Jason Kaspar – Page 8 – What Does This Mean?

Fathers, Do Y’all Want Christian Kids?

My last article served to chastise us in the church for missing the largest target in the demographic game. This one is specifically for the fathers among us. Ladies, feel free to follow along. But, this is written for your husbands, sons, fathers, grandfathers, grandsons, cousins, and other God-fearing men in your life.

Restating the question: Fathers, do you want your children to grow up to be faithful Christians? Do you want them attending church regularly? Do you want your daughter to find a faithful, Christian husband? Do you want your son to find a faithful, Christian wife? Do you want your grandchildren raised in a home with regular church attendance?

I can’t imagine one of you answering with anything less than a fervent, “Yes!” to any one of those questions.

That last article spelled out some clear data on fathers and church attendance. You, men, are the most influential force on your children in their church attendance, as adults. You predict how they will behave, how their children will be raised, and if the future generations of your progeny will remain in or return to the church.

We could quibble at this point about the Christian faith and whether church attendance maintains Christians or not. There are gradations of grayness here. But, we, men, function better in a world with black and white distinctions. Here are those two simple truths:

Christians attend the gathering of the faithful in the Lord’s house often, to hear and receive His gifts for us.

Unbelievers do not attend the gathering of the faithful in the Lord’s house, because they neither fear the Lord nor desire His gifts.

If a child is raised never seeing a rifle, hiking through the woods, or tracking game, will that child grow up to be a hunter? Read that again substituting any activity in life: fishing, camping, ranching, farming, reading, speaking, walking, etc. Children are a collection of the influences and the activities in which they engage. They may not grow up doing everything they learned. But, it’s pretty unlikely that they’ll grow up doing a thing they seldom or never saw modelled for them.

You may say, “What does it matter? My kids know their Lord and their salvation in Jesus.”

St. Peter says this, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.” [1 Peter 5:8-11]

Fathers are the strongest indicator of their children’s future church attendance, and church attendance is the strongest indicator of Christianity within people. Knowing that, how could you, a Christian father, not take his children to church often?

The Devil, the world, and this sinful flesh are seeking to separate your children from the love of God, and y’all too. Where? The Adversary’s influence is at play in everything we see, read, watch, and learn apart from the Word of God. Attending to the Lord’s house to hear His Word and receive His gifts vaccinates us against the works of the Devil and His minions. It’s not a perfect inoculation. But, the converse is a near perfect guarantee of failure.

Strong Christian men raise faithful Christian children.

Rev. Jason M. Kaspar
Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church & Preschool
La Grange, TX\

What if I told you… fathers influence their children’s church attendance?

Rev. Jason M. Kaspar Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church & PreschoolLa Grange, TX
©2021 Jason Kaspar. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@gmail.com.

It’s my turn to ask a question. Mine stems from a collection of axiomatic “truths” shared within modern Christianity. All of them are attempts to answer questions about attendance. We’ve seen attendance fall for decades in the Christian church. There is a rise in self-identified secularism within America. We’ve been talking about it my entire life, from various perspectives.

The answers revolve around the question, “how do we keep kids, youth, and young families in church/returning to church?” The answers of the late 20th and early 21st Centuries are: Sunday school programs, daycares, adolescent activities, big youth groups/activities, small group Bible studies, single mother’s groups, and a host of other demographically specific parachurch (outside of worship) activities. Despite the best efforts of the church in these veins, she still shrinks daily.

What if I told you that we could expend our efforts on only one demographic group? What if I told you that we could see a 35% improvement in the retention of children, as adults, by focusing only on this one group? What if I told you the Christian church has largely ignored, marginalized, or even publicly denigrated this group?

Men, specifically fathers, are this one group. A large multi-national study on church attendance published by the Swiss government in the year 2000 found stark trends indicating the strong influence of fathers on the future church attendance of their children. Another study conducted on a much smaller scale later in the US found nearly identical results. (see Influence of Parents in this article)

Starting with the worst and most obvious, when neither mom nor dad attend church, 81% of the kids won’t either. When, only mom attends regularly, 39% of the kids will attend regularly as adults. When, both mom and dad attend regularly, 74% of kids will attend as adults. But, here’s the surprising number. When only dad attends regularly, 67% of kids attend as adults. Without mom’s influence, there’s only a 7% drop. Without dad’s influence, there’s a 35% drop.

