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The church needs to be the church

This blog is inspired by a presentation of a Princeton professor to a council of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, the church that I’m ordained in. Princeton University law professor Dr. Robert P. George noted, “They [churches] are all we’ve got. In the churches, we need to restore the basic idea of marriage.”

Seems to be that’s a rather ironic twist, a lawyer from an Ivy League university in so many words telling the church to be the church. Well you know what? God bless him! I overheard a discussion of employees in a bookstore, which was ironically the opposite advice. The women were talking about a girl who wore a pin about the recent campaign on breast cancer. The young girl was a student in a Roman Catholic school and the badge was something to the effect to “check your boobies”. These women were appalled that the church could be so narrow, how could it be against breast cancer?!

I stayed out of the discussion, it never seemed to occur to them how inappropriate it was for a young child to have something like that to begin with, and in a church school?? I’ve experienced this as a pastor, people who are obviously ignorant of the mission of the church telling me how I could make the church more popular. Uhmmm yea, I’m certainly aware of the possibilities, that’s not what the church is about. The church is about worship. Part of worship is certainly about faithfulness and a biblical worldview. We are called as a church to stand up for issues such as marriage as Professor George charges, as he points out, if the church won’t, what or who is really left in order to maintain a biblical view of marriage. The Bible is clear “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” (Ge 2:24), Jesus and Paul both quoted this very verse Matt 19:5, Mark 10:7, Ephesians 5:31.

There seems to be this pervasive attitude in the world that everything and everyone needs to be dragged down to the same base level that the world is at. The world is going to be the world, it will be until the final judgment. Having said that, the church needs to strive for the best, the ideal, the holy, not what’s popular, expedient. The church has chosen to try and be popular instead of faithful to it’s Lord, the church is Jesus’, it’s not a popularity contest. In the Old Testament, Israel is constantly flirting with other “gods” and Yahweh continually calls Israel to account for its unfaithfulness. The same could be said now, the church is far more concerned with being popular with the world, then it is in being faithful to its ultimate spouse Jesus. The image I get is a man and woman are married and then later on the man finds that his wife is the life of the party, never missing an opportunity to flirt with every man. The unfaithfulness, which is more like spinelessness, of the church is staggering. The church knows what it’s place is, but it constantly caves to the world and sinks to its level instead of holding the world accountable and pointing it to the ideal. The church has been its own worst enemy and this isn’t a recent development. In the United States the church has continued to degenerate for over 100 years, far more concerned with being the “life of the party” instead of faithful ministers of the Lord. The church has been a sucker for every shot the world has taken at it.

The world tries to convince us of what is “loving”, it’s more like enabling, but it’s so easy for us to all fall for the world’s easy blather instead of taking a stand. It’s really embarrassing, all through history many have stood up to defend the Bible and the church. Even the most socially conservative churches still tend to pull back from the harsh glare of the world’s spotlight and the less principled churches run like a party girl from their true husband to the arms of their “gods” of pleasure, popularity, treasure and friendship with the world. The question needs to be asked, when will the church genuinely be the church of Jesus Christ. Our Lord could have easily extricated Himself from the condemnation of the world, but He came into the world to save us from destruction, He was not going to be diverted, too bad we can’t show the same character and integrity. Believe me I know, it’s not fun to be unpopular, especially when you are timid and weak and maybe even a little too concerned about the pecuniary aspects of life and not so about the greater principles of the church.

Dr Luther talked about the world being composed of two kingdoms, the kingdom of the left, the secular. “The kingdom of the right is the church. Indeed God has established two governments which correspond to and cater for the subjects of the two kingdoms: ‘God has therefore ordained two regiment(s): the spiritual which by the Holy Spirit produces Christians and pious folk under Christ, and the secular which restrains un-Christian and evil folk so that they are obliged to keep outward peace, albeit by no merit of their own.’(WA 11. 251, 15-18.) (The Two Governments and the Two Kingdoms in Luther’s Thought by Dr. John R. Stephenson From the Scottish Journal of Theology, Vol. 34, 1981 p 2) Obviously they are intended to be separate, they have different functions.

God created this world, and yes I am very well aware that many like to get into the rather disingenuous discussion, “well what god?”, “whose god” etc, etc. This is a way to avoid the discussion. They never deny God, just this squirrel y little discussion, never dealing with the fact that if there is a god, he must intend something with his world. Having said that it is his world. One other qualification here, we are not talking about “kingdoms” in terms of the kingdom of the world and the kingdom of heaven. We would all acknowledge that we are in the world, subject to the order of the world. But we would say that it would be informed by the church. That the world likes to play God, as Mark Twain once said, “God created man in His own image, man has been returning the favor ever since.”The kingdom of heaven is in the future, what Jesus was referring to,

Dr Luther would say that the “kingdom of the left”, government, is a necessary evil. The kingdom of the left is concerned with being right with each other, making sure order is maintained. No special insight or prerogative, just make the world livable according to a set of rules/laws. Not to allow people to equivocate, or to play games, simply maintain order. Government in today’s world can’t even perform the duties that it is supposed to, and yet it presumes to tell the church what the church should believe and how it should conduct its affairs. The Left Hand is the Law serving our neighbor etc. God rules the Left in order to preserve His creation – God is the active agent. When we are in our proper vocation God orders the world to his desire where the left hand kingdom wields the sword, where the rule of the law prevails. The Left is about works, the right is about the reality of righteousness, the right is Coram Deo, that is, it is before God, responsible only to him, not Coram homnibus, not before man.

