The Ranting Reverend

The Day After Cornea Transplant

2011-01-21T16:15:00.000-08:00

There Will Be Wine!

2008-03-29T01:19:00.000-07:00

Just in case you have never caught it, Bec Mo is having another one of their 5cent sales.

Buy one, get a second for a nickel. Great deal. I spent about $40 for 6 bottles, that should keep me in wine for at least 2 days :-)

I have been getting into Shiraz lately, but a nice Sangiovese grape is still a great blessing on this earth.

For you serious booze hounds, there are some hard alcohols on sale too.

Cheers!

ISSUES ETC IS DEAD - LONG LIVE ISSUES ETC!

2008-03-29T01:00:00.000-07:00

I'M BAAAACK!

It's been entirely too long since I have posted, I missed you!

For the two or three of you who didn't hear, Issues Etc was suddenly done away with. Rev. Todd Wilken and Jeff Schwarz were fired without explanation or reason.

It seems that synodical bureaucrats have been playing a few rounds of cover your ass since then. I guess Jerry's Kids and Jerry had little understanding of how widely this program is listened to via podcast around the world.

The layers of ineptness has truly been staggering. While Jerry hides under his desk, my best guess is that David Strand, director of the Board for Communication Services and axe man is going to be Jerry's latest sacrificial lamb.

Todd and Jeff have been canned, but I am happy for them because this will be the push out of the nest that they have been needing to soar to new heights. They will come back, stronger and better. With a more faithful listener base and more faithful donors. Heck, I may even get out the crow bar and cough up a few cents.

Issues Etc is dead, but it is far from forgotten. Let's face it, Issues Etc. is a pretty lame name. It was something that Todd inherited, maybe they can come up with a better name like - Ranting Reverend Live!

In the meantime, be sure and give the Synodical headquarters and KFUO AM hell. Keep the calls and emails coming.

Bye Bye Johnny

2006-11-01T13:34:00.000-08:00

Recently we lost another pastor to Eastern Orthodoxy. What's up with that?
Anyway, I posted this on his blog and by popular demand, now I am posting it here for the amusment, enjoyment and pondering of all my fan out there (yes I know I said fan - singular).
RR

John,

Well, I am a little sad, but honestly, for years, I thought that you were not a good fit for the LC-MS in its current incarnation - then again, I am not either, but for other reasons - (mostly dealing with SPs, DPs, guns, midgets and other amusements, but I digress).

I thought that you would have gone the way of Rome, so I am a bit surprised. I know that these decisions are hard. When I first became a Lutheran, my family insisted that I joined a cult too.

I just want to say that I hope you enjoy your trip out East and when you discover that no matter how truly jacked up the LC-MS is (and OH YES WE ARE), it is still the best game in town. I for one will be happy to welcome you back with open arms and rejoice in the ridiculous fellowship of a ridiculous church, but even more, the ridiculously good news of Justification by grace through faith ALONE apart from theosis.

I know you have no intentions of coming back, so my brother, rush head long into that abyss and when you wake up next to a pig, just remember this - the pigs in the LC-MS are cleaner - myself included for we are pieces of dung covered by snow over on this side of the fence. When you come back, we will kill the fatted DP and rejoice.

Enjoy your self imposed exile, we will miss you. Check in with us every now and again, we will leave a light on for you.

In the completely sufficient imputation of righteousness that is extended from the Cross of Christ

XOXO
The Ranting Reverend

Soli Deo Gloria

2006-06-05T12:24:00.000-07:00

Recently I came across a thinking Christian lady who said that she was looking for a "Soli Deo Gloria" kind of guy. This pretty much turned my head, but I had to wonder if she really knows what she is saying?

Soli Deo Gloria, one of those reformational sayings. right up there with Sola Scriptura (By Scripture alone do we know God’s Truth), Sola Fide (By faith alone), Sola Gratia (By grace alone). We are saved apart from works, by grace through faith (see Ephesians 2:8-9). And of course all of this comes down to Sola Christus as only in Christ is our salvation complete.

All of this said, I have to return to Soli Deo Goloria - To God Alone be the Glory!

I often beat my personal creed into my parishioners and many of my pastor friends have adopted it, it goes like this...

"If it is about me, it is not about Jesus and if it is not about Jesus, it is not Christian!!!" This is another way of saying Soli Deo Gloria, but in a way that hits home with today's Christian. You see, if you are saved by your good works, merits, decisions, efforts, not cussing, not drinking, not having sex, not this or that, then you really don't need Jesus at all, do you?

If this is the case, it is all about me, what I do or don't do that makes me a Christian. In reality, it may make you a Mormon, but not a Christian for the Christian, the true Christian confesses that he has sinned in thought, word and deed, by what he has done and what they have left undone. He confesses that he has NOT loved the Lord with his whole heart and has not loved his neighbor as himself. The true Christian knows that he is a sinner, but for the sake of the innocent, bitter, sufferings and death of Jesus on the cross that he is a saint - IN JESUS, NOT BECAUSE HE DOES OR DOESN'T DO CERTAIN THINGS!

Soli Deo Gloria - to God alone be the glory. Who is our God? The God revealed to us in flesh and blood is the 2nd person of the Holy Trinity, Jesus, the Son of God, very God of Very God, begotten of the Father of the Holy spirit, the God / man who lived perfection in our place, who died to pay a fine we could never pay who rose from the dead and leaves us with the promise of a resurrection.

Hebrews 12:2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Consider this verse... Let us take our eyes off of ourselves and turn them to Jesus for in Him alone is there salvation. Let us get our eyes off of our self righteous notions and fix them on the only one who is truly righteous on our behalf.

He is the author and perfecter. In Jesus is the Justification of sinners and the Sanctification of sinners. In Jesus, we have the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, not only of creation, but also of our salvation.

Stop looking at yourself, you will never measure up to the righteousness of God, instead look to Christ for He is your righteousness. Jeremiah 23:6 - ...This is the name by which he will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness.

Soli Deo Gloria - indeed, as the Christian confesses with St. John the Baptizer, I must decrease that He may increase.

Thanks "Christmas Lady" for making me think about all of this, how we serve the Lord in ways we never expect.

Easter Flowers for Mom

2006-04-13T02:09:00.000-07:00

It has been a long standing family tradition to give my mom flowers on Easter Sunday. I was thinking about this and I have to ask the question - WHY?

Don't get me wrong, I love dear old Ma, but why do we give her flowers on Easter? Did she rise from the dead for the forgiveness of my sins and make me a promise of eternal life? Last I checked, the answer is- NO! So why do I honor mom on a day dedicated to Jesus and HIS resurrection?

Come to think of it, St. Paul in the book of Ephesians calls husbands to be Christ to his family. I think if anyone in the family should have been honored, it should have been dad, but I don't even think that's appropriate.

