Beggars All

Ambassadors

2011-07-18T08:05:00.000-07:00

"How Did We Make Such an Evangelical Mess?" by John Macarthur is one of the clearest, most succinct explanations of the problem of Evangelicalism:

Many church leaders have radically changed the way they look at the gospel. Rather than seeing it as a message from God that Christians are called to proclaim as Christ’s ambassadors (without tampering with it or changing it in any way), they now treat it like a commodity to be sold at market. Rather than plainly preaching God’s Word in a way that unleashes the power and truth of it, they try desperately to package the message to make it subtler and more appealing to the world.

The entire article is excellent. I cannot disagree with it.

The Glorious Temptation

2011-07-11T19:02:00.000-07:00

Rome is indeed a glorious temptation. Lord, do not lead us into temptation, but keep us steadfast in your Word!

Its apparent incoherence in official doctrine, the difference between Vatican II and Trent which is mentioned here, is one of my biggest questions. Friends would quickly deny that there has been any change in Rome's teaching, but I don't understand how that can be.

Which is it:

1. Am I going to Hell because of my confession of faith in Christ alone?

2. Or is everything cool with everyone, even virtuous pagans?

Maybe I need a secret decoder ring.

That said, I'd rather be around devout Roman brothers and sisters than "on fire" Evangelicals.

The Atlanta Public Schools Scandal

2011-07-08T09:16:00.000-07:00

“The moral imagination is an enduring source of inspiration that elevates us to first principles as it guides us upwards towards virtue and wisdom and redemption.”
- Russell Kirk

“I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but it seems to me you might have thought of this before if you’d any imagination.”
- Anne Shirley in Anne of Green Gables

I was recently amazed by a testing scandal within the Atlanta public school system, a story rife with pedagogical and moral lessons. What amazed me most was the fact that so many school administrators and teachers could cover up such widespread and horrible corruption for so long. The story is not only a case study in the power of self-deception and organizational corruption, but it also illustrates some of the systemic problems within American public education, problems that cannot simply be blamed upon federal programs like No Child Left Behind.

I cannot imagine cooperating with the practices described in this article. Teachers actually held parties at their homes in which they erased their students wrong answers on standardized tests. Could I do such things and still be able to look at myself in the mirror? If I am honest, my own frailty as a public school teacher ought to give me pause here. Granted, I have not be involved in deceit to the degree described in this article, but I have at times been dishonest in my vocation.

The investigators into this scandal in Atlanta described a system that encouraged corruption

"APS became such a ‘data-driven’ system, with unreasonable and excessive pressure to meet targets, that Beverly Hall and her senior cabinet lost sight of conducting tests with integrity,” the report said.

I know of the pressure that the report describes. There are certainly many systems (not just school systems) that encourage self-deception and dishonest behavior. For example, all schools today have a system, a technology that ascribes numeric value to student work, and in this system is also the constant pressure to lower academic standards in the name of spurious notions of love or self esteem or even specious educational theories like multiple intelligences. Such systems are present in varying degrees everywhere public education today, and like the scandal in Atlanta, they very often merely produce a mere illusion of learning, rather than genuine student achievement and growth.

And then there is also the more domestic dishonesties of some parents, who like the Dursleys in Harry Potter, are appalled at any teacher who might question the work or behavior of their little Dudleys. In addition to, as Professor Dumbledore put it, the "appalling damage" that such pandering afflicts upon children, it also can wear down good teachers.

Indeed, many of our country's fine public school teachers, rather than lie to students in sappy, pandering ways, genuinely attempt to teach them by demanding that they learn grammar, math, and science. Many teachers demand that students learn self-discipline and care about their work. But these teachers can and often do eventually wear out and choose the path of least resistance, perhaps even citing what "research shows" in justification of their choices.

I confess that I have at times succumbed to the temptation to dumb instruction down, for among the innumerable pressures of teaching, there is rarely pressure to raise standards by demanding more of students, only voices who accuse conscientious teachers of not loving students or demand "differentiated instruction” to “multiple intelligences." And over the course of careers and even generations, fueled or accused by toxic progressive fads or "research," teachers and administrators can and often do eventually find excuses to wrong and rob students of genuine education, like those teachers in Atlanta who held "cheating parties.”

Today if a teacher dares to expect kids to actually demonstrate a grasp of grammar by diagramming sentences, understand mathematical equations, or write complete sentences and cogent paragraphs, then then they better be convinced of the value of what they teach. They better be like Annie Sullivan, the intrepid young teacher of Helen Keller in William Gibson's 1956 play The Miracle Worker:

""Language is to the mind more than light is to the eye."

"I can't unteach her six years of pity if you can't stand up to one tantrum!"

"I'll tell you what I pity, that the sun won't rise and set for her all her life, and every day you're telling her it will. What good will your pity do her when you're under the strawberries, Captain Keller?"

"The more I think, the more certain I am that obedience is the gateway through which knowledge enters the mind of the child..."

"I don't think Helen's worst handicap is deafness or blindness. I think it's your love. And pity."

Annie Sullivan was honest in ways that the teachers in Atlanta were not, and the fact that she was willing to get down and dirty and wrestle with likes of Helen Keller is how we ought to envision what it means to truly love one's neighbor in the teaching vocation. To her, language is not merely an excuse for touchy-feely English classes; rather, words and sentences were a lifeline to a young girl imprisoned. I confess that at times I have been more like the former superintendent of Atlanta Public Schools than Miss Sullivan.

It is so easy to imbibe the false, knee-jerk belief of our postmodern culture that teaches us to make excuses for our failure. For example, ABC News explained away the sins of Atlanta educators:

Everyone here is pointing the finger at No Child Left Behind, the federal policy that made test scores king , closing schools with low scores, and rewarding schools with high ones. This former superintendent is accused of encouraging the cheating. She received hundreds of thousands of dollars in bonuses tied to improved test scores. I'm personally friends with a good number of teachers in this community who tell me that they’re under tremendous pressure. They say that the same parents who are angry about all the cheating would be even more furious if the schools started reporting lower test scores…

Is such tremendous pressure an excuse? Granted, school systems can encourage or even, as in Atlanta, demand dishonesty upon threat of punishment. But we cannot blame a government programs for our sins, regardless of how misguided the programs may be.

Systems of education, along with our postmodern culture as a whole, scoff at the very idea of transcendent truth, goodness, beauty, or morality. Such toxic systems, when charged with the education, certainly impoverish the minds and imaginations of our youth. But the fact that so many people today in education or the media, are incapable of being honest, even when sins are appallingly clear. Should it surprise us that teachers, products of the system in which they propagate, end up unwilling or even incapable standing alone and against lies of a corrupt school system or even being honest about their own moral failures? As C.S. Lewis put it, "We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and then bid the geldings to be fruitful

So what keeps us honest even in systems of dishonesty? What makes us men with chests who would never for an instant cooperate with such scandalous lies like those perpetrated by dozens or even hundreds of educators and school administrators in Atlanta? What makes teachers or anyone willing to lose their jobs rather than lie? I think that the safe place to begin is with the grace of God, for we are all prone to wander and lie, and the grace of God in Jesus enables us to be honest about things, including ourselves. That is the place to start as a teacher and human.

And perhaps a related starting point would be to stop talking of "systemic pressure" altogether, for can such powers actually force us, against our will, to be dishonest to our students and their parents. If I tried such an excuse during individual confession, my pastor would rightfully cut me off with the Law, probably with the Eighth Commandment. No, we ought not lie. Teachers are commanded to never bear false witness against their neighbors, our students to whom we owe our honest and prudent love as we serve them our vocations as teachers. It is much, much better, both in private confession or in the classroom, to remain grounded in reality by admitting with that furry cartoon character Pogo: "We have met the enemy, and he is us."

Christian Zionism?

2011-07-04T12:47:00.000-07:00

Taken from yesterday's Bible class with my pastor, Roger James, here is a short, biblical response to the popular error of "Christian" Zionism:

http://zionmarshall.org/mp3/2011/ZIONISM_2011_07_03.mp3

Brown Shirts in the Divine Service

2011-07-04T12:08:00.000-07:00

I refuse to wear my BROWN SHIRT, a part of my Boy Scout uniform, in any church service, yet alone in my own historically GERMAN Lutheran church, even on "Scouting Sundays," which thankfully our church does not celebrate.

Even supposedly good, conservative Lutheran churches are often confused regarding the Two Kingdoms, for they engage in "celebrations of America" or Scouting Sundays or some other distraction of the day, rather than staying true to the biblical focus of the Divine Service.

I know of supposedly Lutheran pastors who actually cancel the Divine Service to replace it with patriotic, Christmas, and other shows and programs, in order to "get more folks there." Such cancellations of the Divine Service require pastors who are willing to deny God's people Christ's Body and Blood present in the Holy Eucharist in favor of mere shows and programs.

But even if the Divine Service is not cancelled, services that are so themed around patriotic, scouting, or other cultural events very often reveal the impoverished liturgical and catechetical lives of the churches, where the central focus is so easily taken away from Christ and the gifts that He gives us in Word and Sacrament.

My son and I very clearly understand that our involvement in scouting is unquestionably in the Kingdom of the Left, and we are also aware that WELS Lutherans would not even permit our involvement. Their valid concerns are noted.

But praise be to God for own own pastor, who would never in a million years ask our congregation to sing "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" or cancel the Divine Service for patriotic, holiday, or cultural programs.

Praise be to God that our congregation's calendar is not driven by the secular, political, or commercial agendas of our culture, but rather, by the orderly and biblical wisdom handed down to us by our fathers of the holy catholic church: the Christian Church year.

Praise be to God that historic liturgy and hymnody protects us from myriads of passing fads and nonsense.

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum!

Pastor Fisk's Response to Kevin DeYoung

2011-07-04T11:38:00.001-07:00

Weak Question: What's up with all the Lutherans?

Better Answer:

A helpful and entertaining introduction to the difference between Reformed and Lutheran.

