Cyberbrethren: A Lutheran Blog

The Lutheran Confessions Are Becoming More Popular

I have had, literally, countless numbers of laypeople tell me something similar to these remarks I found on a blog site recently. Pastors who give laypeople a chance to understand and appreciate the Lutheran Confessions are often quite surprised, and delighted, by the response. Of course, if a pastor himself doesn't care much about the Lutheran Confessions and actually putting them to use in his ministry, the lay people certainly won't. Now is as good a time as any to mention that the "Concordia" edition of the BOC is now on sale at CPH, at $24.99, and under certain conditions, is available as well with free shipping/handling during our Fall Bible promotion which is running from now until the end of December. What better way to celebrate the Lutheran Reformation than by studying the Lutheran Confessions?

The following is from the Blog: Blonde Moment

So, I recently started a small group Bible Study for women between 20 and 35 sponsored by my church. I am accountable to a DCE for the content and that the group grows. As it turns out, most of the women in my group have spent years of their lives in various evangelical to non-denominational churches.

To become a new adult member of our church, one has to go through a several week class that explains foundational beliefs of the confessional Lutheran Church. The class, by nature, is a survey class so confirmed Lutherans don’t have to sit through the same old catechism class again.

Here's an observation I made to Pastor, this is not an opinion, rather an observation. A recent phenomenon in confessional churches is the migration of Evangelicals back to orthodoxy-with-a-small-o, henceforth referred to orthodoxy. I don’t think Pastors have been prepared for this, as such, many new members come from a background where they are not familiar with the confessions of faith.

Pastor is starting a sermon series on The Apostles Creed (a good excuse to bring my copy of Concordia, reader’s edition , edited by Rev. Paul McCain , great edition, by the way). So, as I was stopping by church, I briefly suggested to Pastor that a class on the Augsburg Confessions or the Large Catechism be made available, as well, explaining how people from a non-confessional background aren’t used to confessing one theology.

New Roundtable Discussion at the Blog of Concord

There is a new roundtable conversation underway at the Book of Concord blog and you are invited to join in. It is truly an embarrassment that the practice of private and confession and absolution has fallen into disuse among Lutherans, when our Confessions indicate that we Lutherans cherish it and retain it in the church. The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod adopted a very fine resolution at its last convention calling on its restoration and use among us. C.F.W. Walther was a champion of the practice and insisted that where it has fallen out of use, it needs to be restored.

So, come join the conversation.

Ezekiel 33:1-9 and Faithless Pastors

In light of the two recent posts, I picked up a post from a Roman Catholic blog site this morning that illustrates a faithless pastor and how he operates. Read these sad words and consider Ezekiel 33:1-9. God grant us faithful shepherds and may He ever bless us through those who declare God's Law and Gospel faithfully to us. May He preserve such men in their ministry. May He protect us from men who fail in their duties. And may God, in His mercy, protect us from ourselves. If and when we, as Lutherans, can not find it in ourselves to explain and defend why it is that we are Lutherans, and nothing else, then it truly is time to turn off the lights and close the doors of our church. If, and when, a congregation no longer wants a faithful shepherd who will speak the truth in love and explain and defend why we are, and must be, Lutherans in order to be as faithful as possible to God's Word, then they deserve hirelings who will tell them what they want to hear, not what they need to hear.

The Unfaithful Shepherd

My husband is a convert from Lutheranism. Nominal Lutheranism. His parents, wanting him to have some appreciation for religion, would take him to church on Sunday, drop him off at the church steps and then go do something else for an hour. This is a real head-shaker for me. Instead of the old Borg slogan of "Resistance is futile," this was more along the lines of, "Attempts at religiousizing are futile." I shouldn't be flippant, maybe these times in church were what gave him the grounding to one day become Catholic. The more I hear the conversion stories of others, the more I see that there is no clear path to look down from this end, only the trail you see in retrospect.

It's all amazing.

My husband (back then he was just a friend) went and asked the pastor of the church he attended once in a blue moon, why Lutheranism and not Catholicism. The pastor, according to my husband, had little to say. He seemed to be resigned that one of his sheep was leaving the flock. He almost acted like he, or the church he belonged to, had been seen for what it was. The emperor had no clothes. The pastor's only suggestion to the kindly barrage of questions of my husband's, was for my husband to read "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values."

Odd. Even my husband thought it was odd and left his meeting with the pastor feeling very disappointed and even sorry for the man. The pastor had had no answers to my husband's questions.

After a few meetings with my father, a great apologist, discussing Catholicism, my "friend" was certain that his leanings toward the Catholic Church were correct and he was ready for RCIA.

Because It Must Be Said: Part Two

Congregations that refuse to abide by the faithful preaching and teaching of God's Word, and force a pastor out who is carrying out his ministry faithfully but not according to the whims of the wealthy members in the congregation who want him to marry their fornicating children who refuse to stop living together, who demand he commune their relatives who have long ago abandoned their Lutheran confession, who demand that the pastor stop calling on inactive members because he is irritating them, who insist that the pastor accept as baptismal sponsors people who have no interest in seeing the child raised in the Lutheran faith, who do not want their pastor talking about the differences between church bodies, who never want to hear the Law preached too specifically, who want their pastor to be, more or less, their hired hand, do not deserve another pastor and it is a shame when a church official allows them to receive another one!

Because It Must Be Said: Part One

Over the years I've observed as pastors are put out of office unjustly. I do not deny this happens. And that it happens, when it happens, it is a tragedy and a blight on the church.

