Some thoughts after a long hiatus

I have not really blogged in a very long time. There have been many reasons for this, the biggest of which is just shear laziness and lack of interest. But, I think it important that I do begin to blog again. So, here is a thought after the long hiatus: Why can't western Christians (especially in the US) take their faith as seriously as many Muslims? I am not suggesting that we threaten death to anyone who criticizes us, or draws a blasphemous cartoon of the Lord of Life, Jesus Christ, or even martyrs one of our brethren in a country that is hostile to Christianity (most of the predominately Muslim eastern nations). But what I do think is missing is a healthy reverence for holy things. We grumble a bit when someone does this, but, by and large, we do not seem to care when the holy things of God are trodden upon. This sends a very clear message to those outside the one true faith, just as the reaction of many Muslims to the proposed Koran burning in Florida sends a very clear message. We are telling those outside of Christ's Church that we don't really believe what we say we do. When a female priest (sic) gives a dog communion it is a hard sell to nonbelievers that we really believe the bread and wine are Christ's Body and Blood or even represent our Lord and Savior. And just as bad a message is sent to the unbelieving world when we haphazardly celebrate the Lord's Supper in our churches in the LCMS. The clear and unmistakable message Western Christians are sending the world is that tolerance for falsehood, a casual, almost flippant attitude towards holy things, and the individual is our God. These things we will not tolerant any irreverence towards. These are the things we get really up tight about. And that is not right. Repent, Church of Christ! Hold dear and sacred those blessed gifts, those most holy things that have been given through the merit of Christ Jesus!

Talk about being more Catholic than the Pope!

This morning I was driving through Middleville and decided to stop by the local Catholic Church. I had been curious about it since we arrived since the sign said it offered traditional Latin Mass. The priest, Father Gregory, was very nice and open in talking about their congregation, The Most Holy Rosary. What absolutely floored me, though, was when he told me that his order (whose name I have forgotten-it's back at the church) does not recognize the current pope, nor has it recognized the last 5 popes!!

He was quick to assure me that they do still believe in the primacy of the pope, apparently the pope is only infallible if you believe he is. More on this after I do some reading of the literature he gave me.

An Insider's Look at the Peaceable Religion of Islam

The following is excerpted from an e-mail correspondence with LCMS Chaplain (MAJ) James Lucas (used with permission) about the real and religious threat that all Christians are faced with the “peaceful” attention of Islam turned toward us.

I found it very enlightening and frightening. Let us pray, as worshippers of the cross and Jesus, the Christ who gave His holy life that we might live on that cross, that God would melt the wicked hearts of stone of these enemies of the true, Triune God.

I am a Missouri Synod Lutheran chaplain. I have been on Active duty almost continuously since May of '04, first in Baghdad, then New Orleans, and now back in Baghdad (with a few months off for good behavior). Before that I was a dual parish pastor in Kansas for seven years, and before that for a dual parish in Nebraska for over 16 years.

I can footnote many of the comments I made, although I did not bring my library of books with me that contains some of the information that shaped my critique. However, I can assure you, that if a Muslim reads what I wrote, you can expect passionate denial or scorching invective. The denial may be honest, because many Muslims are as knowledgeable about Islam as many Christians are about Christianity. Also, since most cannot read the Koran (it must be read in Arabic to be authentic), they must rely on what their imams or mullahs tell them. On the other hand, the denial may be just another example of what I mentioned in my response: that a Muslim can look you in the eye and lie or twist what is true and think nothing of it.

I won't speak for the Jews here, but I can assert unequivocally that Muslims do, by and large, claim that Muslims and Christians worship the same god. I am in Iraq, where I rub elbows with Muslims. Spent some time in Jordan also . I have read hundreds of pages of Muslim propaganda and dogma. Almost every Muslim with whom I have a lengthy and serious discussion will bring up "how close we Muslims and you Christians really are in what we believe about God." One of their claims for authenticity and respect is just that they are just another brand of Abrahamic faith, chips off the same monotheistic block.

Popes, presidents, reporters, and politicians have bought that sale of goods in the interest of fostering good will with a religion that has pledged the destruction of all that which these new found friends of Islam hold dear. I suspect that many Muslims laugh in their sleeves at how gullible politically correct westerners are. One thing is for sure. In Islamic dogma it is not only permissible, but advisable, to lie to the "dogs" who desecrate Allah's world and dishonor Allah's faithful followers. So, they can look you in the eye, say with a straight face, "Allah and Jehovah are just two names for the same merciful and compassionate Lord," and "Islam means you no harm. Instead, we bring a fresh choice for world peace."

