All posts by David Ude

Daily Devotions

58 Million

Since Roe V. Wade 58 million babies have been aborted. That’s more than double the population of Texas. 58 million people whose birth cry was never heard. 58 million little hands which would never grab a finger.

It is unbelievable to me, and should be unfathomable to every Christian, that there are Christians who support abortion. Here are some of the ones that do. And I am including here any “Christian” church that does not explicitly denounce abortion. Anything less than that is wrong and evil. The ELCA, the largest Lutheran church body in America, as a synod supports abortion. The American Baptist Churches association. The Episcopal Church. The Presbyterian Church USA. The United Church of Christ. United Methodist Church. And others (information from http://www.pewforum.org/…/religious-groups-official-positi…/)

These churches should be ashamed. No matter what argument they put forward, anyone who claims to be a Christian is claiming to believe what the Bible teaches (and if you don’t agree to that, just give up the charade of the name “Christianity”). The Bible is clear “Thou shalt not kill.” Just think what would have happened if Mary (young girl, alone, possibly going to lose her husband) had decided to have an abortion. Psalm 139:13 as well as John jumping in his mother’s womb (Lk 1:41-44) that the baby in the womb is a person in the exact same sense as any other person. They are loved and valued by God. So much that He sent His Son to die for them and redeem them from sin, death, and the devil.

Any Christian Church which refuses to state this openly is not worthy of the name of Christ. They have no right to claim His blessing, to do His Work, to preach His Word, to administer His sacraments. What Christ requires of His Church, and of His pastors is faithfulness. It doesn’t mean perfection. We are all sinners. He requires faithfulness to His Word and not to the whims and “wisdom” of society. Abortion has killed 58 million precious souls since 1973. In God’s book, that is just plain wrong.

Daily Devotions

Isaiah 41:15-16

Isaiah 41:15-16, ” Behold, I make of you a threshing sledge, new, sharp, and having teeth; you shall thresh the mountains and crush them, and you shall make the hills like chaff; 16 you shall winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the tempest shall scatter them. And you shall rejoice in the LORD; in the Holy One of Israel you shall glory.”

Everyone loves it when the little guy wins right? Everyone loves an underdog story. The greatest one ever is the story of the Church.

The hills and the mountains which Isaiah refers to here are the nations of the world. Compared to tiny Israel, they were huge. You think of the massive empires that existed at this time – Assyria, Babylon, then the Medo-Persians, and finally the Roman. Now as we consider this promise God made, it’s important to keep something in mind. You might well consider the destruction of Sennacherib to be an example of this, except that has already happened. And if you look at Israel’s history after this point, no one can really say that they crushed any of those empires. Not in a physical way. But God’s Spirit is not talking about the physical nation of Israel. He is talking about a Spiritual estate. He is talking about God’s Church. The Kingdom of God which Daniel would later foretell as crushing all the Kingdoms of the world. For one would come from God’s people who, during the time of what many consider the greatest empire ever, would establish a Kingdom that would never end. Jesus Christ, His Kingdom, and His Church this is what is being foretold. He is the one who winnows the nations. His church, though a little flock, cannot be overcome by all the powers of this world. For the Church is built on the rock of Jesus Christ crucified and the gates of hell cannot and shall not prevail against it!

In Christ
Pastor Ude

Daily Devotions

Shepherd-Judge

Isaiah 40:10-11, “Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. 11 He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.”

These verses are rather jarring placed right next to each other. Kind of like if you wear a striped shirt and a striped tie! It just doesn’t jive! Verse 10 speaks of Christ as  the Lord of might coming to bring judgment, verse 11 speaks of a shepherd who gently tends his flock. But the two are one. After all, a Shepherd who tends his flock and turns toward them a face of gentle love, must also of necessity turn a face of anger and vengeance on any that would harm them. They say don’t get between a mama bear and her cubs. She’ll tear you apart! So also Christ who comes to gently care for his sheep will tear to pieces any that seek their harm. He has come to do battle with your enemies. Be careful therefore not to make yourself the enemy of Christ’s sheep – not by wanton living, not by preaching false doctrine, repent then and find comfort in the sheepfold. Look on the face of your Shepherd, the face of a child, the face scarred and covered with blood, the face shining in resurrected glory. The face of a savior, the face of a judge.

In Christ

Pastor Ude
Daily Devotions, Uncategorized

Behold Your God!

Isaiah 40:9-10, “Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!” 10 Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.”

“I just want to shout it from the rooftop!” An exclamation likely felt and perhaps made by many a young lad or lass smitten with keen affection. So full of joy and love they want everyone to know. But here the prophet speaks to Jerusalem itself, that is to the people of God, and reminds us that we have a joy far greater and deeper, which ought to be shouted from the highest of mountains. And the joy is this “Behold your God!” That is essentially the Christmas message. That God can be beheld. That He who dwells in unapproachable light, who could only allow Moses, himself the pinnacle of human piety, to see his back, can now be seen plainly by all. God can be beheld in the face of Jesus Christ. And He has come to reign. Jesus is the might of God. He is His holy right arm. He is the reward of those who trust in Him. And He brings the recompense for the enemies of God’s people. He brings death for death and destruction for sin and hell. He brings everlasting joy for you. Go tell it on the mountain! For behold! Your God is here.
In Christ
Pastor Ude

Daily Devotions

The Word Made Grass?

Isaiah 40:7-8, “The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the LORD blows on it; surely the people are grass. 8 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.”
Here Isaiah speaks not only of the Word of God in the abstract that is of the Words of God but also in the personal that is – Jesus Christ who is the Word of God (John 1:1-3). He is the immortality injected into our mortal world. He is the eternal breaking apart this momentary. He is the life which enters into and outlasts death. On the cross, suffering for the sins of the world, Jesus may have seemed to be merely a flower of the field. Cut down. Dead too young – only about 30 years old. But “The Word of our God stands forever.” The shoot that sprung from Jesse’s cut off stump would also spring from death’s cold clutches. Death never had a chance. This was foreshadowed even from his birth, indeed from long before it. For the Word has always been and will always be!
In Christ
Pastor Ude