Anti Smoking Nazi's and Their Homeland

I had to laugh with glee when I read that the German Supreme Court just overturned Germany's smoking ban. Two small, one room biergarten's fought this all the way up the ladder to get their victory. So now the land that gave us the original Nazi's has embraced freedom and private property rights. I guess they exported all the anti-smoking Nazi's to the United States.

Sermon for July 26-27

Sermon
Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
July 26-27
Text: Matthew 13:44-52

Dear Friends in Christ,
Our text has three parables. The first two are closely related, but the third is a bit different. Parables are often said to be earthly stories with heavenly meanings. That is true in a sense. They are about the everyday world, but they are not generally about everyday events. Most parables have a form of improbability to them. People wouldn’t really do this. It is absurd. But it is often the absurdity that makes the point of the parable. The grace of God is a radical concept. It requires a radical explanation.

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Here we must see the man as Christ and the treasure as us. This is not entirely improbable. But it is difficult. Even if the owner did not know of the treasure, he still might not sell. But notice here a larger point. The man buys the field. Why doesn’t he just take the treasure? Because he must have title to it. Christ would not just have us as a thief has something. Rather Christ would have title to us. He would have His claims stand, unchallenged and unchallengeable, in the court of heaven. Christ desires to be able to hold up His wounds and say to Satan, here is My title to every human being.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it. Now this is absurd. A man makes himself homeless to possess this pearl. Nor is their any indication that he intends to sell it again, perhaps for a profit. He simply wants to possess it. Here Christ is speaking of how He would give up His very life to posses us. We were so valued by God that even the life of God the Son was not too much to pay. This is pretty radical stuff.

To put this into context we must see the nature of man in the first place. Christ tells us that we sin because sin is what is in our hearts: “But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.” (Matthew 15:18-19) St. Paul tells us that we were born dead and enemies of God: And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. (Ephesians 2:1-3) In this St. Paul was only echoing the words of Moses when he writes: ...the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. (Genesis 8:21b) God’s response is also laid out by St. Paul: But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8) This is echoing the parables in our text. It is a radical solution to the problem of sin. Christ, the Holy One, dies for sinners. He gave up all that He had to possess us.

The third parable in the set goes in a slightly different direction. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. So it will be at the close of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Here we have a word of clear judgement. Christ died for all, but not all will be in heaven. Christ did not teach universalism - that is that all men will be saved. Some reject the gifts that God gave them. This is terribly unpopular in our age. People don’t like to think that some people will be sent to hell - unless they are really bad. But of course no body we know would ever end in up hell. But that’s not how it works. Those who reject Christ’s death and resurrection will not be saved. Sometimes even those within the church are turned back and declared to be workers of iniquity. It makes want to shout - they weren’t really that bad! But the fact is we are all that bad. It is only the blood of Christ covering over our sins that allows us to enter in God’s presence. This require us to say, sadly, yes, there are some I know that are not in heaven. It might be neighbors, cousins, parents, children and the like.

How do we respond when we are told that we cannot know the state of the heart? True we do not. Nor are we to attempt to judge the state of the heart. But we are required to judge their public confession. So there is a cousin of mine whom I cannot recall ever discussing Christ. He attends my parents’ church. I see him in church when I am there. He’s been active in the congregation as long as I can remember. So I am compelled and obligated to say that this man is a Christian and will be in heaven. From what is known to me, this is true. I had another cousin who, though baptized, instructed and confirmed, showed no indication in his life that he had any trust for God. He lived a life of drugs and violence. He was killed some years back in a car accident. I must say that this one was condemned to hell. Could I be wrong? Absolutely. Nor does my judgement determine their fate. Praise the Lord for that! Indeed, in the case of my cousin who was killed, I pray that I am wrong in my judgement. For indeed we should never desire the damnation of even the most wicked. But we must also honestly confess what is known to us. Based on what is known, this is their probable fates.