No, I’m not suggesting, implying, or stating in any way that women and mothers are unimportant. The influence of women and mothers in the lives of their children is incalculable and irreplaceable.

That still changes nothing regarding a change in church attendance. If we want to see an improvement in the retention of our children in church, we must expend our efforts on improving the attendance of their fathers at church on Sunday mornings.

It is certainly worth noting that a rise in emotionalized and feminized worship practices in the Christian church run parallel to the decline in men’s attendance. There are probably many ways to work on this. We will have to pick this up again soon.

Strong Christian men raise faithful Christian children.

Rev. Jason M. Kaspar
Sole Pastor
Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church & Preschool
La Grange, TX
and
Mission planting pastoral team:
Epiphany Lutheran Church
Bastrop, TX

Why Is Pastor Kaspar So Heavy-Handed Towards the ELCA?

There is a fault line dividing Christianity. Those who choose to embrace our culture, while losing their grip on the Word of God, bit by bit. And those who embrace the Word of God, even the uncomfortable bits, and reject culture, bit by bit. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (LCMS) are on opposite sides of this divide.

The criticisms I write, or quote in writing, are not borne out of animus, malice, or hatred. I’m grieved and afraid for the souls of those who are taught by the false teachers in the ELCA. To be perfectly clear, I’m certain many of our friends and family in the membership of the ELCA are indeed Christians. But, I am also certain the leadership and clergy of the ELCA have abandoned the scriptures in favor of worldly sociological and political positions, which are not compatible with God’s Word.

We believe teach and confess in the Lutheran church that those who hear the Word of God can still come to and retain saving faith contrary to what they are taught. This teaching is called the Felicitous Inconsistency. It is so called because the faith exists in opposition to what is taught. We also teach that no one should rely upon this possibility. Neither, should we encourage our loved ones to remain where false teaching prevails based upon the felicitous inconsistency. Continually hearing false teaching will eventually corrupt Christians and drive them from the faith. Sadly, they could easily remain in the ELCA as unbelievers without discomfort.

“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” [Romans 10:17]

The history of the downward spiral of the Jewish people in Judges and the fall of the divided kingdoms of Israel (Judah and Samaria) stand to teach us against this path. Embracing popular paganism in an attempt to mingle it with the true faith only ends one way. The true faith is lost and destruction and suffering come to those who mingled it.

In Judges we find, “And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the Lord to anger.” [2:11-12] “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” [17:6] “And the people of Israel departed from there at that time, every man to his tribe and family, and they went out from there every man to his inheritance. In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” [21:24-25]

And, in 1 Kings, “So [Jeroboam] the king [of Samaria] took counsel and made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, ‘You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.’ And he set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan [both in the Northern Kingdom].” [12:28-29]

“And Judah [under King Rehoboam] did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins that they committed, more than all that their fathers had done. For they also built for themselves high places and pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, and there were also male cult prostitutes in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations that the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.” [1 Kings 14:22-24]

We sometimes think of America as a burgeoning atheistic culture, but that’s not a fair assessment. We are certainly a post-Christian culture. Political battles exist in our society, attempting to reject or regain the cultural elements that were the effect of Christianity‘s influence on our culture. But, Modern America is a religious culture with a god.

The big difference is that our god has no temple, no formal liturgy, no written scriptures. The god of American culture is the “me” in each one of us. Each person believes, thinks, and does what is “right for me.” The culture surrounding us worships itself, individually and collectively. Concisely, if my internal thoughts and feelings are the primary driver in a decision, the conclusion is probably flawed.

Now, this god can be right from time to time. Even a broken clock can be right twice a day. Even a broken escalator may still be a staircase. But, in the long term, this god will lead me to destruction.

This god is a selfish and capricious god. No evil deed is beyond its teaching. The internal self-justification of doing what is right in our own eye will authorize any act that benefits me. This may take days, months, or years. But, we will eventually abandon morality of any sort.

The only thing standing between us and abject abandonment of the faith, which we see in the leadership and clergy of the ELCA, and the culture it embraces, is the very Word of God. In His Word God condemns sin and teaches us to abandon it. But, it does more than that, He also gives us faith to hear and receive His forgiveness, through Jesus Christ.