Two Letters

2011-07-01T06:45:00.000-07:00

Two Kingdoms: The Ministry of Magic

2011-06-28T09:43:00.000-07:00

I just had to complete paperwork for Michigan's Department of Education, which I have called "The Ministry of Magic" for several years. So out of curiosity, I consulted Google to see if anyone else appreciates J.K. Rowling's criticism of governmental bureaucracy and found this:

Rowling’s vision of government consists almost solely of bureaucracy, without elections to offer the sheen of democracy, without a free press or independent judiciary to act as a check on bureaucratic excess, and with few true public servants to counteract craven bureaucrats.

C.S. Lewis envisioned Hell -- either in Screwtape or Great Divorce, I forget -- as a particularly nasty bureaucracy.

A Problem with Comments?

2011-06-27T08:03:00.000-07:00

Brave Sir Robin, a contributor here, told me last night that he had left a comment, and yet I cannot find it. Perhaps there has been a bug in the comments here.

Therefore, I have changed Beggars All's settings, eliminating the moderation of comments. If you have left a comment and it has never appeared here, I am sorry. Please try again now that moderation is off!

My Weekend in the Belly of the Beast

2011-06-26T15:03:00.000-07:00

Today at American Thinker:

[...] So, my reflections upon having returned to New York from Dearborn after this eventful weekend: during the entire time I spent at the Arab International Festival, my overall sense was one of unease because of a palpable feeling that bad things were happening all around me. I came to the conclusion that Dearborn is a very, very bad place. It is lost. It is no longer part of America. It is a primary source of a virus that is spreading throughout this country -- of which the school situation in Farmington Hills is a perfect example.

It is very easy to be discouraged. The Islamists are totally relentless; if we beat them in one place, they ooze out somewhere else. Furthermore, their greatest allies are Jews and other leftists who mistakenly think that they will escape the fire if only they show the Islamists that they "love" them. The words "fairness" and "multi-culturalism" have been twisted into potent weapons against western culture and civilization with the aid of useful idiots who enable the Islamists to hide their true nature.

There is an all-important lesson from this weekend for all who care about preserving American culture: wake up! If you were to travel to Dearborn, the "belly of the beast," you would no longer have doubts concerning the danger that we face.

I do not know anything about "United West," but the description in the article does not sound good. I need to ask Pastor Rod Boom Boom about this.

The Holy Trinity for me

2011-06-25T21:38:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday's Holy Trinity sermon:

[...] How much more are we amazed that God has made us his own children. We who have rebelled against him, we who tire of hearing his word, we who would rather be lords and gods of our own lives, and yet still the one true God would not leave us to our own destruction.

But God the Father by God the Son and through God the Holy Spirit has turned his face of mercy and grace upon us to rescue us, or let each of us say, God the Father sent forth his own Son to become a man like us and to live and to suffer and die in order to rescue us from the punishment of our guilt and sin.

Yes, yes, I’ve heard it a hundred times – Jesus died for my sins. But in God’s name, don’t just hear it. Listen to it! Bathe in it! Devour it! Hold fast to it! Treasure it! Savor it! Repeat it! Wonder over it! Rest in it! Beg for it again! This message, this Gospel, this saving word: Jesus, the Son of God, sent by his father, lived, suffered, died, rose again, ascended into heaven, and reigns for you and for your salvation, or let each of us say: "God suffered and died for me!"

And how do you know this and believe it? Because God the Holy Spirit has taken this Gospel, this good news, and has planted it personally in your heart. For apart from God the Holy Spirit working through the word preached and in baptism and in the Lord’s Supper, all of this would be useless and meaningless to you. But by this Holy Spirit, this Lord and giver of life, who is worshipped with the Father and the Son, your have forgiveness and eternal life. Or let each of us say, "I have forgiveness and eternal life."

Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One! The one Lord God is the Father and Son and Holy Spirit, and this holy, holy, holy Trinity has stooped down in mercy and grace to rescue you, to forgive you, to make you his own, or let each of us say, “The Holy Trinity has done this for me.”

Listen to the whole sermon here.

The Presentation of the Augsburg Confession

2011-06-25T20:38:00.000-07:00

Tim the Enchanter and the Mrs. popped open a bottle of Michigan wine tonight with Brave Sir Robin in honor of those faithful, intrepid German laymen who confessed the holy catholic faith before the Charles V in Augsburg 482 years ago today.

Here are some words on my mind tonight, some from a Roman Catholic saint and others from the first president of our church body:

"Since I have been papal legate and have had an opportunity to compare the religious condition of the catholics in Poland with that of the Protestants in Germany, I have become convinced that the apostasy from the church happened because the German people required, and still do require, genuine piety. The Reformation was spread and kept alive, not by heretics and philosophers, but by men and women who actually yearned for a religion which reached their hearts. I told this to the pope and cardinalas in Rome, but they did not believe me; they still hold firmly to the belief that hostility toward religion is what caused the Reformation."

Clemens Maria Hofbauer, 1816

"It is true that of all the church bodies which have left the papacy, it is precisely the Lutheran Church which is accused of retaining many papal abuses and of having been the least successful in cleansing itself. It is pointed out, for example, that in our church priestly clothing, church ornamentation, pictures, altar, crucifixes, candles, confession, the sign of the cross, and the like are still apparent. But, my friends, whoever regards these innocent things as vestiges of the papacy knows neither what the papacy is, nor what the Bible teaches. The very fact that the Lutheran Reformation was not aimed at indifferent adiaphora, but retained those things which were in harmony with God’s Word, shows that it was not a disorderly revolution, but a Biblical reformation."

C. F. W. Walther

Feeling like a failure? Set your mind right once again.

2011-06-25T07:13:00.000-07:00

This past week I attended teacher training up in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In these tight economic times, I have abandoned my second graduate program and have, instead, chosen the cheapest possible way to renew my teaching certification. This class amazingly met one half of my continuing education requirement for just $500.

I also decided to spend the week in a rustic campground ($12 a night!) in Manistee National Forest, about 40 minutes north of Grand Rapids. As our kids get older and consequently more expensive, we are spending our limited (and decreasing) income more on them and less upon ourselves. My wife is a stay-at-home mom, although right now she is at the city market selling her vegetables, herbs, bread, and Austrian dolls. Sie ist doch tüchtig und fleißig.

So on Tuesday night in my tent, as I weathered torrential rainfall and even a tornado warning, I certainly did not feel very much like a "success" by American stands, for the rest of my 118 classmates were in hotels in Grand Rapids.

Thankfully, that night I listened to an old sermon by my pastor that touched upon the topic of success and failure. It was good to be rebuked by the Law for my ingratitude and also comforted by the Gospel, that Jesus is indeed an ultimate success by redeeming a world full of pitiful ingrates like me.

Here is Pastor James' opening from that sermon:

We might as well set it right in our minds once again. The Christian faith, being a disciple of Jesus, trusting in Him alone, is simply not a way to become successful in this world. Being a Christian does not mean that you will get on better with your spouse or your children. Yes, it is true that there are many out there who try to draw people into church with the lure that it is going to improve everything – their sex life, their marriage, their finances, their ability to raise their children, and to get along with people – that if you come to this church, you are going to become a success in everything from relationships to better health.

But another preacher, a very wise preacher, a preacher who simply cannot be faulted by any honest line of reasoning, says something entirely different. This particular preacher has already spoken to us today, for He happens to be none other that our Savior, Jesus, the Son of God. This preacher says:
Do you think that I have come to bring peach upon Earth? No, I tell you but rather division. For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
Here you see none other than the very Son of God announcing that true religion does at all not guarantee family harmony and other success. But instead it almost certainly insures disruption and division.

Another preacher whom you heard also today, to be sure he is not of the same standing as Jesus, and yet nonetheless he is inspired by the Holy Spirit, this preacher announced to you an uncomfortably long list of people of faith. The author to the Hebrews sets forth these souls as examples for us of those who held fast to the Word and to the truth of God. [...]

Actually, having an entire state park to myself, without a single other camper, was pretty cool. And I had the truth "set in my mind once again."

Listen to the whole sermon.

Two Kingdoms: Celebrate Diversity!

2011-06-18T08:05:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I told my daughter of several things that she should note when she visits England in a few weeks. In addition to climbing up on the back of one of lions in Trafalgar Square, as I did while deployed to East Anglia with the SR-71 in the 1980's, I told her to visit a nearby statue of one of my heroes, Sir Charles James Napier.

So I was a bit alarmed to read this:

The statue of Sir Charles James Napier was put in the southwest corner of the Trafalgar Square in 1855 in honour of this British general. It was designed by George Cannon Adams and paid for by public. Sir Charles James Napier fought in the Peninsula War against Napoleon and then went to India where he was knighted after winning major battles near Hyderabad. Nowadays, the future of the statue (together with the statue of Major-General Sir Henry Havelock in the southeast corner of the Trafalgar Square) is uncertain. The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, thinks that these two statues should be replaced with figures ordinary Londoners and other people would know."

How sadly ignorant. Ignorance and indifference to history and tradition is not merely an American problem, as some would suggest. Rather than discovering why previous residents so respected Napier that they would build a statue in his honor with their own money, Londoners today assume that what they know is all that matters. The past has nothing to teach them. They have ignored the wisdom of their fellow Londoner, G.K. Chesterton:

Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking about.

Such provincial ignorance is particularly ironic because England today is in very big trouble due to multiculturalism, and their chronological snobbery has blinded them to a lesson from Napier that they very much need right now, who once said this to angry Hindus, while he was Govenor of India:

You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; then beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours.

Today, the practice of sati remains illegal and is all but nonexistent in India.

Celebrate Diversity.

The Biblical View of Holy Baptism

2011-06-17T15:23:00.000-07:00

2011 Bible Class Recordings

Pastor Roger James
Zion Lutheran Church

1. Key Texts: Matthew 28

2. Key Texts: John 3

3. Key Questions: Sin, Faith, and Apostasy

4. Key Texts: Titus 3

5. Key Texts: Romans 6

6. Survey of Other Views: The Roman Church

7. Survey of Other Views: The Roman Church (Cont.)

8. Survey of Other Views: Baptists

9. Survey of Other Views: Reformed

10. Survey of Other Views: Calvinists

11. Survey of Other Views: Church of Christ

If I could have the choice any big wig preacher or seminary professor to teach me at a conference or service, I would choose my own pastor, Roger James.