I have also observed pastors put out of their office due to their own foolish behavior and malfeasance in office. What is particularly upsetting to me is that pastors put of office due to their own fault will, more often than not, attempt to wrap themselves in the flag of "confessionalism" or "orthdoxy" and claim they are being persecuted.  Such pastors should not expect any sympathy when they fail to call on the sick, the shut-in and the dying, but instead think they have more important things to do. When they are cautioned about such behavior and ignore it and persist in it. Well, it's their own fault when finally they are asked to leave. A recent example: a pastor was asked by a family to visit mom, whom they had to put in a home. He said he would. He didn't. He was asked again. He said he would. He didn't. Foolish!

I'm not making this up. This happens, and is happening. Pastors simply failing to perform the basic duties of their office. I have experienced this first-hand with a pastor who was asked to leave after he failed to call on a person who was dying, after many requests, and this was merely one of many examples of this kind of behavior on his part. And recently another pastor who has been warned repeatedly over a good length of time, continues, defiantly, to persist in neglect of his duties.

So, pastors...you make it very hard for pastors who do face persecution for being truly faithful, when you, due to your own dumb fault, are asked to leave. Enough said. And to all the pastors out there who are being faithful, who are performing the duties of your office. Thank you! God bless.

An Observation about Steak

A Porterhouse Steak, grilled rare to medium-rare. Is there anything better? I think not. And if you don't agree, that's ok. Just means there is more for me.

Labor of the Law, Labor of Love

“Under Christ, therefore, the law consists in what is about to be done, not in what is actually done. Believers have need of it that they might be reminded by the law. It will not be an obligation or any demand, but a labor of the law which is the perfect and highest love.”

Martin Luther, WA 39:1.374, 11. Quoted in H. J. Iwand, The Righteousness of Faith According to Luther, Chapter Two “Law and Gospel.” Translated by R.H. Lundell. Reprinted in Lutheran Quarterly, Volume XXI/Number 2, Summer 2007, p. 232.

Converts to Lutheranism Tell Their Stories

I ran across recently an interesting web site that provides the personal accounts of people who have come to Lutheranism from other denominational backgrounds. Very interesting indeed! If you know of other converts to Lutheranism who might like to share their stories, please send them to: people can email their conversion stories to Adam Roe at adamroe@wordandsacrament.com 

More on the Finnish Situation

Dear Brothers,

 

 

 

Now has happened what I would not have thought possible in my worst nightmares just one year ago: One of my brothers in office, Missionary Ari Norro of the Finnish Lutheran Gospel Association (one of the official mission organizations of the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church) as well as the president of the local branch of this “evangelical movement” that is rich in tradition (comparable in Germany with Löhe’s awakening) as well as Tauno Tuominen, the vice-senior pastor of the Evangelical-Lutheran congregation in Hyvinkää, have been charged in the county court with discrimination in the worship service.

 

 

 

It happened more or less like this: The Gospel Association unequivocally rejects women’s ordination, and Rev. Norro is among those who – like me and many other brothers – do not officiate with women in the service. Ms. Ojala, a lay-leader, shares his attitude. This is why she had in time asked during the preparations for the service last March – and it is about this service – who would be serving alongside Missionary Norro, the guest preacher; she was told that it would be all male pastors (and no female pastor). However, right before the beginning of the service one female pastor of the congregation, Ms. Petra Pohjanraito, showed up in the sacristy and said that she was scheduled to help with communion. Rev. Norro responded that this – officiating with female pastors – was against his firm conviction, but that he was ready not to serve. However, the female pastor declined his offer; she said that she had many other things to do, and then she left the church. The vice-senior pastor allegedly remained passive during this exchange.

 

 

 

The entire conversation was observed by, among others, the head elder of the congregation; and he, a police officer, then reported the matter to the secular court. And after a few month, one could read in newspapers yesterday and today that the secular court really charged the three individuals: the vice-senior pastor because of “discrimination while in office” and against the others because of simple discrimination.

 

 

 

We will have to wait and see whether the defendants will be sentenced. The trial is scheduled for November 16.

 

 

 

Generally speaking, however, I consider it to be outrageous in a country that is so proud of its modern ways and its democratic tradition, that a secular court takes steps against the religious convictions expressed in the day-to-day life of the church without the church’s resisting it; in fact, the church – at least the bishops – look forward to having the courts finally decide who is right and who is wrong in this lengthy churchly dispute. And this is why the lay-activist, Ms. Ojala, is probably only charged because she asked beforehand who was to serve at the altar on the Sunday in question! Women can therefore also discriminate against women! One really wonders when a regular secular-churchly thought police will be established that reliably finds out every “discriminating” thought and a “conservative” attitude and right away drags the suspects into court.

 

 

 

If I did not believe in the God whose kingdom is everlasting, I really would be afraid. It is quite possible that I too will be tested in the future and charged like Brother Norro. When I heard the news, my first, spontaneous question was whether I really want to continue to live in this land or whether we should emigrate in spite of everything. Now I think that this too comes out of God’s hand and that He knows exactly what He does and permits. This is why we can remain calm, wait, and pray – and continue to build his congregation.

 

 

 

In a rush, with cordial greetings

 

I am your

 

Dr. Martti Vaahtoranta

 

 

 

Dr. Martti Vaahtoranta is a Finnish Lutheran pastor who, while living in Germany, was a member of the Wiesbaden congregation of the Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church (SELK) in Germany. He has just returned to his home country.

Women and the Catholic Priesthood

A very thought-provoking review article from FIRST THINGS:

Women and the Catholic Priesthood

By Monica Migliorino Miller

Wednesday, September 26, 2007,  6:56 AM

In May 1994, Pope John Paul II issued his apostolic letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis. It is, as far as Vatican documents go, very short. It deals with one specific issue, namely the Church’s ban on the admission of women to the ministerial priesthood, a ban first articulated in the 1976 Vatican declaration Inter Insigniores and upheld by Pope John Paul II. He clearly stated: “Wherefore, in order that all doubt be removed regarding a matter of great importance, a matter which pertains to the Church’s divine constitution itself, in virtue of my ministry of confirming the brethren (cf. Lk. 22:32) I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church’s faithful.” With these words, the Holy Father intended to end the debate regarding women priests.

