New Year's Resolutions

Where does the celebration of the New Year come from? I'm actually asking the question seriously; I don't really know. Has it always been seen as a time for us to put the past behind us and look forward to a brighter future? Or for resolutions?

Thinking about putting the past behind us, I'm so thankful to God that as Christians we don't just do this on New Year's Eve, but everyday. Everyday is literally brand new for us. We walk a daily life of repentance and renewal; confession and absolution. Jesus said, "Pick up your cross daily and follow me." This sounds hard and it is; but then there is the eternally good news that "if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us and purify us from all unrighteousness." Everyday we acknowledge the bad news that our pasts are stained with mistakes and imperfections, but then we hear the good news that in Christ our sins are thrown as far as the east is from the west never to be remembered again.

So I guess the point is this: Resolve this next year to cling to Christ and Him alone.

Doubt

I just saw the movie 'Doubt.' The film was really well done; acting, writing and scenery were well done. But be warned: it is not a nominee for the feel good movie of the year.

Without giving away too much of the movie, I will let you know that the title really says it all. The story deals with the struggle that the established institution of the Church has with change and progress (however that's defined). The underlying worldview of the movie is that truth is in some sense unknowable. Truth is rather determined by who has the power. We the viewers never truly know what exactly has happened, and so we are left "in doubt."

A question that kept on popping up in my head throughout the movie was, "What do I say to those who say that truth can't really be known?" I suppose I could always retort with the question back, "Is that a true statement?" To which a real postmodernist would respond "yes/no."

What about this? Is there anyway to defend the idea of truth? Or is everything just a series of contradictions?

The Masks of God (Lectures on Vocation)

It's obvious now that I really like Gene Veith's blog (and other writings). What I particularly enjoy is his focus and emphasis on the doctrine of Vocation. (This is one of those things in the Church that is almost never taught on; if it was I believe there could be something of a revolution in the Church). Through his work he shows that the biblical view of things is that even the seemingly mundane, boring stuff of life has a glorious purpose in service to God and our neighbor.

Over the weekend I came across a series of lectures and articles by Dr. Veith on vocation. I've only listened to the first lecture of two, but it was fantastic. Click here to access the lectures and a number of articles on the subject by Veith and others (Thanks Ben). Enjoy!

(However, if you are at work right now or are spending time with your family, do not neglect them in order to hear about how to live out your vocation with them! Just continue to live out your vocation and learn about it later when you have time. :)

The Wait is Over

This week's sermon was based on Luke 2:21-38. The message was about the gifts that Christ brought with His coming. You can find it here or here or here.

Baptism Extravaganza

Just a heads up for any that might be interested: Over at the show The God Whisperers, they are running a series on the Biblical/Lutheran view of Baptism. I would definitely encourage you to check it out if you have time. Find the shows here.

The Feel Good Movie of the 90's?

Last night I was in the video store and I saw this movie for rent. I couldn't help but laugh out loud after looking at the premise. There is no deeper meaning behind me sharing this with you; it's just funny.

Rejoice O Favored One, the Lord is With You

Last week's message was of course about the good news of the Incarnation for us, for us, for us!

Listen to it here.

The Mission of the Church

I know I'm supposed to be preparing to preach right now, but I just had to post this. Found this on Cwirla's blog. Penn from Penn and Teller is an avowed atheist (as the video clip below shows)and has often made fun of Christianity. But listen to him describe this experience with someone who proselytized to him just the other night.



Reverend Cwirla points out:

Here's the quote from Penn in case you missed it:

I don't respect people who don't proselytize. If you believe that there's a heaven and hell, and people could be going to hell, and you think, 'Well, it's not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward'... How much do you have to hate somebody not to proselytize?



HT: Cwirla

Help me...I'll Sue You

This was predictable. It seems that now in our sue happy culture if you actually follow Jesus' command to help those in need, you could be sued. That "prophetic" movie 'The Incredibles' had a great scene in which Mr. Incredible saves a man who jumps from the top of a building. The man is alive, but has some minor injuries. He sues him and wins. This sets off a slew of other lawsuits against other superheroes until all of them must go into hiding.

You can post anonymously if you like, but I'm curious: Knowing that you could be sued by someone you stop to help, will that cause you to hesitate more than you already do?

HT: Ben

This is true isn't it?

HT: Lombardoson

"Kill Your T.V."

Let me state this up front: I do not believe that T.V. is inherently bad. Like just about any other medium, T.V. is basically neutral, being used for either good or bad.

That being said, in general I think that too much T.V. watching tends to have a corrosive effect on the mind and one's ability to see the world in any realistic light. So I was glad to read today this study that shows young people are watching less T.V. than older generations. Now this doesn't mean that young people aren't seeking entertainment elsewhere (internet, movies, video games, etc.) they are. But it seems to me the newer forms of entertainment are less passive than T.V. watching and therefore are a net positive.

