Isaiah 9:6

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

We here at New Reformation Press hope you and yours have a wonderful and joyful Christmas. We give thanks this day for the priceless gift we receive in the birth of God’s only Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ.

It appears there is some kind of glitch in our subcategory system and it has been breaking the links to some of our audio products recently. If you clicked on any of our downloadable products and got a blank page, the links for those products have been fixed. Our developers will be looking into this and we’ll open the Audio subcategories again once all is made right.

I apologize for the inconvenience. Please feel to once again peruse those products and listen to the audio samples.

Merry Christmas!

I’ll call him Pastor X for reasons that will soon be apparent.  A member of his congregation, an Elder who has served the congregation faithfully for many years, has been diagnosed with a very aggressive form of cancer.  The doctors recommend an equally aggressive campaign of chemotherapy.  He is in his late seventies or early eighties and his prognosis is grim.  Nausea induced from his chemo prevents him from eating anything.  He is wasting away and is in incredible pain.

Pastor X approaches another member of his congregation, a man with a terminal illness that is less aggressive but just as deadly as cancer.  This man has a California Medical Marijuana card and legally purchases marijuana to help him cope with the effects of his disease and his medication.  Pastor X says “Elder ______ has cancer and is dying. It’s going to be ugly.”  The man quickly produces half a dozen cigarettes of medical strength marijuana and gives them to his Pastor.  When the Pastor next visits the Elder, he gives him the marijuana.

The preceding story is true, and I suspect happens more often than we might think in California and other parts of the country where medical marijuana is legal.

Another man, a personal friend of mine, has a constellation of illnesses that can leave him bedridden.  He is a devout and confessional Lutheran. He has a great job, a lovely wife and two great kids. He is involved in his congregation on several levels.  His physician had for years prescribed Marinol, a synthetic form of the active ingredient in marijuana, to help treat his illnesses.  Once California legalized medical marijuana, his doctor gave him a recommendation for a medical marijuana card, and he now buys marijuana from a legal dispensary.  It’s much cheaper than the Marinol and far more effective in treating his condition.

As more and more states legalize various forms of pot use, the church is going to increasingly face situations like I have just described.   California appears to be well on the way to full blown legalization.  One of the state assembly bills working its way through our state legislature is entitled AB420.  With a title like that, you can see how this is going to go. (420 is street slang for marijuana.)   Our state is broke, and our elected officials won’t be able to resist the avalanche of tax revenue and jobs legalization will bring.

What is, or what should be the church’s stance on these issues?  I have heard no public discussion in the blogosphere or anywhere else on how the church should deal with the subject.  Granted, it is a complicated and nuanced issue. Medical use and recreational use would seem to be two entirely different subjects.  Once the legal hurdle is done away with, will the church (at least some parts of the church) look at casual use the same way they look at the use of alcohol or tobacco? Is there merit in medicinal use in the eyes of the church?

It is my hope that our best theologians and thinkers will try to get out ahead of the curve and engage the subject in a wise and rigorously biblical way, or at least try to shape the conversation in a constructive way. This issue is running up on us quickly.  Some denominations will automatically be against any use at all. Others will be in favor of any and all use, just because.  I’d like to see the Lutherans engaging the issue. Pastors and theologians hammering out a biblical position, or maybe the CTCR doing a study and issuing a paper, even if it is only a preliminary study.

What do our readers think?  Here are a few questions to get the discussion started.

Do you think the use of marijuana for medical reasons has merit?

Is legalization helpful or harmful to our society as a whole?

If it is legal, is it right for Christians to work in a dispensary or otherwise be involved in the Medical Marijuana industry as a legitimate vocation?

Is Marijuana use sinful in a state that has legalized it?

What are some of the Scriptural passages that would be helpful in shaping our attitudes towards the whole issue?

You may be asking yourself what I personally think about the issue.  I have tried to be non-committal on the whole deal, but I do have several opinions on the subject.

About Pastor X; while he technically broke the law by appropriating marijuana legally obtained by one patient for use by another who was not permitted by law to receive it, I am not going to second guess a Pastor who is trying to help his friend and church member on his deathbed.  Here I would err on the side of mercy.

