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My Weather
40° Cloudy
Huntsville, TX (77320)
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Humidity: 89%
Wind: From SSE at 6 mph
For You CCV 2007
Amen CCV 2008
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Theology
Relegious Articles
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Posted At: 8:52pm by Kelsey Fischer
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Lord, Help Us Ever to Retain
By: Ludwig Helmbold
Lord, help us ever to retain
The Catechism’s doctrine plain
As Luther taught the word of truth
In simple style to tender youth.
Help us your holy Law to learn,
To mourn our sin and from it turn
In faith to you and to your Son
And Holy spirit, Three n One.
Hear us, dear Father, when we pray
For needed help from day to day
That as your children we may live,
Whom you baptized and so received.
Lord, when we fall or go astray,
Absolve and lift us up, we pray;
And through the Sacrament increase
Our faith till we depart in peace.
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Posted At: 6:39am by Kelsey Fischer
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 They’re in our news, they’re in our towns, they’re in our society, and they’re our neighbors. The people that many of us immediately judge and hate for actions brought upon our country in the form of September 11th. I’m talking about our neighbors the Muslims. I know the harsh feelings we have against their belief, especially the so-called “radicals” that are out for our blood. But we overlook the everyday followers of Islam here in our own country.
I recently had the wonderful opportunity of attending a Bible Study at my local church led by Rev. Baidaoui, a Pastor with first hand experience with our Muslim neighbors. He was of the Muslim faith and is now a LCMS Lutheran Pastor that focuses on teaching his neighbors about who Christ really is. Because he was of the Islamic faith he has a very personal and first hand perspective of what we, as Christians, should do concerning the Islamic religion.
We are at war right now with Middle Eastern countries and Muslims are in most of our daily news reports. But, they are also in our very own communities. I was walking through the mall just the other day and saw quite a few Muslim families (identifiable by the Woman’s wardrobe). They are quite literally on our doorsteps.
Rev. Baidaoui has a wonderful way of saying what the point I’m making is. He states that our Muslim neighbors are a product of how sick our world is. They are just like you and me, sinful and unclean. The Islamic religion is nothing but the symptom of a greater problem, SIN. It’s nothing new, but we as Christians know the answer to it. We know that we are saved from our sins through the grace of God, we as Lutherans know that we are shown mercy through His Holy Sacraments, and we know that through the shedding of Blood on the Cross eternal life is ours. Why then do we run from the duty that Christ gave us, saying, “Go and make disciples of all nations.” Could our task not be made any easier, the nations have come to us, we don’t have to even leave town. We concentrate so much on overseas missions (don’t get me wrong I think they’re important also) that we overlook a growing problem here in our very own homes.
As John 16: 2 & 3 (ESV) says, “They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming then whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me.” We are so quick to want to sentence these people to death (yes I have heard many people say that we should just blow up all of the Middle East) when we are told instead to love them as our neighbors and pray for them, for they do not know the Triune God.
A very good example of this comes straight from the Bible. “When the days drew near to him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. But the people did not receive him, because his face was set towards Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, ‘Lord do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?’ But he turned and rebuked them. And they went on to another village.” (Luke 9: 51-56) Rev. Baidaoui calls the Samaritans in this story the Muslim people for our very situation is the same.
What James and John said is exactly what happened on September 11th. Our first reaction is always revenge, but Christ calls for mercy. In our sinful nature, we are incapable of showing any type of mercy towards our neighbors. Nothing good lives in us, for it is through Christ’s salvation that our works are good. It is through Him that we can show that mercy and tell others of His everlasting love.
 Christ has already won all of our battles for us, now it is His salvation that has won our War. We are the victors through Christ, and the Muslim people should also know what Christ has done for them, for he did come to save ALL men from their sin. So, we should not damn them to hell, but instead share the Gospel. They are our neighbors, and they deserve to know the truth that God has given us through Word and Sacrament.
P.S.
For a good book on an ex-militant’s journey of faith I encourage you to read “From Jihad to Jesus” by Jerry Rassamni.
For more information on POBLO mission to the Islamic people please visit this website.
For more information, and great posts from Rev. Baidaoui please visit his blog.
Edited on: July 05th, 2007 4:29 pm
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I am reading Next
Release Date: 28 November, 2006
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Posted At: 2:43am by Kelsey Fischer
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 "And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
'Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among
those with whom he is pleased!'"
--Luke 2:13-14 (ESV)
Peace...it's such a wonderful word, full of so many meanings. The dictionary gives some varied versions of the definition of "Peace", here are a few:
"Peace- (1) freedom from disturbance; quiet and tranquility. *mental calm; serenity: the peace of mind this assurance gives you.* (2) freedom from the cessation of war or violence."
We are now well into the Advent season and Christmas is well on its way. Along with the festivities and well wishes of Merry Christmas, we also receive many greetings centered around peace. Just recently my parents were given a Christmas card from my beloved grandparents that had written in it, "Enjoy the holidays and I hope 2007 will be great and that it brings world peace." While reading this, I realized that what the world thinks of as world peace is not what we as Christians should view as peace.
I have a feeling that my grandma was implying that the world needs peace in the way that the dictionary definition calls a "freedom from the cessation of war and violence." Many people today are crying for this exact same type of world peace. An end to the terrorism, serial killers, and cold hard war. Just today I was stuck behind a car on the way out of the college parking lot that had stuck to the bumper a huge peace symbol with the words emblazoned, "World Peace." (Personally, I think he was trying to destroy my world peace by how slow he was driving in the LEFT lane!)
What do you take Luke 2:13-14 to mean? I want you to read through the verse carefully. I love the ESV version, because of the wording, "...and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased..." Does it not say it all!