Mohammed, in the grand tradition of Joseph Smith, Mary Baker Eddy, Judge Rutherford, and, my favorite, L. Ron Hubbard, invented his "god" and theology out of scrap parts he found in theological junk yards. There is money to be made hawking "the better life," as his Allah sanctioned raids on helpless villages and caravans later proved. After all, who can argue with a bank robber and rapist whom God has certified as a faithful servant and confidant? Of course, to appeal to a somewhat Christian audience, one must incorporate just enough Jesus and Bible lingo and pious sounding schmooze to be minimally attractive. The historical records about Mohammed show that he tried a rapprochement with [heretical, no less] Nestorian Christians, using that canard about "we all worship the same, one, true God." In cosmic irony, they threw him out as a heretic (hence future surahs from "God" would revoke (abrogate is the word they use) his earlier benign tolerance of Christians.) Islam is, in my professional judgment, and shared by many, a Christian heresy, along the lines of Arianism: jam the "desirable" aspects of Christianity through a meat grinder, along with heavenly sounding spices and some "high-fallutin'" philosophical fillers to make sausage that is neither Christian nor honest.

By the way, "Allah" was a junior god in the Arab pantheon, one of many gods Mohammed and his family worshipped until he saw how the worship of one god had apparently unified the west (he was not a good historian either). Allah was his particular favorite. (Fun fact: Allah had two daughters that Mohammed almost entirely removed from his "revelations" from Allah, that did, however survive in the infamous "Satanic Verses.") The rest of the family didn't appreciate his rejection of their favorite gods, nor his goofy half-baked theory of monotheism, so they threw him out on his ear (which then led "God" to reveal some surahs to Mohammed in the Medinan exile to curse those idol worshipping miscreants of Mecca and doom them to the typical Muslim "peace" process.)

Also, Muslims like to use the old "King James Bible Trick" when you quote the Koran. If you say, "The Koran says such and such," they will always categorically, and again, with a straight face, say that it does not. Only a few might explain. "Allah didn't speak English." (That corresponds to, "If it ain't in the King James Bible or said with King James thee's and thou's, it ain't authentic."). So, the only way you can say that the Koran says this or that is if you actually use Arabic vocables.

But even then you are not home free, because the interpretation of the Koran is fraught with many grammar and document errors (which, again, a Muslim will categorically deny is possible,) that has resulted down through the years in some entertaining or confusing interpretation possibilities.

Then, just to make things fun in a debate, if you get across the first two moats, most Muslims will be quick to point you to passages in the "Meccan" surahs, which are, indeed, irenic, while downplaying the strident "Medinan" surahs about cutting necks and other acts of brutal public service performed on behalf of Allah, the merciful and compassionate, on folks that don't see things his way--much like the "modernist" liberal Christian crowd downplays "embarrassing" portions of Scriptures, such as Jehovah commanding Joshua to slaughter the Palestinians--man, woman and child, or the sayings "attributed" to Jesus that denounce Jews, or Paul denouncing homosexuality.

Then, just when it seems you are making headway, it turns out that the Koran isn't what drives most of Muslim faith and life anyways (which reads about as well as the Book of Mormon), but rather the sayings of Mohammed (May He Rest In Peace.) That's a roller coaster ride that makes Cedar Pointe a schoolyard playground by comparison. In many ways, debating with a Muslim is as exhilarating as an afternoon with five Jehovah's Witnesses or following Alice through the looking glass!

Bottom line...there is only one true religion and Christ is at its center.

Pastor McCain over at Cyberbrethren nails it with his most recent post. Why do we Christians insist on divorcing Christianity from the true Christ? In another line of thought, why do Christians and other religions try to divorce pratice of religion with doctrine of religion? Muslims all around the world scream at the top of their lungs, "Islam is a religion of Peace!!" Before the words fall off their deceitful lips, they have lit yet another effigy and threatend to kill more of us "cross-worshippers." And why is it that Christians confess the Trinity while bending over backwards to deny it for the sake of "unity"? I'm sure the imaginative reader can think of other ways Christians, especially LCMS Lutherans, try to divorce doctrine and practice.

Religious Terrorism

Ok, if you haven't heard about it, the Pope said some unflattering words about Islam being a religion of violence. Probably not the best thing, but unfortunatley, Islamic leaders have proven the Pope's statements to be startlingly correct by acts of violence and violent protests against "worshippers of the cross."

