Author Archives: Pastor Jim Driskell, Lutheran Church

About Pastor Jim Driskell, Lutheran Church

I am the pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Chestertown, Md. I pray that you will come and worship with us, worship is 10 am Sundays. We are a renewal church and we are lifting God up in classical worship, and being faithful disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ. 101 Greenwood Av, Chestertown. Plenty of parking behind the church.

Loving Your Neighbor on the Highway to Hell Luke 10: 25-37 First Saint Johns July 10, 2016

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We make our beginning in the Name of God the Father and in the Name of God the Son and in the Name of God the Holy Spirit and all those who serve their neighbor on the highway said … AMEN

I’m sure, at least for those of us who are of an age, you remember the song “Highway to Hell”, since we are talking about the Good Samaritan being on what was probably a main, as it were, “highway”, during that period it is not hard to wonder if the men who left the man to die on the road, we will call him “neighbor”, if those men really were on a highway to hell. Today, someone, a police officer, ambulance, will come along and do what’s necessary to get “neighbor” help. Not the case in first century Israel, there was no highway patrol, no one charged with patrolling the highways for such a situation. Walking past that helpless man, not stopping to help him could well be a death sentence. We Lutherans know that we sin by what we do and what we don’t do. Walking by this man in such a condition was leaving him to die, and is our sin of omission.

Highway to Hell by AC/DC is rather insightful for what was intended to be parody. Do what I want, when I want, I don’t help anyone, I don’t need anyone’s help, don’t need reason, don’t need rhyme, on and on, yea, the exact recipe for Hell, eternal condemnation. Entirely that person’s choice. That’s not love, yet you have many today who say the exact opposite, that it’s entirely loving to let a person do what they want and go where they want in their own time. That’s not God, that’s not love, that’s walking by that person on the highway, crossing over so that you don’t have to interact with that person and moving on in your life, your agenda.

Jesus asks the lawyer, “who do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” The lawyer answered, “The one who showed him mercy”. Samaritans were so hated by Jews in that time, the man couldn’t even bring himself to acknowledge that a Samaritan would extend such kindness, but conceded that he did show mercy in compliance with the Levitical command: “…but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.” God made sure Moses knew to emphasize, “I am the Lord” the Great I AM, the One who is telling you to show this kindness to “neighbor”. Something the lawyer, the priest or the Levite just didn’t/wouldn’t do. They would expect someone to stop for them, but the truth is, on the “Highway to Hell”, “nobody’s gonna slow me down”. Not in terms of them moving on to provide for their own lusts and desires, and certainly not in terms of helping someone else. That is what will always differentiate Christians and everyone else. We are under command to “love our neighbor”, we may not always do it, we may not always do it right, but we are reminded as we move along the highway, that the rest of the world is not under such an injunction. Sure they may stop once in awhile to help, but they often expect something in return, or any number of motivations, but not out of love, and love is always to be the Christian’s motivation.

We have a lot of people today who think that love is about what they receive. They put other people on a treadmill, expecting them to keep providing for them, never really giving anything, but expecting that someone else is supposed to show them “Christian love” on a continuous basis. That’s not “love”, it’s not about me thinking of new ways people are supposed to do things for me, it’s about me doing my best to provide, strengthen, pray for, encourage, provide material help in physical need. That’s love, not what many today want to convince us that love is, our continually doing for those who just want to continue to take and never do anything for themselves, or anyone else that will help them to grow and mature. Those who wag their finger at us about “love”, are usually the ones who do nothing else but accuse others and then expect to be provided for. But there will be those like “neighbor” who will find themselves in times of trouble, we are to be there for those who, through no fault of their own, need our help. We should step up to help “neighbor”. Thieves aren’t going to go to the trouble to mug someone unless they think that there is a payoff. Clearly “neighbor” had means and he was going about his business to the best of his ability. Clearly he deserved to be helped by the priest and/or the Levite. These men were probably afraid that “neighbor” was dead and they might make themselves ceremonially unclean. That is legalism, legalism is never an excuse to not help someone. There are those who have found themselves caught up in lifestyles that are clearly sinful. As Christians we continually walk that fine line between “enabling” someone in their sin and helping someone who is in need and is looking for help to overcome. I find myself here, in a downtown church, continually having to make that call, with limited resources of time, money, energy and the need to tell anyone I come into contact with the good news of the Gospel. We do exercise a great deal of love and compassion here at First St Johns. We do reach out in love to help those who we can help. But our ultimate expression of love is always to tell anyone we encounter of the love of Jesus. That He died on that cross as a payment for our sin and through His righteousness to put us in relationship with God, our all holy, righteous, just God.

