Saint Matthew's

My email problem has been solved. A little glitch on the Google side has been fixed. Amen!!

While your children are getting their costumes on today for school parades and neighborhood candy walks this afternoon and evening, take a moment or two to reflect on what this day truly is about: it is Reformation Day.

In 1517, Martin Luther nailed his compalints against the selling of indulgences to the front door of a church in Wittenburg, Germany, starting the process to attempt to reform the theology and the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church. Luther wanted to return to the church the freedom won by Jesus Christ at the cross to all Christians, something the church was taking away by promoting legalistic ideals meant to adhere human worship to the bishop of Rome. Indulgences were expensive (but worthless) documents meant to reduce the amount of sin on the backs of a dead loved one stuck in pergatory.

Luther said that was wrong. Christ already won the battle and through His atonement won the victory over death, sin, and the devil. And through the graciousness of our Father, we are offered the fruit of the tree of life – eternity in heaven by faith alone in Jesus Christ. Luther said the papacy was wrong to sell worthless documents that did nothing but enrich the Roman church. The sin of humanity was atoned for by Christ alone. Faith in Him alone is what counts – a faith borne of God through His Holy Spirit.

Today is the day we remember this freedom won by Christ for all humanity.

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OK, it’s not the nicest thing to hear, especially very early in the morning.

But that is what a Baptist church in Chicago did to ’scare’ children straight. I kind of like the idea of showing the horrors of some of the bad things in life – like drugs and alcohol and their effects on teenagers – and "scaring" them straight. Sometimes it works, to get a point across, by going to to an extreme to show how an extreme impacts one’s life..

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Couldn’t resist this one: the latest movement in Christendom in America? Churches for men only. Don’t be putting those stinky flowers near the altar – those are for girly churches. These are men churches and they want video screens, loud music, and cussin’ pastors!!

I kid you not. Read the Newsweek article here.

I am having a little difficulty sending email through my Gmail account. I don’t know what is wrong – I can receive email, but I can’t seem to send any. Contacting Google has been fruitless. Right now, if I you send me email and don’t get a response, it is not because I don’t like you. Just have to wait for Gmail to get fixed…sorry.

The controversy over the Michael J. Fox political ads has overshadowed the real issue: are embryonic stem cells showing any kind of promise in helping cure or ease disease?

The answer is no.

There is a vast amount of evidence that proves advances in medicine when it comes to stem cells have been in the use of adult stem cells. Want to see proof?

Download this PDF file that lists all the diseases that have seen cure and treatment advances by using adult stem cells. And you’ll see just how few advances have been made using embryonic stem cells. Too bad the media doesn’t want to report this.

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This came across from the LC-MS offices earlier today:

Members hit by Missouri tornado, Hawaii quake get grants

By Joe Isenhower Jr.

LCMS World Relief/Human Care gave initial emergency disaster-relief grants totaling $17,000 to three congregations whose members were affected by an F-4 tornado Sept. 22 that almost leveled the small down of Crosstown in Perry County, Mo., about 80 miles southeast of St. Louis.
 
The Synod office also gave a $3,500 emergency-relief grant for members of a Hawaii congregation who were forced from their home after the Oct. 15 earthquake hit.  The state’s strongest quake in 20 years, it had a magnitude of at least 6.5 on the Richter scale, according to news reports.

Rev. Carlos Hernandez, director of Districts and Congregations with LCMS World Relief/Human Care, assessed the tornado damage in southeast Missouri and met with pastors and members affected by the storm.
 
This was the area’s second destructive tornado since May, when a tornado killed two people in St. Mary’s, just a few miles from Crosstown.
 
Hernandez stopped in Crosstown at historic Zion Lutheran Church, which served as a staging area for early relief efforts in the town.  That is despite the fact that the church building had so much roof and structural damage that worship services have been held at Salem Lutheran Church, Farrar, Mo. 

(more…)

I found myself thinking about prayer this morning, not because of our Morning Prayer service in church at 7:15. Prayer is one of those things that Christians should do everyday, going to our Father in heaven and laying our concerns and troubles before Him and asking for help. We also go to our Lord in prayer in thankfulness for all His blessings He has bestowed on each of us, and of those blessings, our Lord Jesus Christ being at the top of the list.

