The Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries with Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour "Termination" for Friday, October 21, 2016
(Jesus said) "Remember the word that I said to you: 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you."[John 15:20]Money Magazine, Forbes, Fox News, Finance, and CBS News all have articles about the surest way to get fired from a job. Suggestions range from the obvious, "Don't show up for work," to the just as obvious: "Don't steal from the company" and "Don't badmouth your boss to other workers."
I was amazed that anyone needed to be taught not to come to work while they were doing drugs or making crude, unwanted and inappropriate comments to other workers.
With all these understandable ways to get fired, I came across one that wasn't so easy for me to grasp. The person who discovered this method is Mark Armitage, a science professor from California State University, Northridge.
Armitage's story begins, innocently enough, with him studying the horn of a triceratops.
As he looked at the great horn under magnification, Armitage discovered soft tissue fibers. That's not the kind of thing that shows up on a specimen that is supposed to be millions of years old. "No," Armitage concluded, "this find is much more recent than that. This horn may be only a few thousand years old."
Armitage took what he had discovered and published it in American Laboratory magazine and the Acta Histochemia journal. After the articles came out, in short order,
* a fellow professor told him, "We're not going to tolerate your religion in this department";
* he was ostracized by others on the faculty because he was a creationist;
* CSUN, his employer, told him funding for his temporary position had run out.
In short, Armitage had been fired.
He didn't take the termination lying down. He sued the school under the Fair Employment and Housing Act. Understandably, the school fought back for a while and then they settled -- paying. The school says it paid Armitage to avoid a long, drawn-out court fight.
Maybe it's not telling the truth, I can't tell. I do know that Armitage's story is not unique. Many of our college young people are experiencing the same kind of pressure when they head off to college. Many report they have to cooperate if they wish to graduate.
All of this means churches, parishes and parents need to do their best to prepare our young for this world, which is increasingly open about its dislike to the Savior. We need to teach those coming after us that they, like the disciples, "must obey God rather than men" (see Acts 5:17-32).
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, for many of us who are older, the fights have been fought. But there is another generation that is just beginning its struggles. I pray the Holy Spirit may rest on them so they may remain faithful to their Savior who has lived, died and risen, so they might be forgiven and saved. In Jesus' Name I ask it. Amen.
In Christ I remain His servant and yours, 
Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker emeritus of The Lutheran Hour®
Lutheran Hour Ministries
Today's Bible Readings: Jeremiah 7-8, 26 Acts 28
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The Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries with Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour "Doing for Others" for Thursday, October 20, 2016
(Jesus said) "And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them."[Luke 6:31]This year the corn grew high around Antigo, Wisconsin. That's reason to give thanks.
On the other hand, 7-foot stalks of corn are not a good thing when a three-year-old boy decides to go exploring; which is what happened recently. It was a Saturday afternoon when the mother of Dyton Logalbo saw him wander into the cornfield. At the time she didn't think much of it. "After all," she said to herself, "how far can a three-year-old wander?"
The answer to that question -- "A lot further than anyone might think possible" -- is not the answer she wanted to hear.
Logalbo's mother went into the cornfield to recover her boy. She was confident that she would, in short order, find him and bring him out. It didn't happen that way. Her calm search soon became frantic, and her calls to the boy louder and more intense.
In fear and frustration she called the police who took up the search with helicopters, drones, and K9 units. The police turned up nothing.
Seeing all the brouhaha, the people of Antigo asked questions and found out that Logalbo was missing. Without any formal request being made by authorities, more than 500 people showed up to search for the prodigal son.
One of those searchers was Tom Andraschko. A father of two-year-old twins, Andraschko heard about the lost boy on a local radio station. He turned to his wife and asked if she thought they needed any help?
The wife replied, "Well, if it were your kids, how many people would you want to come?"
Around 10:30 a.m. Sunday morning, Andraschko found the boy. Logalbo was cold, he was scared, and he was wet, but he was just fine. His return was cause for a general rejoicing. It was also an occasion for the community sheriff to thank the people for their "caring and compassion."
Amen to that!
In encouraging her husband to join in the search, Andraschko's wife had rephrased the Savior. In effect, she had echoed the Savior's words, "And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them."
Amazingly, there were hundreds in Antigo who felt the same way.
Now I can't say all those folks did what they did as a thank You to the Savior who sacrificed Himself so their sins might be forgiven and, with Holy Spirit-given faith they might be saved. No, I can't say that at all.
But I can say, that Sunday, at an Antigo, Wisconsin, cornfield, the Savior must have smiled at so many who had caught on to what He meant.