The AC/DC song, is a clear expression of those who just aren’t interested in the Gospel message. They are on that highway, and remember Jesus’ words; there is a narrow road that leads to salvation, a highway is wide and fast. There are plenty of highways that I’ve been on that have a speed limit of 55 miles per hour, but all around me, vehicles are buzzing around at 65, 75 much faster than me, I’m trying to stay safe, but getting caught up with what’s going on around me is putting me in jeopardy and those zooming by are completely callous to the fact that they’re putting me, anyone else with me and themselves in jeopardy. We can try to keep up with those who are on that highway to hell, or we can continue to do the right thing. Jesus said “if you love Me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). We can zoom by neighbor on the highway, literally or metaphorically, or we can do whatever we can to provide a safe place to tell him, and others, the truth and grace of Jesus. Gerhard Grabenhofer in his book God Grant It, a devotional based on the writings of CFW Walther quotes Walther: “The task of every Christian church that rightly bears this name is to provide eternal comfort… To still [our accusing conscience] God has established the holy Christian Church. It should be a garden of heaven on earth full of living springs at which the tired earthly pilgrim can rest and out of which he can draw the comfort that heals his wounded conscience and fills him with the hope of eternal life. A church that does not provide this comfort, one that acts instead like a school of morals, preaching only one’s duties, awakening a servile fear of God and leaving of God and leaving doubt about eternal salvation, is a church in name only.”[1] This is what we see today, too many churches who take a “moral”, politically correct position, that is truly legalistic, that is about conforming to the world’s positions, like the priest and the Levite. More concerned about going through the motions of appearing “right” instead of being that place of true love, that agape love, that puts us in genuine relationship with a God who does desperately love us. The Father wants so much for us to know His Son Jesus and to know that we are saved only through Him, not through our political/social activities, but Him who died to save us. That our strength is always through the love, grace, faith that we have in Christ and not our own. Yes, we have encountered many right here in our downtown area, who try to tell us what we should be concerned with, everyone has their agenda. In Leviticus, God is telling Moses, “…you shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you…You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the LORD your God.” (Lev 18: 3-4) We have a lot of people telling us that’s old news, we need to get with the new world. The things that were happening in Egypt and Canaan, were much like things around us today. People who were oblivious to what God wanted and who did what they wanted. God goes on to tell Moses: “…you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him.” (Lev 19: 17) We can’t lose where we need to be and to somehow think it’s loving to enable people in their sin. It’s not, we are well aware of what is loving; “God, who is the eternal love, does not want even one person to be lost, however” quoting Walther. The however being if that person ignores God and choses the highway to hell. We present Christ in love, we see wounded “neighbor” laying by the roadside and try to render assistance, but if he dismisses us, we leave him alone, but keep him, or her, in constant prayer.

The peace of God that surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amin and Shalom

[1] Gerhard Grabenhofer quoting CFW Walther “God Grant It” p 582

Los cielos cuentan la gloria de Dios Salmo 19 First St Johns 3 de julio de, el año 2016

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Hacemos nuestro comienzo en el Nombre de Dios el Padre y en el nombre de Dios el Hijo y en el nombre de Dios el Espíritu Santo, y todos aquellos que saben que toda la creación glorifica a Dios, dijo … AMEN!

Tuvimos que permanecer constantemente calificada en el guardacostas, aun siendo a tiempo parcial. Uno de los títulos a que se estaba llevando a cabo en diferentes áreas, nocturnas, diurnas, durante todo el año. Muchas veces nos estarían saliendo a las 8 pm en enero debido a que tuvimos que coger las horas de marcha. No, no me gusta ser frío, pero hay que hacerlo. Allí están, muy lejos de la costa, sin otra luz que te rodea, sobre todo cuando no hay luna. Incluso en el cielo sobre el océano a 18 grados, hay muy poca humedad en la atmósfera, el cielo está despejado y oscuro, y mirando hacia el cielo, las estrellas son brillantes y nítidas, la Vía Láctea es tan prominente, se sentía como si podría alcanzar y cepillar mi mano a través de la Vía Láctea. El número de puntos de luz en el cielo es asombrosa, nosotros que estamos tan acostumbrados a ver el cielo de la noche en medio de la iluminación artificial, el material que entra en la atmósfera, que tiene muy poco de la visión total, incluso en las mejores circunstancias, hay muy poco que vemos a simple vista. La mayor parte de lo que vemos es la galaxia que nos encontramos, lo que conocemos como la Vía Láctea. Cuando proclamamos que Dios creó el universo, que nuestro todo creativa, de gran alcance, todo lo que Dios sabiendo que nos hizo a su imagen y nos fijamos en este universo, nos dio toda su creación, muchos se nos acuse de presunción: “¿Cómo se puede pensar que en este inmenso universo que somos las únicas personas en esta masiva, universo? Tiene que haber otras personas. “Hay complicados cálculos de estimación de cuántos otros planetas están poblados por seres como nosotros. Considero que si confía en las matemáticas complicadas y haces los cálculos de todos los factores que intervienen para explicar el hecho de que estamos aquí, se vería que nuestra presencia aquí está más allá de cualquier estimación de la posibilidad científica. Si usted realmente desea para justificar nuestra existencia a través de la ciencia hay que reconocer que hay un Creador todopoderoso y trascendente del universo. Para nosotros estar aquí es, en virtud de las leyes de la probabilidad, más allá de cualquier posibilidad estadística. Si somos estadísticamente imposible, incluso en este universo masivo, la “probabilidad”, la palabra científica, por otras formas de vida está más allá imposible. Además, si Dios nos crea a su imagen, crea un ambiente que no sólo es “compatible” nuestra existencia, nos mantiene con vida, pero sobre todo nos permite florecer y crecer a pesar de nuestra constitución más bien frágil, sobre todo en un universo que consiste en tales extremos en términos de temperatura, radiación, el agua, la atmósfera, y muchos otros factores, que Dios nos proporcionan un entorno muy singular para nosotros vivir. La perspectiva cristiana es que Dios es todo amor, todo el suministro y todo poderoso en todos los aspectos de la creación, para su pueblo. ¿Por qué no nos, su pueblo, su creación, y para los de Jesús, sus hijos dar. ¿Por qué no nos dan una enorme, magnífico, inmenso universo?

