Cruising the Palouse

We took a road trip to Pullman, Washington to check out Washington State University with our son Zach and his friend Andrew. Our Honda Odyssey was appropriately provisioned with a bag of M & M's and some other stuff that doesn't really count until all the chocolate is gone.

It's a short five hour drive to Pullman, heading eastbound from Seattle on I-90. Pullman is a town of about 28,000 people, two-thirds of whom are university students. The town is located in an area called the Palouse in southeastern Washington State. Composed of rich farm soil on rolling hills, it’s a beautiful place, with lots of wheat, legumes, and grand vistas.

I took these photos while watching the yellow stripes flying by.





We ate at a great restaurant called Sella's, just across the street from a quite corner of the campus. Their calzones demanded eating the entire thing, which was a little more than I really needed, but who could stop? There was a variety of artwork on the walls from college age students and younger. The following pic shows a crimson and gray Cougar (school colors and mascot) guarding his calzone from the wily schemes of the Cougar's competitors in the Pac-10, the orange and black Oregon State Beaver, the "much disliked" purple and gold Husky of rival University of Washington , and the green and yellow Duck of the University of Oregon.



In case you've forgotten your head and neck anatomy:



The nickname of Washington State University is "Wazzu."

It seemed a little odd that you could look off in just about any direction while on campus and see the wheat-crowned tops of the surrounding countryside.



They do plenty of crop dusting out on the Palouse. This plane was appropriately named "Agent Orange."



If you're looking for a medium-sized school with a small town atmosphere, Wazzu is worth checking out. And you don't have to drive - Horizon Airlines flies into Pullman from Seattle.

You Can't Teach Lay People Theology

What's At Stake?

Quoting from the July 13 segment of Issues, Etc. with Dr. David Scaer discussing the Lord’s Supper:

Host Todd Wilken:

"What’s at stake in these differences over the Lord’s Supper among Christians?"

Guest Dr. David Scaer:

"What’s at stake is that, what is at stake is Christianity itself, because if the position that the bread cannot be the body of Christ is allowed to stand, then the next step is that the body of Jesus cannot embrace the Son of God completely, and taking that to its logical conclusion you end up with Unitarianism or deism. This is exactly what happened to Puritan theology in New England which began in the 1600s, the 1700s. That morphed into Unitarianism very easily, and the emphasis then goes on, as soon as the emphasis goes on the sovereignty of God, the person of Jesus takes a second place, and basic, you change the whole nature of Christianity so it really isn’t Christianity any more."

You can listen to the whole thing here:

The Gospel Within the Gospel

Quoting from Joe Strieter's paper on the parable of the prodigal son, titled "Life and Death in the Village: The Parable of the Two Lost Sons":

Almost all commentators agree that this parable is THE parable of grace, that as the father runs to meet his son, falls on his neck, kissing him, places on him sandals, the best robe, the ring, so it is with God our Father. For centuries it has been called “Evangelium in Evangelio”—the Gospel within the Gospel.

“This is the crown of the parables, an evengelium in evangelio, which has no equal in all literature. We first see the Lord and the Church going out to seek and to save: we now see the sinner more clearly and the change that is wrought in him as he is saved.”

A portion of Joe's conclusion reads:

Repentance, brought about by law, the Gospel’s servant (paidagogos, Galatians 3:24), is pure Gospel. Driven in desperation to his father’s house, his “hired hand” speech on his lips, the prodigal is “enfolded in his fathers arms”, and, as he realizes the depth of his father’s love, his repentance is complete. No reparations are required. Lenski (Luke) presents a thorough understanding of grace—he has been forgiven “while he was still a long way off.” The prodigal’s hired servant plan is nuanced, and most commentaries (including Lenski) miss its true purpose:

What is the true purpose of the prodigal's plan that Lenski has missed? Well I think I'll just let you answer that question by reading the paper, which you can find here. It'll be worth the trip.

photo credit: Lawrence OP

When Is a Testimony Not a Testimony?

When is a testimony not a testimony? When it’s in Jim Pierce’s new book Wittenberg Confessions: Testimonies of Converts to Confessional Lutheranism.

