, this statement regarding women controlling their own bodies is entirely and deliberately fallacious.  After all, whose body does abortion affect?

Two bodies are affected by abortion.  First is the woman’s body, that is invaded and put at risk by the action of artificial abortion.  This is an entirely unnatural procedure that in every instance puts a woman at risk over and above the already present risks of pregnancy.  Abortion is a dangerous procedure that often has complications that sometimes cause permanent injury to the woman and sometimes even results in her death.

Secondly is the developing body of the conceived child.  The lie of not knowing whether or not this is a living person has been openly debunked.  Even a man like Biden can no longer get away with hiding behind that lie.  Even he must now admit publicly to believe that life begins at conception.  So the fact is now openly admitted that abortion is the attack upon a helpless person in that person’s body.  Abortion is the deliberate ending of a person’s life.  It is a brutal assault upon this helpless person’s body.  Even in the case of abortifacients, it is a brutal separation of the person’s body from its safe haven, a brutal eviction that results in an ignominious death and disposal.  Often the body parts are even sold for disgusting uses that no person would permit if that person were given the choice.

So the issue of abortion is not about telling a woman that she has no choice in the control of her own body.  She is in complete control of her own body.  She can eat and drink as she chooses.  She can partake of any daily activity that she chooses.  She can watch any video or TV program that she chooses.  She can stay up as late as she chooses and go to bed whenever she chooses.  She can arise when she chooses.  She can seek any vocation that she chooses.  She can surf the Internet or Twit or partake of whatever other social networking that she chooses.  She can drive when and where she chooses.  She can exercise as much as she chooses.  She can meditate or pray or refuse to partake of these activities.  She can wear shoes or sandals, socks or pantyhose, a hat, sunglasses, a skirt or pants, a bra or no bra, makeup or no makeup.  She can marry or not marry.

These are not issues related to abortion until she and the abortion industry decide to take these choices and even life itself from another person.  The issue of abortion is one of telling a woman and the abortion industry that they do not have the right to destroy another person for the sake of choice or profit.

If we all faced this issue honestly, there would be no need for laws in this matter.  If women honestly consider what is at stake, they will not need to be told not to kill their own babies or allow them to be killed.  No woman who honestly counts her baby as a precious, living, human being would ever ask for someone to end her baby’s life, nor ask for someone to pay for this horrific atrocity.  No honest person would ever look upon the child with anything but tender and loving compassion and care.

Will the people of this country and the world ever wake up to the truth?  Will people ever see through the smokescreen of the politicians and the abortion industry and those who refuse to act responsibly regarding their own sexual activities?

Life is a wonderful gift.  For those who acknowledge the giver, this is so apparent that it changes the person from the inside out.  But even for those who deny the giver of life, the wonder of life is so immense that it is overpowering.  Even those who deny the gift cannot help but to see that a baby is a person who should be protected and nurtured, especially when the baby is housed within a woman’s own body.

Parenthood is a terrible responsibility.  It is a fearsome thing to face, even for those who eagerly seek it for themselves.  It becomes overwhelmingly fearsome to one who is not seeking it and has it occur without planning, or worse, has it forced upon her.

But the answer is not to count the life of the baby as a choice.  The answer is not to deny the baby any choice ever to be faced.  The answer is not to encourage women to make a choice that will haunt them for the rest of their lives.  The answer is not to encourage women to consider putting themselves at an added heath risk by choosing to permit an invasive and disruptive pseudo-medical procedure.

What is the answer?  The answer is Love.  Love produces compassion.  Love motivates us to look upon women as very special gifts from God to the world, gifts through whom He works the miracle of life for us all.  Love moves us to act with compassion and caring to those frightened by the new and often unexpected responsibilities that they face.  Love moves us to treasure the little ones whom we will meet when they are delivered from Mommy’s body into the world of light and sound and color and friendship and all the wonders that we so often take for granted.  Love moves us to see these little ones as gifts to us all.

This world in which we live is made to be a very frightening place through the selfishness and thoughtlessness that we choose to be our ways.  This is especially true for the helpless, the weak, the ignorant, and the poor.

However, Love changes this.  Love restores hope.  Love restores security.

Laws are necessary when Love does not prevail.  When Love is not King, then laws become necessary to help restrain lovelessness.  Laws have no power to produce Love, but they do help those who know Love and abide in Love to have a little less opposition in the world.