Connected with this, I have read lately that MTV's ratings are suffering. Woohoo! (I think they lost it when they stopped showing music videos and replaced it with trash reality shows).

For some great writings on the corrosive effect that T.V. (and technology in general) can have on culture check out stuff from Marshall McLuhan or read Neal Postman's "Amusing Ourselves to Death."

The Gift of Gifts

A few years back my wife bought a book of Puritan Prayers entitled, "The Valley of Vision." The book is literally chock full of wonderful, heartfelt devotion. In light of Christmas read 'The Gift of all gifts':

O Source of all Good,
What shall I render to Thee for the gift of gifts,
Thine own dear Son, begotten, not created,
my Redeemer, Proxy, Surety, Substitute,
His self-emptying incomprehensible,
His infinity of love beyond the heart's grasp.

Herein is wonder of wonders:
He came below to raise me above,
He was born like me that I might become like Him.

Herein is love;
when I cannot rise to Him He draws near on wings of grace,
to raise me to Himself.

Herein is power;
when Deity and humanity were infinitely apart
He united them in indissoluble unity, the uncreated and the created.

Herein is wisdom;
when I was undone, with no will to return to Him,and no intellect to devise recovery,
He came, God-incarnate, to save me to the uttermost,
as man to die my death,
to shed satisfying blood on my behalf,
to work out a perfect righteousness for me.

O God, take me in spirit to the watchful shepherds,
and enlarge my mind;
let me hear good tidings of great joy,
and hearing, believe, rejoice, praise, adore,
my conscience bathed in an ocean of repose,
my eyes uplifted to a reconciled Father,
place me with ox, ass, camel, goat,
to look with them upon my Redeemer's face,
and in Him account myself delivered from sin;
let me with Simeon clasp the new-born Child to my heart,
embrace Him with undying faith,
exulting that He is mine and I am His.

In Him Thou hast given me so much that heaven can give no more.

Christmas Awesomeness!!!!

Chances are you've seen this before. The dialogue and the new rendition of 'Little Drummer Boy' are nothing short of painfully awesome!



And now wash your ears out with this....

Martin Luther's Christmas Day Sermon

I really love the Christmas story. Not because of all the cultural baggage that surrounds the Christmas story, but because of what the story tells us about our God. The Incarnation, God becoming flesh, shows us that He is not One who expects us to climb up some ladder or mountain to where He is, but rather He comes to us; to save us. Martin Luther in his famous Christmas Day Sermon from 1521 catches I believe the perfect tone. Here he is discussing the angel's proclamation to the Shepherds:

25. He does not simply say, Christ is born, but to you he is born, neither does he say, I bring glad tidings, but to you I bring glad tidings of great joy. Furthermore, this joy was not to remain in Christ, but it shall be to all the people. This faith no condemned or wicked man has, nor can he have it; for the right ground of salvation which unites Christ and the believing heart is that they have all things in common. But what have they?

26. Christ has a pure, innocent, and holy birth. Man has an unclean, sinful, condemned birth; as David says, Ps. 51, 5, "Behold I was brought forth in iniquity; and in sin did mymother conceive me." Nothing can help this unholy birth except the pure birth of Christ. But Christ's birth cannot be distributed in a material sense neither would that avail any thing; it is therefore imparted spiritually, through the Word, as the angel says, it is given to all who firmly believe so that no harm will come to them because of their impure birth. This it the way and manner in which we are to be cleansed from the miserable birth we have from Adam. For this purpose Christ willed to be born, that through him we might be born again, as he says John 3: 3, that it takes place through faith; as also St. James says in 1, 18: "Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures."

27. We see here how Christ, as it were, takes our birth from us and absorbs it in his birth, and grants us his, that in it we might become pure and holy, as if it were our own, so that every Christian may rejoice and glory in Christ's birth as much as if he had himself been born of Mary as was Christ. Whoever does not believe this, or doubts, is no Christian.

28. 0, this is the great joy of which the angel speaks. This is the comfort and exceeding goodness of God that, if a man believes this, he can boast of the treasure that Mary is his rightful mother, Christ his brother, and God his father. For these things actually occurred and are true, but we must believe. This is the principal thing and the principal treasure in every Gospel, before any doctrine of good works can be taken out of it. Christ must above all things become our own and we become his, before we can do good works.