If you still don't understand what I'm hinting at, then think of it this way. We are sinful human beings due to the fall of Adam, are we not? What does being sinful imply towards the human race? Does it not mean death, destruction, and corruptness around every corner? I don't know about you, but that doesn't sound like a very peaceful society at all. How can we have peace when sin is staining everything around us, wrapping the world in self destruction? We are on a landslide going downhill, but for some reason we expect things to get better, for the mountain to stop crumbling, and the roof to stop caving in.
It's a sad and bleak world out there, that will never and can never obtain world peace. Just as the Bible has told us, there will always be war and death until Christ returns. But, unlike the rest of the world, we as Christians have peace. No, not world peace, but peace that is granted to us in our salvation. While the world around us is going to hell in a hand basket we can look on and find peace and comfort in him.
Now, reread the Luke 2:13-14 with these thoughts in mind. Don't you see it? Do you get now why I like this phrasing?  Peace to us with whom he is pleased!!! Isn't it exciting, through Christ's death and resurrection the Lord is pleased with us! Through our Baptism (which washed us clean) and Communion (which we receive forgiveness of sins) the Father no longer sees the old Adam, but the new Adam who has his sins covered by Christ.
Peace, is ours! We need not go on protest marches and wear silly peace symbols around our necks to find it. We already have it, as the Angels declared to those lowly shepherds the night our Lord became man to save us all. Praise be to he the Peace bringer! Peace be with all of you this Advent season, and I pray that we all remember the peace we find in Christ as we go into the New Year.
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I am listening to Sam's Town
Release Date: 03 October, 2006
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Posted At: 2:40pm by Kelsey Fischer
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I was listening to the new My Chemical Romance song, "Welcome to the Black Parade", the other day and it got me thinking. This little subject of mine is probably considered sad and unspeakable to all of y'all normal people out there, but it is something that effects all of our lives on a day to day bases, and it cannot be avoided nor ignored. You're probably wondering, "What the heck is this girl going on about?" Well, it's the subject of Death and the hereafter. Slightly morbid, ain't it?
I remember a girl who used to go to my old church, and she was always so scared of death and anything that had to do with it. Also, I've known quite a few people in my life that think it's just wrong to talk about death, as if it's such a terrible subject and you should refrain from it lest you be struck down from heaven itself.
Maybe I'm just a strange person, but I have no real fear of death itself. Yes, I fear the *way* I might someday die (which I'm hoping is painless and in my sleep of old age), but I have never really feared the death part in dying.
 This probably comes from having a loving mother and father who have seen to it that I be brought up in the Christian faith, and most specifically (ever since around 1st grade) the Lutheran faith.
Life is such a trivial thing if you really think about...we are all such tiny little specks on the huge surface of this earth, and sometimes we wonder why, exactly, are we here? I actually found myself contemplating this very subject not too long ago in church (when I should have been singing one of the hymns, I'm shameful to admit), "Why is our trivial existence so important and meaningful?" It didn't take me too long to come to the conclusion, thanks to our wonderful liturgy and the Word spoken in the readings and sermon, that our life on earth is made meaningful by the same reason that our Lord sent his one and only son to die in our place, hanging on a tree. He loves us all and gave us life in Christ so that our tiny, little, pointless existence is made meaningful and wonderful through the fulfillment of his promise.
Now, you must be wondering, what the heck does this have to do with death? Well, here comes some law and gospel!
What is death? Is it not just a part of what sin is, and what the fall of man has caused to befall on the whole face of the earth? Without sin there is no death and destruction. We as humans like to mis lead ourselves and think we're perfect, but the truth is that each and every single one of us is sinful and falls horribly short of the glory of God. We are lower than dirt, we are nothing and totally meaningless...but for one thing. Through the means of grace (the Word, Baptism, and Holy Communion) and the forgiveness, granted to us in Christ, our sins are covered and we can rejoice that sin, death, and the power of the devil have already been conquered for us! We need not fear death, it is nothing compared to the love and saving faith found in our heavenly Father through Christ, by the help of the Holy Ghost!
Sadly, many of the people around us do not know about this gift of eternal life. They walk around blindly fearing what they understand to be the unknown or the abyss that is the afterlife.
Many cultures throughout time have come up with what they conceive to be "the life after death." The Greeks and Romans believed in the River Styx and Hades. While such people as the Egyptians believed in a very materialistic afterlife, where they had to take all they needed into the grave (including servants) with them. My point is, that these people feared death so much that they came up with many lavish and over the top ideas of what it would be like and how they would get to where they thought they were going.
 Even today many people continue to do this. Look at the predominate religions around you. Take the Muslims for example, they blow themselves up in fear that they can never do enough to get to "heaven" and then they believe they are promised virgin wives and all kinds of other lies. I believe that Mohammed was not only a crazed, attention seeking lunatic, but that he was also so afraid of death that he had to make up some answer as to how he and his followers would make it to their ill-conceived "perfect" afterlife.
Also, some Christians today have these messed up views on how one should get to heaven. Instead of believing in Christ as the only one who can cover our sins, they believe, to an extent, that they must work their way into heaven...it's not what God does for mankind, it's what mankind can do for God.
My point is, that fear of death is nothing new, but we as Christians should focus our eyes on Christ and the saving faith. We should seek comfort in the fact that there is nothing we can do, for he has already done it all, and that we are promised such joy in heaven that we as sinful human beings cannot even comprehend it. Death is nothing, it has already been overcome and through saving faith we no longer must fear it! Eternal Life is ours and the greatest part is that we need not worry about death, for we are made meaningful and so very much more alive in Christ than we could ever be as sinful human beings on earth.
So, next time you are sitting in church, and one of those great Lutheran hymns of repentance and salvation come along, sing out with all your joy and hope! For you know you are Saved, through faith, just as we have been promised by the Lord on High!
Edited on: February 06th, 2007 10:19 pm
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