"We tell the worshipper of the cross (the Pope) that you and the West will be defeated, as is the case in Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya" said a Web statement by the Mujahideen Shura Council, an umbrella group led by Iraq's branch of al Qaeda.
"We shall break the cross and spill the wine ... God will (help) Muslims to conquer Rome ... (May) God enable us to slit their throats, and make their money and descendants the bounty of the mujahideen," said the statement, posted on Sunday on an Internet site often used by al Qaeda and other militant groups.

Now is that violent or not? Christians must be ready for more accute and widespread violence and persecution as Muslim violence and hatred increases against us. Unfortunately, given previous comments on this very blog site, I fear we may also face persecution from militant Judaism.

May God help us and may this time of tribulation be short so that we, His elect, may survive!
Come, Lord Jesus!

This just in from the "It Could Be Worse" files...

In much of the western world, Christianity is struggling, and, saddly, in some cases, succumbing, to the battle to preserve Biblical marriages. Same-sex unions are sinful, they are totally opposed to Biblical doctrine, and they are socially dangerous as well.

But, as with most things, we could certainly have it a lot worse! Check out this union of matrimony in the Hindu false religion. So, where does the inter-species couple register at? TSC, or maybe Petsmart?

The Happy Couple!!

Now, that takes a lot of faith

Jesus could have walked on ice?!? This "genius" bit of crud from the scientific community shows its absolute hypocrisy. Don't believe in an intelligent God that formed everything and has a hand in the daily intricate workings of all human life. Instead believe in an absolutely absurd set of highly improbable coincidences that would only happen if a butterfly in the Amazon farted at the exact same instant a monkey in Africa sneezed. Give me a break! This is absolutely ludicrous! The scientific community screams bloody murder anytime the dreaded religion or faith seeks to shine the light of truth, yet the universal Christian community is expected, and unfortunately taught by many clergy (some even in the LCMS), to swallow hook, line and sinker the ridiculous claims of evolution and now Jesus on ice? What's next? Jesus fed the 5,000 with a really good coupon from Denny's?


For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate." (ICorinthians 1:18-19)

Sometimes all that needs to be done to "destroy the wisdom of the wise" is to give them enough rope.

Is Christianity "Judaism Light"?

Moses Receiving the Decalogue

“Jesus was a Jew.” I heard that almost everyday I worked with the old man. He was an orthodox Jew and very proud of his faith, race, nation and ability to “keep” the Torah. I was sent there by the agency I worked for to ease some of the burdens of his family. It was a busy house with a lot of kids and it was easy for him to be forgotten. We talked, played cards, listened to music and every evening I would take him to the synagogue to pray.

He knew I was Lutheran and studying to be a pastor, he had even helped me with my Hebrew a few times. But he just could not wrap his mind around my “silly” worship of a “dead Jew.” It was a touchy situation. I was hired by his family, all very orthodox Jews and I didn’t want to get into religious debates with this old man every night, but whenever he brought it up I answered truthfully and respectfully. He just couldn’t understand. I, along with the angels, apostles, saints and white robed martyrs, was not worshipping a “dead Jew” as he so flippantly put it. We worship the Living Christ, the Son of the Living God, the God of our forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Jesus is Yahweh, whose name is forbidden to even speak in Orthodox Judaism.

When I first started working with this man, I knew nothing about modern orthodox Judaism. It is an intriguing and ancient religion with a rich history. But is it just another “way” to heaven? It certainly is NOT an extension or compliment to Christianity. Orthodox Judaism is a religion that worships the Torah and man’s interpretations of that Torah. Orthodox Judaism is, as Jesus said, “A whitewashed tomb.” It looks very pious and holy on the outside, but inside it reeks of the death and decay of any religion of the Law. There is just no hope there.

This old man told me time and again that there are 613 laws in the Torah that all have to be followed perfectly. He would often ask me why I didn’t follow all of them (like the prohibitions against pork and meat and dairy, the wearing of a tzis tzis, and many others) and I would tell him that Jesus is the Christ, the anointed of God and He came into the world to be the fulfillment of the Law and free all humanity from the curse of the law. Upon hearing this I could tell that this old man wanted to “rend his garments and pull out his beard.”

He really believed that he followed them fully, but he didn’t count the accidents, like the time he…gasp…ate chocolate less than 6 hours after eating meat, thereby breaking the interpretation of Exodus 23:19b "You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.”

So, when asked, “Vicar, aren’t Judaism, Christianity (and Islam) all really just the same thing but with different covers?” I will emphatically say “NO! We have Christ and hope, they have the law that brings only doubt and sorrow.”