Is A&M chicken?

LSU is seeking to finish their 2007 football schedule and Texas A&M won’t sign…

Acts 2:1-21 – Pentecost (2007)

Acts 2:1-21 – Pentecost (2007)
St. Mark Lutheran Church, Conroe, TX

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. As I was processing out of church a few Pentecosts ago, my oldest son caught me in the isle and ran up all excited. “He’s here! He’s here, Dad, the Spirit’s finally here! I thought He’d never get here!”

“Yes, Son, He is! Finally!” For fifty days since Easter, the Holy Spirit has been hinted about, promised, and now He’s here.

We’ve even got the red to show it!

“Pentecost” is from the Greek word for “fiftieth.” The Jewish feast of Weeks. Fifty days after passover Deuteronomy says…

“Then you shall keep the Feast of Weeks to the LORD your God with the tribute of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give as the LORD your God blesses you.”

But the Father has made Pentecost so much more than an offering of corn to Him. Jesus, who won salvation for us on the Cross by His horrific death on the tree. rose from the dead on the third day. He has ascended to the right hand of God. The Spirit, the Helper, the comforter, sees to the delivery of His salvation to you and me.

That’s why today is traditionally called “WhitSunday.” White-Sunday – The celebration of the Christian Church’s birthday – the day where those baptized on Easter Vigil, the day before Easter, would wear white garments.

The two go together – the Spirit and the Holy Christian Church. One flows from the other. One is created by the other. Where the Spirit is doing business, He gathers the Christian Church around the gifts of the Spirit – the means of grace.

No wind. No fan fair. No tongues of fire. Just doing work. No wonder my son wanted to celebrate! Without Pentecost, we’d never celebrate the work of the busiest person of the Trinity – the Spirit.

He’s at work right now – taking my words and giving you life in Jesus’ Name. Creating “faith where and when He pleases in those who hear the Gospel.” (Augustana V)

In the water of your Baptism – there the Spirit is at work. In the Body and Blood of Jesus – there the Spirit is at work keeping you in the Faith. In the Absolution of your pastor this morning – there the Spirit is at work delivering the gifts of Jesus’ crucifixion.

He’s busy as a bee and works through the voice of men – never about Him at all, always about delivering Jesus to you. You’d not even know He was doing it if we didn’t stop on Pentecost and point it out.

Then, it’s right back to work wherever Jesus is spreading the Gospel in a haphazard fashion. For your Lord Jesus is like a sower who tosses seed all over the place, not caring where it lands. Jesus spreads His gospel to the ends of the earth and the Spirit does the work of creating faith in the Word – faith which is all about Jesus. Faith which saves you and me from our sins.

From the mother that teachers her child the faith, to the friend who tells another friend that their sin is forgiven in Christ. From the Pastor who preaches the Gospel in his parish to the missionary in a foreign land who speaks the Gospel to people of different tongues – all of it is the work of the Holy Spirit in the Word.

That’s the business of sons and daughters prophesying in Joel! Christians – young, old, ordained, layman, male, female – tell the Gospel! They proclaim the forgiveness of sins won by Christ on the Cross.

On Pentecost, the curse of Babel was undone. They had gathered together to build a tower to stretch to the heavens so that they would be like God.

Sounds crass. We’d never do that! We don’t need a tower to try to be like God, do we? Pick your sin – it’s about you being like God.

We worry about our lives because God isn’t going to fix things the way I want Him to. If I were God, I do and know better.

We covet other things because we know better than God what you need. We take, cut corners, and cheat because God is not providing enough for us. We’ll help Him along.

We despise others and hate them – hold grudges because we don’t believe honestly that Christ dying for us is enough to settle everything – between you and me, between you and the next sinner.

Think I’m overstating my case? Well, consider this, would you be mad at the person you were mad at if you remembered that Christ died for you both? He forgave them. Why haven’t you?

It is about being God, isn’t it? So, they built a tower to get to God. But, He scrambled their language. If they can’t understand each other, maybe they won’t get themselves in such a pickle.

But, they did. You do too – daily and much. But, the Father’s response is not hell. No, He sends His Son in your place – who always loved the Father with His whole heart and loved His neighbor so much that He would die for them – die for you.

And so that the message of what the Father did in the sending of His Son would be heard, He sent the Spirit in Jesus’ Name.

Plenty of miracles to celebrate today – people speaking in tongues, tongues of fire alighting on the disciples.

But the greatest miracle on that first Pentecost was that the Word of Lord was heard…

"Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born”

Then all who were there.. Parthians and Medes and Elamites,and every other sort of -ite and -an who was there in Jerusalem that first Pentecost – even Romans and Jews… They heard the Apostles speaking in their own language – that’s what a tongue is – the wonderful works of God…. They heard the Word!

