2001 Winter - Higher Things Magazine (with Bible Studies)

www.higher things.org / WINTER / 2002

from

the

editor-in-chief The Great Christian Adventure For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12 (ESV) I admit it. I’ve been a Lord of the Rings nerd since I first read them when I was eleven. I distinctly remember sitting up when I was recovering from surgery, reading stories of far-away places and great adventures, and thinking to myself,“Why can’t that be me? Why am I stuck here with a hurt ankle where I can’t do a thing?”

This is often the life of the Christian. We look at life and think to ourselves, “There’s got to be something more. Life cannot possibly be this boring all the time.”Toss in a relationship gone sour, troubles at school or at home, and you have yourself a great combination of self-pity and depression. Is this all there is to life? Surely there must be something beyond all this.

There is a great battle going on. Not like the battle found in the Lord of the Rings, but the battle for the souls of men and women throughout the world. This battle may not look as glamorous or as noble as the war in Afghanistan or elsewhere, but it is. It is the battle for eternal life. It is the war of the ages.

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Stories like The Lord of the Rings remind us that great things may be accomplished by the lowly and despised of the world. It helps our imagination take flight, and reminds us that there is a whole world out there that others cannot see. Satan seeks to enslave and destroy everyone and everything in his path. It reminds me a little bit of The Matrix. This is not a battle that we can see, but it is nevertheless true.

For you see, there is a great battle going on. Not like the battle found in the Lord of the Rings, but the battle for the souls of men and women throughout the world. This battle may not look as glamorous or as noble as the war in Afghanistan or elsewhere, but it is. It is the battle for eternal life. It is the war of the ages.

In this issue of Higher Things, you will hear stories of Christians around the world, living out their lives where God has placed them. Whether as a chaplain, a scientist, or even in the Sudan, being a Christian is the greatest adventure of all. It may not always look that way, but like the hobbits in Lord of the Rings, looks can sometimes be deceiving. In Jesus Christ, all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily. And that greatest of all warriors, God’s only-begotten Son, dwells in you by grace through your Baptism. It may not always feel like it, but you are in the battle, the battle that Christ has already won.

Pastor Todd A. Peperkorn Editor-in-Chief Higher Things: Dare to Be Lutheran

CONTENTS O F T A B L E

FEATURES

HigherThings

6

Editor-in-Chief REV. TODD PEPERKORN

Service to God in the Military

By the Rev. John C.Wohlrabe, Jr., Captain, Chaplain Corps, U.S. Navy, Brunswick, ME

Can the killing and destruction that war brings be justified?

Better yet: Can a Christian serve in the military and still be a Christian? Yes.They are acting as God’s servant to defend their country and its citizens against violence and injustice in order to preserve peace.

8

Notes on Islam

By the Rev. Dr. Frederic W. Baue, Editor, Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO

The Rev. Frederic W. Baue provides a glimpse into the world of Islam and its ever-growing effect on Christianity.

10 Diary of a Chaplain By the Rev. Dean Kavouras, FBI Chaplain; Assistant Pastor at Christ Lutheran Church, Cleveland, OH

Take a glimpse into the diary of the Rev. Dean Kavouras and see how the love of Christ helped heal and support people in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

12 Contending for the Faith By the Rev. James Winsor, Pastor at Risen Christ Lutheran Church, Arvada, CO

God’s grace is under attack. Learn how to defend it. It’s worth fighting for.

14 Wizards, Witches and Hogwarts Should Christians read the Harry Potter books?

By the Rev.Todd A. Peperkorn, Pastor at Messiah Lutheran Church, Kenosha, WI; Editor-in-Chief of Higher Things.

Good question. Find out what the Rev. Todd Peperkorn has to say about these popular books and their role in the Christian life.

15 There’s a Snake Around My Neck.

By the Rev.Tim Pauls, Assistant Pastor at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church & School, Boise, ID.

As Christians, we all deal with the snake called “sin”. Luckily for us, we know the snake’s power was crushed when Christ died for us on the cross.

17 The Power of Prayer

By Mollie Ziegler, Director of Strategic Development for an economic research institution in northern Virginia. She resides in Washington, D.C.

Falsely imprisoned in China for espionage, Dr. Gao Xue describes how Christ and the power of prayer sustained her during this horrific experience.

19 Survivor of War By the Rev. Daniel Woodring, President of Higher Things, Inc.

Every war has its heroes. Read how one Lutheran pastor miraculously survived the ongoing war of abortion by being born.

20 Hope in Christ in a World of Problems

By Julie Stiegemeyer, Freelance Writer, Pittsburgh, PA

Find out how a Lutheran pastor, equipped with the Word of God, is making a real difference in the lives of the young people of Sudan.

22 Deliver Us from Evil By the Rev. David Petersen, Pastor at Redeemer Lutheran Church, Fort Wayne, IN

Evil surrounds each of us daily.Take heart in knowing that Christ has and will deliver us from evil.

Volume 2/Number 1 Winter 2002

Managing Editor PAM KNEPPER

Assistant Editor JULIE STIEGEMEYER

Editorial Associates REV. DAVID PETERSEN REV. JAMES WINSOR DR. GENE EDWARD VEITH Art Director STEVE BLAKEY

Business Manager LYNN FREDERICKSEN

HIGHER THINGS, INC. BOARD OF DIRECTORS

President and Executive Director REV. DANIEL WOODRING Vice President REV. TODD

Secretary REV. SCOTT

PEPERKORN

STIEGEMEYER

Treasurer LYNN FREDERICKSEN

REV. KLEMET PREUS REV. MARCUS ZILL SANDRA OSTAPOWICH REV. JAMES WINSOR MOLLIE ZIEGLER Higher Things Magazine is published quarterly by Higher Things Inc., 2026 22nd Ave., Kenosha, WI 53140. No portion of this publication may be reproduced without the written consent of the editorin-chief of Higher Things Magazine.

Copyright 2002. Printed in the United States. Postage paid at Fort Wayne, Indiana. For subscription information, write to: Higher Things Magazine, P.O. Box 580111, Pleasant Prairie, WI 53158-8011 or e-mail to Subscriptions@higherthings.org.

Higher Things Magazine is mailed to most pastors and congregations of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod in the United States and Canada. For general information about Higher Things, Inc., please e-mail info@higherthings.org.

Christ’s death on the cross bruises the serpent, Satan, and destroys his power. The hymn verse is from Lutheran Worship #33, verse 6.

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Feedback

letters to the

editor

I just received the second issue of Higher Things magazine. I thought it was very well done and I enjoyed all the articles. I especially liked The Summit, since I have several nondenominational friends.Those same non-denominational friends believe in the “rapture” and so I also found the Left Behind - The Real Story article very helpful. My mom is thinking about sending out some copies to family and I am getting my friend a subscription for her birthday.

Bekah Koch I thought you might like to know that I really like Higher Things for my nine-year old daughter. I’m having her read some of the articles as part of her oral reading exercises in our home school.The articles are just the right length, the words are easily understood, and the ideas are clearly presented. And even a lay adult can understand what is being discussed! Thank you, thank you, thank you for this wonderful resource!!!!

The Fall 2001 issue is a keeper.

Many thanks, and keep up the TERRIFIC work!

Susan L. Endsley Folsom, California

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OUTSTANDING! Each article in the second issue of Higher Things touched on topics that face not only high school youth, but college students also. I have discussed several of these issues throughout the course of my serving as campus pastor at Indiana University.Your articles are brief, but packed with truth! They are a perfect springboard for further study or discussion, and can certainly be used as an evangelism tool. Please keep up the good work!

Rev. Richard Woelmer University Lutheran Church & Student Center Bloomington, Indiana

A while back I wrote to you concerning the first issue of Higher Things. I commented about the difficulty I had reading some of the text, (white lettering on light green, etc.).

I must say that the latest issue was much easier to read and, like the first issue, the content is great! Keep up the good work and may God bless all of you at Higher Things.

Rev. Handrich Peoria, Illinois I just finished reading your most recent issue of Higher Things, and once again you are to be commended. I thank God for all of you who have contributed the articles; they are not only beneficial for our youth, but are also an encouragement to us adults. The focus of the articles is exactly where it needs to be—on Christ our Savior and the ways He comes to us and strengthens our faith (the Means of Grace).This is what our youth, and all of us really need. God has used you to communicate this tremendous content and relate it to our daily lives. I know God is blessing many people through your stand on the truth and through you encouraging others to do so.

By the way, our Sunday school has decided to fund a subscription for every high school youth in our congregation, and I anticipate great things for those who will read it.

Rev. Kevin A. Hahn St. Luke Lutheran Church Wheaton, Kansas I want to thank you for your magazine. As the mother of three children, I appreciate that your magazine reinforces the Lutheran values that we have tried to instill in our children for the past 20 years. I wish your magazine had been around a few years ago when our daughter was in high school, but I’m glad it is here for our sons.

Our older son is a senior in high school and will be going off to college next year. I read with interest the articles in your Fall 2001 issue and know that they gave him "ammunition" to take with him— especially if he attends a public university. I know he enjoyed your magazine—he read it cover to cover. Our 15-year-old also enjoyed it. Both of our boys are registered to attend the Making Waves youth conference in Duluth this summer.

I feel confident that they will gain skills to remain true to their Lutheran faith and heritage at the conference.

Thank you again and keep up the good work.

Margaret Loots I got my magazine today! I thought that all of the articles were excellent. I especially liked the CCM and The Summit articles.

I did want to comment on something. I think this magazine is in a format more for adults than for teens.These articles are excellent, but they are not really written to the level of a teenager. We live in an age where teenagers like a lot of visualization.They like cool looking graphics and pictures. We also live in an age where teenagers have a very short attention span and are constantly on the go. He/she always has something going on, and doesn’t have very much time to read. If a magazine looks like it was designed for adults, then, whether it was or not, they will not take the time to read it.

I think Higher Things is awesome and the articles are excellent, but I just don’t think too many teenagers would really take the time to sit down and read it, because it doesn’t look like something they would be interested in.

Nathan Fischer

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Christ Academy applies a dynamic approach to learning that fits you where you are. Activities are designed to engage you in the whole of Christian life.

• “I enjoyed studying God’s Word, learning Greek, and getting into the Scripture in-depth.”

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hrist Academy is a two-week residential academy for high-schoolaged young men of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. It is a place where they can study about Christ crucified who is present in Word and Sacrament and who died that your sins would be forgiven. The last two weeks of June each year are set aside for this unique, intensive two-week academy.

Worship, the Center of the Experience

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Service to God

I N T H E M I L I TA R Y

By John C. Wohlrabe, Jr., Captain, Chaplain Corps, United States Navy

ince the terrible events of September 11th, our country is again at war. Is such killing and destruction justified? Can a Christian serve in the military and still be a Christian?

S

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An 18-year-old United States Marine who is a Christian has been inserted with his battalion into Afghanistan, near Kondahar, and soon he may be tasked with investigating the caves in that area looking for al-Qaida terrorists. He may have to shoot and kill the enemy if they resist. He recalls the Fifth Commandment. He remembers “We should fear and love God so that we do not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body, but help and support him in every physical need” (Luther’s Small Catechism). Can he carry out his duties with a good conscience?

At the same time, a 20-year-old female sailor, a Christian woman who has been trained as a Fire Control Technician in the United States Navy, is serving aboard a guided missile cruiser in the Arabian Gulf. She has been ordered to fire a tomahawk missile into Afghanistan. Even though she cannot see the result of her action because the missile will land hundreds of miles from the ship, she knows that this weapon has the capability of killing or wounding many people when it strikes. Can she, in good conscience, prepare the missile for launch and push the button that fires it? Similar questions could be raised by a Christian in the United States Army, Air Force or Coast Guard.

In December 1526, Martin Luther addressed this very issue in a treatise that he wrote entitled,“Whether Soldiers, Too, Can Be Saved.” Based on the clear teachings of Holy Scripture, Luther noted that there are two kingdoms which God has established in this world. Lutheran theologians call them the Kingdom of the Right and the Kingdom of the Left.The Kingdom of the Right is also known as the Kingdom of Grace or the Holy Christian Church. Here God works through the ministry of His Word and Sacraments to call people to faith and give them salvation through Jesus Christ, our Lord.The Kingdom of the Left, an extension of God’s Kingdom of Power, is what we refer to as the State or God-ordained civil government (see Romans 13:1ff; 1 Peter 2:13ff).To the government, God has given the sword or the power over life and death to protect the good, punish evil, and maintain peace. Luther put it this way,“For He [God] has set up two kinds of government among men. One is spiritual, through the Word and without the sword, through which men might become devout and righteous, so that along with this righteousness they might receive eternal life.This right-

eousness He administers through the Word, which He has hatred fill his heart and mind.The truth is that all of us, military committed to His preachers.The other is an earthly governand non-military alike, are poor, miserable sinners, totally ment through the sword, in order that they who refuse to be dependent upon God’s grace in Jesus Christ.That is why made devout and righteous unto life eternal shall by such Luther wrote this beautiful soldier’s prayer: earthly government be compelled to be devout and righteous “Heavenly Father, here I am, according to Your divine will, before the world.This righteousness He administers through in the external work and service of my government, which the sword.Though He does not reward this righteousness I owe first to You and then to my government for Your with life eternal, He nevertheless insists on it, in order that sake. I thank Your grace and mercy that You have put me peace may be maintained among men; and He does reward it into a work of which I am sure that it is not sin, but right with temporal gifts.” and pleasing obedience to Your will. But because I know Thus, an individual human being may not take the life of and have learned from Your gracious Word that none of another; but God is free to do so. And one way He does this is our good works can help us and no one is saved as a solthrough the governments that He has ordained in order to dier, but only as a Christian, therefore, I will rely not at all maintain order, punish evil, and protect good in a fallen, sinon this obedience and work of mine, but put myself freely filled world.Those who have been given the office or vocation at the service of Your will and believe from the heart that of working in the government (national leaders, judges, police, only the innocent blood of Your dear Son, my Lord Jesus military personnel, etc.) are to carry out this important Christ, redeems and saves me, and this He has shed work as their God-appointed duty.They are not acting for me in obedience to Your holy will. On this I stay; Our Lutheran as individuals on their own behalf, but in an appointon this I live and die; on this I fight and do all. Dear Confessions ed office on behalf of all the citizens of their country, Lord God the Father, preserve and strengthen this confirm,“It and ultimately, as God’s servant.To defend its people faith in me by Your Spirit. Amen.” is taught and punish evil, a government may, under certain ciramong us Could you, as a Christian, serve cumstances, wage war. Sometimes that all God and your neighbor in the milithe government cannot protect government in the world and all established tary, even in times of war, even if and defend its subjects against viorule and laws were instituted and ordained you must kill another human lence and injustice without using

by God for the sake of good order, and that being?

Most certainly!

