“Seeing things from god’s “mission-victory” point of view!”

Word from the Center
Written By Dr. Gregory Seltz

When it comes to the things that really matter in life and for life, God has accomplished all of it for us in Jesus Christ. Do you believe that? Well, from the Bible’s point of view, that is the issue. Solving the seminal problems of humanity, our brokenness and sin, is an issue in need of a “God-sized” solution. With the person and work of Jesus— His life, His death, and His resurrection—those issues are overcome for “salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” This victory is offered to all those who put their faith in God. Only God himself can redeem us and restore us to Himself, as well as to one another, and he has done so through Jesus, the Lamb of God. Politics can’t save us, technology can’t save us, and economics can’t save us. Only God can do that and He has done so! Revelation helps us see clearly how things are and how things will be when Christ is the center of our lives.

That’s why it continues to amaze me that there are people who think that places like Washington, D.C., can make that “God-sized” solution happen. After five years in our nation’s Capital, I’m even more astonished by the posturing and bodacious promises of certain leaders here. They “guarantee” community and personal fulfillment, even while violating God’s clear commands via their public policies. I even heard one politician calling her party the “Matthew 25 Caucus,” as if government can accomplish what God’s people and God’s church are called to do. Politics becomes the “siren” call to put our trust in them. Unfortunately, we all tend to put our faith in people or things that can’t or won’t come through when it really counts. Today we tend to put our “faith” in government institutions, policies, business, wealth, personal status, and even our own best efforts. The Bible warns us that such things are always a recipe for disappointment and disaster.

As human beings, when all is said and done, people want to love and be loved. We want a life that matters, especially to those who are dear to us. We want to be “bonded” together by someone or something that really holds through thick and thin, for now and forever.

Our lesson for today shouts with a loud voice where that “salvation” is to be found. It is offered to all who put their faith in Jesus Christ and His message of forgiveness, life, and salvation accomplished through His cross and resurrection. This common truth is a reality that not only binds us to God, but also to each other. The offer in Revelation is more than a hopeful thought or wishful thinking. The Apostle John actually reports that He is “seeing” the way things will be in heaven because of the person and work of Jesus. People from every tribe and every nation are seen bonded together in community and love, because “salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb,” Jesus. That’s a message of hope for all, and one that we will one day see for ourselves. Amidst all of the broken promises of today, God’s “mission- victory” offers a real community that lasts. Put your faith in Jesus. He won’t disappoint; that’s a promise.

PRAYER: Dear Lord Jesus, help us to see with “eyes of faith” the reality of community and love that only You can make available to a world that is eternally broken by its selfishness and sin. Help us to see that gift for our lives, and for the lives of those we love and cherish. AMEN.

See Also
July Prayer Partner Thursday
July Prayer Partner Thursday

Prayer Partner Thursday provides a month-long prayer emphasis in one of the four Lutheran Center for Religious Liberty areas of emphasis: Religious Liberty, Sanctity of Life, Educational Freedom, and Marriage as an Institution (family).

FOR FREEDOM TO ENDURE - THERE’S A PRICE TO BE PAID!
FOR FREEDOM TO ENDURE - THERE’S A PRICE TO BE PAID!

Today’s reading is Galatians 5:1, where the Bible says,   

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

The Oppressors and the Oppressed
The Oppressors and the Oppressed

That's how Marxism works. In the Communist Manifesto, it's the freeman and slave, the patrician and the plebeian, lord and serf, guild-master and journeyman. Translated into the present, it's critical theory where it becomes a matter accumulating points. Score one for being a woman, one for being a person of color, one for being LGB, and perhaps two for being T. Count yourself as an enemy of the one percent, and that's at least a half-point. Such an odd thing, yet you gain a bit of oppressed status by including yourself among the 99 percent. Say you are an LGBTQ ally, another half point, and so on. Colleges have long operated this way, and many young people, young women especially, come home as trained Marxists.

THE ONLY IDENTITY THAT OVERCOMES, BONDS, AND HOLDS
THE ONLY IDENTITY THAT OVERCOMES, BONDS, AND HOLDS

Today’s reading is Galatians 3:26-29, where the Bible says,   

26 So, in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

July Bulletin Insert
July Bulletin Insert

The Bulletin Insert is designed to be printed and cut in half to fit conveniently inside a Sunday worship bulletin. Each month an insert will offer insight, encouragement, and information from the LCRL on the topics of Religious Liberty, Life, Marriage, or Education.

July 2025 Bulletin Blurbs
July 2025 Bulletin Blurbs

The dates identifying the LCRL bulletin blurbs are only suggestions. Please feel free to use any and all of the bulletin blurbs as your ministry needs allow.

