All the World’s a Stage

 

All the world’s a stage and we are merely players in it. Sounds like a perfectly worldly assessment of our roles here on earth, but is it actually accurate? The cast of characters in our play is led by the author of our story, God Himself. The hero is played by none other than Jesus Christ, the true and only Son of the Father. The villain, portrayed by the fallen angel Satan, who prods and cajoles God’s children into engaging in all manner of sinful activity. The objects of the hero’s affection are played by God’s created and beloved human beings. Plot – God’s overwhelming love for His children causes Him to send His only Son to suffer and die as a sin offering in their place to defeat death so that all of God’s children have the opportunity to be with Him throughout eternity.

Act I – Creation of all that is, starring the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

God creates the heavens and the earth and it was good. God was lonely, so he created someone to have fellowship with, a human being. God created His children with free will and in His great love for us, gave us dominion over everything on and over the earth and it was very good.

Act II – The fall of man, starring Adam, Eve and all of mankind throughout the ages.

Adam and Eve are tempted and fall for the lies of Satan. As punishment, they are evicted from the Garden of Eden. This begins a series of unfortunate events. Free will is a blessing, but humans all too frequently make into a curse. It causes man to engage in all manner of depravity. God is not pleased. God saves the righteous man Noah and his family, but brings a flood to drown out all of the evil in the world. Noah’s descendants repopulate the earth, but evil returns with a flourish. Righteous people are few and far between and prophets, inspired by God try over and over again to bring the others back to God. Some prophets are killed and some are banished. Over and over God gives His children the chance to return to Him, but Satan has much influence over society. Generations come and generations go with God’s children failing to live up to God’s standards. God invokes the final solution.  

Act III - The Lamb of God suffers, dies and rises to deliver us all from the death and punishment that we justly deserve.

Rather than relegate this rebellious generation to oblivion, God has mercy on His children. There is no way that anyone can live without sin and no way to earn salvation. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. That Word is the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who has been with God and the Holy Spirit from the beginning. Just like the calvary charging over the hill in the nick of time, God provided the final solution. Because God loved His children so much, He sent His one and only Son to stand in for all of us sinners. Rather than banish us from His presence, God did what only a perfectly loving Father could do. Jesus Christ, true human and true God, would take our place and endure a horrific death that truly was meant for each one of us. As the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one, all that Jesus endured was also experienced by the Father. Perfect love, perfect forgiveness. Then, with the entire past, present and future sin of the world on Jesus’ shoulders, the Father abandoned Him, severing Their everlasting connection, leaving Jesus to die utterly alone. But that was not the conclusion of the story. Jesus rose, defeated death, and opened the door to our salvation!

Act IV – Final Act - Judgement Day.

Jesus will come again to judge the living and the dead. The Evil One will be banished to the pit of fire. A new heaven and a new earth will replace our broken world. Death will be no more. All of God’s children have the opportunity to accept that Jesus died for them and is the true Son of the living God. That is all that is asked of God’s children as a precursor to life eternal in paradise. Everyone has the opportunity to accept and believe until the final trumpet is sounded. But why wait until the last minute? Nothing else is required. Accept and believe in the one who took your place on the cross. Turn your life over to Jesus. It’s actually very simple. Jesus stands ready at your door. You only need to open it and invite Him in.

Pray this simple prayer, “Jesus, I believe you are the Son of God, that you died on the cross to rescue me from sin and death and to restore me to the Father. I choose now to turn from my sins, my self-centeredness, and every part of my life that does not please you. I choose you. I give myself to you. I receive your forgiveness and ask you to take your rightful place in my life as my Savior and Lord. Come reign in my heart, fill me with your love and your life, and help me to become a person who is truly loving—a person like you. Restore me, Jesus. Live in me. Love through me. Thank you, God. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.”

