Poo-Pooing Baptism

Posted on November 13, 2008 by theoldadam

I read a short introduction on a church’s website this morning. The intro was trying to tug on a persons heartstrings and get them to doubt in what had been done for them in their baptism. Once you realized that your baptism doesn’t mean anything…then they can lead you in the proper direction and help you do what is really necessary and obtain the proper understanding of a real, living faith in Jesus.

I just googled baptism and up popped this anti- baptism, Christian (so-called) site. That seems to be the way it is in most churches these days. People wanting you to forget about your baptism and get with the program! Let’s get serious about this Christian faith thing! If you’re gonna do it…then do it right!

I believe it stems from a great misunderstanding of what exactly baptism is. Many of these folks believe that baptism is merely a rite, a tradition, a going-through-the-motion type of exercise that is strictly about what we do…and therefore they conclude and rightly so if you want to look at it from their perspective, that nothing happens in baptism. Absolutely nothing.

So they see a lot of people that go to church and don’t bring their bibles, and cuss amongst themselves afterward, and talk about baseball, gardening or the economy, and don’t go to the soup kitchens and don’t attend bible studies. So they assume that these people are not Christians…because they don’t look like what they believe a Christian ought to look like. There are the fruits of the spirit you know…and these folks just ain’t got any!

So what now? Well…it is obvious that baptism itself must be worthless since almost all of these folks have been baptised and nothing happened, or it didn’t stick. So something else besides baptism must kick in. A sincere desire, an emotional commitment, an observable filling of the Spirit. One must sincerely repent and accept Jesus. Right?

Wrong.

One must do nothing.

That’s right…nothing.

All of your sincere repentance, all of your sincere love and acceptance for Jesus, all of your emotions and fire for the Lord mean nothing. It is all filthy rags…that’s all, and the Lord will have none of it when it comes to your salvation and justification before Him, the Living God.

He calls you. He chooses you. He gathers you. He enlightenes you. He justifies you. He sanctifies you.

And to make sure that you get all these things He baptises you. He makes you a promise in baptism to do all these things for you. He adopts you in baptism. You belong to Him. He promises to be your God and gives to you the forgiveness of your sins, life, and salvation.

He doesn’t leave it up to you to muster up the appropriate amount of sincerity, or commitment. He is the One who is sincere. He is the One who is committed….not you… for cryin’ out loud. Would you like it if someone were to follow you around 24 hours a day for the next week and really see just how committed and sincere you really are? I didn’t think so.  And they would see just your actions or inactions…what about what’s going on inside that sinful little head and heart of yours? Well, somebody does follow you around 24 hours a day and knows every thought, word, and deed of yours. And it ain’t pretty.

I was baptised as an infant. I had no idea of what God was doing to me, and for me. But He still did it, and does it, and will continue to do it . I trust that He will. He made that promise to me in my baptism and that promise of God’s to me is good if I’m one month old or one hundred years old.

So, if some people want to poo-poo what God does in baptism and fall back into their own whatevers… then so be it. But I am asking them to leave the rest of us alone. We will not throw everything overboard because there are people that misuse the promise, or distrust the promise, or poo-poo the promise.

“Baptism saves you now also…” 1st Peter 3:21

That is water baptism! When Jesus tells us to go into all the world, baptising and teaching…He isn’t telling us to give the Spirit of God to people (only God can do that)… so baptism is what baptism is. It is what almost all of the references to baptism in the New Testament are…water baptism!

” No thanks, I’d rather rely on my own feelings of faith.”

Fine. Who’s stopping you? Have at it. I hope you don’t get dizzy on the top of that ladder. And don’t look down, lest you have a great fall.

Filed under: Baptism | 9 Comments »

Is it a fair fight?

Posted on November 9, 2008 by theoldadam

No…it isn’t.

 Three against One is not a fair fight.

The world, the flesh, and the devil versus the One in and through whom all things were created? A fair fight? Hardly!

This world is broken. It is caught in sin and is slowly but surely degenerating. It is in a downward spiral. It cares nothing for us, and it’s forces are tearing away at us constantly. The world is comprised of all temporal things, living beings bound in sin and all forces of matter and weather and natural phenomena. The world cares not one wit about us , nor can it, and it’s effect on us is to bring about death.

