He is Risen! He is Risen indeed!

O Death, where is your sting? O Hell, where is your victory?

Christ is risen, and you are overthrown.

Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen.

Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice.

Christ is risen, and life reigns.

Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in the grave.

For Christ, being risen from the dead, has become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep. To Him be glory and dominion unto ages of ages.  Amen.

John Chrysostom

From "Treasure of Daily Prayer," page 185

By Love

 By love He took our place and died;

by faith we take His place and live.

Our sins were imputed to Him;

  His righteousness is imputed to us through faith.

From the devotional book, "Daily Bread," page 81

Good Friday worship at 6 pm

Sunday Easter Celebration at 9 am

Join us at Christ the Redeemer in Phoenix and have a blessed weekend!.

So You Want To Be A Sports Talk Show Host?

 I've had the opportunity to listen to the big sports talk station in town this week and I've discovered a few simple steps for hosting a sports talk program.  It's really pretty simple so if you've ever listened to such programs and thought to yourself, "Hey! I could do this!" I urge you to put these three steps into practice and soon you'll be rubbing elbows with Dan Patrick and Bob Costas and, well, probably not.

First, learn to repeat every sentence you say at least three times.

Say something like, "The Suns did not show up to play tonight." Then say it again.  Say it one more time.  Apparently, those who listen to sports talk program aren't very swift so you've got to repeat your points over and over again until the listener gets what you're saying.

(Or maybe the host is not very swift and simply repeats stuff over and over again because they've got no real insight or anaylsis to offer.  Nah - that's couldn't be true, right?) 

Ah, but repetition in and of itself is not enough!

Second, as you repeat every sentence three times, crank up the volume!!

Let me try and demonstrate (you can't hear me so use your imagination, OK?)

"The Suns did not show up to play tonight.  The Suns Did Not Show Up To Play Tonight!  THE SUNS DID NOT SHOW UP TO PLAY TONIGHT!!!!!"

Cranking up the volume proves that you are a passionate sports talk show host and we sports fans are nothing if not passionate about our teams and their performance.

Third, remind your audience over and over again that you were at the game.

I guess this lets your listeners know that you weren't watching the game from the comfort of your living room where with all the good camera angles and instant replay, you can see the game much better than at a seat in the stadium.  You were there at the game! That must lend more creditability to what you say.

So, say something like, "You're right, I was at that game and the Suns did not show up to play.  No way did they play hard.  I was there and the Suns didn't show up.  I was there at that game and the Suns did not show up, no way! I WAS THERE AT THE GAME AND THE SUNS DID NOT SHOW UP!" (a good use of rules 2 and 3).

Now I know that there are only a few sports talk show hosting opportunities out there so maybe you can use these rules where you work.  If you're a pastor, use them in the pulpit: (The devil fooled Adam and Eve.  The Devil Fooled Adam And Eve! THE DEVIL FOOLED ADAM AND EVE!!!)
Or maybe you can apply the rules with your fellow employees: (I was there at the meeting and our benefits have been frozen.  They're frozen! I was there.  I heard it with my own two ears.  I WAS THERE AT THE MEETING!!!)

Of course, should you apply these three rules to your place of work, you might run the risk of having happen to you what I did to the sports talk station.

Tune it out.

What in the world?

The sainted John Jeske was a WELS pastor, author and seminary professor.  An Old Testament scholar, he had the wonderful gift of showing how those 39 books continually point to Jesus Christ as the Son of God and Savior of the world.  I am using Jeske's "Peoples Bible" commentary for research with the daily readings found in our "Treasuring God's Word" daily devotional which we offer each week.  Here is a nugget I discovered the other day:

The world is not only Satan's playpen, but the workshop of our God.  (page 285)

Hope - you can't live without it

 \Hope - you can't live without it.  It's the thing that keeps us going during the darkest night of the soul. It's the power that keeps us moving when we're ready to give up.  It moved Job, who was tested and tried, to confidently write, "I know that my Redeemer lives."  Even as he faced death, it led the apostle Paul to pen, "Yet I am not ashamed because I know whom I have believed and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day."  That's hope - pure and simple!

A favorite verse of my is Hebrews 6:19a: "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure."  On this verse one pastor wrote, "Few things were more important to the sailor in a storm than a good anchor and a good ground for it.  Believers in Christ have both.  They have an 'anchor for the soul, firm and secure.'  Like some anchors whose strong flukes cannot be twisted out of shape,  so we have in Christ and absolute strong and reliable hope."

In Christ Jesus we have safe harbor.  The storms of life, while threatening to us, cannot destroy us. We flee to Christ. Anchored in the solid ground of His Holy Word, we can stand firm against the temptations of the old evil foe.  The devil can't steal our soul.  Christ's comeback victory on the third day ensures us of new life now and eternal life in heaven.  As Jane Fryer writes, "Flee for refuge to Him! Take hold of the hope He offers you! Live in great courage! You are His now and forever!

Coming Down With March Madness

 I feel a bad case of March Madness coming on.

All season long I've been following Grand Canyon University's basketball team.  The Antelopes won 29 games this year, won the WAC conference and tournament and were selected yesterday to be a 12th seed in the West bracket.

When I heard the announcement I was sky high...I imagined GCU beating their first round opponent, St. Mary, with ease.  Next, they toppled Alabama which sent the Havocs', GCU crazy student, cheering section into mass hysteria.  Those kids really pounded the Mountain Dew and emptied bag after bag of Doritos in celebration (it's a Christian university).

I could see it all...the Sweet 16, the elite 8, the final 4.  The Antelopes victorious in every game.  And just as GCU was tipping off for the National Championship... I fell back to reality.

And the reality is that GCU is probably facing a hill that they can't possibly climb to the top.

But they are well coached by Bryce Drew and have a potential NBA forward in Tyon Grant-Foster.  They play tough defense and don't seem to panic when they get off to a slow start.

My heart says GCU has a chance to make a run in the tournament.  My head says they lose in the first round.

Who knows? That's why they play the games, right?

Go Antelopes!

Before you can walk you have to be taught

The first part of Psalm 86:11 - Teach me Your way, O Lord, that I may walk in Your truth.

The psalmist makes it clear that before you can walk you have to be taught.

This make such perfect sense, right?

Before you can live out the truth of God's Word in your daily life, you have to know this Word.

I get frustrated with people, especially some parents, who say things like, "I don't want my child cooped up in some classroom going through a boring Catechism class.  I want my child learning how to serve other and help others.  That's how they learn the faith."

Wrong!

Our works and service are a result of our learning the truth of God's Word.  First, we are taught the truth and then we put the truth into practice.

Besides, if a parent's thinking about Catechism class that it's boring, it's not hard to know what their child's attitude toward the Catechism will be, right?

Don't despise the teaching of God's Word.  Pray with the psalmist, "Teach me Your way, O Lord, that I may walk in Your truth."

God bless your learning and your walking!