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Higher Things
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Inside this issue:
• No More Stressing • Twitter: Martin Luther Style • Curtis and Confession W W W. H I G H E RT H I N G S . O R G
/ SPRING / 2009
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Contents T A B L E
O F
FEATURES 4 No More Stressing
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Mrs. Nikki Boyle Is there something that makes you uniquely you? Is it your number of IM contacts, your amount of Facebook friends, or how many people sit at your study hall table? Nope. It’s none of those. Mrs. Nikki Boyle went through what you’re going through, and she’s here to help you see that your identity is in Christ, not your clothing brand.
Purgatory, Parousia, and Getting Lost
Tracey Dann On Thursday nights, Facebook statuses everywhere read “So-and-So is Lost.” It’s a universal symbol for “Leave me alone. I’m watching Lost. Don’t bug me.” But is the show more than that? Can it teach you a valuable theological lesson too? Tracey Dann thinks so, and she’s ready to fill you in.
Finding the Triune God in the Aaronic Benediction
Miss Kimberly Fetz Every Sunday, it’s the same old thing.The pastor says the Lord’s name three times, makes the sign of the cross, and the service ends. But Miss Kimberly Fetz knows that the Aaronic benediction is more than simply a sign that church is over. It is a blessing meant just for you!
10 Father Knows Best: The Power of Prayer
By Rev. Tim Pauls Praying isn’t easy.You’re not always sure what to pray for or if you should really be praying it or if the Lord is actually even paying attention to what you’re saying in the first place. But Pastor Pauls is here to remind you that the Lord hears, answers, and works all things for your good (just in case you forgot).
12 The Enemy: Death
Mr. Michael Fieberkorn Man was not created to die. Death should be unnatural. But after our first parents’ fall in the garden, death and doubt are our way of life. Mr. Michael Fieberkorn helps you understand the consequence of sin, the origin of death, and the hope that is yours in Christ Jesus.
Volume 9/Number 1 • Spring 2009
HigherThings Volume 8/Number 4/Winter 2008 Editor REV. TIM
PAULS
Managing Editor ADRIANE DORR Assistant Editor
20 Jan Hus: Champion of Christian Freedom
By Mr. Dennis Di Mauro Say the word reformer, and most people shout, “Martin Luther!” But there other reformers too, men who were tried and tested for the faith and who withstood the assaults and attacks of the devil. For the story of one who fought the good fight, see Mr. Di Mauro’s article on Jan Hus, who was burned at the stake for his faith in Christ.
24 Twitter: Martin Luther Style
What? You don’t get tweets from the good doctor himself? What are you waiting for? Sign for up for Twitter, people. Chop chop!
25 Happy Lent
Rev. George F. Borghardt III It’s that time of year again: Lent.The church service is more solemn, the Alleluias go away, and purple shows up everywhere. Is it all sadness, or is there anything joyful about this season at all? Pastor Borghardt wants you to know that there is, and he’s pointing you back to your Lord’s crucifixion and the forgiveness that’s yours because of it.
26 Above the Mountains
Rev. Pavel Zayakin While some of you were sweating through the St. Louis Higher Things conference a couple of years ago, a bunch of other Lutheran teens were standing on a mountaintop in Siberia taking in the view. They spent the weekend reading Scripture, understanding their Lutheran-ness, hiking, and hang-gliding. And to top it off, Pastor Zayakin’s going to give you a sneak peek into it all!
COLUMNS 22 Christ on Campus
Rev. Ian Pacey Say the word apology, and people instantly think you’ve done something wrong. But in Christianity, an apology is a defense, explaining why a person believes the way he does. If you have friends who aren’t Christians, you need to read Pastor Pacey’s article. He’ll give you a crash course in apologetics so that you can defend your faith against any attack of the devil’s!
28 Heresy, Confusion, and the Holy Trinity
Rev. David Petersen Every good Lutheran teenager knows about the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. In fact, your Sunday School teachers probably explained it to you using apple, baseball player, and egg analogies. It’s not that simple though, and Pastor Petersen is here to delve into the mystery with you.