St. Peter stood up from amongst the Twelve – from amongst the Church, and preached the Gospel: “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."

Peter preached, the Spirit did the work.. They were cut to the heart. What could they do? St. Peter responded…

"Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call."

“Called” That’s the Spirit’s miracle: They believed. That’s the Spirit’s work. Three thousand people were baptized. Baptized – received the Holy Spirit. Baptized – received the forgiveness of sins. They were saved in the water – where you were saved in the waters of your Baptism.

That puts the “white” in WhitSunday! They were baptized. That’s Pentecost! Happy Birthday Church! The Spirit is here!

That’s what the Spirit does – He opens your ears to hear the Gospel. He creates faith in the gifts.

Dear Saints of God, Pentecost teaches us the truth about the Holy Spirit. He is not a force. He’s not a feeling. He’s not the pitter patter in your heart. He’s not a warm feeling in your heart when you sing a hymn that you love.

The Spirit is at work during good hymn and He’s also at work in the good hymns which are so German that they are un-singable in English. He’s at work when you think you feel Him in church. He’s at work when you are certain you don’t.

The Holy Spirit has connected Himself to the Word. Where the Word is being proclaimed, there the Spirit is at work. In the water, in the Word, in the Body and Blood – where Christ is delivering faith, that’s the work of the Spirit.

So.. let’s celebrate this Pentecost by letting the Spirit do His work. He wants you to repent of your sins and believe the Gospel….

Therefore, turn from your sins today. Stop doing them. Stop trying to be god. Turn from your own personal the tower building. Believe the Gospel. Trust the Lord.

Your sins.. all of them are forgiven in Jesus’ Name. Your tower building has been answered for. Christ has died for you. Christ has risen. Christ has ascended and has sent the Spirit. Be at peace.

You say, “Amen.” All of this has been the Holy Spirit’s work! He works to create faith in the Word – works receiving gifts from God.

So, let’s end that way this Pentecost. I’ll say you say, “Your sins are forgiven in Jesus’ Name.” And you say, “Amen.”

Ready? Here goes… “Your sins are forgiven in Jesus’ Name.” You say, “Amen.” Amen! A blessed Pentecost to you all. The Spirit is here. Finally! In the name of Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Luther on Serving God

"This is the way we must express the matter, also, about serving God, that nothing else is meant than hearing what He says and gladly and diligently doing it. But what does God enjoin? Above all things that a person should listen to Christ and accept the Gospel. This is the only, true, well-pleasing service we can render God. For right before our eyes stands the injunction: "This is My Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him." (Martin Luther – 15th Sunday after Trinity Sermon)

Simon says…

Linux users will appreciate this cartoon that RachelD sent me yesterday…

St. Luke 24:52 – Consecration of Dcs. Sara Lemon
Cabot, PA – May 19, 2007

In the name of Jesus. Amen. And they returned to Jerusalem with great joy. They had a lot to be joyful about…

Everything that Jesus had said, He did. He fulfilled what was promised – the Law of Moses, the Prophets, the Psalms. He did what we could never do. He did it all. And He didn’t do it for Himself, He did it for you and me.

The disciples didn’t get it. How could they? So, He opened their minds to pour into them this Gospel.

We are lost and condemned creatures. We have failed to live for God, failed one another – daily and much. We are not saved in this world by what we do. Nor does being good or living a good life cut it before Almighty God. What saves us is Christ – He suffered and rose again on the third day for us.

And after He did that – after He won and secured our salvation, He saw to it that it was delivered into our ears – He sent His men to preach repentance and forgiveness of sins in His name, beginning first in Jerusalem and going all the way to Pennsylvania.

Repentance – that’s the Law which condemns us for all the times that we fail to fulfill the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms. When we live for ourselves as if we matter most. He calls us to repent of that – to turn from our sins. To stop doing evil.

Then He pours in the Good News – the One who died has risen from the dead. Jesus gives forgiveness of sins in His Name – no sin is left unforgiven, no debt left unpaid, no way that, in Him, you or I will miss out on heaven on the Last Day.

Not since Christ died. Not since He rose. Not since He ascended to the right hand of the Father.

Who is this that comes in glory With the trump of jubilee? Lord of battles, God of armies,– He hath gained the victory. He who on the cross did suffer, He who from the grave arose, He hath vanquished sin and Satan; He by death hath spoiled His foes. (TLH 218, 2)

So… They went home. They did what they were given to do. They went back to the same stuff – but no longer quite the same as before, for Christ is now at the right hand of the Father.