Glosses From An Old Manse

2011-06-17T05:23:00.000-07:00

Australian Pastor Mark Henderson's fine Glosses From An Old Manse is presently my favorite read in the Lutheran blogosphere. Pastor Henderson is a fine theologian and the discourse in the blog's comments, often with both Roman and Eastern Orthodox believers, is generally civil and enlightening.

His explanation of his blog's name is the best reasoning that I have heard regarding the value of blogging as a medium:

'Glosses From An Old Manse', is a play on the title of the collection of short stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne, 'Mosses from an Old Manse'. 'Glosses' are the interpretive notes you find scribbled on the margins of texts. Since blogging is not really a medium suited to the extended treatment of theology, the idea of these blog posts as mere glosses written on the margins of theology and life from the study of a virtual 'old manse' seems appropriate.

Pastor Henderson's other blogs:

What Sasse Said
Lutheran Catholicity: A Catalogue of Testimonies

Worthwhile reading.

Gregory the Great:

2011-06-15T00:01:00.000-07:00

"I confidently affirm that whoever calls himself sacerdos universalis, or desires to be so called by others is in his pride a forerunner of Antichrist."

Gregory the Great (c 540-604), Bishop of Rome
Cited in The Cambridge Medieval History II:247 (1967)

qtd. in Lutheran Catholicity

A New Contributor!

2011-06-14T17:35:00.001-07:00

Old woman, ah, I mean Dennis,

we bid you welcome to your new home!

Hermann Sasse on Faithful Confession and Unity

2011-06-13T23:01:00.000-07:00

After Prophetic Untimeliness, I am now enjoying my second little book of the summer, Hermann Sasse's Here We Stand.

In Chapter One, Sasse addresses several long-time questions that I have had regarding Lutheranism, and in particular, about the nature of "the lonely way" of Lutherans who live between Rome on one side and Evangelicalism on the other.

Writing in the late 1930's at the height of his resistance to the Third Reich and on the very brink of World War Two, Sasse explains the Lutheran struggle against Nazi regime:

Nazi Germany: A Stern Struggle

May Lutheran Christians in other lands, where they still enjoy the peaceful possession of their church, profit from the experience of their sister churches which are in the midst of a stern struggle for existence. It is for this purpose that we have sketched the development of the conflict in Germany.

Sasse explains that such "stern struggles" against German political powers is nothing new to confessional Lutherans, that their struggles there and indeed throughout Europe have a long history that he outlines, focusing particular attention on the turbulent history of Lutheranism in Brandenburg.

Lutherans have always had to confess their faith in opposition to despotic political rulers, from Charles V to Adolph Hitler. Sasse concludes that, "The power of the princely houses" in Germany had for centuries been "too strong" (20).

America: A Different Struggle

But what I found most interesting was Sasse's almost prophetic understanding of the very different struggles that American Lutherans would endure in the 20th century, conflict not coming from political powers, for we do, thankfully, have the First Amendment here, but rather from the more subtle and specious pressures to compromise coming from other Christians and churches in this country:

As far as America is concerned, it would seem from the vantage point of Germany that the right of the Lutheran Church to existence will not be called into question by the state, but rather by the other Christian churches. The movement toward church union, which will probably make mighty strides of progress during the next generation, will oblige the Lutheran churches more and more to explain why they will not give up their independent confessional existence.

How often, in the course of four centuries, has our church had to answer this question! How often has it been reproached for unbrotherliness, for having a sectarian spirit, for fostering uncharitable separatism! Whenever the occasion demands, may we be enabled to defend our position with the same courage of faith which distinguished our Fathers in the Reformation. (28-29, bold text mine)

Sasse encourages Lutheran believers to ignore the popular siren calls of American religion that, in the name of supposed brotherliness, unity, and love, tempt us to brush aside a biblical understanding of unity that is based upon a stalwart confession of the Faith which was once for all handed down to the saints:

If we stand up for the doctrine of the sinner's justification sola gratia, sola fide, it is not the dogmatic idiosyncrasy of a denomination which is at stake, but the article of which "nothing can be yielded or surrendered, even if heaven and earth and all things sink to ruin." Not only the church of our Confession, but the whole church of Christ, lives by this article. Hence we cannot possibly render a better service to the whole Christian church on earth, or even to the Christians of other communions who do not understand us today, than by preaching this doctrine in all purity and clarity.” (229, bold text mine)

Too much is at stake to compromise with either political powers who demand that we submit to the ideological ends of a secular state or with misguided Christians who call us to a diabolical "unity" that denies the Gospel.

Christian fellowship is not an ear-licking hug-fest that brushes aside the Gospel, the power of God for our salvation and the true source of genuine Christian fellowship. Rather, Sasse calls upon us to confess our orthodox Christian faith that was handed down to us by Lutheran Reformers and Apostles in order that, by God's grace, we might achieve genuine unity:

Indeed, it is the greatest contribution which can be made toward the true unity of divided Christendom, as the Formula of Concord says, quoting Luther: "If only this article is kept pure, the Christian church also remains pure, and is harmonious and without sects; but if it does not remain pure, it is not possible to resist any error or fanatical spirit" (29).

Amen.

Becoming Less Fruitful: A Demographic History of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod, 1928-2008

2011-06-13T17:50:00.000-07:00

Interesting paper by Dr. Ryan MacPherson:

Becoming Less Fruitful: A Demographic History of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod, 1928-2008

The Holy Spirit: Outwardly, Bodily Received

2011-06-13T09:06:00.000-07:00

Pastor Roger James

Zion Lutheran Church

Marshall, Michigan

June 12, 2011 - Pentecost

Sermon Text: John 7:37–39

Recording:

12 minutes

Excerpt:

To have or receive the Holy Spirit means that you have Him, that you get Him, in a bodily way. Just as it took the body of Jesus being born, suffering, dying, and rising from the tomb for the Holy Spirit to be poured out upon us, so that pouring of the Holy Spirit is done, not internally by dreams or feelings, but that Holy Spirit is poured out on you outwardly, bodily -- through the Word being preached into your very ears, through Holy Baptism, water, being applied, splashed, poured, dunked -- and through the Lord's Supper actually being fed into real mouths -- these are the ways that the Holy Spirit flows, so to speak, from the belly of Jesus right onto and into you, body and heart, so that your bodies are the temple, the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit.

What further does it mean have the Holy Spirit, to have received him? Well, it means that you trust in this Jesus who suffered and died for you. To have the Holy Spirit means that you have the forgiveness of all of your sins. To have the Holy Spirit means that you have eternal life beginning now and going on for all eternity.

But to have the Holy Spirit also means that rivers of living water flow now from your belly, rivers of living water flow now from your body, that is the Holy Spirit flows from you, the Holy Spirit works through your body to run out living water upon other people all around you as you speak the good news of what Jesus has done. By the Holy Spirit within your bodies, your bodies are now active to do good to your neighbor, for the benefit of his body and for his eternal soul. Your hands work, your voices speak, your hearts sympathize, because Jesus has run out his Holy Spirit upon you.

So you see what is true of Jesus is true of you who believe in Jesus. Out of your bodies also flow rivers of living water. Out of you and toward the whole world goes out the Holy Spirit.

Thanks be to God in Jesus name!

Amen.

A New Contributor!

2011-06-13T07:37:00.000-07:00

Brave Sir Robin,

I bid you welcome to your new home!

Bonhoeffer: God’s grace speedily shatters such dreams.

2011-06-11T13:32:00.000-07:00

"Es ist aber Gottes Gnade, die alle derartigen Träume rasch zum Scheitern bringt. Die große Enttäuschung über die Anderen, über die Christen im allgemeinen und, wenn es gut geht, auch über uns selbst, muss uns überwältigen, so gewiss Gott uns zur Erkenntnis echter christlicher Gemeinschaft führen will. Gott lässt es aus lauter Gnade nicht zu, dass wir auch nur wenige Wochen in einem Traumbild leben..."

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Gemensames Leben

"But God’s grace speedily shatters such dreams. Just as surely as God desires to lead us to a knowledge of genuine Christian fellowship, so surely we must be overwhelmed by a great disillusionment with others, with Christians in general and, if we are fortunate, with ourselves. By sheer grace God will not permit us to live even for a moment in a dream world."

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Life Together

Os Guinness: The Tyranny of Time

2011-06-11T12:35:00.000-07:00

Os Guinness, prolific writer of fabulously crafted and profound books, has given this old guy on the verge of geezerdom – I do hit the half century mark tomorrow – some timely words about time in Prophetic Untimeliness.

Guinness warns us of three foolish responses to the passing of time, first pointing out the futility of our attempts to arrest it through nostalgia, “attempts to revive memories of a happier time.” He explains that nostalgia does not “bring us home." Indeed, such feelings “say nothing about our prospects of ever coming home. And they do not slow down time by one single second” (114).

He then warns us of a sentimental pipe dream called eternal recurrence, that “circle of life” nonsense that asserts that “the fleeing present may have no meaning because of its transience, but if it comes around again and again, it is not forever lost and may gain meaning beyond what we can see now” (114). As my students would say: Yeah, right! This is the same nonsense that left both the writer of Ecclesiastes (Vanity of vanities, all is vanity!) and Nietzsche in despair.

Guinness finally warns us of what he calls time management or improved efficiency. If only I do more, accomplish more, with the help of my really cool gadgets, then, well, it will somehow work out. Such a response to our fleeting lives “leads only to an even faster pace of life and to even greater pressures" (114). And then, of course, you die.

God does not want us to wallow in painful longing for real or supposed better days in the past. Nor does He want us to twist time into some weird mystical fairy tale that will leave us in despair. And we certainly should not try to pin our fleeting days down like insects and fool ourselves into believing that we can control them through day planners or electronic gadgets or self-discipline.