This duty is such force.War is therefore an Christians may without sin occupy civil indeed a loving act, intended by offices or serve as princes and judges, render extension of a government’s God for the protection of others. decisions and pass sentence according authority to punish outside its borto imperial Thus, our Lutheran Confessions ders for the purpose of preserving and other confirm,“It is taught among us that all government peace against aggression or any such breaking of the existing laws, in the world and all established rule and laws were peace like occurred on September 11. Understood in punish evilinstituted and ordained by God for the sake of good this way, even waging war is a work of love, and a milidoers with order, and that Christians may without sin occupy tary member can be “blessed”, that is, he or she can be the sword, civil offices or serve as princes and judges, render and remain a Christian in his or her military service, engage in decisions and pass sentence according to imperial even when this involves killing others. just wars, and other existing laws, punish evildoers with the serve as In his 1526 treatise on the salvation of military persword, engage in just wars, serve as soldiers…” soldiers…” sonnel, Martin Luther also noted that the disposition or (Augsburg (Augsburg Confession, Article XVI). motivation of an individual soldier is an important facConfession, Even if you do not serve in the Armed Forces of tor. He writes,“The married state, also, is precious and Article XVI). our country, nor have any inclination to do so, for not godly, but there is many a rascal and knave in it. It is everyone is called to serve in this vocation, you can just the same way with the occupation or work of the still pray for those who are currently serving in this important, soldier; in itself it is right and godly, but we must see to it that the God-pleasing work. persons who are in the occupation and who do the work are the right kind of persons, godly and upright.”Those soldiers, sailors, O Lord God of hosts, stretch forth your almighty arm to airmen and Marines that perform their important work out of a strengthen and protect those who serve in the Armed sense of duty to God and their country are maintaining a proper Forces of our country. Support them in times of war, and in disposition and motivation. However, those who perform their times of peace keep them from all evil, giving them duties motivated by hatred, revenge, or greed are not performcourage and loyalty and granting that in all things they ing a godly and upright service. may serve honestly and without reproach; through Jesus Maintaining a godly disposition is a real challenge for us Christ, our Lord. Amen. (Lutheran Worship, p. 130) all, isn’t it? Even a Christian is susceptible to evil thoughts, To God be the Glory words, and deeds as he or she struggles with the temptations Chaplain John C.Wohlrabe is Command Chaplain for the of the devil and the pull of the old sinful nature. How many of Naval Air Station in Brunswick, Maine. He is a veteran with 28 us, regardless of our vocation, haven’t felt a sense of hatred toward terrorists since September 11th? A Christian Marine or years of military service. He and his family are members of soldier, who is serving out of a sense of duty to God and coun- Redeemer Lutheran Church, Cape Elizabeth, Maine. He is the father of three teenagers, all of whom are prayerfully considering try, may be confronted with the gruesome death of a close military service as possible vocations. friend in combat. Suddenly, duty is forgotten as revenge and

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Isla

Notes on

The

Five Pillars of

Islam The Duty of Reciting the Creed

~ ~ ~ ~

The Duty of Worship and Prayer

The Duty of Almsgiving

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The Duty of Abstinence during Ramadan

The Duty of a Pilgrimage to Mecca

O

ur country is experiencing a new revival of interest in religious things. This new spiritual society will not be friendly toward Christianity. Islam is not friendly toward Christianity. That is because it knows nothing of the Gospel—it has no atonement by a savior, no forgiveness of sins. But our society is becoming friendly with Islam— September 11 notwithstanding.

Muhammad was born in Mecca in 570 A. D. In 610 he supposedly saw the angel Gabriel and was given a prophetic revelation.The holiest place was the Kaaba, a very ancient building which they say was built by Abraham and Ishmael.

Muhammad’s prophetic utterances were later written in the Qur’an, the holy book of Islam.The word Qur’an means “recite”.

Many Muslims can recite the entire Qur’an.

Islam is monotheistic. Muslims will say, “There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet.” Muslims believe that there were many prophets, such as Abraham and Moses and Jesus.

They teach that Jesus did not die on the cross to take away our sins. He never rose from the dead. He was a prophet, but not the Son of God. Whenever a man claims to have received a new word from God, only one thing results—more law. Yet legalism is one thing about Islam which gives it an advantage over the Christian faith. It is doable. You pray toward Mecca five times a day. You go to the mosque once a week.

You recite the Qur’an. The word Islam means “submission” and a Muslim is “one who submits” to the rule of Allah in obedience to his laws.

Islam has spread widely. Today, it is the

second largest world religion with over a billion adherents. Muhammad went into his native city and began to preach. He met with persecution. Finally Muhammad and his followers fled to Medina. This escape, known as the Hejira, was to mark the turning point in the fortunes of Islam. The Muslim calendar marks its beginning from this event in 622 A.D. Within a short period of time, Muhammad gained many new converts.

Essential to the teachings of Muhammad—and key to the spread of Islam—was the concept of jihad. Usually translated “holy war”, the term actually means “exertion” .The higher jihad is spiritual, the striving of the individual against sin.The lesser jihad is military action for the spread of Islam. Islam promises great reward and immediate entrance into paradise for men killed in battle for the faith.

For example, here is a passage from the Qur’an,“This is the recompense of those who fight against God and His Messenger… they shall be slaughtered, or crucified, or their hands and feet shall alternately be struck off” (V.35). Compare that with the words of Jesus,“Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 7:44).

Muhammad returned to Mecca with 10,000 followers in 630. He destroyed the idols in the temple, but himself worshiped Allah at the Kaaba.

Then, in 632, Muhammad died unexpectedly. He left no successor, creating a power vacuum that has divided Islam to this day.The largest sect of Islam is the Sunni, a moderate faction.They believe that religious leaders should come from the descendants of Muhammad or his tribe.The second-largest group, the Shiites,

am

By the Rev. Dr. Frederic W. Baue

is a strict faction.They believe that leaders should come from descendants of Ali, Muhammad’s son-in-law. Of the first four caliphs who succeeded Muhammad, three were assassinated.

Nevertheless, Islam continued to expand.The many heretical Christians in the Middle East accepted their Muslim conquerors initially. Jerusalem welcomed Uthman, the third caliph, in 638. Finding the old temple area on Mt. Moriah deserted, he cleared away some rubble and made himself a simple mosque—the beginning of what was to become the present-day Dome of the Rock.

In time, Muslim conquerors took the faith to Spain in the West and to India and beyond in the East.Today, most Muslims live in Asia, not the Middle East.The Muslims would have conquered Europe, but were defeated at the Battle of Poitiers in 732, and turned back to Spain. Still, Muslim ambition centered on the Christian West, especially after the eight Crusades (1096-1277), which tried to reclaim the Holy Land for Christianity by military means. Finally, in 1453, Constantinople fell to Muslim forces.The Turks entered the city, slaughtered its inhabitants, and converted the magnificent Church of the Hagia Sophia (“holy wisdom”) into a mosque.

From there it was a straight run up the Danube and into the heart of Europe. They surrounded Vienna and laid siege in 1529.

This military threat forced Holy Roman Emperor Charles V to deploy forces that otherwise might have been used to stamp out the nascent Protestant Reformation that had begun with Luther’s 95 Theses in 1517. Fortunately, the Turks were defeated.

At its height, Islam built magnificent civilizations and contributed many things

to Western culture. For one thing, we all use Arabic numerals. During the period of European ascendancy in world affairs beginning in the 16th century, Islamic civilization fell into disarray. Arabia and India came under colonial rule.

In the 20th century, petroleum wealth flowed into the Arabian peninsula, and with it, increased political power for Islam.

We all know what happened on September 11, 2001. But in fairness it must be noted that the mainstream of Islam is moderate in tone. The terrorist groups are an anomaly.

We have today a resurgent Islam, particularly in the United States. It is similar, but opposed to Christianity. As America becomes more “spiritual”, it will become more friendly to Islam and less friendly to Christianity. We find in Islam a religion that emphasizes spirituality, obedience to divine law, and a way to bring religious precepts into the arena of public affairs. No wonder Islam is on the upswing. It’s just close enough to Christianity to lead many astray. All that’s missing is the Gospel.

Works cited Arberry, A. J., transl., The Koran Interpreted. 2 Vols. New York: Macmillan, 1955.

Baue, Frederic W. The Spiritual Society: What Lurks Beyond Postmodernism.

Wheaton: Crossway, 2001.

Hoerber, Robert G., ed. The Concordia Self-Study Bible (CSSB). St. Louis: CPH, 1986.

The Rev. Frederic W. Baue, Ph.D., is an editor at Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, Missouri.This article is adapted from his book,The Spiritual Society (Crossway, 2001).

The

Five Affirmations of

Islam Allah is Great

~ ~ ~ ~

Muhammad is the Prophet of Allah

A Day of Reckoning

The Koran

The Community of Believers W I N T E R 2 0 0 2 __ 9

Diary of a Chaplain: The Rev. Dean Kavouras, a chaplain for the FBI, heard it all in the days following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. He ministered by speaking God’s Word to burdened souls,by holding hands and giving hugs, by comforting all he encountered with the promise of the resurrection. Read his experiences as he lived those difficult days, serving the burdened and forlorn in places still suffering the aftermath of satanic violence.

Thursday, September 20, 2001 The highlight of the day was the heavy rain, which made sifting the sand for remains impossible.This forced the recovery teams to stop their work and rest at the command post. I mingled among them, greeting and chatting with them.The clerical collar was like a magnet to these weary workers looking for solace.

Two soldiers, normally in the recruiting office, were among the first dispatched to the crash site in Somerset on September 11. When they saw the huge crater in the ground, they were amazed that nearly all was disintegrated and the crater itself was all but empty, due to the force of the impact.

As they stood there frozen in disbelief, they noticed only one moving thing about 10 feet away—a book with charred pages flapping in the wind. Upon further investigation, they found it was a Bible with a piece of debris keeping it opened to Luke chapter one. Even amid destruction such as they had never imagined, the Word of the Lord still survived. And that gave the soldiers great hope with which to carry on.

The Lord i Somerset, Pennsylvania Tuesday, September 18, 2001 I started out this morning at the place where the families of the deceased are staying, which is one of three sites being maintained. Like many others, the families are asking two questions: 1) Why? and 2) What good could come of this?

Both are marvelous opportunities for answers of rock-solid truths from God’s Word, answers of Law and Gospel.

My next stop was the morgue, where all human remains are brought. Pathologists and technicians of every type were doing what they do—making identification as best their science can. On the entrance door to the room being used as the morgue is a prominent posting of Psalm 27:1-3,“The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?”

At the crash sight itself, the Pennsylvania State Police preached a truer Gospel than any other person on-site.They erected a huge cross, about 16 feet tall, made of two sturdy 8 by 8 beams, and draped with a white shroud.

That cross still stands.

It’s a reminder of the blackest, most unjust and tragic death of all history, that of the innocent Son of God; but also the reminder of humanity’s finest hour, for on that cross the sins of each person, no matter how great their transgression, was expunged; and on that cross death and hell were conquered. In the shadow of those two pieces of wood, I preached the Word to a number of people.

light and Tuesday, September 25, 2001 Today I held a prayer service near the actual crash site. I was able to find an area organist who located a portable organ and amplifier. She came through beautifully and that music helped the comforting and healing process tremendously.

About 150 FBI agents, ATF agents, Federal Marshals and people from other agencies attended.The singing was as hearty as any church on a Sunday morning. With many people in front of me on folding chairs and many more behind them, I preached to them about the wages of sin, death, and the gift of God— eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

salvati

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shall I Staten Island, New York City Saturday, October 13, 2001 Last evening I headed for the Staten Island landfill by way of “ground zero”. After going through six checkpoints, I walked the entire inner perimeter trying to take in the magnitude of the destruction at the World Trade Center site.

Truly the Law of God has been preached

Excerpts from FBI Chaplain, Dean Kavouras’ diary, in the days following September11 here in all its severity without a single word being spoken. One familiar with the Bible could not walk those grounds without thinking of our Lord’s words regarding Jerusalem,“there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down” (Luke 21:6).

But by virtue of our connection to Christ, we are headed for a heavenly city, one whose builder and maker is God. All who have been baptized into the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are heirs of that city and can take refuge in this blessed truth, even when steeples are falling!

Once we reached our intended destination, the Staten Island landfill where all debris is brought, sifted and processed, we met with many people glad to see God’s presence among them, in the person of a Christian pastor.

Many hundreds of people were sifting through rubble, in the cold, dark wind, in the rain and smells, in 12-hour shifts; dressed like actors in a second rate sci-fi movie; working like so many ants. But they were turning up evidence, and piecing together a story (yet to be told) that only these blessed ministers of God’s justice from the FBI and NYPD could ever find.

Talking to them in the rest tent, where they had to be decontaminated to enter, I found many a forlorn person. As we talked and the subject of fear came up, one burly NYPD detective, whom I am sure had seen it all . . . and more besides, said,“we’re scared, chaplain.”

He took off his safety helmet and pulled out a laminated photo of two boys, sitting at a kitchen table with their seven-year-old smiles.The officer pointed to one of the boys and said,“That’s my friend Tommy Pierce, Chaplain. He’s in here somewhere and I want to bring him out.”

is my

d my

Saturday, October 20, 2001 Today I spent time at one of the giant sifters, examining all that came by on the four-foot wide conveyor belt.There are 10 people stationed per sifter, five on each side, carefully probing all that passes. In about one hour I watched an estimated 10 to 20 tons of debris, which was once the World Trade Center, move by.

I observed large pieces of metal twisted and torn in every way, rock, cement, papers, mud, a disposable diaper, a man’s shoe showing wear on the heel, a bone with strands of tissue at one end (which I immediately plucked from the belt; and was later informed by the anthropologist that it was a collar bone), a skirt, pipes, fire hose, fire alarms, fluorescent lighting fixtures, pieces of carpet, computer boards, and much more.

The personnel were, I hope, encouraged to see God’s presence among them in the person of a Christian pastor.

There were other contacts as well, sometimes just a handshake, a warm greeting or word of blessing, which in this hell hole became important gestures of God’s love and blessing to these beloved men and women.

The “ministry of presence” as it is called, is important. It is not the be-all and end-all of a chaplain’s work, but it can be powerful if the Word of God dominates, and is plainly offered to one and all.

ion, whom Thursday, October 18, 2001 In a spirit of unity with my flock, I donned a space suit last night and spent two hours raking with the troops.They bring the truckloads of debris from the WTC to this landfill on Staten Island. It’s then sifted through giant construction sifters with 1/4-inch mesh.The dirt is checked, the remains (human or otherwise) are then examined, and the ones deemed useful are logged. (All human remains are reverently handled and taken to the morgue in Manhattan) Later, I noticed one particular young officer wandering about. We talked for awhile in that hallowed place, and I offered him a prayer sheet.

He then said,“Chaplain I’d like to show you something.”

I fear?

The Rev. Dean Kavouras is a FBI chaplain and Assistant Pastor at Christ Lutheran Church in Cleveland, Ohio. He is pictured here with FBI Director Robert Mueller.

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Grace is under attack and you’ve been drafted to defend it.The battle has risks.Your friend may put you down or try to make you feel less than fully Christian. But grace is worth fighting for.

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St. Michael trampling on the Devil, also known as The Large St. Michael. Raphael. 1518.

Contending fo

or the Faith By the Rev. James Winsor

I can’t remember a time when waging war was more popular in America than it is right now. When I was about 14 we were pulling out of Vietnam. My childhood memories include death counts, war protests, and a public distaste for what was going on halfway around the world. An anti-war climate took over and hung on for a generation. But things are different ever since September 11 because this time we ourselves have been attacked. We’re literally defending ourselves. A survival instinct has taken over, and this means that we can now easily recognize war as the right thing and the only thing to do. It’s a choice between more terrorist attacks or going after the terrorists. It’s black and white. It’s this or that.

