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 2009 ARCHIVE
The
Master’s Minute
1/12/09 from 12/7/09 Welcome
to
the Master’s Minute! It has been
said
that “By the time a man is wise enough to watch his step, he’s too old
to go
anywhere.” TRUE,
when we are speaking of how we humans learn
wisdom by our own experience. But
there is a way to beat the clock to
wisdom, because real wisdom comes as a gift, unearned and unlearned. The
Apostle
Paul writes to Christians in his N.T. letters to the Corinthians and
the
Colossians: “. . . Christ
Jesus, . .
. became for us wisdom from God . . .
.” (I
Cor. 1:30) “In whom are
hidden
all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge.” (Col. 2:3).
So, “The
fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,” according to Prov. 1:7, and Christ, our LORD is the
end
(finishing point) of wisdom! Although
hidden
by the humble circumstances of His Bethlehem birth,
his life, and terrible death, the risen Christ has
revealed His
glory and saving truth to us by the power of His Gospel-Word. With the apostle we proclaim this “hidden wisdom which God ordained before
the ages for the eternal glory of all who believe in Jesus. (I
Cor. 2:7) Today,
the Wisdom of our lives stoops from heaven
to dwell among us and present us with the precious gift of wisdom
beyond our
years, the wisdom that lights our way and calms our fears -- the wisdom
that is
revealed in His precious Word -- the Bible -- a lamp unto our feet and
a light
unto the path that leads to eternal life in Christ!
This
is
Pastor Vance Fossum for the members of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church,
2910 Pella
Ave. in West Columbia. Join us
next
Monday for another Minute with the Master.
The
Master’s Minute
1/19/09
Welcome
to
the Master’s Minute! The
inauguration
of our next American president is just around the corner.
Whether all that is promised by our new
leader is truly good and fits in with God’s plan for our nation, is
known only
to the God of heaven. One thing is
certain: Just as soldiers are needed
to stand up and fight for our country, Christians are needed to get
down and
pray for our country. Regardless
of
their political views, Christians throughout history have been directed
by
these words of the apostle Paul to Timothy:
“. . . pray . . . for everyone – for kings and all those in authority,
that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who
wants all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one Mediator
between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, Who gave Himself as a ransom
for
all.” (1 Tim. 2:1-6a)
As
every
president in our history has learned by experience, no human being has
all the
right answers. And even if a ruler is
surrounded by all the wisdom of a thousand advisors, he remains in need
of the
prayers and intercessions of believing Christians.
We know that as God works out His will in the
affairs of men, His
ultimate desire is to save “all men” from the eternal terrorism of
everlasting
death in hell. Therefore it is the
Christian’s prayer that we may continue to be a nation of laws and
civil
liberty which assures the spread of the truth concerning our Savior
from
sin. There is much more to politics
than meets the human eye! God has
His
agenda too for our nation! Pray that
all our leaders may know and do His will!
This is pastor Vance Fossum for Holy Trinity
Lutheran Church, 2910 Pella Ave., West Columbia 29170.
Join us next Monday for The Master’s
Minute.
The
Master’s Minute
1/26/09
from 2/02/04 Welcome
to
the Master’s Minute! It’s so easy to
take the light of the sun for granted, . . . That is, until the clouds
hang
heavy around us. Then we miss the sun,
desperately! If we saw a hundred stars
fall from the sky in a year, we would not tremble in fear, as
long as our own sun still hung in the sky where God placed it!
The
shining of the sun day after day, year after year is no accident. It tells us something truly wonderful about
our Creator-God: He wants to shine
upon the earth with the light of the sun! What
a happy thing a bright sun is, just because our God is the real
light behind the light of the sun. The
reason the sun comes up in the morning is because the
Lord Himself still wants to dawn on someone’s heart with the Light of
His only
begotten Son, Jesus Christ. For
nearly
two thousand years the Christian Church has called Jesus the Light of light. As
long as the created sun comes up, the God of heaven
is dawning upon the hearts
of sinners with the light of eternal life in His eternal
Son, our Savior! Perhaps
the
clouds of sin and affliction have hung, dark and heavy around you for
some
time. Don’t despair!
Don’t you know that the created sun
still hangs in the sky
behind the clouds? So also the eternal Son, who once hung on the cross
for you, is now just behind your clouds, waiting to break forth upon
your heart
with the joy of salvation through the forgiveness of your sins. So he says: “I AM the light of the
world. He who follows Me shall not walk
in darkness, but have the light of life.”
(Jn. 8:12) This
is pastor
Vance Fossum for Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 2910 Pella Ave., West
Columbia
29170. Join us next Monday for The
Master’s Minute.
The
Master’s Minute
2/02/09
from 2/09/04 Welcome
to
the Master’s Minute! None of
us is
allowed to live in the past; We all are
pushed along by the hands of the clock.
That’s why the most important thing is NOT where
we’ve been, but where
we are going. The
prodigal
son of Jesus’ parable demanded his inheritance and left his father’s
house. But when he had wasted his money
in riotous and wicked living, he longed for the company and love of his
father. With a grieving heart he
decided to return and beg for mercy.
But he had hurt his father deeply.
Would His father forgive him and take him back? Yes! In a heartbeat! For
the important thing
was NOT where this lost soul had been, but where he was going. His father did
not ask him where he had been, or what he had done
with his inheritance. He was not
scolded or punished because he had been running with the wicked. No! When His father saw his son returning,
he ran to meet him. The Father kissed
his lost son and gave him a welcome home party!
Wherever
you
have been, dear listener -- that sin or life of sin is not half
so important to your God as where you are going with it.
He invites you to leave it at the foot
of His Son’s cross. He offers you
entrance to his forgiving grace and love through the Door He has
prepared for
us all -- Jesus Christ! “Today this
gate is open, and all who enter in shall find a Father’s welcome and
pardon
from their sin. The past shall be
forgotten, a present joy be given, a future grace be promised, a
glorious crown
in heaven.” This
is
Pastor Vance Fossum for Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 2920 Pella Ave.,
West
Columbia, 29170. Join us next
Monday
for another minute with the Master.
The
Master’s Minute
2/9/09 from
2/16/04 Welcome
to
the Master’s Minute! By
nature we
are all like the spoiled child who says to his parents: “If
you want me to be happy, then give me the things I want, and let me
do what I please.” God
knows
better: happiness is found in Him, no in things. As
the Psalmist said: “O
LORD, you have put gladness in my heart, in peace I will both lie down
and
sleep, for you alone, O LORD make be to dwell in safety.” While
traveling through Samaria Jesus met a woman at a well where He had
stopped to
rest. She had been seeking happiness in
life by fulfilling the lusts of her flesh.
She had lived with six difference men in succession. Jesus patiently taught her
that nothing
physical or material brings true and lasting happiness -- not even the
water we
need to sustain physical life. “Everyone
who drinks of this water shall
thirst again,” Jesus told her. “But whoever drinks of the water that I
shall give him shall never thirst; the water that I shall give him
shall become
in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”
Suddenly the woman realized that real happiness
was not to
be found in her self-seeking pursuits, but only in the good news of
forgiveness
and peace in Christ. When
God works faith in this Savior in a person’s heart, a well of living
water
springs up continually to satisfy the thirst for forgiveness and life
with
God. Every day the fountain of God’s
forgiving grace in Christ brings peace of conscience and the assurance
of
safety in his hands. Finally, like an
unending stream, this living water floats us safely to the crystal sea
of
heaven’s glory. This is Pastor Vance Fossum for Holy Trinity
Lutheran Church, 2920 Pella Ave., off Methodist Park Rd.
in West Columbia. Join
us next Monday for another minute with the Master.
The
Master’s Minute
2/16/09 Welcome to the Master’s Minute! Ivanka
Trump, daughter of Donald Trump, once remarked concerning her father’s
third
wife: “He will do whatever makes him
happy!” Mr. Trump is not alone. A bumper sticker in the early 1970's gave
this hedonistic advice: “If it feels
good, do it!” Several
years
ago, people expressed concern about the “Rolling Stones” lyrics or
behavior at
the Super Bowl half-time show. But Mick
Jagger said: people need to “be
cool,
and take life as it comes.” While
there
are many celebrity-heads whose foolish and often shameful ideas are
picked up
and praised by the majority, Christians reject them by considering just
two
important questions: What is true? and What is good?
God has answered
both of these questions in His timeless Word, the Bible, which says
among other
things: “Flee youthful lust: but follow righteousness, faith, love,
peace with
them who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”
(2 Tim. 2:22). Yet
few are the churches in our free-swinging
culture who will always defend what is biblically true and good and
renounce
what is false and evil. Everyone
knows
that to call sin, “sin,” won’t bring people in! Still,
this
is what our Savior wants! For He came
to “call sinners to repentance” that
He might save them from eternal death (Matt.
9:13) . He didn’t come to call
those who “do whatever makes them happy,” or those who are “cool” about indulging the desires of their
flesh. We sinners must know and feel
our own sin and shame before we will ever be led to call on His saving
name! This
is
Pastor Vance Fossum for Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 2920 Pella Ave.,
off
Methodist Park Rd. in West
Columbia. Join us next Monday for
another minute with the Master.