In October 1995, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, then prefect for the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, made a response to a question that was submitted to the Vatican on the doctrinal status of Ordinatio Sacerdotalis. The official Vatican response, given through Ratzinger, was that the ban on women priests was “taught infallibly by the Church.” While the doctrine is settled, much debate, misunderstanding, and, in some quarters, deep resentment continues over the Church’s insistence upon an all-male priesthood. As a Catholic, theologian, and university professor, I know that many Catholics continue to reject Catholic teaching on the all-male priesthood and certainly cannot articulate the Church’s reasons for the teaching, much less defend it.

The Catholic Priesthood and Women is a defense and an interpretation of the Church’s doctrine. It attempts to provide a new generation of young Catholics and, most especially, seminarians with an understanding of the Church’s teaching and give them a “theological orientation to the topic that engages the chief objections.” It’s author, Sister Sara Butler, MSBT, is a well-respected theologian who taught at Mundelein Seminary and currently holds a position at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Dunwoodie, New York. She openly confesses in the book’s introduction that for many years she supported the ordination of women. She credits John Paul II’s “theology of the body” and “his response to the feminist critique in the apostolic letter Mulieris Dignitatem (1988)” for her change of heart on this matter.

Lutheran Worship: Old School ... Too Roman Catholic? Thoughts on Lutheranism and Liturgy

The first president of the Missouri Synod worked long and hard to restore a common historic liturgy to the church when so many churches were following their own devices. C. F. W. Walther's efforts received some negative feedback. He responded in a publication that he edited for many years: Der Lutheraner, as in this example, translated from the July 19, 1853, issue, volume 9, number 24, page 163.

Whenever the divine service once again follows the old Evangelical-Lutheran agendas (or church books), it seems that many raise a great cry that it is "Roman Catholic": "Roman Catholic" when the pastor chants "The Lord be with you" and the congregation responds by chanting "and with thy spirit"; "Roman Catholic" when the pastor chants the collect and the blessing and the people respond with a chanted "Amen." Even the simplest Christian can respond to this outcry: "Prove to me that this chanting is contrary to the Word of God, then I too will call it `Roman Catholic' and have nothing more to do with it. However, you cannot prove this to me." If you insist upon calling every element in the divine service "Romish" that has been used by the Roman Catholic Church, it must follow that the reading of the Epistle and Gospel is also "Romish." Indeed, it is mischief to sing or preach in church, for the Roman Church has done this also . . .Those who cry out should remember that the Roman Catholic Church possesses every beautiful song of the old orthodox church. The chants and antiphons and responses were brought into the church long before the false teachings of Rome crept in. This Christian Church since the beginning, even in the Old Testament, has derived great joy from chanting... For more than 1700 years orthodox Christians have participated joyfully in the divine service. Should we, today, carry on by saying that such joyful participation is "Roman Catholic"? God forbid! Therefore, as we continue to hold and to restore our wonderful divine services in places where they have been forgotten, let us boldly confess that our worship forms do not tie us with the modern sects or with the church of Rome; rather, they join us to the one, holy Christian Church that is as old as the world and is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets.

Here are a number of pictures of paintings of the historic Lutheran worship service, also known as the Gottesdienst, Divine Service, following the pictures are comments on Lutheranism and liturgy. Here is the page where I found them. Here are the images. Sorry for the poor quality, but it just the best I could do given the originals provided at the web site in Germany.

Lutheran Divine Service in Hamburg

Lutheran Divine Service in Muhlberg/Elbe

Lutheran Divine Service in Gorlitz

Lutheran Divine Service in Salzhemmendorf

Lutheran Divine Service. Location not known.
From the book: Historische Bilder zum Evangelisch-Lutherischen Gottensdienst

More thoughts from C.F.W. Walther:

"We know and firmly hold that the character, the soul of Lutheranism, is not found in outward observances but in the pure doctrine. If a congregation had the most beautiful ceremonies in the very best order, but did not have the pure doctrine, it would be anything but Lutheran. We have from the beginning spoken earnestly of good ceremonies, not as though the important thing were outward forms, but rather to make use of our liberty in these things. For true Lutherans know that although one does not have to have these things (because there is no divine command to have them), one may nevertheless have them because good ceremonies are lovely and beautiful and are not forbidden in the Word of God. Therefore the Lutheran church has not abolished "outward ornaments, candles, altar cloths, statues and similar ornaments," [AP XXIV] but has left them free. The sects proceeded differently because they did not know how to distinguish between what is commanded, forbidden, and left free in the Word of God. We remind only of the mad actions of Carlstadt and of his adherents and followers in Germany and in Switzerland. We on our part have retained the ceremonies and church ornaments in order to prove by our actions that we have a correct understanding of Christian liberty, and know how to conduct ourselves in things which are neither commanded nor forbidden by God.

We refuse to be guided by those who are offended by our church customs. We adhere to them all the more firmly when someone wants to cause us to have a guilty conscience on account of them. The Roman antichristendom enslaves poor consciences by imposing human ordinances on them with the command: "You must keep such and such a thing!"; the sects enslave consciences by forbidding and branding as sin what God has left free. Unfortunately, also many of our Lutheran Christians are still without a true understanding of their liberty. This is demonstrated by their aversion to ceremonies.