In these three parables Christ lays out for us the Christian faith. Christ comes and seeks us, the lost. He pays for us with His very life. All who trust in Him are saved. But we know that some will reject Christ. Both of these concepts challenge us. We don’t want to think that anyone would be sent to hell. But those who reject Christ will indeed be condemned. Likewise, we are challenged by the grace of God. We want to save ourselves. We need to see that we are lost and helpless. Our sins make us unable to save ourselves. Yet, even in our sinful condition, Christ saw each one of us as a pearl of great price. He had to possess us. He gave His very life gain title to us.
Amen!

The Pine County War

Last evening I attended the meeting of the Pine County, Minnesota Republican Party. It was an ugly affair to say the least. (Pine County, MN, adjoins Polk County, WI where I live.)

There is a move in the Pine County party to remove their chairman, Mr. Rudy Takala. All sorts of ethical charges have been brought. None of these appear to be provable. There all he said, he said sorts of things. In one rather humorous moment, a person jumped up and said, "I was there and I saw that too." Immediately two other people jumped up and said that they were also there and that's not what happened.

Mr. Takala's accusers have gotten the regional party involved which now also threatening to come and remove Mr. Takala.

As for the ethical charges, I tend to dismiss those outright as nothing but a tactic to try to turn Mr. Takala's supporters against him. I've seen it done to pastors countless times. In 99% of these cases the ethical charges are spurious if not outright slanderous.

The real issue here is a philosophical one. Are Republican officials required to give 100% support for all Republican candidates, or are they allowed to withhold personal support for some candidates? Are they allowed to criticize Republican candidates and officials when they depart from Republican values? Those attacking Mr. Takala, with the support of regional officials, are saying we must be in lock step behind our guys. Mr. Takala and his supporters are saying, no, we don't have to offer blind support. We don't have to support guys who have betrayed us time and again.

Another aspect to this is that the state leadership is very much of the liberal country club RINO variety. They don't like dissent from the more conservative grass roots. But those same conservatives are supposed to provide all the labor and energy to get their RINO candidates elected. In other words the state leadership is the plantation owners and the grass roots conservatives are the plantation slaves who'd better know their place and not get uppity. The problem is we are not slaves and we give our energy and labor when and where we choose.

In this context, it is often warned that conservatives can't win without moderates. But reverse is true as well. Moderate Republicans can't win without the conservative base. What I see in Pine County is a microcosm of what is happening all over the country. Conservatives see no value in electing another Denny Hasterate Congress. In fact it would be better if it were Democratic, so that we don't get tarred with that brush. We don't want more competent liberals. We want conservatives. It is offensive for party officials to come in and demand that we support every RINO down the list. If the Minnesota Republican Party is not careful, Pine County could be the Bull Run of their own Civil War.

Keystone Cops?

This past Friday evening I went into the Democratic booth at the county fair to intentionally rattle their cage. I was deliberately obnoxious and "in your face." I definitely raised their stomach acids a bit.


In the course of the conversation one man said that if we found uranium in Iraq, we stumbled across it by accident. Now, I know they feel the Bush administration is incompetent. But Dick Chaney didn't go out on his horse wearing his sombrero looking for it. Our military found it. So what this guy at the Dem's booth was saying is that our military is a bunch of keystone cops. I wonder, if he said that in a room full of Iraq war vets, what condition would he be in when he left the room?

A Real Chicken Hawk

Often times the Dems like to call people who have never served in the military, but are pro war, chickenhawks or some equivalent thereof. The point of this is to say if you didn't serve in the military you can't comment on matters of war and peace with any moral authority. Never mind the fact that the last Dem commander and chief was an out and out draft dodger.

Is military experience really required to be commander in chief, or even to comment on matters of war and peace? Or course not. The second greatest president in U.S. history, hands down was Abraham Lincoln. He had no military experience. Yet, he guided this country through its most dangerous war. But of course, by modern Dem standards, Lincoln was a chickenhawk. But then again, didn't George McClellen run for president on the Dem ticket in 1864 on a platform of cut and run? So I guess nothing ever really is new is it?