By God's grace may many more believe in the Christ and learn to care for others as He did.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, there was nothing about me that caused the Savior to enter this world and do all that was necessary to save me. Even so, He came and I was rescued. Now, may I do what I can to thank Him by helping others. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
In Christ I remain His servant and yours, Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker emeritus of The Lutheran Hour®
Lutheran Hour Ministries
Today's Bible Readings: Jeremiah 6, 11-12 Acts 27:27-44
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The Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries with Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour "Clinging to the Christ" for Wednesday, October 19, 2016
My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me.[Psalm 63:8]Some time ago, The Wall Street Journal told the story of a Japanese man, Toshiyuki Sakai, whose employer (Sega Enterprises Ltd.), said his work was below par.
When Sakai refused to accept a severance package of 2.6 million yen -- now don't go all crazy here, that was about $24,000 American -- he was transferred. He was told to take all his personal belongings home, turn in all company property, and report to an office called the "personnel room."
Sakai reported and found a desk, three chairs, an empty locker, and a telephone that wasn't able to call the outside. He was not allowed to bring in any personal belongings, was given no work to occupy his time, no diversions to pass the hours. His instructions were simple: "Report to the office at 8:30 and stay until 5:15. You have 55 minutes for lunch."
Sakai found life with nothing to hold on to a most frustrating experience.
Sure, he could look at the phone, which hardly ever rang; he could gaze at the digital clock, which crawled at a snail's pace. The truth is doing nothing whittled him down. At the end of the day there was no rejoicing, no happiness, because he had no sense of accomplishment, and he had to do it all over again tomorrow.
Sakai started to lose his temper. He slept as little as two hours a night, and could only put ice cream into his touchy stomach. Another worker who also had been sentenced to the personnel room summed it all up: "It's just negative thinking and more negative thinking."
Does that describe your world?
If so, this day, the Holy Spirit comes and says there is more to life than frustration and futility.
The Spirit points us to Jesus and says, "Here, hold on to Him. He is God's Good News of grace."
What are you holding on to? If your answer is anything and, for emphasis, I'll write that word again,anything -- any person other than Jesus -- you're holding on to the wrong thing.
It is far better and far wiser to hold on to Him who has promised never to leave you or forsake you (see Hebrews 13:5). Hold on to Jesus, true Man and true God, who was born one of us so He might resist the evil which corrupts us so completely.
* Hold on to Him who spent His entire life fulfilling God's Law and refusing Satan's temptations.
* Hold on to Him who, with His cry from the cross, brought you back from damnation.
* Hold on to Him who shows in resurrection victory that all who believe on Him will not perish but have life everlasting.
* Hold on to Him who has brought us back to God. Hold on to Him who is God's Good News, bringing hope in birth, forgiveness throughout life, and deliverance from death.
Hold on to Him.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, I give thanks my life is not empty or futile. My risen Savior has granted me joy not just in the next world, but in this one as well. Grant that I may rejoice evermore. This I ask in the Savior's Name. Amen.
In Christ I remain His servant and yours, Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker emeritus of The Lutheran Hour®
Lutheran Hour Ministries
Today's Bible Readings: Jeremiah 3-5 Acts 27:1-26 Jeremiah 3:1 [Adonai] says:
“If a man divorces his wife,
and she leaves him and marries another man,
then if the first one marries her again,
that land will be completely defiled.
But you prostituted yourself to many lovers,
yet you want to return to me?” says Adonai.
2 “Raise your eyes to the bare hills, take a look:
where have you not had sex?
You sat by the roadsides waiting for them
like a nomad in the desert.
You have defiled the land
with your prostitution and wickedness.
3 For this reason the showers have been withheld,
there has been no rain in the spring;
still you maintain a whore’s brazen look
and refuse to be ashamed.
4 Didn’t you just now cry to me,
‘My father, you are my friend from my youth’? —
5 [thinking,] ‘He won’t bear a grudge forever, will he?
He wouldn’t maintain it right to the end.’
You say this, but you keep doing evil things,
you just do whatever you want.”
6 In the days of Yoshiyahu the king, Adonai asked me, “Have you seen the things that backsliding Isra’el has been doing? She goes up on every bare hill and under every green tree and prostitutes herself there. 7 I said that after she had done all these things, she would return to me; but she hasn’t returned. Meanwhile, her unfaithful sister Y’hudah has been watching. 8 I saw that even though backsliding Isra’el had committed adultery, so that I had sent her away and given her a divorce document, unfaithful Y’hudah her sister was not moved to fear — instead she too went and prostituted herself. 9 The ease with which Isra’el prostituted herself defiled the land, as she committed adultery with stones and with logs. 10 Yet in spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Y’hudah has not returned to me wholeheartedly; she only makes a pretense of it,” said Adonai.
