Joke of the Week: The last week of Yogi Berra-isms.

“Congratulations! I knew the record would stand until it was broken.”  

“Never answer an anonymous letter.”

When Yogi was managing the New York Yankees, a reporter asked if Don Mattingly has exceeded his expectations that season. Yogi replied, “I’d say he’s done more than that.”

In the dugout someone said to Yogi, “Yogi, you’re ugly.” Yogi said, “So? I don’t hit with my face,”

“Little league baseball is a good thing ’cause it keeps the parents off the streets and the kids out of the house.”

“The future ain’t what it used to be.”

And, lastly, probably the most famous of Yogi’s fractured comments: “It ain’t over till it’s over.”

Next blog: a return to jokes.

News of the Week

The Supreme Court held its opening session for 2017-20018 last Monday. One of the most important cases it will decide this year, the most important in my opinion,  is Masterpiece Cakeship Ltd. vs. Colorado Civil Rights Commission.   

A news outlet describes it this way:

“The big question: Can a baker refuse to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple? More broadly, do businesses based on artistic skill (such as bakers) have the free speech right to refuse to service to someone based on their beliefs?

Who’s involved: A conservative Christian baker from Colorado named Jack Phillips refused to bake the wedding cake of a gay couple, saying it went against his religious beliefs. The couple, David Mullins and Charlie Craig, filed an anti-discrimination complaint with the state, and are now being represented by the American Civil Liberties Union. Phillips’s lawyers from the conservative Alliance Defending Freedom will argue that baking a wedding cake amounts to free expression, and that declining to do so in this case is akin to constitutionally protected free speech.”

This case pits Colorado’s anti-discrimination statute, supposedly based on the equal protection clauses of the Constitution, against a First Amendment right. As I see it, the case could go either way–not that it should go either way. The American zeitgeist, the spirit of the age, is anti-God when it comes to sexuality. Will the justices be swept up in the modern tide? Some of the justices are members of the Catholic Church, which suggests that Mr. Phillips will get several votes. How many? I’m no prophet and can’t say.  I will prophesy that if a similar conflict comes down the pike twenty years from now, barring a great revival in this nation, the Court at that time will side decidedly with the gay rights advocates.

But all human reasoning and guessing based on social, political, and even religious trends is beside the point. We have a sovereign God who answers prayer (no contradiction there.) Let us pray for a good decision for this Christian baker, that God will not give our nation up to even more wickedness that he has already done in his righteous wrath (Romans 1:18-31). The best we can do is in fact the best thing to do: Pray that God will strike down the ruling of the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, restrain evil, and be merciful to us.

Do you agree?

“In a dying civilization, political prestige is the reward not of the shrewdest politician, but of the man with the best bedside manner. It is the decoration conferred on mediocrity by ignorance.” Eric Ambler, A Coffin for Dimitrios.

Just in time for Reformation Day: Luther’s 95 Theses for 21st Century Christians

For several months I have been serializing Saluda Press’s latest book, Luther’s 95 Theses for 21st Century Christians, ahead of publication. At last the book is back from the printer’s and I am pleased to offer it for sale. Go to Buying My Books at the top of the page and follow the instructions. Note: you can buy it at a sale price this month only. Amazon and PayPal will charge you the full price, but I will include a $3 refund with the book when I send it. If you buy through Amazon, type Rogland Luther in the search line, since there are many books on the 95 theses and mine is on page 5  or so of their listings. By typing Rogland Luther you will be brought directly to it.

For those of you who are content to read the book online for free, we continue with our study of the 95 theses in this blog.

37. T 37: Any truly repentant Christian has a right to full remission of penalty and guilt, even without indulgence letters.

This is good news to the person who grieves over his or her sin, who earnestly wishes to be reconciled to God, and who casts himself or herself totally on God’s mercy in Christ. Repentance and faith are the only conditions we must meet to obtain the forgiveness of our sins. Any addition to or subtraction from these two conditions yields “another gospel,” one that deserves condemnation. Luther will condemn both the theory of indulgences and the practice of the selling of indulgences in later theses.

Some years later Luther was to hammer this point home in his commentary on Paul’s letter to the Galatians. Galatians would be a good book for Bible study this month in the days leading up to Reformation Day, October 31. Saluda Press’s book, Galatians: Freedom in Christ: A Study Guide, is a help in studying this book of the Bible that was so important in Luther’s eyes. Go to Buying My Books at the top of this page.