It is truly distressing that many of our fellow Christians find the difference between Lutheranism and Roman Catholicism in outward things. It is a pity and dreadful cowardice when a person sacrifices the good ancient church customs to please the deluded American denominations just so they won't accuse us of being Roman Catholic! Indeed! Am I to be afraid of a Methodist, who perverts the saving Word, or be ashamed in the matter of my good cause, and not rather rejoice that they can tell by our ceremonies that I do  not belong to them?

  It is too bad that such entirely different ceremonies prevail in our Synod, and that no liturgy at all has yet been introduced in many congregations. The prejudice especially against the responsive chanting of pastor and congregations is of course still very great with many people -- this does not, however, alter the fact that it is very foolish. The pious church father Augustine said, "Qui cantat, bis orat--he who sings prays twice."

This finds its application also in the matter of the liturgy. Why should congregations or individuals in the congregation want to retain their prejudices? How foolish that would be! For first of all it is clear from the words of St. Paul (1 Cor. 14:16) that the congregations of his time had a similar custom. It has been the custom in the Lutheran Church for 250 years. It creates a solemn impression on the Christian mind when one is reminded by the solemnity of the divine service that one is in the house of God, in childlike love to their heavenly Father, also give expression to their joy in such a lovely manner.

We are not insisting that there be uniformity in perception or feeling or taste among all believing Christians-neither dare anyone demand that all be minded as he. Nevertheless, it remains true that the Lutheran liturgy distinguishes Lutheran worship from the worship of other churches to such an extent that the houses of worship of the latter look like lecture halls in which the hearers are merely addressed or instructed, while our churches are in truth houses of prayer in which Christians serve the great God publicly before the world.

Uniformity of ceremonies (perhaps according to the Saxon Church order published by the Synod, which is the simplest among the many Lutheran church orders) would be highly desirable because of its usefulness. A poor slave of the pope finds one and same form of service, no matter where he goes, by which he at once recognizes his church.

With us it is different. Whoever comes from Germany without a true understanding of the doctrine often has to look for his church for a long time, and many have already been lost to our church because of this search. How different it would be if the entire Lutheran church had a uniform form of worship! This would, of course, first of all yield only an external advantage, however, one which is by no means unimportant. Has not many a Lutheran  already kept his distance from the sects because he saw at the Lord's Supper they broke the bread instead of distributing wafters?

The objection:  "What would be the use of uniformity of ceremonies?" was answered with the counter question, "What is the use of a flag on the battlefield? Even though a soldier cannot defeat the enemy with it, he nevertheless sees by the flag where he belongs. We ought not to refuse to walk in the footsteps of our fathers. They were so far removed from being ashamed of the good ceremonies that they publicly confess in the passage quoted: "It is not true that we do away with all such external ornaments"

(C.F.W. Walther, Explanation of Thesis XVIII, D, Adiaphora, of the book The True Visible Church, delivered at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Indianapolis, Indiana, Beginning August 9, 1871, at the 16th Central District Convention, translated by Fred Kramer, printed in Essays for the Church [CPH: 1992], I:193-194).

And another commentary on historic Lutheran worship (source):

A notion of the extent to which the Lutheran Church retained and purified olden ceremonies may be got from the following description of its usages so late as the eighteenth century ([Rudolf] Rocholl, Gesch. d. ev. Kirche in Deutschland, 300):

According to the Brunswick Agenda of Duke Augustus, 1657, the pastors went to the altar clad in alb, chasuble, and mass vestments. Sacristans and elders held a fair cloth before the altar during the administration, that no particle of the consecrated Elements should fall to the ground. The altar was adorned with costly stuffs, with lights and fresh flowers. “I would,” cries [Christian] Scriver, “that one could make the whole church, and especially the altar, look like a little Heaven.” Until the nineteenth century the ministers at St. Sebald in Nuremberg wore chasubles at the administration of the Holy Supper. The alb was generally worn over the Talar, even in the sermon. [Valerius] Herberger calls it his natural Säetuch [seed-cloth], from which he scatters the seed of the Divine Word. The alb was worn also in the Westphalian cities. At Closter-Lüne in 1608 the minister wore a garment of yellow gauze, and over it a chasuble on which was worked in needlework a “Passion.” The inmates and abbesses, like Dorothea von Medine, were seen in the costume of the Benedictines. The “Lutheran monks” of Laccuna until 1631 wore the white gown and black scapular of the Cistercian order. Still later they sang the Latin Hours. The beneficiaries of the Augustinian Stift at Tübingen wore the black cowl until 1750. The churches stood open all day. When the Nuremberg Council ordered that they should be closed except at the hours of service, it aroused such an uproar in the city that the council had to yield. In 1619 all the churches in the Archbishopric of Magdeburg were strictly charged to pray the Litany. In Magdeburg itself there were in 1692 four Readers, two for   the Epistle, two for the Gospel. The Nicene Creed was intoned by a Deacon in Latin.   Then the sermon and general prayer having been said, the Deacon with two   Readers and two Vicars, clad in Mass garment and gowns, went in procession   to the altar, bearing the Cup, the Bread, and what pertained to the preparation   for the Holy Supper, and the Cüster [Verger] took a silver censer   with glowing coals and incense, and incensed them, while another (the    Citharmeister?)   clothed and arranged the altar, lit two wax candles, and placed on it two   books bound in red velvet and silver containing the Latin Epistles and Gospels   set to notes, and on festivals set on the altar also a silver or golden   crucifix, according to the order of George of Anhalt in 1542. The Preface and    Sanctus were in Latin. After   the Preface the communicants were summoned into the choir by a bell hanging   there. The Nuremberg Officium Sacrum (1664) bids all the ministers   be present in their stalls, in white chorrocken, standing or sitting, to   sing after the Frühmesse [Morning Mass], “Lord, keep us steadfast.”   The minister said his prayer kneeling with his face to the altar, with   a deacon kneeling on either side. He arranged the wafers on the paten in   piles of ten, like the shewbread, while the Introit and Kyrie were sung. The responses by the choir were in Latin. Up to 1690 the Latin service was still said at St. Sebald’s and St. Lawrence’s. Throughout this (eighteenth) century we find daily Matins and Vespers, with the singing of German psalms. There were sermons on weekdays. There were no churches in which they did not kneel in confession and at the Consecration of the Elements.

