Ludwig's Castles

I like castles, and Germany has plenty of castles throughout the countryside. Bavaria is home to many famous castles, and Ludwig II had several memorable ones built, including the castle that Walt Disney based his Disney World castle after. One day I would like to see the remains of Bauernfeind Castle in Bavaria. It's probably a small mound of stones at this point on a grassy knoll, but it would still be cool to stand on that spot.

Castle Neuschwanstein: the most famous Ludwig castle; this one is used by Disney

Castle Herrenchiemsee: a replica of Louis XIV's palace in Versailles, France

Castle Linderhof: a French style with gardens


Ludwig, you see, was fond of Greco and French architecture. A man after my own heart!

Learning from Loehe

From Pastor Loehe's Pentecost sermon on John 14,23-27:

Which from then on to urge all nations with power, which was begun in the Temple in Jerusalem. From then on, the people began to change by the light of Zion, and the knowledge of the Lord flooded the earth just as water covers the sea floor. The last big moment in the world, the last portion of their temporal existence, the beginning of a new life had come. All the time, and history of the Church has sprung forth today: today is still Pentecost, as then, because at that time the spread and establishment of the Church was still celebrated. The first Pentecost was the birthday of the Church, and today it is no less even though everyone has since departed. The Apostles, the believers of the first days have gone to sleep. The wind of the first day of Pentecost no longer roars, and tongues of flame and shared language and wonderful gifts are no longer perceived. In this respect, what we celebrate today is over. But that wonderful event that occurred to the first believers through the Apostles also occurs now: by the power of language, the peoples of all languages are related in the unity of faith, and they are triumphant, just as we victoriously sing or pray, “Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and kindle in them the fire of Your Divine love, by diversity of languages You have gathered the peoples of the world in the unity of faith.”

King Ludwig II of Bavaria

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Ludwig II (25. August 1845 - 13. June 1886) ruled as King of Bavaria from 1864-86. He is sometimes referred to as the "Mad King" but really he was a bit eccentric; he lived in the real world but he loved castles and Wagner's operas. He built several castles in Bavaria, using his own personal fortunes, and this got him in hot water with a number of politicians, for they claimed his indebtedness was hurting the Bavarian economy. Today, however, Bavaria reaps the whirlwind of tourist money from the castles Ludwig had constructed. He is much beloved by many Bavarians.

Ludwig II coronation portrait, 1865

Ludwig memorial in Starnberger Lake

Learning from Löhe

Here is the second paragraph from Löhe's Rogate Sunday sermon on John 16,23-33:


2. ,,The entire Gospel deals with prayer and therefore we call this Sunday the Sunday of Prayer. The Lord, which the words of our text are entirely in consideration of His departure, of His ascension back to where He dwelt before His suffering, the dwelling place of perfection and eternal glory, that which exists between Him and His believers, and through Him He builds a continuous connection between His Father and His believers, when He is no longer visible to them nor walks among them. He determined prayer as the means of connection, and also as a means to always experience anew His life and memory. We should pray, and He will send glory from His throne of honor. Our prayers are our enduring love to Him, and when He hear us He will continually remember us. Prayer and answer shall be the mutual sign of life and the sign of love between the Lord and His believers."

Learning from Löhe

Here is a brief paragraph (and Löhe's paragraphs are rarely this short!) from Wilhelm Löhe's sermon on Cantate Sunday for John 16,5-15:

,,3. Our congregations' mood might be different from the mood of Jesus' disciples of Jesus and so few also echo the comforting speech which the Lord has directed at His disciples, so that most Christians in our day might find: so I want to my do my duty, but you don't draw from the text the comfort that it administers nor do you include the outstanding thought of the near to present. The Lord, the Holy Spirit, knows your hearts, and He can lead you to a spiritual meal whereupon you dine on the sweet words of Jesus who is your Savior. He has recommended it with devout supplication!"

I Survived Judgment Day: 21. May 2011

It is now Sunday 22. May 2011. I survived judgment day: 21. May 2011. The world did not crash and burn in a mighty earthquake that that traversed the 24 time zones. The rapture (which by the way, that word does not appear in the Holy Scriptures) did not occur. Harold Camping and his cultist group of followers are still here. The earth’s population of nearly 7 billion people are still around. The Church is still here on earth.

So, later this morning I will do what I normally do. I will go to church, celebrate the liturgy, and preach the word of God. The Church still has a commission (even though Camping says differently) to preach the gospel throughout the world.

It is 22. May 2011. I survived judgement day on 21. May 2011. Had God the Father in His infinite and Divine wisdom seen fit to send Jesus back on 21. May, I still would have survived judgment day. The Apostle Paul tells us in his epistle: »if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved« (Romans 10,9). I confess that Jesus is Lord; I believe that He rose from the grave. I am saved. I am certain of this fact.

Mr. Harold Camping’s chief error and heresy is not that he foolishly tried to predict Jesus’ return. Yes, his methodology and hermeneutics regarding this are severly skewed and completely heretical. Nevertheless, the truth remains: Jesus will return one day. That last day will be a day of judgment. We do not know when it will be.

