Fathers and Hard Work

Very few people remember much about President Calvin Coolidge. Maybe that's because he was basically a good man who brought integrity back to the White House. When Coolidge was elected, his son was working on a tobacco farm in Massachusetts. That morning he reported to his boss and asked which building he was to work in that day. His boss said, "If my father had just been elected president, I wouldn't be worrying about where I would be working." Coolidge's son replied: "If your father was my father, you would!" (From America: The Last Best Hope vol. 2 by William Bennett)

Proverbs 15.16 says, "The way of the lazy man is like a hedge of thorns, But the way of the upright is a highway."

I'm thankful to my dad for teaching me the value of hard work. I hope to instill that same value in my children. Most of all, I hope that I and my family will always look to God for strength to do those things that He has called us to do.

Nehemiah 6.9 "Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands."

Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee

In 1785 Friedrich Schiller wrote the poem "Ode to Joy" which was made famous by Beethoven's musical setting in his Ninth Symphony. The poem celebrates the ideal of mankind's unity and brotherhood. In the very next century that ideal was shattered by two world wars. If the story had ended there, Beethoven's music may have been just an ironic footnote in an otherwise very cynical and hopeless world. But the American English professor Henry Van Dyke gave a new meaning to this music when he penned the words of the hymn "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee" in 1907. His lyrics made that music even more famous not by celebrating man's joy in himself but by celebrating the joy God gives in salvation. Mankind may begin searching for joy in himself or in the temporary blessings of creation. But the ultimate joy of this world goes beyond anything we can see.

Third Stanza: "Thou art giving and forgiving, Ever blessing, ever blest, Well-spring of the joy of living, Ocean-depth of happy rest! Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Fountainhead of love divine: Joyful, we Thy heav'n inherit! Joyful, we by grace are Thine."

It's All About Thine!

Protestants who attend a Catholic mass for the first time are often surprised by the abrupt ending of the Lord's Prayer often used in the Catholic Church: "...Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen."

What happened to "For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever Amen" they wonder?

The earliest Greek manuscripts of the New Testament do not have this traditional ending. The ending comes along later in varying forms. One manuscript ends the prayer with "For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit forever. Amen."

The traditional ending is found in the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. John was famous pastor in the early church who died in A.D. 407. Some think the ending was adapted from 1 Chronicles 29.11, "Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, The power and the glory, The victory and the majesty; For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, And You are exalted as head over all."

Whatever it's origin, this liturgical ending to the Lord's Prayer proclaims a vitally important truth: It's all about Thine! God's relationship with us began and continues because of His love toward us. In the end it is always about Him... His kingdom, power and glory!"

Psalm 115 says it so well: "Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, But to Your name give glory, Because of Your mercy, Because of Your truth."

What to Do with Atlas Shrugged?

Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged has been an incredibly influential book since its publication more than fifty years ago. Rand raises a vigorous argument for the economic justice of capitalism and a blistering, withering rebuke of socialism. With the first installment of the movie version coming out recently, it will be interesting to see what impact Rand's ideas make on our culture.

Most Americans, trained in a liberally biased education system, often do not know conservative arguments on key issues such as evolution/creation, deism/atheism, or socialism/capitalism. This is what bothers me. People whose education has been so constrained by one-sided arguments might get very excited as they discover Ayn Rand for the first time.

Her criticism of socialism will be empowered by a "prophet effect." I don't see how anyone can read Atlas Shrugged and not see her predictions coming true today. Price controls, elimination of competition, onerous regulations, and cronyism have the same devastating effect on the economy that we see today and that we have seen in all centralized economies. Above all Rand condemns socialism's resistance to ingenuity, invention, and improvement. Socialism does not move the culture forward but backward.

So then, what's so wrong with Rand? I will start with her reply to William F. Buckley when she first met him, "You are much too intelligent to believe in God." Rand was an atheist, and a mean one at that. There was no room in her world view for compassion or mercy. These Christian virtues are evil as far as Rand is concerned.

One of the really weird things about her book is that there are no children, no handicapped, no aged, no sick people in Rand's economy. There is no family. There are only intelligent, aggressive, hard-working people contending with lazy, dishonest, and foolish people. But the word "economy" comes from the Greek word for "household." Any argument for economic justice has to begin with a real economy. This is where Rand's ideas break down.

I would agree with much of Rand's criticism of socialism. But her solution to enthrone selfishness as king of the economy and the guiding principle of life is not any better. Pure selfishness will inevitably be just as destructive as socialism.

Jesus said, "To whom much has been given, from him much will be required" (Luke 12.48); and Paul urged "... you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, 'It is better to give than to receive'" (Acts 20.35). These words were spoken to the church and not to governments. How we apply the principle of mercy in public government is an important debate. Some would see the need for more, others less. Some would say that is the realm of the private sector only. But Rand sees no need for mercy at all.

What to do with Atlas Shrugged? Read it for a good critique of the lazy, stifling, self-destructive nature of socialism. But avoid the enthronement of selfishness and the sinful nature. There is a better approach to life and to economic justice.

The Pill Turns 50 Next Month... Wall Street Journal

This technology has had a huge impact on our culture and on the Christian church. We need to discuss the pros and cons of birth control. I had a debate about it with Pastor Heath Curtis on Issues Etc. Martin Luther, CFW Walther, and Walter A Meier all condemned birth control. When did the church stop condemning it? Was there any Biblical basis for this? Are Christians misusing birth control today? Here's a Wall Street Journal article on the current status birth control in the US today.

St. Patrick's Day Preschool Chapel Message

I see a lot of you are wearing green today! I know that's because it's St. Patrick's Day.

I want to tell you the story of St. Patrick. I think one of his favorite Bible verses must have been: "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them everything I have commanded you; and lo I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28.19-20).

A long time ago Patrick lived in England. When he was a boy some very bad people came and destroyed his town and captured him. They took him back to Ireland and made him work as a slave. A slave is someone who has to work for nothing. When Patrick grew up he ran away from the people that had captured him and came home.

Patrick wanted to be a pastor so he studied and prayed until he was ready. But he didn't go to an ordinary church. Patrick became a missionary, and he went to Ireland... back to the people that were so mean to him. Patrick helped them to believe in Jesus, and that changed their lives. They became very good people.

God sent His Son Jesus to save us even when we were sinners. When I think of Patrick, I think of how God wants us to be kind even to mean people and to tell them about Jesus. Amen.

Praying for Salvation and Success in 2010

As I think about the year ahead and my goals I've also been thinking about this verse from Psalm 118: "Save now O LORD; Cause success now O LORD." The words "Save now" give us the Hebrew word "hosanna."

I always thought this verse was a little odd the way it started with salvation and then ended with the focus on success. But now I get it. When I fail in life by disobeying God's commands or just falling short of my own goals let alone God's goals for me, I run to God for forgiveness (salvation). God gives that of course through His Son, Jesus. His perfect life, death and resurrection set me free from all my regrets. But then He also wants me to pray "cause success." I have to get back into the game of life. I have to try again, and as I do I pray for God to bless my efforts. So... Save me when I screw up and help not to do it again (success).

Every day I try to remember three categories of goals: Spiritual (devotions, memory passages, prayer) Physical (eating right/exercising/sleeping), and Vocational (family responsibilities/church work). I'm also looking back and asking for forgiveness where I fall short and asking for success as I move forward.