Dios sí creó el universo, la opinión científica predominante es que el universo fue creado como resultado de la gran explosión. Curiosamente, la teoría del Big Bang fue formulado por un cura católico. “Esta idea sorprendente apareció por primera vez en forma científica en 1931, en un artículo de Georges Lemaître, un cosmólogo belga y sacerdote católico. La teoría, aceptada por casi todos los astrónomos hoy en día, fue un cambio radical de la ortodoxia científica en la década de 1930. Muchos astrónomos de la época eran todavía incómodos con la idea de que el universo se está expandiendo. Que todo el universo observable de las galaxias comenzó con una explosión parecía absurda. “Es interesante que la ciencia convencional en ese momento era que el universo había sido siempre, esto se llama la” teoría del estado estacionario “que todo lo que siempre fue, y siempre lo sería. Tomó un clérigo cristiano para señalar al resto de la ciencia convencional de que “estado estacionario” no era sólo la realidad. Ningún científico en este día y edad creen en el “estado estacionario”, debido a una serie de factores, uno de ellos que el universo no es sólo un poco de allí sentado, que el universo es en realidad tirando de diferenciarse. En algún momento, millones de años a partir de ahora, el universo se han retirado tan lejos que la gravedad ya no será capaz de controlar, que todo en la creación será un trozo de materia sólida congelada. Ya no va a haber ningún calor, ya que el calor es un factor de gravedad.

Padre Lemaitre, el formulador de la gran explosión es citado en el sentido de decir que si Dios el Padre escogió para crear el universo en una enorme explosión rayo rápido, un destello brillante que así sea. Los cristianos han sido efectivamente a la cabeza de los descubrimientos científicos desde el comienzo, la gente como Louis Pasteur, sin duda el más brillante matemático Blaise Pascal para nombrar unos pocos que eran devotos cristianos. Muchos creen que Galileo demostró que el sol era el centro del sistema solar. En realidad, un clérigo católico llamado Nicolás Copérnico demostró que el sol, la tierra no estaba en el centro. Una teoría siempre completada por otra devota cristiana Johannes Kepler. El argumento se ha hecho que los cristianos son mucho mejor equipado para los científicos desde el paradigma para el universo es lo que Dios ha establecido, que el Dios de la Escritura es muy racional. Pablo escribe en 1 Corintios 14: 33: “Porque Dios no es Dios de confusión, sino de paz. El universo es una prueba para la orden. Hay momentos en los que sentimos que el mundo está fuera de control. Pero entonces nos damos cuenta de que el trastorno es lo que creamos, lo que hacemos como una cuestión de nuestro pecado. El orden que mantiene el universo, lo que Dios ha establecido, para que no se puede debilitar, que el sol brilla, el ciclo del agua continúa, de que estamos protegidos de las duras condiciones que nos rodea; frío extremo y el calor, la radiación, la falta de agua, los extremos de la gravedad. Nuestro medio ambiente, lo que está alrededor está, es tan equilibrado, tan controlado, tan adaptados a nuestras necesidades muy específicas, lo que quiere decir que todo esto es un accidente se acaba viviendo en la negación a un extremo.

La afirmación es que es la ciencia contra la fe, pero la fe se ha demostrado una y otra vez desde el principio, en contraste con la ciencia que ha sido refutado una y otra vez. Mientras que la iglesia fue la creación de las universidades, la formación de personas para enseñar y hacer investigación en la Edad Media, la ciencia secular era todavía mucho más preocupados con la alquimia y la astrología, las áreas condenado la iglesia. Si al estar justo es arrogante que así sea, considero que ser arrogante es mucho menos de un pecado que estar equivocado, o tomar una posición debido a lo que los demás quieren que usted crea, porque es popular, porque es el mundo alrededor de nosotros que viven en negación, que sí, supongo que voy a ser arrogante. Es más importante tener la razón que sea popular.