The flesh, our sinful being, is bound in sin, bound to sin, and is working in us not to bring us and others around us, life…but rather death. We like sinning. Our sin doesn’t just stop with us, but it careens like a pinball off of others and inflicts it’s carnage far and wide to people we will never even know existed. The flesh is not interested in authentic life, but an opposite, self absorbed imposter life…which in reality is death.

The devil is alive and active in this world to seek and destroy faith in the One who is above all things. He wants the allegiance that rightly belongs to the Creator for he is a selfish, rebellious, God hating creature that wants to deny God what rightly belongs to Him. The devil is real, and his evil works are real, and they are directed at you…for he is after you…he wants to bring you everlasting death, and he will not rest towards that goal.

Any one of those three could kill us in an instant. There’s not a one of us that is capable of standing up to any one of those three powerful forces that are out to get us. Not a one of us would stand a chance.

But the One who is, who has, who will defeat the three is the One who died on the cross. In an apparent defeat, Jesus turns the tables on the three and obliterates the death that they would bring to us. He is raised from the grave to new life and has promised this for us. He has won the victory over the world(sin), the flesh(ourselves), and the devil..for us…that we too might have new life…in Him…with Him…forever!

Is it a fair fight?  No it isn’t! But it is a tough fight that still rages on. The war is over, we have peace with God because of what Christ Jesus has accomplished on the cross for us. But evil still works to tear us away from our Lord and Savior. That is why we stay in the Word. That is why we hear the Word and receive the sacraments. That is why we keep trusting His promises during this battle that rages everyday to take our souls away from Him.

Christ is the Victor! He is our Champion! He is our Savior! Thanks be to God!

Filed under: and the Devil, the Flesh | 7 Comments »

Asking for forgiveness is not necessary?

Posted on November 8, 2008 by theoldadam

There is a Christian radio ministry out of Texas with a program titled “People to People”. One of the hosts of the show is a gentleman by the name of Bob George. Mr. George routinely tells his listeners and folks that call in to his program that there is no need to ask God for forgiveness and that it is actually foolish and a waste of time inasmuch as Christ has already forgiven your sins on the cross.

Is he right?

Well he is right in one way, your sin is already forgiven because of the cross and Jesus’ death and His petition of the Father, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”

Our sin is forgiven. If we sin and forget about it, or don’t even realize that we have committed a sin, and therefore do not ask God to forgive that sin, are we then not forgiven?

The point here isn’t that we have to ask. The point here is that we can ask. It’s that God wants us to ask. He wants us to confess. It says as much in scripture. The Lord wants us to come to Him. To speak with Him and honestly confess our sins. He wants to hear from us, and He wants us to be unburdened by that sin which we have just confessed. The Lord wants to forgive us, time and time again because it is liberating for us, the sinner. That forgiveness gives us new life and salvation…each time…again and again and again.

If you as a parent has a child that willfully disobeys you, you will forgive that child because he or she is your child.  That child of yours does not have to fess up and ask your forgiveness otherwise you will kick him out of the family. But you do want that child to be honest with you, to come to you, to  recieve a talk about why what he or she did was not a good thing, and then to hear, “you are forgiven, go and sin no more.”

Being able to go to our Heavenly Father is a gift. Being able to confess to Him and relieve ourselves of the guilt we have in our own mind and heart, to realize that we are loved and forgiven…is a gift.

I don’t think that telling people there is no need to confess our sins to God, because He already knows them and forgives you, is a healty thing to do. While Bob George may be technically right, the relationship between Father and child is not a business contract.

I believe the Lord wants us to come to Him and confess our sins and ask for His forgiveness. What do you think?

Filed under: Confession and Forgiveness | 12 Comments »

Worried about your performance?

Posted on November 2, 2008 by theoldadam

When thoughts like that entered the head of Martin Luther, he would return to his baptism. He would return to the promises of God. He would leave the place of uncertainty and doubt and go the place of assurance, the place where God had acted…for Martin Luther.

Thoughts of uncertainty (are we really doing what we ought to be doing, are we really serious about living a Jesus shaped life, are we really believers?) do come to us from time to time, if you are really a sinner.