These ceremonies yielded finally to the attacks of the Reformed and the influence of Rationalism. -- In our own age we feel an increased respect for the dignified worship of the Reformers.

(Edward T. Horn, “Ceremonies in the Lutheran Church,” in The Lutheran Cyclopedia [Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1899], p. 83.)

Confession Makes a Comeback

The recently concluded convention of The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod is referred to favorably in this article that appeared in yesterday's Wall Street Journal, along with a quote from one of our pastors, on the subject of private confession and absolution.

Confession Makes a Comeback

Churches are encouraging sinners to repent by modernizing an ancient rite. Alexandra Alter reports.

By ALEXANDRA ALTER
Wall Street Journal
September 21, 2007; Page W1

Sin never goes out of style, but confession is undergoing a revival.

This February at the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI instructed priests to make confession a top priority. U.S. bishops have begun promoting it in diocesan newspapers, mass mailings and even billboard ads. And in a dramatic turnaround, some Protestant churches are following suit. This summer, the second-largest North American branch of the Lutheran Church passed a resolution supporting the rite, which it had all but ignored for more than 100 years.

A Romantic Affair? Jesus and His Disciples

An interesting article. HT: Esget.

Excerpt:

One of the blights upon the hymnological landscape today is the continued presence of what we can fairly call the “love song to Jesus” genre. It’s been around as long as there has been Christian pop music–and even earlier, depending on what you make of sentimental gospel songs in the nineteenth century, eighteenth-century revivalist hymns, and especially a lot of the mystical poetry-cum-lyrics of certain medieval saints.

Today our congregation was asked to sing, “Jesus, I’m in love with you”–a line that shows up, in one permutation or another, in several songs that occur frequently in our worship leaders’ rotation.

Well, I didn’t sing it. It’s wrong, and I try not to sing wrong lyrics.

First, I’m not in love with Jesus. The locution “in love with” is one I reserve for one person only: my wife. I love my sons, I love my siblings and parents, I love my friends, I love my country, I love my brothers and sisters in Christ, and I love God. But I’m not “in love” with any of them. And I daresay most of the rest of us use this phrase in exactly the same, highly-restrictive way.

Second, it gives me the homoerotic creeps to declare that I am “in love with” another man. And I don’t apologize for saying so. A gender lens is interesting here, for a lot of men feel as I do (many have told me so), while many (not all) women seem to love telling Jesus that they are in love with him. I saw them, swaying with closed eyes and waving hands in the air this morning, singing exactly that. Maybe, indeed, they are in love with Jesus. But they shouldn’t be.

Evolution Proved False Once and For All

OK, so...we are supposed to be evolving and we are also supposed to be the superior specie on the planet, having reached this pinnacle of perfection after millions of years of evolution. I think this one story disproves evolution.

Latest from Finland

Here is the latest information on the situation in Finland I've mentioned here before, the case involving the pastor who refused to conduct a communion service with a woman pastor. The local prosecutor has decided to move ahead with legal charges.

In the spring of this year, a Finnish missionary pastor hit the
headlines for his refusal to serve at the altar with an ordained woman.
He was a visiting preacher at a congregation near Helsinki, having been
invited on the initiative of the local branch of the Lutheran
Evangelical Association of Finland. He and the local LEAF
representatives had been given the impression that there would be a male
pastor assisting at communion. However, a few minutes before the service
began, a local female pastor turned up at the vestry, expecting to
assist. Pastor Norro made clear his position and offered to stand down,
at which point the lady in question decided to leave. The Senior Pastor
stood by and did not interfere in the discussion. Within days, the
matter was reported to the police who decided to investigate whether
this was a case of sexual discrimination against the female pastor
(despite churches being excluded from the Sexual Discrimination Act).
Thus far history.

The case has now taken a new turn. It was reported yesterday that the
local District Attorney/Prosecutor has decided to charge pastor Norro,
the chair of the local LEAF branch and the acting Senior Pastor with
sexual discrimination. He stated, "No exceptions have been stipulated in
the law concerning discrimination. On the other hand, juridically this
may be a tricky case for a magistrates' court to handle since it
concerns matters of conscience." The nature of the charge is such that
the maximum penalty is a fine.

The case will be heard on 16 November this year.

Source:
http://www.kotimaa.fi/kotimaa/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3100&Itemid=38
[17 Sep 2007]

Sent by: Tapani Simojoki

Israeli Neo-Nazi

I try to follow world events as much as I can. If one uses only American media sources, that makes it difficult to keep up with world news. Americans are notoriously self-absorbed and so we simply don't get the kind of world news coverage that is commonplace worldwide. I've recently begun to receive the superb magazine The Economist, a British publication that delivers an incredible amount of world news in its pages. It blows TIME and NEWSWEEK away, hands down, no questions asked. I take those too, but they pale in comparison to The Economist.

This week's issue contains a shocking story of a neo-Nazi movement in the country of Israel! Unbelievable, yet true. Apparently a group of Russian immigrants had formed a neo-Nazi group. The Israeli "Law of Return" allows not only Jews themselves, but all relatives, no matter how remote their actual Jewishness. This allowed persons with only the most sketchy of Jewish ties to come to Israel seeking a better life, which did not come about. Their children are not growing up disaffected and what better way to express disdain for Israel than by becoming a neo-Nazi?

