Crazy Theological Thoughts

Many people ask me how people can not believe in God? Most of the time this is related to the struggles of life. How can people handle pain without God? Simple answer is to watch House the TV show. It is easy to deal with pain and suffering when you realize that is the natural way of things. The world has a natural course of things. This is really easy for people to believe. People can convince themselves that God does not exist. People find it easy to live with the understanding that this is all there is. People are confident with their lives when they only face the worlds judgments. It is easy to believe in a God that judges rightly all things. One would think that a God who knows all things would judge with righteousness and honor. But I have to ask how can you believe in a God that accepts everything? How can people believe in a God with low standards? How can people believe that He will not judge all people? How can people think he would not judge them all the same? People who do...

One of the greatest Lenten accounts does not come from the Gospels but from the Old Testament. It is not something new but something God revealed to us a long time ago. In Genesis 22, some call this the testing of Abraham. I like to think of this as the Sacrifice of the Son of Promise. God tells Abraham to take his son to the land of Moriah (not the mines) and sacrifice him on the mountain. Abraham saddles the donkey, cuts the wood, grabs the fire, and the knife. Abraham takes his son and two young men with him to the land of Moriah. The trip has taken him about three days. Abraham heard the news that his one and only Son was to be killed. Three days they travel and finally Abraham and boy go on alone. Abraham places the wood of the sacrifice on his son's shoulders. The Son carries the wood while Abraham holds the fire and the knife. Now the son is starting to recognize something is wrong. The Son pleads to his Father isn't there supposed to be a lamb for the offering. Are you ...

A new ceremony connected to weddings. Instead of the older unity candle the use of sand. Mixing the sand together to symbolize the two becoming one flesh. I also thought this had an interesting connection to dust and ashes. I guess I am just too close to ash Wednesday and funerals. But think about it. Here is something I wrote up for the ceremony. Unity Sand Ceremony Need: Large empty vase, small jar of white sand for Pastor, 2 vases of 2 complimentary colors of sand one for each bride and groom. Pastor reads Genesis 2:7, 22-24 "Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. … And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, 'This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.'" The Pastor takes a small amount of white sand pours it in ...

Many of us struggle with ups and downs. We have very positive emotional days. Other days can be completely distraught. Most of us trust in our emotions and we know they can help us in difficult times. They prepare us and when we listen to our gut we can accomplish great things. My emotions help bring me closer to God. When I remember how awesome God is. I take great sorrow in my sins. I take great Joy in a God that forgives me all my sins. How great is the emotional divide? How can we laugh so hard that we cry? How can something bring us great sorrow and great joy? How do our emotions yield conflicting acts? Emotions can not be trusted. Most of our emotions occur against our own will. When I survey the wondrous cross, it makes me mourn, but also brings me great joy. When I think of God he can make me mad but also makes me very happy that he created you. I love my God. He is the one who made all of us. He is the one who gives us life. But our emotions can lie to us. They tell us to cry ...

Most of us would love to live our lives without rules. I can do whatever I want. But the problem is there are rules all over the place. Classrooms have rules. Schools have rules. Streets have rules. I was even told once there are rules against spitting in public places. We are surrounded by rules. God has created rules that govern our lives. He establishes these rules for our own safety and to build us up. Sometimes we discard the rules. Sometimes we break the rules, because we want to push the limits. Really take a hard look and figure out what rules you treat as breakable and what rules you must follow. I know there are rules that are set in stone and other rules that are set in jello. We need these rules to help us in our life. They not only keep us safe. But St Paul reminds us if the Law did not tell me not to covet I would not know what coveting is. But once we know the rule we know we are rule breakers. We are sinful people. We have been redeemed by Christ Jesus our savior. He ha...

Sports teach us a great number of things about life. Most sports teams try to win the Game. I like to talk about Basketball. When the ball is tossed at the beginning of the Game both teams try to build a lead. These teams are trying to win the Game. But every once and a while a team has reached a rough spot. They start to try not to lose a game. Their goal is not to win but not be defeated. Think of the New Jersey Nets who are not winning games. This is most likely a response to not wanting to lose. They have lost sight of Victory. Most people have the same thing happen to them. They spend most of their lives trying to win the game. When you go through a rough patch, you start to no longer try to win. People get a defeated attitude. They only see defeat. This is when you can not look past your sins. But here it comes the Victory for all defeated people. Christ forgives us all our sins. He is the one who takes defeated people and gives them Victory. The phrase "snatching Victory fr...

In the creed we confess our faith in God. Most Churches state that I believe in God ... The LCMS Explanation to the Small Catechism says, "Everyone must believe for himself or herself, no one can be saved by another's faith." This is absolutely true. All people must believe for themselves. But none of us can believe on their own. "I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him," from the Small Catechism. But in the early texts of the Creeds it still reads "We Believe." These are not personal statements of Faith but confessional statements of faith. Christians are people who share in a common belief. Thus, they should say we believe in Jesus Christ. This does not mean I believe for your salvation but that we are joined in our confession. St Paul says we are baptized into the Body of Christ. We are joined together through Christ. We are one body with many members. All of Christians joined together as brothers and s...