The
Master’s Minute
2/23/09
revised from 2/23/04 Welcome
to
the Master’s Minute! One day Jesus
fed
5,000 people with two fish and five loaves of bread!
And the Jewish people began to dream about what a
wonderful King
He would make. But Jesus hurried away
from them! Why because He did not
come
to be the Bread King they wanted. People today still look for the wrong
Messiah. The world still seeks, not the
peace of Jesus Christ, but a piece of the proverbial pie; NOT the God
of
heaven, but the gadgets of this world! If
Jesus had
really come to abolish taxes or wipe out poverty and disease, do you
think the
Jews would have had him crucified?
No! He would have been
the
Messiah of Materialism, and his kingdom would have been “of
this world.” If
I could promise a sack of gold coins to everyone who came to our
services next
Sunday morning, our church would be filled to overflowing!
But then, I would not be a preacher of the
gospel of Jesus Christ, and we would not have the right to be called a “Christian Church.” The
purpose of these radio broadcasts is not to offer our listeners a
Messiah of
Hedonistic Materialism, but the Messiah of Heavenly Mansions. None of us needs a Deliverer of this world’s
goods! We need a Deliverer FROM this
world and all that is perishing with it.
Jesus said: “Do not work for the
food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life,
which the
Son of Man shall give to you.”
Come,
get to know your Beautiful Savior the way He wants you
to know Him! This
is
Pastor Vance Fossum of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, off Methodist Park
Rd. in
West Columbia. Join us again next
Monday for another Minute with the Master.
The
Master’s Minute
3/02/09
revised from 3/01/04 Good
Monday
morning, and welcome to the Master’s Minute!
It’s that time of year again:
People are talking about Christ’s terrible suffering
on the cross. “The
Passion of the Christ” – Mel Gibson’s
movie will
once again move people to tears by the graphic scenes of
Christ’s suffering and death. But
let’s be
careful that we see clearly through
the tears. For the message of Christ’s
real-life passion is NOT one’s passion FOR Christ. Those Jewish women who walked beside
Jesus on his way to the cross had a passion
FOR Christ. They beat their breasts
and wailed loudly. But their tears were misspent.
Christ turned to
them and
said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep
for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.’”
In
less than 40 years a terrible judgment would fall upon Jerusalem at the
hands
of the Romans because they rejected the Christ when He came to them. Jesus says: Save
your tears for that
day. Your tears for Me are
useless! The
excessive grief of those women came from
mere human sentiment. They were not
weeping because of their own sins or the sins of David’s nation that
had
rejected David’s Son. So
also, many
of the tears shed during the Lenten season, will be misspent and
useless. If you weep while thinking
of Christ’s
suffering or passion, may your tears come not from sentimental
emotion,
but from thoughtful devotion as one
who knows that the Father punished His own eternal Son for YOUR
SINS and
the sins of everyone ELSE that we might join Him in heaven! This was God’s will and revealed truth
long before it was displayed in movie theaters.
Come! Celebrate it with us!
I’m Pastor Vance Fossum for Holy Trinity
Lutheran Church, off Methodist Park Rd. in West Columbia.
Please join us again next Monday morning
for another minute with the Master.
The
Master’s Minute
3/09/09
revised from 3/08/04 Good
Monday
morning, and welcome to the Master’s Minute!
Why do you become upset when someone snubs you or
fails to
recognize your talents? It’s pride!
Pride leads us to run down the person who isn’t part
of the
conversation. Pride causes us to
compare ourselves to others when we know it’ll make us look good. Pride also keeps us from apologizing to
our
wives and husbands. Pride
used to
be called one of the “seven deadly
sins.” But today people
seem to
be proud of being proud. Professional
athletes
even refer to themselves in the third person when they are being
interviewed,
as if their name is worthy of special reverence and recognition. But man’s pride always places him in
competition with God, and that’s not so good!
For when I’m proud of my own goodness or greatness,
I’m really saying
“NO!” to the help and salvation which God offers in His Son, Jesus
Christ. Jesus
said, “Let a man DENY HIMSELF and take up His
cross and follow me.” This means
that I must deny any worthiness in myself.
The Christian who penned “Rock of
Ages” did not collect “merit badges,” or boast of being “morally
clean,” or
“morally straight.” Christians don’t
make a practice of boasting; rather they deny
themselves when they sing from the heart:
“Nothing in my hands, I
bring, simply to Thy cross I cling. Not
the labors of my hands, could fulfill Thy laws demands . . . . Foul
I to
the Fountain fly, wash me, Savior, or I die.” I’m
Pastor Vance Fossum for Holy Trinity
Lutheran Church, off Methodist Park Rd. in West Columbia.
Join us again next Monday for another
Minute with the Master.
The
Master’s Minute
3/16/09 revised
from 3/15/04 Welcome
to
the Master’s Minute! Every
year at
about this time people argue about who is to be blamed for the death of
Jesus
of Nazareth, the Christ. A careful
reading of the Bible clearly shows that the Jewish leaders envied and
hated
Jesus because of His teachings. But
they had no power to kill him, so they delivered Christ to the Roman
Governor,
Pilate, demanding that the Christ be crucified.
So, both the Romans and
the Jews are to be blamed for Christ’s death.
And yet it was NOT
the Jewish leaders, Pilate or even the Jewish mob that brought about
Christ’s
terrible death. When Peter tried to
prevent the mob from capturing Jesus in the Garden, Jesus said to him: “Put up your sword. . . Shall I not drink
the cup MY FATHER HAS GIVEN ME?”
And again, when Pilate asked Jesus, “Don’t
you know that I have power to crucify you or to release
you?” Jesus answered: “You
could have no power at all against me, unless IT WERE GIVEN
YOU
FROM ABOVE!” So,
God the Father gave His Son the
cup of death; and He gave Pontius Pilate the power to help His Son
drink the
cup of death by crucifixion! The
prophet
Isaiah and the rest of the Bible tell us the truth behind the PASSION
OF THE
CHRIST: “He was wounded
for our transgressions, He was bruised for our
iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His
scourging we are healed. All of us like
sheep have gone astray and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us
all.” God did this
to His Son, Who
was willing to suffer and die for the
sins of all people. This is Pastor Vance Fossum for Holy Trinity
Lutheran Church – CLC, 2920 Pella Ave. in West Columbia,
29170.
Please join us again next Monday morning for another
Minute with the
Master.
The
Master’s Minute
3/23/09
revised from 3/22/04 Welcome
to
the Master’s Minute! A very
interesting thing happened in the Garden of Gethsemane when the mob
came to
take Jesus captive. You don’t see it
in the movies; but when His enemies
said that they were looking for Jesus of Nazareth, and Jesus answered, “I am He,” they
were immediately “thrown
back to the ground”! Read
about it John’s gospel. Clearly,
no one dragged Jesus kicking and
screaming to His death; He went willingly
to His death. Four
or five months before He had told His enemies and His disciples, “No man takes my life from Me, but I lay it
down by myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take
it
again.” This
is what Isaiah prophesied concerning the Messiah 700 years
before He came in the person of Jesus:
“He was oppressed and He was
afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; like a lamb that is led to
the
slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He
did not
open His mouth.” Jesus
knew
the horror of what lay ahead of Him in Jerusalem. So,
why did He go so willingly to His death?
He tells us in John chapter 10: “I am
the Good Shepherd,” He says.
“The Good shepherd gives His life
for the sheep.” Paul
writes in 2 Corinthians that “God made Him who knew no sin
to be sin for
us, . . . .“ In
other words, Christ paid the hellish
penalty we all deserved because of our sins.
Now who can doubt the sincere love of our Savior,
when He promises, “Come unto ME all you who labor and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest . . . for your souls.” I’m Pastor
Vance Fossum for Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 2920 Pella Ave. West
Columbia,
29170. Please join us again next
Monday morning for another Minute with the Master.
The
Master’s Minute
3/30/09 revised
from 4/05/04
(adapted from a sermon by R.E. Wehrwein)
Welcome
to
the Master’s Minute! Can you imagine
a
more Uncomfortable position than hanging from a cross like a painting
on a
wall, being suspended by nails in the hands and feet?
And yet in this most Uncomfortable state the Savior
of the world
spoke the most astounding prayer in the history of the world: “Father, forgive them.” Now, I
ask
you, could there be anything uncomfortable about kneeling at the foot
of His cross in true repentance of our
sins? As a friend of mine once reminded
his congregation many years ago, there
are no iron nails awaiting our bended knees at the cross.
The iron we
must contend with is in our hearts --
stubborn, self-righteous hearts. This
iron has a way of spreading to our knees as we try desperately to
squirm about
and justify our sins before God by our own excuses or works. And spiritual
arthritis is eternally fatal! If any
of you
thinks that kneeling at the cross of Christ in humble, repentance and
trust is
UNCOMFORTABLE, that’s a problem of your own making.