Como cristianos sabemos que se debe a la voluntad de Dios que no sólo son los seres humanos conscientes en el medio de la creación de Dios, reconociendo que la complicada e intrincada universo que nos rodea no podría haber sido un accidente, pero en este Día de la Independencia, los cristianos reconocido la mano de Dios en lo que tenemos en nuestras libertades hoy en día, en los Estados Unidos. En la forma final de Thomas Jefferson, escribe: “… a los que las leyes de la naturaleza y del Dios de la naturaleza les da derecho …” reconociendo que no sólo que las complejidades complicadas de nuestro mundo, en la naturaleza, ha sido creada y controlada por Dios, sino que también se trasladó a los hombres y mujeres de hace 240 años para crear una nación que sigue siendo el más fiel de Cristo en el mundo, sino también fiel a las directrices verdaderos y la inspiración de la Biblia. Negar que es estar en la negación de la historia tanto como muchos están en la negación de la ciencia y la probabilidad.

Y, por supuesto, la parte más citado de la Declaración: “Que todos los hombres son creados iguales”, es decir hay un Creador, que no conseguimos aquí por accidente, nos pusieron aquí intencionalmente, como el escritor de Ester afirma: ” para un momento como este “.

Que Dios no sólo nos ha creado, sino que dotó a su pueblo en su creación, con ciertos derechos inalienables: “… que éstos están la vida, la libertad y la búsqueda de la felicidad”, sí que hemos tendidos esos “derechos” Salir al impío , pero sabemos que no sólo crea, sino que también nos dio la dignidad y responsabilidades de su creación en Él como testigo de Dios. Jefferson terminó declarando que los miembros del Congreso Continental que representan a todos los que están en los Estados Unidos; “… Apelando al Juez Supremo del mundo, por la rectitud de nuestras intenciones”, es decir, hacemos un llamamiento a Dios para que confirme nuestro curso de acción, que sentimos que se nos confirma en ese curso, o que Él debe intervenir con el fin para nosotros para ser llevado de vuelta a su voluntad. Para los estadounidenses el poder creador de Dios no es sólo en términos de todo el universo, sino también en nuestra muy pequeña parte de ese universo, guiados por su Suprema, incluso en estos días en los que parece no seguimos su voluntad.

Craig Blaising y Carmen Hardin escribir: “El salmo XIX presentes tres leyes en armonía unos con otros”, citando a Teodoreto. Y “También presenta un reproche de ateísmo.” Citando a Diodoro. Ellos van a decir, citando a varios autores: “El pslam comienza proclamando que Dios, como diseñador de los cielos, es conocido por su diseño. La creación no es por casualidad. Más bien, las cosas creadas son criados para nuestra instrucción. Es el espectáculo de creación que habla, dibujo una respuesta de nosotros que glorifica al Creador. Eso … “Dios se revela especialmente en el orden de las cosas. Porque está claro que las reglas de la razón a través del orden natural … Esta orden se forma la música original del cosmos. Esta revelación natural constituye un mensaje de la grandeza del Señor … su providencia es un mensaje de su amor … en un libro abierto para todo … declarado en un lenguaje universal “.

En verdad Dios es grande, Él revela todo lo que necesitamos saber que Él está en control. Que Él nos ha dado la vida y vida más abundante a través de Su Hijo. Que incluso en este universo que está tan hundido en el pecado, que Él nos da la promesa de salvación y resurrección por medio de su Hijo Jesucristo. Todo para nosotros que si tenemos en cuenta la inmensidad de la creación y el aún más masividad de Dios, que Él ha provisto para nosotros en muchos sentidos, sigue ofreciendo para nosotros y nos da la promesa de la vida eterna en la nueva creación en Jesucristo . Sólo alguien que está verdaderamente en Cristo o la predicación de Cristo puede saber que este mensaje es verdaderamente en su corazón.

La paz de Dios que sobrepasa todo entendimiento, guardará vuestros corazones y vuestros pensamientos en Cristo Jesús. Amin y Shalom

The heavens declare the glory of God Psalm 19 First Saint Johns July 3, 2016

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We make our beginning in the Name of God the Father and in the Name of God the Son and in the Name of God the Holy Spirit and all those who know that all creation glorifies God, said … AMEN!