Thus we have laws that condemn and punish murder, stealing, and other acts by one against another.  But what we really need is the restoration of Love.  After all,

Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.  (Romans 13:10)

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No Food, No Water, No Help for Homeless

Feeding The Homeless BANNED In Major Cities All Over America reports on the fact that cities in the USA are passing ordinances and using absurd reasons for stopping caring citizens from helping their neighbors.

City puts a stop to homeless outreach reports that one couple who were helping their hungry neighbors were forced to stop by the city of Houston. The excuse given was that they had to have a permit and “To get that permit, the food must be prepared in a certified kitchen with a certified food manager.”

Here in Wichita not long ago the Lord’s Diner was not allowed to expand to establish a new center for free suppers for the hungry because these undesirable people were not wanted in the neighborhood. (See previous post The Lord’s Diner.)

At Church Ordered to Stop Giving Away Free Water it is reported that Hope Church in Metairie, LA was given a warning citation and forced to stop giving out free water to people in a Mardi Gras parade. They purchased bottled water and were giving it away for free, and they were forced to stop.

Among the cities listed as restricting and regulating feeding of people is my home town of Orlando, Florida. Orlando Activists Arrested For Feeding Homeless In Defiance Of City Ordinance shares the story. The story shares that “An editorial in the Orlando Sentinel supported with the court's decision this morning. They note that "at least 10 organizations regularly serve food to the hungry downtown" without defying the law.”

Big Surprise! The Orlando Sentinel supports big government bureaucratic control. The activist group, Food Not Bombs, is probably a group with whom I have huge points of disagreement. Perhaps their activities do fill the park to such a degree that it causes interference, but I seriously doubt it. I have walked that park many times. I have gone to the park at night to visit with those who were interested in hearing the Gospel. I have encountered the “bums” and have given food and assistance to at least a few. Would I be arrested today for these activities? Probably not, as I was not setting up to help large numbers of people and so the city bureaucrats likely would not think that I was helping enough people to be counted as a problem. But if I were to set up a table with several people helping me to give out food and drink, I would have to obtain a permit and could only obtain one twice per year, according to this report.

Some people are homeless by choice. Others have been put on the streets by the bureaucrats and bankers. Now these wonderful people are limiting who may help others, who may be helped, and are imposing permit fees for doing so. Permits always have a fee/tax.

What happens when people become desperate on account of hunger? What happens when some of the homeless try to obtain food by stealing and perhaps hurt someone and are arrested and imprisoned. Will people then say, as in the post below, that these prisoners should be used for experiments and even for organ harvesting for the wealthy? If the folk from Food Not Bombs violate the Orlando ordinance to the point of being imprisoned, will they become involuntary organ donors?

Perhaps someone will say: “Stop being ridiculous!”

Ridiculous? Who would have believed thirty years ago that it would be illegal to give food or water to a hungry or thirsty neighbor? Who would have believed thirty years ago that there would be web sites advertising the sale of body parts from babies, as is shown in the post below? Who would have believed thirty years ago that something like the NDAA would be passed that allows people to be arrested without being charged, to be held indefinitely at the whim of the government bureaucrats?

Ridiculous? Thirty years ago most people would have said so regarding much of what is now commonplace.

There has been abuse and injustice since that sad day in Eden. Horrible things have been done by unbelieving and false believing people ever since. Selfishness and greed have largely prevailed throughout the history of the human race. Certain groups of people have been mistreated simply because of their ethnicity or their place in society. This is not something new in the history of the world.

But is this what we want to allow, especially in the USA? Shall we allow displays of genuine love for and kindness toward fellow man to be made a crime? Has it ever happened before, even in America? It seems so as we examine our past. But shall we continue in this pattern and perhaps even to a worse degree today?

It truly is alarming to me that we are allowing the bankers and big money people first to bankrupt the entire nation and then to take people’s homes from them and then to criminalize both being homeless and then also being kind to those whom the government and banks have made to be criminals. How can it be that today we can actually be punished for being kind and loving to others?

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Is This Newsworthy?

I have been asking people who are very alert to many things happening in the nation and in the world whether they are aware of H.CON.RES.107. I have also repeatedly performed Internet searches to see whether any mainstream media sources are reporting it. So far I have found no mainstream media, including the so-called conservative talk show figures and FOX, who are reporting this. As I said, I have also asked various people who are followers of the news, and not one of these people have been aware of this.

The actual text of the House Bill is not yet available, but here is the official Library of Congress posting of H. CON. RES. 107.

