lutheranoutrider

Times Reporter
Reading your opinion of Breach of trust by the CIA. Cia Director John Brennan ate his words.
President Obama needs to eat his words. Our Opinion

Our Opinion 7 August 14

Broken Promises
From Obama’s speech in Kansas City, Missouri, August 21, 2007: “Keeping faith with those who serve must always be a core American value and a cornerstone of American patriotism. Because America’s commitment to its servicemen and women begins at enlistment, and it must never end.”
From the Obama-Biden Plan: “Fulfilling a Sacred Trust With Our Veterans”, September 9, 2008: “As president, Obama will meet early in the budgeting process each year with congressional leaders and the nation’s leading Veterans’ Service Organizations (VSOs) to ensure the VA budget is always given ‘must-pass’ status.”
If yearly budget meetings were held, they should have uncovered the systemic problems the VA is now facing.

I feel for five years no one has tracked a plan, measured goals or asked questions.

Harris E. Nordin

Below is a response to a request from one of my closest friends from Vietnam War days. He is a great guy with a PhD from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. I have been trying to cure him of his malady of Liberalism for 45 years! Alas, he remains a Liberal!
Here is his request for me to explain why the Wall Street Journal seems to be anti-capitalist:
Myron: explain this to me. The WSJ has been unrelentingly negative on the stock market. Last year, as it surged to record highs, the paper’s opinion was ‘this will end in tears.’ All markets do. If you heeded their pessimism you (me) would have lost a bucket of money. Why / what are they trying to accomplish. I am mystified: capitalists who hate capitalism. Sort this out for me…
After writing my response to my friend Ed, I have decided that for only him to have the privilege of reading the response would be highly selfish on my part! Something this good simply has to be shared!
Humbly,
Pastor Myron Nysether
Eddie,
But of course I will be very happy to explain!
The ridiculous and totally unsustainable bubble in the stock market, about which the WSJ and many others are concerned, will end in another crash. It will be like the crash of 1929; the crash of 1987; the tech bubble burst of the 90’s; and the housing bubble burst and stock market crash which led to the Great Recession in 2008/2009. It will be severe and very painful. The WSJ is not anti-capitalist, but it is rightfully very worried about the present state of economic affairs. I believe, as does the WSJ, that a very serious economic calamity is coming. Dangerous inflation or catastrophic deflation, or both (stagflation) will happen.
In Europe the economies, for the most part are already quite weak. High unemployment in France among the young and higher unemployment among the young in Spain is troubling. Greece and several Eastern European countries are not in good shape. Europe is not in good shape, except for Germany and Scandinavia. This is why the far right parties in France and Greece and even England did better than expected in the recent European Parliamentary election. And of course the Russian economy is not good and this is why Putin is diverting the attention of the people with his antics in Ukraine and elsewhere. China’s economy is slowing and Brazil’s has gone in the ditch.
In America we are living in yet another bubble which, again, will burst. We are living in a dream world of unreal stock market gains, unreal low interest rates and totally unsustainable public debt. Some, mostly speculators who are not real capitalists, are making piles of money in the stock market. Some will be able to keep their immorally gotten gains; most will lose out, which is what they deserve. Others who are crony-capitalists are making piles of money through blatant corruption on their part and that of the government. Such persons in the government and outside of it should go to prison.
The tragedy, however, is that many regular people have been losing out because of the ridiculously low interest rates on savings set by the Fed, and they will lose out again as they did when housing bubble burst and the market plummeted and the Great Recession arrived. As in war, Eddie, we both know that those who suffer the most are the innocent. So also in economic turmoil.
Remember when the market went from over 14,000 to 7,500 in ’08/’09. I knew pastors on their way to retirement who saw their pension portfolios decrease by 50%! Mine did not decrease at all, because just before the crash I transferred virtually the whole balance of my pension account into a very conservative transition fund. My account was not very substantial, because I had never been paid a large salary until I came to where I am now. But I lost nothing of what I had. Now it is true that I had to leave the money in the fund. I can never withdraw it, and it will have to be annuitized. So I have not reaped the gain in the market going from 7,500, to its current 16,500. But I don’t mind. My money is safe, although probably not very sound. Again, the market will crash as it did before and those in it will lose hugely. It will happen. It has to happen. In my opinion!
I believe that the stock market, as it has evolved has nothing to do with capitalism. It is no more than a giant casino. How can a company increase in value 50%, 80 %, 100% in a year? Yet the stock does exactly this sort of thing in some cases. Such is not about investment, such is about speculation. It is no different than the Tulip Bubble of the 1600’s! Everybody knows that the modern stock market is fundamentally governed by two extremely strong emotions – greed and fear. All the financial acumen and knowledge about companies and so forth is of little real value compared to those who understand calls and puts and hedges and instantaneous buying and selling, and all kinds of other high tech stuff that no ordinary person can understand or should have to understand.
