Crazy Theological Thoughts

A Forgiven people who are called to Forgive. It may be a sad time of year for some. It may be a joyous time for others. It is time for fall sports practices to start, and that means kids are going back to school. Teachers have to get their classrooms ready for the new arrivals this Fall. Coaches have to set up practice schedules and remember everyone starts back at 0-0 (and that always means new competition). As fun as graduation was last spring, now it is time to head off to college, trad-school, or work (said with a groan). August brings with it a thought of "where did the summer go?" and at the same time the weather that truly says Summer has officially arrived in South Dakota. But a lot of these changes mean new friends and old friends, with whom we get to spend more time. This means old wounds, and regrets may come up. With these wounds, it reminds of sins long held against each other. This is a time when we think about how mean some people can be. There are happy though...

A Forgiven people are called to Forgive. The great mission of the Church is to call sinners to Jesus. A wise man once said, "If you are not a sinner, Jesus is not for you." Jesus came into the world to save sinners. He sought out those who were sick and in need. The sick where brought to him, and even the dead where brought to him. Jesus provided them all with the same simple message. "Your sins are forgiven." You may have thought it was a different message. You may have thought he told them to get up and walk. You may have thought he said, be healed. But Jesus came to Forgive sins. This was his mission. Jesus goes to the cross as a lamb led to be slaughtered because he is going to make full atonement for your sins. A Forgiven people are called to Forgive. We will continue to pray every week for those individuals who are sick or dying. We will pray for those who need strength to face the struggles of this life, whatever they may be. But the message we proclaim to al...

You are a forgiven people who are called to forgive. We have been give the greatest gift in all the world. We have been given that gift to share with everyone we know and love. You are forgiven in the blood of Christ. Jesus Christ died in your place and for your sins. So you have been called to forgive those who sin against you. Yes, you are supposed to confront those who have sinned against you. You are to point out their sins. You are to tell other people when they do something wrong to you. But you are not supposed to stand up in front of everyone. You are supposed to talk, just between the two of you. We do not want to spread someone sins around town or on the internet. We want to keep it quite so we can forgive them, and they never have to face that sin again. But we do not pray: Forgive me my trespasses as I forgive those who trespass against me. It is the first person plural pronoun. Because God is our Father. We as Christians are a part of one body, namely Jesus Christ. We are ...

We are forgiven people who have been called to forgive. Therefore, we have been instructed to pray: And Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. It is easy for us to often say we are sorry, or even ask for someone to forgive our sins. It is a lot harder for us to forgive someone else. Most Sunday mornings we probably give little thought to the confession of our sins. There is even the childhood mix up between: heartily and hardly. "But I am heartily sorry for them and sincerely repent of them, ..." Many of us are hardly sorry for our sins, as we continue to run toward our sins. Likewise, the joke playing on the words of Jesus, "Get behind me Satan, and PUSH." But we are sinful people. We have sinned in thought word and deed. We have sinned by the things we have done (commission) and by the things we have left undone (omission). One of the most grievous sins we all commit is forgetting to forgive others. You are a forgiven people who are...

This may seem of little importance to most people. But this is of great importance to God, and for those who might full into sin on your account. Abram and Sarai go to Egypt. They tell Pharaoh that Sarai is Abram's sister and not his wife. Abram does this so he will not get killed, but in doing so he curses the house of Pharaoh. Pharaoh took Sarai as one of his many wives, and God sent a plague on his house. All this took place because Abram did not properly identify his wife. The public recognition of marriage is important. It is important for other people to know that this woman belongs to this man, and this man belongs to this woman. If you want to mess around with one or the other, they do not belong to you, nor you might add do they belong to themselves. Sarai was not Pharaoh's to take. Pharaoh would not have taken Sarai if Abram would have told him the truth. But Pharaoh's house suffered for Abram's lie. Other people suffer for our sins, especially when we are not...

A practical example: A fifteen year old male member of your congregation chose to have Appropriate Proper Penetration with a sixteen year old female member of another Christian congregation. I am not going to worry about the differences between the different Church bodies. Nor do I worry about the differing opinions of the parents. The question is what do you tell these two teenagers about what they have done? And what do you tell them to do from now on? First, thing is since these two individuals made a choice and sealed that choice through Appropriate Proper Penetration (or sexual intercourse). They have joined themselves together in the eyes of God. They have committed PreMarital Marriage. This is not dependent upon how they feel for one another afterward, nor how they felt before. They have joined themselves together. Second, most people's first reaction would be to pull them apart as fast and as far as possible. But they have been joined together. They have committed the act o...

Some people may ask or think that if marriage is only based on sexual intercourse, than can not a man marry another man or a woman marry another woman. And I guess if you can marry two ketchup bottles together, then I guess the answer is yes. But in truth no, because a man can't have appropriate proper Penetration with another man. Appropriate Proper Penetration is not just penetration. One can easily say that one man can provide another man with penetration, through a inappropriate orifice. This is inappropriate Penetration, and thus not proper sexual intercourse. You likewise can talk about a woman improperly penetrating the proper orifice of another woman. These are not Proper Penetration. Appropriate Proper Penetration is a male Penis entering into a female vagina. Note: I will not add for the purpose of procreation. Because not every time there is proper sexual intercourse does it lead to procreation, nor is it intended to lead toward procreation. Here as we are focused on Mar...

Marriage is defined in Genesis as a man clinging to his wife and the two becoming one flesh. This definition is standardized even in the New Testament by both Jesus and St Paul. Therefore, we have generally said Marriage is defined as one Man and one Woman being joined together in a life long union. Most people think that this Marriage union is created through a man dressed in black and woman dressed in white walking down an aisle to be joined together before some kind of altar. But this is only a ceremony of marriage. The Bride and bridegroom are actually joined together through what is known as consummation, or proper sexual relations.  Thus, St Paul can even talk in reference to a marriage bed. This concept may be overlooked by a culture that no longer views the bed as the place where a majority of sexual activity takes place. But he states this because the marriage bed is the location in which a man and woman are joined together. Just as it was Rachael or Leah's tent in which t...

Many people are confused today as to what constitutes Marriage in the eyes of God. Others seem to be confused as to what is defined by sex. I will be using the next couple of short posts to illustrate these issues. PreMarital Sex is generally defined as sexual relations before or outside of the covenant of Marriage. But the Marriage covenant is consummated by sexual intercourse. Therefore, if two people have sexual intercourse they are married in the eyes of the LORD. When Abraham went into the tent of Hagar and went into her or knew her, this was their wedding celebration or when they become husband and wife. Likewise, when Isaac takes Rebekah into his mother's tent and enters her they are married. Sexual intercourse is what defines the two uniting into one flesh. This gets to be complicated then when you talk about PreMarital Sex, if sex establishes a marriage covenant or status in the eyes of God, then how can you have sex before it. PreMarital Sex is rather Marriage before you ...