Patrick Henry once cried,“Give me liberty or give me death!”Today many of our young military volunteers are essentially crying,“Give me security or give me death!”They have decided that the safety of their fellow citizens is more important than their own individual lives. When you pay a price for something, it’s because you value the thing purchased more than the purchase price.These soldiers value national security more than their own lives. When push comes to shove, they’re willing to pay the price. It’s black and white. It’s this or that.

Push comes to shove in the Christian life also. Many Christians today and throughout history have found themselves strangely willing to die.There is something more important to them than their own lives. It’s the name of Christ.They have found that they would sooner die than deny Christ. It’s black and white. It’s this or that.

The Christian faith is a diamond with many beautiful facets. As we delight more and more in the beauty of each facet, we find things that are worth fighting for.

Some friend at school insists that in your infant baptism God did nothing at all.This friend says you have to make a decision for Jesus.The saving baptismal work of God suddenly becomes a battlefield. Grace is under attack and you’ve been drafted to defend it.The battle has risks.Your friend may put you down or try to make you feel less than fully Christian. But God graced to you in your baptism and that grace is worth fighting for.Your trust is in God’s hidden work and not in the dramatic decision your friend wants to score through you. God’s saving work is more important to you than your friendship or your reputation. Suddenly, you are willing to put

on your boots, ship out, risk loss, take a chance, dare, do, or die. Of course, you won’t stop loving your friend. In fact, to be silent would be to stop loving him. It’s time to get out your Catechism and wage the war of words. It’s grace or works. It’s black and white. It’s this or that.

Since many people now have a better understanding of why war can be necessary and right, these are good times for the modern church to reconsider attitudes about the war of words that must always be waged in defense of sound teaching and practice.This war, while clearly biblical, has become very unpopular and has attracted a host of anti-war protesters crying for peace at any cost. Even the generals—pastors and other church leaders—have often become war protesters instead of taking up spiritual arms to contend for the faith.The church’s homeland is not secure.Things we love and should love are wide open to attack. We're told we should emphasize what we have in common with various brands of Christians, instead of emphasizing the differences. We’re told we should ignore certain facets of the diamond of divine saving truth. Like terrorists who won’t honestly carry a national flag and stand with an army, many a pious enthusiast promotes his clearly denominational views as “non-denominational basic Christianity”. We’re told we should put denominational barriers behind us as some sort of irrational prejudice—a quaint and unenlightened relic from our beastly Crusader past. When you won’t just go with the flow in a Christian gathering, you’re pegged as arrogant, dogmatic, and guilty of a “head Christianity” rather than a “heart Christianity”. You’re told you shouldn’t act like everything is black or white.This or that.

But precisely the opposite is the case. Jesus said, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34).You are speaking and standing up, fighting the good fight of faith because God has gotten to your heart. He has created a new heart in you that clings to grace, loves grace, fights for grace. So He’s opened your lips so your mouth declares His praise and speaks up for grace. It’s black and white. It’s this or that.

And, of course, we should and can contend for grace gracefully. We’re not out for blood. But we’re willing to shed some of our own blood if need be. It’s lies or truth.

It’s black and white. It’s this or that.

The Rev. James Winsor is pastor at Risen Christ Lutheran Church in Arvada, Colorado.

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and

Wizards, Witches Hogwarts Should Christians read the Harry Potter books?

By the Rev.Todd A. Peperkorn

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Good question! It so happens that I recently read the Harry Potter books. Harry Potter is a young boy (11-14 years old) who discovers that he is a wizard, and is sent off to a school for witches and wizards called Hogwarts.

There is magic, potions, spells, a game played on broomsticks called Quidditch, and a bad guy named Lord Voldemort who is out to get Harry Potter.

Along the way, Potter deals with the struggles young people face: conflicts with friends, difficulties with parents and other authority figures, growing pains, a crush, and identity questions. But it is given a fresh perspective because it isn’t taking place in a math class.

So how do Christians interpret this? We could ask the same question about horror movies, or the shows on television right now like BUFFY or ANGEL. As Christians, we know there is no way to completely separate ourselves from the world. Indeed, Christ Himself calls us the “salt of the earth” (Matt. 5:13). We can hardly be the salt of the earth if we remove ourselves from the world around us. At the same time, however, there are things that are right and wrong that we need to recognize.

So there are two basic views Christians can take. On the one hand, we are told in Luther’s Small Catechism, “We should fear and love God so that we do not curse, swear, use satanic arts, lie or deceive by His name, but call upon it in every trouble, pray, praise and give thanks.” If books like Harry Potter lead young people into an unhealthy and dangerous fascination with the occult, then we must be wary of it.

On the other hand, St. Paul used the poetry of the ancient Greeks as an opportunity to speak the Gospel. He quoted one in Acts 17:28,“for we are also His offspring.” It is possible for Christians to observe culture, books, movies and use them as a way to teach virtue and morality, or converse about the Christian faith. For instance, Martin Luther considered Aesop’s Fables (an ancient Greek book of stories to teach morality) to be the greatest literature and most important reading for Christians after the Bible!

We can also learn about how our culture understands magic. Magic in the Harry Potter books has nothing to do with God or Satan. It’s just magic. It’s secular, like science, only different. It’s not harmless, but it is morally and religiously neutral. Now we know differently, but we can learn a great deal from these books about how the world around us handles the supernatural.

So the bottom line is this.The Harry Potter books are fairly well written and creative.They have elements that clearly are not Christian, but the books may start a conversation on hard-to-talk-about topics.They certainly aren't great books, but they are probably less harmful than many other so-called “realistic fiction” books on the market today. In other words, read it for yourself, and then get your parents to read the books with you!

The Rev.Todd A. Peperkorn is Pastor at Messiah Lutheran Church in Kenosha,Wisconsin.

He is the editor-in-chief of Higher Things.

The “Harry Potter” series contains four volumes. J.K. Rowling is the author.

There’s a snake around my neck.

He’s been there all my life.

s I grow older, his coils get fatter, his eyes more evil and his dead weight a bigger burden to drag along.

He’s a son of the serpent of Eden, this snake called sin. His unblinking eyes mock me. His forked tongue flicks out the words, "You say you believe. You say you're a Christian. But if you are a Christian, why am I still here?"

If I am a Christian, why is that snake still around my neck?

I mean, I’m not like those who don’t believe, who adopt the snake as a pet god, who offer their bodies and minds and souls to whatever the serpent says.

I don’t like this snake. I wish he were gone.

Well-meaning friends tell me that it’s all a matter of faith. If I only believed hard enough, the coils would loosen and the snake would have to slither away. But no matter how hard I believe, he stays as if God said he’d be there. And when I try to will him away from me, he only tightens his coils a little bit more. And he smiles a hideous grin.

And strangely, as I study the Word and grow in faith, I become more and more aware of how fat his coils are, how tormenting his presence is. Is he getting bigger?

If I am truly a Christian, why is he still here?! Do I really believe enough? Flick-flick, darts the snake's tongue, "I'm with ya," an evil whisper. “Some Christian you’ve turned out to be.” He scrapes his scales across my neck and his darting fork whispers all sorts of evil ideas in my ear. And sometimes, I do them. A lot of times, I think them. Some Christian I turned out to be.

Wretched man that I am. Who will deliver me from this serpent of death?

There is One who will—the One who crushed the serpent’s head at the cross. He’s risen, you know, and He’s destroyed the power of that dragon.

And He speaks these words,“I forgive you all of your

A

sins.” He says that to me. And He assures me that I can trust His Word far more than that thing around By the Rev. Tim Pauls my neck.

The SerpentCrusher gently reminds me that He washed me free of the snake’s venom and slime with some font water and His Word. He feeds me His Body and Blood as an ongoing cure.

And He keeps on saying those words,“I forgive you.” He forgives me.

Oh, that snake around my neck hates those words.

To distract me from them, to scare me into unbelief, he constricts and coils and bares his jaws to strike. And that is when I notice... he has no fangs. He’s full of poison, but he has no daggers to deliver death. They’ve been broken out with the rough wood of a cross.

They've been dissolved by water, bread and wine, because Jesus adds these words, "I forgive you.”

There’s a snake around my neck. He’ll be there all my life. The more I grow in faith, the more I realize the danger of sin—and so the coils grow heavier. But that disgusting burden tells me two things he doesn’t want to.

One. I can’t save myself—I can’t get rid of that serpent. So weak and sinful am I on my own that I actually sometimes follow the advice of a toothless, damned snake.

Two. The snake has no fangs. He can whisper all he wants, but he can’t kill. His teeth are broken and his power is gone. He coils around my throat, as he still does around every Christian in this world. But he lost at the cross.

And the Victor says,“I forgive you.”

—Pastor Tim Pauls (Pssst: Rom. 7:14-25) The Rev. Tim Pauls is Assistant Pastor at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church & School in Boise, Idaho.

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Higher Things

News & Notes Woodring Hired as Executive Director

Making Waves Registration Extended

The Rev. Daniel Woodring of New Buffalo, Michigan, was recently hired as the Executive Director for Higher Things, Inc.This part-time position will allow Pastor Woodring to devote more energy to retreats, writing and other conferences for Higher Things, while continuing to serve in the parish. He began his duties on January 21. If you are interested in having Pastor Woodring lead a youth retreat, confirmation retreat, or Higher Things Sunday, please e-mail President@higherthings.org.

The registration time for Making Waves has been extended to mid-April, 2002. Groups are encouraged to add registrants.The dates of Making Waves are July 8-12, 2002 in Duluth, Minnesota. For more information, please call the Rev. Daniel Woodring at (616) 683-0771 or e-mail makingwaves@higherthings.org.

Bible Studies Available There are Bible studies available to coincide with every article in Higher Things! Just go to www.higherthings.org and click on “HT Magazine”. You will find Bible studies and leader’s guides to accompany each article. Check it out!

How Do I Support Higher Things?

Higher Things exists and grows on the basis of donations and free-will offerings from congregations and individuals.

All donations are tax-deductible. If you wish to contribute to the work of Higher Things, please send your donation to: Higher Things, Inc, PO Box 580111, Pleasant Prairie, WI 53158-8011.

E-Mail Lists For Youth Higher Things News E-Mail List The Lutheran Student Union

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Receive information via e-mail from Higher Things, Inc. about conferences, retreats, publications, web sites, e-mail lists, and leadership training opportunities for youth.

Web Site: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HigherThings-News To subscribe, send an e-mail to: HigherThings-News-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

The Lutheran Student Union is an e-mail discussion list for college students. It is a gathering place of activity where college students can interconnect, discuss Lutheran theology, and talk about issues they face on campus.

Web Site: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LutheranStudentUnion.

To subscribe, send an e-mail to: LutheranStudentUnion-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

The Mouth House

Didache: Q&A for Youth

The Mouth House is a group created for Lutheran and nonLutheran Christian youth. Join conversations to learn more about God, His Word, and one another.

Web Site: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MouthHouse To subscribe, send an e-mail to: MouthHouse-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Didache: Q & A for Youth seeks to answer questions and provide scriptural and confessional counsel to young men and women (ages 12-21). The list is moderated and e-mail addresses are deleted from posts for the protection of its participants.

Web Site: http://www.cat41.org/Didache/index.htm To subscribe, send an e-mail to: Didache-on@CAT41.org

The Power of Prayer

Prayer

By Mollie Ziegler

God tenderly invites us to believe that He is our true Father and that we are His true children, so that with all boldness and confidence we may ask Him as dear children ask their dear Father. (Luther’s Small Catechism)

D

r. Gao Zhan, a sociologist and researcher at American University in Washington, D.C., is thankful for the gift of prayer, the privilege of being able to approach God at every hour. She recently experienced a terrifying arrest and false imprisonment for espionage. Held 166 days against her will in Chinese detention centers, Dr. Gao described the experience as “the most horrifying moment in my life,” but added,“God listened and answered our prayers. He sustained me. He is my great redeemer and my Lord.”

Dr. Gao, her husband Donghua Xue, and five-year-old son Andrew, visited China last year to celebrate the Chinese New Year with relatives. A day before they were to return to their jobs in the United States, they arrived at the Beijing International Airport to catch their flight home.The family was met by armed agents who searched their luggage, confiscated it, and whisked each of them away in separate cars.

“As a social scientist, I knew about the secret police in China. I knew their secret practices, I knew people who were detained before me,” Dr. Gao remembered.“ But in that very short moment, I just didn’t know what would happen to me.

There was no way for us to escape. I felt very hopeless.”

After being blindfolded and sent to a detention house for a couple months, Dr. Gao was formally arrested and charged with espionage. The guards took away her glasses and refused to provide her with reading materials. She suffered from mosquito bites and was permitted only three hours of rest a day. Day after day she was grilled for hours at a time by interrogators to reveal state secrets.The punishment for espionage in China, like many other countries, is death or life in prison. Dr. Gao became terrified about her future. She became depressed and even contemplated suicide.

“There were sessions where they pressed me to produce answers I didn’t have to things I didn’t do, to crimes I never committed,” said Dr. Gao.“It was my faith that saved me. It helped me to survive my handlers’ emotional and psychological torture of me.”

Dr. Gao Zhan and her husband, Donghua Xue

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Prayer

Prayer With no idea about how long she would be detained or what her fate might be, Dr. Gao turned to prayer.

“For some believers of Christianity, prayer is a daily routine. We’re born into a Christian family and we get accustomed to praying before meals, before sleep. But for me, praying was a method of surviving,” described Dr. Gao.“I had to pray in order to save myself from the tremendous emotional depression and psychological threat I received from my handlers.”

Prayer, however, is not some sort of magic equation where we plug the right words in and get the right response from God. It’s not a button we push to force God to do what we want Him to do. Bringing God our every need, trouble, joy and sadness is a gift He gives us and makes possible because of our relationship with Him through Jesus Christ.

Dr. Gao began to pray each morning moments after rising.“God, please take me out of here.Take me home.” Later, her prayers became quite targeted.“Lord, help me survive this afternoon. Help me survive this morning, this night.”

“No matter how I begged them for the chance to see my son, to see Donghua, they wouldn’t let me,” Dr. Gao recounts. Unbeknownst to her, her husband and son had been sent home to the U.S. one month after their initial detention. Back in the United States, Mr. Xue began a campaign to get his wife home. Lutherans from around the country and world, along with other Christians, began to pray for Dr. Gao’s release. Lutherans in highprofile positions of government implored senators, congressmen, and officials in the Bush administration to help get Dr. Gao home.

On July 24, 2001, Dr. Gao was convicted in a closed trial on charges of collecting intelligence against China and sentenced to 10 years in prison. However, she was allowed to leave China two days later and go home.

Now at home in Virginia, Dr. Gao remarks,“I just can’t imagine how other detainees, how any other people in the same situation I was in could survive that kind of psychological and emotional torture without faith.”

“God is the one who saved my life, who brought me back,” she told her fellow parishioners at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Falls Church, Virginia, shortly after her return.“I prayed three times a day at least. And on the hard days, I prayed countless times. I thank God for sustaining me through this ordeal.”

