Category: News

Higher Things Magazine is pleased to announce that Bible studies for the latest issues of the magazine are available on our Web site! It is our hope that you’ll use the questions and answers to promote discussion with your friends, your youth group, or even your family.

We’re also delighted to welcome Pastor Daniel Mackey as our new Bible studies editor. Pastor Mackey is a 2000 graduate of the University of Arizona and a 2004 graduate of Concordia Theological Seminary Fort Wayne. He currently serves as the pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Appleton City, Missouri while simultaneously heading up the Magazine’s Bible studies department here at Higher Things.

Stay tuned to the Higher Things Web site for forthcoming studies!

It’s hard to put into words just what took place at Virginia Tech University on April 16, 2007. It is simply unexplainable, and yet it is somehow becoming all too familiar. We can not help but reflect and ponder such questions as: How could this happen? Why did this happen?

We are blessed to live in a truly free society in which we have incredible access to nearly anything and everything. Yet we feel trapped by the horror of what has taken place. Rest assurred that the greatest freedom that we have is one that can never be taken away by either tempest or gunmen, tornado or terrorist – and that is the freedom from sin, death, and the devil secured by our risen Savior Jesus Christ.

With heavy hearts, we put before you an online collection of Virginia Tech Articles and Resources.

We hope that these various texts will help provide comfort to those who are suffering or in despair as a result of the Virginia Tech shootings or by the cares that happen to all of us in this fallen world.

Rev. Marcus T. Zill
Higher Things, Christ on Campus Executive
zill@higherthings.org

When aimless violence takes those we love,
When random death strikes childhood’s promise down,
When wrenching loss becomes our daily bread,
We know, O God, you leave us not alone.”
(LSB #764:1)

We need your help!  Volunteers are needed to serve Higher Things by presenting to other congregations about the great work of Higher Things.  Do you love Higher Things?  Do you want other churches to know about the great opportunities and resources of Higher Things?  Then we need you!  Development Volunteers will work with Development Coordinator, Erika Preus, to prepare a presentation that can be given to local congregations during a Sunday morning Bible class.  This great opportunity will give the volunteers the chance to share their great experiences with Higher Things, meet other confessional pastors and youth groups, and even make new friends!  It is a great way to encourage others to participate in Higher Things conferences and retreats.  If you are interested, please fill out the application form and send it to Erika Preus at ecpreus@higherthings.org.  Erika will be working with development volunteers at the “For You” conferences this summer.  If you are interested in participating, or know others who may be, fill out an application form and feel free to contact Erika at 763-913-1413.

“Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!
   O men of blood, depart from me!
They speak against you with malicious intent;
   your enemies take your name in vain!
Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD?
   And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
I hate them with complete hatred;
   I count them my enemies.”  (Psalm 139:19-22 ESV)

I am angry! No, I am furious! Righteous indignation is building up in me, desiring justice for the ungodly and disturbingly demonic slaying of innocent college students and faculty at Virginia Tech.

Details are still developing, but as we piece together yesterday’s events, we are left mourning the existence of evil in this world. We cry to the Lord, asking why He allows such wickedness. We are harassed by unbelieving friends who bring up the question of why God allows bad things to happen to “good” people. And then underneath it all, we harbor zealous feelings, wishing for a “good old-fashioned biblical stoning” for the perpetrator of such horror – and feel cheated of that satisfaction because he has already killed himself.

Is it right to feel such anger? Aren’t we supposed to forgive even the worst of sinners, knowing Christ Jesus has forgiven us?

There is such a thing as righteous anger. Jesus cleaned out the Temple, knocking over tables, and ruining the profiteering of the extortionists. He was not “hating the sin, but loving the sinner;” He was disgusted by the sinners dwelling in their sins. He hated their lack of repentance and so He executed judgment on them.

You and I deserve that same righteous punishment for our sin too. We deserve the wrath of our Lord. Yet Jesus in His boundless love has reached out with His Spirit, working repentance into our hearts. He gathers us to Himself in Holy Baptism, in hearing His Gospel, and in receiving His Holy Supper.

We can join the psalmist in praying against such wicked ones, but not because we have a superior sense of justice. On our own, we are no better than a cold-blooded killer in the sight of our perfect God. But there is a difference, thanks be to God.

Because you and I are baptized into Christ, He covers us in His robe of perfect righteousness, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ,” (Galatians 3:27 ESV). St. Paul also reminds us that we are now members of His body. In this way, we may join Jesus in His prayers, the Psalms, knowing that when we speak of “my righteousness,” it really is Christ’s. When we speak of “my enemies,” they are really His enemies: sin, death, and the devil!