Democrats Lied, and People Continue to Die

At this late date, with the revelation of the 550 tons of yellowcake uranium that Saddam had in Iraq, it is absolutely impossible to defend the mantra "Bush lied". That mantra was about WMDs. The 550 tons of yellowcake, shows that Joe Wilson lied when he published his op-ed piece about Iraq seeking uranium. (Perhaps they were no longer seeking it when old Joe was in Niger because they already had it.)

The bottom line of this is that Bush did not lie about WMDs. Regardless of whether or not one regards that as a valid reason for going to war with Iraq, it must be admitted that Bush was correct about Saddam having WMD programs. Bush did not lie. In fact is was the Dem's who were lying when they claimed Bush lied. They made those statements based on assumed facts. Bush had the real facts.

Of course, most Dems operate in a fantasy world where facts don't matter. In fact, I would contend that most of them don't believe that there is such a thing as an objective fact. I would like to drop one more fact on the Dems. Because of all the anti-war bovine excrement the Dems have been churning out, the war has dragged on far longer than it should have. I'll go so far as to suggest that without their lies, the surge might not have been needed. So the Democrats lied, and people continue to die.

How Did We Get John McCain?

Many people are asking this question. Most grass roots Republican activists are not excited about McCain. I myself was a supporter of Duncan Hunter.

The answer is found in an analysis of the New Hampshire primary. What happened there, continues to affect both races. The poles, which in this case were accurate, showed McCain down to Mitt Romney and Obama more than 20 points ahead of Hilary Clinton. Remember that those numbers were accurate.

About now you're saying, wait a minute, how can they be accurate because McCain won and Obama lost? Here's what happened. A large block of Obama voters decided to cross over and vote for McCain. They reasoned that Obama had such a large lead that their votes were not needed on the democratic side. The problem was that so many crossed over that Obama didn't get enough votes to win. That led to the long, drawn out democratic primary. Once McCain got momentum, he continued to attract cross over support in open state primaries. It is significant that McCain did very poorly in caucus and closed primary states where only party members or those registered as Republicans can vote. Romney was weak for a number of reasons. Fred Thompson got in late. McCain was liberal enough to block out Guiliani. Had Romney won in New Hampshire, McCain would probably have been dead on arrival. Further, the Republican primaries might have been fought to the bitter end. That might also have allowed minor candidates like Duncan Hunter to gain momentum.

Sermon for July 12-13

Sermon
The Ninth Sunday After Pentecost
July 12-13, 2008
Text: Romans 8:12-17

Dear Friends in Christ,

In the three novel story, Lord of the Rings, there are a group of nine companions who set out on a quest to destroy the ring of power. They have many adventures and face death many time. Two of the company, Gandolf and Aragorn actually pass through death. Only Boramire, who becomes consumed by lust for the ring of power, ends up dying. In the end, when Aragorn become king, his seven remaining companions are given great rewards and honor. They shared their king’s suffering. They share in his reward.

In Lord of the Rings, several characters become partial images of Christ. Aragorn represents Christ taking his place on the throne of heaven. Many have remarked at the Christ like appearance of actor Viggo Mortenson in the part of Aragorn. That was deliberate. Nor was this just film maker Peter Jackson’s vision of the character. This was how the author J. R. R. Tolkien wanted us to see the character. The allusions to Christ were quite deliberate.

Our text deals with this idea of suffering with Christ and what that means for our lives. First we must dispose of a great many false notions of what suffering with Christ means. One false notion that is common among Christians is that there is virtue in suffering, in itself. This is an outright lie. Suffering, for suffering’s sake, has no virtue at all. The value of suffering is found in the why a person is suffering. Let us say that a man is a drunkard and one day, driving home from the bar, rams his car into a tree. He is left with terribly painful injuries. God might use his suffering to bring him to repentance. But his suffering has no virtue because he is suffering on account of his own self destructive behavior. On the other hand, a soldier who suffered through the terrible winter at Valley Forge, fighting for American independence, is deserving of honor for his suffering. The honor is derived from that fact he suffered for a great cause.