Mollie Ziegler is Director of Strategic Development for an economic research institution in northern Virginia. She resides in Washington, D.C. and is a member of the board of directors of Higher Things. Photographs by Anne Marie Mullen.

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Dr. Gao Zhan is pictured with the Rev. Mark Shaltan, pastor at St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Falls Church,Virginia.

r Survivor of War

Survivor of War

By the Rev. Daniel Woodring

t was the summer of 1968. United States Combat Troops were entrenched in the middle of the Vietnam War. An estimated 58,000 Americans would be killed during that brutal conflict. Total casualties would exceed one million.

Back home, in the midwestern United States, another war was raging in the most unlikely of places. A mother of three children had just resumed her career as an occupational therapist at an extended care facility. The kids would be starting school.

The crib, highchair and stroller had been given away.

Ruth did not greet the news of another pregnancy with feelings of thankfulness and joy. Her husband, a social worker, was adamant in not wanting another baby.

Ruth’s closest friends were kind, sympathetic and supportive. But as dismayed as she was, she was not prepared for one of the suggestions that came forth. A co-worker handed her a piece of paper with the name and telephone number of an abortionist!

Although abortion was not legalized until 1973, Ruth found herself in the middle of another kind of war, a terrorist attack on the life of her unborn child.

The idea seemed horrible. Ruth’s mind went back to the exhibit of the stages of fetal development that she had seen so many times at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry. Those images were imprinted in her mind. She knew this was a living human baby growing inside of her body. But she had almost no support for continuing the pregnancy.

Ruth expected her church and pastor to be different, to stand against abortion, to defend the life of the innocent. Instead, her pastor, a minister in the American Lutheran Church (now part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) told her that the Lutheran Church (ALC) had no problem with abortion.

Every war has its heroes, those who courageously overcome hostile pressure and obstacles. Their selfless gallantry shelters the life and liberty of others. During the Vietnam War, countless soldiers became heroes in service to their country. At the same time, in a midwestern hospital, another hero gave life to a newborn child, a survivor of the terror of abortion, a son.

It was on my 16th birthday that my mom told me I was that child. It’s troubling (to say the least) to think it was my life that was threatened by that “kind and sympathetic” woman who suggested I be aborted. That ALC pastor was idle and permissive when my assassination was discussed. I thank God that I am alive at all.

Since abortion became legal in 1973, over 41 million American babies have been slaughtered in this war that continues to threaten and terrorize the unborn. Over 1.3 billion children have been aborted worldwide. While we have recently been reminded that there is evil all around us, it is hard to imagine any more horrific than the evil of abortion. Each abortion is the destruction of a human being, a life like yours and mine.

The Rev. Daniel Woodring is president of Higher Things, Inc.

Photos: Associated Press AP

I

While some church bodies, such as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, support abortion on demand,The Lutheran Church— Missouri Synod (LC-MS) has consistently opposed abortion. During the summer of 2001, delegates to the LC-MS Synodical Convention reaffirmed this historic position stating,“Elective Abortion is a sin, as it is a violation of God’s Command,‘You shall not murder.’“

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Kpakarakpakara pai and Maabangirise:

Hope in Christ in a World of Problems H I G H E R T H I N G S

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Dried termites for lunch.

Peanut butter soup for dinner.

Monkeys climbing in the backyard trees.

Sound strange? Well, much of life in Sudan seems strange and very foreign to us. Our appearance is different, we eat differently, we speak different languages. And yet, we share much that is alike. As fellow believers in our Lord Jesus Christ, we are one with our African brothers and sisters in forgiveness and hope in our Savior.

Hope amid chaos The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sudan (ELCS) has witnessed explosive growth from the swamps of southern Sudan to the deserts of the north. In just six years, 31 congregations have been planted with over 6,000 souls baptized.Ten other congregations have sprung up among Sudanese refugees in the neighboring countries of Uganda and Kenya.

The challenges warring against the church are strong.

Political chaos, witchcraft, pagan religions, poverty, and oppression are everywhere.The Rev. Mbugo Andrew Elisa must face countless problems as the only Lutheran pastor in Sudan.Yet God gives hope to the Sudanese— youth and adults alike—as many of them are flocking to local mission starts in this vast, diverse country.

Young people and kpakarakpakara pai As the civil war in Sudan rages into its nineteenth year, Sudanese young people who have grown up knowing little else but war, are finding refuge in the ELCS. Teenage girls, imprisoned by the haunting memories of soldiers’ brutality; young men disillusioned and confused by the chaos of their homeland.Youth of all backgrounds and experiences are finding forgiveness, meaning and hope in God through the Lutheran presence in Sudan.

The situation among Sudanese youth is truly a kpakarakpakara pai—a difficult problem (Zande language). Many are frustrated with the chaos of their homeland and often turn to drugs. All they have known is strife and warfare, so they are often hopeless and confused. Why get an education if an older brother is educated yet remains jobless? Why study when it’s so easy to take up arms and fight? Young women who have been abused in the war feel helpless, lost, and sometimes turn to prostitution or alcohol.

Illiteracy is another problem that must be overcome to reach Sudanese youth. About 90 percent of the population living in cities is able to read, but only about 60 percent of those who live in outlying villages can.

Sometimes in a congregation of 400 members, only one person is literate.

And yet, hope—maabangirise in Zande—is what these young people are finding in Jesus.These young Christians, rescued by the Holy Spirit, are redeemed and forgiven, finding meaning and identity in God.They mirror the Apostle Peter’s words,“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9).

Confession, forgiveness and reconciliation These young believers often have serious sins on their own consciences.

Pastor Elisa hears the confession of these troubled teens, but often must intercede to help bring harmony to a situation where the sin was previously committed.

For example, one young man confessed the sin of murder before Pastor Elisa. He had heard God’s Word and knew that he was wrong to have killed his neighbor. However, before Pastor Elisa baptized the young man, he went to the family of the deceased and reconciled the murderer and the family members.

Repentance was followed by forgiveness and reconciliation.The young man would then have little possibility of further problems associated with his past sin.

Reaching out Once these young believers are part of Christ’s church, some go on for special instruction to study God’s Word and the teachings of the church.They study the Catechism and Christian doctrine; learn about the Sacraments, as well as the history of the Reformation. After they are well educated in the Scriptures and in the teachings of the Church, following three months of study and instruction, they are ready to join special committees to help the weak members of the Lutheran congregations.

The young believers participate in three committees.The Prayer Committee visits people in their homes to call on God in prayer.The Visiting Committee visits those who are too sick or feeble to attend the worship services. And the Inactive Committee visits those who have strayed from the church.Young Lutherans in Sudan evangelize eagerly; they are thankful for their own redemption and work hard that others too may share the blessings of God’s mercy.

The Sudanese Lutheran youth rest securely in the hope of eternal life because of the love that God has shown to them in Christ.Their concerns are not selfcentered, but God-centered.They want to be church workers, to study theology, to reach out to the lost in Sudan.

But there are few resources available to them.They do not have proper schools. Pastor Elisa is their only pastor, and he must work with many congregations.

You can help Pastor Elisa in reaching out to Sudanese youth by purchasing a Catechism for $5. The Catechism is used to help young people learn to read. If you would like to help, please send your gift to: Lutheran Heritage Foundation, P.O. Box 46, Sterling Heights, MI 48311.

A special bookplate will be pasted in the front cover indicating it is a gift from you, with the name of your church and town, as well as a brief message from you, if desired. All gifts are matched.

By Julie Stiegemeyer

Walking together with Sudanese Christians Pastor Elisa has traveled extensively, not only over his vast country feeding the sheep of his flock, but he has also traveled worldwide, gathering support for the young Lutheran church in Sudan. He has observed Christians around the world.

When asked how American Christians compare to those in Sudan, he said unhesitatingly,“Sudanese Christians depend entirely on God. We do not rely on technology, or science, or knowledge. We know we cannot survive without God.” So how can we help? What can we do to assist these young believers who struggle so desperately and yet have such great hope? Pastor Elisa encourages young American Christians to set an example.The U.S. already leads the world in economic resources, in business, and in the entertainment industry. World Christians also follow our lead.

Pastor Elisa once visited an American congregation and was surprised to observe that the Apostle’s Creed had been changed in their contemporary service.What Christians have confessed for centuries, one congregation had decided to alter.

When we change the church’s teachings, as casually as we would our computer software, and when we alter the Creeds of the church, we do not help the young people in Sudan. Instead, we distract them from the pure Word of God, from the hope they find in Jesus Christ.

“Take care,” Rev. Elisa says.“What you do in your churches here influences the whole world. So, confess the Creed as it is. Confess God’s Word as it is.

Preserve God’s Word in your churches. Live God’s Word in your lives.”

Julie Stiegemeyer is a freelance writer in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Hope Kpakarakpakara in Christ in apaiWorld of Problems and Maabangirise:

The single Lutheran seminary in Sudan is small and is staffed only by theologians from other countries. And yet, while these young Lutherans have so little, they also possess tremendous hope.

W I N T E R

2 0 0 2 __ 21

“Deliverus from evil.”

I

THE SEVENTH PETITION But deliver us from evil.

H I G H E R T H I N G S

22

What does this mean? We pray in this petition, in summary, that our Father in heaven would rescue us from every evil of body and soul, possessions and reputation, and finally, when our last hour comes, give us a blessed end, and graciously take us from this valley of sorrow to Himself in heaven.

magine going to school sick to your stomach every day, afraid of your cruel peers who tease and threaten you. Imagine eating and drinking nothing all day, listening to your stomach growl, growing lightheaded because of dehydration, being weak and ill, all so that you can avoid the bathroom. Why? Because of the terror that still resides in your heart after the horrible things that have happened to you there at the hands of your schoolmates. Imagine the teachers and staff, even your friends, turning a blind eye because those who are abusing you are beautiful, wealthy, and talented.

Some of you don’t have to imagine it.You live it. And those who don’t live with it directly, as victims or perpetrators, know about it.They know how predatory some kids can be, how cliquish high school is, how popularity equals power not only with peers, but also with adults.Terror as a weapon is not a new concept to teens.

The world is very evil.This evil is evident in school shootings, terrorism, and the havoc of divorce and parental unfaithfulness. But into this evil world entered our Lord, Jesus Christ.

“For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, no appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken by men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face, He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our grief He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we, ourselves, esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities.The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:2-5 NAS) Jesus was not popular, beautiful, or wealthy. He was an outcast from birth.There was no room in the inn. He never “fit in”. He was despised, and rejected, a Man of sorrows acquainted with grief. He commands the wind and waves, holds all power and authority in the universe, but He became as the weakest, lowest, and most pitiful of men that He might suffer at the hands of the powerful, greedy, and self-absorbed. And so that our sins might be forgiven. So that we might be delivered out of this valley of sorrows and have perfect peace and joy in heaven. He subjected Himself to evil, suffered terror, that we might be delivered from it.

And so all these evil things around us—bullies, drug-pushers, indifferent teachers and pastors—are merely a remnant of a defeated enemy.They visit us with real pain and sorrow, but God uses it for good. In suffering, He draws us closer to Himself. He teaches us that He is our only hope, comfort, and safety. He strengthens our faith by making us dependent upon Him, by bringing us into the way He trod—the way of the cross.

In that way people with beauty, talent, or wealth often miss out. For they are often deceived by these things into false security and unbelief. But you, who are loved by your Father, are chastened, disciplined, and made stronger. But it will not last.Time is fleeting.

Thanks be to God! Life, like high school, does not last forever. Enjoy the good things of this life (even high school) when and where they come, and be comforted in your difficulties by the certain truth that they shall soon end. Soon the last trumpet will sound.You will be relieved of these burdens, this temporal fear, and have perfect bliss in the security of heaven. And that, by Grace.

Thus we pray, with boldness and confidence,“Deliver us from evil!” And we know that He has. And we know that He will.

The Rev. David Petersen is pastor at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

By the Rev. David Petersen

This is the summary of all our hope, our whole life of prayer wrapped up into one plea,

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LUTHERAN YOUTH CONFERENCE

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Pastor Glenn Niemann Bible Study Leaders’ Guide “It’s black or white. It’s this or that,” writes Rev. Winsor concerning the Name of Christ and “the Christian life.” This study asks the “Good Lutheran Question”: What does this mean?

I.

“They have found that they would sooner die than deny Christ.” How does this sentence agree with what St. Paul writes in the following passages?

2Corinthians 5:15-21 - Christians no longer “live for themselves,” but they live for Christ. Regard no one “according to the flesh,” that is, by human relational standards. Rather, regard them as Christ regards them – sinners in need of salvation, needing to “be reconciled to God.” Philippians 1:21-25 – Paul’s new life (eternal, redeemed by Christ the crucified) shows him that to “remain in the flesh” is more needful, in order to bring others to this saving faith as well.

1 Thessalonians 5:8-11 – since “God did not appoint us not to wrath” (that is, predestine us to hell), we can contend for this faith and also “comfort one another with these words,” the words of the Gospel.

II. “Grace is under attack and you’ve been drafted to defend it. … It’s time to get out your Catechism and wage the war of words. It’s grace or works. It’s black or white. It’s this or that.” How do the following passages illustrate Pr. Winsor’s “call to arms”?

Psalm 31:14-15 - “I trust in you, O LORD.” We trust in God alone - and His Word alone for deliverance.

Habbakuk 2:4 - “The just shall live by faith,” not by any misplaced “denominational” pride. Therefore, the Faith is important, “and this (faith) is a gift – not of works, lest anyone boast” Ephesians 2:8-9. This is the grace of which Pr. Winsor speaks, and which is to be defended.

Romans 10:10 - This is a good passage to respond to those that have, as Winsor stated, “pegged (Lutherans) as arrogant, dogmatic, and guilty of a ‘head Christianity’ rather than a “heart Christianity.’” The faith with which one believes is of the heart, but the faith which is believed must be confessed – “with the mouth confession is made to salvation.” See also Matthew 10:32 2 Timothy 1:12 As “a preacher, an Apostle, and teacher of the Gentiles” (see also verse 11), St. Paul suffers because he confesses this faith before others. However, he is not ashamed to do so, for he knows Whom he has believed (stress the object of the faith: Christ!).

1 Peter 3:14-15 Again, the Christian should not be surprised to “suffer for righteousness’ sake.” For this reason, we should be ready to defend “the hope that is in you.” In this world of sin, such occasions for defense will often occur in the life of a Christian – be ready!

III. “The Church’s homeland is not secure. … We’re told we should ignore certain facets of the diamond of divine saving truth. … We’re told we should put denominational barriers behind us as some sort of irrational prejudice …” Such is the battle cry of ecumenism: “Can’t we all just get along?” How does one respond to such attacks against this Faith?

Psalm 51:10 The Holy Spirit creates “a clean heart within” us, which we of ourselves do not have, regardless of our denominational membership. Such gifts only come from God.

Higher Things – “Contending for the Faith” Bible Study Leaders’ Guide, page 2 Romans 8:9-10 - We know we have the “Spirit of Christ” in His Word (rightly preached) and His Sacraments (rightly administered) – these are the “marks of the Church.” “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.” Matthew 15:9 We must be careful that we do not “teach as doctrine the commandments of men.” The only source and norm of doctrine must be the Scriptures. See also Acts 17:11.