Let me be frank. Speculation in the market, crooked banking practices, financial wheeling and dealing, obfuscation so that nobody really understands what’s going on, government corruption – these have nothing to do with capitalism. What these are about is immorality and criminality. I have no respect for the “sage from Omaha,” or George Soros, or the latest billionaire “green guy,” who amassed huge amounts of money through speculation and is now funding “climate change” politicians. My point is that I have no respect for anyone who becomes fabulously wealthy making nothing, producing nothing, doing nothing, providing no meaningful service – but instead figures out how to get rich off the inventiveness, risk taking and hard work of others. Such a person may be very smart, but is no more than a smart scoundrel. There are many smart scoundrels. Bill Gates, on the other hand, invented something which made him fabulously wealthy. Good for him! George Soros never invented anything – he became very wealthy in the currency and other markets. I have more respect for a janitor or a truck driver or a businessman or a teacher or anyone else who works for a living than I do for Soros or those like him!
I respect old style bankers who provided a place for people to save some of their money and receive a modest rate of interest; and a place for others to borrow money at a reasonable rate of interest. Banks like that served a very good purpose. Banks today are mostly corrupt, as was made very obvious by the housing bubble. Banks loaned money to people who could not afford to buy the houses they were buying. Then the banks bundled up all those very questionable loans and sent them up stream to somewhere for somebody else to worry about. Capitalism is the greatest economic system ever, but it requires honesty, virtue, transparency – all the old values which once defined our culture.
I firmly believe that we are living in a post-Judeo/Christian culture and that in my lifetime America will fall. Liberty is not compatible with corrupt capitalism any more than it is with socialism, which is by definition corrupt. Liberty, as so many philosophers and theologians have understood, is only possible among a people informed and shaped by the values and truths defined in the Ten Commandments and manifest in the Gospel. In a free and free enterprise society the people must have a strong commitment to integrity and honesty and justice; and they must have a deep devotion to kindness and generosity and mercy and compassion. These values must be deeply ingrained in the people and reflected in their institutions in order for there to be freedom. This is quite simply no longer true in our beloved America.
There is much corruption in business and commerce, in education, in the professions, in government and even the in the churches. In reality our culture has already sunk below widespread corruption to a level of decadence unimaginable not many years ago. And the pace of destruction is quickening. A culture that countenances the taking of the most innocent human life and defines such as a “Choice” cannot possibly long survive! A culture that departs from definitions of foundational institutions (marriage and family) which go back thousands of years and says that truth is “Whatever We Say It Is” cannot long survive! The dream that once was, even when we were children, Eddie, which was not that long ago, is gone and the nightmare is before us.
Fascism is on the rise in Europe, Imperialism is re-emerging in Asia, and Fanaticism grows relentlessly in Islam. D Day happened seventy years ago this Friday. Does anyone in the known universe believe that something like the D Day Invasion, led by America, could happen today? It would not happen because it could not happen. America in 1944 was far from a perfect nation. There was still much progress to be achieved. But we were a religious people strongly committed to truths and values that nobody of any importance questioned. FDR led the nation in prayer on the eve of D Day!!! Eddie, do we understand what has happened to this country in seventy years? If any president tried to lead the nation in prayer today, the ACLU would call for his impeachment! Europe stopped being a Christian culture a long time ago, so a return to Fascism should surprise no one. Asia has never been Christian, so the Imperialism that is once again rearing its head should surprise no one. And Islam – well. But now, unlike 1944, there is no Bastion of Freedom ready, willing and able to defeat the forces of tyranny and despotism and unspeakable evil. America was not that long ago “a Shining City upon a Hill” (RWR) which enlightened all the world. America was a nation prepared to “bear any burden” (JFK) to defeat the enemies of freedom. America had “nothing to fear but fear itself” (FDR). Remember FDR and HST and IKE and JFK and RWR. Not long ago we were One Great Nation Under God! This is no longer true.
As with Israel of ancient days, we have gone wildly astray, and we will reap the whirlwind – not because God wants this to happen, but because we have turned our freedom into license; we have forsaken honesty for expediency; we no longer care for the least and weakest among us; and we have done vast and irreparable damage to the two most basic and indispensable institutions of any civilized society – marriage and family. I believe we will never be the nation we once were – a nation dedicated to the proposition that all persons are created equal and are endowed with inalienable rights -the right to life, the right to be free, the right to pursue the possible and even the impossible. Not so long ago we were a nation in pursuance of liberty and justice for all. We were a nation to which the world’s “huddled masses yearning to breathe free” once came – seeking to live free and to pursue dreams they had never thought earthly possible. Once we were the greatest nation in the history of the world and the whole world knew it. We were exceptional, not because we were exceptional people but because the Ideals upon which the nation was formed and which the people embraced were God Given and Exceptional! Now we are just another society shaped by relativism, materialism and hedonism. Tocqueville wrote170 years ago, after he had visited America, that America would be a great nation as long as she were a good nation. We used to be good.
The horizon is darkening, and when the night descends the darkness will be for a very long time. Only those who by faith are able to see the Light of a Redeeming Grace, which no darkness can ever over-come, only those shall be safe. Because they know that this life, this world, is not all there is. Before Pastor Dietrich Bonhoffer was executed by the Gestopo at Floessenburg Prison on April 9, 1945, he said, “For me this is the end, but the beginning of life.” Only those who know in their hearts the same truth; only those will be safe and secure and serene and Victorious.
The question had to do with the Wall Street Journal and capitalism. The answer has been somewhat broader in scope!
Your old friend and conservative comrade,
Myron

