An Observation: Right Or Left? Rev Irvin Stapf, Christ Lutheran, Germantown AALC

 

In the midst of this political season the terms right and left are in constant use. Each speaker, whether an average citizen, a news commentator, or a politician, is pegged as being some place on a scale between right and left. These supposedly represent a conservative or a liberal point of view. Whatever that is supposed to mean. And when its expressed as "far right" or "far left" it is said with an ample amount of derision. As I mentioned in my last observation this election cycle has raised an excess amount of animosity.

 

It has also brought the Christian faith into the picture. Particularly after the assassination attempt on Mr. Trump which was for many people seen as God's grace protecting him. I will not disagree that our Lord protected him, but neither will I say that it was God's stamp of approval on his candidacy. That is my point in raising these right and left labels. There must be more to our understanding, and to the guidance of our lives than arbitrary labels.  

 

How would one classify Jesus? Was He to the right or to the left? If we were to ask the Jewish leaders of His day they would probably peg Him as being far left. After all, according to their thinking, He certainly seemed to play fast and loose with the teachings of the elders. If we could ask the man whose withered hand was healed on the Sabbath (Mark 3), and in the midst of the Synagogue service to boot, he would likely say Jesus was far right. Though he would be much too grateful and rejoicing to care about any labels. To God be the Glory!

 

So where are we as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ? What is the foundation for judgments we make as well as the directions we choose to take in life? Jesus certainly based His life and teaching upon Scripture, what we know as the Old Testament. He knew well the teachings of Moses, the Psalms, the writing of the Prophets, as well as the history of Israel. This was God's word to His chosen people. This was the truth from which John the Baptist taught. It was in these writings that told of the coming Messiah and redemption for the people.(Luke 4:21) It was these texts that Jesus followed and fulfilled.

 

If we say that Scripture is our guide for life, which as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ we certainly should, then we study and live out of God's Word as Jesus did. We also include the New Testament books with the four Gospels, the history of the early church, and the teachings of Jesus' chosen Apostles. The Bible, all 66 books, we take as God's Holy Word. This is the guide for our decisions and actions.   

 

It is also here that the terms liberal and conservative, or left and right, become attached to different interpretations of various passages of scripture. Some want to set aside this of that section as not relevant today, but we cannot do this. And don't ever think that we are more knowledgeable or advanced than they were. This is God's Word we are talking about. All of our great scientific learning doesn't mean a hill of beans compared to that of the God who created us. We must take the Bible as a whole text, letting the statements and principles of one section be understood in light all the other parts of the Bible. The study of Scripture is a life long endeavor.  Any book worthy of being a guide for human life should be a daily companion for continued study. There are no contradictions in God's Word for "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." (Hebrews 13:8)  

 

So, forget about being pegged on a left and right scale. Seek the Lord Jesus Christ, stay in the study of God's Holy Word, pray often, and make your decisions to give glory to our Redeemer and Lord. Amen.

 

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What About Your Friends?

photo taken over Afghanistan by a fellow veteran who is a former Black Hawk pilot
 

Amplified Bible.

Proverbs 17:17

A friend loves at all times, And a brother is born for adversity. Good people, good people! It's always a pleasure being with you! 

The Holy Spirit has been speaking to me a lot about Biblical friendship. Gonna podcast and YouTube about it.  And YES....the Spirit speaks directly to the church in Acts, in 1-2 Timothy (itching ears, etc) and in Rev (hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches), etc. 

I feel like I had to say that because I love my Lutherans and my other bros and sisters in the Lord, but y'all old money churches, Lutherans, y'all be trippin' sometimes when it comes to spiritual gifts, and the activity in the Holy Spirit in your lives. Yes, he works through the Word and Sacraments, but HE also works through the gifts HE has distributed to the church. But that's another podcast! This one is about friendship....so let's pray.