Ephesians 2:20-22 By emphasizing the importance of the prophets’ and apostles’ doctrine (the Old and New Testaments), we point to our “chief cornerstone,” that is, the Rock (Christ) who sets the standard for the rest of the foundation.

1 Timothy 2:4 God’s desire that “all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth” shows that there is a Truth to be known. There is a “black” to be avoided, and there is a “white” to be known and confessed.

John 17:17, 21 Often the ecumenical movement uses v. 21 as a justification for “one-ness.” But as Jesus says here, this one-ness is found only in the Word. “Thy Word is truth!” Those that deny Christ’s Word are not One with Christ. rd

IV. What does it mean to confess “I believe one holy Christian Apostolic Church” (from The Nicene Creed, 3 Art.)? How can we know that this is possible, much less pleasing to our Lord?

John 4:23-24 - “The hour … now is” His is the basis of such “worship in spirit and truth”! Compare the next passage.

John 6:63, 68 - “The flesh profits nothing.” We don’t confess “I believe The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod,” or, for that matter, “I believe the Southern Baptist Convention,” or “the United Church of Christ.” We confess, “I believe in the church.” Peter turns to Jesus for “the words of eternal life.” Where, then, ought one’s denomination also turn?

This is why it is so important for an individual to know what his/her denomination believes, teaches, and confesses.

John 8:30-32 - Many believed in Jesus because “He spoke these words.” To abide in Christ’s Word – all of it – is to know the truth, and to know The Way, The Truth, and The Life! See also John 8:47.

Acts 2:41-42, 47 - “The many” were “saved from this perverse generation” through Baptism, and afterward “continued steadfastly in the apostle’s doctrine and fellowship” and “the breaking of bread and the prayers.” Through these miraculous events of Baptism, hearing the Word, and Holy Communion, the Lord “added to the Church daily those who were being saved.” (v. 47) I John 2:24-27 (note also II John 7-11) - John wrote his three letters, his Gospel, and Revelation) because there would be “those who try to deceive you.” By remaining connected to that “which we have heard from the beginning” (even from “the beginning,” Genesis 1:1 through Revelation 22:21), we abide in that which “is true, and is not a lie.”

Hence the Apostle’s warning in 2 John to avoid those who would deceive, and not even “receive him into your house or eat with him.” What does this last verse say about the Church’s practice of Closed Communion?

V. In closing, why does the Apostle Jude find it necessary to write his Epistle? Is this “necessity” still evident today?

How? Jude 3-4 - Verse 4 explanations the purpose for Jude letter: “contend earnestly for the faith” Note also vs. 20-23, the faithful must compassionately “pull others out of the fire” of false teaching. For this reason, we look not to ourselves but only “to Him Who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy” (Jude 24-25).

Pastor Glenn Niemann Bible Study

“It’s black or white. It’s this or that,” writes Rev. Winsor concerning the Name of Christ and “the Christian life.” This study asks the “Good Lutheran Question”: What does this mean?

I.

“They have found that they would sooner die than deny Christ.” How does this sentence agree with what St. Paul writes in the following passages?

2Corinthians 5:15-21 Philippians 1:21-25 1 Thessalonians 5:8-11

II. “Grace is under attack and you’ve been drafted to defend it. … It’s time to get out your Catechism and wage the war of words. It’s grace or works. It’s black or white. It’s this or that.” How do the following passages illustrate Pr. Winsor’s “call to arms”?

Psalm 31:14-15 Habbakuk 2:4 Romans 10:10 2 Timothy 1:12 1 Peter 3:14-15 III. “The Church’s homeland is not secure. … We’re told we should ignore certain facets of the diamond of divine saving truth. … We’re told we should put denominational barriers behind us as some sort of irrational prejudice …” Such is the battle cry of ecumenism: “Can’t we all just get along?” How does one respond to such attacks against this Faith?

rd

IV. What does it mean to confess “I believe one holy Christian Apostolic Church” (from The Nicene Creed, 3 Art.)? How can we know that this is possible, much less pleasing to our Lord?

V. In closing, why does the Apostle Jude find it necessary to write his Epistle? Is this “necessity” still evident today?

How?

Pastor Darrin Kohrt Bible Study Leaders’ Guide Begin your study of God’s word by singing or praying, “When Aimless Violence Takes Those We Love.” (Hymnal Supplement 98’, 890) I. “Ministry of Presence”: At the end of his ‘diary’ Reverend Kavouras describes his chaplain’s work as a ‘ministry of presence.’ Such a description also says a lot about the nature of God and how He works in the world and in our lives. Why did God let ‘9-11’ happen? What good could come of it?

A. God knows all things and He is present everywhere. God’s omniscience and omnipresence separate Him from all created things. What does Jeremiah 23:24 say about God? What does John 21:17 say about Christ?

There is no place from which God is absent. He “fills heaven and earth” (Jeremiah 23:24). Nor can anything be hidden from Jesus, who is true God. “Lord, You know all things” (John 21:17).

B. God is present among His people in a special way. According to Matthew 1:20-23 and John 1:14 when and in what way did this happen?

God became present among His people in the person of Jesus Christ. Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit and assumed a human body through Mary. We call this the incarnation. The incarnation is the miracle of Christmas, the miracle of God among us in the flesh (John 1:14). The name Immanuel, a title for Jesus literally means “God with us” (Matthew 1:20-23).

C. The incarnate Christ is present among His people through His miraculous gifts, which bring forgiveness and life.

Read John 20:22-23, Acts 2:38 and Matthew 26:26-28 to find descriptions of these gifts. What presence of God’s Word was evident in the places Chaplain Kavouras was?

The Means of Grace through which God is present and the Holy Spirit works among us include: the Word (John 20:22-23), Holy Baptism (Acts 2:38) and The Lord’s Supper (Matthew 26:26-28). Through these God creates and sustains our faith. Chaplain Kavouras found Psalm 27:1-3 posted on a door near the morgue in Somerset, Pennsylvania, a large cross erected by the crash sight, and a Bible among the debris. Pastor Kavouras himself also carried God’s presence into the midst of the people he to whom he ministered.

II. In the events of September 11 we saw a clear manifestation of the result of sin being in the world. Death was staring us in the face! Yet through such realities God is ‘present’ to work in and through us.

A. According to Romans 6:23 and James 1:15, what is the final result of sin?

The inevitable result of sin is death. “All have sinned” (Romans 6:23 and “sin… gives birth to death” (James 1:15).

B. Through the realities of such horrors as 9-11, the law of God works on our hearts. What purpose does the law serve in Romans 3:20? Sometimes this is called God’s ‘alien’ work. If it is available, see the Apology to the Augsburg Confession, Article XII, line 51.

The law brings us to recognition of sin and condemns us in sin (Romans 3:20). Luther and the Lutheran Confessions sometimes called this God’s “alien” work (because God would much rather do His “proper” work of comforting sinners.) Through this work we are humbled as our sinful nature is put to death. This must occur for the new life in Christ to become reality. The Apology to the Augsburg Confession says that God “terrifies” us so that He can console and quicken our hearts. He is the only one whom we can turn for salvation.

C. Where do we see the full weight of sin and the law? See Galatians 3:13 and 2Corinthians 5:21.

On the cross Jesus Christ bore our punishment of not fulfilling the law. The cumulative weight of the world’s sins caused His death (Galatians 3:13 and 2 Corinthians 5:21) .

Higher Things – “Diary of A Chaplain” Bible Study Leaders’ Guide, page 2 III. The law prepares us to receive God in the proper way He wishes to be present with us: in the gospel. The gospel forgives sins and brings to life. Through it, God’s unconditional love in Christ is present among us.

A. Pastor Kavouras had contact with many people who had authority: FBI agents, ATF agents, Federal Marshals, but not one of them had any power over death. According to Revelation 1:17-18, who alone has the power over death?

Jesus Christ has sole authority over death, hell and Satan, for He holds “the key to death and Hades” (Revelation 1:17-18).

B. How are death and evil finally conquered, according to Colossians 2:14-15?

Death and evil are finally conquered via the cross, having been nailed to the cross (Colossians 2:14-15). The cross is the clearest expression of the gospel. There all death, even the horrible death that occurred in the terrorist attacks, is completely overcome by Jesus’ own death and His resurrection.

C. What proof do we find of this victory over death in 1Corinthians 15:1-20?

1Corinthians 15:1-20 is a beautiful passage that preaches the resurrection. Jesus Christ has risen from the dead and “lives and reigns to all eternity.” Because of this, even those Christians who die unexpectedly and in terrible circumstances will rise to eternal life—this is God’s promise! On Easter morning Christ’s eternal victory over death is proclaimed.

D. What assurance do we have of God’s abiding presence in Matthew 28:20?

Christ has given us the promise of His presence, that He will be with us always, and His promises cannot fail (Matthew 28:20).

Pastor Darrin Kohrt Bible Study I. “Ministry of Presence”: At the end of his ‘diary’ Reverend Kavouras describes his chaplain’s work as a ‘ministry of presence.’ Such a description also says a lot about the nature of God and how He works in the world and in our lives. Why did God let ‘9-11’ happen? What good could come of it?

A. God knows all things and He is present everywhere. God’s omniscience and omnipresence separate Him from all created things. What does Jeremiah 23:24 say about God? What does John 21:17 say about Christ?

B. God is present among His people in a special way. According to Matthew 1:20-23 and John 1:14 when and in what way did this happen?

C. The incarnate Christ is present among His people through His miraculous gifts, which bring forgiveness and life.

Read John 20:22-23, Acts 2:38 and Matthew 26:26-28 to find descriptions of these gifts. What presence of God’s Word was evident in the places Chaplain Kavouras was?

II. In the events of September 11 we saw a clear manifestation of the result of sin being in the world. Death was staring us in the face! Yet through such realities God is ‘present’ to work in and through us.

A. According to Romans 6:23 and James 1:15, what is the final result of sin?

B. Through the realities of such horrors as 9-11, the law of God works on our hearts. What purpose does the law serve in Romans 3:20? Sometimes this is called God’s ‘alien’ work. If it is available, see the Apology to the Augsburg Confession, Article XII, line 51.

C. Where do we see the full weight of sin and the law? See Galatians 3:13 and 2Corinthians 5:21.

III. The law prepares us to receive God in the proper way He wishes to be present with us: in the gospel. The gospel forgives sins and brings to life. Through it, God’s unconditional love in Christ is present among us.

A. Pastor Kavouras had contact with many people who had authority: FBI agents, ATF agents, Federal Marshals, but not one of them had any power over death. According to Revelation 1:17-18, who alone has the power over death?

B. How are death and evil finally conquered, according to Colossians 2:14-15?

C. What proof do we find of this victory over death in 1Corinthians 15:1-20?

D. What assurance do we have of God’s abiding presence in Matthew 28:20?

Pastor Mark Selby Bible Study Leaders’ Guide It doesn't take long for us to realize we live in an imperfect world. The fallen nature of our world is all around us and the effects of it are manifest in many areas of our lives. Pastor Peterson gives us a vivid picture of the daily existence of evil.

1. Where are we? The seventh petition of the Lord’s Prayer provides great comfort for us “where we are.”

A. Read the meaning of this petition in the Small Catechism. What do we ask our Heavenly Father to deliver us from?

We ask Him to rescue us from “every evil of body and soul, possessions and reputation.”

B. Look up Matthew 6:13. Who does this verse speak about? What light does this verse shed on the meaning of the seventh petition?

It is Satan himself who is behind the evil that confronts the Christian. Large Catechism: "It seems that the petition is speaking of the devil as the sum of all evil in order to direct the total weight of our collective prayers against our archenemy. He it is who raises barriers among us against all that we pray for -- God's name or glory, God's kingdom and will, our daily bread, a good and cheerful conscience, and the like. We therefore wrap all our petitions into one by saying 'Dear Father, help us get rid of all this trouble entirely.'" (You may want to read the meaning in Luther's LC: it is short.)

C. In Ephesians 6:12, St. Paul tells us our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces of evil.

Looking at the situation Pastor Peterson gives in the article, what or who is behind the perpetrators? What is the goal of the one behind it all? How does this help us look at those who offend us? See also 1 Peter 5:8-9.

The devil and his allies do not give up. He is the prince of this world and he tries to rob Christians of their inheritance in heaven. He does this either by causing the Christian to feel secure in their good works or by causing them to doubt God's love and care. He uses people as his instruments to pull us away from God and his promises.

2. Where is our rescue?

A. Read Romans 8:31-36. Who is the Judge of all things? Who has justified us, declared us righteous?

Through what means has He done this? Do the perils and hardships in which St. Paul lists exist in our world and your life?

The Triune God is judge, and He declares us righteous through faith in Christ Jesus and His redeeming work for us. Discuss perils and hardships as they apply to individual circumstances.

B. Read verses 37-39. In Jesus, what are we? Discuss Paul's list of the things that God's love still holds on to us through.

More than conquerors in Him who loved us. Look at Paul's next list of the things that God's love still holds on to us through. That's just a glimpse of our Amazing God. God has given us victory over all these things through His Son, Jesus Christ who for us men and our salvation came down from heaven and saved us through His rejection, death, and resurrection. Even though we suffer the effects of sin in and around us, we are drawn closer to our Lord as we pray, remembering the waters of Baptism where we were made conquerors sharing in Jesus' death and resurrection, hearing His Words of comfort and promise, and receiving the tokens and benefits of His love in His Holy Supper.

C. Read Psalm 121 (particularly verses 7-8) and 2 Thessalonians 3:3. What do these verses say about our Heavenly Father and His care for you?

Our gracious God watches over you. He is faithful and He will strengthen and protect you from Satan.

HigherThings – “Deliver Us From Evil” Bible Study Leaders’ Guide, page 2 3. Where are we going?

A. What do we ask of God when our last hour comes (death)?

We pray that He will give us a blessed end and graciously take us from this valley to sorrow to Himself in heaven.

B. Look at the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus in Luke 23:26-46. Jesus not only demonstrates God's love for us, but also gives us a splendid way of dying. As Jesus is hanging on the tree and hearing the people mocking Him and poking fun at Him (even the criminals crucified next to Him), does He retaliate? What does He do instead? Notice what Jesus says about those people: "For they know not what they do." If they do not know, who is directing them? Is this the same person behind the actions and words of our offenders? In whom does Jesus commend His life? When hardships, sickness, and death come, being in Christ, what can we say with certainty also?

Our Lord doesn't return anger for anger. Instead He prays for His enemies, that His Father would forgive them. Notice what Jesus says about those people: "For they know not what they do." The devil is behind all of their actions and words. In the same way, the devil delights in seeing Christians suffer today. Thanks be to God! Our Lord’s gentle care allows us also to pray, “Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit.”

C. Read Revelation 2:9-10. What does Jesus say about our situation? How about the poverty? What are our riches? What gift awaits you?

Jesus knows and understands every situation in which we find ourselves. He describes us as rich because He has already given us the treasure of heaven through His own merits, death, and resurrection. He continues to strengthen us with His Word and Sacraments so that our cups run over with His love and He leads us through the valley of the shadow of death to dwell in the House of the LORD forever (Psalm 23).