11 Then Adonai said to me, “Backsliding Isra’el has proved herself more righteous than unfaithful Y’hudah. 12 Go and proclaim these words toward the north:
‘“Return, backsliding Isra’el,” says Adonai.
“I will not frown on you, for I am merciful,” says Adonai.
“I will not bear a grudge forever.
13 Only acknowledge your guilt,
that you have committed crimes
against Adonai your God,
that you were promiscuous with strangers
under every green tree,
and that you have not paid attention
to my voice,” says Adonai.
14 “Return, backsliding children,” says Adonai;
“for I am your master.
I will take you, one from a city,
two from a family, and bring you to Tziyon.
15 I will give you shepherds
after my own heart,
and they will feed you
with knowledge and understanding.
16 “‘“And,” says Adonai, “in those days, when your numbers have increased in the land, people will no longer talk about the ark for the covenant of Adonai — they won’t think about it, they won’t miss it, and they won’t make another one. 17 When that time comes, they will call Yerushalayim the throne of Adonai. All the nations will be gathered there to the name of Adonai, to Yerushalayim. No longer will they live according to their stubbornly evil hearts. 18 In those days, the house of Y’hudah will live together with the house of Isra’el; they will come together from the lands in the north to the land I gave your ancestors as their heritage.
19 “‘“I thought that I would like to put you among the sons [with inheritance rights] and give you a pleasant land, the best heritage of all the nations. I thought that you would call me ‘My father’ and never stop following me. 20 But like a faithless woman who betrays her husband, you, house of Isra’el, have betrayed me,” says Adonai.’”
21 A sound is heard on the heights,
the house of Isra’el crying, pleading for mercy,
because they have perverted their way
and forgotten Adonai their God.
22 “Return, backsliding children,
and I will heal your backsliding.”
“Here we are, we are coming to you,
for you are Adonai our God.
23 Indeed the hills have proved a delusion,
likewise the orgies on the mountains.
Truly the salvation of Isra’el
is in Adonai our God.
24 But from our youth the shameful thing [idolatry]
has devoured the fruit of our ancestors’ work,
their flocks and herds, their sons and daughters.
25 Let us lie down in our shame,
let our disgrace cover us,
for we have sinned against Adonai our God,
both we and our ancestors,
from our youth until today;
we have not paid attention
to the voice of Adonai our God.”
4:1 “Isra’el, if you will return,” says Adonai,
“yes, return to me; and if you will banish
your abominations from my presence
without wandering astray again;
2 and if you will swear, ‘As Adonai lives,’
in truth, justice and righteousness;
then the nations will bless themselves by him,
and in him will they glory.”
3 For here is what Adonai says
to the people of Y’hudah and Yerushalayim:
“Break up your ground that hasn’t been plowed,
and do not sow among thorns.”
4 “People of Y’hudah and inhabitants of Yerushalayim,
circumcise yourselves for Adonai,
remove the foreskins of your heart!
Otherwise my fury will lash out like fire,
burning so hot that no one can quench it,
because of how evil your actions are.
5 “Announce in Y’hudah, proclaim in Yerushalayim;
say: ‘Blow the shofar in the land!’
Shout the message aloud: ‘Assemble!
Let us go to the fortified cities!’
6 Set up a signal toward Tziyon,
head for cover without delay.
For I will bring disaster from the north,
yes, dire destruction.
7 A lion has risen from his lair,
a destroyer of nations has set out,
left his own place to ruin your land,
to demolish and depopulate your cities.”
8 So wrap yourselves in sackcloth,
lament and wail, for Adonai’s fierce anger
has not turned away from us.
9 “When that day comes,” says Adonai,
“the king’s heart will fail him,
likewise the princes’;
the cohanim will be appalled
and the prophets stupefied.”
10 Then I said, “Oh, Adonai Elohim! Surely you have sadly deceived this people and Yerushalayim by saying, ‘You will have peace,’ when the sword is at our very throats!”
11 “At that time it will be said
of this people and of Yerushalayim:
‘A scorching wind from the desert heights
is sweeping down on my people.’
It is not coming to winnow or cleanse;
12 this wind of mine is too strong for that.
Now I will pass sentence on them.”
13 Here he comes, like the clouds,
his chariots like the whirlwind,
his horses faster than eagles!
Woe to us, we are doomed!
14 Wash the evil from your heart, Yerushalayim,
so that you can be saved.
How long will you harbor within yourselves
your evil thoughts?