If you are really a sinner, it would be quite normal to doubt, because you are at heart a ‘non truster’. A ‘non truster’ in God.

That is why God didn’t leave this thing up to you. That is why God took hold of the reins and tells us, “I’ll handle everything…just trust in Me.” That is why God baptised (yes God did the real baptising) you.

But since the law is written upon our hearts, and since ‘doing’ (to justify ourselves) is our default position, we do not trust God… by nature.

So if you seem to be not quite cutting it in the being faithful department, don’t worry about it. Worrying is the ultimate lack of trust in God, anyway (that’s why Jesus tells us not to do it).

If you are not quite cutting it, or if you are an absolute failure at cutting it…and you know it, you are actually right where you ought to be. If you think you are doing alright at being faithful, maybe not pefectly, but a lot better than your neighbor Joe who says he’s a Christian but gets drunk on Friday night and doesn’t go to church and watches football all day on Sunday…well, if you think like that…you’ve got a problem. A self-righteousness problem. A performance problem. A performance hang-up. And the performance that you are hung-up on, usually isn’t your own.

Jesus is after folks that know their need of Himself. Those that believe they are doing pretty well are like the Pharisee in the Temple that Jesus compares to the tax collector (scum). The scummy tax collector knew what he was and knew that he needed the mercy of God. The Pharisee was being faithful, doing all the prescibed works of the law, but his heart was far from God. He didn’t need God. This is the danger of preaching biblical principles for living. It waters down the law and creates modern day Pharisees. It creates self-righteous people. It creates phoney people. It drives people away from the one place that they might hear the gospel…some of them never again to return.

If you are worried about your performance you are worrying for nothing. Your performance stinks. You might be doing some good works and then again you might not. That is not the point. The point is that you have a Savior. You have someone who’s performance for you was perfect and it is finished. He has graciously decided to give to you new life through faith, and He has made that faith real for you in His Word…in preaching…in the Bible… in His sacraments… in the encouragement of one another.

When doubts come into my head via the world, my own sinful flesh, or the devil…I return once again to the font. To the place where my Lord and Savior Christ Jesus has acted for me…has adopted me…has made me His own.

Don’t worry…be happy!

Filed under: Assurance, Baptism | 10 Comments »

Two kinds of People

Posted on October 29, 2008 by theoldadam

I have a theory that there are basically two kinds of people. Those that want freedom and those that want security. FREEDOM

When the Israelites were taken out of Egypt, many wanted to go back. They wanted what they were used to, certain foods, certain housing, a certain routine. With freedom there is a lack of certainty. It’s a bit scary at times. The outcome is not guaranteed. But you are free to make your own decisions. You are not subject to the decisions of another.

This seems to be a choice that many will make in the upcoming election. More security, less decisions, less freedom.  More food, more healthcare, more housing, less choice, less freedom. You can’t have it all. If you want security, someone has to provide it. That someone will call the shots…not you. If you want more freedom, then you are on your own to a greater extent. The old safety net system, family, friends, church, will still be there, but not so much the State. A bit more risky, but more freedom is retained.

In the Church, there are similar choices. One can choose freedom or one can choose the security of the law.

If you are not quite comfortable with what Christ Jesus has promised for you, if that seems just a bit too much to chance without adding to it a little bit of your effort, then gravitate towards the law. The law will inform you, demand from you, everything that you need be doing to be righteous before a Holy and just God. It’s all there. Just add your performance.

If you are willing to take a chance, and trust the promises of Christ Jesus, in what He has done for you on the cross and what He has promised you in your baptism, then you don’t need the law to prove how righteous you are. Someone (Christ Jesus) has already declared you to be free and righteous already…just because.  Just because He said so.

Is it easy to be free? No it’s not. There are responsibilities, there is accountability. And we often fail. The difference is that in society..we pay a price for that failure. With faith in Jesus…He has already paid the price for our failure. He forgives us our sins.

For me, since I have tasted the true freedom that Christ Jesus has won for me, there will never be any going back to the security of the law…to what ‘I do’.  Never.  Oh, I might be tempted to. The old Adam in me (the State…the state of sinfulness!) wants me to go back to Egypt (the law) everyday! The old Adam is constantly telling me that Christ Jesus couldn’t possibly forgive me all my sins. I must get busy and show God just how serious I am about this righteousness project.