These attempts are all mere pitiful fig leaves behind which we try to hide our mortality from others and from ourselves. By His grace, God calls us to “redeem the time” and to this end, Guinness draws three conclusions:

We must be untimely:

First, we may say with all the certainty of Scripture and the evidence of history that the secret of integrity in a world obsessed by time and the future is to be untimely. Two hundred years after the Enlightenment, the monumental price of blind faith in progress if undeniable. The simple-minded tendency to indict the past and laud the future is folly. […] To go forward, the church must always go back. (115-116)

We must be resistance thinkers:

Second, we may also say with certainty that, in a world obsessed with change and progress, progressives will always prove stagnant while resistance thinkers will be fresh and creative. Striving for incessant motion, those with a mania for change will only achieve frenzied movement, preoccupation with trifles, and in the end wasted energy and exhaustion. By contrast, resistance thinkers will move things forward constructively. […]

As we get older our reflexes are slower and our powers of retention smaller, and we certainly have no more idea now of what the future may hold. But a large part of wisdom comes from the accumulated experience of knowing what the future will not hold, and that vital wisdom increases as we get older. In other words, comprehension and wisdom improve even as memory falters. Wisdom is a matter of the quality of what we know, not the quantity.

We must trust in Christ alone:

On the one hand, we redeem the time by living out our lives according to our gifts and callings, thus serving God’s purposes in our generation. […] On the other hand, we redeem time by trusting the end of our time to the Lord and redeemer of time. Ultimately, we redeem the time and are redeemed from time only through the one who is the redeemer of everything – He who is, the God who is the Lord of time and history and yet is “the same yesterday, today, and forever” (118).

Prophetic Untimeliness is a worthwhile read.

OLD BEGGARS ALL: "I Get Nothing out of Worship!"

2011-06-11T09:15:00.000-07:00

The Rev. William Weedon, pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Hamel, Illinois, during an April 18, 2004 interview on the old Issues, Etc., recalls one circuit counselor's very wise, pastoral response to a lady's impassioned complaint about the office of holy ministry in her church.

Interview Sound Bite:

"I just get nothing out of our worship services!" (2:29)

Lutheran Hymn Revival: Pentecost Hymn

2011-06-11T03:17:00.000-07:00

A beautiful new Pentecost hymn by Pastor Mark Amberg at Lutheran Hymn Revival.

Here is my favorite verse:

Let fanatics flaunt their spirit,
Claiming gifts as faith’s reward;
Why should heretics inherit
What confirmed th’ apostles’ word?
Tongues shall end and knowledge falter,
Prophesies in time will cease,
But the gifts of font and altar
Still give guilty sinners peace.

Amen!

The Great Canadian Mystery: Who Suffers 71 Percent of Religious Hate Crimes and Who Is Doing It?

2011-06-10T17:54:00.000-07:00

Barry Rubin today at Pajamas Media:

Like the FBI’s statistics for the United States, the number one victims of hate crimes are… Jews. Indeed, 71 percent of the hate crimes in the religion category are against Jews. The Jewish proportion of Ontario’s population? Around 1.6 percent. That’s 71 percent of the hate crimes on a religious basis against 1 percent of the population...

So just keep repeating to yourself: The main problem of the Western world is Islam-o-phobia.

2011-06-10T03:49:00.000-07:00

From today's On the Square at FIRST THINGS:

Jesus came and went away. He appeared and disappeared. But the Epiphany of the Son is not ephemeral but permanent in Pentecost. It is thick and sturdy as flesh, as tangible as the flesh of Chinese Christians gathering in secret for worship, as substantial as Nigerian Christians suffering with joy at the hands of Muslim persecutors, as dazzlingly visible as nuns caring for disabled children in an Indian slum.

- Peter J. Leithart

Reversible Inhibition of Sperm Under Guidance

2011-06-08T19:48:00.000-07:00

Male Birth Control Inches Closer

"100% effective for 10 years."

FIRST THINGS: The Fountainhead of Satanism

2011-06-08T06:08:00.000-07:00

Anton LeVey

Materialistic Satanist and Ayn Rand Fan

Today at FIRST THINGS, Joe Carter explains the strange relationship between Church of Satan founder, Anton LeVey and "conservative" darling Ayn Rand:

Perhaps most are unaware of the connection, though LaVey wasn’t shy about admitting his debt to his inspiration. “I give people Ayn Rand with trappings,” he once told the Washington Post. On another occasion he acknowledged that his brand of Satanism was “just Ayn Rand’s philosophy with ceremony and ritual added.” Indeed, the influence is so apparent that LaVey has been accused of plagiarizing part of his “Nine Satanic Statements” from the John Galt speech in Rand’s Atlas Shrugged.

Devotees of Rand may object to my outlining the association between the two. They will say I am proposing “guilt by association,” a form of the ad hominem fallacy. But I am not attacking Rand for the overlap of her views with LaVey’s; I am saying that, at their core, they are the same philosophy. LeVey was able to recognize what many conservatives fail to see: Rand’s doctrines are satanic

Carter closes with this admonition:

Few conservatives will fall completely under Rand’s diabolic sway. But we are sustaining a climate in which not a few gullible souls believe she is worth taking seriously. Are we willing to be held responsible for pushing them to adopt an anti-Christian worldview? If so, perhaps instead of recommending Atlas Shrugged, we should simply hand out copies of The Satanic Bible. If they’re going to align with a satanic cult, they might as well join the one that has the better holidays.

Read the whole thing.

Do not muzzle the ox while it is grading papers...

2011-06-07T15:07:00.001-07:00

Suffering as a Christian

2011-06-05T12:59:00.000-07:00

Pastor Roger James

Zion Lutheran Church

Marshall, Michigan

June 5, 2011

Sermon Text: 1 Peter 4:12-19

Recording:

14 minutes

Excerpt:

The devil hopes that the trials, struggles, sorrows, and agonies of life will kill your faith, so that you will turn away from the Lord and come to belong to him. But instead, the Lord snatches these weapons from the devil and will actually use them to strengthen your faith. For when these trials come to you who trust and depend upon Jesus, rather than turning away from Him, you turn all the more to Him who died and rose again to help you, to strengthen you, to comfort you in your suffering.

You pray:
Lord have mercy! As you suffered by giving yourself in mercy for me on the cross, so rescue me now. Since, Lord, you have saved me from the greatest of evils, my own sin and the devil himself, so save me and keep me in this trial.
In faith, this is how you respond to your struggles. At least this is what we should do.

Dear Christians, we need to train ourselves, so we are not surprised at the fiery trials, so that we are not caught off guard when they come, so that we are not left in doubt and despair but rather turn all the more to our Rescuer, Jesus, to help us.

And this is what the church services and liturgy are all about: to strengthen your faith in God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and to teach you how to pray, so that when you are too weak or sad or hurting to think of what to pray, the prayers will already be ingrained in your spirits:
O Christ, Thou Lamb of God that takest away the sin of the world, have mercy, grant us peace!

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name!

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me!

O Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace according to Thy word, for my own eyes have seen Thy salvation!
These words ingrained in your hearts and minds! You train yourselves to turn toward God’s gracious Word and Sacrament, for here He feeds you with His Body and Blood for your eternal life, and here He strengthens you with His strong word of forgiveness.

You do this because this is the very way that God turns the gun back on the devil. This is the way the Lord turns the devil’s schemes back against him. So rather than being destroyed or harmed, you, when you are going through your struggles, come out all the stronger.

Amen

Kind Words from Pastor Chryst

2011-06-05T04:30:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Preachrblog for the plug:

Long-time Lutheran blog readers will remember the inimitable blog, "Beggars All".

It's recently come to my attention that the blog has returned!

At least, Tim the Enchanter has....

We'll see how it goes.

Blessings.

WORLD: Communists Use "Progressive" Christians

2011-06-04T15:10:00.000-07:00

No surprises here:

This “social justice” language has worked brilliantly with left-leaning Christians, including those at liberal Catholic and Protestant colleges. But most disturbing is Ayers’ presence in a college document titled “Preparing Teachers as Agents of Change: The Wheaton College Teacher Education Program Conceptual Framework.” In this document from what many consider to be the flagship university of the evangelical world, Ayers’ “social justice” work is cited multiple times.

My experiences in the Education Department of an Evangelical college here in Michigan convinced me that most schools, including the Concordias, are tossed this way and that by every wind of doctrine, fad, and progressive ideology.

Government vs. Parents

2011-06-04T03:40:00.000-07:00

A friend pointed out this Washington Times article from last summer: Home-school ban in Sweden forces families to mull leaving.

Here is a Swedish government official's explanation, quoted in the article, for the outlawing of homeschooling:

Since all teaching in Swedish schools is both comprehensive and objective, there is no need for home schooling with reference to religious or philosophical reasons, and this is why this is not an option in the new Education Act.

This is not good government. Luther would probably respond with something like his commentary on the Fourth Commandment in the Large Catechism:

In this commandment belongs a further statement regarding all kinds of obedience to persons in authority who have to command and to govern. For all authority flows and is propagated from the authority of parents. For where a father is unable alone to educate his [rebellious and irritable] child, he employs a schoolmaster to instruct him; if he be too weak, he enlists the aid of his friends and neighbors; if he departs this life, he delegates and confers his authority and government upon others who are appointed for the purpose.

Here is one interesting comment to the Times article:

Sweden is American liberalism's Holy Grail --- their vision of how'd they'd love to wet nurse & dictate the personal lives of over 300 million of their fellow citizens. In their ideal world, leftists would like to move in broad strokes across society, but they know they don't have an ideal world so they move more subtly. They effectively put their arm around the shoulder of their fellow citizen, and claim, "Brother, it's a tough world --- you can't do it all alone and, I'm just here to help...." Next, thing you know, the Government is in their hands, and, once they feel secure and emboldened, that arm around the shoulder turns into a light caress around the neck. Then, not too long after that, and after the citizenry are safely accustomed to this new approach, having the full weight of the Federal Government behind them, your formerly friendly leftist leaders now have their hand firmly on your throats --- and, now you've got things like in Sweden ----- The Government dictating how to raise your children, what they'll learn, what's right and what's wrong in their little socialist utopia so as to ensure that future generations of docile, dogmatic, secularist little socialists are marching right in step with the Government's leftist party line.