I think this is just another sentimental, feminized tradition that has crept into the church that makes it all about the ladies, enables their narcissism and puts Jesus on the back burner in honor of the cult of the goddess.

I can't begin to tell you how many times I have to say no to the ladies in the church because they want to do some sort of emotive, nonsensical thing to make them feel all warm and gushy in the service. HEY LADY, CHURCH AINT ABOUT YOUR EMOTIONS!

This year, I donated flowers to the church and asked that there be no memorial attached to them except this - Soli Deo Gloria. I also suggested (with a smirk) that they should be dedicated "to all the girls I loved before."

If it is about you, it's not about Jesus and if it isn't about Jesus, it Just isn't Christian.

Bitterly yours
The Ranting Reverend

Faith Based Initiatives - A Two Edged Sword

2005-12-19T00:38:00.000-08:00

The President is promoting His “Faith Based Initiative” to the country as a great source of relief for the poor and for the “community” of churches mosques and synagogues. The plan is to provide taxpayer money to assist in soup kitchens, food pantries, after school programs, most anything that helps the needy is fair game. Not that these programs are not a good idea, but how good of an idea is a partnership between church and state? There seems to be a realization that the private sector can do acts of compassion better than the government does, but should there really be a partnership?

As the government has pushed through tax hike after tax hike, the American people have become less and less charitable. Individual giving to the poor and needy has gone down in direct proportion to the confiscation of income in the form of taxes.
Americans are a generous people. We feed the world and guard against totalitarian tyrannies. We "look out for the little guy." But as taxes have gone up, the spirit of giving has gone down. The government has done "charitable work" worse and more wastefully than private industry ever could. As a matter of fact, if private charities were as wasteful as the government, the government would indict them for fraud!

If the government is financially inept (and ultimately corrupt), why should, any church, partner with them to help the needy? Does anyone really believe that the government gives without strings?

Let's look at financial aid for colleges. What a great idea to help poor students who, without government grants and loans, would otherwise not be able to attend college and attain the American dream? But as the fine people at Grove City College will tell you, the blessing turned into a curse.

In the 1980s, Grove City College, a small Christian liberal arts college in Pennsylvania, found that the blessing of governmental financial aid was nothing to be too happy about. Because of perceived inequities between men’s and women’s sports funding, people complained.
Enter the savior of the downtrodden, Senator Ted Kennedy who put before the legislature what became known as "The Grove City Act." This act said that if any institution receives ANY government aid (including student loans), there may not be any spending that is inequitable between any classes of people. So, in essence, a men's football team that may raise five million dollars a year should not receive any more funding than a women's field hockey team that raises five thousand dollars.

The result is that schools like Grove City and Hillsdale College have sworn off all of the government's money, along with its strings.

So what does this have to do with President Bush's “Faith Based Initiative?” Everything!
Initially, churches would be covered under the civil rights act of 1964 (which does not require churches to hire outside of their faith). But get a liberal president and see how long that holds true. Grove City College should serve as a strong warning to the church. What starts out as a tremendous boost from the government will inevitably be a heartache -- maybe not this year, maybe not in a decade, but it will.

President Bush's "Faith Based Initiative" program is a bad idea in that it will create even more dependency on the state.

The New Deal has shown us that welfare creates a class of slaves dependent on the state. Why do the poor vote for liberals? Because they are addicted to government handouts and programs from welfare to promises of free pharmaceuticals and health care -- and not just the poor any longer, but even many in the middle class are attracted to these programs.
Now the government is here to “help the church." Help it do what? Help it to tend to the needs of those that the government has already confiscated our income to help.

Those churches that are tempted to cooperate with the government should consider carefully what they do. They will inevitably become addicted to the "free" money that the government will infuse, addicted to the point that they will not be able to break the string. At this point, they are caught, and when the liberals again take Washington, their "politically correct fascism" will come swooping down and make great demands of such churches. Immediate gratification and altruistic rhetoric will deceive many churches into this snare. And it will be the demise of the exclusive proclamation of the inclusive Gospel in many churches, because the almighty dollar will rule supreme.

Remember one thing: When the government is involved with the church, the government is involved IN the church. And when the government is involved in the church, maybe "all of us, in the church or not, will be firsthand witnesses of the death of the First Amendment in America!"

Throwing Dice With Jesus

2005-12-19T00:28:00.000-08:00

Recently I was asked about Gambling, enjoy my rant :-)

I thought that maybe I could just rant a little here as I am the Ranting Reverend, to try to show you a few things. I can’t help it, I am a teacher and a preacher and I love to take on issues like this, this is what I get paid to do (cool job huh?).

First is a proper and improper understanding of sin. The Bible is clear as to what is sin, but it is not always clear on what is not sin. We always, as sinners, like to add our own opinions to the whole question of sin. This was the problem of the Pharisees in the time of Jesus. They had all of their own notions of what is and is not a sin. They had taken God’s laws and re-formed them into their own images. For example they accused Jesus of breaking the 3rd commandment when He healed a person on the Sabbath. He was also accused of that for walking along the road and eating wheat kernels which you would have to peel away before eating (cooking of sorts). Jesus responded with making it clear that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Or in other words, the Sabbath is a gift to man from God, not a law to abide in to earn God’s favor.

The Bible defines what is sin for us already, not people’s opinions. What is clearly sin? The easiest place to start is the 10 commandments (which by the way most Christians do not even know, even though they declare all sorts of things to be sin, which are not).

(Numbered as the Lutherans and Roman Catholics do as there are 2 different numberings )

1. You shall have no other God’s before me.
This means that we should love and fear God above all else. Love Him for His divine mercy and loving forgiveness of our sins for the sake of Jesus’ sufferings and death. Fear Him, because He is so awesome and powerful and no one can stand in His presence and live.

2. You shall not take the name of the Lord God in vain.
This has 2 meanings, one is that we should not use the name of the Lord to deceive others, to curse others or in a careless way, but the second meaning is simply that we should use His name in right ways, to offer prayer, praise and thanksgiving.

3. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.
This means that we should honor God with all our days and gladly hear and learn His Word. Sabbath means rest and everyday is the day where we find rest in the grace and mercy of Christ. Yet we gather together in His name under His Word and sacraments in the church to receive from the hand of God.

4. Honor your father and mother.
This means we should not reject nor despise any in authority over us, but receive them as a gift from God.

5. You shall not murder.
This does not only speak of the physical act of murder, but also hatred of others, we should however protect others in their body and reputation. The bonus here is that if we protect others, they may thus be inclined to protect us and even if they do not, the Lord will.

6. You shall not commit adultery.
This means not only the act of sexual immorality, but also lusting in our hearts after those whom the Lord has not wedded us to. But the plus side is that in marriage; the wedding bed cannot be defiled so have at it.