Gay Marriage?
An Oxymoron at Best

How many of you can remember Mom saying “ain’t ain’t a word because ain’t ain’t in the dictionary”? We kept using it and of course it was added to the dictionary. That does not make it right. Let’s call homosexual civil ceremonies what they truly are.
How many of you have friends that are homosexual? I know I do. With no disrespect to them I find it offensive that they are using the word “gay” to define their sexual activities. The word gay is being hi-jacked by a group of people who are practicing homosexual activities. If they are so proud (Gay Pride) why do they not call their sins (homosexual practices) what they are?
There are many Bible verses to support a one man and one woman. See Lev.18:22-24 – LEV.20:13. There is an argument that God said between man and not women. See Rom.1:26-27. Then continue on with 1 Cor.6:9-10 as well as 1 Tim.1:9-10. I am sure there are other references.
This is pretty plain. As time marches on we stray further from God and will be punished as He has promised. The ELCA ( Evangelical Church of America ) is leading the way and it is unfortunate that it’s members do not stand up to them and demand they get back to Gods Word. One Pastor recently said “My Jesus would accept this behavior”. Seems they are now telling Jesus what to do and not obeying His Word. Of course then they would be admitting error on their part.

God Bless Phil and the Robertson family!  It is high time more of us stand up for what is right and the cast of Duck Dynasty have shown great courage in doing so. The Bible clearly delineates what is acceptable and what is not in Gods eyes.

Prayer and the Public Square

 A belief in a Higher Power goes all the way back to the Founding Document of the United States, that is, the Declaration of Independence.  The very first sentence of the second paragraph refers the endowment of all people by their Creator with certain rights, which cannot be taken away.  Human beings by virtue of their humanity have rights; and among such rights are life, freedom and the opportunity to pursue happiness. This is what the signers of the Declaration believed.  They believed that such rights are not granted by any government, but are endowed by God, the Creator.  Such rights cannot be denied except through due process of law, such as when a person is found guilty of a crime and is executed (the denial of life), or put in jail (the denial of freedom).  Thus, the very founding of the country was based upon theism.  There cannot possibly be any other understanding of  America.  John Adams pointed out that a republic cannot possibly work except that it be rooted in certain moral and even ontological absolutes, which must be religious in nature.  Justice William O. Douglas, certainly no conservative, said that “we are a religious people.”  Every president has spoken of faith in God in their inaugural addresses.  An atheistic America is simply absurd.