This sounds right to me.

Thanks to the Aardvark

2011-06-03T14:33:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Aardvark Alley for the kind words:

First of all [insert trumpet fanfare here], here's a gigantic Alley welcome to a returning lion of confessional Lutheran blogging. When the Lutheran
blogosphere first exploded, one of the bigger bangs came from Tim the
Enchanter and Erich Heidenreich. Suddenly, in these bleak and latter days, Beggars All reappears and the nations rejoice!

It is with a degree of wariness that I start this again, for I would like the fun of the old blog without it becoming work. I would also value renewed interaction with Erich, and if I can find him, Jon. We'll see how it goes.

Blessings.

Neuhaus and the ELCA

2011-06-02T03:52:00.000-07:00

Russell E. Saltzman today in FIRST THINGS:

When early in the formation process ELCA planners decided to impose a quota system to staff governing boards and fill church conventions, Neuhaus flatly said the Lutheran jig was up. The Lutheran merger enterprise had given up on serious theology and was adapting itself to a cultural fad, identity representation. From that fad, others would come. He kept harping on Martin Luther’s Small Catechism, something about it being the Holy Spirit who “calls, gathers, enlightens, and makes the Church holy,” tucked away in Luther’s explanation of the Apostle’s Creed.

Caught in the Middle: Faithful Biblical Confession

2011-05-31T17:42:00.000-07:00

Ein Museum aus der DDR:
Communists Lauding Thomas Müntzer

I imagine that I see Mühlhausen and the demonic peasants revolt in much same way that my Roman brothers view the Reformation as a whole. I don't know for certain, but I suspect that it is the case.

Luther lived in a place of faithful biblical confession between the Fanatics on one side and Rome on the other. I do not think that much has changed in 500 years for those who wish to live in that same place.

From this Evangelical refugee to any others who find this Blog...

2011-05-31T17:27:00.000-07:00

There is indeed hope and healing for you.

2011-05-31T14:15:00.000-07:00

From Weedon's Blog:

In our spiritual journey from the font to the grave, we walk before God the Father as beggars. Yet that is only half the story.

We may be beggars, but, paradoxically, we also associate with the holy angels. This wonderful paradox is confessed most clearly in the Divine Service by the curious juxtaposition of the Kyrie, "Lord, have mercy," and the Gloria, "Glory to God in the highest."

-- Dr. John Kleinig, Grace upon Grace, p. 30.

Sola Sciptura in the Fourth Century

2011-05-31T03:42:00.000-07:00

"For concerning the divine and holy mysteries of the Faith, not even a casual statement must be delivered without the Holy Scriptures; nor must we be drawn aside by mere plausibility and artifices of speech. Even to me, who tell thee these things, give not absolute credence, unless thou receive the proof of the things which I announce from the Divine Scriptures. For this salvation which we believe depends not on ingenious reasoning, but on demonstration of the Holy Scriptures."

Cyril of Jerusalem [c. 318-386], Catechetical Lectures,
NPNF2: Vol.VII, Lecture IV:17.
(qtd. in "Lutheran Solas in the Fathers of the Church")

Honorable Manhood

2011-05-30T19:51:00.000-07:00

Quote of the Day

2011-05-30T15:00:00.000-07:00

From Weedon's Blog:

"How good to have a Lord whose first miracle was an open bar at a wedding!"

If War is ever lawful, then peace is sometimes sinful.

2011-05-30T09:59:00.000-07:00

I love this imaginative, thought-provoking tune. It is a good song and at times even haunting, yet it does not tell the entire story. I would suggest that its last line ("On both ends of the rifle we're the same") was true in ways apparently not understood by its author.

This remarkable story took place during the Great War in a Europe that was still influenced by a remnant of Christian orthodoxy, so the British and Germans were indeed still “the same” in a way that was essential for such a remarkable truce to occur, as is evident in the words of the Christmas hymns that they sang to each other.

Today’s sentimental tolerance or understanding void of transcendent truth would not have halted the insanity of No Man’s Land or led to this remarkable event; rather, the words that these soldiers sang from the trenches confessed and proclaimed that which is absolutely true, good, and beautiful, and it was in these words that they found the power to lay aside their guns, just as these same permanent things also inspire and enable other brave men in other places to take them up justly.

There have certainly been unjust wars, and yet all soldiers are not always mere victims of those who “call the shots.” The noble men who have fought for just causes throughout our nation’s history were not merely sad, manipulated pawns, and anyone who remembers them this Memorial Day with such patronizing disdain dishonors their memory and sacrifice.

Laying aside the particulars of the Great War or any war in which we have been engaged, we first need to remember that there are still things worth defending, even worth bearing the terrible price of war. C.S. Lewis once wrote that, “If War is ever lawful, then peace is sometimes sinful.” Thank God that there have been men throughout our history who have resisted the specious temptation of pacifism. And for the courage and conviction of the men who have bravely fought and died to defend such permanent things, we ought to render our gratitude and honored remembrance this day.

John 14:15-21: "If you love me, you will keep my commandments."

2011-05-29T09:23:00.000-07:00

Pastor Roger James

Zion Lutheran Church

Marshall, Michigan

May 29, 2011

Sermon Text:

John 14:15-21 with an emphasis on its opening line: "If you love me, you will keep my commandments."

Recording:

10 minutes

Excerpt:

You are forgiven that you do not keep His commandments. Period. You are forgiven that you do not love Jesus.

What wondrous love is this: We have been forced to admit with utter red-faced shame, the words contorted out of us, we've been forced to say:

"Jesus, it is true, I do not love you."

Jesus says, "And I love you."

"Now wait, you must not have heard me, Jesus, I said I don't love you."

And Jesus says, "And I love you! My love for you does not depend upon your love for me. I love those I have died for, and I have died for the world. No one left out. I love those who don't love me, who don't deserve my love. I am the One who loves, " Jesus insists. "Only when you know and believe that this is how I love you can you even then love Me. My love creates your love. As you live in my love, my sacrifice for you, as you live in my forgiveness, then my love -- showered upon you, spoken to you, fed into you -- my love creates your love. Or as John put it in his first epistle:

"We love because He first loved us."

Amen!

Two Views on Ceasing to Be Protestant

2011-05-28T05:46:00.000-07:00

And Protestantism has ever felt it so. I do not mean that every writer on the Protestant side has felt it; for it was the fashion at first, at least as a rhetorical argument against Rome, to appeal to past ages, or to some of them; but Protestantism, as a whole, feels it, and has felt it. This is shown in the determination already referred to of dispensing with historical Christianity altogether, and of forming a Christianity from the Bible alone: men never would have put it aside, unless they had despaired of it. It is shown by the long neglect of ecclesiastical history in England, which prevails even in the English Church. Our popular religion scarcely recognizes the fact of the twelve long ages which lie between the Councils of Nicæa and Trent, except as affording one or two passages to illustrate its wild interpretations of certain prophesies of St. Paul and St. John. It is melancholy to say it, but the chief, perhaps the only English writer who has any claim to be considered an ecclesiastical historian, is the unbeliever Gibbon. To be deep in history is to cease to be a Protestant.

- John Henry Newman

From "An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine" (1878)

Lutheran theology differs from Reformed theology in that it lays great emphasis on the fact that the evangelical church is none other than the medieval Catholic Church purged of certain heresies and abuses.

The Lutheran theologian acknowledges that he belongs to the same visible church to which Thomas Aquinas and Bernard of Clairvaux, Augustine and Tertullian, Athanasius and Ireneaus once belonged. The orthodox evangelical church is the legitimate continuation of the medieval Catholic Church, not the church of the Council of Trent and the [First] Vatican Council which renounced evangelical truth when it rejected the Reformation.

For the orthodox evangelical church is really identical with the orthodox Catholic Church of all times. And just as the very nature of the Reformed Church emphasizes its strong opposition to the medieval church, so the very nature of the Lutheran Church requires it to go to the farthest possible limit in its insistence on its solidarity and identity with the Catholic Church.

It was no mere ecclesiastico-political diplomacy which dictated the emphatic assertion in the Augsburg Confession that the teachings of the Evangelicals were identical with those of the orthodox Catholic Church of all ages, and no more was it romanticism or false conservatism which made our church anxious to retain as much of the old canonical law as possible, and to cling tenaciously to the old forms of worship.

- Hermann Sasse

qtd. in What Sasse Said, from Here We Stand (trans. Theodore Tappert), Augsburg Publishing House, 1938, pp. 110-11.

Christian Zionism and Fraternal Love for Palestinian Christians

2011-05-28T04:37:00.000-07:00

^"
Let us do good to everyone,
and
especially to those who are of the household of faith."
- Galatians 6:10

I just requested membership in a Facebook group called Lutherans United for Palestine.

I hope to ask some questions there and learn.

This FB group initially caught my attention because I noticed that several regular guests on Issues, Etc. had joined: Pastors Armin Wenz, Harold Senkbeil, and John Pless. These are fine pastors whom I greatly respect.

But even though I respect these pastors, I am also a bit leery of such sites and groups, for they very often go into crazy directions. For example, I note that its admin has posted a video of protesters disrupting a John Hagee sermon during a church service:

Now I strongly suspect that Hagee is nuttier than squirrel turds, but I do not think that rebellion during a church service, even a very silly one that "honors" a secular political state, is either biblical or Lutheran. The Reformation was not a revolution, but a biblical reformation.

This Facebook page would certainly raise the ire of most of the Austrian Christians that I know, including my Pentecostal in-laws who cannot endure my wife and I questioning whether or not the modern political state is God's chosen people.

Politics aside, fraternal love and support for our Palestinian brothers and sisters in Christ does seem to strike at the heart of "Christian" Zionism.