Satisfaction

Citing a Rolling Stones song as the basis for a Christian blog article would seem to make unlikely bedfellows. After all, the Stones were the original drugs, sex and rock and roll band. Nothing Biblical about that unless you’re talking about Sodom and Gomorrah. One of their early hits “I Can’t Get no Satisfaction” closely mirrors problems every Christian runs into as they try to be in, but not of the world. You see, humans are control freaks, some worse than others, of course. We try to go it alone. We try to disregard that helping hand from above because either we don’t want to bother God with trivialities or we believe that whatever talent our Maker has bestowed upon us, makes it unnecessary to ask for our Lord’s help. This could not be further from the truth. From the first verse of the song, “I can't get no satisfaction. I can't get no satisfaction. 'Cause I try and I try and I try and I try. I can't get no, I can't get no.” When it becomes all about us, we lose our direction and fall away from God.

If it is worldly goals that drive us to succeed, no success is truly satisfying, because there is always another mountain to climb, another record to be broken and another challenge to overcome. We can never have enough money, fame or love to satisfy our cravings. 1 Peter 1:3-9, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” If pleasing God is our goal, He will always be pleased with our efforts, no matter how feeble they may be. If God is pleased with us, we attain that which we cannot alone, our lives filled with our Father’s love.

From another verse of the song, “When I'm ridin' round the world and I'm doin' this and I'm signing that and I'm tryin' to make some girl who tells me baby better come back later next week 'cause you see I'm on losing streak. I can't get no, oh no no no. Hey hey hey, that's what I say. I can't get no, I can't get no, I can't get no satisfaction, no satisfaction, no satisfaction, no satisfaction.” This world we live in was created for us by our Father in heaven. Everything we have and are is a gift, given to us by a loving Father. Every misstep, every success and everything in between is a gift to be cherished. When we are thankful for what we have, it is always enough. When we look to please our Lord and worry about our needs secondary, we can get that satisfaction that is so fleeting for those that are not only in the world, but are of the world. This life is fleeting. Nothing more than a short stopping point before eternity. When things are looked at in their proper prospective, we will never be disappointed. When we look at that mirror and see that unworthy, sinful human being that is loved in spite of all of our shortcomings, we can be satisfied. When we realize that our sin is no more, that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ took the punishment we have so justly deserved, we can truly be satisfied. When we realize that our Father prepares a place for us in His house if we only believe, we can be not only satisfied, but overjoyed at the prospect, that after this life, we will live in eternity with our Lord.

Jesus said in John 14:1-7, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” If our God is pleased and loves us, who can truly say they can’t get no satisfaction? God’s grace is our greatest gift. Be truly satisfied in that no matter your circumstance on this earth.

Spiritual Logic

“We don’t have to force Jesus on anybody, or convince individuals that their spiritual logic is faulty. Our task is to embody Christian love, not play savior” Peter W. Marty, an ELCA pastor in his column, Leaving Church Behind for the June 2014 “The Lutheran” magazine. Marty is a good soldier for the ELCA. Now fulfilling his oath to his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ is another matter. As with all good ELCA henchmen, the church and its’ congregational life is the most important aspect of their faith. Inclusivity, tolerance and diversity are what church is all about, isn’t it? After all, how could one properly embody true Christian love without an organization that leads the otherwise faithful. Marty muses about those that have kissed congregational life goodbye or have grown indifferent to faith. Curious the choice to place congregational life before faith is so very typical to this wayward denomination. This essay details several parishioners that fled his congregation. One couple left after reading his essay, Serendipitous, where on a particular Wednesday night, Marty inexplicably stopped at home to find his wife collapsed due to a brain aneurism. Marty’s Wednesday nights are typically filled with church activities and he seldom got home until very late. Not this day though. No credit given to God for directing him home at the precise time to enable him to save his wife’s life, simply an acknowledgement of a convergence of circumstances. Take a look at all some of the comments that accept Marty’s explanation that God is not in charge and that the Holy Spirit had nothing to do with this apparent miracle. It is so sad when a pastor decides that he needs to lead his flock astray in order to declare himself to be the smartest person in the room.