For Christ, “…hast raised our human nature On the clouds to God’s right hand; There we sit in heavenly places, There with Thee in glory stand.” (218, 5)

The Ascension is how we face each day – in His Name we rise in the morning, in His name we pray, in His name we live, in His name we close our eyes and in His Name we die. And as certain as Christ has been raised from the dead – in His Name we rise from the dead – no doubts, no uncertainty, no despair.

Each day is spent in this life by faith already certain of heaven, and salvation, and eternal life. For where Christ is, there we are, and there we will be. What Christ has been given from the Father is ours in Him too.

Christ is at the Lord’s right hand – you and me too, in Christ. All that we could never do, He gives us for free – adoption, sonship, inheritance…everything.

So the disciples couldn’t just stand there gawking at the sky anymore, there was work to be done. Back to Jerusalem they went – back home to their regular lives.

But regular no more – their lives were now spent in the certainty and the confidence that He had not only ascended, but He had ascended for them.

“And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy,and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen.” (Luke 24:52-53)

Back to work they went too – men and women both. The Apostles given to preach repentance, to baptize in His Name, and to forgive sins.

To help and aid them the Lord gave certain woman to do the work behind the scenes, unbenownst to anyone else. These quiet servants did what couldn’t be done by the Apostles – they visited widows, sometimes bringing them the Body and Blood of Christ, cared for the sick, tended to the poor, taught the younger women and the children.

The earliest reference to a deaconess that we have in the Scriptures is dear Phoebe, whom St. Paul recognized as a helper and servant for him and the church.

Now “helper” doesn’t sound like a very important one at all. Helper sounds like second-fiddle, like a sidekick.

But such talk is the way of power and control, and it loses the gift.

A deaconess isn’t second-fiddle, she’s a servant — putting others’ needs before her own. That’s the way it is with deaconesses – all service, little respect. But that’s the way it was with our Lord too, wasn’t it? He came not to be served, but to serve.

“He took upon the form of a servant and was obedient unto death, even death on a Cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name…” (Phil 2)

Unwanted. Despised. Like the woman who anointed Jesus at Bethany. Judas protested that the fragrant oil could’ve been sold and the money given to the poor. His condemnation of her wastefulness was clear, “Nobody wants you around.”

But the Lord knew what was up with him, and with her. The poor would be with us always. The salvation of the world rested on His suffering and dying for us. Can you get any better of a way to serve Him, and us, than to anoint his body for burial?

No man would do that – but she did. And Jesus said, “Amen, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her."

The particular work is never forgotten by the Lord, the small service never considered small. He gives it meaning with His words and promises – with His Name. His Ascension gives it purpose – He’s at the right hand of God. In Christ, you are too, Sara.

Those jobs, those icky jobs, those jobs that no man would do – godly women have done. It was the women who took His bloodied, beaten, dead Body off the Cross, and tended to it. Women who showed up at the tomb on Easter morning to do the particular unique service that only they can do.

But they didn’t find the living amongst the dead. Alleluia! The Lord sent women to tell the Apostles that the Lord had risen from the dead.

Each one, each part of the body, given their unique gift – each gift and service made important not because of the task itself or the fanfare received for it, but because Christ suffered, rose on the third day, and ascended beyond our sight.

The ancient rites for the installation of deaconesses all took special care not to lose this gift. They were all very specific to point out – you are not a pastor, Sara. The Lord loves you far too much to do that to you. You are to be in the pew on Sunday morning.

What you are is important to Him – you’re a deaconess with a service that only you are given to do, a task uniquely given for you that the Lord has a for you for a time. Do what’s given to you to do with the joy of the Ascension for…

“Jesus reigns, adored by angels; Man with God is on the throne. Mighty Lord, in Thine ascension We by faith behold our own.” (TLH 218, 5)

What you do isn’t ordinary or everyday even though it may feel ordinary and everyday. What you do is eternal for He is eternal – for in your service you deliver the Crucified, Risen, and now ascended Lord.

And if you perish in this service? “If I perish, I perish said Queen Esther. I would perish for Him who gave Himself for me.”

Or as the hymn writer says. “To them the cross, with all its shame, With all its grace, is given; Their name an everlasting name, Their joy the joy of heaven.” (TLH 219,5)

So, off this mountain too now, Sara. No glory for deaconesses, not even on commissioning day. It’s straight off to service. Straight to the task of mercy – the calling given specifically and only for you to do.

For “…This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven."

Go your way in peace, casting all your care upon Him. INI. Amen.

James 1_27 – Rogate (Mother’s Day)

I blame Cwirla….