"Bear one another’s burdens,
and so fulfill the law of Christ."
-Galatians 6:2

Blessed are the poor in spirit.

2011-05-25T11:14:00.000-07:00

"But God's grace speedily shatters such dreams. Just as surely as God desires to lead us to a knowledge of genuine Christian fellowship, so surely must we be overwhelmed by a great disillusionment with others, with Christians in general, and, if we are fortunate, with ourselves. By sheer grace, God will not permit us to live even for a brief period in a dream world." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Life Together)

"Es ist aber Gottes Gnade, die alle derartigen Träume rasch zum Scheitern bringt. Die große Enttäuschung über die Andern, über die Christen im allgemeinen und, wenn es gut geht, auch über uns selbst, muß uns über überwältigen, so geweiß Gott uns zur Ergenntnis echter christlicher Gemeinschaft führen will. Gott läßt es aus lauter Gnade nicht zu, daß wir auch nur wenige Wochen in einem Traumbild leben..." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Gemeinsames Leben)

Evangelical Cliché of the Day: Change or die!

2011-05-25T03:44:00.001-07:00

Don't look at the preacher behind the curtain!

Evangelical Cliché of the Day:

You silly traditionalist, don't you know the seven last words of the Church: "We've never done it this way before."

Another variation would be this:

"If the church does not change, it will die."

What does this mean?

Here is a seven-word translation: Just trust me and submit without question!

But is such breathless devotion to "change" biblical? Consider Luke's praise of the Berean church:

"Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true."
Acts 17:11

Prudent, humble discernment that goes to the Holy Scriptures is not the end of the Church. We certainly should not be afraid of change simply because it is change, for we have the continuity of God's Word as our sure foundation and "a light to our path." But perhaps we should be a bit skeptical and give the burden of proof to those who wish for change.

Consider the wisdom of C.S. Lewis:
"Mere change is not growth. Growth is the synthesis of change and continuity, and where there is no continuity there is no growth."
This recovering Evangelical is like an ex-smoker who cannot stand the smell of cigarettes. Or in this case, eisegesis.

Evangelical Proof Texting: "If my people who are called by my name..."

2011-05-25T03:28:00.000-07:00

We all most certainly do need to repent - every day - but not because Blackaby is attempting to apply this text to, I assume, the United States. The American church?

Sorry, but anyone who has been the victim of spiritual abuse and manipulation has little patience for those who, even with the best of intentions, apply things out of context.

A text without context is pretext.

However, I liked how he addresses the oddity of Christians not seeing the need to repent. The Apostle Paul, that "chief of sinners," sure did in Romans 7. How did Christians end up in such a precarious place? What happened to "blessed are the poor in spirit?"

What would happen if he said that, as a part of this repentance, Evangelical churches should stop spending the first 20 minutes of their services in happy-clappy celebrations and then, like an AA meeting, begin with an honest confession of the truth: "Hi, I'm (INSERT YOUR NAME HERE), and I'm a sinner." Or if AA sounds too cheesy, why not stop rejecting the wisdom handed down to us by our Fathers and begin this way:

"O Almighty God, merciful Father, I a poor, miserable sinner, confess to you all my sins and iniquities, with which I have ever offended you and justly deserved your punishment now and forever. But I am heartily sorry for them and sincerely repent of them, and I pray you of your boundless mercy, and for the sake of the holy, innocent, bitter sufferings and death of your beloved son, Jesus Christ, to be gracious and merciful to me, a poor sinful being."

Then the Pastor or Preacher, in the name and in the stead of Christ, could assure God's people through the Gospel, that they are indeed forgiven. He could preach the cross of Christ to these dear ones. Imagine that! The Gospel for Christians!

Hmm. Perhaps Blacaby is on to something here...

To be more specific than his advice to such blind brothers to "stay the Word," I wonder if the Law has not been so watered down into tame, manageable principles in our churches, that this might be the problem. There seems to be a lack of Law and Gospel preaching: a Law that terrorizes and condemns our sin yet also a shortage of the glorious Gospel of God's grace in Christ, the power of god for salvation that forgives and gives life even to Christians!

We dare not move past the cross of Christ, but I am afraid many churches have.

Beggars All

2011-05-23T17:11:00.000-07:00

You are going to face death some day.

You are going to face that last moment, barring Christ's return, when you are going to be terrified of sin, death, and the devil.

And at that point, you are either going to say, "I have lived the victorious life" or you are going to say, "Dearest Jesus, forgive me! I am a beggar and a sinner!"

I would say you either say the latter, or you will not spend eternity with Him in heaven.

Pastor Matt Harrison

Evangelical Cliché of the Day: Just a Man

2011-05-22T15:21:00.000-07:00

I am increasingly bugged by adolescent grown-ups who brush aside great men with these silly words:

"He was just a man!"

Really?

Augustine was merely human?

Wooooooow!!!!

Luther was not a demigod?

Amaaaaaaazing!!!!!

Washington was not a son of Zeus?

Unbelieeeeevable!!!!!!!!

I am now determined to disagree with such flippant, lazy statements. All men may be created equal, but there are important distinctions between them in their virtue, accomplishments, influence, and wisdom.

A&E Biography published the top 100 most influential people of the last millennium. Here are the top five:

1. Johann Gutenberg
2. Isaac Newton
3. Martin Luther
4. Charles Darwin
5. William Shakespeare

If Hamlet were just a play, then reading it once would be enough.

Begging again?

2011-05-19T20:09:00.000-07:00

Erich (aka Casper) posted to my FB page this clip of Pastor Wilken's account of Issues, Etc.'s visit to Michigan back in the days of the old show and its Reformation Tour.

In Todd's comments, he mentioned our old blog’s address, and after checking, I discovered that it is once again available.

Will Caspar, Jon, and Tim join forces again? Will Beggars All come back? I don't know. In fact, I don't know if I even want it to come back, but I do know that it is now once again possible...

Blessings.

OLD BEGGARS ALL: Some of our last posts

2011-05-19T19:23:00.000-07:00

11/3/2006

Random Thoughts on Charlie Brown, Former LCMS Clergy and Marxism

Number 1 I had big plans for a special essay on “It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown”, but my plans fell through, just too much going on personally and professionally to pull it off the way I wanted. But you can fill in the blanks along these lines: Linus waiting in the pumpkin patch is like American Evangelicals setting a date or time frame for the return of Christ. It just doesn’t work that way. You end up cold and shivering in the pumpkin patch with nothing but your security blanket and because you didn’t go trick or treating the only candy you get is what your sister Lucy picked up for you. Furthermore, when it is Easter and it is time to watch “It’s the Easter Beagle Charlie Brown” and you try to convince Sally that the Easter Beagle is coming she will not believe you. The good news is that the Easter Beagle actually shows up with Easter eggs. The moral of the story is: Why set a time frame on Jesus’ return when your Pastor (Snoopy in his role as the Easter Beagle) gives you Jesus in Word and Sacrament every Sunday. The means of Grace are the oil for your lamp. Number 2 The last two weeks wore me out: The cheap LutherQuest ™ imitation of a post that generated 60 some odd comments swirling around Fr. Hogg and the general acrimony over Fr. Fenton. I wish we got paid for hits. I would write something about Frs. Fenton and Hogg every day. This is just sarcasm of course. In the Lutheran Blogosphere these two men are “ratings gold”, they are the blogging equivalent of getting Brad Pitt to show up on Oprah. (This is written in jest, I am completely jaded and I wish they both were still in communion with the Church of the Augsburg Confession) Number 3Do you realize that a Marxist revolution took place in America? Just watch tv – which class is constantly under attack? The middle class. Contrary to the average opinion the enemies of the revolution are not the elite or rich. The revolution’s enemy is the bourgoise, i.e. the middle class. “Desperate Housewives” is not about the ultra rich, it is about the middle class. Very few in Hollywood identify themselves with the middle – they constantly switch between upper class and lower class identification and the only shows on tv about the middle class are comedies or tragic farce. Drama and heroism are reserved for the elite or the lowest class. It is the middle class who stops the revolution from happening, because it gives hope to the lower class. It inspires the lower class to entrepreneurial pursuits. If the lower class is completely devoid of work, if they have no food or nothing to occupy them then they will rise, without forethought, and topple the system. Man do I not want the system toppled. Good thing that the Marxists and Postmodernists have the make believe world of tv to keep them busy! Alles Liebe, Wahre und Schoene Jon

posted by Jon Ledetroit @ 3:29:00 PM 1 comments links to this post

Why Aren't More Lutherans Running for Political Office or in the Public Eye?