7. You shall not steal.
This means that we should not only not take that which does not belong to us, but also that we should help others maintain their possessions. Thus the Bible does establish a right to personal property.
8. You shall not bear false witness.
This means that we should not speak evil, gossip nor slander others, but uphold them and speak well of them in all ways. It also means that we should not lie.
The gift to us in this is that we also may keep a good reputation

9. You shall not covet your neighbor’s House
This means that we should not scheme to get our neighbors’ home in legal nor non-legal ways, but rather help him and be happy for him.

10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, manservant, maidservant, ox, donkey … or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
This means that we should do the same as the 9th commandment, but with all our neighbor’s possessions.

Now, all of this is pretty basic stuff and most of us outwardly keep these things, but our hearts are a different story.

Matthew 15:18 "But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. 19 "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.

Most Christians think that sins are our actions, but to tell the truth, our actions are only a symptom on the sinful heart and no one on this side of the grave will ever be sinless, except Jesus. In short, as we confess in church every week, “I am sinful in thought, word and deed. I have sinned by what I have done and what I have left undone, I have not loved God with my whole heart and have not loved my neighbor as myself.” We also confess in the Divine Service, I John 1:8-9, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

We also know the words of Jesus Himself from the “Sermon on the Mount” when He says, Matthew 5:27 " You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.' 28 "But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

We also know from The Epistle of St. James 2:10 that “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.”

We confess that we are completely corrupt and sinful in all our ways for even our good works are tainted with our sins desiring recognition or thinking that we are getting good marks from God. The only truly good works we do are those that we are not aware of and those ONLY flow out of the grace and mercy of Christ.

If we look inward for some sort of goodness, we will only find our evil hearts looking back at us and then we stand accused, if we look only to Christ and His righteousness for us, then we have all we need.

As a Pastor, I am always a little horrified when I hear people say that they have a great faith. When we say we have a great faith, we are usually looking at ourselves and if we do not see a sinner there, we are to be pitied. Yet we are also saints, not for anything we do or can do, but for the sake of Jesus and what He has done for us. So when we confess Jesus and His righteousness for us, that is truly our faith itself speaking, for faith must have its’ object and it confesses the object.
Not to belabor the point, but consider this, to say I have faith that a chair will hold me up is not truly faith, but to simply sit, that is faith in the chair. To talk about my faith in Christ is about me, to simply live in His mercy and forgiveness is to have faith for when we have nowhere to run except into the arms of Christ, we have a sure Jesus who we know will never fail us.

Now I have gone far a field off the whole issue of gambling, but it all comes around in a minute so bear with me.

The Bible is clear about what is sin, but in matters where the Bible is silent, so we should remain silent for it is not given to us to speak as we already have more to contend with in the Bible than we could ever fulfill.

In Christian liberty we may either participate or not according to our own desires for they are called “adiophora” which means “neither commanded nor condemned.” In matters of adiophora, we are free to do as we will.

So here is my understanding, given a Biblical model, as I understand it from my training to interpret Scripture.

First of all, I have done several searches in the Bible for the word “gamble” and in the 7 translations I have, none of them have the word. In all of my Greek and Hebrew training I have do not think that I have even seen a word used for it.

So this being the case, the closest thing that I can think of is “casting lots,” which is similar to rolling dice, which is indeed gambling. There are about 20 verses in the Bible that use this term in both the Hebrew and the Greek, and they speak of all sorts of things from determining who an offender is, to getting a job, to getting property and possessions to the dividing up of Jesus’ garments at the cross.

They are as follows…
Leviticus 16:8 "Then Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats: one lot for the LORD and the other lot for the scapegoat.

Joshua 18:6 "You shall therefore survey the land in seven parts and bring the survey here to me, that I may cast lots for you here before the LORD our God.

Joshua 18:8 Then the men arose to go away; and Joshua charged those who went to survey the land, saying, "Go, walk through the land, survey it, and come back to me, that I may cast lots for you here before the LORD in Shiloh."

Joshua 18:10 Then Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the LORD, and there Joshua divided the land to the children of Israel according to their divisions.

1 Samuel 14:42 And Saul said, "Cast lots between my son Jonathan and me." So Jonathan was taken.

1 Chronicles 24:31 These also cast lots just as their brothers the sons of Aaron did, in the presence of King David, Zadok, Ahimelech, and the heads of the fathers' houses of the priests and Levites. The chief fathers did just as their younger brethren.

1 Chronicles 25:8 And they cast lots for their duty, the small as well as the great, the teacher with the student.

1 Chronicles 26:13 And they cast lots for each gate, the small as well as the great, according to their father's house.

1 Chronicles 26:14 The lot for the East Gate fell to Shelemiah. Then they cast lots for his son Zechariah, a wise counselor, and his lot came out for the North Gate;

Nehemiah 11:1 Now the leaders of the people dwelt at Jerusalem; the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to dwell in Jerusalem, the holy city, and nine-tenths were to dwell in other cities.

Psalm 22:18 They divide My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots.

Joel 3:3 They have cast lots for My people, Have given a boy as payment for a harlot, And sold a girl for wine, that they may drink.

Obadiah 1:11 In the day that you stood on the other side -- In the day that strangers carried captive his forces, When foreigners entered his gates And cast lots for Jerusalem -- Even you were as one of them.

Jonah 1:7 And they said to one another, "Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this trouble has come upon us." So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.

Nahum 3:10 Yet she was carried away, She went into captivity; Her young children also were dashed to pieces At the head of every street; They cast lots for her honorable men, And all her great men were bound in chains.

Matthew 27:35 Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet: "They divided My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots."

Luke 23:34 Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." And they divided His garments and cast lots.

John 19:24 They said therefore among themselves, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be," that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says: "They divided My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots." Therefore the soldiers did these things.

Acts 1:26 And they cast their lots, and the lot fell on Matthias. And he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

So, here is where the rubber meets the road (as they say).

1) The Bible does not condemn gambling
2) God has used gambling for His holy purposes
3) The abuse of ANYTHING falls under the 1st commandment, if not the 7th, 9th and 10th.
4) No matter what we do, we need the forgiveness of Christ for we cannot ever within ourselves find a righteousness worth anything to God since the Bible does tell us that we are sinful above all else. (Romans 3 and much more)
5) We are perfectly righteous before God ONLY for the sake of the imputed (covering) righteousness of Jesus.

All of this said, we may partake of anything that is not clearly forbidden in Scripture as long as we do not become obsessed with them and put them before the one true God in addiction, greed, or covetousness.

My personal goals for gambling are ONLY for recreation. If I won big, I would count it a blessing from God and try to use the proceeds to His glory, or at least buy some fun toys.

Now, I leave you with this thought, if one is opposed to gambling, one should also be opposed to investing in the stock market for the goal there is even more to increase your money as much as possible and as quickly as possible with the risk of personal loss and the loss of others.

Okay – end of this rant.