We had to stay constantly qualified in the Coast Guard, even being part-time. One of those qualifications was being underway in different areas, night-time, day-time, all year round. Many times we’d be going out at 8pm in January because we had to get the underway hours. No I don’t like being cold, but you have to do it. There you are, far away from shore, no other light around you, especially when there’s no moon. Even in the sky over the ocean at 18 degrees, there is very little humidity in the atmosphere, the sky is clear and dark, and looking into the sky, stars are bright and sharp, the Milky Way is so prominent, it felt as if I could reach up and brush my hand through the Milky Way. The number of points of light in the sky is staggering, we who are so used to seeing the night-time sky in the middle of man-made lighting, the stuff that gets into the atmosphere, we have very little of the total view, even in the best circumstances there is very little that we see with the naked eye. Most of what we see is the galaxy that we are in, what we know as the Milky Way. When we proclaim that God created the universe, that our all creative, powerful, all knowing God made us in His image and set us in this universe, gave us all His creation, many will accuse us of presumption: “How can you think that in this immense universe that we are the only people in this massive, universe? There has to be other people.” There are complicated calculations estimating how many other planets are populated by sentient beings like us. I submit that if you do rely on complicated mathematics and you do the calculations of all the factors involved to account for the fact that we are here, you would see that our presence here is beyond any estimate of scientific possibility. If you really want to justify our existence through science you have to concede that there is an all-powerful, transcendent Creator of the universe. For us to be here is, under the laws of probability, beyond any statistical possibility. If we are statistically impossible, then even in this massive universe, the “probability”, the scientific word, for other life is beyond impossible. Further if God creates us in His image, creates an environment that not only “supports” our existence, keeps us alive, but more so allows us to flourish and grow despite our rather fragile constitution, especially in a universe that consists of such extremes in terms of temperature, radiation, water, atmosphere, and many other factors, that God did provide us an extremely unique environment for us to live. The Christian perspective is that God is all loving, all providing and all powerful in all respects of creation, for His people. Why wouldn’t He give us, His people, His creation, and for those in Jesus, His children. Why wouldn’t He give us an enormous, magnificent, immense universe?

God did create the universe, the prevailing scientific opinion is that the universe was created as a result of the Big Bang. Interestingly, the Big Bang Theory was formulated by a Roman Catholic priest. “This startling idea first appeared in scientific form in 1931, in a paper by Georges Lemaître, a Belgian cosmologist and Catholic priest. The theory, accepted by nearly all astronomers today, was a radical departure from scientific orthodoxy in the 1930s. Many astronomers at the time were still uncomfortable with the idea that the universe is expanding. That the entire observable universe of galaxies began with a bang seemed preposterous.”[1] It’s interesting that conventional science at the time was that the universe had always been, this is called the “steady state” theory that everything always was, and always would be. It took a Christian clergyman to point out to the rest of conventional science that “steady state” was just not reality. No scientist in this day and age believe in the “steady state” because of a number of factors, one being that the universe isn’t just kind of sitting there, that the universe is actually pulling itself apart. At some point, millions of years from now, the universe will have pulled so far apart that gravity will no longer be able to control, that everything in creation will be a lump of frozen solid matter. There will no longer be any heat, because heat is a factor of gravity.

Father Lemaitre, the formulator of the Big Bang is quoted to the effect of saying that if God the Father chose to create the universe in one huge, lightning fast bang, one brilliant flash then so be it. Christians have actually been in the lead of scientific discovery since the beginning, people like Louis Pasteur, arguably the most brilliant mathematician Blaise Pascal to name a few who were devout Christians. Many believe that Galileo proved that the sun was at the center of the solar system. Actually a Catholic cleric named Nicholas Copernicus showed the sun, not the earth was at the center. A theory expanded upon by another devout Christian Johannes Kepler. The argument has been made that Christians are far better equipped to be scientists since the paradigm for the universe is what God has established, that the God of Scripture is very rational. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 14: 33: “For God is not a God of disorder, but of peace. The universe is a testament for order. There are times when we feel that the world is out of control. But then we realize the disorder is what we create, what we do as a matter of our sin. The order that maintains the universe, what God has established, order that we can’t undermine, that the sun shines, the water cycle continues, that we are protected from the harsh environment that surrounds us; extreme cold and heat, radiation, lack of water, extremes of gravity. Our environment, what is around is, is so balanced, so controlled, so tailored to our very specific needs, that to say that this is all an accident is just living in denial to an extreme.

The claim is that it’s science versus faith, but faith has been proved over and over since the beginning, in contrast to science which has been disproved over and over. While the church was setting up universities, training people to teach and to do research in the Middle Ages, secular science was still far more concerned with alchemy and astrology, areas the church condemned. If being right is arrogant then so be it, I submit that being arrogant is far less of a sin than being wrong, or taking a position because of what others want you to believe, because it’s popular, because it’s the world around us living in denial, than yes, I guess I’m going to be arrogant. It is more important to be right than to be popular.

As Christians we know that it is because of God’s will that not only are we aware human beings in the middle of God’s creation, recognizing that the complicated, intricate universe around us could not have been an accident, but on this Independence Day, Christians recognized God’s hand in what we have in our freedoms today, in the United States. In Thomas Jefferson’s final form, he writes: “…to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them…” recognizing that not only that the complicated intricacies of our world, in nature, has been created and controlled by God, but that He also moved the men and women of 240 years ago to create a nation that is still the most faithful in Christ in the world, but also faithful to the true guidelines and inspiration of the Bible. To deny that is to be in denial of history as much as so many are in denial of science and probability.

And of course the most quoted part of the Declaration: “That all men are created equal”, that is there is a Creator, we didn’t get here by accident, we were put here intentionally, as the writer of Esther states: “For such a time as this.”

