Every Knee Will Bow

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:

That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;

And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 

                                                                                     (Phil 2:5-11 KJV)

Who would not honor one who saved their lives? I am really not sure why one wouldn't. But, there sure does seem to be a whole lot of people who don't take what Jesus did for us all that seriously. Yes, we can chalk that up to a lack of faith. 

Years ago I was overseeing one of my granddaughters as she was participating in an online history class. The historical Jesus was talked about and yes this was an online public school. She looked at me and said. "Jesus really was real?!" That really floored me. She had been brought up in a church; attending Sunday School and Worship just about every Sunday. I was her pastor as well as her grandmother. Her reaction caused me to wonder where I had gone so wrong that she thought I would dedicate my life to teaching and preaching about something or someone that was nothing more than a nice story; a fairy tale. Until this public school teacher relayed to her that Jesus had been a real live person she simply could not believe any of it.

There are a whole lot of people who do not know or believe that Jesus died for us. There are a whole lot of knees that do not bow at the name of Jesus. But, one day they will. One day they will see him and know that he is not just a myth. One day every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God our Father.

That day will come when he returns in full glory. On that day every knee will bow before the one who gave his life that we might have life in the eternal presence of God.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Teach The Children To Praise Him

I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.

Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever.

Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.

One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.

I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.

(Psalm 145:1-5 KJV)

One of my pet peeves is hearing Christians complain that the world has corrupted their children. The institutions (particularly public schools) have turned them away from God. It makes me a bit irritable when I hear that the state has kicked God out of school when it became illegal to pray in school. First of all: it is not illegal to pray in schools. It is illegal to force a child to pray in school. It is illegal to mandate that a teacher lead your children in prayer. Think about it for a half a minute! Do you really want someone who is not a Christian leading your children in prayer? What will they be teaching them with the prayers. Remember, Christianity is not the only religion whose people pray. 

It is not illegal for our children to pray in school. If God seems to be absent from the schools it is not the state's fault. If our children do not pray wherever they may be, it is the church's and the parent's fault. No one can stop our children from bowing their heads and praying before a test. No one can stop them from giving thanks and praise to God for the lunch that is provided for them. But, it is not the state's job to teach them to do this. It is ours as the church. It is ours as parents and grandparents; as family members and friends.

I do not agree with many things the public schools now teach our youth. Secular society has taught them many things that we would prefer that they had not learned as it can be most damaging to them and to future generations. As for our young children, we do need to be cautious about what kind of environment we are allowing them to engage in. But, when it comes to giving thanks and praise to God, it is our job, as Christians, to teach them that and not the state's; not our public school systems.  Psalm 145 is a reminder of our privilege and responsibility to teach the generations that come after us: "One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts."

Having served as a pastor responsible for previewing Sunday School material for over twenty years, I found that much of the material does not teach our youth about Jesus or about being in relationship with God our Father because of what Jesus has done for us. Many never even consider introducing them to the Holy Spirit! Many of these programs do not teach our faith as much as it teaches our youth how to be good citizens. My contention is that if our youth come to know Jesus, they will also be good citizens, not because they are so good; but, because the Spirit of Christ abides them is. 

I have also found that many within our congregations assess young people to be little more than irritants at worship. Some of these servant/leaders end up on committees and councils that spend more time trying to regulate youthful behaviors rather than teaching the next generation why God is to be praised.

If the generations after us do not praise God, it is no one's fault but our own. Martin Luther recognized this problem in his day. He wrote the Small Catechism as an aid for heads of households to teach their families the very basics of our faith. Sadly, the Small Catechism is used very rarely in the home today. I am not sure if it is even prevalent in the church any longer.

May God remind and inspire us, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to teach our children of the awesome works of God that God might be praised by them. Maybe it would help if we spent a little more time praising Him in their presence.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Not To Make Us Good; But, To Live Life

Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. (John 14:19-20 KJV)

"He has come into the world to make dead people live!"

I was listening to Dave Rubin and Ravi Zacharias on the Rubin Report last night before bed.  It saddens me to know that I will never get to listen to anything new from Ravi Zacharias while it also gives me peace to know that faithful men like Ravi live life in Christ and are willing to share this good news with anyone and everyone.

He touched on one of my favorite subjects: to live life in Christ! Ravi said regarding Jesus' purpose, "We think he has come into the world to make bad people good. That's wrong. He has come into the world to make dead people live." 

