D A R E
T O
B E
L U T H E R A N
Higher Things
Inside this issue:
• Why Don’t Parents
Understand?
• A Lesson in Islam • How Not to Feel Alone in a Crowd W W W. H I G H E RT H I N G S . O R G
/ WINTER / 2007
We’ve compiled a sampling of some notable blurbs from the Higher Things blogs. Check them out and read more online at http://blog.higherthings.org/.
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Contents T A B L E
O F
FEATURES 4
Clothed in Christ—Free in Christ B y Dcs. E mil y Ca rde r Some religions treat girls with far less respect than they deserve. But how does our Lord view women? How does He encourage them to live? What does He do for them? To see how Christ is at work for girls (and boys too), read Deaconess Carder’s article.
6 Misfits
B y Dr. P et er S cae r Do you ever feel alone in a crowd? Or like you don’t fit in? Or that there’s no one to sit with at lunch? No worries. You’re not alone. You’ve got the whole magazine staff! Um, we mean that your heavenly Father loves you, and His opinion of you is far more important than what the cheerleaders think. If you’re still not convinced, Dr. Scaer just might change your mind.
8 Broken Homes
B y R ev. T i m P a uls Growing up in a broken home is hard, but far too many teenagers today are doing just that. How do you deal with separated parents? Is there any reassurance that things will get better? If you need answers, Pastor Pauls shows just where you can find them in God’s Word.
10 Dating
B y B e t ha ny S m i t h It’s a touchy subject, that dating. And not only is it confusing and difficult, but to make matters worse, no one seems to have any conclusive answers. Is there even a golden rule for dating? Check out Bethany Smith’s article for a little clarification.
12 Forgiving the Unforgivable
B y R ev. G e org e F. B org har dt I II Forgiveness isn’t easy. It’s much more fun to hold our grudges and our hurt feelings. But thankfully, our Lord doesn’t act like us. He forgives us even though we have sinned and don’t deserve it. So, if you need a little reminder that Jesus’ death on the cross is your forgiveness, this is the article for you.
23 Islam 101
B y Dr. A da m Fra ncis co How much do you know about Islam? Is it the world’s fastest-growing religion? Is Allah just another name for God? Will mankind abandon the madness of cheap sandwich bags? Oh, wait. Wrong article. Anyway, Dr. Francisco’s written up a little refresher course for you on this dangerous religion.
Also in this issue:
2 Blog Gems 16 2008 Amen Conference Info
Volume 7/Number 4 • Winter 2007
24 Free State: Lutheranism, Political Liberty, and the U.S. Constitution B y Dr. G e ne Ve it h You probably didn’t hear this in your U.S. history class during freshman year (you weren’t sleeping, were you?), but the Lutheran Reformation played a vital role in the formation of America’s Constitution. Don’t believe us? Dr. Veith has done the research for you already, and you won’t even have to buy the textbook.
26 The Christmas Gift of Parents
B y R ev. Todd P epe rk or n Ugh. Parents can be so annoying. They’re old fashioned, they don’t understand you, and they’re always trying to run your life. Why don’t they just give it up already? Wait. What? Could it possibly be that God has given you parents because they’re good for you? Pastor Peperkorn has an insight that you just might find helpful.
COLUMNS
14 Christ on Campus
B y K a r l Ho u s e r Remember those kids running around in green T-shirts at the Higher Things conferences? Those were Christ on Campus Volunteers (CCVs). If you’ve ever wondered about the secret life of CCVs, what they do, and how they got the job, Karl Houser gives you an inside look.
19 The Football Star, Part 2
B y K a thy Lu de r The policeman has finished his report. The doctor has sent Kathy home from the hospital. Now is the time for reflection, both from Kathy and the one who was sent to keep her safe.
30 Friends in Heaven
B y R ev. Dav id Pe ter s en Sometimes it’s hard to imagine what heaven will be like. Will you know who your grandma is? Will you still have brown hair? Will you be able to crack jokes? Will the magazine staff still be misfits? Pastor Petersen has some reassurance for you. So, don’t worry. You will still be you in heaven.
HigherThings Volume 7/Number 4/Winter 2007 Editor
REV. TIM PAULS Managing Editor ADRIANE DORR Assistant Editor
JULIE BECKWITH Art Director STEVE BLAKEY Editorial Associates
REV. GREG ALMS REV. PAUL BEISEL REV. BART DAY REV. DAVID PETERSEN Bible Studies Editor REV. DAN MACKEY Business Manager LYNNETTE FREDERICKSEN Subscriptions Manager ELIZABETH CARLSON You could rearrange the letters in “Higher Things” to spell “Rest Nigh High.” We don’t know why you would. But you could.