In these verses from Psalm 139, Jesus Christ addresses the Father, telling of His hatred for those enemies. His is a holy hatred. Since Jesus has saved you and brought you into Himself, the devil will attack, more than ever, to try to separate you from the Lord. The fury of hell lashes out, hoping to convince modern “Jobs” to “curse God and die.”

The horrifying events of April 16 in Blacksburg are, without question, the handiwork of Satan, who used a disturbed young man to bring death and destruction to a place that is supposed to be a haven for work, study, and growth. We grieve for those who lost loved ones. We are sickened by the devil’s outpouring of death on the Virginia Tech campus. We pray for the comfort of the Gospel of our Risen Lord for those whose lives have been thrust into turmoil, including the young man’s family and friends.

It is truly acceptable to hate God’s enemies; just remember that His true enemies are sin, death, and the devil. You cannot be like rash Peter, eager to draw the worldly sword against Christ’s human enemies. Instead, join Jesus in hating sin, death, and the devil, as you continue to pray, “deliver us from evil.” God has delivered us from evil when He executed His justice and defeated His enemies through the death of His Son on the Cross for you, for all those injured and slain, and even for the one who caused yesterday’s tragedy. Amen.

The Rev. Rich Heinz is Senior Pastor of St. John’s Ev. Lutheran Church & School in Lanesville, IN.  He is Editor-in-chief of the myHT project, formerly known as B.A.M.B.I.

Have you ever wondered….

            what it’s like to be a Christian on a non-Christian college campus?

if God has a plan for your future?

what the deal is with Christian video games?

how to respond to someone who has ADD?

why some people think that Christians are “diseased”?

 
Well, lucky for you, the Spring 2007 issue of Higher Things is on the way! This jam-packed issue answers all of these questions. It also contains great articles on Pentecostalism, the proper way to receive Communion, how to tell whether you are a “cultural” or “confessional” Lutheran, and the theology of the Left Behind book series. Just what do Lutherans believe about the end times anyway? Plus, you get to find out what happens when Kathy Luder tells a lie and ends up at the police station!

The much anticipated myHT project (codenamed B.A.M.B.I.) got a new dad this week.  The Reverend Rich Heinz will be the editor of this online project which will bring Christian freedom to the internet in a way that it is never been before. 

Pastor Heinz is the senior pastor of Saint John’s Ev. Lutheran Church & School in Lanesville, IN, near Louisville, KY. He graduated from Concordia University in River Forest, IL in 1991, and from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, in 1995. 

Pastor Heinz was one of my mentors at the seminary.  I call him Obi Wan.  But, we shouldn’t hold that against him as the hard work of him and his staff has put this project back on schedule.  You can learn more about Pastor Heinz and the rest of the Internet Services’ staff here.

Look for  B.A.M.B.I. (called myHT) to go beta in Easter Season.  The internet will never be the same again….

In Christ,

Pastor Borghardt
Internet Service Executive
Higher Things, Inc.

Well, they’re at it again. The clever “scientists” and Hollywood types have run their big show about the discovery of the “real” tomb of Jesus complete with the supposed ossuaries (bone boxes) of Jesus, His mother Mary, Mary Magdalene (to whom Jesus was allegedly married) as well as Jesus and Mary’s alleged child and some others that might have been the brothers of Jesus. We’ll pass over the fact that this tomb was discovered already in 1980 and it’s had big deals made about it before. We won’t spend time either debunking the errors of this so called “archaeology” because that’s been done before. And we’ll also ignore the constant way in which the Gospels are constantly portrayed in the media as untrue fabrications (treatment, which, if it were the Koran at issue, would result in the rioting of millions of Muslims). No, we’ll simply let the Word of God speak.

It has been asked what the effect would be upon Christianity if those really were the bones of Jesus. That question has been answered by St. Paul . “If Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!“ (1 Cor. 15:17  NKJV). It’s as simple as that. Jesus’ Christ’s bodily resurrection from the dead on the Third Day means that sin and death have been conquered by our Lord. If that is not true, then there is no Christian faith and it’s all just nonsense. But it is true because the Gospels are not made up but written by eyewitnesses through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. As Paul points out to his Corinthian hearers, Jesus was seen after His resurrection by Peter and then by the twelve and then by over 500 disciples many of whom were still alive when Paul wrote. Rest assured, the eyewitness testimony of the Gospels that Jesus was alive and the tomb was empty is solid.

