Memorial Day – To Remember

Today is Memorial Day in the United States. It is known as the “Unofficial Start of Summer” as most Americans have the day off from work and school. It is common to grill meat outside and have friends and family over; in general, have a good time.

And there’s nothing wrong with this. I’ll be doing this with my family and we all look forward to it every year. We’ll be grilling pork steaks and potatoes, having cake decorated as an American Flag. I’ll probably play catch with my sons, definitely lounge around the backyard and enjoy the day.

But I will also share with my sons what Memorial Day is really for – the reason we have this day in our nation’s calendar.

It began as “Decoration Day” by freed negro slaves in 1865 in Charleston, South Carolina who created a Union Cemetery near the place for many Union prisoners of war had died and were buried in a mass grave. Out of gratitude – it is said – of the soldiers’ sacrifice for their freedom, they reinterred the bodies and decorated the graves with flowers.

The following year cities in the Northern United States began to hold what would become yearly observances of memorial and decoration of those who had died during the United States Civil War. After World War II, Decoration Day became more commonly known as Memorial Day and in the 1960’s it was officially designated as such.

Today there are no survivors of the Civil War nor the Spanish-American War. There are no more than three surviving veterans of World War I. The veterans of World War II have reached their middle 80’s and older.

For World War I and all previous wars, they are truly second-hand history for us. World War II and more recent wars are still “memories.”

We must never forget what these men and women did to ensure our freedoms. I say we should also thank God for their sacrifice, especially those who gave their lives during the conflicts. And that is what Memorial Day is for.

Remembering is a biblical thing. During Jesus’ earthly ministry, He celebrated remembrances such as Passover and Purim. In the “Law” as recorded in Deuteronomy, God instructed His people to remember what they have gone through to get where they are now and to pass on those memories to their children and their children’s children (Deuteronomy 6:7).

This is a basic tenant of our faith that we pass on what we believe about Jesus Christ, to teach and confess it to our children and others.

Memorial Day is a great opportunity to do both: to share a bit of the history of our country and to share our faith in Christ. I pray that you will do this and also have a blessed Memorial Day.

©2008 True Men Ministries.

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LiveJournal Tags: Memorial Day,Jesus Christ,remember

Take a Hike

It is easier to climb a mountain than it is to trudge through a swamp.

Not that it is easy to climb a mountain. But the rewards of climbing a mountain far outweigh trudging through a swamp – mainly because there are NO rewards for trudging through a swamp.

I live about a 15 minute drive from a trail head to a pretty spectacular hiking trail. It is a trail that takes you to Icehouse Saddle. I’ve attempted this trail three times in the last three years and have yet to make it all the way to the Saddle. You start at an elevation of 4900 feet and the Icehouse Saddle is at 7555 feet. It takes 7 miles to complete the circuit. It is not easy, especially for an overweight 45 year old man who grew up long the shores of Lake Michigan – 586 feet elevation and changes about only 100 feet at the most.

But it is a spectacular climb. I feel exhausted after hiking up this part of the San Gabriel Mountains. But it is a good kind of exhaustion. Even though I’ve yet to complete the 7 mile trail, I feel like I have accomplished something. I’ve been rewarded with awesome views of Mt. Baldy (10,000 feet peak) and the Cucamonga Wilderness.

For me its a hard climb but well worth it.

But I’ve also trudged through some swamps and it is a completely different experience. When I was about 15 years old, my friend Frank and I took his truck into some back country near my home in Long Lake, Illinois. We got his truck stuck in about four feet of mud near Mud Lake. Mud Lake is a “lake” in name only. It is, in reality, a swamp. We had to walk out (this happened at a time when cell phones were about $3000 and required a bag the size of your grandmother’s purse to carry) to get help. It took us a couple of hours to trudge through the mud. We were exhausted and covered head-to-foot with a think, brown, smelly mud.

Hiking a mountain and trudging through a swamp. Both are hard, time-consuming, and exhausting. But only one is actually worth it.

That’s the way our choices in life are. What we choose to do with our lives will be hard, exhausting and time consuming. But only certain things will actually be worth it.

The thing that is worth it is your calling and purpose. And that is what God is calling you to do. He gives you gifts to find out what your calling is. He doesn’t try to fool you. It will be hard – like hiking a mountain or trudging through a swamp is hard.

But if you follow God’s calling, you’ll find that it is hard like hiking a mountain – with all the awesome rewards that come with it.

LiveJournal Tags: mountain,swamp,hiking,Icehouse Saddle,Mt. Baldy,calling,purpose,God

What a Cute Baby! The Little Sinner!