That God not only created us, but that He endowed His people in His creation, with certain inalienable rights: “…that these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”, yes we’ve stretched those “rights” out into the ungodly, but we know who not only created, but also gave us the dignity and responsibilities of His creation in Him as a witness to God. Jefferson ended by stating that the members of the Continental Congress representing all those in the United States; “…appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world, for the rectitude of our intentions”, that is we appeal to God to either confirm our course of action, that we feel we are confirmed in that course, or that He should intervene in order for us to be brought back into His will. For Americans God’s creative power is not just in terms of the entire universe, but also in our very tiny part of that universe, guided by His Supreme will, even in these days when it seems we don’t follow His will.

Craig Blaising and Carmen Hardin write: “The nineteenth psalm present three laws in harmony with one another”, quoting Theodoret. And “It also presents a rebuke of atheism.” Quoting Diodore. They go on to say, quoting various writers: “The pslam begins proclaiming that God, as designer of the heavens, is known by His design. The creation is not by chance. Rather, created things are servants for our instruction. It is the spectacle of creating that speaks, drawing a response from us that glorifies the Creator. … That “God is revealed especially in the order of things. For it is clear that Reason rules through the natural order… This order forms the primal music of the cosmos. This natural revelation constitutes a message of the Lord’s greatness … His providence is a message of his love … in a book open to all … declared in a universal language.”[2]

Truly God is great, He reveals all that we need to know that He is in control. That He has given us life and life more abundant through His Son. That even in this universe which is so sunk in sin, that He gives us the promise of salvation and resurrection through His Son Jesus Christ. All for us who when we consider the vastness of creation and the even more massiveness of God, that He has provided for us in so many ways, continues to provide for us and gives us the promise of eternal life in the New Creation in Jesus Christ. Only someone who is truly in Christ or preaching in Christ can know that this message is truly on their heart.

The peace of God that surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amin and Shalom

[2] Edited by Craig Blaising and Carmen Hardin “Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture Old Testament VII p 146

A new paradigm of Christian pastoral leadership

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Please don’t misconstrue what I’m about, this isn’t bitterness, this isn’t angst. If anything it’s more on the level of disquiet. You have highly educated pastors, but people who really don’t know how to lead. If anything pastors genuinely feel it’s not up to them to lead, they leave it to laity that are even less qualified and yes, you really get the blind leading the blind. Yes, there are churches that have qualified, experienced lay people in leadership and pastors who can not only preach and teach, and exercise some degree of leadership and there is a mutual respect, the potential to work together effectively. These are very rare situations. It seems to me, as I see other churches, is that there is a laity who really have very little clue and a pastor, who has never done anything else in his life, has been brought up to believe that he really does sit and think great thoughts and then goes back into his pastor’s study until he’s trotted out again on Sundays. Some seem to not even do that.

There has to be some semblance of reality. More and more the church is declining because it is taken less and less seriously and mostly because of such a bankruptcy of leadership. There’s either passivity, shilling, patronizing, or being good time Charlie. It’s pretty hard for men to take seriously the church as it is being presently led. Being a Christian is not about emotionalism, yet most pastors indulge emotionalism as the quick and easy solution. Just as bad, up until the 1960s there were pastors who were the complete opposite, autocrats who were equally unqualified and having some odd self-perception that they did know everything.

OK, I am generalizing, but generalities come about because the evidence starts to become compelling. The church has lurched from one silly extreme to another. Too many pastors took advantage of uncritical congregations because neither knew any better. The pastors went about imposing petty nonsense as “Christianity” and expected the congregation to jump through hoops. The tide turns and now the congregations expect the pastor to jump, the laity exercise leadership and are at least just as clueless. In the last fifty years we have congregations who were/are theologically clueless and expected to impose on a clueless/compliant pastor their each individual whims, businesspeople who “knew” the church should be run like a business, all expected to be entertained and not accept leadership or instruction from the pastor (who way too often only had academic qualifications and nothing else), who didn’t know how to practically apply the academic training, so no need for it and never grew out of it.

One can see why people, accomplished in other fields (or at least who thought they were), who were loathe to accept directions from an otherwise incapable pastor. Instead of pushing the pastor to exert ecclesiastical leadership, and Luther certainly expected pastors to exercise leadership, he did and by example, the laity filled the vacuum, despite lack of qualification. Since the pastor couldn’t/wouldn’t, the laity did, having some belief to the effect “how hard could it by?”. You had people who couldn’t tell you the “solas”, the basics of the faith, but since the pastor was an entertainer and not a teacher, the fundamentals of the faith just couldn’t be that important.