Does this seem newsworthy to you?

Here is an article that explains it more clearly:

Will A Sitting President Finally Be Held Accountable For High Crimes and Misdemeanors?

This House Bill is calling for the impeachment of the President of the United States.

Is anyone even reporting that this is happening? Is anyone reporting on the incident that triggered this House Bill being presented?

Here is the video:



This is the Secretary of Defense saying that the President will invade anyone he chooses to invade or attack, without seeking permission of the Congress.

Is this not newsworthy anymore? Do Americans really count this as OK? Does the media not care that this is the publicly declared position of the current administration?

If Americans were aware of this, would there be an outcry?

Should this not be brought to the attention of the public? Is it not of national interest that impeachment proceedings have begun in the House of Representatives?

Is this not news?

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Morality?

I wonder sometimes how it is possible that people say such things as they do. People who otherwise seem to be intelligent people say some absolutely inane statements.

One that particularly baffles me is that morality cannot be legislated.

Huh? Do people even listen to what they say?

From Dictionary.com’s morality, the first definition given is:

• conformity to the rules of right conduct; moral or virtuous conduct.

When these rules are codified as laws so as to be applied to a population it is called legislation.

Such legislation has as its intention the protection of people from being abused in various ways, including protection from having one’s life stolen from oneself, protection from being raped in one’s person or property, protection from being assaulted bodily and verbally, and the like.

Legislation that makes murder illegal and prosecutable is legislation of morality. Morality is the very reason for legislation.

Sadly, in some cases, amorality or immorality has become the basis of some legislation.

Worse yet is that some legitimate legislation has been overturned through immoral and illicit judicial procedure. Where proper morality has been legislated, sometimes the judicial system has nullified it.

Thus we have a society in which the protections that have been properly legislated for all are reduced and in some cases completely nullified so that certain groups of people are treated as non-persons who are then subjected to horrible abuses.

Such has been the case throughout history.

This nullification of morality being properly legislated and enacted and enforced begins with certain “lesser” groups, but eventually is extended to count more and more groups as “lesser” until only a few have any real protection, which has actually morphed into usurpation of protection of the masses.

When this reaches such a level the masses who previously consented to the nullifying of these protections for other “lesser” persons and groups of persons cry out in dismay that they themselves now stand with these “lesser” ones.

I am truly baffled by how often people who cry out for legislation against the inhumane treatment of animals will argue that legislation against the inhumane treatment of babies is only a “moral issue” that should not be legislated.

In the meantime, truly dreadful legislation such as the Patriot Act and now the NDAA is permitted and even welcomed. People imagine that these direct violations of the Constitution will somehow be limited to “those” people and that by some miracle that they will be exempted from these violations.

Eventually people discover that the cliche, “What goes around comes around,” actually has its basis in fact.

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Simul Iustus Et Peccator - Saint/Sinner Juxtaposition

Simul Iustus Et Peccator means simultaneously saint and sinner.

Throughout my own daily struggles as well as observing the struggles of others who profess to be Christians, I am realizing to a greater and greater degree how hard the struggle over simul iustus et peccator really is. The Saint/Sinner conflict is very much real. Rightly understanding this juxtaposition is very important to understanding the tension of life as a Christian in a fallen world.

This conflict makes it hard to hear so as to be moved to a better understanding of God’s grace to us in Christ Jesus. It hinders us from hearing the clarity of both the Law and the Gospel applied to us so as to move us into the life of the freedom of God’s grace.

This is a universal problem. This is the struggle that all of us Saint/Sinners encounter continually. St. Paul describes this from his own experience as a war within himself. It is a battle that only God can win for us. In fact, He already has, but His victory has to be applied to us in such a way as to make His victory what we realize in our hearts, spirits, and minds, in our total soul/being.

Acknowledgment of the Saint/Sinner juxtaposition is not an excuse for sin, but rather is an explanation for the ongoing struggle that the saints experience in their lives.

We are sinners from our conception because of the separation that Adam chose for us all. There is no escaping this. As long as humans are born into the world this will continue. But God has intervened by being born as the God/Man, Christ Jesus. He took our sin-death and rose from it so that through Baptism we would be regenerated as members of His holiness, made to be communicants of His very body.

The Gospel is the power through which He accomplishes this for us. When the Gospel enters us and enlivens our heart and soul through faith in His mercy and grace in Christ, we are declared to be saints, God’s holies. We are converted from sinner to saint.