Lord, I thank you for the opportunity to do this podcast and this YouTube channel. I ask that as we discuss friendship, and what it should look like in your church, that you would enlighten us, and give us your gifts of wisdom, and discernment. In fact, I pray Isaiah 11 verse 2 over all who would watch or listen to this show, that Isaiah 11:2

English Standard Version

2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,

    the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,

    the Spirit of counsel and might,

    the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

I work part-time for a Veterans Affairs Hospital as a chaplain assistant which I'm extremely grateful for! So while I'm here helping out the chaplains, I attend a Bible study on Wednesday nights. We are going through the entire book of Proverbs, line by line, but arranged by topics. Well, the topic last night was on friendship, and it hit me hard, because I'm going through things concerning who I call my friends, and defining relationships, boundaries, etc. The first thing that came to mind for me was this passage in 1 Timothy: 

1 Timothy 5:1-2

English Standard Version

Instructions for the Church

5 Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, 2 older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity. 

Wow. That's great advice. Treat older men like fathers, younger men like brothers, older women like mothers, and younger women like sisters, in all purity. You know, that kills a lot of the theology I see now in some churches, where some 30 year old dude claims to be an apostle or a spiritual father. Man that's just crazy! But I want to highlight the instructions for younger men and women. They are to be treated like brothers and sisters. Well what's the glue that holds natural brothers and sisters together? It's love, man! Love and respect go together, it's impossible to separate the two! Man I can argue with my natural siblings all day, but at the end of the day, we will always squash our beefs. Why? Because we're family! But in the body of Christ, sometimes I feel like it's hit or me if brothers and sisters truly wanna fellowship or not. It's just like...man, just be cool. If we're cool, then we're cool. Why all the extra drama and stress? We don't need it! Life is already hard enough. The church should be where we can go to exhale, relax, and know beyond a shadow of a doubt that people have our backs. Lately, I've just been going through some things in that area. Let's look at some of these verses: 

Proverbs 17:17

A friend loves at all times, And a brother is born for adversity.

A friend loves at ALL times! A brother (or a sister) is born for adversity. It's like maaaan, I'm soooo loyal, y'all. I'm loyal to a fault. I think it's how I grew up, fatherless and in a dsyfunctional family, but then I learned comradery in the military. We are loyal to each other. We come from different cities, countries, etc., but at the end of the day, when bullets are flying, we come together. Why? Because we see the bigger picture. Luther said this: For we are so corrupted by original sin that [by ourselves] we are unable to discern the magnitude of our sin. For our flesh, the devil, and the world are at hand, who persuade us otherwise and obscure the Law of God written on our minds [cf. Rom. 2:15] https://blog.cph.org/study/luthers-disputations-on-theses-surrounding-law-and-sin.

We come together because there is a BIGGER picture! There is a LARGER story. We wrestle not against flesh and blood....Ephesians 6. My battle is not against my brother, or my sister. My battle is against the Enemy of Our Souls. The devil wants us divided, throwing shade at each other, being deceptive, being in the dark, in the shadows, etc. But Christ said that the things we do in secret will come to light.  

Proverbs 18:24

The man of too many friends [chosen indiscriminately] will be broken in pieces and come to ruin, But there is a [true, loving] friend who [is reliable and] sticks closer than a brother.

Proverbs 27:6

Faithful are the wounds of a friend [who corrects out of love and concern], But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful [because they serve his hidden agenda].

Proverbs 27:9

Oil and perfume make the heart glad; So does the sweetness of a friend’s counsel that comes from the heart.

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We Like The Law! It's Easier! Rev. Irvin Stapf

   An Observation: We like The Law. It’s easier!

 

In the last post I mentioned that I was delayed in uploading my post because “life happened and we had to comply”. Well the life that happened was a four day stay in the hospital for my wife who had some respiratory and related problems. We are home now and she is doing well. During that hiatus in other activities I was reading John chapters 14 & 15 where Jesus is preparing his disciples for his soon departure.

 

In the 13th chapter Jesus had washed the disciples feet with the instruction “If I your teacher and Lord washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” (Vs.14) The whole evening in that Upper Room was a very intense time for Jesus’ followers. Events were going in a direction they didn’t expect and weren’t sure they wanted. Jesus, seeking to comfort them, said, “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. ... I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself...” (14:1-3)

 

He continues on in verse 15, “If you love Me you will keep My commandments.” Ah! Commandments. Now there is something specific we can get our mind around! This is why I titled this section “We Like The Law.” Do this the way we were told and all will be fine. We will have done it, and we are good.