St. James 1:27 – Rogate – Mother’s Day
St. Mark Lutheran Church – May 13, 2007

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.   So, my wife leaves at 4:30pm to go tend to something leaving me with the kids.  No problem.  I’m a dad.   

She gave me dinner with the simplest instructions, “All you have to do is stick this food in the oven at 5:30.  It’ll auto start and dinner will be ready when I return.”  Piece of cake – I’ve got a advance degree.  I’m all over that.  The instructions could be in Latin and I’d be able to do them. 

5:25pm rolls around and I get the food out of the fridge to put it in the oven.  Dad’s on the job.

5:40pm, Sophia woke from her nap – most unhappy.   She really had woken up at 5:20, but I was putting the food in the oven.  She was not happy about being delayed – not at all.

She can’t speak, except to make one sound.  “Mmmm.”  That one sound means “Mom.”  She’s got no sound for me – oh well.  When I picked her up, “Mmmm” was all she said, over and over.  Dorah the Explorer stopped the Mmm’s for a bit.  Two points for Dad!

5:55pm, the heir to all I have comes in frantic.  “Dad, Dad, Dad,” he says stuttering.  “The oven.. the timer isn’t moving… it’s not on.. if it’s not on we won’t eat…we’ll starve.”

“Son, I’ve got it all under control.  Don’t fret – I followed your mother’s instructions.”  The forth time that he ran back and forth to me, I began to doubt myself.  Did she say press a button? 

So, I got up to check on it.  There I found the two boys in front of the oven having a discussion.  While my oldest was frantic, my youngest seemed very calm – almost too calm. 
I soon found out why he was so calm.   “Don’t worry, George,” he told his brother, “if this doesn’t work, he’ll have to get us McDonald’s.”  Consider that.. one son thought I’d messed dinner up and the other was pulling for me to!  

At 6:15pm, Mom returned.  The boys met her at the door with stories of their Dad-doubts.  One who wanted dinner to work and one who clearly was sure that no matter what – we should go to McDonalds.  Lookin at Sophia, I said to myself, “At least you didn’t doubt me.” 

But when I handed Sophia to her Mom, she began the “mmmm”’s again.  Then she gave her mother a giant hug and then looked back at me and then gave her another hug and then looked at me and then gave her another hug.  The message was clear, “Mom, why would you leave me with such an incompetent parent, please don’t leave us again?”

God made male and female and joined them together so that they be mom and dad.  Where there is only one parent there is something missing – something incomplete.  Only Moms are given to be the “M” word.  Thank God for the gift of Mothers.

 From the mother who suffered intense labor, to the adopted mother who knows her child from the beginnings of their lives – Mothers know their own intimately.  Dad’s can’t measure up – at least this Dad can’t.  Who could possibly?

Our Lord Jesus cooked as all little children cook in the blessed Virgin Mary’s belly and so blessed motherhood.

Cuts, scrapes, kisses make them better.   Cleaning up messes and other bio-hazardous materials.  Mom’s always have a band-aid for cuts or just know when something is wrong with their kids.

Mary did that for her Lord, for her Son.  And He honored his mother – listening to her and doing what she told Him to do.  He did that to save her, to save you, and to save me.

So, St. James commands us  – don’t merely listen to the Word and so deceive yourselves, do what it says.  How will those little children learn the Word to do what it says?

St. Paul tells us that Pastor Timothy had learned the faith of Christ from his grandmother and mother.   Moms pray and teach their kids the faith they are baptized into.  Getting the kiddos up and ready for Sunday School and Church.  Carting them all up to communion to be blessed by the Lord.  Making sure that not one confirmation class is missed.  That’s motherhood. 

The curse upon Eve was at the birth point – excruciating pain.   But in that the Lord shows His grace – a mother who gives birth right afterwards remembers the anguish no more, for joy that a child has been born into the world.” 

Yet, they know.  They went through it.    As my mother always reminds me, “Nine months.. and the pain of hours and hours of labor.. and you did this to me..”  That’s the sort of guilt that makes a Lutheran!

But, she was right.  I had sinned.  I had disobeyed her.  That’s the commandment brought before our eyes today – honor your mother and father.  Honor.  Listen.  Respect.

Our parents are our particular gift from God – given to us by the Father who loved us in the giving up of His Son.  He gave up His only begotten to save each of us from our sins.  His Son, for us.  What parent would do that?  But He did just that to save you.  That’s what makes us children of God. 

The Father loves us – not because we are lovable.  No, He loves us because of Christ.  Jesus says, “For the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from the Father.”

We don’t choose our Father in Heaven, He chose us.  That makes our salvation gift.  Kids don’t choose their parents either.  They come as gift from the Lord.