Closing Prayer: Pray either Luther's morning or evening prayer together. You can find these daily prayers in the Small Catechism or in Lutheran Worship pg. 305. Encourage the students to continue in prayer using Luther's morning and evening prayers (devotions) and reading the Old Testament Psalms and saying prayers from them.

Pastor Mark Selby Bible Study It doesn't take long for us to realize we live in an imperfect world. The fallen nature of our world is all around us and the effects of it are manifest in many areas of our lives. Pastor Peterson gives us a vivid picture of the daily existence of evil.

1. Where are we? The seventh petition of the Lord’s Prayer provides great comfort for us “where we are.”

A. Read the meaning of this petition in the Small Catechism. What do we ask our Heavenly Father to deliver us from?

B. Look up Matthew 6:13. Who does this verse speak about? What light does this verse shed on the meaning of the seventh petition?

C. In Ephesians 6:12, St. Paul tells us our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces of evil.

Looking at the situation Pastor Peterson gives in the article, what or who is behind the perpetrators? What is the goal of the one behind it all? How does this help us look at those who offend us? See also 1 Peter 5:8-9.

2. Where is our rescue?

A. Read Romans 8:31-36. Who is the Judge of all things? Who has justified us, declared us righteous?

Through what means has He done this? Do the perils and hardships in which St. Paul lists exist in our world and your life?

B. Read verses 37-39. In Jesus, what are we? Discuss Paul's list of the things that God's love still holds on to us through.

C. Read Psalm 121 (particularly verses 7-8) and 2 Thessalonians 3:3. What do these verses say about our Heavenly Father and His care for you?

3. Where are we going?

A. What do we ask of God when our last hour comes (death)?

B. Look at the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus in Luke 23:26-46. Jesus not only demonstrates God's love for us, but also gives us a splendid way of dying. As Jesus is hanging on the tree and hearing the people mocking Him and poking fun at Him (even the criminals crucified next to Him), does He retaliate? What does He do instead? Notice what Jesus says about those people: "For they know not what they do." If they do not know, who is directing them? Is this the same person behind the actions and words of our offenders? In whom does Jesus commend His life? When hardships, sickness, and death come, being in Christ, what can we say with certainty also?

C. Read Revelation 2:9-10. What does Jesus say about our situation? How about the poverty? What are our riches? What gift awaits you?

Pastor Timothy Schellenbach Bible Study Leaders’ Guide I.

Read Matthew 5:13-16, where Christ calls Christians the “salt of the earth.”

A. What does it mean that we are the “salt of the earth?”

Before modern preservatives were invented, meat was kept from spoiling using salt. It is the presence of the Christian Church which keeps this corrupt and sinful world from becoming utterly rotten. This is both due to the preaching of the Church and its influence on people’s lives, and also because God sees us as holy through Christ and therefore the Church’s presence is what preserves the society around it from immediate destruction (see Genesis 18:16 - 19:28 for a counter-example which also, ironically, involves salt).

B. Is a Christian who withdraws completely from the culture around him fulfilling Jesus’ words here? See also 1 Timothy 4:1-5 and 1 Corinthians 5:9-10.

No. If we withdraw from the society around us, there will be no benefit to those who are stuck in the mud of this world’s corruption. In addition, such an attitude is a denial of 1 Timothy 4:1-5, which teaches that everything in creation is good, and 1 Corinthians 5:10 which teaches that those outside the Church who sin because they do not know better are not to be avoided but rather helped.

C. What the Christian who blindly accepts everything that our culture contains without evaluating it against Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions?

Such a person would have lost his saltiness. It’s true that we shouldn’t avoid participating in the culture around us, but at the same time we must constantly examine everything by the Word of God (Acts 17:11) so that we do not find ourselves participating in, or encouraging others in, things that are, in fact, sinful. If there is no difference between a Christian and a non-Christian when it comes to these things, or if we fail to “give answer for the hope that is within us” (see 1 peter 3:15) when the opportunity arises with our non-Christian friends, the preservative value of “salt” is no longer there.

II. Review the Second Commandment and its explanation in the Small Catechism.

A. How does Luther’s explanation refer to those who attempt to use, or think that they are using, “magic” and “witchcraft” in the real world?

The Catechism refers to them as those who “use satanic arts.” Make clear to the students that this doesn’t refer to the sort of “magic” which relies upon sleight-of-hand and optical illusions to put on entertaining shows, but to “magick” which is an attempt to manipulate the deity in which the practitioner believes by performing certain actions in order to achieve a desired result. “Magic” in the first description above is mere harmless entertainment.

B. Read Deuteronomy 18:10-12 and Leviticus 19:31. To the extent that the practices described in these passages are “real” and not mere trickery, where does the supernatural power come from? (Hint: look at question 32 in the Synodical explanation of the Catechism.)

Anything supernatural that is not from God is of the devil. No other options exist. To be sure, much of what is claimed to be supernatural is mere trickery, such as “psychic hotlines” which rely on a psychological technique of asking the right kinds of questions and drawing conclusions based on the response of the caller to those questions. But there is also actual demonic activity in the world and we do need to beware of it and not open ourselves up to it. Not to mention the fact that dishonest trickery (such as that practiced by the “psychic hotlines”) is deceptive and therefore satanic as well, though in a non-supernatural way.

Higher Things – “Wizards, Witches, and Hogwarts” Bible Study Leaders’ Guide, page 2 C. For those who have read the Harry Potter books, is the “magic” practiced in them “using satanic arts” in God’s name, as some concerned Christians have asserted? Or is it, as Pastor Peperkorn asserts, a simple matter of using the laws of nature (like science) that exist in a made-up world but don’t exist in the real world? What about other popular literature in which “magic” plays a role, such as Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings? Discuss.

Different students may have different opinions. In fact, the answer here is neither black nor white, since the basic idea of witchcraft in Rowling’s books is as Pr. Peperkorn described, but there are places where she does cross the line somewhat. The important thing is to remember that no matter how much Rowling’s made-up world (or any other made-up world, for that matter) resembles the real world in certain aspects, her books are fiction and, and students (and their parents) should be careful to remember that some things may be alright in a fictional world, but those same activities could expose one to potential demonic activity in the real world.

III. Read about Paul’s speech in Athens in Acts 17:16-34.

A. In addition to using Greek poetry in v. 28, Paul also made use of a feature of the Greeks’ religious displays to make known to them the God who had been unknown. Did this involve a compromise with false religion on Paul’s part?

First, notice very clearly that Paul was not participating in a pagan worship service. The Greeks gathered at the Areopagus to exchange ideas and talk about philosophy, not to worship or pray together. Secondly, notice that he identifies the God whom the Greeks did not know, as the only true God who made the heavens and the earth.

He did not reaffirm them in their beliefs in their many so-called gods. He only used the fact that they had an altar to an “unknown god” to point out that their knowledge of religion was incomplete and that they themselves admitted this by dedicating an altar to a god they did not know.

B. For those who have read the books, what are some positive lessons that a Christian can learn from the Harry Potter books? What are some features of the books which made the books enjoyable to you simply as entertainment? Discuss.

The students will, of course, have varying answers here. Examples may include those found in the second paragraph of Pr. Peperkorn’s article, among others.

C. In addition to Aesop’s Fables and perhaps also Harry Potter, what are some other examples of secular or even pagan literature from which Christians may learn valuable lessons? What are some other books that are enjoyable to you simply as entertainment?

Again, answers will vary. Frequently-mentioned works would probably include Lord of the Rings and Star Wars, since those are also the focus of popular movies right now. Encourage the students to share what they could learn from these works, and what is enjoyable about them, not simply to say they like a certain series of books or other media without saying why. If time permits, encourage students also to look critically at their reasons for enjoying various books, whether what they “like” about a particular series is something the Scripture encourages us to “like” or not.

Pastor Timothy Schellenbach Bible Study I.

Read Matthew 5:13-16, where Christ calls Christians the “salt of the earth.”

A. What does it mean that we are the “salt of the earth?”

B. Is a Christian who withdraws completely from the culture around him fulfilling Jesus’ words here? See also 1 Timothy 4:1-5 and 1 Corinthians 5:9-10.

C. What the Christian who blindly accepts everything that our culture contains without evaluating it against Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions?

II. Review the Second Commandment and its explanation in the Small Catechism.

A. How does Luther’s explanation refer to those who attempt to use, or think that they are using, “magic” and “witchcraft” in the real world?

B. Read Deuteronomy 18:10-12 and Leviticus 19:31. To the extent that the practices described in these passages are “real” and not mere trickery, where does the supernatural power come from? (Hint: look at question 32 in the Synodical explanation of the Catechism.)

C. For those who have read the Harry Potter books, is the “magic” practiced in them “using satanic arts” in God’s name, as some concerned Christians have asserted? Or is it, as Pastor Peperkorn asserts, a simple matter of using the laws of nature (like science) that exist in a made-up world but don’t exist in the real world? What about other popular literature in which “magic” plays a role, such as Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings? Discuss.

III. Read about Paul’s speech in Athens in Acts 17:16-34.

A. In addition to using Greek poetry in v. 28, Paul also made use of a feature of the Greeks’ religious displays to make known to them the God who had been unknown. Did this involve a compromise with false religion on Paul’s part?

B. For those who have read the books, what are some positive lessons that a Christian can learn from the Harry Potter books? What are some features of the books which made the books enjoyable to you simply as entertainment? Discuss.

C. In addition to Aesop’s Fables and perhaps also Harry Potter, what are some other examples of secular or even pagan literature from which Christians may learn valuable lessons? What are some other books that are enjoyable to you simply as entertainment?

Pastor Robin Fish, Sr. Bible Study Leaders’ Guide 1. The Many Make One Body: Each of us in unique, completely different from all others. Likewise, each society is different from all others in attitudes and experiences, in laws and traditions. Christians, though different, are all somewhat the same and united.

A. What does Romans 12:5 say about Church life in the Sudan that may seem “strange” and “foreign” to us?

Although we are separated by distance and by culture, we are all members, “body parts,” of the one body of Christ.

B. How does 1 Corinthians 10:17 indicate that all Christians are linked? Does 1 Corinthians 12:13 contradiction, or are these two verses related?

We are linked together and by Holy Communion. By comparison, we are also united by Baptism. There is no contradiction here, for one and the same Word of God powers both of these gifts.

C. How does 1 Corinthians 12:20 express the end result of this union? What does that mean about Christians in other parts of the world, like the Sudan? According to Colossians 3:14-16, what does this mean in practical terms when it is applied to you and the young Christians of Sudan?

We are many members, but just one body. This means that whatever happens to our fellow Christians also happens to us. Their needs are our needs and we should be at work to meet those needs. They are part of us and we are part of them. Colossians 3:14-16 tells us that we must deal with our Sudanese brothers in love and encourage them. Our abundance should supply their need. We must especially pray for them, and look for opportunities to help them. We should also be their voice here, working to help alleviate their persecution and physical needs.

D. Ephesians 2:11-18 speaks about what two groups? What insight does this passage give us with regard to our brethren (fellow Christians) in Sudan? What do these words suggest about our comfort and their difficulties?

This passage speaks about Jews and Gentiles. It should make clear that we are united together in Christ; our outward, insignificant differences must be ignored. Therefore, we share our comfort, and share their difficulties – bearing one another’s burdens, in so far as we are able.

2. They Added to Their Number Every Day: The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sudan (ELCS) has witnessed explosive growth.

A. Where does the growth of the church come from, according to Acts 2:39? How does God work it – Acts 2:38-41?

The growth of the Church comes only from God, through His preaching and His gifts. Notice that the call to repentance, once it takes root and cuts the hearer to the heart, is followed by the proclamation of salvation through Christ (the preaching of the Gospel).

B. With those Biblical facts in mind, make a list of the things that you can do that will impact the growth of the Church in Sudan, and other places. What can we learn from Sudan that might help us, here at home?

You can pray; you can preach; you can give gifts; you can trust God. Programs and gimmicks don’t work, and never have. It is the power of the Word of God, and it is the will of God to change the hearts of those who hear His Word, that makes the church grow. We need to be in the Word and speaking the Word faithfully and constantly. That is the only true Church Growth program.

3. Growth in the Face of Adversity: Sadly, our Sudanese brethren face many troubles.

A. What encouragement does Romans 5:1-5 speak about facing troubles?

God works blessings through even the troubles and sufferings, perhaps especially through the troubles and sufferings.

B. According to Romans 8:23-25, how do we respond to these troubles? Does any of this change your understanding of your own troubles and hardships?

We respond with faith and patience and perseverance. This knowledge, as well as the realization of how other Christians struggle, will embolden us (show the class how Paul’s chains did this for his fellow Christians, Philippians 1:1:12-14.)

Higher Things – “Hope in Christ in a World of Problems” Bible Study Leaders’ Guide, page 2 C. What does Romans 15:4 say we can do in troublesome times? How might your own prayers mirror Paul’s prayer in Romans 15:13-14?

The Word of God is intended by God for our instruction and comfort, so that we might endure faithfully. Among the many things we pray for, we should ask God to strengthen our fellow Christians in faith and give them that “joy and peace in believing.” This prayer should be the same for our friends as it is for our brothers in other parts of the world. Praise be to God! Verse 14 proclaims that God has already fully supplied us with all that we may need to endure and triumph with Christ.

4. Maabangirise comes from God. A. Maabangirise appears in the New Testament alone 76 times in 68 verses. What is it? What are we looking for, that God gives in abundance, Romans 15:13?

Maabangirise means “hope,” which according to Romans 15:13, God gives in abundance. Thus we “overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

B. Compare Romans 12:1-2. What do the people need? Where is it found? How do you get it?

They need to be transformed by the renewing of their minds, which happens by the power of God the Holy Spirit, who works the transformation through the Word. You receive this transformation by hearing the Word and by participating in the gifts of God, which are powerful for your salvation.

Higher Things Bible Study Issue #2.1, Kpakarakpakara pai and Maabangirise: Hope in Christ in a World of Problems Pastor Robin Fish, Sr.

Student Questions 1. The Many Make One Body: Each of us in unique, completely different from all others. Likewise, each society is different from all others in attitudes and experiences, in laws and traditions. Christians, though different, are all somewhat the same and united. a. What does Romans 12:5 say about Church life in the Sudan that may seem “strange” and “foreign” to us? b. How does 1 Corinthians 10:17 indicate that all Christians are linked? Does 1 Corinthians 12:13 contradiction, or are these two verses related? c. How does 1 Corinthians 12:20 express the end result of this union? What does that mean about Christians in other parts of the world, like the Sudan? According to Colossians 3:14-16, what does this mean in practical terms when it is applied to you and the young Christians of Sudan? d. Ephesians 2:11-18 speaks about what two groups? What insight does this passage give us with regard to our brethren (fellow Christians) in Sudan?

What do these words suggest about our comfort and their difficulties?

2. They Added to Their Number Every Day: The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sudan (ELCS) has witnessed explosive growth. a. Where does the growth of the church come from, according to Acts 2:39?

How does God work it? b. With those Biblical facts in mind, make a list of the things that you can do that will impact the growth of the Church in Sudan, and other places.

What can we learn from Sudan that might help us, here at home?

3. Growth in the Face of Adversity: Sadly, our Sudanese brethren face many troubles. a. What encouragement does Romans 5:1-5 speak about facing troubles? b. According to Romans 8:23-25, how do we respond to these troubles?