 

But then Jesus continues to speak of the coming reality of the Holy Spirit, The Helper, the third person of the Holy Trinity. He is the Spirit of truth who will be in them. (Vs.17) Jesus again speaks of His commandments. “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.” (vs.21) He goes on further about disciples who keep His word, (vs.23) and how He has kept the Father’s word and obeyed His commandments.(vs.31) “Okay Lord, tell us what the commandment is! We’ll do it.”

 

Then in Chapter 15 of St. John’s Gospel Jesus give the image of the vine and branches. How they have to be tended, pruned, and some parts discarded “so that it may bear more fruit.”(15:2) The whole picture shows us the necessity of the branch - the disciples and us - staying connected to the vine. It is only by abiding in the vine so that there is a continuous flow of nutrients that the vine “can bear much fruit”. “For apart from Me you can do nothing.”(vs.5)

 

The image of abiding in Jesus continues, coming down to verse 12 and 13 where Jesus specifically declares, “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” This comes to the depth of the Gospel. Jesus has loved us so much, each and every one of us, that He has laid down His life in atonement for our sins. We are justified and declared forgiven before Almighty God because Jesus has atoned for all of our sins. We, then, are called to abide in Him so continually that we are willing to lay down our life for others. Maybe that means dying to our own pride so we can get on our knees to wash another’s dirty feet. Maybe it does mean sacrificing our own life to save another person. There are all degrees of fruit bearing in between as guided by the abiding presence of God, the Holy Spirit. This is why I wrote of the death and resurrection of parts of our own nature in Christian Maturity - Part 2.

 

We see the Law as much easier. It is by the Law that we like to say, “I’m not a bad person. There are a lot of people worse than me. I followed the law. I do what I’m supposed to do.” But when we truly realize that we have been loved by God our Father, loved so deeply that He gave the life of His only begotten Son in atonement for all of our sins so that we might have a continuing life with Him, it is into that love that we are willing to abide and seek to do the same.

 

May God’s Spirit guide each of us day by day more deeply into Jesus’ love. Amen.

 

 

(Words we can trust: Jeremiah 18:1-6; 29:11; 31:3,

                  & above all Romans 8:38-39)

Irvin F. Stapf, Jr.

Pastor Emeritus

Christ Lutheran Church, TAALC

Germantown, Md. 

istapf@comcast.net

cell: 240-285-4472

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Standard Equipment -- An Observation, Rev Irvin Stapf, AALC

 (Words we can trust: Jeremiah 18:1-6; 29:11; 31:3,

                  & above all Romans 8:38-39)

 

Irvin F. Stapf, Jr.

Pastor Emeritus

Christ Lutheran Church, TAALC

Germantown, Md. 

An Observation: Comes as Standard Equipment

A few years ago our middle daughter had the opportunity to buy a seven passenger Honda SUV. This was

very helpful since she is a foster mom who now has five children between the ages of 3 and 9. Two of the

older ones take the third row. The middle row accommodates the child car seat and the booster. Everyone

is safe and belted in. The front passenger seat accommodated the her purse and whatever other items are

necessary at the time. ..... Stay with me all this does have an important point!

There is a fold down video screen for entertainment, and various books and games for longer journeys. All

very convenient and should be sufficiently useful for any journey, short or long. The one difficulty is the

children's tendency not to keep their hands to themselves. Whether initially accidental or intentional matters

little. What is heard is "She hit me." Which of course requires a response of equal or greater magnitude. But

that was intentional and cannot be ignored. The back and forth continues to greater or lesser degree until

there is some intervention.

All of this sounds familiar to every parent in one form and degree or another. It may be in the form of

expressions, "That isn't fair." "She did it to me first." "But you gave him...." "I want......" "But I'm old

enough....." "Billy's mom lets him....." ; or just the very standard and oft used, "Why?" You see, what is

happening in the back seats of a Honda SUV is the display of what people in our Lutheran Church worship

service confess every Sunday morning. “We confess that we are by nature sinful and unclean.”

Other Christian denominations acknowledge the same truth in one form or another. Our fallen human nature

is part of our standard equipment ever since our first rebellion from the will of our God in the Garden. There

must also be the acknowledgment that the solution is not within ourselves. It is not just a matter of trying

harder.