Marty cites another example of a self-absorbed man at whom Marty snarkily comments, “I sometimes wonder if Shawn is addicted to himself. He certainly figures frequently into the center of most conversations.” It appears that pastoral guidance and direction are above his pay grade. Marty then poses the question of what to do with those who were once shaped by Christian community and are a great distance from anything that hints of religious practice within an institution. Concern for their spiritual well-being will have to wait for someone else, perhaps like the ELCA doctrine of “Accompaniment”, since the seeds of faith were planted, his work is done. From there Marty moves into the blame game. Oh, those Christians that have the temerity to believe in the authority of Scripture. Those rotten Bible thumpers are always casting aspersions (and stones) on those lost souls that do not believe as they do. Holding true to the faith, believing that Jesus is the way and the light and the truth, believing that there is no way to the Father but through faith in the living Christ, apparently makes traditional Christians purveyors of exclusivity, building a wall between themselves and humanity. Yes, Marty does not specifically state this in his essay, but the inference is loud and proud. “Presumptuousness over our preferences and tastes is not a virtue.” Marty may liken himself to some of the great theologians that espoused novel and innovative interpretations of Scripture, but he doesn’t get it at all. In other words, his version of an explanation of the path God has set looks like so many lemmings falling off a cliff.

Yes, as followers of Christ, we are to embody Christian love. We are to share the love that He first gave us. We are to share the forgiveness that He gave to those who don’t deserve it. When we allow ourselves to be filled with the Holy Spirit, the love of Christ will flow from our hearts like a river. Everything we are is a gift from God. Pleasing Him is our greatest joy, yet our deepest disappointment as we fail, over and over, to follow our Father’s will. Paul said in Romans 7:14-25, “We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.” Jesus chose Paul to preach His Gospel to the world and even Paul found that his inner sinful nature caused him engage, over and over, in sinful behavior. We are no different. Through faith in the Risen Christ, one is no longer subject to the law, whose penalty is death. But, knowing that obedience to the law is pleasing to God, we can come to better understand the path He has set before us.

Therein lies the dangerousness of the doctrine of bound conscience that affirms sinners and disregards their sin. Without our acknowledgment that we are indeed sinful and cannot free ourselves from the grip of sin without our Lord and Savior, we are destined to fall away from His presence. Jesus Christ was sacrificed for us, a sinful humanity. Faith in the Risen Savior grants everlasting life. Our call is to share the love of Christ in our actions, in our words, and in our lives. It is the Holy Spirit working within us, not us trying to play savior. If someone’s spiritual logic is faulty, it is our responsibility to act to help lead them back to the Truth. 2 Timothy 4:2-4, “Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” Sorry Marty, the theology of the ELCA is drifting much closer to myth as it continues to abandon God’s Truth.

Again, as in most ELCA essays there is the cursory nod to diversity and sensitivity. “We get to think and talk thoughtfully, bringing fresh clarity to our faith convictions while expanding our sensitivity toward what may seem like the odd practices of others.” This is also promoting the idea of universalism that seems to be overtaking the ELCA and the hands off approach to evangelism that abandons their responsibility to reach the lost for Christ. Seems to me that Marty is intent upon challenging Christians to stand down and accept the diversity of other religions, rather than to proclaim the Gospel and reach the lost for Christ. If this distorted version of Christianity continues to be exposed to the world, more and more of God’s children will be lost.

Just Sayin'

One is often judged, fairly or unfairly, by the company they keep. Hang with someone who is a thief and it may be assumed that you are also a thief. Affiliate with an organization and those values espoused by that organization are assumed to be yours. Fair or not, it is what it is. While our Lord and Savior hung around with those judged not acceptable by society, He came to heal their spiritual shortcomings. Jesus healed the sick, both physically and spiritually. So, when Jesus sat down with prostitutes and tax collectors, He did so to heal their hearts and lead them back to righteousness. Unfortunately, in this new enlightened age, the leaders of the ELCA conspire with the world and enlist the law to enforce their idea of justice.

The leadership of Grace Lutheran Church in Eau Claire, Wisconsin was troubled by the doctrinal shifts of the ELCA. Discerning their role in a denomination that no longer held fast to traditional Lutheran doctrine, they chose to allow their congregation to decide if they wanted to remain affiliated with the ELCA. Their first vote passed, but the second failed to reach the required two thirds majority. After the vote, the leadership of Grace decided to affiliate jointly with the LCMC and ELCA, since the majority of the congregation had voted to leave the ELCA. Now, the plot thickens. About 70 disgruntled ELCA supporters left Grace and began to do whatever they could to disrupt the congregation that they once worshipped with. Anonymous complaints made against a council member at their place of employment. An unauthorized Facebook page purporting to be the official Grace Lutheran worship community was set up announcing that worship services would no longer be held at the church. Some would call this persistent troublemaking, but the all welcoming, all inclusive and tolerant ELCA not only allowed this behavior, they encouraged it.