It is always bizarre to me that someone who has no knowledge of the church, no Christian training whatsoever, yet they have this idea that they’re entitled to criticize the church, ya something like “support the boobies”. Hey by all means we all want to eradicate breast cancer, but according to three women who are not only oblivious to the church’s true mission, but just don’t care, “hey this is what the church should do”. Try to understand the church is not a democracy, the church has one Lord, Christ. He has revealed His will in the Bible, that’s what guides us. As I said, we constantly presume to tell God the way it is and simply refuse to hear anything about what the church is, why the church does what it does, what God’s will for the world is. It’s obvious hypocrisy that man can tell God the way it should be, but won’t make the least bit effort to find out Who He is and what He is about.

The church is about being right with God, presenting the Gospel, pastor’s are called ministers in the sense of countries sending “ministers”, what we would call ambassadors, to represent their countries to each other. As a minister of the Gospel, I am a representative of Christ to the world, it is my responsibility communicate Christ’s will as presented in the Bible to enable those I minister to to grow in their relationship with Jesus. The government cannot do that, it is not equipped to do that. As Lutheran Christians we see Biblical revelation as Law and Gospel. Biblical Law and secular law are analogous. Don’t kill, don’t steal, don’t lie, be faithful etc. The Gospel is more in terms of being faithful in a relationship, versus laws to follow. To be sure, both are important to God, both are part of His creation. Having said that the left hand kingdom has no business interfering in the right hand kingdom. The Founding Fathers understood this, the First Amendment is about government staying out of religion, prohibiting government from establishing a national church, unlike European countries at the time which had a national church e.g.: The Church of England, Roman Catholic Church in Italy, France, the Lutheran Church in Germany, some of the Scandinavian churches I could go on and on. This has somehow been twisted like this: Because if a church influenced the government, it would make it appear that church is setting policy and therefore because of its influence, would be (not could be) construed as being established as the national church. Needless to say this is as stupid as saying that if the President says, “I heard this great idea from Jim Driskell and I’m going to do it”, so therefore I must have permanent influence on the president and all my ideas would now be implemented. The churches are entitled to a say in government as much as any citizen, corporation, union, party, etc. For millineum, the church had been considered to be the “conscience” of the government, standing against slavery, standing against abortion, standing against easy divorce or any effort to weaken or undermine the family. As Dr George challenged those he was speaking to in regard to the current debate on so-called “homosexual marriage”:

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“Are we willing to say hard things? We have to tell the truth,” George said. “Marriage is the kind of good that can be chosen and meaningfully participated in only by those who have a basic understanding of it, [who understand] the idea that marriage is not just a romantic relationship for as long as it lasts.”

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Despite what liberal churches claim, the Bible is very specific about marriage. As a minister of Christ, it’s not my job to win popularity contests, to be “loved”, it is my responsibility to effectively represent Christ. Sexual mores are always going to be flaunted, in their bedrooms, people are going to do what they want. That certainly doesn’t mean that the church should shut up about it. The church is called to call fornication or sodomy what it is, to point out that it’s sin. But in terms of marriage God ordained marriage, granted it is governed by the left hand kingdom, but God has overseen marriage since the beginning. If I conduct a wedding it is always with the prerequisite that this will be a God-honoring wedding, it is with the recognition that those being married are coming before God for His blessing and are willing to submit to Him in Holy Matrimony. Under the Law we can conceivably isolate ourselves from our neighbor, we are only responsible to maintain order, not to transgress against our neighbor, otherwise we can sit on the couch and watch football as far as the kingdom of the right is concerned. As a minister, an apostle, a disciple of Christ, the Greek word being apostolos, how Paul referred to himself, we are called to bring people into relationship. Relationship with Jesus and as a Christian being a part of the Body of Christ, being in relationship with each other as part of the Body. The church is the visible institution of Jesus, His claims are not just for the church, but through the church to the world. The church is about bearing its testimony to the world, how the world is out of step with what God has ordained as Lord.

One is not more important then the other, both the left hand and the right hand kingdoms are both of God, they are both important to God and to Christians. We live in both realms, and Christians have responsibilities in both kingdoms. I would point out that we are not only called to live in both realms, but when the state tries to undermine and usurp the church it has not been a good result for the state. As evidence the Soviet Union, European communism in general, Nazism/Fascism in German and Italy, France during the “Enlightenment”, in all these cases human life was disposable, God was not supreme, the state was.

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We should be ready to call the world to account in terms of the world trying to dictate the order of creation, we should call sin, sin. The church is charged with upholding the order of creation this is the church being the church. If the church is not faithful to its witness to Jesus, who will be? The church was established by Jesus to be His embassy to the world. The left hand kingdom has its mandate, it establishes order, it doesn’t presume to encroach on the responsibility the church has to its King, we are ministers of the king, we cannot compel, we were never meant to compel, but we are called to raise the standards of the world, to turn it away from the lusts and covetousness of the world and elevate it to the Holy, all-knowing, all-perfect Creator of all things. To be in relationship with Him, and by virtue of that being raised to righteousness and the idealism of living in relationship with our fellow man. Not that it will happen in the world, but in preparation for the resurrection in the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom that Jesus promises us. When the world’s best offer is Lady Gaga, there has to be a holy, righteous, idealistic alternative. The church isn’t really an “alternative”, it is the only option. Despite the delusions of the world, the world will end and all its evil will be destroyed and the righteous kingdom of heaven, the resurrection in Christ will be the only living thing that will remain. As Dr Beverly Yahnke points out: “The people of God have a remarkable opportunity to move beyond silence,” Yahnke explained, “encouraging one another to speak compassionately and honestly about our God’s grace, mercy and love for all of His children.” Government needs to stay within its boundaries, it should continue to progress and serve, but it has a long way to go and truth be told, man in any earthly institution will never reach anything resembling perfection. In the meantime the church needs to be a strong, assertive and faithful witness to Christ, remembering that it is society’s conscience, not to enforce law, but to elevate the discussion and always pointing to relationship in Jesus. The church must be the church because there is no alternative and most importantly there is no hope and promise to eternity in Christ.