No one who looks to Jesus will ever find a frown on
His face. He is the one who says to all
people: “I endured the torture for you, to
make the cross a place of comfort and
safety for sinners. Look, there are
no
nails at the foot of the cross! God
does not put nails in your knees! The nails are all in Me!
There are no nails left -- they are all used
up in MY hands and MY feet.” Don’t
you
see, the area around the cross has been swept clean!
There are no nails there, but plenty of room for
more knees. I’m
Pastor
Vance Fossum for Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, off Methodist Park Rd.
in West
Columbia. Join us again next Monday for
another Minute with the Master.
The
Master’s Minute
4/06/09 revised
from 4/12/04 Welcome
to
the Master’s Minute! The Easter
egg has long been a part of the
celebration of the new life of spring.
But the Christian’s Easter celebration it’s not
about new life from
dormant life, but life from the dead. It
only
happened once in human history. Nearly
2,000 years ago a man died and was buried who
was entirely without sin. Since
it
is sin which keeps a person in the grave, the Holy Son of God could not
be held
by death. Christ’s body could not decay
in the grave; He had to be restored
to life in the resurrection because He never sinned! Good
for
Him! But God loved His Son. He did not cram him deep down death’s throat
just to prove that He was holy. God
delivered up His holy Son for
us! “Christ
was
delivered because of our offenses, and was raised again because of our
being declared righteous.” -- Romans 4:25.
The
Bible trumpets this Resurrection-Day truth!
2 Corinthians 5 says that
Christ “canceled the written code with its
regulations that was against us and stood opposed to us; he took it
away,
nailing it to the cross.” Christ has been delivered to eternal death in
order to remove the list of our sins against God! He nailed that list
to the
cross. This means that because of
Christ, God has canceled the sins and the guilt of all people! THAT’S
the glorious reality of Easter! Believe
it! Rejoice and be comforted by every
thought of His resurrection from the dead, for He who loves you and
gave
Himself for you has promised: “Because I
live, you shall live also!”
This
is pastor Vance Fossum for Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, off Methodist
Park Rd.
in West Columbia. Join us again next
Monday for another Minute with the Master.
The
Master’s Minute
4/13/09
revised from 4/19/04 Welcome
to
the Master’s Minute! Man has
always
desired to be immortal. The ancient
Egyptians saw the beetle rise up from its pile of dung and in their
temples
they hung the golden beetle as a symbol of life to come.
Man saw the butterfly come out in radiant
glory from its dark cocoon, and he carved the butterfly on his tomb as
a symbol
of the resurrection. Man saw the dead
branches of the trees sprout new leaves in the spring and considered
this to be
a sure sign of the new life man would have after death. But
the
beetle, the butterfly, and the trees only SEEM to be dead.
They are not signs or seals of life after
DEATH! Thanks be to God, you and I
don’t have to dream of immortal life, or look in vain to nature for
some sign
of life after death in mere symbols. We’ve been given EASTER SEALS! We
have the empty tomb, the folded grave
clothes, and the word of a living Savior from sin! The empty tomb and the folded grave
clothes are like
God’s wagons rolling out of death’s darkness to seal to us the fact
that Christ
is risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them who sleep”
IN
HIM. (1 Cor. 15:20) Do your sins
trouble your heart and conscience so that you are afraid to die? Then hear the words of forgiveness and life
from our risen Lord Jesus Christ, Whom God the Father sacrificed as
payment for
the sins of the world. Behold the
Easter seals of the empty tomb and the folded grave clothes! Believe the words of your risen Savior
who
promises: “Because I live, you shall live
also.”
This is pastor Vance Fossum for your friends at Holy
Trinity
Lutheran Church, off Methodist Park Rd. in West Columbia.
Join us again next Monday for another Minute
with the Master.
The
Master’s Minute
4/20/09
revised from 4/26/04 Welcome
to
the Master’s Minute! Curiosity
is a
mark of intelligence in man and animal.
Curiosity is also dangerous --
It killed the cat when it tried too hard to see into
the depths of the
well! So
also men
drown themselves when they use the dim light of human reason to search
the
depths of God’s works and ways. A woman
whose 7-year-old son dies of cancer concludes that God is cruel and
unjust. A Jewish Rabbi who also loses a
son to
cancer reasons that God was unable to
prevent it! But
God is not cruel or unjust, nor powerless at any time!
The problem is with human reason.
It’s okay to wonder Why God is doing this,
or permitting that. But
curiosity must not ask, “How CAN God do or permit
such a
thing?” For then we make
ourselves
God’s critics and judges, and we may end up rejecting His Word and His
righteous ways! Far better to
stuff
the curiosity ,and say with Paul in Romans 11:33: “O the
depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of
God! How unsearchable are his judgments
and his ways past finding out!” To
rely on the light of our own reason is like looking out the windows of
our
homes at night when the only source
of light is INSIDE our homes. We
need
the light of grace which is like the light of day. Like the sunlight,
the light of grace does NOT come from us,
but to us from above and
reveals the way things really are. If
we rejoice in the light of grace and forgiveness that is found in the
Gospel of
Christ, then we will be satisfied that all God’s work is “perfect”
and all His ways are “right.”
This
is
pastor Vance Fossum for Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 2920 Pella Ave.
in West
Columbia, 29170. Join us again next
Monday for another Minute with the Master.
The
Master’s Minute
4/27/09 revised
from 5/2/04 Welcome
to
the Master’s Minute! Soon another “Earth-Day” will
be observed in our nation. Public
school children will be taught that it’s the earth, not
man who needs the most attention.
Many publications The ‘94
Winter
Olympics and various publications since then have promoted the idea
that, if
only the environment could be made right, man would be made right too,
and
world peace would follow. The theme of
Al Gore’s book, Earth in the Balance:
Ecology and the Human Spirit is
that man cannot be spiritually fulfilled until he rejoins
himself to his environment. Many
people still think that man’s biggest problem is separation
from his environment. The
Bible
teaches the exact opposite: Man’s biggest problem is not separation from
creation, but separation from His Creator.
Read Genesis. There was
no pollution in the world until man disobeyed God and fell into sin. But Romans 8 tells us that after the fall of
man, God subjected the creation to
futility. Man’s environment was
delivered into the bondage of decay along with man.
Now the whole creation groans and labors, waiting
eagerly for
the Day when it will share in the glorious liberation of the believing
sons of
God. That
day is
coming soon! None of us knows when
his
place in this earthly environment will change forever through death. Our hope lies not in getting in touch with
creation which passes away, but in getting back to our Creator who is
eternal, by becoming and remaining
“believing sons of God.” The good news
is that “God was in Christ
reconciling the world unto Himself, not counting
their trespasses against them!”
Therefore “be reconciled to God.
For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our
places, so that in Him
we might become the righteousness of God” and be joined to Him once
again. This
is Vance
Fossum for Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, off Methodist Park Rd. in West
Columbia. Join us next Monday for
another Minute with the Master.
The
Master’s Minute
(adapted
from a devotion by C.M. Gullerud)
6/14/04 Welcome
to
the Master’s Minute! Have you
ever
wanted so much to get to the bottom of a hill that you tried to run down it? Haste
makes waste. On
one 20 below-zero Minnesota day I changed a tire so fast that I put it
on
backwards and had to remove it again!
Haste makes waste. But
not
always. David prayed in Psalm 70: “Make haste, O God, to deliver me! Make
haste to help me, O LORD . . . . I am poor
and needy; make haste to me, O God! O
God, You are my help and my
Deliverer; O LORD, do not delay.” This was a call for haste when
delay
could have been fatal. Peter
was
sinking in the waters of the Sea of Galilee when he cried out, “Lord, save me.” Immediately
the Lord stretched out his hand and caught
Peter. This danger called for
help,
ASAP! But then there’s
the thief on
the cross -- a man about to die a horrible death.
He prayed, “Lord, remember
me when You come into your kingdom.” Did
Jesus
wait to hear the death-rattle in his throat?
No! He said at
once: “Truly, truly, I
say unto you, today you shall be with Me in
paradise.” When
we need help, or forgiveness of sins, we need it now, because we don’t
know
whether there will be a tomorrow! Once
as
Jesus passed a little man sitting in a sycamore tree, he said,
Zachaeus, make haste and come down; for today I
must stay at your house.” Zachaeus
didn’t stay up in his tree. Instead,
he made haste and came down to
receive Jesus gladly. Then the Lord
said,
“Today salvation has come to this
house.” Yes, there are time when
haste is called for; when haste is a matter of life and death. Jesus would make haste to you dear
listener. May You make haste to Him!
This
is Vance
Fossum for Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, off Methodist Park Rd. in West
Columbia. Join us next Monday for
another Minute with the Master.
The
Master’s Minute
5/11/09
from 6/21/04 Welcome
to
the Master’s Minute! Whatever a
person
trusts or believes in above all else is his religious faith. But one’s religious faith must have reliable
evidence that what it believes is true, otherwise it’s nothing more
than
superstition. The poor evolutionist
trusts in a godless theory of origins
without scientific proof. He did not
witness the origin of man or any creature.