A Recent E Mail Worth Passing Along

2005-08-10T00:27:00.000-07:00

An Old Farmer's Advice:
* Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.
* Keep skunks and bankers and lawyers at a distance.
* Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.
* A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.
* Words that soak into your ears are whispered...not yelled.
* Meanness don't jes' happen overnight.
* Forgive your enemies. It messes up their heads.
* Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.
* It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge.
* You cannot unsay a cruel word.
* Every path has a few puddles.
* When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.
* The best sermons are lived, not preached.
* Most of the stuff people worry about ain't never gonna happen anyway.
* Don't judge folks by their relatives.
* Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
* Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll enjoy it a second time!
* Don't interfere with somethin' that ain't botherin' you none.
* Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.
* If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'.
* Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.
* The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever have to deal with, watches you from the mirror every mornin'.
* Always drink upstream from the herd.
* Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.
* Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin' it back in.

THE NEXT ONE IS MY FAVORITE --
* If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around.
* Live simply. Love generously.

Care deeply.
Speak kindly.
Leave the rest to God.

Gay Marriage or Gay Partnerships?

2005-06-07T01:16:00.000-07:00

Across the nation the issue of homosexual marriage and or partnerships are all the rage, what should a liberty minded Christian make of all of this?

What is a marriage? We find at the very start, God saw that it was not good for the man, Adam, to be alone and so God made the man a woman to compliment and be a partner to the man. They were made in God’s Image, male and female, equal, and yet different.

God established marriage as a union between one man and one woman until death do they part.
Since God established marriage in this way, the church should never recognize any bastardized version of marriage between man and man, woman and woman or human and animal, but only the way the God of truth has established it to be.

Thus far for the Christian and the citizen of the kingdom of heaven. What about the citizen of this earth? How should I as a freedom minded American view this sort of thing?
As an American citizen and one who believes in contracts and obligations under the law, I recognize that for the majority of Americans who reject the truth of the Bible, marriage is not viewed as I have stated above.

Marriage in the secular world is often viewed not as a sign of God’s love for His church, but as a contractual partnership between two parties. To this end we see prenuptial agreements drawn up as insurance against a failed partnership and endeavor.

If we live in a secular country (which we do), and if we have freedom of association (which we do), then we may well see partnerships between man and woman, man and man, woman and woman, and so forth. These partnerships may be for the reason of jointly holding property, jointly conducting business, and for any reason provided for under the laws of the land.
To this end, under the laws, which provide for free association and partnerships, why should we care what the sexual interests (as long as legal) the partners should be involved in? Thus far, the liberty minded citizen, now for the reality of the issue.

Unfortunately, in this current climate of political correctness, where college students may be expelled for simply holding to values and standards that our country’s founding fathers held to, the reality is not what it should be. In this current day where everyone except for the white, heterosexual, middle class and upper class male is entitled to some special rights, privileges and or monies. Ah money, that’s the ticket.

Follow the money; if homosexuals are allowed marriage instead of partnerships, then by law,
they may receive extra compensation.

As partners, they may leave each other their estates in wills and or trusts, but they do not qualify for government money in the form of Socialist Security, Medicare, and other givernment (a typo that seemed to work out) compensations. If we were to privatize instead of expanding entitlement programs, this would cut one leg off of the chair of gay marriage.
The homosexual activist community has one other arrow in their quiver that they wish to shoot, and that is mass endorsement of their behaviors.

With hate crimes now a part of today’s America, it seems that if anyone except a middle class, white, heterosexual, male is assaulted, that the crime is befitting the death penalty as being extra hateful. If the victim is a white, heterosexual, middle class, male, the perpetrator should be commended for punishing an evildoer. To illustrate this, the FBI’s website on the standards of whom “hate crimes” may be applied to says…

“The types of bias motivation to be reported are limited. — There are, of course, many kinds of bias. Some of the more common kinds are those against race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity/national origin. But, there are also biases against rich people, poor people, men who wear long hair and/or beards, people who dress oddly, smokers, drinkers, people with diseases such as AIDS, motorcycle gangs, rock musicians, etc…”
Who is missing here? Once again, the white, middle class, heterosexual male with short hair is the low man “person” on the totem pole.

The homosexual lobby, knowing these things to be most certainly true, are in the process of making sure that they may mount up (let the reader understand) on high courts to assert themselves as superior to the “breeders.”

Ultimately the rub is that the “gay lifestyle” is being portrayed (with the help of the media) as being nothing more than a sense of fine fashion and the uncanny ability to decorate a room. But the reality is anything but this.

The gay lifestyle is one of unnatural sexual activity between man and man and woman and woman. What is being sanctioned is often nothing less than disturbing.

Not too long ago, I was talking to a friend who related a story to me about a contractor that he knew who was doing some work for a wealthy gay man. The contractor showed up earlier than expected to do some work in the bedroom. The man met him at the door and suggested that he didn’t go in there quite yet as the place was a mess. The contractor said that he too was a slob and really didn’t mind, and headed for the bedroom. Upon arriving in the bedroom, there on the bed was fecal mater and blood all over. This is the gay lifestyle. We also do not hear much about other problems in this lifestyle like distended rectums, torn sphincter muscles, hepatitis, and a dictionary full of Sexually Transmitted Diseases rarely seen in the heterosexual world – shocking? The truth usually is shocking.

Homosexual men are much more given to physically abusing one another than
Heterosexual couples. “The Gay Men’s Domestic Violence Project” (http://www.gmdvp.org/) website says,

“Myth: Only straight women get battered; gay, bisexual, and transgendered men are never victims of domestic violence; lesbians, bisexual, and transgender women cannot batter. Battering is less common in same-gender relationships.Fact: Men can be victims, and women can batter. Numbers reflect this: An annual study of over 2,000 gay men reflects that 1 in 4 gay men have experienced domestic violence…” The website then asserts that the numbers are roughly the same as the heterosexual population.
Again from another website from the University of Western Ontario Canada http://www.sdc.uwo.ca/ , we read, …

“MYTH TWO: Domestic Violence is More Common in Straight Relationships Than in Gay Male Relationships.

This is not true. There is no reason to assume that gay men are less violent than heterosexual men. We estimate that at least 500,000 gay men are abused by their lovers each year in the United States. With two men in a relationship it is possible that domestic violence occurs more frequently in a gay male community than in straight America . One thing is certain: domestic violence is acknowledged, talked about, and dealt with more in straight relationships than in gay male relationships.”

In my years of pastoral counseling, I have come across some physical abuse among married couples, but not nearly at this 25% or higher rate. This is what we are not being told that we are supposed to accept to be “normal and acceptable” and our children should not shy away from (since they cannot breed, our kids should love them too).

So if this is the lifestyle and we find that active homosexuals live shorter lives due to diseases and also high risk, self-destructive behaviors, which their “spouses,” if recognized as such may collect big dividends under the laws that govern married couples and not merely partnerships.
The larger the government grows and the more money the government redistributes, the louder we will hear the homosexual community shout, scream and throw tantrums for gay marriage.