Does any of this change your understanding of your own troubles and hardships? c. What does Romans 15:4 say we can do in troublesome times? How might your own prayers mirror Paul’s prayer in Romans 15:13-14?

4. Maabangirise comes from God. a. Maabangirise appears in the New Testament alone 76 times in 68 verses.

What is it? What are we looking for, that God gives in abundance, Romans 15:13? b. Compare Romans 12:1-2. What do the people need? Where is it found?

How do you get it?

Pastor Robin Fish, Sr. Bible Study Leaders’ Guide 1. The Same Old Thing A. Dr. Baue describes what might seem like a new religion, at least, new to us. But Islam is not new. Luther and the Lutheran Confessions called it “the Turk.” We have also heard of “Moslems” or “Muslims.” It is the religion of ancient Persia, and of the characters of stories and like “Alladin” and “Ali Babba and the Forty Thieves.” What does the Bible say in Ecclesiastes 1:9?

There is really nothing new under the sun.

B. How does 1 Timothy 1:4 describe non-Christian religions? Why do men follow false Gods, according to 2 Timothy 4:3-4?

Although Paul was likely addressing Jewish myths in 1 Timothy 1:4, the same idea applies: we must avoid myths and stick to the truth. 2 Timothy 4:3-4 explains that men seek such things because they cannot endure the truth.

They get “itching ears,” looking for something false to replace the truth.

2. A Radically Different Religion A. Rev. Baue states that Islam is neither friendly, nor peaceful. But the greatest danger is not the militaristic motif of Islam. What does 2 Corinthians 11:3 indicate the danger is?

The greatest danger, of course, is being led away from faith in Jesus Himself. Pastor Baue reports, sadly th enough, that it is happening, and other reports indicate that it is happening in record numbers since Sept. 11 .

B. Defenders of Islam tell us that Muslims believe in Jesus, calling Him a great prophet, sent from God. Is that enough? What does John 5:22-23 have to say to this matter?

If you don’t believe Jesus is God, you don’t know God at all. Moslems may believe something about Jesus, but that is entirely different than believing in Jesus.

C. According to Acts 4:12, Can Allah be our God, just under another name?

Acts 4:12 specifically states that “there is no other name under heaven, given among men”.

D. What does 1 Timothy 4:7 suggest about our attitude toward Islam?

We should have nothing to do with it. That doesn’t mean we cannot witness to the Muslims, but we must not dabble with it.

3. Misdirected Zeal: While their religion is false, their devotion is admirable. Rev. Baue reports that many Muslims can recite the entire Qur’an from memory.

A. How much of the Bible can you recite? Is it important? Why or why not?

You don’t have to know a lot of Scripture by memory to get into heaven, because salvation comes by faith.

However, the more you know the better equipped you are (Point out 2 Peter 1:19, 3:18). Sometimes lack knowledge indicates lack of interest in the faith – if it is important, we will pay attention to it.

B. A concordance search shows that “read” appears 27 times in the new Testament, “learn” 14 times, “search” (applying to Scriptures) 3 times, and “study” just once in the entire Bible. “Hear” appears 114 times in the New Testament alone. What does that suggest to you?

Hearing the Word of God is of ultimate importance – hearing it regularly!

C. What does Romans 10:17 add to your understanding? Does this mean we can be apathetic about studying the Bible? What does 2 Timothy 2:15 suggest in answer to that question?

Romans 10:17 explains that God works through the Word preached and heard. This does not mean we can be apathetic about studying the Bible, but on the contrary, it seems pretty clear that the Bible is the “toolbox” of the Holy Spirit, to work in our lives. 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us to be diligent to be prepared to accurately handle the Word of God.

Higher Things – “Notes on Islam” Bible Study Leaders’ Guide, page 2 4. Confessing the True Faith A. While we consider Islam a false religion, how does 1 Timothy 2:1-4 guide our attitude toward those caught up in it? Why is this so, according to verses 5-6?

Two things: 1) we must pray for them, and 2) God wants all men to be saved and to come the knowledge of the Truth. Why is this so, according to 1 Timothy 2:5-6 explain that Jesus, having died for everyone, is a Ransom for everyone.

B. How does 1 Peter 3:8-17 guide us in this matter? What should be our conduct? Our goal? What should be our attitude about our circumstances?

Then what should be our response? We should be ready and willing to share Jesus and the hope of eternal life with everyone, even the Muslims. 1 Peter 3:8-17 guide tells us that we should be decent people, as the children of God: harmonious, loving, kind-hearted, and humble, and prepared to speak about our hope when the opportunity presents itself. And we should expect, and be prepared to endure patiently, the inevitable trouble that will find God’s faithful people when they live and witness their faith. What should be our conduct? Good, decent, humble, kind. In all circumstances, Christians must be patient, understanding, and knowing that God puts us where we are for His purposes.

C. What comfort does Romans 9:16 proclaim? What about Revelation 2:10?

We are called to be faithful, because all things depend on God’s mercy. The same mercy that moved Christ to die and rise again for Christians now works through the proclamation of the Word. This mercy includes not only the salvation of Muslims, but our salvation as well! The encouragement and promise of Revelation is that God will reward in His good time, and in His good eternity!

Pastor Robin Fish, Sr. Bible Study 1. The Same Old Thing A. Dr. Baue describes what might seem like a new religion, at least, new to us. But Islam is not new. Luther and the Lutheran Confessions called it “the Turk.” We have also heard of “Moslems” or “Muslims.” It is the religion of ancient Persia, and of the characters of stories and like “Alladin” and “Ali Babba and the Forty Thieves.” What does the Bible say in Ecclesiastes 1:9?

B. How does 1 Timothy 1:4 describe non-Christian religions? Why do men follow false Gods, according to 2 Timothy 4:3-4?

2. A Radically Different Religion A. Rev. Baue states that Islam is neither friendly, nor peaceful. But the greatest danger is not the militaristic motif of Islam. What does 2 Corinthians 11:3 indicate the danger is?

B. Defenders of Islam tell us that Muslims believe in Jesus, calling Him a great prophet, sent from God. Is that enough? What does John 5:22-23 have to say to this matter?

C. According to Acts 4:12, Can Allah be our God, just under another name?

D. What does 1 Timothy 4:7 suggest about our attitude toward Islam?

3. Misdirected Zeal: While their religion is false, their devotion is admirable. Rev. Baue reports that many Muslims can recite the entire Qur’an from memory.

A. How much of the Bible can you recite? Is it important? Why or why not?

B. A concordance search shows that “read” appears 27 times in the new Testament, “learn” 14 times, “search” (applying to Scriptures) 3 times, and “study” just once in the entire Bible. “Hear” appears 114 times in the New Testament alone. What does that suggest to you?

C. What does Romans 10:17 add to your understanding? Does this mean we can be apathetic about studying the Bible? What does 2 Timothy 2:15 suggest in answer to that question?

4. Confessing the True Faith A. While we consider Islam a false religion, how does 1 Timothy 2:1-4 guide our attitude toward those caught up in it? Why is this so, according to verses 5-6?

B. How does 1 Peter 3:8-17 guide us in this matter? What should be our conduct? Our goal? What should be our attitude about our circumstances?

C. What comfort does Romans 9:16 proclaim? What about Revelation 2:10?

Pastor Scott Zeckzer Bible Study Leaders’ Guid 1. Everything a Christian does presupposes that he is justified before God. A. How is anyone declared justified before God? See 2 Corinthians 5:21, Romans 3:22-24, Romans 4:25, and (if available) Article 4 of the Augsburg Confession.

We are declared righteous by God because of Jesus and His atoning sacrifice for our sins. 2 Corinthians 5:21 declares that God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. The Romans passages add that “There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus,” and “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”

Here is the Augsburg Confession, Article 4: Also they [our churches] teach that men cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works, but are freely justified for Christ's sake, through faith, when they believe that they are received into favor, and that their sins are forgiven for Christ's sake, who, by His death, has made satisfaction for our sins. This faith God imputes for righteousness in His sight. Rom. 3 and 4.

B. Being declared justified includes being forgiven. Where does God offer the forgiveness of sins? See Luke 24:47, Romans1:16, 2 Corinthians 5:19.

Luke 24:47 declares that God offers the forgiveness of sins in the Gospel: “Repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name to all nations.” This Gospel is “the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile” (Romans 1:16). This message comes through the apostles’ message: “He has committed to us the message of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:19).

2. In the article, Chaplain Wohlrabe talked about the Kingdom of the Right and the Kingdom of the Left.

Christians, having been justified by faith, now live in both of these Kingdoms.

A. What is the Kingdom of the Right? See John 18:36. What imagery does 1 Peter 2:5 use in describing this same kingdom?

In John 18:35 Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place." The Kingdom of the Right is also known as the Kingdom of Grace or the Holy Christian Church. Here God works through the ministry of His Word and Sacraments to call people to faith and give them salvation through Jesus Christ, our Lord (see Small Catechism, question #212). Peter uses the image of a house to describe this kingdom: “You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

B. What is the Kingdom of the Left? See 1 Peter 2:13-14. According to Romans 13:1-7, who has created the Kingdom of the Left? What purpose does it serve? Under what circumstances should we fear this kingdom?

The Kingdom of the Left is the civil government; an extension of God's Kingdom of Power (Small Catechism, #212). This government is a gift from God, as the Romans passage indicates. God has given “the sword,” or the power over life and death, to the government in order to protect the good, punish evil, and maintain peace. We should fear this kingdom if we do wrong (Romans 13:4). Additional note: Verse 6 describes the godly and pious work of paying taxes.

C. What does Paul tell us in Titus 3:1 to do for the Kingdom of the Left? How about in 1 Timothy 2:1-2?

The Titus passage indicates that we must submit to all who are in authority, even the government. In Timothy, we hear that we are also to pray for the government—as many churches do every Sunday.

D. From what you have learned thus far, how does a Christian live in both Kingdoms? Can a Christian serve in the military?

Allow students to express their various viewpoints: some may agree that Christians can serve as soldiers and may even want to themselves; others may not be able to “swallow” the idea of killing someone else, even in the name of the government, and will not enjoy the thought of military service.

Higher Things – “Service to God in the Military” Bible Study Leaders’ Guide, page 2 3. Chaplain Wohlrabe asked, "Maintaining a godly disposition is real challenge for us all, isn't it?"

A. What is our response to those who have attacked us? See Luke 6:27-28, Romans 12:20-21.

Jesus says that we must love our enemies, which love is made possible by the love that He first displayed to us and for us. Paul explains this in Romans 12 by saying that we do not merely love our enemies in a “generic” sense, but that we actively love by supplying their needs.

B. How can we make sure that we maintain a godly disposition? See “The Power of Baptism” and “What Baptism Indicates” in the Small Catechism. See also “The Benefit of the Sacrament of the Altar” in the same.

The regular realization of all that God has done for us in Christ—a realization that is deepened and strengthened through faith by our participation in the Word and in the Sacraments—bears fruit in godly living.

Higher Things Bible Study Issue #2.1, Service to God in the Military Pastor Scott Zeckzer

Student Questions 1. Everything a Christian does presupposes that he is justified before God. a. How is anyone declared justified before God? See 2 Corinthians 5:21, Romans 3:22-24, Romans 4:25, and (if available) Article 4 of the Augsburg Confession. b. Being declared justified includes being forgiven. Where does God offer the forgiveness of sins? See Luke 24:47, Romans1:16, 2 Corinthians 5:19 c. What is the Gospel? See John 3:16, John 6:63, Romans 1:16, Colossians 1:6.

2. In the article, Chaplain Wohlrabe talked about the Kingdom of the Right and the Kingdom of the Left. Christians, having been justified by faith, now live in both of these Kingdoms. a. What is the Kingdom of the Right? See John 18:36. What imagery does 1 Peter 2:5 use in describing this same kingdom? b. What is the Kingdom of the Left? See 1 Peter 2:13-14. According to Romans 13:1-7, who has created the Kingdom of the Left? What purpose does it serve? Under what circumstances should we fear this kingdom? c. What does Paul tell us in Titus 3:1 to do for the Kingdom of the Left?

How about in 1 Timothy 2:1-2? d. From what you have learned thus far, how does a Christian live in both Kingdoms? Can a Christian serve in the military?

3. Chaplain Wohlrabe asked, "Maintaining a godly disposition is real challenge for us all, isn't it?" a. What is our response to those who have attacked us? See Luke 6:27-28, Romans 12:20-21. b. How can we make sure that we maintain a godly disposition? See “The Power of Baptism” and “What Baptism Indicates” in the Small Catechism.

See also “The Benefit of the Sacrament of the Altar” in the same.

Pastor Leonard Poppe Bible Study Leaders’ Guide The Small Catechism teaches in the First Article of the Creed that God the Father created you and takes care of you.

After studying the Ten Commandments, the question arises, “Why should God be so kind such wretched sinners as us?”

To understand the love of God in the First Article, we must believe the Second Article: “I believe that Jesus Christ… has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person…” God loves you because His Son died for you, taking away the stain and stench of all sin.

1. Our Father Who art in heaven.

A. Why are we allowed to call God “Our Father” when we pray the Lord’s Prayer? See Galatians 3:26-4:7 and the Catechism’s explanation to the Introduction of the Lord’s Prayer?

Galatians 3:26 speaks of our adoption as “sons of God,” so that we are no longer a slaves, but children. Because we are the children of God through faith in Christ Jesus, we may “ask Him as dear children as their dear father” (Small Catechism).

B. What does Jesus say in John 14:6 about gaining access to the Father?

Jesus is the one and only way to come to the Father—no one comes except through Him. C. What does Isaiah 1:15 say to those who pray without faith and repentance?

God will hide His eyes and refuse to listen to those who pray without faith and repentance. This means that only Christians (that is, those who live by faith in Christ Jesus) can pray and have their prayers heard by God. Think of it this way: Why would someone who does not believe in God even bother talking to Him? 2. The Power of Prayer Comes From God A. According to Matthew 6:5-6, is it better to make a public show of prayer, or to pray in secret? Does this mean that prayers in Church, with the family, or with others are wrong? See Acts 2:42.

Jesus says that we should go where no one sees us and pray in secret. But the point here is that we not make a big show of our prayers, but that we pray in humility and faith. Of course it is good to pray with others! Following the example of the early Christians, we today devote ourselves to gathering together, not only for fellowship and for worship, but also for prayer—this is an essential part of our worship.

B. According to Matthew 6:7, do you need to have special words, eloquence, or repetition to make your prayers powerful? See also Romans 8:26-27.

Not at all! Fancy prayers do not make your requests known to God—faith does. The Romans passage goes on to explain that even when we do not know what to pray, the Spirit intercedes for us.

C. Now read Matthew 6:8. If God knows what you need before you ask Him, why go through the trouble of asking?

See James 4:1-3 for some insight. Also, according to the Small Catechism’s explanation of the second commandment, how is prayer included in the right use of God’s name?

God does not want you to consider your prayers as troublesome, but rather, as an opportunity to speak to Him. Not only does the second commandment require that you pray, but God loves to converse with you! Prayer is your half of your conversation with Him, as He speaks to you through His powerful Word. James indicates that when you pray selfishly, of course your prayers will go unanswered. But when you pray in keeping with God’s Word and will, He loves to hear and answer your prayers.

