The Joshua Victor Theory

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. In today’s Gospel reading, a person poses an important question to Jesus, that might often be on our minds. “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” As we contemplate Jesus’ response, we’re required to reflect on our own standing in relation to the kingdom of God. “Am I one of the many who will fail to enter or one of the few who will enter?” (Just 550). Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The person who asks Jesus the question is asking not about himself, but others. “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” We’ve probably all asked similar questions. I know I always did as a student in the Lutheran school system. We ask about whether or not certain people will be saved, and we usually have a vague group of people in mind. It’s a safe way to avoid involving yourself in the question. But Jesus directs His answer back to the questioner: [You], “strive ...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Each of the readings today share a strong theme. The difficulty of holding firm to God’s Word and to Christ’s cross in the face of persecution, difficulty, and opposition. Moses provides a positive example of holding firm in faith against trying circumstances. It says in Hebrews 11, “By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.” Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Anyone who leads you to believe that being a Christian, a believer in God, is an easy life, free from trouble has plainly misled you, as the readings today show. Being a follower of Christ, and holding to God’s Word in the Bible—not j...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Has endless worrying ever gotten you anywhere? Has being anxious about something accomplished anything? Has the pursuit of food, clothing, and material possessions ever left you satisfied? It’s questions like these that Jesus addresses today, as He teaches us to seek His kingdom, and all these things will be added to us. For where our treasure is, there our heart will be also. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. We’ve been experimenting with some gardening at home. Trying to grow a few cherry tomato plants and herbs in pots and planter boxes on our lanai. Several of our cherry tomatoes are getting large and green and juicy. I’ve been anxiously watching their progress for months now, to the point of being a little ridiculous about it, as my wife can attest. I’m so anxious to see them grow, that I sometimes check on them two, three or more times per da...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. The rich man in the parable thought to himself: “my crops, my barns, my grain, my goods, my soul.” This is the refrain of the rich man who thinks that all his possessions and wealth, yes even his own life or soul, belongs to himself. The sad story of a lonely, miserly, rich man, who laid up treasure for himself, but tragically found out that none of it belonged to him. Not even his life. He thought that by storing up his surplus, he could secure both his possessions and his life of leisure. But when his life was suddenly taken from him, he found that he’d secured neither possessions nor his life. This lesson Jesus told to a man who was seeking after his family’s inheritance. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. A man wanted Jesus to help settle a family dispute. Normally the oldest brother controlled the father’s estate after he died. So probably this...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Several weeks ago on Father’s Day we learned what a privilege it is to come to our dear Father in prayer, as we pray “Our Father.” Today we consider how praying the words: “Thy Kingdom Come” are life-changing and world-changing. Also, how the Lord’s Prayer really draws us into the daily life of this world so that God may bring His kingdom among us also. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. “Thy Kingdom Come.” The Small Catechism explains “what does this mean?” by saying: “The kingdom of God certainly comes by itself without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that it may come to us also.” So we don’t make the kingdom of God come by our prayers, but we ask to become part of that kingdom. God of course is the one who brings about His kingdom, and Jesus Himself was the coming of that Kingdom. “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (Matt. 3:...

As summer marches on we’ve continued our Creation and Evolution Adult Bible Class. The videos have stimulated much good thought and discussion. So far we’ve surveyed how the influence of evolutionary thinking has affected morals and societal institutions like the family. We’ve looked at the creation of the universe and the grandeur of outer space, considered questions of time and the age of the universe, and how that relates to questions about when Adam was created and how sin and death came into the world. We’ve also looked at objections to the existence of God, and understanding the difference between macroevolution (the universal common descent of all living things) and microevolution (the horizontal, small-scale, observable changes within animal and plant kinds). I’ve continually emphasized that creationists and evolutionists live in the same world and have the same facts and evidence to view, but that your starting point or worldview has huge consequences for what conclusions you ...

“I’m up to my eyeballs in debt!” “I just can’t make my mortgage payment anymore.” “It just seems like one unexpected expense after another!” Sound familiar? In these hard-hit economic times, most of us are feeling the pinch. If you’ve found yourself in such a situation—if you’ve got debts on cars, homes, and student loans, you probably have wished or dreamed of what it would be like to be debt free. To have all of your debts paid in full, and to be in the clear. Here at Emmanuel, we still are paying down a sizable debt on our new land for the school expansion. We too would long to be debt free. Graciously and thankfully, as of spring 2010, the school has fully paid down the debt on the classroom expansions of some years ago (the modulars) on our current property. Every debt paid is like a little victory, right? So imagine for a moment what you would do if you were debt free. If the mortgage and the car and the credit card were all paid off. Your income would no longer be chained to ...