_____
Christ on Campus Executive REV. MARCUS ZILL Conferences Executive
REV. GEORGE F. BORGHARDT III Interim Internet Services Executive REV. MARK BUETOW Publications Executive CAROLYN COCKEY Retreat Executive
LANDON REED _____ BOARD OF DIRECTORS President
REV. KLEMET PREUS Vice President REV. WILLIAM Secretary SANDRA
CWIRLA
OSTAPOWICH
Treasurer LYNN FREDERICKSEN
REV. JOEL FRITSCHE REV. BRUCE KESEMAN REV. BRENT KUHLMANN REV. LARRY NICHOLS MARK PFUNDSTEIN ___________ Higher Things Magazine ISSN 1539-8455 is published quarterly by Higher Things, Inc., 5009 Cassia, Boise, ID 83705. No portion of this publication may be reproduced without the written consent of the executive editor of Higher Things Magazine. Copyright 2007. Printed in the United States. Postage paid at St. Louis, Missouri. For subscription information and questions, call 1-888-448-2359 or e-mail subscriptions@higherthings.org. (This phone number is only used for subscription queries.) For letters to the editor, write letters@higher things.org. Writers may submit manuscripts to: submissions@higherthings.org. Please check http://higherthings.org/magazine/writers.html for writers’ guidelines and theme lists. ___________ Higher Things Magazine is available in Braille and on audiocassette tape for the visually impaired. Contact Lutheran Blind Mission at 7550 Watson Road, St. Louis , MO 63119; call toll-free 1-888-215-2455; or e-mail at blind.mission@blindmission.org.
W I N T E R
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Clothed in Christ W
hat’s a girl to do now that Jesus has set her free? Freedom in Christ is pretty radical to get used to. That’s what sanctification is all about! Sometimes it’s hard knowing just what we ought to do, say, and become. Sometimes our old sinful nature gets in the way of our new Christian freedom. It can be painful learning that even though we are justified in Christ, that doesn’t mean we have the freedom to be foul-mouthed or that dressing like Britney Spears is the wisest choice. We’re not set free from sin to sin. We are freed from the Law to live within the Law, but that still doesn’t answer the question: What’s a girl to do now that Jesus has set her free?
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Religions like Mormonism and Islam, and even other denominations, offer some specific answers, and that’s attractive to some girls. They tell them what to do. Islam tells women to wear a burka, often veiling the face. At first thought, many would wonder, “Who would want to do that?” But the fascinating answer is that many Muslim women—even given the choice—refuse to give up these garments even in countries where women are allowed every social, political, and educational opportunity. The clothes that Islam calls for gives them a sense of privacy and helps to remind them of a woman’s place. In return, men treat them with greater respect. What female wouldn’t want to be treated with honor? No one treats a woman with greater respect and honor than Jesus, and He’s about more than dress. Through the washing of water and the Word, He makes her His own bride. He clothes her with Himself—His own righteousness. He places the crown of life upon her head. She becomes an heir of the kingdom of God. Special clothing identifies people. The burka is one example, but there are more. Infants are often dressed in white for their baptisms. Brides wear white gowns and veils for their special day. Jesus marks the infant as His own. The bride becomes a man’s wife. Through these events, we see Christ working in His Church. While Baptism marks where Christ is present for us, a wedding can remind us of the relationship Christ has with His Church. It would be impractical for Christian women to go about their daily work dressed as brides, so we don’t. That is one of the wonderful freedoms about being clothed in Christ. He has fulfilled the entire Law for us, so we are freed from all its requirements. For the Muslim women, the burka is a requirement. She must wear it. Her salvation is tied to those robes. In the end, burka becomes a burden and a prison. When there is no Savior, you’ve got to keep the Law perfectly to be saved. For Muslims, Mormons, and even some Christian denominations, Jesus isn’t the Savior, but a brother-type example to follow. Muslims and Mormons even say that Jesus was a prophet but not the only-begotten Son of God. Each day for their followers is filled with the burden of knowing they must earn their way to heaven. Sometimes these religions
Can't get enough HT? Check out http://higherthings.org/magazine/issues/winter2007.html for Bible studies.
st—Free in Christ
By Deaconess Emily Carder
even say that material wealth, happiness, or even world peace are signs of being right with God. Nothing can be further from the truth! When Jesus wraps you in Himself in Baptism, He never lets go, no matter what the circumstances look like. Ask yourself this question: What is most important? My family, friends, my health, and all my worldly goods, or my Baptism? If catastrophe should strike, leaving you alone and injured (as it did Job), the kingdom of heaven would still be yours. What is given to you in Christ can never be taken from you. Jesus continues to overcome the tribulations of this world (John 16:33). They cannot harm us because we are in Him. He is where our peace and freedom lie. In Baptism, you are made in Christ’s image once more. You are freed to be who and what you are in Him. When the serpent tempted Eve, he told her she could be like God if she ate of the tree. Eve didn’t have to do anything to be like God. She was created in His image. Deceived by the serpent, Eve took the fruit and ate it. All mankind fell into sin when her husband ate too. Muslims, Mormons, and other denominations are like this as well. They tell us we have to do something to either be like God or to save ourselves. But Jesus does the work to make us His own. What’s a girl to do now that Jesus has set her free? Live as one who is clothed in Christ. Live as one set free from sin and one who rejoices to be forgiven. Gather where the Lord gathers you for grace. The baptized, who are clothed in Christ, need to be where Jesus is, where He is spoken into their ears through the pastor’s preaching and Absolution, where His body and blood are put into hands and mouths in the bread and wine, and wherever Baptism is going on. Wherever these things are happening, there is Jesus at work for you, for me, for us. He is setting His people free. Dcs. Emily Carder teaches elementary children at Good Shepherd Lutheran School in Brandon, Mississippi. She is a wife, the mother of a daughter and a son, and the grandmother of three girls. Her e-mail address is dcs_carder@comcast.net.