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(Notes: The quotes are from: Princeton University law professor Dr. Robert P. George speaks on “Natural Law, Marriage and the Common Good” to participants of the Aug. 14-15 conference in Mundelein, Ill., on same-sex marriage and attraction sponsored by DOXOLOGY, an LCMS Recognized Service Organization. (LCMS Communications/Adriane Dorr) I am also including notes from my Masters of Divinity classes at Concordia Seminary, St Louis, Mo.)

What is your organization’s spiritual perspective

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What is your organization’s spiritual perspective.

What is your organization’s spiritual perspective

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Yeah in my kumbah-ya, everyone sitting around the work campfire, everyone all on the same page, spiritually speaking and of course, especially in this day and age that’s just not realistic. In addition I kind of thought of a Christian business in terms of Chik Fil A, Hobby Lobby etc I really didn’t take into account that management might do some window-dressing to enhance the business mission, but not really take it seriously. In his book “Business Courage”, Fr Nkwasibwe lists out the motivations that might be driving management to allow, implement or encourage opportunities to build spirituality into their organization.

I do want to emphasize that there is no doubt that organizations have their unique missions, the church is the church and whether you are a commercial organization, government, not-for-profit, you have your own mission. I would like to think that any organization that implements, allows or encourages spirituality in the workplace is doing it with altruistic motivations. I am sure that even the most dedicated Christian or other type of believer is doing this in order to enhance the mission of their organization. I don’t have a problem with that, even if it may be a sort of cynical attempt to exploit something that they feel might enhance production, results. I certainly don’t condone it, but let’s face it man’s motives are never going to be completely altruistic and I trust that God is going to take even our most cynical offerings and make them at least somewhat glorifying and God-honoring.

Fr Nkwasibwe’s first example is “Workplace Spirituality as a crafty device for Leadership effectiveness”, as I said just an entirely cynical effort to exploit something in the organization to enhance the mission of the organization, could kind of think of it as “using God”. No it’s not good, but it may be just the point that God does use to glorify Himself, or that this is where someone really needs to meet God and He has initiated the whole idea in order to reach that person. Hey He’s God, He’s going to work it out the way He needs/wants to. What better way to the glory of God to take an imperfect vessel such as a cynical attempt to exploit God and He takes it and uses it to really reach someone or a few someones?

I’m going to let Fr Nkwasibwe describe this next possibility: “To this group, workplace spirituality has become a form of workplace battlefield of proxy wars between the military of the rising secular fun morality and philosophy and the garrison of the deepening religious thought, philosophy and strict morality. Workplace spirituality is seen as a venue and battle of dominance of religion versus irreligion in the workplace, just as there is a competition for more salary between the humanities/arts and science professions in the workplace.” (p 227)

Uhhmm wow. I never really imagined this type of scenario, but I am reminded that Fr Nkwasibwe is from Africa, the interaction between different beliefs, especially Christian/Muslim, in those terms you can imagine profound conflict, I’d be willing to bet that there has been conflict. In the U.S. I can see it more in terms of sniping, cliques, lack of cooperation etc. I can certainly imagine situations that might get out of hand. I see the question as; do you want to implement something that will enhance the workplace environment, or is it a case where it’s allowed without any real way to really control it? (not control in a way to decide what will or won’t, but in terms of function in terms of not interfering with the normal functioning of the organization and will not result in conflict or distractions.) This is certainly something that should be considered if organizations do want to implement/encourage this kind of opportunity.

This next one, as a Christian, especially a pastor, is kind of a burr under my saddle. Especially in terms of being a Lutheran, which emphasizes what God does through us, being “good”, being “moral”, “ethical”, in terms of conduct is so subjective, and not really what I’m talking about in terms of our relationship with Jesus. Our “goodness” or lack thereof, however defined, does not earn us a way to heaven. It’s so subjective and it’s done only in terms of a relationship with Jesus, the Holy Spirit guides us in all aspects of our life. We can never be “good” enough to earn our way to heaven, it’s only through Jesus’ sacrifice, His propitiation of our sin, His righteousness do we become part of the Kingdom, here on earth and for eternity. So when we start talking, as Fr Nkwasibwe, does saying: “They equate spirituality with morality. Spirituality is merely seen as a principle for promoting cultural and religious sensitivity and practicing a reasonable accommodation in the workplace in order to address the problem of social justice…they see workplace spirituality as the means to strengthen the practice of social justice, to eliminate the mental and social effects of workplace discrimination and to apply ethics in theory and practice in the workplace…seen as a bridge between religion, ethics and the law.” (pp 227-228)

I’m sorry but this smacks of the organization trying to play God, it certainly is entitled to implement rules, regulations, and discipline, but if it’s trying to do it in a way that smacks of Big Brother, I would say there are other issues at play here and the attempt is going to be perceived as manipulation and it will inevitably cause conflict and fail in its attempt to control. If you want to do something to promote some kind of social justice/welfare, do it, but don’t try to make it as some kind of works righteousness or to manipulate the response of the members of the organization. It is always a faith journey, in this particular situation, the faith is in your own judgment and really does nothing more then what you would already do. If you truly want to be guided by God, go for it, but do it in faith and the leading of the Holy Spirit. Anything else will be an embarrassment and will fail.