Apart from acknowledged sin and forgiveness in Jesus, there can be no Christianity or salvation.

Rev. Jason M. Kaspar
Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church & Preschool
La Grange, TX

What’s With That Crazy New Flag on Pastor’s House?

I recently started flying the US, Texas, and a Christian flag on the parsonage. This flag is a newly designed replacement for the “Christian Flag” from our friends at Ad Crucem, who made our newer sanctuary banners. They call it the Agnus Dei Flag. This flag is a bold visual confession of the Christian faith.

A red cross covers the white flag from top to bottom and left to right. That image is borrowed from banners flown by Christian soldiers in the crusades. There’s a sound argument to be made that the crusades were a rare moment of Christian unity. The imagery is more reflective a unified Christian faith than any modern, sectarian symbolism. We’ll never see a unified Christian church on Earth. But, the image of Christian unity in Christ in the resurrection serves as a fine symbol for our eyes on this side of the eschaton.

The shape covering the center of the flag is a trefoil. The trefoil consists of a triangle and three incomplete circles. It stands to symbolize the trinity. The circle by itself represents eternity. The triangle by itself represents the Trinity. Those two elements combine reinforce the notion of the Triune God expressed in the Athanasian Creed: a trinity in unity and unity in trinity with none before or after another.

Inside the trefoil, we find the Lamb of God, Jesus, to whom St. John, the Baptizer pointed. The Lamb bears a mortal wound on His neck. He has an Christological aureole around His head. And, He’s holding a triumphant banner (also crusadery in design). This Lamb is Jesus Christ crucified and risen again to forgive our sins.

The other little details are a bit busy, but they add wonderful meaning. Jesus is also presenting His Body and Blood in with and under the wafer and chalice of holy communion. He’s standing a in a heavenly sort of space on the clouds in the sky. He’s also standing atop a scroll with seven seals. The Lamb’s scroll contains the names, our names, of those sealed for salvation.

Many of us grew up with a different flag in our sanctuaries, assembly halls, and classrooms. It’s a white flag with a blue upper left canton and a red cross within the canton. This flag is commonly called the “Christian Flag,” but that an inaccurate name for the flag we see. It’s better called the “Methodist Young People’s Missionary Movement Flag,”

That flag was designed by British immigrant pastor Charles C. Overton with the help of Ralph Diffendor in New York. Its design features two deliberate attributes. It was simple in its expression to appeal to many Christian sects without revealing any theological inconsistencies between them. It was also designed using the colors and the familiar silhouette of the American flag to appeal to Americans especially.

It worked. The flag found use in the US military chaplaincy. The flag was adopted by the Federal Council of Churches in 1942. It’s been flown by a broad collection of Christian, christianish, and non-christian groups ever since. It is not a flag standing for a unified Christian faith. And, it never will be.

Instead, I fly a flag that does symbolize the Christian faith as I have received it.

– Pastor

Can A Christian Assume Some Unvaxed Philistine Infected Them?

This one stems from a series of conversations in person and online concerning a resurgence of COVID among vaccinated and unvaccinated people. Though no one in particular asked, it’s a question worth examining. The distilled logic goes something like this, “I am vaccinated, and have contracted the plague. Therefore, there is a certain human being in my imagination. That person is unvaccinated. And, they are to blame for my infection.”

Before diving into the Christian life aspect of this question, let us also consider the logic. If I am the one speaking this way, I imply that only an unvaccinated person can pass the disease to another human being. This is untrue. Generally speaking, a person who is symptomatic with a fever is infectious to others. Their vaccination status has nothing to do with this reality.

It is logically inconsistent to assume the unknown source of infection to be of one patient population or another. This is a bit like Schrödinger’s Cat. The difference being that upon opening the box, we can determine if the cat is alive or dead. The state of quantum uncertainty revolving around an unknown infection source can never be removed from its state of uncertainty outside of evidence and identification. Apart from that evidence, the only thing certain is that a virus is to blame for infection.

Even for pagans, that is the answer. Now, for Christians there is even more at play. We must also consider how we are to talk about our neighbor. The Eighth Commandment teaches us to only use our words about our neighbor to uplift them.