The Nazis slaughtered countless millions of Jews and other minorities. And let it be said that they truly did this, in spite of claims by Holocaust revisionists that they in fact did not. [It is profoundly shameful and embarrassing that a certain weekly publication closely associated with The LCMS  will, with some regularity, get on a revisionist tear and deny that the Nazis in fact did slaughter as many as they did. As if outreach to the Jews is not hard enough for Lutherans, who can never remove themselves form the darkest mark on the German soul-Nazi Germany. And anyone who says that the majority of Germans were not supportive of Nazi Germany just does not know what they are talking about.]

Get Your John Paul II Relics Here! Why the Reformation Remains Necessary and Essential for the Church

Why does the Reformation remain necessary? Here is but the latest example. This is not surprising, actually. It is just a natural extension of the anti-Gospel theology that remains in the Roman Catholic Church. Thanks be to God that in spite of such errors the Gospel is heard in Romanism, but it continues to be deeply obscured by Rome's errors. What is even more sad is watching Lutherans, who of all people should know better, not understand why Rome is still wrong, deeply wrong. A friend recently observed that there are a certain kind of Lutherans who finally simply can not ever confess the truth and take a stand for the specific doctrinal truths of God's Word because they have undergone a dogmatic labotomy. It was an interesting comment, a bit harsh to be sure, but interesting nonetheless.

What More Do I Want?

I am to cling to Christ alone; He has taught neither too much nor too little. He has taught me to know God the Father, has revealed Himself to me, and has also acquainted me with the Holy Spirit. He has also taught me how to live and how to die and has told me what to hope for. What more do I want?

 

Luther, M. (1999, c1957). Vol. 22: Luther's works, vol. 22  : Sermons on the Gospel of St. John: Chapters 1-4 (J. J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald & H. T. Lehmann, Ed.). Luther's Works. Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House.

If you need them, get them.

In my late thirties I began to notice that I was having some difficulty hearing people when they were talking. Sure, I knew they were talking and could make out what they were saying, well, most of of the time, sort of. Put me in a crowded room of people, or a noisy restaurant, or a conference room? Trouble. I shrugged it off. But then about two years ago I was in a banquet hall at an awards function and I could not make out what the people across the table were saying, at all. I was encouraged to get my hearing tested. I didn't. Then, about a year ago the significant other, aka my wife, told me she could not take my, "Huh?" and "What was that?" and "What did you say?" anymore. And I was growing increasingly frustrated and embarrassed about not being able to hear people in meetings and in social functions. A friend at work, who has had hearing aids since she was quite young, had given me the name of the Washington University audiology department and urged me to go get tested. So I did, finally, one year later! Trouble indeed. Seems a classic hearing loss pattern for people my age, well, generally a bit older, is in the higher frequency range, which just so happens to be where nearly 80% of speech sounds happen. Seems we make a lot of noises with tongue, lips, etc. that are all at a high frequency. It is those high frequency sounds made when we speak that makes the articulations of the individual letters of or language discernible when we speak. For instance, say "f" and "s." No vocal chords for those really, all mouth sounds, all high frequency, and I could not really tell the difference!
    I've been missing a lot of that. So, I got the test, was told I have a significant higher frequency hearing problem, that's the bad news, the good news? In recent years they have come out with what are called "open ear" digital hearing aids that are very easy to wear, nearly unnoticeable, and deliver excellent sound into your ear through a tiny little tube that inserts a tiny little speaker into each ear OK, fine, I could use hearing aids. But I still put it off, then I realized I was sick and tired of not being able to hear people clearly, of missing what my family was saying. One morning I snapped at my wife when she said something I didn't hear and I misunderstood her. Enough!
    So, as of about three weeks ago or so, I've taken the plunge and invested in the best open ear digital technology I could find. I'm now sporting what are, in effect, two tiny high-end computer audio processors on each ear. And people who don't know I'm wearing them are shocked when I tell them and then they notice this tiny little plastic tube running into my ear, but that's really about all they see. The device itself sits up on the top of your ear. If you are a technology geek like me, check out the technology involved. It is amazing. The device takes in all the sound coming at me and boosts the sounds on the frequencies where I have a loss and helps filter out distortion, noise, etc. There are several different programs for various situations, including being in a noisy environment. Just this week they boosted the volume on them and I'm not hearing all the things I had been missing before, and I realize I'm hearing all this for the first time in a very, very long time!
    My case may be a bit unusual since I've had this hearing problem apparently for quite a long time. The best guess as to how I developed this loss is simply that as you age you lose irreplaceable nerve cells in your ears that are responsible for processing sound for you. But in my case, when I was a baby I had a lot of severe ear infections, which my caring parents treated as soon as possible of course, but the repetition of them knocked out nerve cells then, long before normally happens as a result of age and other environmental factors, and so the cumulative impact of the natural hearing loss process caught up with me a lot faster than it does most people.   
    All I can say, now having worn them for nearly three weeks, is wow. I had no idea what I was missing. I'm hearing music like I haven't heard it in years. I can listen to the TV at a normal volume. Did you know how much noise rustling paper makes?    
    I have several friends who have pretty serious levels of hearing loss and have done nothing about it. To all of you men out there who have a hearing loss and there are a LOT of you, believe me, do something about it. If you need hearing aids, get them.You do not realize how much you are driving your family nuts and how much you are missing out of in life by not having a full range of hearing. Don't put it off as long as I did. Women, if you suspect that your husband has a hearing loss problem, get him tested. He may just be ignoring you on purpose, but....chances are he does have a hearing loss. Since getting these aids and speaking about it openly I've had more men tell me they too suspect they have a hearing loss, but have been unwilling to do anything about.
    There is a stigma attached to hearing aids. Why? I don't know, but there is. People who would never kid me about wearing glasses, don't hesitate to make jokes about my hearing aids when they know I have them. It is a weird thing and frankly, kind of ticks me off. But, at least I can hear their stupid remarks clearly!
    And the joy of hearing what I have not been hearing for many more years than I care to admit is well worth the expense, the hassle and the social stigma associated still with hearing aids. Well worth it! I went out to dinner in a typically noise environment tonight for the first time since getting my aids, and, for the first time in years, I could hear each of my children speaking clearly and had no problems! I could hear the waiter talking to me, I could hear him clearly. And nobody had to repeat anything. Amazing.