The fact of the matter is that I am not serious about showing God how much I love Him, or how much I can be faithful to Him. The fact of the matter is that I don’t want Him (very much). The fact of the matter is that He knows this and that He has done something about it… in the person of His Son, Christ Jesus.

So, I’ll take the freedom that Christ Jesus has won for me, and I’ll leave the trip back to Egypt (the law) for those that ‘can’t handle the truth’ ( please don’t try and force me to go back with you ). And I’ll pray that someday the law will finish it’s job and kill the slave to sin, that out of the sweet, forgiving sound of the gospel, the new man or woman might be born anew to a life of trust and freedom…in our Lord Christ Jesus.

Vote for whom you will. But never give up the freedom won for you on the cross and promised you in your baptism.

Filed under: Freedom | 13 Comments »

50 years and counting

Posted on October 27, 2008 by theoldadam

We have been graced by another Reformation Weekend. Over 500 years of celibrating the firestorm which was, and in some cases still is, the Reformation. Thanks be to God for Martin Luther and the other Reformers of the Church, who’s courageous stand changed the course of much of the Church, and changed the course of countless lives along the way.

Also, this weekend marked 50 years of ministry and mission for the congregation of which I am a member, Lutheran Church of the Master, Corona del Mar, CA.

 We marked this great milestone with a wonderful pipe organ concert on Saturday evening,  given by the gentleman who donated the organ to us, Dr. Wilbur Melbye of Pasadena, California, followed by a fabulous dinner put on by the Davis and Gratzinger families, members of  LCM.  The dinner was followed by a slide presentation narrated by our current pastor, Pastor Mark Anderson, and our congregation President, Louise Saywer. There were many great old photos from the early days. A terrific reminder of the work that has gone on before us by others in the stream of faith.

Retired pastors Doug Wessell and Robert Collick spoke to us to share some memories of the time they were the pastors here at LCM, and encouraged us to continue our mission here in service to our Lord Jesus Christ, and the community.

On Sunday we gathered for worship and Holy Communion accompanied by the choir and pipe organ music played by Music Director and pianist/organist Tanya Khurgel. The sermon was given by our special guest and recently retired professor and author James Nestingen. Professor Nestingen reminded us that it is not the knowledge of the truth that sets us free, but rather the Truth itself (Himself) who sets us free.

After fellowship and indulging in some terrific leftovers (from last nights spectacular dinner), we gathered back in the sacntuary for Prof. Nestingen’s class on the petition in the Lord’s Prayer,  “Lord forgive us,  as we forgive those who have sinned against us.”  We learned that to be free from our sin and the sins of others, the Lord would have us give them to Himself, both our own sins and the sins of others against ourselves, and as often as necessary. Over the course of time, because Christ Jesus is at work, those sins that are caustic and keep us stuck in the past become less and less a millstone around our necks, and we are once again free to live. It was a terrific class with a great question and answer session. Our great thanks and appreciation go out to Prof. Nestingen for once again making the long trip South to be with us and to encourage us in the faith of Christ Jesus, our Lord.   Thanks Jim!

50 years…500 years…a drop in the bucket in the course of human history and a speck in the universe and span of God’s eternal Kingdom. But the Lord does a great work in these small moments. His mighty work is always accomplished for that which He intends.    

May He continue to bless our congregation and every congregation where His name sounded as the Name above all names, and the one Name by which men and women are brought to a living faith in the Savior of the World, our Lord and our Savior, Jesus the Christ!

Filed under: Anniversaries | 4 Comments »

No political Gospels!

Posted on October 24, 2008 by theoldadam

There is no real, lasting peace to be found in any man or woman that heads up or speaks for any political party.

There is no getting closer to Heaven on earth depending on which political party w ins.

There is no place in the pulpit for espousing political ideologies.

The pulpit is reserverd for proclaiming God’s Word.

The gospel is far too important for it to share time, or be replaced by temporal quick fixes… which ultimately end in death anyway.

Someone in the pews may never have another chance to hear the gospel.