Fr Nkwasibwe’s next description is probably the best description of what I would see as a Christian environment in the workplace and what I would buy into, understanding that it will probably be a work in progress:

“Inspired by the Spirit of God, a devout group of people associate the practice of workplace spirituality with a means to perfection, wholeness and salvation. Here, it is seen as a bridge that links the natural world with the supernatural life. As such, spirituality at the workplace constitutes an opportunity for conversion and growing in holiness. Progress in holiness is the utmost level of expression of spirituality and religiosity because it consists of perfecting in one’s life that sanctification that he or she has received from his or her God.” Christians always understand that our righteousness is through Christ, we are saved through the Gospel, not through hoops and rolls, a lot of rules or practices. Yes Christians have a set form, but in the final analysis, it’s not about what we’re doing, it’s about the faith that we are given in relationship with Jesus. Our only progress in spirituality, per se, is what we stop resisting and what the Holy Spirit guides us to and strengthens us in, all about Him, nothing about us.

“…They consider the practice of workplace spirituality to be a private and public protocol for responding to a call to holiness. This is believed to be achieved by a reflective conversion of mind and heart to embracing a God-centered culture and a way of life. In this way, spirituality is a practice that supports the making of a stance to become our authentic selves while irrevocably trust in God who is all truth and whose love surpass the furthermost expression of the human yearning.” (pp 228 – 229) Roman Catholicism and Lutheranism have profound differences, hey that’s the whole reason for the Reformation, but I can accept this quote in terms of the understanding that what we do is in faith, it is God honoring, our intent is to be in God’s will, not our own. There is nothing anymore special about our work environment that should restrict our relationship with the Lord, it’s God’s plans and by definition it has to be infinitely better then ours.

Finally Fr Nkwasibwe describes what is probably the typical contemporary workplace environment: “…one side of individuals wants a non-interfering religion or a religion that dialogues and conforms to the voice of the world while guaranteeing them enjoying life in total autonomy. On the other hand, another side of individuals wants a religion that guarantees freedom with a caveat that this freedom does not simply mean enjoying life in total autonomy…” Hey let’s face it, that’s the way the world is today, I’m doing what I want, when I want, how it affects others or negatively affects them, and for some bizarre reason the rest of the world is supposed to buy into it, no matter how negatively it affects others and my church should buy into whatever I want, because I’m a “good” person and deserve it. Yea, right, you keep believing that. You’re “god” and God is supposed to just facilitate the life you want. Hey it works for Joel Osteen right? Doesn’t work for God’s revealed Word, but hey, people are going to do what they’re going to do.

Yes, I guess it’s kind of a weighted discussion, but it is the way it is. What should your organization look like compared to these examples? Are you moving that way? Are you taking into account the possibilities. Certainly my perspective is toward being faithful to God’s leading and trusting His infinite knowledge and that He only wants what is best for me, in Christian maturity, not according to my plan.

Spiritual Warfare, Michael and Satan

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I am going to try to post the texts of my sermon, I hope this is helpful, and any comments, good, bad or indifferent are always welcome on any of my posts. Thanks and I pray that the Holy Spirit helps you to find this enriching:

Spiritual Warfare, Michael, Satan

First St Johns September 29, 2013

You are the all powerful Creator and Sustainer of the universe Lord God, You are our protection, our defense against all the evil in the world. We thank You that You are always with us, always there to protect us, to guide us. We thank You for your powerful angels that protect us, they watch over us as You direct them Father, for those who are in Jesus, Your angels keep us safe from the evil that lurks all around us. Keep us from the battles that go on around us, I have no doubt if we saw what happens in the spiritual realm we would be terrified, even knowing that while it goes on You protect us. Help us Lord to grow strong, so that we can be used by You to fight the spiritual war, so that we are able to defend our family, our neighbors, our church against the attack from the enemy. We make our beginning in the Name of God the Father and in the Name of God the Son and… and all those who are ready to fight the spiritual war around us said … AMEN.

Today we observe Michael and all Angels day. Michael is an Archangel. There are millions of angels and the counterparts of angel, which are … demons. As you can see from our reading today, all of these beings were together in heaven. Lucifer, Son of the Morning Star (Isaiah 14:12), decided that he should have a better gig, decided to push back against God (for a being who was created to be the most brilliant of all angels, I still can’t understand why he would make such a dumb move) but being brilliant can be an idol, lots of people worship brilliance today, it does is cloud your knowledge and judgment. Apparently Lucifer thought he was so brilliant that he was bullet-proof, he learned the hard way that he isn’t .

There’s kind of a fourth archangel, named Raphael, who is mentioned in some of the Apocryphal books, Apocryphal means of “doubtful origin, unknown origin”, we just don’t know who wrote them and so can’t make a judgment on whether they are inspired or not as the 66 books of the Bible are.

It is said that each angel has their own sphere of influence. Some would say down to an individual, in our Gospel passage today Jesus says: “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.” That passage is ambiguous, you could make the case, I wouldn’t bet the mortgage money on it. The more senior angels, as it were, these are the ones who are in the immediate presence of God the Father as Gabriel told Mary at the annunciation, these angels are said to have more general/broader responsibilities. According to legend, tradition; “Michael is in charge of spiritual warfare. Gabriel is in charge of messages and announcements. The domain of Lucifer was knowledge.” We can certainly understand why we would think of Gabriel being the Herald of God, Wikipedia defines herald as: more correctly, a herald of arms, is an officer of arms… Heralds were originally messengers sent by monarchs or noblemen to convey messages or proclamations—in this sense being the predecessors of the modern diplomats.” When you show up to tell people what God is about to do, that’s an important guy. Interesting Lucifer was in charge of knowledge, when man and woman ate from the tree of knowledge the mixing of good and evil together. Much could be said that man in innocence would have had a life of peace and joy. Lucifer decided that we should be smart, because of that, we’ve decided we are smarter than God, so it stands to reason that Lucifer who’s a whole lot smarter than us, should think he’s smarter than God.