    Besides, since all those people walking around with iPod earphones shoved into their ears will soon be joining you and me in wearing hearing aids because the vast majority of them are destroying their hearing nerve cells, if you get them now, you will be the trend-setter. My hearing aids are some of the most advanced computer and audio technology on the planet. So, hearing aids are really cool, after all.    So, don't be stupid like I was. Don't wait to get your hearing checked. If they tell you that you could really benefit from hearing aids, you can. If you think your hearing loss is not bothering anyone, particularly your loved ones, it is, more than you realize. So, if not for yourself, do it for your loved ones. If you need them, get them.

Eagerly On Our Way

"A great multitude of dear ones is there expecting us: a vast and mighty crowd of parents, brothers, and children. Secure now of their own safety, anxious yet of our salvation, they long that we may come to their sight and embrace -- to that joy which will be common to us and to them -- to that pleasure expected by our celestial fellow-servants, as well as ourselves -- to that full and perpetual joy. If it be a pleasure to go to them, let us eagerly and covetously hasten on our way, that we may soon be with them, and soon be with Christ; that we may have Him as our guide in this journey, Who is the Author of Salvation, the Prince of Life, the Giver of Gladness, and who lives and reigns with God the Father almighty, and with the Holy Spirit."

(Bede, quoted in The Lord Will Answer, p. 439)

Electronic Edition of Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions

I have good news. By early next year we will have an electronic edition of Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions. It will be in the LOGOS format, as are CPH's other electronic book editions. My request to yo is this. As soon as possible, send me any typos and mistakes you have noticed in the second edition. We only want to hear about the second edition, which is copyrighted 2006 and as a dark blue cover with burgundy.

So, any typos, mistakes, little things wrong that you have noticed in Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions, the second edition, please send them to me ASAP.

Send them to: paul.mccain@cph.org

Many thanks!

Roundtable 24: The Mass -- New Conversation

There is a new roundtable conversation underway at the Blog of Concord. Check it out.

The Danger of Gospel Reductionism

Here is a very thought-provoking essay which sheds light on any number of significant issues facing Lutheranism worldwide today.

THE GOSPEL AND THE SCRIPTURES

On the Road to Emmaus, two sad-faced disciples met another traveller who turned their sadness into joy. The risen Lord Jesus opened their eyes and they recognised him. In the process he also opened their minds to understand the Scriptures (Luke 24:31,32,45).

These two things go hand in hand: coming to know Christ and coming to understand the Scriptures. What a Bible lesson those two disciples received that afternoon as Jesus, “beginning with Moses and all the prophets, interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27)! That evening he told the eleven and those with them: “These are the words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled” (Luke 24:44). To know Christ is to know the Scriptures; to know the Scriptures is to know Christ.

Neglect the Catechism? Pay a fine and do the time!

Many pastors have begun a new year of catechism instruction in their congregations. One of the crosses our faithful pastors have to bear is putting up with the whining and complaining they get from parents who just don't understand why their little ones have to memorize the catechism or go to instruction classes at all. "Oh, pastor, we are so busy and have so much to do and school is so hard for our children." And on and on and on the complaints go. A big thank you to all parents who do not so burden their pastors with these complaints. And to all parents: please support your pastor as he carries out his holy preaching office and helps you do what it is your duty: teaching your children God's Word.

Consider how things used to be in some parts of the Lutheran Church. I've been reading the Church Order prepared by Martin Chemnitz for Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, published in 1569. Fascinating! I was struck by these regulations concerning how city officials were to deal with parents who did not make sure to send their children to catechism instructions.

"When children are caught in the streets or in the meadows during the time when the catechism is preached, their parents will be punished. The money from the fines levelled against the parents as punishment shall go into the treasury for the poor, because the children have not been disciplined seriously as is fitting."

But what if fines against the parents did not correct the situation?

"The officials and city council is authorized to punish them with confinement in the dungeon, according to each situation, so that the children are not despicably and stiff-neckedly hindered by their parents regarding the correct pure doctrine and honorable Christian discipline in their blossoming youth."*

We may well regard such measures today as extreme, but such historic practices underscore just how seriously instruction in God's Word is. What a blessing these opportunities are. Thanks for supporting your pastors.

 

Source:
Church Order of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel
Unpublished translation by A. Smith and M. Harrison

Preaching Easter and Pentecost

I remain very puzzled by a trend in some circles that would have us never preach/teach from the pulpit about our lives of renewal in Christ and about the good works to which we are to be about as a result of our justification and redemption. This is a novelty in Lutheranism and does not square with our historic Lutheran confession and practice. Here, for example, is a powerful comment from Martin Luther about this problem.

They are excellent preachers of the Easter truth, but miserable preachers of the truth of Pentecost. For there is nothing in their preaching concerning sanctification of the Holy Ghost and about being quickened into a new life. They preach only about the redemption of Christ. It is proper to extol Christ in our preaching; but Christ is the Christ and has acquired redemption from sin and death for this very purpose that the Holy Spirit should change our Old Adam into a new man, that we are to be dead unto sin and live unto righteousness, as Paul teaches Rom. 6:2 ff., and that we are to begin this change and increase in this new life here and consummate it hereafter. For Christ has gained for us not only grace (gratiam), but also the gift (donum) of the Holy Ghost, so that we obtain from Him not only forgiveness of sin, but also the ceasing from sin.”