The new paradigm has to be this and especially in terms of renewal efforts being undertaken in the downtown old “cathedrals”. It is time for pastors to step up, be professional pastors, versus the smiley/accommodating stereotype. Pastors need to knowledgeably assert control, lead, push when necessary all those in the church to start becoming mature Christians, even, wow, disciples of Christ. The “Old Guard” laity and yes even some clergy needs to understand that the old paradigm has been failing for decades, backoff and support the new paradigm, even through the “discomfort”. Might that require breaking up the old guard? Certainly the desirable outcome would be overall acceptance and a unified front to move the church ahead. Certainly it’s up to the pastor to be open, accessible, willing to go as far as possible, but not back to the old paradigm or the failed practices of the last fifty years. Certainly we want to try to balance the old and new, do as much as can be done, but to what end, giving up on the faction that just won’t move and accept?

The pastor needs to keep asserting leadership towards a positive goal, quit playing, accept that there are going to be losses and yes, even up to conflict. The church is not a business, we’re not in the people pleasing business, we’re in the building mature Christian disciples business. While we’re trying to be faithful, that entails trusting God while we deal with whatever the fallout. Are we going to be serious, or continue to slide into country clubs that have been failing for fifty years.

Paul certainly had no compunction calling out the Corinthians and Galatians, at least. They had all kinds of issues and Paul did not pull any punches holding them accountable. We have to follow Paul’s model and stop trying to be the intellectual, complacent, indulgent patsy that too many people see pastors as now, a model that has just wreaked havoc on the church. Paul certainly demanded those churches to cut the nonsense and doing what he could to lead churches back to true Christian integrity. Playing church is not doing anyone any favors. I frankly take seriously that I’m going to be held even more accountable and I intend to be able to tell God I exercised as much integrity as I could to build disciples and not patronize audiences. It’s up to the pastor to lead the church to be a genuine Christian catholic and apostolic church and not just a “feel good” zone.

Lay people do yourself a big favor, expect to be led by a pastor who will assert true pastoral leadership a la St Paul of Tarsus, to make true Christian disciples. Support him and encourage him. It worked for Paul it can work for you. If he is just going to be an enabling, feel good guy, get yourself another man, yes a man!

Just a Thought — Truth in Palmyra

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There is nobody so good they don’t need to be saved and there is nobody so bad that they can’t be saved

via Just a Thought — Truth in Palmyra

This Tortise finally won one!

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I did it! I’ve been competing (putting it charitably), in triathlons since 1985, and I finally medaled! I accomplished another goal in this particular race too. I drove all the way to Hammond, In. to do Leon’s Triathlon. I have now done races from Maine to Kansas and south to North Carolina. Leon’s Triathlon has also been the site of the U.S. Military triathlon championship and also as part of the race spotlighted the anniversary of the USO. Being retired military I did appreciate the emphasis on military in this race.

Now triathlons have different categories, not always the same, but age group categories always. Some races, like Leon’s, has a military and/or public safety category and many have a Clydesdale category, I finished second in the Clydesdale category. Hey it’s something and I finally hit it. Clydesdales are triathletes that are over 200 lbs and yea I more than qualify. The medal in the middle is the finishers medal, the medal off screen is the silver medal (I’ve been messing with it and I can’t line it up).

It was a lake swim and nice flat run and bike. Doing all my training in the hills all around me in south/central Pennsylvania, it is definitely pushing me. Leon’s was a really well run race. I’d like to do it again, but driving all the way to Indiana isn’t real practical and there are other states (West Virginia, Kentucky, South Carolina) that are closer that I haven’t done. Hey maybe I can follow up this medal win with a sponsor, a summer of triathlons starting in the south, through the midwest, ending in Bermuda, oh yeah!!

I would like to thank the folks at Leon’s for a really good race and a nice excuse for a short getaway with my wife. And very thankful for helping me finally get something for the mantle after 30 years of trying.

(Please note the flags that were all around the course) I am not trying to say that I all of a sudden received a huge influx of energy or talent, but I just finished reading Meredith Atwood’s inspirational article in Triathlete Magazine (September 2016, p 23). “The Hare sometimes allows the ego and objective speed to get the best of him. the Tortoise can get discouraged for a million other reasons. The best bet is to have faith in yourself, [as a Christian I would also say God’s will for me too] and be proud of all of your efforts and races – but to always ask yourself if you are doing the best you can with what you have. I challenge my fellow Tortoises of the world to really push themselves in the next running race or workout. Ask yourself if you can channel your inner Hare, just for a little while, and see what you are made of. You might be surprised and learn to believe that ‘fast for you’ is sometimes exactly all the fast you need.”

I stuck with it and because of a few factors, yea I finally did it. I would hope that people would pick a passion and really stick with it. Even if “channeling” doesn’t get you a medal, I have really enjoyed triathlon and the other goals that I’ve set for it. I guess I could add to my trophy mantle of 1 (including a few finishers medals), a map of the U.S. showing the states that I have competed in. I’m going to keep doing it, maybe things will line up again, but just as important, I’m doing it.

