Baptized Into Christ

There were many follow ups to "the dress" intrigue that captured the internet for a day.  One of the follow ups was this piece that details something I had heard about before, but had forgotten. Apparently ancient languages didn't have a word for blue.  There's no word for blue in ancient Hebrew, Greek, Japanese, or Chinese.  Based upon this oddity, some studies were done that seemed to show that without a word for blue, it appears that people actually do not see  blue. From the article... A researcher named Jules Davidoff traveled to Namibia to investigate this, where he conducted an experiment with the Himba tribe, which speaks a language that has no word for blue or distinction between blue and green.  When shown a circle with 11 green squares and one blue, they could not pick out which one was different from the others — or those who could see a difference took much longer and made more mistakes than would make sense to us, who can clearly spot ...

Out of nowhere, yesterday a dress was all over my Facebook feed.  Why?  Because it appeared black and blue to some and gold and white to other people (I'm strange I guess, because it looked light blue and gold to me...). The science behind why some see different colors in this instance is pretty well understood , but the idea of people seeing the same thing in different ways was absolutely fascinating to many people.  My wife, being a scrapbooker and having an eye for color, found the dress interesting because how people see colors is important to how she does layouts and how she takes pictures of them.  To others, it was fascinating because they wanted to know the "why" behind it. To me, it wasn't all that interesting.  Except...I just can't help reading things like this through a theological lens. Some see blue and some see white.  Does that mean that both are right?  Nope.  The dress is objectively a certain color.  It isn't "whateve...

Dear Christians, You have every right to be upset that Phil Robertson was suspended for paraphrasing God's Word concerning the sin of homosexuality.  Feel free to voice this opinion and to refrain from supporting A&E in the future. But we need to talk. All over Facebook today I have seen comments about "the gays" and posts demeaning homosexuals.  Let me be clear: homosexual acts are sinful. That being said, homosexuals are sinners for whom Christ died.  We all have sin and each of us has certain sins with which we struggle more than some other people.  Men, can you tell me that you have never struggled with sexual thoughts about a woman who isn't your wife?  Women, can you tell me you've never coveted the relationship that another woman has with her husband? All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Now note that I am not saying that Christians should be silent about homosexuality, but we need to communicate the message in love.  ...

It's good to see that Yale researchers are finally learning what my confirmation students already know and what God's Word makes clear; Babies are born with a conscience, but they are also born sinful. Now I know that the researchers wouldn't put it that way, but if you read the transcript or watch the story that aired on 60 Minutes on Sunday you'll see that they discovered that babies pretty much come wired with knowing the basics of what is right and what is wrong.  They also discovered that the conscience (my word not theirs) of the baby is flawed. But like I said, my confirmation students (as well as anyone who has received even a half way decent instruction in the Christian faith) already know that we're born with a conscience because that fact has been made clear by God's Word. For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law unto themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work ...

Recently the big news was that David Petraeus, the retired 4 Star General, former Commander of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan, director of the CIA, had hastily resigned after it was discovered that he had been having an affair. This is indeed a sad story, as it is always sad when a marriage is damaged by infidelity.  It is a tragic story for the wife of Petraeus. But what pricked my interest was the comments that I heard after the news broke. "The problem is that Americans have a prudish view of sexuality." "We need to be more like European and South American nations that simply expect for leaders to have a mistress.  After all, this is simply how men are wired.  We can't expect them not to have a mistress." "What's the big deal?  Clinton did the same thing and stayed in office." Sadly, the reason Petraeus had to retire wasn't because he had acted immorally or lowered his office by his behavior, but because in having an affair he might hav...

Who is St. Paul’s Lutheran church for?   What kind of a church is it? Those are questions that our members might encounter or even have asked themselves.   What's the answer?   Here are some of my thoughts, though certainly incomplete, it should get you headed in the right direction. Who is St. Paul’s for? (Yes, I know that this is a grammatically incorrect way to ask the question, but it's how people speak.) -               It’s a church for you if you are a broken sinner.   Because the church is Christ’s church, we welcome sinners who are struggling and we are here to love you, support you, and be there for you. -               It’s a church for you if you are married, single, or divorced.   Because the church is Christ’s church we affirm the Biblical teaching that marriage is a wonderful blessing and...

The Fourth Commandment Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. What does this mean?  We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it. and from Luther's explanation to the third article of the Apostles' Creed... I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. There are two ditches I see when it comes to attending Sunday services (the Divine Service). "I don't have to go to church to be a Christian."  This is a very American and very postmodern attitude, but not a biblical one.  "Because I go to church I'm a Christian."  The response to...

What you give priority in your life can be shown by the decisions you make and the actions you take. This is obvious, even though we often try to deny it.  I don't give enough priority to exercise.  I know this because I don't exercise nearly enough.  I don't put a high priority on going to movies or even seeing movies.  You can tell that because I hardly ever do so. But it is helpful to reflect upon our lives after considering the truth that what you value, what has priority in your life, can be determined by the decisions you make and the actions you take. Why do I spend time with my family, even though there are a lot of other things I enjoy doing?  Because I value them.  I value my wife being happy and my children having a good relationship with me. Reflecting on this will reveal those areas where your priorities are right and where they need to be changed. Do I value time with God?  Does it show by my choices and actions? Do I value my ...