The one that we focus on today the leader of the angels, after Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Michael, is also the archangel in charge of “spiritual warfare”, so I am also going to make a shameless plug for our small group that is coming up that is on “spiritual warfare”, that will start on October 10, 7pm. Clearly it is not tradition or legend that supports this idea of Michael being the leader of the heavenly host, and that is what host means, the army of heaven. John tells us specifically in Revelation that Michael and his angels are fighting Satan. The angels are certainly God’s, but this is written in the same sense that a military commander would refer to his men, those he is directly in charge of and responsible for. Michael is the patron saint of the military, police and fire fighters. Do not pray to Michael if you are in the military or public safety, we always pray to the Father in the Name of the Son, but Michael is a sort of icon of the Father’s protection, one of the ways that the Father will send in order to help you or defend you.

Michael, Gabriel and Raphael are all considered “saints” since it seems that the angel who is highlighted is Michael, we might assume, that “spiritual warfare” is recognized as the priority. Our epistle lesson and Old Testament lesson, both discuss Michael. The angel tells Daniel that he was held up by a demon and that Michael had to come to help him in order for him to deliver his message to Daniel. In Revelation John tells us how Michael and his angels drove Satan out of heaven. Now, this is the most lopsided “war” that can be imagined, the problem is that you and I are in the middle of that war. But it’s certainly lopsided since the outcome has been determined, the Book of Revelation tells us of the ultimate fate of Satan and his demons. But for now, the world is clearly in Satan’s grasp. Sin abounds in the world, and it seems humanity likes it that way. And let’s face it, we like it, sin is attractive, if it’s prettied up, “hey what’s the harm, right? “John Warwick Montgomery observes: “…the devil’s main act of hatred is not to destroy people (at least not at first), but to get them by masquerading as angels of light. The devil’s best disguise is piety. From the beginning, he’s cloaked damnable wiliness beneath a robe of theological inquiry – ‘Did God really say?’” So yea, go ahead, take a bite, doesn’t matter of what, so long as it separates you from your Savior Jesus, and it must be OK, because it’s so purty, nice, I like it. And that’s how we make decisions today and Satan helps us moves there.

Many people have this odd idea that because sin is so prevalent that God can’t or won’t do anything about it, but Dr Montgomery goes on to say: “…God has even anticipated the demonic opposition of the adversary and the determined seductiveness of the tempter and has systematically integrated it into his own world order (Rev 2:10; 13:5 ff). So really the devil is the power in God’s world who always wills evil and yet always effects good. Satan does not escape from God’s ‘ordo’, but remains co-ordinated in it,” It’s not an issue of whether God is in control, He certainly is, we see that in the life of Jesus and we read about it in the Book of Revelation. What Satan does, God permits. Satan is a completely, evil, depraved and vicious being, have no doubt, if Satan were left to his own devices, this world would be an unbearable hell. To paraphrase what Joseph said to his brothers in Egypt, what Satan intends for evil, God uses for good.

Historically we like to think warfare is cut and dry, there’s the enemy, we protect ourselves from him and trust that God will save us. As Dr Montgomery observed, it’s just not that cut and dry, the devil presents himself as an angel of light, he can do it because he was an angel of light. He can be as pious as anyone, it’s not really hard to do, at least for what he needs. We have to be vigilant, we have to be discerning, to be faithful in prayer and ready to follow God’s leading, we may think we know what we’re doing, that whatever it is must be OK, but the whole point of warfare, spiritual or worldly, is to undermine the enemy. To Satan, we as a Christian, baptized, strengthened by the Body and Blood of Jesus, faithful in attendance and hearing the preached Word, we are the enemy. It’s not hard for Satan to create all kinds of dislike, confusion and outright hostility. We have to be constantly on guard as to what the forces of evil do to Christians individually and as a group. We rely on the promise of God in Deuteronomy 33:27: “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He will drive out your enemy before you,…” We only do that trusting in Him, in the pastor He has sent to lead and in our fellow Christians. I’m certainly not saying that this is a formula for perfect peace and harmony, the demonic works hard and constantly, hey they’ve been doing this for thousands of years, it’s not hard to find some sort of weak point. It’s up to us to be vigilant, to test the spirits as we are told, to rely on our Savior. Christ crucified has defeated the demonic, the evil in the world, that does not mean it’s dead, we’ve seen terrorist acts in the world, Satan is more than capable of spiritual terrorist attacks. Through Christ’s life and death we are equipped through baptism, His Body and Blood, the Word, all the armor we need to defeat the enemy. As Paul tells us in Romans in all these things we are more then conquerors through Christ who loved us.” (Rom 8:37)

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

Faith is the basis that we function in all aspects of our life.

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Faith is the basis that we function in all aspects of our life..

Faith is the basis that we function in all aspects of our life.

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I want to thank Fr Frederick Nkwasibwe for his great insights in his book Business Courage. As I’ve probably noted he is a Roman Catholic priest who received his undergraduate degree in divinity, but his thesis for his MBA is the basis for this book. He really did a lot of work (the book is over 400 pages) and he really dug into the history of the church to uncover this insight from a church father, St Cyril of Jerusalem who lived from 315 to 386. “…in his famous Jerusalem Catechesis. From this foundational research, Foley and McCloskey quote thus:”

“It is not only among us, who are marked with the name of Christ, that the dignity of faith is great; all the business of the world, even of those outside the church, is accomplished by faith. By faith, marriage laws join in union persons who were strangers to one another. By faith agriculture is sustained; for a man does not endure the toil involved unless he believes he will reap a harvest. By faith, seafaring men, entrusting themselves to a tiny wooden craft, exchange the solid element of the land for the unstable motion of the waves. Not only among us does this hold true, but also, as I have said, among those outside the fold. For though they do not accept the Scriptures but advance certain doctrines of their own, yet even these they receive on faith.”

