Saint Louis, Missouri, United States - Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries By Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour"Keeping It Simple" Tuesday, 27 May 2014 But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.(1 John 1:7)
Burger King® began in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1953.
Since then the fast-food chain has used various slogans designed to get people to come and buy its burgers. For a while Burger King asked, "Aren't you hungry?" Then it gravitated to the more personal, "We do it like you do it." That was followed by "Get you burger's worth."Most of you may not remember the unsuccessful mid-80s' ad campaign which asked, "Where's Herb?" In those commercials people were encouraged to find Herb, a fictional character who had never tried Burger King. The ad company which came up with that idea was dropped after that disaster.
Of course, all those commercials are in the distant past. For the last 40 years Burger King has encouraged people to "Have it your way." The idea was simple and to the point. Burger King felt it had a niche in the fast-food market because their customers could design their own burger. If you wanted more of this or less of that, no problem; Burger King was ready to let you "have it your way."
This past week, the execs at Burger King dropped a blockbuster. To reach a younger generation, Burger King would be very, very cool. In language you and I can understand, that means "having it our way" was out and would be replaced by ... are you ready for this?
May I have a drum roll please? "Be Your Way."
Since it is a slow week, I have spent the last day trying to figure out what "be your way" means and how it's connected to buying burgers from Burger King or any other fast-food place. So far I've had no luck or lightning bolts revealing to me the reason behind why Burger King's executives would jettison a tried-and-true slogan for another, which seems like nothing more than a penny's worth of non-burger related philosophy.
Well, that's life.
Still, in recent years I've noticed that, in order to be more appealing, some Christian congregations and denominations are going the Burger King route. By that I mean they are ditching the doctrines and the fundamentals of the faith to make themselves more appealing to the public. Words like "sin," "repentance," "hell" and "damnation" have been banished from the pulpit.
Instead of hearing about these things, inquiring minds are told God's greatest desire, His fondest wish, is to make them happy, wealthy and secure. For such preachers and parishes, Jesus has been demoted from being the world's Savior to being a good guy who has no problem if someone is particularly attached to, and wishes to keep, a pet sin.
I suppose that kind of message appeals to some. Me, I prefer God's unchanging Word, which campaigns for our salvation. I prefer to hear His assurance, which simply says, "the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin."
That is a truth that will keep me coming back.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, the world is always changing. Some things are here today and gone tomorrow. I give thanks that for sinners, the salvation that was won by the Savior is permanent and unchanging. May I, in every circumstance and situation, cling to Him. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
In Christ I remain His servant and yours,
Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour®
Lutheran Hour Ministries
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Through the Bible in a Year
Today Read:
Psalms 20: For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David.
1 May Yahweh answer you in the day of trouble.
May the name of the God of Jacob set you up on high,
2 send you help from the sanctuary,
grant you support from Zion,
3 remember all your offerings,
and accept your burnt sacrifice.
Selah.
4 May He grant you your heart’s desire,
and fulfill all your counsel.
5 We will triumph in your salvation.
In the name of our God, we will set up our banners.
May Yahweh grant all your requests.
6 Now I know that Yahweh saves his anointed.
He will answer him from his holy heaven,
with the saving strength of his right hand.
7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses,
but we trust the name of Yahweh our God.
8 They are bowed down and fallen,
but we rise up, and stand upright.
9 Save, Yahweh!
Let the King answer us when we call!
21: For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David.
1 The king rejoices in your strength, Yahweh!
How greatly he rejoices in your salvation!
2 You have given him his heart’s desire,
and have not withheld the request of his lips.
Selah.
3 For you meet him with the blessings of goodness.
You set a crown of fine gold on his head.
4 He asked life of you, you gave it to him,
even length of days forever and ever.
5 His glory is great in your salvation.
You lay honor and majesty on him.
6 For you make him most blessed forever.
You make him glad with joy in your presence.
7 For the king trusts in Yahweh.
Through the loving kindness of the Most High, he shall not be moved.
8 Your hand will find out all of your enemies.
Your right hand will find out those who hate you.
9 You will make them as a fiery furnace in the time of your anger.
Yahweh will swallow them up in his wrath.
The fire shall devour them.
10 You will destroy their descendants from the earth,
their posterity from among the children of men.