This is essentially the question that Uwe Siemon-Netto was asking on Issues Etc. on Wednesday -http://www.kfuo.org/mp3/Issues6/Issues_Etc_Nov_01c.mp3 I've got an answer in two names for you: Mel Gibson and now Ted Haggard. Yes Ted Haggard. Who knows if this is true or not, who cares - the damage is done. Uwe is of course right, but being in the public eye means public sin. All the more reason for private confession and absolution.

posted by Jon Ledetroit @ 6:59:00 AM 0 comments links to this post
11/2/2006

Eastern Orthodoxy on Grace, Free Will, and Original Sin

Dear brothers in Christ, If you don't get the problem right, you will not get the solution right. Lutheranism and Eastern Orthodoxy disagree on the problem, and therefore the solutions offered are different. This is why we have the doctrine of Justification and they have the doctrine of Theosis. The following words are taken from Bishop Kallistos Ware's The Orthodox Church, 2nd Ed., pp 221-225. These words will send a chill through the spine of any Confessional Lutheran. When I reached this point in my examination of Eastern Orthodoxy, these words sent me running back to the salvation freely given to me by God when I was baptized in the Lutheran church. That was a vital turning point for me, a lifelong Lutheran. I will let the readers of Beggars All determine for themselves what to think about these teachings of EO. Beware, however, because there will be those who visit here to comment who will say Bishop Ware doesn't speak for all of Eastern Orthodoxy. But if he doesn't, who does? They'll say our differences are just because of perspective and our language barrier, or they will give you some quote from a father of the Eastern church that says what you want to hear. They'll tell you that truly understanding what EO teaches takes a lifetime. In this way it is nearly impossible to nail down what it is that the Eastern church teaches on anything as they keep drawing you in. But Bishop Ware's book is about the closest thing you can come to a consistent explanation of what Eastern Orthodoxy teaches if you want to know where the path Eastward ultimately leads before you set out upon it. It is highly recommended by many (if not most) Eastern Orthodox to those considering converting. So, for your examination, I present Bishop Ware, in his own words:

Grace and Free Will. As we have seen, the fact that the human person is in God's image means among other things that we possess free will. God wanted sons and daughters, not slaves. The Orthodox Church rejects any doctrine of grace which might seem to infringe upon human freedom. To describe the relation between the grace of God and human freedom, Orthodoxy uses the term co-operation or synergy (synergeia); in Paul's words: 'We are fellow-workers (synergoi) with God' (I Corinthians iii, 9). If we are to achieve full fellowship with God, we cannot do so without God's help, yet we must also play our own part: we humans as well as God must make our contribution to the common work, although what God does is of immeasurably greater importance than what we do. 'The incorporation of humans into Christ and our union with God require the co-operation of two unequal, but equally necessary forces: divine grace and human will.'1 The supreme example of synergy is the Mother of God.2 The west, since the time of Augustine and the Pelagian controversy, has discussed this question of grace and free will in somewhat different terms; and many brought up in the Augustinian tradition - particularly Calvinists - have viewed the Orthodox idea of 'synergy' with some suspicion. Does it not ascribe too much to human free will, and too little to God? Yet in reality the Orthodox teaching is very straightforward. 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in' (Revelation iii, 20). God knocks, but waits for us to open the door- He does not break it down. The grace of God invites all but compels none. In the words of John Chrysostom, 'God never draws anyone to Himself by force and violence. He wishes all to be saved, but forces no one.'3 'It is for God to grant His grace,' said St. Cyril of Jerusalem (died 386); 'your task is to accept that grace and to guard it.'4 But it must not be imagined that because a person accepts and guards God's grace, he thereby earns 'merit'. God's gifts are always free gifts, and we humans can never have any claims upon our Maker. But while we cannot 'merit' salvation, we must certainly work for it, since 'faith without works is dead' (James ii, 17). The Fall: Original Sin. God gave Adam free will - the power to choose between good and evil - and it therefore rested with Adam either to accept the vocation set before him or to refuse it. He refused it. Instead of continuing along the path marked out for him by God, he turned aside and disobeyed God. Adam's fall consisted essentially in his disobedience of the will of God; he set up his own will against the divine will, and so by his own act he separated himself from God. As a result, a new form of existence appeared on earth that of disease and death. By turning away from God, who is immortality and life, humans put themselves in a state that was contrary to nature, and this unnatural condition led to an inevitable disintegration of their being and eventually to physical death. The consequences of Adam's disobedience extended to all his descendants. We are members one of another, as St. Paul never ceased to insist, and if one member suffers the whole body suffers. In virtue of this mysterious unity of the human race, not only Adam but all humankind became subject to mortality. Nor was the disintegration which followed from the fall merely physical. Cut off from God, Adam and his descendants passed under the domination of sin and of the devil. Each new human being is born into a world where sin prevails everywhere, a world in which it is easy to do evil and hard to do good. Our will is weakened and enfeebled by what the Greeks call 'desire' and the Latins 'concupiscence'. We are all subject to these, the spiritual effects of original sin. Thus far there is fairly close agreement between Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, and classic Protestantism; but beyond this point east and west do not entirely concur. Orthodoxy, holding as it does a less exalted idea of the human state before the fall, is also less severe than the west in its view of the consequences of the fall. Adam fell, not from a great height of knowledge and perfection, but from a state of undeveloped simplicity; hence he is not to be judged too harshly for his error. Certainly, as a result of the fall the human mind became so darkened, and human will-power was so impaired, that humans could no longer hope to attain to the likeness of God. Orthodox, however, do not hold that the fall deprived humanity entirely of God's grace, though they would say that after the fall grace acts on humanity from the outside, not from within. Orthodox do not say, as Calvin said, that humans after the fall were utterly depraved and incapable of good desires. They cannot agree with Augustine, when he writes that humans are under 'a harsh necessity' of committing sin, and that 'human nature was overcome by the fault into which it fell, and so came to lack freedom'.5 The image of God is distorted by sin, but never destroyed; in the words of a hymn sung by Orthodox at the Funeral Service: 'I am the image of Your inexpressible glory, even though I bear the wounds of sin.' And because we still retain the image of God, we still retain free will, although sin restricts its scope. Even after the fall, God 'takes not away from humans the power to will - to will to obey or not to obey Him'.6 Faithful to the idea of synergy, Orthodoxy repudiates any interpretation of the fall which allows no room for human freedom. Most Orthodox theologians reject the idea of 'original guilt', put forward by Augustine and still accepted (albeit in a mitigated form) by the Roman Catholic Church. Humans (Orthodox usually teach) automatically inherit Adam's corruption and mortality, but not his guilt: they are only guilty in so far as by their own free choice they imitate Adam. Many western Christians used to believe that whatever a person does in the fallen and unredeemed state, since it is tainted by original guilt, cannot possibly be pleasing to God: 'Works before Justification,' says the thirteenth of the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England, '... are not pleasant to God . . . but have the nature of sin.' Orthodox would hesitate to say this. And Orthodox have never held (as Augustine and many others in the west have done) that unbaptized babies, because tainted with original guilt, are consigned by the just God to the everlasting flames of hell.7 The Orthodox picture of fallen humanity is far less sombre than the Augustinian or Calvinist view. But although Orthodox maintain that humans after the fall still possessed free will and were still capable of good actions yet they certainly agree with the west in believing that human sin had set up between humanity and God a barrier which humanity by its own efforts could never break down. Sin blocked the path to union with God. Since we could not come to God, He came to us. Footnotes: 1. A Monk of the Eastern Church, Orthodox Spirituality, p. 23. 2. See p. 58. 3. Sermon on the words 'Saul, Saul . . .', 6 (P.G. Ii, 144). 4. Catechetical Orations, r, 4. 5. On the perfection of man's righteousness, iv (9). 6. Dositheus, Confession, Decree iii. Compare Decree xiv. 7. Thomas Aquinas, in his discussion of the fall, on the whole followed Augustine, and in particular retained the idea of original guilt; but as regards unbaptized babies, he maintained that they go not to Hell but to Limbo - a view now generally accepted by Roman theologians. So far as I can discover, Orthodox writers do not make use of the idea of Limbo. It should be noted that an Augustinian view of the fall is found from time to time in Orthodox theological literature; but this is usually the result of western influence. The Orthodox Confession by Peter of Moghila is, as one might expect, strongly Augustinian; on the other hand the Confession of Dositheus is free from Augustinianism.

posted by Caspar Heydenreich @ 12:17:00 PM 21 comments links to this post
10/31/2006

Our Savior of Grand Rapid's EO Page

Our Savior Lutheran Church in Grand Rapids provides this web page as a response to Eastern Orthodoxy. They explain:

But we also cannot remain silent as to the serious errors present in that communion, especially now when our fellow Lutherans are being tempted to doubt the integrity of salvation present in the Lutheran Church. Those who wish to remain true to the writings of the prophets and apostles (the Holy Scriptures) need to consider these issues fully.

Rev. David Fleming, the pastor of Our Savior, will be speaking at the Higher Things retreat this weekend at Zion in Marshall. Any communicant member of Zion Lutheran of Detroit who would like to attend this retreat for free should e-mail Tim at forallthesaints@yahoo.com as soon as possible. Here are a few resources on Our Savior's web site:

DOCUMENTS

"Scripture and Tradition," by the Rev. Benjamin Mayes, Our Savior Lutheran Church, Grand Rapids, MI

"Where is the True Church?" by the Rev. Dr. Albert Collver III, Hope Lutheran Church, Dewitt, MI

A sermon on the True Church by the Rev. Mayes

"Faith and Works," by the Rev. Tony Sikora, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Middleville, MI

"The Invocation of the Saints," by the Rev. David Fleming, Our Savior Lutheran Church, Grand Rapids, MI

Quotations from an essay on the authority of Scripture, of tradition, and of the Church. From "Commentary on Romans," by Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560). Melanchthon was the author of the Augsburg Confession, the foundational confession of the Lutheran Church.

A sermon preached on Sep. 4, 2005 at Epiphany Lutheran Church, Dorr, MI on Gal. 5:25-6:10, about bearing burdens, diagnosing problems in the LCMS, and prescribing the right cure. By the Rev. Benjamin Mayes,

"On Temptations to Go East," by the Rev. Dr. Burnell F. Eckardt Jr., St. Paul Lutheran Church, Kewanee, IL (This will take you to another site so use the back button to come back to this page.)

"The Church, The Ministry, Saints, and Purgatory: A Comparison of Lutheran and Eastern Orthodox Doctrine," by the Rev. James H. Blain, St. James Lutheran Church, Grand Rapids, MI

posted by Interim Admin @ 9:27:00 PM 3 comments links to this post
10/30/2006

"Rite" to choose?