Next we must deal with a confusion. There is a difference between suffering with Christ and suffering for the sake of Christ. Those who suffer for the sake of Christ are those who are persecuted and abused because they confess Christ. Certainly, the Book of Revelation makes it clear that they are given a place of great honor before the throne of Christ. But our text is speaking of something else. It is speaking of us suffering with Christ. That is that we share in Christ’s sufferings and death. On the surface it would seem that St. Paul is speaking of an impossibility. We are living two thousand years after Christ. His suffering is long past. How can we go back and join Him on the Via Delarosa? How could we go back and carry His cross, and share in His beating and even in His death?

Such questions reflect our own lack of understanding of what God has done for us in Christ. So often we say Jesus died for our sins and leave at that. We never get into the mechanics of how this is done and how this is applied to me. St. Paul here is getting into those mechanics. St. Paul assumes that anyone who is reading Romans 8:17 would have also read Romans 6. That’s a dangerous assumption these days. There is a value to actually picking up the book and just reading it as a continuous narrative. For if we know Romans 6, than we know exactly what it means to suffer with Christ. There we read: Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. (Romans 6:3-8) So it is in Baptism that we suffer with Christ. Baptism unites us to Christ’s suffering and death. In Baptism, Christ’s suffering, becomes our suffering. In Baptism we become Christ’s companions on His great quest to defeat sin and death.

Now we’ve been working this text in reverse. We established the condition that Paul mentions at the end of our text, but which he really presupposes. If, in Baptism, we have shared Christ’s suffering, then we become the heirs of His kingdom. We become our heavenly Father’s adopted sons. In this context we must say sons, because in this context, to be a son is an heir. What is revolutionary about what Paul is saying is that it is universal. Everyone, regardless of where they are male or female, in Baptism becomes a son and an heir of God the Father.

What is this business about the Spirit testifying that we are sons of God? Here again we look to Baptism. Baptism is the work of the Holy Spirit, in which the Spirit is placing God’s seal upon us. Our Baptism in our adoption. So we can, just as Luther frequently did, dismiss temptations and trials with the words; Ah, but I am Baptized! In these words we are saying that we are a son of God and no outside force can change that.

That brings us to the beginning of our text. Here Paul is speaking of what it means to live out our Baptism. If we are Baptized and thus adopted as heirs of God’s kingdom, then it follows that we would become something different than what we were. If someone has given you a great gift, say ten million dollars, you would want to do good and pleasing things for them. There is a movie from some years back. I don’t remember the title. An actress is dying from kidney failure. This is in the earliest days of kidney transplants. They can’t find a donor. Then a drifter played by Wally Cox offers to donate a kidney. He had taken such pleasure from seeing this woman’s movies that he wanted nothing but her good. That is how the Christian is to be toward God. We who were sinners, enemies of God, are adopted as His sons and heirs. It naturally follows that we should want to do that which is pleasing to God. We should desire nothing but God’s glory.

In Baptism we are adopted as sons and heirs of God’s kingdom. We will enjoy this place as sons of God for all eternity. If we understand this fully, it naturally follows that we would seek to do God’s will in our lives. For we are deserving of nothing but death and hell. Yet, Christ has bound us to Him and presented us to His Father as His brothers, fellows sons of God the Father. For this, there are no thanks that we can give that is adequate. This is free grace indeed. It changes who we are. It takes us from being sons and heirs of hell, to being sons and heirs of God. If we are changed, then it also changes how we think and act. Let us then live as people who understand the great adoption as sons of God that has taken place.

Amen!

No WMD's?

For several years now we've heard from the ideological left in this country that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction or WMD's. Now anyone who has really followed Iraq in any detail at all knows that all sorts of bits and pieces of WMD material have been found. There are also reports of material being moved to the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon.

This past week we have a report that the U.S. just secretly removed 550 metric tons of yellowcake uranium from Iraq. What does one do with that? I'll give you a clue. You don't eat it for dessert with strawberries. Yes, yellowcake uranium is what you use to build a bomb - a really big bomb, as in do you know how to spell Nagasaki.