One of my pet peeves over the years has been Sunday School curriculum that is morality (law) based rather than Christ centered. Way too much of it is aimed at teaching young people how to act like Christians by being good rather than helping them to understand that by faith alone, in Christ alone, Jesus abides in them and they in him and because he loves them so much he was willing to die for them so that they could live real, genuine, abundant, life in him. This living life is not just for after death but for today in this world as well. For without Christ, we are dead even here as we reside in this world. 

Christianity should not be relegated to just follow all the laws; be good. Being a follower of Jesus is about faith. It is about trusting him for your whole life. It is about having an active relationship with God our Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Any goodness evidenced in or through us comes from the one who lives and abides in us.  

All these good things we teach our children to do and be will not give them life. Of course they should be taught to love and care for and respect others; but, it is only the abiding presence of Christ that is good. Only he has fulfilled the law. Through him, our sins have been forgiven. We have been made clean by the work he did on the cross for us. 

The work on the cross was so that we might have life in and through him. Because he lives so shall we! Live life! Live life in Christ!

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Home Based Christian Education

And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them: but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them.

But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. 

                         (Luke 18:15-16 KJV)

And, exactly how would we expect them to go to Jesus unless someone teaches them who he is and that they can go to him? For generations now, teaching children about Jesus has been left to the church basically on Sunday mornings for nine months of the year. Now that most of the public schools in the country are closed, parents and other guardians have figured out that they can actually  supervise the education of their own children in their homes. 

So now that you know you can; maybe, it would be wise to expand their at home education to include a Christian education as well. There is no reason that you cannot teach your children the stories from the Bible at home. There is no reason that you cannot teach them the basics of our faith. There is no reason that you cannot tell them who Jesus is and what he has done for them. There is no reason  that you cannot pray with them. 

Since so many of us are from a generation where we also did not get a steady home based Christian education, then adults that teach their children at home might receive a good refresher course at the same time. And, when Sunday School and Worship begin again this summer or fall in your local congregation; please, don't neglect to take your children so that they might worship God with the community of saints; that they might get to know Jesus more intimately.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

We All Need To Grow

As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

                             1 Peter 2:2-3 KJV

It is not just babies who need good nutrition to grow so does everyone who has lived for decades. All kinds of ailments attack bodies that do not feed themselves properly.

As Christians grow older, all too often they do not feel the need to read or hear the word of God. I have heard on more than one occasion that someone does not need to read the scriptures because they learned it in Sunday School or Confirmation classes. That is totally absurd! No one can know it all. Even most pastors know that they need to continue reading and studying the word in order to grow in faith as well as in love.

The small catechism that we use to teach children and new members was written by Martin Luther for parents to use to teach their children because he found that pastors in his day really did not have a clue about the word of God.

Have a clue! Many churches have closed due to the corona virus. Start a new habit. Open your Bibles and read the word. Hold a daily Bible Study with your family and grow in faith!

In times like this we worry about our physical health. Let us not neglect to care about our spiritual health. Stay in the word. Crave and seek the spiritual milk of the word of God so that you may know the grace of God through our Lord Jesus the Christ.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Where Two Or Three Are Gathered

Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matt 18:19-20 KJV)

I have not yet found a permanent place to worship since my retirement. I have resisted leading Worship or Sunday School in my home - until yesterday. There were three of us including a young girl who has also been wanting to be able to learn more about Jesus. Our scripture lesson was from Matthew: the two greatest commandments according to Jesus. We also discussed how those two commandments cover all ten that were given to Moses. 

We are a small group. It reminds of my time serving Keweenaw Lutheran Ministries as a mission developer in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in 1990's. I led worship at four or five different locations every week in addition to a couple of Bible Studies. Attendance could get very low. There was one time that Eva Komula (keyboard musician) from Mohawk and I were leading worship at the historic Lutheran church in Jacobsville. It was the first service after the church was opened in the spring. The snow was still on the ground and it was cold! We had to walk in to the church from the road because the driveway was still too snowy to drive in. We were the only one's there. Eva insisted that we should worship even though there were only two of us. We did. What a wonderful, faithful companion in the ministry she was! There were only two of us in the flesh present that evening; but, Jesus was with us as he is whenever two or three are gathered in his name; as he is all of the time. Fortunately, the following Sundays were a bit warmer and less snowy and attendance grew. 

There were three of us gathered to hear the Word of the Lord yesterday morning: three plus Jesus. If it is God's will, we will grow. But, in the meantime where two or three are gathered Jesus is there so we will continue in the knowledge that he hears our prayers and answers.

God's Peace - Pr. J.