Now the Establishment Clause, which is followed  directly by the Free Exercise Clause in the First Amendment, clearly has to do with the non-establishment of a state church, such as existed in all the countries of Europe at the time.  What Jefferson referred to as the “Great Experiment” was precisely about seeing if you could really have a government without the undergirding  structure of a state church or a state religion.  In the Western world, such had never been tried before!  Well, we tried it and it has worked out pretty well.  So far.  The Establishment Clause has to do with the non-establishment of a state religion; it has nothing to do with a prayer before a football game or at the beginning of a city council meeting for goodness sake! Anyone who thinks that the Establishment Clause prohibits prayer at the beginning of a public meeting, or at the beginning of the day in a  public school classroom, or at the beginning of a high school football game is thinking foolishly.  Prayer can begin a city council meeting, or a session of the House of Representative or a session of the Senate.   The Structure of Liberty will not fall down if there is a prayer in any of these situations and many others.

Liberty is, however, very much in jeopardy  whenever and wherever religion is removed from the Public Square to be replaced by the absolute stupidity, arrogance and childishness of atheism or agnosticism.

In 1963, we simply had to remove prayer from the public schools, lest Freedom perish!  So said the Supreme Court in Abington School District v Schempp.   In 1973, the same Court of nine lawyers – not the first persons one thinks of as paradigms of virtue and humility – in Roe v Wade decided that the Constitution provides for the right of a woman and her doctor to kill the unborn child in her womb! One of the most reprehensible and despicable decisions ever handed down by any court or governing entity!  Although the Supreme Court has handed down some other decisions almost as despicable – Dred Scott v Sanford and Plessy v Ferguson come to mind.  Now in 2013, the same Court says that same gender marriage is permissible, thus going against thousands of years of tradition!  My point is that no one should be overly impressed with decisions of nine mortals in black robes! 

My question is:   After the 1963 decision on prayer in the public schools, how have things been going in America?  How are we doing?  I say we are going back to the way things were before the Christian Gospel began to shape the Western world.  The killing of the unborn on a vast scale. Can infanticide be far off?  The abuse of women and children, which is precisely what millions of births outside of marriage amounts to. Hedonism.  Cruelty. I believe we are witnessing a return to paganism in the Western world.

And then there are in our culture huge amounts of  filthy language, filthy entertainment, robust laughter, and thus affirmation, of stupid, arrogant little dweebs like Bill Maher.  There is the drug culture which is still destroying huge numbers of lives. And much more:  The diminishment of the Work Ethic.  The diminishment of Free Enterprise by crony capitalism, greed, fraud and criminality on a vast scale. A highly corrupt media. A national government which few trust and even fewer respect.  And yes, finally, the diminishment of the power and influence of the Mainline Churches by their own stupidity, cowardness and corruption.   My own denomination, The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, since its founding 25 years ago, has lost well over a million members.

So, by golly, we got prayer out of the public schools, and off the football field, and out of the high school graduation exercises.  Now if we can just get it out of the City Council Meeting and the State Legislatures and the Congress!  The powers of evil never give up.  Get rid of God in the Public Square totally and we will have whatever Satan’s heart desires.  After 50 years since the prayer decision and 40 years since the abortion decision we are far along on the way back to paganism.  It was not long ago that the heartland of Lutheranism and a bastion of Catholicism underwent a very rapid transformation called Nazism.  Germany in the 1930’s descended very quickly from a Christian culture into total chaos, in which there existed no concepts of the sanctity of  human life and the inalienable right of every person to be free.  We have a lot more experience with democracy and liberty than the Germans had in 1933, when Hitler became the Chancellor of Germany.  I am not sure we are innately smarter or less by nature sinful and unclean.  Germany produced Bach, Beethoven, Brahms and Adolf Hitler.  The Third Reich happened because the Church was not doing what it is supposed to do.  The USSR happened because the Church was not doing what it is supposed to do. Same with slavery and segregation in the United States.  Same with what has been happening in America during the past fifty years.    