But this cannot occur except through the faith that teaches us rightly to understand the Gospel and properly to lay hold of it. This is the only way in which Christ can be rightly known so that the conscience is satisfied and made to rejoice. Out of this grow love and praise to God who in Christ has bestowed upon us such unspeakable gifts. This gives courage to do or leave undone, and living or dying, to suffer every thing that is well pleasing to God. This is what is meant by Isaiah 9: 6, "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given," to us, to us, to us is born, and to us is given this child,”

Below is a portion of Handel's Messiah in which they sing these joyous words:

Nietzsche and the Consequences of Ideas

R.C. Sproul lectures on Nietzsche in this video clip. I think it's safe to say that there are few people that have argued against Christianity more effectively and vehemently than Nietzsche. Many Christians upon exposure to his ideas have found themselves doubting their faith greatly. Therefore it's certainly worthwhile to explore what the man believed and how one might counter his views. Believe it or not, he is still quite influential today.

This is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus

This last Sunday's message was based on 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24. Listen to it here.

Ah bul ah..!!

The Real Santa Claus

Veith has a great article today up on his blog about the real St. Nicholas. St. Nicholas was known for his giving to the children, but that is probably not his most important contribution to the history of the Church.

It turns out that St. Nicholas was one of the bishops that gathered at the Council of Nicaea to stand up for the Deity of Christ. At the time there had been a major split about to happen in the Church between those who denied the Deity of Christ (the Arians) and those who held to the Orthodox position. It is said that St. Nicholas was so passionate that Christ be worshipped as God, that when Arius spoke about Christ in less than worshipful ways, Nicholas walked up to him and slapped him! His zeal apparently overwhelmed him! He actually was supposed to be disciplined for acting in such an unbishoply manner, but he apologized.

So the real Santa Claus' greatest gift to the world was not toys on Christmas day, but his defense of who it is we celebrate on Christmas day. Dr. Veith suggests in his article that this might change the way we "do Christmas." Check out the article, "Santa Claus is Coming to Slap."

Update: More on the real Santa Claus from Rev. Bill Cwirla called "Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.

Why?

"Christian" Films

From Veith's blog the other day I learned of a series of films entitled "The Decalogue." The films were directed by Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieślowski, a Roman Catholic, and are centered around the implications of the Ten Commandments in modern life. I have seen the first three so far and have been blown away.

For many years now I have lamented the pathetic stuff that often passes for Christian art. It usually comes across like propaganda and doesn't really reflect life for most humans at all. The Decalogue does not do this. It is controversial, thought provoking, mysterious and actually, just like life. It's not easy to find (you have to either get them through Netflix or go to one of those oh so cool independent video stores that pride themselves on actually knowing the director's name), but it will be well worth your time. Also, if you get a chance check out another foreign film entitled Babbettes Feast (wonderful illustration of grace and how one receives it).

Being Prepared for the King

This week we celebrated the 2nd week of Advent with a sermon on John the Baptist and his ministry of preparation. Here it is.

To those who are perishing....

We are the aroma of death. So says the book of 1 Corinthians. Biblical Christians for a number of years have been equated by various intellectuals as equal to Islamic fundamentalists. After all we both believe in absolute truth claims so what's the difference? (Never mind the fact that in this country Christians are mocked in the most grotesque ways but rarely respond with any reaction, while in many Muslim nations, a cartoon depicting the prophet Muhammad in a mocking way gets buildings burnt down, and people beheaded.)

Since the passing of Proposition 8 into law in California, the gay rights community and many on the political left have become unhinged towards "hateful" Christians. This morning a video was released in which you will see the disdain, disgust and frankly, hate they have for Biblical Christians and for Jesus Christ. I warn you, that some of the content is graphic and even blasphemous, but it's important that we know how the culture views us who follow Christ.

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

Notice that the reason the majority of Californians voted for traditional marriage, according to their view, is because they are either "hateful" Christians or they were too stupid and got fooled by "hateful" Christians. This isn't just disdain for Christians, but for the majority of the citizens of California!

Two things: 1. What do you say to their charge that we "pick and choose" what we want to believe from the Bible? 2. What should our reaction be to those who would hold the same views as those in the video? Please go here to find out.

How to Respond to Terror?

I'm curious what y'all think the Christian response to terrorism should be. With the most recent terror attacks in Mumbai, it's important that we think "Christianly" about this. Is it possible for us Christians to desire swift justice for terrrorists (including killing) and yet at the same time desire the salvation of their souls?

For some insight (and the apparent conflict) on this you might look to Romans 13 and then look at Jesus' statements in Matthew 5:43-48.

Was the United States ever a Christian Nation?

Lambs among Wolves

This week's sermon was based on Luke 10:1-24. This is the sending out of the Seventy-Two for the mission of God. There is so much to learn from this passage about how we the Church are sent, that I could spend weeks on it. But Advent cometh! Listen to the sermon here.