Now, we come to the point where we are at a crossroad, The Ranting Reverend and the Ranting Citizen come face to face in the two kingdoms.

As a Christian, I will say what Scripture says, homosexuality is an abomination before God, but still no more or less damnable than gossip, lying, stealing and not honoring God in general (that’s how serious those sins are too in the face of a perfectly righteous God). As a Christian and a clergyman, I will never accept homosexuals as being married no matter what the Government may determine, as this is not what God established marriage to be. As a Christian, I also do not want to see people harmed for any reason be it race, color, creed or even sexuality.
As a citizen, I see once again, where the government is the perpetrator and enabler of immoral behavior in the name of tolerance, kindness, compassion and dare I say it, “love.”
If the Government would decrease in size and scope of its influence instead of always growing and always limiting freedom, we would hardly be facing this and many other problems in our great American experience.

What is the answer? Get government out of the business of enabling every so-called minority group to collect from the rest of us. Get government out of the business of redistributing wealth from the “haves” to the “have nots,” and get government out of the work of being the morality (or immorality) and thought police of the citizens. When free people act freely without infringing on others rights, then mankind has the ability to achieve true greatness.
In short, the Government who governs least, governs best, or, “no government is better than our government.” Take it how you like.

WAR MOVIES

2005-06-06T16:55:00.000-07:00

By the Ranting Reverend

An old man slowly approaches a cross shaped headstone standing amidst thousands of others. He quietly sobs and falls weeping before one. The camera slowly zooms in on his eyes and we are transported back to the storming of the Beach at Normandy replete with screaming men and exploding bombs, and lots and lots of blood…

Thus the movie “Saving Private Ryan” begins. This is one of the bloodiest, gruesome movies (except perhaps “The Passion of the Christ”) that I have seen.

I find it interesting that many, if not most women and many men just do not get why war movies and cowboy movies are considered “Guy Movies” and then real men are mocked for loving them so.

Ladies and girly-men, please direct your attention to the screen. It is not about the blood and guts. It is not about seeing people’s limbs being torn off nor is it about seeing someone’s brains being spilled on the ground. What is it about? It is about Christ.

Now that seems to be a stretch for so many people to grasp on the surface, but war movies and many cowboy movies like “Tombstone” are nothing less that stories of salvation. Furthermore, they are pictures of the Christian life of service.

Since, I started with “Saving Private Ryan,” lets continue on with that one. Here is a story about one soldier who is caught up in the middle of impossible circumstances in the middle of an awful war. All three of his brothers were also in the same war and all three of them died at nearly the same time. Thus Private Ryan is the sole surviving male in his family and he is to be sent home and now the story truly begins.

Someone must be sent, at great risk to bring Private Ryan home, and so begins a heroic tale of brotherhood, valor, sacrifice and even atonement. These are Biblical themes, these are themes that reflect Christ Himself.

Captain Miller (Tom Hanks) and his band of soldiers are dispatched to find this one lost sheep. They are entrusted with his protection and safe return. Does this theme sound Biblical in the least? Something about a Good Shepherd come to mind? More on that later.

After great personal cost to this band of brothers and their leader, upon receiving word that his mothers other sons had died for the sake of freedom, Private Ryan declares his brothers in arms to be his new family and he refuses to abandon them and leave them even more short handed than they already were. He makes the decision to stay, fight and if need be die rather than leave and save his own life. They all dig in and Captain Miller makes a spectacular last stand, propped up against a jeep firing at a tank with is .45 pistol. In the end, Private Ryan is indeed left alive and returned home to father generations to come.

John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends.”

This is what a good war movie is about, not the blood, not the guts, and maybe even not about the guns and explosions (no matter how much I like guns and explosions). A real man is moved in his soul when he sees true, heterosexual, brotherly, manly love portrayed in such a way. This is what is so glorious about these movies and what is glorious about war itself. I wish I could remember which Civil War General said that it was a good thing that war is so terrible because otherwise mankind would never put down his weapons. Brotherhood is born of blood. If you bleed with me, you are m brother or so says Shakespeare. This is why I myself played one of the most violent sports around – rugby. Ruggers have a brotherhood born of blood and pain, we go through a hell of a lot of pain together and we wear our injuries as badges. Broken noses, torn ears, concussions, separated shoulders, torn up knees, the list goes on and we carry each other off of the field of battle and then we drink ourselves silly and tell the stories of our heroic deeds. Hardly war, but definitely a battle.

Back to war movies how grateful would you be, knowing that someone gave up his life to save yours? How unworthy would you feel if your best friend selflessly jumped on a live hand-grenade?

And so, we get a picture of Christ. He is the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep (John 10:11). He is the friend who has the greatest love as He did indeed lay down His life as He exchanged His life for the death penalty that we, through our sin, deserve. He is the one who does all good things on our behalf because we are not able to do them for ourselves.

In the movie “Tombstone,” Wyatt Erp has a rendezvous with destiny, as he is to have a showdown with the deadly Johnny Ringo. Erp is not fast enough to beat him, but Wyatt’s dear friend (who loves him like a brother), Doc Holliday, who is fast enough and bad enough to beat Ringo tricks Erp and beats him to the showdown. Of course, Holliday defeats Ringo and Erp lives, even though it was not his own doing.

There is one other great scene in this movie. As the Erp brothers head down to the O.K. Corral, Doc approaches Wyatt and offers aid, Wyatt tells Doc that it is not his concern. Doc is hurt by this (as they are dear friends) and he says that is a hell of a thing to say. Doc, loves his friend enough to die next to him in battle if need be.

Why do I love war movies, because they are not about killing, nor are they about slaughter (those are the slasher movies – which are truly senseless), instead war movies, truly good war movies are about love. The sort of love that pulls at the hearts of men, the sort of love that gives us a glimpse of our Savior’s love for us.

Like the old man who collapses before the cross shaped gravestone of Capt. Miller, likewise, we collapse before the cross of our Hero, our Savior, our Redeemer who gave up His life so that we might live. His name is Jesus, but unlike Capt. Miller, the grave cannot hold Him.

Some of you who will read this still will not get it, and for that, I am truly sad for if this is you, you have missed out on one of the truly finest things in life.

EX CHRISTIANS FOR JESUS - Kingdom of Grace

2005-05-19T00:30:00.000-07:00

EX CHRISTIANS FOR JESUS!

WHAT? What the heck are you talking about, you moron, if you are for Jesus, aren’t you a Christian?

Not really, at least not really by American “Christian” standards, besides, who is your Jesus? For those of us who did not grow up within the walls of “Our Beloved Synod,” (gak), we are quite often ex Christians for Jesus because we had no concept of who the real Jesus is. We who burned out on Christianity, burned out because we had the wrong one, we had a mean Jesus and not the real Jesus.

WOULD THE REAL JESUS PLEASE STAND UP?

Jesus is the one who washes you, but then tells you that through your good works and righteous living, you need to maintain your salvation.