So, how have things been going these last fifty years?  Only an idiot or a pagan could possibly say we are better off morally and spiritually today than when prayer was not considered a subversive activity certain to undermine the edifice  of liberty! 

Pastor Myron Nysether

Our Savior’s Lutheran Church

Mesa, AZ

Church and State

Our Country (USA) is a “Christian Nation”

It is getting more tiresome all the time listening to minorities espousing the right   of all religions to hijack our government.   They go to the extreme of saying we must change our laws to give them freedom to do what their religion, or non religion, allows.  Claiming separation of Church and State is something, which if you are a Christian, cannot be.  Our country was founded as a Christian Nation, and the separation of Church and State was meant to be only to prevent the government from setting up a “State Church”.  Every state in the Union refers to God in their Preamble.  This is our Almighty God and Father, the Creator of the World and the foundation of this great nation.  We should never back down from other religions, and or atheists, that claim a right to our country and want to make changes in our laws or customs. Atheists have a right to their non-belief but we must not bow to the minority again!  Other religions can stay where they are instead of hijacking our country!

All you government officials, read here Judges as well as other leaders, that allow crosses and Christian symbols to be removed from our state buildings and lands will have to answer to Our Lord and Savior. 

One of the most devout Christian Martyr’s of the last century was Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  Pastor Bonhoeffer was hanged for his beliefs and actions to attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler, just weeks before the end of World War ll.  In his book Ethics, he clearly states that there can be no separation of State (Government) and Church.  “Government and Church are bound by the same Lord and are bound together.  In their task government and Church have the same field of action, man.” *

Jewish people’s beliefs and practices stem from Biblical teachings.  Their laws originate from the Bible and they are held to this standard.  Even though this is true in Israel they do not attempt to establish their laws in our country although they make many great contributions to our society.  Islamists on the other hand are demanding that we honor their laws (Shari’ a ) when prosecuting a case in our Courts.  Unfortunately some of our Judges have and will let them get away with it.  Again if you move to their country, or any other, are we not bound by their laws?  What is wrong with this picture?  As previously stated if you do not want to abide by our laws; Stay Home!

We have a President and Congress that at this time are of the generation of, I don’t care what the Constitution says, and believe we should change because of the times. Please refer to Matthew 5:18-20  to see how God would want us to change.

My favorite  Proverb 3:6 should apply to all who want to change the Constitution of our great Country.  Follow HIM not false Prophets. Which brings us to my next post.

God Changes HIS Mind?

You might be surprised!

I keep hearing about how God would react to the different circumstances of today.  He would surely “Change His Mind” about some of the paths our modern society is going down. He would surely not condemn someone if they are “good Christians” but do not follow the Bible.  We must remember that the BIBLE is God’s Holy Word.  The, “Lord changed His mind”, argument some have used is the story of Jonah and the big fish.  Jonah 3:10 (NIV) “When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, He relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.” I do not believe that God changed his mind, He had said they would be destroyed “if they did not change their wicked ways.”   They changed and He followed through by letting them live.  Many people use this and other references to justify their style of living.  One of the most common statements I hear is “surely He would consider the circumstances of today’s modern world and change His mind.”

Our all knowing and all seeing God has plans for us, and I am sure He knows of the modern world in which we live.  He most certainly would not approve of many of the things we are doing and teaching.

The truth is we are trying to say (hoping) that He would see things our way.  It is not God changing His mind.  It is man changing His mind and I don’t believe that will work.

Are you ready to take a chance and disobey the Biblical teachings and hope He Changes His Mind?

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Lutheran [ˈluːθərən] (Christianity / Protestantism) a follower of Martin Luther (1483-1546), the German leader of the Protestant Reformation, or a member of a Lutheran Church. adj  1. (Christianity / Protestantism) of or relating to Luther or his doctrines, the most important being justification by faith alone, consubstantiation, and the authority of the Bible. 2. (Christianity / Protestantism) of or denoting any Protestant Church that follows Luther’s doctrines.