And what of His alleged wife, Mary Magdalene? More nonsense to titillate the itching ears of a Gospel-hating world. The Scriptures also clearly answer this. Christ does indeed have a Bride; it is not Mary Magdalene but it includes her. For the Bride of Christ is the whole Christian church. Again, St. Paul : “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church…” (Ephesians 5:25-27  NKJV). This is a reality which St. John records. For John the Apostle and Evangelist was witness to Jesus’ death at which blood and water flowed from His side. Just as Eve, the bride of Adam was created from his side, from a rib, so the church comes from the side of Christ in blood and water (the Holy gifts of the Lord’s Supper and Holy Baptism). Not only that, but John sees this vision for he sees “the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” (Revelation 21:2  NKJV). This is no mere symbolic language but rather it expresses the reality to which all marriage points.

So let the media have their fun with Jesus; it’s that time of year again, after all. But let those who want to know the truth hear it preached from the Holy Scriptures which are the Spirit-inspired faithful testimony of that Truth. It is that Word that has been conquering skeptics and Hollywood documentary producers as long as it has been preached.

The Reverend Mark Buetow is pastor of Bethel Lutheran Church in DuQuoin, Illinois, and the editor-in-chief of Higher Things Reflections.

Have you ever noticed how chocolate is a seasonal treat? M&Ms are even offered in seasonally appropriate colors.  At Christmas time there are the chocolate coins we all get in our stockings.  Then there’s Valentine’s Day with heart-shaped boxes of fancy chocolates.  And then stores go straight into the chocolate bunnies of Easter.

A few years ago some artistic type displayed a lovely portrait of the Blessed Virgin, Mary, Mother of our Lord and employed the media of elephant dung.  Another gallery displayed a crucifix in a vat of human urine.

At least Cosimo Cavallaro used 200 pounds of milk chocolate to sculpt his life-size statue of Jesus.

Of course, he used 200 pounds of milk chocolate to sculpt a life-sized, naked, and apparently anatomically-correct Jesus.  Most crucifixes discreetly cover Jesus’s privates with a carefully draped loincloth, but it’s not likely that the Romans were so discreet to those being crucified.  But are we, who celebrate the Circumcision of our Lord every January 1, actually offended by a Jesus with his loins ungirded?

Why chocolate?  Apparently the artist is a bit avant-garde, using food as media in a number of his works, including covering a house in Wyoming in 5,000 pounds of pepper jack cheese, Twiggy (the model) in processed canned cheese, a bed in slices of ham, and a number of other similar “edible” projects.

He’s clearly a creative kind of guy.  Considering his other pieces, a chocolate corpus isn’t that bad.

The chocolate Jesus was originally completed in 2005 and bore the name, “I did it daddy” according to Cavallaro’s online gallery (search and view at your own risk – be prepared for some offensive language and images).  When the piece was being prepared for a 2-hour per day Holy Week showing in the front window of a New York City gallery, it had been given the name, “My Sweet Lord”.

One journalist, Yahoo’s David Kao, has an interesting take on the whole situation.  He writes, “If art is free to express itself, however, so too the public is free to declare judgment. And so with this piece of “art” I can freely say that I think it is absurd… but also that in some ways it is actually the perfect piece of art for holy week. Why? Because it reminds all of those who follow Jesus of how he was mocked and ridiculed, how he was scorned and beaten, how he was humiliated… and all because of his love for us. Those are good things for his followers to remember.”

So what, exactly, is offensive, about this rendition?  Is chocolate an inherently inappropriate media for sculpture?  Christians rallied to have the gallery pull the display, successfully.  But it is “scandalous” and “sickening”?  Why is this particular chocolate Jesus more offensive than the ones for sale this chocolate Jesus (and Mary) or this chocolate Jesus?

Is it that an artist is depicting Jesus in non-traditional media?  Is it that Jesus is depicted at ALL?  Is it chocolate?  Would it be better if the artist used bread and wine?  Is there something wrong with my sensibilities that I don’t get what the hoopla is about?

by Sandra Ostapowich

Recently, after nearly thirty-six hours of attempting to edit a magazine without a Julie on staff, Higher Things Magazine welcomed Julie Beckwith on board to serve as Assistant Editor. Mrs. Beckwith currently lives in Greenville, Pennsylvania , where her husband Carl teaches at Thiel College . They have two daughters, Paige and Madeleine. From copyediting to proofreading to writing, there’s no job this Julie can’t handle!