But I thought Sadam didn't have any WMD's or WMD programs? Huh?

Sermon for July 5-6

Sermon
The Eighth Sunday after Pentecost
July 5-6, 2008
Text: Matthew 11:25-30

Dear Friends in Christ,
They say ignorance is bliss. But such bliss is always short lived. I want you to think of a small group of children playing in the Dutch countryside in the spring of 1940, near the city of Nijmegen. In distance you can see the top of the great bridge over the Waal river. You think to yourself, this is bliss - a fine spring day, children laughing and playing. Then German paratroopers suddenly begin to rain down from the sky. That brief blissful moment was based on ignorance of the horror that was to come. Some very smart people think that we are at a time when we are like those children blissfully playing in ignorance. Many so called experts fear that we are on the brink of a major war in Asia. Consider this, no major world power has been involved in a region wide war since 1974 when the first Vietnam war ended. Even that was a small affair. The young men who were on the front of the last really big war are now in their eighties. The calamity of war cannot be learned from a book. It must be lived, as many of you did live it in World War II. Those that have never lived it only have a shadow understanding. Thus they lose their fear of it. Many experts are warning that the conditions are ripe for a major war across Asia. With the growth of nations like China and India creating increased competition for resources the pressure is building. Many nations, in order to show their power in the region are making interlocking alliances, much as there were in the years before World War I. One false move and dozens of armies mobilize. Will it happen? I don’t know. Could it happen? Oh, yes. Likely to happen? Depends on who you’re talking to.

In life we have many burdens. Wars and rumors of wars, health problems, financial worries, what nonsense our children and grandchildren are being taught in school and so forth. And sometimes, prosperity brings with it more worries. For if you have more, you have more than can be lost. In the face of these problems there are two models for the Christian life. One model is that Christians are to be sober and serious people who are constantly about their business. God will only bless us to that degree that we set aside the frivolities of the world. The other model is the don’t worry be happy model. After all doesn’t God want to bless us? Both are wrong. Neither is based upon Holy Scripture. Yes, God does want to bless us. But often the blessing of daily bread comes to us from God in the form of employment. God does want us to be rich, yes. But rich in the things of heaven. For indeed as Christ tell us in Matthew 16:26 - “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life?” And here we should read it as eternal life - For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his eternal life? Christ also warns us against the sin of worry. So how should Christians respond to the events around them? With quiet concern and confidence.

There is no doubt that God is charge of the events of this world. He literally has the power to bring down entire nations simply by speaking the word. But if God is in control, why do we have people starving, cancer, school shootings, terrorist attacks and rumors of even greater violence? This is because we live in a fallen world. Ultimately, sin will result in one of two things. The repentant will have their sins forgiven for the sake of Christ, and they will enter heaven. The unrepentant will be punished for their sins for all eternity. This does not mean that the wicked go entirely unpunished in this life. God restrains the forces of evil in the world. Often He uses nations with their armies, navies and air forces to this. No, we don’t get up one day and say oh, God wants to send troops here to stop so and so. God lets men act for earthly reasons. But He is nevertheless in charge. So we fought World War II because it was God’s will. It was God’s will that the Unites States be victorious and Germany and Japan be defeated. But it was also a test. God tests nations by these things. Will you stand by and let innocent people be slaughtered? Or will you intervene? Will you see that those who perpetrate atrocities, such as the Nazi concentration camps, be brought to justice? If a region wide war in Asia does break out, it is God testing the individual Christians as well as the nations that seek to live under His grace. If we claim to be a nation that lives out a Christian world view, then we claim a great responsibility. The testing will be as severe in the future, as it was in the past. There will always be another Valley Forge winter to be survived. There will always be another Omaha Beach to be stormed.

