Mary, Mother of our Lord

Almighty God, you chose the virgin Mary to be the mother of your only Son. Grant that we, who have been redeemed by his blood, may share with her in the glory of your eternal kingdom; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (Lutheran Book of Worship)

Today (August 15) is the day that the universal church celebrates one of the greatest saints of the church. Mary, the mother of Jesus is often overlooked by Protestants, but here are a few words of wisdom regarding her from Martin Luther:

[Mary is the] highest woman and the noblest gem in Christianity after Christ . . . She is nobility, wisdom, and holiness personified. We can never honor her enough. Still honor and praise must be given to her in such a way as to injure neither Christ nor the Scriptures. (Sermon, Christmas, 1531).

One should honor Mary as she herself wished and as she expressed it in the Magnificat. She praised God for his deeds. How then can we praise her? The true honor of Mary is the honor of God, the praise of God's grace . . . Mary is nothing for the sake of herself, but for the sake of Christ . . . Mary does not wish that we come to her, but through her to God. (Explanation of the Magnificat, 1521).

Rapture Ready! Adventures in the Parallel Universe of Christian Pop Culture

I came across this fascinating article, which I will simply pass on to you:

Before many Christians are ready for the rapture, they apparently have a lot of baggage to unpack. Lucky for them, Daniel Radosh has taken it upon himself to shake out all their dirty laundry.

In his recently published book, Rapture Ready! Adventures in the Parallel Universe of Christian Pop Culture, Radosh bravely ventures into Christian music festivals, Holy Land theme park, Christian comedy clubs, and even Christian pro-wrestling matches to dig out the hairy secrets buried in the kitschy recesses of pop evangelicalism. And he lives to tell about it. And tell about it he does, spilling the embarrassing facts of this $7 billion industry.

But why? In an interview with Christianity Today, Radosh, a humanistic Jew, explains: “Honestly, I did it because a lot of it is quite funny.” But Radosh, who is a frequent contributor to the New Yorker and a contributing editor at The Week magazine, was not on a mission to mock or shock. He goes on to explain: “We think about pop culture as something ephemeral and superficial, and I wanted to try to understand how that could be combined with something like faith, which is eternal and deep.”

To read the rest, please see:

http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/?p=1145

Blogging is Hard Work

Most blogs I've seen suffer from a lack of entries. They start out strong then begin to waver and finally sputter out.

Hmmm.....last entry was in June. A pattern here? I hope not, since the world needs the words of wisdom I have to impart. (That's a joke, folks. :-) )

Anyway, here's to you and a good rest of the summer. Let me know where you have travelled this summer.

Ten for Our Time

Ted Turner, millionaire founder of CNN and TBS, declared in 1999 that the Ten Commandments were obsolete, "We’re living with outdated rules. The rules we’re living under are the Ten Commandments, and I bet nobody here even pays much attention to them because they’re too old. When Moses went up on the mountain, there were no nuclear weapons, there was no poverty. Today, the Ten Commandments wouldn’t go over. Nobody around likes to be commanded. Commandments are out!"

Of course, Turner was wrong when he declared that the Ten Commandments are outdated. They are as relevant and important as when Moses gave them to the Israelites. He was right, however, when he says that nobody likes to be commanded. God’s people have been breaking the commandments for as long as they have been around! Even sadder still is that modern society and culture often mocks God’s Commandments. We live in a time when right is classified as wrong and wrong as right. As Isaiah rightly declared so many years ago: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness…( 5:20)” As one jokester put it concerning the Ten Commandments in courthouses and legislatures: You cannot post "Thou Shalt Not Steal," "Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery," and "Thou Shall Not Lie" in a building full of lawyers, judges and politicians...It creates a hostile work environment!


It’s not only Ted Turner who thinks the commandments are obsolete. Many believe that there are no "moral absolutes" and hold to a philosophy of "moral relativism." How many times have we heard statements like these: "What’s right for you may not be right for me. If it feels good do it. Anything goes. Nothing is right or wrong, there are just different opinions?" All of this is the result of a growing sense that there is no absolute truth. A recent poll found that 67% of Americans do not believe in moral absolutes. Even 62% of professing Christians said that there was no absolute standard of right and wrong. Contrast this attitude with that of James Madison, the 4th President of the United States, who said this, "We stake the future of this country on our ability to govern ourselves under the principles of the Ten Commandments."

God intended the commandments not to oppress us, but to enable us to live at peace and harmony with each other. Rather than constricting life and freedom, the commandments add joy to our lives! A life without boundaries is simply chaotic. Proper boundaries (God's commands) add harmony, peace, and security to our lives as we live in proper relationship to God and each other. What would this world be like without theft, gossip, murder, and people lived lives of integrity with each other and their Creator? Think about it.

The Next Anze Kopitar

My son Dylan, a Kings and Kopitar fan, scores against his little sister Lilly.

Ascension Day

"This ascension of Jesus Christ is good news for us as Christians,and through us, for our world. It means that God loves, values, holds, and will transform our fragile and broken humanity in Christ. It means that, at the Ascension, Jesus took all of human life, which he cared for so deeply, and brought it "into the heavenly places," into the very heart of God. This includes the suffering refugee, the abused child or spouse, the victim of war or terror, the lonely one in the nursing home, the one who struggles with depression or a lost sense of worth and value, those who are sick, all who are in difficult transitions in life." -- John S. McClure

Almighty God, your blessed Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, ascended far above all heavens that he might fill all things. Mercifully give us faith to trust that, as he promised, he abides with us on earth to the end of time, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

May Day

National Day of Prayer

From the American Bible Society

Heavenly Father, look down upon us on this National Day of prayer and hear our gratitude for all our blessings. Teach us to pray as You did Your Son, Jesus Christ, so that we might draw ever closer to Your glory. Purify our hearts, O Lord, and make them a clean dwelling for Your presence. May our prayers be acceptable to You and help us to do Your will more perfectly. These things we ask in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Amen