15 For a voice is announcing the news from Dan,
proclaiming disaster from the hills of Efrayim:
16 “Report it to the nations,
proclaim about Yerushalayim:
‘[Enemies] are coming from a distant country,
watching and shouting their war cry
against the cities of Y’hudah.’
17 Like guards in a field they surround her,
because she has rebelled against me,” says Adonai.
18 “Your own ways and your actions
have brought these things on yourselves.
This is your wickedness, so bitter!
It has reached your very heart.”
19 My guts! My guts! I’m writhing in pain!
My heart! It beats wildly — I can’t stay still! —
because I have heard the shofar sound;
it’s the call to war.
20 The news is disaster after disaster!
All the land is ruined!
My tents are suddenly destroyed,
my tent curtains in an instant.
21 How long must I see that signal
and hear the shofar sound?
22 “It is because my people are foolish —
they do not know me; they are stupid children,
without understanding, wise when doing evil;
but they don’t know how to do good.”
23 I looked at the land — it was unformed and void —
and at the sky — it had no light.
24 I looked at the mountains, and they shook —
all the hills moved back and forth.
25 I looked, and there was no human being;
all the birds in the air had fled.
26 I looked, and the fertile fields were a desert,
all the land’s cities were razed to the ground
at the presence of Adonai,
before his burning anger.
27 For here is what Adonai says:
“The whole land will be desolate
(although I will not destroy it completely).
28 Because of this, the land will mourn
and the sky above be black;
for I have spoken, I have decided,
I will not change my mind, I will not turn back.”
29 At the noise of the horsemen and archers,
the entire city flees —
some plunge into thickets; others climb rocks;
all cities are deserted; no one lives there.
30 And you, who are doomed to be plundered,
what do you mean by putting on crimson,
decking yourselves with jewels and gold,
enlarging your eyes with eye make-up?
You beautify yourself in vain —
your lovers despise you, they seek your life!
31 For I have heard a sound like a woman in labor,
in anguish giving birth to her first child.
It is the sound of the daughter of Tziyon
gasping for breath as she spreads her hands:
“Woe to me! Everything in me
is so weary before the killers.”
5:1 “Roam the streets of Yerushalayim
look around, observe and ask in its open spaces:
if you can find anyone (if there is anyone!)
who acts with justice and seeks the truth,
I will pardon her.
2 And though they say, ‘As Adonai lives,’
the fact is that they are swearing falsely.”
3 Adonai, your eyes look for truth.
You struck them, but they weren’t affected;
you [nearly] destroyed them,
but they refused correction.
They made their faces harder than rock,
refusing to repent.
4 My reaction was, “These must be the poor,
the foolish, not knowing the way of Adonai
or the rulings of their God.
5 I will go to the prominent men,
and I will speak to them;
for they know the way of Adonai
and the rulings of their God.”
But these had completely broken the yoke
and torn the harness off.
6 This is why a forest lion kills them,
why a desert wolf can plunder them,
why a leopard guards their cities —
all who leave are torn to pieces —
because their crimes are many,
their backslidings keep increasing.
7 “Why should I forgive you?
Your people have abandoned me
and sworn by non-gods.
When I fed them to the full,
they committed adultery,
thronging to the brothels.
8 They have become like well-fed horses,
lusty stallions, each one neighing
after his neighbor’s wife.
9 Should I not punish for this?” asks Adonai.
“Should I not be avenged on a nation like this?”
10 Go through her rows [of vines], and destroy them
(but don’t destroy them completely):
strip away her branches,
they do not belong to Adonai.
11 “For the house of Isra’el
and the house of Y’hudah
have thoroughly betrayed me,” says Adonai.
12 They have denied Adonai,
they have said, “He won’t do anything,
calamity will not strike us,
we will see neither sword nor famine.
13 The prophets are merely wind,
they do not have the word;
the things that they are predicting
will happen only to them.”
14 Therefore Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot says:
“Because you people speak this way,
I will make my words fire in your mouth, [Yirmeyahu,]
and this people wood;
so that it will devour them.
15 I will bring on you, house of Isra’el,
a distant nation,” says Adonai,
“an enduring nation, an ancient nation,
a nation whose language you do not know —
you will not understand what they are saying.
16 Their quiver is like an open grave,
they are all mighty warriors.
17 They will eat up your harvest and your bread,
they will eat up your sons and your daughters,
they will eat up your flocks and your herds,
they will eat up your vines and your fig trees;
with the sword they will beat down
your fortified cities, in which you trust.
18 But even in those days,” says Adonai,
“I will not completely destroy you.