He has no fossils to show a single, unmistakable
transitional-form
between separate species. Neither can he
set up an experiment showing how one species has
changed into another
over billions of years. The
evolutionist has no evidence for his scientific theory. He simply believes it to be true. So,
his godless theory becomes like a
religious faith without evidence. In
other words: superstition! The secular Humanist also places his trust
in natural man as god. The Humanist looks
for evidence that man is
worthy of this trust. But the
humanist
finds that he must use words and philosophy to invent an image of man
that he
can trust. The trouble is that man
keeps showing himself to be exactly what the Bible says he is: corrupt
and full of sin. The humanist has
no evidence that he can unfailingly trust another human being, or even
himself
as god! The religion of Humanism is
also superstition! God be
praised for the evidence and sure foundation of our faith in Jesus
Christ! Not only do we have His word
that He is our
Savior, but we have the evidence that His word is truth:
The
tomb is empty! “He is risen as He
said.” (Matt. 28:6) This
is the
good news, the evangel, proclaimed in
Word and song each at week Holy Trinity
Lutheran Church, off Methodist Park Rd. in West Columbia.
Join us next Monday for another Minute with
the Master.
The
Master’s Minute
5/18/09 from 6/28/04 Welcome
to
the Master’s Minute, presented to you by the members of Holy
Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church! Be
careful of us and all those who call
themselves “evangelical.” Years
ago Phil Donahue asked one of his
guests whether she wanted to “evangelize”
others regarding her weight-loss methods.
To be evangelical is not about
preaching weight-loss methods. And
watch out for those who call themselves evangelical,
while disgracing this biblical term by
teaching and supporting faith-destroying errors that
contradict the
Bible. Biblical
and
Christian terms are always being trivialized by the world and raped of
their
real meaning. What has happened to
words such as “love,” “grace,” or “heaven” and “hell” through the years? And what about the world’s spin on “sin” or
“truth”? The
word “evangelical” comes from the New
Testament Greek word which means “to
announce good news.” The dictionary
defines “evangelism” as the zealous preaching of the Gospel
of Jesus Christ. An evangelical
church is about the proclamation of
the good news of forgiveness in Jesus Christ, and
nothing else -- not
it’s political view on the war in Iraq, or social causes -- not
anything but
the good news of Christ! Matthew,
Mark,
Luke, and John are not called “the
four Evangelists” because they were kind and gentle men who never
called
sin, “sin;” but because their biographies of Jesus Christ told the good news concerning our Savior from
sin.
Evangelical is a
precious word to Christians. It speaks
of what we are and what we do in Christ.
This is Vance Fossum for Holy Trinity Evangelical
Lutheran Church, off
Methodist Park Rd. in West Columbia.
Join us next Monday for another Minute with the
Master.
The
Master’s Minute
5/25/09 from 7/5/04 Welcome
to
the Master’s Minute! How do you
LOOK? I mean, How do you see
life? We know that people
look at things differently. For
instance,
how many people do you know who look at their diseases and hardships as
great
blessings? Some do, like the Apostle
Paul. He was afflicted with a chronic
ailment that he called a “thorn in the
flesh.” He often prayed
that he
might be healed. But the Lord only
promised that His “grace” would be sufficient for Paul to bear his
burden. How did Paul then look
upon his suffering?
In the
Bible,
we see that Paul’s faith in the Savior would not allow him to dwell on
his
disease or any of his hardships, as if
God were punishing him. Instead, he
was always thanking God for everything! How can we explain this rather strange
LOOK at one’s own suffering and hardship?
Paul explains himself and all like-minded Christians
in Romans
8:28: “All things work
together for good for those who love God who are the
called according to His purpose.” The Christian LOOKS for his God not only in
the good times of his life, but especially
in the “bad” times. Sooner
or later
he sees his Savior and Redeemer- God working FOR him, even as
the
billowy waves of life’s stormy sea seem to threaten.
“Fear not!” The
Lord says in Isaiah 43, “for I have redeemed you; I have
called you
by your name; you are Mine! When you
pass through the waters I will be with you! . . . .” LOOK
for your Savior in His Word, and you
will see Him in your life! This
is
Pastor Vance Fossum for Holy Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, off
Methodist
Park Rd. in West Columbia. Join us next
Monday for another Minute with the Master.
The
Master’s Minute
6/1/09 from
The
heathen
used to say: “Our god is with us!”
What they really meant was that they had
placed their idol on a wagon and taken it with them into the battle. It was not the choice of the idol made of
wood or stone to be dragged about the countryside, or to sit on a shelf
in the
temple or home of the worshiper. In
fact, the idol had no will or power to help its worshipers by its
presence. But
the
Christian worships the only true God, Who alone has power to do battle
for the
souls and bodies of mankind whom He loves.
The Eternal One chose to enter into battle against our enemies —
Sin, Death, and Satan — in order to save us from all evil forever. The Son of God chose to
suffer hell and die the death of the cross for our
sins! And the Holy Spirit chose to reveal the only
Savior of man through His Word, which He
breathed into human writers without error and has recorded for us in
the
Bible. All
our worship services at Holy Trinity are
dedicated to Him Who alone is God from eternity, the
God Who IS and
therefore is able to save poor sinners through the revelation of
Himself in His
Son, Jesus Christ, Who gave Himself as a “ransom for all.”
Next
Sunday is
“Trinity Sunday.” Come, join us in
the
worship of the only true God – The God
Who IS truly with His believing people,
because He alone IS, from eternity –Father, Son, and Holy Spirit! This
is
Pastor Vance Fossum for your friends at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church,
2920
Pella Ave., in West Columbia, 29170, off Methodist Park Road. Join us again next Monday for another
Minute with the Master.
The
Master’s Minute
6/08/09 from 7/26/04 Welcome
to
the Master’s Minute! When natural disasters strike, someone
dies in a car accident, or many are crushed by a falling
building, people ask: “Why did this accident
happen?” Forty years
ago a
sociology professor at the University of Minnesota wrote that “an increasing number of Americans consider
death to be the result of personal negligence or of an unforseen
accident. ..
as something that does not have to happen.”
(Dr. Robert Fulton) But
that’s not
what the Apostle Paul wrote to the Roman Christians 2,000 years ago! Paul didn’t speak
of death as an accident
to be avoided, but as the wages
we earn by our sins! According to
Romans 5, death is not an event, or a
circumstance, but a process which
entered the world through Adam’s sin and infects everyone.
We may avoid all “carcinogens,” polluted
air and water, jet planes, food
preservatives; we could live in a
bubble of perfect air – yet dying would continue, because we can’t
avoid
OURSELVES! We can’t jump out of our mortal
flesh which holds the germ of sin’s decay.
Hiding
from
the real cause of death won’t help! We
NEED the heroic efforts of a second Adam who could cancel the power of
death
and hell in us by giving His perfect self as the sacrifice for our sins. The good news is that God
has already provided such a Man for us.
Jesus says in John 11: “I AM
the resurrection and the life.
Whosoever believes in me, though he were dead, yet
shall he live, and
whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die.”
This is our joyful confidence, dear friends. We want the Lord Jesus to be YOUR hope and
joy too! We preach a living Savior
to
a dying world! This is Pastor
Vance Fossum for Holy Trinity
Evangelical Lutheran Church, off Methodist Park Rd. in West Columbia. Join us next Monday for another Minute with
the Master.
The
Master’s Minute
6/15/09
from 7/12/04 Welcome
to
the Master’s Minute! I could say, “Good morning!” But
you might ask: “What
so good about it?” Perhaps
you’ve
had a “run-in” with your boss, an argument with your wife, or your
conscience
is accusing you. Often, a simple, “Good morning,” seems so hollow to our
troubled hearts. But
what If I
greeted you this morning with the same greeting my congregation
receives every
Sunday in our worship service: “Grace to you and peace.” Please notice: We wish you grace
first, then peace. That’s the order
of the words in every case where they are found together in the N.T.
letters of
the Apostle Paul -- grace, then
peace. Peace
of
conscience cannot be ours until we know by faith that our sins are
forgiven. But no work of ours can do
away with sin, so that we may have peace of conscience.
Only the free
grace of God has totally canceled sin through
the perfect life, sufferings and death of Jesus
Christ. The
world
can’t understand the truth that salvation from sin comes by God’s
gracious
forgiveness in Christ. Therefore the
world can’t help us overcome a guilty conscience and find true, inner
peace. Those who count on their
human
reason or will power, only plunge
themselves into greater misery of conscience.
But
when I say, “Grace and peace be to you,”
this is no empty wish. For
as Paul wrote to the Galatians: “This grace and peace is
FROM God the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has already given Himself for our sins
that He
might deliver us from this present evil age.” This is Pastor Vance Fossum for Holy
Trinity
Evangelical Lutheran Church, off Methodist Park Rd. in West Columbia. Join us next Monday for another Minute with
the Master.