The Eighth Commandment – You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not tell lies about our neighbor, betray him, slander him, or hurt his reputation, but defend him, speak well of him, and explain everything in the kindest way. [Luther’s Small Catechism 1.8 (1529)]

Dr. Luther didn’t pull this idea of expanding the letter of Decalogue (the 10 Commandments) out of his stylish German hat. He used the exact model laid down by Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel.

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.” … “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” [Matthew 5:21-22, 27-28]

So, how does this apply to us regarding that unknown Philistine, who infected me or my loved ones with the virus?

It applies this way. Not knowing who they were, neither gender nor ethnicity, age nor education, religion nor vaccination status, we may not impugn their character. Breakthrough infections are proof that vaccinated people can be vectors of transmission. The unknown source of whom we speak here can’t be spoken ill of by a Christian, especially in their state of quantum uncertainty. Moreover, we also can’t use the unknown person to malign other people either.

Dear Christians, let us only speak well of our neighbor.

Rev. Jason M. Kaspar
Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church & Preschool
La Grange, TX

What are people praying before and after the Lord’s Supper?

You may have noticed folks who seem to be praying before coming to the altar of the Lord or after returning to their seats. What is it that they pray? Or, what/how should I pray, if I’m so inclined?

This question exists within the sphere of “what should I pray?” or “what if I don’t know what to say?” There is no shame in not knowing what to pray. The disciples asked Jesus the exact same thing.

“Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.’” [Luke 11:1]

And, He did. Jesus also taught us a good reason to pray at your seat, when you pray alone during lulls in the divine service.

“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” [Matthew 6:5-6]

There are two ways that Christians pray: corporately and privately. For corporate prayer, think of the depictions in Exodus, Samuel, and Chronicles. The divine service is that sort of prayer, all together, with one voice. Jesus is exhorting here about private prayer, humble, unobtrusive.

The very front of your hymnal (Lutheran Service Book) has a list of prayers for your benefit on the unnumbered page. Two of them are for before and after communion.

Before communing : “Dear Savior, at Your gracious invitation I come to Your table to eat and drink Your holy body and blood. Let me find favor in Your eyes to receive this holy Sacrament in faith for the salvation of my soul and the glory of Your holy name; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.” [LSB -ii]

Thanksgiving after receiving the Sacrament: “Almighty and everlasting God, I thank and praise You for feeding me the life-giving body and blood of Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ. Send Your Holy Spirit that, having with my mouth received the holy Sacrament, I may by faith obtain and eternally enjoy Your divine grace, the forgiveness of sins, unity with Christ, and life eternal; through Jesus Christ, my Lord, Amen.” [LSB -ii]

Both of these are fine examples of how to pray. They are individual, first person prayers. But, they are written focusing on the given faith, which receives the gifts of God. When you pray, pray like this.

Apart from faith we receive condemnation. But, in and through faith, we receive forgiveness, life, and salvation.

Rev. Jason M. Kaspar
Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church & Preschool
La Grange, TX

Aren’t Physical Deformities the Same as Gender Dysphoria?

This great question identifies a conflation of the corrupting force of Original Sin and the brokenness of this fallen creation. It ties-in to the discussion about love is love and homosexual inclinations.

To state it another way, “sin entered the world, and all of the world exhibits brokenness as a result of sin; that brokenness is sin.” The question is a logical fallacy. Sin’s corruption in the world is plainly visible from violence in the animal kingdom to viruses that sicken and kill, from weather disasters to birth defects. These things are not sin, nor are they sinful.

All of the physical weaknesses and brokenness in our flesh are a result of sin entering the world and are part of its curse. “… cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken…” [Genesis 3:17b-19a] Even the ground suffers under the curse of sin without the ability to sin.

Not all of the aspects of the curse of sin in the world and in our bodies are sin. A cleft palate, a club foot, phenylketonuria, etc.; these are examples of the brokenness of creation caused by sin’s curse on the world. They are not sin, nor are they sinful.

Sin is, however, in the things we do. And we are inclined to sin from our birth. Each of us suffers differently with the sinful inclination of our corrupted nature. Some struggle with hatred/murder, some disobedience, and others covetousness. The sin confusing our culture most today is the sin of adultery. God created us man and woman. God has commanded sex as His gift only to those joined together in life-long marriage between a woman and a man.