11 For they intended evil against you.
They plotted evil against you which cannot succeed.
12 For you will make them turn their back,
when you aim drawn bows at their face.
13 Be exalted, Yahweh, in your strength,
so we will sing and praise your power.
22: For the Chief Musician; set to “The Doe of the Morning.” A Psalm by David.
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning?
2 My God, I cry in the daytime, but you don’t answer;
in the night season, and am not silent.
3 But you are holy,
you who inhabit the praises of Israel.
4 Our fathers trusted in you.
They trusted, and you delivered them.
5 They cried to you, and were delivered.
They trusted in you, and were not disappointed.
6 But I am a worm, and no man;
a reproach of men, and despised by the people.
7 All those who see me mock me.
They insult me with their lips. They shake their heads, saying,
8 “He trusts in Yahweh;
let him deliver him.
Let him rescue him, since he delights in him.”
9 But you brought me out of the womb.
You made me trust at my mother’s breasts.
10 I was thrown on you from my mother’s womb.
You are my God since my mother bore me.
11 Don’t be far from me, for trouble is near.
For there is no one to help.
12 Many bulls have surrounded me.
Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me.
13 They open their mouths wide against me,
lions tearing prey and roaring.
14 I am poured out like water.
All my bones are out of joint.
My heart is like wax;
it is melted within me.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd.
My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.
You have brought me into the dust of death.
16 For dogs have surrounded me.
A company of evildoers have enclosed me.
They have pierced my hands and feet.[a]
17 I can count all of my bones.
They look and stare at me.
18 They divide my garments among them.
They cast lots for my clothing.
19 But don’t be far off, Yahweh.
You are my help: hurry to help me.
20 Deliver my soul from the sword,
my precious life from the power of the dog.
21 Save me from the lion’s mouth!
Yes, from the horns of the wild oxen, you have answered me.
22 I will declare your name to my brothers.
Among the assembly, I will praise you.
23 You who fear Yahweh, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, glorify him!
Stand in awe of him, all you descendants of Israel!
24 For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted,
Neither has he hidden his face from him;
but when he cried to him, he heard.
25 Of you comes my praise in the great assembly.
I will pay my vows before those who fear him.
26 The humble shall eat and be satisfied.
They shall praise Yahweh who seek after him.
Let your hearts live forever.
27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to Yahweh.
All the relatives of the nations shall worship before you.
28 For the kingdom is Yahweh’s.
He is the ruler over the nations.
29 All the rich ones of the earth shall eat and worship.
All those who go down to the dust shall bow before him,
even he who can’t keep his soul alive.
30 Posterity shall serve him.
Future generations shall be told about the Lord.
31 They shall come and shall declare his righteousness to a people that shall be born,
for he has done it.
Footnotes:
a. Psalm 22:16 So Dead Sea Scrolls. Masoretic Text reads, “Like a lion, they pin my hands and feet.”
John 10:1 “Most certainly, I tell you, one who doesn’t enter by the door into the sheep fold, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. 2 But one who enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out. 4 Whenever he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 They will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him; for they don’t know the voice of strangers.” 6 Jesus spoke this parable to them, but they didn’t understand what he was telling them.
7 Jesus therefore said to them again, “Most certainly, I tell you, I am the sheep’s door. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters in by me, he will be saved, and will go in and go out, and will find pasture. 10 The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd.[a] The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who doesn’t own the sheep, sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep, and flees. The wolf snatches the sheep, and scatters them. 13 The hired hand flees because he is a hired hand, and doesn’t care for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and I’m known by my own; 15 even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep, which are not of this fold.[b] I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice. They will become one flock with one shepherd. 17 Therefore the Father loves me, because I lay down my life,[c] that I may take it again. 18 No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down by myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. I received this commandment from my Father.”
19 Therefore a division arose again among the Jews because of these words. 20 Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane! Why do you listen to him?” 21 Others said, “These are not the sayings of one possessed by a demon. It isn’t possible for a demon to open the eyes of the blind, is it?”[d]
Footnotes:
a. John 10:11 Isaiah 40:11; Ezekiel 34:11-12,15,22
b. John 10:16 Isaiah 56:8
c. John 10:17 Isaiah 53:7-8
d. John 10:21 Exodus 4:11
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