JULIE BECKWITH Art Director STEVE BLAKEY Editorial Associates
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KATHY LUDER ___________ Christ on Campus Executive REV. MARCUS ZILL Conferences Executive REV. GEORGE F. BORGHARDT
III
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LYNN FREDERICKSEN REV. JOEL FRITSCHE REV. DAVID KIND REV. BRENT KUHLMANN REV. LARRY NICHOLAS MARK PFUNDSTEIN ___________ Higher Things Magazine ISSN 1539-8455 is published quarterly by Higher Things, Inc., 5009 Cassia, Boise, ID 83705. No portion of this publication may be reproduced without the written consent of the executive editor of Higher Things Magazine. Copyright 2009. Printed in the United States. Postage paid at St. Louis, Missouri. For subscription information and questions, call 1-888-448-2359 or e-mail subscriptions@higherthings.org. (This phone number is only used for subscription queries.) For letters to the editor, write letters@higher things.org. Writers may submit manuscripts to: submissions@higherthings.org. Please check http://higherthings.org/magazine/writers.html for writers’ guidelines and theme lists.
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No More What is it about you that makes you you?
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How much time do you spend worrying about what other people think? Do you wake up on Tuesdays and Thursdays and spend a little more time on your hair just because you-know-who will be sitting behind you in first hour? Just face it: you want to be noticed. Everyone does. Everyone wants to be liked. I’m sure you’ve imagined your teacher singling you out for getting the highest grade in the class.You’ve daydreamed about the girl you like telling all her friends about how great you are. You dream all this up and then believe it because you think that is what makes you unique. Or maybe you’ve given up. Have you stopped caring about what you look like or how well you do in school because your buddy list only has a dozen names, and half of them are family? You get depressed, don’t want to go to school, feel sick to your stomach, and can’t finish your homework. You hate being alone. Are you defined by what people think of you? It’s amazing how much of our attention is focused on what other people think. When we have 300 friends on Facebook but have spoken to only a fraction of them in real life, there’s something terribly wrong. Our concentration on what other people think is just plain selfish. God didn’t create us to be so obsessed with us.Think about Adam and Eve. What’s the first thing that they did after eating the apple? They covered up their nakedness and hid because they were ashamed.They were ashamed because, for the first time, their focus was on them rather than God. Maybe Eve thought her butt looked too big or Adam thought his gut could use some work. Don’t get me wrong; this isn’t a call to run around naked. But it is a call to remember what our Lord intends for us. It’s a call back to Eden before all the attention was on us, when the footsteps in the garden
Stressing
By Nikki Boyle
(Genesis 3:8) weren’t a terror but the greatest joy one could imagine. It’s a call to live the way God created us, where all of our attention is on God— Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—and no matter what we do or what we look like matters in the least. What makes us us isn’t how popular we are. Who we are is more than makeup, sports, grades, and the one you’d like to date. Thankfully, our identity—what makes us us—is found in Christ. What goes for Christ goes for you.Think back to Jesus’ Baptism.The heavens were opened, the Spirit descended, and God the Father said,“This is my Son, whom I love, with Him I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:16–17). What goes for Christ goes for you.The Father speaks those same words to you.You are His Son. He loves you. And no matter what brand of clothing you wear, or how many groups you belong to on Facebook, or how badly you’ve screwed things up trying to be Miss Popular, it is with you that He is well pleased. And so when it’s all about Christ, and not you, you’re finally free. No more stressing over who you’ll take to homecoming or even the zit on your forehead. No more feeling sick about not being liked, or being rejected, or feeling unloved. No more defining yourself by what others think or say. What makes you you is Christ. He put His name on you at your Baptism. And He took all your fears of not being popular onto Himself. He was lonely for you.The few friends He had deserted Him, and there was no one to fight His case before Pilate. He did this so that you will never be alone. With Christ you are free to have friends for their sake: to love them and care for them and be little Christs to them. When Christ defines you, you then run in Eden without shame, focusing all you have on loving Christ and serving your neighbor. What makes you unique is your identity in Jesus, the baby born in Bethlehem. And in Him you are fully yourself—unique, popular, and loved— because what goes for Christ goes for you. A wife, mother, and deaconess graduate of Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Mrs. Nikki Boyle can be reached at boylenj@ctsfw.edu.