The
Master’s Minute
6/22/09 from 7/19/04 Welcome
to
the Master’s Minute! In the days of
Jesus a “Doubting Thomas” stood out
in a crowd. But scepticism is so
popular in our day that doubting Thomases
are too numerous to be singled out from the crowd --
indeed, they make up
the crowd! Atheistic
science
has convinced modern man that whatever cannot be visibly demonstrated
to our mind and senses, cannot be true or
real -- Like the Russian Atheist who orbited the earth 40 years
ago, and
declared that he couldn’t see god
from his spaceship. Yet
some are
beginning to feel the coldness of this material age, the hopelessness
of a
scientific theory which presents a universe of meaningless bodies, and
originating from the fortuitous dance of mindless molecules. Some, from the crowd of doubting
Thomases
are warming up to the truth that there always has been a real,
almighty,
personal and loving, Creator-God. Are
you
secretly hoping that there IS such a God who truly cares for you? We are here to declare this reality to
you. We offer you this promise from the
Lord Jesus Christ: “Reach your finger
here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into
My
side.” Jesus said to Thomas: Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” Then
Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you
have
believed. Blessed are those who have
NOT seen and yet have believed.” Believe the word of the God, Who not only
comforts sinners, but saves them
eternally! This
is
Pastor Vance Fossum for Holy Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, off
Methodist
Park Rd. in West Columbia. Join us next
Monday morning for another Minute with the Master.
The
Master’s Minute
6/29/09
from 8/2/04 Welcome
to
the Master’s Minute! I have a riddle
for you. Listen carefully and see if
you can guess the answer. I am
not a person, nor any object you can
touch, but I am as black as night, and I can touch you.
I come in many forms, but never too soon,
nor too late. Nothing has caused more sadness in the world than I have,
and no
one has held more people captive than I have.
For some I am a moment, but for most I am forever. What am I? If
your answer is DEATH, you are correct.
What is blacker, more feared,
more sorrowful, or more enslaving than death? . . .
How would you like
to laugh in the face of Death?
That’s what Paul invites us to do in his letter to
the Corinthian
Christians. Listen:
“O
death, where is your sting? O grave,
where is your victory? The sting of
Death is sin, and the strength of Sin is the Law, but thanks be to God
Who
gives us the victory through Jesus Christ, our Lord.” How
can anyone be ashamed of the only power which allows the sinner to be
free of
death’s grasp, and even permits him to laugh death in the face? So it is that we are not ashamed of the Good
News of Jesus Christ; even though all the world should despise the
Bible as a
weak and beggarly thing, we will not!
We know it reveals the Gospel of Jesus Christ as “God’s power which alone works salvation from sin’s death.” By these weekly broadcasts and our
personal ministry we want to make it possible for you also to laugh at death through the victory which
God offers to the world in His Son, Jesus Christ.
This
is
Pastor Vance Fossum for Holy Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, off
Methodist
Park Rd. in West Columbia. Join us next
Monday morning for another Minute with the Master.
The
Master’s Minute
7/06/09 from 8/16/04 Welcome
to
the Master’s Minute! Before college
students left campus for summer vacation, a chapel speaker asked them: “What if the mechanic who checked your car
did his job as carefully as you did yours during the last semester? What makes you think that he
should work
harder at fixing your car than you did in studying for your exams?” You
see, we
expect others to do the proper thing
when we are not willing to do it ourselves.
We are shocked by political scandal and corruption
in high places. And yet we cheat on
our insurance claims,
income tax, expense accounts, and coffee breaks!
The
pharisees
in Jesus’ day, who always washed their hands before they ate, asked
Jesus why
His disciples did not! To those who are
always looking at the behavior of others, Jesus would say:
“You watch
out!” “You repent!” “You go!”
See to it that you enter
the strait gate!” This is a hard
thing
for the Big Operator within us who wants to hold others
to a high standard of behavior, as if we are operating at
that level ourselves. But
“the
angels in heaven rejoice over one sinner who
repents.” And Jesus came to call
sinners to repentance, not righteous people.
If someone asks, “Who needs this physician from
heaven?” I must answer: ME
first! Not you, but
ME. THEN YOU.
This
is
Pastor Vance Fossum for Holy Trinity Lutheran Church -- CLC, off
Methodist Park
Rd. in West Columbia. Join us next
Monday morning for another Minute with the Master.
The
Master’s Minute
7/13/09
from 8/23/04 Welcome
to
the Master’s Minute! During the past 30
years or so, anthropologists and
sociologists have claimed that the Christian religion is a product of
human
invention, that the idea of God is of
no practical use, except to make us feel good.
Marxist Communists used to call Christianity “the
opiate of the
people” -- an hallucinatory drug of no
real value, and even harmful. Many
studies
in recent years have concluded otherwise.
Regular attendance at religious worship provides a
protection against
all kinds of social and physical ills.
Life expectancy at age 20 is significantly related
to church
attendance. Religious worship seems to
reduce the probability of divorce, of depression, and
suicide. Religious
worship seems to make men better fathers.
The list goes on. In the 5th
century, long before
the humanistic theories of our day, St. Augustine said, “you have made
us for
Yourself, O God, and our hearts are restless, until they rest in You.” We believe that all the evidence agrees
with Augustine’s hypothesis: man
needs God. God is not the invention of
religious druggies or superstitious
fanatics. He is the real Source and
Goal of all that is truly good about life in this world.
But
more than
that: In the person of Jesus Christ,
God has become our eternal rest and life in heaven.
There are no scientific studies to describe the
everlasting
benefits of that life to come. But we
do have this description from God’s word:
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has
prepared for
those who love Him.” (1 Cor. 2:9) My
friends,
your Savior God is as real as your heartbeat, and your life when it
stops! This is Pastor
Vance Fossum for Holy
Trinity Lutheran Church -- CLC, off Methodist Park Rd. in West Columbia. Join us next Monday morning for another
Minute with the Master.
The
Master’s Minute
7/20/09 from
8/30/04 Welcome
to
the Master’s Minute! It was
just a
little insect -- one of those nervous gnats with frantic wings that
prevent the
legs from walking. As it flitted here
and there on my keyboard, I was reminded of the frantic behavior of
modern
man. Unlike
the
gnat which has no soul and no sense of a life hereafter, we humans do
have a
soul and we ought to be concerned about the future of our immortal
souls. But sadly, we are flitting
about doing everything
we can for a body that perishes. If only the food which preserves the life of
the soul could be purchased at a fast-food drive-in, then perhaps there
would
be more interest. You know, a “Sonic
for the Soul.” But
the incarnation of the Son of God, revealed
in the Scriptures is not an instant
breakfast drink. Neither are any
of the other mysteries of the Gospel of Christ designed to be
spiritually eaten
“on the run.” The Word of God is
food for the eternal life of the soul, and
therefore must be carefully chewed by our minds and hearts. You DO
have
the time, my friend. In fact, your
days and years on this earth have been given you for this very purpose,
that
you might have a “time of grace” in
which to come to the knowledge and faith of your only Savior from sin
and
eternal death. Don’t say, “I can’t take the time to read the
Bible.” Your God has already
given
you the time for this pursuit above all else.
Take the time He has given you now,
that He may also give you the timeless treasures of life in heaven.
This
is Pastor Vance Fossum for Holy Trinity Lutheran Church -- CLC, off
Methodist
Park Rd. in West Columbia. Join us next
Monday morning for another Minute with the Master.
The
Master’s Minute
7/26/09 Welcome
to the
Master’s Minute! I passed a
church
sign the other day that read, “Flip flops
are welcome!” My thoughts
went in
two different directions. “Flip
flops” might refer to those
whose religious views change with the
prevailing winds. They are akin to
the
politician who will say anything to get the popular vote.
“Flip
flops” in this sense stand for nothing and fall for anything. To be
a “flip flop” in
matters of Christian doctrine is not good. According
to Paul’s letter to the
Ephesians, those who teach the word of God are to “speak the truth (of
God) in
love,” so that Christians may “no longer be children tossed
back and forth with every wind of doctrine, but that they
might grow up unto Christ in all things.” If
we who are teachers in the church
welcome people who are “flip flops,” then
we are to faithfully teach God’s Word, so
that they may grow
strong and not waver in their confession of their Savior.
On the
other
hand, “flip flops” might
be those open-toed sandals that
go “flip flop” –
you know, the foot
apparel we can both wear and hear! To
welcome “flip flops” may
add unwelcome noise as people enter
the church. It’s hard to step
quietly
in flip flops! And
yet, we
do indeed welcome the people who
would wear flip flops to church. We
invite all people, regardless of their foot-covering, because we want
to clothe
every one in the garments of the
Savior’s righteousness. We invite
all people to come and hear the message of
forgiveness and life in Christ, as we encourage all people
to have their feet covered with the Gospel of peace (Eph. 6:15) This
is
Pastor Vance Fossum for Holy Trinity Lutheran Church -- CLC, off
Methodist Park
Rd. in West Columbia. Join us next
Monday morning for another Minute with the Master.
