HOUSTON — “We have to know our culture to present the truth that matters and makes a difference,” Dr. Dean Nadasdy told delegates to the 63rd Regular Convention of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod on July 17.
Nadasdy is currently LCMS third vice president and senior pastor at Woodbury Lutheran Church in Woodbury, Minn. (He was elected by this convention to be fourth vice president.)
After reading Acts 17:16-34, Nadasdy noted that truth today often is “self-defined” and “diluted.” He said Christians live in “a culture that believes truth is illusive or that truth is anything you feel like it should be today.” Christians can either “bash it” – speak against it, “dash it” – run away from it, or “cash in” – sell out.
But, Nadasdy said, the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is both truth and historical fact. That is the message he urges Christians to share with others and is the goal of the Synod’s Ablaze! initiative. He said that people “come to faith – come to know and love Jesus Christ – one by one.”
“In the end,” Nadasdy said, “the truth that the culture sees more than anything else is that there’s something after death, and the ‘something after death’ is everlasting life for all who have faith in Jesus.”
The convention, meeting under the theme “One Message—Christ! His Love is Here for You,” runs through July 19 in Houston.
