Worth a read if you have a minute.

Professor of Philosophy"Let me explain the problem science has with religion." The atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks one of his new students to stand."You're a Christian, aren't you, son?""Yes sir," the student says."So you b elieve in God?""Absolutely!""Is God good?""Sure! God's good.""Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?""Yes.""Are you good or evil?""The Bible says I'm evil."The professor grins knowingly. "Aha! The Bible!"He considers for a moment, "Here's one for you.Let's say there's a sick person over here and you can cure him. You can doit. Would you help him? Would you try?""Yes sir, I would.""I wouldn't say that.""But why not say that? You'd help a sick and maimed person if you could. Most of us would if we could. But God doesn't."The student does not answer, so the professor continues."He doesn't, does he? My brother was a Christian who died of cancer, even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him. How is this Jesus good? Hmmm? Can you answer that one?"The student remains silent."No, you can't, can you?" the professor says. He takes a sip of water from glass on his desk to give the student time to relax. "Let's start again, young fella. Is God good?""Er...yes," the student says."Is Satan good?"The student doesn't hesitate on this one,"No.""Then where does Satan come from?"The student falters, "From God.""That's right. God made Satan, didn't he? Tell me, son. Is there evil in this world?""Yes sir.""Evil's everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything, correct?""Yes.""So who created evil?" The professor continued, "If God created everything, then God created evil, since evil exists and according to the principle that our works define who we are, then God is evil."Again, the student has no answer."Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things, do they exist in this world?"The student squirms on his feet. "Yes.""So who created them?"The student does not answer again, so the professor repeats his question, "Who created them?"There is still no answer. Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace in front of the classroom. The class is mesmerized."Tell me," he continues onto another student."Do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?"The student's voice betrays him and cracks. "Yes, professor, I do."The old man stops pacing, "Science says you have five (5) senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Have you ever seen Jesus?""No sir. I've never seen Him.""Have you ever felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelt your Jesus? Have you ever had any sensory perception of Jesus Christ, or God for that matter?""No, sir, I'm afraid I haven't.""Yet you still believe in him?""Yes.""According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?" "Nothing," the student replies. "I only have my faith.""Yes, faith," the professor repeats. "And that is the problem science has with God. There is no evidence, only faith."The student stands quietly for a moment, before asking a question of his own. "Professor, is there such thing as heat?""Yes," the professor replies. "There's heat.""And is there such a thing as cold?""Yes, son, there's cold too.""No sir, there isn't."The professor turns to face the student, obviously interested. The room suddenly becomes very quiet.The student begins to explain . . . "You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, unlimited heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don't have anything called 'cold.' We can hit up to 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold; otherwise we would be able to go colder than the lowest-458 degrees." Everybody or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy and heat is what makes a body ormatter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-458 Fahrenheit) is the total absence of heat. You see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it."Silence across the room. A pen drops somewhere in the classroom, sounding like a hammer."What about darkness, professor. Is there such a thing as darkness?""Yes," the professor replies without hesitation. What is night if it isn't darkness?""You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something; it is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light, but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and its called darkness, isn't it? That's the meaning we use to define the word. In reality, darkness isn't. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?"The professor begins to smile at the student in front of him. This will be a good semester. "So what point are you making, young man?""Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to start with and so your conclusion must also be flawed."The professor's face cannot hide his surprise this time, "Flawed? Can you explain how?""You are working on the premise of duality," the student explains . . "You argue that there is life and then there's death; a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought." It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life, just the absence of it." Now tell me, professor. Do you teach yourstudents that they evolved from a monkey?""If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, youn g man, yes, of course I do." "Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?"The professor begins to shake his head, still smiling, as he realizes where the argument is going; a very good semester, indeed."Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a preacher?"The class is in uproar. The student remains silent until the commotion has subsided."To continue the point you were making earlier to the other student, let me give you an example of what I mean." The student looks around the room, "Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor's brain?" The class breaks out into laughter."Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor's brain, felt the professor's brain, touched or smelt the professor's brain? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, with all due respect, sir.""So if science says you have no brain, how can we trust your lectures, sir?"Now the room is silent. The professor just stares at the student, his face unreadable. Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man answers, "I guess you'll have to take them on faith.""Now, you accept that there is faith, and, in fact, faith exists with life," the student continues, now, sir, is there such a thing as evil?"Now uncertain, the professor responds, "Of course, there is. We see it everyday. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil."To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light."The professor sat down.If you read it all the way through and had a smile on your face when you finished, mail it to your friends and family.PS: The student was Albert Einstein.

His ways or yours?