But the Old Adam remains in our flesh. The spirit has been freed, but our sinful nature that has been flushed from our spirit still inheres in our flesh. It will remain until our bodies die, or until they are transformed at Christ’s return. Until then, our sinful nature is still at work in our members (our bodily existence).

The Law stands before us and reminds us of this. The Old Adam loves the Law, so long as he is the one wielding it. Then he can use it as he chooses. He loves to tell others that they need to change their abusive ways. But he does not like it when it comes back to himself.

The saint has no use for the Law, except to see God’s holiness and glory. The saint hears the Law and turns away to Christ, confessing sinfulness and the need for forgiveness and healing.

But the sinful nature does not want forgiveness. The sinful nature wants to pretend that it only needs help rectifying one’s wrongs, as if doing better was the goal.

The devil loves this. Then Satan comes forward and shows the saint his sinful nature and continual failing to live in perfect accord with the Law and says: “Ha. You see! You’re not really a saint after all! You’re really just a God damned sinner!”

And according to one’s own actions, one can only despair. For even one’s own conscience makes the same undeniable accusation. This is why the divine service begins with us confessing this very thing.

Seeking to obey the Law cannot make us righteous and cannot lift the burden from us. When we seek to live by the Law, we place ourselves back under the Law.

But when we walk in spirit, our spirit, having been regenerated by the Holy Spirit in our baptism, turns entirely from the Law to Christ and sees His righteousness poured out through His body in the preaching and through His blood in the Holy Supper. In the Supper we actually partake of His body so that we know that we are united with Him in His body and that in His blood His righteousness is given to us as our sins are forgiven us so that we rise up as saints, purely by His grace.

St. Peter explains that through Baptism we are given the good conscience before God so that we may live in His Holy Communion. This is our answer to the Old Adam and to the accusations of the devil and our flesh.

We cannot find peace through attempts at obeying the Law. Such attempts always bind us again to the requirements of the Law. But walking in spirit our spirit hears the continual calling and urging of the Holy Spirit who speaks to our spirit and even calls out on our behalf, Abba! Pater! (Both Hebrew and Greek words for Father).

In this way the Lord gives us the freedom to live in His love. And yes, we see how the Lord has loved us and continues to love us and we then love one another as He has loved us. But we don’t approach this as a goal. We don’t seek this as something to obey. Rather, this is now our identity. We love as the outflow of God’s love at work in us.

But our sinful nature rebels. Our spirit truly desires to love, but the Old Adam rises up in hatred and vengeance. The Old Adam does not forgive his abusers. He wants them to pay. So he drags out the commandments to show that they are guilty. Then he tries to show himself as one who tries to obey. But the Law never loses its capacity to show sin and so the person is again under the Law.

But the Holy Spirit is faithful. He searches the saint’s heart and speaks to the spirit and turns the person again and again to the Gospel, the promise that in Christ we are declared righteous and free. And so the saint eagerly looks to the next offering of the Lord’s body and blood and receives the renewal in God’s grace with a thankful heart. Then love again prevails and the peace of God guards the heart and mind in Christ Jesus.

This is why understanding the Saint/Sinner juxtaposition is the answer to living in love. For when we preach the Law, we realize that we need to hear it first for ourselves, so that we are eager to hear the Gospel. Then, when we preach the Law to others, the Gospel will be our motive with them, too.

Christ is our obedience. He is our righteousness. He is our Life. He is our Love. In Him we are justified and sanctified and converted.

When we seek to make ourselves or others better through the preaching of obedience to the Law, we turn away from the Gospel. But when we preach the Law to ourselves and others as that which shows us God’s holiness which can be ours only through the Gospel, this changes how we perceive and deal with both ourselves and others. It sets us free to live in God’s love and to love by His love.

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Where’s the Law?

Today I received a surprise from an old friend. He made a statement regarding my sermons that was surprising to hear, especially from him.

Thanks for the sermons. But where is the Law? I know that you may seem surprised to hear me say that but I didn't see much about us being poor, miserable sinners and stand in need of God's forgiveness. The soul that sinneth shall die.

My friend has long teased me by calling me the “Sherriff” and “John Law.” This began in our seminary days together as I was known for asking the question of certain professors: “But where’s the Law?”