Our inclinations to live life outside of God’s commandments are sinful. We are to turn from that sin in ourselves. We are to condemn sin in the world too. Love of our neighbor can never excuse sin. Love of our neighbor can never embrace sin and call it righteous.

That’s not end of it either. Jesus came into the world to save us from sin and from its curse. “For our sake [the Father] made [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” [2 Corinthians 5:21] Forgiveness in Jesus is freedom from sin. That’s exact opposite of calling sin righteousness. He gives us forgiveness and faith that pursues righteousness.

The modern virtue of acceptance fights against the faith in us that wants to flee from sin. “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who have died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” [Romans 6:1-4]

Jesus forgiving sin and driving us away from it is the struggle of this life for Christians. We are forgiven. Yet, we still battle within ourselves against sin. We still live in a world broken by the ravages of sin. But, this will be restored on the last day. “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.” [Revelation 22:1-3]

In the resurrection even the earth will be restored/recreated from its brokenness. Sin will be wiped away forever. The sin of our deeds in faith is forgiven and will be eradicated from us on that day. The brokenness of creation as a result of sin will also be undone.

Praise be to the God of the resurrection!

Rev. Jason M. Kaspar
Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church & Preschool
La Grange, TX

What About That Kid, Who Was Always Homosexually Inclined?

This ties very closely into the love-is-love discussion and another one about what hatred actually is. The premise we are expected to buy here is that this child was hatched in a particular state and we dare not discourage that behavior.

The premise is faulty. We discourage behaviors in children constantly. “Don’t pee on the neighbor’s porch.” “Don’t touch that hot stove.” “Cough into your elbow.” “Please be quiet while Ms. Isolde is talking.”

We are born with an inclination to sin in general. And, we are each susceptible to particular sins more than others. I don’t have to go into great detail here. We know who we are and what we do.

“Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” [Psalm 51:5]

Baptized into Christ, we live a life in conflict with sin. While our corrupted nature is inclined to sin, the new person of faith in Christ fights against them. That’s why we bother to instruct young and old in righteousness, because the faithful Christian in you does want to be good.

“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?”
[Romans 6:1-2]

The premise, Johnny was born gay, falls apart when sin substitution is done. If the premise is true, then every sinful inclination must also be good.

If Suzie had an internal inclination to be irrationally defiant to authority, we wouldn’t allow or encourage that. 4th commandment, you shall obey authorities that it may be well with you and you may live long upon the earth.

If Bobby had an inclination to steal every shiny thing he saw, we wouldn’t allow or encourage that. 7th commandment, stealing is a sin and you’ll wind up in jail.

There’s also a more hyperbolic, but not impossible example. If Helmut had an inclination to torturing and dismembering the neighbors’ pets,
We
Would
Be
Horrified.
And, rightly so. That’s a serial killer in the making. 5th Commandment, you shall not murder. That kid is a serial killer on the way.

The problem we’re having here comes from the love-is-love argument. In society, we stratify sin into categories of severity and deal out punishments appropriately. That’s a coram mundo (before man) understanding. Coram Deo (before God), all sin is equally damning.

Loving parents cannot encourage their children in sin. That’s a 4th commandment responsibility parents have to their children. They are to obey, you are to instruct in righteousness. God wants us to turn from sin. God turns us from sin.

“Behold, You delight in truth in the inward being, and You teach me wisdom in the secret heart.” [Psalm 51:6]

“Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” [Romans 6:3-4]

Turn from your sin, dear Christians,
Jesus has set you free from it.

Rev. Jason M. Kaspar
Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church & Preschool
La Grange, TX

What’s Wrong With The “Sinner’s Prayer?”

Here are three common versions of the Sinner’s Prayer.

“Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. In Your Name.” (Billy Graham Ministries)

“Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of the throne of my life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be.” (Campus Crusade for Christ)

“Dear Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner. I believe You died for my sins. Right now, I turn from my sins and open the door of my heart and life. I confess You as my personal Lord and Savior. Thank You for saving me.” (Greg Laurie)

Unlike so much of modern Christianity, these prayers do acknowledge sin in some way. They also acknowledge Jesus as our forgiveness. But, we’re missing what confession does. That’s why the church pulls confession and absolution into their own area.