But this morning when I opened up my computer and downloaded my morning newspaper, I noticed that I could receive a free copy of one of the other newspapers that Press Display offers. You read that right – I download my morning newspapers. It cuts down on paper (there isn’t any). I don’t get ink on my fingers. And the newspaper is usually there when I wake up at 5A. Currently, I receive the New York Post’s electronic edition (it is more than half off their regular newspaper subscription rate) and use the New York Times’ “Times Reader” application. Too bad the Record doesn’t have an e-edition (though the Star Ledger does!).

After going through their list of newspapers, I downloaded the Indianapolis Star – the major statewide newspaper of Indiana. When I was in Fort Wayne at seminary, I liked the Star better than the morning newspaper in town. On those days that I bought the paper, I always found it to be a solid paper.

This morning when I opened it up, I was reminded of something they do: they have a Scripture verse on the front page and a short prayer on page 2. Wow! Yes, the prayer is generic, but it is a prayer nonetheless. On page one:

“Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” 2 Corinthians 3:17

And on page two:

“Holy God, help us put cynicism and despair behind us. Help us to live by practicing compassion. Amen.”

Could you imagine the Bergen Record putting either of these religious references in the masthead of their newspaper or on page two?

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Our state courts have lobbed a big hot potato into the laps of New Jersey State Legislators: they ruled today that the state has 180 days to come up with a law either giving full marital rights to gay couples through civil unions or just allow gay marriages. Republicans in the Legislature are already calling for a state constitutional amendment limiting marriages to the traditional man-woman union.

This could get ugly really fast here in the Garden State. And depending on who you talk to, it is either going to help or hurt one of the candidates running for U.S. Senate.

But what of the church? What if the State Legislature decides that gay marriage is the way to go? Would churches be forced into performing gay unions when Scripturally we stand firmly against it? What happens if a gay couple comes knocking on the church door one day and asks to be married; they have all the legal paperwork; but I as pastor say it is against what we as Lutherans believe. Will the church be subject to a lawsuit? Would a gay marriage law put certain churches out of the marriage business?

Think about it – if a church only performs marriages between a man and woman, could a church face civil penalties for not performing gay marriages? Or what about clergy who reject the idea? Could we face civil penalties for "discriminating?" These are just a few of the questions I have right now.

But it will be interesting to see how Governor Jon Corzine acts now. He said that if the court grants gay marriage rights, he would not try and reverse it. But the court essentially punted this case into the laps of the Legislature (where it should really be).

It will be even more interesting to see how the Democrat Legislature in Trenton responds. Will they even move forward with anything like gay marriage, especially before a major election?

Politics will prevail in New Jersey. I don’t think the Legislature has the guts to go for full gay marriage. Civil unions that bestow marital rights to gay couples is the most likely direction they will take.

The LCMS is holding their 2007 Youth Gathering in Orlando, Florida next summer. This year they are trying something new – adding a special "Adult Gathering" to go along with the youth meeting. Even if you don’t have children of age to go to the Youth Gathering, you now can consider going to the Adult Gathering.

Oh, did I mention that it is in Orlando? Not a bad place to go on vacation…

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The latest LCMS Family Ministry newsletter is out. You can download it off the LCMS site in a PDF by clicking here.

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When I turned my back on political writing, I did it cold turkey. It was something that I needed to do, and today I sit here at the parsonage a happier person for it. Leaving behind the politics of the real world for preaching Christ crucified is much more fulfilling. However, sometimes I get dragged back into that world when my friends are mentioned in the mainstream media. Today is one of those days.

My comments deal with the U.S. Senate race in New York and the recent revelations that one candidate called the incumbent "ugly."

Across the Hudson, their U.S. Senate campaign has been relatively boring, until recently. I have been following this race because I know one of the participants. U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton is widely expected to win re-election over her challenger, the former Mayor of the City of Yonkers, John D. Spencer. But Spencer has made it interesting over the past couple of days when a reporter/columnist/blogger for the New York Daily News, Ben Smith, reported that Spencer said that Clinton was "ugly" and spent "millions" of dollars on plastic surgery.

Spencer denied it, kind of, but anyone who knows him knows that sometimes his lips move too fast before his conscience shuts down his internal verbal pump. He’s done it in the past – I was there several times when it has happened. It will happen in the future.

However wacky this story is, more logs were thrown on the fire  when it was reported this morning that a campaign aide for Spencer, and a friend of mine, posted a blog response on the Daily News’ political blog run by Smith that Clinton was indeed "ugly." He didn’t mean in the physical sense – he meant it in the political sense. And being labeled an "ugly" politician means that the people on the other side of the political fence don’t like you. It isn’t a nasty comment – when compared to the Spencer said. It’s just politics.