The
Master’s Minute
8/03//09
from 9/06/04 Welcome
to
the Master’s Minute! Are you worried
that some terrorist might blow you up or gun you down in a shopping
mall or an
office building? – Or that you might
drink a glass of water in the morning and die that evening because a
terrorist
organization succeeded in poisoning our water supply?
Who can possibly know what might come from the
ruthless hands of
murderous men? How
shall we
live our lives in peace and hope each day?
In the midst of these anxious times the Christian
still sings: “What God ordains is always good. His loving tho’t attends me;
no poison can be in the cup that my
physician sends me. My God is true;
each morn anew I’ll trust His grace unending, my life to Him
commending.” (Lutheran Hymnal, # 521) When
he meets
God at the bloody feet of His crucified Son, every Christian knows that
Jesus
Christ has already drunk the last drop of the cup of death for every
sinner. There can no longer be real
poison in any cup or pill or drink in
the Christian’s life. For having been
saved from eternal death and
damnation by the blood of God’s own Son, the Christian knows that
divine grace
will go with him each and every day until he reaches the heaven
prepared for
all those who trust in Jesus.
Christians have lived in this peace throughout
history. This is the “peace
which surpasses all (our) understanding,” (Phil.4:7) -- it
boggles the mind! Still,
it’s the
peace ON EARTH of which the angels sang at Jesus’ birth.
We
hope it comes to your mind in your
own anxious moments. If we can help,
let us know. This
is
Pastor Vance Fossum for Holy Trinity Lutheran Church off Methodist Park
Rd. in
West Columbia. Join us next Monday
morning for another Minute with the Master.
The
Master’s Minute
8/10/09 from 8/4/2003 Welcome
to
the Master’s Minute! Most people
think
that DEATH is the greatest problem we face in life;
but not the French philosopher Sartre. He wrote that “death
is absurd and we ought not think
about it.” Can
you imagine saying to a dying cancer
victim: “Ah, death is
ridiculous, and untrue.
Put it out of your mind!” Many
practice what the philosopher preached.
Others spend their lives running from death. But that’s like the man who tried to
escape the oncoming train
by running down the track! . . . Death is
stone-cold reality! Death
doesn’t vanish like a bad dream when
we awaken! Christ
did
not ignore death or propose stupid theories about how to deal with it; He simply did away with its power -- our
sins! And then proved that He had conquered death for us when He arose
from the
dead. He said to His believing
disciples: “Because I
live, you shall live also.”
This is the cornerstone and message of the
Christian Faith. Christianity is not
the solving of the
problems of poverty, race, and war.
Instead, it’s the only solution to our basic problem
-- sin and death! The
unbelieving philosopher was a fool to laugh at death.
Only the Christian can do that!
“O Death, where is your
sting?” We say with Paul.
“O
grave, where is your victory? The
sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God who gives us the
victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” This
is
Pastor Vance Fossum for Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, off Methodist
Park Road
in West Columbia. Join us next Monday
for another minute with The Master.
The
Master’s Minute
8/17/09 from 9/15/2003 Welcome
to
the Master’s Minute! When people give
gifts to others, they often give something they
think their loved one ought have or ought
to enjoy, rather than what the person really wants.
Man treats God the same way.
We think that God should appreciate whatever we
decide to give Him, and
we religiously give Him an occasional visit to church, a somewhat
decent life,
a little money, our turn at ushering, or the mechanical observance of
church
ritual. How
terribly
wrong we are to think that the Almighty God needs or ought to
appreciate anything that we decide to give
Him. God wants our love and devotion to
His Word. And we can’t even decide
to
give this to him. Rather, your
heart, your sincere love and devotion are seized
by Him, when He convinces you by the preaching of the
cross that He has
loved you FIRST and saved you from everlasting death by the blood of
His own
Son!
Only when God has convinced you that ALL your
works and services are
nothing, and that He alone has saved you through the
work of Jesus, ONLY
THEN does He cause you to love Him from your heart.
Jesus
says of the self-righteous: “This people draws near to me with their
mouths, and honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.” Remember, dear listener, the Lord of God
heaven is not interested in receiving the “DUES” you decide to
pay Him
as a civic or churchly deed. He
desires your heart’s love and devotion because of the good news that He
loved
you first and has become your salvation, GREAT AND FREE! This
is Pastor Vance Fossum for Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, off Methodist
Park
Road in West Columbia. Join us next
Monday for another minute with The Master.
The
Master’s Minute
8/24/09
Welcome
to
the Master’s Minute! A
certain
church believed that “good fellowship” meant always serving coffee
after the
sermon. One day the pastor asked a little boy in the congregation if he
knew
why they served coffee.
“it’s to
wake up the people before they drive home!” the boy answered. Many church-goers think that biblical
“fellowship”
is a friendly cup of coffee or the like.
But long before “fellowship” was simply “enjoying
one another’s company
in the church,” the Lord defined it in
the Bible as a “sharing” or “joint-participation” of something, far
deeper. Luke in the Book of Acts, and
John in his first epistle, speak of fellowship as a sharing
of the teachings, faith, and walk of the apostles who
also had a “fellowship” with “the Father
and with His Son Jesus Christ.”
This “fellowship” is
rooted in the Gospel of Christ, and carried to the hearts of
believers by the Holy Spirit. This is not merely a “fellowship” over a
cup of
coffee, but around the cup of the Lord’s Supper.
This is a fellowship shared by those who are
united in the same faith and confession.
We do believe in a real fellowship
of
believers based on agreement in the
teachings of God’s Word, not the
sharing of a cup of coffee.
What about
serving coffee after the sermon in order to wake
people up? I have a better idea: Every sermon
should be a “wake up call” to the hearer!
Every sermon should bring the wake up wind of the
Holy Spirit to
penetrate head and heart with the truth of salvation in Jesus Christ,
for then
our “drive home” will lead to heaven.
Sorry, no coffee after the sermon.
This is
Pastor Vance Fossum for Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, off Methodist
Park Road
in West Columbia. Join us next Monday
for another minute with The Master.
The
Master’s Minute
8/31/09
Welcome
to the Master’s Minute! Did
you see
the news report about the the horse
that “played chicken” with a moving car?
The horse trotted toward the car, walked up the
hood, broke through the
windshield, and continued across the top of the car!
It was a
“freak” accident, right? But the driver
of the car must have thought: “What’s
this all about? Why me?
Why now?”
When such out-of-the
ordinary things happen, our first thought is “Why?” When they happen to
us, the question becomes “Why me?” Then, if we have suffered somehow from
the “accident,” we want to know “What
have I done to deserve this?”
To whom
are we addressing the “why’s” and the
“whats”? To
God, of course!
Who else is in charge of the charging horses that
slam into us in
life? So, what is God thinking when He
does the unexpected with us? Those
who
trust in Christ as their Savior have a good idea of what He is
thinking, for He
tells us in Jeremiah 29:11: “I know the thoughts that I think toward
you, . . . thoughts of peace and not
of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
Our God
is always in charge of His thoughts toward
us; there is no unbridled “horsing around,” and there
are no “freak
accidents,” as the Christian travels along the path of life. God is never out to hurt us.
Instead, all His thoughts toward
us are thoughts of peace, so that His every thought toward us brings “a future and a hope” in Christ, our
Savior.
This is
Pastor Vance Fossum for Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, off Methodist
Park Road
in West Columbia. Join us next Monday
for another minute with The Master.
The
Master’s Minute
9/07/09
Welcome
to the Master’s Minute! Let me
share
with you some thoughts on Ephesians 5, where Paul sets forth the ideal
relationship between husbands and wives.
In Eph. 5:25 Paul says, “Husbands,
love (your) wives, just as also Christ loved the church and gave
Himself for
her.” In this entire
chapter of
Ephesians, the apostle has been
thinking of only the highest term for “love” – AGAPE – and has used
this term
to define the Christian “walk” throughout the chapter.
So also in v. 25 AGAPE
-love is used to define the kind of love husbands are to
have for their wives.
This is
not the love of mere affection, not a mushy, sentimental love,
Hallmark-card
love. Many husbands proudly hand the
wife a birthday card right on time, and yet they never lend a hand and
are hard
on their wives most of the time! The
love we are to have for our wives is a strong, “manly” love that wants
the best
for one’s wife without regard for himself, a love that does not only
talk the
talk, but walks the walk. This
is the
love that does himself in for the
wife, because Christ, the God-Man gave Himself for the
church.
So also husbands are to give themselves for
their wives, not just to them, but for them. Moved by
Christ’s desire to save us all, the husband is to love his to sacrifice
himself
to “save” his wife. He is to put his
love into action for her, even if it means that he must humble
himself,
help with the housework, seek her forgiveness, require her obedience,
or do
whatever else is necessary to serve and save her.
This
is Pastor Vance Fossum for Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, off Methodist
Park
Road in West Columbia. Join us next Monday
for another Minute with The Master on this important matter.
The
Master’s Minute
9/21/09
Welcome
to the Master’s Minute! As a
Christian marriage continues the husband is to continue loving his wife
as Paul
says in Ephesians 5. But what do we
see so often in marriages? The
husband
begins to take his wife for granted and doesn’t go out of his way to
“win her”
as he used to. He no longer opens the
door for her as he once did. When
the
children arrive, the mother is instinctively there for them; but the
husband-father is sometimes too scarce.