In some of our classes, especially those that were counted as the “practical” areas of study, some of the professors rarely if ever spoke of the application of the Law. They usually only spoke of the application of the Gospel, and that application was a weakened and general application that was quite non-specific, rarely if ever actually speaking of the cross and the reason for it. As a student, I sensed what was wrong and cried out. My own understanding of clear and effective preaching of the Law and Gospel together had a long way to go, but I recognized the false preaching of those professors who had forgotten the interconnectedness of the two.

As I have become more experienced I have learned more and more the importance that both be preached, but that the Gospel predominate in the sermons. While we sinners most assuredly need to hear our lost condition so that we despair of our own efforts at worthiness and trust the Gospel as the power by which we are brought back into God’s communion of everlasting life and blessedness, this hearing and receiving of this blessed Gospel is the object of the preaching. As I have grown as a preacher, I have learned that I need to preach so as to send people from the divine service with the glorious good news of restoration and reconciliation through God’s means of grace as what fills their hearts and minds.

This is a continual concern in my preparations. I remain continually mindful of the necessity of the prevalence of the Gospel over the Law in my preaching.

I take the concern of my friend very seriously. I take any criticism of my preaching very seriously. In the past I have had very dear friends who had turned to a different gospel blast me very harshly over the Law that they heard in my sermons. The Gospel did prevail in those sermons, but because of the altered perspective of my friends, the Law was all that they heard. This was on account of the fact that their understanding of what the Gospel really is had changed and so the entire message was received from their perspective as condemnation. They began to attack until finally denouncing me as a friend. But I was not the one who had changed, except that my preaching of the Law and Gospel message became more clearly defined.

This repeated experience from friends who migrated from the confession in which we previously stood together has been painful for me. So today, it was really quite surprising to hear from this friend that he did not perceive the Law slapping him in face. I have examined a couple of the sermons and found that of the two, the Christmas Day sermon was much less in-your-face with the Law than the Advent sermon, but that it was indeed proclaimed.

My conclusion on the matter is that first of all, I need to be ever mindful of the necessity that both the Law and the Gospel be proclaimed, and that it be proclaimed so that the person can hear both as applicable in that person’s life. Secondly, I conclude that my dear friend is indeed a dear friend for sharing this with me. Thirdly, since my dear friend seems to have heard the Gospel applied to himself, that indeed both the Law and Gospel were heard, but at least from his perspective that the Gospel came through so clearly that in the end the Law was hardly even remembered as hitting him.

I could be wrong about this last part, but if so, I am sure that he will tell me so. Moreover, he has done me a great favor by reminding me of the absolute necessity that the Gospel not be preached apart from the awareness of the pronouncement of the Law.

One final note: In my own daily walk my own brokenness and extreme need for the healing and comfort of the Gospel is felt so keenly, so sharply and powerfully, and my wife’s expression of her awareness of this in her life, most assuredly must impact my preaching. As Luther wrote to Melanchthon, before one can become a great preacher, he must first become a great sinner.

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What are we allowed to say?

Here is an article that should be of concern to all Americans: DHS Shut Down Blog For A Year On False Pretenses.

Why is the Department of Homeland Security now in copyright enforcement?

How far will this be pressed? Will the Federal government begin preventing people from openly and publicly criticizing the government? Feds Order You Tube To Remove Video For Containing “Government Criticism”

The Federal government has already targeted speech/preaching against certain sinful and destructive activities, calling such preaching “hate speech.” If “speaking the truth in love” is targeted as “hate speech,” then the Gospel can no longer be preached freely. If warning someone that the wages of sin is death is counted as hate speech and therefore made to be illegal, the preaching of the Gospel will be outlawed.

These usurpations by the Federal government were not enacted under liberal Democrat administrations, but under the so-called conservative Republican watch. Will America wake up in time to stop the two-party globalist agenda? Nope. They’ll keep voting for their idea of the lesser of two evils. People will continue to believe the lie that victory can be won through compromise. People will continue to vote for those who cover their lies and their evil acts with big smiles and “God bless America.”

All the Law and the Prophets

Reflecting upon my preparations for last Sunday’s sermon, as well as the many texts on which I have expounded, I wonder how many sermons can be written from a specific text. Each time that I approach one of the pericopal readings I wonder, how can I preach this with freshness? Yet each time, as I wrestle with God in His Scriptures, I find that He has said more than I previously realized and that there is most certainly more to be brought out from the great treasure-house of the Scriptures.