In the confessional prayer at the beginning of the divine service we say, “most merciful God, 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.”

The Greg Laurie version is particularly problematic. It flips the confession after the acknowledgement of forgiveness.

All three of these have a very high anthropology. That is to say, they put me into a high position relative to God. “I turn… I open… I invite…” This language is the opposite of what scripture teaches us concerning forgiveness. We were dead in our trespasses and sin. Lost, and hopelessly trapped, Jesus sought and found us.

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” [Ephesians 2:4-9]

The inviting, opening, and turning puts all the work of Jesus back onto to me. We rarely see it this way, but the Sinner’s Prayer is a works righteousness view of Christianity. It requires Jesus to wait on me to invite Him. The Bible calls us dead. Dead things don’t make decisions or open doors.

On the contrary, our Sunday morning prayers use a form that consists of address, rationale, petition, benefit, and conclusion. We do this, because it teaches us to pray from the word of God about the blessings God has already promised to us.

Address: Heavenly Father, O God, O Lord, etc.
We pray to the Father directly because Jesus taught us to pray this way. He is our advocate with the Father, who hears us when we pray.

Rationale: You give us all worldly leaders and authorities for our benefit.
We should always remember and acknowledge that every good gift comes from our Father in heaven.

Petition: Grant us relief from tyrants and wicked men.
This is the ask. What is it that we beg of God today? The rationale and the petition go together. The Father has blessed us and we want Him to keep lovingly giving us His blessings.

Benefit: That through this temporal relief we may be free to love and serve You and to better serve our neighbor.
Why? There are things that God’s blessings grant to us. His blessings are not just for us, but also that we may be a blessing to others.

Conclusion: In Jesus name. Amen
We should always pray in Jesus’s name. He is our advocate with the Father.

There’s probably more to be said. The whole thing also centers around the idea that Jesus doesn’t enter my heart without my invitation. This is entirely oppositional to the witness of the Scriptures. We are dead in our trespasses and sin. There is nothing we can do or ask apart from the gift of the Holy Spirit to trust in Jesus Christ.

Pray to the Lord, the God of our salvation!

Rev. Jason M. Kaspar
Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church & Preschool
La Grange, TX

Formula of Concord #2: A Look at the Epitome

Article 1 – Original Sin

Original Sin? It’s just human nature, isn’t it?

That question was heavy on the minds of the reformation Lutherans preceding adoption the Formula of Concord in 1580 AD too.

For our time, their diligence still gives wisdom to us. Our society also misunderstands what it is and how it works. There are no societal “original sins,” not racism, classism, nor colonialism. Original Sin only comes into us by the fall in the garden. It is forgiven only in Jesus Christ. And, it is only fully relieved from us in the resurrection. We cannot atone for it ourselves. There is no sin for which Jesus didn’t die. Here are some of points from The Formula of Concord, the Epitome.

Original sin comes to us from the fall. “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned. [Romans 5:12]”

Original Sin is inherited by natural conception and birth. (In vitro fertilization and c-section birth are still natural. The virgin conception and birth of Jesus are divinely supernatural and outside of Original Sin). “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.“[Psalm 51:4-5]

Concupiscence, which is real sin, is broken by Baptism and the Holy Spirit. Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit“. [John 3:5-6]

Human nature is created perfect. “God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.” [Genesis 1:31]

It is still God who creates and preserves life. “You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you ,and you forgot the God who gave you birth.” [Deuteronomy 32:18]

The only human born in a supernatural way without Original Sin is Jesus. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” [John 1:14]

Jesus suffered all that human nature and life are including temptation by the Devil. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” [Hebrews 4:15]

Original Sin is an inward corruption of our Human Nature, that remains with us until the resurrection of all flesh on the last day. “As it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”” [Romans 3:10-12 (citing: Ps. 14:1-3; 53:1-3)]

We are not able to fully describe or number our sins. “Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults.” [Psalm 19:12] In the resurrection, we will finally be from the corruption of Original Sin. “After my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart yearns within me!” [Job 19:26-27]

Jesus died to forgive your Original Sin and to free you from it on the last day.

Rev. Jason M. Kaspar
Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church & Preschool
La Grange, TX