When he
chooses to spend more time with the guys, and less with his wife, she
begins to
feel that he doesn’t love her as much as before.
When their marriage was played like a symphony with
her husband
directing, she was his first violin,
now she plays second fiddle!
Although she knows the part the Composer intends for
her, even the best
musician can lose respect for her conductor (v.
18, and Eph. 5:33).
When this
cooling takes place, it is often,
though not always, the fault of the husband-head.
He is to be continually
Loving her, even if the passion
and the affection are not what they used to be!
If the doing of this
Love fails, the “dustiness” of a
marriage between two sinners flies up.
Even the slightest wind can bring an irritating ash
to the eye of the
husband! If the wife of such a
husband begins to “blow” back at him, the husband is not to assume
automatically that the fault lies with her.
Rather, it may be that the Love he
is to have for her is cooling. This is Pastor Vance Fossum for
Holy Trinity
Lutheran Church, off Methodist Park Road in West Columbia.
Join us next Monday for another Minute with
The Master on the role of man in marriage.
The
Master’s Minute
9/28/09
Welcome
to the Master’s Minute! According to
Ephesians 5:24, Christian husbands are to love their wives “even
as Christ loved the Church.” Here a man must be careful to
understand that in this way he is to be “submitting
himself” to his wife for her
sake (Eph.
5:21).
The
husband is win his wife’ love and
submissiveness by his acts of love and kindness, before and even
without his
wife’s loving consideration of him. Christ
never asked the Church to come and worship Him before
He humbled Himself on the cross and opened heaven’s door for her. Neither should the husband require his wife to bow in humility before he opens the
car door for her. He is her
“head.” The head leads; and
where the head goes, the normal body
follows.
But
taking the lead in winning his wife’s
submissiveness is not a loathsome
“duty” for the Christian man. Neither
does he seek to win her submission in order to get something from her
in
return. Rather
the Christian husband can’t help
himself. For if he
is “giving
thanks always for all things to God the Father” because of Christ (Eph.
5:20), he has a song in his heart
which he keeps singing to his dear wife.
While “singing and making melody” in
his
“heart to the Lord,”
he will also be “speaking” to his wife “in psalms
and hymns and spiritual
songs.” (Eph. 5:19) Call
it a love song, if you want;
She’ll pick up the tune!
When a
wife receives such self-sacrificing, submissive, savior-love, she finds it much easier to accept her husband's
headship, just as the Christian Church is moved to love and serve
Christ
because of His total sacrifice of
Himself for us.
This is
Pastor Vance Fossum for Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, off Methodist
Park Road
in West Columbia. Join us next Monday
for another Minute with The Master on the role of man in marriage.
The
Master’s Minute
10/05/09
Welcome
to the Master’s Minute! In
Ephesians 5:28, Paul tells us that “Husbands ought to love their own wives as
their on bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. . . .” But this verse has been so
mis-represented by the “self-esteem” advocates, that many men have been
led to
believe that they are to present their wives to themselves for
themselves!
We
have seen Paul’s admonition presented as if he is saying:
“Love your wife so that you may reap the
benefit for yourself.” “You
must
love yourself before you can love
your wife or anyone else”! But
Christ
did not love His spiritual body – the Church --so deeply and totally
because He
loved Himself first! Every
Christian
husband ought to recognize that Paul is encouraging him to present his wife to
himself, because she is
truly part of him;
in fact, she is his body – that
which completes him and makes the two one!
We did
not choose our bodies, yet we naturally “love” our bodies and carefully
devote
ourselves to the well-being of each and every part.
The man who freely chooses a woman to be his wife,
and makes his
wedding vow before the Lord, is freely choosing her to be his own body,
to be “one flesh” with
him.
As the
“ISHAH” (Hebrew for “WOman”) comes
from the “ISH” (Hebrew for “man”), so
let the Christian husband learn that the “s” in “she” stands for the
submission
of the “he.” Such a husband will thoughtfully consider
the needs of his wife before His own. If
he is unable to do both, He will cover her
cold feet before he covers his own head, so to speak.
This is Pastor Vance Fossum for Holy
Trinity Lutheran Church, off Methodist Park Road in West Columbia. Join us next Monday for another Minute with
The Master on the role of man in marriage.
The
Master’s Minute
10/12/09
Welcome
to the Master’s Minute! We
continue
our study of man’s role in marriage, according to Ephesians 5. When the Christian Groom stands at the altar
altar with his Bride at his side, he gives thanks to God for bringing
her to
him. But he is also presenting her to
the world as his own choice. He
freely and willingly promises
faithfulness to her, to love and cherish her, to protect and serve her
in
sickness and in health “as long as they both shall live.”
As
beautiful and pure as his bride is on the day of the wedding, not only
in her
appearance to the world, but as he sees her in his own heart, so he is
to
present her “to himself” as
his own body for as long as they
“both shall live.”
In
continually presenting his wife to himself, as the Lord presents the
Church to Himself, the husband is acknowledging
the truth that although he and his wife
are two, yet they are joined in one, even as Christ
is joined with His specially chosen body, the
Church (“We are members of His body, of
His flesh and of His bones,” Paul says.) .
So also Adam
presented Eve
to the world as his own choice, freely
and willingly promising faithfulness to her when he said: “This
is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be
called Woman, because she was taken out of man. Therefore
shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall
cleave to his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” (Gen 2:23) Adam understood that he
was to “leave father and mother,” and devote himself to his wife as his
own
choice, clinging to her alone because she was both taken from
him and given to him.
This is Pastor Vance Fossum for Holy
Trinity Lutheran Church, off Methodist Park Road in West Columbia. Join us next Monday for another Minute with
The Master on the role of man in marriage.
The
Master’s Minute
10/19/09
Welcome
to the Master’s Minute! What did
Adam
mean in Genesis 2, and what did Paul
mean in Ephesians 5 by the statement, a man “shall cleave to
his wife”?
In the
Book of Proverbs the
inspired writer of divine wisdom
speaks of the total devotion on the
part of the husband toward the wife he has received from the LORD:
“A prudent wife is from the LORD”
– Prov. 19:14;
“He who finds a wife finds a good thing,
and obtains favor from the LORD” –
Prov. 18:22; “Let your
fountain be blessed: and rejoice with
the wife of your youth.” – Prov.
5:18.
One of
God’s greatest earthly gift to men is a wife, especially a good wife,
as
described in Proverbs 31. The Christian
husband is reminded in James 1:17 that his wife is a “good
and perfect gift” from
the “Father of lights.” He
must remember this fact, especially
when he is tempted to think otherwise.
For as
long as they live, the husband is to keep himself and his “fountain”
to himself, that is, to his own body – his wife. “Let
the husband render to his wife the affection due to her”
– as Paul directs in 1Cor. 7 – and
to her alone for as long as they both shall live.
Indeed, let him find blessing and
happiness as he never tires of the wife he chose in the strength of his
youth; let him rejoices “with
her”
and seek no other substitute, neither pictures
nor prostitute![1]
This is
Pastor Vance Fossum for Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, off Methodist
Park Road
in West Columbia. Join us next Monday
for another Minute with The Master on the role of man in marriage.
The
Master’s Minute
10/26/09
Welcome
to the Master’s Minute! In the
context of Ephesians 5, the husband’s submission of himself to his
wife, in
order to serve and to save her in every way that he is able, is no easy
thing. This love does not
flows
naturally from an erotic love or even that genuine affection that can
even make
the marriage of the unbelieving last.
This AGAPE-love is taught and brought only by the
Gospel of Christ to
the heart of the Christian husband of whom Paul is speaking.
The depth
and breadth of this love is described in 1Corinthians 13.
However,
it is shown to the wife only when it has been first instilled and improved in her husband’s heart by
the love of
Christ for him.
In a 1525
sermon Luther spoke of what this would mean for the faithful husband:
"He
should not consider her a rag on which to wipe his feet; and, indeed,
she was
not created from a foot but from a rib in the center of man's body, so
that the
man is to regard her not otherwise than his own body and flesh ... you
should
... not love her as much as you love your own body. Nay, nay, your wife
you
should love as your own body. . . .
" (Quoted by Ewald M. Plass, This
Is Luther Concordia Publishing House, 1948, p. 257). “Greater
love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends,” Jesus
says to us in John 15:13. Believing
husband,
you are Christ’s “friend,” but your
wife is your body. As
He laid down his life for you, and now
lives for you, will
you not, if you
would die for her, also live not only
with her, but for her?
This is
Pastor Vance Fossum for Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, off Methodist
Park Road
in West Columbia. Join us next Monday
for another Minute with The Master on the role of man in marriage.