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The Enemy:
Death By Mr. Michael Fieberkorn
“And the last enemy to be destroyed is death.” (1 Corinthians 15:26)
ou’ve heard the story since you read your first dinosaur book in kindergarten:“It is a scientific fact that dinosaurs lived millions of years ago and died out long before man was around.”Wait a minute. How can anyone know this? Was anyone there millions of years ago to observe whether or not this so-called fact is a true statement? Or do scientists just think this? Quite obviously, no one can possibly know this. The statement above is grounded in a worldview based on evolutionary theory (not fact), which never agrees with the Bible. Very simply, what evolution teaches and what the Bible teaches are at odds with each other, especially when we consider the topic of death. Evolution teaches that death preceded sin, but the Bible clearly teaches that death was a consequence of sin.There is a difference; it does matter.
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To understand this difference, it’s best to go back to the beginning and better understand what the Bible teaches. In the Genesis creation account, we learn that God made the heavens and earth and all that are in them in six days.The first three days were spent creating the environment, and the last three filling it with the heavenly array and His creatures. God created everything that lives on the land on Day 6, the same day He breathed the breath of life into the pinnacle of His creation: human beings. It wasn’t until then that God proclaimed His creation “very good.” And then, on the seventh day, satisfied, God rested.That’s right. According to the Bible, both dinosaurs and man were created on Day 6. And the best part of all is that neither of them were ever supposed to die. Enter the snake. In Genesis chapter three, Satan deceives Eve into eating forbidden fruit, and Adam follows; they give in to temptation and fail to trust God. Enter sin into the world and all of its consequences. Enter death. Death is not natural; it is the result of sin, just like thorns and briars, toiling in labor for our food, and pain in childbearing. Death is the enemy. After the first sin, both man and dinosaur would begin to die. Understanding the origin of death, that it is a consequence of sin, helps us understand our Savior. Jesus Christ is the promised One who has come to defeat sin, the devil, and death itself. Christ paid the penalty for our sin and defeated the devil on the cross, and then He died. Dead saviors, however, don’t do anyone any good. But the grave did not hold Jesus Christ. On the third day, Christ was resurrected and conquered death. He was the first man to rise again from the dead, and because He is risen, all believers in Christ Jesus have the hope of eternal life beyond the grave. We believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting; it is the inheritance of all the saints who trust in Jesus. Now, if there is death before sin, if it is a natural part of God’s creation, then just what is Jesus Christ rescuing us from? What is our hope? If dinosaurs faced death millions of years ago before man came along and sinned, then this completely undermines the Gospel message that Jesus has come to conquer the death that was caused by sin. Did you know that scientists find dinosaur bones with evidence of cancer in them? Did you know fossils have been found showing dinosaurs killing one another in the act? Millions of years of death, disease, and bloodshed don’t exactly agree with the biblical account that says God pronounced His creation “very good” on Day 6. Good Christians, don’t lose hope.Trust in God who is the Creator of all things, not an evolutionary theory.Trust in His infallible Word, not your science textbook that is based on man’s fallible opinion. Cling to what Scripture teaches you about your Savior, Jesus Christ, and put your trust in Him.Your faith in Christ, given to you at your Baptism, assures you of victory beyond your own grave. Cling to what Scripture teaches about death. It is unnatural. It is the enemy. Death is not how God intended life to be.That is why He sent His Son to conquer death. And that is why, on the Last Day, the last enemy to be defeated—death—will be defeated for all believers as well. Our physical bodies will inherit the kingdom of heaven, never to face death again. Michael Fieberkorn is a Captain in the United States Air Force stationed at Hanscom AFB near Boston, Massachusetts. Mike is a member of Lutheran Church of the Savior in Bedford, Massachusetts, and will attend Concordia Seminary in the fall. Contact Mike at fieberkorn@yahoo.com.
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