One can certainly make the case that the breakdown in the economy in 2008 was sparked by a lot of activity that violated the faith of a lot of people. Bernie Madoff, was only a blip, but he has become the most visible icon of that era. There were so many who were involved in the deceptions of the mortgage meltdown, including banks, mortgage originators, FANNIE MAE, government policy at the federal, state and local level, that we will be unwinding these violations of trust and faith for more years to come.

One could certainly make the case that faithlessness in many ways has undermined the institution of marriage, expedience is the rule of our day, faith is a quaint, outdated ideal and the consideration today is I want what I want now. Darwinian philosophy is the rule of the day “Survival of the Fittest”. I want money, I want power, I want someone at home who is all about me, I want prestige, I want the right marriage. Is there little doubt that there is not a Biblical understanding of marriage anymore, that is mutual serving, but is in reality mutual using? Marrying into the right family to help improve my status, increase my opportunity to be in the right company, to marry a spouse who has a good career and will contribute substantially to an improved lifestyle, of course sexual satisfaction, the idea that I will be able to control my spouse in order to achieve my own goals and desires. I’m not saying that romantic love, as it were, is the ideal either, it has only been within the last three – four generations that marriage has really been about romantic love, economics has certainly played a role. But up until the last three – four generations, marriage was still biblically based.

Successful businesses today have begun to grasp that concept. That business partnerships have to be of mutual service and benefit to not only the partners, the customers, investors, employees and other stakeholders. The synergistic effect of these relationships has driven very successful, mutually profitable joint ventures. That was what the mortgage industry was about. I did a stint of mortgage originating for Fleet National Bank. The bank was very demanding in terms of not just production, but in assuring that it was a quality investment. We had to do a lot of selling to prospective customers, and also to our in-house underwriters. Documentation had to be of “pin point” quality. The mortgage industry fell into an attitude of expedience, shoddy or no documentation, very low quality investment, and a total breakdown in integrity and faith. It’s a breakdown that we see rippling through society, we have not learned the lessons that have been taught since at least the 1980s, Michael Milken, Worldcom, Enron – Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, all examples of a lack of integrity and faith that seems to be accelerating instead of examples that we can learn from and understand that we have to return to a time where we could trust in the integrity of those we do business and faith is the watchword of commerce, as it has been well before St Cyril. If our ancestors going back thousands of years could function and flourish while still maintaining their faith and integrity, why is it that we who are supposed to be so much more enlightened and intelligent, have to sink to the level of lying and cheating?

There is no doubt in my mind that those who are part of this group and read this blog are striving for the highest ideals and have put a great deal of faith into not just commerce, but our whole society. When we know Jesus as Lord and Savior, it is not just as “fire insurance” for our salvation, or a way to leverage church to more success, we do it because we live our lives in faith in Christ and trust that in all the parts of our lives we live according to His guidance and Lordship, we trust the results to Him. In the meantime we faithfully go out and make our best efforts, put in lots of hard work, and in true faith leave the results to Him who is ever faithful to us. It is always the understanding of what Christ does in and through us. If He is an all knowing, all loving God who only wants what is best for His adopted children, how can we go wrong? We may not end of being Warren Buffet or Steve Jobs or Bill Gates, that is “successful” according to the world, but I have no doubt that our lives will be fulfilling and as He promises in the Lord’s prayer that we will have our daily bread. In my own life, I have seen God do some things that I would have never planned and He ‘s done it in a way that has made life more challenging and accomplished. We go into eternity, which is what really matters, having lived a life that is complete in Christ, not in eventual failure in us.

The June 2013 issue of Inc Magazine was kind of a present day look at leadership. I know it’s too late for you to guy it, but maybe you can find it in the library it’s worth spending the time.

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Any way, Paley says “A great idea is never enough”, that idea is true about alot and couldn’t be more true about Jesus. If you know Jesus, I guess you might say you have a great idea (truth is, it’s the Holy Spirit),however you characterize it, ok, now what? And that’s kind of the point of the article. A Christian is all about sharing that idea, telling people about Him and then looking for the Holy Spirit’s guidance and going with it. That should be the Christian’s MO (modis operandi, mode of operation) We are led to creatively share Jesus (since the Holy Spirit’s doing it, you know it can get really creative). But at the same time, can’t we adapt the creativity, dynamism, excitement to our job, the ideas that we can have to do business well and in a way that serves all stakeholders. It’s true what Paley says: “The system vastly overvalues ideas and undervalues execution.” Jesus certainly put it on the line His whole life and His death and resurrection are the height of carrying through the mission.

The world? The world really doesn’t. More often then not we see the world talk a good game, just talk itself to death. We are not called to do that as Christian disciples. Eleven very ordinary men were left with Jesus’ directions ” Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matt 28: 19-20 (NIV) Can you think of anymore dynamic imperative?

The world has this goofy idea that to be a Christian means being passive, not willing to drive, push, sacrifice for what you believe in. Unfortunately, for too many “Christians” that seems to the case, St Paul drove his way from Israel to Rome, planting new churches all along the way.

Paley ends by saying “Ideas are static. entrepreneurship is dynamic.” Yes for the world, it can be for Christians too, if they let it, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me”? The Great Commission, the application of the Cross and the empty tomb, those could just be concepts, but God uses them to compel us, there isn’t anything more compelling! If, as Christians, these are the pinnacle of our lives (because they are), then we should be executing all over the place in our lives. We are dynamos not only spiritually, but we should be in all aspects of our lives.

A contrast of the world and Jesus in baseball.