Cohabitation Hurts More Than a Couple
Cohabitation Hurts More Than a Couple

If a couple came to me and said, “Pastor, we’d like to get married, and we’d like to do everything we can today to make sure our marriage ends in divorce tomorrow,” then I would tell them that the first thing they should do is move in together. Cohabitation is that destructive to marriage and family life.

However, the warning must not stop there. Because it is a form of public and intentional sin, cohabitation is particularly destructive to the conscience, and not just to the couple’s conscience but also to the conscience of the Christian community. Many couples view their choices as going no further than themselves. I would like to challenge this by considering some of the ways that cohabitation harms the broader Christian community.

A BRIDGED GAP CAN STAND IN THE GAP!
A BRIDGED GAP CAN STAND IN THE GAP!

Today’s verses are 2nd Corinthians 5:19-20, where St. Paul says, 

19 That God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not counting man’s sins against them. And He has committed to us this ministry of reconciliation, 20 for we are God’s ambassadors, as though were making His appeal through us, be reconciled to God!

Defund Planned Parenthood?
Defund Planned Parenthood?

That's the very least we can do. We have a lot of work to do. Blue states love abortion, want more of it, will never even speak against partial-birth abortion, much less children who, if born, could live outside of the womb. Red states are full of pro-life folks, many of whom would rather not push the issue. Abortion is the dark underside of our culture. What's a child in the womb worth? Nothing at all? Or is an unborn child dispensable? Is the child's worth totally dependent upon the mother? If a person is not loved, does that mean they can be dispensed with?

Compassionate Abortion?
Compassionate Abortion?

The story has many troubling aspects, not least of which is the parents’ decision based on inaccurate information about the child’s chance of surviving and thriving. But what troubles me most is that I encounter fellow Lutherans who have bought the narrative that it is better for babies with physical imperfections to be aborted rather than embraced and loved for whatever time the Lord allows them to live. I offer four problems with that mindset.

June Prayer Partner Thursday
June Prayer Partner Thursday

Prayer Partner Thursday provides a month-long prayer emphasis in one of the four Lutheran Center for Religious Liberty areas of emphasis: Religious Liberty, Sanctity of Life, Educational Freedom, and Marriage as an Institution (family).

HIS ASCENSION, YOUR EMPOWERMENT!
HIS ASCENSION, YOUR EMPOWERMENT!

Today’s reading is Acts 1:7-11 which begins with Jesus telling His disciples,
“It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. 10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

The Mob's Demonic Shrieks
The Mob's Demonic Shrieks

Abortion is a human right. So also is the right to ensure that children have puberty blockers and hormone treatment leading to mutilating surgery. Engage in debate, present the facts, and you will be shouted down by the mob. But that is a little child in the womb, a human being at an early stage. But you will hear only "My body, my choice." And if you take the argument further, you will hear more shouting, as the protestors screams and then repeats over and over again. What is a woman? There is no answer, but that doesn't bother the mob. Is there really such thing as a trans-child? How would you know? Might the child simply be confused? No answer, only the mantra, "Trans right are human rights."

CALM IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STORM!
CALM IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STORM!

Today’s reading is John 16:31-33, where Jesus says,   

31 “Do you now believe?” Jesus replied. 32 “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.

33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

A Lutheran Wedding
A Lutheran Wedding

There was a great wedding in Leipzig, Germany, in the mid-1730s. We don’t know whose wedding it was, and we wouldn’t think anything of it today at all, had not Johann Sebastian Bach composed a cantata for it. A cantata was a piece of concerted music, about 20 minutes long and split into various movements, made up of sung Scripture passages and poetic verses. Almost all of Bach’s cantatas end with a hymn stanza.

Think for a moment about which hymn stanza would best conclude a cantata at a wedding. What words should be echoing in the ears of bridegroom and bride as they prepare for married life together? Which would be best?

June Bulletin Insert
June Bulletin Insert

The Bulletin Insert is designed to be printed and cut in half to fit conveniently inside a Sunday worship bulletin. Each month an insert will offer insight, encouragement, and information from the LCRL on the topics of Religious Liberty, Life, Marriage, or Education.

June 2025 Bulletin Blurbs
June 2025 Bulletin Blurbs

The dates identifying the LCRL bulletin blurbs are only suggestions. Please feel free to use any and all of the bulletin blurbs as your ministry needs allow.

A NEW COMMAND? BETTER, A NEW OPPORTUNITY!
A NEW COMMAND? BETTER, A NEW OPPORTUNITY!

Today’s reading is John 13:34-35, where Jesus says,   

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Created In God's Image
Created In God's Image

What does it mean that Adam was created in God's image? Surely this includes righteousness, as well as the ability to be in conversation with God. But then, the same could be said of angels, who are not said to bear that image. This image also looks forward to God's eternal intention to become one of us in His eternal Son, who is the express image of God.