I read an article in a recent issue of the New York Times Magazine that, for some reason, really caught my attention. It might be because I am the father of three boys and was intimately involved (and still am) in their lives, especially as infants. It might have been because I have baptized nearly 50 babies in my 15 years as a parish pastor, and it might have been because I recently covered the subject of Holy Baptism with a class of people who are interested in Lutheranism and Christianity and joining the fellowship of my church. Maybe it is all of them combined that made me sit up and take notice of the article “The Moral Life of Babies” by Paul Bloom.

I first want to give credit to Paul Bloom for writing an interesting article in a way that kept my attention. It is about research done by psychologist and it has been my experience that such articles can be written in a style that is way over my head (being just a parish preacher). Thank you, Paul Bloom!

The thrust of the article is that the research he cites indicates that babies have a moral compass from birth that is independent of culture and learning. He calls it “naive morality” (Bloom, 49). He contends that babies have an inherent idea of what is right and wrong.

And while Paul Bloom gives a nod to Christianity, “The general argument that critics like Wallace and D’Souza [sympathetic to Christian teaching] put forward, however, still needs to be taken seriously” (Bloom, 63), he also seems to dismiss the Biblical teaching of humans being created and born with a God-given moral compass (conscience, “Law written on the hearts”), “the aspect of morality that we truly marvel at – its generality and universality – is the product of culture,  not of biology. There is no need to posit divine intervention” (Bloom, 65).

However, what Paul Bloom reports in this article is something that Lutherans, at least, have believed for nearly 500 years – that infants are born sinful, are in need of what the Sacrament of Holy Baptism offers – the forgiveness of sins, and can understand the basic ideas of right and wrong.

Lutherans have been baptizing infants since their very beginnings in the early 1500’s, continuing what the One Holy Christian and Apostolic Church had been doing from the 1st Century AD up to that point.

The Protestant Reformation that the Lutheran Church was born out of also gave birth to the Baptist denomination, which generally does not baptize infants. I’m generalizing here, but I believe this is so because they understand that Baptism is not essential to salvation and that infants can be saved without it.

The Southern Baptist Convention states that Baptism “is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer's faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, the believer's death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus.” (Basic Beliefs, Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, the SBC website, accessed May, 2010).

Yet, even non-Christian writers and scientists are recognizing that infants are capable of knowing right and wrong. And the Bible clearly teaches that without direct intervention by God, we can only choose the wrong. Jesus said in John 15:5, “Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

It is recognized that infants can have faith and can believe in God, (for example, look at Luke 1:39-44).

So, why would we not Baptize infants?

God does all the work in Baptism. He created the water. He provides the life-giving words, Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross does what is necessary for all to be saved. And we are all conceived and born sinful (Psalm 58:3, Psalm 51:5).

God loves the world (John 3:16) and shows that love through His Son Jesus Christ. And we receive the blessings of His Cross through the Sacrament of Baptism.

Infants, too!

Bloom, P. (2010, May 9). The moral life of babies. New York Times Magazine, 44-49, 56, 62-63, 65.

LiveJournal Tags: Christianity,baptism,Paul Bloom,New York Times Magazine,babies,morality,salvation,Lutheranism

Evangelicals Attacking Evangelicals

The new “thing” these days is for Christians who write blogs and other-venue articles to attack other Christian groups.

Especially if the other groups are established churches and denominations.

A recent article was excited to point out that the new atheists are not much different from evangelicals. Both are avid activists trying to covert others to their beliefs.

Yeah, ok. I get it. I understand what you’re trying to say.

But really, do we need to keep pointing this out?

Atheists disagree with those who believe in God – although we usually only hear of them disagreeing with Christians (what about Muslims and Jews?).

Christians disagree with atheists. I get that. I understand it.

I’m just tired of reading established and widely-respected Christian journals and journalists pointing out that Christians need to get away from hating and demagoguery.

Sure we do. No argument from me on that!

However, based on what I read in the Christian blogs and in the magazines and e-zines – this is ALL that Christian writers and Churches and Denominations actually do – hate and demagogue!

I do NOT agree with that at all.

Lutherans, Roman Catholics, Baptists, Methodists – and Christians in general – do far, far more than just criticize ABC Family Channel, atheists, politicians, and anyone else they disagree with. In fact, I would not be surprised if that kind of things gets less than 1% of all the time spent on what Christians actually do!

A Christian – by definition – is someone who has faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. They believe that Jesus Christ died and rose again from the dead to forgive their sin and give them new life – both here and now and soon-to-be in heaven.

