The Joshua Victor Theory

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. Today we observe Life Sunday, in memory of over 50 Million innocent lives taken by abortion in the U.S., since it was legalized nationally in 1973. 50 Million is a shocking number, but it’s only a fraction of the unjust deaths by abortion world-wide, and only since 1973. And as millions continue to die each year, do we remain numb and unfeeling to the tragedy? It’s not the casualties of a war on a faraway continent, nor the body count of some disaster in the distant past, but it’s an ongoing, daily reality all around us in our communities, and touching our families, friends, and neighbors. Inside and outside the church, on Maui and in every community. Yet so often it is a hidden reality, done quietly, and few, if any, know that it has even happened. Many women suffer silently with the pain and guilt, whether they chose it of their own accord, or under the pressure of others. They feel ...

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. In the reading from Isaiah 49, the speaker calls us to attention: “Listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar.” Are you listening? Who is it that is speaking? Read the text before you in your bulletin. The speaker says “The Lord has called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name.” And the Lord God said: “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” So what is the identity of this speaker, who calls for our attention, says that God called Him from the womb, and God gave Him a name while He was still in the body of His mother? Of course it’s Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Jesus Christ is the servant of God who would bring glory to God, and who was chosen from long before His birth to be God’s servant. And He was named Jesus and titled Immanuel, God with us, from before His birth. Only when this was written, this was some 7 centur...