Have your political party. Express your political ideology. Convince others and work towards what you think is right… just don’t do it, or expect your pastor to do it from the pulpit. The pulpit is reserved for something far more important.

Filed under: Political Gospels | 7 Comments »

“You are going to hell.”

Posted on October 22, 2008 by theoldadam

Have you ever heard that one? Chances are you have. Maybe not put exactly like that, but more than likely you have been told by some ‘well meaning’ person something similar. Who knows, you may even have told someone that yourself.

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one gets to the Father but by me.”

Did He say that if you don’t believe in Him then you will go to hell? Many think that. But He did not say that. He said that He will be the one to decide. He will make the choice. It all depends on Jesus.

There are many “true churches” here on earth. There is the Roman Catholic Church. There are the Mormons. There are the Jehovah’s Witnesses. There are the Seventh Day Adventists. So on and so forth. And of course, even within churches that don’t officially believe that they are the only way, there are people that do believe that if you don’t believe just as they do then you don’t stand a snowballs chance of going to Heaven.

Do you smell a hint of self-righteousness in all of this? I have been guilty of this same attitude from time to time. It’s natural. 

But I think we ought remember Jesus’ words, “Don’t judge others lest you be judged by the same standard.” 

None of us deserves to be saved from the fires of damnation. Not a one.

I pray that Jesus will be merciful to the undeserving and those that do not know Him. I pray that He will send forth His people into the paths of those that have not heard of the great things He has accomplished for them, and that He will fill the poor words of His people wih the power of His Holy Spirit that the unbelieving, by His grace alone, might believe.

For those of you that believe you belong to the only true church, I hope you understand that by excluding and judging others, you are just heaping more judgement upon yourself.

Filed under: Judging others | 11 Comments »

No Next Level Attained

Posted on October 20, 2008 by theoldadam

Well, yesterday has come and gone. My wife and I went to worship the Lord Jesus and receive from Him (as my Pastor likes to say) “what the world could never buy…forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.”

We sang hymns, we confessed our sins, we received absolution, partook of the Lord’s Supper,  confessed our faith publicly in the Apostle’s Creed and recited the Lord’s Prayer together. We prayed for the world and the Church. The sermon laid us bare for putting faith in anything less than the Living God, such as political parties (or the princes of this world), and clothed us again in the White Robe of Jesus with His death and forgiveness of our foolishness. We learned, once again, that we ought render to Caesar what is Caesar’s, but we learned that God has His hand in all of it…including what Caesar does. We learned (once again) that the Triune God is actively and intimately involved in not only the goings on of this world, but in every moment of every day in our own lives.

No next levels of spirituality were attained (at least that I know of). No secrets to more Godly living were revealed. No “breakthroughs” were sited. Just the unmitigated love of Jesus Christ in His Word and sacrament for sinners…that’s all. That’s enough.

Thanks be to God that He is enough.

Filed under: Sacraments, The Gospel, Worship | 16 Comments »

Internet Prayers

Posted on October 17, 2008 by theoldadam

I just received another one of those “I named it and claimed it, now if you name it and claim it and send this to 8 people within 8 minutes you’ll receive 8 blessings”, type of internet prayers, this morning.

It’s tempting to pass this stuff along. We don’t want to o ffend the one that sent it to us, and there is something inside us that thinks this stuff could really be true, and who are we to break the chain…so on and so forth.

Well, I’ve got some news for you regarging these boilerplate prayers complete with fluttering angel’s wings, and clouds, and portraits of Jesus…they are probably more pagan than they are Christian. They are wrought with more superstition than faith. They are loaded with quid pro quo, ‘if you’ then ‘God will’.

What do I do when I receive one of these “internet prayers” from a friend or loved one? Well, I pass it along to the prescibed number of people and then wait for my blessing. Just kidding. I usually send back a note telling the sender that I don’t think God is too pleased with that sort of activity and that it actually works against faith in Jesus. I have actually been thanked for this on occassion, but more often I imagine my friend or relative to be thinking that I am some sort of “religious crank” that just wants to spoil their fun and show my superior knowledge on “spiritual matters”.

How do you handle it when you get one of these prayers from a well-meaning sender?

Filed under: Internet Prayers | 8 Comments »

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