How to Read Your Bible: Law and Gospel By Nicholas Davis on Jul 31, 2016 in Bible

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1. Law

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The law is a word that comes to us from within, and it is written on everyone’s heart (Rom. 2:15). It was once written on stone tablets in Israel’s history, and in the history of man it is inscribed on the conscience. Everyone gets law, and everyone prescribes law to others. When you ask a friend for some advice, the first words spoken are often words of doing. Do this. Don’t do that. The law brings no hope of relief but only tells us where we’ve gone wrong and what we need to do in order to make things right (Rom. 3:19–20). The law says, “Do this and live” (Lev. 18:5; Gal. 3:12).

It’s not that the law is bad. In fact, the law itself is good because it comes from God and is a reflection of his good character. The apostle Paul even says, the “law is spiritual” (Rom. 7:14). So we know that the problem is not with the law, but the problem is with us. As Paul concludes, although “the law is spiritual” but “I am of the flesh, sold under sin” (Rom. 7:14). We are bad—the law exposes our sin—and that’s why the law becomes bad news for us.

2. Gospel

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The gospel is a word that comes to us from outside of us, and it has been revealed by God in his Christ. This word must be spoken, and it is the good news of what God has done in Christ to reconcile us to himself—to satisfy all of the demands of the law and to make atonement for all sins committed. What the law required, Jesus Christ has accomplished. What the law demanded, Jesus has satisfied. The gospel says, “Believe this, and it is done already.” Jesus’ final words on the cross are appropriate to summarize the good news of the gospel: “It is finished!” (John 19:30).

Whenever you read a verse, you can immediately tell whether it is law or gospel by either the demands it makes upon you or the promise it offers you. The law commands you to do something, or to stop doing something. The gospel, however, tells you what God has done for you, or what he will do for you. What separates the teaching ofChristianity from every other world religion is that the Bible reveals to us how the law can never save us; only Jesus can. No other religion tells us that God has done what we could not do for ourselves. No other religion offers us the gospel: the free grace of God in Jesus Christ. “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Rom. 7:25).

Scientism, Values, and the Public Interest Sarah Chaffee July 29, 2016 10:44 AM | Permalink

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Over at The American Conservative, Rod Dreher comments on a recent post by John Michael Greer, who writes The Archdruid Report. Despite their vastly differing worldviews (conservative Christian vs. druid!), Greer and Dreher agree on this: There are many questions that science can’t answer, not least about politics. Neil deGrasse Tyson is a case in point. Dreher’s headline says it all: “Scientists Make Terrible Politicians.”

Why should this be?

First, scientific and political reasoning are very different. Democracy is based on compromise between competing interests and values. One cannot use scientific reasoning to arrive at values. What science does is continually try to disprove hypotheses. It’s not about finding a workable compromise. Greer:

If you’re Lavoisier and you’re trying to figure out how combustion works, you don’t say, hey, here’s the oxygenation theory and there’s the phlogiston theory, let’s agree that half of combustion happens one way and the other half the other; you work out an experiment that will disprove one of them, and accept its verdict. What’s inadmissible in science, though, is the heart of competent politics.

One of the great intellectual crises of the ancient world, in turn, was the discovery that logic was not the solution to every human problem. A similar crisis hangs over the modern world, as claims that science can solve all human problems prove increasingly hard to defend, and the shrill insistence by figures such as Tyson that it just ain’t so should be read as evidence for the imminence of real trouble.

In other words, he’s talking about scientism, which is something we’vecommented on extensively in the past. Dreher also cites science writer Thomas Burnett:

Scientism today is alive and well, as evidenced by the statements of our celebrity scientists:

“The Cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be.” — Carl Sagan, Cosmos

“The more the universe seems comprehensible, the more it also seems pointless.” — Stephen Weinberg, The First Three Minutes

“We can be proud as a species because, having discovered that we are alone, we owe the gods very little.” — E.O. Wilson, Consilience

While these men are certainly entitled to their personal opinions and the freedom to express them, the fact that they make such bold claims in their popular science literature blurs the line between solid, evidence-based science, and rampant philosophical speculation. Whether one agrees with the sentiments of these scientists or not, the result of these public pronouncements has served to alienate a large segment of American society.

Maybe this is a good reason to think twice about controversial scientific issues. Scientism, which Dreher calls “the ideologically charged fallacious belief that science is the only legitimate way of knowledge,” animates those large scientific bodies that marginalize scientists with dissenting views on certain controversial questions. Discriminating against these minority scientists helps alienate that “large segment of American society” that Burnett worries about.

A 2016 survey probing attitudes about academic freedom suggests as much. Of respondents, 84 percent said that “attempts to censor or punish scientists for holding dissenting views on issues such as evolution or climate change are not appropriate in a free society.” Similarly, 86 percent affirmed that “disagreeing with the current majority view in science can be an important step in the development of new insights and discoveries in science.” And 88 percent said that “scientists who raise scientific criticisms of evolution should have the freedom to make their arguments without being subjected to censorship or discrimination.”

Scientism, it seems, is more problematic, in more ways, than some observers have realized.

Photo: Neil deGrasse Tyson, by NASA Ames Research Center [Public domain],via Wikimedia Commons.