”O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! (Psalm 8:1)

 

In late July/early August, we were in the Rocky Mountain National Park for a family reunion, an area of creation that shouts the power and glory of God.  We were surrounded by beauty and holy fear – driving up Trail Ridge Road was not a pleasant experience, but when we got to the top and I relaxed and got my heart rate back to normal, I sat there and watched a herd of Elk nearby and there was snow and mountains and valleys and upper lakes and lower lakes and sunlight casting shadows off the mountains and flowers growing up there where the air and soil is thin, and the air is cool.  And everything shouted, “Glory”.

  Continue reading “How Majestic Is Your Name! Guest Article by my brother, Wes” →

Another mainline American denomination has approved openly practicing homosexuals to serve as clergy. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America has followed in the steps of the United Church of Christ and the Episcopal Church in rejecting a biblical view of marriage and minimal godly standards for pastors. United Methodists, United Presbyterians and American Baptists are all battling out this issue as well. Continue reading “Jeremiah the Prophet Speaks – Will America listen?” →

An amazing woman left us on Tuesday morning, June 9. Her name was Elfie*, but to us it was always Elfie Alice. She claimed nine children, eighteen grandchildren, eleven great grandchildren and one great, great grandson. Yet she married for the first time at age 49, was widowed after six years, remarried at 62. Continue reading “Elfie Alice Bowen Messenger Tolle 1929-2009” →

Before it hit most of the national media, I received a phone call from a friend in Wichita, Kansas with news of the Sunday shooting death of George Tiller in the lobby of Reformation Lutheran Church as he served as an usher, while his wife sang in the choir.

 

It wasn’t long until my daughter in Omaha called, asking if I had heard the news. Why were we so affected? Continue reading “The Tragic Life and Death of George Tiller” →

Upon returning home from an overnight trip to Kentucky to see my son and family, my wife, Linda, informed me that the latest performance of Britain’s Got Talent sensation, Susan Boyle, was now available on YouTube.  No problem finding it.  USA Today had the link right under the headlines and I was in awe again as my emotions were manipulated and overcome. Continue reading “Susan Boyle tops North Korea” →

Western Civilization has been thoroughly immersed in the assumption that God is, at the most, a “hands off” bystander to world events. When Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson suggested that the events of September 11, 2001 could be attributed to the judgment of God for America’s sins, they were widely ridiculed, not just by the secular press, but by embarrassed evangelicals as well, who wanted to distance themselves from such radical views. Continue reading “The Absentee God? I don’t think So!” →

President Obama’s commencement address at Notre Dame last Sunday stirred the controversy that the press loves.  Religion, politics, and pro-life protesters being arrested are ideal for headlines and news footage.  But what is the foundational issue here? Continue reading “Irreconcilable Differences” →

In the midst of all the world turmoil in today’s news, can you imagine a day when Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, China, North Korea, Iraq, Syria, Israel, Egypt, Venezuela, Cuba, Russia, the United States, and all the nations of the world will all be reconciled, worshiping God in peace and unity? Continue reading “A World United in Worship” →

You will say in that day:

“I will give thanks to you, O LORD, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me.

 2 “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.” 

 

3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.  4 And you will say in that day:

“Give thanks to the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted.

 

 5 “Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth.  6 Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.” Isaiah 12:1-6 ESV

 

My oldest daughter, Carolyn, told me a few months back that she just can’t watch the news anymore; it’s too stressful.  It’s not that she has any other life stresses with a busy household of a husband and three children, the youngest still not sleeping through the night as she approaches her first birthday. So I’m sympathetic, but as a news junky, I couldn’t imagine not watching the news every day and knowing what is going on; or at least knowing what the media wants me to think are the most significant events. Continue reading “Comfort and Calm from the Prophet Isaiah” →

“Jesus Speaks about Sex” http://www.faithchurchindy.org/sermons/ was my sermon last Sunday at Faith Church in Indianapolis. Predictably, the topic brought significantly more than the usual response; personal comments, emails, and the gobbling up of CDs to send to others who “need to hear this message.” I agree that many “need to hear” and hope that those who have the opportunity will welcome God’s truth as spoken by Jesus.

 

On the day that we looked at Jesus’ teaching about sex, we also started eight days of reading in Old Testament Discovery from Song of Songs, sometimes called the Song of Solomon, a poetic and highly descriptive  book about sexual desire and love.

 

It has been debated for hundreds of years whether this is a book about human sexual love or an allegory about  God and Israel or prophetic of Christ and the Church. My view is that this is a foolish argument.  Both Israel as the wife of God (Hosea) and the Church as the Bride of Christ (Ephesians 5 and Revelation 21) are thematically strong throughout the Bible. It would be expected to see the implications of that in Song of Songs, but the primary meaning of the Song is clearly human sexual love, anticipated and then experienced in marriage.

 

Three times in the Song of Songs, there is the same warning, I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, … that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases. (2:7; 3:5; 8:4 ESV) This affirms that restraint be exercised in regard to passion and desire until it can be expressed within the covenant of marriage where sexual love is to be joyfully celebrated under the divine blessing.