Mr. Camping has many more serious errors and heresies beside His failed prediction of judgment day on 21. May 2011. Here are a few of them: 1. The Church Age ended in 1988, and all the churches are apostate. The only saved Christians are those like Camping and his followers who have left the Church. 2. He denies that the wicked will be resurrected and suffer eternally in hell. This is the ancient heresy known as annihilationism, meaning that the wicked will be annihilated and cease to exist once God judges them as wicked on the last day. 3. Camping teaches and preaches a very heavy emphasis on the law and use of the law, but instead of giving the terror-stricken the pure gospel of Christ Jesus, Camping piles on them more law: you must pray, struggle, beg, and plead for God’s mercy which never amounts to certainty of salvation. There is little, no, or a thoroughly confused understanding of what the gospel actually is. 4. Camping believes and teaches that Jesus died and rose before time began so that when He did it in A.D. 33 it had the power to redeem mankind (Christ died and rose twice). Camping speaks of the cross as just a demonstration of what had already happened before the foundation of the world. 5. There is no certainty of salvation. This is the grand-daddy of all his heresies. There are at least fifteen other errors and heresies that Harold Camping believes and teaches.

The whole message of the Bible, of Christianity, and of the gospel, is that God wants us to be certain of our salvation. God does not want us to doubt or question our eternal destiny. The gospel is about certainty, the certainty that you and I can have regarding salvation. This certainty is not tied up in works or good deeds we do to convince ourselves we are in God’s good graces. This certainty is not tied up in accepting that Jesus is returning on 21. May 2011, or some other specific date that Camping or someone else may try to exhort upon Christendom. This certainty of salvation is grounded firmly and only on Jesus Christ: He is our certainty of salvation.

The Apostle Paul is speaking about the certainty of salvation in Romans 10,9. Here it is again: »if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved«. There are many other Bible verses that convey this. Here are a few more. »Behold, the Lamb of God [Jesus] who is taking away the sin of the world!« (John 1,29). »And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so hat whoever believes in Him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the Name of the only Son of God.« (John 3,14-18). God wants us to be certain of our salvation, and He has founded this certainty on an immoveable Cornerstone which is Jesus Christ.

Those who believe in and confess Jesus Christ as the crucified and risen Savior are saved. You can be certain of this. So whenever judgment day arrives, know this: if Christ has you and you have Christ, then there is nothing to fear for judgment day is the day when you will eternally live with God. If you die before Christ returns, again that is not something to fear because if you believe in, and confess, Christ, then you are saved.

This certainty of salvation looks only to Jesus Christ who voluntarily and sacrificially endured the suffering of the cross to pay for the sin of the world. When this gospel is read or heard and the Holy Spirit creates faith through it, then by faith a person may rightly say: Jesus died for the sins of the world. If He died for the whole world, then He also died for me. That is faith. That is the certainty of salvation. That is the gospel proclamation of the Church, and it is the gospel that I will preach tomorrow and every Sunday after that as long as I am able, have breath, or until the Lord returns.

May 21, 2011?

Here's a great blog post from my colleague Pastor Weedon. Check out his blog: Weedon's Blog.

The End of the World

is supposed to be on May 21, I understand. For Christians, of course, the end of the world was that moment when the world slew its own Life - the Crucifixion of Him who is the Life of life. The world ended there - and the signs that our Lord foretold would accompany the great and dreadful day were in evidence. But we are an Easter people and alleluia is our song. We simply know that this world that totters on is dead. It's running around like the proverbial chicken with its head cut off. It's dead and doesn't realize it yet! But sooner or later it WILL keel over. The whole thing come undone. And yet in the midst of the dead and dying world, which moves inexorably towards its end, we live our lives from the flesh and blood that rose from the grave on Easter Day, the Pardon of all our sin, the Destruction of all death, the Life that endures to eternity. It changes how we live in this world forever. We know that no amount of bandaids we apply to this world as it is can keep it from its final death throes. But when you belong to an eternal kingdom, all is well, and it is fitting for you to dance through life forevermore (Luther). Should the end come on the 21st, we'll be joyously going on still: singing the praises of the Lamb and joining the saints and angels around the throne. Should the end delay (as I suspect it will), we'll go on: singing the praises of the Lamb and joining the saints and angels around the throne. Either way our life goes on, because our life IS Christ and that's a life that endures forever. What joy to sing together then:

Death you cannot end my gladness,
I am baptized into Christ!
When I die, I leave all sadness
To inherit paradise.
Though I lie in dust and ashes,
Faith's assurance brightly flashes
Baptism has the strength divine
To make life immortal mine.

There is nothing worth comparing
To this life-long comfort sure,
Open eyed my grave is staring,
Even there I'll sleep secure.
Though my flesh awaits its raising,
Still my soul continues praising:
I am baptized into Christ!
I'm a child of Paradise!