Higher Things – “The Power of Prayer” Bible Study Leaders’ Guide, page 2 3. Covetous Desire and Powerful Prayer A. One of the grossest misuses of prayer is indicated in that passage from James, above (4:1-3). Many times, people think that they can have anything they want if only their faith is strong enough and if they can only pray fervently enough. But read John 15:7 and 1 John 5:14. According to these verses, what conditions are placed upon our requests? What does this mean for those who pray without believing in the Triune God? The key to prayer is your connection to Jesus, which is established through His gift of faith. If you remain in Him, your prayers will be answered. If, however, you pray contrary to God’s will, as you can see from what John writes, you will not be heard.

B. James says that “the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective” (James 5:16). But is it the prayer itself that heals the sick? Discuss this in light of Luke 18:9-14.

It is not the prayer that heals the sick, but the God to whom we pray that heals those who need it. The selfrighteous man pointed only to himself and boasted before God—and his prayers were unheard. The tax collector, however, did not claim anything but a need for God’s mercy. And God, who is quick to show mercy, gladly answered the prayer.

Pastor Leonard Poppe Bible Study The Small Catechism teaches in the First Article of the Creed that God the Father created you and takes care of you.

After studying the Ten Commandments, the question arises, “Why should God be so kind such wretched sinners as us?”

To understand the love of God in the First Article, we must believe the Second Article: “I believe that Jesus Christ… has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person…” God loves you because His Son died for you, taking away the stain and stench of all sin.

1. Our Father Who art in heaven.

A. Why are we allowed to call God “Our Father” when we pray the Lord’s Prayer? See Galatians 3:26-4:7 and the Catechism’s explanation to the Introduction of the Lord’s Prayer?

B. What does Jesus say in John 14:6 about gaining access to the Father?

C. What does Isaiah 1:15 say to those who pray without faith and repentance?

2. The Power of Prayer Comes From God A. According to Matthew 6:5-6, is it better to make a public show of prayer, or to pray in secret? Does this mean that prayers in Church, with the family, or with others are wrong? See Acts 2:42.

B. According to Matthew 6:7, do you need to have special words, eloquence, or repetition to make your prayers powerful? See also Romans 8:26-27.

C. Now read Matthew 6:8. If God knows what you need before you ask Him, why go through the trouble of asking?

See James 4:1-3 for some insight. Also, according to the Small Catechism’s explanation of the second commandment, how is prayer included in the right use of God’s name?

3. Covetous Desire and Powerful Prayer A. One of the grossest misuses of prayer is indicated in that passage from James, above (4:1-3). Many times, people think that they can have anything they want if only their faith is strong enough and if they can only pray fervently enough. But read John 15:7 and 1 John 5:14. According to these verses, what conditions are placed upon our requests? What does this mean for those who pray without believing in the Triune God? B. James says that “the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective” (James 5:16). But is it the prayer itself that heals the sick? Discuss this in light of Luke 18:9-14.

Pastor David Kind Bible Study Leaders’ Guide 1. The snake coiled around our necks is sin.

A. What is sin’s desire according to Genesis 4:7. How does God express His desire for us in that same verse?

Sin desires to possess us fully. God desires for us “master it,” that is, to conquer sin and to live in righteous purity.

B. Do Christians accomplish God’s desire fully in their lives? See 1 John 1:8 and Romans 7:18.

No, it is impossible for us to completely live without sin. According to 1 John, we ourselves lie and make God out to be a liar if we claim to be without sin. According to Romans 7, even St. Paul saw sin constantly active in his flesh. Our righteousness does not flow from within, but from outside, that is, from Christ.

2. Pr. Pauls says that the snake of sin is son of the serpent of Eden, the devil.

A. According to Revelation 12:10, what is one of the main activities of the devil?

The devil is an accuser, who before his defeat constantly sought to accuse people before God. Now, having been exiled from heaven, he focuses his attention on accusing the individual in conscience and exploiting feelings of guilt into despair.

B. Pr. Pauls writes: “as I study the Word and grow in faith, I become more and more aware of how fat his coils are, how tormenting his presence is.” In what way does God’s Word confirm the accusations of the snake and increase our knowledge of our sin?

The Law indeed points out our sins and accuses us of them. The Law, however is not the final stop according to God’s design. It is meant not to drive us to despair, but to cause us to repent.

C. For what purpose does God indict us with sin through His Law? See Galatians 3:24.

The Law is given specifically to point us to the Gospel and to the forgiveness that is ours in Christ.

D. How does Satan twist the Law of God to use it against us? What is his ultimate purpose? See Luke 8:12.

Satan uses the righteous Law of God to drive us to despair. He constantly seeks to remind us of our sins and to doubt God’s grace and forgiveness in Christ. His ultimate goal is that we not believe that the Gospel can save us.

3. The Christian lives in a realm of competing realities, being simultaneously saint and sinner.

A. What, according to St. Paul in Romans 7:14-25 is the struggle of the Christian?

According to St. Paul, the struggle is between the flesh and spirit, or between the new saint and the old sinner. It is not a struggle that can be won by the individual on his or her own. “Who can save me?” Only Christ.

B. Which reality is truer, the one we fully experience in our flesh, or the one that God declares is real, even if it is not experienced fully? See Romans 8:1-2.

Because God’s Word states that we are forgiven, this is true reality. What God says always is true (John 17:17), even if it contradicts our experience (conscience). Therefore we anchor our trust not in the realization of our sins, but in the power and promise of God’s Word that declares us to be righteous and lays Christ’s righteousness upon us.

C. According to Luther’s great hymn “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” (LW # 298) where is our victory over Satan’s accusations to be found and how can we defeat the devil, too?

Satan is utterly defeated by Christ Jesus. We too defeat Satan with one little word, the Gospel, or as Pr. Paul’s puts it the words of Christ “I forgive you” which are also spoken by the pastor to us in Holy Absolution.

4. The Christian life is one of constant battle against sin and against the devil.

A. How can the Christian battle against Satan and his accusations according to 1 Peter 5:8-9? How do Christians remain steadfast in the faith? What Gospel gifts does God provide to make us steadfast?

The key to remaining steadfast is to remain in the things of Christ. These are His means of grace: Word, Baptism, Absolution, and Communion, which he gives us for the forgiveness of sins and for the strengthening of faith.

Higher Things – “There’s A Snake Around My Neck…”

Bible Study Leaders’ Guide, page 2 B. What role does private confession and Holy Absolution play in this struggle? See 1 John 1:8-9 and John 20:23.

Confession brings sin out into the open, into the light. The Light of Christ abolishes sin, forgiving it entirely. That forgiveness is given here on earth through the called and ordained servant of Christ in Holy Absolution; whose words are as valid and certain in heaven as if Christ Himself had spoken them to us.

C. What role does Baptism play? See Romans 6:3-11.

Baptism is death and resurrection. Paul explains that we were slaves of sin before Baptism. Slavery ends when one is sold, released or dead. Having died in Baptism, we are freed from sins bondage. Our new life is one that is now in slavery to Christ, who purchased us with His own blood and raised us from the dead in Baptism.

D. What roles do study of God’s Word and prayer play? See 2 Timothy 3:14-17 and Romans 6:10-18.

The Word of God is powerful and faith-giving. It delivers to us Christ’s forgiveness and builds us up in the faith. It not only shows us our sins, but also delivers Christ to us for the forgiveness of those sins so that we may live in Him. E. What role does Holy Communion play? See Ephesians 1:7 and Hebrews 10:19-23 Holy Communion binds us to Christ through His flesh and blood, forgiving our sins and granting us life. Sprinkled with His blood and washed with Baptism we have access to heaven itself.

Pastor David Kind Bible Study 1. The snake coiled around our necks is sin.

A. What is sin’s desire according to Genesis 4:7. How does God express His desire for us in that same verse?

B. Do Christians accomplish God’s desire fully in their lives? See 1 John 1:8 and Romans 7:18.

2. Pr. Pauls says that the snake of sin is son of the serpent of Eden, the devil.

A. According to Revelation 12:10, what is one of the main activities of the devil?

B. Pr. Pauls writes: “as I study the Word and grow in faith, I become more and more aware of how fat his coils are, how tormenting his presence is.” In what way does God’s Word confirm the accusations of the snake and increase our knowledge of our sin?

C. For what purpose does God indict us with sin through His Law? See Galatians 3:24.

D. How does Satan twist the Law of God to use it against us? What is his ultimate purpose? See Luke 8:12.

3. The Christian lives in a realm of competing realities, being simultaneously saint and sinner.

A. What, according to St. Paul in Romans 7:14-25 is the struggle of the Christian?

B. Which reality is truer, the one we fully experience in our flesh, or the one that God declares is real, even if it is not experienced fully? See Romans 8:1-2.

C. According to Luther’s great hymn “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” (LW # 298) where is our victory over Satan’s accusations to be found and how can we defeat the devil, too?

4. The Christian life is one of constant battle against sin and against the devil.

A. How can the Christian battle against Satan and his accusations according to 1 Peter 5:8-9? How do Christians remain steadfast in the faith? What Gospel gifts does God provide to make us steadfast?

B. What role does private confession and Holy Absolution play in this struggle? See 1 John 1:8-9 and John 20:23.

C. What role does Baptism play? See Romans 6:3-11.

D. What roles do study of God’s Word and prayer play? See 2 Timothy 3:14-17 and Romans 6:10-18.

E. What role does Holy Communion play? See Ephesians 1:7 and Hebrews 10:19-23

Pastor Timothy Schellenbach Bible Study Leaders’ Guide I.

The premise of Pastor Woodring’s article is that abortion can be compared to a war or an act of terrorism where there are many lives lost. Another way of saying the same thing is that abortion is murder. However, this is only true if unborn children are just as much real human beings as much as those who are already born.

A. Read Jeremiah 1:5. What does God say about Jeremiah’s life before he was born?

God tells Jeremiah that he knew him in the womb, and sanctified him before he was born. This implies that even before his birth Jeremiah was not just a lump of flesh, or a “medical condition” of his mother, but he was already at that time a uniquely created human person.

B. Read Psalm 51:5. What does David say about his condition before God prior to his birth?

David confesses that he was “brought forth in iniquity and in sin my mother conceived me.” In other words, David was guilty before God of original sin even before he was born. Make sure the students are aware that this does not mean that the act by which David’s mother was conceived was sinful (as if she had committed adultery or something like that; she didn’t) but that it is from our parents that we all inherit original sin. What David says of himself here is true of all of us.

C. Can a lump of flesh inherit original sin? Can sin and judgment be attributed to something that is not a real human being?

The answer here is, of course, “No.” The implication is that, if we inherit original sin from our parents, that means that we must be real human beings from the moment of our conception. Only human beings can have sin in their hearts. Only human beings can be held guilty before God.

II. Ruth’s friends and pastor apparently thought that they were doing the right thing by encouraging her to have an abortion.

A. Read Luke 10:25-28. What is the summary of God’s Law as it is laid out in the Ten Commandments?

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” In other words, we are to put the love of God and the needs of our neighbor before our own concerns.

B. Read Luke 10:29-37 and James 1:27. What neighbors are most in need of our concern and care?

Those who are the weakest and least able to help themselves, which includes especially those not yet born, dependent upon their mothers in everything. An implication here is that the difficulties another child would give Ruth and her husband are not even worthy to be compared with the value of the life of that unborn child himself.

C. Review Luther’s explanation of the Fifth Commandment in the Small Catechism. Evaluate the words and actions of the friends and the pastor who advised or permitted Ruth to have an abortion.

“We should fear and love God so that we do not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body, but help and support him in every physical need.” Those who refused to “help and support” baby Dan in his “every physical need” by advising that he be killed, are therefore murderers, because by not defending him they violated this commandment against him. Point out to the students, however, that not every way of defending the unborn is necessarily legitimate, either. As long as there are legal ways of defending them, the use of illegal means to harm others (such as bombing abortion clinics) is wrong and sinful. Those who do such things are just as guilty of breaking this commandment as are the abortionists themselves. Even if nobody is hurt by our actions, we are also supposed to “honor, serve and obey, love and cherish” (Fourth Commandment explanation) those who are in authority over us, which means that we work within our rights and the governmental system to defend the unborn, and don’t go outside the system by breaking the law.

Higher Things – “Survivor of War” Bible Study Leaders’ Guide, page 2 III. The number of our fellow Americans who have been killed by abortion is staggeringly high.

A. If you have a calculator, determine the average number of abortions per day in the United States since 1973. You can round off to the nearest year (no need to calculate it out to the exact day).

Taking 41,000,000 and dividing it by 29, then by 365 gives a result of approximately 3,900 abortions per day. th B. Compare this with the death toll from the terrorist attacks on September 11 .

I’m not sure of the exact figure as of this writing, but I believe the current official death toll is somewhere in the high 3,000’s or low 4,000’s if you add together the passengers in the airplanes, the death toll at the Pentagon, and the death toll in and around the World Trade Center and nearby buildings. The point is, the number of human beings killed by abortion every day in this country is comparable to the number of those who perished in th September 11 . th C. Why do you think that our nation was so outraged by the September 11 attacks (and rightfully so) but nobody seems to know or care about the terrible death toll that rises in our midst every day? th This will be a somewhat open-ended discussion. Points could include the fact that September 11 was such a dramatic, violent event, while the death toll from abortion happens quietly, behind closed doors in thousands of clinics across the nation. There is also the fact that the unborn are not yet seen by most people, still being within their mothers’ wombs. And the fact that this is something that has been going on every day since 1973, and many people, unfortunately, simply get tired of hearing about it. However, the lesson learned is that we should be just as horrified, if not more so, by the terrible damage and destruction we as a nation have done to ourselves, one baby at a time, as we were and still are at the destruction these terrorists did to us last fall.

Pastor Timothy Schellenbach Bible Study I.

The premise of Pastor Woodring’s article is that abortion can be compared to a war or an act of terrorism where there are many lives lost. Another way of saying the same thing is that abortion is murder. However, this is only true if unborn children are just as much real human beings as much as those who are already born.

A. Read Jeremiah 1:5. What does God say about Jeremiah’s life before he was born?

B. Read Psalm 51:5. What does David say about his condition before God prior to his birth?

C. Can a lump of flesh inherit original sin? Can sin and judgment be attributed to something that is not a real human being?

II. Ruth’s friends and pastor apparently thought that they were doing the right thing by encouraging her to have an abortion.

A. Read Luke 10:25-28. What is the summary of God’s Law as it is laid out in the Ten Commandments?

B. Read Luke 10:29-37 and James 1:27. What neighbors are most in need of our concern and care?

C. Review Luther’s explanation of the Fifth Commandment in the Small Catechism. Evaluate the words and actions of the friends and the pastor who advised or permitted Ruth to have an abortion.

III. The number of our fellow Americans who have been killed by abortion is staggeringly high.

A. If you have a calculator, determine the average number of abortions per day in the United States since 1973. You can round off to the nearest year (no need to calculate it out to the exact day).

th

B. Compare this with the death toll from the terrorist attacks on September 11 .

th

C. Why do you think that our nation was so outraged by the September 11 attacks (and rightfully so) but nobody seems to know or care about the terrible death toll that rises in our midst every day?