About Me
- Name: Rev. Geoffrey A. Wagner
- Occupation: Pastor [LCMS]
- Location: Elizabeth, CO
- Quote: I always recall one from C. S. Lewis: ...[It] is not the remembered but the forgotten past that enslaves us.
- More Info: Read here
We have been through Holy Week and have witnessed again with our own ears our Lord’s Passion. He rode into Jerusalem as a king, to His coronation of thorns and to take His place on the throne that is His cross, upon which He died. He rode in knowing full well what would happen to Him.
Is there a religion out there that teaches these things? I don’t assume to know every doctrine of every religion out there, but becoming a guardian angel or looking down on us from heaven don’t strike me as being the teaching of any religion.
What, Christianity you say? No, these things are not written in our Scripture. The number of angels is fixed, no one is turned into one. And the dead are not looking down on us, at least not in the manner of this statement. There’s the scene in Revelation where the martyrs pray for us: “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” In essence, while it looks like they pray that God will exact their vengeance, they are also asking, “How long will You let them [us] suffer as we did?” (Revelation 6:9-11) But there is nothing in the Bible that states they are looking down on us as if watching and enjoying all the good things we’re doing or that are happening to us, celebrating with us in absentia, as it were.
Yesterday, a baseball field in the Denver area was dedicated in honor of the former president of the Colorado Rockies. Both of these things were said by one of his kids at the dedication.
Dear Christian parents, please stop espousing these false doctrines!
Last night, we watched a comedy-documentary titled Fat Head. And don't let that short description fool you, it is filled with good facts, simply presented with a bit of comedy (a good bit of comedy). In essence, the documentary posits that modern man's struggle with obesity is due, in large part, to the current dietary suggestions that we pay attention to: eating less fatty foods (which leads to a higher intake of carbohydrates).
Say what you will about Glenn Beck, the things he talks about in this video I have been talking about (okay, maybe whining would be an appropriate word) for almost a decade now; in fact, you may recall this entry of mine from a few years ago. Disregard your biases for or against the man and watch this short video, the numbers will astound you (as statistics are supposed to do, right?).
Jesus, His mother, and His disciples had been invited to a wedding. It was a great party, so much so that before it ended, the reception had run out of wine. Mary approaches Jesus. She knows who He is and what He is capable of. "They have no wine." Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come." (John 2:3b-4)
Later, Jesus was teaching a large crowd, and the day was fading. They were getting hungry and there was no food, nor time to get food. However, there was a boy present who had a few fish and loaves of bread. From this, Jesus feeds the crowd. From there, Jesus walks around Galilee; He did not want to walk in Judea, though, because the Jews wanted to kill Him. It was about the time of the Feast of Booths, so His brothers in Galilee, who did not yet believe in Him, told Him to go to Judea for the Feast: "Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing. For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world." But Jesus told them, "My time has not yet come..." (John 7:3-4, 6)
Though He stayed in Galilee for a little while, once His brothers went, He also went to festival, but secretly. The Jews were looking for Him in the crowd, but they could not find Him. Once the festival was halfway over, Jesus went to the temple and started teaching. His words surprised some and angered others. Some claimed He had a demon in retort to His question, "Why do you seek to kill Me?" After some more teaching, "they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come." (cf. John 7:11-30)
Later again, the scribes and Pharisees brought a woman to Jesus who had been caught in adultery. "Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?" they asked Him. He answers by writing something in the sand, as though He had not heard them. They ask again; Jesus stands up. "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first." After stooping down again, the crowd begins to disperse, "beginning with the oldest even to the last." Seeing no one left to accuse the woman, Jesus dismissed her: "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more." After finding the scribes and Pharisees, he teaches them again, further enraging them. Yet, "as He taught in the temple; and no one laid hands on Him, for His hour had not yet come." (cf. John 8:1-20)
For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. (Romans 7:15-20, 24-25)
Last month, some of Genevieve's friends from North Carolina, who happen to be professional photographers, surprised us with a photo shoot for Molly. And, like the subtitle says, they came only to take pictures. What a surprise...
Here's a short video they shot of their short time here:
Dear fellow blind-seers, "you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them."
If the government shuts down Friday, I would have no problem supporting a military coup. The president and congress will get paid, regardless, but our troops (many of whom are living paycheck to paycheck) will stop getting paid. Unbelievable. Though, it's good to hear that Speaker Boehner thinks they shouldn't get paid if the doors close.
Hey, how about taking those checks and paying our fighting men with them?
I have occasionally wondered if it would have been better to be born blind. That way, you couldn't see to be distracted from anything; you could never have seen and be distracted. Still, I don't want to take for granted that I have been born with the gift of sight. Man was created with the ability to see, and even this was called very good; so far be it from me to denounce what has been given by God as not good.