19 And when your people ask, ‘Why has Adonai
our God done all these things to us?’
you are to give them this answer:
‘Just as you abandoned me
and served strange gods in your own land,
so likewise you will serve strangers
in a land that is not your own.’
20 Announce this in the house of Ya‘akov,
proclaim it in Y’hudah; say:
21 ‘Hear this, stupid, brainless people,
who have eyes but do not see,
who have ears but do not hear:
22 Don’t you fear me? — says Adonai.
Won’t you tremble at my presence?
I made the shore the limit for the sea;
by eternal decree it cannot pass.
Its waves may toss, but to no avail;
although they roar, they cannot cross it.
23 But this people has a rebellious, defiant heart;
they have rebelled and gone!
24 They don’t say to themselves,
“Let’s fear Adonai our God,
who gives the fall and spring rains in season,
who reserves us the weeks assigned for harvest.”
25 Your crimes have overturned nature’s rules,
your sins have kept back good from you.’
26 “For among my people there are wicked men,
who, like fowlers, lie in wait and set traps
to catch their fellow human beings.
27 Their houses are as full of fraud
as a cage full of birds.
They grow rich and great, 28 sleek and bloated;
they excel in acts of wickedness
but do not plead on behalf of the orphan,
thus enabling his cause to succeed;
nor do they judge in favor of the poor.
29 “Should I not punish for this?” asks Adonai.
“Should I not be avenged on a nation like this?
30 A shocking and horrifying thing
has happened in the land:
31 The prophets prophesy lies,
the cohanim obey the prophets,
and my people love it that way.
But what will you do at the end of it all?
Acts 27:1 Once it had been decided that we should set sail for Italy, they handed Sha’ul and some other prisoners over to an officer of the Emperor’s Regiment named Julius. 2 We embarked in a ship from Adramyttium which was about to sail to the ports along the coast of the province of Asia, and put out to sea, accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica. 3 The next day, we landed at Tzidon; and Julius considerately allowed Sha’ul to go visit his friends and receive what he needed. 4 Putting to sea from there, we sailed close to the sheltered side of Cyprus because the winds were against us, 5 then across the open sea along the coasts of Cilicia and Pamphylia; and so we reached Myra in Lycia.
6 There the Roman officer found an Alexandrian vessel sailing to Italy and put us aboard. 7 For a number of days we made little headway, and we arrived off Cnidus only with difficulty. The wind would not let us continue any farther along the direct route; so we ran down along the sheltered side of Crete from Cape Salmone; 8 and, continuing to struggle on, hugging the coast, we reached a place called Pleasant Harbor, near the town of Lasea.
9 Since much time had been lost, and continuing the voyage was risky, because it was already past Yom-Kippur, Sha’ul advised them, 10 “Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be a catastrophe, not only with huge losses to the cargo and the ship but with loss of our lives as well.” 11 However, the officer paid more attention to the pilot and the ship’s owner than to what Sha’ul said. 12 Moreover, since the harbor was not well suited to sitting out the winter, the majority reached the decision to sail on from there in the hope of reaching Phoenix, another harbor in Crete, and wintering there, where it is protected from the southwest and northwest winds.
13 When a gentle southerly breeze began to blow, they thought that they had their goal within grasp; so they raised the anchor and started coasting by Crete close to shore. 14 But before long there struck us from land a full gale from the northeast, the kind they call an Evrakilon. 15 The ship was caught up and unable to face the wind, so we gave way to it and were driven along.
16 As we passed into the lee of a small island called Cauda, we managed with strenuous effort to get control of the lifeboat. 17 They hoisted it aboard, then fastened cables tightly around the ship itself to reinforce it. Fearing they might run aground on the Syrtis sandbars, they lowered the topsails and thus continued drifting. 18 But because we were fighting such heavy weather, the next day they began to jettison non-essentials; 19 and the third day, they threw the ship’s sailing equipment overboard with their own hands. 20 For many days neither the sun nor the stars appeared, while the storm continued to rage, until gradually all hope of survival vanished.
21 It was then, when they had gone a long time without eating, that Sha’ul stood up in front of them and said, “You should have listened to me and not set out from Crete; if you had, you would have escaped this disastrous loss. 22 But now, my advice to you is to take heart; because not one of you will lose his life — only the ship will be lost. 23 For this very night, there stood next to me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve. 24 He said, ‘Don’t be afraid, Sha’ul! you have to stand before the Emperor. Look! God has granted you all those who are sailing with you.’ 25 So, men, take heart! For I trust God and believe that what I have been told will come true. 26 Nevertheless, we have to run aground on some island.”
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CHANGE THEIR WORLD. CHANGE YOURS. THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING.
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The Lutheran Hour Ministries
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