Bear with me further and consider the words in our Lutheran service:

Pastor:

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our

sins God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

People:

We confess that we are by nature sinful and unclean. We have sinned against you in

thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not

loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We justly deserve

your present and eternal punishment. For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us.

Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, so that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways to

the glory of your holy name. Amen

Pastor:

Almighty God in his mercy has given his Son to die for you and for his sake forgives you

all your sins. As a called and ordained servant of Christ, and by His authority, I therefore declare

unto you the entire forgiveness of all your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of

the Holy Spirit.

People:

Amen. Thanks be to God.

One might ask why we feel is necessary to continue to do this each week when the Pastor has declare our

forgiveness in Jesus Christ our Lord? I believe we find that answer in the back seat of a Honda SUV! It is

also on the front page of every newspaper and evening newscast, headlined in everynational response of one

nation to another's aggressive affront. Of course there are many more complex factors involved but it still

comes down to standard equipment displayed in those sitting in the third row of a Honda SUV.

Dear friends, don't make light of that word sin. Don't treat the account of Creation and Fall recorded in

Genesis chapters one, two, and three as myths. It is what explains so much of what we see in our world and

in ourselves everyday.

The standard for what is good is God Himself, the perfection in which He created us and desired for us. But

our first parents yielded to the devil's temptation to want more, breaking the clear command of our God.

Ever since we have inherited the standard equipment of sin within our human nature. As our Lutheran liturgy

declares it is not a problem we are able to fix. All the expressions we like to use have no place. "It's really

not so bad." "Everybody does it." "We can work it out." or even the fear of each country having enough

bombs to destroy the world.

The solution is not within us. The Solution is only in the promise of Genesis 3:15, the promised Redeemer

who will ultimately crush the head of the Serpent, the devil, the fallen angel Lucifer. It is He, the Lord Jesus

Christ, crucified, died, and raised again from the dead, who lives forevermore. It is He who we have just

celebrated in this Easter Season. It is He, alone, who is able to change our nature, giving us life, hope, and

peace.

We will still have to deal from time to time with those sitting in the back seats of the Honda, but they too

can learn. They too can grow in the grace of our Lord Jesus, beginning to make some better choice about

how to respond to wayward hand, intentional or not. We are redeemed in Jesus and can mature in the only

life that truly has meaning and brings us into God's peace.

May you learn this a bit more each day dear friend.

IFS

 (Words we can trust: Jeremiah 18:1-6; 29:11; 31:3,

                  & above all Romans 8:38-39)

 

Irvin F. Stapf, Jr.

Pastor Emeritus

Christ Lutheran Church, TAALC

Germantown, Md. 

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Rev. Irvin Stapf On Love

 Back in ancient days when I was in what was then called Junior High School, 8th or 9th grade, one of our English teachers would put an expression on the black board and ask us to explain what it meant. One that has stuck with me to this day is from Shakespeare's Sonnet 116. At the time I don't think we even knew what a Sonnet was. At any rate the quote said:     

                "Love is not love which altars when it altercation finds." 

 

The class talked about it for a little while but I don't think that we really understood it. Since we are in the midst of this Holy Week and Easter Season I think it really is a very apt expression. Though Shakespeare didn't really intend it in a religious sense.

 

From Holy Scripture we read and often quote it's most famous verse. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but will have everlasting life." St. John's Gospel Chapter 3, verse 16. This is speaking of the relationship between God and all mankind whom He created. That is the depth, St. John is saying, of the love that Almighty God, our Father, has for each one of us. If we have even a casual relationship with Christians or Christian church worship we've been told that God loves us. It is also one of those expressions that we first begin to question when we find our self in some difficulty or need. Yet, Scripture continues to declare it as God's truth for each human life.

 

We also realize that from the time the Bible records our first rebellion from God's will we have caused our Lord a lot of trouble or "altercation" in the Sonnet's terms. So much of what leads us to question God's love is the brokenness of this fallen and rebellious world in which we live. We suffer because of things we've done ourselves, or things that happen to us even through no direct fault of our own. Yet we still declare that God's loves us even though we don't fully understand why things happen as they do. Is this really love with all of this altercation around me?

