The Secret Wireless

(Recent events have me thinking about what kind of prayer might be acceptable in the presence of members of the clergy from other religions.  I offer this example for your thoughts and consideration.) Lord Jesus Christ, You have shown humanity the true meaning of compassion in Your sacrificial death.  You have given us true and certain hope in Your triumphant resurrection.  Silence all those present who would offer a false compassion or a false hope.  Put an end to the blasphemous schemes of the devil who would turn our attention to other gods, to false religions.  Forgive us for seeking comfort in a place where You have not promised to be.  Send forth Your Christian Church to speak the truth of Your Word, which alone can offer the peace that surpasses all understanding, that all who do not trust in You for their salvation would be drawn to You by the working of Your Spirit.  Strengthen us and keep us steadfast in the Your Gospel alone, for You live...

II Corinthians 5:20-6:10 “Narrow Way” 2 / 13 / 13                                   You walk a narrow and dangerous road every day of your life.   Lutherans especially walk what has been dubbed by some the lonely way, the middle way.   Fall off to one side and we are in trouble.   Fall off to the other side and we are in supernatural peril.                   Life is dangerous, and I do not simply mean all those things that wish to physically harm you.   There are spiritual, theological pitfalls.   And these things matter just as much, if not more than, bodily danger.                           ...

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.          ...