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Forgiving All the
Unforgiv By Rev. George F. Borghardt III
ll sins are forgiven by the death of Christ of the cross. The Gospel is in the all. Not a sin is left out. Not a sin is left unanswered. Not a single one. Every last sin is forgiven, done, and answered for in Jesus Christ.
A
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All means not just your sins or my sins; that’s everyone’s sins. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. “All are justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:23–24). Freely given—that’s gift. Freely received—that’s faith. He does it. He does the redeeming. To redeem means to buy back. The one who paid the price for your sins is Christ. That’s what Jesus did with His innocent suffering and death. Christ did the paying for the all of the Gospel. He didn’t redeem you with gold or silver, but “with His holy precious blood, and His innocent suffering and death.” He did it for you. He did it for free. Not one sin has been left unredeemed, and not one person has not been died for. But there’s that person with that horrible thing he did to you. You know the one. You know the thing, that awful, unimaginable thing. It caught you completely by surprise, took the wind right out of your Christianity. It felt like a punch in the stomach. Life will never be the same. You’ll never get over it. You can’t even look at her. Can you ever forget? Can you ever forgive? Should you? The all of the Lord’s forgiveness includes that sin too, doesn’t it? Yes. Christ answered for all sins on the cross, even that one, especially that one. He died for the ungodly. That’s you. All also includes the ungodly person who sinned against you too. All. That really is all. Christ has forgiven you all your small and your terrible sins. He forgave the time you did youknow-what at you-know-where. He forgave that time you got yourself into that thing you shouldn’t have gotten into. And He forgave the time you said those hurtful words you really shouldn’t have said. You know what I’m talking about. You know what He forgave, don’t you? So what happens when you, who have been forgiven all your terrible sins, don’t forgive the sins of others? Can you expect to be forgiven?
No, absolutely not. Without the Lord’s forgiveness, there is no heaven, no life, no paradise. There is only death, hell, and torment for you. That’s the Law, and there’s no dodging it. If you say that all sins are forgiven by the cross, all except that one particular sin that person did against you, you reject the Gospel. You deny the all of the Lord’s forgiveness and set yourself outside the faith of Christ. Is it really worth going to hell to not forgive that person? Surely not, especially when the all of the Gospel covers both of you. You are forgiven on account of Christ. And that person is forgiven on account of Christ too. Don’t let that person’s not being sorry determine whether you forgive or not. Don’t think your lack of forgiveness is justified because that person isn’t sorry enough for your satisfaction. Christ didn’t wait for you to be sorry to forgive you. He died for sinners who weren’t the least bit sorry. He died for those who killed Him. He died for all your sins, and He died for all that person’s sins too. You know full well that you don’t get forgiveness simply because you forgive. No, Christ forgives you, and so you forgive. Forgiving others isn’t a work that earns you God’s forgiveness. That’s backwards. He takes His forgiveness and splashes you, and that forgiveness overflows onto those around you, even to that person who did that thing that hurt you so much. Still can’t bring yourself to forgive them? The pain is certainly real. The hurt really does run deep. If you force yourself to forgive, you might work up some forgiveness for a bit. But then that person will say or do something or you’ll hear that he said or did something, and it will all come rushing back. You’ll be back to where you started with all the pain, all the rage, all the unforgiveness. So, what then? You get your life filled again with His forgiveness. You are forgiven. You are enlivened to forgive others at the same place where you yourself have
ivables received all your forgiveness—His Word, His Baptism, His Absolution, His Supper. His forgiveness enlivens you to forgive as He overflows His forgiveness to those around you. Christ’s forgiveness is for all sins. Christ’s forgiveness is for all people—for you and for those who sin against you. All even means the sins of those who sin against you are forgiven too. “So will we truly, on our part, also heartily forgive and also readily do good to those who sin against us.” Rev. George F. Borghardt III is the Assistant/Youth Pastor at St. Mark Lutheran Church in Conroe, TX. His e-mail address is revborghardt@ higherthings.org.
W I N T E R
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