Sermon based upon Mark 10:32-45
Blessings to you as we prepare to enter Holy Week. This coming Sunday, will be Palm Sunday; The day Christ entered into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey. Our God, riding on the back of a donkey. Who would have ever thought that? On a stallion, or better yet a man drawn carriage with all the finest linens and cloths lining it’s plush interior. Now that’s how a god should travel. But that isn’t how it happened. Nope, that’s not Jesus. As we will hear shortly, Jesus came for another reason, a reason neither His disciples really understood nor the those waving the palm branches.
Just prior to their journey to Jerusalem, we read that a rich young man came to Jesus asking what he must do to inherit eternal life, a rather rare commodity. Jesus tells Him follow the commandments. The young man tells the Christ, I have. Jesus tells the young man you lack one thing. Go sell all you have and give it to the poor, for you will have treasures in Heaven. And after you have done all this, come follow me. The young man walks away dejected and sorrowful. Moral of this story is that money is a tool to serve those in need, and Christ himself is our treasure in heaven.
The disciples are amazed at this teaching. These were not the ways of the world. In this world, the rich have the power. The weak do not. But as we know from St. Matthew in the kingdom of heaven the first will be last and the last will be first. It’s no wonder His disciples were amazed. This didn’t make any sense to them.
And yet while amazed, they were also afraid. Possibly, they remembered hearing that the Son of Man would be handed over and killed in Jerusalem. Jesus reiterates this to them again, explaining “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. 34 And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.” They had every reason to be afraid. But, this was to be done for us. Jesus followed the will of the Father. He did not come to be served but to serve.
You would have thought that Zebedee’s boys, James and John would have figured this out. They had been traveling with Him for nearly 3 years, and they and the other disciples didn’t quite yet see this. We know this by what James and John did next, they came up to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” That’s their flesh talking. The same sinful flesh we live with today.
Let me ask you, do you think Jesus’ torture and death, his ransom for their sins, ever crossed their mind? No, I think not. They were seeking what the world seeks. They were looking out for #1-themselves. They wanted the top spots in Jesus’ kingdom. And as sinners, who wouldn’t. I mean, these 2 men had been served by Jesus, for the last 3 years with all their needs provided for, but they still wanted more. They were blinded by their flesh and could not see this.
We are taught in this world that we better take care of ourselves first, because no one else will.
Brothers and Sisters in Christ that is a lie, a lie that can only come from the mouth of the great deceiver himself, Satan. And we can find this type of nonsense being preached all over the television by evangelists and other church personalities. They tell us that all we need to do is to seek what is good or best for us, and pursue it, as this is the only way to happiness. Rubbish! Don’t permit your ears to hear such drivel. That’s not our way, Jesus’ way. We are different.
We are baptized! Baptized into Jesus, into His death and resurrection. We need only to hear His words and see what He has done. Our Lord did what you and I are powerless to do. He died for the forgiveness of all our sins and rose for our justification before God. Satan offered Him this world and all its power. But Jesus followed His Fathers will, the will to send His Son for us, as a servant, as a Savior. Our Lord tells the boys that they don’t know what they are asking. A side note: notice that Jesus doesn’t reprimand them for their request, because He knows our human weakness. But, Jesus strengthens them by telling them that they too will drink from the cup He would drink and the baptism that He was baptized with, namely that they too will be tortured and killed. Yet they will never know the true death that was due them, because Jesus knew it for them, just as a loving servant would do.
Know after the other 10 disciples catch wind of what Zebedee’s sons are up to, our Lord explains to them all “you know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you.” He’s telling them not to be like these perceived great ones of this fallen world. We know how power corrupts. Just look at Hitler, Stalin or Saddam.
Christ adds, “But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.” What Jesus is on His way to do in Jerusalem is just this. He serves out of love, not because He has too, for we know He could have followed the advice of our TV evangelists and sought happiness by His own means. But He didn’t. That’ s Not Him.
Jesus went to Jerusalem, was handed over by His father to the chief priests, tortured, beaten, crucified and died on the cross. And why did He do this? Yes it was His father’s will, which is always perfect and good. He did it for us. He did it so your sins and mine would be forgiven. He did it so we could live with Him in paradise forever. He did it out of love, love for all of humanity, love for you and me.
He came to serve, He came to forgive, He came to give Himself for us as a gift. He came so that while we are here on this earth we might know him through His word and Sacraments. Just as the rich young man figured out, it’s not about looking out for ourselves. God handles that for us. He provides for our daily needs and care. Yet, it doesn’t end there. He has prepared a room for us in heaven, a room bought for and paid in full by His Son Our Lord Jesus Christ’s atoning sacrifice on that cross. And because of this gift we are free from sin, full of joy, able to look to our neighbor, and serve them, just as Jesus did for us

A Savior has been born for us all!

Jesus's blessings to you this day we remember His birth. It is by God's grace that we are here to rejoice in His mercy, His gift, His love-Jesus. The peace of Christ be with you as we are confident that through Him we are justified in the eyes of the Father.

A first for everything

The first blog on a blog.....I never thought I would ever type such a thing. I mean 20 years ago, a blog might have been something you coughed up or even a skin disorder.

We are t-minus 35 days and counting before we move to FW. It is trully only through Him, that this has and will occur. All Praise, glory and honor to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

Tommorow is the 6th Sunday of Easter and am looking forward to the Ascension of our Lord on May 1st.

Well, I have so much to say, but also so much to do and bronchitis is not helping the cause.

In Christ,
MD