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Mariano Rivera is a relief pitcher for the New York Yankees, this is his last season and his last appearance at Yankee Stadium was an emotional outpouring of affection for a man who has been a vital part of the Yankees success over the last 16 years. Now being a Red Sox fan, I find myself in a strange position. But somethings transcend team loyalties, and being a brother in Christ transcends all things (but I have to concede that he would have looked a lot better in a Red Sox uniform, you know, vs the uniform of the Evil Empire.)

There is no doubt that that through his 16 year Yankee career he lived his Christian witness, teammates and fans alike held Rivera in great esteem, while being the best relief pitcher in the history of baseball certainly had something to do with that, one has to wonder how his teammate Alex Rodriquez will leave the sport. Because of his suspension for using performance enhancing drugs, ARod may have already played in his last game. ARod has had a career that any baseball player would love to have, but I have no doubt that his career will play out in a whimper vs the bang that Rivera went out on. A life like Rivera’s certainly does give us a vivd example of a life lived in excellence and in true excellence in Jesus.

When he left the mound it was almost, for lack of a better word, embarrassing, but it was in a special way. I began to wonder if the applause and hugs and emotion would end and baseball would resume. One had to wonder what ARod was thinking during the long outpouring of affection. No doubt Mariano lived to excel at baseball, you can’t succeed in professional sports at the level he did without being a ferocious competitor, relief pitchers in some ways are even more competitively ferocious because they have to come into such pressure packed situations.

Mariano is certainly an example to young Christians that they can be successful and be faithful to Christ in whatever they do in life, hey I’m an old guy and he is an example to me. We have seen so much cheating and dishonesty in sports, business, education, government and yes, even the church. To see someone who has succeeded on his own, to be showered with such affection. But that does not mean that to be a good Christian we have to be fabulously successful and so that should take the temptation away from a Christian to cheat, to cut corners, to succeed only for the sake of success. We have to remember to do our best in whatever our endeavor and then to trust the Holy Spirit as to how He will use that. Whether one is a humble parish minister, faithfully serving and leading, or a successful athlete, we have to trust that we are where God wants us, where we are best serving the kingdom. When we decide, like those who are “successful” that we should also succeed and decide to break the rules for what we think is the greater good, which usually really means our personal gratification or ego, we fail our Lord Jesus and also all those who trusted us. Whatever victory there is, is hollow, and we give the world another excuse to defame Jesus and His church. There won’t be a warm outpouring when you leave that mound for the last time, you will fade away scorned and ridiculed.

We should celebrate Riviera for his incredible witness, success did not separate him from His Lord, but let’s also remember those who humbly serve where the Holy Spirit in His wisdom has placed them and honor all those who faithfully witness day in and day out to Jesus, no matter how humbly they serve Him. If you really think that a life of the means justifying the ends really is the way you want to go, carefully consider Rivera versus Alex Rodriquez or Lance Armstrong. More than likely very few people will notice when I end, however that will be, but it simply has to be in a way that I will be remembered as a Christian with the integrity, strength and faith that God gave me to trust Him to put me where He wanted me and that the results would be to His glory. That is what a life in Christ is all about.

Life more abundantly, through Christ, not through technology and expertise.

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The 18th century is seen as the beginning of the modern age. This is when mankind started to make meaningful movement into science and technology. As such, mankind started to subtly shift into a belief that man’s destiny was in man’s hands, that all problems could be solved by man through medicine, management and technology. Steve Forbes writes that around the turn of the 20th century the Progressive movement began to implement its vision that problems are solved through “trained experts” that would solve problems through their expertise and governmental power and authority, basically that solutions had to be imposed on people by a some how elite/wiser class of people. (Forbes Mag June 10, 2013 pp 11-12) People had to be shown what was best for them in a technical way, the only way in life was through science and expertise.

Certainly the technological advances of the last two hundred years have been staggering and have benefited mankind extraordinarily, I’m not oblivious or some kind of troglodyte. I spent twenty years in corporate finance mostly in the high-tech industry. I grew up, professionally, in one of the most staggeringly, technologically progressive time in history. Technology has a downside, to too many people who have been left behind in the modern age, it is seen as the panacea. The priests of this era and today are judges, scientists and medical doctors. Articles of faith such as in evolution (which very few credible scientists accept anymore) are as prevalent in science and medicine as in religion. No one ever seems to think out how this ends. While there have been tepid attempts to reconcile this somehow with thinking that God now realizes how enlightened and deserving we are of going right to heaven. Only “really evil” people go to hell, you know, like Hitler. There really isn’t sin, and it doesn’t matter, somehow or another God works it out, after all a holy God would never send people to hell. No one who says this ever has a shred of documentation, or substantive proof, but that’s their “opinion”, and since God is really just some sort of indulgent grandfather figure who, as the Joel Osteens, would like to tell us “only wants to bless us”, materially, without a shred of substantive proof, we can merrily go on our way, “this isn’t serious anyway, it works out the way I want to, so I can just live life the way I want to, so long as I’m good.”

It’s not what God says, but hey who really knows if all that Bible stuff is really true. I will admit that the church has allowed the “powder puff” version of Christianity and made a relationship with Jesus a morality story, again on our own terms, according to our own vision.

The reality is that God is just as much the God of the Bible (Old Testament and New Testament) now as He ever was and He will ever be. The post-modern era has at least raised the awareness that there is much more to man then technology and expertise. If anything the pendulum, as it oft does, seems to have swung to the other ridiculous end of the spectrum. Not only are we spirit and physical, but we are entitled (yea that word that recent generations live by), to decide how we see God and we see no intellectual disconnect in millions of people creating their own God. Mark Twain observed: “God created man in His own image, man has been returning the favor ever since.” Yes we are a spiritual people very much tied to the material and we do benefit greatly from technology. We are all created by one omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, transcendent God. This same God has revealed Himself in a manner that has been compelling for thousands of years, in what we know as the Bible. The Bible is a history of God working very specifically through a very ancient people. The identity of those people was then transferred to those people who now constitute the Body of Jesus Christ, the Son of God the Father.