So, little ones, treat your mom as a gift from the Lord.  You do this when you listen to her.  Do what she says.   Do what they say and it’ll go well for you in the Land the Lord your God is giving you – ever think about that?  The Fourth Commandment is the only commandment with promise!

I know Mom is strange sometimes.  My mother once put squash in pizza to try to get me to eat it.  Squash in pizza?  That’s just nuts. 

But, the Lord gave me my particular mom as a gift.  Only one mom – just for me.  So, my mother did what she did because I needed to eat my veggies.   I don’t like squash and wouldn’t eat it.  Still don’t.  Mom was doing what she did for my good.

That’s what the Father does for us – He is always working things out for our good, always caring for us in Christ.

 He corrects us with His Law and calls us to repent for the evil we do and forgives our sins in the blood of His Son given for us on the Cross.  He slays us so that He can make us alive.

Jesus did what we are required to do – He kept the Law in our place.  He honored mom perfectly.  He didn’t merely listen to the Word, He did what it says – even when it killed Him.

He’s risen and gives new life to us.  Life that is spent for those around us – especially for Mom  Serve God by listening to Mom.

And there’s never a point in which you can drop or despise your Mother. From the Cross, Jesus gave His mother to St. John to be tended to and cared for.  Do the same for your parents – love them and care for them as they grow older. 

And “honor them” –for an adult honor does not mean “obey.”  It means respect – be truthful.  As
He did when you were younger, God used your parents to speak for Him.  They don’t stop doing that when you reach a certain height.  Cherish their voice!

St. James says that’s pure and undefiled religion!  Visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.  I don’t care what you want to do for God the Father, if you aren’t tending to your Moms, you aren’t caring for what God wants you to do.

As parents, we are given to repent too for all the times when we have failed to put the Lord’s words first.  Where we have lived for ourselves and not for our children.  Where we have lost our cool as parents with our kids. When we have failed to be an example for them and have not taught our kids the faith – by our words and by our actions. 

Time is too short to hold anything back from Mom or our children.  Ask anyone who misses their Mom today and any parent whose hope is in a happy reunion with their child in heaven on the Last Day.  Time is just too short to withhold forgiveness from one another – especially in families

So, parents seek your kids out who have strayed or offended you.  Find them where they are lost.  Love them and forgive them.

Children, find your parents who you have offended and ask for forgiveness.

Which us brings us to the last mother to rejoice in today.  We are born in her in her baptismal waters.  She teaches us the Word.  She sings her lullabies – some of which are in minor keys.  She feeds us the very Body and Blood of Christ.  And when we die, she wraps us in clothes and tucks us in bed. 

She has warts and blemishes.  She’s not always faithful.  But, she’s Christ’s bride and our Mother.  I’m talking about the Christian Church, who St. Paul calls in Galatians the “the mother of us all.” 

Can’t very much celebrate Mother’s Day in Church without remembering that Mother where we have delivered what Christ did for us on the Cross.  The Church is our mother. 

Now on Friday, Mom and Sophia went to a banquet here at church leaving the boys and I alone again.  When seven o’clock came, they began to despair of hunger.  This time, Dad took no risks – it was straight to wherever they wanted to eat.   No messing around this time! 

Thank God for Mothers today.  For the Christian Church, where we receive the forgiveness of sins won by Christ on the Cross.  And for our earthly mothers who bore us and love us.  A blessed Mother’s Day to you!  Or as my daughter would say, A blessed “Mmm” day to you!   In the name of Jesus. Amen.

"Pidgin" 2.0 is released!

If you are a person that uses "chat" programs, I suggest Pidgin (formerly known as "Gaim").   Pidgin is a multi-protocol Instant Messaging client that allows you to use all of your IM accounts at once.   Why have different programs for AIM, Yahoo, MSN, and myspaceIM?   Why pay for Trillian?

Pidgin is slick, powerful, has many many plugins and free for Windows, Mac, and Linux.  Check out a review here then download it here.  Enjoy!

God’s Will: Issues Etc. Interview

Listen here.

The Penguin is Comin’ to your Dell!

is coming to new Dell PC’s!  Dell has announced they will ship PCs with Ubuntu linux installed. 

This is HUGE!  All the freedom of Linux pre-installed on your PC.  Users will have the freedom to just say "no" to preinstalled Microsoft products.  Talk about a way to lower the price of your PC! Novice users will be able to have a working linux install.  Dell will be making hardware manufacturers make sure that ubuntu runs smoothly on Dell machines. 

Linux security.  Linux stability.  Open source prices.  Win-Win-Win.  Yes, it’s true. "Dude, You are getting Ubuntu!"

Linux is freedom.