The Secret Wireless

In a previous stage in my life I worked as a maintenance man (boy) at a summer camp in Central Illinois, just north of Springfield.  It was a great job, in fact the only job I have ever had where I woke up each and every day excited about going to work. Part of what I loved about this sort of work was learning new things all of the time.  I am not a very "handy" man, so the work was all new and exciting to me.  My number one job was to wash dishes.  That took about an hour after breakfast and lunch.  The rest of the time was filled with mowing and trimming the grass, sweeping floors, making beds, and helping to fix things that had been broken. We had a few construction projects that summer.  They were all fairly minor: a new porch, some painting, a new door hung, etc.  One such project was putting new trim around a set of garage doors. It is here that I want to introduce you to Derald Henry Sasse.  (For all of you Lutheran scholars out the...

Revelation 22:1-20 Jesus Christ has ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of God.  So now what?                  The Ascension of Jesus to the right hand of God might seem like it is less than important when it is compared to the death and resurrection of Jesus.  After all it is at the cross and empty tomb where our salvation is bought and guaranteed.                 But Christ’s ascension to God’s right hand means power.  It means, as Saint Paul says, that Jesus has all things placed under His feet.  Jesus is the all-mighty, ruler of everything.  And He is on your side.                 The ascension means that the same God-Man who suffered the tortures of hell for you, who died alone on a cross for you, who rose on the th...

Revelation 21:19-27 “There is no night there.”   That is what John says about the city of God, the new Jerusalem.   John is describing the Church of Jesus Christ in its resurrected and glorified state.   It appears descending from heaven as a bride on her wedding day, beautiful.                 One of the peculiar elements to this new and beautiful city is that it has no sun or moon.   There are no artificial sources of light here.   We probably don’t think of the sun as an artificial source of light, but it is.   The sun was manufactured by God.   Only God is a totally natural source of light.                 This city has no sun or moon because it has God and the Lamb.   It has the Father and Son in all their radiant glory as its light source.   After the Last Judgment, in the Church of...

Revelation 21:1-7 Things that have been corrupted can be restored.   It is best if they never fall into disrepair, but they can usually be saved and restored.   Some of you have taken the time to restore an old tractor.   What started out as a rusty, over used piece of farm equipment has become fit for riding in parades or putting in a fair show. Some of you may have taken the time to restore a house.   The building might have needed a lot of work, some updating and modernizing, but in the end it became a real home again. Left to themselves, these things, tractors, cars, homes, they fall apart.   They will not stay strong, sturdy, and dependable forever.   In fact, in-and-of-themselves, they are worthless sitting there in disrepair.   They are good for nothing.   But if the right person comes along, the person who will care for the item, who will put the time and energy into restoring it, a person with the right set of tools, wha...

Revelation 7:9-17 “The Lamb…will be their Shepherd.”   Really?   Isn’t that a little odd?   It would seem strange to me to expect a lamb to be a shepherd, after all it is sheep who need the shepherd.   So what is going on here in Revelation 7?             The shepherd is supposed to guide and protect the sheep of his flock.   Can someone who is described as “the Lamb” really be capable of the sort of guidance that we need in the 21 st century?   Can a lamb protect us from the wolves ready to attacks us, the lions ready to devour us, the false shepherds who wish to lead us astray?             Make no mistake, the 21 st century poses a set of problems and challenges to the Christian faith that are dangerous to our Church.   Atheism, the once quiet, disinterested, and small group of those who believe nothing spiritual exists, has become ...