Again yes, there is failure on the part of the church to be taken seriously, I agree totally that the church has catered to the adolescent, if not pre-adolescent mentality instead of truly challenging people. None the less, there is a responsibility on the part of each person to turn to God and to rely on His guidance, church not withstanding. I’m not trying to minimize the role of the church. The church was given the “keys to heaven and to hell” by Jesus, the Lord’s Supper and baptism, these are the things that truly do save, strengthen, encourage and fortify the Christian believer. We certainly have a responsibility to hold up Jesus and to continue to present Him as our only salvation, because He is. My prayer is this, that the Holy Spirit prevail upon people, en masse, help them to understand that the reality of life on earth and in eternity is only through Jesus Christ. That this post-modern movement that is swinging us to an understanding that we are much more then science and education, much more, will help us to also understand that it is not our call to decide on personal salvation, as if it were an on-line application that we fill out and UPS delivers to us in less then a week. It is only through Christ, through His church, through His sacraments of baptism, Lord’s Supper, through the preached Word, that we have the assurance of Christ as the Lord of our life and of our eternity. Anyone I ever talk to about their salvation has this sort of wispy, vaporous vision of eternity. If this is heaven so be it, because according to Christian revelation eternity is in the resurrection, the very physical recreating of us into what will be perfect, in the perfect physical world, restored to the way it was intended at creation. We will be in the eternal presence of our Lord Jesus Christ who has promised that we would have life, “ I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” John 10:10. Our life in eternity will be more fulfilling, more abundant then anything we can imagine. So maybe we ought to stop trying to create our own eternity, in our own imagination and rely on the perfect eternity in Christ. He is God and He is going to give us a world that we couldn’t even begin to imagine.

In the very same issue of Forbes, Rich Karlgaard points out: “Personal growth is everyone’s duty. Every major religion says so….the secular pillars of society – science, reason and enlightenment – say the same thing. Progress comes from inquiry, effort, discipline, testing, learning, reflection and wisdom…” (Forbes Mag June 10, 2013 p 32)

Hiding behind science, medicine, only what I can actually hold stunts the growth of people, we have understood for millenium our spiritual aspect. We are finally maturing back into an understanding of our spiritual, eternal life, a part of our life that has been stifled and stunted since the beginning of the “Modern Age”. Having said that, we seem not to have progressed past the adolescent mindset, that in terms of God, it’s all about me. It’s not! We can “learn” all we want, but one of the fundamental tenets of Christianity is that until we are reborn spiritually, through baptism, we are dead. As spiritual beings we have the obligation to continue to mature. God will continue to work on us and teach us through various aspects of life so that we grow as spiritual beings, Christians. God made exceptions, but for the vast majority of us, the maturation process can only be done in and through the church. Not through some self-centered, pie-in-the -sky, what’s convenient for me and in it for me, what I want. It only counts if it’s what God wants. He has given us His Son and his church, that is what He wants and how He does it.

Is it time for you t reconsider a paradigm that was wrongly conceived to being with? The idea that somehow it is up to us to solve all problems, we don’t need God, to where we are today that means God completely out of our worldview? Post-modernism has realized this fallacy of modernism. We know there is a spiritual side of man. Instead of perpetuating the modernist idea that it’s still up to us. Let’s remember prayer, that God, and God is the Father of Jesus Christ, God is the only answer to our spiritual needs and His Holy Spirit will lead us back to the riches of life in Jesus Christ, life eternal. Let’s go back to the realization that it’s not what we do, but what God does through us that’s important.

Lonlier, Less connected, even in the digital age

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I think we all have intuitivelly understood the following, but I think that the “Barna Group” research organization has articulated what at least I’ve suspected: “…some household structures struggle more than others, singles and divorcees, in particular. “The simple fact is that ‘unmarried America’ perceives itself to be lonelier, more indebted and more aspirational about getting ahead in life than the married cohort of Americans,” Kinnaman says. “While marriage is not a realistic option for everyone, the nation’s continued shift away from marriage as the standard household type to one of digitally connected tribes of ‘friends’ is going to have significant impact on the psychographics of the nation in the next decade.”
He continues: “As a nation, we are embracing the digital revolution and, ironically, we are becoming a lonelier population. While there are many benefits of being participants in possibly the most relationally connected age in human history, the social media revolution has not made us feel more connected, less lonely, or replete with friends.”
“Finally, the research points to many opportunities for the Christian community—the original social network—to provide genuine responses to the needs of today’s culture,” Kinnaman concludes. “The Church, when functioning properly, can address the rising epidemic of loneliness, financial strain and indebtedness, increasing concerns about morality, among many other things. Faith communities must respond to the “fearful” realities of the future with wisdom and love. After all, Jesus teaches that we should not be anxious about tomorrow, not even the changing psychographics of Americans.’’

Pastor Jim Driskell

If you want to change the world, pick up your pen and write. – Dr Martin Luther

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The church needs to be the church

What is your organization’s spiritual perspective

What is your organization’s spiritual perspective

Spiritual Warfare, Michael and Satan

Faith is the basis that we function in all aspects of our life.

Faith is the basis that we function in all aspects of our life.

The June 2013 issue of Inc Magazine was kind of a present day look at leadership. I know it’s too late for you to guy it, but maybe you can find it in the library it’s worth spending the time.

A contrast of the world and Jesus in baseball.

Life more abundantly, through Christ, not through technology and expertise.

Lonlier, Less connected, even in the digital age