 

I attended a Good Friday community service last evening where the pastor was talking about the nature of this God-love. The service was a large gathering of eight local congregations, 300 or400 Christians, many young families with small children. The pastor knew the love the people had for one another and observed that many of these people would be willing to even give their life to protect one of their friends. Many agreed that they would be willing. We have all heard accounts of this actually happening in times of great danger.

 

But then the pastor asked how many of us would be willing to give the life of one of our children to save the life of another? This question bit us very deeply, and none in this large gathering was able to answer in the affirmative. None of us could say that we had that much love to help another in need.

 

Is that not the love we are taught that God loves each of us? And we can't pass it off easily by saying, "Oh, but God knew He was going to bring Jesus back to life." That trivializes all of the events that led to the the crucifixion and the words spoken from the cross. 

 

The man Jesus, the son of God in human flesh, was without sin. There was no guilt found in Him, and yet He was given by the Father to take the punishment each of us deserves. We hear that often in our church fellowships, but don't ever minimize it. The depth of pain is contained in the words spoken from the cross on our behalf. "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me." That is our pain He is feeling through the nails in His hands and feet and the hatred in the taunts of the jeering crowd. 

 

That is the love that refused to altar in the midst of your and my altercation of numerous sins and a very sinful nature. That is the depth of love God, our Father, has for you as He works each day, in each situation of life, to lead you into His best life. 

 

And since I'm writing this on the Saturday morning after Good Friday, we have the assurance of that love in the truth of the bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday morning. These are not just nice Christian stories or sayings we write on a chalk board. This is life itself! The life that offers us forgiveness and cleansing of our sins. The life that comforts and strengthens us in worst of life's times. The life that seeks to guide us day by day giving us meaning and purpose. And a life that assures us of it's endless nature in eternal fellowship with our Good Lord.

 

This is the life and love that allows us to identify with the Lord Jesus when He said, "Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit", and to know the depth of love that passes all understanding. 

 

God's blessing my dear friends. Rejoice, and live daily in God's love and your love for one another.  Amen.

 

 

(Words we can trust: Jeremiah 18:1-6; 29:11; 31:3,

                  & above all Romans 8:38-39)

Irvin F. Stapf, Jr.

Pastor Emeritus

Christ Lutheran Church, TAALC

Germantown, Md. 

istapf@comcast.net

cell: 240-285-4472

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Holiness -- Rev Irvin Stapf, Christ Lutheran Germantown, AALC

 Greetings to everyone,

     Here are more reflections from Rev Irvin Stapf, Pastor Emeritus, Christ Lutheran Church, Germantown, MD, AALC. 

Sometime back in grade school, many ..... many years ago, we were introduced to the 1913 poem Trees by Joyce Kilmer with its beginning line, "I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree." The speaker insists that no human art or creation can match the beauty and majesty of nature. A commentary states that, "The poem can thus be read as a hymn of praise to God’s creation, celebrating both the wonder of the natural world and its maker." 

 

Why this came to mind now I have no idea but the description in the above commentary with the words "beauty", "majesty", and "wonder", are a strong parallel for my thoughts this morning. I'm thinking about the concept of holiness, the awesome wonder and holiness of our Lord God. I think of Moses doing the mundane work of tending a flock of sheep and being confronted by God appearing to him in the form of a burning bush that is not consumed. He heard the words, "take the shoes off your feet for you are standing on Holy ground". (Exodus 3:5) Later, in the Exodus account, Moses has spent time with God and returning to his people with his face radiating light from his holy encounter. (Exodus 34:29f) Or the prophet Isaiah falling prostrate trembling before his vision of God Almighty. (Isaiah 6) There are many such descriptions of encountering God's holiness.

 

In the fast-paced and event-crowded days we become calloused to a sense of the awe and wonder of the Lord God who appears to us in many and varied ways if we are willing to look around, to think, to meditate, to offer a brief prayer, to worship. The message in today's sermon at church was about a Jealous God who will not allow worship due to Him to be shared with any idols we may create. But this is not because He is a vain and egotistical lord. Rather, His jealousy is for us. We are His creation. He knows that our best good, our most joy-filled life, most secure and a life of peace, is only found when we are enfolded in the presence of His Holy Life. He is the source of life upon which we draw in worship, whether from the wonder of nature, or the setting of corporate worship. It is important for us to look for and enter into that sense of God's Holiness.