BUZZZZ X Thank you for playing, next contestant.

Jesus is the one who demands that you must (with every head bowed and every eye closed) raise your hand. And now that you were dumb enough get caught doing that, and the pastor saw you do it, now you have to stand up, walk down the aisle, and have to say this prayer (strange, I never saw this one in the Bible???). And now that you have done that, you have to go to the back room where our counselors will write down your credit card number (okay, not really, but, you really should tithe your 10% like a good Jew). Now that you have done that, you have to get plugged in to the church. AND IF YOU DON'T DO IT, YOU WILL BE LEFT BEHIND IN THE RAPTURE AND GET YOUR HEAD CHOPPED OFF!!!

BUZZZZ XX Thank you for playing, next contestant.
What ever happened to Jesus plus nothing equals salvation? If you have to do ANYTHING, then Jesus must need your help to save you. Like I always say, “either Jesus alone is your Savior, or He isn't.” Which is it going to be?

Jesus is the one who wants you to be happy, stupid and rich, just like me. You see, Jesus (even though He was never rich Himself and His kingdom is not of this world) wants you to be wealthy beyond your wildest dreams and live in a mansion and drive a sports car oh yeah and live without any pain or suffering, to His glory. Now all that you need to do, is send me all the money that you have. No need to worry about your bills and obligations, God will take care of that after you screw over your credit rating. After all, what Jesus is really about is your stupid fat lazy butt getting ahead without any effort or sacrifice on your part. You friggen Holy Roller welfare recipient.

BUZZZZ XXX Thank you for playing, next contestant.
YOU MORON! Maybe if you would have read your Bible, you wouldn't be bankrupt now.

Jesus, oh, that guy, yeah he was a teacher, a good one who came to teach about love, peacefulness and justice (just like Gandhi). Funny how in Matthew 10, Jesus says that He did not come to bring peace, but a sword (don’t get me wrong, swords are cool, not as cool as guns, but that’s for another rant). Anyway, you are silly if you think that Jesus is God, of course he wasn’t, he was just a really good guy, like the Buddha and Mohammad.

BUZZZZ XXXX Thank you for playing, next contestant.
Jesus clearly claimed to be God and He really was not so nice, especially if you thought that you are a good person like the Pharisees. (Matthew 23:27, Matthew 3:7, 12:24, 23:33, Luke 3:7, Mark 7:6, Luke 12:56, 13:15... and many more)

Whatever you think about Jesus that is not directly from Scripture, it is probably wrong.

How do we know who the real Jesus is then? He is the one who is all and only about the forgiveness of your sins.

Plain and simple, thats what He came to do, thats what He did and thats what we have in Him. He came lowely, born in a stable (probably a cave where thy kept animals) and He was laid to rest in a manger, a regular old food trough. Pretty lowly indeed, but lowly, so that we know that no matter what sort of screw ups we are and no matter what our position in life, Jesus made Himself to be one of us.

He lived a perfectly righteous life without any sin whatsoever on our behalf because we are so unable to stop ourselves for sinning and we could not in the least be righteous on our own, so He did it for us. He came and exchanged His perfect righteousness for all of your wretchedness (2 Corinthians 5:21) apart from you doing anything in the least to earn it (Ephesians 2:8-9).

This is the real Jesus, the one who allowed Himself to beat nearly to death and allowed Himself to die the death of a criminal for the crimes against God that you and I committed, those crimes that He was completely innocent of.

This is the real Jesus, the one who dies your death and takes your punishment that you have coming and in the midst of this injustice, He cries out to His Father in heaven saying “forgive them for they don't know what they are doing.” This is the real Jesus who inhales the sins of the world into Himself and exhales His life onto the world. This is the real Jesus, as we see God in the flesh, naked, beaten and pierced through the side, hanging dead on a criminal's execution device, a cross.

WOULD THE REAL JESUS PLEASE STAND UP?

Three days later, He did exactly that as the grave could not hold the God of life. And in His bodily resurrection, He promised us that we who have faith in Him will also be raised from the dead.

We ex Christians for Jesus have given up on looking to our good works for salvation (thats actually Jewish and not Christian anyway), we ex Christians for Jesus look to Jesus who is the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2).

We ex Christians for Jesus know that we do not have to be good little boys and girls in order to be saved. We know that it is not at all about us, but only about Jesus. The funny thing is that when you develop the proper theology of an ex Christian for Jesus, you more and more, over time, grow to hate your sin. The other thing that is sort of funny is that you have less and less of a problem admitting what a wretched person you are and you are then free to bask in the glory of the real Jesus who would have you do none other (Luke 10:40ish).

The belief in the real Jesus would have us do nothing but proclaim Christ Crucified for the remission of sins, like that crazy old St. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 2 that we should.
Ex Christians for Jesus are actually just tired of people saying that we need to move beyond the cross and resurrection to deeper things like Christian Finances, Christian Dating, Christian Parenting, Christian Taxidermy, Christian Motorcycle Repair and the like. We know that the true faith clings only to its object, and the object of a believer in Christ is none other than Christ Himself.

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?

Are you looking at yourself and what a good person you are? You're not a good person you know (Romans 3:9-18). You and I are filthy, empty handed beggars in the presence of the one true God who alone is good and righteous. WE SUCK!

If you are looking at yourself and your good works at all, you will come up empty, or you will try to justify your own sins as “not so bad.” OOOH I hate the “their not so bad sins.” Those are the ones that get up in a heap O doo doo. The ones that we justify away are the ones that we hold outside of the real Jesus' forgiveness. Those are the really dangerous ones.

Stop being so freaken self righteous and confess with us that you are a dirt bag before God, but confess even more that Jesus has taken you out of your filth, washed you in baptism (Titus 3:5) and coated us with His own clean righteousness (Gal 3:26-27).

Thats about all I have to say about that.
The Ranting Reverend

THAT MAKES ME MAD

2005-05-19T00:00:00.000-07:00

THAT MAKES ME MAD!
By The Ranting Citizen

A couple of years back, a little boy was in the school cafeteria. The school had one of those “zero tolerance policies” on pretty much everything. The little boy, picked up his lunch item, a chicken finger, pointed it at a teacher and said “bang bang.” For this crime against humanity, he was promptly expelled (or suspended, I don’t remember).

Who in their right minds gave this child a loaded chicken finger?

Look, if you give children loaded food, someone is bound to get shot. DUH!
Zero tolerance, what a crock! When I was a kid, in some schools there were shooting teams where you could bring your .22 rifle to school, because you had practice after school and it was perfectly alright to bring your aspirin to school, or your penicillin or whatever the Dr. put you on. These “educators” who will keep your children from taking their meds without the nurse handing it to them are the same ones that want to dope every energetic little boy because it is easier to dope them than teach them.