In Sunday’s Gospel reading Matthew 22:31-46, the Lord Jesus says:

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:37-40)

The Lord Jesus says that on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. This means that all of the Scriptures were written based upon these two commandments. That is a lot of writing and explaining and exposition! And then we have the Scriptures of the New Testament, too!

St. Paul shows himself a true apostle of Christ when he says: “Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. (Romans 13:10)

How many sermons can be preached concerning the right understanding of this? Ultimately, is this not the focus of every true exposition of the Gospel? To grasp this is to grasp all the riches of the kingdom of God.

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Liberty for All

This past evening I was wandering in the local hardware store and made a very disturbing discovery. To my dismay I observed this sign by the cans of spray paint.

I inquired whether I understood what I read. Indeed, a law has been passed in Wichita that makes it illegal to sell to minors and for minors to purchase a can of spray paint or a broad tipped marker.

Here is the link for Ordinance 48-803.

I was shocked to learn of this outrageous attack on the rights of the young people of this city. How many thousands of innocent young people are treated wrongfully by this ordinance?

Most adults probably count this as a “minor” thing.

But what can be done against one group can also be done to all. History has shown this repeatedly.

Certainly those who deface property not their own should be held accountable. But this law does not do this. It punishes and restricts the freedoms of all who are of a certain class, and who have no legal voice, no vote.

More than 40 million pre-born citizens have been silenced since 1973, having no voice, no vote of their own. 40,000,000! And this figure does not include the last 11 years.

Where does the injustice stop? Will it stop when it reaches our rights? Oops, it has been quite a while since I have gone to the airport or to the city hall or the county courthouse.

But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. (Matthew 12:7)

Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed; To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless! (Isaiah 10:1-2)

Oh that I could plead innocence! But how many times have I simply turned away saying, “What can I do?” And now, truly, what can I do? I suppose that I can continue to speak out. Most certainly I can proclaim God’s forgiveness and salvation in Christ to one and all.

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But that would be Works!

In a conversation that was related to me, a person was confronted with performing an action that a Spirit guided conscience would demand, and the person responded saying, “But that would be Works!”

As you may have guessed, this person is a “Lutheran.”

The response was both asinine and disingenuous. It was deliberately used to hide the person’s desire to ignore what this person knew was good and godly and in keeping with the walk that is in the Spirit. The issue was clearly one of following one’s conscience regarding the true faith, yet the person responded as though doing as the Spirit of God leads one in one’s conscience would be an act of works righteousness.

Contemplating this caused me to ponder the state of Lutheranism in this day. Have Lutherans turned the avoidance of dependence upon works righteousness into an act of works righteousness? Have Lutherans taken the right understanding that no one can be justified before God by works of the Law and turned this into a new form of self-righteousness and justification by works? Have Lutherans imagined that they are righteous through the work of believing that they are not righteous by their own works?

As ludicrous as this sounds, it does seem to be what has happened in many cases.

Moreover, have Lutherans used this as an excuse for not doing what they know is right and true? Have Lutherans claimed to be avoiding the false belief in salvation through their own reason and strength as an excuse for not rightly using the reason and strength that God gives to them?

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Disturbing Notes

I read today at another blog some very disturbing statements. I need to ponder some of these statements more thoroughly, but what I quote below I shall comment upon now. The entire post entitled Circumcision Notes is found at CyberStones--A Lutheran Blog.

In the following portion from his post, the pastor addresses Moses’ failure to circumcise his son and applies this to parents who fail to baptize their children:

Moses wimped out. He didn't circumcise his sons. This happens, by the way, on their way to Egypt. The Lord has just told Moses that he will be the deliverer. Then this. No transition. Just stated as matter of fact: At a lodging place on the way the Lord sought to kill Moses. Zipporah knows the score. He was too wimpy to circumcise his son. So she had to do it. That failure didn't put the boy's life in danger so much as Moses' life. I use this with parents who delay the Baptism of their children. They say to me, “Surely, God isn't going to damn a baby because I didn't baptize him.” I say, “No, but He might damn you.” You have a duty to perform. Baptize your children. This also shows us once again how the mothers have to step in, Jael and Deborah-style, and do the father's duty when the father fails. What a terrible thing for Zipporah to have to do. But thanks be to God that she did. How many of us learned to prayer at our mother's skirt? I daresay it is not the exception, though it really should be.

Some of the thinking here conveyed is very good. But very disturbing statements are made as well. In particular, the statements to parents regarding failure or refusal to baptize their children disturb me greatly. This I shall address.