 

It is why we call the room for our worship a Sanctuary. It is why, in that room, we have an altar separated by a chancel rail. It is from this area that we hear the Word of God and receive the Holy Sacrament. There have been times at that rail that I have been unable to speak, and holy tears were the only response I could give. I don't expect everyone to respond the same way, but however you respond realize that you come into the sacred presence of Almighty God. Be humbled and rejoice in it!  It is in God's blessed presence you find your life.

 

"God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.   .......

“You, Lord, in the beginning, laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You remain;
And they will all grow old like a garment Like a cloak You will fold them up, And they will be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not fail.” (Hebrews 1:1-4, & 10-11)

 

 

 

 

(Words we can trust: Jeremiah 18:1-6; 29:11; 31:3,

                  & above all Romans 8:38-39)

 

Irvin F. Stapf, Jr.

Pastor Emeritus

Christ Lutheran Church, TAALC

Germantown, Md. 

istapf@comcast.net

cell: 240-285-4472

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Beyond The Surface -- Rev Irvin Stapf, Christ Lutheran Germantown

 Don’t settle for surface comments, even mine!

 

An editorial recently printed in our Frederick newspaper asked the question, What is an American? It was by Fred Fransen, President of Huntington Junior College in W.Va. He pointed out that our country was founded on ideas or principles that have endured up until recent decades. It is again time for Dr. Fransen to take a hard look at those values.

 

It seems to me that this means looking beyond the surface declarations to the substance upon which declarations are made. This is what I was referring to last week on the issue of abortion rights which has become central in our current election cycle. I pointed out that several other moral issues precede the need to consider an abortion. This need to look beyond the surface is apparent, or should be, in most of what we hear and read.

 

I’ve said that my basis for writing is as a Christian seeking to base my judgments on the values and will of our Lord as understood through God’s Word in Holy Scripture. It is pointed out that much of Mr. Trump’s support is from a large block of Evangelical Christians. But again, this is a statement that needs to be examined.

 

An article in The Economist Weekly of March 2021 asked the question “What is an evangelical Christian?” After looking at recent history since Jimmy Carter’s presidency in 1976, the article noted that “white evangelicals have established themselves as America’s most cohesive and influential religious voting block. ... They have become “the bedrock of the Republican Party. After insisting throughout the 1990's that character mattered, and that Bill Clinton was morally unfit for the presidency, they threw their support behind Donald Trump, a thrice-married rake.” It was then asked, “So what do evangelical Christians really believe?”

 

A recent article in World magazine noted that “some Americans who self-identify as ‘evangelicals’ to pollsters do not actually attend church regularly. Increasingly, the term is used more in a “political, cultural sense than a theological church sense,” said political scientist Ryan Burge. He predicted these “cultural evangelicals” will make up about 12 percent of Trump’s self-identified evangelical voters in 2024. Others have said that they are willing to overlook Mr. Trump’s moral issues because he is the only one who can beat Mr. Biden.

 

Thomas Edsall of The New Times had an article entitled “The Deification of Donald Trump Poses Some Interesting Questions”. I’ll let the article’s title speak for itself. You can look it up on the internet if you care to. I’ve already declared my personal opposition to Mr. Trump for President. I’ve said enough about that and it is not my central issue. I’m looking at the shallowness of our evaluations and our need to stand firm on a foundation of well-considered values.

 

Jesus, on trial and standing before Pontius Pilate said, “I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” (John 18:37-38) That is our challenge, to determine what is the truth. I leave it with you to seriously consider. It is a very serious question and one that can lead to some personal sacrifice and pain. It certainly did for our Lord.

 

 

(Words we can trust: Jeremiah 18:1-6; 29:11; 31:3,

                  & above all Romans 8:38-39)

Irvin F. Stapf, Jr.

Pastor Emeritus

Christ Lutheran Church, TAALC

Germantown, Md. 

istapf@comcast.net

cell: 240-285-4472

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