How can we face such trials as this? Our text reveals two reasons for us to be quietly confident in the face of the trials of this life. First, we know who God the Father is. Christ has revealed to us our heavenly Father. We know who rules this world. We know who gives all blessings and all trials. So if we face a calamity we can say, thank you, our dear heavenly Father for putting us to the test. In the testing, God shows who are His and who are not. That doesn’t mean it will be easy. But we can be certain that our trials are intended for our good, as painful as they may be. Second, Christ calls all who are burdened in this life to come and rest in Him. The troubles of this world are all the result of sin. God does not test the angels. He tests us who must face up to temptation. Christ has carried our sins to the cross. So when He is telling us to cast our worries upon Him, He is really tying this to His dying on the cross. In Christ our sin is taken from us. Our hope is restored. We have life, even if we should have to give our life in some fiery trial. So regardless of our difficulties in this life, our future in Christ is secure.

I had said that as Christians we are to be quietly confident in the face of trials. That doesn’t mean we are without care or concern. That doesn’t mean that don’t make plans for the future. But it does mean that we can look to trials and accept God’s will. For we know the final outcome. Even if it were to come to pass that this nation were destroyed, we are still alive in Christ. He has paid the price of our sins and given us life. We can be assured that this will not be taken from us. For no earthly power can rob us of Christ. But some will object, saying well don’t some fall from the faith. Yes, indeed. But this is the strange thing about Christ. We can kick Him out, but no one, not even Satan, can take Him from us. Hence the testing. But we do not have to fear such trials. In Christ we have that perfect rest that will not end. That doesn’t relieve us of trials. But it gives us the confidence to face them. We belong to Christ and in Christ we will remain.
Amen!

Madison's Assembyperson

Two years back I predicted that if Ann Hraychuck were elected to the state assembly, she would not represent us here in the 28th District, but the democratic leadership down in Madison. I was nearly lynched for making that prediction. Well. Two years later. She has voted about 90% of the time with the democratic leadership. I've heard no reports about her fighting the for issues that matter most to the 28th District. In other words I haven't heard of her fighting for lower taxes or spending cuts to the state budget. I haven't heard of her fighting for concealed carry or other pro-hunting legislation. I haven't heard of her fighting to reduce restrictions on land use for land owners. I haven't heard of her fighting for tort reform so our medical costs can come down. Or for that matter I haven't heard of her fighting for proven solutions like medical savings accounts.


What have we heard from Ann? Forums on how the nanny state is going to take care of all of us with free health care and free everything else. In other word standard Madison Democratic boiler plate programs that are based on emotion rather than fact. None of these things have ever worked for any appreciable period of time, anywhere in the world. Yet, magically Ann and her democratic friends in Madison are going to wave their wands and it will work here.

Maybe it's time that the 28th District had someone that represented us and our values down in Madison.

Issues Is Back

Yesterday, June 30, Issues, Etc. was back on the air - but not on the LCMS own station KFUO. It is now a two hour show instead of three and is broadcast on the internet via an outfit called Pirate Christian Radio. One St. Louis area station is broadcasting one hour - 4-5 p.m. My understanding is that they are looking for additional broadcast partner stations. The fact that it is not on the air to the degree that they were is not as great of a problem as one might think. The bulk of their audience was via podcast.

The show is now funded by direct donations, completely independent of the synod. It is costing about half of what it cost the synod to produce raising more questions about the official explanation from the synod for cancelling the show.

In their first hour on the air they talked a little bit about their "spring break". They said little about their firing. About the most they said was that they shocked by the "spin" the synod put out. What I'm wondering here is that while Wilken and Schwarz know that the cancellation wasn't really financial, they likewise don't have documentation of the real reason. So their comments would be speculation. So they aren't saying anything. However, one of the bumpers said "The show that's too Lutheran for a Lutheran radio station." That is at least a bit of a shot.

Pirate Christian radio also has another program - "Defending the Faith" hosted by Chris Rosebrough. This program is likewise impressive. In today's program he was critiquing Rick Warren.

So, Arg! Shiver me timbers and hand over yer false doctrine!
www.piratechristianradio.com