Without question I agree that the Lord commands and expects that parents who are members of the body of Christ through faith will bring their children to be baptized into His kingdom. I wholeheartedly agree that parents who do not bring their children to the fountain of forgiveness and life in God’s kingdom are sinning against God, against their children, and against the true faith.

However, I abhor the pastor’s response to the abhorrent and faithless acclamation of the parents. Both perspectives are truly horrible misrepresentations of what the Scriptures teach concerning our damned condition as well as God’s command regarding Baptism.

The parents display a total lack of understanding of the true faith by their resistance to having their child baptized. This is furthermore exemplified by their weak attempt at excusing themselves. “Surely, God isn't going to damn a baby because I didn't baptize him.”

This statement is so far askew that it is frightening to know that it is made by anyone professing to be Christian. But even more frightening is the fact that the pastor does not correct them and lead them into a right understanding of God’s grace. His response is one of a false application of God’s Law:

I say, “No, but He might damn you.” You have a duty to perform. Baptize your children.

This is horrible. This is not at all in keeping with the Scriptures.

First, God is not going to damn either the parents or the child on account of the child not being baptized. The child is already damned. That is the reason that the child needs to be baptized for the remission of sins. The child was conceived in sin, as David teaches in Psalm 51 and as the Scriptures teach throughout. St. Paul is very clear in teaching that all of mankind was made to be sinners through the sin of Adam. Sinners are all damned sinners. They are damned by their sinfulness. Their sin cuts them off from God and His holiness.

Moreover, the parents also are already damned. They are damned or condemned by their rejection of the clear words of Christ. These parents have rejected the clear doctrine of the Scriptures concerning their sinfulness and the sinfulness of their child, sinfulness from which both they and their child need to be saved. They both already stand condemned by their unbelief.

Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. (John 3:5-6)

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:17-18)

He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. (Mark 16:16)

The parents desperately need to be taught concerning the need for Baptism and the wonderful grace, mercy, and peace of God that He promises to give through the means of grace. Both the parents and their baby need to hear this and to be made recipients of it. This is the job of the pastor. The office of the ministry is the office of making people aware of their great need and of God’s answer to their need.

The answer that this pastor says that he gives is not an answer that leads people to respond to God in faith. His response does not even teach what the true faith is. Rather, it teaches people to rely upon themselves and to coerce them into obedience to God’s commandments. This is the way of perdition.

While I imagine or at least hope that this pastor has not rightly presented the manner in which he ministers to those who come to him, this is what he says that he does. Moreover, this is not the only example of such legalism and pharisaic doctrine presented on his blog. I respond to this in the hope that at least a few will hear the great promises attached to Baptism and joyfully to respond to God’s command to receive His grace and blessings through the means that He has ordained.

This includes the second Sacrament, the one to which Baptism brings us. For the Lord Jesus states that Baptism is the means by which we are made to enter the kingdom of God (John 3). This is the same as the Old Testament Sacrament of Circumcision. It is the one time application by God of His seal of adoption and forgiveness. In this way Baptism is a one time event, even though we return to the promises of Baptism continually, confessing our sins and receiving the holy divine absolution, and also continually heeding the calling of the Holy Spirit who comes to us and takes up residence in us through Baptism (Acts 2:38; Titus 3). But the Sacrament of the Altar is ongoing. All who are baptized are incorporated into the body of Christ to be everlasting partakers of His Holy Communion, in which we partake in His Holy Supper of His body and blood. Through this God renews us again and again and again in the one true faith by which we are kept in this Holy Communion.

From this God does not cut us off. If we are cut off from His Communion, it is by our own belligerence. God decrees the judgment so that we have every opportunity to hear His call to be turned again to Him and His means of grace. But we are the ones who effect the judgment and condemnation, cutting ourselves off from Him by not continuing in His words. God never stops calling out to the world. Even to those whose hearts He hardens, such as the Pharaoh in the days of Moses, the Lord continues to send His Word through His called servants. Pharaoh and all who are like him in their rejection of the Lord as their God refuse to receive God’s grace, and so, lest they should repent in temporal matters and be further deceived and lead to others being deceived, the Lord hardens their hearts. Even this judgment is intended to serve as a call to be turned in faith to the Lord.

God’s declaration of His judgment is not to condemn us, but to show us that we stand condemned and need to be converted and saved from our condemnation. This is why God has ordained and commanded Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. He does not want us to be condemned, but to be made to be recipients of His loving mercy and salvation.