Why aren’t girls doped as much as boys? For one, the part of the brain that deals with paying attention in girls develops younger than boys, but second, and foremost, I fear that feminism leads in this. Little boys are evil because they have a penis and thus we must find some way of castrating them if not in reality, at least emotionally so that they cannot grow to oppress little girls, because after all, men are brutal, vicious beasts who MUST DIE!!!
I will stop now before I really get mad and just spew cuss words.

MYSOPHOBIA

2005-05-18T23:58:00.000-07:00

The Fear of the Common Cup
(actually Mysophobia is the fear of germs, but read this anyway)

I think today, I will talk about the Lord’s Supper and in particular the cup of blessing in Christ’s blood.

I have noticed that better than two thirds of the congregation takes communion from the individual cups instead of the common cup or the chalice. I will not say that it is not the Lord’s Supper with the individual cups at all, but I will say that they were introduced by the Methodists and got traction in the Lutheran Church after a fear of germs arose and that fear partly came through the admission of grape juice in some churches instead of wine which has incredible purification properties.

Is it safe to drink from the common cup? Yes it is very safe. Wine kills germs and the inert metals of the cup are not a breeding ground for the little buggers.

First on wine: Military physicians of the last century noted that troops that drank wine were much less susceptible to diseases like cholera. Wine is a very good antiseptic even when the alcohol has been removed. That’s strange because we usually think that the alcohol is what kills the germs. Well, the alcohol does, but wine is double blessed as it has other germ killing agents called polyphenol which occurs naturally when the wine ferments. Grapes and grape juice do not have them as they are unfermented. During the fermentation process, these polyphenols split off of the complex sugars and become active. These properties were discovered in our modern era by Dr. Lister who pioneered antiseptic surgery.

Polyphenols are found in many disinfecting cleaners in hospitals and are very effective in killing germs. Polyphenols are also found in the wine in our communion cup.

The CDC (Center for Disease Control) has never reported an instance of anyone receiving a disease from the communion chalice in all of its years of reporting, could it be by God’s design?

All of the scientific data says that the chalice is safe, and I as the head theologian of this congregation am content to confess that I do not believe that the Lord would make anyone who is receiving the body and blood of Christ in faith ill.

I am so confident of this, that I now commune myself last to put my money where my mouth is.

On the night that our Lord was betrayed, He gathered with His 12 in the upper room. They all had their own cups, but He passed His cup of blessing and they all drank from the one cup. A common cup is the way that the Lord instituted communion and it is a wonderful sign that we are all one in Christ.

If you have wanted to drink from the chalice, but were afraid of germs, I hope that you will no longer be. If you want to keep using the individual cups, I am sure the Lord will bless you there as well.

Have comfort and know that in all things, the Lord has worked your salvation for you.

Something to Remember

2005-05-17T00:01:00.000-07:00

Four Basic Handgun Safety Rules

Treat ALL firearms as if they were loaded.
DO NOT point at or cover anything with the muzzle until ready to shoot.
Keep trigger finger off the trigger and outside the trigger guard until ready to shoot.
Be certain of your target and your line of fire.

Is Socialsm Anti Christian? - Semi Political Ranting

2005-05-12T01:13:00.000-07:00

Is Socialism Anti Christian?
By The Ranting Citizen

so·cial·ism Pronunciation: 'sO-sha-"li-z&m
Function: noun
Date: 1837
1 : any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods
2 a : a system of society or group living in which there is no private property b : a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state
3 : a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done.

In short socialism is a matter of a Robin Hood mentality of taking from the rich and giving to the poor, or in other words “redistribution of wealth.”

Is America a socialist country? Yes and no. Our tax system has turned more and more socialist, taking from the haves and giving to the have-nots. The first income tax in the United States was levied following the Civil War so that the Union government could pay its bills. But in 1895 a later income tax was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. The Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution, authorizing the tax, was ratified February 25, 1913.

The income Tax was initially to pay for war, and slowly that money began to be redistributed by the government and also to support the bureaucracy required to redistribute that wealth.

Initially, the tax confiscated a small amount of money and was geared toward the rich. The wealthy alone could not bear the burden and so it was directed at the middle class and now we all share in this redistribution of wealth. The haves pay more than the have nots, but through other taxes like sales tax, phone taxes, gas taxes so forth and so on we all pay taxes that get mixed around the machine and spit out again, smaller than when they went in. We all know the stories about how if you put a frog in cool water and then slowly turn up the heat, you can boil them before they will jump out, so it is with taxation.

Tax Freedom day is that day when we stop working for the government and actually get to keep our earnings. You can see here how the boiler has slowly been turned up on the American working frogs.

Tax Freedom Day:

In 1902 was January 31

In 1922 was February 17

In 1948 was March 28

In 1958 was April 10

In 1968 was April 24

In 1978 was April 30

In 1988 was May 2

In 1998 was May 10

If you didn’t catch that, the average American worker is a slave of the government and their forced taxation machine for the first 5 months and 10 days of the year, then you get to keep the rest of your money.

What happens to all that money?

Well, it all goes into a big government machine that spins it around and then kicks it back out again in all sorts of directions.

First of all, those who “administer” the various programs have to get paid, in the welfare department that takes up about 70%-75% of that money, then the left over 25-30% of that money gets redistributed to the poor. As a result, the poor get just enough to be utterly dependent on this money, but they do not get enough to have hope to rise above their poverty. So the politicians promise more money to the poor who are addicted to the government dole, they vote for those who promise more and get just a little more and the rest of us have our tax freedom day moved back another week or two to pay for it.

The name of the game is taking from the haves and giving to the have nots. The poor hate the rich and upper middle class and even the middle class because they have more than they do. Then politicians pandering to the poor voters tell them that it is not fair that the rich should have such an unfair advantage.

It seems to me that the Bible speaks about such attitudes, yes that’s right, Exodus 20:17 “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's.” I think all of that would also include thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s income.

The redistribution of wealth is in fact completely dedicated to promulgating covetousness among the American people with slogans like “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.” This sort of talk only inflames envy and feelings that the wealthy have an unfair advantage.

Who are the wealthy anyway? According to the latest standards, if a family makes approximately $90k a year, they are in the top tax bracket and thus considered wealthy. That means that a family where both the husband and wife are tenured high school teachers and earn the national average for high school teachers, they are rich and have an unfair advantage over the “poor.”

I would be willing to bet that if you talked to those two teachers, they sure would not feel like they were on a par with the CEO of a major corporation or a litigation lawyer (more about lawyers and their sins another time).

So who is it that most of us think of as being rich? This question depends on your position in life. Those who make $20k a year think that if they could just make $40k, they might be set and for sure if they made $100k, but the fact is, they would still spend more than they make if they did not learn to manage their money. Those who make $100k tend to think that if they could just make $200k they might be set, those who make $200k want more and so forth and so on until you get to Bill Gates worth more than $30 BILLION and still building his empire in the quest for more and more.