Out of a few angry congregants, "Amazing Grace" was born and dubbed the “synodically authorized worship community”, to be led by none other than Bishop Duane Peterson, himself embroiled in a messy divorce. Now the ELCA specifically and strongly recommends that clergy involved in divorce refrain from ministering to congregations, since they may be negatively affected by the stress and proceedings of their divorce. Not this champion of the ELCA. Peterson filled the void in his life by leading the small break away congregation out into the world of legal proceedings. Not satisfied with the daunting task of beginning a new mission church, Peterson, the "Amazing Grace" malcontents, and the ELCA decided to take Grace to court. New territory here, but as you know, the ELCA has been claiming to be hearing God saying all kinds of new things, so they deem it is best to avail themselves of worldly laws and to use them against the people of God in spiritual matters.

The first court proceeding ordered Grace to end its affiliation with LCMC, of which Grace complied. The ever forgiving ELCA then decided to judge the pastors at Grace harshly, and removed them from the ELCA roster. It gets even more convoluted. The final court proceeding ordered the leadership of Grace to step down, turn over the keys and assets to the 70 malcontents, and removed the other 1700 members, (no, this is not a typo) from the active membership roll, making them associate members with no voting rights. Judge Molly GaleWyrick, one of the lowest rated judges in the state of Wisconsin, presided over one of the most illogical judgments ever rendered in a Wisconsin court. To make matters even worse, an appellate court refused to issue a stay, giving the ELCA free rein to dispose of the ample assets of Grace. Justice is truly blind and in this case, the best friend of the court was none other than the evil one himself.

Now, this case mirrors another instance of the un-evenhandedness of the ELCA. Although many ELCA churches are dual affiliated, only a few are challenged by the ELCA and not allowed to leave. Some are allowed to dual affiliate, others are removed from the ELCA roster as discipline for violating the ELCA constitution, such as St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Marion, IA. St. Peter Lutheran Church in Fort Pierce, FL, like Grace Lutheran, had ample assets, with property holdings worth some $5.5 million. The ELCA challenged their two unanimous votes to leave and the synod council prohibited them from leaving and taking their valuable property with them. Eventually, St. Peter Lutheran Church did leave and is now a LCMC congregation. Just my humble opinion here, but these actions seem more like those a devious and unethical organization would choose to use to swindle good and trusting people.

For those who choose to remain in this apostate denomination, hear this. While Jesus sat with sinners, those sinners were led to repentance. The ELCA is scrambling to maintain their power and refuses to repent of their sinful actions. Sit in the pew of an ELCA church and turn over the gifts God has blessed you with is the equivalent of funding the evil one’s mischief in the world. These tax collectors will not only fail to apologize for their actions and make amends, they will continue to take money and resources from the willing and the unknowing, not using it to further God’s Kingdom, but to build up and maintain their own earthly wealth and status. By choosing to remain in unity with this errant church, you choose to hold on to the things of this world, rather than being united in Christ. Ephesians 5:5-7, “For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them.”
Just sayin’.

Attention Deficit Disorder

Early on my son showed signs of an advanced intelligence, but also was plagued with inappropriate behavior. Tested at an I. Q. of 158, my wife and I had high expectations for him. Unfortunately, his behavior became more and more troublesome and his grades were well below average. When my son was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), it posed more questions than answers. Of course, we now had an excuse to blame his poor grades and misbehavior in school. This diagnosis also found that he was deficient in his verbal recognition skills. We had to learn to give him a single task with a single explanation to accomplish that task. Assigning more than one task led to unfulfilled errands and eventually led to us being disappointed and him becoming frustrated. Medications were prescribed, some that actually exacerbated his condition. His frustration with this condition led him to leave school before he graduated, leading my wife and I to exact some tough love, telling him he had to leave our home and strike out on his own. Sometimes, things work out that are just beyond explanation. Our son is now married, with two beautiful children, owns his own home, finished high school and is now attending college while he works full time. The Spirit moves in amazing ways.