Martin Luther, On The Councils and the Churches, quoted by Dr. C.F.W. Walther, The Proper Distinction Between Law and Gospel  : 39 Evening Lectures, p. 121

The Spiritual Growth of the Christian

"There is time when a person's body ceases to grow. This is not so in spiritual things. If a person has become a Christian, a new spiritual being (or, as our text says, a new "inner being" - Eph. 3:13-17), is created in him by faith and the growth of this being never ceases until death. In Christianity, there is no standing still. Whoever does not go forward, goes backward. The life of a Christian is not marked by being, but by growing. The goal toward which he strives is so high that he can never say he has reached it and can rest from his efforts. Even Saint Paul says, "Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His own" (Phi. 3:12). Of what does the strengthening "in your inner being," the spiritual growth of the Christian consist? Paul shows us in today's text when he says, "That Christ may dwell in your heart through faith" (Eph. 3:17). An ever growing and stronger faith, through which Christ dwells in our hearts, is above all else, necessary for the strengthening of the inner being. A person becomes a Christian through faith. Once he vividly recognizes that he is a sinner, it is obvious to him that he cannot stand before God with his own righteousness and cannot atone for his sins himself. . . . Paul says he often prayed to God that He would make the Ephesians stronger. By this he meant that Christ might dwell in their hearts by faith and that they might be "rooted and grounded in love" (Eph. 3:17). We see here that, through love, Christianity becomes akin to a firmly rooted tree and a house on a solid foundation. Should this really be attributed to love? According to Holy Scripture, isn't it faith alone that makes one just? Isn't it faith alone that gives life, light, comfort and power? Isn't it, then, faith alone that rightly roots and grounds the Christian? This is of course true, but Scriptures says that faith without works is dead, a mere empty picture of faith. True, living faith is active through love. Therefore, as there is warmth and light in the presence of fire, there are love and good works in the person whose heart has been warmed by the sun of faith. As the tree is recognized by its fruit, faith is recognized in love. The person who is weak or lacking in love cannot be a strong firm Christian. He may call himself a Christian, but where is the proof that he stands firm in the faith? Therefore, in the hour of death, woe to the Christian who boasts of faith but did not show any love. It will probably be difficult for him to show that he comforted himself with Christ and id not doubt because, although faith alone avails before God, we owe love to our neighbor and need love ourselves so we are strong. The individual who wants to become inwardly strong must always become more zealous in love. He must also extend the scope of his love. . . A Christian must also become purer and more unselfish in his love. He must not ask, "What's in it for me?" He must not do good for the sake of the thanks he hopes to receive, the reward he expects, or the praise that might result. His left hand must not know what his right hand is doing. He must learn to endure ingratitude and not allow his love to grow cold on account of it. He must keep a heart full of love toward those who offend and provoke him-even those who have done flagrant wrong to him, hated him, and persecuted him. He must always become more tender, holy, and godly in his love. He must have patience with his neighbor's weakness, sins and defects. He must also not be ashamed of the greatest sinner, but have mercy on him. . . . He must, finally, arrive at the point where he strives to let his entire life be a life of service to his neighbor, being ready to give up his possessions and even his life for his brothers. Oh, it is well for such Christians! They have become "through faith, rooted and grounded in love."

CFW Walther
God Grant It
pp. 745ff

Pressing On

"In the battle of flesh and spirit, in which true Christians stand, they not only overcome sins, they carry off all kinds of precious virtues as their loot of their combat. The longer they battle, the more universal, comforting, and untiring their love becomes. Their joy becomes purer, their peace becomes firmer, their patience becomes stronger, their kindness becomes more sincere, their goodness becomes richer, their faith and faithfulness become more constant, their gentleness becomes more unconquerable and their self-control becomes more immaculate. In short, the end of the true battle of the flesh and spirit is an advance in sanctification. This resulting sanctification is as far from perfect as the victory of the spirit over the flesh is complete. Indeed, every Christian must confess, with Paul, "Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect" (Phil. 3:12). Nevertheless, where that battle truly exists, a fighter must be able to add truthfully, as Paul does, "I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own" (Phil. 3:12). Oh may God grant that we all become and remain true fighters against the flesh and sin. May Jesus Christ, our eternal Prince of victory, help us all for the sake of His battle with death."

 

CFW Walther

God Grant It

p. 717

 

Observation

Why is that a raging head cold/upper respiratory infection feels worse on the last long-weekend/Summer holiday than it does when it comes in the middle of Winter? And why does it make one feel just a little better to whine and feel sorry for oneself about it? A forced "stay at home and do nothing but read and listen to Bach" day is a nice side-benefit from it. And that's good.

Liturgical Referee

One of my Roman Catholic readers sent in this humorous proposal for sending liturgical referees at random to visit parishes to make sure they are conducting the Mass properly. You might enjoy the thought of a Lutheran version of a "ref" visiting parishes at random. Here is a guide to the liturgical referee's signals. The idea is that he stands quietly to the side and only throws a flag when appropriate.

                                                             

Example Liturgical Signals
	No Crucifix in sanctuary.
	Liturgical dance detected.
	Member of laity giving homily - to be evicted from lectern.
	Incomplete or no consecration. Occurs when illicit matter is used, wrong formula used, only one of the two elements of bread or wine is not properly consecrated, or no validly ordained male priest/bishop is not present. In case where only one element is consecrated a replay is called for.