The Secret Wireless

There have been a few times in our history when we have been exposed to what we might call “true evil”.   The bombings of Pearl Harbor, the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City, September 11, and this most recent school shooting in Connecticut come to mind.   These are horrible, awful, tragedies.                    And when we encounter them, our first inclination as a society seems to be to attribute these atrocities to a kind of evil that the rest of humanity is simply not capable of.   These murderers are simply not like the rest of us.   They are “true evil”, or they are mentally disturbed.   But they are not normal.   They can’t be, can they?                 We are very quick to say that these mass murderers are of a kind that we are not.   They are the likes of Hitler, St...

The murder of children and their teachers is horrible.  It is unthinkable.  And we have been rightly led to mourn the loss life in Newtown, CT. But there is a red herring in the reporting of this story.  It is a touchy subject.  It is "gun control" . This is not an defense of the NRA or a pleading for the government to leave us with unlimited access to firearms.  I believe that gun control needs to be discussed realistically, yet I do not think that it will solve the problem.  Take all the guns out of the hands of every man and woman in the United States and you are left with the same problem on a smaller scale . (And perhaps a larger scale.  Don't forget that we live in a world where people can manufacture bombs with directions off the internet.) Almost every media outlet has jumped on the idea that now is the time for congress to debate gun control and so "fix" the problem of large scale violence.  They report that this is what President...

Really, I am not an original thinker.  If you have been reading this blog, especially if you have enjoyed the "We Stand for.." entries, then you are getting and earful, not of my words, but of the Lutheran Confessions. No, I did not quote them directly.  I did, however, take each article of the Augsburg Confession and explain it for a modern day audience.  Only the last 3 or 4 posts were "free-form". The Lutheran Confession of the Christian faith is not outdated, nor is it irrelevant.  It is as applicable today as ever.  Perhaps even more so. So Lutherans, read your Bibles.  Read your confessions.  Know what you believe so that you can give a proper defense for the hope that is in you.   

There is a scene in the movie “Back to the Future III” that shows us just how different our lives are from those who lived even 50 years ago or so.   As the title of the film suggests, it is about a young man who travels back in time, in this particular film it is to the wild west.                 One character from the future is trying to explain what living in the 1980’s is like to a person living in the 1880’s.   He mentions that people have motorized carriages and flying machines to travel all over the world very quickly.                    The man from the old west laughs and says, “Don’t people walk anywhere, or run anymore?”   The man from the future replies, “Yes, of course, but for fun!”   TO which everyone erupts in laughter.          ...

Ladies and gentlemen, Jesus is coming. The festive cry had gone out through all of Jerusalem. Jesus was on his way. This famous worker of miracles was coming to town. This infamous preacher was marching on the city.  “There He is. No, not that one. Over there. He is the one riding on the donkey. Yeah, that’s Him. Hosanna!” the people cry. “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David. Hosanna in the highest!” Jesus is coming. The excitement filled the air. The people genuinely wanted to meet this Jesus. They wanted to see him, touch him, be healed by him, be ruled by him. But be careful what you wish for. You might just get it. You see, Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem is no regular visit. This is not his vacation. He is coming to Jerusalem on business. And he has two different, yet related items on his agenda. He intends to confront and upset the comfortable. And he will comfort the upset and the confronted. Jesus i...

We do not gather together on Sunday mornings to worship God. That might sound a bit extreme, but it is true, entirely biblical.  Read through the New Testament and find how many times the early Christians are told to gather for worship.  There really aren't any. Rather Christians are told to worship God every second of every day.  They live lives of living sacrifice (Romans 12:1), living worship.  Everything that you do in life should be an act dedicated to the glory of God to the service of others. So why get together on Sundays, or any day of the week?  If God doesn't want me to come to church and praise Him then does He want me to come at all? YES!  But not for the reason that you might think.  God calls you into a gathering of the saints each week so that you might receive the teaching of the Apostles [found in the Bible], for fellowship, for prayers, and for the breaking of the bread [the Lord's Supper] (Acts 2:42). In other words, God i...