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Jesus First Leadership

505 South Kirkwood Rd.

Kirkwood , MO 63122

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JESUS FIRST

For Gospel-Centered, Mission Driven, Future-Oriented Leadership in the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod –

“Perfect Love Blows The Fog Away.”

When I was 10 years old my parents gave me permission to walk from my house to the local movie theater for the Saturday matinee. I think the reason I loved the movies so much is because of the freedom I enjoyed. If I wanted to throw a Ju-Ju-Bee into the air and thus into my mouth no one was there to stop me. My heart soared to new places thinking about all the things this new found freedom would allow me to do. I’m afraid the freedom I rejoiced in went away the minute I walked outside the theater.

When I emerged from the theater, I first realized it was dark. That made me uncomfortable. More than darkness, a blanket of fog had moved in from the Pacific Ocean to our neighborhood. The fog really made me afraid. It was thick, wet and had done a sinister thing. It blurred the way I had looked at my world. Because of the fog, all the things I thought I knew about my neighborhood were being challenged. The familiar grocery store right next to the theater now looked like a haunted house. I ran by it. The people I passed on my walk home looked like aliens from foreign planets – strange faces just “popping up” from the fog. The intersections were the worst. Because of the fog I couldn’t figure out which was a red light and which was a green light, so I just stood there petrified for the longest time. As I walked I realized I hated the fog. It took my safe and familiar world and made me afraid of it. The fog was like the Serpent in the Garden of Eden. It made me look at traffic lights and question, “Did God really say that light is green?”

I remember my heart beating hard in my chest until I turned onto my street. Immediately I heard the voice of my Dad breaking through the “pea soup” that had so frightened me. “Tom, is that you?” “Yah Dad, I replied.” “Just keep walking toward my voice.” Suddenly the fog didn’t exist for me. There was my Dad’s voice. It was as though my Dad’s voice blew the fog away and everything looked just like it always had. My neighborhood was back – no more haunted houses, no more alien people, just home sweet home.

Those of you who are serving as delegates to the 2004 convention of The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod should be ready for a large blanket of fog to descend down upon you in the weeks to come. For me, fog is anything that causes us to doubt what we have known to be true. For example, our church has operated effectively for over 150 years according to the LCMS constitution, not the constitution of the State of Missouri . Some “foggy stories” are asking people to doubt whether or nor our long tradition of lawful and fruitful service was real. These “fog producing stories” are designed to make you afraid that our Synod is operating out of line from the rules of the State of Missouri . All the while the real reason for creating fog is for the Board of Directors to take authority away from duly elected officers of the LCMS.

There are people who want you “in the fog” thinking that if a pastor of our Synod gets up in a public place, in the middle of representatives of other religions, and offers a prayer, he has somehow, by his prayer, made Jesus “into whose hand all authority in heaven and on earth has been placed” look equal to the false gods. The “fog producers” in our church want you to be afraid every time someone prays outside the walls of a Missouri Synod Church ! The fog producers will send you information telling you that the candidates supported by Jesus First want to take your church away from you. They will cite worship styles, leadership styles, and claim that the Lutheran Confessions are ignored, attempting to prove that these leaders want to lead the church into false beliefs. When this information comes, take the time to read the biographies of the candidates. Try to worship in a congregation which uses a different style to gather people around Word and Sacrament. Listen to the candidates speak, or preach, or read the things they have written – you’ll penetrate the fog and see that the Synod is still organized legally and Biblically. You’ll see that the Synod serves a God who is bigger than any stadium or foreign cleric who may be in the venue to hear his Holy name. You’ll see that those who use “harp and timbrel, lyre and horns” to worship the Lord are just as faithful as the Psalms themselves.

I would encourage you to continue your fervent prayer for the Lord to prepare you for the challenges of this convention. As you pray through the fog of distortions that some folks will mail to you, stop and listen to the calming voice of our Heavenly Father. He will remind you again that Jesus is Lord of the Church. He’ll remind you that mission is the reason for the church’s existence. He’ll remind you that it is He and his Word that organize and direct the institution of the church, not State governments. As you pray, you will hear the voice of the God who is love; and you will know that perfect love casts out all the fear others try to place in your hearts. In other words you’ll see that perfect love blows away all the fog.

Rev. Tom Rogers

Pastor Abiding Savior Lutheran Church – Lake Forest , CA .

April 18, 2004