Why are you here?

About twenty years ago, I was on call as a chaplain in a hospital. For a 24 hour period I was in the hospital. That evening the beeper went off and I was summoned to the emergency room.

As the elevator approached the emergency room from two floors above I could hear a man shouting and cursing horribly. The cursing grew louder as the elevator drew nearer to the floor. The doors opened and a blast of cursing pierced my ears and heart.

Lined up on both sides of the hallway were rolling cots with patients lying on them. Several emergency room attendants greeted me, explaining that the patient who was shouting and cursing made it impossible for them to put any one else in the treatment area. The police brought him to the emergency room. The nurses and doctors explained that he had been wandering the street and was intoxicated with alcohol and probably other drugs as well. They had given the man as much Thorazine as could be given and it was having no effect whatsoever. They were trying to pump his stomach but he pulled out the tubes and would not allow them to be put in again. They had restraints applied but he still thrashed about.

They said that they had done all that they could do and did not know what else could be done so they called the chaplain.

When I entered the room and approached the man he demanded to know who I was. Then he wanted me to loosen his restraints. I explained that I did not have the authority to do that. Then he began demanding to know why I was there. With much cursing he demanded again and again to know why I was there.

Finally, I looked at him and replied, “I’m here to torment you.”

He stopped cursing and looked at me and began to converse with me. He began sharing what was troubling him. He learned that day that his girlfriend had AIDS. This meant a number of things to him. She had been with someone else. She had infected him. He had been betrayed.

When I responded to him saying, “I’m here to torment you.”, it flowed from my mouth as though it were exactly what I would want to say to a hurting man. I knew at the time that it was the right thing to say, but I have never really understood why. Truly this was not my own decision but was given from above, but I never really understood why it was what this man needed to hear.

Yesterday, as I was pondering other matters, I reflected upon this event again and I realized why “I’m here to torment you.” was what this man responded to when I said it.

This was exactly what he was experiencing. Everything, everyone was there to torment him. His entire life, his very existence, had become a ceaseless torment. His girlfriend, the police, the emergency room attendants, all were there to torment him.

Now a chaplain comes in. Why are you here?” The chaplain replies, “I’m here to torment you.”

Someone actually was listening. Someone actually heard his anguish. Someone finally answered him honestly and without fear.

We conversed for about 15-20 minutes. As we talked I told him about the love of God in Christ. He became calm and relaxed and finally fell asleep. The nurses were finally able to tend to the needs of his body because the needs of his spirit had been tended. The doctor came in and did his job, too, commenting, “God and Thorazine! What a combination!”

As I departed I thought, “No, Doctor, your trusted Thorazine failed you. Not God and Thorazine, but God calmed this troubled soul.”

This is why Jesus came to the world. He came to take our tortured identity for us and to give us His peace. He came to take upon Himself our deepest insecurities, all of which are rooted in sin, and to set us free from our fears. He took our betrayal. He took our weaknesses. He took our sin. He became the tortured one in our place so that in communion with Him we might have rest for our souls.

This is the ministry of the Church, to tell the world that their anguish is real and that this anguish is rooted in a real source: SIN. Yes, as the Church of God on earth, we are here to torment you. We are here to proclaim the LAW in its full force, leaving nothing hidden. We are here to rebuke your unbelief before it is too late. And when the world hears this rebuke, the only choices are either to continue cursing God and His creation or to respond to the call to repent and believe the Gospel in which is provided the relief that all tortured souls desperately need and desire.

This, however, can only occur when the Church knows what it means to be the Church. This unabashed declaration of “We are here to torment you!” can only be made when the Church and her pastors believe this so as to be moved by God to speak His loving rebuke in full force, without compromise. For the rebuke is intended to crush all self-delusion. The rebuke is necessary in order for the sweet and restoring words of the Gospel to be received by the tortured souls.

Thanks be to God that He speaks the Truth. He always comes to us through the Word of Law and Gospel. He always calls us to repentance by the powerful working of the Holy Spirit in the unadulterated administration of the Word in the preaching and in the Sacraments. He says, “I have come here to torment you so that you may openly and honestly acknowledge your total depravity and helplessness, so that you then may receive from Me my love, My grace, My mercy, and My peace. Without these, torment is all you shall ever know, not only now, but everlastingly. Hear My strong rebuke. Receive My repentance. Believe Me and trust in My Son, your Savior, and dwell in My peace in My Holy Communion.”