a Lutheran’s Confessions

“It certainly is not possible to comfort a soul unless it hears the Word of its God. But where in all the books is God’s Word except in Scripture? What are we doing by reading other books and letting this one lie? Other volumes may indeed trouble or kill us, but no other book than Scripture is able to comfort us. Scripture alone bears the title which St. Paul gives it, a ‘Book of Comfort’ which can sustain the soul in all tribulation so that it does not despair but keeps on hoping.”
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     According to Dr. Alveda King, niece of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the right to life is the first civil right guaranteed to all Americans.
     “Ever American is entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” she says. “The first gift the Lord gives us is our lives. Life is our first civil right.”
     She believes her uncle, who advocated “a beloved community,” would agree.
     “We must include the unborn in all the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and we will always say with the Scriptures, ‘Beloved, let us love one another,’ and that includes the little babies.”
     Today is Sanctity of Human Life Sunday, and I agree that the dream of Dr. King includes all the children God has given us, born and unborn.

    Sometimes the guilt we carry is imaginary. Sometimes it is real. There is a difference between true guilt and false guilt.
    False guilt arises when we tell ourselves or someone else tells us that we are in the wrong when we are not. The antidote to false guilt is to hear the truth—the truth that others have responsibility for what happened, not us.
    Hearing the truth lifts the burden of false guilt.
    True guilt is another matter. It arises when we are clearly in the wrong and we know it. We may try to run from it but we cannot. Our conscience keeps accusing us and will not give us rest. The antidote to true guilt is the Gospel—the Good News that Christ has died for and taken away all your sin and guilt.

“God made Him who knew no sin to become sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”

    If your conscience is accusing you, I encourage you to make an appointment with me so that you can hear the Gospel spoken personally to you. Hearing the Good News of our Savior lifts the burden of guilt and enables you to get on with your life. Make an appointment to see me or come by during the fireside chat tonight from 6:30-7:30pm. Anything you share in the privacy of the confessional is kept in the strictest confidence.

    Parents, the most important thing you can do for your children is to pass on to them the true, apostolic faith which as expressed in the Small Catechism and the other confessional writings of the Lutheran Church.
    Jesus said, “If you continue in My Word, you are truly My disciples.” Paul wrote, “Watch your life and doctrine closely,” and “Watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have received. Keep away from them.”
    There are many dangers and threats to your children, but none greater than false teaching.
    It’s all around our community and on the airwaves. If you guard your children against the H1N1 virus, why would you neglect to inoculate them against the false gospels of today?
    Ground your children in the truth by bringing them to Grace Club, Catechism, Youth Group, Sunday School and, most of all, to the Divine Service. Nourish them in Christ’s Word and Holy Supper, and study your Bible and catechism daily with your family, not because you must, but because their souls mean more to you

“If I live longer, I certainly want to write a book on temptations, for without these a man cannot appreciate Holy Scripture, faith, or the fear and love of God; nay, he who has never been in temptations cannot know what it means to have hope.”
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