I recently purchased A Bible History (2003, Berndt/Rathmann Ed.) from CPH for my homeschooled Jr. High kids as part of their religious education. It is considered a CPH classic formerly titled Advanced Bible History. The Workbooks however were prepared more recently by Berndt and Dr. Rathmann. In beginning to teach from that text, we came across something that just doesn't sound right to me and has made me question the soundness of the theology of this text. It has also made my children question things, and at this point I have told them without hesitation that this text is wrong on this point and that we won't be continuing to use it until I examine it more fully. The workbook asks the question: "Why did God place the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden?" The answer given in the teacher's edition states unequivocally that:

"God placed the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden to test whether Adam and Eve would choose to be obedient to His Word. Without this choice, they would have no choice but to honor God." [Teacher's Guide, p. 7]

God created "choice?" God provided a sinful "choice" to Adam and Eve to "test" their obedience? On what biblical or theological grounds could this "rite" to choose assumption made? I wouldn't presume to guess why God put it there, since I do not believe we are told, but I would assume it was for some good purpose to serve man, not to test him. As Luther writes:

"[Here God builds Himself], as it were, a temple that [Adam] may worship Him and thank the God who has so kindly bestowed all these things on him. Today in our churches we have an altar for the administration of the Eucharist, and we have platforms or pulpits for teaching the people. These objects were built not only to meet a need but also to create a solemn atmosphere. But this tree of the knowledge of good and evil was Adam’s church, altar, and pulpit. Here He was to yield to God the obedience he owed, give recognition to the Word and will of God, give thanks to God, and call upon God for aid against temptation." [AE 1:95]

I have taught my children from the explanation of the sixth petition of the Lord's Prayer that "God surely tempts no one to sin." Maybe "tempt" isn't the same thing as "test." While in this sinful world of unbelief God may "test" us, I will not teach my children that he did so right from the beginning of time. If I had to provide an answer to this "why" question, I certainly prefer Luther's explanation of the purpose of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But why are we asking the question? Also, in a book for junior high, I don't think we can expect that age group to be able to distinguish between "test" and "tempt." It's hard enough for me to make that distinction. In any case, it is certainly speculative to make such a statement. But it is presented as fact, not speculation. This is a textbook, and though it is contained in the textbook as a footnote, this unsubstantiated "fact" is considered important enough by those who produced the workbook to be the answer to one of seven questions students should know about the story of creation. It makes me wonder if that footnote was part of the original textbook, or if that was added when the workbooks were written. So, what do you think? Am I nitpicking? UPDATE: Rev. McCain in a comment to this post has provided us with a quote from Luther in which he says:

"Hence the answer to all such inquiries must be only this: It pleased the Lord that Adam should be tempted and should test his powers. So it still is today." [LW 1:145]

It is important to point out that God allowing Adam to be tempted to test his powers does not make God the tempter. Thanks, Rev. McCain. This quote does make me a little less nervous about the statement, though I'm still not sure I'm satisfied.

posted by Caspar Heydenreich @ 4:23:00 PM 13 comments links to this post

Another Thought on Fr. Fenton's Resignation

I hope that Zion still continues on as it has been for a very long time in terms of liturgy. The constant kneeling, bowing one's head at the name of Jesus, taping your chest three times and saying "through my fault, my fault, my most grievous fault", being able to cross onesself without the stares of others, no individual cups, the incense, the elevation of the Body and Blood of our Lord -- I could go on and on. I hope none of this changes. I always imagined that the liturgy there was the way it would have been everywhere had the crypto-calvinists not had their way.

posted by Jon Ledetroit @ 4:17:00 PM 4 comments links to this post

Fare Thee Well Fr. Fenton

It became official yesterday, I suppose. Fr. Fenton resigned from his office at Zion and announced his intentions of joining the Orthodox communion. Before anyone gets a chance to write something negative, I just want to make a short list of the positives he left Lutherans with – at least in the Detroit area. 1. A renewed interest in weekly communion. To be fair, this was the practice at Zion before he got there, but he made it well known to the public. It was his writing on the subject that brought me to an awareness that Sundays and Holy Days without the Sacrament are not Lutheran, or Christian for that matter. He also offered the Sacrament daily, which was an enormous comfort to me at one point in my life. 2. He was always very apt to teach and opened his home on Friday nights for “Catechesis in Liturgy.” 3. The area in which Zion resides is one of the absolute worst in all of Detroit. About two years ago two police officers were murdered within a few blocks of Zion and its rectory – yet Fr. Fenton had the courage to reside next to his parish and serve the community there. 4. I know a couple (now married) whose first date was going to Zion to hear Fr. Fenton preach and say mass. 5. He gave me my first copy of “The Large Catechism” While I am saddened Fr. Fenton is no longer Lutheran, I owe him an enormous debt of gratitude – especially for points 1 and 5 above. Indeed, go in peace my friend and I hope you come back some day. There are a lot of people praying for you.

posted by Jon Ledetroit @ 7:53:00 AM 57 comments links to this post
10/27/2006

From My Mouth to Wilken's Ear?

Heh, I think not, but one of my top 5 favorite guests ever on Issues Etc. made a long awaited return appearance to Issues Etc. yesterday.......... Pastor Will Weedon!

Third Hour of Oct. 26th Broadcast

I got this email from Pastor Weedon last night:

From: William Weedon [mailto:] Sent: Thursday, October 26, 2006 7:39 PMTo: ........., Jon Subject: Re: Reformation Sermon and St. Basil quote Hope you're happy now. : ) On Oct 24, 2006, at 6:19 PM,........., Jon wrote: > And one more question, ................., since Wilken spoke at > your anniversary when do we get to hear you on Issues Etc. again? Do I > need to start a petition drive or something?

Pastor Weedon, I am not the only one who is happy!

posted by Jon Ledetroit @ 12:06:00 PM 0 comments links to this post
10/24/2006

The Common Boot and the Grotto of Debauchery

During hour 2 of Issues Etc. yesterday, Pastor Rod Zwonitzer gave a subtle tip of the hat to the greatest day in Beggars All history - May 1, 2006 : The infamous Grotto of Debauchery celebration after the Issues Etc. live broadcast from Concordia Ann Arbor ....."dark beer from a glass boot" It really wasn't debauchery - it just sounds cool to say it. For pics, a cartoon, and other fun discussions of this event, go to our May 2oo6 archives! And here, from Caspar, is Pr. Wilken's description of the Grotto of Debauchery and actual video footage of Jeff Schwarz drinking from "the boot."

posted by Jon Ledetroit @ 4:22:00 PM 4 comments links to this post
10/23/2006

Get a Real Job

My post last week stirred up a lot of activity and a few emails. Beggars All was channeling "What You Do Do Quickly" again - or so it appeared. Last week was a week when I wished I could have gotten into the fray a little more, wrote more specifics to some who wrote to me and accepted offers to discuss the matter in more depth over a pint of Irish stout (maybe soon at the Irish American Club, ok?) I have been buried in my work, my real work ... engines, engines, engines, but at times I'd really love to be doing something else..... another type of work. I mean completely different, but the type of work I mean has its own fair share of suffering, probably much worse. Soon, I will finish something fiendishly good for my fellow Beggars to read - no cheap John 13:27 rip off posts, I promise (Or John -14 for you Fr. Gregory). All I have to write as the teaser are these two sentences: PASTORS SHOULD BE DEFROCKED FOR USING PEANUTS AS A SERMON ANECDOTE! And just like the Bible, Peanuts interprets Peanuts (It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, the JLD Interpretation)

posted by Jon Ledetroit @ 6:05:00 PM 2 comments links to this post
10/16/2006

Is the Lutheran Church really Lutheran?

The smartest thing to do when faced with this question is to ask yourself or the person posing the question the question that all of us should know by heart: What does this mean? You may ask yourself the first question when faced with the statement that there is no Lutheran Church, in which case you can still answer with the ultimate Lutheran question: What does this mean? You may then be faced with the questions or statements I once read on Pastor Weedon’s blog under the heading “Quia Eye for the Confessional Guy” (BTW this is one of my favorite posts on his blog ever - good questions for reformation rather than justification of throwing the whole thing out) questioning whether you yourself are confessional. You may believe in the perpetual virginity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, but then you will be faced with the question, “But do you pray it?” Again – “What does this mean?” is the appropriate reply. When faced with the question myself on a Friday noontime in August, my reply was simply no. I don’t pray it. I do not live up to what the ideal Lutheran should be and I am damnably far off from being an ideal Christian. These questions, my dear fellow beggars, are Law. The statement that the Lutheran Church is not the Lutheran Church is Law. I never come out of one of these conversations uncrushed. That is of course what the Law does. How does your discussion partner in this debate follow up? Does he keep piling on about the errors and mistakes of those who call themselves Lutheran, or does he follow up with Christ and Him crucified? The question in the title is entirely valid, but it is only valid if the intent of the question is to show those who call themselves Lutheran that they have nothing to plead but Christ alone. Lutherans are not Luther’s bride, they are Christ’s. We can say with certainty that they are Christ’s bride because He gives her the marks of the true church – Word and Sacrament. I think many of us are crushed and instead of weeping we lash out and just reinforce the beliefs of those who ask such questions driving them farther into their deception. “How can this Lutheran church be the true church when she persecutes those who want to purify her?” Poor Donatus! We who are not traditors prove his point by letting traditors still serve. We are probably trusting too much in the work of the Holy Spirit to sanctify. Although Donatus is easy to understand and one’s heart goes out to him, he is none-the-less very very wrong. The prodigal son’s Father gave him His own ring when he returned from his time of wallowing in the pig sty. It is Christ alone who makes His bride the church spotless. She can’t even present herself to Him; He presents her unto Himself. Perhaps it is a good thing, if those who cannot let the Gospel predominate to those with hearts softened by the Law, go somewhere where the Word of God is not properly divided into Law and Gospel. – Rome, East, American Evangelicalism, Calvinism or into Social Gospel territory – wherever.

posted by Jon Ledetroit @ 10:40:00 AM 66 comments links to this post
10/14/2006

GO TIGERS!!!

CASPAR AND TIM AND THEIR BUDDY JON FROM DETROIT ARE PUMPED! I THINK IT WAS 22 YEARS AGO WHEN I (CASPAR) WAS STUDYING GROSS ANATOMY AT THE U OF M LAW LIBRARY IN ANN ARBOR WHEN A MOB OF 150 PEOPLE CAME IN AND DANCED ON THE TABLES, BEER IN HAND, CELEBRATING THE LAST TIME THE TIGERS WON THE PENNANT. I FEEL YOUNG AGAIN! Michigan Lutherans celebrate!!!!!!!!!! Sola Ordoñez!!!!

posted by Caspar Heydenreich @ 8:46:00 PM 6 comments links to this post