Wouldn’t we like to see either of our NJ Senate candidates use the term "ugly" rather than what they have been lobbing at each other the past few months?

But my friend, Bob Fois of the Spencer campaign, is facing a little heat. He is not a mean person, just a hard-edged political consultant who does indeed pull out all stops for the person whom he is employed by. My prayers go out to him. He’s a good Christian man who works in a tough game. Keep the chin up, Bob!

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Michael J. Fox, the actor who is suffering from Parkinsons Disease, cut a commercial endorsing a candidate in the Missouri U.S. Senate race because she supported a constritutional amendment that would have allowed taxpayer money to be spent on stem-cell research. This entire amendment is wrapped up under a veil – it combines stem cell research and cloning.

Some activists believe that using fetal stem-cells could help come up for a cure or a treatment for some very terrible diseases, like Parkinsons or spinal cord injuries. There is only one problem: the scientists who support this study don’t really know if it will work.

In order to get fetal stem-cells, doctors and science labs would have to create life in a test tube, extract the cells, and then snuff out the life they created. Yes, we are talking about cellular life – but when an egg and sperm are joined together, it is life.

The church (here meaning the LCMS) has stated it very clearly that they are opposed to fetal stem-cell research because human life has to be created and killed in order to get these cells. Right now, it is not illegal for stem-cell research. Any science lab can do this research, no matter how horrific it is. But what is not legal is using taxpayer money to pay for it. Scientists like taxpayer  money because it is an easy-to-get-and-replenish fund that would pay for most of the research.

Well, Michael J. Fox stepped into this controversy in Missouri. A clearly sick Fox is seen shaking from the effects of the disease in the TV ad. Radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh has criticized Fox for getting into this political debate – even raising the issue that Fox went off his medication to show the effects of the disease in order to well up sympathy in the public to support a candidate that supports stem-cell research. The support for this amendment is well-funded, whereby over $28 Million has been raised and spent already.

But there are others who reject this tactic and this amendment. First, look at the Fox ad. Then below, look at the response ad.

Fox:

The response to the Fox ad:

Creating life only to get a few parts from it and then killing it is horrific. There is zero certainty that this research will lead to anything. The only thing that is certain is that human life is being created and killed by doctors and scientists in order to test a theory. These same doctors and scientists reject the use of adult stem-cells believing that any kind of regenerative aspect of those cells can only be found in fetal stem-cells.

In the end, we don’t know. Oh, we do know one thing: life is being destroyed.

Here in New Jersey, taxpayer money is going to fund this type of research. It makes me sick that some of my tax dollars are being used in this manner. When state politicians agreed to move forward on this research, these politicians couldn’t wait to jump in front of a camera to talk about the prospects of cures to diseases. They had no evidence that it would work – they just thought the public wanted to hear and see them give a ringing endorsement.

 I hope and pray that one day New Jersey will turn its back on using taxpayer money to fund this "research." I hope and pray that one day, a majority in the legislature and in someone sitting in the governor’s office will have the back bone to take a stand for protecting life.

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Earlier, I received an email from an Episcopalian priest who contended that my arugments against God’s prohibition of same-sex unions was "stogey and outdated." Then the complaint that I have heard several times – "Do you think that you’re the only one who has the Word of God?"

I sat down tonight and flipped through (electronically, that is) some of Martin Luther’s writings on God’s Word and came across the following in the 54th Volume of "Luther’s Works:"

“Above all, we must be certain that this [our] teaching is the Word of God. When this is established, we shall be sure that the cause must and will remain and that no devil can suppress it. God be praised, I am certain that it is the Word of our Lord God, I have driven from my heart all other beliefs in the world, whatever they may be, and I have almost overcome that most difficult of all thoughts which arises in the heart, ‘Do you claim to be the only one who has the true Word of God and no one else has it?’ In this sense—that is, in the name of the church—they are now attacking us most severely. I find this argument [of our opponents] everywhere in all the prophets, to whom men said, ‘We are the people of God; you are only a few.’ Only in such a way should one rely upon oneself and say, ‘All the rest of you are wrong.’ But a consolation is added when the Word declares, ‘I shall give you children, people who will accept it.’ (Cf. Isaiah 53:13; Matthew 13:8)"

We stand firm in the Word of God. What God says is wrong, we say is wrong.We aren’t going to change God’s Word to fit the morals of today. We’re going to strive constantly towards the highest common denominator of society and never water the Word down to make people happy who want to wallow in sin.

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