Many Churches and Seminaries lay claim to this name.  Although when you enter their doors or listen to their preaching and teaching, it is far removed from what Martin Luther wrote about and believed.  In particular the ELCA is the most guilty. Just a quick look at Luther’s Small Catechism would dispel all the notions of Relativism that are being preached and taught.  Yes, there is Black and White. The silliness that we must be all things to all who ask is not what Jesus wanted us to carry forth.  Mark 1:17 Jesus said “Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”  He does not sway to the feelings (political correctness) of the day. The foundations of Christianity must not be compromised just because we may hurt some feelings.  The Core Principals upon which Christianity is based, The Ten Commandments, The Apostles Creed & The Lord’s Prayer, must never be subjected to the whims of political correctness. These as well as the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, Confession of Faith and most certainly The Sacrament of Holy Communion (which are not the Elements as some are touting) are the basis of Christianity and most certainly of the Lutheran Faith.  By using the Lutheran name they are hijacking the denomination for their own use.  This ecclesiastical nonsense is tantamount to stealing the Lutheran following to accommodate their wants, versus starting their own following based on their beliefs.  Might this have to do with money/greed?

A recent book that I read made it very clear; we have deteriorated to looking out for the things that sell and not the Gospel as the core value of our congregations. The United States of America was founded as a Christian Nation, contrary to popular teachings.  The separation of church and state referred to not having a government sponsored religion.  We must get back to teaching the Holy Gospel as written and quit changing it to reflect the messages people want to hear.

Couple this with the removal of His presence from our schools and government and we are headed for a truly godless society.  Look at the history of the World and see how many survived.  The best example of this is the former USSR, a country who had killed tens of thousands of Christians, which collapsed with the help of Ronald Reagan bringing Christ’s message to them over and over.  It obviously was not the only guiding principal, but it sure didn’t hurt as history has recorded.

2 Peter 2:1-3 1. But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them, bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2. Many will follow their shameful ways and bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

Blessings ‘til we meet again

                                              Teaching our children

God out of School!                                                                                                           Remembering some Commandments

The craziness of our educational system has gotten way out of hand and needs to come back to the teachings of Our Lord and Savior. The 3^rd commandment is pretty plain and to the point. “Remember the Sabbath Day and keep it Holy.”  This has gone the way of many of His teachings.  Note the heading He put on these “Commandments”, they are not suggestions or requests. Whatever you think about the Muslim religion they follow the teachings of their prophet much more religiously than we do.  If we are to succeed in spreading the Word of the One True God we need to be setting much better examples.  This could be done by getting back to family values and honoring the one we know and profess is the Way, Truth and the Life, as in Bible Verse John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no one comes unto the Father, but by me.”  Seems pretty clear does it not?  We need to get back to teaching these and not playing football games, hosting volleyball tournaments or any other of the myriad of sports and activities that are now being scheduled Sundays.  If your religion believes Saturday is the Holy day then observe that day as you see fit.  The Jewish people are one of the most faithful when it comes to observing the “Sabbath”.  We could take lessons from them and change our habits.  We have succeeded in getting religion out of school and look where it has taken us. 

A more somber note is that we allow other religions, read Muslim, to practice their religion and they have been successful in getting to pray when and where they want, but Christians who founded this country can’t.   Crazy huh!

There is some good news and we need to keep growing in this direction.  It is the Charter School movement.  A lot of them have pushed the envelope with the Pledge of Allegiance and more.  We need to encourage them but watch where they go to make sure they are teaching the best.

 A lot of basic subjects have given way to the Arts, Sports and Extra Curricular Activities .  Some of the things that pass for Art receive many of our dollars and are nothing but a sham for a personal agenda from some nut.  We can change it back and must be tenacious in doing so!  Starting at the ballot box is the best way.  With the Liberal agenda most of Congress pushes there is no telling where we will end up unless we stop the slide and return to the Christian Principles our founding fathers had in mind.  If we do not do this we will lose the next generation to a Socialist style government and we all know this has never and will never work.

God Bless until we meet again.

Your Brother in CHRIST JESUS