Likewise, I am not a doctor and would not insinuate my judgment into my friend’s health care decisions arrived at with the help of his doctor.  If the law of the land states that a medication is legal and his doctor prescribes it for him, in my book he is not guilty of sin in the matter.

I do have opinions on the subject of legalization, but they are an outgrowth of my political views, and both Ted and I make a conscious effort to keep our politics off this site in the interest of not placing stumbling blocks in front of the Gospel.  One of the main reasons for this post is to stir up theological discussion so that better minds than mine can shed some Biblical light on the subject and help me and others to have a more fully formed Christian view of the subject.

And no, I do not use marijuana, medical or otherwise, just in case you were wondering.

So, what do you think?

I have been involved in a number of conversations recently concerning infant Baptism. This kind of thing is a never ending cycle on the internet and instead of rehashing everything on several different forums, I thought it might be helpful to put down in writing a defense of infant Baptism addressing several points that proponents of adult believer’s baptism bring up.

The two things that I hear most often are:

1. Baptism is an outward sign of an inward work or action. Its main purpose is as a testimony.

2. Infants can’t have faith and/or repent, therefore they cannot be baptized.

Many refutations of these two points often fail, not because they are not true, but because they resort to a kind of theological shorthand that leaves out several important distinctions and foundational assumptions and results in the two sides talking past each other.

Proponents of believers-only baptism usually argue from the Book of Acts and the Gospels, taking their cues from how they see baptism being used in the Scriptures.

This is correct insofar as it goes. However, in the view of those who champion infant baptism, it does not go far enough.

The Lutherans and other paedobaptists (those who baptize their infants) go further. They look to see what the scriptures say baptism is and does. This is a huge difference. Think about it for a moment.

Our believers-only baptism friends rightly point out that the majority of people people baptized in the Bible have believed and repented before they were baptized. (We would say that the believing centurion and the Philippian jailer probably had children that were baptized with the household.) This is then set in stone as it were, and considered to be the final word on the subject.

The Lutheran way is to ask “What is baptism and what does it do?” and consequently “Given what the scriptures say, how is it properly used and on whom is it used?”

Let’s take a quick tour of the pertinent passages and what they say.

Romans 6:3-5 Baptism into Christ’s death and burial with Him. Unites us to His death and resurrection.

Colossians 2:11-12 Putting off of the sinful nature by the circumcision done by Christ through baptism.

Ephesian 5:26 What else is a “washing with water through word” but baptism?

1 Peter 3:21 Baptism now saves us… Cut it any way you like, but baptism somehow saves.

Because this is what the scriptures say baptism is, then how then is it properly used?

Matthew 28:18-29 Make disciples by baptizing and teaching. (We baptize our infants into teaching and teach adults into baptism.)

See the various instances in the Book of Acts. Note especially the Philippian Jailer (Acts 16:33) whose whole household was baptized.

This is what baptism is and what it does. The crux of the paedobaptist arguments lie primarily in the substance of baptism as scripture defines it, and only secondarily in the examples of its application we see in the Book of Acts. That is why we so often are talking past each other.

So then if baptism joins us to Christ, what about our children, how do we bring them to Jesus? Is it proper to do so?

Mark 10:13-16 Jesus rebukes the disciples who were preventing parents from bringing their infants to Him.

Baptism is the way we bring our children to Him. The New Testament says nothing about infant dedication. Neither does the early Church.

The Scriptures never speak of baptism as a testimony to others. The Ethiopian eunuch and the Philippian jailer and his household were in situations in which there weren’t many witnesses to testify. The scriptures also never speak of baptism as an outward sign of an inward work.

It seems a bit ironic to us that groups that assign to baptism a symbolic or signatory value often become hyper-literal concerning the mode of baptism. So baptism is for them an outward sign of an inward work, and a testimony to others about your relationship with the Lord, but unless you are entirely immersed in the water the baptism is not valid. If the water does nothing, then why is it important to immerse rather than sprinkle?

The second objection we often hear is “Infants can’t have faith and/or repent, therefore they cannot be baptized.”

This second objection makes ‘understanding’ as we define it the one necessary work on our part to be saved. If they are unable to comprehend then the Lord is incapable of granting that infant (or mentally handicapped adult for that matter) the gift of faith.

Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us that faith is a gift given by the Lord. We are loathe to say that the Lord cannot do something; especially when it comes to granting someone saving faith. You end up with a situation in which God is unable to communicate with some part of His creation.

Psalm 22 :9-10 This passage shows that God does indeed grant the gift of faith to infants despite the objections that babies cannot ‘make a decision’ or ‘understand.’

In the book of Jonah, God commands a fish and a vine to do his bidding. In Genesis 9:5 there is that strange passage where the Lord says he will demand an accounting for our lifeblood from every animal that kills a human. So God will hold animals morally accountable for killing humans. There seem to be a lot of things going on behind the scenes between God and His creation that we are not privy to. If He can communicate with fish and vines and hold animals accountable for killing us, I think He is capable of granting the gift of faith to my children through the appointed means of baptism. It is His action towards us.

When someone is baptized, it is not the Pastor that buries someone into the death of Christ and raises them to new life in Christ, but God Himself makes the baptism efficacious. I brought my children to the baptismal font so that they could be buried in Christ’s death and raised to new life in Him. I am confident that God is faithful to His word.

So here, briefly, I have summed up a couple of quick points that I hope will shed some light on why those of us who baptize our children believe that it is scriptural and right. For those interested in a deeper discussion, you can click on the links below for further resources.

Scriptural Baptism by Uuraas Saarnivaara – A very thorough treatment of the subject.

Did My Baptism Count? – Luther on the subject of re-baptism.

The Baptism of Your Child – A great resource for families who are going to baptize their baby. Well put together and informative.

Luke 1:39-45, 56

Now at this time Mary arose and went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.”

And Mary stayed with her about three months, and then returned to her home.

As we go through the season of Advent, I relish the words we get to hear in church every year, praying for the grace of God – that He send us our Deliverer, our Redeemer, our Captain in the fight come to win the battle that we can not.

Our prayers are not in vain. God remembered His promises. He remembered His promise to Abraham. He remembered the words He spoke to Adam and Eve in the garden. And the One who would come to die for the sins of the world would soon dwell among men. The promise would very soon be fulfilled. Hallelujah!

I simply LOVE the joy of this time of year. As the years have worn on, it has become clearer and clearer to me that the joy surrounding Christmas and all that we celebrate throughout the season is truly a foretaste of the Feast to come.

“But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.” Malachi 4:2

When Scripture speaks of arriving in heaven like a calf leaping happily out of a stall, it is that joy of which is spoken, even if what we experience right now is only the merest shadow of an inkling of what is to come.

Psalm 85

O LORD, You showed favor to Your land;
You restored the captivity of Jacob.

You forgave the iniquity of Your people;
You covered all their sin. Selah.

You withdrew all Your fury;
You turned away from Your burning anger.

Restore us, O God of our salvation,
And cause Your indignation toward us to cease.

Will You be angry with us forever?
Will You prolong Your anger to all generations?

Will You not Yourself revive us again,
That Your people may rejoice in You?

Show us Your lovingkindness, O LORD,
And grant us Your salvation.

I will hear what God the LORD will say;
For He will speak peace to His people, to His godly ones;
But let them not turn back to folly.

Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him,
That glory may dwell in our land.

Lovingkindness and truth have met together;
Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

Truth springs from the earth,
And righteousness looks down from heaven.

Indeed, the LORD will give what is good,
And our land will yield its produce.

Righteousness will go before Him
And will make His footsteps into a way.

Come Lord Jesus! Amen! Amen!

For the remainder of December we are holding a 20% Off Sale on all printed material, CDs and DVDs. Many of these items will be discontinued from our catalog in the New Year, and when we sell out we will not be restocking them.

This is a great time to pick up any of the devotional books we carry; they make great gifts. Check them out here.

Music and audio CDs are also sought after gifts. Look at these deals.

We have a final few copies of the DVD ‘Singing the Faith’ the magnificent story of the History of Lutheran Hymnody and it’s impact on the church and the world. Be sure to watch the video clip, you don’t want to miss it.

As I said, many of these items will not be returning to our catalog so take advantage of the sale while you can.