Are the rich greedy with their “more is never enough mentality?” No more greedy than the poor with their “more is never enough mentality.” The difference is that hopefully the rich have worked themselves silly to get to where they are and if they have gotten there through deceit, then of course, they should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

How should we react to those who have more than we do? First of all, we should never covet what they have. Coveting is basically saying, “those people do not deserve that, I do.” Or, “its not right that they have that which I don’t!”

But the rich often get that way through self-denial, postponing gratification. That is a wise thing, so why despise those who have struggled to gain when so many have not?

Those who despise those who have achieved things often blame everyone but themselves for their situation. There are those who have made poor decisions in their lives. Those who get pregnant outside of marriage are often trapped in a scenario of raising children without the aid of a second or even primary income which is satisfactory for raising children. Those who refuse to go to college because they do not think that it is “their thing.” Those who never put in the extra time and effort at work to rise through the ranks. Those who get stuck in their current position and never try to rise above it for fear of risk.

All these tend to be the covetous people who the liberal politician appeal to with promises of more Government assistance.

Is socialism Anti Christian ? I believe that since it is built on class envy and covetousness, it is safe and right to say, yes, it leads others into sin.

Alligator Lessons - Kingdom of Grace

2005-05-12T01:05:00.000-07:00

Alligator Lessons
By The Ranting Reverend

Matthew 5:11 "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.

Pastors lovingly, or not so lovingly often refer to their problem parishioners as “alligators.”

Alligators are usually marked by their lack of kindness to their pastors which manifests itself in rude and terse behavior. This behavior is most often born out of one of two things, either the view that a pastor is an employee, (which is a miserable understanding of what a pastor is and the doctrine of the Divine Call to the office of ministry), or the fact that a pastor has had to make a stand for truth in the face of felt needs.

Some alligators will be public and mount a full frontal attack on their pastors and some work behind the scenes and attack through the gossip mill sowing seeds of destruction and poisoning the well, as it were.

Alligators cause pastors great consternation and grief and sometimes the alligators are victorious over the pastor and either beat him to death or they drive him out.

But wait, didn’t God create alligators for a reason? After all, all of God’s creation serves some purpose and we know that what man means for evil, God will work for good.

Alligators serve several good purposes for pastors because alligators are good teachers.

First, let us agree together that pastor’s are called by God to serve His church. The pastor is the under-shepherd in Christ. He is called to serve God’s people with God’s Word and Sacraments. The pastor is to be the voice and hands of Jesus to God’s people, he is the steward of the mysteries of God, and sometimes, he must also serve as a theological bouncer when people are causing division in the body.

Alligators nip and plot and scheme to overthrow and devour the pastors by either treating pastors like mere employees or they decry them as unloving because a pastor said “NO” to something their sinful desires cry crocodile tears for.

This is where the pastor can become a student of the alligators for in the same way these alligators treat their pastor, we find it is the same way that all of God’s people treat Jesus.

The alligator who treats the pastor like an employee who should be here to work for them and be accountable to them and act as though the pastor is here only for them and their individual wants shows the pastor (and all Christians) exactly what our behavior is like toward Jesus.

We all carry on something fierce when things do not go our way and we often act as though the Lord has something to answer for. We try to call God on the carpet for not doing our bidding. We behave as though Jesus should be here to make us happy and cater to our wants and desires (which are usually sinful and or foolish).

What have the alligators taught us here? We are as snobby to God (which we have no reason or right to be), even as parishioners are toward their pastors whom God has given them.

The other sort of alligator treats the pastor with utter contempt because the pastor has had to make a stand which is not popular with the parishioner. This is a situation which revolves around ignorance of God’s word, ignorance of doctrine, ignorance of circumstances and plain old pride.

How do we treat God in this way? We in our pride and arrogance become angry and carry on something fierce when we ask God for something and He says, “NO.”

When God decides that our wants might harm us or others and that they are not in our best interest or sinful, we carry on against God and act as though He no longer loves us or cares about us, but could it be that He is trying to protect us from harming ourselves?

We, like this alligator leer at God and remain distant and think God to be so unfair.

How fair is it that Jesus, who is God, came to this earth and lived as a man? How fair is it that He was born in a barn and laid to sleep in a trough as an infant? How fair is it that He was attacked constantly through His public ministry? How fair is it that He died to atone for the sins of wretched sinful people like you and me?

Who are we to complain against God? Who are we to call our creator on the carpet for the way He treats us, when all that He wants for us is our salvation? All God wants from us is our company at the Feast which has no end and we treat Him with distain and wretchedness with our sin that we hold in His face.

What have the alligators taught me? They have taught me that all of the hate they have for me is nothing compared to the way I am before God.

Chief of Sinners - Kingdom of Grace

2005-05-12T00:58:00.000-07:00

Chief Of Sinners Though I Be.

I count it as an incredible thing that the Lord should take someone like me and make me a pastor. How in the world did I get here and what is the Lord thinking?

I sometimes think about the Lord’s marvelous sense of humor as I consider that a little kid that grew up ditching church and school and dropping out of high school to be a rock star should grow up to receive two degrees and be a pastor. How in the world did this happen?

It is always encouraging to me to read about the Apostles in the Bible and what a diverse crowd they were. Fishermen, a tax collector, a zealot, not exactly all the most likely candidates to be the first pastors, at least not likely if we were to chose them.

We like to think of pastors as holy men and righteous individuals, but the Lord is the one that calls that which is not Holy to be Holy in Him.

You see, I, as a pastor am a sinner just like you are. I am just a fallen man given a position to proclaim the mercy and forgiveness of Christ, that’s my whole reason for being here. I am simply to be the hands and mouth of Jesus, and I must say that is a scary thing, for my hands are unclean and my lips are full of sin.

Just as Jesus has called me to be the spiritual head of a congregation, He has called you to be the spiritual heads of your homes. Fathers, lead your children in matters of the Lord. model prayer and devotion to them, teach them the catechism and minister to your wives with love and patience. Wives, honor your husbands and gladly teach your children at home.

Oh sure, I know you fight and quarrel among yourselves in the home, it is the result of sin and we all do it from time to time. Oh sure, I know marriage is hard and raising your children is not easy, but I encourage you my fellow sinners, to confess to one another and speak the words of mercy to one another and together, under Christ, we will somehow muddle through life together.

I am still not sure why the Lord would call me to be a pastor, but I am sure glad that He has, because I can think of nothing else that I would rather be. What a great thing I get to do, tell others about what a wonderful God we have. How loving and merciful our Savior, Jesus is to lay down His life for me and then call me to tell others about it.

Why me? Perhaps to show you that the Lord is able to do anything He pleases, and to show that He is the Divine Fox who loves a good pun. You see, as the chief of sinners, that simply means that I lead other sinners and to where am I leading you? I pray that I will lead you to the foot of the cross of Christ, where we can lay down our burdens, once and for all.

In Jesus’ Name
The Ranting Reverend