Whenever I hear someone is going to give their “testimony,” I generally groan. Testimonies are a statement of some sort that are supposed to reflect a person’s experiences upon becoming a Christian. They’re generally a rambling saga of how God saved the person from their [fill in your worst nightmare here, such as a bad marriage or a gambling addiction], and often end up being about the person telling the story rather than about Jesus and His saving work in their life. So when I heard that my friend Jim Pierce was somehow mixed up with a book on testimonies, I naturally groaned. And even when I read in the preface to the book that these testimonies were nothing like what I just mentioned, I was still skeptical. Call me a doubting Scott, or a Lutheran, I can’t decide which. But now that I’ve read the book cover to cover, I’ve repented of my unbelief and can give this book a double thumbs-up. These “testimonies” really do correspond with Jim’s opening statement: “The tales contained herein are not testimonies but rather confessions of faith” (xi).

Certainly, it’s worth reading the book just to hear Jim’s own story. I don’t know anyone who worked so hard for so long, using so many different techniques, to not-be-a-Christian. But as Jim confesses, God continued to pursue him until the Holy Spirit convicted him of his sin and bathed him in the truth of the Gospel. Anybody that can claim to have been in the Assemblies of God, an ordained preacher in the United Pentecostal Church, a Baptist church member, a non-Christian Trinitarian apologist, a political science major with an emphasis in philosophy, a rationalist, an agnostic, an atheistic humanist, and someone who, among other things, dabbled in eastern occultism and Buddhism, has got a pretty good story to tell. Through all of that, the Holy Spirit continued to work on Jim’s heart through the crushing weight of the Law and the sweetness of the Gospel and saved him.

Each of the other contributors to this book, including Stan Palmer, Dana Palmer, Kelly Klages, Matt Zickler, Kaleb Axon, Larry Hughes, and Robert Shreckhise have stories which, though their starting places are different, end up in the same state of forgiveness and a common celebration of the means by which God grants that forgiveness – through the Word as it is spoken and combined with water, bread and wine. I rejoice with them in their humble retelling of their tales of deliverance from unbelief or of a miserable life vacillating between despair and Phariseeism. Their stories truly reflect a rescue from false doctrine and a reliance on self to a redemption trusting only in Christ’s work and merit.

One of the things I really like about this book is how each author relates their own journey through various denominations and beliefs (without being unkind or rancorous to their former belief systems), and how those beliefs failed to give them peace.

Stan and Dana Palmer both relate the experiential spiritual roller coaster of highs and lows they rode in a Pentecostal church, and the altar calls and life application sermons they endured in the Evangelical Free Church.

Kelly Klages relates her experience as a Baptist, in which the Bible-as-guidebook-for-living led to a belief that “Christians already knew all that ‘gospel stuff’ already, and focused on principles for living instead— maybe choosing to tack on a little bit about Jesus’ death for us at the end for the sake of any possible unbelievers in the crowd” (105). Kelly astutely comments:

You were frequently exhorted to look inward at your own fruits of faith (works) to determine whether you were really sincerely “Christian” enough, and not just a poser. If you did believe that you were too bad of a sinner, there was always the option of walking the aisle again…and again…and re-dedicating your life to make a fresh start. It’s a dreadful concept of “assurance.” To feel for sure that they really have faith, so many evangelical Christians must convince themselves that they truly are more moral and righteous than their non-Christian neighbors, which actually serves to prevent confession of real sins and turning to the Gospel (112).

Matt Zickler, who was born into a Roman Catholic family, and then did a loop through Evangelicalism, is definitely worth a listen:

Click HERE to continue reading >>

“This Is Slippery, and It’s Wrong”

During the LCMS convention I posted a brief comment on the devotion that was currently underway, led by Rev. Terry Tieman, the head of the Transforming Churches Network. Rev. Tieman’s message on Matthew 14:22-32 presented three simple steps on how to walk on water, the result of which was to motivate by using the Law (when it should be the Gospel that motivates). Someone suggested that this particular sermon would be a good candidate for a sermon review by Chris Rosebrough on his internet radio show Fighting for the Faith. I thought that was a great idea as well, and emailed Chris, who did just that on his July 19th show.

The response to Rev. Tieman’s homily is a perfect illustration of “group think.” At one point during his homily he said “Go ahead and say to your neighbor right now ‘If you want to walk on the water, you have got to get out of the boat.’ Go ahead and do that.” At that point you could hear the delegates dutifully murmuring what he told them to say. Putting the best construction on it, I’m sure this huge group of LCMS pastors and laymen were saying to each other “I’m not saying that! It’s nothing but Law and will turn us all into Pharisees.” It’s certainly a living testament to the phrase “Don’t believe [or repeat] everything you hear.”