A Christian takes seriously what Jesus says, including but not limited to:

Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…. – Matthew 5:44

‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ – Matthew 22:39

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. – John 13:34

And Christians are so excited and joyed by this that they want to share this Good News with the people that they meet every day!

I’d like to read more about Christians doing this. Is that possible? Because I know that there are far more Christians doing this than is indicated by the blogs and articles I read.

Relationship and the True Man

Women are comfortable with relationships. Men, not so much.

Women have “girlfriends.” They get together to talk over coffee or tea. They go shopping together. They buy shoes together. They scrapbook together. They call each other on the phone and talk for hours.

Men do NOT have boyfriends. It just doesn’t happen that way. We have “man caves” – we like to be alone. We are more at-home sitting by ourselves watching “the game” in our underwear. We like it when we don’t have to say “excuse me” and can expel gas and pick our noses without upsetting the women-folk. (Maybe I’m revealing too much personal information here!)

To sum up, women are made for relationships, men are made to be rugged individualists.

Oh really? The oldest collection of writings in the world tell us something different.

Then the LORD God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him." – Genesis 2:18

Men and women were created to be in relationships. We were created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26) and part of the image of God is that He is in relationship (Trinity) with the Son and the Holy Spirit.

The 21st Century man has a hard time with “relationships” because the word has become entangled with scrapbooking, shopping, being open and sharing feelings – all of which make men uncomfortable.

But when we learn that relationship is really about not being alone, that relationship is about support, help, strength, purpose, and adventure – I think men can accept this concept as vitally important to who we are as men.

What do you think? Add your comments to this!

Training for D-Day

We were suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the enemy. The following day tens of thousands of men enlisted in the military to defend our country.

Upon enlisting, they were NOT given a rifle and sent into the theaters of war. They went through basic training, then subsequent training in specific fields of tactics.

A man of God is no different today. We are deliberately attacked by the Enemy – Satan – and we need to defend ourselves and our families.

We must enlist in the fight. But it isn’t enough to just enlist. We have to go through basic training and we have to continue to train and drill if we hope to win this war.

If you are at the enlistment stage, you are at a very dangerous stage of the war. NOW is when the Enemy needs to do everything he can to defeat you – while you are still un – or under – trained.

Recently a group of men from my church went on a retreat. I told them that as they leave for this retreat – some of them may not understand exactly why they are going. Some of them even may not want to go. That is the enemy attacking them– trying to get them to back out, to give up. And do you know why he’s doing this?

Because he’s afraid of them. And well he should be.

For these men are about to embark upon a Great Crusade. The eyes of their families and, indeed, the eyes of their country are upon them. The hopes and prayers of God-loving people everywhere march with them. In company with a band of brothers, they will begin their training to bring about the destruction of Satan’s war machine and the elimination of Satan’s tyranny over the oppressed peoples of the world.

This is the beginning stages. I encouraged them to, as they return from the retreat, to join forces with other men at our church to take what they have learned. They can help enlist more men for the war.

I have full confidence in their courage and devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full Victory!

Good luck! And let us beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.

LiveJournal Tags: Christian men,war,Satan,battle,crusade,training,retreats

Customer Service or Serving?

You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others – Hebrews 5:12.

Erwin McManus – pastor of Mosaic Church in Los Angeles – tells the story of a man who had been attending his church for over a month. He told McManus that the teaching met his standards, the music was acceptable, and he was pleased with the children's and youth ministries. He was married, he said, and had several children. But when asked where they were, he explained that he didn’t yet allow them to attend; he wanted to first check out the church to make sure the products and services were in line with what he felt his family needed.

Sounds good, right? But re-think that for a moment. This wasn't about theology; this was all about customer service.

Our culture has been teaching us practically from birth that we are the center of the universe. We evaluate everything on the world’s ability to meet our needs. Some of the best preachers of the Scriptures (by various standards) have had people leave their churches because they're not "being fed." John 10 tells us that we're all the sheep of God, and sheep require a shepherd to feed them. But there must come a time when we become shepherds who feed others. In America today, it is estimated that over 60 percent of Americans are overweight or obese. Could this also be true in the arena of personal spirituality? Are we too much about us getting fed and too little about exercising our faith? (Adapted from An Unstoppable Force by Erwin McManus)

As we continue our series at Redeemer, 50 Days of Ablaze, I challenge you this week to explore what changes you might need to make so that your church involvement is about more than consuming “products and services.” Begin with this prayer: As your disciple, Lord, I recognize I can't live a life of faith and faithful service on my own. Help me to truly connect with the Christian community. Amen.