The
Master’s Minute
11/02/09 from 10/30/06
Welcome
to the Master’s Minute! After
hearing
or reading words from the mouth and mind of man, do
you ask yourself “Is this
really true?” When
Jesus told Pontius Pilate that He had
come into the world to “testify to the
truth,” and that “everyone who is of
the truth” hears His voice, Pilate did not ask himself, “are the words of Jesus true?” Rather,
he asked: “What IS truth?” (Jn 18)
This is the lazy response of many in
the churches today. Early Christians, like the Bereans in the Book of
Acts,
“searched” the O.T. “Scriptures” to find out whether their teachers
were
telling them the truth about Jesus. But it seems that most church-goers
today
believe what they hear, even if it does not agree with the Bible. They lean back with Pilate and ask, “What is truth?” as if they
can’t be sure and must leave it to others to tell
them what is true and what is not. Does anyone remember the Lutheran Reformation and what it was all
about? Historians agree that the Lutheran Reformation
was one of the
greatest events of the past 1,000 years.
On October 31st in
1517,
Martin Luther, stood against the religious lies of his day, dusted off
the Bible, translated it in the language of the common people, and
returned it
to them as the source of saving truth
from God our Savior.
Those who
do not encourage their followers to trust the words of the
Bible as
Luther did, but try to sound smart and ask, “What
is truth?” are not serving Jesus
Christ at all! For it is Christ who
says, concerning His heavenly Father’s Word in the Bible: “Your
Word IS truth”! (John
17).
This is
pastor Vance Fossum, Holy Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, off Methodist Park Rd., West Columbia. Join us next Monday for another Minute
with
the Master.
The
Master’s Minute
11/09/09
Welcome
to the Master’s Minute! Although the
Bible tells us that God ordained the husband to be the “head” of his
wife (Eph. 5:22 ff.) , she was taken from his
side – not his foot – and she is “of his
flesh and bones. Therefore the
husband chooses to “cleave to her,” keeping
her where God put her – close to his
heart.” In this way the husband
willingly and continually submits himself to his bride.
“And
lo, I am with you always, . . . .” Jesus said to His
Bride,
The Church. (Matt. 28:20)
Christ,
the Church’s Head, has chosen the individual members of His Church,
promised to
be with them always, and daily tends to their needs.
When we fail Him, He still treats us as His own “special people” (2 Pet 2:9). And
don’t we know it? For “the love of God
has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to
us” (Rom. 5:5) by
our Bridegroom!
Writing
to her daughter, one Christian wife described her husband’s love for
her in
this way: “Your father treats me as if I
am special to him.” This is the AGAPE “action - love” that the husband
is to have for his wife, just as Christ always has for His Church,
which He “nourishes and cherishes.”
Doesn’t
every wife want her husband to cherish her as someone very special? So husbands are commanded to love – nurture
and cherish their wives as their own bodies, because their wives are
their own bodies. Given time and the
grace of Christ in the home, a wife will be drawn more and more to her
husband as she is nurtured
and cherished by him as someone
special beyond any other human being, including even himself, her
husband-head.
This is
Pastor Vance Fossum for Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, off Methodist
Park Road
in West Columbia. Join us next Monday
for another Minute with The Master on the role of man in marriage.
The
Master’s Minute
11/16/09 Welcome to the Master’s Minute!
In
Colossians 3:19 we reads that the husband, as the head of his wife, is
to love
his wife and not be bitter toward her.
Here the Apostle Paul gives direction regarding –
the ups and downs experienced
by two sinners who must deal with each other on a day-to-day basis as
they live
together under the same roof. “Familiarity breeds contempt” also
in marriage, for no matter how
much “in love” they may be, neither partner is perfect in the exercise
of The AGAPE -Love they are to practice in
connection with the Lord.
The
husband, as the head of the wife, must take the lead also here. As Christ did not love us once, but
keeps
on loving us, in spite of our many sins, our whining unthankfulness and
discontent, so also the husband is to keep
on loving his wife. As long as
the
charcoal is hot the grill produces no dusting of ashes; but with the
cooling of
the coals the ashes fly everywhere and into the eye with the slightest
wind.
In early
marriage when all forms of love may be “white hot,” the husband, is
only
directed by our Lord to exercise the AGAPE-love.
That’s because only this Love makes a marriage what
God intends
it to be, and while passion
(EROS) and affection (PHILOS) may
arise quite naturally,
the
AGAPE-love finds its source only in the husband’s Christ-connection, as
Scripture teaches. If the
unconditional AGAPE-love which moved
Christ to give himself for sinners continues to work in the heart of
the
husband, he will not be “bitter” toward
his wife, no matter what!
This is
Pastor Vance Fossum for Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, off Methodist
Park Road
in West Columbia. Stay tuned next
Monday for another Minute with the Master on the role of man in
marriage.
The
Master’s Minute
11/23/09 Welcome to the Master’s Minute!
We
continue last week’s “marriage” minute from Colossians 3:19: “Husbands,
love your wives and do not be bitter toward them.”
As a marriage continues the husband must
continue to love
his wife as Christ directs by command
and by example.
But what
do we see so often in marriages? The
husband
begins to take his wife for granted and does not go out of his way to
“win her” as he used to. He no longer
opens the door for her as he once did.
When the children arrive, the mother is
instinctively there for them;
but the husband-father is sometimes too scarce.
If the
husband to chooses to “get away from it all” by spending more time with
the
guys and less with his wife, she begins to feel that he doesn’t love
her as
much as before. When their marriage
was played like a symphony with her husband directing, she was his first violin, now she plays second
fiddle! Although she knows the
part
the Composer intends for her, even the best musician can lose respect
for her
conductor (v. 18, and Eph. 5:33).
When this
cooling takes place it is often, though not always, the fault of the
husband-head. He is to be
continually Loving her, even if
(dare we say it?) the passion and the
affection are not what
they used to be! If the doing of this Love fails, the
“dustiness” of a marriage between two sinners flies
up; and the slightest wind can bring an irritating ash to a man’s eye! If the wife of such a husband begins to
“blow” back at him, it may be that the
Love he is to have for her is cooling.
This is
Pastor Vance Fossum for Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, off Methodist
Park Road
in West Columbia. Stay tuned next
Monday for another Minute with the Master on the role of man in
marriage.
The
Master’s Minute
11/30/09 Welcome to the Master’s Minute!
Let me
conclude our consideration of Colossians 3:19, which says: “Husbands,
love your wives and do not be bitter toward them.”
When a
wife blows back at her husband, or even appears to do do, the husband
ought not
respond with bitterness toward
her. In Ephesians 4:31
Paul uses the same Greek noun to speak of bitterness
(bitter frame of mind) in
connection
with words like wrath, anger, loud quarreling, and evil speaking. In that passage Paul says, “(Don’t
be bitter like this), but be kind to one
another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God in Christ Jesus forgave you.” (Eph.
4:32) In
the passage before us, whether the husband is justifiably
angry with his wife or reacts to her words and actions out of a sense
of
personal guilt, makes no
difference; He is to be
Loving her and not be bitter
toward her.
To keep
such Love for his wife, the husband must remain in touch with the
Composer of
the music which he and his wife are to play together without
even an
occasional discord. Again and again
the husband himself must return to His Savior’s side to be warmed by
His Word
of grace and forgiveness, so that his love for his wife does not grow
cold. Only then will he be enabled to keep on drawing his own beloved close to
himself, “cherishing” her with warm
words of Love and forgiveness, rather
than bitterness. This is Pastor Vance Fossum for Holy
Trinity Lutheran
Church, off Methodist Park Road in West Columbia. Stay
tuned next Monday for another Minute with the Master on the
role of man in marriage.
The
Master’s Minute
12/07/09 Welcome to the Master’s Minute!
Husbands,
is your wife “a weaker vessel” than you are?
Listen carefully to this passage from 1Peter 3:7: “Husbands,
likewise, dwell with them (your wives) according to understanding,[1]
as with a weaker vessel, a woman; and give
honor to her as a fellow heir of the grace of life,
so that your prayers
may not be hindered.” (translation,
v.f.)
This verse comes at the
end of a long section
in which Peter encourages us to be submissive
(HUPOTASSOMAI – military term regarding rank; here to put oneself
under) to one another.
Just as the wives are to be “submissive to” their
“own husbands,”
(3:1-6), so “likewise,” husbands are to be submitting themselves to the
needs
and service of their wives.
Peter
says that husbands are to “dwell
with” their wives “according
to understanding.” “To dwell with” one’s
wife means much more than living under the same roof.
Many husbands and wives carry on in this way,
appearing to have a
happy marriage, while doing great harm
to one another. The verb
(SUNOIKOUNTES), actually means to “participate with” or be connected with” in
this context. In Philippians 4:14,
Paul uses this same verb to commend the Philippians for taking a sympathetic interest in his needs while
under house arrest in Rome. Peter
is
laying the responsibility for “holding down the fort” at home with the
husband,
first! He is to be in a sympathetic, participating
role with the wife when it comes to their life together in
the
home. Just think of the
possibilities!
This is
Pastor Vance Fossum for Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, off Methodist
Park Road
in West Columbia. Stay tuned next
Monday for another Minute with the Master on the role of man in
marriage.
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