SEEING THINGS FROM GOD’S “MISSION-VICTORY” POINT OF VIEW!
SEEING THINGS FROM GOD’S “MISSION-VICTORY” POINT OF VIEW!

Today’s reading is Revelation 7:9-10, where the Apostle John tells us,   

After these things I looked, and behold, I saw a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; 10 and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

Marriage: Human Construction or Divine Institution?
Marriage: Human Construction or Divine Institution?

Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) will go down in history as the landmark Supreme Court case which redefined marriage in this country, granting same-sex couples throughout the land the right to marry. Keen observers have noted, however, that nowhere in the opinion of the majority (written by Justice Kennedy) is marriage itself ever actually defined.

JESUS, A SAVIOR FOR ALL THE “PETERS” OUT THERE!
JESUS, A SAVIOR FOR ALL THE “PETERS” OUT THERE!

Today’s reading is these portions of John 21:15–19, beginning with Jesus asking Simon Peter,    

“Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”16 Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me? ”He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. ”Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” 17 The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep….. 19… Then he said to him, “Follow me!”

Jesus vs. Caesar
Jesus vs. Caesar

“Savior.” “Lord.” “Son of God.” If you asked someone in the ancient world who these titles referred to, they might tell you “Jesus.” But depending on who you were talking to, they might also tell you “Caesar.” Modern readers of the Bible often miss the fact that some of the language the New Testament uses to talk about Jesus was also commonly used to talk about the Roman Emperor, who was not just a political leader, but someone whom people worshipped and even offered sacrifices to.

May Prayer Partner Thursday
May Prayer Partner Thursday

Prayer Partner Thursday provides a month-long prayer emphasis in one of the four Lutheran Center for Religious Liberty areas of emphasis: Religious Liberty, Sanctity of Life, Educational Freedom, and Marriage as an Institution (family).

“SEEING-BELIEVING” OR “BELIEVING-SEEING?”
“SEEING-BELIEVING” OR “BELIEVING-SEEING?”

Today’s reading is John 20: 28-29, where the Bible says,   

Thomas said to Jesus, “My Lord and my God!”29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

 

SEEING THINGS FROM GOD’S “MISSION-VICTORY” POINT OF VIEW!
SEEING THINGS FROM GOD’S “MISSION-VICTORY” POINT OF VIEW!

D.C. We have seen religious liberties for Christians now protected and defended rather than threatened and litigated. We have seen other constitutional protections undergirded as well. But sadly, we are also seeing a growing callousness to the issue of life, not just from a select group of secular elites, but even from American citizens who are religious. The Pew Research Center shows that while conservative Christians still see abortion as an illegal action against innocent Children in the womb, other Christians are beginning to support the “abortion in all circumstances” mantra in pop culture.  The abortion euphemistic cover of a constitutional “right to choose” has been properly litigated, but now the deceptive phrases of “reproductive freedom” and “women’s health care” has many callously embracing the killing on demand of innocent children right up to the moment of birth. Politicians and citizens alike are growing in their support of the outrageous notion that a child can be aborted up to the time of birth and even after it is born, as long as the mother and the doctor decide.

May Bulletin Insert
May Bulletin Insert

The Bulletin Insert is designed to be printed and cut in half to fit conveniently inside a Sunday worship bulletin. Each month an insert will offer insight, encouragement, and information from the LCRL on the topics of Religious Liberty, Life, Marriage, or Education.

May 2025 Bulletin Blurbs
May 2025 Bulletin Blurbs

The dates identifying the LCRL bulletin blurbs are only suggestions. Please feel free to use any and all of the bulletin blurbs as your ministry needs allow.

FOR WHAT REALLY MATTERS – LOOK HERE!
FOR WHAT REALLY MATTERS – LOOK HERE!

Today’s reading is from Luke 24:5-7, where angels speak these words to the women at Jesus’ empty tomb:   

Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee, 7 “The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.”

Religious Liberty and Bearing the Cross: It’s Always to Share the Message of the Cross
Religious Liberty and Bearing the Cross: It’s Always to Share the Message of the Cross

A blessed Good Friday, Easter morning to you all!!

One of my favorite recurring guests on the “Liberty Action Alert” is Cal Thomas. He is a clear-thinking, fearlessly-engaging, Christian voice in the public square. His columns and commentary always give “public” Christians a lot to think about as they try to live out their faith lives in the particular vocations in the world in which they serve. He wrote this Good Friday piece about 3 years ago,

Dr. Gregory Seltz
Previous

Scotus, the ‘Bobb’s case’ leak, the protest
Next

Everything you think is wrong day