The malady that has infected the ELCA is not unlike ADD. Unfortunately, the enlightened leaders of the ELCA do not have the high spiritual I. Q. that they believe they possess. Poor grades in upholding the authority of Scripture has nothing to do with a lack of focus or inability to concentrate. Misbehavior by lifting up the doctrine of bound conscience above the will of God has nothing to do with a deficiency in their ability to recognize the doctrine of Scripture Alone and to disregard those that preach the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ, trying to gently correct and instruct. There are no medications that can open the eyes of the leaders of the ELCA that persist in focusing on the secular world to the detriment of the saving of souls. Their focus is so plain to so many, but the plank that is in their collective eye, unfortunately goes unnoticed by so many of their members who would rather maintain unity than uphold the authority of Scripture. Jeremiah 9:4-6, “Beware of your friends; do not trust your brothers. For every brother is a deceiver, and every friend a slanderer. Friend deceives friend, and no one speaks the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they weary themselves with sinning. You live in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,” declares the LORD.“

Strong words, but like so much of God’s word, remains pertinent to what is happening today. The doctrine of bound conscience allows members of the ELCA to live in the midst of deception, denying God, while acknowledging themselves as their own god by worshipping themselves, their possessions, and their identities. When a church substitutes the truth and replaces it with lies, for the sake of being more welcoming, tolerant and open minded, they deceive themselves and their members. I am a sinner. I sin every day. I must be so disappointing to my Lord in my spiritual failure. I don’t ask Him to affirm my sin. I ask Him to forgive my transgressions and to help me to live up to the standards He wants me to follow. When a church throws out God’s law, and yes, we are no longer subject to the punishment of the law when we believe in God’s one true Son, those that accept this errant doctrine are encouraged to feed their selfishness. We all can love our brothers and sisters in Christ without regard to the sins they commit. If we fail to acknowledge that we are by nature sinful and unclean, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. We make our God out to be a liar!

I don’t qualify as one to determine whether or not homosexuality is a choice or is an innate predisposition of the human condition. What I do know is that Scripture is abundantly clear that God does not approve of that behavior. When one opens their heart and allows the Spirit to enter, we are then able to believe and have faith in the Risen Christ. When one realizes exactly what He did for us, we are deeply indebted to Jesus. We, indeed, need to learn to deny ourselves and to obey all of His teachings. We fall in love with Him and it becomes our joy to obey, placing God’s needs above our own. I also do not qualify as one to understand why it is necessary for a church to disregard Scripture and lift up sin as right with God, allowing those with desires strictly prohibited by God and sanction those wishing to lift up their selfishness, instead of denying themselves. What is so plain to so many is still lifted up by this errant denomination as the proper way to love the neighbor while they accuse those who disagree as homophobes, intolerant and hateful.

He who spoke the universe into existence has the final word in all this. Does this doctrine of bound conscience jeopardize the salvation of those who accept it? I don’t know, but I believe it opens a door to allow Satan easy access to our souls. He is the father of lies, and bound conscience is as big a lie as any church has foisted upon the faithful. Full inclusion of the LGTBQ community must be a goal of all churches, as we are called to love everyone as ourselves. So vital to the ELCA’s drive to have the LGTBQ community normalized is the anti-bullying program, It Gets Better. But, it is not only the LGTBQ community that faces bulling. People fall prey to bullying based upon their gender, sexual identity, race, or any other excuse.  Those engaging in bullying are to be sternly corrected to the full extent of man’s and God’s law, and this behavior is not to ever be tolerated. We are called to love our neighbor as ourselves. If my brothers and sisters in Christ can love me in spite of myself, we can love all our neighbors as well.

The doctrine of bound conscience allows one to sin without the need for repentance.  Minimizing sin by making confession and absolution optional in the ELCA liturgy, dilutes our faith and drives a wedge between themselves and God.  It has become apparent that the leaders of the ELCA have abandoned their authority as a church of God. God already comes to us, offering His abundant grace. Will you stand with a church that denies Him? Titus 1:15-16, “To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.”