Pious Lutheran

Parable of the Unjust Steward , Marinus van Reymerswaele, circa 1540 Making mammon a servant of eternity The parable is about using mammon for the sake of our eternal home A right use of mammon doesn’t save, only Jesus. But a wrong use of mammon can condemn us. How ought the Christian to view mammon How to use mammon for the sake of our eternal home Talking about money can be a sensitive topic for a lot of people. It’s considered a very private subject and would be a breach of privacy if someone were to snoop and look at our financial situation, to see how many debts we have, or how much (or little) we have in the bank account, how much money we make a year, how much property we own, the state of our investments. Some people love to talk about money, and others hate to talk about money. Either way you slice it, our wealth is easily made into an idol, something which we trust in and don’t feel comfortable losing. This is the very definition of the word mammon: a treasure that a person t...

The Two Foundations , Religious Tract Society, 1880 The narrow, good, and strong way to salvation Few find and follow the narrow and hard way of Christ Listening to the good fruit of pure doctrine from the Good Tree The church founded upon Christ the Rock is strong and stands Tolerance used to be a bigger buzzword than it is today. Not because those shouting for tolerance just gave up, but because they won. By and large religious folks have acquiesced and have become far more tolerant, accepting, and embracing of beliefs inconsistent with their own. Multiculturalism and religious pluralism have blossomed in our country. A century ago a lot of religious education time was spent showing the differences between Christians church bodies, and insisting on the dangers of being exposed to those false teachings. That was then, but today we’ve become so accustomed to tolerance that many have a hard time saying Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and Mormons won’t go to heaven but hell unless they repent and...

The Multiplication of Loaves,  Daniel Halle, 1664 God blesses small things We are small when faced with the big challenges of the world God works through small and ordinary things God blesses small things to address big problems In some ways radio, television, and the internet has made the world seem smaller. Although, it’s not actually smaller, it’s just closer and more visible to us. Thus, in other ways the world appears to be even larger and the problems insurmountable. When you see a photograph from space of our planet, you feel smaller than an ant. How could you ever expect to resolve the problems faced internationally, let alone in the city next door? You’re so small, the problems are so big, who are you to do anything about it? This is the conundrum which the disciples faced. A great crowd of 4,000 men (not counting women and children) had gathered to see Jesus perform miracles and listen to Him teach. Jesus explained the situation: “ I have compassion on the crowd, because ...

Moses Descends from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments , Ferdinand Mol, 1662 The Good of God’s Law The law is God’s eternal will for man to live wisely Our righteousness is not from the law, but from Christ God’s law sets us apart as His people to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world What good are the ten commandments and God’s law? Do they have any bearing on us today? It used to be quite normal to have the ten commandments posted in courthouses, but that has been hotly debated over the past decade or so. I’ve seen surveys done of Christians and many have a difficult time listing even a few of them. It does beg the question whether or not the ten commandments and God’s law matter anymore, or if those are just relics from the past. Yet, we heard it said by our Lord: “ Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, w...