Chris’s review was rather “robust.” Here’s a few of his comments:

…This is some bad, bad preaching.

…It’s very clear in listening to this sermon or devotional homily that this guy has been drinking heavily from the seeker-driven purpose-driven well.

This is slippery, and it’s wrong.

…This is not Gospel preaching, this is manipulation. There’s a difference.

This is supreme Bible twisting and manipulation of the worst kind.

Chris does an excellent job in his review of pointing out the confusion of Law and Gospel, and also plays a sermon preached by Rev. Ron Hodel on the same text which properly distinguishes the two.

I marvel at how this devotion could have been allowed to have been taught at the LCMS convention, with the entire world peering in through the window. There’s a lot of talk at the convention on how we’ve got great theology and wonderful seminaries, and then there’s a devotion that completely butchers the proper distinction between Law and Gospel, which is the centerpiece of Lutheran theology. The speakers, and what they’re going to say, needs to be vetted, lest we lose our credibility entirely.

Chris initially discusses Rev. Tieman's homily from 17:43 to 22:18, and then the actual review begins at 1:17:52 and runs to the end of the show.

Daniel Defoe and I Go Way Back

I write like
Daniel Defoe

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Yes, and I also once helped Martin Luther change a tire on his car.

I remember when I was a kid and you'd go to the "mall," which at that time was called a shopping center, and they'd have this big board with a bunch of flashing lights on it. It was supposed to tell you all about yourself after you'd given it a few clues. I figure this whole deal at I Write Like is a bit like that. But it did say that Mollie writes like David Foster Wallace, and who could argue with that?

To further my trip into unreality, I note that The Literature Network says of Daniel Defoe

First published when he was almost sixty years old, Defoe is considered by many to have written the first English novel. He wrote [Robinson] Crusoe in the style of social realism in which he is the observant reporter, historian, humorist, and grand story teller. With his extraordinary bibliography comprising myriad historical, satirical and political writings, Defoe's most famous novel was an immediate success.

The deal is, you go to I Write Like, give it a sample of your writing, and it'll tell you who you write like. I wonder if it ever spits something out that says "You write like a second-grader," or "You're writing is so bad we're not sure what language that was." If you write like some famous author too, maybe we could form our own publishing company. We can find out if I Write Like is correct, or just making it all up. Somehow, I think it's the latter.

Every Knee Should Bow

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:5-11


photo credit: veggiesosage

Flee the Absolute God

Quoting from Prof. Roland Ziegler’s paper “Natural Knowledge of God and the Trinity”:

Thus Luther writes: "The people of Israel did not have a God who was viewed 'absolutely,' to use the expression, the way the inexperienced monks rise into heaven with their speculations and think about God as He is in Himself. From this absolute God everyone should flee who does not want to perish, because human nature and the absolute God – for the sake of teaching we use this familiar term — are the bitterest of enemies. Human weakness cannot help being crushed by such majesty, as Scripture reminds us over and over. Let no one, therefore, interpret David as speaking with the absolute God. He is speaking with God as He is dressed and clothed in His Word and promises, so that from the name 'God' we cannot exclude Christ, whom God promised to Adam and the other patriarchs. We must take hold of this God, not naked but clothed and revealed in His word; otherwise certain despair will crush us. This distinction must always be made between the Prophets who speak with God, and the Gentiles. The Gentiles speak with God outside His Word and promises, according to the thoughts of their own hearts; but the Prophets speak with God as He is clothed and revealed in His promises and Word. This God, clothed in such a kind appearance and, so to speak, in such a pleasant mask, that is to say, dressed in His promises-this God we can grasp and look at with joy and trust. The absolute God, on the other hand, is like an iron wall, against which we cannot bump without destroying ourselves" (AE 12, 312). Martin Luther, Luther's Works, Vol. 12: Selected Psalms I, American Edition, ed. Jaroslav Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald, and Helmut T. Lehmann (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1965), 312.

"Plus, he smokes cigars."

Here's a couple of paragraphs from Fort Wayne's The News-Sentinel reporter Kevin Leininger in his article "Ex-city pastor new leader of Missouri Synod Lutherans":

Harrison's election was greeted enthusiastically by Fort Wayne residents who knew and worked with him here.

“He's a wonderful guy who will be a great leader for the church, with his focus on mercy,” said attorney Bill Swift, a member of Holy Cross Lutheran Church, who worked with Harrison on the St. Peter's-Zion Project. “Plus, he smokes cigars.”